The Wonderful O by James Thurber

Author:James Thurber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-05-02T15:29:10+00:00

“Every hundred years the castle shall appear again,” Andrea said, “in semblance and in seeming, an enchanted castle, such as children see when they are dreaming.”

“And who may enter there?” asked Andreus. “And why and wherefore?”

Andrea raised her hands and let them fall. “The last page of the book is lost,” she said.

“The last page of the book contained a map,” the old man murmured. “My memory isn’t what it was, but I remember that.” He stood awhile in silence, then went on. “Whoever finds the map will find a jewel in everything he opens. My memory isn’t what it was, but I remember that.”

“Where is this map?” asked Andreus. “Can you remember that?”

The old man thought and thought before he spoke. “It’s on a wall, I seem to recall, an old wall in the castle. Whoever finds it will find a certain jewel without which men are lost.”

“Then we shall be first upon the scene when the castle reappears,” cried Andreus.

The old man shook his head in gloom. “Only evil men may enter there,” he said. “So runs the royal spell. I know not why, and if I ever knew, I have forgotten.”

“Then we are lost,” said Andreus.

“We can’t be lost when lost has lost its O,” the old man said. “Or can we?”

The others turned away lest they reveal the look of doom upon their faces. The old man spoke again. “I seem to hear a strange new bell, an old familiar bell, a bell I never heard before, a bell that I remember.”

The others turned to him and stared. And in the gloom Andrea whispered, “A bell of triumph, or a knell?”

“Time,” the old man sighed, “will tell.”

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