To
WILLY LEY
Author's Note: While the reader may pronounce the Ormazdian words in this story as he pleases, I offer the following suggestions: i, e, a, o, and u as in "police," "let," "calm," "more," and "rule," respectively; y when followed by a vowel as in "yet," when followed by r as in "myrtle," and otherwise as in "cyst." Vowels (other than y) have the same values in combination as singly; hence, Gliid is "glee-eed"; Yaedh "yah-edh." Dh represents the th in "the"; lh the voiceless l (Welsh ll); rh the voiceless r (Welsh rh); kh the velar fricative (German ch). As the last three sounds do not occur in English, they may be rendered as ordinary l, r, and k. Viagens (a Portuguese word) rhymes approximately with "Leah paints," with the g as in "beige." A glossary of Ormazdian words and names is appended to the book, but is not necessary to the understanding of the story. The quotation by Bloch in Chapter IX is from "The Oracles" from Last Poems by A. E. Housman. Copyright, 1922, 1950. Used by permission of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.