Page:Abraham (Roswitha, Lambert 1922).djvu/16

6 aims and desires.

AB. I have a grandchild, quite a little girl, who has lost both her parents; and I feel so sorry for the poor little orphan that I love her perhaps too much, and am wearing myself out with continual worry on her behalf.

EPH. And what have you, who have overcome the world, to do with its worries?

AB. My only real trouble is a fear lest her purity and loveliness may somehow become soiled by the taint of sin.

EPH. Who could blame you for such a fear?

AB. No one, I hope.

EPH. How old is she?

AB. She will be eight next year.

EPH. She is very young to be an orphan.

AB. That is why I am worried about her.

EPH. Where is she living?

AB. In my cell. At her parents' request I undertook her upbringing. As for her property, I decided to distribute it among the poor.

AB. That is right. The spirit that aspires to Heaven must despise mere worldly wealth.