The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge, deals with mental illness, and has been one of my favorite books for years. I just ordered my very own copy from Amazon. These are the two quotes (“epigraphs”?) at the beginning at the book.
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thererof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth the boughs of a plant.
Job 14: 7-9
Still ran Kangaroo–Old Man Kangaroo. He … ran through the long grass; he ran through the short grass; he ran through the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer; he ran till his hind legs ached.
He had to!
–Kipling, Just So Stories
The kangaroo one is surprisingly touching. Makes me remember how much I loved the Jungle Book as a child.
April 16, 2011 at 9:52 pm
Is the Job passage quoted in the KJV? I’d like to know what the Heb. is.
April 17, 2011 at 7:17 am
Yes, it is the KJV. You have accordance, right?
April 17, 2011 at 7:18 am
Isn’t this quotation uplifting and touching? Though I think maybe Job was contrasting the stump’s position with his own….(haven’t really checked).