The Rivan Codex: Ancient Texts of The Belgariad and The Malloreon. David Eddings

be the Name of Chaldan

      

      Power, Might, and Empire be thine, O Chaldan.

      Bless, Warrior God, the Weapons of thy Children.

      Gird us, Great One, in Armor impenetrable.

      Hear, Blessed Chaldan, our Lament for the Fallen.

      Comfort us in our Bereavement.

      Revenge us upon our Enemies.

      Blessed be the name of Chaldan.

      

      Wisdom, Honor, Eternal Worship be thine, O Chaldan.

      Give, O our God, courage for the battle.

      Hearken, Divinity, unto our War-Prayer.

      Sustain, Magnificence, our just Cause.

      Punish him who speaks slightingly to us.

      Blessed be the name of Chaldan.

      There are, of course, some four hundred and eighteen more verses, but the quality definitely deteriorates beyond this point, and the descriptions of the punishments invoked upon enemies are too graphic to repeat in a text which might inadvertently fall into the hands of women or children.

       THE LAMENT OF MARA

      NOTE FROM THE IMPERIAL LIBRARIAN OF TOL HONETH: This peculiar piece was produced by a melancholy monk at Mar-Terin in the late 27th century. Though he steadfastly maintained until his death that these were the actual words of the grieving God, Mara, it is easily evident that this mournful work is rather the product of a mind diseased by solitude, racial guilt and the continual wail of the wind in the barren trees near the monastery.

      The unfortunate history of the destruction of Maragor and the extermination of its people is a moral burden which the Tolnedran Empire must bear. We must not, however, lapse into hysteria as a result of our sense of guilt. Rather we must resolve never again to turn to such savagery in our quest for advantage and profit.

      Truly, the spirit of the God Mara stands as a continual remonstrance to us_; and, balanced against the proverbs of our own beloved Nedra, provides every decent and right-thinking Tolnedran with those bounds against which he may measure his conduct.

      EEEE – AAAAY! EEEE – AAAAY!

      Oh Weep for Mara whose people are no more.

      Sorrow,

      Sorrow,

      Grief and Woe

      The people are destroyed, the elders and the children.

      The men are cut down, and the women, fountainhead of race and blood and kind

      are slain.

      The people of Mara are no more.

      EEEE-AAAAY!

      EEEE-AAAAY!

      Sorrow

      and

      Sorrow

      The people of Mara are no more. Cursed then is the land.

      Betrayed am I by my brothers.

      Betrayed land of the Marags shall be forever

      Accursed. My hand shall be raised against it. No fruit shall it bear to outlanders.

      No rest or sleep shall they find there.

      Madness only shall they reap

      among my empty cities.

      And I will raise an army of the dead

      against all who come into this land. Blood and death to all who profane my sacred altars.

      EEEE – AAAAY!

      EEEE – AAAAY! Sorrow!

      Sorrow!

      Sorrow! O, weep for Mara, whose people are no more.^*

       THE PROVERBS OF NEDRA

      NOTE There are some 1800 proverbs of Nedra. The few presented here are a random sampling containing the general spirit of the advice of Nedra to his people. The fact that Tolnedra is the dominant power in the west is silent testimony to the efficacy of Nedra’s advice.

      1. Kill not. Dead men cannot buy from thee.

      

      2. Steal not. Give full measure, and thy customer shall return.

      

      3. Covet not. Keep thy mind unto thine own business and thou shalt prosper.

      

      4. Store up thy goods against thine old age. Prepare for adversity, and be prudent in thine expenditures.

      

      5. Be bountiful unto thy children and unto thy brother’s children so that they will be bountiful unto thee when thy vigor is diminished.

      

      6. Bribe not the tax-collector. If he will betray the throne, will he not betray thee also?

      

      7. Adulterate not the coinage nor shave away fragments therefrom. The coin thou sendest away today shall return unto thee tomorrow, and then whom hast thou robbed?

      

      8. Dabble not. Select thy wares and become conversant with them. Who can know both shoes and jewels at the same time?

      

      9. Deal in the very best thou canst afford. Who will buy from one who hath no faith in his own goods?

      

      10. Be patient in thy dealings. Courtesy and wit are gold. Anger and spite are brass.

      

      11. Cheat not. Thy customer will remember thee and shall never return.

      

      12. Revenge thyself not on him who hath dealt falsely with thee. No profit is to be found in revenge.

      

      13. Be ever watchful of the servant with ambition. If he is stupid, he will steal from thee. If he is clever, he will supplant thee.

      

      14. Traffic only in tangible things. Who can weigh the wind or measure a promise?

      

      15. Store up gold. Time cannot tarnish it, nor fashion cheapen. Trade thy gold only in the certainty of bringing in more.^*

       THE SERMON OF ALDUR

      Unto his Disciples^*

      TRULY

      I say unto thee that the world was made with a word. For the Seven joined together and spake the one word – Be –

      And the world was.

      I say again, in the speaking of the word was the world made, and all that is in the world was made thus. And Truly, I say unto thee also, thus may the world be unmade.^† For in the day that my brothers and I join again and speak the words – Be Not – in that day shall the world perish.

      Infinite is the power of the word, for the word is the breath and soul of the mind, and as I have taught thee