There passed across her mind during that period much that Paradou could

not have understood had it been told to him in words: chiefly the sense

of an enlightening contrast betwixt the man who talked of kings and the

man who kept a wine-shop, betwixt the love she yearned for and that to

which she had been long exposed like a victim bound upon the altar.

There swelled upon her, swifter than the Rhone, a tide of abhorrence

and disgust. She had succumbed to the monster, humbling herself below

animals; and now she loved a hero, aspiring to the semi-divine. It was

in the pang of that humiliating thought that she had closed her eyes.

Paradou--quick, as beasts are quick, to translate silence--felt the

insult through his blood; his inarticulate soul bellowed within him for

revenge. He glanced about the shop. He saw the two indifferent gentlemen

deep in talk, and passed them over: his fancy flying not so high. There

was but one other present, a country lout who stood swallowing his wine,

equally unobserved by all and unobserving; to him he dealt a glance of

murderous suspicion, and turned direct upon his wife. The wine-shop had

lain hitherto, a space of shelter, the scene of a few ceremonial

passages and some whispered conversation, in the howling river of the

wind; the clock had not yet ticked a score of times since Paradou's

appearance; and now, as he suddenly gave tongue, it seemed as though the

mistral had entered at his heels.

"What ails you, woman?" he cried, smiting on the counter.

"Nothing ails me," she replied. It was strange; but she spoke and stood

at that moment like a lady of degree, drawn upward by her aspirations.

"You speak to me, by God, as though you scorned me!" cried the husband.

The man's passion was always formidable; she had often looked on upon

its violence with a thrill, it had been one ingredient in her

fascination; and she was now surprised to behold him, as from afar off,

gesticulating but impotent. His fury might be dangerous like a torrent

or a gust of wind, but it was inhuman; it might be feared or braved, it

should never be respected. And with that there came in her a sudden glow

of courage and that readiness to die which attends so closely upon all

strong passions.

"I do scorn you," she said.

"What is that?" he cried.

"I scorn you," she repeated, smiling.

"You love another man!" said he.

"With all my soul," was her reply.

The wine-seller roared aloud so that the house rang and shook with it.

"Is this the ----?" he cried, using a foul word, common in the South;

and he seized the young countryman and dashed him to the ground. There

he lay for the least interval of time insensible; thence fled from the

house, the most terrified person in the county. The heavy measure had

escaped from his hands, splashing the wine high upon the wall. Paradou

caught it. "And you?" he roared to his wife, giving her the same name in

the feminine, and he aimed at her the deadly missile. She expected it,

motionless, with radiant eyes.

But before it sped, Paradou was met by another adversary, and the

unconscious rivals stood confronted. It was hard to say at that moment

which appeared the more formidable. In Paradou, the whole muddy and

truculent depths of the half-man were stirred to frenzy; the lust of

destruction raged in him; there was not a feature in his face but it

talked murder. Balmile had dropped his cloak: he shone out at once in

his finery, and stood to his full stature; girt in mind and body; all

his resources, all his temper, perfectly in command; in his face the

light of battle. Neither spoke; there was no blow nor threat of one; it

was war reduced to its last element, the spiritual; and the huge

wine-seller slowly lowered his weapon. Balmile was a noble, he a

commoner; Balmile exulted in an honourable cause. Paradou already

perhaps began to be ashamed of his violence. Of a sudden, at least, the

tortured brute turned and fled from the shop in the footsteps of his

former victim, to whose continued flight his reappearance added wings.

So soon as Balmile appeared between her husband and herself,

Marie-Madeleine transferred to him her eyes. It might be her last

moment, and she fed upon that face; reading there inimitable courage and

illimitable valour to protect. And when the momentary peril was gone by,

and the champion turned a little awkwardly towards her whom he had

rescued, it was to meet, and quail before, a gaze of admiration more

distinct than words. He bowed, he stammered, his words failed him; he

who had crossed the floor a moment ago, like a young god, to smite,

returned like one discomfited; got somehow to his place by the table,

muffled himself again in his discarded cloak, and for a last touch of

the ridiculous, seeking for anything to restore his countenance, drank

of the wine before him, deep as a porter after a heavy lift. It was

little wonder if Ballantrae, reading the scene with malevolent eyes,

laughed out loud and brief, and drank with raised glass, "To the

champion of the Fair."

Marie-Madeleine stood in her old place within the counter; she disdained

the mocking laughter; it fell on her ears, but it did not reach her

spirit. For her, the world of living persons was all resumed again into

one pair, as in the days of Eden; there was but the one end in life, the

one hope before her, the one thing needful, the one thing possible,--to

be his.

CHAPTER I

THE PRINCE

That same night there was in the city of Avignon a young man in distress

of mind. Now he sat, now walked in a high apartment, full of draughts

and shadows. A single candle made the darkness visible; and the light

scarce sufficed to show upon the wall, where they had been recently and

rudely nailed, a few miniatures and a copper medal of the young man's

head. The same was being sold that year in London, to admiring

thousands. The original was fair; he had beautiful brown eyes, a

beautiful bright open face; a little feminine, a little hard, a little

weak; still full of the light of youth, but already beginning to be

vulgarised; a sordid bloom come upon it, the lines coarsened with a

touch of puffiness. He was dressed, as for a gala, in peach-colour and

silver; his breast sparkled with stars and was bright with ribbons; for

he had held a levee in the afternoon and received a distinguished

personage incognito. Now he sat with a bowed head, now walked

precipitately to and fro, now went and gazed from the uncurtained

window, where the wind was still blowing, and the lights winked in the

darkness.

The bells of Avignon rose into song as he was gazing; and the high notes

and the deep tossed and drowned, boomed suddenly near or were suddenly

swallowed up, in the current of the mistral. Tears sprang in the pale

blue eyes; the expression of his face was changed to that of a more

active misery; it seemed as if the voices of the bells reached, and

touched and pained him, in a waste of vacancy where even pain was

welcome. Outside in the night they continued to sound on, swelling and

fainting; and the listener heard in his memory, as it were their

harmonies, joy-bells clashing in a northern city, and the acclamations

of a multitude, the cries of battle, the gross voices of cannon, the

stridor of an animated life. And then all died away, and he stood face

to face with himself in the waste of vacancy, and a horror came upon his

mind, and a faintness on his brain, such as seizes men upon the brink of

cliffs.

On the table, by the side of the candle, stood a tray of glasses, a

bottle, and a silver bell. He went thither swiftly, then his hand

lowered first above the bell, then settled on the bottle. Slowly he

filled a glass, slowly drank it out; and, as a tide of animal warmth

recomforted the recesses of his nature, stood there smiling at himself.

He remembered he was young; the funeral curtains rose, and he saw his

life shine and broaden and flow out majestically, like a river sunward.

The smile still on his lips, he lit a second candle and a third; a fire

stood ready built in a chimney, he lit that also; and the fir-cones and

the gnarled olive billets were swift to break in flame and to crackle on

the hearth, and the room brightened and enlarged about him like his

hopes. To and fro, to and fro, he went, his hands lightly clasped, his

breath deeply and pleasurably taken. Victory walked with him; he marched

to crowns and empires among shouting followers; glory was his dress. And

presently again the shadows closed upon the solitary. Under the gilt of

flame and candle-light, the stone walls of the apartment showed down

bare and cold; behind the depicted triumph loomed up the actual failure:

defeat, the long distress of the flight, exile, despair, broken

followers, mourning faces, empty pockets, friends estranged. The memory

of his father rose in his mind: he, too, estranged and defied; despair

sharpened into wrath. There was one who had led armies in the field, who

had staked his life upon the family enterprise, a man of action and

experience, of the open air, the camp, the court, the council-room; and

he was to accept direction from an old, pompous gentleman in a home in

Italy, and buzzed about by priests? A pretty king, if he had not a

martial son to lean upon! A king at all?

"There was a weaver (of all people) joined me at St. Ninians; he was

more of a man than my papa!" he thought. "I saw him lie doubled in his

blood and a grenadier below him--and he died for my papa! All died for

him, or risked the dying, and I lay for him all those months in the rain

and skulked in heather like a fox; and now he writes me his advice!

calls me Carluccio--me, the man of the house, the only king in that

king's race." He ground his teeth. "The only king in Europe! Who else?

Who has done and suffered except me? who has lain and run and hidden

with his faithful subjects, like a second Bruce? Not my accursed cousin,

Louis of France at least, the lewd effeminate traitor!" And filling the

glass to the brim, he drank a king's damnation. Ah, if he had the power

of Louis, what a king were here!

The minutes followed each other into the past, and still he persevered

in this debilitating cycle of emotions, still fed the fire of his

excitement with driblets of Rhine wine: a boy at odds with life, a boy

with a spark of the heroic, which he was now burning out and drowning

down in futile reverie and solitary excess.

From two rooms beyond, the sudden sound of a raised voice attracted him.

"By....

FABLES

FABLES

I

THE PERSONS OF THE TALE

After the 32nd chapter of "Treasure Island," two of the puppets strolled

out to have a pipe before business should begin again, and met in an

open place not far from the story.

"Good-morning, Cap'n," said the first, with a man-o'-war salute, and a

beaming countenance.

"Ah, Silver!" grunted the other. "You're in a bad way, Silver."

"Now, Cap'n Smollett," remonstrated Silver, "dooty is dooty, as I knows,

and none better; but we're off dooty now; and I can't see no call to

keep up the morality business."

"You're a damned rogue, my man," said the Captain.

"Come, come, Cap'n, be just," returned the other. "There's no call to be

angry with me in earnest. I'm on'y a chara'ter in a sea story. I don't

really exist."

"Well, I don't really exist either," says the Captain, "which seems to

meet that."

"I wouldn't set no limits to what a virtuous chara'ter might consider

argument," responded Silver. "But I'm the villain of this tale, I am;

and speaking as one sea-faring man to another, what I want to know is,

what's the odds?"

"Were you never taught your catechism?" said the Captain. "Don't you

know there's such a thing as an Author?"

"Such a thing as a Author?" returned John derisively. "And who better'n

me? And the p'int is, if the Author made you, he made Long John, and he

made Hands, and Pew, and George Merry--not that George is up to much,

for he's little more'n a name; and he made Flint, what there is of him;

and he made this here mutiny, you keep such a work about; and he had Tom

Redruth shot; and--well, if that's a Author, give me Pew!"

"Don't you believe in a future state?" said Smollett. "Do you think

there's nothing but the present story-paper?"

"I don't rightly know for that," said Silver; "and I don't see what it's

got to do with it, anyway. What I know is this: if there is sich a thing

as a Author, I'm his favourite chara'ter. He does me fathoms better'n he

does you--fathoms, he does. And he likes doing me. He keeps me on deck

mostly all the time, crutch and all; and he leaves you measling in the

hold, where nobody can't see you, nor wants to, and you may lay to that!

If there is a Author, by thunder, but he's on my side, and you may lay

to it!"

"I see he's giving you a long rope," said the Captain. "But that can't

change a man's convictions. I know the Author respects me; I feel it in

my bones: when you and I had that talk at the blockhouse door, who do

you think he was for, my man?"

"And don't he respect me?" cried Silver. "Ah, you should 'a' heard me

putting down my mutiny, George Merry and Morgan and that lot, no longer

ago'n last chapter; you'd 'a' heard something then! You'd 'a' seen what

the Author thinks o' me! But come now, do you consider yourself a

virtuous chara'ter clean through?"

"God forbid!" said Captain Smollett solemnly. "I am a man that tries to

do his duty, and makes a mess of it as often as not. I'm not a very

popular man at home, Silver, I'm afraid!" and the Captain sighed.

"Ah," says Silver. "Then how about this sequel of yours? Are you to be

Cap'n Smollett just the same as ever and not very popular at home, says

you? And if so, why, it's 'Treasure Island' over again, by thunder; and

I'll be Long John and Pew'll be Pew, and we'll have another mutiny as

like as not. Or are you to be somebody else? And if so, why, what the

better are you? and what the worse am I?"

"Why, look here, my man," returned the Captain; "I can't understand how

this story comes about at all, can I? I can't see how you and I who

don't exist should get to speaking here, and smoke our pipes for all the

world like reality? Very well, then, who am I to pipe up with my

opinions? I know the Author's on the side of good; he tells me so, it

runs out of his pen as he writes. Well, that's all I need to know; I'll

take my chance upon the rest."

"It's a fact he seemed to be against George Merry," Silver admitted,

musingly. "But George is little more'n a name at the best of it," he

added, brightening. "And to get into soundings for once. What is this

good? I made a mutiny, and I been a gentleman o' fortune; well, but by

all stories, you ain't no such saint. I'm a man that keeps company very

easy; even by your own account, you ain't, and to my certain knowledge

you're a devil to haze. Which is which? Which is good and which bad? Ah,

you tell me that! Here we are in stays, and you may lay to it!"

"We're none of us perfect," replied the Captain. "That's a fact of

religion, my man. All I can say is, I try to do my duty; and if you try

to do yours, I can't compliment you on your success."

"And so you was the judge, was you?" said Silver, derisively.

"I would be both judge and hangman for you, my man, and never turn a

hair," returned the Captain. "But I get beyond that: it mayn't be sound

theology, but it's common sense, that what is good is useful too--or

there and thereabout, for I don't set up to be a thinker. Now, where

would a story go to if there were no virtuous characters?"

"If you go to that," replied Silver, "where would a story begin, if

there wasn't no villains?"

"Well, that's pretty much my thought," said Captain Smollett. "The

Author has to get a story; that's what he wants; and to get a story, and

to have a man like the doctor (say) given a proper chance, he has to put

in men like you and Hands. But he's on the right side; and you mind your

eye! You're not through this story yet; there's trouble coming for you."

"What'll you bet?" asked John.

"Much I care if there ain't," returned the Captain. "I'm glad enough to

be Alexander Smollett, bad as he is; and I thank my stars upon my knees

that I'm not Silver. But there's the ink-bottle opening. To quarters!"

And indeed the Author was just then beginning to write the words:

CHAPTER XXXIII

II

THE SINKING SHIP

"Sir," said the first lieutenant, bursting into the Captain's cabin,

"the ship is going down."

"Very well, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain; "but that is no reason for

going about half-shaved. Exercise your mind a moment, Mr. Spoker, and

you will see that to the philosophic eye there is nothing new in our

position: the ship (if she is to go down at all) may be said to have

been going down since she was launched."

"She is settling fast," said the first lieutenant, as he returned from

shaving.

"Fast, Mr. Spoker?" asked the Captain. "The expression is a strange one,

for time (if you will think of it) is only relative."

"Sir," said the lieutenant, "I think it is scarcely worth while to

embark in such a discussion when we shall all be in Davy Jones's Locker

in ten minutes."

"By parity of reasoning," returned the Captain gently, "it would never

be worth while to begin any inquiry of importance; the odds are always

overwhelming that we must die before we shall have brought it to an end.

You have not considered, Mr. Spoker, the situation of man," said the

Captain, smiling, and shaking his head.

"I am much more engaged in considering the position of the ship," said

Mr. Spoker.

"Spoken like a good officer," replied the Captain, laying his hand on

the lieutenant's shoulder.

On deck they found the men had broken into the spirit-room, and were

fast getting drunk.

"My men," said the Captain, "there is no sense in this. The ship is

going down, you will tell me, in ten minutes: well, and what then? To

the philosophic eye, there is nothing new in our position. All our lives

long, we may have been about to break a blood-vessel or to be struck by

lightning, not merely in ten minutes, but in ten seconds; and that has

not prevented us from eating dinner, no, nor from putting money in the

Savings Bank. I assure you, with my hand on my heart, I fail to

comprehend your attitude."

The men were already too far gone to pay much heed.

"This is a very painful sight, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain.

"And yet to the philosophic eye, or whatever it is," replied the first

lieutenant, "they may be said to have been getting drunk since they came

aboard."

"I do not know if you always follow my thought, Mr. Spoker," returned

the Captain gently. "But let us proceed."

In the powder magazine they found an old salt smoking his pipe.

"Good God!" cried the Captain, "what are you about?"

"Well, sir," said the old salt apologetically, "they told me as she were

going down."

"And suppose she were?" said the Captain. "To the philosophic eye, there

would be nothing new in our position. Life, my old shipmate, life, at

any moment and in any view, is as dangerous as a sinking ship; and yet

it is man's handsome fashion to carry umbrellas, to wear indiarubber

overshoes, to begin vast works, and to conduct himself in every way as

if he might hope to be eternal. And for my own poor part I should

despise the man who, even on board a sinking ship, should omit to take a

pill or to wind up his watch. That, my friend, would not be the human

attitude."

"I beg pardon, sir," said Mr. Spoker. "But what is precisely the

difference between shaving in a sinking ship and smoking in a powder

magazine?"

"Or doing anything at all in any conceivable circumstances?" cried the

Captain. "Perfectly conclusive; give me a cigar!"

Two minutes afterwards the ship blew up with a glorious detonation.

III

THE TWO MATCHES

One day there was a traveller in the woods in California, in the dry

season, when the trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a long way,

and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his horse to smoke a

pipe. But when he felt in his pocket he found but two matches. He struck

the first, and it would not light.

"Here is a pretty state of things!" said the traveller. "Dying for a

smoke; only one match left; and that certain to miss fire! Was there

ever a creature so unfortunate? And yet," thought the traveller,

"suppose I light this match, and smoke my pipe, and shake out the dottle

here in the grass--the grass might catch fire, for it is dry like

tinder; and while I snatch out the flames in front, they might evade and

run behind me, and seize upon yon bush of poison oak; before I could

reach it, that would have blazed up; over the bush I see a pine-tree

hung with moss; that, too, would fly in fire upon the instant to its

topmost bough; and the flame of that long torch--how would the

trade-wind take and brandish that through the inflammable forest! I hear

this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and fire, I see

myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration chase and

outflank me through the hills; I see this pleasant forest burn for days,

and the cattle roasted, and the springs dried up, and the farmer ruined,

and his children cast upon the world. What a world hangs upon this

moment!"

With that he struck the match, and it missed fire.

"Thank God!" said the traveller, and put his pipe in his pocket.

IV

THE SICK MAN AND THE FIREMAN

There was once a sick man in a burning house, to whom there entered a

fireman.

"Do not save me," said the sick man. "Save those who are strong."

"Will you kindly tell me why?" inquired the fireman, for he was a civil

fellow.

"Nothing could possibly be fairer," said the sick man. "The strong

should be preferred in all cases, because they are of more service in

the world."

The fireman pondered a while, for he was a man of some philosophy.

"Granted," said he at last, as a part of the roof fell in; "but for the

sake of conversation, what would you lay down as the proper service of

the strong?"

"Nothing can possibly be easier," returned the sick man; "the proper

service of the strong is to help the weak."

Again the fireman reflected, for there was nothing hasty about this

excellent creature. "I could forgive you being sick," he said at last,

as a portion of the wall fell out, "but I cannot bear your being such a

fool." And with that he heaved up his fireman's axe, for he was

eminently just, and clove the sick man to the bed.

V

THE DEVIL AND THE INNKEEPER

Once upon a time the devil stayed at an inn, where no one knew him, for

they were people whose education had been neglected. He was bent on

mischief, and for a time kept everybody by the ears. But at last the

innkeeper set a watch upon the devil and took him in the fact.

The innkeeper got a rope's end.

"Now I'm going to thrash you," said the innkeeper.

"You have no right to be angry with me," said the devil. "I am only the

devil, and it is my nature to do wrong."

"Is that so?" asked the innkeeper.

"Fact, I assure you," said the devil.

"You really can't help doing ill?" asked the innkeeper.

"Not in the smallest," said the devil; "it would be useless cruelty to

thrash a thing like me."

"It would indeed," said the innkeeper.

And he made a noose and hanged the devil.

"There!" said the innkeeper.

VI

THE PENITENT

A man met a lad weeping. "What do you weep for?" he asked.

"I am weeping for my sins," said the lad.

"You must have little to do," said the man.

The next day they met again. Once more the lad was weeping. "Why do you

weep now?" asked the man.

"I am weeping because I have nothing to eat," said the lad.

"I thought it would come to that," said the man.

VII

THE YELLOW PAINT

In a certain city there lived a physician who sold yellow paint. This

was of so singular a virtue that whoso was bedaubed with it from head to

heel was set free from the dangers of life, and the bondage of sin, and

the fear of death for ever. So the physician said in his prospectus; and

so said all the citizens in the city; and there was nothing more urgent

in men's hearts than to be properly painted themselves, and nothing they

took more delight in than to see others painted. There was in the same

city a young man of a very good family but of a somewhat reckless life,

who had reached the age of manhood, and would have nothing to say to the

paint: "To-morrow was soon enough," said he; and when the morrow came he

would still put it off. So he might have continued to do until his

death; only, he had a friend of about his own age and much of his own

manners; and this youth, taking a walk in the public street, with not

one fleck of paint upon his body, was suddenly run down by a water-cart

and cut off in the heyday of his nakedness. This shook the other to the

soul; so that I never beheld a man more earnest to be painted; and on

the very same evening, in the presence of all his family, to appropriate

music, and himself weeping aloud, he received three complete coats and a

touch of varnish on the top. The physician (who was himself affected

even to tears) protested he had never done a job so thorough.

Some two months afterwards, the young man was carried on a stretcher to

the physician's house.

"What is the meaning of this?" he cried, as soon as the door was opened.

"I was to be set free from all the dangers of life; and here have I been

run down by that self-same water-cart, and my leg is broken."

"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is very sad. But I perceive I must

explain to you the action of my paint. A broken bone is a mighty small

affair at the worst of it; and it belongs to a class of accident to

which my paint is quite inapplicable. Sin, my dear young friend, sin is

the sole calamity that a wise man should apprehend; it is against sin

that I have fitted you out; and when you come to be tempted you will

give me news of my paint."

"O!" said the young man, "I did not understand that, and it seems rather

disappointing. But I have no doubt all is for the best; and in the

meanwhile, I shall be obliged to you if you will set my leg."

"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if your bearers

will carry you round the corner to the surgeon's, I feel sure he will

afford relief."

Some three years later, the young man came running to the physician's

house in a great perturbation. "What is the meaning of this?" he cried.

"Here was I to be set free from the bondage of sin; and I have just

committed forgery, arson, and murder."

"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is very serious. Off with your

clothes at once." And as soon as the young man had stripped, he examined

him from head to foot. "No," he cried with great relief, "there is not a

flake broken. Cheer up, my young friend, your paint is as good as new."

"Good God!" cried the young man, "and what then can be the use of it?"

"Why," said the physician, "I perceive I must explain to you the nature

of the action of my paint. It does not exactly prevent sin; it

extenuates instead the painful consequences. It is not so much for this

world as for the next; it is not against life; in short, it is against

death that I have fitted you out. And when you come to die, you will

give me news of my paint."

"O!" cried the young man, "I had not understood that, and it seems a

little disappointing. But there is no doubt all is for the best; and in

the meanwhile, I shall be obliged if you will help me to undo the evil I

have brought on innocent persons."

"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if you will go

round the corner to the police office, I feel sure it will afford you

relief to give yourself up."

Six weeks later the physician was called to the town gaol.

"What is the meaning of this?" cried the young man. "Here am I literally

crusted with your paint; and I have broken my leg, and committed all the

crimes in the calendar, and must be hanged to-morrow; and am in the

meanwhile in a fear so extreme that I lack words to picture it."

"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is really amazing. Well, well;

perhaps if you had not been painted, you would have been more frightened

still."

VIII

THE HOUSE OF ELD

So soon as the child began to speak, the gyve was riveted; and the boys

and girls limped about their play like convicts. Doubtless it was more

pitiable to see and more painful to bear in youth; but even the grown

folk, besides being very unhandy on their feet, were often sick with

ulcers.

About the time when Jack was ten years old, many strangers began to

journey through that country. These he beheld going lightly by on the

long roads, and the thing amazed him. "I wonder how it comes," he asked,

"that all these strangers are so quick afoot, and we must drag about our

fetter?"

"My dear boy," said his uncle, the catechist, "do not complain about

your fetter, for it is the only thing that makes life worth living. None

are happy, none are good, none are respectable, that are not gyved like

us. And I must tell you, besides, it is very dangerous talk. If you

grumble of your iron, you will have no luck; if you ever take it off,

you will be instantly smitten by a thunderbolt."

"Are there no thunderbolts for these strangers?" asked Jack.

"Jupiter is long-suffering to the benighted," returned the catechist.

"Upon my word, I could wish I had been less fortunate," said Jack. "For

if I had been born benighted, I might now be going free; and it cannot

be denied the iron is inconvenient, and the ulcer hurts."

"Ah!" cried his uncle, "do not envy the heathen! Theirs is a sad lot!

Ah, poor souls, if they but knew the joys of being fettered! Poor souls,

my heart yearns for them. But the truth is they are vile, odious,

insolent, ill-conditioned, stinking brutes, not truly human--for what

is a man without a fetter?--and you cannot be too particular not to

touch or speak with them."

After this talk, the child would never pass one of the unfettered on the

road but what he spat at him and called him names, which was the

practice of the children in that part.

It chanced one day, when he was fifteen, he went into the woods, and the

ulcer pained him. It was a fair day, with a blue sky; all the birds were

singing; but Jack nursed his foot. Presently, another song began; it

sounded like the singing of a person, only far more gay; at the same

time there was a beating on the earth. Jack put aside the leaves; and

there was a lad of his own village, leaping, and dancing and singing to

himself in a green dell; and on the grass beside him lay the dancer's

iron.

"O!" cried Jack, "you have your fetter off!"

"For God's sake, don't tell your uncle!" cried the lad.

"If you fear my uncle," returned Jack, "why do you not fear the

thunderbolt?"

"That is only an old wives' tale," said the other. "It is only told to

children. Scores of us come here among the woods and dance for nights

together, and are none the worse."

This put Jack in a thousand new thoughts. He was a grave lad; he had no

mind to dance himself; he wore his fetter manfully, and tended his ulcer

without complaint. But he loved the less to be deceived or to see others

cheated. He began to lie in wait for heathen travellers, at covert parts

of the road, and in the dusk of the day, so that he might speak with

them unseen; and these were greatly taken with their wayside questioner,

and told him things of weight. The wearing of gyves (they said) was no

command of Jupiter's. It was the contrivance of a white-faced thing, a

sorcerer, that dwelt in that country in the Wood of Eld. He was one like

Glaucus that could change his shape, yet he could be always told; for

when he was crossed, he gobbled like a turkey. He had three lives; but

the third smiting would make an end of him indeed; and with that his

house of sorcery would vanish, the gyves fall, and the villagers take

hands and dance like children.

"And in your country?" Jack would ask.

But at this, the travellers, with one accord, would put him off; until

Jack began to suppose there was no land entirely happy. Or, if there

were, it must be one that kept its folk at home; which was natural

enough.

But the case of the gyves weighed upon him. The sight of the children

limping stuck in his eyes; the groans of such as dressed their ulcers

haunted him. And it came at last in his mind that he was born to free

them.

There was in that village a sword of heavenly forgery, beaten upon

Vulcan's anvil. It was never used but in the temple, and then the flat

of it only; and it hung on a nail by the catechist's chimney. Early one

night Jack rose, and took the sword, and was gone out of the house and

the village in the darkness.

All night he walked at a venture; and when day came, he met strangers

going to the fields. Then he asked after the Wood of Eld and the house

of sorcery; and one said north, and one south; until Jack saw that they

deceived him. So then, when he asked his way of any man, he showed the

bright sword naked; and at that the gyve on the man's ankle rang and

answered in his stead; and the word was still _Straight on._ But the

man, when his gyve spoke, spat and struck at Jack, and threw stones at

him as he went away; so that his head was broken.

So he came to that wood, and entered in, and he was aware of a house in

a low place, where funguses grew, and the trees met, and the steaming of

the marsh arose about it like a smoke. It was a fine house, and a very

rambling; some parts of it were ancient like the hills, and some but of

yesterday, and none finished; and all the ends of it were open, so that

you could go in from every side. Yet it was in good repair, and all the

chimneys smoked.

Jack went in through the gable; and there was one room after another,

all bare, but all furnished in part, so that a man could dwell there;

and in each there was a fire burning, where a man could warm himself,

and a table spread where he might eat. But Jack saw nowhere any living

creature; only the bodies of some stuffed.

"This is a hospitable house," said Jack; "but the ground must be quaggy

underneath, for at every step the building quakes."

He had gone some time in the house, when he began to be hungry. Then he

looked at the food, and at first he was afraid; but he bared the sword,

and by the shining of the sword, it seemed the food was honest. So he

took the courage to sit down and eat, and he was refreshed in mind and

body.

"This is strange," thought he, "that in the house of sorcery there

should be food so wholesome."

As he was yet eating, there came into that room the appearance of his

uncle, and Jack was afraid because he had taken the sword. But his uncle

was never more kind, and sat down to meat with him, and praised him

because he had taken the sword. Never had these two been more pleasantly

together, and Jack was full of love to the man.

"It was very well done," said his uncle, "to take the sword and come

yourself into the House of Eld; a good thought and a brave deed. But now

you are satisfied; and we may go home to dinner arm in arm."

"O dear no!" said Jack. "I am not satisfied yet."

"How!" cried his uncle. "Are you not warmed by the fire? Does not this

food sustain you?"

"I see the food to be wholesome," said Jack; "and still it is no proof

that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg."

Now at this the appearance of his uncle gobbled like a turkey.

"Jupiter!" cried Jack, "is this the sorcerer?"

His hand held back and his heart failed him for the love he bore his

uncle; but he heaved up the sword and smote the appearance on the head;

and it cried out aloud with the voice of his uncle; and fell to the

ground; and a little bloodless white thing fled from the room.

The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his knees smote together, and

conscience cried upon him; and yet he was strengthened, and there woke

in his bones the lust of that enchanter's blood. "If the gyves are to

fall," said he, "I must go through with this, and when I get home I

shall find my uncle dancing."

So he went on after the bloodless thing. In the way he met the

appearance of his father; and his father was incensed, and railed upon

him, and called to him upon his duty, and bade him be home, while there

was yet time. "For you can still," said he, "be home by sunset; and then

all will be forgiven."

"God knows," said Jack, "I fear your anger; but yet your anger does not

prove that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg."

And at that the appearance of his father gobbled like a turkey.

"Ah, heaven," cried Jack, "the sorcerer again!"

The blood ran backward in his body, and his joints rebelled against him

for the love he bore his father; but he heaved up the sword, and plunged

it in the heart of the appearance; and the appearance cried out aloud

with the voice of his father; and fell to the ground; and a little

bloodless white thing fled from the room.

The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his soul was darkened; but now rage

came to him. "I have done what I dare not think upon," said he. "I will

go to an end with it, or perish. And when I get home, I pray God this

may be a dream, and I may find my father dancing."

So he went on after the bloodless thing that had escaped; and in the way

he met the appearance of his mother, and she wept. "What have you

done?" she cried. "What is this that you have done? O, come home (where

you may be by bedtime) ere you do more ill to me and mine; for it is

enough to smite my brother and your father."

"Dear mother, it is not these that I have smitten," said Jack; "it was

but the enchanter in their shape. And even if I had, it would not prove

that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg."

And at this the appearance gobbled like a turkey.

He never knew how he did that; but he swung the sword on the one side,

and clove the appearance through the midst; and it cried out aloud with

the voice of his mother; and fell to the ground; and with the fall of

it, the house was gone from over Jack's head, and he stood alone in the

woods, and the gyve was loosened from his leg.

"Well," said he, "the enchanter is now dead, and the fetter gone." But

the cries rang in his soul, and the day was like night to him. "This has

been a sore business," said he. "Let me get forth out of the wood, and

see the good that I have done to others."

He thought to leave the fetter where it lay, but when he turned to go,

his mind was otherwise. So he stooped and put the gyve in his bosom; and

the rough iron galled him as he went, and his bosom bled.

Now when he was forth of the wood upon the highway, he met folk

returning from the field; and those he met had no fetter on the right

leg, but, behold! they had one upon the left. Jack asked them what it

signified; and they said, "that was the new wear, for the old was found

to be a superstition." Then he looked at them nearly; and there was a

new ulcer on the left ankle, and the old one on the right was not yet

healed.

"Now, may God forgive me!" cried Jack. "I would I were well home."

And when he was home, there lay his uncle smitten on the head, and his

father pierced through the heart, and his mother cloven through the

midst. And he sat in the lone house and wept beside the bodies.

MORAL

Old is the tree and the fruit good,

Very old and thick the wood.

Woodman, is your courage stout?

Beware! the root is wrapped about

Your mother's heart, your father's bones;

And like the mandrake comes with groans.

IX

THE FOUR REFORMERS

Four reformers met under a bramble-bush. They were all agreed the world

must be changed. "We must abolish property," said one.

"We must abolish marriage," said the second.

"We must abolish God," said the third.

"I wish we could abolish work," said the fourth.

"Do not let us get beyond practical politics," said the first. "The

first thing is to reduce men to a common level."

"The first thing," said the second, "is to give freedom to the sexes."

"The first thing," said the third, "is to find out how to do it."

"The first step," said the first, "is to abolish the Bible."

"The first thing," said the second, "is to abolish the laws."

"The first thing," said the third, "is to abolish mankind."

X

THE MAN AND HIS FRIEND

A man quarrelled with his friend.

"I have been much deceived in you," said the man.

And the friend made a face at him and went away.

A little after, they both died, and came together before the great white

Justice of the Peace. It began to look black for the friend, but the man

for a while had a clear character and was getting in good spirits.

"I find here some record of a quarrel," said the Justice, looking in his

notes. "Which of you was in the wrong?"

"He was," said the man. "He spoke ill of me behind my back."

"Did he so?" said the Justice. "And pray how did he speak about your

neighbours?"

"O, he had always a nasty tongue," said the man.

"And you chose him for your friend?" cried the Justice. "My good fellow,

we have no use here for fools."

So the man was cast in the pit, and the friend laughed out aloud in the

dark and remained to be tried on other charges.

XI

THE READER

"I never read such an impious book," said the reader, throwing it on the

floor.

"You need not hurt me," said the book; "you will only get less for me

second-hand, and I did not write myself."

"That is true," said the reader. "My quarrel is with your author."

"Ah, well," said the book, "you need not buy his rant."

"That is true," said the reader. "But I thought him such a cheerful

writer."

"I find him so," said the book.

"You must be differently made from me," said the reader.

"Let me tell you a fable," said the book. "There were two men wrecked

upon a desert island; one of them made believe he was at home, the other

admitted----"

"O, I know your kind of fable," said the reader. "They both died."

"And so they did," said the book. "No doubt of that. And everybody

else."

"That is true," said the reader. "Push it a little further for this

once. And when they were all dead?"

"They were in God's hands, the same as before," said the book.

"Not much to boast of, by your account," cried the reader.

"Who is impious now?" said the book.

And the reader put him on the fire.

The coward crouches from the rod,

And loathes the iron face of God.

XII

THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER

"Look round you," said the citizen. "This is the largest market in the

world."

"O, surely not," said the traveller.

"Well, perhaps not the largest," said the citizen, "but much the best."

"You are certainly wrong there," said the traveller. "I can tell you...."

They buried the stranger at the dusk.

XIII

THE DISTINGUISHED STRANGER

Once upon a time there came to this earth a visitor from a neighbouring

planet. And he was met at the place of his descent by a great

philosopher, who was to show him everything.

First of all they came through a wood, and the stranger looked upon the

trees. "Whom have we here?" said he.

"These are only vegetables," said the philosopher. "They are alive, but

not at all interesting."

"I don't know about that," said the stranger. "They seem to have very

good manners. Do they never speak?"

"They lack the gift," said the philosopher.

"Yet I think I hear them sing," said the other.

"That is only the wind among the leaves," said the philosopher. "I will

explain to you the theory of winds: it is very interesting."

"Well," said the stranger, "I wish I knew what they are thinking."

"They cannot think," said the philosopher.

"I don't know, about that," returned the stranger: and then, laying his

hand upon a trunk: "I like these people," said he.

"They are not people at all," said the philosopher. "Come along."

Next they came through a meadow where there were cows.

"These are very dirty people," said the stranger.

"They are not people at all," said the philosopher; and he explained

what a cow is in scientific words which I have forgotten.

"That is all one to me," said the stranger. "But why do they never look

up?"

"Because they are graminivorous," said the philosopher; "and to live

upon grass, which is not highly nutritious, requires so close an

attention to business that they have no time to think, or speak, or look

at the scenery, or keep themselves clean."

"Well," said the stranger, "that is one way to live, no doubt. But I

prefer the people with the green heads."

Next they came into a city, and the streets were full of men and women.

"These are very odd people," said the stranger.

"They are the people of the greatest nation in the world," said the

philosopher.

"Are they indeed?" said the stranger. "They scarcely look so."

XIV

THE CART-HORSES AND THE SADDLE-HORSE

Two cart-horses, a gelding and a mare, were brought to Samoa, and put in

the same field with a saddle-horse to run free on the island. They were

rather afraid to go near him, for they saw he was a saddle-horse, and

supposed he would not speak to them. Now the saddle-horse had never seen

creatures so big. "These must be great chiefs," thought he, and he

approached them civilly. "Lady and gentleman," said he, "I understand

you are from the colonies. I offer you my affectionate compliments, and

make you heartily welcome to the islands."

The colonials looked at him askance, and consulted with each other.

"Who can he be?" said the gelding.

"He seems suspiciously civil," said the mare.

"I do not think he can be much account," said the gelding.

"Depend upon it he is only a Kanaka," said the mare.

Then they turned to him.

"Go to the devil!" said the gelding.

"I wonder at your impudence, speaking to persons of our quality!" cried

the mare.

The saddle-horse went away by himself. "I was right," said he, "they are

great chiefs."

XV

THE TADPOLE AND THE FROG

"Be ashamed of yourself," said the frog. "When I was a tadpole, I had no

tail."

"Just what I thought!" said the tadpole. "You never were a tadpole."

XVI

SOMETHING IN IT

The natives told him many tales. In particular, they warned him of the

house of yellow reeds tied with black sinnet, how any one who touched it

became instantly the prey of Akaaenga, and was handed on to him by Miru

the ruddy, and hocussed with the kava of the dead, and baked in the

ovens and eaten by the eaters of the dead.

"There is nothing in it," said the missionary.

There was a bay upon that island, a very fair bay to look upon; but, by

the native saying, it was death to bathe there. "There is nothing in

that," said the missionary; and he came to the bay, and went swimming.

Presently an eddy took him and bore him towards the reef. "Oho!" thought

the missionary, "it seems there is something in it after all." And he

swam the harder, but the eddy carried him away. "I do not care about

this eddy," said the missionary; and even as he said it, he was aware of

a house raised on piles above the sea; it was built of yellow reeds, one

reed joined with another, and the whole bound with black sinnet; a

ladder led to the door, and all about the house hung calabashes. He had

never seen such a house, nor yet such calabashes; and the eddy set for

the ladder. "This is singular," said the missionary, "but there can be

nothing in it." And he laid hold of the ladder and went up. It was a

fine house; but there was no man there; and when the missionary looked

back he saw no island, only the heaving of the sea. "It is strange about

the island," said the missionary, "but who's afraid? my stories are the

true ones." And he laid hold of a calabash, for he was one that loved

curiosities. Now he had no sooner laid hand upon the calabash than that

which he handled, and that which he saw and stood on, burst like a

bubble and was gone; and night closed upon him, and the waters, and the

meshes of the net; and he wallowed there like a fish.

"A body would think there was something in this," said the missionary.

"But if these tales are true, I wonder what about my tales!"

Now the flaming of Akaaenga's torch drew near in the night; and the

misshapen hands groped in the meshes of the net; and they took the

missionary between the finger and the thumb, and bore him dripping in

the night and silence to the place of the ovens of Miru. And there was

Miru, ruddy in the glow of the ovens; and there sat her four daughters,

and made the kava of the dead; and there sat the comers out of the

islands of the living, dripping and lamenting.

This was a dread place to reach for any of the sons of men. But of all

who ever came there, the missionary was the most concerned; and, to make

things worse, the person next him was a convert of his own.

"Aha," said the convert, "so you are here like your neighbours? And how

about all your stories?"

"It seems," said the missionary, with bursting tears, "that there was

nothing in them."

By this the kava of the dead was ready, and the daughters of Miru began

to intone in the old manner of singing: "Gone are the green islands and

the bright sea, the sun and the moon and the forty million stars, and

life and love and hope. Henceforth is no more, only to sit in the night

and silence, and see your friends devoured; for life is a deceit, and

the bandage is taken from your eyes."

Now when the singing was done, one of the daughters came with the bowl.

Desire of that kava rose in the missionary's bosom; he lusted for it

like a swimmer for the land, or a bridegroom for his bride; and he

reached out his hand, and took the bowl, and would have drunk. And then

he remembered, and put it back.

"Drink!" sang the daughter of Miru. "There is no kava like the kava of

the dead, and to drink of it once is the reward of living."

"I thank you. It smells excellent," said the missionary. "But I am a

blue-ribbon man myself; and though I am aware there is a difference of

opinion even in our own confession, I have always held kava to be

excluded."

"What!" cried the convert. "Are you going to respect a taboo at a time

like this? And you were always so opposed to taboos when you were

alive!"

"To other people's," said the missionary. "Never to my own."

"But yours have all proved wrong," said the convert.

"It looks like it," said the missionary, "and I can't help that. No

reason why I should break my word."

"I never heard the like of this!" cried the daughter of Miru. "Pray,

what do you expect to gain?"

"That is not the point," said the missionary. "I took this pledge for

others, I am not going to break it for myself."

The daughter of Miru was puzzled; she came and told her mother, and Miru

was vexed; and they went and told Akaaenga.

"I don't know what to do about this," said Akaaenga; and he came and

reasoned with the missionary.

"But there _is_ such a thing as right and wrong," said the missionary;

"and your ovens cannot alter that."

"Give the kava to the rest," said Akaaenga to the daughters of Miru. "I

must get rid of this sea-lawyer instantly, or worse will come of it."

The next moment the missionary came up in the midst of the sea, and

there before him were the palm-trees of the island. He swam to the shore

gladly, and landed. Much matter of thought was in that missionary's

mind.

"I seem to have been misinformed upon some points," said he. "Perhaps

there is not much in it, as I supposed; but there is something in it

after all. Let me be glad of that."

And he rang the bell for service.

MORAL

The sticks break, the stones crumble,

The eternal altars tilt and tumble,

Sanctions and tales dislimn like mist

About the amazed evangelist.

He stands unshook from age to youth

Upon one pin-point of the truth.

XVII

FAITH, HALF-FAITH, AND NO FAITH AT ALL

In the ancient days there went three men upon pilgrimage; one was a

priest, and one was a virtuous person, and the third was an old rover

with his axe.

As they went, the priest spoke about the grounds of faith.

"We find the proofs of our religion in the works of nature," said he,

and beat his breast.

"That is true," said the virtuous person.

"The peacock has a scrannel voice," said the priest, "as has been laid

down always in our books. How cheering!" he cried, in a voice like one

that wept. "How comforting!"

"I require no such proofs," said the virtuous person.

"Then you have no reasonable faith," said the priest.

"Great is the right, and shall prevail!" cried the virtuous person.

"There is loyalty in my soul; be sure, there is loyalty in the mind of

Odin."

"These are but playings upon words," returned the priest. "A sackful of

such trash is nothing to the peacock."

Just then they passed a country farm, where there was a peacock seated

on a rail; and the bird opened its mouth and sang with the voice of a

nightingale.

"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this shakes not

me! Great is the truth, and shall prevail!"

"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was

downcast for a mile or two.

But presently they came to a shrine, where a Fakeer performed miracles.

"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The peacock

was but an adminicle. This is the base of our religion." And he beat

upon his breast, and groaned like one with colic.

"Now to me," said the virtuous person, "all this is as little to the

purpose as the peacock. I believe because I see the right is great and

must prevail; and this Fakeer might carry on with his conjuring tricks

till doomsday, and it would not play bluff upon a man like me."

Now at this the Fakeer was so much incensed that his hand trembled; and,

lo! in the midst of a miracle the cards fell from up his sleeve.

"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet it shakes not

me!"

"The devil fly away with the Fakeer!" cried the priest. "I really do not

see the good of going on with this pilgrimage."

"Cheer up!" cried the virtuous person. "Great is the right, and shall

prevail!"

"If you are quite sure it will prevail," says the priest.

"I pledge my word for that," said the virtuous person.

So the other began to go on again with a better heart.

At last one came running, and told them all was lost: that the powers of

darkness had besieged the Heavenly Mansions, that Odin was to die, and

evil triumph.

"I have been grossly deceived," cried the virtuous person.

"All is lost now," said the priest.

"I wonder if it is too late to make it up with the devil?" said the

virtuous person.

"O, I hope not," said the priest. "And at any rate we can but try.--But

what are you doing with your axe?" says he to the rover.

"I am off to die with Odin," said the rover.

XVIII

THE TOUCHSTONE

The King was a man that stood well before the world; his smile was sweet

as clover, but his soul withinsides was as little as a pea. He had two

sons; and the younger son was a boy after his heart, but the elder was

one whom he feared. It befell one morning that the drum sounded in the

dun before it was yet day; and the King rode with his two sons, and a

brave array behind them. They rode two hours, and came to the foot of a

brown mountain that was very steep.

"Where do we ride?" said the elder son.

"Across this brown mountain," said the King, and smiled to himself.

"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son.

And they rode two hours more, and came to the sides of a black river

that was wondrous deep.

"And where do we ride?" asked the elder son.

"Over this black river," said the King, and smiled to himself.

"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son.

And they rode all that day, and about the time of the sunsetting came to

the side of a lake, where was a great dun.

"It is here we ride," said the King; "to a King's house, and a priest's,

and a house where you will learn much."

At the gates of the dun, the King who was a priest met them; and he was

a grave man, and beside him stood his daughter, and she was as fair as

the morn, and one that smiled and looked down.

"These are my two sons," said the first King.

"And here is my daughter," said the King who was a priest.

"She is a wonderful fine maid," said the first King, "and I like her

manner of smiling."

"They are wonderful well-grown lads," said the second, "and I like their

gravity."

And then the two Kings looked at each other, and said, "The thing may

come about."

And in the meanwhile the two lads looked upon the maid, and the one grew

pale and the other red; and the maid looked upon the ground smiling.

"Here is the maid that I shall marry," said the elder. "For I think she

smiled upon me."

But the younger plucked his father by the sleeve. "Father," said he, "a

word in your ear. If I find favour in your sight, might not I wed this

maid, for I think she smiles upon me?"

"A word in yours," said the King his father. "Waiting is good hunting,

and when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home."

Now they were come into the dun, and feasted; and this was a great

house, so that the lads were astonished; and the King that was a priest

sat at the end of the board and was silent, so that the lads were filled

with reverence; and the maid served them smiling with downcast eyes, so

that their hearts were enlarged.

Before it was day, the elder son arose, and he found the maid at her

weaving, for she was a diligent girl. "Maid," quoth he, "I would fain

marry you."

"You must speak with my father," said she, and she looked upon the

ground smiling, and became like the rose.

"Her heart is with me," said the elder son, and he went down to the lake

and sang.

A little while after came the younger son. "Maid," quoth he, "if our

fathers were agreed, I would like well to marry you."

"You can speak to my father," said she; and looked upon the ground, and

smiled and grew like the rose.

"She is a dutiful daughter," said the younger son, "she will make an

obedient wife." And then he thought, "What shall I do?" and he

remembered the King her father was a priest; so he went into the temple,

and sacrificed a weasel and a hare.

Presently the news got about; and the two lads and the first King were

called into the presence of the King who was a priest, where he sat upon

the high seat.

"Little I reck of gear," said the King who was a priest, "and little of

power. For we live here among the shadow of things, and the heart is

sick of seeing them. And we stay here in the wind like raiment drying,

and the heart is weary of the wind. But one thing I love, and that is

truth; and for one thing will I give my daughter, and that is the trial

stone. For in the light of that stone the seeming goes, and the being

shows, and all things besides are worthless. Therefore, lads, if ye

would wed my daughter, out foot, and bring me the stone of touch, for

that is the price of her."

"A word in your ear," said the younger son to his father. "I think we do

very well without this stone."

"A word in yours," said the father. "I am of your way of thinking; but

when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home." And he smiled to the

King that was a priest.

But the elder son got to his feet, and called the King that was a priest

by the name of father. "For whether I marry the maid or no, I will call

you by that word for the love of your wisdom; and even now I will ride

forth and search the world for the stone of touch." So he said farewell,

and rode into the world.

"I think I will go, too," said the younger son, "if I can have your

leave. For my heart goes out to the maid."

"You will ride home with me," said his father.

So they rode home, and when they came to the dun, the King had his son

into his treasury. "Here," said he, "is the touchstone which shows

truth; for there is no truth but plain truth; and if you will look in

this, you will see yourself as you are."

And the younger son looked in it, and saw his face as it were the face

of a beardless youth, and he was well enough pleased; for the thing was

a piece of a mirror.

"Here is no such great thing to make a work about," said he; "but if it

will get me the maid I shall never complain. But what a fool is my

brother to ride into the world, and the thing all the while at home!"

So they rode back to the other dun, and showed the mirror to the King

that was a priest; and when he had looked in it, and seen himself like a

King, and his house like a King's house, and all things like themselves,

he cried out and blessed God. "For now I know," said he, "there is no

truth but the plain truth; and I am a King indeed, although my heart

misgave me." And he pulled down his temple and built a new one; and then

the younger son was married to the maid.

In the meantime the elder son rode into the world to find the touchstone

of the trial of truth; and whenever he came to a place of habitation, he

would ask the men if they had heard of it. And in every place the men

answered: "Not only have we heard of it, but we alone, of all men,

possess the thing itself, and it hangs in the side of our chimney to

this day." Then would the elder son be glad, and beg for a sight of it.

And sometimes it would be a piece of mirror, that showed the seeming of

things; and then he would say, "This can never be, for there should be

more than seeming." And sometimes it would be a lump of coal, which

showed nothing; and then he would say, "This can never be, for at least

there is the seeming." And sometimes it would be a touchstone indeed,

beautiful in hue, adorned with polishing, the light inhabiting its

sides; and when he found this, he would beg the thing, and the persons

of that place would give it him, for all men were very generous of that

gift; so that at the last he had his wallet full of them, and they

chinked together when he rode; and when he halted by the side of the way

he would take them out and try them, till his head turned like the sails

upon a windmill.

"A murrain upon this business!" said the elder son, "for I perceive no

end to it. Here I have the red, and here the blue and the green; and to

me they seem all excellent, and yet shame each other. A murrain on the

trade! If it were not for the King that is a priest and whom I have

called my father, and if it were not for the fair maid of the dun that

makes my mouth to sing and my heart enlarge, I would even tumble them

all into the salt sea, and go home and be a King like other folk."

But he was like the hunter that has seen a stag upon a mountain, so that

the night may fall, and the fire be kindled, and the lights shine in his

house; but desire of that stag is single in his bosom.

Now after many years the elder son came upon the sides of the salt sea;

and it was night, and a savage place, and the clamour of the sea was

loud. There he was aware of a house, and a man sat there by the light of

a candle, for he had no fire. Now the elder son came in to him, and the

man gave him water to drink, for he had no bread; and wagged his head

when spoken to, for he had no words.

"Have you the touchstone of truth?" asked the elder son; and when the

man had wagged his head, "I might have known that," cried the elder son.

"I have here a wallet full of them!" And with that he laughed, although

his heart was weary.

And with that the man laughed too, and with the fuff of his laughter the

candle went out.

"Sleep," said the man, "for now I think you have come far enough; and

your quest is ended and my candle is out."

Now when the morning came, the man gave him a clear pebble in his hand,

and it had no beauty and no colour; and the elder son looked upon it

scornfully and shook his head; and he went away, for it seemed a small

affair to him.

All that day he rode, and his mind was quiet, and the desire of the

chase allayed. "How if this poor pebble be the touchstone, after all?"

said he: and he got down from his horse and emptied forth his wallet by

the side of the way. Now, in the light of each other, all the

touchstones lost their hue and fire, and withered like stars at morning;

but in the light of the pebble, their beauty remained, only the pebble

was the most bright. And the elder son smote upon his brow. "How if this

be the truth?" he cried, "that all are a little true?" And he took the

pebble and turned its light upon the heavens, and they deepened about

him like the pit; and he turned it on the hills, and the hills were cold

and rugged, but life ran in their sides so that his own life bounded;

and he turned it on the dust, and he beheld the dust with joy and

terror; and he turned it on himself, and knelt down and prayed.

"Now, thanks be to God," said the elder son, "I have found the

touchstone; and now I may turn my reins, and ride home to the King and

to the maid of the dun that makes my mouth to sing and my heart

enlarge."

Now when he came to the dun, he saw children playing by the gate where

the King had met him in the old days; and this stayed his pleasure, for

he thought in his heart, "It is here my children should be playing." And

when he came into the hall, there was his brother on the high seat and

the maid beside him; and at that his anger rose, for he thought in his

heart, "It is I that should be sitting there, and the maid beside me."

"Who are you?" said his brother. "And what make you in the dun?"

"I am your elder brother," he replied. "And I am come to marry the maid,

for I have brought the touchstone of truth."

Then the younger brother laughed aloud. "Why," said he, "I found the

touchstone years ago, and married the maid, and there are our children

playing at the gate."

Now at this the elder brother grew as grey as the dawn. "I pray you have

dealt justly," said he, "for I perceive my life is lost."

"Justly?" quoth the younger brother. "It becomes you ill, that are a

restless man and a runagate, to doubt my justice, or the King my

father's, that are sedentary folk and known in the land."

"Nay," said the elder brother, "you have all else, have patience also;

and suffer me to say the world is full of touchstones, and it appears

not easily which is true."

"I have no shame of mine," said the younger brother. "There it is, and

look in it."

So the elder brother looked in the mirror, and he was sore amazed; for

he was an old man, and his hair was white upon his head; and he sat down

in the hall and wept aloud.

"Now," said the younger brother, "see what a fool's part you have

played, that ran over all the world to seek what was lying in our

father's treasury, and came back an old carle for the dogs to bark at,

and without chick or child. And I that was dutiful and wise sit here

crowned with virtues and pleasures, and happy in the light of my

hearth."

"Methinks you have a cruel tongue," said the elder brother; and he

pulled out the clear pebble and turned its light on his brother; and

behold the man was lying, his soul was shrunk into the smallness of a

pea, and his heart was a bag of little fears like scorpions, and love

was dead in his bosom. And at that the elder brother cried out aloud,

and turned the light of the pebble on the maid, and, lo! she was but a

mask of a woman, and withinsides she was quite dead, and she smiled as a

clock ticks, and knew not wherefore.

"O, well," said the elder brother, "I perceive there is both good and

bad. So fare ye all as well as ye may in the dun; but I will go forth

into the world with my pebble in my pocket."

XIX

THE POOR THING

There was a man in the islands who fished for his bare bellyful, and

took his life in his hands to go forth upon the sea between four planks.

But though he had much ado, he was merry of heart; and the gulls heard

him laugh when the spray met him. And though he had little lore, he was

sound of spirit; and when the fish came to his hook in the mid-waters,

he blessed God without weighing. He was bitter poor in goods and bitter

ugly of countenance, and he had no wife.

It fell in the time of the fishing that the man awoke in his house about

the midst of the afternoon. The fire burned in the midst, and the smoke

went up and the sun came down by the chimney. And the man was aware of

the likeness of one that warmed his hands at the red peats.

"I greet you," said the man, "in the name of God."

"I greet you," said he that warmed his hands, "but not in the name of

God, for I am none of His; nor in the name of Hell, for I am not of

Hell. For I am but a bloodless thing, less than wind and lighter than a

sound, and the wind goes through me like a net, and I am broken by a

sound and shaken by the cold."

"Be plain with me," said the man, "and tell me your name and of your

nature."

"My name," quoth the other, "is not yet named, and my nature not yet

sure. For I am part of a man; and I was a part of your fathers, and went

out to fish and fight with them in the ancient days. But now is my turn

not yet come; and I wait until you have a wife, and then shall I be in

your son, and a brave part of him, rejoicing manfully to launch the boat

into the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where the

ring closes and the blows are going."

"This is a marvellous thing to hear," said the man; "and if you are

indeed to be my son, I fear it will go ill with you; for I am bitter

poor in goods and bitter ugly in face, and I shall never get me a wife

if I live to the age of eagles."

"All this have I come to remedy, my Father," said the Poor Thing; "for

we must go this night to the little isle of sheep, where our fathers lie

in the dead-cairn, and to-morrow to the Earl's Hall, and there shall you

find a wife by my providing."

So the man rose and put forth his boat at the time of the sunsetting;

and the Poor Thing sat in the prow, and the spray blew through his bones

like snow, and the wind whistled in his teeth, and the boat dipped not

with the weight of him.

"I am fearful to see you, my son," said the man. "For methinks you are

no thing of God."

"It is only the wind that whistles in my teeth," said the Poor Thing,

"and there is no life in me to keep it out."

So they came to the little isle of sheep, where the surf burst all about

it in the midst of the sea, and it was all green with bracken, and all

wet with dew, and the moon enlightened it. They ran the boat into a

cove, and set foot to land; and the man came heavily behind among the

rocks in the deepness of the bracken, but the Poor Thing went before him

like a smoke in the light of the moon. So they came to the dead-cairn,

and they laid their ears to the stones; and the dead complained

withinsides like a swarm of bees: "Time was that marrow was in our

bones, and strength in our sinews; and the thoughts of our head were

clothed upon with acts and the words of men. But now are we broken in

sunder, and the bonds of our bones are loosed, and our thoughts lie in

the dust."

Then said the Poor Thing: "Charge them that they give you the virtue

they withheld."

And the man said: "Bones of my fathers, greeting! for I am sprung of

your loins. And now, behold, I break open the piled stones of your

cairn, and I let in the noon between your ribs. Count it well done, for

it was to be; and give me what I come seeking in the name of blood and

in the name of God."

And the spirits of the dead stirred in the cairn like ants; and they

spoke: "You have broken the roof of our cairn and let in the noon

between our ribs; and you have the strength of the still-living. But

what virtue have we? what power? or what jewel here in the dust with us,

that any living man should covet or receive it? for we are less than

nothing. But we tell you one thing, speaking with many voices like bees,

that the way is plain before all like the grooves of launching: So forth

into life and fear not, for so did we all in the ancient ages." And

their voices passed away like an eddy in a river.

"Now," said the Poor Thing, "they have told you a lesson, but make them

give you a gift. Stoop your hand among the bones without drawback, and

you shall find their treasure."

So the man stooped his hand, and the dead laid hold upon it many and

faint like ants; but he shook them off, and behold, what he brought up

in his hand was the shoe of a horse, and it was rusty.

"It is a thing of no price," quoth the man, "for it is rusty."

"We shall see that," said the Poor Thing; "for in my thought it is a

good thing to do what our fathers did, and to keep what they kept

without question. And in my thought one thing is as good as another in

this world; and a shoe of a horse will do."

Now they got into their boat with the horse-shoe, and when the dawn was

come they were aware of the smoke of the Earl's town and the bells of

the Kirk that beat. So they set foot to shore: and the man went up to

the market among the fishers over against the palace and the Kirk; and

he was bitter poor and bitter ugly, and he had never a fish to sell, but

only a shoe of a horse in his creel, and it rusty.

"Now," said the Poor Thing, "do so and so, and you shall find a wife and

I a mother."

It befell that the Earl's daughter came forth to go into the Kirk upon

her prayers; and when she saw the poor man stand in the market with only

the shoe of a horse, and it rusty, it came in her mind it should be a

thing of price.

"What is that?" quoth she.

"It is a shoe of a horse," said the man.

"And what is the use of it?" quoth the Earl's daughter.

"It is for no use," said the man.

"I may not believe that," said she; "else why should you carry it?"

"I do so," said he, "because it was so my fathers did in the ancient

ages; and I have neither a better reason nor a worse."

Now the Earl's daughter could not find it in her mind to believe him.

"Come," quoth she, "sell me this, for I am sure it is a thing of price."

"Nay," said the man, "the thing is not for sale."

"What!" cried the Earl's daughter. "Then what make you here in the

town's market, with the thing in your creel and nought beside?"

"I sit here," says the man, "to get me a wife."

"There is no sense in any of these answers," thought the Earl's

daughter; "and I could find it in my heart to weep."

By came the Earl upon that; and she called him and told him all. And

when he had heard, he was of his daughter's mind that this should be a

thing of virtue; and charged the man to set a price upon the thing, or

else be hanged upon the gallows; and that was near at hand, so that the

man could see it.

"The way of life is straight like the grooves of launching," quoth the

man. "And if I am to be hanged let me be hanged."

"Why!" cried the Earl, "will you set your neck against a shoe of a

horse, and it rusty?"

"In my thought," said the man, "one thing is as good as another in this

world; and the shoe of a horse will do."

"This can never be," thought the Earl; and he stood and looked upon the

man, and bit his beard.

And the man looked up at him and smiled. "It was so my fathers did in

the ancient ages," quoth he to the Earl, "and I have neither a better

reason nor a worse."

"There is no sense in any of this," thought the Earl, "and I must be

growing old." So he had his daughter on one side, and says he: "Many

suitors have you denied, my child. But here is a very strange matter

that a man should cling so to a shoe of a horse, and it rusty; and that

he should offer it like a thing on sale, and yet not sell it; and that

he should sit there seeking a wife. If I come not to the bottom of this

thing, I shall have no more pleasure in bread; and I can see no way, but

either I should hang or you should marry him."

"By my troth, but he is bitter ugly," said the Earl's daughter. "How if

the gallows be so near at hand?"

"It was not so," said the Earl, "that my fathers did in the ancient

ages. I am like the man, and can give you neither a better reason nor a

worse. But do you, prithee, speak with him again."

So the Earl's daughter spoke to the man. "If you were not so bitter

ugly," quoth she, "my father the Earl would have us marry."

"Bitter ugly am I," said the man, "and you as fair as May. Bitter ugly

I am, and what of that? It was so my fathers----"

"In the name of God," said the Earl's daughter, "let your fathers be!"

"If I had done that," said the man, "you had never been chaffering with

me here in the market, nor your father the Earl watching with the end of

his eye."

"But come," quoth the Earl's daughter, "this is a very strange thing,

that you would have me wed for a shoe of a horse, and it rusty."

"In my thought," quoth the man, "one thing is as good----"

"O, spare me that," said the Earl's daughter, "and tell me why I should

marry."

"Listen and look," said the man.

Now the wind blew through the Poor Thing like an infant crying, so that

her heart was melted; and her eyes were unsealed, and she was aware of

the thing as it were a babe unmothered, and she took it to her arms and

it melted in her arms like the air.

"Come," said the man, "behold a vision of our children, the busy hearth,

and the white heads. And let that suffice, for it is all God offers."

"I have no delight in it," said she; but with that she sighed.

"The ways of life are straight like the grooves of launching," said the

man; and he took her by the hand.

"And what shall we do with the horse-shoe?" quoth she.

"I will give it to your father," said the man; "and he can make a kirk

and a mill of it for me."

It came to pass in time that the Poor Thing was born; but memory of

these matters slept with him, and he knew not that which he had done.

But he was a part of the eldest son; rejoicing manfully to launch the

boat into the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where

the ring closes and the blows are going.

XX

THE SONG OF THE MORROW

The King of Duntrine had a daughter when he was old, and she was the

fairest King's daughter between two seas; her hair was like spun gold,

and her eyes like pools in a river; and the King gave her a castle upon

the sea beach, with a terrace, and a court of the hewn stone, and four

towers at the four corners. Here she dwelt and grew up, and had no care

for the morrow, and no power upon the hour, after the manner of simple

men.

It befell that she walked one day by the beach of the sea when it was

autumn, and the wind blew from the place of rains; and upon the one hand

of her the sea beat, and upon the other the dead leaves ran. This was

the loneliest beach between two seas, and strange things had been done

there in the ancient ages. Now the King's daughter was aware of a crone

that sat upon the beach. The sea-foam ran to her feet, and the dead

leaves swarmed about her back, and the rags blew about her face in the

blowing of the wind.

"Now," said the King's daughter, and she named a holy name, "this is the

most unhappy old crone between two seas."

"Daughter of a King," said the crone, "you dwell in a stone house, and

your hair is like the gold: but what is your profit? Life is not long,

nor lives strong; and you live after the way of simple men, and have no

thought for the morrow and no power upon the hour."

"Thought for the morrow, that I have," said the King's daughter; "but

power upon the hour, that have I not." And she mused with herself.

Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed

like a sea-gull. "Home!" cried she. "O daughter of a King, home to your

stone house; for the longing is come upon you now, nor can you live any

more after the manner of simple men. Home, and toil and suffer, till the

gift come that will make you bare, and till the man come that will bring

you care."

The King's daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home

to her house in silence. And when she was come into her chamber she

called for her nurse.

"Nurse," said the King's daughter, "thought is come upon me for the

morrow, so that I can live no more after the manner of simple men. Tell

me what I must do that I may have power upon the hour."

Then the nurse moaned like a snow wind. "Alas!" said she, "that this

thing should be; but the thought is gone into your marrow, nor is there

any cure against the thought. Be it so, then, even as you will; though

power is less than weakness, power shall you have; and though the

thought is colder than winter, yet shall you think it to an end."

So the King's daughter sat in her vaulted chamber in the masoned house,

and she thought upon the thought. Nine years she sat; and the sea beat

upon the terrace, and the gulls cried about the turrets, and wind

crooned in the chimneys of the house. Nine years she came not abroad,

nor tasted the clean air, neither saw God's sky. Nine years she sat and

looked neither to the right nor to the left, nor heard speech of any

one, but thought upon the thought of the morrow. And her nurse fed her

in silence, and she took of the food with her left hand, and ate it

without grace.

Now when the nine years were out, it fell dusk in the autumn, and there

came a sound in the wind like a sound of piping. At that the nurse

lifted up her finger in the vaulted house.

"I hear a sound in the wind," said she, "that is like the sound of

piping."

"It is but a little sound," said the King's daughter, "but yet it is

sound enough for me."

So they went down in the dusk to the doors of the house, and along the

beach of the sea. And the waves beat upon the one hand, and upon the

other the dead leaves ran; and the clouds raced in the sky, and the

gulls flew widdershins. And when they came to that part of the beach

where strange things had been done in the ancient ages, lo! there was

the crone, and she was dancing widdershins.

"What makes you dance widdershins, old crone?" said the King's daughter;

"here upon the bleak beach, between the waves and the dead leaves?"

"I hear a sound in the wind that is like a sound of piping," quoth she.

"And it is for that that I dance widdershins. For the gift comes that

will make you bare, and the man comes that must bring you care. But for

me the morrow is come that I have thought upon, and the hour of my

power."

"How comes it, crone," said the King's daughter, "that you waver like a

rag, and pale like a dead leaf before my eyes?"

"Because the morrow has come that I have thought upon, and the hour of

my power," said the crone; and she fell on the beach, and, lo! she was

but stalks of the sea tangle, and dust of the sea sand, and the

sand-lice hopped upon the place of her.

"This is the strangest thing that befell between two seas," said the

King's daughter of Duntrine.

But the nurse broke out and moaned like an autumn gale. "I am weary of

the wind," quoth she; and she bewailed her day.

The King's daughter was aware of a man upon the beach; he went hooded so

that none might perceive his face, and a pipe was underneath his arm.

The sound of his pipe was like singing wasps, and like the wind that

sings in windlestraw; and it took hold upon men's ears like the crying

of gulls.

"Are you the comer?" quoth the King's daughter of Duntrine.

"I am the comer," said he, "and these are the pipes that a man may hear,

and I have power upon the hour, and this is the song of the morrow." And

he piped the song of the morrow, and it was as long as years; and the

nurse wept out aloud at the hearing of it.

"This is true," said the King's daughter, "that you pipe the song of the

morrow; but that ye have power upon the hour, how may I know that? Show

me a marvel here upon the beach, between the waves and the dead leaves."

And the man said, "Upon whom?"

"Here is my nurse," quoth the King's daughter. "She is weary of the

wind. Show me a good marvel upon her."

And, lo! the nurse fell upon the beach as it were two handfuls of dead

leaves, and the wind whirled them widdershins, and the sand-lice hopped

between.

"It is true," said the King's daughter of Duntrine; "you are the comer,

and you have power upon the hour. Come with me to my stone house."

So they went by the sea margin, and the man piped the song of the

morrow, and the leaves followed behind them as they went. Then they sat

down together; and the sea beat on the terrace, and the gulls cried

about the towers, and the wind crooned in the chimneys of the house.

Nine years they sat, and every year when it fell autumn, the man said,

"This is the hour, and I have power in it"; and the daughter of the King

said, "Nay, but pipe me the song of the morrow." And he piped it, and it

was long like years.

Now when the nine years were gone, the King's daughter of Duntrine got

her to her feet, like one that remembers; and she looked about her in

the masoned house; and all her servants were gone; only the man that

piped sat upon the terrace with the hood upon his face; and as he piped

the leaves ran about the terrace and the sea beat along the wall. Then

she cried to him with a great voice, "This is the hour, and let me see

the power in it." And with that the wind blew off the hood from the

man's face, and, lo! there was no man there, only the clothes and the

hood and the pipes tumbled one upon another in a corner of the terrace,

and the dead leaves ran over them.

And the King's daughter of Duntrine got her to that part of the beach

where strange things had been done in the ancient ages; and there she

sat her down. The sea-foam ran to her feet, and the dead leaves swarmed

about her back, and the veil blew about her face in the blowing of the

wind. And when she lifted up her eyes, there was the daughter of a King

come walking on the beach. Her hair was like the spun gold, and her eyes

like pools in a river, and she had no thought for the morrow and no

power upon the hour, after the manner of simple men.

END OF VOL. XXI

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