Sketcher. The Forest of Poverty.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1920, 25 October 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

Sketcher. The Forest of Poverty.

A young man found himself one winter evening in the edge of a forest whose aspect alone was sufficient to inspiro dismay. Tall trees with yellow bark and branches stripped of their leaves, masses of tangled roots, shoots and thorns, narrow, crooked paths bristling with stones, forking and joining again in an inextricable net-work, brambles, thia was all that was to be met. The young man walked rapidly, his brow was clouded, and he was so absorbed that he did not perceive how the farther he advanced the denser grew the trees and slnubbery and fewer the paths. He went on and on, but he soon despaired of finding any way out of the labyrinth. He fell to the ground and abandoned his efforts. He remained a long while on this spot for the cold had chilled his weakened members; the fatigua of a long tramp had exhausted his strength, and hunger tortured him. Suddenly, grief made him utter a cry which echo returned from afar. He raised his head: three men were standing before him, he had neither seen nor heard them come. He trembled, the eyes of the three men were earnestly fixed upon him. One was clad in a long robe of cloth of gold, drawn to his form by a girdle whose clasp of diamonds sparkled with phosphorescent light, a sword hung at his side. The second wore a black robe and a red ghdle. The third had a tunic of blue linen and a leather belt, he held in his hand an axe on which he leaned. " What are you doing there ?" the three companions asked in chorus. " I am dying," answered the young man ; ! " have pity on me 1" "What do you want?" they asked. "To get out of this accursed forest as quickly as possible." " Choose, then, the one of us three who shall accompany you, for only one guide, is needed, and it is for you to decide."' The young man looked at each of the three men who silently awaited the result of the examination. He observed the one who wore the cloth of gold robe, for the clasp threw out fires which illumined the surrounding space. " I choose you," he said to him. Then a strange smile passed over the cold lips of the unknown and he offered his hand to the young man, while his two companions disappeared like a vision. Mute with terror the young man took his guide's hand and they set forth. Ohl that was a rapid course, the trees flying behind them, and the sound of their footsttps resounding without interruption, nevertheless at the end of an hour they were still in the forest. "Oh I how tired I am 1 " murmured the young man, pausing in the middle of a crossroad formed by the junction of many paths. "The way iB long and our limbs are too feeble to take us to the end, but presently a man on horseback will go by here. Take this sword, as soon as ho is near you, plunge it in his hearth and take possession ot his horse, which we will mount." " Horror I who are you that give me such counsel? " " I am Crime I " answered the unknown. "Be off ! Off with you 1" cried the young man, falling with his face to the ground. An infernal laugh was heard, and the young man was left alone. He arose : the two companions weie before him. "What are you doing there?" they demanded. " I am dying," responded the young man ; " have pity on mo 1 " " What do you want ? " they asked. "To get out of this accursed forest as quickly as possible." " Choose, then, the one of us two who shall accompany you, for only one guide is needed, and it is for you to decide." And the young man looked at the two men and observed the one who was clothed in a black robe with a led girdle. " I choose you," he said. Then, without saying a ord, the unknown smiled and offered his hand to the young man, while his companion disappeared like a vision. Mute with terror the young man took hia guide's hand and they set forth. They walked for an hour and arrived at the brink of a gulf from which aro^e sobs and cries. " Oh 1 how tired I am!" murmured the young man, pausing. " The way is long yet and our limba are too teeble to take us to the end. Therefore I havo brought you here to offer you the only mean** of escaping from this forest, at the bottom of the gulf is Death who delivers from all trouble." " Horror ! who are you that give me such counsel ? " "I am Despair 1 " answered the unknown. "Be off I Off with you I " cried the young man, falling with his face to the ground. A burst of infernal laughter was heard, and the young man was left alone. He arose : the third companion was before him. Bemembering the names of the two others, he tried to flee, but the unknown stopped him. " Come with me, the way is long yet, but God comes to aid those who suffer." The young man looked at him, and, in hia turn, he offered him his hand. But the unknown contented himself with marching step by step before him ; then, by the aid of his axe, he opened a new road in hewing down the trees which impeded their progress ; then he said to the young man : " Take one of those trees on your shoulders." The young man obeyed; although his fatigue was great he scarcely felt the weight of the burden he carried. Always striking right and left with his axe, the unknown, fol- . lowed by the young man, reached the verge of the forest ; a vast plain spread before them, and in the middle of it was a castle. Then the unknown said to the young man : " The forest you have traversed is the forest of Poverty. Bsmember it, and now, lay i down your burden." The young man threw the tree to the ground ; but in falling, it changed to a roll of gold pieces." "Who are you that have given me such good counsel?" the young man asked, in the utmost astonishment. " I am Labor I " replied his companion. — Translated from the French by E. F. Dawson.