future; there is no way; there
is no rest; there is no better country. The azure mists are shadows
only, hiding some dreary plain, if haply they hide anything at all.
Evil is man; evil are all things about him. Love and joy, hope and
faith, all these are but flickering lights that lure him to
destruction. Vultures croak on the rocks. The fountains flow with
ink. Danger lurks in the desert. The name of the river is Death."
And when they came to the shore of the river they saw no rift in the
clouds above it, for their eyes were filled with gloom.

But as time passed on, the way of man grew brighter, whether he would
or no. No day nor hour was without its joy to him who opened his heart
to receive it. And men saw that most of the difficulties and dangers
of the way were those which they unwittingly had made for themselves or
for others. Thus, as the road became more secure, it no longer seemed
dreary or lonely.

And so it came to pass at last that men ceased to gather themselves in
great bands. Nor did they longer set store on the sound of trumpets or
the waving of flags. The men who were wisest ceased to be leaders of
hosts. They became teachers and helpers instead.

And with all this a sure way was from day to day not hard to find. Men
fell into it naturally and unconsciously. And the ways which are safe
are innumerable as the multitude of those that may walk therein.

And those who had gone by diverse paths came from time to time
together. Each praised the charms of the path he had taken, but each
one knew that in other paths other men found as great delight. And as
time went on many wise men passed over the way, and each in his own
fashion left a record of all that had come to him.

But the old Chart men kept in ever-increasing reverence. They found
that its simple, honest words were words of truth, and whoso sought for
truth gained with it courage and strength. But they covered it no
longer with their own additions and interpretations. Nor did any one
insist that what he found helpful to himself should be law unto others.
No longer did men say to one another, "This path have I taken; this way
must thou go."

And some one wrote upon the Chart this single rule of the forest:
"Choose thou thine own best way, and help thy neighbor to find that way
which for him is best." But this was erased at last; for beneath it
they found the older, plainer words, which One in earlier times had
written there