"Sleep," said the man, "for now I think you have come far enough;
and your quest is ended, and my candle is out."
Now when the morning came, the man gave him a clear pebble in his
hand, and it had no beauty and no colour; and the elder son looked
upon it scornfully and shook his head; and he went away, for it
seemed a small affair to him.
All that day he rode, and his mind was quiet, and the desire of the
chase allayed. "How if this poor pebble be the touchstone, after
all?" said he: and he got down from his horse, and emptied forth
his wallet by the side of the way. Now, in the light of each
other, all the touchstones lost their hue and fire, and withered
like stars at morning; but in the light of the pebble, their beauty
remained, only the pebble was the most bright. And the elder son
smote upon his brow. "How if this be the truth?" he cried, "that
all are a little true?" And he took the pebble, and turned its
light upon the heavens, and they deepened about him like the pit;
and he turned it on the hills, and the hills were cold and rugged,
but life ran in their sides so that his own life bounded; and he
turned it on the dust, and he beheld the dust with joy and terror;
and he turned it on himself, and kneeled down and prayed.
"Now, thanks be to God," said the elder son, "I have found the
touchstone; and now I may turn my reins, and ride home to the King
and to the maid of the dun that makes my mouth to sing and my heart
enlarge.
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