ing idle, and
time passed slowly,--the days seemed very long.

One day as he sat by the window he saw a carriage dash past. It was
drawn by snow-white horses. In it sat a prince, while before and behind
were servants in suits of blue and white. One was holding a golden
umbrella over the prince.

When the stone-cutter saw this, he began to feel unhappy, and he
sighed:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If Hofus only a prince might be!"

And again the same voice that he had heard on the mountain answered:--

"Be thou a prince!"

Straightway Hofus was a prince. He had servants dressed in crimson and
gold, and he rode in a carriage with a golden umbrella over his head.

For a short time he was happy, but one day, as he walked in the garden,
he saw that the flowers were drooping, the grass was dry and brown. And
when he rode out he felt the hot sun burn him in spite of his umbrella.

"The sun is mightier than I," thought he, and then he sighed:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If Hofus only the sun might be!"

And the voice answered:--

"Be thou the sun!"

Straightway the great sun he became. He burned the grass and rice
fields. He dried up the streams. Rich and poor alike suffered from the
terrible heat.

One day a cloud came and rested in front of him, and hid the earth from
his sight. He was angry and cried:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If Hofus only a cloud might be!"

And the voice answered:--

"Be thou a cloud!"

Straightway a cloud he became. He floated before the face of the sun,
and hid the earth from it.

Then day after day the cloud dropped rain. The rivers overflowed, and
the rice-fields were covered with water. Towns were swept away. Only the
great rocks on the mountain-side stood unmoved midst the flood.

The cloud looked at them in wonder, then he sighed:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If Hofus only a rock might be!"

And the voice answered:--

"Be thou a rock!"

Straightway a rock he became. Proudly he stood. The sun could not burn
him and the rain could not move him.

"Now, at last," he said, "no one is mightier than I."

But one day he was waked from his dreams by a noise,--tap! tap!
tap!--down at his feet. He looked and there was a stone-cutter driving
his tool into the rock. Another blow and the great rock shivered; a
block of stone broke away.

"That man is mightier than I!" cried Hofus, and he sighed:--

"Ah me! Ah me!
If