Gibran Stories Omnibus

sister's
depth and stronger than my brother's strength, and stranger than the
strangeness of my madness.
      Aeons upon aeons have passed since the first grey dawn made us
visible to one another; and though we have seen the birth and the
fullness and the death of many worlds, we are still eager and young.
      We are young and eager and yet we are mateless and unvisited, and
though we lie in unbroken half embrace, we are uncomforted. And what
comfort is there for controlled desire and unspent passion? Whence
shall come the flaming god to warm my sister's bed? And what
she-torrent shall quench my brother's fire? And who is the woman that
shall command my heart?
      In the stillness of the night my sister murmurs in her sleep the
fire-god's unknown name, and my brother calls afar upon the cool and
distant goddess. But upon whom I call in my sleep I know not.
      Here I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea. We
three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together is
deep and strong and strange.

SAID A BLADE OF GRASS
         
      Said a blade of grass to an autumn leaf, “You make such a noise
falling! You scatter all my winter dreams.”
      Said the leaf indignant, “Low-born and low-dwelling! Songless,
peevish thing! You live not in the upper air and you cannot tell the
sound of singing.”
      Then the autumn leaf lay down upon the earth and slept. And when
spring came she waked again-and she was a blade of grass.
      And when it was autumn and her winter sleep was upon her, and above
her through all the air the leaves were falling, she muttered to
herself, “O these autumn leaves! They make such noise! They scatter all
my winter dreams.”

THE EYE
         
      Said the Eye one day, “I see beyond these valleys a mountain veiled
with blue mist. Is it not beautiful?”
      The Ear listened, and after listening intently awhile, said, “But
where is any mountain? I do not hear it.”
      Then the Hand spoke and said, “I am trying in vain to feel it or
touch it, and I can find no mountain.”
      And the Nose said, “There is no mountain, I cannot smell it.”
      Then the Eye turned the other way, and they all began to talk
together about the Eye's strange delusion. And they said, “Something
must be the matter with the Eye.”

THE TWO LEARNED MEN
         
      Once there lived in the ancient city of Afkar two learned men who
hated and belittled each other's learning. For one of them denied the
existence of the gods and the other was a believer.
      One day the two met in the marketplace, and amidst their followers
they began to dispute and to argue about the existence or the
non-existence of the gods. And after hours of contention they parted.
      That evening the unbeliever went to the temple and prostrated
himself before the altar and prayed the gods to forgive his wayward
past.
      And the same hour the other learned man, he who had upheld the gods,
burned his sacred books. For he had become an unbeliever.

WHEN MY SORROW WAS BORN
         
      When my Sorrow was born I nursed it with care, and watched over it
with loving tenderness.
      And my Sorrow grew like all living things, strong and beautiful and
full of wondrous delights.
      And we loved one another, my Sorrow and I, and we loved the world
about us; for Sorrow had a kindly heart and mine was kindly with
Sorrow.
      And when we conversed, my Sorrow and I, our days were winged and our
nights were girdled with dreams; for Sorrow had an eloquent tongue, and
mine was eloquent with Sorrow.
      And when we sang together, my Sorrow and I, our neighbours sat at
their windows and listened; for our songs were deep as the sea and our
melodies were full of strange memories.
      And when we walked together, my Sorrow and I, people gazed at us
with gentle eyes and whispered in words of exceeding sweetness. And
there were those who looked with envy upon us, for Sorrow was a noble
thing and I was proud with Sorrow.
      But my Sorrow died, like all living things, and alone I am left to
muse and ponder.
      And now when I speak my words fall heavily upon my ears.
      And when I sing my songs my neighbours come not to listen.
      And when I walk the streets no one looks at me.
      Only in