486
LEV
KASSIL
The winds reclined on wide divans. The Royal Court was
in session.
Weathercocks led Master Craftsman Amalgam into the
courtroom. As soon as they saw him, the winds began howling
and roaring. A storm rose in the room. The Windmaster had
great difficulty in coping with this hurricane and restoring calm
in the court.
Fearless and clear-eyed, the Maker of Mirrors looked at the
king and those around him.
Once-Upon-a-Time roared out the charge.
"Do you plead guilty?" asked the king.
" I am only guilty," began the Master Craftsman proudly,
"in that I have never distorted the beautiful, hid the ugly, flat–
tered the unsightly, nor avoided telling people the truth."
"Burn out his eyes !" howled the Khamsin.
"Fill his mouth with sand!" roared the Simoom.
"Lash him with rain!" proposed the Southwester.
"Twist him into a whirlwind," shrieked the Cyclone.
"Freeze him!" said the Northeaster through gritted teeth.
"Strangle him and stamp on him!" bellowed the Tornado.
"Let him commit hari-kari!" cried the Typhoon.
"Into the ventilator with him!" shouted the king.
"Into the ventilator with him!" repeated the winds.
That was the worst kind of execution.
Amalgam was shut up in a high tower in one of the walls
of the castle. The execution was fixed for the next morning.
* * *
The beautiful Melchiora ran to Isobar the armorer and
threw herself on her knees before him, imploring him to save
Amalgam. But how could they find out which tower he was in,
and how could they save him when all the towers were as straight
and smooth as candles!
When Amalgam came to his senses after the tortures to
which the weathercocks subjected him, he felt himself and found
a piece of glass in his pocket.
It
was a fragment of the mirror
