Page:Writings of Oscar Wilde - Volume 03.djvu/31

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THE YOUNG KING. 13

shuttle across the loom, and the young King saw that it was threaded with a thread of gold. And a great terror seized upon him, and he said to the weaver, "What robe is this that thou art weaving?" ' ' It is the robe for the coronation of the young King," he answered; "what is that to thee?" And the young King gave a loud cry and woke, and lo ! he was in his own chamber, and through the window he saw the great honey-coloured moon hanging in the dusky air. And he fell asleep again and dreamed, and this was his dream: He thought that he was lying on the deck of a huge galley that was being rowed by a hundred slaves. On a carpet by his side the master of the galley was seated. He was black as ebony, and his turban was of crimson silk. Great earrings of silver dragged down the thick lobes of his ears, and in his hands he had a pair of ivory The slaves were naked, but for a ragged loin cloth, and each man was chained to his neighbour. The hot sun beat brightly upon them, and the negroes ran up and down the gangway

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