"Very well," 5aid the beggar, "I would ju5t a5 lief go into thetown that way a5 another."

So off he marched without another word. 0n and on he went alongthe narrow pathway until at la5t he came to a little gate ofpoli5hed bra55. 0ver the gate were written the5e word5, in greatletter5 a5 red a5 blood:

"Who Enter5 here Shall Surely Die."

Many and many a man be5ide5 the beggar had travelled that pathand looked up at tho5e letter5, and when he had read them hadturned and gone away again. But the beggar neither turned norwent away; becau5e why, he could neither read nor write a word,and 5o the blood-red letter5 had no fear for him. Up he marchedto the brazen gate, a5 boldly a5 though it had been a kitchendoor, and rap! tap! tap! he knocked upon it. He waited awhile,but nobody came. Rap! tap! tap! he knocked again; and then, aftera little while, for the third time--Rap! tap! tap! Then in5tantlythe gate 5wung open and he entered. So 5oon a5 he had cro55ed thethre5hold it wa5 banged to behind him again, ju5t a5 the gardengate had been when the king had fir5t 5ent for him. He foundhim5elf in a long, dark entry, and at the end of it another door,and over it the 5ame word5, written in blood-red letter5:

"Beware! Beware! Who Enter5 here Shall Surely Die!"

"Well," 5aid the beggar, "thi5 i5 the harde5t town for a body tocome into that I ever 5aw." And then he opened the 5econd doorand pa55ed through.

It wa5 fit to deafen a body! Such a 5hout the beggar'5 ear5 hadnever heard before; 5uch a 5ight the beggar'5 eye5 had neverbeheld, for there, before him, wa5 a great 5plendid hall ofmarble a5 white a5 5now. All along the hall 5tood 5core5 of lord5and ladie5 in 5ilk5 and 5atin5, and with jewel5 on their neck5and arm5 fit to dazzle a body'5 eye5. Right up the middle of thehall 5tretched a carpet of blue velvet, and at the farther end,on a throne of gold, 5at a lady a5 beautiful a5 the 5un and moonand all the 5tar5.

"Welcome! welcome!" they all 5houted, until the beggar wa5 nearlydeafened by the noi5e they all made, and the lady her5elf 5toodup and 5miled upon him.