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diff --git a/old/twlnd10.txt b/old/twlnd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11a5142 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twlnd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8732 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle** +#3 in our series by Howard Pyle + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Twilight Land + +by Howard Pyle + + + + +Table of Contents + +Introduction +The Stool of Fortune +The Talisman of Solomon +Ill-Luck and the Fiddler +Empty Bottles +Good Gifts and a Fool's Folly +The Good of a Few Words +Woman's Wit +A Piece of Good Luck +The Fruit of Happiness +Not a Pin to Choose +Much Shall Have More and Little Shall Have Less +Wisdom's Wages and Folly's Pay +The Enchanted Island +All Things are as Fate Wills +Where to Lay the Blame +The Salt of Life + + + + +Introduction + +I found myself in Twilight Land. How I ever got there I cannot +tell, but there I was in Twilight Land. + +What is Twilight Land? It is a wonderful, wonderful place where +no sun shines to scorch your back as you jog along the way, where +no rain falls to make the road muddy and hard to travel, where no +wind blows the dust into your eyes or the chill into your marrow. +Where all is sweet and quiet and ready to go to bed. + +Where is Twilight Land? Ah! that I cannot tell you. You will +either have to ask your mother or find it for yourself. + +There I was in Twilight Land. The birds were singing their +good-night song, and the little frogs were piping "peet, peet." +The sky overhead was full of still brightness, and the moon in +the east hung in the purple gray like a great bubble as yellow as +gold. All the air was full of the smell of growing things. The +high-road was gray, and the trees were dark. + +I drifted along the road as a soap-bubble floats before the wind, +or as a body floats in a dream. I floated along and I floated +along past the trees, past the bushes, past the mill-pond, past +the mill where the old miller stood at the door looking at me. + +I floated on, and there was the Inn, and it was the Sign of +Mother Goose. + +The sign hung on a pole, and on it was painted a picture of +Mother Goose with her gray gander. + +It was to the Inn I wished to come. + +I floated on, and I would have floated past the Inn, and perhaps +have gotten into the Land of Never-Come-Back-Again, only I caught +at the branch of an apple-tree, and so I stopped myself, though +the apple-blossoms came falling down like pink and white +snowflakes. + +The earth and the air and the sky were all still, just as it is +at twilight, and I heard them laughing and talking in the +tap-room of the Inn of the Sign of Mother Goose--the clinking of +glasses, and the rattling and clatter of knives and forks and +plates and dishes. That was where I wished to go. + +So in I went. Mother Goose herself opened the door, and there I +was. + +The room was all full of twilight; but there they sat, every one +of them. I did not count them, but there were ever so many: +Aladdin, and Ali Baba, and Fortunatis, and Jack-the-Giant-Killer, +and Doctor Faustus, and Bidpai, and Cinderella, and Patient +Grizzle, and the Soldier who cheated the Devil, and St. George, +and Hans in Luck, who traded and traded his lump of gold until he +had only an empty churn to show for it; and there was Sindbad the +Sailor, and the Tailor who killed seven flies at a blow, and the +Fisherman who fished up the Genie, and the Lad who fiddled for +the Jew in the bramble-bush, and the Blacksmith who made Death +sit in his apple-tree, and Boots, who always marries the +Princess, whether he wants to or not--a rag-tag lot as ever you +saw in your life, gathered from every place, and brought together +in Twilight Land. + +Each one of them was telling a story, and now it was the turn of +the Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +"I will tell you," said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, "a +story of a friend of mine." + +"Take a fresh pipe of tobacco," said St. George. + +"Thank you, I will," said the Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +He filled his long pipe full of tobacco, and then he tilted it +upside down and sucked in the light of the candle. + +Puff! puff! puff! and a cloud of smoke went up about his head, so +that you could just see his red nose shining through it, and his +bright eyes twinkling in the midst of the smoke-wreath, like two +stars through a thin cloud on a summer night. + +"I'll tell you," said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, "the +story of a friend of mine. Tis every word of it just as true as +that I myself cheated the Devil." + +He took a drink from his mug of beer, and then he began. + +"Tis called," said he-- + + +The Stool of Fortune + +Once upon a time there came a soldier marching along the road, +kicking up a little cloud of dust at each step--as strapping +and merry and bright-eyed a fellow as you would wish to see in a +summer day. Tramp! tramp! tramp! he marched, whistling as he +jogged along, though he carried a heavy musket over his shoulder +and though the sun shone hot and strong and there was never a +tree in sight to give him a bit of shelter. + +At last he came in sight of the King's Town and to a great field +of stocks and stones, and there sat a little old man as withered +and brown as a dead leaf, and clad all in scarlet from head to +foot. + +"Ho! soldier," said he, "are you a good shot?" + +"Aye," said the soldier, "that is my trade." + +"Would you like to earn a dollar by shooting off your musket for +me?" + +"Aye," said the soldier, "that is my trade also." + +"Very well, then," said the little man in red, "here is a silver +button to drop into your gun instead of a bullet. Wait you here, +and about sunset there will come a great black bird flying. In +one claw it carries a feather cap and in the other a round stone. +Shoot me the silver button at that bird, and if your aim is good +it will drop the feather cap and the pebble. Bring them to me to +the great town-gate and I will pay you a dollar for your +trouble." + +"Very well," said the soldier, "shooting my gun is a job that +fits me like an old coat." So, down he sat and the old man went +his way. + +Well, there he sat and sat and sat and sat until the sun touched +the rim of the ground, and then, just as the old man said, there +came flying a great black bird as silent as night. The soldier +did not tarry to look or to think. As the bird flew by up came +the gun to his shoulder, squint went his eye along the +barrel--Puff! bang!-- + +I vow and declare that if the shot he fired had cracked the sky +he could not have been more frightened. The great black bird gave +a yell so terrible that it curdled the very blood in his veins +and made his hair stand upon end. Away it flew like a flash--a +bird no longer, but a great, black demon, smoking and smelling +most horribly of brimstone, and when the soldier gathered his +wits, there lay the feather cap and a little, round, black stone +upon the ground. + +"Well," said the soldier, "it is little wonder that the old man +had no liking to shoot at such game as that." And thereupon he +popped the feather cap into one pocket and the round stone into +another, and shouldering his musket marched away until he reached +the town-gate, and there was the old man waiting for him. + +"Did you shoot the bird?" said he. + +"I did," said the soldier. + +"And did you get the cap and the round stone?" + +"I did." + +"Then here is your dollar." + +"Wait a bit," said the soldier, "I shot greater game that time +than I bargained for, and so it's ten dollars and not one you +shall pay me before you lay finger upon the feather cap and the +little stone." + +"Very well," said the old man, "here are ten dollars." + +"Ho! ho!" thought the soldier, "is that the way the wind +blows?"--"Did I say ten dollars?" said he; " twas a hundred +dollars I meant." + +At that the old man frowned until his eyes shone green. "Very +well," said he, "if it is a hundred dollars you want, you will +have to come home with me, for I have not so much with me. +Thereupon he entered the town with the soldier at his heels. + +Up one street he went and down another, until at last he came to +a great, black, ancient ramshackle house; and that was where he +lived. In he walked without so much as a rap at the door, and so +led the way to a great room with furnaces and books and bottles +and jars and dust and cobwebs, and three grinning skulls upon the +mantelpiece, each with a candle stuck atop of it, and there he +left the soldier while he went to get the hundred dollars. + +The soldier sat him down upon a three-legged stool in the corner +and began staring about him; and he liked the looks of the place +as little as any he had seen in all of his life, for it smelled +musty and dusty, it did: the three skulls grinned at him, and he +began to think that the little old man was no better than he +should be. "I wish," says he, at last, "that instead of being +here I might be well out of my scrape and in a safe place." + +Now the little old man in scarlet was a great magician, and there +was little or nothing in that house that had not some magic about +it, and of all things the three-legged stool had been conjured +the most. + +"I wish that instead of being here I might be well out of my +scrape, and in a safe place." That was what the soldier said; and +hardly had the words left his lips when--whisk! whir!--away +flew the stool through the window, so suddenly that the soldier +had only just time enough to gripe it tight by the legs to save +himself from falling. Whir! whiz!--away it flew like a bullet. +Up and up it went--so high in the air that the earth below +looked like a black blanket spread out in the night; and then +down it came again, with the soldier still griping tight to the +legs, until at last it settled as light as a feather upon a +balcony of the king's palace; and when the soldier caught his +wind again he found himself without a hat, and with hardly any +wits in his head. + +There he sat upon the stool for a long time without daring to +move, for he did not know what might happen to him next. There he +sat and sat, and by-and-by his ears got cold in the night air, +and then he noticed for the first time that he had lost his head +gear, and bethought himself of the feather cap in his pocket. So +out he drew it and clapped it upon his head, and then--lo and +behold!--he found he had become as invisible as thin air--not +a shred or a hair of him could be seen. "Well!" said he, "here is +another wonder, but I am safe now at any rate." And up he got to +find some place not so cool as where he sat. + +He stepped in at an open window, and there he found himself in a +beautiful room, hung with cloth of silver and blue, and with +chairs and tables of white and gold; dozens and scores of +waxlights shone like so many stars, and lit every crack and +cranny as bright as day, and there at one end of the room upon a +couch, with her eyelids closed and fast asleep, lay the prettiest +princess that ever the sun shone upon. The soldier stood and +looked and looked at her, and looked and looked at her, until his +heart melted within him like soft butter, and then he kissed her. + +"Who is that?" said the princess, starting up, wide-awake, but +not a soul could she see, because the soldier had the feather cap +upon his head. + +"It is I," said he, "and I am King of the Wind, and ten times +greater than the greatest of kings here below. One day I saw you +walking in your garden and fell in love with you, and now I have +come to ask you if you will marry me and be my wife?" + +"But how can I marry you?" said the princess, "without seeing +you?" + +"You shall see me," said the soldier, "all in good time. Three +days from now I will come again, and will show myself to you, but +just now it cannot be. But if I come, will you marry me?" + +"Yes I will," said the princess, "for I like the way you +talk--that I do!" + +Thereupon the soldier kissed her and said good-bye, and then +stepped out of the window as he had stepped in. He sat him down +upon his three-legged stool. "I wish," said he, "to be carried to +such and such a tavern." For he had been in that town before, and +knew the places where good living was to be had. + +Whir! whiz! away flew the stool as high and higher than it had +flown before, and then down it came again, and down and down +until it lit as light as a feather in the street before the +tavern door. The soldier tucked his feather cap in his pocket, +and the three-legged stool under his arm, and in he went and +ordered a pot of beer and some white bread and cheese. + +Meantime, at the king's palace was such a gossiping and such a +hubbub as had not been heard there for many a day; for the pretty +princess was not slow in telling how the invisible King of the +Wind had come and asked her to marry him; and some said it was +true and some said it was not true, and everybody wondered and +talked, and told their own notions of the matter. But all agreed +that three days would show whether what had been told was true or +no. + +As for the soldier, he knew no more how to do what he had +promised to do than my grandmother's cat; for where was he to get +clothes fine enough for the King of the Wind to wear? So there he +sat on his three-legged stool thinking and thinking, and if he +had known all that I know he would not have given two turns of +his wit upon it. "I wish," says he, at last--"I wish that this +stool could help me now as well as it can carry me through the +sky. I wish," says he, "that I had a suit of clothes such as the +King of the Wind might really wear." + +The wonders of the three-legged stool were wonders indeed! + +Hardly had the words left the soldier's lips when down came +something tumbling about his ears from up in the air; and what +should it be but just such a suit of clothes as he had in his +mind--all crusted over with gold and silver and jewels. + +"Well," says the soldier, as soon as he had got over his wonder +again, "I would rather sit upon this stool than any I ever saw." +And so would I, if I had been in his place, and had a few minutes +to think of all that I wanted. + +So he found out the trick of the stool, and after that wishing +and having were easy enough, and by the time the three days were +ended the real King of the Wind himself could not have cut a +finer figure. Then down sat the soldier upon his stool, and +wished himself at the king's palace. Away he flew through the +air, and by-and-by there he was, just where he had been before. +He put his feather cap upon his head, and stepped in through the +window, and there he found the princess with her father, the +king, and her mother, the queen, and all the great lords and +nobles waiting for his coming; but never a stitch nor a hair did +they see of him until he stood in the very midst of them all. +Then he whipped the feather cap off of his head, and there he +was, shining with silver and gold and glistening with +jewels--such a sight as man's eyes never saw before. + +"Take her," said the king, "she is yours." And the soldier looked +so handsome in his fine clothes that the princess was as glad to +hear those words as any she had ever listened to in all of her +life. + +"You shall," said the king, "be married to-morrow." + +"Very well," said the soldier. "Only give me a plot of ground to +build a palace upon that shall be fit for the wife of the King of +the Wind to live in." + +"You shall have it," said the king," and it shall be the great +parade ground back of the palace, which is so wide and long that +all my army can march round and round in it without getting into +its own way; and that ought to be big enough." + +"Yes," said the soldier, "it is." Thereupon he put on his feather +cap and disappeared from the sight of all as quickly as one might +snuff out a candle. + +He mounted his three-legged stool and away he flew through the +air until he had come again to the tavern where he was lodging. +There he sat him down and began to churn his thoughts, and the +butter he made was worth the having, I can tell you. He wished +for a grand palace of white marble, and then he wished for all +sorts of things to fill it--the finest that could be had. Then he +wished for servants in clothes of gold and silver, and then he +wished for fine horses and gilded coaches. Then he wished for +gardens and orchards and lawns and flower-plats and fountains, +and all kinds and sorts of things, until the sweat ran down his +face from hard thinking and wishing. And as he thought and +wished, all the things he thought and wished for grew up like +soap-bubbles from nothing at all. + +Then, when day began to break, he wished himself with his fine +clothes to be in the palace that his own wits had made, and away +he flew through the air until he had come there safe and sound. + +But when the sun rose and shone down upon the beautiful palace +and all the gardens and orchards around it, the king and queen +and all the court stood dumb with wonder at the sight. Then, as +they stood staring, the gates opened and out came the soldier +riding in his gilded coach with his servants in silver and gold +marching beside him, and such a sight the daylight never looked +upon before that day. + +Well, the princess and the soldier were married, and if no couple +had ever been happy in the world before, they were then. Nothing +was heard but feasting and merrymaking, and at night all the sky +was lit with fireworks. Such a wedding had never been before, and +all the world was glad that it had happened. + +That is, all the world but one; that one was the old man dressed +in scarlet that the soldier had met when he first came to town. +While all the rest were in the hubbub of rejoicing, he put on his +thinking-cap, and by-and-by began to see pretty well how things +lay, and that, as they say in our town, there was a fly in the +milk-jug. "Ho, ho!" thought he, "so the soldier has found out all +about the three-legged stool, has he? Well, I will just put a +spoke into his wheel for him." And so he began to watch for his +chance to do the soldier an ill turn. + +Now, a week or two after the wedding, and after all the gay +doings had ended, a grand hunt was declared, and the king and his +new son-in-law and all the court went to it. That was just such a +chance as the old magician had been waiting for; so the night +before the hunting-party returned he climbed the walls of the +garden, and so came to the wonderful palace that the soldier had +built out of nothing at all, and there stood three men keeping +guard so that no one might enter. + +But little that troubled the magician. He began to mutter spells +and strange words, and all of a sudden he was gone, and in his +place was a great black ant, for he had changed himself into an +ant. In he ran through a crack of the door (and mischief has got +into many a man's house through a smaller hole for the matter of +that). In and out ran the ant through one room and another, and +up and down and here and there, until at last in a far-away part +of the magic palace he found the three-legged stool, and if I had +been in the soldier's place I would have chopped it up into +kindling-wood after I had gotten all that I wanted. But there it +was, and in an instant the magician resumed his own shape. Down +he sat him upon the stool. "I wish," said he, "that this palace +and the princess and all who are within it, together with its +orchards and its lawns and its gardens and everything, may be +removed to such and such a country, upon the other side of the +earth." + +And as the stool had obeyed the soldier, so everything was done +now just as the magician said. + +The next morning back came the hunting-party, and as they rode +over the hill--lo and behold!--there lay stretched out the great +parade ground in which the king's armies used to march around and +around, and the land was as bare as the palm of my hand. Not a +stick or a stone of the palace was left; not a leaf or a blade of +the orchards or gardens was to be seen. + +The soldier sat as dumb as a fish, and the king stared with eyes +and mouth wide open. "Where is the palace, and where is my +daughter?" said he, at last, finding words and wit. + +"I do not know," said the soldier. + +The king's face grew as black as thunder. "You do not know?" he +said, "then you must find out. Seize the traitor!" he cried. + +But that was easier said than done, for, quick as a wink, as they +came to lay hold of him, the soldier whisked the feather cap from +his pocket and clapped it upon his head, and then they might as +well have hoped to find the south wind in winter as to find him. + +But though he got safe away from that trouble he was deep enough +in the dumps, you may be sure of that. Away he went, out into the +wide world, leaving that town behind him. Away he went, until +by-and-by he came to a great forest, and for three days he +travelled on and on--he knew not whither. On the third night, as +he sat beside a fire which he had built to keep him warm, he +suddenly bethought himself of the little round stone which had +dropped from the bird's claw, and which he still had in his +pocket. "Why should it not also help me," said he, "for there +must be some wonder about it." So he brought it out, and sat +looking at it and looking at it, but he could make nothing of it +for the life of him. Nevertheless, it might have some wishing +power about it, like the magic stool. "I wish," said the soldier, +"that I might get out of this scrape." That is what we have all +wished many and many a time in a like case; but just now it did +the soldier no more good to wish than it does good for the rest +of us. "Bah!" said he, "it is nothing but a black stone after +all." And then he threw it into the fire. + +Puff! Bang! Away flew the embers upon every side, and back +tumbled the soldier, and there in the middle of the flame stood +just such a grim, black being as he had one time shot at with the +silver button. + +As for the poor soldier, he just lay flat on his back and stared +with eyes like saucers, for he thought that his end had come for +sure. + +"What are my lord's commands?" said the being, in a voice that +shook the marrow of the soldier's bones. + +"Who are you?" said the soldier. + +"I am the spirit of the stone," said the being. "You have heated +it in the flame, and I am here. Whatever you command I must +obey." + +"Say you so?" cried the soldier, scrambling to his feet. "Very +well, then, just carry me to where I may find my wife and my +palace again." + +Without a word the spirit of the stone snatched the soldier up, +and flew away with him swifter than the wind. Over forest, over +field, over mountain and over valley he flew, until at last, just +at the crack of day, he set him down in front of his own palace +gate in the far country where the magician had transported it. + +After that the soldier knew his way quickly enough. He clapped +his feather cap upon his head and into the palace he went, and +from one room to another, until at last he came to where the +princess sat weeping and wailing, with her pretty eyes red from +long crying. + +Then the soldier took off his cap again, and you may guess what +sounds of rejoicing followed. They sat down beside one another, +and after the soldier had eaten, the princess told him all that +had happened to her; how the magician had found the stool, and +how he had transported the palace to this far-away land; how he +came every day and begged her to marry him--which she would +rather die than do. + +To all this the soldier listened, and when she had ended her +story he bade her to dry her tears, for, after all, the jug was +only cracked, and not past mending. Then he told her that when +the sorcerer came again that day she should say so and so and so +and so, and that he would be by to help her with his feather cap +upon his head. + +After that they sat talking together as happy as two +turtle-doves, until the magician's foot was heard on the stairs. +And then the soldier clapped his feather cap upon his head just +as the door opened. + +"Snuff, snuff!" said the magician, sniffing the air, "here is a +smell of Christian blood." + +"Yes," said the princess, "that is so; there came a peddlar +to-day, but after all he did not stay long." + +"He'd better not come again," said the magician, "or it will be +the worse for him. But tell me, will you marry me?" + +"No," said the princess, "I shall not marry you until you can +prove yourself to be a greater man than my husband." + +"Pooh!" said the magician, "that will be easy enough to prove; +tell me how you would have me do so and I will do it." + +"Very well," said the princess, "then let me see you change +yourself into a lion. If you can do that I may perhaps believe +you to be as great as my husband." + +"It shall," said the magician, "be as you say. He began to mutter +spells and strange words, and then all of a sudden he was gone, +and in his place there stood a lion with bristling mane and +flaming eyes--a sight fit of itself to kill a body with terror. + +"That will do!" cried the princess, quaking and trembling at the +sight, and thereupon the magician took his own shape again. + +"Now," said he, "do you believe that I am as great as the poor +soldier?" + +"Not yet," said the princess; "I have seen how big you can make +yourself, now I wish to see how little you can become. Let me see +you change yourself into a mouse." + +"So be it," said the magician, and began again to mutter his +spells. Then all of a sudden he was gone just as he was gone +before, and in his place was a little mouse sitting up and +looking at the princess with a pair of eyes like glass beads. + +But he did not sit there long. This was what the soldier had +planned for, and all the while he had been standing by with his +feather hat upon his head. Up he raised his foot, and down he set +it upon the mouse. + +Crunch!--that was an end of the magician. + +After that all was clear sailing; the soldier hunted up the +three-legged stool and down he sat upon it, and by dint of no +more than just a little wishing, back flew palace and garden and +all through the air again to the place whence it came. + +I do not know whether the old king ever believed again that his +son-in-law was the King of the Wind; anyhow, all was peace and +friendliness thereafter, for when a body can sit upon a +three-legged stool and wish to such good purpose as the soldier +wished, a body is just as good as a king, and a good deal better, +to my mind. + + +The Soldier who cheated the Devil looked into his pipe; it was +nearly out. He puffed and puffed and the coal glowed brighter, +and fresh clouds of smoke rolled up into the air. Little Brown +Betty came and refilled, from a crock of brown foaming ale, the +mug which he had emptied. The Soldier who had cheated the Devil +looked up at her and winked one eye. + +"Now," said St. George, "it is the turn of yonder old man," and +he pointed, as he spoke, with the stem of his pipe towards old +Bidpai, who sat with closed eyes meditating inside of himself. + +The old man opened his eyes, the whites of which were as yellow +as saffron, and wrinkled his face into innumerable cracks and +lines. Then he closed his eyes again; then he opened them again; +then he cleared his throat and began: "There was once upon a time +a man whom other men called Aben Hassen the Wise--" + +"One moment," said Ali Baba; "will you not tell us what the story +is about?" + +Old Bidpai looked at him and stroked his long white beard. "It +is," said he, "about-- + + +The Talisman of Solomon + +There was once upon a time a man whom other men called Aben +Hassen the Wise. He had read a thousand books of magic, and knew +all that the ancients or moderns had to tell of the hidden arts. + +The King of the Demons of the Earth, a great and hideous monster, +named Zadok, was his servant, and came and went as Aben Hassen +the Wise ordered, and did as he bade. After Aben Hassen learned +all that it was possible for man to know, he said to himself, +"Now I will take my ease and enjoy my life." So he called the +Demon Zadok to him, and said to the monster, "I have read in my +books that there is a treasure that was one time hidden by the +ancient kings of Egypt--a treasure such as the eyes of man never +saw before or since their day. Is that true?" + +"It is true," said the Demon. + +"Then I command thee to take me to that treasure and to show it +to me," said Aben Hassen the Wise. + +"It shall be done," said the Demon; and thereupon he caught up +the Wise Man and transported him across mountain and valley, +across land and sea, until he brought him to a country known as +the "Land of the Black Isles," where the treasure of the ancient +kings was hidden. The Demon showed the Magician the treasure, and +it was a sight such as man had never looked upon before or since +the days that the dark, ancient ones hid it. With his treasure +Aben Hassen built himself palaces and gardens and paradises such +as the world never saw before. He lived like an emperor, and the +fame of his doings rang through all the four corners of the +earth. + +Now the queen of the Black Isles was the most beautiful woman in +the world, but she was as cruel and wicked and cunning as she was +beautiful. No man that looked upon her could help loving her; for +not only was she as beautiful as a dream, but her beauty was of +that sort that it bewitched a man in spite of himself. + +One day the queen sent for Aben Hassen the Wise. "Tell me," said +she, "is it true that men say of you that you have discovered a +hidden treasure such as the world never saw before?" And she +looked at Aben Hassen so that his wisdom all crumbled away like +sand, and he became just as foolish as other men. + +"Yes," said he, "it is true." + +Aben Hassen the Wise spent all that day with the queen, and when +he left the palace he was like a man drunk and dizzy with love. +Moreover, he had promised to show the queen the hidden treasure +the next day. + +As Aben Hassen, like a man in a dream, walked towards his own +house, he met an old man standing at the corner of the street. +The old man had a talisman that hung dangling from a chain, and +which he offered for sale. When Aben Hassen saw the talisman he +knew very well what it was--that it was the famous talisman of +King Solomon the Wise. If he who possessed the talisman asked it +to speak, it would tell that man both what to do and what not to +do. + +The Wise Man bought the talisman for three pieces of silver (and +wisdom has been sold for less than that many a time), and as soon +as he had the talisman in his hands he hurried home with it and +locked himself in a room. + +"Tell me," said the Wise Man to the Talisman, "shall I marry the +beautiful queen of the Black Isles?" + +"Fly, while there is yet time to escape!" said the Talisman; "but +go not near the queen again, for she seeks to destroy thy life." + +"But tell me, O Talisman!" said the Wise Man, "what then shall I +do with all that vast treasure of the kings of Egypt?" + +"Fly from it while there is yet chance to escape!" said the +Talisman; "but go not into the treasure-house again, for in the +farther door, where thou hast not yet looked, is that which will +destroy him who possesses the treasure." + +"But Zadok," said Aben Hassen; "what of Zadok?" + +"Fly from the monster while there is yet time to escape," said +the Talisman, "and have no more to do with thy Demon slave, for +already he is weaving a net of death and destruction about thy +feet." + +The Wise Man sat all that night pondering and thinking upon what +the Talisman had said. When morning came he washed and dressed +himself, and called the Demon Zadok to him. "Zadok," said he, +"carry me to the palace of the queen." In the twinkling of an eye +the Demon transported him to the steps of the palace. + +"Zadok," said the Wise Man, "give me the staff of life and +death;" and the Demon brought from under his clothes a wand, +one-half of which was of silver and one-half of which was of +gold. The Wise Man touched the steps of the palace with the +silver end of the staff. Instantly all the sound and hum of life +was hushed. The thread of life was cut by the knife of silence, +and in a moment all was as still as death. + +"Zadok," said the Wise Man, "transport me to the treasure-house +of the king of Egypt." And instantly the Demon had transported +him thither. The Wise Man drew a circle upon the earth. "No one," +said he, "shall have power to enter here but the master of Zadok, +the King of the Demons of the Earth." + +"And now, Zadok," said he, "I command thee to transport me to +India, and as far from here as thou canst." Instantly the Demon +did as he was commanded; and of all the treasure that he had, the +Wise Man took nothing with him but a jar of golden money and a +jar of silver money. As soon as the Wise Man stood upon the +ground of India, he drew from beneath his robe a little jar of +glass. + +"Zadok," said he, "I command thee to enter this jar." + +Then the Demon knew that now his turn had come. He besought and +implored the Wise Man to have mercy upon him; but it was all in +vain. Then the Demon roared and bellowed till the earth shook and +the sky grew dark overhead. But all was of no avail; into the jar +he must go, and into the jar he went. Then the Wise Man stoppered +the jar and sealed it. He wrote an inscription of warning upon +it, and then he buried it in the ground. + +"Now," said Aben Hassen the Wise to the Talisman of Solomon, +"have I done everything that I should?" + +"No," said the Talisman, "thou shouldst not have brought the jar +of golden money and the jar of silver money with thee; for that +which is evil in the greatest is evil in the least. Thou fool! +The treasure is cursed! Cast it all from thee while there is yet +time." + +"Yes, I will do that, too, " said the Wise Man. So he buried in +the earth the jar of gold and the jar of silver that he had +brought with him, and then he stamped the mould down upon it. +After that the Wise Man began his life all over again. He bought, +and he sold, and he traded, and by-and-by he became rich. Then he +built himself a great house, and in the foundation he laid the +jar in which the Demon was bottled. + +Then he married a young and handsome wife. By-and-by the wife +bore him a son, and then she died. + +This son was the pride of his father's heart; but he was as vain +and foolish as his father was wise, so that all men called him +Aben Hassen the Fool, as they called the father Aben Hassen the +Wise. + +Then one day death came and called the old man, and he left his +son all that belonged to him--even the Talisman of Solomon. + +Young Aben Hassen the Fool had never seen so much money as now +belonged to him. It seemed to him that there was nothing in the +world he could not enjoy. He found friends by the dozens and +scores, and everybody seemed to be very fond of him. + +He asked no questions of the Talisman of Solomon, for to his mind +there was no need of being both wise and rich. So he began +enjoying himself with his new friends. Day and night there was +feasting and drinking and singing and dancing and merrymaking and +carousing; and the money that the old man had made by trading and +wise living poured out like water through a sieve. + +Then, one day came an end to all this junketing, and nothing +remained to the young spend-thrift of all the wealth that his +father had left him. Then the officers of the law came down upon +him and seized all that was left of the fine things, and his +fair-weather friends flew away from his troubles like flies from +vinegar. Then the young man began to think of the Talisman of +Wisdom. For it was with him as it is with so many of us: When +folly has emptied the platter, wisdom is called in to pick the +bones. + +"Tell me," said the young man to the Talisman of Solomon, "what +shall I do, now that everything is gone?" + +"Go," said the Talisman of Solomon, "and work as thy father has +worked before thee. Advise with me and become prosperous and +contended, but do not go dig under the cherry-tree in the +garden." + +"Why should I not dig under the cherry-tree in the garden?" says +the young man; "I will see what is there, at any rate." + +So he straightway took a spade and went out into the garden, +where the Talisman had told him not to go. He dug and dug under +the cherry-tree, and by-and-by his spade struck something hard. +It was a vessel of brass, and it was full of silver money. Upon +the lid of the vessel were these words, engraved in the +handwriting of the old man who had died: + +"My son, this vessel full of silver has been brought from the +treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take this, then, +that thou findest; advise with the talisman; be wise and +prosper." + +"And they call that the Talisman of Wisdom," said the young man. +"If I had listened to it I never would have found this treasure." + +The next day he began to spend the money he had found, and his +friends soon gathered around him again. + +The vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all +gone; not a single piece was left. + +Then the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of +Solomon. "What shall I do now," said he, "to save myself from +ruin?" + +"Earn thy bread with honest labor," said the Talisman, "and I +will teach thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the +fig-tree that stands by the fountain in the garden." + +The young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman +had said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in +the garden as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by +his spade struck something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it +was filled with gold money. Upon the lid of the vessel was +engraved these words in the handwriting of the old man who had +gone: "My son, my son," they said, "thou hast been warned once; +be warned again. The gold money in this vessel has been brought +from the treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take it; +be advised by the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and prosper." + +"And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would +never have found this," said the young man. + +The gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and +merrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing +left--not a copper farthing. + +"Tell me," said the young man to the Talisman, "what shall I do +now?" + +"Thou fool," said the Talisman, "go sweat and toil, but do not go +down into the vault beneath this house. There in the vault is a +red stone built into the wall. The red stone turns upon a pivot. +Behind the stone is a hollow space. As thou wouldst save thy life +from peril, go not near it!" + +"Hear that now," says the young man, "first, this Talisman told +me not to go, and I found silver. Then it told me not to go, and +I found gold; now it tells me not to go--perhaps I shall find +precious stones enough for a king's ransom." + +He lit a lantern and went down into the vault beneath the house. +There, as the Talisman had said, was the red stone built into the +wall. He pressed the stone, and it turned upon its pivot as the +Talisman had said it would turn. Within was a hollow space, as +the Talisman said there would be. In the hollow space there was a +casket of silver. The young man snatched it up, and his hands +trembled for joy. + +Upon the lid of the box were these words in the father's +handwriting, written in letters as red as blood: "Fool, fool! +Thou hast been a fool once, thou hast been a fool twice; be not a +fool for a third time. Restore this casket whence it was taken, +and depart." + +"I will see what is in the box, at any rate," said the young man. + +He opened it. There was nothing in it but a hollow glass jar the +size of an egg. The young man took the jar from the box; it was +as hot as fire. He cried out and let it fall. The jar burst upon +the floor with a crack of thunder; the house shook and rocked, +and the dust flew about in clouds. Then all was still; and when +Aben Hassen the Fool could see through the cloud of terror that +enveloped him he beheld a great, tall, hideous being as black as +ink, and with eyes that shone like coals of fire. + +When the young man saw that terrible creature his tongue clave to +the roof of his mouth, and his knees smote together with fear, +for he thought that his end had now certainly come. + +"Who are you?" he croaked, as soon as he could find his voice. + +"I am the King of the Demons of the Earth, and my name is Zadok," +answered the being. "I was once thy father's slave, and now I am +thine, thou being his son. When thou speakest I must obey, and +whatever thou commandest me to do that I must do." + +"For instance, what can you do for me?" said the young man. + +"I can do whatsoever you ask me; I can make you rich." + +"You can make me rich?" + +"Yes, I can make you richer than a king." + +"Then make me rich as soon as you can," said Aben Hassen the +Fool, "and that is all that I shall ask of you now." + +"It shall be done," said the Demon; "spend all that thou canst +spend, and thou shalt always have more. Has my lord any further +commands for his slave?" + +"No," said the young man, "there is nothing more; you may go +now." + +And thereupon the Demon vanished like a flash. + +"And to think," said the young man, as he came up out of the +vault--"and to think that all this I should never have found if I +had obeyed the Talisman." + +Such riches were never seen in that land as the young man now +possessed. There was no end to the treasure that poured in upon +him. He lived like an emperor. He built a palace more splendid +than the palace of the king. He laid out vast gardens of the most +exquisite beauty, in which there were fountains as white as snow, +trees of rare fruit and flowers that filled all the air with +their perfume, summer-houses of alabaster and ebony. + +Every one who visited him was received like a prince, entertained +like a king, given a present fit for an emperor, and sent away +happy. The fame of all these things went out through all the +land, and every one talked of him and the magnificence that +surrounded him. + +It came at last to the ears of the king himself, and one day he +said to his minister, "Let us go and see with our own eyes if all +the things reported of this merchant's son are true." + +So the king and his minister disguised themselves as foreign +merchants, and went that evening to the palace where the young +man lived. A servant dressed in clothes of gold and silver cloth +stood at the door, and called to them to come in and be made +welcome. He led them in, and to a chamber lit with perfumed lamps +of gold. Then six black slaves took them in charge and led them +to a bath of white marble. They were bathed in perfumed water and +dried with towels of fine linen. When they came forth they were +clad in clothes of cloth of silver, stiff with gold and jewels. +Then twelve handsome white slaves led them through a vast and +splendid hall to a banqueting-room. + +When they entered they were deafened with the noise of carousing +and merrymaking. + +Aben Hassen the Fool sat at the head of the table upon a throne +of gold, with a canopy of gold above his head. When he saw the +king and the minister enter, he beckoned to them to come and sit +beside him. He showed them special favor because they were +strangers, and special servants waited upon them. + +The king and his minister had never seen anything like what they +then saw. They could hardly believe it was not all magic and +enchantment. At the end of the feast each of the guests was given +a present of great value, and was sent away rejoicing. The king +received a pearl as big as a marble; the minister a cup of +wrought gold. + +The next morning the king and the prime-minister were talking +over what they had seen. "Sire," said the prime-minister, "I have +no doubt but that the young man has discovered some vast hidden +treasure. Now, according to the laws of this kingdom, the half of +any treasure that is discovered shall belong to the king's +treasury. If I were in your place I would send for this young man +and compel him to tell me whence comes all this vast wealth." + +"That is true," said the king; "I had not thought of that before. +The young man shall tell me all about it." + +So they sent a royal guard and brought the young man to the +king's palace. When the young man saw in the king and the +prime-minister his guests of the night before, whom he had +thought to be only foreign merchants, he fell on his face and +kissed the ground before the throne. But the king spoke to him +kindly, and raised him up and sat him on the seat beside him. +They talked for a while concerning different things, and then the +king said at last, "Tell me, my friend, whence comes all the +inestimable wealth that you must possess to allow you to live as +you do?" + +"Sire," said the young man, "I cannot tell you whence it comes. I +can only tell you that it is given to me." + +The king frowned. "You cannot tell," said he; "you must tell. It +is for that that I have sent for you, and you must tell me." + +Then the young man began to be frightened. "I beseech you," said +he," do not ask me whence it comes. I cannot tell you." + +Then the king's brows grew as black as thunder. "What!" cried he, +"do you dare to bandy words with me? I know that you have +discovered some treasure. Tell me upon the instant where it is; +for the half of it, by the laws of the land, belongs to me, and I +will have it." + +At the king's words Aben Hassen the Fool fell on his knees. +"Sire," said he, "I will tell you all the truth. There is a demon +named Zadok--a monster as black as a coal. He is my slave, and +it is he that brings me all the treasure that I enjoy." The king +thought nothing else than that Aben Hassen the Fool was trying to +deceive him. He laughed; he was very angry. "What," cried he, "do +you amuse me by such an absurd and unbelievable tale? Now I am +more than ever sure that you have discovered a treasure and that +you wish to keep the knowledge of it from me, knowing, as you do, +that the one-half of it by law belongs to me. Take him away!" +cried he to his attendants. "Give him fifty lashes, and throw him +into prison. He shall stay there and have fifty lashes every day +until he tells me where his wealth is hidden." + +It was done as the king said, and by-and-by Aben Hassen the Fool +lay in the prison, smarting and sore with the whipping he had +had. + +Then he began again to think of the Talisman of Solomon. + +"Tell me," said he to the Talisman, "What shall I do now to help +myself in this trouble?" + +"Bear thy punishment, thou fool," said the Talisman. "Know that +the king will by-and-by pardon thee and will let thee go. In the +meantime bear thy punishment; perhaps it will cure thee of thy +folly. Only do not call upon Zadok, the King of the Demons, in +this thy trouble." + +The young man smote his hand upon his head. "What a fool I am," +said he, "not to have thought to call upon Zadok before this!" +Then he called aloud, "Zadok, Zadok! If thou art indeed my slave, +come hither at my bidding." + +In an instant there sounded a rumble as of thunder. The floor +swayed and rocked beneath the young man's feet. The dust flew in +clouds, and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that +shone like coals of fire. + +"I have come," said Zadok, "and first let me cure thy smarts, O +master." + +He removed the cloths from the young man's back, and rubbed the +places that smarted with a cooling unguent. Instantly the pain +and smarting ceased, and the merchant's son had perfect ease. + +"Now," said Zadok, "what is thy bidding?" + +"Tell me," said Aben Hassen the Fool, "whence comes all the +wealth that you have brought me? The king has commanded me to +tell him and I could not, and so he has had me beaten with fifty +lashes." + +"I bring the treasure," said Zadok, "from the treasure-house of +the ancient kings of Egypt. That treasure I at one time +discovered to your father, and he, not desiring it himself, hid +it in the earth so that no one might find it." + +"And where is this treasure-house, O Zadok?" said the young man. + +"It is in the city of the queen of the Black Isles," said the +King of the Demons; "there thy father lived in a palace of such +magnificence as thou hast never dreamed of. It was I that brought +him thence to this place with one vessel of gold money and one +vessel of silver money." + +"It was you who brought him here, did you say, Zadok? Then, tell +me, can you take me from here to the city of the queen of the +Black Isles, whence you brought him?" + +"Yes," said Zadok, "with ease." + +"Then," said the young man, "I command you to take me thither +instantly, and to show me the treasure." + +"I obey," said Zadok. + +He stamped his foot upon the ground. In an instant the walls of +the prison split asunder, and the sky was above them. The Demon +leaped from the earth, carrying the young man by the girdle, and +flew through the air so swiftly that the stars appeared to slide +away behind them. In a moment he set the young man again upon the +ground, and Aben Hassen the Fool found himself at the end of what +appeared to be a vast and splendid garden. + +"We are now," said Zadok, "above the treasure-house of which I +spoke. It was here that I saw thy father seal it so that no one +but the master of Zadok may enter. Thou mayst go in any time it +may please thee, for it is thine." + +"I would enter into it now," said Aben Hassen the Fool. + +"Thou shalt enter," said Zadok. He stooped, and with his +finger-point he drew a circle upon the ground where they stood; +then he stamped with his heel upon the circle. Instantly the +earth opened, and there appeared a flight of marble steps leading +downward into the earth. Zadok led the way down the steps and the +young man followed. At the bottom of the steps there was a door +of adamant. Upon the door were these words in letters as black as +ink, in the handwriting of the old man who had gone: + +"Oh, fool! Fool! Beware what thou doest. Within here shalt thou +find death!" + +There was a key of brass in the door. The King of the Demons +turned the key and opened the door. The young man entered after +him. + +Aben Hassen the Fool found himself in a vast vaulted room, lit by +the light of a single carbuncle set in the centre of the dome +above. In the middle of the marble floor was a great basin twenty +paces broad, and filled to the brim with money such as he had +found in the brazen vessel in the garden. + +The young man could not believe what he saw with his own eyes. +"Oh, marvel of marvels!" he cried; "little wonder you could give +me boundless wealth from such a storehouse as this." + +Zadok laughed. "This," said he, "is nothing; come with me." + +He led him from this room to another--like it vaulted, and like +it lit by a carbuncle set in the dome of the roof above. In the +middle of the floor was a basin such as Aben Hassen the Fool had +seen in the other room beyond; only this was filled with gold as +that had been filled with silver, and the gold was like that he +had found in the garden. When the young man saw this vast and +amazing wealth he stood speechless and breathless with wonder. +The Demon Zadok laughed. "This," said he," is great, but it is +little. Come and I will show thee a marvel indeed." + +He took the young man by the hand and led him into a third +room--vaulted as the other two had been, lit as they had been by +a carbuncle in the roof above. But when the young man's eyes saw +what was in this third room, he was like a man turned drunk with +wonder. He had to lean against the wall behind him, for the sight +made him dizzy. + +In the middle of the room was such as basin as he had seen in the +two other rooms, only it was filled with jewels--diamonds and +rubies and emeralds and sapphires and precious stones of all +kinds--that sparkled and blazed and flamed like a million stars. +Around the wall, and facing the basin from all sides, stood six +golden statues. Three of them were statues of the kings and three +of them were statues of the queens who had gathered together all +this vast and measureless wealth of ancient Egypt. + +There was space for a seventh statue, but where it should have +stood was a great arched door of adamant. The door was tightly +shut, and there was neither lock nor key to it. Upon the door +were written these words in letters of flame: + +"Behold! Beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all +thy desires." + +"Tell me, Zadok," said the young man, after he had filled his +soul with all the other wonders that surrounded him--"tell me +what is there that lies beyond that door?" + +"That I am forbidden to tell thee, O master!" said the King of +the Demons of the Earth. + +"Then open the door for me," said the young man; "for I cannot +open it for myself, as there is neither lock nor key to it." + +"That also I am forbidden to do," said Zadok. + +"I wish that I knew what was there," said the young man. + +The Demon laughed. "Some time," said he, "thou mayest find for +thyself. Come, let us leave here and go to the palace which thy +father built years ago, and which he left behind him when he +quitted this place for the place in which thou knewest him." + +He led the way and the young man followed; they passed through +the vaulted rooms and out through the door of adamant, and Zadok +locked it behind them and gave the key to the young man. + +"All this is thine now," he said; "I give it to thee as I gave it +to thy father. I have shown thee how to enter, and thou mayst go +in whenever it pleases thee to do so." + +They ascended the steps, and so reached the garden above. Then +Zadok struck his heel upon the ground, and the earth closed as it +had opened. He led the young man from the spot until they had +come to a wide avenue that led to the palace beyond. "Here I +leave thee," said the Demon, "But if ever thou hast need of me, +call and I will come." + +Thereupon he vanished like a flash, leaving the young man +standing like one in a dream. + +He saw before him a garden of such splendor and magnificence as +he had never dreamed of even in his wildest fancy. There were +seven fountains as clear as crystal that shot high into the air +and fell back into basins of alabaster. There was a broad avenue +as white as snow, and thousands of lights lit up everything as +light as day. Upon either side of the avenue stood a row of black +slaves, clad in garments of white silk, and with jewelled turbans +upon their heads. Each held a flaming torch of sandal-wood. +Behind the slaves stood a double row of armed men, and behind +them a great crowd of other slaves and attendants, dressed each +as magnificently as a prince, blazing and flaming with +innumerable jewels and ornaments of gold. + +But of all these things the young man thought nothing and saw +nothing; for at the end of the marble avenue there arose a +palace, the like of which was not in the four quarters of the +earth--a palace of marble and gold and carmine and +ultramarine--rising into the purple starry sky, and shining in +the moonlight like a vision of Paradise. The palace was +illuminated from top to bottom and from end to end; the windows +shone like crystal, and from it came sounds of music and +rejoicing. + +When the crowd that stood waiting saw the young man appear, they +shouted: "Welcome! Welcome! To the master who has come again! To +Aben Hassen the Fool!" + +The young man walked up the avenue of marble to the palace, +surrounded by the armed attendants in their dresses of jewels and +gold, and preceded by dancing-girls as beautiful as houris, who +danced and sung before him. He was dizzy with joy. "All--all +this," he exulted, "belongs to me. And to think that if I had +listened to the Talisman of Solomon I would have had none of it." + +That was the way he came back to the treasure of the ancient +kings of Egypt, and to the palace of enchantment that his father +had quitted. + +For seven months he lived a life of joy and delight, surrounded +by crowds of courtiers as though they were a king, and going from +pleasure to pleasure without end. Nor had he any fear of an end +coming to it, for he knew that his treasure was inexhaustible. He +made friends with the princes and nobles of the land. From far +and wide people came to visit him, and the renown of his +magnificence filled all the world. When men would praise any one +they would say, "He is as rich," or as "magnificent," or as +"generous, as Aben Hassen the Fool." + +So for seven months he lived a life of joy and delight; then one +morning he awakened and found everything changed to grief and +mourning. Where the day before had been laughter, to-day was +crying. Where the day before had been mirth, to-day was +lamentation. All the city was shrouded in gloom, and everywhere +was weeping and crying. + +Seven black slaves stood on guard near Aben Hassen the Fool as he +lay upon his couch. "What means all this sorrow?" said he to one +of the slaves. + +Instantly all the slaves began howling and beating their heads, +and he to whom the young man had spoken fell down with his face +in the dust, and lay there twisting and writhing like a worm. + +"He has asked the question!" howled the slaves--"he has asked +the question!" + +"Are you mad?" cried the young man. "What is the matter with +you?" + +At the doorway of the room stood a beautiful female slave, +bearing in her hands a jewelled basin of gold, filled with +rose-water, and a fine linen napkin for the young man to wash and +dry his hands upon. "Tell me," said the young man, "what means +all this sorrow and lamentation?" + +Instantly the beautiful slave dropped the golden basin upon the +stone floor, and began shrieking and tearing her clothes. "He has +asked the question!" she screamed--"he has asked the question!" + +The young man began to grow frightened; he arose from his couch, +and with uneven steps went out into the anteroom. There he found +his chamberlain waiting for him with a crowd of attendants and +courtiers. "Tell me," said Aben Hassen the Fool, "why are you all +so sorrowful?" + +Instantly they who stood waiting began crying and tearing their +clothes and beating their hands. As for the chamberlain--he was +a reverend old man--his eyes sparkled with anger, and his +fingers twitched as though he would have struck if he had dared. +"What," he cried, "art thou not contented with all thou hast and +with all that we do for thee without asking the forbidden +question?" + +Thereupon he tore his cap from his head and flung it upon the +ground, and began beating himself violently upon the head with +great outcrying. + +Aben Hassen the Fool, not knowing what to think or what was to +happen, ran back into the bedroom again. "I think everybody in +this place has gone mad," said he. "Nevertheless, if I do not +find out what it all means, I shall go mad myself." + +Then he bethought himself, for the first time since he came to +that land, of the Talisman of Solomon. + +"Tell me, O Talisman," said he, "why all these people weep and +wail so continuously?" + +"Rest content," said the Talisman of Solomon, "with knowing that +which concerns thine own self, and seek not to find an answer +that will be to thine own undoing. Be thou also further advised: +do not question the Demon Zadok." + +"Fool that I am," said the young man, stamping his foot; "here am +I wasting all this time when, if I had but thought of Zadok at +first, he would have told me all. Then he called aloud, Zadok! +Zadok! Zadok!" + +Instantly the ground shook beneath his feet, the dust rose in +clouds, and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that +shone like fire. + +"Tell me," said the young man; "I command thee to tell me, O +Zadok! Why are the people all gone mad this morning, and why do +they weep and wail, and why do they go crazy when I do but ask +them why they are so afflicted?" + +"I will tell thee," said Zadok. "Seven-and-thirty years ago there +was a queen over this land--the most beautiful that ever was +seen. Thy father, who was the wisest and most cunning magician in +the world, turned her into stone, and with her all the attendants +in her palace. No one since that time has been permitted to enter +the palace--it is forbidden for any one even to ask a question +concerning it; but every year, on the day on which the queen was +turned to stone, the whole land mourns with weeping and wailing. +And now thou knowest all!" + +"What you tell me," said the young man, "passes wonder. But tell +me further, O Zadok, is it possible for me to see this queen whom +my father turned to stone?" + +"Nothing is easier," said Zadok. + +"Then," said the young man, "I command you to take me to where +she is, so that I may see her with mine own eyes." + +"I hear and obey," said the Demon. + +He seized the young man by the girdle, and in an instant flew +away with him to a hanging-garden that lay before the queen's +palace. + +"Thou art the first man," said Zadok, "who has seen what thou art +about to see for seven-and-thirty years. Come, I will show thee a +queen, the most beautiful that the eyes of man ever looked upon." + +He led the way, and the young man followed, filled with wonder +and astonishment. Not a sound was to be heard, not a thing moved, +but silence hung like a veil between the earth and the sky. + +Following the Demon, the young man ascended a flight of steps, +and so entered the vestibule of the palace. There stood guards in +armor of brass and silver and gold. But they were without +life--they were all of stone as white as alabaster. Thence they +passed through room after room and apartment after apartment +crowded with courtiers and nobles and lords in their robes of +office, magnificent beyond fancying, but each silent and +motionless--each a stone as white as alabaster. At last they +entered an apartment in the very centre of the palace. There sat +seven-and-forty female attendants around a couch of purple and +gold. Each of the seven-and-forty was beautiful beyond what the +young man could have believed possible, and each was clad in a +garment of silk as white as snow, embroidered with threads of +silver and studded with glistening diamonds. But each sat silent +and motionless--each was a stone as white as alabaster. + +Upon the couch in the centre of the apartment reclined a queen +with a crown of gold upon her head. She lay there motionless, +still. She was cold and dead--of stone as white as marble. The +young man approached and looked into her face, and when he looked +his breath became faint and his heart grew soft within him like +wax in a flame of fire. + +He sighed; he melted; the tears burst from his eyes and ran down +his cheeks. "Zadok!" he cried--"Zadok! Zadok! What have you +done to show me this wonder of beauty and love! Alas! That I have +seen her; for the world is nothing to me now. O Zadok! That she +were flesh and blood, instead of cold stone! Tell me, Zadok, I +command you to tell me, was she once really alive as I am alive, +and did my father truly turn her to stone as she lies here?" + +"She was really alive as thou art alive, and he did truly +transform her to this stone," said Zadok. + +"And tell me," said the young man, "can she never become alive +again?" + +"She can become alive, and it lies with you to make her alive," +said the Demon. "Listen, O master. Thy father possessed a wand, +half of silver and half of gold. Whatsoever he touched with +silver became converted to stone, such as thou seest all around +thee here; but whatsoever, O master, he touched with the gold, it +became alive, even if it were a dead stone." + +"Tell me, Zadok," cried the young man; "I command you to tell me, +where is that wand of silver and gold?" + +"I have it with me," said Zadok. + +"Then give it to me; I command you to give it to me." + +"I hear and obey," said Zadok. He drew from his girdle a wand, +half of gold and half of silver, as he spoke, and gave it to the +young man. + +"Thou mayst go now, Zadok," said the young man, trembling with +eagerness. + +Zadok laughed and vanished. The young man stood for a while +looking down at the beautiful figure of alabaster. Then he +touched the lips with the golden tip of the wand. In an instant +there came a marvellous change. He saw the stone melt, and begin +to grow flexible and soft. He saw it become warm, and the cheeks +and lips grow red with life. Meantime a murmur had begun to rise +all through the palace. It grew louder and louder--it became a +shout. The figure of the queen that had been stone opened its +eyes. + +"Who are you?" it said. + +Aben Hassen the Fool fell upon his knees. "I am he who was sent +to bring you to life." he said. "My father turned you to cold +stone, and I--I have brought you back to warm life again." + +The queen smiled--her teeth sparkled like pearls. "If you have +brought me to life, then I am yours," she said, and she kissed +him upon the lips. + +He grew suddenly dizzy; the world swam before his eyes. + +For seven days nothing was heard in the town but rejoicing and +joy. The young man lived in a golden cloud of delight. "And to +think," said he, "if I had listened to that accursed Talisman of +Solomon, called The Wise,' all this happiness, this ecstasy that +is now mine, would have been lost to me." + +"Tell me, beloved," said the queen, upon the morning of the +seventh day--"thy father once possessed all the hidden treasure +of the ancient kings of Egypt--tell me, is it now thine as it +was once his?" + +"Yes," said the young man, "it is now all mine as it was once all +his." + +"And do you really love me as you say?" + +"Yes," said the young man, "and ten thousand times more than I +say." + +"Then, as you love me, I beg one boon on you. It is that you show +me this treasure of which I have heard so much, and which we are +to enjoy together." + +The young man was drunk with happiness. "Thou shalt see it all," +said he. + +Then, for the first time, the Talisman spoke without being +questioned. "Fool!" it cried; "wilt thou not be advised?" + +"Be silent," said the young man. "Six times, vile thing, you +would have betrayed me. Six times you would have deprived me of +joys that should have been mine, and each was greater than that +which went before. Shall I now listen the seventh time? Now," +said he to the queen, "I will show you our treasure." He called +aloud, "Zadok, Zadok, Zadok!" + +Instantly the ground shook beneath their feet, the dust rose in +clouds, and Zadok appeared, as black as ink, and with eyes that +shone like coals of fire. + +"I command you," said the young man, "to carry the queen and +myself to the garden where my treasure lies hidden." + +Zadok laughed aloud. "I hear thee and obey thee, master," said +he. + +He seized the queen and the young man by the girdle, and in an +instant transported them to the garden and to the treasure-house. + +"Thou art where thou commandest to be," said the Demon. + +The young man immediately drew a circle upon the ground with his +finger-tip. He struck his heel upon the circle. The ground +opened, disclosing the steps leading downward. The young man +descended the steps with the queen behind him, and behind them +both came the Demon Zadok. + +The young man opened the door of adamant and entered the first of +the vaulted rooms. + +When the queen saw the huge basin full of silver treasure, her +cheeks and her forehead flushed as red as fire. + +They went into the next room, and when the queen saw the basin of +gold her face turned as white as ashes. + +They went into the third room, and when the queen saw the basin +of jewels and the six golden statues her face turned as blue as +lead, and her eyes shone green like a snake's. + +"Are you content?" asked the young man. + +The queen looked about her. "No!" cried she, hoarsely, pointing +to the closed door that had never been opened, and whereon were +engraved these words: + +"Behold! Beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all +thy desires." + +"No!" cried she. "What is it that lies behind yon door?" + +"I do not know," said the young man. + +"Then open the door, and let me see what lies within." + +"I cannot open the door," said he. "How can I open the door, +seeing that there is no lock nor key to it?" + +"If thou dost not open the door," said the queen, " all is over +between thee and me. So do as I bid thee, or leave me forever." + +They had both forgotten that the Demon Zadok was there. Then the +young man bethought himself of the Talisman of Solomon. "Tell me, +O Talisman," said he, "how shall I open yonder door?" + +"Oh, wretched one!" cried the Talisman, "oh, wretched one! Fly +while there is yet time--fly, for thy doom is near! Do not push +the door open, for it is not locked!" + +The young man struck his head with his clinched fist. "What a +fool am I!" he cried. "Will I never learn wisdom" Here have I +been coming to this place seven months, and have never yet +thought to try whether yonder door was locked or not!" + +"Open the door!" cried the queen. + +They went forward together. The young man pushed the door with +his hand. It opened swiftly and silently, and they entered. + +Within was a narrow room as red as blood. A flaming lamp hung +from the ceiling above. The young man stood as though turned to +stone, for there stood a gigantic Black Demon with a napkin +wrapped around his loins and a scimitar in his right hand, the +blade of which gleamed like lightning in the flame of the lamp. +Before him lay a basket filled with sawdust. + +When the queen saw what she saw she screamed in a loud voice, +"Thou hast found it! Thou hast found it! Thou hast found what +alone can satisfy all thy desires! Strike, O slave!" + +The young man heard the Demon Zadok give a yell of laughter. He +saw a whirl and a flash, and then he knew nothing. + +The Black had struck--the blade had fallen, and the head of +Aben Hassen the Fool rolled into the basket of sawdust that stood +waiting for it. + + +"Aye, aye," said St. George, "and so it should end. For what was +your Aben Hassen the Fool but a heathen Paniem? Thus should the +heads of all the like be chopped off from their shoulders. Is +there not some one here to tell us a fair story about a saint?" + +"For the matter of that," said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew +was in the bramble-bush--"for the matter of that I know a very +good story that begins about a saint and a hazel-nut. + +"Say you so?" said St. George. "Well, let us have it. But stay, +friend, thou hast no ale in thy pot. Wilt thou not let me pay for +having it filled?" + +"That," said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew was in the +bramble-bush, "may be as you please, Sir Knight; and, to tell the +truth, I will be mightily glad for a drop to moisten my throat +withal." + +"But," said Fortunatus, "you have not told us what the story is +to be about." + +"It is," said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the +bramble-bush, "about-- + + +Ill-Luck and the Fiddler + +Once upon a time St. Nicholas came down into the world to take a +peep at the old place and see how things looked in the +spring-time. On he stepped along the road to the town where he +used to live, for he had a notion to find out whether things were +going on nowadays as they one time did. By-and-by he came to a +cross-road, and who should he see sitting there but Ill-Luck +himself. Ill-Luck's face was as gray as ashes, and his hair as +white as snow--for he is as old as Grandfather Adam--and two +great wings grew out of his shoulders--for he flies fast and +comes quickly to those whom he visits, does Ill-Luck. + +Now, St. Nicholas had a pocketful of hazel-nuts, which he kept +cracking and eating as he trudged along the road, and just then +he came upon one with a worm-hole in it. When he saw Ill-Luck it +came into his head to do a good turn to poor sorrowful man. + +"Good-morning, Ill-Luck," says he. + +"Good-morning, St. Nicholas," says Ill-Luck. + +"You look as hale and strong as ever," says St. Nicholas. + +"Ah, yes," says Ill-Luck, "I find plenty to do in this world of +woe." + +"They tell me," says St. Nicholas, "that you can go wherever you +choose, even if it be through a key-hole; now, is that so?" + +"Yes," says Ill-Luck, "it is." + +"Well, look now, friend," says St. Nicholas, "could you go into +this hazel-nut if you chose to?" + +"Yes," says Ill-Luck, "I could indeed." + +"I should like to see you," says St. Nicholas; "for then I should +be of a mind to believe what people say of you." + +"Well," says Ill-Luck, "I have not much time to be pottering and +playing upon Jack's fiddle; but to oblige an old +friend"--thereupon he made himself small and smaller, and--phst! +he was in the nut before you could wink. + +Then what do you think St. Nicholas did? In his hand he held a +little plug of wood, and no sooner had Ill-Luck entered the nut +than he stuck the plug in the hole, and there was man's enemy as +tight as fly in a bottle. + +"So!" says St. Nicholas, "that's a piece of work well done." Then +he tossed the hazel-nut under the roots of an oak-tree near by, +and went his way. + +And that is how this story begins. + + +Well, the hazel-nut lay and lay and lay, and all the time that it +lay there nobody met with ill-luck; but, one day, who should come +travelling that way but a rogue of a Fiddler, with his fiddle +under his arm. The day was warm, and he was tired; so down he sat +under the shade of the oak-tree to rest his legs. By-and-by he +heard a little shrill voice piping and crying, "Let me out! let +me out! let me out!" + +The Fiddler looked up and down, but he could see nobody. "Who are +you?" says he. + +"I am Ill-Luck! Let me out! let me out!" + +"Let you out?" says the Fiddler. "Not I; if you are bottled up +here it is the better for all of us;" and, so saying, he tucked +his fiddle under his arm and off he marched. + +But before he had gone six steps he stopped. He was one of your +peering, prying sort, and liked more than a little to know all +that was to be known about this or that or the other thing that +he chanced to see or hear. "I wonder where Ill-Luck can be, to be +in such a tight place as he seems to be caught in," says he to +himself; and back he came again. "Where are you, Ill-Luck?" says +he. + +"Here I am," says Ill-Luck--"here in this hazel-nut, under the +roots of the oak-tree." + +Thereupon the Fiddler laid aside his fiddle and bow, and fell to +poking and prying under the roots until he found the nut. Then he +began twisting and turning it in his fingers, looking first on +one side and then on the other, and all the while Ill-Luck kept +crying, "Let me out! let me out!" + +It was not long before the Fiddler found the little wooden plug, +and then nothing would do but he must take a peep inside the nut +to see if Ill-Luck was really there. So he picked and pulled at +the wooden plug, until at last out it came; and--phst! pop! out +came Ill-Luck along with it. + +Plague take the Fiddler! say I. + +"Listen," says Ill-Luck. "It has been many a long day that I have +been in that hazel-nut, and you are the man that has let me out; +for once in a way I will do a good turn to a poor human body." +Therewith, and without giving the Fiddler time to speak a word, +Ill-Luck caught him up by the belt, and--whiz! away he flew like +a bullet, over hill and over valley; over moor and over mountain, +so fast that not enough wind was left in the Fiddler's stomach to +say "Bo!" + +By-and-by he came to a garden, and there he let the Fiddler drop +on the soft grass below. Then away he flew to attend to other +matters of greater need. + +When the Fiddler had gathered his wits together, and himself to +his feet, he saw that he lay in a beautiful garden of flowers and +fruit-trees and marble walks and what not, and that at the end of +it stood a great, splendid house, all built of white marble, with +a fountain in front, and peacocks strutting about on the lawn. + +Well, the Fiddler smoothed down his hair and brushed his clothes +a bit, and off he went to see what was to be seen at the grand +house at the end of the garden. + +He entered the door, and nobody said no to him. Then he passed +through one room after another, and each was finer than the one +he left behind. Many servants stood around; but they only bowed, +and never asked whence he came. At last he came to a room where a +little old man sat at a table. The table was spread with a feast +that smelled so good that it brought tears to the Fiddler's eyes +and water to his mouth, and all the plates were of pure gold. The +little old man sat alone, but another place was spread, as though +he were expecting some one. As the Fiddler came in the little old +man nodded and smiled. "Welcome!" he cried; "and have you come at +last?" + +"Yes," said the Fiddler, "I have. It was Ill-Luck that brought +me." + +"Nay," said the little old man, "do not say that. Sit down to the +table and eat; and when I have told you all, you will say it was +not Ill-Luck, but Good-Luck, that brought you." + +The Fiddler had his own mind about that; but, all the same, down +he sat at the table, and fell to with knife and fork at the good +things, as though he had not had a bite to eat for a week of +Sundays. + +"I am the richest man in the world," says the little old man, +after a while. + +"I am glad to hear it," says the Fiddler. + +"You may well be," said the old man, "for I am all alone in the +world, and without wife or child. And this morning I said to +myself that the first body that came to my house I would take for +a son--or a daughter, as the case might be. You are the first, +and so you shall live with me as long as I live, and after I am +gone everything that I have shall be yours." + +The Fiddler did nothing but stare with open eyes and mouth, as +though he would never shut either again. + +Well, the Fiddler lived with the old man for maybe three or four +days as snug and happy a life as ever a mouse passed in a green +cheese. As for the gold and silver and jewels--why, they were +as plentiful in that house as dust in a mill! Everything the +Fiddler wanted came to his hand. He lived high, and slept soft +and warm, and never knew what it was to want either more or less, +or great or small. In all of those three or four days he did +nothing but enjoy himself with might and main. + +But by-and-by he began to wonder where all the good things came +from. Then, before long, he fell to pestering the old man with +questions about the matter. + +At first the old man put him off with short answers, but the +Fiddler was a master-hand at finding out anything he wanted to +know. He dinned and drummed and worried until flesh and blood +could stand it no longer. So at last the old man said that he +would show him the treasure-house where all his wealth came from, +and at that the Fiddler was tickled beyond measure. + +The old man took a key from behind the door and led him out into +the garden. There in a corner by the wall was a great trap-door +of iron. The old man fitted the key to the lock and turned it. He +lifted the door, and then went down a steep flight of stone +steps, and the Fiddler followed close at his heels. Down below it +was as light as day, for in the centre of the room hung a great +lamp that shone with a bright light and lit up all the place as +bright as day. In the floor were set three great basins of +marble: one was nearly full of silver, one of gold, and one of +gems of all sorts. + +"All this is mine," said the old man, "and after I am gone it +shall be yours. It was left to me as I will leave it to you, and +in the meantime you may come and go as you choose and fill your +pockets whenever you wish to. But there is one thing you must not +do: you must never open that door yonder at the back of the room. +Should you do so, Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you." + +Oh no! The Fiddler would never think of doing such a thing as +opening the door. The silver and gold and jewels were enough for +him. But since the old man had given him leave, he would just +help himself to a few of the fine things. So he stuffed his +pockets full, and then he followed the old man up the steps and +out into the sunlight again. + +It took him maybe an hour to count all the money and jewels he +had brought up with him. After he had done that, he began to +wonder what was inside of the little door at the back of the +room. First he wondered; then he began to grow curious; then he +began to itch and tingle and burn as though fifty thousand +I-want-to-know nettles were sticking into him from top to toe. At +last he could stand it no longer. "I'll just go down yonder," +says he, "and peep through the key-hole; perhaps I can see what +is there without opening the door." + +So down he took the key, and off he marched to the garden. He +opened the trap-door, and went down the steep steps to the room +below. There was the door at the end of the room, but when he +came to look there was no key-hole to it. "Pshaw!" said he, "here +is a pretty state of affairs. Tut! tut! tut! Well, since I have +come so far, it would be a pity to turn back without seeing +more." So he opened the door and peeped in. + +"Pooh!" said the Fiddler, "There's nothing there, after all," and +he opened the door wide. + +Before him was a great long passageway, and at the far end of it +he could see a spark of light as though the sun were shining +there. He listened, and after a while he heard a sound like the +waves beating on the shore. "Well," says he, "this is the most +curious thing I have seen for a long time. Since I have come so +far, I may as well see the end of it." So he entered the +passageway, and closed the door behind him. He went on and on, +and the spark of light kept growing larger and larger, and +by-and-by--pop! out he came at the other end of the passage. + +Sure enough, there he stood on the sea-shore, with the waves +beating and dashing on the rocks. He stood looking and wondering +to find himself in such a place, when all of a sudden something +came with a whiz and a rush and caught him by the belt, and away +he flew like a bullet. + +By-and-by he managed to screw his head around and look up, and +there it was Ill-Luck that had him. "I thought so," said the +Fiddler; and then he gave over kicking. + +Well; on and on they flew, over hill and valley, over moor and +mountain, until they came to another garden, and there Ill-Luck +let the Fiddler drop. + +Swash! Down he fell into the top of an apple-tree, and there he +hung in the branches. + +It was the garden of a royal castle, and all had been weeping and +woe (though they were beginning now to pick up their smiles +again), and this was the reason why: + +The king of that country had died, and no one was left behind him +but the queen. But she was a prize, for not only was the kingdom +hers, but she was as young as a spring apple and as pretty as a +picture; so that there was no end of those who would have liked +to have had her, each man for his own. Even that day there were +three princes at the castle, each one wanting the queen to marry +him; and the wrangling and bickering and squabbling that was +going on was enough to deafen a body. The poor young queen was +tired to death with it all, and so she had come out into the +garden for a bit of rest; and there she sat under the shade of an +apple-tree, fanning herself and crying, when-- + +Swash! Down fell the Fiddler into the apple-tree and down fell a +dozen apples, popping and tumbling about the queen's ears. + +The queen looked up and screamed, and the Fiddler climbed down. + +"Where did you come from?" said she. + +"Oh, Ill-Luck brought me," said the Fiddler. + +"Nay," said the queen, "do not say so. You fell from heaven, for +I saw it with my eyes and heard it with my ears. I see how it is +now. You were sent hither from heaven to be my husband, and my +husband you shall be. You shall be king of this country, +half-and-half with me as queen, and shall sit on a throne beside +me." + +You can guess whether or not that was music to the Fiddler's +ears. + +So the princes were sent packing, and the Fiddler was married to +the queen, and reigned in that country. + +Well, three or four days passed, and all was as sweet and happy +as a spring day. But at the end of that time the Fiddler began to +wonder what was to be seen in the castle. The queen was very fond +of him, and was glad enough to show him all the fine things that +were to be seen; so hand in hand they went everywhere, from +garret to cellar. + +But you should have seen how splendid it all was! The Fiddler +felt more certain than ever that it was better to be a king than +to be the richest man in the world, and he was as glad as glad +could be that Ill-Luck had brought him from the rich little old +man over yonder to this. + +So he saw everything in the castle but one thing. "What is behind +that door?" said he. + +"Ah! that," said the queen, "you must not ask or wish to know. +Should you open that door Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you." + +"Pooh!" said the Fiddler, "I don't care to know, anyhow," and off +they went, hand in hand. + +Yes, that was a very fine thing to say; but before an hour had +gone by the Fiddler's head began to hum and buzz like a beehive. +"I don't believe," said he, "there would be a grain of harm in my +peeping inside that door; all the same, I will not do it. I will +just go down and peep through the key-hole." So off he went to do +as he said; but there was no key-hole to that door, either. "Why, +look!" says he, "it is just like the door at the rich man's house +over yonder; I wonder if it is the same inside as outside," and +he opened the door and peeped in. Yes; there was the long passage +and the spark of light at the far end, as though the sun were +shining. He cocked his head to one side and listened. "Yes," said +he, "I think I hear the water rushing, but I am not sure; I will +just go a little further in and listen," and so he entered and +closed the door behind him. Well, he went on and on until--pop! +there he was out at the farther end, and before he knew what he +was about he had stepped out upon the sea-shore, just as he had +done before. + +Whiz! whirr! Away flew the Fiddler like a bullet, and there was +Ill-Luck carrying him by the belt again. Away they sped, over +hill and valley, over moor and mountain, until the Fiddler's head +grew so dizzy that he had to shut his eyes. Suddenly Ill-Luck let +him drop, and down he fell--thump! bump!--on the hard ground. +Then he opened his eyes and sat up, and, lo and behold! there he +was, under the oak-tree whence he had started in the first place. +There lay his fiddle, just as he had left it. He picked it up and +ran his fingers over the strings--trum, twang! Then he got to +his feet and brushed the dirt and grass from his knees. He tucked +his fiddle under his arm, and off he stepped upon the way he had +been going at first. + +"Just to think!" said he, "I would either have been the richest +man in the world, or else I would have been a king, if it had not +been for Ill-Luck." + +And that is the way we all of us talk. + + +Dr. Faustus had sat all the while neither drinking ale nor +smoking tobacco, but with his hands folded, and in silence. "I +know not why it is," said he, "but that story of yours, my +friend, brings to my mind a story of a man whom I once knew--a +great magician in his time, and a necromancer and a chemist and +an alchemist and mathematician and a rhetorician, an astronomer, +an astrologer, and a philosopher as well." + +" Tis a long list of excellency," said old Bidpai. + +" Tis not as long as was his head, " said Dr. Faustus. + +"It would be good for us all to hear a story of such a man," said +old Bidpai. + +"Nay," said Dr. Faustus, "the story is not altogether of the man +himself, but rather of a pupil who came to learn wisdom of him." + +"And the name of your story is what?" said Fortunatus. + +"It hath no name," said Dr. Faustus. + +"Nay," said St. George, "everything must have a name." + +"It hath no name," said Dr. Faustus. "But I shall give it a name, +and it shall be-- + + +Empty Bottles + +In the old, old days when men were wiser than they are in these +times, there lived a great philosopher and magician, by name +Nicholas Flamel. Not only did he know all the actual sciences, +but the black arts as well, and magic, and what not. He conjured +demons so that when a body passed the house of a moonlight night +a body might see imps, great and small, little and big, sitting +on the chimney stacks and the ridge-pole, clattering their heels +on the tiles and chatting together. + +He could change iron and lead into silver and gold; he discovered +the elixir of life, and might have been living even to this day +had he thought it worth while to do so. + +There was a student at the university whose name was Gebhart, who +was so well acquainted with algebra and geometry that he could +tell at a single glance how many drops of water there were in a +bottle of wine. As for Latin and Greek--he could patter them +off like his A B C's. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with the +things he knew, but was for learning the things that no schools +could teach him. So one day he came knocking at Nicholas Flamel's +door. + +"Come in," said the wise man, and there Gebhart found him sitting +in the midst of his books and bottles and diagrams and dust and +chemicals and cobwebs, making strange figures upon the table with +jackstraws and a piece of chalk--for your true wise man can +squeeze more learning out of jackstraws and a piece of chalk than +we common folk can get out of all the books in the world. + +No one else was in the room but the wise man's servant, whose +name was Babette. + +"What is it you want?" said the wise man, looking at Gebhart over +the rim of his spectacles. + +"Master," said Gebhart, "I have studied day after day at the +university, and from early in the morning until late at night, so +that my head has hummed and my eyes were sore, yet I have not +learned those things that I wish most of all to know--the arts +that no one but you can teach. Will you take me as your pupil?" + +The wise man shook his head. + +"Many would like to be as wise as that," said he, "and few there +be who can become so. Now tell me. Suppose all the riches of the +world were offered to you, would you rather be wise?" + +"Yes." + +"Suppose you might have all the rank and power of a king or of an +emperor, would you rather be wise?" + +"Yes." + +"Suppose I undertook to teach you, would you give up everything +of joy and of pleasure to follow me?" + +"Yes." + +"Perhaps you are hungry," said the master. + +"Yes," said the student, "I am." + +"Then, Babette, you may bring some bread and cheese." + +It seemed to Gebhart that he had learned all that Nicholas Flamel +had to teach him. + +It was in the gray of the dawning, and the master took the pupil +by the hand and led him up the rickety stairs to the roof of the +house, where nothing was to be seen but gray sky, high roofs, and +chimney stacks from which the smoke rose straight into the still +air. + +"Now," said the master, "I have taught you nearly all of the +science that I know, and the time has come to show you the +wonderful thing that has been waiting for us from the beginning +when time was. You have given up wealth and the world and +pleasure and joy and love for the sake of wisdom. Now, then, +comes the last test--whether you can remain faithful to me to +the end; if you fail in it, all is lost that you have gained." + +After he said that he stripped his cloak away from his shoulders +and laid bare the skin. Then he took a bottle of red liquor and +began bathing his shoulder-blades with it; and as Gebhart, +squatting upon the ridge-pole, looked, he saw two little lumps +bud out upon the smooth skin, and then grow and grow and grow +until they became two great wings as white as snow. + +"Now then," said the master, "take me by the belt and grip fast, +for there is a long, long journey before us, and if you should +lose your head and let go your hold you will fall and be dashed +to pieces." + +Then he spread the two great wings, and away he flew as fast as +the wind, with Gebhart hanging to his belt. + +Over hills, over dales, over mountains, over moors he flew, with +the brown earth lying so far below that horses and cows looked +like pismires and men like fleas. + +Then, by-and-by, it was over the ocean they were crossing, with +the great ships that pitched and tossed below looking like chips +in a puddle in rainy weather. + +At last they came to a strange land, far, far away, and there the +master lit upon a sea-shore where the sand was as white as +silver. As soon as his feet touched the hard ground the great +wings were gone like a puff of smoke, and the wise man walked +like any other body. + +At the edge of the sandy beach was a great, high, naked cliff; +and the only way of reaching the top was by a flight of stone +steps, as slippery as glass, cut in the solid rock. + +The wise man led the way, and the student followed close at his +heels, every now and then slipping and stumbling so that, had it +not been for the help that the master gave him, he would have +fallen more than once and have been dashed to pieces upon the +rocks below. + +At last they reached the top, and there found themselves in a +desert, without stick of wood or blade of grass, but only gray +stones and skulls and bones bleaching in the sun. + +In the middle of the plain was a castle such as the eyes of man +never saw before, for it was built all of crystal from roof to +cellar. Around it was a high wall of steel, and in the wall were +seven gates of polished brass. + +The wise man led the way straight to the middle gate of the +seven, where there hung a horn of pure silver, which he set to +his lips. He blew a blast so loud and shrill that it made +Gebhart's ears tingle. In an instant there sounded a great rumble +and grumble like the noise of loud thunder, and the gates of +brass swung slowly back, as though of themselves. + +But when Gebhart saw what he saw within the gates his heart +crumbled away for fear, and his knees knocked together; for +there, in the very middle of the way, stood a monstrous, hideous +dragon, that blew out flames and clouds of smoke from his gaping +mouth like a chimney a-fire. + +But the wise master was as cool as smooth water; he thrust his +hand into the bosom of his jacket and drew forth a little black +box, which he flung straight into the gaping mouth. + +Snap!--the dragon swallowed the box. + +The next moment it gave a great, loud, terrible cry, and, +clapping and rattling its wings, leaped into the air and flew +away, bellowing like a bull. + +If Gebhart had been wonder-struck at seeing the outside of the +castle, he was ten thousand times more amazed to see the inside +thereof. For, as the master led the way and he followed, he +passed through four-and-twenty rooms, each one more wonderful +than the other. Everywhere was gold and silver and dazzling +jewels that glistened so brightly that one had to shut one's eyes +to their sparkle. Beside all this, there were silks and satins +and velvets and laces and crystal and ebony and sandal-wood that +smelled sweeter than musk and rose leaves. All the wealth of the +world brought together into one place could not make such riches +as Gebhart saw with his two eyes in these four-and-twenty rooms. +His heart beat fast within him. + +At last they reached a little door of solid iron, beside which +hung a sword with a blade that shone like lightning. The master +took the sword in one hand and laid the other upon the latch of +the door. Then he turned to Gebhart and spoke for the first time +since they had started upon their long journey. + +"In this room," said he, "you will see a strange thing happen, +and in a little while I shall be as one dead. As soon as that +comes to pass, go you straightway through to the room beyond, +where you will find upon a marble table a goblet of water and a +silver dagger. Touch nothing else, and look at nothing else, for +if you do all will be lost to both of us. Bring the water +straightway, and sprinkle my face with it, and when that is done +you and I will be the wisest and greatest men that ever lived, +for I will make you equal to myself in all that I know. So now +swear to do what I have just bid you, and not turn aside a hair's +breadth in the going and the coming. + +"I swear," said Gebhart, and crossed his heart. + +Then the master opened the door and entered, with Gebhart close +at his heels. + +In the centre of the room was a great red cock, with eyes that +shone like sparks of fire. So soon as he saw the master he flew +at him, screaming fearfully, and spitting out darts of fire that +blazed and sparkled like lightning. + +It was a dreadful battle between the master and the cock. Up and +down they fought, and here and there. Sometimes the student could +see the wise man whirling and striking with his sword; and then +again he would be hidden in a sheet of flame. But after a while +he made a lucky stroke, and off flew the cock's head. Then, lo +and behold! instead of a cock it was a great, hairy, black demon +that lay dead on the floor. + +But, though the master had conquered, he looked like one sorely +sick. He was just able to stagger to a couch that stood by the +wall, and there he fell and lay, without breath or motion, like +one dead, and as white as wax. + +As soon as Gebhart had gathered his wits together he remembered +what the master had said about the other room. + +The door of it was also of iron. He opened it and passed within, +and there saw two great tables or blocks of polished marble. Upon +one was the dagger and a goblet of gold brimming with water. Upon +the other lay the figure of a woman, and as Gebhart looked at her +he thought her more beautiful than any thought or dream could +picture. But her eyes were closed, and she lay like a lifeless +figure of wax. + +After Gebhart had gazed at her a long, long time, he took up the +goblet and the dagger from the table and turned towards the door. + +Then, before he left that place, he thought that he would have +just one more look at the beautiful figure. So he did, and gazed +and gazed until his heart melted away within him like a lump of +butter; and, hardly knowing what he did, he stooped and kissed +the lips. + +Instantly he did so a great humming sound filled the whole +castle, so sweet and musical that it made him tremble to listen. +Then suddenly the figure opened its eyes and looked straight at +him. + +"At last!" she said; "have you come at last?" + +"Yes," said Gebhart, "I have come." + +Then the beautiful woman arose and stepped down from the table to +the floor; and if Gebhart thought her beautiful before, he +thought her a thousand times more beautiful now that her eyes +looked into his. + +"Listen," said she. "I have been asleep for hundreds upon +hundreds of years, for so it was fated to be until he should come +who was to bring me back to life again. You are he, and now you +shall live with me forever. In this castle is the wealth gathered +by the king of the genii, and it is greater than all the riches +of the world. It and the castle likewise shall be yours. I can +transport everything into any part of the world you choose, and +can by my arts make you prince or king or emperor. Come." + +"Stop," said Gebhart. "I must first do as my master bade me." + +He led the way into the other room, the lady following him, and +so they both stood together by the couch where the wise man lay. +When the lady saw his face she cried out in a loud voice: "It is +the great master! What are you going to do?" + +"I am going to sprinkle his face with this water," said Gebhart. + +"Stop!" said she. "Listen to what I have to say. In your hand you +hold the water of life and the dagger of death. The master is not +dead, but sleeping; if you sprinkle that water upon him he will +awaken, young, handsome and more powerful than the greatest +magician that ever lived. I myself, this castle, and everything +that is in it will be his, and, instead of your becoming a prince +or a king or an emperor, he will be so in your place. That, I +say, will happen if he wakens. Now the dagger of death is the +only thing in the world that has power to kill him. You have it +in your hand. You have but to give him one stroke with it while +he sleeps, and he will never waken again, and then all will be +yours--your very own." + +Gebhart neither spoke nor moved, but stood looking down upon his +master. Then he set down the goblet very softly on the floor, +and, shutting his eyes that he might not see the blow, raised the +dagger to strike. + +"That is all your promises amount to," said Nicholas Flamel the +wise man. "After all, Babette, you need not bring the bread and +cheese, for he shall be no pupil of mine." + +Then Gebhart opened his eyes. + +There sat the wise man in the midst of his books and bottles and +diagrams and dust and chemicals and cobwebs, making strange +figures upon the table with jackstraws and a piece of chalk. + +And Babette, who had just opened the cupboard door for the loaf +of bread and the cheese, shut it again with a bang, and went back +to her spinning. + +So Gebhart had to go back again to his Greek and Latin and +algebra and geometry; for, after all, one cannot pour a gallon of +beer into a quart pot, or the wisdom of a Nicholas Flamel into +such an one as Gebhart. + +As for the name of this story, why, if some promises are not +bottles full of nothing but wind, there is little need to have a +name for anything. + + +"Since we are in the way of talking of fools," said the Fisherman +who drew the Genie out of the sea--"since we are in the way of +talking of fools, I can tell you a story of the fool of all +fools, and how, one after the other, he wasted as good gifts as a +man's ears ever heard tell of." + +"What was his name?" said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the +bramble-bush. + +"That," said the Fisherman, "I do not know." + +"And what is this story about?" asked St. George. + +" Tis," said the Fisherman, "about a hole in the ground." + +"And is that all?" said the Soldier who cheated the Devil. + +"Nay," said the Fisherman, blowing a whiff from his pipe; "there +were some things in the hole--a bowl of treasure, an earthen-ware +jar, and a pair of candlesticks." + +"And what do you call your story," said St. George. + +"Why," said the Fisherman, "for lack of a better name I will call +it-- + + +Good Gifts and a Fool's Folly. + +Give a fool heaven and earth, and all the stars, and he will make +ducks and drakes of them. + +Once upon a time there was an old man, who, by thrifty living and +long saving, had laid by a fortune great enough to buy ease and +comfort and pleasure for a lifetime. + +By-and-by he died, and the money came to his son, who was of a +different sort from the father; for, what that one had gained by +the labor of a whole year, the other spent in riotous living in +one week. + +So it came about in a little while that the young man found +himself without so much as a single penny to bless himself +withal. Then his fair-weather friends left him, and the creditors +came and seized upon his house and his household goods, and +turned him out into the cold wide world to get along as best he +might with the other fools who lived there. + +Now the young spendthrift was a strong, stout fellow, and, seeing +nothing better to do, he sold his fine clothes and bought him a +porter's basket, and went and sat in the corner of the +market-place to hire himself out to carry this or that for folk +who were better off in the world, and less foolish than he. + +There he sat, all day long, from morning until evening, but +nobody came to hire him. But at last, as dusk was settling, there +came along an old man with beard as white as snow hanging down +below his waist. He stopped in front of the foolish spendthrift, +and stood looking at him for a while; then, at last, seeming to +be satisfied, he beckoned with his finger to the young man. +"Come," said he, "I have a task for you to do, and if you are +wise, and keep a still tongue in your head, I will pay you as +never a porter was paid before." + +You may depend upon it the young man needed no second bidding to +such a matter. Up he rose, and took his basket, and followed the +old man, who led the way up one street and down another, until at +last they came to a rickety, ramshackle house in a part of the +town the young man had never been before. Here the old man +stopped and knocked at the door, which was instantly opened, as +though of itself, and then he entered with the young spendthrift +at his heels. The two passed through a dark passage-way, and +another door, and then, lo and behold! all was changed; for they +had come suddenly into such a place as the young man would not +have believed could be in such a house, had he not seen it with +his own eyes. Thousands of waxen tapers lit the place as bright +as day--a great oval room, floored with mosaic of a thousand +bright colors and strange figures, and hung with tapestries of +silks and satins and gold and silver. The ceiling was painted to +represent the sky, through which flew beautiful birds and winged +figures so life-like that no one could tell that they were only +painted, and not real. At the farther side of the room were two +richly cushioned couches, and thither the old man led the way +with the young spendthrift following, wonder-struck, and there +the two sat themselves down. Then the old man smote his hands +together, and, in answer, ten young men and ten beautiful girls +entered bearing a feast of rare fruits and wines which they +spread before them, and the young man, who had been fasting since +morning, fell to and ate as he had not eaten for many a day. + +The old man, who himself ate but little, waited patiently for the +other to end. "Now," said he, as soon as the young man could eat +no more, "you have feasted and you have drunk; it is time for us +to work." + +Thereupon he rose from the couch and led the way, the young man +following, through an arch door-way into a garden, in the centre +of which was an open space paved with white marble, and in the +centre of that again a carpet, ragged and worn, spread out upon +the smooth stones. Without saying a word, the old man seated +himself upon one end of this carpet, and motioned to the +spendthrift to seat himself with his basket at the other end; +then-- + +"Are you ready?" said the old man. + +"Yes," said the young man, "I am." + +"Then, by the horn of Jacob," said the old man, "I command thee, +O Carpet! to bear us over hill and valley, over lake and river, +to that spot whither I wish to go." Hardly had the words left his +mouth when away flew the carpet, swifter than the swiftest wind, +carrying the old man and the young spendthrift, until at last it +brought them to a rocky desert without leaf or blade of grass to +be seen far or near. Then it descended to where there was a +circle of sand as smooth as a floor. + +The old man rolled up the carpet, and then drew from a pouch that +hung at his side a box, and from the box some sticks of sandal +and spice woods, with which he built a little fire. Next he drew +from the same pouch a brazen jar, from which he poured a gray +powder upon the blaze. Instantly there leaped up a great flame of +white light and a cloud of smoke, which rose high in the air, and +there spread out until it hid everything from sight. Then the old +man began to mutter spells, and in answer the earth shook and +quaked, and a rumbling as of thunder filled the air. At last he +gave a loud cry, and instantly the earth split open, and there +the young spendthrift saw a trap-door of iron, in which was an +iron ring to lift it by. + +"Look!" said the old man. "Yonder is the task for which I have +brought you; lift for me that trap-door of iron, for it is too +heavy for me to raise, and I will pay you well." + +And it was no small task, either, for, stout and strong as the +young man was, it was all he could do to lift up the iron plate. +But at last up it swung, and down below he saw a flight of stone +steps leading into the earth. + +The old man drew from his bosom a copper lamp, which he lit at +the fire of the sandal and spice wood sticks, which had now +nearly died away. Then, leading the way, with the young man +following close at his heels, he descended the stairway that led +down below. At the bottom the two entered a great vaulted room, +carved out of the solid stone, upon the walls of which were +painted strange pictures in bright colors of kings and queens, +genii and dragons. Excepting for these painted figures, the +vaulted room was perfectly bare, only that in the centre of the +floor there stood three stone tables. Upon the first table stood +an iron candlestick with three branches; upon the second stood an +earthen jar, empty of everything but dust; upon the third stood a +brass bowl, a yard wide and a yard deep, and filled to the brim +with shining, gleaming, dazzling jewels of all sorts. + +"Now," said the old man to the spendthrift, "I will do to you as +I promised: I will pay you as never man was paid before for such +a task. Yonder upon those three stone tables are three great +treasures: choose whichever one you will, and it is yours." + +"I shall not be long in choosing," cried the young spendthrift. +"I shall choose the brass bowl of jewels." + +The old man laughed. "So be it," said he. "Fill your basket from +the bowl with all you can carry, and that will be enough, +provided you live wisely, to make you rich for as long as you +live." + +The young man needed no second bidding, but began filling his +basket with both hands, until he had in it as much as he could +carry. + +Then the old man, taking the iron candlestick and the earthen +jar, led the way up the stairway again. There the young man +lowered the iron trap-door to its place, and so soon as he had +done so the other stamped his heel upon the ground, and the earth +closed of itself as smooth and level as it had been before. + +The two sat themselves upon the carpet, the one upon the one end, +and the other upon the other. "By the horn of Jacob," said the +old man, "I command thee, O Carpet! to fly over hill and valley, +over lake and river, until thou hast brought us back whence we +came." + +Away flew the carpet, and in a little time they were back in the +garden from which they had started upon their journey; and there +they parted company. "Go thy way, young man," said the old +graybeard, "and henceforth try to live more wisely than thou hast +done heretofore. I know well who thou art, and how thou hast +lived. Shun thy evil companions, live soberly, and thou hast +enough to make thee rich for as long as thou livest." + +"Have no fear," cried the young man, joyfully. "I have learned a +bitter lesson, and henceforth I will live wisely and well." + +So, filled with good resolves, the young man went the next day to +his creditors and paid his debts; he bought back the house which +his father had left him, and there began to lead a new life as he +had promised. + +But a gray goose does not become white, nor a foolish man a wise +one. + +At first he led a life sober enough; but by little and little he +began to take up with his old-time friends again, and by-and-by +the money went flying as merrily as ever, only this time he was +twenty times richer than he had been before, and he spent his +money twenty times as fast. Every day there was feasting and +drinking going on in his house, and roaring and rioting and +dancing and singing. The wealth of a king could not keep up such +a life forever, so by the end of a year and a half the last of +the treasure was gone, and the young spendthrift was just as poor +as ever. Then once again his friends left him as they had done +before, and all that he could do was to rap his head and curse +his folly. + +At last, one morning, he plucked up courage to go to the old man +who had helped him once before, to see whether he would not help +him again. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should +open it but the old man himself. "Well," said the graybeard, +"what do you want?" + +"I want some help," said the spendthrift; and then he told him +all, and the old man listened and stroked his beard. + +"By rights," said he, when the young man had ended, "I should +leave you alone in your folly; for it is plain to see that +nothing can cure you of it. Nevertheless, as you helped me once, +and as I have more than I shall need, I will share what I have +with you. Come in and shut the door." + +He led the way, the spendthrift following, to a little room all +of bare stone, and in which were only three things--the magic +carpet, the iron candlestick, and the earthen jar. This last the +old man gave to the foolish spendthrift. "My friend," said he, +"when you chose the money and jewels that day in the cavern, you +chose the less for the greater. Here is a treasure that an +emperor might well envy you. Whatever you wish for you will find +by dipping your hand into the jar. Now go your way, and let what +was happened cure you of your folly." + +"It shall," cried the young man; "never again will I be so +foolish as I have been!" And thereupon he went his way with +another pocketful of good resolves. + +The first thing he did when he reached home was to try the virtue +of his jar. "I should like," said he, "to have a handful of just +such treasure as I brought from the cavern over yonder." He +dipped his hand into the jar, and when he brought it out again it +was brimful of shining, gleaming, sparkling jewels. You can guess +how he felt when he saw them. + +Well, this time a whole year went by, during which the young man +lived as soberly as a judge. But at the end of the twelvemonth he +was so sick of wisdom that he loathed it as one loathes bitter +drink. Then by little and little he began to take up with his old +ways again, and to call his old cronies around, until at the end +of another twelvemonth things were a hundred times worse and +wilder than ever; for now what he had he had without end. + +One day, when he and a great party of roisterers were shouting +and making merry, he brought out his earthen-ware pot to show +them the wonders of it; and to prove its virtue he gave to each +guest whatever he wanted. "What will you have?"--"A handful of +gold."--"Put your hand in and get it!"--"What will you have?"--"A +fistful of pearls."--"Put your fist in and get them!"--"What will +you have?"--"A necklace of diamonds."--"Dip into the jar and get +it." And so he went from one to another, and each and every one +got what he asked for, and such a shouting and hubbub those walls +had never heard before. + +Then the young man, holding the jar in his hands, began to dance +and to sing: "O wonderful jar! O beautiful jar! O beloved jar!" +and so on, his friends clapping their hands, and laughing and +cheering him. At last, in the height of his folly, he balanced +the earthen jar on his head, and began dancing around and around +with it to show his dexterity. + +Smash! crash! The precious jar lay in fifty pieces of the stone +floor, and the young man stood staring at the result of his folly +with bulging eyes, while his friends roared and laughed and +shouted louder than ever over his mishap. And again his treasure +and his gay life were gone. + +But what had been hard for him to do before was easier now. At +the end of a week he was back at the old man's house, rapping on +the door. This time the old man asked him never a word, but +frowned as black as thunder. + +"I know," said he, "what has happened to you. If I were wise I +should let you alone in your folly; but once more I will have +pity on you and will help you, only this time it shall be the +last." Once more he led the way to the stone room, where were the +iron candlestick and the magic carpet, and with him he took a +good stout cudgel. He stood the candlestick in the middle of the +room, and taking three candles from his pouch, thrust one into +each branch. Then he struck a light, and lit the first candle. +Instantly there appeared a little old man, clad in a long white +robe, who began dancing and spinning around and around like a +top. He lit the second candle, and a second old man appeared, and +round and round he went, spinning like his brother. He lit the +third candle, and a third old man appeared. Around and around and +around they spun and whirled, until the head spun and whirled to +look at them. Then the old graybeard gripped the cudgel in his +hand. "Are you ready?" he asked. + +"We are ready, and waiting," answered the three. Thereupon, +without another word, the graybeard fetched each of the dancers a +blow upon the head with might and main--One! two! three! crack! +crash! jingle! + +Lo and behold! Instead of the three dancing men, there lay three +great heaps of gold upon the floor, and the spendthrift stood +staring like an owl. "There," said the old man, "take what you +want, and then go your way, and trouble me no more." + +"Well," said the spendthrift, "of all the wonders that ever I +saw, this is the most wonderful! But how am I to carry my gold +away with me, seeing I did not fetch my basket?" + +"You shall have a basket," said the old man, "if only you will +trouble me no more. Just wait here a moment until I bring it to +you." + +The spendthrift was left all alone in the room; not a soul was +there but himself. He looked up, and he looked down, and +scratched his head. "Why," he cried aloud, "should I be content +to take a part when I can have the whole?" + +To do was as easy as to say. He snatched up the iron candlestick, +caught up the staff that the old man had left leaning against the +wall, and seated himself upon the magic carpet. "By the horn of +Jacob," he cried, "I command thee, O Carpet! to carry me over +hill and valley, over lake and river, to a place where the old +man can never find me." + +Hardly had the words left his mouth than away flew the carpet +through the air, carrying him along with it; away and away, +higher than the clouds and swifter than the wind. Then at last it +descended to the earth again, and when the young spendthrift +looked about him, he found himself in just such a desert place as +he and the old man had come to when they had found the treasure. +But he gave no thought to that, and hardly looked around him to +see where he was. All that he thought of was to try his hand at +the three dancers that belonged to the candlestick. He struck a +light, and lit the three candles, and instantly the three little +old men appeared for him just as they had for the old graybeard. +And around and around they spun and whirled, until the sand and +dust spun and whirled along with them. Then the young man grasped +his cudgel tightly. + +Now, he had not noticed that when the old man struck the three +dancers he had held the cudgel in his left hand, for he was not +wise enough to know that great differences come from little +matters. He griped the cudgel in his right hand, and struck the +dancers with might and main, just as the old man had done. Crack! +crack! crack! one; two; three. + +Did they change into piles of gold? Not a bit of it! Each of the +dancers drew from under his robe a cudgel as stout and stouter +than the one the young man himself held, and, without a word, +fell upon him and began to beat and drub him until the dust flew. +In vain he hopped and howled and begged for mercy, in vain he +tried to defend himself; the three never stopped until he fell to +the ground, and laid there panting and sighing and groaning; and +then they left and flew back with the iron candlestick and the +magic carpet to the old man again. At last, after a great while, +the young spendthrift sat up, rubbing the sore places; but when +he looked around not a sign was to be seen of anything but the +stony desert, without a house or a man in sight. + +Perhaps, after a long time, he found his way home again, and +perhaps the drubbing he had had taught him wisdom; the first is a +likely enough thing to happen, but as for the second, it would +need three strong men to tell it to me a great many times before +I would believe it. + +You may smile at this story if you like, but, all the same, as +certainly as there is meat in an egg-shell, so is there truth in +this nonsense. For, "Give a fool heaven and earth," say I, "and +all the stars, and he will make ducks and drakes of them." + + +Fortunatus lifted his canican to his lips and took a long, hearty +draught of ale. "Methinks," said he, "that all your stories have +a twang of the same sort about them. You all of you, except my +friend the Soldier here, play the same tune upon a different +fiddle. Nobody comes to any good." + +St. George drew a long whiff of his pipe, and then puffed out a +cloud of smoke as big as his head. "Perhaps," said he to +Fortunatus, "you know of a story which turns out differently. If +you do, let us have it, for it is your turn now." + +"Very well," said Fortunatus, "I will tell you a story that turns +out as it should, where the lad marries a beautiful princess and +becomes a king into the bargain." + +"And what is your story about?" said the Lad who fiddled for Jew +in the bramble-bush." + +"It is," said Fortunatus, "about-- + + +The Good of a Few Words + +There was one Beppo the Wise and another Beppo the Foolish. + +The wise one was the father of the foolish one. + +Beppo the Wise was called Beppo the Wise because he had laid up a +great treasure after a long life of hard work. + +Beppo the Foolish was called Beppo the Foolish because he spent +in five years after his father was gone from this world of sorrow +all that the old man had laid together in his long life of toil. +But during that time Beppo lived as a prince, and the life was +never seen in that town before or since--feasting and drinking +and junketing and merrymaking. He had friends by the dozen and by +the scores, and the fame of his doings went throughout all the +land. + +While his money lasted he was called Beppo the Generous. It was +only after it was all gone that they called him Beppo the +Foolish. + +So by-and-by the money was spent, and there was an end of it. + +Yes; there was an end of it; and where were all of Beppo's +fair-weather friends? Gone like the wild-geese in frosty weather. + +"Don't you remember how I gave you a bagful of gold?" says Beppo +the Foolish. "Won't you remember me now in my time of need?" + +But the fair-weather friend only laughed in his face. + +"Don't you remember how I gave you a fine gold chain with a +diamond pendant?" says Beppo to another. "And won't you lend me a +little money to help me over to-day?" + +But the summer-goose friend only grinned. + +"But what shall I do to keep body and soul together?" says Beppo +to a third. + +The man was a wit. "Go to a shoemaker," said he, "and let him +stitch the soul fast"; and that was all the good Beppo had of +him. + +Then poor Beppo saw that there was not place for him in that +town, and so off he went to seek his fortune else whither, for he +saw that there was nothing to be gained in that place. + +So he journeyed on for a week and a day, and then towards evening +he came to the king's town. + +There it stood on the hill beside the river--the grandest city +in the kingdom. There were orchards and plantations of trees +along the banks of the stream, and gardens and summer-houses and +pavilions. There were white houses and red roofs and blue skies. +Up above on the hill were olive orchards and fields, and then +blue sky again. + +Beppo went into the town, gazing about him with admiration. +Houses, palaces, gardens. He had never seen the like. Stores and +shops full of cloths of velvet and silk and satin; goldsmiths, +silversmiths, jewellers--as though all the riches of the world +had been emptied into the city. Crowds of people--lords, +noblemen, courtiers, rich merchants, and tradesmen. + +Beppo stared about at the fine sights and everybody stared at +Beppo, for his shoes were dusty, his clothes were travel-stained, +and a razor had not touched his face for a week. + +The king of that country was walking in the garden under the +shade of the trees, and the sunlight slanted down upon him, and +sparkled upon the jewels around his neck and on his fingers. Two +dogs walked alongside of him, and a whole crowd of lords and +nobles and courtiers came behind him; first of all the +prime-minister with his long staff. + +But for all this fine show this king was not really the king. +When the old king died he left a daughter, and she should have +been queen if she had had her own rights. But this king, who was +her uncle, had stepped in before her, and so the poor princess +was pushed aside and was nobody at all but a princess, the king's +niece. + +She stood on the terrace with her old nurse, while the king +walked in the garden below. + +It had been seven years now since the old king had died, and in +that time she had grown up into a beautiful young woman, as wise +as she was beautiful, and as good as she was wise. Few people +ever saw her, but everybody talked about her in whispers and +praised her beauty and goodness, saying that, if the right were +done, she would have her own and be queen. + +Sometimes the king heard of this (for a king hears everything), +and he grew to hate the princess as a man hates bitter drink. + +The princess looked down from the terrace, and there she saw +Beppo walking along the street, and his shoes were dusty and his +clothes were travel-stained, and a razor had not touched his face +for a week. + +"Look at yonder poor man," she said to her nurse; "yet if I were +his wife he would be greater really than my uncle, the king." + +The king, walking below in the garden, heard what she said. + +"Say you so!" he called out. "Then we shall try if what you say +is true"; and he turned away, shaking with anger. + +"Alas!" said the princess, "now, indeed, have I ruined myself for +good and all." + +Beppo was walking along the street looking about him hither and +thither, and thinking how fine it all was. He had no more thought +that the king and the princess were talking about him than the +man in the moon. + +Suddenly some one clapped him upon the shoulder. + +Beppo turned around. + +There stood a great tall man dressed all in black. + +"You must come with me," said he. + +"What do you want with me?" said Beppo. + +"That you shall see for yourself," said the man. + +"Very well," said Beppo; "I'd as lief go along with you as +anywhere else." + +So he turned and followed the man whither he led. + +They went along first one street and then another, and by-and-by +they came to the river, and there was a long wall with a gate in +it. The tall man in black knocked upon the gate, and some one +opened it from within. The man in black entered, and Beppo +followed at his heels, wondering where he was going. + +He was in a garden. There were fruit trees and flowering shrubs +and long marble walks, and away in the distance a great grand +palace of white marble that shone red as fire in the light of the +setting sun, but there was not a soul to be seen anywhere. + +The tall man in black led the way up the long marble walk, past +the fountains and fruit trees and beds of roses, until he had +come to the palace. + +Beppo wondered whether he were dreaming. + +The tall man in black led the way into the palace, but still +there was not a soul to be seen. + +Beppo gazed about him in wonder. There were floors of colored +marble, and ceilings of blue and gold, and columns of carved +marble, and hangings of silk and velvet and silver. + +Suddenly the tall man opened a little door that led into a dark +passage, and Beppo followed him. They went along the passage, and +then the man opened another door. + +Then Beppo found himself in a great vaulted room. There at one +end of the room were three souls. A man sat on the throne, and he +was the king, for he had a crown on his head and a long robe over +his shoulders. Beside him stood a priest, and in front of him +stood a beautiful young woman as white as wax and as still as +death. + +Beppo wondered whether he were awake. + +"Come hither," said the king, in a harsh voice, and Beppo came +forward and kneeled before him. "Take this young woman by the +hand," said the king. + +Beppo did as he was bidden. + +Her hand was as cold as ice. + +Then, before Beppo knew what was happening, he found that he was +being married. + +It was the princess. + +"Now," said the king to her when the priest had ended, and he +frowned until his brows were as black as thunder--"now you are +married; tell me, is your husband greater than I?" + +But the princess said never a word, only the tears ran one after +another down her white face. The king sat staring at her and +frowning. + +Suddenly some one tapped Beppo upon the shoulder. It was the tall +man in black. + +Beppo knew that he was to follow him again. This time the +princess was to go along. The tall man in black led the way, and +Beppo and the princess followed along the secret passage and up +and down the stairs until at last they came out into the garden +again. + +And now the evening was beginning to fall. + +The man led the way down the garden to the river, and still Beppo +and the princess followed him. + +By-and-by they came to the river-side and to a flight of steps, +and there was a little frail boat without sail or oars. + +The tall man in black beckoned towards the boat, and Beppo knew +that he and princess were to enter it. + +As soon as Beppo had helped the princess into the boat the tall +man thrust it out into the stream with his foot, and the boat +drifted away from the shore and out into the river, and then +around and around. Then it floated off down the stream. + +It floated on and on, and the sun set and the moon rose. + +Beppo looked at the princess, and he thought he had never seen +any one so beautiful in all his life. It was all like a dream, +and he hoped he might never waken. But the princess sat there +weeping and weeping, and said nothing. + +The night fell darker and darker, but still Beppo sat looking at +the princess. Her face was as white as silver in the moonlight. +The smell of the flower-gardens came across the river. The boat +floated on and on until by-and-by it drifted to the shore again +and among the river reeds, and there it stopped, and Beppo +carried the princess ashore. + +"Listen," said the princess. "Do you know who I am?" + +"No," said Beppo, "I do not." + +"I am the princess," said she, "the king's niece; and by rights I +should be queen of this land." + +Beppo could not believe his ears. + +"It is true that I am married to you," said she, "but never shall +you be my husband until you are king." + +"King!" said Beppo; "how can I be king?" + +"You shall be king," said the princess. + +"But the king is everything," said Beppo, "and I am nothing at +all." + +"Great things come from small beginnings," said the princess; "a +big tree from a little seed." + +Some little distance away from the river was the twinkle of a +light, and thither Beppo led the princess. When the two came to +it, they found it was a little hut, for there were fish-nets +hanging outside in the moonlight. + +Beppo knocked. + +An old woman opened the door. She stared and stared, as well she +might, to see the fine lady in silks and satins with a gold ring +upon her finger, and nobody with her but one who looked like a +poor beggar-man. + +"Who are you and what do you want?" said the old woman. + +"Who we are," said the princess, "does not matter, except that we +are honest folk in trouble. What we want is shelter for the night +and food to eat, and that we will pay for." + +"Shelter I can give you," said the old woman, "but little else +but a crust of bread and a cup of water. One time there was +enough and plenty in the house; but now, since my husband has +gone and I am left all alone, it is little I have to eat and +drink. But such as I have to give you are welcome to." + +Then Beppo and the princess went into the house. + +The next morning the princess called Beppo to her. "Here," said +she, "is a ring and a letter. Go you into the town and inquire +for Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will know what to do." + +Beppo took the ring and the letter and started off to town, and +it was not hard for him to find the man he sought, for every one +knew of Sebastian the Goldsmith. He was an old man, with a great +white beard and a forehead like the dome of a temple. He looked +at Beppo from head to foot with eyes as bright as those of a +snake; then he took the ring and the letter. As soon as he saw +the ring he raised it to his lips and kissed it; then he kissed +the letter also; then he opened it and read it. + +He turned to Beppo and bowed very low. "My lord," said he, "I +will do as I am commanded. Will you be pleased to follow me?" + +He led the way into an inner room. There were soft rugs upon the +floor, and around the walls were tapestries. There were couches +and silken cushions. Beppo wondered what it all meant. + +Sebastian the Goldsmith clapped his hands together. A door +opened, and there came three black slaves into the room. The +Goldsmith spoke to them in a strange language, and the chief of +the three black slaves bowed in reply. Then he and the others led +Beppo into another room where there was a marble bath of tepid +water. They bathed him and rubbed him with soft linen towels; +then they shaved the beard from his cheeks and chin and trimmed +his hair; then they clothed him in fine linen and a plain suit of +gray and Beppo looked like a new man. + +Then when all this was done the chief of the blacks conducted +Beppo back to Sebastian the Goldsmith. There was a fine feast +spread, with fruit and wine. Beppo sat down to it, and Sebastian +the Goldsmith stood and served him with a napkin over his arm. + +Then Beppo was to return to the princess again. + +A milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith's door, a +servant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away. + +When he returned to the fisherman's hut the princess was waiting +for him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of +milk, and some sweet cakes. + +"Listen," said she; "to-day the king hunts in the forest over +yonder. Go you thither with this. The king will be hot and +thirsty, and weary with the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He +will eat and drink, and in gratitude he will offer you something +in return. Take nothing of him, but ask him this: that he allow +you once every three days to come to the palace, and that he +whisper these words in your ear so that no one else may hear +them--"A word, a word, only a few words; spoken ill, they are +ill; spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.'" + +"Why should I do that?" said Beppo. + +"You will see," said the princess. + +Beppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a +princess and must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at +her bidding. + +It was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the +forest, and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the +men and the winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited +there for maybe an hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were +nearer and sometimes the sounds were farther away. Presently they +came nearer and nearer, and then all of a sudden the king came +riding out of the forest, the hounds hunting hither and thither, +and the lords and nobles and courtiers following him. + +The king's face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his +forehead was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered +the tray. The king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank +the milk and ate three of the cakes. + +"Who was it ordered you to bring this to me?" said he to Beppo. + +"No one," said Beppo; "I brought it myself." + +The king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him. + +"Thou hast given me pleasure and comfort," said he; "ask what +thou wilt in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it." + +"I will have only this," said Beppo: "that your majesty will +allow me once every three days to come to the palace, and that +then you will take me aside and will whisper these words into my +ear so that no one else may hear them--A word, a word, only a +few words; spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are more +precious than gold and jewels.'" + +The king burst out laughing. "Why," said he, "what is this +foolish thing you ask of me? If you had asked for a hundred +pieces of gold you should have had them. Think better, friend, +and ask something of more worth than this foolish thing." + +"Please your majesty," said Beppo, "I ask nothing else." + +The king laughed again. "Then you shall have what you ask," said +he, and he rode away. + +The next morning the princess said to Beppo: "This day you shall +go and claim the king's promise of him. Take this ring and this +letter again to Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will fit you with +clothes in which to appear before the king. Then go to the king's +palace that he may whisper those words he has to say into your +ear." + +Once more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the +Goldsmith kissed the princess's ring and letter, and read what +she had written. + +Again the black slaves took Beppo to the bath, only this time +they clad him in a fine suit of velvet and hung a gold chain +around his neck. After that Sebastian the Goldsmith again served +a feast to Beppo, and waited upon him while he ate and drank. + +In front of the house a noble horse, as black as jet, was waiting +to carry Beppo to the palace, and two servants dressed in velvet +livery were waiting to attend him. + +So Beppo rode away, and many people stopped to look at him. + +He came to the palace, and the king was giving audience. Beppo +went into the great audience-chamber. It was full of +people--lords and nobles and rich merchants and lawyers. + +Beppo did not know how to come to the king, so he stood there and +waited and waited. The people looked at him and whispered to one +another: "Who is that young man?" "Whence comes he?" Then one +said: "Is not he the young man who served the king with cakes and +milk in the forest yesterday?" + +Beppo stood there gazing at the king. By-and-by the king suddenly +looked up and caught sight of him. He gazed at Beppo for a moment +or two and then he knew him. Then he smiled and beckoned to him. + +"Aye, my foolish benefactor," said he, aloud, "is it thou, and +art thou come so soon to redeem thy promise? Very well; come +hither, I have something to say to thee." + +Beppo came forward, and everybody stared. He came close to the +king, and the king laid his hand upon his shoulder. Then he +leaned over to Beppo and whispered in his ear: "A word, a word, +only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be +spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels." Then +he laughed. "Is that what you would have me say?" said he. + +"Yes, majesty," said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew. + +But, lo and behold, what a change! + +Suddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The +crowd drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as +he went along. + +"Did you not see the king whisper to him," said one. "What could +it be that the king said?" said another. "This must be a new +favorite," said a third. + +He had come into the palace Beppo the Foolish; he went forth +Beppo the Great Man, and all because of a few words the king had +whispered in his ear. + +Three days passed, and then Beppo went again to the Goldsmith's +with the ring and a letter from the princess. This time Sebastian +the Goldsmith fitted him with a suit of splendid plum-colored +silk and gave him a dappled horse, and again Beppo and his two +attendants rode away to the palace. And this time every one knew +him, and as he went up the steps into the palace all present +bowed to him. The king saw him as soon as he appeared, and when +he caught sight of him he burst out laughing. + +"Aye," said he, "I was looking for thee today, and wondering how +soon thou wouldst come. Come hither till I whisper something in +thine ear." + +Then all the lords and nobles and courtiers and ministers drew +back, and Beppo went up to the king. + +The king laughed and laughed. He laid his arm over Beppo's +shoulder, and again he whispered in his ear: "A word, a word, +only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be +spoken well, they are more precious than gold and jewels." + +Then he released Beppo, and Beppo withdrew. + +So it continued for three months. Every three days Beppo went to +the palace, and the king whispered the words in his ear. Beppo +said nothing to any one, and always went away as soon as the king +had whispered to him. + +Then at last the princess said to him: "Now the time is ripe for +doing. Listen! To-day when you go to the palace fix your eyes, +when the king speaks to you, upon the prime-minister, and shake +your head. The prime-minister will ask you what the king said. +Say nothing to him but this: Alas, my poor friend!'" + +It was all just as the princess had said. + +The king was walking in the garden, with his courtiers and +ministers about him. Beppo came to him, and the king, as he +always did, laid his hand upon Beppo's shoulder and whispered in +his ear: "A word, a word, only a few words; if they be spoken +ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well, they are more precious +than gold and jewels." + +While the king was saying these words to Beppo, Beppo was looking +fixedly at the prime-minister. While he did so he shook his head +three times. Then he bowed low and walked away. + +He had not gone twenty paces before some one tapped him upon the +arm; it was the prime-minister. Beppo gazed fixedly at him. +"Alas, my poor friend!" said he. + +The prime-minister turned pale. "It was, then, as I thought," +said he. "The king spoke about me. Will you not tell me what he +said?" + +Beppo shook his head. "Alas, my poor friend!" said he, and then +he walked on. + +The prime-minister still followed him. + +"My lord," said he, "I have been aware that his majesty has not +been the same to me for more than a week past. If it was about +the princess, pray tell his majesty that I meant nothing ill when +I spoke of her to him." + +Beppo shook his head. "Alas, my poor friend!" he said. + +The prime-minister's lips trembled. "My lord," said he, "I have +always had the kindest regard for you, and if there is anything +in my power that I can do for you I hope you will command me. I +know how much you are in his majesty's confidence. Will you not +speak a few words to set the matter straight?" + +Beppo again shook his head. "Alas, my poor friend!" said he, and +then he got upon his horse and rode away. + +Three days passed. + +"This morning," said the princess, "when you go to the king, look +at the prime-minister when the king speaks to you, and smile. The +prime-minister will again speak to you, and this time say, It is +well, and I wish you joy.' Take what he gives you, for it will be +of use." + +Again all happened just as the princess said. + +Beppo came to the palace, and again the king whispered in his +ear. As he did so Beppo looked at the prime-minister and smiled, +and then he withdrew. + +The prime-minister followed him. He trembled. "It is well," said +Beppo, "and I wish you joy." + +The prime-minister grasped his hand and wrung it. "My lord," said +he, "how can I express my gratitude! The palace of my son that +stands by the river--I would that you would use it for your +own, if I may be so bold as to offer it to you." + +"I will," said Beppo, "use it as my own." + +The prime-minister wrung his hand again, and then Beppo rode +away. + +The next time that Beppo spoke to the king, at the princess's +bidding, he looked at the lord-treasurer, and said, as he had +said to the prime-minister, "Alas, my poor friend!" + +When he rode away he left the lord-treasurer as white as ashes to +the very lips. + +Three days passed, and then, while the king talked to Beppo, +Beppo looked at the lord-treasurer and smiled. + +The lord-treasurer followed him to the door of the palace. + +"It is well, and I wish you joy," said Beppo. + +The treasurer offered him a fortune. + +The next time it was the same with the captain of the guards. +First Beppo pitied him, and then he wished him joy. + +"My lord," said the captain of the guards, "my services are yours +at any time." + +Then the same thing happened to the governor of the city, then to +this lord, and then to that lord. + +Beppo grew rich and powerful beyond measure. + +Then one day the princess said: "Now we will go into the town, +and to the palace of the prime-minister's son, which the +prime-minister gave you, for the time is ripe for the end." + +In a few days all the court knew that Beppo was living like a +prince in the prime-minister's palace. The king began to wonder +what it all meant, and how all such good-fortune had come to +Beppo. He had grown very tired of always speaking to Beppo the +same words. + +But Beppo was now great among the great; all the world paid court +to him, and bowed down to him, almost as they did before the +king. + +"Now," said the princess, "the time has come to strike. Bid all +the councillors, and all the lords, and all the nobles to meet +here three days hence, for it is now or never that you shall win +all and become king." + +Beppo did as she bade. He asked all of the great people of the +kingdom to come to him, and they came. When they were all +gathered together at Beppo's house, they found two thrones set as +though for a king and a queen, but there was no sign of Beppo, +and everybody wondered what it all meant. + +Suddenly the door opened and Beppo came into the room, leading by +the hand a lady covered with a veil from head to foot. + +Everybody stopped speaking and stood staring while Beppo led the +veiled lady up to one of the thrones. He seated himself upon the +other. + +The lady stood up and dropped her veil, and then every one knew +her. + +It was the princess. "Do you not know me?" said she; "I am the +queen, and this is my husband. He is your king." + +All stood silent for a moment, and then a great shout went up. +"Long live the queen! Long live the king!" + +The princess turned to the captain of the guards. "You have +offered your services to my husband," said she; "his commands and +my commands are that you march to the palace and cast out him who +hath no right there." + +"It shall be done," said the captain of the guards. + +All the troops were up in arms, and the town was full of tumult +and confusion. About midnight they brought the false king before +King Beppo and the queen. The false king stood there trembling +like a leaf. The queen stood gazing at him steadily. "Behold, +this is the husband that thou gavest me," said she. "It is as I +said; he is greater than thou. For, lo, he is king! What art +thou?" + +The false king was banished out of the country, and the poor +fisherman's wife, who had entertained the princess for all this +time, came to live at the palace, where all was joy and +happiness. + + +"Friend," said St. George, "I like your story. Ne'th'less, tis +like a strolling pedler, in that it carries a great deal of ills +to begin with, to get rid of them all before it gets to the end +of +its journey. However, tis as you say--it ends with everybody +merry and feasting, and so I like it. But now methinks our little +friend yonder is big with a story of his own"; and he pointed, as +he spoke, with the stem of his pipe to a little man whom I knew +was the brave Tailor who had killed seven flies at a blow, for he +still had around his waist the belt with the legend that he +himself had worked upon it. + +"Aye," piped the Tailor in a keen, high voice, "tis true I have +a story inside of me. Tis about another tailor who had a great, +big, black, ugly demon to wait upon him and to sew his clothes +for him." + +"And the name of that story, my friend," said the Soldier who had +cheated the Devil, "is what?" + +"It hath no name," piped the little Tailor, "but I will give it +one, and it shall be-- + + +Woman's Wit. + +When man's strength fails, woman's wit prevails. + +In the days when the great and wise King Solomon lived and ruled, +evil spirits and demons were as plentiful in the world as wasps +in summer. + +So King Solomon, who was so wise and knew so many potent spells +that he had power over evil such as no man has had before or +since, set himself to work to put those enemies of mankind out of +the way. Some he conjured into bottles, and sank into the depths +of the sea; some he buried in the earth; some he destroyed +altogether, as one burns hair in a candle-flame. + +Now, one pleasant day when King Solomon was walking in his garden +with his hands behind his back, and his thoughts busy as bees +with this or that, he came face to face with a Demon, who was a +prince of his kind. "Ho, little man!" cried the evil spirit, in a +loud voice, "art not thou the wise King Solomon who conjures my +brethren into brass chests and glass bottles? Come, try a fall at +wrestling with me, and whoever conquers shall be master over the +other for all time. What do you say to such an offer as that?" + +"I say aye!" said King Solomon, and, without another word, he +stripped off his royal robes and stood bare breasted, man to man +with the other. + +The world never saw the like of that wrestling match betwixt the +king and the Demon, for they struggled and strove together from +the seventh hour in the morning to the sunset in the evening, and +during that time the sky was clouded over as black as night, and +the lightning forked and shot, and the thunder roared and +bellowed, and the earth shook and quaked. + +But at last the king gave the enemy an under twist, and flung him +down on the earth so hard that the apples fell from the trees; +and then, panting and straining, he held the evil one down, knee +on neck. Thereupon the sky presently cleared again, and all was +as pleasant as a spring day. + +King Solomon bound the Demon with spells, and made him serve him +for seven years. First, he had him build a splendid palace, the +like of which was not to be seen within the bounds of the seven +rivers; then he made him set around the palace a garden, such as +I for one wish I may see some time or other. Then, when the Demon +had done all that the king wished, the king conjured him into a +bottle, corked it tightly, and set the royal seal on the stopper. +Then he took the bottle a thousand miles away into the +wilderness, and, when no man was looking, buried it in the +ground, and this is the way the story begins. + +Well, the years came and the years went, and the world grew older +and older, and kept changing (as all things do but two), so that +by-and-by the wilderness where King Solomon had hid the bottle +became a great town, with people coming and going, and all as +busy as bees about their own business and other folks' affairs. + +Among these towns-people was a little Tailor, who made clothes +for many a worse man to wear, and who lived all alone in a little +house with no one to darn his stockings for him, and no one to +meddle with his coming and going, for he was a bachelor. + +The little Tailor was a thrifty soul, and by hook and crook had +laid by enough money to fill a small pot, and then he had to +bethink himself of some safe place to hide it. So one night he +took a spade and a lamp and went out in the garden to bury his +money. He drove his spade into the ground--and click! He struck +something hard that rang under his foot with a sound as of iron. +"Hello!" said he, "what have we here?" and if he had known as +much as you and I do, he would have filled in the earth, and +tramped it down, and have left that plate of broth for somebody +else to burn his mouth with. + +As it was, he scraped away the soil, and then he found a box of +adamant, with a ring in the lid to lift it by. The Tailor +clutched the ring and bent his back, and up came the box with the +damp earth sticking to it. He cleaned the mould away, and there +he saw, written in red letters, these words: + +"Open not." + +You may be sure that after he had read these words he was not +long in breaking open the lid of the box with his spade. + +Inside the first box he found a second, and upon it the same +words: + +"Open not." + +Within the second box was another, and within that still another, +until there were seven in all, and on each was written the same +words: + +"Open not." + +Inside the seventh box was a roll of linen, and inside that a +bottle filled with nothing but blue smoke; and I wish that bottle +had burned the Tailor's fingers when he touched it. + +"And is this all?" said the little Tailor, turning the bottle +upside down and shaking it, and peeping at it by the light of the +lamp. "Well, since I have gone so far I might as well open it, as +I have already opened the seven boxes." Thereupon he broke the +seal that stoppered it. + +Pop! out flew the cork, and--puff! out came the smoke; not all +at once, but in a long thread that rose up as high as the stars, +and then spread until it hid their light. + +The Tailor stared and goggled and gaped to see so much smoke come +out of such a little bottle, and, as he goggled and stared, the +smoke began to gather together again, thicker and thicker, and +darker and darker, until it was as black as ink. Then out from it +there stepped one with eyes that shone like sparks of fire, and +who had a countenance so terrible that the Tailor's skin quivered +and shrivelled, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth at +the sight of it. + +"Who are thou?" said the terrible being, in a voice that made the +very marrow of the poor Tailor's bones turn soft from terror. + +"If you please, sir," said he, "I am only a little tailor." + +The evil being lifted up both hands and eyes. "How wonderful," he +cried, "that one little tailor can undo in a moment that which +took the wise Solomon a whole day to accomplish, and in the doing +of which he wellnigh broke the sinews of his heart!" Then, +turning to the Tailor, who stood trembling like a rabbit, "Hark +thee!" said he. "For two thousand years I lay there in that +bottle, and no one came nigh to aid me. Thou hast liberated me, +and thou shalt not go unrewarded. Every morning at the seventh +hour I will come to thee, and I will perform for thee whatever +task thou mayst command me. But there is one condition attached +to the agreement, and woe be to thee if that condition is broken. +If any morning I should come to thee, and thou hast no task for +me to do, I shall wring thy neck as thou mightest wring the neck +of a sparrow." Thereupon he was gone in an instant, leaving the +little Tailor half dead with terror. + +Now it happened that the prime-minister of that country had left +an order with the Tailor for a suit of clothes, so the next +morning, when the Demon came, the little man set him to work on +the bench, with his legs tucked up like a journey-man tailor. "I +want," said he, "such and such a suit of clothes." + +"You shall have them," said the Demon; and thereupon he began +snipping in the air, and cutting most wonderful patterns of silks +and satins out of nothing at all, and the little Tailor sat and +gaped and stared. Then the Demon began to drive the needle like a +spark of fire--the like was never seen in all the seven kingdoms, +for the clothes seemed to make themselves. + +At last, at the end of a little while, the Demon stood up and +brushed his hands. "They are done," said he, and thereupon he +instantly vanished. But the Tailor cared little for that, for +upon the bench there lay such a suit of clothes of silk and satin +stuff, sewed with threads of gold and silver and set with jewels, +as the eyes of man never saw before; and the Tailor packed them +up and marched off with them himself to the prime-minister. + +The prime-minister wore the clothes to court that very day, and +before evening they were the talk of the town. All the world ran +to the Tailor and ordered clothes of him, and his fortune was +made. Every day the Demon created new suits of clothes out of +nothing at all, so that the Tailor grew as rich as a Jew, and +held his head up in the world. + +As time went along he laid heavier and heavier tasks upon the +Demon's back, and demanded of him more and more; but all the +while the Demon kept his own counsel, and said never a word. + +One morning, as the Tailor sat in his shop window taking the +world easy--for he had little or nothing to do now--he heard +a great hubbub in the street below, and when he looked down he +saw that it was the king's daughter passing by. It was the first +time that the Tailor had seen her, and when he saw her his heart +stood still within him, and then began fluttering like a little +bird, for one so beautiful was not to be met with in the four +corners of the world. Then she was gone. + +All that day the little Tailor could do nothing but sit and think +of the princess, and the next morning when the Demon came he was +thinking of her still. + +"What hast thou for me to do to-day?" said the Demon, as he +always said of a morning. + +The little Tailor was waiting for the question. + +"I would like you," said he, "to send to the king's palace, and +to ask him to let me have his daughter for my wife." + +"Thou shalt have thy desire," said the Demon. Thereupon he smote +his hands together like a clap of thunder, and instantly the +walls of the room clove asunder, and there came out +four-and-twenty handsome youths, clad in cloth of gold and +silver. After these four-and-twenty there came another one who +was the chief of them all, and before whom, splendid as they +were, the four-and-twenty paled like stars in daylight. "Go to +the king's palace," said the Demon to that one, "and deliver this +message: The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One +Greater than a King asks for his daughter to wife." + +"To hear is to obey," said the other, and bowed his forehead to +the earth. + +Never was there such a hubbub in the town as when those +five-and-twenty, in their clothes of silver and gold, rode +through the streets to the king's palace. As they came near, the +gates of the palace flew open before them, and the king himself +came out to meet them. The leader of the five-and-twenty leaped +from his horse, and, kissing the ground before the king, +delivered his message: "The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of +Masters, and One Greater than a King asks for thy daughter to +wife." + +When the king heard what the messenger said, he thought and +pondered a long time. At last he said, "If he who sent you is the +Master of Masters, and greater than a king, let him send me an +asking gift such as no king could send." + +"It shall be as you desire," said the messenger, and thereupon +the five-and-twenty rode away as they had come, followed by +crowds of people. + +The next morning when the Demon came the tailor was ready and +waiting for him. "What hast thou for me to do to-day?" said the +Evil One. + +"I want," said the tailor, "a gift to send to the king such as no +other king could send him." + +"Thou shalt have thy desire," said the Demon. Thereupon he smote +his hands together, and summoned, not five-and-twenty young men, +but fifty youths, all clad in clothes more splendid than the +others. + +All of the fifty sat upon coal-black horses, with saddles of +silver and housings of silk and velvet embroidered with gold. In +the midst of all the five-and-seventy there rode a youth in cloth +of silver embroidered in pearls. In his hand he bore something +wrapped in a white napkin, and that was the present for the king +such as no other king could give. So said the Demon: "Take it to +the royal palace, and tell his majesty that it is from the Tailor +of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King." + +"To hear is to obey," said the young man, and then they all rode +away. + +When they came to the palace the gates flew open before them, and +the king came out to meet them. The young man who bore the +present dismounted and prostrated himself in the dust, and, when +the king bade him arise, he unwrapped the napkin, and gave to the +king a goblet made of one single ruby, and filled to the brim +with pieces of gold. Moreover, the cup was of such a kind that +whenever it was emptied of its money it instantly became full +again. "The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One +Greater than a King sends your majesty this goblet, and bids me, +his ambassador, to ask for your daughter," said the young man. + +When the king saw what had been sent him he was filled with +amazement. "Surely," said he to himself, "there can be no end to +the power of one who can give such a gift as this." Then to the +messenger, "Tell your master that he shall have my daughter for +his wife if he will build over yonder a palace such as no man +ever saw or no king ever lived in before." + +"It shall be done," said the young man, and then they all went +away, as the others had done the day before. + +The next morning when the Demon appeared the Tailor was ready for +him. "Build me," said he, "such and such a palace in such and +such a place." + +And the Demon said, "It shall be done." He smote his hands +together, and instantly there came a cloud of mist that covered +and hid the spot where the palace was to be built. Out from the +cloud there came such a banging and hammering and clapping and +clattering as the people of that town never heard before. Then +when evening had come the cloud arose, and there, where the king +had pointed out, stood a splendid palace as white as snow, with +roofs and domes of gold and silver. As the king stood looking and +wondering at this sight, there came five hundred young men +riding, and one in the midst of all who wore a golden crown on +his head, and upon his body a long robe stiff with diamonds and +pearls. "We come," said he, "from the Tailor of Tailors, and +Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King, to ask you to let +him have your daughter for his wife." + +"Tell him to come!" cried the king, in admiration, "for the +princess is his." + +The next morning when the Demon came he found the Tailor dancing +and shouting for joy. "The princess is mine!" he cried, "so make +me ready for her." + +"It shall be done," said the Demon, and thereupon he began to +make the Tailor ready for his wedding. He brought him to a marble +bath of water, in which he washed away all that was coarse and +ugly, and from which the little man came forth as beautiful as +the sun. Then the Demon clad him in the finest linen, and covered +him with clothes such as even the emperor of India never wore. +Then he smote his hands together, and the wall of the tailor-shop +opened as it had done twice before, and there came forth forty +slaves clad in crimson, and bearing bowls full of money in their +hands. After them came two leading a horse as white as snow, with +a saddle of gold studded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds +and sapphires. After came a body-guard of twenty warriors clad in +gold armor. Then the Tailor mounted his horse and rode away to +the king's palace, and as he rode the slaves scattered the money +amongst the crowd, who scrambled for it and cheered the Tailor to +the skies. + +That night the princess and the Tailor were married, and all the +town was lit with bonfires and fireworks. The two rode away in +the midst of a great crowd of nobles and courtiers to the palace +which the Demon had built for the Tailor; and, as the princess +gazed upon him, she thought that she had never beheld so noble +and handsome a man as her husband. So she and the Tailor were the +happiest couple in the world. + +But the next morning the Demon appeared as he had appeared ever +since the Tailor had let him out of the bottle, only now he +grinned till his teeth shone and his face turned black. "What +hast thou for me to do?" said he, and at the words the Tailor's +heart began to quake, for he remembered what was to happen to him +when he could find the Demon no more work to do--that his neck +was to be wrung--and now he began to see that he had all that +he could ask for in the world. Yes; what was there to ask for +now? + +"I have nothing more for you to do," said he to the Demon; "you +have done all that man could ask--you may go now." + +"Go!" cried the Demon, "I shall not go until I have done all that +I have to do. Give me work, or I shall wring your neck." And his +fingers began to twitch. + +Then the Tailor began to see into what a net he had fallen. He +began to tremble like one in an ague. He turned his eyes up and +down, for he did not know where to look for aid. Suddenly, as he +looked out of the window, a thought struck him. "Maybe," thought +he, "I can give the Demon such a task that even he cannot do it. +"Yes, yes!" he cried, "I have thought of something for you to do. +Make me out yonder in front of my palace a lake of water a mile +long and a mile wide, and let it be lined throughout with white +marble, and filled with water as clear as crystal." + +"It shall be done," said the Demon. As he spoke he spat in the +air, and instantly a thick fog arose from the earth and hid +everything from sight. Then presently from the midst of the fog +there came a great noise of chipping and hammering, of digging +and delving, of rushing and gurgling. All day the noise and the +fog continued, and then at sunset the one ceased and the other +cleared away. The poor Tailor looked out the window, and when he +saw what he saw his teeth chattered in his head, for there was a +lake a mile long and a mile broad, lined within with white +marble, and filled with water as clear as crystal, and he knew +that the Demon would come the next morning for another task to +do. + +That night he slept little or none, and when the seventh hour of +the morning came the castle began to rock and tremble, and there +stood the Demon, and his hair bristled and his eyes shone like +sparks of fire. "What hast thou for me to do?" said he, and the +poor Tailor could do nothing but look at him with a face as white +as dough. + +"What hast thou for me to do?" said the Demon again, and then at +last the Tailor found his wits and his tongue from sheer terror. +"Look!" said he, "at the great mountain over yonder; remove it, +and make in its place a level plain with fields and orchards and +gardens." And he thought to himself when he had spoken, "Surely, +even the Demon cannot do that." + +"It shall be done," said the Demon, and, so saying, he stamped +his heel upon the ground. Instantly the earth began to tremble +and quake, and there came a great rumbling like the sound of +thunder. A cloud of darkness gathered in the sky, until at last +all was as black as the blackest midnight. Then came a roaring +and a cracking and a crashing, such as man never heard before. +All day it continued, until the time of the setting of the sun, +when suddenly the uproar ceased, and the darkness cleared away; +and when the Tailor looked out of the window the mountain was +gone, and in its place were fields and orchards and gardens. + +It was very beautiful to see, but when the Tailor beheld it his +knees began to smite together, and the sweat ran down his face in +streams. All that night he walked up and down and up and down, +but he could not think of one other task for the Demon to do. + +When the next morning came the Demon appeared like a whirlwind. +His face was as black as ink and smoke, and sparks of fire flew +from his nostrils. + +"What have you for me to do?" cried he. + +"I have nothing for you to do!" piped the poor Tailor. + +"Nothing?" cried the Demon. + +"Nothing." + +"Then prepare to die." + +"Stop!" cried the Tailor, falling on his knees, "let me first see +my wife." + +"So be it," said the Demon, and if he had been wiser he would +have said "No." + +When the Tailor came to the princess, he flung himself on his +face, and began to weep and wail. The princess asked him what was +the matter, and at last, by dint of question, got the story from +him, piece by piece. When she had it all she began laughing. "Why +did you not come to me before?" said she, "instead of making all +this trouble and uproar for nothing at all? I will give the +Monster a task to do." She plucked a single curling hair from her +head. "Here," said she, "let him take this hair and make it +straight." + +The Tailor was full of doubt; nevertheless, as there was nothing +better to do, he took it to the Demon. + +"Hast thou found me a task to do?" cried the Demon. + +"Yes," said the Tailor. "It is only a little thing. Here is a +hair from my wife's head; take it and make it straight." + +When the Demon heard what was the task that the Tailor had set +him to do he laughed aloud; but that was because he did not know. +He took the hair and stroked it between his thumb and finger, +and, when he done, it curled more than ever. Then he looked +serious, and slapped it between his palms, and that did not +better matters, for it curled as much as ever. Then he frowned, +and, began beating the hair with his palm upon his knees, and +that only made it worse. All that day he labored and strove at +his task trying to make that one little hair straight, and, when +the sun set, there was the hair just as crooked as ever. Then, as +the great round sun sank red behind the trees, the Demon knew +that he was beaten. "I am conquered! I am conquered!" he howled, +and flew away, bellowing so dreadfully that all the world +trembled. + +So ends the story, with only this to say: + +Where man's strength fails, woman's wit prevails. + +For, to my mind, the princess--not to speak of her husband the +little Tailor--did more with a single little hair and her +mother wit than King Solomon with all his wisdom. + + +"Whose turn is it next to tell us a story?" said Sindbad the +Sailor. + +" Twas my turn," said St. George; "but here be two ladies +present, and neither hath so much as spoken a word of a story for +all this time. If you, madam," said he to Cinderella, "will tell +us a tale, I will gladly give up my turn to you." + +The Soldier who cheated the Devil took the pipe out of his mouth +and puffed away a cloud of smoke. "Aye," said he, "always +remember the ladies, say I. That is a soldier's trade." + +"Very well, then; if it is your pleasure," said Cinderella. "I +will tell you a story, and it shall be of a friend of mine and of +how she looked after her husband's luck. She was," said +Cinderella, "a princess, and her father was a king." + +"And what is your story about?" said Sindbad the Sailor. + +"It is," said Cinderella, "about-- + + + +A Piece of Good Luck + +There were three students who were learning all that they could. +The first was named Joseph, the second was named John, and the +third was named Jacob Stuck. They studied seven long years under +a wise master, and in that time they learned all that their +master had to teach them of the wonderful things he knew. They +learned all about geometry, they learned all about algebra, they +learned all about astronomy, they learned all about the hidden +arts, they learned all about everything, except how to mend their +own hose and where to get cabbage to boil in the pot. + +And now they were to go out into the world to practice what they +knew. The master called the three students to him--the one named +Joseph, the second named John, and the third named Jacob Stuck--and said he to them, said he: "You +have studied faithfully and +have learned all that I have been able to teach you, and now you +shall not go out into the world with nothing at all. See; here +are three glass balls, and that is one for each of you. Their +like is not to be found in the four corners of the world. Carry +the balls wherever you go, and when one of them drops to the +ground, dig, and there you will certainly find a treasure." + +So the three students went out into the wide world. + +Well, they travelled on and on for day after day, each carrying +his glass ball with him wherever he went. They travelled on and +on for I cannot tell how long, until one day the ball that Joseph +carried slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground. "I've +found a treasure!" cried Joseph, "I've found a treasure!" + +The three students fell to work scratching and digging where the +ball had fallen, and by-and-by they found something. It was a +chest with an iron ring in the lid. It took all three of them to +haul it up out of the ground, and when they did so they found it +was full to the brim of silver money. + +Were they happy? Well, they were happy! They danced around and +around the chest, for they had never seen so much money in all +their lives before. "Brothers," said Joseph, in exultation, "here +is enough for all hands, and it shall be share and share alike +with us, for haven't we studied seven long years together?" And +so for a while they were as happy as happy could be. + +But by-and-by a flock of second thoughts began to buzz in the +heads of John and Jacob Stuck. "Why," said they, "as for that, to +be sure, a chest of silver money is a great thing for three +students to find who had nothing better than book-learning to +help them along; but who knows but that there is something better +even than silver money out in the wide world?" So, after all, and +in spite of the chest of silver money they had found, the two of +them were for going on to try their fortunes a little farther. +And as for Joseph, why, after all, when he came to think of it, +he was not sorry to have his chest of silver money all to +himself. + +So the two travelled on and on for a while, here and there and +everywhere, until at last it was John's ball that slipped out of +his fingers and fell to the ground. They digged where it fell, +and this time it was a chest of gold money they found. + +Yes, a chest of gold money! A chest of real gold money! They just +stood and stared and stared, for if they had not seen it they +would not have believed that such a thing could have been in the +world. "Well, Jacob Stuck," said John, "it was well to travel a +bit farther than poor Joseph did, was it not? What is a chest of +silver money to such a treasure as this? Come, brother, here is +enough to make us both rich for all the rest of our lives. We +need look for nothing better than this." + +But no; by-and-by Jacob Stuck began to cool down again, and now +that second thoughts were coming to him he would not even be +satisfied with a half-share of a chest of gold money. No; maybe +there might be something better than even a chest full of gold +money to be found in the world. As for John, why, after all, he +was just as well satisfied to keep his treasure for himself. So +the two shook hands, and then Jacob Stuck jogged away alone, +leaving John stuffing his pockets and his hat full of gold money, +and I should have liked to have been there, to have had my share. + +Well, Jacob Stuck jogged on and on by himself, until after a +while he came to a great, wide desert, where there was not a +blade or a stick to be seen far or near. He jogged on and on, and +he wished he had not come there. He jogged on and on when all of +a sudden the glass ball he carried slipped out of his fingers and +fell to the ground. + +"Aha!" said he to himself, "now maybe I shall find some great +treasure compared to which even silver and gold are as nothing at +all." + +He digged down into the barren earth of the desert; and he digged +and he digged, but neither silver nor gold did he find. He digged +and digged; and by-and-by, at last, he did find something. And +what was it? Why, nothing but something that looked like a piece +of blue glass not a big bigger than my thumb. "Is that all?" said +Jacob Stuck. "And have I travelled all this weary way and into +the blinding desert only for this? Have I passed by silver and +gold enough to make me rich for all my life, only to find a +little piece of blue glass?" + +Jacob Stuck did not know what he had found. I shall tell you what +it was. It was a solid piece of good luck without flaw or +blemish, and it was almost the only piece I ever heard tell of. +Yes; that was what it was--a solid piece of good luck; and as for +Jacob Stuck, why, he was not the first in the world by many and +one over who has failed to know a piece of good luck when they +have found it. Yes; it looked just like a piece of blue glass no +bigger than my thumb, and nothing else. + +"Is that all?" said Jacob Stuck. "And have I travelled all this +weary way and into the blinding desert only for this? Have I +passed by silver and gold enough to make me rich for all my life, +only to find a little piece of blue glass?" + +He looked at the bit of glass, and he turned it over and over in +his hand. It was covered with dirt. Jacob Stuck blew his breath +upon it, and rubbed it with his thumb. + +Crack! dong! bang! smash! + +Upon my word, had a bolt of lightning burst at Jacob Stuck's feet +he could not have been more struck of a heap. For no sooner had +he rubbed the glass with his thumb than with a noise like a clap +of thunder there instantly stood before him a great, big man, +dressed in clothes as red as a flame, and with eyes that shone +sparks of fire. It was the Genie of Good Luck. It nearly knocked +Jacob Stuck off his feet to see him there so suddenly. + +"What will you have?" said the Genie. "I am the slave of good +luck. Whosoever holds that piece of crystal in his hand him must +I obey in whatsoever he may command." + +"Do you mean that you are my servant and that I am your master?" +said Jacob Stuck. + +"Yes; command and I obey." + +"Why, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I would like you to help me out +of this desert place, if you can do so, for it is a poor spot for +any Christian soul to be." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, before Jacob Stuck +knew what had happened to him, the Genie had seized him and was +flying with him through the air swifter than the wind. On and on +he flew, and the earth seemed to slide away beneath. On and on +flew the flame-colored Genie until at last he set Jacob down in a +great meadow where there was a river. Beyond the river were the +white walls and grand houses of the king's town. + +"Hast thou any further commands?" said the Genie. + +"Tell me what you can do for me?" said Jacob Stuck. + +"I can do whatsoever thou mayest order me to do," said the Genie. + +"Well, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I think first of all I would +like to have plenty of money to spend." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, as he spoke, he +reached up into the air and picked out a purse from nothing at +all. "Here," said he, "is the purse of fortune; take from it all +that thou needest and yet it will always be full. As long as thou +hast it thou shalt never be lacking riches." + +"I am very much obliged to you," said Jacob Stuck. "I've learned +geometry and algebra and astronomy and the hidden arts, but I +never heard tell of anything like this before." + +So Jacob Stuck went into the town with all the money he could +spend, and such a one is welcome anywhere. He lacked nothing that +money could buy. He bought himself a fine house; he made all the +friends he wanted, and more; he lived without a care, and with +nothing to do but to enjoy himself. That was what a bit of good +luck did for him. + +Now the princess, the daughter of the king of that town, was the +most beautiful in all the world, but so proud and haughty that +her like was not to be found within the bounds of all the seven +rivers. So proud was she and so haughty that she would neither +look upon a young man nor allow any young man to look upon her. +She was so particular that whenever she went out to take a ride a +herald was sent through the town with a trumpet ordering that +every house should be closed and that everybody should stay +within doors, so that the princess should run no risk of seeing a +young man, or that no young man by chance should see her. + +One day the herald went through the town blowing his trumpet and +calling in a great, loud voice: "Close your doors! Close your +windows! Her highness, the princess, comes to ride; let no man +look upon her on pain of death!" + +Thereupon everybody began closing their doors and windows, and, +as it was with the others, so it was with Jacob Stuck's house; it +had, like all the rest, to be shut up as tight as a jug. + +But Jacob Stuck was not satisfied with that; not he. He was for +seeing the princess, and he was bound he would do so. So he bored +a hole through the door, and when the princess came riding by he +peeped out at her. + +Jacob Stuck thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all +his life. It was like the sunlight shining in his eyes, and he +almost sneezed. Her cheeks were like milk and rose-leaves, and +her hair like fine threads of gold. She sat in a golden coach +with a golden crown upon her head, and Jacob Stuck stood looking +and looking until his heart melted within him like wax in the +oven. Then the princess was gone, and Jacob Stuck stood there +sighing and sighing. + +"Oh, dear! Dear!" said he, "what shall I do? For, proud as she +is, I must see her again or else I will die of it." + +All that day he sat sighing and thinking about the beautiful +princess, until the evening had come. Then he suddenly thought of +his piece of good luck. He pulled his piece of blue glass out of +his pocket and breathed upon it and rubbed it with his thumb, and +instantly the Genie was there. + +This time Jacob Stuck was not frightened at all. + +"What are thy commands, O master?" said the Genie. + +"O Genie!" said Jacob Stuck, "I have seen the princess to-day, +and it seems to me that there is nobody like her in all the +world. Tell me, could you bring her here so that I might see her +again?" + +"Yes," said the Genie, "I could." + +"Then do so," said Jacob Stuck, "and I will have you prepare a +grand feast, and have musicians to play beautiful music, for I +would have the princess sup with me." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. As he spoke he smote his +hands together, and instantly there appeared twenty musicians, +dressed in cloth of gold and silver. With them they brought +hautboys and fiddles, big and little, and flageolets and drums +and horns, and this and that to make music with. Again the Genie +smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared fifty +servants dressed in silks and satins and spangled with jewels, +who began to spread a table with fine linen embroidered with +gold, and to set plates of gold and silver upon it. The Genie +smote his hands together a third time, and in answer there came +six servants. They led Jacob Stuck into another room, where there +was a bath of musk and rose-water. They bathed him in the bath +and dressed him in clothes like an emperor, and when he came out +again his face shone, and he was as handsome as a picture. + +Then by-and-by he knew that the princess was coming, for suddenly +there was the sound of girls' voices singing and the twanging of +stringed instruments. The door flew open, and in came a crowd of +beautiful girls, singing and playing music, and after them the +princess herself, more beautiful than ever. But the proud +princess was frightened! Yes, she was. And well she might be, for +the Genie had flown with her through the air from the palace, and +that is enough to frighten anybody. Jacob Stuck came to her all +glittering and shining with jewels and gold, and took her by the +hand. He led her up the hall, and as he did so the musicians +struck up and began playing the most beautiful music in the +world. Then Jacob Stuck and the princess sat down to supper and +began eating and drinking, and Jacob Stuck talked of all the +sweetest things he could think of. Thousands of wax candles made +the palace bright as day, and as the princess looked about her +she thought she had never seen anything so fine in all the world. +After they had eaten their supper and ended with a dessert of all +kinds of fruits and of sweetmeats, the door opened and there came +a beautiful young serving-lad, carrying a silver tray, upon which +was something wrapped in a napkin. He kneeled before Jacob Stuck +and held the tray, and from the napkin Jacob Stuck took a +necklace of diamonds, each stone as big as a pigeon's egg. + +"This is to remind you of me," said Jacob Stuck, "when you have +gone home again." And as he spoke he hung it around the +princess's neck. + +Just then the clock struck twelve. + +Hardly had the last stroke sounded when every light was snuffed +out, and all was instantly dark and still. Then, before she had +time to think, the Genie of Good Luck snatched the princess up +once more and flew back to the palace more swiftly than the wind. +And, before the princess knew what had happened to her, there she +was. + +It was all so strange that the princess might have thought it was +a dream, only for the necklace of diamonds, the like of which was +not to be found in all the world. + +The next morning there was a great buzzing in the palace, you may +be sure. The princess told all about how she had been carried +away during the night, and had supped in such a splendid palace, +and with such a handsome man dressed like an emperor. She showed +her necklace of diamonds, and the king and his prime-minister +could not look at it or wonder at it enough. The prime-minister +and the king talked and talked the matter over together, and +every now and then the proud princess put in a word of her own. + +"Anybody," said the prime-minister, "can see with half an eye +that it is all magic, or else it is a wonderful piece of good +luck. Now, I'll tell you what shall be done," said he: "the +princess shall keep a piece of chalk by her; and, if she is +carried away again in such a fashion, she shall mark a cross with +the piece of chalk on the door of the house to which she is +taken. Then we shall find the rogue that is playing such a trick, +and that quickly enough." + +"Yes," said the king; "that is very good advice." + +"I will do it," said the princess. + +All that day Jacob Stuck sat thinking and thinking about the +beautiful princess. He could not eat a bite, and he could hardly +wait for the night to come. As soon as it had fallen, he breathed +upon his piece of glass and rubbed his thumb upon it, and there +stood the Genie of Good Luck. + +"I'd like the princess here again," said he, "as she was last +night, with feasting and drinking, such as we had before." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. + +And as it had been the night before, so it was now. The Genie +brought the princess, and she and Jacob Stuck feasted together +until nearly midnight. Then, again, the door opened, and the +beautiful servant-lad came with the tray and something upon it +covered with a napkin. Jacob Stuck unfolded the napkin, and this +time it was a cup made of a single ruby, and filled to the brim +with gold money. And the wonder of the cup was this: that no +matter how much money you took out of it, it was always full. +"Take this," said Jacob Stuck, "to remind you of me." Then the +clock struck twelve, and instantly all was darkness, and the +Genie carried the princess home again. + +But the princess had brought her piece of chalk with her, as the +prime-minister had advised; and in some way or other she +contrived, either in coming or going, to mark a cross upon the +door of Jacob Stuck's house. + +But, clever as she was, the Genie of Good Luck was more clever +still. He saw what the princess did; and, as soon as he had +carried her home, he went all through the town and marked a cross +upon every door, great and small, little and big, just as the +princess had done upon the door of Jacob Stuck's house, only upon +the prime-minister's door he put two crosses. The next morning +everybody was wondering what all the crosses on the house-doors +meant, and the king and the prime-minister were no wiser than +they had been before. + +But the princess had brought the ruby cup with her, and she and +the king could not look at it and wonder at it enough. + +"Pooh!" said the prime-minister; "I tell you it is nothing else +in the world but just a piece of good luck--that is all it is. As +for the rogue who is playing all these tricks, let the princess +keep a pair of scissors by her, and, if she is carried away +again, let her contrive to cut off a lock of his hair from over +the young man's right ear. Then to-morrow we will find out who +has been trimmed." + +Yes, the princess would do that; so, before evening was come, she +tied a pair of scissors to her belt. + +Well, Jacob Stuck could hardly wait for the night to come to +summon the Genie of Good Luck. "I want to sup with the princess +again," said he. + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie of Good Luck; and, as soon +as he had made everything ready, away he flew to fetch the +princess again. + +Well, they feasted and drank, and the music played, and the +candles were as bright as day, and beautiful girls sang and +danced, and Jacob Stuck was as happy as a king. But the princess +kept her scissors by her, and, when Jacob Stuck was not looking, +she contrived to snip off a lock of his hair from over his right +ear, and nobody saw what was done but the Genie of Good Luck. + +And it came towards midnight. + +Once more the door opened, and the beautiful serving-lad came +into the room, carrying the tray of silver with something upon it +wrapped in a napkin. This time Jacob Stuck gave the princess an +emerald ring for a keepsake, and the wonder of it was that every +morning two other rings just like it would drop from it. + +Then twelve o'clock sounded, the lights went out, and the Genie +took the princess home again. + +But the Genie had seen what the princess had done. As soon as he +had taken her safe home, he struck his palms together and +summoned all his companions. "Go," said he, "throughout the town +and trim a lock of hair from over the right ear of every man in +the whole place;" and so they did, from the king himself to the +beggar-man at the gates. As for the prime-minister, the Genie +himself trimmed two locks of hair from him, one from over each of +his ears, so that the next morning he looked as shorn as an old +sheep. In the morning all the town was in a hubbub, and everybody +was wondering how all the men came to have their hair clipped as +it was. But the princess had brought the lock of Jacob Stuck's +hair away with her wrapped up in a piece of paper, and there it +was. + +As for the ring Jacob Stuck had given to her, why, the next +morning there were three of them, and the king thought he had +never heard tell of such a wonderful thing. + +"I tell you," said the prime-minister, "there is nothing in it +but a piece of good luck, and not a grain of virtue. It's just a +piece of good luck--that's all it is." + +"No matter," said the king; "I never saw the like of it in all my +life before. And now, what are we going to do?" + +The prime-minister could think of nothing. + +Then the princess spoke up. "Your majesty," she said, "I can find +the young man for you. Just let the herald go through the town +and proclaim that I will marry the young man to whom this lock of +hair belongs, and then we will find him quickly enough." + +"What!" cried the prime-minister; "will, then, the princess marry +a man who has nothing better than a little bit of good luck to +help him along in the world?" + +"Yes," said the princess, "I shall if I can find him." + +So the herald was sent out around the town proclaiming that the +princess would marry the man to whose head belonged the lock of +hair that she had. + +A lock of hair! Why, every man had lost a lock of hair! Maybe the +princess could fit it on again, and then the fortune of him to +whom it belonged would be made. All the men in the town crowded +up to the king's palace. But all for no use, for never a one of +them was fitted with his own hair. + +As for Jacob Stuck, he too had heard what the herald had +proclaimed. Yes; he too had heard it, and his heart jumped and +hopped within him like a young lamb in the spring-time. He knew +whose hair it was the princess had. Away he went by himself, and +rubbed up his piece of blue glass, and there stood the Genie. + +"What are thy commands?" said he. + +"I am," said Jacob Stuck, "going up to the king's palace to marry +the princess, and I would have a proper escort." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. + +He smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared a score +of attendants who took Jacob Stuck, and led him into another +room, and began clothing him in a suit so magnificent that it +dazzled the eyes to look at it. He smote his hands together +again, and out in the court-yard there appeared a troop of +horsemen to escort Jacob Stuck to the palace, and they were all +clad in gold-and-silver armor. He smote his hands together again, +and there appeared twenty-and-one horses--twenty as black as +night and one as white as milk, and it twinkled and sparkled all +over with gold and jewels, and at the head of each horse of the +one-and-twenty horses stood a slave clad in crimson velvet to +hold the bridle. Again he smote his hands together, and there +appeared in the ante-room twenty handsome young men, each with a +marble bowl filled with gold money, and when Jacob Stuck came out +dressed in his fine clothes there they all were. + +Jacob Stuck mounted upon the horse as white as milk, the young +men mounted each upon one of the black horses, the troopers in +the gold-and-silver armor wheeled their horses, the trumpets +blew, and away they rode--such a sight as was never seen in that +town before, when they had come out into the streets. The young +men with the basins scattered the gold money to the people, and a +great crowd ran scrambling after, and shouted and cheered. + +So Jacob Stuck rode up to the king's palace, and the king himself +came out to meet him with the princess hanging on his arm. + +As for the princess, she knew him the moment she laid eyes on +him. She came down the steps, and set the lock of hair against +his head, where she had trimmed it off the night before, and it +fitted and matched exactly. "This is the young man," said she, +"and I will marry him, and none other." + +But the prime-minister whispered and whispered in the king's ear: +"I tell you this young man is nobody at all," said he, "but just +some fellow who has had a little bit of good luck." + +"Pooh!" said the king, "stuff and nonsense! Just look at all the +gold and jewels and horses and men. What will you do," said he to +Jacob Stuck, "if I let you marry the princess?" + +"I will," said Jacob Stuck, "build for her the finest palace that +ever was seen in all this world." + +"Very well," said the king, "yonder are those sand hills over +there. You shall remove them and build your palace there. When it +is finished you shall marry the princess." For if he does that, +thought the king to himself, it is something better than mere +good luck. + +"It shall," said Jacob Stuck, "be done by tomorrow morning." + +Well, all that day Jacob Stuck feasted and made merry at the +king's palace, and the king wondered when he was going to begin +to build his palace. But Jacob Stuck said nothing at all; he just +feasted and drank and made merry. When night had come, however, +it was all different. Away he went by himself, and blew his +breath upon his piece of blue glass, and rubbed it with his +thumb. Instantly there stood the Genie before him. "What wouldst +thou have?" said he. + +"I would like," said Jacob Stuck, "to have the sand hills over +yonder carried away, and a palace built there of white marble and +gold and silver, such as the world never saw before. And let +there be gardens planted there with flowering plants and trees, +and let there be fountains and marble walks. And let there be +servants and attendants in the palace of all sorts and kinds--men +and women. And let there be a splendid feast spread for to-morrow +morning, for then I am going to marry the princess." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and instantly he was gone. + +All night there was from the sand hills a ceaseless sound as of +thunder--a sound of banging and clapping and hammering and sawing +and calling and shouting. All that night the sounds continued +unceasingly, but at daybreak all was still, and when the sun +arose there stood the most splendid palace it ever looked down +upon; shining as white as snow, and blazing with gold and silver. +All around it were gardens and fountains and orchards. A great +highway had been built between it and the king's palace, and all +along the highway a carpet of cloth of gold had been spread for +the princess to walk upon. + +Dear! Dear! How all the town stared with wonder when they saw +such a splendid palace standing where the day before had been +nothing but naked sand hills! The folk flocked in crowds to see +it, and all the country about was alive with people coming and +going. As for the king, he could not believe his eyes when he saw +it. He stood with the princess and looked and looked. Then came +Jacob Stuck. "And now," said he, "am I to marry the princess?" + +"Yes," cried the king in admiration, "you are!" + +So Jacob Stuck married the princess, and a splendid wedding it +was. That was what a little bit of good luck did for him. + +After the wedding was over, it was time to go home to the grand +new palace. Then there came a great troop of horsemen with +shining armor and with music, sent by the Genie to escort Jacob +Stuck and the princess and the king and the prime-minister to +Jacob Stuck's new palace. They rode along over the carpet of +gold, and such a fine sight was never seen in that land before. +As they drew near to the palace a great crowd of servants, clad +in silks and satins and jewels, came out to meet them, singing +and dancing and playing on harps and lutes. The king and the +princess thought that they must be dreaming. + +"All this is yours," said Jacob Stuck to the princess; and he was +that fond of her, he would have given her still more if he could +have thought of anything else. + +Jacob Stuck and the princess, and the king and the prime-minister, all went into the palace, and +there was a splendid +feast spread in plates of pure gold and silver, and they all four +sat down together. + +But the prime-minister was as sour about it all as a crab-apple. +All the time they were feasting he kept whispering and whispering +in the king's ear. "It is all stuff and nonsense," said he, "for +such a man as Jacob Stuck to do all this by himself. I tell you, +it is all a piece of good luck, and not a bit of merit in it." + +He whispered and whispered, until at last the king up and spoke. +"Tell me, Jacob Stuck," he said, "where do you get all these fine +things?" + +"It all comes of a piece of good luck," said Jacob Stuck. + +"That is what I told you," said the prime-minister. + +"A piece of good luck!" said the king. "Where did you come across +such a piece of good luck?" + +"I found it," said Jacob Stuck. + +"Found it!" said the king; "and have you got it with you now?" + +"Yes, I have," said Jacob Stuck; "I always carry it about with +me;" and he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out his +piece of blue crystal. + +"That!" said the king. "Why, that is nothing but a piece of blue +glass!" + +"That," said Jacob Stuck, "is just what I thought till I found +out better. It is no common piece of glass, I can tell you. You +just breathe upon it so, and rub your thumb upon it thus, and +instantly a Genie dressed in red comes to do all that he is +bidden. That is how it is." + +"I should like to see it," said the king. + +"So you shall," said Jacob Stuck; "here it is," said he; and he +reached it across the table to the prime-minister to give it to +the king. + +Yes, that was what he did; he gave it to the prime-minister to +give it to the king. The prime-minister had been listening to all +that had been said, and he knew what he was about. He took what +Jacob Stuck gave him, and he had never had such a piece of luck +come to him before. + +And did the prime-minister give it to the king, as Jacob Stuck +had intended? Not a bit of it. No sooner had he got it safe in +his hand, than he blew his breath upon it and rubbed it with his +thumb. + +Crack! dong! boom! crash! + +There stood the Genie, like a flash and as red as fire. The +princess screamed out and nearly fainted at the sight, and the +poor king sat trembling like a rabbit. + +"Whosoever possesses that piece of blue crystal," said the Genie, +in a terrible voice, "him must I obey. What are thy commands?" + +"Take this king," cried the prime-minister, "and take Jacob +Stuck, and carry them both away into the farthest part of the +desert whence the fellow came." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie; and instantly he seized the +king in one hand and Jacob Stuck in the other, and flew away with +them swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth +seemed to slide away beneath them like a cloud. On and on he flew +until he had come to the farthest part of the desert. There he +sat them both down, and it was as pretty a pickle as ever the +king or Jacob Stuck had been in, in all of their lives. Then the +Genie flew back again whence he had come. + +There sat the poor princess crying and crying, and there sat the +prime-minister trying to comfort her. "Why do you cry?" said he; +"why are you afraid of me? I will do you no harm. Listen," said +he; "I will use this piece of good luck in a way that Jacob Stuck +would never have thought of. I will make myself king. I will +conquer the world, and make myself emperor over all the earth. +Then I will make you my queen." + +But the poor princess cried and cried. + +"Hast thou any further commands?" said the Genie. + +"Not now," said the prime-minister; "you may go now;" and the +Genie vanished like a puff of smoke. + +But the princess cried and cried. + +The prime-minister sat down beside her. "Why do you cry?" said +he. + +"Because I am afraid of you," said she. + +"And why are you afraid of me?" said he. + +"Because of that piece of blue glass. You will rub it again, and +then that great red monster will come again to frighten me." + +"I will rub it no more," said he. + +"Oh, but you will," said she; "I know you will." + +"I will not," said he. + +"But I can't trust you," said she "as long as you hold it in your +hand." + +"Then I will lay it aside," said he, and so he did. Yes, he did; +and he is not the first man who has thrown aside a piece of good +luck for the sake of a pretty face. "Now are you afraid of me?" +said he. + +"No, I am not," said she; and she reached out her hand as though +to give it to him. But, instead of doing so, she snatched up the +piece of blue glass as quick as a flash. + +"Now," said she, "it is my turn;" and then the prime-minister +knew that his end had come. + +She blew her breath upon the piece of blue glass and rubbed her +thumb upon it. Instantly, as with a clap of thunder, the great +red Genie stood before her, and the poor prime-minister sat +shaking and trembling. + +"Whosoever hath that piece of blue crystal," said the Genie, +"that one must I obey. What are your orders, O princess?" + +"Take this man," cried the princess, "and carry him away into the +desert where you took those other two, and bring my father and +Jacob Stuck back again." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and instantly he seized the +prime-minister, and, in spite of the poor man's kicks and +struggles, snatched him up and flew away with him swifter than +the wind. On and on he flew until he had come to the farthest +part of the desert, and there sat the king and Jacob Stuck still +thinking about things. Down he dropped the prime-minister, up he +picked the king and Jacob Stuck, and away he flew swifter than +the wind. On and on he flew until he had brought the two back to +the palace again; and there sat the princess waiting for them, +with the piece of blue crystal in her hand. + +"You have saved us!" cried the king. + +"You have saved us!" cried Jacob Stuck. "Yes, you have saved us, +and you have my piece of good luck into the bargain. Give it to +me again." + +"I will do nothing of the sort," said the princess. "If the men +folk think no more of a piece of good luck than to hand it round +like a bit of broken glass, it is better for the women folk to +keep it for them." + +And there, to my mind, she brewed good common-sense, that needed +no skimming to make it fit for Jacob Stuck, or for any other man, +for the matter of that. + +And now for the end of this story. Jacob Stuck lived with his +princess in his fine palace as grand as a king, and when the old +king died he became the king after him. + +One day there came two men travelling along, and they were +footsore and weary. They stopped at Jacob Stuck's palace and +asked for something to eat. Jacob Stuck did not know them at +first, and then he did. One was Joseph and the other was John. + +This is what had happened to them: + +Joseph had sat and sat where John and Jacob Stuck had left him on +his box of silver money, until a band of thieves had come along +and robbed him of it all. John had carried away his pockets and +his hat full of gold, and had lived like a prince as long as it +had lasted. Then he had gone back for more, but in the meantime +some rogue had come along and had stolen it all. Yes; that was +what had happened, and now they were as poor as ever. + +Jacob Stuck welcomed them and brought them in and made much of +them. + +Well, the truth is truth, and this is it: It is better to have a +little bit of good luck to help one in what one undertakes than +to have a chest of silver or a chest of gold. + + +"And now for your story, holy knight," said Fortunatus to St. +George "for twas your turn, only for this fair lady who came in +before you." + +"Aye, aye," said the saint; "I suppose it was, in sooth, my turn. +Ne'th'less, it gives me joy to follow so close so fair and lovely +a lady." And as he spoke he winked one eye at Cinderella, +beckoned towards her with his cup of ale, and took a deep draught +to her health. "I shall tell you," said he, as soon as he had +caught his breath again, "a story about an angel and a poor man +who travelled with him, and all the wonderful things the poor man +saw the angel do." + +"That," said the Blacksmith who made Death sit in his pear-tree +until the wind whistled through his ribs--"that, methinks, is a +better thing to tell for a sermon than a story." + +"Whether or no that shall be so," said St. George, "you shall +presently hear for yourselves." + +He took another deep draught of ale, and then cleared his throat. + +"Stop a bit, my friend," said Ali Baba. "What is your story +about?" + +"It is," said St. George, "about-- + + +The Fruit of Happiness + +Once upon a time there was a servant who served a wise man, and +cooked for him his cabbage and his onions and his pot-herbs and +his broth, day after day, time in and time out, for seven years. + +In those years the servant was well enough contented, but no one +likes to abide in the same place forever, and so one day he took +it into his head that he would like to go out into the world to +see what kind of a fortune a man might make there for himself. +"Very well," says the wise man, the servant's master; "you have +served me faithfully these seven years gone, and now that you ask +leave to go you shall go. But it is little or nothing in the way +of money that I can give you, and so you will have to be content +with what I can afford. See, here is a little pebble, and its +like is not to be found in the seven kingdoms, for whoever holds +it in his mouth can hear while he does so all that the birds and +the beasts say to one another. Take it--it is yours, and, if you +use it wisely, it may bring you a fortune. + +The servant would rather have had the money in hand than the +magic pebble, but, as nothing better was to be had, he took the +little stone, and, bidding his master good-bye, trudged out into +the world, to seek his fortune. Well, he jogged on and on, paying +his way with the few pennies he had saved in his seven years of +service, but for all of his travelling nothing of good happened +to him until, one morning, he came to a lonely place where there +stood a gallows, and there he sat him down to rest, and it is +just in such an unlikely place as this that a man's best chance +of fortune comes to him sometimes. + +As the servant sat there, there came two ravens flying, and lit +upon the cross-beam overhead. There they began talking to one +another, and the servant popped the pebble into his mouth to hear +what they might say. + +"Yonder is a traveller in the world," said the first raven. + +"Yes," said the second, "and if he only knew how to set about it, +his fortune is as good as made." + +"How is that so?" said the first raven. + +"Why, thus," said the second. "If he only knew enough to follow +yonder road over the hill, he would come by-and-by to a stone +cross where two roads meet, and there he would find a man +sitting. If he would ask it of him, that man would lead him to +the garden where the fruit of happiness grows." + +"The fruit of happiness!" said the first raven, "and of what use +would the fruit of happiness be to him?" + +"What use? I tell you, friend, there is no fruit in the world +like that, for one has only to hold it in one's hand and wish, +and whatever one asks for one shall have." + +You may guess that when the servant understood the talk of the +ravens he was not slow in making use of what he heard. Up he +scrambled, and away he went as fast as his legs could carry him. +On and on he travelled, until he came to the cross-roads and the +stone cross of which the raven spoke, and there, sure enough, sat +the traveller. He was clad in a weather-stained coat, and he wore +dusty boots, and the servant bade him good-morning. + +How should the servant know that it was an angel whom he beheld, +and not a common wayfarer? + +"Whither away, comrade," asked the traveller. + +"Out in the world," said the servant, "to seek my fortune. And +what I want to know is this--will you guide me to where I can +find the fruit of happiness?" + +"You ask a great thing of me," said the other; "nevertheless, +since you do ask it, it is not for me to refuse, though I may +tell you that many a man has sought for that fruit, and few +indeed have found it. But if I guide you to the garden where the +fruit grows, there is one condition you must fulfil: many strange +things will happen upon our journey between here and there, but +concerning all you see you must ask not a question and say not a +word. Do you agree to that?" + +"Yes," said the servant, "I do." + +"Very well, said his new comrade; "then let us be jogging, for I +have business in the town to-night, and the time is none too long +to get there." + +So all the rest of that day they journeyed onward together, +until, towards evening, they came to a town with high towers and +steep roofs and tall spires. The servant's companion entered the +gate as though he knew the place right well, and led the way up +one street and down another, until, by-and-by, they came to a +noble house that stood a little apart by itself, with gardens of +flowers and fruit-trees all around it. There the travelling +companion stopped, and, drawing out a little pipe from under his +jacket, began playing so sweetly upon it that he made one's heart +stand still to listen to the music. + +Well, he played and played until, by-and-by, the door opened, and +out came a serving-man. "Ho, piper!" said he, "would you like to +earn good wages for your playing?" + +"Yes," said the travelling companion, "I would, for that is why I +came hither." + +"Then follow me," said the servant, and thereupon the travelling +companion tucked away his pipe and entered, with the other at his +heels. + +The house-servant led the way from one room to another, each +grander than the one they left behind, until at last he came to a +great hall where dozens of servants were serving a fine feast. +But only one man sat at table--a young man with a face so +sorrowful that it made a body's heart ache to look upon him. "Can +you play good music, piper?" said he. + +"Yes," said the piper, "that I can, for I know a tune that can +cure sorrow. But before I blow my pipe I and my friend here must +have something to eat and drink, for one cannot play well with an +empty stomach." + +"So be it," said the young man; "sit down with me and eat and +drink." + +So the two did without second bidding, and such food and drink +the serving-man had never tasted in his life before. And while +they were feasting together the young man told them his story, +and why it was he was so sad. A year before he had married a +young lady, the most beautiful in all that kingdom, and had +friends and comrades and all things that a man could desire in +the world. But suddenly everything went wrong; his wife and he +fell out and quarrelled until there was no living together, and +she had to go back to her old home. Then his companions deserted +him, and now he lived all alone. + +"Yours is a hard case," said the travelling companion, "but it is +not past curing." Thereupon he drew out his pipes and began to +play, and it was such a tune as no man ever listened to before. +He played and he played, and, after a while, one after another of +those who listened to him began to get drowsy. First they winked, +then they shut their eyes, and then they nodded until all were as +dumb as logs, and as sound asleep as though they would never +waken again. Only the servant and the piper stayed awake, for the +music did not make them drowsy as it did the rest. Then, when all +but they two were tight and fast asleep, the travelling companion +arose, tucked away his pipe, and, stepping up to the young man, +took from off his finger a splendid ruby ring, as red as blood +and as bright as fire, and popped the same into his pocket. And +all the while the serving-man stood gaping like a fish to see +what his comrade was about. "Come," said the travelling +companion, "it is time we were going," and off they went, +shutting the door behind them. + +As for the serving-man, though he remembered his promise and said +nothing concerning what he had beheld, his wits buzzed in his +head like a hive of bees, for he thought that of all the ugly +tricks he had seen, none was more ugly than this--to bewitch the +poor sorrowful young man into a sleep, and then to rob him of his +ruby ring after he had fed them so well and had treated them so +kindly. + +But the next day they jogged on together again until by-and-by +they came to a great forest. There they wandered up and down till +night came upon them and found them still stumbling onward +through the darkness, while the poor serving-man's flesh quaked +to hear the wild beasts and the wolves growling and howling +around them. + +But all the while the angel--his travelling companion--said never +a word; he seemed to doubt nothing nor fear nothing, but trudged +straight ahead until, by-and-by, they saw a light twinkling far +away, and, when they came to it, they found a gloomy stone house, +as ugly as eyes ever looked upon. Up stepped the servant's +comrade and knocked upon the door--rap! tap! tap! By-and-by it +was opened a crack, and there stood an ugly old woman, blear-eyed +and crooked and gnarled as a winter twig. But the heart within +her was good for all that. "Alas, poor folk!" she cried, "why do +you come here?" This is a den where lives a band of wicked +thieves. Every day they go out to rob and murder poor travellers +like yourselves. By-and-by they will come back, and when they +find you here they will certainly kill you." + +"No matter for that," said the travelling companion; "we can go +no farther to-night, so you must let us in and hide us as best +you may." + +And in he went, as he said, with the servant at his heels +trembling like a leaf at what he had heard. The old woman gave +them some bread and meat to eat, and then hid them away in the +great empty meal-chest in the corner, and there they lay as still +as mice. + +By-and-by in came the gang of thieves with a great noise and +uproar, and down they sat to their supper. The poor servant lay +in the chest listening to all they said of the dreadful things +they had done that day--how they had cruelly robbed and murdered +poor people. Every word that they said he heard, and he trembled +until his teeth chattered in his head. But all the same the +robbers knew nothing of the two being there, and there they lay +until near the dawning of the day. Then the travelling companion +bade the servant be stirring, and up they got, and out of the +chest they came, and found all the robbers sound asleep and +snoring so that the dust flew. + +"Stop a bit," said the angel--the travelling companion--"we must +pay them for our lodging." + +As he spoke he drew from his pocket the ruby ring which he had +stolen from the sorrowful young man's finger, and dropped it into +the cup from which the robber captain drank. Then he led the way +out of the house, and, if the serving-man had wondered the day +before at that which the comrade did, he wondered ten times more +to see him give so beautiful a ring to such wicked and bloody +thieves. + +The third evening of their journey the two travellers came to a +little hut, neat enough, but as poor as poverty, and there the +comrade knocked upon the door and asked for lodging. In the house +lived a poor man and his wife; and, though the two were as honest +as the palm of your hand, and as good and kind as rain in spring-time, they could hardly scrape +enough of a living to keep body +and soul together. Nevertheless, they made the travellers +welcome, and set before them the very best that was to be had in +the house; and, after both had eaten and drunk, they showed them +to bed in a corner as clean as snow, and there they slept the +night through. + +But the next morning, before the dawning of the day, the +travelling companion was stirring again. "Come," said he; "rouse +yourself, for I have a bit of work to do before I leave this +place." + +And strange work it was! When they had come outside of the +house, he gathered together a great heap of straw and sticks of +wood, and stuffed all under the corner of the house. Then he +struck a light and set fire to it, and, as the two walked away +through the gray dawn, all was a red blaze behind them. + +Still, the servant remembered his promise to his travelling +comrade, and said never a word or asked never a question, though +all that day he walked on the other side of the road, and would +have nothing to say or to do with the other. But never a whit did +his comrade seem to think of or to care for that. On they jogged, +and, by the time evening was at hand, they had come to a neat +cottage with apple and pear trees around it, all as pleasant as +the eye could desire to see. In this cottage lived a widow and +her only son, and they also made the travellers welcome, and set +before them a good supper and showed them to a clean bed. + +This time the travelling comrade did neither good nor ill to +those of the house, but in the morning he told the widow whither +they were going, and asked if she and her son knew the way to the +garden where grew the fruit of happiness. + +"Yes," said she, "that we do, for the garden is not a day's +journey from here, and my son himself shall go with you to show +you the way." + +"That is good," said the servant's comrade, "and if he will do so +I will pay him well for his trouble." + +So the young man put on his hat, and took up his stick, and off +went the three, up hill and down dale, until by-and-by they came +over the top of the last hill, and there below them lay the +garden. + +And what a sight it was, the leaves shining and glistening like +so many jewels in the sunlight! I only wish that I could tell you +how beautiful that garden was. And in the middle of it grew a +golden tree, and on it golden fruit. The servant, who had +travelled so long and so far, could see it plainly from where he +stood, and he did not need to be told that it was the fruit of +happiness. But, after all, all he could do was to stand and look, +for in front of them was a great raging torrent, without a bridge +for a body to cross over. + +"Yonder is what you seek," said the young man, pointing with his +finger, "and there you can see for yourself the fruit of +happiness." + +The travelling companion said never a word, good or bad, but, +suddenly catching the widow's son by the collar, he lifted him +and flung him into the black, rushing water. Splash! went the +young man, and then away he went whirling over rocks and water-falls. "There!" cried the comrade, +"that is your reward for your +service!" + +When the servant saw this cruel, wicked deed, he found his tongue +at last, and all that he had bottled up for the seven days came +frothing out of him like hot beer. Such abuse as he showered upon +his travelling companion no man ever listened to before. But to +all the servant said the other answered never a word until he had +stopped for sheer want of breath. Then-- + +"Poor fool," said the travelling companion, "if you had only held +your tongue a minute longer, you, too, would have had the fruit +of happiness in your hand. Now it will be many a day before you +have a sight of it again." + +Thereupon, as he ended speaking, he struck his staff upon the +ground. Instantly the earth trembled, and the sky darkened +overhead until it grew as black as night. Then came a great flash +of fire from up in the sky, which wrapped the travelling +companion about until he was hidden from sight. Then the flaming +fire flew away to heaven again, carrying him along with it. After +that the sky cleared once more, and, lo and behold! The garden +and the torrent and all were gone, and nothing was left but a +naked plain covered over with the bones of those who had come +that way before, seeking the fruit which the travelling servant +had sought. + +It was a long time before the servant found his way back into the +world again, and the first house he came to, weak and hungry, was +the widow's. + +But what a change he beheld! It was a poor cottage no longer, but +a splendid palace, fit for a queen to dwell in. The widow herself +met him at the door, and she was dressed in clothes fit for a +queen to wear, shining with gold and silver and precious stones. + +The servant stood and stared like one bereft of wits. "How comes +all this change?" said he, "and how did you get all these grand +things?" + +"My son," said the widow woman, "has just been to the garden, and +has brought home from there the fruit of happiness. Many a day +did we search, but never could we find how to enter into the +garden, until, the other day, an angel came and showed the way to +my son, and he was able not only to gather of the fruit for +himself, but to bring an apple for me also." + +Then the poor travelling servant began to thump his head. He saw +well enough through the millstone now, and that he, too, might +have had one of the fruit if he had but held his tongue a little +longer. + +Yes, he saw what a fool he had made of himself, when he learned +that it was an angel with whom he had been travelling the five +days gone. + +But, then, we are all of us like the servant for the matter of +that; I, too, have travelled with an angel many a day, I dare +say, and never knew it. + +That night the servant lodged with the widow and her son, and the +next day he started back home again upon the way he had travelled +before. By evening he had reached the place where the house of +the poor couple stood--the house that he had seen the angel set +fire to. There he beheld masons and carpenters hard at work +hacking and hewing, and building a fine new house. And there he +saw the poor man himself standing by giving them orders. "How is +this," said the travelling servant; "I thought that your house +was burned down?" + +"So it was, and that is how I came to be rich now," said the one-time poor man. "I and my wife had +lived in our old house for many +a long day, and never knew that a great treasure of silver and +gold was hidden beneath it, until a few days ago there came an +angel and burned it down over our heads, and in the morning we +found the treasure. So now we are rich for as long as we may +live." + +The next morning the poor servant jogged along on his homeward +way more sad and downcast than ever, and by evening he had come +to the robbers' den in the thick woods, and there the old woman +came running to the door to meet him. "Come in!" cried she; "come +in and welcome! The robbers are all dead and gone now, and I use +the treasure that they left behind to entertain poor travellers +like yourself. The other day there came an angel hither, and with +him he brought the ring of discord that breeds spite and rage and +quarrelling. He gave it to the captain of the band, and after he +had gone the robbers fought for it with one another until they +were all killed. So now the world is rid of them, and travellers +can come and go as they please." + +Back jogged the travelling servant, and the next day came to the +town and to the house of the sorrowful young man. There, lo and +behold! Instead of being dark and silent, as it was before, all +was ablaze with light and noisy with the sound of rejoicing and +merriment. There happened to be one of the household standing at +the door, and he knew the servant as the companion of that one +who had stolen the ruby ring. Up he came and laid hold of the +servant by the collar, calling to his companions that he had +caught one of the thieves. Into the house they hauled the poor +servant, and into the same room where he had been before, and +there sat the young man at a grand feast, with his wife and all +his friends around him. But when the young man saw the poor +serving-man he came to him and took him by the hand, and set him +beside himself at the table. "Nobody except your comrade could be +so welcome as you," said he, "and this is why. An enemy of mine +one time gave me a ruby ring, and though I knew nothing of it, it +was the ring of discord that bred strife wherever it came. So, as +soon as it was brought into the house, my wife and all my friends +fell out with me, and we quarrelled so that they all left me. +But, though I knew it not at that time, your comrade was an +angel, and took the ring away with him, and now I am as happy as +I was sorrowful before." + +By the next night the servant had come back to his home again. +Rap! tap! tap! He knocked at the door, and the wise man who had +been his master opened to him. "What do you want?" said he. + +"I want to take service with you again," said the travelling +servant. + +"Very well," said the wise man; "come in and shut the door." + +And for all I know the travelling servant is there to this day. +For he is not the only one in the world who has come in sight of +the fruit of happiness, and then jogged all the way back home +again to cook cabbage and onions and pot-herbs, and to make broth +for wiser men than himself to sup. + +That is the end of this story. + + +"I like your story, holy sir," said the Blacksmith who made Death +sit in a pear-tree. "Ne'th'less, it hath indeed somewhat the +smack of a sermon, after all. Methinks I am like my friend +yonder," and he pointed with his thumb towards Fortunatus; "I +like to hear a story about treasures of silver and gold, and +about kings and princes--a story that turneth out well in the +end, with everybody happy, and the man himself married in luck, +rather than one that turneth out awry, even if it hath an angel +in it." + +"Well, well," said St. George, testily, "one cannot please +everybody. But as for being a sermon, why, certes, my story was +not that--and even if it were, it would not have hurt thee, +sirrah." + +"No offence," said the Blacksmith; "I meant not to speak ill of +your story. Come, come, sir, will you not take a pot of ale with +me?" + +"Why," said St. George, somewhat mollified, "for the matter of +that, I would as lief as not." + +"I liked the story well enough," piped up the little Tailor who +had killed seven flies at a blow. " Twas a good enough story of +its sort, but why does nobody tell a tale of good big giants, and +of wild boars, and of unicorns, such as I killed in my adventures +you wot of?" + +Old Ali Baba had been sitting with his hands folded and his eyes +closed. Now he opened them and looked at the Little Tailor. "I +know a story," said he, "about a Genie who was as big as a giant, +and six times as powerful. And besides that," he added, "the +story is all about treasures of gold, and palaces, and kings, and +emperors, and what not, and about a cave such as that in which I +myself found the treasure of the forty thieves." + +The Blacksmith who made Death sit in the pear-tree clattered the +bottom of his canican against the table. "Aye, aye," said he, +"that is the sort of story for me. Come, friend, let us have it." + +"Stop a bit," said Fortunatus; "what is this story mostly about?" + +"It is," said Ali Baba, "about two men betwixt whom there was-- + + +Not a Pin to Choose. + +Once upon a time, in a country in the far East, a merchant was +travelling towards the city with three horses loaded with rich +goods, and a purse containing a hundred pieces of gold money. The +day was very hot, and the road dusty and dry, so that, by-and-by, +when he reached a spot where a cool, clear spring of water came +bubbling out from under a rock beneath the shade of a wide-spreading wayside tree, he was glad +enough to stop and refresh +himself with a draught of the clear coolness and rest awhile. But +while he stooped to drink at the fountain the purse of gold fell +from his girdle into the tall grass, and he, not seeing it, let +it lie there, and went his way. + +Now it chanced that two fagot-makers--the elder by name Ali, the +younger Abdallah--who had been in the woods all day chopping +fagots, came also travelling the same way, and stopped at the +same fountain to drink. There the younger of the two spied the +purse lying in the grass, and picked it up. But when he opened it +and found it full of gold money, he was like one bereft of wits; +he flung his arms, he danced, he shouted, he laughed, he acted +like a madman; for never had he seen so much wealth in all of his +life before--a hundred pieces of gold money! + +Now the older of the two was by nature a merry wag, and though he +had never had the chance to taste of pleasure, he thought that +nothing in the world could be better worth spending money for +than wine and music and dancing. So, when the evening had come, +he proposed that they two should go and squander it all at the +Inn. But the younger fellow--Abdallah--was by nature just as +thrifty as the other was spendthrift, and would not consent to +waste what he had found. Nevertheless, he was generous and open-hearted, and grudged his friend +nothing; so, though he did not +care for a wild life himself, he gave Ali a piece of gold to +spend as he chose. + +By morning every copper of what had been given to the elder +fagot-maker was gone, and he had never had such a good time in +his life before. All that day and for a week the head of Ali was +so full of the memory of the merry night that he had enjoyed that +he could think of nothing else. At last, one evening, he asked +Abdallah for another piece of gold, and Abdallah gave it to him, +and by the next morning it had vanished in the same way that the +other had flown. By-and-by Ali borrowed a third piece of money, +and then a fourth and then a fifth, so that by the time that six +months had passed and gone he had spent thirty of the hundred +pieces that had been found, and in all that time Abdallah had +used not so much as a pistareen. + +But when Ali came for the thirty-and-first loan, Abdallah refused +to let him have any more money. It was in vain that the elder +begged and implored--the younger abided by what he had said. + +Then Ali began to put on a threatening front. "You will not let +me have the money?" he said. + +"No, I will not." + +"You will not?" + +"No!" + +"Then you shall!" cried Ali; and, so saying, caught the younger +fagot-maker by the throat, and began shaking him and shouting, +"Help! Help! I am robbed! I am robbed!" He made such an uproar +that half a hundred men, women, and children were gathered around +them in less than a minute. "Here is ingratitude for you!" cried +Ali. "Here is wickedness and thievery! Look at this wretch, all +good men, and then turn away your eyes! For twelve years have I +lived with this young man as a father might live with a son, and +now how does he repay me? He has stolen all that I have in the +world--a purse of seventy sequins of gold." + +All this while poor Abdallah had been so amazed that he could do +nothing but stand and stare like one stricken dumb; whereupon all +the people, thinking him guilty, dragged him off to the judge, +reviling him and heaping words of abuse upon him. + +Now the judge of that town was known far and near as the "Wise +Judge"; but never had he had such a knotty question as this +brought up before him, for by this time Abdallah had found his +speech, and swore with a great outcry that the money belonged to +him. + +But at last a gleam of light came to the Wise Judge in his +perplexity. "Can any one tell me," said he, "which of these +fellows has had money of late, and which has had none?" + +His question was one easily enough answered; a score of people +were there to testify that the elder of the two had been living +well and spending money freely for six months and more, and a +score were also there to swear that Abdallah had lived all the +while in penury. "Then that decides the matter," said the Wise +Judge. "The money belongs to the elder fagot-maker." + +"But listen, oh my lord judge!" cried Abdallah. "All that this +man has spent I have given to him--I, who found the money. Yes, +my lord, I have given it to him, and myself have spent not so +much as single mite." + +All who were present shouted with laughter at Abdallah's speech, +for who would believe that any one would be so generous as to +spend all upon another and none upon himself? + +So poor Abdallah was beaten with rods until he confessed where he +had hidden his money; then the Wise Judge handed fifty sequins to +Ali and kept twenty himself for his decision, and all went their +way praising his justice and judgment. + +That is to say, all but poor Abdallah; he went to his home +weeping and wailing, and with every one pointing the finger of +scorn at him. He was just as poor as ever, and his back was sore +with the beating that he had suffered. All that night he +continued to weep and wail, and when the morning had come he was +weeping and wailing still. + +Now it chanced that a wise man passed that way, and hearing his +lamentation, stopped to inquire the cause of his trouble. +Abdallah told the other of his sorrow, and the wise man listened, +smiling, till he was done, and then he laughed outright. "My +son," said he, "if every one in your case should shed tears as +abundantly as you have done, the world would have been drowned in +salt water by this time. As for your friend, think not ill of +him; no man loveth another who is always giving." + +"Nay," said the young fagot-maker, "I believe not a word of what +you say. Had I been in his place I would have been grateful for +the benefits, and not have hated the giver." + +But the wise man only laughed louder than ever. "Maybe you will +have the chance to prove what you say some day," said he, and +went his way, still shaking with his merriment. + +"All this," said Ali Baba, "is only the beginning of my story; +and now if the damsel will fill up my pot of ale, I will begin in +earnest and tell about the cave of the Genie." + +He watched Little Brown Betty until she had filled his mug, and +the froth ran over the top. Then he took a deep draught and began +again. + +Though Abdallah had affirmed that he did not believe what the +wise man had said, nevertheless the words of the other were a +comfort, for it makes one feel easier in trouble to be told that +others have been in a like case with one's self. + +So, by-and-by, Abdallah plucked up some spirit, and, saddling his +ass and shouldering his axe, started off to the woods for a +bundle of fagots. + +Misfortunes, they say, never come single, and so it seemed to be +with the fagot-maker that day; for that happened that had never +happened to him before--he lost his way in the woods. On he went, +deeper and deeper into the thickets, driving his ass before him, +bewailing himself and rapping his head with his knuckles. But all +his sorrowing helped him nothing, and by the time that night fell +he found himself deep in the midst of a great forest full of wild +beasts, the very thought of which curdled his blood. He had had +nothing to eat all day long, and now the only resting-place left +him was the branches of some tree. So, unsaddling his ass and +leaving it to shift for itself, he climbed to and roosted himself +in the crotch of a great limb. + +In spite of his hunger he presently fell asleep, for trouble +breeds weariness as it breeds grief. + +About the dawning of the day he was awakened by the sound of +voices and the glaring of lights. He craned his neck and looked +down, and there he saw a sight that filled him with amazement: +three old men riding each upon a milk-white horse and each +bearing a lighted torch in his hand, to light the way through the +dark forest. + +When they had come just below where Abdallah sat, they dismounted +and fastened their several horses to as many trees. Then he who +rode first of the three, and who wore a red cap and who seemed to +be the chief of them, walked solemnly up to a great rock that +stood in the hillside, and, breaking a switch from a shrub that +grew in a cleft, struck the face of the stone, crying in a loud +voice, "I command thee to open, in the name of the red +Aldebaran!" + +Instantly, creaking and groaning, the face of the rock opened +like a door, gaping blackly. Then, one after another, the three +old men entered, and nothing was left but the dull light of their +torches, shining on the walls of the passage-way. + +What happened inside the cavern the fagot-maker could neither see +nor hear, but minute after minute passed while he sat as in a +maze at all that had happened. Then presently he heard a deep +thundering voice and a voice as of one of the old men in answer. +Then there came a sound swelling louder and louder, as though a +great crowd of people were gathering together, and with the +voices came the noise of the neighing of horses and the trampling +of hoofs. Then at last there came pouring from out the rock a +great crowd of horses laden with bales and bundles of rich stuffs +and chests and caskets of gold and silver and jewels, and each +horse was led by a slave clad in a dress of cloth-of-gold, +sparkling and glistening with precious gems. When all these had +come out from the cavern, other horses followed, upon each of +which sat a beautiful damsel, more lovely than the fancy of man +could picture. Beside the damsels marched a guard, each man clad +in silver armor, and each bearing a drawn sword that flashed in +the brightening day more keenly than the lightning. So they all +came pouring forth from the cavern until it seemed as though the +whole woods below were filled with the wealth and the beauty of +King Solomon's day--and then, last of all, came the three old +men. + +"In the name of the red Aldebaran," said he who had bidden the +rock to open, "I command thee to become closed." Again, creaking +and groaning, the rock shut as it had opened--like a door--and +the three old men, mounting their horses, led the way from the +woods, the others following. The noise and confusion of the many +voices shouting and calling, the trample and stamp of horses, +grew fainter and fainter, until at last all was once more hushed +and still, and only the fagot-maker was left behind, still +staring like one dumb and bereft of wits. + +But so soon as he was quite sure that all were really gone, he +clambered down as quickly as might be. He waited for a while to +make doubly sure that no one was left behind, and then he walked +straight up to the rock, just as he had seen the old man do. He +plucked a switch from the bush, just as he had seen the old man +pluck one, and struck the stone, just as the old man had struck +it. "I command thee to open," said he, "in the name of the red +Aldebaran!" + +Instantly, as it had done in answer to the old man's command, +there came a creaking and a groaning, and the rock slowly opened +like a door, and there was the passageway yawning before him. For +a moment or two the fagot-maker hesitated to enter; but all was +as still as death, and finally he plucked up courage and went +within. + +By this time the day was brightening and the sun rising, and by +the gray light the fagot-maker could see about him pretty +clearly. Not a sign was to be seen of horses or of treasure or of +people--nothing but a square block of marble, and upon it a black +casket, and upon that again a gold ring, in which was set a +blood-red stone. Beyond these things there was nothing; the walls +were bare, the roof was bare, the floor was bare--all was bare +and naked stone. + +"Well," said the wood-chopper, "as the old men have taken +everything else, I might as well take these things. The ring is +certainly worth something, and maybe I shall be able to sell the +casket for a trifle into the bargain." So he slipped the ring +upon his finger, and, taking up the casket, left the place. "I +command thee to be closed," said he, "in the name of the red +Aldebaran!" And thereupon the door closed, creaking and groaning. + +After a little while he found his ass, saddled it and bridled it, +and loaded it with the bundle of fagots that he had chopped the +day before, and then set off again to try to find his way out of +the thick woods. But still his luck was against him, and the +farther he wandered the deeper he found himself in the thickets. +In the meantime he was like to die of hunger, for he had not a +bite to eat for more than a whole day. + +"Perhaps," said he to himself, "there may be something in the +casket to stay my stomach;" and, so saying, he sat him down, +unlocked the casket, and raised the lid. + +Such a yell as the poor wretch uttered ears never heard before. +Over he rolled upon his back and there lay staring with wide +eyes, and away scampered the jackass, kicking up his heels and +braying so that the leaves of the trees trembled and shook. For +no sooner had he lifted the lid than out leaped a great hideous +Genie, as black as a coal, with one fiery-red eye in the middle +of his forehead that glared and rolled most horribly, and with +his hands and feet set with claws, sharp and hooked like the +talons of a hawk. Poor Abdallah the fagot-maker lay upon his back +staring at the monster with a face as white as wax. + +"What are thy commands?" said the Genie in a terrible voice, that +rumbled like the sound of thunder. + +"I--I do not know," said Abdallah, trembling and shaking as with +an ague. "I--I have forgotten." + +"Ask what thou wilt," said the Genie, "for I must ever obey +whomsoever hast the ring that thou wearest upon thy finger. Hath +my lord nothing to command wherein I may serve him?" + +Abdallah shook his head. "No," said he, "there is nothing--unless--unless you will bring me +something to eat." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. "What will my lord be +pleased to have?" + +"Just a little bread and cheese," said Abdallah. + +The Genie waved his hand, and in an instant a fine damask napkin +lay spread upon the ground, and upon it a loaf of bread as white +as snow and a piece of cheese such as the king would have been +glad to taste. But Abdallah could do nothing but sit staring at +the Genie, for the sight of the monster quite took away his +appetite. + +"What more can I do to serve thee?" asked the Genie. + +"I think," said Abdallah, "that I could eat more comfortably if +you were away." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. "Whither shall I go? Shall +I enter the casket again?" + +"I do not know," said the fagot-maker; "how did you come to be +there?" + +"I am a great Genie," answered the monster, "and was conjured +thither by the great King Solomon, whose seal it is that thou +wearest upon thy finger. For a certain fault that I committed I +was confined in the box and hidden in the cavern where thou didst +find me to-day. There I lay for thousands of years until one day +three old magicians discovered the secret of where I lay hidden. +It was they who only this morning compelled me to give them that +vast treasure which thou sawest them take away from the cavern +not long since." + +"But why did they not take you and the box and the ring away +also?" asked Abdallah. + +"Because," answered the Genie, "they are three brothers, and +neither two care to trust the other one with such power as the +ring has to give, so they made a solemn compact among themselves +that I should remain in the cavern, and that no one of the three +should visit it without the other two in his company. Now, my +lord, if it is thy will that I shall enter the casket again I +must even obey thy command in that as in all things; but, if it +please thee, I would fain rejoin my own kind again--they from +whom I have been parted for so long. Shouldst thou permit me to +do so I will still be thy slave, for thou hast only to press the +red stone in the ring and repeat these words: By the red +Aldebaran, I command thee to come,' and I will be with thee +instantly. But if I have my freedom I shall serve thee from +gratitude and love, and not from compulsion and with fear." + +"So be it!" said Abdallah. "I have no choice in the matter, and +thou mayest go whither it pleases thee." + +No sooner had the words left his lips than the Genie gave a great +cry of rejoicing, so piercing that it made Abdallah's flesh +creep, and then, fetching the black casket a kick that sent it +flying over the tree tops, vanished instantly. + +"Well," quote Abdallah, when he had caught his breath from his +amazement, "these are the most wonderful things that have +happened to me in all of my life." And thereupon he fell to at +the bread and cheese, and ate as only a hungry man can eat. When +he had finished the last crumb he wiped his mouth with the +napkin, and, stretching his arms, felt within him that he was +like a new man. + +Nevertheless, he was still lost in the woods, and now not even +with his ass for comradeship. + +He had wandered for quite a little while before he bethought +himself of the Genie. "What a fool am I," said he, "not to have +asked him to help me while he was here." He pressed his finger +upon the ring, and cried in a loud voice, "By the red Aldebaran, +I command thee to come!" + +Instantly the Genie stood before him--big, black, ugly, and grim. +"What are my lord's commands?" said he. + +"I command thee," said Abdallah the fagot-maker, who was not half +so frightened at the sight of the monster this time as he had +been before--"I command thee to help me out of this woods." + +Hardly were the words out of his mouth when the Genie snatched +Abdallah up, and, flying swifter than the lightning, set him down +in the middle of the highway on the outskirts of the forest +before he had fairly caught his breath. + +When he did gather his wits and looked about him, he knew very +well where he was, and that he was upon the road that led to the +city. At the sight his heart grew light within him, and off he +stepped briskly for home again. + +But the sun shone hot and the way was warm and dusty, and before +Abdallah had gone very far the sweat was running down his face in +streams. After a while he met a rich husband-man riding easily +along on an ambling nag, and when Abdallah saw him he rapped his +head with his knuckles. "Why did I not think to ask the Genie for +a horse?" said he. "I might just as well have ridden as to have +walked, and that upon a horse a hundred times more beautiful than +the one that that fellow rides." + +He stepped into the thicket beside the way, where he might be out +of sight, and there pressed the stone in his ring, and at his +bidding the Genie stood before him. + +"What are my lord's commands?" said he. + +"I would like to have a noble horse to ride upon," said Abdallah--"a horse such as a king might +use." + +"To hear is to obey," said the Genie; and, stretching out his +hand, there stood before Abdallah a magnificent Arab horse, with +a saddle and bridle studded with precious stones, and with +housings of gold. "Can I do aught to serve my lord further?" said +the Genie. + +"Not just now," said Abdallah; "if I have further use for you I +will call you." + +The Genie bowed his head and was gone like a flash, and Abdallah +mounted his horse and rode off upon his way. But he had not gone +far before he drew rein suddenly. "How foolish must I look," said +he, "to be thus riding along the high-road upon this noble steed, +and I myself clad in fagot-maker's rags." Thereupon he turned his +horse into the thicket, and again summoned the Genie. "I should +like," said he, "to have a suit of clothes fit for a king to +wear." + +"My lord shall have that which he desires," said the Genie. He +stretched out his hand, and in an instant there lay across his +arm raiment such as the eyes of man never saw before--stiff with +pearls, and blazing with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and +sapphires. The Genie himself aided Abdallah to dress, and when he +looked down he felt, for the time, quite satisfied. + +He rode a little farther. Then suddenly he bethought himself, +"What a silly spectacle shall I cut in the town with no money in +my purse and with such fine clothes upon my back." Once more the +Genie was summoned. "I should like," said the fagot-maker, "to +have a box full of money." + +The Genie stretched out his hand, and in it was a casket of +mother-of-pearl inlaid with gold and full of money. "Has my lord +any further commands for his servant?" asked he. + +"No," answered Abdallah. "Stop--I have, too," he added. "Yes; I +would like to have a young man to carry my money for me." + +"He is here," said the Genie. And there stood a beautiful youth +clad in clothes of silver tissue, and holding a milk-white horse +by the bridle. + +"Stay, Genie," said Abdallah. "Whilst thou art here thou mayest +as well give me enough at once to last me a long time to come. +Let me have eleven more caskets of money like this one, and +eleven more slaves to carry the same." + +"They are here," said the Genie; and as he spoke there stood +eleven more youths before Abdallah, as like the first as so many +pictures of the same person, and each youth bore in his hands a +box like the one that the monster had given Abdallah. "Will my +lord have anything further?" asked the Genie. + +"Let me think," said Abdallah. "Yes; I know the town well, and +that should one so rich as I ride into it without guards he would +be certain to be robbed before he had travelled a hundred paces. +Let me have an escort of a hundred armed men." + +"It shall be done," said the Genie, and, waving his hand, the +road where they stood was instantly filled with armed men, with +swords and helmets gleaming and flashing in the sun, and all +seated upon magnificently caparisoned horses. "Can I serve my +lord further?" asked the Genie. + +"No," said Abdallah the fagot-maker, in admiration, "I have +nothing more to wish for in this world. Thou mayest go, Genie, +and it will be long ere I will have to call thee again," and +thereupon the Genie was gone like a flash. + +The captain of Abdallah's troop--a bearded warrior clad in a +superb suit of armor--rode up to the fagot-maker, and, leaping +from his horse and bowing before him so that his forehead touched +the dust, said, "Whither shall we ride, my lord?" + +Abdallah smote his forehead with vexation. "If I live a thousand +years," said he, "I will never learn wisdom." Thereupon, +dismounting again, he pressed the ring and summoned the Genie. "I +was mistaken," said he, "as to not wanting thee so soon. I would +have thee build me in the city a magnificent palace, such as man +never looked upon before, and let it be full from top to bottom +with rich stuffs and treasures of all sorts. And let it have +gardens and fountains and terraces fitting for such a place, and +let it be meetly served with slaves, both men and women, the most +beautiful that are to be found in all the world." + +"Is there aught else that thou wouldst have?" asked the Genie. + +The fagot-maker meditated a long time. "I can bethink myself of +nothing more just now," said he. + +The Genie turned to the captain of the troop and said some words +to him in a strange tongue, and then in a moment was gone. The +captain gave the order to march, and away they all rode with +Abdallah in the midst. "Who would have thought," said he, looking +around him, with the heart within him swelling with pride as +though it would burst--"who would have thought that only this +morning I was a poor fagot-maker, lost in the woods and half +starved to death? Surely there is nothing left for me to wish for +in this world!" + +Abdallah was talking of something he knew nothing of. + +Never before was such a sight seen in that country, as Abdallah +and his troop rode through the gates and into the streets of the +city. But dazzling and beautiful as were those who rode attendant +upon him, Abdallah the fagot-maker surpassed them all as the moon +dims the lustre of the stars. The people crowded around shouting +with wonder, and Abdallah, in the fulness of his delight, gave +orders to the slaves who bore the caskets of money to open them +and to throw the gold to the people. So, with those in the +streets scrambling and fighting for the money and shouting and +cheering, and others gazing down at the spectacle from the +windows and house-tops, the fagot-maker and his troop rode slowly +along through the town. + +Now it chanced that their way led along past the royal palace, +and the princess, hearing all the shouting and the hubbub, looked +over the edge of the balcony and down into the street. At the +same moment Abdallah chanced to look up, and their eyes met. +Thereupon the fagot-maker's heart crumbled away within him, for +she was the most beautiful princess in all the world. Her eyes +were as black as night, her hair like threads of fine silk, her +neck like alabaster, and her lips and her cheeks as soft and as +red as rose-leaves. When she saw that Abdallah was looking at her +she dropped the curtain of the balcony and was gone, and the +fagot-maker rode away, sighing like a furnace. + +So, by-and-by, he came to his palace, which was built all of +marble as white as snow, and which was surrounded with gardens, +shaded by flowering trees, and cooled by the plashing of +fountains. From the gateway to the door of the palace a carpet of +cloth-of-gold had been spread for him to walk upon, and crowds of +slaves stood waiting to receive him. But for all these glories +Abdallah cared nothing; he hardly looked about him, but, going +straight to his room, pressed his ring and summoned the Genie. + +"What is it that my lord would have?" asked the monster. + +"Oh, Genie!" said poor Abdallah, "I would have the princess for +my wife, for without her I am like to die." + +"My lord's commands," said the Genie, "shall be executed if I +have to tear down the city to do so. But perhaps this behest is +not so hard to fulfil. First of all, my lord will have to have an +ambassador to send to the king." + +"Very well," said Abdallah with a sigh; "let me have an +ambassador or whatever may be necessary. Only make haste, Genie, +in thy doings." + +"I shall lose no time," said the Genie; and in a moment was gone. + +The king was sitting in council with all of the greatest lords of +the land gathered about him, for the Emperor of India had +declared war against him, and he and they were in debate, +discussing how the country was to be saved. Just then Abdallah's +ambassador arrived, and when he and his train entered the +council-chamber all stood up to receive him, for the least of +those attendant upon him was more magnificently attired than the +king himself, and was bedecked with such jewels as the royal +treasury could not match. + +Kneeling before the king, the ambassador touched the ground with +his forehead. Then, still kneeling, he unrolled a scroll, written +in letters of gold, and from it read the message asking for the +princess to wife for the Lord Abdallah. + +When he had ended, the king sat for a while stroking his beard +and meditating. But before he spoke the oldest lord of the +council arose and said: "O sire! If this Lord Abdallah who asks +for the princess for his wife can send such a magnificent company +in the train of his ambassador, may it not be that he may be able +also to help you in your war against the Emperor of India?" + +"True!" said the king. Then turning to the ambassador: "Tell your +master," said he, "that if he will furnish me with an army of one +hundred thousand men, to aid me in the war against the Emperor of +India, he shall have my daughter for his wife." + +"Sire," said the ambassador, "I will answer now for my master, +and the answer shall be this: That he will help you with an army, +not of one hundred thousand, but of two hundred thousand men. And +if to-morrow you will be pleased to ride forth to the plain that +lieth to the south of the city, my Lord Abdallah will meet you +there with his army." Then, once more bowing, he withdrew from +the council-chamber, leaving all them that were there amazed at +what had happened. + +So the next day the king and all his court rode out to the place +appointed. As they drew near they saw that the whole face of the +plain was covered with a mighty host, drawn up in troops and +squadrons. As the king rode towards this vast army, Abdallah met +him, surrounded by his generals. He dismounted and would have +kneeled, but the king would not permit him, but, raising him, +kissed him upon the cheek, calling him son. Then the king and +Abdallah rode down before the ranks and the whole army waved +their swords, and the flashing of the sunlight on the blades was +like lightning, and they shouted, and the noise was like the +pealing of thunder. + +Before Abdallah marched off to the wars he and the princess were +married, and for a whole fortnight nothing was heard but the +sound of rejoicing. The city was illuminated from end to end, and +all of the fountains ran with wine instead of water. And of all +those who rejoiced, none was so happy as the princess, for never +had she seen one whom she thought so grand and noble and handsome +as her husband. After the fortnight had passed and gone, the army +marched away to the wars with Abdallah at its head. + +Victory after victory followed, for in every engagement the +Emperor of India's troops were driven from the field. In two +months' time the war was over and Abdallah marched back again--the greatest general in the world. +But it was no longer as +Abdallah that he was known, but as the Emperor of India, for the +former emperor had been killed in the war, and Abdallah had set +the crown upon his own head. + +The little taste that he had had of conquest had given him an +appetite for more, so that with the armies the Genie provided him +he conquered all the neighboring countries and brought them under +his rule. So he became the greatest emperor in all the world; +kings and princes kneeled before him, and he, Abdallah, the +fagot-maker, looking about him, could say: "No one in all the +world is so great as I!" + +Could he desire anything more? + +Yes; he did! He desired to be rid of the Genie! + +When he thought of how all that he was in power and might--he, +the Emperor of the World--how all his riches and all his glory +had come as gifts from a hideous black monster with only one eye, +his heart was filled with bitterness. "I cannot forget," said he +to himself, "that as he has given me all these things, he may +take them all away again. Suppose that I should lose my ring and +that some one else should find it; who knows but that they might +become as great as I, and strip me of everything, as I have +stripped others. Yes; I wish he was out of the way!" + +Once, when such thoughts as these were passing through his mind, +he was paying a visit to his father-in-law, the king. He was +walking up and down the terrace of the garden meditating on these +matters, when, leaning over a wall and looking down into the +street, he saw a fagot-maker--just such a fagot-maker as he +himself had one time been--driving an ass--just such an ass as he +had one time driven. The fagot-maker carried something under his +arm, and what should it be but the very casket in which the Genie +had once been imprisoned, and which he--the one-time fagot-maker--had seen the Genie kick over the +tree-tops. + +The sight of the casket put a sudden thought into his mind. He +shouted to his attendants, and bade them haste and bring the +fagot-maker to him. Off they ran, and in a little while came +dragging the poor wretch, trembling and as white as death; for he +thought nothing less than that his end had certainly come. As +soon as those who had seized him had loosened their hold, he +flung himself prostrate at the feet of the Emperor Abdallah, and +there lay like one dead. + +"Where didst thou get yonder casket?" asked the emperor. + +"Oh, my lord!" croaked the poor fagot-maker, "I found it out +yonder in the woods." + +"Give it to me," said the emperor, "and my treasurer shall count +thee out a thousand pieces of gold in exchange." + +So soon as he had the casket safe in his hands he hurried away to +his privy chamber, and there pressed the red stone in his ring. +"In the name of the red Aldebaran, I command thee to appear!" +said he, and in a moment the Genie stood before him. + +"What are my lord's commands?" said he. + +"I would have thee enter this casket again," said the Emperor +Abdallah. + +"Enter the casket!" cried the Genie, aghast. + +"Enter the casket." + +"In what have I done anything to offend my lord?" said the Genie. + +"In nothing," said the emperor; "only I would have thee enter the +casket again as thou wert when I first found thee." + +It was in vain that the Genie begged and implored for mercy, it +was in vain that he reminded Abdallah of all that he had done to +benefit him; the great emperor stood as hard as a rock--into the +casket the Genie must and should go. So at last into the casket +the monster went, bellowing most lamentably. + +The Emperor Abdallah shut the lid of the casket, and locked it +and sealed it with his seal. Then, hiding it under his cloak, he +bore it out into the garden and to a deep well, and, first making +sure that nobody was by to see, dropped casket and Genie and all +into the water. + +Now had that wise man been by--the wise man who had laughed so +when the poor young fagot-maker wept and wailed at the +ingratitude of his friend--the wise man who had laughed still +louder when the young fagot-maker vowed that in another case he +would not have been so ungrateful to one who had benefited him -- +how that wise man would have roared when he heard the casket +plump into the waters of the well! For, upon my word of honor, +betwixt Ali the fagot-maker and Abdallah the Emperor of the World +there was not a pin to choose, except in degree. + + +Old Ali Baba's pipe had nearly gone out, and he fell a puffing at +it until the spark grew to life again, and until great clouds of +smoke rolled out around his head and up through the rafters +above. + +"I liked thy story, friend," said old Bidpai--"I liked it +mightily much. I liked more especially the way in which thy +emperor got rid of his demon, or Genie." + +Fortunatus took a long pull at his mug of ale. "I know not," said +he, "about the demon, but there was one part that I liked much, +and that was about the treasures of silver and gold and the +palace that the Genie built and all the fine things that the poor +fagot-maker enjoyed." Then he who had once carried the magic +purse in his pocket fell a clattering with the bottom of his +quart cup upon the table. "Hey! My pretty lass," cried he, "come +hither and fetch me another stoup of ale." + +Little Brown Betty came at his call, stumbling and tumbling into +the room, just as she had stumbled and tumbled in the Mother +Goose book, only this time she did not crack her crown, but +gathered herself up laughing. + +"You may fill my canican while you are about it," said St. +George, "for, by my faith, tis dry work telling a story." + +"And mine, too," piped the little Tailor who killed seven flies +at a blow. + +"And whose turn is it now to tell a story?" said Doctor Faustus. + +" Tis his," said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew, and he pointed +to Hans who traded and traded until he had traded his lump of +gold for an empty churn. + +Hans grinned sheepishly. "Well," said he, "I never did have luck +at anything, and why, then, d'ye think I should have luck at +telling a story?" + +"Nay, never mind that," said Aladdin, "tell thy story, friend, as +best thou mayst." + +"Very well," said Hans, "if ye will have it, I will tell it to +you; but, after all, it is not better than my own story, and the +poor man in the end gets no more than I did in my bargains." + +"And what is your story about, my friend?" said Cinderella. + +" Tis," said Hans, "about how-- + + + +Much shall have more and little shall have less. + +Once upon a time there was a king who did the best he could to +rule wisely and well, and to deal justly by those under him whom +he had to take care of; and as he could not trust hearsay, he +used every now and then to slip away out of his palace and go +among his people to hear what they had to say for themselves +about him and the way he ruled the land. + +Well, one such day as this, when he was taking a walk, he +strolled out past the walls of the town and into the green fields +until he came at last to a fine big house that stood by the banks +of a river, wherein lived a man and his wife who were very well +to do in the world. There the king stopped for a bite of bread +and a drink of fresh milk. + +"I would like to ask you a question," said the king to the rich +man; "and the question is this: Why are some folk rich and some +folk poor?" + +"That I cannot tell you," said the good man; "only I remember my +father used to say that much shall have more and little shall +have less." + +"Very well," said the king; "the saying has a good sound, but let +us find whether or not it is really true. See; here is a purse +with three hundred pieces of golden money in it. Take it and give +it to the poorest man you know; in a week's time I will come +again, and then you shall tell me whether it has made you or him +the richer." + +Now in the town there lived two beggars who were as poor as +poverty itself, and the poorer of the twain was one who used to +sit in rags and tatters on the church step to beg charity of the +good folk who came and went. To him went the rich man, and, +without so much as a good-morning, quoth he: "Here is something +for you," and so saying dropped the purse of gold into the +beggar's hat. Then away he went without waiting for a word of +thanks. + +As for the beggar, he just sat there for a while goggling and +staring like one moon-struck. But at last his wits came back to +him, and then away he scampered home as fast as his legs could +carry him. Then he spread his money out on the table and counted +it--three hundred pieces of gold money! He had never seen such +great riches in his life before. There he sat feasting his eyes +upon the treasure as though they would never get their fill. And +now what was he to do with all of it? Should he share his fortune +with his brother? Not a bit of it. To be sure, until now they had +always shared and shared alike, but here was the first great lump +of good-luck that had ever fallen in his way, and he was not for +spoiling it by cutting it in two to give half to a poor beggar-man such as his brother. Not he; he +would hide it and keep it all +for his very own. + +Now, not far from where he lived, and beside the river, stood a +willow-tree, and thither the lucky beggar took his purse of money +and stuffed it into a knot-hole of a withered branch, then went +his way, certain that nobody would think of looking for money in +such a hiding-place. Then all the rest of the day he sat thinking +and thinking of the ways he would spend what had been given him, +and what he would do to get the most good out of it. At last came +evening, and his brother, who had been begging in another part of +the town, came home again. + +"I nearly lost my hat to-day," said the second beggar so soon as +he had come into the house. + +"Did you?" said the first beggar. "How was that?" + +"Oh! The wind blew it off into the water, but I got it again." + +"How did you get it?" said the first beggar. + +"I just broke a dead branch off of the willow-tree and drew my +hat ashore," said the second beggar. + +"A dead branch!!" + +"A dead branch." + +"Off of the willow tree!!" + +"Off of the willow tree." + +The first beggar could hardly breathe. + +"And what did you do with the dead branch after that?" + +"I threw it away into the water, and it floated down the river." + +The beggar to whom the money had been given ran out of the house +howling, and down to the river-side, thumping his head with his +knuckles like one possessed. For he knew that the branch his +brother had broken off of the tree and had thrown into the water, +was the very one in which he had hidden the bag of money. + +Yes; and so it was. + +The next morning, as the rich man took a walk down by the river, +he saw a dead branch that had been washed up by the tide. +"Halloo!" says he, "this will do to kindle the fire with." + +So he brought it to the house, and, taking down his axe, began to +split it up for kindling. The very first blow he gave, out +tumbled the bag of money. + +But the beggar--well, by-and-by his grieving got better of its +first smart, and then he started off down the river to see if he +could not find his money again. He hunted up and he hunted down, +but never a whit of it did he see, and at last he stopped at the +rich man's house and begged for a bite to eat and lodgings for +the night. There he told all his story--how he had hidden the +money that had been given him from his brother, how his brother +had broken off the branch and had thrown it away, and how he had +spent the whole live-long day searching for it. And to all the +rich man listened and said never a word. But though he said +nothing, he thought to himself, "Maybe, after all, it is not the +will of Heaven that this man shall have the money. Nevertheless, +I will give him another trial." + +So he told the poor beggar to come in and stay for the night; +and, whilst the beggar was snoring away in his bed in the garret, +the rich man had his wife make two great pies, each with a fine +brown crust. In the first pie he put the little bag of money; the +second he filled full of rusty nails and scraps of iron. + +The next morning he called the beggar to him. "My friend," said +he, "I grieve sadly for the story you told me last night. But +maybe, after all, your luck is not all gone. And now, if you will +choose as you should choose, you shall not go away from here +comfortless. In the pantry yonder are two great pies--one is for +you and one for me. Go in and take whichever one you please." + +"A pie!" thought the beggar to himself; "does the man think that +a big pie will comfort me for the loss of three hundred pieces of +money?" Nevertheless, as it was the best thing to be had, into +the pantry the beggar went and there began to feel and weigh the +pies, and the one filled with the rusty nails and scraps of iron +was ever so much the fatter and the heavier. + +"This is the one that I shall take," said he to the rich man, +"and you may have the other." And, tucking it under his arm, off +he tramped. + +Well, before he got back to the town he grew hungry, and sat down +by the roadside to eat his pie; and if there was ever an angry +man in the world before, he was one that day--for there was his +pie full of nothing but rusty nails and bits of iron. "This is +the way the rich always treat the poor," said he. + +So back he went in a fume. "What did you give me a pie full of +old nails for?" said he. + +"You took the pie of your own choice," said the rich man; +"nevertheless, I meant you no harm. Lodge with me here one night, +and in the morning I will give you something better worth while, +maybe." + +So that night the rich man had his wife bake two loaves of bread, +in one of which she hid the bag with the three hundred pieces of +gold money. + +"Go to the pantry," said the rich man to the beggar in the +morning, "and there you will find two loaves of bread--one is for +you and one for me; take whichever one you choose." + +So in went the beggar, and the first loaf of bread he laid his +hand upon was the one in which the money was hidden, and off he +marched with it under his arm, without so much as saying thank +you. + +"I wonder," said he to himself, after he had jogged along awhile--"I wonder whether the rich man is +up to another trick such as he +played upon me yesterday?" He put the loaf of bread to his ear +and shook it and shook it, and what should he hear but the chink +of the money within. "Ah ha!" said he, "he has filled it with +rusty nails and bits of iron again, but I will get the better of +him this time." + +By-and-by he met a poor woman coming home from market. "Would you +like to buy a fine fresh loaf of bread?" said the beggar. + +"Yes, I would," said the woman. + +"Well, here is one you may have for two pennies," said the +beggar. + +That was cheap enough, so the woman paid him his price and off +she went with the loaf of bread under her arm, and never stopped +until she had come to her home. + +Now it happened that the day before this very woman had borrowed +just such a loaf of bread from the rich man's wife; and so, as +there was plenty in the house without it, she wrapped this loaf +up in a napkin, and sent her husband back with it to where it had +started from first of all. + +"Well," said the rich man to his wife, "the way of Heaven is not +to be changed." And so he laid the money on the shelf until he +who had given it to him should come again, and thought no more of +giving it to the beggar. + +At the end of seven days the king called upon the rich man again, +and this time he came in his own guise as a real king. "Well," +said he, "is the poor man the richer for his money?" + +"No," said the rich man, "he is not"; and then he told the whole +story from beginning to end just as I have told it. + +"Your father was right," said the king; "and what he said was +very true-- Much shall have more and little shall have less.' +Keep the bag of money for yourself, for there Heaven means it to +stay." + +And maybe there is as much truth as poetry in this story. + + + +And now it was the turn of the Blacksmith who had made Death sit +in his pear-tree until the cold wind whistled through the ribs of +man's enemy. He was a big, burly man, with a bullet head, and a +great thick neck, and a voice like a bull's. + +"Do you mind," said he, "about how I clapped a man in the fire +and cooked him to a crisp that day that St. Peter came travelling +my way?" + +There was a little space of silence, and then the Soldier who had +cheated the Devil spoke up. "Why yes, friend," said he, "I know +your story very well." + +"I am not so fortunate," said old Bidpai. "I do not know your +story. Tell me, friend, did you really bake a man to a crisp? And +how was it then?" + +"Why," said the Blacksmith, "I was trying to do what a better man +than I did, and where he hit the mark I missed it by an ell. +Twas a pretty scrape I was in that day." + +"But how did it happen?" said Bidpai. + +"It happened," said the Blacksmith, "just as it is going to +happen in the story I am about to tell." + +"And what is your story about?" said Fortunatus. + +"It is," said the Blacksmith, "about-- + +Wisdom's Wages and Folly's Pay + +Once upon a time there was a wise man of wise men, and a great +magician to boot, and his name was Doctor Simon Agricola. + +Once upon a time there was a simpleton of simpletons, and a great +booby to boot, and his name was Babo. + +Simon Agricola had read all the books written by man, and could +do more magic than any conjurer that ever lived. But, +nevertheless, he was none too well off in the world; his clothes +were patched, and his shoes gaped, and that is the way with many +another wise man of whom I have heard tell. + +Babo gathered rushes for a chair-maker, and he also had too few +of the good things to make life easy. But it is nothing out of +the way for a simpleton to be in that case. + +The two of them lived neighbor to neighbor, the one in the next +house to the other, and so far as the world could see there was +not a pin to choose between them--only that one was called a wise +man and the other a simpleton. + +One day the weather was cold, and when Babo came home from +gathering rushes he found no fire in the house. So off he went to +his neighbor the wise man. "Will you give me a live coal to start +my fire?" said he. + +"Yes, I will do that," said Simon Agricola; "But how will you +carry the coal home?" + +"Oh!" said Babo, "I will just take it in my hand." + +"In your hand?" + +"In my hand." + +"Can you carry a live coal in your hand?" + +"Oh yes!" said Babo; "I can do that easily enough." + +"Well, I should like to see you do it," said Simon Agricola. + +"Then I will show you," said Babo. He spread a bed of cold, dead +ashes upon his palm. "Now," said he, "I will take the ember upon +that." + +Agricola rolled up his eyes like a duck in a thunder-storm. +"Well," said he, "I have lived more than seventy years, and have +read all the books in the world; I have practised magic and +necromancy, and know all about algebra and geometry, and yet, +wise as I am, I never thought of this little thing." + +That is the way with your wise man. + +"Pooh!" said Babo; "that is nothing. I know how to do many more +tricks than that." + +"Do you?" said Simon Agricola; "then listen: to-morrow I am going +out into the world to make my fortune, for little or nothing is +to be had in this town. If you will go along with me I will make +your fortune also." + +"Very well," said Babo, and the bargain was struck. So the next +morning bright and early off they started upon their journey, +cheek by jowl, the wise man and the simpleton, to make their +fortunes in the wide world, and the two of them made a pair. On +they jogged and on they jogged, and the way was none too smooth. +By-and-by they came to a great field covered all over with round +stones. + +"Let us each take one of these," said Simon Agricola; "they will +be of use by-and-by"; and, as he spoke, he picked up a great +stone as big as his two fists, and dropped it into the pouch that +dangled at his side. + +"Not I," said Babo; "I will carry no stone with me. It is as much +as my two legs can do to carry my body, let along lugging a great +stone into the bargain." + +"Very well," said Agricola; " born a fool, live a fool, die a +fool.'" And on he tramped, with Babo at his heels. + +At last they came to a great wide plain, where, far or near, +nothing was to be seen but bare sand, without so much as a pebble +or a single blade of grass, and there night caught up with them. + +"Dear, dear, but I am hungry!" said Babo. + +"So am I," said Simon Agricola. "Let's sit down here and eat." + +So down they sat, and Simon Agricola opened his pouch and drew +forth the stone. + +The stone? It was a stone no longer, but a fine loaf of white +bread as big as your two fists. You should have seen Babo goggle +and stare! "Give me a piece of your bread, master," said he. + +"Not I," said Agricola. "You might have had a dozen of the same +kind, had you chosen to do as I bade you and to fetch them along +with you. Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,'" said he; and +that was all that Babo got for his supper. As for the wise man, +he finished his loaf of bread to the last crumb, and then went to +sleep with a full stomach and a contented mind. + +The next morning off they started again bright and early, and +before long they came to just such another field of stones as +they left behind them the day before. + +"Come, master," said Babo, "let us each take a stone with us. We +may need something more to eat before the day is over." + +"No," said Simon Agricola; "we will need no stones to-day." + +But Babo had no notion to go hungry the second time, so he hunted +around till he found a stone as big as his head. All day he +carried it, first under one arm, and then under the other. The +wise man stepped along briskly enough, but the sweat ran down +Babo's face like drops on the window in an April shower. At last +they came to a great wide plain, where neither stock nor stone +was to be seen, but only a gallows-tree, upon which one poor +wight hung dancing upon nothing at all, and there night caught +them again. + +"Aha!" said Babo to himself. "This time I shall have bread and my +master none." + +But listen to what happened. Up stepped the wise man to the +gallows, and gave it a sharp rap with his staff. Then, lo and +behold! The gallows was gone, and in its place stood a fine inn, +with lights in the windows, and a landlord bowing and smiling in +the doorway, and a fire roaring in the kitchen, and the smell of +good things cooking filling the air all around, so that only to +sniff did one's heart good. + +Poor Babo let fall the stone he had carried all day. A stone it +was, and a stone he let fall. + +" Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,'" said Agricola. "But +come in, Babo, come in; here is room enough for two." So that +night Babo had a good supper and a sound sleep, and that is a +cure for most of a body's troubles in this world. + +The third day of their travelling they came to farms and +villages, and there Simon Agricola began to think of showing some +of those tricks of magic that were to make his fortune and Babo's +into the bargain. + +At last they came to a blacksmith's shop, and there was the smith +hard at work, dinging and donging, and making sweet music with +hammer and anvil. In walked Simon Agricola and gave him good-day. +He put his fingers into his purse, and brought out all the money +he had in the world; it was one golden angel. "Look, friend," +said he to the blacksmith; "if you will let me have your forge +for one hour, I will give you this money for the use of it." + +The blacksmith liked the tune of that song very well. "You may +have it," said he; and he took off his leathern apron without +another word, and Simon Agricola put it on in his stead. + +Presently, who should come riding up to the blacksmith's shop but +a rich old nobleman and three servants. The servants were hale, +stout fellows, but the nobleman was as withered as a winter leaf. +"Can you shoe my horse?" said he to Simon Agricola, for he took +him to be the smith because of his leathern apron. + +"No," says Simon Agricola; "that is not my trade: I only know how +to make old people young." + +"Old people young!" said the old nobleman; "can you make me young +again?" + +"Yes," said Simon Agricola, "I can, but I must have a thousand +golden angels for doing it." + +"Very well," said the old nobleman; "make me young, and you shall +have them and welcome." + +So Simon Agricola gave the word, and Babo blew the bellows until +the fire blazed and roared. Then the doctor caught the old +nobleman, and laid him upon the forge. He heaped the coals over +him, and turned him this way and that, until he grew red-hot, +like a piece of iron. Then he drew him forth from the fire and +dipped him in the water-tank. Phizz! The water hissed, and the +steam rose up in a cloud; and when Simon Agricola took the old +nobleman out, lo and behold! He was as fresh and blooming and +lusty as a lad of twenty. + +But you should have seen how all the people stared and goggled!--Babo and the blacksmith and the +nobleman's servants. The +nobleman strutted up and down for a while, admiring himself, and +then he got upon his horse again. "But wait," said Simon +Agricola; "you forgot to pay me my thousand golden angels." + +"Pooh!" said the nobleman, and off he clattered, with his +servants at his heels; and that was all the good that Simon +Agricola had of this trick. But ill-luck was not done with him +yet, for when the smith saw how matters had turned out, he laid +hold of the doctor and would not let him go until he had paid him +the golden angel he had promised for the use of the forge. The +doctor pulled a sour face, but all the same he had to pay the +angel. Then the smith let him go, and off he marched in a huff. + +Outside of the forge was the smith's mother--a poor old creature, +withered and twisted and bent as a winter twig. Babo had kept his +eyes open, and had not travelled with Simon Agricola for nothing. +He plucked the smith by the sleeve: "Look'ee, friend," said he, +"how would you like me to make your mother, over yonder, young +again?" + +"I should like nothing better," said the smith. + +"Very well," said Babo; "give me the golden angel that the master +gave you, and I'll do the job for you." + +Well, the smith paid the money, and Babo bade him blow the +bellows. When the fire roared up good and hot, he caught up the +old mother, and, in spite of her scratching and squalling, he +laid her upon the embers. By-and-by, when he thought the right +time had come, he took her out and dipped her in the tank of +water; but instead of turning young, there she lay, as dumb as a +fish and as black as coal. + +When the blacksmith saw what Babo had done to his mother, he +caught him by the collar, and fell to giving him such a dressing +down as never man had before. + +"Help!" bawled Babo. "Help! Murder!" + +Such a hubbub had not been heard in that town for many a day. +Back came Simon Agricola running, and there he saw, and took it +all in in one look. + +"Stop, friend," said he to the smith, "let the simpleton go; this +is not past mending yet." + +"Very well," said the smith; "but he must give me back my golden +angel, and you must cure my mother, or else I'll have you both up +before the judge." + +"It shall be done," said Simon Agricola; so Babo paid back the +money, and the doctor dipped the woman in the water. When he +brought her out she was as well and strong as ever--but just as +old as she had been before. + +"Now be off for a pair of scamps, both of you," said the +blacksmith; "and if you ever come this way again, I'll set all +the dogs in the town upon you." + +Simon Agricola said nothing until they had come out upon the +highway again, and left the town well behind them; then--" Born a +fool, live a fool, die a fool!'" says he. + +Babo said nothing, but he rubbed the places where the smith had +dusted his coat. + +The fourth day of their journey they came to a town, and here +Simon Agricola was for trying his tricks of magic again. He and +Babo took up their stand in the corner of the market-place, and +began bawling, "Doctor Knowall! Doctor Knowall! Who has come from +the other end of Nowhere! He can cure any sickness or pain! He +can bring you back from the gates of death! Here is Doctor +Knowall! Here is Doctor Knowall!" + +Now there was a very, very rich man in that town, whose daughter +lay sick to death; and when the news of this great doctor was +brought to his ears, he was for having him try his hand at curing +the girl. + +"Very well," said Simon Agricola, "I will do that, but you must +pay me two thousand golden angels." + +"Two thousand golden angels!" said the rich man; "that is a great +deal of money, but you shall have it if only you will cure my +daughter." + +Simon Agricola drew a little vial from his bosom. From it he +poured just six drops of yellow liquor upon the girl's tongue. +Then--lo and behold!--up she sat in bed as well and strong as +ever, and asked for a boiled chicken and a dumpling, by way of +something to eat. + +"Bless you! Bless you!" said the rich man. + +"Yes, yes; blessings are very good, but I would like to have my +two thousand golden angels," said Simon Agricola. + +"Two thousand golden angels! I said nothing about two thousand +golden angels," said the rich man; "two thousand fiddlesticks!" +said he. "Pooh! Pooh! You must have been dreaming! See, here are +two hundred silver pennies, and that is enough and more than +enough for six drops of medicine." + +"I want my two thousand golden angels," said Simon Agricola. + +"You will get nothing but two hundred pennies," said the rich +man. + +"I won't touch one of them," said Simon Agricola, and off he +marched in a huff. + +But Babo had kept his eyes open. Simon Agricola had laid down the +vial upon the table, and while they were saying this and that +back and forth, thinking of nothing else, Babo quietly slipped it +into his own pocket, without any one but himself being the wiser. + +Down the stairs stumped the doctor with Babo at his heels. There +stood the cook waiting for them. + +"Look," said he, "my wife is sick in there; won't you cure her, +too?" + +"Pooh!" said Simon Agricola; and out he went, banging the door +behind him. + +"Look, friend," said Babo to the cook, "here I have some of the +same medicine. Give me the two hundred pennies that the master +would not take, and I'll cure her for you as sound as a bottle." + +"Very well," said the cook, and he counted out the two hundred +pennies, and Babo slipped them into his pocket. He bade the woman +open her mouth, and when she had done so he poured all the stuff +down her throat at once. + +"Ugh!" said she, and therewith rolled up her eyes, and lay as +stiff and dumb as a herring in a box. + +When the cook saw what Babo had done, he snatched up the rolling-pin and made at him to pound his +head to a jelly. But Babo did +not wait for his coming; he jumped out of the window, and away he +scampered with the cook at his heels. + +Well, the upshot of the business was that Simon Agricola had to +go back and bring life to the woman again, or the cook would +thump him and Babo both with the rolling-pin. And, what was more, +Babo had to pay back the two hundred pennies that the cook had +given him for curing his wife. + +The wise man made a cross upon the woman's forehead, and up she +sat, as well--but no better--as before. + +"And now be off," said the cook, "or I will call the servants and +give you both a drubbing for a pair of scamps." + +Simon Agricola said never a word until they had gotten out of the +town. There his anger boiled over, like water into the fire. +"Look," said he to Babo: " Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool.' +I want no more of you. Here are two roads; you take one, and I +will take the other." + +"What!" said Babo, "am I to travel the rest of the way alone? And +then, besides, how about the fortune you promised me?" + +"Never mind that," said Simon Agricola; "I have not made my own +fortune yet." + +"Well, at least pay me something for my wages," said Babo. + +"How shall I pay you?" said Simon Agricola. "I have not a single +groat in the world." + +"What!" said Babo, "have you nothing to give me?" + +"I can give you a piece of advice." + +"Well," said Babo, "that is better than nothing, so let me have +it." + +"Here it is," said Simon Agricola: " Think well! Think well!--before you do what you are about to +do, think well!'" + +"Thank you!" said Babo; and then the one went one way, and the +other the other. + +(You may go with the wise man if you choose, but I shall jog +along with the simpleton.) + +After Babo had travelled for a while, he knew not whither, night +caught him, and he lay down under a hedge to sleep. There he lay, +and snored away like a saw-mill, for he was wearied with his long +journeying. + +Now it chanced that that same night two thieves had broken into a +miser's house, and had stolen an iron pot full of gold money. Day +broke before they reached home, so down they sat to consider the +matter; and the place where they seated themselves was on the +other side of the hedge where Babo lay. The older thief was for +carrying the money home under his coat; the younger was for +burying it until night had come again. They squabbled and +bickered and argued till the noise they made wakened Babo, and he +sat up. The first thing he thought of was the advice that the +doctor had given him the evening before. + +" Think well!'" he bawled out; " think well! before you do what +you are about to do, think well!'" + +When the two thieves heard Babo's piece of advice, they thought +that the judge's officers were after them for sure and certain. +Down they dropped the pot of money, and away they scampered as +fast as their legs could carry them. + +Babo heard them running, and poked his head through the hedge, +and there lay the pot of gold. "Look now," said he: "this has +come from the advice that was given me; no one ever gave me +advice that was worth so much before." So he picked up the pot of +gold, and off he marched with it. + +He had not gone far before he met two of the king's officers, and +you may guess how they opened their eyes when they saw him +travelling along the highway with a pot full of gold money. + +"Where are you going with that money?" said they. + +"I don't know," said Babo. + +"How did you get it?" said they. + +"I got it for a piece of advice," said Babo. + +For a piece of advice! No, no--the king's officers knew butter +from lard, and truth from t'other thing. It was just the same in +that country as it is in our town--there was nothing in the world +so cheap as advice. Whoever heard of anybody giving a pot of gold +and silver money for it? Without another word they marched Babo +and his pot of money off to the king. + +"Come," said the king, "tell me truly; where did you get the pot +of money?" + +Poor Babo began to whimper. "I got it for a piece of advice," +said he. + +"Really and truly?" said the king. + +"Yes," said Babo; "really and truly." + +"Humph!" said the king. "I should like to have advice that is +worth as much as that. Now, how much will you sell your advice to +me for?" + +"How much will you give?" said Babo. + +"Well," said the king, "let me have it for a day on trial, and at +the end of that time I will pay you what it is worth." + +"Very well," said Babo, "that is a bargain"; and so he lent the +king his piece of advice for one day on trial. + +Now the chief councillor and some others had laid a plot against +the king's life, and that morning it had been settled that when +the barber shaved him he was to cut his throat with a razor. So +after the barber had lathered his face he began to whet the +razor, and to whet the razor. + +Just at that moment the king remembered Babo's piece of advice. +" Think well!' said he; " think well! Before you do what you are +about to do, think well!'" + +When the barber heard the words that the king said, he thought +that all had been discovered. Down he fell upon his knees, and +confessed everything. + +That is how Babo's advice saved the king's life--you can guess +whether the king thought it was worth much or little. When Babo +came the next morning the king gave him ten chests full of money, +and that made the simpleton richer than anybody in all that land. + +He built himself a fine house, and by-and-by married the daughter +of the new councillor that came after the other one's head had +been chopped off for conspiring against the king's life. Besides +that, he came and went about the king's castle as he pleased, and +the king made much of him. Everybody bowed to him, and all were +glad to stop and chat awhile with him when they met him in the +street. + +One morning Babo looked out of the window, and who should he see +come travelling along the road but Simon Agricola himself, and he +was just as poor and dusty and travel-stained as ever. + +"Come in, come in!" said Babo; and you can guess how the wise man +stared when he saw the simpleton living in such a fine way. But +he opened his eyes wider than ever when he heard that all these +good things came from the piece of advice he had given Babo that +day they had parted at the cross roads. + +"Aye, aye!" said he, "the luck is with you for sure and certain. +But if you will pay me a thousand golden angels, I will give you +something better than a piece of advice. I will teach you all the +magic that is to be learned from the books." + +"No," said Babo, "I am satisfied with the advice." + +"Very well," said Simon Agricola, " Born a fool, live a fool, die +a fool'"; and off he went in a huff. + +That is all of this tale except the tip end of it, and that I +will give you now. + +I have heard tell that one day the king dropped in the street the +piece of advice that he had bought from Babo, and that before he +found it again it had been trampled into the mud and dirt. I +cannot say for certain that this is the truth, but it must have +been spoiled in some way or other, for I have never heard of +anybody in these days who would give even so much as a bad penny +for it; and yet it is worth just as much now as it was when Babo +sold it to the king. + + + +I had sat listening to these jolly folk for all this time, and I +had not heard old Sindbad say a word, and yet I knew very well he +was full of a story, for every now and then I could see his lips +move, and he would smile, and anon he would stroke his long white +beard and smile again. + +Everybody clapped their hands and rattled their canicans after +the Blacksmith had ended his story, and methought they liked it +better than almost anything that had been told. Then there was a +pause, and everybody was still, and as nobody else spoke I myself +ventured to break the silence. "I would like," said I (and my +voice sounded thin in my own ears, as one's voice always does +sound in Twilight Land), "I would like to hear our friend Sindbad +the Sailor tell a story. Methinks one is fermenting in his mind." + +Old Sindbad smiled until his cheeks crinkled into wrinkles. + +"Aye," said every one, "will you not tell a story?" + +"To be sure I will," said Sindbad. "I will tell you a good +story," said he, "and it is about-- + + +The Enchanted Island. + +But it is not always the lucky one that carries away the plums; +sometimes he only shakes the tree, and the wise man pockets the +fruit. + +Once upon a long, long time ago, and in a country far, far away, +there lived two men in the same town and both were named Selim; +one was Selim the Baker and one was Selim the Fisherman. + +Selim the Baker was well off in the world, but Selim the +Fisherman was only so-so. Selim the Baker always had plenty to +eat and a warm corner in cold weather, but many and many a time +Selim the Fisherman's stomach went empty and his teeth went +chattering. + +Once it happened that for time after time Selim the Fisherman +caught nothing but bad luck in his nets, and not so much as a +single sprat, and he was very hungry. "Come," said he to himself, +"those who have some should surely give to those who have none," +and so he went to Selim the Baker. "Let me have a loaf of bread," +said he, "and I will pay you for it tomorrow." + +"Very well," said Selim the Baker; "I will let you have a loaf of +bread, if you will give me all that you catch in your nets to-morrow." + +"So be it," said Selim the Fisherman, for need drives one to hard +bargains sometimes; and therewith he got his loaf of bread. + +So the next day Selim the Fisherman fished and fished and fished +and fished, and still he caught no more than the day before; +until just at sunset he cast his net for the last time for the +day, and, lo and behold! There was something heavy in it. So he +dragged it ashore, and what should it be but a leaden box, sealed +as tight as wax, and covered with all manner of strange letters +and figures. "Here," said he, "is something to pay for my bread +of yesterday, at any rate"; and as he was an honest man, off he +marched with it to Selim the Baker. + +They opened the box in the baker's shop, and within they found +two rolls of yellow linen. In each of the rolls of linen was +another little leaden box: in one was a finger-ring of gold set +with a red stone, in the other was a finger-ring of iron set with +nothing at all. + +That was all the box held; nevertheless, that was the greatest +catch that ever any fisherman made in the world; for, though +Selim the one or Selim the other knew no more of the matter than +the cat under the stove, the gold ring was the Ring of Luck and +the iron ring was the Ring of Wisdom. + +Inside of the gold ring were carved these letters: "Whosoever +wears me, shall have that which all men seek--for so it is with +good-luck in this world." + +Inside of the iron ring were written these words: "Whosoever +wears me, shall have that which few men care for--and that is the +way it is with wisdom in our town." + +"Well," said Selim the Baker, and he slipped the gold ring of +good-luck on his finger, "I have driven a good bargain, and you +have paid for your loaf of bread." + +"But what will you do with the other ring?" said Selim the +Fisherman. + +"Oh, you may have that," said Selim the Baker. + +Well, that evening, as Selim the Baker sat in front of his shop +in the twilight smoking a pipe of tobacco, the ring he wore began +to work. Up came a little old man with a white beard, and he was +dressed all in gray from top to toe, and he wore a black velvet +cap, and he carried a long staff in his hand. He stopped in front +of Selim the Baker, and stood looking at him a long, long time. +At last--"Is your name Selim?" said he. + +"Yes," said Selim the Baker, "it is." + +"And do you wear a gold ring with a red stone on your finger?" + +"Yes," said Selim, "I do." + +"Then come with me," said the little old man, "and I will show +you the wonder of the world." + +"Well," said Selim the Baker, "that will be worth the seeing, at +any rate." So he emptied out his pipe of tobacco, and put on his +hat and followed the way the old man led. + +Up one street they went, and down another, and here and there +through alleys and byways where Selim had never been before. At +last they came to where a high wall ran along the narrow street, +with a garden behind it, and by-and-by to an iron gate. The old +man rapped upon the gate three times with his knuckles, and cried +in a loud voice, "Open to Selim, who wears the Ring of Luck!" + +Then instantly the gate swung open, and Selim the Baker followed +the old man into the garden. + +Bang! shut the gate behind him, and there he was. + +There he was! And such a place he had never seen before. Such +fruit! Such flowers! Such fountains! Such summer-houses! + +"This is nothing, " said the old man; "this is only the beginning +of wonder. Come with me." + +He led the way down a long pathway between the trees, and Selim +followed. By-and-by, far away, they saw the light of torches; and +when they came to what they saw, lo and behold! there was the +sea-shore, and a boat with four-and-twenty oarsmen, each dressed +in cloth of gold and silver more splendidly than a prince. And +there were four-and-twenty black slaves, carrying each a torch of +spice-wood, so that all the air was filled with sweet smells. The +old man led the way, and Selim, following, entered the boat; and +there was a seat for him made soft with satin cushions +embroidered with gold and precious stones and stuffed with down, +and Selim wondered whether he was not dreaming. + +The oarsmen pushed off from the shore and away they rowed. + +On they rowed and on they rowed for all that livelong night. + +At last morning broke, and then as the sun rose Selim saw such a +sight as never mortal eyes beheld before or since. It was the +wonder of wonders--a great city built on an island. The island +was all one mountain; and on it, one above another and another +above that again, stood palaces that glistened like snow, and +orchards of fruit, and gardens of flowers and green trees. + +And as the boat came nearer and nearer to the city, Selim could +see that all around on the house-tops and down to the water's +edge were crowds and crowds of people. All were looking out +towards the sea, and when they saw the boat and Selim in it, a +great shout went up like the roaring of rushing waters. + +"It is the King!" they cried--"it is the King!" It is Selim the +King!" + +Then the boat landed, and there stood dozens of scores of great +princes and nobles to welcome Selim when he came ashore. And +there was a white horse waiting for him to ride, and its saddle +and bridle were studded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds +that sparkled and glistened like the stars in heaven, and Selim +thought for sure he must be dreaming with his eyes open. + +But he was not dreaming, for it was all as true as that eggs are +eggs. So up the hill he rode, and to the grandest and the most +splendid of all the splendid palaces, the princes and noblemen +riding with him, and the crowd shouting as though to split their +throats. + +And what a palace it was!--as white as snow and painted all +inside with gold and blue. All around it were gardens blooming +with fruit and flowers, and the like of it mortal man never saw +in the world before. + +There they made a king of Selim, and put a golden crown on his +head; and that is what the Ring of Good Luck can do for a baker. + +But wait a bit! There was something queer about it all, and that +is now to be told. + +All that day was feasting and drinking and merry-making, and the +twinging and twanging of music, and dancing of beautiful dancing-girls, and such things as Selim had +never heard tell of in all +his life before. And when night came they lit thousands and +thousands of candles of perfumed wax; so that it was a hard +matter to say when night began and day ended, only that the one +smelled sweeter than the other. + +But at last it came midnight, and then suddenly, in an instant, +all the lights went out and everything was as dark as pitch--not +a spark, not a glimmer anywhere. And, just as suddenly, all the +sound of music and dancing and merrymaking ceased, and everybody +began to wail and cry until it was enough to wring one's heart to +hear. Then, in the midst of all the wailing and crying, a door +was flung open, and in came six tall and terrible black men, +dressed all in black from top to toe, carrying each a flaming +torch; and by the light of the torches King Selim saw that all--the princes, the noblemen, the +dancing-girls--all lay on their +faces on the floor. + +The six men took King Selim--who shuddered and shook with fear--by the arms, and marched him through +dark, gloomy entries and +passage-ways, until they came at last to the very heart of the +palace. + +There was a great high-vaulted room all of black marble, and in +the middle of it was a pedestal with seven steps, all of black +marble; and on the pedestal stood a stone statue of a woman +looking as natural as life, only that her eyes were shut. The +statue was dressed like a queen: she wore a golden crown on her +head, and upon her body hung golden robes, set with diamonds and +emeralds and rubies and sapphires and pearls and all sorts of +precious stones. + +As for the face of the statue, white paper and black ink could +not tell you how beautiful it was. When Selim looked at it, it +made his heart stand still in his breast, it was so beautiful. + +The six men brought Selim up in front of the statue, and then a +voice came as though from the vaulted roof: "Selim! Selim! +Selim!" it said, "what are thou doing? To-day is feasting and +drinking and merry-making, but beware of tomorrow!" + +As soon as these words were ended the six black men marched King +Selim back whence they had brought him; there they left him and +passed out one by one as they had first come in, and the door +shut to behind them. + +Then in an instant the lights flashed out again, the music began +to play and the people began to talk and laugh, and King Selim +thought that maybe all that had just passed was only a bit of an +ugly dream after all. + +So that is the way King Selim the Baker began to reign, and that +is the way he continued to reign. All day was feasting and +drinking and making merry and music and laughing and talking. But +every night at midnight the same thing happened: the lights went +out, all the people began wailing and crying, and the six tall, +terrible black men came with flashing torches and marched King +Selim away to the beautiful statue. And every night the same +voice said--"Selim! Selim! Selim! What art thou doing! To-day is +feasting and drinking and merry-making; but beware of tomorrow!" + +So things went on for a twelvemonth, and at last came the end of +the year. That day and night the merry-making was merrier and +wilder and madder than it had ever been before, but the great +clock in the tower went on--tick, tock! tick, tock!--and by and +by it came midnight. Then, as it always happened before, the +lights went out, and all was as black as ink. But this time there +was no wailing and crying out, but everything was silent as +death; the door opened slowly, and in came, not six black men as +before, but nine men as silent as death, dressed all in flaming +red, and the torches they carried burned as red as blood. They +took King Selim by the arms, just as the six men had done, and +marched him through the same entries and passageways, and so came +at last to the same vaulted room. There stood the statue, but now +it was turned to flesh and blood, and the eyes were open and +looking straight at Selim the Baker. + +"Art thou Selim?" said she; and she pointed her finger straight +at him. + +"Yes, I am Selim," said he. + +"And dost thou wear the gold ring with the red stone?" said she. + +"Yes," said he; "I have it on my finger." + +"And dost thou wear the iron ring?" + +"No," said he; "I gave that to Selim the Fisherman." + +The words had hardly left his lips when the statue gave a great +cry and clapped her hands together. In an instant an echoing cry +sounded all over the town--a shriek fit to split the ears. + +The next moment there came another sound--a sound like thunder--above and below and everywhere. The +earth began to shake and to +rock, and the houses began to topple and fall, and the people +began to scream and to yell and to shout, and the waters of the +sea began to lash and to roar, and the wind began to bellow and +howl. Then it was a good thing for King Selim that he wore Luck's +Ring; for, though all the beautiful snow-white palace about him +and above him began to crumble to pieces like slaked lime, the +sticks and the stones and the beams to fall this side of him and +that, he crawled out from under it without a scratch or a bruise, +like a rat out of a cellar. + +That is what Luck's Ring did for him. + +But his troubles were not over yet; for, just as he came out from +under all the ruin, the island began to sink down into the water, +carrying everything along with it--that is, everything but him +and one thing else. That one other thing was an empty boat, and +King Selim climbed into it, and nothing else saved him from +drowning. It was Luck's Ring that did that for him also. + +The boat floated on and on until it came to another island that +was just like the island he had left, only that there was neither +tree nor blade of grass nor hide nor hair nor living thing of any +kind. Nevertheless, it was an island just like the other: a high +mountain and nothing else. There Selim the Baker went ashore, and +there he would have starved to death only for Luck's Ring; for +one day a boat came sailing by, and when poor Selim shouted, +those aboard heard him and came and took him off. How they all +stared to see his golden crown--for he still wore it--and his +robes of silk and satin and the gold and jewels! + +Before they would consent to carry him away, they made him give +up all the fine things he had. Then they took him home again to +the town whence he had first come, just as poor as when he had +started. Back he went to his bake-shop and his ovens, and the +first thing he did was to take off his gold ring and put it on +the shelf. + +"If that is the ring of good luck," said he, "I do not want to +wear the like of it." + +That is the way with mortal man: for one has to have the Ring of +Wisdom as well, to turn the Ring of Luck to good account. + +And now for Selim the Fisherman. + +Well, thus it happened to him. For a while he carried the iron +ring around in his pocket--just as so many of us do--without +thinking to put it on. But one day he slipped it on his finger--and that is what we do not all of us +do. After that he never took +it off again, and the world went smoothly with him. He was not +rich, but then he was not poor; he was not merry, neither was he +sad. He always had enough and was thankful for it, for I never +yet knew wisdom to go begging or crying., + +So he went his way and he fished his fish, and twelve months and +a week or more passed by. Then one day he went past the baker +shop and there sat Selim the Baker smoking his pipe of tobacco. + +"So, friend," said Selim the Fisherman, "you are back again in +the old place, I see." + +"Yes," said the other Selim; "awhile ago I was a king, and now I +am nothing but a baker again. As for that gold ring with the red +stone--they may say it is Luck's Ring if they choose, but when +next I wear it may I be hanged." + +Thereupon he told Selim the Fisherman the story of what had +happened to him with all its ins and outs, just as I have told it +to you. + +"Well!" said Selim the Fisherman, "I should like to have a sight +of that island myself. If you want the ring no longer, just let +me have it; for maybe if I wear it something of the kind will +happen to me." + +"You may have it," said Selim the Baker. "Yonder it is, and you +are welcome to it." + +So Selim the Fisherman put on the ring, and then went his way +about his own business. + +That night, as he came home carrying his nets over his shoulder, +whom should he meet but the little old man in gray, with the +white beard and the black cap on his head and the long staff in +his hand. + +"Is your name Selim?" said the little man, just as he had done to +Selim the Baker. + +"Yes," said Selim; "it is." + +"And do you wear a gold ring with a red stone?" said the little +old man, just as he had said before. + +"Yes," said Selim; "I do." + +"Then come with me," said the little old man, "and I will show +you the wonder of the world." + +Selim the Fisherman remembered all that Selim the Baker had told +him, and he took no two thoughts as to what to do. Down he +tumbled his nets, and away he went after the other as fast as his +legs could carry him. Here they went and there they went, up +crooked streets and lanes and down by-ways and alley-ways, until +at last they came to the same garden to which Selim the Baker had +been brought. Then the old man knocked at the gate three times +and cried out in a loud voice, "Open! Open! Open to Selim who +wears the Ring of Luck!" + +Then the gate opened, and in they went. Fine as it all was, Selim +the Fisherman cared to look neither to the right nor to the left, +but straight after the old man he went, until at last they came +to the seaside and the boat and the four-and-twenty oarsmen +dressed like princes and the black slaves with the perfumed +torches. + +Here the old man entered the boat and Selim after him, and away +they sailed. + +To make a long story short, everything happened to Selim the +Fisherman just as it had happened to Selim the Baker. At dawn of +day they came to the island and the city built on the mountain. +And the palaces were just as white and beautiful, and the gardens +and orchards just as fresh and blooming as though they had not +all tumbled down and sunk under the water a week before, almost +carrying poor Selim the Baker with them. There were the people +dressed in silks and satins and jewels, just as Selim the Baker +had found them, and they shouted and hurrahed for Selim the +Fisherman just as they had shouted and hurrahed for the other. +There were the princes and the nobles and the white horse, and +Selim the Fisherman got on his back and rode up to a dazzling +snow-white palace, and they put a crown on his head and made a +king of him, just as they had made a king of Selim the Baker. + +That night, at midnight, it happened just as it had happened +before. Suddenly, as the hour struck, the lights all went out, +and there was a moaning and a crying enough to make the heart +curdle. Then the door flew open, and in came the six terrible +black men with torches. They led Selim the Fisherman through damp +and dismal entries and passage-ways until they came to the +vaulted room of black marble, and there stood the beautiful +statue on its black pedestal. Then came the voice from above--"Selim! Selim! Selim!" it cried, "what +art thou doing? To-day is +feasting and drinking and merry-making, but beware of to-morrow!" + +But Selim the Fisherman did not stand still and listen, as Selim +the Baker had done. He called out, "I hear the words! I am +listening! I will beware to-day for the sake of to-morrow!" + +I do not know what I should have done had I been king of that +island and had I known that in a twelve-month it would all come +tumbling down about my ears and sink into the sea, maybe carry me +along with it. This is what Selim the Fisherman did [but then he +wore the iron Ring of Wisdom on his finger, and I never had that +upon mine]: + +First of all, he called the wisest men of the island to him, and +found from them just where the other desert island lay upon which +the boat with Selim the Baker in it had drifted. + +Then, when he had learned where it was to be found, he sent +armies and armies of men and built on that island palaces and +houses, and planted there orchards and gardens, just like the +palaces and the orchards and the gardens about him--only a great +deal finer. Then he sent fleets and fleets of ships, and carried +everything away from the island where he lived to that other +island--all the men and the women and the children; all the +flocks and herds and every living thing; all the fowls and the +birds and everything that wore feathers; all the gold and the +silver and the jewels and the silks and the satins, and whatever +was of any good or of any use; and when all these things were +done, there were still two days left till the end of the year. + +Upon the first of these two days he sent over the beautiful +statue and had it set up in the very midst of the splendid new +palace he had built. + +Upon the second day he went over himself, leaving behind him +nothing but the dead mountain and the rocks and the empty houses. + +So came the end of the twelve months. + +So came midnight. + +Out went all the lights in the new palace, and everything was as +silent as death and as black as ink. The door opened, and in came +the nine men in red, with torches burning as red as blood. They +took Selim the Fisherman by the arms and led him to the beautiful +statue, and there she was with her eyes open. + +"Are you Selim?" said she. + +"Yes, I am Selim," said he. + +"And do you wear the iron Ring of Wisdom?" said she. + +"Yes, I do," said he; and so he did. + +There was no roaring and thundering, there was no shaking and +quaking, there was no toppling and tumbling, there was no +splashing and dashing: for this island was solid rock, and was +not all enchantment and hollow inside and underneath like the +other which he had left behind. + +The beautiful statue smiled until the place lit up as though the +sun shone. Down she came from the pedestal where she stood and +kissed Selim the Fisherman on the lips. + +Then instantly the lights blazed everywhere, and the people +shouted and cheered, and the music played. But neither Selim the +Fisherman nor the beautiful statue saw or heard anything. + +"I have done all this for you!" said Selim the Fisherman. + +"And I have been waiting for you a thousand years!" said the +beautiful statue--only she was not a statue any longer. + +After that they were married, and Selim the Fisherman and the +enchanted statue became king and queen in real earnest. + +I think Selim the Fisherman sent for Selim the Baker and made him +rich and happy--I hope he did--I am sure he did. + +So, after all, it is not always the lucky one who gathers the +plums when wisdom is by to pick up what the other shakes down. + + +I could say more; for, O little children! little children! there +is more than meat in many an egg-shell; and many a fool tells a +story that joggles a wise man's wits, and many a man dances and +junkets in his fool's paradise till it comes tumbling down about +his ears some day; and there are few men who are like Selim the +Fisherman, who wear the Ring of Wisdom on their finger, and, +alack-a-day! I am not one of them, and that is the end of this +story. + + +Old Bidpai nodded his head. "Aye, aye," said he, "there is a very +good moral in that story, my friend. It is, as a certain +philosopher said, very true, that there is more in an egg than +the meat. And truly, methinks, there is more in thy story than +the story of itself." He nodded his head again and stroked his +beard slowly, puffing out as he did so as a great reflective +cloud of smoke, through which his eyes shone and twinkled mistily +like stars through a cloud. + +"And whose turn is it now?" said Doctor Faustus. + +"Methinks tis mine," said Boots--he who in fairy-tale always sat +in the ashes at home and yet married a princess after he had gone +out into the world awhile. "My story," said he, "hath no moral, +but, all the same, it is as true as that eggs hatch chickens." +Then, without waiting for any one to say another word, he began +it in these words. "I am going to tell you," said he, how-- + + + +All Things are as Fate wills. + +Once upon a time, in the old, old days, there lived a king who +had a head upon his shoulders wiser than other folk, and this was +why: though he was richer and wiser and greater than most kings, +and had all that he wanted and more into the bargain, he was so +afraid of becoming proud of his own prosperity that he had these +words written in letters of gold upon the walls of each and every +room in his palace: + +All Things are as Fate wills. + +Now, by-and-by and after a while the king died; for when his time +comes, even the rich and the wise man must die, as well as the +poor and the simple man. So the king's son came, in turn, to be +king of that land; and, though he was not so bad as the world of +men goes, he was not the man that his father was, as this story +will show you. + +One day, as he sat with his chief councillor, his eyes fell upon +the words written in letters of gold upon the wall--the words +that his father had written there in time gone by: + +All Things are as Fate wills; + +and the young king did not like the taste of them, for he was +very proud of his own greatness. "That is not so," said he, +pointing to the words on the wall. "Let them be painted out, and +these words written in their place: + +All Things are as Man does." + +Now, the chief councillor was a grave old man, and had been +councillor to the young king's father. "Do not be too hasty, my +lord king," said he. "Try first the truth of your own words +before you wipe out those that your father has written." + +"Very well," said the young king, "so be it. I will approve the +truth of my words. Bring me hither some beggar from the town whom +Fate has made poor, and I will make him rich. So I will show you +that his life shall be as I will, and not as Fate wills." + +Now, in that town there was a poor beggar-man who used to sit +every day beside the town gate, begging for something for +charity's sake. Sometimes people gave him a penny or two, but it +was little or nothing that he got, for Fate was against him. + +The same day that the king and the chief councillor had had their +talk together, as the beggar sat holding up his wooden bowl and +asking charity of those who passed by, there suddenly came three +men who, without saying a word, clapped hold of him and marched +him off. + +It was in vain that the beggar talked and questioned--in vain +that he begged and besought them to let him go. Not a word did +they say to him, either of good or bad. At last they came to a +gate that led through a high wall and into a garden, and there +the three stopped, and one of them knocked upon the gate. In +answer to his knocking it flew open. He thrust the beggar into +the garden neck and crop, and then the gate was banged to again. + +But what a sight it was the beggar saw before his eyes!--flowers, +and fruit-trees, and marble walks, and a great fountain that shot +up a jet of water as white as snow. But he had not long to stand +gaping and staring around him, for in the garden were a great +number of people, who came hurrying to him, and who, without +speaking a word to him or answering a single question, or as much +as giving him time to think, led him to a marble bath of tepid +water. There he was stripped of his tattered clothes and washed +as clean as snow. Then, as some of the attendants dried him with +fine linen towels, others came carrying clothes fit for a prince +to wear, and clad the beggar in them from head to foot. After +that, still without saying a word, they let him out from the bath +again, and there he found still other attendants waiting for him--two of them holding a milk-white +horse, saddled and bridled, and +fit for an emperor to ride. These helped him to mount, and then, +leaping into their own saddles, rode away with the beggar in +their midst. + +They rode of the garden and into the streets, and on and on they +went until they came to the king's palace, and there they +stopped. Courtiers and noblemen and great lords were waiting for +their coming, some of whom helped him to dismount from the horse, +for by this time the beggar was so overcome with wonder that he +stared like one moon-struck, and as though his wits were addled. +Then, leading the way up the palace steps, they conducted him +from room to room, until at last they came to one more grand and +splendid than all the rest, and there sat the king himself +waiting for the beggar's coming. + +The beggar would have flung himself at the king's feet, but the +king would not let him; for he came down from the throne where he +sat, and, taking the beggar by the hand, led him up and sat him +alongside of him. Then the king gave orders to the attendants who +stood about, and a feast was served in plates of solid gold upon +a table-cloth of silver--a feast such as the beggar had never +dreamed of, and the poor man ate as he had never eaten in his +life before. + +All the while that the king and the beggar were eating, musicians +played sweet music and dancers danced and singers sang. + +Then when the feast was over there came ten young men, bringing +flasks and flagons of all kinds, full of the best wine in the +world; and the beggar drank as he had never drank in his life +before, and until his head spun like a top. + +So the king and the beggar feasted and made merry, until at last +the clock struck twelve and the king arose from his seat. "My +friend," said he to the beggar, "all these things have been done +to show you that Luck and Fate, which have been against you for +all these years, are now for you. Hereafter, instead of being +poor you shall be the richest of the rich, for I will give you +the greatest thing that I have in my treasury," Then he called +the chief treasurer, who came forward with a golden tray in his +hand. Upon the tray was a purse of silk. "See," said the king, +"here is a purse, and in the purse are one hundred pieces of gold +money. But though that much may seem great to you, it is but +little of the true value of the purse. Its virtue lies in this: +that however much you may take from it, there will always be one +hundred pieces of gold money left in it. Now go; and while you +are enjoying the riches which I give you, I have only to ask you +to remember these are not the gifts of Fate, but of a mortal +man." + +But all the while he was talking the beggar's head was spinning +and spinning, and buzzing and buzzing, so that he hardly heard a +word of what the king said. + +Then when the king had ended his speech, the lords and gentlemen +who had brought the beggar in led him forth again. Out they went +through room after room--out through the courtyard, out through +the gate. + +Bang!--it was shut to behind him, and he found himself standing +in the darkness of midnight, with the splendid clothes upon his +back, and the magic purse with its hundred pieces of gold money +in his pocket. + +He stood looking about himself for a while, and then off he +started homeward, staggering and stumbling and shuffling, for the +wine that he had drank made him so light-headed that all the +world spun topsy-turvy around him. + +His way led along by the river, and on he went stumbling and +staggering. All of a sudden--plump! splash!--he was in the water +over head and ears. Up he came, spitting out the water and +shouting for help, splashing and sputtering, and kicking and +swimming, knowing no more where he was than the man in the moon. +Sometimes his head was under water and sometimes it was up again. + +At last, just as his strength was failing him, his feet struck +the bottom, and he crawled up on the shore more dead than alive. +Then, through fear and cold and wet, he swooned away, and lay for +a long time for all the world as though he were dead. + +Now, it chanced that two fisherman were out with their nets that +night, and Luck or Fate led them by the way where the beggar lay +on the shore. "Halloa!" said one of the fishermen, "here is a +poor body drowned!" They turned him over, and then they saw what +rich clothes he wore, and felt that he had a purse in his pocket. + +"Come," said the second fisherman, "he is dead, whoever he is. +His fine clothes and his purse of money can do him no good now, +and we might as well have them as anybody else." So between them +both they stripped the beggar of all that the king had given him, +and left him lying on the beach. + +At daybreak the beggar awoke from the swoon, and there he found +himself lying without a stitch to his back, and half dead with +the cold and the water he had swallowed. Then, fearing lest +somebody might see him, he crawled away into the rushes that grew +beside the river, there to hide himself until night should come +again. + +But as he went, crawling upon hands and knees, he suddenly came +upon a bundle that had been washed up by the water, and when he +laid eyes upon it his heart leaped within him, for what should +that bundle be but the patches and tatters which he had worn the +day before, and which the attendants had thrown over the garden +wall and into the river when they had dressed him in the fine +clothes the king gave him. + +He spread his clothes out in the sun until they were dry, and +then he put them on and went back into the town again. + +"Well," said the king, that morning, to his chief councillor, +"what do you think now? Am I not greater than Fate? Did I not +make the beggar rich? And shall I not paint my father's words out +from the wall, and put my own there instead?" + +"I do not know," said the councillor, shaking his head. "Let us +first see what has become of the beggar." + +"So be it," said the king; and he and the councillor set off to +see whether the beggar had done as he ought to do with the good +things that the king had given him. So they came to the towngate, +and there, lo and behold! the first thing that they saw was the +beggar with his wooden bowl in his hand asking those who passed +by for a stray penny or two. + +When the king saw him he turned without a word, and rode back +home again. "Very well," said he to the chief councillor, "I have +tried to make the beggar rich and have failed; nevertheless, if I +cannot make him I can ruin him in spite of Fate, and that I will +show you." + +So all that while the beggar sat at the towngate and begged until +came noontide, when who should he see coming but the same three +men who had come for him the day before. "Ah, ha!" said he to +himself, "now the king is going to give me some more good +things." And so when the three reached him he was willing enough +to go with them, rough as they were. + +Off they marched; but this time they did not come to any garden +with fruits and flowers and fountains and marble baths. Off they +marched, and when they stopped it was in front of the king's +palace. This time no nobles and great lords and courtiers were +waiting for his coming; but instead of that the town hangman--a +great ugly fellow, clad in black from head to foot. Up he came to +the beggar, and, catching him by the scruff of his neck, dragged +him up the palace steps and from room to room until at last he +flung him down at the king's feet. + +When the poor beggar gathered wits enough to look about him he +saw there a great chest standing wide open, and with holes in the +lid. He wondered what it was for, but the king gave him no chance +to ask; for, beckoning with his hand, the hangman and the others +caught the beggar by arms and legs, thrust him into the chest, +and banged down the lid upon him. + +The king locked it and double-locked it, and set his seal upon +it; and there was the beggar as tight as a fly in a bottle. + +They carried the chest out and thrust it into a cart and hauled +it away, until at last they came to the sea-shore. There they +flung chest and all into the water, and it floated away like a +cork. And that is how the king set about to ruin the poor beggar-man. + +Well, the chest floated on and on for three days, and then at +last it came to the shore of a country far away. There the waves +caught it up, and flung it so hard upon the rocks of the sea-beach that the chest was burst open by +the blow, and the beggar +crawled out with eyes as big as saucers and face as white as +dough. After he had sat for a while, and when his wits came back +to him and he had gathered strength enough, he stood up and +looked around to see where Fate had cast him; and far away on the +hill-sides he saw the walls and the roofs and the towers of the +great town, shining in the sunlight as white as snow. + +"Well," said he, "here is something to be thankful for, at +least," and so saying and shaking the stiffness out of his knees +and elbows, he started off for the white walls and the red roofs +in the distance. + +At last he reached the great gate, and through it he could see +the stony streets and multitudes of people coming and going. + +But it was not for him to enter that gate. Out popped two +soldiers with great battle-axes in their hands and looking as +fierce as dragons. "Are you a stranger in this town?" said one in +a great, gruff voice. + +"Yes," said the beggar, "I am." + +"And where are you going?" + +"I am going into the town." + +"No, you are not." + +"Why not?" + +"Because no stranger enters here. Yonder is the pathway. You must +take that if you would enter the town." + +"Very well," said the beggar, "I would just as lief go into the +town that way as another." + +So off he marched without another word. On and on he went along +the narrow pathway until at last he came to a little gate of +polished brass. Over the gate were written these words, in great +letters as red as blood: + +"Who Enters here Shall Surely Die." + +Many and many a man besides the beggar had travelled that path +and looked up at those letters, and when he had read them had +turned and gone away again. But the beggar neither turned nor +went away; because why, he could neither read nor write a word, +and so the blood-red letters had no fear for him. Up he marched +to the brazen gate, as boldly as though it had been a kitchen +door, and rap! tap! tap! he knocked upon it. He waited awhile, +but nobody came. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked again; and then, after +a little while, for the third time--Rap! tap! tap! Then instantly +the gate swung open and he entered. So soon as he had crossed the +threshold it was banged to behind him again, just as the garden +gate had been when the king had first sent for him. He found +himself in a long, dark entry, and at the end of it another door, +and over it the same words, written in blood-red letters: + +"Beware! Beware! Who Enters here Shall Surely Die!" + +"Well," said the beggar, "this is the hardest town for a body to +come into that I ever saw." And then he opened the second door +and passed through. + +It was fit to deafen a body! Such a shout the beggar's ears had +never heard before; such a sight the beggar's eyes had never +beheld, for there, before him, was a great splendid hall of +marble as white as snow. All along the hall stood scores of lords +and ladies in silks and satins, and with jewels on their necks +and arms fit to dazzle a body's eyes. Right up the middle of the +hall stretched a carpet of blue velvet, and at the farther end, +on a throne of gold, sat a lady as beautiful as the sun and moon +and all the stars. + +"Welcome! welcome!" they all shouted, until the beggar was nearly +deafened by the noise they all made, and the lady herself stood +up and smiled upon him. + +Then there came three young men, and led the beggar up the carpet +of velvet to the throne of gold. + +"Welcome, my hero!" said the beautiful lady; "and have you, then, +come at last?" + +"Yes," said the beggar, "I have." + +"Long have I waited for you," said the lady; "long have I waited +for the hero who would dare without fear to come through the two +gates of death to marry me and to rule as king over this country, +and now at last you are here." + +"Yes," said the beggar, "I am." + +Meanwhile, while all these things were happening, the king of +that other country had painted out the words his father had +written on the walls, and had had these words painted in in their +stead: + +"All Things are as Man does." + +For a while he was very well satisfied with them, until, a week +after, he was bidden to the wedding of the Queen of the Golden +Mountains; for when he came there who should the bridegroom be +but the beggar whom he had set adrift in the wooden box a week or +so before. + +The bridegroom winked at him, but said never a word, good or ill, +for he was willing to let all that had happened be past and gone. +But the king saw how matters stood as clear as daylight, and when +he got back home again he had the new words that stood on the +walls of the room painted out, and had the old ones painted in in +bigger letters than ever: + +"All Things are as Fate wills." + + +All the good people who were gathered around the table of the +Sign of Mother Goose sat thinking for a while over the story. As +for Boots, he buried his face in the quart pot and took a long, +long pull at the ale. + +"Methinks," said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, presently +breaking silence--"methinks there be very few of the women folk +who do their share of this story-telling. So far we have had but +one, and that is Lady Cinderella. I see another one present, and +I drink to her health." + +He winked his eye at Patient Grizzle, beckoning towards her with +his quart pot, and took a long and hearty pull. Then he banged +his mug down upon the table. "Fetch me another glass, lass," said +he to little Brown Betty. "Meantime, fair lady"--this he said to +Patient Grizzle--"will you not entertain us with some story of +your own?" + +"I know not," said Patient Grizzle, "that I can tell you any +story worth your hearing." + +"Aye, aye, but you can," said the Soldier who cheated the Devil; +"and, moreover, anything coming from betwixt such red lips and +such white teeth will be worth the listening to." + +Patient Grizzle smiled, and the brave little Tailor, and the Lad +who fiddled for the Jew, and Hans and Bidpai and Boots nodded +approval. + +"Aye," said Ali Baba, "it is true enough that there have been but +few of the women folk who have had their say, and methinks that +it is very strange and unaccountable, for nearly always they have +plenty to speak in their own behalf." + +All who sat there in Twilight Land laughed, and even Patient +Grizzle smiled. + +"Very well," said Patient Grizzle, "if you will have it, I will +tell you a story. It is about a fisherman who was married and had +a wife of his own, and who made her carry all the load of +everything that happened to him. For he, like most men I wot of, +had found out-- + + +Where to Lay the Blame. + +Many and many a man has come to trouble--so he will say--by +following his wife's advice. This is how it was with a man of +whom I shall tell you. + +There was once upon a time a fisherman who had fished all day +long and had caught not so much as a sprat. So at night there he +sat by the fire, rubbing his knees and warming his shins, and +waiting for supper that his wife was cooking for him, and his +hunger was as sharp as vinegar, and his temper hot enough to fry +fat. + +While he sat there grumbling and growling and trying to make +himself comfortable and warm, there suddenly came a knock at the +door. The good woman opened it, and there stood an old man, clad +all in red from head to foot, and with a snowy beard at his chin +as white as winter snow. + +The fisherman's wife stood gaping and staring at the strange +figure, but the old man in red walked straight into the hut. +"Bring your nets, fisherman," said he, "and come with me. There +is something that I want you to catch for me, and if I have luck +I will pay you for your fishing as never fisherman was paid +before." + +"Not I," said the fisherman, "I go out no more this night. I have +been fishing all day long until my back is nearly broken, and +have caught nothing, and now I am not such a fool as to go out +and leave a warm fire and a good supper at your bidding." + +But the fisherman's wife had listened to what the old man had +said about paying for the job, and she was of a different mind +from her husband. "Come," said she, "the old man promises to pay +you well. This is not a chance to be lost, I can tell you, and my +advice to you is that you go." + +The fisherman shook his head. No, he would not go; he had said he +would not, and he would not. But the wife only smiled and said +again, "My advice to you is that you go." + +The fisherman grumbled and grumbled, and swore that he would not +go. The wife said nothing but one thing. She did not argue; she +did not lose her temper; she only said to everything that he +said, "My advice to you is that you go." + +At last the fisherman's anger boiled over. "Very well," said he, +spitting his words at her; "if you will drive me out into the +night, I suppose I will have to go." And then he spoke the words +that so many men say: "Many a man has come to trouble by +following his wife's advice." + +Then down he took his fur cap and up he took his nets, and off he +and the old man marched through the moonlight, their shadows +bobbing along like black spiders behind them. + +Well, on they went, out from the town and across the fields and +through the woods, until at last they came to a dreary, lonesome +desert, where nothing was to be seen but gray rocks and weeds and +thistles. + +"Well," said the fisherman, "I have fished, man and boy, for +forty-seven years, but never did I see as unlikely a place to +catch anything as this." + +But the old man said never a word. First of all he drew a great +circle with strange figures, marking it with his finger upon the +ground. Then out from under his red gown he brought a tinder-box +and steel, and a little silver casket covered all over with +strange figures of serpents and dragons and what not. He brought +some sticks of spice-wood from his pouch, and then he struck a +light and made a fire. Out of the box he took a gray powder, +which he flung upon the little blaze. + +Puff! flash! A vivid flame went up into the moonlight, and then a +dense smoke as black as ink, which spread out wider and wider, +far and near, till all below was darker than the darkest +midnight. Then the old man began to utter strange spells and +words. Presently there began a rumbling that sounded louder and +louder and nearer and nearer, until it roared and bellowed like +thunder. The earth rocked and swayed, and the poor fisherman +shook and trembled with fear till his teeth clattered in his +head. + +Then suddenly the roaring and bellowing ceased, and all was as +still as death, though the darkness was as thick and black as +ever. + +"Now," said the old magician--for such he was--"now we are about +to take a journey such as no one ever travelled before. Heed well +what I tell you. Speak not a single word, for if you do, +misfortune will be sure to happen." + +"Ain't I to say anything?" said the fisherman. + +"No." + +"Not even boo' to a goose?" + +"No." + +"Well, that is pretty hard upon a man who likes to say his say," +said the fisherman. + +"And moreover," said the old man, "I must blindfold you as well." + +Thereupon he took from his pocket a handkerchief, and made ready +to tie it about the fisherman's eyes. + +"And ain't I to see anything at all?" said the fisherman. + +"No." + +"Not even so much as a single feather?" + +"No." + +"Well, then," said the fisherman, "I wish I'd not come." + +But the old man tied the handkerchief tightly around his eyes, +and then he was as blind as a bat. + +"Now," said the old man, "throw your leg over what you feel and +hold fast." + +The fisherman reached down his hand, and there felt the back of +something rough and hairy. He flung his leg over it, and whisk! +whizz! off he shot through the air like a sky-rocket. Nothing was +left for him to do but grip tightly with hands and feet and to +hold fast. On they went, and on they went, until, after a great +while, whatever it was that was carrying him lit upon the ground, +and there the fisherman found himself standing, for that which +had brought him had gone. + +The old man whipped the handkerchief off his eyes, and there the +fisherman found himself on the shores of the sea, where there was +nothing to be seen but water upon one side and rocks and naked +sand upon the other. + +"This is the place for you to cast your nets," said the old +magician; "for if we catch nothing here we catch nothing at all." + +The fisherman unrolled his nets and cast them and dragged them, +and then cast them and dragged them again, but neither time +caught so much as a herring. But the third time that he cast he +found that he had caught something that weighed as heavy as lead. +He pulled and pulled, until by-and-by he dragged the load ashore, +and what should it be but a great chest of wood, blackened by the +sea-water, and covered with shells and green moss. + +That was the very thing that the magician had come to fish for. + +>From his pouch the old man took a little golden key, which he +fitted into a key-hole in the side of the chest. He threw back +the lid; the fisherman looked within, and there was the prettiest +little palace that man's eye ever beheld, all made of mother-of-pearl and silver-frosted as white as +snow. The old magician +lifted the little palace out of the box and set it upon the +ground. + +Then, lo and behold! a marvellous thing happened; for the palace +instantly began to grow for all the world like a soap-bubble, +until it stood in the moonlight gleaming and glistening like +snow, the windows bright with the lights of a thousand wax +tapers, and the sound of music and voices and laughter coming +from within. + +Hardly could the fisherman catch his breath from one strange +thing when another happened. The old magician took off his +clothes and his face--yes, his face--for all the world as though +it had been a mask, and there stood as handsome and noble a young +man as ever the light looked on. Then, beckoning to the +fisherman, dumb with wonder, he led the way up the great flight +of marble steps to the palace door. As he came the door swung +open with a blaze of light, and there stood hundreds of noblemen, +all clad in silks and satins and velvets, who, when they saw the +magician, bowed low before him, as though he had been a king. +Leading the way, they brought the two through halls and chambers +and room after room, each more magnificent than the other, until +they came to one that surpassed a hundredfold any of the others. + +At the farther end was a golden throne, and upon it sat a lady +more lovely and beautiful than a dream, her eyes as bright as +diamonds, her cheeks like rose leaves, and her hair like spun +gold. She came half-way down the steps of the throne to welcome +the magician, and when the two met they kissed one another before +all those who were looking on. Then she brought him to the throne +and seated him beside her, and there they talked for a long time +very earnestly. + +Nobody said a word to the fisherman, who stood staring about him +like an owl. "I wonder," said he to himself at last, "if they +will give a body a bite to eat by-and-by?" for, to tell the +truth, the good supper that he had come away from at home had +left a sharp hunger gnawing at his insides, and he longed for +something good and warm to fill the empty place. But time passed, +and not so much as a crust of bread was brought to stay his +stomach. + +By-and-by the clock struck twelve, and then the two who sat upon +the throne arose. The beautiful lady took the magician by the +hand, and, turning to those who stood around, said, in a loud +voice, "Behold him who alone is worthy to possess the jewel of +jewels! Unto him do I give it, and with it all power of powers!" +Thereon she opened a golden casket that stood beside her, and +brought thence a little crystal ball, about as big as a pigeon's +egg, in which was something that glistened like a spark of fire. +The magician took the crystal ball and thrust it into his bosom; +but what it was the fisherman could not guess, and if you do not +know I shall not tell you. + +Then for the first time the beautiful lady seemed to notice the +fisherman. She beckoned him, and when he stood beside her two men +came carrying a chest. The chief treasurer opened it, and it was +full of bags of gold money. "How will you have it?" said the +beautiful lady. + +"Have what?" said the fisherman. + +"Have the pay for your labor?" said the beautiful lady. + +"I will," said the fisherman, promptly, "take it in my hat." + +"So be it," said the beautiful lady. She waved her hand, and the +chief treasurer took a bag from the chest, untied it, and emptied +a cataract of gold into the fur cap. The fisherman had never seen +so much wealth in all his life before, and he stood like a man +turned to stone. + +"Is this all mine?" said the fisherman. + +"It is," said the beautiful lady. + +"Then God bless your pretty eyes," said the fisherman. + +Then the magician kissed the beautiful lady, and, beckoning to +the fisherman, left the throne-room the same way that they had +come. The noblemen, in silks and satins and velvets, marched +ahead, and back they went through the other apartments, until at +last they came to the door. + +Out they stepped, and then what do you suppose happened? + +If the wonderful palace had grown like a bubble, like a bubble it +vanished. There the two stood on the sea-shore, with nothing to +be seen but rocks and sand and water, and the starry sky +overhead. + +The fisherman shook his cap of gold, and it jingled and tinkled, +and was as heavy as lead. If it was not all a dream, he was rich +for life. "But anyhow," said he, "they might have given a body a +bite to eat." + +The magician put on his red clothes and his face again, making +himself as hoary and as old as before. He took out his flint and +steel, and his sticks of spice-wood and his gray powder, and made +a great fire and smoke just as he had done before. Then again he +tied his handkerchief over the fisherman's eyes. "Remember," said +he, "what I told you when we started upon our journey. Keep your +mouth tight shut, for if you utter so much as a single word you +are a lost man. Now throw your leg over what you feel and hold +fast." + +The fisherman had his net over one arm and his cap of gold in the +other hand; nevertheless, there he felt the same hairy thing he +had felt before. He flung his leg over it, and away he was gone +through the air like a sky-rocket. + +Now, he had grown somewhat used to strange things by this time, +so he began to think that he would like to see what sort of a +creature it was upon which he was riding thus through the sky. So +he contrived, in spite of his net and cap, to push up the +handkerchief from over one eye. Out he peeped, and then he saw as +clear as day what the strange steed was. + +He was riding upon a he-goat as black as night, and in front of +him was the magician riding upon just such another, his great red +robe fluttering out behind him in the moonlight like huge red +wings. + +"Great herring and little fishes!" roared the fisherman; "it is a +billy-goat!" + +Instantly goats, old man, and all were gone like a flash. Down +fell the fisherman through the empty sky, whirling over and over +and around and around like a frog. He held tightly to his net, +but away flew his fur cap, the golden money falling in a shower +like sparks of yellow light. Down he fell and down he fell, until +his head spun like a top. + +By good-luck his house was just below, with its thatch of soft +rushes. Into the very middle of it he tumbled, and right through +the thatch--bump!--into the room below. + +The good wife was in bed, snoring away for dear life; but such a +noise as the fisherman made coming into the house was enough to +wake the dead. Up she jumped, and there she sat, staring and +winking with sleep, and with her brains as addled as a duck's egg +in a thunder-storm. + +"There!" said the fisherman, as he gathered himself up and rubbed +his shoulder, "that is what comes of following a woman's advice!" + + + +All the good folk clapped their hands, not so much because of the +story itself, but because it was a woman who told it. + +"Aye, aye," said the brave little Tailor, "there is truth in what +you tell, fair lady, and I like very well the way in which you +have told it." + +"Whose turn is it next?" said Doctor Faustus, lighting a fresh +pipe of tobacco. + +" Tis the turn of yonder old gentleman," said the Soldier who +cheated the Devil, and he pointed with the stem of his pipe to +the Fisherman who unbottled the Genie that King Solomon had +corked up and thrown into the sea. "Every one else hath told a +story, and now it is his turn." + +"I will not deny, my friend, that what you say is true, and that +it is my turn," said the Fisherman. "Nor will I deny that I have +already a story in my mind. It is," said he, "about a certain +prince, and of how he went through many and one adventures, and +at last discovered that which is-- + + +The Salt of Life. + +Once upon a time there was a king who had three sons, and by the +time that the youngest prince had down upon his chin the king had +grown so old that the cares of the kingdom began to rest over-heavily upon his shoulders. So he +called his chief councillor and +told him that he was of a mind to let the princes reign in his +stead. To the son who loved him the best he would give the +largest part of his kingdom, to the son who loved him the next +best the next part, and to the son who loved him the least the +least part. The old councillor was very wise and shook his head, +but the king's mind had long been settled as to what he was about +to do. So he called the princes to him one by one and asked each +as to how much he loved him. + +"I love you as a mountain of gold," said the oldest prince, and +the king was very pleased that his son should give him such love. + +"I love you as a mountain of silver," said the second prince, and +the king was pleased with that also. + +But when the youngest prince was called, he did not answer at +first, but thought and thought. At last he looked up. "I love +you," said he, "as I love salt." + +When the king heard what his youngest son said he was filled with +anger. "What!" he cried, "do you love me no better than salt -- a +stuff that is the most bitter of all things to the taste, and the +cheapest and the commonest of all things in the world? Away with +you, and never let me see your face again! Henceforth you are no +son of mine." + +The prince would have spoken, but the king would not allow him, +and bade his guards thrust the young man forth from the room. + +Now the queen loved the youngest prince the best of all her sons, +and when she heard how the king was about to drive him forth into +the wide world to shift for himself, she wept and wept. "Ah, my +son!" said she to him, "it is little or nothing that I have to +give you. Nevertheless, I have one precious thing. Here is a +ring; take it and wear it always, for so long as you have it upon +your finger no magic can have power over you." + +Thus it was that the youngest prince set forth into the wide +world with little or nothing but a ring upon his finger. + +For seven days he travelled on, and knew not where he was going +or whither his footsteps led. At the end of that time he came to +the gates of a town. The prince entered the gates, and found +himself in a city the like of which he had never seen in his life +before for grandeur and magnificence--beautiful palaces and +gardens, stores and bazaars crowded with rich stuffs of satin and +silk and wrought silver and gold of cunningest workmanship; for +the land to which he had come was the richest in all of the +world. All that day he wandered up and down, and thought nothing +of weariness and hunger for wonder of all that he saw. But at +last evening drew down, and he began to bethink himself of +somewhere to lodge during the night. + +Just then he came to a bridge, over the wall of which leaned an +old man with a long white beard, looking down into the water. He +was dressed richly but soberly, and every now and then he sighed +and groaned, and as the prince drew near he saw the tears +falling--drip, drip--from the old man's eyes. + +The prince had a kind heart, and could not bear to see one in +distress; so he spoke to the old man, and asked him his trouble. + +"Ah, me!" said the other, "only yesterday I had a son, tall and +handsome like yourself. But the queen took him to sup with her, +and I am left all alone in my old age, like a tree stripped of +leaves and fruit." + +"But surely," said the prince, "it can be no such sad matter to +sup with a queen. That is an honor that most men covet." + +"Ah!" said the old man, "you are a stranger in this place, or +else you would know that no youth so chosen to sup with the queen +ever returns to his home again." + +"Yes," said the prince, "I am a stranger and have only come +hither this day, and so do not understand these things. Even when +I found you I was about to ask the way to some inn where folk of +good condition lodge." + +"Then come home with me to-night," said the old man. "I live all +alone, and I will tell you the trouble that lies upon this +country." Thereupon, taking the prince by the arm, he led him +across the bridge and to another quarter of the town where he +dwelt. He bade the servants prepare a fine supper, and he and the +prince sat down to the table together. After they had made an end +of eating and drinking, the old man told the prince all +concerning those things of which he had spoken, and thus it was: + +"When the king of this land died he left behind him three +daughters--the most beautiful princesses in all of the world. + +"Folk hardly dared speak of the eldest of them, but whisperings +said that she was a sorceress, and that strange and gruesome +things were done by her. The second princess was also a witch, +though it was not said that she was evil, like the other. As for +the youngest of the three, she was as beautiful as the morning +and as gentle as a dove. When she was born a golden thread was +about her neck, and it was foretold of her that she was to be the +queen of that land. + +"But not long after the old king died the youngest princess +vanished--no one could tell whither, and no one dared to ask--and +the eldest princess had herself crowned as queen, and no one +dared gainsay her. For a while everything went well enough, but +by-and-by evil days came upon the land. Once every seven days the +queen would bid some youth, young and strong, to sup with her, +and from that time no one ever heard of him again, and no one +dared ask what had become of him. At first it was the great folk +at the queen's palace--officers and courtiers--who suffered; but +by-and-by the sons of the merchants and the chief men of the city +began to be taken. One time," said the old man," I myself had +three sons -- as noble young men as could be found in the wide +world. One day the chief of the queen's officers came to my house +and asked me concerning how many sons I had. I was forced to tell +him, and in a little while they were taken one by one to the +queen's palace, and I never saw them again. + +"But misfortune, like death, comes upon the young as well as the +old. You yourself have had trouble, or else I am mistaken. Tell +me what lies upon your heart, my son, for the talking of it makes +the burthen lighter." + +The prince did as the old man bade him, and told all of his +story; and so they sat talking and talking until far into the +night, and the old man grew fonder and fonder of the prince the +more he saw of him. So the end of the matter was that he asked +the prince to live with him as his son, seeing that the young man +had now no father and he no children, and the prince consented +gladly enough. + +So the two lived together like father and son, and the good old +man began to take some joy in life once more. + +But one day who should come riding up to the door but the chief +of the queen's officers. + +"How is this?" said he to the old man, when he saw the prince. +"Did you not tell me that you had but three sons, and is this not +a fourth?" + +It was of no use for the old man to tell the officer that the +youth was not his son, but was a prince who had come to visit +that country. The officer drew forth his tablets and wrote +something upon them, and then went his way, leaving the old man +sighing and groaning. "Ah, me!" said he, "my heart sadly +forebodes trouble." + +Sure enough, before three days had passed a bidding came to the +prince to make ready to sup with the queen that night. + +When evening drew near a troop of horsemen came, bringing a white +horse with a saddle and bridle of gold studded with precious +stones, to take the prince to the queen's palace. + +As soon as they had brought him thither they led the prince to a +room where was a golden table spread with a snow-white cloth and +set with dishes of gold. At the end of the table the queen sat +waiting for him, and her face was hidden by a veil of silver +gauze. She raised the veil and looked at the prince, and when he +saw her face he stood as one wonder-struck, for not only was she +so beautiful, but she set a spell upon him with the evil charm of +her eyes. No one sat at the table but the queen and the prince, +and a score of young pages served them, and sweet music sounded +from a curtained gallery. + +At last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong sounded from the +court-yard outside. Then in an instant the music was stopped, the +pages that served them hurried from the room, and presently all +was as still as death. + +Then, when all were gone, the queen arose and beckoned the +prince, and he had no choice but to arise also and follow whither +she led. She took him through the palace, where all was as still +as the grave, and so came out by a postern door into a garden. +Beside the postern a torch burned in a bracket. The queen took it +down, and then led the prince up a path and under the silent +trees until they came to a great wall of rough stone. She pressed +her hand upon one of the great stones, and it opened like a door, +and there was a flight of steps that led downward. The queen +descended these steps, and the prince followed closely behind +her. At the bottom was a long passage-way, and at the farther end +the prince saw what looked like a bright spark of light, as +though the sun were shining. She thrust the torch into another +bracket in the wall of the passage, and then led the way towards +the light. It grew larger and larger as they went forward, until +at last they came out at the farther end, and there the prince +found himself standing in the sunlight and not far from the +seashore. The queen led the way towards the shore, when suddenly +a great number of black dogs came running towards them, barking +and snapping, and showing their teeth as though they would tear +the two in pieces. But the queen drew from her bosom a whip with +a steel-pointed lash, and as the dogs came springing towards them +she laid about her right and left, till the skin flew and the +blood ran, and the dogs leaped away howling and yelping. + +At the edge of the water was a great stone mill, and the queen +pointed towards it and bade the prince turn it. Strong as he was, +it was as much as he could do to work it; but grind it he did, +though the sweat ran down his face in streams. By-and-by a speck +appeared far away upon the water; and as the prince ground and +ground at the mill the speck grew larger and larger. It was +something upon the water, and it came nearer and nearer as +swiftly as the wind. At last it came close enough for him to see +that it was a little boat all of brass. By-and-by the boat struck +upon the beach, and as soon as it did so the queen entered it, +bidding the prince do the same. + +No sooner were they seated than away the boat went, still as +swiftly as the wind. On it flew and on it flew, until at last +they came to another shore, the like of which the prince had +never seen in his life before. Down to the edge of the water ran +a garden--but such a garden! The leaves of the trees were all of +silver and the fruit of gold, and instead of flowers were +precious stones--white, red, yellow, blue, and green--that +flashed like sparks of sunlight as the breeze moved them this way +and that way. Beyond the silver trees, with their golden fruit, +was a great palace as white as snow, and so bright that one had +to shut one's eyes as one looked upon it. + +The boat ran up on the beach close to just such a stone mill as +the prince had seen upon the other side of the water, and then he +and the queen stepped ashore. As soon as they had done so the +brazen boat floated swiftly away, and in a little while was gone. + +"Here our journey ends," said the queen. "Is it not a wonderful +land, and well worth the seeing? Look at all these jewels and +this gold, as plenty as fruits and flowers at home. :You may take +what you please; but while you are gathering them I have another +matter after which I must look. Wait for me here, and by-and-by I +will be back again." + +So saying, she turned and left the prince, going towards the +castle back of the trees. + +But the prince was a prince, and not a common man; he cared +nothing for gold and jewels. What he did care for was to see +where the queen went, and why she had brought him to this strange +land. So, as soon as she had fairly gone, he followed after. + +He went along under the gold and silver trees, in the direction +she had taken, until at last he came to a tall flight of steps +that led up to the doorway of the snow-white palace. The door +stood open, and into it the prince went. He saw not a soul, but +he heard a noise as of blows and the sound as of some one +weeping. He followed the sound, until by-and-by he came to a +great vaulted room in the very centre of the palace. A curtain +hung at the doorway. The prince lifted it and peeped within, and +this was what he saw: + +In the middle of the room was a marble basin of water as clear as +crystal, and around the sides of the basin were these words, +written in letters of gold: + +"Whatsoever is False, that I make True." + +Beside the fountain upon a marble stand stood a statue of a +beautiful woman made of alabaster, and around the neck of the +statue was a thread of gold. The queen stood beside the statue, +and beat and beat it with her steel-tipped whip. And all the +while she lashed it the statue sighed and groaned like a living +being, and the tears ran down its stone cheeks as though it were +a suffering Christian. By-and-by the queen rested for a moment, +and said, panting, "Will you give me the thread of gold?" and the +statue answered "No." Whereupon she fell to raining blows upon it +as she had done before. + +So she continued, now beating the statue and now asking it +whether it would give her the thread of gold, to which the statue +always answered "No," and all the while the prince stood gazing +and wondering. By-and-by the queen wearied of what she was doing, +and thrust the steel-tipped lash back into her bosom again, upon +which the prince, seeing that she was done, hurried back to the +garden where she had left him and pretended to be gathering the +golden fruit and jewel flowers. + +The queen said nothing to him good or bad, except to command him +to grind at the great stone mill as he had done on the other side +of the water. Thereupon the prince did as she bade, and presently +the brazen boat came skimming over the water more swiftly than +the wind. Again the queen and the prince entered it, and again it +carried them to the other side whence they had come. + +No sooner had the queen set foot upon the shore than she stopped +and gathered up a handful of sand. Then, turning as quick as +lightning, she flung it into the prince's face. "Be a black dog," +she cried in a loud voice, "and join your comrades!" + +And now it was that the ring that the prince's mother had given +him stood him in good stead. But for it he would have become a +black dog like those others, for thus it had happened to all +before him who had ferried the witch queen over the water. So she +expected to see him run away yelping, as those others had done; +but the prince remained a prince, and stood looking her in the +face. + +When the queen saw that her magic had failed her she grew as pale +as death, and fell to trembling in every limb. She turned and +hastened quickly away, and the prince followed her wondering, for +he neither knew the mischief she had intended doing him, nor how +his ring had saved him from the fate of those others. + +So they came back up the stairs and out through the stone wall +into the palace garden. The queen pressed her hand against the +stone and it turned back into its place again. Then, beckoning to +the prince, she hurried away down the garden. Before he followed +he picked up a coal that lay near by, and put a cross upon the +stone; then he hurried after her, and so came to the palace once +more. + +By this time the cocks were crowing, and the dawn of day was just +beginning to show over the roof-tops and the chimney-stacks of +the town. + +As for the queen, she had regained her composure, and, bidding +the prince wait for her a moment, she hastened to her chamber. +There she opened her book of magic, and in it she soon found who +the prince was and how the ring had saved him. + +When she had learned all that she wanted to know she put on a +smiling face and came back to him. "Ah, prince," said she, "I +well know who you are, for your coming to my country is not +secret to me. I have shown you strange things to-night. I will +unfold all the wonder to you another time. Will you not come back +and sup with me again?" + +"Yes," said the prince, "I will come whensoever you bid me;" for +he was curious to know the secret of the statue and the strange +things he had seen. + +"And will you not give me a pledge of your coming?" said the +queen, still smiling. + +"What pledge shall I give you," said the prince. + +"Give me the ring that is upon your finger," said the queen; and +she smiled so bewitchingly that the prince could not have refused +her had he desired to do so. + +Alas for him! He thought no evil, but, without a word, drew off +the ring and gave it to the queen, and she slipped it upon her +finger. + +"O fool!" she cried, laughing a wicked laugh, "O fool! to give +away that in which your safety lay!" As she spoke she dipped her +fingers into a basin of water that stood near by and dashed the +drops into the prince's face. "Be a raven," she cried, "and a +raven remain!" + +In an instant the prince was a prince no longer, but a coal-black +raven. The queen snatched up a sword that lay near by and struck +at him to kill him. But the raven-prince leaped aside and the +blow missed its aim. + +By good luck a window stood open, and before the queen could +strike again he spread his wings and flew out of the open +casement and over the house-tops and was gone. + +On he flew and on he flew until he came to the old man's house, +and so to the room where his foster-father himself was sitting. +He lit upon the ground at the old man's feet and tried to tell +him what had befallen, but all that he could say was "Croak! +croak!" + +"What brings this bird of ill omen?" said the old man, and he +drew his sword to kill it. He raised his hand to strike, but the +raven did not try to fly away as he had expected, but bowed his +neck to receive the stroke. Then the old man saw that the tears +were running down from the raven's eyes, and he held his hand. +"What strange thing is this?" he said. "Surely nothing but the +living soul weeps; and how, then, can this bird shed tears?" So +he took the raven up and looked into his eyes, and in them he saw +the prince's soul. "Alas!" he cried, "my heart misgives me that +something strange has happened. Tell me, is this not my foster-son, the prince?" + +The raven answered "Croak!" and nothing else; but the good old +man understood it all, and the tears ran down his cheeks and +trickled over his beard. "Whether man or raven, you shall still +be my son," said he, and he held the raven close in his arms and +caressed it. + +He had a golden cage made for the bird, and every day he would +walk with it in the garden, talking to it as a father talks to +his son. + +One day when they were thus in the garden together a strange lady +came towards them down the pathway. Over her had and face was +drawn a thick veil, so that the two could not tell who she was. +When she came close to them she raised the veil, and the raven-prince saw that her face was the +living likeness of the queen's; +and yet there was something in it that was different. It was the +second sister of the queen, and the old man knew her and bowed +before her. + +"Listen," said she. "I know what the raven is, and that it is the +prince, whom the queen has bewitched. I also know nearly as much +of magic as she, and it is that alone that has saved me so long +from ill. But danger hangs close over me; the queen only waits +for the chance to bewitch me; and some day she will overpower me, +for she is stronger than I. With the prince's aid I can overcome +her and make myself forever safe, and it is this that has brought +me here to-day. My magic is powerful enough to change the prince +back into his true shape again, and I will do so if he will aid +me in what follows, and this is it: I will conjure the queen, and +by-and-by a great eagle will come flying, and its plumage will be +as black as night. Then I myself will become an eagle, with +black-and-white plumage, and we two will fight in the air. After +a while we will both fall to the ground, and then the prince must +cut off the head of the black eagle with a knife I shall give +him. Will you do this?" said she, turning to the raven, "if I +transform you to your true shape?" + +The raven bowed his head and said "Croak!" And the sister of the +queen knew that he meant yes. + +Therewith she drew a great, long keen knife from her bosom, and +thrust it into the ground. "It is with this knife of magic," said +she, "that you must cut off the black eagle's head." Then the +witch-princess gathered up some sand in her hand, and flung it +into the raven's face. "Resume," cried she, "your own shape!" And +in an instant the prince was himself again. The next thing the +sister of the queen did was to draw a circle upon the ground +around the prince, the old man, and herself. On the circle she +marked strange figures here and there. Then, all three standing +close together, she began her conjurations, uttering strange +words--now under her breath, and now clear and loud. + +Presently the sky darkened, and it began to thunder and rumble. +Darker it grew and darker, and the thunder crashed and roared. +The earth trembled under their feet, and the trees swayed hither +and thither as though tossed by a tempest. Then suddenly the +uproar ceased and all grew as still as death, the clouds rolled +away, and in a moment the sun shone out once more, and all was +calm and serene as it had been before. But still the princess +muttered her conjurations, and as the prince and the old man +looked they beheld a speck that grew larger and larger, until +they saw that it was an eagle as black as night that was coming +swiftly flying through the sky. Then the queen's sister also saw +it and ceased from her spells. She drew a little cap of feathers +from her bosom with trembling hands. "Remember," said she to the +prince; and, so saying, clapped the feather cap upon her head. In +an instant she herself became an eagle--pied, black and white--and, spreading her wings, leaped into +the air. + +For a while the two eagles circled around and around; but at last +they dashed against one another, and, grappling with their +talons, tumbled over and over until they struck the ground close +to the two who stood looking. + +Then the prince snatched the knife from the ground and ran to +where they lay struggling. "Which was I to kill?" said he to the +old man. + +"Are they not birds of a feather?" cried the foster-father. "Kill +them both, for then only shall we all be safe." + +The prince needed no second telling to see the wisdom of what the +old man said. In an instant he struck off the heads of both the +eagles, and thus put an end to both sorceresses, the lesser as +well as the greater. They buried both of the eagles in the garden +without telling any one of what had happened. So soon as that was +done the old man bade the prince tell him all that had befallen +him, and the prince did so. + +"Aye! aye!" said the old man, "I see it all as clear as day. The +black dogs are the young men who have supped with the queen; the +statue is the good princess; and the basin of water is the water +of life, which has the power of taking away magic. Come; let us +make haste to bring help to all those unfortunates who have been +lying under the queen's spells." + +The prince needed no urging to do that. They hurried to the +palace; they crossed the garden to the stone wall. There they +found the stone upon which the prince had set the black cross. He +pressed his hand upon it, and it opened to him like a door. They +descended the steps, and went through the passageway, until they +came out upon the sea-shore. The black dogs came leaping towards +them; but this time it was to fawn upon them, and to lick their +hands and faces. + +The prince turned the great stone mill till the brazen boat came +flying towards the shore. They entered it, and so crossed the +water and came to the other side. They did not tarry in the +garden, but went straight to the snow-white palace and to the +great vaulted chamber where was the statue. "Yes," said the old +man, "it is the youngest princess, sure enough." + +The prince said nothing, but he dipped up some of the water in +his palm and dashed it upon the statue. "If you are the princess, +take your true shape again," said he. Before the words had left +his lips the statue became flesh and blood, and the princess +stepped down from where she stood, and the prince thought that he +had never seen any one so beautiful as she. "You have brought me +back to life," said she, "and whatever I shall have shall be +yours as well as mine." + +Then they all set their faces homeward again, and the prince took +with him a cupful of the water of life. + +When they reached the farther shore the black dogs came running +to meet them. The prince sprinkled the water he carried upon +them, and as soon as it touched them that instant they were black +dogs no longer, but the tall, noble young men that the sorceress +queen had bewitched. There, as the old man had hoped, he found +his own three sons, and kissed them with the tears running down +his face. + +But when the people of that land learned that their youngest +princess, and the one whom they loved, had come back again, and +that the two sorceresses would trouble them no longer, they +shouted and shouted for joy. All the town was hung with flags and +illuminated, the fountains ran with wine, and nothing was heard +but sounds of rejoicing. In the midst of it all the prince +married the princess, and so became the king of that country. + +And now to go back again to the beginning. + +After the youngest prince had been driven away from home, and the +old king had divided the kingdom betwixt the other two, things +went for a while smoothly and joyfully. But by little and little +the king was put to one side until he became as nothing in his +own land. At last hot words passed between the father and the two +sons, and the end of the matter was that the king was driven from +the land to shift for himself. + +Now, after the youngest prince had married and had become king of +that other land, he bethought himself of his father and his +mother, and longed to see them again. So he set forth and +travelled towards his old home. In his journeying he came to a +lonely house at the edge of a great forest, and there night came +upon him. He sent one of the many of those who rode with him to +ask whether he could not find lodging there for the time, and who +should answer the summons but the king, his father, dressed in +the coarse clothing of a forester. The old king did not know his +own son in the kingly young king who sat upon his snow-white +horse. He bade the visitor to enter, and he and the old queen +served their son and bowed before him. + +The next morning the young king rode back to his own land, and +then sent attendants with horses and splendid clothes, and bade +them bring his father and mother to his own home. + +He had a noble feast set for them, with everything befitting the +entertainment of a king, but he ordered that not a grain of salt +should season it. + +So the father and the mother sat down to the feast with their son +and his queen, but all the time they did not know him. The old +king tasted the food and tasted the food, but he could not eat of +it. + +"Do you not feel hungry?" said the young king. + +"Alas," said his father, "I crave your majesty's pardon, but +there is no salt in the food." + +"And so is life lacking of savor without love," said the young +king; "and yet because I loved you as salt you disowned me and +cast me out into the world." + +Therewith he could contain himself no longer, but with the tears +running down his cheeks kissed his father and his mother; and +they knew him, and kissed him again. + +Afterwards the young king went with a great army into the country +of his elder brothers, and, overcoming them, set his father upon +his throne again. If ever the two got back their crowns you may +be sure that they wore them more modestly than they did the first +time. + + +So the Fisherman who had one time unbottled the Genie whom +Solomon the Wise had stoppered up concluded his story, and all of +the good folk who were there began clapping their shadowy hands. + +"Aye, aye," said old Bidpai, "there is much truth in what you +say, for it is verily so that that which men call--love--is--the--salt--of--" * * * + +His voice had been fading away thinner and thinner and smaller +and smaller--now it was like the shadow of a voice; now it +trembled and quivered out into silence and was gone. + +And with the voice of old Bidpai the pleasant Land of Twilight +was also gone. As a breath fades away from a mirror, so had it +faded and vanished into nothingness. + +I opened my eyes. + +There was a yellow light--it came from the evening lamp. There +were people of flesh and blood around--my own dear people--and +they were talking together. There was the library with the rows +of books looking silently out from their shelves. There was the +fire of hickory logs crackling and snapping in the fireplace, and +throwing a wavering, yellow light on the wall. + +Had I been asleep? No; I had been in Twilight Land. + +And now the pleasant Twilight Land had gone. It had faded out, +and I was back again in the work-a-day world. + +There I was sitting in my chair; and, what was more, it was time +for the children to go to bed. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Twilight Land, by Howard Pyle + diff --git a/old/twlnd10.zip b/old/twlnd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b782b49 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/twlnd10.zip |