ised: do not question the
Demon Zadok."

"Fool that I am," said the young man, stamping his foot; "here am I
wasting all this time when, if I had but thought of Zadok at first, he
would have told me all. Then he called aloud, Zadok! Zadok! Zadok!"

Instantly the ground shook beneath his feet, the dust rose in clouds,
and there stood Zadok as black as ink, and with eyes that shone like
fire.

"Tell me," said the young man; "I command thee to tell me, O Zadok! Why
are the people all gone mad this morning, and why do they weep and
wail, and why do they go crazy when I do but ask them why they are so
afflicted?"

"I will tell thee," said Zadok. "Seven-and-thirty years ago there was a
queen over this land--the most beautiful that ever was seen. Thy father,
who was the wisest and most cunning magician in the world, turned her
into stone, and with her all the attendants in her palace. No one since
that time has been permitted to enter the palace--it is forbidden for
any one even to ask a question concerning it; but every year, on the
day on which the queen was turned to stone, the whole land mourns with
weeping and wailing. And now thou knowest all!"

"What you tell me," said the young man, "passes wonder. But tell me
further, O Zadok, is it possible for me to see this queen whom my father
turned to stone?"

"Nothing is easier," said Zadok.

"Then," said the young man, "I command you to take me to where she is,
so that I may see her with mine own eyes."

"I hear and obey," said the Demon.

He seized the young man by the girdle, and in an instant flew away with
him to a hanging-garden that lay before the queen's palace.

"Thou art the first man," said Zadok, "who has seen what thou art about
to see for seven-and-thirty years. Come, I will show thee a queen, the
most beautiful that the eyes of man ever looked upon."

He led the way, and the young man followed, filled with wonder and
astonishment. Not a sound was to be heard, not a thing moved, but
silence hung like a veil between the earth and the sky.

Following the Demon, the young man ascended a flight of steps, and so
entered the vestibule of the palace. There stood guards in armor of
brass and silver and gold. But they were without life--they were all of
stone as white as alabaster. Thence they passed through room after room
and apartment after apartment crowded with courtiers and nobles and
lords in their robes of office, magnificent beyond fancying, but eac