He took a path to the right of him and descended the sloping jungle with big, buoyant strides, almost running; he knew the way as though he had been down that path a thousand times.  He knew that in a few moments he would reach a whole hanging garden of red flowers, and he knew that when he had reached this he must again turn to the right.  It was as he thought:  the red flowers soon came to view.  He turned sharply, and then through the thinning greenery he caught sight of an open plain where more mushrooms grew.  But the plain was as yet a great way off, and the mushrooms seemed quite small.

“I shall get there in time,” he said to himself, and walked steadily on, looking neither to the right nor to the left.  It was evening by the time he reached the edge of the plain:  everything was growing dark.  The endless vapours and the high banks of cloud in which the whole of this world was sunk grew dimmer and dimmer.  In front of him was an empty level space, and about two miles further on the huge mushrooms stood out, tall and wide like the monuments of some prehistoric age.  And underneath them on the soft carpet there seemed to move a myriad vague and shadowy forms.

“I shall get there in time,” he thought.  He walked on for another half hour, and by this time the tall mushrooms were quite close to him, and he could see moving underneath them, distinctly now, green, living creatures like huge caterpillars, with glowing eyes.  They moved slowly and did not seem to interfere with each other in any way.  Further off, and beyond them, there was a broad and endless plain of high green stalks like ears of green wheat or millet, only taller and thinner.

He ran on, and now at his very feet, right in front of him, the green caterpillars were moving.  They were as big as leopards.  As he drew nearer they seemed to make way for him, and to gather themselves into groups under the thick stems of the mushrooms.  He walked along the pathway they made for him, under the shadow of the broad, sunshade-like roofs of these gigantic growths.  It was almost dark now, yet he had no doubt or difficulty as to finding his way.  He was making for the green plain beyond.  The ground was dense with caterpillars; they were as plentiful as ants in an ant’s nest, and yet they never seemed to interfere with each other or with him; they instinctively made way for him, nor did they appear to notice him in any way.  He felt neither surprise nor wonder at their presence.

It grew quite dark; the only lights which were in this world came from the twinkling eyes of the moving figures, which shone like little stars.  The night was no whit cooler than the day.  The atmosphere was as steamy, as dense and as aromatic as before.  He walked on and on, feeling no trace of fatigue or hunger, and every now and then he said to himself:  “I shall be there in time.”  The plain was flat and level, and covered the whole way with the mushrooms, whose roofs met and shut out from him the sight of the dark sky.