The Snow Leopard

by Peter Matthiessen

I [the hoopoe] am a messenger of the world invisible. . . . For years I have travelled by sea and land, over mountains and valleys. . . . We have a true king, he lives behind the mountains. . . . He is close to us, but we are far from him. The place where he dwells is inaccessible, and no tongue is able to utter his name. Before him hang a hundred thousand veils of light and darkness. . . . Do not imagine that the journey is short; and one must have the heart of a lion to follow this unusual road, for it is very long. . . . One plods along in a state of amazement, sometimes smiling, sometimes weeping. 11