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BOOK III.THE DWELLER OF THE THRESHOLD.
"A DON AI, appear! appear!" And as the Seer spoke, the awful Presence glided out of Nothingness, and sat, sphinx-like, at the feet of the Alchemist. "I am come!" said the Thing. "You should say, `I have come,`--it`s better grammar," said the Boy-Neophyte, thoughtfully accenting the substituted expression. "Hush, rash Boy," said the Seer, sternly. "Would you oppose your feeble knowledge to the infinite intelligence of the Unmistakable? A word, and you are lost forever." The Boy breathed a silent prayer, and, handing a sealed package to the Seer, begged him to hand it to his father in case of his premature decease. "You have sent for me," hissed the Presence. "Behold me, Apokatharticon,--the Unpronounceable. In me all things exist that are not already coexistent. I am the Unattainable, the Intangible, the Cause, and the Effect. In me observe the Brahma of Mr. Emerson; not only Brahma himself, but also the sacred musical composition rehearsed by the faithful Hindoo. I am the real Gyges. None others are genuine." And the veiled Son of the Starbeam laid himself loosely about the room, and permeated Space generally. "Unfathomable Mystery," said the Rosicrucian in a low, sweet voice. "Brave Child with the Vitreous Optic! Thou who pervadest all things and rubbest against us without abrasion of the cuticle. I command thee, speak!" And the misty, intangible, indefinite Presence spoke.
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