* * * * *

Well, the years came and the years went, and the world grew older

and older, and kept changing (as all things do but two), so that

by-and-by the wilderness where King Solomon had hid the bottle

became a great town, with people coming and going, and all as busy

as bees about their own business and other folks’ affairs.

Among these towns-people was a little Tailor, who made clothes for

many a worse man to wear, and who lived all alone in a little house

with no one to darn his stockings for him, and no one to meddle

with his coming and going, for he was a bachelor.

The little Tailor was a thrifty soul, and by hook and crook had

laid by enough money to fill a small pot, and then he had to

bethink himself of some safe place to hide it. So one night he took

a spade and a lamp and went out in the garden to bury his money.

He drove his spade into the ground--and click! He struck something

hard that rang under his foot with a sound as of iron. “Hello!”

said he, “what have we here?” and if he had known as much as you

and I do, he would have filled in the earth, and tramped it down,

and have left that plate of broth for somebody else to burn his

mouth with.

As it was, he scraped away the soil, and then he found a box of

adamant, with a ring in the lid to lift it by. The Tailor clutched

the ring and bent his back, and up came the box with the damp

earth sticking to it. He cleaned the mould away, and there he saw,

written in red letters, these words:

“_Open not._”

[Illustration]

You may be sure that after he had read these words he was not long

in breaking open the lid of the box with his spade.

Inside the first box he found a second, and upon it the same words:

“_Open not._”

Within the second box was another, and within that still another,

until there were seven in all, and on each was written the same

words:

“_Open not._”

Inside the seventh box was a roll of linen, and inside that a

bottle filled with nothing but blue smoke; and I wish that bottle

had burned the Tailor’s fingers when he touched it.

“And is this all?” said the little Tailor, turning the bottle

upside down and shaking it, and peeping at it by the light of the

lamp. “Well, since I have gone so far I might as well open it, as I

have already opened the seven boxes.” Thereupon he broke the seal

that stoppered it.

Pop! Out flew the cork, and--Puff! Out came the smoke; not all at

once, but in a long thread that rose up as high as the stars, and

then spread until it hid their light.

The Tailor stared and goggled and gaped to see so much smoke come

out of such a little bottle, and, as he goggled and stared, the

smoke began to gather together again, thicker and thicker, and

darker and darker, until it was as black as ink. Then out from it

there stepped one with eyes that shone like sparks of fire, and who

had a countenance so terrible that the Tailor’s skin quivered and

shrivelled, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth at the

sight of it.

“Who art 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 mayest 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 journeyman 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.

[Illustration]

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.

[Illustration]

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, and 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.”

[Illustration]

“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 bodyguard 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.

[Illustration]

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!” said 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 had 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.

[Illustration]

* * * * *

_“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--”_

[Illustration]

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 practise 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.

[Illustration]

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.”