Page:Max Havelaar; or, the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company (IA dli.granth.77827).pdf/219

 “And there came an angel from heaven who said, ‘Be this as you have said.’

“And he became a cloud, and placed himself between the sun and the earth, and intercepted the beams, so that the grass became green.

“And the cloud rained in large drops on the earth, and made the rivers swell, and the ‘banjers’ carried away the herds.

“And the cloud devastated the field with much water.

“And it fell on a rock which did not move, and rattled in large streams, but the rock did not yield.

“And the cloud was angry because the rock would not yield; and because the strength of its streams was vain. And it was not contented.

“It cried, ‘This rock has more power than I have. I wish to be this rock.’

“And there came an angel out of heaven who said, ‘Be this as you have said.’

“And it became a rock, and moved neither when the sun shone nor when it rained.

“And there came a man with pickaxe and sharp chisel, and heavy hammer, who cut stones out of the rock.

“And the rock said, ‘What is this, that the man has power over me, and cuts stones out of my bosom?’ And it was discontented.

“It cried, ‘I am weaker than he, I should like to be that man.’