The Importance of Grip

Liam of Flaherty wrote a short story about an old man who died trying to lift a large stone. He fell over it loosely with his arms thrown out limply and rolled after the stone, falling on his left side. When he could at last grip the stone he pressed and became still. There's nothing in all creation that isn't more lasting than men. They raised the corpse and carried it away on their clasped hands. A woman spat upon the stone and crossed herself. It's the devil of pride, she said, that brought sin first into the world. Then they went away, talking loudly and lamenting. Later, when evening came, people came to look at the