On the Tree Top Part 9

Well, one day--for so runs the tradition-- While idling and lingering about The low city streets, a Magician From Africa, swarthy and stout, With his wise, prying eyes spied him out,

And went up to him very politely, And asked what his name was and cried: "My lad, if I judge of you rightly, You're the son of my brother who died-- My poor Mustafa!"--and he sighed.

"Ah, yes, Mustafa was my father,"

Aladdin cried back, "and he's dead!"

"Well, then, both yourself and your mother I will care for forever," he said, "And you never shall lack wine nor bread."

And thus did the wily old wizard Deceive with his kindness the two For a deed of dark peril and hazard He had for Aladdin to do, At the risk of his life, too, he knew.

Far down in the earth's very centre There burned a strange lamp at a shrine; Great stones marked the one place to enter; Down under t'was dark as a mine; What further--no one could divine!

And that was the treasure Aladdin Was sent to secure. First he tore The huge stones away, for he had in An instant the strength of a score; Then he stepped through the cavern-like door.

Down, down, through the darkness so chilly!

On, on, through the long galleries!

Coming now upon gardens of lilies, And now upon fruit-burdened trees, Filled full of the humming of bees.

But, ah, should one tip of his finger Touch aught as he pa.s.sed, it was death!

Not a fruit on the boughs made him linger, Nor the great heaps of gold underneath.

But on he fled, holding his breath,

Until he espied, brightly burning, The mystical lamp in its place!

He plucked the hot wick out, and, turning, With triumph and joy in his face, Set out his long way to retrace.

At last he saw where daylight shed a Soft ray through a c.h.i.n.k overhead, Where the crafty Magician was ready To catch the first sound of his tread.

"Reach the lamp up to me, first!" he said.

Aladdin with luck had grown bolder, And he cried, "Wait a bit, and we'll see!"

Then with huge, ugly push of his shoulder, And with strong, heavy thrust of his knee, The wizard--so angry was he--

Pried up the great rock, rolled it over The door with an oath and a stamp; "Stay there under that little cover, And die of the mildew and damp,"

He shouted, "or give me the lamp!"

Aladdin saw darkness fall o'er him; He clutched at the lamp in his hand, And, happening to rub it, before him A Genius stood, stately and grand.

Whence he came he could not understand.

"I obey you," it said, "and whatever You ask for, or wish, you shall have!

Rub the lamp but the least bit soever, It calls me, for I am its slave!"

Aladdin said, "Open this cave!"

He was freed from the place in a minute; And he rubbed once again: "Take me home!"

Home he was. And as blithe as a linnet Rubbed again for the Genius with: "Come, I am dying for food; get me some!"

Thus at first he but valued his treasure Because simple wants it supplied.

Grown older it furnished him pleasure; And then it brought riches beside; And, at last, it secured him his bride.

Now the Princess most lovely of any Was Badroulboudour, (what a name!) Who, though sought for and sued for by many, No matter how grandly they came, Yet merrily laughed them to shame,

Until with his riches and splendor, Aladdin as lover enrolled!

For the first thing he did was to send her Some forty great baskets of gold, And all the fine gems they would hold.

Then he built her a palace, set thickly With jewels at window and door; And all was completed so quickly She saw bannered battlements soar Where was nothing an hour before.

There millions of servants attended, Black slaves and white slaves, thick as bees, Obedient, attentive, and splendid In purple and gold liveries, Fine to see, swift to serve, sure to please!

Him she wedded. They lived without trouble As long as the lamp was their own; But one day, like the burst of a bubble, The palace and Princess were gone; Without wings to fly they had flown!

And Aladdin, dismayed to discover That the lamp had been stolen away, Bent all of his strength to recover The treasure, and day after day, He journeyed this way and that way;

And at last, after terrible hazard, After many a peril and strife, He found that the vengeful old wizard, Who had made the attempt on his life, Had stolen lamp, princess and wife.

With a shrewdness which would have done credit To even a Yankee boy, he Sought the lamp where the wizard had hid it, And, turning a mystical key, Brought it forth, and then, rubbing with glee,

"Back to China!" he cried. In a minute The marvellous palace uprose, With the Princess Badroulboudour in it Unruffled in royal repose, With her jewels and cloth-of-gold clothes;

And with gay clouds of banners and towers, With its millions of slaves, white and black.

It was borne by obedient Powers, As swift as the wind on its track, And ere one could count ten it was back!

And ever thereafter, Aladdin Clung close to the lamp of his fate, Whatever the robe he was clad in, Or whether he fasted or ate; And at all hours, early and late!

Right lucky was Lord Aladdin!

BLUE BEARD

Once on a time there was a man so hideous and ugly That little children shrank and tried to hide when he appeared; His eyes were fierce and prominent, his long hair stiff like bristles, His stature was enormous, and he wore a long blue beard-- He took his name from that through all the country round about him,-- And whispered tales of dreadful deeds but helped to make him feared.

Yet he was rich, O! very rich; his home was in a castle, Whose turrets darkened on the sky, so grand and black and bold That like a thunder-cloud it looked upon the blue horizon.

He had fertile lands and parks and towns and hunting-grounds and gold, And tapestries a queen might covet, statues, pictures, jewels, While his servants numbered hundreds, and his wines were rare and old.

Now near to this old Blue-beard's castle lived a lady neighbor, Who had two daughters, beautiful as lilies on a stem; And he asked that one of them be given him in marriage-- He did not care which one it was, but left the choice to them.

But, oh, the terror that they felt, their efforts to evade him, With careless art, with coquetry, with wile and stratagem!

He saw their high young spirits scorned him, yet he meant to conquer.

He planned a visit for them,--or, 'twas rather one long fete; And to charming guests and lovely feasts, to music and to dancing, Swung wide upon its hinges grim the gloomy castle gate.

And, sure enough, before a week was ended, blinded, dazzled, The youngest maiden whispered "yes," and yielded to her fate.

And so she wedded Blue-beard--like a wise and wily spider He had lured into his web the wished-for, silly little fly!

And, before the honeymoon was gone, one day he stood beside her, And with oily words of sorrow, but with evil in his eye, Said his business for a month or more would call him to a distance, And he must leave her--sorry to--but then, she must not cry!

He bade her have her friends, as many as she liked, about her, And handed her a jingling bunch of something, saying, "These Will open vaults and cellars and the heavy iron boxes Where all my gold and jewels are, or any door you please.

Go where you like, do what you will, one single thing excepted!"

And here he look a little key from out the bunch of keys.

"This will unlock the closet at the end of the long pa.s.sage, But that you must not enter! I forbid it!"--and he frowned.

So she promised that she would not, and he went upon his journey.

And no sooner was he gone than all her merry friends around Came to visit her, and made the dim old corridors and chambers With their silken dresses whisper, with laugh and song resound.