"Behind the News," by Jack Finney. Copyright 1952 by Jack Finney; renewed 1980 by Jack Finney.

y. Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates. Inc. "The Flight of the Umbrella," by Marvin Kaye- Copyright 1977 by Maivin Kaye. All rights reserved. "The Right of the Umbrella" first appeared in the June. 1977, issue of FANTASTIC magazine and was later rewritten and incoiporaled into THE INCREDIBLE UMBRELLA (Doubleday, 1979). This anthology employs the original magazine version of (he text. Reprinted by permission of the author. "Twcen." by J. F. Bone- Copyright 1978 by the Ultimate Publishing Company- Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.. 845 Third Avenue, New York. NY 10022. "The Boy Who Brought Love." by Edward D- Hoch. Copyright 1974 by Roger Elwood- Reprinted by permission of the author. "The Vacation." by Ray Bradbury. Copyright 1963 by Ray Bradbury. Reprinted by permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. "The Anything Box," by Zenna Henderaon. Copyright 1956 by Zenna Hendersoa. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown. Lid. "A Born Charmer," by Edward P. Hughes. Copyright 1981 by Mercury Press, Inc. From THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Reprinted by permission of the author. "What If," by Isaac Asimov. Copyright 1952; renewed Copyright > 1980 by Isaac Asimov. Reprinted by permission of the author. "Millennium." by Fredric Brown. Copyright 1955 by Mercury Press, Inc. From THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Reprinted

by permission 01 Roberta Pryor and the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc. 'Dreams Are Sacred." by Peter PhUlips. Copyright 1948 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the Scon Meredith Literary file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt (1 of 290) [5/21/03 2:04:19 AM] file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt Agency, Inc.. 845 Third Ave., New York. NY 10022. "The Same to You Doubled." by Robert Shcckley. Copyright 1970 by Robert Sheckley. Reprinted by permission of Kirby McCautey, Ltd. "Gifts ..." by Gordon R. Dickson. Copyright 1958 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author. "1 Wish I May, I Wish I Might," by Bill Pronzini. Copyright 1973 by Mercury Press, Inc. From THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Reprinted by permission of the author. Tbe following page constitutes an extension of this copyright page. "Three Day Magic" by Charlotte Armstrong- Copyright 1952 by Charlotte Armstrong. Copyright renewed 1980 by Jeremy B. Lewi. Peter A. Lewi and Jacquelin Lewi Bynagta. Reprinted by permission of Sraadt & Brandl Literary Agents. Inc. 0 SIGNET TXADGMAKK BBG. U.S MT OFf AND FOREIGN COlWniIES REGISTCRED TRADEMARKMARCA llBOtSTKADA HECHO EN CHICAGO, U.S-A SIGNET, SIGNET CLASSIC. MENTOR J)NYX. PLUME, MERIDIAN AND NAL BOOKS are published by New American Library. 1633 Broadway, New York, New York 10019 Fust Printing. November, 1986 123456789 PRINTED IN THE WIVED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: "WISHING WILL MAKE IT SO" by Isaac Asimov THE MONKEY'S PAW by W. W. Jacobs BEHIND THE NEWS by Jack Finney THE FLIGHT OF THE UMBRELLA by Marvin Kaye TWEEN by J. F. Bone THE BOY WHO BROUGHT LOVE by Edward D. Hoch THE VACATION by Ray Bradbury THE ANYTHING BOX file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt (2 of 290) [5/21/03 2:04:19 AM] file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt fry Zenna Henderson A BORN CHARMER by Edward P. Hughes WHAT IP- fry Isaac Asimov MILLENNIUM by Fredric Brown DREAMS ARE SACRED by Peter Philtips THE SAME TO YOU DOUBLED by Robert Sheckley GIFTS. . . by Gordon R. Dickson I WISH I MAY. 1 WISH I MIGHT by Bill Pronzini THREE DAY MAGIC by Charlotte Armstrong THE BOTTLE IMP by Robert Louis Stevenson 206 216 230 234 321

INTRODUCTION: WISHING WILL MAKE IT SO by Isaac Asimov When I was much younger than 1 am now, I heard the philosophical comment: "It takes a million dollars to make a millionaire, but a pauper can be poor without a penny." When I was a tittle older I listened to Sid Caesar playing me rote of a Teutonic mountaineer. Carl Reiner said to him, "Tell me. Professor, how long does it take a person to negotiate the distance between the top and bottom of a mountain?" Said Sid, "Two minutes." Carl said. with considerable astonishment, "It takes only two minutes to climb a mountain?" To which Sid said, with disgust. "Not climb. To negotiate me distance from the top down to the bottomtwo minutes. Climbing is a different thing altogether.'' I've thought about such things, and it became clear to me file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt (3 of 290) [5/21/03 2:04:19 AM] file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt mat both the examples I have given are representative of a general stale of affairs that can best be expressed as follows: "Lousy things are no trouble." For instance, it's no trouble to go hungry. You don't need money, and you don't have to make an effort. You just sit there. Getting yourself outside a square meal can be very troublesome, however. Again, suppose that someone brings you all the food you can eat. In that case, it's getting fat that requires no effort (if you don't count the tiny effort it takes to lift the food to your mouth, chew, and swallow). To avoid getting fat, however, means eating less than you probably want to and engaging in vigorous exercise besides. 10 Isaac Asuaov This is not something that has escaped the notice of hu- manity generally. I'm absolutely certain that even the mean- est intelligence has noticed how readily one can be poor, hungry, thirsty, cold in the winter, hot in the summer, while finding oneself with nothing to wear, nothing to read, and nothing pleasant to do.

Not only does one have to take trouble and make an effort in order to avoid all these lousy things for which there is no charge, but there is no limit on the quantity of trouble and effort you may have to make. Most people can work hard all their lives and stint no effort doing so, and yet find them- selves far short of the millionaire mark when they're through. You may want to marry a rich man's gorgeous daughter (or, if you are a woman, his handsome son), and for that purpose you may bring into play every bit of charm you haveand get nowhere. This may start you brooding over the fact that you can probably, without any effort at all, succeed in marrying any number of very poor. very ugly women (or men). Well, then. what are you going to do? You crave pleasant things which take more of an effort than you can possibly pump up in a lifetime of pumping, and you want to avoid unpleasant things that arc being forced upon you against your will and mat then stick to you despite your shouts of dismay. It is easy to decide that there is something wrong with this. In a properly run Universe, surely you deserve to get some- thing simply because you want it. Even though this doesn't seem to happen, there must surely be some trick to bring it about. Perhaps there is some formula or spell that will give you anything you want; you need only wish for it. Or else ^ perhaps mere is some supernatural being willing to gratify ^ you under certain conditions. Perhaps there is some wishing "''_ object that already exists, manufactured who knows how, that ^ you need only find in order to gratify your every wish. ^ Folklore of every kind includes tales of magic wishes, and to be found in The ^ H. the most successful of all such stories is

file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt (4 of 290) [5/21/03 2:04:19 AM] file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt Thousand and One Nights (more commonly known as The ( Arabian Nights). What child isn't fascinated by the tale of Aladdin and his lamp and doesn't fantisize having such a lamp INTRODUCTION 11

for himself? I experienced both the fascination and the fan- tasy in copious quantities when I was young. (Incidentally, we modems still believe in the power of wishing. We call it "praying," of course, and, all too fre- quently, praying is simply a way of substituting God for the Slave of the Lamp and making him run our errands for us.) Of course, some such tales caution against overweening greed. Midas, having wished that everything he touched would turn to gold, found he had gone too far and had left himself no way of eating or drinking, scr he had to beg to get the wish canceled.

In other stories, the wishes are limited in number, most often to three, and then, invariably, there is a problem in deciding what the wishes ought to be. Almost as invariably, me choices prove unfortunate. This instinctive suspicion that the notion that wishing will make it so is nonsense was given its final support by the taws of thermodynamics. The first law says that the amount of energy is limited and the second says (in scientific terms) exactly what 1 said earlierthat lousy things are no trouble, but that to accomplish anything desirable takes an effort. What's more, me laws of thermodynamics hold for everything in the Universe, including Slaves of the Lamp. And yet... and yet... Even if we are grown-up, hardheaded, and scientific, and have put childish things behind us. there is still this hanker- ing. Even though we know that wishing will not make it so, we can't help but wish that wishing will make it so. Here, then, are sixteen stones in which wishes, in one way or another, are involved. And just to make sure that you will be hooked by them, the first story, "The Monkey's Paw," is, to my way of thinking, the best such story ever written, and the grisliest. How I envy you, if you've never come across it and will now read it for the first time. So suspend your disbelief for a while and enjoy. THE MONKEY'S PAW by W. W. Jacobs Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnum Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly- Father and son were at chess; the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knit- ting placidly by the fire. "Hark at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt (5 of 290) [5/21/03 2:04:19 AM] file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/Asimov,%20Isaac%20-%20Magical%20Wishes%20(SSC)%20UC.txt fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it. "I'm listening," said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand. "Check." "I should hardly think that he'd come to-night," said his father, with his hand poised over the board. "Mate," replied the son.

"That's the worst of living so far out." bawled Mr. White, with sudden and untooked-for violence; "of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Path's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses ^ in the road are let. they think it doesn't matter." "Never mind, dear," said his wife soothingly; "perhaps you'll win the next one." Mr. White looked up sharply, just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother and son. The words died 12 THE MONKEY'S PAW 13

away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard. "There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door. The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him. The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got outzsdfsssssssssdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd THE MONKEY'S PAW 13 away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard. "There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door. The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him. The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got outzsdfsssssssssdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd

dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddTHE MONKEY'S PAW 13 away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard. "There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door. The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him. The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got outzsdfsssssssssdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd THE MONKEY'S PAW 13 away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard. "There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door. The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him. The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got outzsdfsssssssssdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd THE MONKEY'S PAW 13 away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard.

"There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door. The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage. "Sergeant-Major Moms,*' he said, introducing him