CHAPTER XV
But I hae dreamed a weary dreamBeyond the land of Skye;I saw a dead man win a fight,And I think that man was I.
But I hae dreamed a weary dreamBeyond the land of Skye;I saw a dead man win a fight,And I think that man was I.
But I hae dreamed a weary dreamBeyond the land of Skye;I saw a dead man win a fight,And I think that man was I.
But I hae dreamed a weary dream
Beyond the land of Skye;
I saw a dead man win a fight,
And I think that man was I.
old ballad.
T
THE days passed happily for the children in their almost daily companionship of the old woman. They liked to work for her. They would clean the cottage, or wash the china, hanging all the cups again by their handles on the hooks of the dresser. And you may roam through pleasures and palaces and never, to my mind, happen upon a prettier decoration to the wall of a room, than cups thus suspended in a row.
When Granny Gather-stick returned from her expedition to the neighbouring market-town, she would find all comfortably prepared. Her tea in making, the table spread, a fire of logs, with the cat purring before them, and two children glad of her return.
After she had refreshed herself and was rested, she told them more stories of her dreams. One was called “The Story of the Greatest Sufferer,” and in nearly all her dreams kings and queens figured—she could give no reason why.
“I thought I was reading once in a book the story of a king. The king worshipped many gods, but in his heart he longed to know who of all his gods was the greatest, and the worthiest of praise. Now it happened this king had a dream, and in his dream it was told him he should worship none but the highest, and that he who had suffered most was the highest, and the worthiest of praise. And it was further told him that on the morrow all those who had suffered would come before his throne, and when he who had suffered most should appear before the king, the stars would fall from heaven in a golden rain.
“Now, my dears, it seemed to me that I ceased reading and I lived in the story, and saw and felt the rest. I saw a crowd assembled around an empty space of great magnitude, and I saw the king and his courtiers round him, robed in purple with a golden crown. I knew we were all there to see the Sorrowful; and first I saw the figure of a man. Slowly he came, and he was clad in black velvet,wearing his hair long, with a pointed beard. And all the people watched his sorrowful countenance. ‘Deeply as you suffered,’ my heart said within me, ‘you cannot deem yourself to be the highest.’ But no word was said. And while we all watched him, he passed out of sight waveringly, as if he were no real person in the flesh.
“Then I dreamed the heralds blew their trumpets, and the crowd moved across the scene. This time I saw the figure of a woman, and, dear heart, when I looked upon her my spirit was like to faint.
“‘This is Sorrow herself,’ I kept saying in my dream. ‘Yes, this must be Sorrow.’ And I saw others thought the same as I, for the crowd looked upward. But the stars were firm, and the king asked, ‘Are there any more to appear?’
“‘There are no more,’ answered the courtiers; but I saw a woman approach the throne.
“‘There is one more, and you must see him,’ she cried; ‘there is one more.’
“The courtiers would have thrust her aside, but the king said, ‘Let all those appear, that have suffered.’
“Then it seemed to me that I was looking over a vast sight of country, a wide view, such as there is from the Windmill Hill at home. And there inthe air I saw lying, and yet not falling, a naked child.
“I knew it was Christ I was seeing—I knew it was Christ. And while I was just standing looking, all the stars fell from heaven in a shower of golden rain.”
There was silence, and the children watched a bevy of sparks race up the wide chimney, the laggards among them creeping glowingly, among the black soot at the chimney back.
Then the old woman said:—
“That was a good dream; but I have had others that were not so good.”
“Tell us!” said the children, “tell us!”
And the old woman began the “Story of the Five Queens.”
“There was once a king who had five queens, and he took to himself yet another queen, and this woman was proud and cruel. She would not brook rivals, wishing to reign alone. So she sought out the ancient laws of that country, among which she knew she would find something to fit her mind. For in these laws it had been written, that where the king ceased to love his queens, those queens must die.
“And now in my dream the story grew around me,and I lived within it, as is the custom in my dreams. I heard and saw the people speaking and moving of whom I tell.
“I was in a darkened chamber, silver lamps hanging from a low ceiling, the air heavy with sweet essences, and I was one of the queens.
“We were gathered in this room to kill ourselves, but within my heart I knew I intended to do no such thing. For while they pricked themselves with a poisoned needle, I was going to pretend to do so, and when they had died I meant to make my escape. Determining thus, I had thrust my poisoned needle deeply out of sight into the earth, in the garden of the palace.
“Now in my dream I looked around me. There was no sound in the room but a soft moaning, and I saw shrouded forms lying on low couches, wrapped round with silk.
“I lay on a great bed, and close beside me lay the youngest queen, and I dreamed that her name was Ayilmah. Her voice was speaking to me very quietly, in the dusk of that darkened room.
“‘Where hast thou pricked thyself?’ she was saying.
“‘In the slender part of my wrist,’ I answered,lyingly, and I dreamed she expressed great sorrow at my words.
“‘Oh, why hast thou done it there?’ she cried. ‘Dost thou not know that the pain will grow and grow, till at last it will get past bearing. And death tarries while the pain grows. Why didst thou do it there? Dost thou not suffer exceedingly?’
“And I, in my dream, replied once more lyingly: ‘My life is already so numb within me that I feel no pain.’ Then I thought she put her hand into mine to comfort me, and even as her fingers closed round mine, I felt her hand’s warmth, and the movement of it, cease. Hurriedly I slipped my hand higher, and I found her arm was chill, and now the rounded fingers in mine were cold like small columns of polished jade.
“Then I knew she lay dead beside me, and suddenly I was filled with a great awe. I started up and cried, ‘Listen, I have done you a great wrong.’ But everything was very quiet. There was no answer to my words.
“Then I knew that in that room I alone was living, and a great horror overwhelmed me, a great fear.
“I moved from the couch where I was lying, my feet caught and held, by the wrappings of the bed.
“Freeing them, I crept through the warm, scented darkness, between the couches of the queens. Very quietly they lay there in the stillness, and the light the silver lamps gave out through their fretted sides, was so dim that I could barely see the heavy curtains hiding the walls. I drew the curtains aside, seeking an outlet, but everywhere my hands fell on the smooth surface of the wall.
“Then I knew that what had been a chamber for the living had been sealed into a tomb, for it had been thought, that knowing the law, the five queens had dealt faithfully. And with this knowledge my life maddened within me, and I tore the curtains down. Stumbling over the heaps of fallen draperies I sped forward, seeking with frenzied hands. I laid both hands flat out against the wall, passionately seeking.
“But there was no opening, no door.
“Only the dead were free. And I, who had planned so cunningly.
“The silver lamps moved slightly as they hung.”