“Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot. And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones. Then Mung said: ‘Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the faces of Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion till they see whether it be wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana.’ And Umbool answered: ‘I am the beast of Mung.’ And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.”
First Publisher Elkin Mathews, 1905; Pegana Press, 1937
Appearance List Later editions: The Gods of Pegana with S. H. Sime’s photogravure plates (Pegana Press, 1911), The Gods of Pegana with Sime illustrations (1916), The Gods of Pegana (3rd ed., 1919), Beyond the Fields We Know (Ballantine, 1972) ed. Lin Carter.
Description “Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot. And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones. Then Mung said: ‘Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the faces of Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion till they see whether it be wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana.’ And Umbool answered: ‘I am the beast of Mung.’ And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.”
