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diff --git a/old/tkogr10.txt b/old/tkogr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6ff13b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tkogr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1399 @@ +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of The King of the Golden River** +by John Ruskin +A short fairy tale + + +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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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Benedictine + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Benedictine University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + + +PREFACE + +"The King of the Golden River" is a delightful fairy tale told +with all Ruskin's charm of style, his appreciation of mountain scenery, +and with his usual insistence upon drawing a moral. None the less, it +is quite unlike his other writings. All his life long his pen was busy +interpreting nature and pictures and architecture, or persuading to +better views those whom he believed to be in error, or arousing, with +the white heat of a prophet's zeal, those whom he knew to be unawakened. +There is indeed a good deal of the prophet about John Ruskin. Though +essentially an interpreter with a singularly fine appreciation of beauty, +no man of the nineteenth century felt more keenly that he had a mission, +and none was more loyal to what he believed that mission to be. + +While still in college, what seemed a chance incident gave +occasion and direction to this mission. A certain English reviewer +had ridiculed the work of the artist Turner. Now Ruskin held +Turner to be the greatest landscape painter the world had seen, +and he immediately wrote a notable article in his defense. Slowly +this article grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet into a book, +the first volume of "Modern Painters." The young man awoke to +find himself famous. In the next few years four more volumes were +added to "Modern Painters," and the other notable series upon +art, "The Stones of Venice" and "The Seven Lamps of +Architecture," were sent forth. + +Then, in 1860, when Ruskin was about forty years old, there +came a great change. His heaven-born genius for making the +appreciation of beauty a common possession was deflected from its +true field. He had been asking himself what are the conditions +that produce great art, and the answer he found declared that art +cannot be separated from life, nor life from industry and +industrial conditions. A civilization founded upon unrestricted +competition therefore seemed to him necessarily feeble in +appreciation of the beautiful, and unequal to its creation. +In this way loyalty to his mission bred apparent disloyalty. +Delightful discourses upon art gave way to fervid pleas for +humanity. For the rest of his life he became a very earnest, if +not always very wise, social reformer and a passionate pleader for +what he believed to be true economic ideals. + +There is nothing of all this in "The King of the Golden +River." Unlike his other works, it was written merely to entertain. +Scarcely that, since it was not written for publication at all, but +to meet a challenge set him by a young girl. + +The circumstance is interesting. After taking his degree at +Oxford, Ruskin was threatened with consumption and hurried away +from the chill and damp of England to the south of Europe. After +two years of fruitful travel and study he came back improved in +health but not strong, and often depressed in spirit. It was at +this time that the Guys, Scotch friends of his father and mother, +came for a visit to his home near London, and with them their +little daughter Euphemia. The coming of this beautiful, +vivacious, light-hearted child opened a new chapter in Ruskin's +life. Though but twelve years old, she sought to enliven the +melancholy student, absorbed in art and geology, and bade him +leave these and write for her a fairy tale. He accepted, and +after but two sittings, presented her with this charming story. +The incident proved to have awakened in him a greater interest +than at first appeared, for a few years later "Effie" Grey became +John Ruskin's wife. Meantime she had given the manuscript to a +friend. Nine years after it was written, this friend, with John +Ruskin's permission, gave the story to the world. + +It was published in London in 1851, with illustrations by the +celebrated Richard Doyle, and at once became a favorite. Three +editions were printed the first year, and soon it had found its +way into German, Italian, and Welsh. Since then countless +children have had cause to be grateful for the young girl's +challenge that won the story of Gluck's golden mug and the highly +satisfactory handling of the Black Brothers by Southwest Wind, +Esquire. + +For this edition new drawings have been prepared by Mr. Hiram +P. Barnes. They very successfully preserve the spirit of Doyle's +illustrations, which unfortunately are not technically suitable +for reproduction here. + +In the original manuscript there was an epilogue bearing the +heading "Charitie"--a morning hymn of Treasure Valley, whither +Gluck had returned to dwell, and where: the inheritance lost by +cruelty was regained by love: + +The beams of morning are renewed +The valley laughs their light to see +And earth is bright with gratitude +And heaven with charitie. + + +R.H. COE + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I +HOW THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM OF THE BLACK +BROTHERS WAS INTERFERED WITH BY SOUTHWEST +WIND, ESQUIRE + +CHAPTER II +OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE THREE BROTHERS AFTER +THE VISIT OF SOUTHWEST WIND, ESQUIRE; AND HOW +LITTLE GLUCK HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF +GOLDEN RIVER + +CHAPTER III +HOW MR. HANS SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE +GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN + +CHAPTER IV +HOW MR. SCHWARTZ SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE +GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN + +CHAPTER V +HOW LITTLE GLUCK SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO THE +GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED THEREIN, +WITH OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST + + + + + +THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HOW THE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM OF THE BLACK BROTHERS WAS +INTERFERED WITH BY SOUTHWEST WIND, ESQUIRE + +In a secluded and mountainous part of Stiria there was in old +time a valley of the most surprising and luxuriant fertility. It +was surrounded on all sides by steep and rocky mountains rising into +peaks which were always covered with snow and from which a number of +torrents descended in constant cataracts. One of these fell +westward over the face of a crag so high that when the sun had set +to everything else, and all below was darkness, his beams still +shone full upon this waterfall, so that it looked like a shower of +gold. It was therefore called by the people of the neighborhood the +Golden River. It was strange that none of these streams fell into +the valley itself. They all descended on the other side of the +mountains and wound away through broad plains and by populous +cities. But the clouds were drawn so constantly to the snowy hills, +and rested so softly in the circular hollow, that in time of drought +and heat, when all the country round was burned up, there was still +rain in the little valley; and its crops were so heavy, and its hay +so high, and its apples so red, and its grapes so blue, and its wine +so rich, and its honey so sweet, that it was a marvel to everyone +who beheld it and was commonly called the Treasure Valley. + +The whole of this little valley belonged to three brothers, +called Schwartz, Hans, and Gluck. Schwartz and Hans, the two elder +brothers, were very ugly men, with overhanging eyebrows and small, +dull eyes which were always half shut, so that you couldn't see into +THEM and always fancied they saw very far into YOU. They lived by +farming the Treasure Valley, and very good farmers they were. They +killed everything that did not pay for its eating. They shot the +blackbirds because they pecked the fruit, and killed the hedgehogs +lest they should suck the cows; they poisoned the crickets for +eating the crumbs in the kitchen, and smothered the cicadas which +used to sing all summer in the lime trees. They worked their +servants without any wages till they would not work any more, and +then quarreled with them and turned them out of doors without paying +them. It wouuld have been very odd if with such a farm and such a +system of farming they hadn't got very rich; and very rich they DID +get. They generally contrived to keep their corn by them till it +was very dear, and then sell it for twice its value; they had heaps +of gold lying about on their floors, yet it was never known that +they had given so much as a penny or a crust in charity; they never +went to Mass, grumbled perpetually at paying tithes, and were, in a +word, of so cruel and grinding a temper as to receive from all those +with whom they had any dealings the nickname of the "Black +Brothers." + +The youngest brother, Gluck, was as completely opposed, in +both appearance and character, to his seniors as could possibly +be imagined or desired. He was not above twelve years old, fair, +blue-eyed, and kind in temper to every living thing. He did not, +of course, agree particularly well with his brothers, or, rather, +they did not agree with HIM. He was usually appointed to the +honorable office of turnspit, when there was anything to roast, +which was not often, for, to do the brothers justice, they were +hardly less sparing upon themselves than upon other people. At +other times he used to clean the shoes, floors, and sometimes the +plates, occasionally getting what was left on them, by way of +encouragement, and a wholesome quantity of dry blows by way of +education. + +Things went on in this manner for a long time. At last came +a very wet summer, and everything went wrong in the country round. +The hay had hardly been got in when the haystacks were floated +bodily down to the sea by an inundation; the vines were cut to +pieces with the hail; the corn was all killed by a black blight. +Only in the Treasure Valley, as usual, all was safe. As it had +rain when there was rain nowhere else, so it had sun when there +was sun nowhere else. Everybody came to buy corn at the farm and +went away pouring maledictions on the Black Brothers. They asked +what they liked and got it, except from the poor people, who could +only beg, and several of whom were starved at their very door +without the slightest regard or notice. + +It was drawing towards winter, and very cold weather, when +one day the two elder brothers had gone out, with their usual +warning to little Gluck, who was left to mind the roast, that he +was to let nobody in and give nothing out. Gluck sat down quite +close to the fire, for it was raining very hard and the kitchen +walls were by no means dry or comfortable-looking. He turned and +turned, and the roast got nice and brown. "What a pity," thought +Gluck, "my brothers never ask anybody to dinner. I'm sure, when +they've got such a nice piece of mutton as this, and nobody else +has got so much as a piece of dry bread, it would do their hearts +good to have somebody to eat it with them." + +Just as he spoke there came a double knock at the house door, +yet heavy and dull, as though the knocker had been tied up--more +like a puff than a knock. + +"It must be the wind," said Gluck; "nobody else would +venture to knock double knocks at our door." + +No, it wasn't the wind; there it came again very hard, and, +what was particularly astounding, the knocker seemed to be in a +hurry and not to be in the least afraid of the consequences. Gluck +went to the window, opened it, and put his head out to see who it was. + +It was the most extraordinary-looking little gentleman he had +ever seen in his life. He had a very large nose, slightly brass- +colored; his cheeks were very round and very red, and might have +warranted a supposition that he had been blowing a refractory fire +for the last eight-and-forty hours; his eyes twinkled merrily +through long, silky eyelashes; his mustaches curled twice round like +a corkscrew on each side of his mouth; and his hair, of a curious +mixed pepper-and-salt color, descended far over his shoulders. He +was about four feet six in height and wore a conical pointed cap of +nearly the same altitude, decorated with a black feather some three +feet long. His doublet was prolonged behind into something +resembling a violent exaggeration of what is now termed a +"swallowtail," but was much obscured by the swelling folds of an +enormous black, glossy-looking cloak, which must have been very much +too long in calm weather, as the wind, whistling round the old +house, carried it clear out from the wearer's shoulders to about +four times his own length. + +Gluck was so perfectly paralyzed by the singular appearance of +his visitor that he remained fixed without uttering a word, until +the old gentleman, having performed another and a more energetic +concerto on the knocker, turned round to look after his flyaway +cloak. In so doing he caught sight of Gluck's little yellow head +jammed in the window, with its mouth and eyes very wide open indeed. + +"Hollo!" said the little gentleman; "that's not the way to +answer the door. I'm wet; let me in." + +To do the little gentleman justice, he WAS wet. His feather +hung down between his legs like a beaten puppy's tail, dripping +like an umbrella, and from the ends of his mustaches the water was +running into his waistcoat pockets and out again like a mill +stream. + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Gluck, "I'm very sorry, but, I +really can't." + +"Can't what?" said the old gentleman. + +"I can't let you in, sir--I can't, indeed; my brothers would +beat me to death, sir, if I thought of such a thing. What do you +want, sir?" + +"Want?" said the old gentleman petulantly. "I want fire and +shelter, and there's your great fire there blazing, crackling, and +dancing on the walls with nobody to feel it. Let me in, I say; I +only want to warm myself." + +Gluck had had his head, by this time, so long out of the window +that he began to feel it was really unpleasantly cold, and when he +turned and saw the beautiful fire rustling and roaring and throwing +long, bright tongues up the chimney, as if it were licking its chops +at the savory smell of the leg of mutton, his heart melted within +him that it should be burning away for nothing. "He does look very +wet," said little Gluck; "I'll just let him in for a quarter of an +hour." Round he went to the door and opened it; and as the little +gentleman walked in, there came a gust of wind through the house +that made the old chimneys totter. + +"That's a good boy," said the little gentleman. "Never mind +your brothers. I'll talk to them." + +"Pray, sir, don't do any such thing," said Gluck. "I can't +let you stay till they come; they'd be the death of me." + +"Dear me," said the old gentleman, "I'm very sorry to hear +that. How long may I stay?" + +"Only till the mutton's done, sir," replied Gluck, "and it's +very brown." + +Then the old gentleman walked into the kitchen and sat +himself down on the hob, with the top of his cap accommodated +up the chimney, for it was a great deal too high for the roof. + +"You'll soon dry there, sir," said Gluck, and sat down again +to turn the mutton. But the old gentleman did NOT dry there, but +went on drip, drip, dripping among the cinders, and the fire fizzed +and sputtered and began to look very black and uncomfortable. Never +was such a cloak; every fold in it ran like a gutter. + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Gluck at length, after watching the +water spreading in long, quicksilver-like streams over the floor +for a quarter of an hour; "mayn't I take your cloak?" + +"No, thank you," said the old gentleman. + +"Your cap, sir?" + +"I am all right, thank you," said the old gentleman rather +gruffly. + +"But--sir--I'm very sorry," said Gluck hesitatingly, "but-- +really, sir--you're--putting the fire out." + +"It'll take longer to do the mutton, then," replied his +visitor dryly. + +Gluck was very much puzzled by the behavior of his guest; it +was such a strange mixture of coolness and humility. He turned +away at the string meditatively for another five minutes. + +"That mutton looks very nice," said the old gentleman at +length. "Can't you give me a little bit?" + +"Impossible, sir," said Gluck. + +"I'm very hungry," continued the old gentleman. "I've had +nothing to eat yesterday nor to-day. They surely couldn't miss a +bit from the knuckle!" + +He spoke in so very melancholy a tone that it quite melted +Gluck's heart. "They promised me one slice to-day, sir," said +he; "I can give you that, but not a bit more." + +"That's a good boy," said the old gentleman again. + +Then Gluck warmed a plate and sharpened a knife. "I don't +care if I do get beaten for it," thought he. Just as he had cut +a large slice out of the mutton there came a tremendous rap at the +door. The old gentleman jumped off the hob as if it had suddenly +become inconveniently warm. Gluck fitted the slice into the +mutton again, with desperate efforts at exactitude, and ran to +open the door. + +"What did you keep us waiting in the rain for?" said +Schwartz, as he walked in, throwing his umbrella in Gluck's face. + +"Aye! what for, indeed, you little vagabond?" said Hans, +administering an educational box on the ear as he followed his +brother into the kitchen. + +"Bless my soul!" said Schwartz when he opened the door. + +"Amen," said the little gentleman, who had taken his cap +off and was standing in the middle of the kitchen, bowing with +the utmost possible velocity. + +"Who's that?" said Schwartz, catching up a rolling-pin and +turning to Gluck with a fierce frown. + +"I don't know, indeed, brother," said Gluck in great +terror. + +"How did he get in?" roared Schwartz. + +"My dear brother," said Gluck deprecatingly, "he was so +VERY wet!" + +The rolling-pin was descending on Gluck's head, but, at +the instant, the old gentleman interposed his conical cap, on +which it crashed with a shock that shook the water out of it +all over the room. What was very odd, the rolling-pin no sooner +touched the cap than it flew out of Schwartz's hand, spinning like +a straw in a high wind, and fell into the corner at the further +end of the room. + +"Who are you, sir?" demanded Schwartz, turning upon him. +"What's your business?" snarled Hans. + +"I'm a poor old man, sir," the little gentleman began very +modestly, "and I saw your fire through the window and begged +shelter for a quarter of an hour." + +"Have the goodness to walk out again, then," said Schwartz. +"We've quite enough water in our kitchen without making it a +drying house." + +"It is a cold day toturn an oldman out in, sir; look at +my gray hairs." They hung down to his shoulders, as I told you +before. + +"Aye!" said Hans; "there are enough of them to keep you +warm. Walk!" + +"I'm very, very hungry, sir; couldn't you spare me a bit of +bread before I go?" + +"Bread, indeed!" said Schwartz; "do you suppose we've +nothing to do with our bread but to give it to such red-nosed +fellows as you?" + +"Why don't you sell your feather?" said Hans sneeringly. +"Out with you!" + +"A little bit," said the old gentleman. + +"Be off!" said Schwartz. + +"Pray, gentlemen." + +"Off, and be hanged!" cried Hans, seizing him by the +collar. But he had no sooner touched the old gentleman's collar +than away he went after the rolling-pin, spinning round and round +till he fell into the corner on the top of it. Then Schwartz was +very angry and ran at the old gentleman to turn him out; but he +also had hardly touched him when away he went after Hans and the +rolling-pin, and hit his head against the wall as he tumbled into +the corner. And so there they lay, all three. + +Then the old gentleman spun himself round with velocity in +the opposite direction, continued to spin until his long cloak was +all wound neatly about him, clapped his cap on his head, very much +on one side (for it could not stand upright without going through +the ceiling), gave an additional twist to his corkscrew mustaches, +and replied with perfect coolness: "Gentlemen, I wish you a very +good morning. At twelve o'clock tonight I'll call again; after +such a refusal of hospitality as I have just experienced, you will +not be surprised if that visit is the last I ever pay you." + +"If ever I catch you here again," muttered Schwartz, +coming, half frightened, out of the corner--but before he could +finish his sentence the old gentleman had shut the house door +behind him with a great bang, and there drove past the window at +the same instant a wreath of ragged cloud that whirled and rolled +away down the valley in all manner of shapes, turning over and +over in the air and melting away at last in a gush of rain. + +"A very pretty business, indeed, Mr. Gluck!" said Schwartz. +"Dish the mutton, sir. If ever I catch you at such a trick again-- +bless me, why, the mutton's been cut!" + +"You promised me one slice, brother, you know," said Gluck. + +"Oh! and you were cutting it hot, I suppose, and going to +catch all the gravy. It'll be long before I promise you such a +thing again. Leave the room, sir; and have the kindness to wait +in the coal cellar till I call you." + +Gluck left the room melancholy enough. The brothers ate as +much mutton as they could, locked the rest in the cupboard, and +proceeded to get very drunk after dinner. + +Such a night as it was! Howling wind and rushing rain, without +intermission. The brothers had just sense enough left to put up all +the shutters and double-bar the door before they went to bed. They +usually slept in the same room. As the clock struck twelve they +were both awakened by a tremendous crash. Their door burst open +with a violence that shook the house from top to bottom. + +"What's that?" cried Schwartz, starting up in his bed. + +"Only I," said the little gentleman. + +The two brothers sat up on their bolster and stared into the +darkness. The room was full of water, and by a misty moonbeam, +which found its way through a hole in the shutter, they could see in +the midst of it an enormous foam globe, spinning round and bobbing +up and down like a cork, on which, as on a most luxurious cushion, +reclined the little old gentleman, cap and all. There was plenty of +room for it now, for the roof was off. + +"Sorry to incommode you," said their visitor ironically. +"I'm afraid your beds are dampish. Perhaps you had better go +to your brother's room; I've left the ceiling on there." + +They required no second admonition, but rushed into Gluck's +room, wet through and in an agony of terror. + +"You'll find my card on the kitchen table," the old gentleman +called after them. "Remember, the LAST visit." + +"Pray Heaven it may!" said Schwartz, shuddering. And the +foam globe disappeared. + +Dawn came at last, and the two brothers looked out of Gluck's +little window in the morning. The Treasure Valley was one mass of +ruin and desolation. The inundation had swept away trees, crops, +and cattle, and left in their stead a waste of red sand and gray +mud. The two brothers crept shivering and horror-struck into the +kitchen. The water had gutted the whole first floor; corn, money, +almost every movable thing, had been swept away, and there was left +only a small white card on the kitchen table. On it, in large, +breezy, long-legged letters, were engraved the words: + +SOUTH WEST WIND, ESQUIRE + + + +CHAPTER II + +OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE THREE BROTHERS +AFTER THE VISIT OF SOUTHWEST WIND, ESQUIRE; +AND HOW LITTLE GLUCK HAD AN INTERVIEW +WITH THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER + + +Southwest Wind, Esquire, was as good as his word. After the +momentous visit above related, he entered the Treasure Valley no +more; and, what was worse, he had so much influence with his +relations, the West Winds in general, and used it so effectually, +that they all adopted a similar line of conduct. So no rain fell +in the valley from one year's end to another. Though everything +remained green and flourishing in the plains below, the inheritance +of the three brothers was a desert. What had once been the richest +soil in the kingdom became a shifting heap of red sand, and the +brothers, unable longer to contend with the adverse skies, abandoned +their valueless patrimony in despair, to seek some means of gaining +a livelihood among the cities and people of the plains. All their +money was gone, and they had nothing left but some curious old- +fashioned pieces of gold plate, the last remnants of their ill- +gotten wealth. + +"Suppose we turn goldsmiths," said Schwartz to Hans as they +entered the large city. "It is a good knave's trade; we can put a +great deal of copper into the gold without anyone's finding it out." + +The thought was agreed to be a very good one; they hired a +furnace and turned goldsmiths. But two slight circumstances +affected their trade: the first, that people did not approve of the +coppered gold; the second, that the two elder brothers, whenever +they had sold anything, used to leave little Gluck to mind the +furnace, and go and drink out the money in the alehouse next door. +So they melted all their gold without making money enough to buy +more, and were at last reduced to one large drinking mug, which an +uncle of his had given to little Gluck, and which he was very fond +of and would not have parted with for the world, though he never +drank anything out of it but milk and water. The mug was a very odd +mug to look at. The handle was formed of two wreaths of flowing +golden hair, so finely spun that it looked more like silk than +metal, and these wreaths descended into and mixed with a beard and +whiskers of the same exquisite workmanship, which surrounded and +decorated a very fierce little face, of the reddest gold imaginable, +right in the front of the mug, with a pair of eyes in it which +seemed to command its whole circumference. It was impossible to +drink out of the mug without being subjected to an intense gaze out +of the side of these eyes, and Schwartz positively averred that +once, after emptying it, full of Rhenish, seventeen times, he had +seen them wink! When it came to the mug's turn to be made into +spoons, it half broke poor little Gluck's heart; but the brothers +only laughed at him, tossed the mug into the melting pot, and +staggered out to the alehouse, leaving him, as usual, to pour the +gold into bars when it was all ready. + +When they were gone, Gluck took a farewell look at his old +friend in the melting pot. The flowing hair was all gone; nothing +remained but the red nose and the sparkling eyes, which looked more +malicious than ever. "And no wonder," thought Gluck, "after +being treated in that way." He sauntered disconsolately to the +window and sat himself down to catch the fresh evening air and +escape the hot breath of the furnace. Now this window commanded a +direct view of the range of mountains which, as I told you before, +overhung the Treasure Valley, and more especially of the peak from +which fell the Golden River. It was just at the close of the day, +and when Gluck sat down at the window, he saw the rocks of the +mountain tops, all crimson and purple with the sunset; and there +were bright tongues of fiery cloud burning and quivering about them; +and the river, brighter than all, fell, in a waving column of pure +gold, from precipice to precipice, with the double arch of a broad +purple rainbow stretched across it, flushing and fading alternately +in the wreaths of spray. + +"Ah!" said Gluck aloud, after he had looked at it for a +little while, "if that river were really all gold, what a nice +thing it would be." + +"No, it wouldn't, Gluck," said a clear, metallic voice close +at his ear. + +"Bless me, what's that?" exclaimed Gluck, jumping up. There +was nobody there. He looked round the room and under the table and +a great many times behind him, but there was certainly nobody there, +and he sat down again at the window. This time he didn't speak, but +he couldn't help thinking again that it would be very convenient if +the river were really all gold. + +"Not at all, my boy," said the same voice, louder than +before. + +"Bless me!" said Gluck again, "what is that?" He looked +again into all the corners and cupboards, and then began turning +round and round as fast as he could, in the middle of the room, +thinking there was somebody behind him, when the same voice struck +again on his ear. It was singing now, very merrily, "Lala-lira- +la"--no words, only a soft, running, effervescent melody, something +like that of a kettle on the boil. Gluck looked out of the window; +no, it was certainly in the house. Upstairs and downstairs; no, it +was certainly in that very room, coming in quicker time and clearer +notes every moment: "Lala-lira-la." All at once it struck Gluck +that it sounded louder near the furnace. He ran to the opening and +looked in. Yes, he saw right; it seemed to be coming not only out +of the furnace but out of the pot. He uncovered it, and ran back in +a great fright, for the pot was certainly singing! He stood in the +farthest corner of the room, with his hands up and his mouth open, +for a minute or two, when the singing stopped and the voice became +clear and pronunciative. + +"Hollo!" said the voice. + +Gluck made no answer. + +"Hollo! Gluck, my boy," said the pot again. + +Gluck summoned all his energies, walked straight up to the +crucible, drew it out of the furnace, and looked in. The gold was +all melted and its surface as smooth and polished as a river, but +instead of reflecting little Gluck's head, as he looked in he saw, +meeting his glance from beneath the gold, the red nose and sharp +eyes of his old friend of the mug, a thousand times redder and +sharper than ever he had seen them in his life. + +"Come, Gluck, my boy," said the voice out of the pot again, +"I'm all right; pour me out." + +But Gluck was too much astonished to do anything of the kind. + +"Pour me out, I say," said the voice rather gruffly. + +Still Gluck couldn't move. + +"WILL you pour me out?" said the voice passionately. "I'm +too hot." + +By a violent effort Gluck recovered the use of his limbs, +took hold of the crucible, and sloped it, so as to pour out the +gold. But instead of a liquid stream there came out, first a pair +of pretty little yellow legs, then some coat tails, then a pair of +arms stuck akimbo, and finally the well-known head of his friend the +mug--all which articles, uniting as they rolled out, stood up +energetically on the floor in the shape of a little golden dwarf +about a foot and a half high. + +"That's right!" said the dwarf, stretching out first his +legs and then his arms, and then shaking his head up and down and +as far round as it would go, for five minutes without stopping, +apparently with the view of ascertaining if he were quite correctly +put together, while Gluck stood contemplating him in speechless +amazement. He was dressed in a slashed doublet of spun gold, so +fine in its texture that the prismatic colors gleamed over it as if +on a surface of mother-of-pearl; and over this brilliant doublet his +hair and beard fell full halfway to the ground in waving curls, so +exquisitely delicate that Gluck could hardly tell where they ended; +they seemed to melt into air. The features of the face, however, +were by no means finished with the same delicacy; they were rather +coarse, slightly inclining to coppery in complexion, and indicative, +in expression, of a very pertinacious and intractable disposition in +their small proprietor. When the dwarf had finished his self- +examination, he turned his small, sharp eyes full on Gluck and +stared at him deliberately for a minute or two. "No, it wouldn't, +Gluck, my boy," said the little man. + +This was certainly rather an abrupt and unconnected mode of +commencing conversation. It might indeed be supposed to refer to +the course of Gluck's thoughts, which had first produced the dwarf's +observations out of the pot; but whatever it referred to, Gluck had +no inclination to dispute the dictum. + +"Wouldn't it, sir?" said Gluck very mildly and submissively +indeed. + +"No," said the dwarf, conclusively, "no, it wouldn't." And +with that the dwarf pulled his cap hard over his brows and took two +turns, of three feet long, up and down the room, lifting his legs up +very high and setting them down very hard. This pause gave time for +Gluck to collect his thoughts a little, and, seeing no great reason +to view his diminutive visitor with dread, and feeling his curiosity +overcome his amazement, he ventured on a question of peculiar +delicacy. + +"Pray, sir," said Gluck, rather hesitatingly, "were you +my mug?" + +On which the little man turned sharp round, walked straight +up to Gluck, and drew himself up to his full height. "I," said +the little man, "am the King of the Golden River." Whereupon he +turned about again and took two more turns, some six feet long, in +order to allow time for the consternation which this announcement +produced in his auditor to evaporate. After which he again walked +up to Gluck and stood still, as if expecting some comment on his +communication. + +Gluck determined to say something at all events. "I hope your +Majesty is very well," said Gluck. + +"Listen!" said the little man, deigning no reply to this +polite inquiry. "I am the king of what you mortals call the Golden +River. The shape you saw me in was owing to the malice of a +stronger king, from whose enchantments you have this instant freed +me. What I have seen of you and your conduct to your wicked +brothers renders me willing to serve you; therefore, attend to what +I tell you. Whoever shall climb to the top of that mountain from +which you see the Golden River issue, and shall cast into the stream +at its source three drops of holy water, for him and for him only +the river shall turn to gold. But no one failing in his first can +succeed in a second attempt, and if anyone shall cast unholy water +into the river, it will overwhelm him and he will become a black +stone." So saying, the King of the Golden River turned away and +deliberately walked into the center of the hottest flame of the +furnace. His figure became red, white, transparent, dazzling,--a +blaze of intense light,--rose, trembled, and disappeared. The King +of the Golden River had evaporated. + +"Oh!" cried poor Gluck, running to look up the chimney after +him, "O dear, dear, dear me! My mug! my mug! my mug!" + + + +CHAPTER III + +HOW MR. HANS SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION TO +THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED +THEREIN + +The King of the Golden River had hardly made the extraordinary +exit related in the last chapter, before Hans and Schwartz came +roaring into the house very savagely drunk. The discovery of the +total loss of their last piece of plate had the effect of sobering +them just enough to enable them to stand over Gluck, beating him +very steadily for a quarter of an hour; at the expiration of which +period they dropped into a couple of chairs and requested to know +what he had got to say for himself. Gluck told them his story, of +which, of course, they did not believe a word. They beat him again, +till their arms were tired, and staggered to bed. In the morning, +however, the steadiness with which he adhered to his story obtained +him some degree of credence; the immediate consequence of which was +that the two brothers, after wrangling a long time on the knotty +question, which of them should try his fortune first, drew their +swords and began fighting. The noise of the fray alarmed the +neighbors, who, finding they could not pacify the combatants, sent +for the constable. + +Hans, on hearing this, contrived to escape, and hid himself; +but Schwartz was taken before the magistrate, fined for breaking the +peace, and, having drunk out his last penny the evening before, was +thrown into prison till he should pay. + +When Hans heard this, he was much delighted, and determined to +set out immediately for the Golden River. How to get the holy water +was the question. He went to the priest, but the priest could not +give any holy water to so abandoned a character. So Hans went to +vespers in the evening for the first time in his life and, under +pretense of crossing himself, stole a cupful and returned home in +triumph. + +Next morning he got up before the sun rose, put the holy water +into a strong flask, and two bottles of wine and some meat in a +basket, slung them over his back, took his alpine staff in his hand, +and set off for the mountains. + +On his way out of the town he had to pass the prison, and as he +looked in at the windows, whom should he see but Schwartz himself +peeping out of the bars and looking very disconsolate. + +"Good morning, brother," said Hans; "have you any message +for the King of the Golden River?" + +Schwartz gnashed his teeth with rage and shook the bars with +all his strength, but Hans only laughed at him and, advising him to +make himself comfortable till he came back again, shouldered his +basket, shook the bottle of holy water in Schwartz's face till it +frothed again, and marched off in the highest spirits in the world. + +It was indeed a morning that might have made anyone happy, even +with no Golden River to seek for. Level lines of dewy mist lay +stretched along the valley, out of which rose the massy mountains, +their lower cliffs in pale gray shadow, hardly distinguishable from +the floating vapor but gradually ascending till they caught the +sunlight, which ran in sharp touches of ruddy color along the +angular crags, and pierced, in long, level rays, through their +fringes of spearlike pine. Far above shot up red, splintered masses +of castellated rock, jagged and shivered into myriads of fantastic +forms, with here and there a streak of sunlit snow traced down their +chasms like a line of forked lightning; and far beyond and far above +all these, fainter than the morning cloud but purer and changeless, +slept, in the blue sky, the utmost peaks of the eternal snow. + +The Golden River, which sprang from one of the lower and +snowless elevations, was now nearly in shadow--all but the uppermost +jets of spray, which rose like slow smoke above the undulating line +of the cataract and floated away in feeble wreaths upon the morning +wind. + +On this object, and on this alone, Hans's eyes and thoughts +were fixed. Forgetting the distance he had to traverse, he set off +at an imprudent rate of walking, which greatly exhausted him before +he had scaled the first range of the green and low hills. He was, +moreover, surprised, on surmounting them, to find that a large +glacier, of whose existence, notwithstanding his previous knowledge +of the mountains, he had been absolutely ignorant, lay between him +and the source of the Golden River. He entered on it with the +boldness of a practiced mountaineer, yet he thought he had never +traversed so strange or so dangerous a glacier in his life. The ice +was excessively slippery, and out of all its chasms came wild sounds +of gushing water--not monotonous or low, but changeful and loud, +rising occasionally into drifting passages of wild melody, then +breaking off into short, melancholy tones or sudden shrieks +resembling those of human voices in distress or pain. The ice was +broken into thousands of confused shapes, but none, Hans thought, +like the ordinary forms of splintered ice. There seemed a curious +EXPRESSION about all their outlines--a perpetual resemblance to +living features, distorted and scornful. Myriads of deceitful +shadows and lurid lights played and floated about and through the +pale blue pinnacles, dazzling and confusing the sight of the +traveler, while his ears grew dull and his head giddy with the +constant gush and roar of the concealed waters. These painful +circumstances increased upon him as he advanced; the ice crashed and +yawned into fresh chasms at his feet, tottering spires nodded around +him and fell thundering across his path; and though he had +repeatedly faced these dangers on the most terrific glaciers and in +the wildest weather, it was with a new and oppressive feeling of +panic terror that he leaped the last chasm and flung himself, +exhausted and shuddering, on the firm turf of the mountain. + +He had been compelled to abandon his basket of food, which +became a perilous incumbrance on the glacier, and had now no means +of refreshing himself but by breaking off and eating some of the +pieces of ice. This, however, relieved his thirst; an hour's repose +recruited his hardy frame, and with the indomitable spirit of +avarice he resumed his laborious journey. + +His way now lay straight up a ridge of bare red rocks, without +a blade of grass to ease the foot or a projecting angle to afford an +inch of shade from the south sun. It was past noon and the rays +beat intensely upon the steep path, while the whole atmosphere was +motionless and penetrated with heat. Intense thirst was soon added +to the bodily fatigue with which Hans was now afflicted; glance +after glance he cast on the flask of water which hung at his belt. +"Three drops are enough," at last thought he; "I may, at least, +cool my lips with it." + +He opened the flask and was raising it to his lips, when his +eye fell on an object lying on the rock beside him; he thought it +moved. It was a small dog, apparently in the last agony of death +from thirst. Its tongue was out, its jaws dry, its limbs extended +lifelessly, and a swarm of black ants were crawling about its lips +and throat. Its eye moved to the bottle which Hans held in his +hand. He raised it, drank, spurned the animal with his foot, and +passed on. And he did not know how it was, but he thought that a +strange shadow had suddenly come across the blue sky. + +The path became steeper and more rugged every moment, and the +high hill air, instead of refreshing him, seemed to throw his blood +into a fever. The noise of the hill cataracts sounded like mockery +in his ears; they were all distant, and his thirst increased every +moment. Another hour passed, and he again looked down to the flask +at his side; it was half empty, but there was much more than three +drops in it. He stopped to open it, and again, as he did so, +something moved in the path above him. It was a fair child, +stretched nearly lifeless on the rock, its breast heaving with +thirst, its eyes closed, and its lips parched and burning. Hans +eyed it deliberately, drank, and passed on. And a dark gray cloud +came over the sun, and long, snakelike shadows crept up along the +mountain sides. Hans struggled on. The sun was sinking, but its +descent seemed to bring no coolness; the leaden height of the dead +air pressed upon his brow and heart, but the goal was near. He saw +the cataract of the Golden River springing from the hillside +scarcely five hundred feet above him. He paused for a moment to +breathe, and sprang on to complete his task. + +At this instant a faint cry fell on his ear. He turned, and +saw a gray-haired old man extended on the rocks. His eyes were +sunk, his features deadly pale and gathered into an expression of +despair. "Water!" he stretched his arms to Hans, and cried +feebly, "Water! I am dying." + +"I have none," replied Hans; "thou hast had thy share of +life." He strode over the prostrate body and darted on. And a +flash of blue lightning rose out of the East, shaped like a sword; +it shook thrice over the whole heaven and left it dark with one +heavy, impenetrable shade. The sun was setting; it plunged towards +the horizon like a redhot ball. +The roar of the Golden River rose on Hans's ear. He stood +at the brink of the chasm through which it ran. Its waves were +filled with the red glory of the sunset; they shook their crests +like tongues of fire, and flashes of bloody light gleamed along +their foam. Their sound came mightier and mightier on his senses; +his brain grew giddy with the prolonged thunder. Shuddering he +drew the flask from his girdle and hurled it into the center of +the torrent. As he did so, an icy chill shot through his limbs; +he staggered, shrieked, and fell. The waters closed over his cry, +and the moaning of the river rose wildly into the night as it +gushed over + +THE BLACK STONE + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +HOW MR. SCHWARTZ SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION +TO THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED +THEREIN + + +Poor little Gluck waited very anxiously, alone in the house, +for Hans's return. Finding he did not come back, he was terribly +frightened and went and told Schwartz in the prison all that had +happened. Then Schwartz was very much pleased and said that Hans +must certainly have been turned into a black stone and he should +have all the gold to himself. But Gluck was very sorry and cried +all night. When he got up in the morning there was no bread in the +house, nor any money; so Gluck went and hired himself to another +goldsmith, and he worked so hard and so neatly and so long every day +that he soon got money enough together to pay his brother's fine, +and he went and gave it all to Schwartz, and Schwartz got out of +prison. Then Schwartz was quite pleased and said he should have +some of the gold of the river. But Gluck only begged he would go +and see what had become of Hans. + +Now when Schwartz had heard that Hans had stolen the holy +water, he thought to himself that such a proceeding might not be +considered altogether correct by the King of the Golden River, and +determined to manage matters better. So he took some more of +Gluck's money and went to a bad priest, who gave him some holy water +very readily for it. Then Schwartz was sure it was all quite right. +So Schwartz got up early in the morning before the sun rose, and +took some bread and wine in a basket, and put his holy water in a +flask, and set off for the mountains. Like his brother he was much +surprised at the sight of the glacier and had great difficulty in +crossing it, even after leaving his basket behind him. The day was +cloudless but not bright; there was a heavy purple haze hanging over +the sky, and the hills looked lowering and gloomy. And as Schwartz +climbed the steep rock path the thirst came upon him, as it had upon +his brother, until he lifted his flask to his lips to drink. Then +he saw the fair child lying near him on the rocks, and it cried to +him and moaned for water. "Water, indeed," said Schwartz; "I +haven't half enough for myself," and passed on. And as he went he +thought the sunbeams grew more dim, and he saw a low bank of black +cloud rising out of the west; and when he had climbed for another +hour, the thirst overcame him again and he would have drunk. Then +he saw the old man lying before him on the path, and heard him cry +out for water. "Water, indeed," said Schwartz; "I haven't half +enough for myself," and on he went. Then again the light seemed to +fade from before his eyes, and he looked up, and, behold, a mist, of +the color of blood, had come over the sun; and the bank of black +cloud had risen very high, and its edges were tossing and tumbling +like the waves of the angry sea and they cast long shadows which +flickered over Schwartz's path. + +Then Schwartz climbed for another hour, and again his thirst +returned; and as he lifted his flask to his lips he thought he saw +his brother Hans lying exhausted on the path before him, and as he +gazed the figure stretched its arms to him and cried for water. +"Ha, ha!" laughed Schwartz, "are you there? Remember the prison +bars, my boy. Water, indeed! do you suppose I carried it all the +way up here for you?" And he strode over the figure; yet, as he +passed, he thought he saw a strange expression of mockery about its +lips. And when he had gone a few yards farther, he looked back; but +the figure was not there. + +And a sudden horror came over Schwartz, he knew not why; but +the thirst for gold prevailed over his fear, and he rushed on. And +the bank of black cloud rose to the zenith, and out of it came +bursts of spiry lightning, and waves of darkness seemed to heave and +float, between their flashes, over the whole heavens. And the sky +where the sun was setting was all level and like a lake of blood; +and a strong wind came out of that sky, tearing its crimson clouds +into fragments and scattering them far into the darkness. And when +Sclnvartz stood by the brink of the Golden River, its waves were +black like thunder clouds, but their foam was like fire; and the +roar of the waters below and the thunder above met as he cast the +flask into the stream. And as he did so the lightning glared in his +eyes, and the earth gave way beneath him, and the waters closed over +his cry. And the moaning of the river rose wildly into the night as +it gushed over the + +TWO BLACK STONES + + + +CHAPTER V + +HOW LITTLE GLUCK SET OFF ON AN EXPEDITION +TO THE GOLDEN RIVER, AND HOW HE PROSPERED +THEREIN, WITH OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST + +When Gluck found that Schwartz did not come back, he was very +sorry and did not know what to do. He had no money and was obliged +to go and hire himself again to the goldsmith, who worked him very +hard and gave him very little money. So, after a month or two, +Gluck grew tired and made up his mind to go and try his fortune with +the Golden River. "The little king looked very kind," thought he. +"I don't think he will turn me into a black stone." So he went to +the priest, and the priest gave him some holy water as soon as he +asked for it. Then Gluck took some bread in his basket, and the +bottle of water, and set off very early for the mountains. + +If the glacier had occasioned a great deal of fatigue in his +brothers, it was twenty times worse for him, who was neither so +strong nor so practiced on the mountains. He had several very bad +falls, lost his basket and bread, and was very much frightened at +the strange noises under the ice. He lay a long time to rest on the +grass, after he had got over, and began to climb the hill just in +the hottest part of the clay. When he had climbed for an hour, he +got dreadfully thirsty and was going to drink like his brothers, +when he saw an old man coming down the path above him, looking very +feeble and leaning on a staff. "Why son," said the old man, "I +am faint with thirst; give me some of that water." Then Gluck +looked at him, and when he saw that he was pale and weary, he gave +him the water. "Only pray don't drink it all," said Gluck. But +the old man drank a great deal and gave him back the bottle two +thirds empty. Then he bade him good speed, and Gluck went on again +merrily. And the path became easier to his feet, and two or three +blades of grass appeared upon it, and some grasshoppers began +singing on the bank beside it, and Gluck thought he had never heard +such merry singing. + +Then he went on for another hour, and the thirst increased +on him so that he thought he should be forced to drink. But as +he raised the flask he saw a little child lying panting by the +roadside, and it cried out piteously for water. Then Gluck +struggled with himself and determined to bear the thirst a little +longer; and he put the bottle to the child's lips, and it drank +it all but a few drops. Then it smiled on him and got up and ran +down the hill; and Gluck looked after it till it became as small +as a little star, and then turned and began climbing again. And +then there were all kinds of sweet flowers growing on the rocks-- +bright green moss with pale pink, starry flowers, and soft belled +gentians, more blue than the sky at its deepest, and pure white +transparent lilies. And crimson and purple butterflies darted +hither and thither, and the sky sent down such pure light that Gluck +had never felt so happy in his life. + +Yet, when he had climbed for another hour, his thirst became +intolerable again; and when he looked at his bottle, he saw that +there were only five or six drops left in it, and he could not +venture to drink. And as he was hanging the flask to his belt +again, he saw a little dog lying on the rocks, gasping for breath-- +just as Hans had seen it on the day of his ascent. And Gluck +stopped and looked at it, and then at the Golden River, not five +hundred yards above him; and he thought of the dwarf's words, that +no one could succeed except in his first attempt; and he tried to +pass the dog, but it whined piteously and Gluck stopped again. +"Poor beastie," said Gluck, "it'll be dead when I come down +again, if I don't help it." Then he looked closer and closer at +it, and its eye turned on him so mournfully that he could not stand +it. "Confound the king and his gold too," said Gluck, and he +opened the flask and poured all the water into the dog's mouth. + +The dog sprang up and stood on its hind legs. Its tail +disappeared; its ears became long, longer, silky, golden; its nose +became very red; its eyes became very twinkling; in three seconds +the dog was gone, and before Gluck stood his old acquaintance, the +King of the Golden River. + +"Thank you," said the monarch. "But don't be frightened; +it's all right"--for Gluck showed manifest symptoms of +consternation at this unlooked-for reply to his last observation. +"Why didn't you come before," continued the dwarf, "instead of +sending me those rascally brothers of yours, for me to have the +trouble of turning into stones? Very hard stones they make, too." + +"O dear me!" said Gluck, "have you really been so cruel?" + +"Cruel!" said the dwarf; "they poured unholy water into my +stream. Do you suppose I'm going to allow that?" + +"Why," said Gluck, "I am sure, sir,--your Majesty, I mean,-- +they got the water out of the church font." + +"Very probably," replied the dwarf, "but" (and his +countenance grew stern as he spoke) "the water which has been +refused to the cry of the weary and dying is unholy, though it had +been blessed by every saint in heaven; and the water which is found +in the vessel of mercy is holy, though it had been defiled with corpses." + +So saying, the dwarf stooped and plucked a lily that grew at his feet. +On its white leaves there hung three drops of clear dew. +And the dwarf shook them into the flask which Gluck held in his hand. +"Cast these into the river," he said, "and descend on the other side +of the mountains into the Treasure Valley. And so good speed." + +As he spoke the figure of the dwarf became indistinct. The +playing colors of his robe formed themselves into a prismatic mist +of dewy light; he stood for an instant veiled with them as with the +belt of a broad rainbow. The colors grew faint; the mist rose into +the air; the monarch had evaporated. + +And Gluck climbed to the brink of the Golden River, and its +waves were as clear as crystal and as brilliant as the sun. And +when he cast the three drops of dew into the stream, there opened +where they fell a small, circular whirlpool, into which the waters +descended with a musical noise. + +Gluck stood watching it for some time, very much disappointed, +because not only the river was not turned into gold, but its waters +seemed much diminished in quantity. Yet he obeyed his friend the +dwarf and descended the other side of the mountains towards the +Treasure Valley; and as he went he thought he heard the noise of +water working its way under the ground. And when he came in sight +of the Treasure Valley, behold, a river, like the Golden River, was +springing from a new cleft of the rocks above it and was flowing in +innumerable streams among the dry heaps of red sand. + +And as Gluck gazed, fresh grass sprang beside the new streams, +and creeping plants grew and climbed among the moistening soil. +Young flowers opened suddenly along the riversides, as stars leap +out when twilight is deepening, and thickets of myrtle and tendrils +of vine cast lengthening shadows over the valley as they grew. And +thus the Treasure Valley became a garden again, and the inheritance +which had been lost by cruelty was regained by love. + +And Gluck went and dwelt in the valley, and the poor were never +driven from his door, so that his barns became full of corn and his +house of treasure. And for him the river had, according to the +dwarf's promise, become a river of gold. + +And to this day the inhabitants of the valley point out the +place where the three drops of holy dew were cast into the stream, +and trace the course of the Golden River under the ground until it +emerges in the Treasure Valley. And at the top of the cataract of +the Golden River are still to be seen two black stones, round which +the waters howl mournfully every day at sunset; and these stones are +still called by the people of the valley + +THE BLACK BROTHERS + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The King of the Golden River + |