The Portland daily press., 1885-09-18
THE PRESS.
FRIDAY MORNING, SEPT. IS.
Translated from Nine. de Girardn1
THE PALACE OF VANITY

Translated from Nine, dc Girardlnil
THE PALACE OF VANITY.
1t was gorgeous palace, built on a great
thoroughfare, and large numbers OF people
passed by 1t daily. Its four sides were all
equally beautiful, portico supported on
magnificent columns surrounded it. This
colonnade. it must be allowed, prevented the
light from penetrating into the palace, but
then the exterior was so beautiful that no
one dared to criticise it, and besides what
need had they of daylight in palace? Did
they not have lusters and candelabras? The
dome of this palace was entirely of gilt, not
like the Invalides where only the top is gid
ed; here 1t was the entire cupola, and it was
dazzling to look at.
The queen who lived here was tall, beau
tiful lady, who. had in the place of a heart a
great diamond cut in the shape of heart.
Some people believed this was why she never
had loved anybody, On the front of the pal
ace was written in letters of rubies. "Here
one Gun obtain trs5Gt one desires" A young
man, who was passing along, stopped to look
at this superb building, and suddenly MOTTO
ing the inscription, he cried:-
Certainly should like to go in here. |
am very weary of my condition and would
be delighted to change it..
AS he drew near the door he saw beggar
seated on q stone laughing.
"Ah, you laugh at me- old man? Very
well, am willing, for you must be foolish to
sit here in rags, when on going inside you
have only to ask for coat to be dressed like
prince. Perhaps you cannot read?''
II certainly cam" answered the beggar,
II can even read writing in rubies."
Very well, have you no desire for any
thing, that you do not enter the palace?"
Certainly, l desire a great many things,
but nothing they can give me there"
The beggar looked so malicious when he
said this, that the young man almost felt
afraid,
'There is some snare here" he thought,
and prepared to pass on.
Don't be afraid, nothing evil can happen
to you in the palace" said the beggar.
"Misfortunes only are there for those who
want them; assure you You can go in
Eyes, but can afterward come out?"
Certainly, If you find nothing there that
The young man hesitated; he saw great
many people pass along the road, and no one
seemed to have any idea of entering the PAL
nee, This seemed to him very suspicious,
and he pondered.
SIS the palace accursed to Travellers Why
does no one enter 1t?
He was, you see, very anxious himself to
enter The old beggar spoke to him again.
See here, if you will give me enough to
buy bottle of wine, | will look after you,
and we will 60 in together and have a good
laugh at the fools who live there,
agreed" said the young man; so he gave
the beggar piece Of money, and they both
turned toward the entrance. The door was
of CRYSTAL and one could see inside the bell
which had to be rung for entrance. The
young man looked and saw the clapper of
the bell was a pearl in the shape of pare,
the bell was of gold, so very beautiful that
he gazed with admiration.
ring" said the beggar impatiently.
" don't dare to-" answered the young
man. II am afraid of injuring that pearl by
pulling the bell; and thatlwould be great
pity, it is so lovely"
Nonsense" answered the beggar. 1--WE
know nothing about precious stones. I'll do
it, am not afraid"
sNo, no, let us knock on the door, then
but he stopped, remembering the door was
of crystal and that blow would break it.
Then he took hold of the bell handle and
rang. but so very gently that nothing was
heard.
The beggar, tired of waiting, seized the
knocker and struck so violent a blow that
the door broke into shivers
SO they entered easily. There was no one
in the yestibule, and yet it was a very
beautiful vestibule, ornamented with stat
ues of gods and goddesses, and pictures OF
kings, queens and princes. The pavement
was of jasper and porphyry, so highly pol
ished and slippery that the young man,
whose shoes were worn smooth, fell several
times in the space of three minutes. He was
obliged to crawl along, holding to the wall,
and would rather have attempted to walk on
ice, for then he might have had a pair of
skates. The beggar Jared better, thanks to
the aid his staff gave him.
After great deal of trouble they at length
reached a large saloon where were q great
manypeople most gorgeously dressed. The la
dies dresses were covered with precious
stones, and their rich court mantles, which
trailed on the ground, were trimmed with
jewels, and their crowns, collars and brace
lets were magnificent The young man,
whom We shall call by his name, Almerie,
was dazzled by such fnery. The men, too,
were equally. well dressed; they wore velvet
coats, embroidered with diamonds, caps or
namented, each with four plumes elegant
enough for queens head dress.
Who are these fine peOple?" asked Alme-
RE of the beggar He answered.
They are the servants of the palace"
This was evidently true, for as soon as the
strangers had fairly entered the room these
princes fastened to receive their orders.
HUM said Almerie, they at any rate
are well off, 7 and fearing to make some blum
der he said doubtfully: perhaps we shall
disturb the arrangements of the owners of
the palace by visiting them now, So"
disturb the inhabitants of the palace of
Vanity said the beggar mockingly "Ah,
yonng sir, l would defy you to do that. They
are only here to be looked at; you cannot an
noy them by coming to admire them; you
might as well fear annoying actors by going
to the theatre"
The young man could not help laughing at
this remark.
''Show us the curiosities of the palace, -
said the beggar. Here is a stranger who
wishes to live here, but before he makes his
vow to that effect, he wishes to know you; SO
lead the way"
Almerie was amazed at the manner in
which the beggar addressed the lackeys, and
their meeknesS in minding; he forgot that
the vanity of philosopher is ahead of all
others.
An enormous woman, who was the house.
keeper, came forward to give the keys
to the servant who was to show them about.
Almerie saw that behind her were two lit
tie pages to hold her long train; they never
left her any more than did her shadow. 1t
was one of her privileges never to be able to
stir step without the presence of these two
pages.
She hurried forward to meet the strangers,
quickly forgetting her two spirits, and they
not expecting it did not stir, but, as they
held fast to the train, she was drawn back
march, and so they fell forward on their faces
and she backward. She was so very heavy
that it took several of the servants to raise
her.
/" A court mantle does not seem to me to
be a very convenient thing to do housekeep-
ing in" said the beggar.
The young man could not help laughing at
this remark.
One of the servants, taking torch, led the
two to the dining hall, where they were
asked to eat something
willingly" said the beggar, "a good meal
is the only thing that is not vanity"
They seated themselves at the table, but
they found after two or three mouthfuls that
the food was so sailed, peppered, sugared,
dressed and seasoned, that they could not
tell what they were trying to eat.
- I--40 III lrOI IL Ar.-