Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1868-09-05
The Three wishes.

TLsre Mas 0nse a wise Emperor,
who made a what 10 every slran-
ser who came a. his e0nrt a fried
fish sh0nl,f he served. The servants
were dineeted 10 take notice, ifWhen
the stranger had eaten the fish Ia
the bone on one side, he larnei il
over and began On the other, 1.-The
lid, he Was 10 be seized immediate
Ia and on the third day thereafter
he MAS Ia be put Ia death, but by
a great stretch of imperial clemeney,
tho oulpril Nas permilled 10 utter zone
wish each day, which the Emperor
pledged himself 10 grant, provided
I i WAS not 10 spare his llIo, Many
had already perishe,i ia consequence
oi this ediel, when, one day, Count
and his young sou presented them
selves at court, The iish Was served
as usual, and when tho Count had
removed all tho fish from ono side,
lac turned il over, aud Was about 10
commence on tho other, when he
WAS suddenly seized and thrown
into prison, aud was told Of his ap'
preaching doom. S0rrnw-strioken,
/ the Counts young son besought the
Emperor To allow him to die in the
place ofhis father, a favor which the
monarch WAS plcasd To accord him.
The Count was accordingly released
from prison, aud his son was thrown
Into his cell IN his stead.
As soon as this had been done,
the young man said TO his goalcrs.
you know have the right TO make
thrco demands before | die; 30 and
tell the Emperor 10 send mo his
daughter and n priest TO marry us.
The firs,'dcmand was not much TO
the Empcrors taste, nevertheless he
felt bound TO keep his word, and he
therefore complied with the request,
TO which the Princess had no kind
of objection. This occurred in tho
times when the kings kept their
treasures in cave or in tower set
apart for the purpose, and on the
second day of his imprisonment the
yound man demanded tho kings
treasures. II tho first demand was
Il bold one the second was no less so;
still an Emperor's word was sacred,
and having made tho promise he
was forced TO keep il; and the treas
urcs of gold and silver were placed
ut tho prisoners disposal. On get
ting possession of them he distribu-
ted them profuscly among the cour.
tiers, and soon he made host of
friends by his libcrality.
The Emperor began now to feel
exceedingly uncomfortable. Unable
to sleep he rose early on the third
morning, and went with fear in his
heart to the prison 10 hear what the
third was to be.
Nov, said he TO the prisoner,
"tcll me what your third demand is,
that it may be granted at once, and
you may be hung out Of hand, for |
am tired Of your demands"
"Sirc," answered his prisoner, 81
have Just one more favor to ask OF
your Majesty which when you have
granted, | shall die content. 1t is
merely that you will cause the eyes
of those who saw my father turn the
fish over to be put out"
"Vcry good" replied the Empc-
.ror; "your demand is but natural
and springs from good heart. Let
the chamberlain be seized, he con-
tinued to his guards.
81. Sire y cried the chamberlain,
/ did not see anything-it was the
steward.
Let the steward be seized, then,"
said the king.
But the steward protested with
tears in his eyes that he had not
witncs ssed anything of what had
been reported, and said it was the
butler. The butler declared that
he had seen nothing Of the matter
and it must have been one Of the
Wallets. But they protested that
they were perfectly ignorant of
what had been charged upon the
Count; in short it turned out that
nobody could be found who had
seen the Count commit the otfense
upon which the Princess said:
81 appeal to you, my father, as to
another Solomon. If nobody saw
the of'ense committed the Count
cannot be guilty, and my husband
is innocent
The Emperor frowned and forth
with his courtiers began to murmur;
and then he smiled, and immediate
ly their visages became radiant.
'Lct it be So" said his Majesty f;
'lct him live, though l have put
many to death for a lighter offense.
But if he is not hung, he is married.
Justice has been done"