Page:Burnett - Two Little Pilgrims' Progress A Story of the City Beautiful.djvu/134

118 She stopped a moment, and Rob pushed her gently with his elbow.

"Go on," he said. "I like it; it sounds quite true. What else?"

"And he called all the Genii together, and called them by their names. There was a Genie who was the king of all the pictures and statues, and the people who worked at making them. They did not know they had a Genie, but they had, and he put visions into their heads and made them feel restless until they had worked them out into statues and paintings. And the Great Genie said to him, 'You must build a palace for your people, and make them pour their finest work into it, and all the people who are made to be your workers, whether they know it or not, will look at your palace and see what other ones have done, and wonder if they cannot do it themselves.' And there was a huge, huge Genie who was made of steel and iron and gold and silver and wheels, and the Great One said to him, 'Build a great palace and make your workers fill it, with all the machines and marvels they have made, and all who see will know what wonders can be done, and feel that there is no wonder that isn't done that is too great for human beings to plan.' And there was a Genie of the strange countries, and one who knew all the plants and flowers and trees that