There was one Beppo the Wise and another Beppo the Foolish.
The wise one was the father of the foolish one.
Beppo the Wise was called Beppo the Wise because he had laid up a great
treasure after a long life of hard work.
Beppo the Foolish was called Beppo the Foolish because he spent in five
years after his father was gone from this world of sorrow all that the
old man had laid together in his long life of toil. But during that time
Beppo lived as a prince, and the life was never seen in that town before
or since--feasting and drinking and junketing and merrymaking. He had
friends by the dozen and by the scores, and the fame of his doings went
throughout all the land.
While his money lasted he was called Beppo the Generous. It was only
after it was all gone that they called him Beppo the Foolish.
So by-and-by the money was spent, and there was an end of it.
Yes; there was an end of it; and where were all of Beppo’s fair-weather
friends? Gone like the wild-geese in frosty weather.
“Don’t you remember how I gave you a bagful of gold?” says Beppo the
Foolish. “Won’t you remember me now in my time of need?”
But the fair-weather friend only laughed in his face.
“Don’t you remember how I gave you a fine gold chain with a diamond
pendant?” says Beppo to another. “And won’t you lend me a little money
to help me over to-day?”
But the summer-goose friend only grinned.
“But what shall I do to keep body and soul together?” says Beppo to a
third.
The man was a wit. “Go to a shoemaker,” said he, “and let him stitch the
soul fast;” and that was all the good Beppo had of him.
Then poor Beppo saw that there was not place for him in that town, and
so off he went to seek his fortune else whither, for he saw that there
was nothing to be gained in that place.
So he journeyed on for a week and a day, and then towards evening he
came to the king’s town.
There it stood on the hill beside the river--the grandest city in the
kingdom. There were orchards and plantations of trees along the banks
of the stream, and gardens and summer-houses and pavilions. There were
white houses and red roofs and blue skies. Up above on the hill were
olive orchards and fields, and then blue sky again.
Beppo went into the town, gazing about him with admiration. Houses,
palaces, gardens. He had never seen the like. Stores and shops full
of cloths of velvet and silk and satin; goldsmiths, silversmiths,
jewellers--as though all the riches of the world had been emptied into
the city. Crowds of people--lords, noblemen, courtiers, rich merchants,
and tradesmen.
Beppo stared about at the fine sights and everybody stared at Beppo, for
his shoes were dusty, his clothes were travel-stained, and a razor had
not touched his face for a week.
The king of that country was walking in the garden under the shade of
the trees, and the sunlight slanted down upon him, and sparkled upon the
jewels around his neck and on his fingers. Two dogs walked alongside
of him, and a whole crowd of lords and nobles and courtiers came behind
him; first of all the prime-minister with his long staff.
But for all this fine show this king was not really the king. When the
old king died he left a daughter, and she should have been queen if she
had had her own rights. But this king, who was her uncle, had stepped in
before her, and so the poor princess was pushed aside and was nobody at
all but a princess, the king’s niece.
She stood on the terrace with her old nurse, while the king walked in
the garden below.
It had been seven years now since the old king had died, and in that
time she had grown up into a beautiful young woman, as wise as she was
beautiful, and as good as she was wise. Few people ever saw her, but
everybody talked about her in whispers and praised her beauty and
goodness, saying that, if the right were done, she would have her own
and be queen.
Sometimes the king heard of this (for a king hears everything), and he
grew to hate the princess as a man hates bitter drink.
The princess looked down from the terrace, and there she saw Beppo
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.
“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.
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.
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 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 waken. But the princess sat there weeping and weeping, and
said nothing.
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.
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.”
Once more Beppo went to Sebastian the Goldsmith, and the Goldsmith
kissed the princess’s ring and letter, and 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 around 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?”
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 today, 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.
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.
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 peddler, in that it carries a great deal of ills to begin
with, to get rid of them 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--”
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.
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.”
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 are 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 mayst 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 journey-man 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.
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.
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, the 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.”
“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 body-guard 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.
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!” cried 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 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.
“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--”