Sacred Texts  Misc Texts  Index  Previous  Next    AN old man
sat alone in his house. It was full of shadows; it was dark and
gloomy. The old man cared nothing for the shadows or the
darkness, for he was thinking of all the mighty deeds that he
had done. "There is no one else in the world," he muttered, "who
has done such deeds as I," and he counted them over aloud. A
sound outside of the house interrupted him. "What can it be?" he
said to himself. "How dares anything interrupt me? I have told
all things to be still. It sounds like the rippling of waters,
and I have told the waters to be quiet in their beds. There it
is again. It is like the singing of birds, and I have sent the
birds far away to the south."  Some one opened the door and came
in. It was a youth with sunny curls and rosy face.  "Who said
you might come in?" muttered the old man.  "Did not you?" asked
the youth, with a merry little laugh. "I am really afraid that I
came without asking. You see, every one is glad to see me and"--
"I am not," in