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diff --git a/old/ladyt10.txt b/old/ladyt10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..02bd48f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ladyt10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,540 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lady, or the Tiger? by Stockton + +We don't usually do short stories, but we have had severel notes +asking for this one. If you have others to add to it, perhaps a +collection will be in order. + + +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. We need your donations. + + +The Lady, or the Tiger? + +by Frank R. Stockton + +January 1995 [Etext #396] + + +******Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lady, or the Tiger?****** +*****This file should be named ladyt10.txt or ladyt10.zip***** + +Scanned by Edward A. Malone + + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, ladyt1.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ladyt0a.txt + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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Stockton + + + + +In the very olden time there lived a semi-barbaric king, whose +ideas, though somewhat polished and sharpened by the +progressiveness of distant Latin neighbors, were still large, +florid, and untrammeled, as became the half of him which was +barbaric. He was a man of exuberant fancy, and, withal, of an +authority so irresistible that, at his will, he turned his varied +fancies into facts. He was greatly given to self-communing, and, +when he and himself agreed upon anything, the thing was done. +When every member of his domestic and political systems moved +smoothly in its appointed course, his nature was bland and genial; +but, whenever there was a little hitch, and some of his orbs got +out of their orbits, he was blander and more genial still, for +nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight and +crush down uneven places. + +Among the borrowed notions by which his barbarism had become +semified was that of the public arena, in which, by exhibitions of +manly and beastly valor, the minds of his subjects were refined +and cultured. + +But even here the exuberant and barbaric fancy asserted itself +The arena of the king was built, not to give the people an +opportunity of hearing the rhapsodies of dying gladiators, nor to +enable them to view the inevitable conclusion of a conflict +between religious opinions and hungry jaws, but for purposes far +better adapted to widen and develop the mental energies of the +people. This vast amphitheater, with its encircling galleries, its +mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of +poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, +by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance. + +When a subject was accused of a crime of sufficient importance +to interest the king, public notice was given that on an appointed +day the fate of the accused person would be decided in the king's +arena, a structure which well deserved its name, for, although its +form and plan were borrowed from afar, its purpose emanated +solely from the brain of this man, who, every barleycorn a king, +knew no tradition to which he owed more allegiance than pleased +his fancy, and who ingrafted on every adopted form of human +thought and action the rich growth of his barbaric idealism. + +When all the people had assembled in the galleries, and the king, +surrounded by his court, sat high up on his throne of royal state +on one side of the arena, he gave a signal, a door beneath him +opened, and the accused subject stepped out into the +amphitheater. Directly opposite him, on the other side of the +inclosed space, were two doors, exactly alike and side by side. It +was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk +directly to these doors and open one of them. He could open either +door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but +that of the aforementioned impartial and incorruptible chance. If +he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the +fiercest and most cruel that could be procured, which +immediately sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a +punishment for his guilt. The moment that the case of the +criminal was thus decided, doleful iron bells were clanged, great +wails went up from the hired mourners posted on the outer rim of +*the arena, and the vast audience, with bowed heads and downcast +hearts, wended slowly their homeward way, mourning greatly +that one so young and fair, or so old and respected, should have +merited so dire a fate. + +But, if the accused person opened the other door, there came forth +from it a lady, the most suitable to his years and station that his +majesty could select among his fair subjects, and to this lady he +was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. It +mattered not that he might already possess a wife and family, or +that his affections might be engaged upon an object of his own +selection; the king allowed no such subordinate arrangements to +interfere with his great scheme of retribution and reward. The +exercises, as in the other instance, took place immediately, and +in the arena. Another door opened beneath the king, and a priest, +followed by a band of choristers, and dancing maidens blowing +joyous airs on golden horns and treading an epithalamic measure, +advanced to where the pair stood, side by side, and the wedding +was promptly and cheerily solemnized. Then the gay brass bells +rang forth their merry peals, the people shouted glad hurrahs, and +the innocent man, preceded by children strewing flowers on his +path, led his bride to his home. + +This was the king's semi-barbaric method of administering +justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could not +know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he +pleased, without having the slightest idea whether, in the next +instant, he was to be devoured or married. On some occasions the +tiger came out of one door, and on some out of the other. The +decisions of this tribunal were not only fair, they were positively +determinate: the accused person was instantly punished if he +found himself guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the +spot, whether he liked it or not. There was no escape from the +judgments of the king's arena. + +The institution was a very popular one. When the people gathered +together on one of the great trial days, they never knew whether +they were to witness a bloody slaughter or a hilarious wedding. +This element of uncertainty lent an interest to the occasion +which it could not otherwise have attained. Thus, the masses +were entertained and pleased, and the thinking part of the +community could bring no charge of unfairness against this plan, +for did not the accused person have the whole matter in his own +hands? + +This semi-barbaric king had a daughter as blooming as his most +florid fancies, and with a soul as fervent and imperious as his +own. As is usual in such cases, she was the apple of his eye, and +was loved by him above all humanity. Among his courtiers was a +young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station +common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal +maidens. This royal maiden was well satisfied with her lover, for +he was handsome and brave to a degree unsurpassed in all this +kingdom, and she loved him with an ardor that had enough of +barbarism in it to make it exceedingly warm and strong. This love +affair moved on happily for many months, until one day the king +happened to discover its existence. He did not hesitate nor waver +in regard to his duty in the premises. The youth was immediately +cast into prison, and a day was appointed for his trial in the +king's arena. This, of course, was an especially important +occasion, and his majesty, as well as all the people, was greatly +interested in the workings and development of this trial. Never +before had such a case occurred; never before had a subject dared +to love the daughter of the king. In after years such things +became commonplace enough, but then they were in no slight +degree novel and startling. + +The tiger-cages of the kingdom were searched for the most +savage and relentless beasts, from which the fiercest monster +might be selected for the arena; and the ranks of maiden youth +and beauty throughout the land were carefully surveyed by +competent judges in order that the young man might have a +fitting bride in case fate did not determine for him a different +destiny. Of course, everybody knew that the deed with which the +accused was charged had been done. He had loved the princess, and +neither he, she, nor any one else, thought of denying the fact; but +the king would not think of allowing any fact of this kind to +interfere with the workings of the tribunal, in which he took such +great delight and satisfaction. No matter how the affair turned +out, the youth would be disposed of, and the king would take an +aesthetic pleasure in watching the course of events, which would +determine whether or not the young man had done wrong in +allowing himself to love the princess. + +The appointed day arrived. From far and near the people gathered, +and thronged the great galleries of the arena, and crowds, unable +to gain admittance, massed themselves against its outside walls. +The king and his court were in their places, opposite the twin +doors, those fateful portals, so terrible in their similarity. + +All was ready. The signal was given. A door beneath the royal +party opened, and the lover of the princess walked into the arena. +Tall, beautiful, fair, his appearance was greeted with a low hum +of admiration and anxiety. Half the audience had not known so +grand a youth had lived among them. No wonder the princess loved +him! What a terrible thing for him to be there! + +As the youth advanced into the arena he turned, as the custom +was, to bow to the king, but he did not think at all of that royal +personage. His eyes were fixed upon the princess, who sat to the +right of her father. Had it not been for the moiety of barbarism in +her nature it is probable that lady would not have been there, but +her intense and fervid soul would not allow her to be absent on an +occasion in which she was so terribly interested. From the +moment that the decree had gone forth that her lover should +decide his fate in the king's arena, she had thought of nothing, +night or day, but this great event and the various subjects +connected with it. Possessed of more power, influence, and force +of character than any one who had ever before been interested in +such a case, she had done what no other person had done,--she had +possessed herself of the secret of the doors. She knew in which +of the two rooms, that lay behind those doors, stood the cage of +the tiger, with its open front, and in which waited the lady. +Through these thick doors, heavily curtained with skins on the +inside, it was impossible that any noise or suggestion should +come from within to the person who should approach to raise the +latch of one of them. But gold, and the power of a woman's will, +had brought the secret to the princess. + +And not only did she know in which room stood the lady ready to +emerge, all blushing and radiant, should her door be opened, but +she knew who the lady was. It was one of the fairest and +loveliest of the damsels of the court who had been selected as +the reward of the accused youth, should he be proved innocent of +the crime of aspiring to one so far above him; and the princess +hated her. Often had she seen, or imagined that she had seen, this +fair creature throwing glances of admiration upon the person of +her lover, and sometimes she thought these glances were +perceived, and even returned. Now and then she had seen them +talking together; it was but for a moment or two, but much can be +said in a brief space; it may have been on most unimportant +topics, but how could she know that? The girl was lovely, but she +had dared to raise her eyes to the loved one of the princess; and, +with all the intensity of the savage blood transmitted to her +through long lines of wholly barbaric ancestors, she hated the +woman who blushed and trembled behind that silent door. + +When her lover turned and looked at her, and his eye met hers as +she sat there, paler and whiter than any one in the vast ocean of +anxious faces about her, he saw, by that power of quick +perception which is given to those whose souls are one, that she +knew behind which door crouched the tiger, and behind which +stood the lady. He had expected her to know it. He understood her +nature, and his soul was assured that she would never rest until +she had made plain to herself this thing, hidden to all other +lookers-on, even to the king. The only hope for the youth in which +there was any element of certainty was based upon the success +of the princess in discovering this mystery; and the moment he +looked upon her, he saw she had succeeded, as in his soul he knew +she would succeed. + +Then it was that his quick and anxious glance asked the question: +"Which?" It was as plain to her as if he shouted it from where he +stood. There was not an instant to be lost. The question was +asked in a flash; it must be answered in another. + +Her right arm lay on the cushioned parapet before her. She raised +her hand, and made a slight, quick movement toward the right. No +one but her lover saw her. Every eye but his was fixed on the man +in the arena. + +He turned, and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the +empty space. Every heart stopped beating, every breath was held, +every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the +slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right, and opened +it. + +Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of that +door, or did the lady ? + +The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to +answer. It involves a study of the human heart which leads us +through devious mazes of passion, out of which it is difficult to +find our way. Think of it, fair reader, not as if the decision of the +question depended upon yourself, but upon that hot-blooded, +semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat beneath the +combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who +should have him? + +How often, in her waking hours and in her dreams, had she started +in wild horror, and covered her face with her hands as she thought +of her lover opening the door on the other side of which waited +the cruel fangs of the tiger! + +But how much oftener had she seen him at the other door! How in +her grievous reveries had she gnashed her teeth, and torn her hair, +when she saw his start of rapturous delight as he opened the door +of the lady! How her soul had burned in agony when she had seen +him rush to meet that woman, with her flushing cheek and +sparkling eye of triumph; when she had seen him lead her forth, +his whole frame kindled with the joy of recovered life; when she +had heard the glad shouts from the multitude, and the wild +ringing of the happy bells; when she had seen the priest, with his +joyous followers, advance to the couple, and make them man and +wife before her very eyes; and when she had seen +them walk away together upon their path of flowers, followed by +the tremendous shouts of the hilarious multitude, in which her +one despairing shriek was lost and drowned! + +Would it not be better for him to die at once, and go to wait for +her in the blessed regions of semi-barbaric futurity? + +And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that blood! + +Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been +made after days and nights of anguished deliberation. She had +known she would be asked, she had decided what she would +answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, she had moved her +hand to the right. + +The question of her decision is one not to be lightly considered, +and it is not for me to presume to set myself up as the one person +able to answer it. And so I leave it with all of you: Which came +out of the opened door,--the lady, or the tiger? + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lady, or the Tiger? + + |