Sacred allegories . meet them directly in their own path, and to force itselfon their attention; so that the eldest brother did but echo the feelingsof the rest when he said, Of what profit is this enormous wealth?In the day of our banishment it will not purchase for us thedelay of a single hour. How gladly would I barter the wholeof it for some quiet dwelling-place where we might remain insecurity for ever! He had not yet finished speaking, when his eyes were attractedby the mirror, which I have described as covering one side of theroom. Some image appeared to be moving across it, which wasno
Sacred allegories . meet them directly in their own path, and to force itselfon their attention; so that the eldest brother did but echo the feelingsof the rest when he said, Of what profit is this enormous wealth?In the day of our banishment it will not purchase for us thedelay of a single hour. How gladly would I barter the wholeof it for some quiet dwelling-place where we might remain insecurity for ever! He had not yet finished speaking, when his eyes were attractedby the mirror, which I have described as covering one side of theroom. Some image appeared to be moving across it, which wasnot visible in the apartment itself. He pointed it out to his brothers,and it was clear from their anxious looks that they beheld it was as the form of an old man. There was nothing in hisappearance to excite terror, but every object as seen in the mirror THE KINGS MESSENGERS. 233 was changed by his presence. His foot trod on the cloth of gold,and it became mouldering and worm-eaten: the hem of his garment ii. swept against a table of solid ivory, and it fell crumbling intodust: while the bales of merchandise and precious stones lost theirrichness and splendour, as his cold eye rested upon them. H H 234 THE KINGS MESSENGERS. The brothers watched these signs with a sensation of chillingfear, and the eldest already repented his hasty words. For, intruth, in his inmost heart, he deeply loved the glittering wealth,and he was afraid, lest the mysterious stranger might take itaway, and give him in its stead the quiet dwelling for whichhe had asked. At length it seemed to them that the image of the old manthus addressed them:— Children, your wish is vain. You mustnot speak of bartering these treasures for a lasting home. Theyare not really yours; they belong to the Great King, whose subjectsyou are. Restore them to him now, and he will keep them foryou, and in the day of your exile give them to you again. Inthis city they are worthless. See how even my slightest touchhere caus
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