Historical Tales, Volume VII | Page 3

done with Paul.
To accomplish this he gave the king a sleeping potion, and while he
was under its influence had him tonsured,--that is, had the crown of his
head shaved. He then proclaimed that this had been done at the wish of
the king, who was weary of the throne. But whether or not, the law was
strict. No matter how or why it was done, no man who had received the
tonsure could ever again sit upon the Gothic throne. Fortunately for

Ervigio, Wamba cared no more for the crown now than he had done at
first, and when he came back to his senses he made little question of
the base trick of his favorite, but cheerfully enough became a monk.
The remaining seven years of his life he passed happily in withdrawal
from a world into which he had been forced against his will.
But the people loved him, the good old man, and were not willing to
accept the scheming Ervigio as their king unless he could prove his
right to the throne. So, in the year 681, he called together a council of
lords and bishops at Toledo, before whom he appeared with a great
show of humility, bringing testimony to prove that Wamba had become
monk at his own wish, when in peril of death. To this he added a
document signed by Wamba, in which he abdicated the throne, and
another in which he recommended Ervigio as his successor. For eight
days the council considered the question. The documents might be false,
but Wamba was a monk, and Ervigio was in power; so they chose him
as king. The holy oil of consecration was poured upon his unholy head.
Thus it was that Wamba the husbandman first became king and
afterwards monk. In all his stations--farmer, king, and monk--he
acquitted himself well and worthily, and his name has come down to us
from the mists of time as one of those rare men of whom we know little,
but all that little good.

THE GREEK KING'S DAUGHTER.
History wears a double face,--one face fancy, the other fact. The worst
of it is that we cannot always tell which face is turned towards us, and
we mistake one for the other far oftener than we know. In truth, fancy
works in among the facts of the most sober history, while in that
primitive form of history known as legend or tradition fancy has much
the best of it, though it may often be founded upon fact. In the present
tale we have to do with legend pure and simple, with hardly a thread of
fact to give substance to its web.
There was a certain Grecian king of Cadiz whose daughter was of such

peerless beauty that her hand was sought in marriage by many of the
other kings of Andalusia. In those days "that country was ruled by
several kings, each having estates not extending over more than one or
two cities." What to do with the crowd of suitors the father was puzzled
to decide. Had a single one asked for his daughter's hand he might have
settled it with a word, but among so many, equally brave, handsome,
and distinguished, answer was not so easy; and the worthy king of
Cadiz was sorely troubled and perplexed.
Luckily for him, the fair damsel was as wise as she was beautiful, and
took the matter into her own hands, making an announcement that
quickly cut down the number of her admirers. She said that she would
have no husband but one who could prove himself "a wise king." In our
days, when every king and nearly every man thinks himself wise, such
a decision would not have deterred suitors, and she would have been
compelled, in the end, to choose among the few unwise. But wisdom,
in those times of fable and necromancy, had a wider meaning than we
give it. A wise king was one who had control of the powers of earth
and air, who could call the genii to his aid by incantations, and perform
supernatural deeds. Hence it was that the suitors fell off from the
maiden like leaves from an autumn bough, leaving but two who
deemed themselves fitting aspirants to her hand.
To test the wisdom of these two she gave them the following tasks:
One was bidden to construct on the mainland an aqueduct and a
water-wheel to bring water from the mountains into Cadiz. The other
was to produce a talisman which should save the island of Cadiz from
invasion by Berbers or any other of the fierce tribes of Africa, by whom
it was frequently threatened.
"The one of you," said the princess, "who first and best performs his
task, shall win my hand