W. G. Worfel

“ He wrapped the rope about a stick of glass and quickly disappeared.
At the end of his descent he found himself in the midst of a large assemblage, who looked upon him wonderingly, not knowing what sort of a being he was, or seeming not to know. He was led toward a throne which flashed upon him with such brilliance he did not at first behold it was occupied. When he became accustomed to the dazzling radiance of the throne he beheld sitting upon it the most beautiful woman, and she must have been indeed fascinating, for he had never dreamed of one so bewitching, and he was a great dreamer. ”

“ Now, I had heard if a lion meets an unflinching gaze he will take himself off without attempting to injure the gazer. I walked within a few yards and set my glance on his eyes. He seemed slightly astonished after a few minutes, and I persisted. Then his tail began to sway from side to side with great force. His next movement was to fix himself for a spring. Perhaps he had had so much of that gazing business he was used to it; in any event, it was not working like a charm, and I resorted to other tactics.
I must pass that lion, and the path was so narrow his body completely filled it. ”

“ I must add that every one of the knights and gentlemen who made the attempt to find the secret chamber found within the household of my princess some beautiful woman who reciprocated his affections. So that our palace contains a retinue unequaled for valor and renown, and there is growing up around us an army of robust children whose merry laughter and pretty pranks fill us all with continual joy.
Success nearly always crowns the efforts of the venturesome. The failure of an adventure is always chronicled with glaring head-lines, thus proving the above assertion. ”

“ My veins were now well filled, and I set my teeth hard as I careered toward him in an attempt to quarter his course, and his sword struck my horse’s flanks as I swung my sword with a blow that would have split in twain an ordinary man. He caught it with such dexterity as to break my sword in halves.
I dismounted, drew my light Damascus blade, and stood awaiting him. He was no laggard, and was soon facing me, as the guests formed a circle. It was as pretty a battle as any one might wish to see. I never saw a man with such a pair of lungs. ”

“ In the mountains of Siberia is a place; deep in the ground lies a treasure; a treasure rich beyond imagination; powerful beyond words; there lies a treasure and it is thine.
“O, listen: When thou approachest the place thou shalt know it by its fearful power; for it shall draw metals unto it with great vehemence.”
We Ali stopped. I meditated. He was repeating to me a message the owner of this brain had received, and he thought it a message to me.
By the aid of the Arabs I got my ship of state on the nest. ”

“ I stooped low and ran with great speed, passing under him as he flew to the spot I had just quitted. Nor did I slacken my speed until I reached a river flowing with surging force down a channel fifteen or twenty feet across. Hearing the lion coming, I cast about me, knowing if I could cross the stream the lion would not, for lions hate water, like all the cat tribe.
I repeated the rules so many times as I came along I knew them by heart. “Thou shalt not pluck any leaf, blossom, twig, or limb that is alive,” one of them said. ”

“ It was about the end of the six months that my forefather entered the kingdom and became possessed of this information.
Being at the age when all the fires of existence are strong and steady, he would have at once entered the lists had he not been awakened one dark night by the moaning of the wind. Being well versed in the language of the breezes he accurately read the message and without loss of time took to his horse and sped over the mountains. ”

“ The army of our king had been fighting continuously for many months and it was composed of such great numbers the provender had been exhausted and the warriors were beginning to die of starvation. While it is true a knight may live and fight many days without food and not lose in his execution, yet there is a limit beyond which his power wanes. This limit had been reached some time since and our knights were mere shadows while the forces of our enemies were still well provided with food, were lusty and rampant, and were hewing down great numbers of our chivalry with ease. ”

“ I might add that two years ago the princess became so disgusted with all mankind she had a wonderful labyrinth erected for her, repaired into its secret chamber, and will see no one who will not solve its mystery; but that no one who has ever fought for her may strive to enter under penalty of death in a most ignominious manner. ”

“ But there were giants in the days of my grandfather, Fa Bel. They towered in the air and shook the ground with their tread. And such eyes. When love kindled in their hearts their eyes shone with such brilliancy and power the objects of their affection would have been consumed but for their artfulness; they instantly fell to weeping and such torrents of water fell there were formed rivulets, so to speak, between their lovers and themselves. ”

“ I found myself passing through the outer wall of the palace enclosure, and discovered a number of women on the lawn, of whom I made bold to inquire if the princess were at home. They nodded assent. I then put another question, as to where I might have the honor of kneeling in her presence, and they looked at me with wondering eyes. I was, for the first time in my life, somewhat abashed, and one of the maids went so far in taking pity on me that she told me the princess was in her secret chamber. ”

“ And so it was, when the sharks at last stuck the stakes in the bottom, swam out in front of the net and stood side by side greedily contemplating the magnificent feast spread before them, my ancestor bore down upon them swiftly and sawed them each into two pieces so quickly neither of them was aware of it for some time after their tails had wiggled away, and might never have found out what was the trouble had they not looked back to see why their tails did not obey their commands to push them ahead. ”

“ Being at too great distance for my lance, I drew my Winchester, and taking deliberate aim with my horse at full speed I let drive. The wolf was so startled he turned abruptly right about just as the bullet reached his middle, on its course clear through him, and thus sent the bullet back with undiminished velocity, and it struck my good horse between the eyes and went through the entire length of him. ”

“ After enjoying my repast, I proceeded to read the message, which was as follows:
My dear Son:
You have now arrived at an age of discretion. You have doubtless learned that “truth is stranger than fiction” and have probably had many queer experiences of your own. My father left a secret with me that I have never dared divulge, because of the strict ideas of your sweet mother. It is, therefore, left to you to exploit it.
In the Desert of Sahara, at Oasis Tel Ali, there grows a bunch of gigantic palms in the top of which is a great egg. ”

“ So it was volcanoes came to be used as a token of joy, as well as to communicate to the people of the earth above that these people were not only still in existence but exceedingly and gloriously happy.
Occasionally some of these people come up onto the earth on visits and they are termed Albinos.
And these people have a great many drinks which they store in great caverns by air pressure, using great electric engines for the purpose of forcing it to all parts of their realm. Once in a while the people of the earth bore down into one of these reservoirs and there spurts up one of these drinks. ”

“ He said he had no words to describe his admiration for a man who could find such feathers. After about another hour he managed to face the feathers again with composure, though he accomplished it by the exercise of great care; he turned but an inch at a time, and first took a very little peek out of the tail of his eye, then one a little larger after he had got over his spasms, and so on until at last he was fairly capable of real thought. ”

“ They laughed and glanced merrily at each other, thinking he was trying to catch them in a falsehood.
“First of all, then,” said one, “there must come a very brave man; for he must overcome the serpent at the foot of the hill; he must scale the fence of glass, and he must answer our question correctly. And then he must go to the center of the earth and kiss our queen.”
“Show me the way to the center of the earth,” he demanded.
They laughingly led him to a great hole in the ground, which was as smooth as glass, and he afterward learned it was a glass tube which ran to the center of the earth. ”

“ It so happened upon the publication of that information in the daily papers of the kingdom, the number of dead bodies in the queen’s palace became so great she could not move from where she stood, and suitors were not permitted to make the attempt for the space of six months, it requiring that time to remove and properly bury the dead, which were men of valor and renown, and their deaths were much deplored. No war had ever destroyed so many mighty warriors and statesmen and poets and clergymen and priests and common men in the history of the world. ”

“ I thereupon stopped my horse and alighted with my bale of ostrich feathers. Perhaps it was the love of mother or of father or home, anyhow something, some impulse took possession of my chick and he trotted away leaving me in the burning sand. I grabbed at his tail as he started, but only succeeded in getting fifty or sixty feathers, each about ten feet long and all beautifully curled.
I was somewhat fatigued and lay down on my bale. When I awoke I was surrounded by a herd of Arabs, all with their faces in the sand, muttering exhortations. ”

“ THIRD DOCUMENT—Continued Item Eighth AND now I am in duty bound to add a bit of personal history that it may descend with the above historic accounts of the doings and sayings of my ancestry, in order that future generations may not become conceited in the contemplation of their achievements, as they must be of a less wonderful quality each succeeding year, for the great men are rapidly becoming fewer and fewer and the earth at length will not possess a single one whose deeds will be worthy of recording. ”

“ Had the chain not broken by the efforts of the oxen to free themselves, they had all surely been done to death by the tree.
But the extreme weight of the oxen thus hanging on one side of the tree had made a kink in the trunk, and a peculiar thing happened—the tree now grew upward in kinks.
The king was simply beside himself with passion and with his own hand cut off the head of the oxen driver; and he then commanded his commander of war engines to knock the tree down with a battering ram. ”

“ The princess sends greeting, and says she has learned you are indulging in this display of valor because of her. Therefore she sends word, saying as follows: She is curious in no way as to what the outcome may be, as she is not in the least interested in either of you. And she says furthermore if but one of you survive he shall be banished from the realm during the remainder of his natural life for deigning to go to such extremities without her permission. And that if this message shall have the effect of stopping the combat it will show your true merit. ”

“ FIRST DOCUMENT Li Ur, a giant, who was the son of Li Ing, who was the son of Tru Thless, who was the son of Fal Seh Ood, who was the son of Pur Jur Ri, who was the son of Fa Kir, who lived about the time of the Great Flood on the Earth, who was the son of Fa Bel, who was the son of Ka In, the patriarch, sends greetings to all students of the World, and, therefore, of its history, and begs all will take heed, meditate upon, ponder over and deeply consider the following tidbits of knowledge, information and belief gathered from the writings of my fathers. ”

“ O, thou of the sky, whose flight is swifter than that of the old eagle; whose movements are more graceful than those of the young fawn at day-break; whose actions are as noiseless as the kiss of the dew upon the tulip ”