“At first, I saw it, far ahead, like a long hillock on the surface of the Plain.  Then, as I drew nearer, I perceived that I had been mistaken; for, instead of a low hill, I made out, now, a chain of great mountains, whose distant peaks towered up into the red gloom, until they were almost lost to sight.”

III

THE HOUSE IN THE ARENA

And so, after a time, I came to the mountains.  Then, the course of my journey was altered, and I began to move along their bases, until, all at once, I saw that I had come opposite to a vast rift, opening into the mountains.  Through this, I was borne, moving at no great speed.  On either side of me, huge, scarped walls of rocklike substance rose sheer.  Far overhead, I discerned a thin ribbon of red, where the mouth of the chasm opened, among inaccessible peaks.  Within, was gloom, deep and somber, and chilly silence.  For a while, I went onward steadily, and then, at last, I saw, ahead, a deep, red glow, that told me I was near upon the further opening of the gorge.

A minute came and went, and I was at the exit of the chasm, staring out upon an enormous amphitheatre of mountains.  Yet, of the mountains, and the terrible grandeur of the place, I recked nothing; for I was confounded with amazement to behold, at a distance of several miles and occupying the center of the arena, a stupendous structure built apparently of green jade.  Yet, in itself, it was not the discovery of the building that had so astonished me; but the fact, which became every moment more apparent, that in no particular, save in color and its enormous size, did the lonely structure vary from this house in which I live.

For a while, I continued to stare, fixedly.  Even then, I could scarcely believe that I saw aright.  In my mind, a question formed, reiterating incessantly:  ‘What does it mean?’ ‘What does it mean?’ and I was unable to make answer, even out of the depths of my imagination.  I seemed capable only of wonder and fear.  For a time longer, I gazed, noting continually some fresh point of resemblance that attracted me.  At last, wearied and sorely puzzled, I turned from it, to view the rest of the strange place on to which I had intruded.

Hitherto, I had been so engrossed in my scrutiny of the House, that I had given only a cursory glance ’round.  Now, as I looked, I began to realize upon what sort of a place I had come.  The arena, for so I have termed it, appeared a perfect circle of about ten to twelve miles in diameter, the House, as I have mentioned before, standing in the center.  The surface of the place, like to that of the Plain, had a peculiar, misty appearance, that was yet not mist.

From a rapid survey, my glance passed quickly upward along the slopes of the circling mountains.  How silent they were.  I think that this same abominable stillness was more trying to me than anything that I had so far seen or imagined.  I was looking up, now, at the great crags, towering so loftily.  Up there, the impalpable redness gave a blurred appearance to everything.