and at first they were utterly broken down in blood and shame;
and the pirates might have taken the jewel flung up for ever from
their sacred fount. And then, after years of horror and humiliation,
they gained a little and began to conquer because they did not
mind defeat. And the pride of the pirates went sick within them
after a few unexpected foils; and at last the invasion rolled back
into the empty seas and the island was delivered. And for some reason
after this men began to talk quite differently about the temple
and the sun. Some, indeed, said, "You must not touch the temple;
it is classical; it is perfect, since it admits no imperfections."
But the others answered, "In that it differs from the sun, that shines
on the evil and the good and on mud and monsters everywhere.
The temple is of the noon; it is made of white marble clouds
and sapphire sky. But the sun is not always of the noon.
The sun dies daily, every night he is crucified in blood and fire."
Now the priest had taught and fought through all the war,
and his hair had grown white, but his eyes had grown young.
And he said, "I was wrong and they are right. The sun, the symbol
of our father, gives life to all those earthly things that are full
of ugliness and energy. All the exaggerations are right, if they
exaggerate the right thing. Let us point to heaven with tusks
and horns and fins and trunks and tails so long as they all point
to heaven. The ugly animals praise God as much as the beautiful.
The frog's eyes stand out of his head because he is staring at heaven.
The giraffe's neck is long because he is stretching towards heaven.
The donkey has ears to hear--let him hear."

And under the new inspiration they planned a gorgeous cathedral
in the Gothic manner, with all the animals of the earth
crawling over it, and all the possible ugly things making up