第28章 THE STAR-CHILD(3)

And the Woodcutter answered,'Yea,it was in the forest that Ifound him,and it is ten years from this day.'

'And what signs didst thou find with him?'she cried.'Bare he not upon his neck a chain of amber?Was not round him a cloak of gold tissue broidered with stars?'

'Truly,'answered the Woodcutter,'it was even as thou sayest.'

And he took the cloak and the amber chain from the chest where they lay,and showed them to her.

And when she saw them she wept for joy,and said,'He is my little son whom I lost in the forest.I pray thee send for him quickly,for in search of him have I wandered over the whole world.'

So the Woodcutter and his wife went out and called to the Star-Child,and said to him,'Go into the house,and there shalt thou find thy mother,who is waiting for thee.'

So he ran in,filled with wonder and great gladness.But when he saw her who was waiting there,he laughed scornfully and said,'Why,where is my mother?For I see none here but this vile beggar-woman.'

And the woman answered him,'I am thy mother.'

'Thou art mad to say so,'cried the Star-Child angrily.'I am no son of thine,for thou art a beggar,and ugly,and in rags.

Therefore get thee hence,and let me see thy foul face no more.'

'Nay,but thou art indeed my little son,whom I bare in the forest,'she cried,and she fell on her knees,and held out her arms to him.'The robbers stole thee from me,and left thee to die,'she murmured,'but I recognised thee when I saw thee,and the signs also have I recognised,the cloak of golden tissue and the amber chain.Therefore I pray thee come with me,for over the whole world have I wandered in search of thee.Come with me,my son,for I have need of thy love.'

But the Star-Child stirred not from his place,but shut the doors of his heart against her,nor was there any sound heard save the sound of the woman weeping for pain.

And at last he spoke to her,and his voice was hard and bitter.

'If in very truth thou art my mother,'he said,'it had been better hadst thou stayed away,and not come here to bring me to shame,seeing that I thought I was the child of some Star,and not a beggar's child,as thou tellest me that I am.Therefore get thee hence,and let me see thee no more.'

'Alas!my son,'she cried,'wilt thou not kiss me before I go?For I have suffered much to find thee.'

'Nay,'said the Star-Child,'but thou art too foul to look at,and rather would I kiss the adder or the toad than thee.'

So the woman rose up,and went away into the forest weeping bitterly,and when the Star-Child saw that she had gone,he was glad,and ran back to his playmates that he might play with them.

But when they beheld him coming,they mocked him and said,'Why,thou art as foul as the toad,and as loathsome as the adder.Get thee hence,for we will not suffer thee to play with us,'and they drave him out of the garden.

And the Star-Child frowned and said to himself,'What is this that they say to me?I will go to the well of water and look into it,and it shall tell me of my beauty.'

So he went to the well of water and looked into it,and lo!his face was as the face of a toad,and his body was sealed like an adder.And he flung himself down on the grass and wept,and said to himself,'Surely this has come upon me by reason of my sin.For I have denied my mother,and driven her away,and been proud,and cruel to her.Wherefore I will go and seek her through the whole world,nor will I rest till I have found her.'

And there came to him the little daughter of the Woodcutter,and she put her hand upon his shoulder and said,'What doth it matter if thou hast lost thy comeliness?Stay with us,and I will not mock at thee.'

And he said to her,'Nay,but I have been cruel to my mother,and as a punishment has this evil been sent to me.Wherefore I must go hence,and wander through the world till I find her,and she give me her forgiveness.'

So he ran away into the forest and called out to his mother to come to him,but there was no answer.All day long he called to her,and,when the sun set he lay down to sleep on a bed of leaves,and the birds and the animals fled from him,for they remembered his cruelty,and he was alone save for the toad that watched him,and the slow adder that crawled past.

And in the morning he rose up,and plucked some bitter berries from the trees and ate them,and took his way through the great wood,weeping sorely.And of everything that he met he made inquiry if perchance they had seen his mother.

He said to the Mole,'Thou canst go beneath the earth.Tell me,is my mother there?'

And the Mole answered,'Thou hast blinded mine eyes.How should Iknow?'

He said to the Linnet,'Thou canst fly over the tops of the tall trees,and canst see the whole world.Tell me,canst thou see my mother?'

And the Linnet answered,'Thou hast clipt my wings for thy pleasure.How should I fly?'

And to the little Squirrel who lived in the fir-tree,and was lonely,he said,'Where is my mother?'

And the Squirrel answered,'Thou hast slain mine.Dost thou seek to slay thine also?'

And the Star-Child wept and bowed his head,and prayed forgiveness of God's things,and went on through the forest,seeking for the beggar-woman.And on the third day he came to the other side of the forest and went down into the plain.

And when he passed through the villages the children mocked him,and threw stones at him,and the carlots would not suffer him even to sleep in the byres lest he might bring mildew on the stored corn,so foul was he to look at,and their hired men drave him away,and there was none who had pity on him.Nor could he hear anywhere of the beggar-woman who was his mother,though for the space of three years he wandered over the world,and often seemed to see her on the road in front of him,and would call to her,and run after her till the sharp flints made his feet to bleed.But overtake her he could not,and those who dwelt by the way did ever deny that they had seen her,or any like to her,and they made sport of his sorrow.