"Why does God let anything die, when He is so good?"
"My mother said it was not God who sent death into the world," she replied, "but sin; and God and sin cannot dwell together."
"What is sin?" asked the Child.
"It is when we are fretful or unkind, or when we are loving ourselves best," she said.
And then she told him all she knew about the beautiful Garden, and the two happy people for whom God made it all; and of the Enemy who tempted them to distrust God's love and disobey Him. And since then, she said, sin and death had never left the world.
The Child looked very much perplexed and grieved, and asked if that was the end of all God had made so good and happy?
Then the little maiden told him another story of wonderful love and sorrow: of One, great and good and glorious above all, who left the happy heavens and came down to bear all the sin; of His poor cradle in the manger, about which the angels came to sing; of His being so poor that He had not where to lay His head; of His walking about teaching until He was weary; of the sick people He healed; of the little dead girl whose cold hand He touched, and she sat up and began to speak; of His taking little children in His arms, laying His hands on them, and blessing them; and then of where the cruel people stretched those kind arms which had been folded so tenderly around their little ones;—until the Child hid his face on the mossy bank where they were sitting, and wept as if his heart would break.
Tears were in the little maiden's eyes also, yet she was frightened to see him sob so bitterly, and tried to comfort him; but he only wept on and sobbed out,—
"O sister! I cannot bear to live, since He is dead!"
Then the maiden's eyes glistened with joy, and she took his hands, and said,—