{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20718/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20718","id":"gutenberg_20718","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20718","summary":null,"tags":["Category: British Literature","Category: Novels","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Fables","Maxims"],"text":"Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DAMSEL\n\nAND\n\nTHE SAGE\n\n\nTHE DAMSEL\n\nAND\n\nTHE SAGE\n\nA WOMAN'S WHIMSIES\n\nBY ELINOR GLYN\n\n\nHARPER &\nBROTHERS\nPUBLISHERS\nNEW YORK\n& LONDON\nMDCCCCIII\n\n\nCopyright, 1903, by ELINOR GLYN.\n\n_All rights reserved._\n\nPublished October, 1903.\n\n\n\nTO\n\nTHE SUN'S RAYS\n\n\n\n\n_A tree stood alone surrounded by high and low hills. It could be\nobserved from all sides, and it appeared different from each elevation._\n\n_The tree was the same, only the point of view differed._\n\n_Everything depends upon the point of view._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"_And as to the meaning, it's what you please._\"\n\n_C. S. C._\n\n\n\n\nTHE DAMSEL AND THE SAGE\n\n\nAnd the Damsel said to the Sage:\n\n\"Now, what is life? And why does the fruit taste bitter in the mouth?\"\n\nAnd the Sage answered, as he stepped from his cave:\n\n\"My child, there was once a man who had two ears like other people. They\nwere naturally necessary for his enjoyment of the day. But one of these\nears offended his head. It behaved with stupidity, thinking thereby to\nenhance its value to him--it heard too much. Oh, it conducted itself\nwith a gross stupidity. 'Out upon you,' cried the man; 'since you have\noverstepped the limit of the functions of an ear, I shall cut you from\nmy head!' And so, without hesitation, he took a sword and accomplished\nthe deed. The poor ear then lay upon the ground bleeding, and the man\nwent about with a mutilated head.\"\n\n\"And what was the good of all that?\" said the Damsel.\n\n\"There was no good in it,\" replied the Sage. \"But he was a man, and he\nhad punished the too-fond-and-foolish ear--also he hoped a new and more\nsuitable one would grow in its place. 'Change,' he said, 'was a thing to\nbe welcomed.'\"\n\n\"And tell me, Sage, what became of the ear?\" asked the Damsel.\n\n\"The ear fared better. Another man of greater shrewdness came along,\nand, although he had two ears of his own, he said, 'A third will not\ncome amiss,' and he picked up the ear and heard with three ears instead\nof two. So he became knowing and clever because of the information he\nacquired in this way. The grafted ear grew and flourished, and, in spite\nof its remaining abnormal, it obtained a certain enjoyment out of\nexistence.\"\n\n\"But who _really_ benefited by all this?\" inquired the Damsel.\n\n\"No one,\" said the Sage; \"the first man went about with only one ear;\nthe second man made himself remarkable with three--and the cut-off ear,\nalthough alive and successful, felt itself an excrescence.\"\n\n\"Then what _could_ be the pleasure of it all?\" demanded the Damsel.\n\n\"Out upon _you_!\" exclaimed the Sage, in a passion. \"You asked me what\nwas life--and why the fruit tasted bitter in the mouth? I have answered\nyou.\"\n\nAnd he went back into his cave and barred the door.\n\nThe Damsel sat down upon a stone outside.\n\n\"It seems to me that men are fools,\" she said, and she clapped her hands\nto her two ears. \"When I am angry and offended with one of you, I will\ncut the ear from off the head of some one else.\"\n\nAnd she picked up an apple and ate it. And it tasted sweet.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_A man will often fling away a woman who has wronged him although in\ndoing so he is deeply hurting himself. A woman will forgive a man who\nhas wronged her because her own personal pleasure in him is greater than\nher outraged pride. Hence women are more unconscious philosophers than\nmen._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Damsel returned again to the cave of the Sage. There were other\nquestions she wished to ask about life. The door was hard to push ajar,\nbut at last she obtained entrance.\n\n\"What do you want now?\" he demanded, with a voice of grumbling. \"Were\nyou not content with my last utterances?\"\n\n\"Yes--and no,\" said the Damsel. \"I came to quite other conclusions\nmyself. I would have kept the ear on my head, since cutting one off,\nhowever it had angered me, would have upset my own comfort.\"\n\n\"We have finished with that matter now,\" said the Sage, showing signs of\nimpatience--he was still a man. \"What next?\"\n\n\"I want to know,\" said the Damsel, \"why a woman who has Diamonds and\nPearls and Emeralds and Rubies in her possession should set such store\nupon a Topaz--a yellow Topaz--the color she dislikes--and a Topaz of\nuneven temper and peculiar properties. She never wears this stone that\nit does not bruise her, now her neck, now her arm. It is restless and\nslips from its chain. It will not remain in the case with the other\njewels. And at last she has lost it--she fears for good and all. And so\nnow all the other stones, which seemed very well in their way, have\ngrown of even less value in her eyes, and she can only lament the loss\nof her Topaz. 'I am brilliant,' cries the Diamond. 'I set off your eyes,\nand I love you.' 'I am soft and caressing,' whispers the Pearl. 'I lie\nclose to your white skin and keep it cool, and I love you.' 'I am\nwitty,' laughs the Emerald. 'I make your thoughts flash, and I love\nyou.' 'I am the color of blood, and I would die for you,' chants the\nRuby, 'and I love you.' And all these things the stones say all the day\nto her, and yet the woman only listens with half an ear, and their words\nhave no effect upon her because of the charm of this tiresome Topaz.\nWhat does it all mean, Sage?\"\n\n\"It means, first of all,\" said the Sage, \"that the woman is a fool, as\nwhat is the value of a Topaz in comparison with a Diamond or a Ruby? It\nmeans, secondly, that the Topaz is a greater fool, because it would be\nmore agreeable surely to lie close to the woman's soft neck than to be\npicked up by any stranger or lie neglected in the dust. But, above and\nbeyond everything, it means that cherries are ripest when out of reach,\nand that the whole world is full of fools of either opinion, who do not\nknow when they are well off.\"\n\nUpon which the Sage, with his usual lack of manners, retired into his\ncave and slammed his door.\n\nThe Damsel sat down upon the rock and came again to her own conclusions.\nThe stone that apparently was a Topaz was in reality a yellow Diamond of\ngreat rarity and worth, and that was why the woman valued it so highly.\nHer instincts were stronger than her reason. But if she had not made\nherself so cheap by adoring the stone, it would not have become restless\nand she would not have lost it. Even stones cannot stand too much honey.\nIf ever the woman should find this yellow Diamond again she must be told\nto keep it in a cool box and not caress it or place it above the others.\n\nThe Damsel thought aloud and the Sage heard her--he strode forth in a\nrage.\n\n\"Why do you come here demanding my advice if you moralize yourself? Out\nupon you again!\" he thundered. \"The woman will not find her Topaz, which\nis now revelling in the sun of freedom and will soon go down into\nnothingness and be forgotten. And after lamenting until her eyes look\ngaunt, the woman will begin to see some beauty in a Sapphire and become\nconsoled, and so all will be well.\"\n\n\"I do not care what you say,\" said the Damsel. \"_It is better to have\nwhat one wants one's self than to try and learn to like anything else\nthat other people think better._\"\n\nAnd she refastened a bracelet with great care--which contained two\ncat's-eyes of no value--as she went on her way.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSeize the occasion lest it pass thee by and fall into the lap of\nanother.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNo man likes shooting tame rabbits.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMost men like the hunt more than the quarry--therefore the wise woman is\nelusive.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is a good hostess who never inclines her guests unconsciously to look\nat the clock.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSome things cause pride, some pleasure. There is only one thing which\ncauses infinite bliss and oblivion of time, and this one thing, unless\nbound with chains, is called immoral.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is a wise man who knows when he is happy and can appreciate the\ndivine bliss of the tangible _now_. Most of us retrospect or anticipate\nand so lose the present.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSeize Love at whatever age he comes to you--if you can avoid being\nridiculous.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"More questions?\" exclaimed the Sage, as the Damsel tapped gently upon\nthe door of his cave.\n\n\"Women are never satisfied; they are as restless as the sea, and when\nthey have received all the best advice they invariably follow their own\ninclinations.\"\n\n\"It was not to discuss women,\" replied the Damsel, timidly; \"this time\nit is of a man I wish to ask.\"\n\n\"Begin, then, and have done quickly,\" growled the Sage, averting his\nhead. The Damsel had an outline against the sky which caused ideas not\ntranquillizing for Hermits.\n\n\"I wish to know why a man who possessed the most beautiful and noble\nBird of Paradise--a bird of rare plumage and wonderful qualities--should\nsuddenly see more beauty in an ordinary Cockatoo, whose only attraction\nwas its yellow feathers--a Cockatoo that screamed monotonously as it\nswung backward and forward on its perch, and would eat sugar out of the\nhand of any stranger while it cried 'Pretty Poll.' The man could not\nafford to buy this creature also, so he deliberately sold his exquisite\nBird of Paradise to a person called Circumstance and with the money\nbecame the possessor of the Cockatoo, who pierced the drums of his ears\nwith its eternal 'Pretty Poll' and wearied his sight with its yellow\nfeathers. Why did the man do this?\"\n\nThe Sage laughed at so simple a question.\n\n\"Because he was a man, and even a screaming Cockatoo belonging to some\none else has more charm at times than the most divine Bird of Paradise\nbelonging to himself.\"\n\n\"But was it worth while to sell this rare thing for a very ordinary\none?\" demanded the Damsel.\n\n\"Certainly not,\" said the Sage, impatiently. \"What childish questions\nyou ask! The thing was a folly on the face of it; but, as I said before,\nhe was a man--and the Cockatoo belonged to some one else!\"\n\n\"Then what will happen now?\" asked the Damsel, placing herself in the\ndirection in which the Sage had turned his head.\n\n\"The Bird of Paradise will still be the most beautiful and glorious and\ndesirable bird in the world; and when the man realizes he has lost it\nforever he will begin to value its every feather, and will spend his\ndays in comparing all its remembered perfections and advantages with the\nscreams and the yellow feathers of the Cockatoo.\"\n\n\"And what will the Cockatoo do?\" inquired the Damsel.\n\n\"It will probably continue to shriek 'Pretty Poll,' and eat sugar out of\nthe hand of any stranger,\" replied the Sage, plucking his heard.\n\n\"And the man?\"\n\n\"The man will go on telling every one he has bought the most divine bird\nin the world, in the hope that some one will offer him a large sum of\nmoney for it. The only person who gains in the affair is the Bird of\nParadise, who, instead of being caged as when in the possession of the\nman, is absolutely free to fly with its new master, Circumstance, who\nonly seeks to please and soothe this glorious bird and make life fair\nfor it.\"\n\n\"But what will be the very end?\" persisted the Damsel.\n\nThe Sage turned and looked full at her. He was angry with her\nimportunity and would have answered sternly.\n\nThen he saw that the ripples of her hair were golden and his voice\nsoftened.\n\n\"That will depend--upon Circumstance,\" he replied, and he closed his\ndoor softly in her face.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_A man wishes and a woman wishes, but Circumstance frequently wins the\ngame._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLife is short--avoid causing yawns.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is possible for a woman to retain the amorous affection of a man for\nmany years--if he only sees her for the two best hours out of each\ntwenty-four.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Please open the door, Sage,\" entreated the Damsel, \"and I will tell you\na story.\"\n\nThe Sage pushed it ajar with his foot, but he did not come out.\n\n\"There was once upon a time a man,\" she said, \"who unexpectedly and for\nno apparent reason became the possessor of a Tiger. It had been coveted\nby numbers of people and was of a certain value and beauty. It had an\ninfinite variety of tricks. It was learned in caresses. It was fierce,\nand gentle, and it could love passionately. Altogether a large price\nwould have been offered the man for it by many others if he had wished\nto sell it. In the beginning he had greatly valued the possession of\nthis strange beast, and had fed it with his own hand. The little anxiety\nas to whether it would eat him or not, or rush away, had kept him\ninterested. But gradually, as he became certain the Tiger adored him,\nand would show none but velvet claws and make only purring sounds, his\nkeenness waned. He still loved it, but certainty is monotonous, and his\neyes wandered to other objects. 'The Tiger is nothing but a domestic\ncat,' he said; 'I will pet and caress it when the mood takes me, and for\nthe rest of the time it can purr to itself by the fire.' At last one\nday, after the Tiger was especially gracious and had purred with all\nessence of love, the man yawned. 'It is really a charming beast,' he\nsaid, 'but it is always the same; and then he went away and forgot even\nto feed it. The Tiger felt hungry and restless. Its quietness and\ngentleness became less apparent. The man on his travels chanced to think\nof it and sent it a biscuit. So the Tiger waited, and when the man\nreturned and expected the usual docile caresses, it bit his hand. 'Vile\nbeast!' said the man. 'Have I not fed and kept you for weeks, and now\nyou bite my hand!' Now tell me, Sage, which was right--the man or the\nTiger?\"\n\n\"Both, and neither,\" said the Sage, decidedly. \"The man was only obeying\nthe eternal law in finding what he was sure of monotonous; but he\nmistook the nature of the beast he had to deal with. Tigers are not of\nthe species that can ever be really monotonous, if he had known. The\nTiger was foolish to allow its true nature to be so disguised by its\nlove for the man that he was deceived into looking upon it as a domestic\ncat. It thought to please him thereby and so lost its hold.\"\n\n\"And what will be the end?\" asked the Damsel.\n\n\"The man's hand will smart to the end of his life, and he will never\nsecure another Tiger. And the Tiger will go elsewhere and console itself\nby letting its natural instincts have full play. It will not be foolish\na second time.\"\n\nBut the Damsel's conclusion was different.\n\n\"No,\" she said. \"The man's hand will heal up, and the Tiger will caress\nhim and make him forget the bite, and they will love each other to\neternity because they have both realized their own stupidity.\"\n\nAnd without speaking further she allowed the Sage to close the door.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_It is wiser to know the species one is playing with: do not offer\nTigers hay--or Antelopes joints of meat._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNext day, in a pouring shower of rain, the Damsel knocked at the Sage's\ndoor. It was for shelter, she said, this time, until the storm should\npass.\n\nThe Sage was fairly gracious, and to while away the time the Damsel\nbegan a story.\n\n\"A man once owned a brown Sparrow. It had no attractions, and it made a\ncontinuous and wearying noise as it chattered under the eaves. It did\nthe same thing every day, and had monotonous domestic habits that often\ngreatly irritated the man, but--he was accustomed to it, and did not\ncomplain. After several years a travelling Showman came along; he had a\nlarge aviary of birds of all sorts, some for sale, some not. Among them\nwas a glorious Humming Bird of wonderful brilliancy and plumage, a\ncreature full of beauty and grace and charm and elegance. The man became\npassionately attached to it; he was ready to perpetrate any folly for\nthe sake of obtaining possession of it, and indeed he did commit numbers\nof regrettable actions, and at last stole the bird from the Showman and\ncarried it away. Then, in a foreign palace, for a short while he\nrevelled in its beauty and the joy of owning it. The Humming Bird did\nits best to be continually charming, but it felt its false position. And\nthe worry and annoyance of concealing the theft from the Showman, and\nthe different food the Humming Bird required, and the care that had to\nbe taken of it, at last began to weary the man. He chafed and was often\ndisagreeable to it, although he realized its glory and beauty and the\nfeather it was in his cap. Finally, one day, in a fit of desperation,\nthe man let the Humming Bird fly, and crept back home to the homely\nbrown Sparrow, with its irritating noises and utter want of beauty. Why\nwas this, Sage?\"\n\nThe Sage had not to think long.\n\n\"Custom, my child,\" he said. \"Custom forges stronger chains than the\nfinest plumage of a Humming Bird. The man had to put himself out and\nexert himself to retain the Humming Bird in a way that was not agreeable\nto his self-love, whereas the brown Sparrow lived on always the same,\ncausing him no trouble, and custom had deadened the sense of its want of\ncharm.\"\n\n\"Then it seems to me it was rather hard upon the poor Humming Bird!\"\nsaid the Damsel.\n\n\"It is always hard upon the Humming Birds,\" replied the Sage, and his\nvoice was quite sad.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe rain did not cease for a long time. It was more than an hour before\nthe Damsel left the cave.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_If you are a Humming Bird it is wiser for you to remain in the\npossession of the Travelling Showman._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA long period elapsed after this before the Damsel again tapped at the\nSage's door. He looked out morning and evening, and attributed his lack\nof enthusiasm for his devotions to an attack of rheumatism from the damp\nof his cave. At last, one morning he spied her sauntering slowly up the\nhill, and he retired into the back of his cell, and the Damsel had to\nknock twice before he opened the window shutter. She was in a gay mood,\nand demanded a story, so the Sage began:\n\n\"There was once upon a time a Fish with glittering scales who swam about\nin a deep river. It had been tempted by the flies of many Fishermen,\nbut had laughed at them all and swam away, just under the surface of the\nwater, so that the sun might shine on its glittering scales to please\nthe eyes of the Fishermen and to excite their desire to secure it. It\nwas a Fish who laughed a good deal at life. But one fine day a new\nAngler came along; he was young and beautiful, and seemed lazy and\nhappy, and not particularly anxious to throw the line. The Fish peeped\nat him from the sheltering shadow of a rock. 'This is the most perfect\nspecimen of a Fisherman I have ever seen,' it said to itself. 'I could\nalmost believe it would be agreeable to swallow the fly and let him land\nme and put me in his basket.' The young Fisherman threw the line, and\nthe sun caught the glittering scales of the Fish at that moment. The\nlaziness vanished from the Fisherman, and he began to have a strong\ndesire to secure the Fish.\n\n\"He fished for some time, and the Fish swam backward and forward, making\nup its mind. It saw the hook under the fly, but the attraction of the\nAngler growing stronger and stronger, at last it deliberately decided to\ncome up and bite. 'I know all the emotions of swimming on the surface\nand letting my scales shine in the sun,' it mused, 'but I know nothing\nabout the bank and the basket, and perhaps the tales that are drilled\ninto the heads of us Fish from infancy about suffocation and exhaustion\nare not true.' And it mused again: 'He is a perfectly beautiful\nFisherman and looks kind, and I want to be closer to him and let him\ntouch my glittering scales. After all, one ought to know everything\nbefore one dies.'\n\n\"So, its heart beating and its eyes melting, the Fish deliberately rose\nto the surface and swallowed the fly. The hook caught in a gristly place\nand did not hurt much, and the novel experience of being pulled onto the\ngreen meadow delighted the Fish. It saw the Fisherman close, and felt\nhis hands as he tenderly disengaged the hook. He was full of joy and\npride at securing the difficult Fish and admired its scales. He talked\naloud and told it how bright he found it, and he was altogether charming\nand delightful, and the Fish adored him and was glad it had been caught.\n\n\"Then after some time of this admiration and dalliance, the Fisherman\nput it in the basket among the cool rushes. The Fish lay quiet, still\ncontent. It had not yet begun to pant. For an hour almost the Fisherman\ngloried in his catch. He opened the lid frequently and smiled at the\nFish.\n\n\"Then he lay down on the bank beside the basket and let his rod float\nidly in the stream. The sun was warm and pleasant.\n\n\"'I wish,' he said to himself, 'after all, I had not secured the Fish\nyet; the throwing of the fly and the excitement of trying to catch the\ncreature are better fun than having it safely landed and lying in the\nbasket,' and he yawned, and his eyes gradually closed and he slept.\n\n\"Now the Fish heard very plainly what he had said. Tell me, Damsel--you\nwho ask questions and answer them finally yourself--tell me, What did\nthe Fish do?\"\n\nThe Damsel mused a moment. She stirred with her white fingers the water\nin the basin of the fountain that sprang from the rock close by. Then\nshe looked at the Sage from under the shadow of her brows and answered,\nthoughtfully:\n\n\"The Fish was stunned at first by this truth being uttered so near it.\nIt suddenly realized what it had done and what it had lost. 'I, who swam\nabout freely and showed my glittering scales in the sun, am now caught\nand in a basket, with no prospect but suffocation and death in front of\nme,' it said to itself. 'I could have even supported that, and the\nknowledge that my scales will become dull and unattractive in the near\nfuture, if the Fisherman had only continued to lift the lid and admire\nme a little longer.' And it sighed and began to feel the sense of\nsuffocation. But it was a Fish of great determination and resources. 'I\nhave learned my lesson,' it gasped; 'the Fisherman has taught it to me\nhimself. Now I will make a great jump and try to get out of the basket.'\n\n\"So it jumped and opened the lid. The Fisherman stirred in his sleep and\nput out his hand vaguely to close it again, but he was too sleepy to\nfasten the catch, and with less noise the Fish bounced up again and\nsucceeded in floundering upon the grass. It lay panting and in great\ndistress, but it looked at the beautiful Angler with regret. He was so\nbeautiful and so desirable. 'I could almost stay now,' the Fish sighed.\nThen it braced itself up and gave one more bound, and this time reached\nthe rock at the edge of the stream.\n\n\"Again the Fisherman awoke, and now casually, with his eyes still\nclosed, fastened up the basket before he slept again; but the Fish with\nits third bound reached the river, and darted out into the middle of the\nstream.\n\n\"'Good-bye, Beautiful Angler!' it said, sadly. 'You were sweet, but you\nhave taught me a lesson, and freedom is sweeter.'\n\n\"The splash of its reaching the water fully awakened the Fisherman, but\nhe saw the basket with the lid shut, and had no anxieties until his eye\ncaught the pink of the water where the Fish sheltered under the rock.\nIts gill was still bleeding from the hook wound, and colored a circle\nround it. Then he opened the lid and found the basket empty.\n\n\"'Good-bye,' said the Fish. 'Your wish has been granted, and your\npleasure can begin all over again!'\n\n\"But the Fisherman suddenly realized that his rod, while he slept, had\nfallen into the river, and was floating away down the stream.\n\n\"'Good-bye again,' said the Fish; 'I have suffered, but I have now\nexperience, and I am grateful to you, and my gill will heal up, and I\nwill smile at you sometimes from just under the surface of the water,\nand so all is well!' And it flashed its glittering scales in the sun\nbefore it darted away out of sight in the strong current.\"\n\nAnd the Damsel folded her hands and looked into distance.\n\n\"Thank you, Damsel,\" said the Sage, gently for him; \"but the Fisherman\ncould procure another rod--rods are not rarities. What then?\"\n\n\"That would be for another day,\" said the Damsel; \"and--for another\nFish!\" And she tripped away down the hill, and was deaf to the Sage, who\ngruffly called after her.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_When you have caught your Fish, it may be wiser to cook it and eat\nit._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe sun was setting when the Damsel next came to the Cave. She had a pet\nfalcon with her, and kept caressing it as she propounded her question.\n\n\"There lived a woman in a Castle who had three Knights devoted to her.\nShe loved one, and her vanity was pleased with the other two. While she\ncontinued to play with them all, they all loved her to distraction; but\npresently her preference for the one Knight became evident, and the two\nothers, after doing their utmost to supplant the third without success,\nat last left the Castle and rode away. They were no sooner gone, and\nthings had become quiet, and no combats occurred to interrupt the\nlovers' intercourse, when the chosen Knight began to weary, and he, too,\nat last rode away, although before he had been the most ardent of all.\nWhy was this, Sage? And what should the woman do?\"\n\n\"It was because the Knight had won the prize and the woman gave him no\ntrouble to keep it,\" replied the Sage. \"He was bound to weary. When a\nman's profession is fighting and he has fought hard and succeeded, after\nsufficient rest he wishes to fight again. So if the woman wants her\nlover back, she had better first summon the other two.\"\n\nFor once the Damsel had nothing to say, and had no excuse to remain\nlonger in the cave.\n\nThe Sage, however, was not in the mind to let her go so soon, so he\nbegan a question:\n\n\"Why do you caress that bird so much? It appears completely indifferent\nto you. Surely that is waste of time?\"\n\n\"It is agreeable to waste time,\" replied the Damsel.\n\n\"Upon an insensible object?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"More so than if it returned your caresses?\"\n\n\"Probably--there is the speculation. It might one day respond, while\ncertainly if it repaid warmly my love now, one day it would not. Nothing\nlasts in this world. You have told me so yourself.\"\n\nThe Sage was nettled.\n\n\"Yes, there is one thing that lasts, that is friendship,\" he said.\n\n\"Friendship!\" exclaimed the Damsel; \"but that is not made up of\ncaresses. It does not make the heart beat.\"\n\n\"We were not talking of beating hearts,\" said the Sage, sententiously.\n\n\"Very well. Good-bye, then, Sage,\" laughed the Damsel. \"You must think\nof more stories for me before I come again.\"\n\nAnd, continuing to caress the falcon, she walked away, stately and fair,\ninto the setting sun.\n\nWhen she had gone the Sage wondered why there was no twilight that\nevening, and why it had suddenly become night.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Most men prefer to possess something that the other men want._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt would be a peaceful world if we could only realize that the fever of\nlove is like other fevers. It comes to a crisis, and the patient either\ndies or is cured. It cannot last at the same point forever.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Damsel came back again next day. She had remarked, the day she spent\nwith him in the rain, that the Sage was not so old or so uncomely as she\nhad at first supposed. \"If he were to shave off his beard and wear a\nvelvet doublet, he would look as well as many a cavalier of the Court,\"\nshe mused. And she called out before she reached the door:\n\n\"Sage, I have come back because I want to ask you just another question.\nWill you not come out and sit in the sun while you answer?\"\n\nSo the Sage advanced in a recalcitrant manner, but he would not sit\ndown beside her.\n\nThen the Damsel began:\n\n\"A woman once possessed a ball of silk. It was of so fine and rare a\nkind that, although of many thousand yards, it took up no space, and she\nunwound it daily for her pleasure without any appreciable difference in\nthe size of the ball. At last she suddenly fancied she perceived some\nalteration. It came upon her as a shock, but still she continued to use\nthe silk with the casual idea that a thing she had employed so long\n_must_ go on forever. Then again, in about a week, there came another\nshock. The ball was certainly smaller, and felt cold and hard and firm.\nThe thought came to her, 'What if it should not be silk all through and\nI have come to the end of matters? What shall I do?' Now tell me, Sage,\nshould the woman go on to the end and find perhaps a stone? Or should\nshe try to rewind the silk? Which is the best course?\"\n\nThe Damsel took up the Sage's staff, which he had dropped for the\nmoment, and with its point she drew geometrical figures in the sand. But\nthe sun made shadows with her eyelashes, and the Sage felt his voice\ntremble, so he answered, tartly:\n\n\"That would depend upon the nature of the woman. If she continues to\nunwind the silk she will certainly find a piece of adamant, which has\nbeen cunningly covered with this rare, soft substance. If she tries to\nrewind, she will discover the thread has become tangled, and the ball\ncan never again look smooth and even as before. She must choose which\nshe would prefer, a clean piece of adamant or an uneven ball of silk.\"\n\n\"But that is no answer to my question,\" said the Damsel, pouting. \"I\nasked which must she do for the best.\"\n\n\"Neither is better nor worse!\" replied the Sage with asperity. \"And\nthere is no best.\"\n\n\"You are quite wrong, Sage,\" returned the Damsel. \"There is a third\ncourse. She can cut the thread and leave the ball as it is, a coating of\nsmooth silk still--and an undiscovered possibility inside.\"\n\n\"You are too much for me!\" exclaimed the Sage in a fury. \"Answer your\nown questions, to begin with, in future! I will have no more of you!\"\nand he went into his cave and ostentatiously fastened the door.\n\nThe Damsel smiled to herself and continued to draw geometrical figures\nwith the point of the Sage's staff in the sand.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_There are always three courses in life: the good, the bad, and\nthe--indifferent. The good gives you calm, and makes you sleep; the bad\ngives you emotions, and makes you weep; and the indifferent gives you no\nsatisfaction, and makes you yawn, so--choose wisely._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOne can swear to be faithful eternally, but how can one swear to love\neternally? The one is a question of will, the other a sentiment beyond\nall human control. One might as sensibly swear to keep the wind in the\nsouth, or the sun from setting!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd yet we swear both vows--and break both vows.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA woman is always hardest upon her own sins, committed by others.\n\nA man is sometimes lenient to them.\n\nA fool can win the love of a man, but it requires a woman of resources\nto keep it.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Damsel did not go away from the cave, as was her custom. She\ncontinued to draw geometrical figures in the sand. Presently she called\nto the Sage once more.\n\n\"Come out again, dear Sage! Listen, I have something more to say.\"\n\nHe unfastened the window and stood leaning on the sill.\n\n\"Well?\" he said, sternly. \"Well?\"\n\n\"A Ring Dove once was owned by a man. It was the sweetest and most\ngentle of birds, besides being extremely beautiful. It adored the man\nand lived contentedly in its cage. The perches, which the man had had\nprepared especially for it, were endeared to it from association with\nthe happy hours when it had been caressed by the man. Altogether to it\nthe cage appeared a palace, and it lived content.\n\n\"The man was a brutal creature, more or less, and at last he cruelly\nill-treated the Ring Dove, and exalted a Cuckoo in its place. This\nconduct greatly saddened the sweet Dove, but it over and over again\nforgave its tormentor, so great was its love, and even saw the Cuckoo\nadvanced to the highest honors without anger, only a bleeding heart. How\nlong things would have continued in this way no one knows; but the man\nsuddenly gave the Cuckoo the Ring Dove's cage, and let the Cuckoo sleep\non the perches which the Dove was accustomed to consider its very own.\nThis overcame the gentle Dove. Its broken heart mended, and it flew\naway. Tell me, Sage, why did this action cure the Dove of its great love\nfor the man, when it had borne all the blows and cruelty without\nresentment?\"\n\n\"That is an easy question to answer,\" replied the Sage. \"The Dove was\nreally growing tired and seized this as a good opportunity to be off.\"\n\n\"Oh, how little you know of the female sex, even of Doves!\" laughed the\nDamsel. \"I can give you the true reason myself. It was the bad taste of\nthe man in giving the Cuckoo the cage and perches of the Ring Dove,\nwhich he had consecrated to her. That cured her, and enabled her to fly\naway.\"\n\nAnd the Damsel curtsied to the Sage and sauntered off, laughing and\nlooking back over her shoulder.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_An action committed in bad taste is more curing and disillusionizing to\nLove than the cruelest blows of rage and hate._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA man would often be the lover of his wife--if he were married to some\none else.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere come moments in life when we regret the old gods.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTime and place--temperature and temperament--and after the sunset the\nnight--and then to-morrow.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAll the winter passed and the Damsel remained at the Court and the Sage\nin his cave. Both found the days long and their occupation insufficient.\n\nAt last, when spring came, the Damsel again mounted the hill one morning\nbefore dawn and tapped at the Sage's door.\n\nHis heart gave a bound, and he flew to open it without more ado.\n\n\"So you have come back?\" he said; and his voice was eager, though it was\na gray light and he could not see her plainly.\n\n\"Yes,\" said she; \"I want you to tell me one more story of life before I\ngo on a long voyage.\"\n\nSo the Sage began:\n\n\"There was once upon a time a man of half-measures, whose brain was\nfilled with dreams for his own glory, and he possessed a woman of flesh\nand blood, who loved him, and would have turned the dreams into\nrealities. But _because_ he was happy with her, and because her hair was\nblack and her eyes were green, and her flesh like alabaster, he said to\nhimself, 'This is a fiend and a vampire. Nothing human can be so\ndelectable.' So he ran a stake through her body, and buried her at the\ncross-roads. Then he found life an emptiness, and went down into\nnothingness and was forgotten--\"\n\n\"Oh, hush, Sage!\" said the Damsel, trembling; \"I wish to hear no more.\nCome, shave off your beard, and put on a velvet doublet, and return\nwith me to the Court. See, life is short, and I am fair.\"\n\nAnd the Sage suddenly felt he had found the philosopher's stone, and\nknew the secret he had come into the wilds to find.\n\nSo he went back to his cave, and shaved his beard, and donned a velvet\ndoublet, long since lain by in lavender. And he took the Damsel by the\nhand, and they gladly ran down the hill.\n\nAnd the zephyrs whispered, and the day dawned, and all the world smiled\nyoung--and gay.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n_Remember the tangible now._\n\n\"_Sic transit gloria mundi!_\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBY MRS. HUMPHRY WARD\n\nLADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. Illustrated by HOWARD CHANDLER CHRISTY. Post 8vo,\nOrnamented Cloth, $1.50.\n\nThis is Mrs. Humphry Ward's latest novel. It has been hailed as\nundoubtedly her best, while Julie Le Breton, the heroine, has been\ncalled \"the most appealing type of heroine in English fiction.\"\n\n\"A story that must be read.\"--_New York Sun._\n\n\"Vividly alive from the first line.\"--_Chicago Record-Herald._\n\n\"The most marvellous work of its wonderful author.\"--_New York World._\n\n\"Absolutely different from anything else that has ever appeared in\nfiction.\"--_Brooklyn Eagle._\n\n\"Love is not here the sentimental emotion of the ordinary novel or play,\nbut the power that purges the weaknesses and vivifies the dormant\nnobilities of men and women.\"--_The Academy_, London, England.\n\n\"Quite sure to be the most widely and most highly considered book of the\nyear.\"--_Chicago Evening Post._\n\n\"The story is the combat between two powers of a brilliant woman's\nnature. Sometimes you are sure the lawless, the vagabond, and the\nintriguing side will win. But it doesn't....\"--_Boston Transcript._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers\nNEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage\nprepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt\nof the price._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBY HENRY SETON MERRIMAN\n\nTHE VULTURES. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Ornamented Cloth, $1.50.\n\nA new novel by Henry Seton Merriman is always eagerly welcomed by every\nreader of fiction. This is a story of intrigue, conspiracy, and exciting\nadventure among the political factions of the great European nations.\nOne of the scenes is in Russia at the time of the assassination of the\nCzar. The _attaches_ of the various Foreign Offices play an important\npart. It is full of exciting, dramatic situations, most of which centre\naround the love interest of the story--the love of a young English\ndiplomatist for the beautiful Countess Wanda of Warsaw.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS\nNEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage\nprepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt\nof the price._\n\nBY ROBERT W. CHAMBERS\n\nTHE MAID-AT-ARMS. Illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy. Post 8vo,\nOrnamented Cloth, $1.50.\n\nMr. Chambers has long since won a most enviable position among\ncontemporary novelists. The great popular success of \"Cardigan\" makes\nthis present novel of unusual interest to all readers of fiction. It is\na stirring novel of American life in days just after the Revolution. It\ndeals with the conspiracy of the great New York land-owners and the\nsubjugation of New York Province to the British. It is a story with a\nfascinating love interest, and is alive with exciting incident and\nadventure. Some of the characters of \"Cardigan\" reappear in this new\nnovel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers\nNEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n[symbol: pointing hand] _The above work will be sent by mail, postage\nprepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on receipt\nof the price._\n\nBY JOHN FOX, JR.\n\n\nA MOUNTAIN EUROPA. With Portrait. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1.25.\n\nThe story is well worth careful reading for its literary art and its\ntruth to a phase of little-known American life.--_Omaha Bee._\n\n\nTHE KENTUCKIANS. A Novel. Illustrated by W. T. SMEDLEY. Post 8vo, Cloth,\nOrnamental, $1.25.\n\nThis, Mr. Fox's first long story, sets him well in view, and\ndistinguishes him as at once original and sound. He takes the right view\nof the story-writer's function and the wholesale view of what the art of\nfiction can rightfully attempt.--_Independent_, N. Y.\n\n\"HELL FER SARTAIN,\" and Other Stories. Post 8vo, Cloth, Ornamental,\n$1.00.\n\nMr. Fox has made a great success of his pictures of the rude life and\nprimitive passions of the people of the mountains of West Virginia and\nKentucky. His sketches are short but graphic; he paints his scenes and\nhis hill people in terse and simple phrases and makes them genuinely\npicturesque, giving us glimpses of life that are distinctively\nAmerican.--_Detroit Free Press._\n\nA CUMBERLAND VENDETTA, and Other Stories. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,\nOrnamental, $1.25.\n\nThese stories are tempestuously alive, and sweep the heart-strings with\na master-hand.--_Watchman_, Boston.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS\nNEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n[symbol: pointing hand] _Any of the above works will be sent by mail,\npostage prepaid, to any part of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, on\nreceipt of the price._","title":"The Damsel and the Sage: A Woman's Whimsies","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":7260}