“ ‘You shall have also twelve years of the dog’s life thereto.’
“ ‘Still too little,’ replied the man.
“ ‘Then you may have the ten years allowed to the monkey, but you must desire no more.’
“Man was then obliged to leave, but he was not satisfied.
“Thus man lives seventy years. The first thirty are the days of his manhood, which pass quickly away; he is then strong and lusty, works with pleasure, and rejoices in his being. Then follow the eighteen years of the life of the horse which brings in its train burdens which he must bear from the rising to the setting of the sun, and wherein blame and abuse often reward him for [[280]]his labours. Next come the twelve years of the dog, during which man has to sit in corners, because he has lost the power to bark and bite. And when this time is up the ten years of the monkey bring the close of the scene, for in these man becomes foolish, gabbers and jabbers without end, and is fit for nothing but——”
The elfin paused, and gazed earnestly at the mortal.
“But what?” cried the old man.
“But—Death. The portal which leads into the vast unknown, and from which we elves are debarred,” responded the fairy.
“And what is Death?”
“A certainty, O mortal, for all thy race. No more or less than that. Ere I go hence from thee for ever hear this fable:—