Twilight Land
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Howard Pyle >> Twilight Land
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Now the older of the two was by nature a merry wag, and though he
had never had the chance to taste of pleasure, he thought that
nothing in the world could be better worth spending money for
than wine and music and dancing. So, when the evening had come,
he proposed that they two should go and squander it all at the
Inn. But the younger fellow--Abdallah--was by nature just as
thrifty as the other was spendthrift, and would not consent to
waste what he had found. Nevertheless, he was generous and open-hearted, and grudged his friend
nothing; so, though he did not
care for a wild life himself, he gave Ali a piece of gold to
spend as he chose.
By morning every copper of what had been given to the elder
fagot-maker was gone, and he had never had such a good time in
his life before. All that day and for a week the head of Ali was
so full of the memory of the merry night that he had enjoyed that
he could think of nothing else. At last, one evening, he asked
Abdallah for another piece of gold, and Abdallah gave it to him,
and by the next morning it had vanished in the same way that the
other had flown. By-and-by Ali borrowed a third piece of money,
and then a fourth and then a fifth, so that by the time that six
months had passed and gone he had spent thirty of the hundred
pieces that had been found, and in all that time Abdallah had
used not so much as a pistareen.
But when Ali came for the thirty-and-first loan, Abdallah refused
to let him have any more money. It was in vain that the elder
begged and implored--the younger abided by what he had said.
Then Ali began to put on a threatening front. "You will not let
me have the money?" he said.
"No, I will not."
"You will not?"
"No!"
"Then you shall!" cried Ali; and, so saying, caught the younger
fagot-maker by the throat, and began shaking him and shouting,
"Help! Help! I am robbed! I am robbed!" He made such an uproar
that half a hundred men, women, and children were gathered around
them in less than a minute. "Here is ingratitude for you!" cried
Ali. "Here is wickedness and thievery! Look at this wretch, all
good men, and then turn away your eyes! For twelve years have I
lived with this young man as a father might live with a son, and
now how does he repay me? He has stolen all that I have in the
world--a purse of seventy sequins of gold."
All this while poor Abdallah had been so amazed that he could do
nothing but stand and stare like one stricken dumb; whereupon all
the people, thinking him guilty, dragged him off to the judge,
reviling him and heaping words of abuse upon him.
Now the judge of that town was known far and near as the "Wise
Judge"; but never had he had such a knotty question as this
brought up before him, for by this time Abdallah had found his
speech, and swore with a great outcry that the money belonged to
him.
But at last a gleam of light came to the Wise Judge in his
perplexity. "Can any one tell me," said he, "which of these
fellows has had money of late, and which has had none?"
His question was one easily enough answered; a score of people
were there to testify that the elder of the two had been living
well and spending money freely for six months and more, and a
score were also there to swear that Abdallah had lived all the
while in penury. "Then that decides the matter," said the Wise
Judge. "The money belongs to the elder fagot-maker."
"But listen, oh my lord judge!" cried Abdallah. "All that this
man has spent I have given to him--I, who found the money. Yes,
my lord, I have given it to him, and myself have spent not so
much as single mite."
All who were present shouted with laughter at Abdallah's speech,
for who would believe that any one would be so generous as to
spend all upon another and none upon himself?
So poor Abdallah was beaten with rods until he confessed where he
had hidden his money; then the Wise Judge handed fifty sequins to
Ali and kept twenty himself for his decision, and all went their
way praising his justice and judgment.
That is to say, all but poor Abdallah; he went to his home
weeping and wailing, and with every one pointing the finger of
scorn at him. He was just as poor as ever, and his back was sore
with the beating that he had suffered. All that night he
continued to weep and wail, and when the morning had come he was
weeping and wailing still.
Now it chanced that a wise man passed that way, and hearing his
lamentation, stopped to inquire the cause of his trouble.
Abdallah told the other of his sorrow, and the wise man listened,
smiling, till he was done, and then he laughed outright. "My
son," said he, "if every one in your case should shed tears as
abundantly as you have done, the world would have been drowned in
salt water by this time. As for your friend, think not ill of
him; no man loveth another who is always giving."
"Nay," said the young fagot-maker, "I believe not a word of what
you say. Had I been in his place I would have been grateful for
the benefits, and not have hated the giver."
But the wise man only laughed louder than ever. "Maybe you will
have the chance to prove what you say some day," said he, and
went his way, still shaking with his merriment.
"All this," said Ali Baba, "is only the beginning of my story;
and now if the damsel will fill up my pot of ale, I will begin in
earnest and tell about the cave of the Genie."
He watched Little Brown Betty until she had filled his mug, and
the froth ran over the top. Then he took a deep draught and began
again.
Though Abdallah had affirmed that he did not believe what the
wise man had said, nevertheless the words of the other were a
comfort, for it makes one feel easier in trouble to be told that
others have been in a like case with one's self.
So, by-and-by, Abdallah plucked up some spirit, and, saddling his
ass and shouldering his axe, started off to the woods for a
bundle of fagots.
Misfortunes, they say, never come single, and so it seemed to be
with the fagot-maker that day; for that happened that had never
happened to him before--he lost his way in the woods. On he went,
deeper and deeper into the thickets, driving his ass before him,
bewailing himself and rapping his head with his knuckles. But all
his sorrowing helped him nothing, and by the time that night fell
he found himself deep in the midst of a great forest full of wild
beasts, the very thought of which curdled his blood. He had had
nothing to eat all day long, and now the only resting-place left
him was the branches of some tree. So, unsaddling his ass and
leaving it to shift for itself, he climbed to and roosted himself
in the crotch of a great limb.
In spite of his hunger he presently fell asleep, for trouble
breeds weariness as it breeds grief.
About the dawning of the day he was awakened by the sound of
voices and the glaring of lights. He craned his neck and looked
down, and there he saw a sight that filled him with amazement:
three old men riding each upon a milk-white horse and each
bearing a lighted torch in his hand, to light the way through the
dark forest.
When they had come just below where Abdallah sat, they dismounted
and fastened their several horses to as many trees. Then he who
rode first of the three, and who wore a red cap and who seemed to
be the chief of them, walked solemnly up to a great rock that
stood in the hillside, and, breaking a switch from a shrub that
grew in a cleft, struck the face of the stone, crying in a loud
voice, "I command thee to open, in the name of the red
Aldebaran!"
Instantly, creaking and groaning, the face of the rock opened
like a door, gaping blackly. Then, one after another, the three
old men entered, and nothing was left but the dull light of their
torches, shining on the walls of the passage-way.
What happened inside the cavern the fagot-maker could neither see
nor hear, but minute after minute passed while he sat as in a
maze at all that had happened. Then presently he heard a deep
thundering voice and a voice as of one of the old men in answer.
Then there came a sound swelling louder and louder, as though a
great crowd of people were gathering together, and with the
voices came the noise of the neighing of horses and the trampling
of hoofs. Then at last there came pouring from out the rock a
great crowd of horses laden with bales and bundles of rich stuffs
and chests and caskets of gold and silver and jewels, and each
horse was led by a slave clad in a dress of cloth-of-gold,
sparkling and glistening with precious gems. When all these had
come out from the cavern, other horses followed, upon each of
which sat a beautiful damsel, more lovely than the fancy of man
could picture. Beside the damsels marched a guard, each man clad
in silver armor, and each bearing a drawn sword that flashed in
the brightening day more keenly than the lightning. So they all
came pouring forth from the cavern until it seemed as though the
whole woods below were filled with the wealth and the beauty of
King Solomon's day--and then, last of all, came the three old
men.
"In the name of the red Aldebaran," said he who had bidden the
rock to open, "I command thee to become closed." Again, creaking
and groaning, the rock shut as it had opened--like a door--and
the three old men, mounting their horses, led the way from the
woods, the others following. The noise and confusion of the many
voices shouting and calling, the trample and stamp of horses,
grew fainter and fainter, until at last all was once more hushed
and still, and only the fagot-maker was left behind, still
staring like one dumb and bereft of wits.
But so soon as he was quite sure that all were really gone, he
clambered down as quickly as might be. He waited for a while to
make doubly sure that no one was left behind, and then he walked
straight up to the rock, just as he had seen the old man do. He
plucked a switch from the bush, just as he had seen the old man
pluck one, and struck the stone, just as the old man had struck
it. "I command thee to open," said he, "in the name of the red
Aldebaran!"
Instantly, as it had done in answer to the old man's command,
there came a creaking and a groaning, and the rock slowly opened
like a door, and there was the passageway yawning before him. For
a moment or two the fagot-maker hesitated to enter; but all was
as still as death, and finally he plucked up courage and went
within.
By this time the day was brightening and the sun rising, and by
the gray light the fagot-maker could see about him pretty
clearly. Not a sign was to be seen of horses or of treasure or of
people--nothing but a square block of marble, and upon it a black
casket, and upon that again a gold ring, in which was set a
blood-red stone. Beyond these things there was nothing; the walls
were bare, the roof was bare, the floor was bare--all was bare
and naked stone.
"Well," said the wood-chopper, "as the old men have taken
everything else, I might as well take these things. The ring is
certainly worth something, and maybe I shall be able to sell the
casket for a trifle into the bargain." So he slipped the ring
upon his finger, and, taking up the casket, left the place. "I
command thee to be closed," said he, "in the name of the red
Aldebaran!" And thereupon the door closed, creaking and groaning.
After a little while he found his ass, saddled it and bridled it,
and loaded it with the bundle of fagots that he had chopped the
day before, and then set off again to try to find his way out of
the thick woods. But still his luck was against him, and the
farther he wandered the deeper he found himself in the thickets.
In the meantime he was like to die of hunger, for he had not a
bite to eat for more than a whole day.
"Perhaps," said he to himself, "there may be something in the
casket to stay my stomach;" and, so saying, he sat him down,
unlocked the casket, and raised the lid.
Such a yell as the poor wretch uttered ears never heard before.
Over he rolled upon his back and there lay staring with wide
eyes, and away scampered the jackass, kicking up his heels and
braying so that the leaves of the trees trembled and shook. For
no sooner had he lifted the lid than out leaped a great hideous
Genie, as black as a coal, with one fiery-red eye in the middle
of his forehead that glared and rolled most horribly, and with
his hands and feet set with claws, sharp and hooked like the
talons of a hawk. Poor Abdallah the fagot-maker lay upon his back
staring at the monster with a face as white as wax.
"What are thy commands?" said the Genie in a terrible voice, that
rumbled like the sound of thunder.
"I--I do not know," said Abdallah, trembling and shaking as with
an ague. "I--I have forgotten."
"Ask what thou wilt," said the Genie, "for I must ever obey
whomsoever hast the ring that thou wearest upon thy finger. Hath
my lord nothing to command wherein I may serve him?"
Abdallah shook his head. "No," said he, "there is nothing--unless--unless you will bring me
something to eat."
"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. "What will my lord be
pleased to have?"
"Just a little bread and cheese," said Abdallah.
The Genie waved his hand, and in an instant a fine damask napkin
lay spread upon the ground, and upon it a loaf of bread as white
as snow and a piece of cheese such as the king would have been
glad to taste. But Abdallah could do nothing but sit staring at
the Genie, for the sight of the monster quite took away his
appetite.
"What more can I do to serve thee?" asked the Genie.
"I think," said Abdallah, "that I could eat more comfortably if
you were away."
"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. "Whither shall I go? Shall
I enter the casket again?"
"I do not know," said the fagot-maker; "how did you come to be
there?"
"I am a great Genie," answered the monster, "and was conjured
thither by the great King Solomon, whose seal it is that thou
wearest upon thy finger. For a certain fault that I committed I
was confined in the box and hidden in the cavern where thou didst
find me to-day. There I lay for thousands of years until one day
three old magicians discovered the secret of where I lay hidden.
It was they who only this morning compelled me to give them that
vast treasure which thou sawest them take away from the cavern
not long since."
"But why did they not take you and the box and the ring away
also?" asked Abdallah.
"Because," answered the Genie, "they are three brothers, and
neither two care to trust the other one with such power as the
ring has to give, so they made a solemn compact among themselves
that I should remain in the cavern, and that no one of the three
should visit it without the other two in his company. Now, my
lord, if it is thy will that I shall enter the casket again I
must even obey thy command in that as in all things; but, if it
please thee, I would fain rejoin my own kind again--they from
whom I have been parted for so long. Shouldst thou permit me to
do so I will still be thy slave, for thou hast only to press the
red stone in the ring and repeat these words: By the red
Aldebaran, I command thee to come,' and I will be with thee
instantly. But if I have my freedom I shall serve thee from
gratitude and love, and not from compulsion and with fear."
"So be it!" said Abdallah. "I have no choice in the matter, and
thou mayest go whither it pleases thee."
No sooner had the words left his lips than the Genie gave a great
cry of rejoicing, so piercing that it made Abdallah's flesh
creep, and then, fetching the black casket a kick that sent it
flying over the tree tops, vanished instantly.
"Well," quote Abdallah, when he had caught his breath from his
amazement, "these are the most wonderful things that have
happened to me in all of my life." And thereupon he fell to at
the bread and cheese, and ate as only a hungry man can eat. When
he had finished the last crumb he wiped his mouth with the
napkin, and, stretching his arms, felt within him that he was
like a new man.
Nevertheless, he was still lost in the woods, and now not even
with his ass for comradeship.
He had wandered for quite a little while before he bethought
himself of the Genie. "What a fool am I," said he, "not to have
asked him to help me while he was here." He pressed his finger
upon the ring, and cried in a loud voice, "By the red Aldebaran,
I command thee to come!"
Instantly the Genie stood before him--big, black, ugly, and grim.
"What are my lord's commands?" said he.
"I command thee," said Abdallah the fagot-maker, who was not half
so frightened at the sight of the monster this time as he had
been before--"I command thee to help me out of this woods."
Hardly were the words out of his mouth when the Genie snatched
Abdallah up, and, flying swifter than the lightning, set him down
in the middle of the highway on the outskirts of the forest
before he had fairly caught his breath.
When he did gather his wits and looked about him, he knew very
well where he was, and that he was upon the road that led to the
city. At the sight his heart grew light within him, and off he
stepped briskly for home again.
But the sun shone hot and the way was warm and dusty, and before
Abdallah had gone very far the sweat was running down his face in
streams. After a while he met a rich husband-man riding easily
along on an ambling nag, and when Abdallah saw him he rapped his
head with his knuckles. "Why did I not think to ask the Genie for
a horse?" said he. "I might just as well have ridden as to have
walked, and that upon a horse a hundred times more beautiful than
the one that that fellow rides."
He stepped into the thicket beside the way, where he might be out
of sight, and there pressed the stone in his ring, and at his
bidding the Genie stood before him.
"What are my lord's commands?" said he.
"I would like to have a noble horse to ride upon," said Abdallah--"a horse such as a king might
use."
"To hear is to obey," said the Genie; and, stretching out his
hand, there stood before Abdallah a magnificent Arab horse, with
a saddle and bridle studded with precious stones, and with
housings of gold. "Can I do aught to serve my lord further?" said
the Genie.
"Not just now," said Abdallah; "if I have further use for you I
will call you."
The Genie bowed his head and was gone like a flash, and Abdallah
mounted his horse and rode off upon his way. But he had not gone
far before he drew rein suddenly. "How foolish must I look," said
he, "to be thus riding along the high-road upon this noble steed,
and I myself clad in fagot-maker's rags." Thereupon he turned his
horse into the thicket, and again summoned the Genie. "I should
like," said he, "to have a suit of clothes fit for a king to
wear."
"My lord shall have that which he desires," said the Genie. He
stretched out his hand, and in an instant there lay across his
arm raiment such as the eyes of man never saw before--stiff with
pearls, and blazing with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and
sapphires. The Genie himself aided Abdallah to dress, and when he
looked down he felt, for the time, quite satisfied.
He rode a little farther. Then suddenly he bethought himself,
"What a silly spectacle shall I cut in the town with no money in
my purse and with such fine clothes upon my back." Once more the
Genie was summoned. "I should like," said the fagot-maker, "to
have a box full of money."
The Genie stretched out his hand, and in it was a casket of
mother-of-pearl inlaid with gold and full of money. "Has my lord
any further commands for his servant?" asked he.
"No," answered Abdallah. "Stop--I have, too," he added. "Yes; I
would like to have a young man to carry my money for me."
"He is here," said the Genie. And there stood a beautiful youth
clad in clothes of silver tissue, and holding a milk-white horse
by the bridle.
"Stay, Genie," said Abdallah. "Whilst thou art here thou mayest
as well give me enough at once to last me a long time to come.
Let me have eleven more caskets of money like this one, and
eleven more slaves to carry the same."
"They are here," said the Genie; and as he spoke there stood
eleven more youths before Abdallah, as like the first as so many
pictures of the same person, and each youth bore in his hands a
box like the one that the monster had given Abdallah. "Will my
lord have anything further?" asked the Genie.
"Let me think," said Abdallah. "Yes; I know the town well, and
that should one so rich as I ride into it without guards he would
be certain to be robbed before he had travelled a hundred paces.
Let me have an escort of a hundred armed men."
"It shall be done," said the Genie, and, waving his hand, the
road where they stood was instantly filled with armed men, with
swords and helmets gleaming and flashing in the sun, and all
seated upon magnificently caparisoned horses. "Can I serve my
lord further?" asked the Genie.
"No," said Abdallah the fagot-maker, in admiration, "I have
nothing more to wish for in this world. Thou mayest go, Genie,
and it will be long ere I will have to call thee again," and
thereupon the Genie was gone like a flash.
The captain of Abdallah's troop--a bearded warrior clad in a
superb suit of armor--rode up to the fagot-maker, and, leaping
from his horse and bowing before him so that his forehead touched
the dust, said, "Whither shall we ride, my lord?"
Abdallah smote his forehead with vexation. "If I live a thousand
years," said he, "I will never learn wisdom." Thereupon,
dismounting again, he pressed the ring and summoned the Genie. "I
was mistaken," said he, "as to not wanting thee so soon. I would
have thee build me in the city a magnificent palace, such as man
never looked upon before, and let it be full from top to bottom
with rich stuffs and treasures of all sorts. And let it have
gardens and fountains and terraces fitting for such a place, and
let it be meetly served with slaves, both men and women, the most
beautiful that are to be found in all the world."
"Is there aught else that thou wouldst have?" asked the Genie.
The fagot-maker meditated a long time. "I can bethink myself of
nothing more just now," said he.
The Genie turned to the captain of the troop and said some words
to him in a strange tongue, and then in a moment was gone. The
captain gave the order to march, and away they all rode with
Abdallah in the midst. "Who would have thought," said he, looking
around him, with the heart within him swelling with pride as
though it would burst--"who would have thought that only this
morning I was a poor fagot-maker, lost in the woods and half
starved to death? Surely there is nothing left for me to wish for
in this world!"
Abdallah was talking of something he knew nothing of.
Never before was such a sight seen in that country, as Abdallah
and his troop rode through the gates and into the streets of the
city. But dazzling and beautiful as were those who rode attendant
upon him, Abdallah the fagot-maker surpassed them all as the moon
dims the lustre of the stars. The people crowded around shouting
with wonder, and Abdallah, in the fulness of his delight, gave
orders to the slaves who bore the caskets of money to open them
and to throw the gold to the people. So, with those in the
streets scrambling and fighting for the money and shouting and
cheering, and others gazing down at the spectacle from the
windows and house-tops, the fagot-maker and his troop rode slowly
along through the town.
Now it chanced that their way led along past the royal palace,
and the princess, hearing all the shouting and the hubbub, looked
over the edge of the balcony and down into the street. At the
same moment Abdallah chanced to look up, and their eyes met.
Thereupon the fagot-maker's heart crumbled away within him, for
she was the most beautiful princess in all the world. Her eyes
were as black as night, her hair like threads of fine silk, her
neck like alabaster, and her lips and her cheeks as soft and as
red as rose-leaves. When she saw that Abdallah was looking at her
she dropped the curtain of the balcony and was gone, and the
fagot-maker rode away, sighing like a furnace.
So, by-and-by, he came to his palace, which was built all of
marble as white as snow, and which was surrounded with gardens,
shaded by flowering trees, and cooled by the plashing of
fountains. From the gateway to the door of the palace a carpet of
cloth-of-gold had been spread for him to walk upon, and crowds of
slaves stood waiting to receive him. But for all these glories
Abdallah cared nothing; he hardly looked about him, but, going
straight to his room, pressed his ring and summoned the Genie.
"What is it that my lord would have?" asked the monster.
"Oh, Genie!" said poor Abdallah, "I would have the princess for
my wife, for without her I am like to die."
"My lord's commands," said the Genie, "shall be executed if I
have to tear down the city to do so. But perhaps this behest is
not so hard to fulfil. First of all, my lord will have to have an
ambassador to send to the king."
"Very well," said Abdallah with a sigh; "let me have an
ambassador or whatever may be necessary. Only make haste, Genie,
in thy doings."
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