Therefore they sent men down in ships with sails to sail across the
sea, and in safety over the sea to a far shore Chance brought the
ships. Then over hill and valley three men set forth seeking to find
the gods, and their comrades beached the ships and waited on the shore.
And they that sought the gods followed for thirty nights the lightnings
in the sky over five mountains, and as they came to the summit of the
last, they saw a valley beneath them, and lo! the gods. For there the
gods sat, each on a marble hill, each sitting with an elbow on his
knee, and his chin upon his hand, and all the gods were smiling about
Their lips. And below them there were armies of little men, and about
the feet of the gods they fought against each other and slew one
another for the honour of the gods, and for the glory of the name of
the gods. And round them in the valley their cities that they had
builded with the toil of their hands, they burned for the honour of the
gods, where they died for the honour of the gods, and the gods looked
down and smiled. And up from the valley fluttered the prayers of men
and here and there the gods did answer a prayer, but oftentimes They
mocked them, and all the while men died.

And they that had sought the gods from the Islands Three, having seen
what they had seen, lay down on the mountain summit lest the gods
should see them. Then they crept backward a little space, still lying
down, and whispered together and then stooped low and ran, and
travelled across the mountains in twenty days and came again to their
comrades by the shore. But their comrades asked them if their quest had
failed and the three men only answered:

"We have seen the gods."