* * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Pearl: Sidenotes I. Description of a lost pearl (_i.e._ a beloved child). The father laments the loss of his pearl. He often visits the spot where his pearl disappeared, and hears a sweet song. Where the pearl was buried there he found lovely flowers. Each blade of grass springs from a dead grain. In the high season of August the parent visits the grave of his lost child. Beautiful flowers covered the grave. From them came a delicious odour. The bereaved father wrings his hands for sorrow, falls asleep upon the flowery plot, and dreams. II. In spirit he is carried to an unknown region, where the rocks and cliffs gleamed gloriously. The hill sides were decked with crystal cliffs. The leaves of the trees were like burnished silver. The gravel consisted of precious pearls. The father forgets his sorrow. He sees birds of the most beautiful hues, and hears their sweet melody. No tongue could describe the beauty of the forest. All shone like gold. The dreamer arrives at the bank of a river, which gave forth sweet sounds. In it, stones glittered like stars in the welkin on a winter night. III. His grief abates, and he follows the course of the stream. No one could describe his great joy. He thought that Paradise was on the opposite bank. The stream was not fordable. More and more he desires to see what is beyond the brook. But the way seemed difficult. The dreamer finds new marvels. He sees a crystal cliff, at the foot of which, sits a maiden clothed in glistening white. He knows that he has seen her before. He desires to call her but is afraid, at finding her in such a strange place. IV. So he stands still, like a well trained hawk. He fears lest she should escape before he could speak to her. His long lost one is dressed in royal array--decked with precious pearls. She comes along the stream towards him. Her kirtle is composed of ‘sute,’ ornamented with pearls. She wore a crown of pearls. Her hair hung down about her. Her colour was whiter than whalebone. Her hair shone as gold. The trimming of her robe consisted of precious pearls. A wonderful pearl was set in her breast. No man from here to Greece, was so glad as the father, when he saw his pearl on the bank of the stream. The maiden salutes him. V. The father enquires of the maiden whether she is his long-lost pearl, and longs to know who has deprived him of his treasure. The maiden tells him that his pearl is not really lost. She is in a garden of delight, where sin and mourning are unknown. The rose that he had lost is become a pearl of price. The pearl blames his rash speech. The father begs the maiden to excuse his speech, for he really thought his pearl was wholly lost to him. The maiden tells her father that he has spoken three words without knowing the meaning of one. The first word. The second. The third.