The Amulet

For a long time Julio remained, with a smile of happiness upon his lips,

in mute admiration, and, perhaps scarcely aware of what he was doing, he

ranged the crowns in a line and counted them; then he separated them into

piles of twenty pieces each; then he tossed them from hand to hand, until,

wearied of this amusement, he looked at them musingly. At last he

exclaimed in a joyous outbreak: "Two hundred crowns! What will I do with them? How will I spend them?

Shall I drink Malmsey, Muscatel, the very best, such as brings pleasure to

the heart? But at that rate I shall soon see the end of my money. Shall I

play for florins and crowns? That would be an excellent means, certainly,

of either becoming a hundred times richer or of losing every farthing.

Strange! how fearful and avaricious money makes me! I do not even care to

play; no, I will not do it. I will dress like a nobleman: in satin,

velvet, and silk; I will drink and eat of the most exquisite dishes; I

will Jive in luxury and abundance, as though the world were a terrestrial

paradise. Ah, what a glorious life!

"But what a cowardly wretch I am! My only anxiety is to know how to spend

or rather squander this treasure, and at this moment there lives, far from

me, one who perhaps is stretching out her hand to me to beg an alms! My

poor mother! she may even need bread. Were she to curse her ungrateful

son, would he not have deserved it a hundred times? I am afraid of myself!

With ten crowns, with the twentieth part of what I am going to throw away

in dissipation, she might be saved from misery for more than a year. Why

did I not give twenty crowns to my master to send to her? Suppose I return

to the factory to execute this good thought? Impossible! Signor Turchi

would be enraged; besides, I have no confidence in him. I will inquire,

when in Germany, if she still lives, and if she be in want I will send her

money."

He took up twenty crowns, one by one, from the table, counted them,

regarded them wistfully, and said, as he dropped them into his pocket: "Twenty crowns! that is a large sum; but it may make my blind old mother

happy. I will put her portion by itself."

His eye again rested on the glittering coin. The sight appeared to deject

him.

"How visibly it has diminished!" he said, sighing. "I believed my treasure

inexhaustible, and by one thought the twentieth part has disappeared. Will

it not go as fast in Germany? Will not gambling and drinking deprive me of

the whole in a few months and leave me in misery? What sombre thoughts! A

moment ago, and everything wore a smiling aspect; now, my mind is tortured

by fear and anxiety. But why need I be troubled? When I have spent the two

hundred crowns, Signor Turchi will send me more. But it is not well to

rely too much upon that; his head may fall under the axe of the

executioner. In that case I would be as badly off myself. The discovery

would drive me from Germany into Netherlands or Italy. Instead of living

in luxury, I would infallibly fall into the lion's jaw, and the gallows or

the wheel would be my well-merited fate. But if the murderer of Geronimo

be not discovered, I can return quietly, and my master would receive me

kindly for fear I would betray his secret. That depends in a great measure

upon my care in acquitting myself of the task entrusted to me. I will

accomplish it loyally and well. The sight of this gold no longer gives me

pleasure. A full cup of wine first, and then to work bravely!"