When the land was very young it was still very small. Men and all manner of beasts lived in the land, and every day there were more, but there was no more land. There was one clever young girl named Lily. She was so named because she was born from a lily flower, as was not so unusual for men and women in those times. Because she was born with her eyes open, she wanted to see all the ends of the earth. Thus when she had grown from a girl into a young woman, she set off to see all the lands there was to see.

She saw the trees where all the fallen gods lay, and she saw the tallest mountain in the world, and she saw the lands of the north before they were frozen. She walked from one end of the land to the other, and saw all the men and beasts who lived there, and she was still a young woman. “This land is too small,” she said, “and soon all the men and beasts of the world will fill it up.”

Lily went to the eastern lands, all the way to the edge of the earth where the ocean rolled over the sand. She sat on the beach with the ocean washing over her bare feet and spoke to the waves. “You are a vast ocean and our lands are very small, but there is no place for you on any of them. Make yourself a friend to men, and I will find a place for you on the land.” The ocean did not speak, but as the waves rolled in, they rose up from the ocean and became the curved and elegant neck of a creature Lily had seen nowhere else on the earth. It had long, high legs and a mane that rolled like the wind, and it was called the horse. One after another, they came marching out of the ocean and galloped across the beach and the lands of men.

Each horse sought out each man and woman in all the lands, for there were as many horses as there were men. For each child born, a horse marched out of the ocean. Each horse had a name, just as each man and woman did, and their names were given to them by the ocean, as all men’s name were given to them by the earth. Lily’s horse was the last one to walk from the waves, and her name was Peace.

Lily rode Peace to the west, until she came to the end of the earth. There were no Western Lands at this time, and when she had gone as far as the East could stretch, the earth dropped away into the ocean and nothing was left of it. “Here are where the lands of men come to an end,” said Lily. “With horses for all men and women, we will surely need more land upon which they may live.” Peace nodded her great head and said, “Then I will lie down here and there shall be more land for men.” Lily, bowed and climbed off Peace, and Peace lay down at the end of the earth. Peace became the Western Lands, and the ocean beyond her became the Western Ocean.

Well, of course Lily still had to see all the ends of the earth, so she began walking west. She was still a young woman when she reached the West Ocean, but she saw a great and vast land, and was pleased. She walked along beaches of white sand in her bare feet and let the ocean wash around her ankles again. She thanked the ocean and bowed to it, and in a moment a horse came prancing up from the waves of the west.

The horse told her his name was Rome and that he would carry her to lands where no men had ever been. Lily was gracious and grateful, and climbed upon Rome’s back. From the lands of the West, Rome galloped out across the ocean. He walked upon the water and the waves, and in his footsteps great new lands and island nations rose up. Together Lily and Rome brought men and horses to these new lands, and gave names to all the beasts which had never before been seen.