"But you don't understand!" said the Soul. "It is my body that makes all
the trouble. Its nerves are all atwist, its brain does not work
properly, its heart is too small. _I_ am all right: if I could have
another chance, in a decently furnished body, you would see what a
different creature I should be."
"Very well!" said the Angel-who-attends-to-things. "I know several other
souls who are wishing for a change; you may try their bodies, and see if
you can suit yourself."
The Soul thanked the Angel joyfully, and flew in the direction he
pointed out. Presently he came to the body of a fair woman, clad in
white, with roses in its hands.
"This is beautiful!" said the Soul. "This is exactly what I want." He
crept in, and flowed through the white body, and it moved and rose up
with him, and went to and fro.
But soon the Soul cried out: "Oh! this body pinches me; it is too tight.
Besides, it has the habit of fasting, and mortification, and I am used
to a body that smokes. This will never do!" And he crept out again, and
went further.
Presently he came to a stalwart body of a man, with bones and sinews
knit of iron.
"Ah!" said the Soul. "Beauty is after all a slight thing. Strength is
what one needs; this is the body for me." And he slipped in, and flowed
through the body, and it moved, and rose up with him, and walked with
swift and powerful strides.
"Good heavens!" cried the Soul. "This will never do. This body is far
too big for me; I feel it all loose, and full of cold draughts. I shall
certainly get the rheumatism. And I don't care about these things it is
doing, hewing wood and carrying water for other people. I have made a
mistake; let me correct it before it is too late!" and he crept out.
Going further, he came upon a body sunk in an easy-chair, clad in loose
and easy garb of a man, and by it a table with glasses and bottles: and
the Soul yearned toward it. "Ah!" cried the Soul. "After all, there is
nothing like one's own!" And he crept into the body, and flowed through
and through it; and the body stretched itself with a long, long sigh,
and put its hand out to the bottle, and drank, and chuckled to itself.
"But how about those others who wanted a change?" asked the Soul of the
Angel-who-attends-to-things. "I trust I am not disappointing any of them
in taking up this dear old comfortable body again?"
"Oh no!" said the Angel. "They did not like its looks at all, and
decided to go on to another world."