Twilight Land

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Crunch!--that was an end of the magician.

After that all was clear sailing; the soldier hunted up the
three-legged stool and down he sat upon it, and by dint of no
more than just a little wishing, back flew palace and garden and
all through the air again to the place whence it came.

I do not know whether the old king ever believed again that his
son-in-law was the King of the Wind; anyhow, all was peace and
friendliness thereafter, for when a body can sit upon a
three-legged stool and wish to such good purpose as the soldier
wished, a body is just as good as a king, and a good deal better,
to my mind.

The Soldier who cheated the Devil looked into his pipe; it was
nearly out. He puffed and puffed and the coal glowed brighter,
and fresh clouds of smoke rolled up into the air. Little Brown
Betty came and refilled, from a crock of brown foaming ale, the
mug which he had emptied. The Soldier who had cheated the Devil
looked up at her and winked one eye.

"Now," said St. George, "it is the turn of yonder old man," and
he pointed, as he spoke, with the stem of his pipe towards old
Bidpai, who sat with closed eyes meditating inside of himself.

The old man opened his eyes, the whites of which were as yellow
as saffron, and wrinkled his face into innumerable cracks and
lines. Then he closed his eyes again; then he opened them again;
then he cleared his throat and began: "There was once upon a time
a man whom other men called Aben Hassen the Wise--"

"One moment," said Ali Baba; "will you not tell us what the story
is about?"

Old Bidpai looked at him and stroked his long white beard. "It
is," said he, "about--

The Talisman of Solomon

There was once upon a time a man whom other men called Aben
Hassen the Wise. He had read a thousand books of magic, and knew
all that the ancients or moderns had to tell of the hidden arts.

The King of the Demons of the Earth, a great and hideous monster,
named Zadok, was his servant, and came and went as Aben Hassen
the Wise ordered, and did as he bade. After Aben Hassen learned
all that it was possible for man to know, he said to himself,
"Now I will take my ease and enjoy my life." So he called the
Demon Zadok to him, and said to the monster, "I have read in my
books that there is a treasure that was one time hidden by the
ancient kings of Egypt--a treasure such as the eyes of man never
saw before or since their day. Is that true?"

"It is true," said the Demon.

"Then I command thee to take me to that treasure and to show it
to me," said Aben Hassen the Wise.

"It shall be done," said the Demon; and thereupon he caught up
the Wise Man and transported him across mountain and valley,
across land and sea, until he brought him to a country known as
the "Land of the Black Isles," where the treasure of the ancient
kings was hidden. The Demon showed the Magician the treasure, and
it was a sight such as man had never looked upon before or since
the days that the dark, ancient ones hid it. With his treasure
Aben Hassen built himself palaces and gardens and paradises such
as the world never saw before. He lived like an emperor, and the
fame of his doings rang through all the four corners of the
earth.

Now the queen of the Black Isles was the most beautiful woman in
the world, but she was as cruel and wicked and cunning as she was
beautiful. No man that looked upon her could help loving her; for
not only was she as beautiful as a dream, but her beauty was of
that sort that it bewitched a man in spite of himself.

One day the queen sent for Aben Hassen the Wise. "Tell me," said
she, "is it true that men say of you that you have discovered a
hidden treasure such as the world never saw before?" And she
looked at Aben Hassen so that his wisdom all crumbled away like
sand, and he became just as foolish as other men.

"Yes," said he, "it is true."

Aben Hassen the Wise spent all that day with the queen, and when
he left the palace he was like a man drunk and dizzy with love.
Moreover, he had promised to show the queen the hidden treasure
the next day.

As Aben Hassen, like a man in a dream, walked towards his own
house, he met an old man standing at the corner of the street.
The old man had a talisman that hung dangling from a chain, and
which he offered for sale. When Aben Hassen saw the talisman he
knew very well what it was--that it was the famous talisman of
King Solomon the Wise. If he who possessed the talisman asked it
to speak, it would tell that man both what to do and what not to
do.

The Wise Man bought the talisman for three pieces of silver (and
wisdom has been sold for less than that many a time), and as soon
as he had the talisman in his hands he hurried home with it and
locked himself in a room.

"Tell me," said the Wise Man to the Talisman, "shall I marry the
beautiful queen of the Black Isles?"

"Fly, while there is yet time to escape!" said the Talisman; "but
go not near the queen again, for she seeks to destroy thy life."

"But tell me, O Talisman!" said the Wise Man, "what then shall I
do with all that vast treasure of the kings of Egypt?"

"Fly from it while there is yet chance to escape!" said the
Talisman; "but go not into the treasure-house again, for in the
farther door, where thou hast not yet looked, is that which will
destroy him who possesses the treasure."

"But Zadok," said Aben Hassen; "what of Zadok?"

"Fly from the monster while there is yet time to escape," said
the Talisman, "and have no more to do with thy Demon slave, for
already he is weaving a net of death and destruction about thy
feet."

The Wise Man sat all that night pondering and thinking upon what
the Talisman had said. When morning came he washed and dressed
himself, and called the Demon Zadok to him. "Zadok," said he,
"carry me to the palace of the queen." In the twinkling of an eye
the Demon transported him to the steps of the palace.

"Zadok," said the Wise Man, "give me the staff of life and
death;" and the Demon brought from under his clothes a wand,
one-half of which was of silver and one-half of which was of
gold. The Wise Man touched the steps of the palace with the
silver end of the staff. Instantly all the sound and hum of life
was hushed. The thread of life was cut by the knife of silence,
and in a moment all was as still as death.

"Zadok," said the Wise Man, "transport me to the treasure-house
of the king of Egypt." And instantly the Demon had transported
him thither. The Wise Man drew a circle upon the earth. "No one,"
said he, "shall have power to enter here but the master of Zadok,
the King of the Demons of the Earth."

"And now, Zadok," said he, "I command thee to transport me to
India, and as far from here as thou canst." Instantly the Demon
did as he was commanded; and of all the treasure that he had, the
Wise Man took nothing with him but a jar of golden money and a
jar of silver money. As soon as the Wise Man stood upon the
ground of India, he drew from beneath his robe a little jar of
glass.

"Zadok," said he, "I command thee to enter this jar."

Then the Demon knew that now his turn had come. He besought and
implored the Wise Man to have mercy upon him; but it was all in
vain. Then the Demon roared and bellowed till the earth shook and
the sky grew dark overhead. But all was of no avail; into the jar
he must go, and into the jar he went. Then the Wise Man stoppered
the jar and sealed it. He wrote an inscription of warning upon
it, and then he buried it in the ground.

"Now," said Aben Hassen the Wise to the Talisman of Solomon,
"have I done everything that I should?"

"No," said the Talisman, "thou shouldst not have brought the jar
of golden money and the jar of silver money with thee; for that
which is evil in the greatest is evil in the least. Thou fool!
The treasure is cursed! Cast it all from thee while there is yet
time."

"Yes, I will do that, too, " said the Wise Man. So he buried in
the earth the jar of gold and the jar of silver that he had
brought with him, and then he stamped the mould down upon it.
After that the Wise Man began his life all over again. He bought,
and he sold, and he traded, and by-and-by he became rich. Then he
built himself a great house, and in the foundation he laid the
jar in which the Demon was bottled.

Then he married a young and handsome wife. By-and-by the wife
bore him a son, and then she died.

This son was the pride of his father's heart; but he was as vain
and foolish as his father was wise, so that all men called him
Aben Hassen the Fool, as they called the father Aben Hassen the
Wise.

Then one day death came and called the old man, and he left his
son all that belonged to him--even the Talisman of Solomon.

Young Aben Hassen the Fool had never seen so much money as now
belonged to him. It seemed to him that there was nothing in the
world he could not enjoy. He found friends by the dozens and
scores, and everybody seemed to be very fond of him.

He asked no questions of the Talisman of Solomon, for to his mind
there was no need of being both wise and rich. So he began
enjoying himself with his new friends. Day and night there was
feasting and drinking and singing and dancing and merrymaking and
carousing; and the money that the old man had made by trading and
wise living poured out like water through a sieve.

Then, one day came an end to all this junketing, and nothing
remained to the young spend-thrift of all the wealth that his
father had left him. Then the officers of the law came down upon
him and seized all that was left of the fine things, and his
fair-weather friends flew away from his troubles like flies from
vinegar. Then the young man began to think of the Talisman of
Wisdom. For it was with him as it is with so many of us: When
folly has emptied the platter, wisdom is called in to pick the
bones.

"Tell me," said the young man to the Talisman of Solomon, "what
shall I do, now that everything is gone?"

"Go," said the Talisman of Solomon, "and work as thy father has
worked before thee. Advise with me and become prosperous and
contended, but do not go dig under the cherry-tree in the
garden."

"Why should I not dig under the cherry-tree in the garden?" says
the young man; "I will see what is there, at any rate."

So he straightway took a spade and went out into the garden,
where the Talisman had told him not to go. He dug and dug under
the cherry-tree, and by-and-by his spade struck something hard.
It was a vessel of brass, and it was full of silver money. Upon
the lid of the vessel were these words, engraved in the
handwriting of the old man who had died:

"My son, this vessel full of silver has been brought from the
treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take this, then,
that thou findest; advise with the talisman; be wise and
prosper."

"And they call that the Talisman of Wisdom," said the young man.
"If I had listened to it I never would have found this treasure."

The next day he began to spend the money he had found, and his
friends soon gathered around him again.

The vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all
gone; not a single piece was left.

Then the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of
Solomon. "What shall I do now," said he, "to save myself from
ruin?"

"Earn thy bread with honest labor," said the Talisman, "and I
will teach thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the
fig-tree that stands by the fountain in the garden."

The young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman
had said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in
the garden as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by
his spade struck something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it
was filled with gold money. Upon the lid of the vessel was
engraved these words in the handwriting of the old man who had
gone: "My son, my son," they said, "thou hast been warned once;
be warned again. The gold money in this vessel has been brought
from the treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take it;
be advised by the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and prosper."

"And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would
never have found this," said the young man.

The gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and
merrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing
left--not a copper farthing.

"Tell me," said the young man to the Talisman, "what shall I do
now?"

"Thou fool," said the Talisman, "go sweat and toil, but do not go
down into the vault beneath this house. There in the vault is a
red stone built into the wall. The red stone turns upon a pivot.
Behind the stone is a hollow space. As thou wouldst save thy life
from peril, go not near it!"

"Hear that now," says the young man, "first, this Talisman told
me not to go, and I found silver. Then it told me not to go, and
I found gold; now it tells me not to go--perhaps I shall find
precious stones enough for a king's ransom."

He lit a lantern and went down into the vault beneath the house.
There, as the Talisman had said, was the red stone built into the
wall. He pressed the stone, and it turned upon its pivot as the
Talisman had said it would turn. Within was a hollow space, as
the Talisman said there would be. In the hollow space there was a
casket of silver. The young man snatched it up, and his hands
trembled for joy.

Upon the lid of the box were these words in the father's
handwriting, written in letters as red as blood: "Fool, fool!
Thou hast been a fool once, thou hast been a fool twice; be not a
fool for a third time. Restore this casket whence it was taken,
and depart."

"I will see what is in the box, at any rate," said the young man.

He opened it. There was nothing in it but a hollow glass jar the
size of an egg. The young man took the jar from the box; it was
as hot as fire. He cried out and let it fall. The jar burst upon
the floor with a crack of thunder; the house shook and rocked,
and the dust flew about in clouds. Then all was still; and when
Aben Hassen the Fool could see through the cloud of terror that
enveloped him he beheld a great, tall, hideous being as black as
ink, and with eyes that shone like coals of fire.

When the young man saw that terrible creature his tongue clave to
the roof of his mouth, and his knees smote together with fear,
for he thought that his end had now certainly come.

"Who are you?" he croaked, as soon as he could find his voice.

"I am the King of the Demons of the Earth, and my name is Zadok,"
answered the being. "I was once thy father's slave, and now I am
thine, thou being his son. When thou speakest I must obey, and
whatever thou commandest me to do that I must do."

"For instance, what can you do for me?" said the young man.

"I can do whatsoever you ask me; I can make you rich."

"You can make me rich?"

"Yes, I can make you richer than a king."

"Then make me rich as soon as you can," said Aben Hassen the
Fool, "and that is all that I shall ask of you now."

"It shall be done," said the Demon; "spend all that thou canst
spend, and thou shalt always have more. Has my lord any further
commands for his slave?"

"No," said the young man, "there is nothing more; you may go
now."

And thereupon the Demon vanished like a flash.

"And to think," said the young man, as he came up out of the
vault--"and to think that all this I should never have found if I
had obeyed the Talisman."

Such riches were never seen in that land as the young man now
possessed. There was no end to the treasure that poured in upon
him. He lived like an emperor. He built a palace more splendid
than the palace of the king. He laid out vast gardens of the most
exquisite beauty, in which there were fountains as white as snow,
trees of rare fruit and flowers that filled all the air with
their perfume, summer-houses of alabaster and ebony.

Every one who visited him was received like a prince, entertained
like a king, given a present fit for an emperor, and sent away
happy. The fame of all these things went out through all the
land, and every one talked of him and the magnificence that
surrounded him.

It came at last to the ears of the king himself, and one day he
said to his minister, "Let us go and see with our own eyes if all
the things reported of this merchant's son are true."

So the king and his minister disguised themselves as foreign
merchants, and went that evening to the palace where the young
man lived. A servant dressed in clothes of gold and silver cloth
stood at the door, and called to them to come in and be made
welcome. He led them in, and to a chamber lit with perfumed lamps
of gold. Then six black slaves took them in charge and led them
to a bath of white marble. They were bathed in perfumed water and
dried with towels of fine linen. When they came forth they were
clad in clothes of cloth of silver, stiff with gold and jewels.
Then twelve handsome white slaves led them through a vast and
splendid hall to a banqueting-room.

When they entered they were deafened with the noise of carousing
and merrymaking.

Aben Hassen the Fool sat at the head of the table upon a throne
of gold, with a canopy of gold above his head. When he saw the
king and the minister enter, he beckoned to them to come and sit
beside him. He showed them special favor because they were
strangers, and special servants waited upon them.

The king and his minister had never seen anything like what they
then saw. They could hardly believe it was not all magic and
enchantment. At the end of the feast each of the guests was given
a present of great value, and was sent away rejoicing. The king
received a pearl as big as a marble; the minister a cup of
wrought gold.

The next morning the king and the prime-minister were talking
over what they had seen. "Sire," said the prime-minister, "I have
no doubt but that the young man has discovered some vast hidden
treasure. Now, according to the laws of this kingdom, the half of
any treasure that is discovered shall belong to the king's
treasury. If I were in your place I would send for this young man
and compel him to tell me whence comes all this vast wealth."

"That is true," said the king; "I had not thought of that before.
The young man shall tell me all about it."

So they sent a royal guard and brought the young man to the
king's palace. When the young man saw in the king and the
prime-minister his guests of the night before, whom he had
thought to be only foreign merchants, he fell on his face and
kissed the ground before the throne. But the king spoke to him
kindly, and raised him up and sat him on the seat beside him.
They talked for a while concerning different things, and then the
king said at last, "Tell me, my friend, whence comes all the
inestimable wealth that you must possess to allow you to live as
you do?"

"Sire," said the young man, "I cannot tell you whence it comes. I
can only tell you that it is given to me."

The king frowned. "You cannot tell," said he; "you must tell. It
is for that that I have sent for you, and you must tell me."

Then the young man began to be frightened. "I beseech you," said
he," do not ask me whence it comes. I cannot tell you."

Then the king's brows grew as black as thunder. "What!" cried he,
"do you dare to bandy words with me? I know that you have
discovered some treasure. Tell me upon the instant where it is;
for the half of it, by the laws of the land, belongs to me, and I
will have it."

At the king's words Aben Hassen the Fool fell on his knees.
"Sire," said he, "I will tell you all the truth. There is a demon
named Zadok--a monster as black as a coal. He is my slave, and
it is he that brings me all the treasure that I enjoy." The king
thought nothing else than that Aben Hassen the Fool was trying to
deceive him. He laughed; he was very angry. "What," cried he, "do
you amuse me by such an absurd and unbelievable tale? Now I am
more than ever sure that you have discovered a treasure and that
you wish to keep the knowledge of it from me, knowing, as you do,
that the one-half of it by law belongs to me. Take him away!"
cried he to his attendants. "Give him fifty lashes, and throw him
into prison. He shall stay there and have fifty lashes every day
until he tells me where his wealth is hidden."

It was done as the king said, and by-and-by Aben Hassen the Fool
lay in the prison, smarting and sore with the whipping he had
had.

Then he began again to think of the Talisman of Solomon.

"Tell me," said he to the Talisman, "What shall I do now to help
myself in this trouble?"

"Bear thy punishment, thou fool," said the Talisman. "Know that
the king will by-and-by pardon thee and will let thee go. In the
meantime bear thy punishment; perhaps it will cure thee of thy
folly. Only do not call upon Zadok, the King of the Demons, in
this thy trouble."

The young man smote his hand upon his head. "What a fool I am,"
said he, "not to have thought to call upon Zadok before this!"
Then he called aloud, "Zadok, Zadok! If thou art indeed my slave,
come hither at my bidding."

In an instant there sounded a rumble as of thunder. The floor
swayed and rocked beneath the young man's feet. The dust flew in
clouds, and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that
shone like coals of fire.

"I have come," said Zadok, "and first let me cure thy smarts, O
master."

He removed the cloths from the young man's back, and rubbed the
places that smarted with a cooling unguent. Instantly the pain
and smarting ceased, and the merchant's son had perfect ease.

"Now," said Zadok, "what is thy bidding?"

"Tell me," said Aben Hassen the Fool, "whence comes all the
wealth that you have brought me? The king has commanded me to
tell him and I could not, and so he has had me beaten with fifty
lashes."

"I bring the treasure," said Zadok, "from the treasure-house of
the ancient kings of Egypt. That treasure I at one time
discovered to your father, and he, not desiring it himself, hid
it in the earth so that no one might find it."

"And where is this treasure-house, O Zadok?" said the young man.

"It is in the city of the queen of the Black Isles," said the
King of the Demons; "there thy father lived in a palace of such
magnificence as thou hast never dreamed of. It was I that brought
him thence to this place with one vessel of gold money and one
vessel of silver money."

"It was you who brought him here, did you say, Zadok? Then, tell
me, can you take me from here to the city of the queen of the
Black Isles, whence you brought him?"

"Yes," said Zadok, "with ease."

"Then," said the young man, "I command you to take me thither
instantly, and to show me the treasure."

"I obey," said Zadok.

He stamped his foot upon the ground. In an instant the walls of
the prison split asunder, and the sky was above them. The Demon
leaped from the earth, carrying the young man by the girdle, and
flew through the air so swiftly that the stars appeared to slide
away behind them. In a moment he set the young man again upon the
ground, and Aben Hassen the Fool found himself at the end of what
appeared to be a vast and splendid garden.

"We are now," said Zadok, "above the treasure-house of which I
spoke. It was here that I saw thy father seal it so that no one
but the master of Zadok may enter. Thou mayst go in any time it
may please thee, for it is thine."

"I would enter into it now," said Aben Hassen the Fool.

"Thou shalt enter," said Zadok. He stooped, and with his
finger-point he drew a circle upon the ground where they stood;
then he stamped with his heel upon the circle. Instantly the
earth opened, and there appeared a flight of marble steps leading
downward into the earth. Zadok led the way down the steps and the
young man followed. At the bottom of the steps there was a door
of adamant. Upon the door were these words in letters as black as
ink, in the handwriting of the old man who had gone:

"Oh, fool! Fool! Beware what thou doest. Within here shalt thou
find death!"

There was a key of brass in the door. The King of the Demons
turned the key and opened the door. The young man entered after
him.

Aben Hassen the Fool found himself in a vast vaulted room, lit by
the light of a single carbuncle set in the centre of the dome
above. In the middle of the marble floor was a great basin twenty
paces broad, and filled to the brim with money such as he had
found in the brazen vessel in the garden.

The young man could not believe what he saw with his own eyes.
"Oh, marvel of marvels!" he cried; "little wonder you could give
me boundless wealth from such a storehouse as this."

Zadok laughed. "This," said he, "is nothing; come with me."

He led him from this room to another--like it vaulted, and like
it lit by a carbuncle set in the dome of the roof above. In the
middle of the floor was a basin such as Aben Hassen the Fool had
seen in the other room beyond; only this was filled with gold as
that had been filled with silver, and the gold was like that he
had found in the garden. When the young man saw this vast and
amazing wealth he stood speechless and breathless with wonder.
The Demon Zadok laughed. "This," said he," is great, but it is
little. Come and I will show thee a marvel indeed."

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