Twilight Land

H >> Howard Pyle >> Twilight Land

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Now the princess, the daughter of the king of that town, was the
most beautiful in all the world, but so proud and haughty that
her like was not to be found within the bounds of all the seven
rivers. So proud was she and so haughty that she would neither
look upon a young man nor allow any young man to look upon her.
She was so particular that whenever she went out to take a ride a
herald was sent through the town with a trumpet ordering that
every house should be closed and that everybody should stay
within doors, so that the princess should run no risk of seeing a
young man, or that no young man by chance should see her.

One day the herald went through the town blowing his trumpet and
calling in a great, loud voice: "Close your doors! Close your
windows! Her highness, the princess, comes to ride; let no man
look upon her on pain of death!"

Thereupon everybody began closing their doors and windows, and,
as it was with the others, so it was with Jacob Stuck's house; it
had, like all the rest, to be shut up as tight as a jug.

But Jacob Stuck was not satisfied with that; not he. He was for
seeing the princess, and he was bound he would do so. So he bored
a hole through the door, and when the princess came riding by he
peeped out at her.

Jacob Stuck thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all
his life. It was like the sunlight shining in his eyes, and he
almost sneezed. Her cheeks were like milk and rose-leaves, and
her hair like fine threads of gold. She sat in a golden coach
with a golden crown upon her head, and Jacob Stuck stood looking
and looking until his heart melted within him like wax in the
oven. Then the princess was gone, and Jacob Stuck stood there
sighing and sighing.

"Oh, dear! Dear!" said he, "what shall I do? For, proud as she
is, I must see her again or else I will die of it."

All that day he sat sighing and thinking about the beautiful
princess, until the evening had come. Then he suddenly thought of
his piece of good luck. He pulled his piece of blue glass out of
his pocket and breathed upon it and rubbed it with his thumb, and
instantly the Genie was there.

This time Jacob Stuck was not frightened at all.

"What are thy commands, O master?" said the Genie.

"O Genie!" said Jacob Stuck, "I have seen the princess to-day,
and it seems to me that there is nobody like her in all the
world. Tell me, could you bring her here so that I might see her
again?"

"Yes," said the Genie, "I could."

"Then do so," said Jacob Stuck, "and I will have you prepare a
grand feast, and have musicians to play beautiful music, for I
would have the princess sup with me."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. As he spoke he smote his
hands together, and instantly there appeared twenty musicians,
dressed in cloth of gold and silver. With them they brought
hautboys and fiddles, big and little, and flageolets and drums
and horns, and this and that to make music with. Again the Genie
smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared fifty
servants dressed in silks and satins and spangled with jewels,
who began to spread a table with fine linen embroidered with
gold, and to set plates of gold and silver upon it. The Genie
smote his hands together a third time, and in answer there came
six servants. They led Jacob Stuck into another room, where there
was a bath of musk and rose-water. They bathed him in the bath
and dressed him in clothes like an emperor, and when he came out
again his face shone, and he was as handsome as a picture.

Then by-and-by he knew that the princess was coming, for suddenly
there was the sound of girls' voices singing and the twanging of
stringed instruments. The door flew open, and in came a crowd of
beautiful girls, singing and playing music, and after them the
princess herself, more beautiful than ever. But the proud
princess was frightened! Yes, she was. And well she might be, for
the Genie had flown with her through the air from the palace, and
that is enough to frighten anybody. Jacob Stuck came to her all
glittering and shining with jewels and gold, and took her by the
hand. He led her up the hall, and as he did so the musicians
struck up and began playing the most beautiful music in the
world. Then Jacob Stuck and the princess sat down to supper and
began eating and drinking, and Jacob Stuck talked of all the
sweetest things he could think of. Thousands of wax candles made
the palace bright as day, and as the princess looked about her
she thought she had never seen anything so fine in all the world.
After they had eaten their supper and ended with a dessert of all
kinds of fruits and of sweetmeats, the door opened and there came
a beautiful young serving-lad, carrying a silver tray, upon which
was something wrapped in a napkin. He kneeled before Jacob Stuck
and held the tray, and from the napkin Jacob Stuck took a
necklace of diamonds, each stone as big as a pigeon's egg.

"This is to remind you of me," said Jacob Stuck, "when you have
gone home again." And as he spoke he hung it around the
princess's neck.

Just then the clock struck twelve.

Hardly had the last stroke sounded when every light was snuffed
out, and all was instantly dark and still. Then, before she had
time to think, the Genie of Good Luck snatched the princess up
once more and flew back to the palace more swiftly than the wind.
And, before the princess knew what had happened to her, there she
was.

It was all so strange that the princess might have thought it was
a dream, only for the necklace of diamonds, the like of which was
not to be found in all the world.

The next morning there was a great buzzing in the palace, you may
be sure. The princess told all about how she had been carried
away during the night, and had supped in such a splendid palace,
and with such a handsome man dressed like an emperor. She showed
her necklace of diamonds, and the king and his prime-minister
could not look at it or wonder at it enough. The prime-minister
and the king talked and talked the matter over together, and
every now and then the proud princess put in a word of her own.

"Anybody," said the prime-minister, "can see with half an eye
that it is all magic, or else it is a wonderful piece of good
luck. Now, I'll tell you what shall be done," said he: "the
princess shall keep a piece of chalk by her; and, if she is
carried away again in such a fashion, she shall mark a cross with
the piece of chalk on the door of the house to which she is
taken. Then we shall find the rogue that is playing such a trick,
and that quickly enough."

"Yes," said the king; "that is very good advice."

"I will do it," said the princess.

All that day Jacob Stuck sat thinking and thinking about the
beautiful princess. He could not eat a bite, and he could hardly
wait for the night to come. As soon as it had fallen, he breathed
upon his piece of glass and rubbed his thumb upon it, and there
stood the Genie of Good Luck.

"I'd like the princess here again," said he, "as she was last
night, with feasting and drinking, such as we had before."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie.

And as it had been the night before, so it was now. The Genie
brought the princess, and she and Jacob Stuck feasted together
until nearly midnight. Then, again, the door opened, and the
beautiful servant-lad came with the tray and something upon it
covered with a napkin. Jacob Stuck unfolded the napkin, and this
time it was a cup made of a single ruby, and filled to the brim
with gold money. And the wonder of the cup was this: that no
matter how much money you took out of it, it was always full.
"Take this," said Jacob Stuck, "to remind you of me." Then the
clock struck twelve, and instantly all was darkness, and the
Genie carried the princess home again.

But the princess had brought her piece of chalk with her, as the
prime-minister had advised; and in some way or other she
contrived, either in coming or going, to mark a cross upon the
door of Jacob Stuck's house.

But, clever as she was, the Genie of Good Luck was more clever
still. He saw what the princess did; and, as soon as he had
carried her home, he went all through the town and marked a cross
upon every door, great and small, little and big, just as the
princess had done upon the door of Jacob Stuck's house, only upon
the prime-minister's door he put two crosses. The next morning
everybody was wondering what all the crosses on the house-doors
meant, and the king and the prime-minister were no wiser than
they had been before.

But the princess had brought the ruby cup with her, and she and
the king could not look at it and wonder at it enough.

"Pooh!" said the prime-minister; "I tell you it is nothing else
in the world but just a piece of good luck--that is all it is. As
for the rogue who is playing all these tricks, let the princess
keep a pair of scissors by her, and, if she is carried away
again, let her contrive to cut off a lock of his hair from over
the young man's right ear. Then to-morrow we will find out who
has been trimmed."

Yes, the princess would do that; so, before evening was come, she
tied a pair of scissors to her belt.

Well, Jacob Stuck could hardly wait for the night to come to
summon the Genie of Good Luck. "I want to sup with the princess
again," said he.

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie of Good Luck; and, as soon
as he had made everything ready, away he flew to fetch the
princess again.

Well, they feasted and drank, and the music played, and the
candles were as bright as day, and beautiful girls sang and
danced, and Jacob Stuck was as happy as a king. But the princess
kept her scissors by her, and, when Jacob Stuck was not looking,
she contrived to snip off a lock of his hair from over his right
ear, and nobody saw what was done but the Genie of Good Luck.

And it came towards midnight.

Once more the door opened, and the beautiful serving-lad came
into the room, carrying the tray of silver with something upon it
wrapped in a napkin. This time Jacob Stuck gave the princess an
emerald ring for a keepsake, and the wonder of it was that every
morning two other rings just like it would drop from it.

Then twelve o'clock sounded, the lights went out, and the Genie
took the princess home again.

But the Genie had seen what the princess had done. As soon as he
had taken her safe home, he struck his palms together and
summoned all his companions. "Go," said he, "throughout the town
and trim a lock of hair from over the right ear of every man in
the whole place;" and so they did, from the king himself to the
beggar-man at the gates. As for the prime-minister, the Genie
himself trimmed two locks of hair from him, one from over each of
his ears, so that the next morning he looked as shorn as an old
sheep. In the morning all the town was in a hubbub, and everybody
was wondering how all the men came to have their hair clipped as
it was. But the princess had brought the lock of Jacob Stuck's
hair away with her wrapped up in a piece of paper, and there it
was.

As for the ring Jacob Stuck had given to her, why, the next
morning there were three of them, and the king thought he had
never heard tell of such a wonderful thing.

"I tell you," said the prime-minister, "there is nothing in it
but a piece of good luck, and not a grain of virtue. It's just a
piece of good luck--that's all it is."

"No matter," said the king; "I never saw the like of it in all my
life before. And now, what are we going to do?"

The prime-minister could think of nothing.

Then the princess spoke up. "Your majesty," she said, "I can find
the young man for you. Just let the herald go through the town
and proclaim that I will marry the young man to whom this lock of
hair belongs, and then we will find him quickly enough."

"What!" cried the prime-minister; "will, then, the princess marry
a man who has nothing better than a little bit of good luck to
help him along in the world?"

"Yes," said the princess, "I shall if I can find him."

So the herald was sent out around the town proclaiming that the
princess would marry the man to whose head belonged the lock of
hair that she had.

A lock of hair! Why, every man had lost a lock of hair! Maybe the
princess could fit it on again, and then the fortune of him to
whom it belonged would be made. All the men in the town crowded
up to the king's palace. But all for no use, for never a one of
them was fitted with his own hair.

As for Jacob Stuck, he too had heard what the herald had
proclaimed. Yes; he too had heard it, and his heart jumped and
hopped within him like a young lamb in the spring-time. He knew
whose hair it was the princess had. Away he went by himself, and
rubbed up his piece of blue glass, and there stood the Genie.

"What are thy commands?" said he.

"I am," said Jacob Stuck, "going up to the king's palace to marry
the princess, and I would have a proper escort."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie.

He smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared a score
of attendants who took Jacob Stuck, and led him into another
room, and began clothing him in a suit so magnificent that it
dazzled the eyes to look at it. He smote his hands together
again, and out in the court-yard there appeared a troop of
horsemen to escort Jacob Stuck to the palace, and they were all
clad in gold-and-silver armor. He smote his hands together again,
and there appeared twenty-and-one horses--twenty as black as
night and one as white as milk, and it twinkled and sparkled all
over with gold and jewels, and at the head of each horse of the
one-and-twenty horses stood a slave clad in crimson velvet to
hold the bridle. Again he smote his hands together, and there
appeared in the ante-room twenty handsome young men, each with a
marble bowl filled with gold money, and when Jacob Stuck came out
dressed in his fine clothes there they all were.

Jacob Stuck mounted upon the horse as white as milk, the young
men mounted each upon one of the black horses, the troopers in
the gold-and-silver armor wheeled their horses, the trumpets
blew, and away they rode--such a sight as was never seen in that
town before, when they had come out into the streets. The young
men with the basins scattered the gold money to the people, and a
great crowd ran scrambling after, and shouted and cheered.

So Jacob Stuck rode up to the king's palace, and the king himself
came out to meet him with the princess hanging on his arm.

As for the princess, she knew him the moment she laid eyes on
him. She came down the steps, and set the lock of hair against
his head, where she had trimmed it off the night before, and it
fitted and matched exactly. "This is the young man," said she,
"and I will marry him, and none other."

But the prime-minister whispered and whispered in the king's ear:
"I tell you this young man is nobody at all," said he, "but just
some fellow who has had a little bit of good luck."

"Pooh!" said the king, "stuff and nonsense! Just look at all the
gold and jewels and horses and men. What will you do," said he to
Jacob Stuck, "if I let you marry the princess?"

"I will," said Jacob Stuck, "build for her the finest palace that
ever was seen in all this world."

"Very well," said the king, "yonder are those sand hills over
there. You shall remove them and build your palace there. When it
is finished you shall marry the princess." For if he does that,
thought the king to himself, it is something better than mere
good luck.

"It shall," said Jacob Stuck, "be done by tomorrow morning."

Well, all that day Jacob Stuck feasted and made merry at the
king's palace, and the king wondered when he was going to begin
to build his palace. But Jacob Stuck said nothing at all; he just
feasted and drank and made merry. When night had come, however,
it was all different. Away he went by himself, and blew his
breath upon his piece of blue glass, and rubbed it with his
thumb. Instantly there stood the Genie before him. "What wouldst
thou have?" said he.

"I would like," said Jacob Stuck, "to have the sand hills over
yonder carried away, and a palace built there of white marble and
gold and silver, such as the world never saw before. And let
there be gardens planted there with flowering plants and trees,
and let there be fountains and marble walks. And let there be
servants and attendants in the palace of all sorts and kinds--men
and women. And let there be a splendid feast spread for to-morrow
morning, for then I am going to marry the princess."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and instantly he was gone.

All night there was from the sand hills a ceaseless sound as of
thunder--a sound of banging and clapping and hammering and sawing
and calling and shouting. All that night the sounds continued
unceasingly, but at daybreak all was still, and when the sun
arose there stood the most splendid palace it ever looked down
upon; shining as white as snow, and blazing with gold and silver.
All around it were gardens and fountains and orchards. A great
highway had been built between it and the king's palace, and all
along the highway a carpet of cloth of gold had been spread for
the princess to walk upon.

Dear! Dear! How all the town stared with wonder when they saw
such a splendid palace standing where the day before had been
nothing but naked sand hills! The folk flocked in crowds to see
it, and all the country about was alive with people coming and
going. As for the king, he could not believe his eyes when he saw
it. He stood with the princess and looked and looked. Then came
Jacob Stuck. "And now," said he, "am I to marry the princess?"

"Yes," cried the king in admiration, "you are!"

So Jacob Stuck married the princess, and a splendid wedding it
was. That was what a little bit of good luck did for him.

After the wedding was over, it was time to go home to the grand
new palace. Then there came a great troop of horsemen with
shining armor and with music, sent by the Genie to escort Jacob
Stuck and the princess and the king and the prime-minister to
Jacob Stuck's new palace. They rode along over the carpet of
gold, and such a fine sight was never seen in that land before.
As they drew near to the palace a great crowd of servants, clad
in silks and satins and jewels, came out to meet them, singing
and dancing and playing on harps and lutes. The king and the
princess thought that they must be dreaming.

"All this is yours," said Jacob Stuck to the princess; and he was
that fond of her, he would have given her still more if he could
have thought of anything else.

Jacob Stuck and the princess, and the king and the prime-minister, all went into the palace, and
there was a splendid
feast spread in plates of pure gold and silver, and they all four
sat down together.

But the prime-minister was as sour about it all as a crab-apple.
All the time they were feasting he kept whispering and whispering
in the king's ear. "It is all stuff and nonsense," said he, "for
such a man as Jacob Stuck to do all this by himself. I tell you,
it is all a piece of good luck, and not a bit of merit in it."

He whispered and whispered, until at last the king up and spoke.
"Tell me, Jacob Stuck," he said, "where do you get all these fine
things?"

"It all comes of a piece of good luck," said Jacob Stuck.

"That is what I told you," said the prime-minister.

"A piece of good luck!" said the king. "Where did you come across
such a piece of good luck?"

"I found it," said Jacob Stuck.

"Found it!" said the king; "and have you got it with you now?"

"Yes, I have," said Jacob Stuck; "I always carry it about with
me;" and he thrust his hand into his pocket and brought out his
piece of blue crystal.

"That!" said the king. "Why, that is nothing but a piece of blue
glass!"

"That," said Jacob Stuck, "is just what I thought till I found
out better. It is no common piece of glass, I can tell you. You
just breathe upon it so, and rub your thumb upon it thus, and
instantly a Genie dressed in red comes to do all that he is
bidden. That is how it is."

"I should like to see it," said the king.

"So you shall," said Jacob Stuck; "here it is," said he; and he
reached it across the table to the prime-minister to give it to
the king.

Yes, that was what he did; he gave it to the prime-minister to
give it to the king. The prime-minister had been listening to all
that had been said, and he knew what he was about. He took what
Jacob Stuck gave him, and he had never had such a piece of luck
come to him before.

And did the prime-minister give it to the king, as Jacob Stuck
had intended? Not a bit of it. No sooner had he got it safe in
his hand, than he blew his breath upon it and rubbed it with his
thumb.

Crack! dong! boom! crash!

There stood the Genie, like a flash and as red as fire. The
princess screamed out and nearly fainted at the sight, and the
poor king sat trembling like a rabbit.

"Whosoever possesses that piece of blue crystal," said the Genie,
in a terrible voice, "him must I obey. What are thy commands?"

"Take this king," cried the prime-minister, "and take Jacob
Stuck, and carry them both away into the farthest part of the
desert whence the fellow came."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie; and instantly he seized the
king in one hand and Jacob Stuck in the other, and flew away with
them swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth
seemed to slide away beneath them like a cloud. On and on he flew
until he had come to the farthest part of the desert. There he
sat them both down, and it was as pretty a pickle as ever the
king or Jacob Stuck had been in, in all of their lives. Then the
Genie flew back again whence he had come.

There sat the poor princess crying and crying, and there sat the
prime-minister trying to comfort her. "Why do you cry?" said he;
"why are you afraid of me? I will do you no harm. Listen," said
he; "I will use this piece of good luck in a way that Jacob Stuck
would never have thought of. I will make myself king. I will
conquer the world, and make myself emperor over all the earth.
Then I will make you my queen."

But the poor princess cried and cried.

"Hast thou any further commands?" said the Genie.

"Not now," said the prime-minister; "you may go now;" and the
Genie vanished like a puff of smoke.

But the princess cried and cried.

The prime-minister sat down beside her. "Why do you cry?" said
he.

"Because I am afraid of you," said she.

"And why are you afraid of me?" said he.

"Because of that piece of blue glass. You will rub it again, and
then that great red monster will come again to frighten me."

"I will rub it no more," said he.

"Oh, but you will," said she; "I know you will."

"I will not," said he.

"But I can't trust you," said she "as long as you hold it in your
hand."

"Then I will lay it aside," said he, and so he did. Yes, he did;
and he is not the first man who has thrown aside a piece of good
luck for the sake of a pretty face. "Now are you afraid of me?"
said he.

"No, I am not," said she; and she reached out her hand as though
to give it to him. But, instead of doing so, she snatched up the
piece of blue glass as quick as a flash.

"Now," said she, "it is my turn;" and then the prime-minister
knew that his end had come.

She blew her breath upon the piece of blue glass and rubbed her
thumb upon it. Instantly, as with a clap of thunder, the great
red Genie stood before her, and the poor prime-minister sat
shaking and trembling.

"Whosoever hath that piece of blue crystal," said the Genie,
"that one must I obey. What are your orders, O princess?"

"Take this man," cried the princess, "and carry him away into the
desert where you took those other two, and bring my father and
Jacob Stuck back again."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and instantly he seized the
prime-minister, and, in spite of the poor man's kicks and
struggles, snatched him up and flew away with him swifter than
the wind. On and on he flew until he had come to the farthest
part of the desert, and there sat the king and Jacob Stuck still
thinking about things. Down he dropped the prime-minister, up he
picked the king and Jacob Stuck, and away he flew swifter than
the wind. On and on he flew until he had brought the two back to
the palace again; and there sat the princess waiting for them,
with the piece of blue crystal in her hand.

"You have saved us!" cried the king.

"You have saved us!" cried Jacob Stuck. "Yes, you have saved us,
and you have my piece of good luck into the bargain. Give it to
me again."

"I will do nothing of the sort," said the princess. "If the men
folk think no more of a piece of good luck than to hand it round
like a bit of broken glass, it is better for the women folk to
keep it for them."

And there, to my mind, she brewed good common-sense, that needed
no skimming to make it fit for Jacob Stuck, or for any other man,
for the matter of that.

And now for the end of this story. Jacob Stuck lived with his
princess in his fine palace as grand as a king, and when the old
king died he became the king after him.

One day there came two men travelling along, and they were
footsore and weary. They stopped at Jacob Stuck's palace and
asked for something to eat. Jacob Stuck did not know them at
first, and then he did. One was Joseph and the other was John.

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