Read Online The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six by Jonathon Keats - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jonathon Keats
Ads: Link
much more sense when he saw apparently contradictory rules as alternate suggestions—he heard a clamor in the streets as if some unforeseen jackpot had been hit. He mounted a spiral of stairs to the palace observation post. The sentry murmured the word princess and pointed at a lone auburn-haired figure on horseback. She looked up. He dropped to his knees and extended a hand. Her whispered assent, a simple yes, was picked up by the voices of those nearest to her on the road, carried by folks around them, radiating in every direction until it spoke to everyone in the kingdom.
The girl was married in her lily gown. Around her neck shimmered countless diamonds as small as dewdrops. Folks were awed by her fortune—a king’s ransom—which became part of the crown when His Majesty made her his queen. And, for her part, she found herself so much happier than she’d been alone, so much more fulfilled, that she soon was pregnant.
Many years later, Gimmel the gambler passed through the region again. He had to ask the name of the country, for he didn’t recognize it. No longer did the kingdom resemble a widow’s vegetable garden. Houses of every color and shape stretched across the landscape. Folks shouted and bartered in the market, strolling around as if they owned the place. He didn’t need to show them how to play dice. In fact, they taught him a new game, called craps.
Some of the young men laughed at Gimmel because he didn’t know the latest casino lingo. They made fun of his missing eye and fingers, his penny-ante wagers, his cheap old dice that seemed never to roll his number. But an elderly farmer passing through the market recognized him, and told the boys that Gimmel had invented gambling. While that wasn’t strictly accurate, the impression it made was dramatic. They brought him food and wine, and called him Father, as if he’d founded a religion.
It wasn’t long before the king heard that such blasphemies were being spoken in his domain. He ordered the pretender captured and brought to him. The guards converged on the marketplace from every direction. They shackled Gimmel in irons. The king watched while they delivered him. The accused reached out a two-fingered hand.
— Gimmel?
— Your Majesty?
Waving away the shackles, the king offered the gambler a suite of rooms. He ordered a bath drawn.
For hours, a clutch of servants washed and scrubbed Gimmel. The water clotted into mud. A second bath was prepared, and then a third. Always more dirt. The servants wondered whether the gambler might erode to nothing, but no matter how many miles of mountain and valley they washed away, the man always looked like muck. They gave up. They put him back in his burlap frock, and showed him to the chamber where the royal family dined.
His Majesty was already there, seated at a small table set for four. He wore his longest cerulean robe, fringed in silver to match his great fronds of beard. The queen was opposite him, and, across from Gimmel, their sixteen-year-old girl. The princess wore her auburn hair in peasant braids, a style she’d learned from her mother, whose younger figure hers conjured like a reflection in fresh water. The gambler winced when he saw her.
— She has eyes the color of the dice you once gave me, Gimmel. Just like her mother. Now tell me, what did you do with all the money I lost to you that day?
— I gambled everything away.
— That must have taken a while.
— No, not at all.
The meal was served. The soup was made from blackberries and radishes, which, long after farmers had begun to grow a full range of crops again, were found in fact to be a tasty combination. After that, there was game hunted in the forest, and a salad of sweet white flowers raised by the princess. The wine was sweet as well, and, after a third glass, the gambler was enticed by His Majesty to tell what had become of the money. He glanced again at the princess—who’d taken to unknotting and reknitting her
The girl was married in her lily gown. Around her neck shimmered countless diamonds as small as dewdrops. Folks were awed by her fortune—a king’s ransom—which became part of the crown when His Majesty made her his queen. And, for her part, she found herself so much happier than she’d been alone, so much more fulfilled, that she soon was pregnant.
Many years later, Gimmel the gambler passed through the region again. He had to ask the name of the country, for he didn’t recognize it. No longer did the kingdom resemble a widow’s vegetable garden. Houses of every color and shape stretched across the landscape. Folks shouted and bartered in the market, strolling around as if they owned the place. He didn’t need to show them how to play dice. In fact, they taught him a new game, called craps.
Some of the young men laughed at Gimmel because he didn’t know the latest casino lingo. They made fun of his missing eye and fingers, his penny-ante wagers, his cheap old dice that seemed never to roll his number. But an elderly farmer passing through the market recognized him, and told the boys that Gimmel had invented gambling. While that wasn’t strictly accurate, the impression it made was dramatic. They brought him food and wine, and called him Father, as if he’d founded a religion.
It wasn’t long before the king heard that such blasphemies were being spoken in his domain. He ordered the pretender captured and brought to him. The guards converged on the marketplace from every direction. They shackled Gimmel in irons. The king watched while they delivered him. The accused reached out a two-fingered hand.
— Gimmel?
— Your Majesty?
Waving away the shackles, the king offered the gambler a suite of rooms. He ordered a bath drawn.
For hours, a clutch of servants washed and scrubbed Gimmel. The water clotted into mud. A second bath was prepared, and then a third. Always more dirt. The servants wondered whether the gambler might erode to nothing, but no matter how many miles of mountain and valley they washed away, the man always looked like muck. They gave up. They put him back in his burlap frock, and showed him to the chamber where the royal family dined.
His Majesty was already there, seated at a small table set for four. He wore his longest cerulean robe, fringed in silver to match his great fronds of beard. The queen was opposite him, and, across from Gimmel, their sixteen-year-old girl. The princess wore her auburn hair in peasant braids, a style she’d learned from her mother, whose younger figure hers conjured like a reflection in fresh water. The gambler winced when he saw her.
— She has eyes the color of the dice you once gave me, Gimmel. Just like her mother. Now tell me, what did you do with all the money I lost to you that day?
— I gambled everything away.
— That must have taken a while.
— No, not at all.
The meal was served. The soup was made from blackberries and radishes, which, long after farmers had begun to grow a full range of crops again, were found in fact to be a tasty combination. After that, there was game hunted in the forest, and a salad of sweet white flowers raised by the princess. The wine was sweet as well, and, after a third glass, the gambler was enticed by His Majesty to tell what had become of the money. He glanced again at the princess—who’d taken to unknotting and reknitting her
Similar Books
