THE STORY OF THE DISCONTENTED BOY AND THE MAGICIAN
A long, long time ago, in a country a great way off, there lived a man who was the King's Grand Vizier. Now the Vizier had a son, who was ten years old, and he caused his father a great deal of unhappiness. For he was a very greedy boy, and he grumbled at everything he had.
As long as anything belonged to some one else he liked it very much, and he cried and made a loud noise until it was given to him. But as soon as it became his own Hassan began to find fault with it. It was just the same with little things or big things—as soon as they were put into his own hands he ceased to care for them.
If he sat at dinner and he had tasted every dish but one, he would ask for that, and say he liked it better than anything else; but when it was put on his plate, he would push it away. 'This is horrid!' he would cry. 'I don't want it. Take it away.' And he would throw it on to the floor, plate and all.
Now, as you may suppose, this conduct vexed the Vizier, and presently things came to such a pass that he could think of nothing but his tiresome son. One day he was summoned to the King's presence.
'The affairs of the kingdom are being neglected,' said the King; 'the people are not paying their taxes, yet nobody's head is cut off. This kind of thing cannot be allowed to go on. If I do not see an improvement very soon I shall cast you into prison.'
The Vizier had a great dread of the prison, for he had sent many persons there and he knew exactly what it was like. So he fell on his knees before the King and confessed that Hassan was the real cause of the neglect.
'Very well,' answered the King, 'I shall not be so unjust as to punish you for your son's offence, but if he does not become satisfied within a month from to-day, I shall condemn him to death. But as you have served me faithfully so many years, I shall allow you the privilege of choosing whether his head shall be cut off with an axe or a sword.'
The Vizier thanked the King for granting him this privilege and returned to his own palace; he knew it was useless to speak to Hassan because he had spoken to him so often before, so he sent for a Magician who lived a few miles away. When the Magician heard of the Vizier's distress, he at once promised to help him.
'I believe I can cure your son,' he said, as soon as he entered the palace, 'and I do not think it will take so long as a month.'
'I should like the cure to be perfect,' answered the Vizier, 'and then I shall be able to attend properly to the King's business again.'
'There is only one condition,' said the Magician. 'Hassan must come with me wherever I choose to take him.'
'That is impossible!' cried the Vizier; 'as long as I forbid his going, he will wish to go, but as soon as I give my permission, he will change his mind and insist upon staying at home.'
'He will not have time to change his mind,' said the Magician, and then an attendant was summoned, and a few minutes later Hassan entered the room with a scowl on his face, whereupon the Vizier looked at the Magician as much as to say, 'There! what did I tell you!'
'Good afternoon, Hassan,' said the Magician.
'It isn't a good afternoon,' answered Hassan, scowling more fiercely than before.
'Well, never mind,' said the Magician; 'I daresay it will be a good afternoon to-morrow.'
'Oh yes, to-morrow, I daresay,' answered Hassan. 'What's the use of that?'
'It's very fortunate for me,' said the Magician; 'because I shall be on my travels. I start on a pleasant journey to-day.'
'I wish I might start on a journey,' grumbled Hassan. 'I've always wanted to go on a journey, only they'll never let me.'
'In the place I am going to,' said the Magician with an agreeable smile, 'everybody is allowed to ask for anything he sees.'
'What's the use of asking for things if you don't get them!' exclaimed Hassan.
'But in the place I am going to,' said the Magician, smiling still more pleasantly, if that were possible, 'you may ask for anything you see, and nothing you ask for is refused.'
'That must be a very nice place,' said Hassan; 'just the place I should like to live in, only of course my father wouldn't let me.'
Then the Magician rose, paying no attention to the reproachful glances which the poor Vizier cast upon his son, and crossing the room, he stopped at Hassan's side.
'If you like to come with me on a short visit, you may do so,' he said.
'I shouldn't like it at all,' said Hassan. 'I think it would be horrid.'
'But,' exclaimed the Vizier angrily, 'you said you would like to go.'
'Not for a short visit,' answered Hassan. 'What's the use of a short visit?'
'Very well,' said the Magician, smiling agreeably; 'you may stay as long as you please. And you shall have everything you see.'
'Thank you,' answered Hassan, though he did not look very thankful, 'I don't want anything.'
'Then, come along,' cried the Magician, stepping towards the door.
'But I am not going,' answered Hassan. 'I shan't go. I don't want to go.'
'Come along,' said the Magician cheerfully, and he fixed his small bright eyes on Hassan's face as he spoke. Although the Magician was some yards away, Hassan felt obliged to rise from his chair, and to follow him out into the corridor. Hassan would far sooner have stayed where he was, yet he knew he could not stay even to say good-bye to his father, and he began to feel fonder of the Vizier than he had ever felt before.
Still it was of no use. Hassan really did not know why he went, only that somehow it seemed that he could not stay when the Magician looked at him. So Hassan followed the Magician along the corridor, to the great astonishment of everybody who saw him, for when he did not wish to go anywhere, which was usually the case, he had to be dragged or carried. But to-day Hassan followed the Magician as obediently as a dog follows his master.
Outside the palace he saw a curious-looking carriage drawn by two zebras. 'Step in,' said the Magician politely, and though Hassan would have preferred to stay where he was, he stepped in as the Magician told him.
'I want to walk,' he said, when the Magician was seated beside him and the zebras had started.
'You will have plenty of walking to-morrow,' was the answer.
'You said I might have everything I asked for,' Hassan grumbled.
'When you get there,' said the Magician.
'Where?' asked Hassan.
'Where we are going to,' answered the Magician. 'I always keep my promises. Anything you see you may ask for, and anything you ask for you shall have.' They continued the journey many miles, and presently Hassan wondered where they were to sleep.
'I never go to sleep,' said the Magician; 'time is too precious. But I don't wish to hinder you from sleeping if you are used to it. You may sleep here.'
'How can I sleep here?' grumbled Hassan, but a few minutes later his eyes closed and his chin fell on his chest, and as the carriage was driven swiftly along the road, Hassan's head waggled about very funnily. Presently he was awakened, and opening his eyes he saw that the Magician had been shaking him worse than the carriage.
'I want my breakfast!' he exclaimed.
'I never have breakfast,' answered the Magician; 'but if you like you may breakfast to-morrow.'
'You said I might have anything I asked for,' said Hassan, beginning to feel rather miserable.
'So I did,' the Magician admitted; 'anything you see you may ask for, you know, but I don't think you can see any breakfast, besides,' the Magician added, 'you must wait until we are there, and we have a long way to go yet.'
He told Hassan to get out of the carriage, which was at once driven away. 'Come along,' said the Magician, with a smiling face, and Hassan felt compelled to follow, although he would far sooner have gone home again. He could see nothing but grass all around and the great trees that shaded it from the burning sun. As he trudged after the Magician, Hassan continued to grumble about his breakfast until it was dinner-time, and it seemed useless to grumble about breakfast any more. He began to wonder where the Magician was taking him, because, though he had walked for many hours, he had seen nothing but trees.
One thing astonished Hassan very much indeed. Although it was still quite early in the afternoon, the farther he walked the darker it grew, and at first he thought the dimness was due to the trees. But he noticed there were not nearly so many trees as there had been, and yet the light became fainter and fainter.
'I should like to have some dinner!' cried Hassan, as he followed the Magician. 'I'm hungry, and you promised I might have anything I asked for.'
'When we get there,' answered the Magician; 'we are not there yet, you see, but when we arrive I shall keep my word.'
Hassan wished he had never seen the Magician; he felt so sleepy that he could scarcely prevent his eyes from closing, but still he walked on and on; and still it grew darker and darker. There were no trees now, only a few low bushes, and the sky looked a curious dark colour. There were no stars, no moon; Hassan could scarcely see his way, and gradually everything became invisible except the Magician, until presently he disappeared too. It seemed darker than the middle of the night; when Hassan looked upwards he saw nothing but blackness; when he looked down he saw nothing but blackness; to the right and the left it was the same; he could not see his own hands when he held them close to his nose, and yet his eyes were quite widely open all the time.
'Are you here?' he cried, to make sure the Magician had not gone away and left him alone.
'No,' was the answer, 'we are there now!'
'I'm glad of that,' said Hassan; 'I want some light.'
'Very sorry!' exclaimed the Magician.
'And something to eat,' said Hassan.
'Very sorry,' answered the Magician again, but he did not sound sorry in the least. Hassan thought he sounded quite glad, though there did not seem much to be glad about. Then Hassan began to stamp about on the grass just as if he were at home, and he scowled until his forehead was full of wrinkles, only he might as well have laughed, for there was nobody to see him.
'Now,' said the Magician, 'I hope you will make yourself quite at home. Everybody does exactly as he likes here. What should you like to do?'
'You said I could have anything I asked for,' answered Hassan, 'and I should like something nice to eat.'
'Well,' said the Magician very civilly, 'you can look round and choose anything you see.'
'What's the use of looking round,' asked Hassan, 'if I can't see anything?'
'No, no!' cried the Magician very politely, 'of course not. No use at all.'
'Then why did you tell me to look?' said Hassan.
'Anything you see you may ask for,' said the Magician, as if he were muttering to himself, 'and anything you ask for you may have.'
Hassan felt so cross at hearing these words again that he flung himself on the grass and kicked his legs about and began to cry. He always made a great noise when he cried, but the Magician seemed not to mind in the least. Presently Hassan fell asleep and dreamed he was at a great feast, where the table was loaded with large joints of meat, and with turkeys and pheasants, with a round Christmas pudding at one end. The Magician was just going to carve, and he said that Hassan might ask for whatever he saw. 'I'll have turkey first,' Hassan dreamed he said, 'and then pheasant and then Christmas pudding.' All the things he named were placed upon a plate at once; only, just as he was going to taste the turkey, the plate fell to the ground and Hassan awoke. He felt so hungry and the dream seemed so real, that he sat up and began to feel on the grass for his plate.
'Hullo!' cried the Magician, 'have you lost anything?'
'I dreamed I was just going to have some turkey,' said Hassan.
'Ah, well!' answered the Magician, 'you may ask for anything you see, you know.' But it seemed darker than ever; Hassan could see nothing and he began to feel very miserable indeed. He never learned how long he stayed with the Magician, though it appeared a long time while it lasted, and he began to think it would never come to an end. He did not know whether it was days or weeks, only he felt hungry all the time, and at last he could think of nothing but home. He wished he was back there, and he made up his mind that if ever he did get back, he would not grumble any more.
Now it was a strange thing that whilst Hassan sat on the grass, with his hands clasped round his knees and his eyes on the ground, although of course he could see nothing, it began to grow a little lighter. And the more he made up his mind not to grumble the lighter it grew, so that at last he fancied he could see the Magician. And the Magician was sitting cross-legged on the ground eating some dinner which looked exactly like what Hassan had seen in his dream.
'I'll have that!' cried Hassan the moment he could see it.
'With pleasure,' said the Magician, and he rose and brought the plate to Hassan. Unfortunately Hassan was so much in the habit of grumbling at everything the moment he received it that, as soon as he took the plate in his hand, he said—
'This must have been a poor old turkey and very badly cooked too.'
Before he finished speaking, the light faded, and it grew so dark that he could not see the plate. Worse than that, Hassan could not feel it, but he could hear the Magician as if he were enjoying his meal very much indeed.
'I say!' exclaimed Hassan.
'Well, what do you say?'
'I beg your pardon. I didn't mean it—really,' said Hassan, and suddenly it began to grow lighter again—so light that he could see the Magician, who seemed to have a fresh plate full of turkey. 'I'll have that, please!' cried Hassan, and once more the Magician brought him the plate. As soon as Hassan took it in his hands, he looked at the nice white slices, and he was just going to grumble as usual when he remembered in time. So instead of saying what he intended to say, he ate his dinner in a sensible manner.
And now Hassan began to understand that when he felt inclined to grumble the darkness grew blacker, but that when he made up his mind not to grumble any more, it seemed almost as light as day. As he sat staring straight in front of him, the Magician came to his side—
'Well, Hassan,' he said, 'what is the matter? What are you staring at so attentively?'
'I—I fancied I saw myself at home again,' answered Hassan.
'Ah! I suppose you saw yourself grumbling as usual,' said the Magician.
'No, I wasn't grumbling. I was very happy.'
'Anything you see you may ask for,' answered the Magician, 'and anything you ask for you may have.'
'Why, then!' exclaimed Hassan before the Magician had time to finish speaking, 'of course I'll have that!'
'What?' asked the Magician.
'I saw myself at home again, you know——'
'You were contented,' answered the Magician, 'you mustn't forget that.'
'No,' said Hassan, 'I won't.' And then, to his great surprise, he found himself at home again. He was sitting in the palace garden, rubbing his eyes just as if he had fallen asleep after dinner. But although everything else looked very much the same as it had done before he went away with the Magician, Hassan knew of one thing that was different, and that was himself. For, you see, he had become the contented boy he fancied he saw in the forest—Hassan had become just what he wished to be.