On the edge of the Dark Wood dwelt for a time a Wizard, whose life had
been spent in the acquirement of many wonderful arts. As a young man he
had wandered over Europe from university to university, until one day he
became aware of the true secret of education and burnt his books.
Then he dwelt for many years in the mountains, gazing into the dark
mirror of his heart, plumbing the blue ocean of the sky until the hour
for which he longed arrived, bringing Wisdom, who appeared to him as a
young, fair being in the twilight.
Leaving his hut he came forth to meet her. "I had thought to greet you at
noonday," said he.
"That is because you live in an age which thinks that to know is to be
wise; but only those see who shut their eyes. Not in the glare of noon,
but at twilight will you find me."
"You are a beautiful maid, Wisdom," said he who was on his way to
be a wizard. "But why do you wear coarse linen who should be
clothed in satins?"
"To travel light," she replied.
"And why do you smile who should look sad?"
"To be wise is to be happy."
"And what will you have me do?"
"Remove from here to the village that is near the Dark Wood. Go through
all the countryside proclaiming that King Theophile will shortly make war
upon the inhabitants, but bid them feel no terror; only they are to build
an invisible wall."
"By the books that I burned, that is a strange command!" cried the
Wizard. "Of what materials is this wonderful wall to be built?"
"Of their sacrifices, their renouncements, their good deeds,"
replied Wisdom.
"But they will call me mad," cried the Wizard.
Wisdom smiled. "Did you expect to be really wise, and yet thought
sane?" she made answer. "Have the courage of all great follies and you
will yet save The Kingdom of the Dark Wood, which is the fairland of
the Princess Myrtle."
Upon which the Wizard took heart, for he knew that to be fearless is to
be in the class of masters, and to be fearful is to be in the class of
slaves; and the whole world is divided into these two classes, nor is
there other aristocracy, or dependency.
"Sweet Wisdom, I will play the fool for your sake," he answered.
Then she smiled and blessed him and vanished into the shadows of the
forest. The Wizard was not of those who say, "To-morrow I will do thus
and thus"; but being truly wise he put all his power into the present
moment. So he took his flask of water and his loaf of bread, for like
Wisdom, he would travel light, and he set forth for The Kingdom of the
Dark Wood.
There he rented a little cottage in the village near the wood, and set up
a shoemaker's bench, for he knew how to make shoes--and good ones, too.
Being a Wizard he knew that if he showed people he could do one thing
well, they would be the more ready to listen to his words. A fine,
comfortable shoe is a wonderful argument, so the Wizard set to work. The
dewy dawns found him at his bench, and when the air at evening was full
of heliotrope mists and homeward flying birds his little candle burned
yellow to light his labors.
Soon all the inhabitants had comfortable foot-wear, which put them all in
fine humor. Then the Wizard began to proclaim a great war and the coming
of King Theophile. He stood on the green, near the town-pump, and at
first only the geese listened to him, stretching out their long necks and
opening their red bills. But this did not discourage the Wizard, for he
knew that after geese come men.
[Illustration: THE WIZARD'S FIRST AUDIENCE]
"What's this! What's this!" cried the tailor who was the first to get the
message, "A war? I must run right home and polish up my old gun."
"Nay," said the Wizard. "But go home and kiss your wife--for you haven't
kissed her in five years."
"If she would comb her hair and look attractive I might kiss her,"
growled the tailor.
"If you'd buy her a ribbon occasionally," advised the Wizard, "she might
have the desire to make herself look pretty."
"What has all this to do with war?" inquired the tailor.
"Your kiss will make a stone in the invisible wall which is to keep out
the enemy," the Wizard answered. "And if you stop your everlasting work
and take your poor wife on an outing, that will be another stone. Every
sacrifice you make, every good deed you do, will be a guarding stone in
the wall."