To all the kings of the Kirdaians, Agaroc[1], Bishop of Ixatciad, speaks to you, who, fulfilling the mission entrusted to him by the Lord, will recount what the holiest of the Symbaians, Lumpicurx of Targathe, learned by traveling through the remotest lands of the continent, which they call Parthegar. The mission, then, that Lumpicurx chose was to know all the idols that the Symbaians worshipped, in order to bring the Message of Christ. And when he reached all the peoples of the Symbaians, the saint did not end his mission there, but, traveling through forests, meadows, and mountains, he listened to the stories of the peoples he encountered, who spoke of fierce idols and violent animals[2].

BELEGORS

Lumpicurx embarked on a journey through the frozen lands, where the Tharcaians dwell, seeking to bring the true faith beyond the walls of Cipte, where all the Tharcaian Christians resided. And in the Symbaian city of Stigia, beside the bank of the river Erhabidy, he encountered some pagans, who said they had wandered through Tharcay for years, like Israel in the desert, until their idol showed them the place where they could eat and sleep, far from the Tharcaians and the wild beasts[3]. But the Enemy[4] sent there against the Symbaians cruel and dangerous beasts, whose heads were like those of owls, and feathers like those of owls covered their bodies, which were like those of monkeys, and from whose backs sprouted beautiful wings like those of eagles. The pagans called them "belegors," for they believed they were sisters of the creatures that guarded the forest of souls[5]. These animals wandered around the village while the men and women slept, and carried off the children who were awake[6].

THE FISH WITH DIAMOND SCALES

When Lumpicurx arrived in the lands of the Merinians, he entered Anoce, where the Christian Merinians had lived since Saint Arcideus had brought the true faith to King Arxitax, who loved the Merinian idols, but the Saint showed him the grace of the Lord. And the house of Arxitax still reigned, for the king of Anoce was Uzugebe, who received him in his court and led him to the church to hear mass. And, after the sacred celebration, the king told him about the beasts God had sent to guard them. These were large fish[7] that lived beneath the waters of Tauchyinous and reached Anoce through the waters of the Egray River. The beasts were as big as bears; they guarded the marines and often advised inexperienced young men. Their eyes were golden, and their scales were diamond-like; they cut the waters when they crashed against their bodies as they swam. With the movement of their tails, they raised great waves, and with another movement, they calmed them. They did not eat any creature from the sea, the earth, or the sky, but fed on the love that men felt for the Lord. When Lumpicurx was preparing to embark on a voyage to Agus[8], all the king's ships were at sea; so the Saint led a group of one hundred young Merinians to accompany him and help him on the journey. He called one of these beasts to the riverbank, and it responded, saying:

-Pious man, may God bless you and your company. Your work in the lands of the Merinians is well known. And Lumpicurx said to him:

-Good creature, may the Lord be with you in your task of helping men. I have called you because my journey must continue beyond the continent, toward the floating land that lies upon the waters of the Drelder[9]. I beg you to carry us on your back. Then the beast replied:

-Your words are good, but my body was made by the hands of the Lord, and I cannot carry those who sin against Him. And if there are evil desires in your hearts, you will descend into the waters of the sea, and your bodies will sink there. And Lumpicurx said to him:

-I understand your words, but cast away all worry, for I have offered my whole life to the Lord, and I will not sin, neither with my hands nor with my thoughts.

And having accepted the request, the beast called a hundred of his brothers, who came to the shore. The Saint and his companions climbed onto their backs. But before the island emerged from the waters, the young men began to imagine beautiful women and the riches they would find there, and they allowed their desires to enter their hearts. So the fish that carried them descended into the water, and there, eighty young Merinians, who had accepted the faith of Christ, were submerged and died.

THE VEGETABLE MEN

Then Lumpicurx arrived with twenty Merinians to the island, and, leaving the coast behind, they entered the forest. There they saw men's heads, with skin made of leaves, on the ground, surrounded by bushes, shoots, and stems from which they sprouted. The men of the island had sown them in the earth, planting magical seeds so that strong warriors would grow from them to defend them from invaders. Ten of these had already matured and emerged from the ground, naked, with green bodies, and attacked the Saint and the Merinians. They were killed by the green men, but the Saint killed them all, remaining alone in the forest. And, going deeper into the island, he found a group of men whose skin was the color of stems, and spoke to them about the Lord. They, moved by Lumpicurx's beautiful words and the way his voice made them dance, raised their hands to sky and accepted the Lord's faith. Then the Saint took water from the sea and, one by one, baptized them all[10], calling them the people of the Tharcheuns, which in the language of the Simbaínos means "Those who are in the forest."

MACILLORX

Ixatciad was a beautiful city, whose stone walls rose above the tops of the tallest trees, when Lumpicurx arrived there. He was received by King Ecdioriebus, who in those days loved the false gods of the pagan Kirdaians. And Lumpicurx spoke to him of Christ, of the Lord, and of the saints of the Lord. But the king would not allow those words to enter his ears. And his thoughts were not there, but on the Saebrous Sea, where dwelt a creature that the pagan Kirdaians called Macillorx, whose head, arms, and chest were like those of a man, but he had no legs. At the place where the legs would join the body, a back part of a fish's body was, and four white wings emerged from its hips[11]. This beast slept in the waters and attacked sailors, but sometimes it emerged and rose into the air, flying, and attacked the citizens of Ixátquiad. Then Lumpicurx approached the shore of Saebrous and called to the beast. It brought the human part of its body out above the waters and said to it:

-Holy man, I know your thoughts; I am here to kill all the men of this land, so that you do not spread the words of the God of Israel. And Lumpicurgus replied:

-Evil spirit, I know that the Enemy has sent you. But God has come to the Symbaians to save them and send them to all lands, so that they may save other peoples. Therefore, by the blood of the Lamb, sent by the Lord for the salvation of men, I command you to leave Dutory, to swim no more through the waters that touch it, nor to fly over the lands that cover it.

Then the beast, subdued by the power of the Lord, departed and was never again seen near any town of the Kirdaians. And Ecdioriebus fell on his knees on the earth, raising his hands to sky and receiving the true faith from the Lord. And Lumpicurx, taking water from the Saebrous, raised it to sky, praying to the Lord to bless it, and there he baptized the king and all the people of Ixatciad[12].

[1] Although the signatory of this epistle is Agaroc, it is most likely from a later period, since he did not live long enough to see all of Kirday Christianized and it is very unlikely that he sent such a letter to pagan kings.

[2] Although there is evidence that the Symbaians came to know and even meet with the peoples of the banks of the Cerpiecde and the Athrorectler (proof of this are the Symbaian ethnonyms such as "Darlaparmic" or "Tharcheun"), there is no testimony or evidence that in the time of Lumpicurx they knew more peoples of the region than the Tharcaians, the Merinians, the Kirdaians and the Phojeans.

[3] According to the narrator, the Symbaians wandered for years through Tharcay, until Stix showed them a place to settle. Because of this, they named their village Stigy: "The Stix's (village)".

[4] With Imimicus he refers to the Devil.

[5] This refers to the altargors (see Epistle of Sphiod §17). The name of the belegors comes from the combination of altargórs and béles ("snow").

[6] These creatures behave similarly to a bomakuri (see The bomakuri of the forests), so they may be the result of a syncretism with the Tharcaians.

[7] The nercerescire actually had the form of a serpent in Merinian mythology. But Christian Merinians identified it with a fish to avoid associating it with the Devil, seeking an animal more in keeping with what was considered good for Christianity, since it was a benign beast in mythology, and Christians syncretized it, considering it sent by God.

[8] From Agós, the Symbaian version of the name of the island of Ugoy.

[9] In Latin, Droelder, from the Symbaian, Drêildars (from the hiakkuon, Troleidoler). This was the name by which the Simbaians knew the Athrorectler Sea.

[10] There are no records that the Tharcheuns were Christians or that Lumpicurx had ever been in Ugoy.

[11] Macillorx (Makillork in Kirdaian) was the god who ruled and cared for all living beings. That's why he has a human body (representing terrestrial beings), a fish tail (representing aquatic beings), and wings (representing aerial beings).

[12] It is highly unlikely that Lumpicurx went as far as Kirday, much less that he evangelized Ecdioriebus, since at the time he considered them a threat (see the introduction to the Paladasty). The evangelization of the king and Ixatciad was most likely the work of Michiajaliobe of Torabe, wife of King Tirsaecous (see the introduction to the Epistle of Sphiod and the introduction to the Commentary on the Agaroc's Chronicles).