孩子的梦(A Child's Dream)(3)

　　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.