"Oh, Spring-time!" she said. "Why does the water-lily fade and die? Why are these children of the Spring born only to smile and then fade. I am like a rainbow, like a fading cloud, like a reflection in a mirror, like a shadow in the water, like a baby's dream, or the smile on his face, like the voice of a dove, like the daytime that comes and goes, like music in the air. I will lie down gently to rest my head and sleep the gentle sleep of those who are not yet born."
The Lily of the Valley, hidden among the humble grass, heard the lovely maid, and said, "Why are you sad? I am only a weed. I am small and I live hidden in the grass. I am so weak that the golden butterfly can hardly rest on my head. And yet I am looked after by Heaven. The one from Heaven who walks through the valley in the morning smiles at me, saying, 'Be happy, little stem of grass, new-born lily-flower. Be happy, gentle maiden of the silent valleys and quiet streams, for you will be clothed in light, and fed with the morning sunlight, until the hot sun melts you beside the fountains and the springs, and you will grow more beautifully in Heaven.' And if a little weed like me is looked after by Heaven, then why should you, the beautiful Queen of the valley of Har, be unhappy?"
Thel answered the smiling lily. "Oh, little maiden of the peaceful valley," she said. "You give to those that cannot ask, to the dumb and the tired. The innocent lamb smells your perfume and eats your petals while you smile at him. The bees make golden honey from your nectar. The cow who has been milked smells your perfume and becomes happy again, and the wild horse smells it and becomes calm. But I am like a faint cloud made by the rising sun. If I disappear, where will I go to?"
"Queen of the valley," answered the Lily, "why not ask the tender cloud? It will tell you why it glitters in the morning sky, and why it scatters itself to make rain. Come little cloud and hover in the air, near Thel's eyes."
The cloud came down, and the lily bowed her head and went back to give happiness to those who smelt her perfume.
"Oh, little cloud," said Thel. "Please tell me why you do not complain, even though you only live a short time. I must disappear like you, but I complain, and no one hears me."
The cloud hovered in front of Thel's face, glittering brightly in the air.
"Oh maiden," he said, "don't you know that the wild horses drink at the golden springs where my rain falls? Do you think that when I disappear there is nothing left? When I fade away I become ten times happier. My raindrops fall on the light petals of sweet flowers and join the dew that rests on the petals. The dew and my raindrops feed the flower and then rise together to the risen sun.
"Then you are happy, little cloud," said Thel. "I'm afraid I am not like you, for I walk through the valley of Har, and smell the sweetest flowers. But I do not feed them. I hear the birds singing, but I do not feed them. They fly away to find their food. But when I die, I will not enjoy them any more and they will all say, 'This beautiful woman was no use at all. All she is good for is to feed the worms when she is dead.'"
"But, Thel," answered the cloud, resting on his airy throne, "if you are the food of worms, you will be very useful. Everything that lives, lives for others as well as for itself. Wait, and I will call the weak worm from under the damp ground, and let you hear his voice. Come, worm of the silent valley, come to your thoughtful queen."
The helpless worm arose from the ground and sat on the lily's leaf, and the bright cloud sailed away to find the dew in the valley.
When Thel looked at the worm on the soft lily, she was surprised at what she saw.
"Are you a worm?" she said. "Poor little thing, are you only a worm? To me, you look like a baby wrapped in the lily's leaf. Ah, don't cry, little voice. You can not speak, but you can cry. Is this really a worm? You are lying helpless and naked, crying, and there is no mother to come and comfort you."
But a lump of earth heard the worm crying and looked up in pity. She bowed over the crying baby and covered her fondly, then looked at Thel with humble eyes.
"Oh beautiful maiden of the valley of Har," she said, "everything lives for others as well as for itself. As you can see, I am a poor, cold, dark creature, but he who loves the humble kisses me with raindrops and says to me, 'Earth, the mother of my children, I have loved you, and have given you a crown of grass that no-one can take away.'
"But why I am loved, sweet maiden, I don't know, and I can't know. I think and give up thinking, and just live and love."
The beautiful Thel wiped away her tears of pity with her white veil, and said, "I did not know this, and that's why I was sad. I knew that God would love even a worm, and that he would punish anyone who purposely trod on its helpless body, but I did not know that he cared for it like a baby, and so I cried and complained in the quiet air, because I must fade away and lie down in your cold bed, Mother Earth, and leave this beautiful life."
"Queen of the valley," answered Mother Earth, "I heard your crying. All your moans flew through the air above me, but I have called them down. Will you, oh Queen, come inside my house? Do not be afraid. You may come back if you want to."
The gates of the land of the unborn opened and Thel entered, to see the secrets of the unknown land. She saw the graves where every one living in the land of humans must some day go. It was a land of sorrows and tears, where there were no smiles to be seen.
She wandered in the land of clouds through dark underground valleys, listening silently to the voices of the graves, until she came to the place where her own grave would be and sat down. Through the grave she heard a voice of sorrow from the land of humans, saying, "Why must we hear only with our ears? How can we know that we are not hearing lies?
"Why must we see smiles only with our eyes? How can we know the smiles are real?
"Why must we speak only with our tongues? How can we say what we really mean?
"Why are we clothed in flesh, from which we cannot escape?"
Thel jumped up from her seat and, with a shriek, ran away and did not stop until she came back to the valley of Har.