The mares that carry me as far as longing can reachrode on, once they had come and fetched me onto the
legendary road of the divinity that carries man who knows
through the vast and dark unknown. And on I was carried
as the mares, aware just where to go, kept carrying me
straining at the chariot; and young women led the way.
And the axle in the hubs let out the sound of a pipe
blazing from the pressure of the two well rounded wheels
at either side, as they rapidly led on: young women, girls,
daughters of the Sun who had left the mansions of Night
for the light and pushed back the veils from their faces
with their hands.
There are the gates of the pathways of the Night and Day,
held fast in place between the lintel above and a threshold of
stone; and they reached up into heaven, filled with gigantic doors.
And the keys- that now open, now lock- are held fast by
Justice: she who always demands exact returns. And with
self seductive words the girls cunningly persuanded her to
push back immediately, just for them, the bar that bolts
the gates. And as the doors flew open, making the bronze
axles with their pegs and nails spin- now one, now the other-
in their pipes, they created a gaping chasm. Straight through
and on the girls held fast their course for the chariot and
horses, straight down the road.
And the goddess welcomed me kindly, and took
my right hand in hers and spoke these words as she
addressed me: 'Welcome young man, partnered by immortal charioteers,
reaching our home with the mares that carry you. For it was
no hard fate that sent you travelling this road-so far away
from the beaten track of humans-but Rightness, and Justice.
And what's needed is for you to learn all things: both the
unshaken heart of persuasive Truth and the opinions of mortals,
in which there's nothing that can truthfully be trusted at all.
But even so, this too you will learn- how beliefs based on
appearance ought to be believable as they travel all through
all there is.'
Parmenides
Translation by Peter Kingsley In the Dark Places of Wisdom ISBN 1-890350-01-x (pbx.)
