第34章 A Piece of Good Luck(2)

Upon my word, had a bolt of lightning burst at Jacob Stuck's feet he could not have been more struck of a heap. For no sooner had he rubbed the glass with his thumb than with a noise like a clap of thunder there instantly stood before him a great, big man, dressed in clothes as red as a flame, and with eyes that shone sparks of fire. It was the Genie of Good Luck. It nearly knocked Jacob Stuck off his feet to see him there so suddenly.

"What will you have?" said the Genie. "I am the slave of good luck. Whosoever holds that piece of crystal in his hand him must I obey in whatsoever he may command."

"Do you mean that you are my servant and that I am your master?" said Jacob Stuck.

"Yes; command and I obey."

"Why, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I would like you to help me out of this desert place, if you can do so, for it is a poor spot for any Christian soul to be."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, before Jacob Stuck knew what had happened to him, the Genie had seized him and was flying with him through the air swifter than the wind. On and on he flew, and the earth seemed to slide away beneath. On and on flew the flame-colored Genie until at last he set Jacob down in a great meadow where there was a river. Beyond the river were the white walls and grand houses of the king's town.

"Hast thou any further commands?" said the Genie.

"Tell me what you can do for me?" said Jacob Stuck.

"I can do whatsoever thou mayest order me to do," said the Genie.

"Well, then," said Jacob Stuck, "I think first of all I would like to have plenty of money to spend."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie, and, as he spoke, he reached up into the air and picked out a purse from nothing at all. "Here," said he, "is the purse of fortune; take from it all that thou needest and yet it will always be full. As long as thou hast it thou shalt never be lacking riches."

"I am very much obliged to you," said Jacob Stuck. "I've learned geometry and algebra and astronomy and the hidden arts, but I never heard tell of anything like this before."

So Jacob Stuck went into the town with all the money he could spend, and such a one is welcome anywhere. He lacked nothing that money could buy. He bought himself a fine house; he made all the friends he wanted, and more; he lived without a care, and with nothing to do but to enjoy himself. That was what a bit of good luck did for him.

Now the princess, the daughter of the king of that town, was the most beautiful in all the world, but so proud and haughty that her like was not to be found within the bounds of all the seven rivers. So proud was she and so haughty that she would neither look upon a young man nor allow any young man to look upon her.

She was so particular that whenever she went out to take a ride a herald was sent through the town with a trumpet ordering that every house should be closed and that everybody should stay within doors, so that the princess should run no risk of seeing a young man, or that no young man by chance should see her.

One day the herald went through the town blowing his trumpet and calling in a great, loud voice: "Close your doors! Close your windows! Her highness, the princess, comes to ride; let no man look upon her on pain of death!"

Thereupon everybody began closing their doors and windows, and, as it was with the others, so it was with Jacob Stuck's house; it had, like all the rest, to be shut up as tight as a jug.

But Jacob Stuck was not satisfied with that; not he. He was for seeing the princess, and he was bound he would do so. So he bored a hole through the door, and when the princess came riding by he peeped out at her.

Jacob Stuck thought he had never seen anyone so beautiful in all his life. It was like the sunlight shining in his eyes, and he almost sneezed. Her cheeks were like milk and rose-leaves, and her hair like fine threads of gold. She sat in a golden coach with a golden crown upon her head, and Jacob Stuck stood looking and looking until his heart melted within him like wax in the oven. Then the princess was gone, and Jacob Stuck stood there sighing and sighing.

"Oh, dear! Dear!" said he, "what shall I do? For, proud as she is, I must see her again or else I will die of it."

All that day he sat sighing and thinking about the beautiful princess, until the evening had come. Then he suddenly thought of his piece of good luck. He pulled his piece of blue glass out of his pocket and breathed upon it and rubbed it with his thumb, and instantly the Genie was there.

This time Jacob Stuck was not frightened at all.

"What are thy commands, O master?" said the Genie.

"O Genie!" said Jacob Stuck, "I have seen the princess to-day, and it seems to me that there is nobody like her in all the world. Tell me, could you bring her here so that I might see her again?"

"Yes," said the Genie, "I could."

"Then do so," said Jacob Stuck, "and I will have you prepare a grand feast, and have musicians to play beautiful music, for I would have the princess sup with me."

"To hear is to obey," said the Genie. As he spoke he smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared twenty musicians, dressed in cloth of gold and silver. With them they brought hautboys and fiddles, big and little, and flageolets and drums and horns, and this and that to make music with. Again the Genie smote his hands together, and instantly there appeared fifty servants dressed in silks and satins and spangled with jewels, who began to spread a table with fine linen embroidered with gold, and to set plates of gold and silver upon it. The Genie smote his hands together a third time, and in answer there came six servants. They led Jacob Stuck into another room, where there was a bath of musk and rose-water. They bathed him in the bath and dressed him in clothes like an emperor, and when he came out again his face shone, and he was as handsome as a picture.