Jewish Fairy Tales and Fables. Gertrude Landa

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      No sooner had Bar Shalmon placed his feet on the ground than he determined not to return to the land of Ergetz.

      “Tell thy royal mistress,” he said to the demon, “that I shall never return to her.”

      He tore his clothes to make himself look poor, but his wife was overjoyed to see him. She had mourned him as dead. He did not tell of his adventures, but merely said he had been ship-wrecked and had worked his way back as a poor sailor. He was delighted to be among human beings again, to hear his own language and to see solid buildings that did not appear and disappear just when they pleased, and as the days passed he began to think his adventures in fairyland were but a dream.

      Meanwhile, the princess waited patiently until the year was ended.

      Then she sent the big, black demon to bring Bar Shalmon back.

      Bar Shalmon met the messenger one night when walking alone in his garden.

      “I have come to take thee back,” said the demon.

      Bar Shalmon was startled. He had forgotten that the year was up. He felt that he was lost, but as the demon did not seize him by force, he saw that there was a possibility of escape.

      “Return and tell thy mistress I refuse,” he said.

      “I will take thee by force,” said the demon.

      “Thou canst not,” Bar Shalmon said, “for I am the son-in-law of the king.”

      The demon was helpless and returned to Ergetz alone.

      King Ashmedai was very angry, but the princess counseled patience.

      “I will devise means to bring my husband back,” she said. “I will send other messengers.”

      Thus it was that Bar Shalmon found a troupe of beautiful fairies in the garden the next evening. They tried their utmost to induce him to return with them, but he would not listen. Every day different messengers came—big, ugly demons who threatened, pretty fairies who tried to coax him, and troublesome sprites and goblins who only annoyed him. Bar Shalmon could not move without encountering messengers from the princess in all manner of queer places. Nobody else could see them, and often he was heard talking to invisible people. His friends began to regard him as strange in his behavior.

      King Ashmedai grew angrier every day, and he threatened to go for Bar Shalmon himself.

      “Nay, I will go,” said the princess; “it will be impossible for my husband to resist me.”

      She selected a large number of attendants, and the swift flight of the princess and her retinue through the air caused a violent storm to rage over the lands they crossed. Like a thick black cloud they swooped down on the land where Bar Shalmon dwelt, and their weird cries seemed like the wild shrieking of a mighty hurricane. Down they swept in a tremendous storm such as the city had never known. Then, as quickly as it came, the storm ceased, and the people who had fled into their houses, ventured forth again.

      The little son of Bar Shalmon went out into the garden, but quickly rushed back into the house.

      “Father, come forth and see,” he cried. “The garden is full of strange creatures brought by the storm. All manner of creeping, crawling things have invaded the garden—lizards, toads, and myriads of insects. The trees, the shrubs, the paths are covered, and some shine in the twilight like tiny lanterns.”

      Bar Shalmon went out into the garden, but he did not see toads and lizards. What he beheld was a vast array of demons and goblins and sprites, and in a rose-bush the princess, his wife, shining like a star, surrounded by her attendant fairies. She stretched forth her arms to him.

      “Husband mine,” she pleaded, “I have come to implore thee to return to the land of Ergetz with me. Sadly have I missed thee; long have I waited for thy coming, and difficult has it been to appease my father’s anger. Come, husband mine, return with me; a great welcome awaits thee.”

      “I will not return,” said Bar Shalmon.

      “Kill him, kill him,” shrieked the demons, and they surrounded him, gesticulating fiercely.

      “Nay, harm him not,” commanded the princess. “Think well, Bar Shalmon, ere you answer again. The sun has set and night is upon us. Think well, until sunrise. Come to me, return, and all shall be well. Refuse, and thou shalt be dealt with as thou hast merited. Think well before the sunrise.”

      “And what will happen at sunrise, if I refuse?” asked Bar Shalmon.

      “Thou shalt see,” returned the princess. “Bethink thee well, and remember, I await thee here until the sunrise.”

      “I have answered; I defy thee,” said Bar Shalmon, and he went indoors.

      Night passed with strange, mournful music in the garden, and the sun rose in its glory and spread its golden beams over the city. And with the coming of the light, more strange sounds woke the people of the city. A wondrous sight met their gaze in the market place. It was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of the queerest creatures they had ever seen, goblins and brownies, demons and fairies. Dainty little elves ran about the square to the delight of the children, and quaint sprites clambered up the lamposts and squatted on the gables of the council house. On the steps of that building was a glittering array of fairies and attendant genii, and in their midst stood the princess, a dazzling vision, radiant as the dawn.

      The mayor of the city knew not what to do. He put on his chain of office and made a long speech of welcome to the princess.

      “Thank you for your cordial welcome,” said the princess, in reply, “and you the mayor, and ye the good people of this city of mortals, hearken unto me. I am the princess of the Fairyland of Ergetz where my father, Ashmedai, rules as king. There is one among ye who is my husband.”

      “Who is he?” the crowd asked in astonishment.

      “Bar Shalmon is his name,” replied the princess, “and to him am I bound by vows that may not be broken.”

      “’Tis false,” cried Bar Shalmon from the crowd.

      “’Tis true. Behold our son,” answered the princess, and there stepped forward a dainty elfin boy whose face was the image of Bar Shalmon.

      “I ask of you mortals of the city,” the princess continued, “but one thing, justice—that same justice which we in the land of Ergetz did give unto Bar Shalmon when, after breaking his oath unto his father, he set sail for a foreign land and was delivered into our hands. We spared his life; we granted his petition for a new trial. I but ask that ye should grant me the same petition. Hear me in your Court of Justice.”

      “Thy request is but reasonable, princess,” said the mayor. “It shall not be said that strangers here are refused justice. Bar Shalmon, follow me.”

      He led the way into the Chamber of Justice, and the magistrates of the city heard all that the princess and her witnesses, among whom was the rabbi, and also all that Bar Shalmon, had to say.

      “’Tis plain,” said the mayor, delivering judgment, “that her royal highness, the princess of the Fairyland of Ergetz, has spoken that which is true. But Bar Shalmon has in this city wife and child to whom he is bound by ties that may not be broken. СКАЧАТЬ