Twilight Land
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Howard Pyle >> Twilight Land
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"And what do you call your story," said St. George.
"Why," said the Fisherman, "for lack of a better name I will call
it--
Good Gifts and a Fool's Folly.
Give a fool heaven and earth, and all the stars, and he will make
ducks and drakes of them.
Once upon a time there was an old man, who, by thrifty living and
long saving, had laid by a fortune great enough to buy ease and
comfort and pleasure for a lifetime.
By-and-by he died, and the money came to his son, who was of a
different sort from the father; for, what that one had gained by
the labor of a whole year, the other spent in riotous living in
one week.
So it came about in a little while that the young man found
himself without so much as a single penny to bless himself
withal. Then his fair-weather friends left him, and the creditors
came and seized upon his house and his household goods, and
turned him out into the cold wide world to get along as best he
might with the other fools who lived there.
Now the young spendthrift was a strong, stout fellow, and, seeing
nothing better to do, he sold his fine clothes and bought him a
porter's basket, and went and sat in the corner of the
market-place to hire himself out to carry this or that for folk
who were better off in the world, and less foolish than he.
There he sat, all day long, from morning until evening, but
nobody came to hire him. But at last, as dusk was settling, there
came along an old man with beard as white as snow hanging down
below his waist. He stopped in front of the foolish spendthrift,
and stood looking at him for a while; then, at last, seeming to
be satisfied, he beckoned with his finger to the young man.
"Come," said he, "I have a task for you to do, and if you are
wise, and keep a still tongue in your head, I will pay you as
never a porter was paid before."
You may depend upon it the young man needed no second bidding to
such a matter. Up he rose, and took his basket, and followed the
old man, who led the way up one street and down another, until at
last they came to a rickety, ramshackle house in a part of the
town the young man had never been before. Here the old man
stopped and knocked at the door, which was instantly opened, as
though of itself, and then he entered with the young spendthrift
at his heels. The two passed through a dark passage-way, and
another door, and then, lo and behold! all was changed; for they
had come suddenly into such a place as the young man would not
have believed could be in such a house, had he not seen it with
his own eyes. Thousands of waxen tapers lit the place as bright
as day--a great oval room, floored with mosaic of a thousand
bright colors and strange figures, and hung with tapestries of
silks and satins and gold and silver. The ceiling was painted to
represent the sky, through which flew beautiful birds and winged
figures so life-like that no one could tell that they were only
painted, and not real. At the farther side of the room were two
richly cushioned couches, and thither the old man led the way
with the young spendthrift following, wonder-struck, and there
the two sat themselves down. Then the old man smote his hands
together, and, in answer, ten young men and ten beautiful girls
entered bearing a feast of rare fruits and wines which they
spread before them, and the young man, who had been fasting since
morning, fell to and ate as he had not eaten for many a day.
The old man, who himself ate but little, waited patiently for the
other to end. "Now," said he, as soon as the young man could eat
no more, "you have feasted and you have drunk; it is time for us
to work."
Thereupon he rose from the couch and led the way, the young man
following, through an arch door-way into a garden, in the centre
of which was an open space paved with white marble, and in the
centre of that again a carpet, ragged and worn, spread out upon
the smooth stones. Without saying a word, the old man seated
himself upon one end of this carpet, and motioned to the
spendthrift to seat himself with his basket at the other end;
then--
"Are you ready?" said the old man.
"Yes," said the young man, "I am."
"Then, by the horn of Jacob," said the old man, "I command thee,
O Carpet! to bear us over hill and valley, over lake and river,
to that spot whither I wish to go." Hardly had the words left his
mouth when away flew the carpet, swifter than the swiftest wind,
carrying the old man and the young spendthrift, until at last it
brought them to a rocky desert without leaf or blade of grass to
be seen far or near. Then it descended to where there was a
circle of sand as smooth as a floor.
The old man rolled up the carpet, and then drew from a pouch that
hung at his side a box, and from the box some sticks of sandal
and spice woods, with which he built a little fire. Next he drew
from the same pouch a brazen jar, from which he poured a gray
powder upon the blaze. Instantly there leaped up a great flame of
white light and a cloud of smoke, which rose high in the air, and
there spread out until it hid everything from sight. Then the old
man began to mutter spells, and in answer the earth shook and
quaked, and a rumbling as of thunder filled the air. At last he
gave a loud cry, and instantly the earth split open, and there
the young spendthrift saw a trap-door of iron, in which was an
iron ring to lift it by.
"Look!" said the old man. "Yonder is the task for which I have
brought you; lift for me that trap-door of iron, for it is too
heavy for me to raise, and I will pay you well."
And it was no small task, either, for, stout and strong as the
young man was, it was all he could do to lift up the iron plate.
But at last up it swung, and down below he saw a flight of stone
steps leading into the earth.
The old man drew from his bosom a copper lamp, which he lit at
the fire of the sandal and spice wood sticks, which had now
nearly died away. Then, leading the way, with the young man
following close at his heels, he descended the stairway that led
down below. At the bottom the two entered a great vaulted room,
carved out of the solid stone, upon the walls of which were
painted strange pictures in bright colors of kings and queens,
genii and dragons. Excepting for these painted figures, the
vaulted room was perfectly bare, only that in the centre of the
floor there stood three stone tables. Upon the first table stood
an iron candlestick with three branches; upon the second stood an
earthen jar, empty of everything but dust; upon the third stood a
brass bowl, a yard wide and a yard deep, and filled to the brim
with shining, gleaming, dazzling jewels of all sorts.
"Now," said the old man to the spendthrift, "I will do to you as
I promised: I will pay you as never man was paid before for such
a task. Yonder upon those three stone tables are three great
treasures: choose whichever one you will, and it is yours."
"I shall not be long in choosing," cried the young spendthrift.
"I shall choose the brass bowl of jewels."
The old man laughed. "So be it," said he. "Fill your basket from
the bowl with all you can carry, and that will be enough,
provided you live wisely, to make you rich for as long as you
live."
The young man needed no second bidding, but began filling his
basket with both hands, until he had in it as much as he could
carry.
Then the old man, taking the iron candlestick and the earthen
jar, led the way up the stairway again. There the young man
lowered the iron trap-door to its place, and so soon as he had
done so the other stamped his heel upon the ground, and the earth
closed of itself as smooth and level as it had been before.
The two sat themselves upon the carpet, the one upon the one end,
and the other upon the other. "By the horn of Jacob," said the
old man, "I command thee, O Carpet! to fly over hill and valley,
over lake and river, until thou hast brought us back whence we
came."
Away flew the carpet, and in a little time they were back in the
garden from which they had started upon their journey; and there
they parted company. "Go thy way, young man," said the old
graybeard, "and henceforth try to live more wisely than thou hast
done heretofore. I know well who thou art, and how thou hast
lived. Shun thy evil companions, live soberly, and thou hast
enough to make thee rich for as long as thou livest."
"Have no fear," cried the young man, joyfully. "I have learned a
bitter lesson, and henceforth I will live wisely and well."
So, filled with good resolves, the young man went the next day to
his creditors and paid his debts; he bought back the house which
his father had left him, and there began to lead a new life as he
had promised.
But a gray goose does not become white, nor a foolish man a wise
one.
At first he led a life sober enough; but by little and little he
began to take up with his old-time friends again, and by-and-by
the money went flying as merrily as ever, only this time he was
twenty times richer than he had been before, and he spent his
money twenty times as fast. Every day there was feasting and
drinking going on in his house, and roaring and rioting and
dancing and singing. The wealth of a king could not keep up such
a life forever, so by the end of a year and a half the last of
the treasure was gone, and the young spendthrift was just as poor
as ever. Then once again his friends left him as they had done
before, and all that he could do was to rap his head and curse
his folly.
At last, one morning, he plucked up courage to go to the old man
who had helped him once before, to see whether he would not help
him again. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked at the door, and who should
open it but the old man himself. "Well," said the graybeard,
"what do you want?"
"I want some help," said the spendthrift; and then he told him
all, and the old man listened and stroked his beard.
"By rights," said he, when the young man had ended, "I should
leave you alone in your folly; for it is plain to see that
nothing can cure you of it. Nevertheless, as you helped me once,
and as I have more than I shall need, I will share what I have
with you. Come in and shut the door."
He led the way, the spendthrift following, to a little room all
of bare stone, and in which were only three things--the magic
carpet, the iron candlestick, and the earthen jar. This last the
old man gave to the foolish spendthrift. "My friend," said he,
"when you chose the money and jewels that day in the cavern, you
chose the less for the greater. Here is a treasure that an
emperor might well envy you. Whatever you wish for you will find
by dipping your hand into the jar. Now go your way, and let what
was happened cure you of your folly."
"It shall," cried the young man; "never again will I be so
foolish as I have been!" And thereupon he went his way with
another pocketful of good resolves.
The first thing he did when he reached home was to try the virtue
of his jar. "I should like," said he, "to have a handful of just
such treasure as I brought from the cavern over yonder." He
dipped his hand into the jar, and when he brought it out again it
was brimful of shining, gleaming, sparkling jewels. You can guess
how he felt when he saw them.
Well, this time a whole year went by, during which the young man
lived as soberly as a judge. But at the end of the twelvemonth he
was so sick of wisdom that he loathed it as one loathes bitter
drink. Then by little and little he began to take up with his old
ways again, and to call his old cronies around, until at the end
of another twelvemonth things were a hundred times worse and
wilder than ever; for now what he had he had without end.
One day, when he and a great party of roisterers were shouting
and making merry, he brought out his earthen-ware pot to show
them the wonders of it; and to prove its virtue he gave to each
guest whatever he wanted. "What will you have?"--"A handful of
gold."--"Put your hand in and get it!"--"What will you have?"--"A
fistful of pearls."--"Put your fist in and get them!"--"What will
you have?"--"A necklace of diamonds."--"Dip into the jar and get
it." And so he went from one to another, and each and every one
got what he asked for, and such a shouting and hubbub those walls
had never heard before.
Then the young man, holding the jar in his hands, began to dance
and to sing: "O wonderful jar! O beautiful jar! O beloved jar!"
and so on, his friends clapping their hands, and laughing and
cheering him. At last, in the height of his folly, he balanced
the earthen jar on his head, and began dancing around and around
with it to show his dexterity.
Smash! crash! The precious jar lay in fifty pieces of the stone
floor, and the young man stood staring at the result of his folly
with bulging eyes, while his friends roared and laughed and
shouted louder than ever over his mishap. And again his treasure
and his gay life were gone.
But what had been hard for him to do before was easier now. At
the end of a week he was back at the old man's house, rapping on
the door. This time the old man asked him never a word, but
frowned as black as thunder.
"I know," said he, "what has happened to you. If I were wise I
should let you alone in your folly; but once more I will have
pity on you and will help you, only this time it shall be the
last." Once more he led the way to the stone room, where were the
iron candlestick and the magic carpet, and with him he took a
good stout cudgel. He stood the candlestick in the middle of the
room, and taking three candles from his pouch, thrust one into
each branch. Then he struck a light, and lit the first candle.
Instantly there appeared a little old man, clad in a long white
robe, who began dancing and spinning around and around like a
top. He lit the second candle, and a second old man appeared, and
round and round he went, spinning like his brother. He lit the
third candle, and a third old man appeared. Around and around and
around they spun and whirled, until the head spun and whirled to
look at them. Then the old graybeard gripped the cudgel in his
hand. "Are you ready?" he asked.
"We are ready, and waiting," answered the three. Thereupon,
without another word, the graybeard fetched each of the dancers a
blow upon the head with might and main--One! two! three! crack!
crash! jingle!
Lo and behold! Instead of the three dancing men, there lay three
great heaps of gold upon the floor, and the spendthrift stood
staring like an owl. "There," said the old man, "take what you
want, and then go your way, and trouble me no more."
"Well," said the spendthrift, "of all the wonders that ever I
saw, this is the most wonderful! But how am I to carry my gold
away with me, seeing I did not fetch my basket?"
"You shall have a basket," said the old man, "if only you will
trouble me no more. Just wait here a moment until I bring it to
you."
The spendthrift was left all alone in the room; not a soul was
there but himself. He looked up, and he looked down, and
scratched his head. "Why," he cried aloud, "should I be content
to take a part when I can have the whole?"
To do was as easy as to say. He snatched up the iron candlestick,
caught up the staff that the old man had left leaning against the
wall, and seated himself upon the magic carpet. "By the horn of
Jacob," he cried, "I command thee, O Carpet! to carry me over
hill and valley, over lake and river, to a place where the old
man can never find me."
Hardly had the words left his mouth than away flew the carpet
through the air, carrying him along with it; away and away,
higher than the clouds and swifter than the wind. Then at last it
descended to the earth again, and when the young spendthrift
looked about him, he found himself in just such a desert place as
he and the old man had come to when they had found the treasure.
But he gave no thought to that, and hardly looked around him to
see where he was. All that he thought of was to try his hand at
the three dancers that belonged to the candlestick. He struck a
light, and lit the three candles, and instantly the three little
old men appeared for him just as they had for the old graybeard.
And around and around they spun and whirled, until the sand and
dust spun and whirled along with them. Then the young man grasped
his cudgel tightly.
Now, he had not noticed that when the old man struck the three
dancers he had held the cudgel in his left hand, for he was not
wise enough to know that great differences come from little
matters. He griped the cudgel in his right hand, and struck the
dancers with might and main, just as the old man had done. Crack!
crack! crack! one; two; three.
Did they change into piles of gold? Not a bit of it! Each of the
dancers drew from under his robe a cudgel as stout and stouter
than the one the young man himself held, and, without a word,
fell upon him and began to beat and drub him until the dust flew.
In vain he hopped and howled and begged for mercy, in vain he
tried to defend himself; the three never stopped until he fell to
the ground, and laid there panting and sighing and groaning; and
then they left and flew back with the iron candlestick and the
magic carpet to the old man again. At last, after a great while,
the young spendthrift sat up, rubbing the sore places; but when
he looked around not a sign was to be seen of anything but the
stony desert, without a house or a man in sight.
Perhaps, after a long time, he found his way home again, and
perhaps the drubbing he had had taught him wisdom; the first is a
likely enough thing to happen, but as for the second, it would
need three strong men to tell it to me a great many times before
I would believe it.
You may smile at this story if you like, but, all the same, as
certainly as there is meat in an egg-shell, so is there truth in
this nonsense. For, "Give a fool heaven and earth," say I, "and
all the stars, and he will make ducks and drakes of them."
Fortunatus lifted his canican to his lips and took a long, hearty
draught of ale. "Methinks," said he, "that all your stories have
a twang of the same sort about them. You all of you, except my
friend the Soldier here, play the same tune upon a different
fiddle. Nobody comes to any good."
St. George drew a long whiff of his pipe, and then puffed out a
cloud of smoke as big as his head. "Perhaps," said he to
Fortunatus, "you know of a story which turns out differently. If
you do, let us have it, for it is your turn now."
"Very well," said Fortunatus, "I will tell you a story that turns
out as it should, where the lad marries a beautiful princess and
becomes a king into the bargain."
"And what is your story about?" said the Lad who fiddled for Jew
in the bramble-bush."
"It is," said Fortunatus, "about--
The Good of a Few Words
There was one Beppo the Wise and another Beppo the Foolish.
The wise one was the father of the foolish one.
Beppo the Wise was called Beppo the Wise because he had laid up a
great treasure after a long life of hard work.
Beppo the Foolish was called Beppo the Foolish because he spent
in five years after his father was gone from this world of sorrow
all that the old man had laid together in his long life of toil.
But during that time Beppo lived as a prince, and the life was
never seen in that town before or since--feasting and drinking
and junketing and merrymaking. He had friends by the dozen and by
the scores, and the fame of his doings went throughout all the
land.
While his money lasted he was called Beppo the Generous. It was
only after it was all gone that they called him Beppo the
Foolish.
So by-and-by the money was spent, and there was an end of it.
Yes; there was an end of it; and where were all of Beppo's
fair-weather friends? Gone like the wild-geese in frosty weather.
"Don't you remember how I gave you a bagful of gold?" says Beppo
the Foolish. "Won't you remember me now in my time of need?"
But the fair-weather friend only laughed in his face.
"Don't you remember how I gave you a fine gold chain with a
diamond pendant?" says Beppo to another. "And won't you lend me a
little money to help me over to-day?"
But the summer-goose friend only grinned.
"But what shall I do to keep body and soul together?" says Beppo
to a third.
The man was a wit. "Go to a shoemaker," said he, "and let him
stitch the soul fast"; and that was all the good Beppo had of
him.
Then poor Beppo saw that there was not place for him in that
town, and so off he went to seek his fortune else whither, for he
saw that there was nothing to be gained in that place.
So he journeyed on for a week and a day, and then towards evening
he came to the king's town.
There it stood on the hill beside the river--the grandest city
in the kingdom. There were orchards and plantations of trees
along the banks of the stream, and gardens and summer-houses and
pavilions. There were white houses and red roofs and blue skies.
Up above on the hill were olive orchards and fields, and then
blue sky again.
Beppo went into the town, gazing about him with admiration.
Houses, palaces, gardens. He had never seen the like. Stores and
shops full of cloths of velvet and silk and satin; goldsmiths,
silversmiths, jewellers--as though all the riches of the world
had been emptied into the city. Crowds of people--lords,
noblemen, courtiers, rich merchants, and tradesmen.
Beppo stared about at the fine sights and everybody stared at
Beppo, for his shoes were dusty, his clothes were travel-stained,
and a razor had not touched his face for a week.
The king of that country was walking in the garden under the
shade of the trees, and the sunlight slanted down upon him, and
sparkled upon the jewels around his neck and on his fingers. Two
dogs walked alongside of him, and a whole crowd of lords and
nobles and courtiers came behind him; first of all the
prime-minister with his long staff.
But for all this fine show this king was not really the king.
When the old king died he left a daughter, and she should have
been queen if she had had her own rights. But this king, who was
her uncle, had stepped in before her, and so the poor princess
was pushed aside and was nobody at all but a princess, the king's
niece.
She stood on the terrace with her old nurse, while the king
walked in the garden below.
It had been seven years now since the old king had died, and in
that time she had grown up into a beautiful young woman, as wise
as she was beautiful, and as good as she was wise. Few people
ever saw her, but everybody talked about her in whispers and
praised her beauty and goodness, saying that, if the right were
done, she would have her own and be queen.
Sometimes the king heard of this (for a king hears everything),
and he grew to hate the princess as a man hates bitter drink.
The princess looked down from the terrace, and there she saw
Beppo walking along the street, and his shoes were dusty and his
clothes were travel-stained, and a razor had not touched his face
for a week.
"Look at yonder poor man," she said to her nurse; "yet if I were
his wife he would be greater really than my uncle, the king."
The king, walking below in the garden, heard what she said.
"Say you so!" he called out. "Then we shall try if what you say
is true"; and he turned away, shaking with anger.
"Alas!" said the princess, "now, indeed, have I ruined myself for
good and all."
Beppo was walking along the street looking about him hither and
thither, and thinking how fine it all was. He had no more thought
that the king and the princess were talking about him than the
man in the moon.
Suddenly some one clapped him upon the shoulder.
Beppo turned around.
There stood a great tall man dressed all in black.
"You must come with me," said he.
"What do you want with me?" said Beppo.
"That you shall see for yourself," said the man.
"Very well," said Beppo; "I'd as lief go along with you as
anywhere else."
So he turned and followed the man whither he led.
They went along first one street and then another, and by-and-by
they came to the river, and there was a long wall with a gate in
it. The tall man in black knocked upon the gate, and some one
opened it from within. The man in black entered, and Beppo
followed at his heels, wondering where he was going.
He was in a garden. There were fruit trees and flowering shrubs
and long marble walks, and away in the distance a great grand
palace of white marble that shone red as fire in the light of the
setting sun, but there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.
The tall man in black led the way up the long marble walk, past
the fountains and fruit trees and beds of roses, until he had
come to the palace.
Beppo wondered whether he were dreaming.
The tall man in black led the way into the palace, but still
there was not a soul to be seen.
Beppo gazed about him in wonder. There were floors of colored
marble, and ceilings of blue and gold, and columns of carved
marble, and hangings of silk and velvet and silver.
Suddenly the tall man opened a little door that led into a dark
passage, and Beppo followed him. They went along the passage, and
then the man opened another door.
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