roth into my cell. He came in with a very bright and holiday
aspect, and, assuming a paternal air, said that he had heard a very
creditable account of my work and conduct, and that he had obtained
leave for me to have an exeat. I suppose that I showed signs of
impatience at the interruption, for he broke into a laugh, and said,
"Well, I am going to insist. I believe you are working too hard, and we
must not overstrain our faculties. It was bad enough, in the old days,
but then it was generally the poor body which suffered first. But indeed
it is quite possible to overwork here, and you have the dim air of the
pale student. Come," he said, "whatever happens, do not become priggish.
Not to want a holiday is a sign of spiritual pride. Besides, I have
some curious things to show you."

I got up and said that I was ready, and Amroth led the way like a boy
out for a holiday. He was brimming over with talk, and told me some
stories about my friends in the land of delight, interspersing them with
imitation of their manner and gesture, which made me giggle--Amroth was
an admirable mimic. "I had hopes of Charmides," he said; "your stay
there aroused his curiosity. But he has gone back to his absurd tones
and half-tones, and is nearly insupportable. Cynthia is much more
sensible, but Lucius is a nuisance, and Charmides, by the way, has
become absurdly jealous of him. They really are very silly; but I have a
pleasant plot, which I will unfold to you."

As we went down the interminable stairs, I said to Amroth, "There is a
question I want to ask you. Why do we have to go and come, up and down,
backwards and forwards, in this absurd way, as if we were still in the
body? Why not just slip off the leads, and fly down over the crags like
a pair of pigeons? It all seems to me so terribly material."

Amroth looked at me with a smile. "I don't advise you to try," he said.
"Why, little brother, of course we are just as limited here in these
ways. The material laws of earth are only a type of the laws here. They
all have a meaning which remains true."

"But," I said, "we can visit the earth with incredible rapidity?"

"How can I explain?" said Amroth. "Of course we can do that, because the
material universe is so extremely small in comparison. All the stars in
the world are here but as a heap of sand, like the motes which dance in
a sunbeam. There is no question of size, of course! But there is such a
thing as spiritual nearness and spir