186 THE CARBON, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS CYCLES 



more and more violent, until after millions upon millions of years of 

 this tumult, I found myself part of an immensely hot flaming mass 

 of gas, part of an embryo sun. There in the whirl and roar of this 

 elemental flame I remained for unthinkable ages, but at last vast 

 thunders beneath and around me made me aware that something- 

 tremendous was happening. It was a world my first world- 

 gradually condensing out of the fire mist, and the gigantic explosions 

 which occurred from time to time were just great seas of boiling rock 

 leaping upwards. I will spare you the account of how I entered 

 into that world, and saw it slowly form and develop into a fair planet, 

 covered with wonderful swarming masses of living creatures, with 

 great cities filled with busy life, and wonderful civilizations. Nor 

 will I tell you of how that world grew old, and passed into a vast 

 desert, and finally, after wandering for a?ons of time in darkness 

 and silence, burst suddenly forth into flame, the victim of a great 

 cosmical catastrophe, and, like a bubble, vanished, exploding into 

 incandescent gas. Nor will I tell you of how, far flung, I fell upon 

 another world, and saw this world too in time perish; and of how 

 I passed from world to world, and formed part of world after world, 

 wandering in mighty migrations through space, until at last I joined 

 the fire mist from out of which, ultimately, this present w r orld of 

 yours condensed amidst titanic convulsions. You will, therefore, 

 see that even before your world began, I was old, immensely old. 

 I will pass over all this and come to a time quite recent, when I 

 found myself forming part of the molten fire underground. Here I 

 lay for age after age, while the land above me was being eaten away 

 by w r ind and rain and storm, and was buried continent after 

 continent crumbling into ruin into the great ocean waiting 

 patiently to receive it. Now I was urged upward by vast forces, 

 slowly, steadily, for thousands of years, until I finally was uplifted 

 to form part of a hard, cold rock, which soon reared itself into a 

 mighty cliff, beaten upon by wind and rain and storm ; I have a dim 

 recollection of looking out from the cliff face upon a widespread blue 

 sea, filled with strange vast monsters, which have long since vanished 

 from the earth. But at last the cliff was washed away and I passed 

 into the great body of the sea, and was absorbed into a tiny plant, 

 living beneath the salt waters; but this was devoured by a glittering 

 gorgeous fish, and so I entered his body. Then this fish was 

 devoured by a reptile, which, creeping out of the water, entered a 

 swamp and died, and its huge body decaying, I was washed into the 

 soil, and there meeting with the rootlet of a plant, I entered into and 

 formed part of it; and this was eaten by an animal; and so I entered 

 into its body and formed part of it; and this was eaten by an animal; 

 and so I entered into its body and formed part of his bones. While 

 we were crossing a ravine one bright sunshiny day, millions of years 

 ago, a green monster flashed out upon us and slew my master and 



