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158
Adventures in Contentment
·
David Grayson
36
V
THE
AXE-HELVE
April
the
15th.
This
morning
I
broke
my
old
axe
handle.
I
went
out
early
while
the
fog
still
filled
the
valley
and
the
air
was
cool
and
moist
as
it
had
come
fresh
from
the
filter
of
the
night.
I
drew
a
long
breath
and
let
my
axe
fall
with
all
the
force
I
could
give
it
upon
a
new
oak
log.
I
swung
it
unnecessarily
high
for
the
joy
of
doing
it
and
when
it
struck
it
communicated
a
sharp
yet
not
unpleasant
sting
to
the
palms
of
my
hands.
The
handle
broke
short
off
at
the
point
where
the
helve
meets
the
steel.
The
blade
was
driven
deep
in
the
oak
wood.
I
suppose
I
should
have
regretted
my
foolishness,
but
I
did
not.
The
handle
was
old
and
somewhat
worn,
and
the
accident
gave
me
an
indefinable
satisfaction:
the
culmination
of
use,
that
final
destruction
which
is
the
complement
of
great
effort.
This
feeling
was
also
partly
prompted
by
the
thought
of
the
new
helve
I
already
had
in
store,
awaiting
just
such
a
catastrophe.
Having
come
somewhat
painfully
by
that
helve,
I
really
wanted
to
see
it
in
use.
Last
spring,
walking
in
my
fields,
I
looked
out
along
the
fences
for
a
well-fitted
young
hickory
tree
of
thrifty
second
growth,
bare
of
knots
at
least
head
high,
without
the
cracks
or
fissures
of
too
rapid
growth
or
the
doziness
of
early
transgression.
What
I
desired
was
a
fine,
healthy
tree
fitted
for
a
great
purpose
and
I
looked
for
it
as
I
would
look
for
a
perfect
man
to
save
a
failing
cause.
At
last
I
found
a
sapling
growing
in
one
of
the
sheltered
angles
of
my
rail
fence.
It
was
set
about
by
dry
grass,
overhung
by
a
much
larger
cherry
tree,
and
bearing
still
its
withered
last
year's
leaves,
worn
diaphanous
but
curled
delicately,
and
of
a
most
beautiful
ash
gray
colour,
something
like
the
fabric
of
a
wasp's
nest,
only
yellower.
I
gave
it
a
shake
and
it
sprung
quickly
under
my
hand
like
the
muscle
of
a
good
horse.
Its
bark
was
smooth
and
trim,
its
bole
well
set
and
solid.
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