Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales | Page 6

with long fair hair and a crimson cap, he appeared in the
hermit's cell. There he found the old man stretched upon his pallet, for
lie was dying. When he saw the Neck he was glad, and said, "I have
desired to see thee, for I repent myself that I did not according to thy
wishes. Yet is the desire of life stronger in the human breast than thou
canst understand. Nevertheless I am sorry, and I am sorry also that, as I
am sick unto death, my life will no longer avail thee. But when I am
dead, do thou take all that belongs to me, and dress thyself in my robe,
and go out into the world, and do works of mercy, and perchance some
one whom thou hast benefited will be found willing to die with thee,
that thou mayst obtain a soul."
"Now indeed I thank thee!" cried the Neck. "But yet one word
more--what are these works of which thou speakest?"
"The corporal works of mercy are seven," gasped the hermit, raising
himself on his arm. "To feed the hungry and give the thirsty drink, to
visit the sick, to redeem captives, to clothe the naked, to shelter the
stranger and the houseless, to visit the widow and fatherless, and to
bury the dead." Then even as he spoke the last words the hermit died.

And the Neck clothed himself in his robe, and, not to delay in
following the directions given to him, he buried the hermit with pious
care, and planted flowers upon his grave. After which he went forth
into the world.
Now for three hundred years did the Neck go about doing acts of mercy
and charity towards men. And amongst the hungry, and the naked, and
the sick, and the poor, and the captives, there were not a few who
seemed to be weary of this life of many sorrows. But when he had fed
the hungry, and clothed the naked, and relieved the sick, and made the
poor rich, and set the captive free, life was too dear to all of them to be
given up. Therefore he betook himself to the most miserable amongst
men, and offering nothing but an easy death in a good cause, he hoped
to find some aged and want-worn creature who would do him the
kindness he desired. But of those who must look forward to the fewest
days and to the most misery there was not one but, like the fabled
woodcutter, chose to trudge out to the end his miserable span.
So when three hundred years were past, the Neck's heart failed him,
and he said, "All this avails nothing. Wherefore I will return to the lake,
and there abide what shall befall." And this he accordingly did.
Now one evening there came a tempest down from the hills, and there
was a sudden squall on the lake. And a certain young man in a boat
upon the lake was overtaken by the storm. And as he struggled hard,
and it seemed as if every moment must be his last, a young maid who
was his sweetheart came down to the shore, and cried aloud in her
agony, "Alas, that his young life should be cut short thus!"
"Trouble not thyself," said the Neck; "this life is so short and so
uncertain, that if he were rescued to-day he might be taken from thee
to-morrow. Only in eternity is love secure. Wherefore be patient, and
thou shalt soon follow him."
"And who art thou that mockest my sorrow?" cried the maiden.
"One who has watched the passing misfortunes of many generations
before thine," replied the Neck.

And when the maiden looked, and saw one like a little old man
wringing out his beard into the lake, she knew it was a Neck, and cried,
"Now surely thou art a Neck, and they say, 'When Necks play, the
winds wisht;' wherefore I beg of thee to play upon thy harp, and it may
be that the storm will lull, and my beloved will be saved."
But the Neck answered, "It is not worth while."
And when the maiden could not persuade him, she fell upon her face in
bitter grief, and cried, "Oh, my Beloved! Would GOD I could die for
thee!"
"And yet thou wouldst not if thou couldst," said the Neck.
"If it be in thy power to prove me--prove me!" cried the maiden; "for
indeed he is the only stay of aged parents, and he is young and
unprepared for death. Moreover his life is dearer to me than my own."
Then the Neck related his own story, and said, "If thou wilt do this for
me, which none yet has done whom I have benefited, I will play upon
my