But the girl who gathered twigs brought him fruits in her skirt, and water
from the stream in cups made of leaves.
The days went on, and his penance grew harsher till the fruits remained
untasted, the water untouched: and the girl who gathered twigs was sad.
The Lord of Paradise heard that a man had dared to aspire to be as the
Gods. Time after time he had fought the Titans, who were his peers, and
kept them out of his kingdom; yet he feared a man whose power was that of
suffering.
But he knew the ways of mortals, and he planned a temptation to decoy this
creature of dust away from his adventure.
A breath from Paradise kissed the limbs of the girl who gathered twigs, and
her youth ached with a sudden rapture of beauty, and her thoughts hummed
like the bees of a rifled hive.
The time came when the ascetic should leave the forest for a mountain cave,
to complete the rigour of his penance.
When he opened his eyes in order to start on this journey, the girl
appeared to him like a verse familiar, yet forgotten, and which an added
melody made strange.
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