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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Damsel and the Sage, by Elinor Glyn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Damsel and the Sage
+       A Woman's Whimsies
+
+Author: Elinor Glyn
+
+Release Date: March 1, 2007 [EBook #20718]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DAMSEL
+
+AND
+
+THE SAGE
+
+
+THE DAMSEL
+
+AND
+
+THE SAGE
+
+A WOMAN'S WHIMSIES
+
+BY ELINOR GLYN
+
+
+HARPER &
+BROTHERS
+PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK
+& LONDON
+MDCCCCIII
+
+
+Copyright, 1903, by ELINOR GLYN.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+Published October, 1903.
+
+
+
+TO
+
+THE SUN'S RAYS
+
+
+
+
+_A tree stood alone surrounded by high and low hills. It could be
+observed from all sides, and it appeared different from each elevation._
+
+_The tree was the same, only the point of view differed._
+
+_Everything depends upon the point of view._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"_And as to the meaning, it's what you please._"
+
+_C. S. C._
+
+
+
+
+THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE
+
+
+And the Damsel said to the Sage:
+
+"Now, what is life? And why does the fruit taste bitter in the mouth?"
+
+And the Sage answered, as he stepped from his cave:
+
+"My child, there was once a man who had two ears like other people. They
+were naturally necessary for his enjoyment of the day. But one of these
+ears offended his head. It behaved with stupidity, thinking thereby to
+enhance its value to him--it heard too much. Oh, it conducted itself
+with a gross stupidity. 'Out upon you,' cried the man; 'since you have
+overstepped the limit of the functions of an ear, I shall cut you from
+my head!' And so, without hesitation, he took a sword and accomplished
+the deed. The poor ear then lay upon the ground bleeding, and the man
+went about with a mutilated head."
+
+"And what was the good of all that?" said the Damsel.
+
+"There was no good in it," replied the Sage. "But he was a man, and he
+had punished the too-fond-and-foolish ear--also he hoped a new and more
+suitable one would grow in its place. 'Change,' he said, 'was a thing to
+be welcomed.'"
+
+"And tell me, Sage, what became of the ear?" asked the Damsel.
+
+"The ear fared better. Another man of greater shrewdness came along,
+and, although he had two ears of his own, he said, 'A third will not
+come amiss,' and he picked up the ear and heard with three ears instead
+of two. So he became knowing and clever because of the information he
+acquired in this way. The grafted ear grew and flourished, and, in spite
+of its remaining abnormal, it obtained a certain enjoyment out of
+existence."
+
+"But who _really_ benefited by all this?" inquired the Damsel.
+
+"No one," said the Sage; "the first man went about with only one ear;
+the second man made himself remarkable with three--and the cut-off ear,
+although alive and successful, felt itself an excrescence."
+
+"Then what _could_ be the pleasure of it all?" demanded the Damsel.
+
+"Out upon _you_!" exclaimed the Sage, in a passion. "You asked me what
+was life--and why the fruit tasted bitter in the mouth? I have answered
+you."
+
+And he went back into his cave and barred the door.
+
+The Damsel sat down upon a stone outside.
+
+"It seems to me that men are fools," she said, and she clapped her hands
+to her two ears. "When I am angry and offended with one of you, I will
+cut the ear from off the head of some one else."
+
+And she picked up an apple and ate it. And it tasted sweet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_A man will often fling away a woman who has wronged him although in
+doing so he is deeply hurting himself. A woman will forgive a man who
+has wronged her because her own personal pleasure in him is greater than
+her outraged pride. Hence women are more unconscious philosophers than
+men._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel returned again to the cave of the Sage. There were other
+questions she wished to ask about life. The door was hard to push ajar,
+but at last she obtained entrance.
+
+"What do you want now?" he demanded, with a voice of grumbling. "Were
+you not content with my last utterances?"
+
+"Yes--and no," said the Damsel. "I came to quite other conclusions
+myself. I would have kept the ear on my head, since cutting one off,
+however it had angered me, would have upset my own comfort."
+
+"We have finished with that matter now," said the Sage, showing signs of
+impatience--he was still a man. "What next?"
+
+"I want to know," said the Damsel, "why a woman who has Diamonds and
+Pearls and Emeralds and Rubies in her possession should set such store
+upon a Topaz--a yellow Topaz--the color she dislikes--and a Topaz of
+uneven temper and peculiar properties. She never wears this stone that
+it does not bruise her, now her neck, now her arm. It is restless and
+slips from its chain. It will not remain in the case with the other
+jewels. And at last she has lost it--she fears for good and all. And so
+now all the other stones, which seemed very well in their way, have
+grown of even less value in her eyes, and she can only lament the loss
+of her Topaz. 'I am brilliant,' cries the Diamond. 'I set off your eyes,
+and I love you.' 'I am soft and caressing,' whispers the Pearl. 'I lie
+close to your white skin and keep it cool, and I love you.' 'I am
+witty,' laughs the Emerald. 'I make your thoughts flash, and I love
+you.' 'I am the color of blood, and I would die for you,' chants the
+Ruby, 'and I love you.' And all these things the stones say all the day
+to her, and yet the woman only listens with half an ear, and their words
+have no effect upon her because of the charm of this tiresome Topaz.
+What does it all mean, Sage?"
+
+"It means, first of all," said the Sage, "that the woman is a fool, as
+what is the value of a Topaz in comparison with a Diamond or a Ruby? It
+means, secondly, that the Topaz is a greater fool, because it would be
+more agreeable surely to lie close to the woman's soft neck than to be
+picked up by any stranger or lie neglected in the dust. But, above and
+beyond everything, it means that cherries are ripest when out of reach,
+and that the whole world is full of fools of either opinion, who do not
+know when they are well off."
+
+Upon which the Sage, with his usual lack of manners, retired into his
+cave and slammed his door.
+
+The Damsel sat down upon the rock and came again to her own conclusions.
+The stone that apparently was a Topaz was in reality a yellow Diamond of
+great rarity and worth, and that was why the woman valued it so highly.
+Her instincts were stronger than her reason. But if she had not made
+herself so cheap by adoring the stone, it would not have become restless
+and she would not have lost it. Even stones cannot stand too much honey.
+If ever the woman should find this yellow Diamond again she must be told
+to keep it in a cool box and not caress it or place it above the others.
+
+The Damsel thought aloud and the Sage heard her--he strode forth in a
+rage.
+
+"Why do you come here demanding my advice if you moralize yourself? Out
+upon you again!" he thundered. "The woman will not find her Topaz, which
+is now revelling in the sun of freedom and will soon go down into
+nothingness and be forgotten. And after lamenting until her eyes look
+gaunt, the woman will begin to see some beauty in a Sapphire and become
+consoled, and so all will be well."
+
+"I do not care what you say," said the Damsel. "_It is better to have
+what one wants one's self than to try and learn to like anything else
+that other people think better._"
+
+And she refastened a bracelet with great care--which contained two
+cat's-eyes of no value--as she went on her way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seize the occasion lest it pass thee by and fall into the lap of
+another.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No man likes shooting tame rabbits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Most men like the hunt more than the quarry--therefore the wise woman is
+elusive.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is a good hostess who never inclines her guests unconsciously to look
+at the clock.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some things cause pride, some pleasure. There is only one thing which
+causes infinite bliss and oblivion of time, and this one thing, unless
+bound with chains, is called immoral.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is a wise man who knows when he is happy and can appreciate the
+divine bliss of the tangible _now_. Most of us retrospect or anticipate
+and so lose the present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seize Love at whatever age he comes to you--if you can avoid being
+ridiculous.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"More questions?" exclaimed the Sage, as the Damsel tapped gently upon
+the door of his cave.
+
+"Women are never satisfied; they are as restless as the sea, and when
+they have received all the best advice they invariably follow their own
+inclinations."
+
+"It was not to discuss women," replied the Damsel, timidly; "this time
+it is of a man I wish to ask."
+
+"Begin, then, and have done quickly," growled the Sage, averting his
+head. The Damsel had an outline against the sky which caused ideas not
+tranquillizing for Hermits.
+
+"I wish to know why a man who possessed the most beautiful and noble
+Bird of Paradise--a bird of rare plumage and wonderful qualities--should
+suddenly see more beauty in an ordinary Cockatoo, whose only attraction
+was its yellow feathers--a Cockatoo that screamed monotonously as it
+swung backward and forward on its perch, and would eat sugar out of the
+hand of any stranger while it cried 'Pretty Poll.' The man could not
+afford to buy this creature also, so he deliberately sold his exquisite
+Bird of Paradise to a person called Circumstance and with the money
+became the possessor of the Cockatoo, who pierced the drums of his ears
+with its eternal 'Pretty Poll' and wearied his sight with its yellow
+feathers. Why did the man do this?"
+
+The Sage laughed at so simple a question.
+
+"Because he was a man, and even a screaming Cockatoo belonging to some
+one else has more charm at times than the most divine Bird of Paradise
+belonging to himself."
+
+"But was it worth while to sell this rare thing for a very ordinary
+one?" demanded the Damsel.
+
+"Certainly not," said the Sage, impatiently. "What childish questions
+you ask! The thing was a folly on the face of it; but, as I said before,
+he was a man--and the Cockatoo belonged to some one else!"
+
+"Then what will happen now?" asked the Damsel, placing herself in the
+direction in which the Sage had turned his head.
+
+"The Bird of Paradise will still be the most beautiful and glorious and
+desirable bird in the world; and when the man realizes he has lost it
+forever he will begin to value its every feather, and will spend his
+days in comparing all its remembered perfections and advantages with the
+screams and the yellow feathers of the Cockatoo."
+
+"And what will the Cockatoo do?" inquired the Damsel.
+
+"It will probably continue to shriek 'Pretty Poll,' and eat sugar out of
+the hand of any stranger," replied the Sage, plucking his heard.
+
+"And the man?"
+
+"The man will go on telling every one he has bought the most divine bird
+in the world, in the hope that some one will offer him a large sum of
+money for it. The only person who gains in the affair is the Bird of
+Paradise, who, instead of being caged as when in the possession of the
+man, is absolutely free to fly with its new master, Circumstance, who
+only seeks to please and soothe this glorious bird and make life fair
+for it."
+
+"But what will be the very end?" persisted the Damsel.
+
+The Sage turned and looked full at her. He was angry with her
+importunity and would have answered sternly.
+
+Then he saw that the ripples of her hair were golden and his voice
+softened.
+
+"That will depend--upon Circumstance," he replied, and he closed his
+door softly in her face.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_A man wishes and a woman wishes, but Circumstance frequently wins the
+game._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Life is short--avoid causing yawns.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is possible for a woman to retain the amorous affection of a man for
+many years--if he only sees her for the two best hours out of each
+twenty-four.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Please open the door, Sage," entreated the Damsel, "and I will tell you
+a story."
+
+The Sage pushed it ajar with his foot, but he did not come out.
+
+"There was once upon a time a man," she said, "who unexpectedly and for
+no apparent reason became the possessor of a Tiger. It had been coveted
+by numbers of people and was of a certain value and beauty. It had an
+infinite variety of tricks. It was learned in caresses. It was fierce,
+and gentle, and it could love passionately. Altogether a large price
+would have been offered the man for it by many others if he had wished
+to sell it. In the beginning he had greatly valued the possession of
+this strange beast, and had fed it with his own hand. The little anxiety
+as to whether it would eat him or not, or rush away, had kept him
+interested. But gradually, as he became certain the Tiger adored him,
+and would show none but velvet claws and make only purring sounds, his
+keenness waned. He still loved it, but certainty is monotonous, and his
+eyes wandered to other objects. 'The Tiger is nothing but a domestic
+cat,' he said; 'I will pet and caress it when the mood takes me, and for
+the rest of the time it can purr to itself by the fire.' At last one
+day, after the Tiger was especially gracious and had purred with all
+essence of love, the man yawned. 'It is really a charming beast,' he
+said, 'but it is always the same; and then he went away and forgot even
+to feed it. The Tiger felt hungry and restless. Its quietness and
+gentleness became less apparent. The man on his travels chanced to think
+of it and sent it a biscuit. So the Tiger waited, and when the man
+returned and expected the usual docile caresses, it bit his hand. 'Vile
+beast!' said the man. 'Have I not fed and kept you for weeks, and now
+you bite my hand!' Now tell me, Sage, which was right--the man or the
+Tiger?"
+
+"Both, and neither," said the Sage, decidedly. "The man was only obeying
+the eternal law in finding what he was sure of monotonous; but he
+mistook the nature of the beast he had to deal with. Tigers are not of
+the species that can ever be really monotonous, if he had known. The
+Tiger was foolish to allow its true nature to be so disguised by its
+love for the man that he was deceived into looking upon it as a domestic
+cat. It thought to please him thereby and so lost its hold."
+
+"And what will be the end?" asked the Damsel.
+
+"The man's hand will smart to the end of his life, and he will never
+secure another Tiger. And the Tiger will go elsewhere and console itself
+by letting its natural instincts have full play. It will not be foolish
+a second time."
+
+But the Damsel's conclusion was different.
+
+"No," she said. "The man's hand will heal up, and the Tiger will caress
+him and make him forget the bite, and they will love each other to
+eternity because they have both realized their own stupidity."
+
+And without speaking further she allowed the Sage to close the door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_It is wiser to know the species one is playing with: do not offer
+Tigers hay--or Antelopes joints of meat._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Next day, in a pouring shower of rain, the Damsel knocked at the Sage's
+door. It was for shelter, she said, this time, until the storm should
+pass.
+
+The Sage was fairly gracious, and to while away the time the Damsel
+began a story.
+
+"A man once owned a brown Sparrow. It had no attractions, and it made a
+continuous and wearying noise as it chattered under the eaves. It did
+the same thing every day, and had monotonous domestic habits that often
+greatly irritated the man, but--he was accustomed to it, and did not
+complain. After several years a travelling Showman came along; he had a
+large aviary of birds of all sorts, some for sale, some not. Among them
+was a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a
+creature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became
+passionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for
+the sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers
+of regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and
+carried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he
+revelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did
+its best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. And
+the worry and annoyance of concealing the theft from the Showman, and
+the different food the Humming Bird required, and the care that had to
+be taken of it, at last began to weary the man. He chafed and was often
+disagreeable to it, although he realized its glory and beauty and the
+feather it was in his cap. Finally, one day, in a fit of desperation,
+the man let the Humming Bird fly, and crept back home to the homely
+brown Sparrow, with its irritating noises and utter want of beauty. Why
+was this, Sage?"
+
+The Sage had not to think long.
+
+"Custom, my child," he said. "Custom forges stronger chains than the
+finest plumage of a Humming Bird. The man had to put himself out and
+exert himself to retain the Humming Bird in a way that was not agreeable
+to his self-love, whereas the brown Sparrow lived on always the same,
+causing him no trouble, and custom had deadened the sense of its want of
+charm."
+
+"Then it seems to me it was rather hard upon the poor Humming Bird!"
+said the Damsel.
+
+"It is always hard upon the Humming Birds," replied the Sage, and his
+voice was quite sad.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rain did not cease for a long time. It was more than an hour before
+the Damsel left the cave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_If you are a Humming Bird it is wiser for you to remain in the
+possession of the Travelling Showman._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A long period elapsed after this before the Damsel again tapped at the
+Sage's door. He looked out morning and evening, and attributed his lack
+of enthusiasm for his devotions to an attack of rheumatism from the damp
+of his cave. At last, one morning he spied her sauntering slowly up the
+hill, and he retired into the back of his cell, and the Damsel had to
+knock twice before he opened the window shutter. She was in a gay mood,
+and demanded a story, so the Sage began:
+
+"There was once upon a time a Fish with glittering scales who swam about
+in a deep river. It had been tempted by the flies of many Fishermen,
+but had laughed at them all and swam away, just under the surface of the
+water, so that the sun might shine on its glittering scales to please
+the eyes of the Fishermen and to excite their desire to secure it. It
+was a Fish who laughed a good deal at life. But one fine day a new
+Angler came along; he was young and beautiful, and seemed lazy and
+happy, and not particularly anxious to throw the line. The Fish peeped
+at him from the sheltering shadow of a rock. 'This is the most perfect
+specimen of a Fisherman I have ever seen,' it said to itself. 'I could
+almost believe it would be agreeable to swallow the fly and let him land
+me and put me in his basket.' The young Fisherman threw the line, and
+the sun caught the glittering scales of the Fish at that moment. The
+laziness vanished from the Fisherman, and he began to have a strong
+desire to secure the Fish.
+
+"He fished for some time, and the Fish swam backward and forward, making
+up its mind. It saw the hook under the fly, but the attraction of the
+Angler growing stronger and stronger, at last it deliberately decided to
+come up and bite. 'I know all the emotions of swimming on the surface
+and letting my scales shine in the sun,' it mused, 'but I know nothing
+about the bank and the basket, and perhaps the tales that are drilled
+into the heads of us Fish from infancy about suffocation and exhaustion
+are not true.' And it mused again: 'He is a perfectly beautiful
+Fisherman and looks kind, and I want to be closer to him and let him
+touch my glittering scales. After all, one ought to know everything
+before one dies.'
+
+"So, its heart beating and its eyes melting, the Fish deliberately rose
+to the surface and swallowed the fly. The hook caught in a gristly place
+and did not hurt much, and the novel experience of being pulled onto the
+green meadow delighted the Fish. It saw the Fisherman close, and felt
+his hands as he tenderly disengaged the hook. He was full of joy and
+pride at securing the difficult Fish and admired its scales. He talked
+aloud and told it how bright he found it, and he was altogether charming
+and delightful, and the Fish adored him and was glad it had been caught.
+
+"Then after some time of this admiration and dalliance, the Fisherman
+put it in the basket among the cool rushes. The Fish lay quiet, still
+content. It had not yet begun to pant. For an hour almost the Fisherman
+gloried in his catch. He opened the lid frequently and smiled at the
+Fish.
+
+"Then he lay down on the bank beside the basket and let his rod float
+idly in the stream. The sun was warm and pleasant.
+
+"'I wish,' he said to himself, 'after all, I had not secured the Fish
+yet; the throwing of the fly and the excitement of trying to catch the
+creature are better fun than having it safely landed and lying in the
+basket,' and he yawned, and his eyes gradually closed and he slept.
+
+"Now the Fish heard very plainly what he had said. Tell me, Damsel--you
+who ask questions and answer them finally yourself--tell me, What did
+the Fish do?"
+
+The Damsel mused a moment. She stirred with her white fingers the water
+in the basin of the fountain that sprang from the rock close by. Then
+she looked at the Sage from under the shadow of her brows and answered,
+thoughtfully:
+
+"The Fish was stunned at first by this truth being uttered so near it.
+It suddenly realized what it had done and what it had lost. 'I, who swam
+about freely and showed my glittering scales in the sun, am now caught
+and in a basket, with no prospect but suffocation and death in front of
+me,' it said to itself. 'I could have even supported that, and the
+knowledge that my scales will become dull and unattractive in the near
+future, if the Fisherman had only continued to lift the lid and admire
+me a little longer.' And it sighed and began to feel the sense of
+suffocation. But it was a Fish of great determination and resources. 'I
+have learned my lesson,' it gasped; 'the Fisherman has taught it to me
+himself. Now I will make a great jump and try to get out of the basket.'
+
+"So it jumped and opened the lid. The Fisherman stirred in his sleep and
+put out his hand vaguely to close it again, but he was too sleepy to
+fasten the catch, and with less noise the Fish bounced up again and
+succeeded in floundering upon the grass. It lay panting and in great
+distress, but it looked at the beautiful Angler with regret. He was so
+beautiful and so desirable. 'I could almost stay now,' the Fish sighed.
+Then it braced itself up and gave one more bound, and this time reached
+the rock at the edge of the stream.
+
+"Again the Fisherman awoke, and now casually, with his eyes still
+closed, fastened up the basket before he slept again; but the Fish with
+its third bound reached the river, and darted out into the middle of the
+stream.
+
+"'Good-bye, Beautiful Angler!' it said, sadly. 'You were sweet, but you
+have taught me a lesson, and freedom is sweeter.'
+
+"The splash of its reaching the water fully awakened the Fisherman, but
+he saw the basket with the lid shut, and had no anxieties until his eye
+caught the pink of the water where the Fish sheltered under the rock.
+Its gill was still bleeding from the hook wound, and colored a circle
+round it. Then he opened the lid and found the basket empty.
+
+"'Good-bye,' said the Fish. 'Your wish has been granted, and your
+pleasure can begin all over again!'
+
+"But the Fisherman suddenly realized that his rod, while he slept, had
+fallen into the river, and was floating away down the stream.
+
+"'Good-bye again,' said the Fish; 'I have suffered, but I have now
+experience, and I am grateful to you, and my gill will heal up, and I
+will smile at you sometimes from just under the surface of the water,
+and so all is well!' And it flashed its glittering scales in the sun
+before it darted away out of sight in the strong current."
+
+And the Damsel folded her hands and looked into distance.
+
+"Thank you, Damsel," said the Sage, gently for him; "but the Fisherman
+could procure another rod--rods are not rarities. What then?"
+
+"That would be for another day," said the Damsel; "and--for another
+Fish!" And she tripped away down the hill, and was deaf to the Sage, who
+gruffly called after her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_When you have caught your Fish, it may be wiser to cook it and eat
+it._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The sun was setting when the Damsel next came to the Cave. She had a pet
+falcon with her, and kept caressing it as she propounded her question.
+
+"There lived a woman in a Castle who had three Knights devoted to her.
+She loved one, and her vanity was pleased with the other two. While she
+continued to play with them all, they all loved her to distraction; but
+presently her preference for the one Knight became evident, and the two
+others, after doing their utmost to supplant the third without success,
+at last left the Castle and rode away. They were no sooner gone, and
+things had become quiet, and no combats occurred to interrupt the
+lovers' intercourse, when the chosen Knight began to weary, and he, too,
+at last rode away, although before he had been the most ardent of all.
+Why was this, Sage? And what should the woman do?"
+
+"It was because the Knight had won the prize and the woman gave him no
+trouble to keep it," replied the Sage. "He was bound to weary. When a
+man's profession is fighting and he has fought hard and succeeded, after
+sufficient rest he wishes to fight again. So if the woman wants her
+lover back, she had better first summon the other two."
+
+For once the Damsel had nothing to say, and had no excuse to remain
+longer in the cave.
+
+The Sage, however, was not in the mind to let her go so soon, so he
+began a question:
+
+"Why do you caress that bird so much? It appears completely indifferent
+to you. Surely that is waste of time?"
+
+"It is agreeable to waste time," replied the Damsel.
+
+"Upon an insensible object?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"More so than if it returned your caresses?"
+
+"Probably--there is the speculation. It might one day respond, while
+certainly if it repaid warmly my love now, one day it would not. Nothing
+lasts in this world. You have told me so yourself."
+
+The Sage was nettled.
+
+"Yes, there is one thing that lasts, that is friendship," he said.
+
+"Friendship!" exclaimed the Damsel; "but that is not made up of
+caresses. It does not make the heart beat."
+
+"We were not talking of beating hearts," said the Sage, sententiously.
+
+"Very well. Good-bye, then, Sage," laughed the Damsel. "You must think
+of more stories for me before I come again."
+
+And, continuing to caress the falcon, she walked away, stately and fair,
+into the setting sun.
+
+When she had gone the Sage wondered why there was no twilight that
+evening, and why it had suddenly become night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Most men prefer to possess something that the other men want._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It would be a peaceful world if we could only realize that the fever of
+love is like other fevers. It comes to a crisis, and the patient either
+dies or is cured. It cannot last at the same point forever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel came back again next day. She had remarked, the day she spent
+with him in the rain, that the Sage was not so old or so uncomely as she
+had at first supposed. "If he were to shave off his beard and wear a
+velvet doublet, he would look as well as many a cavalier of the Court,"
+she mused. And she called out before she reached the door:
+
+"Sage, I have come back because I want to ask you just another question.
+Will you not come out and sit in the sun while you answer?"
+
+So the Sage advanced in a recalcitrant manner, but he would not sit
+down beside her.
+
+Then the Damsel began:
+
+"A woman once possessed a ball of silk. It was of so fine and rare a
+kind that, although of many thousand yards, it took up no space, and she
+unwound it daily for her pleasure without any appreciable difference in
+the size of the ball. At last she suddenly fancied she perceived some
+alteration. It came upon her as a shock, but still she continued to use
+the silk with the casual idea that a thing she had employed so long
+_must_ go on forever. Then again, in about a week, there came another
+shock. The ball was certainly smaller, and felt cold and hard and firm.
+The thought came to her, 'What if it should not be silk all through and
+I have come to the end of matters? What shall I do?' Now tell me, Sage,
+should the woman go on to the end and find perhaps a stone? Or should
+she try to rewind the silk? Which is the best course?"
+
+The Damsel took up the Sage's staff, which he had dropped for the
+moment, and with its point she drew geometrical figures in the sand. But
+the sun made shadows with her eyelashes, and the Sage felt his voice
+tremble, so he answered, tartly:
+
+"That would depend upon the nature of the woman. If she continues to
+unwind the silk she will certainly find a piece of adamant, which has
+been cunningly covered with this rare, soft substance. If she tries to
+rewind, she will discover the thread has become tangled, and the ball
+can never again look smooth and even as before. She must choose which
+she would prefer, a clean piece of adamant or an uneven ball of silk."
+
+"But that is no answer to my question," said the Damsel, pouting. "I
+asked which must she do for the best."
+
+"Neither is better nor worse!" replied the Sage with asperity. "And
+there is no best."
+
+"You are quite wrong, Sage," returned the Damsel. "There is a third
+course. She can cut the thread and leave the ball as it is, a coating of
+smooth silk still--and an undiscovered possibility inside."
+
+"You are too much for me!" exclaimed the Sage in a fury. "Answer your
+own questions, to begin with, in future! I will have no more of you!"
+and he went into his cave and ostentatiously fastened the door.
+
+The Damsel smiled to herself and continued to draw geometrical figures
+with the point of the Sage's staff in the sand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_There are always three courses in life: the good, the bad, and
+the--indifferent. The good gives you calm, and makes you sleep; the bad
+gives you emotions, and makes you weep; and the indifferent gives you no
+satisfaction, and makes you yawn, so--choose wisely._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One can swear to be faithful eternally, but how can one swear to love
+eternally? The one is a question of will, the other a sentiment beyond
+all human control. One might as sensibly swear to keep the wind in the
+south, or the sun from setting!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And yet we swear both vows--and break both vows.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A woman is always hardest upon her own sins, committed by others.
+
+A man is sometimes lenient to them.
+
+A fool can win the love of a man, but it requires a woman of resources
+to keep it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel did not go away from the cave, as was her custom. She
+continued to draw geometrical figures in the sand. Presently she called
+to the Sage once more.
+
+"Come out again, dear Sage! Listen, I have something more to say."
+
+He unfastened the window and stood leaning on the sill.
+
+"Well?" he said, sternly. "Well?"
+
+"A Ring Dove once was owned by a man. It was the sweetest and most
+gentle of birds, besides being extremely beautiful. It adored the man
+and lived contentedly in its cage. The perches, which the man had had
+prepared especially for it, were endeared to it from association with
+the happy hours when it had been caressed by the man. Altogether to it
+the cage appeared a palace, and it lived content.
+
+"The man was a brutal creature, more or less, and at last he cruelly
+ill-treated the Ring Dove, and exalted a Cuckoo in its place. This
+conduct greatly saddened the sweet Dove, but it over and over again
+forgave its tormentor, so great was its love, and even saw the Cuckoo
+advanced to the highest honors without anger, only a bleeding heart. How
+long things would have continued in this way no one knows; but the man
+suddenly gave the Cuckoo the Ring Dove's cage, and let the Cuckoo sleep
+on the perches which the Dove was accustomed to consider its very own.
+This overcame the gentle Dove. Its broken heart mended, and it flew
+away. Tell me, Sage, why did this action cure the Dove of its great love
+for the man, when it had borne all the blows and cruelty without
+resentment?"
+
+"That is an easy question to answer," replied the Sage. "The Dove was
+really growing tired and seized this as a good opportunity to be off."
+
+"Oh, how little you know of the female sex, even of Doves!" laughed the
+Damsel. "I can give you the true reason myself. It was the bad taste of
+the man in giving the Cuckoo the cage and perches of the Ring Dove,
+which he had consecrated to her. That cured her, and enabled her to fly
+away."
+
+And the Damsel curtsied to the Sage and sauntered off, laughing and
+looking back over her shoulder.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_An action committed in bad taste is more curing and disillusionizing to
+Love than the cruelest blows of rage and hate._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A man would often be the lover of his wife--if he were married to some
+one else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There come moments in life when we regret the old gods.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Time and place--temperature and temperament--and after the sunset the
+night--and then to-morrow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All the winter passed and the Damsel remained at the Court and the Sage
+in his cave. Both found the days long and their occupation insufficient.
+
+At last, when spring came, the Damsel again mounted the hill one morning
+before dawn and tapped at the Sage's door.
+
+His heart gave a bound, and he flew to open it without more ado.
+
+"So you have come back?" he said; and his voice was eager, though it was
+a gray light and he could not see her plainly.
+
+"Yes," said she; "I want you to tell me one more story of life before I
+go on a long voyage."
+
+So the Sage began:
+
+"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was
+filled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh
+and blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into
+realities. But _because_ he was happy with her, and because her hair was
+black and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to
+himself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so
+delectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the
+cross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into
+nothingness and was forgotten--"
+
+"Oh, hush, Sage!" said the Damsel, trembling; "I wish to hear no more.
+Come, shave off your beard, and put on a velvet doublet, and return
+with me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair."
+
+And the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and
+knew the secret he had come into the wilds to find.
+
+So he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet
+doublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the
+hand, and they gladly ran down the hill.
+
+And the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled
+young--and gay.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Remember the tangible now._
+
+"_Sic transit gloria mundi!_"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BY MRS. HUMPHRY WARD
+
+LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated by HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY. Post 8vo,
+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
+This is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as
+undoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been
+called "the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction."
+
+"A story that must be read."--_New York Sun._
+
+"Vividly alive from the first line."--_Chicago Record-Herald._
+
+"The most marvellous work of its wonderful author."--_New York World._
+
+"Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in
+fiction."--_Brooklyn Eagle._
+
+"Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play,
+but the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant
+nobilities of men and women."--_The Academy_, London, England.
+
+"Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the
+year."--_Chicago Evening Post._
+
+"The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's
+nature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the
+intriguing side will win. But it doesn't...."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+of the price._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BY HENRY SETON MERRIMAN
+
+THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
+A new novel by Henry Seton Merriman is always eagerly welcomed by every
+reader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting
+adventure among the political factions of the great European nations.
+One of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the
+Czar. The _attachés_ of the various Foreign Offices play an important
+part. It is full of exciting, dramatic situations, most of which centre
+around the love interest of the story--the love of a young English
+diplomatist for the beautiful Countess Wanda of Warsaw.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
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+
+BY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS
+
+THE MAID-AT-ARMS. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. Post 8vo,
+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
+Mr. Chambers has long since won a most enviable position among
+contemporary novelists. The great popular success of "Cardigan" makes
+this present novel of unusual interest to all readers of fiction. It is
+a stirring novel of American life in days just after the Revolution. It
+deals with the conspiracy of the great New York land-owners and the
+subjugation of New York Province to the British. It is a story with a
+fascinating love interest, and is alive with exciting incident and
+adventure. Some of the characters of "Cardigan" reappear in this new
+novel.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+of the price._
+
+BY JOHN FOX, JR.
+
+
+A MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+The story is well worth careful reading for its literary art and its
+truth to a phase of little-known American life.--_Omaha Bee._
+
+
+THE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T. SMEDLEY. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+This, Mr. Fox's first long story, sets him well in view, and
+distinguishes him as at once original and sound. He takes the right view
+of the story-writer's function and the wholesale view of what the art of
+fiction can rightfully attempt.--_Independent_, N. Y.
+
+"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental,
+$1.00.
+
+Mr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and
+primitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and
+Kentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and
+his hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely
+picturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively
+American.--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+A CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+These stories are tempestuously alive, and sweep the heart-strings with
+a master-hand.--_Watchman_, Boston.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _Any of the above works will be sent by mail,
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Damsel and The Sage, by Elinor Glyn.
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Damsel and the Sage, by Elinor Glyn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Damsel and the Sage
+       A Woman's Whimsies
+
+Author: Elinor Glyn
+
+Release Date: March 1, 2007 [EBook #20718]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE ***
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+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>THE DAMSEL
+
+<span class="smcap">and</span>
+
+THE SAGE<br /><br /></h1>
+
+<h2>THE DAMSEL</h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">and</span></h2>
+
+<h2>THE SAGE<br /></h2>
+
+<h3>A WOMAN'S WHIMSIES<br /><br /></h3>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> ELINOR GLYN<br /><br /></h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 127px;">
+<img src="images/tp1.png" width="127" height="200" alt="Publishers mark" title="Publishers mark" />
+</div>
+
+<h3>HARPER &amp;<br />
+BROTHERS<br />
+PUBLISHERS<br />
+NEW YORK<br />
+&amp; LONDON<br />
+MDCCCCIII</h3>
+
+<h5>Copyright, 1903, by <span class="smcap">Elinor Glyn</span>.<br />
+<i>All rights reserved.</i><br />
+Published October, 1903.</h5>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">To</span></h3>
+<h3>THE SUN'S RAYS<br /></h3>
+
+<p><i><b>A tree stood alone surrounded by high and low hills. It could be
+observed from all sides, and it appeared different from each elevation.</b></i><br /><br />
+
+<i><b>The tree was the same, only the point of view differed.</b></i><br /><br /><br />
+
+<i><b>Everything depends upon the point of view.</b></i><br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><i><b>"And as to the meaning, it's what you please."</b></i><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p style= "text-align: right"> "<b><i>C. S. C.</i></b>"</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 102px;">
+<img src="images/a.png" width="102" height="100" alt="A" title="Drop capital A" />
+</div>
+
+<p>nd the Damsel said to the Sage:</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what is life? And why does the fruit taste bitter in the mouth?"</p>
+
+<p>And the Sage answered, as he stepped from his cave:</p>
+
+<p>"My child, there was once a man who had two ears like other people. They
+were naturally necessary for his enjoyment of the day. But one of these
+ears offended his head. It behaved with stupidity, thinking thereby to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>enhance its value to him&mdash;it heard too much. Oh, it conducted itself
+with a gross stupidity. 'Out upon you,' cried the man; 'since you have
+overstepped the limit of the functions of an ear, I shall cut you from
+my head!' And so, without hesitation, he took a sword and accomplished
+the deed. The poor ear then lay upon the ground bleeding, and the man
+went about with a mutilated head."</p>
+
+<p>"And what was the good of all that?" said the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"There was no good in it," replied the Sage. "But he was a man, and he
+had punished the too-fond-and-foolish ear&mdash;also he hoped a new and more
+suitable one would grow in its place. 'Change,' he said, 'was a thing to
+be welcomed.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And tell me, Sage, what became of the ear?" asked the Damsel.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The ear fared better. Another man of greater shrewdness came along,
+and, although he had two ears of his own, he said, 'A third will not
+come amiss,' and he picked up the ear and heard with three ears instead
+of two. So he became knowing and clever because of the information he
+acquired in this way. The grafted ear grew and flourished, and, in spite
+of its remaining abnormal, it obtained a certain enjoyment out of
+existence."</p>
+
+<p>"But who <i>really</i> benefited by all this?" inquired the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"No one," said the Sage; "the first man went about with only one ear;
+the second man made himself remarkable with three&mdash;and the cut-off ear,
+although alive and successful, felt itself an excrescence."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then what <i>could</i> be the pleasure of it all?" demanded the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"Out upon <i>you</i>!" exclaimed the Sage, in a passion. "You asked me what
+was life&mdash;and why the fruit tasted bitter in the mouth? I have answered
+you."</p>
+
+<p>And he went back into his cave and barred the door.</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel sat down upon a stone outside.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that men are fools," she said, and she clapped her hands
+to her two ears. "When I am angry and offended with one of you, I will
+cut the ear from off the head of some one else."</p>
+
+<p>And she picked up an apple and ate it. And it tasted sweet.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>A man will often fling away a woman who has wronged him although in
+doing so he is deeply hurting himself. A woman will forgive a man who
+has wronged her because her own personal pleasure in him is greater than
+her outraged pride. Hence women are more unconscious philosophers than
+men.<br /><br /></i></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Damsel returned again to the cave of the Sage. There were other
+questions she wished to ask about life. The door was hard to push ajar,
+but at last she obtained entrance.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you want now?" he demanded, with a voice of grumbling. "Were
+you not content with my last utterances?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;and no," said the Damsel. "I came to quite other conclusions
+myself. I would have kept the ear on my head, since cutting one off,
+however it had angered me, would have upset my own comfort."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We have finished with that matter now," said the Sage, showing signs of
+impatience&mdash;he was still a man. "What next?"</p>
+
+<p>"I want to know," said the Damsel, "why a woman who has Diamonds and
+Pearls and Emeralds and Rubies in her possession should set such store
+upon a Topaz&mdash;a yellow Topaz&mdash;the color she dislikes&mdash;and a Topaz of
+uneven temper and peculiar properties. She never wears this stone that
+it does not bruise her, now her neck, now her arm. It is restless and
+slips from its chain. It will not remain in the case with the other
+jewels. And at last she has lost it&mdash;she fears for good and all. And so
+now all the other stones, which seemed very well in their way, have
+grown of even less value in her eyes, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> she can only lament the loss
+of her Topaz. 'I am brilliant,' cries the Diamond. 'I set off your eyes,
+and I love you.' 'I am soft and caressing,' whispers the Pearl. 'I lie
+close to your white skin and keep it cool, and I love you.' 'I am
+witty,' laughs the Emerald. 'I make your thoughts flash, and I love
+you.' 'I am the color of blood, and I would die for you,' chants the
+Ruby, 'and I love you.' And all these things the stones say all the day
+to her, and yet the woman only listens with half an ear, and their words
+have no effect upon her because of the charm of this tiresome Topaz.
+What does it all mean, Sage?"</p>
+
+<p>"It means, first of all," said the Sage, "that the woman is a fool, as
+what is the value of a Topaz in comparison with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> Diamond or a Ruby? It
+means, secondly, that the Topaz is a greater fool, because it would be
+more agreeable surely to lie close to the woman's soft neck than to be
+picked up by any stranger or lie neglected in the dust. But, above and
+beyond everything, it means that cherries are ripest when out of reach,
+and that the whole world is full of fools of either opinion, who do not
+know when they are well off."</p>
+
+<p>Upon which the Sage, with his usual lack of manners, retired into his
+cave and slammed his door.</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel sat down upon the rock and came again to her own conclusions.
+The stone that apparently was a Topaz was in reality a yellow Diamond of
+great rarity and worth, and that was why the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> woman valued it so highly.
+Her instincts were stronger than her reason. But if she had not made
+herself so cheap by adoring the stone, it would not have become restless
+and she would not have lost it. Even stones cannot stand too much honey.
+If ever the woman should find this yellow Diamond again she must be told
+to keep it in a cool box and not caress it or place it above the others.</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel thought aloud and the Sage heard her&mdash;he strode forth in a
+rage.</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you come here demanding my advice if you moralize yourself? Out
+upon you again!" he thundered. "The woman will not find her Topaz, which
+is now revelling in the sun of freedom and will soon go down into
+nothingness and be forgotten. And after lamenting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> until her eyes look
+gaunt, the woman will begin to see some beauty in a Sapphire and become
+consoled, and so all will be well."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not care what you say," said the Damsel. "<i>It is better to have
+what one wants one's self than to try and learn to like anything else
+that other people think better.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>And she refastened a bracelet with great care&mdash;which contained two
+cat's-eyes of no value&mdash;as she went on her way.<br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/s.png" width="100" height="100" alt="Drop Capital S" title="Drop Capital S" />
+</div>
+
+<p>eize the occasion lest it pass thee by and fall into the lap of another.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>No man likes shooting tame rabbits.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>Most men like the hunt more than the quarry&mdash;therefore the wise woman is
+elusive.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+<p>It is a good hostess who never inclines her guests unconsciously to look
+at the clock.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>Some things cause pride, some pleasure. There is only one thing which
+causes infinite bliss and oblivion of time, and this one thing, unless
+bound with chains, is called immoral.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+<p>It is a wise man who knows when he is happy and can appreciate the
+divine bliss of the tangible <i>now</i>. Most of us retrospect or anticipate
+and so lose the present.</p>
+
+<p>Seize Love at whatever age he comes to you&mdash;if you can avoid being
+ridiculous.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/m.png" width="100" height="100" alt="M" title="Drop capital M" />
+</div>
+
+<p>ore questions?" exclaimed the Sage, as the Damsel tapped gently upon
+the door of his cave.</p>
+
+<p>"Women are never satisfied; they are as restless as the sea, and when
+they have received all the best advice they invariably follow their own
+inclinations."</p>
+
+<p>"It was not to discuss women," replied the Damsel, timidly; "this time
+it is of a man I wish to ask."</p>
+
+<p>"Begin, then, and have done quickly," growled the Sage, averting his
+head. The Damsel had an outline against the sky which caused ideas not
+tranquillizing for Hermits.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I wish to know why a man who possessed the most beautiful and noble
+Bird of Paradise&mdash;a bird of rare plumage and wonderful qualities&mdash;should
+suddenly see more beauty in an ordinary Cockatoo, whose only attraction
+was its yellow feathers&mdash;a Cockatoo that screamed monotonously as it
+swung backward and forward on its perch, and would eat sugar out of the
+hand of any stranger while it cried 'Pretty Poll.' The man could not
+afford to buy this creature also, so he deliberately sold his exquisite
+Bird of Paradise to a person called Circumstance and with the money
+became the possessor of the Cockatoo, who pierced the drums of his ears
+with its eternal 'Pretty Poll' and wearied his sight with its yellow
+feathers. Why did the man do this?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Sage laughed at so simple a question.</p>
+
+<p>"Because he was a man, and even a screaming Cockatoo belonging to some
+one else has more charm at times than the most divine Bird of Paradise
+belonging to himself."</p>
+
+<p>"But was it worth while to sell this rare thing for a very ordinary
+one?" demanded the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not," said the Sage, impatiently. "What childish questions
+you ask! The thing was a folly on the face of it; but, as I said before,
+he was a man&mdash;and the Cockatoo belonged to some one else!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then what will happen now?" asked the Damsel, placing herself in the
+direction in which the Sage had turned his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The Bird of Paradise will still be the most beautiful and glorious and
+desirable bird in the world; and when the man realizes he has lost it
+forever he will begin to value its every feather, and will spend his
+days in comparing all its remembered perfections and advantages with the
+screams and the yellow feathers of the Cockatoo."</p>
+
+<p>"And what will the Cockatoo do?" inquired the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"It will probably continue to shriek 'Pretty Poll,' and eat sugar out of
+the hand of any stranger," replied the Sage, plucking his heard.</p>
+
+<p>"And the man?"</p>
+
+<p>"The man will go on telling every one he has bought the most divine bird
+in the world, in the hope that some one will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> offer him a large sum of
+money for it. The only person who gains in the affair is the Bird of
+Paradise, who, instead of being caged as when in the possession of the
+man, is absolutely free to fly with its new master, Circumstance, who
+only seeks to please and soothe this glorious bird and make life fair
+for it."</p>
+
+<p>"But what will be the very end?" persisted the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>The Sage turned and looked full at her. He was angry with her
+importunity and would have answered sternly.</p>
+
+<p>Then he saw that the ripples of her hair were golden and his voice
+softened.</p>
+
+<p>"That will depend&mdash;upon Circumstance," he replied, and he closed his
+door softly in her face.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>A man wishes and a woman wishes, but Circumstance frequently wins the
+game.</i><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/l.png" width="100" height="100" alt="L" title="Drop capital L" />
+</div>
+
+<p>ife is short&mdash;avoid causing yawns.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>It is possible for a woman to retain the amorous affection of a man for
+many years&mdash;if he only sees her for the two best hours out of each
+twenty-four.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/p.png" width="100" height="100" alt="P" title="Drop capital P" />
+</div>
+
+<p>lease open the door, Sage," entreated the Damsel, "and I will tell you
+a story."</p>
+
+<p>The Sage pushed it ajar with his foot, but he did not come out.</p>
+
+<p>"There was once upon a time a man," she said, "who unexpectedly and for
+no apparent reason became the possessor of a Tiger. It had been coveted
+by numbers of people and was of a certain value and beauty. It had an
+infinite variety of tricks. It was learned in caresses. It was fierce,
+and gentle, and it could love passionately. Altogether a large price
+would have been offered the man for it by many others if he had wished
+to sell it. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> beginning he had greatly valued the possession of
+this strange beast, and had fed it with his own hand. The little anxiety
+as to whether it would eat him or not, or rush away, had kept him
+interested. But gradually, as he became certain the Tiger adored him,
+and would show none but velvet claws and make only purring sounds, his
+keenness waned. He still loved it, but certainty is monotonous, and his
+eyes wandered to other objects. 'The Tiger is nothing but a domestic
+cat,' he said; 'I will pet and caress it when the mood takes me, and for
+the rest of the time it can purr to itself by the fire.' At last one
+day, after the Tiger was especially gracious and had purred with all
+essence of love, the man yawned. 'It is really a charming beast,' he
+said, 'but it is always the same; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> then he went away and forgot even
+to feed it. The Tiger felt hungry and restless. Its quietness and
+gentleness became less apparent. The man on his travels chanced to think
+of it and sent it a biscuit. So the Tiger waited, and when the man
+returned and expected the usual docile caresses, it bit his hand. 'Vile
+beast!' said the man. 'Have I not fed and kept you for weeks, and now
+you bite my hand!' Now tell me, Sage, which was right&mdash;the man or the
+Tiger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Both, and neither," said the Sage, decidedly. "The man was only obeying
+the eternal law in finding what he was sure of monotonous; but he
+mistook the nature of the beast he had to deal with. Tigers are not of
+the species that can ever be really monotonous, if he had known. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+Tiger was foolish to allow its true nature to be so disguised by its
+love for the man that he was deceived into looking upon it as a domestic
+cat. It thought to please him thereby and so lost its hold."</p>
+
+<p>"And what will be the end?" asked the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"The man's hand will smart to the end of his life, and he will never
+secure another Tiger. And the Tiger will go elsewhere and console itself
+by letting its natural instincts have full play. It will not be foolish
+a second time."</p>
+
+<p>But the Damsel's conclusion was different.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said. "The man's hand will heal up, and the Tiger will caress
+him and make him forget the bite, and they will love<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> each other to
+eternity because they have both realized their own stupidity."</p>
+
+<p>And without speaking further she allowed the Sage to close the door.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>It is wiser to know the species one is playing with: do not offer
+Tigers hay&mdash;or Antelopes joints of meat.</i><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/n.png" width="100" height="100" alt="N" title="Drop capital N" />
+</div>
+
+<p>ext day, in a pouring shower of rain, the Damsel knocked at the Sage's
+door. It was for shelter, she said, this time, until the storm should
+pass.</p>
+
+<p>The Sage was fairly gracious, and to while away the time the Damsel
+began a story.</p>
+
+<p>"A man once owned a brown Sparrow. It had no attractions, and it made a
+continuous and wearying noise as it chattered under the eaves. It did
+the same thing every day, and had monotonous domestic habits that often
+greatly irritated the man, but&mdash;he was accustomed to it, and did not
+complain. After several years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> a travelling Showman came along; he had a
+large aviary of birds of all sorts, some for sale, some not. Among them
+was a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a
+creature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became
+passionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for
+the sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers
+of regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and
+carried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he
+revelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did
+its best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. And
+the worry and annoyance of concealing the theft from the Showman, and
+the different food the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Humming Bird required, and the care that had to
+be taken of it, at last began to weary the man. He chafed and was often
+disagreeable to it, although he realized its glory and beauty and the
+feather it was in his cap. Finally, one day, in a fit of desperation,
+the man let the Humming Bird fly, and crept back home to the homely
+brown Sparrow, with its irritating noises and utter want of beauty. Why
+was this, Sage?"</p>
+
+<p>The Sage had not to think long.</p>
+
+<p>"Custom, my child," he said. "Custom forges stronger chains than the
+finest plumage of a Humming Bird. The man had to put himself out and
+exert himself to retain the Humming Bird in a way that was not agreeable
+to his self-love, whereas the brown Sparrow lived on always the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> same,
+causing him no trouble, and custom had deadened the sense of its want of
+charm."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it seems to me it was rather hard upon the poor Humming Bird!"
+said the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"It is always hard upon the Humming Birds," replied the Sage, and his
+voice was quite sad.</p>
+
+<p>The rain did not cease for a long time. It was more than an hour before
+the Damsel left the cave<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>If you are a Humming Bird it is wiser for you to remain in the
+possession of the Travelling Showman.</i><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/a.png" width="100" height="100" alt="A" title="Drop capital A" />
+</div>
+
+<p>LONG period elapsed after this before the Damsel again tapped at the
+Sage's door. He looked out morning and evening, and attributed his lack
+of enthusiasm for his devotions to an attack of rheumatism from the damp
+of his cave. At last, one morning he spied her sauntering slowly up the
+hill, and he retired into the back of his cell, and the Damsel had to
+knock twice before he opened the window shutter. She was in a gay mood,
+and demanded a story, so the Sage began:</p>
+
+<p>"There was once upon a time a Fish with glittering scales who swam about
+in a deep river. It had been tempted by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> flies of many Fishermen,
+but had laughed at them all and swam away, just under the surface of the
+water, so that the sun might shine on its glittering scales to please
+the eyes of the Fishermen and to excite their desire to secure it. It
+was a Fish who laughed a good deal at life. But one fine day a new
+Angler came along; he was young and beautiful, and seemed lazy and
+happy, and not particularly anxious to throw the line. The Fish peeped
+at him from the sheltering shadow of a rock. 'This is the most perfect
+specimen of a Fisherman I have ever seen,' it said to itself. 'I could
+almost believe it would be agreeable to swallow the fly and let him land
+me and put me in his basket.' The young Fisherman threw the line, and
+the sun caught the glittering scales of the Fish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> at that moment. The
+laziness vanished from the Fisherman, and he began to have a strong
+desire to secure the Fish.</p>
+
+<p>"He fished for some time, and the Fish swam backward and forward, making
+up its mind. It saw the hook under the fly, but the attraction of the
+Angler growing stronger and stronger, at last it deliberately decided to
+come up and bite. 'I know all the emotions of swimming on the surface
+and letting my scales shine in the sun,' it mused, 'but I know nothing
+about the bank and the basket, and perhaps the tales that are drilled
+into the heads of us Fish from infancy about suffocation and exhaustion
+are not true.' And it mused again: 'He is a perfectly beautiful
+Fisherman and looks kind, and I want to be closer to him and let him
+touch my glittering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> scales. After all, one ought to know everything
+before one dies.'</p>
+
+<p>"So, its heart beating and its eyes melting, the Fish deliberately rose
+to the surface and swallowed the fly. The hook caught in a gristly place
+and did not hurt much, and the novel experience of being pulled onto the
+green meadow delighted the Fish. It saw the Fisherman close, and felt
+his hands as he tenderly disengaged the hook. He was full of joy and
+pride at securing the difficult Fish and admired its scales. He talked
+aloud and told it how bright he found it, and he was altogether charming
+and delightful, and the Fish adored him and was glad it had been caught.</p>
+
+<p>"Then after some time of this admiration and dalliance, the Fisherman
+put it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> in the basket among the cool rushes. The Fish lay quiet, still
+content. It had not yet begun to pant. For an hour almost the Fisherman
+gloried in his catch. He opened the lid frequently and smiled at the
+Fish.</p>
+
+<p>"Then he lay down on the bank beside the basket and let his rod float
+idly in the stream. The sun was warm and pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>"'I wish,' he said to himself, 'after all, I had not secured the Fish
+yet; the throwing of the fly and the excitement of trying to catch the
+creature are better fun than having it safely landed and lying in the
+basket,' and he yawned, and his eyes gradually closed and he slept.</p>
+
+<p>"Now the Fish heard very plainly what he had said. Tell me, Damsel&mdash;you
+who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> ask questions and answer them finally yourself&mdash;tell me, What did
+the Fish do?"</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel mused a moment. She stirred with her white fingers the water
+in the basin of the fountain that sprang from the rock close by. Then
+she looked at the Sage from under the shadow of her brows and answered,
+thoughtfully:</p>
+
+<p>"The Fish was stunned at first by this truth being uttered so near it.
+It suddenly realized what it had done and what it had lost. 'I, who swam
+about freely and showed my glittering scales in the sun, am now caught
+and in a basket, with no prospect but suffocation and death in front of
+me,' it said to itself. 'I could have even supported that, and the
+knowledge that my scales will become dull and unattractive in the near
+future, if the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> Fisherman had only continued to lift the lid and admire
+me a little longer.' And it sighed and began to feel the sense of
+suffocation. But it was a Fish of great determination and resources. 'I
+have learned my lesson,' it gasped; 'the Fisherman has taught it to me
+himself. Now I will make a great jump and try to get out of the basket.'</p>
+
+<p>"So it jumped and opened the lid. The Fisherman stirred in his sleep and
+put out his hand vaguely to close it again, but he was too sleepy to
+fasten the catch, and with less noise the Fish bounced up again and
+succeeded in floundering upon the grass. It lay panting and in great
+distress, but it looked at the beautiful Angler with regret. He was so
+beautiful and so desirable. 'I could almost stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> now,' the Fish sighed.
+Then it braced itself up and gave one more bound, and this time reached
+the rock at the edge of the stream.</p>
+
+<p>"Again the Fisherman awoke, and now casually, with his eyes still
+closed, fastened up the basket before he slept again; but the Fish with
+its third bound reached the river, and darted out into the middle of the
+stream.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good-bye, Beautiful Angler!' it said, sadly. 'You were sweet, but you
+have taught me a lesson, and freedom is sweeter.'</p>
+
+<p>"The splash of its reaching the water fully awakened the Fisherman, but
+he saw the basket with the lid shut, and had no anxieties until his eye
+caught the pink of the water where the Fish sheltered under the rock.
+Its gill was still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> bleeding from the hook wound, and colored a circle
+round it. Then he opened the lid and found the basket empty.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good-bye,' said the Fish. 'Your wish has been granted, and your
+pleasure can begin all over again!'</p>
+
+<p>"But the Fisherman suddenly realized that his rod, while he slept, had
+fallen into the river, and was floating away down the stream.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good-bye again,' said the Fish; 'I have suffered, but I have now
+experience, and I am grateful to you, and my gill will heal up, and I
+will smile at you sometimes from just under the surface of the water,
+and so all is well!' And it flashed its glittering scales in the sun
+before it darted away out of sight in the strong current."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And the Damsel folded her hands and looked into distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Damsel," said the Sage, gently for him; "but the Fisherman
+could procure another rod&mdash;rods are not rarities. What then?"</p>
+
+<p>"That would be for another day," said the Damsel; "and&mdash;for another
+Fish!" And she tripped away down the hill, and was deaf to the Sage, who
+gruffly called after her.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>When you have caught your Fish, it may be wiser to cook it and eat
+it.</i><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/t.png" width="100" height="100" alt="T" title="Drop capital T" />
+</div>
+
+<p>he sun was setting when the Damsel next came to the Cave. She had a pet
+falcon with her, and kept caressing it as she propounded her question.</p>
+
+<p>"There lived a woman in a Castle who had three Knights devoted to her.
+She loved one, and her vanity was pleased with the other two. While she
+continued to play with them all, they all loved her to distraction; but
+presently her preference for the one Knight became evident, and the two
+others, after doing their utmost to supplant the third without success,
+at last left the Castle and rode away. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> were no sooner gone, and
+things had become quiet, and no combats occurred to interrupt the
+lovers' intercourse, when the chosen Knight began to weary, and he, too,
+at last rode away, although before he had been the most ardent of all.
+Why was this, Sage? And what should the woman do?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was because the Knight had won the prize and the woman gave him no
+trouble to keep it," replied the Sage. "He was bound to weary. When a
+man's profession is fighting and he has fought hard and succeeded, after
+sufficient rest he wishes to fight again. So if the woman wants her
+lover back, she had better first summon the other two."</p>
+
+<p>For once the Damsel had nothing to say, and had no excuse to remain
+longer in the cave.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Sage, however, was not in the mind to let her go so soon, so he
+began a question:</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you caress that bird so much? It appears completely indifferent
+to you. Surely that is waste of time?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is agreeable to waste time," replied the Damsel.</p>
+
+<p>"Upon an insensible object?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"More so than if it returned your caresses?"</p>
+
+<p>"Probably&mdash;there is the speculation. It might one day respond, while
+certainly if it repaid warmly my love now, one day it would not. Nothing
+lasts in this world. You have told me so yourself."</p>
+
+<p>The Sage was nettled.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, there is one thing that lasts, that is friendship," he said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Friendship!" exclaimed the Damsel; "but that is not made up of
+caresses. It does not make the heart beat."</p>
+
+<p>"We were not talking of beating hearts," said the Sage, sententiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. Good-bye, then, Sage." laughed the Damsel. "You must think
+of more stories for me before I come again."</p>
+
+<p>And, continuing to caress the falcon, she walked away, stately and fair,
+into the setting sun.</p>
+
+<p>When she had gone the Sage wondered why there was no twilight that
+evening, and why it had suddenly become night.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>Most men prefer to possess something that the other men want.<br /></i></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/i.png" width="100" height="100" alt="I" title="Drop capital I" />
+</div>
+
+<p>t would be a peaceful world if we could only realize that the fever of
+love is like other fevers. It comes to a crisis, and the patient either
+dies or is cured. It cannot last at the same point forever.<br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/t.png" width="100" height="100" alt="T" title="Drop capital T" />
+</div>
+
+<p>he Damsel came back again next day. She had remarked, the day she spent
+with him in the rain, that the Sage was not so old or so uncomely as she
+had at first supposed. "If he were to shave off his beard and wear a
+velvet doublet, he would look as well as many a cavalier of the Court,"
+she mused. And she called out before she reached the door:</p>
+
+<p>"Sage, I have come back because I want to ask you just another question.
+Will you not come out and sit in the sun while you answer?"</p>
+
+<p>So the Sage advanced in a recalcitrant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> manner, but he would not sit
+down beside her.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Damsel began:</p>
+
+<p>"A woman once possessed a ball of silk. It was of so fine and rare a
+kind that, although of many thousand yards, it took up no space, and she
+unwound it daily for her pleasure without any appreciable difference in
+the size of the ball. At last she suddenly fancied she perceived some
+alteration. It came upon her as a shock, but still she continued to use
+the silk with the casual idea that a thing she had employed so long
+<i>must</i> go on forever. Then again, in about a week, there came another
+shock. The ball was certainly smaller, and felt cold and hard and firm.
+The thought came to her, 'What if it should not be silk all through and
+I have come to the end of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> matters? What shall I do?' Now tell me, Sage,
+should the woman go on to the end and find perhaps a stone? Or should
+she try to rewind the silk? Which is the best course?"</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel took up the Sage's staff, which he had dropped for the
+moment, and with its point she drew geometrical figures in the sand. But
+the sun made shadows with her eyelashes, and the Sage felt his voice
+tremble, so he answered, tartly:</p>
+
+<p>"That would depend upon the nature of the woman. If she continues to
+unwind the silk she will certainly find a piece of adamant, which has
+been cunningly covered with this rare, soft substance. If she tries to
+rewind, she will discover the thread has become tangled,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> and the ball
+can never again look smooth and even as before. She must choose which
+she would prefer, a clean piece of adamant or an uneven ball of silk."</p>
+
+<p>"But that is no answer to my question," said the Damsel, pouting. "I
+asked which must she do for the best."</p>
+
+<p>"Neither is better nor worse!" replied the Sage with asperity. "And
+there is no best."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite wrong, Sage," returned the Damsel. "There is a third
+course. She can cut the thread and leave the ball as it is, a coating of
+smooth silk still&mdash;and an undiscovered possibility inside."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too much for me!" exclaimed the Sage in a fury. "Answer your
+own questions, to begin with, in future! I will have no more of you!"
+and he went into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> his cave and ostentatiously fastened the door.</p>
+
+<p>The Damsel smiled to herself and continued to draw geometrical figures
+with the point of the Sage's staff in the sand.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>There are always three courses in life: the good, the bad, and
+the&mdash;indifferent. The good gives you calm, and makes you sleep; the bad
+gives you emotions, and makes you weep; and the indifferent gives you no
+satisfaction, and makes you yawn, so&mdash;choose wisely.</i><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/o.png" width="100" height="100" alt="O" title="Drop capital O" />
+</div>
+
+<p>ne can swear to be faithful eternally, but how can one swear to love
+eternally? The one is a question of will, the other a sentiment beyond
+all human control. One might as sensibly swear to keep the wind in the
+south, or the sun from setting!<br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>And yet we swear both vows&mdash;and break both vows.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>A woman is always hardest upon her own sins, committed by others.</p>
+
+<p>A man is sometimes lenient to them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A fool can win the love of a man, but it requires a woman of resources
+to keep it.<br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/t.png" width="100" height="100" alt="T" title="Drop capital T" />
+</div>
+
+<p>he Damsel did not go away from the cave, as was her custom. She
+continued to draw geometrical figures in the sand. Presently she called
+to the Sage once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Come out again, dear Sage! Listen, I have something more to say."</p>
+
+<p>He unfastened the window and stood leaning on the sill.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" he said, sternly. "Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"A Ring Dove once was owned by a man. It was the sweetest and most
+gentle of birds, besides being extremely beautiful. It adored the man
+and lived contentedly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> in its cage. The perches, which the man had had
+prepared especially for it, were endeared to it from association with
+the happy hours when it had been caressed by the man. Altogether to it
+the cage appeared a palace, and it lived content.</p>
+
+<p>"The man was a brutal creature, more or less, and at last he cruelly
+ill-treated the Ring Dove, and exalted a Cuckoo in its place. This
+conduct greatly saddened the sweet Dove, but it over and over again
+forgave its tormentor, so great was its love, and even saw the Cuckoo
+advanced to the highest honors without anger, only a bleeding heart. How
+long things would have continued in this way no one knows; but the man
+suddenly gave the Cuckoo the Ring Dove's cage, and let the Cuckoo sleep
+on the perches which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> Dove was accustomed to consider its very own.
+This overcame the gentle Dove. Its broken heart mended, and it flew
+away. Tell me, Sage, why did this action cure the Dove of its great love
+for the man, when it had borne all the blows and cruelty without
+resentment?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is an easy question to answer," replied the Sage. "The Dove was
+really growing tired and seized this as a good opportunity to be off."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how little you know of the female sex, even of Doves!" laughed the
+Damsel. "I can give you the true reason myself. It was the bad taste of
+the man in giving the Cuckoo the cage and perches of the Ring Dove,
+which he had consecrated to her. That cured her, and enabled her to fly
+away."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And the Damsel curtsied to the Sage and sauntered off, laughing and
+looking back over her shoulder.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><i>An action committed in bad taste is more curing and disillusionizing to
+Love than the cruelest blows of rage and hate.<br /></i></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/a.png" width="100" height="100" alt="A" title="Drop capital A" />
+</div>
+
+<p>man would often be the lover of his wife&mdash;if he were married to some
+one else.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>There come moments in life when we regret the old gods.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>Time and place&mdash;temperature and temperament&mdash;and after the sunset the
+night&mdash;and then to-morrow.<br /></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/a.png" width="100" height="100" alt="A" title="Drop capital A" />
+</div>
+
+<p>ll the winter passed and the Damsel remained at the Court and the Sage
+in his cave. Both found the days long and their occupation insufficient.</p>
+
+<p>At last, when spring came, the Damsel again mounted the hill one morning
+before dawn and tapped at the Sage's door.</p>
+
+<p>His heart gave a bound, and he flew to open it without more ado.</p>
+
+<p>"So you have come back?" he said; and his voice was eager, though it was
+a gray light and he could not see her plainly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said she; "I want you to tell me one more story of life before I
+go on a long voyage."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So the Sage began:</p>
+
+<p>"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was
+filled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh
+and blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into
+realities. But <i>because</i> he was happy with her, and because her hair was
+black and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to
+himself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so
+delectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the
+cross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into
+nothingness and was forgotten&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, hush, Sage!" said the Damsel, trembling; "I wish to hear no more.
+Come, shave off your beard, and put on a velvet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> doublet, and return
+with me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair."</p>
+
+<p>And the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and
+knew the secret he had come into the wilds to find.</p>
+
+<p>So he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet
+doublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the
+hand, and they gladly ran down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>And the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled
+young&mdash;and gay.<br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+<p><i>Remember the tangible now.<br /></i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Sic transit gloria mundi!</i>"<br /><br /><br /></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> MRS. HUMPHRY WARD</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated by <span class="smcap">Howard Chandler Christy</span>. Post 8vo,
+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as
+undoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been
+called "the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction."</p>
+
+<p>"A story that must be read."&mdash;<i>New York Sun.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Vividly alive from the first line."&mdash;<i>Chicago Record-Herald.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The most marvellous work of its wonderful author."&mdash;<i>New York World.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in
+fiction."&mdash;<i>Brooklyn Eagle.</i></p>
+
+<p>"Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play,
+but the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant
+nobilities of men and women."&mdash;<i>The Academy</i>, London, England.</p>
+
+<p>"Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the
+year."&mdash;<i>Chicago Evening Post.</i></p>
+
+<p>"The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's
+nature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the
+intriguing side will win. But it doesn't...."&mdash;<i>Boston Transcript.</i></p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<h4>
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, Publishers<br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+</h4>
+
+<p>[symbol: pointing hand] <i>The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span><i>of the price.</i></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3>HENRY SETON MERRIMAN</h3>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.</p></div>
+
+<p>A new novel by Henry Seton Merriman is always eagerly welcomed by every
+reader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting
+adventure among the political factions of the great European nations.
+One of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the
+Czar. The <i>attach&eacute;s</i> of the various Foreign Offices play an important
+part. It is full of exciting, dramatic situations, most of which centre
+around the love interest of the story&mdash;the love of a young English
+diplomatist for the beautiful Countess Wanda of Warsaw.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<h4>
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, Publishers<br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+</h4>
+
+<p>[symbol: pointing hand] <i>The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span><i>of the price.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> ROBERT W. CHAMBERS</h3>
+
+
+<p>THE MAID-AT-ARMS. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. Post 8vo,
+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Chambers has long since won a most enviable position among
+contemporary novelists. The great popular success of "Cardigan" makes
+this present novel of unusual interest to all readers of fiction. It is
+a stirring novel of American life in days just after the Revolution. It
+deals with the conspiracy of the great New York land-owners and the
+subjugation of New York Province to the British. It is a story with a
+fascinating love interest, and is alive with exciting incident and
+adventure. Some of the characters of "Cardigan" reappear in this new
+novel.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<h4>
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, Publishers<br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+</h4>
+
+<p>[symbol: pointing hand] <i>The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span><i>of the price.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> JOHN FOX, <span class="smcap">Jr.</span></h3>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.</p></div>
+
+<p>The story is well worth careful reading for its literary art and its
+truth to a phase of little-known American life.&mdash;<i>Omaha Bee.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>THE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T. <span class="smcap">Smedley</span>. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.</p></div>
+
+<p>This, Mr. Fox's first long story, sets him well in view, and
+distinguishes him as at once original and sound. He takes the right view
+of the story-writer's function and the wholesale view of what the art of
+fiction can rightfully attempt.&mdash;<i>Independent</i>, N. Y.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental,
+$1.00.</p></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and
+primitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and
+Kentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and
+his hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely
+picturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively
+American.&mdash;<i>Detroit Free Press</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.</p></div>
+
+<p>These stories are tempestuously alive, and sweep the heart-strings with
+a master-hand.&mdash;<i>Watchman</i>, Boston.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<h4>
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span><br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+</h4>
+
+<p>[symbol: pointing hand] <i>Any of the above works will be sent by mail,
+postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on
+receipt of the price.</i></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Damsel and the Sage, by Elinor Glyn
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Damsel and the Sage, by Elinor Glyn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Damsel and the Sage
+       A Woman's Whimsies
+
+Author: Elinor Glyn
+
+Release Date: March 1, 2007 [EBook #20718]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DAMSEL
+
+AND
+
+THE SAGE
+
+
+THE DAMSEL
+
+AND
+
+THE SAGE
+
+A WOMAN'S WHIMSIES
+
+BY ELINOR GLYN
+
+
+HARPER &
+BROTHERS
+PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK
+& LONDON
+MDCCCCIII
+
+
+Copyright, 1903, by ELINOR GLYN.
+
+_All rights reserved._
+
+Published October, 1903.
+
+
+
+TO
+
+THE SUN'S RAYS
+
+
+
+
+_A tree stood alone surrounded by high and low hills. It could be
+observed from all sides, and it appeared different from each elevation._
+
+_The tree was the same, only the point of view differed._
+
+_Everything depends upon the point of view._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"_And as to the meaning, it's what you please._"
+
+_C. S. C._
+
+
+
+
+THE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE
+
+
+And the Damsel said to the Sage:
+
+"Now, what is life? And why does the fruit taste bitter in the mouth?"
+
+And the Sage answered, as he stepped from his cave:
+
+"My child, there was once a man who had two ears like other people. They
+were naturally necessary for his enjoyment of the day. But one of these
+ears offended his head. It behaved with stupidity, thinking thereby to
+enhance its value to him--it heard too much. Oh, it conducted itself
+with a gross stupidity. 'Out upon you,' cried the man; 'since you have
+overstepped the limit of the functions of an ear, I shall cut you from
+my head!' And so, without hesitation, he took a sword and accomplished
+the deed. The poor ear then lay upon the ground bleeding, and the man
+went about with a mutilated head."
+
+"And what was the good of all that?" said the Damsel.
+
+"There was no good in it," replied the Sage. "But he was a man, and he
+had punished the too-fond-and-foolish ear--also he hoped a new and more
+suitable one would grow in its place. 'Change,' he said, 'was a thing to
+be welcomed.'"
+
+"And tell me, Sage, what became of the ear?" asked the Damsel.
+
+"The ear fared better. Another man of greater shrewdness came along,
+and, although he had two ears of his own, he said, 'A third will not
+come amiss,' and he picked up the ear and heard with three ears instead
+of two. So he became knowing and clever because of the information he
+acquired in this way. The grafted ear grew and flourished, and, in spite
+of its remaining abnormal, it obtained a certain enjoyment out of
+existence."
+
+"But who _really_ benefited by all this?" inquired the Damsel.
+
+"No one," said the Sage; "the first man went about with only one ear;
+the second man made himself remarkable with three--and the cut-off ear,
+although alive and successful, felt itself an excrescence."
+
+"Then what _could_ be the pleasure of it all?" demanded the Damsel.
+
+"Out upon _you_!" exclaimed the Sage, in a passion. "You asked me what
+was life--and why the fruit tasted bitter in the mouth? I have answered
+you."
+
+And he went back into his cave and barred the door.
+
+The Damsel sat down upon a stone outside.
+
+"It seems to me that men are fools," she said, and she clapped her hands
+to her two ears. "When I am angry and offended with one of you, I will
+cut the ear from off the head of some one else."
+
+And she picked up an apple and ate it. And it tasted sweet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_A man will often fling away a woman who has wronged him although in
+doing so he is deeply hurting himself. A woman will forgive a man who
+has wronged her because her own personal pleasure in him is greater than
+her outraged pride. Hence women are more unconscious philosophers than
+men._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel returned again to the cave of the Sage. There were other
+questions she wished to ask about life. The door was hard to push ajar,
+but at last she obtained entrance.
+
+"What do you want now?" he demanded, with a voice of grumbling. "Were
+you not content with my last utterances?"
+
+"Yes--and no," said the Damsel. "I came to quite other conclusions
+myself. I would have kept the ear on my head, since cutting one off,
+however it had angered me, would have upset my own comfort."
+
+"We have finished with that matter now," said the Sage, showing signs of
+impatience--he was still a man. "What next?"
+
+"I want to know," said the Damsel, "why a woman who has Diamonds and
+Pearls and Emeralds and Rubies in her possession should set such store
+upon a Topaz--a yellow Topaz--the color she dislikes--and a Topaz of
+uneven temper and peculiar properties. She never wears this stone that
+it does not bruise her, now her neck, now her arm. It is restless and
+slips from its chain. It will not remain in the case with the other
+jewels. And at last she has lost it--she fears for good and all. And so
+now all the other stones, which seemed very well in their way, have
+grown of even less value in her eyes, and she can only lament the loss
+of her Topaz. 'I am brilliant,' cries the Diamond. 'I set off your eyes,
+and I love you.' 'I am soft and caressing,' whispers the Pearl. 'I lie
+close to your white skin and keep it cool, and I love you.' 'I am
+witty,' laughs the Emerald. 'I make your thoughts flash, and I love
+you.' 'I am the color of blood, and I would die for you,' chants the
+Ruby, 'and I love you.' And all these things the stones say all the day
+to her, and yet the woman only listens with half an ear, and their words
+have no effect upon her because of the charm of this tiresome Topaz.
+What does it all mean, Sage?"
+
+"It means, first of all," said the Sage, "that the woman is a fool, as
+what is the value of a Topaz in comparison with a Diamond or a Ruby? It
+means, secondly, that the Topaz is a greater fool, because it would be
+more agreeable surely to lie close to the woman's soft neck than to be
+picked up by any stranger or lie neglected in the dust. But, above and
+beyond everything, it means that cherries are ripest when out of reach,
+and that the whole world is full of fools of either opinion, who do not
+know when they are well off."
+
+Upon which the Sage, with his usual lack of manners, retired into his
+cave and slammed his door.
+
+The Damsel sat down upon the rock and came again to her own conclusions.
+The stone that apparently was a Topaz was in reality a yellow Diamond of
+great rarity and worth, and that was why the woman valued it so highly.
+Her instincts were stronger than her reason. But if she had not made
+herself so cheap by adoring the stone, it would not have become restless
+and she would not have lost it. Even stones cannot stand too much honey.
+If ever the woman should find this yellow Diamond again she must be told
+to keep it in a cool box and not caress it or place it above the others.
+
+The Damsel thought aloud and the Sage heard her--he strode forth in a
+rage.
+
+"Why do you come here demanding my advice if you moralize yourself? Out
+upon you again!" he thundered. "The woman will not find her Topaz, which
+is now revelling in the sun of freedom and will soon go down into
+nothingness and be forgotten. And after lamenting until her eyes look
+gaunt, the woman will begin to see some beauty in a Sapphire and become
+consoled, and so all will be well."
+
+"I do not care what you say," said the Damsel. "_It is better to have
+what one wants one's self than to try and learn to like anything else
+that other people think better._"
+
+And she refastened a bracelet with great care--which contained two
+cat's-eyes of no value--as she went on her way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seize the occasion lest it pass thee by and fall into the lap of
+another.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No man likes shooting tame rabbits.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Most men like the hunt more than the quarry--therefore the wise woman is
+elusive.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is a good hostess who never inclines her guests unconsciously to look
+at the clock.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some things cause pride, some pleasure. There is only one thing which
+causes infinite bliss and oblivion of time, and this one thing, unless
+bound with chains, is called immoral.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is a wise man who knows when he is happy and can appreciate the
+divine bliss of the tangible _now_. Most of us retrospect or anticipate
+and so lose the present.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Seize Love at whatever age he comes to you--if you can avoid being
+ridiculous.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"More questions?" exclaimed the Sage, as the Damsel tapped gently upon
+the door of his cave.
+
+"Women are never satisfied; they are as restless as the sea, and when
+they have received all the best advice they invariably follow their own
+inclinations."
+
+"It was not to discuss women," replied the Damsel, timidly; "this time
+it is of a man I wish to ask."
+
+"Begin, then, and have done quickly," growled the Sage, averting his
+head. The Damsel had an outline against the sky which caused ideas not
+tranquillizing for Hermits.
+
+"I wish to know why a man who possessed the most beautiful and noble
+Bird of Paradise--a bird of rare plumage and wonderful qualities--should
+suddenly see more beauty in an ordinary Cockatoo, whose only attraction
+was its yellow feathers--a Cockatoo that screamed monotonously as it
+swung backward and forward on its perch, and would eat sugar out of the
+hand of any stranger while it cried 'Pretty Poll.' The man could not
+afford to buy this creature also, so he deliberately sold his exquisite
+Bird of Paradise to a person called Circumstance and with the money
+became the possessor of the Cockatoo, who pierced the drums of his ears
+with its eternal 'Pretty Poll' and wearied his sight with its yellow
+feathers. Why did the man do this?"
+
+The Sage laughed at so simple a question.
+
+"Because he was a man, and even a screaming Cockatoo belonging to some
+one else has more charm at times than the most divine Bird of Paradise
+belonging to himself."
+
+"But was it worth while to sell this rare thing for a very ordinary
+one?" demanded the Damsel.
+
+"Certainly not," said the Sage, impatiently. "What childish questions
+you ask! The thing was a folly on the face of it; but, as I said before,
+he was a man--and the Cockatoo belonged to some one else!"
+
+"Then what will happen now?" asked the Damsel, placing herself in the
+direction in which the Sage had turned his head.
+
+"The Bird of Paradise will still be the most beautiful and glorious and
+desirable bird in the world; and when the man realizes he has lost it
+forever he will begin to value its every feather, and will spend his
+days in comparing all its remembered perfections and advantages with the
+screams and the yellow feathers of the Cockatoo."
+
+"And what will the Cockatoo do?" inquired the Damsel.
+
+"It will probably continue to shriek 'Pretty Poll,' and eat sugar out of
+the hand of any stranger," replied the Sage, plucking his heard.
+
+"And the man?"
+
+"The man will go on telling every one he has bought the most divine bird
+in the world, in the hope that some one will offer him a large sum of
+money for it. The only person who gains in the affair is the Bird of
+Paradise, who, instead of being caged as when in the possession of the
+man, is absolutely free to fly with its new master, Circumstance, who
+only seeks to please and soothe this glorious bird and make life fair
+for it."
+
+"But what will be the very end?" persisted the Damsel.
+
+The Sage turned and looked full at her. He was angry with her
+importunity and would have answered sternly.
+
+Then he saw that the ripples of her hair were golden and his voice
+softened.
+
+"That will depend--upon Circumstance," he replied, and he closed his
+door softly in her face.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_A man wishes and a woman wishes, but Circumstance frequently wins the
+game._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Life is short--avoid causing yawns.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is possible for a woman to retain the amorous affection of a man for
+many years--if he only sees her for the two best hours out of each
+twenty-four.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Please open the door, Sage," entreated the Damsel, "and I will tell you
+a story."
+
+The Sage pushed it ajar with his foot, but he did not come out.
+
+"There was once upon a time a man," she said, "who unexpectedly and for
+no apparent reason became the possessor of a Tiger. It had been coveted
+by numbers of people and was of a certain value and beauty. It had an
+infinite variety of tricks. It was learned in caresses. It was fierce,
+and gentle, and it could love passionately. Altogether a large price
+would have been offered the man for it by many others if he had wished
+to sell it. In the beginning he had greatly valued the possession of
+this strange beast, and had fed it with his own hand. The little anxiety
+as to whether it would eat him or not, or rush away, had kept him
+interested. But gradually, as he became certain the Tiger adored him,
+and would show none but velvet claws and make only purring sounds, his
+keenness waned. He still loved it, but certainty is monotonous, and his
+eyes wandered to other objects. 'The Tiger is nothing but a domestic
+cat,' he said; 'I will pet and caress it when the mood takes me, and for
+the rest of the time it can purr to itself by the fire.' At last one
+day, after the Tiger was especially gracious and had purred with all
+essence of love, the man yawned. 'It is really a charming beast,' he
+said, 'but it is always the same; and then he went away and forgot even
+to feed it. The Tiger felt hungry and restless. Its quietness and
+gentleness became less apparent. The man on his travels chanced to think
+of it and sent it a biscuit. So the Tiger waited, and when the man
+returned and expected the usual docile caresses, it bit his hand. 'Vile
+beast!' said the man. 'Have I not fed and kept you for weeks, and now
+you bite my hand!' Now tell me, Sage, which was right--the man or the
+Tiger?"
+
+"Both, and neither," said the Sage, decidedly. "The man was only obeying
+the eternal law in finding what he was sure of monotonous; but he
+mistook the nature of the beast he had to deal with. Tigers are not of
+the species that can ever be really monotonous, if he had known. The
+Tiger was foolish to allow its true nature to be so disguised by its
+love for the man that he was deceived into looking upon it as a domestic
+cat. It thought to please him thereby and so lost its hold."
+
+"And what will be the end?" asked the Damsel.
+
+"The man's hand will smart to the end of his life, and he will never
+secure another Tiger. And the Tiger will go elsewhere and console itself
+by letting its natural instincts have full play. It will not be foolish
+a second time."
+
+But the Damsel's conclusion was different.
+
+"No," she said. "The man's hand will heal up, and the Tiger will caress
+him and make him forget the bite, and they will love each other to
+eternity because they have both realized their own stupidity."
+
+And without speaking further she allowed the Sage to close the door.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_It is wiser to know the species one is playing with: do not offer
+Tigers hay--or Antelopes joints of meat._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Next day, in a pouring shower of rain, the Damsel knocked at the Sage's
+door. It was for shelter, she said, this time, until the storm should
+pass.
+
+The Sage was fairly gracious, and to while away the time the Damsel
+began a story.
+
+"A man once owned a brown Sparrow. It had no attractions, and it made a
+continuous and wearying noise as it chattered under the eaves. It did
+the same thing every day, and had monotonous domestic habits that often
+greatly irritated the man, but--he was accustomed to it, and did not
+complain. After several years a travelling Showman came along; he had a
+large aviary of birds of all sorts, some for sale, some not. Among them
+was a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a
+creature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became
+passionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for
+the sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers
+of regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and
+carried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he
+revelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did
+its best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. And
+the worry and annoyance of concealing the theft from the Showman, and
+the different food the Humming Bird required, and the care that had to
+be taken of it, at last began to weary the man. He chafed and was often
+disagreeable to it, although he realized its glory and beauty and the
+feather it was in his cap. Finally, one day, in a fit of desperation,
+the man let the Humming Bird fly, and crept back home to the homely
+brown Sparrow, with its irritating noises and utter want of beauty. Why
+was this, Sage?"
+
+The Sage had not to think long.
+
+"Custom, my child," he said. "Custom forges stronger chains than the
+finest plumage of a Humming Bird. The man had to put himself out and
+exert himself to retain the Humming Bird in a way that was not agreeable
+to his self-love, whereas the brown Sparrow lived on always the same,
+causing him no trouble, and custom had deadened the sense of its want of
+charm."
+
+"Then it seems to me it was rather hard upon the poor Humming Bird!"
+said the Damsel.
+
+"It is always hard upon the Humming Birds," replied the Sage, and his
+voice was quite sad.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The rain did not cease for a long time. It was more than an hour before
+the Damsel left the cave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_If you are a Humming Bird it is wiser for you to remain in the
+possession of the Travelling Showman._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A long period elapsed after this before the Damsel again tapped at the
+Sage's door. He looked out morning and evening, and attributed his lack
+of enthusiasm for his devotions to an attack of rheumatism from the damp
+of his cave. At last, one morning he spied her sauntering slowly up the
+hill, and he retired into the back of his cell, and the Damsel had to
+knock twice before he opened the window shutter. She was in a gay mood,
+and demanded a story, so the Sage began:
+
+"There was once upon a time a Fish with glittering scales who swam about
+in a deep river. It had been tempted by the flies of many Fishermen,
+but had laughed at them all and swam away, just under the surface of the
+water, so that the sun might shine on its glittering scales to please
+the eyes of the Fishermen and to excite their desire to secure it. It
+was a Fish who laughed a good deal at life. But one fine day a new
+Angler came along; he was young and beautiful, and seemed lazy and
+happy, and not particularly anxious to throw the line. The Fish peeped
+at him from the sheltering shadow of a rock. 'This is the most perfect
+specimen of a Fisherman I have ever seen,' it said to itself. 'I could
+almost believe it would be agreeable to swallow the fly and let him land
+me and put me in his basket.' The young Fisherman threw the line, and
+the sun caught the glittering scales of the Fish at that moment. The
+laziness vanished from the Fisherman, and he began to have a strong
+desire to secure the Fish.
+
+"He fished for some time, and the Fish swam backward and forward, making
+up its mind. It saw the hook under the fly, but the attraction of the
+Angler growing stronger and stronger, at last it deliberately decided to
+come up and bite. 'I know all the emotions of swimming on the surface
+and letting my scales shine in the sun,' it mused, 'but I know nothing
+about the bank and the basket, and perhaps the tales that are drilled
+into the heads of us Fish from infancy about suffocation and exhaustion
+are not true.' And it mused again: 'He is a perfectly beautiful
+Fisherman and looks kind, and I want to be closer to him and let him
+touch my glittering scales. After all, one ought to know everything
+before one dies.'
+
+"So, its heart beating and its eyes melting, the Fish deliberately rose
+to the surface and swallowed the fly. The hook caught in a gristly place
+and did not hurt much, and the novel experience of being pulled onto the
+green meadow delighted the Fish. It saw the Fisherman close, and felt
+his hands as he tenderly disengaged the hook. He was full of joy and
+pride at securing the difficult Fish and admired its scales. He talked
+aloud and told it how bright he found it, and he was altogether charming
+and delightful, and the Fish adored him and was glad it had been caught.
+
+"Then after some time of this admiration and dalliance, the Fisherman
+put it in the basket among the cool rushes. The Fish lay quiet, still
+content. It had not yet begun to pant. For an hour almost the Fisherman
+gloried in his catch. He opened the lid frequently and smiled at the
+Fish.
+
+"Then he lay down on the bank beside the basket and let his rod float
+idly in the stream. The sun was warm and pleasant.
+
+"'I wish,' he said to himself, 'after all, I had not secured the Fish
+yet; the throwing of the fly and the excitement of trying to catch the
+creature are better fun than having it safely landed and lying in the
+basket,' and he yawned, and his eyes gradually closed and he slept.
+
+"Now the Fish heard very plainly what he had said. Tell me, Damsel--you
+who ask questions and answer them finally yourself--tell me, What did
+the Fish do?"
+
+The Damsel mused a moment. She stirred with her white fingers the water
+in the basin of the fountain that sprang from the rock close by. Then
+she looked at the Sage from under the shadow of her brows and answered,
+thoughtfully:
+
+"The Fish was stunned at first by this truth being uttered so near it.
+It suddenly realized what it had done and what it had lost. 'I, who swam
+about freely and showed my glittering scales in the sun, am now caught
+and in a basket, with no prospect but suffocation and death in front of
+me,' it said to itself. 'I could have even supported that, and the
+knowledge that my scales will become dull and unattractive in the near
+future, if the Fisherman had only continued to lift the lid and admire
+me a little longer.' And it sighed and began to feel the sense of
+suffocation. But it was a Fish of great determination and resources. 'I
+have learned my lesson,' it gasped; 'the Fisherman has taught it to me
+himself. Now I will make a great jump and try to get out of the basket.'
+
+"So it jumped and opened the lid. The Fisherman stirred in his sleep and
+put out his hand vaguely to close it again, but he was too sleepy to
+fasten the catch, and with less noise the Fish bounced up again and
+succeeded in floundering upon the grass. It lay panting and in great
+distress, but it looked at the beautiful Angler with regret. He was so
+beautiful and so desirable. 'I could almost stay now,' the Fish sighed.
+Then it braced itself up and gave one more bound, and this time reached
+the rock at the edge of the stream.
+
+"Again the Fisherman awoke, and now casually, with his eyes still
+closed, fastened up the basket before he slept again; but the Fish with
+its third bound reached the river, and darted out into the middle of the
+stream.
+
+"'Good-bye, Beautiful Angler!' it said, sadly. 'You were sweet, but you
+have taught me a lesson, and freedom is sweeter.'
+
+"The splash of its reaching the water fully awakened the Fisherman, but
+he saw the basket with the lid shut, and had no anxieties until his eye
+caught the pink of the water where the Fish sheltered under the rock.
+Its gill was still bleeding from the hook wound, and colored a circle
+round it. Then he opened the lid and found the basket empty.
+
+"'Good-bye,' said the Fish. 'Your wish has been granted, and your
+pleasure can begin all over again!'
+
+"But the Fisherman suddenly realized that his rod, while he slept, had
+fallen into the river, and was floating away down the stream.
+
+"'Good-bye again,' said the Fish; 'I have suffered, but I have now
+experience, and I am grateful to you, and my gill will heal up, and I
+will smile at you sometimes from just under the surface of the water,
+and so all is well!' And it flashed its glittering scales in the sun
+before it darted away out of sight in the strong current."
+
+And the Damsel folded her hands and looked into distance.
+
+"Thank you, Damsel," said the Sage, gently for him; "but the Fisherman
+could procure another rod--rods are not rarities. What then?"
+
+"That would be for another day," said the Damsel; "and--for another
+Fish!" And she tripped away down the hill, and was deaf to the Sage, who
+gruffly called after her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_When you have caught your Fish, it may be wiser to cook it and eat
+it._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The sun was setting when the Damsel next came to the Cave. She had a pet
+falcon with her, and kept caressing it as she propounded her question.
+
+"There lived a woman in a Castle who had three Knights devoted to her.
+She loved one, and her vanity was pleased with the other two. While she
+continued to play with them all, they all loved her to distraction; but
+presently her preference for the one Knight became evident, and the two
+others, after doing their utmost to supplant the third without success,
+at last left the Castle and rode away. They were no sooner gone, and
+things had become quiet, and no combats occurred to interrupt the
+lovers' intercourse, when the chosen Knight began to weary, and he, too,
+at last rode away, although before he had been the most ardent of all.
+Why was this, Sage? And what should the woman do?"
+
+"It was because the Knight had won the prize and the woman gave him no
+trouble to keep it," replied the Sage. "He was bound to weary. When a
+man's profession is fighting and he has fought hard and succeeded, after
+sufficient rest he wishes to fight again. So if the woman wants her
+lover back, she had better first summon the other two."
+
+For once the Damsel had nothing to say, and had no excuse to remain
+longer in the cave.
+
+The Sage, however, was not in the mind to let her go so soon, so he
+began a question:
+
+"Why do you caress that bird so much? It appears completely indifferent
+to you. Surely that is waste of time?"
+
+"It is agreeable to waste time," replied the Damsel.
+
+"Upon an insensible object?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"More so than if it returned your caresses?"
+
+"Probably--there is the speculation. It might one day respond, while
+certainly if it repaid warmly my love now, one day it would not. Nothing
+lasts in this world. You have told me so yourself."
+
+The Sage was nettled.
+
+"Yes, there is one thing that lasts, that is friendship," he said.
+
+"Friendship!" exclaimed the Damsel; "but that is not made up of
+caresses. It does not make the heart beat."
+
+"We were not talking of beating hearts," said the Sage, sententiously.
+
+"Very well. Good-bye, then, Sage," laughed the Damsel. "You must think
+of more stories for me before I come again."
+
+And, continuing to caress the falcon, she walked away, stately and fair,
+into the setting sun.
+
+When she had gone the Sage wondered why there was no twilight that
+evening, and why it had suddenly become night.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Most men prefer to possess something that the other men want._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It would be a peaceful world if we could only realize that the fever of
+love is like other fevers. It comes to a crisis, and the patient either
+dies or is cured. It cannot last at the same point forever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel came back again next day. She had remarked, the day she spent
+with him in the rain, that the Sage was not so old or so uncomely as she
+had at first supposed. "If he were to shave off his beard and wear a
+velvet doublet, he would look as well as many a cavalier of the Court,"
+she mused. And she called out before she reached the door:
+
+"Sage, I have come back because I want to ask you just another question.
+Will you not come out and sit in the sun while you answer?"
+
+So the Sage advanced in a recalcitrant manner, but he would not sit
+down beside her.
+
+Then the Damsel began:
+
+"A woman once possessed a ball of silk. It was of so fine and rare a
+kind that, although of many thousand yards, it took up no space, and she
+unwound it daily for her pleasure without any appreciable difference in
+the size of the ball. At last she suddenly fancied she perceived some
+alteration. It came upon her as a shock, but still she continued to use
+the silk with the casual idea that a thing she had employed so long
+_must_ go on forever. Then again, in about a week, there came another
+shock. The ball was certainly smaller, and felt cold and hard and firm.
+The thought came to her, 'What if it should not be silk all through and
+I have come to the end of matters? What shall I do?' Now tell me, Sage,
+should the woman go on to the end and find perhaps a stone? Or should
+she try to rewind the silk? Which is the best course?"
+
+The Damsel took up the Sage's staff, which he had dropped for the
+moment, and with its point she drew geometrical figures in the sand. But
+the sun made shadows with her eyelashes, and the Sage felt his voice
+tremble, so he answered, tartly:
+
+"That would depend upon the nature of the woman. If she continues to
+unwind the silk she will certainly find a piece of adamant, which has
+been cunningly covered with this rare, soft substance. If she tries to
+rewind, she will discover the thread has become tangled, and the ball
+can never again look smooth and even as before. She must choose which
+she would prefer, a clean piece of adamant or an uneven ball of silk."
+
+"But that is no answer to my question," said the Damsel, pouting. "I
+asked which must she do for the best."
+
+"Neither is better nor worse!" replied the Sage with asperity. "And
+there is no best."
+
+"You are quite wrong, Sage," returned the Damsel. "There is a third
+course. She can cut the thread and leave the ball as it is, a coating of
+smooth silk still--and an undiscovered possibility inside."
+
+"You are too much for me!" exclaimed the Sage in a fury. "Answer your
+own questions, to begin with, in future! I will have no more of you!"
+and he went into his cave and ostentatiously fastened the door.
+
+The Damsel smiled to herself and continued to draw geometrical figures
+with the point of the Sage's staff in the sand.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_There are always three courses in life: the good, the bad, and
+the--indifferent. The good gives you calm, and makes you sleep; the bad
+gives you emotions, and makes you weep; and the indifferent gives you no
+satisfaction, and makes you yawn, so--choose wisely._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One can swear to be faithful eternally, but how can one swear to love
+eternally? The one is a question of will, the other a sentiment beyond
+all human control. One might as sensibly swear to keep the wind in the
+south, or the sun from setting!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And yet we swear both vows--and break both vows.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A woman is always hardest upon her own sins, committed by others.
+
+A man is sometimes lenient to them.
+
+A fool can win the love of a man, but it requires a woman of resources
+to keep it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Damsel did not go away from the cave, as was her custom. She
+continued to draw geometrical figures in the sand. Presently she called
+to the Sage once more.
+
+"Come out again, dear Sage! Listen, I have something more to say."
+
+He unfastened the window and stood leaning on the sill.
+
+"Well?" he said, sternly. "Well?"
+
+"A Ring Dove once was owned by a man. It was the sweetest and most
+gentle of birds, besides being extremely beautiful. It adored the man
+and lived contentedly in its cage. The perches, which the man had had
+prepared especially for it, were endeared to it from association with
+the happy hours when it had been caressed by the man. Altogether to it
+the cage appeared a palace, and it lived content.
+
+"The man was a brutal creature, more or less, and at last he cruelly
+ill-treated the Ring Dove, and exalted a Cuckoo in its place. This
+conduct greatly saddened the sweet Dove, but it over and over again
+forgave its tormentor, so great was its love, and even saw the Cuckoo
+advanced to the highest honors without anger, only a bleeding heart. How
+long things would have continued in this way no one knows; but the man
+suddenly gave the Cuckoo the Ring Dove's cage, and let the Cuckoo sleep
+on the perches which the Dove was accustomed to consider its very own.
+This overcame the gentle Dove. Its broken heart mended, and it flew
+away. Tell me, Sage, why did this action cure the Dove of its great love
+for the man, when it had borne all the blows and cruelty without
+resentment?"
+
+"That is an easy question to answer," replied the Sage. "The Dove was
+really growing tired and seized this as a good opportunity to be off."
+
+"Oh, how little you know of the female sex, even of Doves!" laughed the
+Damsel. "I can give you the true reason myself. It was the bad taste of
+the man in giving the Cuckoo the cage and perches of the Ring Dove,
+which he had consecrated to her. That cured her, and enabled her to fly
+away."
+
+And the Damsel curtsied to the Sage and sauntered off, laughing and
+looking back over her shoulder.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_An action committed in bad taste is more curing and disillusionizing to
+Love than the cruelest blows of rage and hate._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A man would often be the lover of his wife--if he were married to some
+one else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There come moments in life when we regret the old gods.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Time and place--temperature and temperament--and after the sunset the
+night--and then to-morrow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All the winter passed and the Damsel remained at the Court and the Sage
+in his cave. Both found the days long and their occupation insufficient.
+
+At last, when spring came, the Damsel again mounted the hill one morning
+before dawn and tapped at the Sage's door.
+
+His heart gave a bound, and he flew to open it without more ado.
+
+"So you have come back?" he said; and his voice was eager, though it was
+a gray light and he could not see her plainly.
+
+"Yes," said she; "I want you to tell me one more story of life before I
+go on a long voyage."
+
+So the Sage began:
+
+"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was
+filled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh
+and blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into
+realities. But _because_ he was happy with her, and because her hair was
+black and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to
+himself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so
+delectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the
+cross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into
+nothingness and was forgotten--"
+
+"Oh, hush, Sage!" said the Damsel, trembling; "I wish to hear no more.
+Come, shave off your beard, and put on a velvet doublet, and return
+with me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair."
+
+And the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and
+knew the secret he had come into the wilds to find.
+
+So he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet
+doublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the
+hand, and they gladly ran down the hill.
+
+And the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled
+young--and gay.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Remember the tangible now._
+
+"_Sic transit gloria mundi!_"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BY MRS. HUMPHRY WARD
+
+LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated by HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY. Post 8vo,
+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
+This is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as
+undoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been
+called "the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction."
+
+"A story that must be read."--_New York Sun._
+
+"Vividly alive from the first line."--_Chicago Record-Herald._
+
+"The most marvellous work of its wonderful author."--_New York World._
+
+"Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in
+fiction."--_Brooklyn Eagle._
+
+"Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play,
+but the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant
+nobilities of men and women."--_The Academy_, London, England.
+
+"Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the
+year."--_Chicago Evening Post._
+
+"The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's
+nature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the
+intriguing side will win. But it doesn't...."--_Boston Transcript._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage
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+of the price._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+BY HENRY SETON MERRIMAN
+
+THE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
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+reader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting
+adventure among the political factions of the great European nations.
+One of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the
+Czar. The _attaches_ of the various Foreign Offices play an important
+part. It is full of exciting, dramatic situations, most of which centre
+around the love interest of the story--the love of a young English
+diplomatist for the beautiful Countess Wanda of Warsaw.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
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+
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+
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+Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.
+
+Mr. Chambers has long since won a most enviable position among
+contemporary novelists. The great popular success of "Cardigan" makes
+this present novel of unusual interest to all readers of fiction. It is
+a stirring novel of American life in days just after the Revolution. It
+deals with the conspiracy of the great New York land-owners and the
+subjugation of New York Province to the British. It is a story with a
+fascinating love interest, and is alive with exciting incident and
+adventure. Some of the characters of "Cardigan" reappear in this new
+novel.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
+[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage
+prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt
+of the price._
+
+BY JOHN FOX, JR.
+
+
+A MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+The story is well worth careful reading for its literary art and its
+truth to a phase of little-known American life.--_Omaha Bee._
+
+
+THE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T. SMEDLEY. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+This, Mr. Fox's first long story, sets him well in view, and
+distinguishes him as at once original and sound. He takes the right view
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+fiction can rightfully attempt.--_Independent_, N. Y.
+
+"HELL FER SARTAIN," and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental,
+$1.00.
+
+Mr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and
+primitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and
+Kentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and
+his hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely
+picturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively
+American.--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+A CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,
+Ornamental, $1.25.
+
+These stories are tempestuously alive, and sweep the heart-strings with
+a master-hand.--_Watchman_, Boston.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK AND LONDON
+
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