The Book of the Unicorn

Chapter One




In the beginning, there was darkness, and the universe was without form,
and void.

And the Unicorn and the Serpent were not pleased, and they went far from
their brothers and sisters, until the Unicorn said, "This place is good." 
There the Serpent built his Logrus.  

The Unicorn noticed the difference between the places near the Logrus and
the places very far from it.  And she called the place near the Logrus
"Chaos" and the place far from it "Abyss".  

The Serpent and the Unicorn were lonely in the new land, and the Serpent
said, "Perhaps we should go and invite our brethren here, to see what we
have made, and to compliment us on its beauty."

And the Unicorn said "No, brother, we should not do so;  for they will be
jealous, and destroy this land.  Let me go into the Chaos and make some
companion for us."  And she turned from him, and went deep into the Chaos.

And she was gone for quite some time, and the Serpent began to be lonely.
Nine times he turned as though to call out into the Abyss and ask his
brethren to join him, and nine times he thought he heard the Unicorn's
voice crying "No," so he paused.  But though he heard her voice, she never
appeared, until the ninth time.  And that time she did reappear, and she
bore on her back nine creatures.  And they were: a human, a demon, a
beast, a fish, a fowl, a tree, a blade of grass, a snake and a spider.  

"Here, brother, I have brought us company," said the Unicorn.  And the
Serpent was glad he had not called out to his brethren in the Abyss.  

The Unicorn and Serpent sat for some time, enjoying the sight of their new
companions.

But their companions were fashioned out of Chaos, and were in Chaos as
well.  When the weather changed, each of the nine creatures of Chaos
changed with it, so that sometimes each looked like one of the others, or
like something else altogether.  And the Unicorn saw this, and was sad
that nothing could remain as she had fashioned it.  And the Serpent saw
this, and was happy that everything changed with the tides of the Chaos
born of his Logrus.

Time passed, and the Unicorn and Serpent climbed a small hill, and sat
under the tree.  So much time had passed, in fact, that it was no longer
the original tree, and now there were hundreds and thousands of trees;
and thousands and millions of blades of grass.  

And the Serpent contemplated a blade of grass, as the sky turned red then
green overhead.  The grass turned color too, and shape, and became furry
or sharp, longer or fatter, as everything around changed as well. And the
Serpent saw this, and was mesmerized by its beauty, and slept.

And the Unicorn contemplated a blade of grass, as the sky turned red then
green overhead.  The grass turned color too, and shape, and became furry
or sharp, longer or fatter, as everything around changed as well.  And the
Unicorn saw this, and was appalled by its inconstancy, and stood.

The Unicorn called over a particular favorite of the humans; a man named
Dworkin.  And she said "Dworkin, go you now to an island far from the
Logrus; as far into the Chaos as you can go. Await me there." And he bowed
to her, and ran forth to do her bidding. 

The Unicorn lowered her horn towards the sleeping Serpent, and dug out one
of his eyes.  Then she ran with it towards the island where Dworkin
waited, the screams of the Serpent chasing her all the way. 

On the island, she gave the Eye to Dworkin, and bade him draw what he saw
there;  and he did, while she stood guard over him.  And on that island,
he drew the Pattern.  When he had begun the task, he had been young and
vibrant and as changing as the Chaos;  when he ended, he was old, and
crabbed, and as unchanging as the Unicorn and the Serpent.  

The Unicorn saw this, and was pleased with the work of the day.