"Then what will happen now?" asked the Damsel, placing herself in the direction in which the Sage had turned his head.
"The Bird of Paradise will still be the most beautiful and glorious and desirable bird in the world; and when the man realizes he has lost it forever he will begin to value its every feather, and will spend his days in comparing all its remembered perfections and advantages with the screams and the yellow feathers of the Cockatoo."
"And what will the Cockatoo do?" inquired the Damsel.
"It will probably continue to shriek 'Pretty Poll,' and eat sugar out of the hand of any stranger," replied the Sage, plucking his heard.
"And the man?"
"The man will go on telling every one he has bought the most divine bird in the world, in the hope that some one will offer him a large sum of money for it. The only person who gains in the affair is the Bird of Paradise, who, instead of being caged as when in the possession of the man, is absolutely free to fly with its new master, Circumstance, who only seeks to please and soothe this glorious bird and make life fair for it."
"But what will be the very end?" persisted the Damsel.
The Sage turned and looked full at her. He was angry with her importunity and would have answered sternly.
Then he saw that the ripples of her hair were golden and his voice softened.
"That will depend—upon Circumstance," he replied, and he closed his door softly in her face.