“‘What ails him?’ said his comrades.
“‘He is mad,’ said one.
“‘No; but he is worse,’ said another; ‘he would see that which none of us have seen, and make himself a wonder.’
“‘Come, let us forswear his company,’ said all.
“So the hunter walked alone.
“One night, as he wandered in the shade, very heartsore and weeping, an old man stood before him, grander and taller than the sons of men.
“‘Who are you?’ asked the hunter.
“‘I am Wisdom,’ answered the old man; ‘but some men call me Knowledge. All my life I have grown in these valleys; but no man sees me till he has sorrowed much. The eyes must be washed with tears that are to behold me; and, according as a man has suffered, I speak.’
“And the hunter cried:
“‘Oh, you who have lived here so long, tell me, what is that great wild bird I have seen sailing in the blue? They would have me believe she is a dream; the shadow of my own head.’