Are airballoons invented yet?" he asked of his father, who knew of allinventions that had been made, or would be made.
  Air balloons had not then been invented, nor steam-ships, norrailways.
  "Good," said he; "then I shall choose an air balloon; my fatherknows how they are to be made and guided. Nobody has invented one yet,and the people will believe that it is an aerial phantom. When Ihave done with the balloon I shall burn it, and for this purpose,you must give me a few pieces of another invention, which will comenext; I mean a few chemical matches."
  He obtained what he wanted, and flew away. The birds accompaniedhim farther than they had the other brothers. They were curious toknow how this flight would end. Many more of them came swoopingdown; they thought it must be some new bird, and he soon had agoodly company of followers. They came in clouds till the air becamedarkened with birds as it was with the cloud of locusts over theland of Egypt.
  And now he was out in the wide world. The balloon descended overone of the greatest cities, and the aeronaut took up his station atthe highest point, on the church steeple. The balloon rose againinto the air, which it ought not to have done; what became of it isnot known, neither is it of any consequence, for balloons had not thenbeen invented.
  There he sat on the church steeple. The birds no longer hoveredover him; they had got tired of him, and he was tired of them. All thechimneys in the town were smoking.
  "There are altars erected to my honor," said the wind, whowished to say something agreeable to him as he sat there boldlylooking down upon the people in the street. There was one steppingalong, proud of his purse; another, of the key he carried behindhim, though he had nothing to lock up; another took a pride in hismoth-eaten coat; and another, in his mortified body. "Vanity, allvanity!" he exclaimed. "I must go down there by-and-by, and touchand taste; but I shall sit here a little while longer, for the windblows pleasantly at my back. I shall remain here as long as the windblows, and enjoy a little rest. It is comfortable to sleep late in themorning when one had a great deal to do," said the sluggard; "so Ishall stop here as long as the wind blows, for it pleases me."
  And there he stayed. But as he was sitting on the weather-cockof the steeple, which kept turning round and round with him, he wasunder the false impression that the same wind still blew, and thathe could stay where he was without expense.
  But in India, in the castle on the Tree of the Sun, all wassolitary and still, since the brothers had gone away one after theother.
  "Nothing goes well with them," said the father; "they will neverbring the glittering jewel home, it is not made for me; they are alldead and gone." Then he bent down over the Book of Truth, and gazed onthe page on which he should have read of the life after death, but forhim there was nothing to be read or learned upon it.
  His blind daughter was his consolation and joy; she clung to himwith sincere affection, and for the sake of his happiness and peaceshe wished the costly jewel could be found and brought home.
  With longing tenderness she thought of her brothers. Where werethey? Where did they live? How she wished she might dream of them; butit was strange that not even in dreams could she be brought near tothem. But at last one night she dreamt that she heard the voices ofher brothers calling to her from the distant world, and she couldnot refrain herself, but went out to them, and yet it seemed in herdream that she still remained in her father's house. She did not seeher brothers, but she felt as it were a fire burning in her hand,which, however, did not hurt her, for it was the jewel she wasbringing to her father. When she awoke she thought for a moment thatshe still held the stone, but she only grasped the knob of herdistaff.
  During the long evenings she had spun constantly, and round thedistaff were woven threads finer than the web of a spider; humaneyes could never have distinguished these threads when separatedfrom each other. But she had wetted them with her tears, and the twistwas as strong as a cable. She rose with the impression that herdream must be a reality, and her resolution was taken.
  It was still night, and her father slept; she pressed a kissupon his hand, and then took her distaff and fastened the end of thethread to her father's house. But for this, blind as she was, shewould never have found her way home again; to this thread she musthold fast, and trust not to others or even to herself. From the Treeof the Sun she broke four leaves; which she gave up to the wind andthe weather, that they might be carried to her brothers as letters anda greeting, in case she did not meet them in the wide world. Poorblind child, what would become of her in those distant regions?