“‘That may be,’ ses he, ‘but there’s no pleasure to be got from worrying about yourself. We only really enjoy ourselves when we fret and worry about those we love. The pleasures of melancholy are best enjoyed by those who have loved and lost and been desired by no one else. And besides,’ ses he, ‘the man who has suffered is always more interesting and entertaining than the man who has not. But at best that is only cold comfort.’
“‘True for you,’ ses I. ‘Yet you should have received your liberty years and years ago, because the children of Lir were released from their captivity at the dawn of Christianity. The ringing of the first church bell was the signal for their release, but when they returned home after their wanderings, all their old friends and neighbours were dead and gone. Why you should be made suffer so much, or any of us, the best and the worst, is more than I can comprehend.’
“‘The devil a one of me can understand it, either. None of us know what’s before us, because none of us know what may have been behind us, so to speak. But if I did live before, ’tisn’t likely that I was an angel,’ ses he.
“‘I suppose,’ ses I, ‘that none of us can differentiate thoroughly between good and evil. What one man thinks is right another will think is wrong, and while none of us understand the other, we can’t expect things to be any better than they are. If we all thought alike, there would be no difference of opinion. And if we all agreed about religion and politics, we might have the greatest contempt for each other. And unless a man is either better or worse than ourselves, we don’t pay any attention to him at all.’
“‘True,’ ses he.
“‘We could keep bladdering away like this till the leaves fall from the trees, but you have not told me yet when the fairy princess said you would be released,’ ses I.
“‘When a woman can be found who don’t want to get her photo taken, or see herself in a mirror, or want to read her husband’s letters, or search his pockets, and when the Germans will get to Paris,’ ses he.
“‘You had better go back to the Lough,’ ses I.
“‘I will,’ ses he, ‘because I am getting thirsty as well as homesick.’
“And with that he shook hands with me, bid me good-by, and jumped into the waters, and that was the last I saw of the Mayor of Loughlaurna.”