" It was the fairy speaking.
"The years have taught you wisdom--surely it must be so.
Three gifts remain. Only one of them has any worth--remember it,
and choose warily."
The man reflected long, then chose Fame; and the fairy, sighing,
went her way.
Years went by and she came again, and stood behind the man where he
sat solitary in the fading day, thinking. And she knew his thought:
"My name filled the world, and its praises were on every tongue,
and it seemed well with me for a little while. How little a while
it was! Then came envy; then detraction; then calumny; then hate;
then persecution. Then derision, which is the beginning of the end.
And last of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame. Oh,
the bitterness and misery of renown! target for mud in its prime,
for contempt and compassion in its decay."
Chapter IV
"Chose yet again." It was the fairy's voice.
"Two gifts remain. And do not despair. In the beginning there
was but one that was precious, and it is still here."
"Wealth--which is power! How blind I was!" said the man.
"Now, at last, life will be worth the living. I will spend,
squander, dazzle. These mockers and despisers will crawl in the
dirt before me, and I will feed my hungry heart with their envy.
I will have all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit,
all contentments of the body that man holds dear.
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