Jgiaa*'Si

illustrated

bu marc Simont

n_OW can anyone describe

this

book?

It isn't

a parable,

a fairy story or a

poem, but
all

rather a mixture of

three.

It is

beautiful

and

it is

comic.

It

is

philosophical and

it

is

cheery.

What we

suppose

we
say

are trying

fumbhngly to
it is

is,

in a

word, that

Thurber.

There
reasons

are

only

few

why

everybody has
this

always wanted to read

[continued on hack flay]

$3-95

W
F
T.

1
PRINT

Thurber, James. THE 13 CLOCKS.

c.
1

HATr.
PRINT
F

T.

Thurber, Oames THE 13 CLOCKS,

c.
1

LIBRARY
IOWA COMMISSION FOR THE BUND
Fourth wd KeoMttqna Way Des Moines, Iowa 50309

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in

2012 with funding from

National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

http://archive.org/details/13clocks00jame

JAMES THURBER

erne

IB

ClOCkS
BY

ILLUSTRATED

MARK SIMONT

5imon and 5chu5tcr NEW YORK

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF REPRODUCTION

IN

WHOLE OR

IN

PART IN ANY FORM

COPYRIGHT, I95O, BY JAMES THURBER PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER, I23O SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK 20, N. Y. NINTH PRINTING

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY REEHL LITHO, INC.

BOUND BY H. WOLFF MFG. CO., HAND SET BY HOWARD O. BULLARD,

INC.

To

Jap and Helen Glide

spell

who
cast

have broken more than one

a

upon the author by

this

witch or wizard,

book

is

warmly dedicated.

FOREWORD

1 wrote The Thirteen Clocks

Bermuda, where

had gone to

finish another book.

The

shift to this

one was an example of escapism and

gence. Unless

self-indul-

modern

Man
I

wanders
see

byways

occasionally,

do not
11

down these how he can

hope to preserve

his sanity.

must apologize

to

my publishers and to the talented Marc Simont, who were forced to keep up with the constant
small changes
I

insisted

on making

all

the time,

even in the galley proofs. In the end they took

the

book away from me, on the ground

finished

that

it

was

and that

was

just having fun tink-

ering with clocks and running

stairs.
I

up and down

secret

They had me

there.

want

to thank these helpful friends:

Sara Linda Williams, for letting

me

use her

name

for the Princess

(Miss Williams,

who

is

four, insisted

on oleanders

the Princess's hair

gruel-

instead of frees las,

and there were several

ing conferences about this, from

which

barely

emerged the winner); John and Nelga Young,

who

provided, the

perfect

place to write
able

the

story; Fritzi

Kuegelgen,

who was

by some
transcribe

magic of her

own

to

make out and

some

five

hundred sheets of pencil scrawl and

to read the to

whole thing aloud from beginning

dozen times; Ronnie and Janey
12

end

at least a

Williams, for brightening the weather by their

presence on an island

the ocean seas; and

my

wife, for constructive criticism and for

waking me

out of nightmares, some of them about the Todal,

I

suppose, but the worst ones, on the darkest

nights, about the

whole

enterprise

general.

J.T.

West Cornwall
Connecticut

13

(DlCI3lDChS

P-^rd.

NCE
hill,

upon

time, in

gloomy

castle

on

lonely
thir-

where

there

were

teen clocks that wouldn't go,

there lived a cold, aggressive

Duke, and
Princess Saralmda.

his niece, the

in every

She was

warm

wind
hands

and weather, but he was always

cold. His

were

as

cold as his smile and almost as cold as

his heart.

He wore

gloves

when

he was asleep,

and he wore gloves

when
him

he was awake, which

made

it

difficult for

to pick

up

pins or coins

or the kernels of nuts, or to tear the

nightingales.

wings from
forty-six,

He was

six feet four,

and

and even colder than he thought he was. One eye

17

wore
a

a velvet patch; the other glittered

through

monocle, which made half his body seem closer

to

you than

the other half.

He had

lost

one eye

when he was
into nests

twelve, for he was fond of peering

lairs in

and

search of birds and animals

to maul.

One

afternoon, a mother shrike had

mauled him

first.

His nights were spent

evil

dreams, and his days were given to wicked

schemes.

Wickedly scheming, he would limp and

through the cold corridors of the
castle,

cackle

planning

new

impossible feats for the suitors of Saralmda

to perform.

He

did not wish to give her hand in

marriage, since her

hand was the only warm hand

his

the castle.

Even the hands of

all

watch and

the hands of

the thirteen clocks were frozen.

They had

all

frozen at the same time, on a

snowy
it

night, seven years before,

and

after that
castle.

was

always ten minutes to

five

m the
at

Travelers
castle

and mariners would look up

the

gloomy

on the lonely
It's

hill

and
It's

say,

"Time

lies

frozen there.

always Then.

never
18

Now."

The
has

cold

Duke was

afraid of

Now,
is

for

Now

warmth and urgency, and Then

dead and

buried.

Now

might bring

a certain

knight of gay

and shining courage

muttered.
a

"But, no!" the cold

Duke

"The Prince

will break himself against

new and awful

labor: a place too

high to reach,
lift."

a thing too far to find, a

burden too heavy to

The Duke was

afraid of

Now,

but he tampered

with the clocks to

see

if

they would go, out of

a strange perversity,

praying that they wouldn't.

Tinkers and tinkerers and a few wizards

who
tools

happened bv tned to
or magic words, or

start the clocks

with

bv shaking them and

cursing,

but nothmg whirred or ticked. The clocks were

dead, and in the end, brooding on
it,

the

Duke
his
its

decided he had murdered time, slam

it

with

sword, and wiped his bloodv blade upon

beard and
minutes,
its

left it
its

lving there, bleeding hours and

springs

uncoiled

and

sprawlmg,

pendulum

disintegrating.
his

The Duke limped because

different lengths.
left

legs

were of

The

right

one had outgrown the

because,

when

he was voting, he had spent

kit-

his

mornings place-kicking pups and punting

tens.

He would

sav to

a suitor,

"What
legs?"

is

the difif

ference in the length of

mv
is

and

the

vouth

replied,

"Whv,

one

shorter than the

other," the

Duke would run him through with

carried in his

the

sword he

swordcane and feed

him
::

to the geese.
is

The

suitor

was supposed

to sav,
a

\\ hv, one

longer than the other."

Manv

prince had been run through for naming the

20

wrong

difference.

Others had been slam

for of-

fenses equally trivial: trampling the Duke's camellias,

failing to praise his

wines, staring too long

at his niece.

at his gloves,

gazing too long

Those

who

survived his scorn and sword were given

incredible labors to perform in order to

niece's hand, the

win

his

only

warm hand

in the castle,

where time had frozen

five

to death at ten minutes to

a

one snowy night. They were told to cut

slice

of moon, or change the ocean into wine.

set to finding things that

They were

never were,

and building things and

tried

that could not be.

They came

and

failed

and disappeared and never

as
I

came

again.

And

some,

have

said,

were slam,

for using

names that

start

with X, or dropping

spoons, or wearing rings, or speaking disrespectfully of sin.

The

castle

and the Duke grew colder, and

Saralmda, as a princess will, even

m a place where
but only a
a

time

lies

frozen,

became

a little older,

little older.

She was nearly twenty-one the day

prince, disguised as a minstrel,

came singing to the

22

town

that lay

below the

castle.

He

called himself

Xmgu, which was

since the

not his name, and dangerous,

name began with

X and

still

does.

He was,

quite properly, a thing of shreds and

patches, a ragged minstrel, singing for pennies

and

the love of singing.

himself,

Xmgu,

as

he so rashly called
king,

was the youngest son of a powerful

but he had

grown weary

of rich attire and ban-

quets and tournaments and the available princesses

of his

own

realm,

and yearned to find

23

in a far land

the maiden of his dreams, singing as he went,

learning the
a
life

of the lowly, and possibly slaying

there.

dragon here and

At

the sign of the Silver

castle,

Swan,

the

town

below the

where

taverners, travelers, tale-

tellers, tosspots,

troublemakers, and other towns-

people were gathered, he heard of Saralinda,

loveliest princess

on

all

the thousand islands of

rain to silver,

the ocean seas. "If

you can turn the

she

is

yours," a taverner leered.

"If

you can

slay the

thorny Boar of Bory thorn,

is

she

is

yours," grinned a traveler. "But there

it

no

thorny Boar of Borythorn, which makes

hard."

"What

makes

it

even harder

is

her uncle's

scorn and sword," sneered a

slit

tale-teller.

"He
"

will

you from your guggle

"The Duke
is

to

your zatch
nine inches

seven

feet,

tall,

and

only twenty-eight years old, or in his prime," a

tosspot gurgled. "His
a clock,

hand

is

cold enough to stop

a bull,

and strong enough to choke

and

swift enough to catch the wind.

minstrels in his soup, like crackers."

He

breaks

up

24

"

"Our
heart

minstrel here will

warm

the old man's

with song, dazzle him with jewels and

gold," a troublemaker simpered. "Hell trample

on

the Duke's camellias, spill his wine, and blunt his

sword, and say

the end the

his

name begins with X, and

in

Duke

will say, 'Take Saralmda,

with

my

blessing,

lordly Prince of
!

Rags and Tags,

'

rider of the

sun
eighteen stone, but

The troublemaker weighed

the minstrel picked
air

him up and tossed him

set

m the
Then

and caught him and

his

him down

again.

he paid
"I've

due and

left

the Swan.

seen that youth before," the traveler

after

mused, staring

Xmgu, "but he was

neither

ragamuffin then, nor minstrel.

Now

let

me

see,

where was

it?"

"In his soup," the tosspot said, "like crackers."

II

Si

^^^
^^
I

UTSIDE
was

the tavern the night

m
I

lighted

by

rocking yel-

low moon

that held a

white

^^W^
^^^

star in its horn. In the

gloomy
a

castle

on the

hill

^^^^^
stalked from

lantern gleamed and

if

darkened, came and went, as

the gaunt

Duke
and

room

to room, stabbing bats

spiders, killing mice. "Dazzle the

Duke with
and

jewels," the minstrel said aloud. "There's some-

thing
where,

m
I

it

somewhere, but what

it

is

cannot think."

He wondered
fall

if

the

Duke

would
or

order

him

to cause a

of purple snow,
slit

make

a table

out of sawdust, or merely

his zatch,

him

from his guggle to

and say to Saralmda,

26

"There he
strel. I'll

lies,

your

latest fool, a

nameless minto the geese."

have

my

varlets feed

him

The

minstrel shuddered

the moonlight,

won-

dering where his zatch and guggle were.

He

wondered
invade the

how

and

why

and when he could

castle.

duke was never known to

ask a ragged minstrel to his table, or set a task

for

him

to do, or let

him meet

a princess. "I'll

think of some way," thought the Prince. 'Til

think of something."

The hour was

late,

and

revelers

began to

reel

and stagger home from inns and taverns, none

rags,

and none
third of

One
The

m tags, and some m velvet gowns. the dogs m town began to bark.
27

minstrel took his lute from his shoulder and

improvised a song.

He had thought

of something.

"Hark, hark, the dogs do hark,

But

only one in three.

at those in velvet

They hark They

gowns,

never hark at me."

tale-teller, tottering

home

to bed, laughed at

the song,
to gather

and troublemakers and tosspots began

and
listen.
is

"The Duke

fond of

velvet

gowns,

Hell ask you

all to tea.

But

Ym

\n rags, and

Tm

in tags,

Hell never send for me."

The townspeople crowded around

strel,

the min-

laughing and cheering. "He's a bold one,

is,

Rags

makm' songs about

the Duke!" giggled a

strutfurrow
strel

who

had joined the crowd. The min-

went on

singing.

"Hark, hark, the dogs do hark,

The Duke

is

fond of

kittens.

He

likes to take their insides out,

And

use their fur for mittens."

fell silent

The crowd

in

awe and wonder,

for

28

the townspeople

knew

the

Duke had slam

eleven

men

for merely staring at his hands,

hands that

were gloved

in velvet gloves, bright

with rubies
in the

and with diamonds. Fearing to be seen

doomed and
strel,

desperate

company of

the

mad minto
tell

the revelers slunk off to their

homes

their wives.

Only

the traveler,

who

thought he

had seen the singer some otherwhere and time,

lingered to

warn him of
lists,"

his peril. "I've seen

you

shining in the

he

said, "or

toppling knights
like crackers.

in battle, or breaking

men
29

two

You must
you Tyne

be Tristram's son, or Lancelot's, or are

or Tora?"
minstrel,
I,"

"A wandering
"a thing of shreds

the minstrel said,

bit his

and zatches." He
slip
it

tongue

m consternation at the
"Even
if

made.

you were the mighty Zorn of

you from your guggle

Zorna," said the man, "you could not escape the

fury of the Duke. He'll
slit

to your zatch, from here to here."

minstrel's
"I

He touched

the

stomach and

his throat.

now know what

to guard," the minstrel

sighed.

black figure in velvet mask and

hood and

cloak disappeared behind a tree.

"The cold Duke's

spy-m-chief," the traveler said, "a

man named
The
minstrel
sins,

Whisper. Tomorrow he will

die."

waited. "He'll die because, to

he'll

name your

have to mention mittens.

I

leave at once for

other lands, since

have mentioned mittens."

He

sighed. "You'll never live to

wed

his niece. You'll

only die to feed his geese. Goodbye, good night,

and

sorry."
traveler
a frog,

The

vanished,

like

fly

the

mouth of

and the minstrel was

left

alone

in the dark, deserted street.

Somewhere

a clock

dropped
strel

stony chime into the night. The min-

began to sing again.

soft finger

touched

his shoulder

and he turned to see

a little

man

smiling

the moonlight.

He wore an

indescribas

able hat, his eyes

if

were wide and astonished,

first

everything were happening for the

a dark,

time,

and he had

descnbable beard. "If you have

said,

nothing better than your songs," he

"you

are

somewhat

less

than much, and only a

little

more

than anything."

31

"I

manage

m my

fashion/' the minstrel said,

and he strummed

his lute

and sang.

"Hark, hark, the dogs do hark,

The
Some

cravens are going to hed.

will rise

and greet the sun,

will he dead."

But Whisper

The

old

man

lost his smile.

"Who
"I

are

you?" the minstrel asked.

am

the Golux," said the Golux, proudly,

"the only Device."

Golux

in the

world, and not

mere

"You resemble

one," the minstrel said, "as

rose."
I

Sarahnda resembles the

"I resemble only half the things

say

don't,"

the

Golux

said.

"The other

half resemble me."

He

sighed. "I must always be

on hand when

people are

m peril."
is

"My

peril

my own,"

the minstrel said.

is

"Half of
"I hadn't

it is

yours and half

Sarahnda 's."
said.
I

thought of that," the minstrel

faith

"I place

my

you, and where you lead,

follow."

32

"Not so
I

fast,"

the

Golux

said.
I

"Half the places

up.

have been

to,
I

never were.

make things

Half the things

say are there cannot be found.

I

When
I

was young

told a tale of buried gold,

and men from leagues around dug

the woods.

dug myself."
"But why?"
"I

thought the
said
I

tale

of treasure might be true."

it

"You
"I
I

you made

up."
I

know

did, but then

didn't

know
felt
I

had.

forget things, too."

The

minstrel

vague
the

uncertainty. "I
side of

make

mistakes, but
said,

am on

Good," the Golux

I

"by accident and

happenchance.

had high hopes of being Evil

when

was two, but

burning

m my

youth

came upon
I

a firefly

a spider's

web.

saved the

victim's life."

"The
"The
the

firefly's?" said

the minstrel.

spider's.
fire."

The
The

blinking arsonist had set

minstrel's uncertainty in-

web on
sounded

creased, but as he thought to slip

bell

away,

deep

the castle and

many

lights ap-

34

peared,

and voices shouted orders and commands.

stream of lanterns started flowing

down

the

darkness.

"The Duke has heard your songs," the

"The
fat
is

Golux
the jig

said.
is

m
is

the

fire,

the die

is

cast,
is

up, the goose

cooked, and the cat

out of the bag."

"My

hour has struck," the minstrel

said.

They
if a

heard a faint and distant rasping sound,

as

blade of steel were being sharpened on a stone.

"The Duke
the

prepares to feed

you

to his geese,"
a tale to stay

Golux

said.

"We

must invent

his hand."

"What manner of tale?" the minstrel asked. "A tale," the Golux said, "to make the Duke
believe that slaying

you would

light a light

someone
hearts.

else's heart.

He

hates a light

people's

So you must say

be

a certain prince

and

prin-

cess can't

wed

until the evening of the

second

day

after the

Duke

has fed

you

to his geese."
that,"

"I

wish

that

you would not keep saying

the minstrel said.

"The

tale

sounds true," the Golux

35

said,

"and

very

like a witch's spell.

spells.

The Duke

has

awe

of

witches'
I

I'm certain he will stay his hand,

think."

The sound of tramping

nearer.

feet

came near and

closed m,

The

iron guards of the

Duke

their lanterns

gleaming and their spears and armor.

"Halt!" There

was

a clang

and clanking.
youth implored.

"Do
The

not arrest

my

friend," the

"What

friend?" the captain growled.

minstrel looked around

him and about,

guard guffawed

but there was no one there.

36

and

said,

"Maybe
isn't

he's seen the

I

Golux."

"There

any Golux.

have been to school,

and know," the captain

said.

The

minstrel's un-

certainty increased again. "Fall in!" the captain

bawled. "Dress up that

line."
it

"You heard him. Dress

said.

up," the sergeant

They marched

the minstrel to the

dungeon

in the castle.

stream of lantern light flowed

slowly up the

hill.

37

Ill

T
if

WAS

morning. The cold Duke

a

gazed out

window

of the

castle, as

he were watching flowers

bloom
his

or flymg birds.
varlets feeding

He was watching
Whisper

to the geese.

He
and stared

turned
the

away and took

three limps

at

minstrel, standing

m
this

the

great hall of the castle, both

hands bound
is

behind him.
speak
of,

"What manner
word
that

of prince

you

and what manner of maiden does he

makes no sense and has
like iron

love, to use a

no point?" His voice sounded

dropped

on

velvet.

"A

noble prince, a noble lady," the minstrel

38

said.

"When

they are

wed

a million

people will

be glad."

The Duke took

cane and stared
his captive,
at

his

sword out of

his

sword-

it.

He limped
his

across

and faced

and touched

guggle softly with

the point, and touched his zatch, and sighed and

frowned, and put the sword away.

"We
I

shall

think of some amusing task for you to do," he

said. "I

do not

like

your

tricks

and

guile.

think
if I

there

is

no prince or maiden
I

who would wed

should slay you, but

am neither
to do."

sure nor certain.

He

grinned and said again, "We'll think of some

task for
I

amusmg
"But

you

am

not a prince," the minstrel

said,

"and

only princes

may

aspire to Sarahnda's hand."

The
we'll

cold

Duke kept on

grinning.

"Why,
"The

then

make

a prince of you," he said.

prince

of Rags and Jingles."

gether and
or sound.

He

clapped his gloves toa

two

varlets

appeared without
his

word

"Take him to

dungeon," said the

Duke. "Feed him water without bread, and bread

without water."
39

The

varlets

were taking

trie

minstrel out of the

great hall
cess

when down

the marble stairs the Prinlike a cloud.

Saralmda floated

The Duke's

eye gleamed

like crystal.

The

minstrel gazed
tall,

wonder. The Princess Saralmda was

freesias in her

with

dark

hair,

and she wore serenity

It

brightly like the rainbow.

was not easy

to tell

her

mouth from the

lilac.

rose, or her

brow from

the

white

Her voice was faraway music, and her

eyes were candles burning on a tranquil night. She

moved

across the

room

like

wind
air,

violets,

and

her laughter sparkled on the

presence, gained a faint and

which, from her

fragrance.

undreamed

The Prince was

cold,

frozen by her beauty, but not

and the Duke, who was cold but not frozen,

if

held up the palms of his gloves, as

fire at

she were a

which

to

warm his

hands.

The

minstrel

saw

the blood

come warmly

to the lame man's cheeks.

tatters will

"This thing of rags and tags and

our
iron
little

play

game," he told

his niece, his voice like

on

velvet.
said.

"I

wish him well," the Princess

40

The
hand

minstrel broke his bonds and took her

his,

but

it

was

slashed

away by

the swift

cane of the Duke. "Take him to his dungeon

now," he
through

said.

He

stared coldly at the minstrel

his

monocle. "You'll find the most amus-

ing bats and spiders there."

"I

wish him well," the Princess

said again,

and

the varlets took the minstrel to his dungeon.

When

the great iron door of the

dungeon

clanked behind the minstrel, he found himself

alone in blackness.

spider,

swinging on

a strand

of web,
bats

swung back and

forth.

The zickermg of
minstrel took a

was echoed by

the walls.

The

step, avoiding snakes,

and something squirmed.

said,

"Take

care," the

Golux

"you're on

my foot."

"Why
the

are

you here?"
I

the minstrel cried.

forgot about the task

"I forgot something.

Duke
The

will set you."

minstrel thought of

swimming

lakes too

wide

to

swim, of turning liquids into stone, or

finding boneless creatures

made of bone.

"How

came you here?" he asked. "And can you leave?"

42

"I

never know," the

a

Golux

said.

"My

mother

was

witch, but rather mediocre

her way.
it

When
fish, all
strel's

she tried to turn a thing to gold,

turned
into

to clay;

and when she changed her

she ever got was mermaids."

rivals

The mina

heart

was

insecure.

"My

father

was

wiz-

ard," said his friend,

"who

often cast his spells

in his cups. Strike a
I

upon

himself,

when he was

light or light a lantern!

Something

have hold

of has no head."

The

minstrel shuddered.
to tell me."

"The

task,"

he

said.

"You came
"I did?

Oh,

yes.

My

father lacked the

is

power

of concentration, and that

priests,

bad

for

monks and

and worse

for wizards. Listen. Tell the

Duke

that

you

will hunt the Boar, or travel thrice

around the moon, or turn November into June.

Implore him not to send you out to find a thou-

sand jewels."

"And then?"

"And then
sand jewels."

he'll

send you out to find

thou-

"But

am

poor!" the minstrel cried.

said.
I

"Come, come," the Golux

of Zorna.
to
I

"You're Zorn
met.
It

had

it

from

a traveler

came

him

as

he was leaving town. Your

father's

casks and coffers shine with rubies and

sapphires."

with

44

"My
"and
it

father lives

m
me

Zorna," said the Prince,

nine and ninety days:

would

take

three and thirty days to go, and three and thirty

days to come back here."

"That's six and sixty."
"It

always takes

my

father three

and

thirty

days to make decisions," said the Prince. "In spells

and
be

labors a certain time

is

always

set,

and

might

at sea

when mine
"Time
live

expires."

"That's another problem for another day," the

Golux

said.

is

for dragonflies

and

angels.

The former
long."

too

little

and the

latter live

too

Zorn of Zorna thought awhile and

task seems strange

said,

"The

and simple."
said,

"There

are

no jewels," the Golux

"within

the reach and ranges of this island, except the

gems here

in this castle.

The Duke knows not

that

you
strel

are

Zorn of Zorna. He thinks you

a

are a min-

without

penny

or a moonstone. He's fond

of jewels. You've seen them on his gloves."

The

Prince stepped on a turtle. "The

Duke

has

46

spies,"

he

said,

"who may know who

sighed. "I
risk

am."
said,

The Golux
"but

may be wrong," he
it."

we

must

and

try

The

Prince sighed in his turn. "I wish

you

could be surer."
"I

wish
I

could," the

Golux

said.

"My mother
I

was born,

regret to say, only partly in a caul. I've

saved a score of princes

m my time.

cannot save

them

all."

Something that would have been purhad been

light to see
it

ple, if there

by, scuttled

across the floor. thirty

"The Duke might give me only

find
a

days, or forty-two, to

thousand

47

jewels," said

Zorn of Zorna.

"Why

should he

give

me

ninety 'nine?"
I

"The way

figure

it,"

the

Golux

said, "is this.

The

longer the labor

lasts,

the longer lasts his

gloating.

He

loves to gloat,

you know."

The

Prince sat

down

beside a toad.

"My father
given them

may have
away."
"I

lost his jewels,"

he

said, "or

thought of

that," the

Golux

said.

"But

have

other plans than one. Right

now we have to sleep."

They found
slept until the

corner without creatures and

clock struck the midnight

town

hour.

Chains clanked and

rattled,

and the great iron

door began to move. "The Duke has sent for you

again," the

Golux

said.

"Be

careful

what you say

and what you do."

The

great iron door

shall
I

began to open slowly.

"When

see

you next?" Zorn whispered.

There was no answer. The Prince groped around

49

the dark and

felt a

thing very

like a cat,

and

touched the thing without

not find the Golux.

a head,

but he could

The

great iron door

filled

was open wide

light.

now

and

the dungeon

with lantern

"The Duke commands your presence," growled a guard. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"I

know

not," said the guard. "I thought

heard the sound of someone laughing."

"Is the

Duke

afraid of laughter?" asked the

Prince.

"The Duke

is

not afraid of anything. Not

even," said the guard, "the Todal."

"The Todal?" "The Todal."

"What's the Todal?"

A
a

lock of the guard's hair turned white and

his teeth

began to

chatter.

"The Todal
makes
a

looks like
like

blob of glup," he

said. "It

sound

rabbits screaming,

and smells of

old,

unopened
in

rooms.

It's

waiting for the

Duke

to

fail

some

50

endeavor, such as setting

do."

you

a task that

you can

"And

if

he

sets

me

one, and

succeed?" the

Prince inquired.

"The Blob will glup him,"

"It's

said the guard.

evil-

an agent of the devil, sent to punish

doers for having done less evil than they should.

I

talk too

much.

Come

on.

The Duke

is

waiting."

51

IV

HE DUKE
a black

sat at

one end of

oak table

the black

oak room, lighted by flaming

torches that

threw red gleams

on

shields

and

lances.

The

Duke's gloves sparkled

he
his

when

moved

his hands.
at

He

stared moodily through

monocle

young Prince Zorn. The Duke

colder.

sneered,

which made him even

"So you

would hunt

the Boar," he said, "or travel thrice

around the moon, or turn November into June."

He

laughed, and a torch

turns

went

out.

"Saralmda

November

November

into June.

A cow can
And

travel thrice

around the moon, or even more.

52

"

anyone can merely hunt trie Boar.

have another
last night,

plan for you.

thought

it

up myself

while
a

was

killing mice.

I'll

send you out to find

thousand jewels and bring them back."

The

Prince turned pale, or tried

I,"

dering minstrel,

he

said,

"a thing of
a cauldron.

to.

"A wan-

"Rubies and sapphires." The Duke's chuckle

sounded
are

like ice cackling

"For you

Zorn of Zorna," he whispered,

and vaults and

softly.

"Your
with
to

father's casks

coffers shine

jewels. In six and sixty days

you could

sail

Zorna and
"It

return."

always takes

my

father three

and

thirty

days to make decisions," cried the Prince.

The Duke
know,

grinned. "That

is

what

wanted

to

my

naive Prince," he said.

give

"Then you

would have me

you nine and ninety days?"

the Prince replied. "But

"That would be

fair,"

how
"I

do you know
have
a

that

am Zorn?"

spy named Hark," the Duke exprincely raiment

it

plained,

"who found your

your quarters

the

town and brought

53

here,

with

certain signs-

and
are.

seals

and signatures,

re-

vealing

who you

Go

put the raiment on."

stairs.

He
it

pointed

at a flight

of iron

"You'll find
is

in a

chamber on whose door

a star

turning

black.

Don

it

and

return.

I'll

think of beetles while

you're gone, and things like that." limped to

his chair

The Duke
and the

and

sat

down

again,

Prince started
the

up

the iron

stairs,

wondering where
said,

Golux was. He stopped and turned and

will not give

"You

me

nine and ninety days.

How

many, then?" The Duke sneered.

lovely number," he said.

"Ill think of a

"Go

on."

When Zorn came back he wore his royal attire,

but the Duke's spies had sealed
he could not draw
it.

his

sword, so that

The Duke

sat staring at a

man who wore

"This
is

a velvet

mask and cloak and hood.

is

Hark," he said, "and this

Listen."

He

gestured with his cane at nothing.

"There's no one there," said Zorn.

"Listen

is

invisible," the

Duke

explained.
are here
I

"Listen can be heard, but never seen.

They

to learn the mark and measure of your task.

give.

55

you nine and ninety

hours, not nine and ninety

days, to find a thousand jewels and bring

here.

them
all

When

you

return, the clocks

must

be

striking five."

"The clocks here

m the castle?" asked the Prince. m the castle," said

at

"The

thirteen clocks?"

"The

clocks here

the Duke,

"the thirteen clocks."

The Prince looked

walls. Their

the

two

clocks

on the
five.

hands pointed to ten minutes of

"The hands are frozen," said the Prmce. "The

are dead."

clocks

"Precisely," said the

Duke, "and what

is

more,

which makes your

task a charming one, there are

no jewels

that could

be found within the space

of nine and ninety hours, except those in

vaults,

my

and

these."

He

held his gloves

up and they

sparkled.

"A
"I

pretty task," said Hark.

"Ingenious," said the voice of Listen.

thought you'd

like it," said

the Duke. "Un-

seal his

sword." Invisible hands unsealed the

Prince's sword.

"And

if I

should succeed?" asked Zorn.

a

The Duke waved

stairs,

gloved hand

at

the iron
there. "I

and Zorn saw Saralmda standing

said,

wish him well," she

and looked
at

and her uncle laughed

Zorn. "I hired a witch," he said, "to

cast a tiny spell

upon

her.

When
is

she

is

m my

presence,

all

that she can say

this: 'I

wish him

well/

You

like it?"

"A clever spell," said Hark. "An awful spell," the voice

of Listen said.
a silent

The Prince and Princess spoke

57

language

<|

*>

with

their eyes, until the

Duke
stairs.

cried,

"Go!" and

Sarahnda vanished up the

"And

if I fail?"

asked Zorn.
his

The Duke removed

sword from

his

swordslit

cane and ran his glove along the blade. "Ill

you

from your guggle to your zatch, and feed you to

the Todal."
"I've heard of
it,"

said Zorn.

The Duke

smiled.

"You've only heard of half

58

of
of

it,"

he

said.

"The other

half

is

worse.

It's

made
dozen
like

lip. It feels as if it
it

had been dead

like

at least a

days, but

moves about

monkeys and
his

shadows." The Prince took out

it

sword and put

back.

"The Todal

can't

be

killed," the

Duke

said,

softly.

"It gleeps," said

Hark.
Prince.

"What's gleepmg?" asked the

The Duke and Hark and Listen

59

laughed.

"Time

is

wasting, Prince," the

Duke reminded

him.

"Already you have only eight and ninety hours.

I

wish you every

strangest kind of luck."

at

A wide
fall-

oak door suddenly opened

the end of the room,

and the Prince saw lightning and midnight and

ing ram.

"One

last

word and warning,"

trust the

said the

Duke.
cannot

"I

would not

Golux

overfar.

He

tell

what can be from what

can't.
is."

He seldom

knows what should be from what

The
and

Prince glanced at Hark and at the Duke,

at a

spot where he thought Listen stood.

"When all the clocks are striking five," he said, and

left

the room.

The

laughter of the

Duke and Hark

and Listen followed him out the door and

the
stairs

down

and into the darkness.

60

When he had gone

few steps from the castle, he looked up at a lighted

thought he saw the Princess Sara-

window and
picked

lmda standing there.

it

A rose fell at his feet, and as he

Duke and Hark

up, the laughter of the

and Listen increased inside the black oak room and

died away.

61

^^^W^^ f
jjj
|||

HE PRINCE
short

had gone but

way from
he
his
felt a

the castle

when
touch

gentle finger
is

ft

elbow. "It

the

^^^

Golux/' said the Golux,

proudly.

^^^J^^
the world."

"The only Golux

in

The

Prince

was

m no

mood

for the old man's

gaiety and cheer.

derful to

The Golux did not seem wonhis indescribable hat

him now, and even

describable.
as

was suddenly
are not so

"The Duke thinks you

are,"

wise

he thinks you think you

he

said.

The Golux
as
I

smiled. "I think he

is

not so wise

he thinks

think he
I

is,"

he

said. "I

was

there.

know

the terms.

had thought that only dragon62

flies

and angels think of time, never having been

an angel or a dragonfly."

"How were you there?" the Prince

prise.

said

sur-

"I

am

Listen," the
I

Golux

said, "or at

any

rate,

he thinks

am. Never trust a spy

lamer than
it

you cannot
I

see.

The Duke
than he
is

is

am

old,

and

am

shorter
sur-

cold, but
I

comes to you with some

is

prise that

am

wiser than he

wise."

The

Prince's courage

began to return. "I think

63

you
he

are the

most remarkable man in the world,"

said.

"Who thought

not so a

moment

since,

knows
said

not the apple from the quince," the

Golux

He scowled. "We now have

hours to find a

only eight and ninety

said.

thousand gems," he

"You

said that

you had other

plans than one,"

the Prince reminded him.

"What
"You

plans?" the

Golux

asked.

didn't say," said Zorn.

The Golux
hands. "There

closed his eyes and clasped his

a treasure ship that sank, not

was

more than

forty hours from here," he said. "But,

it,

come
and

to think of

the

Duke

ransacked the ship

stole the jewels."

that."

"So much," sighed Zorn, "for

The Golux thought

he
it

again. "If there

were

hail,"

said,

"and

we
no

could stain the hail with blood,

might turn into rubies."

"There

is

hail," said

Zorn.
said, "for

The Golux
that."

sighed.

"So much," he

64

"

'The
done."
"I can

task

is

hard," said Zorn, "and can't be

do

a score of things that can't

be done,"

the

Golux

said. "I
I

can find a thing

cannot see
is

and see

a thing
is

cannot

find.

The
eyes.

first
I

time,

the second

a spot before

my

can feel a
I

thing
feel.

cannot touch and touch a thing

first is

cannot
is

The

sad and sorry, the second

your

heart.

What would you

do without me? Say

'nothing.'

"Nothing," said the Prince.

"Good. Then you're

I

helpless

and

I'll

help you.

said

had another plan than one, and

it is.

have just
this

remembered what
isle,

There

is

woman on
gift

who'd have some

is

eight and eighty years,

and
For

she

gifted

with the strangest

of

all.

when

she weeps, what do you think she weeps?"

"Tears," said Zorn.

"Jewels," said the Golux.

The

Prince stared at him. "But that

said. said.

is

too re-

markable to be," he
"I don't see

why," the Golux

65

"Even the

lowly oyster makes

his pearls

without the use of

eyes or hands or any tools, and pearls are jewels.

The

oyster

is

blob of glup, but

woman

is

woman."

The Prince thought

small cold feeling
this

of the Todal and

felt

his guggle.

"Where
asked.

does

wondrous woman dwell?" he

old

The
stream,

man

groaned.

"Over mountain, over

by the way of storm and thunder,

hut so high or

deep I

never can remember which

it."

the naked eye

this

can't see

He

stood up.

"We
us
It's

must be on our way," he

ninety hours, or more or

said. "It will take

less, to

go and come.

way,

or

it's

that

way. Make up

my mmd."
a

"How
rose," the

can

I?"

asked the Prince.

said.

"You have

Golux

"Hold

it

your hand."
it

The

Prince took out the rose and held

its

in his

hand, and
"It's this

stem slowly turned and stopped.

way," cried the Golux, and they started

rose

offm the direction the stem of the

out. "I will tell

had pointed

you the

tale

of Hagga," said the

Golux.
66

When Hagga was eleven

ing cherries

(he began) and pickday, and asphodel,

the

woods one

she came upon the good King

Gwain
trap.
I

of

Yarrow
for

with

his foot

caught

wolf

"Weep

me, maiden," said the King, "for

am

ludicrous
this trap.
ertia.

and laughable, with

I

my

foot caught
I

m
my

am no

longer

ert, for

have

lost

By

twiddling

my

fingers or clapping

often changed the fate of men,

get

my hands, I have but now I cannot

my
"I

foot loose from this thing."

tears,"

have no time for

the maiden said. She

free

knew the

secret of the trap,

and was about to

the fettered foot,

when

farmer from a near-by

farm began to laugh.

The King beshrewed him

and

his wife,

and turned them into grasshoppers,

if

creatures that look as

traps,

their feet

were caught

in

even

when

they

aren't.

"Lo, the maid has freed

my

foot," the
it is

King

exulted, seeing that she had, "but

feels like

numb, and

someone

else's foot,

not mine."

The maidit

en took off his shoe and rubbed his foot, until

felt like his

and he could put

it

down. And

for

her kindness the grateful

to

King gave her the power

tears.

weep jewels when

she wept, instead of

When

the people learned of the strange gift the

King had given Hagga, they came from leagues

around, by night and day,

m
it

warm and

winter

weather, to make her sad and sorry. Nothing tragic

happened but she heard of came with heavy

rubies. Paths

and wept. People

hearts

and

left

with

pearls

and

were paved with

pearls,

and

rivers

ran with rubies. Children played with sapphires

68

the streets, and dogs

at least

chewed

opals.
its

Every peaand

cock had

nine diamonds in

gizzard,

one, cut open on St.

eight.

Wistow's Day, had

and pebbles

thirty-

The

price of stones

rose, the

price of

gems declined,

until,

by making Hagga
fined. In the end,

weep, you could be hanged and

the jewels

were melted,

m a frightful fire, by order

of the King. "I will

make her weep myself, one

day each year," the King decreed, "and thus and

hence, the flow of gems will

make some

sense,

and have some point and balance." But

but alack, the maid could
tale

alas,

and

weep no more

at

any

of tragedy or tribulation. Damsels killed

left

by

dragons

her

cold.,

and broken

hearts,

and

child-

ren

lost,

and love denied. She never wept by day

or night, in

warm

or winter weather.

She grew
and

to be sixteen,
forty-eight,

and twenty-six, and

thirty-four,

and fifty-two, and

now

she waits, at

eighty-eight, for
said, "that this

me and
is

you. "I hope," the

I

Golux

true.

make things up, you

know."

The young
you
do. If
for

Prince sighed and said, "I

know
she

Hagga weeps no more,

you?"
it

why should

weep

The Golux thought

frail
I

over. "I feel that she

is

and

fragile. I trust that

is

she

is

sad and sorry.

I'll

hope that she

neither dead nor dying.

tell
I

think

of something very sad to

lonely.

her.

Very sad and

Take out your

rose,

think we're lost."

They had become

and the
tall

tangled in brambles

by now,

trees of the forest thick.

they had entered were

tear the Prince's
rolled,

and

Thorns began to

raiment. Lightning flashed

and thunder

and
rose

all

paths vanished.
it

The

Prince took out the

and held

his hand.

The stem began

to

turn and twist, and pointed.

70

"Around this way," trie Golux

here."

said. "Its lighter

He found a narrow
met

path that led straight on-

ward. As they walked along the path, the Golux

leading, they
a

Jackadandy, whose clothes

were torn and

"I told

tattered.
tales to

my

Hagga," said the man; "but

I

Hagga weeps no more.

lost

told her tales of lovers

m
I

April.

told her tales of maidens dead

I

June.

told her tales of princes fed to geese.

even

told her

how
is

lost

my

youngest niece."
said,

"This
sadder."

sad," the

Golux

"and getting

"The way
getting longer.

is

long," the torn

man

said,

"and

The road goes

I

uphill

all

the way,

and even
need
it."

farther.

wish you

luck," he said. "You'll

He

disappeared
light
it

brambles.

The only
ning, and

the forest came from light-

when

flashed they
it

watched the rose

and followed where

pointed. This brought

a valley.

them, on the second day, into

a

They saw
and

Jack-oMent approaching,

his clothes all torn

tattered. "I told

my

tales to

Hagga," said the man,

72

"but Hagga weeps no more.

lovers lost at sea

told her tales of

I

and drowned

in fountains.

told

her tales of babies lost in

mountains. She

woods and

lost

on

wept

not," said the Jack-o'-lent.

darker.

"The way

is

dark,

and getting
I

The hut
There

is

high and even higher.

none."

wish you

luck.

is

He

vanished

the briars.
the thorns

The brambles and

thicker

grew

thick and

a ticking thicket of bickering crickets.

Farther along and stronger, bonged the gongs of

a

throng of frogs, green and vivid on their

lily

pads.

From

the sky came the crying of

flies,

and

the pilgrims leaped over a bleating sheep creeping

knee-deep

a sleepy stream,

which swift and

slippery snakes slid and slithered silkily, whisper-

ing sinful secrets.

:,.::

.:v--:^v,v:.:-:

::.:-

'

:--:K'.o.

-.

A
light
hill.

comet whistled through the sky, and by

its

they saw the hut of Hagga high on Hagga's

is

"If she

dead, there

may be

strangers there,"

the

Golux

said.

"How many
Prince demanded.
"If

hours do

we

have left?" the

we

can make her

weep withm
make
it."

the hour,"

the

Golux
"I

said, "we'll barely

hope that

she's alive

and sad," said Zorn.

"I feel that she has died," the "I feel

it

Golux

sighed.

in

my

stomach.

You

better carry me. I'm

weary."

Zorn of Zorna picked the Golux up and

ried him.

car-

VI

WAS cold on Hagga's

hill,

and fresh

with furrows where the dragging

points of stars had

plowed the

fields.

peasant

purple smock stalked the

seeds.

smoking furrows, sowing

There
a

was
little

smell,

the

Golux thought,

like

Forever
faint

the
less

air,

but mixed with

something

and

enduring, possibly the

fragrance of a flower.

"There's no light
said,

her

window," the Golux

getting darker."

"and

it

is

dark and

"There's no smoke
Prince,

her chimney," said the

"and

it is

cold and getting colder."

The Golux
worries

barely breathed and said,

is

"What
there

me

the most

that spider's

web

on

76

the door, that stretches from the hinges to the

latch."

The young
zatch.

Prince

felt a

hollow feeling

his

"Knock on her
it

door," the

Golux

said, his

voice so high

quavered.

He

crossed his fingers

and kept them crossed, and Zorn knocked on the

door.
cried,

No one answered. "Knock again," the Golux

and Prince Zorn knocked
77
again.

Hagga was

there.

She came

to the door

and

stared at them, a

woman

neither dead nor dying,

and

clearly only thirty-eight or thirty-nine.

The
old

Golux had missed

her age

by

fifty years, as

men

often do.

"Weep

for us," the

Golux

cried,

"or else this Prince will never

"I

wed

his Princess."
I

have no
ships

tears," said

Hagga. "Once

wept
or

when

were overdue, or brooks ran dry,

tangerines

were
I

overripe, or sheep got something

m their eye.
were dry
of stone.

-weep no more," said Hagga. Her eyes

as deserts

and her mouth seemed made

a

"I

have turned

thousand persons
m," she
said.

gemless from

my

door.

Come

"I

weep no

more."
a table

The room was dark and held

chair,

and

and

one corner something

brass.

like a chest,

made of oak and bound with

The Golux

smiled and then looked sad, and said, "I have tales
to

make

hangman weep, and

tales to
I

bring a tear
tales

of sorrow to a monster's eye.

have

that

would
Todal

disturb a dragon's sleep, and even

sigh."

make the

78

At

the mention of the Todal, Hagga's hair

I

turned gray. "Once

wept when maids were marmoon.

I

ried underneath the April

weep no more

when

maids are buried, even in the month of

J"
une.

"You have
Golux,
tales

the emotions of a fish," said the

irritably.

He

sat

on the

floor

and told her

of the death of kings, and kindred things,

little

and

children choked
tears," said

by

rings.

"I

have no

Hagga.

He

told her tales of the frogs

m the

forum, and

the toads

the rice that destroyed the poppy-

cockalorum and the cockahoopatnce.

"I

weep no

more," said Hagga.

said,

"Look," the Golux

cess

"and

listen!

The

Prin-

Saralmda will never

wed

this

youth

until the

day he
table."

lays

thousand jewels upon

a certain

"I
I

would weep
able."

for Saralmda,"

Hagga

sighed, "if

were

The

Prince had wandered to the oaken chest.

its

He

seized

cover with his hand and threw

lit

it

open.

A radiance filled the room and

the darkest

corners. Inside the chest there

were

at least

ten

thousand jewels of the very sort and kind the Duke

demanded. Diamonds

flared

and rubies glowed,

fire.

and sapphires burned and emeralds seemed on

They looked
laughter,"

at

Hagga. "These are the jewels of

said. "I

Hagga

woke up
bed.
I

fourteen days
until

ago to find them on

I

my

had laughed

wept

at a

something

m my

sleep."

The Golux

grabbed

gleaming handful of the gems, and then

another, crowing with delight. "Put

said Hagga.

them back,"

"For

there's a thing that

you must

know, concerning jewels of laughter. They always

turn again to tears a fortnight
fortnight, to the
after. It

has been a
I

day and minute, since

and put them
81

took the

pretties to this chest

it."

Even

as

they watched, the light and color died.

out, and

The diamonds dimmed, the emeralds went

the jewels of Hagga 's laughter turned to tears, with

a little

sound

like sighing.

There was nothing

the chest but limpid liquid, leering

up

at

them and
cried.

winking. "You must think," the Golux

"You must think

sleep."

of

what you laughed

at in

your

Hagga's eyes were blank. "I do not know, for

this

was fourteen days

ago."
said.

"Think!" the Golux

"Think!" said Zorn of Zorna.

Hagga frowned and

ber dreams."

said, "I

never can remem-

The Golux
and thought
he
said,
it

clasped his hands behind his back

over.

"As

remember and

recall,"

"the jewels of sorrow

gift

last forever.

Such

was the

and power the good

Gwam gave you.

What was

he doing, by the way, so many leagues

from Yarrow?"
"Hunting," Hagga
said.

"Wolves,

as

recall it."

82

"

The Golux scowled.

"I

am

man

of logic,

m
to

my

way.

What

happened on that awful day,

gift

make him value sorrow over and above the

laughter ?

of

Why
a

have these jewels turned to

tears

a fortnight after?"

"There was

farmer from a near-by farm,

who
the

laughed," said Hagga.

"'On second thought/

amend and modify
last

good King
I

said,

'I

will

the gift

gave you. The jewels of sorrow will

measure, but
little

beyond

all

may

the jewels of laughter give

you

pleasure.'

The Golux groaned.

the world
I

"If there's
is

one thing

in

hate," he said, "it

amendments."

His eyes turned bright and brighter, and he

clapped his hands. "I will make her laugh until
she weeps," he
said.

The Golux

told her funny tales of things that

as

were and had been, but Hagga's eyes were dry

quartz and her

mouth seemed made

"Then we

of agate. "I
said, "or is."

laugh

at

nothing that has been," she

smiled.

The Golux

will think of

things that will be, and aren't

now, and never

84

were.

I'll

think of something," and he thought,

and thought of something.

"A
dehoy

who was

terribly hobhlc,

Cast only stones that were

cobble

And
From
But

bats that were ding,

a shot that was sling,

never hit inks that were bobble."

Hagga laughed
stones trickled

until she

wept, and seven moon-

down

her cheek and clattered on

85

the floor. "She's weeping semiprecious stones!" the

Golux

wailed.

He

tried again:

"There was an old coddle so molly,

He

talked in a glot that

was ply,

His gaws were

so

gew

That

his

lap lecame dew,

And

he ate only

pop

that were lolly"

Hagga laughed
trickled

until she

wept, and seven

brilliants
floor.

down her

cheek and clattered on the

"Rhinestones!" groaned the Golux.

"Now

she's

weeping costume jewelry!"

The young

Prince tried his hand at telling tales

of laughter, but for his pains he got a shower of

tourmaline, a cat's-eye, and a flux of pearls.

"The
thinks

Duke

hates pearls," the

Golux moaned. "He

they're
It

made by

fish."

grew darker

the

room and they could

scarcely see.

The

starlight
still

and the moon were gone.

as statues.

They stood

there,

The Golux
rhyme

cleared his throat.

The

Prince uncrossed his arms

then, without a
or

and crossed them.

And

reason, out of time and out of season,

Hagga

86

laughed and kept on laughing.

No

one had said

word, no one had told

the hooting of an owl.

a tale. It
It

might have been

might have been the

crawling of a

snail.

But Hagga laughed and kept

on laughing, and precious jewels twinkled

her cheek and sparkled

down
The

on the

floor, until

the hut

was ankle-deep

diamonds and
a

rubies.

Golux counted out

a velvet sack that

thousand and put them

"I

m
I

he had brought along.

wish

that she

had laughed," he sighed, "at something

had

said."

Zorn of Zorna took her hand. "God keep you

warm

winter," said the Prince, "and cool

summer."
"Farewell," the

Golux

said,

"and thank you."

Hagga laughed and kept on laughing, and sap

phires burned

upon the

floor

and

lit

the

Golux

toward the door.

"How many hours

Prince cried
"It's

are left us

now?"

the

young
to

odd," the

Golux muttered

himself. "I could

have sworn that she had died.

This

is

the only time

my

stomach ever
left

lied."

"How many
implored.

hours are

us

now?"

the Prince

Hagga

sat

upon the

chest and kept

on laughing.

"I should say," the

Golux

said, "that
all

we

have

only forty

left,

but

it is

downhill

the way.

They went out

peered about them
"I think
it's

into the moonless night

and

m the

dark.
said,

this

way," the Golux

he thought
it

and

they went the

way

was.

"What

about the clocks?" demanded Zorn.

88

The Golux exhaled

a sorry breath.

"That's an-

other problem for another hour," he said.

Inside the hut, something red

and

larger

than

ruby glowed among the jewels and Hagga picked

it

up.

"A

rose," she said.

"They must have dropped

it"

89

VII

N THE
torches
walls,

black oak
flared

room the yellow

crackled

and
fire

on the

and their

burned on the lances

and the
glittered.

shields.

The Duke's

gloves

"How

goes the night?" he

gnarled.

"The moon

is

down,"

said Hark. "I have not

heard the clocks."

"You'll never hear them!" screamed the Duke.
"I

slew time

this castle

many

cold and

snowy

year ago."

Hark

stared at

him emptily and seemed

froze here.

to be

chewing something. "Time

left

Someone

the

windows

open."
sat

"Bah!"

The Duke

down

at the far

end of

90

the table, stood

up

again,

and limped about.

floor. I

"It

bled hours and minutes on the

saw

it

with

my

eye."

Hark kept on chewing something. OutGothic windows thunder growled.

by.

side the

An

owl flew

"There are no jewels," roared the Duke.

"They'll have to bring

me

pebbles from the sea or

mica from the meadows."

laugh.

He

gave his awful

"How

goes the night?" he asked again.

91

"I

have been counting

I

off

and on/'

said Hark,

"and
left."

should say they have some forty minutes

"They'll never make

it!"

the cold

Duke

screamed. "I hope they drowned, or broke their

legs, or lost their

way."

He came

so close to Hark

their noses almost touched.

"Where were

they

going?" he whispered harshly.

Hark stepped backward seven

steps. "I

met

Jackadandy, some seven hours ago," he

said.
hill.

"They passed him on

their

way

to Hagga's

Do you remember
of her?"

Hagga, and have you thought

The Duke's loud

laughter rang the shields.

said.

"Hagga weeps no more," he

"Hagga has

no

tears.

She did not even weep when she was

told about the children locked

"I

up

m my

tower."

hated that," said Hark.

it,"

"I liked

said the

Duke.

"No

child can sleep

in

my

camellias."

He began

to limp again
is

and

stared out at the night.

"Where

Listen?" he

demanded.
92

"He followed them,"

and the Prince."
"I
a

said Hark, "the

Golux

do not
I

trust him,"

growled the Duke.

"I like

spy that

can

see.

Let

me

have

men about me
up the

that are visible."

stairs,

He shouted

"Listen!"

and "Listen!" out the windows, but no one

answered. "I'm cold," he rasped.

"You always

are."
tell

"I'm colder," snarled the Duke, "and never

me what

always am!"
at

He

took

his

sword out
miss

and slashed
Whisper."

nothing and

at silence. "I

93

"You

fed

him

to the gtest," said Hark.

"They

seemed to

like

him."
that?"
like?"

"Silence!

What was
it

"What
lmda

did

sound

"Like princes stealing

leaving."

up

the

stairs, like

Sara-

The Duke limped

at silence

to the iron stairs

and slashed again

and

at
felt

nothing.

"What

does he

feel like?

Have you

him?"

"Listen? He's five feet high," said Hark.

has a beard, and something
describe."

"He
can't

on

his

head

"The Golux!" shrieked the Duke. "You

Golux!
I

felt

the
it."

hired

him

as a

spy and didn't

stars

know

A purple ball with gold

ly

on

it

came slow-

bouncing

down
a

the iron stairs and

winked and
priests.

twinkled, like

naked child saluting

"What insolence is this?" the Duke demanded. "What is that thing?" "A ball," said Hark. "I know that!" screamed the Duke. "But why?

What

does

its

ghastly presence signify?"

95

"It looks to

me," said Hark, "very

like a ball

the

Golux and

those children used to play with."

"They're on his side!"

tic.

The Duke was

apoplec-

"Their ghosts are on his side."

"He

has a lot of friends," said Hark.

"Silence!" roared the Duke.

"He knows not

what

is

dead from what

he's

is

dying, or where he's

been from where

going, or striking clocks

strike."

from clocks that never

"What

makes me think he does?" The spy

like

stopped chewing. Something very much

noth-

ing anyone had seen before came trotting

the stairs and crossed the room.

down

"What
"I don't

is

that?" the

Duke
it is,"

asked, palely.
said Hark, "but
it's

know what

the only one there ever was."

The Duke's gloved hands shook and shimmered.

"I'll

throw them up
I'll

for grabs

betwixt the

Todal and the geese!

lock

them

m the dungeon
At
the mention

with the thing without

a head!"

of the Todal, Hark's velvet mask turned gray.

The

Duke's eye twisted upward

its

socket. "Ill slay

97

them

all!"

he

said.

"This sweetheart and her suitor,

this cross-eyed

clown!

You

hear me?"
rites

"Yes," said Hark, "but there are rules and

and

rituals,

older than the

sound of bells and snow

on mountains."

"Go
stairs.

on," the

Duke

said, softly,

looking

up

the

"You must
to

let

them have

their time

and turn

make

the castle clocks strike five."

castle clocks

"The
Duke.
ing.

were murdered,"
myself one

said the

"I killed time here

still

snowy mornstains,

You

can see the old

brown

where

seconds bled to death, here on

laughed.

my

sleeve."

He

"What

else?" as

he asked.
as
I,"

"You know

well

said Hark.

"The

Prince must have his turn and time to lay a thou-

sand jewels there on the table."

"And

if

he does?"
the

"He wins

hand of Princess Saralinda"

"The only warm hand

Duke.
fire

the castle," said the

fire. I

"Who

loses

Saralmda loses

mean

the

of the setting suns, and not the cold and cheer-

98

less

flame of jewels. Her eyes are candles burning

in a shrine.

Her

feet

appear to

me

as doves.

Her

fingers

bloom upon her

is

breast like flowers."

"This
of one's

scarcely the
niece."

way," said Hark, "to speak

own

"She's not

my

niece!

stole her!" cried the

castle of a king!
I

Duke.

"I stole her

from the

snatched her from the bosom of a sleeping queen.

I still

bear on

my

hands the marks of where she

bit me."

"The Queen?" asked Hark.

"The

Princess," roared the

Duke.

"Who
"My
ship

was the King?" asked Hark.

said.

His master scowled. "I never knew," he

was beached upon an

island in a storm.

There was no moon or any

star.

No

lights

were

the castle."

"How could you find the Princess

Hark.

then?" asked

"She had a radiance," said the Duke. "She shone

there like a star
I

upon her mother's

breast.

knew
I

had

to have that splendor

m my

castle.

99

mean

to keep her here

is, I'll

till

she

is

twenty-one.

The

day she

wed her, and that

day is tomorrow."

"Why haven't you before?" asked Hark. "This

castle
is

your kingdom."
his

The Duke smiled and showed

100

upper

teeth.

"Because her nurse turned out to be

cast a spell

witch

who

upon me."
its

"What were
"I cannot

terms?" asked Hark.

till

wed
day

her
is

the day she's twenty-

one,

and

that

tomorrow."

"You
"I
safe

said that once before."

must keep her

I've

chamber where she

is

from me.

done

that."

"I like that part," said Hark.

"I hate

it,"

snarled the Duke. "I

must give and

grant the right to any prince to seek her hand

marriage. I've
table.

done

that, too."

He

sat

down

at the

"In spells of this sort," Hark said, chewing,

"one always
of

finds a chink or loophole,

by means

which the

right

and perfect prince can win her

set him.

hand

spite of

any task you

How

did

the witch announce that part of it?"

"Like

this.

'She can be saved, and you de-

stroyed, only

by

a prince

whose name
is

begins

with

and

doesn't.'

There

no prince whose

name begins with

Hark's

X and doesn't."
off

mask slipped

and he put

it

back

again, but not before the

his eyes.

Duke saw

laughter

"This prince," said Hark,

"is

Zorn of

Zorna, but to your terror and distaste, he once

posed

as a minstrel.
is

His name was

Xmgu then and

wasn't. This

the prince

whose name begins

with

X and doesn't."
to shake.

The Duke's sword had begun

"No-

body ever
himself.

tells

me

anything," he whispered to

Another

ball

came bouncing

down
floor.

the

stairs, a

black ball stamped with scarlet owls.

The

cold
im-

Duke watched
pudence
is

it

roll across

the

"What

this?"

he

cried.

102

Hark walked to the

turned and
"It's

stairs

and

listened,

and

said,

"There's someone

up

there."

the children!" croaked the Duke.

are dead," said Hark,

"The children
sound
I

"and the

heard was made by living

feet."

"How much time is left them?" cried the Duke.

"Half an hour,
"I'll
I

think," said Hark.

have their guggles on

my sword

for play-

ing games with me!"

stairs

The Duke

started

up

the

and stopped. "They're up

there, all of them.

Call out the guards," he barked.

"The guards

are

guarding the clocks," said Hark-

"You wanted

it

that

way. There
a clock.
at

are eleven guards,

I

and each one guards

ing t]usL
walls.

You and
two
Duke

are guard-

He

pointed
it

the

clocks

on the

"You wanted

that

way."
repeated,

"Call out the guards," the

his agent called the guards.

and

They trooped

into the
stairs,

room
his

like engines.

The Duke limped up

shining.
I'll

the

drawn sword

"Follow me!" he
slay the

cried.

"Another game's
Prince,

afoot!

Golux and

the

and marry Saralmda!"

103

He

led the

way. The

guards ramped up the

smiled,

stairs

like engines.

Hark

and chewed
black oak

again,

and followed.
silent for a space

The

room was

of

seven seconds. Then

a secret

door swung open

ma

wall.

The Golux

slipped into the room.

The

Princess followed. His hands

were raw and red

from climbing vines to Saralmda's chamber.

could you find the castle in the dark
rose?" she asked.
torch."

"How without my
me burn
a

"He would not

let

"You

lighted

up your window

like a star,

and

we could see
"Our time
is

the castle from afar," the

Golux

said.

marked

in minutes. Start the clocks!"

"I cannot start the clocks," the Princess said.

They heard
"He

the sound of fighting far above.

faces thirteen

men," she

cried,

"and that

is

hard."

"We
"and that

face thirteen clocks," the

is

Golux

said,

harder. Start the clocks!"

I

"How
wailed.

can

start

the clocks?" the Princess

104

"Your hand
the

is

warmer than the snow

the
first
it.

is

cold,"

Golux

said.

"Touch

clock with your

hand."

The Princess touched

Nothing happened.

"Again!" Saralmda held her hand against the clock

and nothing happened.

"We

are ruined/' said the

still.

Golux
She
"I

simply, and Saralmda's heart stood

cried,

"Use magic!"

have no magic to depend on," groaned the

Golux. "Try the other clock."

The

Princess tried the other clock and nothing

logic, then!"

happened. "Use

she cried. In the secret

after

walls they heard the Iron

Guard pounding

Zorn, and coming

close.

"Now
can

let

me

see," the

Golux
start

said. "If

you can

touch the clocks and never

start the clocks
I

them, then you

and never touch them. That's

use
it.

logic, as
far

know and

Hold your hand

this

Now that far. Closer! Now a little farthink you have ther back. A little farther. There
away.
!

it!

Do

not move!"
rigid

The clogged and

works of the clock beand then

a ticking.

gan to whir. They heard

a tick

106

The
like

Princess Saralmda fled from

room

to

room,

wind

m clover, and held her

wings and
said.
left

hand the proper

distance from the clocks. Something like a vulture

spread

its

the castle. "That

was

Then," the Golux

"It's

Now!"

cried Saralmda.

morning glory that had never opened,

in the courtyard.

opened

cock that never

light of

crowed, began to crow. The

stained the

morning

windows, and

the walls the cold

Duke moaned,
yet
its
I

"I hear the

sound of

time.

And

slew

it,

and wiped

my

bloody sword upon

beard."

He thought

that

Zorn of Zorna had

escaped the guards. His

in the blackness,

sword kept whining

his

and once he slashed

it

own

left

knee

he thought

was

the Golux.
cried.

"Come

out,

you crooning knave!" he

Zorn of Zorna!"

"Stand forward,

"He's not here," said the spy.

They heard

the savage clash of swords.

108

"They've got him!" squealed the Duke. "Eleven

men

to one!"

"You may have heard

"whose
strength

of Galahad," said Hark, of ten."

was

as the strength

"That leaves one man to get him," cried the

Duke.
"I

count on Krang, the strongest guard

have, the finest fencer

the world, save one.

An

unknown
ago,
it."

prince in armor vanquished

island.

him
else

a year

somewhere on an

No

one

can do

109

"

"The unknown
of Zorna."
"Ill slay

prince," said Hark,

"was Zorn

him then myself!" The Duke's voice

rose
"I

and echoed

down

the dark and secret

stairs.

slew time with the bloody hand that grips your

is

arm, and time

greater far than

to

Zorn of Zorna!"

Hark began

chew

again.

"No

mortal
]f

man

can murder time," he

there's

said,

"and even

he could,
maiden's
love,

something

else: a

clockwork

heart, that strikes the hours of youth

and

and

knows

the southward

swan from winter snow,

tulip time."

and summer afternoons from

"You

sicken

me with your

chocolate chatter,"
is

snarled the Duke.

I'll

"Your tongue

made of candy.

slay this ragged prince, if Krang has missed him.

If there

were

light, I'd

show you on my
gloomy

sleeves

the old

brown
I

stains of seconds,

where they bled

halls,

and

wiped my bloody blade

"Ah, shut up,"
tell

died.

slew time

these

and

said Hark.

"You
I

are the

most

aggressive villain in the world.

always meant to

you

that.

said

it

and I'm glad."

110

"Silence," roared the

Duke. "Where
stairs.

are

we?"

They stumbled down

"This
is

the secret

the hidden door," said Hark, "that

leads into the oak room."

"Open," roared the Duke,

in his hand.

his

sword gripped
secret

Hark groped and found the

knob.

Ill

VIII

^^^^^E^^

HE BLACK

oak room was

f
m

bright with flaming torches,

but brighter with the light of

Saralmda.
;

^^^

The

cold eye of

the

Duke was dazzled by

^^^^^
with chiming

the gleaming of a thousand

jewels that sparkled on the table. His ears were

filled

as the clocks

began to

strike.

"One!"

said Hark.

"Two!"

cried

Zorn of Zorna.

"Three!" the Duke's voice almost whispered.

"Four!" sighed Saralmda.
"Five!" the
table.
said.

Golux crowed, and pointed

is

at the

"The

task

done, the terms are met," he

The Duke's

cold eye slowly

moved around

the

112

room.

"Where
is

are

my

guards?" he croaked, "and

all?"

where

Krang, the greatest of them

"I lured

them
in.

to the tower," said Zorn,

"and
is

locked them

The one

that's tied

knots

Krang."

The Duke
"They're
pebbles!"
real,

glared at the jewels on the table.

false!"

he

said.

"They must be colored

it

He

picked one up, and saw that

it

was

and put
task

down

again.

"The
met."

is

done," said Hark, "the terms are

"Not

until

count them," said the Duke. "If

I

there be only one that isn't here,

cess

wed

the Prin-

Saralmda on the morrow." The figures

still

the

room were

and he could hear

their breathing.

"What
the

gruesome

way

to treat one's niece,"

Golux

cried.

"She's not
stole her

my niece/'
a king."

the lame

man
his

sneered. "I
teeth.

from

He showed
said,

lower
is

"We

all

have flaws," he

"and mine

being

wicked."

He

sat

down

at

the table and began to

count the gems.

"Who
The
the

is

my

father then?" the Princess cried.

spy's black

eyebrows

rose. "I

thought

Golux

told you, but then, of course, he never

could remember things."

114

"Especially," the
kings."

Golux

said,

"the names of

"Your

father," said the spy, "is

good King

Gwam
"I

of Yarrow."
that once," the

knew
it."

Golux

said,

"but

forgot
gift

He

turned to Saralmda. "Then the

in

your father gave to Hagga has operated

the end to

make you happy."

his teeth.

The Duke looked up and bared

tale
is

"The

much

too tidy for

my

taste,"

he snarled. "I

hate

it."

He went on

counting.

115

"It's neat," said

Hark, "and, to my
his

taste, refresh-

ing."

He removed
I

mask. His eyes were bright

and

jolly. "If

may

introduce myself," he said, "I

am

a servant of the

King, the good King

Gwam

of Yarrow."

"That," the

Golux

said, "I didn't

know. You

could have saved the Princess

many

years ago."
sad,
I

The

servant of the
I

King looked
tell,

and

said,

"This part

always hate to

but

was under

a witch's spell."

"I

weary of witches," the Golux

said,

"with

due respect to Mother."

The Duke's

smile

showed
I

his

upper

teeth. "I

cannot even trust the spies

see,"

he muttered.

His eye

moved

glassily

around and saw the

Golux. "You mere Device!" he gnarled. "You

platitude!

You Golux ex machma!"

"Quiet, please," the

ing thief."

Golux

said,

"you gleam-

"Nine hundred ninety eight." The Duke was

counting. "Nine hundred ninety nine."

He had
a sack.

counted

all

the jewels, and put them

left

There was none

all a

on the

table.

He gave them

look of horrid glee.

"The

Princess," said the

Duke, "belongs to me."

deathly silence
little

filled

the room.

The Golux
to shake.

turned a

pale

and

his

hand began

He remembered something

the dark, coming

down

from Hagga's

hill,

that struck against his

fallen

ankle, a sapphire or a

ruby that had

from the

the sack.

"One

thousand," groaned the Duke,

tone of vast surprise.

his glove, the left one,

diamond had

fallen

from

and no one but the Golux

saw it
are

fall.

The Duke stood up and sneered. "What

for?" he shrieked. "Depart! If
it

you waiting

you

be gone forever,

will not be long enough! If

it

you

return no more, then

will be too soon!"

He

slowly turned to Zorn.

snarled.

"What

kind of knots?" he

117

"Turk's head," the

young Prince

said. "I

learned

them from

my

sister."

"Begone!" the cold Duke screamed again, and

bathed his hands in rubies.

croaked, "will
last forever."

"My jewels,"

he

The Golux, who had

great doors of the oak

never

tittered, tittered.

The
left

room opened, and they

ing there,

the cold

Duke

stand-

up

to his wrists in diamonds.

"is

"Yarrow," said the Prince,

journey."

halfway on our

They stood

outside the castle.

"You'll need these," said the Golux.

He

held
lies

the rems of

two white
It sails

horses.

"Your ship

m the

harbor.

withm

the hour."

"It sails at midnight,"

Hark corrected him.

said.

"I can't

remember everything," the Golux

"My

father's clocks

were always slow. He

concentration."
to her saddle.

also

lacked the

power of

Zorn helped the Princess

gazed
for
a last time at the castle.

She

"A

fair

wind

stands

Yarrow," said the Prince.

The Golux gazed

a last

time at the Princess.

"Keep warm," he

said.

"Ride close together.

118

Remember
blessed
isles

laughter. You'll

need

it

even

the

of Ever After."

"There are no horses

Prince.

m the stables," mused the

these white ones?"

"Whence came

"The Golux

has a lot of friends," said Hark. "I

guess they give him horses

when

he needs them.

But on the other hand, he may have made them

up.

He makes
"I

things up,

you know."

know

he does," sighed Zorn of Zorna.

"You

sail for

Yarrow with us?"

a fortnight longer,"
spell. It

"I

must stay

Hark

replied.

"So runs

my witch's

will give

me

time to

tidy up, and untie

Krang

as well."

They looked around

was
there

for the old Device,

but he

no

longer.

"Where

has he gone?" cried

Saralmda.

"Oh,"

said Hark,

"he knows
said,

a lot of places."
this."

"Give him," Saralmda

"my love, and

snowy

Hark took the

rose.

The two white

horses snorted

mist

the cool green glade that led

down

to the harbor.
far to

fair

wind stood

for

Yarrow and, looking

120

sea, the Princess

Saralmda thought she saw,

see,

as

people often think they

on

clear

and windless

days, the distant shining shores of Ever After.

Your guess
lot

is

quite as
that

good

as

mine (there
I

are a

of things

shine)
I

but

have always

thought she did, and

will always think so.

121

EPILOGUE

FORTNIGHT
Duke was
jewels

later,

the

gloating over his

m the oak room when

tears,

they suddenly turned to

with

a little

sound

like sigh-

sa

ing.

The

fringes of his

glow-

ing gloves were stained with Hagga's laughter.

He

staggered to his feet and

drew

his

sword, and

shouted, "Whisper!" In the courtyard of the castle

122

six startled geese stopped hunting snails

and
this?"

looked up

at the

oak room.

"What
table.

slish

is

exclaimed the Duke, disgusted by the pool of

melted gems leering on the
fell,

His monocle

and he slashed

his

sword

at silence

and

at

nothing. Something

moved

across the room, like

monkeys and
walls

like

shadows. The torches on the

went

out, the
colder.

two

clocks stopped, and the

a smell of old,

room grew

There was

un-

opened rooms and the sound of

rabbits screaming.

"Come
roared.

on,

you blob of

glup," the cold

Duke
you

"You may

frighten octopi to death,

gibbous spawn of hate and thunder, but not the

Duke

of Coffin Castle!"

He

sneered.

"Now

that

my

precious gems have turned to thlup, living on,

is

alone and cold,

not

my

fondest wish!

On guard,
was

you musty

sofa!"

The Todal
silence.

gleeped. There

a stifled shriek

and

When
there.

Hark came

into the room, holding a

lighted lantern above his head, there

was no one
on the
floor,

The Duke's sword

lay gleaming

and from the

table dripped the jewels of Hagga's

123

laughter, that never last forever, like the jewels of

sorrow, but turn again to tears a fortnight

after.

Hark stepped on something that squutched beneath

his foot

and nobbed against the

wall.

He

picked

it

up and held it near the lantern. It was

ball

the small black

last

stamped with

scarlet owls.

The

spy of the

Duke

of Coffin Castle, alone and lonely in the

heard, from

gloomy room, thought he

far

somewhere

away, the sound of someone laughing.

124

m*

[continued

from front

/lap]

kind of a story, but they are

basic:

Everybody has always wanted

love a Princess.

to

Everybody has always wanted

he a Prince.

to

Everyhody has always wanted the

wic\ed

Duke

to he -punished.

Everyhody has always wanted

live

to

happily ever after.

Too
thing

little

of this kind of

is

going

on
all

in

the
it is

world today. But

of

going on valorously in The

Thirteen Clocks.

r^m:

Jacobus tenBroek Library