The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-01-04
AN EMPEROR'S DECREE.
Quaint Eastern Romance Borrowed
From the Times Of the Barnecides
BY EDwARD S. VAN zILE.
copw,iol,l--oll lalohts Reserved.l

bent their heHds together. Whlte Lne
courtiers remained and wondered what
had happened to their ever ready king.
As time went on suspense became POI
tent and growing pain. Why should
SO simple question of right and wrong
delay the throne so long2 The proof was
positive that here injustice had been
done, and though defendant claimed
handsome wife and most stupendous
child, the legal minds Of all who heard
his plea scoffed at such defense.
Surprise was therefore great when still
another counselor was beckoned by the
king. Surely this was trifing with all
precedent. The courtiers smiled. then
coughed, then shifted nervously. Each
one felt that his most honored lord
was growing very old. AT length the
silence as of death fell upon the whisper
ing throng. The emperor, dismissing the
gray haired men who had come to his
assistance, again fell to musing. and all
awaited his most fateful words. After
time he slowly rose.
"AIen of my realm" he said, land You
who bring your case to this, the court of
last resort, listen to your king. have
heard the facts in this most foolish suit
and have been annoyed. There is not,
as it seems to me, a truly modest man
left in any domain The egotist is all SUI
preme. You boast of your wealth, your
wife, your babe. MY courtiers stand
about feeling proud that they possess
neither wealth nor wife nor babe. Our
young men boast of their strength, and
our old men claim to be wise. Homely
women think they are fair, and fair
women try to seem bright. Even
the children who play at our knees smile
in an egotistic way. Conceit in all its
forms is rampant in the land love so
wen. have held counsel with the truly
wise men Of my domain. They tell me
to be firm. shall be, assure you. Tho
egotist must go. There is in my vast
empire no room for him who feels in his
puffed up heart that he is greater than
the worm which wriggles beneath our
feet. Listen then, all Of You, and let
the lord keeper of the scrolls note care
fully my words. If hereafter any one Of
my subjects shall express by word or
deed or manner overweening satisfac-
ton in his achievements. his possessions
or his appearance he shall lose his head
Any case which comes under this new
law shall be tried by me and my adj
visers. You may go. The suit which
led to this command is of too trivial
character to call for my decree. And
take heed, all of you, how you give
voice to the egotistic thoughts that are
boiling In your brains.
One By one the courtiers fled from
the hall, casting dark looks upon the last
counselor, the thin and evil looking
Ramek, the king had summoned to his
throne. But Ramek, the wise, needed
not their looks as he pluclzed flower in
the garden and placed it in his bosom.
For well he knew that he controlled the
ear of the king, and when he wished to
raise storm the royal clouds would an
swer to his word. And in this case he
had his ends to serve. for he loved the
daughter of the king and feared that his
rival, Prince Hamassars had already won
the hand Of the Princess Bru.
Then throughout the city spread tho
HSWS VI tAA0 C44tfELQ . 4C(1CI- OfC 1
mountains. plains aud rivers travelled
the words Of the new law, and in dis
tant villages the people groaned in fear
that their king was growing old and
harsh. The faces Of the women wore
sarcastic smiles, and playfully would
they enjoin their husbands to keep their
heads. But the men murmured, and in
some place, the ever ready plotter saw
chance to raise revolt; for even in the
most peaceful kingdom there is always
present the man who loves to stir up the
people against their lord.
So the days went by and all men were
humble. No longer did the boaster free
his tongue, nor the dandy tell of his tri-
umphs in lore. The lawyers and the
doctors, the soothsayers and the mer-
chants went about In silence, and when
they referred to themselves spoke in
deprecating way refreshing to hear.
Once more the face of the emperor
took on its accustomed smile. He was
pleased with his people, for they seemed
to him sufficiently humble to satisfy his
most exacting mood. The boaster no
longer appealed to the throne, and the
courtiers wore subservient air which
appealed to the heart of the autocrat.
Seeing the monarch in this plant state
Prince Hamassar, handsome and
wealthy youth whose difidence had
often been noticed by the king, felt en-
couraged to plead for the hand Of the
Princess Bru. It was no easy task
which he fhr5s esaaved The man who