“What’s the matter with you, Maître Frantz?” cried Coucou Peter. “Nothing, my friend,” replied the good man, in a stifled voice. “I am thinking of those unhappy people who have persecuted us; I am thinking of the numberless transformations they still have to endure before reaching moral perfection; and I pity them for having such bad hearts. I, who would have done so much for them!—who sought to enlighten them on their future destinies! I, who love them still with all the strength of my soul! They strike me, cover me with abuse, and misunderstand the purity of my intentions. You cannot imagine how much this pains me. Let me weep in silence; these are gentle tears, and prove to me my own goodness. Oh, Mathéus! Mathéus! man of virtue!” he cried, “weep—weep for the errors of your species; but murmur not against eternal justice! That alone makes your greatness and strength. In turn, onion, tulip, snail, and hare—finally man. You have not always been a philosopher; it has needed many ages to overcome your animal instincts. Be indulgent, therefore, and think that, if inferior beings do you harm, it is because they are not worthy to comprehend you.” “That’s all very fine! We are knocked about, and you take pity on those fellows!” cried Coucou Peter. “The devil’s in it if we haven’t enough to be sorry for on our own account!” “Listen to me, my friend,” said Mathéus, drying his eyes. “The more I think of it, the more convinced I am that it could not be otherwise. A nameless prophet was sent to Beth-el, on condition that he neither drank nor ate; but having unfortunately eaten a piece of bread, he was devoured by a lion, and his bones were found between this lion and an ass that had been given to him. Jonah was swallowed by a fish. It is true, he only remained three days in the fish’s stomach; but it is very disagreeable to be kept for seventy-two hours in such a constrained position. Habakkuk was transported by his hair through the air to Babylon. Imagine, Coucou Peter, how much he must have suffered by being suspended by his hair during such a journey. Ezekiel was stoned. It is not exactly known whether Jeremiah was stoned or sawed in two; but Isaiah was certainly sawed in two. Amos was——” “Maître Frantz,” cried Coucou Peter, abruptly, “if you think to give me courage by telling me such stories as these, you are very much mistaken. I won’t conceal from you that, sooner than be cut in two, I’d rather go back to my fiddle, and play tunes on it all the rest of my life.” “Come, come—do not be afraid. In these days prophets are no longer so ill-treated; on the contrary, handsome pensions are given to them—so long as they maintain at least the existence of a soul.” “And we, who maintain thousands of souls, deserve pensions a thousand times bigger!” cried the gay fiddler.