68

MANNA

At four o'clock there is hardly anybody in Rumpelmayer's.

I have my choice of the place and service; the babble of the apes will begin soon enough.

"Pioneers, O Pioneers!"

Sat not Elijah under the Juniper-tree, and wept?

Was not Mohammed forsaken in Mecca, and Jesus in Gethsemane?

These prophets were sad at heart; but the chocolate at Rumpelmayer's is great, and the Mousse Noix is like Nephthys for perfection.

Also there are little meringues with cream and chestnut-pulp, very velvety seductions.

Sail I not toward LAYLAH within seven days?

Be not sad at heart, O prophet; the babble of the apes will presently begin.

Nay, rejoice exceedingly; for after all the babble of the apes the Silence of the Night.

COMMENTARY (ΞΗ)

Manna was a heavenly cake which, in the legend, fed the Children of Israel in the Wilderness.

The author laments the failure of his mission to mankind, but comforts himself with the following reflections:

(1) He enjoys the advantages of solitude. (2) Previous prophets encountered similar difficulties in convincing their hearers. (3) Their food was not equal to that obtainable at Rumpelmayer's. (4) In a few days I am going to rejoin Laylah. (5) My mission will succeed soon enough. (6) Death will remove the nuisance of success.