Chapter 6
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!"
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.
Starting presently to his feet, the Prince ran around the tower to find the front door, and, seeing it, he endeavored to push it open, but it was securely fastened. He then turned to look for Mahbracca, and perceived her standing at some distance, surrounded by a crowd of ghouls and demons, who seemed to be greatly enjoying the scene. The Prince shouted loudly to her to send him the keys, at which the whole crowd set up a shout of laughter, and Mahbracca hysterically screamed to him,--
"Enter! Enter, great Prince! Why wait so long outside? You grieve your lovely Princess!"
The Prince, enraged, drew his sword of adamant, and at one blow thrust it through the lock, but the door did not open, and the sword was fixed immovably. In vain did he tug and struggle at it. He could not move it an inch. Hearing greater and wilder cries of derision, he turned towards the crowd and shook his fist at them, and then went back under the window of the Princess, but she was not visible. He called her again and again, at the top of his voice, but she did not answer him nor make her appearance. The night was fast coming on, and overcome with sorrow and despair, and weak with hunger, the Prince fell upon the ground.
When he had lain thus for an hour or two, hearing nothing of the Princess or his enemies, he began to reflect that if he intended to serve his lady-love, he must do something, and that speedily. He himself, he plainly saw, had no power against this sorceress, and perhaps even now she was within the tower, preventing the Princess from answering or appearing to him. He would go for assistance, and, come what would, the Princess should be delivered from that horrid tower. He therefore arose, and, without reflecting how he was to leave this abode of wickedness, he prepared to return to his friend and adviser Trumkard. When he reached the aperture by which he had entered the hollow mountain (which he did without meeting any one), he found it closed by a gate of brass. But he was not to be thus deterred. He ran around the sides of the mountain, rousing in his course several herds of Yabouks and dreadful cattle that gazed, half awake, at his rapid movements, and examined, as well as he could by the dim light, the wall of this great cavern. He soon became convinced, by the knowledge he had gained in a few visits to his step-mother's dominions, that these walls were not very thick. His resolution was quickly formed. Taking off his handsome and richly embroidered clothes, which would only impede him in his labors, he stood dressed only in his under-vest and trousers. Then, springing upon a projecting rock and over another, he entered a great crack, pushed through some loose earth, and made his way through the various crevices of the ground, as he had seen the gnomes do. After about an hour's work, he emerged into the open air very tired and very dirty. After resting awhile, he arose, and, taking his way across a great plain, found himself by daybreak, worn out and footsore, near the gates of a great city. Entering, he inquired of one of the few people who were up so early, what city this was, and was informed that it was the city of the Queen Altabec, and a long distance from the city of the mighty King.
The Prince thanked his informant, and proceeded to look for a tailor's shop, where he might provide himself with clothes; for he perceived that people eyed him with suspicion, and well they might. Having found a shop, he entered, and desired to be immediately fitted with a prince's suit. The master tailor, knowing by his proud air that he was a Prince, and supposing he had been on some youthful adventure, and had thus lost his clothes, was delighted to serve him, and, running to the shelves and drawers, pulled out all the princes' suits, and spread them before his customer. The Prince selected some very handsome clothes, and, having washed himself, put them on, and found they fitted him exactly. He declared his satisfaction with them, and putting his hand in his pocket for his purse, found nothing of the kind there, the tailor not furnishing his clothes in that way. He now remembered that all his money was in the clothes he had left behind him in the mountain, and explained his condition to the tailor. The latter, however, had no wish to deal with princes who had no money, and ordered him to instantly take off the suit. The Prince, who was strictly honest, was about obeying, when one of his feet (which were very tender with his much walking) giving him a sudden pain, he stooped down to see what was in his shoe, and taking it off, out rolled a magnificent pearl and two sapphires.
"There," said the Prince, picking them up, and handing them to the tailor, "if these will be of any use to you, you can have them for the clothes."
The tailor, filled with admiration at the sight of these jewels, and with the most profound respect for a prince who carried such wealth in his shoes, accepted them instantly, and the Prince left the shop. But the good tailor, gazing joyfully at his new-found treasures, was so conscientious and grateful, that he ran out after the Prince, and gave him back one of the sapphires as change.
It may as well be here related that the tailor sold the pearl to a jeweler, who gave him one third of its value, with which he retired into the country, bought great possessions, and lived in much dignity for many years. Some time afterward, the Queen Altabec happening to pass the jeweler's shop, and seeing the pearl in the window, immediately ordered the execution of the jeweler and the seizure of the pearl, which she placed above all the other jewels in the tip-top of her crown, where it still remains. As for the sapphire, the tailor's wife put that away for a rainy day; but as the rainy day never came, and she never went to look for it in its hiding-place, it made no earthly difference to her that her youngest child had found it, and had swapped it off for half of a little stale apple-pie.
After leaving the tailor's shop, the Prince made all haste to an inn, where, having eaten about four meals in one, he bought from an Arab, who was highly recommended to him, a swift dromedary of the desert, for which he gave one sapphire, and requested the landlord of the khan to see that the Arab paid to him, out of its value, what would suffice for the price of his breakfast. This the landlord promised faithfully to do, and it is said that the descendants of that landlord are still drawing on the descendants of that Arab for installments of the price of that wonderful breakfast.
Mounting his dromedary, the Prince would have started, but was detained by the Arab, who embraced the animal, and begged the Prince, out of charity to a poor man, to add a little to the meagre price he had paid for it. Upon which the Prince, knowing the habits of these Arabs, drew his sword, which he had got with his suit, and threatened to split the affectionate man in halves, if he did not immediately take his hands off the beast, which the man instantly did. When he started off, the humpbacked courser might have gone much faster if he had felt inclined, and at last the Prince became so enraged at the exceedingly leisurely style of his trot, that he lifted his sword to serve the animal as he had threatened to serve his old master; but the intelligent dromedary, casting back its only eye, perceived the danger, and set off at such a terrific speed, that the people in the villages through which it passed knew not what it was that had trodden down their children, and upset the old women at their pomegranate stalls.
Before night, the Prince pulled up in the great city before the door of the inn in which Trumkard and himself had lodged. Trumkard was sitting on the front step, with a melon on his lap and a skin bottle between his knees. Hastily dismounting, the Prince threw himself upon the neck of his old friend with such force that he upset the old gentleman and his supper into a great pile together. Jumping up, and wiping the wine out of his eyes and the melon-juice out of his hair, Trumkard welcomed his young master, and assured him that he had several times wondered where he was. The Prince then led him in-doors, and related his adventures, and besought his advice.
Thereupon, Trumkard, throwing his right leg over his left, rested his elbow on his knee, and, reposing his chin in his hand, cogitated. At last he spoke.
"We cannot do better," said he, "than to apply to the Giant Tur-il-i-ra."
This Giant, it will be remembered, was our old acquaintance, and the friend of Ting-a-ling.
The Prince having readily consented to this proposition, it was agreed that they should go to the Giant the next day, and implore his assistance. The Prince would have started that night, but Trumkard had great objections to night travelling, and he, being the best at an argument, gained his point.
Early the next morning, the travellers set forth upon their journey, well mounted upon two good horses. (It may be as well to state that during the night, the Prince's dromedary had returned to its original owner.)
As it will take two days of hard riding for our friends to reach their destination, we will leave them, and return for a time to the gentle Mahbracca, who, when she had left the Prince, had gone to her private room to prepare an ingenious wire arrangement, which she called a "prince-trap," in which he was to be inclosed and hung up before the window of the Princess, for the amusement of this lively sorceress.
But what was her dismay when, on returning to the tower, the first Yabouk she met told her of the escape of the Prince! Speechless with apprehension, she ran to the place where he had passed through the side of the mountain, and seeing his clothes upon the ground and the indubitable signs of his egress, she became perfectly furious, and, rushing back to the tower, commanded the dreadful Afrite who guarded her door, and who now accompanied her, to enter and to bring down the Princess, but on no account to injure her until she should be placed alive in the cage that had been prepared for the Prince. The faithful Afrite bowed his head in obedience, and having at one bound entered one of the lower windows, he hurried up the stairs to the door of the Princess's room. Bursting it open, he saw the Princess lying on the floor in a swoon (into which she had fallen when she perceived that Mahbracca was acting treacherously towards the Prince), and, supposing her to be dead, he hastily plunged down the stairs to inform his mistress, and rushing violently against the front door to burst it open (as was his habit when doors were in his way), he immediately spitted himself upon the Prince's sword of adamant, which was sticking through the lock.
After waiting some time, and becoming alarmed at the long absence of the Afrite, the sorceress sent for the key of the tower, and opened the door. But when it slowly swung open, and the body of her favorite swung with it,--the point of the sword emerging from the middle of his back,--she fainted away. Coming to her senses in a few minutes, she ordered him to be drawn off and carried to her room, where, after again locking the tower door, she followed, in the hopes of reviving, by means of proper magical remedies, whatever vitality might be left in the unfortunate and indispensable Afrite.