(A GREEK STORY)
Once upon a time, long ago in Greece, there was a merchant, who used to
earn his living by trafficking with goods among the Greek Islands and
along the coast of Asia. Sometimes he used to go as far as Persia and
India. He possessed many argosies, and he used to take with him large
bales of embroideries, silks and other stuffs, spikenard, and all kinds
of rare scents and ointments, and these he used to sell for as much
money as he could get for them.
But although he was wealthy, he was a kind merchant; and although he
considered trade to be important, and struck as good a bargain as he
could, when the time for bargaining came, yet there was something that
he considered more important than merchandise and than bargaining, and
that was his daughters. He had three daughters. The eldest was called
Heliodore, the second Hermione, and the third Daphne. They were all
three of them extremely beautiful. The eldest, Heliodore, was tall like
a lily; the second, Hermione, was dark like a rose; and the third,
Daphne, was like a flower that grows in the springtime.
One day, when his daughters were grown up, it was necessary for the
merchant to make a long journey to the East--a longer journey than he
had ever made before. He was obliged to go to India in order to sell
some vases cunningly worked, which Indian princes were especially fond
of. Before he started he called his daughters to him and said good-bye
to them. They each of them kissed him on both cheeks, and begged him to
bring them back something from India. They knew that India was a
marvellous country, full of rich and strange things. He promised to
bring back something for each of them, and he asked them what they would
like. Heliodore said she would like a scarf woven of moonbeams, such as
is only to be found in the mountains which are in the north of India.
Hermione said she would like a necklace made of rubies, such as are
only found in the mines of India, where little gnomes work all day and
all night underground and never see the sky. But when he asked Daphne
what she would like, she answered: "The only thing that I want is the
Golden Ring." And Heliodore and Hermione laughed at her, and said:
"Silly child! she could buy a golden ring in any shop in Athens. What a
foolish thing to ask for."
Before the merchant started, Heliodore, Hermione, and Daphne burnt a
sacrifice on the altar of Hermes, and they prayed that the winds and the
waves might be favourable to their father, and they entreated him that
he should remember his promise to them, and should not forget the gifts
which they desired; and they said at the end of their prayer: "If our
father forgets to bring back these gifts which he has promised us, then
grant us that his ship, swift Hermes, may not stir from the shore." And
the merchant confirmed their prayer, and burnt incense on the altar
himself. Then he started for India.
He arrived in India without difficulty, and during several months he
carried on his trade and did excellent business. He sold cunningly
wrought cups to the Indian princes, and statues, and garments, and
sandals, and lamps, and many other things besides. He travelled all over
India, trafficking and striking bargains; and during his travels he went
up to the northern mountains, and bought from an old woman a veil made
of moonbeams, for his eldest daughter Heliodore. This veil was
expensive, and he was obliged to give in exchange for it some of the
grass of Parnassus, gathered while Apollo was playing upon his fiddle,
and some water from the spring of Helicon, taken in a crystal flask on
the night when the Muses cease from quarrelling and sing in unison to
the new moon.
After he had bought this veil at such a high price, he went to the
plains in the centre of India, and walked into the heart of a mountain,
and reached the caves which are under the earth, where the gnomes work
all day and all night, and there he asked the King of the Gnomes to
sell him the necklace of rubies. The King of the Gnomes said: "What will
you give me for it?" And the merchant said: "I will give you whatever
you ask." And the King of the Gnomes said to him: "I will have in
exchange for a necklace of rubies the nightingale that sings in the
thickets of Daulis." So the merchant gave him this nightingale, although
he was sorry to part with it, and received the necklace of rubies in
exchange.
The merchant remembered these gifts, which were so difficult to get, but
he quite forgot what he had promised to his third daughter, which was
only a golden ring, and he started home without the golden ring. When he
reached the coast, and embarked on his argosy, there was a fair breeze,
and he was pleased because he thought his journey would be swift. But
what was his surprise to find that the ship would not stir from the
shore. Many other ships belonging to other sailors were scudding fast
through the waves, leaving behind them a trail of foam, and yet his
ship, although she was an excellent seaboat, refused to stir. And this
lasted all day and all night.
At last he disembarked and sat down on the shore, and thought, saying to
himself, "What spell has been put on my ship? What have I done? In what
way have I displeased the gods that they prevent me from going home?"
As he was pondering over this, a peasant walked along the coast. He was
carrying a basket of eggs home from the market, and he stopped and asked
the merchant what he was thinking of.
The merchant hardly liked to tell him about his private family affairs,
but the peasant said to him: "I am sure there is something on your mind,
otherwise it is impossible that your ship should not be scudding over
the sea. Perhaps you promised something to somebody before you started."
The merchant thought about this, and then at last he remembered what he
had promised to Daphne, and he said to the peasant: "I promised my
daughter to bring her back the Golden Ring from India, and I have
forgotten to do so."
The peasant said: "That accounts for it all. If you have promised to
bring back something to somebody who is dear to you and have forgotten
it, it is quite impossible that you should sail back home."
"That is all very well," said the merchant, "but can you tell me where I
can find the Golden Ring? You see, there are many golden rings
everywhere, but my daughter Daphne, who is my youngest daughter, asked
me to bring her back _the_ Golden Ring."
The peasant nodded and turned round, and then he said: "You see this
road running in front of you into the distance? Walk along it, without
looking to the right or to the left, and when you have walked for three
hours you will reach a spot, and in that spot is the Golden Ring."
The merchant did what the peasant had told him, and he walked for three
hours without looking to the right or to the left. When the three hours
were over he reached a milestone, on which was written: "To the Coast,
three hours; to the Palace, one minute." Near the milestone an old man
with a long grey beard was sitting, so the merchant spoke to the old
man, and said to him: "Sir, can you tell me where I can find the Golden
Ring?"
The old man answered him: "The Golden Ring is in the palace of the King.
The palace of the King is a minute's walk from here. You turn to the
right, and before you you will find two golden gates. You must open
these gates, walk through them, and you will find the palace of the King
in front of you. In this palace there is a Prince, who is the King's
son, and that Prince is the Golden Ring."
The merchant did as he was told. He walked for a minute, and found in
front of him two golden gates. Here he stopped a moment, because he was
afraid to walk into the house of somebody whom he did not know.
Nevertheless he took heart and opened the gates, and walked straight
along a broad road until he reached the steps which led to the front
door of the King's palace. Now the King's palace was made entirely of
red marble, and when the merchant saw it he was frightened. However, he
walked up the steps, and knocked loudly on the door, and immediately a
slave appeared and asked him what he wanted.
"I wish to see the King," said the merchant, "and to ask him if I may
enter into his palace."
The slave went away, and presently he came back again and said to the
merchant: "The King will be very glad if you will do him the honour of
entering his palace. Moreover, the King would like to talk to you
himself. He is at this moment in the Throne Room, sitting on the
throne."
So the merchant was ushered into the Throne Room, and there was the King
sitting on a throne made of ivory and studded with emeralds. As he
entered this room, the King walked down the steps of the throne, and
asked him politely what was his business.