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diff --git a/old/grybr10.txt b/old/grybr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c84c2f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/grybr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2389 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Grey Brethren, by Michael Fairless +(#3 in our series by Michael Fairless) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Grey Brethren and Other Fragments in Prose and Verse + +Author: Michael Fairless + +Release Date: March, 1997 [EBook #835] +[This file was first posted on March 2, 1997] +[Most recently updated: September 25, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE GREY BRETHREN *** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1911 Duckworth and Co. edition by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +THE GREY BRETHREN AND OTHER FRAGMENTS IN PROSE AND VERSE + + + + +Contents + + +The Grey Brethren +A Song of Low Degree +A German Christmas Eve +A Christmas Idyll +The Manifestation +All Souls' Day in a German Town +By Rivers and Streams +Spring +A Lark's Song +'Luvly Miss' +Four Stories Told To Children: + The Dreadful Griffin + The Discontented Daffodils + The Fairy Fluffikins + The Story of the Tinkle-Tinkle + + + +The Grey Brethren + + + +Some of the happiest remembrances of my childhood are of days spent +in a little Quaker colony on a high hill. + +The walk was in itself a preparation, for the hill was long and +steep and at the mercy of the north-east wind; but at the top, +sheltered by a copse and a few tall trees, stood a small house, +reached by a flagged pathway skirting one side of a bright trim +garden. + +I, with my seven summers of lonely, delicate childhood, felt, when +I gently closed the gate behind me, that I shut myself into Peace. +The house was always somewhat dark, and there were no domestic +sounds. The two old ladies, sisters, both born in the last +century, sat in the cool, dim parlour, netting or sewing. Rebecca +was small, with a nut-cracker nose and chin; Mary, tall and +dignified, needed no velvet under the net cap. I can feel now the +touch of the cool dove-coloured silk against my cheek, as I sat on +the floor, watching the nimble fingers with the shuttle, and +listened as Mary read aloud a letter received that morning, +describing a meeting of the faithful and the 'moving of the Spirit' +among them. I had a mental picture of the 'Holy Heavenly Dove,' +with its wings of silvery grey, hovering over my dear old ladies; +and I doubt not my vision was a true one. + +Once as I watched Benjamin, the old gardener--a most 'stiff-backed +Friend' despite his stoop and his seventy years--putting scarlet +geraniums and yellow fever-few in the centre bed, I asked, awe- +struck, whether such glowing colours were approved; and Rebecca +smiled and said--"Child, dost thee not think the Lord may have His +glories?" and I looked from the living robe of scarlet and gold to +the dove-coloured gown, and said: "Would it be pride in thee to +wear His glories?" and Mary answered for her--"The change is not +yet; better beseems us the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. + +The 'change from glory to glory' has come to them both long since, +but it seems to me as if their robes must still be Quaker-grey. + +Upstairs was the invalid daughter and niece. For years she had +been compelled to lie on her face; and in that position she had +done wonderful drawings of the High Priest, the Ark of the +Covenant, and other Levitical figures. She had a cageful of tame +canary-birds which answered to their names and fed from her plate +at meal-times. Of these I remember only Roger, a gorgeous fellow +with a beautiful voice and strong will of his own, who would +occasionally defy his mistress from the secure fastness of a high +picture-frame, but always surrendered at last, and came to listen +to his lecture with drooping wings. + +A city of Peace, this little house, for the same severely-gentle +decorum reigned in the kitchen as elsewhere: and now, where is +such a haunt to be found? + +In the earlier part of this century the Friends bore a most +important witness. They were a standing rebuke to rough manners, +rude speech, and to the too often mere outward show of religion. +No one could fail to be impressed by the atmosphere of peace +suggested by their bearing and presence; and the gentle, sheltered, +contemplative lives lived by most of them undoubtedly made them +unusually responsive to spiritual influence. Now, the young birds +have left the parent nest and the sober plumage and soft speech; +they are as other men; and in a few short years the word Quaker +will sound as strange in our ears as the older appellation Shaker +does now. + +This year I read for the first time the Journal of George Fox. It +is hard to link the rude, turbulent son of Amos with the denizens +in my city of Peace; but he had his work to do and did it, letting +breezy truths into the stuffy 'steeple-houses' of the 'lumps of +clay.' + +"Come out from among them and be ye separate; touch not the +accursed thing!" he thundered; and out they came, obedient to his +stentorian mandate; but alack, how many treasures in earthen +vessels did they overlook in their terror of the curse! The good +people made such haste to flee the city, that they imagined +themselves as having already, in the spirit, reached the land that +is very far off; and so they cast from them the outward and visible +signs which are vehicles, in this material world, of inward graces. +Measureless are the uncovenanted blessings of God; and to these the +Friends have ever borne a witness of power; but now the Calvinist +intruder no longer divides the sheep from the goats in our +churches; now the doctrine of universal brotherhood and the respect +due to all men are taught much more effectively than when George +Fox refused to doff his hat to the Justice; the quaint old speech +has lost its significance, the dress would imply all the vainglory +that the wearer desires to avoid; the young Quakers of this +generation are no longer 'disciplined' in matters of the common +social life; yet still they remain separate. + +We of the outward and visible covenant need them, with their +inherited mysticism, ordered contemplation, and spiritual vision; +we need them for ourselves. The mother they have left yearns for +them, and with all her faults--faults the greater for their +absence--and with the blinded eyes of their recognition, she is +their mother still. "What advantage then hath the Jew?" asked St +Paul, and answered in the same breath--"Much every way, chiefly +because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." What +advantage then has the Churchman? is the oft repeated question +today; and the answer is still the answer of St Paul. + +The Incarnation is the sum of all the Sacraments, the crown of the +material revelation of God to man, the greatest of outward and +visible signs, "that which we have heard, which we have seen with +our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of +the word of life." A strange beginning truly, to usher in a purely +spiritual dispensation; but beautifully fulfilled in the taking up +of the earthly into the heavenly--Bread and Wine, the natural +fruits of the earth, sanctified by man's toil, a sufficiency for +his needs; and instinct with Divine life through the operation of +the Holy Ghost. + + +"In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread." + +"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood ye +have no life in you" + +"And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." + + +From Genesis to the Revelation of the Divine reaches the rainbow of +the Sacramental system--outward and visible signs of inward and +spiritual grace:- + +The sacrament of purging, purifying labour, to balance and control +the knowledge of good and evil:- + +The sacrament of life, divine life, with the outward body of +humiliation, bread and wine, fruit of the accursed ground, but +useless without man's labour; and St Paul, caught up into the third +heaven, and St John, with his wide-eyed vision of the Lamb, must +eat this bread and drink this cup if they would live:- + +The sacrament of healing, the restoring of the Image of God in +fallen man. + +The Church is one society, nay, the world is one society, for man +without his fellow-men is not; and into the society, both of the +Church and the world, are inextricably woven the most social +sacraments. + +Herein is great purpose, we say, bending the knee; and with deep +consciousness of sins and shortcomings we stretch out longing +welcoming hands to our grey brethren with their inheritance of +faithfulness and steadfastness under persecution, and their many +gifts and graces; and we cry, in the words of the Song of Songs +which is Solomon's: "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the +rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy +countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy +countenance is comely." "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come +away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." + + + +A Song of Low Degree + + + +Lord, I am small, and yet so great, +The whole world stands to my estate, +And in Thine Image I create. +The sea is mine; and the broad sky +Is mine in its immensity: +The river and the river's gold; +The earth's hid treasures manifold; +The love of creatures small and great, +Save where I reap a precious hate; +The noon-tide sun with hot caress, +The night with quiet loneliness; +The wind that bends the pliant trees, +The whisper of the summer breeze; +The kiss of snow and rain; the star +That shines a greeting from afar; +All, all are mine; and yet so small +Am I, that lo, I needs must call, +Great King, upon the Babe in Thee, +And crave that Thou would'st give to me +The grace of Thy humility. + + + +A German Christmas Eve + + + +It was intensely cold; Father Rhine was frozen over, so he may +speak for it; and for days we had lived to the merry jangle and +clang of innumerable sleigh bells, in a white and frost-bound +world. As I passed through the streets, crowded with stolidly +admiring peasants from the villages round, I caught the dear +remembered 'Gruss Gott!' and 'All' Heil!' of the countryside, which +town life quickly stamps out along with many other gentle +observances. + +"Gelobt sei Jesu Christ!" cried little Sister Hilarius, coming on +me suddenly at a corner, her round face aglow with the sharp air, +her arms filled with queer-shaped bundles. She begs for her sick +poor as she goes along--meat here, some bread there, a bottle of +good red wine: I fancy few refuse her. She nursed me once, the +good little sister, with unceasing care and devotion, and all the +dignity of a scant five feet. "Ach, Du lieber Gott, such gifts!" +she added, with a radiant smile, and vanished up a dirty stairway. + +In the Quergasse a jay fell dead at my feet--one of the many birds +which perished thus--he had flown townwards too late. Up at the +Jagdschloss the wild creatures, crying a common truce of hunger, +trooped each day to the clearing by the Jager's cottage for the +food spread for them. The great tusked boar of the Taunus with his +brother of Westphalia, the timid roe deer with her scarcely braver +mate, foxes, hares, rabbits, feathered game, and tiny songbirds of +the woods, gathered fearlessly together and fed at the hand of +their common enemy--a millennial banquet truly. + +The market-place was crowded, and there were Christmas trees +everywhere, crying aloud in bushy nakedness for their rightful +fruit. The old peasant women, rolled in shawls, with large +handkerchiefs tied over their caps, warmed their numb and withered +hands over little braziers while they guarded the gaily decked +treasure-laden booths, from whose pent-roofs Father Winter had hung +a fringe of glittering icicles. + +Many of the stalls were entirely given over to Christmas-tree +splendours. Long trails of gold and silver Engelshaar, piles of +candles--red, yellow, blue, green, violet, and white--a rainbow of +the Christian virtues and the Church's Year; boxes of frost and +snow, festoons of coloured beads, fishes with gleaming scales, +glass-winged birds, Santa Klaus in frost-bedecked mantle and +scarlet cap, angels with trumpets set to their waxen lips; and +everywhere and above all the image of the Holy Child. Sometimes it +was the tiny waxen Bambino, in its pathetic helplessness; sometimes +the Babe Miraculous, standing with outstretched arms awaiting the +world's embrace--Mary's Son, held up in loving hands to bless; or +the Heavenly Child-King with crown and lily sceptre, borne high by +Joseph, that gentle, faithful servitor. It was the festival of +Bethlehem, feast of never-ending keeping, which has its crowning +splendour on Christmas Day. + +A Sister passed with a fat, rosy little girl in either hand; they +were chattering merrily of the gift they were to buy for the dear +Christkind, the gift which Sister said He would send some ragged +child to receive for Him. They came back to the poor booth close +to where I was standing. It was piled with warm garments; and +after much consultation a little white vest was chosen--the elder +child rejected pink, she knew the Christkind would like white best- +-then they trotted off down a narrow turning to the church, and I +followed. + +The Creche stood without the chancel, between the High Altar and +that of Our Lady of Sorrows. It was very simple. A blue paper +background spangled with stars; a roughly thatched roof supported +on four rude posts; at the back, ox and ass lying among the straw +with which the ground was strewn. The figures were life-size, of +carved and painted wood: Joseph, tall and dignified, stood as +guardian, leaning on his staff; Mary knelt with hands slightly +uplifted in loving adoration; and the Babe lay in front on a truss +of straw disposed as a halo. It was the World's Child, and the +position emphasised it. Two or three hard-featured peasants knelt +telling their beads; and a group of children with round, blue eyes +and stiff, flaxen pigtails, had gathered in front, and were +pointing and softly whispering. My little friends trotted up, +crossed themselves; it was evidently the little one's first visit. + +"Guck! guck mal an," she cried, clapping her fat gloved hands, +"sieh mal an das Wickelkind!" + +"Dass ist unser Jesu," said the elder, and the little one echoed +"Unser Jesu, unser Jesu!" + +Then the vest was brought out and shown--why not, it was the +Christchild's own?--and the pair trotted away again followed by the +bright, patient Sister. Presently everyone clattered out, and I +was left alone at the crib of Bethlehem, the gate of the Kingdom of +Heaven. + +It was my family, my only family; but like the ever-widening circle +on the surface of a lake into which a stone has been flung, here, +from this great centre, spread the wonderful ever-widening +relationship--the real brotherhood of the world. It is at the Crib +that everything has its beginning, not at the Cross; and it is only +as little children that we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. + +When I went out again into the streets it was nearly dark. Anxious +mothers hurried past on late, mysterious errands; papas who were +not wanted until the last moment chatted gaily to each other at +street corners, and exchanged recollections; maidservants hastened +from shop to shop with large baskets already heavily laden; and the +children were everywhere, important with secrets, comfortably +secure in the knowledge of a tree behind the parlour doors, and a +kindly, generous Saint who knew all their wants, and needed no rod +THIS year. + +One little lad, with a pinched white face, and with only an empty +certainty to look forward to, was singing shrilly in the sharp, +still air, "Zu Bethlehem geboren, ist uns ein Kindelein," as he +gazed wistfully at a shop window piled high with crisp gingerbread, +marzipan, chocolate under every guise, and tempting cakes. A great +rough peasant coming out, saw him, turned back, and a moment later +thrust a gingerbread Santa Klaus, with currant eyes and sugar +trimming to his coat and cap, into the half-fearful little hands. +"Hab' ebenso ein Kerlchen zu Haus'," he said to me apologetically +as he passed. + +I waited to see Santa Klaus disappear; but no, the child looked at +the cake, sighed deeply with the cruel effort of resistance, and +refrained. It was all his Christmas and he would keep it. He +gazed and gazed, then a smile rippled across the wan little face +and he broke out in another carol, "Es kam ein Engel hell und klar +vom Himmel zu der Hirten Schaar," and hugging his Santa Klaus +carefully, wandered away down the now brilliant streets: he did +not know he was hungry any more; the angel had come with good +tidings. + +As I passed along the streets I could see through the uncurtained +windows that in some houses Christmas had begun already for the +little ones. Then the bells rang out deep-mouthed, carrying the +call of the eager Church to her children, far up the valley and +across the frozen river. And they answered; the great church was +packed from end to end, and from my place by the door I saw that +two tiny Christmas trees bright with coloured candles burnt either +side of the Holy Child. + +A blue-black sky ablaze with stars for His glory, a fresh white +robe for stained and tired earth; so we went to Bethlehem in the +rare stillness of the early morning. The Church, having no stars, +had lighted candles; and we poor sinful men having no white robes +of our own had craved them of the Great King at her hands. + +And so in the stillness, with tapers within and stars alight +without, with a white-clad earth, and souls forgiven, the Christ +Child came to those who looked for His appearing. + + + +A Christmas Idyll + + + +The Child with the wondering eyes sat on the doorstep, on either +side of her a tramp cat in process of becoming a recognised member +of society. On the flagged path in front the brown brethren were +picking up crumbs. The cats' whiskers trembled, but they sat +still, proudly virtuous, and conscious each of a large saucer of +warm milk within. + +"What," said the Child, "is a symbol?" + +The cats looked grave. + +The Child rose, went into the house, and returned with a well- +thumbed brown book. She turned the pages thoughtfully, and read +aloud, presumably for the benefit of the cats: "In a symbol there +is concealment yet revelation, the infinite is made to blend with +the finite, to stand visible, and as it were attainable there." +The Child sighed, "We had better go to the Recluse," she said. So +the three went. + +It was a cold, clear, bright day, a typical Christmas Eve. There +was a carpet of crisp snow on the ground, and a fringe of icicles +hung from every vantage-point. The cats, not having been +accustomed to the delights of domesticity, trotted along cheerfully +despite the chill to their toes; and they soon came to the forest +which all three knew very well indeed. It was a beautiful forest +like a great cathedral, with long aisles cut between the splendid +upstanding pine trees. The green-fringed boughs were heavy with +snow, the straight strong stems caught and reflected the stray sun +rays, and looking up through the arches and delicate tracery and +interlaced branches the eye caught the wonderful blue of the great +domed roof overhead. The cats walked delicately, fearful of +temptation in the way of rabbits or frost-tamed birds, and the +Child lilted a quaint German hymn to a strange old tune:- + + +"Ein Kind gebor'n zu Bethlehem. +Alleluja! +Dess freuet sich Jerusalem, +Alleluja! Alleluja!" + + +The Recluse was sitting on a bench outside his cave. He was +dressed in a brown robe, his eyes were like stars wrapped in brown +velvet, his face was strong and gentle, his hair white although he +looked quite young. He greeted the Child very kindly and stroked +the cats. + +"You have come to ask me a question, Child?" + +"If you please," said the Child, "what is a symbol?" + +"Ah," said the Recluse, "I might have known you would ask me that." + +"The Sage says," went on the Child, "that it is concealment yet +revelation." + +The Recluse nodded. + +"Just as a mystery that we cannot understand is the greatest +possible wisdom. Go in and sit by my fire, Child; there are +chestnuts on the hearth, and you will find milk in the brown jug. +I will show you a symbol presently." + +The Child and the two cats went into the cave and sat down by the +fire. It was warm and restful after the biting air. The cats +purred pleasantly, the Child sat with her chin in her hand watching +the glowing wood burn red and white on the great hearthstone. + +"The Recluse generally answers my questions by showing me something +I have seen for a long time but never beheld, or heard and never +lent ear. I wonder what it will be this time," she said to +herself. + +The grateful warmth made the Child sleepy, and she gave a start +when she found the Recluse standing by her with outstretched hand. + +"Come, dear Child," he said; and leaving the sleeping cats she +followed him, her hand in his. + +The air was full of wonderful sound, voices and song, and the cry +of the bells. + +The Child wondered, and then remembered it was Christmas night. +The Recluse led her down a little passage and opened a door. They +stepped out together, but not into the forest. + +"This is the front door of my house," said the Recluse, with a +little smile. + +They stood on a white road, on one side a stretch of limestone +down, on the other steep terraces with gardens and vineyard. The +air was soft and warm, and sweet with the breath of lilies. The +heaven was ablaze with stars; across the plain to the east the dawn +was breaking. A group of strangely-clad men went down the road +followed by a flock of sheep. + +"Let us go with them," said the Recluse; and hand in hand they +went. + +The road curved to the right; round the bend, cut in the living +rock, was a cave; the shepherds stopped and knelt, and there was no +sound but the soft rapid breathing of the flock. Then the Child +was filled with an overmastering longing, a desire so great that +the tears sprang hot to her eyes. She dropped the Recluse's hand +and went forward where the shepherds knelt. Once again the air was +full of wonderful sound, voices and song, and the cry of the bells; +but within all was silence. The cave was rough-hewn, and stabled +an ox and an ass; close to the front a tall strong man leaning on a +staff kept watch and ward; within knelt a peasant Maid, and on a +heap of yellow straw lay a tiny new-born Babe loosely wrapped in a +linen cloth: around and above were wonderful figures of fire and +mist. + +The infinite, visible and attainable. + +The mystery which is the greatest possible wisdom. + +* * * * * + +"Come, Child," said the Recluse. + +The fire had burnt low; it was quite dark, save for the glow of the +live embers. + +He threw on a great dry pine log; it flared like a torch. The +cats' stretched in the sudden blaze, and then settled to sleep +again. The Child and the Recluse passed out into the forest. The +moon was very bright and the snow reflected its rays, so that it +was light in spite of the great trees. The air was full of +wonderful sound, voices and song, and the cry of the bells; and the +Child sang as she went in a half-dream by the side of the Recluse:- + + +"In dieser heil'gen Weihnachtszeit, +Alleluja! +Sei, Gott der Herr, gebenedeit, +Alleluja! Alleluja!" + + +and wondered when she would wake up. They came to the old, old +church in the forest, and the pictured saints looked out at them +from the lighted window; through the open door they could see +figures moving about with tapers in their hands; save for these the +church was still empty. + +The Recluse led the way up the nave to the north side of the Altar. +The Child started a little; she was really dreaming then a kind of +circular dream, for again she stood before the cave, again the +reverend figure kept watch and ward over the kneeling Maid and the +little Babe. The sheep and the shepherds were not there, but a +little lamb had strayed in; and the wonderful figures of fire and +mist--they were there in their place. + +"Little one," said the Recluse softly, "here is a symbol-- +concealment yet revelation--the King as servant--the strong +helpless--the Almighty a little child; and thus the infinite stands +revealed for all of us, visible and attainable, if we will have it +so. It is the centre of all mystery, the greatest possible wisdom, +the Eternal Child." + +"You showed it me before," said the Child, "only we were out of +doors, and the shepherds were there with the sheep; but the angels +are here just the same." + +The Recluse bowed his head. + +"Wait for me here with them, dear Child, I will fetch you after +service." + +The church began to fill; old men in smock frocks and tall hats, +little children wrapped warm against the cold, lads, shining and +spruce, old women in crossed shawls and wonderful bonnets. The +service was not very long; then the Recluse went up into the old +grey stone pulpit. The villagers settled to listen--he did not +often preach. + +"My brothers and sisters, to-night we keep the Birth of the Holy +Babe, and to-night you and I stand at the gate of the Kingdom of +Heaven, the gate which is undone only at the cry of a little child. +'Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not +enter.' + +"The Kingdom is a great one, nay, a limitless one; and many enter +in calling it by another name. It includes your own hearts and +this wonderful forest, all the wise and beautiful works that men +have ever thought of or done, and your daily toil; it includes your +nearest and dearest, the outcast, the prisoner, and the stranger; +it holds your cottage home and the jewelled City, the New Jerusalem +itself. People are apt to think the Kingdom of Heaven is like +church on Sunday, a place to enter once a week in one's best: +whereas it holds every flower, and has room for the ox and the ass, +and the least of all creatures, as well as for our prayer and +worship and praise. + +"'Except ye become as little children.' How are we to be born +again, simple children with wondering eyes? + +"We must learn to lie in helpless dependence, to open our mouth +wide that it may be filled, to speak with halting tongue the +language we think we know; we must learn above all our own +ignorance, and keep alight and cherish the flame of innocency in +our hearts. + +"It is a tired world, my brethren, and we are most of us tired men +and women who live on it, for we seek ever after some new thing. +Let us pass out through the gate into the Kingdom of Heaven and not +be tired any more, because there we shall find the new thing that +we seek. Heaven is on earth, the Kingdom is here and now; the gate +stands wide to-night, for it is the birthright of the Eternal +Child. We are none of us too poor, or stupid, or lowly; it was the +simple shepherds who saw Him first. We are none of us too great, +or learned, or rich; it was the three wise kings who came next and +offered gifts. We are none of us too young; it was little children +who first laid down their lives for Him; or too old, for Simeon saw +and recognised Him. There is only one thing against most of us--we +are too proud. + +"My brethren, 'let us now go even to Bethlehem, and face this thing +which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us.'" + + +The lights were out in the church when the Recluse came to fetch +the Child. She was still kneeling by the creche, keeping watch +with the wonderful figures of fire and mist. + +"Was THIS a dream or the other?" said the Child. + +"Neither," said the Recluse, and he blessed her in the moonlit +dark. + +The air was full of wonderful sound, voices and song, and the cry +of the bells. + + + +The Manifestation + + + +God said; "Let there be light"; and in the East +A star rose flaming from night's purple sea - +The star of Truth, the star of Joy, the star +Seen by the prophets down the lonely years; +Set for a light to show the Perfect Way; +Set for a sign that wayfarers might find; +Set for a seal to mark the Godhead's home. +And three Kings in their palaces afar, +Who waited ardently for promised things, +Beheld, and read aright. Straightway the road +Was hot with pad of camel, horse's hoof, +While night was quick as day with spurring men +And light with flaring torch. "Haste, haste!" they cried, +"We seek the King, the King! for in the East +His star's alight." + + +BETHLEHEM + + +The Angels + +Soft and slow, soft and slow, +With angels' wings of fire and snow, +To rock Him gently to and fro. +Fire to stay the chill at night, +Snow to cool the noonday bright; +And overhead His star's alight. + +Pale and sweet, pale and sweet, +Maid Mary keeps her vigil meet, +While Joseph waits with patient feet. +Mary's love for soft embrace, +Joseph's strength to guard the place. +Lo! from the East Kings ride apace. + +Gold and myrrh, gold and myrrh, +Frankincense for harbinger, +Myrrh to make His sepulchre. +Roses white and roses red, +Thorns arrayed for His dear Head. +Hail! hail! Wise Men who seek His bed + + +Joseph + + +Little One, Little One, Saviour and Child, +Father and Mother, my Husband and Son; +Born of the lily, the maid undefiled, +Babe of my Love, the Beatified One. + +Little One, Little One, Master and LORD, +Kings of the Earth come, desiring Thy Face; +I, Thy poor servitor, lowly afford +All that my life holds, for all is Thy Grace. + +Little One, Little One, GOD over all, +Earth is thy footstool, and Heav'n is Thy throne: +Joseph the carpenter, prostrate I fall; +Praise thee, adore Thee, and claim Thee mine own. + + +Maid Mary + + +Babe, dear Babe! +Mine own, mine own, my heart's delight, +The myrrh between my breasts at night, +My little Rose, my Lily white, +My Babe for whom the star's alight. + +Babe, dear Babe! +Mine own, mine own, GOD'S only SON, +Foretold, foreseen, since earth begun; +Desire of nations, Promised One +When Eve was first by sin undone. + +Babe, dear Babe! +Mine own, mine own, the whole world's Child! +Born of each heart that's undefiled, +Nursed at the breast of Mercy mild, +And in the arms of Love asiled. + +Babe, dear Babe! +My crown of glory, sorrow's sword, +My Maker, King, Redeemer, Lord, +My Saviour and my great Reward; +My little Son, my Babe adored. + + +The Three Kings + + +Hail! Hail thou wondrous little King! +To Thy dear Feet +Our offerings meet +With bended knee we bring; +O mighty baby King, +Accept the offering. + + +First King + + +LORD, I stoop low +My head of snow, +Thus I, the great, hail Thee, the Least! +And swing the censer for the Priest, +The Priest with hands upraised to bless, +The Priest of this world's bitterness. +As I stoop low +My head of snow, +Bless me, O Priest, before I go. + + +Second King + + +Behold me, King! +A man of might, +Who rules dominions infinite; +Strong in the harvest of the years, +And one who counts no kings as peers. +O little King, +Behold my crown! +I lay it down, +And bow before Thy lowly bed +My all unworthy uncrowned head, +For I am naught and Thou art All. +And Thou shalt climb a throne set high, +Between sad earth and silent sky, +Thereon to agonize and die; +And at Thy Feet the world shall fall. +Stretch out Thy little Hands, O King, +Behold the world's imagining! + + +Third King + + +Out of the shadow of the night +I come, led by the starshine bright, +With broken heart to bring to Thee +The fruit of Thine Epiphany, +The gift my fellows send by me, +The myrrh to bed Thine agony. +I set it here beneath Thy Feet, +In token of Death's great defeat; +And hail Thee Conqueror in the strife; +And hail Thee Lord of Light and Life. +All hail! All hail the Virgin's Son! +All hail! Thou little helpless One! +All hail! Thou King upon the Tree! +All hail! The Babe on Mary's knee, +The centre of all mystery! + + + +All Souls' Day in a German Town + + + +The leaves fall softly: a wind of sighs +Whispers the world's infirmities, +Whispers the tale of the waning years, +While slow mists gather in shrouding tears +On All Souls' Day; and the bells are slow +In steeple and tower. Sad folk go +Away from the township, past the mill, +And mount the slope of a grassy hill +Carved into terraces broad and steep, +To the inn where wearied travellers sleep, +Where the sleepers lie in ordered rows, +And no man stirs in his long repose. +They wend their way past the haunts of life, +Father and daughter, grandmother, wife, +To deck with candle and deathless cross, +The house which holds their dearest loss. +I, who stand on the crest of the hill, +Watch how beneath me, busied still, +The sad folk wreathe each grave with flowers. +Awhile the veil of the twilight hours +Falls softly, softly, over the hill, +Shadows the cross:- creeps on until +Swiftly upon us is flung the dark. +Then, as if lit by a sudden spark, +Each grave is vivid with points of light, +Earth is as Heaven's mirror to-night; +The air is still as a spirit's breath, +The lights burn bright in the realm of Death. +Then silent the mourners mourning go, +Wending their way to the church below; +While the bells toll out to bid them speed, +With eager Pater and prayerful bead, +The souls of the dead, whose bodies still +Lie in the churchyard under the hill; +While they wait and wonder in Paradise, +And gaze on the dawning mysteries, +Praying for us in our hours of need; +For us, who with Pater and prayerful bead +Have bidden those waiting spirits speed. + + + +Rivers and Streams + + + +Running water has a charm all its own; it proffers companionship of +which one never tires; it adapts itself to moods; it is the +guardian of secrets. It has cool draughts for the thirsty soul as +well as for drooping flowers; and they who wander in the garden of +God with listening ears learn of its many voices. + +When the strain of a working day has left me weary, perhaps +troubled and perplexed, I find my way to the river. I step into a +boat and pull up stream until the exertion has refreshed me; and +then I make fast to the old alder-stump where last year the reed- +piper nested, and lie back in the stern and think. + +The water laps against the keel as the boat rocks gently in the +current; the river flows past, strong and quiet. There are side +eddies, of course, and little disturbing whirlpools near the big +stones, but they are all gathered into the broad sweep of the +stream, carried down to the great catholic sea. And while I listen +to the murmur of the water and watch its quiet strength the day's +wrinkles are smoothed out of my face; and at last the river bears +me homeward rested and at peace. + +There are long stretches of time for me when I must remain apart +from the world of work, often unwilling, sometimes with a very sore +heart. Then I turn my steps towards my friend and wander along the +banks, a solitary not alone. In the quiet evening light I watch +the stream 'never hasting, never resting': the grass that grows +beside it is always green, the flowers are fresh; it makes long +embracing curves--I could cross from point to point in a minute, +but to follow takes five. The ways of the water are ways of +healing; I have a companion who makes no mistakes, touches none of +my tender spots. + +Presently I reach the silent pool, where the stream takes a wide +sweep. Here the fair white water-lilies lie on their broad green +leaves and wait for their lover the moon; for then they open their +silvery leaves and bloom in the soft light fairer far than beneath +the hot rays of the sun. Then, too, the buds rise out of the water +and the moon kisses them into bloom and fragrance. Near by are the +little yellow water-lilies, set for beauty against a background of +great blue-eyed forget-me-nots and tall feathery meadowsweet. The +river still sweeps on its way, but the pool is undisturbed; it lies +out of the current. They say it is very deep--no one knows quite +how deep--and it has its hidden tragedy. I gaze down through the +clear water, following the thick lily-stalks--a forest where solemn +carp sail in and out and perch chase each other through the maze-- +and beyond them I cannot see the bottom, the secret of its +stillness; but I may watch the clouds mirrored on its surface, and +the evening glow lying at my feet. + +I think of the fathomless depths of the peace of God, fair with +flowers of hope; of still places wrought in man; of mirrors that +reflect, in light uncomprehended, the Image of the Holy Face. + +I go home across the common, comforted, towards the little town +where the red roofs lie glimmering in the evening shadows, and the +old grey church stands out clear and distinct against the fading +sky. + +* * * * * + +One of the happiest memories of my childhood is the little brook in +the home field. I know it was not a very clean little brook--it +passed through an industrious manufacturing world--but to me then +this mattered not at all. + +Where it had its source I never found out; it came from a little +cave in the side of the hill, and I remember that one of its banks +was always higher than the other. I once sought to penetrate the +cave, but with sad results in the shape of bed before dinner and no +pudding, such small sympathy have one's elders with the spirit of +research. Just beyond the cave the brook was quite a respectable +width,--even my big boy cousin fell into mud and disgrace when he +tried to jump it--and there was a gravelly beach, at least several +inches square, where we launched our boats of hollowed elder-wood. +Soon, however, it narrowed, it could even be stepped over; but it +was still exciting and delightful, with two perilous rapids over +which the boats had to be guided, and many boulders--for the brook +was a brave stream, and had fashioned its bed in rocky soil. +Further down was our bridge, one flat stone dragged thither by +really herculean efforts. It was unnecessary, but a triumph. A +little below this outcome of our engineering skill the brook +widened again before disappearing under a flagged tunnel into the +neighbouring field. Here, in the shallows, we built an aquarium. +It was not altogether successful, because whenever it rained at all +hard the beasts were washed out; but there was always joy in +restocking it. Under one of the banks close by lived a fat frog +for whom I felt great respect. We used to sit and gaze at each +other in silent intercourse, until he became bored--I think I never +did--and flopped into the water with a splash. + +But it was the brook itself that was my chief and dearest +companion. It chattered and sang to me, and told me of the goblins +who lived under the hill, of fairies dancing on the grass on +moonlight nights, and scolding the pale lilac milk-maids on the +banks; and of a sad little old man dressed in brown, always sad +because his dear water-children ran away from him when they heard +the voice of the great river telling them of the calling of the +sea. + +It spoke to me of other more wonderful things, not even now to be +put into words, things of the mysteries of a child's imagination; +and these linger still in my life, and will linger, I think, until +they are fulfilled. + +* * * * * + +I have another friend--a Devonshire stream. I found it in spring +when the fields along its banks were golden with Lent-lilies. I do +not even know its name; it has its source up among the old grey +tors, and doubtless in its beginning had a hard fight for +existence. When it reaches the plain it is a good-sized stream, +although nowhere navigable. I do not think it even turns a mill; +it just flows along and waters the flowers. I have seen it with my +bodily eyes only once; but it has left in my life a blessing, a +picture of blue sky, yellow bells, and clear rippling water--and +whispered secrets not forgotten. + +All the Devonshire streams are full of life and strength. They +chatter cheerily over stones, they toil bravely to shape out their +bed. Some of them might tell horrible tales of the far-away past, +of the worship of the false god when blood stained the clear +waters; tales, too, of feud and warfare, of grave council and +martial gathering; and happy stories of fairy and pixy our eyes are +too dull to see, and of queer little hillmen with foreign ways and +terror of all human beings. Their banks are bright with tormentil, +blue with forget-me-not, rich in treasures of starry moss; the +water is clear, cool in the hottest summer--they rise under the +shadow of the everlasting hills, and their goal is the sea. + +* * * * * + +There are other times when I must leave the clean waters and the +good brown earth, to live, for a while, in London: and there I go +on pilgrimage that I may listen to the river's voice. + +I stand sometimes at a wharf where the ships are being unloaded of +the riches of every country, of fruits of labour by my unknown +brothers in strange lands; and the river speaks of citizenship in +the great world of God, wherein all men have place, each man have +his own place, and every one should be neighbour to him who may +have need. + +I pass on to London Bridge, our Bridge of Sighs. How many of these +my brethren have sought refuge in the cold grey arms of the river +from something worse than death? What drove them to this dreadful +resting-place? What spectre hurried them to the leap? These +things, too, are my concern, the river says. + +Life is very grim in London: it is not painted in the fair, +glowing colours of grass and sky and trees, and shining streams +that bring peace. It is drawn in hard black and white; but the +voice of its dark waters must be heard all the same. + +* * * * * + +I would not leave my rivers in the shadow. After all, this life is +only a prelude, a beginning: we pass on to where "the rivers and +streams make glad the city of God." But if we will not listen here +how shall we understand hereafter. + + + +Spring + + + +Hark how the merry daffodils, +Fling golden music to the hills! +And how the hills send echoing down, +Through wind-swept turf and moorland brown, +The murmurs of a thousand rills +That mock the song-birds' liquid trills! +The hedge released from Winter's frown +Shews jewelled branch and willow crown; +While all the earth with pleasure trills, +And 'dances with the daffodils.' + +Out, out, ye flowers! Up and shout! +Staid Winter's passed and Spring's about +To lead your ranks in joyous rout; +To string the hawthorn's milky pearls, +And gild the grass with celandine; +To dress the catkins' tasselled curls, +To twist the tendrils of the vine. +She wakes the wind-flower from her sleep, +And lights the woods with April's moon; +The violets lift their heads to peep, +The daisies brave the sun at noon. + +The gentle wind from out the west +Toys with the lilac pretty maids; +Ruffles the meadow's verdant-vest, +And rings the bluebells in the glades; +The ash-buds change their sombre suit, +The orchards blossom white and red - +Promise of Autumn's riper fruit, +When Spring's voluptuousness has fled. +Awake! awake, O throstle sweet! +And haste with all your choir to greet +This Queen who comes with wakening feet. + +Persephone with grateful eyes +Salutes the Sun--'tis Paradise: +Then hastens down the dewy meads, +Past where the herd contented feeds, +Past where the furrows hide the grain, +For harvesting of sun and rain; +To where Demeter patient stands +With longing lips and outstretched hands, +Until the dawning of one face +Across the void of time and space +Shall bring again her day of grace. +Rejoice, O Earth! Rejoice and sing! +This is the promise of the Spring, +And this the world's remembering. + + + +A Lark's Song + + + +Sweet, sweet! +I rise to greet +The sapphire sky +The air slips by +On either side +As up I ride +On mounting wing, +And sing and sing - +Then reach my bliss, +The sun's great kiss; +And poise a space +To see his face, +Sweet, sweet, +In radiant grace, +Ah, sweet! ah, sweet! + +Sweet, sweet! +Beneath my feet +My nestlings call: +And down I fall +Unerring, true, +Through heaven's blue; +And haste to fill +Each noisy bill. +My brooding breast +Stills their unrest. +Sweet, sweet, +Their quick hearts beat, +Safe in the nest: +Ah, sweet, sweet, sweet! +Ah, sweet! + +Sweet, sweet +The calling sky +That bids me fly +Up--up--on high. +Sweet, sweet +The claiming earth; +It holds my nest +And draws me down +To where Love's crown +Of priceless worth +Awaits my breast. +Sweet, sweet! +Ah, this is best +And this most meet, +Sweet, sweet! ah, sweet! + + + +'Luvly Miss' + + + +Nobody thought of consequences. There was a lighted paraffin lamp +on the table and nothing else handy. Mrs Brown's head presented a +tempting mark, and of course Mr Brown's lengthy stay at 'The Three +Fingers' had something to do with it; but nobody thought of Miss +Brown, aged four, who was playing happily on the floor, unruffled +by the storm to which she was so well accustomed. + +Mrs Brown ducked; there was a smash, a scream, and poor little Miss +Brown was in a blaze. The shock sobered the father and silenced +the mother. Miss Brown was extinguished with the aid of a table- +cover, much water, and many neighbours; but she was horribly burnt +all over, except her face. + +* * * * * + +I made Miss Brown's acquaintance a few days later. She was lying +on a bed made up on two chairs, and was covered with cotton wool. +She had scarcely any pain, and could not move at all; and the small +face that peered out of what she called her "pitty warm snow" was +wan and drawn and had a far-away look in the dark eyes. + +Miss Brown possessed one treasure, her 'luvly miss.' I suppose I +must call it a doll, though in what its claim to the title +consisted I dared not ask; Miss Brown would have deeply resented +the enquiry. It was a very large potato with a large and a small +bulge. Into the large bulge were inserted three pieces of fire- +wood, the body and arms of 'luvly miss'; legs she had none. + +How Miss Brown came by this treasure I never heard. She had an +impression that it "flied froo the winder"--I fancy Mr Brown had a +hand in the manufacture in one of his lucid moments; but it was a +treasure indeed and the joy of Miss Brown's life. She held long +conversations with 'luvly miss' on all familiar subjects; and +apparently obtained much strange and rare information from her. +For example, Miss Brown and 'luvly miss' in some previous stage of +their existence had inhabited a large chimney-pot together, "where +it was always so warm and a bootie 'mell of cookin'.'" Also she +had a rooted belief that one day she and 'luvly miss' would be +"hangels wiv' black weils and basticks." This puzzled me for some +time, until I discovered it to be an allusion to the good deaconess +who attended her, and whom Mrs Brown in gratitude designated by +this title. + +Alas for little Miss Brown and her 'luvly miss'! their respective +ends were drawing near. I went in one Friday, a week or so after +the accident, and found Mrs Brown in tears and despair, and Miss +Brown with a look of anguish on her poor little pinched face that +was bad to see. 'Luvly Miss' was no more. + +It was Mr Brown again; or, to trace back the links of occasion, it +was the action of 'The Three Fingers' on Mr Brown's frail +constitution. He had come in late, seen 'luvly miss' on the table, +and, with his usual heedlessness of consequence, had chucked her +into the dying embers where--alas that I should have to say it!-- +she slowly baked. Little Miss Brown, when the miserable truth was +broken to her, neither wept nor remonstrated; she lay quite still +with a look of utter forsaken wretchedness on her tiny white face, +and moaned very softly for 'luvly miss.' + +I came face to face with this state of things and I confess it +staggered me. I knew Miss Brown too well to hope that any pink- +and-white darling from the toy-shop could replace 'luvly miss,' or +that she could be persuaded to admit even a very image of the dear +departed into her affections. Then, too, the doctor said Miss +Brown had but a few days at the most, perhaps only hours, to live; +and comforted she must be. + +All at once I had an inspiration, and never in my life have I +welcomed one more. I knelt down by little Miss Brown and told her +the story of the Phoenix. I had not reckoned in vain upon her +imagination: would I "yerely and twooly bwing" her "werry own +luvly miss out of the ashes?" I lied cheerfully and hastened away +to the dust-bin, accompanied by Mrs Brown. + +In a few minutes we returned with a pail of ashes, the ashes, of +course, of 'luvly miss' mingled with those of the cruel fire which +had consumed her. I danced solemnly round them, murmured +mysterious words, parted the ashes, and revealed the form of 'luvly +miss.' Love's eyes were not sharp to mark a change, and little +Miss Brown's misplaced faith in me was strong. Never shall I +forget the scream of joy which greeted the restored treasure, or +the relief with which I saw an expression of peace settle once more +on Miss Brown's face. + +I saw them again next day. Little Miss Brown was asleep in her +last little bed, still wrapped in the "pitty warm snow," and 'luvly +miss' lay beside her. + + + + +Four Stories Told to Children + + + + +The Story of the Dreadful Griffin. + + + +My Dear Children,--I am going to tell you a really breathless story +for your holiday treat. It will have to begin with the moral, +because everyone will be too much exhausted to read one at the end, +and as the moral is the only part that really matters, it is +important to come to it quite fresh. + +We will, therefore, endeavour to learn from this story:- + + +If we fly at all, to fly HIGH. +To be extremely polite. +To be kind and grateful to cats and all other animals. + + +All the trouble arose one day when the Princess (there is always a +Princess in a fairy-tale, you know) was playing in the garden with +her ball. She threw it up in the air much higher than usual and it +never came down again. There was an awful shriek, like ten +thousand steam-engines; all the ladies-in-waiting fainted in a row, +the inhabitants of the place went stone-deaf, and the Captain of +the Guard, who was in attendance with a company of his troops, +seized the Princess, put her on his horse, galloped away followed +by his soldiers to a castle on the top of a hill, deposited the +Princess in the highest room, and then and only then, told her what +had happened. + +"Miss," he said, for he was so upset he forgot Court etiquette, +"Miss, your ball must have hit the Dreadful Griffin in the eye (I +noticed he was taking a little fly in the neighbourhood), and that +was the reason of the awful shriek. Well, Miss, the Dreadful +Griffin never was known to forgive anybody anything, so I snatched +you up quick before he could get at you and brought you to the +Castle of the White Cats. There are seventeen of these animals +sitting outside the door and twenty-seven more standing in the +courtyard, so you're as safe as safe can be, for the Dreadful +Griffin can't look at a white cat without getting the ague and then +he shakes so a mouse wouldn't be afraid of him. And now, Miss, I +must go back to your Royal Pa, so I will wish you good-morning." + +Having made this long speech the Captain suddenly remembered the +Court etiquette, became very hot and red, went out of the room +backwards, and instantly fell over the seventeen cats who all swore +at him, which so confused the poor man that he rolled down the +stairs and out into the court where the twenty-seven cats were +having rations of mouse-pie served out to them; and the Captain +rolled into the middle of the pie, scalded himself badly with the +gravy, and was thankful to jump on his horse and ride away with his +soldiers to report matters to the King. + +The King was so pleased with his promptitude that he made him the +General of the Flying Squadron, which only fights in the air, and +conferred on him the medal of the Society for the Suppression of +Superfluous Salamanders, whereat the Captain was overjoyed. + +But this is a digression, and I only told you because I wanted you +to see that virtue is always rewarded. + +Now for the poor Princess. + +Well, she cried a little, of course, but the cats brought her some +mouse-pie, which she found very good, and she was soon quite happy +playing with some of the kittens and nearly forgot all about the +Dreadful Griffin; but he did not forget about HER, oh dear no! He +flew after the Captain when he galloped away with the Princess, but +when he saw the White Cats he shook with ague so fearfully that his +teeth rolled about in his mouth like billiard balls and he had to +go and get a new set before he could eat his dinner. Well, he was +in a perfect fury, and how to get at the Princess he did not know. +He swallowed several buckets of hot brimstone, rolled his head in a +red flannel petticoat, put his tail in a hot sand-bag, and went to +bed hoping to cure the ague, which he did completely, so that he +was quite well next day and more anxious to eat the Princess than +ever. + +Now next door to the Dreadful Griffin (that is, a hundred miles +away) there lived a Wicked Witch, and he went to consult her as to +how he might get at the Princess. When the Wicked Witch heard what +a sad effect White Cats had on the Griffin's constitution she said +that she would have expected a Griffin of his coils to have had +more sense. + +"Any slow-worm knows," said the Wicked Witch, "that cats love mice +better than Princesses; therefore get a large sack of fat mice, let +them loose a little way from the castle, and when the cats see them +they will run after them, and you can eat the Princess." + +The Dreadful Griffin was so pleased with the Wicked Witch that he +presented her with a pair of fire-bricks and a hot-water tin, and +then flew away to the Purveyor of Mice, who lived in a town about +seventy miles away. He bought twelve hundred dozen fat mice of the +best quality, all the Purveyor had in stock that were home-grown, +and flew on with them to the castle. When he was a little way off +he let the mice out, expecting all the cats to arrive at once; but +not a cat appeared. They HEARD mice and they SMELT mice, but not a +cat moved, for they were on their honour; so they kept guard and +licked their lips sadly. When the Griffin saw the last of the +twelve hundred dozen mice disappearing down the road with never a +cat after them, he was in a tremendous temper and flew away to the +house of the Wicked Witch, only stopping to pick up a steam engine +which he dropped through her roof, and then went home to bed. Next +day he remembered a friend of his called the Grumpy Giant, who +lived six doors away, that is, about a thousand miles, so he flew +to ask his advice. When the Giant heard his story, he said in the +gruffest voice you ever heard, "Mice is common, try sparrers" (by +which you can see that he was quite an uneducated person), and then +he turned over and went to sleep. + +The Dreadful Griffin at once flew away to the Sparrow Preserves, +bought eleven thousand, and then proceeded to let them fly close to +the castle. Still not a cat moved. As the cats' copy-book well +says, "Honour is dearer to cats than mice or birds," and all the +kittens write this in round-hand as soon as they can do lessons at +all, and never forget it. + +Well, I really dare not describe the state of mind the Griffin was +in; but he made the air so hot that all the people put on their +thinnest clothes, although it was the middle of winter. He flew +home puffing and snorting, and on the way he passed the house of +the Amiable Answerer. He went in and told his story, and his voice +shook with rage. The Amiable Answerer gave him a penny pink ice to +cool him down, and then said gently:- + +"I think, dear Mr Griffin, that green spectacles would meet your +case. Then the cats which are now white would appear to you green +and . . . " + +But the Griffin was already half-way to a Watchmaker's where they +sold glasses. He burst into the shop, frightened the watchmaker so +that he fell into the works of the watch he was mending and could +only be got out with the greatest difficulty, seized twelve pairs +of green spectacles, put them on all at once and flew towards the +castle. + +Now the Dreadful Griffin was one of those creatures who do not stop +to think, consequently he came to grief. White cats gave him the +ague, but green dogs made him cough most fearfully; and a little +way out of the town he met thirteen white poodles taking a walk, +who of course all looked bright green to the Dreadful Griffin. He +coughed so fearfully that all the twelve pairs of spectacles fell +off his nose and were smashed to bits, and his plan was spoilt once +more. + +No, I am not going to tell you what the Dreadful Griffin said and +did then, it is too terrible to speak of, but he had to keep in bed +for a week, and drink hot tar, and have his chest ironed with a +steam roller, and his nose greased with seven pounds of tallow +candles; but all his misfortunes did not cure him of wanting to eat +the Princess. When his cough was better, he went for a walk in the +wood near which he lived, to think out a new plan. Suddenly he +heard something croaking, and saw the Fat Frog sitting under a +tree. Now the Dreadful Griffin was so low in his mind that he +wanted to tell someone his troubles, so he told the Fat Frog. + +"Don't come near me," said the Fat Frog when he had finished, "for +I hate heat. If you look under the fifth tree from the end of the +wood you'll find a thin packet. Put it in sixteen gallons of water +and pour it over the cats, only mind you shut your eyes first, and +for goodness sake don't come into this wood any more, you dry up +the moisture." + +The Griffin quite forgot to thank the Fat Frog, he was a Griffin of +NO manners, but he didn't forget to take the packet. It was +labelled 'Reckitt's,' and when he put it in the water all the water +turned bright blue. Then he took the pail in his claw, flew to the +castle, shut his eyes and poured some of the contents of the pail +over the cats in the courtyard. + +When he opened his eyes there were twenty-seven bright blue, damp, +depressed cats; and he passed them without any difficulty. He shut +his eyes, wriggled up the stairs, poured the remaining mixture over +the seventeen cats, who all turned as blue as the rest, and then he +burst open the door of the Princess's room. Fortunately there was +a kind Fairy flying over the castle at that very moment, who, +seeing what was happening, changed the Princess into a flea so that +the Dreadful Griffin couldn't see her anywhere. + +No, if I couldn't tell you before, I certainly must not attempt now +to describe the Griffin's behaviour when he found the Princess thus +snatched from his jaws. He went grunting and bellowing and +screaming along; and just as he was stopping to take breath he +heard someone roaring with laughter, and saw a little yellow man +sitting on the top bough of a tree. + +"Are you laughing at ME?" said the Dreadful Griffin (he was so +angry that he was quite polite). And the little man said quite as +politely that he certainly WAS. + +"Why?" said the Dreadful Griffin, still fearfully polite. + +"Because you're such a green Griffin," said the yellow man; and he +screamed with laughter again--"I know all about it, you've blued +the cats and now the Princess has greened you. She's turned into a +flea, and you still want to eat her, and it never occurred to you, +you green old grampus of a Griffin, that fleas like CATS. I +suppose the Princess flea wouldn't jump on to a tabby kitten, and +you couldn't swallow the kitten--oh dear, no--of course not . . . +." + +But the Griffin was gone. He went to the Zoo, found a tabby +kitten, though they are rare in that country, and flew back with it +to the Princess's room. + +He waited half an hour and then swallowed the kitten at one gulp; +but he instantly burst in four pieces, for the fluffy kitten +tickled his digestive organs so much that they cracked his sides +and he died; and the flea and the kitten came out quite unhurt, +only a little damp. + +Then a wonderful thing happened. The tabby kitten changed into the +little yellow man who had laughed at the Griffin. He grew, and +grew, and in a few minutes he was a handsome prince. His name was +Prince Orange Plushikins. One day a cruel witch whom he had +offended had changed him into an ugly yellow man, and had sworn +that he should only regain his shape if he was eaten by a Griffin +when under the form of a tabby kitten; which you know was precisely +what happened. Well, Prince Orange Plushikins at once asked the +Princess flea to marry him, and the minute the flea said "Yes," the +Princess reappeared. She and the Prince were married next morning; +and all the cats went to the steam laundry and were washed and +bleached and had their tails crimped and their whiskers starched; +and they danced at the wedding, and everybody lived happily ever +after. + + + +The Discontented Daffodils. + + + +They had the very loveliest home you can imagine, with beautiful +soft moss and grass to grow in, trees to form a cosy shelter from +the wind, and a dear little babbling stream to water them. + +There were lots of daffodils in this pretty place, and nobody ever +discovered the nook to gather them. They rejoiced in the spring +sunshine and gentle breezes, the greeting of the birds, and the +musical chatter of the brook; then when their brief visit to the +upper world was over they nestled happily down in their warm mossy +beds and slept till April came again to wake them. + +A little apart from the rest were four daffodils growing at the +root of a gnarled oak tree, and one fine sunshiny morning three of +them took it into their silly little heads that they were dull, the +place was dull, the other daffodils were dull, and they wanted a +change. + +It was mainly the fault of the cuckoo, for he was a grumbling, +mischief-making bird and used to spend a good deal of time talking +to the daffodils. This particular spring he had taken up his abode +in the oak tree, and was fond of talking of all the grand things he +had seen, and a great many he had not seen, for the cuckoo is a +bird of fine imagination; and at last, as I have already said, +three of the daffodils made up their minds that to be a flower and +live in a wood was a very dreadful thing, and not to be put up with +any longer. + +Now the cuckoo had told many strange tales about creatures with two +legs and beautiful coloured leaves which grew in an odd way, and +feathers only on their heads. They could not fly, but they could +run about from place to place, and dance and sing; and at last the +daffodils decided that they wished to be like these curious +creatures, which the cuckoo called GIRLS. + +Then there were sad times in that sweet little nook under the oak +tree. + +The naughty daffodils cried and quarrelled and bewailed their lot +all day long, till they made themselves and everybody else +extremely wretched. Their little sister shook her head at them, +and scolded and said that for her part she was not meant to have +legs; but it was all no use, the daffodils would not be quiet. + +One day the Fairy Visitor who looked after the flowers in that part +heard the silly blossoms crying, and stopped to ask what was the +matter. When she heard the story she told them they were very +foolish and discontented, and that the cuckoo was a most +mischievous bird and liked to get people into trouble; but the +daffodils would not listen. So knowing there is nothing so likely +to cure silly flower as to give them their own silly way, she said- +-"Very well, my dears, you want to be girls, and girls you shall +be." + +With that she waved her wand over the three daffodils and in a +twinkle they were gone; in their places stood three tall pretty +maidens dressed in soft yellow silk frocks with green stockings and +shoes. For a minute they were too much astonished to speak, then +clapping their hands they laughed and skipped for joy, and wanted +to kiss the old fairy because they were so pleased at getting their +own way; but the fairy would not look at them, and stooped over the +little flower now growing all alone, saying kindly:- + +"Well, little one, don't you want to be a pretty maiden, too?" + +But the daffodil shook her head with great determination:- + +"I don't want legs and I won't have legs. I was meant to be a +flower and a flower I will be, but if you could keep that meddling, +chattering cuckoo away from this tree for a time I should be much +obliged." + +And the fairy laughed and promised. + +Meanwhile the three pretty maidens had set of hand in hand to seek +their fortunes. + +They went singing and dancing over the meadows in the soft +afternoon sunshine, and thought how wise and clever they were to be +girls instead of little unnoticed flowers growing in a wood. + +Presently they came to a house and stopped to ask whether they +could have a lodging for the night. There was no difficulty about +it, for that is a happy country where there is no money and +everything belongs to everybody, so the people of the house--an old +man and woman--were delighted to see the beautiful maidens and made +them heartily welcome, and the daffodils went to bed that night +very happy and quite content with the result of their experiment. +When they came to undress, however, they received a severe shock. + +They were girls, real proper girls, they could chatter and eat and +sleep, for the fairy was not one to do things by halves; but when +they pulled off the dainty green shoes and stockings, they +discovered that although they had the prettiest little legs and +feet and toes in the world, they were quite green, the colour of +daffodil leaves. + +There wasn't anything said about a "dear, darling, kind old fairy" +then, I can assure you. + +The first daffodil said she was a wicked old witch. The second +said she was a horrible old woman; and the third said she knew the +fairy meant to pay them out, and she would like to scratch her. +Then they all set to work arguing and quarrelling and crying like +silly babies, when suddenly a familiar "Cuck-oo!" sounded in their +ears, and they saw our old acquaintance perched on the window sill. + +He looked at the six little green feet, and his eyes twinkled; but +before he could speak the three angry maidens all began scolding +him at once, for they were delighted to have somebody fresh to find +fault with. + +The cuckoo, being in some respects a philosopher, did not attempt +to interrupt, but when they were quite exhausted he said he really +could not see any reason for their distress. No one would ever +wish to see their feet, and they could always wear stockings. He +added that he had great news, and had come on purpose to bring it. + +"The King of Silverland," he said, "is coming with all his court to +hold high revel close to this place and celebrate the coming of age +of his three sons. These princes were all born at once; and the +king has decided to divide his kingdom into three equal parts and +leave his sons to rule while he retires to his country place to +study science. Now these Silver princes desire to marry three +princesses, sisters born at once like themselves; but they are very +hard to find, and the king is advertising everywhere for triplets. +When I heard this I set off at once to tell you." + +The three maidens were so much interested and excited that they +forgot their troubles and began to sing. + +The cuckoo was pleased with his success, but told them they must go +to bed and to sleep, and he would fetch them in the morning to show +them the way to the King of Silverland's court. + +Next morning, although he arrived quite early, the maidens were up +and ready for him, looking very pretty in their yellow frocks. The +kind people of the house were quite sorry to part with their guests +and begged them to come again, and the daffodil maidens set off in +high spirits, following the cuckoo as he flew slowly ahead across +the sunlit meadows. About noon they came in sight of the king's +court. The gorgeous tents were of cloth of silver fastened with +silver ropes; fountains were playing in the open spaces, and flags +flying everywhere. The daffodils attracted a great deal of +attention as they made their way, blushing and a little frightened, +through the crowds of soldiers, court ladies and attendants. At +the door of the largest and most gorgeous tent stood three +beautiful princes dressed in silver. + +When they saw the maidens approaching, hand in hand, they gave a +cry of joy and ran forward to greet them. + +"Dear beautiful princesses," they cried, "welcome to our court! +May we ask your names and the country you come from?" + +The cuckoo, perched on a tent-pole hard by, answered for them. +"These are the Princesses Daffodil, daughters of the great King of +Goldenland. They have come very many days' journey to be present +at your revels." + +Think of the cuckoo telling such a dreadful story and those naughty +daffodils not contradicting him! + +When the princes heard the cuckoo's words they were almost beside +themselves with joy, for, as it happened, there was a real King of +Goldenland (but the cuckoo did not know it), and he had three +daughters of the same age whom the Silver princes were anxious to +see. They dropped on one knee, kissed the maidens' hands very +prettily, and then led them, blushing and delighted, into the royal +tent. + +The king was out, but the queen received the daffodils very +graciously. + +"Triplet," she said significantly, and it was the princes' turn to +blush. + +Then the young people visited all the beautiful tents, and the +great ballroom where there was to be a ball that night, and the +princes whispered to the maidens that they would dance with no one +else. When they had tasted the cowslip wine from the fountains and +eaten lots of wonderful sweets the daffodils declared they were +quite tired; so the princes put them into hammocks with little +monkeys to swing them, and the happy hours wore on until the +evening. + +The maidens had had a beautiful tent assigned to them by the queen, +and they found lovely dresses of cloth of gold with shoes and +stockings to match, all ready for them. They looked so beautiful +when they were dressed that the colour of their feet did not seem +to matter at all. + +All that night they danced with the princes, and everyone was +charmed with their beauty and grace, especially the king, who had +not received a single answer to his advertisement. At the great +banquet which followed the ball the betrothal of the Silver princes +to the Golden princesses was solemnly announced, and their health +drunk amid great rejoicing. + +The dawn was red in the east before the festivities were over, and +the daffodils went to bed happier than they had ever been before, +happier than they ever would be again. A new and awful trouble of +which they had never dreamt was about to befall them. + +When the princes came to meet their betrothed next morning the +maidens noticed that, although very affectionate, they were +downcast and somewhat silent. At last, after a great deal of +questioning, the reason came out. The king and queen had both had +exactly the same curious dream, and this strange occurrence had +upset their majesties very much. They both dreamt that one of the +princesses, as they believed them to be, had six toes on each foot; +and as no monstrosity could ever share the throne of Silverland +they demanded to see the princesses' little feet with their own +eyes, so as to be quite sure they all had only the right number of +toes. + +When the princes with many blushes broke this news to their lady- +loves, they each gave a short loud scream and fainted. + +Their lovers, of course, put this down to extreme modesty, and were +much affected by such proper conduct; but when they succeeded in +restoring them to consciousness they were not a little disturbed to +find that the maidens positively refused to show their feet. + +Imagine the grief of the poor princes! The king had said quite +positively that not one of the princes should marry till he, the +queen, and the councillors of the kingdom, had seen the bride's +feet; and the maidens now declared that they would never never show +them. + +Matters were in this awkward state when the cuckoo appeared on the +scene. He had as usual contrived to find out what was going on, +and now announced that he had a private message for the Golden +princesses, if they would take him to their tent. + +When they were alone the daffodils began to cry their eyes out, and +the cuckoo to try and comfort them. + +"Green feet," he said, "are very uncommon and would no doubt be +welcomed as a great rarity." + +But the maidens sobbed on. + +"The princes love you so much they will think your little feet the +most beautiful colour in the world." + +But they would not listen. + +"I heard the king and queen say that green was their favourite +colour," he remarked next. + +This was pure invention on the cuckoo's part, but the daffodils +were somewhat cheered, and after a great deal of talking the cuckoo +persuaded them to give in and consent to show their feet, as they +could not possibly marry the princes without. Besides, perhaps +when the king found their toes were all right he would think the +colour rather ornamental than otherwise. So the princes were told +to their great joy that the princesses had consented to show their +feet; and the king and queen, on being informed, summoned a Cabinet +Council for the next morning so that their ministers might be +present at the counting of the princesses' toes. + +Meantime the real Goldenland princesses had arrived near the camp; +but as they and their suite were very tired they resolved not to +visit the Silver king till the next day, and commanded that no one +should mention their arrival. + +That night the daffodils never slept, for fear once more took +possession of them. They scrubbed their feet, but the fairy's dye +would not come off; then they scraped them, but that hurt very much +and did no good. Finally they chalked them, but that was no use at +all; so they had to give it up in despair, and hope for the best. + +Next morning two of the court ushers came to escort them to the +Cabinet Council. Poor daffodils! Their eyes were red with +weeping, and they could scarcely stand for terror when they entered +the tent where the examination was to take place. + +In the middle on a raised dais sat the king and queen, on their +right stood the three princes, on their left the councillors in +their robes of state. Three chairs were placed for the maidens, +and they were politely but firmly requested to take off their shoes +and stockings. + +Blushing crimson the daffodils slowly and unwillingly took off +their shoes. Then they cried a little and said they really truly +couldn't, but it was no use, and the stockings had to follow, and +six little green feet were exposed to view. + +"They wear two pairs, I see," said the queen, who was a little +short-sighted. "Very sensible, I'm sure, in this damp place. Take +off the other pair, my dears." + +But the daffodils only hung their heads and wept. + +Then one of the councillors cried out, in a horrified tone--"Their +feet are green! They are monstrosities!" and at that very moment +heralds were heard outside announcing the arrival of the Princesses +of Goldenland. + +Now the king was a shrewd old gentleman, and the true state of +affairs suddenly flashed upon him. "They are impostors!" he cried, +rising to his feet, "turn the deceitful minxes out." + +At that the maidens rose and fled. They never stopped for shoes or +stockings, but ran like hunted hares out of the tent across the +fields; and when the people saw their little green feet a great +shout of laughter went up, in which the king and the princes +joined. As for the daffodils, they ran and ran and ran, not daring +even to look behind them, till they suddenly stopped for want of +breath; and where do you think they were? Why in their old home +under the oak tree. Most of the daffodils had gone to sleep, but a +few were left, and among them their little sister. At her side +stood the fairy. + +"Well, my dears, do you like being girls?" and there was a twinkle +in her eye as she spoke. + +But the daffodils were sobbing too bitterly to answer, and the +fairy had a kind heart and did not press the question. "Would you +be content to be daffodils again?" she asked, and smiled at them +sweetly. + +They murmured a thankful "Yes"; the fairy waved her wand, and in a +trice the maidens were gone and there were three more flowers, very +pale faded ones, growing under the gnarled oak tree. Poor +discontented daffodils! They had to pay a heavy price for their +folly. + +The cuckoo came back time after time, and never wearied of teasing +them; and their little sister made many very true but disagreeable +remarks on the extreme silliness of being discontented with one's +surroundings. + +Perhaps by next spring things may be better; but of this you may be +quite sure, no amount of cuckoos will ever persuade the flowers in +that nook to be anything but what nature intended them to be--sweet +little daffodils. + + + +The Fairy Fluffikins + + + +The Fairy Fluffikins lived in a warm woolly nest in a hole down an +old oak tree. She was the sweetest, funniest little fairy you ever +saw. She wore a little, soft, fluffy brown dress, and on her head +a little red woolly cap; she had soft red hair and the brightest, +naughtiest, merriest, sharpest brown eyes imaginable. + +What a life she led the animals! Fairy Fluffikins was a sad tease; +she would creep into the nests where the fat baby dormice were +asleep in bed while Mamma dormouse nodded over her knitting and +Papa smoked his little acorn pipe; and she would tickle the babies +till they screamed with laughter and nearly rolled out of bed, and +Mamma scolded, and Papa said in a gruff voice--"What a plague you +are, you little dors; go to sleep this minute or I will fetch my +big stick." + +And then the babies would shake, for they were afraid of the big +stick; and naughty Fairy Fluffikins would dance off to find some +fresh piece of mischief. + +One night she had fine fun. She found a little dead mouse in a +field; and at first she was sorry for the mouse, and thought she +would bury it and plant a daisy on its grave; but then an idea +struck her. She hunted about till she found a piece of long, +strong grass, and then she took the little mouse, tied the piece of +grass round its tail, and ran away with it to the big tree where +the Ancient Owl lived. There was a little hole at the bottom of +the tree and into it Fairy Fluffikins crept, leaving the mouse +outside in the moonlight. Presently she heard a gruff voice in the +tree saying - + +"I smell mouse, I smell mouse." Then there was a swoop of wings, +and Fairy Fluffikins promptly drew the mouse into the little hole +and stuffed its tail into her mouth so that she might not be heard +laughing; and the gruff voice said angrily - + +"Where's that mouse gone? I smelt mouse, I know I smelt mouse!" + +She grew tired of this game after a few times, so she left the +mouse in the hole and crept away to a new one. She really was a +naughty fairy. She blew on the buttercups so that they thought the +morning breeze had come to wake them up, and opened their cups in a +great hurry. She buzzed outside the clover and made it talk in its +sleep, so that it said in a cross, sleepy voice--"Go away, you +stupid busy bee, and don't wake me up in the middle of the night." + +She pulled the tail of the nightingale who was singing to his lady- +love in the hawthorn bush, and he lost his place in his song and +nearly tumbled over backwards into the garden. Then to her joy she +met an elderly, domestic puss taking an evening walk with a view to +field-mice. + +Here was sport. Fluffikins hid in the grass and squeaked; and when +the elderly cat came tearing up she pulled his whiskers and flew +away (I forgot to tell you that she had little, soft wings), and +the elderly cat jumped and said - + +"Mouse-traps and mince-meat! Fancy a cat of my age and experience +taking a bat for a mouse! But by my claws I heard a mouse's +squeak." + +Fairy Fluffikins often met the poor elderly cat, and always led him +some dreadful dance, now and then taking a ride on his back into +the bargain, till he thought he must have got the nightmare. + +One day Fairy Fluffikins was well paid out for some of her +naughtiness. She was flying away from a tree where she had just +wrapped a sleeping bat's head up in a large cobweb, when she heard +the sweep of wings, felt a sharp nip--and in less time than it +takes to tell found herself in the nest of the Ancient Owl. + +"My wig!" said the Ancient Owl, much surprised, "I thought you were +a bat." And he called his wife and three children to look. + +Now when Fairy Fluffikins saw five pairs of large round eyes +blinking and staring at her she lost her head and cried out-- +"Please, please, Mr Ancient Owl, don't be angry with me and I will +never play tricks with mice any more," and so told the Ancient Owl +what he had never even suspected before. + +Then the Ancient Owl was MOST DREADFULLY ANGRY and read Fairy +Fluffikins a long sermon about the wickedness of deceiving Ancient +Owls. The sermon took two hours and a half; and when it was over +all the owls hooted at her and pecked her; and Fairy Fluffikins was +very glad indeed when at last Mrs Ancient Owl gave her a push and +said - + +"Go along, you impertinent brown minx," and she was able to go out +into the night. + +Even this sad adventure did not cure Fairy Fluffikins of getting +into mischief--although she never teased the owls any more, you may +be sure of that--she took to tormenting the squirrels instead. She +used to find their stores of nuts and carry them away and fill the +holes with pebbles; and this, when you are a hard-working squirrel +with a large family to support, is very trying to the temper. Then +she would tie acorns to their tails; and she would clap her hands +to frighten them, and pull the baby-squirrels' ears; till at last +they offered a reward to anyone who could catch Fairy Fluffikins +and bring her to be punished. + +No one caught Fairy Fluffikins; but she caught herself, as you +shall hear. + +She was poking about round a haystack one night, trying to find +something naughty to do, when she came upon a sweet little house +with pretty wire walls and a wooden door standing invitingly open. +In hopped Fluffikins, thinking she was going to have some new kind +of fun. There was a little white thing dangling from the roof, and +she laid hold of it. Immediately there was a bang; the wooden door +slammed; and Fluffikins was caught. + +How she cried and stamped and pushed at the door, and promised to +be a good fairy and a great many other things! But all to no +purpose: the door was tight shut, and Fluffikins was not like some +fortunate fairies who can get out of anywhere. + +There she remained, and in the morning one of the labourers found +her, and, thinking she was some kind of dormouse, he carried her +home to his little girl; and if you call on Mary Ann Smith you will +see Fairy Fluffikins there still in a little cage. They give her +nuts and cheese and bread, and all the things she doesn't like, and +there is no one to tease and no mischief to get into; so if there +is a miserable little Fairy anywhere it is Fairy Fluffikins, and +I'm not sure it doesn't serve her quite right. + + + +The Story of the Tinkle-Tinkle. + + + +Once upon a time there lived a Tinkle-Tinkle. I cannot tell you +what he was like, because no man knows, not even the Tinkle-Tinkle +himself. Sometimes he lived on the ground, sometimes in a tree, +sometimes in the water, sometimes in a cave; and I can't tell you +what he lived on, for no man knows, not even the Tinkle-Tinkle +himself. + +One day the Tinkle-Tinkle was going through a wood, when he heard a +piteous weeping. He stopped, for he was a kindly Tinkle-Tinkle, +and found two small dormice sobbing under a tree because they had +been cruelly deserted by their parents. He wiped their eyes +tenderly and took them to his cave home; but I cannot tell you how +he went, for no man knows, not even the Tinkle-Tinkle. However, +when he got there he put the dormice to bed in his grandmother's +boots, for which he had never found any use before, and fed them on +periwinkles and tea, and was very kind to them; and when they grew +older he bought them caps and aprons, and they became the Tinkle- +Tinkle's housemaid and parlourmaid. + +Now I must tell you that it was a great grief to the Tinkle-Tinkle +not to know what he was, or how he lived, or where he was going to; +and it often made him depressed, but he always concealed it from +the dormice, appearing a most cheerful and contented creature. + +One day he found a poor green bird lying on the ground with its leg +broken. Fortunately Tinkle-Tinkle had his grandmother's black silk +reticule with him which had never been of any service to him +before. He gently placed the green bird in the bottom and carried +it to the cave. + +The dormice laid the poor sufferer on a soft bed and put the broken +leg up carefully in plaster of Paris; and they nursed the green +bird with the greatest attention so that it was soon well enough to +hop about on crutches; and it sang so beautifully that all the +inhabitants round gave it money, and its fame spread abroad; but it +was so tenderly attached to the Tinkle-Tinkle and the dormice that +it would not leave them. + +Now it happened on a certain evening that the Tinkle-Tinkle was +travelling over the sea, when suddenly in the depths he caught +sight of a most beautiful Creature. It was all sorts of colours-- +white, rosy pink, and deep crimson, and pale blue fading into white +and gold. It had no face but a bright light; and it had quantities +of beautiful iridescent wings, like the rainbow; and the most +lovely voice you ever heard, like the sighing of the waves in the +hollow of the sea. + +The Tinkle-Tinkle was so astonished and entranced that he stopped, +and the beautiful Creature cried out to him, and its voice made +Tinkle-Tinkle remember a dream he had once had of sunshine, and +forest trees, and the song of birds; and the Creature said, "Ah, +Tinkle-Tinkle! you are lonely and perplexed and sad, and you do not +know whence you came nor why you are here; but the dormice know and +the green bird knows, and I know, and we are glad for your being. +Go on, Tinkle-Tinkle, and do not sorrow, for some day you shall +come back to me, and I will wrap you in my wings and take you where +you belong, and then you will understand." + +When the Tinkle-Tinkle heard this he was glad with a new strange +gladness, and he went back to his cave; but not alone, for the +spirit of hope went with him. + +The Tinkle-Tinkle had one gift--he could sing--how, no man knew, +not even the Tinkle-Tinkle himself; and this is how he discovered +his gift. + +One day in a secluded spot in the forest he found a dying stag, and +the Tinkle-Tinkle was moved with great compassion and yet could do +nothing. + +The great stag's head drooped lower and lower till even the sun +melted in a mist of pity, and the trees sighed, and the breezes +hushed their voices. Then suddenly the Tinkle-Tinkle crept close +and began to sing, why or how he knew not. As he sang, the birds +and the stream were silenced and the breezes ceased, and the great +stag's breathing grew less and less laboured, and his eyes +brightened, and presently he rose slowly to his feet and paced away +to join the rest of the herd, and the Tinkle-Tinkle went with him. + +When the stag's companions heard the story, they wept for all that +had befallen their leader, but rejoiced also and blessed the +Tinkle-Tinkle; and he sang once more for them, and the Star-spirits +leaned out of their bright little windows to listen, and the night +was glad. + +Many were the adventures of the Tinkle-Tinkle, and countless the +creatures he cheered and helped, yet he never fancied himself any +use or knew why he was in the world. He brought home a poor old +crab without a claw, and the green bird and the dormice found a +hook and screwed it in, and the poor old crab used to carry parcels +for the neighbours; but he still lived with the Tinkle-Tinkle. + +Another time it was a snail with a broken shell; for him they built +a beautiful little house, and he made little rush brooms and sold +them to the passers-by; but he lived ever after close to the +Tinkle-Tinkle's front door. + +So it went on till all the Tinkle-Tinkle's homes were full of +strange occupants, and he began to feel very old and worn and +weary. Then he remembered the promise of the beautiful Creature, +and went slowly over the sea hoping the time had come for it to be +fulfilled, and it had. The beautiful Creature stretched out its +lovely rose and purple wings and wrapped the Tinkle-Tinkle in their +warm soft greatness, and bore him down and down through the depths +till they came to the Great Gate. At the beautiful Creature's +voice it swung slowly back, and they passed down the Blue Pathway, +which is all ice, cut and carved into lovely pinnacles and spires, +very blue with the blue of the summer sky and the southern seas. +The Tinkle-Tinkle could just see it from between the beautiful +Creature's wings, stretching away in the blue distance, and at the +end one star. + +Presently--and though the time had been one thousand years it had +not seemed long to the Tinkle-Tinkle--they came out into a +beautiful place that was nothing but light, and the beautiful +Creature set the Tinkle-Tinkle down; he looked around him and saw +many other Tinkle-Tinkles, and he knew them for what they were and +loved their beauty; and the Creature gently swept one of its purple +pinions across him, and the Tinkle-Tinkle took form. He had many, +many little soft, strong hands and many little white feet, and long +sweeping wings and a face which shone with something of the light +of the beautiful Creature; and the Tinkle-Tinkle saw and understood +and sang for joy. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE GREY BRETHREN *** + +This file should be named grybr10.txt or grybr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, grybr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, grybr10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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