The Royal Reception
As for the king and Princess Fluff, they returned to the palace and dressed themselves in some of their prettiest garments, telling Jikki to have two ponies saddled and ready for them to ride upon. “We really must have some toys,” said Meg with decision, “and now that we are rich, there is no reason why we can’t buy what we want.” “That’s true,” answered Bud. “The old king hadn’t anything to play with. Poor old man! I wonder what he did to amuse himself.” They mounted their ponies and, followed by the chief counselor and the lord high pursebearer in one of the state carriages and a guard of soldiers for escort, they rode down the streets of the city on a pleasure jaunt amid the shouts of the loyal population. By and by Bud saw a toy shop in one of the streets, and he and Fluff slipped down from their ponies and went inside to examine the toys. It was a well stocked shop, and there were rows upon rows of beautiful dolls on the shelves, which attracted Margaret’s attention at once. “Oh Bud!” she exclaimed. “I must have one of these dollies!” “Take your choice,” said her brother calmly, although his own heart was beating with delight at the sight of all the toys arranged before him. “I don’t know which to choose,” sighed the little princess, looking from one doll to another with longing and indecision. “We’ll take ‘em all,” declared Bud. “All! What, all these rows of dollies?” she gasped. “Why not?” asked the king. Then he turned to the men who kept the shop and said, “Call in that old fellow who carries the money.” When the lord high pursebearer appeared, Bud said to him, “Pay the man for all these dolls, and for this--and this--and this!” and he began picking out the prettiest toys in all the shop in the most reckless way you can imagine. The soldiers loaded the carriage down with Meg’s dolls, and a big cart was filled with Bud’s toys. Then the pursebearer paid the bill, although he sighed deeply several times while counting out the money. But the new king paid no attention to old Tillydib; and when the treasures were all secured, the children mounted their ponies and rode joyfully back to the palace, followed in a procession by the carriage filled with dolls and the cart loaded with toys, while Tullydub and Tillydib, being unable to ride in the carriage, trotted along at the rear on foot. Bud had the toys and dolls all carried upstairs into a big room, and then he ordered everybody to keep out while he and Fluff arranged their playthings around the room and upon the tables and chairs, besides littering the floor so that they could hardly find a clear place large enough for some of their romping games. “After all,” he said to his sister, “it’s a good thing to be a king!” “Or even a princess,” added Meg, busily dressing and arranging her dolls. They made Jikki bring their dinner to them in the “playroom,” as Bud called it, but neither of the children could spare much time to eat, their treasures being all so new and delightful. Soon after dusk, while Jikki was lighting the candles, the chief counselor came to the door to say that the king must be ready to attend the royal reception in five minutes. “I won’t,” said Bud. “I just won’t.” “But you must, your Majesty!” declared old Tullydub. “Am I not the king?” demanded Bud, looking up from where he was arranging an army of wooden soldiers. “Certainly, your Majesty,” was the reply. “And isn’t the king’s will the law?” continued Bud. “Certainly, your Majesty!” “Well, if that is so, just understand that I won’t come. Go away and let me alone!” “But the people expect your Majesty to attend the royal reception,” protested old Tullydub, greatly astonished. “It is the usual custom, you know, and they would be greatly disappointed if your Majesty did not appear.” “I don’t care,” said Bud. “You get out of here and let me alone!” “But your Majesty--” Bud threw a toy cannon at his chief counselor, and the old man ducked to escape it, and then quickly closed the door. “Bud,” said the princess softly, “you were just saying it’s great fun to be a king.” “So it is,” he answered promptly. “But father used to tell us,” continued the girl, trying a red hat on a brown-haired doll, “that people in this world always have to pay for any good thing they get.” “What do you mean?” said Bud with surprise. “I mean if you’re going to be the king and wear fine clothes and eat lovely dinners and live in a palace and have countless servants and all the playthings you want and your own way in everything and with everybody, then you ought to be willing to pay for all these pleasures.” “How? But how can I pay for them?” demanded Bud, staring at her. “By attending the royal reception and doing all the disagreeable things the king is expected to do,” she answered. Bud thought about it for a minute. Then he got up, walked over to his sister, and kissed her. “I b’lieve you’re right, Fluff,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll go to that reception tonight and take it as I would take a dose of medicine.” “Of course you will!” returned Fluff, looking at him brightly, “And I’ll go with you! The dolls can wait till tomorrow. Have Jikki brush your hair, and I’ll get my maids to dress me!” Old Tullydub was wondering how he might best explain the king’s absence to the throng of courtiers gathered to attend the royal reception when to his surprise and relief his Majesty entered the room accompanied by the Princess Fluff. The king wore a velvet suit trimmed with gold lace, and at his side hung the beautiful jeweled sword. Meg was dressed in a soft, white, silken gown and looked as sweet and fair as a lily. The courtiers and their ladies, who were all wearing their most handsome and becoming apparel, received their little king with great respect, and several of the wealthiest and most noble among them came up to Bud to converse with him. But the king did not know what to say to these great personages, and so the royal reception began to be a very stupid affair. Fluff saw that all the people were standing in stiff rows and looking at one another uneasily, so she went to Bud and whispered to him. “Is there a band of musicians in the palace?” the king inquired of Tellydeb, who stood near. “Yes, your Majesty.” “Send for them, then,” commanded Bud. Presently the musicians appeared, and the king ordered them to play a waltz. But the chief counselor rushed up and exclaimed, “Oh, your Majesty! This is against all rule and custom!” “Silence!” said Bud angrily. “I’ll make the rules and customs in this kingdom hereafter. We’re going to have a dance.” “But it’s so dreadful, so unconventional, your Majesty! It’s so--what shall I call it?” “Here! I’ve had enough of this,” declared Bud. “You go and stand in that corner with your face to the wall till I tell you to sit down,” he added, remembering a time when his father, the ferryman, had inflicted a like punishment upon him. Somewhat to his surprise, Tullydub at once obeyed the command, and then Bud made his first speech to the people. “We’re going to have a dance,” he said, “so pitch in and have a good time. If there’s anything you want, ask for it. You’re all welcome to stay as long as you please and go home when you get ready.” This seemed to please the company, for everyone applauded the king’s speech. Then the musicians began to play, and the people were soon dancing and enjoying themselves greatly. Princess Fluff had a good many partners that evening, but Bud did not care to dance; he preferred to look on, and after a time he brought old Tullydub out of his corner and made the chief counselor promise to be good and not annoy him again. “But it is my duty to counsel the king,” protested the old man solemnly. “When I want your advice, I’ll ask for it,” said Bud. While Tullydub stood beside the throne, looking somewhat sulky and disagreeable, the door opened and Aunt Rivette entered the reception room. She was clothed in a handsome gown of bright green velvet trimmed with red and yellow flowers, and her wings stuck out from the folds at her back in a way that was truly wonderful. Aunt Rivette seemed in an amiable mood. She smiled and curtsied to all the people, who stopped dancing to stare at her, and she even fluttered her wings once or twice to show that she was proud of being unlike all the others present. Bud had to laugh at her, she looked so funny, and then a mischievous thought came to him, and he commanded old Tullydub to dance with her. “But I don’t dance, your Majesty!” exclaimed the horrified chief counselor. “Try it. I’m sure you can dance,” returned Bud. “If you don’t know how, it’s time you learned.” So the poor man was forc
ed to place his arm about Aunt Rivette’s waist and to whirl her around in a waltz. The old woman knew as little about dancing as did Tullydub, and they were exceedingly awkward, bumping into everyone they came near. Presently Aunt Rivette’s feet slipped, and she would have tumbled upon the floor with the chief counselor had she not begun to flutter her wings wildly. So instead of falling, she rose gradually into the air, carrying Tullydub with her, for they clung to each other in terror, and one screamed, “Murder!” and the other “Help!” in their loudest voices. Bud laughed until the tears stood in his eyes, but Aunt Rivette, after bumping both her own head and that of the chief counselor against the ceiling several times, finally managed to control the action of her wings and to descend to the floor again. As soon as he was released, old Tullydub fled from the room, and Aunt Rivette, vowing she would dance no more, seated herself beside Bud and watched the revel until nearly midnight, when the courtiers and their ladies dispersed to their own homes, declaring that they had never enjoyed a more delightful evening.
Jikki has a Wish Granted
Next morning Aunt Rivette summoned Jikki to her room and said, “Take these shoes and clean and polish them; and carry down this tray of breakfast dishes; and send this hat to the milliner to have the feathers curled; and return this cloak to the Princess Fluff with my compliments, and say I’m much obliged for the loan of it.” Poor Jikki hardly knew how to manage so many orders. He took the shoes in his left hand, and the tray of dishes he balanced upon the other upraised palm. But the hat and cloak were too many for him. So Aunt Rivette, calling him “a stupid idiot”--probably because he had no more hands--set the plumed hat upon Jikki’s head and spread the cloak over his shoulders and ordered him to make haste away. Jikki was glad enough to go, for the fluttering of Aunt Rivette’s wings made him nervous; but he had to descend the stairs cautiously, for the hat was tipped nearly over his eyes, and if he stumbled, he would be sure to spill the tray of dishes. He reached the first landing of the broad stairs in safety, but at the second landing the hat joggled forward so that he could see nothing at all, and one of the shoes dropped from his hand. “Dear me!” sighed the old man. “I wonder what I shall do now? If I pick up the shoe, I shall drop the dishes; and I can’t set down this tray because I’m blinded by this terrible hat! Dear, dear! If I’m to be at the beck and call of that old woman and serve the new king at the same time, I shall have my hands full. My hands, in fact, are full now. I really wish I had half a dozen servants to wait on me!” Jikki knew nothing at all about the magic power of the cloak that fell from his shoulders, so his astonishment was profound when someone seized the shoe from his left hand and someone else removed the tray from his right hand, and still another person snatched the plumed hat from his head. But then he saw, bowing and smirking before him, six young men who looked as much alike as peas in the same pod, and all of whom wore very neat and handsome liveries of wine color with silver buttons on their coats. Jikki blinked and stared at all these people, and rubbed his eyes to make sure he was awake. “Who are you?” he managed to ask. “We are your half a dozen servants, sir,” answered the young men, speaking all together and bowing again. Jikki gasped and raised his hands with sudden amazement as he gazed in wonder upon the row of six smart servants. “But what are you doing here?” he stammered. “We are here to wait upon you, sir, as is our duty,” they answered promptly. Jikki rubbed his left ear, as was his custom when perplexed, and then he thought it all over. And the more he thought, the more perplexed he became. “I don’t understand!” he finally said in a weak voice. “You wished for us, and here we are,” declared the six, once more bowing low before him. “I know,” said Jikki. “But I’ve often wished for many other things, and never got a single one of the wishes before!” The young men did not attempt to explain this curious fact. They stood in a straight row before their master as if awaiting his orders. One held the shoe Jikki had dropped, another its mate, still another the plumed hat, and a fourth the tray of dishes. “You see,” remarked Jikki, shaking his head sadly at the six, “I’m only a servant myself.” “You are our master, sir!” announced the young men, their voices blended into one. “I wish,” said Jikki solemnly, “you were all back where you came from.” And then he paused to see if this wish also would be fulfilled. But now the magic cloak conferred the fulfillment of but one wish upon its wearer, and the half a dozen servants remained standing rigidly before him. Jikki arose with a sigh. “Come downstairs to my private room,” he said, “and we’ll talk the matter over.” So they descended the grand stairway to the main hall of the grand palace, Jikki going first and his servants following at a respectful distance. Just off the hall Jikki had a pleasant room where he could sit when not employed, and into this he led the six. After all, he considered, it would not be a bad thing to have half a dozen servants. They would save his old legs from many a tiresome errand. But just as they reached the hall, a new thought struck him, and he turned suddenly upon his followers. “See here!” he exclaimed. “How much wages do you fellows expect?” “We expect no wages at all, sir,” they answered. “What? Nothing at all?” Jikki was so startled that he scarcely had strength remaining to stagger into his private room and sink into a chair. “No wages! Six servants and no wages to pay!” he muttered. “Why, it’s wonderful, marvelous, astounding!” Then he thought to himself, “I’ll try ‘em and see if they’ll really work.” And aloud he asked, “How can I tell you apart, one from another?” Each servant raised his right arm and pointed to a silver badge upon his left breast; and then Jikki discovered that they were all numbered, from “one” up to “six.” “Ah! Very good!” said Jikki. “Now, number six, take this shoe into the bedroom and clean and polish it.” Number six bowed and glided from the room as swiftly and silently as if he were obeying a command of the King of Noland. “Number five,” continued Jikki, “take this tray to the kitchen.” Number five obeyed instantly, and Jikki chuckled with delight. “Number two, take this to the milliner in Royal Street and have the feathers curled.” Number two bowed and departed almost before the words had left Jikki’s mouth, and then the king’s valet regarded the remaining three in some perplexity. “Half a dozen servants is almost too many,” he thought. “It will keep me busy to keep them busy. I should have wished for only one--or two at the most.” Just then he remembered something. “Number four,” said he, “go after number two and tell the milliner that the hat belongs to Madame Rivette, the king’s aunt.” And a few moments later, when the remaining two servants, standing upright before him, had begun to make him nervous, Jikki cried out, “Number three, take this other shoe down to the boot room and tell number six to clean and polish it also.” This left but one of the six unoccupied, and Jikki was wondering what to do with him when a bell rang. “That’s the king’s bell,” said Jikki. “I am not the king’s servant; I am here only to wait upon you,” said number one without moving to answer the bell. “Then I must go myself,” sighed the valet, and rushed away to obey the king’s summons. Scarcely had he disappeared when Tollydob, the lord high general, entered the room and said in a gruff voice, “Where is Jikki? Where’s that rascal Jikki?” Number one, standing stiffly at one end of the room, made no reply. “Answer me, you scoundrel!” roared the old gentleman. “Where’s Jikki?” Still number one stood silent, and this so enraged old Tollydob that he raised his cane and aimed a furious blow at the young man. The cane seemed to pass directly through the fellow, and it struck the wall behind so forcibly that it split into two parts. This amazed Tollydob. He stared a moment at the silent servant, and then turned his back upon him and sat down in Jikki’s chair. Here his eyes fell upon the magic cloak, which the king’s valet had thrown down. Tollydob, attracted by the gorgeous coloring and soft texture of the garment, picked up the cloak and threw it over his shoulders; and then he walked to a mirror and began admiring his reflection. While thus engaged, Jikki returned, and the valet was so startled at seeing the lord high general that he never noticed the cloak at all. “His Majesty has asked t
o see your Highness,” said Jikki, “and I was about to go in search of you.” “I’ll go to the king at once,” answered Tollydob, and as he walked away Jikki suddenly noticed that he was wearing the cloak. “Oho!” thought the valet. “He has gone off with the Princess Fluff’s pretty cloak, but when he returns from the king’s chamber I’ll get it again and send number one to carry it to its rightful owner.”
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 277
