and without moving from his chair he will be able
to travel to Rome and Carthage and Jerusalem,
to Athens and Alexandria, to Paris and London,
or outwards to the edge of the universe,
backwards to prehistoric times, downwards
to the earth's center, and the sea's womb, and even,
who knows? perhaps forwards to the Day of the Soul.
And that was not all, for there was another spirit
with the kindliest expression on his face,
and the most alarming instruments in his hands;
he talked easily and well, and very convincingly,
and he said, I will give this child protection
from a thousand things that he might never have heard of
if it hadn't been for me; I will fight battles for him
with legendary armies of infinitesimal magnitude;
and when he is failing I will give him props
that
will
prevent him from collapsing completely,
and will allow him to totter on a few more years,
enjoying the blessings of a useless and meaningless existence.
And when this spirit had ceased speaking there was
a brief silence, and they all looked round and saw
that there was no one else there except an old beggar
who kept himself apart and did no talking;
and they said to him, What are you going to give this child?
And he answered, Leave me alone; I know my job;
I'll keep my slums away from him, and cover them up,
and
if
he's wise he'll never come near them,
and if he's smart the cops will be on his side.
Then all the other spirits looked at each other,
and shook their heads, and murmured regretfully,
What a problem this old beggarman spirit is to us!
How nice it would be for all of us without him,
or at least if we could only clean him up a bit,
and make him sanitary and respectful;
some day we'll really have to take him in hand.
That is what the spirits of the external world
said to each other on the top of Mount Tom
