One day a priest who lived with the clouds went to see the Crippled
Hermit of the Rocks. "Dear wise one, you sit here from the night to the
day answering questions of the young and innocent who travel from far
off to find you. Yet look at you! You sit crumpled on a pile of stones
withering your life away. Will you not attempt anything?"

The Crippled Hermit answered slowly, from his perch of boulders:

"Point in the direction of the rising sun and I will follow,
"If I meet a valley I will cross with somersaults of a tumbler
"and if I run into a forest I will devour trees as a thousand beavers
"and if I bump into a mountain I will heave it aside as an earthquake
"and if I sink into sand I will burn it into glass with the fire of my
eyes
"and if I fall into the ocean I will gulp it for my coffee and sip it
for my tea
"and if it takes a million years and a million days, the rising sun will
be mine."

"Then why," said the priest, "do you stay here?"

"Why, you dolt," the hermit answered, "look at me! I'm crippled! But
help me off these rocks and I will show you miracles!"

Penned by my hand on the 5th of Lupar, in the year 320 AF.