미국 의 소설가 Nathaniel Hawthorne ( 1804 ∼ 1864 ) 의 작품 으로 중학교 때 ( 1960 년 ) 국어 교과서 에 실린 「 큰 바위 얼굴 」 이 있 다 . Nathaniel Hawthorne 이 누구 인지 몰랐 지만 " 큰 바위 얼굴 " 의 줄거리 및 그 감명 은 오랫동안 마음 에 남 아 있 었 고 어쩌면 나 의 성격 형성 에 일조 를 했 을 것 이 다 . 나다니엘 호손 ( 1804 ~ 1864 ) 의 단편 소설 " 큰 바위 얼굴 " 이 내겐 그런 작품 이 다 . 남북 전쟁 직후 , 어니스트 란 소년 은 어머니 로부터 바위 언덕 에 새겨진 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 은 아이 가 태어나 훌륭 한 인물 이 될 것 이 라는 전설 ( 傳說 ) 을 듣 는다 . 어니스트 는 언젠가 그런 사람 을 만나 게 되 었 으면 하 는 기대 를 가지 고 , 자신 도 진실 하 고 겸손 하 게 살아간다 . 소설 의 내용 을 간추리 면 다음 과 같 다 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- 깊 은 산골짜기 에 , 아담 하 고 예쁜 집 이 있 었 다 . 한 어머니 와 그녀 의 어린 아들 은 그 들 의 작 은 집 앞 에 앉 아서 해가 지 는 것 을 바라보 고 있 었 다 . 저 멀리 에 는 큰 바위 얼굴 이 보였 다 . 얼굴 에 는 긴 코 와 두터운 입술 그리고 두 눈 이 있 었 다 . 아주 위엄 있 는 얼굴 이 었 다 . 큰 바위 얼굴 은 그 지역 의 유명 한 상징 이 었 다 . 그것 은 힘 , 고귀 함 , 풍요 , 그리고 교육 의 상징 이 기 도 했 다 . 어머니 는 어린 아들 에게 그 고장 의 전설 을 들려 주 었 다 . " 아주 오래 전 이야기 란다 . 사람 들 은 언젠가 아이 하나 가 태어날 거 라고 믿 었 지 . 그 아이 는 대단 한 운명 을 타 고 날 것 이 며 , 최고 로 영리 하 고 , 최고 로 부유 하 고 , 최고 로 고귀 한 사람 들 중 하나 가 될 거 라는 구나 . 그 는 또한 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 을 거 라는 거 야 . 많 은 사람 들 이 그 아이 가 태어나 길 기다리 고 있 어 . 그런데 그 일 은 아직 까지 일어나 지 않 았 단다 . " 어니스트 는 빠르 게 성장 했 다 . 그 는 무수 한 날 들 을 밭 에서 일 하 며 보냈 다 . 어니스트 는 하루 종일 열심히 일 하 고 나 면 으레 큰 바위 얼굴 을 보 러 갔 다 . 그 는 몇 시간 동안 말없이 앉 아서 큰 바위 얼굴 을 지켜보 기 만 했 다 . 그 는 앉 아서 미움 , 고통 , 질투 , 그리고 인생 의 다른 많 은 것 들 에 대해 생각 했 다 . 하지만 그 가 생각 한 가장 중요 한 것 은 사랑 이 었 다 . 드디어 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 은 사람 이 그 마을 에 온다는 소문 이 돌 았 다 . 그 는 도회지 에 나 가 큰 부자 가 되 어 고향 으로 돌아온다는 사람 이 었 다 . 어니스트 는 동네 사람 들 과 함께 그 를 보 려고 나갔 다 . " 그 가 온다 ! 그 가 와 ! " 사람 들 이 외쳤 다 . 마차 가 지나쳐 갈 때 , 어니스트 는 그 남자 를 보 았 다 . 그 는 아주 늙 고 , 작 은 눈 과 얇 은 입술 을 가졌 다 . 마차 앞쪽 에 한 노파 와 꼬마 두 명 이 있 었 다 . 그 들 은 길가 에서 구걸 을 하 고 있 었 다 . 마차 가 그 들 을 지나칠 때 , 어니스트 는 누런 손 하나 가 창문 밖 으로 쑥 나오 는 것 을 보 았 다 . 그 손 은 구리 동전 몇 개 를 그 거지 들 에게 내던졌 다 . 어니스트 는 매우 실망 했 다 . ' 그 의 외모 는 큰 바위 얼굴 처럼 보일지 모르 지만 , 그 의 마음 은 전혀 닮 지 않 았 어 . 그 노인 은 차갑 고 이기 적 인 것 같 아 . ' 여러 해 가 지났 고 , 어니스트 는 어른 이 되 었 다 . 어느 날 또 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 은 장군 이 온다는 소문 을 들 었 다 . 그 는 곧 어떤 사람 이 외치 는 소리 를 들 었 다 . " 장군 님 이 다 ! 장군 님 ! 그 가 연설 을 하 려고 해요 . " 마침내 장군 이 연단 에 섰 고 , 모든 사람 이 그 를 볼 수 있 었 다 . 그 의 군복 은 매우 화려 했 다 . 짙 은 녹색 에 배지 가 많이 달려 있 었 다 . 잠시 그 를 지켜 보 고 난 다음 , 어니스트 는 생각 했 다 . ' 그 가 정말 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 았 나 ? ' 그 는 큰 바위 얼굴 을 보 며 생각 했 다 . ' 이 얼굴 에 는 아주 많 은 지혜 가 깃들 어 있 어 . 그리고 아주 큰 친절 함 과 관대 함 이 깃들 어 있 지 . 올드 블러드 앤 선 더 장군 의 얼굴 에 는 이러 한 것 들 이 없 어 . 그 는 전설 적 인 인물 이 아니 야 . 우리 모두 더 기다려 봐야 해 . ' 어니스트 는 연회장 을 떠나 집 으로 갔 다 . 여러 해 가 또 지났 다 . 어니스트 는 점점 더 나이 가 들 어 , 이젠 중년 의 남자 가 되 었 다 . 얼마 되 지 않 아 , 새로운 소식 이 전해졌 다 . 사람 들 은 또 다른 사람 이 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 았 다고 했 다 . 그 는 정치가 였 다 . 올드 스토니 피즈 라는 이 새로운 인물 은 뛰어난 달변가 였 다 . 그 는 말 을 아주 잘 했 다 . 그 가 논쟁 을 벌이 면 언제나 이겼 다 . 사람 들 은 언제나 그 의 말 을 듣 기 위해 가 던 길 을 멈췄 다 . 어니스트 는 그 의 얼굴 을 찬찬히 보 았 다 . ' 맞 아 . ' 그 가 생각 했 다 . ' 그 는 정말로 산 위 의 얼굴 과 닮 았 어 . ' 어니스트 는 그 의 얼굴 을 계속 해서 관찰 했 다 . 하지만 뭔가 가 부족 했 다 . 어니스트 가 정치가 를 좀 더 자세히 보 자 , 피곤 에 지친 얼굴 이 보였 다 . 그 는 올드 스토니 피즈 의 얼굴 에서 뭔가 가 비 어 있 음 을 보 았 다 . 큰 바위 얼굴 은 완벽 해 보였 다 . 하지만 정치가 의 얼굴 은 그렇 지 않 았 다 . 다시 , 여러 해 가 지났 다 . 어니스트 는 더 나이 가 들 었 고 , 흰 머리 가 생기 기 시작 했 다 . 오랜 세월 동안 , 그 의 지혜 는 깊 어 졌 고 , 그 의 충고 는 전 세계 적 으로 유명 해졌 다 . 여러 곳 의 많 은 사람 들 이 그 와 이야기 하 려고 왔 다 . 그 들 은 지혜 를 구하 려고 왔 다 . 사람 들 은 항상 그 에게 깊 은 감명 을 받 았 다 . 또 다른 곳 어딘가 에 한 시인 이 있 었 다 . 그 는 원래 큰 바위 얼굴 이 있 는 골짜기 출신 이 었 다 . 그 는 그 골짜기 와 큰 바위 얼굴 을 한 번 도 잊 은 적 이 없 었 다 . 그래서 그 는 자주 그 고요 한 장소 의 아름다움 과 평화 , 그리고 소박 함 을 그 의 시 에 담 았 다 . 그 는 아주 유명 해졌 다 . 모두 그 의 시 를 사랑 했 다 . 어니스트 도 이 시 들 을 좋아했 다 . 어느 날 , 시인 은 큰 바위 얼굴 이 있 는 골짜기 에 가 기 로 마음 먹 었 다 . 수 시간 에 걸쳐 여행 한 끝 에 , 그 는 마침내 어니스트 의 집 을 발견 했 다 . 여러 해 동안 , 어니스트 는 이 시인 이 큰 바위 얼굴 을 한 사람 의 모습 이 되 길 바랐 다 . 그러나 시인 의 얼굴 을 본 어니스트 는 매우 슬프 고 실망 스러운 표정 을 하 였 다 . 시인 은 이 모습 에 놀랐 다 . " 갑자기 왜 그렇게 슬퍼 보이 시 죠 ? " 그 가 물 었 다 . " 평생 동안 난 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 은 전설 적 인 인물 을 보 려고 기다려 왔 어요 . 난 당신 이 그 사람 이 기 를 바랐 죠 . "" 그러 셨 어요 ? 제 가 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 은 사람 이 기 를 바랐 다고요 ? 당신 을 실망 시켜 드려 정말 유감 이 군요 . 전 이 위대 한 상징 을 닮 을 만 한 자격 이 없 어요 . " 오랫동안 어니스트 는 작 은 숲 옆 에서 그 지역 사람 들 에게 강연 을 해 왔 다 . 그 와 시인 은 이제 그곳 으로 걸어갔 다 . 그 들 은 그 너머 로 큰 바위 얼굴 이 있 는 평화 로운 호수 를 바라보 았 다 . 웅장 한 모습 이 었 다 . 그 들 앞 에 는 사람 들 이 몇 명 모여 있 었 다 . 이제 태양 이 큰 바위 얼굴 에 그림자 를 드리우 고 있 었 다 . 장관 이 었 다 . 그러나 사람 들 은 어니스트 와 그 의 연설 에 더 관심 이 많 았 다 . 그 의 말 에 는 그 의 삶 이 반영 되 어 있 어 매우 설득력 있 는 연설 이 었 다 . 그 는 가장 위대 한 실천 의 삶 을 살 았 다 . 시인 은 어니스트 를 보 았 다 . 그 는 어니스트 의 다정 하 고 온화 한 얼굴 을 보 고 감탄 했 다 . 이제 저녁 빛 속 에서 , 태양 의 마지막 광선 이 큰 바위 얼굴 을 비추 었 다 . 큰 바위 얼굴 도 흰머리 가 난 것 처럼 보였 다 . 아주 멋진 광경 이 었 다 . 바로 그 순간 , 시인 은 뭔가 를 깨달 았 다 . 그 는 온몸 으로 묘한 감정 을 느꼈 다 . 갑자기 , 그 는 팔 을 들어올리 며 외쳤 다 . " 여러분 ! 큰 바위 얼굴 을 보 세요 ! 그리고 어니스트 를 보 세요 ! 그 가 큰 바위 얼굴 을 닮 았 어요 ! " 그 들 이 말 했 다 . " 맞 아 ! 어니스트 가 큰 바위 얼굴 을 꼭 닮 았 어 ! " 마침내 , 그렇게 많 은 세월 을 기다린 끝 에 전설 적 인 인물 이 그 골짜기 에 나타난 것 이 었 다 . At that moment , in sympathy with a thought which he was about to utter , the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of ｅxpression , so imbued with benevolence , that the poet , by an irresistible impulse , threw his arms aloft , and shouted , " Behold ! Behold ! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face ! " Then all the people looked , and saw that what the deep - sighted poet said was true . The prophecy was fulfilled . But Ernest , having finished what he had to say , took the poet ' sarm , and walked slowly homeward , still hoping that some wiser and better man than himself would by and by appear , bearing a resemblance to the GREAT STONE FACE . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- The Great Stone Face : by Nathaniel Hawthorne ONE AFTERNOON , when the sun was going down , a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage , talking about the Great Stone Face . They had but to lift their eyes , and there it was plainly to be seen , though miles away , with the sunshine brightening all its features . And what was the Great Stone Face ? Embosomed amongst a family of lofty mountains , there was a valley so spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants . Some of these good people dwelt in log huts , with the black forest all around them , on the steep and difficult hill - sides . Others had their homes in comfortable farm - houses , and cultivated the rich soil on the gentle slopes or level surfaces of the valley . Others , again , were congregated into populous villages , where some wild , highland rivulet , tumbling down from its birthplace in the upper mountain region , had been caught and tamed by human cunning , and compelled to turn the machinery of cotton factories . The inhabitants of this valley , in short , were numerous , and of many modes of life . But all of them , grown people and children , had a kind of familiarity with the Great Stone Face , although some possessed the gift of distinguishing this grand natural phenomenon more perfectly than many of their neighbors . The Great Stone Face , then , was a work of Nature in her mood of majestic playfulness , formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain by some immense rocks , which had been thrown together in such a positionas , when viewed at a proper distance , precisely to resemble the features of the human countenance . It seemed as if an enormous giant , or a Titan , had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice . There was the broad arch of the forehead , a hundred feet in height ; the nose , with its long bridge ; and the vast lips , which , if they could have spoken , would have rolled their thunder accents from one end of the valley to the other . True it is , that if the spectator approached too near , he lost the outline of the gigantic visage , and could discern only a heap of ponderous and gigantic rocks , piled in chaotic ruin one upon another . Retracing his steps , however , the wondrous features would again be seen ; and the further he withdrew from them , the more like ahuman face , with all its original divinity intact , did they appear ; until , as it grew dim in the distance , with the clouds and glorified vapor of the mountains clustering about it , the Great Stone Face seemed positively to be alive . It was a happy lot for children to grow up to manhood or womanhood with the Great Stone Face before their eyes , for all the features were noble , and the ｅxpression was at once grand and sweet , as if it were the glow of a vast , warm heart , that embraced all mankind in its affections , and had room for more . It was an education only to look at it . According to the belief of many people , the valley owed much of its fertility to this benign aspect that was continually beaming over it , illuminating the clouds , and infusing its tenderness into the sunshine . As we began with saying , a mother and her little boy sat at their cottage door , gazing at the Great Stone Face , and talking about it . The child ' s name was Ernest . " Mother , said he , while the Titanic visage smiled on him , " I wish that it could speak , for it looks so very kindly that its voice must needs be pleasant . If I were to see a man with such a face , I should love him dearly . " " If an old prophecy should come to pass , " answered his mother , " we may see a man , some time or other , with exactly such a face as that . " " What prophecy do you mean , dear mother ? " eagerly inquired Ernest . " Pray tell me all about it ! " So his mother told him a story that her own mother had told to her , when she herself was younger than little Ernest ; a story , not of things that were past , but of what was yet to come ; a story , nevertheless , so very old , that even the Indians , who formerly inhabited this valley , had heard it from their forefathers , to whom , as they affirmed , it had been murmured by the mountain streams , and whispered by the wind among the tree - tops . The purport was , that , at some future day , a child should be born hereabouts , who was destined to become the greatest and noblest personage of his time , and whose countenance , in manhood , should bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face . Not a few old - fashioned people , and young ones likewise , in the ardor of their hopes , still cherished an enduring faith in this old prophecy . But others , who had seen more of the world , had watched and waited till they were weary , and had beheld no man with such a face , nor any man that proved to be much greater or nobler than his neighbors , concluded it to be nothing but an idle tale . At all events , the great man of the prophecy had not yet appeared . " O , mother , dear mother ! " cried Ernest , clapping his hands above his head , I do hope that I shall live to see him ! " His mother was an affectionate and thoughtful woman , and felt that it was wisest not to discourage the generous hopes of her little boy . So she only said to him , " Perhaps you may . " And Ernest never forgot the story that his mother told him . It was always in his mind , whenever he looked upon the Great Stone Face . He spent his childhood in the log - cottage where he was born , and was dutiful to his mother , and helpful to her in many things , assisting her much with his little hands , and more with his loving heart . In this manner , from a happy yet often pensive child , he grew up to be a mild , quiet , unobtrusive boy , and sun - browned with labor in the fields , but with more intelligence brightening his aspect than is seen in many lads who have been taught at famous schools . Yet Ernest had had no teacher , save only that the Great Stone Face became one to him . When the toil of the day was over , he would gaze at it for hours , until he began to imagine that those vast features recognized him , and gave him a smile of kindness and encouragement , responsive to his own look of veneration . We must not take upon us to affirm that this was a mistake , although the Face may have looked no more kindly at Ernest than at all the world besides . But the secret was , that the boy ' s tender and confiding simplicity discerned what other people could not see ; and thus the love , which was meant for all , became his peculiar portion . About this time , there went a rumor throughout the valley , that the great man , foretold from ages long ago , who was to bear a resemblance to the Great Stone Face , had appeared at last . It seems that , many years before , a young man had migrated from the valley and settled at a distant seaport , where , after getting together a little money , he had set up as a shopkeeper . His name -- but I could never learn whether it was his real one , or a nickname that had grown out of his habits and success in life -- was Gathergold . Being shrewd and active , and endowed by Providence with that inscrutable faculty which develops itself in what the world calls luck , he became an exceedingly rich merchant , and owner of a whole fleet of bulky - bottomed ships . All the countries of the globe appeared to join hands for the mere purpose of adding heap after heap to the mountainous accumulation of this one man ' s wealth . The cold regions of the north , almost within the gloom and shadow of the Arctic Circle , sent him their tribute in the shape of furs ; hot Africa sifted for him the golden sands of her rivers , and gathered up the ivory tusks of her great elephants out of the forests ; the East came bringing him the rich shawls , and spices , and teas , and the effulgence of diamonds , and the gleaming purity of large pearls . The ocean , not to be behindhand with the earth , yielded up her mighty whales , that Mr . Gathergold might sell their oil , and make a profit on it . Be the original commodity what it might , it was gold within his grasp . It might be said of him , as of Midas in the fable , that whatever he touched with his finger immediately glistened , and grew yellow , and was changed at once into sterling metal , or , which suited him still better , into piles of coin . And , when Mr . Gathergold had become so very rich that it would have taken him a hundred years only to count his wealth , he bethought himself of his native valley , and resolved to go back thither , and end his days where he was born . With this purpose in view , he sent a skilful architect to build him such a palace as should be fit for a man of his vast wealth to live in . As I have said above , it had already been rumored in the valley that Mr . Gathergold had turned out to be the prophetic personage so long and vainly looked for , and that his visage was the perfect and undeniable similitude of the Great Stone Face . People were the more ready to believe that this must needs be the fact , when they beheld the splendid edifice that rose , as if by enchantment , on the site of his father ' s old weather - beaten farm - house . The exterior was of marble , so dazzlingly white that it seemed as though the whole structure might melt away in the sunshine , like those humbler ones which Mr . Gathergold , in his young play - days , before his fingers were gifted with the touch of transmutation , had been accustomed to build of snow . It had a richly ornamented portico , supported by tall pillars , beneath which was a lofty door , studded with silver knobs , and made of a kind of variegated wood that had been brought from beyond the sea . The windows , from the floor to the ceiling of each stately apartment , werecomposed , respectively , of but one enormous pane of glass , so transparently pure that it was said to be a finer medium than even the vacant atmosphere . Hardly anybody had been permitted to see the interior of this palace ; but it was reported , and with good semblance of truth , to be far more gorgeous than the outside , insomuch that whatever was iron or brass in other houses , was silver or gold in this ; and Mr . Gathergold ' s bed - chamber , especially , made such a glittering appearance that no ordinary man would have been able to close his eyes there . But , on the other hand , Mr . Gathergold was now so inured to wealth , that perhaps he could not have closed his eyes unless where the gleam of it was certain to find its way beneath his eyelids . In due time , the mansion was finished ; next came the upholsterers , with magnificent furniture ; then , a whole troop of black and white servants , the harbingers of Mr . Gathergold , who , in his own majestic person was expected to arrive at sunset . Our friend Ernest , meanwhile , had been deeply stirred by the idea that the great man , the noble man , the man of prophecy , after so many ages of delay , was at length to be made manifest to his native valley . He knew , boy as he was , that there were a thousand ways in which Mr . Gathergold , with his vast wealth , might transform himself into an angel of beneficence , and assume a control over human affairs as wide and benignant as the smile of the Great Stone Face . Full of faith and hope , Ernest doubted not that what the people said was true , and that now he was to behold the living likeness of those wondrous features on the mountain - side . While the boy was still gazing up the valley , and fancying , as he always did , that the Great Stone Face returned his gaze and looked kindly at him , the rumbling of wheels was heard , approaching swiftly along the winding road . " Here he comes ! " cried a group of people who were assembled to witness the arrival . " Here comes the great Mr . Gathergold ! " A carriage , drawn by four horses , dashed round the turn of the road . Within it , thrust partly out of the window , appeared the physiognomy of a little old man , with a skin as yellow as if his own Midas - hand had transmuted it . He had a low forehead , small , sharp eyes , puckered about with innumerable wrinkles , and very thin lips , which he made still thinner by pressing them forcibly together . " The very image of the Great Stone Face ! " shouted the people . " Sure enough , the old prophecy is true ; and here we have the great man come , at last ! " And , what greatly perplexed Ernest , they seemed actually to believe that here was the likeness which they spoke of . By the roadside there chanced to be an old beggar - woman and two little beggar - children , stragglers from some far - off region , who , as the carriage rolled onward , held out their hands and lifted up their doleful voices , most piteously beseeching charity . A yellow claw - the very same that had clawed together so much wealth -- poked itself out of the coach - window , and dropt some copper coins upon the ground ; so that , though the great man ' s name seems to have been Gathergold , he might just as suitably have been nicknamed Scattercopper . Still , nevertheless , with an earnest shout , and evidently with as much good faith as ever , the people bellowed , " He is the very image of the Great Stone Face ! " But Ernest turned sadly from the wrinkled shrewdness of that sordid visage , and gazed up the valley , where , amid a gathering mist , gilded by the last sunbeams , he could still distinguish those glorious features which had impressed themselves into his soul . Their aspect cheered him . What did the benign lips seem to say ? " He will come ! Fear not , Ernest ; the man will come ! " The years went on , and Ernest ceased to be a boy . He had grown to be a young man now . He attracted little notice from the other inhabitants of the valley ; for they saw nothing remarkable in his way of life , save that , when the labor of the day was over , he still loved to go apart and gaze and meditate upon the Great Stone Face . According to their idea of the matter , it was a folly , indeed , but pardonable , inasmuch as Ernest was industrious , kind , and neighborly , and neglected no duty for the sake of indulging this idle habit . They knew not that the Great Stone Face had become a teacher to him , and that the sentiment which was expressed in it would enlarge the young man ' s heart , and fill it with wider and deeper sympathies than other hearts . They knew not that thence would come a better wisdom than could be learned from books , and a better life than could be moulded on the defaced example of other human lives . Neither did Ernest know that the thoughts and affections which came to him so naturally , in the fields and at the fireside , and wherever he communed with himself , were of a higher tone than those which all men shared with him . A simple soul -- simple as when his mother first taught him the old prophecy -- he beheld the marvellous features beaming adown the valley , and still wondered that their human counterpart was so long in making his appearance . By this time poor Mr . Gathergold was dead and buried ; and the oddest part of the matter was , that his wealth , which was the body and spirit of his existence , had disappeared before his death , leaving nothing of him but a living skeleton , covered over with a wrinkled , yellow skin . Since the melting away of his gold , it had been very generally conceded that there was no such striking resemblance , after all , betwixt the ignoble features of the ruined merchant and that majestic face upon the mountain - side . So the people ceased to honor him during his lifetime , and quietly consigned him to forgetfulness after his decease . Once in a while , it is true , his memory was brought up in connection with the magnificent palace which he had built , and which had long ago been turned into a hotel for the accommodation of strangers , multitudes of whom came , every summer , to visit that famous natural curiosity , the Great Stone Face . Thus , Mr . Gathergold being discredited and thrown into the shade , the man of prophecy was yet to come . It so happened that a native - born son of the valley , many years before , had enlisted as a soldier , and , after a great deal of hard fighting , had now become an illustrious commander . Whatever he may be called in history , he was known in camps and on the battle - field under the nickname of Old Blood - and - Thunder . This war - worn veteran , being now infirm with age and wounds , and weary of the turmoil of a military life , and of the roll of the drum and the clangor of the trumpet , that had so long been ringing in his ears , had lately signified a purpose of returning to his native valley , hoping to find repose where he remembered to have left it . The inhabitants , his old neighbors and their grown - up children , were resolved to welcome the renowned warrior with a salute of cannon and a public dinner ; and all the more enthusiastically , it being affirmed that now , at last , the likeness of the Great Stone Face had actually appeared . An aid - de - camp of Old Blood - and - Thunder , travelling through the valley , was said to have been struck with the resemblance . Moreover , the schoolmates and early acquaintances of the general were ready to testify , on oath , that , to the best of their recollection , the aforesaid general had been exceedingly like the majestic image , even when a boy , only that the idea had never occurred to them at that period . Great , therefore , was the excitement throughout the valley ; and many people , who had never once thought of glancing at the Great Stone Face for years before , now spent their time in gazing at it , for the sake of knowing exactly how General Blood - and - Thunder looked . On the day of the great festival , Ernest , with all the other people of the valley , left their work , and proceeded to the spot where the sylvan banquet was prepared . As he approached , the loud voice of the Reverend Doctor Battleblast was heard , beseeching a blessing on the good things set before them , and on the distinguished friend of peace in whose honor they were assembled . The tables were arranged in a cleared space of the woods , shut in by the surrounding trees , except where a vista opened eastward , and afforded a distant view of the Great Stone Face . Over the general ' s chair , which was a relic from the home of Washington , there was an arch of verdant boughs , with the laurel profusely intermixed , and surmounted by his country ' s banner , beneath which he had won his victories . Our friend Ernest raised himself on his tip - toes , in hopes to get a glimpse of the celebrated guest ; but there was a mighty crowd about the tables anxious to hear the toasts and speeches , and to catch any word that might fall from the general in reply ; and a volunteer company , doing duty as a guard , pricked ruthlessly with their bayonets at any particularly quiet person among the throng . So Ernest , being of an unobtrusive character , was thrust quite into the background , where he could see no more of Old Blood - and - Thunder ' s physiognomy than if it had been still blazing on the battle - field . To console himself , he turned towards the Great Stone Face , which , like a faithful and long - remembered friend , looked back and smiled upon him through the vista of the forest . Meantime , however , he could over - hear the remarks of various individuals , who were comparing the features of the hero with the face on the distant mountain - side . "' Tis the same face , to a hair ! " cried one man , cutting a caper for joy . " Wonderfully like , that ' s a fact ! " responded another . " Like ! why , I call it Old Blood - and - Thunder himself , in a monstrous looking - glass ! " cried a third . " And why not ! He ' s the greatest man of this or any other age , beyond a doubt . " And then all three of the speakers gave a great shout , which communicated electricity to the crowd , and called forth a roar from a thousand voices , that went reverberating for miles among the mountains , until you might have supposed that the Great Stone Face had poured its thunder - breath into the cry . All these comments , and this vast enthusiasm , served the more to interest our friend ; nor did he think of questioning that now , at length , the mountain - visage had found its human counterpart . It is true , Ernest had imagined that this long - looked - for personage would appear in the character of a man of peace , uttering wisdom , and doing good , and making people happy . But , taking an habitual breadth of view , with all his simplicity , he contended that Providence should choose its own method of blessing mankind , and could conceive that this great end might be effected even by a warrior and a bloody sword , should inscrutable wisdom see fit to order matters so . " The general ! the general ! " was now the cry . " Hush ! silence ! Old Blood - and - Thunder ' s going to make a speech . " Even so ; for , the cloth being removed , the general ' s health had been drunk amid shouts of applause , and he now stood upon his feet to thank the company . Ernest saw him . There he was , over the shoulders of the crowd , from the two glittering epaulets and embroidered collar upward , beneath the arch of green boughs with inter - twined laurell and the banner drooping as if to shade his brow ! And there , too , visible in the same glance , through the vista of the forest , appeared the Great Stone Face ! And was there , indeed , such a resemblance as the crowd had testified ? Alas , Ernest could not recognize it ! He beheld a war - worn and weather - beaten countenance , full of energy , and expressive of an iron will ; but the gentle wisdom , the deep , broad , tender sympathies , were altogether wanting in Old Blood - and - Thunder ' s visage ; and even if the Great Stone Face had assumed his look of stern command , the milder traits would still have tempered it . " This is not the man of prophecy , " sighed Ernest to himself , as he made his way out of the throng . " And must the world wait longer yet ? " The mists had congregated about the distant mountain - side , and there were seen the grand and awful features of the Great Stone Face , awful but benignant , as if a mighty angel were sitting among the hills , and enrobing himself in a cloud - vesture of gold and purple . As he looked , Ernest could hardly believe but that a smile beamed over the whole visage , with a radiance still brightening , although without motion of the lips . It was probably the effect of the western sunshine , melting through the thinly diffused vapors that had swept between him and the object that he gazed at . But -- as it always did -- the aspect of his marvellous friend made Ernest as hopeful as if he had never hoped in vain . " Fear not , Ernest , " said his heart , even as if the Great Face were whispering him , " fear not , Ernest ; he will come . " More years sped swiftly and tranquilly away . Ernest still dwelt in his native valley , and was now a man of middle age . By imperceptible degrees , he had become known among the people . Now , as heretofore , he labored for his bread , and was the same simple - hearted man that he had always been . But he had thought and felt so much , he had given so many of the best hours of his life to unworldly hopes for some great good to mankind , that it seemed as though he had been talking with the angels , and had imbibed a portion of their wisdom unawares . It was visible in the calm and well - considered beneficence of his daily life , the quiet stream of which had made a wide green margin all along its course . Not a day passed by , that the world was not the better because this man , humble as he was , had lived . He never stepped aside from his own path , yet would always reach a blessing to his neighbor . Almost involuntarily , too , he had become a preacher . The pure and high simplicity of his thought , which , as one of its manifestations , took shape in the good deeds that dropped silently from his hand , flowed also forth in speech . He uttered truths that wrought upon and moulded the lives of those who heard him . His auditors , it may be , never suspected that Ernest , their own neighbor and familiar friend , was more than an ordinary man ; least of all did Ernest himself suspect it ; but , inevitably as the murmur of a rivulet , came thoughts out of his mouth that no other human lips had spoken . When the people ' s minds had had a little time to cool , they were ready enough to acknowledge their mistake in imagining a similarity between General Blood - and - Thunder ' s truculent physiognomy and the benign visage on the mountain - side . But now , again , there were reports and many paragraphs in the newspapers , affirming that the likeness of the Great Stone Face had appeared upon the broad shoulders of a certain eminent statesman . He , like Mr . Gathergold and Old Blood - and - Thunder , was a native of the valley , but had left it in his early days , and taken up the trades of law and politics . Instead of the rich man ' s wealth and the warrior ' s sword , he had but a tongue , and it was mightier than both together . So wonderfully eloquent was he , that whatever he might choose to say , his auditors had no choice but to believe him ; wrong looked like right , and right like wrong ; for when it pleased him , he could make a kind of illuminated fog with his mere breath , and obscure the natural daylight with it . His tongue , indeed , was a magic instrument : sometimes it rumbled like the thunder ; sometimes it warbled like the sweetest music . It was the blast of war - the song of peace ; and it seemed to have a heart in it , when there was no such matter . In good truth , he was a wondrous man ; and when his tongue had acquired him all other imaginable success -- when it had been heard in halls of state , and in the courts of princes and potentates -- after it had made him known all over the world , even as a voice crying from shore to shore -- it finally persuaded his countrymen to select him for the presidency . Before this time -- indeed , as soon as he began to grow celebrated -- his admirers had found out the resemblance between him and the Great Stone Face ; and so much were they struck by it , that throughout the country this distinguished gentleman was known by the name of Old Stony Phiz . The phrase was considered as giving a highly favorable aspect to his political prospects ; for , as is likewise the case with the Popedom , nobody ever becomes president without taking a name other than his own . While his friends were doing their best to make him president , Old Stony Phiz , as he was called , set out on a visit to the valley where he was born . Of course , he had no other object than to shake hands with his fellow - citizens , and neither thought nor cared about any effect which his progress through the country might have upon the election . Magnificent preparations were made to receive the illustrious statesman ; a cavalcade of horsemen set forth to meet him at the boundary line of the state , and all the people left their business and gathered along the wayside to see him pass . Among these was Ernest . Though more than once disappointed , as we have seen , he had such a hopeful and confiding nature , that he was always ready to believe in whatever seemed beautiful and good . He kept his heart continually open , and thus was sure to catch the blessing from on high , when it should come . So now again , as buoyantly as ever , he went forth to behold the likeness of the Great Stone Face . The cavalcade came prancing along the road , with a great clattering of hoofs and a mighty cloud of dust , which rose up so dense and high that the visage of the mountain - side was completely hidden from Ernest ' s eyes . All the great men of the neighborhood were there on horseback : militia officers , in uniform ; the member of Congress ; the sheriff of the county ; the editors of newspapers ; and many a farmer , too , had mounted his patient steed , with his Sunday coat upon his back . It really was a very brilliant spectacle , especially as there were numerous banners flaunting over the cavalcade , on some of which were gorgeous portraits of the illustrious statesman and the Great Stone Face , smiling familiarly at one another , like two brothers . If the pictures were to be trusted , the mutual resemblance , it must be confessed , was marvellous . We must not forget to mention that there was a band of music , which made the echoes of the mountains ring and reverberate with the loud triumph of its strains ; so that airy and soul - thrilling melodies broke out among all the heights and hollows as if every nook of his native valley had found a voice to welcome the distinguished guest . But the grandest effect was when the far - off mountain - precipice flung back the music ; for then the Great Stone Face itself seemed to be swelling the triumphant chorus , in acknowledgment that , at length , the man of prophecy was come . All this while the people were throwing up their hats and shouting , with enthusiasm so contagious that the heart of Ernest kindled up , and he likewise threw up his hat , and shouted , as loudly as the loudest , " Huzza for the great man ! Huzza for Old Stony Phiz ! " But as yet he had not seen him . " Here he is , now ! " cried those who stood near Ernest . " There ! There ! Look at Old Stony Phiz and then at the Old Man of the Mountain , and see if they are not as like as two twin - brothers ! " In the midst of all this gallant array , came an open barouche , drawn by four white horses ; and in the barouche , with his massive head uncovered , sat the illustrious statesman , Old Stony Phiz himself . " Confess it , " said one of Ernest ' s neighbors to him , " the Great Stone Face has met its match at last ! " Now , it must be owned that , at his first glimpse of the countenance which was bowing and smiling from the barouche , Ernest did fancy that there was a resemblance between it and the old familiar face upon the mountain - side . The brow , with its massive depth and loftiness , and all the other features , indeed , were boldly and strongly hewn , as if in emulation of a more than heroic , of a Titanic model . But the sublimity and stateliness , the grand ｅxpression of a divine sympathy , that illuminated the mountain - visage , and etherealized its ponderous granite substance into spirit , might here be sought in vain . Something had been originally left out , or had departed . And therefore the marvellously gifted statesman had always a weary gloom in the deep caverns of his eyes , as of a child that has outgrown its playthings , or a man of mighty faculties and little aims , whose life , with all its high performances , was vague and empty , because no high purpose had endowed it with reality . Still , Ernest ' s neighbor was thrusting his elbow into his side , and pressing him for an answer . " Confess ! confess ! Is not he the very picture of your Old Man of the Mountain ? " " No ! " said Ernest , bluntly , " I see little or no likeness . " " Then so much the worse for the Great Stone Face ! " answered his neighbor ; and again he set up a shout for Old Stony Phiz . But Ernest turned away . melancholy , and almost despondent ; for this was the saddest of his disappointments , to behold a man who might have fulfilled the prophecy , and had not willed to do so . Meantime , the cavalcade , the banners , the music , and the barouches , swept past him , with the vociferous crowd in the rear , leaving the dust to settle down , and the Great Stone Face to be revealed again , with the grandeur that it had worn for untold centuries . " Lo , here I am , Ernest ! " the benign lips seemed to say . " I have waited longer than thou , and am not yet weary . Fear not ; the man will come . " The years hurried onward , treading in their haste on one another ' s heels . And now they began to bring white hairs , and scatter them over the head of Ernest ; they made reverend wrinkles across his forehead , and furrows in his cheeks . He was an aged man . But not in vain had he grown old : more than the white hairs on his head were the sage thoughts in his mind ; his wrinkles and furrows were inscriptions that Time had graved , and in which he had written legends of wisdom that had been tested by the tenor of a life . And Ernest had ceased to be obscure . Unsought for , undesired , had come the fame which so many seek , and made him known in the great world , beyond the limits of the valley in which he had dwelt so quietly . College professors , and even the active men of cities , came from far to see and converse with Ernest ; for the report had gone abroad that this simple husbandman had ideas unlike those of other men , not gained from books , but of a higher tone -- a tranquil and familiar majesty , as if he had been talking with the angels as his daily friends . Whether it were sage , statesman , or philanthropist , Ernest received these visitors with the gentle sincerity that had characterized him from boyhood , and spoke freely with them of whatever came uppermost , or lay deepest in his heart or their own . While they talked together , his face would kindle , unawares , and shine upon them , as with a mild evening light . Pensive with the fulness of such discourse , his guests took leave and went their way ; and , passing up the valley , paused to look at the Great Stone Face , imagining that they had seen its likeness in a human countenance , but could not remember where . While Ernest had been growing up and growing old , a bountiful Providence had granted a new poet to this earth . He , likewise , was a native of the valley but had spent the greater part of his life at a distance from that romantic region , pouring out his sweet music amid the bustle and din of cities . Often , however , did the mountains which had been familiar to him in his childhood lift their snowy peaks into the clear atmosphere of his poetry . Neither was the Great Stone Face forgotten , for the poet had celebrated it in an ode , which was grand enough to have been uttered by its own majestic lips . This man of genius , we may say , had come down from heaven with wonderful endowments . If he sang of a mountain , the eyes of all mankind beheld a mightier grandeur reposing on its breast , or soaring to its summit , than had before been seen there . If his theme were a lovely lake , a celestial smile had now been thrown over it , to gleam forever on its surface . If it were the vast old sea , even the deep immensity of its dread bosom seemed to swell the higher , as if moved by the emotions of the song . Thus the world assumed another and a better aspect from the hour that the poet blessed it with his happy eyes . The Creator had bestowed him , as the last , best touch to his own handiwork . Creation was not finished till the poet came to interpret , and so complete it . The effect was no less high and beautiful , when his human brethren were the subject of his verse . The man or woman , sordid with the common dust of life , who crossed his daily path , and the little child who played in it , were glorified if he beheld them in his mood of poetic faith . He showed the golden links of the great chain that intertwined them with an angelic kindred ; he brought out the hidden traits of a celestial birth that made them worthy of such kin . Some , indeed , there were , who thought to show the soundness of their judgment by affirming that all the beauty and dignity of the natural world existed only in the poet ' s fancy . Let such men speak for themselves , who undoubtedly appear to have been spawned forth by Nature with a contemptuous bitterness ; she having plastered them up out of her refuse stuff , after all the swine were made . As respects all things else , the poet ' s ideal was the truest truth . The songs of this poet found their way to Ernest . He read them , after his customary toil , seated on the bench before his cottage door , where , for such a length of time , he had filled his repose with thought by gazing at the Great Stone Face . And now , as he read stanzas that caused the soul to thrill within him , he lifted his eyes to the vast countenance beaming on him so benignantly . " O , majestic friend , " he murmured , addressing the Great Stone Face , " is not this man worthy to resemble thee ? " The Face seemed to smile , but answered not a word . Now it happened that the poet , though he dwelt so far away , had not only heard of Ernest , but had meditated much upon his character , until he deemed nothing so desirable as to meet this man , whose untaught wisdom walked hand in hand with the noble simplicity of his life . One summer morning , therefore , he took passage by the railroad , and , in the decline of the afternoon , alighted from the cars at no great distance from Ernest ' s cottage . The great hotel , which had formerly been the palace of Mr . Gathergold , was close at hand , but the poet with his carpet - bag on his arm , inquired at once where Ernest dwelt , and was resolved to be accepted as his guest . Approaching the door , he there found the good old man , holding a volume in his hand , which alternately he read , and then , with a finger between the leaves , looked lovingly at the Great Stone Face . " Good evening , " said the poet . " Can you give a traveller a night ' s lodging ? "' " Willingly , " answered Ernest ; and then he added , smiling , " Methinks I never saw the Great Stone Face look so hospitably at a stranger . " The poet sat down on the bench beside him , and he and Ernest talked together . Often had the poet held intercourse with the wittiest and the wisest , but never before with a man like Ernest , whose thoughts and feelings gushed up with such a natural freedom , and who made great truths so familiar by his simple utterance of them . Angels , as had been so often said , seemed to have wrought with him at his labor in the fields ; angels seemed to have sat with him by the fireside ; and , dwelling with angels as friend with friends , he had imbibed the sublimity of their ideas , and imbued it with the sweet and lowly charm of household words . So thought the poet . And Ernest , on the other hand , was moved and agitated by the living images which the poet flung out of his mind , and which peopled all the air about the cottage - door with shapes of beauty , both gay and pensive . The sympathies of these two men instructed them with a profounder sense than either could have attained alone . Their minds accorded into one strain , and made delightful music which neither of them could have claimed as all his own , nor distinguished his own share from the other ' s . They led one another , as it were , into a high pavilion of their thoughts , so remote , and hitherto so dim , that they had never entered it before , and so beautiful that they desired to be there always . As Ernest listened to the poet , he imagined that the Great Stone Face was bending forward to listen too . He gazed earnestly into the poet ' s glowing eyes . " Who are you , my strangely gifted guest ? " he said . The poet laid his finger on the volume that Ernest had been reading . " You have read these poems , " said he . " You know me , then -- for I wrote them . " Again , and still more earnestly than before , Ernest examined the poet ' s features ; then turned towards the Great Stone Face ; then back , with an uncertain aspect , to his guest . But his countenance fell ; he shook his head , and sighed . " Wherefore are you sad ? " inquired the poet . " Because , replied Ernest , " all through life I have awaited the fulfilment of a prophecy ; and , when I read these poems , I hoped that it might be fulfilled in you . " " You hoped , " answered the poet , faintly smiling , " to find in me the likeness of the Great Stone Face . And you are disappointed , as formerly with Mr . Gathergold , and Old Blood - and - Thunder , and Old Stony Phiz . Yes , Ernest , it is my doom . You must add my name to the illustrious three , and record another failure of your hopes . For -- in shame and sadness do I speak it , Ernest -- I am not worthy to be typified by yonder benign and majestic image . " " And why ? " asked Ernest . He pointed to the volume --" Are not those thoughts divine ? " " They have a strain of the Divinity , " replied the poet . " You can hear in them the far - off echo of a heavenly song . But my life , dear Ernest , has not corresponded with my thought . I have had grand dreams , but they have been only dreams , because I have lived -- and that , too , by own choice -- among poor and mean realities . Sometimes even -- shall I dare to say it ? -- I lack faith in the grandeur , the beauty , and the goodness , which my own works are said to have made more evident in nature and in human life . Why , then , pure seeker of the good and true , shouldst thou hope to find me , in yonder image of the divine ! " The poet spoke sadly , and his eyes were dim with tears . So , likewise , were those of Ernest . At the hour of sunset , as had long been his frequent custom , Ernest was to discourse to an assemblage of the neighboring inhabitants , in the open air . He and the poet , arm in arm , still talking together as they went along , proceeded to the spot . It was a small nook among the hills , with a gray precipice behind , the stern front of which was relieved by the pleasant foliage of many creeping plants , that made a tapestry for the naked rock , by hanging their festoons from all its rugged angles . At a small elevation above the ground , set in a rich frame - work of verdure , there appeared a niche , spacious enough to admit a human figure , with freedom for such gestures as spontaneously accompany earnest thought and genuine emotion . Into this natural pulpit Ernest ascended , and threw a look of familiar kindness around upon his audience . They stood , or sat , or reclined upon the grass , as seemed good to each , with the departing sunshine falling obliquely over them , and mingling its subdued cheerfulness with the solemnity of a grove of ancient trees , beneath and amid the boughs of which the golden rays were constrained to pass . In another direction was seen the Great Stone Face , with the same cheer , combined with the same solemnity , in its benignant aspect . Ernest began to speak , giving to the people of what was in his heart and mind . His words had power , because they accorded with his thoughts ; and his thoughts had reality and depth , because they harmonized with the life which he had always lived . It was not mere breath that this preacher uttered ; they were the words of life , because a life of good deeds and holy love was melted into them . Pearls , pure and rich , had been dissolved into this precious draught . The poet , as he listened , felt that the being and character of Ernest were a nobler strain of poetry than he had ever written . His eyes glistening with tears , he gazed reverentially at the venerable man , and said within himself that never was there an aspect so worthy of a prophet and a sage as that mild , sweet , thoughtful countenance , with the glory of white hair diffused about it . At a distance , but distinctly to be seen , high up in the golden light of the setting sun , appeared the Great Stone Face , with hoary mists around it , like the white hairs around the brow of Ernest . Its look of grand beneficence seemed to embrace the world . At that moment , in sympathy with a thought which he was about to utter , the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of ｅxpression , so imbued with benevolence , that the poet , by an irresistible impulse , threw his arms aloft , and shouted , " Behold ! Behold ! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face ! " Then all the people looked , and saw that what the deep - sighted poet said was true . The prophecy was fulfilled . But Ernest , having finished what he had to say , took the poet ' s arm , and walked slowly homeward , still hoping that some wiser and better man than himself would by and by appear , bearing a resemblance to the GREAT STONE FACE .