The People of the Mist by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard
page 256 of 519 (49%)
page 256 of 519 (49%)
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to assist the digestive process of the god, as a tenpenny nail is said
to assist that of an ostrich--was a fine ruby stone; not so big, indeed, as that which Soa had given to Leonard, but still of considerable size and value. Leonard saw it with delight, but not so the dwarf, the selfish promptings of whose stomach caused him to forget that his master had journeyed far to seek such gems as this. In the fury of his disappointed appetite he stood upon the footstool of the throne, and, seizing the ruby, he hurled it at the priest, hitting him fair between the eyes. "Am I an eel?" he roared, "that I should live on water-grass, and red gravel?" Then the priest, terrified at the behaviour of this strange divinity, picked up the offending gem--to the presence of which he attributed his anger--and fled, never looking behind him. Juanna and Francisco were seized with uncontrollable laughter, while even Soa deigned to smile. But Leonard did not smile. "Oh, you last descendant of generations of asses!" he said bitterly. "You ass with four ears and a tenfold bray! What have you done? You have hurled the precious stone at the head of him who brought it, and now he will bring no more. Had it not been for you, doubtless with every meal such stones would have been offered to you, and though you grew thin we should all of us have become rich, and that without trouble, tricks, or violence." "Forgive me, Baas," lamented Otter, "but my rage took away my reason, and I forgot. See now what it is to be a god. It is to be fed upon stuff |
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