And he said, “Nay, my friend, you knocked at the gate of my silences and received but a trifle. For who would not leave a kingdom for a forest where the seasons sing and dance ceaselessly? Many are those who have given their kingdom for less than solitude and the sweet fellowship of aloneness. Countless are the eagles who descend from the upper air to live with moles that they may know the secrets of the earth. There are those who renounce the kingdom of dreams that they may not seem distant from the dreamless. And those who renounce the kingdom of nakedness and cover their souls that others may not be ashamed in beholding truth uncovered and beauty unveiled. And greater yet than all of these is he who renounces the kingdom of sorrow that he may not seem proud and vainglorious.” Then rising he leaned upon his reed and said, “Go now to the great city and sit at its gate and watch all those who enter into it and those who go out. And see that you find him who, though born a king, is without kingdom; and him who though ruled in flesh rules in spirit--though neither he nor his subjects know this; and him also who but seems to rule yet is in truth slave of his own slaves.” After he had said these things he smiled on me, and there were a thousand dawns upon his lips. Then he turned and walked away into the heart of the forest. And I returned to the city, and I sat at its gate to watch the passersby even as he had told me. And from that day to this numberless are the kings whose shadows have passed over me and few are the subjects over whom my shadow has passed. THE LION’S DAUGHTER Four slaves stood fanning an old queen who was asleep upon her throne. And she was snoring. And upon the queen’s lap a cat lay purring and gazing lazily at the slaves. The first slave spoke, and said, “How ugly this old woman is in her sleep. See her mouth droop; and she breathes as if the devil were choking her.” _Then the cat said, purring, “Not half so ugly in her sleep as you in your waking slavery.”_ And the second slave said, “You would think sleep would smooth her wrinkles instead of deepening them. She must be dreaming of something evil.” _And the cat purred, “Would that you_ [Illustration: drawing signed K. Gibran, 1920] _might sleep also and dream of your freedom.”_ And the third slave said, “Perhaps she is seeing the procession of all those that she has slain.” _And the cat purred, “Aye, she sees the procession of your forefathers and your descendants.”_ And the fourth slave said, “It is all very well to talk about her, but it does not make me less weary of standing and fanning.” _And the cat purred, “You shall be fanning to all eternity; for as it is on earth so it is in heaven.”_ At this moment the old queen nodded in her sleep, and her crown fell to the floor. And one of the slaves said, “That is a bad omen.” _And the cat purred, “The bad omen of one is the good omen of another.”_