to the shearing, my Mother the Priestess
asked me, "What is the new thing which you have seen and I see in your
face?" I said, "It is a sorrow to me"; and she answered, "All new things
are sorrow. Sit in my place, and eat sorrow." I sat down in her place by
the fire, where she talks to the ghosts in winter, and two voices spoke
in my heart. One voice said, "Ask the Children of the Night for the
Magic Knife. It is not fit that The Beast should master man." I listened
to that voice.

'One voice said, "If you go among the Trees, the Children of the Night
will change your spirit. Eat and sleep here." The other voice said, "Ask
for the Knife." I listened to that voice.

'I said to my Mother in the morning, "I go away to find a thing for the
people, but I do not know whether I shall return in my own shape." She
answered, "Whether you live or die, or are made different, I am your
Mother."'

'True,' said Puck. 'The Old Ones themselves cannot change men's mothers
even if they would.'

'Let us thank the Old Ones! I spoke to my Maiden, the Priestess who
waited for me at the Dew-ponds. She promised fine things too.' The man
laughed. 'I went away to that place where I had seen the magician with
the knife. I lay out two days on the short grass before I ventured
among the Trees. I felt my way before me with a stick. I was afraid of
the terrible talking Trees. I was afraid of the ghosts in the branches;
of the soft ground underfoot; of the red and black waters. I was afraid,
above all, of the Change. It came!'

They saw him wipe his forehead once again, and his strong back-muscles
quivered till he laid his hand on the knife-hilt.

'A fire without a flame burned in my head; an evil taste grew in my
mouth; my eyelids shut hot over my eyes; my breath was hot between my
teeth, and my hands were like the hands of a stranger. I was made to
sing songs and to mock the Trees, though I was afraid of them. At the
same time I saw myself laughing, and I was very sad for this fine young
man, who was myself. Ah! The Children of the Night know magic.'

'I think that is done by the Spirits of the Mist. They change a man if
he sleeps among them,' said Puck. 'Had you slept in any mists?'

'Yes--but _I_ know it was the Children of the Night. After three days I
saw a red light behind the Trees, and I heard a heavy noise. I saw the
Children of the Night dig red stones from a hole, and lay them in fires.
The stones melted like tallow, and the men b