Now in those days King Nullus greatly desired to possess the treasures that were hid in the cave beneath his palace; but the king and his people feared to enter the darkness of the cave less they might be destroyed by the Terror which dwelt therein. And in the night there appeared unto the king a vision, and the voice of the vision spake unto the king and said —" Let the king cause the darkness to be removed from the cave, and behold, the Terror will flee away, and what then shall hinder that the king shall possess the treasures of the cave?" And sleep fled from the eyes of the king, for he said, "The desire of my soul is at hand." And straightway the king arose from his bed, and called his counselors before him and commanded them to remove the darkness from the treasure cave.
Then the counselors bowed themselves before the king, and went out to do his bidding, but they marveled among themselves, saying, "What is this? No king of ours ever before commanded that the darkness should be removed from the cave." But the counselors feared the king more than they feared the Terror that dwelt in the darkness of the cave, and they straightway questioned each other—" How shall the darkness be removed that we may escape the anger of the king?"
Then the counselors gathered together a mighty army of carriers with bags and commanded of the carriers to fill their bags with the darkness which was in the cave, and to bear away the darkness in their bags and empty it into the river Oblivion which flowed by the mouth of the cave. And the carriers did so from the sixth hour unto the twelfth hour, even from the dawning of the day until the noon thereof; but behold, the labor of the workman was vain, for the darkness yet filled the treasure cave of the king, and moreover the darkness in the cave was greater at noon than when the carriers had begun their work at dawn.
