Crock of Gold

James Stephens

Description

Pass a pleasant afternoon with this delightful collection of short stories. Simple but not simplistic, these diverting tales are rendered in exquisitely rich and often playful language that will have you lingering over sentences and highlighting your favorite passages so you can revisit them again and again. The Crock of Gold is the perfect blend of literary virtuosity and lighthearted fun.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781775459606
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE CROCK OF GOLD
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JAMES STEPHENS
 
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The Crock of Gold First published in 1912 ISBN 978-1-77545-960-6 © 2012 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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BOOK I - THE COMING OF PAN Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX BOOK II - THE PHILOSOPHER'S JOURNEY Chapter X Chapter XI BOOK III - THE TWO GODS Chapter XII BOOK IV - THE PHILOSOPHER'S RETURN Chapter XIII BOOK V - THE POLICEMEN Chapter XIV Chapter XV Chapter XVI BOOK VI - THE THIN WOMAN'S JOURNEY AND THE HAPPY MARCH Chapter XVII Chapter XVIII
BOOK I - THE COMING OF PAN
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Chapter I
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IN the centre of the pine wood called Coilla Doraca there lived not longago two Philosophers. They were wiser than anything else in the worldexcept the Salmon who lies in the pool of Glyn Cagny into which the nutsof knowledge fall from the hazel bush on its bank. He, of course, is themost profound of living creatures, but the two Philosophers are next tohim in wisdom. Their faces looked as though they were made of parchment,there was ink under their nails, and every difficulty that was submittedto them, even by women, they were able to instantly resolve. The GreyWoman of Dun Gortin and the Thin Woman of Inis Magrath asked them thethree questions which nobody had ever been able to answer, and they wereable to answer them. That was how they obtained the enmity of these twowomen which is more valuable than the friendship of angels. The GreyWoman and the Thin Woman were so incensed at being answered that theymarried the two Philosophers in order to be able to pinch them in bed,but the skins of the Philosophers were so thick that they did not knowthey were being pinched. They repaid the fury of the women with suchtender affection that these vicious creatures almost expired of chagrin,and once, in a very ecstacy of exasperation, after having been kissedby their husbands, they uttered the fourteen hundred maledictions whichcomprised their wisdom, and these were learned by the Philosophers whothus became even wiser than before.
In due process of time two children were born of these marriages. Theywere born on the same day and in the same hour, and they were onlydifferent in this, that one of them was a boy and the other one was agirl. Nobody was able to tell how this had happened, and, for the firsttime in their lives, the Philosophers were forced to admire an eventwhich they had been unable to prognosticate; but having proved by manydifferent methods that the children were really children, that whatmust be must be, that a fact cannot be controverted, and that whathas happened once may happen twice, they described the occurrenceas extraordinary but not unnatural, and submitted peacefully to aProvidence even wiser than they were.
The Philosopher who had the boy was very pleased because, he said, therewere too many women in the world, and the Philosopher who had the girlwas very pleased also because, he said, you cannot have too much of agood thing: the Grey Woman and the Thin Woman, however, were not in theleast softened by maternity-they said that they had not bargained forit, that the children were gotten under false presences, that they wererespectable married women, and that, as a protest against their wrongs,they would not cook any more food for the Philosophers. This waspleasant news for their husbands, who disliked the women's cookingvery much, but they did not say so, for the women would certainlyhave insisted on their rights to cook had they imagined their husbandsdisliked the results: therefore, the Philosophers besought their wivesevery day to cook one of their lovely dinners again, and this the womenalways refused to do.
They all lived together in a small house in the very centre of a darkpine wood. Into this place the sun never shone because the shade was toodeep, and no wind ever came there either, because the boughs were toothick, so that it was the most solitary and quiet place in the world,and the Philosophers were able to hear each other thinking all day long,or making speeches to each other, and these were the pleasantestsounds they knew of. To them there were only two kinds of soundsanywhere—these were conversation and noise: they liked the first verymuch indeed, but they spoke of the second with stern disapproval, and,even when it was made by a bird, a breeze, or a shower of rain, theygrew angry and demanded that it should be abolished. Their wives seldomspoke at all and yet they were never silent: they communicated with eachother by a kind of physical telegraphy which they had learned among theShee-they cracked their finger-joints quickly or slowly and so were ableto communicate with each other over immense distances, for by dint oflong practice they could make great explosive sounds which were nearlylike thunder, and gentler sounds like the tapping of grey ashes on ahearthstone. The Thin Woman hated her own child, but she loved the GreyWoman's baby, and the Grey Woman loved the Thin Woman's infant but couldnot abide her own. A compromise may put an end to the most perplexingof situations, and, consequently, the two women swapped children, andat once became the most tender and amiable mothers imaginable, and thefamilies were able to live together in a more perfect amity than couldbe found anywhere else.
The children grew in grace and comeliness. At first the little boy wasshort and fat and the little girl was long and thin, then the littlegirl became round and chubby while the little boy grew lanky and wiry.This was because the little girl used to sit very quiet and be good andthe little boy used not.
They lived for many years in the deep seclusion of the pine wood whereina perpetual twilight reigned, and here they were wont to play theirchildish games, flitting among the shadowy trees like little quickshadows. At times their mothers, the Grey Woman and the Thin Woman,played with them, but this was seldom, and sometimes their fathers, thetwo Philosophers, came out and looked at them through spectacles whichwere very round and very glassy, and had immense circles of horn allround the edges. They had, however, other playmates with whom they couldromp all day long. There were hundreds of rabbits running about in thebrushwood; they were full of fun and were very fond of playing with thechildren. There were squirrels who joined cheerfully in their games, andsome goats, having one day strayed in from the big world, were made sowelcome that they always came again whenever they got the chance. Therewere birds also, crows and blackbirds and willy-wagtails, who were wellacquainted with the youngsters, and visited them as frequently as theirbusy lives permitted.
At a short distance from their home there was a clearing in the woodabout ten feet square; through this clearing, as through a funnel, thesun for a few hours in the summer time blazed down. It was the boy whofirst discovered the strange radiant shaft in the wood. One day he hadbeen sent out to collect pine cones for the fire. As these were gathereddaily the supply immediately near the house was scanty, therefore hehad, while searching for more, wandered further from his home thanusual. The first sight of the extraordinary blaze astonished him. Hehad never seen anything like it before, and the steady, unwinking glarearoused his fear and curiosity equally. Curiosity will conquer feareven more than bravery will; indeed, it has led many people into dangerswhich mere physical courage would shudder away from, for hunger and loveand curiosity are the great impelling forces of life. When the littleboy found that the light did not move he drew closer to it, and at last,emboldened by curiosity, he stepped right into it and found that it wasnot a thing at all. The instant that he stepped into the light he foundit was hot, and this so frightened him that he jumped out of it againand ran behind a tree. Then he jumped into it for a moment and out of itagain, and for nearly half an hour he played a splendid game of tip andtig with the sunlight. At last he grew quite bold and stood in it andfound that it did not burn him at all, but he did not like to remainin it, fearing that he might be cooked. When he went home with the pinecones he said nothing to the Grey Woman of Dun Gortin or to the ThinWoman of Inis Magrath or to the two Philosophers, but he told the littlegirl all about it when they went to bed, and every day afterwards theyused to go and play with the sunlight, and the rabbits and the squirrelswould follow them there and join in their games with twice the interestthey had shown before.
Chapter II
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To the lonely house in the pine wood people sometimes came for adviceon subjects too recondite for even those extremes of elucidation, theparish priest and the tavern. These people were always well received,and their perplexities were attended to instantly, for the Philosophersliked being wise and they were not ashamed to put their learning tothe proof, nor were they, as so many wise people are, fearful lest theyshould become poor or less respected by giving away their knowledge.These were favourite maxims with them:
You must be fit to give before you can be fit to receive.
Knowledge becomes lumber in a week, therefore, get rid of it.
The box must be emptied before it can be refilled.
Refilling is progress.
A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
The Grey Woman and th