Fables...................................................................................................................................................................1

AFTER the 32nd chapter of TREASURE ISLAND, two of the puppets strolled out to have a pipe before

"Goodmorning, Cap'n," said the first, with a mano'war salute, and a beaming countenance.

"Now, Cap'n Smollett," remonstrated Silver, "dooty is dooty, as I knows, and none better; but we're off dooty

"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

"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 seafaring man to another, what I want to know is, what's the

"Were you never taught your catechism?" said the Captain. "Don't you know there's such a thing as an

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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;

"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 inkbottle opening. To quarters!"

"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 halfshaved. 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."

"Fast, Mr. Spoker?" asked the Captain. "The expression is a strange one, for time (if you will think of it) is

"Sir," said the lieutenant, "I think it is scarcely worth while to embark in such a discussion when we shall all

"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 spiritroom, 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 bloodvessel 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."

"And yet to the philosophic eye, or whatever it is," replied the first lieutenant, "they may be said to have been

"I do not know if you always follow my thought, Mr. Spoker," returned the Captain gently. "But let us

"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 overshoes, 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

"I beg pardon, sir," said Mr. Spoker. "But what is precisely the difference between shaving in a sinking ship

"Or doing anything at all in any conceivable circumstances?" cried the Captain. "Perfectly conclusive; give

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

"Nothing could possibly be fairer," said the sick man. "The strong should be preferred in all cases, because

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

"Nothing can possibly be easier," returned the sick man; "the proper service of the strong is to help the

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.

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

"You have no right to be angry with me," said the devil. "I am only the devil, and it is my nature to do

"Not in the smallest," said the devil; "it would be useless cruelty to thrash a thing like me."

The next day they met again. Once more the lad was weeping. "Why do you weep now?" asked the man.

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:

"Tomorrow 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 watercart 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

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 selfsame watercart, 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

"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

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

"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

"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,

"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

"That is none of my business," said the physician; "but if you will go round the corner to the police office, I

"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

"Dear me," said the physician. "This is really amazing. Well, well; perhaps, if you had not been painted, you

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,

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

"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,

illconditioned, stinking brutes, not truly human for what is a man without a fetter? and you cannot be

After this talk, the child would never pass one of the unfettered on the road but what he spat at him and called

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

"That is only an old wives' tale," said the other. "It is only told to children. Scores of us come here among the

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 whitefaced 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.

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

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

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

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

"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

"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."

"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

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;

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

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

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

"Dear mother, it is not these that I have smitten," said Jack; "it was but the enchanter in their shape. And even

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

"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

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.

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.

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.

FOUR reformers met under a bramble bush. They were all agreed the world must be changed. "We must

"Do not let us get beyond practical politics," said the first. "The first thing is to reduce men to a common

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

"Did he so?" said the justice. "And pray how did he speak about your neighbours?"

"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

"You need not hurt me," said the book; "you will only get less for me second hand, and I did not write

"Let me tell you a fable," said the book. "There were two men wrecked upon a desert island; one of them

"That is true," said the reader. "Push it a little further for this once. And when they were all dead?"

ONCE upon a time there came to this earth a visitor from a neighbouring planet. And he was met at the place

First of all they came through a wood, and the stranger looked upon the trees. "Whom have we here?" said

"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?"

"That is only the wind among the leaves," said the philosopher. "I will explain to you the theory of winds: it

"I don't know about that," returned the stranger: and then, laying his hand upon a trunk: "I like these people,"

"They are not people at all," said the philosopher; and he explained what a cow is in scientific words which I

"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

"Well," said the stranger, "that is one way to live, no doubt. But I prefer the people with the green heads."

"They are the people of the greatest nation in the world," said the philosopher.

Two carthorses, a gelding and a mare, were brought to Samoa, and put in the same field with a saddlehorse

to run free on the island. They were rather afraid to go near him, for they saw he was a saddlehorse, and

supposed he would not speak to them. Now the saddlehorse 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

"I wonder at your impudence, speaking to persons of our quality!" cried the mare.

The saddlehorse went away by himself. "I was right," said he, "they are great chiefs."

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

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

"A body would think there was something in this," said the missionary. "But if these tales are true, I wonder

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

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

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.

"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 blueribbon 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

"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

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

"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 sealawyer

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;

IN the ancient days there went three men upon pilgrimage; one was a priest, and one was a virtuous person,

"We find the proofs of our religion in the works of nature," said he, and beat his breast.

"The peacock has a scrannel voice," said the priest, "as has been laid down always in our books. How

"Great is the right, and shall prevail!" cried the virtuous person. "There is loyalty in my soul; be sure, there is

"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

"Where are you now?" asked the virtuous person. "And yet this shakes not me! Great is the truth, and shall

"The devil fly away with that peacock!" said the priest; and he was downcast for a mile or two.

"Ah!" said the priest, "here are the true grounds of faith. The peacock was but an adminicle. This is the base

"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,

Now at this the Fakeer was so much incensed that his hand trembled; and, lo! in the midst of a miracle the

"The devil fly away with the Fakeer!" cried the priest. "I really do not see the good of going on with this

At last one came running, and told them all was lost: that the powers of darkness had besieged the Heavenly

"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?"

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

And they rode two hours more, and came to the sides of a black river that was wondrous deep.

And they rode all that day, and about the time of the sunsetting came to the side of a lake, where was a great

"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.

"She is a wonderful fine maid," said the first King, "and I like her manner of smiling,"

"They are wonderful wellgrown 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

"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

"A word in yours," said the King his father. "Waiting is good hunting, and when the teeth are shut the tongue

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.

"You must speak with my father," said she, and she looked upon the ground smiling, and became like the

"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 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

Presently the news got about; and the two lads and the first King were called into the presence of the King

"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

"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

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."

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

And the younger son looked in it, and saw his face as it were the face of a beardless youth, and he was well

"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

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

"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

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

"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

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

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

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

"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".

"I am your elder brother," he replied. "And I am come to marry the maid, for I have brought the touchstone of

Then the younger brother laughed aloud. "Why," said he, "I found the touchstone years ago, and married the

Now at this the elder brother grew as gray as the dawn. "I pray you have dealt justly," said he, "for I perceive

"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

"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

"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

"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

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 midwaters, he blessed God without weighing. He was bitter poor in goods and bitter

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

"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."

"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

"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

"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 deadcairn, and tomorrow to the Earl's Hall, and there shall you find a

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

"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 deadcairn, 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

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."

"Now," said the Poor Thing, "they have told you a lesson, but make them give you a gift. Stoop your hand

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.

"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

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

"I do so," said he, "because it was so my fathers did in the ancient ages; and I have neither a better reason nor

Now the Earl's daughter could not find it in her mind to believe him. "Come," quoth she, "sell me this, for I

"What!" cried the Earl's daughter. "Then what make you here in the town's market, with the thing in your

"There is no sense in any of these answers," thought the Earl's daughter; "and I could find it in my heart to

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

"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,

"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

"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

"If I had done that," said the man, "you had never been chaffering with me here in the market, nor your father

"But come," quoth the Earl's daughter, "this is a very strange thing, that you would have me wed for a shoe of

"Oh, spare me that," said the Earl's daughter, "and tell me why I should marry."

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

"Come," said the man, "behold a vision of our children, the busy hearth, and the white heads. And let that

"The ways of life are straight like the grooves of launching," said the man; and he took her by the hand.

"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.

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

"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

"Thought for the morrow, that I have," said the King's daughter; "but power upon the hour, that have I not."

Then the crone smote her lean hands one within the other, and laughed like a seagull. "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,

The King's daughter made no more ado, but she turned about and went home to her house in silence. And

"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

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,

Now when the nine years were out, it fell dusk in the autumn, and there came a sound in the wind like a

"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

"What makes you dance widdershins, old crone?" said the King's daughter; "here upon the bleak beach,

"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

"How comes it, crone," said the King's daughter, "that you waver like a rag, and pale like a dead leaf before

"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

"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

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.

"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

"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

"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

"It is true," said the King's daughter of Duntrine, "you are the comer, and you have power upon the hour.

So they went by the sea margin, and the man piped the song of the morrow, and the leaves followed behind

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

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

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