Eleventh Tale Of a Prince and a Handmaid’s Son #3
He replied, It is the day laughing at the night. For the night riddles the day, What follows me close like a faithful hound, but is nowhere seen when I turn back around? The day bursts into laughter, and then it is dawn. That is the laughter you hear at daybreak.
The young man was astonished at such an extraordinary thing: the day laughing at the night. He was unable to ask anything else, since the man from the forest had so answered.
In the morning, the man from the forest went off again, leaving them food and drink.
At night, he returned. They ate and drank and spent another night.
That night, they heard the sound of the beasts roaring and howling with extraordinary 133 noises.
The lion roared; the leopard growled, with its own unique sound; the birds whistled and trilled; and each of the remaining beasts bellowed in its own way.
At first, they were so frightened they did not listen closely to the sounds.
But then they inclined their ears to listen more attentively and they heard it was a melody the beasts were singing, a delightful melody.
This was an extraordinary surprise. The more they listened, the greater the extraordinary pleasure it was to hear.
All the pleasures of the world amounted to nothing compared to the great pleasure one experienced hearing that wondrous melody.
The two discussed it and decided they wished to stay there because they had food and drink and because they took such pleasure in that marvel of a melody such that all the other pleasures of the world were as nothing compared to it.
The slave prevailed upon his master to ask the man from the forest what the wondrous melody was.
He asked him, and the man from the forest answered, When the sun, taking its leave, passes its mantle to the moon, all the forest beasts cry out to extoll the great favours the moon does on their behalf.
For the dominion of beasts is at night. From time to time they need to enter a human settlement, and, as their dominion is only at night, they cannot do so by day.
The moon does them a favour by illuminating the night.
For that reason all the beasts come together to make a new melody in honour of the moon. That is the melody you hear.
They listened more closely to attend to the melody.
When they listened to this delightful, sweet melody, the man from the forest said to them, If you are so astonished at the beasts’ song, you should see this.
I have an instrument, a singing box, that 134 I received from my parents and that they inherited from their parents.
The singing box is made from various things and reeds in a variety of colours.
When one places it on any animal or bird it can immediately start playing its song.
Then the laughter returned as dawn broke. The man from the forest headed out once again. The young man went looking for the instrument. He searched the whole house but could not find it. He was too fearful to go on looking.
After some time, the two of them—master and slave, the true prince and the supposed king—longed to return to a human settlement, but they were apprehensive about asking the man from the forest to take them.
When the man from the forest returned, though, he gladly offered to take them to a settlement, which he did.
He had brought along the singing box and gave it to the young man, the true prince, and told him, I grant you this as a gift.
And you shall know, he concluded, gesturing to the young man’s slave, what to do with this one.
They asked him, Where shall we go?
He replied that they should make inquiries about a country called the Foolish Land with the Wise Regime.
They asked him, What direction should we start making our inquiries about that country?
The man from the forest pointed out the direction and said to the true prince, Go to that country and there you shall achieve your glory.
The two headed off. As they walked they were overcome with a desire to find some beast or animal on which to test whether the singing box would play, but they did not see any animals.
135 Eventually they came to a settlement and found a cow.
They placed the box on the cow, and it began singing the melody.
They went on, walking and walking, until they arrived at that country.
But it was surrounded by a wall so that the country could only be entered via a gateway, which one would have to walk several miles to reach.
So they walked the several miles and reached the gate.
When they approached they were not allowed to pass because the country’s king had died, and the prince remained.
The king had left a will stating that, whereas up until then the country had been called the Foolish Land with the Wise Regime, henceforth it would be called the opposite, the Wise Land with the Foolish Regime.
Whosoever should undertake to reinstate calling it by the previous name would become king.
For that reason, entrance into the country was restricted to only the one who vowed to reinstate the country’s previous name.
They asked the young man, Can you do so?
Obviously he could not do so, so they refused to let him pass. His slave told him they ought to return home. But he was reluctant since the man from the forest had told him he should go to that country and there he would achieve his glory.
Meanwhile, another man arrived, riding a horse.
He wished to enter, but, unwilling to undertake that task, he too was not allowed to pass.
Having noticed the man’s horse standing there, the young man took the singing box and went and placed it on the horse, whereupon it started playing the delightful melody.
The man implored him to sell him the box, to which he replied, What could you give me for such a wondrous instrument? 136
The man asked, What can you do with it? You will just use it for cheap entertainment, perhaps to earn a few gulden.
But I know something even more marvellous than your singing box.
It is a gift I inherited from my parents’ parents: the gift of knowing how to deduce one thing from another.
Using this, you can deduce the true meaning hidden behind what anyone says.
I have never revealed this to another living soul, but I will teach it to you in exchange for the singing box.
The young man thought, It truly is a wonder to be someone who possesses the power of deduction.
So he gave him the instrument. The man went and taught him how to deduce one thing from another.
The true prince lingered by the gate of the country, realizing that now that he had the full power of deduction, it was quite plausible for him to undertake reinstating the country’s previous name.
So he decided once more to seek entry and then undertake reinstating the country’s previous name.
What did he have to lose? The men let him in.
The state ministers were informed about the young man.
He was brought before the ministers who said, You should know we are no fools, God forbid.
But the former king was an extraordinarily sagacious man, and compared to him we were all as fools.
That is why the country was once called the Foolish Land with the Wise Regime.
Then our king died, and the prince remained.
The prince is also wise, but compared to us he is no sage.
That is why the country is now called the opposite, the Wise Land with the Foolish Regime.
According to the king’s will, should such a wise man be found who is similarly extraordinarily sagacious, and compared to whom all are as fools, he would become king 137 and do everything as foretold.
You must know what it is you are undertaking.
The ministers of state continued, This is the test of your sagacity.
There is a garden here left over from the days of our former king.
The garden is an extraordinary marvel. Within it abound metalware vessels, of silver and gold.
But no one can enter the garden, for whenever a person tries to enter he is instantly chased.
But the person cannot catch sight of his invisible pursuer.
He is chased until he flees the garden, shrieking in fear.
Thus we shall see if you are a sage by your ability to enter the garden.
He asked, Is he who attempts to enter the garden beaten?
They replied, Mainly he knows he is chased by this unknown pursuer, and he is forced to flee in a panic. At least, so we have been told by those who have attempted to enter before.
The young man rose and walked over to the garden.
He saw there was a wall around it and the gate stood open.
There were no guards, because such a garden certainly needed none.
He approached further and peeked in. He noticed a man standing nearby, rather, it was the statue of a man.
He took a closer look and saw there was a tablet above the man on which was inscribed that the man depicted had been king several hundred years earlier.
In the days of that king there had been peace.
Before and after him there had been war, but during his reign there was peace.
Since he was someone who could deduce one thing from another, the young man understood that it all hinged on that man.
When you entered the garden and started to be chased, you did not have to flee.
Rather, you could stand next to the statue under his protection.
Moreover, were you to take the royal statue and 138 station him in the very midst of the garden, then everyone could enter the garden in peace.
So he went and entered the garden. The moment he started to be chased, he went and stood next to the man’s statue that stood at the opening of the garden.
In this way he made it out in peace and unharmed.
While others who attempted to enter the garden may have been chased off in a panic or, perhaps, beaten, the young man had come out in peace and tranquillity because he had stood near the statue.
The ministers of state witnessed his peaceful entry and departure in astonishment.
The young man then ordered the statue be taken and placed in the centre of the garden, which it was.
The ministers thus entered the garden, walking through it and coming out in peace.
The ministers said to him, Still, even though we have seen you do this, you are not entitled to be given the kingdom on the basis of a single feat.
We will test you with one more. Here is the former king’s throne.
It is very tall. Next to it are all kinds of beasts and birds carved from wood.
In front of the throne stands a divan, next to which there is a table, and on the table is a candelabrum.
Pathways extend from the chair, and these paths are paved and radiate out in all directions.
No one can tell where each path from the throne leads.
Where one of the ways extends off into the distance, there a golden lion stands.
When someone approaches it, the lion opens its maw as if to devour him.
Past the lion, the path extends further.
And so, too, for the rest of the roads that radiate from the throne.
There is a second road, and where that road extends from the throne stands another beast, this time an iron leopard.
It, too, cannot be approached 139 lest it devour you.
Past the leopard, the path extends further.
And so for the rest of the roads. All these paths extend through the whole country.
No one can see where the paths from the throne lead.
Therefore, your test will be to determine the true destination of the paths and the true purpose of everything else in the royal chamber.
The young man was shown the throne, and he saw how tall it was and everything else there.
He walked over to it to inspect it further.
He realized that the throne had been made of the same wood as the singing box the man from the forest had gifted him.
He took a closer look and saw its carved top was missing a little rosette.
If the throne just had that little rose, he surmised, it might possess the power of the singing box that played the beasts’ melody.
He kept searching and saw the rosette lying below it.
One needed but to take it from under the throne and insert it back on top and it would have the power of the singing box.
The former king had arranged each thing with great cunning, everything cleverly concealed so that no one would understand what it meant until such an extraordinarily sagacious man might come who could figure out how to adjust all the things back to their proper arrangement.
With regard to the divan, he understood it needed to be pushed back a little from where it now stood.
The table, too, needed to be moved somewhat away from its current spot.
As did the candelabrum. The birds and the beasts also needed to be moved just a bit.
The bird from one spot needed to go in another.
Everything was in need of a little adjusting.
So, too, the golden lion that stood where one path extended needed to 140 be moved.
And everything needed to be rearranged. The young man ordered all the things be moved to where they needed to go, beginning with the little rosette that needed to be taken from beneath the throne and inserted above.
As soon as all this had been done, the delightful melody, which was such an extraordinary marvel, began to ring out. Each piece was now in its proper place, and so the true prince was handed the throne.
He said to the handmaid’s son, Now I understand: I really am the true prince and you are, indeed, the handmaid’s son.