Then she thought on what might have been her fate—on love unknown and hopes shattered.
Again her courage and resolution vanished, and she trembled. She longed with every fibre of her being for some creature to speak with. She almost began to talk to the birds and lizards.
Suddenly her heart stood still with joy—she heard through the trees the twittering song of one of the pigmies, and she rushed in pursuit.
She soon reached the little being—a tiny girl, playing among flowers. Daphne raised her in her arms and kissed her passionately with tears and laughter, showering upon her loving words and caresses. The little maiden responded with unmixed pleasure, and said to her—
“Why does Daphne weep? What is her trouble? I will run and send a message to our lord. Thoth is very wise and good,—he can put an end to any trouble.”
“Alas!” said Daphne, “it is Thoth who is the cause of my distress.”
“Ah!” said the pigmy, laughing, “that is what we sometimes think; but it is never right—our lord is very wise and good.”
“But,” said Daphne, “your troubles, little one, must be as small as your bodies, and this is a very different case.”
“Nay,” rejoined the girl, still laughing; “we, too, think our troubles very great and very new. But Thoth makes everything right. Now I will tell you what happened to me to-day. I was sailing in a little boat in the fountain, and I got to the centre and landed, and my boat drifted away, and I cannot swim. I cried until I slept, and when I awoke I found my boat at my feet, and I am sure that Thoth had put it there.”
The charming simplicity and the guileless confidence of the little maiden renewed hope in Daphne’s breast, and she kissed her and said—