BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 47 



and cold in the sky ; but the bright impression all 

 things made on him gave him a joy that was perennial. 

 The briony, woodbine, and honeysuckle he had 

 looked on withered in the hedges, but their pre- 

 sentments flourished untouched by frost, as if his 

 warmth sustained and gave them perpetual life ; 

 in that inner magical world of memory the birds 

 still twittered and warbled, each after its kind, and 

 the sun shone everlastingly. But he was living in a 

 fool's paradise, as he discovered by and by when a 

 boy who had been his playmate began to grow thin 

 and pale, and at last fell sick and died. He crept 

 near and watched his dead companion lying motion- 

 less, unbreathing, with a face that was like white 

 clay ; and then, more horrible still, he saw him 

 taken out and put into a grave, and the heavy cold 

 soil cast over him. 



What did this strange and terrible thing mean 5" 

 Now for the first time he was told that life is ours 

 only for a season ; that we also, like the leaves and 

 flowers, flourish for a while, then fade and perish, 

 and mingle with the dust. The sad knowledge had 

 come too suddenly and in too vivid and dreadful 

 a manner. He could not endure it. Only for a 

 season ! — only for a season ! The earth would be 

 green, and the sky blue, and the sun shine bright 

 for ever, and he would not see, not know it I Struck 

 with anguish at the thought, he stole away out of 



