Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/294

288 the wounded fawn with her mournful eyes, and fear lest I might miss my aim and only wound the animal; so I don't shoot at all."

"You should shoot only the bad animals and leave the good ones alive," said Willie, his eyes filled with tears.

"There is no animal so good that it is not also bad, nor any so bad that it is not sometimes good, as is the case among people. It is a mistake to suppose that the animal that has a pleasant, mild face must therefore be good, and that the one with a repulsive face is bad. The face is often a great liar. It often happens that that which is repugnant to a person and does not interest him is less pitied than that which is agreeable and interesting, and thus great injustice is often done.

"Once I was at Koniggratz before the execution of two criminals. One was a handsome man, the other hideous and disagreeable. The first had murdered his friend because he believed that he had seduced the girl he loved. The second one was from our neighborhood; I went to him, after he was condemned, to ask him if he had no word to send home, and said that I would gladly deliver any message. He looked at me, laughed wildly, then shook his head and said: 'I send a message, a greeting! to whom? I know nobody.'

"He turned from me, buried his face in his hands, and remained silent for some time; then he sprang up, stood before me with his hands folded over his breast, and asked; 'Will you do for me what I ask?' 'Most willingly,' I replied, giving him my hand. At that moment such agony was depicted in his countenance that I would have done