The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-24
The EMERALD EYE.
A PERSIAN FAIRY TALE.
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.


| sian merchant had promised; the beauti-
full emerald which the bird had carried
away from Hindustan as present for his
master brought its owner constant good
luck and shielded him from all harm.
! All his business enterprises succeeded
and everything he touched seemed to turn
! into gold. When the plague ragged in Bag
| dad, as it often did, none of the mer-
chants household ever caught it; when
! fire burned up many of the houses
around, as it once happened, it passed by
that of the merchant and went on to the
next when the hot winds Of the Persian
summer blew, they seemed to avoid the
| courtyard and garden where the merch-
ants little son Hafiz played, and where it
was always cool and shady.
The merchant pondered all these things
| and came to the conclusion that one of
the spirits of Ormazid was imprisoned in
the emerald eye,' and he took good care
to do nothing that could possibly offend
| it. He treated his good fortune as gift
| from OrmaH himself, and was humble ac-
| cordingly. Every day, too, he and his
little son, Hahz, stood at the courtyard
! gate and distributed bread and meat to
I
and if he could help them in any other
way he was careful to do so. One thing
only troubled him; he could not read the
| artistic writing on the back of his beauti-
| full jewel, and he very much desired to do
So He took the gem to the wisest of all
| the wise men in Persia, but he either
would not or could not decipher what it
meant All he said was "Some day you
will find out, but you must wait Mean
! time, guard IL as you would your own flesh
and blood eye" And with that the mer-
chant had to be content
But often while looking at the stone he
would sigh and wish vainly for his bird
| friend, the parrot, who was so old and so
wise, that he felt sure he could tell him
the meaning OF the symbol. But the par
rot was far away in Hindustan, and no
amount of wishing could bring him back.
| And so it went on until his little son,
! Hafiz, had grown into a beautiful 7year-
old boy. Hafiz was also very wise child
! for his years, and when he was born the
wise men who read the stars told how he
| would one day be one Of the most learned
men in all Persia Already, indeed, the
little boy could understand the language
of the flowers, OF the birds and bees and
| of all animals, so that he could talk to
! them, as he often did. hours at "a time,
and understand all that they said in re-
! turn.
When Hafiz seventh birthday came
round his father sought him in the
| garden and found him talking earnestly
TO the bright goldfish swimming about in
the fountain.
The merchant approached him and
said: "My dear little son, dost thou not
| know this is thy birthday Thou art
now years of age to-day, and yet thou
! hast not asked me for a gift. Tell me,
now, what wouldst thou like for birth
| day presentp'
The little boy saluted his father re-
spectfuly, and answered
Dear and honored father, / lack moth
| ing, and the only favor / crave of thee is
| this: Let me for this one day wear the
| beautiful jewel hidden in thy bosom, the
stone thy bird friend, the parrot, brought
thee from Hindustan."
But thou knowest not how precious IL
! s." argued the merchant, fearful lest the
child might lose the wonderful gem. 'Be-
sides, why wishest thou 10 wear it2"
Most honored father" replied little
Haiz, ''only just now the fishes in the
| fountain told me if so be thou wouldst
| grant me this favor, the secret of the
writing on the stone might be revealed to
me- and thou knowest how great is thy
wish to understand the meaning thereof "
The merchant thought a while in ST.
lence, stroking his long beard, and trying
to make up his mind wisely "Why not
grant the favOr2 The spirit of Ormazd
might indeed speak into the ears Of an in
nocent little child, and it may be the
fishes are right" Rejecting thus, he de-
decided to crafty the child's wish for
that day only. Then he took little Hafz
| in his arms and hung the shining jewel
around his neck, saying:
$50 be it, my son. Have thy desire,
but see that thou go not out of garden or
house lest thou lose the stone"
| Overioyed the child kissed his father
and thanked him, after which the mer-
chant left him to attend to his business at
the bazar.
Then Hafz ran to the fountain and
called out TO the fishes:
~ have it, have i'll And now what
shall l do TO read the writing on the
stone"
Seek first the dark" answered the
oldest, big sunfish with golden fms,
"and then thou shalt see what thou shalt
see, and shalt hear what thou art ready
TO hear" and with this the fish dived
under the water and disappeared.
Now HahZ remembered a certain dark
room in his fathers house, shut away in
the thick wall, as hiding place in time
of danger, and into this he let himself
secretly--for he had seen his father enter
| and knew the way. Then he laid the
emerald eye on the floor and sat down be-
fore it and waited for what might happen
next. And first the stone began to glow
like night fly, and then it shown like
star, and finally the light from il filled
the room with soft green splendor in
describably beautiful to behold. And as
Hafz looked he saw coiled in the depths
of the stone a tiny snake Of vivid fire. On
this the serpent raised its head and
| asked:
"What wouldst thou have Of me, son Of
a mortal?"
And the child answered, 81 would that
thou wouldst tell me the secret Of the SYM
Dol on thy back"
''That j cannot do, replied the snake,
"unless thou lettest me OUT
"And how can let the outl" asked
| Hafz.
by pronouncing the word thou shalt
see on the back of the stone in which
am imprisoned.
Then the child began TO tremble, because
he had heard before of the mystic word q,
TO speak which meant death to the I'M
worthy, or the requirement Of magic and
| terrible powers.