disciples were half way up the principal street at a turning whither their way led through the town by olive garths and orchards, and finding a path through these they came upon green corn sown in patches just beginning to show above ground, and the fringe of the wood higher up the hillside—­some grey bushes with young oaks starting through them, still bare of leaves, ferns beginning to mark green lanes into the heart of the woods, and certain dark wet places where the insects had already begun to hum.  But when the wood opened out the birds were talking to one another, blackbird to blackbird, thrush to thrush, robin to robin, kin understanding kin, and every bird uttering vain jargon to them that did not wear the same beak and feathers, just like ourselves, Joseph said to himself and he stood stark before a hollow into which he remembered having once been forbidden to stray lest a wolf should pounce upon him suddenly.  Now he was a man, he was among men, and all had staves in their hands, and the thoughts of wolves departed at the sight of a wild fruit tree before which Jesus stopped, and calling John and James to him, as if he had forgotten Peter, he said:  you see that tree covered with beautiful blossoms, but the harsh wind which is now blowing along the hillside will bear many of the blossoms away before the fruit begins to gather.  And the birds will come and destroy many a berry before the plucker comes to pick the few that remain for the table.  How many of you that are gathered about me now——­ He stopped suddenly, and his eyes falling on John he addressed his question directly to him as if he doubted that Peter would apprehend the significance of the parable.  But Joseph, whom it touched to the quick, was moved to cry out, Master, I understand; restraining himself, however, or his natural diffidence restraining him, he could only ask Peter to ask Jesus for another parable.  Peter reproved Joseph, saying that it were not well to ask anything from the Master at present, but that his mood might improve during the course of the afternoon.  Thomas, who did not know the Master as well as Peter, could not keep back the question that rose to his lips.  Our trade, he said, is in apricots, but is it the same with men as with the apricots, or shall we live to see the fruit that thou hast promised us come to table?  Whereupon James and John began to ask which were the blossoms among them that would be eaten by the birds and insects and which would wither in the branches.  Shall I feed the insects, Master?  Matthew asked, or shall I be eaten by the birds?  A question that seemed to everyone so stupid that none was surprised that Jesus did not answer it, but turning to Philip he asked him:  canst thou not, Philip, divine my meaning?  But Philip, though pleased to come under the Master’s notice, was frightened, and could think of no better answer than that the apricots they would eat in Paradise would be better.  For there are no harsh winds in Paradise, isn’t that