were dromedaries, with gray,shiny skins; and that they were richly bridled and saddled, with fringedcoverings, and were ridden by handsome, noble-looking knights.
The whole procession stopped at the well. With three sharp jerks, thedromedaries lay down on the ground, and their riders dismounted. Thepack-camels remained standing, and as they assembled they seemed to forma long line of necks and humps and peculiarly piled-up packs.
Immediately, the riders came up to the Drought and greeted him by layingtheir hands upon their foreheads and breasts. He saw that they woredazzling white robes and huge turbans, on the front of each of whichthere was a clear, glittering star, which shone as if it had been takendirect from the skies.
"We come from a far-off land," said one of the strangers, "and we bidthee tell us if this is in truth the Wise Men's Well?"
"It is called so to-day," said the Drought, "but by to-morrow there willbe no well here. It shall die to-night."
"I can understand this, as I see thee here," said the man. "But is notthis one of the sacred wells, which never run dry? or whence hath itderived its name?"
"I know it is sacred," said the Drought, "but what good will that do?The three wise men are in Paradise."
The three travelers exchanged glances. "Dost thou really know thehistory of this ancient well?" asked they.
"I know the history of all wells and fountains and brooks and rivers,"said the Drought, with pride.
"Then grant us a pleasure, and tell us the story!" begged the strangers;and they seated themselves around the old enemy to everything growing,and listened.
The Drought shook himself and crawled up on the well-curb, like astory-teller upon his improvised throne, and began his tale.
"In Gebas, in Media, a city which lies near the border of thedesert--and, therefore, it has often been a free and well-beloved cityto me,--there lived, many, many years ago, three men who were famed fortheir wisdom.
"They were also very poor, which was a most uncommon state of affairs;for, in Gebas, knowledge was held in high esteem, and was wellrecompensed. With these men, however, it could hardly have beenotherwise, for one of them was very old, one was afflicted with leprosy,and the third was a black, thick-lipped negro. People regarded the firstas much too old to teach them anything; the second they avoided for fearof contagion; and the third they would not listen to, because theythought they knew that no wisdom had ever come from Ethiopia.
"Meanwhile, the three wise ones became united through their commonmisery. They begged during the day at the same temple gate, and at nightthey slept on the same roof. In this way they at least had anopportunity to while away the hours, by meditating upon all thewonderful things which they observed in Nature and in the human race.
"One night, as they slept side by side on a roof, which was overgrownwith stupefying red poppies, the eldest among them awoke; and hardly hadhe cast a glance around him, before he wakened the other two.
"'Praised be our poverty, which compels us to sleep in the open!' hesaid to them. 'Awake! and raise your eyes to heaven!'
"Well," said the Drought, in a somewhat milder tone, "this was a nightwhich no one who witnessed it can ever forget! The skies were so brightthat the heavens, which usually resemble an arched vault, looked deepand transparent and full of waves, like a sea. The light surgedbackwards and forwards and the stars swam in their varying depths: somein among the light-waves; others upon the surface.
"But farthest away and highest up, the three men saw a faint shadowappear. This shadow traveled through space like a ball, and came nearerand nearer, and, as the ball approached, it began to brighten. But itbrightened as roses do--may God let them all wither!--when they burstfrom their buds. It grew bigger and bigger, the dark cover about itturned back by degrees, and light broke forth on its sides into fourdistinct leaves. Finally, when it had descended to the nearest of thestars, it came to a standstill. Then the dark lobes curled themselvesback and unfolded leaf upon leaf of beautiful, shimmering, rose-coloredlight, until it was perfect, and shone like a star among stars.
"When the poor men beheld this, their wisdom told them that at thismoment a mighty king was born on earth: one, whose majesty and powershould rise higher than that of Cyrus or of Alexander; and they said toone another: 'Let us go to the father and mother of the new-born babeand tell them what we have seen! Mayhap they will reward us with a purseof coin or a bracelet of gold.'
"They grasped their long traveling staves and went forth. They wanderedthrough the city and out from the city gate; but there they feltdoubtful for a moment as they saw before them the great stretch of dry,smooth desert, which human beings dread. Then they saw the new star casta narrow stream of light across the desert sand, and they wanderedconfidently forward with the star as their guide.
"All night long they tramped over the wide sand-plain, and throughoutthe entire journey they talked about the young, new-born king, whom theyshould find reposing in a cradle of gold, playing with precious stones.They whiled away the hours by talking over how they should approach hisfather, the king, and his mother, the queen, and tell them that theheavens augured for their son power and beauty and joy, greater thanSolomon's. They prided themselves upon the fact that God had called_them_ to see the Star. They said to themselves that the parents of thenew-born babe would not reward them with less than twenty purses ofgold; perhaps they would give them so much gold that they no longer needsuffer the pangs of poverty.
"I lay in wait on the desert like a lion," said the Drought, "andintended to throw myself upon these wanderers with all the agonies ofthirst, but they eluded me. All night the Star had led them, and on themorrow, when the heavens brightened and all the other stars grew pale,it remained steady and illumined the desert, and then guided them to anoasis where they found a spring and a ripe, fruit-bearing tree. Therethey rested all that day. And toward night, as they saw the Star's raysborder the sands, they went on.
"From the human way of looking at things," continued the Drought, "itwas a delightful journey. The Star led them in such a way that they didnot have to suffer either hunger or thirst. It led them past the sharpthistles, it avoided the thick, loose, flying sand; they escaped theburning sunshine and the hot desert storms. The three wise men saidrepeatedly to one another: 'God is protecting us and blessing ourjourney. We are His messengers.'
"Then, by degrees, they fell into my power," said the Drought. "Thesestar-wanderers' hearts became transformed into as dry a desert as theone which they traveled through. They were filled with impotent prideand destructive greed.
"'We are God's messengers!' repeated the three wise ones. 'The father ofthe new-born king will not reward us too well, even if he gives us acaravan laden with gold.'
"By and by, the Star led them over the far-famed River Jordan, and upamong the hills of Judea. One night it stood still over the little cityof Bethlehem, which lay upon a hill-top, and shone among the olivetrees.
"But the three wise ones looked around for castles and fortified towersand walls, and all the other things that belong to a royal city; but ofsuch they saw nothing. And what was still worse, the Star's light didnot even lead them into the city, but remained over a grotto near thewayside. There, the soft light stole in through the opening and revealedto the three wanderers a little Child, who was being lulled to sleep inits mother's arms.
"Although the three men saw how the Star's light encircled the Child'shead, like a crown, they remained standing outside the grotto. They didnot enter to prophesy honors and kingdoms for this little One. Theyturned away without betraying their presence. They fled from the Child,and wandered down the hill again.
"'Have we come in search of beggars as poor as ourselves?' said they.'Has God brought us hither that we might mock Him, and predict honorsfor a shepherd's son? This Child will never attain any higherdistinction than to tend sheep here in the valleys.'"
The Drought chuckled to himself and nodded to his hearers, as much as tosay: "Am I not right? There are things which are drier than the desertsands, but there
is nothing more barren than the human heart."
"The three wise ones had not wandered very far before they thought theyhad gone astray and had not followed the Star rightly," continued theDrought. "They turned their gaze upward to find again the Star, and theright road; but then the Star which they had followed all the way fromthe Orient had vanished from the heavens."
The three strangers made a quick movement, and their faces expresseddeep suffering.
"That which now happened," continued the Drought, "is in accord with theusual manner of mankind in judging of what is, perhaps, a blessing.
"To be sure, when the three wise men no longer saw the Star, theyunderstood at once that they had