"But the man continued, 'It is not of that I came to speak; wonderful as it seemeth to me, even though it may have happened in such manner before, and though you may have given the mystery a name. But when this flash had passed, I felt, yet I did not feel, something strike me; it was as though I had received some mighty blow, yet nothing touched me, and my head throbbed with pain, and my thoughts became confused.'
"But the wise men laughing, replied, 'It seemeth to us that the confusion of thought hath still continued.'
"Then the old man brought forth a piece of flat metal, and a great iron rod which he used for some work; and he began once more to address his audience.
"'Yet,' he said, 'I have felt this sensation before, but not so strongly, even when I have struck these two, one against the other,' and he thereupon hit the metal plate a great blow. 'It is there!' he cried; 'once more I felt it pass through my brain.'
"Some of those present seemed also to feel a like sensation, and one rose up, addressing the assembly thus--
"'For many years reports of strange sensations have come to us from all countries and people; moreover, these reports all bear a great resemblance to each other. Is it not well that we should investigate the matter more fully than we have done hitherto?'
"But the greater number of those present was opposed to him, answering, that already these so-called impressions had been tested from time to time by scientific research, and that it had been proved beyond question that they were all founded on delusion, as they could not by any possibility have reached the brain through the sense of touch or sight or smell; and that, therefore, necessarily they did not reach it at all.
"So the man returned to his own place; but some of the common people, who read the report and had known similar impressions, were strengthened in a belief, which was gaining ground year by year, namely, that the wise men might perhaps not know everything, and that the learned of the future might even laugh at the learned of to-day, as the latter now mocked their predecessors.
"So the years went by, and the reports of wonders became more numerous and more confusing. Some said that they had language conveyed to them, which as yet they could hardly understand, and that this happened even when their eyes were closed and no person was near to them. A few even believed that they could partially understand this language, and these were placed under restraint as madmen.
"During all this turmoil, a child was born, which grew up fair and beautiful to look upon. None taught him, yet he became exceeding wise, though his knowledge was not the knowledge of the savants. He was born with the power of hearing developed, and soon learned the fairy language; and the bright spirits taught him more wisdom than was to be found in all the books of his world. But when he tried to convey to those around the glory of sound, the sweetness of the fairies' songs, the whispering melody of the leaves when the wind played with them, or the ceaseless music of the waves, he found that there were no words in the language capable of expressing his meaning, and had to try by parables to give even a faint idea of the inexpressible.