All this was very discouraging , but the king would not have minded if he had not lost that beautiful stag . That troubled him a good deal , but he never worried over what he could not help , so he got down from his horse , slipped his arm through the bridle , and led the animal along the rough path in hopes of discovering some shepherd 's hut , or , at least , a cave or shelter under some rock , where he might pass the night . Presently he heard the sound of rushing water , and made towards it . He toiled over a steep rocky shoulder of a hill , and there , just below him , was a stream dashing down a precipitous glen , and , almost beneath his feet , twinkling and flickering from the level of the torrent , was a dim light as of a lamp . Towards this light the king with his horse and hound made his way , sliding and stumbling down a steep , stony path . At the bottom the king found a narrow grassy ledge by the brink of the stream , across which the light from a rude lantern in the mount of a cave shed a broad beam of uncertain light . At the edge of the stream sat an old hermit with a long white beard , who neither spoke nor moved as the king approached , but sat throwing into the stream dry leaves which lay scattered about the ground near him . ` Peace be upon you , ' said the king , giving the usual country salutation . ` And upon you peace , ' answered the hermit ; but still he never looked up , nor stopped what he was doing . For a minute or two the king stood watching him . He noticed that the hermit threw two leaves in at a time , and watched them attentively . Sometimes both were carried rapidly down by the stream ; sometimes only one leaf was carried off , and the other , after whirling slowly round and round on the edge of the current , would come circling back on an eddy to the hermit 's feet . At other times both leaves were held in the backward eddy , and failed to reach the main current of the noisy stream . ` What are you doing ? ' asked the king at last , and the hermit replied that he was reading the fates of men ; every one 's fate , he said , was settled from the beginning , and , whatever it were , there was no escape from it . The king laughed . ' I care little , ' he said , ` what my fate may be ; but I should be curious to know the fate of my little daughter . ' ' I can not say , ' answered the hermit . ` Do you not know , then ? ' demanded the king . '
I might know , ' returned the hermit , ` but it is not always wisdom XXXXX know much . '
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