THE MASTER CRAFTSMEN
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and the famous swords which were strong and sharp and yet so
slender that you only had to turn them edgeways to make them
invisible.
The fruit, mirrors and swords of Sinegoriya were famed
throughout the world, and who did not know that at the foot of
the volcano Quiproquo live.d three great Master Craftsmen:
Amalgam, the glorious Maker of Mirrors and Crystal; Isobar,
the highly-skilled armorer; and wise John Greenfingers, the re–
nowned gardener and fruit-grower.
Isobar's mighty hands could easily bend the thickest iron
bar, yet they could also weave the thinnest chain mail. He forged
both swords and plows, while the children of Sinegoriya played
with intricately-designed rattles which the kind craftsman made
for them. John Greenfingers grew grapes which were as large as
apples, and apples which were as huge and heavy as water–
melons. In his garden were roses and lilies of unmatched beauty.
Their aroma made people gay like a very strong wine. But the
Master Craftsman whom the people of the blue mountains loved
most was Amalgam. He could make glass, the facets of which
caught the seven colors of the rainbow, and his mirrors possessed
the mysterious power of retaining sunbeams in their depths and
radiating them in the dark. And when the finest of these sun–
beams were plucked, they sang like the strings of a lute. Every–
one loved the Master Craftsman, for the people of Sinegoriya
were fair of face and there were few who were distressed by the
mirrors. The children were delighted at the seven-colored tinker–
bells which danced from the mirrors.
Then it happened that for many years no travelers were
able to reach Sinegoriya. Raging storms barred the way to all
ships which tried to approach the island. Nevertheless, one daring
seafarer and his valiant comrades finally managed to sail to
the shores of Sinegoriya. But when the ship had dropped anchor
and the weary travelers had gone ashore, they hardly recognized
the once happy and prosperous country where they had so often
tasted the sweet fruit and breathed the intoxicating scent of the
