“Even so, my son.” Then he stooped down, knelt upon his knees, and kissed the earth solemnly, and when he rose there was a smile upon his face.
Then the lad said: “When I was the son of a governor I loved to play with the golden balls, to shoot at the target for pearls, and to ride the flamingo down; now I would grind the corn which thou didst reap, and with oil make seed-cakes for our supper, and sit quiet with thee in thy doorway.” Then he too stooped down and kissed the earth, and rose up again with a smile upon his face.
And as they went the earth seemed suddenly to blossom anew, the glory of the Scarlet Hills burst upon them, and they could hear bugles calling far off and see giant figures trooping along the hills, all scarlet too, with streaming hair. And presently, near to a lake, there was a great gateway, and perched upon a rock near it a chateau of divine proportions, on which was written above the perfect doorway:
“The Keeper of the House awaits thee. Enter into Quiet.”
And they entered, and were possessed of an incomparable peace. And then came to them an old man of noble countenance, with eye neither dimmed nor sunken, and cheek dewy as a child’s, and his voice was like an organ when it plays the soft thanksgiving of a mother.
“Why did ye kiss the earth as ye travelled?” he asked. Then they told him, each with his own tongue, and he smiled upon them and questioned them of all their speech by the way; and they answered him all honestly and with gladness, for the searching of their hearts was a joy and relief. But he looked most lovingly upon the lad.
“Wouldst thou, then, indeed enter the quiet country?” he asked.
And the lad answered: “I have lived so long in the noise!”
“Thou hast learned all, thou hast lived all,” he answered the boy. “Beyond the Hills of Scarlet there is quiet, and thou shalt dwell there, thou and he. Ye have the perfect desire—Go in peace, and know that though ye are of different years, as men count time, God’s clock strikes the same for both; for both are of equal knowledge, and have the same desire at last.”
Then, lifting up his hands, he said: “O children of men! O noisy world! when will ye learn the delectable way?”