THERE was once a child, and he strolled about a good deal, and
thought of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child too, and his
constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered at the
beauty of the flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness of the sky;
they wondered at the depth of the bright water; they wondered at the goodness
and the power of GOD who made the lovely world.
They used to say to one another, sometimes, Supposing all the
children upon earth were to die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky
be sorry? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are the
children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol down the
hill-sides are the children of the water; and the smallest bright specks
playing at hide and seek in the sky all night, must surely be the children of
the stars; and they would all be grieved to see their playmates, the children
of men, no more.
There was one clear shining star that used to come out in the sky
before the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger and
more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night they watched
for it, standing hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw it first cried out, 'I
see the star!' And often they cried out both together, knowing so well when it
would rise, and where. So they grew to be such friends with it, that, before
lying down in their beds, they always looked out once again, to bid it good
night; and when they were turning round to sleep, they used to say, 'God bless
the star!'
But while she was still very young, oh, very, very young, the
sister drooped, and came to be so weak that she could no longer stand in the
window at night; and then the child looked sadly out by himself, and when he
saw the star, turned round and said to the patient pale face on the bed, 'I see
the star!' and then a smile would come upon the face, and a little weak voice
used to say, 'God bless my brother and the star!'
And so the time came all too soon! when the child looked out
alone, and when there was no face on the bed; and when there was a little grave
among the graves, not there before; and when the star made long rays down
towards him, as he saw it through his tears.
Now, these rays were so bright, and they seemed to make such a
shining way from earth to Heaven, that when the child went to his solitary bed,
he dreamed about the star; and dreamed that, lying where he was, he saw a train
of people taken up that sparkling road by angels. And the star, opening, showed
him a great world of light, where many more such angels waited to receive them.
All these angels, who were waiting, turned their beaming eyes upon
the people who were carried up into the star; and some came out from the long
rows in which they stood, and fell upon the people's necks, and kissed them
tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light, and were so happy in
their company, that lying in his bed he wept for joy.
But, there were many angels who did not go with them, and among them
one he knew. The patient face that once had lain upon the bed was glorified and
radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the host.
His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and
said to the leader among those who had brought the people thither:
'Is my brother come?'
And he said 'No.'
She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his
arms, and cried, 'O, sister, I am here! Take me!' and then she turned her
beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and the star was shining into the
room, making long rays down towards him as he saw it through his tears.
From that hour forth, the child looked out upon the star as on the
home he was to go to, when his time should come; and he thought that he did not
belong to the earth alone, but to the star too, because of his sister's angel
gone before.
There was a baby born to be a brother to the child; and while he
was so little that he never yet had spoken word, he stretched his tiny form out
on his bed, and died.
Again the child dreamed of the open star, and of the company of
angels, and the train of people, and the rows of angels with their beaming eyes
all turned upon those people's faces.
Said his sister's angel to the leader:
'Is my brother come?'
And he said, 'Not that one, but another.'
As the child beheld his brother's angel in her arms, he cried, 'O,
sister, I am here! Take me!' And she turned and smiled upon him, and the star
was shining.
He grew to be a young man, and was busy at his books when an old
servant came to him and said:
'Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing on her darling son!'
Again at night he saw the star, and all that former company. Said
his sister's angel to the leader.
'Is my brother come?'
And he said, 'Thy mother!'
A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the star, because the
mother was re-united to her two children. And he stretched out his arms and
cried, 'O, mother, sister, and brother, I am here! Take me!' And they answered
him, 'Not yet,' and the star was shining.
He grew to be a man, whose hair was turning grey, and he was
sitting in his chair by the fireside, heavy with grief, and with his face
bedewed with tears, when the star opened once again.
Said his sister's angel to the leader: 'Is my brother come?'
And he said, 'Nay, but his maiden daughter.'
And the man who had been the child saw his daughter, newly lost to
him, a celestial creature among those three, and he said, 'My daughter's head
is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is around my mother's neck, and at her
feet there is the baby of old time, and I can bear the parting from her, GOD be
praised!'
And the star was shining.
Thus the child came to be an old man, and his once smooth face was
wrinkled, and his steps were slow and feeble, and his back was bent. And one
night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing round, he cried, as he had
cried so long ago:
'I see the star!'
They whispered one another, 'He is dying.'
And he said, 'I am. My age is falling from me like a garment, and
I move towards the star as a child. And O, my Father, now I thank thee that it
has so often opened, to receive those dear ones who await me!'
And the star was shining; and it shines upon his grave.
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