Eleanor Farjeon (Элинор Фарджон)
In a Far Country
Two strangers met on a mountain-side In a far country ... The moon was young, the year was old, The airs of the night were bitter-cold, And their heavy cloaks their dress did hide. One stranger did the other stay In that far country: “What brings you into the icy dark With lifted eyes that only mark The lights of heaven, less light than day?” The second said the first unto In the far country: “Many the lights of heaven are, But I watch for the birth of one more Star Not yet arisen. And what do you?” The first man to the other spoke In the far country: “Even as you I wait the birth Of one new Light above the earth. What garb do you wear beneath your cloak?” The second dropped his outer dress In that far country: He wore a sheep-skin frayed and thin Whose holes laid bare the shivering skin, And the wind made mock of his nakedness. The other did his robe unfold In that far country, And plain to see in the starlight dim Were the furs and purple that covered him, They were so heavy and rich with gold. The hand of each unto each did spring In that far country. “Brother, why dared ye the night?” “Because He, even as I, a Shepherd was.” “I came, because He was a King.” Handfast they watched the Birth on high In the far country. Shepherd and King forgotten be, But not that all men’s Brother was He Who for all men did live and die In a far country.
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