t black old chip; and instantly seizing the weights
of the clock, she told what she wanted to the old woman, who, setting
up a loud cry, called to her son. But Cianna said to her, "You may butt
your head against the wall as long as you like, for you will not see
your son whilst I hold these clock-weights."

Thereupon the old woman, seeing herself foiled, began to coax Cianna,
saying, "Let go of them, my dear, and do not stop my son's course; for
no man living has ever done that. Let go of them, and may Heaven
preserve you! for I promise you, by the acid of my son, with which he
corrodes everything, that I will do you no harm."

"That's time lost," answered Cianna, "you must say something better if
you would have me quit my hold."

"I swear to you by those teeth, which gnaw all mortal things, that I
will tell you all you desire."

"That is all nothing," answered Cianna, "for I know you are deceiving
me."

"Well, then," said the old woman, "I swear to you by those wings which
fly over all that I will give you more pleasure than you imagine."

Thereupon Cianna, letting go the weights, kissed the old woman's hand,
which had a mouldy feel and a nasty smell. And the old woman, seeing
the courtesy of the damsel, said to her, "Hide yourself behind this
door, and when Time comes home I will make him tell me all you wish to
know. And as soon as he goes out again--for he never stays quiet in one
place--you can depart. But do not let yourself be heard or seen, for he
is such a glutton that he does not spare even his own children; and
when all fails, he devours himself and then springs up anew."

Cianna did as the old woman told her; and, lo! soon after Time came
flying quick, quick, high and light, and having gnawed whatever came to
hand, down to the very mouldiness upon the walls, he was about to
depart, when his mother told him all she had heard from Cianna,
beseeching him by the milk she had given him to answer exactly all her
questions. After a thousand entreaties, her son replied, "To the tree
may be answered, that it can never be prized by men so long as it keeps
treasures buried under its roots; to the mice, that they will never be
safe from the cat unless they tie a bell to her leg to tell them when
she is coming; to the ants, that they will live a hundred years if they
can dispense with flying--for when the ant is going to die she puts on
wings; to the whale, that it should be of good cheer, and make friends
with t