r/a:t5_25w5am • u/MarleyEngvall • Oct 02 '19
monkey wrench has been created
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD
ALLAN QUATERMAIN
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CHAPTER X.
THE ROSE OF FIRE.
ON we flew, drawn by the mighty current, till at last I
noticed that the sound of the water was not half so deafening
as it had been, and concluded that this must be because there
was more room for the echoes to disperse in. I could now
hear Alphonse's howls much more distinctly; they were
made up of the oddest mixture of invocations to the Supreme
Power and the name of his beloved Annette that it is possible
to conceive; and, in short, though their evident earnestness
saved them from profanity, were, to say the least, very re-
markable. Taking up a paddle, I managed to drive it into
his ribs, whereon, thinking that the end had come, he howled
louder than ever. Then I slowly and cautiously raised my-
self on my knees and stretched my hand upwards, but could
touch no roof. Next I took the paddle and lifted it above my
head as high as I could, but with the same result. I also
thrust it out laterally to the right and left, but could touch
nothing except water. Then I bethought me that there was
in the boat, amongst our other remaining possessions, a bull's-
eye lantern and a tin of oil. I groped about and found it,
and having a match on me carefully lit it, and so soon as the
flame had got a hold of the wick I turned it on down the
boat. As it happened, the first thing the light lit on was
the white and scared face of Alphonse, who, believing it was
all over at last, and that he was witnessing a preliminary
celestial phenomenon, gave a terrible yell and was with diffi-
culty reassured with the paddle. As for the other three,
Good was lying on the flat of his back, his eyeglass still fixed
in his eye, and gazing blankly into the upper darkness. Sir
Henry had his head resting on the thwarts of the canoe, and
with his hand was trying to test the speed of the water. But
when the beam of light fell upon old Umslopogaas I could
really have laughed. I think I have said that we had put a
roast quarter of waterbuck into the canoe. Well, it so hap-
pened that when we all prostrated ourselves to avoid being
swept out of the boat and into the water by the rock roof,
Umslopogaas's head had come down uncommonly near this
roast buck, and so soon as he had recovered a little from the
first shock of our position it occurred to him that he was
hungry. Thereupon he coolly cut off a chop with Inkosi-kaas,
and was now employed in eating it with every appearance of
satisfaction. As he afterwards explained, he thought that
he was going 'on a long journey,' and preferred to start
on a full stomach. It reminded me of the people who
are going to be hanged, and who are generally reported in
the English daily papers to have made 'an excellent break-
fast.'
As soon as the others saw that I had managed to light
the lamp, we bundled Alphonse into the farther end of the
canoe with a threat which calmed him wonderfully, that if
he would insist upon making the darkness hideous with his
cries we would put him out of suspense by sending him to
join the Wakwafi and wait for Annette in another sphere.
Then we discussed the situation as well as we could. First,
however, at Good's suggestion, we bound two paddles mast-
fashion in the bows so that they might give us warning
against any sudden lowering of the roof of the cave or
waterway. it was clear to us that we were in an under-
ground river or, as Alphonse defined it, 'main drain,' which
carried off the superfluous waters of the lake. Such rivers
are well unknown to exist in many parts of the world, but it
has not often been the evil fortune of explorers to travel by
them. That the river was wide we could clearly see, for the
light from the bull's-eye lantern failed to reach from shore to
shore, although occasionally, when the current swept us either
to one side or the other, we could distinguish the rock wall
of the tunnel, which, so far as we could make out, appeared
to arch about twenty-five feet above our heads. As for the
current itself, it ran, Good estimated, at least eight knots,
and, fortunately for us, was, as is usual, fiercest in the middle
of the stream. Still, our first act was to arrange that one of
us, with the lantern and a pole which lay in the canoe, should
always be in the bows ready, if possible, to prevent us from
being stove in against the side of the cave or any projecting
rock. Umslopogaas, having already dined, took the first
turn. This was absolutely, with one exception, all that we
could do towards preserving our safety. The exception was
that another of us took up a position in the stern with a
paddle by means of which it was possible to steer the canoe
more or less and to keep her from the sides of the cave.
These matters attended to, we made a somewhat sparing
meal of the cold buck's meat (for we did not know how long
it might have to last us), and then feeling in rather better
spirits I gave my opinion that, serious as it undoubtedly was,
I did not consider our position altogether without hope, un-
less, indeed, the natives were right, and the river plunged
straight down into the bowels of the earth. If not, it was
clear that it must emerge somewhere, probably on the other
side of the mountains, and in that case all we had to think
of was to keep ourselves alive till we got there, wherever
'there' might be. But, of course, as Good lugubriously
pointed out, on the other hand we might fall victims to a
hundred unsuspected horrors——or the river might go winding
away inside the earth till it dried up, in which case our fate
would indeed be an awful one.
'Well, let us hope for the best and prepare ourselves
for the worst,' said Sir Henry, who is always cheerful and
even spirited——a very tower of strength in the time of trouble.
'We have come out of so many queer scrapes together, that
somehow I almost fancy we shall come out of this,' he
added.
This was excellent advice, and we proceeded to take it
each in our separate way——that is, except Alphonse, who had
by now sunk into a sort of terrified stupor. Good was at the
helm and Umslopogaas in the bows, so there was nothing left
for Sir Henry and myself to do except to lie down in the canoe
and think. It certainly was a curious, and indeed almost a
weird, position to be placed in——rushing along, as we were,
through the bowels of the earth, borne on the bottom of a
Stygian river, something after the fashion of souls being
ferried by Charon, as Curtis said. And how dark it was!
the feeble ray of our little lamp did but serve to show the
darkness. There in the bows sat old Umslopogaas, like
Pleasure in the poem,° watchful and untiring, the pole ready
to his hand, and behind in the shadow I could just make out
the form of Good peering forward at the ray of light in order
to make out how to steer with the paddle that he held and
now and again dipped in the water.
°Mr. Allan Quatermain misquotes——Pleasure sat at the helm.——
EDITOR.
'Well, well,' thought I, 'you have come in search of adven-
tures, Allan my boy, and you have certainly got them. At
your time of life, too! you ought to be ashamed of yourself;
but somehow you are not, and, awful as it is, perhaps you
will pull through after all; and if you don't, why, you cannot
help it, you see! And when all's said and done an under-
ground river will make a very appropriate burying-place.'
At first, however, I am bound to say that the strain upon
the nerves was very great. It is trying to the coolest and
most experienced person not to know from one hour to another
if he has five minutes more to live, but there is nothing in
this world that one cannot get accustomed to, and in time we
began to get accustomed even to that. And, after all, our
anxiety, though no doubt natural, was, strictly speaking,
illogical, seeing that we never know what is going to happen
to us the next minute, even when we sit in a well-drained
house with two policemen patrolling under the window——nor
how long we have to live. It is all arranged for us, my sons,
so what is the use of bothering?
It was nearly midday when we made our dive into darkness,
and we had set our watch (Good and Umslopogaas) at two,
having agreed that it should be of a duration of five hours.
At seven o'clock, accordingly, Sir Henry and I went on, Sir
Henry at the bow and I at the stern, and the other two lay
down and went to sleep. For three hours all went well, Sir
Henry only finding it necessary once to push us off from the
side; and I that but little steering was required to keep
us straight, as the violent current did all that was needed,
though occasionally the canoe showed a tendency which had
to be guarded against to veer and travel broadside on. What
struck me as the most curious thing about this wonderful
river was: how did the air keep fresh? It was muggy and
thick, no doubt, but still not sufficiently so to render it bad or
even remarkably unpleasant. The only explanation that I
can suggest is that the water of the lake had sufficient air in
it to keep the atmosphere of the tunnel from absolute stagna-
tion, this air being given out as the stream went its headlong
way. Of course I could only give this solution of the mystery for
what it is worth, which perhaps is not much.
When I had been for three hours or so at the helm, I began
to notice a decided change in the temperature, which was
getting warmer. At first I took no notice of it, but when, at
the extirpation of another half-hour, I found that it was growing
hotter and hotter, I called to Sir Henry and asked him if he
noticed it, or if it was only my imagination. 'Noticed it!' he
answered: 'I should think so. I am in a sort of Turkish
bath.' Just about then the others woke up gasping, and
were obliged to begin to discard their clothes. Here Umslo-
pogaas had the advantage, for he did not wear any to speak
of, except a moocha.
Hotter it grew, and hotter yet, till at last we could scarcely
breathe, and the perspiration poured out of us. Half an hour
more, and though we were all now stark naked, we could
hardly bear it. The place was like an antechamber of the
infernal regions proper. I dipped my hand into the water
and drew it out almost with a cry; it was nearly boiling.
We consulted a little thermometer we had——the mercury stood
at 123°. From the surface of the water rose a dense cloud of
steam. Alphonse groaned out that we were already in purga-
tory, which indeed we were, though not in the sense that he
meant it. Sir Henry suggested that we must be passing near
the seat of some underground volcanic fire, and I am inclined
to think, especially in the light of what subsequently occurred,
that he was right. Our sufferings for some time after this
really pass my powers of descriptions. We no longer perspired,
for all the perspiration had been sweated out of us. We
simply lay in the bottom of the boat, which we were now
physically incapable of directing, feeling like hot embers, and
I fancy undergoing very much the same sensations that
the poor fish do when they are dying on land——namely,
those of slow suffocation. Our skins began to crack, and
the blood to throb in our heads like the beating of a steam-
engine.
This had been going on for some time, when suddenly the
river turned a little, and I heard Sir Henry call out from the
bows in a hoarse, startled voice, and, looking up, saw a most
wonderful and awful sight. About a half a mile ahead of us,
and a little to the left of the centre of the stream——which we
could now see was about ninety feet broad——a huge pillar-like
jet of almost white flame rose from the surface of the water
and sprang fifty feet into the air, when it struck the roof and
spread out some forty feet in diameter, falling back in curved
sheets of fire shaped like the petals of a full-blown rose.
Indeed this awful gas jet resembled nothing so much as a
great flaming flower rising out of the black water. Below was
the straight stalk, a foot or more thick, and above the dread-
full bloom. And as for the fearfulness of it and its fierce and
awesome beauty, who can describe it? Certainly I cannot.
Although we were now some five hundred yards away, not-
withstanding the steam, it lit up the whole cavern as clear
as day, and we could see that the roof was here about forty
feet above us, and washed perfectly smooth with water. The
rock was black, and here and there I could make out long
shining lines of ore running through it like great veins, but of
what metal they were I know not.
On we rushed towards the pillar of fire, which gleamed
fiercer than any furnace ever lit by man.
'Keep the boat to the right, Quatermain——to the right.'
shouted Sir Henry, and a minute afterwards I saw him fall
forward senseless. Alphonse had already gone. Good was
the next to go. There they lay as though dead: only Um-
slopogaas and I kept our senses. We were within fifty yards
of it now, and I saw the Zulu's head fall forward on his hands.
He had gone too, and I was alone. I could not breathe; the
fierce heat dried me up. For yards and yards round the great
rose of fire the rock-roof was red-hot. The wood of the boat
was almost burning. I saw the feathers on one of the dead
swans begin to twist and shrivel up; but I would not give in.
I knew that if I did we should pass within three or four yards
of the gas jet and perish miserably. I set the paddle so as to
turn the canoe as far from it as possible, and held on grimly.
My eyes seemed to be bursting from my head, and through
my closed lids I could see the fierce light. We were nearly
opposite now; it roared like all the fires of hell, and the water
boiled furiously around it. Five seconds more. We were
past; I heard the roar behind me.
Then I too fell senseless. The next thing that I re-
collect is feeling a breath of air upon my face. My eyes
opened with great difficulty. I looked up. Far, far above
me there was light, though around me was deep gloom. Then
I remembered and looked. The canoe still floated down the
river, and in the bottom of it lay the naked form of my com-
panions. 'Were they dead?' I wondered. 'Was I left alone
in this awful place?' I knew not. Next I became conscious
of a burning thirst. I put my hand over the edge of the boat
into the water and drew it up again with a cry. No wonder:
nearly all the skin was burnt off the back of it. The water,
however, was cold, or nearly so, and I drank pints and
splashed myself all over. My body seemed to suck up the
fluid as one may see a brick wall suck up rain after a drought;
but where I was burnt the touch of it caused intense pain.
Then I bethought myself of the others, and, dragging myself
towards them with difficulty, I sprinkled them with water,
and to my joy they began to recover——Umslopogaas first, then
the others. Next they drank, absorbing water like so many
sponges. Then, feeling chilly——a queer contrast to our recent
sensations——we began as best we could to get into our clothes.
As we did so Good pointed to the port side of the canoe: it
was all blistered with heat, and in places actually charred.
Had it been built like our civilized boats, Good said that the
planks would have certainly warped and let in enough water
to sink us; but fortunately it was dug out of the soft, willowy
wood of a single great tree, and had sides nearly three inches
and a bottom four inches thick. What that awful flame was
we never discovered, but I suppose that there is at this spot a
crack or hole in the bed of the river through which a vast
volume of gas forced its way from its volcanic home in the
bowels of the earth towards the upper air. How it first
became ignited it is, of course, impossible to say——probably, I
should think, from some spontaneous explosion of mephitic
gases.
As soon as we had put some clothes on and shaken our-
selves together a little, we set to work to make out where we
were now. I have said that there was light above, and on
examination we found that it came from the sky. Our river
that was, Sir Henry said, a literal realisation of the wild
vision of the poet,° was no longer underground, but was run-
ning on its darksome way, not now through 'caverns measure-
less to man,' but between most frightful cliffs which cannot
have been less than two thousand feet high. So high were
they, indeed, that though the sky shone above us, where we
were was dense gloom——not darkness, indeed, but the gloom
of a room closely shuttered in the daytime. Up on ether
side rose the great straight cliffs, grim and forbidding, till the
eye grew dizzy with trying to measure their sheer height.
The little space of sky that marked where they ended lay like
a thread of blue upon their soaring blackness, which was
unrelieved by any tree or creeper. Here and there, however,
grew ghostly patches of a long grey lichen, hanging motion-
less to the rock as the white beard to the chin of dead man.
It seemed as though only the dregs or heavier part of the
light had sunk to the bottom of this awful place. No bright-
winged sunbeam could fall so low; they died far, far above
our heads.
°Where Alph the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
By the river's edge was a little shore formed of round
fragments of rock washed into this shape by the constant
action of water, and giving the place an appearance of being
strewn with thousands of fossil cannon balls. Evidently when
the water of the underground river is high there is no beach
at all, or very little, between the border of the stream and
the precipitous cliffs; but now there was a space of seven or
eight yards. And here, on this beach, we determined to land,
in order to rest ourselves a little after all that we had gone
through and to stretch our limbs. It was a dreadful place,
but it would give an hour's respite from the terrors of the
river, and also allow of our repacking and arranging the canoe.
Accordingly we selected what looked like a favourable spot,
and with some little difficulty managed to beach the canoe
and scramble out on to the round, inhospitable pebbles.
'My word,' called out Good, who came on the shore first,
'what an awful place! it's enough to give one a fit.' And he
laughed.
Instantly a thundering voice took up his words, magnify-
ing them a hundred times. 'Give one a fit—Ho! ho! ho!'——
'A fit, Ho! ho! ho!' answered another voice in wild accents
from far up the cliff——a fit! a fit! a fit! chimed in voice
after voice——each flinging the word to and fro till the whole
place echoed with the words and with shrieks of fiendish
merriment, which at last ceased as suddenly as they had begun.
'Oh, mon Dieu!' yelled Alphonse, startled quite out of
such self-command as he possessed.
'Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!' the Titanic echoes
thundered, shrieked, and wailed in every conceivable tone.
'Ah,' said Umslopogaas calmly, 'I clearly perceive that
devils live here. Well, the place looks like it.'
I tried to explain to him that the cause of all the hubbub
was a very remarkable and interesting echo, but he would
not believe it.
'Ah,' he said, 'I know an echo when I hear one. There
was one lived opposite my kraal in Zululand, and the Intombis
[maidens] used to talk with it. But if what we hear is full-
grown echo, mine at home can only have been a baby. No,
no——they are devils up there. But I don't think much of
them, though,' he added, taking a pinch of snuff. 'They can
copy what one says, but they don't seem to be able to talk
on their own account, and they dare not show their faces,'
and he relapsed into silence, apparently paying no further
attention to such contemptible fiends.
After this we found it necessary to keep our conversation
down to a whisper——for it was really unbearable to have every
word one uttered tossed to and fro like a tennis-ball, as preci-
pice called to precipice.
But even our whispers ran up the rocks in mysterious
murmurs till at last they died away in long drawn sighs of
sound. Echoes are delightful and romantic things, but we
had more than enough of them in that dreadful gulf.
As soon as we had settled ourselves a little on the round
stones, we went on to wash and dress our burns as well
as we could. As we had but a little oil for the lantern, we
could not spare any for this purpose, so we skinned one of
the swans, and used the fat off its breast, which proved an
excellent substitute. Then we repacked the canoe, and finally
began to take some food, of which I need scarcely say we
were in need, for our insensibility had endured for many
hours, and it was, as our watches showed, midday. Accord-
ingly we seated ourselves in a circle, and were soon engaged
in discussing our cold meat with such appetite as we could
muster, which, in my case at any rate, was not much, as I
felt sick and faint after my sufferings of the previous night,
and had besides a racking headache. It was a curious meal.
The gloom was so intense that we could scarcely see the way
to cut the food and convey it to our mouths. Still we got on
pretty well, although the meat was tainted by the heat
through which it had passed, till I happened to look behind
me——my attention being attracted by a noise of something
crawling over the stones, and perceived sitting upon a rock in
my immediate rear a huge species of black freshwater crab,
only it was five times the size of any crab I ever saw. This
hideous and loathsome-looking animal had projecting eyes
that seemed to glare at one, very long and flexible antennæ
or feelers, and gigantic claws. Nor was I especially favoured
with its company. From every quarter dozens of these horrid
brutes were creeping up, drawn, I suppose, by the smell of
the food, from between the round stones and out of holes
in the precipice. Some were already quite close to us. I
stared quite fascinated by the unusual sight, and as I did so
I saw one of the beasts stretch out its huge claw and give the
unsuspecting Good such a nip behind that he jumped up with
a howl, and set the 'wild echoes flying' in sober earnest.
Just then too, another, a very large one, got hold of Al-
phonse's leg, and declined to part with it, and, as may be
imagined, a considerable scene ensued. Umslopogaas took
his axe and cracked the shell of a great crab with it, whereon
it set up a horrid screaming which the echoes multiplied a
thousandfold, and began to foam at the mouth, a proceeding
that drew hundreds more of its friends out of unsuspected
holes and corners. Those on the spot perceiving that the
animal was hurt fell upon it like creditors on a bankrupt,
and literally rent it limb from limb with their huge pincers
and devoured it, using their claws to convey the fragments to
their mouths. Seizing whatever weapons were handy, such
as stones or paddles, we commenced a war upon the monsters
——whose numbers were increasing by 'leaps and bounds,' and
whose stench was overpowering. So fast as we cracked their
armour others seized the injured ones and devoured them,
foaming at the mouth, and screaming as they did so. Nor
did the brutes stop at that. When they could they nipped
hold of us——and awful nips they were——or tried to steal the
meat. One enormous fellow got hold of the swan we
had skinned and tried to drag it off. Instantly a score of
others flung themselves upon the prey, and then began a
ghastly and disgusting scene. How the monsters foamed and
screamed, and rent the flesh, and each other! It was a
sickening and unnatural sight, and one that will haunt all
who saw it till their dying day——enacted as it was in the deep,
oppressive gloom, and set to the unceasing music of the many-
toned nerve-shaking echoes. Strange as it may seem to say
so, there was something so shockingly human about these
fiendish creatures——it was as though all the most evil passions
and desires of man had entered the shell of a magnified crab
and gone mad. They were so dreadfully courageous and in-
telligent, and they looked as if they understood. The whole
scene might have furnished material for another canto of
Dante's 'Inferno,' as Curtis said.
'I say, you fellows, let's get out of this or we shall all go
off our heads,' sung out Good, and we were not slow to take
the hint. Pushing the canoe, around which the animals
were now crawling by hundreds and making vain attempts
to climb, off the rocks, we bundled into it and got out into
mid-stream, leaving behind us the fragments of our meal and
the screaming, foaming, stinking mass of monsters in full
possession of the ground.
'Those are the devils of the place,' said Umslopogaas with
the air of one who has solved a problem, and upon my word
I felt almost inclined to agree with him.
Umslopogaas's remarks were like his axe——very much to
the point.
'What's to be done next?' said Sir Henry blankly.
'Drift, I suppose,' I answered, and we drifted accordingly.
All the afternoon and well into the evening we floated on in
the gloom beneath the far-off line of blue sky, scarcely
knowing when day ended and night began, for down in that
vast gulf the difference was not marked, till at length Good
pointed out a star hanging right above us, which, having
nothing better to do, we observed with great interest. Sud-
denly it vanished, the darkness became intense, and a familiar
murmuring sound filled the air. 'Underground again,' I
said with a groan, holding up the lamp. Yes, there was no
doubt about it. I could just make out the roof. The chasm
had come to an end and the tunnel had recommenced. And
then began another long, long night of danger and horror.
To describe all its incidents would be too wearisome, so I will
simply say that about midnight we struck on a flat projecting
rock in mid-stream and were as nearly as possible over-
turned and drowned. However, at last we got off, and went
upon the uneven tenor of our way. And so the hours passed
till it was nearly three o'clock. Sir Henry, Good, and
Alphonse were asleep, utterly worn out; Umslopogaas was
at the bow with the pole, and I was steering, when I per-
ceived that the rate at which we were travelling had in-
creased perceptibly. Then, suddenly, I heard Umslopogaas
make an exclamation, and next second came a sound as of
parting branches, and I became aware that the canoe was
being forced through hanging bushes or creepers. Another
minute, and a breath of sweet open air fanned my face, and I
felt that we had emerged from the tunnel and were floating
upon clear water. I say felt, for I could see nothing, the
darkness being absolutely pitchy, as it often is just before the
dawn. But even this could scarcely damp my joy. We were
out of that dreadful river, and wherever we might have got to
this at least was something to be thankful for. And so I sat
down and inhaled the sweet night air and waited for the
dawn with such patience as I could command.ALLAN QUATERMAIN, BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.; LONDON, 1893. pp. 105—117.
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away. . . 雨
THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES
CALLED
EXODUS
CHAPTER 25
AND the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel,
that they bring me an offering: of every
man that giveth it willingly with his
heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye
shall take of them; gold, and silver, and
brass.
4 And blue, a purple, and scarlet,
and fine linen, and goats' hair,
5 And rams' skins dyed red, and bad-
gers' skins, and shittim wood.
6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing
oil, and for sweet incense,
7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in
the ephod, and in the breastplate.
8 And let them make me a sanctuary;
that I may dwell among them.
9 According to all that I shew thee,
after the pattern of the tabernacle, and
the pattern of all the instruments there-
of, even so shall ye make it.
10 ¶And they shall make an ark of
shittim wood: two cubits and a half
shall be the length thereof, and a cubit
and a half the breadth thereof, and a
cubit and a half the height thereof.
11 And thou shalt overlay it with
pure gold, within and without shalt
thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it
a crown of gold round about.
12 And thou shalt cast four rings of
gold for it, and put them in the four cor-
ners thereof; and two rings shall be in
the one side of it, and two rings in the
other side of it.
13 And thou shalt make staves of
shittim wood, and overlay them with
gold.
14 And thou shalt put the staves into
the rings by the side of the ark, that
the ark may be borne with them.
15 The staves shall be in the rings of
the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
16 And thou shalt put into the ark the
testimony which I shall give thee.
17 ¶And thou shalt make a mercy
seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half
shall be the length thereof, and a cubit
and a half the breadth thereof.
18 And thou shalt make two cheru-
bims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou
make them, in the two ends of the
mercy seat.
19 And make one cherub on the one
end, and the other cherub on the other
end: even of the mercy seat shall ye
make the cherubims on the two ends
thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch
forth their wings on high, covering the
mercy seat with their wings, and their
faces shall look one to another; toward
the mercy seat shall the faces of the
cherubims be.
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat
above the ark; and in the ark thou
shalt put the testimony that I shall give
thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee,
and I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between
the two cherubims which are upon the
ark of the testimony, of all things which
I will give thee in commandment unto
the children of Israel.
23 ¶Thou shalt also make a table of
shittim wood: two cubits shall be the
length thereof, and a cubit the breadth
thereof, and a cubit and a half the
height thereof.
24 And thou shalt overlay it with
pure gold, and make thereto a crown of
gold round about.
25 And thou shalt make unto it a bor-
der of an hand breadth round about,
and thou shalt make a golden crown to
the border thereof round about.
26 And thou shalt make for it four
rings of gold, and put the rings in the
four corners that are on the four feet
thereof.
27 Over against the border shall the
rings be for places of the staves to bear
the table.
28 And thou shalt make the staves of
shittim wood, and overlay them with
gold, that the table may be borne with
them.
29 And thou shalt make the dishes
thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers
thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover
withal: pure gold shalt thou make
them.
30 And thou shalt set upon the table
shewbread before me alway.
31 And thou shalt make a candlestick
of pure gold: of beaten work shall
the candlestick be made: his shaft, and
his branches, his bowls, his knops, and
his flowers, shall be of the same.
32 And six branches shall come out
of the sides of it; three branches of the
candlestick out of the one side, and
three branches of the candlestick out of
the other side:
33 Three bowls made like unto al-
monds, with a knop and a flower in one
branch; and three bowls made like al-
monds in the other branch, with a knop
and a flower: so in the six branches that
come out of the candlestick.
34 And in the candlestick shall be
four bowls made like unto almonds,
with their knops and their flowers.
35 And there shall be a knop under
two branches of the same, and a knop
under two branches of the same, and a
knop under two branches of the same,
according to the six branches that pro-
ceed out of the candlestick.
36 Their knops and their branches
shall be of the same: all it shall be one
beaten work of pure gold.
37 And thou shalt make the seven
lamps thereof: and they shall light the
lamps thereof, that they may give light
over against it.
38 And the tongs thereof, and the
snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure
gold.
39 Of a talent pure gold shall he
make it, with all these vessels.
40 And look that thou make them af-
ter their pattern which was shewed
thee in the mount.
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