III

THE PARTRIDGE

About another creature have I heard

A wondrous [tale.] [There is] a bird [men call
The partridge. Strange is she, unlike all birds
In field or wood who brood upon their eggs,
Hatching their young. The partridge lays no eggs,
Nor builds a dwelling; but instead, she steals
The well-wrought nests of others. There she sits,
Warming a stranger brood, until at last

The eggs are hatched. But when the stolen chicks
Are fledged, they straightway fly away to seek
Their proper kin, and leave the partridge there
Forsaken. In such wise the devil works
To steal the souls of those whose youthful minds
Or foolish hearts in vain resist his wiles.
But when they reach maturer age, they see
They are true children of the Lord of lords.
Then they desert the lying fiend, and seek
Their rightful Father, who with open arms
Receives them, as he long since promised them.1]
Fair is that word the Lord of glory spoke:
'In such time as you turn with faithful hearts
To me, and put away your hellish sins,
Abominable to me, then will I turn

To you in love for ever, for my heart

Is mild and gracious. Thenceforth you shall be

1 Conjecturally supplied, on the basis of other versions.

me as glorious and renowned, as my illustrious brethren, yea, in the place of children.

Let us therefore propitiate God with all zeal, abhor evil, and gain forgiveness and salvation from the Lord while for us the day still shines, so that thus we may, in glorious beauty, inhabit a dwelling excellent beyond compare. Finit.

Refulgent, glorious, numbered with the host
Of heaven, and, instead of children, called
Bright brethren of the Lord.'

Let us by this
Be taught to please God better, hating sin,
And strive to earn salvation from the Lord,
His full deliverance, so long as day
Shall shine upon us, that we may at last
Inhabit heavenly mansions, nobler far
Than earthly dwellings, gloriously bright.

Finit.

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