HE MET HIS MISTRESS
evening prayers. I have known you as a boy; I have fed you as a man; I wish not that you should bear one uncharitable thought of me when I am gone. We have sometimes harboured angry thoughts in our pride, we have sometimes nourished hatreds in our vain pursuits on earth—let these be forgotten and forgiven. We shall meet on earth no more, and I seek for peace with all the world before I seek for peace with my God. And if ever I felt that you had done me any injury or wrong in life, I forgive you, my son, with all my heart and all my soul, as I hope the Great and Merciful God will forgive my own sins. Depart, my son, and may God bless you."
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spake these words and slowly retired. Gokul Das bowed to the earth before that saintly woman, and a feeling of awe, such as he had never felt in his life, seized him. He rose and wiped his forehead, and walked home slowly in the darkness, a thoughtful and humbled man.
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