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not at the time above thoughts of theft. Larceny even before
gratitude seethed in my grubby little soul.
Near a fire which burned, as I observed, without fuel sat a man (I
thought) who seemed most incredibly ancient. His beard was long
and full and white as the snow which had so nearly killed me - but
his eyes - his eyes were eternally young.
'Well, boy,' he said, 'hast thou decided not to die?'
'Not if it isn't necessary,' I said bravely,, still cataloguing the
wonders of the chamber.
'Dost thou require anything?' he asked. 'I am unfamiliar with thy
kind.'
'A little food,' I told him. 'I have not eaten in three days. And a
warm place to sleep. I shall not be much trouble, Master, and I can
make myself useful in payment.' I had learned a long time ago how
to make myself agreeable to those who were in a position to do me
favors.
'Master?' he said and laughed, a sound so cheerful that it made
me almost want to dance. 'I am not thy master, boy.' He laughed
again, and my heart sang with the splendor of his mirth. 'Let us see
to this thing of food. What dost thou require?'
'A little bread perhaps,' I said, '- not too stale.'
'Bread?' he said. 'Only bread? Surely, boy, thy stomach is fit for
more than bread. If thou wouldst make thyself useful - as thou hast
promised - we must nourish thee properly. Consider, boy. Think of
all the things thou hast eaten in thy life. What in all this world would
most surely satisfy that vast hunger of thine?'
I could not even say it. Before my eyes swam the visions of
plump, smoking roasts, of fat geese swimming in their own gravy~ of
heaps of fresh-baked bread and rich, golden butter, of pastries in
thick cream, of cheese, and dark brown ale, of fruits and nuts and
salt to savor it all.
And he who sat by the glowing fire that burned, it seemed, air
alone laughed again, and again my heart sang. 'Turn, boy,' he said,
And I turned, and there on a table which I had not even seen
before lay everything which I had imagined.
- A hungry young boy does not ask where food comes from - he
eats. And so I ate. I ate until my stomach groaned. And through the
sound of my eating I could hear the laughter of the aged one beside
his fire, and my heart leapt within me at each laugh.
And when I had finished and drowsed over my plate, he spoke
again. Wilt thou sleep now, boy?'
'A corner, Master,' I said. 'A little out-of-the-way place by the fire,
if it be not too much trouble.'
He pointed. 'Sleep there, boy,' he said, and at once I saw a bed
which I had seen no more than the table - a great bed with huge
pillows and comforters of softest down. And I smiled my thanks and
crept into the bed and, because I was young and very tired, I fell
asleep almost at once. But in my sleep I knew that he who had
brought me in from the storm and fed me and cared for me was
watching through the long snowy night, and I felt even more secure
in his care.
And that began my servitude. My Master never commanded
in the way other masters commanded their servants, but rather
suggested or asked. Amazingly, almost in spite of myself, I found
myself leaping to do his bidding. The tasks, simple at first, grew
harder and harder. I began to wish I had never come to this place.
Sometimes my Master would stop what he was doing to watch