Chapter I
In the morning of life came a good fairy withher basket, and said:
"Here are gifts. Take one, leave theothers. And be wary, chose wisely; oh, choose wisely! for only one of them isvaluable."
The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches,Pleasure, Death. The youth said, eagerly:
"There is no need to consider"; andhe chose Pleasure.
He went out into the world and sought out thepleasures that youth delights in. But each in its turn was short-lived anddisappointing, vain and empty; and each, departing, mocked him. In the end hesaid: "These years I have wasted. If I could but choose again, I wouldchoose wisely.
Chapter II
The fairy appeared, and said:
"Four of the gifts remain. Choose oncemore; and oh, remember-- time is flying, and only one of them isprecious."
The man considered long, then chose Love; anddid not mark the tears that rose in the fairy's eyes.
After many, many years the man sat by acoffin, in an empty home. And he communed with himself, saying: "One byone they have gone away and left me; and now she lies here, the dearest and thelast. Desolation after desolation has swept over me; for each hour of happinessthe treacherous trader, Love, as sold me I have paid a thousand hours of grief.Out of my heart of hearts I curse him."
Chapter III
"Choose again." It was the fairyspeaking.
"The years have taught youwisdom--surely it must be so. Three gifts remain. Only one of them has anyworth--remember it, and choose warily."
The man reflected long, then chose Fame; andthe fairy, sighing, went her way.
Years went by and she came again, and stoodbehind the man where he sat solitary in the fading day, thinking. And she knewhis thought:
"My name filled the world, and itspraises were on every tongue, and it seemed well with me for a little while.How little a while it was! Then came envy; then detraction; then calumny; thenhate; then persecution. Then derision, which is the beginning of the end. Andlast of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame. Oh, the bitterness andmisery of renown! target for mud in its prime, for contempt and compassion inits decay."
Chapter IV
"Chose yet again." It was thefairy's voice.
"Two gifts remain. And do not despair.In the beginning there was but one that was precious, and it is stillhere."
"Wealth--which is power! How blind Iwas!" said the man. "Now, at last, life will be worth the living. Iwill spend, squander, dazzle. These mockers and despisers will crawl in thedirt before me, and I will feed my hungry heart with their envy. I will haveall luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit, all contentments of thebody that man holds dear. I will buy, buy, buy! deference, respect, esteem,worship--every pinchbeck grace of life the market of a trivial world canfurnish forth. I have lost much time, and chosen badly heretofore, but let thatpass; I was ignorant then, and could but take for best what seemed so."
Three short years went by, and a day camewhen the man sat shivering in a mean garret; and he was gaunt and wan andhollow-eyed, and clothed in rags; and he was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling:
"Curse all the world's gifts, formockeries and gilded lies! And miscalled, every one. They are not gifts, butmerely lendings. Pleasure, Love, Fame, Riches: they are but temporary disguisesfor lasting realities--Pain, Grief, Shame, Poverty. The fairy said true; in allher store there was but one gift which was precious, only one that was notvalueless. How poor and cheap and mean I know those others now to be, comparedwith that inestimable one, that dear and sweet and kindly one, that steeps indreamless and enduring sleep the pains that persecute the body, and the shamesand griefs that eat the mind and heart. Bring it! I am weary, I wouldrest."
Chapter V
The fairy came, bringing again four of thegifts, but Death was wanting. She said:
"I gave it to a mother's pet, a littlechild. It was ignorant, but trusted me, asking me to choose for it. You did notask me to choose."
"Oh, miserable me! What is left forme?"
"What not even you have deserved: thewanton insult of Old Age."
يوللىغان ۋاقتى 2014-8-26 22:24:55
