"Do you know ,I always thought Unicorns were fabulous
monsters too? I never saw one alive before!"
"Well now have seen each other ,if you belive in me ,I`ll
belive in you."
Lewis Carrol.
What makes them unique?
They are immortal.
They combine in themselves two qualities practically incompatible
for human beings: the purity of mind and wisdom - the load of
knowledge accumulated even for many centuries cannot change the
simplicity and straightforwardness of their way of thinking.
Well, initially I was going to place here my own description of unicorn as the generalization of all the information I had gathered. Soon, however, I realized it was not so easy to do, besides, there is a very weighty reason - I've got no writer's talent as such;). Therefore, I simply decided to gather here various descriptions...
Have I not heard the tale of the man who dug
for turnips and found gold? My
retreat is done! For years I have tempered my mind with the
devine art of
alchemy, bathed in the mystical teachings of the Emerald Tablet,
probed the
secrets of the Kabbalistic doctrine, sojourned with the
anchorites of
Scete. But now I have met the Unicorn face to face, and I am
undone; for
nothing had prepared me for the fiery touch of his wondrous mind.
Three days I passed in reverie and prayer, until at last I sat in
sunlight
by my open door, and I was content; and he came at last and laid
his
thoughts on mine. And I, willing and trusting, moved with them,
filled with
sweetness and strange images, seemingly from times so remote as
to be
beyond reckoning. Finally I could contain no more, and his touch
began to
burn too brightly. I was overcome, but the creature withdrew and
vanished
from my sight.
Now I understand the secret of that little hut, and why all our
company
displays such eagerness to retire there. For the Unicorn must
dwell nearby
- or could it be that a portal to his secret realm is not far
hence?
After that first meeting I saw the Unicorn each day - but no more
will I
write, but this: here is an ancient mystery beyond compare. And
yet the
creature (can this be true?) is now my friend.
Says Eugnostos: "In frienship there is no other goal but the
uncovering of
the spirit."
Peter S. Beagle. THE LAST UNICORN New York. Ballantine Books 1968 The Unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did nor know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of show falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea.
She did nor look anything like a horned horse, as unicorn are often pictired, being smaller and cliven-hoofed, and possesing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing monckery. Her neck was long and slender, making her head seem smaller than it was, and the mane that fell almost to the middle of her back eas as soft as dandelion fluff and as fine as cirrus. She had pointed ears and thin legs, with feathers of white hair at the ankles; and the long horn above her eyes shone and shivered with its own seashell light even in the deepes midnight. She had killed dragon with it, and healed a king whose poisoned wound would not close, and knocked down ripe chestnuts for bear cubs...
The black unicorn stepped from the morning mists,almost as if
born from them, and stared at the kingdom of Landover.
Daybreak hovered at the crest of the eastern horizon, an
intruder that peeked from it's place of concealment to catch a
glimpse of night's swift departure. The silence seemed to deepen
further
with the appearence of the unicorn-as if that one small event in
that tiny corner was sensed somehow throughout the whole valley.
Everywhere sleep
gave way to waking, dreams to being, and that
moment of transition was as close as time ever
came to being frozen.
The unicorn stood near the summit of the valley's northern
rim, high in the mountains of
Melchor, close to the edge of the world of fairy. Landover spread
away before it, forested slopes
and bare rock crags dropping towards foothills and grasslands,
rivers and lakes, forests and scrub.
Castles, towns, and cottages were vague, irregular shapes against
the symmetry , creatures that
hunkered down in rest and breathed smoke from
dying embers.
There were tears in the eyes of green fire that swept the
valley end to end and glittered
with newfound life. It had been so long!
A stream trickled down and collected in a basin of rocks a
dozen yards from where the
unicorn stood. A tiny gathering of forest
creatures crouhed at the edge of that pool and
stared in awe at the wonder that had materialized before them-a
rabbit, a badger, several squirrels and voles, an opposom and
young, and a solitary
toad. A cave wight melted back into the shadows. A bog wump
flattened back into it's hole. Birds sat motionless upon the
branches of the trees. All were stilled. The only sound wasthe
ripple of the stream over moutain rock.
The black unicorn nodded its head in recognition of the homage
being paid. Ebony body gleamed in the half light, mane and
felocks
shimmering like silk thrown in the wind. Goat's
feet shifted, and lion's tail swished, restless
movements against the backdrop of the still-life world. The
ridged horn knifed the darkness,
shining faintly with magic. There had never
before been a thing of such grace and beauty in
all of creation as the unicorn and never would be again.
Dawn broke sharply over the valley of Landover, and the new
day was begun. The black
unicorn felt the sun's heat on it's face and
lifted it's head in greeting. But invisable
chains still bound it, and the cold of their
lingering presence displelled almost instantly
the momentary warmth.
The unicorn shivered. It was immortal and could never be
killed by mortal things. But it's life could be taken away all
the same. Time was the ally of the enemy who had imprisoned it.
And time had begun to move forward again.
The black unicorn slipped like quicksilver through shadows and
light in search of it's
freedom.