For it
does not require much to change a man's standpoint. A very little thing
will make him turn on his heel and look at a piece of the landscape which
he has hitherto chosen to ignore or despise, and probably acknowledge that
it is finer than his hitherto obstinately retained outlook. A very little
thing--like Columbus' egg--if one only knew just what it was! The little
thing in Nehal Singh's life had been a woman's face. It shone between him
and his old gods; it smiled at him from amidst the shadows of his
imagination, beckoning him unceasingly to follow. And he was
following--with the reckless speed of a man who had been kept inactive too
long at the starting point of life.
"I am weary of all that has hitherto been," he told Behar Asor. "My palace
has become a prison from which I must free myself. The very air I breathe
is heavy with sleep and dreams. It suffocates me. I must have life--here
and without."
"I understand thee too well," came the answer from compressed lips. "The
curse is on thee. Thou wilt go among my enemies, and it is I, with my
mistaken wisdom, who have opened thy path to them. It was I who taught
thee their tongue, their knowledge, their law, that when the time came
thou shouldst stand before them more than their equal. This is my
punishment."
"It is no punishment. It is the will of God."
"The will of God!" The old man threw up his hands with a wild laugh that
echoed among the pillars.
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