A House of Pomegranates | Page 6

Death in the heart of the pearl.' And he told them his three
dreams.
And when the courtiers heard them they looked at each other and
whispered, saying: 'Surely he is mad; for what is a dream but a dream,
and a vision but a vision? They are not real things that one should heed
them. And what have we to do with the lives of those who toil for us?
Shall a man not eat bread till he has seen the sower, nor drink wine till
he has talked with the vinedresser?'
And the Chamberlain spake to the young King, and said, 'My lord, I
pray thee set aside these black thoughts of thine, and put on this fair
robe, and set this crown upon thy head. For how shall the people know
that thou art a king, if thou hast not a king's raiment?'
And the young King looked at him. 'Is it so, indeed?' he questioned.
'Will they not know me for a king if I have not a king's raiment?'
'They will not know thee, my lord,' cried the Chamberlain.
'I had thought that there had been men who were kinglike,' he answered,
'but it may be as thou sayest. And yet I will not wear this robe, nor will
I be crowned with this crown, but even as I came to the palace so will I
go forth from it.'
And he bade them all leave him, save one page whom he kept as his
companion, a lad a year younger than himself. Him he kept for his
service, and when he had bathed himself in clear water, he opened a
great painted chest, and from it he took the leathern tunic and rough
sheepskin cloak that he had worn when he had watched on the hillside
the shaggy goats of the goatherd. These he put on, and in his hand he
took his rude shepherd's staff.
And the little page opened his big blue eyes in wonder, and said
smiling to him, 'My lord, I see thy robe and thy sceptre, but where is
thy crown?'
And the young King plucked a spray of wild briar that was climbing
over the balcony, and bent it, and made a circlet of it, and set it on his
own head.
'This shall he my crown,' he answered.
And thus attired he passed out of his chamber into the Great Hall,
where the nobles were waiting for him.
And the nobles made merry, and some of them cried out to him, 'My
lord, the people wait for their king, and thou showest them a beggar,'

and others were wroth and said, 'He brings shame upon our state, and is
unworthy to be our master.' But he answered them not a word, but
passed on, and went down the bright porphyry staircase, and out
through the gates of bronze, and mounted upon his horse, and rode
towards the cathedral, the little page running beside him.
And the people laughed and said, 'It is the King's fool who is riding by,'
and they mocked him.
And he drew rein and said, 'Nay, but I am the King.' And he told them
his three dreams.
And a man came out of the crowd and spake bitterly to him, and said,
'Sir, knowest thou not that out of the luxury of the rich cometh the life
of the poor? By your pomp we are nurtured, and your vices give us
bread. To toil for a hard master is bitter, but to have no master to toil
for is more bitter still. Thinkest thou that the ravens will feed us? And
what cure hast thou for these things? Wilt thou say to the buyer, "Thou
shalt buy for so much," and to the seller, "Thou shalt sell at this price"?
I trow not. Therefore go back to thy Palace and put on thy purple and
fine linen. What hast thou to do with us, and what we suffer?'
'Are not the rich and the poor brothers?' asked the young King.
'Ay,' answered the man, 'and the name of the rich brother is Cain.'
And the young King's eyes filled with tears, and he rode on through the
murmurs of the people, and the little page grew afraid and left him.
And when he reached the great portal of the cathedral, the soldiers
thrust their halberts out and said, 'What dost thou seek here? None
enters by this door but the King.'
And his face flushed with anger, and he said to them, 'I am the King,'
and waved their halberts aside and passed in.
And when the old Bishop saw him coming in his goatherd's dress, he
rose up in wonder from his throne, and went to meet him, and said to
him,