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diff --git a/873-0.txt b/873-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79b696f --- /dev/null +++ b/873-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3729 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A House of Pomegranates, by Oscar Wilde + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: A House of Pomegranates + + +Author: Oscar Wilde + + + +Release Date: October 26, 2014 [eBook #873] +[This file was first posted on April 8, 1997] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES*** + + +Transcribed from the 1915 Methuen and Co. edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org + + [Picture: Book cover] + + * * * * * + + TO + CONSTANCE MARY WILDE + + * * * * * + + + + + + A HOUSE + OF POMEGRANATES + + + BY + OSCAR WILDE + + * * * * * + + METHUEN & CO. LTD. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + + _Seventh Edition_ + +_First Published_ 1891 +_First Issued by Methuen and Co._ (_Limited Editions on 1908 +Handmade Paper and Japanese Vellum_) +_Third Edition_ (_F’cap._ 8_vo_) 1909 +_Fourth Edition_ ( ,, ) 1911 +_Fifth Edition_ ( ,, ) 1913 +_Sixth Edition_ (_Crown_ 4_to_, _Illustrated by Jessie 1915 +King_) +_Seventh Edition_ (_F’cap._ 8_vo_) 1915 + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +THE YOUNG KING 1 +THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA 31 +THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL 73 +THE STAR-CHILD 147 + + + + +THE YOUNG KING + + + TO + MARGARET LADY BROOKE + [THE RANEE OF SARAWAK] + +IT was the night before the day fixed for his coronation, and the young +King was sitting alone in his beautiful chamber. His courtiers had all +taken their leave of him, bowing their heads to the ground, according to +the ceremonious usage of the day, and had retired to the Great Hall of +the Palace, to receive a few last lessons from the Professor of +Etiquette; there being some of them who had still quite natural manners, +which in a courtier is, I need hardly say, a very grave offence. + +The lad—for he was only a lad, being but sixteen years of age—was not +sorry at their departure, and had flung himself back with a deep sigh of +relief on the soft cushions of his embroidered couch, lying there, +wild-eyed and open-mouthed, like a brown woodland Faun, or some young +animal of the forest newly snared by the hunters. + +And, indeed, it was the hunters who had found him, coming upon him almost +by chance as, bare-limbed and pipe in hand, he was following the flock of +the poor goatherd who had brought him up, and whose son he had always +fancied himself to be. The child of the old King’s only daughter by a +secret marriage with one much beneath her in station—a stranger, some +said, who, by the wonderful magic of his lute-playing, had made the young +Princess love him; while others spoke of an artist from Rimini, to whom +the Princess had shown much, perhaps too much honour, and who had +suddenly disappeared from the city, leaving his work in the Cathedral +unfinished—he had been, when but a week old, stolen away from his +mother’s side, as she slept, and given into the charge of a common +peasant and his wife, who were without children of their own, and lived +in a remote part of the forest, more than a day’s ride from the town. +Grief, or the plague, as the court physician stated, or, as some +suggested, a swift Italian poison administered in a cup of spiced wine, +slew, within an hour of her wakening, the white girl who had given him +birth, and as the trusty messenger who bare the child across his +saddle-bow stooped from his weary horse and knocked at the rude door of +the goatherd’s hut, the body of the Princess was being lowered into an +open grave that had been dug in a deserted churchyard, beyond the city +gates, a grave where it was said that another body was also lying, that +of a young man of marvellous and foreign beauty, whose hands were tied +behind him with a knotted cord, and whose breast was stabbed with many +red wounds. + +Such, at least, was the story that men whispered to each other. Certain +it was that the old King, when on his deathbed, whether moved by remorse +for his great sin, or merely desiring that the kingdom should not pass +away from his line, had had the lad sent for, and, in the presence of the +Council, had acknowledged him as his heir. + +And it seems that from the very first moment of his recognition he had +shown signs of that strange passion for beauty that was destined to have +so great an influence over his life. Those who accompanied him to the +suite of rooms set apart for his service, often spoke of the cry of +pleasure that broke from his lips when he saw the delicate raiment and +rich jewels that had been prepared for him, and of the almost fierce joy +with which he flung aside his rough leathern tunic and coarse sheepskin +cloak. He missed, indeed, at times the fine freedom of his forest life, +and was always apt to chafe at the tedious Court ceremonies that occupied +so much of each day, but the wonderful palace—_Joyeuse_, as they called +it—of which he now found himself lord, seemed to him to be a new world +fresh-fashioned for his delight; and as soon as he could escape from the +council-board or audience-chamber, he would run down the great staircase, +with its lions of gilt bronze and its steps of bright porphyry, and +wander from room to room, and from corridor to corridor, like one who was +seeking to find in beauty an anodyne from pain, a sort of restoration +from sickness. + +Upon these journeys of discovery, as he would call them—and, indeed, they +were to him real voyages through a marvellous land, he would sometimes be +accompanied by the slim, fair-haired Court pages, with their floating +mantles, and gay fluttering ribands; but more often he would be alone, +feeling through a certain quick instinct, which was almost a divination, +that the secrets of art are best learned in secret, and that Beauty, like +Wisdom, loves the lonely worshipper. + + * * * * * + +Many curious stories were related about him at this period. It was said +that a stout Burgo-master, who had come to deliver a florid oratorical +address on behalf of the citizens of the town, had caught sight of him +kneeling in real adoration before a great picture that had just been +brought from Venice, and that seemed to herald the worship of some new +gods. On another occasion he had been missed for several hours, and +after a lengthened search had been discovered in a little chamber in one +of the northern turrets of the palace gazing, as one in a trance, at a +Greek gem carved with the figure of Adonis. He had been seen, so the +tale ran, pressing his warm lips to the marble brow of an antique statue +that had been discovered in the bed of the river on the occasion of the +building of the stone bridge, and was inscribed with the name of the +Bithynian slave of Hadrian. He had passed a whole night in noting the +effect of the moonlight on a silver image of Endymion. + +All rare and costly materials had certainly a great fascination for him, +and in his eagerness to procure them he had sent away many merchants, +some to traffic for amber with the rough fisher-folk of the north seas, +some to Egypt to look for that curious green turquoise which is found +only in the tombs of kings, and is said to possess magical properties, +some to Persia for silken carpets and painted pottery, and others to +India to buy gauze and stained ivory, moonstones and bracelets of jade, +sandal-wood and blue enamel and shawls of fine wool. + +But what had occupied him most was the robe he was to wear at his +coronation, the robe of tissued gold, and the ruby-studded crown, and the +sceptre with its rows and rings of pearls. Indeed, it was of this that +he was thinking to-night, as he lay back on his luxurious couch, watching +the great pinewood log that was burning itself out on the open hearth. +The designs, which were from the hands of the most famous artists of the +time, had been submitted to him many months before, and he had given +orders that the artificers were to toil night and day to carry them out, +and that the whole world was to be searched for jewels that would be +worthy of their work. He saw himself in fancy standing at the high altar +of the cathedral in the fair raiment of a King, and a smile played and +lingered about his boyish lips, and lit up with a bright lustre his dark +woodland eyes. + +After some time he rose from his seat, and leaning against the carved +penthouse of the chimney, looked round at the dimly-lit room. The walls +were hung with rich tapestries representing the Triumph of Beauty. A +large press, inlaid with agate and lapis-lazuli, filled one corner, and +facing the window stood a curiously wrought cabinet with lacquer panels +of powdered and mosaiced gold, on which were placed some delicate goblets +of Venetian glass, and a cup of dark-veined onyx. Pale poppies were +broidered on the silk coverlet of the bed, as though they had fallen from +the tired hands of sleep, and tall reeds of fluted ivory bare up the +velvet canopy, from which great tufts of ostrich plumes sprang, like +white foam, to the pallid silver of the fretted ceiling. A laughing +Narcissus in green bronze held a polished mirror above its head. On the +table stood a flat bowl of amethyst. + +Outside he could see the huge dome of the cathedral, looming like a +bubble over the shadowy houses, and the weary sentinels pacing up and +down on the misty terrace by the river. Far away, in an orchard, a +nightingale was singing. A faint perfume of jasmine came through the +open window. He brushed his brown curls back from his forehead, and +taking up a lute, let his fingers stray across the cords. His heavy +eyelids drooped, and a strange languor came over him. Never before had +he felt so keenly, or with such exquisite joy, the magic and the mystery +of beautiful things. + +When midnight sounded from the clock-tower he touched a bell, and his +pages entered and disrobed him with much ceremony, pouring rose-water +over his hands, and strewing flowers on his pillow. A few moments after +that they had left the room, he fell asleep. + + * * * * * + +And as he slept he dreamed a dream, and this was his dream. + +He thought that he was standing in a long, low attic, amidst the whir and +clatter of many looms. The meagre daylight peered in through the grated +windows, and showed him the gaunt figures of the weavers bending over +their cases. Pale, sickly-looking children were crouched on the huge +crossbeams. As the shuttles dashed through the warp they lifted up the +heavy battens, and when the shuttles stopped they let the battens fall +and pressed the threads together. Their faces were pinched with famine, +and their thin hands shook and trembled. Some haggard women were seated +at a table sewing. A horrible odour filled the place. The air was foul +and heavy, and the walls dripped and streamed with damp. + +The young King went over to one of the weavers, and stood by him and +watched him. + +And the weaver looked at him angrily, and said, ‘Why art thou watching +me? Art thou a spy set on us by our master?’ + +‘Who is thy master?’ asked the young King. + +‘Our master!’ cried the weaver, bitterly. ‘He is a man like myself. +Indeed, there is but this difference between us—that he wears fine +clothes while I go in rags, and that while I am weak from hunger he +suffers not a little from overfeeding.’ + +‘The land is free,’ said the young King, ‘and thou art no man’s slave.’ + +‘In war,’ answered the weaver, ‘the strong make slaves of the weak, and +in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and +they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, +and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before +their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. We +tread out the grapes, and another drinks the wine. We sow the corn, and +our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and +are slaves, though men call us free.’ + +‘Is it so with all?’ he asked, + +‘It is so with all,’ answered the weaver, ‘with the young as well as with +the old, with the women as well as with the men, with the little children +as well as with those who are stricken in years. The merchants grind us +down, and we must needs do their bidding. The priest rides by and tells +his beads, and no man has care of us. Through our sunless lanes creeps +Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden face follows close +behind her. Misery wakes us in the morning, and Shame sits with us at +night. But what are these things to thee? Thou art not one of us. Thy +face is too happy.’ And he turned away scowling, and threw the shuttle +across the loom, and the young King saw that it was threaded with a +thread of gold. + +And a great terror seized upon him, and he said to the weaver, ‘What robe +is this that thou art weaving?’ + +‘It is the robe for the coronation of the young King,’ he answered; ‘what +is that to thee?’ + +And the young King gave a loud cry and woke, and lo! he was in his own +chamber, and through the window he saw the great honey-coloured moon +hanging in the dusky air. + + * * * * * + +And he fell asleep again and dreamed, and this was his dream. + +He thought that he was lying on the deck of a huge galley that was being +rowed by a hundred slaves. On a carpet by his side the master of the +galley was seated. He was black as ebony, and his turban was of crimson +silk. Great earrings of silver dragged down the thick lobes of his ears, +and in his hands he had a pair of ivory scales. + +The slaves were naked, but for a ragged loin-cloth, and each man was +chained to his neighbour. The hot sun beat brightly upon them, and the +negroes ran up and down the gangway and lashed them with whips of hide. +They stretched out their lean arms and pulled the heavy oars through the +water. The salt spray flew from the blades. + +At last they reached a little bay, and began to take soundings. A light +wind blew from the shore, and covered the deck and the great lateen sail +with a fine red dust. Three Arabs mounted on wild asses rode out and +threw spears at them. The master of the galley took a painted bow in his +hand and shot one of them in the throat. He fell heavily into the surf, +and his companions galloped away. A woman wrapped in a yellow veil +followed slowly on a camel, looking back now and then at the dead body. + +As soon as they had cast anchor and hauled down the sail, the negroes +went into the hold and brought up a long rope-ladder, heavily weighted +with lead. The master of the galley threw it over the side, making the +ends fast to two iron stanchions. Then the negroes seized the youngest +of the slaves and knocked his gyves off, and filled his nostrils and his +ears with wax, and tied a big stone round his waist. He crept wearily +down the ladder, and disappeared into the sea. A few bubbles rose where +he sank. Some of the other slaves peered curiously over the side. At +the prow of the galley sat a shark-charmer, beating monotonously upon a +drum. + +After some time the diver rose up out of the water, and clung panting to +the ladder with a pearl in his right hand. The negroes seized it from +him, and thrust him back. The slaves fell asleep over their oars. + +Again and again he came up, and each time that he did so he brought with +him a beautiful pearl. The master of the galley weighed them, and put +them into a little bag of green leather. + +The young King tried to speak, but his tongue seemed to cleave to the +roof of his mouth, and his lips refused to move. The negroes chattered +to each other, and began to quarrel over a string of bright beads. Two +cranes flew round and round the vessel. + +Then the diver came up for the last time, and the pearl that he brought +with him was fairer than all the pearls of Ormuz, for it was shaped like +the full moon, and whiter than the morning star. But his face was +strangely pale, and as he fell upon the deck the blood gushed from his +ears and nostrils. He quivered for a little, and then he was still. The +negroes shrugged their shoulders, and threw the body overboard. + +And the master of the galley laughed, and, reaching out, he took the +pearl, and when he saw it he pressed it to his forehead and bowed. ‘It +shall be,’ he said, ‘for the sceptre of the young King,’ and he made a +sign to the negroes to draw up the anchor. + +And when the young King heard this he gave a great cry, and woke, and +through the window he saw the long grey fingers of the dawn clutching at +the fading stars. + + * * * * * + +And he fell asleep again, and dreamed, and this was his dream. + +He thought that he was wandering through a dim wood, hung with strange +fruits and with beautiful poisonous flowers. The adders hissed at him as +he went by, and the bright parrots flew screaming from branch to branch. +Huge tortoises lay asleep upon the hot mud. The trees were full of apes +and peacocks. + +On and on he went, till he reached the outskirts of the wood, and there +he saw an immense multitude of men toiling in the bed of a dried-up +river. They swarmed up the crag like ants. They dug deep pits in the +ground and went down into them. Some of them cleft the rocks with great +axes; others grabbled in the sand. + +They tore up the cactus by its roots, and trampled on the scarlet +blossoms. They hurried about, calling to each other, and no man was +idle. + +From the darkness of a cavern Death and Avarice watched them, and Death +said, ‘I am weary; give me a third of them and let me go.’ But Avarice +shook her head. ‘They are my servants,’ she answered. + +And Death said to her, ‘What hast thou in thy hand?’ + +‘I have three grains of corn,’ she answered; ‘what is that to thee?’ + +‘Give me one of them,’ cried Death, ‘to plant in my garden; only one of +them, and I will go away.’ + +‘I will not give thee anything,’ said Avarice, and she hid her hand in +the fold of her raiment. + +And Death laughed, and took a cup, and dipped it into a pool of water, +and out of the cup rose Ague. She passed through the great multitude, +and a third of them lay dead. A cold mist followed her, and the +water-snakes ran by her side. + +And when Avarice saw that a third of the multitude was dead she beat her +breast and wept. She beat her barren bosom, and cried aloud. ‘Thou hast +slain a third of my servants,’ she cried, ‘get thee gone. There is war +in the mountains of Tartary, and the kings of each side are calling to +thee. The Afghans have slain the black ox, and are marching to battle. +They have beaten upon their shields with their spears, and have put on +their helmets of iron. What is my valley to thee, that thou shouldst +tarry in it? Get thee gone, and come here no more.’ + +‘Nay,’ answered Death, ‘but till thou hast given me a grain of corn I +will not go.’ + +But Avarice shut her hand, and clenched her teeth. ‘I will not give thee +anything,’ she muttered. + +And Death laughed, and took up a black stone, and threw it into the +forest, and out of a thicket of wild hemlock came Fever in a robe of +flame. She passed through the multitude, and touched them, and each man +that she touched died. The grass withered beneath her feet as she +walked. + +And Avarice shuddered, and put ashes on her head. ‘Thou art cruel,’ she +cried; ‘thou art cruel. There is famine in the walled cities of India, +and the cisterns of Samarcand have run dry. There is famine in the +walled cities of Egypt, and the locusts have come up from the desert. +The Nile has not overflowed its banks, and the priests have cursed Isis +and Osiris. Get thee gone to those who need thee, and leave me my +servants.’ + +‘Nay,’ answered Death, ‘but till thou hast given me a grain of corn I +will not go.’ + +‘I will not give thee anything,’ said Avarice. + +And Death laughed again, and he whistled through his fingers, and a woman +came flying through the air. Plague was written upon her forehead, and a +crowd of lean vultures wheeled round her. She covered the valley with +her wings, and no man was left alive. + +And Avarice fled shrieking through the forest, and Death leaped upon his +red horse and galloped away, and his galloping was faster than the wind. + +And out of the slime at the bottom of the valley crept dragons and +horrible things with scales, and the jackals came trotting along the +sand, sniffing up the air with their nostrils. + +And the young King wept, and said: ‘Who were these men, and for what were +they seeking?’ + +‘For rubies for a king’s crown,’ answered one who stood behind him. + +And the young King started, and, turning round, he saw a man habited as a +pilgrim and holding in his hand a mirror of silver. + +And he grew pale, and said: ‘For what king?’ + +And the pilgrim answered: ‘Look in this mirror, and thou shalt see him.’ + +And he looked in the mirror, and, seeing his own face, he gave a great +cry and woke, and the bright sunlight was streaming into the room, and +from the trees of the garden and pleasaunce the birds were singing. + + * * * * * + +And the Chamberlain and the high officers of State came in and made +obeisance to him, and the pages brought him the robe of tissued gold, and +set the crown and the sceptre before him. + +And the young King looked at them, and they were beautiful. More +beautiful were they than aught that he had ever seen. But he remembered +his dreams, and he said to his lords: ‘Take these things away, for I will +not wear them.’ + +And the courtiers were amazed, and some of them laughed, for they thought +that he was jesting. + +But he spake sternly to them again, and said: ‘Take these things away, +and hide them from me. Though it be the day of my coronation, I will not +wear them. For on the loom of Sorrow, and by the white hands of Pain, +has this my robe been woven. There is Blood in the heart of the ruby, +and Death in the heart of the pearl.’ And he told them his three dreams. + +And when the courtiers heard them they looked at each other and +whispered, saying: ‘Surely he is mad; for what is a dream but a dream, +and a vision but a vision? They are not real things that one should heed +them. And what have we to do with the lives of those who toil for us? +Shall a man not eat bread till he has seen the sower, nor drink wine till +he has talked with the vinedresser?’ + +And the Chamberlain spake to the young King, and said, ‘My lord, I pray +thee set aside these black thoughts of thine, and put on this fair robe, +and set this crown upon thy head. For how shall the people know that +thou art a king, if thou hast not a king’s raiment?’ + +And the young King looked at him. ‘Is it so, indeed?’ he questioned. +‘Will they not know me for a king if I have not a king’s raiment?’ + +‘They will not know thee, my lord,’ cried the Chamberlain. + +‘I had thought that there had been men who were kinglike,’ he answered, +‘but it may be as thou sayest. And yet I will not wear this robe, nor +will I be crowned with this crown, but even as I came to the palace so +will I go forth from it.’ + +And he bade them all leave him, save one page whom he kept as his +companion, a lad a year younger than himself. Him he kept for his +service, and when he had bathed himself in clear water, he opened a great +painted chest, and from it he took the leathern tunic and rough sheepskin +cloak that he had worn when he had watched on the hillside the shaggy +goats of the goatherd. These he put on, and in his hand he took his rude +shepherd’s staff. + +And the little page opened his big blue eyes in wonder, and said smiling +to him, ‘My lord, I see thy robe and thy sceptre, but where is thy +crown?’ + +And the young King plucked a spray of wild briar that was climbing over +the balcony, and bent it, and made a circlet of it, and set it on his own +head. + +‘This shall he my crown,’ he answered. + +And thus attired he passed out of his chamber into the Great Hall, where +the nobles were waiting for him. + +And the nobles made merry, and some of them cried out to him, ‘My lord, +the people wait for their king, and thou showest them a beggar,’ and +others were wroth and said, ‘He brings shame upon our state, and is +unworthy to be our master.’ But he answered them not a word, but passed +on, and went down the bright porphyry staircase, and out through the +gates of bronze, and mounted upon his horse, and rode towards the +cathedral, the little page running beside him. + +And the people laughed and said, ‘It is the King’s fool who is riding +by,’ and they mocked him. + +And he drew rein and said, ‘Nay, but I am the King.’ And he told them +his three dreams. + +And a man came out of the crowd and spake bitterly to him, and said, +‘Sir, knowest thou not that out of the luxury of the rich cometh the life +of the poor? By your pomp we are nurtured, and your vices give us bread. +To toil for a hard master is bitter, but to have no master to toil for is +more bitter still. Thinkest thou that the ravens will feed us? And what +cure hast thou for these things? Wilt thou say to the buyer, “Thou shalt +buy for so much,” and to the seller, “Thou shalt sell at this price”? I +trow not. Therefore go back to thy Palace and put on thy purple and fine +linen. What hast thou to do with us, and what we suffer?’ + +‘Are not the rich and the poor brothers?’ asked the young King. + +‘Ay,’ answered the man, ‘and the name of the rich brother is Cain.’ + +And the young King’s eyes filled with tears, and he rode on through the +murmurs of the people, and the little page grew afraid and left him. + +And when he reached the great portal of the cathedral, the soldiers +thrust their halberts out and said, ‘What dost thou seek here? None +enters by this door but the King.’ + +And his face flushed with anger, and he said to them, ‘I am the King,’ +and waved their halberts aside and passed in. + +And when the old Bishop saw him coming in his goatherd’s dress, he rose +up in wonder from his throne, and went to meet him, and said to him, ‘My +son, is this a king’s apparel? And with what crown shall I crown thee, +and what sceptre shall I place in thy hand? Surely this should be to +thee a day of joy, and not a day of abasement.’ + +‘Shall Joy wear what Grief has fashioned?’ said the young King. And he +told him his three dreams. + +And when the Bishop had heard them he knit his brows, and said, ‘My son, +I am an old man, and in the winter of my days, and I know that many evil +things are done in the wide world. The fierce robbers come down from the +mountains, and carry off the little children, and sell them to the Moors. +The lions lie in wait for the caravans, and leap upon the camels. The +wild boar roots up the corn in the valley, and the foxes gnaw the vines +upon the hill. The pirates lay waste the sea-coast and burn the ships of +the fishermen, and take their nets from them. In the salt-marshes live +the lepers; they have houses of wattled reeds, and none may come nigh +them. The beggars wander through the cities, and eat their food with the +dogs. Canst thou make these things not to be? Wilt thou take the leper +for thy bedfellow, and set the beggar at thy board? Shall the lion do +thy bidding, and the wild boar obey thee? Is not He who made misery +wiser than thou art? Wherefore I praise thee not for this that thou hast +done, but I bid thee ride back to the Palace and make thy face glad, and +put on the raiment that beseemeth a king, and with the crown of gold I +will crown thee, and the sceptre of pearl will I place in thy hand. And +as for thy dreams, think no more of them. The burden of this world is +too great for one man to bear, and the world’s sorrow too heavy for one +heart to suffer.’ + +‘Sayest thou that in this house?’ said the young King, and he strode past +the Bishop, and climbed up the steps of the altar, and stood before the +image of Christ. + +He stood before the image of Christ, and on his right hand and on his +left were the marvellous vessels of gold, the chalice with the yellow +wine, and the vial with the holy oil. He knelt before the image of +Christ, and the great candles burned brightly by the jewelled shrine, and +the smoke of the incense curled in thin blue wreaths through the dome. +He bowed his head in prayer, and the priests in their stiff copes crept +away from the altar. + +And suddenly a wild tumult came from the street outside, and in entered +the nobles with drawn swords and nodding plumes, and shields of polished +steel. ‘Where is this dreamer of dreams?’ they cried. ‘Where is this +King who is apparelled like a beggar—this boy who brings shame upon our +state? Surely we will slay him, for he is unworthy to rule over us.’ + +And the young King bowed his head again, and prayed, and when he had +finished his prayer he rose up, and turning round he looked at them +sadly. + +And lo! through the painted windows came the sunlight streaming upon him, +and the sun-beams wove round him a tissued robe that was fairer than the +robe that had been fashioned for his pleasure. The dead staff blossomed, +and bare lilies that were whiter than pearls. The dry thorn blossomed, +and bare roses that were redder than rubies. Whiter than fine pearls +were the lilies, and their stems were of bright silver. Redder than male +rubies were the roses, and their leaves were of beaten gold. + +He stood there in the raiment of a king, and the gates of the jewelled +shrine flew open, and from the crystal of the many-rayed monstrance shone +a marvellous and mystical light. He stood there in a king’s raiment, and +the Glory of God filled the place, and the saints in their carven niches +seemed to move. In the fair raiment of a king he stood before them, and +the organ pealed out its music, and the trumpeters blew upon their +trumpets, and the singing boys sang. + +And the people fell upon their knees in awe, and the nobles sheathed +their swords and did homage, and the Bishop’s face grew pale, and his +hands trembled. ‘A greater than I hath crowned thee,’ he cried, and he +knelt before him. + +And the young King came down from the high altar, and passed home through +the midst of the people. But no man dared look upon his face, for it was +like the face of an angel. + + + + +THE BIRTHDAY OF THE INFANTA + + + TO + MRS. WILLIAM H. GRENFELL + OF TAPLOW COURT + [LADY DESBOROUGH] + +IT was the birthday of the Infanta. She was just twelve years of age, +and the sun was shining brightly in the gardens of the palace. + +Although she was a real Princess and the Infanta of Spain, she had only +one birthday every year, just like the children of quite poor people, so +it was naturally a matter of great importance to the whole country that +she should have a really fine day for the occasion. And a really fine +day it certainly was. The tall striped tulips stood straight up upon +their stalks, like long rows of soldiers, and looked defiantly across the +grass at the roses, and said: ‘We are quite as splendid as you are now.’ +The purple butterflies fluttered about with gold dust on their wings, +visiting each flower in turn; the little lizards crept out of the +crevices of the wall, and lay basking in the white glare; and the +pomegranates split and cracked with the heat, and showed their bleeding +red hearts. Even the pale yellow lemons, that hung in such profusion +from the mouldering trellis and along the dim arcades, seemed to have +caught a richer colour from the wonderful sunlight, and the magnolia +trees opened their great globe-like blossoms of folded ivory, and filled +the air with a sweet heavy perfume. + +The little Princess herself walked up and down the terrace with her +companions, and played at hide and seek round the stone vases and the old +moss-grown statues. On ordinary days she was only allowed to play with +children of her own rank, so she had always to play alone, but her +birthday was an exception, and the King had given orders that she was to +invite any of her young friends whom she liked to come and amuse +themselves with her. There was a stately grace about these slim Spanish +children as they glided about, the boys with their large-plumed hats and +short fluttering cloaks, the girls holding up the trains of their long +brocaded gowns, and shielding the sun from their eyes with huge fans of +black and silver. But the Infanta was the most graceful of all, and the +most tastefully attired, after the somewhat cumbrous fashion of the day. +Her robe was of grey satin, the skirt and the wide puffed sleeves heavily +embroidered with silver, and the stiff corset studded with rows of fine +pearls. Two tiny slippers with big pink rosettes peeped out beneath her +dress as she walked. Pink and pearl was her great gauze fan, and in her +hair, which like an aureole of faded gold stood out stiffly round her +pale little face, she had a beautiful white rose. + +From a window in the palace the sad melancholy King watched them. Behind +him stood his brother, Don Pedro of Aragon, whom he hated, and his +confessor, the Grand Inquisitor of Granada, sat by his side. Sadder even +than usual was the King, for as he looked at the Infanta bowing with +childish gravity to the assembling counters, or laughing behind her fan +at the grim Duchess of Albuquerque who always accompanied her, he thought +of the young Queen, her mother, who but a short time before—so it seemed +to him—had come from the gay country of France, and had withered away in +the sombre splendour of the Spanish court, dying just six months after +the birth of her child, and before she had seen the almonds blossom twice +in the orchard, or plucked the second year’s fruit from the old gnarled +fig-tree that stood in the centre of the now grass-grown courtyard. So +great had been his love for her that he had not suffered even the grave +to hide her from him. She had been embalmed by a Moorish physician, who +in return for this service had been granted his life, which for heresy +and suspicion of magical practices had been already forfeited, men said, +to the Holy Office, and her body was still lying on its tapestried bier +in the black marble chapel of the Palace, just as the monks had borne her +in on that windy March day nearly twelve years before. Once every month +the King, wrapped in a dark cloak and with a muffled lantern in his hand, +went in and knelt by her side calling out, ‘_Mi reina_! _Mi reina_!’ and +sometimes breaking through the formal etiquette that in Spain governs +every separate action of life, and sets limits even to the sorrow of a +King, he would clutch at the pale jewelled hands in a wild agony of +grief, and try to wake by his mad kisses the cold painted face. + +To-day he seemed to see her again, as he had seen her first at the Castle +of Fontainebleau, when he was but fifteen years of age, and she still +younger. They had been formally betrothed on that occasion by the Papal +Nuncio in the presence of the French King and all the Court, and he had +returned to the Escurial bearing with him a little ringlet of yellow +hair, and the memory of two childish lips bending down to kiss his hand +as he stepped into his carriage. Later on had followed the marriage, +hastily performed at Burgos, a small town on the frontier between the two +countries, and the grand public entry into Madrid with the customary +celebration of high mass at the Church of La Atocha, and a more than +usually solemn _auto-da-fé_, in which nearly three hundred heretics, +amongst whom were many Englishmen, had been delivered over to the secular +arm to be burned. + +Certainly he had loved her madly, and to the ruin, many thought, of his +country, then at war with England for the possession of the empire of the +New World. He had hardly ever permitted her to be out of his sight; for +her, he had forgotten, or seemed to have forgotten, all grave affairs of +State; and, with that terrible blindness that passion brings upon its +servants, he had failed to notice that the elaborate ceremonies by which +he sought to please her did but aggravate the strange malady from which +she suffered. When she died he was, for a time, like one bereft of +reason. Indeed, there is no doubt but that he would have formally +abdicated and retired to the great Trappist monastery at Granada, of +which he was already titular Prior, had he not been afraid to leave the +little Infanta at the mercy of his brother, whose cruelty, even in Spain, +was notorious, and who was suspected by many of having caused the Queen’s +death by means of a pair of poisoned gloves that he had presented to her +on the occasion of her visiting his castle in Aragon. Even after the +expiration of the three years of public mourning that he had ordained +throughout his whole dominions by royal edict, he would never suffer his +ministers to speak about any new alliance, and when the Emperor himself +sent to him, and offered him the hand of the lovely Archduchess of +Bohemia, his niece, in marriage, he bade the ambassadors tell their +master that the King of Spain was already wedded to Sorrow, and that +though she was but a barren bride he loved her better than Beauty; an +answer that cost his crown the rich provinces of the Netherlands, which +soon after, at the Emperor’s instigation, revolted against him under the +leadership of some fanatics of the Reformed Church. + +His whole married life, with its fierce, fiery-coloured joys and the +terrible agony of its sudden ending, seemed to come back to him to-day as +he watched the Infanta playing on the terrace. She had all the Queen’s +pretty petulance of manner, the same wilful way of tossing her head, the +same proud curved beautiful mouth, the same wonderful smile—_vrai sourire +de France_ indeed—as she glanced up now and then at the window, or +stretched out her little hand for the stately Spanish gentlemen to kiss. +But the shrill laughter of the children grated on his ears, and the +bright pitiless sunlight mocked his sorrow, and a dull odour of strange +spices, spices such as embalmers use, seemed to taint—or was it +fancy?—the clear morning air. He buried his face in his hands, and when +the Infanta looked up again the curtains had been drawn, and the King had +retired. + +She made a little _moue_ of disappointment, and shrugged her shoulders. +Surely he might have stayed with her on her birthday. What did the +stupid State-affairs matter? Or had he gone to that gloomy chapel, where +the candles were always burning, and where she was never allowed to +enter? How silly of him, when the sun was shining so brightly, and +everybody was so happy! Besides, he would miss the sham bull-fight for +which the trumpet was already sounding, to say nothing of the puppet-show +and the other wonderful things. Her uncle and the Grand Inquisitor were +much more sensible. They had come out on the terrace, and paid her nice +compliments. So she tossed her pretty head, and taking Don Pedro by the +hand, she walked slowly down the steps towards a long pavilion of purple +silk that had been erected at the end of the garden, the other children +following in strict order of precedence, those who had the longest names +going first. + + * * * * * + +A procession of noble boys, fantastically dressed as _toreadors_, came +out to meet her, and the young Count of Tierra-Nueva, a wonderfully +handsome lad of about fourteen years of age, uncovering his head with all +the grace of a born hidalgo and grandee of Spain, led her solemnly in to +a little gilt and ivory chair that was placed on a raised dais above the +arena. The children grouped themselves all round, fluttering their big +fans and whispering to each other, and Don Pedro and the Grand Inquisitor +stood laughing at the entrance. Even the Duchess—the Camerera-Mayor as +she was called—a thin, hard-featured woman with a yellow ruff, did not +look quite so bad-tempered as usual, and something like a chill smile +flitted across her wrinkled face and twitched her thin bloodless lips. + +It certainly was a marvellous bull-fight, and much nicer, the Infanta +thought, than the real bull-fight that she had been brought to see at +Seville, on the occasion of the visit of the Duke of Parma to her father. +Some of the boys pranced about on richly-caparisoned hobby-horses +brandishing long javelins with gay streamers of bright ribands attached +to them; others went on foot waving their scarlet cloaks before the bull, +and vaulting lightly over the barrier when he charged them; and as for +the bull himself, he was just like a live bull, though he was only made +of wicker-work and stretched hide, and sometimes insisted on running +round the arena on his hind legs, which no live bull ever dreams of +doing. He made a splendid fight of it too, and the children got so +excited that they stood up upon the benches, and waved their lace +handkerchiefs and cried out: _Bravo toro_! _Bravo toro_! just as +sensibly as if they had been grown-up people. At last, however, after a +prolonged combat, during which several of the hobby-horses were gored +through and through, and, their riders dismounted, the young Count of +Tierra-Nueva brought the bull to his knees, and having obtained +permission from the Infanta to give the _coup de grâce_, he plunged his +wooden sword into the neck of the animal with such violence that the head +came right off, and disclosed the laughing face of little Monsieur de +Lorraine, the son of the French Ambassador at Madrid. + +The arena was then cleared amidst much applause, and the dead +hobby-horses dragged solemnly away by two Moorish pages in yellow and +black liveries, and after a short interlude, during which a French +posture-master performed upon the tightrope, some Italian puppets +appeared in the semi-classical tragedy of _Sophonisba_ on the stage of a +small theatre that had been built up for the purpose. They acted so +well, and their gestures were so extremely natural, that at the close of +the play the eyes of the Infanta were quite dim with tears. Indeed some +of the children really cried, and had to be comforted with sweetmeats, +and the Grand Inquisitor himself was so affected that he could not help +saying to Don Pedro that it seemed to him intolerable that things made +simply out of wood and coloured wax, and worked mechanically by wires, +should be so unhappy and meet with such terrible misfortunes. + +An African juggler followed, who brought in a large flat basket covered +with a red cloth, and having placed it in the centre of the arena, he +took from his turban a curious reed pipe, and blew through it. In a few +moments the cloth began to move, and as the pipe grew shriller and +shriller two green and gold snakes put out their strange wedge-shaped +heads and rose slowly up, swaying to and fro with the music as a plant +sways in the water. The children, however, were rather frightened at +their spotted hoods and quick darting tongues, and were much more pleased +when the juggler made a tiny orange-tree grow out of the sand and bear +pretty white blossoms and clusters of real fruit; and when he took the +fan of the little daughter of the Marquess de Las-Torres, and changed it +into a blue bird that flew all round the pavilion and sang, their delight +and amazement knew no bounds. The solemn minuet, too, performed by the +dancing boys from the church of Nuestra Senora Del Pilar, was charming. +The Infanta had never before seen this wonderful ceremony which takes +place every year at Maytime in front of the high altar of the Virgin, and +in her honour; and indeed none of the royal family of Spain had entered +the great cathedral of Saragossa since a mad priest, supposed by many to +have been in the pay of Elizabeth of England, had tried to administer a +poisoned wafer to the Prince of the Asturias. So she had known only by +hearsay of ‘Our Lady’s Dance,’ as it was called, and it certainly was a +beautiful sight. The boys wore old-fashioned court dresses of white +velvet, and their curious three-cornered hats were fringed with silver +and surmounted with huge plumes of ostrich feathers, the dazzling +whiteness of their costumes, as they moved about in the sunlight, being +still more accentuated by their swarthy faces and long black hair. +Everybody was fascinated by the grave dignity with which they moved +through the intricate figures of the dance, and by the elaborate grace of +their slow gestures, and stately bows, and when they had finished their +performance and doffed their great plumed hats to the Infanta, she +acknowledged their reverence with much courtesy, and made a vow that she +would send a large wax candle to the shrine of Our Lady of Pilar in +return for the pleasure that she had given her. + +A troop of handsome Egyptians—as the gipsies were termed in those +days—then advanced into the arena, and sitting down cross-legs, in a +circle, began to play softly upon their zithers, moving their bodies to +the tune, and humming, almost below their breath, a low dreamy air. When +they caught sight of Don Pedro they scowled at him, and some of them +looked terrified, for only a few weeks before he had had two of their +tribe hanged for sorcery in the market-place at Seville, but the pretty +Infanta charmed them as she leaned back peeping over her fan with her +great blue eyes, and they felt sure that one so lovely as she was could +never be cruel to anybody. So they played on very gently and just +touching the cords of the zithers with their long pointed nails, and +their heads began to nod as though they were falling asleep. Suddenly, +with a cry so shrill that all the children were startled and Don Pedro’s +hand clutched at the agate pommel of his dagger, they leapt to their feet +and whirled madly round the enclosure beating their tambourines, and +chaunting some wild love-song in their strange guttural language. Then +at another signal they all flung themselves again to the ground and lay +there quite still, the dull strumming of the zithers being the only sound +that broke the silence. After that they had done this several times, +they disappeared for a moment and came back leading a brown shaggy bear +by a chain, and carrying on their shoulders some little Barbary apes. +The bear stood upon his head with the utmost gravity, and the wizened +apes played all kinds of amusing tricks with two gipsy boys who seemed to +be their masters, and fought with tiny swords, and fired off guns, and +went through a regular soldier’s drill just like the King’s own +bodyguard. In fact the gipsies were a great success. + +But the funniest part of the whole morning’s entertainment, was +undoubtedly the dancing of the little Dwarf. When he stumbled into the +arena, waddling on his crooked legs and wagging his huge misshapen head +from side to side, the children went off into a loud shout of delight, +and the Infanta herself laughed so much that the Camerera was obliged to +remind her that although there were many precedents in Spain for a King’s +daughter weeping before her equals, there were none for a Princess of the +blood royal making so merry before those who were her inferiors in birth. +The Dwarf, however, was really quite irresistible, and even at the +Spanish Court, always noted for its cultivated passion for the horrible, +so fantastic a little monster had never been seen. It was his first +appearance, too. He had been discovered only the day before, running +wild through the forest, by two of the nobles who happened to have been +hunting in a remote part of the great cork-wood that surrounded the town, +and had been carried off by them to the Palace as a surprise for the +Infanta; his father, who was a poor charcoal-burner, being but too well +pleased to get rid of so ugly and useless a child. Perhaps the most +amusing thing about him was his complete unconsciousness of his own +grotesque appearance. Indeed he seemed quite happy and full of the +highest spirits. When the children laughed, he laughed as freely and as +joyously as any of them, and at the close of each dance he made them each +the funniest of bows, smiling and nodding at them just as if he was +really one of themselves, and not a little misshapen thing that Nature, +in some humourous mood, had fashioned for others to mock at. As for the +Infanta, she absolutely fascinated him. He could not keep his eyes off +her, and seemed to dance for her alone, and when at the close of the +performance, remembering how she had seen the great ladies of the Court +throw bouquets to Caffarelli, the famous Italian treble, whom the Pope +had sent from his own chapel to Madrid that he might cure the King’s +melancholy by the sweetness of his voice, she took out of her hair the +beautiful white rose, and partly for a jest and partly to tease the +Camerera, threw it to him across the arena with her sweetest smile, he +took the whole matter quite seriously, and pressing the flower to his +rough coarse lips he put his hand upon his heart, and sank on one knee +before her, grinning from ear to ear, and with his little bright eyes +sparkling with pleasure. + +This so upset the gravity of the Infanta that she kept on laughing long +after the little Dwarf had ran out of the arena, and expressed a desire +to her uncle that the dance should be immediately repeated. The +Camerera, however, on the plea that the sun was too hot, decided that it +would be better that her Highness should return without delay to the +Palace, where a wonderful feast had been already prepared for her, +including a real birthday cake with her own initials worked all over it +in painted sugar and a lovely silver flag waving from the top. The +Infanta accordingly rose up with much dignity, and having given orders +that the little dwarf was to dance again for her after the hour of +siesta, and conveyed her thanks to the young Count of Tierra-Nueva for +his charming reception, she went back to her apartments, the children +following in the same order in which they had entered. + + * * * * * + +Now when the little Dwarf heard that he was to dance a second time before +the Infanta, and by her own express command, he was so proud that he ran +out into the garden, kissing the white rose in an absurd ecstasy of +pleasure, and making the most uncouth and clumsy gestures of delight. + +The Flowers were quite indignant at his daring to intrude into their +beautiful home, and when they saw him capering up and down the walks, and +waving his arms above his head in such a ridiculous manner, they could +not restrain their feelings any longer. + +‘He is really far too ugly to be allowed to play in any place where we +are,’ cried the Tulips. + +‘He should drink poppy-juice, and go to sleep for a thousand years,’ said +the great scarlet Lilies, and they grew quite hot and angry. + +‘He is a perfect horror!’ screamed the Cactus. ‘Why, he is twisted and +stumpy, and his head is completely out of proportion with his legs. +Really he makes me feel prickly all over, and if he comes near me I will +sting him with my thorns.’ + +‘And he has actually got one of my best blooms,’ exclaimed the White +Rose-Tree. ‘I gave it to the Infanta this morning myself, as a birthday +present, and he has stolen it from her.’ And she called out: ‘Thief, +thief, thief!’ at the top of her voice. + +Even the red Geraniums, who did not usually give themselves airs, and +were known to have a great many poor relations themselves, curled up in +disgust when they saw him, and when the Violets meekly remarked that +though he was certainly extremely plain, still he could not help it, they +retorted with a good deal of justice that that was his chief defect, and +that there was no reason why one should admire a person because he was +incurable; and, indeed, some of the Violets themselves felt that the +ugliness of the little Dwarf was almost ostentatious, and that he would +have shown much better taste if he had looked sad, or at least pensive, +instead of jumping about merrily, and throwing himself into such +grotesque and silly attitudes. + +As for the old Sundial, who was an extremely remarkable individual, and +had once told the time of day to no less a person than the Emperor +Charles V. himself, he was so taken aback by the little Dwarf’s +appearance, that he almost forgot to mark two whole minutes with his long +shadowy finger, and could not help saying to the great milk-white +Peacock, who was sunning herself on the balustrade, that every one knew +that the children of Kings were Kings, and that the children of +charcoal-burners were charcoal-burners, and that it was absurd to pretend +that it wasn’t so; a statement with which the Peacock entirely agreed, +and indeed screamed out, ‘Certainly, certainly,’ in such a loud, harsh +voice, that the gold-fish who lived in the basin of the cool splashing +fountain put their heads out of the water, and asked the huge stone +Tritons what on earth was the matter. + +But somehow the Birds liked him. They had seen him often in the forest, +dancing about like an elf after the eddying leaves, or crouched up in the +hollow of some old oak-tree, sharing his nuts with the squirrels. They +did not mind his being ugly, a bit. Why, even the nightingale herself, +who sang so sweetly in the orange groves at night that sometimes the Moon +leaned down to listen, was not much to look at after all; and, besides, +he had been kind to them, and during that terribly bitter winter, when +there were no berries on the trees, and the ground was as hard as iron, +and the wolves had come down to the very gates of the city to look for +food, he had never once forgotten them, but had always given them crumbs +out of his little hunch of black bread, and divided with them whatever +poor breakfast he had. + +So they flew round and round him, just touching his cheek with their +wings as they passed, and chattered to each other, and the little Dwarf +was so pleased that he could not help showing them the beautiful white +rose, and telling them that the Infanta herself had given it to him +because she loved him. + +They did not understand a single word of what he was saying, but that +made no matter, for they put their heads on one side, and looked wise, +which is quite as good as understanding a thing, and very much easier. + +The Lizards also took an immense fancy to him, and when he grew tired of +running about and flung himself down on the grass to rest, they played +and romped all over him, and tried to amuse him in the best way they +could. ‘Every one cannot be as beautiful as a lizard,’ they cried; ‘that +would be too much to expect. And, though it sounds absurd to say so, he +is really not so ugly after all, provided, of course, that one shuts +one’s eyes, and does not look at him.’ The Lizards were extremely +philosophical by nature, and often sat thinking for hours and hours +together, when there was nothing else to do, or when the weather was too +rainy for them to go out. + +The Flowers, however, were excessively annoyed at their behaviour, and at +the behaviour of the birds. ‘It only shows,’ they said, ‘what a +vulgarising effect this incessant rushing and flying about has. +Well-bred people always stay exactly in the same place, as we do. No one +ever saw us hopping up and down the walks, or galloping madly through the +grass after dragon-flies. When we do want change of air, we send for the +gardener, and he carries us to another bed. This is dignified, and as it +should be. But birds and lizards have no sense of repose, and indeed +birds have not even a permanent address. They are mere vagrants like the +gipsies, and should be treated in exactly the same manner.’ So they put +their noses in the air, and looked very haughty, and were quite delighted +when after some time they saw the little Dwarf scramble up from the +grass, and make his way across the terrace to the palace. + +‘He should certainly be kept indoors for the rest of his natural life,’ +they said. ‘Look at his hunched back, and his crooked legs,’ and they +began to titter. + +But the little Dwarf knew nothing of all this. He liked the birds and +the lizards immensely, and thought that the flowers were the most +marvellous things in the whole world, except of course the Infanta, but +then she had given him the beautiful white rose, and she loved him, and +that made a great difference. How he wished that he had gone back with +her! She would have put him on her right hand, and smiled at him, and he +would have never left her side, but would have made her his playmate, and +taught her all kinds of delightful tricks. For though he had never been +in a palace before, he knew a great many wonderful things. He could make +little cages out of rushes for the grasshoppers to sing in, and fashion +the long jointed bamboo into the pipe that Pan loves to hear. He knew +the cry of every bird, and could call the starlings from the tree-top, or +the heron from the mere. He knew the trail of every animal, and could +track the hare by its delicate footprints, and the boar by the trampled +leaves. All the wild-dances he knew, the mad dance in red raiment with +the autumn, the light dance in blue sandals over the corn, the dance with +white snow-wreaths in winter, and the blossom-dance through the orchards +in spring. He knew where the wood-pigeons built their nests, and once +when a fowler had snared the parent birds, he had brought up the young +ones himself, and had built a little dovecot for them in the cleft of a +pollard elm. They were quite tame, and used to feed out of his hands +every morning. She would like them, and the rabbits that scurried about +in the long fern, and the jays with their steely feathers and black +bills, and the hedgehogs that could curl themselves up into prickly +balls, and the great wise tortoises that crawled slowly about, shaking +their heads and nibbling at the young leaves. Yes, she must certainly +come to the forest and play with him. He would give her his own little +bed, and would watch outside the window till dawn, to see that the wild +horned cattle did not harm her, nor the gaunt wolves creep too near the +hut. And at dawn he would tap at the shutters and wake her, and they +would go out and dance together all the day long. It was really not a +bit lonely in the forest. Sometimes a Bishop rode through on his white +mule, reading out of a painted book. Sometimes in their green velvet +caps, and their jerkins of tanned deerskin, the falconers passed by, with +hooded hawks on their wrists. At vintage-time came the grape-treaders, +with purple hands and feet, wreathed with glossy ivy and carrying +dripping skins of wine; and the charcoal-burners sat round their huge +braziers at night, watching the dry logs charring slowly in the fire, and +roasting chestnuts in the ashes, and the robbers came out of their caves +and made merry with them. Once, too, he had seen a beautiful procession +winding up the long dusty road to Toledo. The monks went in front +singing sweetly, and carrying bright banners and crosses of gold, and +then, in silver armour, with matchlocks and pikes, came the soldiers, and +in their midst walked three barefooted men, in strange yellow dresses +painted all over with wonderful figures, and carrying lighted candles in +their hands. Certainly there was a great deal to look at in the forest, +and when she was tired he would find a soft bank of moss for her, or +carry her in his arms, for he was very strong, though he knew that he was +not tall. He would make her a necklace of red bryony berries, that would +be quite as pretty as the white berries that she wore on her dress, and +when she was tired of them, she could throw them away, and he would find +her others. He would bring her acorn-cups and dew-drenched anemones, and +tiny glow-worms to be stars in the pale gold of her hair. + +But where was she? He asked the white rose, and it made him no answer. +The whole palace seemed asleep, and even where the shutters had not been +closed, heavy curtains had been drawn across the windows to keep out the +glare. He wandered all round looking for some place through which he +might gain an entrance, and at last he caught sight of a little private +door that was lying open. He slipped through, and found himself in a +splendid hall, far more splendid, he feared, than the forest, there was +so much more gilding everywhere, and even the floor was made of great +coloured stones, fitted together into a sort of geometrical pattern. But +the little Infanta was not there, only some wonderful white statues that +looked down on him from their jasper pedestals, with sad blank eyes and +strangely smiling lips. + +At the end of the hall hung a richly embroidered curtain of black velvet, +powdered with suns and stars, the King’s favourite devices, and broidered +on the colour he loved best. Perhaps she was hiding behind that? He +would try at any rate. + +So he stole quietly across, and drew it aside. No; there was only +another room, though a prettier room, he thought, than the one he had +just left. The walls were hung with a many-figured green arras of +needle-wrought tapestry representing a hunt, the work of some Flemish +artists who had spent more than seven years in its composition. It had +once been the chamber of _Jean le Fou_, as he was called, that mad King +who was so enamoured of the chase, that he had often tried in his +delirium to mount the huge rearing horses, and to drag down the stag on +which the great hounds were leaping, sounding his hunting horn, and +stabbing with his dagger at the pale flying deer. It was now used as the +council-room, and on the centre table were lying the red portfolios of +the ministers, stamped with the gold tulips of Spain, and with the arms +and emblems of the house of Hapsburg. + +The little Dwarf looked in wonder all round him, and was half-afraid to +go on. The strange silent horsemen that galloped so swiftly through the +long glades without making any noise, seemed to him like those terrible +phantoms of whom he had heard the charcoal-burners speaking—the +Comprachos, who hunt only at night, and if they meet a man, turn him into +a hind, and chase him. But he thought of the pretty Infanta, and took +courage. He wanted to find her alone, and to tell her that he too loved +her. Perhaps she was in the room beyond. + +He ran across the soft Moorish carpets, and opened the door. No! She +was not here either. The room was quite empty. + +It was a throne-room, used for the reception of foreign ambassadors, when +the King, which of late had not been often, consented to give them a +personal audience; the same room in which, many years before, envoys had +appeared from England to make arrangements for the marriage of their +Queen, then one of the Catholic sovereigns of Europe, with the Emperor’s +eldest son. The hangings were of gilt Cordovan leather, and a heavy gilt +chandelier with branches for three hundred wax lights hung down from the +black and white ceiling. Underneath a great canopy of gold cloth, on +which the lions and towers of Castile were broidered in seed pearls, +stood the throne itself, covered with a rich pall of black velvet studded +with silver tulips and elaborately fringed with silver and pearls. On +the second step of the throne was placed the kneeling-stool of the +Infanta, with its cushion of cloth of silver tissue, and below that +again, and beyond the limit of the canopy, stood the chair for the Papal +Nuncio, who alone had the right to be seated in the King’s presence on +the occasion of any public ceremonial, and whose Cardinal’s hat, with its +tangled scarlet tassels, lay on a purple _tabouret_ in front. On the +wall, facing the throne, hung a life-sized portrait of Charles V. in +hunting dress, with a great mastiff by his side, and a picture of Philip +II. receiving the homage of the Netherlands occupied the centre of the +other wall. Between the windows stood a black ebony cabinet, inlaid with +plates of ivory, on which the figures from Holbein’s Dance of Death had +been graved—by the hand, some said, of that famous master himself. + +But the little Dwarf cared nothing for all this magnificence. He would +not have given his rose for all the pearls on the canopy, nor one white +petal of his rose for the throne itself. What he wanted was to see the +Infanta before she went down to the pavilion, and to ask her to come away +with him when he had finished his dance. Here, in the Palace, the air +was close and heavy, but in the forest the wind blew free, and the +sunlight with wandering hands of gold moved the tremulous leaves aside. +There were flowers, too, in the forest, not so splendid, perhaps, as the +flowers in the garden, but more sweetly scented for all that; hyacinths +in early spring that flooded with waving purple the cool glens, and +grassy knolls; yellow primroses that nestled in little clumps round the +gnarled roots of the oak-trees; bright celandine, and blue speedwell, and +irises lilac and gold. There were grey catkins on the hazels, and the +foxgloves drooped with the weight of their dappled bee-haunted cells. +The chestnut had its spires of white stars, and the hawthorn its pallid +moons of beauty. Yes: surely she would come if he could only find her! +She would come with him to the fair forest, and all day long he would +dance for her delight. A smile lit up his eyes at the thought, and he +passed into the next room. + +Of all the rooms this was the brightest and the most beautiful. The +walls were covered with a pink-flowered Lucca damask, patterned with +birds and dotted with dainty blossoms of silver; the furniture was of +massive silver, festooned with florid wreaths, and swinging Cupids; in +front of the two large fire-places stood great screens broidered with +parrots and peacocks, and the floor, which was of sea-green onyx, seemed +to stretch far away into the distance. Nor was he alone. Standing under +the shadow of the doorway, at the extreme end of the room, he saw a +little figure watching him. His heart trembled, a cry of joy broke from +his lips, and he moved out into the sunlight. As he did so, the figure +moved out also, and he saw it plainly. + +The Infanta! It was a monster, the most grotesque monster he had ever +beheld. Not properly shaped, as all other people were, but hunchbacked, +and crooked-limbed, with huge lolling head and mane of black hair. The +little Dwarf frowned, and the monster frowned also. He laughed, and it +laughed with him, and held its hands to its sides, just as he himself was +doing. He made it a mocking bow, and it returned him a low reverence. +He went towards it, and it came to meet him, copying each step that he +made, and stopping when he stopped himself. He shouted with amusement, +and ran forward, and reached out his hand, and the hand of the monster +touched his, and it was as cold as ice. He grew afraid, and moved his +hand across, and the monster’s hand followed it quickly. He tried to +press on, but something smooth and hard stopped him. The face of the +monster was now close to his own, and seemed full of terror. He brushed +his hair off his eyes. It imitated him. He struck at it, and it +returned blow for blow. He loathed it, and it made hideous faces at him. +He drew back, and it retreated. + +What is it? He thought for a moment, and looked round at the rest of the +room. It was strange, but everything seemed to have its double in this +invisible wall of clear water. Yes, picture for picture was repeated, +and couch for couch. The sleeping Faun that lay in the alcove by the +doorway had its twin brother that slumbered, and the silver Venus that +stood in the sunlight held out her arms to a Venus as lovely as herself. + +Was it Echo? He had called to her once in the valley, and she had +answered him word for word. Could she mock the eye, as she mocked the +voice? Could she make a mimic world just like the real world? Could the +shadows of things have colour and life and movement? Could it be that—? + +He started, and taking from his breast the beautiful white rose, he +turned round, and kissed it. The monster had a rose of its own, petal +for petal the same! It kissed it with like kisses, and pressed it to its +heart with horrible gestures. + +When the truth dawned upon him, he gave a wild cry of despair, and fell +sobbing to the ground. So it was he who was misshapen and hunchbacked, +foul to look at and grotesque. He himself was the monster, and it was at +him that all the children had been laughing, and the little Princess who +he had thought loved him—she too had been merely mocking at his ugliness, +and making merry over his twisted limbs. Why had they not left him in +the forest, where there was no mirror to tell him how loathsome he was? +Why had his father not killed him, rather than sell him to his shame? +The hot tears poured down his cheeks, and he tore the white rose to +pieces. The sprawling monster did the same, and scattered the faint +petals in the air. It grovelled on the ground, and, when he looked at +it, it watched him with a face drawn with pain. He crept away, lest he +should see it, and covered his eyes with his hands. He crawled, like +some wounded thing, into the shadow, and lay there moaning. + +And at that moment the Infanta herself came in with her companions +through the open window, and when they saw the ugly little dwarf lying on +the ground and beating the floor with his clenched hands, in the most +fantastic and exaggerated manner, they went off into shouts of happy +laughter, and stood all round him and watched him. + +‘His dancing was funny,’ said the Infanta; ‘but his acting is funnier +still. Indeed he is almost as good as the puppets, only of course not +quite so natural.’ And she fluttered her big fan, and applauded. + +But the little Dwarf never looked up, and his sobs grew fainter and +fainter, and suddenly he gave a curious gasp, and clutched his side. And +then he fell back again, and lay quite still. + +‘That is capital,’ said the Infanta, after a pause; ‘but now you must +dance for me.’ + +‘Yes,’ cried all the children, ‘you must get up and dance, for you are as +clever as the Barbary apes, and much more ridiculous.’ But the little +Dwarf made no answer. + +And the Infanta stamped her foot, and called out to her uncle, who was +walking on the terrace with the Chamberlain, reading some despatches that +had just arrived from Mexico, where the Holy Office had recently been +established. ‘My funny little dwarf is sulking,’ she cried, ‘you must +wake him up, and tell him to dance for me.’ + +They smiled at each other, and sauntered in, and Don Pedro stooped down, +and slapped the Dwarf on the cheek with his embroidered glove. ‘You must +dance,’ he said, ‘_petit monsire_. You must dance. The Infanta of Spain +and the Indies wishes to be amused.’ + +But the little Dwarf never moved. + +‘A whipping master should be sent for,’ said Don Pedro wearily, and he +went back to the terrace. But the Chamberlain looked grave, and he knelt +beside the little dwarf, and put his hand upon his heart. And after a +few moments he shrugged his shoulders, and rose up, and having made a low +bow to the Infanta, he said— + +‘_Mi bella Princesa_, your funny little dwarf will never dance again. It +is a pity, for he is so ugly that he might have made the King smile.’ + +‘But why will he not dance again?’ asked the Infanta, laughing. + +‘Because his heart is broken,’ answered the Chamberlain. + +And the Infanta frowned, and her dainty rose-leaf lips curled in pretty +disdain. ‘For the future let those who come to play with me have no +hearts,’ she cried, and she ran out into the garden. + + + + +THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL + + + TO H.S.H. + ALICE, PRINCESS + OF MONACO + +EVERY evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and threw his +nets into the water. + +When the wind blew from the land he caught nothing, or but little at +best, for it was a bitter and black-winged wind, and rough waves rose up +to meet it. But when the wind blew to the shore, the fish came in from +the deep, and swam into the meshes of his nets, and he took them to the +market-place and sold them. + +Every evening he went out upon the sea, and one evening the net was so +heavy that hardly could he draw it into the boat. And he laughed, and +said to himself, ‘Surely I have caught all the fish that swim, or snared +some dull monster that will be a marvel to men, or some thing of horror +that the great Queen will desire,’ and putting forth all his strength, he +tugged at the coarse ropes till, like lines of blue enamel round a vase +of bronze, the long veins rose up on his arms. He tugged at the thin +ropes, and nearer and nearer came the circle of flat corks, and the net +rose at last to the top of the water. + +But no fish at all was in it, nor any monster or thing of horror, but +only a little Mermaid lying fast asleep. + +Her hair was as a wet fleece of gold, and each separate hair as a thread +of fine gold in a cup of glass. Her body was as white ivory, and her +tail was of silver and pearl. Silver and pearl was her tail, and the +green weeds of the sea coiled round it; and like sea-shells were her +ears, and her lips were like sea-coral. The cold waves dashed over her +cold breasts, and the salt glistened upon her eyelids. + +So beautiful was she that when the young Fisherman saw her he was filled +with wonder, and he put out his hand and drew the net close to him, and +leaning over the side he clasped her in his arms. And when he touched +her, she gave a cry like a startled sea-gull, and woke, and looked at him +in terror with her mauve-amethyst eyes, and struggled that she might +escape. But he held her tightly to him, and would not suffer her to +depart. + +And when she saw that she could in no way escape from him, she began to +weep, and said, ‘I pray thee let me go, for I am the only daughter of a +King, and my father is aged and alone.’ + +But the young Fisherman answered, ‘I will not let thee go save thou +makest me a promise that whenever I call thee, thou wilt come and sing to +me, for the fish delight to listen to the song of the Sea-folk, and so +shall my nets be full.’ + +‘Wilt thou in very truth let me go, if I promise thee this?’ cried the +Mermaid. + +‘In very truth I will let thee go,’ said the young Fisherman. + +So she made him the promise he desired, and sware it by the oath of the +Sea-folk. And he loosened his arms from about her, and she sank down +into the water, trembling with a strange fear. + + * * * * * + +Every evening the young Fisherman went out upon the sea, and called to +the Mermaid, and she rose out of the water and sang to him. Round and +round her swam the dolphins, and the wild gulls wheeled above her head. + +And she sang a marvellous song. For she sang of the Sea-folk who drive +their flocks from cave to cave, and carry the little calves on their +shoulders; of the Tritons who have long green beards, and hairy breasts, +and blow through twisted conchs when the King passes by; of the palace of +the King which is all of amber, with a roof of clear emerald, and a +pavement of bright pearl; and of the gardens of the sea where the great +filigrane fans of coral wave all day long, and the fish dart about like +silver birds, and the anemones cling to the rocks, and the pinks bourgeon +in the ribbed yellow sand. She sang of the big whales that come down +from the north seas and have sharp icicles hanging to their fins; of the +Sirens who tell of such wonderful things that the merchants have to stop +their ears with wax lest they should hear them, and leap into the water +and be drowned; of the sunken galleys with their tall masts, and the +frozen sailors clinging to the rigging, and the mackerel swimming in and +out of the open portholes; of the little barnacles who are great +travellers, and cling to the keels of the ships and go round and round +the world; and of the cuttlefish who live in the sides of the cliffs and +stretch out their long black arms, and can make night come when they will +it. She sang of the nautilus who has a boat of her own that is carved +out of an opal and steered with a silken sail; of the happy Mermen who +play upon harps and can charm the great Kraken to sleep; of the little +children who catch hold of the slippery porpoises and ride laughing upon +their backs; of the Mermaids who lie in the white foam and hold out their +arms to the mariners; and of the sea-lions with their curved tusks, and +the sea-horses with their floating manes. + +And as she sang, all the tunny-fish came in from the deep to listen to +her, and the young Fisherman threw his nets round them and caught them, +and others he took with a spear. And when his boat was well-laden, the +Mermaid would sink down into the sea, smiling at him. + +Yet would she never come near him that he might touch her. Oftentimes he +called to her and prayed of her, but she would not; and when he sought to +seize her she dived into the water as a seal might dive, nor did he see +her again that day. And each day the sound of her voice became sweeter +to his ears. So sweet was her voice that he forgot his nets and his +cunning, and had no care of his craft. Vermilion-finned and with eyes of +bossy gold, the tunnies went by in shoals, but he heeded them not. His +spear lay by his side unused, and his baskets of plaited osier were +empty. With lips parted, and eyes dim with wonder, he sat idle in his +boat and listened, listening till the sea-mists crept round him, and the +wandering moon stained his brown limbs with silver. + +And one evening he called to her, and said: ‘Little Mermaid, little +Mermaid, I love thee. Take me for thy bridegroom, for I love thee.’ + +But the Mermaid shook her head. ‘Thou hast a human soul,’ she answered. +‘If only thou wouldst send away thy soul, then could I love thee.’ + +And the young Fisherman said to himself, ‘Of what use is my soul to me? +I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it. Surely I will +send it away from me, and much gladness shall be mine.’ And a cry of joy +broke from his lips, and standing up in the painted boat, he held out his +arms to the Mermaid. ‘I will send my soul away,’ he cried, ‘and you +shall be my bride, and I will be thy bridegroom, and in the depth of the +sea we will dwell together, and all that thou hast sung of thou shalt +show me, and all that thou desirest I will do, nor shall our lives be +divided.’ + +And the little Mermaid laughed for pleasure and hid her face in her +hands. + +‘But how shall I send my soul from me?’ cried the young Fisherman. ‘Tell +me how I may do it, and lo! it shall be done.’ + +‘Alas! I know not,’ said the little Mermaid: ‘the Sea-folk have no +souls.’ And she sank down into the deep, looking wistfully at him. + + * * * * * + +Now early on the next morning, before the sun was the span of a man’s +hand above the hill, the young Fisherman went to the house of the Priest +and knocked three times at the door. + +The novice looked out through the wicket, and when he saw who it was, he +drew back the latch and said to him, ‘Enter.’ + +And the young Fisherman passed in, and knelt down on the sweet-smelling +rushes of the floor, and cried to the Priest who was reading out of the +Holy Book and said to him, ‘Father, I am in love with one of the +Sea-folk, and my soul hindereth me from having my desire. Tell me how I +can send my soul away from me, for in truth I have no need of it. Of +what value is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do +not know it.’ + +And the Priest beat his breast, and answered, ‘Alack, alack, thou art +mad, or hast eaten of some poisonous herb, for the soul is the noblest +part of man, and was given to us by God that we should nobly use it. +There is no thing more precious than a human soul, nor any earthly thing +that can be weighed with it. It is worth all the gold that is in the +world, and is more precious than the rubies of the kings. Therefore, my +son, think not any more of this matter, for it is a sin that may not be +forgiven. And as for the Sea-folk, they are lost, and they who would +traffic with them are lost also. They are as the beasts of the field +that know not good from evil, and for them the Lord has not died.’ + +The young Fisherman’s eyes filled with tears when he heard the bitter +words of the Priest, and he rose up from his knees and said to him, +‘Father, the Fauns live in the forest and are glad, and on the rocks sit +the Mermen with their harps of red gold. Let me be as they are, I +beseech thee, for their days are as the days of flowers. And as for my +soul, what doth my soul profit me, if it stand between me and the thing +that I love?’ + +‘The love of the body is vile,’ cried the Priest, knitting his brows, +‘and vile and evil are the pagan things God suffers to wander through His +world. Accursed be the Fauns of the woodland, and accursed be the +singers of the sea! I have heard them at night-time, and they have +sought to lure me from my beads. They tap at the window, and laugh. +They whisper into my ears the tale of their perilous joys. They tempt me +with temptations, and when I would pray they make mouths at me. They are +lost, I tell thee, they are lost. For them there is no heaven nor hell, +and in neither shall they praise God’s name.’ + +‘Father,’ cried the young Fisherman, ‘thou knowest not what thou sayest. +Once in my net I snared the daughter of a King. She is fairer than the +morning star, and whiter than the moon. For her body I would give my +soul, and for her love I would surrender heaven. Tell me what I ask of +thee, and let me go in peace.’ + +‘Away! Away!’ cried the Priest: ‘thy leman is lost, and thou shalt be +lost with her.’ + +And he gave him no blessing, but drove him from his door. + +And the young Fisherman went down into the market-place, and he walked +slowly, and with bowed head, as one who is in sorrow. + +And when the merchants saw him coming, they began to whisper to each +other, and one of them came forth to meet him, and called him by name, +and said to him, ‘What hast thou to sell?’ + +‘I will sell thee my soul,’ he answered. ‘I pray thee buy it of me, for +I am weary of it. Of what use is my soul to me? I cannot see it. I may +not touch it. I do not know it.’ + +But the merchants mocked at him, and said, ‘Of what use is a man’s soul +to us? It is not worth a clipped piece of silver. Sell us thy body for +a slave, and we will clothe thee in sea-purple, and put a ring upon thy +finger, and make thee the minion of the great Queen. But talk not of the +soul, for to us it is nought, nor has it any value for our service.’ + +And the young Fisherman said to himself: ‘How strange a thing this is! +The Priest telleth me that the soul is worth all the gold in the world, +and the merchants say that it is not worth a clipped piece of silver.’ +And he passed out of the market-place, and went down to the shore of the +sea, and began to ponder on what he should do. + + * * * * * + +And at noon he remembered how one of his companions, who was a gatherer +of samphire, had told him of a certain young Witch who dwelt in a cave at +the head of the bay and was very cunning in her witcheries. And he set +to and ran, so eager was he to get rid of his soul, and a cloud of dust +followed him as he sped round the sand of the shore. By the itching of +her palm the young Witch knew his coming, and she laughed and let down +her red hair. With her red hair falling around her, she stood at the +opening of the cave, and in her hand she had a spray of wild hemlock that +was blossoming. + +‘What d’ye lack? What d’ye lack?’ she cried, as he came panting up the +steep, and bent down before her. ‘Fish for thy net, when the wind is +foul? I have a little reed-pipe, and when I blow on it the mullet come +sailing into the bay. But it has a price, pretty boy, it has a price. +What d’ye lack? What d’ye lack? A storm to wreck the ships, and wash +the chests of rich treasure ashore? I have more storms than the wind +has, for I serve one who is stronger than the wind, and with a sieve and +a pail of water I can send the great galleys to the bottom of the sea. +But I have a price, pretty boy, I have a price. What d’ye lack? What +d’ye lack? I know a flower that grows in the valley, none knows it but +I. It has purple leaves, and a star in its heart, and its juice is as +white as milk. Shouldst thou touch with this flower the hard lips of the +Queen, she would follow thee all over the world. Out of the bed of the +King she would rise, and over the whole world she would follow thee. And +it has a price, pretty boy, it has a price. What d’ye lack? What d’ye +lack? I can pound a toad in a mortar, and make broth of it, and stir the +broth with a dead man’s hand. Sprinkle it on thine enemy while he +sleeps, and he will turn into a black viper, and his own mother will slay +him. With a wheel I can draw the Moon from heaven, and in a crystal I +can show thee Death. What d’ye lack? What d’ye lack? Tell me thy +desire, and I will give it thee, and thou shalt pay me a price, pretty +boy, thou shalt pay me a price.’ + +‘My desire is but for a little thing,’ said the young Fisherman, ‘yet +hath the Priest been wroth with me, and driven me forth. It is but for a +little thing, and the merchants have mocked at me, and denied me. +Therefore am I come to thee, though men call thee evil, and whatever be +thy price I shall pay it.’ + +‘What wouldst thou?’ asked the Witch, coming near to him. + +‘I would send my soul away from me,’ answered the young Fisherman. + +The Witch grew pale, and shuddered, and hid her face in her blue mantle. +‘Pretty boy, pretty boy,’ she muttered, ‘that is a terrible thing to do.’ + +He tossed his brown curls and laughed. ‘My soul is nought to me,’ he +answered. ‘I cannot see it. I may not touch it. I do not know it.’ + +‘What wilt thou give me if I tell thee?’ asked the Witch, looking down at +him with her beautiful eyes. + +‘Five pieces of gold,’ he said, ‘and my nets, and the wattled house where +I live, and the painted boat in which I sail. Only tell me how to get +rid of my soul, and I will give thee all that I possess.’ + +She laughed mockingly at him, and struck him with the spray of hemlock. +‘I can turn the autumn leaves into gold,’ she answered, ‘and I can weave +the pale moonbeams into silver if I will it. He whom I serve is richer +than all the kings of this world, and has their dominions.’ + +‘What then shall I give thee,’ he cried, ‘if thy price be neither gold +nor silver?’ + +The Witch stroked his hair with her thin white hand. ‘Thou must dance +with me, pretty boy,’ she murmured, and she smiled at him as she spoke. + +‘Nought but that?’ cried the young Fisherman in wonder and he rose to his +feet. + +‘Nought but that,’ she answered, and she smiled at him again. + +‘Then at sunset in some secret place we shall dance together,’ he said, +‘and after that we have danced thou shalt tell me the thing which I +desire to know.’ + +She shook her head. ‘When the moon is full, when the moon is full,’ she +muttered. Then she peered all round, and listened. A blue bird rose +screaming from its nest and circled over the dunes, and three spotted +birds rustled through the coarse grey grass and whistled to each other. +There was no other sound save the sound of a wave fretting the smooth +pebbles below. So she reached out her hand, and drew him near to her and +put her dry lips close to his ear. + +‘To-night thou must come to the top of the mountain,’ she whispered. ‘It +is a Sabbath, and He will be there.’ + +The young Fisherman started and looked at her, and she showed her white +teeth and laughed. ‘Who is He of whom thou speakest?’ he asked. + +‘It matters not,’ she answered. ‘Go thou to-night, and stand under the +branches of the hornbeam, and wait for my coming. If a black dog run +towards thee, strike it with a rod of willow, and it will go away. If an +owl speak to thee, make it no answer. When the moon is full I shall be +with thee, and we will dance together on the grass.’ + +‘But wilt thou swear to me to tell me how I may send my soul from me?’ he +made question. + +She moved out into the sunlight, and through her red hair rippled the +wind. ‘By the hoofs of the goat I swear it,’ she made answer. + +‘Thou art the best of the witches,’ cried the young Fisherman, ‘and I +will surely dance with thee to-night on the top of the mountain. I would +indeed that thou hadst asked of me either gold or silver. But such as +thy price is thou shalt have it, for it is but a little thing.’ And he +doffed his cap to her, and bent his head low, and ran back to the town +filled with a great joy. + +And the Witch watched him as he went, and when he had passed from her +sight she entered her cave, and having taken a mirror from a box of +carved cedarwood, she set it up on a frame, and burned vervain on lighted +charcoal before it, and peered through the coils of the smoke. And after +a time she clenched her hands in anger. ‘He should have been mine,’ she +muttered, ‘I am as fair as she is.’ + + * * * * * + +And that evening, when the moon had risen, the young Fisherman climbed up +to the top of the mountain, and stood under the branches of the hornbeam. +Like a targe of polished metal the round sea lay at his feet, and the +shadows of the fishing-boats moved in the little bay. A great owl, with +yellow sulphurous eyes, called to him by his name, but he made it no +answer. A black dog ran towards him and snarled. He struck it with a +rod of willow, and it went away whining. + +At midnight the witches came flying through the air like bats. ‘Phew!’ +they cried, as they lit upon the ground, ‘there is some one here we know +not!’ and they sniffed about, and chattered to each other, and made +signs. Last of all came the young Witch, with her red hair streaming in +the wind. She wore a dress of gold tissue embroidered with peacocks’ +eyes, and a little cap of green velvet was on her head. + +‘Where is he, where is he?’ shrieked the witches when they saw her, but +she only laughed, and ran to the hornbeam, and taking the Fisherman by +the hand she led him out into the moonlight and began to dance. + +Round and round they whirled, and the young Witch jumped so high that he +could see the scarlet heels of her shoes. Then right across the dancers +came the sound of the galloping of a horse, but no horse was to be seen, +and he felt afraid. + +‘Faster,’ cried the Witch, and she threw her arms about his neck, and her +breath was hot upon his face. ‘Faster, faster!’ she cried, and the earth +seemed to spin beneath his feet, and his brain grew troubled, and a great +terror fell on him, as of some evil thing that was watching him, and at +last he became aware that under the shadow of a rock there was a figure +that had not been there before. + +It was a man dressed in a suit of black velvet, cut in the Spanish +fashion. His face was strangely pale, but his lips were like a proud red +flower. He seemed weary, and was leaning back toying in a listless +manner with the pommel of his dagger. On the grass beside him lay a +plumed hat, and a pair of riding-gloves gauntleted with gilt lace, and +sewn with seed-pearls wrought into a curious device. A short cloak lined +with sables hang from his shoulder, and his delicate white hands were +gemmed with rings. Heavy eyelids drooped over his eyes. + +The young Fisherman watched him, as one snared in a spell. At last their +eyes met, and wherever he danced it seemed to him that the eyes of the +man were upon him. He heard the Witch laugh, and caught her by the +waist, and whirled her madly round and round. + +Suddenly a dog bayed in the wood, and the dancers stopped, and going up +two by two, knelt down, and kissed the man’s hands. As they did so, a +little smile touched his proud lips, as a bird’s wing touches the water +and makes it laugh. But there was disdain in it. He kept looking at the +young Fisherman. + +‘Come! let us worship,’ whispered the Witch, and she led him up, and a +great desire to do as she besought him seized on him, and he followed +her. But when he came close, and without knowing why he did it, he made +on his breast the sign of the Cross, and called upon the holy name. + +No sooner had he done so than the witches screamed like hawks and flew +away, and the pallid face that had been watching him twitched with a +spasm of pain. The man went over to a little wood, and whistled. A +jennet with silver trappings came running to meet him. As he leapt upon +the saddle he turned round, and looked at the young Fisherman sadly. + +And the Witch with the red hair tried to fly away also, but the Fisherman +caught her by her wrists, and held her fast. + +‘Loose me,’ she cried, ‘and let me go. For thou hast named what should +not be named, and shown the sign that may not be looked at.’ + +‘Nay,’ he answered, ‘but I will not let thee go till thou hast told me +the secret.’ + +‘What secret?’ said the Witch, wrestling with him like a wild cat, and +biting her foam-flecked lips. + +‘Thou knowest,’ he made answer. + +Her grass-green eyes grew dim with tears, and she said to the Fisherman, +‘Ask me anything but that!’ + +He laughed, and held her all the more tightly. + +And when she saw that she could not free herself, she whispered to him, +‘Surely I am as fair as the daughters of the sea, and as comely as those +that dwell in the blue waters,’ and she fawned on him and put her face +close to his. + +But he thrust her back frowning, and said to her, ‘If thou keepest not +the promise that thou madest to me I will slay thee for a false witch.’ + +She grew grey as a blossom of the Judas tree, and shuddered. ‘Be it so,’ +she muttered. ‘It is thy soul and not mine. Do with it as thou wilt.’ +And she took from her girdle a little knife that had a handle of green +viper’s skin, and gave it to him. + +‘What shall this serve me?’ he asked of her, wondering. + +She was silent for a few moments, and a look of terror came over her +face. Then she brushed her hair back from her forehead, and smiling +strangely she said to him, ‘What men call the shadow of the body is not +the shadow of the body, but is the body of the soul. Stand on the +sea-shore with thy back to the moon, and cut away from around thy feet +thy shadow, which is thy soul’s body, and bid thy soul leave thee, and it +will do so.’ + +The young Fisherman trembled. ‘Is this true?’ he murmured. + +‘It is true, and I would that I had not told thee of it,’ she cried, and +she clung to his knees weeping. + +He put her from him and left her in the rank grass, and going to the edge +of the mountain he placed the knife in his belt and began to climb down. + +And his Soul that was within him called out to him and said, ‘Lo! I have +dwelt with thee for all these years, and have been thy servant. Send me +not away from thee now, for what evil have I done thee?’ + +And the young Fisherman laughed. ‘Thou hast done me no evil, but I have +no need of thee,’ he answered. ‘The world is wide, and there is Heaven +also, and Hell, and that dim twilight house that lies between. Go +wherever thou wilt, but trouble me not, for my love is calling to me.’ + +And his Soul besought him piteously, but he heeded it not, but leapt from +crag to crag, being sure-footed as a wild goat, and at last he reached +the level ground and the yellow shore of the sea. + +Bronze-limbed and well-knit, like a statue wrought by a Grecian, he stood +on the sand with his back to the moon, and out of the foam came white +arms that beckoned to him, and out of the waves rose dim forms that did +him homage. Before him lay his shadow, which was the body of his soul, +and behind him hung the moon in the honey-coloured air. + +And his Soul said to him, ‘If indeed thou must drive me from thee, send +me not forth without a heart. The world is cruel, give me thy heart to +take with me.’ + +He tossed his head and smiled. ‘With what should I love my love if I +gave thee my heart?’ he cried. + +‘Nay, but be merciful,’ said his Soul: ‘give me thy heart, for the world +is very cruel, and I am afraid.’ + +‘My heart is my love’s,’ he answered, ‘therefore tarry not, but get thee +gone.’ + +‘Should I not love also?’ asked his Soul. + +‘Get thee gone, for I have no need of thee,’ cried the young Fisherman, +and he took the little knife with its handle of green viper’s skin, and +cut away his shadow from around his feet, and it rose up and stood before +him, and looked at him, and it was even as himself. + +He crept back, and thrust the knife into his belt, and a feeling of awe +came over him. ‘Get thee gone,’ he murmured, ‘and let me see thy face no +more.’ + +‘Nay, but we must meet again,’ said the Soul. Its voice was low and +flute-like, and its lips hardly moved while it spake. + +‘How shall we meet?’ cried the young Fisherman. ‘Thou wilt not follow me +into the depths of the sea?’ + +‘Once every year I will come to this place, and call to thee,’ said the +Soul. ‘It may be that thou wilt have need of me.’ + +‘What need should I have of thee?’ cried the young Fisherman, ‘but be it +as thou wilt,’ and he plunged into the waters and the Tritons blew their +horns and the little Mermaid rose up to meet him, and put her arms around +his neck and kissed him on the mouth. + +And the Soul stood on the lonely beach and watched them. And when they +had sunk down into the sea, it went weeping away over the marshes. + + * * * * * + +And after a year was over the Soul came down to the shore of the sea and +called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep, and said, +‘Why dost thou call to me?’ + +And the Soul answered, ‘Come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I +have seen marvellous things.’ + +So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head +upon his hand and listened. + + * * * * * + +And the Soul said to him, ‘When I left thee I turned my face to the East +and journeyed. From the East cometh everything that is wise. Six days I +journeyed, and on the morning of the seventh day I came to a hill that is +in the country of the Tartars. I sat down under the shade of a tamarisk +tree to shelter myself from the sun. The land was dry and burnt up with +the heat. The people went to and fro over the plain like flies crawling +upon a disk of polished copper. + +‘When it was noon a cloud of red dust rose up from the flat rim of the +land. When the Tartars saw it, they strung their painted bows, and +having leapt upon their little horses they galloped to meet it. The +women fled screaming to the waggons, and hid themselves behind the felt +curtains. + +‘At twilight the Tartars returned, but five of them were missing, and of +those that came back not a few had been wounded. They harnessed their +horses to the waggons and drove hastily away. Three jackals came out of +a cave and peered after them. Then they sniffed up the air with their +nostrils, and trotted off in the opposite direction. + +‘When the moon rose I saw a camp-fire burning on the plain, and went +towards it. A company of merchants were seated round it on carpets. +Their camels were picketed behind them, and the negroes who were their +servants were pitching tents of tanned skin upon the sand, and making a +high wall of the prickly pear. + +‘As I came near them, the chief of the merchants rose up and drew his +sword, and asked me my business. + +‘I answered that I was a Prince in my own land, and that I had escaped +from the Tartars, who had sought to make me their slave. The chief +smiled, and showed me five heads fixed upon long reeds of bamboo. + +‘Then he asked me who was the prophet of God, and I answered him +Mohammed. + +‘When he heard the name of the false prophet, he bowed and took me by the +hand, and placed me by his side. A negro brought me some mare’s milk in +a wooden dish, and a piece of lamb’s flesh roasted. + +‘At daybreak we started on our journey. I rode on a red-haired camel by +the side of the chief, and a runner ran before us carrying a spear. The +men of war were on either hand, and the mules followed with the +merchandise. There were forty camels in the caravan, and the mules were +twice forty in number. + +‘We went from the country of the Tartars into the country of those who +curse the Moon. We saw the Gryphons guarding their gold on the white +rocks, and the scaled Dragons sleeping in their caves. As we passed over +the mountains we held our breath lest the snows might fall on us, and +each man tied a veil of gauze before his eyes. As we passed through the +valleys the Pygmies shot arrows at us from the hollows of the trees, and +at night-time we heard the wild men beating on their drums. When we came +to the Tower of Apes we set fruits before them, and they did not harm us. +When we came to the Tower of Serpents we gave them warm milk in howls of +brass, and they let us go by. Three times in our journey we came to the +banks of the Oxus. We crossed it on rafts of wood with great bladders of +blown hide. The river-horses raged against us and sought to slay us. +When the camels saw them they trembled. + +‘The kings of each city levied tolls on us, but would not suffer us to +enter their gates. They threw us bread over the walls, little +maize-cakes baked in honey and cakes of fine flour filled with dates. +For every hundred baskets we gave them a bead of amber. + +‘When the dwellers in the villages saw us coming, they poisoned the wells +and fled to the hill-summits. We fought with the Magadae who are born +old, and grow younger and younger every year, and die when they are +little children; and with the Laktroi who say that they are the sons of +tigers, and paint themselves yellow and black; and with the Aurantes who +bury their dead on the tops of trees, and themselves live in dark caverns +lest the Sun, who is their god, should slay them; and with the Krimnians +who worship a crocodile, and give it earrings of green glass, and feed it +with butter and fresh fowls; and with the Agazonbae, who are dog-faced; +and with the Sibans, who have horses’ feet, and run more swiftly than +horses. A third of our company died in battle, and a third died of want. +The rest murmured against me, and said that I had brought them an evil +fortune. I took a horned adder from beneath a stone and let it sting me. +When they saw that I did not sicken they grew afraid. + +‘In the fourth month we reached the city of Illel. It was night-time +when we came to the grove that is outside the walls, and the air was +sultry, for the Moon was travelling in Scorpion. We took the ripe +pomegranates from the trees, and brake them, and drank their sweet +juices. Then we lay down on our carpets, and waited for the dawn. + +‘And at dawn we rose and knocked at the gate of the city. It was wrought +out of red bronze, and carved with sea-dragons and dragons that have +wings. The guards looked down from the battlements and asked us our +business. The interpreter of the caravan answered that we had come from +the island of Syria with much merchandise. They took hostages, and told +us that they would open the gate to us at noon, and bade us tarry till +then. + +‘When it was noon they opened the gate, and as we entered in the people +came crowding out of the houses to look at us, and a crier went round the +city crying through a shell. We stood in the market-place, and the +negroes uncorded the bales of figured cloths and opened the carved chests +of sycamore. And when they had ended their task, the merchants set forth +their strange wares, the waxed linen from Egypt and the painted linen +from the country of the Ethiops, the purple sponges from Tyre and the +blue hangings from Sidon, the cups of cold amber and the fine vessels of +glass and the curious vessels of burnt clay. From the roof of a house a +company of women watched us. One of them wore a mask of gilded leather. + +‘And on the first day the priests came and bartered with us, and on the +second day came the nobles, and on the third day came the craftsmen and +the slaves. And this is their custom with all merchants as long as they +tarry in the city. + +‘And we tarried for a moon, and when the moon was waning, I wearied and +wandered away through the streets of the city and came to the garden of +its god. The priests in their yellow robes moved silently through the +green trees, and on a pavement of black marble stood the rose-red house +in which the god had his dwelling. Its doors were of powdered lacquer, +and bulls and peacocks were wrought on them in raised and polished gold. +The tilted roof was of sea-green porcelain, and the jutting eaves were +festooned with little bells. When the white doves flew past, they struck +the bells with their wings and made them tinkle. + +‘In front of the temple was a pool of clear water paved with veined onyx. +I lay down beside it, and with my pale fingers I touched the broad +leaves. One of the priests came towards me and stood behind me. He had +sandals on his feet, one of soft serpent-skin and the other of birds’ +plumage. On his head was a mitre of black felt decorated with silver +crescents. Seven yellows were woven into his robe, and his frizzed hair +was stained with antimony. + +‘After a little while he spake to me, and asked me my desire. + +‘I told him that my desire was to see the god. + +‘“The god is hunting,” said the priest, looking strangely at me with his +small slanting eyes. + +‘“Tell me in what forest, and I will ride with him,” I answered. + +‘He combed out the soft fringes of his tunic with his long pointed nails. +“The god is asleep,” he murmured. + +‘“Tell me on what couch, and I will watch by him,” I answered. + +‘“The god is at the feast,” he cried. + +‘“If the wine be sweet I will drink it with him, and if it be bitter I +will drink it with him also,” was my answer. + +‘He bowed his head in wonder, and, taking me by the hand, he raised me +up, and led me into the temple. + +‘And in the first chamber I saw an idol seated on a throne of jasper +bordered with great orient pearls. It was carved out of ebony, and in +stature was of the stature of a man. On its forehead was a ruby, and +thick oil dripped from its hair on to its thighs. Its feet were red with +the blood of a newly-slain kid, and its loins girt with a copper belt +that was studded with seven beryls. + +‘And I said to the priest, “Is this the god?” And he answered me, “This +is the god.” + +‘“Show me the god,” I cried, “or I will surely slay thee.” And I touched +his hand, and it became withered. + +‘And the priest besought me, saying, “Let my lord heal his servant, and I +will show him the god.” + +‘So I breathed with my breath upon his hand, and it became whole again, +and he trembled and led me into the second chamber, and I saw an idol +standing on a lotus of jade hung with great emeralds. It was carved out +of ivory, and in stature was twice the stature of a man. On its forehead +was a chrysolite, and its breasts were smeared with myrrh and cinnamon. +In one hand it held a crooked sceptre of jade, and in the other a round +crystal. It ware buskins of brass, and its thick neck was circled with a +circle of selenites. + +‘And I said to the priest, “Is this the god?” + +‘And he answered me, “This is the god.” + +‘“Show me the god,” I cried, “or I will surely slay thee.” And I touched +his eyes, and they became blind. + +‘And the priest besought me, saying, “Let my lord heal his servant, and I +will show him the god.” + +‘So I breathed with my breath upon his eyes, and the sight came back to +them, and he trembled again, and led me into the third chamber, and lo! +there was no idol in it, nor image of any kind, but only a mirror of +round metal set on an altar of stone. + +‘And I said to the priest, “Where is the god?” + +‘And he answered me: “There is no god but this mirror that thou seest, +for this is the Mirror of Wisdom. And it reflecteth all things that are +in heaven and on earth, save only the face of him who looketh into it. +This it reflecteth not, so that he who looketh into it may be wise. Many +other mirrors are there, but they are mirrors of Opinion. This only is +the Mirror of Wisdom. And they who possess this mirror know everything, +nor is there anything hidden from them. And they who possess it not have +not Wisdom. Therefore is it the god, and we worship it.” And I looked +into the mirror, and it was even as he had said to me. + +‘And I did a strange thing, but what I did matters not, for in a valley +that is but a day’s journey from this place have I hidden the Mirror of +Wisdom. Do but suffer me to enter into thee again and be thy servant, +and thou shalt be wiser than all the wise men, and Wisdom shall be thine. +Suffer me to enter into thee, and none will be as wise as thou.’ + +But the young Fisherman laughed. ‘Love is better than Wisdom,’ he cried, +‘and the little Mermaid loves me.’ + +‘Nay, but there is nothing better than Wisdom,’ said the Soul. + +‘Love is better,’ answered the young Fisherman, and he plunged into the +deep, and the Soul went weeping away over the marshes. + + * * * * * + +And after the second year was over, the Soul came down to the shore of +the sea, and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep +and said, ‘Why dost thou call to me?’ + +And the Soul answered, ‘Come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I +have seen marvellous things.’ + +So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head +upon his hand and listened. + +And the Soul said to him, ‘When I left thee, I turned my face to the +South and journeyed. From the South cometh everything that is precious. +Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to the city of Ashter, +along the dusty red-dyed highways by which the pilgrims are wont to go +did I journey, and on the morning of the seventh day I lifted up my eyes, +and lo! the city lay at my feet, for it is in a valley. + +‘There are nine gates to this city, and in front of each gate stands a +bronze horse that neighs when the Bedouins come down from the mountains. +The walls are cased with copper, and the watch-towers on the walls are +roofed with brass. In every tower stands an archer with a bow in his +hand. At sunrise he strikes with an arrow on a gong, and at sunset he +blows through a horn of horn. + +‘When I sought to enter, the guards stopped me and asked of me who I was. +I made answer that I was a Dervish and on my way to the city of Mecca, +where there was a green veil on which the Koran was embroidered in silver +letters by the hands of the angels. They were filled with wonder, and +entreated me to pass in. + +‘Inside it is even as a bazaar. Surely thou shouldst have been with me. +Across the narrow streets the gay lanterns of paper flutter like large +butterflies. When the wind blows over the roofs they rise and fall as +painted bubbles do. In front of their booths sit the merchants on silken +carpets. They have straight black beards, and their turbans are covered +with golden sequins, and long strings of amber and carved peach-stones +glide through their cool fingers. Some of them sell galbanum and nard, +and curious perfumes from the islands of the Indian Sea, and the thick +oil of red roses, and myrrh and little nail-shaped cloves. When one +stops to speak to them, they throw pinches of frankincense upon a +charcoal brazier and make the air sweet. I saw a Syrian who held in his +hands a thin rod like a reed. Grey threads of smoke came from it, and +its odour as it burned was as the odour of the pink almond in spring. +Others sell silver bracelets embossed all over with creamy blue turquoise +stones, and anklets of brass wire fringed with little pearls, and tigers’ +claws set in gold, and the claws of that gilt cat, the leopard, set in +gold also, and earrings of pierced emerald, and finger-rings of hollowed +jade. From the tea-houses comes the sound of the guitar, and the +opium-smokers with their white smiling faces look out at the passers-by. + +‘Of a truth thou shouldst have been with me. The wine-sellers elbow +their way through the crowd with great black skins on their shoulders. +Most of them sell the wine of Schiraz, which is as sweet as honey. They +serve it in little metal cups and strew rose leaves upon it. In the +market-place stand the fruitsellers, who sell all kinds of fruit: ripe +figs, with their bruised purple flesh, melons, smelling of musk and +yellow as topazes, citrons and rose-apples and clusters of white grapes, +round red-gold oranges, and oval lemons of green gold. Once I saw an +elephant go by. Its trunk was painted with vermilion and turmeric, and +over its ears it had a net of crimson silk cord. It stopped opposite one +of the booths and began eating the oranges, and the man only laughed. +Thou canst not think how strange a people they are. When they are glad +they go to the bird-sellers and buy of them a caged bird, and set it free +that their joy may be greater, and when they are sad they scourge +themselves with thorns that their sorrow may not grow less. + +‘One evening I met some negroes carrying a heavy palanquin through the +bazaar. It was made of gilded bamboo, and the poles were of vermilion +lacquer studded with brass peacocks. Across the windows hung thin +curtains of muslin embroidered with beetles’ wings and with tiny +seed-pearls, and as it passed by a pale-faced Circassian looked out and +smiled at me. I followed behind, and the negroes hurried their steps and +scowled. But I did not care. I felt a great curiosity come over me. + +‘At last they stopped at a square white house. There were no windows to +it, only a little door like the door of a tomb. They set down the +palanquin and knocked three times with a copper hammer. An Armenian in a +caftan of green leather peered through the wicket, and when he saw them +he opened, and spread a carpet on the ground, and the woman stepped out. +As she went in, she turned round and smiled at me again. I had never +seen any one so pale. + +‘When the moon rose I returned to the same place and sought for the +house, but it was no longer there. When I saw that, I knew who the woman +was, and wherefore she had smiled at me. + +‘Certainly thou shouldst have been with me. On the feast of the New Moon +the young Emperor came forth from his palace and went into the mosque to +pray. His hair and beard were dyed with rose-leaves, and his cheeks were +powdered with a fine gold dust. The palms of his feet and hands were +yellow with saffron. + +‘At sunrise he went forth from his palace in a robe of silver, and at +sunset he returned to it again in a robe of gold. The people flung +themselves on the ground and hid their faces, but I would not do so. I +stood by the stall of a seller of dates and waited. When the Emperor saw +me, he raised his painted eyebrows and stopped. I stood quite still, and +made him no obeisance. The people marvelled at my boldness, and +counselled me to flee from the city. I paid no heed to them, but went +and sat with the sellers of strange gods, who by reason of their craft +are abominated. When I told them what I had done, each of them gave me a +god and prayed me to leave them. + +‘That night, as I lay on a cushion in the tea-house that is in the Street +of Pomegranates, the guards of the Emperor entered and led me to the +palace. As I went in they closed each door behind me, and put a chain +across it. Inside was a great court with an arcade running all round. +The walls were of white alabaster, set here and there with blue and green +tiles. The pillars were of green marble, and the pavement of a kind of +peach-blossom marble. I had never seen anything like it before. + +‘As I passed across the court two veiled women looked down from a balcony +and cursed me. The guards hastened on, and the butts of the lances rang +upon the polished floor. They opened a gate of wrought ivory, and I +found myself in a watered garden of seven terraces. It was planted with +tulip-cups and moonflowers, and silver-studded aloes. Like a slim reed +of crystal a fountain hung in the dusky air. The cypress-trees were like +burnt-out torches. From one of them a nightingale was singing. + +‘At the end of the garden stood a little pavilion. As we approached it +two eunuchs came out to meet us. Their fat bodies swayed as they walked, +and they glanced curiously at me with their yellow-lidded eyes. One of +them drew aside the captain of the guard, and in a low voice whispered to +him. The other kept munching scented pastilles, which he took with an +affected gesture out of an oval box of lilac enamel. + +‘After a few moments the captain of the guard dismissed the soldiers. +They went back to the palace, the eunuchs following slowly behind and +plucking the sweet mulberries from the trees as they passed. Once the +elder of the two turned round, and smiled at me with an evil smile. + +‘Then the captain of the guard motioned me towards the entrance of the +pavilion. I walked on without trembling, and drawing the heavy curtain +aside I entered in. + +‘The young Emperor was stretched on a couch of dyed lion skins, and a +gerfalcon perched upon his wrist. Behind him stood a brass-turbaned +Nubian, naked down to the waist, and with heavy earrings in his split +ears. On a table by the side of the couch lay a mighty scimitar of +steel. + +‘When the Emperor saw me he frowned, and said to me, “What is thy name? +Knowest thou not that I am Emperor of this city?” But I made him no +answer. + +‘He pointed with his finger at the scimitar, and the Nubian seized it, +and rushing forward struck at me with great violence. The blade whizzed +through me, and did me no hurt. The man fell sprawling on the floor, and +when he rose up his teeth chattered with terror and he hid himself behind +the couch. + +‘The Emperor leapt to his feet, and taking a lance from a stand of arms, +he threw it at me. I caught it in its flight, and brake the shaft into +two pieces. He shot at me with an arrow, but I held up my hands and it +stopped in mid-air. Then he drew a dagger from a belt of white leather, +and stabbed the Nubian in the throat lest the slave should tell of his +dishonour. The man writhed like a trampled snake, and a red foam bubbled +from his lips. + +‘As soon as he was dead the Emperor turned to me, and when he had wiped +away the bright sweat from his brow with a little napkin of purfled and +purple silk, he said to me, “Art thou a prophet, that I may not harm +thee, or the son of a prophet, that I can do thee no hurt? I pray thee +leave my city to-night, for while thou art in it I am no longer its +lord.” + +‘And I answered him, “I will go for half of thy treasure. Give me half +of thy treasure, and I will go away.” + +‘He took me by the hand, and led me out into the garden. When the +captain of the guard saw me, he wondered. When the eunuchs saw me, their +knees shook and they fell upon the ground in fear. + +‘There is a chamber in the palace that has eight walls of red porphyry, +and a brass-sealed ceiling hung with lamps. The Emperor touched one of +the walls and it opened, and we passed down a corridor that was lit with +many torches. In niches upon each side stood great wine-jars filled to +the brim with silver pieces. When we reached the centre of the corridor +the Emperor spake the word that may not be spoken, and a granite door +swung back on a secret spring, and he put his hands before his face lest +his eyes should be dazzled. + +‘Thou couldst not believe how marvellous a place it was. There were huge +tortoise-shells full of pearls, and hollowed moonstones of great size +piled up with red rubies. The gold was stored in coffers of +elephant-hide, and the gold-dust in leather bottles. There were opals +and sapphires, the former in cups of crystal, and the latter in cups of +jade. Round green emeralds were ranged in order upon thin plates of +ivory, and in one corner were silk bags filled, some with +turquoise-stones, and others with beryls. The ivory horns were heaped +with purple amethysts, and the horns of brass with chalcedonies and +sards. The pillars, which were of cedar, were hung with strings of +yellow lynx-stones. In the flat oval shields there were carbuncles, both +wine-coloured and coloured like grass. And yet I have told thee but a +tithe of what was there. + +‘And when the Emperor had taken away his hands from before his face he +said to me: “This is my house of treasure, and half that is in it is +thine, even as I promised to thee. And I will give thee camels and camel +drivers, and they shall do thy bidding and take thy share of the treasure +to whatever part of the world thou desirest to go. And the thing shall +be done to-night, for I would not that the Sun, who is my father, should +see that there is in my city a man whom I cannot slay.” + +‘But I answered him, “The gold that is here is thine, and the silver also +is thine, and thine are the precious jewels and the things of price. As +for me, I have no need of these. Nor shall I take aught from thee but +that little ring that thou wearest on the finger of thy hand.” + +‘And the Emperor frowned. “It is but a ring of lead,” he cried, “nor has +it any value. Therefore take thy half of the treasure and go from my +city.” + +‘“Nay,” I answered, “but I will take nought but that leaden ring, for I +know what is written within it, and for what purpose.” + +‘And the Emperor trembled, and besought me and said, “Take all the +treasure and go from my city. The half that is mine shall be thine +also.” + +‘And I did a strange thing, but what I did matters not, for in a cave +that is but a day’s journey from this place have, I hidden the Ring of +Riches. It is but a day’s journey from this place, and it waits for thy +coming. He who has this Ring is richer than all the kings of the world. +Come therefore and take it, and the world’s riches shall be thine.’ + +But the young Fisherman laughed. ‘Love is better than Riches,’ he cried, +‘and the little Mermaid loves me.’ + +‘Nay, but there is nothing better than Riches,’ said the Soul. + +‘Love is better,’ answered the young Fisherman, and he plunged into the +deep, and the Soul went weeping away over the marshes. + + * * * * * + +And after the third year was over, the Soul came down to the shore of the +sea, and called to the young Fisherman, and he rose out of the deep and +said, ‘Why dost thou call to me?’ + +And the Soul answered, ‘Come nearer, that I may speak with thee, for I +have seen marvellous things.’ + +So he came nearer, and couched in the shallow water, and leaned his head +upon his hand and listened. + +And the Soul said to him, ‘In a city that I know of there is an inn that +standeth by a river. I sat there with sailors who drank of two +different-coloured wines, and ate bread made of barley, and little salt +fish served in bay leaves with vinegar. And as we sat and made merry, +there entered to us an old man bearing a leathern carpet and a lute that +had two horns of amber. And when he had laid out the carpet on the +floor, he struck with a quill on the wire strings of his lute, and a girl +whose face was veiled ran in and began to dance before us. Her face was +veiled with a veil of gauze, but her feet were naked. Naked were her +feet, and they moved over the carpet like little white pigeons. Never +have I seen anything so marvellous; and the city in which she dances is +but a day’s journey from this place.’ + +Now when the young Fisherman heard the words of his Soul, he remembered +that the little Mermaid had no feet and could not dance. And a great +desire came over him, and he said to himself, ‘It is but a day’s journey, +and I can return to my love,’ and he laughed, and stood up in the shallow +water, and strode towards the shore. + +And when he had reached the dry shore he laughed again, and held out his +arms to his Soul. And his Soul gave a great cry of joy and ran to meet +him, and entered into him, and the young Fisherman saw stretched before +him upon the sand that shadow of the body that is the body of the Soul. + +And his Soul said to him, ‘Let us not tarry, but get hence at once, for +the Sea-gods are jealous, and have monsters that do their bidding.’ + + * * * * * + +So they made haste, and all that night they journeyed beneath the moon, +and all the next day they journeyed beneath the sun, and on the evening +of the day they came to a city. + +And the young Fisherman said to his Soul, ‘Is this the city in which she +dances of whom thou didst speak to me?’ + +And his Soul answered him, ‘It is not this city, but another. +Nevertheless let us enter in.’ So they entered in and passed through the +streets, and as they passed through the Street of the Jewellers the young +Fisherman saw a fair silver cup set forth in a booth. And his Soul said +to him, ‘Take that silver cup and hide it.’ + +So he took the cup and hid it in the fold of his tunic, and they went +hurriedly out of the city. + +And after that they had gone a league from the city, the young Fisherman +frowned, and flung the cup away, and said to his Soul, ‘Why didst thou +tell me to take this cup and hide it, for it was an evil thing to do?’ + +But his Soul answered him, ‘Be at peace, be at peace.’ + +And on the evening of the second day they came to a city, and the young +Fisherman said to his Soul, ‘Is this the city in which she dances of whom +thou didst speak to me?’ + +And his Soul answered him, ‘It is not this city, but another. +Nevertheless let us enter in.’ So they entered in and passed through the +streets, and as they passed through the Street of the Sellers of Sandals, +the young Fisherman saw a child standing by a jar of water. And his Soul +said to him, ‘Smite that child.’ So he smote the child till it wept, and +when he had done this they went hurriedly out of the city. + +And after that they had gone a league from the city the young Fisherman +grew wroth, and said to his Soul, ‘Why didst thou tell me to smite the +child, for it was an evil thing to do?’ + +But his Soul answered him, ‘Be at peace, be at peace.’ + +And on the evening of the third day they came to a city, and the young +Fisherman said to his Soul, ‘Is this the city in which she dances of whom +thou didst speak to me?’ + +And his Soul answered him, ‘It may be that it is in this city, therefore +let us enter in.’ + +So they entered in and passed through the streets, but nowhere could the +young Fisherman find the river or the inn that stood by its side. And +the people of the city looked curiously at him, and he grew afraid and +said to his Soul, ‘Let us go hence, for she who dances with white feet is +not here.’ + +But his Soul answered, ‘Nay, but let us tarry, for the night is dark and +there will be robbers on the way.’ + +So he sat him down in the market-place and rested, and after a time there +went by a hooded merchant who had a cloak of cloth of Tartary, and bare a +lantern of pierced horn at the end of a jointed reed. And the merchant +said to him, ‘Why dost thou sit in the market-place, seeing that the +booths are closed and the bales corded?’ + +And the young Fisherman answered him, ‘I can find no inn in this city, +nor have I any kinsman who might give me shelter.’ + +‘Are we not all kinsmen?’ said the merchant. ‘And did not one God make +us? Therefore come with me, for I have a guest-chamber.’ + +So the young Fisherman rose up and followed the merchant to his house. +And when he had passed through a garden of pomegranates and entered into +the house, the merchant brought him rose-water in a copper dish that he +might wash his hands, and ripe melons that he might quench his thirst, +and set a bowl of rice and a piece of roasted kid before him. + +And after that he had finished, the merchant led him to the +guest-chamber, and bade him sleep and be at rest. And the young +Fisherman gave him thanks, and kissed the ring that was on his hand, and +flung himself down on the carpets of dyed goat’s-hair. And when he had +covered himself with a covering of black lamb’s-wool he fell asleep. + +And three hours before dawn, and while it was still night, his Soul waked +him and said to him, ‘Rise up and go to the room of the merchant, even to +the room in which he sleepeth, and slay him, and take from him his gold, +for we have need of it.’ + +And the young Fisherman rose up and crept towards the room of the +merchant, and over the feet of the merchant there was lying a curved +sword, and the tray by the side of the merchant held nine purses of gold. +And he reached out his hand and touched the sword, and when he touched it +the merchant started and awoke, and leaping up seized himself the sword +and cried to the young Fisherman, ‘Dost thou return evil for good, and +pay with the shedding of blood for the kindness that I have shown thee?’ + +And his Soul said to the young Fisherman, ‘Strike him,’ and he struck him +so that he swooned and he seized then the nine purses of gold, and fled +hastily through the garden of pomegranates, and set his face to the star +that is the star of morning. + +And when they had gone a league from the city, the young Fisherman beat +his breast, and said to his Soul, ‘Why didst thou bid me slay the +merchant and take his gold? Surely thou art evil.’ + +But his Soul answered him, ‘Be at peace, be at peace.’ + +‘Nay,’ cried the young Fisherman, ‘I may not be at peace, for all that +thou hast made me to do I hate. Thee also I hate, and I bid thee tell me +wherefore thou hast wrought with me in this wise.’ + +And his Soul answered him, ‘When thou didst send me forth into the world +thou gavest me no heart, so I learned to do all these things and love +them.’ + +‘What sayest thou?’ murmured the young Fisherman. + +‘Thou knowest,’ answered his Soul, ‘thou knowest it well. Hast thou +forgotten that thou gavest me no heart? I trow not. And so trouble not +thyself nor me, but be at peace, for there is no pain that thou shalt not +give away, nor any pleasure that thou shalt not receive.’ + +And when the young Fisherman heard these words he trembled and said to +his Soul, ‘Nay, but thou art evil, and hast made me forget my love, and +hast tempted me with temptations, and hast set my feet in the ways of +sin.’ + +And his Soul answered him, ‘Thou hast not forgotten that when thou didst +send me forth into the world thou gavest me no heart. Come, let us go to +another city, and make merry, for we have nine purses of gold.’ + +But the young Fisherman took the nine purses of gold, and flung them +down, and trampled on them. + +‘Nay,’ he cried, ‘but I will have nought to do with thee, nor will I +journey with thee anywhere, but even as I sent thee away before, so will +I send thee away now, for thou hast wrought me no good.’ And he turned +his back to the moon, and with the little knife that had the handle of +green viper’s skin he strove to cut from his feet that shadow of the body +which is the body of the Soul. + +Yet his Soul stirred not from him, nor paid heed to his command, but said +to him, ‘The spell that the Witch told thee avails thee no more, for I +may not leave thee, nor mayest thou drive me forth. Once in his life may +a man send his Soul away, but he who receiveth back his Soul must keep it +with him for ever, and this is his punishment and his reward.’ + +And the young Fisherman grew pale and clenched his hands and cried, ‘She +was a false Witch in that she told me not that.’ + +‘Nay,’ answered his Soul, ‘but she was true to Him she worships, and +whose servant she will be ever.’ + +And when the young Fisherman knew that he could no longer get rid of his +Soul, and that it was an evil Soul and would abide with him always, he +fell upon the ground weeping bitterly. + + * * * * * + +And when it was day the young Fisherman rose up and said to his Soul, ‘I +will bind my hands that I may not do thy bidding, and close my lips that +I may not speak thy words, and I will return to the place where she whom +I love has her dwelling. Even to the sea will I return, and to the +little bay where she is wont to sing, and I will call to her and tell her +the evil I have done and the evil thou hast wrought on me.’ + +And his Soul tempted him and said, ‘Who is thy love, that thou shouldst +return to her? The world has many fairer than she is. There are the +dancing-girls of Samaris who dance in the manner of all kinds of birds +and beasts. Their feet are painted with henna, and in their hands they +have little copper bells. They laugh while they dance, and their +laughter is as clear as the laughter of water. Come with me and I will +show them to thee. For what is this trouble of thine about the things of +sin? Is that which is pleasant to eat not made for the eater? Is there +poison in that which is sweet to drink? Trouble not thyself, but come +with me to another city. There is a little city hard by in which there +is a garden of tulip-trees. And there dwell in this comely garden white +peacocks and peacocks that have blue breasts. Their tails when they +spread them to the sun are like disks of ivory and like gilt disks. And +she who feeds them dances for their pleasure, and sometimes she dances on +her hands and at other times she dances with her feet. Her eyes are +coloured with stibium, and her nostrils are shaped like the wings of a +swallow. From a hook in one of her nostrils hangs a flower that is +carved out of a pearl. She laughs while she dances, and the silver rings +that are about her ankles tinkle like bells of silver. And so trouble +not thyself any more, but come with me to this city.’ + +But the young Fisherman answered not his Soul, but closed his lips with +the seal of silence and with a tight cord bound his hands, and journeyed +back to the place from which he had come, even to the little bay where +his love had been wont to sing. And ever did his Soul tempt him by the +way, but he made it no answer, nor would he do any of the wickedness that +it sought to make him to do, so great was the power of the love that was +within him. + +And when he had reached the shore of the sea, he loosed the cord from his +hands, and took the seal of silence from his lips, and called to the +little Mermaid. But she came not to his call, though he called to her +all day long and besought her. + +And his Soul mocked him and said, ‘Surely thou hast but little joy out of +thy love. Thou art as one who in time of death pours water into a broken +vessel. Thou givest away what thou hast, and nought is given to thee in +return. It were better for thee to come with me, for I know where the +Valley of Pleasure lies, and what things are wrought there.’ + +But the young Fisherman answered not his Soul, but in a cleft of the rock +he built himself a house of wattles, and abode there for the space of a +year. And every morning he called to the Mermaid, and every noon he +called to her again, and at night-time he spake her name. Yet never did +she rise out of the sea to meet him, nor in any place of the sea could he +find her though he sought for her in the caves and in the green water, in +the pools of the tide and in the wells that are at the bottom of the +deep. + +And ever did his Soul tempt him with evil, and whisper of terrible +things. Yet did it not prevail against him, so great was the power of +his love. + +And after the year was over, the Soul thought within himself, ‘I have +tempted my master with evil, and his love is stronger than I am. I will +tempt him now with good, and it may be that he will come with me.’ + +So he spake to the young Fisherman and said, ‘I have told thee of the joy +of the world, and thou hast turned a deaf ear to me. Suffer me now to +tell thee of the world’s pain, and it may be that thou wilt hearken. For +of a truth pain is the Lord of this world, nor is there any one who +escapes from its net. There be some who lack raiment, and others who +lack bread. There be widows who sit in purple, and widows who sit in +rags. To and fro over the fens go the lepers, and they are cruel to each +other. The beggars go up and down on the highways, and their wallets are +empty. Through the streets of the cities walks Famine, and the Plague +sits at their gates. Come, let us go forth and mend these things, and +make them not to be. Wherefore shouldst thou tarry here calling to thy +love, seeing she comes not to thy call? And what is love, that thou +shouldst set this high store upon it?’ + +But the young Fisherman answered it nought, so great was the power of his +love. And every morning he called to the Mermaid, and every noon he +called to her again, and at night-time he spake her name. Yet never did +she rise out of the sea to meet him, nor in any place of the sea could he +find her, though he sought for her in the rivers of the sea, and in the +valleys that are under the waves, in the sea that the night makes purple, +and in the sea that the dawn leaves grey. + +And after the second year was over, the Soul said to the young Fisherman +at night-time, and as he sat in the wattled house alone, ‘Lo! now I have +tempted thee with evil, and I have tempted thee with good, and thy love +is stronger than I am. Wherefore will I tempt thee no longer, but I pray +thee to suffer me to enter thy heart, that I may be one with thee even as +before.’ + +‘Surely thou mayest enter,’ said the young Fisherman, ‘for in the days +when with no heart thou didst go through the world thou must have much +suffered.’ + +‘Alas!’ cried his Soul, ‘I can find no place of entrance, so compassed +about with love is this heart of thine.’ + +‘Yet I would that I could help thee,’ said the young Fisherman. + +And as he spake there came a great cry of mourning from the sea, even the +cry that men hear when one of the Sea-folk is dead. And the young +Fisherman leapt up, and left his wattled house, and ran down to the +shore. And the black waves came hurrying to the shore, bearing with them +a burden that was whiter than silver. White as the surf it was, and like +a flower it tossed on the waves. And the surf took it from the waves, +and the foam took it from the surf, and the shore received it, and lying +at his feet the young Fisherman saw the body of the little Mermaid. Dead +at his feet it was lying. + +Weeping as one smitten with pain he flung himself down beside it, and he +kissed the cold red of the mouth, and toyed with the wet amber of the +hair. He flung himself down beside it on the sand, weeping as one +trembling with joy, and in his brown arms he held it to his breast. Cold +were the lips, yet he kissed them. Salt was the honey of the hair, yet +he tasted it with a bitter joy. He kissed the closed eyelids, and the +wild spray that lay upon their cups was less salt than his tears. + +And to the dead thing he made confession. Into the shells of its ears he +poured the harsh wine of his tale. He put the little hands round his +neck, and with his fingers he touched the thin reed of the throat. +Bitter, bitter was his joy, and full of strange gladness was his pain. + +The black sea came nearer, and the white foam moaned like a leper. With +white claws of foam the sea grabbled at the shore. From the palace of +the Sea-King came the cry of mourning again, and far out upon the sea the +great Tritons blew hoarsely upon their horns. + +‘Flee away,’ said his Soul, ‘for ever doth the sea come nigher, and if +thou tarriest it will slay thee. Flee away, for I am afraid, seeing that +thy heart is closed against me by reason of the greatness of thy love. +Flee away to a place of safety. Surely thou wilt not send me without a +heart into another world?’ + +But the young Fisherman listened not to his Soul, but called on the +little Mermaid and said, ‘Love is better than wisdom, and more precious +than riches, and fairer than the feet of the daughters of men. The fires +cannot destroy it, nor can the waters quench it. I called on thee at +dawn, and thou didst not come to my call. The moon heard thy name, yet +hadst thou no heed of me. For evilly had I left thee, and to my own hurt +had I wandered away. Yet ever did thy love abide with me, and ever was +it strong, nor did aught prevail against it, though I have looked upon +evil and looked upon good. And now that thou art dead, surely I will die +with thee also.’ + +And his Soul besought him to depart, but he would not, so great was his +love. And the sea came nearer, and sought to cover him with its waves, +and when he knew that the end was at hand he kissed with mad lips the +cold lips of the Mermaid, and the heart that was within him brake. And +as through the fulness of his love his heart did break, the Soul found an +entrance and entered in, and was one with him even as before. And the +sea covered the young Fisherman with its waves. + + * * * * * + +And in the morning the Priest went forth to bless the sea, for it had +been troubled. And with him went the monks and the musicians, and the +candle-bearers, and the swingers of censers, and a great company. + +And when the Priest reached the shore he saw the young Fisherman lying +drowned in the surf, and clasped in his arms was the body of the little +Mermaid. And he drew back frowning, and having made the sign of the +cross, he cried aloud and said, ‘I will not bless the sea nor anything +that is in it. Accursed be the Sea-folk, and accursed be all they who +traffic with them. And as for him who for love’s sake forsook God, and +so lieth here with his leman slain by God’s judgment, take up his body +and the body of his leman, and bury them in the corner of the Field of +the Fullers, and set no mark above them, nor sign of any kind, that none +may know the place of their resting. For accursed were they in their +lives, and accursed shall they be in their deaths also.’ + +And the people did as he commanded them, and in the corner of the Field +of the Fullers, where no sweet herbs grew, they dug a deep pit, and laid +the dead things within it. + +And when the third year was over, and on a day that was a holy day, the +Priest went up to the chapel, that he might show to the people the wounds +of the Lord, and speak to them about the wrath of God. + +And when he had robed himself with his robes, and entered in and bowed +himself before the altar, he saw that the altar was covered with strange +flowers that never had been seen before. Strange were they to look at, +and of curious beauty, and their beauty troubled him, and their odour was +sweet in his nostrils. And he felt glad, and understood not why he was +glad. + +And after that he had opened the tabernacle, and incensed the monstrance +that was in it, and shown the fair wafer to the people, and hid it again +behind the veil of veils, he began to speak to the people, desiring to +speak to them of the wrath of God. But the beauty of the white flowers +troubled him, and their odour was sweet in his nostrils, and there came +another word into his lips, and he spake not of the wrath of God, but of +the God whose name is Love. And why he so spake, he knew not. + +And when he had finished his word the people wept, and the Priest went +back to the sacristy, and his eyes were full of tears. And the deacons +came in and began to unrobe him, and took from him the alb and the +girdle, the maniple and the stole. And he stood as one in a dream. + +And after that they had unrobed him, he looked at them and said, ‘What +are the flowers that stand on the altar, and whence do they come?’ + +And they answered him, ‘What flowers they are we cannot tell, but they +come from the corner of the Fullers’ Field.’ And the Priest trembled, +and returned to his own house and prayed. + +And in the morning, while it was still dawn, he went forth with the monks +and the musicians, and the candle-bearers and the swingers of censers, +and a great company, and came to the shore of the sea, and blessed the +sea, and all the wild things that are in it. The Fauns also he blessed, +and the little things that dance in the woodland, and the bright-eyed +things that peer through the leaves. All the things in God’s world he +blessed, and the people were filled with joy and wonder. Yet never again +in the corner of the Fullers’ Field grew flowers of any kind, but the +field remained barren even as before. Nor came the Sea-folk into the bay +as they had been wont to do, for they went to another part of the sea. + + + + +THE STAR-CHILD + + + TO + MISS MARGOT TENNANT + [MRS. ASQUITH] + +ONCE upon a time two poor Woodcutters were making their way home through +a great pine-forest. It was winter, and a night of bitter cold. The +snow lay thick upon the ground, and upon the branches of the trees: the +frost kept snapping the little twigs on either side of them, as they +passed: and when they came to the Mountain-Torrent she was hanging +motionless in air, for the Ice-King had kissed her. + +So cold was it that even the animals and the birds did not know what to +make of it. + +‘Ugh!’ snarled the Wolf, as he limped through the brushwood with his tail +between his legs, ‘this is perfectly monstrous weather. Why doesn’t the +Government look to it?’ + +‘Weet! weet! weet!’ twittered the green Linnets, ‘the old Earth is dead +and they have laid her out in her white shroud.’ + +‘The Earth is going to be married, and this is her bridal dress,’ +whispered the Turtle-doves to each other. Their little pink feet were +quite frost-bitten, but they felt that it was their duty to take a +romantic view of the situation. + +‘Nonsense!’ growled the Wolf. ‘I tell you that it is all the fault of +the Government, and if you don’t believe me I shall eat you.’ The Wolf +had a thoroughly practical mind, and was never at a loss for a good +argument. + +‘Well, for my own part,’ said the Woodpecker, who was a born philosopher, +‘I don’t care an atomic theory for explanations. If a thing is so, it is +so, and at present it is terribly cold.’ + +Terribly cold it certainly was. The little Squirrels, who lived inside +the tall fir-tree, kept rubbing each other’s noses to keep themselves +warm, and the Rabbits curled themselves up in their holes, and did not +venture even to look out of doors. The only people who seemed to enjoy +it were the great horned Owls. Their feathers were quite stiff with +rime, but they did not mind, and they rolled their large yellow eyes, and +called out to each other across the forest, ‘Tu-whit! Tu-whoo! Tu-whit! +Tu-whoo! what delightful weather we are having!’ + +On and on went the two Woodcutters, blowing lustily upon their fingers, +and stamping with their huge iron-shod boots upon the caked snow. Once +they sank into a deep drift, and came out as white as millers are, when +the stones are grinding; and once they slipped on the hard smooth ice +where the marsh-water was frozen, and their faggots fell out of their +bundles, and they had to pick them up and bind them together again; and +once they thought that they had lost their way, and a great terror seized +on them, for they knew that the Snow is cruel to those who sleep in her +arms. But they put their trust in the good Saint Martin, who watches +over all travellers, and retraced their steps, and went warily, and at +last they reached the outskirts of the forest, and saw, far down in the +valley beneath them, the lights of the village in which they dwelt. + +So overjoyed were they at their deliverance that they laughed aloud, and +the Earth seemed to them like a flower of silver, and the Moon like a +flower of gold. + +Yet, after that they had laughed they became sad, for they remembered +their poverty, and one of them said to the other, ‘Why did we make merry, +seeing that life is for the rich, and not for such as we are? Better +that we had died of cold in the forest, or that some wild beast had +fallen upon us and slain us.’ + +‘Truly,’ answered his companion, ‘much is given to some, and little is +given to others. Injustice has parcelled out the world, nor is there +equal division of aught save of sorrow.’ + +But as they were bewailing their misery to each other this strange thing +happened. There fell from heaven a very bright and beautiful star. It +slipped down the side of the sky, passing by the other stars in its +course, and, as they watched it wondering, it seemed to them to sink +behind a clump of willow-trees that stood hard by a little sheepfold no +more than a stone’s-throw away. + +‘Why! there is a crook of gold for whoever finds it,’ they cried, and +they set to and ran, so eager were they for the gold. + +And one of them ran faster than his mate, and outstripped him, and forced +his way through the willows, and came out on the other side, and lo! +there was indeed a thing of gold lying on the white snow. So he hastened +towards it, and stooping down placed his hands upon it, and it was a +cloak of golden tissue, curiously wrought with stars, and wrapped in many +folds. And he cried out to his comrade that he had found the treasure +that had fallen from the sky, and when his comrade had come up, they sat +them down in the snow, and loosened the folds of the cloak that they +might divide the pieces of gold. But, alas! no gold was in it, nor +silver, nor, indeed, treasure of any kind, but only a little child who +was asleep. + +And one of them said to the other: ‘This is a bitter ending to our hope, +nor have we any good fortune, for what doth a child profit to a man? Let +us leave it here, and go our way, seeing that we are poor men, and have +children of our own whose bread we may not give to another.’ + +But his companion answered him: ‘Nay, but it were an evil thing to leave +the child to perish here in the snow, and though I am as poor as thou +art, and have many mouths to feed, and but little in the pot, yet will I +bring it home with me, and my wife shall have care of it.’ + +So very tenderly he took up the child, and wrapped the cloak around it to +shield it from the harsh cold, and made his way down the hill to the +village, his comrade marvelling much at his foolishness and softness of +heart. + +And when they came to the village, his comrade said to him, ‘Thou hast +the child, therefore give me the cloak, for it is meet that we should +share.’ + +But he answered him: ‘Nay, for the cloak is neither mine nor thine, but +the child’s only,’ and he bade him Godspeed, and went to his own house +and knocked. + +And when his wife opened the door and saw that her husband had returned +safe to her, she put her arms round his neck and kissed him, and took +from his back the bundle of faggots, and brushed the snow off his boots, +and bade him come in. + +But he said to her, ‘I have found something in the forest, and I have +brought it to thee to have care of it,’ and he stirred not from the +threshold. + +‘What is it?’ she cried. ‘Show it to me, for the house is bare, and we +have need of many things.’ And he drew the cloak back, and showed her +the sleeping child. + +‘Alack, goodman!’ she murmured, ‘have we not children of our own, that +thou must needs bring a changeling to sit by the hearth? And who knows +if it will not bring us bad fortune? And how shall we tend it?’ And she +was wroth against him. + +‘Nay, but it is a Star-Child,’ he answered; and he told her the strange +manner of the finding of it. + +But she would not be appeased, but mocked at him, and spoke angrily, and +cried: ‘Our children lack bread, and shall we feed the child of another? +Who is there who careth for us? And who giveth us food?’ + +‘Nay, but God careth for the sparrows even, and feedeth them,’ he +answered. + +‘Do not the sparrows die of hunger in the winter?’ she asked. ‘And is it +not winter now?’ + +And the man answered nothing, but stirred not from the threshold. + +And a bitter wind from the forest came in through the open door, and made +her tremble, and she shivered, and said to him: ‘Wilt thou not close the +door? There cometh a bitter wind into the house, and I am cold.’ + +‘Into a house where a heart is hard cometh there not always a bitter +wind?’ he asked. And the woman answered him nothing, but crept closer to +the fire. + +And after a time she turned round and looked at him, and her eyes were +full of tears. And he came in swiftly, and placed the child in her arms, +and she kissed it, and laid it in a little bed where the youngest of +their own children was lying. And on the morrow the Woodcutter took the +curious cloak of gold and placed it in a great chest, and a chain of +amber that was round the child’s neck his wife took and set it in the +chest also. + + * * * * * + +So the Star-Child was brought up with the children of the Woodcutter, and +sat at the same board with them, and was their playmate. And every year +he became more beautiful to look at, so that all those who dwelt in the +village were filled with wonder, for, while they were swarthy and +black-haired, he was white and delicate as sawn ivory, and his curls were +like the rings of the daffodil. His lips, also, were like the petals of +a red flower, and his eyes were like violets by a river of pure water, +and his body like the narcissus of a field where the mower comes not. + +Yet did his beauty work him evil. For he grew proud, and cruel, and +selfish. The children of the Woodcutter, and the other children of the +village, he despised, saying that they were of mean parentage, while he +was noble, being sprang from a Star, and he made himself master over +them, and called them his servants. No pity had he for the poor, or for +those who were blind or maimed or in any way afflicted, but would cast +stones at them and drive them forth on to the highway, and bid them beg +their bread elsewhere, so that none save the outlaws came twice to that +village to ask for alms. Indeed, he was as one enamoured of beauty, and +would mock at the weakly and ill-favoured, and make jest of them; and +himself he loved, and in summer, when the winds were still, he would lie +by the well in the priest’s orchard and look down at the marvel of his +own face, and laugh for the pleasure he had in his fairness. + +Often did the Woodcutter and his wife chide him, and say: ‘We did not +deal with thee as thou dealest with those who are left desolate, and have +none to succour them. Wherefore art thou so cruel to all who need pity?’ + +Often did the old priest send for him, and seek to teach him the love of +living things, saying to him: ‘The fly is thy brother. Do it no harm. +The wild birds that roam through the forest have their freedom. Snare +them not for thy pleasure. God made the blind-worm and the mole, and +each has its place. Who art thou to bring pain into God’s world? Even +the cattle of the field praise Him.’ + +But the Star-Child heeded not their words, but would frown and flout, and +go back to his companions, and lead them. And his companions followed +him, for he was fair, and fleet of foot, and could dance, and pipe, and +make music. And wherever the Star-Child led them they followed, and +whatever the Star-Child bade them do, that did they. And when he pierced +with a sharp reed the dim eyes of the mole, they laughed, and when he +cast stones at the leper they laughed also. And in all things he ruled +them, and they became hard of heart even as he was. + + * * * * * + +Now there passed one day through the village a poor beggar-woman. Her +garments were torn and ragged, and her feet were bleeding from the rough +road on which she had travelled, and she was in very evil plight. And +being weary she sat her down under a chestnut-tree to rest. + +But when the Star-Child saw her, he said to his companions, ‘See! There +sitteth a foul beggar-woman under that fair and green-leaved tree. Come, +let us drive her hence, for she is ugly and ill-favoured.’ + +So he came near and threw stones at her, and mocked her, and she looked +at him with terror in her eyes, nor did she move her gaze from him. And +when the Woodcutter, who was cleaving logs in a haggard hard by, saw what +the Star-Child was doing, he ran up and rebuked him, and said to him: +‘Surely thou art hard of heart and knowest not mercy, for what evil has +this poor woman done to thee that thou shouldst treat her in this wise?’ + +And the Star-Child grew red with anger, and stamped his foot upon the +ground, and said, ‘Who art thou to question me what I do? I am no son of +thine to do thy bidding.’ + +‘Thou speakest truly,’ answered the Woodcutter, ‘yet did I show thee pity +when I found thee in the forest.’ + +And when the woman heard these words she gave a loud cry, and fell into a +swoon. And the Woodcutter carried her to his own house, and his wife had +care of her, and when she rose up from the swoon into which she had +fallen, they set meat and drink before her, and bade her have comfort. + +But she would neither eat nor drink, but said to the Woodcutter, ‘Didst +thou not say that the child was found in the forest? And was it not ten +years from this day?’ + +And the Woodcutter answered, ‘Yea, it was in the forest that I found him, +and it is ten years from this day.’ + +‘And what signs didst thou find with him?’ she cried. ‘Bare he not upon +his neck a chain of amber? Was not round him a cloak of gold tissue +broidered with stars?’ + +‘Truly,’ answered the Woodcutter, ‘it was even as thou sayest.’ And he +took the cloak and the amber chain from the chest where they lay, and +showed them to her. + +And when she saw them she wept for joy, and said, ‘He is my little son +whom I lost in the forest. I pray thee send for him quickly, for in +search of him have I wandered over the whole world.’ + +So the Woodcutter and his wife went out and called to the Star-Child, and +said to him, ‘Go into the house, and there shalt thou find thy mother, +who is waiting for thee.’ + +So he ran in, filled with wonder and great gladness. But when he saw her +who was waiting there, he laughed scornfully and said, ‘Why, where is my +mother? For I see none here but this vile beggar-woman.’ + +And the woman answered him, ‘I am thy mother.’ + +‘Thou art mad to say so,’ cried the Star-Child angrily. ‘I am no son of +thine, for thou art a beggar, and ugly, and in rags. Therefore get thee +hence, and let me see thy foul face no more.’ + +‘Nay, but thou art indeed my little son, whom I bare in the forest,’ she +cried, and she fell on her knees, and held out her arms to him. ‘The +robbers stole thee from me, and left thee to die,’ she murmured, ‘but I +recognised thee when I saw thee, and the signs also have I recognised, +the cloak of golden tissue and the amber chain. Therefore I pray thee +come with me, for over the whole world have I wandered in search of thee. +Come with me, my son, for I have need of thy love.’ + +But the Star-Child stirred not from his place, but shut the doors of his +heart against her, nor was there any sound heard save the sound of the +woman weeping for pain. + +And at last he spoke to her, and his voice was hard and bitter. ‘If in +very truth thou art my mother,’ he said, ‘it had been better hadst thou +stayed away, and not come here to bring me to shame, seeing that I +thought I was the child of some Star, and not a beggar’s child, as thou +tellest me that I am. Therefore get thee hence, and let me see thee no +more.’ + +‘Alas! my son,’ she cried, ‘wilt thou not kiss me before I go? For I +have suffered much to find thee.’ + +‘Nay,’ said the Star-Child, ‘but thou art too foul to look at, and rather +would I kiss the adder or the toad than thee.’ + +So the woman rose up, and went away into the forest weeping bitterly, and +when the Star-Child saw that she had gone, he was glad, and ran back to +his playmates that he might play with them. + +But when they beheld him coming, they mocked him and said, ‘Why, thou art +as foul as the toad, and as loathsome as the adder. Get thee hence, for +we will not suffer thee to play with us,’ and they drave him out of the +garden. + +And the Star-Child frowned and said to himself, ‘What is this that they +say to me? I will go to the well of water and look into it, and it shall +tell me of my beauty.’ + +So he went to the well of water and looked into it, and lo! his face was +as the face of a toad, and his body was sealed like an adder. And he +flung himself down on the grass and wept, and said to himself, ‘Surely +this has come upon me by reason of my sin. For I have denied my mother, +and driven her away, and been proud, and cruel to her. Wherefore I will +go and seek her through the whole world, nor will I rest till I have +found her.’ + +And there came to him the little daughter of the Woodcutter, and she put +her hand upon his shoulder and said, ‘What doth it matter if thou hast +lost thy comeliness? Stay with us, and I will not mock at thee.’ + +And he said to her, ‘Nay, but I have been cruel to my mother, and as a +punishment has this evil been sent to me. Wherefore I must go hence, and +wander through the world till I find her, and she give me her +forgiveness.’ + +So he ran away into the forest and called out to his mother to come to +him, but there was no answer. All day long he called to her, and, when +the sun set he lay down to sleep on a bed of leaves, and the birds and +the animals fled from him, for they remembered his cruelty, and he was +alone save for the toad that watched him, and the slow adder that crawled +past. + +And in the morning he rose up, and plucked some bitter berries from the +trees and ate them, and took his way through the great wood, weeping +sorely. And of everything that he met he made inquiry if perchance they +had seen his mother. + +He said to the Mole, ‘Thou canst go beneath the earth. Tell me, is my +mother there?’ + +And the Mole answered, ‘Thou hast blinded mine eyes. How should I know?’ + +He said to the Linnet, ‘Thou canst fly over the tops of the tall trees, +and canst see the whole world. Tell me, canst thou see my mother?’ + +And the Linnet answered, ‘Thou hast clipt my wings for thy pleasure. How +should I fly?’ + +And to the little Squirrel who lived in the fir-tree, and was lonely, he +said, ‘Where is my mother?’ + +And the Squirrel answered, ‘Thou hast slain mine. Dost thou seek to slay +thine also?’ + +And the Star-Child wept and bowed his head, and prayed forgiveness of +God’s things, and went on through the forest, seeking for the +beggar-woman. And on the third day he came to the other side of the +forest and went down into the plain. + +And when he passed through the villages the children mocked him, and +threw stones at him, and the carlots would not suffer him even to sleep +in the byres lest he might bring mildew on the stored corn, so foul was +he to look at, and their hired men drave him away, and there was none who +had pity on him. Nor could he hear anywhere of the beggar-woman who was +his mother, though for the space of three years he wandered over the +world, and often seemed to see her on the road in front of him, and would +call to her, and run after her till the sharp flints made his feet to +bleed. But overtake her he could not, and those who dwelt by the way did +ever deny that they had seen her, or any like to her, and they made sport +of his sorrow. + +For the space of three years he wandered over the world, and in the world +there was neither love nor loving-kindness nor charity for him, but it +was even such a world as he had made for himself in the days of his great +pride. + + * * * * * + +And one evening he came to the gate of a strong-walled city that stood by +a river, and, weary and footsore though he was, he made to enter in. But +the soldiers who stood on guard dropped their halberts across the +entrance, and said roughly to him, ‘What is thy business in the city?’ + +‘I am seeking for my mother,’ he answered, ‘and I pray ye to suffer me to +pass, for it may be that she is in this city.’ + +But they mocked at him, and one of them wagged a black beard, and set +down his shield and cried, ‘Of a truth, thy mother will not be merry when +she sees thee, for thou art more ill-favoured than the toad of the marsh, +or the adder that crawls in the fen. Get thee gone. Get thee gone. Thy +mother dwells not in this city.’ + +And another, who held a yellow banner in his hand, said to him, ‘Who is +thy mother, and wherefore art thou seeking for her?’ + +And he answered, ‘My mother is a beggar even as I am, and I have treated +her evilly, and I pray ye to suffer me to pass that she may give me her +forgiveness, if it be that she tarrieth in this city.’ But they would +not, and pricked him with their spears. + +And, as he turned away weeping, one whose armour was inlaid with gilt +flowers, and on whose helmet couched a lion that had wings, came up and +made inquiry of the soldiers who it was who had sought entrance. And +they said to him, ‘It is a beggar and the child of a beggar, and we have +driven him away.’ + +‘Nay,’ he cried, laughing, ‘but we will sell the foul thing for a slave, +and his price shall be the price of a bowl of sweet wine.’ + +And an old and evil-visaged man who was passing by called out, and said, +‘I will buy him for that price,’ and, when he had paid the price, he took +the Star-Child by the hand and led him into the city. + +And after that they had gone through many streets they came to a little +door that was set in a wall that was covered with a pomegranate tree. +And the old man touched the door with a ring of graved jasper and it +opened, and they went down five steps of brass into a garden filled with +black poppies and green jars of burnt clay. And the old man took then +from his turban a scarf of figured silk, and bound with it the eyes of +the Star-Child, and drave him in front of him. And when the scarf was +taken off his eyes, the Star-Child found himself in a dungeon, that was +lit by a lantern of horn. + +And the old man set before him some mouldy bread on a trencher and said, +‘Eat,’ and some brackish water in a cup and said, ‘Drink,’ and when he +had eaten and drunk, the old man went out, locking the door behind him +and fastening it with an iron chain. + + * * * * * + +And on the morrow the old man, who was indeed the subtlest of the +magicians of Libya and had learned his art from one who dwelt in the +tombs of the Nile, came in to him and frowned at him, and said, ‘In a +wood that is nigh to the gate of this city of Giaours there are three +pieces of gold. One is of white gold, and another is of yellow gold, and +the gold of the third one is red. To-day thou shalt bring me the piece +of white gold, and if thou bringest it not back, I will beat thee with a +hundred stripes. Get thee away quickly, and at sunset I will be waiting +for thee at the door of the garden. See that thou bringest the white +gold, or it shall go ill with thee, for thou art my slave, and I have +bought thee for the price of a bowl of sweet wine.’ And he bound the +eyes of the Star-Child with the scarf of figured silk, and led him +through the house, and through the garden of poppies, and up the five +steps of brass. And having opened the little door with his ring he set +him in the street. + + * * * * * + +And the Star-Child went out of the gate of the city, and came to the wood +of which the Magician had spoken to him. + +Now this wood was very fair to look at from without, and seemed full of +singing birds and of sweet-scented flowers, and the Star-Child entered it +gladly. Yet did its beauty profit him little, for wherever he went harsh +briars and thorns shot up from the ground and encompassed him, and evil +nettles stung him, and the thistle pierced him with her daggers, so that +he was in sore distress. Nor could he anywhere find the piece of white +gold of which the Magician had spoken, though he sought for it from morn +to noon, and from noon to sunset. And at sunset he set his face towards +home, weeping bitterly, for he knew what fate was in store for him. + +But when he had reached the outskirts of the wood, he heard from a +thicket a cry as of some one in pain. And forgetting his own sorrow he +ran back to the place, and saw there a little Hare caught in a trap that +some hunter had set for it. + +And the Star-Child had pity on it, and released it, and said to it, ‘I am +myself but a slave, yet may I give thee thy freedom.’ + +And the Hare answered him, and said: ‘Surely thou hast given me freedom, +and what shall I give thee in return?’ + +And the Star-Child said to it, ‘I am seeking for a piece of white gold, +nor can I anywhere find it, and if I bring it not to my master he will +beat me.’ + +‘Come thou with me,’ said the Hare, ‘and I will lead thee to it, for I +know where it is hidden, and for what purpose.’ + +So the Star-Child went with the Hare, and lo! in the cleft of a great +oak-tree he saw the piece of white gold that he was seeking. And he was +filled with joy, and seized it, and said to the Hare, ‘The service that I +did to thee thou hast rendered back again many times over, and the +kindness that I showed thee thou hast repaid a hundred-fold.’ + +‘Nay,’ answered the Hare, ‘but as thou dealt with me, so I did deal with +thee,’ and it ran away swiftly, and the Star-Child went towards the city. + +Now at the gate of the city there was seated one who was a leper. Over +his face hung a cowl of grey linen, and through the eyelets his eyes +gleamed like red coals. And when he saw the Star-Child coming, he struck +upon a wooden bowl, and clattered his bell, and called out to him, and +said, ‘Give me a piece of money, or I must die of hunger. For they have +thrust me out of the city, and there is no one who has pity on me.’ + +‘Alas!’ cried the Star-Child, ‘I have but one piece of money in my +wallet, and if I bring it not to my master he will beat me, for I am his +slave.’ + +But the leper entreated him, and prayed of him, till the Star-Child had +pity, and gave him the piece of white gold. + + * * * * * + +And when he came to the Magician’s house, the Magician opened to him, and +brought him in, and said to him, ‘Hast thou the piece of white gold?’ +And the Star-Child answered, ‘I have it not.’ So the Magician fell upon +him, and beat him, and set before him an empty trencher, and said, ‘Eat,’ +and an empty cup, and said, ‘Drink,’ and flung him again into the +dungeon. + +And on the morrow the Magician came to him, and said, ‘If to-day thou +bringest me not the piece of yellow gold, I will surely keep thee as my +slave, and give thee three hundred stripes.’ + +So the Star-Child went to the wood, and all day long he searched for the +piece of yellow gold, but nowhere could he find it. And at sunset he sat +him down and began to weep, and as he was weeping there came to him the +little Hare that he had rescued from the trap. + +And the Hare said to him, ‘Why art thou weeping? And what dost thou seek +in the wood?’ + +And the Star-Child answered, ‘I am seeking for a piece of yellow gold +that is hidden here, and if I find it not my master will beat me, and +keep me as a slave.’ + +‘Follow me,’ cried the Hare, and it ran through the wood till it came to +a pool of water. And at the bottom of the pool the piece of yellow gold +was lying. + +‘How shall I thank thee?’ said the Star-Child, ‘for lo! this is the +second time that you have succoured me.’ + +‘Nay, but thou hadst pity on me first,’ said the Hare, and it ran away +swiftly. + +And the Star-Child took the piece of yellow gold, and put it in his +wallet, and hurried to the city. But the leper saw him coming, and ran +to meet him, and knelt down and cried, ‘Give me a piece of money or I +shall die of hunger.’ + +And the Star-Child said to him, ‘I have in my wallet but one piece of +yellow gold, and if I bring it not to my master he will beat me and keep +me as his slave.’ + +But the leper entreated him sore, so that the Star-Child had pity on him, +and gave him the piece of yellow gold. + +And when he came to the Magician’s house, the Magician opened to him, and +brought him in, and said to him, ‘Hast thou the piece of yellow gold?’ +And the Star-Child said to him, ‘I have it not.’ So the Magician fell +upon him, and beat him, and loaded him with chains, and cast him again +into the dungeon. + +And on the morrow the Magician came to him, and said, ‘If to-day thou +bringest me the piece of red gold I will set thee free, but if thou +bringest it not I will surely slay thee.’ + +So the Star-Child went to the wood, and all day long he searched for the +piece of red gold, but nowhere could he find it. And at evening he sat +him down and wept, and as he was weeping there came to him the little +Hare. + +And the Hare said to him, ‘The piece of red gold that thou seekest is in +the cavern that is behind thee. Therefore weep no more but be glad.’ + +‘How shall I reward thee?’ cried the Star-Child, ‘for lo! this is the +third time thou hast succoured me.’ + +‘Nay, but thou hadst pity on me first,’ said the Hare, and it ran away +swiftly. + +And the Star-Child entered the cavern, and in its farthest corner he +found the piece of red gold. So he put it in his wallet, and hurried to +the city. And the leper seeing him coming, stood in the centre of the +road, and cried out, and said to him, ‘Give me the piece of red money, or +I must die,’ and the Star-Child had pity on him again, and gave him the +piece of red gold, saying, ‘Thy need is greater than mine.’ Yet was his +heart heavy, for he knew what evil fate awaited him. + + * * * * * + +But lo! as he passed through the gate of the city, the guards bowed down +and made obeisance to him, saying, ‘How beautiful is our lord!’ and a +crowd of citizens followed him, and cried out, ‘Surely there is none so +beautiful in the whole world!’ so that the Star-Child wept, and said to +himself, ‘They are mocking me, and making light of my misery.’ And so +large was the concourse of the people, that he lost the threads of his +way, and found himself at last in a great square, in which there was a +palace of a King. + +And the gate of the palace opened, and the priests and the high officers +of the city ran forth to meet him, and they abased themselves before him, +and said, ‘Thou art our lord for whom we have been waiting, and the son +of our King.’ + +And the Star-Child answered them and said, ‘I am no king’s son, but the +child of a poor beggar-woman. And how say ye that I am beautiful, for I +know that I am evil to look at?’ + +Then he, whose armour was inlaid with gilt flowers, and on whose helmet +crouched a lion that had wings, held up a shield, and cried, ‘How saith +my lord that he is not beautiful?’ + +And the Star-Child looked, and lo! his face was even as it had been, and +his comeliness had come back to him, and he saw that in his eyes which he +had not seen there before. + +And the priests and the high officers knelt down and said to him, ‘It was +prophesied of old that on this day should come he who was to rule over +us. Therefore, let our lord take this crown and this sceptre, and be in +his justice and mercy our King over us.’ + +But he said to them, ‘I am not worthy, for I have denied the mother who +bare me, nor may I rest till I have found her, and known her forgiveness. +Therefore, let me go, for I must wander again over the world, and may not +tarry here, though ye bring me the crown and the sceptre.’ And as he +spake he turned his face from them towards the street that led to the +gate of the city, and lo! amongst the crowd that pressed round the +soldiers, he saw the beggar-woman who was his mother, and at her side +stood the leper, who had sat by the road. + +And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and he ran over, and kneeling down +he kissed the wounds on his mother’s feet, and wet them with his tears. +He bowed his head in the dust, and sobbing, as one whose heart might +break, he said to her: ‘Mother, I denied thee in the hour of my pride. +Accept me in the hour of my humility. Mother, I gave thee hatred. Do +thou give me love. Mother, I rejected thee. Receive thy child now.’ +But the beggar-woman answered him not a word. + +And he reached out his hands, and clasped the white feet of the leper, +and said to him: ‘Thrice did I give thee of my mercy. Bid my mother +speak to me once.’ But the leper answered him not a word. + +And he sobbed again and said: ‘Mother, my suffering is greater than I can +bear. Give me thy forgiveness, and let me go back to the forest.’ And +the beggar-woman put her hand on his head, and said to him, ‘Rise,’ and +the leper put his hand on his head, and said to him, ‘Rise,’ also. + +And he rose up from his feet, and looked at them, and lo! they were a +King and a Queen. + +And the Queen said to him, ‘This is thy father whom thou hast succoured.’ + +And the King said, ‘This is thy mother whose feet thou hast washed with +thy tears.’ And they fell on his neck and kissed him, and brought him +into the palace and clothed him in fair raiment, and set the crown upon +his head, and the sceptre in his hand, and over the city that stood by +the river he ruled, and was its lord. Much justice and mercy did he show +to all, and the evil Magician he banished, and to the Woodcutter and his +wife he sent many rich gifts, and to their children he gave high honour. +Nor would he suffer any to be cruel to bird or beast, but taught love and +loving-kindness and charity, and to the poor he gave bread, and to the +naked he gave raiment, and there was peace and plenty in the land. + +Yet ruled he not long, so great had been his suffering, and so bitter the +fire of his testing, for after the space of three years he died. And he +who came after him ruled evilly. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES*** + + +******* This file should be named 873-0.txt or 873-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/8/7/873 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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