of the brook, with the waving to and fro of wild carrots and the
crackling of maize, with the moonshine and the joyous emotion of
seeing his mate appearing amid the fragrant meadow-sweet.

Behind their closed eyelids they all saw moving like mirrored
reflections the courses of their lives. The doves, however, protected
their nimble and restless, little heads from the sun; they sought for
their Paradise beneath the shadow of their wings.




BOOK II


When winter came Francis said to his friends:

"Blessings upon you for you are of God. But in my heart I am uneasy
for the cry of the geese that are flying southward tells that a famine
is near at hand, and that it is not in the purposes of Heaven to make
the earth kind for you. Praised be the hidden designs of the Lord!"

The country around them, in fact, became a barren waste. The sky let
drip a yellow light from its sack-like clouds bulging with snow. All
the fruits of the hedges had withered, and all those of the orchards
were dead. And the seeds had left their husks to enter into the bosom
of the earth.

..."Praised be the hidden designs of the Lord," said Francis.
"Perhaps it is His wish that you leave me, and each of you go your own