WHITE DUCK 113 



room for another here and have a laugh at her ex- 

 pense." 



Here the reader must be told that the part of a man 

 which survives death is in appearance the exact coun- 

 terpart of the man when alive. To mortal eyes he is 

 invisible, being of so thin a substance ; but the dead 

 and immortal see him as he was, young or old and ugly, 

 with his grey hair and wrinkles and every sign of 

 suffering and care and passion on his countenance. 

 And as with the face and the whole body so it is with 

 the mind : if it has been evil, full of spite and malice, 

 it is so still. But he must be told, too, that this state 

 is not permanent, for in that bright and buoyant 

 atmosphere it is impossible for the marks of age and 

 misery to endure ; they fade out as the easy, happy 

 existence finds its effect ; they grow youthful in ap- 

 pearance once more ; and the change is also in the 

 mind. The old woman had, alas ! not been long 

 enough in that happy land for any change to have 

 taken place in either her appearance or her spiteful 

 temper. 



That was how the people by the lake no sooner 

 beheld the newcomer than they knew her for what she 

 had been, and was still — a spiteful old woman ; and 

 being of a merry disposition they were only too ready 

 to take part in the joke. As she drew near they closed 

 up and cried out : " No room for another fisher here ; 

 go further on and find yourself a place." 



On she went ; but those who were further up saw 

 what the fun was, and they too in their turn cried : 

 8 



