The Philosopher's Stone · page 31 2 3201Now she heard the following words sadly sung,--202"Life is a shadow that flits away In a night of darkness and woe."203But then would follow brighter thoughts:204"Life has the rose's sweet perfume With sunshine, light, and joy."205And if one stanza sounded painfully--206"Each mortal thinks of himself alone, Is a truth, alas, too clearly known;"207Then, on the other hand, came the answer--208"Love, like a mighty flowing stream, Fills every heart with its radiant gleam."209She heard, indeed, such words as these--210"In the pretty turmoil here below, All is a vain and paltry show.211Then came also words of comfort--212"Great and good are the actions done By many whose worth is never known."213And if sometimes the mocking strain reached her--214"Why not join in the jesting cry That contemns all gifts from the throne on high?"215In the blind girl's heart a stronger voice repeated--216"To trust in thyself and God is best, In His holy will forever to rest."217But the evil spirit could not see this and remain contented.218He has more cleverness than ten thousand men, and he found means to compass his end.219He betook himself to the marsh, and collected a few little bubbles of stagnant water.220Then he uttered over them the echoes of lying words that they might become strong.221He mixed up together songs of praise with lying epitaphs, as many as he could find, boiled them in tears shed by envy; put upon them rouge, which he had scraped from faded cheeks, and from these he produced a maiden, in form and appearance like the blind girl, the angel of completeness, as men called her.222The evil one's plot was successful.223The world knew not which was the true, and indeed how should the world know?224"To trust in thyself and God is best, In his Holy will forever to rest."225So sung the blind girl in full faith.226She had entrusted the four green leaves from the Tree of the Sun to the winds, as letters of greeting to her brothers, and she had full confidence that the leaves would reach them.227She fully believed that the jewel which outshines all the glories of the world would yet be found, and that upon the forehead of humanity it would glitter even in the castle of her father. "228Even in my father's house," she repeated. "229Yes, the place in which this jewel is to be found is earth, and I shall bring more than the promise of it with me.230I feel it glow and swell more and more in my closed hand.231Every grain of truth which the keen wind carried up and whirled towards me I caught and treasured.232I allowed it to be penetrated with the fragrance of the beautiful, of which there is so much in the world, even for the blind.233I took the beatings of a heart engaged in a good action, and added them to my treasure.234All that I can bring is but dust; still, it is a part of the jewel we seek, and there is plenty, my hand is quite full of it."235She soon found herself again at home; carried thither in a flight of thought, never having loosened her hold of the invisible thread fastened to her father's house.236As she stretched out her hand to her father, the powers of evil dashed with the fury of a hurricane over the Tree of the Sun; a blast of wind rushed through the open doors, and into the sanctuary, where lay the Book of Truth.237"It will be blown to dust by the wind," said the father, as he seized the open hand she held towards him.238"No," she replied, with quiet confidence, "it is indestructible.239I feel its beam warming my very soul."240Then her father observed that a dazzling flame gleamed from the white page on which the shining dust had passed from her hand.241It was there to prove the certainty of eternal life, and on the book glowed one shining word, and only one, the word BELIEVE.242And soon the four brothers were again with the father and daughter.243When the green leaf from home fell on the bosom of each, a longing had seized them to return.244They had arrived, accompanied by the birds of passage, the stag, the antelope, and all the creatures of the forest who wished to take part in their joy.245We have often seen, when a sunbeam burst through a crack in the door into a dusty room, how a whirling column of dust seems to circle round.246But this was not poor, insignificant, common dust, which the blind girl had brought; even the rainbow's colors are dim when compared with the beauty which shone from the page on which it had fallen.247The beaming word BELIEVE, from every grain of truth, had the brightness of the beautiful and the good, more bright than the mighty pillar of flame that led Moses and the children of Israel to the land of Canaan, and from the word BELIEVE arose the bridge of hope, reaching even to the unmeasurable Love in the realms of the infinite.1 2 3← previousThe Pen and the Inkstandnext →The Phoenix Bird↑ back to Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/143/page/3/