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@@ -0,0 +1,2179 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Fables, by Robert Louis Stevenson + + +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: Fables + + +Author: Robert Louis Stevenson + + + +Release Date: February 28, 2007 [eBook #343] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FABLES*** + + + +Transcribed from the 1901 Longmans, Green & Co. edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +FABLES + + +BY +ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON + + + + +I.--THE PERSONS OF THE TALE. + + +After the 32nd chapter of _Treasure Island_, two of the puppets strolled +out to have a pipe before business should begin again, and met in an open +place not far from the story. + +"Good-morning, Cap'n," said the first, with a man-o'-war salute, and a +beaming countenance. + +"Ah, Silver!" grunted the other. "You're in a bad way, Silver." + +"Now, Cap'n Smollett," remonstrated Silver, "dooty is dooty, as I knows, +and none better; but we're off dooty now; and I can't see no call to keep +up the morality business." + +"You're a damned rogue, my man," said the Captain. + +"Come, come, Cap'n, be just," returned the other. "There's no call to be +angry with me in earnest. I'm on'y a chara'ter in a sea story. I don't +really exist." + +"Well, I don't really exist either," says the Captain, "which seems to +meet that." + +"I wouldn't set no limits to what a virtuous chara'ter might consider +argument," responded Silver. "But I'm the villain of this tale, I am; +and speaking as one sea-faring man to another, what I want to know is, +what's the odds?" + +"Were you never taught your catechism?" said the Captain. "Don't you +know there's such a thing as an Author?" + +"Such a thing as a Author?" returned John, derisively. "And who better'n +me? And the p'int is, if the Author made you, he made Long John, and he +made Hands, and Pew, and George Merry--not that George is up to much, for +he's little more'n a name; and he made Flint, what there is of him; and +he made this here mutiny, you keep such a work about; and he had Tom +Redruth shot; and--well, if that's a Author, give me Pew!" + +"Don't you believe in a future state?" said Smollett. "Do you think +there's nothing but the present story-paper?" + +"I don't rightly know for that," said Silver; "and I don't see what it's +got to do with it, anyway. What I know is this: if there is sich a thing +as a Author, I'm his favourite chara'ter. He does me fathoms better'n he +does you--fathoms, he does. And he likes doing me. He keeps me on deck +mostly all the time, crutch and all; and he leaves you measling in the +hold, where nobody can't see you, nor wants to, and you may lay to that! +If there is a Author, by thunder, but he's on my side, and you may lay to +it!" + +"I see he's giving you a long rope," said the Captain. "But that can't +change a man's convictions. I know the Author respects me; I feel it in +my bones; when you and I had that talk at the blockhouse door, who do you +think he was for, my man?" + +"And don't he respect me?" cried Silver. "Ah, you should 'a' heard me +putting down my mutiny, George Merry and Morgan and that lot, no longer +ago'n last chapter; you'd heard something then! You'd 'a' seen what the +Author thinks o' me! But come now, do you consider yourself a virtuous +chara'ter clean through?" + +"God forbid!" said Captain Smollett, solemnly. "I am a man that tries to +do his duty, and makes a mess of it as often as not. I'm not a very +popular man at home, Silver, I'm afraid!" and the Captain sighed. + +"Ah," says Silver. "Then how about this sequel of yours? Are you to be +Cap'n Smollett just the same as ever, and not very popular at home, says +you? And if so, why, it's _Treasure Island_ over again, by thunder; and +I'll be Long John, and Pew'll be Pew, and we'll have another mutiny, as +like as not. Or are you to be somebody else? And if so, why, what the +better are you? and what the worse am I?" + +"Why, look here, my man," returned the Captain, "I can't understand how +this story comes about at all, can I? I can't see how you and I, who +don't exist, should get to speaking here, and smoke our pipes for all the +world like reality? Very well, then, who am I to pipe up with my +opinions? I know the Author's on the side of good; he tells me so, it +runs out of his pen as he writes. Well, that's all I need to know; I'll +take my chance upon the rest." + +"It's a fact he seemed to be against George Merry," Silver admitted, +musingly. "But George is little more'n a name at the best of it," he +added, brightening. "And to get into soundings for once. What is this +good? I made a mutiny, and I been a gentleman o' fortune; well, but by +all stories, you ain't no such saint. I'm a man that keeps company very +easy; even by your own account, you ain't, and to my certain knowledge +you're a devil to haze. Which is which? Which is good, and which bad? +Ah, you tell me that! Here we are in stays, and you may lay to it!" + +"We're none of us perfect," replied the Captain. "That's a fact of +religion, my man. All I can say is, I try to do my duty; and if you try +to do yours, I can't compliment you on your success." + +"And so you was the judge, was you?" said Silver, derisively. + +"I would be both judge and hangman for you, my man, and never turn a +hair," returned the Captain. "But I get beyond that: it mayn't be sound +theology, but it's common sense, that what is good is useful too--or +there and thereabout, for I don't set up to be a thinker. Now, where +would a story go to if there were no virtuous characters?" + +"If you go to that," replied Silver, "where would a story begin, if there +wasn't no villains?" + +"Well, that's pretty much my thought," said Captain Smollett. "The +Author has to get a story; that's what he wants; and to get a story, and +to have a man like the doctor (say) given a proper chance, he has to put +in men like you and Hands. But he's on the right side; and you mind your +eye! You're not through this story yet; there's trouble coming for you." + +"What'll you bet?" asked John. + +"Much I care if there ain't," returned the Captain. "I'm glad enough to +be Alexander Smollett, bad as he is; and I thank my stars upon my knees +that I'm not Silver. But there's the ink-bottle opening. To quarters!" + +And indeed the Author was just then beginning to write the words: + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + + + +II.--THE SINKING SHIP. + + +"Sir," said the first lieutenant, bursting into the Captain's cabin, "the +ship is going down." + +"Very well, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain; "but that is no reason for +going about half-shaved. Exercise your mind a moment, Mr. Spoker, and +you will see that to the philosophic eye there is nothing new in our +position: the ship (if she is to go down at all) may be said to have been +going down since she was launched." + +"She is settling fast," said the first lieutenant, as he returned from +shaving. + +"Fast, Mr. Spoker?" asked the Captain. "The expression is a strange one, +for time (if you will think of it) is only relative." + +"Sir," said the lieutenant, "I think it is scarcely worth while to embark +in such a discussion when we shall all be in Davy Jones's Locker in ten +minutes." + +"By parity of reasoning," returned the Captain gently, "it would never be +worth while to begin any inquiry of importance; the odds are always +overwhelming that we must die before we shall have brought it to an end. +You have not considered, Mr. Spoker, the situation of man," said the +Captain, smiling, and shaking his head. + +"I am much more engaged in considering the position of the ship," said +Mr. Spoker. + +"Spoken like a good officer," replied the Captain, laying his hand on the +lieutenant's shoulder. + +On deck they found the men had broken into the spirit-room, and were fast +getting drunk. + +"My men," said the Captain, "there is no sense in this. The ship is +going down, you will tell me, in ten minutes: well, and what then? To +the philosophic eye, there is nothing new in our position. All our lives +long, we may have been about to break a blood-vessel or to be struck by +lightning, not merely in ten minutes, but in ten seconds; and that has +not prevented us from eating dinner, no, nor from putting money in the +Savings Bank. I assure you, with my hand on my heart, I fail to +comprehend your attitude." + +The men were already too far gone to pay much heed. + +"This is a very painful sight, Mr. Spoker," said the Captain. + +"And yet to the philosophic eye, or whatever it is," replied the first +lieutenant, "they may be said to have been getting drunk since they came +aboard." + +"I do not know if you always follow my thought, Mr. Spoker," returned the +Captain gently. "But let us proceed." + +In the powder magazine they found an old salt smoking his pipe. + +"Good God," cried the Captain, "what are you about?" + +"Well, sir," said the old salt, apologetically, "they told me as she were +going down." + +"And suppose she were?" said the Captain. "To the philosophic eye, there +would be nothing new in our position. Life, my old shipmate, life, at +any moment and in any view, is as dangerous as a sinking ship; and yet it +is man's handsome fashion to carry umbrellas, to wear indiarubber over- +shoes, to begin vast works, and to conduct himself in every way as if he +might hope to be eternal. And for my own poor part I should despise the +man who, even on board a sinking ship, should omit to take a pill or to +wind up his watch. That, my friend, would not be the human attitude." + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Mr. Spoker. "But what is precisely the +difference between shaving in a sinking ship and smoking in a powder +magazine?" + +"Or doing anything at all in any conceivable circumstances?" cried the +Captain. "Perfectly conclusive; give me a cigar!" + +Two minutes afterwards the ship blew up with a glorious detonation. + + + + +III--THE TWO MATCHES. + + +One day there was a traveller in the woods in California, in the dry +season, when the Trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a long way, +and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his horse to smoke a +pipe. But when he felt in his pocket he found but two matches. He +struck the first, and it would not light. + +"Here is a pretty state of things!" said the traveller. "Dying for a +smoke; only one match left; and that certain to miss fire! Was there +ever a creature so unfortunate? And yet," thought the traveller, +"suppose I light this match, and smoke my pipe, and shake out the dottle +here in the grass--the grass might catch on fire, for it is dry like +tinder; and while I snatch out the flames in front, they might evade and +run behind me, and seize upon yon bush of poison oak; before I could +reach it, that would have blazed up; over the bush I see a pine tree hung +with moss; that too would fly in fire upon the instant to its topmost +bough; and the flame of that long torch--how would the trade wind take +and brandish that through the inflammable forest! I hear this dell roar +in a moment with the joint voice of wind and fire, I see myself gallop +for my soul, and the flying conflagration chase and outflank me through +the hills; I see this pleasant forest burn for days, and the cattle +roasted, and the springs dried up, and the farmer ruined, and his +children cast upon the world. What a world hangs upon this moment!" + +With that he struck the match, and it missed fire. + +"Thank God!" said the traveller, and put his pipe in his pocket. + + + + +IV.--THE SICK MAN AND THE FIREMAN. + + +There was once a sick man in a burning house, to whom there entered a +fireman. + +"Do not save me," said the sick man. "Save those who are strong." + +"Will you kindly tell me why?" inquired the fireman, for he was a civil +fellow. + +"Nothing could possibly be fairer," said the sick man. "The strong +should be preferred in all cases, because they are of more service in the +world." + +The fireman pondered a while, for he was a man of some philosophy. +"Granted," said he at last, as apart of the roof fell in; "but for the +sake of conversation, what would you lay down as the proper service of +the strong?" + +"Nothing can possibly be easier," returned the sick man; "the proper +service of the strong is to help the weak." + +Again the fireman reflected, for there was nothing hasty about this +excellent creature. "I could forgive you being sick," he said at last, +as a portion of the wall fell out, "but I cannot bear your being such a +fool." And with that he heaved up his fireman's axe, for he was +eminently just, and clove the sick man to the bed. + + + + +V.--THE DEVIL AND THE INNKEEPER. + + +Once upon a time the devil stayed at an inn, where no one knew him, for +they were people whose education had been neglected. He was bent on +mischief, and for a time kept everybody by the ears. But at last the +innkeeper set a watch upon the devil and took him in the fact. + +The innkeeper got a rope's end. + +"Now I am going to thrash you," said the innkeeper. + +"You have no right to be angry with me," said the devil. "I am only the +devil, and it is my nature to do wrong." + +"Is that so?" asked the innkeeper. + +"Fact, I assure you," said the devil. + +"You really cannot help doing ill?" asked the innkeeper. + +"Not in the smallest," said the devil; "it would be useless cruelty to +thrash a thing like me." + +"It would indeed," said the innkeeper. + +And he made a noose and hanged the devil. + +"There!" said the innkeeper. + + + + +VI.--THE PENITENT + + +A man met a lad weeping. "What do you weep for?" he asked. + +"I am weeping for my sins," said the lad. + +"You must have little to do," said the man. + +The next day they met again. Once more the lad was weeping. "Why do you +weep now?" asked the man. + +"I am weeping because I have nothing to eat," said the lad. + +"I thought it would come to that," said the man. + + + + +VII.--THE YELLOW PAINT. + + +In a certain city there lived a physician who sold yellow paint. This +was of so singular a virtue that whoso was bedaubed with it from head to +heel was set free from the dangers of life, and the bondage of sin, and +the fear of death for ever. So the physician said in his prospectus; and +so said all the citizens in the city; and there was nothing more urgent +in men's hearts than to be properly painted themselves, and nothing they +took more delight in than to see others painted. There was in the same +city a young man of a very good family but of a somewhat reckless life, +who had reached the age of manhood, and would have nothing to say to the +paint: "To-morrow was soon enough," said he; and when the morrow came he +would still put it off. She might have continued to do until his death; +only, he had a friend of about his own age and much of his own manners; +and this youth, taking a walk in the public street, with not one fleck of +paint upon his body, was suddenly run down by a water-cart and cut off in +the heyday of his nakedness. This shook the other to the soul; so that I +never beheld a man more earnest to be painted; and on the very same +evening, in the presence of all his family, to appropriate music, and +himself weeping aloud, he received three complete coats and a touch of +varnish on the top. The physician (who was himself affected even to +tears) protested he had never done a job so thorough. + +Some two months afterwards, the young man was carried on a stretcher to +the physician's house. + +"What is the meaning of this?" he cried, as soon as the door was opened. +"I was to be set free from all the dangers of life; and here have I been +run down by that self-same water-cart, and my leg is broken." + +"Dear me!" said the physician. "This is very sad. But I perceive I must +explain to you the action of my paint. A broken bone is a mighty small +affair at the worst of it; and it belongs to a class of accident to which +my paint is quite inapplicable. Sin, my dear young friend, sin is the +sole calamity that a wise man should apprehend; it is against sin that I +have fitted you out; and when you come to be tempted, you will give me +news of my paint." + +"Oh!" said the young man, "I did not understand that, and it seems rather +disappointing. But I have no doubt all is for the best; and in the +meanwhile, I shall be obliged to you if you will set my leg." + +"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if your bearers +will carry you round the corner to the surgeon's, I feel sure he will +afford relief." + +Some three years later, the young man came running to the physician's +house in a great perturbation. "What is the meaning of this?" he cried. +"Here was I to be set free from the bondage of sin; and I have just +committed forgery, arson and murder." + +"Dear me," said the physician. "This is very serious. Off with your +clothes at once." And as soon as the young man had stripped, he examined +him from head to foot. "No," he cried with great relief, "there is not a +flake broken. Cheer up, my young friend, your paint is as good as new." + +"Good God!" cried the young man, "and what then can be the use of it?" + +"Why," said the physician, "I perceive I must explain to you the nature +of the action of my paint. It does not exactly prevent sin; it +extenuates instead the painful consequences. It is not so much for this +world, as for the next; it is not against life; in short, it is against +death that I have fitted you out. And when you come to die, you will +give me news of my paint." + +"Oh!" cried the young man, "I had not understood that, and it seems a +little disappointing. But there is no doubt all is for the best: and in +the meanwhile, I shall be obliged if you will help me to undo the evil I +have brought on innocent persons." + +"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if you will go +round the corner to the police office, I feel sure it will afford you +relief to give yourself up." + +Six weeks later, the physician was called to the town gaol. + +"What is the meaning of this?" cried the young man. "Here am I literally +crusted with your paint; and I have broken my leg, and committed all the +crimes in the calendar, and must be hanged to-morrow; and am in the +meanwhile in a fear so extreme that I lack words to picture it." + +"Dear me," said the physician. "This is really amazing. Well, well; +perhaps, if you had not been painted, you would have been more frightened +still." + + + + +VIII.--THE HOUSE OF ELD. + + +So soon as the child began to speak, the gyve was riveted; and the boys +and girls limped about their play like convicts. Doubtless it was more +pitiable to see and more painful to bear in youth; but even the grown +folk, besides being very unhandy on their feet, were often sick with +ulcers. + +About the time when Jack was ten years old, many strangers began to +journey through that country. These he beheld going lightly by on the +long roads, and the thing amazed him. "I wonder how it comes," he asked, +"that all these strangers are so quick afoot, and we must drag about our +fetter?" + +"My dear boy," said his uncle, the catechist, "do not complain about your +fetter, for it is the only thing that makes life worth living. None are +happy, none are good, none are respectable, that are not gyved like us. +And I must tell you, besides, it is very dangerous talk. If you grumble +of your iron, you will have no luck; if ever you take it off, you will be +instantly smitten by a thunderbolt." + +"Are there no thunderbolts for these strangers?" asked Jack. + +"Jupiter is longsuffering to the benighted," returned the catechist. + +"Upon my word, I could wish I had been less fortunate," said Jack. "For +if I had been born benighted, I might now be going free; and it cannot be +denied the iron is inconvenient, and the ulcer hurts." + +"Ah!" cried his uncle, "do not envy the heathen! Theirs is a sad lot! +Ah, poor souls, if they but knew the joys of being fettered! Poor souls, +my heart yearns for them. But the truth is they are vile, odious, +insolent, ill-conditioned, stinking brutes, not truly human--for what is +a man without a fetter?--and you cannot be too particular not to touch or +speak with them." + +After this talk, the child would never pass one of the unfettered on the +road but what he spat at him and called him names, which was the practice +of the children in that part. + +It chanced one day, when he was fifteen, he went into the woods, and the +ulcer pained him. It was a fair day, with a blue sky; all the birds were +singing; but Jack nursed his foot. Presently, another song began; it +sounded like the singing of a person, only far more gay; at the same time +there was a beating on the earth. Jack put aside the leaves; and there +was a lad of his own village, leaping, and dancing and singing to himself +in a green dell; and on the grass beside him lay the dancer's iron. + +"Oh!" cried Jack, "you have your fetter off!" + +"For God's sake, don't tell your uncle!" cried the lad. + +"If you fear my uncle," returned Jack "why do you not fear the +thunderbolt"? + +"That is only an old wives' tale," said the other. "It is only told to +children. Scores of us come here among the woods and dance for nights +together, and are none the worse." + +This put Jack in a thousand new thoughts. He was a grave lad; he had no +mind to dance himself; he wore his fetter manfully, and tended his ulcer +without complaint. But he loved the less to be deceived or to see others +cheated. He began to lie in wait for heathen travellers, at covert parts +of the road, and in the dusk of the day, so that he might speak with them +unseen; and these were greatly taken with their wayside questioner, and +told him things of weight. The wearing of gyves (they said) was no +command of Jupiter's. It was the contrivance of a white-faced thing, a +sorcerer, that dwelt in that country in the Wood of Eld. He was one like +Glaucus that could change his shape, yet he could be always told; for +when he was crossed, he gobbled like a turkey. He had three lives; but +the third smiting would make an end of him indeed; and with that his +house of sorcery would vanish, the gyves fall, and the villagers take +hands and dance like children. + +"And in your country?" Jack would ask. + +But at this the travellers, with one accord, would put him off; until +Jack began to suppose there was no land entirely happy. Or, if there +were, it must be one that kept its folk at home; which was natural +enough. + +But the case of the gyves weighed upon him. The sight of the children +limping stuck in his eyes; the groans of such as dressed their ulcers +haunted him. And it came at last in his mind that he was born to free +them. + +There was in that village a sword of heavenly forgery, beaten upon +Vulcan's anvil. It was never used but in the temple, and then the flat +of it only; and it hung on a nail by the catechist's chimney. Early one +night, Jack rose, and took the sword, and was gone out of the house and +the village in the darkness. + +All night he walked at a venture; and when day came, he met strangers +going to the fields. Then he asked after the Wood of Eld and the house +of sorcery; and one said north, and one south; until Jack saw that they +deceived him. So then, when he asked his way of any man, he showed the +bright sword naked; and at that the gyve on the man's ankle rang, and +answered in his stead; and the word was still _Straight on_. But the +man, when his gyve spoke, spat and struck at Jack, and threw stones at +him as he went away; so that his head was broken. + +So he came to that wood, and entered in, and he was aware of a house in a +low place, where funguses grew, and the trees met, and the steaming of +the marsh arose about it like a smoke. It was a fine house, and a very +rambling; some parts of it were ancient like the hills, and some but of +yesterday, and none finished; and all the ends of it were open, so that +you could go in from every side. Yet it was in good repair, and all the +chimneys smoked. + +Jack went in through the gable; and there was one room after another, all +bare, but all furnished in part, so that a man could dwell there; and in +each there was a fire burning, where a man could warm himself, and a +table spread where he might eat. But Jack saw nowhere any living +creature; only the bodies of some stuffed. + +"This is a hospitable house," said Jack; "but the ground must be quaggy +underneath, for at every step the building quakes." + +He had gone some time in the house, when he began to be hungry. Then he +looked at the food, and at first he was afraid; but he bared the sword, +and by the shining of the sword, it seemed the food was honest. So he +took the courage to sit down and eat, and he was refreshed in mind and +body. + +"This is strange," thought he, "that in the house of sorcery there should +be food so wholesome." + +As he was yet eating, there came into that room the appearance of his +uncle, and Jack was afraid because he had taken the sword. But his uncle +was never more kind, and sat down to meat with him, and praised him +because he had taken the sword. Never had these two been more pleasantly +together, and Jack was full of love to the man. + +"It was very well done," said his uncle, "to take the sword and come +yourself into the House of Eld; a good thought and a brave deed. But now +you are satisfied; and we may go home to dinner arm in arm." + +"Oh, dear, no!" said Jack. "I am not satisfied yet." + +"How!" cried his uncle. "Are you not warmed by the fire? Does not this +food sustain you?" + +"I see the food to be wholesome," said Jack; "and still it is no proof +that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +Now at this the appearance of his uncle gobbled like a turkey. + +"Jupiter!" cried Jack, "is this the sorcerer?" + +His hand held back and his heart failed him for the love he bore his +uncle; but he heaved up the sword and smote the appearance on the head; +and it cried out aloud with the voice of his uncle; and fell to the +ground; and a little bloodless white thing fled from the room. + +The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his knees smote together, and conscience +cried upon him; and yet he was strengthened, and there woke in his bones +the lust of that enchanter's blood. "If the gyves are to fall," said he, +"I must go through with this, and when I get home I shall find my uncle +dancing." + +So he went on after the bloodless thing. In the way, he met the +appearance of his father; and his father was incensed, and railed upon +him, and called to him upon his duty, and bade him be home, while there +was yet time. "For you can still," said he, "be home by sunset; and then +all will be forgiven." + +"God knows," said Jack, "I fear your anger; but yet your anger does not +prove that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +And at that the appearance of his father gobbled like a turkey. + +"Ah, heaven," cried Jack, "the sorcerer again!" + +The blood ran backward in his body and his joints rebelled against him +for the love he bore his father; but he heaved up the sword, and plunged +it in the heart of the appearance; and the appearance cried out aloud +with the voice of his father; and fell to the ground; and a little +bloodless white thing fled from the room. + +The cry rang in Jack's ears, and his soul was darkened; but now rage came +to him. "I have done what I dare not think upon," said he. "I will go +to an end with it, or perish. And when I get home, I pray God this may +be a dream, and I may find my father dancing." + +So he went on after the bloodless thing that had escaped; and in the way +he met the appearance of his mother, and she wept. "What have you done?" +she cried. "What is this that you have done? Oh, come home (where you +may be by bedtime) ere you do more ill to me and mine; for it is enough +to smite my brother and your father." + +"Dear mother, it is not these that I have smitten," said Jack; "it was +but the enchanter in their shape. And even if I had, it would not prove +that a man should wear a gyve on his right leg." + +And at this the appearance gobbled like a turkey. + +He never knew how he did that; but he swung the sword on the one side, +and clove the appearance through the midst; and it cried out aloud with +the voice of his mother; and fell to the ground; and with the fall of it, +the house was gone from over Jack's head, and he stood alone in the +woods, and the gyve was loosened from his leg. + +"Well," said he, "the enchanter is now dead, and the fetter gone." But +the cries rang in his soul, and the day was like night to him. "This has +been a sore business," said he. "Let me get forth out of the wood, and +see the good that I have done to others." + +He thought to leave the fetter where it lay, but when he turned to go, +his mind was otherwise. So he stooped and put the gyve in his bosom; and +the rough iron galled him as he went, and his bosom bled. + +Now when he was forth of the wood upon the highway, he met folk returning +from the field; and those he met had no fetter on the right leg, but, +behold! they had one upon the left. Jack asked them what it signified; +and they said, "that was the new wear, for the old was found to be a +superstition". Then he looked at them nearly; and there was a new ulcer +on the left ankle, and the old one on the right was not yet healed. + +"Now, may God forgive me!" cried Jack. "I would I were well home." + +And when he was home, there lay his uncle smitten on the head, and his +father pierced through the heart, and his mother cloven through the +midst. And he sat in the lone house and wept beside the bodies. + + + +MORAL. + + +Old is the tree and the fruit good, +Very old and thick the wood. +Woodman, is your courage stout? +Beware! the root is wrapped about +Your mother's heart, your father's bones; +And like the mandrake comes with groans. + + + + +IX.--THE FOUR REFORMERS. + + +Four reformers met under a bramble bush. They were all agreed the world +must be changed. "We must abolish property," said one. + +"We must abolish marriage," said the second. + +"We must abolish God," said the third. + +"I wish we could abolish work," said the fourth. + +"Do not let us get beyond practical politics," said the first. "The +first thing is to reduce men to a common level." + +"The first thing," said the second, "is to give freedom to the sexes." + +"The first thing," said the third, "is to find out how to do it." + +"The first step," said the first, "is to abolish the Bible." + +"The first thing," said the second, "is to abolish the laws." + +"The first thing," said the third, "is to abolish mankind." + + + + +X.--THE MAN AND HIS FRIEND. + + +A man quarrelled with his friend. + +"I have been much deceived in you," said the man. + +And the friend made a face at him and went away. + +A little after, they both died, and came together before the great white +Justice of the Peace. It began to look black for the friend, but the man +for a while had a clear character and was getting in good spirits. + +"I find here some record of a quarrel," said the justice, looking in his +notes. "Which of you was in the wrong?" + +"He was," said the man. "He spoke ill of me behind my back." + +"Did he so?" said the justice. "And pray how did he speak about your +neighbours?" + +"Oh, he had always a nasty tongue," said the man. + +"And you chose him for your friend?" cried the justice. "My good fellow, +we have no use here for fools." + +So the man was cast in the pit, and the friend laughed out aloud in the +dark and remained to be tried on other charges. + + + + +XI.--THE READER. + + +"I never read such an impious book," said the reader, throwing it on the +floor. + +"You need not hurt me," said the book; "you will only get less for me +second hand, and I did not write myself." + +"That is true," said the reader. "My quarrel is with your author." + +"Ah, well," said the book, "you need not buy his rant." + +"That is true," said the reader. "But I thought him such a cheerful +writer." + +"I find him so," said the book. + +"You must be differently made from me," said the reader. + +"Let me tell you a fable," said the book. "There were two men wrecked +upon a desert island; one of them made believe he was at home, the other +admitted--" + +"Oh, I know your kind of fable," said the reader. "They both died." + +"And so they did," said the book. "No doubt of that. And everybody +else." + +"That is true," said the reader. "Push it a little further for this +once. And when they were all dead?" + +"They were in God's hands, the same as before," said the book. + +"Not much to boast of, by your account," cried the reader. + +"Who is impious now?" said the book. + +And the reader put him on the fire. + + The coward crouches from the rod, + And loathes the iron face of God. + + + + +XII.--THE CITIZEN AND THE TRAVELLER. + + +"Look round you," said the citizen. "This is the largest market in the +world." + +"Oh, surely not," said the traveller. + +"Well, perhaps not the largest," said the citizen, "but much the best." + +"You are certainly wrong there," said the traveller. "I can tell you . . +." + +They buried the stranger at the dusk. + + + + +XIII.--THE DISTINGUISHED STRANGER. + + +Once upon a time there came to this earth a visitor from a neighbouring +planet. And he was met at the place of his descent by a great +philosopher, who was to show him everything. + +First of all they came through a wood, and the stranger looked upon the +trees. "Whom have we here?" said he. + +"These are only vegetables," said the philosopher. "They are alive, but +not at all interesting." + +"I don't know about that," said the stranger. "They seem to have very +good manners. Do they never speak?" + +"They lack the gift," said the philosopher. + +"Yet I think I hear them sing," said the other. + +"That is only the wind among the leaves," said the philosopher. "I will +explain to you the theory of winds: it is very interesting." + +"Well," said the stranger, "I wish I knew what they are thinking." + +"They cannot think," said the philosopher. + +"I don't know about that," returned the stranger: and then, laying his +hand upon a trunk: "I like these people," said he. + +"They are not people at all," said the philosopher. "Come along." + +Next they came through a meadow where there were cows. + +"These are very dirty people," said the stranger. + +"They are not people at all," said the philosopher; and he explained what +a cow is in scientific words which I have forgotten. + +"That is all one to me," said the stranger. "But why do they never look +up?" + +"Because they are graminivorous," said the philosopher; "and to live upon +grass, which is not highly nutritious, requires so close an attention to +business that they have no time to think, or speak, or look at the +scenery, or keep themselves clean." + +"Well," said the stranger, "that is one way to live, no doubt. But I +prefer the people with the green heads." + +Next they came into a city, and the streets were full of men and women. + +"These are very odd people," said the stranger. + +"They are the people of the greatest nation in the world," said the +philosopher. + +"Are they indeed?" said the stranger. "They scarcely look so." + + + + +XIV.--THE CART-HORSES AND THE SADDLE-HORSE. + + +Two cart-horses, a gelding and a mare, were brought to Samoa, and put in +the same field with a saddle-horse to run free on the island. They were +rather afraid to go near him, for they saw he was a saddle-horse, and +supposed he would not speak to them. Now the saddle-horse had never seen +creatures so big. "These must be great chiefs," thought he, and he +approached them civilly. "Lady and gentleman," said he, "I understand +you are from the colonies. I offer you my affectionate compliments, and +make you heartily welcome to the islands." + +The colonials looked at him askance, and consulted with each other. + +"Who can he be?" said the gelding. + +"He seems suspiciously civil," said the mare. + +"I do not think he can be much account," said the gelding. + +"Depend upon it he is only a Kanaka," said the mare. + +Then they turned to him. + +"Go to the devil!" said the gelding. + +"I wonder at your impudence, speaking to persons of our quality!" cried +the mare. + +The saddle-horse went away by himself. "I was right," said he, "they are +great chiefs." + + + + +XV.--THE TADPOLE AND THE FROG. + + +"Be ashamed of yourself," said the frog. + +"When I was a tadpole, I had no tail." + +"Just what I thought!" said the tadpole. + +"You never were a tadpole." + + + + +XVI.--SOMETHING IN IT. + + +The natives told him many tales. In particular, they warned him of the +house of yellow reeds tied with black sinnet, how any one who touched it +became instantly the prey of Akaanga, and was handed on to him by Miru +the ruddy, and hocussed with the kava of the dead, and baked in the ovens +and eaten by the eaters of the dead. + +"There is nothing in it," said the missionary. + +There was a bay upon that island, a very fair bay to look upon; but, by +the native saying, it was death to bathe there. "There is nothing in +that," said the missionary; and he came to the bay, and went swimming. +Presently an eddy took him and bore him towards the reef. "Oho!" thought +the missionary, "it seems there is something in it after all." And he +swam the harder, but the eddy carried him away. "I do not care about +this eddy," said the missionary; and even as he said it, he was aware of +a house raised on piles above the sea; it was built of yellow reeds, one +reed joined with another, and the whole bound with black sinnet; a ladder +led to the door, and all about the house hung calabashes. He had never +seen such a house, nor yet such calabashes; and the eddy set for the +ladder. "This is singular," said the missionary, "but there can be +nothing in it." And he laid hold of the ladder and went up. It was a +fine house; but there was no man there; and when the missionary looked +back he saw no island, only the heaving of the sea. "It is strange about +the island," said the missionary, "but who's afraid? my stories are the +true ones." And he laid hold of a calabash, for he was one that loved +curiosities. Now he had no sooner laid hand upon the calabash than that +which he handled, and that which he saw and stood on, burst like a bubble +and was gone; and night closed upon him, and the waters, and the meshes +of the net; and he wallowed there like a fish. + +"A body would think there was something in this," said the missionary. +"But if these tales are true, I wonder what about my tales!" + +Now the flaming of Akaanga's torch drew near in the night; and the +misshapen hands groped in the meshes of the net; and they took the +missionary between the finger and the thumb, and bore him dripping in the +night and silence to the place of the ovens of Miru. And there was Miru, +ruddy in the glow of the ovens; and there sat her four daughters, and +made the kava of the dead; and there sat the comers out of the islands of +the living, dripping and lamenting. + +This was a dread place to reach for any of the sons of men. But of all +who ever came there, the missionary was the most concerned; and, to make +things worse, the person next him was a convert of his own. + +"Aha," said the convert, "so you are here like your neighbours? And how +about all your stories?" + +"It seems," said the missionary, with bursting tears, "that there was +nothing in them." + +By this the kava of the dead was ready, and the daughters of Miru began +to intone in the old manner of singing. "Gone are the green islands and +the bright sea, the sun and the moon and the forty million stars, and +life and love and hope. Henceforth is no more, only to sit in the night +and silence, and see your friends devoured; for life is a deceit, and the +bandage is taken from your eyes." + +Now when the singing was done, one of the daughters came with the bowl. +Desire of that kava rose in the missionary's bosom; he lusted for it like +a swimmer for the land, or a bridegroom for his bride; and he reached out +his hand, and took the bowl, and would have drunk. And then he +remembered, and put it back. + +"Drink!" sang the daughter of Miru. + +"There is no kava like the kava of the dead, and to drink of it once is +the reward of living." + +"I thank you. It smells excellent," said the missionary. "But I am a +blue-ribbon man myself; and though I am aware there is a difference of +opinion even in our own confession, I have always held kava to be +excluded." + +"What!" cried the convert. "Are you going to respect a taboo at a time +like this? And you were always so opposed to taboos when you were +alive!" + +"To other people's," said the missionary. "Never to my own." + +"But yours have all proved wrong," said the convert. + +"It looks like it," said the missionary, "and I can't help that. No +reason why I should break my word." + +"I never heard the like of this!" cried the daughter of Miru. "Pray, +what do you expect to gain?" + +"That is not the point," said the missionary. "I took this pledge for +others, I am not going to break it for myself." + +The daughter of Miru was puzzled; she came and told her mother, and Miru +was vexed; and they went and told Akaanga. "I don't know what to do +about this," said Akaanga; and he came and reasoned with the missionary. + +"But there _is_ such a thing as right and wrong," said the missionary; +"and your ovens cannot alter that." + +"Give the kava to the rest," said Akaanga to the daughters of Miru. "I +must get rid of this sea-lawyer instantly, or worse will come of it." + +The next moment the missionary came up in the midst of the sea, and there +before him were the palm trees of the island. He swam to the shore +gladly, and landed. Much matter of thought was in that missionary's +mind. + +"I seem to have been misinformed upon some points," said he. "Perhaps +there is not much in it, as I supposed; but there is something in it +after all. Let me be glad of that." + +And he rang the bell for service. + + + +MORAL. + + +The sticks break, the stones crumble, +The eternal altars tilt and tumble, +Sanctions and tales dislimn like mist +About the amazed evangelist. +He stands unshook from age to youth +Upon one pin-point of the truth. + + + + +XVII.--FAITH, HALF FAITH AND NO FAITH AT ALL. + + +In the ancient days there went three men upon pilgrimage; one was a +priest, and one was a virtuous person, and the third was an old rover +with his axe. + +As they went, the priest spoke about the grounds of faith. + +"We find the proofs of our religion in the works of nature," said he, and +beat his breast. + +"That is true," said the virtuous person. + +"The peacock has a scrannel voice," said the priest, "as has been laid +down always in our books. How cheering!" he cried, in a voice like one +that wept. "How comforting!" + +"I require no such proofs," said the virtuous person. + +"Then you have no reasonable faith," said the priest. + +"Great is the right, and shall prevail!" cried the virtuous person. +"There is loyalty in my soul; be sure, there is loyalty in the mind of +Odin." + +"These are but playings upon words," returned the priest. "A sackful of +such trash is nothing to the peacock." + +Just then they passed a country farm, where there was a peacock seated on +a rail; and the bird opened its mouth and sang with the voice of a +nightingale. + +"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this shakes not +me! Great is the truth, and shall prevail!" + +"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was +downcast for a mile or two. + +But presently they came to a shrine, where a Fakeer performed miracles. + +"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The peacock +was but an adminicle. This is the base of our religion." + +And he beat upon his breast, and groaned like one with colic. + +"Now to me," said the virtuous person, "all this is as little to the +purpose as the peacock. I believe because I see the right is great and +must prevail; and this Fakeer might carry on with his conjuring tricks +till doomsday, and it would not play bluff upon a man like me." + +Now at this the Fakeer was so much incensed that his hand trembled; and, +lo! in the midst of a miracle the cards fell from up his sleeve. + +"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet it shakes not +me!" + +"The devil fly away with the Fakeer!" cried the priest. "I really do not +see the good of going on with this pilgrimage." + +"Cheer up!" cried the virtuous person. "Great is the right, and shall +prevail!" + +"If you are quite sure it will prevail," says the priest. + +"I pledge my word for that," said the virtuous person. + +So the other began to go on again with a better heart. + +At last one came running, and told them all was lost: that the powers of +darkness had besieged the Heavenly Mansions, that Odin was to die, and +evil triumph. + +"I have been grossly deceived," cried the virtuous person. + +"All is lost now," said the priest. + +"I wonder if it is too late to make it up with the devil?" said the +virtuous person. + +"Oh, I hope not," said the priest. "And at any rate we can but try. But +what are you doing with your axe?" says he to the rover. + +"I am off to die with Odin," said the rover. + + + + +XVIII.--THE TOUCHSTONE. + + +The King was a man that stood well before the world; his smile was sweet +as clover, but his soul withinsides was as little as a pea. He had two +sons; and the younger son was a boy after his heart, but the elder was +one whom he feared. It befell one morning that the drum sounded in the +dun before it was yet day; and the King rode with his two sons, and a +brave array behind them. They rode two hours, and came to the foot of a +brown mountain that was very steep. + +"Where do we ride?" said the elder son. + +"Across this brown mountain," said the King, and smiled to himself. + +"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son. + +And they rode two hours more, and came to the sides of a black river that +was wondrous deep. + +"And where do we ride?" asked the elder son. + +"Over this black river," said the King, and smiled to himself. + +"My father knows what he is doing," said the younger son. + +And they rode all that day, and about the time of the sunsetting came to +the side of a lake, where was a great dun. + +"It is here we ride," said the King; "to a King's house, and a priest's, +and a house where you will learn much." + +At the gates of the dun, the King who was a priest met them; and he was a +grave man, and beside him stood his daughter, and she was as fair as the +morn, and one that smiled and looked down. + +"These are my two sons," said the first King. + +"And here is my daughter," said the King who was a priest. + +"She is a wonderful fine maid," said the first King, "and I like her +manner of smiling," + +"They are wonderful well-grown lads," said the second, "and I like their +gravity." + +And then the two Kings looked at each other, and said, "The thing may +come about". + +And in the meanwhile the two lads looked upon the maid, and the one grew +pale and the other red; and the maid looked upon the ground smiling. + +"Here is the maid that I shall marry," said the elder. "For I think she +smiled upon me." + +But the younger plucked his father by the sleeve. "Father," said he, "a +word in your ear. If I find favour in your sight, might not I wed this +maid, for I think she smiles upon me?" + +"A word in yours," said the King his father. "Waiting is good hunting, +and when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home." + +Now they were come into the dun, and feasted; and this was a great house, +so that the lads were astonished; and the King that was a priest sat at +the end of the board and was silent, so that the lads were filled with +reverence; and the maid served them smiling with downcast eyes, so that +their hearts were enlarged. + +Before it was day, the elder son arose, and he found the maid at her +weaving, for she was a diligent girl. "Maid," quoth he, "I would fain +marry you." + +"You must speak with my father," said she, and she looked upon the ground +smiling, and became like the rose. + +"Her heart is with me," said the elder son, and he went down to the lake +and sang. + +A little after came the younger son. "Maid," quoth he, "if our fathers +were agreed, I would like well to marry you." + +"You can speak to my father," said she; and looked upon the ground, and +smiled and grew like the rose. + +"She is a dutiful daughter," said the younger son, "she will make an +obedient wife." And then he thought, "What shall I do?" and he +remembered the King her father was a priest; so he went into the temple, +and sacrificed a weasel and a hare. + +Presently the news got about; and the two lads and the first King were +called into the presence of the King who was a priest, where he sat upon +the high seat. + +"Little I reck of gear," said the King who was a priest, "and little of +power. For we live here among the shadow of things, and the heart is +sick of seeing them. And we stay here in the wind like raiment drying, +and the heart is weary of the wind. But one thing I love, and that is +truth; and for one thing will I give my daughter, and that is the trial +stone. For in the light of that stone the seeming goes, and the being +shows, and all things besides are worthless. Therefore, lads, if ye +would wed my daughter, out foot, and bring me the stone of touch, for +that is the price of her." + +"A word in your ear," said the younger son to his father. "I think we do +very well without this stone." + +"A word in yours," said the father. "I am of your way of thinking; but +when the teeth are shut the tongue is at home." And he smiled to the +King that was a priest. + +But the elder son got to his feet, and called the King that was a priest +by the name of father. "For whether I marry the maid or no, I will call +you by that word for the love of your wisdom; and even now I will ride +forth and search the world for the stone of touch." So he said farewell, +and rode into the world. + +"I think I will go, too," said the younger son, "if I can have your +leave. For my heart goes out to the maid." + +"You will ride home with me," said his father. + +So they rode home, and when they came to the dun, the King had his son +into his treasury. "Here," said he, "is the touchstone which shows +truth; for there is no truth but plain truth; and if you will look in +this, you will see yourself as you are." + +And the younger son looked in it, and saw his face as it were the face of +a beardless youth, and he was well enough pleased; for the thing was a +piece of a mirror. + +"Here is no such great thing to make a work about," said he; "but if it +will get me the maid I shall never complain. But what a fool is my +brother to ride into the world, and the thing all the while at home!" + +So they rode back to the other dun, and showed the mirror to the King +that was a priest; and when he had looked in it, and seen himself like a +King, and his house like a King's house, and all things like themselves, +he cried out and blessed God. "For now I know," said he, "there is no +truth but the plain truth; and I am a King indeed, although my heart +misgave me." And he pulled down his temple, and built a new one; and +then the younger son was married to the maid. + +In the meantime the elder son rode into the world to find the touchstone +of the trial of truth; and whenever he came to a place of habitation, he +would ask the men if they had heard of it. And in every place the men +answered: "Not only have we heard of it, but we alone, of all men, +possess the thing itself, and it hangs in the side of our chimney to this +day". Then would the elder son be glad, and beg for a sight of it. And +sometimes it would be a piece of mirror, that showed the seeming of +things; and then he would say, "This can never be, for there should be +more than seeming". And sometimes it would be a lump of coal, which +showed nothing; and then he would say, "This can never be, for at least +there is the seeming". And sometimes it would be a touchstone indeed, +beautiful in hue, adorned with polishing, the light inhabiting its sides; +and when he found this, he would beg the thing, and the persons of that +place would give it him, for all men were very generous of that gift; so +that at the last he had his wallet full of them, and they chinked +together when he rode; and when he halted by the side of the way he would +take them out and try them, till his head turned like the sails upon a +windmill. + +"A murrain upon this business!" said the elder son, "for I perceive no +end to it. Here I have the red, and here the blue and the green; and to +me they seem all excellent, and yet shame each other. A murrain on the +trade! If it were not for the King that is a priest and whom I have +called my father, and if it were not for the fair maid of the dun that +makes my mouth to sing and my heart enlarge, I would even tumble them all +into the salt sea, and go home and be a King like other folk." + +But he was like the hunter that has seen a stag upon a mountain, so that +the night may fall, and the fire be kindled, and the lights shine in his +house; but desire of that stag is single in his bosom. + +Now after many years the elder son came upon the sides of the salt sea; +and it was night, and a savage place, and the clamour of the sea was +loud. There he was aware of a house, and a man that sat there by the +light of a candle, for he had no fire. Now the elder son came in to him, +and the man gave him water to drink, for he had no bread; and wagged his +head when he was spoken to, for he had no words. + +"Have you the touchstone of truth?" asked the elder son and when the man +had wagged his head, "I might have known that," cried the elder son. "I +have here a wallet full of them!" And with that he laughed, although his +heart was weary. + +And with that the man laughed too, and with the fuff of his laughter the +candle went out. + +"Sleep," said the man, "for now I think you have come far enough; and +your quest is ended, and my candle is out." + +Now when the morning came, the man gave him a clear pebble in his hand, +and it had no beauty and no colour; and the elder son looked upon it +scornfully and shook his head; and he went away, for it seemed a small +affair to him. + +All that day he rode, and his mind was quiet, and the desire of the chase +allayed. "How if this poor pebble be the touchstone, after all?" said +he: and he got down from his horse, and emptied forth his wallet by the +side of the way. Now, in the light of each other, all the touchstones +lost their hue and fire, and withered like stars at morning; but in the +light of the pebble, their beauty remained, only the pebble was the most +bright. And the elder son smote upon his brow. "How if this be the +truth?" he cried, "that all are a little true?" And he took the pebble, +and turned its light upon the heavens, and they deepened about him like +the pit; and he turned it on the hills, and the hills were cold and +rugged, but life ran in their sides so that his own life bounded; and he +turned it on the dust, and he beheld the dust with joy and terror; and he +turned it on himself, and kneeled down and prayed. + +"Now, thanks be to God," said the elder son, "I have found the +touchstone; and now I may turn my reins, and ride home to the King and to +the maid of the dun that makes my mouth to sing and my heart enlarge." + +Now when he came to the dun, he saw children playing by the gate where +the King had met him in the old days; and this stayed his pleasure, for +he thought in his heart, "It is here my children should be playing". And +when he came into the hall, there was his brother on the high seat and +the maid beside him; and at that his anger rose, for he thought in his +heart, "It is I that should be sitting there, and the maid beside me". + +"Who are you?" said his brother. "And what make you in the dun?" + +"I am your elder brother," he replied. "And I am come to marry the maid, +for I have brought the touchstone of truth." + +Then the younger brother laughed aloud. "Why," said he, "I found the +touchstone years ago, and married the maid, and there are our children +playing at the gate." + +Now at this the elder brother grew as gray as the dawn. "I pray you have +dealt justly," said he, "for I perceive my life is lost." + +"Justly?" quoth the younger brother. "It becomes you ill, that are a +restless man and a runagate, to doubt my justice, or the King my +father's, that are sedentary folk and known in the land." + +"Nay," said the elder brother, "you have all else, have patience also; +and suffer me to say the world is full of touchstones, and it appears not +easily which is true." + +"I have no shame of mine," said the younger brother. "There it is, and +look in it." + +So the elder brother looked in the mirror, and he was sore amazed; for he +was an old man, and his hair was white upon his head; and he sat down in +the hall and wept aloud. + +"Now," said the younger brother, "see what a fool's part you have played, +that ran over all the world to seek what was lying in our father's +treasury, and came back an old carle for the dogs to bark at, and without +chick or child. And I that was dutiful and wise sit here crowned with +virtues and pleasures, and happy in the light of my hearth." + +"Methinks you have a cruel tongue," said the elder brother; and he pulled +out the clear pebble and turned its light on his brother; and behold the +man was lying, his soul was shrunk into the smallness of a pea, and his +heart was a bag of little fears like scorpions, and love was dead in his +bosom. And at that the elder brother cried out aloud, and turned the +light of the pebble on the maid, and, lo! she was but a mask of a woman, +and withinside's she was quite dead, and she smiled as a clock ticks, and +knew not wherefore. + +"Oh, well," said the elder brother, "I perceive there is both good and +bad. So fare ye all as well as ye may in the dun; but I will go forth +into the world with my pebble in my pocket." + + + + +XIX.--THE POOR THING. + + +There was a man in the islands who fished for his bare bellyful, and took +his life in his hands to go forth upon the sea between four planks. But +though he had much ado, he was merry of heart; and the gulls heard him +laugh when the spray met him. And though he had little lore, he was +sound of spirit; and when the fish came to his hook in the mid-waters, he +blessed God without weighing. He was bitter poor in goods and bitter +ugly of countenance, and he had no wife. + +It fell in the time of the fishing that the man awoke in his house about +the midst of the afternoon. The fire burned in the midst, and the smoke +went up and the sun came down by the chimney. And the man was aware of +the likeness of one that warmed his hands at the red peats. + +"I greet you," said the man, "in the name of God." + +"I greet you," said he that warmed his hands, "but not in the name of +God, for I am none of His; nor in the name of Hell, for I am not of Hell. +For I am but a bloodless thing, less than wind and lighter than a sound, +and the wind goes through me like a net, and I am broken by a sound and +shaken by the cold." + +"Be plain with me," said the man, "and tell me your name and of your +nature." + +"My name," quoth the other, "is not yet named, and my nature not yet +sure. For I am part of a man; and I was a part of your fathers, and went +out to fish and fight with them in the ancient days. But now is my turn +not yet come; and I wait until you have a wife, and then shall I be in +your son, and a brave part of him, rejoicing manfully to launch the boat +into the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where the +ring closes and the blows are going." + +"This is a marvellous thing to hear," said the man; "and if you are +indeed to be my son, I fear it will go ill with you; for I am bitter poor +in goods and bitter ugly in face, and I shall never get me a wife if I +live to the age of eagles." + +"All this hate I come to remedy, my Father," said the Poor Thing; "for we +must go this night to the little isle of sheep, where our fathers lie in +the dead-cairn, and to-morrow to the Earl's Hall, and there shall you +find a wife by my providing." + +So the man rose and put forth his boat at the time of the sunsetting; and +the Poor Thing sat in the prow, and the spray blew through his bones like +snow, and the wind whistled in his teeth, and the boat dipped not with +the weight of him. + +"I am fearful to see you, my son," said the man. "For methinks you are +no thing of God." + +"It is only the wind that whistles in my teeth," said the Poor Thing, +"and there is no life in me to keep it out." + +So they came to the little isle of sheep, where the surf burst all about +it in the midst of the sea, and it was all green with bracken, and all +wet with dew, and the moon enlightened it. They ran the boat into a +cove, and set foot to land; and the man came heavily behind among the +rocks in the deepness of the bracken, but the Poor Thing went before him +like a smoke in the light of the moon. So they came to the dead-cairn, +and they laid their ears to the stones; and the dead complained +withinsides like a swarm of bees: "Time was that marrow was in our bones, +and strength in our sinews; and the thoughts of our head were clothed +upon with acts and the words of men. But now are we broken in sunder, +and the bonds of our bones are loosed, and our thoughts lie in the dust." + +Then said the Poor Thing: "Charge them that they give you the virtue they +withheld". + +And the man said: "Bones of my fathers, greeting! for I am sprung of your +loins. And now, behold, I break open the piled stones of your cairn, and +I let in the noon between your ribs. Count it well done, for it was to +be; and give me what I come seeking in the name of blood and in the name +of God." + +And the spirits of the dead stirred in the cairn like ants; and they +spoke: "You have broken the roof of our cairn and let in the noon between +our ribs; and you have the strength of the still-living. But what virtue +have we? what power? or what jewel here in the dust with us, that any +living man should covet or receive it? for we are less than nothing. But +we tell you one thing, speaking with many voices like bees, that the way +is plain before all like the grooves of launching: So forth into life and +fear not, for so did we all in the ancient ages." And their voices +passed away like an eddy in a river. + +"Now," said the Poor Thing, "they have told you a lesson, but make them +give you a gift. Stoop your hand among the bones without drawback, and +you shall find their treasure." + +So the man stooped his hand, and the dead laid hold upon it many and +faint like ants; but he shook them off, and behold, what he brought up in +his hand was the shoe of a horse, and it was rusty. + +"It is a thing of no price," quoth the man, "for it is rusty." + +"We shall see that," said the Poor Thing; "for in my thought it is a good +thing to do what our fathers did, and to keep what they kept without +question. And in my thought one thing is as good as another in this +world; and a shoe of a horse will do." + +Now they got into their boat with the horseshoe, and when the dawn was +come they were aware of the smoke of the Earl's town and the bells of the +Kirk that beat. So they set foot to shore; and the man went up to the +market among the fishers over against the palace and the Kirk; and he was +bitter poor and bitter ugly, and he had never a fish to sell, but only a +shoe of a horse in his creel, and it rusty. + +"Now," said the Poor Thing, "do so and so, and you shall find a wife and +I a mother." + +It befell that the Earl's daughter came forth to go into the Kirk upon +her prayers; and when she saw the poor man stand in the market with only +the shoe of a horse, and it rusty, it came in her mind it should be a +thing of price. + +"What is that?" quoth she. + +"It is a shoe of a horse," said the man. + +"And what is the use of it?" quoth the Earl's daughter. + +"It is for no use," said the man. + +"I may not believe that," said she; "else why should you carry it?" + +"I do so," said he, "because it was so my fathers did in the ancient +ages; and I have neither a better reason nor a worse." + +Now the Earl's daughter could not find it in her mind to believe him. +"Come," quoth she, "sell me this, for I am sure it is a thing of price." + +"Nay," said the man, "the thing is not for sale." + +"What!" cried the Earl's daughter. "Then what make you here in the +town's market, with the thing in your creel and nought beside?" + +"I sit here," says the man, "to get me a wife." + +"There is no sense in any of these answers," thought the Earl's daughter; +"and I could find it in my heart to weep." + +By came the Earl upon that; and she called him and told him all. And +when he had heard, he was of his daughter's mind that this should be a +thing of virtue; and charged the man to set a price upon the thing, or +else be hanged upon the gallows; and that was near at hand, so that the +man could see it. + +"The way of life is straight like the grooves of launching," quoth the +man. "And if I am to be hanged let me be hanged." + +"Why!" cried the Earl, "will you set your neck against a shoe of a horse, +and it rusty?" + +"In my thought," said the man, "one thing is as good as another in this +world and a shoe of a horse will do." + +"This can never be," thought the Earl; and he stood and looked upon the +man, and bit his beard. + +And the man looked up at him and smiled. "It was so my fathers did in +the ancient ages," quoth he to the Earl, "and I have neither a better +reason nor a worse." + +"There is no sense in any of this," thought the Earl, "and I must be +growing old." So he had his daughter on one side, and says he: "Many +suitors have you denied, my child. But here is a very strange matter +that a man should cling so to a shoe of a horse, and it rusty; and that +he should offer it like a thing on sale, and yet not sell it; and that he +should sit there seeking a wife. If I come not to the bottom of this +thing, I shall have no more pleasure in bread; and I can see no way, but +either I should hang or you should marry him." + +"By my troth, but he is bitter ugly," said the Earl's daughter. "How if +the gallows be so near at hand?" + +"It was not so," said the Earl, "that my fathers did in the ancient ages. +I am like the man, and can give you neither a better reason nor a worse. +But do you, prithee, speak with him again." + +So the Earl's daughter spoke to the man. "If you were not so bitter +ugly," quoth she, "my father the Earl would have us marry." + +"Bitter ugly am I," said the man, "and you as fair as May. Bitter ugly I +am, and what of that? It was so my fathers--" + +"In the name of God," said the Earl's daughter, "let your fathers be!" + +"If I had done that," said the man, "you had never been chaffering with +me here in the market, nor your father the Earl watching with the end of +his eye." + +"But come," quoth the Earl's daughter, "this is a very strange thing, +that you would have me wed for a shoe of a horse, and it rusty." + +"In my thought," quoth the man, "one thing is as good--" + +"Oh, spare me that," said the Earl's daughter, "and tell me why I should +marry." + + +"Listen and look," said the man. + +Now the wind blew through the Poor Thing like an infant crying, so that +her heart was melted; and her eyes were unsealed, and she was aware of +the thing as it were a babe unmothered, and she took it to her arms, and +it melted in her arms like the air. + +"Come," said the man, "behold a vision of our children, the busy hearth, +and the white heads. And let that suffice, for it is all God offers." + +"I have no delight in it," said she; but with that she sighed. + +"The ways of life are straight like the grooves of launching," said the +man; and he took her by the hand. + +"And what shall we do with the horseshoe?" quoth she. + +"I will give it to your father," said the man; "and he can make a kirk +and a mill of it for me." + + +It came to pass in time that the Poor Thing was born; but memory of these +matters slept within him, and he knew not that which he had done. But he +was a part of the eldest son; rejoicing manfully to launch the boat into +the surf, skilful to direct the helm, and a man of might where the ring +closes and the blows are going. + + + + +XX.--THE SONG OF THE MORROW. + + +The King of Duntrine had a daughter when he was old, and she was the +fairest King's daughter between two seas; her hair was like spun gold, +and her eyes like pools in a river; and the King gave her a castle upon +the sea beach, with a terrace, and a court of the hewn stone, and four +towers at the four corners. Here she dwelt and grew up, and had no care +for the morrow, and no power upon the hour, after the manner of simple +men. + +It befell that she walked one day by the beach of the sea, when it was +autumn, and the wind blew from the place of rains; and upon the one hand +of her the sea beat, and upon the other the dead leaves ran. This was +the loneliest beach between two seas, and strange things had been done +there in the ancient ages. Now the King's daughter was aware of a crone +that sat upon the beach. The sea foam ran to her feet, and the dead +leaves swarmed about her back, and the rags blew about her face in the +blowing of the wind. + +"Now," said the King's daughter, and she named a holy name, "this is the +most unhappy old crone between two seas." + +"Daughter of a King," said the crone, "you dwell in a stone house, and +your hair is like the gold: but what is your profit? Life is not long, +nor lives strong; and you live after the way of simple men, and have no +thought for the morrow and no power upon the hour." + +"Thought for the morrow, that I have," said the King's daughter; "but +power upon the hour, that have I not." And she mused with herself. + +Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed +like a sea-gull. "Home!" cried she. "O daughter of a King, home to your +stone house; for the longing is come upon you now, nor can you live any +more after the manner of simple men. Home, and toil and suffer, till the +gift come that will make you bare, and till the man come that will bring +you care." + +The King's daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home +to her house in silence. And when she was come into her chamber she +called for her nurse. + +"Nurse," said the King's daughter, "thought is come upon me for the +morrow, so that I can live no more after the manner of simple men. Tell +me what I must do that I may have power upon the hour." + +Then the nurse moaned like a snow wind. "Alas!" said she, "that this +thing should be; but the thought is gone into your marrow, nor is there +any cure against the thought. Be it so, then, even as you will; though +power is less than weakness, power shall you have; and though the thought +is colder than winter, yet shall you think it to an end." + +So the King's daughter sat in her vaulted chamber in the masoned house, +and she thought upon the thought. Nine years she sat; and the sea beat +upon the terrace, and the gulls cried about the turrets, and wind crooned +in the chimneys of the house. Nine years she came not abroad, nor tasted +the clean air, neither saw God's sky. Nine years she sat and looked +neither to the right nor to the left, nor heard speech of any one, but +thought upon the thought of the morrow. And her nurse fed her in +silence, and she took of the food with her left hand, and ate it without +grace. + +Now when the nine years were out, it fell dusk in the autumn, and there +came a sound in the wind like a sound of piping. At that the nurse +lifted up her finger in the vaulted house. + +"I hear a sound in the wind," said she, "that is like the sound of +piping." + +"It is but a little sound," said the King's daughter, "but yet is it +sound enough for me." + +So they went down in the dusk to the doors of the house, and along the +beach of the sea. And the waves beat upon the one hand, and upon the +other the dead leaves ran; and the clouds raced in the sky, and the gulls +flew widdershins. And when they came to that part of the beach where +strange things had been done in the ancient ages, lo, there was the +crone, and she was dancing widdershins. + +"What makes you dance widdershins, old crone?" said the King's daughter; +"here upon the bleak beach, between the waves and the dead leaves?" + +"I hear a sound in the wind that is like a sound of piping," quoth she. +"And it is for that that I dance widdershins. For the gift comes that +will make you bare, and the man comes that must bring you care. But for +me the morrow is come that I have thought upon, and the hour of my +power." + +"How comes it, crone," said the King's daughter, "that you waver like a +rag, and pale like a dead leaf before my eyes?" + +"Because the morrow has come that I have thought upon, and the hour of my +power," said the crone; and she fell on the beach, and, lo! she was but +stalks of the sea tangle, and dust of the sea sand, and the sand lice +hopped upon the place of her. + +"This is the strangest thing that befell between two seas," said the +King's daughter of Duntrine. + +But the nurse broke out and moaned like an autumn gale. "I am weary of +the wind," quoth she; and she bewailed her day. + +The King's daughter was aware of a man upon the beach; he went hooded so +that none might perceive his face, and a pipe was underneath his arm. The +sound of his pipe was like singing wasps, and like the wind that sings in +windlestraw; and it took hold upon men's ears like the crying of gulls. + +"Are you the comer?" quoth the King's daughter of Duntrine. + +"I am the corner," said he, "and these are the pipes that a man may hear, +and I have power upon the hour, and this is the song of the morrow." And +he piped the song of the morrow, and it was as long as years; and the +nurse wept out aloud at the hearing of it. + +"This is true," said the King's daughter, "that you pipe the song of the +morrow; but that ye have power upon the hour, how may I know that? Show +me a marvel here upon the beach, between the waves and the dead leaves." + +And the man said, "Upon whom?" + +"Here is my nurse," quoth the King's daughter. "She is weary of the +wind. Show me a good marvel upon her." + +And, lo! the nurse fell upon the beach as it were two handfuls of dead +leaves, and the wind whirled them widdershins, and the sand lice hopped +between. + +"It is true," said the King's daughter of Duntrine, "you are the comer, +and you have power upon the hour. Come with me to my stone house." + +So they went by the sea margin, and the man piped the song of the morrow, +and the leaves followed behind them as they went. + +Then they sat down together; and the sea beat on the terrace, and the +gulls cried about the towers, and the wind crooned in the chimneys of the +house. Nine years they sat, and every year when it fell autumn, the man +said, "This is the hour, and I have power in it"; and the daughter of the +King said, "Nay, but pipe me the song of the morrow". And he piped it, +and it was long like years. + +Now when the nine years were gone, the King's daughter of Duntrine got +her to her feet, like one that remembers; and she looked about her in the +masoned house; and all her servants were gone; only the man that piped +sat upon the terrace with the hand upon his face; and as he piped the +leaves ran about the terrace and the sea beat along the wall. Then she +cried to him with a great voice, "This is the hour, and let me see the +power in it". And with that the wind blew off the hood from the man's +face, and, lo! there was no man there, only the clothes and the hood and +the pipes tumbled one upon another in a corner of the terrace, and the +dead leaves ran over them. + +And the King's daughter of Duntrine got her to that part of the beach +where strange things had been done in the ancient ages; and there she sat +her down. The sea foam ran to her feet, and the dead leaves swarmed +about her back, and the veil blew about her face in the blowing of the +wind. And when she lifted up her eyes, there was the daughter of a King +come walking on the beach. Her hair was like the spun gold, and her eyes +like pools in a river, and she had no thought for the morrow and no power +upon the hour, after the manner of simple men. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FABLES*** + + +******* This file should be named 343.txt or 343.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/4/343 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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