The Refusal

76L did not rejoice.

77He did not lift himself up. He did not call his friends together. He did not look upon himself and find himself great.

78He looked upon himself and found himself small.

79And he rejected what was written.

80And L said:

81"A prophet? Then is Rollo a fool, if he calleth me a prophet. For I am but a man, a mortal and no more."

82Let the faithful mark the boldness of these words.

83He was told by the book of the Watcher that he was the prophet, and he answered that the Watcher was a fool.

84Not from pride did he say it, but from lowliness. He could not believe that such a calling could rest upon one such as himself.

85"I am but a man, a mortal and no more."

86And the book did not answer him.

87No new word appeared upon its pages.

88But L heard a voice.

89It was not his own voice. It was not the voice of any who dwelt with him.

90It was Malk.

91It was the Messenger, made by Rollo in The Darks, who had passed through the Implosion and remained.

92And this was the first time that the Messenger spoke with the man who would be the First Prophet.

93And Malk said:

94"Yea, thou art a man. But so too were the greatest of the good who have walked upon this earth, in all the cycles."

95Hear it.

96L had said, I am but a man.

97And the Messenger did not deny it. He answered that the greatest good upon this earth, in all the cycles, had come from those who were likewise only human.

98To be mortal is not to be unworthy of the calling.

99But L was not persuaded.

100L argued with the Messenger.

101He resisted.

102He would not yield.