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The Cities of the Sun
The Cities of the Sun
Stories of Ancient America founded on historical incidents in the Book of Mormon By Elizabeth Rachel Cannon Illustrated from paintings by Geo. M. Ottinger and photographs by the Author SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION Salt Lake City, Utah 1911 "Builded on the ruins of dead thrones Whose temple walls were old when Thebes was new, On altars whose weird sacrificial stones With ghastly offerings were crimson through, Oblivion hides and holds thy secrets fast, The dust of ages lies upon thy past, All-wond
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THE MARTYR.
THE MARTYR.
I. The King's Council II. The Revel III. The Execution IV. The Waters of Mormon V. The Flight VI. The Abduction VII. The Revenge...
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THE GADIANTONS.
THE GADIANTONS.
I. The Gossips at the Fountain II. In the Patio of Miriam III. The Balcony IV. The Triumph...
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GENERAL MORONI.
GENERAL MORONI.
I. The Capitulation of the Lamanites II. Moroni Raises the Standard of Liberty III. Amalickiah IV. Nemesis Overtakes Amalickiah...
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AMMON'S MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.
AMMON'S MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.
I. Ammon Embarks on a Mission II. The Cattle Herder III. The Trance IV. The Journey V. In Prison...
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WEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH
WEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH
I. The Shipwreck...
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THE CITY IN THE GLOOM.
THE CITY IN THE GLOOM.
I. The Last of His Tribe II. Alone...
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THE CONQUEST OF AIDA
THE CONQUEST OF AIDA
I. The Plot II. Aida Dances before Akish III. Fruition IV. Reaping the Whirlwind...
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
The end justifies the means, so these stories are designed to increase interest in the Book of Mormon. Hundreds of books have been written founded on the Bible, and there are some wonderfully colorful accounts of the founding of Christianity in Judea, Alexandria, and Rome. It is surprising that more has not been done dealing with the ancient history of the western world. Several of these stories were first published in the Improvement Era , and acknowledgement is made to that magazine for the en
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The Cities of the Sun
The Cities of the Sun
Stories of Ancient America, Founded on Historical Incidents in the Book of Mormon....
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I.
I.
THE KING'S COUNCIL. "What now, Amulon? Why so gloomy? Upon my word, you have not smiled for a week," and King Noah affectionately slapped his favorite's shoulder. "I'll warrant me it's a woman," continued the king, when the other vouchsafed no reply, "for nothing else would move you." "And what if it were?" answered the other moodily. "Would talking about it mend matters?" "There is only one cure for a broken heart," and Noah wagged his head sagely. "And that is—?" "Another love." "H'm." "Among
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II.
II.
THE REVEL A solitary figure crossed the court on the pyramid, where the cluster of state buildings was located. Although he went toward the palace, he lagged like an unwelcome guest at a feast. The night was not cold but he shivered and wrapped his cloak around him. Behind him lay the great stone amphitheatre, with its tier after tier of seats, vaulted by the starlit sky. To the north loomed the great temple, surmounted by its tower. The somber blackness was relieved only by the sacred fire that
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III.
III.
THE EXECUTION. The great market place was the heart of the city. The streets, like so many arteries, emptied into its pulsating center. There all the buying and selling went on. Here was a fruit stand from which a bronze Lamanitish goddess flicked the flies. Yonder was a clothier's containing garments of chameleon dyes. There were cafes, candy stands, butcher shops, fish from the lake, venders of pottery, and makers of lace. The band played there in the afternoon, and lovers sought the shade of
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IV.
IV.
THE WATERS OF MORMON. Gloom reigned in the palace and in the heart of Zara. The death of Abinadi seemed to portend evil. Alma was condemned to death, and guards were scouting the country for him, for he had disappeared. Zara was torn with fear, for she expected daily to see him dragged there in irons. Again she thought he had been secretly murdered, and this hunting for him was a pretense. Then a message came to her. She sent for Amulon, who came gladly, for she had locked herself up in her apar
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V.
V.
THE FLIGHT. Consternation reigned in the palace. The unsuccessful army returned, announcing the escape of Alma and four hundred and fifty of his followers. Amulon, in an angry mood, and the king had had words over the disappearance of Zara. Noah foresaw trouble with her father, and Gideon was one of his best generals. Nor was he mistaken, for along came the sturdy old soldier demanding to see his daughter. Noah explained that the girl was gone, that every effort had been made to locate her, but
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VI.
VI.
THE ABDUCTION. Like nomads the priests wandered into the forest, subsisting on berries and wild game. One day Omo, the voluptuary, came into camp with what for him was unusual speed. The men loafing around the camp began to jeer at him. "I have seen such a sight—" he began. "You must have seen something to make you run. He has seen such a sight—" "As you would all break your necks to see." "What have you seen?" "Women." "Women!" they muttered. "Girls—young, beautiful, graceful as gazelles." "He
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VII.
VII.
THE REVENGE. Alma came in and hung his sickle on the wall. Although he assumed cheerfulness, his wife, who greeted him brightly over the pile of colored wool with which she was working, knew that he was sorely troubled. The room was airy, but simple, in its appointments. The floor was carpeted with rush mats and bears' skins, while the walls bore trophies of the chase in the form of antlers and deer heads. The supper looked inviting, and Alma came to it with the hunger born of hard labor in the
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I.
I.
THE GOSSIPS AT THE FOUNTAIN THE LAMANITE GIRL WAS PRETTY. "Hurry with your trifling, and lend me your cup that I may fill my jars," admonished Abish. "You are in a hurry, today?" queried Sara lazily. The water in the fountain was low and it had to be scooped up from the bottom. Sara was trickling the cool liquid over her fingers quite oblivious to her own empty water pitchers standing; with gaping mouths on the curb. The two women, Abish, servant in the house of Ahah, and Sara a servant of Seant
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II.
II.
IN THE PATIO OF MIRIAM. A party of four sat at the supper board of Miriam. It was spread in the roofed cloisters, midway between the patio where the margherites, like Psyche, flirted with their own fair image in the fountain, and the house, where, through gold embroidered gauze curtains, an occasional glimpse was had of a vast inner apartment set with mosaics. Before the guests, who sat on mats, were spread tempting dulces (sweets) and heaped up salvers of the strange fruits of the tropics, the
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III.
III.
THE BALCONY. Ahah threw herself in the hammock on the balcony that her apartment opened on. She was shaken with rage, but the more violent the passion the sooner does it consume itself. Destruction would have descended on the head of Hagoth, if it had appeared at that moment; as it was her anger had just three hours to cool. The stars hung low in the tropic heavens; a nearby field was illumined by the phosphorescent glow of flitting fireflies; below a tree burst into a galaxy of white stars. As
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IV.
IV.
THE TRIUMPH. Ahah lay languidly back in the boat and dabbled her white hand in the water. Seantum opposite, equally lazy, was doing nothing more strenuous than watch the sunlight on her hair of burnished copper. The servant Abish knelt in the bottom of the boat trying to bring order out of the chaos of flowers with which the craft was loaded. It was the festival of flowers and Ahah had insisted on buying some of every kind she saw. As she had selected them for their gaudiness the effect was pict
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I.
I.
THE CAPITULATION OF THE LAMANITES. Moroni leaned back in his chair under the canopy of his tent. Another man, under the strain that the young general had passed through, would have looked wan and haggard. He possessed that inexhaustible vitality characteristic of great leaders, that can be drained heavily and still meet all emergencies. "A messenger to see you, sir," announced a young lieutenant, pulling back the flap of the tent. Moroni looked up to behold an Indian of powerful build. As he ent
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II.
II.
MORONI RAISES THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY. Moroni sat in his study bent over a message which read, "Amalickiah has stirred up an insurrection to gain the kingdom," when a young lawyer entered and accosted him. The newcomer had formerly been the general's secretary and an affectionate familiarity existed between them. "What is it now?" asked Moroni pushing his papers aside, for something in the other's air suggested matters of import. MORONI RAISES THE STANDARD OF LIBERTY. "Only this, sir. I found ou
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III.
III.
AMALICKIAH. Zorabel carried out her threat; having cast love out of her life she was ruled by ambition. After renouncing Moroni she proceeded to marry the aged, decrepid Lachoneus. He was the richest man in all Zarahemla, but her beauty bought him. She lived for wealth and power and outwardly was as handsome as ever. Moroni used to see her rolling resplendently in her carriage, but he never met her without a twinge of the old pain. Amalickiah, when he saw his forces were far outnumbered by the l
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IV.
IV.
Nemesis Overtakes Amalickiah. Moroni again sat at his study table, while Teancum walked the floor like a caged hyena. The former was haggard-gray like a blasted tree; the latter vowed vengeance, in harsh, inarticulate sounds. Thus the two men took their sorrow differently. Word had come that day that the city of Moroni on the Atlantic coast had been sacked by Amalickiah. For certain reverses that his troops had met with at first, that worthy had sworn to drink Moroni's blood. City after city had
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I.
I.
AMMON EMBARKS ON A MISSION Ammon was the Napoleon of the western hemisphere. One trembles to think what a man of such power might have done, had he used it for his own aggrandizement, instead of converting souls. He was a king's son, and though not the eldest, he was chief among his brothers, for his name is always mentioned first. During a brilliant and careless youth, the whole course of his life had been metamorphosed by a miracle. Thenceforth he consecrated his life to the work of the Lord,
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II.
II.
THE CATTLE HERDER. For three days Ammon rode among the cattle. A born horseman he sat well the king's mount that had been sent him. During that time he had seen no more of Princess Alla though his ears had been filled with a multitude of servant's tales about her that were both weird and startling. It so chanced that early in the morning as the herders drove the cattle to the waters of Sebus to drink, that the robbers from the mountains had congregated there to scatter the herds. This was not an
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III.
III.
THE TRANCE. The queen sent for Ammon to come to the death chamber where the body of the king had lain in state for two days and two nights. Though her husband was apparently dead and the magnificent sepulchre stood gaping for the interment, the grief-stricken wife would not have it so. As in all southern countries, it was the custom to bury a corpse within twenty-four hours after death. The servants began to go about holding their noses as they exclaimed, "He stinketh." In this dilemma, the quee
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IV.
IV.
THE JOURNEY. Ammon and the king had been playing totoloque, a game of ball, in the garden. Lamoni sat himself down to rest, for the heat of the day approached. "Ammon, I would have had you for a son, but I must needs be content to keep you for a friend." "It is an honor to be counted the friend of the king," he retorted, ignoring the first part of the remark. "Alla takes it rather hard." An amused twinkle came into the father's eye. "She has been unbearable since you refused her." "I have consec
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V.
V.
IN PRISON. The guard admitted Ammon on his passport. As they passed through the corridors of the jail, he eagerly scanned every group of prisoners in anticipation of recognizing a familiar form. When they reached the large sunny courtyard in the middle of the rambling buildings his hopes ran high, for the place was crowded. Here were the prisoners accused of petty thieving. In the center, in a murky looking fountain, a bronze Hercules bathed his mighty shoulders. Others fashioned sandals, wove b
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WEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH.
WEST WITH THE SHIPS OF HAGOTH.
THE ISLAND CHIEF The man fought with the waves, throwing out his white arms ever more feebly. At times it seemed that he must give up, and under would go the black head, only to reappear again a little nearer the shore, with eyes bent on those smiling, white sands, that seemed to mock in derision. Hawai was half defeated by famine before he began the battle. One of the survivors in the storm-tossed bark, he had seen two of his companions drown before his eyes, when the craft was dashed to pieces
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I.
I.
THE LAST OF HIS TRIBE The thing sprawled on the white stone of the Giant's Steps, in the canyon. Closer scrutiny proved it to be a man who lay on his stomach drinking out of a blue pool of water. He stood up and showed what a miserable thing he was. He had been white, and displayed the pitiable plight of the civilized man reduced to dire extremity. His horny feet were encased in ungainly moccasins, shaggy goatskin swathed him about the middle, while his poor shoulders shivered under their coveri
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II.
II.
Alone. At first, overwhelmed with the disaster, Ulric did not realize his condition. He spent a number of days burying the dead beneath the floor. He placed their implements of war with them, and at the head he put an olla, containing a little of the corn that was left; over all he put a layer of charcoal and covered it up with earth. Merari's head he placed upon a shelf, saying, "You stay there old fellow, and help me. You and I are great pals. You are the only friend I've got left." In the aft
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I.
I.
THE PLOT. Jared, as he reclined on the roof-garden, looked out over the city basking in the afternoon light. Although it was yet warm, he had stumbled out into the open air from his siesta couch where he had smothered and tried in vain to sleep during the sultry afternoon. There was a discontented look in his eyes as his gaze wandered over the vast extent of the roofs, the palms silhouetted against a pastel sky, to the crystalline peaks in the distance crowned with eternal snow. The nearby stone
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II.
II.
AIDA DANCES BEFORE AKISH. Akish stood at the gate of the gardens of Jared on the night of the banquet. In crimson tunic he leaned a vivid patch against the gray stone arch. A nearby torch illumined his figure, lean, brown and muscular. Black-eyed, hawk-beaked and cruel-lipped, he conveyed a suggestion of power that was felt in the magnetic personality of the man. A band of dull gold hung low over his brow, sheathing his glossy, black hair. Collar and sandals of the same material were the only or
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III.
III.
FRUITION. Lured on by the bait of Aida, Akish called the secret societies together and started his diabolical machinations, but the Lord warned Omer, in a dream, of his impending danger, with the result that the old king gathered his household together and departed secretly to the land of Ablom, where he pitched his tents by the sea-shore. Jared was anointed king by the hand of wickedness, and at the same time Akish was wedded to Aida. If Jared loved power, Akish did more so, and his vaulting am
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IV.
IV.
REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. Beyond the initial step, Aida had taken no part in Akish's crimes. When he attained the throne, she thought that his violence must cease, but his increased power only offered him more opportunities to sate his lust for wickedness. Because his honor was bound up with his queen, as well as for her innate charm, Akish had cared more for her than he did for anybody. But, steeped with satiety, he constantly sought new sensations; and, as he grew more brutish, Aida's influence w
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