If the man had
run for it, he could still have reached the
castle, but, instead, he sat still and shouted
for a horse.
"A beast, a beast!" he wailed, "any kind
of a beast that will take me to the castle!"
The clock struck three times. And as it
struck the third note, something came
rustling and rattling out of the darkness,
something that sounded like a horse with
harness. The lazy man jumped on its back,
a very queer, low back. As he mounted, he
saw the doors of the castle open, and saw
his friend standing on the threshold,
waving his cap and beckoning to him.
The clock struck four times, and the
new steed began to stir; as it struck five,
he moved a pace forward; as it struck
six, he stopped; as it struck seven, he
turned himself about; as it struck eight,
he began to move backward, away from
the castle!
The lazy man shouted, and beat him,
but the beast went slowly backward. And
the clock struck nine. The man tried to
slide off, then, but from all sides of his
strange animal great arms came reaching
up and held him fast. And in the next ray
of moonlight that broke the dark clouds, he
saw that he was mounted on a monster crab!
One by one, the lights went out, in the
castle windows. The clock struck ten.
Backward went the crab. Eleven! Still
the crab went backward. The clock struck
twelve! Then the great doors shut with a
clang, and the castle of fortune was closed
forever to the lazy man.
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