Yet longer did he listen, for the tones of her song carried him
there, where, as yet, his thoughts had never reached, and he felt
himself happier in this short and imperfect flight than ever he had
felt before. But the lark now dropped suddenly to the earth, for
her little body was too heavy for the ambient ether, and her wings
were not large nor strong enough for the pure element.

Then the red corn-poppies laughed at the homely looking bird, and
cried to one another and to the surrounding blades of corn in a
shrill voice, "Now, indeed, you may see what comes of flying so
high, and striving and straining after mere air; people only lose
their time, and bring back nothing but weary wings and an empty
stomach. That vulgar-looking ill-dressed little creature would fain
raise herself above us all, and has kept up a mighty noise. And now
there she lies on the ground and can hardly breathe, while we have
stood still where we are sure of a good meal, and have stayed, like
people of sense, where there is something substantial to be had; and
in the time she has been fluttering and singing, we have grown a
good deal taller and fatter."

The other little redcaps chattered and screamed their assent so loud
that the Child's ears tingled, and he wished he could chastise them
for their spiteful jeers; when a cyane said, in a soft voice, to her
younger playmates, "Dear friends, be not led astray by outward show,
nor by discourse which regards only outward show. The lark is,
indeed, weary, and the space into which she has soared is void; but
the void is not what the lark sought, nor is the seeker returned
empty home. She strove after light and freedom, and light and
freedom has she proclaimed. She left the earth and its enjoyments,