Where the fallen star once more grows bright
That fell into darkness out of the height—
Far away! far away!
Let me win there ere the break of day,
Ere the first faint light o’er the hills grows grey,
I am tired of my work and tired of my play,
And I’ll make better songs in the land far away,—
Far away! far away!
The voice ceased; but the music of the lyre still flowed on, and the minstrel looked upwards towards the sky. No word of cruelty had been in the song; but through the music her first knowledge of gentleness came to the child, and she saw that she had been cruel. She crouched there amid the tall rank grasses; her face had grown whiter and whiter; her eyes were strained and piteous, but there was no tear in them. With trembling fingers she unfastened the living fluttering necklace, and gently killed all the butterflies to spare them torture. Then she flung herself prone on the ground, with her forehead on her linked hands; her red lips quivered a little, but the relief of tears came not. “Ah!” she moaned, “why was I so cruel? Why did I never know?” The wind played with her hair, moving it caressingly.
As the child lay there, and the minstrel played on and on, the sky above grew darker. There was no need now for pleasant shade. Over the line of grey hills that seemed to be the end of the world rested the storm-clouds, black and purple. Suddenly the air became quite still, as if it were waiting for something. Was it the roar of the lion or the voice of the storm that sounded dimly afar off?