athers!--but it cannot breathe to revive
the human heart after sickness or toil, or gladden the spirit of the
beast which lies panting in the shade from excessive heat. It is lost,
wasted, and so are the beams of the sun, the moon, and the stars; and
so are the sweet fruits that grow spontaneously about the earth, and
the beautiful flowers that waste their fragrance on the desert air.
This must not be," repeated the Bird.

So he flew up to the highest pinnacle of the Mountain of the Thunders,
and there fell to musing, the while scratching the side of his head
with his mighty claw. At last he bethought himself of a spell or
charm, which was taught him by his father, who lived before time was,
and survived its commencement many ages. He recollected that this
venerable and wise bird, who did not die till his claws were rotted
off, and his feathers all dispersed to the winds, told him that if one
of his descendants were to eat nothing for seven days, and to quench
his thirst with the dew which should lie upon the mountain-laurel, he
would enjoy the power to accomplish that which ought to be done.
"Nothing can be clearer," said the Bird of Ages to himself, "than that
the world ought to be inhabited. Now I, by fasting seven days, and
quenching my thirst with the dew of the mountain-laurel alone, shall,
according to the word of my father, be enabled to see this earth
tenanted by beautiful creatures; the seeds, which now lie dormant in
the earth, will spring up to furnish food for innumerable creatures,
and those innumerable creatures will enjoy the bounties spread out in
such profusion before them! How delightful it will be to see and hear
the birds of soft notes and splendid plumage, singing and hopping
about on bush and tree; and the kid, and the fawn, and the lamb,
gambolling on the sunny hill-side, and the fishes disporting in their
own element; and Man, the lord of all, painted on his cheek and brow
with the ochre of wrath, and wearing the gallant scalp-lock, decked
with the plumes of the eagle; and to hear his cry of battle, rising
from the gathering place of warriors, and to mark the pole of red
scalps, and better yet the resolution of the captive, when the
torments are inflicted upon him, when the pincers tear his flesh, when
the hot stones sear his eye-balls. All these pleasures will delight
the eyes and ears of those who shall live on this beautiful world,
when I shall have done what I conceive ought to have been don