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Updated: May 22, 2025
The boatswain stood in the bow and threatened him with a sword. Bar Shalmon raised the twig to ward off the blow and struck the ship which shivered from stern to stern again. "Is not this proof that the vessel is bewitched?" cried the sailors, and when the captain sternly bade them remember that Bar Shalmon was their master, they threatened him too.
"I will take thee by force," said the demon. "Thou canst not," Bar Shalmon said, "for I am the son-in-law of the king." The demon was helpless and returned to Ergetz alone. King Ashmedai was very angry, but the princess counseled patience. "I will devise means to bring my husband back," she said. "I will send other messengers."
"I ask of you mortals of the city," the princess continued, "but one thing, justice that same justice which we in the land of Ergetz did give unto Bar Shalmon when, after breaking his oath unto his father, he set sail for a foreign land and was delivered into our hands. We spared his life; we granted his petition for a new trial. I but ask that ye should grant me the same petition.
Toward night, however, Bar Shalmon, to his great joy, beheld the lights of a city surrounded by trees, and as the eagle came near, he made a bold dive to the earth. Headlong he plunged downward. He seemed to be hours in falling. At last he struck a tree. The branches broke beneath the weight and force of his falling body, and he continued to plunge downward.
"Why art thou sad, husband mine?" she asked. "Dost thou no longer love me, and am I not beautiful now?" "No, it is not that," he said, but for a long time he refused to say more. At last he confessed that he had an intense longing to see his home again. "But thou art bound to me by an oath," said the princess. "I know," replied Bar Shalmon, "and I shall not break it.
A beautiful woman, the most beautiful he had ever seen, was seated on a throne of gold, surrounded by fairy attendants who vanished the moment he entered. "Who art thou?" asked Bar Shalmon, in great astonishment. "The daughter of the king," replied the princess, "and thy future wife." "Indeed! How know you that?" he asked.
Bar Shalmon thought he would fall into the fountain, but to his amazement he found himself standing on the roof of a building. By his side was the rabbi. "Where are we?" asked Bar Shalmon. "I feel bewildered." "We are at the Court of Justice, one hundred miles from the palace," replied the rabbi. A door appeared before them. They stepped through, and found themselves in a beautiful hall.
Bar Shalmon met the messenger one night when walking alone in his garden. "I have come to take thee back," said the demon. Bar Shalmon was startled. He had forgotten that the year was up. He felt that he was lost, but as the demon did not seize him by force, he saw that there was a possibility of escape. "Return and tell thy mistress I refuse," he said.
When morning broke, a new danger threatened him. A huge eagle flew round the tree and darted at him with its cruel beak. Then the great bird settled on the thickest branch, and Bar Shalmon moved stealthily forward with a knife which he drew from his belt.
"Bar Shalmon," he said, "rightly thou shouldst die for thy broken oath. It is a grievous sin. But there is the doubt that thy father may not have been in his right mind. Therefore, thy life shall be spared." Bar Shalmon expressed his thanks. "When may I return to my home?" he asked. "Never," replied the chief justice. Bar Shalmon left the court, feeling very downhearted. He was safe now.
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