the moon was full and heavy tonight, and it hung low in the western sky. atanta wished his woman could be here beside him, nestling close to him in the soft show, her delicate hands caressing the hair on his cheek. he thought of her hands rubbed raw from the straps of the heavy pack. perhaps it was better that he had left without saying goodbye.
he felt rested enough to go on, and was about to hoist himself to his feet when the red star caught his attention. for months now it had been growing brighter with every night that passed, as if heralding some important event. this was the red star of rebirth, and he wished he could believe that he and his people would someday go to live there; but he no longer believed in anything.
it was then that atanta saw the god. it was a great and fearful god that turned the black night yellow and screamed louder than the wind. in an instant it fell out of the sky; then the yellow light was gone and the voice of the god was gone, and the dark night returned and the voice of the wind returned.
atanta fell to his knees and his trembling hand etched out the sign of the cross in the snow. surely this must be a sign. the god had come out of the sky and fallen in the path before him—forbidding him to go into the lowlands. he knew he must pray and ask forgiveness but for many moments he was too frightened to pray, and when the fear subsided, he was too proud. why should he pray to a god who would let his people starve? he raised his eyes, and saw the very head of the god peering up above the next rise.
he stood up with a semblance of dignity on his unsteady legs. when the god did not move from behind the rise for many minutes, atanta's courage overbalanced his fear and he kicked the snow with his foot and obliterated the sign of the cross. he waited for the god to strike him dead, but nothing happened. the head of the god was motionless.
atanta set out with cautious steps. presently he hid behind a little ice dune where he could see the god in its awesome entirety. now he was close enough to hurl his spear at it if the god suddenly struck in anger; and he gripped the spear in readiness. suddenly he was filled with a new awe, for he realized that this was not the god of the cross! there were no stiff wings at its side. it was like a huge shining spear with its dull end stuck in the snow and its point stretching up to the sky. but how could this be a god?
perhaps he should not yet pray. time had shown there were many false gods.
presently a black mouth appeared magically in the side of the great still thing. the mouth sucked in the icy air for a moment and then extended a long jagged tongue down to the fresh snow.
atanta saw something move in the blackness of the gaping mouth and then a figure stepped out onto the tongue and looked about at the falling snow and the white jagged mountains in the darkness. it was the figure of a man. at least it was in a man's shape, but it did not look like a man of the mountains nor did it look like the man-creatures of the hotlands. it walked slowly and laboriously down the tongue, and it seemed to be made of the same shiny stuff as the tongue and the flying wingless god itself. for a moment, atanta wondered which was the god. the great huge thing with the mouth and the tongue, or the man-thing?
the stranger stepped off the tongue into the snow where he knelt and scooped up the snow in his arms, tossed it into the wind which hurled it to the ground again. then he stood and clutched his head. for a moment atanta thought he had taken his own head off, but then he could tell that he had taken a covering off his head which he tossed into the snow. then it seemed that the man had been entirely covered, like the men of the hotlands who wore furs.
presently the man had taken off all his covering, and stretched his furry arms up to feel the sweetness of the wind. atanta leaped up, shouting his surprise. for this was a true man.
for a moment the man was startled and then his face filled with joy. showing his empty palms, he began to walk slowly toward atanta.
atanta moved to meet him, the dark fur of his shoulders glistening in the moonlight. he spoke, but the man did not understand. then he pointed up to the sky, then to the man, and tilted his head questioningly.
the man smiled and nodded his head. he pointed to the sky, but not straight up. he pointed to a spot low in the west.
he pointed to the star of rebirth.
while atanta watched in unbelieving awe, the man touched his own chest, then stooped to lay his palms on the snow at his feet. then he pointed once more to the red star and made a rapid upward gesture. then he laid his closed hands beside his head and pretended to be asleep. his fingers opened and closed, again and again. "many sleeps," said atanta, understanding. "tens of ten sleeps."
smiling, the man straightened and made a rapid downward gesture, ending with his palms again on the snow. then he stepped forward, placing one hand on his chest, the other on atanta's.
the two furry men stood as tall and straight as their dignity could make them, and their faces were bright with joy. then atanta took the hammerstone out of the binding about his waist, and tossed it into the snow.
the man nodded. stepping back, he lifted his hand in an arc across the sky, and offered atanta the stars.
