Part 18 (2/2)

It wanted to beguile us with smiles.

But we shall sleep our hearts tonight in the sadness of the other sh.o.r.e.

Ah, the dear earth! The beautiful earth! She wants all that we have--the touch of our hands, the song of our hearts.

She wants to draw out from us all that is within, hidden even from ourselves.

This is her sorrow, that she finds out some things only to know that she has not found all. She loses before she attains.

Ah, the dear earth! We shall never deceive you.

(_They sing._)

_I shall crown you with my garland, before I take leave.

You ever spoke to me in all my joys and sorrows.

And now, at the end of the day, my own heart will break in speech.

Words came to me, but not the tune, and the song that I never sang to you remains hidden behind my tears._

Brother, did you notice that some one seemed to have pa.s.sed by?

The only thing you feel is this pa.s.sing by.

I felt the touch of the mantle of some wayfarer.

We came out to capture somebody, but now we feel the longing to be captured ourselves.

Ah, here comes the Minstrel. Where have you brought us? The breath of the wayfaring world touches us here,--the breath of the starry sky.

We came seeking a new form of play. But now we have forgotten what play it was.

We wanted to catch the Old Man.

And everybody said that he was terrifying, a bodiless head, a gaping mouth, a dragon eager to swallow the moon of the youth of the world. But now we are no longer afraid. The flowers go, the leaves go, the waves in the river go, and we shall also follow them. Ah, blind Minstrel, strike your lute and sing to us. Who knows what is the hour of the night?

(_The Minstrel sings._)

_Let me give my all to him, before I am asked, whom the world offers its all.

When I came to him for my gifts, I was not afraid; And I will not fear, when I come to him, to give up what I have.

The morning accepts his gold with songs, the evening pays him back the debt of gold and is glad.

The joy of the blooming flower comes to fruit with shedding of its leaves.

Hasten, my heart, and spend yourself in love, before the day is done._

Minstrel, why is Chandra still absent?

_Minstrel_

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