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A CHILD'S DREAM OF A STAR
BY CHARLES DICKENS
There was once a child, and he strolled about a
good deal, and thought of a number of things. He
had a sister, who was a child, too, and his constant
companion. These two used to wonder all
day long. They wondered at the beauty of the
flowers; they wondered at the height and blueness
of the sky; they wondered at the depth of the
bright water; they wondered at the goodness and
the power of God who made the lovely world.
They used to say to one another, sometimes:
``Supposing all the children upon earth were to
die, would the flowers, and the water, and the sky
be sorry?'' They believed they would be sorry.
``For,''said they, ``the buds are the children of the
flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol
down the hillsides are the children of the water;
and the smallest, bright specks playing at hide
and seek in the sky all night, must surely be the
children of the stars; and they would all be
grieved to see their playmates, the children of
men, no more.''
There was one clear, shining star that used to
come out in the sky before the rest, near the
church spire, above the graves. It was larger and
more beautiful, they thought, than all the others,
and every night they watched for it, standing
hand in hand at a window. Whoever saw it first
cried out: ``I see the star!'' And often they cried
out both together, knowing so well when it would
rise, and where. So they grew to be such friends
with it, that, before lying down in their beds, they
always looked out once again, to bid it good-night;
and when they were turning round to sleep, they
used to say: ``God bless the star!''
But while she was still very young, oh, very,
very young, the sister drooped, and came to be so
weak that she could no longer stand in the window
at night; and then the child looked sadly
out by himself, and when he saw the star turned
round and said to the patient, pale face on the
bed: ``I see the star!'' and then a smile would
come upon the face, and a little weak voice used
to say: ``God bless my brother and the star!''
And so the time came all too soon, when the
child looked out alone, and when there was no
face on the bed; and when there was a little grave
among the graves, not there before; and when the
star made long rays down towards him, as he saw
it through his tears.
Now, these rays were so bright, and they
seemed to make such a shining way from earth to
heaven, that when the child went to his solitary
bed he dreamed about the star; and dreamed
that, lying where he was, he saw a train of people
taken up that sparkling road by angels. And the
star, opening, showed him a great world of light,
where many more such angels waited to receive
them.
All these angels, who were waiting, turned their
beaming eyes upon the people who were carried
up into the star; and some came out from the
long rows in which they stood, and fell upon the
people's necks, and kissed them tenderly, and
went away with them down avenues of light, and
were so happy in their company, that lying in his
bed he wept for joy.
But there were many angels who did not go
with them, and among them one he knew. The
patient face, that once had lain upon the bed,
was glorified and radiant, but his heart found out
his sister among all the host.
His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of
the star, and said to the leader among those who
had brought the people thither:--
``Is my brother come?''
And he said: ``No.''
She was turning hopefully away, when the
child stretched out his arms, and cried: ``O sister,
I am here! Take me!'' And then she turned her
beaming eyes upon him, and it was night; and
the star was shining into the room, making long
rays down towards him, as he saw it through his
tears.
From that hour forth, the child looked out
upon the star as on the home he was to go to
when his time should come; and he thought that
he did not belong to the earth alone, but to
the star, too, because of his sister's angel gone
before.
There was a baby born to be a brother to the
child; and while he was so little that he never yet
had spoken word, he stretched his tiny form out
on his bed, and died.
Again the child dreamed of the open star, and
of the company of angels, and the train of people,
and the rows of angels with their beaming eyes
all turned upon those people's faces.
Said his sister's angel to the leader:--
``Is my brother come?''
And he said: ``Not that one, but another.''
As the child beheld his brother's angel in her
arms, he cried: ``O sister, I am here! Take me!''
And she turned and smiled upon him, and the
star was shining.
He grew to be a young man, and was busy at
his books, when an old servant came to him and
said:--
``Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing
on her darling son.''
Again at night he saw the star, and all that
former company. Said his sister's angel to the
leader:--
``Is my brother come?''
And he said: ``Thy mother!''
A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the
star, because the mother was reunited to her two
children. And he stretched out his arms and
cried: ``O mother, sister, and brother, I am here!
Take me!'' And they answered him: ``Not yet.''
And the star was shining.
He grew to be a man, whose hair was turning
gray, and he was sitting in his chair by the fireside,
heavy with grief, and with his face bedewed
with tears, when the star opened once again.
Said his sister's angel to the leader:--
``Is my brother come?''
And he said: ``Nay, but his maiden daughter.''
And the man, who had been the child, saw his
daughter, newly lost to him, a celestial creature
among those three, and he said: ``My daughter's
head is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is
around my mother's neck, and at her feet there
is the baby of old time, and I can bear the parting
from her, God be praised!''
And the star was shining.
Thus the child came to be an old man, and his
once smooth face was wrinkled, and his steps were
slow and feeble, and his back was bent. And one
night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing
round, he cried, as he had cried so long ago:--
``I see the star!''
They whispered one to another: ``He is dying.''
And he said: ``I am. My age is falling from me
like a garment, and I move towards the star as a
child. And, O my Father, now I thank Thee that
it has so often opened to receive those dear ones
who await me!''
And the star was shining; and it shines upon
his grave. |
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