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.
[Illustration]
“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.
[Illustration]
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.
Then Beppo found himself in a great vaulted room. There at one end
of the room were three souls. A man sat on the throne, and he was
the king, for he had a crown on his head and a long robe over his
shoulders. Beside him stood a priest, and in front of him stood a
beautiful young woman as white as wax and as still as death.
Beppo wondered whether he were awake.
“Come hither,” said the king, in a harsh voice, and Beppo came
forward and kneeled before him. “Take this young woman by the
hand,” said the king.
Beppo did as he was bidden.
Her hand was as cold as ice.
Then, before Beppo knew what was happening, he found that he was
being married.
It was the princess.
“Now,” said the king to her when the priest had ended, and he
frowned until his brows were as black as thunder--“now you are
married; tell me, is your husband greater than I?”
But the princess said never a word, only the tears ran one after
another down her white face. The king sat staring at her and
frowning.
[Illustration]
Suddenly some one tapped Beppo upon the shoulder. It was the tall
man in black.
Beppo knew that he was to follow him again. This time the princess
was to go along. The tall man in black led the way, and Beppo and
the princess followed along the secret passage and up and down the
stairs until at last they came out into the garden again.
And now the evening was beginning to fall.
The man led the way down the garden to the river, and still Beppo
and the princess followed him.
By-and-by they came to the river-side and to a flight of steps, and
there was a little frail boat without sail or oars.
The tall man in black beckoned towards the boat, and Beppo knew
that he and the princess were to enter it.
As soon as Beppo had helped the princess into the boat the tall man
thrust it out into the stream with his foot, and the boat drifted
away from the shore and out into the river, and then around and
around. Then it floated off down the stream.
It floated on and on, and the sun set and the moon rose.
Beppo looked at the princess, and he thought he had never seen
any one so beautiful in all his life. It was all like a dream, and
he hoped he might never awaken. But the princess sat there weeping
and weeping, and said nothing.
[Illustration]
The night fell darker and darker, but still Beppo sat looking at
the princess. Her face was as white as silver in the moonlight.
The smell of the flower-gardens came across the river. The boat
floated on and on until by-and-by it drifted to the shore again and
among the river reeds, and there it stopped, and Beppo carried the
princess ashore.
“Listen,” said the princess. “Do you know who I am?”
“No,” said Beppo, “I do not.”
“I am the princess,” said she, “the king’s niece; and by rights I
should be queen of this land.”
Beppo could not believe his ears.
“It is true that I am married to you,” said she, “but never shall
you be my husband until you are king.”
“King!” said Beppo; “how can I be king?”
“You shall be king,” said the princess.
“But the king is everything,” said Beppo, “and I am nothing at
all.”
“Great things come from small beginnings,” said the princess; “a
big tree from a little seed.”
Some little distance away from the river was the twinkle of a
light, and thither Beppo led the princess. When the two came to it,
they found it was a little hut, for there were fish-nets hanging
outside in the moonlight.
Beppo knocked.
An old woman opened the door. She stared and stared, as well she
might, to see the fine lady in silks and satins with a gold ring
upon her finger, and nobody with her but one who looked like a poor
beggar-man.
“Who are you and what do you want?” said the old woman.
“Who we are,” said the princess, “does not matter, except that we
are honest folk in trouble. What we want is shelter for the night
and food to eat, and that we will pay for.”
“Shelter I can give you,” said the old woman, “but little else but
a crust of bread and a cup of water. One time there was enough and
plenty in the house; but now, since my husband has gone and I am
left all alone, it is little I have to eat and drink. But such as I
have to give you are welcome to.”
Then Beppo and the princess went into the house.
* * * * *
The next morning the princess called Beppo to her. “Here,” said
she, “is a ring and a letter. Go you into the town and inquire for
Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will know what to do.”
Beppo took the ring and the letter and started off to town, and it
was not hard for him to find the man he sought, for every one knew
of Sebastian the Goldsmith. He was an old man, with a great white
beard and a forehead like the dome of a temple. He looked at Beppo
from head to foot with eyes as bright as those of a snake; then he
took the ring and the letter. As soon as he saw the ring he raised
it to his lips and kissed it; then he kissed the letter also; then
he opened it and read it.
He turned to Beppo and bowed very low. “My lord,” said he, “I will
do as I am commanded. Will you be pleased to follow me?”
He led the way into an inner room. There were soft rugs upon the
floor, and around the walls were tapestries. There were couches and
silken cushions. Beppo wondered what it all meant.
Sebastian the Goldsmith clapped his hands together. A door opened,
and there came three black slaves into the room. The Goldsmith
spoke to them in a strange language, and the chief of the three
black slaves bowed in reply. Then he and the others led Beppo into
another room where there was a marble bath of tepid water. They
bathed him and rubbed him with soft linen towels; then they shaved
the beard from his cheeks and chin and trimmed his hair; then they
clothed him in fine linen and a plain suit of gray and Beppo looked
like a new man.
[Illustration]
Then when all this was done the chief of the blacks conducted Beppo
back to Sebastian the Goldsmith. There was a fine feast spread,
with fruit and wine. Beppo sat down to it, and Sebastian the
Goldsmith stood and served him with a napkin over his arm.
Then Beppo was to return to the princess again.
A milk-white horse was waiting for him at the Goldsmith’s door, a
servant holding the bridle, and Beppo mounted and rode away.
When he returned to the fisherman’s hut the princess was waiting
for him. She had prepared a tray spread with a napkin, a cup of
milk, and some sweet cakes.
“Listen,” said she; “to-day the king hunts in the forest over
yonder. Go you thither with this. The king will be hot and thirsty,
and weary with the chase. Offer him this refreshment. He will eat
and drink, and in gratitude he will offer you something in return.
Take nothing of him, but ask him this: that he allow you once every
three days to come to the palace, and that he whisper these words
in your ear so that no one else may hear them--‘A word, a word,
only a few words; spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are
more precious than gold and jewels.’”
“Why should I do that?” said Beppo.
“You will see,” said the princess.
Beppo did not understand it at all, but the princess is a princess
and must be obeyed, and so he rode away on his horse at her bidding.
It was as the princess had said: the king was hunting in the
forest, and when Beppo came there he could hear the shouts of the
men and the winding of horns and the baying of dogs. He waited
there for maybe an hour or more, and sometimes the sounds were
nearer and sometimes the sounds were farther away. Presently they
came nearer and nearer, and then all of a sudden the king came
riding out of the forest, the hounds hunting hither and thither,
and the lords and nobles and courtiers following him.
The king’s face was flushed and heated with the chase, and his
forehead was bedewed with sweat. Beppo came forward and offered the
tray. The king wiped his face with the napkin, and then drank the
milk and ate three of the cakes.
“Who was it ordered you to bring this to me?” said he to Beppo.
“No one,” said Beppo; “I brought it myself.”
The king looked at Beppo and was grateful to him.
“Thou hast given me pleasure and comfort,” said he; “ask what thou
wilt in return and if it is in reason thou shalt have it.”
“I will have only this,” said Beppo: “that your majesty will allow
me once every three days to come to the palace, and that then you
will take me aside and will whisper these words into my ear so
that no one else may hear them--‘A word, a word, only a few words;
spoken ill, they are ill; spoken well, they are more precious than
gold and jewels.’”
The king burst out laughing. “Why,” said he, “what is this foolish
thing you ask of me? If you had asked for a hundred pieces of gold
you should have had them. Think better, friend, and ask something
of more worth than this foolish thing.”
“Please your majesty,” said Beppo, “I ask nothing else.”
The king laughed again. “Then you shall have what you ask,” said
he, and he rode away.
* * * * *
The next morning the princess said to Beppo: “This day you shall
go and claim the king’s promise of him. Take this ring and this
letter again to Sebastian the Goldsmith. He will fit you with
clothes in which to appear before the king. Then go to the king’s
palace that he may whisper those words he has to say into your ear.”
[Illustration]
Once more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the Goldsmith
kissed the princess’s ring and letter, and then read what she had
written.
Again the black slaves took Beppo to the bath, only this time they
clad him in a fine suit of velvet and hung a gold chain about his
neck. After that Sebastian the Goldsmith again served a feast to
Beppo, and waited upon him while he ate and drank.
In front of the house a noble horse, as black as jet, was waiting
to carry Beppo to the palace, and two servants dressed in velvet
livery were waiting to attend him.
So Beppo rode away, and many people stopped to look at him.
He came to the palace, and the king was giving audience. Beppo went
into the great audience-chamber. It was full of people--lords and
nobles and rich merchants and lawyers.
Beppo did not know how to come to the king, so he stood there and
waited and waited. The people looked at him and whispered to one
another: “Who is that young man?” “Whence comes he?” Then one
said: “Is not he the young man who served the king with cakes and
milk in the forest yesterday?”
[Illustration]
Beppo stood there gazing at the king. By-and-by the king suddenly
looked up and caught sight of him. He gazed at Beppo for a moment
or two and then he knew him. Then he smiled and beckoned to him.
“Aye, my foolish benefactor,” said he, aloud, “is it thou, and art
thou come so soon to redeem thy promise? Very well; come hither, I
have something to say to thee.”
Beppo came forward, and everybody stared. He came close to the
king, and the king laid his hand upon his shoulder. Then he leaned
over to Beppo and whispered in his ear: “A word, a word, only a few
words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken well,
they are more precious than gold and jewels.” Then he laughed. “Is
that what you would have me say?” said he.
“Yes, majesty,” said Beppo, and he bowed low and withdrew.
But, lo and behold, what a change!
Suddenly he was transformed in the eyes of the whole world. The
crowd drew back to allow him to pass, and everybody bowed low as he
went along.
“Did you not see the king whisper to him,” said one. “What could
it be that the king said?” said another. “This must be a new
favorite,” said a third.
He had come into the palace Beppo the Foolish; he went forth
Beppo the Great Man, and all because of a few words the king had
whispered in his ear.
* * * * *
Three days passed, and then Beppo went again to the Goldsmith’s
with the ring and a letter from the princess. This time Sebastian
the Goldsmith fitted him with a suit of splendid plum-colored
silk and gave him a dappled horse, and again Beppo and his two
attendants rode away to the palace. And this time every one knew
him, and as he went up the steps into the palace all present bowed
to him. The king saw him as soon as he appeared, and when he caught
sight of him he burst out laughing.
“Aye,” said he, “I was looking for thee to-day, and wondering how
soon thou wouldst come. Come hither till I whisper something in
thine ear.”
Then all the lords and nobles and courtiers and ministers drew
back, and Beppo went up to the king.
The king laughed and laughed. He laid his arm over Beppo’s
shoulder, and again he whispered in his ear: “A word, a word, only
a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are ill; if they be spoken
well, they are more precious than gold and jewels.”
Then he released Beppo, and Beppo withdrew.
* * * * *
So it continued for three months. Every three days Beppo went to
the palace, and the king whispered the words in his ear. Beppo said
nothing to any one, and always went away as soon as the king had
whispered to him.
Then at last the princess said to him: “Now the time is ripe for
doing. Listen! To-day when you go to the palace fix your eyes,
when the king speaks to you, upon the prime-minister, and shake
your head. The prime-minister will ask you what the king said. Say
nothing to him but this: ‘Alas, my poor friend!’”
It was all just as the princess had said.
The king was walking in the garden, with his courtiers and
ministers about him. Beppo came to him, and the king, as he always
did, laid his hand upon Beppo’s shoulder and whispered in his ear:
“A word, a word, only a few words; if they be spoken ill, they are
ill; if they be spoken well, they are more precious than gold and
jewels.”
While the king was saying these words to Beppo, Beppo was looking
fixedly at the prime-minister. While he did so he shook his head
three times. Then he bowed low and walked away.
[Illustration]
He had not gone twenty paces before some one tapped him upon the
arm; it was the prime-minister. Beppo gazed fixedly at him. “Alas,
my poor friend!” said he.
The prime-minister turned pale. “It was, then, as I thought,” said
he. “The king spoke about me. Will you not tell me what he said?”
Beppo shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” said he, and then he
walked on.
The prime-minister still followed him.
“My lord,” said he, “I have been aware that his majesty has not
been the same to me for more than a week past. If it was about the
princess, pray tell his majesty that I meant nothing ill when I
spoke of her to him.”
Beppo shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” he said.
The prime-minister’s lips trembled. “My lord,” said he, “I have
always had the kindest regard for you, and if there is anything in
my power that I can do for you I hope you will command me. I know
how much you are in his majesty’s confidence. Will you not speak a
few words to set the matter straight?”
Beppo again shook his head. “Alas, my poor friend!” said he, and
then he got upon his horse and rode away.
Three days passed.
“This morning,” said the princess, “when you go to the king, look
at the prime-minister when the king speaks to you, and smile. The
prime-minister will again speak to you, and this time say, ‘It is
well, and I wish you joy.’ Take what he gives you, for it will be
of use.”
Again all happened just as the princess said.
Beppo came to the palace, and again the king whispered in his ear.
As he did so Beppo looked at the prime-minister and smiled, and
then he withdrew.
The prime-minister followed him. He trembled. “It is well,” said
Beppo, “and I wish you joy.”
The prime-minister grasped his hand and wrung it. “My lord,” said
he, “how can I express my gratitude! The palace of my son that
stands by the river--I would that you would use it for your own, if
I may be so bold as to offer it to you.”
“I will,” said Beppo, “use it as my own.”
The prime-minister wrung his hand again, and then Beppo rode away.
The next time that Beppo spoke to the king, at the princess’s
bidding, he looked at the lord-treasurer, and said, as he had said
to the prime-minister, “Alas, my poor friend!”
When he rode away he left the lord-treasurer as white as ashes to
the very lips.
Three days passed, and then, while the king talked to Beppo, Beppo
looked at the lord-treasurer and smiled.
The lord-treasurer followed him to the door of the palace.
“It is well, and I wish you joy,” said Beppo.
The treasurer offered him a fortune.
The next time it was the same with the captain of the guards. First
Beppo pitied him, and then he wished him joy.
“My lord,” said the captain of the guards, “my services are yours
at any time.”
Then the same thing happened to the governor of the city, then to
this lord, and then to that lord.
Beppo grew rich and powerful beyond measure.
Then one day the princess said: “Now we will go into the town, and
to the palace of the prime-minister’s son, which the prime-minister
gave you, for the time is ripe for the end.”
* * * * *
In a few days all the court knew that Beppo was living like a
prince in the prime-minister’s palace. The king began to wonder
what it all meant, and how all such good-fortune had come to
Beppo. He had grown very tired of always speaking to Beppo the same
words.
[Illustration]
But Beppo was now great among the great; all the world paid court
to him, and bowed down to him, almost as they did before the king.
“Now,” said the princess, “the time has come to strike. Bid all the
councillors, and all the lords, and all the nobles to meet here
three days hence, for it is now or never that you shall win all and
become king.”
Beppo did as she bade. He asked all of the great people of the
kingdom to come to him, and they came. When they were all gathered
together at Beppo’s house, they found two thrones set as though for
a king and a queen, but there was no sign of Beppo, and everybody
wondered what it all meant.
Suddenly the door opened and Beppo came into the room, leading by
the hand a lady covered with a veil from head to foot.
Everybody stopped speaking and stood staring while Beppo led the
veiled lady up to one of the thrones. He seated himself upon the
other.
The lady stood up and dropped her veil, and then every one knew her.
It was the princess.
“Do you not know me?” said she; “I am the queen, and this is my
husband. He is your king.”
All stood silent for a moment, and then a great shout went up.
“Long live the queen! Long live the king!”
The princess turned to the captain of the guards. “You have offered
your services to my husband,” said she; “his commands and my
commands are that you march to the palace and cast out him who hath
no right there.”
“It shall be done,” said the captain of the guards.
* * * * *
All the troops were up in arms, and the town was full of tumult and
confusion. About midnight they brought the false king before King
Beppo and the queen. The false king stood there trembling like a
leaf. The queen stood gazing at him steadily. “Behold, this is the
husband that thou gavest me,” said she. “It is as I said; he is
greater than thou. For, lo, he is king! What art thou?”
* * * * *
The false king was banished out of the country, and the poor
fisherman’s wife, who had entertained the princess for all this
time, came to live at the palace, where all was joy and happiness.
* * * * *
“_Friend,” said St. George, “I like your story. Ne’th’less, ’tis
like a strolling pedler, in that it carries a great pack of ills
to begin with, to get rid of ’em all before it gets to the end
of its journey. However, ’tis as you say--it ends with everybody
merry and feasting, and so I like it. But now methinks our little
friend yonder is big with a story of his own;” and he pointed, as
he spoke, with the stem of his pipe to a little man whom I knew was
the brave Tailor who had killed seven flies at a blow, for he still
had around his waist the belt with the legend that he himself had
worked upon it._
_“Aye,” piped the Tailor in a keen, high voice, “’tis true I have a
story inside of me. ’Tis about another tailor who had a great, big,
black, ugly demon to wait upon him and to sew his clothes for him.”_
_“And the name of that story, my friend,” said the Soldier who had
cheated the Devil, “is what?”_
_“It hath no name,” piped the little Tailor, “but I will give it
one, and it shall be--”_
[Illustration]
Woman’s Wit.
_=When man’s strength fails, woman’s wit prevails.=_
In the days when the great and wise King Solomon lived and ruled,
evil spirits and demons were as plentiful in the world as wasps in
summer.
So King Solomon, who was so wise and knew so many potent spells
that he had power over evil such as no man has had before or since,
set himself to work to put those enemies of mankind out of the
way. Some he conjured into bottles, and sank into the depths of the
sea; some he buried in the earth; some he destroyed altogether, as
one burns hair in a candle-flame.
Now, one pleasant day when King Solomon was walking in his garden
with his hands behind his back, and his thoughts busy as bees with
this or that, he came face to face with a Demon, who was a prince
of his kind. “Ho, little man!” cried the evil spirit, in a loud
voice, “art not thou the wise King Solomon who conjures my brethren
into brass chests and glass bottles? Come, try a fall at wrestling
with me, and whoever conquers shall be master over the other for
all time. What do you say to such an offer as that?”
“I say aye!” said King Solomon, and, without another word, he
stripped off his royal robes and stood bare breasted, man to man
with the other.
The world never saw the like of that wrestling-match betwixt the
king and the Demon, for they struggled and strove together from
the seventh hour in the morning to the sunset in the evening, and
during that time the sky was clouded over as black as night, and
the lightning forked and shot, and the thunder roared and bellowed,
and the earth shook and quaked.
But at last the king gave the enemy an under twist, and flung him
down on the earth so hard that the apples fell from the trees; and
then, panting and straining, he held the evil one down, knee on
neck. Thereupon the sky presently cleared again, and all was as
pleasant as a spring day.
King Solomon bound the Demon with spells, and made him serve him
for seven years. First, he had him build a splendid palace, the
like of which was not to be seen within the bounds of the seven
rivers; then he made him set around the palace a garden, such as I
for one wish I may see some time or other. Then, when the Demon had
done all that the king wished, the king conjured him into a bottle,
corked it tightly, and set the royal seal on the stopper. Then he
took the bottle a thousand miles away into the wilderness, and,
when no man was looking, buried it in the ground, and this is the
way the story begins.