Twilight Land
H >>
Howard Pyle >> Twilight Land
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 | 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16
"Who are thou?" said the terrible being, in a voice that made the
very marrow of the poor Tailor's bones turn soft from terror.
"If you please, sir," said he, "I am only a little tailor."
The evil being lifted up both hands and eyes. "How wonderful," he
cried, "that one little tailor can undo in a moment that which
took the wise Solomon a whole day to accomplish, and in the doing
of which he wellnigh broke the sinews of his heart!" Then,
turning to the Tailor, who stood trembling like a rabbit, "Hark
thee!" said he. "For two thousand years I lay there in that
bottle, and no one came nigh to aid me. Thou hast liberated me,
and thou shalt not go unrewarded. Every morning at the seventh
hour I will come to thee, and I will perform for thee whatever
task thou mayst command me. But there is one condition attached
to the agreement, and woe be to thee if that condition is broken.
If any morning I should come to thee, and thou hast no task for
me to do, I shall wring thy neck as thou mightest wring the neck
of a sparrow." Thereupon he was gone in an instant, leaving the
little Tailor half dead with terror.
Now it happened that the prime-minister of that country had left
an order with the Tailor for a suit of clothes, so the next
morning, when the Demon came, the little man set him to work on
the bench, with his legs tucked up like a journey-man tailor. "I
want," said he, "such and such a suit of clothes."
"You shall have them," said the Demon; and thereupon he began
snipping in the air, and cutting most wonderful patterns of silks
and satins out of nothing at all, and the little Tailor sat and
gaped and stared. Then the Demon began to drive the needle like a
spark of fire--the like was never seen in all the seven kingdoms,
for the clothes seemed to make themselves.
At last, at the end of a little while, the Demon stood up and
brushed his hands. "They are done," said he, and thereupon he
instantly vanished. But the Tailor cared little for that, for
upon the bench there lay such a suit of clothes of silk and satin
stuff, sewed with threads of gold and silver and set with jewels,
as the eyes of man never saw before; and the Tailor packed them
up and marched off with them himself to the prime-minister.
The prime-minister wore the clothes to court that very day, and
before evening they were the talk of the town. All the world ran
to the Tailor and ordered clothes of him, and his fortune was
made. Every day the Demon created new suits of clothes out of
nothing at all, so that the Tailor grew as rich as a Jew, and
held his head up in the world.
As time went along he laid heavier and heavier tasks upon the
Demon's back, and demanded of him more and more; but all the
while the Demon kept his own counsel, and said never a word.
One morning, as the Tailor sat in his shop window taking the
world easy--for he had little or nothing to do now--he heard
a great hubbub in the street below, and when he looked down he
saw that it was the king's daughter passing by. It was the first
time that the Tailor had seen her, and when he saw her his heart
stood still within him, and then began fluttering like a little
bird, for one so beautiful was not to be met with in the four
corners of the world. Then she was gone.
All that day the little Tailor could do nothing but sit and think
of the princess, and the next morning when the Demon came he was
thinking of her still.
"What hast thou for me to do to-day?" said the Demon, as he
always said of a morning.
The little Tailor was waiting for the question.
"I would like you," said he, "to send to the king's palace, and
to ask him to let me have his daughter for my wife."
"Thou shalt have thy desire," said the Demon. Thereupon he smote
his hands together like a clap of thunder, and instantly the
walls of the room clove asunder, and there came out
four-and-twenty handsome youths, clad in cloth of gold and
silver. After these four-and-twenty there came another one who
was the chief of them all, and before whom, splendid as they
were, the four-and-twenty paled like stars in daylight. "Go to
the king's palace," said the Demon to that one, "and deliver this
message: The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One
Greater than a King asks for his daughter to wife."
"To hear is to obey," said the other, and bowed his forehead to
the earth.
Never was there such a hubbub in the town as when those
five-and-twenty, in their clothes of silver and gold, rode
through the streets to the king's palace. As they came near, the
gates of the palace flew open before them, and the king himself
came out to meet them. The leader of the five-and-twenty leaped
from his horse, and, kissing the ground before the king,
delivered his message: "The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of
Masters, and One Greater than a King asks for thy daughter to
wife."
When the king heard what the messenger said, he thought and
pondered a long time. At last he said, "If he who sent you is the
Master of Masters, and greater than a king, let him send me an
asking gift such as no king could send."
"It shall be as you desire," said the messenger, and thereupon
the five-and-twenty rode away as they had come, followed by
crowds of people.
The next morning when the Demon came the tailor was ready and
waiting for him. "What hast thou for me to do to-day?" said the
Evil One.
"I want," said the tailor, "a gift to send to the king such as no
other king could send him."
"Thou shalt have thy desire," said the Demon. Thereupon he smote
his hands together, and summoned, not five-and-twenty young men,
but fifty youths, all clad in clothes more splendid than the
others.
All of the fifty sat upon coal-black horses, with saddles of
silver and housings of silk and velvet embroidered with gold. In
the midst of all the five-and-seventy there rode a youth in cloth
of silver embroidered in pearls. In his hand he bore something
wrapped in a white napkin, and that was the present for the king
such as no other king could give. So said the Demon: "Take it to
the royal palace, and tell his majesty that it is from the Tailor
of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King."
"To hear is to obey," said the young man, and then they all rode
away.
When they came to the palace the gates flew open before them, and
the king came out to meet them. The young man who bore the
present dismounted and prostrated himself in the dust, and, when
the king bade him arise, he unwrapped the napkin, and gave to the
king a goblet made of one single ruby, and filled to the brim
with pieces of gold. Moreover, the cup was of such a kind that
whenever it was emptied of its money it instantly became full
again. "The Tailor of Tailors, the Master of Masters, and One
Greater than a King sends your majesty this goblet, and bids me,
his ambassador, to ask for your daughter," said the young man.
When the king saw what had been sent him he was filled with
amazement. "Surely," said he to himself, "there can be no end to
the power of one who can give such a gift as this." Then to the
messenger, "Tell your master that he shall have my daughter for
his wife if he will build over yonder a palace such as no man
ever saw or no king ever lived in before."
"It shall be done," said the young man, and then they all went
away, as the others had done the day before.
The next morning when the Demon appeared the Tailor was ready for
him. "Build me," said he, "such and such a palace in such and
such a place."
And the Demon said, "It shall be done." He smote his hands
together, and instantly there came a cloud of mist that covered
and hid the spot where the palace was to be built. Out from the
cloud there came such a banging and hammering and clapping and
clattering as the people of that town never heard before. Then
when evening had come the cloud arose, and there, where the king
had pointed out, stood a splendid palace as white as snow, with
roofs and domes of gold and silver. As the king stood looking and
wondering at this sight, there came five hundred young men
riding, and one in the midst of all who wore a golden crown on
his head, and upon his body a long robe stiff with diamonds and
pearls. "We come," said he, "from the Tailor of Tailors, and
Master of Masters, and One Greater than a King, to ask you to let
him have your daughter for his wife."
"Tell him to come!" cried the king, in admiration, "for the
princess is his."
The next morning when the Demon came he found the Tailor dancing
and shouting for joy. "The princess is mine!" he cried, "so make
me ready for her."
"It shall be done," said the Demon, and thereupon he began to
make the Tailor ready for his wedding. He brought him to a marble
bath of water, in which he washed away all that was coarse and
ugly, and from which the little man came forth as beautiful as
the sun. Then the Demon clad him in the finest linen, and covered
him with clothes such as even the emperor of India never wore.
Then he smote his hands together, and the wall of the tailor-shop
opened as it had done twice before, and there came forth forty
slaves clad in crimson, and bearing bowls full of money in their
hands. After them came two leading a horse as white as snow, with
a saddle of gold studded with diamonds and rubies and emeralds
and sapphires. After came a body-guard of twenty warriors clad in
gold armor. Then the Tailor mounted his horse and rode away to
the king's palace, and as he rode the slaves scattered the money
amongst the crowd, who scrambled for it and cheered the Tailor to
the skies.
That night the princess and the Tailor were married, and all the
town was lit with bonfires and fireworks. The two rode away in
the midst of a great crowd of nobles and courtiers to the palace
which the Demon had built for the Tailor; and, as the princess
gazed upon him, she thought that she had never beheld so noble
and handsome a man as her husband. So she and the Tailor were the
happiest couple in the world.
But the next morning the Demon appeared as he had appeared ever
since the Tailor had let him out of the bottle, only now he
grinned till his teeth shone and his face turned black. "What
hast thou for me to do?" said he, and at the words the Tailor's
heart began to quake, for he remembered what was to happen to him
when he could find the Demon no more work to do--that his neck
was to be wrung--and now he began to see that he had all that
he could ask for in the world. Yes; what was there to ask for
now?
"I have nothing more for you to do," said he to the Demon; "you
have done all that man could ask--you may go now."
"Go!" cried the Demon, "I shall not go until I have done all that
I have to do. Give me work, or I shall wring your neck." And his
fingers began to twitch.
Then the Tailor began to see into what a net he had fallen. He
began to tremble like one in an ague. He turned his eyes up and
down, for he did not know where to look for aid. Suddenly, as he
looked out of the window, a thought struck him. "Maybe," thought
he, "I can give the Demon such a task that even he cannot do it.
"Yes, yes!" he cried, "I have thought of something for you to do.
Make me out yonder in front of my palace a lake of water a mile
long and a mile wide, and let it be lined throughout with white
marble, and filled with water as clear as crystal."
"It shall be done," said the Demon. As he spoke he spat in the
air, and instantly a thick fog arose from the earth and hid
everything from sight. Then presently from the midst of the fog
there came a great noise of chipping and hammering, of digging
and delving, of rushing and gurgling. All day the noise and the
fog continued, and then at sunset the one ceased and the other
cleared away. The poor Tailor looked out the window, and when he
saw what he saw his teeth chattered in his head, for there was a
lake a mile long and a mile broad, lined within with white
marble, and filled with water as clear as crystal, and he knew
that the Demon would come the next morning for another task to
do.
That night he slept little or none, and when the seventh hour of
the morning came the castle began to rock and tremble, and there
stood the Demon, and his hair bristled and his eyes shone like
sparks of fire. "What hast thou for me to do?" said he, and the
poor Tailor could do nothing but look at him with a face as white
as dough.
"What hast thou for me to do?" said the Demon again, and then at
last the Tailor found his wits and his tongue from sheer terror.
"Look!" said he, "at the great mountain over yonder; remove it,
and make in its place a level plain with fields and orchards and
gardens." And he thought to himself when he had spoken, "Surely,
even the Demon cannot do that."
"It shall be done," said the Demon, and, so saying, he stamped
his heel upon the ground. Instantly the earth began to tremble
and quake, and there came a great rumbling like the sound of
thunder. A cloud of darkness gathered in the sky, until at last
all was as black as the blackest midnight. Then came a roaring
and a cracking and a crashing, such as man never heard before.
All day it continued, until the time of the setting of the sun,
when suddenly the uproar ceased, and the darkness cleared away;
and when the Tailor looked out of the window the mountain was
gone, and in its place were fields and orchards and gardens.
It was very beautiful to see, but when the Tailor beheld it his
knees began to smite together, and the sweat ran down his face in
streams. All that night he walked up and down and up and down,
but he could not think of one other task for the Demon to do.
When the next morning came the Demon appeared like a whirlwind.
His face was as black as ink and smoke, and sparks of fire flew
from his nostrils.
"What have you for me to do?" cried he.
"I have nothing for you to do!" piped the poor Tailor.
"Nothing?" cried the Demon.
"Nothing."
"Then prepare to die."
"Stop!" cried the Tailor, falling on his knees, "let me first see
my wife."
"So be it," said the Demon, and if he had been wiser he would
have said "No."
When the Tailor came to the princess, he flung himself on his
face, and began to weep and wail. The princess asked him what was
the matter, and at last, by dint of question, got the story from
him, piece by piece. When she had it all she began laughing. "Why
did you not come to me before?" said she, "instead of making all
this trouble and uproar for nothing at all? I will give the
Monster a task to do." She plucked a single curling hair from her
head. "Here," said she, "let him take this hair and make it
straight."
The Tailor was full of doubt; nevertheless, as there was nothing
better to do, he took it to the Demon.
"Hast thou found me a task to do?" cried the Demon.
"Yes," said the Tailor. "It is only a little thing. Here is a
hair from my wife's head; take it and make it straight."
When the Demon heard what was the task that the Tailor had set
him to do he laughed aloud; but that was because he did not know.
He took the hair and stroked it between his thumb and finger,
and, when he done, it curled more than ever. Then he looked
serious, and slapped it between his palms, and that did not
better matters, for it curled as much as ever. Then he frowned,
and, began beating the hair with his palm upon his knees, and
that only made it worse. All that day he labored and strove at
his task trying to make that one little hair straight, and, when
the sun set, there was the hair just as crooked as ever. Then, as
the great round sun sank red behind the trees, the Demon knew
that he was beaten. "I am conquered! I am conquered!" he howled,
and flew away, bellowing so dreadfully that all the world
trembled.
So ends the story, with only this to say:
Where man's strength fails, woman's wit prevails.
For, to my mind, the princess--not to speak of her husband the
little Tailor--did more with a single little hair and her
mother wit than King Solomon with all his wisdom.
"Whose turn is it next to tell us a story?" said Sindbad the
Sailor.
" Twas my turn," said St. George; "but here be two ladies
present, and neither hath so much as spoken a word of a story for
all this time. If you, madam," said he to Cinderella, "will tell
us a tale, I will gladly give up my turn to you."
The Soldier who cheated the Devil took the pipe out of his mouth
and puffed away a cloud of smoke. "Aye," said he, "always
remember the ladies, say I. That is a soldier's trade."
"Very well, then; if it is your pleasure," said Cinderella. "I
will tell you a story, and it shall be of a friend of mine and of
how she looked after her husband's luck. She was," said
Cinderella, "a princess, and her father was a king."
"And what is your story about?" said Sindbad the Sailor.
"It is," said Cinderella, "about--
A Piece of Good Luck
There were three students who were learning all that they could.
The first was named Joseph, the second was named John, and the
third was named Jacob Stuck. They studied seven long years under
a wise master, and in that time they learned all that their
master had to teach them of the wonderful things he knew. They
learned all about geometry, they learned all about algebra, they
learned all about astronomy, they learned all about the hidden
arts, they learned all about everything, except how to mend their
own hose and where to get cabbage to boil in the pot.
And now they were to go out into the world to practice what they
knew. The master called the three students to him--the one named
Joseph, the second named John, and the third named Jacob Stuck--and said he to them, said he: "You
have studied faithfully and
have learned all that I have been able to teach you, and now you
shall not go out into the world with nothing at all. See; here
are three glass balls, and that is one for each of you. Their
like is not to be found in the four corners of the world. Carry
the balls wherever you go, and when one of them drops to the
ground, dig, and there you will certainly find a treasure."
So the three students went out into the wide world.
Well, they travelled on and on for day after day, each carrying
his glass ball with him wherever he went. They travelled on and
on for I cannot tell how long, until one day the ball that Joseph
carried slipped out of his fingers and fell to the ground. "I've
found a treasure!" cried Joseph, "I've found a treasure!"
The three students fell to work scratching and digging where the
ball had fallen, and by-and-by they found something. It was a
chest with an iron ring in the lid. It took all three of them to
haul it up out of the ground, and when they did so they found it
was full to the brim of silver money.
Were they happy? Well, they were happy! They danced around and
around the chest, for they had never seen so much money in all
their lives before. "Brothers," said Joseph, in exultation, "here
is enough for all hands, and it shall be share and share alike
with us, for haven't we studied seven long years together?" And
so for a while they were as happy as happy could be.
But by-and-by a flock of second thoughts began to buzz in the
heads of John and Jacob Stuck. "Why," said they, "as for that, to
be sure, a chest of silver money is a great thing for three
students to find who had nothing better than book-learning to
help them along; but who knows but that there is something better
even than silver money out in the wide world?" So, after all, and
in spite of the chest of silver money they had found, the two of
them were for going on to try their fortunes a little farther.
And as for Joseph, why, after all, when he came to think of it,
he was not sorry to have his chest of silver money all to
himself.
So the two travelled on and on for a while, here and there and
everywhere, until at last it was John's ball that slipped out of
his fingers and fell to the ground. They digged where it fell,
and this time it was a chest of gold money they found.
Yes, a chest of gold money! A chest of real gold money! They just
stood and stared and stared, for if they had not seen it they
would not have believed that such a thing could have been in the
world. "Well, Jacob Stuck," said John, "it was well to travel a
bit farther than poor Joseph did, was it not? What is a chest of
silver money to such a treasure as this? Come, brother, here is
enough to make us both rich for all the rest of our lives. We
need look for nothing better than this."
But no; by-and-by Jacob Stuck began to cool down again, and now
that second thoughts were coming to him he would not even be
satisfied with a half-share of a chest of gold money. No; maybe
there might be something better than even a chest full of gold
money to be found in the world. As for John, why, after all, he
was just as well satisfied to keep his treasure for himself. So
the two shook hands, and then Jacob Stuck jogged away alone,
leaving John stuffing his pockets and his hat full of gold money,
and I should have liked to have been there, to have had my share.
Well, Jacob Stuck jogged on and on by himself, until after a
while he came to a great, wide desert, where there was not a
blade or a stick to be seen far or near. He jogged on and on, and
he wished he had not come there. He jogged on and on when all of
a sudden the glass ball he carried slipped out of his fingers and
fell to the ground.
"Aha!" said he to himself, "now maybe I shall find some great
treasure compared to which even silver and gold are as nothing at
all."
He digged down into the barren earth of the desert; and he digged
and he digged, but neither silver nor gold did he find. He digged
and digged; and by-and-by, at last, he did find something. And
what was it? Why, nothing but something that looked like a piece
of blue glass not a big bigger than my thumb. "Is that all?" said
Jacob Stuck. "And have I travelled all this weary way and into
the blinding desert only for this? Have I passed by silver and
gold enough to make me rich for all my life, only to find a
little piece of blue glass?"
Jacob Stuck did not know what he had found. I shall tell you what
it was. It was a solid piece of good luck without flaw or
blemish, and it was almost the only piece I ever heard tell of.
Yes; that was what it was--a solid piece of good luck; and as for
Jacob Stuck, why, he was not the first in the world by many and
one over who has failed to know a piece of good luck when they
have found it. Yes; it looked just like a piece of blue glass no
bigger than my thumb, and nothing else.
"Is that all?" said Jacob Stuck. "And have I travelled all this
weary way and into the blinding desert only for this? Have I
passed by silver and gold enough to make me rich for all my life,
only to find a little piece of blue glass?"
He looked at the bit of glass, and he turned it over and over in
his hand. It was covered with dirt. Jacob Stuck blew his breath
upon it, and rubbed it with his thumb.
Crack! dong! bang! smash!
Upon my word, had a bolt of lightning burst at Jacob Stuck's feet
he could not have been more struck of a heap. For no sooner had
he rubbed the glass with his thumb than with a noise like a clap
of thunder there instantly stood before him a great, big man,
dressed in clothes as red as a flame, and with eyes that shone
sparks of fire. It was the Genie of Good Luck. It nearly knocked
Jacob Stuck off his feet to see him there so suddenly.
"What will you have?" said the Genie. "I am the slave of good
luck. Whosoever holds that piece of crystal in his hand him must
I obey in whatsoever he may command."
"Do you mean that you are my servant and that I am your master?"
said Jacob Stuck.
"Yes; command and I obey."
"Why, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I would like you to help me out
of this desert place, if you can do so, for it is a poor spot for
any Christian soul to be."
"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, before Jacob Stuck
knew what had happened to him, the Genie had seized him and was
flying with him through the air swifter than the wind. On and on
he flew, and the earth seemed to slide away beneath. On and on
flew the flame-colored Genie until at last he set Jacob down in a
great meadow where there was a river. Beyond the river were the
white walls and grand houses of the king's town.
"Hast thou any further commands?" said the Genie.
"Tell me what you can do for me?" said Jacob Stuck.
"I can do whatsoever thou mayest order me to do," said the Genie.
"Well, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I think first of all I would
like to have plenty of money to spend."
"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, as he spoke, he
reached up into the air and picked out a purse from nothing at
all. "Here," said he, "is the purse of fortune; take from it all
that thou needest and yet it will always be full. As long as thou
hast it thou shalt never be lacking riches."
"I am very much obliged to you," said Jacob Stuck. "I've learned
geometry and algebra and astronomy and the hidden arts, but I
never heard tell of anything like this before."
So Jacob Stuck went into the town with all the money he could
spend, and such a one is welcome anywhere. He lacked nothing that
money could buy. He bought himself a fine house; he made all the
friends he wanted, and more; he lived without a care, and with
nothing to do but to enjoy himself. That was what a bit of good
luck did for him.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 | 7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16