The Little Pilgrim | Page 9

was great and solemn as is the council of a king in
which great things are debated for the welfare of the nations. The air
seemed in a moment to be full of the sound of footsteps, and of
something more subtle, which the Sage and the Pilgrim knew to be
wings; and as they looked, there grew before them the semblance of a
court of justice, with accusers and defenders; but the judge and the
criminal were one. Then was put forth that indictment which he had
been making up in his soul against life and against the world; and again
another indictment which was against himself. And then the advocates
began their pleadings. Voices were there great and eloquent, such as are
familiar in the courts above, which sounded forth in the spectators' ears
earnest as those who plead for life and death. And these speakers
declared that sin only is vanity, that life is noble and love sweet, and

every man made in the image of God, to serve both God and man; and
they set forth their reasons before the judge and showed him mysteries
of life and death; and they took up the counter-indictment and proved
to him how in all the world he had sought but himself, his own pleasure
and profit, his own will, not the will of God, nor even the good desire
of humble nature, but only that which pleased his sick fancies and his
self-loving heart. And they besought him with a thousand arguments to
return and choose again the better way. 'Arise,' they cried, 'thou,
miserable, and become great; arise, thou vain soul, and become noble.
Take thy birthright, O son, and behold the face of the Father.' And then
there came a whispering of lower voices, very penetrating and sweet,
like the voices of women and children, who murmured and cried, 'O
father! O brother! O love! O my child!' The man who was the accused,
yet who was the judge, listened; and his heart burned, and a longing
arose within him for the face of the Father and the better way. But then
there came a clang and clamor of sound on the other side; and voices
called out to him as comrade, as lover, as friend, and reminded him of
the delights which once had been so sweet to him, and of the freedom
he loved; and boasted the right of man to seek what was pleasant and
what was sweet, and flouted him as a coward whose aim was to save
himself, and scorned him as a believer in old wives' tales and
superstitions that men had outgrown. And their voices were so
vehement and full of passion that by times they mastered the others, so
that it was as if a tempest raged round the soul which sat in the midst,
and who was the offender and yet the judge of all.
The two spectators watched the conflict, as those who watch the trial
upon which hangs a man's life. It seemed to the little Pilgrim that she
could not keep silent, and that there were things which she could tell
him which no one knew but she. She put her hand upon the arm of the
Sage and called to him, 'Speak you, speak you! he will hear you; and I
too will speak, and he will not resist what we say.' But even as she said
this, eager and straining against her companion's control, the strangest
thing ensued. The man who was set there to judge himself and his life;
he who was the criminal, yet august upon his seat, to weigh all and give
the decision; he before whom all those great advocates were
pleading,--a haze stole over his eyes. He was but a man, and he was

weary, and subject to the sway of the little over the great, the moment
over the life, which is the condition of man. While yet the judgment
was not given or the issue decided, while still the pleadings were in his
ears, in a moment his head dropped back upon his pillow, and he fell
asleep. He slept like a child, as if there was no evil, nor conflict, nor
danger, nor questions, more than how best to rest when you are weary,
in all the world. And straightway all was silent in the place. Those who
had been conducting this great cause departed to other courts and
tribunals, having done all that was permitted them to do. And the man
slept, and when it was noon woke and remembered no more.
The Sage led the little Pilgrim forth in a great confusion, so that she
could not speak for wonder. But he said, 'This sleep also was from the
Father; for the mind of