Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1892-03-02
THE CHILDREN OF THE
ZODIAC.
BY RUDYARD KIPLING.

although no love her as ihysolf,
As self of purcr clay
Though her aTIing dim the day,
Stealing grace from all alive,
HeaI tly know
Wh,n half Gods go
The Gods HrriNe."-EmersOn.
Thousands of years ago, when men
were q eater than they are to-day, the
Children of the Zodiac lived in the
world There were six Children of the
Zodiac-the Ram, the Bull, the Lion,
the Twins, and the Girl; and they were
afraid of Six Houses which belonged TO
the scorpion. the Balance, the Crab,
the Fishes, the Sea Coat, and the
Waterman. Ev,n when they first
stepped down upon the earth and knew
that they were immortal Gods they
carried this fear with Il EN-; and the
fear grew as they became better ac-
auainted with mankind and beard
stories of the Six Houses. Men treated
the Children as Gods and came to
them with prayers and long stories of
wrong, while the Children of the
Zodirc listened and could not under
stand.
A mother won'd fling herself before
the feet of tie Twins, or the Bull, cry
ing: My husband WAS Mt work in the
fields and the Archer shot hun and he
died; and my son will also be killed
by the Archer. Help mel The hull
would lower his huge head and answer:
"N hat is that TO me?" Or the Twins
would smile and continue their play,
for they could not understand why the
water ran out of peoples eyes. At
other times a man and woman would
come to Leo or the Girl crying: I'VE
two are newly married and We are
very happy. Take these flowers" As
they threw the flowers they would
make mysterious sounds to show that
that they were happy, and Leo and the
Gill wondered even more than the
Twins why people shouted "Hal hal
har' for no cause.
This continued for thousands of years
by human reconlng till on day, Lee
met the Girl walking across the hills
and saw that she had changed entirely
since he had last seen her. The Girl,
looking at Leo, saw that he, too, had
changed altogether siLce their last
meeting. Then they decided that 1t
would be well never to separate again,
in case even more startling changes
should occur when the one was not at
hand to help the 9th r. Leo kissed
the Girl and all Earth felt that
kiss, and the Girl sat down on hill
and the the water ran out of her eyes;
and this had never happened before
in the memory Of the Children of the
Zodiac.
As they sat together a man and a
woman came by, and the man said to
the woman:
What is the use of wasting flowers on
those dull gods. They will never un-
derstand, darling"
The Girl jumped up and put her arms
round the woman, crying, 81 under,
stand, Give me the flowers and L will
give you kiss"
Leo said beneath his breath to the
man.
"What was the new name that !
heard you give to your woman Just
now?'
The man answered: Darling, o.
course"
why, of course" said Leo; ''and Il
of course, what does it mean?"
''It means very dear, and you have
only to look at your wife to see why.
81 see," said Leo; you are quite
right" and when the man and the
woman had gone he called the Cir
"darling wife" and The Girl wept
a, ain from sheer happiness.
Il think she said at last. wlpinG
her ewes. l think that we two have
neglected men and women tco mu b
What did You do with the sacrifices they
made to you, Leo?"
AL Iaf thapo hnrn said Leo. 50
could not eat them. What did you dc
with the fowers?"
Il let them wither. l could no
wear them, | had so many of my own,
said the Girl, ''and now [ am sor'
ry."
There Is nothing to gr1eve for,
said Leo; we belong to each 9th
er."
As they were talking the years o
mems life slipped by unnoticed, anC
pre- emily the man and the woman CAM
back. both white haired, the man car y
ing the woman.
ave have come to the ends OF things,
ID the man, quietly. "This that Wal
my wife"
.As am Leo's wife," said the girl
quickly, her eyes staring
was my wife, has been killed by
one of your Houses" The man Sc
down his burden, and laughed.
(Which House?' said Le,, angrily
for he hated all the Houses equally.
You are gods, you should know,
said the man. we have lived together
and loved one another, and l have lef
a good farm for my son; what have
to complain of except that L still
Gve?"
As he was bending over his wife
body there came whistling througl
the air, and he started to run away, cry
ing, at is the arrow of the Archer
Let me live little longer-only lit
tie longerr The arrow struck hin
and he died. Leo looked at the Gir
and she looked at him, and both were
puzzled.
..He wished to die, said Leo. "Ht
said that he wished to die and wheI
Death came he tried to run away. ID
is q coward
"No. he is not" said the Girl; "-
think / feel what he felt. Leo, vi
must learn more about this for thel
sakes."
..For their sakes," said Leo, yer!
loudly.
"Because aUe are never going to die,
said the Girl and Leo together, still
more loudly.
SHOW sit yon still here, darlins
wife," said Leo, "whle go to tn
Houses whom we hate. and learn nov