The Snuff-box

THE SNUFF-BOX

As often happens in this world, there was once a young man who spent all

his time in travelling. One day, as he was walking along, he picked up a

snuff-box. He opened it, and the snuff-box said to him in the Spanish

language, 'What do you want?' He was very much frightened, but, luckily,

instead of throwing the box away, he only shut it tight, and put it in

his pocket. Then he went on, away, away, away, and as he went he said to

himself, 'If it says to me again "What do you want?" I shall know better

what to say this time.' So he took out the snuff-box and opened it, and

again it asked 'What do you want?' 'My hat full of gold,' answered the

youth, and immediately it was full.

Our young man was enchanted. Henceforth he should never be in need of

anything. So on he travelled, away, away, away, through thick forests,

till at last he came to a beautiful castle. In the castle there lived a

King. The young man walked round and round the castle, not caring who

saw him, till the King noticed him, and asked what he was doing there.

'I was just looking at your castle.' 'You would like to have one like

it, wouldn't you?' The young man did not reply, but when it grew dark he

took his snuff-box and opened the lid. 'What do you want?' 'Build me a

castle with laths of gold and tiles of diamond, and the furniture all of

silver and gold.' He had scarcely finished speaking when there stood in

front of him, exactly opposite the King's palace, a castle built

precisely as he had ordered. When the King awoke he was struck dumb at

the sight of the magnificent house shining in the rays of the sun. The

servants could not do their work for stopping to stare at it. Then the

King dressed himself, and went to see the young man. And he told him

plainly that he was a very powerful Prince; and that he hoped that they

might all live together in one house or the other, and that the King

would give him his daughter to wife. So it all turned out just as the

King wished. The young man married the Princess, and they lived happily

in the palace of gold.

[Illustration: ?QUE PESEA USTED?]

But the King's wife was jealous both of the young man and of her own

daughter The Princess had told her mother about the snuff-box, which

gave them everything they wanted, and the Queen bribed a servant to

steal the snuff-box. They noticed carefully where it was put away every

night, and one evening, when the whole world was asleep, the woman stole

it and brought it to her old mistress. Oh how happy the Queen was! She

opened the lid, and the snuff-box said to her 'What do you want?' And

she answered at once 'I want you to take me and my husband and my

servants and this beautiful house and set us down on the other side of

the Red Sea, but my daughter and her husband are to stay behind.'

[Illustration]

When the young couple woke up, they found themselves back in the old

castle, without their snuff-box. They hunted for it high and low, but

quite vainly. The young man felt that no time was to be lost, and he

mounted his horse and filled his pockets with as much gold as he could

carry. On he went, away, away, away, but he sought the snuff-box in vain

all up and down the neighbouring countries, and very soon he came to the

end of all his money. But still he went on, as fast as the strength of

his horse would let him, begging his way.

Someone told him that he ought to consult the moon, for the moon

travelled far, and might be able to tell him something. So he went away,

away, away, and ended, somehow or other, by reaching the land of the

moon. There he found a little old woman who said to him 'What are you

doing here? My son eats all living things he sees, and if you are wise,

you will go away without coming any further.' But the young man told her

all his sad tale, and how he possessed a wonderful snuff-box, and how it

had been stolen from him, and how he had nothing left, now that he was

parted from his wife and was in need of everything. And he said that

perhaps her son, who travelled so far, might have seen a palace with

laths of gold and tiles of diamond, and furnished all in silver and

gold. As he spoke these last words, the moon came in and said he smelt

mortal flesh and blood. But his mother told him that it was an unhappy

man who had lost everything, and had come all this way to consult him,

and bade the young man not to be afraid, but to come forward and show

himself. So he went boldly up to the moon, and asked if by any accident

he had seen a palace with the laths of gold and the tiles of diamond,

and all the furniture of silver and gold. Once this house belonged to

him, but now it was stolen. And the moon said no, but that the sun

travelled farther than he did, and that the young man had better go and

ask him.

So the young man departed, and went away, away, away, as well as his

horse would take him, begging his living as he rode along, and, somehow

or other, at last he got to the land of the sun. There he found a little

old woman, who asked him, 'What are you doing here? Go away. Have you

not heard that my son feeds upon Christians?' But he said no, and that

he would not go, for he was so miserable that it was all one to him

whether he died or not; that he had lost everything, and especially a

splendid palace like none other in the whole world, for it had laths of

gold and tiles of diamond, and all the furniture was of silver and gold.

And that he had sought it far and long, and in all the earth there was

no man more unhappy. So the old woman's heart melted, and she agreed to

hide him.

When the Sun arrived, he declared that he smelt Christian flesh, and he

meant to have it for his dinner. But his mother told him such a pitiful

story of the miserable wretch who had lost everything, and had come from

far to ask his help, that at last he promised to see him.

So the young man came out from his hiding-place and begged the sun to

tell him if in the course of his travels he had not seen somewhere a

palace that had not its like in the whole world, for its laths were of

gold and its tiles of diamond, and all the furniture in silver and gold.

And the sun said no, but that perhaps the wind had seen it, for he

entered everywhere, and saw things that no one else ever saw, and if

anyone knew where it was, it was certainly the wind.

Then the poor young man again set forth as well as his horse could take

him, begging his living as he went, and, somehow or other, he ended by

reaching the home of the wind. He found there a little old woman busily

occupied in filling great barrels with water. She asked him what had put

it into his head to come there, for her son ate everything he saw, and

that he would shortly arrive quite mad, and that the young man had

better look out. But he answered that he was so unhappy that he had

ceased to mind anything, even being eaten, and then he told her that he

had been robbed of a palace that had not its equal in all the world, and

of all that was in it, and that he had even left his wife, and was

wandering over the world until he found it. And that it was the sun who

had sent him to consult the wind. So she hid him under the staircase,

and soon they heard the south wind arrive, shaking the house to its

foundations. Thirsty as he was, he did not wait to drink, but he told

his mother that he smelt the blood of a Christian man, and that she had

better bring him out at once and make him ready to be eaten. But she

bade her son eat and drink what was before him, and said that the poor

young man was much to be pitied, and that the sun had granted him his

life in order that he might consult the wind. Then she brought out the

young man, who explained how he was seeking for his palace, and that no

man had been able to tell him where it was, so he had come to the wind.

And he added that he had been shamefully robbed, and that the laths were

of gold and the tiles of diamond, and all the furniture in silver and

gold, and he inquired if the wind had not seen such a palace during his

wanderings.

And the wind said yes, and that all that day he had been blowing

backwards and forwards over it without being able to move one single

tile. 'Oh, do tell me where it is,' cried the young man. 'It is a long

way off,' replied the wind, 'on the other side of the Red Sea.' But our

traveller was not discouraged, he had already journeyed too far.

So he set forth at once, and, somehow or other, he managed to reach that

distant land. And he enquired if anyone wanted a gardener. He was told

that the head gardener at the castle had just left, and perhaps he might

have a chance of getting the place. The young man lost no time, but

walked up to the castle and asked if they were in want of a gardener;

and how happy he was when they agreed to take him! Now he passed most of

his day in gossiping with the servants about the wealth of their masters

and the wonderful things in the house. He made friends with one of the

maids, who told him the history of the snuff-box, and he coaxed her to

let him see it. One evening she managed to get hold of it, and the young

man watched carefully where she hid it away, in a secret place in the

bed-chamber of her mistress.

The following night, when everyone was fast asleep, he crept in and took

the snuff-box. Think of his joy as he opened the lid! When it asked him,

as of yore, 'What do you want?' he replied: 'What do I want? What do I

want? Why, I want to go with my palace to the old place, and for the

King and the Queen and all their servants to be drowned in the Red Sea.'

He hardly finished speaking when he found himself back again with his

wife, while all the other inhabitants of the palace were lying at the

bottom of the Red Sea.

Sebillot.