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N those days Balthasar, called
Saracen by the Grecians,
- . a TT a
p reigned over Etmopia. xio
was DlacK out comiy,
o mind and generous of heart.
In the third year of his reign,
which was the 'twenty-second
of his age, he went to visit
Balkis, queen of Sheba, ac
companied by the mage Sem
bobitis and by the eunuch .
Menkera. He had a train of
seventy-five camels, with'
i i M ilrniom rn TTIVTTh.
(fill 1 1 loaas ui ;
I Ml 1 eold powder and elephants t
2TVJ - tusks. While they were jour
rT neying Sembobitis would teach
Balthasar the influence of the
planets and the secret virtues of stones, and
'Menkera would sing liturgic songs to him;
!but he was not listening to them, being all in
jtent upon looking at the .little jackals who
iwere sitting, with ears erect, on the sandy
lhorizon.
. At last, after a march of twelve long days,
'Balthasar and his companions smelt a sweet
tsmell of roses and they soon gazed upon the
'gardens which surrounded the town of Sheba.
There they met young maidens who were
'dancing under blossoming pomegranates.
When they came into the town they were
Amazed at the size of storehouses, sheds and
workyards, which were stretching in front of
them, as well as at the large quantity of mer
chandise stored in them. For a long time they
walked along streets thronged with chariots,
porters, donkeys and donkey drivers, until the
marble walls, the purple tents, the gold cu
polas of Balkis palace came into view.
The queen of Sheba received tnem in a
icourt cooled with fountains of perfumed wa
ter which fell in pearly streams with a clear
ringing sound. She was standing in bejeweled
robes and she was smiling.
When he saw her Balthasar was deeply
itroubled. She appeared' to him sweater than
la sweet dream.
"My .lord,"' Sembobitis muttered to him;
i""be careful to conclude a good treaty of com
merce with the queen."
"Take heed, my lord," said Menkera, "for
she is said to use magic in winning the hearts
of men."
Then, after bowing very low, the mage and
the eunuch retired.
Balthasar, when he was alone with Balkis,
opened his mouth, in an attempt to speak, but
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owcieu c3tjinD0Ditis. an.
"Then I will try to '
Balthaser. rtt. lpt " ,MlSe" w
had lost S
to Ethiopia. And, ashe
that he lovert ho .
Ren,- .
cry
iiiuiocij. lu wisaom and rr
mage. He had a tower h,i,t a '
top of which one com,?
it --
Kingaoms and the
heavens. He used to gVi'o
cvcijr uigui, mere to-su-t1- Tv, UI
ens under the direction ' v beav
Sembobitis. 4 ,tle
"Sembobitis," he wo,
thou answer on thy he
curacy of my horoscop
ABd the sage Sembui
ply:
"My lord, science is
savants are not."
Balthaser, who had ;
genius, would say:
"Divine truth is the ;niv
1 hIle, but
natural
it is hidden from us m,i v,, ,'t.ei
vain. And yet I have 1U m
a new star in tho ii, . .
11 is a
as
if it
beautiful star, which
jv.i ii iu6, "u, u".:i it seir.tPlsrt
it lnrlrc HVq orimr v,,... , ' id"S,
ing kindly down upon f
times even imagine that ih- ff
speaking to me. Bless-f. ja
wno snail De born under
i- star:"
V.
abroad
iopia-
r.in
r:'-e king-.
;0-ger in
"There is a beggar," At the : same moment some brigands hap
she said, "lying against pened to pass by and saw the two lying on the
the wall of the palace, moss.
Then they tied them to the tail of a donkey
Give him your clothes
and ask him to give you,
in exchange, his turban
of camel's hair and the
coarse cloth which gir
dles his loins. Make
haste while I get ready."
And she ran out of
the banquet hall, clap
ping her hands for joy.
Balthasar took off his
tunic made of fine 'linen
and all embroidered with
with gold, and tied the
beggar's Cloth round his
loins. He looked a true
slave. The queen soon
reappeared in the seam
and went along their way with them.
The black king was hurling threats of death
at them, but Balkis, although slightly shivering,
in the cold air of dawn, seemed to smile at.
some inward thought. '
They walked through barren' solitudes until
the heat of the day began to make itself felt.
She was now laughing, and the brigand chief
having asked her the reason why," she replied :
;i am laughing at the thought of having you
all hanged." ... 1 , , ... .
"Truly; my beauty!" exclaimed the brigand
chief, "that is strange talk in the mouth of a
scrubber of pots! And your black gallant? he "
will probably, help you?"
On hearing these insulting words, Balthasar
wras incensed with' rago: he threw himself upon
less blue gown of the' the brigand anft squeezed his neck so hard that
poor women who worked he nearly strangled him.
But the brigand stuck his knife Into him, and
the poor king. rollinjg on the ground, looked at
Balkis with ees in which all life soon seemed
to be extinct.
" -But it had been m .is, -i
through the whole extern (,
and through the neiphb
doms that Balthaser was u
love with Balkis.
When the news reached Sheha Bal
kis resented it bitterly, she roa.
manded her grand vizier to t every
thing ready for ajourney to Ethiopia;
"We shall start this very uigt
she said, "and thou shalt lose
head, if everything is not ready Ufore
the sun sinks to rest."
And when she' was alone she burst
into sobs.
"I love him and he loves me not!"
she cried in all sincerity.
Then one night Balthasar. who as
on the top of his tower, Observing the
miraculous star, saw on looking down
toward the earth, a long black line
winding along the sands of the desert,
like an army of ants.
As the caravan came nearer Baltha
sar. saw distinctly the bright scimitars
and the black rhorses of the queec's
guards.
Then he saw her also; and he was
troubled amazingly, and he felt that
he was going to love her again. The
star was shiniiig in the zenith with
marvelous brilliancy. Beneath. Balkis,
in her litter off purple and gold, looked
quite small, ind she also shone like
a star.
felt drawn toward her
'e irresistible torce. But,
face from her with a great
ifting up his eyes, he saw
in, and the star spoke and
Balthas
if by so
turning hj
effort and
the star
said:
"Glory
peace o
. "Take
sweet K!
and I sha
Has just b
in' the fields.
"Let us go!" she said,
and led Balthasar
through narrow lobbies
down to a small gate.
jhe could not utter a word, and he thought to
himself: "The queen will be angry at my
'silence."
i But the queen was still smiling and did
not look angry. -
She spoke first and said, in a voice sweeter
than music:
"Be welcome and sit down."
And, with a finger which looked like a ray
'; of light, she beckoned him to some purple
'cushions on the floor.
Balthasar sat down, sighed a big sigh, and
i seizing hold of a cushion with each hand, he
'exclaimed hurriedly:
. "Madame, J wish these two cushions were
; giants and your enemies, so that I might
wring their necks."
And, speaking thus, he squeezed the cush
ions so hard in his clenched fists that they
burst, letting out a cloud of white down. One
j of the little feathers whirled round in the air
J for some time and then alighted on the
queen's neck.
"My lord Balthasar," said Balkis, blushing,
"why do you want to kill giants?"
"Because I love you," said Balthasar.
"Tell me," said Balkis, "is the water of
wells sweet in your capital?"
"Yes' answered Balthasar, much sur
prised. v
"I also would like to know," resumed Bal
kis, "how they prepare dried fruits in Ethi
opia." The king did not know what to say; but
she pressed him:
"Tell me, now, if you would please me."
Then, with a great effort of memory, he
described the practise of Ethiopian makers of
sweets, which consisted , of stewing quinces
in honey. But she was not listening to him.
Then, all of a sudden:
"My lord, they say that you are in love
with Queen Candace, your neighbor. Tell me
truly, is she fairer of face than I?"
"Oh! Madam, how could that be?" and
Balthasar fell on his knees at Balkis' feet.
. The queen continued: "Then, her eyes?
her mouth? . . . her eomnlfiTl?"
Balthasar, stretching a. hand toward her.
said:
"Let me take the little feather which has
alighted on your neck, and I will give you oneT
half of my kingdom, with the sage Sembobitis
and Menkera the eunuch into the bargain."
But she got up and ran away laughing a
clear-ringing laugh.
That evening Balthasar had supper with
the queen of Sheba and drank palm wine.
"So, really," said Balkis during the supper,
"Queen Candace is not so fair of face as I
am?"
"Queen Candace is black," answered Bal
thasar. Balkis glanced at Balthasar and said:
- "One can be black and comely.
"Balkis!" exclaimed the king. . .
He could say no more. Seizing her in his
embrace he held the queen's forehead beneath
his lips. But he saw that she was weeping.
Then he" spoke to her in a low, caressing,
lightly singing voice, as a nurse would to her
babe, and he called her his little flower and
his little star.
"Why dost thou weep?" said he, "and
what must I do that thou mayest weep no
more? If thou hast any wish, tell it me, and
I shall do even as thou wishest."
She had ceased weeping, and now she was
In a dreamy mood. For a long time he pressed
her to tell him her wish.
At last she said:
"I wish to feel fear." - .
As Balthasar did not seem to understand,
she explained tovhim that for a long time" she
had been wishing to be exposed to some un
known danger, but that she could not, because
both the men and the gods of Sheba were
watching over her.
"And yet," she added with a sigh, "I should
so like to feel, during the night, the cold and
delightful thrill of fear go through my flesh! -I
should so like to feel my hair stand on end! v
Oh! how delightful it would be to be afraid!"
She threw her arms round the neck of the
black king and said, in the voice of a beseech
ing child:
"Here is night coming down upon us. Let
us both go through the town in disguise. Will
you not come?"
He assented and she, running to the win
dow, looked through the lattice Into the public
square.
II.
The night was. dark
and Balkis looked quite
small in the darkness.
She took Balthasar to
one of those drinking
dens wheva porters about
town used to assemble.
They sat down to a table
and they could see, by
dim light of an ill-smelling
lamp, through the thick atmosphere of the
place, reeking j brutes fighting . with fists or
knives for a cup of fermented drink, while
others slept, with closed fists, under the tables.
Balkis, perceiving some salt fish hanging
from the rafters of the roof', said to her com
panion: "I should like to eat of that salt fish with
pounded onions."
Balthasar ordered the dish, but when she
had finished eating, he discovered that he had
taken no money with him. He took little con
cern and thought they could go out without
paying. But the innkeeper barred their way,
calling him a slave and calling her a donkey,
at which Balthasar knocked . him down with
his fist. Some of the men, with uplifted
knives, rushed I upon the two strangers.- But
the black king! seizing hold of an enormous
pestle used for pounding Egyptian onions,
crushed two of his aggressors and compelled
the others to retreat. He felt Balkis by his
side, which made him Invincible. The friends
of the innkeeper, not daring to approach,
hurled at him, ;from the back of the shop, oil
jars and cups, lighted lamps, and even the
enormous brass pot wherein a whole sheep
was stewing. The pot fell with a crash on
Balthasar's head and split it. He was
stunned for an instant, but, gathering up his
strength, he hurled the pot back with such
vigor that the height of it was increased ten
fold. The crash of the falling metal j was
mingled with horrible groans, and with the
shrieks of the dvine. Takine- n a
in. ' ; ,
But now there came a big roar of armed
horsemen and Balkis saw. brave Abner who, at
the head of her guards, came to release his
queen, of whose mysterious disappearance he
had heard the day before.
The mage Sembrobitis and Menkera the eu
nuch who were standing by Abner's side gave
a loud cry when they saw their prince lying mo
tionless with a knife in his side. They raised
him with the , utmost care. Sembrobitis, who
was well versed in medical science, saw that
he was still breathing. He dressed the wound
while Menkera, wiped the froth from the king's
lips. Then they tied him on a horse and bore
him gently to the queen's palace.
For a space of x fifteen days Balthasar re
mained in a state of mad delirium. N He spoke
continually of the brass pot and of the moss in
the torrent bed, and cried out for Balkis. On
the sixteenth day, having opened his eyes, he
saw Sembrobitis and Menkera by his bedside,
but he did not see the queen.
"Where is she? What is she doing?"
"My lord," saW 1 Menkera, "she is in private
conversation with the king of Comagehe."..
"I must see her!" cried Balthasar.
. And he rushed but toward the queen's apart
ment before the old man . and the eunuch could
stop him. When he came near the bed cham
ber he saw, the king 6t Comagene coming out of
it, all bedecked with gold and as bright as the
sun.
Balkis, lying on a , purple bed, with closed
eyes', was smiling. .
"Oh Balkis! Oh my own!" cried Balthasar.
She, turned a cold and hard gaze on him, and
he saw that she had forgotten every thin g). and
he reminded her of that night in the torrent bed.
"I really do not know what you mean, my
lord. Palm wine agrees not with you. You
must have been alreammg." a
She rose to her feet and the gems in ' her
gown clashed like hailstones and shone like
lightning. V
"My lord," she said, "now Is the time when"
my privy council must assemble. I have no
God in 'th6' highest, and '
Barth to men of good will!
hou a measure of mynt.
g Balthasar, and follow me,
lead thee to the Child who
n uorn in a siauie ueitrcu
a donkey alid an ox.
For' that! Child is the King of
Kings, and lie will comfort those who
wish to be fcornforted.
"He clls Hthee, Balthasar, whose
mind is still as dark as thy visage, but
whose heart is simple, even as the
heart of a child.
"He has chosen thee because thou
hast suffered, and he will give thee
riches, joy and love.
"He will say to thee: he poor and
rejoice in thy poverty, for that is in
deed true riches. He will say: true
joy lies in the renunciation of jor;
love me andT4ove men because of
for I am the only true love."'
At these words peace divine shone
like a bright light on the dark face
of the king.
Queen Balkis, looking up toward
Balthasar, knew that no love for her
could fill that heart now full of love
divine, and, turning, she ordered her
caravan back to Sheba.
When the star ceased to speak the
king and his two companions came
down from the tower, and having pro
cured a measure of myrrh, they form
ed a caravan and followed the star
which went before them.
One day, being at a place where
three roads met, they saw two W
who were coming with long trains
followers. One of them was youns
and White of face. He greeted Baltn
sar and said: . ,
"My name is Gaspar; I am a wu
and I am taking a present or
the Child who has been bom m
lehem of Judea."
Beth-
ine second King a. wry
He was an old man and his 11
beard flowed to his girdle. j
"My name is Melchior," he saiJ
am a king and I am takii.g a Pr
-of frankincense ta the Divine t
who has come to teach truth to m . .
i am going tnituci t
unt"
Balthasar; -"I have vanquished mv
and thorofnro Aid the star speaa
the terror of the "survivors and fearing lest lelsure for explaining the dreams of a diseased
lied.
she
Balkis should be hurt. Balth
his arms and fan with her through the dark
and deserted streets. , t
"I love thee," whispered the queen.
. ' And now the moon, peeping from behind a
cloud, revealed in Balkis's half-closed eyes, a
ray of light damp with tears. They were go
ing down the dry bed of a torrent. All of a
sudden Balthasar's foot slipped on 'some moss
and they fell down holding one another In a
tight embrace, i It , seemed to them as If the
world of the living had ceased to exist. And
when at dawn gazelles came to drink from the
hollows of the. stones, the lovers were still
wrapped In obllrion. . . . -
brain.. Take some . rest. Adieu ! "
Balthasar felt as if he was gojng to die, but
he made an effort to hide his weakness from"
the wicked woman, and, flying- to his room, be
fainted, his wound having opened again. '
' . ' . ; IV.
For threo weeks he remained insensible, as
if dead, and on the twenty-second day, when he
came back to life again, he claspe'd the hand of
Sembobitis, who, together with Menkera, had
been watching over him, and he said, with tears
'h!. frlends how happy -you both aref
But no! . there is no happiness at all in this,
world, and everything In It is bad. since lave is
. . . ..,. i ral
my pride and therefore v.
t rnntm. "nnw v .
x, earn vjraayci,
my cruelty and therefore cio 1 g.
you." caflria
And, lo, the star whi or. f v - .
the. east went before tnc- " ' rhiid
,-ouus
and stood over-where' the y
was. - . . - re-
When they saw the star u
jolced with exceeding -g-rfat J ' t0 tb
And whon thev were ecru? ..v,
house they saw the younfe aDd
Mary his mother, and feh d bdv
worshiped him; and.vben t
opened their treasures tney.P jn-.
it-ntn Kiwi trffta- end. aT.U . th9
uAut guw d ' -aid 1
cense, and myrrh as4 it is
gospel.