Once in a part of the desert just beyond the horizon, there lived a great kingdom. For a long time, it was a prosperous land. But many years of drought had ravaged the kingdom until no crops would rise from the soil and no livestock could be raised.

The king, who had always depended upon his magician to call the rain, now found that this man failed him. And so, after one remarkably dry season, the king announced that he would hold a contest to see who would replace his magician. The news sent a stir of whispers among the people, but no one dared to challenge the might of the magician’s magic.

As it happened, a young traveler in green had come to the kingdom that evening, and without stopping to rest his feet, he accepted the king’s challenge. That night, the king invited the entire kingdom to a grand feast. All the people of the kingdom came to the feast, but the old magician never ate a bite and only grew worried at how he would best this newcomer. The green traveler bid goodnight to the king and took his lodgings at a nearby inn. The magician returned to his den and fretted far into the night until he could no longer keep himself awake.

On the next morning, the king gave the green traveler and the magician each a pocket watch, and he told them that they must not let a single grain of sand touch the watches. The magician, who was not accustomed to walking in the desert, sealed the watch inside of his finest box, and he sent servants to fetch him meals throughout the day. The green traveler, who could not stay anywhere and had no one to aid him, decided to place his watch inside of a pouch. So he killed a wild bobcat and made a pouch from its pelt. The magician slept in his den while the traveler carried on his errands.

At sundown, the two returned to the castle and presented their watches to the king. Neither watch had a speck of dust on it, and so the king gathered everyone to another feast of celebration. All the people of the kingdom came to the feast, but the old magician never ate a bite and only grew more worried at how he would best this newcomer. The green traveler bid goodnight to the king and took his lodgings at a nearby inn. The magician fretted far into the night until he could no longer keep himself awake.

On the next morning, the king gave the green traveler and the magician each a dead plant in a pot, and he told them that they must bring the plants to life so that they would bloom. The magician, who tended the king’s garden, dug up the most beautiful flower he could find and replanted it in the pot. The green traveler, who had never raised a flower nor seen one in bloom, decided to feed it his blood, and he took a knife to his arm. The soil lapped up the blood, and the plant not only sprang to life but grew into such a strange and wondrous flower that it outgrew its pot. The magician slept in his den while the traveler tended his plant.

At sundown, the two returned to the castle and presented their plants to the king. Both plants dazzled the king with their beauty, and so the king gathered everyone to another feast of celebration. All the people of the kingdom came to the feast, but the old magician never ate a bite and was now thoroughly worried that he would not defeat the newcomer. The green traveler bid goodnight to the king and took his lodgings at a nearby inn. The magician returned to his den and fretted far into the night until he could no longer keep himself awake.

On the last morning, the king led them to the outer gate of the castle and told the two that they would be given until sundown to find their way into the throne room without being noticed. Then the king returned to the castle as the two began to consider the puzzle. The magician, who knew of a door that led from his den into the throne room, hurried back into the castle. But even knowing the passage into the throne room, the magician still had trouble walking unnoticed, and he was delayed by the guards.

The green traveler, who had never seen the throne room nor had learned the ways of the castle, instead drew a line of copper from his pocket and dropped it on the ground. The copper writhed and spun and raced through the sand until it stopped at a ditch on the side of the castle. There, the green traveler found a secret passageway that the king had had built into the castle many years ago. The traveler pocketed the line of copper and crawled little by little down the passageway, starting at its many slopes and twists and at times nearly losing himself. But at last he came a doorway carved from stone, and with all his might, he forced it open.

The green traveler stepped into the room and realized that it was the magician’s den. Then the line of copper leapt from the traveler’s cloak and led him to a sealed jar in a hidden part of the room. The traveler examined the jar and discovered that it contained all the rainclouds that the kingdom had been missing for so many years. He tried to unseal the jar, but at that moment, the magician had entered his den, and he lunged for his treasure.

The magician missed it by inches. The green traveler reached for one of the magician’s bookcases, and with one quick shove, he pushed it on top of him. The magician tried to seize the green traveler and cast a spell on him, but he was pinned down by the weight of his spell-books and could not move.

By this time, the shouting had grown so loud that the king and his guard had hurried into the den. The green traveler told the king about the magician and his discovery, and the king grew so furious that he banished the wicked magician from his kingdom.

Ashamed by his failure, the magician transformed into a vulture and flew far into the sunset. Then the green traveler opened the sealed jar, and all of the rain the magician had been hoarding rushed out into the sky. Rain fell upon the kingdom for several weeks, and afterwards, the desert bloomed with many flowers and shrubs and crops for almost a year. The king appointed the green traveler as his new magician, and the traveler aided the king for many prosperous years. After the king died, he retired from his service and took his few possessions with him.

And on a warm evening not long after that, the green traveler wandered back out from the kingdom, far into the heart of the desert, and not the crowing of birds nor the whisper of sand have brought news of him since.