However, when he went into he gallery next day and looked at the
painted windows again, he found that they moved, and the figures came
and went as if they had been alive, and after watching the one who was
like himself find the key in the crack of the turret wall and open the
old cabinet, he determined to go and examine the place himself, and try
to find out what the mystery was. So he went up into the turret and
began to search about and tap upon the walls, and all at once he came
upon a place that sounded hollow. Taking a hammer he broke away a bit
of the stone, and found behind it a little golden key. The next thing
to do was to find the cabinet, and the Prince soon came to it, hidden
away in a dark corner, though indeed it was so old and battered-looking
that he would never have noticed it of his own accord. At first he
could not see any keyhole, but after a careful search he found one
hidden in the carving, and the golden key just fitted it; so the Prince
gave it a vigorous turn and the doors flew open.
Ugly and old as the cabinet was outside, nothing could have been more
rich and beautiful than what met the Prince’s astonished eyes. Every
drawer was made of crystal, of amber, or of some precious stone, and
was quite full of every kind of treasure. Prince Curlicue was
delighted; he opened one after another, until at last he came to one
tiny drawer which contained only an emerald key.
‘I believe that this must open that little golden door in the middle,’
said the Prince to himself. And he fitted in the little key and turned
it. The tiny door swung back, and a soft crimson light gleamed over the
whole cabinet. The Prince found that it proceeded from an immense
glowing carbuncle, made into a box, which lay before him. He lost no
time in opening it, but what was his horror when he found that it
contained a man’s hand, which was holding a portrait. His first thought
was to put back the terrible box and fly from the turret; but a voice
in his ear said, ‘This hand belonged to one whom you can help and
restore. Look at this beautiful portrait, the original of which was the
cause of all my misfortunes, and if you wish to help me, go without a
moment’s delay to the great gallery, notice where the sun’s rays fall
most brightly, and if you seek there you will find my treasure.’
The voice ceased, and though the Prince in his bewilderment asked
various questions, he received no answer. So he put back the box and
locked the cabinet up again, and, having replaced the key in the crack
in the wall, hastened down to the gallery.
When he entered it all the windows shook and clattered in the strangest
way, but the Prince did not heed them; he was looking so carefully for
the place where the sun shone most brightly, and it seemed to him that
it was upon the portrait of a most splendidly handsome young man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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