"And can I not light up this palace,"
he went on, "or any other palace, with diamonds? Can I not make a
light so that a man who looks behind him when he is going on a journey
or at work in the fields will think his house is on fire and run
back?"
"And when he has run back," said Naggeneen, "will he find that his
house is on fire? You know that he will not. It's only glamour, and
he'll soon be laughing at you. Oh, we can catch a few firebugs in
spiders' webs and deceive a boy or a girl that's passing, and maybe
make them turn aside and dance with us, but can you put real lights
all over the country for miles--lights that will burn on and on and
show real things? Our lights are lies themselves and they can no more
than lead a silly mortal astray for a time; their lights tell the
truth. What else can you do?"
The King had lost the most of his boldness. "They say," he said, "that
men can burst open the rock. Can I not do that as well?"
"You can open this rock for us to pass through," said Naggeneen; "and
what then? A man can see it open for a moment, if you choose to let
him, and the next minute it's all as one as if you had never touched
it.
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