But now Summer raised his voice:
“Men have the power,” he said, “and we can do nothing to prevent it. They have become too many for us and too clever, as Winter has said. In the beginning, I had nothing against them. They ran in the forest like my other creatures and hunted and fought and bore their children under the foliage. They obeyed the law of life, as I had laid it down, and I granted that to them just as much as to the stag and the sparrow and the worm.”
“The first time they saw me they wrapped themselves in skins and hid themselves in holes,” said Winter, angrily.
“That was their right,” replied Summer, calmly. “Every single being that I have created seeks protection against your wickedness, if he cannot fly the land during your reign. But men are no longer what they were. They no longer hunt freely and bravely in the wood. Their colour has become pale, their arms weak, their hearts craven. For years at a time, their children are feeble and helpless. Men are wretched creatures that deserve to die; and I would not say a word against it if Winter killed them all. For they do not reign because they are the strongest, but because they have studied all the world’s subtle contrivances and devices. That is what gives them their power upon earth.”
“Let us extirpate them!” roared Winter.
“We cannot do that,” replied the Prince of Summer. “They have adapted the earth entirely to suit their own needs. They have exterminated some of my animals and plants, because these were of no use nor pleasure to them; others they have disseminated everywhere. And all that they take into their service become weak and sickly like unto themselves, tied to them and dependent upon them, so that they can yield them the advantages which they need, but are no longer allowed to lead the free life for which they were created. I hate men, as the Prince of Winter hates them. But there is no remedy against their might.”
He ceased speaking. The three princes stared despondently before them. But Spring plucked gaily at the strings of his lute.
Then Winter turned to him and said, roughly:
“You are the only one that has not spoken. What harm do men do you?”
“Tell us!” demanded Autumn.