Note.-Any student of that very unliterary product,the English drama of the early part of the century,will here recognise the name and the root idea of a piece once rendered popular by the redoubtable O.Smith.The root idea is there and identical,and yet I hope I have made it a new thing.And the fact that the tale has been designed and written for a Polynesian audience may lend it some extraneous interest nearer home.-R.L.S.
THERE was a man of the Island of Hawaii,whom I shall call Keawe;for the truth is,he still lives,and his name must be kept secret;but the place of his birth was not far from Honaunau,where the bones of Keawe the Great lie hidden in a cave.This man was poor,brave,and active;he could read and write like a schoolmaster;he was a first-rate mariner besides,sailed for some time in the island steamers,and steered a whaleboat on the Hamakua coast.At length it came in Keawe's mind to have a sight of the great world and foreign cities,and he shipped on a vessel bound to San Francisco.
This is a fine town,with a fine harbour,and rich people uncountable;and,in particular,there is one hill which is covered with palaces.Upon this hill Keawe was one day taking a walk with his pocket full of money,viewing the great houses upon either hand with pleasure,"What fine houses these are!"he was thinking,"and how happy must those people be who dwell in them,and take no care for the morrow!"The thought was in his mind when he came abreast of a house that was smaller than some others,but all finished and beautified like a toy;the steps of that house shone like silver,and the borders of the garden bloomed like garlands,and the windows were bright like diamond;and Keawe stopped and wondered at the excellence of all he saw.So stopping,he was aware of a man that looked forth upon him through a window so clear that Keawe could see him as you see a fish in a pool upon the reef.The man was elderly,with a bald head and a black beard;and his face was heavy with sorrow,and he bitterly sighed.And the truth of it is,that as Keawe looked in upon the man,and the man looked out upon Keawe,each envied the other.
All of a sudden,the man smiled and nodded,and beckoned Keawe to enter,and met him at the door of the house.
"This is a fine house of mine,"said the man,and bitterly sighed.
"Would you not care to view the chambers?"
So he led Keawe all over it,from the cellar to the roof,and there was nothing there that was not perfect of its kind,and Keawe was astonished.
"Truly,"said Keawe,"this is a beautiful house;if I lived in the like of it,I should be laughing all day long.How comes it,then,that you should be sighing?""There is no reason,"said the man,"why you should not have a house in all points similar to this,and finer,if you wish.You have some money,I suppose?""I have fifty dollars,"said Keawe;"but a house like this will cost more than fifty dollars."The man made a computation."I am sorry you have no more,"said he,"for it may raise you trouble in the future;but it shall be yours at fifty dollars.""The house?"asked Keawe.
"No,not the house,"replied the man;"but the bottle.For,I must tell you,although I appear to you so rich and fortunate,all my fortune,and this house itself and its garden,came out of a bottle not much bigger than a pint.This is it."And he opened a lockfast place,and took out a round-bellied bottle with a long neck;the glass of it was white like milk,with changing rainbow colours in the grain.Withinsides something obscurely moved,like a shadow and a fire.
"This is the bottle,"said the man;and,when Keawe laughed,"You do not believe me?"he added."Try,then,for yourself.See if you can break it."So Keawe took the bottle up and dashed it on the floor till he was weary;but it jumped on the floor like a child's ball,and was not injured.
"This is a strange thing,"said Keawe."For by the touch of it,as well as by the look,the bottle should be of glass.""Of glass it is,"replied the man,sighing more heavily than ever;"but the glass of it was tempered in the flames of hell.An imp lives in it,and that is the shadow we behold there moving:or so Isuppose.If any man buy this bottle the imp is at his command;all that he desires -love,fame,money,houses like this house,ay,or a city like this city -all are his at the word uttered.Napoleon had this bottle,and by it he grew to be the king of the world;but he sold it at the last,and fell.Captain Cook had this bottle,and by it he found his way to so many islands;but he,too,sold it,and was slain upon Hawaii.For,once it is sold,the power goes and the protection;and unless a man remain content with what he has,ill will befall him.""And yet you talk of selling it yourself?"Keawe said.
"I have all I wish,and I am growing elderly,"replied the man.
"There is one thing the imp cannot do -he cannot prolong life;and,it would not be fair to conceal from you,there is a drawback to the bottle;for if a man die before he sells it,he must burn in hell forever.""To be sure,that is a drawback and no mistake,"cried Keawe."Iwould not meddle with the thing.I can do without a house,thank God;but there is one thing I could not be doing with one particle,and that is to be damned.""Dear me,you must not run away with things,"returned the man.