One morning when Hercules was a fair-faced lad of twelve years, he was
sent out to do an errand which he disliked very much. As he walked
slowly along the road, his heart was full of bitter thoughts; and he
murmured because others no better than himself were living in ease and
pleasure, while for him there was little but labor and pain. Thinking
upon these things, he came after a while to a place where two roads
met; and he stopped, not certain which one to take.
The road on his right was hilly and rough, and there was no beauty
in it or about it; but he saw that it led straight towards the blue
mountains in the far distance. The road on his left was broad and
smooth, with shade trees on either side, where sang thousands of
beautiful birds; and it went winding in and out, through groves and
green meadows, where bloomed countless flowers; but it ended in fog and
mist long before reaching the wonderful mountains of blue.
While the lad stood in doubt as to which way he should go, he saw two
women coming towards him, each by a different road. The one who came
down the flowery way reached him first, and Hercules saw that she was
beautiful as a summer day. Her cheeks were red, her eyes sparkled, her
voice was like the music of morning.
“O noble youth,” she said, “this is the road which you should choose.
It will lead you into pleasant ways where there is neither toil,
nor hard study, nor drudgery of any kind. Your ears shall always be
delighted with sweet sounds, and your eyes with things beautiful and
gay; and you need do nothing but play and enjoy the hours as they pass.”
By this time the other fair woman had drawn near, and she now spoke to
the lad.
“If you take my road,” said she, “you will find that it is rocky and
rough, and that it climbs many a hill and descends into many a valley
and quagmire. The views which you will sometimes get from the hilltops
are grand and glorious, while the deep valleys are dark and the uphill
ways are toilsome; but the road leads to the blue mountains of endless
fame, of which you can see faint glimpses, far away. They cannot be
reached without labor; there is nothing worth having but must be won
through toil. If you would have fruits and flowers, you must plant and
care for them; if you would gain the love of your fellow-men, you must
love them and suffer for them; if you would be a man, you must make
yourself strong by the doing of manly deeds.”
Then the boy saw that this woman, although her face seemed at first
very plain, was as beautiful as the dawn, or as the flowery fields
after a summer rain.
“What is your name?” he asked.
“Some call me Labor,” she answered; “but others know me as Truth.”
“And what is your name?” he asked, turning to the first lady.
“Some call me Pleasure,” said she, with a smile; “but I choose to be
known as the Joyous One.”
“And what can you promise me at the end if I go with you?”
“I promise nothing at the end. What I give, I give at the beginning.”
“Labor,” said Hercules, “I shall follow your road. I want to be strong
and manly and worthy of the love of my fellows. And whether I shall
ever reach the blue mountains or not, I want to have the reward of
knowing that my journey has not been without some worthy aim.”
--JAMES BALDWIN.