{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47564/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47564","id":"gutenberg_47564","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47564","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Category: Short Stories","Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Children's stories","Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Fantasy literature"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n Twilight Land\n\n BY\n\n HOWARD PYLE\n\n AUTHOR OF\n\n \u201cTHE WONDER CLOCK\u201d \u201cPEPPER AND SALT\u201d\n \u201cMEN OF IRON\u201d ETC.\n\n ILLUSTRATED\n\n [Illustration]\n\n NEW YORK AND LONDON\n\n HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS\n\n\n\n\n TWILIGHT LAND\n\n Copyright, 1894, by Harper & Brothers\n Copyright, 1922, by Mrs. Anne Poole Pyle\n Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTable of Contents.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTION 1\n\n THE STOOL OF FORTUNE 5\n\n THE TALISMAN OF SOLOMON 29\n\n ILL-LUCK AND THE FIDDLER 77\n\n EMPTY BOTTLES 95\n\n GOOD GIFTS AND A FOOL\u2019S FOLLY 113\n\n THE GOOD OF A FEW WORDS 135\n\n WOMAN\u2019S WIT 169\n\n A PIECE OF GOOD LUCK 195\n\n THE FRUIT OF HAPPINESS 235\n\n NOT A PIN TO CHOOSE 259\n\n MUCH SHALL HAVE MORE AND LITTLE SHALL HAVE LESS 299\n\n WISDOM\u2019S WAGES AND FOLLY\u2019S PAY 313\n\n THE ENCHANTED ISLAND 337\n\n ALL THINGS ARE AS FATE WILLS 365\n\n WHERE TO LAY THE BLAME 387\n\n THE SALT OF LIFE 405\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_Introduction_\n\n\n_I found myself in Twilight Land._\n\n_How I ever got there I cannot tell, but there I was in Twilight\nLand._\n\n_What is Twilight Land? It is a wonderful, wonderful place where no\nsun shines to scorch your back as you jog along the way, where no\nrain falls to make the road muddy and hard to travel, where no wind\nblows the dust into your eyes or the chill into your marrow. Where\nall is sweet and quiet and ready to go to bed._\n\n_Where is Twilight Land? Ah! that I cannot tell you. You will\neither have to ask your mother or find it for yourself._\n\n_There I was in Twilight Land. The birds were singing their\ngood-night song, and the little frogs were piping \u201cpeet, peet.\u201d The\nsky overhead was full of still brightness, and the moon in the east\nhung in the purple gray like a great bubble as yellow as gold. All\nthe air was full of the smell of growing things. The high-road was\ngray, and the trees were dark._\n\n_I drifted along the road as a soap-bubble floats before the wind,\nor as a body floats in a dream. I floated along and I floated along\npast the trees, past the bushes, past the mill-pond, past the mill\nwhere the old miller stood at the door looking at me._\n\n_I floated on, and there was the Inn, and it was the Sign of Mother\nGoose._\n\n_The sign hung on a pole, and on it was painted a picture of Mother\nGoose with her gray gander._\n\n_It was to the Inn I wished to come._\n\n_I floated on, and I would have floated past the Inn, and perhaps\nhave gotten into the Land of Never-Come-Back-Again, only I caught\nat the branch of an apple-tree, and so I stopped myself, though the\napple-blossoms came falling down like pink and white snowflakes._\n\n_The earth and the air and the sky were all still, just as it is\nat twilight, and I heard them laughing and talking in the tap-room\nof the Inn of the Sign of Mother Goose--the clinking of glasses,\nand the rattling and clatter of knives and forks and plates and\ndishes. That was where I wished to go._\n\n_So in I went. Mother Goose herself opened the door, and there I\nwas._\n\n_The room was all full of twilight; but there they sat, every\none of them. I did not count them, but there were ever so many:\nAladdin, and Ali Baba, and Fortunatis, and Jack-the-Giant-Killer,\nand Doctor Faustus, and Bidpai, and Cinderella, and Patient\nGrizzle, and the Soldier who cheated the Devil, and St. George,\nand Hans in Luck, who traded and traded his lump of gold until he\nhad only an empty churn to show for it; and there was Sindbad the\nSailor, and the Tailor who killed seven flies at a blow, and the\nFisherman who fished up the Genie, and the Lad who fiddled for the\nJew in the bramble-bush, and the Blacksmith who made Death sit in\nhis apple-tree, and Boots, who always marries the Princess, whether\nhe wants to or not--a rag-tag lot as ever you saw in your life,\ngathered from every place, and brought together in Twilight Land._\n\n_Each one of them was telling a story, and now it was the turn of\nthe Soldier who cheated the Devil._\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cI WILL tell you,\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, \u201ca\nstory of a friend of mine.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cTake a fresh pipe of tobacco,\u201d said St. George._\n\n_\u201cThank you, I will,\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil._\n\n_He filled his long pipe full of tobacco, and then he tilted it\nupside down and sucked in the light of the candle._\n\n_Puff! puff! puff! and a cloud of smoke went up about his head, so\nthat you could just see his red nose shining through it, and his\nbright eyes twinkling in the midst of the smoke-wreath, like two\nstars through a thin cloud on a summer night._\n\n_\u201cI\u2019ll tell you,\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, \u201cthe\nstory of a friend of mine. \u2019Tis every word of it just as true as\nthat I myself cheated the Devil.\u201d_\n\n_He took a drink from his mug of beer, and then he began._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis called,\u201d said he_--\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Stool of Fortune\n\n\nOnce upon a time there came a soldier marching along the road,\nkicking up a little cloud of dust at each step--as strapping and\nmerry and bright-eyed a fellow as you would wish to see in a summer\nday. Tramp! tramp! tramp! he marched, whistling as he jogged along,\nthough he carried a heavy musket over his shoulder and though the\nsun shone hot and strong and there was never a tree in sight to\ngive him a bit of shelter.\n\nAt last he came in sight of the King\u2019s Town and to a great field of\nstocks and stones, and there sat a little old man as withered and\nbrown as a dead leaf, and clad all in scarlet from head to foot.\n\n\u201cHo! soldier,\u201d said he, \u201care you a good shot?\u201d\n\n\u201cAye,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cthat is my trade.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould you like to earn a dollar by shooting off your musket for\nme?\u201d\n\n\u201cAye,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cthat is my trade also.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well, then,\u201d said the little man in red, \u201chere is a silver\nbutton to drop into your gun instead of a bullet. Wait you here,\nand about sunset there will come a great black bird flying. In one\nclaw it carries a feather cap and in the other a round stone. Shoot\nme the silver button at that bird, and if your aim is good it will\ndrop the feather cap and the pebble. Bring them to me to the great\ntown-gate and I will pay you a dollar for your trouble.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cshooting my gun is a job that fits\nme like an old coat.\u201d So, down he sat and the old man went his way.\n\nWell, there he sat and sat and sat and sat until the sun touched\nthe rim of the ground, and then, just as the old man said, there\ncame flying a great black bird as silent as night. The soldier did\nnot tarry to look or to think. As the bird flew by up came the\ngun to his shoulder, squint went his eye along the barrel--Puff!\nBang!--\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI vow and declare that if the shot he fired had cracked the sky he\ncould not have been more frightened. The great black bird gave a\nyell so terrible that it curdled the very blood in his veins and\nmade his hair stand upon end. Away it flew like a flash--a bird\nno longer, but a great, black demon, smoking and smelling most\nhorribly of brimstone, and when the soldier gathered his wits,\nthere lay the feather cap and a little, round, black stone upon the\nground.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cit is little wonder that the old man had\nno liking to shoot at such game as that.\u201d And thereupon he popped\nthe feather cap into one pocket and the round stone into another,\nand shouldering his musket marched away until he reached the\ntown-gate, and there was the old man waiting for him.\n\n\u201cDid you shoot the bird?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI did,\u201d said the soldier.\n\n\u201cAnd did you get the cap and the round stone?\u201d\n\n\u201cI did.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen here is your dollar.\u201d\n\n\u201cWait a bit,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cI shot greater game that time\nthan I bargained for, and so it\u2019s ten dollars and not one you shall\npay me before you lay finger upon the feather cap and the little\nstone.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the old man, \u201chere are ten dollars.\u201d\n\n\u201cHo! ho!\u201d thought the soldier, \u201cis that the way the wind\nblows?\u201d--\u201cDid I say ten dollars?\u201d said he; \u201c\u2019twas a hundred\ndollars I meant.\u201d\n\nAt that the old man frowned until his eyes shone green. \u201cVery\nwell,\u201d said he, \u201cif it is a hundred dollars you want, you will have\nto come home with me, for I have not so much with me.\u201d Thereupon he\nentered the town with the soldier at his heels.\n\nUp one street he went and down another, until at last he came to\na great, black, ancient, ramshackle house; and that was where he\nlived. In he walked without so much as a rap at the door, and so\nled the way to a great room with furnaces and books and bottles\nand jars and dust and cobwebs, and three grinning skulls upon the\nmantelpiece, each with a candle stuck atop of it, and there he left\nthe soldier while he went to get the hundred dollars.\n\nThe soldier sat him down upon a three-legged stool in the corner\nand began staring about him; and he liked the looks of the place as\nlittle as any he had seen in all of his life, for it smelled musty\nand dusty, it did: the three skulls grinned at him, and he began to\nthink that the little old man was no better than he should be. \u201cI\nwish,\u201d says he, at last, \u201cthat instead of being here I might be\nwell out of my scrape and in a safe place.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNow the little old man in scarlet was a great magician, and there\nwas little or nothing in that house that had not some magic about\nit, and of all things the three-legged stool had been conjured the\nmost.\n\n\u201cI wish that instead of being here I might be well out of my\nscrape, and in a safe place.\u201d That was what the soldier said; and\nhardly had the words left his lips when--whisk! whir!--away flew\nthe stool through the window, so suddenly that the soldier had only\njust time enough to gripe it tight by the legs to save himself from\nfalling. Whir! whiz!--away it flew like a bullet. Up and up it\nwent--so high in the air that the earth below looked like a black\nblanket spread out in the night; and then down it came again,\nwith the soldier still griping tight to the legs, until at last it\nsettled as light as a feather upon a balcony of the king\u2019s palace;\nand when the soldier caught his wind again he found himself without\na hat, and with hardly any wits in his head.\n\nThere he sat upon the stool for a long time without daring to move,\nfor he did not know what might happen to him next. There he sat and\nsat, and by-and-by his ears got cold in the night air, and then\nhe noticed for the first time that he had lost his head gear, and\nbethought himself of the feather cap in his pocket. So out he drew\nit and clapped it upon his head, and then--lo and behold!--he found\nhe had become as invisible as thin air--not a shred or a hair of\nhim could be seen. \u201cWell!\u201d said he, \u201chere is another wonder, but I\nam safe now at any rate.\u201d And up he got to find some place not so\ncool as where he sat.\n\nHe stepped in at an open window, and there he found himself in\na beautiful room, hung with cloth of silver and blue, and with\nchairs and tables of white and gold; dozens and scores of waxlights\nshone like so many stars, and lit every crack and cranny as bright\nas day, and there at one end of the room upon a couch, with her\neyelids closed and fast asleep, lay the prettiest princess that\never the sun shone upon. The soldier stood and looked and looked\nat her, and looked and looked at her, until his heart melted within\nhim like soft butter, and then he kissed her.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d said the princess, starting up, wide-awake, but not\na soul could she see, because the soldier had the feather cap upon\nhis head.\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d said she again; and then the soldier answered, but\nwithout taking the feather cap from his head.\n\n\u201cIt is I,\u201d said he, \u201cand I am King of the Wind, and ten times\ngreater than the greatest of kings here below. One day I saw you\nwalking in your garden and fell in love with you, and now I have\ncome to ask you if you will marry me and be my wife?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can I marry you?\u201d said the princess, \u201cwithout seeing you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall see me,\u201d said the soldier, \u201call in good time. Three days\nfrom now I will come again, and will show myself to you, but just\nnow it cannot be. But if I come, will you marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes I will,\u201d said the princess, \u201cfor I like the way you talk--that\nI do!\u201d\n\nThereupon the soldier kissed her and said good-bye, and then\nstepped out of the window as he had stepped in. He sat him down\nupon his three-legged stool. \u201cI wish,\u201d said he, \u201cto be carried to\nsuch and such a tavern.\u201d For he had been in that town before, and\nknew the places where good living was to be had.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhir! whiz! Away flew the stool as high and higher than it had\nflown before, and then down it came again, and down and down until\nit lit as light as a feather in the street before the tavern\ndoor. The soldier tucked his feather cap in his pocket, and the\nthree-legged stool under his arm, and in he went and ordered a pot\nof beer and some white bread and cheese.\n\nMeantime, at the king\u2019s palace was such a gossiping and such a\nhubbub as had not been heard there for many a day; for the pretty\nprincess was not slow in telling how the invisible King of the Wind\nhad come and asked her to marry him; and some said it was true and\nsome said it was not true, and everybody wondered and talked, and\ntold their own notions of the matter. But all agreed that three\ndays would show whether what had been told was true or no.\n\nAs for the soldier, he knew no more how to do what he had promised\nto do than my grandmother\u2019s cat; for where was he to get clothes\nfine enough for the King of the Wind to wear? So there he sat on\nhis three-legged stool thinking and thinking, and if he had known\nall that I know he would not have given two turns of his wit upon\nit. \u201cI wish,\u201d says he, at last--\u201cI wish that this stool could help\nme now as well as it can carry me through the sky. I wish,\u201d says\nhe, \u201cthat I had a suit of clothes such as the King of the Wind\nmight really wear.\u201d\n\nThe wonders of the three-legged stool were wonders indeed!\n\nHardly had the words left the soldier\u2019s lips when down came\nsomething tumbling about his ears from up in the air; and what\nshould it be but just such a suit of clothes as he had in his\nmind--all crusted over with gold and silver and jewels.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says the soldier, as soon as he had got over his wonder\nagain, \u201cI would rather sit upon this stool than any I ever saw.\u201d\nAnd so would I, if I had been in his place, and had a few minutes\nto think of all that I wanted.\n\nSo he found out the trick of the stool, and after that wishing\nand having were easy enough, and by the time the three days were\nended the real King of the Wind himself could not have cut a finer\nfigure. Then down sat the soldier upon his stool, and wished\nhimself at the king\u2019s palace. Away he flew through the air, and\nby-and-by there he was, just where he had been before. He put his\nfeather cap upon his head, and stepped in through the window, and\nthere he found the princess with her father, the king, and her\nmother, the queen, and all the great lords and nobles waiting for\nhis coming; but never a stitch nor a hair did they see of him until\nhe stood in the very midst of them all. Then he whipped the feather\ncap off of his head, and there he was, shining with silver and gold\nand glistening with jewels--such a sight as man\u2019s eyes never saw\nbefore.\n\n\u201cTake her,\u201d said the king, \u201cshe is yours.\u201d And the soldier looked\nso handsome in his fine clothes that the princess was as glad to\nhear those words as any she had ever listened to in all of her life.\n\n\u201cYou shall,\u201d said the king, \u201cbe married to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the soldier. \u201cOnly give me a plot of ground to\nbuild a palace upon that shall be fit for the wife of the King of\nthe Wind to live in.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall have it,\u201d said the king, \u201cand it shall be the great\nparade ground back of the palace, which is so wide and long that\nall my army can march round and round in it without getting into\nits own way; and that ought to be big enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cit is.\u201d Thereupon he put on his feather\ncap and disappeared from the sight of all as quickly as one might\nsnuff out a candle.\n\nHe mounted his three-legged stool and away he flew through the air\nuntil he had come again to the tavern where he was lodging. There\nhe sat him down and began to churn his thoughts, and the butter\nhe made was worth the having, I can tell you. He wished for a\ngrand palace of white marble, and then he wished for all sorts of\nthings to fill it--the finest that could be had. Then he wished for\nservants in clothes of gold and silver, and then he wished for fine\nhorses and gilded coaches. Then he wished for gardens and orchards\nand lawns and flower-plats and fountains, and all kinds and sorts\nof things, until the sweat ran down his face from hard thinking and\nwishing. And as he thought and wished, all the things he thought\nand wished for grew up like soap-bubbles from nothing at all.\n\nThen, when day began to break, he wished himself with his fine\nclothes to be in the palace that his own wits had made, and away he\nflew through the air until he had come there safe and sound.\n\nBut when the sun rose and shone down upon the beautiful palace and\nall the gardens and orchards around it, the king and queen and all\nthe court stood dumb with wonder at the sight. Then, as they stood\nstaring, the gates opened and out came the soldier riding in his\ngilded coach with his servants in silver and gold marching beside\nhim, and such a sight the daylight never looked upon before that\nday.\n\nWell, the princess and the soldier were married, and if no couple\nhad ever been happy in the world before, they were then. Nothing\nwas heard but feasting and merrymaking, and at night all the sky\nwas lit with fireworks. Such a wedding had never been before, and\nall the world was glad that it had happened.\n\nThat is, all the world but one; that one was the old man dressed\nin scarlet that the soldier had met when he first came to town.\nWhile all the rest were in the hubbub of rejoicing, he put on his\nthinking-cap, and by-and-by began to see pretty well how things\nlay, and that, as they say in our town, there was a fly in the\nmilk-jug. \u201cHo, ho!\u201d thought he, \u201cso the soldier has found out all\nabout the three-legged stool, has he? Well, I will just put a spoke\ninto his wheel for him.\u201d And so he began to watch for his chance to\ndo the soldier an ill turn.\n\nNow, a week or two after the wedding, and after all the gay doings\nhad ended, a grand hunt was declared, and the king and his new\nson-in-law and all the court went to it. That was just such a\nchance as the old magician had been waiting for; so the night\nbefore the hunting-party returned he climbed the walls of the\ngarden, and so came to the wonderful palace that the soldier had\nbuilt out of nothing at all, and there stood three men keeping\nguard so that no one might enter.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut little that troubled the magician. He began to mutter spells\nand strange words, and all of a sudden he was gone, and in his\nplace was a great black ant, for he had changed himself into an\nant. In he ran through a crack of the door (and mischief has got\ninto many a man\u2019s house through a smaller hole for the matter of\nthat). In and out ran the ant through one room and another, and\nup and down and here and there, until at last in a far-away part\nof the magic palace he found the three-legged stool, and if I\nhad been in the soldier\u2019s place I would have chopped it up into\nkindling-wood after I had gotten all that I wanted. But there it\nwas, and in an instant the magician resumed his own shape. Down he\nsat him upon the stool. \u201cI wish,\u201d said he, \u201cthat this palace and\nthe princess and all who are within it, together with its orchards\nand its lawns and its gardens and everything, may be removed to\nsuch and such a country, upon the other side of the earth.\u201d\n\nAnd as the stool had obeyed the soldier, so everything was done now\njust as the magician said.\n\nThe next morning back came the hunting-party, and as they rode over\nthe hill--lo and behold hold!--there lay stretched out the great\nparade ground in which the king\u2019s armies used to march around and\naround, and the land was as bare as the palm of my hand. Not a\nstick or a stone of the palace was left; not a leaf or a blade of\nthe orchards or gardens was to be seen.\n\nThe soldier sat as dumb as a fish, and the king stared with\neyes and mouth wide open. \u201cWhere is the palace, and where is my\ndaughter?\u201d said he, at last, finding words and wit.\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the soldier.\n\nThe king\u2019s face grew as black as thunder. \u201cYou do not know?\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cthen you must find out. Seize the traitor!\u201d he cried.\n\nBut that was easier said than done, for, quick as a wink, as they\ncame to lay hold of him, the soldier whisked the feather cap from\nhis pocket and clapped it upon his head, and then they might as\nwell have hoped to find the south wind in winter as to find him.\n\nBut though he got safe away from that trouble he was deep enough in\nthe dumps, you may be sure of that. Away he went, out into the wide\nworld, leaving that town behind him. Away he went, until by-and-by\nhe came to a great forest, and for three days he travelled on and\non--he knew not whither. On the third night, as he sat beside a\nfire which he had built to keep him warm, he suddenly bethought\nhimself of the little round stone which had dropped from the bird\u2019s\nclaw, and which he still had in his pocket. \u201cWhy should it not\nalso help me,\u201d said he, \u201cfor there must be some wonder about it.\u201d\nSo he brought it out, and sat looking at it and looking at it, but\nhe could make nothing of it for the life of him. Nevertheless, it\nmight have some wishing power about it, like the magic stool. \u201cI\nwish,\u201d said the soldier, \u201cthat I might get out of this scrape.\u201d\nThat is what we have all wished many and many a time in a like\ncase; but just now it did the soldier no more good to wish than it\ndoes good for the rest of us. \u201cBah!\u201d said he, \u201cit is nothing but a\nblack stone after all.\u201d And then he threw it into the fire.\n\nPuff! Bang! Away flew the embers upon every side, and back tumbled\nthe soldier, and there in the middle of the flame stood just such a\ngrim, black being as he had one time shot at with the silver button.\n\nAs for the poor soldier, he just lay flat on his back and stared\nwith eyes like saucers, for he thought that his end had come for\nsure.\n\n\u201cWhat are my lord\u2019s commands?\u201d said the being, in a voice that\nshook the marrow of the soldier\u2019s bones.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d said the soldier.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cI am the spirit of the stone,\u201d said the being. \u201cYou have heated it\nin the flame, and I am here. Whatever you command I must obey.\u201d\n\n\u201cSay you so?\u201d cried the soldier, scrambling to his feet. \u201cVery\nwell, then, just carry me to where I may find my wife and my palace\nagain.\u201d\n\nWithout a word the spirit of the stone snatched the soldier up, and\nflew away with him swifter than the wind. Over forest, over field,\nover mountain and over valley he flew, until at last, just at the\ncrack of day, he set him down in front of his own palace gate in\nthe far country where the magician had transported it.\n\nAfter that the soldier knew his way quickly enough. He clapped his\nfeather cap upon his head and into the palace he went, and from one\nroom to another, until at last he came to where the princess sat\nweeping and wailing, with her pretty eyes red from long crying.\n\nThen the soldier took off his cap again, and you may guess what\nsounds of rejoicing followed. They sat down beside one another, and\nafter the soldier had eaten, the princess told him all that had\nhappened to her; how the magician had found the stool, and how he\nhad transported the palace to this far-away land; how he came every\nday and begged her to marry him--which she would rather die than\ndo.\n\nTo all this the soldier listened, and when she had ended her story\nhe bade her to dry her tears, for, after all, the jug was only\ncracked, and not past mending. Then he told her that when the\nsorcerer came again that day she should say so and so and so and\nso, and that he would be by to help her with his feather cap upon\nhis head.\n\nAfter that they sat talking together as happy as two turtle-doves,\nuntil the magician\u2019s foot was heard on the stairs. And then the\nsoldier clapped his feather cap upon his head just as the door\nopened.\n\n\u201cSnuff, snuff!\u201d said the magician, sniffing the air, \u201chere is a\nsmell of Christian blood.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the princess, \u201cthat is so; there came a peddler to-day,\nbut after all he did not stay long.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe\u2019d better not come again,\u201d said the magician, \u201cor it will be the\nworse for him. But tell me, will you marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the princess, \u201cI shall not marry you until you can prove\nyourself to be a greater man than my husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the magician, \u201cthat will be easy enough to prove; tell\nme how you would have me do so and I will do it.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the princess, \u201cthen let me see you change\nyourself into a lion. If you can do that I may perhaps believe you\nto be as great as my husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall,\u201d said the magician, \u201cbe as you say.\u201d He began to mutter\nspells and strange words, and then all of a sudden he was gone, and\nin his place there stood a lion with bristling mane and flaming\neyes--a sight fit of itself to kill a body with terror.\n\n\u201cThat will do!\u201d cried the princess, quaking and trembling at the\nsight, and thereupon the magician took his own shape again.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cdo you believe that I am as great as the poor\nsoldier?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot yet,\u201d said the princess; \u201cI have seen how big you can make\nyourself, now I wish to see how little you can become. Let me see\nyou change yourself into a mouse.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said the magician, and began again to mutter his\nspells. Then all of a sudden he was gone just as he was gone\nbefore, and in his place was a little mouse sitting up and looking\nat the princess with a pair of eyes like glass beads.\n\nBut he did not sit there long. This was what the soldier had\nplanned for, and all the while he had been standing by with his\nfeather hat upon his head. Up he raised his foot, and down he set\nit upon the mouse.\n\nCrunch!--that was an end of the magician.\n\nAfter that all was clear sailing; the soldier hunted up the\nthree-legged stool and down he sat upon it, and by dint of no more\nthan just a little wishing, back flew palace and garden and all\nthrough the air again to the place whence it came.\n\nI do not know whether the old king ever believed again that\nhis son-in-law was the King of the Wind; anyhow, all was peace\nand friendliness thereafter, for when a body can sit upon a\nthree-legged stool and wish to such good purpose as the soldier\nwished, a body is just as good as a king, and a good deal better,\nto my mind.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_The Soldier who cheated the Devil looked into his pipe; it was\nnearly out. He puffed and puffed and the coal glowed brighter, and\nfresh clouds of smoke rolled up into the air. Little Brown Betty\ncame and refilled, from a crock of brown foaming ale, the mug which\nhe had emptied. The Soldier who had cheated the Devil looked up at\nher and winked one eye._\n\n_\u201cNow,\u201d said St. George, \u201cit is the turn of yonder old man,\u201d and he\npointed, as he spoke, with the stem of his pipe towards old Bidpai,\nwho sat with closed eyes meditating inside of himself._\n\n_The old man opened his eyes, the whites of which were as yellow as\nsaffron, and wrinkled his face into innumerable cracks and lines.\nThen he closed his eyes again; then he opened them again; then he\ncleared his throat and began_: \u201cThere was once upon a time a man\nwhom other men called Aben Hassen the Wise--\u201d\n\n_\u201cOne moment,\u201d said Ali Baba; \u201cwill you not tell us what the story\nis about?\u201d_\n\n_Old Bidpai looked at him and stroked his long white beard. \u201cIt\nis,\u201d said he, \u201cabout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Talisman _of_ Solomon.\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a man whom other men called Aben Hassen\nthe Wise. He had read a thousand books of magic, and knew all that\nthe ancients or moderns had to tell of the hidden arts.\n\nThe King of the Demons of the Earth, a great and hideous monster,\nnamed Zadok, was his servant, and came and went as Aben Hassen the\nWise ordered, and did as he bade. After Aben Hassen learned all\nthat it was possible for man to know, he said to himself, \u201cNow I\nwill take my ease and enjoy my life.\u201d So he called the Demon Zadok\nto him, and said to the monster, \u201cI have read in my books that\nthere is a treasure that was one time hidden by the ancient kings\nof Egypt--a treasure such as the eyes of man never saw before or\nsince their day. Is that true?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is true,\u201d said the Demon.\n\n\u201cThen I command thee to take me to that treasure and to show it to\nme,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Wise.\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Demon; and thereupon he caught up the\nWise Man and transported him across mountain and valley, across\nland and sea, until he brought him to a country known as the \u201cLand\nof the Black Isles,\u201d where the treasure of the ancient kings was\nhidden. The Demon showed the Magician the treasure, and it was a\nsight such as man had never looked upon before or since the days\nthat the dark, ancient ones hid it. With his treasure Aben Hassen\nbuilt himself palaces and gardens and paradises such as the world\nnever saw before. He lived like an emperor, and the fame of his\ndoings rang through all the four corners of the earth.\n\nNow the queen of the Black Isles was the most beautiful woman in\nthe world, but she was as cruel and wicked and cunning as she was\nbeautiful. No man that looked upon her could help loving her; for\nnot only was she as beautiful as a dream, but her beauty was of\nthat sort that it bewitched a man in spite of himself.\n\nOne day the queen sent for Aben Hassen the Wise. \u201cTell me,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cis it true that men say of you that you have discovered a\nhidden treasure such as the world never saw before?\u201d And she looked\nat Aben Hassen so that his wisdom all crumbled away like sand, and\nhe became just as foolish as other men.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said he, \u201cit is true.\u201d\n\nAben Hassen the Wise spent all that day with the queen, and when\nhe left the palace he was like a man drunk and dizzy with love.\nMoreover, he had promised to show the queen the hidden treasure the\nnext day.\n\nAs Aben Hassen, like a man in a dream, walked towards his own\nhouse, he met an old man standing at the corner of the street. The\nold man had a talisman that hung dangling from a chain, and which\nhe offered for sale. When Aben Hassen saw the talisman he knew very\nwell what it was--that it was the famous talisman of King Solomon\nthe Wise. If he who possessed the talisman asked it to speak, it\nwould tell that man both what to do and what not to do.\n\nThe Wise Man bought the talisman for three pieces of silver (and\nwisdom has been sold for less than that many a time), and as soon\nas he had the talisman in his hands he hurried home with it and\nlocked himself in a room.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the Wise Man to the Talisman, \u201cshall I marry the\nbeautiful queen of the Black Isles?\u201d\n\n\u201cFly, while there is yet time to escape!\u201d said the Talisman; \u201cbut\ngo not near the queen again, for she seeks to destroy thy life.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut tell me, O Talisman!\u201d said the Wise Man, \u201cwhat then shall I do\nwith all that vast treasure of the kings of Egypt?\u201d\n\n\u201cFly from it while there is yet chance to escape!\u201d said the\nTalisman; \u201cbut go not into the treasure-house again, for in the\nfarther door, where thou hast not yet looked, is that which will\ndestroy him who possesses the treasure.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut Zadok,\u201d said Aben Hassen; \u201cwhat of Zadok?\u201d\n\n\u201cFly from the monster while there is yet time to escape,\u201d said the\nTalisman, \u201cand have no more to do with thy Demon slave, for already\nhe is weaving a net of death and destruction about thy feet.\u201d\n\nThe Wise Man sat all that night pondering and thinking upon what\nthe Talisman had said. When morning came he washed and dressed\nhimself, and called the Demon Zadok to him. \u201cZadok,\u201d said he,\n\u201ccarry me to the palace of the queen.\u201d In the twinkling of an eye\nthe Demon transported him to the steps of the palace.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cZadok,\u201d said the Wise Man, \u201cgive me the staff of life and death;\u201d\nand the Demon brought from under his clothes a wand, one-half of\nwhich was of silver and one-half of which was of gold. The Wise Man\ntouched the steps of the palace with the silver end of the staff.\nInstantly all the sound and hum of life was hushed. The thread of\nlife was cut by the knife of silence, and in a moment all was as\nstill as death.\n\n\u201cZadok,\u201d said the Wise Man, \u201ctransport me to the treasure-house of\nthe king of Egypt.\u201d And instantly the Demon had transported him\nthither. The Wise Man drew a circle upon the earth. \u201cNo one,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cshall have power to enter here but the master of Zadok, the\nKing of the Demons of the Earth.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd now, Zadok,\u201d said he, \u201cI command thee to transport me to\nIndia, and as far from here as thou canst.\u201d Instantly the Demon\ndid as he was commanded; and of all the treasure that he had, the\nWise Man took nothing with him but a jar of golden money and a jar\nof silver money. As soon as the Wise Man stood upon the ground of\nIndia, he drew from beneath his robe a little jar of glass.\n\n\u201cZadok,\u201d said he, \u201cI command thee to enter this jar.\u201d\n\nThen the Demon knew that now his turn had come. He besought and\nimplored the Wise Man to have mercy upon him; but it was all in\nvain. Then the Demon roared and bellowed till the earth shook and\nthe sky grew dark overhead. But all was of no avail; into the jar\nhe must go, and into the jar he went. Then the Wise Man stoppered\nthe jar and sealed it. He wrote an inscription of warning upon it,\nand then he buried it in the ground.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Wise to the Talisman of Solomon, \u201chave\nI done everything that I should?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Talisman, \u201cthou shouldst not have brought the jar\nof golden money and the jar of silver money with thee; for that\nwhich is evil in the greatest is evil in the least. Thou fool! The\ntreasure is cursed! cast it all from thee while there is yet time.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I will do that, too,\u201d said the Wise Man. So he buried in the\nearth the jar of gold and the jar of silver that he had brought\nwith him, and then he stamped the mould down upon it. After that\nthe Wise Man began his life all over again. He bought, and he\nsold, and he traded, and by-and-by he became rich. Then he built\nhimself a great house, and in the foundation he laid the jar in\nwhich the Demon was bottled.\n\nThen he married a young and handsome wife. By-and-by the wife bore\nhim a son, and then she died.\n\nThis son was the pride of his father\u2019s heart; but he was as vain\nand foolish as his father was wise, so that all men called him Aben\nHassen the Fool, as they called the father Aben Hassen the Wise.\n\nThen one day death came and called the old man, and he left his son\nall that belonged to him--even the Talisman of Solomon.\n\n * * * * *\n\nYoung Aben Hassen the Fool had never seen so much money as now\nbelonged to him. It seemed to him that there was nothing in the\nworld he could not enjoy. He found friends by the dozens and\nscores, and everybody seemed to be very fond of him.\n\nHe asked no questions of the Talisman of Solomon, for to his mind\nthere was no need of being both wise and rich. So he began enjoying\nhimself with his new friends. Day and night there was feasting and\ndrinking and singing and dancing and merrymaking and carousing;\nand the money that the old man had made by trading and wise living\npoured out like water through a sieve.\n\nThen, one day came an end to all this junketing, and nothing\nremained to the young spendthrift of all the wealth that his father\nhad left him. Then the officers of the law came down upon him and\nseized all that was left of the fine things, and his fair-weather\nfriends flew away from his troubles like flies from vinegar. Then\nthe young man began to think of the Talisman of Wisdom. For it was\nwith him as it is with so many of us: When folly has emptied the\nplatter, wisdom is called in to pick the bones.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the young man to the Talisman of Solomon, \u201cwhat\nshall I do, now that everything is gone?\u201d\n\n\u201cGo,\u201d said the Talisman of Solomon, \u201cand work as thy father has\nworked before thee. Advise with me and become prosperous and\ncontented, but do not go dig under the cherry-tree in the garden.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I not dig under the cherry-tree in the garden?\u201d says\nthe young man; \u201cI will see what is there, at any rate.\u201d\n\nSo he straightway took a spade and went out into the garden, where\nthe Talisman had told him not to go. He dug and dug under the\ncherry-tree, and by-and-by his spade struck something hard. It was\na vessel of brass, and it was full of silver money. Upon the lid of\nthe vessel were these words, engraved in the handwriting of the old\nman who had died:\n\n\u201cMy son, this vessel full of silver has been brought from the\ntreasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take this, then, that\nthou findest; advise with the Talisman; be wise and prosper.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd they call that the Talisman of Wisdom,\u201d said the young man.\n\u201cIf I had listened to it I never would have found this treasure.\u201d\n\nThe next day he began to spend the money he had found, and his\nfriends soon gathered around him again.\n\nThe vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all gone;\nnot a single piece was left.\n\nThen the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of\nSolomon. \u201cWhat shall I do now,\u201d said he, \u201cto save myself from\nruin?\u201d\n\n\u201cEarn thy bread with honest labor,\u201d said the Talisman, \u201cand I will\nteach thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the fig-tree that\nstands by the fountain in the garden.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman\nhad said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in the\ngarden as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by his\nspade struck something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it was\nfilled with gold money. Upon the lid of the vessel was engraved\nthese words in the handwriting of the old man who had gone: \u201cMy\nson, my son,\u201d they said, \u201cthou hast been warned once; be warned\nagain. The gold money in this vessel has been brought from the\ntreasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take it; be advised\nby the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and prosper.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would never\nhave found this,\u201d said the young man.\n\nThe gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and\nmerrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing\nleft--not a copper farthing.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the young man to the Talisman, \u201cwhat shall I do\nnow?\u201d\n\n\u201cThou fool,\u201d said the Talisman, \u201cgo sweat and toil, but do not go\ndown into the vault beneath this house. There in the vault is a red\nstone built into the wall. The red stone turns upon a pivot. Behind\nthe stone is a hollow space. As thou wouldst save thy life from\nperil, go not near it!\u201d\n\n\u201cHear that now,\u201d says the young man, \u201cfirst, this Talisman told\nme not to go, and I found silver. Then it told me not to go, and\nI found gold; now it tells me not to go--perhaps I shall find\nprecious stones enough for a king\u2019s ransom.\u201d\n\nHe lit a lantern and went down into the vault beneath the house.\nThere, as the Talisman had said, was the red stone built into the\nwall. He pressed the stone, and it turned upon its pivot as the\nTalisman had said it would turn. Within was a hollow space, as\nthe Talisman said there would be. In the hollow space there was\na casket of silver. The young man snatched it up, and his hands\ntrembled for joy.\n\nUpon the lid of the box were these words in the father\u2019s\nhandwriting, written in letters as red as blood: \u201cFool, fool! Thou\nhast been a fool once, thou hast been a fool twice; be not a fool\nfor a third time. Restore this casket whence it was taken, and\ndepart.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will see what is in the box, at any rate,\u201d said the young man.\n\nHe opened it. There was nothing in it but a hollow glass jar the\nsize of an egg. The young man took the jar from the box; it was as\nhot as fire. He cried out and let it fall. The jar burst upon the\nfloor with a crack of thunder; the house shook and rocked, and the\ndust flew about in clouds. Then all was still; and when Aben Hassen\nthe Fool could see through the cloud of terror that enveloped him\nhe beheld a great, tall, hideous being as black as ink, and with\neyes that shone like coals of fire.\n\nWhen the young man saw that terrible creature his tongue clave to\nthe roof of his mouth, and his knees smote together with fear, for\nhe thought that his end had now certainly come.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d he croaked, as soon as he could find his voice.\n\n\u201cI am the King of the Demons of the Earth, and my name is Zadok,\u201d\nanswered the being. \u201cI was once thy father\u2019s slave, and now I am\nthine, thou being his son. When thou speakest I must obey, and\nwhatever thou commandest me to do that I must do.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor instance, what can you do for me?\u201d said the young man.\n\n\u201cI can do whatsoever you ask me; I can make you rich.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can make me rich?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I can make you richer than a king.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen make me rich as soon as you can,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Fool,\n\u201cand that is all that I shall ask of you now.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Demon; \u201cspend all that thou canst\nspend, and thou shalt always have more. Has my lord any further\ncommands for his slave?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the young man, \u201cthere is nothing more; you may go now.\u201d\n\nAnd thereupon the Demon vanished like a flash.\n\n\u201cAnd to think,\u201d said the young man, as he came up out of the\nvault--\u201cand to think that all this I should never have found if I\nhad obeyed the Talisman.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSuch riches were never seen in that land as the young man now\npossessed. There was no end to the treasure that poured in upon\nhim. He lived like an emperor. He built a palace more splendid\nthan the palace of the king. He laid out vast gardens of the most\nexquisite beauty, in which there were fountains as white as snow,\ntrees of rare fruit and flowers that filled all the air with their\nperfume, summer-houses of alabaster and ebony.\n\nEvery one who visited him was received like a prince, entertained\nlike a king, given a present fit for an emperor, and sent away\nhappy. The fame of all these things went out through all the land,\nand every one talked of him and the magnificence that surrounded\nhim.\n\nIt came at last to the ears of the king himself, and one day he\nsaid to his minister, \u201cLet us go and see with our own eyes if all\nthe things reported of this merchant\u2019s son are true.\u201d\n\nSo the king and his minister disguised themselves as foreign\nmerchants, and went that evening to the palace where the young man\nlived. A servant dressed in clothes of gold and silver cloth stood\nat the door, and called to them to come in and be made welcome.\nHe led them in, and to a chamber lit with perfumed lamps of gold.\nThen six black slaves took them in charge and led them to a bath\nof white marble. They were bathed in perfumed water and dried\nwith towels of fine linen. When they came forth they were clad in\nclothes of cloth of silver, stiff with gold and jewels. Then twelve\nhandsome white slaves led them through a vast and splendid hall to\na banqueting-room.\n\nWhen they entered they were deafened with the noise of carousing\nand merrymaking.\n\nAben Hassen the Fool sat at the head of the table upon a throne of\ngold, with a canopy of gold above his head. When he saw the king\nand the minister enter, he beckoned to them to come and sit beside\nhim. He showed them special favor because they were strangers, and\nspecial servants waited upon them.\n\nThe king and his minister had never seen anything like what they\nthen saw. They could hardly believe it was not all magic and\nenchantment. At the end of the feast each of the guests was given\na present of great value, and was sent away rejoicing. The king\nreceived a pearl as big as a marble; the minister a cup of wrought\ngold.\n\nThe next morning the king and the prime-minister were talking\nover what they had seen. \u201cSire,\u201d said the prime-minister, \u201cI have\nno doubt but that the young man has discovered some vast hidden\ntreasure. Now, according to the laws of this kingdom, the half\nof any treasure that is discovered shall belong to the king\u2019s\ntreasury. If I were in your place I would send for this young man\nand compel him to tell me whence comes all this vast wealth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d said the king; \u201cI had not thought of that before.\nThe young man shall tell me all about it.\u201d\n\nSo they sent a royal guard and brought the young man to the king\u2019s\npalace. When the young man saw in the king and the prime-minister\nhis guests of the night before, whom he had thought to be only\nforeign merchants, he fell on his face and kissed the ground before\nthe throne. But the king spoke to him kindly, and raised him up and\nsat him on the seat beside him. They talked for a while concerning\ndifferent things, and then the king said at last, \u201cTell me, my\nfriend, whence comes all the inestimable wealth that you must\npossess to allow you to live as you do?\u201d\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI cannot tell you whence it comes. I\ncan only tell you that it is given to me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe king frowned. \u201cYou cannot tell,\u201d said he; \u201cyou must tell. It is\nfor that that I have sent for you, and you must tell me.\u201d\n\nThen the young man began to be frightened. \u201cI beseech you,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cdo not ask me whence it comes. I cannot tell you.\u201d\n\nThen the king\u2019s brows grew as black as thunder. \u201cWhat!\u201d cried\nhe, \u201cdo you dare to bandy words with me? I know that you have\ndiscovered some treasure. Tell me upon the instant where it is; for\nthe half of it, by the laws of the land, belongs to me, and I will\nhave it.\u201d\n\nAt the king\u2019s words Aben Hassen the Fool fell on his knees. \u201cSire,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cI will tell you all the truth. There is a demon named\nZadok--a monster as black as a coal. He is my slave, and it is he\nthat brings me all the treasure that I enjoy.\u201d The king thought\nnothing else than that Aben Hassen the Fool was trying to deceive\nhim. He laughed; he was very angry. \u201cWhat,\u201d cried he, \u201cdo you amuse\nme by such an absurd and unbelievable tale? Now I am more than\never sure that you have discovered a treasure and that you wish\nto keep the knowledge of it from me, knowing, as you do, that the\none-half of it by law belongs to me. Take him away!\u201d cried he to\nhis attendants. \u201cGive him fifty lashes, and throw him into prison.\nHe shall stay there and have fifty lashes every day until he tells\nme where his wealth is hidden.\u201d\n\nIt was done as the king said, and by-and-by Aben Hassen the Fool\nlay in the prison, smarting and sore with the whipping he had had.\n\nThen he began again to think of the Talisman of Solomon.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said he to the Talisman, \u201cwhat shall I do now to help\nmyself in this trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cBear thy punishment, thou fool,\u201d said the Talisman. \u201cKnow that\nthe king will by-and-by pardon thee and will let thee go. In the\nmeantime bear thy punishment; perhaps it will cure thee of thy\nfolly. Only do not call upon Zadok, the King of the Demons, in this\nthy trouble.\u201d\n\nThe young man smote his hand upon his head. \u201cWhat a fool I am,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cnot to have thought to call upon Zadok before this!\u201d Then\nhe called aloud, \u201cZadok, Zadok! If thou art indeed my slave, come\nhither at my bidding.\u201d\n\nIn an instant there sounded a rumble as of thunder. The floor\nswayed and rocked beneath the young man\u2019s feet. The dust flew in\nclouds, and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that\nshone like coals of fire.\n\n\u201cI have come,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cand first let me cure thy smarts, O\nmaster.\u201d\n\nHe removed the cloths from the young man\u2019s back, and rubbed the\nplaces that smarted with a cooling unguent. Instantly the pain and\nsmarting ceased, and the merchant\u2019s son had perfect ease.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cwhat is thy bidding?\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Fool, \u201cwhence comes all the wealth\nthat you have brought me? The king has commanded me to tell him and\nI could not, and so he has had me beaten with fifty lashes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI bring the treasure,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cfrom the treasure-house of the\nancient kings of Egypt. That treasure I at one time discovered to\nyour father, and he, not desiring it himself, hid it in the earth\nso that no one might find it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd where is this treasure-house, O Zadok?\u201d said the young man.\n\n\u201cIt is in the city of the queen of the Black Isles,\u201d said the\nKing of the Demons; \u201cthere thy father lived in a palace of such\nmagnificence as thou hast never dreamed of. It was I that brought\nhim thence to this place with one vessel of gold money and one\nvessel of silver money.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was you who brought him here, did you say, Zadok? Then, tell\nme, can you take me from here to the city of the queen of the Black\nIsles, whence you brought him?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cwith ease.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI command you to take me thither\ninstantly, and to show me the treasure.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cI obey,\u201d said Zadok.\n\nHe stamped his foot upon the ground. In an instant the walls of\nthe prison split asunder, and the sky was above them. The Demon\nleaped from the earth, carrying the young man by the girdle, and\nflew through the air so swiftly that the stars appeared to slide\naway behind them. In a moment he set the young man again upon the\nground, and Aben Hassen the Fool found himself at the end of what\nappeared to be a vast and splendid garden.\n\n\u201cWe are now,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cabove the treasure-house of which I\nspoke. It was here that I saw thy father seal it so that no one but\nthe master of Zadok may enter. Thou mayst go in any time it may\nplease thee, for it is thine.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would enter into it now,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Fool.\n\n\u201cThou shalt enter,\u201d said Zadok. He stooped, and with his\nfinger-point he drew a circle upon the ground where they stood;\nthen he stamped with his heel upon the circle. Instantly the\nearth opened, and there appeared a flight of marble steps leading\ndownward into the earth. Zadok led the way down the steps and\nthe young man followed. At the bottom of the steps was a door of\nadamant. Upon the door were these words in letters as black as ink,\nin the handwriting of the old man who had gone:\n\n\u201cOh, fool! fool! Beware what thou doest. Within here shalt thou\nfind death!\u201d\n\nThere was a key of brass in the door. The King of the Demons turned\nthe key and opened the door. The young man entered after him.\n\nAben Hassen the Fool found himself in a vast vaulted room, lit\nby the light of a single carbuncle set in the centre of the dome\nabove. In the middle of the marble floor was a great basin twenty\npaces broad, and filled to the brim with money such as he had found\nin the brazen vessel in the garden.\n\nThe young man could not believe what he saw with his own eyes. \u201cOh,\nmarvel of marvels!\u201d he cried; \u201clittle wonder you could give me\nboundless wealth from such a storehouse as this.\u201d\n\nZadok laughed. \u201cThis,\u201d said he, \u201cis nothing; come with me.\u201d\n\nHe led him from this room to another--like it vaulted, and like it\nlit by a carbuncle set in the dome of the roof above. In the middle\nof the floor was a basin such as Aben Hassen the Fool had seen in\nthe other room beyond; only this was filled with gold as that had\nbeen filled with silver, and the gold was like that he had found\nin the garden. When the young man saw this vast and amazing wealth\nhe stood speechless and breathless with wonder. The Demon Zadok\nlaughed. \u201cThis,\u201d said he, \u201cis great, but it is little. Come and I\nwill show thee a marvel indeed.\u201d\n\nHe took the young man by the hand and led him into a third\nroom--vaulted as the other two had been, lit as they had been by\na carbuncle in the roof above. But when the young man\u2019s eyes saw\nwhat was in this third room, he was like a man turned drunk with\nwonder. He had to lean against the wall behind him, for the sight\nmade him dizzy.\n\nIn the middle of the room was such a basin as he had seen in the\ntwo other rooms, only it was filled with jewels--diamonds and\nrubies and emeralds and sapphires and precious stones of all\nkinds--that sparkled and blazed and flamed like a million stars.\nAround the wall, and facing the basin from all sides, stood six\ngolden statues. Three of them were statues of the kings and three\nof them were statues of the queens who had gathered together all\nthis vast and measureless wealth of ancient Egypt.\n\nThere was space for a seventh statue, but where it should have\nstood was a great arched door of adamant. The door was tight shut,\nand there was neither lock nor key to it. Upon the door were\nwritten these words in letters of flame:\n\n\u201cBehold! beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all thy\ndesires.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Zadok,\u201d said the young man, after he had filled his soul\nwith all the other wonders that surrounded him--\u201ctell me what is\nthere that lies beyond that door?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I am forbidden to tell thee, O master!\u201d said the King of the\nDemons of the Earth.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cThen open the door for me,\u201d said the young man; \u201cfor I cannot open\nit for myself, as there is neither lock nor key to it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat also I am forbidden to do,\u201d said Zadok.\n\n\u201cI wish that I knew what was there,\u201d said the young man.\n\nThe Demon laughed. \u201cSome time,\u201d said he, \u201cthou mayest find for\nthyself. Come, let us leave here and go to the palace which thy\nfather built years ago, and which he left behind him when he\nquitted this place for the place in which thou knewest him.\u201d\n\nHe led the way and the young man followed; they passed through the\nvaulted rooms and out through the door of adamant, and Zadok locked\nit behind them and gave the key to the young man.\n\n\u201cAll this is thine now,\u201d he said; \u201cI give it to thee as I gave it\nto thy father. I have shown thee how to enter, and thou mayst go in\nwhenever it pleases thee to do so.\u201d\n\nThey ascended the steps, and so reached the garden above. Then\nZadok struck his heel upon the ground, and the earth closed as\nit had opened. He led the young man from the spot until they had\ncome to a wide avenue that led to the palace beyond. \u201cHere I leave\nthee,\u201d said the Demon, \u201cbut if ever thou hast need of me, call and\nI will come.\u201d\n\nThereupon he vanished like a flash, leaving the young man standing\nlike one in a dream.\n\nHe saw before him a garden of such splendor and magnificence as he\nhad never dreamed of even in his wildest fancy. There were seven\nfountains as clear as crystal that shot high into the air and fell\nback into basins of alabaster. There was a broad avenue as white as\nsnow, and thousands of lights lit up everything as light as day.\nUpon either side of the avenue stood a row of black slaves, clad in\ngarments of white silk, and with jewelled turbans upon their heads.\nEach held a flaming torch of sandal-wood. Behind the slaves stood\na double row of armed men, and behind them a great crowd of other\nslaves and attendants, dressed each as magnificently as a prince,\nblazing and flaming with innumerable jewels and ornaments of gold.\n\nBut of all these things the young man thought nothing and saw\nnothing; for at the end of the marble avenue there arose a palace,\nthe like of which was not in the four quarters of the earth--a\npalace of marble and gold and carmine and ultramarine--rising into\nthe purple starry sky, and shining in the moonlight like a vision\nof Paradise. The palace was illuminated from top to bottom and\nfrom end to end; the windows shone like crystal, and from it came\nsounds of music and rejoicing.\n\nWhen the crowd that stood waiting saw the young man appear, they\nshouted: \u201cWelcome! welcome! to the master who has come again! To\nAben Hassen the Fool!\u201d\n\nThe young man walked up the avenue of marble to the palace,\nsurrounded by the armed attendants in their dresses of jewels and\ngold, and preceded by dancing-girls as beautiful as houris, who\ndanced and sung before him. He was dizzy with joy. \u201cAll--all this,\u201d\nhe exulted, \u201cbelongs to me. And to think that if I had listened to\nthe Talisman of Solomon I would have had none of it.\u201d\n\nThat was the way he came back to the treasure of the ancient kings\nof Egypt, and to the palace of enchantment that his father had\nquitted.\n\nFor seven months he lived a life of joy and delight, surrounded\nby crowds of courtiers as though he were a king, and going from\npleasure to pleasure without end. Nor had he any fear of an end\ncoming to it, for he knew that his treasure was inexhaustible. He\nmade friends with the princes and nobles of the land. From far and\nwide people came to visit him, and the renown of his magnificence\nfilled all the world. When men would praise any one they would\nsay, \u201cHe is as rich,\u201d or as \u201cmagnificent,\u201d or as \u201cgenerous, as\nAben Hassen the Fool.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo for seven months he lived a life of joy and delight; then\none morning he awakened and found everything changed to grief\nand mourning. Where the day before had been laughter, to-day\nwas crying. Where the day before had been mirth, to-day was\nlamentation. All the city was shrouded in gloom, and everywhere was\nweeping and crying.\n\nSeven black slaves stood on guard near Aben Hassen the Fool as he\nlay upon his couch. \u201cWhat means all this sorrow?\u201d said he to one of\nthe slaves.\n\nInstantly all the slaves began howling and beating their heads, and\nhe to whom the young man had spoken fell down with his face in the\ndust, and lay there twisting and writhing like a worm.\n\n\u201cHe has asked the question!\u201d howled the slaves--\u201che has asked the\nquestion!\u201d\n\n\u201cAre you mad?\u201d cried the young man. \u201cWhat is the matter with you?\u201d\n\nAt the doorway of the room stood a beautiful female slave, bearing\nin her hands a jewelled basin of gold, filled with rose-water, and\na fine linen napkin for the young man to wash and dry his hands\nupon. \u201cTell me,\u201d said the young man, \u201cwhat means all this sorrow\nand lamentation?\u201d\n\nInstantly the beautiful slave dropped the golden basin upon the\nstone floor, and began shrieking and tearing her clothes. \u201cHe has\nasked the question!\u201d she screamed--\u201che has asked the question!\u201d\n\nThe young man began to grow frightened; he arose from his couch,\nand with uneven steps went out into the anteroom. There he found\nhis chamberlain waiting for him with a crowd of attendants and\ncourtiers. \u201cTell me,\u201d said Aben Hassen the Fool, \u201cwhy are you all\nso sorrowful?\u201d\n\nInstantly they who stood waiting began crying and tearing their\nclothes and beating their hands. As for the chamberlain--he was a\nreverend old man--his eyes sparkled with anger, and his fingers\ntwitched as though he would have struck if he had dared. \u201cWhat,\u201d he\ncried, \u201cart thou not contented with all thou hast and with all that\nwe do for thee without asking the forbidden question?\u201d\n\nThereupon he tore his cap from his head and flung it upon the\nground, and began beating himself violently upon the head with\ngreat outcrying.\n\nAben Hassen the Fool, not knowing what to think or what was to\nhappen, ran back into the bedroom again. \u201cI think everybody in\nthis place has gone mad,\u201d said he. \u201cNevertheless, if I do not find\nout what it all means, I shall go mad myself.\u201d\n\nThen he bethought himself, for the first time since he came to that\nland, of the Talisman of Solomon.\n\n\u201cTell me, O Talisman,\u201d said he, \u201cwhy all these people weep and wail\nso continuously?\u201d\n\n\u201cRest content,\u201d said the Talisman of Solomon, \u201cwith knowing that\nwhich concerns thine own self, and seek not to find an answer that\nwill be to thine own undoing. Be thou also further advised: do not\nquestion the Demon Zadok.\u201d\n\n\u201cFool that I am,\u201d said the young man, stamping his foot; \u201chere am I\nwasting all this time when, if I had but thought of Zadok at first,\nhe would have told me all.\u201d Then he called aloud, \u201cZadok! Zadok!\nZadok!\u201d\n\nInstantly the ground shook beneath his feet, the dust rose in\nclouds, and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that\nshone like fire.\n\n\u201cTell me,\u201d said the young man; \u201cI command thee to tell me, O Zadok!\nwhy are the people all gone mad this morning, and why do they weep\nand wail, and why do they go crazy when I do but ask them why they\nare so afflicted?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell thee,\u201d said Zadok. \u201cSeven-and-thirty years ago\nthere was a queen over this land--the most beautiful that ever was\nseen. Thy father, who was the wisest and most cunning magician in\nthe world, turned her into stone, and with her all the attendants\nin her palace. No one since that time has been permitted to enter\nthe palace--it is forbidden for any one even to ask a question\nconcerning it; but every year, on the day on which the queen was\nturned to stone, the whole land mourns with weeping and wailing.\nAnd now thou knowest all!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWhat you tell me,\u201d said the young man, \u201cpasses wonder. But tell me\nfurther, O Zadok, is it possible for me to see this queen whom my\nfather turned to stone?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing is easier,\u201d said Zadok.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI command you to take me to where she\nis, so that I may see her with mine own eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hear and obey,\u201d said the Demon.\n\nHe seized the young man by the girdle, and in an instant flew away\nwith him to a hanging-garden that lay before the queen\u2019s palace.\n\n\u201cThou art the first man,\u201d said Zadok, \u201cwho has seen what thou art\nabout to see for seven-and-thirty years. Come, I will show thee a\nqueen, the most beautiful that the eyes of man ever looked upon.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe led the way, and the young man followed, filled with wonder and\nastonishment. Not a sound was to be heard, not a thing moved, but\nsilence hung like a veil between the earth and the sky.\n\nFollowing the Demon, the young man ascended a flight of steps, and\nso entered the vestibule of the palace. There stood guards in armor\nof brass and silver and gold. But they were without life--they were\nall of stone as white as alabaster. Thence they passed through room\nafter room and apartment after apartment crowded with courtiers\nand nobles and lords in their robes of office, magnificent beyond\nfancying, but each silent and motionless--each a stone as white as\nalabaster. At last they entered an apartment in the very centre of\nthe palace. There sat seven-and-forty female attendants around a\ncouch of purple and gold. Each of the seven-and-forty was beautiful\nbeyond what the young man could have believed possible, and each\nwas clad in a garment of silk as white as snow, embroidered with\nthreads of silver and studded with glistening diamonds. But each\nsat silent and motionless--each was a stone as white as alabaster.\n\nUpon the couch in the centre of the apartment reclined a queen with\na crown of gold upon her head. She lay there motionless, still.\nShe was cold and dead--of stone as white as marble. The young man\napproached and looked into her face, and when he looked his breath\nbecame faint and his heart grew soft within him like wax in a flame\nof fire.\n\nHe sighed; he melted; the tears burst from his eyes and ran down\nhis cheeks. \u201cZadok!\u201d he cried--\u201cZadok! Zadok! What have you done to\nshow me this wonder of beauty and love! Alas! that I have seen her;\nfor the world is nothing to me now. O Zadok! that she were flesh\nand blood, instead of cold stone! Tell me, Zadok, I command you to\ntell me, was she once really alive as I am alive, and did my father\ntruly turn her to stone as she lies here?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe was really alive as thou art alive, and he did truly transform\nher to this stone,\u201d said Zadok.\n\n\u201cAnd tell me,\u201d said the young man, \u201ccan she never become alive\nagain?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe can become alive, and it lies with you to make her alive,\u201d\nsaid the Demon. \u201cListen, O master. Thy father possessed a wand,\nhalf of silver and half of gold. Whatsoever he touched with silver\nbecame converted to stone, such as thou seest all around thee here;\nbut whatsoever, O master, he touched with the gold, it became\nalive, even if it were a dead stone.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell me, Zadok,\u201d cried the young man; \u201cI command you to tell me,\nwhere is that wand of silver and gold?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have it with me,\u201d said Zadok.\n\n\u201cThen give it to me; I command you to give it to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI hear and obey,\u201d said Zadok. He drew from his girdle a wand, half\nof gold and half of silver, as he spoke, and gave it to the young\nman.\n\n\u201cThou mayst go now, Zadok,\u201d said the young man, trembling with\neagerness.\n\nZadok laughed and vanished. The young man stood for a while looking\ndown at the beautiful figure of alabaster. Then he touched the\nlips with the golden tip of the wand. In an instant there came\na marvellous change. He saw the stone melt, and begin to grow\nflexible and soft. He saw it become warm, and the cheeks and lips\ngrow red with life. Meantime a murmur had begun to rise all through\nthe palace. It grew louder and louder--it became a shout. The\nfigure of the queen that had been stone opened its eyes.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d it said.\n\nAben Hassen the Fool fell upon his knees. \u201cI am he who was sent to\nbring you to life,\u201d he said. \u201cMy father turned you to cold stone,\nand I--I have brought you back to warm life again.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe queen smiled--her teeth sparkled like pearls. \u201cIf you have\nbrought me to life, then I am yours,\u201d she said, and she kissed him\nupon the lips.\n\nHe grew suddenly dizzy; the world swam before his eyes.\n\n * * * * *\n\nFor seven days nothing was heard in the town but rejoicing and joy.\nThe young man lived in a golden cloud of delight. \u201cAnd to think,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cif I had listened to that accursed Talisman of Solomon,\ncalled \u2018The Wise,\u2019 all this happiness, this ecstasy that is now\nmine, would have been lost to me.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cTell me, beloved,\u201d said the queen, upon the morning of the seventh\nday--\u201cthy father once possessed all the hidden treasure of the\nancient kings of Egypt--tell me, is it now thine as it was once\nhis?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the young man, \u201cit is now all mine as it was once all\nhis.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you really love me as you say?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the young man, \u201cand ten thousand times more than I\nsay.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, as you love me, I beg one boon of you. It is that you show\nme this treasure of which I have heard so much, and which we are to\nenjoy together.\u201d\n\nThe young man was drunk with happiness. \u201cThou shalt see it all,\u201d\nsaid he.\n\nThen, for the first time, the Talisman spoke without being\nquestioned. \u201cFool!\u201d it cried; \u201cwilt thou not be advised?\u201d\n\n\u201cBe silent,\u201d said the young man. \u201cSix times, vile thing, you would\nhave betrayed me. Six times you would have deprived me of joys that\nshould have been mine, and each was greater than that which went\nbefore. Shall I now listen the seventh time? Now,\u201d said he to the\nqueen, \u201cI will show you our treasure.\u201d He called aloud, \u201cZadok,\nZadok, Zadok!\u201d\n\nInstantly the ground shook beneath their feet, the dust rose in\nclouds, and Zadok appeared, as black as ink, and with eyes that\nshone like coals of fire.\n\n\u201cI command you,\u201d said the young man, \u201cto carry the queen and myself\nto the garden where my treasure lies hidden.\u201d\n\nZadok laughed aloud. \u201cI hear thee and obey thee, master,\u201d said he.\n\nHe seized the queen and the young man by the girdle, and in an\ninstant transported them to the garden and to the treasure-house.\n\n\u201cThou art where thou commandest to be,\u201d said the Demon.\n\nThe young man immediately drew a circle upon the ground with his\nfinger-tip. He struck his heel upon the circle. The ground opened,\ndisclosing the steps leading downward. The young man descended the\nsteps with the queen behind him, and behind them both came the\nDemon Zadok.\n\nThe young man opened the door of adamant and entered the first of\nthe vaulted rooms.\n\nWhen the queen saw the huge basin full of silver treasure, her\ncheeks and her forehead flushed as red as fire.\n\nThey went into the next room, and when the queen saw the basin of\ngold her face turned as white as ashes.\n\nThey went into the third room, and when the queen saw the basin of\njewels and the six golden statues her face turned as blue as lead,\nand her eyes shone green like a snake\u2019s.\n\n\u201cAre you content?\u201d asked the young man.\n\nThe queen looked about her. \u201cNo!\u201d cried she, hoarsely, pointing\nto the closed door that had never been opened, and whereon were\nengraved these words:\n\n\u201c_=Behold! Beyond this door is that alone which shall satisfy all\nthy desires.=_\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d cried she. \u201cWhat is it that lies behind yon door?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the young man.\n\n\u201cThen open the door, and let me see what lies within.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot open the door,\u201d said he. \u201cHow can I open the door, seeing\nthat there is no lock nor key to it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf thou dost not open the door,\u201d said the queen, \u201call is over\nbetween thee and me. So do as I bid thee, or leave me forever.\u201d\n\nThey had both forgotten that the Demon Zadok was there. Then the\nyoung man bethought himself of the Talisman of Solomon. \u201cTell me, O\nTalisman,\u201d said he, \u201chow shall I open yonder door?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, wretched one!\u201d cried the Talisman, \u201coh, wretched one! fly\nwhile there is yet time--fly, for thy doom is near! Do not push the\ndoor open, for it is not locked!\u201d\n\nThe young man struck his head with his clinched fist. \u201cWhat a fool\nam I!\u201d he cried. \u201cWill I never learn wisdom? Here have I been\ncoming to this place seven months, and have never yet thought to\ntry whether yonder door was locked or not!\u201d\n\n\u201cOpen the door!\u201d cried the queen.\n\nThey went forward together. The young man pushed the door with his\nhand. It opened swiftly and silently, and they entered.\n\nWithin was a narrow room as red as blood. A flaming lamp hung from\nthe ceiling above. The young man stood as though turned to stone,\nfor there stood a gigantic Black Demon with a napkin wrapped around\nhis loins and a scimitar in his right hand, the blade of which\ngleamed like lightning in the flame of the lamp. Before him lay a\nbasket filled with sawdust.\n\nWhen the queen saw what she saw she screamed in a loud voice, \u201cThou\nhast found it! thou hast found it! Thou hast found what alone can\nsatisfy all thy desires! Strike, O slave!\u201d\n\nThe young man heard the Demon Zadok give a yell of laughter. He saw\na whirl and a flash, and then he knew nothing.\n\nThe Black had struck--the blade had fallen, and the head of Aben\nHassen the Fool rolled into the basket of sawdust that stood\nwaiting for it.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cAye, aye,\u201d said St. George, \u201cand so it should end. For what was\nyour Aben Hassen the Fool but a heathen Paniem? Thus should the\nheads of all the like be chopped off from their shoulders. Is there\nnot some one here to tell us a fair story about a saint?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cFor the matter of that,\u201d said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew\nwas in the bramble-bush--\u201cfor the matter of that I know a very good\nstory that begins about a saint and a hazel-nut.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cSay you so?\u201d said St. George. \u201cWell, let us have it. But stay,\nfriend, thou hast no ale in thy pot. Wilt thou not let me pay for\nhaving it filled?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cThat,\u201d said the Lad who fiddled when the Jew was in the\nbramble-bush, \u201cmay be as you please, Sir Knight; and, to tell the\ntruth, I will be mightily glad for a drop to moisten my throat\nwithal.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cBut,\u201d said Fortunatus, \u201cyou have not told us what the story is to\nbe about.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the\nbramble-bush, \u201cabout_--\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIll-Luck and the Fiddler.\n\n\nOnce upon a time St. Nicholas came down into the world to take a\npeep at the old place and see how things looked in the spring-time.\nOn he stepped along the road to the town where he used to live, for\nhe had a notion to find out whether things were going on nowadays\nas they one time did. By-and-by he came to a cross-road, and who\nshould he see sitting there but Ill-Luck himself. Ill-Luck\u2019s face\nwas as gray as ashes, and his hair as white as snow--for he is\nas old as Grandfather Adam--and two great wings grew out of his\nshoulders--for he flies fast and comes quickly to those whom he\nvisits, does Ill-Luck.\n\nNow, St. Nicholas had a pocketful of hazel-nuts, which he kept\ncracking and eating as he trudged along the road, and just then he\ncame upon one with a worm-hole in it. When he saw Ill-Luck it came\ninto his head to do a good turn to poor sorrowful man.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, Ill-Luck,\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cGood-morning, St. Nicholas,\u201d says Ill-Luck.\n\n\u201cYou look as hale and strong as ever,\u201d says St. Nicholas.\n\n\u201cAh, yes,\u201d says Ill-Luck, \u201cI find plenty to do in this world of\nwoe.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey tell me,\u201d says St. Nicholas, \u201cthat you can go wherever you\nchoose, even if it be through a key-hole; now, is that so?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says Ill-Luck, \u201cit is.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, look now, friend,\u201d says St. Nicholas, \u201ccould you go into\nthis hazel-nut if you chose to?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d says Ill-Luck, \u201cI could indeed.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like to see you,\u201d says St. Nicholas; \u201cfor then I should\nbe of a mind to believe what people say of you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d says Ill-Luck, \u201cI have not much time to be pottering and\nplaying upon Jack\u2019s fiddle; but to oblige an old friend\u201d--thereupon\nhe made himself small and smaller, and--phst! he was in the nut\nbefore you could wink.\n\nThen what do you think St. Nicholas did? In his hand he held a\nlittle plug of wood, and no sooner had Ill-Luck entered the nut\nthan he stuck the plug in the hole, and there was man\u2019s enemy as\ntight as a fly in a bottle.\n\n\u201cSo!\u201d says St. Nicholas, \u201cthat\u2019s a piece of work well done.\u201d Then\nhe tossed the hazel-nut under the roots of an oak-tree near by, and\nwent his way.\n\nAnd that is how this story begins.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWell, the hazel-nut lay and lay and lay, and all the time that it\nlay there nobody met with ill-luck; but, one day, who should come\ntravelling that way but a rogue of a Fiddler, with his fiddle under\nhis arm. The day was warm, and he was tired; so down he sat under\nthe shade of the oak-tree to rest his legs. By-and-by he heard a\nlittle shrill voice piping and crying, \u201cLet me out! let me out! let\nme out!\u201d\n\nThe Fiddler looked up and down, but he could see nobody. \u201cWho are\nyou?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cI am Ill-Luck! Let me out! let me out!\u201d\n\n\u201cLet you out?\u201d says the Fiddler. \u201cNot I; if you are bottled up here\nit is the better for all of us;\u201d and, so saying, he tucked his\nfiddle under his arm and off he marched.\n\nBut before he had gone six steps he stopped. He was one of your\npeering, prying sort, and liked more than a little to know all\nthat was to be known about this or that or the other thing that\nhe chanced to see or hear. \u201cI wonder where Ill-Luck can be, to be\nin such a tight place as he seems to be caught in,\u201d says he to\nhimself; and back he came again. \u201cWhere are you, Ill-Luck?\u201d says he.\n\n\u201cHere I am,\u201d says Ill-Luck--\u201chere in this hazel-nut, under the\nroots of the oak-tree.\u201d\n\nThereupon the Fiddler laid aside his fiddle and bow, and fell to\npoking and prying under the roots until he found the nut. Then he\nbegan twisting and turning it in his fingers, looking first on one\nside and then on the other, and all the while Ill-Luck kept crying,\n\u201cLet me out! let me out!\u201d\n\nIt was not long before the Fiddler found the little wooden plug,\nand then nothing would do but he must take a peep inside the nut to\nsee if Ill-Luck was really there. So he picked and pulled at the\nwooden plug, until at last out it came; and--phst! pop! out came\nIll-Luck along with it.\n\nPlague take the Fiddler! say I.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d says Ill-Luck. \u201cIt has been many a long day that I have\nbeen in that hazel-nut, and you are the man that has let me out;\nfor once in a way I will do a good turn to a poor human body.\u201d\nTherewith, and without giving the Fiddler time to speak a word,\nIll-Luck caught him up by the belt, and--whiz! away he flew like a\nbullet, over hill and over valley, over moor and over mountain, so\nfast that not enough wind was left in the Fiddler\u2019s stomach to say\n\u201cBo!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBy-and-by he came to a garden, and there he let the Fiddler drop on\nthe soft grass below. Then away he flew to attend to other matters\nof greater need.\n\nWhen the Fiddler had gathered his wits together, and himself to\nhis feet, he saw that he lay in a beautiful garden of flowers and\nfruit-trees and marble walks and what not, and that at the end of\nit stood a great, splendid house, all built of white marble, with a\nfountain in front, and peacocks strutting about on the lawn.\n\nWell, the Fiddler smoothed down his hair and brushed his clothes a\nbit, and off he went to see what was to be seen at the grand house\nat the end of the garden.\n\nHe entered the door, and nobody said no to him. Then he passed\nthrough one room after another, and each was finer than the one\nhe left behind. Many servants stood around; but they only bowed,\nand never asked whence he came. At last he came to a room where a\nlittle old man sat at a table. The table was spread with a feast\nthat smelled so good that it brought tears to the Fiddler\u2019s eyes\nand water to his mouth, and all the plates were of pure gold. The\nlittle old man sat alone, but another place was spread, as though\nhe were expecting some one. As the Fiddler came in the little old\nman nodded and smiled. \u201cWelcome!\u201d he cried; \u201cand have you come at\nlast?\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Fiddler, \u201cI have. It was Ill-Luck that brought me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the little old man, \u201cdo not say that. Sit down to the\ntable and eat; and when I have told you all, you will say it was\nnot Ill-Luck, but Good-Luck, that brought you.\u201d\n\nThe Fiddler had his own mind about that; but, all the same, down\nhe sat at the table, and fell to with knife and fork at the good\nthings, as though he had not had a bite to eat for a week of\nSundays.\n\n\u201cI am the richest man in the world,\u201d says the little old man, after\na while.\n\n\u201cI am glad to hear it,\u201d says the Fiddler.\n\n\u201cYou may well be,\u201d said the old man, \u201cfor I am all alone in the\nworld, and without wife or child. And this morning I said to\nmyself that the first body that came to my house I would take for\na son--or a daughter, as the case might be. You are the first, and\nso you shall live with me as long as I live, and after I am gone\neverything that I have shall be yours.\u201d\n\nThe Fiddler did nothing but stare with open eyes and mouth, as\nthough he would never shut either again.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWell, the Fiddler lived with the old man for maybe three or four\ndays as snug and happy a life as ever a mouse passed in a green\ncheese. As for the gold and silver and jewels--why, they were as\nplentiful in that house as dust in a mill! Everything the Fiddler\nwanted came to his hand. He lived high, and slept soft and warm,\nand never knew what it was to want either more or less, or great\nor small. In all of those three or four days he did nothing but\nenjoy himself with might and main.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut by-and-by he began to wonder where all the good things came\nfrom. Then, before long, he fell to pestering the old man with\nquestions about the matter.\n\nAt first the old man put him off with short answers, but the\nFiddler was a master-hand at finding out anything that he wanted to\nknow. He dinned and drummed and worried until flesh and blood could\nstand it no longer. So at last the old man said that he would show\nhim the treasure-house where all his wealth came from, and at that\nthe Fiddler was tickled beyond measure.\n\nThe old man took a key from behind the door and led him out into\nthe garden. There in a corner by the wall was a great trap-door\nof iron. The old man fitted the key to the lock and turned it. He\nlifted the door, and then went down a steep flight of stone steps,\nand the Fiddler followed close at his heels. Down below it was as\nlight as day, for in the centre of the room hung a great lamp that\nshone with a bright light and lit up all the place as bright as\nday. In the floor were set three great basins of marble: one was\nnearly full of silver, one of gold, and one of gems of all sorts.\n\n\u201cAll this is mine,\u201d said the old man, \u201cand after I am gone it\nshall be yours. It was left to me as I will leave it to you, and\nin the meantime you may come and go as you choose and fill your\npockets whenever you wish to. But there is one thing you must not\ndo: you must never open that door yonder at the back of the room.\nShould you do so, Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you.\u201d\n\nOh no! The Fiddler would never think of doing such a thing as\nopening the door. The silver and gold and jewels were enough for\nhim. But since the old man had given him leave, he would just help\nhimself to a few of the fine things. So he stuffed his pockets\nfull, and then he followed the old man up the steps and out into\nthe sunlight again.\n\nIt took him maybe an hour to count all the money and jewels he had\nbrought up with him. After he had done that, he began to wonder\nwhat was inside of the little door at the back of the room. First\nhe wondered; then he began to grow curious; then he began to itch\nand tingle and burn as though fifty thousand I-want-to-know nettles\nwere sticking into him from top to toe. At last he could stand it\nno longer. \u201cI\u2019ll just go down yonder,\u201d says he, \u201cand peep through\nthe key-hole; perhaps I can see what is there without opening the\ndoor.\u201d\n\nSo down he took the key, and off he marched to the garden. He\nopened the trap-door, and went down the steep steps to the room\nbelow. There was the door at the end of the room, but when he came\nto look there was no key-hole to it. \u201cPshaw!\u201d said he, \u201chere is a\npretty state of affairs. Tut! tut! tut! Well, since I have come so\nfar, it would be a pity to turn back without seeing more.\u201d So he\nopened the door and peeped in.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the Fiddler, \u201cthere\u2019s nothing there, after all,\u201d and\nhe opened the door wide.\n\nBefore him was a great long passageway, and at the far end of it he\ncould see a spark of light as though the sun were shining there. He\nlistened, and after a while he heard a sound like the waves beating\non the shore. \u201cWell,\u201d says he, \u201cthis is the most curious thing I\nhave seen for a long time. Since I have come so far, I may as well\nsee the end of it.\u201d So he entered the passageway, and closed the\ndoor behind him.\n\nHe went on and on, and the spark of light kept growing larger and\nlarger, and by-and-by--pop! out he came at the other end of the\npassage.\n\nSure enough, there he stood on the sea-shore, with the waves\nbeating and dashing on the rocks. He stood looking and wondering to\nfind himself in such a place, when all of a sudden something came\nwith a whiz and a rush and caught him by the belt, and away he flew\nlike a bullet.\n\nBy-and-by he managed to screw his head around and look up, and\nthere it was Ill-Luck that had him. \u201cI thought so,\u201d said the\nFiddler; and then he gave over kicking.\n\nWell; on and on they flew, over hill and valley, over moor and\nmountain, until they came to another garden, and there Ill-Luck let\nthe Fiddler drop.\n\nSwash! Down he fell into the top of an apple-tree, and there he\nhung in the branches.\n\nIt was the garden of a royal castle, and all had been weeping and\nwoe (though they were beginning now to pick up their smiles again),\nand this was the reason why:\n\nThe king of that country had died, and no one was left behind him\nbut the queen. But she was a prize, for not only was the kingdom\nhers, but she was as young as a spring apple and as pretty as a\npicture; so that there was no end of those who would have liked to\nhave had her, each man for his own. Even that day there were three\nprinces at the castle, each one wanting the queen to marry him; and\nthe wrangling and bickering and squabbling that was going on was\nenough to deafen a body. The poor young queen was tired to death\nwith it all, and so she had come out into the garden for a bit of\nrest; and there she sat under the shade of an apple-tree, fanning\nherself and crying, when--\n\nSwash! Down fell the Fiddler into the apple-tree and down fell a\ndozen apples, popping and tumbling about the queen\u2019s ears.\n\nThe queen looked up and screamed, and the Fiddler climbed down.\n\n\u201cWhere did you come from?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cOh, Ill-Luck brought me,\u201d said the Fiddler.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the queen, \u201cdo not say so. You fell from heaven, for I\nsaw it with my eyes and heard it with my ears. I see how it is now.\nYou were sent hither from heaven to be my husband, and my husband\nyou shall be. You shall be king of this country, half-and-half with\nme as queen, and shall sit on a throne beside me.\u201d\n\nYou can guess whether or not that was music to the Fiddler\u2019s ears.\n\nSo the princes were sent packing, and the Fiddler was married to\nthe queen, and reigned in that country.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWell, three or four days passed, and all was as sweet and happy\nas a spring day. But at the end of that time the Fiddler began to\nwonder what was to be seen in the castle. The queen was very fond\nof him, and was glad enough to show him all the fine things that\nwere to be seen; so hand in hand they went everywhere, from garret\nto cellar.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut you should have seen how splendid it all was! The Fiddler felt\nmore certain than ever that it was better to be a king than to be\nthe richest man in the world, and he was as glad as glad could be\nthat Ill-Luck had brought him from the rich little old man over\nyonder to this.\n\nSo he saw everything in the castle but one thing. \u201cWhat is behind\nthat door?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAh! that,\u201d said the queen, \u201cyou must not ask or wish to know.\nShould you open that door Ill-Luck will be sure to overtake you.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the Fiddler, \u201cI don\u2019t care to know, anyhow,\u201d and off\nthey went, hand in hand.\n\nYes, that was a very fine thing to say; but before an hour had\ngone by the Fiddler\u2019s head began to hum and buzz like a beehive.\n\u201cI don\u2019t believe,\u201d said he, \u201cthere would be a grain of harm in my\npeeping inside that door; all the same, I will not do it. I will\njust go down and peep through the key-hole.\u201d So off he went to do\nas he said; but there was no key-hole to that door, either. \u201cWhy,\nlook!\u201d says he, \u201cit is just like the door at the rich man\u2019s house\nover yonder; I wonder if it is the same inside as outside,\u201d and he\nopened the door and peeped in. Yes; there was the long passage and\nthe spark of light at the far end, as though the sun were shining.\nHe cocked his head to one side and listened. \u201cYes,\u201d said he, \u201cI\nthink I hear the water rushing, but I am not sure; I will just go\na little farther in and listen,\u201d and so he entered and closed the\ndoor behind him. Well, he went on and on until--pop! there he was\nout at the farther end, and before he knew what he was about he had\nstepped out upon the sea-shore, just as he had done before.\n\nWhiz! whirr! Away flew the Fiddler like a bullet, and there was\nIll-Luck carrying him by the belt again. Away they sped, over hill\nand valley, over moor and mountain, until the Fiddler\u2019s head grew\nso dizzy that he had to shut his eyes. Suddenly Ill-Luck let him\ndrop, and down he fell--thump! bump!--on the hard ground. Then he\nopened his eyes and sat up, and, lo and behold! there he was, under\nthe oak-tree whence he had started in the first place. There lay\nhis fiddle, just as he had left it. He picked it up and ran his\nfingers over the strings--trum, twang! Then he got to his feet and\nbrushed the dirt and grass from his knees. He tucked his fiddle\nunder his arm, and off he stepped upon the way he had been going at\nfirst.\n\n\u201cJust to think!\u201d said he, \u201cI would either have been the richest man\nin the world, or else I would have been a king, if it had not been\nfor Ill-Luck.\u201d\n\nAnd that is the way we all of us talk.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Dr. Faustus had sat all the while neither drinking ale nor smoking\ntobacco, but with his hands folded, and in silence. \u201cI know not\nwhy it is,\u201d said he, \u201cbut that story of yours, my friend, brings\nto my mind a story of a man whom I once knew--a great magician in\nhis time, and a necromancer and a chemist and an alchemist and\nmathematician and a rhetorician, an astronomer, an astrologer, and\na philosopher as well.\u201d_\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis a long list of excellency,\u201d said old Bidpai._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis not as long as was his head,\u201d said Dr. Faustus._\n\n_\u201cIt would be good for us all to hear a story of such a man,\u201d said\nold Bidpai._\n\n_\u201cNay,\u201d said Dr. Faustus, \u201cthe story is not altogether of the man\nhimself, but rather of a pupil who came to learn wisdom of him.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd the name of your story is what?\u201d said Fortunatus._\n\n_\u201cIt hath no name,\u201d said Dr. Faustus._\n\n_\u201cNay,\u201d said St. George, \u201ceverything must have a name.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cIt hath no name,\u201d said Dr. Faustus. \u201cBut I shall give it a name,\nand it shall be--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nEmpty Bottles.\n\n\nIn the old, old days when men were wiser than they are in these\ntimes, there lived a great philosopher and magician, by name\nNicholas Flamel. Not only did he know all the actual sciences, but\nthe black arts as well, and magic, and what not. He conjured demons\nso that when a body passed the house of a moonlight night a body\nmight see imps, great and small, little and big, sitting on the\nchimney stacks and the ridge-pole, clattering their heels on the\ntiles and chatting together.\n\nHe could change iron and lead into silver and gold; he discovered\nthe elixir of life, and might have been living even to this day had\nhe thought it worth while to do so.\n\nThere was a student at the university whose name was Gebhart, who\nwas so well acquainted with algebra and geometry that he could tell\nat a single glance how many drops of water there were in a bottle\nof wine. As for Latin and Greek--he could patter them off like his\nA B C\u2019s. Nevertheless, he was not satisfied with the things he\nknew, but was for learning the things that no schools could teach\nhim. So one day he came knocking at Nicholas Flamel\u2019s door.\n\n\u201cCome in,\u201d said the wise man, and there Gebhart found him sitting\nin the midst of his books and bottles and diagrams and dust and\nchemicals and cobwebs, making strange figures upon the table with\njackstraws and a piece of chalk--for your true wise man can squeeze\nmore learning out of jackstraws and a piece of chalk than we common\nfolk can get out of all the books in the world.\n\nNo one else was in the room but the wise man\u2019s servant, whose name\nwas Babette.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWhat is it you want?\u201d said the wise man, looking at Gebhart over\nthe rim of his spectacles.\n\n\u201cMaster,\u201d said Gebhart, \u201cI have studied day after day at the\nuniversity, and from early in the morning until late at night,\nso that my head has hummed and my eyes were sore, yet I have not\nlearned those things that I wish most of all to know--the arts that\nno one but you can teach. Will you take me as your pupil?\u201d\n\nThe wise man shook his head.\n\n\u201cMany would like to be as wise as that,\u201d said he, \u201cand few there be\nwho can become so. Now tell me. Suppose all the riches of the world\nwere offered to you, would you rather be wise?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose you might have all the rank and power of a king or of an\nemperor, would you rather be wise?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cSuppose I undertook to teach you, would you give up everything of\njoy and of pleasure to follow me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps you are hungry,\u201d said the master.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the student, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, Babette, you may bring some bread and cheese.\u201d\n\nIt seemed to Gebhart that he had learned all that Nicholas Flamel\nhad to teach him.\n\nIt was in the gray of the dawning, and the master took the pupil\nby the hand and led him up the rickety stairs to the roof of the\nhouse, where nothing was to be seen but gray sky, high roofs, and\nchimney stacks from which the smoke rose straight into the still\nair.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the master, \u201cI have taught you nearly all of the\nscience that I know, and the time has come to show you the\nwonderful thing that has been waiting for us from the beginning\nwhen time was. You have given up wealth and the world and pleasure\nand joy and love for the sake of wisdom. Now, then, comes the last\ntest--whether you can remain faithful to me to the end; if you fail\nin it, all is lost that you have gained.\u201d\n\nAfter he had said that he stripped his cloak away from his\nshoulders and laid bare the skin. Then he took a bottle of red\nliquor and began bathing his shoulder-blades with it; and as\nGebhart, squatting upon the ridge-pole, looked, he saw two little\nlumps bud out upon the smooth skin, and then grow and grow and grow\nuntil they became two great wings as white as snow.\n\n\u201cNow then,\u201d said the master, \u201ctake me by the belt and grip fast,\nfor there is a long, long journey before us, and if you should\nlose your head and let go your hold you will fall and be dashed to\npieces.\u201d\n\nThen he spread the two great wings, and away he flew as fast as the\nwind, with Gebhart hanging to his belt.\n\nOver hills, over dales, over mountains, over moors he flew, with\nthe brown earth lying so far below that horses and cows looked like\npismires and men like fleas.\n\nThen, by-and-by, it was over the ocean they were crossing, with the\ngreat ships that pitched and tossed below looking like chips in a\npuddle in rainy weather.\n\nAt last they came to a strange land, far, far away, and there the\nmaster lit upon a sea-shore where the sand was as white as silver.\nAs soon as his feet touched the hard ground the great wings were\ngone like a puff of smoke, and the wise man walked like any other\nbody.\n\nAt the edge of the sandy beach was a great, high, naked cliff; and\nthe only way of reaching the top was by a flight of stone steps, as\nslippery as glass, cut in the solid rock.\n\nThe wise man led the way, and the student followed close at his\nheels, every now and then slipping and stumbling so that, had it\nnot been for the help that the master gave him, he would have\nfallen more than once and have been dashed to pieces upon the\nrocks below.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAt last they reached the top, and there found themselves in a\ndesert, without stick of wood or blade of grass, but only gray\nstones and skulls and bones bleaching in the sun.\n\nIn the middle of the plain was a castle such as the eyes of man\nnever saw before, for it was built all of crystal from roof to\ncellar. Around it was a high wall of steel, and in the wall were\nseven gates of polished brass.\n\nThe wise man led the way straight to the middle gate of the seven,\nwhere there hung a horn of pure silver, which he set to his lips.\nHe blew a blast so loud and shrill that it made Gebhart\u2019s ears\ntingle. In an instant there sounded a great rumble and grumble like\nthe noise of loud thunder, and the gates of brass swung slowly\nback, as though of themselves.\n\nBut when Gebhart saw what he saw within the gates his heart\ncrumbled away for fear, and his knees knocked together; for there,\nin the very middle of the way, stood a monstrous, hideous dragon,\nthat blew out flames and clouds of smoke from his gaping mouth like\na chimney a-fire.\n\nBut the wise master was as cool as smooth water; he thrust his hand\ninto the bosom of his jacket and drew forth a little black box,\nwhich he flung straight into the gaping mouth.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSnap!--the dragon swallowed the box.\n\nThe next moment it gave a great, loud, terrible cry, and, clapping\nand rattling its wings, leaped into the air and flew away,\nbellowing like a bull.\n\nIf Gebhart had been wonder-struck at seeing the outside of the\ncastle, he was ten thousand times more amazed to see the inside\nthereof. For, as the master led the way and he followed, he passed\nthrough four-and-twenty rooms, each one more wonderful than the\nother. Everywhere was gold and silver and dazzling jewels that\nglistened so brightly that one had to shut one\u2019s eyes to their\nsparkle. Beside all this, there were silks and satins and velvets\nand laces and crystal and ebony and sandal-wood that smelled\nsweeter than musk and rose leaves. All the wealth of the world\nbrought together into one place could not make such riches as\nGebhart saw with his two eyes in these four-and-twenty rooms. His\nheart beat fast within him.\n\nAt last they reached a little door of solid iron, beside which hung\na sword with a blade that shone like lightning. The master took the\nsword in one hand and laid the other upon the latch of the door.\nThen he turned to Gebhart and spoke for the first time since they\nhad started upon their long journey.\n\n\u201cIn this room,\u201d said he, \u201cyou will see a strange thing happen, and\nin a little while I shall be as one dead. As soon as that comes\nto pass, go you straightway through to the room beyond, where\nyou will find upon a marble table a goblet of water and a silver\ndagger. Touch nothing else, and look at nothing else, for if you do\nall will be lost to both of us. Bring the water straightway, and\nsprinkle my face with it, and when that is done you and I will be\nthe wisest and greatest men that ever lived, for I will make you\nequal to myself in all that I know. So now swear to do what I have\njust bid you, and not turn aside a hair\u2019s breadth in the going and\nthe coming.\n\n\u201cI swear,\u201d said Gebhart, and crossed his heart.\n\nThen the master opened the door and entered, with Gebhart close at\nhis heels.\n\nIn the centre of the room was a great red cock, with eyes that\nshone like sparks of fire. So soon as he saw the master he flew\nat him, screaming fearfully, and spitting out darts of fire that\nblazed and sparkled like lightning.\n\nIt was a dreadful battle between the master and the cock. Up and\ndown they fought, and here and there. Sometimes the student could\nsee the wise man whirling and striking with his sword; and then\nagain he would be hidden in a sheet of flame. But after a while he\nmade a lucky stroke, and off flew the cock\u2019s head. Then, lo and\nbehold! instead of a cock it was a great, hairy, black demon that\nlay dead on the floor.\n\nBut, though the master had conquered, he looked like one sorely\nsick. He was just able to stagger to a couch that stood by the\nwall, and there he fell and lay, without breath or motion, like one\ndead, and as white as wax.\n\nAs soon as Gebhart had gathered his wits together he remembered\nwhat the master had said about the other room.\n\nThe door of it was also of iron. He opened it and passed within,\nand there saw two great tables or blocks of polished marble. Upon\none was the dagger and a goblet of gold brimming with water. Upon\nthe other lay the figure of a woman, and as Gebhart looked at her\nhe thought her more beautiful than any thought or dream could\npicture. But her eyes were closed, and she lay like a lifeless\nfigure of wax.\n\nAfter Gebhart had gazed at her a long, long time, he took up the\ngoblet and the dagger from the table and turned towards the door.\n\nThen, before he left that place, he thought that he would have\njust one more look at the beautiful figure. So he did, and gazed\nand gazed until his heart melted away within him like a lump of\nbutter; and, hardly knowing what he did, he stooped and kissed the\nlips.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nInstantly he did so a great humming sound filled the whole castle,\nso sweet and musical that it made him tremble to listen. Then\nsuddenly the figure opened its eyes and looked straight at him.\n\n\u201cAt last!\u201d she said; \u201chave you come at last?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Gebhart, \u201cI have come.\u201d\n\nThen the beautiful woman arose and stepped down from the table to\nthe floor; and if Gebhart thought her beautiful before, he thought\nher a thousand times more beautiful now that her eyes looked into\nhis.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said she. \u201cI have been asleep for hundreds upon hundreds\nof years, for so it was fated to be until he should come who was\nto bring me back to life again. You are he, and now you shall live\nwith me forever. In this castle is the wealth gathered by the\nking of the genii, and it is greater than all the riches of the\nworld. It and the castle likewise shall be yours. I can transport\neverything into any part of the world you choose, and can by my\narts make you prince or king or emperor. Come.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop,\u201d said Gebhart. \u201cI must first do as my master bade me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe led the way into the other room, the lady following him, and so\nthey both stood together by the couch where the wise man lay. When\nthe lady saw his face she cried out in a loud voice: \u201cIt is the\ngreat master! What are you going to do?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going to sprinkle his face with this water,\u201d said Gebhart.\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d said she. \u201cListen to what I have to say. In your hand you\nhold the water of life and the dagger of death. The master is\nnot dead, but sleeping; if you sprinkle that water upon him he\nwill awaken, young, handsome and more powerful than the greatest\nmagician that ever lived. I myself, this castle, and everything\nthat is in it will be his, and, instead of your becoming a prince\nor a king or an emperor, he will be so in your place. That, I say,\nwill happen if he wakens. Now the dagger of death is the only thing\nin the world that has power to kill him. You have it in your hand.\nYou have but to give him one stroke with it while he sleeps, and he\nwill never waken again, and then all will be yours--your very own.\u201d\n\nGebhart neither spoke nor moved, but stood looking down upon his\nmaster. Then he set down the goblet very softly on the floor, and,\nshutting his eyes that he might not see the blow, raised the dagger\nto strike.\n\n\u201cThat is all your promises amount to,\u201d said Nicholas Flamel the\nwise man. \u201cAfter all, Babette, you need not bring the bread and\ncheese, for he shall be no pupil of mine.\u201d\n\nThen Gebhart opened his eyes.\n\nThere sat the wise man in the midst of his books and bottles and\ndiagrams and dust and chemicals and cobwebs, making strange figures\nupon the table with jackstraws and a piece of chalk.\n\nAnd Babette, who had just opened the cupboard door for the loaf of\nbread and the cheese, shut it again with a bang, and went back to\nher spinning.\n\nSo Gebhart had to go back again to his Greek and Latin and algebra\nand geometry; for, after all, one cannot pour a gallon of beer into\na quart pot, or the wisdom of a Nicholas Flamel into such an one as\nGebhart.\n\nAs for the name of this story, why, if some promises are not\nbottles full of nothing but wind, there is little need to have a\nname for anything.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cSince we are in the way of talking of fools,\u201d said the Fisherman\nwho drew the Genie out of the sea--\u201csince we are in the way of\ntalking of fools, I can tell you a story of the fool of all fools,\nand how, one after the other, he wasted as good gifts as a man\u2019s\nears ever heard tell of.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhat was his name?\u201d said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew in the\nbramble-bush._\n\n_\u201cThat,\u201d said the Fisherman, \u201cI do not know.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what is this story about?\u201d asked St. George._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis,\u201d said the Fisherman, \u201cabout a hole in the ground.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd is that all?\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil._\n\n_\u201cNay,\u201d said the Fisherman, blowing a whiff from his pipe; \u201cthere\nwere some things in the hole--a bowl of treasure, an earthen-ware\njar, and a pair of candlesticks.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what do you call your story,\u201d said St. George._\n\n_\u201cWhy,\u201d said the Fisherman, \u201cfor lack of a better name I will call\nit--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nGood Gifts and a Fool\u2019s Folly.\n\n_Give a fool heaven and earth, and all the stars, and he will make\nducks and drakes of them._\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was an old man, who, by thrifty living and\nlong saving, had laid by a fortune great enough to buy ease and\ncomfort and pleasure for a lifetime.\n\nBy-and-by he died, and the money came to his son, who was of a\ndifferent sort from the father; for, what that one had gained by\nthe labor of a whole year, the other spent in riotous living in one\nweek.\n\nSo it came about in a little while that the young man found himself\nwithout so much as a single penny to bless himself withal. Then his\nfair-weather friends left him, and the creditors came and seized\nupon his house and his household goods, and turned him out into the\ncold wide world to get along as best he might with the other fools\nwho lived there.\n\nNow the young spendthrift was a strong, stout fellow, and, seeing\nnothing better to do, he sold his fine clothes and bought him a\nporter\u2019s basket, and went and sat in the corner of the market-place\nto hire himself out to carry this or that for folk who were better\noff in the world, and less foolish than he.\n\nThere he sat, all day long, from morning until evening, but nobody\ncame to hire him. But at last, as dusk was settling, there came\nalong an old man with beard as white as snow hanging down below his\nwaist. He stopped in front of the foolish spendthrift, and stood\nlooking at him for a while; then, at last, seeming to be satisfied,\nhe beckoned with his finger to the young man. \u201cCome,\u201d said he, \u201cI\nhave a task for you to do, and if you are wise, and keep a still\ntongue in your head, I will pay you as never a porter was paid\nbefore.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou may depend upon it the young man needed no second bidding to\nsuch a matter. Up he rose, and took his basket, and followed the\nold man, who led the way up one street and down another, until at\nlast they came to a rickety, ramshackle house in a part of the\ntown the young man had never been before. Here the old man stopped\nand knocked at the door, which was instantly opened, as though\nof itself, and then he entered with the young spendthrift at his\nheels. The two passed through a dark passage-way, and another\ndoor, and then, lo and behold! all was changed; for they had come\nsuddenly into such a place as the young man would not have believed\ncould be in such a house, had he not seen it with his own eyes.\nThousands of waxen tapers lit the place as bright as day--a great\noval room, floored with mosaic of a thousand bright colors and\nstrange figures, and hung with tapestries of silks and satins and\ngold and silver. The ceiling was painted to represent the sky,\nthrough which flew beautiful birds and winged figures so life-like\nthat no one could tell that they were only painted, and not real.\nAt the farther side of the room were two richly cushioned couches,\nand thither the old man led the way with the young spendthrift\nfollowing, wonder-struck, and there the two sat themselves down.\nThen the old man smote his hands together, and, in answer, ten\nyoung men and ten beautiful girls entered bearing a feast of rare\nfruits and wines which they spread before them, and the young man,\nwho had been fasting since morning, fell to and ate as he had not\neaten for many a day.\n\nThe old man, who himself ate but little, waited patiently for the\nother to end. \u201cNow,\u201d said he, as soon as the young man could eat no\nmore, \u201cyou have feasted and you have drunk; it is time for us to\nwork.\u201d\n\nThereupon he rose from the couch and led the way, the young man\nfollowing, through an arch doorway into a garden, in the centre of\nwhich was an open space paved with white marble, and in the centre\nof that again a carpet, ragged and worn, spread out upon the smooth\nstones. Without saying a word, the old man seated himself upon one\nend of this carpet, and motioned to the spendthrift to seat himself\nwith his basket at the other end; then--\n\n\u201cAre you ready?\u201d said the old man.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the young man, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen, by the horn of Jacob,\u201d said the old man, \u201cI command thee,\nO Carpet! to bear us over hill and valley, over lake and river,\nto that spot whither I wish to go.\u201d Hardly had the words left his\nmouth when away flew the carpet, swifter than the swiftest wind,\ncarrying the old man and the young spendthrift, until at last it\nbrought them to a rocky desert without leaf or blade of grass to be\nseen far or near. Then it descended to where there was a circle of\nsand as smooth as a floor.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe old man rolled up the carpet, and then drew from a pouch that\nhung at his side a box, and from the box some sticks of sandal and\nspice woods, with which he built a little fire. Next he drew from\nthe same pouch a brazen jar, from which he poured a gray powder\nupon the blaze. Instantly there leaped up a great flame of white\nlight and a cloud of smoke, which rose high in the air, and there\nspread out until it hid everything from sight. Then the old man\nbegan to mutter spells, and in answer the earth shook and quaked,\nand a rumbling as of thunder filled the air. At last he gave a\nloud cry, and instantly the earth split open, and there the young\nspendthrift saw a trap-door of iron, in which was an iron ring to\nlift it by.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d said the old man. \u201cYonder is the task for which I have\nbrought you; lift for me that trap-door of iron, for it is too\nheavy for me to raise, and I will pay you well.\u201d\n\nAnd it was no small task, either, for, stout and strong as the\nyoung man was, it was all he could do to lift up the iron plate.\nBut at last up it swung, and down below he saw a flight of stone\nsteps leading into the earth.\n\nThe old man drew from his bosom a copper lamp, which he lit at the\nfire of the sandal and spice wood sticks, which had now nearly\ndied away. Then, leading the way, with the young man following\nclose at his heels, he descended the stairway that led down below.\nAt the bottom the two entered a great vaulted room, carved out\nof the solid stone, upon the walls of which were painted strange\npictures in bright colors of kings and queens, genii and dragons.\nExcepting for these painted figures, the vaulted room was perfectly\nbare, only that in the centre of the floor there stood three stone\ntables. Upon the first table stood an iron candlestick with three\nbranches; upon the second stood an earthen jar, empty of everything\nbut dust; upon the third stood a brass bowl, a yard wide and a\nyard deep, and filled to the brim with shining, gleaming, dazzling\njewels of all sorts.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old man to the spendthrift, \u201cI will do to you\nas I promised: I will pay you as never man was paid before for\nsuch a task. Yonder upon those three stone tables are three great\ntreasures: choose whichever one you will, and it is yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall not be long in choosing,\u201d cried the young spendthrift. \u201cI\nshall choose the brass bowl of jewels.\u201d\n\nThe old man laughed. \u201cSo be it,\u201d said he. \u201cFill your basket from\nthe bowl with all you can carry, and that will be enough, provided\nyou live wisely, to make you rich for as long as you live.\u201d\n\nThe young man needed no second bidding, but began filling his\nbasket with both hands, until he had in it as much as he could\ncarry.\n\nThen the old man, taking the iron candlestick and the earthen jar,\nled the way up the stairway again. There the young man lowered the\niron trap-door to its place, and so soon as he had done so the\nother stamped his heel upon the ground, and the earth closed of\nitself as smooth and level as it had been before.\n\nThe two sat themselves upon the carpet, the one upon the one end,\nand the other upon the other. \u201cBy the horn of Jacob,\u201d said the old\nman, \u201cI command thee, O Carpet! to fly over hill and valley, over\nlake and river, until thou hast brought us back whence we came.\u201d\n\nAway flew the carpet, and in a little time they were back in\nthe garden from which they had started upon their journey; and\nthere they parted company. \u201cGo thy way, young man,\u201d said the old\ngraybeard, \u201cand henceforth try to live more wisely than thou hast\ndone heretofore. I know well who thou art, and how thou hast lived.\nShun thy evil companions, live soberly, and thou hast enough to\nmake thee rich for as long as thou livest.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave no fear,\u201d cried the young man, joyfully. \u201cI have learned a\nbitter lesson, and henceforth I will live wisely and well.\u201d\n\nSo, filled with good resolves, the young man went the next day to\nhis creditors and paid his debts; he bought back the house which\nhis father had left him, and there began to lead a new life as he\nhad promised.\n\nBut a gray goose does not become white, nor a foolish man a wise\none.\n\nAt first he led a life sober enough; but by little and little he\nbegan to take up with his old-time friends again, and by-and-by the\nmoney went flying as merrily as ever, only this time he was twenty\ntimes richer than he had been before, and he spent his money twenty\ntimes as fast. Every day there was feasting and drinking going on\nin his house, and roaring and rioting and dancing and singing. The\nwealth of a king could not keep up such a life forever, so by the\nend of a year and a half the last of the treasure was gone, and the\nyoung spendthrift was just as poor as ever. Then once again his\nfriends left him as they had done before, and all that he could do\nwas to rap his head and curse his folly.\n\nAt last, one morning, he plucked up courage to go to the old man\nwho had helped him once before, to see whether he would not help\nhim again. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should\nopen it but the old man himself. \u201cWell,\u201d said the graybeard, \u201cwhat\ndo you want?\u201d\n\n\u201cI want some help,\u201d said the spendthrift; and then he told him\nall, and the old man listened and stroked his beard.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cBy rights,\u201d said he, when the young man had ended, \u201cI should leave\nyou alone in your folly; for it is plain to see that nothing can\ncure you of it. Nevertheless, as you helped me once, and as I have\nmore than I shall need, I will share what I have with you. Come in\nand shut the door.\u201d\n\nHe led the way, the spendthrift following, to a little room all of\nbare stone, and in which were only three things--the magic carpet,\nthe iron candlestick, and the earthen jar. This last the old man\ngave to the foolish spendthrift. \u201cMy friend,\u201d said he, \u201cwhen you\nchose the money and jewels that day in the cavern, you chose the\nless for the greater. Here is a treasure that an emperor might well\nenvy you. Whatever you wish for you will find by dipping your hand\ninto the jar. Now go your way, and let what has happened cure you\nof your folly.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall,\u201d cried the young man; \u201cnever again will I be so foolish\nas I have been!\u201d And thereupon he went his way with another\npocketful of good resolves.\n\nThe first thing he did when he reached home was to try the virtue\nof his jar. \u201cI should like,\u201d said he, \u201cto have a handful of just\nsuch treasure as I brought from the cavern over yonder.\u201d He dipped\nhis hand into the jar, and when he brought it out again it was\nbrimful of shining, gleaming, sparkling jewels. You can guess how\nhe felt when he saw them.\n\nWell, this time a whole year went by, during which the young man\nlived as soberly as a judge. But at the end of the twelvemonth he\nwas so sick of wisdom that he loathed it as one loathes bitter\ndrink. Then by little and little he began to take up with his old\nways again, and to call his old cronies around, until at the end of\nanother twelvemonth things were a hundred times worse and wilder\nthan ever; for now what he had he had without end.\n\nOne day, when he and a great party of roisterers were shouting\nand making merry, he brought out his earthen-ware pot to show\nthem the wonders of it; and to prove its virtue he gave to each\nguest whatever he wanted. \u201cWhat will you have?\u201d--\u201cA handful of\ngold.\u201d--\u201cPut your hand in and get it!\u201d--\u201cWhat will you have?\u201d--\u201cA\nfistful of pearls.\u201d--\u201cPut your fist in and get them!\u201d--\u201cWhat will\nyou have?\u201d--\u201cA necklace of diamonds.\u201d--\u201cDip into the jar and get\nit.\u201d And so he went from one to another, and each and every one got\nwhat he asked for, and such a shouting and hubbub those walls had\nnever heard before.\n\nThen the young man, holding the jar in his hands, began to dance\nand to sing: \u201cO wonderful jar! O beautiful jar! O beloved jar!\u201d and\nso on, his friends clapping their hands, and laughing and cheering\nhim. At last, in the height of his folly, he balanced the earthen\njar on his head, and began dancing around and around with it to\nshow his dexterity.\n\nSmash! crash! The precious jar lay in fifty pieces on the stone\nfloor, and the young man stood staring at the result of his folly\nwith bulging eyes, while his friends roared and laughed and shouted\nlouder than ever over his mishap. And again his treasure and his\ngay life were gone.\n\nBut what had been hard for him to do before was easier now. At the\nend of a week he was back at the old man\u2019s house, rapping on the\ndoor. This time the old man asked him never a word, but frowned as\nblack as thunder.\n\n\u201cI know,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat has happened to you. If I were wise I\nshould let you alone in your folly; but once more I will have pity\non you and will help you, only this time it shall be the last.\u201d\nOnce more he led the way to the stone room, where were the iron\ncandlestick and the magic carpet, and with him he took a good stout\ncudgel. He stood the candlestick in the middle of the room, and\ntaking three candles from his pouch, thrust one into each branch.\nThen he struck a light, and lit the first candle. Instantly there\nappeared a little old man, clad in a long white robe, who began\ndancing and spinning around and around like a top. He lit the\nsecond candle, and a second old man appeared, and round and round\nhe went, spinning like his brother. He lit the third candle, and a\nthird old man appeared. Around and around and around they spun and\nwhirled, until the head spun and whirled to look at them. Then the\nold graybeard gripped the cudgel in his hand. \u201cAre you ready?\u201d he\nasked.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWe are ready, and waiting,\u201d answered the three. Thereupon, without\nanother word, the graybeard fetched each of the dancers a blow upon\nthe head with might and main--One! two! three! crack! crash! jingle!\n\nLo and behold! Instead of the three dancing men, there lay three\ngreat heaps of gold upon the floor, and the spendthrift stood\nstaring like an owl. \u201cThere,\u201d said the old man, \u201ctake what you\nwant, and then go your way, and trouble me no more.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the spendthrift, \u201cof all the wonders that ever I saw,\nthis is the most wonderful! But how am I to carry my gold away with\nme, seeing I did not fetch my basket?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall have a basket,\u201d said the old man, \u201cif only you will\ntrouble me no more. Just wait here a moment until I bring it to\nyou.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe spendthrift was left all alone in the room; not a soul was\nthere but himself. He looked up, and he looked down, and scratched\nhis head. \u201cWhy,\u201d he cried aloud, \u201cshould I be content to take a\npart when I can have the whole?\u201d\n\nTo do was as easy as to say. He snatched up the iron candlestick,\ncaught up the staff that the old man had left leaning against the\nwall, and seated himself upon the magic carpet. \u201cBy the horn of\nJacob,\u201d he cried, \u201cI command thee, O Carpet! to carry me over hill\nand valley, over lake and river, to a place where the old man can\nnever find me.\u201d\n\nHardly had the words left his mouth than away flew the carpet\nthrough the air, carrying him along with it; away and away,\nhigher than the clouds and swifter than the wind. Then at last it\ndescended to the earth again, and when the young spendthrift looked\nabout him, he found himself in just such a desert place as he and\nthe old man had come to when they had found the treasure. But he\ngave no thought to that, and hardly looked around him to see where\nhe was. All that he thought of was to try his hand at the three\ndancers that belonged to the candlestick. He struck a light, and\nlit the three candles, and instantly the three little old men\nappeared for him just as they had for the old graybeard. And around\nand around they spun and whirled, until the sand and dust spun and\nwhirled along with them. Then the young man grasped his cudgel\ntightly.\n\nNow, he had not noticed that when the old man struck the three\ndancers he had held the cudgel in his _left_ hand, for he was\nnot wise enough to know that great differences come from little\nmatters. He griped the cudgel in his right hand, and struck the\ndancers with might and main, just as the old man had done. Crack!\ncrack! crack! One; two; three.\n\nDid they change into piles of gold? Not a bit of it! Each of the\ndancers drew from under his robe a cudgel as stout and stouter than\nthe one the young man himself held, and, without a word, fell upon\nhim and began to beat and drub him until the dust flew. In vain he\nhopped and howled and begged for mercy, in vain he tried to defend\nhimself; the three never stopped until he fell to the ground, and\nlaid there panting and sighing and groaning; and then they left and\nflew back with the iron candlestick and the magic carpet to the old\nman again. At last, after a great while, the young spendthrift sat\nup, rubbing the sore places; but when he looked around not a sign\nwas to be seen of anything but the stony desert, without a house or\na man in sight.\n\nPerhaps, after a long time, he found his way home again, and\nperhaps the drubbing he had had taught him wisdom; the first is a\nlikely enough thing to happen, but as for the second, it would need\nthree strong men to tell it to me a great many times before I would\nbelieve it.\n\nYou may smile at this story if you like, but, all the same, as\ncertainly as there is meat in an egg-shell, so is there truth in\nthis nonsense. For, \u201cGive a fool heaven and earth,\u201d say I, \u201cand\nall the stars, and he will make ducks and drakes of them.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Fortunatus lifted his canican to his lips and took a long, hearty\ndraught of ale. \u201cMethinks,\u201d said he, \u201cthat all your stories have a\ntwang of the same sort about them. You all of you, except my friend\nthe Soldier here, play the same tune upon a different fiddle.\nNobody comes to any good.\u201d_\n\n_St. George drew a long whiff of his pipe, and then puffed out\na cloud of smoke as big as his head. \u201cPerhaps,\u201d said he to\nFortunatus, \u201cyou know of a story which turns out differently. If\nyou do, let us have it, for it is your turn now.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cVery well,\u201d said Fortunatus, \u201cI will tell you a story that turns\nout as it should, where the lad marries a beautiful princess and\nbecomes a king into the bargain.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what is your story about?\u201d said the Lad who fiddled for the\nJew in the bramble-bush._\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said Fortunatus, \u201cabout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Good of a Few Words.\n\n\nThere was one Beppo the Wise and another Beppo the Foolish.\n\nThe wise one was the father of the foolish one.\n\nBeppo the Wise was called Beppo the Wise because he had laid up a\ngreat treasure after a long life of hard work.\n\nBeppo the Foolish was called Beppo the Foolish because he spent in\nfive years after his father was gone from this world of sorrow all\nthat the old man had laid together in his long life of toil.\n\nBut during that time Beppo lived as a prince, and the like was\nnever seen in that town before or since--feasting and drinking and\njunketing and merrymaking. He had friends by the dozen and by the\nscores, and the fame of his doings went throughout all the land.\n\nWhile his money lasted he was called Beppo the Generous. It was\nonly after it was all gone that they called him Beppo the Foolish.\n\nSo by-and-by the money was spent, and there was an end of it.\n\nYes; there was an end of it; and where were all of Beppo\u2019s\nfair-weather friends? Gone like the wild-geese in frosty weather.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you remember how I gave you a bagful of gold?\u201d says Beppo\nthe Foolish. \u201cWon\u2019t you remember me now in my time of need?\u201d\n\nBut the fair-weather friend only laughed in his face.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you remember how I gave you a fine gold chain with a diamond\npendant?\u201d says Beppo to another. \u201cAnd won\u2019t you lend me a little\nmoney to help me over to-day?\u201d\n\nBut the summer-goose friend only grinned.\n\n\u201cBut what shall I do to keep body and soul together?\u201d says Beppo to\na third.\n\nThe man was a wit. \u201cGo to a shoemaker,\u201d said he, \u201cand let him\nstitch the soul fast;\u201d and that was all the good Beppo had of him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen poor Beppo saw that there was not place for him in that town,\nand so off he went to seek his fortune elsewhither, for he saw that\nthere was nothing to be gained in that place.\n\nSo he journeyed on for a week and a day, and then towards evening\nhe came to the king\u2019s town.\n\nThere it stood on the hill beside the river--the grandest city in\nthe kingdom. There were orchards and plantations of trees along the\nbanks of the stream, and gardens and summer-houses and pavilions.\nThere were white houses and red roofs and blue skies. Up above on\nthe hill were olive orchards and fields, and then blue sky again.\n\nBeppo went into the town, gazing about him with admiration. Houses,\npalaces, gardens. He had never seen the like. Stores and shops full\nof cloths of velvet and silk and satin; goldsmiths, silversmiths,\njewellers--as though all the riches of the world had been emptied\ninto the city. Crowds of people--lords, noblemen, courtiers, rich\nmerchants, and tradesmen.\n\nBeppo stared about at the fine sights and everybody stared at\nBeppo, for his shoes were dusty, his clothes were travel-stained,\nand a razor had not touched his face for a week.\n\nThe king of that country was walking in the garden under the shade\nof the trees, and the sunlight slanted down upon him, and sparkled\nupon the jewels around his neck and on his fingers. Two dogs\nwalked alongside of him, and a whole crowd of lords and nobles and\ncourtiers came behind him; first of all the prime-minister with his\nlong staff.\n\nBut for all this fine show this king was not really the king. When\nthe old king died he left a daughter, and she should have been\nqueen if she had had her own rights. But this king, who was her\nuncle, had stepped in before her, and so the poor princess was\npushed aside and was nobody at all but a princess, the king\u2019s niece.\n\nShe stood on the terrace with her old nurse, while the king walked\nin the garden below.\n\nIt had been seven years now since the old king had died, and in\nthat time she had grown up into a beautiful young woman, as wise\nas she was beautiful, and as good as she was wise. Few people ever\nsaw her, but everybody talked about her in whispers and praised her\nbeauty and goodness, saying that, if the right were done, she would\nhave her own and be queen.\n\nSometimes the king heard of this (for a king hears everything), and\nhe grew to hate the princess as a man hates bitter drink.\n\nThe princess looked down from the terrace, and there she saw Beppo\nwalking along the street, and his shoes were dusty and his clothes\nwere travel-stained, and a razor had not touched his face for a\nweek.\n\n\u201cLook at yonder poor man,\u201d she said to her nurse; \u201cyet if I were\nhis wife he would be greater really than my uncle, the king.\u201d\n\nThe king, walking below in the garden, heard what she said.\n\n\u201cSay you so!\u201d he called out. \u201cThen we shall try if what you say is\ntrue;\u201d and he turned away, shaking with anger.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the princess, \u201cnow, indeed, have I ruined myself for\ngood and all.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nBeppo was walking along the street looking about him hither and\nthither, and thinking how fine it all was. He had no more thought\nthat the king and the princess were talking about him than the man\nin the moon.\n\nSuddenly some one clapped him upon the shoulder.\n\nBeppo turned around.\n\nThere stood a great tall man dressed all in black.\n\n\u201cYou must come with me,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want with me?\u201d said Beppo.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cThat you shall see for yourself,\u201d said the man.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Beppo; \u201cI\u2019d as lief go along with you as anywhere\nelse.\u201d\n\nSo he turned and followed the man whither he led.\n\nThey went along first one street and then another, and by-and-by\nthey came to the river, and there was a long wall with a gate in\nit. The tall man in black knocked upon the gate, and some one\nopened it from within. The man in black entered, and Beppo followed\nat his heels, wondering where he was going.\n\nHe was in a garden. There were fruit trees and flowering shrubs and\nlong marble walks, and away in the distance a great grand palace\nof white marble that shone red as fire in the light of the setting\nsun, but there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.\n\nThe tall man in black led the way up the long marble walk, past the\nfountains and fruit trees and beds of roses, until he had come to\nthe palace.\n\nBeppo wondered whether he were dreaming.\n\nThe tall man in black led the way into the palace, but still there\nwas not a soul to be seen.\n\nBeppo gazed about him in wonder. There were floors of colored\nmarble, and ceilings of blue and gold, and columns of carved\nmarble, and hangings of silk and velvet and silver.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSuddenly the tall man opened a little door that led into a dark\npassage, and Beppo followed him. They went along the passage, and\nthen the man opened another door.\n\nThen Beppo found himself in a great vaulted room. There at one end\nof the room were three souls. A man sat on the throne, and he was\nthe king, for he had a crown on his head and a long robe over his\nshoulders. Beside him stood a priest, and in front of him stood a\nbeautiful young woman as white as wax and as still as death.\n\nBeppo wondered whether he were awake.\n\n\u201cCome hither,\u201d said the king, in a harsh voice, and Beppo came\nforward and kneeled before him. \u201cTake this young woman by the\nhand,\u201d said the king.\n\nBeppo did as he was bidden.\n\nHer hand was as cold as ice.\n\nThen, before Beppo knew what was happening, he found that he was\nbeing married.\n\nIt was the princess.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the king to her when the priest had ended, and he\nfrowned until his brows were as black as thunder--\u201cnow you are\nmarried; tell me, is your husband greater than I?\u201d\n\nBut the princess said never a word, only the tears ran one after\nanother down her white face. The king sat staring at her and\nfrowning.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSuddenly some one tapped Beppo upon the shoulder. It was the tall\nman in black.\n\nBeppo knew that he was to follow him again. This time the princess\nwas to go along. The tall man in black led the way, and Beppo and\nthe princess followed along the secret passage and up and down the\nstairs until at last they came out into the garden again.\n\nAnd now the evening was beginning to fall.\n\nThe man led the way down the garden to the river, and still Beppo\nand the princess followed him.\n\nBy-and-by they came to the river-side and to a flight of steps, and\nthere was a little frail boat without sail or oars.\n\nThe tall man in black beckoned towards the boat, and Beppo knew\nthat he and the princess were to enter it.\n\nAs soon as Beppo had helped the princess into the boat the tall man\nthrust it out into the stream with his foot, and the boat drifted\naway from the shore and out into the river, and then around and\naround. Then it floated off down the stream.\n\nIt floated on and on, and the sun set and the moon rose.\n\nBeppo looked at the princess, and he thought he had never seen\nany one so beautiful in all his life. It was all like a dream, and\nhe hoped he might never awaken. But the princess sat there weeping\nand weeping, and said nothing.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe night fell darker and darker, but still Beppo sat looking at\nthe princess. Her face was as white as silver in the moonlight.\nThe smell of the flower-gardens came across the river. The boat\nfloated on and on until by-and-by it drifted to the shore again and\namong the river reeds, and there it stopped, and Beppo carried the\nprincess ashore.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said the princess. \u201cDo you know who I am?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Beppo, \u201cI do not.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the princess,\u201d said she, \u201cthe king\u2019s niece; and by rights I\nshould be queen of this land.\u201d\n\nBeppo could not believe his ears.\n\n\u201cIt is true that I am married to you,\u201d said she, \u201cbut never shall\nyou be my husband until you are king.\u201d\n\n\u201cKing!\u201d said Beppo; \u201chow can I be king?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall be king,\u201d said the princess.\n\n\u201cBut the king is everything,\u201d said Beppo, \u201cand I am nothing at\nall.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreat things come from small beginnings,\u201d said the princess; \u201ca\nbig tree from a little seed.\u201d\n\nSome little distance away from the river was the twinkle of a\nlight, and thither Beppo led the princess. When the two came to it,\nthey found it was a little hut, for there were fish-nets hanging\noutside in the moonlight.\n\nBeppo knocked.\n\nAn old woman opened the door. She stared and stared, as well she\nmight, to see the fine lady in silks and satins with a gold ring\nupon her finger, and nobody with her but one who looked like a poor\nbeggar-man.\n\n\u201cWho are you and what do you want?\u201d said the old woman.\n\n\u201cWho we are,\u201d said the princess, \u201cdoes not matter, except that we\nare honest folk in trouble. What we want is shelter for the night\nand food to eat, and that we will pay for.\u201d\n\n\u201cShelter I can give you,\u201d said the old woman, \u201cbut little else but\na crust of bread and a cup of water. One time there was enough and\nplenty in the house; but now, since my husband has gone and I am\nleft all alone, it is little I have to eat and drink. But such as I\nhave to give you are welcome to.\u201d\n\nThen Beppo and the princess went into the house.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe next morning the princess called Beppo to her. \u201cHere,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cis a ring and a letter. Go you into the town and inquire for\nSebastian the Goldsmith. He will know what to do.\u201d\n\nBeppo took the ring and the letter and started off to town, and it\nwas not hard for him to find the man he sought, for every one knew\nof Sebastian the Goldsmith. He was an old man, with a great white\nbeard and a forehead like the dome of a temple. He looked at Beppo\nfrom head to foot with eyes as bright as those of a snake; then he\ntook the ring and the letter. As soon as he saw the ring he raised\nit to his lips and kissed it; then he kissed the letter also; then\nhe opened it and read it.\n\nHe turned to Beppo and bowed very low. \u201cMy lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI will\ndo as I am commanded. Will you be pleased to follow me?\u201d\n\nHe led the way into an inner room. There were soft rugs upon the\nfloor, and around the walls were tapestries. There were couches and\nsilken cushions. Beppo wondered what it all meant.\n\nSebastian the Goldsmith clapped his hands together. A door opened,\nand there came three black slaves into the room. The Goldsmith\nspoke to them in a strange language, and the chief of the three\nblack slaves bowed in reply. Then he and the others led Beppo into\nanother room where there was a marble bath of tepid water. They\nbathed him and rubbed him with soft linen towels; then they shaved\nthe beard from his cheeks and chin and trimmed his hair; then they\nclothed him in fine linen and a plain suit of gray and Beppo looked\nlike a new man.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen when all this was done the chief of the blacks conducted Beppo\nback to Sebastian the Goldsmith. There was a fine feast spread,\nwith fruit and wine. Beppo sat down to it, and Sebastian the\nGoldsmith stood and served him with a napkin over his arm.\n\nThen Beppo was to return to the princess again.\n\nA milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith\u2019s door, a\nservant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away.\n\nWhen he returned to the fisherman\u2019s hut the princess was waiting\nfor him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of\nmilk, and some sweet cakes.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said she; \u201cto-day the king hunts in the forest over\nyonder. Go you thither with this. The king will be hot and thirsty,\nand weary with the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He will eat\nand drink, and in gratitude he will offer you something in return.\nTake nothing of him, but ask him this: that he allow you once every\nthree days to come to the palace, and that he whisper these words\nin your ear so that no one else may hear them--\u2018A word, a word,\nonly a few words; spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are\nmore precious than gold and jewels.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should I do that?\u201d said Beppo.\n\n\u201cYou will see,\u201d said the princess.\n\nBeppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a princess\nand must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at her bidding.\n\nIt was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the\nforest, and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the\nmen and the winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited\nthere for maybe an hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were\nnearer and sometimes the sounds were farther away. Presently they\ncame nearer and nearer, and then all of a sudden the king came\nriding out of the forest, the hounds hunting hither and thither,\nand the lords and nobles and courtiers following him.\n\nThe king\u2019s face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his\nforehead was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered the\ntray. The king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank the\nmilk and ate three of the cakes.\n\n\u201cWho was it ordered you to bring this to me?\u201d said he to Beppo.\n\n\u201cNo one,\u201d said Beppo; \u201cI brought it myself.\u201d\n\nThe king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him.\n\n\u201cThou hast given me pleasure and comfort,\u201d said he; \u201cask what thou\nwilt in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will have only this,\u201d said Beppo: \u201cthat your majesty will allow\nme once every three days to come to the palace, and that then you\nwill take me aside and will whisper these words into my ear so\nthat no one else may hear them--\u2018A word, a word, only a few words;\nspoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are more precious than\ngold and jewels.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe king burst out laughing. \u201cWhy,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat is this foolish\nthing you ask of me? If you had asked for a hundred pieces of gold\nyou should have had them. Think better, friend, and ask something\nof more worth than this foolish thing.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease your majesty,\u201d said Beppo, \u201cI ask nothing else.\u201d\n\nThe king laughed again. \u201cThen you shall have what you ask,\u201d said\nhe, and he rode away.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe next morning the princess said to Beppo: \u201cThis day you shall\ngo and claim the king\u2019s promise of him. Take this ring and this\nletter again to Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will fit you with\nclothes in which to appear before the king. Then go to the king\u2019s\npalace that he may whisper those words he has to say into your ear.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOnce more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the Goldsmith\nkissed the princess\u2019s ring and letter, and then read what she had\nwritten.\n\nAgain the black slaves took Beppo to the bath, only this time they\nclad him in a fine suit of velvet and hung a gold chain about his\nneck. After that Sebastian the Goldsmith again served a feast to\nBeppo, and waited upon him while he ate and drank.\n\nIn front of the house a noble horse, as black as jet, was waiting\nto carry Beppo to the palace, and two servants dressed in velvet\nlivery were waiting to attend him.\n\nSo Beppo rode away, and many people stopped to look at him.\n\nHe came to the palace, and the king was giving audience. Beppo went\ninto the great audience-chamber. It was full of people--lords and\nnobles and rich merchants and lawyers.\n\nBeppo did not know how to come to the king, so he stood there and\nwaited and waited. The people looked at him and whispered to one\nanother: \u201cWho is that young man?\u201d \u201cWhence comes he?\u201d Then one\nsaid: \u201cIs not he the young man who served the king with cakes and\nmilk in the forest yesterday?\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBeppo stood there gazing at the king. By-and-by the king suddenly\nlooked up and caught sight of him. He gazed at Beppo for a moment\nor two and then he knew him. Then he smiled and beckoned to him.\n\n\u201cAye, my foolish benefactor,\u201d said he, aloud, \u201cis it thou, and art\nthou come so soon to redeem thy promise? Very well; come hither, I\nhave something to say to thee.\u201d\n\nBeppo came forward, and everybody stared. He came close to the\nking, and the king laid his hand upon his shoulder. Then he leaned\nover to Beppo and whispered in his ear: \u201cA word, a word, only a few\nwords; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well,\nthey are more precious than gold and jewels.\u201d Then he laughed. \u201cIs\nthat what you would have me say?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes, majesty,\u201d said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew.\n\nBut, lo and behold, what a change!\n\nSuddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The\ncrowd drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as he\nwent along.\n\n\u201cDid you not see the king whisper to him,\u201d said one. \u201cWhat could\nit be that the king said?\u201d said another. \u201cThis must be a new\nfavorite,\u201d said a third.\n\nHe had come into the palace Beppo the Foolish; he went forth\nBeppo the Great Man, and all because of a few words the king had\nwhispered in his ear.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThree days passed, and then Beppo went again to the Goldsmith\u2019s\nwith the ring and a letter from the princess. This time Sebastian\nthe Goldsmith fitted him with a suit of splendid plum-colored\nsilk and gave him a dappled horse, and again Beppo and his two\nattendants rode away to the palace. And this time every one knew\nhim, and as he went up the steps into the palace all present bowed\nto him. The king saw him as soon as he appeared, and when he caught\nsight of him he burst out laughing.\n\n\u201cAye,\u201d said he, \u201cI was looking for thee to-day, and wondering how\nsoon thou wouldst come. Come hither till I whisper something in\nthine ear.\u201d\n\nThen all the lords and nobles and courtiers and ministers drew\nback, and Beppo went up to the king.\n\nThe king laughed and laughed. He laid his arm over Beppo\u2019s\nshoulder, and again he whispered in his ear: \u201cA word, a word, only\na few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken\nwell, they are more precious than gold and jewels.\u201d\n\nThen he released Beppo, and Beppo withdrew.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSo it continued for three months. Every three days Beppo went to\nthe palace, and the king whispered the words in his ear. Beppo said\nnothing to any one, and always went away as soon as the king had\nwhispered to him.\n\nThen at last the princess said to him: \u201cNow the time is ripe for\ndoing. Listen! To-day when you go to the palace fix your eyes,\nwhen the king speaks to you, upon the prime-minister, and shake\nyour head. The prime-minister will ask you what the king said. Say\nnothing to him but this: \u2018Alas, my poor friend!\u2019\u201d\n\nIt was all just as the princess had said.\n\nThe king was walking in the garden, with his courtiers and\nministers about him. Beppo came to him, and the king, as he always\ndid, laid his hand upon Beppo\u2019s shoulder and whispered in his ear:\n\u201cA word, a word, only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are\nill; if they be spoken well, they are more precious than gold and\njewels.\u201d\n\nWhile the king was saying these words to Beppo, Beppo was looking\nfixedly at the prime-minister. While he did so he shook his head\nthree times. Then he bowed low and walked away.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe had not gone twenty paces before some one tapped him upon the\narm; it was the prime-minister. Beppo gazed fixedly at him. \u201cAlas,\nmy poor friend!\u201d said he.\n\nThe prime-minister turned pale. \u201cIt was, then, as I thought,\u201d said\nhe. \u201cThe king spoke about me. Will you not tell me what he said?\u201d\n\nBeppo shook his head. \u201cAlas, my poor friend!\u201d said he, and then he\nwalked on.\n\nThe prime-minister still followed him.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI have been aware that his majesty has not\nbeen the same to me for more than a week past. If it was about the\nprincess, pray tell his majesty that I meant nothing ill when I\nspoke of her to him.\u201d\n\nBeppo shook his head. \u201cAlas, my poor friend!\u201d he said.\n\nThe prime-minister\u2019s lips trembled. \u201cMy lord,\u201d said he, \u201cI have\nalways had the kindest regard for you, and if there is anything in\nmy power that I can do for you I hope you will command me. I know\nhow much you are in his majesty\u2019s confidence. Will you not speak a\nfew words to set the matter straight?\u201d\n\nBeppo again shook his head. \u201cAlas, my poor friend!\u201d said he, and\nthen he got upon his horse and rode away.\n\nThree days passed.\n\n\u201cThis morning,\u201d said the princess, \u201cwhen you go to the king, look\nat the prime-minister when the king speaks to you, and smile. The\nprime-minister will again speak to you, and this time say, \u2018It is\nwell, and I wish you joy.\u2019 Take what he gives you, for it will be\nof use.\u201d\n\nAgain all happened just as the princess said.\n\nBeppo came to the palace, and again the king whispered in his ear.\nAs he did so Beppo looked at the prime-minister and smiled, and\nthen he withdrew.\n\nThe prime-minister followed him. He trembled. \u201cIt is well,\u201d said\nBeppo, \u201cand I wish you joy.\u201d\n\nThe prime-minister grasped his hand and wrung it. \u201cMy lord,\u201d said\nhe, \u201chow can I express my gratitude! The palace of my son that\nstands by the river--I would that you would use it for your own, if\nI may be so bold as to offer it to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Beppo, \u201cuse it as my own.\u201d\n\nThe prime-minister wrung his hand again, and then Beppo rode away.\n\nThe next time that Beppo spoke to the king, at the princess\u2019s\nbidding, he looked at the lord-treasurer, and said, as he had said\nto the prime-minister, \u201cAlas, my poor friend!\u201d\n\nWhen he rode away he left the lord-treasurer as white as ashes to\nthe very lips.\n\nThree days passed, and then, while the king talked to Beppo, Beppo\nlooked at the lord-treasurer and smiled.\n\nThe lord-treasurer followed him to the door of the palace.\n\n\u201cIt is well, and I wish you joy,\u201d said Beppo.\n\nThe treasurer offered him a fortune.\n\nThe next time it was the same with the captain of the guards. First\nBeppo pitied him, and then he wished him joy.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d said the captain of the guards, \u201cmy services are yours\nat any time.\u201d\n\nThen the same thing happened to the governor of the city, then to\nthis lord, and then to that lord.\n\nBeppo grew rich and powerful beyond measure.\n\nThen one day the princess said: \u201cNow we will go into the town, and\nto the palace of the prime-minister\u2019s son, which the prime-minister\ngave you, for the time is ripe for the end.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn a few days all the court knew that Beppo was living like a\nprince in the prime-minister\u2019s palace. The king began to wonder\nwhat it all meant, and how all such good-fortune had come to\nBeppo. He had grown very tired of always speaking to Beppo the same\nwords.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut Beppo was now great among the great; all the world paid court\nto him, and bowed down to him, almost as they did before the king.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the princess, \u201cthe time has come to strike. Bid all the\ncouncillors, and all the lords, and all the nobles to meet here\nthree days hence, for it is now or never that you shall win all and\nbecome king.\u201d\n\nBeppo did as she bade. He asked all of the great people of the\nkingdom to come to him, and they came. When they were all gathered\ntogether at Beppo\u2019s house, they found two thrones set as though for\na king and a queen, but there was no sign of Beppo, and everybody\nwondered what it all meant.\n\nSuddenly the door opened and Beppo came into the room, leading by\nthe hand a lady covered with a veil from head to foot.\n\nEverybody stopped speaking and stood staring while Beppo led the\nveiled lady up to one of the thrones. He seated himself upon the\nother.\n\nThe lady stood up and dropped her veil, and then every one knew her.\n\nIt was the princess.\n\n\u201cDo you not know me?\u201d said she; \u201cI am the queen, and this is my\nhusband. He is your king.\u201d\n\nAll stood silent for a moment, and then a great shout went up.\n\u201cLong live the queen! Long live the king!\u201d\n\nThe princess turned to the captain of the guards. \u201cYou have offered\nyour services to my husband,\u201d said she; \u201chis commands and my\ncommands are that you march to the palace and cast out him who hath\nno right there.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the captain of the guards.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAll the troops were up in arms, and the town was full of tumult and\nconfusion. About midnight they brought the false king before King\nBeppo and the queen. The false king stood there trembling like a\nleaf. The queen stood gazing at him steadily. \u201cBehold, this is the\nhusband that thou gavest me,\u201d said she. \u201cIt is as I said; he is\ngreater than thou. For, lo, he is king! What art thou?\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe false king was banished out of the country, and the poor\nfisherman\u2019s wife, who had entertained the princess for all this\ntime, came to live at the palace, where all was joy and happiness.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201c_Friend,\u201d said St. George, \u201cI like your story. Ne\u2019th\u2019less, \u2019tis\nlike a strolling pedler, in that it carries a great pack of ills\nto begin with, to get rid of \u2019em all before it gets to the end\nof its journey. However, \u2019tis as you say--it ends with everybody\nmerry and feasting, and so I like it. But now methinks our little\nfriend yonder is big with a story of his own;\u201d and he pointed, as\nhe spoke, with the stem of his pipe to a little man whom I knew was\nthe brave Tailor who had killed seven flies at a blow, for he still\nhad around his waist the belt with the legend that he himself had\nworked upon it._\n\n_\u201cAye,\u201d piped the Tailor in a keen, high voice, \u201c\u2019tis true I have a\nstory inside of me. \u2019Tis about another tailor who had a great, big,\nblack, ugly demon to wait upon him and to sew his clothes for him.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd the name of that story, my friend,\u201d said the Soldier who had\ncheated the Devil, \u201cis what?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cIt hath no name,\u201d piped the little Tailor, \u201cbut I will give it\none, and it shall be--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWoman\u2019s Wit.\n\n_=When man\u2019s strength fails, woman\u2019s wit prevails.=_\n\n\nIn the days when the great and wise King Solomon lived and ruled,\nevil spirits and demons were as plentiful in the world as wasps in\nsummer.\n\nSo King Solomon, who was so wise and knew so many potent spells\nthat he had power over evil such as no man has had before or since,\nset himself to work to put those enemies of mankind out of the\nway. Some he conjured into bottles, and sank into the depths of the\nsea; some he buried in the earth; some he destroyed altogether, as\none burns hair in a candle-flame.\n\nNow, one pleasant day when King Solomon was walking in his garden\nwith his hands behind his back, and his thoughts busy as bees with\nthis or that, he came face to face with a Demon, who was a prince\nof his kind. \u201cHo, little man!\u201d cried the evil spirit, in a loud\nvoice, \u201cart not thou the wise King Solomon who conjures my brethren\ninto brass chests and glass bottles? Come, try a fall at wrestling\nwith me, and whoever conquers shall be master over the other for\nall time. What do you say to such an offer as that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI say aye!\u201d said King Solomon, and, without another word, he\nstripped off his royal robes and stood bare breasted, man to man\nwith the other.\n\nThe world never saw the like of that wrestling-match betwixt the\nking and the Demon, for they struggled and strove together from\nthe seventh hour in the morning to the sunset in the evening, and\nduring that time the sky was clouded over as black as night, and\nthe lightning forked and shot, and the thunder roared and bellowed,\nand the earth shook and quaked.\n\nBut at last the king gave the enemy an under twist, and flung him\ndown on the earth so hard that the apples fell from the trees; and\nthen, panting and straining, he held the evil one down, knee on\nneck. Thereupon the sky presently cleared again, and all was as\npleasant as a spring day.\n\nKing Solomon bound the Demon with spells, and made him serve him\nfor seven years. First, he had him build a splendid palace, the\nlike of which was not to be seen within the bounds of the seven\nrivers; then he made him set around the palace a garden, such as I\nfor one wish I may see some time or other. Then, when the Demon had\ndone all that the king wished, the king conjured him into a bottle,\ncorked it tightly, and set the royal seal on the stopper. Then he\ntook the bottle a thousand miles away into the wilderness, and,\nwhen no man was looking, buried it in the ground, and this is the\nway the story begins.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWell, the years came and the years went, and the world grew older\nand older, and kept changing (as all things do but two), so that\nby-and-by the wilderness where King Solomon had hid the bottle\nbecame a great town, with people coming and going, and all as busy\nas bees about their own business and other folks\u2019 affairs.\n\nAmong these towns-people was a little Tailor, who made clothes for\nmany a worse man to wear, and who lived all alone in a little house\nwith no one to darn his stockings for him, and no one to meddle\nwith his coming and going, for he was a bachelor.\n\nThe little Tailor was a thrifty soul, and by hook and crook had\nlaid by enough money to fill a small pot, and then he had to\nbethink himself of some safe place to hide it. So one night he took\na spade and a lamp and went out in the garden to bury his money.\nHe drove his spade into the ground--and click! He struck something\nhard that rang under his foot with a sound as of iron. \u201cHello!\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cwhat have we here?\u201d and if he had known as much as you\nand I do, he would have filled in the earth, and tramped it down,\nand have left that plate of broth for somebody else to burn his\nmouth with.\n\nAs it was, he scraped away the soil, and then he found a box of\nadamant, with a ring in the lid to lift it by. The Tailor clutched\nthe ring and bent his back, and up came the box with the damp\nearth sticking to it. He cleaned the mould away, and there he saw,\nwritten in red letters, these words:\n\n \u201c_Open not._\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nYou may be sure that after he had read these words he was not long\nin breaking open the lid of the box with his spade.\n\nInside the first box he found a second, and upon it the same words:\n\n \u201c_Open not._\u201d\n\nWithin the second box was another, and within that still another,\nuntil there were seven in all, and on each was written the same\nwords:\n\n \u201c_Open not._\u201d\n\nInside the seventh box was a roll of linen, and inside that a\nbottle filled with nothing but blue smoke; and I wish that bottle\nhad burned the Tailor\u2019s fingers when he touched it.\n\n\u201cAnd is this all?\u201d said the little Tailor, turning the bottle\nupside down and shaking it, and peeping at it by the light of the\nlamp. \u201cWell, since I have gone so far I might as well open it, as I\nhave already opened the seven boxes.\u201d Thereupon he broke the seal\nthat stoppered it.\n\nPop! Out flew the cork, and--Puff! Out came the smoke; not all at\nonce, but in a long thread that rose up as high as the stars, and\nthen spread until it hid their light.\n\nThe Tailor stared and goggled and gaped to see so much smoke come\nout of such a little bottle, and, as he goggled and stared, the\nsmoke began to gather together again, thicker and thicker, and\ndarker and darker, until it was as black as ink. Then out from it\nthere stepped one with eyes that shone like sparks of fire, and who\nhad a countenance so terrible that the Tailor\u2019s skin quivered and\nshrivelled, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth at the\nsight of it.\n\n\u201cWho art thou?\u201d said the terrible being, in a voice that made the\nvery marrow of the poor Tailor\u2019s bones turn soft from terror.\n\n\u201cIf you please, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cI am only a little tailor.\u201d\n\nThe evil being lifted up both hands and eyes. \u201cHow wonderful,\u201d he\ncried, \u201cthat one little tailor can undo in a moment that which took\nthe wise Solomon a whole day to accomplish, and in the doing of\nwhich he wellnigh broke the sinews of his heart!\u201d Then, turning to\nthe Tailor, who stood trembling like a rabbit, \u201cHark thee!\u201d said\nhe. \u201cFor two thousand years I lay there in that bottle, and no one\ncame nigh to aid me. Thou hast liberated me, and thou shalt not go\nunrewarded. Every morning at the seventh hour I will come to thee,\nand I will perform for thee whatever task thou mayest command me.\nBut there is one condition attached to the agreement, and woe be to\nthee if that condition is broken. If any morning I should come to\nthee, and thou hast no task for me to do, I shall wring thy neck as\nthou mightest wring the neck of a sparrow.\u201d Thereupon he was gone\nin an instant, leaving the little Tailor half dead with terror.\n\nNow it happened that the prime-minister of that country had left an\norder with the Tailor for a suit of clothes, so the next morning,\nwhen the Demon came, the little man set him to work on the bench,\nwith his legs tucked up like a journeyman tailor. \u201cI want,\u201d said\nhe, \u201csuch and such a suit of clothes.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall have them,\u201d said the Demon; and thereupon he began\nsnipping in the air, and cutting most wonderful patterns of silks\nand satins out of nothing at all, and the little Tailor sat and\ngaped and stared. Then the Demon began to drive the needle like a\nspark of fire--the like was never seen in all the seven kingdoms,\nfor the clothes seemed to make themselves.\n\nAt last, at the end of a little while, the Demon stood up and\nbrushed his hands. \u201cThey are done,\u201d said he, and thereupon he\ninstantly vanished. But the Tailor cared little for that, for upon\nthe bench there lay such a suit of clothes of silk and satin\nstuff, sewed with threads of gold and silver and set with jewels,\nas the eyes of man never saw before; and the Tailor packed them up\nand marched off with them himself to the prime-minister.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe prime-minister wore the clothes to court that very day, and\nbefore evening they were the talk of the town. All the world ran to\nthe Tailor and ordered clothes of him, and his fortune was made.\nEvery day the Demon created new suits of clothes out of nothing at\nall, so that the Tailor grew as rich as a Jew, and held his head up\nin the world.\n\nAs time went along he laid heavier and heavier tasks upon the\nDemon\u2019s back, and demanded of him more and more; but all the while\nthe Demon kept his own counsel, and said never a word.\n\nOne morning, as the Tailor sat in his shop window taking the world\neasy--for he had little or nothing to do now--he heard a great\nhubbub in the street below, and when he looked down he saw that\nit was the king\u2019s daughter passing by. It was the first time that\nthe Tailor had seen her, and when he saw her his heart stood still\nwithin him, and then began fluttering like a little bird, for one\nso beautiful was not to be met with in the four corners of the\nworld. Then she was gone.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAll that day the little Tailor could do nothing but sit and think\nof the princess, and the next morning when the Demon came he was\nthinking of her still.\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou for me to do to-day?\u201d said the Demon, as he always\nsaid of a morning.\n\nThe little Tailor was waiting for the question.\n\n\u201cI would like you,\u201d said he, \u201cto send to the king\u2019s palace, and to\nask him to let me have his daughter for my wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt have thy desire,\u201d said the Demon. Thereupon he smote\nhis hands together like a clap of thunder, and instantly the walls\nof the room clove asunder, and there came out four-and-twenty\nhandsome youths, clad in cloth of gold and silver. After these\nfour-and-twenty there came another one who was the chief of them\nall, and before whom, splendid as they were, the four-and-twenty\npaled like stars in daylight. \u201cGo to the king\u2019s palace,\u201d said\nthe Demon to that one, \u201cand deliver this message: The Tailor of\nTailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King asks\nfor his daughter to wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the other, and bowed his forehead to the\nearth.\n\nNever was there such a hubbub in the town as when those\nfive-and-twenty, in their clothes of silver and gold, rode through\nthe streets to the king\u2019s palace. As they came near, the gates of\nthe palace flew open before them, and the king himself came out to\nmeet them. The leader of the five-and-twenty leaped from his horse,\nand, kissing the ground before the king, delivered his message:\n\u201cThe Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than\na King asks for thy daughter to wife.\u201d\n\nWhen the king heard what the messenger said, he thought and\npondered a long time. At last he said, \u201cIf he who sent you is the\nMaster of Masters, and greater than a king, let him send me an\nasking gift such as no king could send.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be as you desire,\u201d said the messenger, and thereupon the\nfive-and-twenty rode away as they had come, followed by crowds of\npeople.\n\nThe next morning when the Demon came the tailor was ready and\nwaiting for him. \u201cWhat hast thou for me to do to-day?\u201d said the\nEvil One.\n\n\u201cI want,\u201d said the tailor, \u201ca gift to send to the king such as no\nother king could send him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThou shalt have thy desire,\u201d said the Demon. Thereupon he smote\nhis hands together, and summoned, not five-and-twenty young men,\nbut fifty youths, all clad in clothes more splendid than the others.\n\nAll of the fifty sat upon coal-black horses, with saddles of\nsilver and housings of silk and velvet embroidered with gold. In\nthe midst of all the five-and-seventy there rode a youth in cloth\nof silver embroidered in pearls. In his hand he bore something\nwrapped in a white napkin, and that was the present for the king\nsuch as no other king could give. So said the Demon: \u201cTake it to\nthe royal palace, and tell his majesty that it is from the Tailor\nof Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the young man, and then they all rode\naway.\n\nWhen they came to the palace the gates flew open before them, and\nthe king came out to meet them. The young man who bore the present\ndismounted and prostrated himself in the dust, and, when the king\nbade him arise, he unwrapped the napkin, and gave to the king a\ngoblet made of one single ruby, and filled to the brim with pieces\nof gold. Moreover, the cup was of such a kind that whenever it was\nemptied of its money it instantly became full again. \u201cThe Tailor of\nTailors, and Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King sends\nyour majesty this goblet, and bids me, his ambassador, to ask for\nyour daughter,\u201d said the young man.\n\nWhen the king saw what had been sent him he was filled with\namazement. \u201cSurely,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cthere can be no end to\nthe power of one who can give such a gift as this.\u201d Then to the\nmessenger, \u201cTell your master that he shall have my daughter for his\nwife if he will build over yonder a palace such as no man ever saw\nor no king ever lived in before.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the young man, and then they all went\naway, as the others had done the day before.\n\nThe next morning when the Demon appeared the Tailor was ready for\nhim. \u201cBuild me,\u201d said he, \u201csuch and such a palace in such and such\na place.\u201d\n\nAnd the Demon said, \u201cIt shall be done.\u201d He smote his hands\ntogether, and instantly there came a cloud of mist that covered and\nhid the spot where the palace was to be built. Out from the cloud\nthere came such a banging and hammering and clapping and clattering\nas the people of that town never heard before. Then when evening\nhad come the cloud arose, and there, where the king had pointed\nout, stood a splendid palace as white as snow, with roofs and domes\nof gold and silver. As the king stood looking and wondering at this\nsight, there came five hundred young men riding, and one in the\nmidst of all who wore a golden crown on his head, and upon his body\na long robe stiff with diamonds and pearls. \u201cWe come,\u201d said he,\n\u201cfrom the Tailor of Tailors, and Master of Masters, and One Greater\nthan a King, to ask you to let him have your daughter for his wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cTell him to come!\u201d cried the king, in admiration, \u201cfor the\nprincess is his.\u201d\n\nThe next morning when the Demon came he found the Tailor dancing\nand shouting for joy. \u201cThe princess is mine!\u201d he cried, \u201cso make me\nready for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Demon, and thereupon he began to make\nthe Tailor ready for his wedding. He brought him to a marble bath\nof water, in which he washed away all that was coarse and ugly,\nand from which the little man came forth as beautiful as the sun.\nThen the Demon clad him in the finest linen, and covered him with\nclothes such as even the emperor of India never wore. Then he smote\nhis hands together, and the wall of the tailor-shop opened as it\nhad done twice before, and there came forth forty slaves clad in\ncrimson, and bearing bowls full of money in their hands. After them\ncame two leading a horse as white as snow, with a saddle of gold\nstudded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and sapphires. After\ncame a bodyguard of twenty warriors clad in gold armor. Then the\nTailor mounted his horse and rode away to the king\u2019s palace, and\nas he rode the slaves scattered the money amongst the crowd, who\nscrambled for it and cheered the Tailor to the skies.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThat night the princess and the Tailor were married, and all the\ntown was lit with bonfires and fireworks. The two rode away in the\nmidst of a great crowd of nobles and courtiers to the palace which\nthe Demon had built for the Tailor; and, as the princess gazed upon\nhim, she thought that she had never beheld so noble and handsome a\nman as her husband. So she and the Tailor were the happiest couple\nin the world.\n\nBut the next morning the Demon appeared as he had appeared ever\nsince the Tailor had let him out of the bottle, only now he grinned\ntill his teeth shone and his face turned black. \u201cWhat hast thou\nfor me to do?\u201d said he, and at the words the Tailor\u2019s heart began\nto quake, for he remembered what was to happen to him when he\ncould find the Demon no more work to do--that his neck was to be\nwrung--and now he began to see that he had all that he could ask\nfor in the world. Yes; what was there to ask for now?\n\n\u201cI have nothing more for you to do,\u201d said he to the Demon; \u201cyou\nhave done all that man could ask--you may go now.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo!\u201d cried the Demon, \u201cI shall not go until I have done all that\nI have to do. Give me work, or I shall wring your neck.\u201d And his\nfingers began to twitch.\n\nThen the Tailor began to see into what a net he had fallen. He\nbegan to tremble like one in an ague. He turned his eyes up and\ndown, for he did not know where to look for aid. Suddenly, as he\nlooked out of the window, a thought struck him. \u201cMaybe,\u201d thought\nhe, \u201cI can give, the Demon such a task that even he cannot do it.\u201d\n\u201cYes, yes!\u201d he cried, \u201cI have thought of something for you to do.\nMake me out yonder in front of my palace a lake of water a mile\nlong and a mile wide, and let it be lined throughout with white\nmarble, and filled with water as clear as crystal.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Demon. As he spoke he spat in the air,\nand instantly a thick fog arose from the earth and hid everything\nfrom sight. Then presently from the midst of the fog there came a\ngreat noise of chipping and hammering, of digging and delving, of\nrushing and gurgling. All day the noise and the fog continued, and\nthen at sunset the one ceased and the other cleared away. The poor\nTailor looked out the window, and when he saw what he saw his teeth\nchattered in his head, for there was a lake a mile long and a mile\nbroad, lined within with white marble, and filled with water as\nclear as crystal, and he knew that the Demon would come the next\nmorning for another task to do.\n\nThat night he slept little or none, and when the seventh hour of\nthe morning came the castle began to rock and tremble, and there\nstood the Demon, and his hair bristled and his eyes shone like\nsparks of fire. \u201cWhat hast thou for me to do?\u201d said he, and the\npoor Tailor could do nothing but look at him with a face as white\nas dough.\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou for me to do?\u201d said the Demon again, and then at\nlast the Tailor found his wits and his tongue from sheer terror.\n\u201cLook!\u201d said he, \u201cat the great mountain over yonder; remove it,\nand make in its place a level plain with fields and orchards and\ngardens.\u201d And he thought to himself when he had spoken, \u201cSurely,\neven the Demon cannot do that.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Demon, and, so saying, he stamped his\nheel upon the ground. Instantly the earth began to tremble and\nquake, and there came a great rumbling like the sound of thunder.\nA cloud of darkness gathered in the sky, until at last all was\nas black as the blackest midnight. Then came a roaring and a\ncracking and a crashing, such as man never heard before. All day it\ncontinued, until the time of the setting of the sun, when suddenly\nthe uproar ceased, and the darkness cleared away; and when the\nTailor looked out of the window the mountain was gone, and in its\nplace were fields and orchards and gardens.\n\nIt was very beautiful to see, but when the Tailor beheld it his\nknees began to smite together, and the sweat ran down his face in\nstreams. All that night he walked up and down and up and down, but\nhe could not think of one other task for the Demon to do.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen the next morning came the Demon appeared like a whirlwind. His\nface was as black as ink and smoke, and sparks of fire flew from\nhis nostrils.\n\n\u201cWhat have you for me to do?\u201d cried he.\n\n\u201cI have nothing for you to do!\u201d piped the poor Tailor.\n\n\u201cNothing?\u201d cried the Demon.\n\n\u201cNothing.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen prepare to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d said the Tailor, falling on his knees, \u201clet me first see my\nwife.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said the Demon, and if he had been wiser he would have\nsaid \u201cNo.\u201d\n\nWhen the Tailor came to the princess, he flung himself on his face,\nand began to weep and wail. The princess asked him what was the\nmatter, and at last, by dint of question, got the story from him,\npiece by piece. When she had it all she began laughing. \u201cWhy did\nyou not come to me before?\u201d said she, \u201cinstead of making all this\ntrouble and uproar for nothing at all? I will give the Monster\na task to do.\u201d She plucked a single curling hair from her head.\n\u201cHere,\u201d said she, \u201clet him take this hair and make it straight.\u201d\n\nThe Tailor was full of doubt; nevertheless, as there was nothing\nbetter to do, he took it to the Demon.\n\n\u201cHast thou found me a task to do?\u201d cried the Demon.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Tailor. \u201cIt is only a little thing. Here is a hair\nfrom my wife\u2019s head; take it and make it straight.\u201d\n\nWhen the Demon heard what was the task that the Tailor had set him\nto do he laughed aloud; but that was because he did not know. He\ntook the hair and stroked it between his thumb and finger, and,\nwhen he had done, it curled more than ever. Then he looked serious,\nand slapped it between his palms, and that did not better matters,\nfor it curled as much as ever. Then he frowned, and, began beating\nthe hair with his palm upon his knees, and that only made it worse.\nAll that day he labored and strove at his task trying to make that\none little hair straight, and, when the sun set, there was the\nhair just as crooked as ever. Then, as the great round sun sank\nred behind the trees, the Demon knew that he was beaten. \u201cI am\nconquered! I am conquered!\u201d he howled, and flew away, bellowing so\ndreadfully that all the world trembled.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSo ends the story, with only this to say:\n\n_Where man\u2019s strength fails, woman\u2019s wit prevails._\n\nFor, to my mind, the princess--not to speak of her husband the\nlittle Tailor--did more with a single little hair and her mother\nwit than King Solomon with all his wisdom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cWhose turn is it next to tell us a story?\u201d said Sindbad the\nSailor._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Twas my turn,\u201d said St. George; \u201cbut here be two ladies present,\nand neither hath so much as spoken a word of a story for all this\ntime. If you, madam,\u201d said he to Cinderella, \u201cwill tell us a tale,\nI will gladly give up my turn to you.\u201d_\n\n_The Soldier who cheated the Devil took the pipe out of his mouth\nand puffed away a cloud of smoke. \u201cAye,\u201d said he, \u201calways remember\nthe ladies, say I. That is a soldier\u2019s trade.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cVery well, then; if it is your pleasure,\u201d said Cinderella, \u201cI\nwill tell you a story, and it shall be of a friend of mine and of\nhow she looked after her husband\u2019s luck. She was,\u201d said Cinderella,\n\u201ca princess, and her father was a king.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what is your story about?\u201d said Sindbad the Sailor._\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said Cinderella, \u201cabout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nA Piece _of_ Good Luck.\n\n\nThere were three students who were learning all that they could.\nThe first was named Joseph, the second was named John, and the\nthird was named Jacob Stuck. They studied seven long years under a\nwise master, and in that time they learned all that their master\nhad to teach them of the wonderful things he knew. They learned\nall about geometry, they learned all about algebra, they learned\nall about astronomy, they learned all about the hidden arts, they\nlearned all about everything, except how to mend their own hose and\nwhere to get cabbage to boil in the pot.\n\nAnd now they were to go out into the world to practise what they\nknew. The master called the three students to him--the one named\nJoseph, the second named John, and the third named Jacob Stuck--and\nsaid he to them, said he: \u201cYou have studied faithfully and have\nlearned all that I have been able to teach you, and now you shall\nnot go out into the world with nothing at all. See; here are three\nglass balls, and that is one for each of you. Their like is not to\nbe found in the four corners of the world. Carry the balls wherever\nyou go, and when one of them drops to the ground, dig, and there\nyou will certainly find a treasure.\u201d\n\nSo the three students went out into the wide world.\n\nWell, they travelled on and on for day after day, each carrying his\nglass ball with him wherever he went. They travelled on and on for\nI cannot tell how long, until one day the ball that Joseph carried\nslipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground. \u201cI\u2019ve found a\ntreasure!\u201d cried Joseph, \u201cI\u2019ve found a treasure!\u201d\n\nThe three students fell to work scratching and digging where the\nball had fallen, and by-and-by they found something. It was a\nchest with an iron ring in the lid. It took all three of them to\nhaul it up out of the ground, and when they did so they found it\nwas full to the brim of silver money.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWere they happy? Well, they were happy! They danced around and\naround the chest, for they had never seen so much money in all\ntheir lives before. \u201cBrothers,\u201d said Joseph, in exultation, \u201chere\nis enough for all hands, and it shall be share and share alike with\nus, for haven\u2019t we studied seven long years together?\u201d And so for a\nwhile they were as happy as happy could be.\n\nBut by-and-by a flock of second thoughts began to buzz in the heads\nof John and Jacob Stuck. \u201cWhy,\u201d said they, \u201cas for that, to be\nsure, a chest of silver money is a great thing for three students\nto find who had nothing better than book-learning to help them\nalong; but who knows but that there is something better even than\nsilver money out in the wide world?\u201d So, after all, and in spite of\nthe chest of silver money they had found, the two of them were for\ngoing on to try their fortunes a little farther. And as for Joseph,\nwhy, after all, when he came to think of it, he was not sorry to\nhave his chest of silver money all to himself.\n\nSo the two travelled on and on for a while, here and there and\neverywhere, until at last it was John\u2019s ball that slipped out of\nhis fingers and fell to the ground. They digged where it fell, and\nthis time it was a chest of gold money they found.\n\nYes; a chest of gold money! A chest of real gold money! They just\nstood and stared and stared, for if they had not seen it they\nwould not have believed that such a thing could have been in the\nworld. \u201cWell, Jacob Stuck,\u201d said John, \u201cit was well to travel a bit\nfarther than poor Joseph did, was it not? What is a chest of silver\nmoney to such a treasure as this? Come, brother, here is enough to\nmake us both rich for all the rest of our lives. We need look for\nnothing better than this.\u201d\n\nBut no; by-and-by Jacob Stuck began to cool down again, and now\nthat second thoughts were coming to him he would not even be\nsatisfied with a half-share of a chest of gold money. No; maybe\nthere might be something better than even a chest full of gold\nmoney to be found in the world. As for John, why, after all, he was\njust as well satisfied to keep his treasure for himself. So the two\nshook hands, and then Jacob Stuck jogged away alone, leaving John\nstuffing his pockets and his hat full of gold money, and I should\nhave liked to have been there, to have had my share.\n\nWell, Jacob Stuck jogged on and on by himself, until after a while\nhe came to a great, wide desert, where there was not a blade or a\nstick to be seen far or near. He jogged on and on, and he wished he\nhad not come there. He jogged on and on when all of a sudden the\nglass ball he carried slipped out of his fingers and fell to the\nground.\n\n\u201cAha!\u201d said he to himself, \u201cnow maybe I shall find some great\ntreasure compared to which even silver and gold are as nothing at\nall.\u201d\n\nHe digged down into the barren earth of the desert; and he digged\nand he digged, but neither silver nor gold did he find. He digged\nand digged; and by-and-by, at last, he did find something. And\nwhat was it? Why, nothing but something that looked like a piece\nof blue glass not a bit bigger than my thumb. \u201cIs that all?\u201d said\nJacob Stuck. \u201cAnd have I travelled all this weary way and into the\nblinding desert only for this? Have I passed by silver and gold\nenough to make me rich for all my life, only to find a little piece\nof blue glass?\u201d\n\nJacob Stuck did not know what he had found. I shall tell you what\nit was. It was a solid piece of good luck without flaw or blemish,\nand it was almost the only piece I ever heard tell of. Yes; that\nwas what it was--a solid piece of good luck; and as for Jacob\nStuck, why, he was not the first in the world by many and one over\nwho has failed to know a piece of good luck when they have found\nit. Yes; it looked just like a piece of blue glass no bigger than\nmy thumb, and nothing else.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d said Jacob Stuck. \u201cAnd have I travelled all this\nweary way and into the blinding desert only for this? Have I passed\nby silver and gold enough to make me rich for all my life, only to\nfind a little piece of blue glass?\u201d\n\nHe looked at the bit of glass, and he turned it over and over in\nhis hand. It was covered with dirt. Jacob Stuck blew his breath\nupon it, and rubbed it with his thumb.\n\nCrack! dong! bang! smash!\n\nUpon my word, had a bolt of lightning burst at Jacob Stuck\u2019s feet\nhe could not have been more struck of a heap. For no sooner had he\nrubbed the glass with his thumb than with a noise like a clap of\nthunder there instantly stood before him a great, big man, dressed\nin clothes as red as a flame, and with eyes that shone sparks of\nfire. It was the Genie of Good Luck. It nearly knocked Jacob Stuck\noff his feet to see him there so suddenly.\n\n\u201cWhat will you have?\u201d said the Genie. \u201cI am the slave of good\nluck. Whosoever holds that piece of crystal in his hand him must I\nobey in whatsoever he may command.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you mean that you are my servant and that I am your master?\u201d\nsaid Jacob Stuck.\n\n\u201cYes; command and I obey.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, then,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cI would like you to help me out of\nthis desert place, if you can do so, for it is a poor spot for any\nChristian soul to be.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie, and, before Jacob Stuck knew\nwhat had happened to him, the Genie had seized him and was flying\nwith him through the air swifter than the wind. On and on he flew,\nand the earth seemed to slide away beneath. On and on flew the\nflame-colored Genie until at last he set Jacob down in a great\nmeadow where there was a river. Beyond the river were the white\nwalls and grand houses of the king\u2019s town.\n\n\u201cHast thou any further commands?\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cTell me what you can do for me?\u201d said Jacob Stuck.\n\n\u201cI can do whatsoever thou mayest order me to do,\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cI think first of all I would like\nto have plenty of money to spend.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie, and, as he spoke, he reached\nup into the air and picked out a purse from nothing at all. \u201cHere,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cis the purse of fortune; take from it all that thou\nneedest and yet it will always be full. As long as thou hast it\nthou shalt never be lacking riches.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am very much obliged to you,\u201d said Jacob Stuck. \u201cI\u2019ve learned\ngeometry and algebra and astronomy and the hidden arts, but I never\nheard tell of anything like this before.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nSo Jacob Stuck went into the town with all the money he could\nspend, and such a one is welcome anywhere. He lacked nothing that\nmoney could buy. He bought himself a fine house; he made all the\nfriends he wanted, and more; he lived without a care, and with\nnothing to do but to enjoy himself. That was what a bit of good\nluck did for him.\n\nNow the princess, the daughter of the king of that town, was the\nmost beautiful in all the world, but so proud and haughty that her\nlike was not to be found within the bounds of all the seven rivers.\nSo proud was she and so haughty that she would neither look upon\na young man nor allow any young man to look upon her. She was so\nparticular that whenever she went out to take a ride a herald\nwas sent through the town with a trumpet ordering that every house\nshould be closed and that everybody should stay within doors, so\nthat the princess should run no risk of seeing a young man, or that\nno young man by chance should see her.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne day the herald went through the town blowing his trumpet and\ncalling in a great, loud voice: \u201cClose your doors! Close your\nwindows! Her highness, the princess, comes to ride; let no man look\nupon her on pain of death!\u201d\n\nThereupon everybody began closing their doors and windows, and, as\nit was with the others, so it was with Jacob Stuck\u2019s house; it had,\nlike all the rest, to be shut up as tight as a jug.\n\nBut Jacob Stuck was not satisfied with that; not he. He was for\nseeing the princess, and he was bound he would do so. So he bored\na hole through the door, and when the princess came riding by he\npeeped out at her.\n\nJacob Stuck thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all\nhis life. It was like the sunlight shining in his eyes, and he\nalmost sneezed. Her cheeks were like milk and rose-leaves, and her\nhair like fine threads of gold. She sat in a golden coach with\na golden crown upon her head, and Jacob Stuck stood looking and\nlooking until his heart melted within him like wax in the oven.\nThen the princess was gone, and Jacob Stuck stood there sighing and\nsighing.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! dear!\u201d said he, \u201cwhat shall I do? For, proud as she is,\nI must see her again or else I will die of it.\u201d\n\nAll that day he sat sighing and thinking about the beautiful\nprincess, until the evening had come. Then he suddenly thought of\nhis piece of good luck. He pulled his piece of blue glass out of\nhis pocket and breathed upon it and rubbed it with his thumb, and\ninstantly the Genie was there.\n\nThis time Jacob Stuck was not frightened at all.\n\n\u201cWhat are thy commands, O master?\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cO Genie!\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cI have seen the princess to-day, and\nit seems to me that there is nobody like her in all the world. Tell\nme, could you bring her here so that I might see her again?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Genie, \u201cI could.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen do so,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cand I will have you prepare a\ngrand feast, and have musicians to play beautiful music, for I\nwould have the princess sup with me.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie. As he spoke he smote his\nhands together, and instantly there appeared twenty musicians,\ndressed in cloth of gold and silver. With them they brought\nhautboys and fiddles, big and little, and flageolets and drums and\nhorns, and this and that to make music with. Again the Genie smote\nhis hands together, and instantly there appeared fifty servants\ndressed in silks and satins and spangled with jewels, who began\nto spread a table with fine linen embroidered with gold, and to\nset plates of gold and silver upon it. The Genie smote his hands\ntogether a third time, and in answer there came six servants. They\nled Jacob Stuck into another room, where there was a bath of musk\nand rose-water. They bathed him in the bath and dressed him in\nclothes like an emperor, and when he came out again his face shone,\nand he was as handsome as a picture.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen by-and-by he knew that the princess was coming, for suddenly\nthere was the sound of girls\u2019 voices singing and the twanging of\nstringed instruments. The door flew open, and in came a crowd of\nbeautiful girls, singing and playing music, and after them the\nprincess herself, more beautiful than ever. But the proud princess\nwas frightened! Yes, she was. And well she might be, for the Genie\nhad flown with her through the air from the palace, and that is\nenough to frighten anybody. Jacob Stuck came to her all glittering\nand shining with jewels and gold, and took her by the hand. He led\nher up the hall, and as he did so the musicians struck up and began\nplaying the most beautiful music in the world. Then Jacob Stuck and\nthe princess sat down to supper and began eating and drinking, and\nJacob Stuck talked of all the sweetest things he could think of.\nThousands of wax candles made the palace bright as day, and as the\nprincess looked about her she thought she had never seen anything\nso fine in all the world. After they had eaten their supper and\nended with a dessert of all kinds of fruits and of sweetmeats, the\ndoor opened and there came a beautiful young serving-lad, carrying\na silver tray, upon which was something wrapped in a napkin. He\nkneeled before Jacob Stuck and held the tray, and from the napkin\nJacob Stuck took a necklace of diamonds, each stone as big as a\npigeon\u2019s egg.\n\n\u201cThis is to remind you of me,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cwhen you have\ngone home again.\u201d And as he spoke he hung it around the princess\u2019s\nneck.\n\nJust then the clock struck twelve.\n\nHardly had the last stroke sounded when every light was snuffed\nout, and all was instantly dark and still. Then, before she had\ntime to think, the Genie of Good Luck snatched the princess up once\nmore and flew back to the palace more swiftly than the wind. And,\nbefore the princess knew what had happened to her, there she was.\n\nIt was all so strange that the princess might have thought it was a\ndream, only for the necklace of diamonds, the like of which was not\nto be found in all the world.\n\nThe next morning there was a great buzzing in the palace, you may\nbe sure. The princess told all about how she had been carried away\nduring the night, and had supped in such a splendid palace, and\nwith such a handsome man dressed like an emperor. She showed her\nnecklace of diamonds, and the king and his prime-minister could not\nlook at it or wonder at it enough. The prime-minister and the king\ntalked and talked the matter over together, and every now and then\nthe proud princess put in a word of her own.\n\n\u201cAnybody,\u201d said the prime-minister, \u201ccan see with half an eye that\nit is all magic, or else it is a wonderful piece of good luck. Now,\nI\u2019ll tell you what shall be done,\u201d said he: \u201cthe princess shall\nkeep a piece of chalk by her; and, if she is carried away again in\nsuch a fashion, she shall mark a cross with the piece of chalk on\nthe door of the house to which she is taken. Then we shall find the\nrogue that is playing such a trick, and that quickly enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the king; \u201cthat is very good advice.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do it,\u201d said the princess.\n\nAll that day Jacob Stuck sat thinking and thinking about the\nbeautiful princess. He could not eat a bite, and he could hardly\nwait for the night to come. As soon as it had fallen, he breathed\nupon his piece of glass and rubbed his thumb upon it, and there\nstood the Genie of Good Luck.\n\n\u201cI\u2019d like the princess here again,\u201d said he, \u201cas she was last\nnight, with feasting and drinking, such as we had before.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie.\n\nAnd as it had been the night before, so it was now. The Genie\nbrought the princess, and she and Jacob Stuck feasted together\nuntil nearly midnight. Then, again, the door opened, and the\nbeautiful servant-lad came with the tray and something upon it\ncovered with a napkin. Jacob Stuck unfolded the napkin, and this\ntime it was a cup made of a single ruby, and filled to the brim\nwith gold money. And the wonder of the cup was this: that no matter\nhow much money you took out of it, it was always full. \u201cTake this,\u201d\nsaid Jacob Stuck, \u201cto remind you of me.\u201d Then the clock struck\ntwelve, and instantly all was darkness, and the Genie carried the\nprincess home again.\n\nBut the princess had brought her piece of chalk with her, as the\nprime-minister had advised; and in some way or other she contrived,\neither in coming or going, to mark a cross upon the door of Jacob\nStuck\u2019s house.\n\nBut, clever as she was, the Genie of Good Luck was more clever\nstill. He saw what the princess did; and, as soon as he had\ncarried her home, he went all through the town and marked a cross\nupon every door, great and small, little and big, just as the\nprincess had done upon the door of Jacob Stuck\u2019s house, only upon\nthe prime-minister\u2019s door he put two crosses. The next morning\neverybody was wondering what all the crosses on the house-doors\nmeant, and the king and the prime-minister were no wiser than they\nhad been before.\n\nBut the princess had brought her ruby cup with her, and she and the\nking could not look at it and wonder at it enough.\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the prime-minister; \u201cI tell you it is nothing else in\nthe world but just a piece of good luck--that is all it is. As for\nthe rogue who is playing all these tricks, let the princess keep a\npair of scissors by her, and, if she is carried away again, let her\ncontrive to cut off a lock of his hair from over the young man\u2019s\nright ear. Then to-morrow we will find out who has been trimmed.\u201d\n\nYes, the princess would do that; so, before evening was come, she\ntied a pair of scissors to her belt.\n\nWell, Jacob Stuck could hardly wait for the night to come to summon\nthe Genie of Good Luck. \u201cI want to sup with the princess again,\u201d\nsaid he.\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie of Good Luck; and, as soon as\nhe had made everything ready, away he flew to fetch the princess\nagain.\n\nWell, they feasted and drank, and the music played, and the candles\nwere as bright as day, and beautiful girls sang and danced, and\nJacob Stuck was as happy as a king. But the princess kept her\nscissors by her, and, when Jacob Stuck was not looking, she\ncontrived to snip off a lock of his hair from over his right ear,\nand nobody saw what was done but the Genie of Good Luck.\n\nSo it came towards midnight.\n\nOnce more the door opened, and the beautiful serving-lad came\ninto the room, carrying the tray of silver with something upon it\nwrapped in a napkin. This time Jacob Stuck gave the princess an\nemerald ring for a keepsake, and the wonder of it was that every\nmorning two other rings just like it would drop from it.\n\nThen twelve o\u2019clock sounded, the lights went out, and the Genie\ntook the princess home again.\n\nBut the Genie had seen what the princess had done. As soon as he\nhad taken her safe home, he struck his palms together and summoned\nall his companions. \u201cGo,\u201d said he, \u201cthroughout the town and trim\na lock of hair from over the right ear of every man in the whole\nplace;\u201d and so they did, from the king himself to the beggar-man\nat the gates. As for the prime-minister, the Genie himself trimmed\ntwo locks of hair from him, one from over each of his ears, so that\nthe next morning he looked as shorn as an old sheep. In the morning\nall the town was in a hubbub, and everybody was wondering how all\nthe men came to have their hair clipped as it was. But the princess\nhad brought the lock of Jacob Stuck\u2019s hair away with her wrapped up\nin a piece of paper, and there it was.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAs for the ring Jacob Stuck had given to her, why, the next morning\nthere were three of them, and the king thought he had never heard\ntell of such a wonderful thing.\n\n\u201cI tell you,\u201d said the prime-minister, \u201cthere is nothing in it but\na piece of good luck, and not a grain of virtue. It\u2019s just a piece\nof good luck--that\u2019s all it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter,\u201d said the king; \u201cI never saw the like of it in all my\nlife before. And now, what are we going to do?\u201d\n\nThe prime-minister could think of nothing.\n\nThen the princess spoke up. \u201cYour majesty,\u201d she said, \u201cI can find\nthe young man for you. Just let the herald go through the town and\nproclaim that I will marry the young man to whom this lock of hair\nbelongs, and then we will find him quickly enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d cried the prime-minister; \u201cwill, then, the princess marry a\nman who has nothing better than a little bit of good luck to help\nhim along in the world?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the princess, \u201cI shall if I can find him.\u201d\n\nSo the herald was sent out around the town proclaiming that the\nprincess would marry the man to whose head belonged the lock of\nhair that she had.\n\nA lock of hair! Why, every man had lost a lock of hair! Maybe the\nprincess could fit it on again, and then the fortune of him to whom\nit belonged would be made. All the men in the town crowded up to\nthe king\u2019s palace. But all for no use, for never a one of them was\nfitted with his own hair.\n\nAs for Jacob Stuck, he too had heard what the herald had\nproclaimed. Yes; he too had heard it, and his heart jumped and\nhopped within him like a young lamb in the spring-time. He knew\nwhose hair it was the princess had. Away he went by himself, and\nrubbed up his piece of blue glass, and there stood the Genie.\n\n\u201cWhat are thy commands?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cgoing up to the king\u2019s palace to marry\nthe princess, and I would have a proper escort.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie.\n\nHe smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared a score\nof attendants who took Jacob Stuck, and led him into another room,\nand began clothing him in a suit so magnificent that it dazzled the\neyes to look at it. He smote his hands together again, and out in\nthe court-yard there appeared a troop of horsemen to escort Jacob\nStuck to the palace, and they were all clad in gold-and-silver\narmor. He smote his hands together again, and there appeared\ntwenty-and-one horses--twenty as black as night and one as white as\nmilk, and it twinkled and sparkled all over with gold and jewels,\nand at the head of each horse of the one-and-twenty horses stood a\nslave clad in crimson velvet to hold the bridle. Again he smote his\nhands together, and there appeared in the ante-room twenty handsome\nyoung men, each with a marble bowl filled with gold money, and when\nJacob Stuck came out dressed in his fine clothes there they all\nwere.\n\nJacob Stuck mounted upon the horse as white as milk, the young men\nmounted each upon one of the black horses, the troopers in the\ngold-and-silver armor wheeled their horses, the trumpets blew, and\naway they rode--such a sight as was never seen in that town before,\nwhen they had come out into the streets. The young men with the\nbasins scattered the gold money to the people, and a great crowd\nran scrambling after, and shouted and cheered.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo Jacob Stuck rode up to the king\u2019s palace, and the king himself\ncame out to meet him with the princess hanging on his arm.\n\nAs for the princess, she knew him the moment she laid eyes on him.\nShe came down the steps, and set the lock of hair against his head,\nwhere she had trimmed it off the night before, and it fitted and\nmatched exactly. \u201cThis is the young man,\u201d said she, \u201cand I will\nmarry him, and none other.\u201d\n\nBut the prime-minister whispered and whispered in the king\u2019s ear:\n\u201cI tell you this young man is nobody at all,\u201d said he, \u201cbut just\nsome fellow who has had a little bit of good luck.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the king, \u201cstuff and nonsense! Just look at all the\ngold and jewels and horses and men. What will you do,\u201d said he to\nJacob Stuck, \u201cif I let you marry the princess?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cbuild for her the finest palace that\never was seen in all this world.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the king, \u201cyonder are those sand hills over\nthere. You shall remove them and build your palace there. When it\nis finished you shall marry the princess.\u201d For if he does that,\nthought the king to himself, it is something better than mere good\nluck.\n\n\u201cIt shall,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cbe done by to-morrow morning.\u201d\n\nWell, all that day Jacob Stuck feasted and made merry at the king\u2019s\npalace, and the king wondered when he was going to begin to build\nhis palace. But Jacob Stuck said nothing at all; he just feasted\nand drank and made merry. When night had come, however, it was all\ndifferent. Away he went by himself, and blew his breath upon his\npiece of blue glass, and rubbed it with his thumb. Instantly there\nstood the Genie before him. \u201cWhat wouldst thou have?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI would like,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cto have the sand hills over\nyonder carried away, and a palace built there of white marble and\ngold and silver, such as the world never saw before. And let there\nbe gardens planted there with flowering plants and trees, and let\nthere be fountains and marble walks. And let there be servants and\nattendants in the palace of all sorts and kinds--men and women. And\nlet there be a splendid feast spread for to-morrow morning, for\nthen I am going to marry the princess.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie, and instantly he was gone.\n\nAll night there was from the sand hills a ceaseless sound as of\nthunder--a sound of banging and clapping and hammering and sawing\nand calling and shouting. All that night the sounds continued\nunceasingly, but at daybreak all was still, and when the sun arose\nthere stood the most splendid palace it ever looked down upon;\nshining as white as snow, and blazing with gold and silver. All\naround it were gardens and fountains and orchards. A great highway\nhad been built between it and the king\u2019s palace, and all along the\nhighway a carpet of cloth of gold had been spread for the princess\nto walk upon.\n\nDear! dear! how all the town stared with wonder when they saw such\na splendid palace standing where the day before had been nothing\nbut naked sand hills! The folk flocked in crowds to see it, and all\nthe country about was alive with people coming and going. As for\nthe king, he could not believe his eyes when he saw it. He stood\nwith the princess and looked and looked. Then came Jacob Stuck.\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said he, \u201cam I to marry the princess?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d cried the king in admiration, \u201cyou are!\u201d\n\nSo Jacob Stuck married the princess, and a splendid wedding it was.\nThat was what a little bit of good luck did for him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter the wedding was over, it was time to go home to the grand\nnew palace. Then there came a great troop of horsemen with shining\narmor and with music, sent by the Genie to escort Jacob Stuck and\nthe princess and the king and the prime-minister to Jacob Stuck\u2019s\nnew palace. They rode along over the carpet of gold, and such a\nfine sight was never seen in that land before. As they drew near to\nthe palace a great crowd of servants, clad in silks and satins and\njewels, came out to meet them, singing and dancing and playing on\nharps and lutes. The king and the princess thought that they must\nbe dreaming.\n\n\u201cAll this is yours,\u201d said Jacob Stuck to the princess; and he was\nthat fond of her, he would have given her still more if he could\nhave thought of anything else.\n\nJacob Stuck and the princess, and the king and the prime-minister,\nall went into the palace, and there was a splendid feast spread in\nplates of pure gold and silver, and they all four sat down together.\n\nBut the prime-minister was as sour about it all as a crab-apple.\nAll the time they were feasting he kept whispering and whispering\nin the king\u2019s ear. \u201cIt is all stuff and nonsense,\u201d said he, \u201cfor\nsuch a man as Jacob Stuck to do all this by himself. I tell you, it\nis all a piece of good luck, and not a bit of merit in it.\u201d\n\nHe whispered and whispered, until at last the king up and spoke.\n\u201cTell me, Jacob Stuck,\u201d he said, \u201cwhere do you get all these fine\nthings?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt all comes of a piece of good luck,\u201d said Jacob Stuck.\n\n\u201cThat is what I told you,\u201d said the prime-minister.\n\n\u201cA piece of good luck!\u201d said the king. \u201cWhere did you come across\nsuch a piece of good luck?\u201d\n\n\u201cI found it,\u201d said Jacob Stuck.\n\n\u201cFound it!\u201d said the king; \u201cand have you got it with you now?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I have,\u201d said Jacob Stuck; \u201cI always carry it about with me;\u201d\nand he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out his piece of\nblue crystal.\n\n\u201cThat!\u201d said the king. \u201cWhy, that is nothing but a piece of blue\nglass!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d said Jacob Stuck, \u201cis just what I thought till I found out\nbetter. It is no common piece of glass, I can tell you. You just\nbreathe upon it so, and rub your thumb upon it thus, and instantly\na Genie dressed in red comes to do all that he is bidden. That is\nhow it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like to see it,\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cSo you shall,\u201d said Jacob Stuck; \u201chere it is,\u201d said he; and he\nreached it across the table to the prime-minister to give it to the\nking.\n\nYes, that was what he did; he gave it to the prime-minister to give\nit to the king. The prime-minister had been listening to all that\nhad been said, and he knew what he was about. He took what Jacob\nStuck gave him, and he had never had such a piece of luck come to\nhim before.\n\nAnd did the prime-minister give it to the king, as Jacob Stuck had\nintended? Not a bit of it. No sooner had he got it safe in his\nhand, than he blew his breath upon it and rubbed it with his thumb.\n\nCrack! dong! boom! crash!\n\nThere stood the Genie, like a flash and as red as fire. The\nprincess screamed out and nearly fainted at the sight, and the poor\nking sat trembling like a rabbit.\n\n\u201cWhosoever possesses that piece of blue crystal,\u201d said the Genie,\nin a terrible voice, \u201chim must I obey. What are thy commands?\u201d\n\n\u201cTake this king,\u201d cried the prime-minister, \u201cand take Jacob Stuck,\nand carry them both away into the farthest part of the desert\nwhence the fellow came.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie; and instantly he seized the\nking in one hand and Jacob Stuck in the other, and flew away with\nthem swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth\nseemed to slide away beneath them like a cloud. On and on he flew\nuntil he had come to the farthest part of the desert. There he sat\nthem both down, and it was as pretty a pickle as ever the king or\nJacob Stuck had been in, in all of their lives. Then the Genie flew\nback again whence he had come.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThere sat the poor princess crying and crying, and there sat the\nprime-minister trying to comfort her. \u201cWhy do you cry?\u201d said he;\n\u201cwhy are you afraid of me? I will do you no harm. Listen,\u201d said he;\n\u201cI will use this piece of good luck in a way that Jacob Stuck would\nnever have thought of. I will make myself king. I will, by means of\nit, summon a great army. I will conquer the world, and make myself\nemperor over all the earth. Then I will make you my queen.\u201d\n\nBut the poor princess cried and cried.\n\n\u201cHast thou any further commands?\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cNot now,\u201d said the prime-minister; \u201cyou may go now;\u201d and the Genie\nvanished like a puff of smoke.\n\nBut the princess cried and cried.\n\nThe prime-minister sat down beside her. \u201cWhy do you cry?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cBecause I am afraid of you,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cAnd why are you afraid of me?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cBecause of that piece of blue glass. You will rub it again, and\nthen that great red monster will come again to frighten me.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will rub it no more,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cOh, but you will,\u201d said she; \u201cI know you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cBut I can\u2019t trust you,\u201d said she \u201cas long as you hold it in your\nhand.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I will lay it aside,\u201d said he, and so he did. Yes, he did;\nand he is not the first man who has thrown aside a piece of good\nluck for the sake of a pretty face. \u201cNow are you afraid of me?\u201d\nsaid he.\n\n\u201cNo, I am not,\u201d said she; and she reached out her hand as though to\ngive it to him. But, instead of doing so, she snatched up the piece\nof blue glass as quick as a flash.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said she, \u201cit is my turn;\u201d and then the prime-minister knew\nthat his end had come.\n\nShe blew her breath upon the piece of blue glass and rubbed her\nthumb upon it. Instantly, as with a clap of thunder, the great red\nGenie stood before her, and the poor prime-minister sat shaking and\ntrembling.\n\n\u201cWhosoever hath that piece of blue crystal,\u201d said the Genie, \u201cthat\none must I obey. What are your orders, O princess?\u201d\n\n\u201cTake this man,\u201d cried the princess, \u201cand carry him away into the\ndesert where you took those other two, and bring my father and\nJacob Stuck back again.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie, and instantly he seized\nthe prime-minister, and, in spite of the poor man\u2019s kicks and\nstruggles, snatched him up and flew away with him swifter than the\nwind. On and on he flew until he had come to the farthest part of\nthe desert, and there sat the king and Jacob Stuck still thinking\nabout things. Down he dropped the prime-minister, up he picked\nthe king and Jacob Stuck, and away he flew swifter than the wind.\nOn and on he flew until he had brought the two back to the palace\nagain; and there sat the princess waiting for them, with the piece\nof blue crystal in her hand.\n\n\u201cYou have saved us!\u201d cried the king.\n\n\u201cYou have saved us!\u201d cried Jacob Stuck. \u201cYes, you have saved us,\nand you have my piece of good luck into the bargain. Give it to me\nagain.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will do nothing of the sort,\u201d said the princess. \u201cIf the men\nfolk think no more of a piece of good luck than to hand it round\nlike a bit of broken glass, it is better for the women folk to keep\nit for them.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd there, to my mind, she brewed good common-sense, that needed no\nskimming to make it fit for Jacob Stuck, or for any other man, for\nthe matter of that.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd now for the end of this story. Jacob Stuck lived with his\nprincess in his fine palace as grand as a king, and when the old\nking died he became the king after him.\n\nOne day there came two men travelling along, and they were footsore\nand weary. They stopped at Jacob Stuck\u2019s palace and asked for\nsomething to eat. Jacob Stuck did not know them at first, and then\nhe did. One was Joseph and the other was John.\n\nThis is what had happened to them:\n\nJoseph had sat and sat where John and Jacob Stuck had left him on\nhis box of silver money, until a band of thieves had come along and\nrobbed him of it all. John had carried away his pockets and his hat\nfull of gold, and had lived like a prince as long as it had lasted.\nThen he had gone back for more, but in the meantime some rogue had\ncome along and had stolen it all. Yes; that was what had happened,\nand now they were as poor as ever.\n\nJacob Stuck welcomed them and brought them in and made much of\nthem.\n\nWell, the truth is truth, and this is it: It is better to have a\nlittle bit of good luck to help one in what one undertakes than to\nhave a chest of silver or a chest of gold.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201c_And now for your story, holy knight,\u201d said Fortunatus to St.\nGeorge; \u201cfor \u2019twas your turn, only for this fair lady who came in\nbefore you.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAye, aye,\u201d said the saint; \u201cI suppose it was, in sooth, my turn.\nNe\u2019th\u2019less, it gives me joy to follow so close so fair and lovely\na lady.\u201d And as he spoke he winked one eye at Cinderella, beckoned\ntowards her with his cup of ale, and took a deep draught to her\nhealth. \u201cI shall tell you,\u201d said he, as soon as he had caught his\nbreath again, \u201ca story about an angel and a poor man who travelled\nwith him, and all the wonderful things the poor man saw the angel\ndo.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cThat,\u201d said the Blacksmith who made Death sit in his pear-tree\nuntil the wind whistled through his ribs--\u201cthat, methinks, is a\nbetter thing to tell for a sermon than for a story.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhether or no that be so,\u201d said St. George, \u201cyou shall presently\nhear for yourselves.\u201d_\n\n_He took another deep draught of ale, and then cleared his throat._\n\n_\u201cStop a bit, my friend,\u201d said Ali Baba. \u201cWhat is your story\nabout?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said St. George, \u201cabout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Fruit of Happiness.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a servant who served a wise man, and\ncooked for him his cabbage and his onions and his pot-herbs and his\nbroth, day after day, time in and time out, for seven years.\n\nIn those years the servant was well enough contented, but no one\nlikes to abide in the same place forever, and so one day he took it\ninto his head that he would like to go out into the world to see\nwhat kind of a fortune a man might make there for himself. \u201cVery\nwell,\u201d says the wise man, the servant\u2019s master; \u201cyou have served me\nfaithfully these seven years gone, and now that you ask leave to go\nyou shall go. But it is little or nothing in the way of money that\nI can give you, and so you will have to be content with what I can\nafford. See, here is a little pebble, and its like is not to be\nfound in the seven kingdoms, for whoever holds it in his mouth can\nhear while he does so all that the birds and the beasts say to one\nanother. Take it--it is yours, and, if you use it wisely, it may\nbring you a fortune.\u201d\n\nThe servant would rather have had the money in hand than the magic\npebble, but, as nothing better was to be had, he took the little\nstone, and, bidding his master good-bye, trudged out into the world\nto seek his fortune. Well, he jogged on and on, paying his way with\nthe few pennies he had saved in his seven years of service, but for\nall of his travelling nothing of good happened to him until, one\nmorning, he came to a lonely place where there stood a gallows, and\nthere he sat him down to rest, and it is just in such an unlikely\nplace as this that a man\u2019s best chance of fortune comes to him\nsometimes.\n\nAs the servant sat there, there came two ravens flying, and lit\nupon the cross-beam overhead. There they began talking to one\nanother, and the servant popped the pebble into his mouth to hear\nwhat they might say.\n\n_\u201cYonder is a traveller in the world,\u201d said the first raven._\n\n_\u201cYes,\u201d said the second, \u201cand if he only knew how to set about it,\nhis fortune is as good as made.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cHow is that so?\u201d said the first raven._\n\n_\u201cWhy, thus,\u201d said the second. \u201cIf he only knew enough to follow\nyonder road over the hill, he would come by-and-by to a stone cross\nwhere two roads meet, and there he would find a man sitting. If he\nwould ask it of him, that man would lead him to the garden where\nthe fruit of happiness grows.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cThe fruit of happiness!\u201d said the first raven, \u201cand of what use\nwould the fruit of happiness be to him?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhat use? I tell you, friend, there is no fruit in the world\nlike that, for one has only to hold it in one\u2019s hand and wish, and\nwhatever one asks for one shall have.\u201d_\n\nYou may guess that when the servant understood the talk of the\nravens he was not slow in making use of what he heard. Up he\nscrambled, and away he went as fast as his legs could carry him.\nOn and on he travelled, until he came to the cross-roads and the\nstone cross of which the raven spoke, and there, sure enough, sat\nthe traveller. He was clad in a weather-stained coat, and he wore\ndusty boots, and the servant bade him good-morning.\n\nHow should the servant know that it was an angel whom he beheld,\nand not a common wayfarer?\n\n\u201cWhither away, comrade,\u201d asked the traveller.\n\n\u201cOut in the world,\u201d said the servant, \u201cto seek my fortune. And what\nI want to know is this--will you guide me to where I can find the\nfruit of happiness?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou ask a great thing of me,\u201d said the other; \u201cnevertheless, since\nyou do ask it, it is not for me to refuse, though I may tell you\nthat many a man has sought for that fruit, and few indeed have\nfound it. But if I guide you to the garden where the fruit grows,\nthere is one condition you must fulfil: many strange things will\nhappen upon our journey between here and there, but concerning all\nyou see you must ask not a question and say not a word. Do you\nagree to that?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the servant, \u201cI do.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said his new comrade; \u201cthen let us be jogging, for I\nhave business in the town to-night, and the time is none too long\nto get there.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo all the rest of that day they journeyed onward together, until,\ntowards evening, they came to a town with high towers and steep\nroofs and tall spires. The servant\u2019s companion entered the gate as\nthough he knew the place right well, and led the way up one street\nand down another, until, by-and-by, they came to a noble house\nthat stood a little apart by itself, with gardens of flowers and\nfruit-trees all around it. There the travelling companion stopped,\nand, drawing out a little pipe from under his jacket, began playing\nso sweetly upon it that it made one\u2019s heart stand still to listen\nto the music.\n\nWell, he played and played until, by-and-by, the door opened, and\nout came a serving-man. \u201cHo, piper!\u201d said he, \u201cwould you like to\nearn good wages for your playing?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the travelling companion, \u201cI would, for that is why I\ncame hither.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen follow me,\u201d said the servant, and thereupon the travelling\ncompanion tucked away his pipe and entered, with the other at his\nheels.\n\nThe house-servant led the way from one room to another, each\ngrander than the one they left behind, until at last he came to a\ngreat hall where dozens of servants were serving a fine feast. But\nonly one man sat at table--a young man with a face so sorrowful\nthat it made a body\u2019s heart ache to look upon him. \u201cCan you play\ngood music, piper?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the piper, \u201cthat I can, for I know a tune that can cure\nsorrow. But before I blow my pipe I and my friend here must have\nsomething to eat and drink, for one cannot play well with an empty\nstomach.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said the young man; \u201csit down with me and eat and\ndrink.\u201d\n\nSo the two did without second bidding, and such food and drink\nthe serving-man had never tasted in his life before. And while\nthey were feasting together the young man told them his story, and\nwhy it was he was so sad. A year before he had married a young\nlady, the most beautiful in all that kingdom, and had friends and\ncomrades and all things that a man could desire in the world.\nBut suddenly everything went wrong; his wife and he fell out and\nquarrelled until there was no living together, and she had to go\nback to her old home. Then his companions deserted him, and now he\nlived all alone.\n\n\u201cYours is a hard case,\u201d said the travelling companion, \u201cbut it is\nnot past curing.\u201d Thereupon he drew out his pipes and began to\nplay, and it was such a tune as no man ever listened to before.\nHe played and he played, and, after a while, one after another of\nthose who listened to him began to get drowsy. First they winked,\nthen they shut their eyes, and then they nodded until all were\nas dumb as logs, and as sound asleep as though they would never\nwaken again. Only the servant and the piper stayed awake, for the\nmusic did not make them drowsy as it did the rest. Then, when all\nbut they two were tight and fast asleep, the travelling companion\narose, tucked away his pipe, and, stepping up to the young man,\ntook from off his finger a splendid ruby ring, as red as blood and\nas bright as fire, and popped the same into his pocket. And all\nthe while the serving-man stood gaping like a fish to see what his\ncomrade was about. \u201cCome,\u201d said the travelling companion, \u201cit is\ntime we were going,\u201d and off they went, shutting the door behind\nthem.\n\nAs for the serving-man, though he remembered his promise and said\nnothing concerning what he had beheld, his wits buzzed in his head\nlike a hive of bees, for he thought that of all the ugly tricks\nhe had seen, none was more ugly than this--to bewitch the poor\nsorrowful young man into a sleep, and then to rob him of his ruby\nring after he had fed them so well and had treated them so kindly.\n\nBut the next day they jogged on together again until by-and-by they\ncame to a great forest. There they wandered up and down till night\ncame upon them and found them still stumbling onward through the\ndarkness, while the poor serving-man\u2019s flesh quaked to hear the\nwild beasts and the wolves growling and howling around them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut all the while the angel--his travelling companion--said never\na word; he seemed to doubt nothing nor fear nothing, but trudged\nstraight ahead until, by-and-by, they saw a light twinkling far\naway, and, when they came to it, they found a gloomy stone house,\nas ugly as eyes ever looked upon. Up stepped the servant\u2019s comrade\nand knocked upon the door--rap! tap! tap! By-and-by it was opened\na crack, and there stood an ugly old woman, blear-eyed and crooked\nand gnarled as a winter twig. But the heart within her was good\nfor all that. \u201cAlas, poor folk!\u201d she cried, \u201cwhy do you come here?\nThis is a den where lives a band of wicked thieves. Every day\nthey go out to rob and murder poor travellers like yourselves.\nBy-and-by they will come back, and when they find you here they\nwill certainly kill you.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo matter for that,\u201d said the travelling companion; \u201cwe can go no\nfarther to-night, so you must let us in and hide us as best you\nmay.\u201d\n\nAnd in he went, as he said, with the servant at his heels trembling\nlike a leaf at what he had heard. The old woman gave them some\nbread and meat to eat, and then hid them away in the great empty\nmeal-chest in the corner, and there they lay as still as mice.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBy-and-by in came the gang of thieves with a great noise and\nuproar, and down they sat to their supper. The poor servant lay in\nthe chest listening to all they said of the dreadful things they\nhad done that day--how they had cruelly robbed and murdered poor\npeople. Every word that they said he heard, and he trembled until\nhis teeth chattered in his head. But all the same the robbers knew\nnothing of the two being there, and there they lay until near the\ndawning of the day. Then the travelling companion bade the servant\nbe stirring, and up they got, and out of the chest they came, and\nfound all the robbers sound asleep and snoring so that the dust\nflew.\n\n\u201cStop a bit,\u201d said the angel--the travelling companion--\u201cwe must\npay them for our lodging.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke he drew from his pocket the ruby ring which he had\nstolen from the sorrowful young man\u2019s finger, and dropped it into\nthe cup from which the robber captain drank. Then he led the way\nout of the house, and, if the serving-man had wondered the day\nbefore at that which his comrade did, he wondered ten times more to\nsee him give so beautiful a ring to such wicked and bloody thieves.\n\nThe third evening of their journey the two travellers came to\na little hut, neat enough, but as poor as poverty, and there\nthe comrade knocked upon the door and asked for lodging. In the\nhouse lived a poor man and his wife; and, though the two were as\nhonest as the palm of your hand, and as good and kind as rain in\nspring-time, they could hardly scrape enough of a living to keep\nbody and soul together. Nevertheless, they made the travellers\nwelcome, and set before them the very best that was to be had in\nthe house; and, after both had eaten and drunk, they showed them to\nbed in a corner as clean as snow, and there they slept the night\nthrough.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut the next morning, before the dawning of the day, the travelling\ncompanion was stirring again. \u201cCome,\u201d said he; \u201crouse yourself, for\nI have a bit of work to do before I leave this place.\u201d\n\nAnd strange work it was! When they had come outside of the house,\nhe gathered together a great heap of straw and sticks of wood, and\nstuffed all under the corner of the house. Then he struck a light\nand set fire to it, and, as the two walked away through the gray\ndawn, all was a red blaze behind them.\n\nStill, the servant remembered his promise to his travelling\ncomrade, and said never a word or asked never a question, though\nall that day he walked on the other side of the road, and would\nhave nothing to say or to do with the other. But never a whit did\nhis comrade seem to think of or to care for that. On they jogged,\nand, by the time evening was at hand, they had come to a neat\ncottage with apple and pear trees around it, all as pleasant as the\neye could desire to see. In this cottage lived a widow and her only\nson, and they also made the travellers welcome, and set before\nthem a good supper and showed them to a clean bed.\n\nThis time the travelling comrade did neither good nor ill to those\nof the house, but in the morning he told the widow whither they\nwere going, and asked if she and her son knew the way to the garden\nwhere grew the fruit of happiness.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said she, \u201cthat we do, for the garden is not a day\u2019s journey\nfrom here, and my son himself shall go with you to show you the\nway.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is good,\u201d said the servant\u2019s comrade, \u201cand if he will do so I\nwill pay him well for his trouble.\u201d\n\nSo the young man put on his hat, and took up his stick, and off\nwent the three, up hill and down dale, until by-and-by they came\nover the top of the last hill, and there below them lay the garden.\n\nAnd what a sight it was, with the leaves shining and glistening\nlike so many jewels in the sunlight! I only wish that I could tell\nyou how beautiful that garden was. And in the middle of it grew a\ngolden tree, and on it golden fruit. The servant, who had travelled\nso long and so far, could see it plainly from where he stood, and\nhe did not need to be told that it was the fruit of happiness. But,\nafter all, all he could do was to stand and look, for in front of\nthem was a great raging torrent, without a bridge for a body to\ncross over.\n\n\u201cYonder is what you seek,\u201d said the young man, pointing with his\nfinger, \u201cand there you can see for yourself the fruit of happiness.\u201d\n\nThe travelling companion said never a word, good or bad, but,\nsuddenly catching the widow\u2019s son by the collar, he lifted him and\nflung him into the black, rushing water. Splash! went the young\nman, and then away he went whirling over rocks and water-falls.\n\u201cThere!\u201d cried the comrade, \u201cthat is your reward for your service!\u201d\n\nWhen the servant saw this cruel, wicked deed, he found his tongue\nat last, and all that he had bottled up for the seven days came\nfrothing out of him like hot beer. Such abuse as he showered upon\nhis travelling companion no man ever listened to before. But to\nall the servant said the other answered never a word until he had\nstopped for sheer want of breath. Then--\n\n\u201cPoor fool,\u201d said the travelling companion, \u201cif you had only held\nyour tongue a minute longer, you, too, would have had the fruit of\nhappiness in your hand. Now it will be many a day before you have a\nsight of it again.\u201d\n\nThereupon, as he ended speaking, he struck his staff upon the\nground. Instantly the earth trembled, and the sky darkened\noverhead until it grew as black as night. Then came a great flash\nof fire from up in the sky, which wrapped the travelling companion\nabout until he was hidden from sight. Then the flaming fire flew\naway to heaven again, carrying him along with it. After that the\nsky cleared once more, and, lo and behold! the garden and the\ntorrent and all were gone, and nothing was left but a naked plain\ncovered over with the bones of those who had come that way before,\nseeking the fruit which the travelling servant had sought.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIt was a long time before the servant found his way back into the\nworld again, and the first house he came to, weak and hungry, was\nthe widow\u2019s.\n\nBut what a change he beheld! It was a poor cottage no longer, but a\nsplendid palace, fit for a queen to dwell in. The widow herself met\nhim at the door, and she was dressed in clothes fit for a queen to\nwear, shining with gold and silver and precious stones.\n\nThe servant stood and stared like one bereft of wits. \u201cHow comes\nall this change?\u201d said he, \u201cand how did you get all these grand\nthings?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d said the widow woman, \u201chas just been to the garden, and\nhas brought home from there the fruit of happiness. Many a day did\nwe search, but never could we find how to enter into the garden,\nuntil, the other day, an angel came and showed the way to my son,\nand he was able not only to gather of the fruit for himself, but to\nbring an apple for me also.\u201d\n\nThen the poor travelling servant began to thump his head. He saw\nwell enough through the millstone now, and that he, too, might have\nhad one of the fruit if he had but held his tongue a little longer.\n\nYes, he saw what a fool he had made of himself, when he learned\nthat it was an angel with whom he had been travelling the five days\ngone.\n\nBut, then, we are all of us like the servant for the matter of\nthat; I, too, have travelled with an angel many a day, I dare say,\nand never knew it.\n\nThat night the servant lodged with the widow and her son, and the\nnext day he started back home again upon the way he had travelled\nbefore. By evening he had reached the place where the house of the\npoor couple stood--the house that he had seen the angel set fire\nto. There he beheld masons and carpenters hard at work hacking and\nhewing, and building a fine new house. And there he saw the poor\nman himself standing by giving them orders. \u201cHow is this,\u201d said\nthe travelling servant; \u201cI thought that your house was burned\ndown?\u201d\n\n\u201cSo it was, and that is how I came to be rich now,\u201d said the\none-time poor man. \u201cI and my wife had lived in our old house for\nmany a long day, and never knew that a great treasure of silver\nand gold was hidden beneath it, until a few days ago there came\nan angel and burned it down over our heads, and in the morning we\nfound the treasure. So now we are rich for as long as we may live.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the poor servant jogged along on his homeward\nway more sad and downcast than ever, and by evening he had come\nto the robbers\u2019 den in the thick woods, and there the old woman\ncame running to the door to meet him. \u201cCome in!\u201d cried she; \u201ccome\nin and welcome! The robbers are all dead and gone now, and I use\nthe treasure that they left behind to entertain poor travellers\nlike yourself. The other day there came an angel hither, and with\nhim he brought the ring of discord that breeds spite and rage and\nquarrelling. He gave it to the captain of the band, and after he\nhad gone the robbers fought for it with one another until they were\nall killed. So now the world is rid of them, and travellers can\ncome and go as they please.\u201d\n\nBack jogged the travelling servant, and the next day came to the\ntown and to the house of the sorrowful young man. There, lo and\nbehold! instead of being dark and silent, as it was before, all\nwas ablaze with light and noisy with the sound of rejoicing and\nmerriment. There happened to be one of the household standing at\nthe door, and he knew the servant as the companion of that one who\nhad stolen the ruby ring. Up he came and laid hold of the servant\nby the collar, calling to his companions that he had caught one of\nthe thieves. Into the house they hauled the poor servant, and into\nthe same room where he had been before, and there sat the young man\nat a grand feast, with his wife and all his friends around him.\nBut when the young man saw the poor serving-man he came to him and\ntook him by the hand, and set him beside himself at the table.\n\u201cNobody except your comrade could be so welcome as you,\u201d said he,\n\u201cand this is why. An enemy of mine one time gave me a ruby ring,\nand, though I knew nothing of it, it was the ring of discord that\nbred strife wherever it came. So, as soon as it was brought into\nthe house, my wife and all my friends fell out with me, and we\nquarrelled so that they all left me. But, though I knew it not at\nthat time, your comrade was an angel, and took the ring away with\nhim, and now I am as happy as I was sorrowful before.\u201d\n\nBy the next night the servant had come back to his home again. Rap!\ntap! tap! he knocked at the door, and the wise man who had been his\nmaster opened to him. \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI want to take service with you again,\u201d said the travelling\nservant.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the wise man; \u201ccome in and shut the door.\u201d\n\nAnd for all I know the travelling servant is there to this day. For\nhe is not the only one in the world who has come in sight of the\nfruit of happiness, and then jogged all the way back home again to\ncook cabbage and onions and pot-herbs, and to make broth for wiser\nmen than himself to sup.\n\nThat is the end of this story.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cI like your story, holy sir,\u201d said the Blacksmith who made Death\nsit in a pear-tree. \u201cNe\u2019th\u2019less, it hath indeed somewhat the smack\nof a sermon, after all. Methinks I am like my friend yonder,\u201d and\nhe pointed with his thumb towards Fortunatus; \u201cI like to hear a\nstory about treasures of silver and gold, and about kings and\nprinces--a story that turneth out well in the end, with everybody\nhappy, and the man himself married in luck, rather than one that\nturneth out awry, even if it hath an angel in it.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWell, well,\u201d said St. George, testily, \u201cone cannot please\neverybody. But as for being a sermon, why, certes, my story was not\nthat--and even if it were, it would not have hurt thee, sirrah.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cNo offence,\u201d said the Blacksmith; \u201cI meant not to speak ill of\nyour story. Come, come, sir, will you not take a pot of ale with\nme?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhy,\u201d said St. George, somewhat mollified, \u201cfor the matter of\nthat, I would as lief as not.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cI liked the story well enough,\u201d piped up the little Tailor who\nhad killed seven flies at a blow. \u201c\u2019Twas a good enough story of its\nsort, but why does nobody tell a tale of good big giants, and of\nwild boars, and of unicorns, such as I killed in my adventures you\nwot of?\u201d_\n\n_Old Ali Baba had been sitting with his hands folded and his eyes\nclosed. Now he opened them and looked at the little Tailor. \u201cI know\na story,\u201d said he, \u201cabout a Genie who was as big as a giant, and\nsix times as powerful. And besides that,\u201d he added, \u201cthe story is\nall about treasures of gold, and palaces, and kings, and emperors,\nand what not, and about a cave such as that in which I myself found\nthe treasure of the forty thieves.\u201d_\n\n_The Blacksmith who made Death sit in the pear-tree clattered the\nbottom of his canican against the table. \u201cAye, aye,\u201d said he, \u201cthat\nis the sort of story for me. Come, friend, let us have it.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cStop a bit,\u201d said Fortunatus; \u201cwhat is this story mostly about?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said Ali Baba, \u201cabout two men betwixt whom there was--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nNot a Pin to Choose.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in a country in the far East, a merchant was\ntravelling towards the city with three horses loaded with rich\ngoods, and a purse containing a hundred pieces of gold money.\nThe day was very hot, and the road dusty and dry, so that,\nby-and-by, when he reached a spot where a cool, clear spring of\nwater came bubbling out from under a rock beneath the shade of\na wide-spreading wayside tree, he was glad enough to stop and\nrefresh himself with a draught of the clear coolness and rest\nawhile. But while he stooped to drink at the fountain the purse of\ngold fell from his girdle into the tall grass, and he, not seeing\nit, let it lie there, and went his way.\n\nNow it chanced that two fagot-makers--the elder by name Ali, the\nyounger Abdallah--who had been in the woods all day chopping\nfagots, came also travelling the same way, and stopped at the same\nfountain to drink. There the younger of the two spied the purse\nlying in the grass, and picked it up. But when he opened it and\nfound it full of gold money, he was like one bereft of wits; he\nflung his arms, he danced, he shouted, he laughed, he acted like\na madman; for never had he seen so much wealth in all of his life\nbefore--a hundred pieces of gold money!\n\nNow the older of the two was by nature a merry wag, and though he\nhad never had the chance to taste of pleasure, he thought that\nnothing in the world could be better worth spending money for than\nwine and music and dancing. So, when the evening had come, he\nproposed that they two should go and squander it all at the Inn.\nBut the younger fellow--Abdallah--was by nature just as thrifty as\nthe other was spendthrift, and would not consent to waste what he\nhad found. Nevertheless he was generous and open-hearted, and\ngrudged his friend nothing; so, though he did not care for a wild\nlife himself, he gave Ali a piece of gold to spend as he chose.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBy morning every copper of what had been given to the elder\nfagot-maker was gone, and he had never had such a good time in\nhis life before. All that day and for a week the head of Ali was\nso full of the memory of the merry night that he had enjoyed that\nhe could think of nothing else. At last, one evening, he asked\nAbdallah for another piece of gold, and Abdallah gave it to him,\nand by the next morning it had vanished in the same way that the\nother had flown. By-and-by Ali borrowed a third piece of money, and\nthen a fourth and then a fifth, so that by the time that six months\nhad passed and gone he had spent thirty of the hundred pieces that\nhad been found, and in all that time Abdallah had used not so much\nas a pistareen.\n\nBut when Ali came for the thirty-and-first loan, Abdallah refused\nto let him have any more money. It was in vain that the elder\nbegged and implored--the younger abided by what he had said.\n\nThen Ali began to put on a threatening front. \u201cYou will not let me\nhave the money?\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cNo, I will not.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will not?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you shall!\u201d cried Ali; and, so saying, caught the younger\nfagot-maker by the throat, and began shaking him and shouting\n\u201cHelp! Help! I am robbed! I am robbed!\u201d He made such an uproar that\nhalf a hundred men, women, and children were gathered around them\nin less than a minute. \u201cHere is ingratitude for you!\u201d cried Ali.\n\u201cHere is wickedness and thievery! Look at this wretch, all good\nmen, and then turn away your eyes! For twelve years have I lived\nwith this young man as a father might live with a son, and now how\ndoes he repay me? He has stolen all that I have in the world--a\npurse of seventy sequins of gold.\u201d\n\nAll this while poor Abdallah had been so amazed that he could do\nnothing but stand and stare like one stricken dumb; whereupon all\nthe people, thinking him guilty, dragged him off to the judge,\nreviling him and heaping words of abuse upon him.\n\nNow the judge of that town was known far and near as the \u201cWise\nJudge;\u201d but never had he had such a knotty question as this brought\nup before him, for by this time Abdallah had found his speech, and\nswore with a great outcry that the money belonged to him.\n\nBut at last a gleam of light came to the Wise Judge in his\nperplexity. \u201cCan any one tell me,\u201d said he, \u201cwhich of these fellows\nhas had money of late, and which has had none?\u201d\n\nHis question was one easily enough answered; a score of people were\nthere to testify that the elder of the two had been living well\nand spending money freely for six months and more, and a score\nwere also there to swear that Abdallah had lived all the while in\npenury. \u201cThen that decides the matter,\u201d said the Wise Judge. \u201cThe\nmoney belongs to the elder fagot-maker.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut listen, oh my lord judge!\u201d cried Abdallah. \u201cAll that this man\nhas spent I have given to him--I, who found the money. Yes, my\nlord, I have given it to him, and myself have spent not so much as\na single mite.\u201d\n\nAll who were present shouted with laughter at Abdallah\u2019s speech,\nfor who would believe that any one would be so generous as to spend\nall upon another and none upon himself?\n\nSo poor Abdallah was beaten with rods until he confessed where he\nhad hidden his money; then the Wise Judge handed fifty sequins to\nAli and kept twenty himself for his decision, and all went their\nway praising his justice and judgment.\n\nThat is to say, all but poor Abdallah; he went to his home weeping\nand wailing, and with every one pointing the finger of scorn at\nhim. He was just as poor as ever, and his back was sore with the\nbeating that he had suffered. All that night he continued to weep\nand wail, and when the morning had come he was weeping and wailing\nstill.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNow it chanced that a wise man passed that way, and, hearing his\nlamentation, stopped to inquire the cause of his trouble. Abdallah\ntold the other of his sorrow, and the wise man listened, smiling,\ntill he was done, and then he laughed outright. \u201cMy son,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cif every one in your case should shed tears as abundantly as\nyou have done, the world would have been drowned in salt water by\nthis time. As for your friend, think not ill of him; no man loveth\nanother who is always giving.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d said the young fagot-maker, \u201cI believe not a word of what\nyou say. Had I been in his place I would have been grateful for the\nbenefits, and not have hated the giver.\u201d\n\nBut the wise man only laughed louder than ever. \u201cMaybe you will\nhave the chance to prove what you say some day,\u201d said he, and went\nhis way, still shaking with his merriment.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_\u201cAll this,\u201d said Ali Baba, \u201cis only the beginning of my story;\nand now if the damsel will fill up my pot of ale, I will begin in\nearnest and tell about the cave of the Genie.\u201d_\n\n_He watched Little Brown Betty until she had filled his mug, and\nthe froth ran over the top. Then he took a deep draught and began\nagain._\n\n * * * * *\n\nThough Abdallah had affirmed that he did not believe what the wise\nman had said, nevertheless the words of the other were a comfort,\nfor it makes one feel easier in trouble to be told that others have\nbeen in a like case with one\u2019s self.\n\nSo, by-and-by, Abdallah plucked up some spirit, and, saddling his\nass and shouldering his axe, started off to the woods for a bundle\nof fagots.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMisfortunes, they say, never come singly, and so it seemed to be\nwith the fagot-maker that day; for that happened that had never\nhappened to him before--he lost his way in the woods. On he went,\ndeeper and deeper into the thickets, driving his ass before him,\nbewailing himself and rapping his head with his knuckles. But all\nhis sorrowing helped him nothing, and by the time that night fell\nhe found himself deep in the midst of a great forest full of wild\nbeasts, the very thought of which curdled his blood. He had had\nnothing to eat all day long, and now the only resting-place left\nhim was the branches of some tree. So, unsaddling his ass and\nleaving it to shift for itself, he climbed to and roosted himself\nin the crotch of a great limb.\n\nIn spite of his hunger he presently fell asleep, for trouble breeds\nweariness as it breeds grief.\n\nAbout the dawning of the day he was awakened by the sound of voices\nand the glaring of lights. He craned his neck and looked down, and\nthere he saw a sight that filled him with amazement: three old men\nriding each upon a milk-white horse and each bearing a lighted\ntorch in his hand, to light the way through the dark forest.\n\nWhen they had come just below where Abdallah sat, they dismounted\nand fastened their several horses to as many trees. Then he who\nrode first of the three, and who wore a red cap and who seemed to\nbe the chief of them, walked solemnly up to a great rock that stood\nin the hill-side, and, breaking a switch from a shrub that grew in\na cleft, struck the face of the stone, crying in a loud voice, \u201cI\ncommand thee to open, in the name of the red Aldebaran!\u201d\n\nInstantly, creaking and groaning, the face of the rock opened like\na door, gaping blackly. Then, one after another, the three old men\nentered, and nothing was left but the dull light of their torches,\nshining on the walls of the passage-way.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhat happened inside the cavern the fagot-maker could neither see\nnor hear, but minute after minute passed while he sat as in a maze\nat all that had happened. Then presently he heard a deep thundering\nvoice and a voice as of one of the old men in answer. Then there\ncame a sound swelling louder and louder, as though a great crowd of\npeople were gathering together, and with the voices came the noise\nof the neighing of horses and the trampling of hoofs. Then at last\nthere came pouring from out the rock a great crowd of horses laden\nwith bales and bundles of rich stuffs and chests and caskets of\ngold and silver and jewels, and each horse was led by a slave clad\nin a dress of cloth-of-gold, sparkling and glistening with precious\ngems. When all these had come out from the cavern, other horses\nfollowed, upon each of which sat a beautiful damsel, more lovely\nthan the fancy of man could picture. Beside the damsels marched\na guard, each man clad in silver armor, and each bearing a drawn\nsword that flashed in the brightening day more keenly than the\nlightning. So they all came pouring forth from the cavern until it\nseemed as though the whole woods below were filled with the wealth\nand the beauty of King Solomon\u2019s day--and then, last of all, came\nthe three old men.\n\n\u201cIn the name of the red Aldebaran,\u201d said he who had bidden the\nrock to open, \u201cI command thee to become closed.\u201d Again, creaking\nand groaning, the rock shut as it had opened--like a door--and the\nthree old men, mounting their horses, led the way from the woods,\nthe others following. The noise and confusion of the many voices\nshouting and calling, the trample and stamp of horses, grew fainter\nand fainter, until at last all was once more hushed and still, and\nonly the fagot-maker was left behind, still staring like one dumb\nand bereft of wits.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut so soon as he was quite sure that all were really gone, he\nclambered down as quickly as might be. He waited for a while to\nmake doubly sure that no one was left behind, and then he walked\nstraight up to the rock, just as he had seen the old man do. He\nplucked a switch from the bush, just as he had seen the old man\npluck one, and struck the stone, just as the old man had struck\nit. \u201cI command thee to open,\u201d said he, \u201cin the name of the red\nAldebaran!\u201d\n\nInstantly, as it had done in answer to the old man\u2019s command, there\ncame a creaking and a groaning, and the rock slowly opened like a\ndoor, and there was the passageway yawning before him. For a moment\nor two the fagot-maker hesitated to enter; but all was as still as\ndeath, and finally he plucked up courage and went within.\n\nBy this time the day was brightening and the sun rising, and\nby the gray light the fagot-maker could see about him pretty\nclearly. Not a sign was to be seen of horses or of treasure or\nof people--nothing but a square block of marble, and upon it a\nblack casket, and upon that again a gold ring, in which was set a\nblood-red stone. Beyond these things there was nothing; the walls\nwere bare, the roof was bare, the floor was bare--all was bare and\nnaked stone.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the wood-chopper, \u201cas the old men have taken\neverything else, I might as well take these things. The ring is\ncertainly worth something, and maybe I shall be able to sell the\ncasket for a trifle into the bargain.\u201d So he slipped the ring upon\nhis finger, and, taking up the casket, left the place. \u201cI command\nthee to be closed,\u201d said he, \u201cin the name of the red Aldebaran!\u201d\nAnd thereupon the door closed, creaking and groaning.\n\nAfter a little while he found his ass, saddled it and bridled it,\nand loaded it with the bundle of fagots that he had chopped the day\nbefore, and then set off again to try to find his way out of the\nthick woods. But still his luck was against him, and the farther\nhe wandered the deeper he found himself in the thickets. In the\nmeantime he was like to die of hunger, for he had not had a bite\nto eat for more than a whole day.\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d said he to himself, \u201cthere may be something in the\ncasket to stay my stomach;\u201d and, so saying, he sat him down,\nunlocked the casket, and raised the lid.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSuch a yell as the poor wretch uttered ears never heard before.\nOver he rolled upon his back and there lay staring with wide eyes,\nand away scampered the jackass, kicking up his heels and braying so\nthat the leaves of the trees trembled and shook. For no sooner had\nhe lifted the lid than out leaped a great hideous Genie, as black\nas a coal, with one fiery-red eye in the middle of his forehead\nthat glared and rolled most horribly, and with his hands and feet\nset with claws, sharp and hooked like the talons of a hawk. Poor\nAbdallah the fagot-maker lay upon his back staring at the monster\nwith a face as white as wax.\n\n\u201cWhat are thy commands?\u201d said the Genie in a terrible voice, that\nrumbled like the sound of thunder.\n\n\u201cI--I do not know,\u201d said Abdallah, trembling and shaking as with an\nague. \u201cI--I have forgotten.\u201d\n\n\u201cAsk what thou wilt,\u201d said the Genie, \u201cfor I must ever obey\nwhomsoever hast the ring that thou wearest upon thy finger. Hath my\nlord nothing to command wherein I may serve him?\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAbdallah shook his head. \u201cNo,\u201d said he, \u201cthere is\nnothing--unless--unless you will bring me something to eat.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie. \u201cWhat will my lord be pleased\nto have?\u201d\n\n\u201cJust a little bread and cheese,\u201d said Abdallah.\n\nThe Genie waved his hand, and in an instant a fine damask napkin\nlay spread upon the ground, and upon it a loaf of bread as white as\nsnow and a piece of cheese such as the king would have been glad to\ntaste. But Abdallah could do nothing but sit staring at the Genie,\nfor the sight of the monster quite took away his appetite.\n\n\u201cWhat more can I do to serve thee?\u201d asked the Genie.\n\n\u201cI think,\u201d said Abdallah, \u201cthat I could eat more comfortably if you\nwere away.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie. \u201cWhither shall I go? Shall I\nenter the casket again?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the fagot-maker; \u201chow did you come to be\nthere?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a great Genie,\u201d answered the monster, \u201cand was conjured\nthither by the great King Solomon, whose seal it is that thou\nwearest upon thy finger. For a certain fault that I committed I\nwas confined in the box and hidden in the cavern where thou didst\nfind me to-day. There I lay for thousands of years until one day\nthree old magicians discovered the secret of where I lay hidden. It\nwas they who only this morning compelled me to give them that vast\ntreasure which thou sawest them take away from the cavern not long\nsince.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut why did they not take you and the box and the ring away also?\u201d\nasked Abdallah.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d answered the Genie, \u201cthey are three brothers, and\nneither two care to trust the other one with such power as the ring\nhas to give, so they made a solemn compact among themselves that I\nshould remain in the cavern, and that no one of the three should\nvisit it without the other two in his company. Now, my lord, if it\nis thy will that I shall enter the casket again I must even obey\nthy command in that as in all things; but, if it please thee, I\nwould fain rejoin my own kind again--they from whom I have been\nparted for so long. Shouldst thou permit me to do so I will still\nbe thy slave, for thou hast only to press the red stone in the ring\nand repeat these words: \u2018By the red Aldebaran, I command thee to\ncome,\u2019 and I will be with thee instantly. But if I have my freedom\nI shall serve thee from gratitude and love, and not from compulsion\nand with fear.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it!\u201d said Abdallah. \u201cI have no choice in the matter, and\nthou mayest go whither it pleases thee.\u201d\n\nNo sooner had the words left his lips than the Genie gave a great\ncry of rejoicing, so piercing that it made Abdallah\u2019s flesh creep,\nand then, fetching the black casket a kick that sent it flying over\nthe tree tops, vanished instantly.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d quoth Abdallah, when he had caught his breath from his\namazement, \u201cthese are the most wonderful things that have happened\nto me in all of my life.\u201d And thereupon he fell to at the bread and\ncheese, and ate as only a hungry man can eat. When he had finished\nthe last crumb he wiped his mouth with the napkin, and, stretching\nhis arms, felt within him that he was like a new man.\n\nNevertheless, he was still lost in the woods, and now not even with\nhis ass for comradeship.\n\nHe had wandered for quite a little while before he bethought\nhimself of the Genie. \u201cWhat a fool am I,\u201d said he, \u201cnot to have\nasked him to help me while he was here.\u201d He pressed his finger\nupon the ring, and cried in a loud voice, \u201cBy the red Aldebaran, I\ncommand thee to come!\u201d\n\nInstantly the Genie stood before him--big, black, ugly, and grim.\n\u201cWhat are my lord\u2019s commands?\u201d said he.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cI command thee,\u201d said Abdallah the fagot-maker, who was not half\nso frightened at the sight of the monster this time as he had been\nbefore--\u201cI command thee to help me out of this woods.\u201d\n\nHardly were the words out of his mouth when the Genie snatched\nAbdallah up, and, flying swifter than the lightning, set him down\nin the middle of the highway on the outskirts of the forest before\nhe had fairly caught his breath.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen he did gather his wits and looked about him, he knew very well\nwhere he was, and that he was upon the road that led to the city.\nAt the sight his heart grew light within him, and off he stepped\nbriskly for home again.\n\nBut the sun shone hot and the way was warm and dusty, and before\nAbdallah had gone very far the sweat was running down his face\nin streams. After a while he met a rich husbandman riding easily\nalong on an ambling nag, and when Abdallah saw him he rapped his\nhead with his knuckles. \u201cWhy did I not think to ask the Genie for\na horse?\u201d said he. \u201cI might just as well have ridden as to have\nwalked, and that upon a horse a hundred times more beautiful than\nthe one that that fellow rides.\u201d\n\nHe stepped into the thicket beside the way, where he might be out\nof sight, and there pressed the stone in his ring, and at his\nbidding the Genie stood before him.\n\n\u201cWhat are my lord\u2019s commands?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI would like to have a noble horse to ride upon,\u201d said\nAbdallah--\u201ca horse such as a king might use.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo hear is to obey,\u201d said the Genie; and, stretching out his hand,\nthere stood before Abdallah a magnificent Arab horse, with a saddle\nand bridle studded with precious stones, and with housings of gold.\n\u201cCan I do aught to serve my lord further?\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cNot just now,\u201d said Abdallah; \u201cif I have further use for you I\nwill call you.\u201d\n\nThe Genie bowed his head and was gone like a flash, and Abdallah\nmounted his horse and rode off upon his way. But he had not gone\nfar before he drew rein suddenly. \u201cHow foolish must I look,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cto be thus riding along the high-road upon this noble steed,\nand I myself clad in fagot-maker\u2019s rags.\u201d Thereupon he turned his\nhorse into the thicket and again summoned the Genie. \u201cI should\nlike,\u201d said he, \u201cto have a suit of clothes fit for a king to wear.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord shall have that which he desires,\u201d said the Genie. He\nstretched out his hand, and in an instant there lay across his\narm raiment such as the eyes of man never saw before--stiff with\npearls, and blazing with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and\nsapphires. The Genie himself aided Abdallah to dress, and when he\nlooked down he felt, for the time, quite satisfied.\n\nHe rode a little farther. Then suddenly he bethought himself, \u201cWhat\na silly spectacle shall I cut in the town with no money in my purse\nand with such fine clothes upon my back.\u201d Once more the Genie was\nsummoned. \u201cI should like,\u201d said the fagot-maker, \u201cto have a box\nfull of money.\u201d\n\nThe Genie stretched out his hand, and in it was a casket of\nmother-of-pearl inlaid with gold and full of money. \u201cHas my lord\nany further commands for his servant?\u201d asked he.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Abdallah. \u201cStop--I have, too,\u201d he added. \u201cYes; I\nwould like to have a young man to carry my money for me.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is here,\u201d said the Genie. And there stood a beautiful youth\nclad in clothes of silver tissue, and holding a milk-white horse by\nthe bridle.\n\n\u201cStay, Genie,\u201d said Abdallah. \u201cWhilst thou art here thou mayest\nas well give me enough at once to last me a long time to come. Let\nme have eleven more caskets of money like this one, and eleven more\nslaves to carry the same.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cThey are here,\u201d said the Genie; and as he spoke there stood eleven\nmore youths before Abdallah, as like the first as so many pictures\nof the same person, and each youth bore in his hands a box like\nthe one that the monster had given Abdallah. \u201cWill my lord have\nanything further?\u201d asked the Genie.\n\n\u201cLet me think,\u201d said Abdallah. \u201cYes; I know the town well, and that\nshould one so rich as I ride into it without guards he would be\ncertain to be robbed before he had travelled a hundred paces. Let\nme have an escort of a hundred armed men.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said the Genie, and, waving his hand, the road\nwhere they stood was instantly filled with armed men, with swords\nand helmets gleaming and flashing in the sun, and all seated upon\nmagnificently caparisoned horses. \u201cCan I serve my lord further?\u201d\nasked the Genie.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Abdallah the fagot-maker, in admiration, \u201cI have nothing\nmore to wish for in this world. Thou mayest go, Genie, and it will\nbe long ere I will have to call thee again,\u201d and thereupon the\nGenie was gone like a flash.\n\nThe captain of Abdallah\u2019s troop--a bearded warrior clad in a superb\nsuit of armor--rode up to the fagot-maker, and, leaping from his\nhorse and bowing before him so that his forehead touched the dust,\nsaid, \u201cWhither shall we ride, my lord?\u201d\n\nAbdallah smote his forehead with vexation. \u201cIf I live a thousand\nyears,\u201d said he, \u201cI will never learn wisdom.\u201d Thereupon,\ndismounting again, he pressed the ring and summoned the Genie. \u201cI\nwas mistaken,\u201d said he, \u201cas to not wanting thee so soon. I would\nhave thee build me in the city a magnificent palace, such as man\nnever looked upon before, and let it be full from top to bottom\nwith rich stuffs and treasures of all sorts. And let it have\ngardens and fountains and terraces fitting for such a place, and\nlet it be meetly served with slaves, both men and women, the most\nbeautiful that are to be found in all of the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs there aught else that thou wouldst have?\u201d asked the Genie.\n\nThe fagot-maker meditated a long time. \u201cI can bethink myself of\nnothing more just now,\u201d said he.\n\nThe Genie turned to the captain of the troop and said some words to\nhim in a strange tongue, and then in a moment was gone. The captain\ngave the order to march, and away they all rode with Abdallah in\nthe midst. \u201cWho would have thought,\u201d said he, looking around him,\nwith the heart within him swelling with pride as though it would\nburst--\u201cwho would have thought that only this morning I was a poor\nfagot-maker, lost in the woods and half starved to death? Surely\nthere is nothing left for me to wish for in this world!\u201d\n\nAbdallah was talking of something he knew nothing of.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNever before was such a sight seen in that country, as Abdallah and\nhis troop rode through the gates and into the streets of the city.\nBut dazzling and beautiful as were those who rode attendant upon\nhim, Abdallah the fagot-maker surpassed them all as the moon dims\nthe lustre of the stars. The people crowded around shouting with\nwonder, and Abdallah, in the fulness of his delight, gave orders to\nthe slaves who bore the caskets of money to open them and to throw\nthe gold to the people. So, with those in the streets scrambling\nand fighting for the money and shouting and cheering, and others\ngazing down at the spectacle from the windows and the house-tops,\nthe fagot-maker and his troop rode slowly along through the town.\n\nNow it chanced that their way led along past the royal palace, and\nthe princess, hearing all the shouting and the hubbub, looked over\nthe edge of the balcony and down into the street. At the same\nmoment Abdallah chanced to look up, and their eyes met. Thereupon\nthe fagot-maker\u2019s heart crumbled away within him, for she was the\nmost beautiful princess in all the world. Her eyes were as black as\nnight, her hair like threads of fine silk, her neck like alabaster,\nand her lips and her cheeks as soft and as red as rose-leaves. When\nshe saw that Abdallah was looking at her she dropped the curtain of\nthe balcony and was gone, and the fagot-maker rode away, sighing\nlike a furnace.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo, by-and-by, he came to his palace, which was built all of marble\nas white as snow, and which was surrounded with gardens, shaded\nby flowering trees, and cooled by the plashing of fountains. From\nthe gateway to the door of the palace a carpet of cloth-of-gold\nhad been spread for him to walk upon, and crowds of slaves stood\nwaiting to receive him. But for all these glories Abdallah cared\nnothing; he hardly looked about him, but, going straight to his\nroom, pressed his ring and summoned the Genie.\n\n\u201cWhat is it that my lord would have?\u201d asked the monster.\n\n\u201cOh, Genie!\u201d said poor Abdallah, \u201cI would have the princess for my\nwife, for without her I am like to die.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord\u2019s commands,\u201d said the Genie, \u201cshall be executed if I\nhave to tear down the city to do so. But perhaps this behest is\nnot so hard to fulfil. First of all, my lord will have to have an\nambassador to send to the king.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Abdallah with a sigh; \u201clet me have an ambassador\nor whatever may be necessary. Only make haste, Genie, in thy\ndoings.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall lose no time,\u201d said the Genie; and in a moment was gone.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe king was sitting in council with all of the greatest lords of\nthe land gathered about him, for the Emperor of India had declared\nwar against him, and he and they were in debate, discussing how the\ncountry was to be saved. Just then Abdallah\u2019s ambassador arrived,\nand when he and his train entered the council-chamber all stood up\nto receive him, for the least of those attendant upon him was more\nmagnificently attired than the king himself, and was bedecked with\nsuch jewels as the royal treasury could not match.\n\nKneeling before the king, the ambassador touched the ground with\nhis forehead. Then, still kneeling, he unrolled a scroll, written\nin letters of gold, and from it read the message asking for the\nprincess to wife for the Lord Abdallah.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen he had ended, the king sat for a while stroking his beard and\nmeditating. But before he spoke the oldest lord of the council\narose and said: \u201cO sire! if this Lord Abdallah who asks for the\nprincess for his wife can send such a magnificent company in the\ntrain of his ambassador, may it not be that he may be able also to\nhelp you in your war against the Emperor of India?\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue!\u201d said the king. Then turning to the ambassador: \u201cTell your\nmaster,\u201d said he, \u201cthat if he will furnish me with an army of one\nhundred thousand men, to aid me in the war against the Emperor of\nIndia, he shall have my daughter for his wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d said the ambassador, \u201cI will answer now for my master, and\nthe answer shall be this: That he will help you with an army, not\nof _one_ hundred thousand, but of _two_ hundred thousand men. And\nif to-morrow you will be pleased to ride forth to the plain that\nlieth to the south of the city, my Lord Abdallah will meet you\nthere with his army.\u201d Then, once more bowing, he withdrew from the\ncouncil-chamber, leaving all them that were there amazed at what\nhad passed.\n\nSo the next day the king and all his court rode out to the place\nappointed. As they drew near they saw that the whole face of the\nplain was covered with a mighty host, drawn up in troops and\nsquadrons. As the king rode towards this vast army, Abdallah met\nhim, surrounded by his generals. He dismounted and would have\nkneeled, but the king would not permit him, but, raising him,\nkissed him upon the cheek, calling him son. Then the king and\nAbdallah rode down before the ranks and the whole army waved their\nswords, and the flashing of the sunlight on the blades was like\nlightning, and they shouted, and the noise was like the pealing of\nthunder.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBefore Abdallah marched off to the wars he and the princess were\nmarried, and for a whole fortnight nothing was heard but the sound\nof rejoicing. The city was illuminated from end to end, and all\nof the fountains ran with wine instead of water. And of all those\nwho rejoiced, none was so happy as the princess, for never had she\nseen one whom she thought so grand and noble and handsome as her\nhusband. After the fortnight had passed and gone, the army marched\naway to the wars with Abdallah at its head.\n\nVictory after victory followed, for in every engagement the Emperor\nof India\u2019s troops were driven from the field. In two months\u2019 time\nthe war was over and Abdallah marched back again--the greatest\ngeneral in the world. But it was no longer as Abdallah that he was\nknown, but as the Emperor of India, for the former emperor had been\nkilled in the war, and Abdallah had set the crown upon his own head.\n\nThe little taste that he had had of conquest had given him an\nappetite for more, so that with the armies the Genie provided\nhim he conquered all the neighboring countries and brought them\nunder his rule. So he became the greatest emperor in all of the\nworld; kings and princes kneeled before him, and he, Abdallah, the\nfagot-maker, looking about him, could say: \u201cNo one in all the world\nis so great as I!\u201d\n\nCould he desire anything more?\n\n * * * * *\n\nYes; he did! He desired to be rid of the Genie!\n\nWhen he thought of how all that he was in power and might--he, the\nEmperor of the World--how all his riches and all his glory had come\nas gifts from a hideous black monster with only one eye, his heart\nwas filled with bitterness. \u201cI cannot forget,\u201d said he to himself,\n\u201cthat as he has given me all these things, he may take them all\naway again. Suppose that I should lose my ring and that some one\nelse should find it; who knows but that they might become as great\nas I, and strip me of everything, as I have stripped others. Yes; I\nwish he was out of the way!\u201d\n\nOnce, when such thoughts as these were passing through his mind, he\nwas paying a visit to his father-in-law, the king. He was walking\nup and down the terrace of the garden meditating on these matters,\nwhen, leaning over a wall and looking down into the street, he saw\na fagot-maker--just such a fagot-maker as he himself had one time\nbeen--driving an ass--just such an ass as he had one time driven.\nThe fagot-maker carried something under his arm, and what should it\nbe but the very casket in which the Genie had once been imprisoned,\nand which he--the one-time fagot-maker--had seen the Genie kick\nover the tree-tops.\n\nThe sight of the casket put a sudden thought into his mind. He\nshouted to his attendants, and bade them haste and bring the\nfagot-maker to him. Off they ran, and in a little while came\ndragging the poor wretch, trembling and as white as death; for\nhe thought nothing less than that his end had certainly come. As\nsoon as those who had seized him had loosened their hold, he flung\nhimself prostrate at the feet of the Emperor Abdallah, and there\nlay like one dead.\n\n\u201cWhere didst thou get yonder casket?\u201d asked the emperor.\n\n\u201cOh, my lord!\u201d croaked the poor fagot-maker, \u201cI found it out yonder\nin the woods.\u201d\n\n\u201cGive it to me,\u201d said the emperor, \u201cand my treasurer shall count\nthee out a thousand pieces of gold in exchange.\u201d\n\nSo soon as he had the casket safe in his hands he hurried away to\nhis privy chamber, and there pressed the red stone in his ring.\n\u201cIn the name of the red Aldebaran, I command thee to appear!\u201d said\nhe, and in a moment the Genie stood before him.\n\n\u201cWhat are my lord\u2019s commands?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cI would have thee enter this casket again,\u201d said the Emperor\nAbdallah.\n\n\u201cEnter the casket!\u201d cried the Genie, aghast.\n\n\u201cEnter the casket.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn what have I done anything to offend my lord?\u201d said the Genie.\n\n\u201cIn nothing,\u201d said the emperor; \u201conly I would have thee enter the\ncasket again as thou wert when I first found thee.\u201d\n\nIt was in vain that the Genie begged and implored for mercy, it\nwas in vain that he reminded Abdallah of all that he had done to\nbenefit him; the great emperor stood as hard as a rock--into the\ncasket the Genie must and should go. So at last into the casket the\nmonster went, bellowing most lamentably.\n\nThe Emperor Abdallah shut the lid of the casket, and locked it and\nsealed it with his seal. Then, hiding it under his cloak, he bore\nit out into the garden and to a deep well, and, first making sure\nthat nobody was by to see, dropped casket and Genie and all into\nthe water.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNow had that wise man been by--the wise man who had laughed so\nwhen the poor young fagot-maker wept and wailed at the ingratitude\nof his friend--the wise man who had laughed still louder when the\nyoung fagot-maker vowed that in another case he would not have been\nso ungrateful to one who had benefited him--how that wise man would\nhave roared when he heard the casket plump into the waters of the\nwell! For, upon my word of honor, betwixt Ali the fagot-maker and\nAbdallah the Emperor of the World there was not a pin to choose,\nexcept in degree.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Old Ali Baba\u2019s pipe had nearly gone out, and he fell a puffing at\nit until the spark grew to life again, and until great clouds of\nsmoke rolled out around his head and up through the rafters above._\n\n_\u201cI liked thy story, friend!\u201d said old Bidpai--\u201cI liked it mightily\nmuch. I liked more especially the way in which thy emperor got rid\nof his demon, or Genie!\u201d_\n\n_Fortunatus took a long pull at his mug of ale. \u201cI know not,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cabout the demon, but there was one part that I liked much, and\nthat was about the treasures of silver and gold and the palace that\nthe Genie built and all the fine things that the poor fagot-maker\nenjoyed!\u201d Then he who had once carried the magic purse in his\npocket fell a clattering with the bottom of his quart cup upon the\ntable. \u201cHey! my pretty lass,\u201d cried he, \u201ccome hither and fetch me\nanother stoup of ale!\u201d_\n\n_Little Brown Betty came at his call, stumbling and tumbling into\nthe room, just as she had stumbled and tumbled in the Mother Goose\nbook, only this time she did not crack her crown, but gathered\nherself up laughing._\n\n_\u201cYou may fill my canican while you are about it,\u201d said St. George,\n\u201cfor, by my faith, \u2019tis dry work telling a story.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd mine, too,\u201d piped the little Tailor who killed seven flies at\na blow._\n\n_\u201cAnd whose turn is it now to tell a story?\u201d said Doctor Faustus._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis his,\u201d said the Lad who fiddled for the Jew, and he pointed\nto Hans who traded and traded until he had traded his lump of gold\nfor an empty churn._\n\n_Hans grinned sheepishly. \u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201cI never did have luck at\nanything, and why, then, d\u2019ye think I should have luck at telling a\nstory?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cNay, never mind that,\u201d said Aladdin, \u201ctell thy story, friend, as\nbest thou mayst.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cVery well,\u201d said Hans, \u201cif ye will have it, I will tell it to\nyou; but, after all, it is no better than my own story, and the\npoor man in the end gets no more than I did in my bargains.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what is your story about, my friend?\u201d said Cinderella._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis,\u201d said Hans, \u201cabout how--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMuch shall have more and little shall have less.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king who did the best he could to rule\nwisely and well, and to deal justly by those under him whom he had\nto take care of; and as he could not trust hearsay, he used every\nnow and then to slip away out of his palace and go among his people\nto hear what they had to say for themselves about him and the way\nhe ruled the land.\n\nWell, one such day as this, when he was taking a walk, he strolled\nout past the walls of the town and into the green fields until he\ncame at last to a fine big house that stood by the banks of a\nriver, wherein lived a man and his wife who were very well to do in\nthe world. There the king stopped for a bite of bread and a drink\nof fresh milk.\n\n\u201cI would like to ask you a question,\u201d said the king to the rich\nman; \u201cand the question is this: Why are some folk rich and some\nfolk poor?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I cannot tell you,\u201d said the good man; \u201conly I remember my\nfather used to say that much shall have more and little shall have\nless.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the king; \u201cthe saying has a good sound, but let\nus find whether or not it is really true. See; here is a purse with\nthree hundred pieces of golden money in it. Take it and give it to\nthe poorest man you know; in a week\u2019s time I will come again, and\nthen you shall tell me whether it has made you or him the richer.\u201d\n\nNow in the town there lived two beggars who were as poor as poverty\nitself, and the poorer of the twain was one who used to sit in rags\nand tatters on the church step to beg charity of the good folk who\ncame and went. To him went the rich man, and, without so much as a\ngood-morning, quoth he: \u201cHere is something for you,\u201d and so saying\ndropped the purse of gold into the beggar\u2019s hat. Then away he went\nwithout waiting for a word of thanks.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAs for the beggar, he just sat there for a while goggling and\nstaring like one moon-struck. But at last his wits came back to\nhim, and then away he scampered home as fast as his legs could\ncarry him. Then he spread his money out on the table and counted\nit--three hundred pieces of gold money! He had never seen such\ngreat riches in his life before. There he sat feasting his eyes\nupon the treasure as though they would never get their fill. And\nnow what was he to do with all of it? Should he share his fortune\nwith his brother? Not a bit of it. To be sure, until now they had\nalways shared and shared alike, but here was the first great lump\nof good-luck that had ever fallen in his way, and he was not for\nspoiling it by cutting it in two to give half to a poor beggar-man\nsuch as his brother. Not he; he would hide it and keep it all for\nhis very own.\n\nNow, not far from where he lived, and beside the river, stood a\nwillow-tree, and thither the lucky beggar took his purse of money\nand stuffed it into a knot-hole of a withered branch, then went\nhis way, certain that nobody would think of looking for money in\nsuch a hiding-place. Then all the rest of the day he sat thinking\nand thinking of the ways he would spend what had been given him,\nand what he would do to get the most good out of it. At last came\nevening, and his brother, who had been begging in another part of\nthe town, came home again.\n\n\u201cI nearly lost my hat to-day,\u201d said the second beggar so soon as he\nhad come into the house.\n\n\u201cDid you?\u201d said the first beggar. \u201cHow was that?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! the wind blew it off into the water, but I got it again.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you get it?\u201d said the first beggar.\n\n\u201cI just broke a dead branch off of the willow-tree and drew my hat\nashore,\u201d said the second beggar.\n\n\u201cA dead branch!!\u201d\n\n\u201cA dead branch.\u201d\n\n\u201cOff of the willow tree!!\u201d\n\n\u201cOff of the willow tree.\u201d\n\nThe first beggar could hardly breathe.\n\n\u201cAnd what did you do with the dead branch after that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI threw it away into the water, and it floated down the river.\u201d\n\nThe beggar to whom the money had been given ran out of the house\nhowling, and down to the river-side, thumping his head with his\nknuckles like one possessed. For he knew that the branch that his\nbrother had broken off of the tree and had thrown into the water,\nwas the very one in which he had hidden the bag of money.\n\nYes; and so it was.\n\nThe next morning, as the rich man took a walk down by the river, he\nsaw a dead branch that had been washed up by the tide. \u201cHalloo!\u201d\nsays he, \u201cthis will do to kindle the fire with.\u201d\n\nSo he brought it to the house, and, taking down his axe, began to\nsplit it up for kindling. The very first blow he gave, out tumbled\nthe bag of money.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBut the beggar--well, by-and-by his grieving got better of its\nfirst smart, and then he started off down the river to see if he\ncould not find his money again. He hunted up and he hunted down,\nbut never a whit of it did he see, and at last he stopped at the\nrich man\u2019s house and begged for a bite to eat and lodgings for\nthe night. There he told all his story--how he had hidden the\nmoney that had been given him from his brother, how his brother\nhad broken off the branch and had thrown it away, and how he had\nspent the whole live-long day searching for it. And to all the rich\nman listened and said never a word. But though he said nothing,\nhe thought to himself, \u201cMaybe, after all, it is not the will of\nHeaven that this man shall have the money. Nevertheless, I will\ngive him another trial.\u201d\n\nSo he told the poor beggar to come in and stay for the night; and,\nwhilst the beggar was snoring away in his bed in the garret, the\nrich man had his wife make two great pies, each with a fine brown\ncrust. In the first pie he put the little bag of money; the second\nhe filled full of rusty nails and scraps of iron.\n\nThe next morning he called the beggar to him. \u201cMy friend,\u201d said he,\n\u201cI grieve sadly for the story you told me last night. But maybe,\nafter all, your luck is not all gone. And now, if you will choose\nas you should choose, you shall not go away from here comfortless.\nIn the pantry yonder are two great pies--one is for you, and one\nfor me. Go in and take whichever one you please.\u201d\n\n\u201cA pie!\u201d thought the beggar to himself; \u201cdoes the man think that\na big pie will comfort me for the loss of three hundred pieces of\nmoney?\u201d Nevertheless, as it was the best thing to be had, into the\npantry the beggar went and there began to feel and weigh the pies,\nand the one filled with the rusty nails and scraps of iron was ever\nso much the fatter and the heavier.\n\n\u201cThis is the one that I shall take,\u201d said he to the rich man, \u201cand\nyou may have the other.\u201d And, tucking it under his arm, off he\ntramped.\n\nWell, before he got back to the town he grew hungry, and sat down\nby the roadside to eat his pie; and if there was ever an angry man\nin the world before, he was one that day--for there was his pie\nfull of nothing but rusty nails and bits of iron. \u201cThis is the way\nthe rich always treat the poor,\u201d said he.\n\nSo back he went in a fume. \u201cWhat did you give me a pie full of old\nnails for?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYou took the pie of your own choice,\u201d said the rich man;\n\u201cnevertheless, I meant you no harm. Lodge with me here one night,\nand in the morning I will give you something better worth while,\nmaybe.\u201d\n\nSo that night the rich man had his wife bake two loaves of bread,\nin one of which she hid the bag with the three hundred pieces of\ngold money.\n\n\u201cGo to the pantry,\u201d said the rich man to the beggar in the morning,\n\u201cand there you will find two loaves of bread--one is for you and\none for me; take whichever one you choose.\u201d\n\nSo in went the beggar, and the first loaf of bread he laid his hand\nupon was the one in which the money was hidden, and off he marched\nwith it under his arm, without so much as saying thank you.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said he to himself, after he had jogged along\nawhile--\u201cI wonder whether the rich man is up to another trick such\nas he played upon me yesterday?\u201d He put the loaf of bread to his\near and shook it and shook it, and what should he hear but the\nchink of the money within. \u201cAh ha!\u201d said he, \u201che has filled it with\nrusty nails and bits of iron again, but I will get the better of\nhim this time.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBy-and-by he met a poor woman coming home from market. \u201cWould you\nlike to buy a fine fresh loaf of bread?\u201d said the beggar.\n\n\u201cYes, I would,\u201d said the woman.\n\n\u201cWell, here is one you may have for two pennies,\u201d said the beggar.\n\nThat was cheap enough, so the woman paid him his price and off she\nwent with the loaf of bread under her arm, and never stopped until\nshe had come to her home.\n\nNow it happened that the day before this very woman had borrowed\njust such a loaf of bread from the rich man\u2019s wife; and so, as\nthere was plenty in the house without it, she wrapped this loaf\nup in a napkin, and sent her husband back with it to where it had\nstarted from first of all.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the rich man to his wife, \u201cthe way of Heaven is not\nto be changed.\u201d And so he laid the money on the shelf until he who\nhad given it to him should come again, and thought no more of\ngiving it to the beggar.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAt the end of seven days the king called upon the rich man again,\nand this time he came in his own guise as a real king. \u201cWell,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cis the poor man the richer for his money?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the rich man, \u201che is not;\u201d and then he told the whole\nstory from beginning to end just as I have told it.\n\n\u201cYour father was right,\u201d said the king; \u201cand what he said was very\ntrue--\u2018Much shall have more and little shall have less.\u2019 Keep the\nbag of money for yourself, for there Heaven means it to stay.\u201d\n\nAnd maybe there is as much truth as poetry in this story.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_And now it was the turn of the Blacksmith who had made Death sit\nin his pear-tree until the cold wind whistled through the ribs of\nman\u2019s enemy. He was a big, burly man, with a bullet head, and a\ngreat thick neck, and a voice like a bull\u2019s._\n\n_\u201cDo you mind,\u201d said he, \u201cabout how I clapped a man in the fire and\ncooked him to a crisp that day that St. Peter came travelling my\nway?\u201d_\n\n_There was a little space of silence, and then the Soldier who had\ncheated the Devil spoke up. \u201cWhy yes, friend,\u201d said he, \u201cI know\nyour story very well.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cI am not so fortunate,\u201d said old Bidpai. \u201cI do not know your\nstory. Tell me, friend, did you really bake a man to a crisp? And\nhow was it then?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhy,\u201d said the Blacksmith, \u201cI was trying to do what a better man\nthan I did, and where he hit the mark I missed it by an ell. \u2019Twas\na pretty scrape I was in that day.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cBut how did it happen?\u201d said Bidpai._\n\n_\u201cIt happened,\u201d said the Blacksmith, \u201cjust as it is going to happen\nin the story I am about to tell.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAnd what is your story about?\u201d said Fortunatus._\n\n_\u201cIt is,\u201d said the Blacksmith, \u201cabout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWisdom\u2019s Wages and Folly\u2019s Pay.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a wise man of wise men, and a great\nmagician to boot, and his name was Doctor Simon Agricola.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a simpleton of simpletons, and a great\nbooby to boot, and his name was Babo.\n\nSimon Agricola had read all the books written by man, and could do\nmore magic than any conjurer that ever lived. But, nevertheless, he\nwas none too well off in the world; his clothes were patched, and\nhis shoes gaped, and that is the way with many another wise man of\nwhom I have heard tell.\n\nBabo gathered rushes for a chair-maker, and he also had too few of\nthe good things to make life easy. But it is nothing out of the way\nfor a simpleton to be in that case.\n\nThe two of them lived neighbor to neighbor, the one in the next\nhouse to the other, and so far as the world could see there was not\na pin to choose between them--only that one was called a wise man\nand the other a simpleton.\n\nOne day the weather was cold, and when Babo came home from\ngathering rushes he found no fire in the house. So off he went to\nhis neighbor the wise man. \u201cWill you give me a live coal to start\nmy fire?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes, I will do that,\u201d said Simon Agricola; \u201cbut how will you carry\nthe coal home?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Babo, \u201cI will just take it in my hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn your hand?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn my hand.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan you carry a live coal in your hand?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh yes!\u201d said Babo; \u201cI can do that easily enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I should like to see you do it,\u201d said Simon Agricola.\n\n\u201cThen I will show you,\u201d said Babo. He spread a bed of cold, dead\nashes upon his palm. \u201cNow,\u201d said he, \u201cI will take the ember upon\nthat.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAgricola rolled up his eyes like a duck in a thunder-storm. \u201cWell,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cI have lived more than seventy years, and have read all\nthe books in the world; I have practised magic and necromancy, and\nknow all about algebra and geometry, and yet, wise as I am, I never\nthought of this little thing.\u201d\n\nThat is the way with your wise man.\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said Babo; \u201cthat is nothing. I know how to do many more\ntricks than that.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you?\u201d said Simon Agricola; \u201cthen listen: to-morrow I am going\nout into the world to make my fortune, for little or nothing is to\nbe had in this town. If you will go along with me I will make your\nfortune also.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Babo, and the bargain was struck. So the next\nmorning bright and early off they started upon their journey, cheek\nby jowl, the wise man and the simpleton, to make their fortunes in\nthe wide world, and the two of them made a pair. On they jogged and\non they jogged, and the way was none too smooth. By-and-by they\ncame to a great field covered all over with round stones.\n\n\u201cLet us each take one of these,\u201d said Simon Agricola; \u201cthey will be\nof use by-and-by;\u201d and, as he spoke, he picked up a great stone as\nbig as his two fists, and dropped it into the pouch that dangled at\nhis side.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said Babo; \u201cI will carry no stone with me. It is as much\nas my two legs can do to carry my body, let alone lugging a great\nstone into the bargain.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Agricola; \u201c\u2019born a fool, live a fool, die a\nfool.\u2019\u201d And on he tramped, with Babo at his heels.\n\nAt last they came to a great wide plain, where, far or near,\nnothing was to be seen but bare sand, without so much as a pebble\nor a single blade of grass, and there night caught up with them.\n\n\u201cDear, dear, but I am hungry!\u201d said Babo.\n\n\u201cSo am I,\u201d said Simon Agricola. \u201cLet\u2019s sit down here and eat.\u201d\n\nSo down they sat, and Simon Agricola opened his pouch and drew\nforth the stone.\n\nThe stone? It was a stone no longer, but a fine loaf of white bread\nas big as your two fists. You should have seen Babo goggle and\nstare! \u201cGive me a piece of your bread, master,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said Agricola. \u201cYou might have had a dozen of the same\nkind, had you chosen to do as I bade you and to fetch them along\nwith you. \u2018Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,\u2019\u201d said he; and\nthat was all that Babo got for his supper. As for the wise man,\nhe finished his loaf of bread to the last crumb, and then went to\nsleep with a full stomach and a contented mind.\n\nThe next morning off they started again bright and early, and\nbefore long they came to just such another field of stones as they\nleft behind them the day before.\n\n\u201cCome, master,\u201d said Babo, \u201clet us each take a stone with us. We\nmay need something more to eat before the day is over.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Simon Agricola; \u201cwe will need no stones to-day.\u201d\n\nBut Babo had no notion to go hungry the second time, so he hunted\naround till he found a stone as big as his head. All day he carried\nit, first under one arm and then under the other. The wise man\nstepped along briskly enough, but the sweat ran down Babo\u2019s face\nlike drops on the window in an April shower. At last they came to a\ngreat wide plain, where neither stock nor stone was to be seen, but\nonly a gallows-tree, upon which one poor wight hung dancing upon\nnothing at all, and there night caught them again.\n\n\u201cAha!\u201d said Babo to himself. \u201cThis time I shall have bread and my\nmaster none.\u201d\n\nBut listen to what happened. Up stepped the wise man to the\ngallows, and gave it a sharp rap with his staff. Then, lo and\nbehold! the gallows was gone, and in its place stood a fine inn,\nwith lights in the windows, and a landlord bowing and smiling in\nthe doorway, and a fire roaring in the kitchen, and the smell of\nthe good things cooking filling the air all around, so that only to\nsniff did one\u2019s heart good.\n\nPoor Babo let fall the stone he had carried all day. A stone it\nwas, and a stone he let it fall.\n\n\u201c\u2018Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool,\u2019\u201d said Agricola. \u201cBut come\nin, Babo, come in; here is room enough for two.\u201d So that night Babo\nhad a good supper and a sound sleep, and that is a cure for most of\na body\u2019s troubles in this world.\n\nThe third day of their travelling they came to farms and villages,\nand there Simon Agricola began to think of showing some of those\ntricks of magic that were to make his fortune and Babo\u2019s into the\nbargain.\n\nAt last they came to a blacksmith\u2019s shop, and there was the smith\nhard at work, dinging and donging, and making sweet music with\nhammer and anvil. In walked Simon Agricola and gave him good-day.\nHe put his fingers into his purse, and brought out all the money\nhe had in the world; it was one golden angel. \u201cLook, friend,\u201d said\nhe to the blacksmith; \u201cif you will let me have your forge for one\nhour, I will give you this money for the use of it.\u201d\n\nThe blacksmith liked the tune of that song very well. \u201cYou may have\nit,\u201d said he; and he took off his leathern apron without another\nword, and Simon Agricola put it on in his stead.\n\nPresently, who should come riding up to the blacksmith\u2019s shop but a\nrich old nobleman and three servants. The servants were hale, stout\nfellows, but the nobleman was as withered as a winter leaf. \u201cCan\nyou shoe my horse?\u201d said he to Simon Agricola, for he took him to\nbe the smith because of his leathern apron.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d says Simon Agricola; \u201cthat is not my trade: I only know how\nto make old people young.\u201d\n\n\u201cOld people young!\u201d said the old nobleman; \u201ccan you make me young\nagain?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Simon Agricola, \u201cI can, but I must have a thousand\ngolden angels for doing it.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the old nobleman; \u201cmake me young, and you shall\nhave them and welcome.\u201d\n\nSo Simon Agricola gave the word, and Babo blew the bellows until\nthe fire blazed and roared. Then the doctor caught the old\nnobleman, and laid him upon the forge. He heaped the coals over\nhim, and turned him this way and that, until he grew red-hot, like\na piece of iron. Then he drew him forth from the fire and dipped\nhim in the water-tank. Phizz! the water hissed, and the steam rose\nup in a cloud; and when Simon Agricola took the old nobleman out,\nlo and behold! he was as fresh and blooming and lusty as a lad of\ntwenty.\n\nBut you should have seen how all the people stared and\ngoggled!--Babo and the blacksmith and the nobleman\u2019s servants. The\nnobleman strutted up and down for a while, admiring himself, and\nthen he got upon his horse again. \u201cBut wait,\u201d said Simon Agricola;\n\u201cyou forgot to pay me my thousand golden angels.\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said the nobleman, and off he clattered, with his servants\nat his heels; and that was all the good that Simon Agricola had of\nthis trick. But ill-luck was not done with him yet, for when the\nsmith saw how matters had turned out, he laid hold of the doctor\nand would not let him go until he had paid him the golden angel he\nhad promised for the use of the forge. The doctor pulled a sour\nface, but all the same he had to pay the angel. Then the smith let\nhim go, and off he marched in a huff.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOutside of the forge was the smith\u2019s mother--a poor old creature,\nwithered and twisted and bent as a winter twig. Babo had kept his\neyes open, and had not travelled with Simon Agricola for nothing.\nHe plucked the smith by the sleeve: \u201cLook\u2019ee, friend,\u201d said he,\n\u201chow would you like me to make your mother, over yonder, young\nagain?\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like nothing better,\u201d said the smith.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Babo; \u201cgive me the golden angel that the master\ngave you, and I\u2019ll do the job for you.\u201d\n\nWell, the smith paid the money, and Babo bade him blow the bellows.\nWhen the fire roared up good and hot, he caught up the old mother,\nand, in spite of her scratching and squalling, he laid her upon the\nembers. By-and-by, when he thought the right time had come, he took\nher out and dipped her in the tank of water; but instead of turning\nyoung, there she lay, as dumb as a fish and as black as coal.\n\nWhen the blacksmith saw what Babo had done to his mother, he caught\nhim by the collar, and fell to giving him such a dressing down as\nnever man had before.\n\n\u201cHelp!\u201d bawled Babo. \u201cHelp! Murder!\u201d\n\nSuch a hubbub had not been heard in that town for many a day. Back\ncame Simon Agricola running, and there he saw, and took it all in\nin one look.\n\n\u201cStop, friend,\u201d said he to the smith, \u201clet the simpleton go; this\nis not past mending yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the smith; \u201cbut he must give me back my golden\nangel, and you must cure my mother, or else I\u2019ll have you both up\nbefore the judge.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said Simon Agricola; so Babo paid back the\nmoney, and the doctor dipped the woman in the water. When he\nbrought her out she was as well and strong as ever--but just as old\nas she had been before.\n\n\u201cNow be off for a pair of scamps, both of you,\u201d said the\nblacksmith; \u201cand if you ever come this way again, I\u2019ll set all the\ndogs in the town upon you.\u201d\n\nSimon Agricola said nothing until they had come out upon the\nhighway again, and left the town well behind them; then--\u201c\u2018Born a\nfool, live a fool, die a fool!\u2019\u201d says he.\n\nBabo said nothing, but he rubbed the places where the smith had\ndusted his coat.\n\nThe fourth day of their journey they came to a town, and here\nSimon Agricola was for trying his tricks of magic again. He and\nBabo took up their stand in the corner of the market-place, and\nbegan bawling, \u201cDoctor Knowall! Doctor Knowall! who has come from\nthe other end of Nowhere! He can cure any sickness or pain! He can\nbring you back from the gates of death! Here is Doctor Knowall!\nHere is Doctor Knowall!\u201d\n\nNow there was a very, very rich man in that town, whose daughter\nlay sick to death; and when the news of this great doctor was\nbrought to his ears, he was for having him try his hand at curing\nthe girl.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Simon Agricola, \u201cI will do that, but you must pay\nme two thousand golden angels.\u201d\n\n\u201cTwo thousand golden angels!\u201d said the rich man; \u201cthat is a great\ndeal of money, but you shall have it if only you will cure my\ndaughter.\u201d\n\nSimon Agricola drew a little vial from his bosom. From it he poured\njust six drops of yellow liquor upon the girl\u2019s tongue. Then--lo\nand behold!--up she sat in bed as well and strong as ever, and\nasked for a boiled chicken and a dumpling, by way of something to\neat.\n\n\u201cBless you! Bless you!\u201d said the rich man.\n\n\u201cYes, yes; blessings are very good, but I would like to have my two\nthousand golden angels,\u201d said Simon Agricola.\n\n\u201cTwo thousand golden angels! I said nothing about two thousand\ngolden angels,\u201d said the rich man; \u201ctwo thousand fiddlesticks!\u201d\nsaid he. \u201cPooh! pooh! you must have been dreaming! See, here are\ntwo hundred silver pennies, and that is enough and more than enough\nfor six drops of medicine.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want my two thousand golden angels,\u201d said Simon Agricola.\n\n\u201cYou will get nothing but two hundred pennies,\u201d said the rich man.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t touch one of them,\u201d said Simon Agricola, and off he\nmarched in a huff.\n\nBut Babo had kept his eyes open. Simon Agricola had laid down the\nvial upon the table, and while they were saying this and that back\nand forth, thinking of nothing else, Babo quietly slipped it into\nhis own pocket, without any one but himself being the wiser.\n\nDown the stairs stumped the doctor with Babo at his heels. There\nstood the cook waiting for them.\n\n\u201cLook,\u201d said he, \u201cmy wife is sick in there; won\u2019t you cure her,\ntoo?\u201d\n\n\u201cPooh!\u201d said Simon Agricola; and out he went, banging the door\nbehind him.\n\n\u201cLook, friend,\u201d said Babo to the cook; \u201chere I have some of the\nsame medicine. Give me the two hundred pennies that the master\nwould not take, and I\u2019ll cure her for you as sound as a bottle.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the cook, and he counted out the two hundred\npennies, and Babo slipped them into his pocket. He bade the woman\nopen her mouth, and when she had done so he poured all the stuff\ndown her throat at once.\n\n\u201cUgh!\u201d said she, and therewith rolled up her eyes, and lay as stiff\nand dumb as a herring in a box.\n\nWhen the cook saw what Babo had done, he snatched up the\nrolling-pin and made at him to pound his head to a jelly. But Babo\ndid not wait for his coming; he jumped out of the window, and away\nhe scampered with the cook at his heels.\n\nWell, the upshot of the business was that Simon Agricola had to go\nback and bring life to the woman again, or the cook would thump him\nand Babo both with the rolling-pin. And, what was more, Babo had to\npay back the two hundred pennies that the cook had given him for\ncuring his wife.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe wise man made a cross upon the woman\u2019s forehead, and up she\nsat, as well--but no better--as before.\n\n\u201cAnd now be off,\u201d said the cook, \u201cor I will call the servants and\ngive you both a drubbing for a pair of scamps.\u201d\n\nSimon Agricola said never a word until they had gotten out of\nthe town. There his anger boiled over, like water into the fire.\n\u201cLook,\u201d said he to Babo: \u201c\u2018Born a fool, live a fool, die a fool.\u2019 I\nwant no more of you. Here are two roads; you take one, and I will\ntake the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said Babo, \u201cam I to travel the rest of the way alone? And\nthen, besides, how about the fortune you promised me?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind that,\u201d said Simon Agricola; \u201cI have not made my own\nfortune yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, at least pay me something for my wages,\u201d said Babo.\n\n\u201cHow shall I pay you?\u201d said Simon Agricola. \u201cI have not a single\ngroat in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d said Babo, \u201chave you nothing to give me?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can give you a piece of advice.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Babo, \u201cthat is better than nothing, so let me have it.\u201d\n\n\u201cHere it is,\u201d said Simon Agricola: \u201c\u2018Think well! think\nwell!--before you do what you are about to do, think well!\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you!\u201d said Babo; and then the one went one way, and the\nother the other.\n\n(_You may go with the wise man if you choose, but I shall jog along\nwith the simpleton._)\n\nAfter Babo had travelled for a while, he knew not whither, night\ncaught him, and he lay down under a hedge to sleep. There he lay,\nand snored away like a saw-mill, for he was wearied with his long\njourneying.\n\nNow it chanced that that same night two thieves had broken into a\nmiser\u2019s house, and had stolen an iron pot full of gold money. Day\nbroke before they reached home, so down they sat to consider the\nmatter; and the place where they seated themselves was on the other\nside of the hedge where Babo lay. The older thief was for carrying\nthe money home under his coat; the younger was for burying it until\nnight had come again. They squabbled and bickered and argued till\nthe noise they made wakened Babo, and he sat up. The first thing he\nthought of was the advice that the doctor had given him the evening\nbefore.\n\n\u201c\u2018Think well!\u2019\u201d he bawled out; \u201c\u2018think well! before you do what\nyou are about to do, think well!\u2019\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen the two thieves heard Babo\u2019s piece of advice, they thought\nthat the judge\u2019s officers were after them for sure and certain.\nDown they dropped the pot of money, and away they scampered as fast\nas their legs could carry them.\n\nBabo heard them running, and poked his head through the hedge, and\nthere lay the pot of gold. \u201cLook now,\u201d said he: \u201cthis has come from\nthe advice that was given me; no one ever gave me advice that was\nworth so much before.\u201d So he picked up the pot of gold, and off he\nmarched with it.\n\nHe had not gone far before he met two of the king\u2019s officers,\nand you may guess how they opened their eyes when they saw him\ntravelling along the highway with a pot full of gold money.\n\n\u201cWhere are you going with that money?\u201d said they.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d said Babo.\n\n\u201cHow did you get it?\u201d said they.\n\n\u201cI got it for a piece of advice,\u201d said Babo.\n\nFor a piece of advice! No, no--the king\u2019s officers knew butter from\nlard, and truth from t\u2019other thing. It was just the same in that\ncountry as it is in our town--there was nothing in the world so\ncheap as advice. Whoever heard of anybody giving a pot of gold and\nsilver money for it? Without another word they marched Babo and his\npot of money off to the king.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said the king, \u201ctell me truly; where did you get the pot of\nmoney?\u201d\n\nPoor Babo began to whimper. \u201cI got it for a piece of advice,\u201d said\nhe.\n\n\u201cReally and truly?\u201d said the king.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Babo; \u201creally and truly.\u201d\n\n\u201cHumph!\u201d said the king. \u201cI should like to have advice that is worth\nas much as that. Now, how much will you sell your advice to me for?\u201d\n\n\u201cHow much will you give?\u201d said Babo.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the king, \u201clet me have it for a day on trial, and at\nthe end of that time I will pay you what it is worth.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Babo, \u201cthat is a bargain;\u201d and so he lent the\nking his piece of advice for one day on trial.\n\nNow the chief councillor and some others had laid a plot against\nthe king\u2019s life, and that morning it had been settled that when the\nbarber shaved him he was to cut his throat with a razor. So after\nthe barber had lathered his face he began to whet the razor, and to\nwhet the razor.\n\nJust at that moment the king remembered Babo\u2019s piece of advice.\n\u201c\u2018Think well!\u2019 said he; \u2018think well! before you do what you are\nabout to do, think well!\u2019\u201d\n\nWhen the barber heard the words that the king said, he thought that\nall had been discovered. Down he fell upon his knees, and confessed\neverything.\n\nThat is how Babo\u2019s advice saved the king\u2019s life--you can guess\nwhether the king thought it was worth much or little. When Babo\ncame the next morning the king gave him ten chests full of money,\nand that made the simpleton richer than anybody in all that land.\n\nHe built himself a fine house, and by-and-by married the daughter\nof the new councillor that came after the other one\u2019s head had been\nchopped off for conspiring against the king\u2019s life. Besides that,\nhe came and went about the king\u2019s castle as he pleased, and the\nking made much of him. Everybody bowed to him, and all were glad to\nstop and chat awhile with him when they met him in the street.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne morning Babo looked out of the window, and who should he see\ncome travelling along the road but Simon Agricola himself, and he\nwas just as poor and dusty and travel-stained as ever.\n\n\u201cCome in, come in!\u201d said Babo; and you can guess how the wise man\nstared when he saw the simpleton living in such a fine way. But he\nopened his eyes wider than ever when he heard that all these good\nthings came from the piece of advice he had given Babo that day\nthey had parted at the cross roads.\n\n\u201cAye, aye!\u201d said he, \u201cthe luck is with you for sure and certain.\nBut if you will pay me a thousand golden angels, I will give you\nsomething better than a piece of advice. I will teach you all the\nmagic that is to be learned from the books.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Babo, \u201cI am satisfied with the advice.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Simon Agricola, \u201c\u2018Born a fool, live a fool, die a\nfool\u2019\u201d; and off he went in a huff.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThat is all of this tale except the tip end of it, and that I will\ngive you now.\n\nI have heard tell that one day the king dropped in the street the\npiece of advice that he had bought from Babo, and that before he\nfound it again it had been trampled into the mud and dirt. I cannot\nsay for certain that this is the truth, but it must have been\nspoiled in some way or other, for I have never heard of anybody in\nthese days who would give even so much as a bad penny for it; and\nyet it is worth just as much now as it was when Babo sold it to the\nking.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_I had sat listening to these jolly folk for all this time, and I\nhad not heard old Sindbad say a word, and yet I knew very well he\nwas full of a story, for every now and then I could see his lips\nmove, and he would smile, and anon he would stroke his long white\nbeard and smile again._\n\n_Everybody clapped their hands and rattled their canicans after the\nBlacksmith had ended his story, and methought they liked it better\nthan almost anything that had been told. Then there was a pause,\nand everybody was still, and as nobody else spoke I myself ventured\nto break the silence. \u201cI would like,\u201d said I (and my voice sounded\nthin in my own ears, as one\u2019s voice always does sound in Twilight\nLand), \u201cI would like to hear our friend Sindbad the Sailor tell a\nstory. Methinks one is fermenting in his mind.\u201d_\n\n_Old Sindbad smiled until his cheeks crinkled into wrinkles._\n\n_\u201cAye,\u201d said every one, \u201cwill you not tell a story?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cTo be sure I will,\u201d said Sindbad. \u201cI will tell you a good story,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cand it is about--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Enchanted Island.\n\n_But it is not always the lucky one that carries away the plums;\nsometimes he only shakes the tree, and the wise man pockets the\nfruit._\n\n\nOnce upon a long, long time ago, and in a country far, far away,\nthere lived two men in the same town and both were named Selim; one\nwas Selim the Baker and one was Selim the Fisherman.\n\nSelim the Baker was well off in the world, but Selim the Fisherman\nwas only so-so. Selim the Baker always had plenty to eat and a\nwarm corner in cold weather, but many and many a time Selim the\nFisherman\u2019s stomach went empty and his teeth went chattering.\n\nOnce it happened that for time after time Selim the Fisherman\ncaught nothing but bad luck in his nets, and not so much as a\nsingle sprat, and he was very hungry. \u201cCome,\u201d said he to himself,\n\u201cthose who have some should surely give to those who have none,\u201d\nand so he went to Selim the Baker. \u201cLet me have a loaf of bread,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cand I will pay you for it to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said Selim the Baker; \u201cI will let you have a loaf\nof bread, if you will give me all that you catch in your nets\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said Selim the Fisherman, for need drives one to hard\nbargains sometimes; and therewith he got his loaf of bread.\n\nSo the next day Selim the Fisherman fished and fished and fished\nand fished, and still he caught no more than the day before; until\njust at sunset he cast his net for the last time for the day, and,\nlo and behold! there was something heavy in it. So he dragged it\nashore, and what should it be but a leaden box, sealed as tight as\nwax, and covered with all manner of strange letters and figures.\n\u201cHere,\u201d said he, \u201cis something to pay for my bread of yesterday, at\nany rate;\u201d and as he was an honest man, off he marched with it to\nSelim the Baker.\n\nThey opened the box in the baker\u2019s shop, and within they found\ntwo rolls of yellow linen. In each of the rolls of linen was\nanother little leaden box: in one was a finger-ring of gold set\nwith a red stone, in the other was a finger-ring of iron set with\nnothing at all.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThat was all the box held; nevertheless, that was the greatest\ncatch that ever any fisherman made in the world; for, though Selim\nthe one or Selim the other knew no more of the matter than the cat\nunder the stove, the gold ring was the Ring of Luck and the iron\nring was the Ring of Wisdom.\n\nInside of the gold ring were carved these letters: \u201cWhosoever wears\nme, shall have that which all men seek--for so it is with good-luck\nin this world.\u201d\n\nInside of the iron ring were written these words: \u201cWhosoever wears\nme, shall have that which few men care for--and that is the way it\nis with wisdom in our town.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Selim the Baker, and he slipped the gold ring of\ngood-luck on his finger, \u201cI have driven a good bargain, and you\nhave paid for your loaf of bread.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what will you do with the other ring?\u201d said Selim the\nFisherman.\n\n\u201cOh, you may have that,\u201d said Selim the Baker.\n\nWell, that evening, as Selim the Baker sat in front of his shop\nin the twilight smoking a pipe of tobacco, the ring he wore began\nto work. Up came a little old man with a white beard, and he was\ndressed all in gray from top to toe, and he wore a black velvet\ncap, and he carried a long staff in his hand. He stopped in front\nof Selim the Baker, and stood looking at him a long, long time. At\nlast--\u201cIs your name Selim?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Selim the Baker, \u201cit is.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you wear a gold ring with a red stone on your finger?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Selim, \u201cI do.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen come with me,\u201d said the little old man, \u201cand I will show you\nthe wonder of the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Selim the Baker, \u201cthat will be worth the seeing, at\nany rate.\u201d So he emptied out his pipe of tobacco, and put on his\nhat and followed the way the old man led.\n\nUp one street they went, and down another, and here and there\nthrough alleys and byways where Selim had never been before. At\nlast they came to where a high wall ran along the narrow street,\nwith a garden behind it, and by-and-by to an iron gate. The old man\nrapped upon the gate three times with his knuckles, and cried in a\nloud voice, \u201cOpen to Selim, who wears the Ring of Luck!\u201d\n\nThen instantly the gate swung open, and Selim the Baker followed\nthe old man into the garden.\n\nBang! shut the gate behind him, and there he was.\n\nThere he was! And such a place he had never seen before. Such\nfruit! such flowers! such fountains! such summer-houses!\n\n\u201cThis is nothing,\u201d said the old man; \u201cthis is only the beginning of\nwonder. Come with me.\u201d\n\nHe led the way down a long pathway between the trees, and Selim\nfollowed. By-and-by, far away, they saw the light of torches; and\nwhen they came to what they saw, lo and behold! there was the\nsea-shore, and a boat with four-and-twenty oarsmen, each dressed\nin cloth of gold and silver more splendidly than a prince. And\nthere were four-and-twenty black slaves, carrying each a torch of\nspice-wood, so that all the air was filled with sweet smells. The\nold man led the way, and Selim, following, entered the boat; and\nthere was a seat for him made soft with satin cushions embroidered\nwith gold and precious stones and stuffed with down, and Selim\nwondered whether he was not dreaming.\n\nThe oarsmen pushed off from the shore and away they rowed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOn they rowed and on they rowed for all that livelong night.\n\nAt last morning broke, and then as the sun rose Selim saw such\na sight as never mortal eyes beheld before or since. It was the\nwonder of wonders--a great city built on an island. The island was\nall one mountain; and on it, one above another and another above\nthat again, stood palaces that glistened like snow, and orchards of\nfruit, and gardens of flowers and green trees.\n\nAnd as the boat came nearer and nearer to the city, Selim could see\nthat all around on the house-tops and down to the water\u2019s edge were\ncrowds and crowds of people. All were looking out towards the sea,\nand when they saw the boat and Selim in it, a great shout went up\nlike the roaring of rushing waters.\n\n\u201cIt is the King!\u201d they cried--\u201cit is the King! It is Selim the\nKing!\u201d\n\nThen the boat landed, and there stood dozens and scores of great\nprinces and nobles to welcome Selim when he came ashore. And there\nwas a white horse waiting for him to ride, and its saddle and\nbridle were studded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds that\nsparkled and glistened like the stars in heaven, and Selim thought\nfor sure he must be dreaming with his eyes open.\n\nBut he was not dreaming, for it was all as true as that eggs are\neggs. So up the hill he rode, and to the grandest and the most\nsplendid of all the splendid palaces, the princes and noblemen\nriding with him, and the crowd shouting as though to split their\nthroats.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAnd what a palace it was!--as white as snow and painted all inside\nwith gold and blue. All around it were gardens blooming with fruit\nand flowers, and the like of it mortal man never saw in the world\nbefore.\n\nThere they made a king of Selim, and put a golden crown on his\nhead; and that is what the Ring of Good Luck can do for a baker.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBut wait a bit! There was something queer about it all, and that is\nnow to be told.\n\nAll that day was feasting and drinking and merry-making, and\nthe twinging and twanging of music, and dancing of beautiful\ndancing-girls, and such things as Selim had never heard tell of in\nall his life before. And when night came they lit thousands and\nthousands of candles of perfumed wax; so that it was a hard matter\nto say when night began and day ended, only that the one smelled\nsweeter than the other.\n\nBut at last it came midnight, and then suddenly, in an instant,\nall the lights went out and everything was as dark as pitch--not\na spark, not a glimmer anywhere. And, just as suddenly, all the\nsound of music and dancing and merrymaking ceased, and everybody\nbegan to wail and cry until it was enough to wring one\u2019s heart to\nhear. Then, in the midst of all the wailing and crying, a door was\nflung open, and in came six tall and terrible black men, dressed\nall in black from top to toe, carrying each a flaming torch; and by\nthe light of the torches King Selim saw that all--the princes, the\nnoblemen, the dancing-girls--all lay on their faces on the floor.\n\nThe six men took King Selim--who shuddered and shook with fear--by\nthe arms, and marched him through dark, gloomy entries and\npassageways, until they came at last to the very heart of the\npalace.\n\nThere was a great high-vaulted room all of black marble, and in\nthe middle of it was a pedestal with seven steps, all of black\nmarble; and on the pedestal stood a stone statue of a woman looking\nas natural as life, only that her eyes were shut. The statue was\ndressed like a queen: she wore a golden crown on her head, and upon\nher body hung golden robes, set with diamonds and emeralds and\nrubies and sapphires and pearls and all sorts of precious stones.\n\nAs for the face of the statue, white paper and black ink could not\ntell you how beautiful it was. When Selim looked at it, it made\nhis heart stand still in his breast, it was so beautiful.\n\nThe six men brought Selim up in front of the statue, and then a\nvoice came as though from the vaulted roof: \u201cSelim! Selim! Selim!\u201d\nit said, \u201cwhat art thou doing? To-day is feasting and drinking and\nmerry-making, but beware of to-morrow!\u201d\n\nAs soon as these words were ended the six black men marched King\nSelim back whence they had brought him; there they left him and\npassed out one by one as they had first come in, and the door shut\nto behind them.\n\nThen in an instant the lights flashed out again, the music began to\nplay and the people began to talk and laugh, and King Selim thought\nthat maybe all that had just passed was only a bit of an ugly dream\nafter all.\n\nSo that is the way King Selim the Baker began to reign, and\nthat is the way he continued to reign. All day was feasting and\ndrinking and making merry and music and laughing and talking.\nBut every night at midnight the same thing happened: the lights\nwent out, all the people began wailing and crying, and the six\ntall, terrible black men came with flashing torches and marched\nKing Selim away to the beautiful statue. And every night the same\nvoice said--\u201cSelim! Selim! Selim! What art thou doing? To-day is\nfeasting and drinking and merry-making; but beware of to-morrow!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo things went on for a twelvemonth, and at last came the end of\nthe year. That day and night the merry-making was merrier and\nwilder and madder than it had ever been before, but the great\nclock in the tower went on--tick, tock! tick, tock!--and by and by\nit came midnight. Then, as it always happened before, the lights\nwent out, and all was as black as ink. But this time there was no\nwailing and crying out, but everything as silent as death; the\ndoor opened slowly, and in came, not six black men as before, but\nnine men as silent as death, dressed all in flaming red, and the\ntorches they carried burned as red as blood. They took King Selim\nby the arms, just as the six men had done, and marched him through\nthe same entries and passageways, and so came at last to the same\nvaulted room. There stood the statue, but now it was turned to\nflesh and blood, and the eyes were open and looking straight at\nSelim the Baker.\n\n\u201cArt thou Selim?\u201d said she; and she pointed her finger straight at\nhim.\n\n\u201cYes, I am Selim,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAnd dost thou wear the gold ring with the red stone?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said he; \u201cI have it on my finger.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd dost thou wear the iron ring?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said he; \u201cI gave that to Selim the Fisherman.\u201d\n\nThe words had hardly left his lips when the statue gave a great\ncry and clapped her hands together. In an instant an echoing cry\nsounded all over the town--a shriek fit to split the ears.\n\nThe next moment there came another sound--a sound like\nthunder--above and below and everywhere. The earth began to shake\nand to rock, and the houses began to topple and fall, and the\npeople began to scream and to yell and to shout, and the waters of\nthe sea began to lash and to roar, and the wind began to bellow and\nhowl. Then it was a good thing for King Selim that he wore Luck\u2019s\nRing; for, though all the beautiful snow-white palace about him and\nabove him began to crumble to pieces like slaked lime, the sticks\nand the stones and the beams to fall this side of him and that, he\ncrawled out from under it without a scratch or a bruise, like a rat\nout of a cellar.\n\nThat is what Luck\u2019s Ring did for him.\n\nBut his troubles were not over yet; for, just as he came out from\nunder all the ruin, the island began to sink down into the water,\ncarrying everything along with it--that is, everything but him and\none thing else. That one other thing was an empty boat, and King\nSelim climbed into it, and nothing else saved him from drowning. It\nwas Luck\u2019s Ring that did that for him also.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe boat floated on and on until it came to another island that was\njust like the island he had left, only that there was neither tree\nnor blade of grass nor hide nor hair nor living thing of any kind.\nNevertheless, it was an island just like the other: a high mountain\nand nothing else. There Selim the Baker went ashore, and there he\nwould have starved to death only for Luck\u2019s Ring; for one day a\nboat came sailing by, and when poor Selim shouted, those aboard\nheard him and came and took him off. How they all stared to see\nhis golden crown--for he still wore it--and his robes of silk and\nsatin and the gold and jewels!\n\nBefore they would consent to carry him away, they made him give up\nall the fine things he had. Then they took him home again to the\ntown whence he had first come, just as poor as when he had started.\nBack he went to his bake-shop and his ovens, and the first thing he\ndid was to take off his gold ring and put it on the shelf.\n\n\u201cIf that is the ring of good luck,\u201d said he, \u201cI do not want to wear\nthe like of it.\u201d\n\nThat is the way with mortal man: for one has to have the Ring of\nWisdom as well, to turn the Ring of Luck to good account.\n\nAnd now for Selim the Fisherman.\n\nWell, thus it happened to him. For a while he carried the iron ring\naround in his pocket--just as so many of us do--without thinking\nto put it on. But one day he slipped it on his finger--and that is\nwhat we do not all of us do. After that he never took it off again,\nand the world went smoothly with him. He was not rich, but then he\nwas not poor; he was not merry, neither was he sad. He always had\nenough and was thankful for it, for I never yet knew wisdom to go\nbegging or crying.\n\nSo he went his way and he fished his fish, and twelve months and\na week or more passed by. Then one day he went past the baker shop\nand there sat Selim the Baker smoking his pipe of tobacco.\n\n\u201cSo, friend,\u201d said Selim the Fisherman, \u201cyou are back again in the\nold place, I see.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the other Selim; \u201cawhile ago I was a king, and now I\nam nothing but a baker again. As for that gold ring with the red\nstone--they may say it is Luck\u2019s Ring if they choose, but when next\nI wear it may I be hanged.\u201d\n\nThereupon he told Selim the Fisherman the story of what had\nhappened to him with all its ins and outs, just as I have told it\nto you.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d said Selim the Fisherman, \u201cI should like to have a sight\nof that island myself. If you want the ring no longer, just let me\nhave it; for maybe if I wear it something of the kind will happen\nto me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may have it,\u201d said Selim the Baker. \u201cYonder it is, and you are\nwelcome to it.\u201d\n\nSo Selim the Fisherman put on the ring, and then went his way about\nhis own business.\n\nThat night, as he came home carrying his nets over his shoulder,\nwhom should he meet but the little old man in gray, with the white\nbeard and the black cap on his head and the long staff in his hand.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cIs your name Selim?\u201d said the little man, just as he had done to\nSelim the Baker.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Selim; \u201cit is.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you wear a gold ring with a red stone?\u201d said the little old\nman, just as he had said before.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Selim; \u201cI do.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen come with me,\u201d said the little old man, \u201cand I will show you\nthe wonder of the world.\u201d\n\nSelim the Fisherman remembered all that Selim the Baker had told\nhim, and he took no two thoughts as to what to do. Down he tumbled\nhis nets, and away he went after the other as fast as his legs\ncould carry him. Here they went and there they went, up crooked\nstreets and lanes and down by-ways and alley-ways, until at last\nthey came to the same garden to which Selim the Baker had been\nbrought. Then the old man knocked at the gate three times and cried\nout in a loud voice, \u201cOpen! Open! Open to Selim who wears the Ring\nof Luck!\u201d\n\nThen the gate opened, and in they went. Fine as it all was, Selim\nthe Fisherman cared to look neither to the right nor to the left,\nbut straight after the old man he went, until at last they came to\nthe seaside and the boat and the four-and-twenty oarsmen dressed\nlike princes and the black slaves with the perfumed torches.\n\nHere the old man entered the boat and Selim after him, and away\nthey sailed.\n\nTo make a long story short, everything happened to Selim the\nFisherman just as it had happened to Selim the Baker. At dawn of\nday they came to the island and the city built on the mountain.\nAnd the palaces were just as white and beautiful, and the gardens\nand orchards just as fresh and blooming as though they had not\nall tumbled down and sunk under the water a week before, almost\ncarrying poor Selim the Baker with them. There were the people\ndressed in silks and satins and jewels, just as Selim the Baker had\nfound them, and they shouted and hurrahed for Selim the Fisherman\njust as they had shouted and hurrahed for the other. There were the\nprinces and the nobles and the white horse, and Selim the Fisherman\ngot on his back and rode up to the dazzling snow-white palace, and\nthey put a crown on his head and made a king of him, just as they\nhad made a king of Selim the Baker.\n\nThat night, at midnight, it happened just as it had happened\nbefore. Suddenly, as the hour struck, the lights all went out, and\nthere was a moaning and a crying enough to make the heart curdle.\nThen the door flew open, and in came the six terrible black men\nwith torches. They led Selim the Fisherman through damp and dismal\nentries and passage-ways until they came to the vaulted room of\nblack marble, and there stood the beautiful statue on its black\npedestal. Then came the voice from above--\u201cSelim! Selim! Selim!\u201d it\ncried, \u201cwhat art thou doing? To-day is feasting and drinking and\nmerry-making, but beware of to-morrow!\u201d\n\nBut Selim the Fisherman did not stand still and listen, as Selim\nthe Baker had done. He called out, \u201cI hear the words! I am\nlistening! I will beware to-day for the sake of to-morrow!\u201d\n\nI do not know what I should have done had I been king of that\nisland and had I known that in a twelvemonth it would all come\ntumbling down about my ears and sink into the sea, maybe carry me\nalong with it. This is what Selim the Fisherman did [but then he\nwore the iron Ring of Wisdom on his finger, and I never had that\nupon mine]:\n\nFirst of all, he called the wisest men of the island to him, and\nfound from them just where the other desert island lay upon which\nthe boat with Selim the Baker in it had drifted.\n\nThen, when he had learned where it was to be found, he sent armies\nand armies of men and built on that island palaces and houses, and\nplanted there orchards and gardens, just like the palaces and\nthe orchards and the gardens about him--only a great deal finer.\nThen he sent fleets and fleets of ships, and carried everything\naway from the island where he lived to that other island--all the\nmen and the women and the children; all the flocks and herds and\nevery living thing; all the fowls and the birds and everything that\nwore feathers; all the gold and the silver and the jewels and the\nsilks and the satins, and whatever was of any good or of any use;\nand when all these things were done, there were still two days left\ntill the end of the year.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nUpon the first of these two days he sent over the beautiful statue\nand had it set up in the very midst of the splendid new palace he\nhad built.\n\nUpon the second day he went over himself, leaving behind him\nnothing but the dead mountain and the rocks and the empty houses.\n\nSo came the end of the twelve months.\n\nSo came midnight.\n\nOut went all the lights in the new palace, and everything was as\nsilent as death and as black as ink. The door opened, and in came\nthe nine men in red, with torches burning as red as blood. They\ntook Selim the Fisherman by the arms and led him to the beautiful\nstatue, and there she was with her eyes open.\n\n\u201cAre you Selim?\u201d said she.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cYes, I am Selim,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cAnd do you wear the iron Ring of Wisdom?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cYes, I do,\u201d said he; and so he did.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere was no roaring and thundering, there was no shaking and\nquaking, there was no toppling and tumbling, there was no splashing\nand dashing: for this island was solid rock, and was not all\nenchantment and hollow inside and underneath like the other which\nhe had left behind.\n\nThe beautiful statue smiled until the place lit up as though the\nsun shone. Down she came from the pedestal where she stood and\nkissed Selim the Fisherman on the lips.\n\nThen instantly the lights blazed everywhere, and the people shouted\nand cheered, and the music played. But neither Selim the Fisherman\nnor the beautiful statue saw or heard anything.\n\n\u201cI have done all this for you!\u201d said Selim the Fisherman.\n\n\u201cAnd I have been waiting for you a thousand years!\u201d said the\nbeautiful statue--only she was not a statue any longer.\n\nAfter that they were married, and Selim the Fisherman and the\nenchanted statue became king and queen in real earnest.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nI think Selim the Fisherman sent for Selim the Baker and made him\nrich and happy--I hope he did--I am sure he did.\n\nSo, after all, it is not always the lucky one who gathers the plums\nwhen wisdom is by to pick up what the other shakes down.\n\n * * * * *\n\nI could say more; for, O little children! little children! there is\nmore than meat in many an egg-shell; and many a fool tells a story\nthat joggles a wise man\u2019s wits, and many a man dances and junkets\nin his fool\u2019s paradise till it comes tumbling down about his ears\nsome day; and there are few men who are like Selim the Fisherman,\nwho wear the Ring of Wisdom on their finger, and, alack-a-day! I am\nnot one of them, and that is the end of this story.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Old Bidpai nodded his head. \u201cAye, aye,\u201d said he, \u201cthere is a\nvery good moral in that story, my friend. It is, as a certain\nphilosopher said, very true, that there is more in an egg than\nthe meat. And truly, methinks, there is more in thy story than\nthe story of itself.\u201d He nodded his head again and stroked his\nbeard slowly, puffing out as he did so a great reflective cloud of\nsmoke, through which his eyes shone and twinkled mistily like stars\nthrough a cloud._\n\n_\u201cAnd whose turn is it now?\u201d said Doctor Faustus._\n\n_\u201cMethinks \u2019tis mine,\u201d said Boots--he who in fairy-tale always sat\nin the ashes at home and yet married a princess after he had gone\nout into the world awhile. \u201cMy story,\u201d said he, \u201chath no moral,\nbut, all the same, it is as true as that eggs hatch chickens.\u201d\nThen, without waiting for any one to say another word, he began it\nin these words. \u201cI am going to tell you,\u201d said he, how--_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAll Things are as Fate wills.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, in the old, old days, there lived a king who had\na head upon his shoulders wiser than other folk, and this was why:\nthough he was richer and wiser and greater than most kings, and\nhad all that he wanted and more into the bargain, he was so afraid\nof becoming proud of his own prosperity that he had these words\nwritten in letters of gold upon the walls of each and every room in\nhis palace:\n\n _All Things are as Fate wills._\n\nNow, by-and-by and after a while the king died; for when his time\ncomes, even the rich and the wise man must die, as well as the poor\nand the simple man. So the king\u2019s son came, in turn, to be king of\nthat land; and, though he was not so bad as the world of men goes,\nhe was not the man that his father was, as this story will show you.\n\nOne day, as he sat with his chief councillor, his eyes fell upon\nthe words written in letters of gold upon the wall--the words that\nhis father had written there in time gone by:\n\n _All Things are as Fate wills_;\n\nand the young king did not like the taste of them, for he was very\nproud of his own greatness. \u201cThat is not so,\u201d said he, pointing to\nthe words on the wall. \u201cLet them be painted out, and these words\nwritten in their place:\n\n _All Things are as Man does._\u201d\n\nNow, the chief councillor was a grave old man, and had been\ncouncillor to the young king\u2019s father. \u201cDo not be too hasty, my\nlord king,\u201d said he. \u201cTry first the truth of your own words before\nyou wipe out those that your father has written.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the young king, \u201cso be it. I will approve the\ntruth of my words. Bring me hither some beggar from the town whom\nFate has made poor, and I will make him rich. So I will show you\nthat his life shall be as I will, and not as Fate wills.\u201d\n\nNow, in that town there was a poor beggar-man who used to sit every\nday beside the town gate, begging for something for charity\u2019s sake.\nSometimes people gave him a penny or two, but it was little or\nnothing that he got, for Fate was against him.\n\nThe same day that the king and the chief councillor had had their\ntalk together, as the beggar sat holding up his wooden bowl and\nasking charity of those who passed by, there suddenly came three\nmen who, without saying a word, clapped hold of him and marched him\noff.\n\nIt was in vain that the beggar talked and questioned--in vain that\nhe begged and besought them to let him go. Not a word did they say\nto him, either of good or bad. At last they came to a gate that led\nthrough a high wall and into a garden, and there the three stopped,\nand one of them knocked upon the gate. In answer to his knocking it\nflew open. He thrust the beggar into the garden neck and crop, and\nthen the gate was banged to again.\n\nBut what a sight it was the beggar saw before his eyes!--flowers,\nand fruit-trees, and marble walks, and a great fountain that shot\nup a jet of water as white as snow. But he had not long to stand\ngaping and staring around him, for in the garden were a great\nnumber of people, who came hurrying to him, and who, without\nspeaking a word to him or answering a single question, or as much\nas giving him time to think, led him to a marble bath of tepid\nwater. There he was stripped of his tattered clothes and washed\nas clean as snow. Then, as some of the attendants dried him with\nfine linen towels, others came carrying clothes fit for a prince to\nwear, and clad the beggar in them from head to foot. After that,\nstill without saying a word, they let him out from the bath again,\nand there he found still other attendants waiting for him--two of\nthem holding a milk-white horse, saddled and bridled, and fit for\nan emperor to ride. These helped him to mount, and then, leaping\ninto their own saddles, rode away with the beggar in their midst.\n\nThey rode out of the garden and into the streets, and on and on\nthey went until they came to the king\u2019s palace, and there they\nstopped. Courtiers and noblemen and great lords were waiting for\ntheir coming, some of whom helped him to dismount from the horse,\nfor by this time the beggar was so overcome with wonder that he\nstared like one moon-struck, and as though his wits were addled.\nThen, leading the way up the palace steps, they conducted him\nfrom room to room, until at last they came to one more grand and\nsplendid than all the rest, and there sat the king himself waiting\nfor the beggar\u2019s coming.\n\nThe beggar would have flung himself at the king\u2019s feet, but the\nking would not let him; for he came down from the throne where he\nsat, and, taking the beggar by the hand, led him up and sat him\nalongside of him. Then the king gave orders to the attendants who\nstood about, and a feast was served in plates of solid gold upon a\ntable-cloth of silver--a feast such as the beggar had never dreamed\nof, and the poor man ate as he had never eaten in his life before.\n\nAll the while that the king and the beggar were eating, musicians\nplayed sweet music and dancers danced and singers sang.\n\nThen when the feast was over there came ten young men, bringing\nflasks and flagons of all kinds, full of the best wine in the\nworld; and the beggar drank as he had never drank in his life\nbefore, and until his head spun like a top.\n\nSo the king and the beggar feasted and made merry, until at last\nthe clock struck twelve and the king arose from his seat. \u201cMy\nfriend,\u201d said he to the beggar, \u201call these things have been done\nto show you that Luck and Fate, which have been against you for\nall these years, are now for you. Hereafter, instead of being poor\nyou shall be the richest of the rich, for I will give you the\ngreatest thing that I have in my treasury.\u201d Then he called the\nchief treasurer, who came forward with a golden tray in his hand.\nUpon the tray was a purse of silk. \u201cSee,\u201d said the king, \u201chere is\na purse, and in the purse are one hundred pieces of gold money.\nBut though that much may seem great to you, it is but little of\nthe true value of the purse. Its virtue lies in this: that however\nmuch you may take from it, there will always be one hundred pieces\nof gold money left in it. Now go; and while you are enjoying the\nriches which I give you, I have only to ask you to remember these\nare not the gifts of Fate, but of a mortal man.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut all the while he was talking the beggar\u2019s head was spinning and\nspinning, and buzzing and buzzing, so that he hardly heard a word\nof what the king said.\n\nThen when the king had ended his speech, the lords and gentlemen\nwho had brought the beggar in led him forth again. Out they went\nthrough room after room--out through the court-yard, out through\nthe gate.\n\nBang--it was shut to behind him, and he found himself standing in\nthe darkness of midnight, with the splendid clothes upon his back,\nand the magic purse with its hundred pieces of gold money in his\npocket.\n\nHe stood looking about himself for a while, and then off he started\nhomeward, staggering and stumbling and shuffling, for the wine\nthat he had drank made him so light-headed that all the world spun\ntopsy-turvy around him.\n\nHis way led along by the river, and on he went stumbling and\nstaggering. All of a sudden--plump! splash!--he was in the water\nover head and ears. Up he came, spitting out the water and shouting\nfor help, splashing and sputtering, and kicking and swimming,\nknowing no more where he was than the man in the moon. Sometimes\nhis head was under water and sometimes it was up again.\n\nAt last, just as his strength was failing him, his feet struck the\nbottom, and he crawled up on the shore more dead than alive. Then,\nthrough fear and cold and wet, he swooned away, and lay for a long\ntime for all the world as though he were dead.\n\nNow, it chanced that two fishermen were out with their nets that\nnight, and Luck or Fate led them by the way where the beggar lay on\nthe shore. \u201cHalloa!\u201d said one of the fishermen, \u201chere is a poor\nbody drowned!\u201d They turned him over, and then they saw what rich\nclothes he wore, and felt that he had a purse in his pocket.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d said the second fisherman, \u201che is dead, whoever he is. His\nfine clothes and his purse of money can do him no good now, and we\nmight as well have them as anybody else.\u201d So between them both they\nstripped the beggar of all that the king had given him, and left\nhim lying on the beach.\n\nAt daybreak the beggar awoke from his swoon, and there he found\nhimself lying without a stitch to his back, and half dead with the\ncold and the water he had swallowed. Then, fearing lest somebody\nmight see him, he crawled away into the rushes that grew beside the\nriver, there to hide himself until night should come again.\n\nBut as he went, crawling upon hands and knees, he suddenly came\nupon a bundle that had been washed up by the water, and when he\nlaid eyes upon it his heart leaped within him, for what should that\nbundle be but the patches and tatters which he had worn the day\nbefore, and which the attendants had thrown over the garden wall\nand into the river when they had dressed him in the fine clothes\nthe king gave him.\n\nHe spread his clothes out in the sun until they were dry, and then\nhe put them on and went back into the town again.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the king, that morning, to his chief councillor, \u201cwhat\ndo you think now? Am I not greater than Fate? Did I not make the\nbeggar rich? and shall I not paint my father\u2019s words out from the\nwall, and put my own there instead?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know,\u201d said the councillor, shaking his head. \u201cLet us\nfirst see what has become of the beggar.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said the king; and he and the councillor set off to see\nwhether the beggar had done as he ought to do with the good things\nthat the king had given him. So they came to the town-gate, and\nthere, lo and behold! the first thing that they saw was the beggar\nwith his wooden bowl in his hand asking those who passed by for a\nstray penny or two.\n\nWhen the king saw him he turned without a word, and rode back home\nagain. \u201cVery well,\u201d said he to the chief councillor, \u201cI have tried\nto make the beggar rich and have failed; nevertheless, if I cannot\nmake him I can ruin him in spite of Fate, and that I will show you.\u201d\n\nSo all that while the beggar sat at the town-gate and begged until\ncame noontide, when who should he see coming but the same three men\nwho had come for him the day before. \u201cAh, ha!\u201d said he to himself,\n\u201cnow the king is going to give me some more good things.\u201d And so\nwhen the three reached him he was willing enough to go with them,\nrough as they were.\n\nOff they marched; but this time they did not come to any garden\nwith fruits and flowers and fountains and marble baths. Off they\nmarched, and when they stopped it was in front of the king\u2019s\npalace. This time no nobles and great lords and courtiers were\nwaiting for his coming; but instead of that the town hangman--a\ngreat ugly fellow, clad in black from head to foot. Up he came to\nthe beggar, and, catching him by the scruff of the neck, dragged\nhim up the palace steps and from room to room until at last he\nflung him down at the king\u2019s feet.\n\nWhen the poor beggar gathered wits enough to look about him he\nsaw there a great chest standing wide open, and with holes in the\nlid. He wondered what it was for, but the king gave him no chance\nto ask; for, beckoning with his hand, the hangman and the others\ncaught the beggar by arms and legs, thrust him into the chest, and\nbanged down the lid upon him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe king locked it and double-locked it, and set his seal upon it;\nand there was the beggar as tight as a fly in a bottle.\n\nThey carried the chest out and thrust it into a cart and hauled it\naway, until at last they came to the sea-shore. There they flung\nchest and all into the water, and it floated away like a cork. And\nthat is how the king set about to ruin the poor beggar-man.\n\nWell, the chest floated on and on for three days, and then at last\nit came to the shore of a country far away. There the waves caught\nit up, and flung it so hard upon the rocks of the sea-beach that\nthe chest was burst open by the blow, and the beggar crawled out\nwith eyes as big as saucers and face as white as dough. After he\nhad sat for a while, and when his wits came back to him and he had\ngathered strength enough, he stood up and looked around to see\nwhere Fate had cast him; and far away on the hill-side he saw the\nwalls and the roofs and the towers of the great town, shining in\nthe sunlight as white as snow.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he, \u201chere is something to be thankful for, at least,\u201d\nand so saying and shaking the stiffness out of his knees and\nelbows, he started off for the white walls and the red roofs in the\ndistance.\n\nAt last he reached the great gate, and through it he could see the\nstony streets and multitudes of people coming and going.\n\nBut it was not for him to enter that gate. Out popped two soldiers\nwith great battle-axes in their hands and looking as fierce as\ndragons. \u201cAre you a stranger in this town?\u201d said one in a great,\ngruff voice.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the beggar, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd where are you going?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am going into the town.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, you are not.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause no stranger enters here. Yonder is the pathway. You must\ntake that if you would enter the town.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d said the beggar, \u201cI would just as lief go into the\ntown that way as another.\u201d\n\nSo off he marched without another word. On and on he went along the\nnarrow pathway until at last he came to a little gate of polished\nbrass. Over the gate were written these words, in great letters as\nred as blood:\n\n\u201c_Who Enters here Shall Surely Die._\u201d\n\nMany and many a man besides the beggar had travelled that path and\nlooked up at those letters, and when he had read them had turned\nand gone away again. But the beggar neither turned nor went away;\nbecause why, he could neither read nor write a word, and so the\nblood-red letters had no fear for him. Up he marched to the brazen\ngate, as boldly as though it had been a kitchen door, and rap! tap!\ntap! he knocked upon it. He waited awhile, but nobody came. Rap!\ntap! tap! he knocked again; and then, after a little while, for the\nthird time--Rap! tap! tap! Then instantly the gate swung open and\nhe entered. So soon as he had crossed the threshold it was banged\nto behind him again, just as the garden gate had been when the king\nhad first sent for him. He found himself in a long, dark entry, and\nat the end of it another door, and over it the same words, written\nin blood-red letters:\n\n\u201c_Beware! Beware! Who Enters here Shall Surely Die!_\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the beggar, \u201cthis is the hardest town for a body to\ncome into that I ever saw.\u201d And then he opened the second door and\npassed through.\n\nIt was fit to deafen a body! Such a shout the beggar\u2019s ears had\nnever heard before; such a sight the beggar\u2019s eyes had never\nbeheld, for there, before him, was a great splendid hall of marble\nas white as snow. All along the hall stood scores of lords and\nladies in silks and satins, and with jewels on their necks and\narms fit to dazzle a body\u2019s eyes. Right up the middle of the hall\nstretched a carpet of blue velvet, and at the farther end, on a\nthrone of gold, sat a lady as beautiful as the sun and moon and all\nthe stars.\n\n\u201cWelcome! welcome!\u201d they all shouted, until the beggar was nearly\ndeafened by the noise they all made, and the lady herself stood up\nand smiled upon him.\n\nThen there came three young men, and led the beggar up the carpet\nof velvet to the throne of gold.\n\n\u201cWelcome, my hero!\u201d said the beautiful lady; \u201cand have you, then,\ncome at last?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the beggar, \u201cI have.\u201d\n\n\u201cLong have I waited for you,\u201d said the lady; \u201clong have I waited\nfor the hero who would dare without fear to come through the two\ngates of death to marry me and to rule as king over this country,\nand now at last you are here.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the beggar, \u201cI am.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nMeanwhile, while all these things were happening, the king of that\nother country had painted out the words his father had written on\nthe walls, and had had these words painted in in their stead:\n\n\u201c_All Things are as Man does._\u201d\n\nFor a while he was very well satisfied with them, until, a week\nafter, he was bidden to the wedding of the Queen of the Golden\nMountains; for when he came there who should the bridegroom be but\nthe beggar whom he had set adrift in the wooden box a week or so\nbefore.\n\nThe bridegroom winked at him, but said never a word, good or ill,\nfor he was willing to let all that had happened be past and gone.\nBut the king saw how matters stood as clear as daylight, and when\nhe got back home again he had the new words that stood on the walls\nof the room painted out, and had the old ones painted in in bigger\nletters than ever:\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201c_All Things are as Fate wills._\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n_All the good people who were gathered around the table of the Sign\nof Mother Goose sat thinking for a while over the story. As for\nBoots, he buried his face in the quart pot and took a long, long\npull at the ale._\n\n_\u201cMethinks,\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil, presently\nbreaking silence--\u201cmethinks there be very few of the women folk who\ndo their share of this story-telling. So far we have had but one,\nand that is Lady Cinderella. I see another one present, and I drink\nto her health.\u201d_\n\n_He winked his eye at Patient Grizzle, beckoning towards her with\nhis quart pot, and took a long and hearty pull. Then he banged his\nmug down upon the table. \u201cFetch me another glass, lass,\u201d said he to\nlittle Brown Betty. \u201cMeantime, fair lady\u201d--this he said to Patient\nGrizzle--\u201cwill you not entertain us with some story of your own?\u201d_\n\n_\u201cI know not,\u201d said Patient Grizzle, \u201cthat I can tell you any story\nworth your hearing.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cAye, aye, but you can,\u201d said the Soldier who cheated the Devil;\n\u201cand, moreover, anything coming from betwixt such red lips and such\nwhite teeth will be worth the listening to.\u201d_\n\n_Patient Grizzle smiled, and the brave little Tailor, and the Lad\nwho fiddled for the Jew, and Hans and Bidpai and Boots nodded\napproval._\n\n_\u201cAye,\u201d said Ali Baba, \u201cit is true enough that there have been but\nfew of the women folk who have had their say, methinks that it is\nvery strange and unaccountable, for nearly always they have plenty\nto speak in their own behalf.\u201d_\n\n_All who sat there in Twilight Land laughed, and even Patient\nGrizzle smiled._\n\n_\u201cVery well,\u201d said Patient Grizzle, \u201cif you will have it, I will\ntell you a story. It is about a fisherman who was married and had a\nwife of his own, and who made her carry all the load of everything\nthat happened to him. For he, like most men I wot of, had found\nout--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nWhere to Lay the Blame.\n\n_Many and many a man has come to trouble--so he will say--by\nfollowing his wife\u2019s advice. This is how it was with a man of whom\nI shall tell you._\n\n\nThere was once upon a time a fisherman who had fished all day long\nand had caught not so much as a sprat. So at night there he sat by\nthe fire, rubbing his knees and warming his shins, and waiting for\nsupper that his wife was cooking for him, and his hunger was as\nsharp as vinegar, and his temper hot enough to fry fat.\n\nWhile he sat there grumbling and growling and trying to make\nhimself comfortable and warm, there suddenly came a knock at the\ndoor. The good woman opened it, and there stood an old man, clad\nall in red from head to foot, and with a snowy beard at his chin as\nwhite as winter snow.\n\nThe fisherman\u2019s wife stood gaping and staring at the strange\nfigure, but the old man in red walked straight into the hut.\n\u201cBring your nets, fisherman,\u201d said he, \u201cand come with me. There is\nsomething that I want you to catch for me, and if I have luck I\nwill pay you for your fishing as never fisherman was paid before.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot I,\u201d said the fisherman; \u201cI go out no more this night. I have\nbeen fishing all day long until my back is nearly broken, and have\ncaught nothing, and now I am not such a fool as to go out and leave\na warm fire and a good supper at your bidding.\u201d\n\nBut the fisherman\u2019s wife had listened to what the old man had said\nabout paying for the job, and she was of a different mind from her\nhusband. \u201cCome,\u201d said she, \u201cthe old man promises to pay you well.\nThis is not a chance to be lost, I can tell you, and my advice to\nyou is that you go.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman shook his head. No, he would not go; he had said\nhe would not, and he would not. But the wife only smiled and said\nagain, \u201cMy advice to you is that you go.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman grumbled and grumbled, and swore that he would not\ngo. The wife said nothing but one thing. She did not argue; she did\nnot lose her temper; she only said to everything that he said, \u201cMy\nadvice to you is that you go.\u201d\n\nAt last the fisherman\u2019s anger boiled over. \u201cVery well,\u201d said he,\nspitting his words at her; \u201cif you will drive me out into the\nnight, I suppose I will have to go.\u201d And then he spoke the words\nthat so many men say: \u201cMany a man has come to trouble by following\nhis wife\u2019s advice.\u201d\n\nThen down he took his fur cap and up he took his nets, and off\nhe and the old man marched through the moonlight, their shadows\nbobbing along like black spiders behind them.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWell, on they went, out from the town and across the fields and\nthrough the woods, until at last they came to a dreary, lonesome\ndesert, where nothing was to be seen but gray rocks and weeds and\nthistles.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the fisherman, \u201cI have fished, man and boy, for\nforty-seven years, but never did I see as unlikely a place to catch\nanything as this.\u201d\n\nBut the old man said never a word. First of all he drew a great\ncircle with strange figures, marking it with his finger upon the\nground. Then out from under his red gown he brought a tinder-box\nand steel, and a little silver casket covered all over with strange\nfigures of serpents and dragons and what not. He brought some\nsticks of spice-wood from his pouch, and then he struck a light and\nmade a fire. Out of the box he took a gray powder, which he flung\nupon the little blaze.\n\nPuff! flash! A vivid flame went up into the moonlight, and then\na dense smoke as black as ink, which spread out wider and wider,\nfar and near, till all below was darker than the darkest midnight.\nThen the old man began to utter strange spells and words. Presently\nthere began a rumbling that sounded louder and louder and nearer\nand nearer, until it roared and bellowed like thunder. The earth\nrocked and swayed, and the poor fisherman shook and trembled with\nfear till his teeth clattered in his head.\n\nThen suddenly the roaring and bellowing ceased, and all was as\nstill as death, though the darkness was as thick and black as ever.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old magician--for such he was--\u201cnow we are about\nto take a journey such as no one ever travelled before. Heed well\nwhat I tell you. Speak not a single word, for if you do, misfortune\nwill be sure to happen.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cAin\u2019t I to say anything?\u201d said the fisherman.\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot even \u2018boo\u2019 to a goose?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that is pretty hard upon a man who likes to say his say,\u201d\nsaid the fisherman.\n\n\u201cAnd moreover,\u201d said the old man, \u201cI must blindfold you as well.\u201d\n\nThereupon he took from his pocket a handkerchief, and made ready to\ntie it about the fisherman\u2019s eyes.\n\n\u201cAnd ain\u2019t I to see anything at all?\u201d said the fisherman.\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot even so much as a single feather?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said the fisherman, \u201cI wish I\u2019d not come.\u201d\n\nBut the old man tied the handkerchief tightly around his eyes, and\nthen he was as blind as a bat.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old man, \u201cthrow your leg over what you feel and\nhold fast.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman reached down his hand, and there felt the back of\nsomething rough and hairy. He flung his leg over it, and whisk!\nwhizz! off he shot through the air like a sky-rocket. Nothing\nwas left for him to do but grip tightly with hands and feet and to\nhold fast. On they went, and on they went, until, after a great\nwhile, whatever it was that was carrying him lit upon the ground,\nand there the fisherman found himself standing, for that which had\nbrought him had gone.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe old man whipped the handkerchief off his eyes, and there the\nfisherman found himself on the shores of the sea, where there was\nnothing to be seen but water upon one side and rocks and naked sand\nupon the other.\n\n\u201cThis is the place for you to cast your nets,\u201d said the old\nmagician; \u201cfor if we catch nothing here we catch nothing at all.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman unrolled his nets and cast them and dragged them, and\nthen cast them and dragged them again, but neither time caught so\nmuch as a herring. But the third time that he cast he found that he\nhad caught something that weighed as heavy as lead. He pulled and\npulled, until by-and-by he dragged the load ashore, and what should\nit be but a great chest of wood, blackened by the sea-water, and\ncovered with shells and green moss.\n\nThat was the very thing that the magician had come to fish for.\n\nFrom his pouch the old man took a little golden key, which\nhe fitted into a key-hole in the side of the chest. He threw\nback the lid; the fisherman looked within, and there was the\nprettiest little palace that man\u2019s eye ever beheld, all made of\nmother-of-pearl and silver-frosted as white as snow. The old\nmagician lifted the little palace out of the box and set it upon\nthe ground.\n\nThen, lo and behold! a marvellous thing happened; for the palace\ninstantly began to grow for all the world like a soap-bubble, until\nit stood in the moonlight gleaming and glistening like snow, the\nwindows bright with the lights of a thousand wax tapers, and the\nsound of music and voices and laughter coming from within.\n\nHardly could the fisherman catch his breath from one strange thing\nwhen another happened. The old magician took off his clothes and\nhis face--yes, his face--for all the world as though it had been\na mask, and there stood as handsome and noble a young man as ever\nthe light looked on. Then, beckoning to the fisherman, dumb with\nwonder, he led the way up the great flight of marble steps to the\npalace door. As he came the door swung open with a blaze of light,\nand there stood hundreds of noblemen, all clad in silks and satins\nand velvets, who, when they saw the magician, bowed low before\nhim, as though he had been a king. Leading the way, they brought\nthe two through halls and chambers and room after room, each more\nmagnificent than the other, until they came to one that surpassed a\nhundredfold any of the others.\n\nAt the farther end was a golden throne, and upon it sat a lady more\nlovely and beautiful than a dream, her eyes as bright as diamonds,\nher cheeks like rose leaves, and her hair like spun gold. She came\nhalf-way down the steps of the throne to welcome the magician,\nand when the two met they kissed one another before all those who\nwere looking on. Then she brought him to the throne and seated him\nbeside her, and there they talked for a long time very earnestly.\n\nNobody said a word to the fisherman, who stood staring about him\nlike an owl. \u201cI wonder,\u201d said he to himself at last, \u201cif they will\ngive a body a bite to eat by-and-by?\u201d for, to tell the truth, the\ngood supper that he had come away from at home had left a sharp\nhunger gnawing at his insides, and he longed for something good and\nwarm to fill the empty place. But time passed, and not so much as a\ncrust of bread was brought to stay his stomach.\n\nBy-and-by the clock struck twelve, and then the two who sat upon\nthe throne arose. The beautiful lady took the magician by the\nhand, and, turning to those who stood around, said, in a loud\nvoice, \u201cBehold him who alone is worthy to possess the jewel of\njewels! Unto him do I give it, and with it all power of powers!\u201d\nThereon she opened a golden casket that stood beside her, and\nbrought thence a little crystal ball, about as big as a pigeon\u2019s\negg, in which was something that glistened like a spark of fire.\nThe magician took the crystal ball and thrust it into his bosom;\nbut what it was the fisherman could not guess, and if you do not\nknow I shall not tell you.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen for the first time the beautiful lady seemed to notice the\nfisherman. She beckoned him, and when he stood beside her two\nmen came carrying a chest. The chief treasurer opened it, and it\nwas full of bags of gold money. \u201cHow will you have it?\u201d said the\nbeautiful lady.\n\n\u201cHave what?\u201d said the fisherman.\n\n\u201cHave the pay for your labor?\u201d said the beautiful lady.\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said the fisherman, promptly, \u201ctake it in my hat.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo be it,\u201d said the beautiful lady. She waved her hand, and the\nchief treasurer took a bag from the chest, untied it, and emptied a\ncataract of gold into the fur cap. The fisherman had never seen\nso much wealth in all his life before, and he stood like a man\nturned to stone.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cIs all this mine?\u201d said the fisherman.\n\n\u201cIt is,\u201d said the beautiful lady.\n\n\u201cThen God bless your pretty eyes,\u201d said the fisherman.\n\nThen the magician kissed the beautiful lady, and, beckoning to the\nfisherman, left the throne-room the same way that they had come.\nThe noblemen, in silks and satins and velvets, marched ahead, and\nback they went through the other apartments, until at last they\ncame to the door.\n\nOut they stepped, and then what do you suppose happened?\n\nIf the wonderful palace had grown like a bubble, like a bubble it\nvanished. There the two stood on the sea-shore, with nothing to be\nseen but rocks and sand and water, and the starry sky overhead.\n\nThe fisherman shook his cap of gold, and it jingled and tinkled,\nand was as heavy as lead. If it was not all a dream, he was rich\nfor life. \u201cBut anyhow,\u201d said he, \u201cthey might have given a body a\nbite to eat.\u201d\n\nThe magician put on his red clothes and his face again, making\nhimself as hoary and as old as before. He took out his flint and\nsteel, and his sticks of spice-wood and his gray powder, and made\na great fire and smoke just as he had done before. Then again he\ntied his handkerchief over the fisherman\u2019s eyes. \u201cRemember,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cwhat I told you when we started upon our journey. Keep your\nmouth tight shut, for if you utter so much as a single word you are\na lost man. Now throw your leg over what you feel and hold fast.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman had his net over one arm and his cap of gold in the\nother hand; nevertheless, there he felt the same hairy thing he had\nfelt before. He flung his leg over it, and away he was gone through\nthe air like a sky-rocket.\n\nNow, he had grown somewhat used to strange things by this time, so\nhe began to think that he would like to see what sort of a creature\nit was upon which he was riding thus through the sky. So he\ncontrived, in spite of his net and cap, to push up the handkerchief\nfrom over one eye. Out he peeped, and then he saw as clear as day\nwhat the strange steed was.\n\nHe was riding upon a he-goat as black as night, and in front of him\nwas the magician riding upon just such another, his great red robe\nfluttering out behind him in the moonlight like huge red wings.\n\n\u201cGreat herring and little fishes!\u201d roared the fisherman; \u201cit is a\nbilly-goat!\u201d\n\nInstantly goats, old man, and all were gone like a flash. Down fell\nthe fisherman through the empty sky, whirling over and over and\naround and around like a frog. He held tightly to his net, but away\nflew his fur cap, the golden money falling in a shower like sparks\nof yellow light. Down he fell and down he fell, until his head spun\nlike a top.\n\nBy good-luck his house was just below, with its thatch of soft\nrushes. Into the very middle of it he tumbled, and right through\nthe thatch--bump!--into the room below.\n\nThe good wife was in bed, snoring away for dear life; but such\na noise as the fisherman made coming into the house was enough\nto wake the dead. Up she jumped, and there she sat, staring and\nwinking with sleep, and with her brains as addled as a duck\u2019s egg\nin a thunder-storm.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d said the fisherman, as he gathered himself up and rubbed\nhis shoulder, \u201cthat is what comes of following a woman\u2019s advice!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\n_All the good folk clapped their hands, not so much because of the\nstory itself, but because it was a woman who told it._\n\n_\u201cAye, aye,\u201d said the brave little Tailor, \u201cthere is truth in what\nyou tell, fair lady, and I like very well the way in which you have\ntold it.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cWhose turn is it next?\u201d said Doctor Faustus, lighting a fresh\npipe of tobacco._\n\n_\u201c\u2019Tis the turn of yonder old gentleman,\u201d said the Soldier who\ncheated the Devil, and he pointed with the stem of his pipe to the\nFisherman who unbottled the Genie that King Solomon had corked up\nand thrown into the sea. \u201cEvery one else hath told a story, and now\nit is his turn.\u201d_\n\n_\u201cI will not deny, my friend, that what you say is true, and that\nit is my turn,\u201d said the Fisherman. \u201cNor will I deny that I have\nalready a story in my mind. It is,\u201d said he, \u201cabout a certain\nprince, and of how he went through many and one adventures, and at\nlast discovered that which is--\u201d_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nThe Salt of Life.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there was a king who had three sons, and by the\ntime that the youngest prince had down upon his chin the king\nhad grown so old that the cares of the kingdom began to rest\nover-heavily upon his shoulders. So he called his chief councillor\nand told him that he was of a mind to let the princes reign in his\nstead. To the son who loved him the best he would give the largest\npart of his kingdom, to the son who loved him the next best the\nnext part, and to the son who loved him the least the least part.\nThe old councillor was very wise and shook his head, but the\nking\u2019s mind had long been settled as to what he was about to do. So\nhe called the princes to him one by one and asked each as to how\nmuch he loved him.\n\n\u201cI love you as a mountain of gold,\u201d said the oldest prince, and the\nking was very pleased that his son should give him such love.\n\n\u201cI love you as a mountain of silver,\u201d said the second prince, and\nthe king was pleased with that also.\n\nBut when the youngest prince was called, he did not answer at\nfirst, but thought and thought. At last he looked up. \u201cI love you,\u201d\nsaid he, \u201cas I love salt.\u201d\n\nWhen the king heard what his youngest son said he was filled with\nanger. \u201cWhat!\u201d he cried, \u201cdo you love me no better than salt--a\nstuff that is the most bitter of all things to the taste, and the\ncheapest and the commonest of all things in the world? Away with\nyou, and never let me see your face again! Henceforth you are no\nson of mine.\u201d\n\nThe prince would have spoken, but the king would not allow him, and\nbade his guards thrust the young man forth from the room.\n\nNow the queen loved the youngest prince the best of all her sons,\nand when she heard how the king was about to drive him forth into\nthe wide world to shift for himself, she wept and wept. \u201cAh, my\nson!\u201d said she to him, \u201cit is little or nothing that I have to give\nyou. Nevertheless, I have one precious thing. Here is a ring; take\nit and wear it always, for so long as you have it upon your finger\nno magic can have power over you.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThus it was that the youngest prince set forth into the wide world\nwith little or nothing but a ring upon his finger.\n\nFor seven days he travelled on, and knew not where he was going or\nwhither his footsteps led. At the end of that time he came to the\ngates of a town. The prince entered the gates, and found himself in\na city the like of which he had never seen in his life before for\ngrandeur and magnificence--beautiful palaces and gardens, stores\nand bazaars crowded with rich stuffs of satin and silk and wrought\nsilver and gold of cunningest workmanship; for the land to which\nhe had come was the richest in all of the world. All that day he\nwandered up and down, and thought nothing of weariness and hunger\nfor wonder of all that he saw. But at last evening drew down, and\nhe began to bethink himself of somewhere to lodge during the night.\n\nJust then he came to a bridge, over the wall of which leaned an\nold man with a long white beard, looking down into the water.\nHe was dressed richly but soberly, and every now and then he\nsighed and groaned, and as the prince drew near he saw the tears\nfalling--drip, drip--from the old man\u2019s eyes.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe prince had a kind heart, and could not bear to see one in\ndistress; so he spoke to the old man, and asked him his trouble.\n\n\u201cAh, me!\u201d said the other, \u201conly yesterday I had a son, tall and\nhandsome like yourself. But the queen took him to sup with her, and\nI am left all alone in my old age, like a tree stripped of leaves\nand fruit.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut surely,\u201d said the prince, \u201cit can be no such sad matter to sup\nwith a queen. That is an honor that most men covet.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the old man, \u201cyou are a stranger in this place, or else\nyou would know that no youth so chosen to sup with the queen ever\nreturns to his home again.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the prince, \u201cI am a stranger and have only come hither\nthis day, and so do not understand these things. Even when I found\nyou I was about to ask the way to some inn where folk of good\ncondition lodge.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen come home with me to-night,\u201d said the old man. \u201cI live\nall alone, and I will tell you the trouble that lies upon this\ncountry.\u201d Thereupon, taking the prince by the arm, he led him\nacross the bridge and to another quarter of the town where he\ndwelt. He bade the servants prepare a fine supper, and he and the\nprince sat down to the table together. After they had made an end\nof eating and drinking, the old man told the prince all concerning\nthose things of which he had spoken, and thus it was:\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cWhen the king of this land died he left behind him three\ndaughters--the most beautiful princesses in all of the world.\n\n\u201cFolk hardly dared speak of the eldest of them, but whisperings\nsaid that she was a sorceress, and that strange and gruesome things\nwere done by her. The second princess was also a witch, though it\nwas not said that she was evil, like the other. As for the youngest\nof the three, she was as beautiful as the morning and as gentle as\na dove. When she was born a golden thread was about her neck, and\nit was foretold of her that she was to be the queen of that land.\n\n\u201cBut not long after the old king died the youngest princess\nvanished--no one could tell whither, and no one dared to ask--and\nthe eldest princess had herself crowned as queen, and no one dared\ngainsay her. For a while everything went well enough, but by-and-by\nevil days came upon the land. Once every seven days the queen would\nbid some youth, young and strong, to sup with her, and from that\ntime no one ever heard of him again, and no one dared ask what\nhad become of him. At first it was the great folk at the queen\u2019s\npalace--officers and courtiers--who suffered; but by-and-by the\nsons of the merchants and the chief men of the city began to be\ntaken. One time,\u201d said the old man, \u201cI myself had three sons--as\nnoble young men as could be found in the wide world. One day\nthe chief of the queen\u2019s officers came to my house and asked me\nconcerning how many sons I had. I was forced to tell him, and in a\nlittle while they were taken one by one to the queen\u2019s palace, and\nI never saw them again.\n\n\u201cBut misfortune, like death, comes upon the young as well as the\nold. You yourself have had trouble, or else I am mistaken. Tell me\nwhat lies upon your heart, my son, for the talking of it makes the\nburthen lighter.\u201d\n\nThe prince did as the old man bade him, and told all of his story;\nand so they sat talking and talking until far into the night, and\nthe old man grew fonder and fonder of the prince the more he saw of\nhim. So the end of the matter was that he asked the prince to live\nwith him as his son, seeing that the young man had now no father\nand he no children, and the prince consented gladly enough.\n\nSo the two lived together like father and son, and the good old man\nbegan to take some joy in life once more.\n\nBut one day who should come riding up to the door but the chief of\nthe queen\u2019s officers.\n\n\u201cHow is this?\u201d said he to the old man, when he saw the prince. \u201cDid\nyou not tell me that you had but three sons, and is this not a\nfourth?\u201d\n\nIt was of no use for the old man to tell the officer that the\nyouth was not his son, but was a prince who had come to visit that\ncountry. The officer drew forth his tablets and wrote something\nupon them, and then went his way, leaving the old man sighing and\ngroaning. \u201cAh, me!\u201d said he, \u201cmy heart sadly forebodes trouble.\u201d\n\nSure enough, before three days had passed a bidding came to the\nprince to make ready to sup with the queen that night.\n\nWhen evening drew near a troop of horsemen came, bringing a white\nhorse with a saddle and bridle of gold studded with precious\nstones, to take the prince to the queen\u2019s palace.\n\nAs soon as they had brought him thither they led the prince to\na room where was a golden table spread with a snow-white cloth\nand set with dishes of gold. At the end of the table the queen\nsat waiting for him, and her face was hidden by a veil of silver\ngauze. She raised the veil and looked at the prince, and when he\nsaw her face he stood as one wonder-struck, for not only was she so\nbeautiful, but she set a spell upon him with the evil charm of her\neyes. No one sat at the table but the queen and the prince, and a\nscore of young pages served them, and sweet music sounded from a\ncurtained gallery.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAt last came midnight, and suddenly a great gong sounded from the\ncourt-yard outside. Then in an instant the music was stopped, the\npages that served them hurried from the room, and presently all was\nas still as death.\n\nThen, when all were gone, the queen arose and beckoned the prince,\nand he had no choice but to arise also and follow whither she led.\nShe took him through the palace, where all was as still as the\ngrave, and so came out by a postern door into a garden. Beside the\npostern a torch burned in a bracket. The queen took it down, and\nthen led the prince up a path and under the silent trees until they\ncame to a great wall of rough stone. She pressed her hand upon one\nof the great stones, and it opened like a door, and there was a\nflight of steps that led downward. The queen descended these steps,\nand the prince followed closely behind her. At the bottom was a\nlong passage-way, and at the farther end the prince saw what looked\nlike a bright spark of light, as though the sun were shining. She\nthrust the torch into another bracket in the wall of the passage,\nand then led the way towards the light. It grew larger and larger\nas they went forward, until at last they came out at the farther\nend, and there the prince found himself standing in the sunlight\nand not far from the sea-shore. The queen led the way towards the\nshore, when suddenly a great number of black dogs came running\ntowards them, barking and snarling, and showing their teeth as\nthough they would tear the two in pieces. But the queen drew from\nher bosom a whip with a steel-pointed lash, and as the dogs came\nspringing towards them she laid about her right and left, till the\nskin flew and the blood ran, and the dogs leaped away howling and\nyelping.\n\nAt the edge of the water was a great stone mill, and the queen\npointed towards it and bade the prince turn it. Strong as he\nwas, it was as much as he could do to work it; but grind it he\ndid, though the sweat ran down his face in streams. By-and-by a\nspeck appeared far away upon the water; and as the prince ground\nand ground at the mill the speck grew larger and larger. It was\nsomething upon the water, and it came nearer and nearer as swiftly\nas the wind. At last it came close enough for him to see that it\nwas a little boat all of brass. By-and-by the boat struck upon the\nbeach, and as soon as it did so the queen entered it, bidding the\nprince do the same.\n\nNo sooner were they seated than away the boat went, still as\nswiftly as the wind. On it flew and on it flew, until at last\nthey came to another shore, the like of which the prince had\nnever seen in his life before. Down to the edge of the water ran\na garden--but such a garden! The leaves of the trees were all of\nsilver and the fruit of gold, and instead of flowers were precious\nstones--white, red, yellow, blue, and green--that flashed like\nsparks of sunlight as the breeze moved them this way and that way.\nBeyond the silver trees, with their golden fruit, was a great\npalace as white as snow, and so bright that one had to shut one\u2019s\neyes as one looked upon it.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe boat ran up on the beach close to just such a stone mill as the\nprince had seen upon the other side of the water, and then he and\nthe queen stepped ashore. As soon as they had done so the brazen\nboat floated swiftly away, and in a little while was gone.\n\n\u201cHere our journey ends,\u201d said the queen. \u201cIs it not a wonderful\nland, and well worth the seeing? Look at all these jewels and this\ngold, as plenty as fruits and flowers at home. You may take what\nyou please; but while you are gathering them I have another matter\nafter which I must look. Wait for me here, and by-and-by I will be\nback again.\u201d\n\nSo saying, she turned and left the prince, going towards the castle\nback of the trees.\n\nBut the prince was a prince, and not a common man; he cared nothing\nfor gold and jewels. What he did care for was to see where the\nqueen went, and why she had brought him to this strange land. So,\nas soon as she had fairly gone, he followed after.\n\nHe went along under the gold and silver trees, in the direction she\nhad taken, until at last he came to a tall flight of steps that led\nup to the doorway of the snow-white palace. The door stood open,\nand into it the prince went. He saw not a soul, but he heard a\nnoise as of blows and the sound as of some one weeping. He followed\nthe sound, until by-and-by he came to a great vaulted room in the\nvery centre of the palace. A curtain hung at the doorway. The\nprince lifted it and peeped within, and this was what he saw:\n\nIn the middle of the room was a marble basin of water as clear\nas crystal, and around the sides of the basin were these words,\nwritten in letters of gold:\n\n \u201c_Whatsoever is False, that I make True_.\u201d\n\nBeside the fountain upon a marble stand stood a statue of a\nbeautiful woman made of alabaster, and around the neck of the\nstatue was a thread of gold. The queen stood beside the statue, and\nbeat and beat it with her steel-tipped whip. And all the while she\nlashed it the statue sighed and groaned like a living being, and\nthe tears ran down its stone cheeks as though it were a suffering\nChristian. By-and-by the queen rested for a moment, and said,\npanting, \u201cWill you give me the thread of gold?\u201d and the statue\nanswered \u201cNo.\u201d Whereupon she fell to raining blows upon it as she\nhad done before.\n\nSo she continued, now beating the statue and now asking it whether\nit would give her the thread of gold, to which the statue always\nanswered \u201cNo,\u201d and all the while the prince stood gazing and\nwondering. By-and-by the queen wearied of what she was doing, and\nthrust the steel-tipped lash back into her bosom again, upon which\nthe prince, seeing that she was done, hurried back to the garden\nwhere she had left him and pretended to be gathering the golden\nfruit and jewel flowers.\n\nThe queen said nothing to him good or bad, except to command him\nto grind at the great stone mill as he had done on the other side\nof the water. Thereupon the prince did as she bade, and presently\nthe brazen boat came skimming over the water more swiftly than\nthe wind. Again the queen and the prince entered it, and again it\ncarried them to the other side whence they had come.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNo sooner had the queen set foot upon the shore than she stooped\nand gathered up a handful of sand. Then, turning as quick as\nlightning, she flung it into the prince\u2019s face. \u201cBe a black dog,\u201d\nshe cried in a loud voice, \u201cand join your comrades!\u201d\n\nAnd now it was that the ring that the prince\u2019s mother had given him\nstood him in good stead. But for it he would have become a black\ndog like those others, for thus it had happened to all before him\nwho had ferried the witch queen over the water. So she expected to\nsee him run away yelping, as those others had done; but the prince\nremained a prince, and stood looking her in the face.\n\nWhen the queen saw that her magic had failed her she grew as pale\nas death, and fell to trembling in every limb. She turned and\nhastened quickly away, and the prince followed her wondering, for\nhe neither knew the mischief she had intended doing him, nor how\nhis ring had saved him from the fate of those others.\n\nSo they came back up the stairs and out through the stone wall into\nthe palace garden. The queen pressed her hand against the stone and\nit turned back into its place again. Then, beckoning to the prince,\nshe hurried away down the garden. Before he followed he picked up\na coal that lay near by, and put a cross upon the stone; then he\nhurried after her, and so came to the palace once more.\n\nBy this time the cocks were crowing, and the dawn of day was just\nbeginning to show over the roof-tops and the chimney-stacks of the\ntown.\n\nAs for the queen, she had regained her composure, and, bidding the\nprince wait for her a moment, she hastened to her chamber. There\nshe opened her book of magic, and in it she soon found who the\nprince was and how the ring had saved him.\n\nWhen she had learned all that she wanted to know she put on a\nsmiling face and came back to him. \u201cAh, prince,\u201d said she, \u201cI well\nknow who you are, for your coming to my country is no secret to me.\nI have shown you strange things to-night. I will unfold all the\nwonder to you another time. Will you not come back and sup with me\nagain?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the prince, \u201cI will come whensoever you bid me;\u201d for he\nwas curious to know the secret of the statue and the strange things\nhe had seen.\n\n\u201cAnd will you not give me a pledge of your coming?\u201d said the queen,\nstill smiling.\n\n\u201cWhat pledge shall I give you,\u201d said the prince.\n\n\u201cGive me the ring that is upon your finger,\u201d said the queen; and\nshe smiled so bewitchingly that the prince could not have refused\nher had he desired to do so.\n\nAlas for him! He thought no evil, but, without a word, drew off the\nring and gave it to the queen, and she slipped it upon her finger.\n\n\u201cO fool!\u201d she cried, laughing a wicked laugh, \u201cO fool! to give away\nthat in which your safety lay!\u201d As she spoke she dipped her fingers\ninto a basin of water that stood near by and dashed the drops into\nthe prince\u2019s face. \u201cBe a raven,\u201d she cried, \u201cand a raven remain!\u201d\n\nIn an instant the prince was a prince no longer, but a coal-black\nraven. The queen snatched up a sword that lay near by and struck\nat him to kill him. But the raven-prince leaped aside and the blow\nmissed its aim.\n\nBy good luck a window stood open, and before the queen could strike\nagain he spread his wings and flew out of the open casement and\nover the house-tops, and was gone.\n\nOn he flew and on he flew until he came to the old man\u2019s house, and\nso to the room where his foster-father himself was sitting. He lit\nupon the ground at the old man\u2019s feet and tried to tell him what\nhad befallen, but all that he could say was \u201cCroak! croak!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWhat brings this bird of ill omen?\u201d said the old man, and he\ndrew his sword to kill it. He raised his hand to strike, but the\nraven did not try to fly away as he had expected, but bowed his\nneck to receive the stroke. Then the old man saw that the tears\nwere running down from the raven\u2019s eyes, and he held his hand.\n\u201cWhat strange thing is this?\u201d he said. \u201cSurely nothing but the\nliving soul weeps; and how, then, can this bird shed tears?\u201d So\nhe took the raven up and looked into his eyes, and in them he saw\nthe prince\u2019s soul. \u201cAlas!\u201d he cried, \u201cmy heart misgives me that\nsomething strange has happened. Tell me, is this not my foster-son,\nthe prince?\u201d\n\nThe raven answered \u201cCroak!\u201d and nothing else; but the good old man\nunderstood it all, and the tears ran down his cheeks and trickled\nover his beard. \u201cWhether man or raven, you shall still be my son,\u201d\nsaid he, and he held the raven close in his arms and caressed it.\n\nHe had a golden cage made for the bird, and every day he would walk\nwith it in the garden, talking to it as a father talks to his son.\n\nOne day when they were thus in the garden together a strange\nlady came towards them down the pathway. Over her head and face\nwas drawn a thick veil, so that the two could not tell who she\nwas. When she came close to them she raised the veil, and the\nraven-prince saw that her face was the living likeness of the\nqueen\u2019s; and yet there was something in it that was different. It\nwas the second sister of the queen, and the old man knew her and\nbowed before her.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said she. \u201cI know what the raven is, and that it is the\nprince, whom the queen has bewitched. I also know nearly as much of\nmagic as she, and it is that alone that has saved me so long from\nill. But danger hangs close over me; the queen only waits for the\nchance to bewitch me; and some day she will overpower me, for she\nis stronger than I. With the prince\u2019s aid I can overcome her and\nmake myself forever safe, and it is this that has brought me here\nto-day. My magic is powerful enough to change the prince back into\nhis true shape again, and I will do so if he will aid me in what\nfollows, and this is it: I will conjure the queen, and by-and-by\na great eagle will come flying, and its plumage will be as black\nas night. Then I myself will become an eagle, with black-and-white\nplumage, and we two will fight in the air. After a while we will\nboth fall to the ground, and then the prince must cut off the head\nof the black eagle with a knife I shall give him. Will you do\nthis,\u201d said she, turning to the raven, \u201cif I transform you to your\ntrue shape?\u201d\n\nThe raven bowed his head and said \u201cCroak!\u201d And the sister of the\nqueen knew that he meant yes.\n\nTherewith she drew a great, long, keen knife from her bosom, and\nthrust it into the ground. \u201cIt is with this knife of magic,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cthat you must cut off the black eagle\u2019s head.\u201d Then the\nwitch-princess gathered up some sand in her hand, and flung it into\nthe raven\u2019s face. \u201cResume,\u201d cried she, \u201cyour own shape!\u201d And in an\ninstant the prince was himself again. The next thing the sister\nof the queen did was to draw a circle upon the ground around the\nprince, the old man, and herself. On the circle she marked strange\nfigures here and there. Then, all three standing close together,\nshe began her conjurations, uttering strange words--now under her\nbreath, and now clear and loud.\n\nPresently the sky darkened, and it began to thunder and rumble.\nDarker it grew and darker, and the thunder crashed and roared. The\nearth trembled under their feet, and the trees swayed hither and\nthither as though tossed by a tempest. Then suddenly the uproar\nceased and all grew as still as death, the clouds rolled away,\nand in a moment the sun shone out once more, and all was calm and\nserene as it had been before. But still the princess muttered her\nconjurations, and as the prince and the old man looked they\nbeheld a speck that grew larger and larger, until they saw that\nit was an eagle as black as night that was coming swiftly flying\nthrough the sky. Then the queen\u2019s sister also saw it and ceased\nfrom her spells. She drew a little cap of feathers from her bosom\nwith trembling hands. \u201cRemember,\u201d said she to the prince; and, so\nsaying, clapped the feather cap upon her head. In an instant she\nherself became an eagle--pied, black and white--and, spreading her\nwings, leaped into the air.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFor a while the two eagles circled around and around; but at last\nthey dashed against one another, and, grappling with their talons,\ntumbled over and over until they struck the ground close to the two\nwho stood looking.\n\nThen the prince snatched the knife from the ground and ran to where\nthey lay struggling. \u201cWhich was I to kill?\u201d said he to the old man.\n\n\u201cAre they not birds of a feather?\u201d cried the foster-father. \u201cKill\nthem both, for then only shall we all be safe.\u201d\n\nThe prince needed no second telling to see the wisdom of what the\nold man said. In an instant he struck off the heads of both the\neagles, and thus put an end to both sorceresses, the lesser as\nwell as the greater. They buried both of the eagles in the garden\nwithout telling any one of what had happened. So soon as that was\ndone the old man bade the prince tell him all that had befallen\nhim, and the prince did so.\n\n\u201cAye! aye!\u201d said the old man, \u201cI see it all as clear as day. The\nblack dogs are the young men who have supped with the queen; the\nstatue is the good princess; and the basin of water is the water of\nlife, which has the power of taking away magic. Come; let us make\nhaste to bring help to all those poor unfortunates who have been\nlying under the queen\u2019s spells.\u201d\n\nThe prince needed no urging to do that. They hurried to the palace;\nthey crossed the garden to the stone wall. There they found the\nstone upon which the prince had set the black cross. He pressed his\nhand upon it, and it opened to him like a door. They descended the\nsteps, and went through the passageway, until they came out upon\nthe sea-shore. The black dogs came leaping towards them; but this\ntime it was to fawn upon them, and to lick their hands and faces.\n\nThe prince turned the great stone mill till the brazen boat came\nflying towards the shore. They entered it, and so crossed the water\nand came to the other side. They did not tarry in the garden, but\nwent straight to the snow-white palace and to the great vaulted\nchamber where was the statue. \u201cYes,\u201d said the old man, \u201cit is the\nyoungest princess, sure enough.\u201d\n\nThe prince said nothing, but he dipped up some of the water in his\npalm and dashed it upon the statue. \u201cIf you are the princess, take\nyour true shape again,\u201d said he. Before the words had left his lips\nthe statue became flesh and blood, and the princess stepped down\nfrom where she stood, and the prince thought that he had never seen\nany one so beautiful as she. \u201cYou have brought me back to life,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cand whatever I shall have shall be yours as well as\nmine.\u201d\n\nThen they all set their faces homeward again, and the prince took\nwith him a cupful of the water of life.\n\nWhen they reached the farther shore the black dogs came running to\nmeet them. The prince sprinkled the water he carried upon them, and\nas soon as it touched them that instant they were black dogs no\nlonger, but the tall, noble young men that the sorceress queen had\nbewitched. There, as the old man had hoped, he found his own three\nsons, and kissed them with the tears running down his face.\n\nBut when the people of that land learned that their youngest\nprincess, and the one whom they loved, had come back again, and\nthat the two sorceresses would trouble them no longer, they\nshouted and shouted for joy. All the town was hung with flags and\nilluminated, the fountains ran with wine, and nothing was heard but\nsounds of rejoicing. In the midst of it all the prince married the\nprincess, and so became the king of that country.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnd now to go back again to the beginning.\n\nAfter the youngest prince had been driven away from home, and the\nold king had divided the kingdom betwixt the other two, things\nwent for a while smoothly and joyfully. But by little and little\nthe king was put to one side until he became as nothing in his own\nland. At last hot words passed between the father and the two sons,\nand the end of the matter was that the king was driven from the\nland to shift for himself.\n\nNow, after the youngest prince had married and had become king of\nthat other land, he bethought himself of his father and his mother,\nand longed to see them again. So he set forth and travelled towards\nhis old home. In his journeying he came to a lonely house at the\nedge of a great forest, and there night came upon him. He sent one\nof the many of those who rode with him to ask whether he could not\nfind lodging there for the time, and who should answer the summons\nbut the king, his father, dressed in the coarse clothing of a\nforester. The old king did not know his own son in the kingly young\nking who sat upon his snow-white horse. He bade the visitor to\nenter, and he and the old queen served their son and bowed before\nhim.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe next morning the young king rode back to his own land, and then\nsent attendants with horses and splendid clothes, and bade them\nbring his father and mother to his own home.\n\nHe had a noble feast set for them, with everything befitting the\nentertainment of a king, but he ordered that not a grain of salt\nshould season it.\n\nSo the father and the mother sat down to the feast with their son\nand his queen, but all the time they did not know him. The old king\ntasted the food and tasted the food, but he could not eat of it.\n\n\u201cDo you not feel hungry?\u201d said the young king.\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d said his father, \u201cI crave your majesty\u2019s pardon, but there\nis no salt in the food.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so is life lacking of savor without love,\u201d said the young\nking; \u201cand yet because I loved you as salt you disowned me and cast\nme out into the world.\u201d\n\nTherewith he could contain himself no longer, but with the tears\nrunning down his cheeks kissed his father and his mother; and they\nknew him, and kissed him again.\n\nAfterwards the young king went with a great army into the country\nof his elder brothers, and, overcoming them, set his father upon\nhis throne again. If ever the two got back their crowns you may\nbe sure that they wore them more modestly than they did the first\ntime.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_So the Fisherman who had one time unbottled the Genie whom Solomon\nthe Wise had stoppered up concluded his story, and all of the good\nfolk who were there began clapping their shadowy hands._\n\n_\u201cAye, aye,\u201d said old Bidpai, \u201cthere is much truth in\nwhat you say, for it is verily so that that which men\ncall--love--is--the--salt--of--\u201d_ * * *\n\n_His voice had been fading away thinner and thinner and smaller and\nsmaller--now it was like the shadow of a voice; now it trembled and\nquivered out into silence and was gone._\n\n * * * * *\n\n_And with the voice of old Bidpai the pleasant Land of Twilight was\nalso gone. As a breath fades away from a mirror, so had it faded\nand vanished into nothingness._\n\n * * * * *\n\n_I opened my eyes._\n\n_There was a yellow light--it came from the evening lamp. There\nwere people of flesh and blood around--my own dear people--and\nthey were talking together. There was the library with the rows\nof books looking silently out from their shelves. There was the\nfire of hickory logs crackling and snapping in the fireplace, and\nthrowing a wavering, yellow light on the wall._\n\n_Had I been asleep? No; I had been in Twilight Land._\n\n_And now the pleasant Twilight Land had gone. It had faded out, and\nI was back again in the work-a-day world._\n\n_There I was sitting in my chair; and, what was more, it was time\nfor the children to go to bed._\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n\n Transcribers Notes:\n\n Obvious punctuation errors repaired.\n\n Hyphenation used inconsistently was not changed:\n\n Both \u201canteroom\u201d and \u201cante-room\u201d are used in the text.\n\n Both \u201cbyways\u201d and \u201cby-ways\u201d are used in the text.\n\n Both \u201clivelong\u201d and \u201clive-long\u201d are used in the text.\n\n Both \u201cmerrymaking\u201d and \u201cmerry-making\u201d are used in the text.\n\n Both \u201cpassageway(s)\u201d and \u201cpassage-way(s)\u201d are used in the text.\n\n Apparent printing errors in hyphenation and spelling were repaired:\n\n page 117: \u201cdoor-way\u201d changed to \u201cdoorway\u201d (through an arch doorway\n into a garden)\n\n page 358: \u201ctwelve-month\u201d changed to \u201ctwelvemonth\u201d (had I known that\n in a twelvemonth it would all come tumbling down)\n\n page 384: missing \u201ce\u201d added (All Things are as Fate wills.)\n\n page 437: \u201cana\u201d changed to \u201cand\u201d (His voice had been fading away\n thinner and thinner)","title":"Twilight Land","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":73693}