Shall I tell you the reason why?

Yes, Dada, you may tell us, but we shan't promise to listen.

_Dada_

Here it is:

_Time is the capital of work,
And Play is its defalcation.
Play rifles the house, and then wastes its spoil,
Therefore the wise call it worse than useless._

_Chandra_

But surely, Dada, you are talking nonsense. Time itself is Play.
Its only object is Pas-time.

_Dada_

Then what is Work?

_Chandra_

Work is the dust raised by the passing of Time.

_Dada_

Leader, you must give us your answers.

_Leader_

No. I never give answers. I lead on from one question to another.
That is my leadership.

_Dada_

Everything else has its limits, but your childishness is
absolutely unbounded.

Do you know the reason? It is because we are really nothing but
children. And everything else has its limitations except the
child.

_Dada_

Won't you ever attain Age?

No, we shall never attain Age.

We shall die old, but never attain Age.

_Chandra_

When we meet Age, we shall shave his head, and put him on a
donkey, and send him across the river.

Oh, you can save yourself the trouble of shaving his head for Age
is bald.

(_They sing_.)

_Our hair shall never turn grey,
Never.
There is no blank in this world for us, no break in our road,
It may be an illusion that we follow,
But it shall never play us false,
Never._

(_The Leader sings_.)

_Our hair shall never turn grey,
Never.
We will never doubt the world and shut our eyes to ponder.
Never.
We will not grope in the maze of our mind.
We flow with the flood of things, from the mountain to the sea,
We will never be lost in the desert sand,
Never._

We can tell, by his looks, that Dada will some day go to that Old
Man, to receive his lessons.

_Leader_

Which Old Man?

The Old Man of the line of Adam.

He dwells in a cave, and never thinks of dying.

_Leader_

Where did you learn about him?

Oh, every one talks about him, And it is in the books also.

_Leader_

What does he look like?

Some say he is white, like the skull of a dead man. And some say
he is dark, like the socket of a skeleton's eye.

But haven't you heard any news of him, Leader?

_Leader_

I don't believe in him at all.

Well, that goes entirely against current opinion. That Old Man is
more existent than anything else. He lives within the ribs of
creation.