'Tis not my wont to shrink from any debt; But tell me first what detriment will grow In mine own self from this love-service done?
What thou at first didst do for them on earth, Robbed of his spirit-powers thine only son; And what thou givest to their spirits now Is lost henceforth to thee from thine own self; Which lessening of the powers of life in thee Will show as ugliness in thine own flesh.
They robbed my child of all his spirit-power, And in return I needs must wander forth A monster in the sight of men, that fruits May ripen for them, which work little good!
Yet thy work aids the welfare of mankind And leads as well to thine own happiness. Thy mother's beauty and thy child's own life Will blossom for thee in a loftier way, When one day in the souls and hearts of men, New spirit-powers shall seed and fructify.
Mankind thou hast inspired Full often with thy words. Inspire then now The spirits of the rocks: in this same hour Thou must bring forth from out thy treasured store Of fairy pictures some one tale to give Those beings who do serve me in my work.
So be it then:--A being once did live Who flew from East to West, as runs the sun. He flew o'er lands and seas, and from this height He looked upon the doings of mankind. He saw how men did one another love, And, how in hatred they did persecute. Yet naught could stay this being in his flight, For love and hatred none the less bring forth Full many thousand times the same results. Yet o'er one house--there must the being stay; For therein dwelt a tired and weary man, Who pondered on the love of humankind, And pondered also over human hate. His contemplations had already graved Deep furrows on his brow; his hair was white. And, grieving o'er this man, the being lost His sun-guide's leadership, and stayed with him Within his room e'en when the sun went down. And when the sun arose again, once more The being joined the spirit of the sun; And once again he saw mankind pass through The cycle of the earth in love and hate. But when he came, still following the sun, A second time above that selfsame house, His gaze did fall upon a man quite dead.
(Germanus, invisible behind the rock, speaks. As he speaks, he gradually drags his unwieldy size on to the stage; his feet like clogs are almost earth-bound.)