Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-10-23
THE WICKED KING.
BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

In the olden times there lived wicked,
proud-harted king, who never thought of
anything but conquering all the lands in
the world, and making his name terror to
every one. He hurried about with fire and
sword; his soldiers trampled the corn down
in tile fields, and burned the houses of the
peasants, so that the red flames seemed to
lick the leaves off the trees, and the fruit
hung roasted from the black and scorched
boughs. Many poor mother hid herself,
with her little naked baby, behind the
smoking walls, and the soldiers searched
for them till they found both herself and
her child, and then began their cruel Joy.
Wicked spirits could not have done more
shocking things than they did; but the king
thought this was just as it should be
Day by day his power increased; his name
became terror to every one, and fortune
favored him in all that he did. He brought
home great heaps of gold and treasure from
the cities that he conquered; and in his own
royal city such wealth was stored up as
never was seen in any other place. Now
he had splendid castles and palaces built;
and every .one who saw these glorious
things said, ''What great kingW They
never thought Of the distress he had brought
upon other countries; they never heard the
sighs and groans that rose from the Towns
which he had laid in ashes.
The king gazed on his gold, and on his
gorgeous palaces; and then, like many 9TH
er people, he thought ''What great king
am Il but | must have still more, much
more. No power must be called equal to-,
and certainly none shall be greater than
minep'
So he began at once to make war upon
all his neighbors and conquer them all
He had the vanquished princes fastened to
his chariot by chains of gold when he drove
them through the streets; and when he sat
at his table, they had to lie at his feet, and
the feet of his courtiers, and pick up the
crumbs that were thrown them.
Now the king had his image set up in
the public squares and royal palaces; yes, he
even wanted it to stand in the churches be-
fore the altar of the Lord; but the priests
said 30 King, thou art great, but God is
greater; we dare not do this"
"Well then," said the wicked king, 81
will overcome Him alsor' And in the pride
and folly of bis heart, he had beautiful
ship built, which could sail through the air.
1t was as gay in color as the tail of a pea
cock, and seemed furnished with thousand
eyes; but every eye was the muzzle of a
gun barrel. The king sat in the middle of
the ship; then he had only to press spring,
and thousands of balls would fly OFT, while
the guns were found loaded again, just as
they had been before. Hundreds of NIGH
ty eagles were harnessed to the ship: and
so, now that all was ready, it rose in the
air and flew up towards the sun.
The earth soon lay far down below him.
At first, with its mountains and its woods,
= ;lra ~ oil tIn
green blades of grass peep out from among
smoth map of the world, and soon after this
it was hidden in the mist and cloud.
Higher and higher flew the eagles.
But, behold, God sent a single one from
His countless host of angels, and the king
shot thousands of balls at him; but the hard
balls rebounded like hail from the angels
shining wings. One drop Of blood only,
one single drop, came trickling from his
snow-white plumes. This drop fell upon
the ship in which the king was sitting: it
burnt itself into it, and weighed down the
vesse! like a thousand fothers of lead, it
bore it with awful violence towards the
earth.
The strong wings of the eagles were bro
ken; the wind whistled round the head of
the king; and the clouds around him, which
were made of the smoke of the burnt cities,
took the threatening form Of grifins, many
miles long, that stretched out their claws
at him; or now they looked like rolling
rocks and dragons vomiting fire.
The king lay half dead at the bottom of
the ship, which was caught, at last, in the
thick branches of the forest.
81 will conquer heaven" said he. 81
have sworn that I will, and it shall be
done"
So for the next seven years he had ships
cleverly built for sailing through the air; he
had flashes of lightning forged from the
hardest steel; for he was bent on irving the
bulwarks of heaven. From all the coun-
tries he ruled over, large armies were levi
ed, which covered a circuit of several miles
when they were drawn up in order man by
man.
They embarked in the ships he had so
cunningly contrived, and he himself drew
near to the one which he was to sail in.
1t was then that God sent a swarm of gnats
against hinl-one little swarm of gnats.
They buzzed round the king, and stung him
on his face and hands. He drew his sword
in anger, but only fought the empty air,
for he could not touch the gnats. There
fore he ordered silken robes to be brought:
be bade them wind these around him, that
not gnat should be able to reach him with
its sting; and they did as he commanded.
But one little gnat lighted on the inside
of the robes: it crept into the kings ear,
and stung him there. The wound burned