The Star, the Flower, and the Sparrow

On one of summer's enchanting nights, when the universe was drunk, the air fresh, and the breeze gentle, a star among the stars of the sky felt the intoxication of longing and love; she surrendered to the dominion of fate, and let herself fall to the earth!

The star fell in a fertile orchard, and quickly the earth embraced her, wrapped her in its deep folds, and one morning released her from its depths in the shape of a strange golden flower, wondrous in beauty, dazzling.

It happened that one of the maidens passed through the orchard, and the flower's beauty astonished her; she plucked it and hurried at once to the tender youth, her beloved, and presented it to him on a triumphant morning, smiling!

And the tender youth loved her with the fullness of his youth, the fullness of his strength, the fullness of his hope. When she presented the strange flower to him, he contemplated it a moment, then breathed in its scent long, then kissed it lingeringly; then love surged in his breast, and he kissed his beloved — after slipping the rare flower into his pocket, heedless..

And the tyrannous fates parted the two lovers. The youth went off to the city, gave himself to work, and plunged into the great concerns of life; he forgot the orchard, and forgot the maiden, and forgot the flower..

And the maiden waited days, dreaming; and she waited months and years, weeping..

But the youth was busy... he was burdened with cares... he was exploring life and striking out into the unknown wilds of the world!

And she waited still... she waited long; but the tender youth could not drink his fill of the world, could not be sated with life; he did not tire, did not weary, and knew no rest.

And on one of summer's enchanting nights, when the universe was drunk, the air fresh, and the breeze gentle, the youth came back from his journey and fell to whistling and singing, picturing to himself the phantom of his maiden — and suddenly he remembered something... something charming... something tender... tender like his manners and his feelings... He hastened to his clothes and pulled them out, and to their pockets and rummaged through them; but instead of finding the strange flower, the golden flower, the rare and precious flower, he came upon, in a hidden, forsaken pocket, a blind sparrow, a feeble sparrow, a sparrow with no voice and no wings. He stared at it in wonder and disgust, and let it fall like the star — but onto a hard ground that had no soul and no heart.

And the tender youth went off, whistling and singing, and making ready for another journey.

And when he had packed his bags and bidden his family farewell and was about to go out, the sight of the blind sparrow stopped him; he smiled mockingly, and shrugged his shoulders.

Then he crushed the sparrow under his foot, and went his way!