THREE PARABlES AND A DISSERTATION
soldier she had only an ambiguous smile and an ambiguous greeting,
which did not help at all.
The soldier, at a loss, confessed his trouble to the horse, and
while he spoke he made up his mind; he decided she was not for
him. So he said, "Why don't you take her? Her name is Zelda."
The soldier said this as a joke; for when one must dismiss
the possibility of love,
it
is best to do so humorously. But the horse
took
his
master seriously. It had never occurred to him that he
could love a girl. But now that his master had spoken, why, it must
be so. And at once the horse found himself in love with Zelda.
If
he were free to love the girl, he must be free to see her.
Therefore the horse left his master that night and went to call on
the girl. He knocked with his hoof on the door of her house. The
door was no sooner opened than it was slammed in his face. This
the horse could not understand.
If
one is given freedom, how is it
possible that the conditions of freedom should not come along with
the gift? He remained for a long time in front of the house, thought–
fully pawing the ground. It is not possible, decided the horse, and
he went round the back way and poked his head through Zelda's
bedroom window. Zelda screamed. The horse ran away.
Thereafter he never knew a day of peace. He said to himself:
"All my life I was admired as a horse; but now that I am in love,
I am treated as a monster. Is there something monstrous in being
in love? That cannot be. Then is there something monstrous in being
a horse? Now that I am in love, it must be so. But how can I help
being in love, since I am free to love? Is it my fault I am free?
Am
I to blame that I'm a horse? But how can I remain content
with being a horse? Oh this burden, heavier than any I ever carried
on my back!"
The horse thought of dashing himself off a cliff, but
it
was
flat country. He refused to eat and went about in a weakened con–
dition, barely able to drag his legs, and weeping all the time. The
soldier did not understand; he thought age had prematurely over–
taken the animal, and the horse, thinking that death would be
welcome, did not correct his master. He bore him gently and slowly
up and down the road in his weakness, though he now despised the
soldier for his limited understanding. One day they met the girl on
the road. The soldier, whose love for another woman was prospering,
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