The small man suffers the indignities of childhood. And is made to walk under ladders caught by the blind of darkness in the cat~tormented night.
He is terrified by mice and sickened by blood.
Wolf~fanged horses chase after him along the road. and the tight ropethat he walks will always sag when he reaches the center. and his soft leg will be pierced by the pine needles of the magic wood.
And yet in the middle of the formal garden, he finds time to play. and he is master of the sharp wasp
whose burden of pollen fertilizes the tall elaborate grasses.
In the enchanted ponds are luminous fishes and paper boats with cargoes of his wishes.