Ting a ling

F >> Frank Richard Stockton >> Ting a ling

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

At last a man who seemed to have some authority, came up to the Prince,
and, having heard his story, requested him to follow him. He led the way
to a small door, and, motioning to the Prince to pass through it, shut
and fastened it after him. The Prince found himself out in the street.

Enraged and hungry, he hurried back to his lodgings, where he had left
Trumkard. On the way, he heard a great many people talking of the
beautiful music that, it was reported, the Princess had played at the
palace the evening previous. In fact, this matter seemed to be the town
talk; but the Prince did not stay to listen to much of it, for he was
extremely anxious to get something to eat, and to relate his troubles.

Trumkard did not encourage him much, and proposed that they should
continue their journey; but the Prince would not listen to such advice,
and as soon as he had finished his breakfast, he went back to the palace
in order to try and see his Princess. But all the doors were fastened,
and it was evident that there was no admission for the public that day.
A great crowd stood around the gates, and they were very much excited
about something.

The Prince learned from their discourse that it was thought that the
Princess who played so splendidly, could certainly sing as well, and
there was a suspicion that the Prime Minister, who had governed the
people so long, was afraid of her powers, and had sent her away. Indeed,
a certain Habbed-il-Gabbed, who kept a goat's-cheese shop, and who had a
cousin who was one of the royal-black-eunuch-guards, had heard from him
that the Princess had certainly disappeared, and that the public
suspicions were very likely to be correct.

At this news the Prince smote his breast, and became very sad; and all
that day and night, and the next day until sundown, he hung around the
palace, hoping to get in. Trumkard was with him a great part of the
time, and brought him cakes and things to keep him from starving. In the
early evening of the second day, the Prince, while walking round the
palace, saw a boy come out of a back-alley gate, to empty some ashes.
Rushing at him, he seized him, and demanded of him news of the Princess.
The boy, however, was deaf and dumb, and could not answer him; and the
Prince perceiving this, and being very expert in making signs, asked him
in that way what had become of his lady-love. The boy then replied by a
sign representing a heavy door, with four locks, a big bar, and a chain;
and a black eunuch with a drawn sword, asleep before it.

Then the Prince tore his hair, and groaned, and went home to Trumkard.
But he could not sleep; and when the moon arose, he got up and wandered
far away beyond the walls of the city, until he came to the borders of
the sea. There he saw, roaming about upon the sands, numbers of
water-women, who every now and then blew upon conch-shells, looking
about them in every direction, as if they expected some one to answer
them. When the Prince perceived them, he slipped softly from rock to
rock, keeping himself well concealed, until he came near one of them,
when he made a sudden rush and caught her, while all the others, with
loud cries, dashed into the sea. The one he had captured, struggled and
cried piteously; but, in as few words as possible, he entreated her to
be quiet, and to understand that if she was looking for a Princess, he
could tell her where she was, or at least where she had been. The
water-woman then became quiet, and the Prince told her all he knew, and
how anxious he was to find the beautiful Princess. The good woman of the
sea then told him that she and her companions had come up on the shore
every night for a year, hoping that the Princess would stray that way,
and be induced by them to return to her ocean home. Then she told him
who the Princess really was, and thus her story ran.

When the late mighty King, Barradin, was quite young, he married a
daughter of the ocean, at which his father, much incensed, drove him
from the court. He retired far from men, and a little son was born to
him. In a few years his wife died, and he was left alone with his son.
When this boy grew up, he also married a water-woman, and, having so
much of their blood in his veins, he went down to live with his wife's
relations, leaving his father to do as well as he could by himself,
until he ascended the throne. When Barradin became king, he did not
marry a queen, or cut off people's heads, or go to war, or build
palaces; but he took his chief delight in music, and encouraged the love
of it among his people. So it was in the hope that one of his
descendants might some day sit upon the throne, that he composed the
magical music; for he knew that no one but a descendant of the
ocean-folk could sing that music, and none but those of his blood could
read it, for there was magic in his family.

When the music was finished, the King died. His mother was a sorceress,
and a very wicked old woman, who, when her son was dead, gave it out
that she herself was dying; for she had now lived so long that people
had begun to suspect something, and to think that she had too much to do
with magic. So she pretended to die, and was buried in the royal vault;
and at night she came out and went far away from the city to a great
cave in a lonely country where dwelt the demons and evil spirits who
were her servants. She now spent her life in wickedness. She it was who
put it into the heads of so many sensible people to contend for the
crown, and it was with joy that she saw them carried out to the asylum.
Many other evil thoughts she put into the hearts of the people, and she
was forever imagining and doing mischief.

When this young Princess, her great-grandchild, was born, Mahbracca
(that was the name of the old sorceress) was very much troubled, and
used all available means to destroy the infant; but her efforts were
vain, for the people of the ocean protected her from all enchantments.

As the Princess grew up, she loved to ramble on the white sands, and she
was once perceived there by a party of ladies from the palace, who had
persuaded her to come with them to their royal home, where she had now
been for a year. She knew not who she was, nor did her friends at the
palace; and her relations of the ocean had always hoped that some day
she would return to them. Now the sorceress feared that some day she
would happen to sing the magical music, and be made queen; and she hated
the poor girl so much, that she would not have had this happen for all
the world. Therefore it was, no doubt, that she had sent the Nimshee, in
order to prevent the Princess from ever exercising the wonderful gift
she had inherited.

This much the water-woman told the Prince, but as to what had now become
of the Princess, she did not know; but there were others of her people
who knew more than she did, and she would inquire of them. Taking the
Prince by the hand, she led him out upon a headland that projected some
distance out into the sea, and blew four times loudly upon her
conch-shell. A great heaving and swelling of the waters was presently
seen, and in a few moments an elderly personage emerged from the waves,
and walked carefully up to the rock on which they stood. He was a
curious-looking individual, and, as the water-woman informed the Prince,
a powerful lord of the ocean.

He was wrapped in an old-fashioned cloak, made of the finest quality of
sea-weed, and drawing this closely around him, he requested his fair
cousin of the sea to be as quick as possible in her business with him,
as it was not prudent for him to be in the air much at his age. So the
water-woman briefly related to him what the Prince had told her.

When he heard this, the old sea-gentleman folded his arms and looked
very grave. "Mahbracca is at the bottom of this," said he. "The Prime
Minister would never have thought of imprisoning the Princess, if that
wretched sorceress had not put it into his head. I have no doubt that
she now has the Princess in her power, and very likely shut up in her
retreat."

"What!" cried the Prince, "where is it? Where is her cave? I will go
instantly and rescue my beloved Princess!" and he drew his sword of
adamant and waved it over his head.

"Ah my friend!" said the old man of the water, "you could do little
against the powerful Mahbracca and her minions. But you might go there
to be sure, and find out if she really has possession of the Princess.
But then you may lose your life."

"I care not!" cried the Prince. "Dead or alive, I will be with my
Princess."

The two citizens of the ocean talked together a few moments, and then
the old man asked him if he was really determined to undertake this
perilous enterprise, and the Prince emphatically declared that he was.

"The distance by the sea is much the shortest; would you be willing to
go in that way?" asked the old man.

"Certainly," said the Prince, "provided I have to go over, and not under
the water."

The old gentleman made no reply to this, but putting his two forefingers
in his mouth he whistled loudly.

In a few moments a sea-boy came up out of the water, and stood beside
him. The old man made a few remarks to him in the ocean dialect, when
the boy jumped off the rock and disappeared beneath the waves.

"Now, sir," said the sea-gentleman to the Prince, "you must cheer up and
be lively, or you cannot hope to succeed in this matter. My boy will
take you to the sea-side entrance of the cave of Mahbracca. There I hope
you will have no difficulty in entering, but I can say nothing positive
upon the subject."

At this moment the sea-boy reappeared, driving a pair of dolphins, which
were harnessed to a large and commodious sea-shell, somewhat resembling
in shape the boat of the nautilus.

When the equipage was drawn up at the foot of the rock, the Prince took
leave of his friends, and quickly stepped in and took his seat.

"I wish you all success," said the elderly personage, and, reminding the
boy to be sure to keep their heads up, he walked down into the sea.

The water-woman said nothing, but stood on the rock, gazing sadly after
the Prince, as the dolphins drew him rapidly from the shore. The fishes
made excellent time, and the motion of the great shell over the waves
would have been exceedingly pleasant to the Prince, if his mind had not
been filled with anxiety and impatience. He shifted his position so
often, and rolled the vehicle about so much, that once or twice the
sea-boy turned round and asked him if he did not wish to get out, to
which the Prince did not reply, but only urged him to make greater
speed. The journey lasted until the morning of the next day, and was
marked by no greater occurrence than the annoyance caused by the wild
dolphins occasionally coming up around them, endeavoring to play with
their brothers in harness. But the boy, with his whip of shark's skin,
and the Prince with his sword, soon drove them down again.

At last they dashed into shore, and the sea-boy, pulling up his steeds,
jumped out, followed immediately by the Prince.

"Take the road in front of you," said the boy, "and you cannot miss your
way."

The Prince then threw a piece of platinum to the boy, who tucked it in
between two of his scales, and jumping into his shell, drove rapidly
away.

[Illustration]

The shore where the Prince now found himself was very peculiar. A high
rocky wall, seemingly inaccessible, stood up solemnly in front of him,
and extended out, on each side, far into the sea. Directly before him
was a great cleft or tunnel in the rock, which extended so far back that
its other extremity was not visible from where he stood. This rocky
avenue was the only passage, in any direction, that the Prince could
perceive, and consequently, without delay or fear, he drew his sword,
and entered it. The way for a while was easy, but afterward became very
rough and uneven. Here and there were openings in the walls above him,
through which came a misty light; and by it the Prince perceived that
the walls were filled with precious stones, which glistened and sparkled
brightly, while great veins of gold and silver were streaked about in
all directions. Under his feet were thousands of jewels, and bits of
precious minerals without number. His way was now very difficult, for
the avenue was narrow and rough. Pearls and sapphires got into his
shoes, and he cut his legs and scratched his hands against the sharp
diamonds and rubies that stuck out from the walls. But he pressed
bravely on until the ground became more even and the walls wider apart,
and at length he entered quite an open space, inclosed by a wall in
which he saw before him an immense gate of copper. He went up and tried
to push it open, but finding it immovable, he knocked loudly upon it
with the hilt of his sword. Directly, a small window at one side of the
gate was opened, and a ghoul put his head out. Seeing that it was a
Prince who knocked, he drew in his head, and opened the gate. The Prince
quickly entered. "I wish," said he, in an imperious voice, "to see the
Princess whom the wicked Mahbracca has doubtless imprisoned in this
cavern."

"O!" said the ghoul, grinning horribly, "certainly! Pass on, great
Prince! The Princess and my mistress will both be glad to see you. Pass
on freely. You cannot miss your way." Opening then his wide mouth, he
gave a great laugh, and reentered the porter's lodge, through the open
door of which the Prince saw, upon a table, an empty coffin and a jug.

The Prince now found himself in a long and wide passage, dimly lighted
and very damp. The place smelt like a burial vault, and against the
walls on each side, rows of ghouls sat on the floor, their knees drawn
up to their chins. As the Prince passed, some of them jumped up and
gibed at him, leering, sticking out their tongues, and smacking their
lips as they danced around him. Walking on rapidly, he soon left these
gibbering wretches, and found that the passage became much drier,
although darker, and wound and turned in various directions. Against the
walls, transfixed by great iron pins, were enormous glow-worms, which
gave the only light in this dismal place. These worms turned their heads
to look at the Prince, and flashed a brighter light from their tails,
that they might see him the better. Presently he noticed a small door in
the wall, which was not quite closed. Pushing it open, he entered a
room, the floor of which was not very spacious, but which was very high.
Against one of the walls, chained by his arms and his wings and his
legs, was the Nimshee who had fanned the Princess with his sleep-giving
wings.

When this evil spirit saw the Prince, his eyes glowed so brightly that
they lighted up the room as if they had been torches; and, putting down
his horrid head as low as his bonds would allow, he opened wide his
nostrils and his mouth, and bellowed with fury, like an immense
bull,--at the same time tugging and struggling at his chains, until the
very walls shook with his raging strength.

This spectacle caused the Prince to step out of the room with alacrity,
and quickly shutting the door behind him, he walked rapidly along the
gloomy passage. On his way he met numerous demons and evil spirits of
various kinds, but they only scowled at him as he passed, and he spoke
to none of them. He soon descended a stone stairway which led down to a
large circular hall, with various doors and passages leading from it. On
the side opposite to the stairs was a great door of green marble,
sculptured with mysterious devices. Stepping up to it, and finding that
it opened easily, he entered an octagonal room, the walls of which were
hung with the skins of spotted cats, and on the floor was spread a skin
of the sacred white elephant of India. The Prince perceived that this
was merely an anteroom, for to the left of him was a door, before which
sat a fierce and black Afrite, with a great javelin in his hand. With
his hands upon his knees, the Afrite bent down his head, and looked
steadfastly at the Prince with glaring eyes.

Advancing towards this formidable sentinel, the Prince inquired of him
where he should find the Princess, if she were shut up here, or where he
could see the sorceress Mahbracca. The Afrite arose, and, pushing aside
the block of porphyry on which he had been sitting, took down a brazen
bar by which the door was fastened, and throwing it open, told the
Prince, in a harsh and brazen voice, to enter.

The room in which the Prince now found himself, was the private
apartment of the sorceress, where had been concocted all the wickedness
with which she had cursed the subjects of her son.

At first, the Prince could scarcely distinguish the objects in the room,
as it was lighted only by a small brazier which burnt dimly on a table;
but the Afrite thrust his javelin into the brazier, and the flames, all
green and red, burst forth luridly, lighting up the apartment with
unearthly colors. The Afrite, after informing the Prince that the great
Mahbracca would soon attend him, left him, and returned to his station
on the other side of the door. Somewhat fearful that all this
willingness to admit him boded no good, the Prince still determined to
push boldly on in his adventure (that being, indeed, the only course
possible for him), and to take things as coolly as possible.

Looking around him, he saw, by the bright light which now filled the
room, that against each of the walls was a row of cages, containing
snakes of various grades of venom, placed in order, according to their
deadly properties. Standing on their heads, in various places against
the wall, were many of those dreadful green lizards which poison the air
of the deep valleys of Sumatra, and whose bite causes their victim,
together with all his blood relations, to gangrene in an instant. These,
although standing so stiffly against the wall, were all alive, and some
of them, perceiving the Prince was looking at them, winked at him. But
he paid them no further attention, and proceeded with his inspection of
the room.

There were great numbers of horrid-looking furnaces, and cages, and
grotesque lamps, with the flames out, but with wicks still smouldering,
and smelling vilely. Upon a shelf near the ceiling was a row of great
jars, and out of one of them was continually popping the head of an
excessively shining and black little demon, who had evidently, for some
offense, been put there in pickle. From the other jars came groans, but
no heads. These had been in longer. While the Prince stood, scarcely
able to refrain from laughing at the comical countenance of the young
demon in the jar, he heard the opening of a door, and, turning, saw the
sorceress Mahbracca enter the apartment. This worthy dame presented a
remarkable appearance. Short, with a large head partly covered with
stubbly white hair, she had a face of the color and smoothness of an
Irish potato, which has been lying in the sun for about eighteen months.
Her eyes opened in the middle of the pupil, with a slit, like those of a
cat, and she had three long hairs, or whiskers, on each side of her
upper lip. She advanced with a smile, which did not make her look any
more lovely, and extended her hand to the Prince. Being a man of
politeness, of course he took it, but her touch was ten times more
clammy and deadly than that of a snake.

"I am glad to see you," said Mahbracca. "Will you take some rest and
refreshment? You must be tired, for you have surely travelled a long
way."

"No," said the Prince, "I desire neither rest nor refreshment. All I
require is, that you conduct me to the Princess, if you have her here
confined, and then that you deliver her up to me."

"Ah!" said the sorceress, "that is certainly not much to ask. You shall
be gratified. Allow me to conduct you to her; she will be delighted, I
am sure."

Then taking in her hand a staff, and opening the door by which she had
entered, she requested the Prince to follow her. Passing quickly through
several apartments, they entered a wide, long, and dim avenue.

"Come," said the sorceress, "give me your hand; we will lose no time."

But the Prince, remembering his former experience of her touch, drew
back from the bony hand which she extended to him.

"Ah!" cried she, with a hideous grin, "you are able to get along by
yourself, are you, my dear? I dare say your young legs are very strong
and nimble. _You_ don't need any old woman's help. Ha, ha! Well, come
on! The Princess awaits you!"

[Illustration]

With these remarks, the aged hag set off at a pace, which, considering
her years, was truly wonderful, putting the Prince to his best endeavors
to keep up with her. The underground avenue in which they ran seemed of
great length; and very shortly the old lady varied the exercise by
introducing certain gymnastics. Sometimes, as she stretched out her
staff, the ground would suddenly open before her, and she sprang over
the wide chasm with the greatest ease; while the poor Prince, all
unprepared, would have to strain every muscle in his body to clear, in
the midst of his rapid career, the yawning gulf. Then she would wave her
staff upwards, and the ground rise in front of her, like a steep and
rocky hill, up which she would lightly run, while the Prince could
scarcely restrain himself from dashing violently against its stony face.
Then, while heated and breathless with the ascent of one of these, he
would see her wave her staff downward, and plunge down a steep
declivity, into the darkness of which he followed her pell-mell, not
knowing whether he was going to descend a few yards or a mile. Very
soon, however, he began to get his blood up, and, kicking out his legs
like a wild goat of Cashmere, he prepared to show her that it would have
to be a very smart old woman who could beat him in a race. So away they
went, like a cat and a dog, the Prince clearing the great gaps as fast
as Mahbracca could make them. At last he actually gained on her, and
kept ahead of her for a few minutes, during which time he had level
running. But with a great effort, she passed him, and, violently
throwing up the end of her staff, caused a great rock to rise with such
promptness, that the Prince came within an inch of braining himself
against it. But over it they went, and for half a mile kept neck and
neck; but the old woman soon put an end to this, for, whirling her staff
round her head, the Prince instantly found himself wading in sand up to
his armpits.

"That's mean!" he cried, with tears of indignation in his eyes. But
Mahbracca jumped up and down on top of the sand, waving her arms, and
laughing and screaming like a hyena.

"Ah ha! my vigorous Prince," cried she, "why do you stop? Hasten,
hasten! Swiftest of youths, the Princess awaits us!"

Incensed by her mockery, he gave a mighty plunge into the sand before
him, and surged along like a ship in the ocean, while Mahbracca skipped
gayly by him, playfully kicking the sand into his eyes.

"You see the advantage of lightness, my dear," cried she. "I pass easily
over the top of this sand, while you--O, how you do wallow! Ha, ha, ha!
I never saw anything like it."

With such remarks, she beguiled his way, until relenting, she at last
waved her staff again above her head, and the Prince found himself by
her side, on solid ground.

She complimented him on his remarkable agility and strength, but he made
her no answer, and, wiping his face with his handkerchief, walked on
without a word. At length they reached the end of the avenue, and,
passing through a circular aperture with which it terminated, the Prince
found himself in the cavity of an immense hollow mountain, the floor of
which was a great plain, and into which the light of day was admitted
through an opening in the top, more than two miles above him.

Scattered about over the blackish sward were many groups of ghouls and
variously colored demons, some playing pitch-penny with ancient coins,
and others lying asleep on the ground. At a distance, grazing on the
exuberant and oily foliage, were herds of the prong-horned
Yabouks,--those sanguinary monsters which impale their victims on the
great horn upon their noses, holding back their heads and opening their
mouths to let the blood slowly trickle down their throats.

Many other dreadful cattle were scattered about the plain, drinking at
the greenish streams which meandered about in various directions, or
standing ruminating, knee-deep in the oily water. But these things
claimed not the attention of the Prince.

In the centre of this great plain stood a tower.

"Behold!" cried Mahbracca, springing in front of him, and waving her
arms--"behold the dwelling of your Princess! Come! let us run, let us
bound!"

Seizing him by the hand with a strength that was not to be resisted, she
led him, at great speed, to the foot of the tower. Then at the top of
her voice she called out,--

"Princess! appear at your window quickly! Your love has come from afar
unto you. Show yourself to him!"

At these words, the Princess put her head out of the highest window, and
when the Prince saw her lovely face, he fell down on his knees,
trembling with happiness, and protesting in broken sentences his love
for her; while she, bending out over the window-sill, wept silently
tears of joy, which came down pitter, patter, on the Prince's head.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8