And then at last he was well
enough to go out a little; but a few days after--he avoided the
inner garden now out of a sort of horror--he was sitting in the
sun, near the house, feebly trying to amuse himself with one of his
old games--how poor they seemed after the fruits of the inner
paradise, how he hankered desirously after the further place, with
its hot, sweet, fragrant scents, its rich juices!--when again his
guardian came upon him in a sudden wrath, and struck him many
times, dashing him down to the ground; and again he crept home, and
lay long ill, and again his guardian was unwearyingly kind; but now
a sort of horror of the man grew up in the mind of the child, and
he feared that his strange anger might break out at any moment in a
storm of blows.
And at last he was well again; and had half forgotten, in the
constant kindness, and even merriment, of his guardian, the horror
of the two assaults. He was out and about again; he still shunned
the paradise of fruits, but wearying of the accustomed pleasaunce,
he went further and passed into the wood; how cool and mysterious
it was among the great branching trees! the forest led him onwards;
now the sun lay softly upon it, and a stream bickered through a
glade, and now the path lay through thickets, which hid the further
woodland from view; and now passing out into a more open space, he
had a thrill of joy and excitement; there was a herd of strange
living creatures grazing there, great deer with branching horns;
they moved slowly forwards, cropping the grass, and the child was
lost in wonder at the sight.
Pages:
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347