Page:My people stories of the peasantry of West Wales.djvu/87

 spread, and the people called him “Eben bach the Singer.” People said of him: “He is exalted over all the judges.” But in the high day of his spiritual prosperity Eben's powers decreased: his discourses got to be less songlike, he conversed with rather than preached to his congregation, and he wrote out his sermons. Men and women murmured: “There's pity, now, dear me, about Eben bach the Singer.” The men of the Big Seat reproached him.

“Well-well, Eben bach, no one wept again the last Sunday,” said Ben Shop Draper. “Indeed to goodness, not one ‘Halelujah’ or ‘Amen’ did I hear,” said Noah Shop Boots and Clogs. “For what he say that life is more than religion?” asked Ben. “Little Ben and Noah,” replied Eben, “the Palace must be here on earth.”