The Shadow and The Lamp of Scarlet

There once were two red coated soldiers who were very good friends and, in battle, one of them was shot through the chest with a bullet and, while he was dying, he told his friend,

 

“Outside my family home there is a cherry tree and buried underneath that cherry tree you will find a lamp of scarlet. Light the lamp and it will give to you all your desired fortunes but, before you light the lamp remember that whatever room you are in you must lock the doors, bolt the windows, block up the chimney; seal up every crack by which a thing might enter for I stole the lamp from its keeper a dark spirit and, while the lamp is lit it will try to take it back and kill whoever possesses it”.

 

And taking the body of his fallen comrade back to his family home he buried the body beneath the cherry tree and, while digging the grave, found the scarlet lamp.

 

Then, saying fair well to the family of his friend, he returned to his own home and, following his friends instructions, locked the door of the room he was in, bolted the windows, blocked up the chimney and tried to seal up every crack that a thing might enter through.

 

Then he lit the red lamp and saw a red flame flicker within it and the flame grew and grew and changed its shape until it became a little girl with long, blonde hair in a bright red dress and shoes.

 

“I am the devil of the scarlet lamp. What is it that you wish of me?”, said the little girl, “Good or wicked; whatever you desire, master, you shall have”.

 

“Then I would like a sack of gold coins twice as tall as myself”, said the man.

 

And when he said that the little girl pointed a red-painted fingernail towards the floor and a scarlet flame leaping from her finger grew and became a sack of gold twice as tall as the man and his eyes, seeing the gold, lit up.

 

But then, as he was examining the gold to prove to himself that it was real, suddenly he heard a loud knocking at the door of the room.

 

“Let me in”, said an angry, booming but also ethereal sounding voice from the other side of the door, almost like a howling wind, “Give back my scarlet lamp. It belongs to me”.

 

And the pounding on the door was so loud, almost like a hammer pounding, that the man grew terrified.

 

“What is it that is outside the door?”, the man asked the little girl.

 

“That is the shadow of the lamp. It was a man once; a wizard; the one who conjured up the scarlet lamp”, said the little girl, “But he didn’t want any other man to possess its power and so his shadow lives on and jealously guards it”.

 

But then, through the key hole in the door, the man saw something like black smoke creeping and heard a sound like a hissing enter the room and, frightened, he blew out the flame of the red lamp and the smoke vanished and all outside the room became silent as if the shadow creature had disappeared but so had the little girl.

 

“A strange light brings with it strange shadows, I suppose”, said the man, pragmatically, “I shall just have to be more careful”.

So, using the gold the man bought a large house with a room specially built so that he could seal off every crack which the shadow might enter and then, locking himself in the room he lit the scarlet lamp again and the scarlet flame within it grew and changed as before but, this time, into a different little girl, younger than the other and with light brown skin and curly, long black hair but wearing the same scarlet dress and shoes.

 

“What is it you desire of me now, oh master?”, she said,“Whatever pleases you, good or sinful, name it and I shall give it to you”.

 

Now the young man remembered being a boy in school and how there had been a girl that he had been in love with but who he had never had the courage to tell, a girl named Vikiona and he asked the devil of the lamp,

 

“The girl I am thinking of, the girl I am remembering. I wish her to be my wife and to love me”.

 

“Very, well”, said the little girl, smiling,“Vickiona shall be your wife and shall love you with all her heart”.

 

Just then however, at the window of the room, the man saw the shadow appear, its face becoming a glaring skull and it started to hammer at the window.

 

“Let me in”, it said in a rasping voice as it banged with its clawed fists, “Give me back my scarlet lamp. It’s mine”.

 

And the shadow creature pounded so hard upon the glass that it started to shatter and then the man saw it reach into the room with one of its shadowy arms and, the arm stretching out, try to grasp hold of him.

 

But just as one of its long talons was about touch him, the man leant forwards and blew out the scarlet flame and, when he did, the shadow creature vanished as did the little girl in the red dress.

 

But then there was another sound, someone knocking at the door of the room and, opening it, the man saw Vickiona standing in the doorway in a long white dress, a golden wedding ring upon her finger and a worried expression on her face.

 

“Are you alright, husband?”, she asked, “I heard a loud noise of breaking glass and shouting and I thought you might be in danger”.

 

“No, I’m alright”, said the man, “It was simply an experiment. A science experiment that became..uh.. explosive”.

 

“Oh?”, said his wife, shocked, “Do you think you should be experimenting with such dangerous things. I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you. I love you so much”.

 

He pulled her close to him and kissed her deeply and she yielded to his kiss happily; it was as he had always dreamed she would do.

 

“You’re right”, he said, “I have everything that I want now and too much to lose. I will put away my experiments and never think about them again”.

 

And then he put the scarlet lamp upon a shelf and forgot about it.

 

And for many years he was so happy living in his large house with his wife and living off the investments that he had made with his sack of gold. His wife even became pregnant with a child.

 

However, one day, his wife came into the room to clean it and, because there was not enough light in the room and, seeing the scarlet lamp upon a shelf, she lit it.

 

Immediately, a red flame started to flicker in the lamp and, the flame growing and changing, it became a little boy dressed in a red suit.

 

“I am the devil of the scarlet lamp. What is it that you wish of me, oh mistress?”, said the little boy, “Good or evil, it shall be yours”.

 

The woman was flabbergasted and, because she was a good Christian, quite horrified as well.

 

But then, if that was not terrible enough to her, the shadow creature appeared in the room, becoming enormous, and seeing it she started to scream.

 

Hearing her scream and guessing what must have happened her husband ran to the room just as the monster was seizing hold of his terrified wife, who had fainted and he called out to the devil of the lamp.

 

“Devil, blow out your lamp”.

 

Then, suddenly the window of the room flying open, a strong wind rushed into the room and blowing upon the lamp it blew out the flame; both the little boy and the shadow disappearing.

 

Fortunately his wife, though she had fallen on the floor and bumped her head, was otherwise unharmed and, lifting her in his arms he carried her to their bed and laid her down upon it.

 

Then, realising that the scarlet lamp was too dangerous a thing to be left in his house where someone may light it, he buried it in his garden, under a cherry tree and there the scarlet lamp has remained ever since.