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Once upon
a time...
There lived a stone-cutter, who went every day to a great
rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for gravestones
or for houses. He understood very well the kinds of stones wanted
for the different purposes, and as he was a careful workman he had
plenty of customers. For a long time he was quite happy and
contented, and asked for nothing better than what he had.
Now in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to
men, and helped them in many ways to become rich and prosperous. The
stone-cutter, however, had never seen this spirit, and only shook
his head, with an unbelieving air, when anyone spoke of it. But a
time was coming when he learned to change his opinion.
One day the stone-cutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich
man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had
never even dreamed. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow harder
and heavier, and he said to himself: 'Oh, if only I were a rich man,
and could sleep in a bed with silken curtains and golden tassels,
how happy I should be!'
And a voice answered him: 'Your wish is heard; a rich man you shall
be!'
At the sound of the voice the stone-cutter looked round, but could
see nobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools
and went home, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work that
day. But when he reached the little house where he lived, he stood
still with amazement, for instead of his wooden hut was a stately
palace filled with splendid furniture, and most splendid of all was
the bed, in every respect like the one he had envied. He was nearly
beside himself with joy, and in his new life the old one was soon
forgotten.
It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed more
fiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the stone-cutter
could scarcely breathe, and he determined he would stay at home till
the evening. He was rather dull, for he had never learned how to
amuse himself, and was peeping through the closed blinds to see what
was going on in the street, when a little carriage passed by, drawn
by servants dressed in blue and silver. In the carriage sat a
prince, and over his head a golden umbrella was held, to protect him
from the sun's rays.
'Oh, if I were only a prince!' said the stone-cutter to himself, as
the carriage vanished round the corner. 'Oh, if I were only a
prince, and could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella
held over me, how happy I should be!'
And the voice of the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard;
a prince you shall be.'
And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and
another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him
along, the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything heart
could desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked round
still for something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite of
the water he poured on his grass the rays of the sun scorched it,
and that in spite of the umbrella held over his head each day his
face grew browner and browner, he cried in his anger: 'The sun is
mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the sun you
shall be.'
And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his
beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass
in the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer
folk. But in a short time he began to grow tired of his might, for
there seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once more filled
his soul, and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the earth from
him, he cried in his anger: 'Does the cloud hold captive my rays,
and is it mightier than I? Oh, that I were a cloud, and mightier
than any!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; a cloud you
shall be!'
And a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught
the sun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew green
again and flowers blossomed. But that was not enough for him, and
for days and weeks he poured forth rain till the rivers overflowed
their banks, and the crops of rice stood in water. Towns and
villages were destroyed by the power of the rain, only the great
rock on the mountain side remained unmoved. The cloud was amazed at
the sight, and cried in wonder: 'Is the rock, then, mightier than I?
Oh, if I were only the rock!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the rock you
shall be!
And the rock he was, and gloried in his power. Proudly he stood, and
neither the heat of the sun nor the force of the rain could move
him. 'This is better than all!' he said to himself. But one day he
heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he looked down to see
what it could be, he saw a stone-cutter driving tools into his
surface. Even while he looked a trembling feeling ran all through
him, and a great block broke off and fell upon the ground. Then he
cried in his wrath: 'Is a mere child of earth mightier than a rock?
Oh, if I were only a man!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard. A man once
more you shall be!'
And a man he was, and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at
his trade of stone-cutting. His bed was hard and his food scanty,
but he had learned to be satisfied with it, and did not long to be
something or somebody else. And as he never asked for things he had
not got, or desired to be greater and mightier than other people, he
was happy at last, and heard the voice of the mountain spirit no
longer.
The Stone-Cutter
from the Crimson Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
