Yesterday, the kind nurse, Yesterday, the wise old woman, sat by the
fire with her nursling on her knee.
"Still, my babe, be still!" she said. "Listen now, till I sing you a
song!"
"Oh! I know all your songs," said the child. "I know them by heart, the
sleepy bed-time songs. But the lovely lady yonder, who smiles at me from
the doorway, sings a new song, new and strange, and sweet, sweet. If I
listen to her, may be I shall learn it."
"Nay! listen not to her, the gipsy!" said Yesterday. "Bide here by the
fire with me, my babe, and I will tell you a story shall do you good to
hear."
"Oh! I know all your stories," said the child, "know them every word,
and some of them are false, and all are dull. But the lovely lady who
beckons me from the doorway murmurs strange words, in a new tongue, yet
clear as light; if I go with her, may be I shall learn it."
"Child, child," said the old nurse, "listen not to her gipsy talk; it is
full of peril, and these new words have wicked meanings. Come with me,
my darling, and I will show you my garden, full of sweet flowers and
delicate fruits and precious herbs. See! they have grown from all time,
and I gathered them from the four ways of the world, and all for you."
The child laughed, and his laugh rang cruel clear, as when a bird sings
loud and merry over a new-made grave.
"Your flowers are faded," he said. "I have tasted your fruits, every
one, and your precious herbs are but a handful of dry leaves and stalks.
But the lovely lady who holds out her hands to me from the doorway tells
me of things unknown, dim lands of furthest dawn, seas that no bark has
ever sailed. I will go with her and see them, and live my life."
"Nay now, my child, my darling; stay with me by the fire, in the warm
sheltered room;" said Yesterday the nurse, the wise old woman.
But the child was already gone, with To-morrow, the lovely lady with
sunrise in her eyes, laughter on her lips, and the knife hidden in her
hand.