Evening star., 1926-10-26
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
I. C.. NJ.
THE CHARWOMAN'S SHADOW.
Lord Dunsany. G. p. Putnam's

long-if you were to lose your shadow.
as the charwoman lost hers, as Ra-
mon AlonZo came within an ace or
losing his, away back in the Golden
Age, where Lord Dunsany came upon
this hapless pair. For ones shadow
is so familiar a companion. on hand
at every turn, certain TO put In us
at the proper tlme' tnat
there seems to be no call to cheek IL
up as one has to check up money or
success or any other of the elusive
and fugitive things of life. SO, you
see. were you actually to lose your
shadow 1t might be long time be-
fore YOU woke up to the fact that 1t
was really gone.
And. come to think Of It, what
compa nionable thing ones shadow
is, Unobtrusive, unchallenging, 1t
trudges on ahead or fingers to the
rear, oddly rejecting ones spirit and
mood, grave or gay. in pace and pos.
ture, in gait and gesture. Now ana
then, In truth. it seems to go OH on
its own, so to speak. in a pucklsh
mimicry, poking fun at It's
sober companion, saying In eHect:
"Oh, what's the use! Nights well
laugh as to be so solemn over 1t an.
We're a long time dead"' Then with
a final frisky little caper 1t settles
again to the steadier stride or It's
compa MON.
Thinking once again. what a griev'
Gus loss, what frightening loss II
would be IL there were no shadows
at all, No leaf shades on the sunlit
grass dancing to the measures set ny
gentle winds, no height of mountain
or hill laving down it's cool second
self across the heated highway. no
snowy cloud fieeces shepherded III
deep clear pools. But. why dwell
,1pon losses that cannot come 10
pass? For shadows are law-abidlng
creatures, effects Of clearly defined
causes, as sure to take their places
in the regulated scheme of things as
the sun itself is bound to follow Its
predestined course. No fear. Tnere
will continue to be, certainly, the
comfort and reinsurance OF all the
companionable shadows OF the world
The fantastic notion of a lost shad'
ow sharpens passing attention upon
this familiar friend, so imponderapie
vet so fluid in immediate response 10
every least movement of its compan-
ion. And the mind slips over, nat
urally, to that other Intangible part
of one, the spirit. 1t is here that tne
dreams Of beauty brood. and the w
sions Of hope. 1t is by means OF TINS
that one is able to wing out ana
away into illimitable time and space
and circumstance. Just suppose that
this priceless ethereal part coNld also.
like the shadow, be forfeit to loss or
barter or other destructive agency.
IJnthinkable! And why conjure up
terrible things merely because poet
has made magic with a story
Much more sensible to go along
with Lord Dunsany in a sober bal
ancing Of facts that made up the
strange case Of the charwoman and
her shadow. So. with him back into
the Golden Age, we go to an old hill
town of Spain. And. somehow, we
feel quite at home here. For the con-
suming passion of the place is for
lands, wealth of pow
err, largess of dowry for husband-hun-
CRY daughters. gold-lined pathways
for growing sons.
Back of the old town in the deep
forest frowning above 1t great ma
gician lived, so they said. one who
by mysterious arts was able to trans
mute all minor metals into drossleSs
gold. And he, too, seems familiar,
like our own captain of
industry, wizard of finance. magnate
Of this, that and the other gainful
thing. But, of course, there could be
no real likeness, for the Golden Age
in which this magician lived is far
away in a dim and forgotten past.
To get on with the matter of Ramon
Alonzo, sent by his father up into the
forest to learn the lore of the money
soon completed and Ramon set about
his task. Threading the gloomy aisles
Of the wizards retreat, the boy. day
after day, came upon an old woman
on her knees, scrubbing, scrubbing all
the long days through. In pity he
fell into way of talking, friendly
like, to- the crone, telling her his
plans. One day he came along in
high glee over an absurd offer made
to him by the wise man. Nothing
more, this. than the silly business of
giving over his shadow in payment
for his tuition in the wondrous art.
Then the charwOman went down be-
fore the boy in fearful and passionate
prayer that he would not yield to this
wicked offer. In an urgency of ap-
peal she at last told him her own ter
rible secret-that long before, under
the specious promises Of the magician,
she had bartered away her own
shadow. thereafter sinking to the ter
ror and ignominy of being a shadow
less human being. She recountedto him
the personal loneliness Of her plight,
bereft Of this lifelong companion. She
pictured the sinister difference from
others that made her first an object
Of ridicule, then one of suspicion and
fear as a sorceress, then finally an
object of hatred and persecution
Deeply impassioned. she pointed to the
object Of his search as a really worth.
less thing. She told him. in tears.
that the search for gold alone would
finally take from him even more than
his shadow. 1t would reach into his
spirit, she said. defiling his bright
dreams. distorting his high vision, rob-
bing him Of the beauty and JOY and
worthiness OF life. Not this all at
once, to be sure, but here and there
as the days went by did the old crone
plead with him in such anguish Of
protest that Ramon feared to tell her
what he had already yielded. He did
not tell the charwoman that he had
exchanged his shadow for zone just
as good" cut out painstakingly from
the original by the crafty magician.
Instead Of telling her that. Ramon
asked her If she knew where her
shadow was: Oh, yes, 1t was in a
box-a long crocodile box, gray
slithery thing, hateful to see! And
there were other shadows in the box
that could not be opened except by a
magic rune known only to the wizard
himself. And when outside the nights
We're dark and fierce with storm Of
wind and rain. then he opened the box,
so the old woman said, to send these
shadows off and away upon errands of
wickedness. each of them
a special emissary Of evil to augment
the baleful power Of this monstrous
being.
Listening. the heart Of young
Ramon fired to the hazard OF rescuing
the charwoman's shadow, Of bringing
it back to her for the comforting of
her shadow-lorn existence. And so.
~ 81