As we get older in
spirit, we do that naturally; the things that men call ambitions and
schemes are the signs of immaturity; and when we grow older, those slip
off us and concern us no more; while the real vitality of feeling and
emotion runs ever more clear and strong."
"But," I said, "can one revive the old lives at will? Can one look back
into the long range of previous lives? Is that permitted?"
"Yes, of course it is permitted," said Amroth, smiling; "there are no
rules here; but one does not care to do it overmuch. One is just glad it
is all done, and that one has learnt the lesson. Look back if you
like--there are all the lives behind you."
I had a curious sensation--I saw myself suddenly a stalwart savage,
strangely attired for war, near a hut in a forest clearing. I was going
away somewhere; there were other huts at hand; there was a fire, in the
side of a mound, where some women seemed to be cooking something and
wrangling over it; the smoke went up into the still air. A child came
out of the hut, and ran to me. I bent down and kissed it, and it clung
to me. I was sorry, in a dim way, to be going out--for I saw other
figures armed too, standing about the clearing.
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