The Crystall Egg

There was some time ago in London a very little and dirty-looking antique shop. In its
windows one could see many interesting things that had been brought from different
countries.There was also, at the moment the story begins, a crystal egg. well
polished.And at that two people, who stood at the shop-window, were looking.One of
them was a tall Englishman and the other a black-bearded young man of Eastern origin.
While they were there, Mr. Cave, the owner, came back into the shop after his lunch.
When he saw these men and the object they were looking at, he became very sad and
softly shut the door. He was a little man,with a pale face and watery blue eyes; his hair
was dirty and gray and he wore an old blue coat and an old silk hat.He was watching the
two men as they taliked. The Englishman put his hand into his trouser pocket and took
out some money.Then they came into the shop.
The Englishman asked the price of the crystal egg. Mr. Cave looked nervously around
and said five pounds. The Englishman said that the price was high.And it was very much
more than Mr.Cave was going to ask.

The dark-skinned young man, who had been silent, now spoke."Give him five pounds," he
said. At these words Mr. Cave's face went white. "No, no." he said."The crystal is nor for
sale. I have promised it to another man."A long talk followed in which Mr.Cave's wife also
took part.She wanted very much to sell the crystal egg. but Mr. Cave did not agree with
her.
At last it was decided that the two men would come again in two days. but on the
following day the crystal egg disappeared from the shop and no one could find it
anywhere.
When the two men came again to ask about the crystal egg. they were told about its
disappearance and Mr. Cave seemed very sad and gloomy.
But he knew very well where the crystal egg was because he had taken it himself to
his friend, Mr. Jeremy Wace, who worked at a hospital.
Mr. Cave had promised to explain to Mr. Wace why he did not want to part with the
crystal.He came in the evening and told the following story.
He had got the crystal together with some other things at a sale at half a pound and
had put it in the shop-window, but no one fought it for some months and he wanted to
make the price lower when suddenly he made a discovery.
It must be said that Mr. Cave was a married man, he had a wife, a stepdaughter and a
stepson. His wife was much younger than he, she liked to dress and always needed
money. They all treated Mr.Cave very badly and he was very unhappy and in bad health.
One night he could not sleep in his room which was behind the shop. He got up and went
into the shop. It was quite dark but in one place he saw a strange light. When he came up
to it he saw the crystal cgg standing on the corner of the counter near the window closed
by a shutter. The light came through a crack in the shutter and fell upon the crystal, it
seemed that the egg was full of light. Mr.Cave came nearer to the crystal egg and looked
at it with attention. He was surprised to see the light in the egg moving.
Walking around the egg he suddenly found that he had come between it and the ray of
light. but the crystal was still full of light. Greatly astonished, he took it out of the light
and carried it to the darkest part of the shop. It remained bright for some four or five
minutes, then it slowly went out.' He placed it in the ray of light and again it scemed full
of light.
When the morning came and it was lighter in the shop. the crystal egg lost its light.
From that day Mr.Cave often looked into the crystal egg He kept it a secret from his
family and no one knew about the strange light of the crystal.
One night. turning thecrystal in his hands. he saw something. It came and went very
quickly.but it seemed to him for a moment that he had seen a wide strange
country.Turning the crystal he saw the picture again from the side of the ray.
The picture, as Mr.Cave described it, was every time of a big plain, and he looked at it
from a very high tower or a house. To the east and to the west the plain was covered by
tall red cliffs which ran north and south. He could tell the points of the compass by the
stars which were seen in the sky. When he first saw this picture the sun was rising over
the cliffs. In the sunlight he could see a group of flying. forms that looked like birds.
Down on the plain stood many buildings. It looked like a city. There were also trees,
strange in form and in colouring-a deep green and gray, near a wide and shining canal.
The first time Mr. Cave saw the picture his hands shook, his head moved, the picture
came and went and grew not clear. At first it was very difficult to find the picture again
after he had lost it.
His next clear picture which came about a week after the first, showed him the view
down the plain.He was looking at this strange world from a different side. He saw a very
large platform and in the middle of it at intervals stood large but very beautiful masts
with small shining balls at the top which reflected the setting sun.' Under the platform
were some trees and a wide grassy lawn and a large basin of water that looked like a
river. The air was full of great birds flying about. Across the river there were very many
tall buildings of different colours. And suddenly across the picture a face appeared with
very large eyes. This face came very near to the face of Mr. Cave and seemed to be on the
other side of the crystal.Mr. Cave was so surprised that he looked behind the crystal, but
of course there was no one there. His shop was dark and empty.
After the two men came to the shop to buy the crystal, Mr. Cave understood that he did
not want to part with his treasure, that is why he brought it to his friend, Mr.Wace. After
Mr. Wace had heard this strange story he also wanted to see the wonderful
picture.Together the two men made the room dark and putting the blinds on the window
in such a way that a ray of light from the street fell on the crystal, they looked attentively
at it. Soon the crystal egg was full of light and the two friends saw the same picture. Mr.
Wace who studied science made notes of what he could see.
Mr. Wace saw now that the flying forms lived in the buildings, they came down on the
ground, put down their wings and entered the houses.
The next thing that he noticed and that was of great interest to both men were the
shining balls which were placed on tops of the masts. Looking upon them Mr. Wace saw
that they were also crystals exactly like the one into which he was looking. From time to
time one or several of the flying forms sat on the mast and looked into the crystals and
that was how Mr.Cave saw the face and eyes of one of them so near.
After thinking long about this strange matter the two men came to the conclusion that
they were seeing some other world in the universe. But which world was it? Looking
again into the crystal Mr. Wace saw two small moons in the sky; they were like our moon
but smaller. One of them moved quickly, that movement was clearly seen. This gave Mr.
Wace the idea that the world he was looking at was the planet Mars.
All this took place in November and by that time Mr. Cave began to think that no one
remembered about his crystal and nobody would come to buy it. He decided to take it
back home to his little shop.
In December Mr. Wace had very much work to do at the hospital and for some ten or
twelve days he saw nothing of Mr. Cave.Then, when he had some free time,he went to Mr.
Cave's shop.
The door was opened by Mrs. Cave, who was dressed in black. She told the young man
that her husband was dead and already buried. Here she began to cry, but could give
some details. Her husband was found dead in the little shop one early morning and the
crystal egg was in his hand.
When the young man wanted to see the crystal the woman said that it was sold to a tall
dark man in gray. Mr. Wace wanted to find this man but nobody knew anything about
him, they did not even know which way this person had gone after leaving the shop.
And so the crystal egg was lost and nobody ever heard about it since that time.