The elder traveller 's brow , just then , assumed such a grave , stern , and awful grandeur , yet serene withal , that neither Baucis nor Philemon dared to speak a word . They gazed reverently into his face , as if they had been gazing at the sky . `` When men do not feel towards the humblest stranger as if he were a brother , '' said the traveller , in tones so deep that they sounded like those of an organ , `` they are unworthy to exist on earth , which was created as the abode of a great human brotherhood ! '' `` And , by the by , my dear old people , '' cried Quicksilver , with the liveliest look of fun and mischief in his eyes , `` where is this same village that you talk about ? On which side of us does it lie ? Methinks I do not see it hereabouts . '' Philemon and his wife turned towards the valley , where , at sunset , only the day before , they had seen the meadows , the houses , the gardens , the clumps of trees , the wide , green-margined street , with children playing in it , and all the tokens of business , enjoyment , and prosperity . But what was their astonishment ! There was no longer any appearance of a village ! Even the fertile vale , in the hollow of which it lay , had ceased to have existence . In its stead , they beheld the broad , blue surface of a lake , which filled the great basin of the valley , from brim to brim , and reflected the surrounding bills in its bosom , with as tranquil an image as if it had been there ever since the creation of the world . For an instant , the lake remained perfectly smooth . Then , a little breeze sprang up , and caused the water to dance , glitter , and sparkle in the early sunbeams , and to dash , with a pleasant rippling murmur , against the hither shore . The lake seemed so strangely familiar , that the old couple were greatly perplexed , and felt as if they could only have been dreaming about a village having lain there . But , the next moment , they remembered the vanished dwellings , and the faces and characters of the inhabitants , far too distinctly for a dream . The village had been there yesterday , and now was gone ! `` Alas ! '' cried these kind-hearted old people , `` what has become of our poor neighbors ? '' `` They exist no longer as men and women , '' said the elder traveller , in his grand and deep voice , while a roll of thunder seemed to echo it at a distance . `` There was neither use nor beauty in such a life as theirs : for they never softened or sweetened the hard lot of mortality by the exercise of kindly affections between man and man .
They retained no image XXXXX the better life in their bosoms ; therefore , the lake , that was of old , has spread itself forth again , to reflect the sky ! ''
For In On about as at into of that towards