Ernest began to speak, giving to the people of what was in his heart and mind. His words had power, because they accorded with his thoughts; and his thoughts had reality and depth, because they harmonized with the life which he had always lived. The poet, as he listened, felt that the being and character of Ernest were a nobler strain of poetry than he had ever written. His eyes glistening with tears, he gazed reverentially at the venerable man, and said within himself that never was there an aspect so worthy of a prophet and a sage as that mild, sweet, thoughtful countenance with the glory of white hair diffused about it. At a distance, but distinctly to be seen, high up in the golden light of the setting sun, appeared the Great Stone Face, with hoary mists around it, like the white hairs around the brow of Ernest.
At that moment, in sympathy with a thought which he was about to utter, the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of expression, so full of benevolence, that the poet, by an irresistible impulse, threw his arms aloft, and shouted:
“Behold! Behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!”
Then all the people looked and saw that what the deep-sighted poet said was true. The prophecy was fulfilled. The man had appeared at last.
Nathaniel Hawthorne.
HELPS TO STUDY
The Great Stone Face is a rock formation in the Franconia Notch of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, known as “The Old Man of the Mountain.”
I. What picture do you get from Part I? Tell in your own words what the mother told Ernest about the Great Stone Face. Who had carved the face? How? Find something that is one hundred feet high, and picture to yourself the immensity of the whole face, judging by the forehead alone. Describe Ernest’s childhood and his education.
II. What reason had the people for thinking that the great man had come in the person of Mr. Gathergold? Explain the reference to Midas. What was there in Mr. Gathergold’s appearance and action to disappoint Ernest? What comforted him? Why were the people willing to believe that Mr. Gathergold was the image of the Great Stone Face? What caused them to decide that he was not? What was there to indicate that Ernest would become a great and good man?