The Uncrowned King | Page 4

was
as safe as ever crown could be--as safe indeed as ever a crown can be.
And this too is truth, O Hadji; that in Daybyday, even now, you may
find ruins of the many temples, and here and there a little of the many
gods. Even now you may see where the Great Wall was. But of the
Crown, in these days, there is nothing--nothing.
And this is how it happened--this is the way it came to be.
King What-Soever-Youthink was the father of two sons; twins they
were, and their names--Really-Is and Seemsto-Be. No one in all the
kingdom could tell them one from the other, though the princes
themselves knew that Really-Is was first born, and that when the wise
king, their father, died, it would be for him to occupy the throne, to
wear the Crown, and rule the Land of Allthetime.
One day when the young princes were playing in the palace yard they

discovered, by chance, an old door that led to the stairway in a tower.
Of course they climbed up, up, up, until they stood at last in the cupola
at the very top. Far beneath their feet they saw the roofs of the Royal
Palace, and the gardens, fields, and orchards, like spots and splashes of
color. The walks and courts appeared as lines and squares of white,
while the soldiers and servants moved about like tiny animated dots.
Reaching away from the palace grounds on every side was the
wonderful city Daybyday, so far below that no sound could reach their
ears. To their delight, the princes found that they could even look down
upon the Great Wall; and, because there were that day no clouds to shut
out the view, they could see far, far away over the Land of Allthetime.
[Illustration: (see king005.png)]
"Look, brother," cried Seemsto-Be, catching Really-Is by the arm in
quick excitement, "Look! what is that flashing and gleaming in the
sun?"
As he spoke, he pointed afar off to the land beyond the river that marks
the end of Allthetime.
"I'm sure I cannot tell;" answered Really-Is, shading his eyes with his
open hand and gazing long and earnestly in the direction his brother
indicated; "It looks--it looks like a city."
"It is, it is," cried Seemsto-Be. "It is the City Sometime in the Land of
Yettocome. I remember hearing once the Chief Gardener telling the
Chief Coachman about it, and he said that the Chief Cook said that he
heard the Captain of the Guard say that it is far more wonderful than
our own city Daybyday; and it must be so, Really-Is, for see, brother,
how the walls shine like polished silver, and look! Is not that a palace
or a temple blazing so like a ruby flame?"
Often after that did the twin princes, Really-Is and Seemsto-Be, climb
the winding stairs in the palace tower and look away over the Great
Wall of Daybyday to the City Sometime in the Land of Yettocome.
Many were the hours they spent talking of the marvelous place that so
filled the distance with dazzling splendor. And at last, when the princes

were quite grown, they went before their royal father and asked
permission to visit the city they had seen.
Now King What-Soever-Youthink was very sad when his sons made
their request, but nevertheless, because he was a wise king, he gave his
royal consent, and, that the brothers might make their journey in
comfort, presented to each a priceless horse from the palace stables. To
Really-Is he gave Reality; to Seemsto-Be he gave Appearance; and
both were steeds of noble breeding, swift and strong, beautiful and
proud--as like even as the royal twins, their masters.
So it came that the two princes bade farewell to their father, the King,
and rode bravely out of the city Daybyday, through the Land of
Allthetime, and along the way that leads to the City Sometime in the
Land of Yettocome.
"And this, O Hadji," said the Voice of the Waves, "is all of The Tale of
The Uncrowned King that is given me to tell."
The liquid music of the waves came no longer through the open
window--the voice that was in the music came no more to the Pilgrim
in The Quiet Room. Without the Temple the tall trees were still-still
and silent were the sweet-voiced birds. The sunlight and shadow fairies
had danced to the ends of the lanes of gold--danced to the very ends
and were gone. The feathery cloud ships in the blue above seemed to
lie at anchor, and over the surface of the Beautiful Sea no laughing
ripples ran to play on the pebbly beach.
The Pilgrim arose from his couch, and, going to the open window,
looked, and there, in the