It is truly a great proverb--"Rather a crooked sight than a crooked
judgment"; but it is so difficult to adopt it that the judgment of few
men hits the nail on the head. On the contrary, in the sea of human
affairs, the greater part are fishers in smooth waters, who catch
crabs; and he who thinks to take the most exact measure of the object
at which he aims often shoots widest of the mark. The consequence of
this is that all are running pell-mell, all toiling in the dark, all
thinking crookedly, all acting child's-play, all judging at random, and
with a haphazard blow of a foolish resolution bringing upon themselves
a bitter repentance; as was the case with the King of Shady-Grove; and
you shall hear how it fared with him if you summon me within the circle
of modesty with the bell of courtesy, and give me a little attention.
It is said that there was once a king of Shady-Grove named Milluccio,
who was so devoted to the chase, that he neglected the needful affairs
of his state and household to follow the track of a hare or the flight
of a thrush. And he pursued this road so far that chance one day led
him to a thicket, which had formed a solid square of earth and trees to
prevent the horses of the Sun from breaking through. There, upon a most
beautiful marble stone, he found a raven, which had just been killed.
The King, seeing the bright red blood sprinkled upon the white, white
marble, heaved a deep sigh and exclaimed, "O heavens! and cannot I have
a wife as white and red as this stone, and with hair and eyebrows as
black as the feathers of this raven?" And he stood for a while so
buried in this thought that he became a counterpart to the stone, and
looked like a marble image making love to the other marble. And this
unhappy fancy fixing itself in his head, as he searched for it
everywhere with the lanthorn of desire, it grew in four seconds from a
picktooth to a pole, from a crab-apple to an Indian pumpkin, from
barber's embers to a glass furnace, and from a dwarf to a giant;
insomuch that he thought of nothing else than the image of that object
encrusted in his heart as stone to stone. Wherever he turned his eyes
that form was always presented to him which he carried in his breast;
and forgetting all besides, he had nothing but that marble in his head;
in short, he became in a manner so worn away upon the stone that he was
at last as thin as the edge of a penknife; and this marble was a
millstone which crushed his life, a slab of porphyry upon which the
colours of his days were ground and mixed, a tinder-box which set fire
to the brimstone match of his soul, a loadstone which attracted him,
and lastly, a rolling-stone which could never rest.
At length his brother Jennariello, seeing him so pale and half-dead,
said to him, "My brother, what has happened to you, that you carry
grief lodged in your eyes, and despair sitting under the pale banner of
your face? What has befallen you? Speak--open your heart to your
brother: the smell of charcoal shut up in a chamber poisons
people--powder pent up in a mountain blows it into the air; open your
lips, therefore, and tell me what is the matter with you; at all events
be assured that I would lay down a thousand lives if I could to help
you."
Then Milluccio, mingling words and sighs, thanked him for his love,
saying that he had no doubt of his affection, but that there was no
remedy for his ill, since it sprang from a stone, where he had sown
desires without hope of fruit--a stone from which he did not expect a
mushroom of content--a stone of Sisyphus, which he bore to the mountain
of designs, and when it reached the top rolled over and over to the
bottom. At length, however, after a thousand entreaties, Milluccio told
his brother all about his love; whereupon Jennariello comforted him as
much as he could, and bade him be of good cheer, and not give way to an
unhappy passion; for that he was resolved, in order to satisfy him, to
go all the world over until he found a woman the counterpart of the
stone.
Then instantly fitting out a large ship, filled with merchandise, and
dressing himself like a merchant, he sailed for Venice, the wonder of
Italy, the receptacle of virtuous men, the great book of the marvels of
art and nature; and having procured there a safe-conduct to pass to the
Levant, he set sail for Cairo. When he arrived there and entered the
city, he saw a man who was carrying a most beautiful falcon, and
Jennariello at once purchased it to take to his brother, who was a
sportsman. Soon afterwards he met another man with a splendid horse,
which he also bought; whereupon he went to an inn to refresh himself
after the fatigues he had suffered at sea.
The following morning, when the army of the Star, at the command of the
general of the Light, strikes the tents in the camp of the sky and
abandons the post, Jennariello set out to wander through the city,
having his eyes about him like a lynx, looking at this woman and that,
to see whether by chance he could find the likeness to a stone upon a
face of flesh. And as he was wandering about at random, turning
continually to this side and that, like a thief in fear of the
constables, he met a beggar carrying an hospital of plasters and a
mountain of rags upon his back, who said to him, "My gallant sir, what
makes you so frightened?"
"Have I, forsooth, to tell you my affairs?" answered Jennariello.
"Faith I should do well to tell my reason to the constable."
"Softly, my fair youth!" replied the beggar, "for the flesh of man is
not sold by weight. If Darius had not told his troubles to a groom he
would not have become king of Persia. It will be no great matter,
therefore, for you to tell your affairs to a poor beggar, for there is
not a twig so slender but it may serve for a toothpick."
When Jennariello heard the poor man talking sensibly and with reason,
he told him the cause that had brought him to that country; whereupon
the beggar replied, "See now, my son, how necessary it is to make
account of every one; for though I am only a heap of rubbish, yet I
shall be able to enrich the garden of your hopes. Now listen--under the
pretext of begging alms, I will knock at the door of the young and
beautiful daughter of a magician; then open your eyes wide, look at
her, contemplate her, regard her, measure her from head to foot, for
you will find the image of her whom your brother desires." So saying,
he knocked at the door of a house close by, and Liviella opening it
threw him a piece of bread.
As soon as Jennariello saw her, she seemed to him built after the model
which Milluccio had given him; then he gave a good alms to the beggar
and sent him away, and going to the inn he dressed himself like a
pedlar, carrying in two caskets all the wealth of the world. And thus
he walked up and down before Liviella's house crying his wares, until
at length she called him, and took a view of the beautiful net-caps,
hoods, ribands, gauze, edgings, lace, handkerchiefs, collars, needles,
cups of rouge, and head-gear fit for a queen, which he carried. And
when she had examined all the things again and again, she told him to
show her something else; and Jennariello answered, "My lady, in these
caskets I have only cheap and paltry wares; but if you will deign to
come to my ship, I will show you things of the other world, for I have
there a host of beautiful goods worthy of any great lord."
Liviella, who was full of curiosity, not to belie the nature of her
sex, replied, "If my father indeed were not out he would have given me
some money."
"Nay, you can come all the better if he is out," replied Jennariello,
"for perhaps he might not allow you the pleasure; and I'll promise to
show you such splendid things as will make you rave--such necklaces and
earrings, such bracelets and sashes, such workmanship in paper--in
short I will perfectly astound you."
When Liviella heard all this display of finery she called a gossip of
hers to accompany her, and went to the ship. But no sooner had she
embarked than Jennariello, whilst keeping her enchanted with the sight
of all the beautiful things he had brought, craftily ordered the anchor
to be weighed and the sails to be set, so that before Liviella raised
her eyes from the wares and saw that she had left the land, they had
already gone many miles. When at length she perceived the trick, she
began to act Olympia the reverse way; for whereas Olympia bewailed
being left upon a rock, Liviella lamented leaving the rocks. But when
Jennariello told her who he was, whither he was carrying her, and the
good fortune that awaited her, and pictured to her, moreover,
Milluccio's beauty, his valour, his virtues, and lastly the love with
which he would receive her, he succeeded in pacifying her, and she even
prayed the wind to bear her quickly to see the colouring of the design
which Jennariello had drawn.
As they were sailing merrily along they heard the waves grumbling
beneath the ship; and although they spoke in an undertone, the captain
of the ship, who understood in an instant what it meant, cried out,
"All hands aboard! for here comes a storm, and Heaven save us!" No
sooner had he spoken these words than there came the testimony of a
whistling of the wind; and behold the sky was overcast with clouds, and
the sea was covered with white-crested waves. And whilst the waves on
either side of the ship, curious to know what the others were about,
leaped uninvited to the nuptials upon the deck, one man baled them with
a bowl into a tub, another drove them off with a pump; and whilst every
sailor was hard at work--as it concerned his own safety--one minding
the rudder, another hauling the foresail, another the mainsheet,
Jennariello ran up to the topmast, to see with a telescope if he could
discover any land where they might cast anchor. And lo! whilst he was
measuring a hundred miles of distance with two feet of telescope, he
saw a dove and its mate come flying up and alight upon the sail-yard.
Then the male bird said, "Rucche, rucche!" And his mate answered,
"What's the matter, husband, that you are lamenting so?" "This poor
Prince," replied the other, "has bought a falcon, which as soon as it
shall be in his brother's hands will pick out his eyes; but if he does
not take it to him, or if he warns him of the danger, he will turn to
marble." And thereupon he began again to cry, "Rucche, rucche!" And his
mate said to him, "What, still lamenting! Is there anything new?" "Ay,
indeed," answered the male dove, "he has also bought a horse, and the
first time his brother rides him the horse will break his neck; but if
he does not take it to him, or if he warns him of the danger, he will
turn to marble." "Rucche, rucche!" he cried again. "Alas, with all
these RUCCHE, RUCCHE," said the female dove, "what's the matter now?"
And her mate said, "This man is taking a beautiful wife to his brother;
but the first night, as soon as they go to sleep, they will both be
devoured by a frightful dragon; yet if he does not take her to him, or
if he warns him of the danger, he will turn to marble."
As he spoke, the tempest ceased, and the rage of the sea and the fury
of the wind subsided. But a far greater tempest arose in Jennariello's
breast, from what he had heard, and more than twenty times he was on
the point of throwing all the things into the sea, in order not to
carry to his brother the cause of his ruin. But on the other hand he
thought of himself, and reflected that charity begins at home; and
fearing that, if he did not carry these things to his brother, or if he
warned him of the danger, he should turn to marble, he resolved to look
rather to the fact than to the possibility, since the shirt was closer
to him than the jacket.
When he arrived at Shady-Grove, he found his brother on the shore,
awaiting with great joy the return of the ship, which he had seen at a
distance. And when he saw that it bore her whom he carried in his
heart, and confronting one face with the other perceived that there was
not the difference of a hair, his joy was so great that he was almost
weighed down under the excessive burden of delight. Then embracing his
brother fervently, he said to him, "What falcon is that you are
carrying on your fist?" And Jennariello answered, "I have bought it on
purpose to give to you." "I see clearly that you love me," replied
Milluccio, "since you go about seeking to give me pleasure. Truly, if
you had brought me a costly treasure, it could not have given me
greater delight than this falcon." And just as he was going to take it
in his hand, Jennariello quickly drew a large knife which he carried at
his side and cut off its head. At this deed the King stood aghast, and
thought his brother mad to have done such a stupid act; but not to
interrupt the joy at his arrival, he remained silent. Presently,
however, he saw the horse, and on asking his brother whose it was,
heard that it was his own. Then he felt a great desire to ride him, and
just as he was ordering the stirrup to beheld, Jennariello quickly cut
off the horse's legs with his knife. Thereat the King waxed wrath, for
his brother seemed to have done it on purpose to vex him, and his
choler began to rise. However, he did not think it a right time to show
resentment, lest he should poison the pleasure of the bride at first
sight, whom he could never gaze upon enough.
When they arrived at the royal palace, he invited all the lords and
ladies of the city to a grand feast, at which the hall seemed just like
a riding-school full of horses, curveting and prancing, with a number
of foals in the form of women. But when the ball was ended, and a great
banquet had been despatched, they all retired to rest.
Jennariello, who thought of nothing else than to save his brother's
life, hid himself behind the bed of the bridal pair; and as he stood
watching to see the dragon come, behold at midnight a fierce dragon
entered the chamber, who sent forth flames from his eyes and smoke from
his mouth, and who, from the terror he carried in his look, would have
been a good agent to sell all the antidotes to fear in the
apothecaries' shops. As soon as Jennariello saw the monster, he began
to lay about him right and left with a Damascus blade which he had
hidden under his cloak; and he struck one blow so furiously that it cut
in halves a post of the King's bed, at which noise the King awoke, and
the dragon disappeared.
When Milluccio saw the sword in his brother's hand, and the bedpost cut
in two, he set up a loud cry, "Help here! hola! help! This traitor of a
brother is come to kill me!" Whereupon, hearing the noise, a number of
servants who slept in the antechamber came running up, and the King
ordered Jennariello to be bound, and sent him the same hour to prison.
The next morning, as soon as the Sun opened his bank to deliver the
deposit of light to the Creditor of the Day, the King summoned the
council; and when he told them what had passed, confirming the wicked
intention shown in killing the falcon and the horse on purpose to vex
him, they judged that Jennariello deserved to die. The prayers of
Liviella were all unavailing to soften the heart of the King, who said,
"You do not love me, wife, for you have more regard for your
brother-in-law than for my life. You have seen with your own eyes this
dog of an assassin come with a sword that would cut a hair in the air
to kill me; and if the bedpost (the column of my life) had not
protected me, you would at this moment have been a widow." So saying,
he gave orders that justice should take its course.
When Jennariello heard this sentence, and saw himself so ill-rewarded
for doing good, he knew not what to think or to do. If he said nothing,
bad; if he spoke, worse; and whatever he should do was a fall from the
tree into the wolf's mouth. If he remained silent, he should lose his
head under an axe; if he spoke, he should end his days in a stone. At
length, after various resolutions, he made up his mind to disclose the
matter to his brother; and since he must die at all events, he thought
it better to tell his brother the truth, and to end his days with the
title of an innocent man, than to keep the truth to himself and be sent
out of the world as a traitor. So sending word to the King that he had
something to say of importance to his state, he was led into his
presence, where he first made a long preamble of the love he had always
borne him; then he went on to tell of the deception he had practiced on
Liviella in order to give him pleasure; and then what he had heard from
the doves about the falcon, and how, to avoid being turned to marble,
he had brought it him, and without revealing the secret had killed it
in order not to see him without eyes.
As he spoke, he felt his legs stiffen and turn to marble. And when he
went on to relate the affair of the horse in the same manner, he became
visibly stone up to the waist, stiffening miserably--a thing which at
another time he would have paid in ready money, but which now his heart
wept at. At last, when he came to the affair of the dragon, he stood
like a statue in the middle of the hall, stone from head to foot. When
the King saw this, reproaching himself for the error he had committed,
and the rash sentence he had passed upon so good and loving a brother,
he mourned him more than a year, and every time he thought of him he
shed a river of tears.
Meanwhile Liviella gave birth to two sons, who were two of the most
beautiful creatures in the world. And after a few months, when the
Queen was gone into the country for pleasure, and the father and his
two little boys chanced to be standing in the middle of the hall,
gazing with tearful eyes on the statue--the memorial of his folly,
which had taken from him the flower of men--behold a stately and
venerable old man entered, whose long hair fell upon his shoulders and
whose beard covered his breast. And making a reverence to the King, the
old man said to him, "What would your Majesty give to have this noble
brother return to his former state?" And the King answered, "I would
give my kingdom." "Nay," replied the old man, "this is not a thing that
requires payment in wealth; but being an affair of life, it must be
paid for with as much again of life."
Then the King, partly out of the love he bore Jennariello, and partly
from hearing himself reproached with the injury he had done him,
answered, "Believe me, my good sir, I would give my own life for his
life; and provided that he came out of the stone, I should be content
to be enclosed in a stone."
Hearing this the old man said, "Without putting your life to the
risk--since it takes so long to rear a man--the blood of these, your
two little boys, smeared upon the marble, would suffice to make him
instantly come to life." Then the King replied, "Children I may have
again, but I have a brother, and another I can never more hop to see."
So saying, he made a pitiable sacrifice of two little innocent kids
before an idol of stone, and besmearing the statue with their blood, it
instantly became alive; whereupon the King embraced his brother, and
their joy is not to be told. Then they had these poor little creatures
put into a coffin, in order to give them burial with all due honour.
But just at that instant the Queen returned home, and the King, bidding
his brother hide himself, said to his wife, "What would you give, my
heart, to have my brother restored to life?" "I would give this whole
kingdom," replied Liviella. And the King answered, "Would you give the
blood of your children?" "Nay, not that, indeed," replied the Queen;
"for I could not be so cruel as to tear out with my own hands the apple
of my eyes." "Alas!" said the King, "in order to see a brother alive, I
have killed my own children! for this was the price of Jennariello's
life!"
So saying, he showed the Queen the little boys in the coffin; and when
she saw this sad spectacle, she cried aloud like one mad, saying, "O my
children! you props of my life, joys of my heart, fountains of my
blood! Who has painted red the windows of the sun? Who has without a
doctor's licence bled the chief vein of my life? Alas, my children, my
children! my hope now taken from me, my light now darkened, my joy now
poisoned, my support now lost! You are stabbed by the sword, I am
pierced by grief; you are drowned in blood, I in tears. Alas that, to
give life to an uncle, you have slain your mother! For I am no longer
able to weave the thread of my days without you, the fair counterpoises
of the loom of my unhappy life. The organ of my voice must be silent,
now that its bellows are taken away. O children, children! why do ye
not give answer to your mother, who once gave you the blood in your
veins, and now weeps it for you from her eyes? But since fate shows me
the fountain of my happiness dried up, I will no longer live the sport
of fortune in the world, but will go at once to find you again!"
So saying, she ran to a window to throw herself out; but just at that
instant her father entered by the same window in a cloud, and called to
her, "Stop, Liviella! I have now accomplished what I intended, and
killed three birds with one stone. I have revenged myself on
Jennariello, who came to my house to rob me of my daughter, by making
him stand all these months like a marble statue in a block of stone. I
have punished you for your ill-conduct in going away in a ship without
my permission, by showing you your two children, your two jewels,
killed by their own father. And I have punished the King for the
caprice he took into his head, by making him first the judge of his
brother, and afterwards the executioner of his children. But as I have
wished only to shear and not to flay you, I desire now that all the
poison may turn into sweetmeats for you. Therefore, go, take again your
children and my grandchildren, who are more beautiful than ever. And
you, Milluccio, embrace me. I receive you as my son-in-law and as my
son. And I pardon Jennariello his offence, having done all that he did
out of love to so excellent a brother."
And as he spoke, the little children came, and the grandfather was
never satisfied with embracing and kissing them; and in the midst of
the rejoicings Jennariello entered, as a third sharer in them, who,
after suffering so many storms of fate, was now swimming in macaroni
broth. But notwithstanding all the after pleasures that he enjoyed in
life, his past dangers never went from his mind; and he was always
thinking on the error his brother had committed, and how careful a man
ought to be not to fall into the ditch, since--
"All human judgment is false and perverse."