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Updated: May 22, 2025
"No, no," exclaimed the boatswain, excitedly. "See, no breakers strike on the shore. This is not a human land. This is a domain of demons. We are lost unless we cast overboard the one who has brought on us this ill-luck." Said Bar Shalmon, "I will land, and I will give fifty silver crowns to all who land with me."
Thou must swear to love and be faithful ever." "I swear," said Bar Shalmon. The wedding took place with much ceremony. The princess was attended by a thousand fairy bridesmaids, and the whole city was brilliantly decorated and illuminated until Bar Shalmon was almost blinded by the dazzling spectacle.
My soul will take flight from this frail body when the sun has sunk behind the horizon. I have lived long and have amassed great wealth which will soon be thine. Use it well, as I have taught thee, for thou, my son, art a man of learning, as befits our noble Jewish faith. One thing I must ask thee to promise me." "I will, my father," returned Bar Shalmon, sobbing.
"Thou hast broken thy promise to my father, the king, not to enter this room," she replied. "Therefore, thou must die, unless " "Tell me quickly," interrupted Bar Shalmon, turning pale, "how my life can be saved." "Thou must ask my father for my hand," replied the princess. "Only by becoming my husband canst thou be saved."
He bade a tender farewell to his wife, his child, and his friends, and set sail on the strange ship to the land beyond the sea. For three days all went well, but on the fourth the ship was becalmed and the sails flapped lazily against the masts. The sailors had nothing to do but lie on deck and wait for a breeze, and Bar Shalmon took advantage of the occasion to treat them to a feast.
Bar Shalmon turned deadly pale and would have fallen had not his friends caught him. "Take thy punishment for all thy sins," cried the princess, haughtily, "for thy broken vows and thy false promises thy perjury to thy God, to thy father, to my father and to me." As she spoke Bar Shalmon fell dead at her feet.
Panic seized the sailors, and Bar Shalmon was unable to pacify them. "Someone on board has brought us ill-luck," said the boatswain, looking pointedly at Bar Shalmon; "we shall have to heave him overboard." His comrades assented and rushed toward Bar Shalmon. Just at that moment, however, the look-out in the bow cried excitedly, "Land ahead!"
He alone in the city could understand the language of the captain. To his astonishment, he learned that the cargo of the vessel was for Mar Shalmon, his father. "I am the son of Mar Shalmon," he said. "My father is dead, and all his possessions he left to me." "Then, verily, art thou the most fortunate mortal, and the richest, on earth," answered the captain.
Like a thick black cloud they swooped down on the land where Bar Shalmon dwelt, and their weird cries seemed like the wild shrieking of a mighty hurricane. Down they swept in a tremendous storm such as the city had never known. Then, as quickly as it came, the storm ceased, and the people who had fled into their houses, ventured forth again.
Weary, sore, and weak with long fasting, Bar Shalmon sank down on the steps and sobbed like a child. Something touched him on the arm. He looked up. By the light of the moon he saw a boy standing before him. Such a queer boy he was, too. He had cloven feet, and his coat, if it was a coat, seemed to be made in the shape of wings. "Ivri Onochi," said Bar Shalmon, "I am a Hebrew."
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