BOOK II - THE ANCIENT TIMES - CHAPTER V - THE MARRIAGE OF KRAKEN AND ORBEROSIA

During these times there lived in the island of Alca a Penguin whose arm was
strong and whose mind was subtle. He was called Kraken, and had his dwelling
on the Beach of Shadows whither the inhabitants never ventured for fear of
serpents that lodged in the hollows of the rocks and lest they might encounter
the souls of Penguins that had died without baptism. These, in appearance like
livid flames, and uttering doleful groans, wandered night and day along the
deserted beach. For it was generally believed, though without proof, that
among the Penguins that had been changed into men at the blessed Mael's
prayer, several had not received baptism and returned after their death to
lament amid the tempests. Kraken dwelt on this savage coast in an inaccessible
cavern. The only way to it was through a natural tunnel a hundred feet long,
the entrance of which was concealed by a thick wood. One evening as Kraken was
walking through this deserted plain he happened to meet a young and charming
woman Penguin. She was the one that the monk Magis had clothed with his own
hands and thus was the first to have worn the garments of chastity. In
remembrance of the day when the astonished crowd of Penguins had seen her
moving gloriously in her robe tinted like the dawn, this maiden had received
the name of Orberosia.*

* "Orb, poetically, a globe when speaking of the heavenly bodies. By extension
any species of globular body."--Littre

At the sight of Kraken she uttered a cry of alarm and darted forward to escape
from him. But the hero seized her by the garments that floated behind, her,
and addressed her in these words:

"Damsel, tell me thy name, thy family and thy country."

But Orberosia kept looking at Kraken with alarm.

"Is it you, I see, sir," she asked him, trembling, "or is it not rather your
troubled spirit?"

She spoke in this way because the inhabitants of Alca, having no news of
Kraken since he went to live on the Beach of Shadows, believed that he had
died and descended among the demons of night.

"Cease to fear, daughter of Alca," answered Kraken. "He who speaks to thee is
not a wandering spirit, but a man full of strength and might. I shall soon
possess great riches."

And young Orberosia asked:

"How dost thou think of acquiring great riches, O Kraken, since thou art a
child of Penguins?"

"By my intelligence," answered Kraken.

"I know," said Orberosia, "that in the time that thou dwelt among us thou wert
renowned for thy skill in hunting and fishing. No one equalled thee in taking
fishes in a net or in piercing with thy arrows the swift-flying birds."

"It was but a vulgar and laborious industry, O maiden. I have found a means of
gaining much wealth for myself without fatigue. But tell me who thou art?"

"I am called Orberosia," answered the young girl.

"Why art thou so far away from thy dwelling and in the night?"

"Kraken, it was not without the will of Heaven."

"What meanest thou, Orberosia?"

"That Heaven, O Kraken, placed me in thy path, for what reason I know not."

Kraken beheld her for a long time in silence.

Then he said with gentleness:

"Orberosia, come into my house; it is that of the bravest and most ingenious
of the sons of the Penguins. If thou art willing to follow me, I will make
thee my companion."

Then casting down her eyes, she murmured:

"I will follow thee, master."

It is thus that the fair Orberosia became the consort of the hero Kraken. This
marriage was not celebrated with songs and torches because Kraken did not
consent to show himself to the people of the Penguins; but hidden in his cave
he planned great designs.

Read next: BOOK II - THE ANCIENT TIMES#CHAPTER VI - THE DRAGON OF ALCA

Read previous: BOOK II - THE ANCIENT TIMES#CHAPTER IV - THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE ESTATES OF PENGUINIA

Table of content of Penguin Island


GO TO TOP OF SCREEN

Post your review
Your review will be placed after the table of content of this book