e
thing had happened to him, King Robert rushed to his palace gates,
pushed aside the startled servants, and hurried, blind with rage, up the
wide stair and through the great corridors, toward the room where he
could hear the sound of his courtiers' voices. Men and women servants
tried to stop the ragged man, who had somehow got into the palace, but
Robert did not even see them as he fled along. Straight to the open
doors of the big banquet hall he made his way, and into the midst of the
grand feast there.

The great hall was filled with lights and flowers; the tables were set
with everything that is delicate and rich to eat; the courtiers, in
their gay clothes, were laughing and talking; and at the head of the
feast, on the king's own throne, sat a king. His face, his figure, his
voice were exactly like Robert of Sicily; no human being could have told
the difference; no one dreamed that he was not the king. He was dressed
in the king's royal robes, he wore the royal crown, and on his hand was
the king's own ring. Robert of Sicily, half naked, ragged, without a
sign of his kingship on him, stood before the throne and stared with
fury at this figure of himself.

The king on the throne looked at him. "Who art thou, and what dost thou
here?" he asked. And though his voice was just like Robert's own, it had
something in it sweet and deep, like the sound of bells.

"I am the king!" cried Robert of Sicily. "I am the king, and you are an
impostor!"

The courtiers started from their seats, and drew their swords. They
would have killed the crazy man who insulted their king; but he raised
his hand and stopped them, and with his eyes looking into Robert's eyes
he said, "Not the king; you shall be the king's jester! You shall wear
the cap and bells, and make laughter for my court. You shall be the
servant of the servants, and your companion shall, be the jester's ape."

With shouts of laughter, the courtiers drove Robert of Sicily from the
banquet hall; the waiting-men, with laughter, too, pushed him into the
soldiers' hall; and there the pages brought the jester's wretched ape,
and put a fool's cap and bells on Robert's head. It was like a terrible
dream; he could not believe it true, he could not understand what had
happened to him. And when he woke next morning, he believed it was a
dream, and that he was king again. But as he turned his head, he felt
the coarse straw under his cheek instead of the soft pillow, and he saw