Then when doubting folk confront you,
Flout your faith or mock your fear,
Tell them of this wise man, won’t you?
Read them what’s recorded here.
Seymour Barnard.
XI
The Man Who Went to the Giants’ Country
As the world grew older and ways became stiffer, there came a dreadfully dull time when nothing ever happened by magic, and everything could be explained by a Reason. Worn out by this heavy atmosphere, the gods left the earth for the clouds, and the fairies vanished into moonlight and mist.
As for the giants, who had been so neighborly, they disappeared altogether. No frightened herdboy following a cry through the moonlit forest, came upon their towering figures. No Indian pushing out over the misty sea was hailed by a giant canoe.