THE well was deep, and therefore the rope had to be a long one; it was heavy work turning the handle when any one had to raise abucketful of water over the edge of the well. Though the water wasclear, the sun never looked down far enough into the well to mirroritself in the waters; but as far as its beams could reach, greenthings grew forth between the stones in the sides of the well.
Down below dwelt a family of the Trace. They had, in fact,come head-over-heels down the well, in the person of the oldMother-T who was still alive. The green Frogs, who had beenestablished there a long time, and swam about in the water, calledthem "well-guests." But the new-comers seemed determined to stay wherethey were, for they found it very agreeable living "in a dry place,"as they called the wet stones.
The Mother-Frog had once been a traveller. She happened to be inthe water-bucket when it was drawn up, but the light became too strongfor her, and she got a pain in her eyes. Fortunately she scrambled outof the bucket; but she fell into the water with a terrible flop, andhad to lie sick for three days with pains in her back. She certainlyhad not much to tell of the things up above, but she knew this, andall the Frogs knew it, that the well was not all the world. TheMother-Tmight have told this and that, if she had chosen, butshe never answered when they asked her anything, and so they leftoff asking.
"She's thick, and fat and ugly," said the young green Frogs; "and her children will be just as ugly as she is."
"That may be," retorted the mother-T "but one of them has a jewel in his head, or else I have the jewel."
The young frogs listened and stared; and as these words did notplease them, they made grimaces and dived down under the water. Butthe little T kicked up their hind legs from mere pride, for eachof them thought that he must have the jewel; and then they sat andheld their heads quite still. But at length they asked what it wasthat made them so proud, and what kind of a thing a jewel might be.
"Oh, it is such a splendid and precious thing, that I cannotdescribe it," said the Mother-T "It's something which onecarries about for one's own pleasure, and that makes other peopleangry. But don't ask me any questions, for I shan't answer you."
"Well, I haven't got the jewel," said the smallest of the T;she was as ugly as a tcan be. "Why should I have such a preciousthing? And if it makes others angry, it can't give me any pleasure.No, I only wish I could get to the edge of the well, and look out;it must be beautiful up there."
"You'd better stay where you are," said the old Mother-T"for you know everything here, and you can tell what you have. Takecare of the bucket, for it will crush you to death; and even if youget into it safely, you may fall out. And it's not every one who fallsso cleverly as I did, and gets away with whole legs and whole bones.
"Quack!" said the little T and that's just as if one of us were to say, "Aha!"
She had an immense desire to get to the edge of the well, and tolook over; she felt such a longing for the green, up there; and thenext morning, when it chanced that the bucket was being drawn up,filled with water, and stopped for a moment just in front of the stoneon which the Tsat, the little creature's heart moved within it,and our Tjumped into the filled bucket, which presently wasdrawn to the top, and emptied out.
"Ugh, you beast!" said the farm laborer who emptied the bucket,when he saw the t "You're the ugliest thing I've seen for onewhile." And he made a kick with his wooden shoe at the t whichjust escaped being crushed by managing to scramble into the nettleswhich grew high by the well's brink. Here she saw stem by stem, butshe looked up also; the sun shone through the leaves, which were quitetransparent; and she felt as a person would feel who steps suddenlyinto a great forest, where the sun looks in between the branches andleaves.
"It's much nicer here than down in the well! I should like to stayhere my whole life long!" said the little T So she lay there foran hour, yes, for two hours. "I wonder what is to be found up here? AsI have come so far, I must try to go still farther." And so shecrawled on as fast as she could crawl, and got out upon the highway,where the sun shone upon her, and the dust powdered her all over asshe marched across the way.
"I've got to a dry place. now, and no mistake," said the T "It's almost too much of a good thing here; it tickles one so."
She came to the ditch; and forget-me-nots were growing there,and meadow-sweet; and a very little way off was a hedge of whitethorn,and elder bushes grew there, too, and bindweed with white flowers. Gaycolors were to be seen here, and a butterfly, too, was flitting by.The Tthought it was a flower which had broken loose that itmight look about better in the world, which was quite a naturalthing to do.
"If one could only make such a journey as that!" said the T "Croak! how capital that would be."
Eight days and eight nights she stayed by the well, andexperienced no want of provisions. On the ninth day she thought,"Forward! onward!" But what could she find more charming andbeautiful? Perhaps a little tor a few green frogs. During the lastnight there had been a sound borne on the breeze, as if there werecousins in the neighborhood.
"It's a glorious thing to live! glorious to get out of the well,and to lie among the stinging-nettles, and to crawl along the dustyr But onward, onward! that we may find frogs or a little tWe can't do without that; nature alone is not enough for one." Andso she went forward on her journey.
She came out into the open field, to a great pond, round about which grew reeds; and she walked into it.
"It will be too damp for you here," said the Frogs; "but you are very welcome! Are you a he or a she? But it doesn't matter; you are equally welcome."
And she was invited to the concert in the evening- the family concert; great enthusiasm and thin voices; we know the sort of thing. No refreshments were given, only there was plenty to drink, for the whole pond was free.
"Now I shall resume my journey," said the little T for she always felt a longing for something better.
She saw the stars shining, so large and so bright, and she saw the moon gleaming; and then she saw the sun rise, and mount higher and higher.
"Perhaps after all, I am still in a well, only in a larger well. Imust get higher yet; I feel a great restlessness and longing." Andwhen the moon became round and full, the poor creature thought, "Iwonder if that is the bucket which will be let down, and into whichI must step to get higher up? Or is the sun the great bucket? Howgreat it is! how bright it is! It can take up all. I must look out,that I may not miss the opportunity. Oh, how it seems to shine in myhead! I don't think the jewel can shine brighter. But I haven't thejewel; not that I cry about that- no, I must go higher up, intosplendor and joy! I feel so confident, and yet I am afraid. It's adifficult step to take, and yet it must be taken. Onward, therefore,straight onward!"
She took a few steps, such as a crawling animal may take, and soonfound herself on a rbeside which people dwelt; but there wereflower gardens as well as kitchen gardens. And she sat down to rest bya kitchen garden.
"What a number of different creatures there are that I never knew!and how beautiful and great the world is! But one must look round init, and not stay in one spot." And then she hopped into the kitchengarden. "How green it is here! how beautiful it is here!"
"I know that," said the Caterpillar, on the leaf, "my leaf isthe largest here. It hides half the world from me, but I don't carefor the world."
"Cluck, cluck!" And some fowls came. They tripped about in thecabbage garden. The Fowl who marched at the head of them had a longsight, and she spied the Caterpillar on the green leaf, and peckedat it, so that the Caterpillar fell on the ground, where it twistedand writhed.
The Fowl looked at it first with one eye and then with the other, for she did not know what the end of this writhing would be.
"It doesn't do that with a good will," thought the Fowl, and lifted up her head to peck at the Caterpillar.
The Twas so horrified at this, that she came crawling straight up towards the Fowl.
"Aha, it has allies," quoth the Fowl. "Just look at the crawlingthing!" And then the Fowl turned away. "I don't care for the littlegreen morsel; it would only tickle my throat." The other fowls tookthe same view of it, and they all turned away together.
"I writhed myself free," said the Caterpillar. "What a goodthing it is when one has presence of mind! But the hardest thingremains to be done, and that is to get on my leaf again. Where is it?"
And the little Tcame up and expressed her sympathy. She was glad that in her ugliness she had frightened the fowls.
"What do you mean by that?" cried the Caterpillar. "I wriggledmyself free from the Fowl. You are very disagreeable to look at.Cannot I be left in peace on my own property? Now I smell cabbage; nowI am near my leaf. Nothing is so beautiful as property. But I mustgo higher up."
"Yes, higher up," said the little T "higher-up! She feels justas I do; but she's not in a good humor to-day. That's because of thefright. We all want to go higher up." And she looked up as high asever she could.
The stork sat in his nest on the roof of the farm-house. He clapped with his beak, and the Mother-stork clapped with hers.
"How high up they live!" thought the T "If one could only get as high as that!"
In the farm-house lived two young students; the one was a poet andthe other a scientific searcher into the secrets of nature. The onesang and wrote joyously of everything that God had created, and how itwas mirrored in his heart. He sang it out clearly, sweetly, richly, inwell-sounding verses; while the other investigated created matteritself, and even cut it open where need was. He looked upon God'screation as a great sum in arithmetic- subtracted, multiplied, andtried to know it within and without, and to talk with understandingconcerning it; and that was a very sensible thing; and he spokejoyously and cleverly of it. They were good, joyful men, those two,
"There sits a good specimen of a t" said the naturalist. "I must have that fellow in a bottle of spirits."
"You have two of them already," replied the poet. "Let the thing sit there and enjoy its life."
"But it's so wonderfully ugly," persisted the first.
"Yes, if we could find the jewel in its head," said the poet, "I too should be for cutting it open.'
"A jewel!" cried the naturalist. "You seem to know a great deal about natural history."
"But is there not something beautiful in the popular belief thatjust as the tis the ugliest of animals, it should often carrythe most precious jewel in its head? Is it not just the same thingwith men? What a jewel that was that Aesop had, and still more,Socrates!"
The Tdid not hear any more, nor did she understand half ofwhat she had heard. The two friends walked on, and thus she escapedthe fate of being bottled up in spirits.
"Those two also were speaking of the jewel," said the Ttoherself. "What a good thing that I have not got it! I might havebeen in a very disagreeable position."
Now there was a clapping on the roof of the farm-house.Father-Stork was making a speech to his family, and his family wasglancing down at the two young men in the kitchen garden.
"Man is the most conceited creature!" said the Stork. "Listenhow their jaws are wagging; and for all that they can't clap properly.They boast of their gifts of eloquence and their language! Yes, a finelanguage truly! Why, it changes in every day's journey we make. One ofthem doesn't understand another. Now, we can speak our language overthe whole earth- up in the North and in Egypt. And then men are notable to fly, moreover. They rush along by means of an invention theycall 'railway;' but they often break their necks over it. It makesmy beak turn cold when I think of it. The world could get on withoutmen. We could do without them very well, so long as we only keep frogsand earth-worms."
"That was a powerful speech," thought the little T "What agreat man that is yonder! and how high he sits! Higher than ever I sawany one sit yet; and how he can swim!" she cried, as the Storksoared away through the air with outspread pinions.
And the Mother-Stork began talking in the nest, and told aboutEgypt and the waters of the Nile, and the incomparable mud that was tobe found in that strange land; and all this sounded new and verycharming to the little T
"I must go to Egypt!" said she. "If the Stork or one of hisyoung ones would only take me! I would oblige him in return. Yes, Ishall get to Egypt, for I feel so happy! All the longing and all thepleasure that I feel is much better than having a jewel in one'shead."
And it was just she who had the jewel. That jewel was thecontinual striving and desire to go upward- ever upward. It gleamed inher head, gleamed in joy, beamed brightly in her longing.
Then, suddenly, up came the Stork. He had seen the Tin thegrass, and stooped down and seized the little creature anything butgently. The Stork's beak pinched her, and the wind whistled; it wasnot exactly agreeable, but she was going upward- upward towards Egypt-and she knew it; and that was why her eyes gleamed, and a spark seemedto fly out of them.
"Quunk!- ah!"
The body was dead- the Twas killed! But the spark that had shot forth from her eyes; what became of that?
The sunbeam took it up; the sunbeam carried the jewel from the head of the t Whither?
Ask not the naturalist; rather ask the poet. He will tell itthee under the guise of a fairy tale; and the Caterpillar on thecabbage, and the Stork family belong to the story. Think! theCaterpillar is changed, and turns into a beautiful butterfly; theStork family flies over mountains and seas, to the distant Africa, andyet finds the shortest way home to the same country- to the same roof.Nay, that is almost too improbable; and yet it is true. You may askthe naturalist, he will confess it is so; and you know it yourself,for you have seen it.
But the jewel in the head of the t
Seek it in the sun; see it there if you can.
The brightness is too dazzling there. We have not yet such eyes ascan see into the glories which God has created, but we shall receivethem by-and-by; and that will be the most beautiful story of all,and we shall all have our share in it.
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