The great King Kaid of India was growing weary. For years he had been a mighty warrior, but now all his enemies were conquered; there were no rebels in his realm, and the neighbouring countries paid their tribute regularly.
"I cannot go to war without cause," said Kaid, " for that would be displeasing to the gods, and I should go down to posterity as a wicked oppressor. Yet there is nothing else that interests me. I would give anything to the man who would invent some means of interesting me and so make the time pass quickly."There were many courtiers present. And one man, an aged sage, paid a good deal of attention to what the King had said. He went home and retired to a room, taking with him pen and parchment.
For days the old man remained in this apartment by himself, coming out only to eat his meals. At last, after a fortnight, he sent for Talachand, a skilful carver of ivory, and commanded him to make thirty-two little figures af te r p atte rns w hich he de scribe d care fu lly to the carver. There were to be two kings and two queens,four warriors on horseback, two castles modelled after a famous stronghold near Delhi, and other figures of different sizes and shapes. Half of these were to be white and the other half red.
Talachand worked hard at the figures, and in another fortnight brought them to the wise man, who was very pleased with them.
Meanwhile, the sage had ordered a curious board from a woodworker in the bazaar. It was square, and contained sixty-four smaller squares, alternately red and white. Such a curious board had not been seen before, and many people were puzzled to think what its use could be.
At last, when the board was finished, and the figures were all ready, the wise man carried them to the King"s palace. As soon as his presence was announced, the King summoned him to his chamber.
"Sire," said the old man, " you promised to fulfil any request that might be made by the man who was able to interest your Majesty in some new occupation. Does that promise still hold good?"" It does," replied the King. "I will do anything for the man who can save me from weariness.""Well," continued the old man, arranging the ivory figures carefully upon the board in two pairs of rows facing each other, " here is a new kind of warfare for your Majesty,a w a r fare in which no blood will be shed, no towns burned, no children orphaned, but which will give you plenty of excitement and tax all your powers of strategy if you are to win."Already the King was interested; and, as the old man showed how the warfare of the ivory figures was waged on the battle-ground of the chequered board, the King grew excited and his weariness fled.
"This white king is your Majesty," said the old man; " and, if you are to win the battle, you must keep a clean mind, for it is by skill and not by force that success comes in this war."Then the old man showed how the different figures were to move on the board, some going across in either direction and others moving diagonally, while the figures of warriors on horseback moved a little across and then diagonally. Some moved over many squares at one time and others over one square only.
For weeks and weeks the King studied this new kind of warfare, in which no one was slain, and after a time he felt he had made himself a master of it, and he called the game "the King," or " Chess," which means the same thing.
Then the wise man asked for his reward.
"What shall I give you?" questioned the monarch. "Askme anything you like, and you shall receive it, to the half ofmy kingdom."
"I want neither gold nor jewels," said the old man. "All I ask is that your Majesty shall give me one grain of corn for the first square on the chess-board, double that for the second square, double that again for the third, and so on- that is, I am to have one, two, four, eight, sixteen, and so on up to the sixty-fourth square; simply that, and nothing more.""Of course you can have that," replied the King; "but it is nothing for what you have done. Let me add a hundred lacs of rupees?""No, your Majesty," said the old man, modestly; "I am grateful for your generosity, but give me only the corn that I ask for and I shall be content.""Very well," replied the King; and, calling his treasurer, he told him to count up the number of grains.
"I must ask your Majesty to send them to me," added the wise man; and to this the King agreed, although he could not understand, he said, why the old man could not take so small a reward with him.
The treasurer went away, but after an hour or two he returned in the greatest consternation.
"Have you sent the old man his reward?" asked King Kaid.
"No, your Majesty," replied the treasurer; "it is im-possible. He has asked for more than the value of your kingdom.""What do you mean?" demanded the King severely, looking greatly astonished.
"Why, your Majesty, to give one grain for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, and so on to the sixty-fourth, means that he is to have 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains. Not a thousandth part of this corn exists in the world, for its value at two shillingsa bushel is ￡3,385,966,239,667."
The King could not believe his treasurer until the sum was worked out in his presence, and then the King, too, was in dismay. At this moment the wise man appeared to ask again for his reward. The King, in great alarm, asked him if he realized what his request meant.
"But," said the old man, " your Majesty has solemnly promised to give me what I asked, even to the half of your kingdom."The King was silent. Then, after a few moments, the wise man said:
"King, I crave no reward for having taught your Majesty that there are other things of interest in life beside slaughter and fire; and, if I have made the greatest of monarchs realize that even he cannot fulfil every rash promise, made without thought and in pride of heart, then I shall have beenrewarded for inventing a game that men of all ages and countries may yet come to delight in."And the wise man was right, for chess, which was thus invented, has indeed come to be the game of games.
From My Magazine
Author.-Unknown. Arthur Mee"s My Magazine was a delightful journal for children. For many years it appeared every month, published in England.
General Notes.-There are two main features in this story. Itprofesses to give the origin of the game of chess, and then it draws our attention to a curious fact in numbers. Where chess was really born no one knows, perhaps in China, perhaps in India, perhaps in Persia, perhaps in Egypt. What other game is played on a chessboard? Pronounce Kaid kah-eed.
RAIN
It isn"t raining rain to me, It"s raining daffodils;In every dimpled drop I see
Wild flowers on the hills.
The clouds of grey engulf the day And overwhelm the town-It isn"t raining rain to me, It"s raining roses down.
It isn"t raining rain to me, But fields of clover bloomWhere any buccaneering bee
May find a bed and room.
A health unto the happy,
A fig for him who frets- It isn"t raining rain to me,It"s raining violets.
- Robert Loveman
Author.-Robert Loveman an American poet, born in Cleveland,Ohio, in 1864. "Rain" is his best-known poem.
General Notes.-At what time of the year do you think this poem was written? Why can it be called a poem of hope? Shelley puts the same thought into a single line : " If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" Write out the poem and draw borders above and below to illustrate the central thought.
THE HERO OF THE FLOODED mINE
At Bonnievale, a town near Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia, there is a deep gold-mine, which is hard to keep free from water. It may not be easy for you to imagine that there is much water at a great depth below the surface of the earth; but, in the case of many mines, it is necessary to keep pumping out the water all the time, day and night.
A gold-mine consists of more than a vertical hole or shaft. At points along the main shaft, long tunnels- crosscuts-which generally run parallel to the surface, are made. From one level thus formed a shaft may be sunk to another underneath it. This is called a winze. Again, the quartz may be taken out in such a way that an upward shaft-a stope or rise-is made. Thus, in a well-worked mine, there is a network of underground passages which are not easy to keep free from water.
One afternoon, while the men were at work, the water began to rise rapidly. Most of the miners, who were working at the No.10 level, noticed it, and made good their escape. One poor man in a stope was prevented by the fast-rising water from reaching the main shaft. He was an Italiannamed Modesto Varischetti.
Drawn by Allan T. Bernaldo
Diver Hughes reaches the Italian
In the shaft, the water rose about sixty feet above the level at which the men had been working. But the Italian was about thirty feet above this level, in a place that may be compared to a tube with a closed end. When the water rushed up the main shaft, it pushed the air before it. But the air in the stope had no outlet, and it thus kept the water from rising all the way up, for air occupies space just as water does. If you push a bottle, mouth downwards, into a basin of water, you will notice that the water will not rise all the way in the bottle, because of the air that cannot escape. Such was the case in the stope where the Italian was working.
Though he was not drowned, he was still in an awful position. Try to picture him there, just saved from a sudden death-only to await a slower and a more horrible one from starvation. Hundreds of feet down in the dark earth, away from the cheerful sunlight, away from his friends, with the murky water beneath him-what an awful position for a human being!
The men above thought that their mate had been drowned, but he could soon be heard knocking against the roof of his prison. When they found that he was alive, they set to work to save him, if possible. All the pumps were kept going full speed, but it was seen that, before the mine was emptied in this way, the Italian would be dead.
The Minister of Mines at Perth then sent two divers, Messrs. Hughes and Hearn, to the spot by a special train. They arrived on Thursday afternoon, and tried to reach the imprisoned miner with food. Their three attempts, however, met with failure.
The next day they made another effort. Down they went through the cold, dark water. Their work was full of danger. The sides of the mine were likely to fall in at any moment and crush them to death. If the air-pipes broke or became blocked, they would die of suffocation. Besides,the muddy floor of the level was very hard to walk on, and the pressure of the water was very unpleasant. All these dangers wereknown to the divers, but they were determined to try to the last to save their fellow creature.
This time Diver Hughes reached the Italian, who must hav e been much st art le d t o se e such a strange-looking object slowly rise from the water of his prison. The divercould not speak through
Drawn by Allan T. Bernal do
The Diver to the Rescue
his g re at he lme t , bu t
cheered the Italian by shaking hands with him. Leaving the prisoner some food, the plucky man returned to the mouth of the shaft. He was quite worn out, and had to be attended by a doctor.
Again and again did this brave man make his dangerous journey to the Italian. His visits, besides giving the prisoner food and light, also kept him in better spirits. A slate was taken down, on which Varischetti wrote many touching messages. This is one of them :- "I wish to tell you to be quick, and that I feel as if my bones were dying. Dear men, have pity on me. I send you my miserable greetings. I am your miserable friend, Modesto Varischetti."Meanwhile, the pumps were going night and day. The workmen did not ask for time for meals. After eight days, it was made known the Italian could be brought to the surface on the next day.
Great was the crowd that had gathered at the mine when, at half-past three on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Hughes went down for the purpose of bringing Varischetti out of his gloomy prison.
The crowd had been asked not to cheer, as the noise might prove harmful to the Italian; but when, at a quarter-past six, the cage came to the surface, containing the corpse-like Italian and his brave rescuer, the people forgot the warning and showed their joy by giving cheerafter cheer. Varischetti had been nine days and two hours in the shadow of death.
From many parts of Australia telegrams and letters were sent to Diver Hughes, praising his great deed; but, like the hero he is, he asked that credit be given to his fellow diver, Mr. Hearn, and all the others who had worked at the rescue.
Author.-The story is compiled from newspaper accounts.
General Notes.-Find Kalgoorlie on the map. Find the meaning of shaft, winze, stope. What is a Minister of Mines? Make the experiment with the bottle, as described on page 102. Draw a plan of the mine.