THE OLD WOMAN AND THE ENCHANTED SONG.
Ruth had two sisters,--Grace and Jessie. Now Grace and Jessie weretwins, and everybody praised their blue eyes and rosy cheeks, and whenthey laughed, people said, "How sweetly they smile!"--and when theywept, people said, "Poor little ones!" and immediately took them intheir arms, and strove to bring back the dimpling smile to their faces.
Grace and Jessie played together always, and little Ruth, who wasyounger than either of them, was left often alone. No one ever calledher beautiful, nor stroked her hair, nor kissed her brow; and when shestood by the side of the twin sisters at the gate, and the people, inpassing, praised the flaxen curls of Grace and Jessie, then they wouldturn towards her, and, their smiles vanishing, they would regard herwith a pitiful air, turning silently away. Then she would creep off byherself into some favorite nook of the garden, thoroughly ashamed thatshe should so far have forgotten herself as to stand by the side of herbeautiful sisters.
Her mother, too, often took her in her lap, and, kissing her browsorrowfully, would exclaim, in sad tones:
"My poor, plain child,--my dear homely Ruth!"
Her father never caressed her. His love seemed to be kept for the twins,whose two bright faces peered over his chair, and whose glad voices werealways ready to greet him on his return home.
And still Ruth loved her father so much, and, nestling close in thecorner of the garden away off by herself, mourned that he never kissedher, nor called her his dear, pretty Ruth.
"O," thought the child, "how I do wish I could do something for myfather, which might please him, so that only once he might call me hisdear child! O, why was not I made a twin?" Thus the poor child mournedto herself.
She had a doll, which she made her constant companion, and she played itwas very lovely like Grace and Jessie; she told it all her griefs, andreally came to feel that the doll understood all she said to it.
She had also another pleasure; it was that of reading. Her mother hadgiven her many books, and she loved to sit among the rose-bushes, andread their beautiful stories. She liked to read about a man who livedoff alone upon an island, and had only some cats and monkeys for hiscompanions; how the cave was his house, and the skins of beasts were hisgarments; how he looked off upon the ocean, and saw not one sail, andwandered about upon his island, without hearing one human sound.
This story had a wild fascination for our little Ruth, so that she readit again and again; yet still the book was as new to her in its interestas at first.
Then there were other stories she loved to read; some about lonely,patient, lovely young girls, who went out into the world alone to seektheir fortunes, and returned home with wealth and honor. She oftenwished she might go forth in this way, so that when she came back no oneshould dare call her plain or unlovable. Then she longed to hold somesecret charm, so that whoever she should desire to do so, should loveand caress her. But still no bright fairy stooped down from the skies tochange her black, stiff hair into shining ringlets, or her dark-brownskin into the fairness of that of her sisters; and so Ruth only read,and wondered, and wished.
One day when, as usual, Ruth had found herself quite alone,--Grace andJessie had gone to take a walk, and her mother was reading byherself,--she had taken her book, and sat down beneath the shade of abroad tree in the garden. She was reading the story of a fair princess,who had many suitors and splendid gifts, and who was called the Queen ofBeauty.
"Alas!" she cried, "why was not I beautiful, so I might be loved! Then Ishould not be the sober, odd thing I am now!"
"Would you, then, so much like to be beautiful, dear child?" said avoice close at her side, and, when Ruth looked up, she saw an old womanwhom she never had seen before. She was clothed in a long blue dress,and her face was full of motherly love. Ruth's heart was filled withgladness, for seldom had so affectionate a glance been shed on her; andwhen the old woman bent down and kissed her, how all remembrance of theindifference of father, mother, friends, vanished from her mind, and itseemed that her whole life was given to her new friend, that she mightdo with her whatever she willed!
All strangeness at her sudden appearance vanished, too, as soon as shehad kissed her. Ruth felt under the control of a great power, andwatched her movements with as much love as confidence.
When the old woman had looked into Ruth's eyes, and had seen thethoughts which beamed there, she looked up into the sky, and beckoned toa very light, beautiful cloud, which was sailing carelessly along.
She had no sooner done this than the cloud began to descend slowlytowards them, just as though it understood her summons, and, when ithad reached the place where she stood, it remained motionless.
THE OLD WOMAN AND THE ENCHANTED SONG.]
Then she took up little Ruth in her arms, and stepped on to the cloudand sat down; and, after arranging herself and Ruth quite comfortably,she said something, which Ruth could not understand, and then the cloudbegan to rise, moving as easily as it had done before it came down fromthe sky.
While they were going up, Ruth was amazed to see how the garden and thebeloved tree below became continually smaller and smaller; how,by-and-by, she could only distinguish the house, and how that becamedimmer and dimmer, until it entirely disappeared from her sight.
Then she turned towards the old woman, and saw that her kind blue eyeslovingly regarded her; and so she still more forgot the home below,where, without doubt, her departure would pass unnoticed.
New objects began to attract her attention. The cloud on which they satdid not, like the others, just float over the earth, but it went proudlyon, and came among the stars, and constellations of stars, and she sawhow many were clustered together, and no tongue could describe theirbeauty; and then the deep blue was ever about her, and she saw it awayoff in the distance, growing to a darker and darker shade, until itbecame like the air of midnight; while ever from its darkness shone outthose immense stars, and clusters of stars.
Then the most beautiful sight of all was when some star glided past her,and shot afar off into the dark blue beyond--there was such dazzlingglory in it!
Sometimes they would be quite near enough to the stars they passed todiscern the people who dwelt upon them, and she felt for them afriendship at once, and only longed that she might go down and tell themso.
The child had forgotten she was plain and odd; she did not think to askherself whether the people on those bright stars, so beautiful andhappy, might not repulse her for her homeliness.
At last they did approach one bright star, and Ruth saw, to her delight,that, when the cloud had come down into a lovely garden, the old womanstepped off from it, then took her up also, and placed her on theground. Then the cloud, which had been their chariot (and a far betterone it was than ever king had to be drawn in), rose upward, and beganits gentle course in the sky.
When the old woman saw how Ruth looked after it, she said to her:
"I use all the clouds in that way, more or less, and all those aboutyour earth do many such a service while the people little dream of it.In fact, every one there looks down upon the ground too much; they haveno idea of the goodly things they would find if they searched upwardsmore."
The old woman sighed as she said this. Such a happy and pleasant lookingold woman to have sighed so deeply!
Then she took Ruth's hand, and led her towards her cottage, which wasthe most beautiful thing you ever could imagine. Without, it had thetints of the mother-of-pearl, while its framework was of silver. Thewindows and doors were of diamonds, and there sparkled from themcontinually all the rich tints of the rainbow. Within, everything waswrought of the finest silver, and the rooms were hung, some in delicateblue silk, others in rose colors.
Ruth was entirely overwhelmed with the beauty of the house,--so much so,as to stand still, looking at the things about her.
"You must be tired with your long ride," the woman said, "and I wish youto rest well; for there are many things I will show you. After you haverested, I will bring you some food."
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nbsp; And, with this, she put Ruth upon a sofa, and made her lay quite down,to refresh herself with sleep. But Ruth thought, in her heart, "Rest!Does she think I can be tired, when I have been sitting upon that softcloud, looking at the wonderful stars? How could I ever be either tiredor hungry?" But she said nothing aloud, for the charm of the old woman'spresence hovered over her, and, as soon as she closed her eyes, she fellinto a soft and beautiful slumber.
O the dreams Ruth dreamed then! Strangely enough, she thought her fatherand mother, as well as Grace and Jessie, were riding and playing onclouds; and they were all so happy together, and they seemed to love hervery dearly; so that, in her dream, she remembered nothing of theirformer neglect. She dreamed how her father called her to him, and laidhis hand upon her head; and it was _such_ a gentle pressure, and it madeher so happy, that she awoke,--and there really was a gentle hand uponher head, and a soft kiss fell upon her lips,--such a touch, and such akiss, as poor Ruth had scarce ever known before, and which made herquickly twine her arms around the old woman's neck, and kiss her warmly.
Then the old woman put her in one of the silver-wrought chairs, and putbefore her, on plates sparkling with precious stones, soft, ripe fruit,with a delicious flavor, such as she had never before tasted. She couldnot help thinking how glad Grace and Jessie would be to see such beforethem; and so, as at that moment she looked up, and saw the old womansmiling upon her, she took two of the most beautiful and the largest ofthe fruit and put them in her pocket, for she had no doubt but what, atsome time, all too soon, she should go back to the earth.
When she had done this, and finished her delicious repast, which,however, was slowly, for she was so filled with delight, the old womanbade her leave her chair, and come to her; upon which she took her inher arms, and, looking lovingly down upon her, said:
"My dear Ruth, I am going to show you all the treasures which thechildren upon the earth gather together, in order some time to take withthem to heaven. I call their treasures what they love most in theirhearts, and put into actions. Everything they do or say is kept verycarefully; for one day they will want them. So you see they cannot loseanything. Everything in nature, every cloud that seems only leisurelyfloating in the sky, is serving some purpose. And all that is done belowis borne up here."
Ruth could not help thinking that the old woman might show her some verybeautiful and some very curious things to keep; and in sorrow she beganto think what unpleasant things of her own were treasured up, to begiven back to her some day when she least expected or desired them.
But the old woman said nothing about Ruth's things, but, taking herhand, led her forth into the garden again.
"I am going to show you some things there are here," said her friend;"and if they seem ridiculous to you, don't laugh at them. For my part, Ithink it sad children will treasure up such miserable things."
They had soon passed into the garden, where Ruth saw the most delicateflowers she had ever seen--they were so tall, and nodded their headsgayly to each other; but when she came to a bed of violets--white onesand blue, _so large_, larger than she thought it was possible for themto grow--she stopped to gaze upon them in complete admiration; thefragrance, too, was delicious--more so than those her brother had,although those were very fine ones.
"Take some, my child," said the old woman, who watched her delight witha kind smile. So down upon her knees she dropped, and took them, and shecould not help thinking how beautiful and lovely a smile would fall uponher from her mother's face, as she gave them to her. So the violets,too, were carefully laid in her pocket for her mother.
Then they passed out from the garden, and came to a gray house; witheredflowers lay about it, while briers and nettle-bushes clung to its walls;but, worse than all this, there came forth from the house angry, hatefulwords, and noises of a mad strife. Ruth feared to pass this place, andclung closely to the old woman's side.
"Here," said the old woman, kindly putting her arm around Ruth, "arekept all those angry words which children speak to each other and theirfriends; all their little fretful words when they are impatient, andwhich they will never wish to see again, but which, alas! will be givenback to them at a most unwelcome time."
Then they went on to another house, the walls of which were black, andnot a green thing grew about it.
"There," said the old woman, "are the treasures of those children whocare most for themselves, and do not think of others' pleasures. Thosethings which they have so loved are kept carefully for them; but theywill only tell them of what they have done for themselves." So sheopened the door, and Ruth looked in. There was such a medley of things!Candies of gay colors, nice waxen dolls, a great many broken toys, nicefruit, and, indeed, I could not begin to tell you of all Ruth saw there.There had come, too, a mould upon many of the things, so many of themhad grown tarnished; and a bad stench rose from some fruit which hadbeen there a long time.
"You see, my child," said the old woman, as she locked up the door,"these things cannot be preserved to look so brightly as when they werefirst brought here; they all grow rotten; and I cannot prevent the wormscreeping in to corrupt them."
Then they met some very black-looking clouds, loaded with things likethose Ruth had seen in the two houses, and they were put in with therest.
"Alas," she sighed, "that the children will send up these things!"
Ruth rejoiced to see that, with quick step, her kind guide passed bymany more such houses; for they terrified her. She feared she mighthear, if she listened well, some complaint she had uttered, or shouldsee some tarnished toy which she had selfishly treasured. No wonder sheliked to hasten by the houses!
Then they passed away from the dreary desert places where black houseswere, into beautiful plains where the grass was mingled with bright andlovely flowers, and rivulets gracefully flowed along; and here werelovely temples, shining with precious stones, so that Ruth clapped herhands at beholding them. "Here," said the old woman, "are more beautifultreasures, which are my great glory and delight."
She showed Ruth one, round which the whitest blossoms grew among greenleaves, in which were treasured all the smiles ever given to comfortpeople who had grief in their heart; and these smiles shed about thewhole temple a light like a halo of glory.
In another were the soft, loving words which many children had givenothers, poorer and lowlier than themselves, to encourage their weakhearts; words which they had given and forgotten, but which had yet beencarefully gathered up, and put in this temple. From this temple a lowsound of sweet music rose, which filled Ruth's heart with a perfectpeace, as if she had found everything she could ever desire.
In another temple yet were all the words of love, which children expressand feel in their hearts to each other. From this temple proceededlouder tones, but yet those of sweetest harmony.
In another, all the gentle, loving words ever whispered to the animals.
"I prize these highly," said the old woman.
"It is very strange," said she, looking upon the temples, "that I findthese precious treasures thrown about very carelessly upon the earth.The children never dream of their worth, and were I not always readythere, some would be lost. But remember, Ruth, none are suffered to belost; and so, when the children to whom these belong are going intoheaven, they shall find there many a treasure they did not dream ofpossessing. Thus shall the treasures they had forgotten grow brighterand brighter, while others they had perhaps remembered have growncorrupted and vain!"
At these words, Ruth longed to lay many treasures in the temples, andshe heard a song, which the different tones of the temple formed in theair. It melted her heart with its divine harmony.
"O," cried Ruth "could I but sing such a song to my father! he who lovessongs so well. What joy it would be to him!"
"And would you patiently sing the song though he thanked you not?" askedthe old woman.
"I desire him only to hear it," replied Ruth; and at that moment thepower came to her, and such a song poured from her throat!
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he was so enchanted! But, when glancing in the brook, she saw her ownfigure so lit up with beauty as scarcely to be able to recognize it. Theold woman saw her amazement, and replied to it:
"I will send you back to your home that you may sing this song to yourfather; and remember, little Ruth, that beauty only is worthy to havewhich proceeds from the sweetness of thy words and the loveliness of thysmile. In heaven thou mayst be as lovely as thou wilt. Send up, then,fit treasures for the temple, and they will be kept safely until thouneedest them."
Then, as the tones of the old woman's voice died away, Ruth foundherself in the garden again, near her mother's house, and, had it notbeen for the fruit and bunch of violets in her pocket, she would havebelieved it a dream; but, when she went into the house, and gave Graceand Jessie the peaches, and her mother the big, beautiful violets, andbegan doing all sorts of kind things for every one, she felt how veryreal it all had been. And then, too, she would sing that beautiful songshe had heard in the old woman's star, and her father, delighted, caughther up in his arms, kissing her again and again.
Ruth did not forget what the old woman had told her--how she might bringthe beauty of heaven about her form; and when she grew up people lovedher, and said, "I would rather look like Ruth, to smile and speak likeher, than to have the brightest hair and bluest eyes of any courtbeauty."