‘Any second Thursday, you know, my dear,’ wailed a voice from the heart of the flames.
ADVANCED THOUGHT AND THE FOOLISH IDLER
THERE once came to a small town a certain man renowned throughout the country for his general wisdom and his knowledge of social philosophy. A meeting was arranged, so that the inhabitants might learn something of the great social questions of the day. The majority of the townsfolk went to the meeting, and were well rewarded, for the social philosopher spoke at great length. Throughout his address, he continually referred to Demos and never without some touch of scorn. These contemptuous references to Demos were apparently understood and approved of by all present, with one strange exception.
For there was one fellow at this meeting who never should have been there, a wild, half-witted fellow, noted throughout the town as an idler and one given over to foolish laughter and odd scraps of song. Now this fool, instead of holding his peace, immediately began to denounce the learned man because he had spoken of Demos.
‘Who is this Demos?’—the fool went about crying. ‘I have been in the place all my life and I have never met him. I know old Dan the fiddler and Barty the cobbler and his lame brother and Little Snike who gets drunk on wet days and Fat Meg and her lasses and Blind Peter and the other two beggars and Long John the Watchman and hundreds more. But I never met Demos here!’ And so he went on for days, until everybody in the place was chaffing him.
THE WONDERFUL VIEW
AGAL, the son of Iran-Ovor—the swordmaker, was a great traveller, and it is recorded of him that, once, journeying beyond Cathay, he came to the Court of the great emperor, Ol-fin, and there stayed many months. The emperor made much of Agal, and showed him all his marvellous treasures and many of the wonderful sights of the empire, that the traveller might spread the fame of Ol-fin.
One day, when Agal had announced his intention of returning to his own country, the emperor said: ‘I have one other thing for you to see, and it is the most wonderful of all. It was given to me by the great god Aoh. Come, I will show you.’ And he led him through the palace, along innumerable corridors, until they came to a narrow, steep flight of stairs. These they mounted, until they came to a small apartment which appeared to be at the top of a high tower.
It had but one window, which was closely shuttered. ‘O Agal, much-travelled one,’ cried the emperor, ‘you shall see a sight you have never seen before,’ and he flung back the shutters.
Agal looked through the window, and was amazed at what he saw. ‘The dust of seven times seven kingdoms has been about my feet,’ he cried, ‘yet I never saw such beauty before. Strange, that I know the sight, yet I have never seen it before. It must have come in dreams!’