Child saw and heard all this, the dim image of his unknown parents,
as it were veiled in a holy light, floated before his eyes: he
strove to grasp it, but the light was gone, and the Child slipped,
and would have fallen, had not the branch of a currant bush caught
and held him; and he took some of the bright berries for his
morning's meal, and went back to his hut and stripped the little
branches.



CHAPTER V.



But in the hut he stayed not long, all was so gloomy, close, and
silent within, and abroad everything seemed to smile, and to exult
in the clear and unbounded space. Therefore the Child went out into
the green wood, of which the Dragon-fly had told him such pleasant
stories. But he found everything far more beautiful and lovely even
than she had described it; for all about, wherever he went, the
tender moss pressed his little feet, and the delicate grass embraced
his knees, and the flowers kissed his hands, and even the branches
stroked his cheeks with a kind and refreshing touch, and the high
trees threw their fragrant shade around him.

There was no end to his delight. The little birds warbled and sang,
and fluttered and hopped about, and the delicate wood-flowers gave
out their beauty and their odours; and every sweet sound took a
sweet odour by the hand, and thus walked through the open door of
the Child's heart, and held a joyous nuptial dance therein. But the