"I shall paint it with beautiful colours—"
"And then?"
"Then I shall put it into the oven and bake it, so that the shape and the colours will stand fast."
The visitor hesitates. At length, he asks, "You do not make them all alike? Some are plain and homely; some are beautiful, and I suppose costly?"
The potter smiles, as he rises and places his jar on a shelf out of harm's way.
"Well, sir," he says, "it's just as I choose to make them! Some are so precious in my eyes that I love to look at them; some turn out so badly, that I have to mould the clay over again. Just as I like, sir; just as I like! It is my clay, and my work; but I want the pieces that I make, to come out beautiful and lovely."
I shall paint it with beautiful colours.
So the potter takes another lump of clay, and goes to his wheel again; and the visitor, thanking him very much for his kindness, turns away thoughtfully.
Had he not read somewhere in his Bible about the Clay and the Potter?