[Illustration]
Once upon a time, there lived a very rich man, and a king besides,
whose name was Midas; and he had a little daughter, whom nobody but
myself ever heard of, and whose name I either never knew, or have
entirely forgotten. So, because I love odd names for little girls, I
choose to call her Marygold.
This King Midas was fonder of gold than of anything else in the world.
He valued his royal crown chiefly because it was composed of that
precious metal. If he loved anything better, or half so well, it was
the one little maiden who played so merrily around her father's
footstool. But the more Midas loved his daughter, the more did he
desire and seek for wealth. He thought, foolish man! that the best
thing he could possibly do for this dear child would be to bequeath
her the immensest pile of yellow, glistening coin, that had ever been
heaped together since the world was made. Thus, he gave all his
thoughts and all his time to this one purpose. If ever he happened to
gaze for an instant at the gold-tinted clouds of sunset, he wished
that they were real gold, and that they could be squeezed safely into
his strong box. When little Marygold ran to meet him, with a bunch of
buttercups and dandelions, he used to say, "Poh, poh, child! If these
flowers were as golden as they look, they would be worth the
plucking!"
And yet, in his earlier days, before he was so entirely possessed of
this insane desire for riches, King Midas had shown a great taste for
flowers. He had planted a garden, in which grew the biggest and
beautifullest and sweetest roses that any mortal ever saw or smelt.
These roses were still growing in the garden, as large, as lovely, and
as fragrant, as when Midas used to pass whole hours in gazing at them,
and inhaling their perfume. But now, if he looked at them at all, it
was only to calculate how much the garden would be worth if each of
the innumerable rose-petals were a thin plate of gold. And though he
once was fond of music (in spite of an idle story about his ears,
which were said to resemble those of an ass), the only music for poor
Midas, now, was the chink of one coin against another.
At length (as people always grow more and more foolish, unless they
take care to grow wiser and wiser), Midas had got to be so exceedingly
unreasonable, that he could scarcely bear to see or touch any object
that was not gold. He made it his custom, therefore, to pass a large
portion of every day in a dark and dreary apartment, under ground, at
the basement of his palace. It was here that he kept his wealth. To
this dismal hole--for it was little better than a dungeon--Midas
betook himself, whenever he wanted to be particularly happy. Here,
after carefully locking the door, he would take a bag of gold coin, or
a gold cup as big as a washbowl, or a heavy golden bar, or a
peck-measure of gold-dust, and bring them from the obscure corners of
the room into the one bright and narrow sunbeam that fell from the
dungeon-like window. He valued the sunbeam for no other reason but
that his treasure would not shine without its help. And then would he
reckon over the coins in the bag; toss up the bar, and catch it as it
came down; sift the gold-dust through his fingers; look at the funny
image of his own face, as reflected in the burnished circumference of
the cup; and whisper to himself, "O Midas, rich King Midas, what a
happy man art thou!" But it was laughable to see how the image of his
face kept grinning at him, out of the polished surface of the cup. It
seemed to be aware of his foolish behavior, and to have a naughty
inclination to make fun of him.
Midas called himself a happy man, but felt that he was not yet quite
so happy as he might be. The very tiptop of enjoyment would never be
reached, unless the whole world were to become his treasure-room, and
be filled with yellow metal which should be all his own.
Now, I need hardly remind such wise little people as you are, that in
the old, old times, when King Midas was alive, a great many things
came to pass, which we should consider wonderful if they were to
happen in our own day and country. And, on the other hand, a great
many things take place nowadays, which seem not only wonderful to us,
but at which the people of old times would have stared their eyes out.
On the whole, I regard our own times as the strangest of the two; but,
however that may be, I must go on with my story.
Midas was enjoying himself in his treasure-room, one day, as usual,
when he perceived a shadow fall over the heaps of gold; and, looking
suddenly up, what should he behold but the figure of a stranger,
standing in the bright and narrow sunbeam! It was a young man, with a
cheerful and ruddy face. Whether it was that the imagination of King
Midas threw a yellow tinge over everything, or whatever the cause
might be, he could not help fancying that the smile with which the
stranger regarded him had a kind of golden radiance in it. Certainly,
although his figure intercepted the sunshine, there was now a brighter
gleam upon all the piled-up treasures than before. Even the remotest
corners had their share of it, and were lighted up, when the stranger
smiled, as with tips of flame and sparkles of fire.
As Midas knew that he had carefully turned the key in the lock, and
that no mortal strength could possibly break into his treasure-room,
he, of course, concluded that his visitor must be something more than
mortal. It is no matter about telling you who he was. In those days,
when the earth was comparatively a new affair, it was supposed to be
often the resort of beings endowed with supernatural power, and who
used to interest themselves in the joys and sorrows of men, women, and
children, half playfully and half seriously. Midas had met such beings
before now, and was not sorry to meet one of them again. The
stranger's aspect, indeed, was so good-humored and kindly, if not
beneficent, that it would have been unreasonable to suspect him of
intending any mischief. It was far more probable that he came to do
Midas a favor. And what could that favor be, unless to multiply his
heaps of treasure?
The stranger gazed about the room; and when his lustrous smile had
glistened upon all the golden objects that were there, he turned again
to Midas.
"You are a wealthy man, friend Midas!" he observed. "I doubt whether
any other four walls, on earth, contain so much gold as you have
contrived to pile up in this room."
"I have done pretty well,--pretty well," answered Midas, in a
discontented tone. "But, after all, it is but a trifle, when you
consider that it has taken me my whole life to get it together. If one
could live a thousand years, he might have time to grow rich!"
"What!" exclaimed the stranger. "Then you are not satisfied?"
Midas shook his head.
"And pray what would satisfy you?" asked the stranger. "Merely for the
curiosity of the thing, I should be glad to know."
[Illustration: THE STRANGER APPEARING TO MIDAS]
Midas paused and meditated. He felt a presentiment that this stranger,
with such a golden lustre in his good-humored smile, had come
hither with both the power and the purpose of gratifying his utmost
wishes. Now, therefore, was the fortunate moment, when he had but to
speak, and obtain whatever possible, or seemingly impossible thing, it
might come into his head to ask. So he thought, and thought, and
thought, and heaped up one golden mountain upon another, in his
imagination, without being able to imagine them big enough. At last, a
bright idea occurred to King Midas. It seemed really as bright as the
glistening metal which he loved so much.
Raising his head, he looked the lustrous stranger in the face.
"Well, Midas," observed his visitor, "I see that you have at length
hit upon something that will satisfy you. Tell me your wish."
"It is only this," replied Midas. "I am weary of collecting my
treasures with so much trouble, and beholding the heap so diminutive,
after I have done my best. I wish everything that I touch to be
changed to gold!"
The stranger's smile grew so very broad, that it seemed to fill the
room like an outburst of the sun, gleaming into a shadowy dell, where
the yellow autumnal leaves--for so looked the lumps and particles of
gold--lie strewn in the glow of light.
"The Golden Touch!" exclaimed he. "You certainly deserve credit,
friend Midas, for striking out so brilliant a conception. But are you
quite sure that this will satisfy you?"
"How could it fail?" said Midas.
"And will you never regret the possession of it?"
"What could induce me?" asked Midas. "I ask nothing else, to render me
perfectly happy."
"Be it as you wish, then," replied the stranger, waving his hand in
token of farewell. "To-morrow, at sunrise, you will find yourself
gifted with the Golden Touch."
The figure of the stranger then became exceedingly bright, and Midas
involuntarily closed his eyes. On opening them again, he beheld only
one yellow sunbeam in the room, and, all around him, the glistening of
the precious metal which he had spent his life in hoarding up.
Whether Midas slept as usual that night, the story does not say.
Asleep or awake, however, his mind was probably in the state of a
child's, to whom a beautiful new plaything has been promised in the
morning. At any rate, day had hardly peeped over the hills, when King
Midas was broad awake, and, stretching his arms out of bed, began to
touch the objects that were within reach. He was anxious to prove
whether the Golden Touch had really come, according to the stranger's
promise. So he laid his finger on a chair by the bedside, and on
various other things, but was grievously disappointed to perceive that
they remained of exactly the same substance as before. Indeed, he felt
very much afraid that he had only dreamed about the lustrous stranger,
or else that the latter had been making game of him. And what a
miserable affair would it be, if, after all his hopes, Midas must
content himself with what little gold he could scrape together by
ordinary means, instead of creating it by a touch!
All this while, it was only the gray of the morning, with but a streak
of brightness along the edge of the sky, where Midas could not see it.
He lay in a very disconsolate mood, regretting the downfall of his
hopes, and kept growing sadder and sadder, until the earliest sunbeam
shone through the window, and gilded the ceiling over his head. It
seemed to Midas that this bright yellow sunbeam was reflected in
rather a singular way on the white covering of the bed. Looking more
closely, what was his astonishment and delight, when he found that
this linen fabric had been transmuted to what seemed a woven texture
of the purest and brightest gold! The Golden Touch had come to him
with the first sunbeam!
Midas started up, in a kind of joyful frenzy, and ran about the room,
grasping at everything that happened to be in his way. He seized one
of the bed-posts, and it became immediately a fluted golden pillar. He
pulled aside a window-curtain, in order to admit a clear spectacle of
the wonders which he was performing; and the tassel grew heavy in his
hand,--a mass of gold. He took up a book from the table. At his first
touch, it assumed the appearance of such a splendidly bound and
gilt-edged volume as one often meets with, nowadays; but, on running
his fingers through the leaves, behold! it was a bundle of thin golden
plates, in which all the wisdom of the book had grown illegible. He
hurriedly put on his clothes, and was enraptured to see himself in a
magnificent suit of gold cloth, which retained its flexibility and
softness, although it burdened him a little with its weight. He drew
out his handkerchief, which little Marygold had hemmed for him. That
was likewise gold, with the dear child's neat and pretty stitches
running all along the border, in gold thread!
Somehow or other, this last transformation did not quite please King
Midas. He would rather that his little daughter's handiwork should
have remained just the same as when she climbed his knee and put it
into his hand.
But it was not worth while to vex himself about a trifle. Midas now
took his spectacles from his pocket, and put them on his nose, in
order that he might see more distinctly what he was about. In those
days, spectacles for common people had not been invented, but were
already worn by kings; else, how could Midas have had any? To his
great perplexity, however, excellent as the glasses were, he
discovered that he could not possibly see through them. But this was
the most natural thing in the world; for, on taking them off, the
transparent crystal turned out to be plates of yellow metal, and, of
course, were worthless as spectacles, though valuable as gold. It
struck Midas as rather inconvenient that, with all his wealth, he
could never again be rich enough to own a pair of serviceable
spectacles.
"It is no great matter, nevertheless," said he to himself, very
philosophically. "We cannot expect any great good, without its being
accompanied with some small inconvenience. The Golden Touch is worth
the sacrifice of a pair of spectacles, at least, if not of one's very
eyesight. My own eyes will serve for ordinary purposes, and little
Marygold will soon be old enough to read to me."
Wise King Midas was so exalted by his good fortune, that the palace
seemed not sufficiently spacious to contain him. He therefore went
downstairs, and smiled, on observing that the balustrade of the
staircase became a bar of burnished gold, as his hand passed over it,
in his descent. He lifted the door-latch (it was brass only a moment
ago, but golden when his fingers quitted it), and emerged into the
garden. Here, as it happened, he found a great number of beautiful
roses in full bloom, and others in all the stages of lovely bud and
blossom. Very delicious was their fragrance in the morning breeze.
Their delicate blush was one of the fairest sights in the world; so
gentle, so modest, and so full of sweet tranquillity, did these roses
seem to be.
But Midas knew a way to make them far more precious, according to his
way of thinking, than roses had ever been before. So he took great
pains in going from bush to bush, and exercised his magic touch most
indefatigably; until every individual flower and bud, and even the
worms at the heart of some of them, were changed to gold. By the time
this good work was completed, King Midas was summoned to breakfast;
and as the morning air had given him an excellent appetite, he made
haste back to the palace.
What was usually a king's breakfast in the days of Midas, I really do
not know, and cannot stop now to investigate. To the best of my
belief, however, on this particular morning, the breakfast consisted
of hot cakes, some nice little brook trout, roasted potatoes, fresh
boiled eggs, and coffee, for King Midas himself, and a bowl of bread
and milk for his daughter Marygold. At all events, this is a breakfast
fit to set before a king; and, whether he had it or not, King Midas
could not have had a better.
Little Marygold had not yet made her appearance. Her father ordered
her to be called, and, seating himself at table, awaited the child's
coming, in order to begin his own breakfast. To do Midas justice, he
really loved his daughter, and loved her so much the more this
morning, on account of the good fortune which had befallen him. It was
not a great while before he heard her coming along the passageway
crying bitterly. This circumstance surprised him, because Marygold was
one of the cheerfullest little people whom you would see in a summer's
day, and hardly shed a thimbleful of tears in a twelvemonth. When
Midas heard her sobs, he determined to put little Marygold into better
spirits, by an agreeable surprise; so, leaning across the table, he
touched his daughter's bowl (which was a China one, with pretty
figures all around it), and transmuted it to gleaming gold.
Meanwhile, Marygold slowly and disconsolately opened the door, and
showed herself with her apron at her eyes, still sobbing as if her
heart would break.
"How now, my little lady!" cried Midas. "Pray what is the matter with
you, this bright morning?"
Marygold, without taking the apron from her eyes, held out her hand,
in which was one of the roses which Midas had so recently transmuted.
"Beautiful!" exclaimed her father. "And what is there in this
magnificent golden rose to make you cry?"
"Ah, dear father!" answered the child, as well as her sobs would let
her; "it is not beautiful, but the ugliest flower that ever grew! As
soon as I was dressed I ran into the garden to gather some roses for
you; because I know you like them, and like them the better when
gathered by your little daughter. But, oh dear, dear me! What do you
think has happened? Such a misfortune! All the beautiful roses, that
smelled so sweetly and had so many lovely blushes, are blighted and
spoilt! They are grown quite yellow, as you see this one, and have no
longer any fragrance! What can have been the matter with them?"
"Poh, my dear little girl,--pray don't cry about it!" said Midas, who
was ashamed to confess that he himself had wrought the change which so
greatly afflicted her. "Sit down and eat your bread and milk! You will
find it easy enough to exchange a golden rose like that (which will
last hundreds of years) for an ordinary one which would wither in a
day."
"I don't care for such roses as this!" cried Marygold, tossing it
contemptuously away. "It has no smell, and the hard petals prick my
nose!"
The child now sat down to table, but was so occupied with her grief
for the blighted roses that she did not even notice the wonderful
transmutation of her China bowl. Perhaps this was all the better; for
Marygold was accustomed to take pleasure in looking at the queer
figures, and strange trees and houses, that were painted on the
circumference of the bowl; and these ornaments were now entirely lost
in the yellow hue of the metal.
Midas, meanwhile, had poured out a cup of coffee, and, as a matter of
course, the coffee-pot, whatever metal it may have been when he took
it up, was gold when he set it down. He thought to himself, that it
was rather an extravagant style of splendor, in a king of his simple
habits, to breakfast off a service of gold, and began to be puzzled
with the difficulty of keeping his treasures safe. The cupboard and
the kitchen would no longer be a secure place of deposit for articles
so valuable as golden bowls and coffee-pots.
Amid these thoughts, he lifted a spoonful of coffee to his lips, and,
sipping it, was astonished to perceive that, the instant his lips
touched the liquid, it became molten gold, and, the next moment,
hardened into a lump!
"Ha!" exclaimed Midas, rather aghast.
"What is the matter, father?" asked little Marygold, gazing at him,
with the tears still standing in her eyes.
"Nothing, child, nothing!" said Midas. "Eat your milk, before it gets
quite cold."
He took one of the nice little trouts on his plate, and, by way of
experiment, touched its tail with his finger. To his horror, it was
immediately transmuted from an admirably fried brook-trout into a
gold-fish, though not one of those gold-fishes which people often keep
in glass globes, as ornaments for the parlor. No; but it was really a
metallic fish, and looked as if it had been very cunningly made by the
nicest goldsmith in the world. Its little bones were now golden wires;
its fins and tail were thin plates of gold; and there were the marks
of the fork in it, and all the delicate, frothy appearance of a nicely
fried fish, exactly imitated in metal. A very pretty piece of work, as
you may suppose; only King Midas, just at that moment, would much
rather have had a real trout in his dish than this elaborate and
valuable imitation of one.
"I don't quite see," thought he to himself, "how I am to get any
breakfast."
He took one of the smoking-hot cakes, and had scarcely broken it,
when, to his cruel mortification, though, a moment before, it had been
of the whitest wheat, it assumed the yellow hue of Indian meal. To say
the truth, if it had really been a hot Indian cake, Midas would have
prized it a good deal more than he now did, when its solidity and
increased weight made him too bitterly sensible that it was gold.
Almost in despair, he helped himself to a boiled egg, which
immediately underwent a change similar to those of the trout and the
cake. The egg, indeed, might have been mistaken for one of those which
the famous goose, in the story-book, was in the habit of laying; but
King Midas was the only goose that had anything to do with the matter.
"Well, this is a quandary!" thought he, leaning back in his chair, and
looking quite enviously at little Marygold, who was now eating her
bread and milk with great satisfaction. "Such a costly breakfast
before me, and nothing that can be eaten!"
Hoping that, by dint of great dispatch, he might avoid what he now
felt to be a considerable inconvenience, King Midas next snatched a
hot potato, and attempted to cram it into his mouth, and swallow it in
a hurry. But the Golden Touch was too nimble for him. He found his
mouth full, not of mealy potato, but of solid metal, which so burnt
his tongue that he roared aloud, and, jumping up from the table, began
to dance and stamp about the room, both with pain and affright.
"Father, dear father!" cried little Marygold, who was a very
affectionate child, "pray what is the matter? Have you burnt your
mouth?"
"Ah, dear child," groaned Midas, dolefully, "I don't know what is to
become of your poor father!"
And, truly, my dear little folks, did you ever hear of such a pitiable
case in all your lives? Here was literally the richest breakfast that
could be set before a king, and its very richness made it absolutely
good for nothing. The poorest laborer, sitting down to his crust of
bread and cup of water, was far better off than King Midas, whose
delicate food was really worth its weight in gold. And what was to be
done? Already, at breakfast, Midas was excessively hungry. Would he be
less so by dinner time? And how ravenous would be his appetite for
supper, which must undoubtedly consist of the same sort of
indigestible dishes as those now before him! How many days, think you,
would he survive a continuance of this rich fare?
These reflections so troubled wise King Midas, that he began to doubt
whether, after all, riches are the one desirable thing in the world,
or even the most desirable. But this was only a passing thought. So
fascinated was Midas with the glitter of the yellow metal, that he
would still have refused to give up the Golden Touch for so paltry a
consideration as a breakfast. Just imagine what a price for one meal's
victuals! It would have been the same as paying millions and millions
of money (and as many millions more as would take forever to reckon
up) for some fried trout, an egg, a potato, a hot cake, and a cup of
coffee!
"It would be quite too dear," thought Midas.
Nevertheless, so great was his hunger, and the perplexity of his
situation, that he again groaned aloud, and very grievously too. Our
pretty Marygold could endure it no longer. She sat, a moment, gazing
at her father, and trying, with all the might of her little wits, to
find out what was the matter with him. Then, with a sweet and
sorrowful impulse to comfort him, she started from her chair, and,
running to Midas, threw her arms affectionately about his knees. He
bent down and kissed her. He felt that his little daughter's love was
worth a thousand times more than he had gained by the Golden Touch.
"My precious, precious Marygold!" cried he.
But Marygold made no answer.
Alas, what had he done? How fatal was the gift which the stranger
bestowed! The moment the lips of Midas touched Marygold's forehead, a
change had taken place. Her sweet, rosy face, so full of affection as
it had been, assumed a glittering yellow color, with yellow tear-drops
congealing on her cheeks. Her beautiful brown ringlets took the same
tint. Her soft and tender little form grew hard and inflexible within
her father's encircling arms. Oh, terrible misfortune! The victim of
his insatiable desire for wealth, little Marygold was a human child no
longer, but a golden statue!
[Illustration: MIDAS' DAVGHTER TVRNED TO GOLD]
Yes, there she was, with the questioning look of love, grief, and
pity, hardened into her face. It was the prettiest and most woeful
sight that ever mortal saw. All the features and tokens of Marygold
were there; even the beloved little dimple remained in her golden
chin. But the more perfect was the resemblance, the greater was the
father's agony at beholding this golden image, which was all that was
left him of a daughter. It had been a favorite phrase of Midas,
whenever he felt particularly fond of the child, to say that she was
worth her weight in gold. And now the phrase had become literally
true. And now, at last, when it was too late, he felt how infinitely a
warm and tender heart, that loved him, exceeded in value all the
wealth that could be piled up betwixt the earth and sky!
It would be too sad a story, if I were to tell you how Midas, in the
fullness of all his gratified desires, began to wring his hands and
bemoan himself; and how he could neither bear to look at Marygold, nor
yet to look away from her. Except when his eyes were fixed on the
image, he could not possibly believe that she was changed to gold.
But, stealing another glance, there was the precious little figure,
with a yellow tear-drop on its yellow cheek, and a look so piteous and
tender, that it seemed as if that very expression must needs soften
the gold, and make it flesh again. This, however, could not be. So
Midas had only to wring his hands, and to wish that he were the
poorest man in the wide world, if the loss of all his wealth might
bring back the faintest rose-color to his dear child's face.
While he was in this tumult of despair, he suddenly beheld a stranger
standing near the door. Midas bent down his head, without speaking;
for he recognized the same figure which had appeared to him, the day
before, in the treasure-room, and had bestowed on him this disastrous
faculty of the Golden Touch. The stranger's countenance still wore a
smile, which seemed to shed a yellow lustre all about the room, and
gleamed on little Marygold's image, and on the other objects that had
been transmuted by the touch of Midas.
"Well, friend Midas," said the stranger, "pray how do you succeed with
the Golden Touch?"
Midas shook his head.
"I am very miserable," said he.
"Very miserable, indeed!" exclaimed the stranger. "And how happens
that? Have I not faithfully kept my promise with you? Have you not
everything that your heart desired?"
"Gold is not everything," answered Midas. "And I have lost all that my
heart really cared for."
"Ah! So you have made a discovery, since yesterday?" observed the
stranger. "Let us see, then. Which of these two things do you think is
really worth the most,--the gift of the Golden Touch, or one cup of
clear cold water?"
"O blessed water!" exclaimed Midas. "It will never moisten my parched
throat again!"
"The Golden Touch," continued the stranger, "or a crust of bread?"
"A piece of bread," answered Midas, "is worth all the gold on earth!"
"The Golden Touch," asked the stranger, "or your own little Marygold,
warm, soft, and loving as she was an hour ago?"
"Oh, my child, my dear child!" cried poor Midas, wringing his hands.
"I would not have given that one small dimple in her chin for the
power of changing this whole big earth into a solid lump of gold!"
"You are wiser than you were, King Midas!" said the stranger, looking
seriously at him. "Your own heart, I perceive, has not been entirely
changed from flesh to gold. Were it so, your case would indeed be
desperate. But you appear to be still capable of understanding that
the commonest things, such as lie within everybody's grasp, are more
valuable than the riches which so many mortals sigh and struggle
after. Tell me, now, do you sincerely desire to rid yourself of this
Golden Touch?"
"It is hateful to me!" replied Midas.
A fly settled on his nose, but immediately fell to the floor; for it,
too, had become gold. Midas shuddered.
"Go, then," said the stranger, "and plunge into the river that glides
past the bottom of your garden. Take likewise a vase of the same
water, and sprinkle it over any object that you may desire to change
back again from gold into its former substance. If you do this in
earnestness and sincerity, it may possibly repair the mischief which
your avarice has occasioned."
King Midas bowed low; and when he lifted his head, the lustrous
stranger had vanished.
You will easily believe that Midas lost no time in snatching up a
great earthen pitcher (but, alas me! it was no longer earthen after he
touched it), and hastening to the river-side. As he scampered along,
and forced his way through the shrubbery, it was positively marvelous
to see how the foliage turned yellow behind him, as if the autumn had
been there, and nowhere else. On reaching the river's brink, he
plunged headlong in, without waiting so much as to pull off his shoes.
"Poof! poof! poof!" snorted King Midas, as his head emerged out of the
water. "Well; this is really a refreshing bath, and I think it must
have quite washed away the Golden Touch. And now for filling my
pitcher!"
[Illustration: MIDAS WITH THE PITCHER]
As he dipped the pitcher into the water, it gladdened his very heart
to see it change from gold into the same good, honest earthen vessel
which it had been before he touched it. He was conscious, also, of a
change within himself. A cold, hard, and heavy weight seemed to have
gone out of his bosom. No doubt, his heart had been gradually losing
its human substance, and transmuting itself into insensible metal, but
had now softened back again into flesh. Perceiving a violet, that grew
on the bank of the river, Midas touched it with his finger, and was
overjoyed to find that the delicate flower retained its purple hue,
instead of undergoing a yellow blight. The curse of the Golden Touch
had, therefore, really been removed from him.
King Midas hastened back to the palace; and, I suppose, the servants
knew not what to make of it when they saw their royal master so
carefully bringing home an earthen pitcher of water. But that water,
which was to undo all the mischief that his folly had wrought, was
more precious to Midas than an ocean of molten gold could have been.
The first thing he did, as you need hardly be told, was to sprinkle it
by handfuls over the golden figure of little Marygold.
No sooner did it fall on her than you would have laughed to see how
the rosy color came back to the dear child's cheek! and how she began
to sneeze and sputter!--and how astonished she was to find herself
dripping wet, and her father still throwing more water over her!
"Pray do not, dear father!" cried she. "See how you have wet my nice
frock, which I put on only this morning!"
For Marygold did not know that she had been a little golden statue;
nor could she remember anything that had happened since the moment
when she ran with outstretched arms to comfort poor King Midas.
Her father did not think it necessary to tell his beloved child how
very foolish he had been, but contented himself with showing how much
wiser he had now grown. For this purpose, he led little Marygold into
the garden, where he sprinkled all the remainder of the water over the
rose-bushes, and with such good effect that above five thousand roses
recovered their beautiful bloom. There were two circumstances,
however, which, as long as he lived, used to put King Midas in mind of
the Golden Touch. One was, that the sands of the river sparkled like
gold; the other, that little Marygold's hair had now a golden tinge,
which he had never observed in it before she had been transmuted by
the effect of his kiss. This change of hue was really an improvement,
and made Marygold's hair richer than in her babyhood.
When King Midas had grown quite an old man, and used to trot
Marygold's children on his knee, he was fond of telling them this
marvelous story, pretty much as I have now told it to you. And then
would he stroke their glossy ringlets, and tell them that their hair,
likewise, had a rich shade of gold, which they had inherited from
their mother.
"And to tell you the truth, my precious little folks," quoth King
Midas, diligently trotting the children all the while, "ever since
that morning, I have hated the very sight of all other gold, save
this!"
[Illustration]