Arthur Machen

The White People Arthur Machen

The morocco binding of the book was faded, and the colour had grown faint, but therewere no stains nor bruises nor marks of usage. The book looked as if it had beenbought 'on a visit to London' some seventy or eighty years ago, and had somehow beenforgotten and suffered to lie away out of sight. There was an old, delicate, lingeringodour about it, such an odour as sometimes haunts an ancient piece of furniture for acentury or more. The end-papers, inside the binding, were oddly decorated withcoloured patterns and faded gold. It looked small, but the paper was fine, and therewere many leaves, closely covered with minute, painfully formed characters. I found this book (the manuscript began) in a drawer in the old bureau that stands onthe landing. It was a very rainy day and I could not go out, so in the afternoon I got acandle and rummaged in the bureau. Nearly all the drawers were full of old dresses, butone of the small ones looked empty, and I found this book hidden right at the back. Iwanted a book like this, so I took it to write in. It is full of secrets. I have a great manyother books of secrets I have written, hidden in a safe place, and I am going to writehere many of the old secrets and some new ones; but there are some I shall not putdown at all. I must not write down the real names of the days and months which I foundout a year ago, nor the way to make the Aklo letters, or the Chian language, or the greatbeautiful Circles, nor the Mao Games, nor the chief songs. I may write something aboutall these things but not the way to do them, for peculiar reasons. And I must not saywho the Nymphs are, or the Dôls, or Jeelo, or what voolas mean. All these are mostsecret secrets, and I am glad when I remember what they are, and how many wonderfullanguages I know, but there are some things that I call the secrets of the secrets of thesecrets that I dare not think of unless I am quite alone, and then I shut my eyes, and putmy hands over them and whisper the word, and the Alala comes. I only do this at night