Read "Courtesy" by Ruth Collie online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
A little poor man attired in brown (shabby the hood, shabby the / gown), around his waist a piece of cord, entered the woods to praise / the Lord. The feathered choir was singing loudly, above their boughs / the sun shone proudly. He's coming, he's coming, into the wood, a / little poor man 'neath a shabby brown hood. "Good-morrow, brother! " / he bowed to the sun, "accept my thanks for the good you have done. I / slept on the ground you warmed at noon. To-night I shall greet my / Sister Moon. " Then he turned to the birds in the leafy trees, "Good / little sisters, if you please, since you have sung your merry lay, / may I, your brother, have my say? " The singing ceased, and each / small bird opened her heart to receive the word of gentle Saint / Francis praising the Lord in a shabby tunic tied with a cord!