Part 51 (1/2)

Then one arose and said, ”Rocks are strong, but the All-Father is stronger.

Let us pray to Him to send the earthquakes, and blast the mountains asunder.”

So we sat down and prayed, but the earthquake did not come.

Then another arose and said, ”Rocks are strong, but the All-Father is stronger. If we are the children of the All-Father, we, too, are stronger than the rocks. Let us portion out the valley, to every man an equal plot of ground; and bring out the sacred seeds, and sow, and build, and come up with me and bore the mountain.”

And all said, ”It is the voice of G.o.d. We will go up with thee, and bore the mountain; and thou shalt be our king, for thou art wisest, and the spirit of the All-Father is on thee; and whosoever will not go up with thee shall die as a coward and an idler.”

So we went up; and in the morning we bored the mountain, and at night we came down and tilled the ground, and sowed wheat and barley, and planted orchards. And in the upper glens we met the mining dwarfs, and saw their tools of iron and copper, and their rock-houses and forges, and envied them. But they would give us none of them: then our king said--

”The All-Father has given all things and all wisdom. Woe to him who keeps them to himself: we will teach you to sow the sacred seeds; and do you teach us your smith-work or you die.”

Then the dwarf's taught us smith-work; and we loved them, for they were wise; and they married our sons and daughters; and we went on boring the mountain.

Then some of us arose and said, ”We are stronger than our brethren, and can till more ground than they. Give us a greater portion of land, to each according to his power.”

But the king said, ”Wherefore? that ye may eat and drink more than your brethren? Have you larger stomachs, as well as stronger arms? As much as a man needs for himself, that he may do for himself. The rest is the gift of the All-Father, and we must do His work therewith. For the sake of the women and the children, for the sake of the sick and the aged, let him that is stronger go up and work the harder at the mountain.” And all men said, ”It is well spoken.”

So we were all equal--for none took more than he needed; and we were all free, because we loved to obey the king by whom the spirit spoke; and we were all brothers, because we had one work, and one hope, and one All-Father.

But I grew up to be a man; and twenty years were past, and the mountain was not bored through; and the king grew old, and men began to love their flocks and herds better than quarrying, and they gave up boring through the mountain. And the strong and the cunning said, ”What can we do with all this might of ours?” So, because they had no other way of employing it, they turned it against each other, and swallowed up the heritage of the weak: and a few grew rich, and many poor; and the valley was filled with sorrow, for the land became too narrow for them.

Then I arose and said, ”How is this?” And they said, ”We must make provision for our children.”

And I answered, ”The All-Father meant neither you nor your children to devour your brethren. Why do you not break up more waste ground? Why do you not try to grow more corn in your fields?”

And they answered, ”We till the ground as our forefathers did: we will keep to the old traditions.”

And I answered, ”Oh ye hypocrites! have ye not forgotten the old traditions, that each man should have his equal share of ground, and that we should go on working at the mountain, for the sake of the weak and the children, the fatherless and the widow?”

And they answered nought for a while.

Then one said, ”Are we not better off as we are? We buy the poor man's ground for a price, and we pay him his wages for tilling it for us--and we know better how to manage it than he.”

And I said, ”Oh ye hypocrites! See how your lie works! Those who were free are now slaves. Those who had peace of mind are now anxious from day to day for their daily bread. And the mult.i.tude gets poorer and poorer, while ye grow fatter and fatter. If ye had gone on boring the mountain, ye would have had no time to eat up your brethren.”

Then they laughed and said, ”Thou art a singer of songs, and a dreamer of dreams. Let those who want to get through the mountain go up and bore it; we are well enough here. Come now, sing us pleasant songs, and talk no more foolish dreams, and we will reward thee.”

Then they brought out a veiled maiden, and said, ”Look! her feet are like ivory, and her hair like threads of gold; and she is the sweetest singer in the whole valley. And she shall be thine, if thou wilt be like other people, and prophesy smooth things unto us, and torment us no more with talk about liberty, equality, and brotherhood; for they never were, and never will be, on this earth. Living is too hard work to give in to such fancies.”

And when the maiden's veil was lifted, it was Lillian. And she clasped me round the neck, and cried, ”Come! I will be your bride, and you shall be rich and powerful; and all men shall speak well of you, and you shall write songs; and we will sing them together, and feast and play from dawn to dawn.”

And I wept; and turned me about, and cried, ”Wife and child, song and wealth, are pleasant; but blessed is the work which the All-Father has given the people to do. Let the maimed and the halt and the blind, the needy and the fatherless, come up after me, and we will bore the mountain.”

But the rich drove me out, and drove back those who would have followed me.

So I went up by myself, and bored the mountain seven years, weeping; and every year Lillian came to me, and said, ”Come, and be my husband, for my beauty is fading, and youth pa.s.ses fast away.” But I set my heart steadfastly to the work.

And when seven years were over, the poor were so multiplied, that the rich had not wherewith to pay their labour. And there came a famine in the land, and many of the poor died. Then the rich said, ”If we let these men starve, they will turn on us, and kill us, for hunger has no conscience, and they are all but like the beasts that perish.” So they all brought, one a bullock, another a sack of meal, each according to his substance, and fed the poor therewith; and said to them, ”Behold our love and mercy towards you!” But the more they gave, the less they had wherewithal to pay their labourers; and the more they gave, the less the poor liked to work; so that at last they had not wherewithal to pay for tilling the ground, and each man had to go and till his own, and knew not how; so the land lay waste, and there was great perplexity.

Then I went down to them and said, ”If you had hearkened to me, and not robbed your brethren of their land, you would never have come into this strait; for by this time the mountain would have been bored through.”