The Young King 1

　　'In war,' answered the weaver1, 'the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil2 for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. We tread out the grapes, and another drinks the wine. We sow the corn, and our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye beholds3 them; and are slaves, though men call us free.'

　　'Is it so with all?' he asked.

　　'It is so with all,' answered the weaver, 'with the young as well as with the old, with the women as well as with the men, with the little children as well as with those who are stricken in years. The merchants grind us down, and we must needs do their bidding. The priest rides by and tells his beads4, and no man has care of us. Through our sunless lanes creeps Poverty with her hungry eyes, and Sin with his sodden5（浸透的） face follows close behind her. Misery6 wakes us in the morning, and Shame sits with us at night. But what are these things to thee? Thou art not one of us. Thy face is too happy.' And he turned away scowling7, and threw the shuttle across the loom8, and the young King saw that it was threaded with a thread of gold.

　　And a great terror seized upon him, and he said to the weaver, 'What robe is this that thou art weaving?'

　　'It is the robe for the coronation（加冕礼） of the young King,' he answered; 'what is that to thee?'

　　And the young King gave a loud cry and woke, and lo! he was in his own chamber9, and through the window he saw the great honey-coloured moon hanging in the dusky air.

　　And he fell asleep again and dreamed, and this was his dream.

　　He thought that he was lying on the deck of a huge galley10 that was being rowed by a hundred slaves. On a carpet by his side the master of the galley was seated. He was black as ebony, and his turban was of crimson11 silk. Great earrings12 of silver dragged down the thick lobes14 of his ears, and in his hands he had a pair of ivory scales.

　　The slaves were naked, but for a ragged13 loincloth（腰带） , and each man was chained to his neighbour. The hot sun 'beat brightly upon them, and the negroes ran up and down the gangway and lashed15 them with whips（鞭子） of hide. They stretched out their lean arms and pulled the heavy oars16（桨） through the water. The salt spray flew from the blades.

　　At last they reached a little bay, and began to take soundings. A light wind blew from the shore, and covered the deck and the great lateen sail with a fine red dust. Three Arabs mounted on wild asses17 rode out and threw spears at them. The master of the galley took a painted bow in his hand and shot one of them in the throat. He fell heavily into the surf, and his companions galloped18 away. A woman wrapped in a yellow veil followed slowly on a camel, looking back now and then at the dead body.

　　As soon as they had cast anchor and hauled down the sail, the negroes went into the hold and brought up a long rope-ladder, heavily weighted with lead. The master of the galley threw it over the side, making the ends fast to two iron stanchions（支柱） . Then the negroes seized the youngest of the slaves, and knocked his gyves oil, and filled his nostrils19 and his ears with wax, and tied a big stone round his waist. He crept wearily down the ladder, and disappeared into the sea. A few bubbles rose where he sank. Some of the other slaves peered curiously20 over the side. At the prow21 of the galley sat a shark-charmer, beating monotonously22 upon a drum.

　　After some time the diver rose up out of the water, and clung panting to the ladder with a pearl in his right hand. The negroes seized it from him, and thrust him back. The slaves fell asleep over their oars.

　　Again and again he came up, and each time that he did so he brought with him a beautiful pearl. The master of the galley weighed them, and put them into a little bag of green leather.

　　The young King tried to speak, but his tongue seemed to cleave23 to（粘着） the roof of his mouth, and his lips refused to move. The negroes chattered24 to each other, and began to quarrel over a string of bright beads（玻璃粉） . Two cranes flew round and round the vessel25.