He
believes!
Yeats
WISE MAN.
[_Goes towards the hour-glass as if to uncover it. _]
No, no, I have not the courage. [_He kneels. _] Have pity upon me, Fool,
and tell me!
FOOL.
Ah! Now, that is different. I am not afraid of you now. But I must come
nearer to you; somebody in there might hear what the Angel said.
WISE MAN.
Oh, what did the Angel tell you?
FOOL.
Once I was alone on the hills, and an angel came by and he said, 'Teig
the Fool, do not forget the Three Fires; the Fire that punishes, the
Fire that purifies, and the Fire wherein the soul rejoices for ever! '
WISE MAN.
He believes! I am saved! The sand has run out. . . . [_FOOL helps him to
his chair. _] I am going from the country of the seven wandering stars,
and I am going to the country of the fixed stars! I understand it all
now. One sinks in on God; we do not see the truth; God sees the truth
in us. Ring the bell. They are coming. Tell them, Fool, that when the
life and the mind are broken the truth comes through them like peas
through a broken peascod. Pray, Fool, that they may be given a sign and
carry their souls alive out of the dying world. Your prayers are better
than mine.
[_FOOL bows his head.
