'
'Give me death!' pleaded the other, 'for I have followed you far,
silent as a shadow, and I am aweary.'
But the Lord of Death shook his head, saying, 'Not so! I only give to
those whose years are full, and you have sixty years of life to come!'
Then the old white-bearded man vanished, but whether he really was the
Lord of Death, or a devil, who can tell?
THE WRESTLERS
A STORY OF HEROES
There was, once upon a time, long ago, a wrestler living in a far
country, who, hearing there was a mighty man in India, determined to
have a fall with him; so, tying up ten thousand pounds weight of flour
in his blanket, he put the bundle on his head and set off jauntily.
Towards evening he came to a little pond in the middle of the desert,
and sat down to eat his dinner. First, he stooped down and took a
good long drink of the water; then, emptying his flour into the
remainder of the pond, stirred it into good thick brose, off which he
made a hearty meal, and lying down under a tree, soon fell fast
asleep.
Now, for many years an elephant had drunk daily at the pond, and,
coming as usual that evening for its draught, was surprised to find
nothing but a little mud and flour at the bottom.
'What shall I do?' it said to itself, 'for there is no more water to
be found for twenty miles!'
Going away disconsolate, it espied the wrestler sleeping placidly
under the tree, and at once made sure he was the author of the
mischief; so, galloping up to the sleeping man, it stamped on his head
in a furious rage, determined to crush him.
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