Many seek to find the city of Slo-Na-Impah, of which many tales are told, and plunder the great caverns of their living jewels. Those who attempt this great theft have always come to grief. They are devoured by the terrible guardians of the treasure, who pursue them unsleeping across chasms and seas, and never fail in their duty. For the great green serpents Malice and Envy, and fire-eyed salamanders Greed and Hatred, surround then always and will be found even in the eyes of their dearest friends.
I myself have journeyed thence, but with a different aim. By walking humbly as a supplicant, and with honesty and an open heart, I was granted the boon to gaze for a time upon the great jewels, blazing under the starlight like stars themselves, each with a color never seen before or since. I walked away with empty hands, but with a far greater treasure. For having seen their jeweled colors shine, I carry in my heart the memory that can never be lost. I do not desire to see these wonders gripped within my fist, or closed with in a box; or even chained around the neck of a woman where they must either shame her beauty or be shamed by it.
And my greatest treasure is the knowlege that the jewels remain free and unbound. If someday I shall chance upon a traveller in a inn who has likewise seen these wonders, what shall equal our richness? For as we share with each other our memories of their beauty, each will awaken in the other memories yet more wonderful, shared freely, unstained by any dark thought. What finer treasure is there, than that which can never be stolen, and as it is shared only grows more splendid?
-- with thanks to Lord Dunsany
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