The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest / The writings of philosophers, poets, novelists, social reformers, and others who have voiced the struggle against social injustice; selected from twenty-five languages; covering a period of five thousand years

by Unknown

“‘Here I am, Father!’ said Michael.

“‘Michael, me boy,’ says God, ‘I want a chariot and a charioteer!’

“‘Right ye are!’ says he. Up comes the purtiest chariot in the city of Heaven an’ the finest charioteer.

“‘Me boy,’ says God, ‘take a million tons of th’ choicest seeds of th’ flowers of Heaven an’ take a trip around th’ world wi’ them. Scatter them,’ says He, ‘be th’ roadsides an’ th’ wild places of th’ earth where my poor live.’

“‘Aye,’ says the charioteer, ‘that’s jist like ye, Father. It’s th’ purtiest job of m’ afther-life an’ I’ll do it finely.’

“‘It’s jist come t’ Me in a dream,’ says th’ Father, ‘that th’ rich have all the flowers down there an’ th’ poor haave nown at all.”

At this point I got in some questions about God’s language and the kind of flowers.

“Well, dear,” she said, “He spakes Irish t’ Irish people, an’ the charioteer was an Irishman.”

“Maybe it was a woman!” I ventured.