And being weary, she sat her down under a chestnut-tree to
rest.
But when the Star-Child saw her, he said to his companions, "See!
There sits a beggar-woman under that fair and green-leaved tree. Come,
let us drive her hence, for she is ugly and ill-favoured."
So he came near and threw stones at her, and mocked her, and, she
looked at him with terror in her eyes, nor did she move her gaze from
him.
"Whose child is this?" she asked. Then the Woodcutter, who was passing
by, told of finding the Star-Child, of the chain of amber around his
neck and the cloak wrought with stars. And, hearing, the beggar-woman
cried with joy.
"He is my little son," she said, "whom I lost through enchantment in
the forest. I have searched for him through all the world."
The Woodcutter called the Star-Child, and said to him,
"Here is thy mother, waiting for thee."
But the Star-Child laughed scornfully.
"I am no son of thine," he said. "I am a Star-Child, and thou art a
beggar, and ugly, and in rags. Get thee hence that I may see thee no
more."
"Oh, my little son," cried the beggar-woman. "Will you not kiss me
before I go? I have suffered much to find thee."
"No," said the Star-Child. "I would rather kiss an adder or a toad
than thee."
So the woman went away into the forest, weeping bitterly, and the
Star-Child was glad and ran back to his playmates.
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