{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_73964/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_73964","id":"gutenberg_73964","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73964","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Fairy tales","Fantasy literature"],"text":"[Cover Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Great blue lotos-flowers were covering the brink of the\nwater\u2019s edge.]\n\n\n\n\n                           _THE GOLDEN HEART_\n\n                                  _&_\n\n                         _Other Fairy Stories_\n\n                                   BY\n\n                              VIOLET JACOB\n\n            AUTHOR OF \u201cTHE SHEEPSTEALERS,\u201d \u201cTHE INTERLOPER\u201d\n\n                  _With Illustrations by_ MAY SANDHEIM\n\n\n                                 LONDON\n                           WILLIAM HEINEMANN\n\n                                  1904\n\n\n\n\n                               DEDICATED\n                                   TO\n                           THREE LITTLE BOYS,\n                       HARRY, EVAN, AND RAYMOND,\n                        AND THREE LITTLE GIRLS,\n                      MARJORY, SUSAN, AND GWYNETH.\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n                                                                PAGE\n      THE GOLDEN HEART                                             1\n      THE SORCERER\u2019S SONS AND THE TWO PRINCESSES OF JAPAN         45\n      GRIMA\u00c7ON                                                    67\n      THE DOVECOTE                                               102\n      THE PEACOCK\u2019S TAIL                                         122\n      THE PELICAN                                                127\n      THE CHERRY TREES                                           146\n      JACK FROST\u2014_A Story for Very Little Children_              164\n\n\n\n\n                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n GREAT BLUE LOTOS-FLOWERS WERE COVERING THE BRINK TO THE\n  WATER\u2019S EDGE                                             _Frontispiece_\n \u201cOH!\u201d CRIED THE LITTLE BOY, \u201cI SEE A DARK THING FAR AWAY\n  IN FRONT\u201d                                                            10\n A THING WHICH LOOKED LIKE A HUMAN FIGURE WAS LYING BY A\n  FIRE                                                                 20\n THEN SHE TURNED HALF-STARTLED AND SAW THE PRINCE                      42\n THE SORCERER AND THE PRINCESSES                                       48\n THE PROCESSION WAS SEVERAL MILES LONG                                 56\n SHE FOUND HER SITTING AT THE WINDOW WATERING HER FLOWERS              70\n A DEADLY COMBAT THEN ENSUED                                           96\n THE DOVECOTE                                                         102\n MADDY NOREY SHOWS THE QUEEN THE ROOM BEHIND THE FIERY\n  ROSES                                                               108\n \u201cNOW I AM SIMPLY PERFECT,\u201d SAID SHE                                  122\n THAT IS THE MOST CHARMING GIRL I HAVE EVER SEEN                      128\n HE RAN FORWARD AND HELD HER IN HIS ARMS                              142\n THE DAFFODIL PRINCESS                                                146\n INSIDE THE HUT THE WITCH WAS SITTING BY THE FIRE                     152\n IN THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE FEAST THE PRINCE STOOD UP IN HIS\n  PLACE, CALLING ON ALL TO LISTEN                                     158\n HE CAME DOWN ON A WEATHERCOCK, WHICH WAS FIXED ON TOP OF A\n  LARCH-TREE                                                          164\n\n\n\n\n                           _THE GOLDEN HEART_\n\n                                  _&_\n\n                         _Other Fairy Stories_\n\n\n\n\n                            THE GOLDEN HEART\n\n\nThe night lay clear upon the North Sea, but now and then a soft wind\ncame floating by; it whistled through the rigging of a fishing smack in\nwhich a little boy lay under a tarpaulin, peeping over the side of the\nboat down into the water below.\n\nHis father had told him to be still and to go to sleep, so he lay\nlooking up at the spangled sky above, and the masts rocking to and fro\nagainst the stars as the boat swayed about. Sometimes he thought the\ntall, dark forms looked like black arms trying to reach the bright lamps\nand put them out. He did not feel sleepy as he lay by himself and he\nbegan to wonder, as he gazed into the water, how deep it was down there,\nand whether the little fishes among the shells and seaweeds were ever\ntold by their fish-fathers to go to sleep, and, if so, whether they\nfound it as hard to do as he did.\n\nPresently he saw the eyes of a great shining fish staring up at him. It\nopened its mouth as if it wished to be friendly, but hardly knew how to\nbegin, so the little boy plucked up courage, though he had never met a\nfish before and was not quite sure how to address one.\n\n\u201cIs it very cold in the sea?\u201d he inquired shyly.\n\n\u201cThat depends on what you are accustomed to,\u201d replied the fish. \u201cFor my\npart, I should say it was a particularly warm night for the time of\nyear. What in the world do you find to do in that monstrous boat? Is\nthere anything worth eating up there?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s very dull,\u201d said the little boy. \u201cMy father said I was to go to\nsleep, but I can\u2019t. I\u2019m not sleepy.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you come down here?\u201d suggested the fish. \u201cIt stands to reason\nthat it must be much more amusing in the water.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should be drowned; I can\u2019t swim like you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow dreadfully ignorant,\u201d remarked the fish.\n\nThe little boy was rather hurt at this, and made no reply.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d continued the hoarse voice from below, \u201cif you like to come with\nme, I can show you some of the most wonderful things in the world; you\ncan hold by my tail and I\u2019ll pull you along. You can\u2019t drown so long as\nyou don\u2019t let go.\u201d\n\nThe little boy was much tempted.\n\n\u201cBut are you sure you won\u2019t leave me?\u201d he asked anxiously.\n\n\u201cGoodness, no,\u201d replied the fish, \u201cI\u2019ll see that no harm comes to you.\nYou are evidently a shockingly ignorant child, and it would be real\ncharity to show you something of the world. Come along and don\u2019t be\nsilly.\u201d\n\nThe little boy looked round to see that there was no one near, then he\nslipped over the side and, in another minute, was in the sea and holding\nfirmly to the tail of his new acquaintance.\n\nAway they shot through the clear water; it was not nearly so cold as it\nhad looked, and the rapid motion was very exciting.\n\nOn they flew, smoothly and easily; they passed tall ships and\ncuriously-shaped masses of rock sticking up out of the sea. Great\ntwisted pieces of sea-weed floated by them, and the flashing lights of\nOrion\u2019s Belt seemed suspended from the dark blue arch overhead, while,\nup in the north, the Northern Lights shot their trembling streamers far\ninto the centre of the sky.\n\nBy the time day was dawning they had reached a tract of ocean where\nthere was neither sail nor coast, and where the rolling line of water\nstretched for miles around.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the fish, \u201cI will show you one of the strangest things in\nthe world. Can you see anything between us and the horizon?\u201d\n\n\u201cI see a dark spot a long way off.\u201d\n\nThe light was growing brighter every moment, and pale streaks in the sky\nbegan to kindle the sea when the fish and his companion drew near the\nobject of which they had been speaking. In the midst of the heaving\nwater there rose a steep rock; on its grim sides grew neither sea-weed\nnor anything to give sign of life. There was an oppressive silence\nhanging over everything, and the water lay dark and still; no little\nwave played against the relentless stone. On the top of this rock a\nbeautiful woman sat with her hands clasped together. She wore a black\nrobe against which her arms shone like ivory, and her hair flowed in a\nshower over her shoulders. Now and then she raised her eyes and looked\nout to sea; they wandered over the horizon and rested with a look of sad\nexpectation upon it, then she sighed and glanced down at something which\nshe held in her hand.\n\nBeside her stood the only living creature excepting herself visible on\nthat desolate place\u2014a gigantic grey cormorant of terrible aspect and\nsize. A gleam of light from the rising sun shot over the waters, and, as\nit touched the woman\u2019s hair with its first rays, the cormorant flew up\ninto the air. From some hidden place in the rock another bird appeared,\nand, joining its mate, rose with him far above their bleak abode; then\nthe two sailed away and were soon lost in the distance.\n\n\u201cWhat does it all mean? Oh, do tell me!\u201d begged the little boy.\n\n\u201cI thought I could show you something surprising,\u201d chuckled the fish;\n\u201cthis is the history of it. I am one of the _very few_ who know anything\nabout it. Inside that rock, in a cavern which is reached by a passage to\nwhich no one knows the entrance, sits an old witch; she is very wicked,\nand is sometimes able to cast dreadful spells upon her enemies. That\nPrincess who sits there is the daughter of a King, whose country is an\nimmense way off, and who once had the ill-luck to offend the old woman.\nSo, when the Princess was a child, she went to the King\u2019s palace and\nstole her away; here she has kept her sitting, year after year, upon\nthis lonely rock with no one to speak to but the old cormorant. Every\nday he keeps guard in case someone should come to take her away, and\nevery morning he flies off to fish with his mate, who has a nest just\nnow and young ones in a cave of the rock. Once in two days the hag comes\nout to bring the Princess food and to ask her whether she sees anyone\ncoming, and when she gets no reply, she laughs and leaves her again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill she ever get away?\u201d asked the little boy.\n\n\u201cHow can I tell?\u201d said the fish. \u201cShe has sat there for so long that it\ndoesn\u2019t seem like it. There is only one chance that I can see. She holds\nin her hand a little heart made of gold; if she could only find someone\nto whom she could give it, she might be saved. For, whoever possesses it\ncan ask any question, and the heart will answer and tell its owner how\nto act under all difficulties. But he who takes it has to accept trouble\nand pain with the gift.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut then, why doesn\u2019t she ask it herself how to get away?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe heart is of no use to any one but a man,\u201d said the fish.\n\n\u201cAnd I suppose no man has ever been here?\u201d\n\n\u201cTwo or three have come sailing by; one who came was anxious to help the\nPrincess, but, as she was about to throw him the Golden Heart, she told\nhim that if he took it he would have to face as much trouble as a man\ncould bear. So he would not have it and sailed away. But that was years\nago\u2014and now, we really can\u2019t stay here any longer, nor do any good if\nwe do\u2014let us be off.\u201d\n\nAnd he swam away.\n\nThe little boy would have liked to stay and speak to the Princess and\nhis eyes were full of tears.\n\n\u201cWhat are you sniffling at behind there?\u201d exclaimed the fish, who was\ngetting rather tired of his load.\n\n\u201cI am so sorry for her!\u201d he sobbed.\n\n\u201cDear! Dear! If you cry for all the troubles you see, you will have\nenough to do; try to think of something else, and, for goodness\u2019 sake,\nstrike out a little with your legs and help me along\u2014I have to do all\nthe work.\u201d\n\nThe little boy was so frightened when he heard this that he kicked out\nwith might and main for fear that his protector should shake him off.\n\nWhen evening was coming on and when they had travelled some distance,\nthey saw a large ship; as she approached, the fish suggested that they\nshould swim alongside, and the little boy was charmed with the idea.\nThey saw that the sails were embroidered with gold and silver, and that,\non the prow, there was an immense carved crown glittering with precious\nstones. Closer and closer she came till they were almost touching her. A\nman was looking over the bulwark into the water; he was young and very\nrichly dressed, and a sword hung at his side. Over his face was a black\nmask which hid it completely, leaving only the mouth visible.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d remarked the fish, \u201clook at that man. That is another wonderful\nsight. He is young and rich and a king\u2019s son, but he chooses to sail\nabout by himself. He is so ugly that he wears a mask day and night and\nnever takes it off, and he roams about on the high seas so that he need\nsee none but his own crew who love him so much that they would go with\nhim anywhere.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a pity,\u201d said the little boy, wondering. \u201cHe looks very nice\nstanding up there with those beautiful clothes on. And I can see his\nmouth; it does not look so very ugly.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s simply enormous,\u201d replied the fish.\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t think so\u2014really,\u201d answered the little boy, \u201cit isn\u2019t any\nbigger than yours, you know.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s neither here nor there,\u201d said the fish; \u201cand don\u2019t pull my tail\nso. You hold it so clumsily that I can hardly move.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wish I could see him nearer,\u201d continued the little boy, lost in\nadmiration of the figure above him, \u201cI\u2019ve never seen any one like him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou haven\u2019t seen much,\u201d answered the fish, who had not been best\npleased by the allusion to his mouth, \u201cnow come along.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, wait a minute, do, please! He\u2019s looking at us.\u201d\n\nThe Prince was gazing over the bulwark at them.\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d exclaimed the fish, \u201cif you\u2019re so devoted to him you had better\nstay with him altogether. I\u2019m getting sick of dragging you along like\nthis.\u201d\n\nThe poor little boy was horrified and looked imploringly up at the\nPrince, who called one of his men to see the strange pair. \u201cLower a boat\nand fetch me that child,\u201d he said, \u201cand the fish too, if you can.\u201d\n\nWhen the fish heard this, he began to flounder so violently that he\ntwitched his tail free and swam quickly off, leaving his friend gasping\nin the waves. The Prince threw off his beautiful coat, plunged into the\nsea and caught the struggling figure, holding it till the boat picked\nthem both up. Soon they stood safe on deck, dripping with salt water,\nthe little boy sobbing with terror and excitement. \u201cOh,\u201d he cried,\n\u201clook! look! your lovely clothes are all spoilt.\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind, little man, never mind,\u201d laughed the Ugly Prince, \u201cand\ndon\u2019t cry. You are quite safe with me and I have plenty of other clothes\nin my cabin.\u201d\n\nThen he sent for a great tall sailor, who took the little boy below,\nwhere he was undressed and dried, then rolled up in one of the Prince\u2019s\ncloaks and carried on deck. \u201cCome here,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cand tell me\nall about yourself.\u201d\n\nThe child came up shyly and climbed upon his knee. \u201cAnd how was it,\u201d\ncontinued he, \u201cthat you came to be swimming about with that great fish?\nLittle boys don\u2019t travel in that sort of way as a rule.\u201d\n\nHis voice was so soft and he stroked the child\u2019s hair so kindly, that\nthe little fellow began to think he was a much nicer friend to have than\nthe fish, with all its knowledge; so he told him of everything that had\nhappened and especially of the marvellous sights he had seen since he\nslipped over the side of his father\u2019s smack a day ago. When he had\nfinished there was a long silence and he glanced up at the Prince, for\nhe felt, somehow, that he was looking grave. But the black mask hid\neverything.\n\nIn a short time the Ugly Prince set him down and spoke a few words to\nhis helmsman. Then the ship turned slowly round and sailed off in the\ndirection from which the fish had come.\n\nAs night drew on they still kept steadily forward, and when the stars\nhad come out and the last light departed, the little boy was put to bed\nin a beautiful cabin all painted sea-green, with a pale green curtain\nhanging over the door on which was embroidered a silver crescent moon.\nHe was laid in a soft bed with a quilt of the same colour, and soon he\nwas far away in the land of dreams, dreaming that he was again in the\nsea, sinking into a world of branching sea-weed and silver sand through\nwhich swam the little fishes about which he had so often wondered.\n\nWhen he opened his eyes next morning the light was peeping in through\nthe port-hole, and his clothes, which had been dried, were lying beside\na bath which was waiting for him. He washed and dressed and then went on\ndeck, where the Ugly Prince stood looking out over the ship\u2019s bows. When\nhe saw the child he lifted him up in his arms.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: OH CRIED THE LITTLE BOY I SEE A DARK THING FAR AWAY IN\nFRONT]\n\n\n\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried the little boy. \u201cI see a dark thing far away in front! Why,\nit is the rock where the Princess is! Are we going there?\u201d\n\nThe Prince did not answer.\n\nAs the sun rose out of the ocean a short time later, the vessel was\ndrawing very near to the rock which rose, like some dark monster, out of\nthe sea, and the Prince and the little boy were on deck, the latter\nlooking eagerly out for the captive Princess.\n\nThere she sat, just as she had sat the day before and all those weary\ndays in the years gone by with her hands clasped over her one hope, the\nGolden Heart. Two dark spots could be seen in the distant sky growing\nsmaller and smaller; they were the two cormorants flying off for food.\n\nAs the Princess saw the ship the colour rushed back into her pale\ncheeks; she fixed her eyes on the advancing sails, and at last\ndistinguished the tall form of the Ugly Prince standing out against the\nsea and sky beyond. As the vessel came under the shadow of the rock he\nlooked up at the sweet face above him and told her to have courage, and\nthat he had come to take her from her long imprisonment, back to the\nworld she had left.\n\n\u201cThrow me,\u201d he said, \u201cthe Golden Heart that you hold.\u201d\n\nThe Princess stood up. \u201cThank Heaven that the cormorant is gone!\u201d she\ncried. \u201cHe stands there so that, if I throw it to anyone, he may catch\nit in his beak and rob me of my last chance.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut throw it carefully,\u201d begged the little boy, \u201cor the Prince won\u2019t\ncatch it.\u201d\n\nThe Prince smiled. \u201cNow,\u201d he called.\n\n\u201cBut, before I do so,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cI must tell you this; if you\ntake it, it will bring you pain and sorrow\u2014perhaps more than you can\nbear. Can you really accept it? Are you willing to take the trouble that\nmust come?\u201d\n\nThe Ugly Prince simply held out his hands. \u201cThrow,\u201d he said.\n\nThe little boy thought he had never seen anybody look so noble as he\ndid, standing there with his outstretched hands and his masked face\nturned up to the lovely, sad figure above him.\n\nA flash pierced the air, and the Heart lay safe in the hands of the Ugly\nPrince.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d he said as he held it, \u201cremember that there is nothing I will\nnot do for your sake; whatever this thing tells me to do, that will I\ndo; wherever it tells me to go, there will I go; and, as long as there\nis life in me, I will not rest until I have accomplished my end.\u201d\n\nThe evil birds were now seen returning over the waters, and at the sight\nof the ship lying anchored under the rock, they were dreadfully\ndisturbed, and made such a flapping of wings that the witch came up from\nher lair to see what could be the matter. When she saw the vessel her\nfury knew no bounds, and when she observed that the Golden Heart was\ngone, she nearly wrung the old cormorant\u2019s neck.\n\n\u201cThe next time you go away,\u201d she cried, \u201cI will sit here and watch\nmyself! And, as for you,\u201d she went on, turning to the Princess, \u201cyou\nneed never think you can escape, for you shall be guarded day and\nnight!\u201d\n\nBut the Princess said nothing.\n\nMeantime, the Ugly Prince was taking counsel of his treasure; he looked\nlong and curiously at it; then, as he felt a little tremor fluttering\nbetween his palms, he inquired of it what he was to do to save the\nPrincess from her bondage. A radiance like a flame rose all round the\nHeart, and a small, soft voice spoke. It was so low that he had to bend\ndown his head to catch the words. \u201cTo-night,\u201d it said, \u201cyou must watch\non deck until morning, and when the two cormorants fly away at sunrise,\nbe careful to notice from which part of the rock the female bird comes;\nthen, when they have started on their flight, slip down into the water\nand swim to the place. It is a large cave, black and gloomy, but,\nnevertheless, swim in. The water is deep at the entrance, but when you\nhave gone forward a few strokes, you will find a great stone rising a\ncouple of feet above its level; let your eyes get accustomed to the\ndarkness and you will see upon the top of this stone the cormorant\u2019s\nnest. Climb to it very softly, for in it will be the three little\ncormorants asleep. Be sure you do not wake them. Beside them you will\nfind three grey feathers which you must take; the first feather will\ngive you the power of becoming invisible when you please, the second\nwill enable you to see in the dark, and the third will enable you to\nunderstand the language of birds. When you have secured them, make\nyourself invisible and stay in the cavern until the mother-bird comes\nhome. Then, keep your ears open to hear all that passes.\u201d\n\nThe voice ceased, and the Prince, knowing he would be told no more,\nbuttoned the Golden Heart into his doublet and prepared to wait\npatiently till night should come and he could take up his post on deck\nto watch for the coming sunrise.\n\nThe hours wore on and day slowly faded. When the dark set in he lay\ndown, with his eyes fixed on the heavens, hardly able to bear the time\nwhich lay between him and the morning, and, when dawn came creeping on,\nhe distinguished the dim figure of the old cormorant at his post.\n\nHe stood as though carved out of the stone beneath him until the sun\u2019s\ndisc appeared over the horizon-line, when, with a loud flapping, he rose\nin the air. The Ugly Prince lay looking at the rock as though his life\ndepended upon it, and, from out of a deep shadow in the right side of\nthe huge mass, the mother-bird came flying to join her mate. He kept his\neyes on the spot till the last rush of wings had died upon the air, then\nhe looked up at the Princess and plunged into the sea.\n\nThe green water had a cold chill which struck him to the marrow, but he\nswam steadily on, stroke after stroke, till he reached the mouth of a\nrugged cavern where the rock towered above his head as though poised for\na moment ere it fell to crush him to atoms; and, through the darkness,\nhe saw the outline of the flat-topped stone described by the Golden\nHeart.\n\nWith long strokes he swam to it, and, clinging to its jagged sides, drew\nhimself out of the water. To climb to the top was the work of a moment.\nOnce there, he stood staring through the gloom at the nest, which was\nbuilt, as he had been told, on the summit. There lay the three little\ncormorants asleep, like three fluffy balls; he could just distinguish\ntheir soft bodies and their breasts heaving up and down in the deep\nbreathing of their slumbers. Not a sound was to be heard but the lapping\nof the water, stirred by his swimming as it rose and fell against the\nstone\u2019s foot. As his eyes became more accustomed to the darkness he saw,\nbeside the sleeping birds, the three feathers for which he was\nsearching. He put in his hand and took them, his heart beating high as\nhe felt all three in his grasp and knew that the first step of his\nlabours was accomplished. He slid down again into the salt water, having\nplaced his new treasures carefully in his pocket. Then he seated himself\nin a little niche above water-mark to await the mother-bird, wishing\nwith all his might for the promised power of seeing in the dark.\nImmediately every cranny in the cave became visible and he began to\nwonder where the mysterious passage might be which led to the witch\u2019s\ndwelling.\n\nIn a short time the narrow slit of light was darkened by the form of the\ncormorant-mother coming back to the nest; she flew in and alighted by\nthe side of her young ones. The Prince lost no time in wishing for the\npower of understanding bird-language, and, as the little birds awoke, he\nstrained every nerve to catch any speech which might pass between the\nfour creatures.\n\n\u201cLie still, you tiresome little things,\u201d said the mother as they all\nbegan chattering at once, \u201cI have got some very good fish here; but _not\none_ of you shall taste a bit if you make such a noise.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a long time you\u2019ve been getting it,\u201d squeaked one of the little\nbirds.\n\n\u201cThat is not the way to speak,\u201d observed the mother, \u201cand you must learn\nnot to make remarks when you are not spoken to. If your father heard you\ntalking like that he would punish you severely. I am always very quick\nabout getting your food, and greediness is a very shocking\nfault\u2014remember that.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019m not greedy, I\u2019m hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe silent, sir, at once!\u201d\n\nThe three little birds were very much frightened at this and kept quiet\nwhile the fish were being broken up and divided into four parts. When\nthis was done a great gobbling began, and no one spoke for some time.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old bird, when every piece had disappeared. \u201cI am going\nto speak to you very seriously.\u201d\n\nAt this there was a dead silence, for all the little birds felt that\ntheir mother was in no humour to be trifled with this morning.\n\n\u201cRemember that I forbid you all distinctly to make any noise to-day or\nto scream or chatter loudly. I have a very good reason for doing so, and\nas I wish you to see for yourselves how very important it is, I will\ntell you about it. Are you all listening?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes! Yes!\u201d cried the little birds.\n\n\u201cYour father is in great trouble,\u201d she began, \u201cfor a most disagreeable\nthing has happened and our mistress is very angry. A ship is close by\nand there is a strange man on board who wears a black mask. We are\nafraid that he has come to take the Princess away. Yesterday, on our\nreturn from fishing, we found the ship here, and, what was far worse,\ndiscovered that the Heart which the Princess held in her hand had gone.\nYour father thinks there is every reason to believe that the man with\nthe black mask has got it and he is much distressed, for our mistress\nhas used words to him which have hurt his feelings deeply. Now, if any\nof you scream and make a noise, it may draw the attention of that wicked\nman in the ship to this place and he may discover the way to our\nmistress\u2019s cave, which lies, as I suppose you all know, behind that\npiece of rock shaped like a fish\u2019s head sticking out in yonder corner.\nIf he got to her he might do her some mischief, or perhaps force her to\ngive him the Princess. Besides which, he would certainly wring all your\nnecks\u2014and then, how would you like _that_?\u201d\n\nHere one of the little birds began to cry.\n\n\u201cHow dare you make that noise!\u201d said his mother, prodding him with her\nbeak. \u201cStop crying instantly, sir, or we may all be lost!\u201d\n\nThe squeaking soon ceased and, quiet being restored, one of the little\nbirds, being of an argumentative turn of mind, began to ask questions.\n\u201cBut if that dreadful man got to our mistress,\u201d he inquired, \u201chow could\nhe find his way to the Princess afterwards?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf he were in the cave he might see how our mistress goes to her; you\nknow, she takes off her left shoe and knocks at the wall with it. Then\nshe says:\n\n                 \u201c\u2018Left-foot shoe, left-foot shoe,\n                   Open, rock, and I\u2019ll pass through.\u2019\n\nAnd the rock opens in a straight passage and she goes up to the top of\nit, right outside to where your father and the Princess sit. Now, I\u2019ve\ntold you enough\u2014be quiet.\u201d\n\nAll this time the Ugly Prince was looking for the stone like a fish\u2019s\nhead, and soon saw it sticking out in the remotest part of the cavern,\nso he began climbing towards it. It was weary work, for the cold had\nmade his limbs stiff, and he feared to go quickly in case any sound\nshould attract the old bird\u2019s attention. With much trouble he reached\nthe place, and, looking behind the fish\u2019s head, saw an opening which\nseemed much too small for a human being to enter. He determined,\nhowever, to try what he could do and began to creep in, finding that he\ncould just push himself along, and although he could see no light at the\nother end, he pressed forward. A horrible sickening sensation came over\nhim when he had gone some way, and he felt as though he should be\nsuffocated in this stifling place, from which none could deliver him,\nand which his crew, if they began to search for him, could never find.\nThe air grew so close and the tunnel so narrow that he had almost given\nup all hope of life when his head struck against the rock and he lay\nhalf stunned. \u201cNow,\u201d he thought, \u201call is really lost, for I can get no\nfurther, and must die in this loathsome place.\u201d\n\nAs he lay in his cramped position he saw what seemed to be a white\npebble embedded in the rock somewhere on his left. He stretched out his\nhand with great difficulty, and found that it came in contact with\nnothing solid, though it hid the white spot from his view, and he\nrealised that the object was not a pebble at all, but a speck of light\nin the far distance, and that he was groping with his arm down a narrow\npassage, starting away at right angles from the place in which he was\nimprisoned. A new hope sprang up in his heart, and he dragged himself\nround the corner. The tunnel grew a little wider, and, with every few\ninches that he moved forward, his courage rose, and the outer air grew\nnearer. The stones tore his hands, and he was bruised in every limb as\nhe crept along, but he pressed on till the light became larger and\nyellower and the air less oppressive, and, at last, after many\nstruggles, he stood upright outside the tunnel\u2019s mouth.\n\nAn enormous hall met his eyes; bare rock formed its walls and ceiling\nand the ground under his feet was covered with fine sand.\n\nFrom the sides of this place hung twisted shapes. He could hardly see\nwhat they were. First he thought that they must be great ropes of\nsea-weed, then human forms; grinning faces seemed to start from them at\nevery side, and yet he could never really make out that they were the\nforms of either men or beasts, for, as each thing appeared to take some\ndefinite shape, it would speedily turn into something else, like the\nwild and fleeting images in a dream.\n\nAs he stood, the noise of the sea roaring underground in remote hollows\nof the rocks smote desolately on his ear, and, for a moment, the dreary\nsound made his heart sink in his body. But he thought of the Princess,\nand courage leaped up in his soul.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A THING WHICH LOOKED LIKE A HUMAN FIGURE WAS LYING BY A\nFIRE]\n\n\n\n\nA column of stone, reaching to the roof, stood in the middle of the\ncave, and, at its foot, was a thing which looked like a human figure\nlying by a fire. He approached, thanking Heaven for the power of\nbecoming invisible, and saw that he was in the presence of the witch. By\na happy chance she had overslept herself, and had not yet gone up to the\nPrincess.\n\nAs he looked there was a stir in her recumbent form. She rose, and,\ndrawing off her left shoe, approached the wall.\n\n                  \u201cLeft-foot shoe, left-foot shoe,\n                   Open, rock, and I\u2019ll pass through,\u201d\n\nshe muttered, striking it. Then the wall cracked open and she gathered\nher skirt more closely round her and disappeared through the opening,\nwhich closed behind her.\n\nHe paced up and down, straining his ears to catch any sound that might\nsteal through some chink in the rock, and give him an idea of what was\ngoing on above. But no sound came.\n\nAt last the wall opened and his enemy appeared. An evil smile was on her\nface, and he guessed that she had been taunting her victim. His blood\nboiled. When the chasm closed, the hag, instead of replacing her shoe,\ndrew off its fellow and, putting them both in a corner, flung herself\ndown by the fire. The Prince had not expected such luck and he bounded\ntowards them. At this she looked up quickly; he had forgotten, in his\nexcitement, that, though invisible, his movements could be heard, and\nfor a minute he stood waiting to see if she would notice the footprints\nhe had made in the sand. But after sitting erect to listen, she seemed\nre-assured and lay down, while he, pausing a little space ere he moved\nagain, heard her breathing grow heavier and saw that she was falling\nasleep again over her fire. Then he picked up her left shoe.\n\nHe advanced to the wall and struck it, saying the words he had heard her\nuse.\n\nIt flew open before him and the fresh air rushed against his face. With\none backward glance at the sleeper he climbed the incline, and, in a\nmoment, had wished himself visible again and was standing on the rock by\nthe Princess.\n\nHer eyes were fixed on his ship, but she turned on hearing a step. Her\nface was almost fierce, for she expected nothing better than to meet the\nwitch. Then she saw the Ugly Prince and rose, with a cry, stretching out\nher hand to him. Her great sorrow seemed to be looking out of her eyes,\nand the beauty of her face was so far beyond anything he had imagined\nthat he stood before her dumbfounded, more like a culprit than the man\nwho had fought his way to her through peril and fatigue. He took her\nhand and pressed his lips upon it. As he did so there was a rushing in\nthe air, and the old cormorant, who had just returned from his fishing,\nbegan raining the blows of his heavy wings upon his shoulders. He fought\nit off as well as he could with his left arm while he drew his sword,\nand, as the savage bird swung back to make a fresh swoop, the steel\nblade flashed and it fell dead on the rock at his feet.\n\nThe Princess covered her eyes; she almost sank upon the ground, but the\nUgly Prince caught her in his arms.\n\n\u201cHow can we escape? How are we to reach the ship?\u201d she cried.\n\nHe drew out the Golden Heart. The same tremor ran through it as it said:\n\u201cCut off the cormorant\u2019s wings and strike them with the witch\u2019s shoe.\nThey will fasten themselves upon your shoulders and you will be able to\nfly as well as the bird.\u201d\n\nThe Prince obeyed, then he stood ready to leave for ever the scene of\nhis conflict. \u201cCome,\u201d he said to the Princess.\n\nWe must now return to the little boy, who had never left the deck all\nthe hours his friend had been away. As he saw him rise into the air with\nhis living burden he clasped his hands, standing breathless until the\ncormorant\u2019s wings had borne him over the strip of water. His joy knew no\nbounds as he saw him land safely beside him, and he looked with\nadmiration and awe upon the lovely Princess who had suffered so much.\n\n\u201cWho is this?\u201d she asked, pointing to the child.\n\n\u201cThat is more than I can tell you,\u201d said the Prince, smiling, \u201cfor I\npicked him out of the water. But he is very dear to me all the same.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall I love you too?\u201d she said, looking down at him with her sweet,\nmysterious eyes. \u201cI have had no one to love for so very long.\u201d\n\nThe Golden Heart was their guide, for it knew everything\u2014even the way\nover the trackless seas\u2014and soon the terrible rock was no more than a\nfast disappearing speck, far astern.\n\nAfter a happy voyage they reached the country where the Princess\u2019s\nfather still reigned, an old man bowed down by grief.\n\nWhen they got to the shore and the people saw that it was their own\nPrincess who had returned and heard the tale of her captivity and\nrescue, their joy knew no bounds and they conducted the Ugly Prince and\nhis crew with great rejoicings to the royal palace, which lay at some\ndistance off. Messengers were sent forward to the poor old King, who, in\nspite of age and infirmity, mounted his horse for the first time for\nmany years and came out to meet them.\n\nHe could hardly believe the news, and, when the meeting was over and he\nhad held his daughter in his arms and knew that it was no dream, but the\nreal, happy truth, he turned to the Prince. \u201cI cannot speak to you now,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cbut to-morrow you must tell me the story with your own lips,\nand, were you to ask me for my kingdom, it should be yours.\u201d\n\nThe next morning the Ugly Prince was summoned to the old man\u2019s presence.\nHe told the story of the Princess\u2019s rescue, making very light of his own\nbrave deeds, but the King was not easily deceived; and, as he sent also\nfor the little boy, he soon got at the whole truth.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d he said, at the end of the tale, \u201cis there anything in the\nwide world that I can do for you? My kingdom and all I have is yours if\nyou will only take it. Have you no wish\u2014no matter what it may be\u2014that\nI can gratify?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have loved your daughter since the first moment that I saw her,\u201d said\nthe Ugly Prince.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nOne evening the Ugly Prince and the Princess were walking on the terrace\nof the palace garden. The sunset glowed along the western sky, the birds\nwere twittering in the deepening silence, and the heavy scent of masses\nof roses which climbed over balconies and pillars steeped the air. A\nminstrel was singing softly inside one of the open windows, and his song\nreached them as they stood looking out over the balustrade on to the\ncountry lying spread before them.\n\n\u201cDo you remember,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cthat, when you threw me the Golden\nHeart, you told me I should have to suffer almost more trouble than I\ncould bear?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she answered.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d continued he, \u201cI nearly gave myself up for lost in the tunnel of\nrock; but, after all, I came safely through it. And it was a small price\nto pay for this,\u201d he added, taking her hand.\n\n\u201cHow brave you are!\u201d said she.\n\nHe laughed. \u201cBut now,\u201d he said, \u201cI cannot imagine anything happier than\nthe present. I have no wish unfulfilled but one, and that is to make you\nmy wife, which I shall do in a few days.\u201d\n\nThe Princess looked down. \u201cI have one wish ungratified,\u201d she replied.\n\n\u201cBut you have only to say it,\u201d exclaimed he; \u201csurely you know I would do\nanything for you\u2014anything. I promise it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can hardly ask you. It would seem as though I did not trust you. It\ntroubles me very much,\u201d she said, with tears in her eyes.\n\n\u201cDo not keep anything from me,\u201d he implored. \u201cI cannot be content now\nuntil I know what it is. You shall not go from here until you tell me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you would, only once, before our wedding-day, let me see your face.\u201d\n\nThe Prince groaned.\n\n\u201cBut you promised,\u201d urged the Princess.\n\nFor a moment he hesitated, then he turned away and took off the black\nmask. When he faced her again a shriek rang over the garden and she fell\nsenseless.\n\nHe had just time to replace it before the King, alarmed by the sound,\ncame out followed by several servants. The Princess was carried into the\npalace and laid upon a couch, and, when many restoratives had been\nadministered, she opened her eyes; but, on seeing her lover, an\nexpression of terror came into her face and she fainted again.\n\nThe Prince withdrew, asking the King to go with him. When the old man\nheard what had happened, he wrung his hands and begged him to refrain\nfrom seeing his daughter until the next morning; then he returned to her\nbedside, saying that he would come back on the following day and give\nhim news of her.\n\nThe Ugly Prince spent most of the night in walking up and down his room;\nthe little boy, who had come to him as soon as he knew what had\nhappened, did all he could to comfort him, and, at last, the unhappy\nlover fell into a heavy sleep with his hand clasped in that of the\nchild, who refused to leave him, and who sat watching with his friend\nuntil he, too, became drowsy and lost consciousness.\n\nIt was almost noon when they were aroused by the sound of footsteps,\nand, looking up, saw the King.\n\n\u201cMy son,\u201d he said to the Prince, \u201cI have come with weary tidings; my\ndaughter has recovered; but early this morning she sent to me.\u201d\n\nHe paused for a moment, and went on in a shaking voice.\n\n\u201cShe implores you to release her from her promise to marry you. She will\ngive no reason for what she asks, and when I suggested that she should\nspeak to you herself, she grew so pale that I feared she would faint\nagain. I reasoned with her, I prayed her to consider her words again,\nbut all to no effect. I knew not how to act. She owes her very life to\nyou. I would compel her to fulfil her promise if I could force myself to\ndo so, but alas! alas! I cannot when I see her in such a state!\u201d\n\nThe Prince was standing before the weeping old man. \u201cAnd do you think I\nwould accept such a sacrifice?\u201d he said, slowly.\n\nThe King made no reply, but covered his face. There was a long silence.\n\nThen the Ugly Prince spoke, and his voice seemed to the little boy as\nthough it were miles away.\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d he said, \u201ctell the Princess that my only wish is to serve her. I\nrelease her from this moment.\u201d\n\nThen the King went slowly away, and, as the curtain fell behind him, the\nUgly Prince was left alone with the little boy.\n\nHe remembered what the Princess had told him when he took the Heart from\nher, and he knew that the time had come.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nWhen the King\u2019s subjects heard that the marriage was not to be, they\nwere sorely troubled, and gloom fell over the Palace. The King refused\nto be comforted, and, when the Prince announced his coming departure, he\nbegged for a last interview before he left.\n\n\u201cWhat you have told me about the Golden Heart is very wonderful,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cCould it be of no use now?\u201d\n\n\u201cNothing can be of any use,\u201d sighed the Prince. \u201cIt cannot alter my\nface.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it seems to work miracles,\u201d persisted the old man, \u201cand one cannot\ntell how far its powers may extend.\u201d\n\nSo they consulted the Golden Heart.\n\n\u201cThere is,\u201d said the voice, \u201cin a far country beyond a vast desert,\nalmost impossible to cross, a marsh traversed by a stream. On the\nfurther bank of that stream, at a place where rises a tall crag like the\nentrance to a tomb, there grows a plant bearing a cluster of pale red\nberries. It only shows itself once in a thousand years, and on this day\nthree months the time for it to appear will be due. You must reach the\nplace on the evening before its appearance, and allow nothing to tempt\nyou from the spot, for it grows up in one night, and lasts but a few\nhours. When it has grown as high as your knee, break off the spike of\nberries, crush them in your hands, and anoint your face with the juice.\nIt has the power of restoring perfect beauty, as well as perfect health,\nand it can only benefit one person in a thousand years. Hardly any one\nin the world has heard of its existence. You must start at once, as the\nway is long, and you must go by the Great Gates, which are at the other\nside of the world, and which lead to the desert.\u201d\n\nThat evening the Ugly Prince set out. He took with him the witch\u2019s shoe,\nand the old cormorant\u2019s wings hung at his saddle; he also placed the\nthree feathers in his cap. Before he went he called the little boy.\n\n\u201cI am going on a long journey,\u201d he said, \u201cand it will be many months\nbefore I can return; you must be very good until I come back. Stay here\nwith the Princess. If I never come back the King has promised that this\npalace shall be your home. And now, my dear little child, my faithful\nfriend, good-bye, for I must go. Good-bye. You will not forget me?\u201d\n\nThe little boy clung round his neck till the servants came to tell the\nPrince that his horse was saddled; then he rushed up to the highest\ntower of the Palace, and, leaning far out of the window, watched the\ngallant figure riding away, as it seemed to him, into the sunset.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nIt was in the eleventh week after his departure that the Ugly Prince\ndrew near the Great Gates that lie at the other side of the world.\nHe had only one week left in which to cross the desert beyond them,\nand he saw, on approaching, that they were locked; he had not counted\non such a possibility, and it was with a heavy heart that he marked\nhow strong they were, and how they towered in the air above him. As\nhe dismounted to lead his horse nearer\u2014for the animal looked with\nterrified eyes upon the huge bars through which the wind was humming\nand vibrating\u2014something fell from the saddle. It was the witch\u2019s shoe.\nHe picked it up and ran to the Gates, striking the lock and saying:\n\n                  \u201cLeft-foot shoe, left-foot shoe,\n                   Open, Gates, and I\u2019ll go through.\u201d\n\nThey burst open, and he turned to re-mount his horse. But the creature\nstood with planted fore-feet and quivering nostrils, and he saw that\nthere was no time in which to urge him forward, as the Gates were\nclosing again. He tore the cormorant\u2019s wings from where they hung on the\nsaddle, together with his few provisions and a water-flask, and was just\nin time to rush through them before they swung together with a crash\nthat rang through the air like thunder, and sent the frightened horse\ntearing over the plain. Then he stood unhorsed and alone on the confines\nof the desert.\n\nHis only chance now lay in making use of the cormorant\u2019s wings, which he\nhad hitherto omitted to do, preferring to travel on horseback. But he\nfastened them to his shoulders by the power of the magic shoe and toiled\non, directed by the Golden Heart, going straight forward until his\nprovisions were nearly done. One morning he reached a green oasis on\nwhich rose a fountain, bubbling in a grove of feathery acacia trees,\nand, as he lay resting in the shade, he saw two birds sitting among the\nboughs and talking together. Remembering the feathers in his cap, he\nwished to be invisible and to understand their language.\n\n\u201cLook at that cool water,\u201d said one. \u201cWhen we have arranged our wings\nand tails a little after our flight, we will go down and drink. We shall\nnot get a chance again till we reach the stream flowing through the\nmarsh land for which we are bound.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied the other, \u201cand, after that, we will start at once,\nfor I am anxious to get home. I have not seen my family for an age, and\nI think it is really time I put in an appearance. We can be there by\nnightfall.\u201d\n\nWhen the Prince heard this he resolved to follow them; and when the two\nbirds had satisfied their thirst and set off on their journey, he spread\nhis wings and sailed with rapid strokes after them.\n\n\u201cWhat an odd rushing there is in the air beside us,\u201d observed one; \u201cthe\nwind must be going to change.\u201d\n\nBy the time it was dark they entered the marsh land and saw a glimmer of\nthe stream for which the Prince was looking. In due time they flew\nacross it, and he alighted on the further bank and dropped his wings\nwhile he sat down to rest. His hopes were high as he thought of his lost\nPrincess\u2014lost perhaps no longer\u2014and he anticipated the moment of\nfinding the plant with joy almost amounting to dread. He rose to his\nfeet and wished for the power of seeing in the dark.\n\nHe saw that he stood in the midst of so wonderful a piece of scenery\nthat he could hardly believe himself awake. Just in front of him\nappeared the rock which the Golden Heart had described as being like the\nentrance to a tomb. It rose upwards out of a deep, dark pool, and a\ngreat star which stood in silver radiance over the summit threw a long\nsteel-blue reflection trailing across the silent water. Down the face of\nthe rock, and all round on a tangle of low bushes which closed him in on\nevery side, hung thick wreaths of white convolvulus; strange lights\nflashed in and out among the heavy foliage, and from the blossoms rolled\ndrops of scented dew like the tears of a weeping enchantress.\n\nThe air was faint with enchantment; the Ugly Prince felt a languor\ncreeping over his body. His senses seemed to be fading from him, and,\nfearing that he might be overcome by the strange atmosphere of the\nplace, he dashed through the bushes towards an open space not far off.\nThere his eyes fell on a tall, solitary plant growing in the very centre\nof the clearing, and perceiving it to be none other than the object of\nhis search, he threw himself upon the ground beside it, took the Golden\nHeart from his bosom and pressed it to his lips, covering it with\npassionate kisses.\n\nHis journey was done, his troubles ended; he had now only to wait till\nthe plant had grown as high as his knee to bathe his face in the juice\nof the berries and all would be well. He would go back across the\ndesert, through the Great Gates and over the world to his Princess\u2019s\nkingdom, a changed man, with his happiness lying before him. He pictured\nthe joy of the King, the delight of the faithful little boy who awaited\nhim, and the clinging arms of his adored Princess, as he lay hour after\nhour beside the green stem and watched it grow taller and saw the\nberries begin to take shape and colour. At last, it had grown almost to\nthe height of his knee, and, as he sat waiting in the breaking daylight\nfor the moment when he should pluck his treasure, the Prince heard\nfootsteps behind him, and, springing to his feet, beheld a tattered\nfigure which started on seeing him, and then, with a long cry, fell\nprostrate upon the earth.\n\nIn a moment he was beside it and raising in his arms a man still young,\nbut so bowed and emaciated by illness and trouble, that he seemed\nscarcely able to stand.\n\n\u201cLeave me! leave me!\u201d he cried, as the Ugly Prince held him in the grasp\nof his strong arms. \u201cWhat brings you here? Have you, too, come for the\nplant\u2014the magic plant?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have,\u201d said the Prince firmly.\n\nThe unhappy man dropped his hands. \u201cThen I am too late,\u201d he cried, \u201cand\nI must die\u2014for what can I do against _you_?\u201d And he glanced from his\nown trembling form to the straight, strong limbs of the Ugly Prince.\n\nAnd he bowed his head and wept till the Prince\u2019s heart bled to hear him.\n\n\u201cI beseech you, stop your tears,\u201d he said kindly, \u201cand tell me what has\nbrought you here?\u201d\n\nAs he spoke these words his breath almost stopped, for he foresaw,\ndawning on the very horizon of his mind, the vague outlines of a\npossible sacrifice, so great, so overwhelming, that he hardly dared to\nput it into thoughts, and yet\u2014it was there.\n\n\u201cI have come,\u201d said the stranger, \u201cfrom a long, long distance and\ncrossed the desert on foot. See my feet, how they are bruised. My\njourney has taken two years (for I am a poor man and must travel as best\nI may) and, at times, I have hardly hoped to live to the end; for I am\nsuffering from a slow, fatal disease. I have tried every cure in vain,\nand have been told by a learned magician to seek out this plant as a\nlast hope of life. I have a wife whose whole heart is bound up in mine,\nand little children. Their hopes have been centred in me through these\nsad years since I left them to begin my journey. I shall never see them\nagain, and they will go on, day by day, hoping for my return. But that\nwill never be now. That is my history. And you, why are you here? What\nis yours?\u201d\n\nFor answer, the Prince drew off his mask. \u201cThat is mine,\u201d he said.\n\nHis companion recoiled from him, shuddering.\n\nThe two men remained gazing dumbly upon each other; then the Ugly Prince\nbroke the silence.\n\n\u201cWe are in the most horrible position,\u201d he said, \u201cthat two miserable men\nhave ever been placed in. Look,\u201d and he pointed to the now\nfully-developed plant, \u201cin a few minutes one of us will have his hopes\nfulfilled, and one of us will be in despair. Let us suppose for a moment\nthat I am that unhappy man and that you, in your good fortune, will\ngrant me a favour. Let me have a little space in which to think it all\nover. Give me your word to hold your hand from plucking the berries\nwhile I try to face this trial and make up my mind to what is coming.\nShould _I_ take the golden chance that lies here for one of us, a few\nmoments of respite will do you no injury; and, should _you_ profit by\nit, your happiness will be none the less sweet for having granted the\nprayer of a man into whose life no joy can ever shine again. Will you do\nthis?\u201d\n\nThe man looked at him narrowly. \u201cI am in your power,\u201d he said, \u201cfor you\nare the stronger.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet that go for nothing,\u201d answered the Prince, waving his hand\nimpatiently. \u201cI shall leave you alone. I want your word that you will do\nnothing till I come back.\u201d\n\n\u201cI promise it,\u201d replied the stranger.\n\nAnd the Ugly Prince went, leaving the black mask lying at his feet.\n\nHe entered a grove of trees which stood near, and flung his arms round\nthe stem of a tall ash, pressing his unmasked face against the bark;\ndreadful thoughts assailed him on every side. He had only to go back and\ndrive his sword into that powerless body and the happiness which had\nseemed so real a short time ago would still be his. None could see the\ndeed or tell of it. His mind was as though filled with evil mists, and,\nabove them, rose the alluring form of his Princess, golden-haired,\nwhite-armed, beckoning. But he thrust her from him. No, such a thing\ncould not be. Better to die a thousand times than to sink into such\ndishonour as that.\n\nAnd if he relinquished his chance? If he were to give up to that\nsuffering mortal the thing that he had striven and toiled for during the\ntwo years through which he had dragged his poor aching limbs to this\nspot, what then? Whose happiness would he destroy by so doing? Not the\nPrincess\u2019s, certainly. She had given him up of her free will, had shrunk\nfrom the sight of him and the thought of becoming his wife. The King,\nher father, would sorrow indeed, but he would still have his daughter.\nThe little boy would welcome him back should he return as he had left\nhim. No, it would be his loss alone.\n\nHe thought of that evening in the Palace garden, his last evening of\nhappiness. He saw it all again, the golden sky, the roses, the\nfar-stretching landscape, and he felt again the soft hand of his love\nclinging to his arm as they talked together. He groaned, and, as he\nthought of these things, some words came back to his memory, words he\nhad remembered on that last happy evening, words which had once been\nspoken by the Princess when she threw him the Golden Heart. \u201c_If you\ntake it, it will bring you pain and sorrow, perhaps more than you can\nbear. Can you really accept it? Are you willing to take the trouble that\nmust come?_\u201d He had not realised them then. Once more they had returned\nto his mind when she asked him to release her, and he had then imagined\nthat he understood them. He understood them now.\n\nAnd his rival? Perhaps he adored that wife as he himself had adored, and\ndid adore, his lost love. And the wife, to whom his own success would\nmean a life-long grief? He tried to put himself in the unhappy man\u2019s\nplace. He tried to suppose that the Princess was waiting for him, that\nshe was sitting watching as this woman watched. What should he feel if\nanother and a stronger hand were to grasp the prize upon which all their\nhopes of meeting depended? And the little children?\n\nA great lump rose in his throat and a hand seemed to clutch at his\nheartstrings; he looked up at the early mist rolling away from stream\nand plain, and a load of black temptation lifted heavily from his\nbursting heart. The stranger stood waiting a little way off; he\napproached him and laid a hand on his shoulder.\n\n\u201cGo!\u201d he said, pointing to the plant. \u201cIt is yours. Take it. I give up\nmy claim freely.\u201d\n\nA few minutes more and he was lying on the earth near the still pool he\nhad seen the night before, his cheek resting on the cool moss, trying to\nrealise and accept the loveless life which was all he had now left.\nEvery hope was gone and the future lay before him like the vast, sterile\ndesert he had lately crossed, bare and bleak. There was nothing to live\nfor now, nothing. The fact rushed over him in its full meaning, and for\nthe first time since his boyhood he burst into tears and sobbed like a\nlittle child.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nAfter a while he remembered the mask which lay on the grass where he had\nleft it. There was nothing for him to do but resume it and go back to\nthe world with his old trouble unchanged; but, before rising, he went to\nbathe his heated eyes in the water and he leaned over the brink. Just as\nhe put in his hand he saw that another face was looking up at him It\nstartled him. Was it some poor, drowned man who lay staring up at the\nsky? Impossible, surely. None knew of this place but himself and that\none stranger, and, moreover, there was no sign of death in those living\neyes that met his own so fearlessly. He plunged down his hand and it\nonly touched the bed of the pool; the water lay deep and still but for\nthe ripples which his action had stirred into widening rings. He was\nsimply bewildered. Still gazing downwards he drew his hand over his\neyes, thinking they must be bewitched, and, as he did so, a hand passed\nover the face in the water. It could not be his own. He laughed bitterly\nat the idea. It had no resemblance to himself, and was the face of a\nhandsome man, not a monster whose very look was unendurable. Thinking\nthat he must be going mad, he felt the Golden Heart beating and\nfluttering against his breast. He wondered that he had forgotten it for\nso long as he took it out.\n\n\u201cAm I crazed?\u201d he asked excitedly. \u201cWhat is this illusion?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is no illusion,\u201d replied the voice, \u201cbut the truth. That face\nlooking from the water is your own. Look once more, for the ripples have\nceased.\u201d\n\nThe Prince obeyed.\n\nHe saw the most noble countenance that it had ever entered his mind to\nimagine; no defect was there, no feature which was not perfection, and\nover all was an expression of such sublime grandeur, strength, and\nfortitude, that the Ugly Prince, ugly no longer, drew back, almost awed\nby what he saw.\n\n\u201cIt is only the reflection of your own great soul,\u201d said the voice\u2014and\nit seemed to fill the air around him\u2014\u201cwhat you see is the beauty of\nhonour and truth, of courage and sacrifice, and there is nothing which\ncan be compared to it in the whole world. Now rise, for you must go from\nhere and begin your homeward journey. Go back to reap the reward which\nis awaiting you, for there is no reward too great for such as you.\u201d\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nSo the Prince went. The cormorant\u2019s wings bore him safely over the\ndesert, and the witch\u2019s shoe opened for him the Great Gates. Once\nthrough them, he procured himself a horse, and at last reached the\nborders of the kingdom where his heart lay; here he proceeded more\nslowly, only journeying by night, as he wished no one to see him who\nmight tell the Princess of his return.\n\nOne morning early the little boy rose and went, as he always did, to a\nhigh turret in the palace to look down the road leading to the nearest\ncity, and to see whether his Prince was coming home.\n\nAs he sat with the morning breeze lifting his hair, straining his eyes\ntowards the white road which lay between the ripening corn-fields, he\nsaw a solitary horseman approaching, and, in great excitement, he\nwatched him as he advanced. When he was still some way off, the rider\nput his horse to a gallop, waving his hand, and the child, doubting no\nlonger, rushed at the top of his speed down the turret stair, through\nthe courtyard gate, across the drawbridge, and down the road till he\nreached the horse\u2019s side and clung, transported with joy, to the\nstirrup. The Prince stooped and lifted him into the saddle before him.\n\nWhen the first rapture of greeting was over, the little boy raised his\nhead from his friend\u2019s shoulder.\n\n\u201cWhere is your mask?\u201d he inquired.\n\n\u201cIt is here, but I do not wear it any more. You see, I am not so ugly\nnow,\u201d said the Prince, smiling.\n\nThe little boy hugged him again with delight. \u201cI never saw your face\nbefore,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I don\u2019t believe you were ever ugly. There is no\none in the world like you.\u201d\n\nThen the Prince asked him a thousand questions about the Princess.\n\n\u201cShe is not very happy,\u201d replied the child, shaking his head, \u201cfor,\nafter you left, she began to miss you and to cry because you had gone,\nand she has watched for you so long, that she grows paler and sadder\nevery day.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think she would love me if I came back with my mask on, as I\nleft her?\u201d asked the Prince.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THEN SHE TURNED HALF STARTLED AND SAW THE PRINCE]\n\n\n\n\n\u201cTry,\u201d said the little boy.\n\nThey rode together through the gate and crossed the courtyard hand in\nhand, the Prince in his travel-worn clothes with the black mask on his\nface. Through the wide hall they went, down the corridor, and out into\nthe Princess\u2019s garden. She was standing in the morning sunlight feeding\nher peacocks, the gorgeous birds crowding round her; the eyes in their\nsweeping tails flashed blue and green, and their slim necks bent hither\nand thither as they picked up the grain. They trod as softly as they\ncould, like two conspirators, so that she did not hear their footsteps\nuntil they were close behind her. Then she turned, half-startled, and\nsaw the Prince.\n\nFor one moment she stood gazing at him with her hands clasped over her\nheart; then, with a low cry of joy, she sprang forward like some\nbeautiful wild animal and threw herself into his arms.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\n\u201cAnd can you really receive me back like this?\u201d he asked a short time\nlater, \u201cwhen you see that it is the same man who has returned\nunaltered?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, do not remind me of my folly,\u201d she begged, \u201cI can hardly believe\nthat you have come back to me at last; I fear to wake and find it is all\na dream.\u201d And she rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh of\ncontent.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d persisted he, \u201ccould you bear to see me without my mask?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can bear anything,\u201d she replied, \u201cbut losing you again.\u201d\n\nThen he took off his mask and threw it on the ground. She glanced up at\nhim and stood transfixed, for never in her whole life had she seen any\none who looked as he looked.\n\nShe sank on her knees beside him, and covered her face with her hands.\n\u201cI am not worthy to be your wife,\u201d she faltered, \u201clet me go, for it\ncannot be.\u201d\n\nBut he did not listen to her.\n\n\n\n\n    THE STORY OF THE SORCERER\u2019S SONS AND THE TWO PRINCESSES OF JAPAN\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were two Princesses of Japan who lived with their\nfather in a tall palace. It stood on the banks of a river, and they used\nto watch from the walls to see the boats plying up and down, and the\ngreat cranes standing in the shallows fishing.\n\nThey had never in their lives been outside the gardens, except when they\nwere carried in a litter covered with paintings and carvings, and shut\nin by curtains. They peeped through the chinks as they went along, and\nPrincess Azalea, the elder, used to tell Princess Anemone long stories\nwhich she invented about the passers-by. Once, indeed, when the servants\nhad put down the litter for a moment\u2019s rest, Princess Anemone, who was\nbolder than her sister, though not quite so good at making up stories,\nhad slipped quietly out and gone off for a little exploring expedition\nof her own; while Princess Azalea sat terrified on the cushions, hiding\nher face behind her little fan. It seemed an age to her till the truant\ncame back, breathless and rather pink in the face.\n\n\u201cOh! Sister! Sister! What did you see?\u201d she asked, \u201cand how you have\ntorn your dress! What _will_ Utuka say?\u201d\n\nUtuka was their nurse; she had brought them up since Azalea was born,\nsixteen years before.\n\nAnemone looked down at her white silk dress, all covered with silver\nflowers, and at the three-cornered slit which ran right across the\nfront. \u201cNever mind,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019ll sew it up before she sees it. I\nknow where she keeps her needles. Azalea, there was a man with a long\nstaff who scowled at me so. I ran back as hard as I could, but O sister!\nlook what I found! The world is a charming place, I know.\u201d\n\nAnd she held up a great cream and pink peony.\n\nSo the two stood, day after day, looking out over the palace wall, two\nwhite and gold figures with their hair done up in little knobs on the\ntops of their heads, and their fans fluttering like butterflies\u2019 wings.\nThe sun poured down on them, and the blue sky stretched above, and the\ngreat, unlimited world, which they knew nothing about, lay all round\nthem.\n\nNow, the Princesses\u2019 father was such a popular man that there was only\none person on that side of the world so much talked about, and that was\nthe Sorcerer Badoko. The Emperor thought very seldom of the Sorcerer,\nbecause he had little time for thinking of anything but how to be kind\nto his neighbours; but Badoko could hardly sleep in his bed at night for\nthinking of the Emperor. He tossed about in his lonely cave, saying\nunder his breath that, come what might, he would make himself the more\ncelebrated of the two. He said it under his breath, so that his two\nsons, who were lying close by, should not hear him. He did not like his\ntwo sons very much.\n\nHe could not at all make out why the Princesses\u2019 father was more admired\nthan himself, for even Sorcerers are stupid sometimes\u2014generally because\nthey think themselves so clever. The real reason was because the old man\nwas so kind, but the Sorcerer did not know that. He was clever enough to\nsee that the Emperor was more thought of than himself, but he wasn\u2019t\nclever enough to know why. At last he made up his mind that it must be\nbecause he was richer, and, having come to that conclusion, he\ndetermined to steal away the two Princesses. Then he would go to the\npalace and demand a great ransom\u2014in fact, half the Emperor\u2019s money\u2014and\nhe felt sure that it would be paid.\n\nThe Emperor\u2019s garden was full of beautiful trees. In one corner a\nfountain played, and, near this, a flight of steps ran up to a\nsummer-house on the wall in which the Princesses sat nearly every day\nand looked down on the world below.\n\nAs they were sitting there one afternoon they saw an old man passing by.\nIt was the same person who had scowled at Anemone when she ran away from\nthe litter, and she pointed him out to her sister. He glanced up at the\ntwo girls. Under his arm he carried a kind of guitar; Azalea looked at\nit with interest, for, besides making up stories, she could sing and\nplay very prettily to a little instrument she had, which was rather like\nthis one.\n\nThe Sorcerer\u2014for it was he\u2014made an extremely low bow.\n\n\u201cShall I sing you a song, my ladies?\u201d he asked.\n\nAnemone felt bolder than ever, for was not the wall between them? \u201cYes,\nplease,\u201d she said.\n\nThen the Sorcerer began to sing; and his voice was like liquid gold. It\nmade one think of all the most beautiful things in the world: of the\ndawn in the sky, of great birds with white wings, of rushing waters, of\nprancing horses and waving plumes, of the deep velvet sky with its\narmies of stars.\n\n\u201cOh, how lovely! How wonderful!\u201d cried the Princesses. \u201cOh, sir! where\ndid you learn those songs?\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The SORCERER AND THE PRINCESSES]\n\n\n\n\nThe Sorcerer smiled. \u201cIt is this little guitar,\u201d he said, holding it up.\n\u201cIt is bewitched. One has only to strike the strings and the song comes\nout of it. Your ladyships think, no doubt, that it is I who sing, but I\nhave only to open my mouth and the guitar does all the rest.\u201d\n\nNow this was a lie, for the Sorcerer\u2019s two sons made all the songs; they\nwere very clever young men.\n\n\u201cSing one more; please sing one more!\u201d cried the Princesses.\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d replied he, \u201cone more, but that must be the last. Here is\none which I hope you will like. It is called \u2018The Peach Trees in the\nValley.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat a charming name,\u201d said Anemone, who was fond of flowers.\n\nAnd the Sorcerer sang:\u2014\n\n        \u201cMy Love sits high in a golden chair,\n         And my Love looks softly down;\n         With a golden pin she pins her hair,\n         But it shines like a golden crown.\n         And oh, my Love! look down to me\n         With a smile in your almond eyes,\n         For the blue doves nest in the willow tree\n         And the Spring rides up the skies;\n         Come down, O Love, in the morning glow,\n         For the day mounts high though the hours run slow,\n         And I\u2019ll show you where the lilies grow,\n         And the peach trees blow in the valley!\n\n        \u201cBut my Love looks down from her chair of gold\n         With a smile in her cruel eyes;\n         Her face is fair but her heart is cold\n         As the stars in the winter skies.\n         Give me the pin that pins your hair\n         And stabs like a poisoned blade,\n         Look once, O Love without compare,\n         At the wound the point has made;\n         And come when the morning hours run slow\n         To see the place where I lie low,\n         Where the blue doves nest, and the lilies grow,\n         And the peach trees blow in the valley!\u201d\n\nThe girls were charmed, and, as for Azalea, she was so much excited she\nwas almost in tears.\n\n\u201cIf your ladyships like my guitar so much why do you not buy it?\u201d said\nBadoko. \u201cI am very poor, and I am taking it into the city to sell.\u201d\n\nAzalea wrung her hands; she had never been in such a predicament before.\n\u201cBut we have no money,\u201d she exclaimed.\n\nIt had never entered the Princesses\u2019 minds to think of money. Everything\nthey wanted was always there ready for them, and it had never in their\nlives occurred to them to ask how it came.\n\nThe Sorcerer laughed rather slyly. \u201cBut surely his Imperial Majesty will\nnot grudge you the money,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cRun, Anemone, run, and ask our father!\u201d cried Azalea.\n\n\u201cIt would be better for you to look at the guitar before buying it,\u201d\nremarked the Sorcerer.\n\nAnemone was practical, and this idea struck her as being very wise.\n\u201cWait,\u201d she said to her sister, \u201cwe will go down to the gate and see\nit.\u201d\n\nAnd the two ran down the stairs with a great rustling of silks and\nclacking of little heels.\n\nWhen they got out of the door the Sorcerer made another low bow, and\nheld out the musical instrument. Azalea took it eagerly in her hand, and\nat the same time Badoko made a whistling sound. Two men sprang from\nbehind a bush and threw heavy cloaks over the sisters, winding them so\ntightly over their mouths that they could not scream, though they tried\nto with all their might. The wicked Sorcerer laughed aloud, and ordered\nhis men to carry the Princesses down to the river.\n\nThe garden opened on a lonely piece of waste ground, so they met no one\non the way, reaching the shore and embarking under the shade of a thick\ntree in a long flat boat. Soon they had pushed off and were floating\ndown the stream, Azalea and Anemone lying covered up under some grass\nmatting, and Badoko steering while his men rowed. Behind them, the city\nwas losing itself in the distance.\n\nWhen the Princesses were allowed to come out of their hiding-place they\nfound themselves in a wide country; the river wound on through stretches\nof sand; barren mountains, like great blue stone-heaps, covered the\ndesert. They wept very piteously as they sat huddled together. Before\nthem, Badoko\u2019s grim image sat stiffly against the sky, and behind them,\nthe bare country into which they were going spread for miles and miles;\nall round was sand and the dry reeds rustled as they passed. They held\neach other\u2019s hands, and sobbed softly for fear he should hear. They\nwould have liked to ask him if he was going to kill them, but they were\nmuch too frightened. Besides this, they were very uncomfortable, and\nthey had left their little fans behind. It was all very dreadful. Just\nbefore sunset they stopped by the bare stump of a tree which was\nsticking up among the rushes; on it sat a black raven looking very wise\nand cawing loudly. He looked at the matting which covered the girls, and\npointed at the Sorcerer with his claw.\n\n\u201cWhat have you got there?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cMind your own business,\u201d said Badoko, throwing a great stone at him.\n\nHe flew away, flapping his wings angrily, but he turned his head round\nas he went and saw Azalea and Anemone getting out upon the bank. The\nSorcerer was offering them some horrible black bread and some dried\npeas, for he did not want them to die of hunger. If they did, he would\nlose all the money he hoped to get from their father.\n\nBut they were not hungry, and only shuddered as they sat close together\non the sand.\n\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t want any food,\u201d said Badoko, \u201cdon\u2019t sit there whining and\nwasting my time.\u201d And he dragged them into the boat again.\n\nThe raven spread his wings and flew far away up the river, and when he\nhad gone nearly a hundred miles, he saw the Emperor\u2019s palace underneath\nhim. He lit upon the roof and began to caw and squall at the top of his\nvoice, and to dance in such a way that everybody below crowded to look\nat him. The Emperor, who was inside, put out his head to see what all\nthe laughter meant. The tears had been running down his face as he\nthought of his two little girls who had disappeared so strangely, and\nhis nose was quite red, poor old gentleman, but he rubbed his face on\nhis silk handkerchief and went down to the courtyard, followed by his\nPrime Minister. All the servants were collected and were staring up at\nthe raven.\n\n\u201cWhat is all this about?\u201d inquired the Prime Minister, as he strutted\nafter his master.\n\n\u201cSir, it is a raven which is dancing on the roof in a very diverting\nmanner,\u201d said a bystander.\n\nThe Prime Minister was accustomed to be the principal person in any\ncrowd, and he was not best pleased at finding himself scarcely regarded;\nnobody was regarding the Emperor either, but he did not think of that.\nHe put on his spectacles and looked up.\n\n\u201cHow very unsuitable!\u201d he exclaimed, turning his back. \u201cReally, what we\nare all coming to _I_ don\u2019t know!\u201d\n\nThe bird danced still more extravagantly, and even the Emperor began to\nsmile.\n\n\u201cCome down from there immediately!\u201d shouted the Prime Minister; \u201cI\nwonder you are not ashamed of making such an exhibition of yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d said the bird; and he flew down, alighting at his Majesty\u2019s\nfeet, making so polished an obeisance that all were astonished.\n\nThe Emperor was much gratified. \u201cWhat can I do for you?\u201d he inquired.\n\n\u201cI have important news,\u201d replied the bird, \u201cand I would ask to\ncommunicate it.\u201d\n\n\u201cImpudent scoundrel!\u201d exclaimed the Prime Minister, \u201cyour right place\nwould be in the cooking-pot if you were not so nasty.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt would certainly be fitter for me than for you,\u201d observed the raven,\n\u201cseeing that you are old and tough and that I am young and tender.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour Majesty must not think of giving the audience unattended,\u201d said\nthe Prime Minister; \u201cthis disreputable creature may have some design\nupon your royal life. Someone should be present.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnyone, so long as it is not yourself,\u201d replied the raven.\n\nAnd with that, he hopped into the palace in front of the Emperor, who\nwas too much agitated to notice the breach of etiquette. The Prime\nMinister hurried after, hoping to get in also, but he was too late, for\nthe guard who stood at the door shut it behind his Majesty according to\ncustom. The Emperor seated himself and the bird stood respectfully\nbefore him.\n\n\u201cIs it anything about my poor little daughters that you have come to\ntell me?\u201d he asked, looking very pitifully into the raven\u2019s face.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty is right,\u201d was the reply. \u201cI myself saw them, not\ntwenty-four hours ago, but in great distress. The Sorcerer Badoko has\nstolen them away.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere has he taken them to? Where? Where?\u201d cried the Emperor.\n\n\u201cThey were rowing down the river in the direction of Badoko\u2019s country. I\nhave put myself to great inconvenience to bring this news to your\nMajesty; and it is lucky that that pig of a Prime Minister did not\ndissuade you from listening to me. Why such a mud-headed gander should\nbe allowed near your sacred person, _I_ don\u2019t know.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe means well, he means well,\u201d said the Emperor.\n\n\u201cHe means to put me in a pot if he can get me,\u201d replied the raven. \u201cI\nonly hope and trust he may not catch me until I have restored the young\nladies to their illustrious parent.\u201d\n\nAt this moment there was a loud knocking at the door.\n\n\u201cWho is there?\u201d cried the Emperor.\n\n\u201cMay it please your Imperial Majesty,\u201d said the guard outside, \u201cthe\nPrime Minister says it is cold in the palace and that you have forgotten\nyour Imperial Majesty\u2019s muffler, and he will bring it in himself.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat does he say?\u201d asked the monarch, who was rather deaf.\n\nThe raven repeated the message.\n\n\u201cThanks, thanks; tell him I am very comfortable,\u201d said the Emperor.\n\nThe raven hopped to the door.\n\n\u201cTell him,\u201d he bawled, \u201cthat his Majesty says he is to mind his own\nbusiness and keep his bald head away from the key-hole.\u201d\n\nWhen the Emperor heard what the bird had got to say he determined to set\nout with a great force for Badoko\u2019s country.\n\nWhen the expedition was ready, they started, travelling in great force.\nThe procession was several miles long, and, in the centre of it,\nimmediately behind his Majesty, the raven was carried on a silver perch\nwhich was made in the form of a bower. Over his head swung a scarlet\ncanopy, like an umbrella, which protected him from the rays of the sun,\nand under which he languished with all the airs of royalty. This he did\nbecause the Prime Minister\u2019s litter was close behind, and because he\nknew that its occupant could see him. The slaves who carried him hated\nhim, for his voice was never silent and he poured abuse upon them from\ndawn till dusk.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE PROCESSION WAS SEVERAL MILES LONG]\n\n\n\n\nAnd now we must ask what had been happening all this time to the two\nPrincesses. When the raven had flown away from the spot where he had\nseen them, they were hurried into the boat again, and continued their\nway till they reached the place where Badoko lived. It was a sandy\ndesert with great rocks in which there were caves. To these caves, which\nwere high up, staircases were cut in the stone, and the Sorcerer\u2019s\nservant sat in the entrance of one, boiling a cauldron from which the\nsteam went up in a column. They disembarked, and Badoko marched them up\none of the flights of steps. \u201cHere,\u201d said he, \u201cis the cave you are to\nlive in. If you want anything to eat you can ask for something out of\nthe cauldron.\u201d\n\nAzalea and Anemone were very hungry, so they begged a little food and\nwent into their cave, glad to be away from his terrible eye. After some\ntime they heard Badoko giving orders down below.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d he cried to his servant, \u201cI am going on a journey. You are to\ntake care that the Princesses do not escape, for if I come back and find\nthem gone, I will put everybody to death for miles round!\u201d\n\nThe servant fell at his feet and promised he would do all he was told,\nand Badoko, calling together the men who had rowed his boat, mounted a\nwhite donkey with pink eyes and rode away at their head across the sand.\n\nWhen night came, Azalea and Anemone lay down, but they could not rest;\nand, as it was bright moonlight, they sat at the top of their staircase,\nlooking out over the shining ground.\n\nIt was not long before they saw two figures ride up and dismount below.\nThey did not know what new enemies these might be, so they crept softly\nback into the cave and tried to sleep.\n\nThe Sorcerer\u2019s two sons\u2014for the riders were none other\u2014were named\nTiger and Gold-Eagle, for Badoko had thought these names lucky. They had\ncome a long distance and were very tired, and as, when at home, they\ninhabited a cave next to the one in which the Princesses lay, they went\nin and threw themselves down on the piles of skins which served them for\nbeds. In the middle of the night Tiger woke his companion.\n\n\u201cBrother,\u201d he said, \u201cwhat is that strange noise?\u201d\n\nGold-Eagle sat up; he was very cross at being awakened from his first\nsleep. \u201cIf you annoy me again,\u201d he said, throwing a handful of sand at\nTiger, \u201cI will get out of bed and beat you.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke the noise grew more distinct.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s someone crying close by,\u201d said Tiger; \u201cI shall go in and see\nwhat it means.\u201d\n\nGold-Eagle was quite as inquisitive as his brother, so he rose, in spite\nof his bad humour, and followed. What was their astonishment at seeing\ntwo girls lying weeping on the floor. Azalea and Anemone fell at their\nfeet. The Sorcerer\u2019s sons knew very well that these must be some\nprisoners of their father\u2019s, and as they disapproved of his wickedness,\nthey were horrified at seeing the distress in which the poor little\nthings were plunged. They soon heard their history, for, when the\nPrincesses saw how kindly they looked at them, they were only too glad\nto have someone to talk to, and they implored Tiger and Gold-Eagle to\nprotect them.\n\nThe two brothers were so much charmed that they immediately fell\nhead-over-ears in love, and it was fortunate that Tiger preferred Azalea\nand Gold-Eagle Anemone, or there might have been a fight. They promised\nto help them to escape from Badoko and to take them back to their\nfather, for, though they would be dreadfully sorry to part with them,\nthey could not bear to think of them in the power of the wicked\nSorcerer. Next day they went to the servant who was left in charge of\nthe captives and asked where Badoko had gone.\n\n\u201cYoung sirs,\u201d said he, \u201chis Honour has gone to consult the illustrious\nDragon about the ransom which he will ask for the Princesses.\u201d\n\nNow the Sorcerer had a friend, a very rich Dragon who lived on an island\nsome way off, and it was to visit him that he had set out on the\npink-eyed donkey. The brothers knew that he could not get back for\nseveral days, and they told Azalea and Anemone that they would start as\nsoon as their horses should be rested.\n\nIt was night when they left; the sky was clear and the steam from the\nservants\u2019 cauldron rose in the moonlight. When he saw what the brothers\nwere doing he remonstrated loudly, but nobody listened, so he could only\npromise to tell Badoko which way they had gone the moment he returned.\n\n\u201cYou won\u2019t get the chance,\u201d said Gold-Eagle, giving him a cuff, \u201cfor you\nare coming too.\u201d And he drove him along in front of them.\n\nFor three days all went well; as the brothers walked while the\nPrincesses rode, the horses had not much to carry.\n\nThey were resting in a wood one day, when they were suddenly surrounded\nby a band of robbers, who sprang on them, and, before they could resist,\ntied them to trees while they sat down to decide what was to be done\nwith them. Gold-Eagle and Tiger were furious and gnashed their teeth,\nbut there was nothing they could do, poor fellows, for the robbers\nnumbered about forty to their two. The head robber came into the circle\nholding the beautiful embroidered dresses he had taken from Anemone and\nAzalea. \u201cThese are worth a great deal,\u201d said he; \u201cif we take them to the\nDragon who lives on the island we shall get a large sum; he is a great\ncollector of curiosities, and we can sell the young men to him for\nslaves, and the girls too, for that matter. This has been a great find.\u201d\n\nYou may imagine what the Princesses felt when they heard that!\n\nWe must now see what the Emperor and his train were doing, and how near\nthey had got to the Sorcerer\u2019s country. Every night they halted by the\nwayside, and the raven had a tent all to himself next to that of his\nMajesty. It was made of velvet and the royal arms were emblazoned on it;\nbut, had you heard the raven talking about it, you would have supposed\nit to be no better than a dog-kennel. Nothing was good enough for him.\nThe sentry who walked up and down before it was maddened by the\noffensive looks which the bird cast upon him as he passed and repassed\nthe door.\n\nOne evening a shabby-looking rook flew by the camp, and, seeing so fine\na tent occupied by one of his own kind, he went up to it, and, putting\non a sad voice, began to beg. The raven, who was in front of a glass\nadmiring a gold collar which the Emperor had caused to be put round his\nneck, stuck his beak in the air. \u201cSentry!\u201d he called, \u201crid me at once of\nthis pestilent bird. His presence is an offence to me.\u201d\n\nBut the rook\u2019s voice drowned the words. \u201cSir!\u201d he cried, \u201cgreat sir! Let\nme tell your noble Honour\u2019s fortune. I see by the glorious jewels on\nyour neck that you must be a king.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no, my good fellow,\u201d answered the raven, \u201cyou mistake, indeed. Your\nadmiration for my person and manners leads you into error.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen it is easy to see by your appearance that you are some great\nlord,\u201d continued the rook.\n\n\u201cThere, I confess, you have me,\u201d said the raven, looking down.\n\n\u201cLet me tell your Honourable Lordship\u2019s noble fortune?\u201d cried the rook\nagain. \u201cA great destiny is in store for you\u2014though, to be sure, anyone\nwho sees you can read that in your high-born and illustrious eye.\u201d\n\n\u201cSentry!\u201d cried the raven, \u201cI have made a mistake. I shall not require\nyour intervention.\u201d\n\nThe rook then approached humbly and began telling his fortune, assuring\nhim that every dignity and honour would be his, that he would die\nlamented after having ruled the greater part of the earth, and that he\nwould owe all these things to the virtue of his own heart and the lofty\nperfection of his intellect.\n\n\u201cMy good creature,\u201d said the raven, \u201cyou interest me. Not only do you\nseem to be in the front rank of the prophets, but you appear to possess\ndiscernment of character to a very unusual degree. How have you learnt\nso many accurate and valuable things?\u201d\n\n\u201cPowerful Nobleman,\u201d replied the rook, \u201cthough my appearance is mean, I\nhave yet frequented august society\u2014though I have never, of course, been\nin the presence of such combined rectitude and splendour as that in\nwhich I now find myself. Indeed, I have just come from a place where\nriches are stored such as have seldom been collected in this world.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is that?\u201d inquired the raven.\n\n\u201cI have come from the island of a powerful Dragon who has immense wealth\nand a great collection of curiosities. He has an exalted guest with him\nat this moment, a man of great note, who\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cVermin, you begin to weary me,\u201d said the raven; \u201cwho is this person?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Sorcerer Badoko,\u201d replied the rook.\n\nThe raven started. \u201cAnd who else?\u201d he cried.\n\n\u201cThere are also two young gentlemen, sons of the illustrious Sorcerer,\nand two beautiful young ladies named Azalea and Anemone, whom gossips\nsay are Princesses. But they did not arrive with Badoko. They were\nbrought to the Dragon by robbers and are now in dungeons. The Sorcerer\ndisapproves of his sons, I hear, and would not be sorry to see them put\nto death.\u201d\n\nThe raven was all eagerness to give this news to the Emperor. \u201cBe off,\nbird!\u201d he said, \u201cI have had enough of your talk.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the fee, Gracious Monarch! My fee for telling your fortune!\u201d\n\nThe raven fell into a towering rage and began to call for the sentry.\nThe rook snatched up a valuable gold chain from a table and made off as\nhard as he could go, leaving the raven unable to pursue him on account\nof the heavy ornaments he wore.\n\nOutside the Emperor\u2019s tent the raven set up a great cry of \u201cNews! News!\u201d\n\nThe Emperor commanded him to enter, and he related what had happened.\n\u201cBut I divined it all in a dream first,\u201d he added, \u201cso, when the low\ncreature appeared, I knew exactly what he was going to say.\u201d\n\nThe expedition started with all haste for the Dragon\u2019s island and\nsighted it in a few days; it was evening when they approached the lake\nin which it lay, and they saw the single pine tree which stood on it and\none star shining above in the green of the evening sky. But they had no\nleisure to admire all this and pushed on to find that the Dragon had\ngone to a palace some way from the shore where he was entertaining the\nSorcerer with a feast. The only persons left on the island were the\nSorcerer\u2019s sons and the Princesses who were confined in dungeons below\nthe Dragon\u2019s treasure house. The force surrounded the palace in which\nthe feast was going on and turned their heavy guns on it. The Dragon and\nthe Sorcerer came out in great horror, and the Dragon was told that he\nwould be blown to atoms if the captives were not released immediately\nand Badoko given up to justice.\n\n\u201cTake all I have,\u201d said the Dragon, \u201cbut spare my collection of\ncuriosities.\u201d\n\nSo the Princesses were set free and, with them, Tiger and Gold-Eagle,\nand the Sorcerer was seized, bound, and drowned in the lake. The raven\nstood by the Emperor and surveyed all that was done. \u201cMy good fellows,\u201d\nhe said to Badoko\u2019s sons, \u201cthere is no further need of your services.\nYour behaviour has been creditable. You may go.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you want your neck wrung?\u201d asked Gold-Eagle, who had come behind\nhim, taking him deftly between his finger and thumb. The raven took the\nfirst opportunity of retiring among the crowd.\n\nNext day the Emperor with his daughters started for home, having invited\nthe young men to his court, and they, after bidding the Princesses\ngood-bye, returned to Badoko\u2019s country to fit themselves out suitably\nfor the visit.\n\nSo everybody departed in peace, except the Sorcerer, who was at the\nbottom of the lake.\n\nIn a short time Tiger and Gold-Eagle arrived at the court. They had\ninherited all their father\u2019s wealth and they came in such splendour and\nstate that people ran out of their houses for miles round to see them\npass.\n\nThe Emperor was much delighted with their appearance, character and\naccomplishments, and, above all, with the charming way in which they\nplayed and sang, so when Tiger asked him for the hand of Azalea and\nGold-Eagle for that of Anemone, he consented readily, and the two\nmarriages took place amid great pomp. Everyone was pleased but the\nraven, who could not get on with the Emperor\u2019s sons-in-law. Finally, he\nfound it wiser to retire from court, and a fine house was built for him\nin which he spent the remainder of his days and died, at a good old age,\nof a surfeit.\n\n\n\n\n                                GRIMA\u00c7ON\n\n\nOnce upon a time there lived in a very large and important kingdom a\nPrincess called Moonflower; she was thus named on account of her golden\nhair, which was two yards and a half in length and shone like the moon.\nThe weight of this marvellous adornment was so very great that she was\nobliged to have a dwarf, who followed her wherever she went, and who\ncarried it as though it had been the train of her gown. The dwarf, who\nwas French, was called Grima\u00e7on; he was so clever that there was hardly\nan accomplishment suitable to his position in which he was not perfect.\nHe could dance in a manner which caused those who beheld him to insist\nupon the performance being repeated again and again; he could cook the\nmost delicate rago\u00fbts and pasties; he could make such unrivalled\ngrimaces that all who saw them were transfixed\u2014in short, he was\neverything that a dwarf should be. He had lived in all the most\ncelebrated capitals in Europe, and was acquainted with the manners and\ncustoms of every country, and, while at Berlin, had learnt to play the\nGerman bagpipe in the most accomplished manner.\n\nThe parents of Princess Moonflower were both dead, and the kingdom was\nbeing governed by the sister of the deceased king until the Princess\nshould come of age and take the management of affairs, which she was to\ndo at the age of seventeen. But, if before her seventeenth birthday she\nwere to die, the kingdom was to go to her aunt. Now the Princess\u2019s aunt\nwas very ambitious and proud, and could not look upon the idea of giving\nit up to her niece without dismay. \u201cWhat!\u201d she exclaimed, \u201cis this\nlittle wretch to supplant me? Am I, with all my wisdom, to be set aside\nwith ignominy for a little fool who has no recommendation but her paltry\nbeauty?\u201d And she began to think of every means in her power by which she\ncould get rid of the Princess.\n\nSo she determined that she must never be allowed to see her seventeenth\nbirthday, and at last made up her mind to kill her, though she disliked\nthe job, and put off doing it from day to day.\n\nNow, there lived in that country a very wicked Prince called Blackwig,\nwith whom the cruel old woman consulted. \u201cTell me, my good Blackwig,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201chow I am to get rid of this tiresome Moonflower? Bethink\nthyself, and I will give thee a box of pearls, a pair of puce-coloured\nsilk hose, and a dancing ape. And, moreover, if thy counsel please me,\nthou shalt also have an excellent recipe for a p\u00e2t\u00e9 of spiced dolphin\u2019s\nliver, which was given me by my sister, who learned cooking in Paris.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied Blackwig, who was fond of good living, \u201cI desire\nnothing but to please you; but, as you are so liberal in your offers, I\nwill be the same with my advice. Listen to me. Give me the hand of your\nniece in marriage, and you shall not be troubled with her long, for I\nknow of a poison which I will put into her soup and which will cause her\nto expire without anyone\u2019s knowing the reason\u2014and all I will ask for\nthis is two thousand ducats!\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a large sum,\u201d said the Princess\u2019s aunt, who was very\neconomical.\n\n\u201cWell, well, since you make me presents at the same time, I will take\none thousand five hundred and twenty-five ducats, _but nothing less_.\u201d\n\nThe Princess\u2019s aunt, who was glad to be able to charge someone else with\nthe death of her niece, consented, and went straight to Moonflower\u2019s\nroom, to make known to her that she must prepare for her coming\nmarriage. She found her sitting at the window, watering her flowers. She\nlooked more lovely than the three Graces. She wore a dress of mauve\nvelvet embroidered with bunches of amaryllis in pearls and diamonds, and\nher long hair fell in showers upon the ground.\n\n\u201cLittle darling,\u201d began the old woman, \u201cI have to-day had a proposal for\nyour hand in marriage.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd from whom, Madam?\u201d inquired Moonflower.\n\n\u201cThe Prince Blackwig,\u201d said her aunt: \u201che loves you to distraction, and\nwill make an excellent husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cFie!\u201d exclaimed the Princess, \u201che squints and has bandy legs, besides\nbeing the most malicious person in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cNevertheless, I command you to obey me and to marry him!\u201d shrieked the\nPrincess\u2019s aunt.\n\n\u201cI will not,\u201d said Moonflower, \u201cI would rather die.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd die thou shalt, little viper!\u201d bawled the old woman, \u201cfor I will\ncut you in little pieces if you do not marry him this day month!\u201d And\nshe left the room in a rage, banging the door behind her.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: SHE FOUND HER SITTING AT THE WINDOW WATERING HER FLOWERS]\n\n\n\n\nWhen she had gone, the Princess began to weep bitterly and wring her\nhands. \u201cAlas! my good Grima\u00e7on,\u201d she said to the dwarf, \u201cwhat shall I\ndo? Was there ever a being so unfortunate as I? Either I must perish or\nwed the odious Blackwig, and I know not which of these two horrors to\nchoose.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must fly, your Royal Highness,\u201d answered the dwarf, who was a\nsensible little fellow, \u201cbefore the day which the Queen Regent has\nnamed.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut alas!\u201d said Moonflower, \u201cwhither shall I go?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt wants but two months to your seventeenth birthday,\u201d replied he,\n\u201cwhen you will succeed to the kingdom. If you conceal yourself till\nthen, you can afterwards return and claim it, and your aunt will have no\npower over your actions when once you are on the throne.\u201d\n\nThe next day Princess Moonflower and the faithful Grima\u00e7on fled from the\npalace. They walked along the most secret and quiet roads for fear of\nobservation, till at last they came to a huge forest, through which they\ntravelled for some distance, and, aching with fatigue, sank down under a\ntree to rest. The little dwarf, who had been carrying his mistress\u2019s\nlong hair, threw himself at her feet on the grass, for he was very\nweary.\n\n\u201cAlas, dear Grima\u00e7on,\u201d she said, \u201chow cruel is our lot! We shall\ncertainly be devoured by wild beasts in this terrible wood.\u201d And she\nbegan crying and weeping. Her sighs and lamentations might have touched\na heart of stone. All at once she looked up, for there stood before her\na little crooked woman, more hideous than a witch.\n\n\u201cDaughter,\u201d she croaked in a voice like a raven\u2019s, \u201cwill you direct me\nin the way to the palace?\u201d\n\nThe Princess pointed in the direction from which she had just come.\n\n\u201cGo a little distance with me,\u201d implored the hag, \u201cand help me to carry\nthis bundle I have got on my back.\u201d\n\nPoor Moonflower was very tired, but she took up the bundle and, telling\nGrima\u00e7on to await her in the same spot, she walked off with her strange\ncompanion. When they had gone for about half a mile the old woman\nstopped her.\n\n\u201cA thousand thanks,\u201d she croaked, \u201cand now, I will give you the reward\nof your civility.\u201d\n\nSo saying, she plucked a leaf from a neighbouring bush and presented it\nto the astonished girl.\n\n\u201cWhen you are in distress think of me and touch this leaf with the third\nfinger of your left hand.\u201d And, almost before the words were out of her\nmouth, she had disappeared.\n\nFull of surprise, the Princess went back to where the faithful dwarf\nawaited her and told him her adventure. \u201cAnd now,\u201d she said, \u201cI will\ntouch my leaf and we shall be out of this terrible wood, where I feel\nsure there are nothing but monsters and savage beasts who will tear us\nlimb from limb. It will certainly save us from our difficulties.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, your Royal Highness,\u201d he replied, \u201cat least let us wait till the\nwild beasts come\u2014we may be in very much worse straits yet. Let us\nreserve our resources till then.\u201d\n\nThey journeyed on through the forest, and, at last, arrived at a little\nstream which ran merrily along till it came to a fallen branch lying\nright across it, and against which so many leaves and twigs had drifted\nthat the course of the water was stopped. The stream was forced out of\nits bed, and beat itself against the bank.\n\n\u201cLook at that pretty stream,\u201d remarked Moonflower, \u201chow sadly it\ndribbles along beyond the fallen branch. The water cannot pass it. See,\nGrima\u00e7on, with what difficulty it flows.\u201d\n\nAnd she bent down and broke the branch in two, for it was but a slight\nthing. All the accumulated leaves and twigs sailed away and the stream\nflowed on in a thousand beautiful ripples; at the same time a voice sang\nthe following words:\u2014\n\n                \u201cPrincess, should you need a friend,\n                 The grateful stream its aid will lend;\n                 Should you need me, call, I pray,\n                 Hear the words that you must say,\u2014\n                 \u2018River rise and river fall,\n                 Send the help for which I call.\u2019\n                 \u2014But, call me not till hope is lost,\n                 Or dear the words to you may cost.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d observed Grima\u00e7on, who had heard these lines, \u201cfriends are not\nto be despised when one has fallen upon bad times, whatever shape they\nmay assume\u2014or even if they assume no shape at all!\u201d\n\nThey continued walking on into the wood, when they heard behind them the\nsound of horns and of horses galloping, and in the twinkling of an eye\nthey beheld the wicked Prince Blackwig, who was hunting in the forest\nwith his men. When he caught sight of Moonflower he knew her at once by\nher long hair. \u201cHo!\u201d he cried, \u201chere is our runaway!\u201d for he had already\nheard of her flight. He dismounted, and, seizing her, placed her upon\nthe saddle, then, leaping up behind her, he put spurs to his horse. One\nof his servants, seeing Grima\u00e7on, picked him up, saying, \u201cHe is a merry\nlittle ape, who will make us some sport. Let us take him too.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are we going to?\u201d asked the Princess of Blackwig, as they flew\nalong.\n\n\u201cTo my castle,\u201d answered the wicked Prince, \u201cwhere I will throw you and\nyour hideous dwarf into a dungeon in which you shall languish, if you\nwill not marry me as your aunt commands.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will never marry thee,\u201d replied she, \u201cshouldst thou tear me in bits\nfor refusing.\u201d\n\nWhen they arrived at Blackwig\u2019s castle the poor captives were thrown\ninto a frightful dungeon, which had only one window, and that on a level\nwith the ground. The place was so deep, and the floor so far down in the\nearth, that they could hardly see the light, which appeared to them as a\nlittle, far-away star. Blackwig was beside himself with fury with the\nPrincess, for, had she married him, he would have gained all the rewards\noffered by her wicked aunt; and, as he did not intend to poison her, but\nonly to say that he had done so, he hoped when his wife succeeded to the\nkingdom to share the throne with her. Until then, he intended to keep\nher hidden in his castle. Truly, it would be a fine thing to be a king,\nand to have outwitted so clever a woman.\n\nThe Princess and Grima\u00e7on sat on the floor of their horrible prison; it\nwas so dark that, for a time, they could hardly see; which was just as\nwell, as the place was full of toads and terrible creatures, and the\nbones of those who had perished there before were strewn around. At\nlast, their eyes began to get accustomed to the darkness, and Moonflower\nbegan to realise the horrors of their position. \u201cIt is bad enough to\nperish one\u2019s self in such a place,\u201d she said, \u201cwithout having brought\nthee also into trouble, my dear Grima\u00e7on.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake courage, Madame,\u201d replied the dwarf, \u201cI feel sure that we shall\nsurmount all obstacles, for now I perceive that the time has come for\nyou to use the gifts you have been given. If you will take my advice you\nwill see what the stream, which promised its help, can do for you.\u201d\n\nHalf frightened by what she was doing, the Princess repeated these\nwords:\u2014\n\n                    \u201cRiver rise and river fall,\n                     Send the help for which I call!\u201d\n\nFor some moments nothing happened; but presently a little trickling was\nheard in the wall. It became louder and louder, and at last, by the dim\nlight, they could distinguish a rivulet running in a tiny thread out of\na crack between the stones. It went on increasing in volume until the\nwater covered the floor and rose round the Princess\u2019s ankles. \u201cAlas!\u201d\nshe cried, \u201cthe cruel stream has played me false, and we shall certainly\nbe drowned like rats in this fearful place!\u201d\n\n\u201cWait a bit,\u201d replied the dwarf, who was already up to his knees; \u201cdo\nnot despair, we still have the leaf.\u201d\n\nStill the water continued to rise; the Princess, who was horribly\nfrightened, took the leaf that had been given her from the bosom of her\ngown, and, thinking of the old woman, touched it with the third finger\nof her left hand. As she did so it began to spread and spread, and at\nlast grew so large and heavy that she could no longer hold it but laid\nit down. It floated like a boat on the water, and, though it still\nlooked like a leaf, it became the size of a good large tea-tray, and\nthen stopped growing.\n\nMoonflower, who was up to her waist in water, clung to the wonderful\nleaf, and at last succeeded in seating herself upon it; she then helped\nGrima\u00e7on to do the same, for the little fellow had been swimming for the\nlast ten minutes. What was their surprise when they got into this\nstrange boat to find that the water had not wet them, and that their\nclothes were perfectly dry.\n\nThe flood rose and rose, and the leaf and its burden rose with it, till\nat last they were half way up the wall, and, in a surprisingly short\ntime, had reached the level of the window.\n\nThe water began rushing out of it, carrying the leaf so swiftly that the\nPrincess thought they would be dashed against the window-bars. What was\nher wonder on finding that, as the foremost point touched them, they\nmelted away, and with a cry of joy she and her faithful dwarf sailed\ninto the open air.\n\n\u201cHold tightly, your Highness,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cfor the pace we are going\nat is terrific.\u201d\n\nThe water rushed headlong over fields and pastures, carrying them for\nseveral miles, at the end of which it joined itself to the stream the\nPrincess had met in the wood. Moonflower sailed smoothly along, past\nforests and meadows, past castles and huts, till she came to the city\nwhere her own palace stood. On the terrace of the garden she beheld her\nwicked aunt walking up and down (for the stream ran close by the palace\nwalls). She saw her gesticulating as she went, and heard her cry out,\n\u201cMiserable girl! Thank heaven she may never return\u2014the throne may yet\nbe mine!\u201d\n\nOn sailed the leaf, on and on, for seven days and seven nights, till\nthey came to a land which lay far away from the Princess\u2019s kingdom. The\npeople who saw her passing by in so singular a manner held up their\nhands in wonder at the strange sight. Never had they beheld whirled by\nthem a beautiful girl, sitting on a green leaf, with such a quantity of\ngolden hair. It flew out as she went like a golden fringe, and when the\nsun struck upon it she looked as though she were appearing in a cloud of\ngold. On account of the brightness they could not see Grima\u00e7on, who sat\nbehind her. Soon they came to a place where the water ran between high\ntrees, and where great blue lotos-flowers were growing as high as a tall\nman, covering the brink to the water\u2019s edge.\n\nWhile the Princess was admiring such rare and beautiful flowers, the\nleaf ran against a protruding stone and was carried by an eddy into the\nbank. Moonflower jumped out and the dwarf followed her example.\n\n\u201cLet us trust we may find something fit to eat, if only roots and\nberries,\u201d said he, \u201cfor we have had neither meat nor drink for many days\nand nights.\u201d\n\nOnce on shore they were much astonished to find that, on reaching land,\ntheir boat shrank to its original size, and that Moonflower was able to\ntake it up in her hand. She thrust it again into the bosom of her dress.\n\nThe dwarf Grima\u00e7on began at once to look with great diligence for\nsomething to eat, and soon discovered some delicious fruit which grew in\ngreat masses upon the surrounding trees. When they had both enjoyed a\nhearty meal the Princess was overcome by fatigue, for her long journey\nhad exhausted her.\n\n\u201cLay yourself on yonder grass, Madame,\u201d said Grima\u00e7on; \u201cand, while you\nrest, I will watch over your slumbers.\u201d So she flung herself down under\na tree where the moss was like a cushion of green satin, and was soon\nfast asleep.\n\nNow it happened that there passed that way an aged wood-cutter, who,\nwith a load of faggots, was on his way to the Palace belonging to the\nKing of that country, and who, as he went by, was much surprised to\nbehold, under a tree, the most beautiful maiden in the world, with hair\nshining like gold and lying spread on the grass like the rays of the\nmoon. He was yet more taken aback by the sight of Grima\u00e7on, who sat\nbeside her, shading her from the sun with a branch which he also used to\ndrive away the flies.\n\n\u201cWhat is the name of this country, grandfather?\u201d cried the dwarf.\n\n\u201cThis is the kingdom of the King of the Crystal Mountains,\u201d replied the\ngreybeard, \u201cand I am now on my way to his palace.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how far off may that be?\u201d asked Grima\u00e7on.\n\n\u201cA half league,\u201d was the reply.\n\nAs soon as he had reached the palace the old man begged to be allowed to\nsee the King, who, with the Queen, his mother, was seated at his second\nbreakfast.\n\nThe King, who was young, handsome, accomplished, and a great monarch,\ndesired that the wood-cutter should be brought before him. When he heard\nthat a lovely maiden, with hair like the moon\u2019s rays, was asleep on the\nbanks of a stream scarce half a league distant, watched over by a dwarf,\nhis curiosity knew no bounds; so, having rewarded the venerable man with\na gold piece and a fricasseed goose from the royal breakfast table, he\ncommanded his chariot to be brought, and was soon on his way to the\nbanks of the stream, accompanied by the Queen, his mother, who was also\ndying to behold so wonderful a sight.\n\nWhen the Princess awoke some time afterwards, what was her amazement on\nbeholding a large body of people, headed by a chariot of crystal, the\nwheels of which were of silver and the cushions of velvet, and which was\ndrawn by six Spanish horses, advancing towards her. In this equipage was\nseated a lady, magnificently dressed, and a handsome young man, who,\nstopping the chariot, desired the Princess and Grima\u00e7on to approach.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed the dwarf, \u201cthis is none other than the King of the\nCrystal Mountains, Madame; let us try to propitiate so great a monarch,\nfor we are completely in his power!\u201d\n\nSo saying, he bowed till his back hair swept the ground.\n\nThe Princess was then questioned by the Queen as to who she was and\nwhere she had come from, but, as she did not wish to give her real name,\nfor fear that Blackwig might by chance hear of her, Moonflower only told\ntheir Majesties that she was a stranger, obliged to fly from her\ncountry, and craved their protection. She did not know that she was in a\nkingdom more than a million leagues from her own, and, moreover, one of\nwhich Blackwig knew nothing. He was an ignorant fellow, and had\nforgotten all the history and geography he had ever learnt.\n\n\u201cYour Majesties,\u201d said the dwarf, \u201cif it may be permitted to one so\nhumble to speak in such august company, I would like to mention that we\nhave had no food for several days but the wild roots and berries which\ngrow here.\u201d\n\nThe Queen, who had espied the Princess\u2019s marvellous hair, was enchanted\nwith the sight, and at once thought she would like to have her for a\nmaid-of-honour. \u201cSuch a person in my train would make me the eighth\nwonder of the world,\u201d she said to herself.\n\n\u201cWill you come back with me to the palace?\u201d she inquired aloud. \u201cI will\nadmit you into my household.\u201d\n\nMoonflower fell upon her knees and thanked her.\n\n\u201cGet into the chariot,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cand let us be off!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we must have him too,\u201d said the King, pointing to Grima\u00e7on, \u201cfor he\nis a brave little fellow and speaks well.\u201d And he directed one of the\nmen-at-arms to place him before him on his horse.\n\n\u201cThis is the second ride of the sort I have had lately,\u201d observed\nGrima\u00e7on to himself, \u201cbut I think it is likely to end better than the\nlast!\u201d\n\nWhen they arrived at the palace the Princess was appointed to a place\namong the Queen\u2019s maids-of-honour; they gave her a white satin gown\ncovered with golden lilies to match her hair, in which she looked more\nbeautiful and brilliant than the seven stars of heaven. Grima\u00e7on was\nstill allowed to attend upon her. The King had a great regard for him,\nand esteemed his talents and good sense very highly.\n\nThe Queen\u2019s maids had, upon the whole, a very pleasant existence; it is\ntrue that she led them the life of dogs now and then, for her temper was\nvery bad, and she was a proud, jealous woman. But, as the Court was gay,\nthey amused themselves capitally and joined in all the festivities. They\nhad balls three times a week and hunting-parties every day. At the\nhunting-parties Moonflower rode a magnificent strawberry-coloured mare,\nwith a silver bridle and shoes, while Grima\u00e7on ambled by her side on a\nhuge mastiff, which had been trained to carry him, and which he managed\nto perfection.\n\nThe King was so much attracted by the lovely Princess that he cared to\nspeak to none but her. At all the balls he chose her as his partner, and\nat all the hunting-parties he rode beside her; but, unhappily, the more\nhis admiration for her increased, the more the other maids-of-honour\nresented it, and spared no pains in annoying and mortifying her.\n\n\u201cThere is no living at court now that this wretched Moonflower has\ncome,\u201d they said to one another; and at last they determined to do their\nbest to set the Queen-mother against her.\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d they said to her, \u201cyour Majesty has no idea of the intriguing\ncharacter of your new maid; we can hear the sly creature talking\nsometimes to her miserable puppet of a dwarf, and we know that she is\nplotting to become possessed of the King\u2019s affections, and intends to\nsupplant your Majesty in the influence you have always had with him.\u201d\n\nAt these words the Queen turned pale. She was furious.\n\nShe knew not upon what pretext she could injure Moonflower, for she\ncould find no fault with her sweet temper and modest demeanour. That\nafternoon, as the whole court was setting out upon a hunting expedition,\nthe Princess was about to mount her horse at the palace-door as the\nQueen passed by in her carriage.\n\n\u201cWhy do you always ride that ugly brute?\u201d called out the Queen crossly,\npointing to the strawberry-coloured mare.\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied Moonflower, curtseying, \u201cbecause his Majesty, the King,\npresented me with the animal.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle wretch,\u201d hissed the Queen between her teeth, \u201cshe would ride a\npig if the King asked her to!\u201d And she drove off in a fury.\n\nThe King was so much in love with Moonflower that he could neither eat\nby day, nor sleep by night, and, as soon as they came to that part of\nthe forest where they intended hunting, he rode beside her; he never\nquitted her all day; he said a thousand tender things to her; in fact,\nhe was so devoted that Grima\u00e7on, who was trotting behind them on his\nmastiff, was overjoyed, for he felt sure that the King, as well as being\nan excellent _parti_, was worthy of her in every respect.\n\nWhen the Queen-mother heard of this, her rage knew no bounds; she caused\nher chariot to be turned and went straight home. To add to her troubles,\na heavy thunderstorm came on, and the rain drenched her to the skin, so\nthat, by the time she arrived at the palace, she was almost beside\nherself. On the Princess\u2019s return that afternoon she was summoned to the\nQueen\u2019s apartments, where she found her Majesty in a towering rage. She\nstormed and raved, she called her by a thousand bad names, she would not\nhear a word the poor girl had to say, and, at last, flung herself upon a\ncouch, breathless with anger.\n\n\u201cAnd what is the reason of your Majesty\u2019s displeasure?\u201d inquired\nMoonflower, terrified. \u201cMay I be informed of my offence?\u201d\n\n\u201cIntriguing hussy!\u201d cried the Queen, \u201cyou know too well! But you will\nnever be mistress here\u2014the King has too much sense to stoop to such an\nalliance!\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam!\u201d exclaimed Moonflower, \u201cI do not understand you.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, indeed,\u201d replied the Queen, ironically, \u201cso you don\u2019t know what I\nmean. I mean that you are trying to entangle the affections of my son,\nthe King, with your soft looks and sly ways; but, believe me, such\nunmaidenly conduct will never succeed.\u201d\n\nWhen the Princess heard these cruel words she was ready to die of\nmortification and misery, and her anger against the Queen grew almost\nbeyond her control. \u201cAh!\u201d she cried, \u201cwhat a cruel position I am in, and\nwho is there that will help me?\u201d\n\nThen she suddenly bethought herself of the stream, and, without waiting\nto reflect whether she was right or wrong in her impulse, she cried,\n\n                    \u201cRiver rise and river fall,\n                     Send the help for which I call.\u201d\n\nand, as she said this, she wished in her heart that the stream might\nrise and drown the Queen.\n\nImmediately a voice was heard to say, \u201cUnhappy Princess, why have you\nneglected my warning?\u201d And a fountain in the garden below the windows of\nthe Queen\u2019s apartments began throwing itself higher and higher into the\nair until it dashed against the casement, breaking the glass, and\npouring into the room.\n\nThe Queen rushed to the door as fast as she could, tore it open and flew\ndownstairs, followed by Moonflower. But the water pursued them down the\nstaircase and into the garden. When it had reached thus far it flowed\nacross the terrace into the river which ran below, leaving the garden\ndry, and the Queen shrieking among the flower-beds, where all the\nbeautiful flowers\u2014roses, lilies, tulips, marguerites and\nmarigolds\u2014were torn up by the roots. Moonflower felt herself carried\naway by the water; her cries and struggles were of no avail, and,\ncatching and clinging to every object she passed, she was whirled away\nand very soon lost consciousness. In this condition she floated along\nthe river for leagues and leagues, with her long hair spread out like a\nfan behind her, to where it flowed at the foot of the Crystal Mountains.\n\nHere she awoke from her trance and found herself being hurried swiftly\nforward towards a dark spot visible in the base of one of the highest\nhills. She drew closer and closer to it, but could not stop herself.\nPicture her terror on finding, as she approached it, that the dark spot\nproved to be the mouth of a huge cavern! In another moment she had\nentered it and was sinking down, down, down.\n\nIt was completely dark, and the water continued transporting her into\nthe very bowels of the earth. At last, after what seemed to poor\nMoonflower several hours, a faint light began to show itself far below\nher, and to grow larger every moment, until the stream all at once\nemerged from the darkness, and she found herself in a wide and solitary\nmarsh. She clung to some rushes that grew at the water\u2019s edge and\ndragged herself out.\n\n\u201cWhere am I?\u201d she cried, \u201cand what horrible place is this in which I\nfind myself? My last hope is the enchanted leaf,\u201d\u2014and she put her hand\ninto her dress, but oh, horror! she had dropped it. _Where?_\n\nShe wept until she was weary, and then, as she began to feel the pangs\nof hunger, she arose, and, looking over the vast expanse of marsh, tried\nto see whether there were any house or cottage where she might beg a\npiece of bread and a lodging.\n\nIn the far distance she soon beheld a building, toward which she\ndirected her steps, and, after walking for hours, she came to an\nenormous palace, built entirely of mud. At the gate there lay a great\ncrocodile, at sight of which the Princess almost fainted with fear; but,\nperceiving that the creature was asleep, she timidly approached and rang\nthe doorbell, the handle of which was made of a crocodile\u2019s tooth.\n\nNow, the country in which Moonflower found herself belonged to a\nterrible and wicked Enchanter, who lived there entirely by himself but\nfor thousands of crocodiles, which were his only companions, and for\nwhich he had a singular fancy. When he heard the bell ring he looked\nout, and saw the Princess standing before the door, so he immediately\nwent down to meet her. When she beheld him her terror increased a\nthousandfold, for he was indeed more frightful than sin itself. He was\nclothed from head to foot in the skins of crocodiles, and carried in his\nhand a rod made of black wood, upon which was represented a crocodile\u2019s\nface. He had but one glaring eye, and his mouth was furnished with huge\npointed teeth, which caused him to look fiercer than an ogre. When he\nset eyes upon her he cried: \u201cHo! here comes another mortal to add to my\ncollection of crocodiles!\u201d And he raised his magic wand to change her\ninto one of these loathsome beasts, when, as he was about to put his\nwicked design in practice, an idea struck him. \u201cNo,\u201d he said, \u201cI am\ngetting up in years, and require some one to look after me; my\ncrocodiles are stupid brutes and perform the services of my house but\nindifferently. Now here is a servant ready to my hand.\u201d So he dragged\nthe terrified Moonflower into his horrible palace, where he set her to\nscrub the floors, wash the dishes, cook the food, and perform the most\nmenial offices. At night she had only the bare boards to sleep on, and\nnothing to eat but dried frogs.\n\nIn this way many days passed. All night she wept and all day she worked\nhard. \u201cOh, if death would but come to relieve me!\u201d she sobbed, \u201cwhat a\nblessing it would be. But alas! he alone comes to those who do not want\nhim, and forgets wretches like myself.\u201d\n\nNow the Enchanter had a great glass tower on the top of his house, on\nwhich was reflected everything that took place on the marsh in which it\nstood, and every day the Princess would go up and look out to see if, by\nany chance, help might be approaching; and, as day by day she came down\ndisappointed, she began to fear that she would have to spend the rest of\nher life with the Enchanter and his hateful crocodiles. \u201cIf I had but my\ndear Grima\u00e7on,\u201d thought she, \u201cbut alas! how can he know where I am, and,\neven if he did, how could he get here?\u201d\n\nWe must now return to the palace of the King of the Crystal Mountains.\n\nWhen the flood caused by the fountain had subsided and the Queen had\nbeen put to bed in hysterics, the excitement somewhat calmed itself, and\nonly the dwarf went running about calling for the Princess. When one of\nthe servants informed him that she had been carried away by the water\nhis grief knew no bounds. He sighed, he wept, he tore his hair, his\ncries were heard all over the palace, where he wandered about from room\nto room, giving way to his sorrow, and at last he came to the room where\nthe Queen and his mistress had been talking at the time of the flood. As\nhe walked along, with his head bent, looking the very picture of\ndesolation, he caught sight of a little dark thing lying on the floor.\nHe picked it up.\n\nIt was the Enchanted Leaf, which had been dropped by Princess\nMoonflower.\n\nAt the sight of this, which so forcibly brought back to him her memory,\nhis tears began to flow afresh. He sat down upon the ground, looking at\nit, and thinking of the late tragedy. Suddenly it occurred to him that\nthe Princess might not indeed be dead, but that she had probably called\nupon the stream to help her, and had been carried away by it. \u201cPerhaps,\u201d\nconjectured the unhappy little creature, \u201cshe desired its aid without a\ngood reason, and has been overtaken by the flood as a punishment. The\nvoice warned her of it. If so, I must seek her to the very ends of the\nearth. Perhaps this leaf may be of service to me also, for, though I am\nnot the Princess, I have her happiness as much at heart as if I were.\u201d\n\nHe then resolved to go to the King and to tell him the whole story,\nconcealing only the fact of Moonflower\u2019s high birth, which he had\nsolemnly sworn not to reveal without her permission. At that moment he\nlooked out of the window and perceived the King walking about round the\nfountains and up and down the terraces as one distracted. He tore his\nhair and even his moustache. It was fortunate that the Queen, his\nmother, was in bed and could not see him.\n\nGrima\u00e7on went out into the garden, and, with a low bow, presented\nhimself before the afflicted monarch.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d cried the King. \u201cMy worthy Grima\u00e7on, what a blow is this! Alas!\nalas! how terrible to think that Moonflower is drowned!\u201d\n\n\u201cTake courage, your Majesty,\u201d replied the dwarf. \u201cI hope that we may yet\nbehold her again.\u201d\n\nAnd he told the King of the Crystal Mountains the whole story, craving\nhis Majesty\u2019s permission to go in search of his dear mistress.\n\n\u201cGo! go!\u201d exclaimed the King, \u201cmost excellent dwarf, and I will go with\nthee. We will seek her together, though we should traverse the whole\nuniverse.\u201d\n\nWhen the Queen heard that her son was about to depart on a long journey\naccompanied by the dwarf, she was furiously angry, for she guessed that\nthey were going to look for Moonflower. But she was soon appeased, as\nshe was to have the management of the kingdom during the King\u2019s absence.\n\nThe King and Grima\u00e7on started quite alone, the King taking nothing with\nhim but a sword which he had inherited from his grandfather, and which\nhe thought might bring him luck. The hilt was made of a single topaz,\nand the blade was of such superfine Damascus steel, that when it was\nforged it was considered the eighth wonder of the world. The dwarf\ncarried with him nothing but the Enchanted Leaf.\n\n\u201cI think, your Majesty,\u201d he observed, \u201cthat we shall do well to follow\nthe course of the stream that has taken Moonflower away; and if so, we\nwill have recourse to this.\u201d\n\nAnd he pulled the Enchanted Leaf out of his pocket, and, touching it\nwith the third finger of his left hand, he thought of the old woman who\nhad given it to the Princess, wondering whether it would be of the same\nuse to him as it had been to her.\n\nInstantly it began to grow larger and larger, until it became big enough\nfor the King and Grima\u00e7on to sit upon it. In another moment they were\nbeing whirled onward upon the face of the water.\n\n\u201cNow that we are fairly launched,\u201d observed the dwarf, \u201cI am sure that\nyour Majesty has never travelled in this way before and with such a\ncompanion.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs to the travelling,\u201d answered the King, \u201cI would put up with anything\nin order to reach Moonflower; and I shall indeed do well if I never\nstart upon an enterprise with a less brave and loyal friend.\u201d\n\nThe dwarf was greatly pleased at finding himself so much esteemed by the\nKing, and, as they sailed along, his heart grew lighter, for he felt\nsure that they would find the lost Princess some day.\n\nThey journeyed on, stopping here and there to gather the fruits that\ngrew on the banks, and at night resting at the water-side, for the King,\nbeing strong, they were able to stop their boat and pull it ashore.\nAfter a weary journey they saw in front of them the same dark spot that\nMoonflower had remarked at the foot of the Crystal Mountains. When they\nbecame aware that it was a deep cavern towards which they were rushing,\nthey were rather startled.\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d sighed the King, \u201cif she has perished, let us also perish,\nand in the same manner.\u201d\n\nWhen they entered the mouth of the hole and found themselves sliding\ndown, down, down, deeper and deeper, even Grima\u00e7on grew frightened, and\nheld tightly to his Majesty\u2019s doublet.\n\nAt last they beheld a tiny speck of light shining far below them.\n\n\u201cCourage, Grima\u00e7on,\u201d exclaimed the King, \u201cFor I see a light.\u201d\n\nHere the dwarf peered round the King\u2019s elbow (for he was seated behind\nhim), and, when he saw the little spark, he felt that, after all,\nfortune might yet permit them to land somewhere in safety.\n\nAt last they came out, as Moonflower had done, into the lonely marsh.\n\nThe stream sailed on, but much more slowly, and the King and his\ncompanion began to find the leaf on which they sat decreasing in size.\n\u201cI feel sure that it is a sign of our voyage being at an end,\u201d said\nGrima\u00e7on.\n\nThe King stepped into the shallow water, picked up Grima\u00e7on, and set him\non the bank, drawing the leaf up after him. It immediately shrank to its\nnatural size, upon which his Majesty gave it to the dwarf, who put it in\nhis pocket. As they sat resting upon the bank they espied the\nEnchanter\u2019s mud palace towering in the distance and resolved to go\nthere, hoping to find some one who might give them news of the object of\ntheir search.\n\nThey walked and walked across the wet marsh, stumbling and sinking in\nthe slimy mud, until the dwarf grew so tired that he could go forward no\nlonger.\n\n\u201cI can go no further, sire,\u201d he exclaimed, \u201cand your Majesty must go on\nand leave me; I do not fear death now that I am robbed of my dear\nmistress.\u201d\n\nBut the King would not hear of such a thing, and, being a strong man, he\ntook him on his back and proceeded onward as best he might, for Grima\u00e7on\nwas no light weight, on account of the hump on his back, which made its\nowner as heavy as an ordinary person.\n\nNow it happened at that moment, that Moonflower was looking out of the\nEnchanter\u2019s glass tower, and saw, in the far distance, a man advancing\nwith something on his back. With the exception of her wicked jailer, she\nhad seen no one since she came to his house but the hideous reptiles\nwhich surrounded it, and her heart leaped with joy.\n\nPicture her transports of delight on beholding, as they approached, that\nthey were none other than the King of the Crystal Mountains and\nGrima\u00e7on!\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d she thought, bursting into tears, \u201cthe dreadful Enchanter will\nbut turn them into crocodiles as soon as he sees them!\u201d\n\nShe flew downstairs and met the King and the dwarf at the door.\n\nThe crocodile which was lying across the threshold snapped his horrible\nteeth at them as they advanced, but, drawing his sword, the King pierced\nhim to the heart, when, to the intense astonishment of the Princess and\nher rescuers, he at once became a young man.\n\n\u201cHow can I thank you?\u201d he exclaimed, embracing the King. \u201cYou have\nliberated me from a frightful prison.\u201d\n\nAnd he explained to them how the Enchanter, by a touch of his black\nwand, had transformed him into a crocodile, until he should be released\nby the sword of a fellow mortal.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d he continued, \u201che will do the same to you, if he gets near enough\nto strike you also.\u201d\n\nAt this moment the Enchanter, who, during this conversation, had been\nasleep indoors, came out with the fatal wand in his hand. With a howl of\nrage, he rushed towards them, but, in so doing, he fell over the carcase\nof the crocodile and his wand slipped from his fingers. He stretched out\nhis hand to catch it, but Grima\u00e7on was too quick for him, and, seizing\nthe little rod, he broke it into a thousand pieces and scattered them to\nthe four winds of heaven. The King waited until his enemy rose, upon\nwhich, drawing his sword, he fell upon him. A deadly combat then ensued,\nfor the cruel monster had a club made of crocodiles\u2019 bones, which he\nused with great skill and with which he laid about him like a madman.\n\nBut, at last, he sank, mortally wounded by the topaz-hilted sword, and\nexpired at the King\u2019s feet. At the same moment a shout of joy was heard,\nand all the crocodiles appeared in their true shapes, for the\nEnchanter\u2019s death had set them free from their captivity.\n\nThere were upwards of a thousand beautiful youths and maidens, who had,\nat one time or another, fallen into the stream and been carried down\nthrough the cavern into these dark and awful dominions.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: A DEADLY COMBAT THEN ENSUED]\n\n\n\n\nThe King then fell upon his knees before Moonflower and implored her to\nbecome his wife. The dwarf added his entreaties to those of his Majesty,\nand the Princess promised that, if they lived to reach the kingdom of\nthe Crystal Mountains, she would bestow upon him her heart and her hand.\n\nSo they started for the cavern\u2019s mouth, followed by the troop of those\nrescued from the Enchanter\u2019s malice.\n\nWhen they had traversed the marsh they heard a sound like thunder, and,\nlooking back, perceived that the mud palace had sunk into the earth, and\nthat, in its place, there had arisen a grove of palm-trees the stems of\nwhich were of gold and the leaves of emeralds.\n\nThe marsh, too, had changed its aspect in a very wonderful manner. The\nbrackish water had become as clear as amber, golden fish darted about in\nit and shot to and fro among the rushes, which were of crystal and\naquamarines. A thousand will-o\u2019-the-wisps with diamond lanterns flashed\nabout and the air was full of the songs of birds.\n\nAt the cavern\u2019s mouth they stopped, not knowing how to go on, when\nGrima\u00e7on took the Enchanted Leaf from his pocket and gave it to\nMoonflower. She touched it, and behold, it blazed up like a star in her\nhand, throwing light into the mouth of the cave and illuminating the\nfalling water. Then they observed a little staircase cut in the rock\nwhich wound upwards, ascending high out of their sight. It had a crystal\nbalustrade which made the ascent quite easy, and in a few moments they\nwere all on their way up it.\n\nIt took them two days to reach the top and the poor Princess nearly\nfainted with weariness, but, supported by the King, she at last\naccomplished it, after which they sat down to rest awhile at the foot of\nthe Crystal Mountains.\n\nAll at once they perceived flying towards them in the air two\nmagnificent chariots, so glorious and brilliant that never, in the whole\nworld, had anything appeared like them.\n\nThe first was drawn by twenty silver swans. In it sat a lady from the\nborder of whose cloak hung fringes of pearls and jacinths. She alighted\non the ground, close by the Princess, who, pale with astonishment, was\nwatching the second chariot approaching. This was drawn by twelve\npeacocks, and made entirely of emeralds. It was driven by the most\nlovely lady imaginable, no less gorgeous than her companion, wearing a\ncrown of opals which shone like the stars on a summer night.\n\nThe two Fairies stepped out of their chariots, and thus addressed the\nastonished King:\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d they said, pointing to the Princess, \u201cis the Princess\nMoonflower, daughter of a rich and powerful sovereign now dead. She has\nbeen compelled to fly from her kingdom by her wicked aunt, who has\nusurped the throne.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the Fairy of Rivers and Streams,\u201d continued the lady who had first\narrived, \u201cand, as she once did a kindness to a subject of mine, I have\nprotected her; and, had she not disregarded a warning I gave her, these\nlate troubles would never have taken place.\u201d\n\nThe Princess fell upon her knees and craved the Fairy\u2019s pardon for her\nfolly.\n\n\u201cRise,\u201d answered she, lifting her, \u201cyou have, with the King\u2019s help,\novercome your difficulties, and you certainly ought to make him happy.\u201d\n\nThe other Fairy then came forward.\n\n\u201cMoonflower,\u201d she said, \u201cI am the Fairy of the Green Woods, and it was\nI, in the guise of an old hag, whom you so graciously conducted on my\nway. It was I who gave you the Enchanted Leaf, which you must always\nkeep as an heirloom in your family; and now, I beg of you to marry this\nbrave and devoted monarch, who seeks your hand.\u201d\n\nAt these words the Princess embraced the two Fairies, who invited her,\nwith the King and Grima\u00e7on, to go with them to the palace of the King.\nThe released youths and maidens then dispersed to their several homes,\nand, mounting the chariot of the Fairy of the Green Woods, Moonflower\nsoon reached the palace, followed by the King and the dwarf, who\naccompanied the other Fairy.\n\nThe nuptials of the King of the Crystal Mountains and Princess\nMoonflower were soon afterwards solemnised, and the two Fairies honoured\nthe festivities with their presence; all those who had been rescued from\nthe Enchanter\u2019s cruelty by the King were invited, and the rejoicings\nlasted for twenty days, after which his Majesty made war upon the\nPrincess\u2019s aunt, and recovered her kingdom, killing the wicked Blackwig\nwith his own hand.\n\nA terrible fate was in store for the King\u2019s proud and cruel mother. On\nthe day of her son\u2019s marriage she was returning in her chariot from the\nceremony, much mortified and incensed by what had just taken place.\nNoticing, as she drove along, that her coachman had not brought out the\nteam of horses she had ordered, and being already furious, she leaned\nforward to strike him with the golden sceptre in her hand, and, in so\ndoing, overbalanced herself, and fell under the chariot-wheels, where\nshe was almost crushed to death. She was conveyed to the palace with all\nspeed, but, before she reached her apartments, she expired, muttering\nvengeance against everyone.\n\nThe fate of the dwarf Grima\u00e7on was very different. He was made Prime\nMinister and was the most honoured person in the King\u2019s dominions. The\nKing and Queen never took any step without first consulting him, and he\nlived to an advanced age beloved by all, but especially by their\nMajesties, who went to visit him every day in a magnificent palace which\nthey built for him close by their own.\n\n\n\n\n                              THE DOVECOTE\n\n\nIn a wide stretch of pasture, in the middle of a lonely field, with its\nback to the bleak north blast which swept over the shuddering grasses,\nmaking them hum and sing like complaining voices, stood a Dovecote. The\nsolid masonry of its walls, in the crevices of which tufts of stone-crop\nand shepherd\u2019s purse had sown themselves, and the irregular outlines of\nthe crow-steps which ran up either side of its slanting roof had been\nfamiliar to the sight of so many generations that, as it had remained\nunused within the memory of the oldest, no one thought more of it than\nif it had been a stone-heap in the road, nor noticed the curious fact of\nits never falling into disrepair. At each end of the roof, above the\ncrow-steps, two large stone balls stood out against the sky, and on\nthese the rooks, going home in the red sunsets to a neighbouring\nrookery, perched from year\u2019s end to year\u2019s end, and no one but\nthemselves, or a few inquisitive sheep, who might rub their woolly heads\nagainst the walls, seemed to remember the existence of the solitary\nbuilding. At some little distance behind it the land rose in a steep\nslope, rolling upwards to where a fringe of fir-trees looked down upon\nthe Dovecote, the fields, and the scattered habitations below.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DOVECOTE]\n\n\n\n\nAnyone standing beside them might see over a vast area of land. Looking\nto the west, the hills rose in bold relief, and towards them ran a white\nroad which lost itself now and then, only to reappear in patches till it\nfaded into the distance; looking eastward, there lay spread a long\nstretch of wooded country, over which the lights and shadows floated and\nthe clouds sailed before the west wind on their way to the sea, which\ncould be seen on a sunny day lying like a blue sapphire upon the\nhorizon. Looking straight southward towards the pastures, the sloping\nground at the foot of the trees was all one fertile cornfield, as yet\nuncut, and, half way up it, where the hill was steepest, stood three\nelms, growing close together and making a dark spot of shade in the\nmiddle of the yellow grain. These were called \u201cMaddy Norey\u2019s trees.\u201d\nWhat Maddy Norey\u2019s history had been no one alive knew, but tradition\nsaid that she had lived in a small cottage under the shadow of the elms,\nand men ploughing the field in the late November days had run their\nploughshares against deeply-embedded stones at their roots, and told\neach other that they had struck the foundations of Maddy Norey\u2019s house.\nThey did not know that the witch, Maddy Norey, was alive still, and\nliving hardly out of the sound of their voices in the Dovecote.\n\nBut in spite of the lonely quiet of the old place, and the peace which\nseemed to brood over the standing corn, there was war and strife in the\nland. The young King, with his Queen, had been forced to fly from his\npalace, a fugitive and wanderer, not knowing where to seek shelter for\nhis head; his step-brother, a wicked and unscrupulous man, having, with\nhis plots and cunning and his smooth, lying tongue, stirred up the\npeople in revolt against their sovereign. Through the treachery of some\nof the soldiery the palace gates had been broken down, the King\u2019s\ncapital was in the hands of the mob, and he and the Queen had made their\nescape, trying to reach the distant sea-board, and from it to take ship\nacross the Northern Sea to a neighbouring land ruled by one of their\nclosest allies.\n\nUnder cover of night they fled through the streets of the capital,\npassing unnoticed in the confusion, and slipping through the city gates\ndeserted by the treacherous guards. Once in the open country, they hid\nthemselves in the woods by day, and travelled forward on foot by night,\nhoping against hope to elude the pursuers sent out after their flight\nhad become known, and to reach the nearest point of coast from which\nthey might set sail for the friendly land opposite.\n\nAt last, after many days, they came to a place only a few dozen miles\ninland, and the King, who knew the country well, encouraged the weary\nQueen, telling her how short a space lay between them and the sea. They\nwere on the borders of a birch-wood through which they had travelled all\nnight, and, as they came out and saw the wide pasture stretched before\nthem in the early light (for it was dawning) the Queen sank down on the\nground, worn out, declaring that she could go no further.\n\nAt this the King was in despair, for day was breaking and there seemed\nto be no place of safety in which they could conceal themselves until\nnight should come round again and cover the two lonely wanderers with\nher dark curtain.\n\n\u201cLie still and rest,\u201d said he, as he drew off his cloak and spread it\nover his wife, \u201cI will go a little way forward and find some place in\nwhich we can shelter for to-day. Do not move until I come back. I shall\nnot be long away.\u201d And he wandered off into the field towards a strange\npile of building which he saw rising like a watch-tower from the level\nplain.\n\nWhen he reached it he found it to be a deserted Dovecote, and he walked\nround it, wondering why such a solid structure had been built for the\nharbouring of a few doves and pigeons.\n\nAs he passed round the north side he came upon a wooden door, so low\nthat a man entering would be obliged to bend himself almost double, and\nhe cleared away the nettles and tufts of ragwort which grew by the\nthreshold, pushing with his shoulder against the half-rotten wood. The\ndoor opened easily.\n\nThe Dovecote was quite dark inside, and only the light from the open\ndoor behind him enabled the King to see a crazy staircase running up the\nside of the wall to what was apparently a room overhead. As he stood\nirresolute whether or not to venture up, another little door opened at\nthe top of the flight and the bent form of an old woman peered out,\nilluminated by the sky-light in the ceiling of the room she had just\nleft. The King stood amazed.\n\n\u201cAnd so you have come at last,\u201d she said, in a voice which seemed far\ntoo soft to proceed from such a crooked body, \u201cand why have you not\nbrought the Queen? Do not be afraid,\u201d she added, seeing the look of\nconsternation on his face, \u201cI have expected you for some time. I am\nMaddy Norey, and I have lived here for more years than you and the Queen\nput together could count if your ages were doubled twice over. Go at\nonce and bring her back with you, for here she can find a safe\nhiding-place.\u201d\n\nThe astonished King could only lean against the wall, and stare up at\nthe strange figure above him.\n\n\u201cGo!\u201d cried the old woman, stamping on the floor.\n\nHe turned to obey her, and began groping for the little door by which he\nhad entered; but the more he went from wall to wall, the more amazed was\nhe, for there was no sign nor vestige of such a thing.\n\nMaddy Norey laughed softly.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d she said, \u201cdo you see how safe a castle mine is? If I had not\nchosen that you should see my door you might still be wandering round\nthe walls among the briars outside. Is not this a safe retreat for the\nQueen?\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me go, Maddy Norey, and bring her to you.\u201d And as the King said\nthis he perceived the open door close to him, with the sun\u2019s early beams\nshooting through like golden lances and striking the cobwebs which hung\nfrom the lintel.\n\nA short time later saw him standing in the birch-wood by the side of the\nQueen, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion among the silver stems. The\nleaves quivered in the breath of sunrise as they emerged together from\nthe wood and took their way to the Dovecote. The wooden door was open to\nreceive them, and Maddy Norey was at the top of her stair, peering down\nupon the Queen as she ascended, weary and faint, with her beautiful dark\nhair, which had slipped from its golden comb, falling in masses over her\ncloak.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old woman, when they had reached her attic, \u201clook round\nat my house and tell me what you think of it.\u201d\n\nThe King and Queen were silent, for they knew not what to say. They saw\nnothing but a small bare room with a sky-light in the roof. The light\nwas struggling in among the cobwebs and a cold air blew through the\nlittle row of holes among the tiles, by which bygone flocks of pigeons\nhad entered to roost, or emerged to plume themselves in artless vanity\non the slanting roof and the crow-steps outside. An oaken three-legged\nstool stood in one corner with an old-fashioned spinning-wheel beside\nit, and this was the only furniture or sign of a human inhabitant\nvisible in the little attic.\n\nMaddy Norey smiled.\n\n\u201cI can see your thoughts,\u201d she said, turning to the King. \u201cBut you must\nnot think that I have made no better preparation for the Queen than\nthis. I know a great deal. I know that she will spend much time with me\nhere, and I have arranged all that I can to help you in the time that is\ncoming. Now look into that dark spot in the wall and tell me whether I\nhave not prepared my house well for you.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: MADDY NOREY SHOWS THE QUEEN THE ROOM BEHIND THE FIERY\nROSES]\n\n\n\n\nAs she said this she raised her bent figure and spread out her arms\nwidely. A thin blue mist drove across their vision like a smoke-cloud,\nand through it broke a glow as of burning coals. It rolled past them,\nleaving only a faint vapour, behind which they could see a thick hedge\nof fiery-hearted roses that seemed to burn like living embers. Through a\ndivision in the midst of this radiant tangle the light from the glowing\nflowers shone upon a floor and walls of black oak which could be seen\nbehind it, reflecting itself in the polished darkness beyond, as stars\nreflect themselves in deep water; and, at the further end of the room,\nin an angle where the dark walls met, stood a bed carved with designs\nwhich could be only dimly seen, and hung with curtains of a rich deep\ncolour that might have been either green or blue.\n\nThen Maddy Norey took the Queen by the hand and led her through the\nroses into the soft darkness. She combed out her long hair, took from\nher her travel-stained garments, and made her lie down in the carved\nbed. Then her weary head sank back upon the pillows, her tired eyes\nclosed, and she drifted away into a dreamless sleep under the blue\nhangings.\n\nThe King and Maddy Norey sat talking in the little dusty attic all that\nday and far into the evening. His gratitude knew no bounds when she said\nthat he might leave his wife in her charge while he pursued his journey.\n\n\u201cWhen you arrive at the sea-shore,\u201d she told him, \u201cyou will find a boat\nlying on the sand; you must manage so that you get there in two days\nfrom now, and during the night-time, when the fisherman to whom it\nbelongs has gone home from fishing, and you must take the oars and row\nstraight out to sea. You will find food and water for three days stored\nin the boat, for the owner is going a journey in it to an island some\nway off.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaddy Norey,\u201d said the young man, \u201cpromise me that you will care for\nthe Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d answered the old woman, holding out her wrinkled hand. \u201cBut be\nadvised, O King, and spare her the parting, for it may be a long\nparting, and even I do not know the end of it. She will never consent to\nlet you go alone, which, by reason of the hardships you may have to\nundergo, is necessary. I might have to prevent her from going with you\nby not allowing her to find the door. Surely you will spare her this?\nLook,\u201d and she pointed to the darkening sky-light, \u201cit will soon be\nnight, and there is no moon. Go _now_\u2014at once. By to-morrow morning you\nwill be many miles on your way, and if you conceal yourself during the\nday, another night\u2019s travelling will bring you to the shore. Go; it is\nbest.\u201d\n\nThe King stood up.\n\n\u201cI may go in and look at her?\u201d he said.\n\nMaddy Norey nodded. \u201cI will not wake her,\u201d said he, \u201cit would be too\ncruel.\u201d\n\nThere was silence in the Dovecote for a few minutes before the King\nre-appeared. He made a sign of farewell to Maddy Norey and went down the\nrickety stairs, through the wooden door and out into the night alone.\n\nWhen the Queen awoke next morning and found that he had gone, her heart\nseemed broken, and she lay weeping quietly in her carved bed.\n\n\u201cWhy did I not awake when he came to say good-bye?\u201d she sobbed in\ndespair to Maddy Norey, who was sitting by her.\n\n\u201cMy dear,\u201d said the old woman, who did not tell her that she had caused\nher to sleep so soundly on purpose, \u201cit was better it should be so, for\nit helped the King through it. And he hoped that you would be strong and\nkeep a brave heart. You must summon all your courage and be helpful to\nhim when he returns, for we do not know how soon that may be.\u201d\n\nWith such words did Maddy Norey comfort the Queen. And she, when the\nfirst freshness of her grief was over, tried with all her strength to be\ncheerful and affectionate to the old woman who had done so much for them\nboth. But every evening she used to steal away to a dark corner to weep\na little and think of the King, perhaps still in hiding near the bleak\ncoast, perhaps tossing alone on the sea.\n\nWhen several days had gone by the Queen began to feel the monotony of\nher life very much, and to long with a great longing for the fresh air,\nas she dwelt in the cramped seclusion of the Dovecote. It was impossible\nthat she should venture out alone, even for the smallest distance, in\nthe rebellious state of the country, more especially as the search for\nthe fugitive pair was still going on. But her strength and spirits were\ndeclining daily, and Maddy Norey began to fear that the confinement was\ntelling upon her. One evening as they sat within the windowless walls\nwhich surrounded them, the Queen laid her hand on the witch\u2019s knee.\n\n\u201cIf I could only have one breath of air,\u201d she sighed, \u201cand one look at\nthe fields and the sky. May I go to the door and out for just a short,\nshort way into the pasture?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d she answered, \u201cyou must not do that. I have to remember my promise\nto the King to keep you in safety. But I can do this. To-morrow I will\nwork a spell upon you. I will turn you into a white pigeon, whose\npresence, were it noticed about the old place, would seem but natural.\nSo long as you remain standing on your feet or touch the ground in any\nway, you will be a woman; but, if you make ever so small a spring\nupwards, the moment your feet leave the earth you will become a white\nbird, and you may fly for a little distance round the Dovecote, though I\ndo not wish you to go far away. There is a clump of elm-trees in the\ncornfield which runs up the hill-side, and to them you may go, hiding\nyourself among the branches, and returning here should you find yourself\nnoticed by even the most insignificant passer-by.\u201d\n\nOn the following day, accordingly, Maddy Norey took from a recess behind\nthe blue-green bed hangings a strangely-shaped goblet which had two\ncrystal wings springing from either side; into this she shook a powder\nwhich smelt aromatically; then she cut off the head of one of the\nburning roses and threw it upon the top. A subtle perfumed smoke rose\nand filled the room, blinding the eyes of the Queen. She felt her senses\ngoing from her, and clung to the witch\u2019s protecting arm. She heard her\nrepeating to herself a slow, monotonous rhyme:\u2014\n\n                    \u201cSun-spells and moon-spells,\n                       (Silver wings and red roses)\n                     Voice that in the wind dwells\n                       (Golden wings and white roses).\n\n                    \u201cSun-power and moon-power,\n                       (Wild wings and pale roses)\n                     Love for life or love an hour\n                       (Witch-wind and dead roses).\u201d\n\nAs the words ceased she swooned away, and when she came to herself, she\nwas lying upon the attic floor with the air from the open sky-light\nblowing in, and Maddy Norey bending over her. She rose, rubbing her\neyes.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the old woman, \u201cspring from the ground.\u201d\n\nThe Queen obeyed, and in an instant was standing on the window-sill in\nthe flashing sunbeams, a pure white pigeon. She looked at the cornfield\nsloping away northward, and at the green clump of elms standing rich and\nheavy in the still heat, then spread out her new-found pinions and\nsailed away towards them.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nNow, one day, as the white pigeon sat among the elm-boughs, her eyes\nwandered over the slope of golden grain to where the fir-trees stood on\nthe top of the hill; for she knew that from that place could be seen a\nfar wider view, and one that stretched away to the coast and the ocean.\nWhat would she not give to have but one glance at the distant leagues of\nwater, one possible chance of seeing some sign of hope on the horizon!\nShe thought of how Maddy Norey, the witch, had commanded her to go no\nfurther than the three elms; but she thought also of the aching,\nunsatisfied heart she would carry back to the Dovecote if she obeyed\nher. The temptation was too strong for her, and she finally looked out\nfrom her shelter, and, seeing nothing living but a few sheep grazing in\nthe mid-day sun, flew upwards over the corn and alighted on one of the\ntopmost branches of the firs. Then she turned her eyes eastward and\nalmost fell from her resting-place.\n\nFor the blue sea was all alive with white sails\u2014the sails of a great\nfleet advancing in a double line to the land.\n\nPrudence, her promise to Maddy Norey and her own safety were alike\nforgotten; all that she could think of was those approaching vessels\nwhich would so soon be landing, and, without fear or hesitation, she\nspread her wings, and in a moment was flying madly seawards. Over the\nwoods she sped, over the plains and marshes, only now and then passing\nabove a solitary dwelling in the thinly-populated country she crossed.\nSometimes she saw a little knot of soldiers encamped in secluded places,\nand guessed that they were the scouts posted about by the rebels to\nwatch for and capture their sovereign. With a thankful heart she\nobserved that, being stationed in low-lying parts of the country and\namong the woods, they could not see the sight which she saw from the\nheight at which she flew. It was evident that none suspected the King of\nhaving left the country. She hastened forward with redoubled speed as\nthe space between the fleet and the sea-shore lessened. Just before\nsunset she had almost reached the coast on which the ships were already\nlanding, and could plainly see boats rowing to the shore to empty upon\nit their loads of armed warriors and going back again to return with\nmore. The sands were black with hurrying figures.\n\nAll at once, below her there rose a shout from a watchman who had been\nclimbing to a greater eminence than the others, and, realising that in\nan hour the country might be up in arms, she strained every nerve to\nreach her husband in time to prepare him for an attack.\n\nScarcely a mile lay between her and the invading army; she was thinking\nhow, in another few moments, she would be once more with the King, when\na man, loitering about on the waste land with his crossbow saw the bird\npassing over his head, took an arrow from the quiver and fitted it to\nthe string. He was a good marksman.\n\nSuddenly a shock of pain passed through the white pigeon and the earth\nseemed to rise up to meet her; then a giddiness, a drop, and a heavy\nblow, and she was lying on the wet ground, no longer a bird, but a\nterrified and wounded woman with an arrow sticking in her arm. Her wing\nhad been broken.\n\nShe raised herself a little and saw that her persecutor was rushing\nforward, and, as the remembrance of her mission came back, she staggered\nto her feet and tore the arrow from her arm. She was so near safety and\nsuccour\u2014so near\u2014she _must_ make one more effort; gathering all her\nstrength together, she bounded on, half faint from loss of blood.\n\nAs the King stood on a green mound giving orders for the encampment of\nhis army, he heard a sound of rushing footsteps and turned round. A\nwoman with flying hair and outstretched hands was dashing towards him,\nthrough the sea-grass, through the stones and driftwood, and, as she\nfell fainting at his feet, he recognised the Queen.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nThe King and his wife sat in the royal tent together. Her arm was stiff\nand painful and the King was uneasy, for he longed to place her under\nmore skilful care than any which could be got in their present position.\nThey sat at the tent door under the stars; just before morning, when all\nwas beginning to be astir with preparations for the march, a star\ndropped from its place and fell across the Northern heavens. It\ntravelled slowly along, leaving in its wake a little train of blue\nsparks.\n\n\u201cThat is a good omen,\u201d the Queen said.\n\nSoon the rebels got news that the King had landed, and they came with\ntheir troops to meet him. There was a great battle that lasted from noon\nuntil the evening, and all day the King rode unharmed through the fray\nwith a white pigeon on his shoulder\u2014a white pigeon with a broken wing.\nThe enemy looked upon this strange sight with superstitious awe, and\nmany an arrow tried to find its way to the mysterious bird\u2019s heart. But\nnone succeeded, and when, at the end of that hard day, the King stood\nvictorious on the field, the only signs of blood to be seen upon him\nwere the drops that dripped upon his shoulder from the wing of the white\npigeon.\n\nAt last he was able to go to his tent and lay aside sword and armour,\nand he placed the bird tenderly upon the ground. The Queen at once\nreturned to her own shape, half dead with pain and fatigue and scarcely\nable to stand.\n\nA great fear took hold upon the King. How if he were even now, in the\nhour of his success, to lose her?\n\nIt took him but one moment to make up his mind. He would take her to\nMaddy Norey, for, if there were help to be found under heaven, he knew\nthat the witch would give it to him.\n\nCommanding a fresh horse should be brought, he mounted as the moon rose\nand rode out into the night, holding the bird in the folds of his cloak.\nThe people, when they heard of the advance of the troops and the great\ndefeat from some fugitives who had escaped from the battle, had\nabandoned their houses and fled in all directions, so it was through a\ndesolate country that the King spurred his good horse. He rode grimly on\nwith his sword drawn in his hand, ready to cut down the first obstacle\nthat might present itself, his eyes fixed steadily in front of him,\nlooking neither to the right nor the left. In the early dawn he stood,\nas he had stood not so long since, at the foot of the Dovecote. There\nwas the little door in front of him, with its rusty latch and hanging\ncobwebs. He threw himself from the saddle and rushed into the building\nand up the crazy stair. Maddy Norey\u2019s voice came from inside the attic.\n\n\u201cBe quick, be quick,\u201d she said, holding out her hands for the bird, \u201cyou\nhave not come a moment too soon. Give her to me.\u201d\n\nThey laid the fluttering creature on the ground, and, when her natural\nshape had returned, the Queen was carried to the carved bed where the\nwitch dressed her wound, and, with charms and spells, charmed back her\nsinking life; and, having been assured by the old woman that all danger\nwas past, the King left her with hope in his heart, and returned to meet\nhis troops.\n\nFrom that day everything went well; the march to the capital was but a\ntriumphal progress, and the victors were soon joined by bands of those\nwho had remained loyal during the rebellion, but who had not been able\nto gain the day for their sovereign by reason of the tremendous odds\nagainst which they fought.\n\n                 *        *        *        *        *\n\nThe cornfield below Maddy Norey\u2019s trees had been cut, the stooks were\nstanding on the hill-side, and the elm-trees were beginning to be\nfaintly touched with autumn, when, one blue, misty morning, the King\nrode through the pastures to fetch the Queen. He came alone, leading a\ngrey horse by the bridle; and he tied the two animals to an iron ring in\nthe Dovecote wall while he went up to the witch\u2019s attic.\n\nHe found the old woman at her spinning-wheel with the young one beside\nher.\n\n\u201cWhen he comes to fetch me,\u201d the Queen was saying, \u201cyou will leave the\nDovecote, will you not, dear Maddy Norey, and come with us? For our home\nshall be yours. You have been so good to us that we cannot bear to part\nfrom you. Say that you will come.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the witch, \u201cit is impossible. I have lived in this room for\nsuch countless years that I can never leave it now. When you have gone\nno one will ever find the little door again.\u201d\n\nAnd nothing that they could say would make her consent.\n\nSo they went down the wooden stair together, and Maddy Norey came to the\ntop to bid them farewell. For one moment she laid her hand on the King\u2019s\ncurling hair as he bent over her wrinkled figure, and she kissed the\nQueen, who threw her arms around her crooked neck; then she stood a\nlittle space at the head of the stair, looking at the two bright figures\nas they went out from her into the light.\n\nAt the threshold they turned and saw that she was holding up her hands\nas if in blessing.\n\nVery silently they rode out of the pasture, and, as they were about to\nturn the corner of the birch-wood, they reined in their horses to take a\nlast look at the curious old building as it stood solitary in the\nmorning mist.\n\nThere were tears in the Queen\u2019s eyes.\n\n\n\n\n                           THE PEACOCK\u2019S TAIL\n\n\nThere was once a widow of respectable family who lived in a house in a\nretired part of the country. Her only companion was her daughter, Ella,\nwho was exceedingly beautiful, and continually on the look-out to see\nwhether a wandering prince would come by and marry her.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: NOW I AM SIMPLY PERFECT SAID SHE]\n\n\n\n\nThere was also an old witch called Mother Grindle, who lived up a tree\nin the orchard. A deep pool was at the foot of this orchard, but in\nspring the sight of the water was almost shut out by the mass of blossom\nwhich covered the apple-trees. There was a peacock, too, who strutted\nabout all day; he was not a bad fellow really, but intolerably vain.\nOnly one thing in the place was vainer than himself, and that was Ella,\nthe widow\u2019s daughter. Mother Grindle and the peacock got on very well\ntogether, though the witch would sometimes laugh and rock about till the\ntree shook, which annoyed him very much. It was most odd.\n\nOne day he was walking along the grass; he took very high steps, and\nsometimes he dragged his wings on the ground. Then he would stop and set\nup his tail like a fan behind him, arching and twisting his neck in the\nsun. The apple-tree shook till the petals fell in showers.\n\nHe looked up and saw Mother Grindle sitting in the branches.\n\n\u201cReally!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cA stranger might almost think you were laughing\nat _me_!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat an idea!\u201d said the witch, \u201cyou must be mad.\u201d\n\nSo he went on trailing and prancing. The tree shook again, and he could\nsee Mother Grindle rocking from side to side.\n\n\u201cWhat are you laughing at?\u201d he cried. \u201cIt can\u2019t be me, because there is\nnothing about me to be amused at. Now, if _I_ were to start laughing at\nthat pointed hat you wear there would be some sense in it.\u201d\n\nAt this moment Ella came out wearing her best gown, for it was Sunday;\nshe was not, as a rule, very civil to Mother Grindle, for she also did\nnot admire the pointed hat. But she did admire the peacock. She looked\nover her shoulder at her own train and was forced to admit that, for\ncolour and design, the peacock\u2019s tail far outdid it.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d she sighed, \u201chow I wish I had that tail.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may have one wish\u2014two wishes\u2014three wishes,\u201d sang out Mother\nGrindle from the apple-tree.\n\nAnd before you could say \u201cJack!\u201d the beautiful tail became fixed to\nElla\u2019s waist\u2014eyes, moons, quills, fringes and all.\n\n\u201cNow I am simply perfect,\u201d said she; and she ran to the hedge and looked\nover to see if a Prince were coming down the road. But there was no one.\nAs for the peacock, he was furious, naturally.\n\nElla knew there was no mirror in the widow\u2019s house large enough to\nreflect her and all her glory, and she went down to the pool and looked\nin at herself; she stood on the edge and leaned over, putting up her\ntail behind her head. All at once there came a gust and caught it like\nthe wind catching a sail; over she went, straight in. It was very deep.\n\n\u201cHelp! Help!\u201d she cried. But there was no one close by but the peacock,\nand _he_ wasn\u2019t going to put himself out. He was delighted, and walked\nstiffly away to the yard at the back of the house; he was much consoled,\nand he knew very well that he would grow a new tail next year.\n\n\u201cLa! husband, how paltry you look!\u201d cried the peahens. They had long\nthought it rather hard that he should be so much better dressed than\nthemselves.\n\nElla screamed and shrieked. She caught hold of some rushes, but the tail\nwas so heavy that she could not drag herself out.\n\n\u201cYou shall have one wish\u2014two wishes!\u201d sang out Mother Grindle from the\ntree.\n\n\u201cOh! if I were only on shore!\u201d cried Ella. And sure enough she found\nherself standing on the brink, dripping with water, but safe. She ran\ninto the house as fast as ever she could go.\n\nShe was put to bed at once in hot blankets. \u201cHow you are to lie with\nthat tail on, I can\u2019t imagine,\u201d said her mother. However, in she got,\narranging it as best she might, and so tired was she after all she had\ngone through, that she fell asleep and never woke till the next morning.\n\nShe got up and dressed, but alas! alas! she had rolled about in the\nnight, and the beautiful feathers were all broken and torn and matted\ntogether; they hung like so many limp rags, and, do what she would, she\ncould not make them hang properly. She went into the orchard, hoping\nthat the sun and wind might freshen them up; but though she spent some\ntime in taking out the tangles, the effect was horrid, and she looked\nmore draggle-tailed than words can say. The peahens peeped over the\nfence and tittered.\n\nAt this moment a Prince came riding by, and saw her walking in the\norchard.\n\n\u201cHeavens! What an absurd sight!\u201d he exclaimed, as he rode on.\n\nElla sat down on the grass and cried bitterly.\n\n\u201cYou may have one wish\u2014one wish!\u201d sang out the witch from the tree.\n\n\u201cOh! take away this dreadful thing,\u201d sobbed Ella.\n\nAnd before you could turn round it was gone. Then Mother Grindle began\nto sing again very cheerfully. But Ella was not cheerful\u2014far from it.\n\n\u201cYou may have one wish more\u2014one wish more,\u201d sang the witch.\n\nBut Ella has not made up her mind what to ask for yet. One cannot be too\ncareful.\n\n\n\n\n                              THE PELICAN\n\n\nIn the land of Egypt, where the Nile runs and the palm-trees grow and\nthe great Sphynx sits alone in the Desert, there lived a young man who\nkept a jeweller\u2019s shop in a crowded street. He was tall and grave, and\nhe wore a yellow kaftan which clothed him from head to heel.\n\nIn the afternoon, when the street was full, he would sit in front of his\nshop looking at the people, and sometimes exchanging a word with the\npassers-by.\n\nIt chanced that, as he sat in his accustomed place one day, there passed\na countryman carrying under his arm a young Pelican, which he had caught\non the river. He held it very roughly, and a crowd of boys followed\nbehind jeering at the strange, half-fledged creature, and sometimes\npulling its tail or its legs and laughing when it opened its mouth in\nterror. Now the young man was angry that the bird should be so used, for\nhe had read many books and thought many thoughts, and he knew that birds\nand beasts had feelings like other people. He pitied the poor frightened\nPelican, and as one of the boys passed, he gave him a great cuff which\nnearly knocked him over.\n\n\u201cGood man,\u201d said he to the countryman, \u201cwhere are you going with that\nPelican?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the other side of the city,\u201d replied the countryman, \u201cwhere I know a\nman who will buy him and cut his throat when he grows older for the sake\nof his skin and feathers.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou need not go so far,\u201d said the young man in yellow, \u201cfor I myself\nwill give you what price you name for him.\u201d\n\nAt this the countryman was glad enough, for he was tired of carrying the\nbird, and the young man paid him and took the poor Pelican into the\ncourt behind his shop, where he put him down near a small fountain in\nthe middle of it.\n\nAs time went on, the Pelican grew so big that there was scarce room for\nhim in the little tank, and the young man took him to sit in front of\nthe shop.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THAT IS THE MOST CHARMING GIRL I HAVE EVER SEEN]\n\n\n\n\nOne day, as they were there together, there passed before them a girl\ncarrying a basket of melons on her head. She was slender, and her naked\nfeet and ankles were as fine as though she had been a great lady; she\nhad long, dark eyes, and the plait of her hair hung down behind her,\nbelow the edge of her veil. With one hand she drew the black folds over\nher mouth.\n\nThe young man in yellow was so much struck that he could not refrain\nfrom speaking his thoughts aloud. \u201cThat is the most charming girl I have\never seen,\u201d he said. \u201cI wonder where she lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the banks of the Nile some way down stream,\u201d said the Pelican, who\nwas standing behind him.\n\nAt this, his master was so exceedingly astonished that he nearly fell\noff his seat, for he never suspected that the bird could talk.\n\n\u201cHow do you know that?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cThere is a patch of brown Nile mud upon the border of her garment,\u201d\nreplied the Pelican.\n\n\u201cThat is very well,\u201d said the other, \u201cbut how can you tell what distance\nshe comes from?\u201d\n\n\u201cHer face is unveiled,\u201d was the reply, \u201clike those of the women in the\nremoter country places.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd how do you know that her home is down stream?\u201d asked the young man\nagain.\n\n\u201cSir, I observed that the stems of the melons were freshly cut, and must\nhave been gathered this morning. Those who bring melons to the town\nembark early, as soon as their load is ready. Had the owner of these\nlived up the river he would have arrived with his merchandise before\nnoon, being carried by the current. But it is now afternoon.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are a great reasoner,\u201d exclaimed the young man, \u201cbut how do you\nknow that the girl has not been in the city since morning?\u201d\n\n\u201cHer basket is full,\u201d answered the bird.\n\n\u201cSince you are so clever,\u201d continued he, \u201cperhaps you will inform me if\nshe often comes this way. I have never seen her before.\u201d\n\n\u201cNeither have I,\u201d rejoined the Pelican, \u201cbut I can answer, for all that.\nShe draws the end of her veil over her mouth as she goes; this is\nbecause she has seen much of the ways of city women who veil themselves.\nYou may also have noticed that she turned under the gateway by the\nmosque. Now that gateway is small and mean, and only those acquainted\nwith this street know that there is a passage through it to the\nthoroughfare where the cloth-merchants live; where every man is rich and\nkeeps a pile of melons behind his wares for the entertainment of\nvisitors. Doubtless she has been there many a time.\u201d\n\nThe young man was still more astonished. \u201cI perceive,\u201d said he, \u201cthat\none of the jewels in my shop is the rare jewel of wisdom.\u201d\n\nAt this the Pelican rejoiced in his heart. \u201cWisdom is like other\nwildfowl, and roosts with its kind,\u201d he replied.\n\n\u201cI perceive also that you have learnt to speak with great civility,\u201d\ncontinued the young man.\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said the bird again, \u201cwhile sitting here I have observed the\nmanners of the grave and reverend persons who pass by, and of the aged\nsheikhs who come on their donkeys to drink coffee with the merchant\nopposite.\u201d\n\nAfter this the two lived together in great content till, one day, the\nyoung man in yellow spoke his mind.\n\n\u201cFriend,\u201d said he, \u201cwe have now been companions for some time; but I\nmust tell you I think this no suitable life for a bird of your talents.\nYou see nothing of your own kind here, nor anything outside my shop. It\nis time we began to think of your future. You should marry and rear a\nfamily instead of sitting here. Wisdom is good, but it is also portable,\nso you can carry it away when you go. I have been thinking this over,\nand I have found a good opening for you; my uncle\u2019s brother-in-law is\nkeeper of the garden at Prince Hassan\u2019s palace outside the city. There,\nthere are great trees, lakes, islands, fruits, and a very high family of\nPelicans has been settled there for many years. At my request you would\nbe well received, and you could then marry and live respectably. I shall\nbe grieved beyond measure at parting from you, but, having your welfare\nat heart, I shall make up my mind to it. Besides, I will go to see you\nregularly every Friday.\u201d\n\nAt first the bird was very unwilling to agree to this plan, for he was\nmuch attached to his friend, but at last he consented: and the young man\nhired an ass and rode to Prince Hassan\u2019s garden with the Pelican sitting\nbefore him on the saddle. His uncle\u2019s brother-in-law received them\nwarmly, and installed the Pelican on a fine lake where there were\nislands covered with long grass, and, at one side, a mass of tall\nscarlet flowers standing by the banks with their roots in the water.\n\nThe Pelican was attracted by these beautiful plants and made his home in\ntheir midst, having an eye for colour; the life suited him but for one\nthing, and that was the dull company which he found among the other\nbirds. He hardly cared to speak to them, for, though they were civil and\npleasant enough, he had been so long accustomed to the talk of the young\nman in yellow that all other seemed dull in comparison. As for marrying,\nhe gave up the idea, for he could not find one hen-pelican whose silly\nchatter did not drive him mad. In spite of the luxury in which he lived,\nhe counted the days of each week till Friday should come round and bring\nhis friend to sit with him for an hour or two among the scarlet flowers.\n\nNow it happened that the girl who sold melons, and whom the young man in\nyellow had never seen since the day on which the Pelican first spoke,\nwas sitting one afternoon by the Nile. The reason he had not seen her\nwas that her father, a cross old man, had begun to sell his fruit on the\nbank of the river, and now made her sit by it from morning till night.\n\nOne day it was very hot, and the sun was so fierce that she grew sleepy\nand laid herself down under a palm tree to rest. While she slept a\nstring of camels came by, and one of them knocked its foot against the\npile of fruit; with a great splash all the melons rolled, one over the\nother, like round balls, down the bank, and were carried away by the\nrunning water. The girl jumped up, wringing her hands, and calling to\nthe camel-drivers to save them, but they only laughed and passed on.\n\u201cWho sleeps long at noon weeps long at night!\u201d they shouted.\n\nThe poor girl did not wait till night, but sat down at once in the dust\nand cried. When she looked up she saw her father coming along on his\ndonkey, for he had been to admire his melon beds on the river-bank some\nway off. She was so frightened that she began running away as fast as\nshe could.\n\nShe ran and ran till she came to a great wall in which a door was\nstanding open. Through it she went and found herself in a fine garden\nfull of jessamine and orange trees. She was so tired that she looked\nabout for water to bathe her hot face, and a shady place where she might\nrest and hide from the burning sun. Not far off she could see the shine\nof a lake, and a scarlet patch of high water plants in which a white\nPelican dozed, half asleep.\n\n\u201cBy the beard of the Prophet!\u201d exclaimed the bird, \u201cthis is none other\nthan the melon girl! O Master! Master! Would I could see your yellow\nkaftan approaching through the trees!\u201d\n\nBut it was only Thursday, and there was no chance of the young man\ncoming till the morrow.\n\nWhen the girl had bathed her face and drunk some water he came forward,\nand, with much politeness, invited her to rest among the tall cannas, as\nthe scarlet flowers were called. When he had heard her story his face\ngrew subtle.\n\n\u201cIf you are wise,\u201d said he, \u201cyou will remain with me till to-morrow\nafternoon. To-day your father\u2019s anger will not have cooled; in the\nmorning he will go to the mosque (for it is Friday) and, when he has\nprayed, his heart will be softened. Then you can return in the afternoon\nand ask his forgiveness for losing the melons.\u201d\n\nThis the Pelican said because he knew that the young man in yellow would\ncome on the following day.\n\n\u201cBut I have no food,\u201d said the girl; \u201cI shall be half-famished by\nto-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cAre there not fruits in the garden?\u201d asked the Pelican, \u201cand have I not\na bill a yard long? Lie down and rest and I will see that you do not\nstarve.\u201d\n\nHe gazed at her as she slept and saw that she was very beautiful. Her\neyelashes were longer than a finger\u2019s breadth, and her mouth scarlet\nlike the canna-flowers over her head. When the evening was come, he went\nout and took as much fruit as he could get and brought it back in his\npouch, washing it and giving it to the girl, who ate thankfully. Then\nthe stars came out and they slept side by side among the cannas.\n\nNext day, at the hour when he expected his friend, the bird went to the\ngate and stood watching. When he saw him approaching he went forward\ncrying, \u201cSee what I have done for you! I have here got the melon girl\nfor whom you spend your life in searching. Come in, and I will bring you\nto her.\u201d\n\nAt this the young man was overjoyed and embraced the Pelican, and the\ntwo hurried into the garden.\n\nAt sight of the girl he fell more deeply in love than ever, and all the\ntime he had meant to spend with his friend he sat with her by the water.\nThe Pelican stood by. \u201cSee,\u201d said he, \u201che has forgotten my very\nexistence, though he has come all the way from the city for my company.\u201d\n\nBut he understood too much to be angry, for he knew such things had been\nsince the foundation of the world.\n\nWhen the young man found that the girl was afraid to go back to her\nfather, he saw a way by which he need not part with her. \u201cReturn with\nme,\u201d said he, \u201cmy mother is old and lives with me; you shall wait upon\nher and cook the food for my house.\u201d\n\nSo he took her back with him and presented her to his mother.\n\nNow the young man\u2019s mother was a jealous woman, and, though she liked\nthe girl and was well pleased to have her work done for her, she soon\nbegan to do everything she could think of to make her miserable, because\nshe saw that her son loved her. So unhappy did she make the household\nthat the young man said, \u201cI must go immediately and consult the Pelican,\nor there is no knowing what may happen.\u201d\n\nAnd, although it was not Friday, he went off to Prince Hassan\u2019s garden\nand laid his difficulties before the bird.\n\n\u201cThere is only one thing to be done,\u201d said the Pelican; \u201cI must come\nback to keep the peace.\u201d\n\nNow, wise as he was, he did not know that, where there is a jealous\nwoman, not the Prophet himself and all the Khalifas can save a\nhousehold. All the difference his coming made was that the old woman was\njealous of two people instead of one, and there was no peace from\nmorning till night.\n\nIt chanced, one day, that the young man had gone out and the Pelican was\nnear the fountain. In a top room the girl sat at a window, looking down\non the street where the merchants were lighting their lamps. The\nafterglow spread high over the roofs, and, in a patch of sky, she saw\nthe evening star rising behind the mosque. She could hear the old\nwoman\u2019s voice talking to a butcher in front of the shop. \u201cAt noon my son\nwill be out,\u201d she was saying. \u201cYou must then come with your knife and\nslay the Pelican who lives in the courtyard. I will afterwards wash the\nblood from the stones and tell him that the impious and deceitful bird\nhas flown away.\u201d\n\nNext morning the girl rose before anyone was stirring and hired an ass.\n\u201cCome,\u201d she said to the Pelican, \u201cif you want to save your life, come\nwith me. The old woman has hired the butcher, and, when the lord of this\nhouse has gone out, he is to come and kill you. Mount quickly in front\nof me and I will carry you through the town under my veil. When we get\nto the river you shall fly to Prince Hassan\u2019s garden, and I will return\nbefore any one awakes and tell her that you have died in the night, and\nthat I have buried you near the fountain. I will make a little mound\nbeside it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlack! Alack! I shall never see my master again!\u201d cried the Pelican.\n\n\u201cI will tell him the truth privately,\u201d said she, \u201cand on Friday he will\ngo to see you as before.\u201d\n\nSo the two fled before the cocks crowed.\n\nWhen they reached the banks of the Nile the Pelican flew away across the\nbridge to the garden, and the girl turned about and set her face to the\ncity.\n\nBut, before she had gone ten yards, a hand was laid on her, for her\nfather had seen her ride by from his boat. He dragged her on board,\nbeating her, and took her away to his melon beds on the river-bank where\nhe set her to drive the ox that worked the well.\n\nWhen the young man in yellow rose and found that his friend and the\nmelon girl had both disappeared, he made a great to-do and caused the\nbazaar to be searched from end to end. Criers went about describing them\nand calling on all who might have seen them to bring news to the\njeweller\u2019s shop, where they would be rewarded handsomely. But no one had\nseen them pass. The mother was as much astonished as anybody.\n\n\u201cSon,\u201d she said, \u201cno doubt the Pelican, in his wonderful wisdom, will\nreturn, and certainly, no one will run away with that ugly slut of a\ngirl. She will come back fast enough.\u201d\n\nBut the young man would not be comforted. He bethought him of Prince\nHassan\u2019s garden, and, next day, he set out to see if haply the bird had\ngone back to the scarlet cannas and the fresh grass growing by the\nlakes. He had no sooner entered than he saw him in his accustomed place.\n\n\u201cFriend!\u201d he cried, \u201cthis is a sorry trick you have played me! My heart\nhas despaired, and the voice of the crier, searching the bazaar with\nbeat of drum, has not ceased since yesterday morning!\u201d\n\n\u201cOne day longer and he would have found my skin in the butcher\u2019s shop,\u201d\nreplied the Pelican. And he related everything that had happened.\n\nThe young man was so enraged at what he heard that he beat the grass\nwith his staff till the sods flew. \u201cWhen I get home,\u201d said he, \u201cI will\nhire a house in a different street for my mother, and she shall abide\nthere; and when I meet the butcher, I will make every bone in his body\nache.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is right,\u201d said the Pelican, enjoying the thought.\n\n\u201cIt is; and I will do it,\u201d said the young man; \u201cbut oh! where is the\nbeautiful one? Her eyes were like stars shining on the Nile, and her\nmouth like the canna-flowers. When she walked, her passing was as the\nwind in the lebbek-tree, and when she drew her veil across her face, it\nwas as though a trail of river-mist crossed the moon.\u201d\n\nAnd he wept bitterly, making many holy vows that, when he had found her,\nhe would marry her, taking none other to wife. The Pelican was much\nmoved.\n\n\u201cThrough silence everything is heard,\u201d said he, \u201cand by waiting\neverything is attained. May the young Pelicans laugh at my pouch if I do\nnot find her for you yet again.\u201d\n\nNow it chanced, very soon, that Prince Hassan, with all the beauties of\nhis harem, returned to the palace which had stood empty more than a\nyear. Among the ladies was one who surpassed all the others, and with\nwhom Prince Hassan was deeply in love. One day, while walking in the\ngarden, she fell into conversation with the Pelican, becoming so much\ncharmed with his polite manners and sentiments that she would spend some\ntime daily in his company.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d she said to Prince Hassan, \u201cI beg of you to come with me into\nthe garden and divert yourself with the conversation of the Pelican who\nlives there. He is the most wonderful bird, and he assures me that he\nknows the whole of the Koran by heart.\u201d\n\nWhen the Prince was made acquainted with the bird he commended the\nlady\u2019s wit in discovering such a companion, and he gave orders that\nnothing he desired should be denied him. But, in spite of the honour\npaid him, the Pelican never ceased to think of the young man in yellow\nand the melon girl, and to wonder how he could bring them together.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d he said one day, \u201cit is long since I looked upon the world. When\nyou are carried abroad in your litter by the banks of the Nile I have a\ndesire to go with you. While you remain inside, veiled, I can put my\nhead through the curtains and see something of the river-life I once\nknew. If you will allow this my gratitude will not die while I breathe.\u201d\n\nThe lady laughed heartily at the strange request, but she did not refuse\nit, thinking of the Prince\u2019s orders; and, one evening, when the sun was\nlow behind the Pyramids, she set forth in her gilded litter with the\nPelican beside her.\n\nWhile they went along the Nile bank they passed many places where melons\nwere sold, and at last he saw the girl he sought beside a cloth spread\non the ground and full of fruit. As the litter passed he stretched out\nhis neck and cried: \u201cThe Sheikh\u2019s tomb by the Nile! The Sheikh\u2019s tomb by\nthe Nile!\u201d\n\nShe jumped up and would have approached the litter, but the slaves\nsurrounding it pushed her away.\n\n\u201cFull moon!\u201d cried the Pelican. \u201cThe Sheikh\u2019s tomb by the Nile at full\nmoon!\u201d\n\nNext day, when the lady came out to talk to the Pelican, he made a new\nrequest.\n\n\u201cLady,\u201d said he, \u201cif you will make me your debtor once more, you will\ngrant me another wish. Send a slave to the young man in the yellow\nkaftan who keeps a jeweller\u2019s shop in the street of Selim Baba\u2019s Mosque\nto tell him to go to the Sheikh\u2019s tomb by the Nile at full moon.\u201d\n\nThe lady marvelled, for she had fallen asleep in the litter, and had not\nheard the words he had cried to the girl.\n\n\u201cI will do what you please,\u201d she said, \u201cbut, first, tell me who is the\nyoung man in the yellow kaftan?\u201d\n\nThen the Pelican began to describe his friend in such terms that the\nlady was filled with admiration, and calling a black slave, sent him\nimmediately to the city. All that night she could not sleep for thinking\nof the young man in yellow, and, on the evening of full moon, she\ndetermined to see him for herself. So she bribed a servant to bring her\nthe blue gown and black veil of a peasant woman, and, having dressed\nherself in them, she hid her own clothes in the jessamine-arbour in the\ngarden and slipped out by a little hidden gate in the wall.\n\nNow the black slave whom she had sent with the message was full of greed\nand cunning, so he went straight to the Prince on his return and said,\n\u201cMy lord, give me money, for I have discovered an infamous plot.\u201d\n\nAnd he told him how the lady had summoned a young man from the bazaar to\nmeet her, at full moon, at the Sheikh\u2019s tomb by the Nile. Prince Hassan\nwas filled with rage, for in Egypt it is not the custom that ladies go\nalone to meet strange young men; and he also dressed himself and mounted\nhis horse to ride to the tomb, having wrapped himself in a cloak that\nnone might know him. The only person who was not on the road, journeying\nto the spot, was the Pelican.\n\nThe first to arrive at the tomb was the young man in yellow; his heart\nglowed, for he knew that the Pelican had sent the message and guessed\nthat the wise bird had made this plan that he might meet his love. So he\nsat down to wait under the palm-trees and listened to the creak of the\nwell-wheels in the fields. Presently he heard a footstep and saw a woman\ncome gliding between the stems, but as he rushed forward to embrace her,\nhe perceived that it was not the melon girl but a stranger.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: HE RAN FORWARD AND HELD HER IN HIS ARMS]\n\n\n\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d he cried, in wrath at his disappointment.\n\u201cOff with you, or I will throw you into the river!\u201d\n\nThe lady, who had hoped that her beauty would have made him fall in love\nwith her on the spot, was terrified and ran away; but when she had gone\na few yards, curiosity overcame her and she turned back, unnoticed by\nthe young man, and slipped behind the tomb.\n\nHe sat waiting till he saw the melon girl approaching softly like a\nshadow in the moonlight; then he ran forward and held her in his arms,\nkissing her and praising the Pelican who had brought them together.\n\nWhile they sat under the palm-trees thus happily employed, a sound of\ngalloping hoofs drew near, and Prince Hassan, in his dark cloak, rode\ninto the palm grove, and, drawing his sword, rushed upon them. But, when\nhe found the melon girl and not the lady he expected, he stood still.\n\n\u201cWhere is the lady who was to come here at full moon?\u201d he cried.\n\n\u201cSir, there is no such person,\u201d replied the young man. \u201cA peasant woman\ncame by not long ago, but she has gone into the fields.\u201d\n\nAt the sound of Prince Hassan\u2019s voice the lady behind the tomb nearly\ndied of terror, for she knew that if he caught her he would certainly\ncut off her head. So she slipped away and ran to the river-bank while\nthe Prince remained behind, questioning the lovers, and it chanced that\nthe first person she met was a man on a trotting camel.\n\n\u201cIf you will take me as fast as you can to the wall of Prince Hassan\u2019s\ngarden,\u201d she said, \u201cI will give you as much money as will make you rich\nfor the rest of your life.\u201d\n\nThe camel-driver asked nothing better, so he took the lady up behind him\nand went like a flash of lightning to the place to which she directed\nhim.\n\nThen, having asked his name, she entered by the little door in the wall\nand went to the jessamine-arbour, where she put on her own clothes, hid\nthe others, and sat cooling herself in the night air and thanking heaven\nwhich had protected her.\n\nIn a short time Prince Hassan came riding back and entered the palace,\ncalling her loudly.\n\n\u201cShe is not here,\u201d said the slaves, \u201cwe do not know where she has gone.\u201d\n\nThen the Prince ran, raging and stamping, into the garden, and as he\npassed the arbour, the lady called him softly.\n\n\u201cWhere have you been all this time, my lord?\u201d she cried. \u201cIt is but dull\nwork sitting alone thinking of you as the stars wane and you do not\ncome. Alas! what a hard fate it is to have a cold-hearted lover!\u201d\n\nThen the Prince, who was so much relieved in his mind that he could\nalmost have cried, rushed into the arbour and embraced the lady, vowing\nthat he would never leave her again for so much as an hour. The Pelican\nlooked on from his canna-flowers by the lake. Wise as he was, he did not\nunderstand what was happening, for the subtlety of woman was a thing too\ngreat even for him.\n\nAnd the young man in yellow took the girl home and married her next day;\nand when he grew rich, which he soon did, he built a house by the Nile\nand raised a fine garden of oranges and pomegranates. In it the Pelican\nlived to a ripe old age, sustaining the household by his wisdom, and\nstanding sponsor to the children.\n\n\n\n\n                            THE CHERRY TREES\n\n\nThere were once two little boys who played in the great gardens of a\npalace; one was the son of the King to whom the palace belonged, and one\nwas the son of the King\u2019s head gardener. The palace lay at the mouth of\na valley, and the garden had a stone balustrade surrounding it on which\nthe two would sit when they were tired of their play. They were both of\nthe same age, and, as the Prince had neither brothers nor sisters, the\ngardener\u2019s son was allowed to come every day and keep him company. They\nlearned the same lessons and amused themselves with the same games; and,\nat nightfall, the gardener\u2019s boy would go back to his father\u2019s cottage\nto return early next morning. The gardener was a wise man, and brought\nhim up very well, but the King was foolish and spoilt the Prince most\ndreadfully, which was all the worse, as he was selfish and rude by\nnature, and sometimes very unkind to his friend. But his friend loved\nhim dearly in spite of that.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: THE DAFFODIL PRINCESS]\n\n\n\n\nThe King lived all the year in this palace, although he had another fine\nhouse in his capital city; for he hated business, and liked the idle\nlife he led with his Queen and all the beautiful ladies and gentlemen\nwho formed his court. He never troubled himself about anything; he did\nnot even hunt, nor fish, but sat the whole day listening to the gossip\nof his fools and jesters, and writing very silly poetry. Then he would\nread it aloud to all the beautiful ladies and gentlemen, who threw up\ntheir hands and said: \u201cHow clever!\u201d But behind his back they laughed at\nhim.\n\nOne day, when the little boys were playing, the head gardener came by\nand gave each of them a fine branch of ripe cherries, so they stopped\ntheir games and sat on the balustrade to eat the fruit.\n\nSuddenly a poor old beggar man passed by outside the garden and looked\nup at them; he was tattered and torn and he had no shoes on his feet;\nhis face was lined with fatigue and misery.\n\n\u201cI am very hungry,\u201d said the beggar, addressing the Prince, \u201cand I have\ngot nothing to eat. Please, young gentleman, get me something from the\npalace, for, if I have to go any further without food, I am really\nafraid I shall die.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat? _I_ go in and fetch you things from the palace? A pretty idea! I\ntell you I am the King\u2019s son. I never heard of such impudence.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou may be the King\u2019s son,\u201d said the poor old man; \u201cbut I am starving,\nfor all that.\u201d\n\nFor answer the Prince leaned down and struck the beggar with the end of\nhis cherry-branch.\n\nThe gardener\u2019s son had eaten every one of his cherries but three, and he\nheld them out to the old man. \u201cI have nothing else to give,\u201d he said,\n\u201cbut you may have these.\u201d\n\nThe beggar ate all three cherries and laid the stones in a row on the\nground; he chose one, and, when he had polished it on his ragged coat,\nhe gave it back to the gardener\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cTake that,\u201d he said, \u201cand plant it in the earth somewhere outside this\ngarden. I will keep the other two.\u201d\n\nThen he bade him good-day, taking no notice of the Prince, and was soon\nout of sight.\n\nWhen the boys grew into young men they still remained friends; as they\nhad been practically brought up together, and had learned the same\nthings, strangers often took them for brothers, more especially as they\nwere not unlike in face. But the curious thing was, that, when the\nstrangers found out that one was the King\u2019s son and one the son of the\nhead gardener, they always took the gardener\u2019s son for the Prince. It\nwas very awkward sometimes, and it used to make the Prince rather cross.\n\nAs time went on the King did not grow any wiser; he was very foolish and\nself-indulgent. He never attended to his business, and let everything in\nthe kingdom get into a dreadful mess. At last his subjects became so\nmuch disgusted that they broke into rebellion, and rushed to the palace\nmeaning to put an end to him altogether. He had heard rumours of\ndiscontent, but he did not mind them, and would not believe people when\nthey told him that his life was in danger; so, one day, thousands of\nrebels came pouring down the valley brandishing knives and spears and\ngreat flaring torches, and set fire to his palace, murdered him and the\nQueen, and took all the beautiful ladies and gentlemen prisoner. Then\nthey rushed about searching for the Prince, but could not find him as he\nwas walking with his friend, the gardener\u2019s son, in the park which\nsurrounded the palace garden. At last a dozen men on horseback set off\nwith their swords to look for him, and saw the two young men strolling\nabout together some way off.\n\nNow the cherry-stone which the beggar had given the gardener\u2019s son had\nbeen planted not far from the spot on which they were standing when the\nrebels saw them. It had grown into a magnificent tree, and, as it was\nnow springtime, every branch and twig was a mass of blossom. The Prince\nand his companion heard a great shouting, and, looking round, they saw\nthe palace in flames, and a number of horsemen bearing down on them with\ndrawn swords. As they were standing unarmed in the midst of an open\nplain, they knew the only thing they could do was to run to the shelter\nof a wood in front of them, and try to escape among the trees; so they\nset off as fast as they could go. The horsemen redoubled their pace with\nloud shouts.\n\nThey were nearing the wood when the Prince, who was in advance, tripped\nand fell just as they passed the cherry-tree. He flung his arms round\nthe trunk to save himself, and the gardener\u2019s son stopped running, for\nhe would not leave him alone to be killed. He made a terribly fierce\nface and stood in front of his friend with his fists clenched. Then a\nwonderful thing happened.\n\nThe petals of the cherry-blossoms began to fall like snow; hither and\nthither they went, blown by a wind which had suddenly risen, and filling\nthe air with a whirl of blinding white. It was a storm of whiteness.\nSoon they lay knee-deep for yards round the tree. It was impossible to\nsee a yard in front of one\u2019s face, and the horsemen galloped about this\nway and that, bewildered by the showers of petals and calling one to the\nother in great dismay.\n\nThe young men leaned close against the trunk, listening to their cries.\nSuddenly the gardener\u2019s son put his finger on a little rough place in\nthe bark and, to his astonishment, something moved under his hand. A\ndoor opened in the trunk. He went in, drawing the Prince after him, and\nshut it behind them.\n\nThey were at the top of a narrow stair which led far down to where a\nglimmer of light could be seen below. They descended, one after the\nother, and found themselves in a country they had never seen before.\nThey were standing by a winding stream that ran between alders whose\nroots were almost in the water; all along the bank was a perfect forest\nof daffodils, golden and shining. Above, the sky was primrose-yellow\nwith sunset, and a little crescent moon hung in mid-air. There was an\nisland in the water, and on it was sitting the most lovely pale Princess\nthat ever was seen, with a wreath of daffodils in her hair. As they\nlooked at her she waved her hand to them and they both fell in love with\nher at once.\n\nThe Prince and the gardener\u2019s son did not know whether to take their way\nback again up the steps or not, but, when they tried to do so, they\nfound all trace of them had disappeared; besides, they could not tear\nthemselves away from the Princess. She rose and sprang over the little\nbit of stream that divided the island from the bank and came to meet\nthem. They took off their caps and bowed to the ground.\n\nWhen she heard how they had reached her country she was much astonished,\nand invited them to go with her to the palace of her uncle, which was\nnot far off. Her uncle was a King, and, as she had neither father nor\nmother, he had taken her to live with him and his Queen.\n\nThey arrived at the palace and the Princess presented the two friends to\nher uncle, who asked them to stay at the court as long as they pleased;\nthe Prince was in a very bad temper, for he thought that the Princess\nseemed to like his companion better than himself.\n\n\u201c_I_ will stay with great pleasure,\u201d he said, \u201cbut this fellow is only\nthe son of my father\u2019s gardener. He ought to go to the kitchen.\u201d\n\nThe King could hardly believe him.\n\n\u201cIs that true?\u201d he asked the gardener\u2019s son.\n\n\u201cIt is, your Majesty,\u201d said the young man.\n\nSo he was sent off to live with the servants, and the only comfort he\nhad was the thought that the Princess looked sorry.\n\nThe Prince enjoyed himself very much in the palace, but his pleasure was\nspoilt because the Princess did not take much notice of him and seemed\nglad when she saw the gardener\u2019s son anywhere; she always stopped and\nspoke kindly to him. This made him furious.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: INSIDE THE HUT THE WITCH WAS SITTING BY THE FIRE]\n\n\n\n\nOne day he went to the King and told him that his former companion was a\ngood-for-nothing fellow, and that he had heard him trying to stir up\nmischief among the palace servants, and he suggested that he should be\nsent away and made to work for his living. So the King told the Queen,\nand the Queen settled that he should be apprenticed to a witch who lived\nnot far off, and who wanted a man to work in the garden and help her to\nkeep her magic books and tools in order. So the gardener\u2019s son went.\n\nWhen the day came for him to go he took his little bundle in his hand,\nlooked up at the Princess\u2019s window, and set off for the witch\u2019s hut,\nwhich lay in the cleft of a hill. When he arrived there he saw, to his\ngreat surprise, that a cherry-tree, just like the one in the world he\nhad left, was growing close to the door.\n\nInside the hut the witch was sitting by the fire; she was the most\nhorrid-looking old woman imaginable; and her double chin hung down below\nthe strings of her cap. Beside her, on the hearth, sat a little\nhalf-starved black cat with green eyes.\n\n\u201cI suppose you are the young man from the palace,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cI am,\u201d said the gardener\u2019s son.\n\nHe then made a bow to the witch, and being very well-mannered, he made a\nbow to the cat too.\n\n\u201cYou needn\u2019t do that,\u201d said the witch. \u201cI am one thing but the cat is\nquite another. His name is Sootface.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s not a very nice name,\u201d said the cat, apologetically.\n\n\u201cAnd you are not a very nice cat,\u201d said the witch; \u201cso it is all the\nmore appropriate.\u201d\n\nThe gardener\u2019s son soon found out that the witch was far from being a\npleasant person. She was dreadfully unkind to poor Sootface and would\nbeat him unmercifully, and much of his time was spent in trying to\ndefend him from her anger. Besides this, he had to sweep the hut, carry\nwater, dig in the garden, prepare the horrid dishes which she liked to\neat, and take care of her magic instruments. As he was clever he did his\nbest to learn all the magic he could; this he did by the cat\u2019s advice.\nWhen the old woman was out, Sootface would show him where her book of\nmagic was kept and they would take it out and read it together. The cat\nadmired him immensely.\n\nOne day the witch set off on a journey and Sootface and the gardener\u2019s\nson went out for a walk. When they had gone some way they sat down by a\nhill-side to rest, for the day was hot and they were glad of the shade\nof a spreading tree which stood by the path. In a few minutes they saw\nthe beautiful Princess who lived in the King\u2019s palace approaching them.\n\nShe looked very sad, but, when she saw the gardener\u2019s son, she smiled\nand sat down beside him under the tree, telling him that she had run\naway from the palace when no one was looking because she wanted to\nconsult the witch.\n\n\u201cBut the witch is away from home,\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cOh dear! oh dear! what _shall_ I do?\u201d cried the Princess, wringing her\nhands.\n\nThen she explained that her uncle the King wished her to marry the\nPrince, but that she hated him, and meant to ask the witch for some\nmagic spell to help her to escape from him. She wanted to go far away to\nthe country where her sister lived; for her sister had married a great\nKing and had a kingdom of her own.\n\n\u201cAnd when will the witch come back?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cNot for six weeks,\u201d said the gardener\u2019s son.\n\nThe poor Princess began to cry, which made him very sad, and Sootface\nmewed at the top of his voice for sympathy.\n\n\u201cIf you will stop crying,\u201d said he, \u201cI will go with you on your journey\nand take care of you till you reach the end of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I will go too,\u201d said Sootface.\n\nNow the cat and the gardener\u2019s son had brought out the witch\u2019s book of\nmagic to study as they rested by the wayside, and they determined to see\nif it would give them any advice for the journey.\n\nThe cat placed the book open before them on the grass and repeated a\nsong he had heard the witch sing:\n\n                           \u201cFlames and salt,\n                        And queens and kings,\n                            And monkeys\u2019 tails,\n                            And golden rings.\u201d\n\nThen they all could see how the letters on the page were jumping about,\nand how they were arranging themselves into a verse. When the verse was\nmade they read it, and found that it told the gardener\u2019s son to go back\nto the witch\u2019s hut before starting and cut a stick from the cherry-tree;\nso he obeyed at once, and presently returned with a good strong staff in\nhis hand, and at sunset they set off for the kingdom of the Princess\u2019s\nsister.\n\nFor some days they got on very well. Sootface marched first, capering\nand dancing with delight at having escaped from the cruel old witch; the\ngardener\u2019s son followed, his cherry-stick in his hand, and giving his\narm to the Princess when she was tired. But, as they were on foot, their\nprogress was very slow, and, having very little money between them, they\nbegan to wonder how they should get enough food for each day. The\ngardener\u2019s son and the Princess did not like begging, so the cat ran\nforward to every village as they approached it, and, with many a sad\ntale and wonderful antic, asked alms from door to door. Sometimes he\nsaid that his father had died and required decent burial; sometimes that\nhe was the eldest of fourteen and was charged with the education of his\nbrothers and sisters, and he always managed to bring back a little money\nfrom the charitably disposed persons whom he met.\n\nBut, at last, they came to a part of the world where everybody was mean\nand misers were found in abundance; in one village twenty of them lived\nin a row in the principal street. They would give Sootface nothing and\neven leaned out of their windows to shake their fists at him as he\npassed, and he returned empty-handed to his friends. Finding that things\nhad come to such a pass, they opened the book of magic and Sootface sat\nin front of it repeating his verse. When he had done this the letters\njumped about as before, and soon there was quite a clear verse upon the\npage. This is what it said:\n\n                  \u201cWhen the moon is young and new\n                      Take the cherry-stick with you,\n                      Throw it up into the sky,\n                   Where it falls there let it lie;\n                      Dig beneath it in the grass,\n                   Who knows what may come to pass?\u201d\n\nIt happened that that night was the first night of the new moon, so they\ntook the cherry-stick into a field and the gardener\u2019s son tossed it high\ninto the air. It fell a little way off, and when they had run to the\nplace where it lay, Sootface began digging with his paws underneath it.\nSoon he came upon something hard, and, when they had taken it out of the\nhole, they found a leather bag stuffed full of gold.\n\nAfter this their troubles vanished, and they began to live in a very\ngrand manner; at each town through which they passed they hired splendid\nlodgings and gave largely to beggars, and instead of travelling afoot,\nthey bought two fine horses; Sootface sat on the crupper behind the\ngardener\u2019s son, bowing affably to the people who passed. They bought\nsome magnificent new clothes\u2014those they wore being nearly worn out\u2014and\nthus they proceeded till the next new moon, when they again tossed up\nthe cherry-stick and found another bag of money.\n\nIn time they drew near their journey\u2019s end and approached the capital\ntown in which the Princess\u2019s sister lived, and they halted and sent the\ncat before them with a letter to the palace.\n\nWhen Sootface arrived at the town he took some gold, and, going into a\nshop, bought a feathered hat and two yards of green satin ribbon with\nwhich he ornamented his tail. He then went to an inn, where he purchased\na fine piebald horse with an embroidered saddle, and, having thus\nprepared himself, galloped to the palace. Everyone in the street turned\nround to look at him, and all the little boys cried \u201cHooray!\u201d as he\nthundered by.\n\nAfter he had presented his letter, the Princess\u2019s sister herself\nreceived him with much politeness, and a messenger was sent with a great\nescort of carriages and horsemen to bring the Princess into the city.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: IN THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE FEAST THE PRINCE STOOD UP IN\nHIS PLACE CALLING ON ALL TO LISTEN]\n\n\n\n\nWhen she came all were charmed with her, and she was asked to make her\nhome at the court; and, as the handsome appearance and fine manners of\nthe gardener\u2019s son impressed everybody, he was immediately made captain\nof the bodyguard and treated with every consideration.\n\nFor some time they lived happily, hunting and dancing and feasting and\nenjoying themselves, and all went well until one day who should arrive\nin great pomp and style but the Prince from whom the Princess had fled!\nHe had discovered where she was and followed her to her sister\u2019s\nkingdom. When he saw the gardener\u2019s son at the head of the bodyguard he\nwas enraged beyond measure.\n\nThat night there was a banquet, to which all the celebrated people in\nthe kingdom were invited; if I were to describe it, it would take pages.\nEverything glittered with cloth of gold and silver and jewels. The table\nwas covered with golden dishes and lamps and white roses, and the\nPrincess was there looking more lovely than anybody, with the Prince at\nher right hand and the gardener\u2019s son at her left.\n\nIn the very middle of the feast the Prince stood up in his place calling\non all to listen. Then, as silence fell, he told how the Princess had\nbeen ordered by her uncle, the King, to marry him, how she had refused\nand run away, how the young man who had accompanied her was the son of\nhis father\u2019s gardener, and how, though he was such a low fellow, he\nventured to be in love with her; he demanded that the Princess should be\nmade to marry him the next day and the gardener\u2019s son punished. Then he\nsat down scowling and leaving the Princess\u2019s sister and the guests\nhorrified.\n\n\u201cCan you wonder that the Princess ran away from him?\u201d said the cat, from\nthe other end of the table.\n\nEverybody agreed with the cat, for they admired the gardener\u2019s son very\nmuch, and nobody liked the looks of the Prince; but they did not dare to\nsay anything. That would never have done at all.\n\n\u201cWhat defence have you to make, sir?\u201d roared the Princess\u2019s sister\u2019s\nhusband.\n\n\u201cNone,\u201d said the gardener\u2019s son. \u201cI love the Princess and shall do so as\nlong as I live.\u201d\n\n\u201c_That_ won\u2019t be for long,\u201d said the Princess\u2019s sister.\n\nThen the Princess threw her arms round the neck of the gardener\u2019s son\nand vowed that she loved him too, and that nothing would induce her to\nmarry such a hateful person as the Prince.\n\nAll the banquet broke up in confusion, and everyone rushed out of the\nhall except the cat, who waited to conceal a carving-knife upon his\nperson with which he intended to murder the Prince. But the Prince, who\nwas a coward, had gone off to his room and locked himself in when he saw\nthe way in which some of the guests looked at him.\n\nNext day the gardener\u2019s son was put in prison; the Princess cried and\nSootface tore his hair, but he had to go. What was his astonishment, on\narriving at the prison door, to find that a cherry-tree was growing\nbeside it. He was taken up a winding stair and locked into a cell with a\ntiny window protected by iron bars. When he looked out he could see into\nthe boughs of the tree, and, above them, a new moon beginning to shine\nin the sky as it drew towards evening.\n\nWhen it was night the cat, who had hidden the witch\u2019s book of magic as\nsoon as the gardener\u2019s son had gone to prison, took it under his arm,\nclimbed into the boughs of the cherry-tree, and began to try and console\nhis friend, who was looking out of the barred window. He opened it,\nreciting his song:\n\n                            \u201cFlames and salt\n                        And queens and kings,\n                            And monkeys\u2019 tails\n                            And golden rings.\u201d\n\nAnd, by the faint light of the new moon, he saw the letters jumping\nabout till they made this verse:\n\n                  \u201cWhen the moon is young and new,\n                      Take the cherry-stick with you;\n                      Toss it up into the sky,\n                   Where it falls there let it lie;\n                      Dig beneath it, you will see\n                      In the ground an iron key.\n                   Master-key of master-keys\n                      Every lock it turns with ease.\u201d\n\nThe cat ran as fast as he could to the house where the gardener\u2019s son\nhad lived and got the cherry-stick; he then took it to a quiet place and\nflung it up into the air. When it came down he began scraping and\ndigging underneath it till he came upon a heavy key made of iron.\n\nAs soon as the people in the palace were safely asleep he unlocked the\nstable door with the master-key, saddled three swift horses and tied\nthem up in a thicket a little way off. Having done this and also\nascertained that the jailers were sleeping, in the belief that it was\nimpossible for their prisoner to escape, he climbed the cherry-tree\nagain. He crept along a bough which almost touched the barred window and\nhanded the key through the bars to the gardener\u2019s son; then he got into\nthe palace and, stealing into the Princess\u2019s room, told her what he had\ndone.\n\nThe Princess was in bed, but she rose, dressed herself, and went out\nwith the cat. When they reached the thicket they found the gardener\u2019s\nson, who had let himself out with the iron key, and they mounted and\nrode away as hard as they could go.\n\nThey got safely out of the kingdom after a few days\u2019 riding, and, in the\nfirst city to which they came, the lovers were married. The cat was best\nman, and a fine figure he made; for, though he had not been able to\nbring his feathered hat and green ribbons with him, he bought a new one\neven grander than the first, and a white rosette for his tail in honour\nof the wedding.\n\nThe gardener\u2019s son became very rich by reason of the cherry-stick, which\nbrought him a bag of gold at every new moon, and he built a castle for\nhis wife and a fine villa for the cat, with a fountain in the garden\nwhich played tunes, and a vinery which was the envy of the civilised\nworld. He became very friendly with the King of the country in which he\nsettled, and, at his death, inherited the kingdom. So the Princess\nbecame a Queen after all.\n\n\n\n\n                               JACK FROST\n                    A STORY FOR VERY LITTLE CHILDREN\n\n\nThere was once a little old man called Jack Frost who lived up in the\nsky. He was very small and very wicked and he had a long, long nose and\nthe most dreadful crooked hands in the world. His beard was thin and\npointed and stuck out in front of him; and, on his head, he wore a\npointed cap made of ice which glittered in the moonlight. When the moon\nwas a crescent he would sit astride of it, looking into the earth below\nand thinking what horrible mischief he could do next.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: HE CAME DOWN ON A WEATHERCOCK WHICH WAS FIXED ON TOP OF A\nLARCH-TREE]\n\n\n\n\nHis favourite amusement was to come jumping down into some nice garden\nwhere the flowers were still blooming at the end of the autumn and pinch\nall their beautiful heads until they died. Sometimes, too, he would\npinch the birds\u2019 toes, and sometimes, in the winter, he was so cruel as\nto kill the poor little things outright. He had a heart as hard as a\nstone, and the more wickedness he could do, the better he was pleased.\nThe birds hated him, and the squirrels hated him, and the gardeners\nhated him, and no wonder, too.\n\nOne day he sat on the moon in a very terrible humour thinking of all the\nbad things he meant to do; and he took a great jump and came down on a\nweathercock which was fixed on the top of the larch-tree near a big\nstone house standing in a garden. Inside the house a little boy in his\nnight-shirt stood at a window; the curtains were closed behind him in\nthe warm room, but he had got out of bed to admire the stars which were\nbright overhead. He saw Jack Frost swinging about on the weathercock and\nhe did not know who he was.\n\n\u201cNurse!\u201d he cried, \u201ccome and look at the funny little man who is sitting\nall by himself on the weathercock!\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d said the nurse. \u201cHow can a man sit on the weathercock? Get\nback into bed this minute or you will have a cold in the morning and I\nshall be obliged to give you nasty medicine.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut come! come!\u201d he cried again.\n\nThe nurse went to the window and looked out, and, just as she did so,\nJack Frost jumped off the weathercock into a holly tree.\n\n\u201cThere! did you see that?\u201d shouted the little boy, clapping his hands.\n\nThe nurse saw it very well but she could not account for it, so she\npretended it had not happened.\n\n\u201cStuff!\u201d she said; \u201cit was only a bird flying.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut a bird hasn\u2019t got a pointed cap, and a long beard, and a coat with\nlong tails!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf I said it was a bird you may depend I was right,\u201d said the nurse,\npushing him back into bed rather roughly. But she tucked him up well and\ngave him a kiss, for she was a very kind person, really.\n\nAs Jack Frost sat in the holly tree, a robin who happened to be awake\ncame to get a few holly berries, for they were beginning to turn red.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing on the holly tree?\u201d he asked as he saw him.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that to you?\u201d said Jack Frost, who had no manners.\n\n\u201cI am sure he is up to some harm,\u201d said the robin. \u201cI will just wait\nabout and see.\u201d\n\nJack Frost sat mumbling and laughing to himself; what he really wanted\nto do was to go into the garden and spoil the flowers.\n\nPresently a squirrel who was out of bed late ran up the trunk of the\nlarch-tree close by; he flourished his tail and stopped to look at Jack\nFrost.\n\n\u201cGood evening,\u201d he said very civilly, for though he did not like Jack\nFrost he knew how to behave.\n\nFor answer Jack Frost took out a fir-cone he had in his pocket and threw\nit at the squirrel\u2019s head.\n\n\u201cHe has been badly brought up,\u201d said the squirrel, who had several\nchildren and was very particular about their behaviour. Then he went and\nsat at the foot of the tree to watch Jack Frost, for he knew he was\nwicked, and he thought it better to keep his eye on him.\n\nAll this time the horrid little man was looking at the garden wall; he\nsat very still till he heard \u201cTu-whoo! Tu-whoo!\u201d close by, and saw a\nlarge, soft-winged owl flitting among the branches.\n\n\u201cTu-whoo! Jack Frost!\u201d he cried, as he sat down beside him. \u201cHow are you\nthis evening?\u201d\n\nFor answer Jack Frost kicked up his heels very rudely in the owl\u2019s face.\nThe bird flew silently away, but he did not go far; he knew Jack Frost\nwas up to no good, so he perched hard by and watched him with his round,\nburning eyes.\n\nWhen all was quiet again, Jack Frost went hopping from tree to tree till\nhe got close to the garden wall, where he could see over into the\nflower-beds; he did not know that the robin, the squirrel, and the owl\nwere all looking at him from the places in which they had hidden\nthemselves.\n\nSuch a lovely garden as it was! There were green walks and hedges and\nborders of heliotrope and pansies; and, all round the hedges, rows of\ndahlias and hollyhocks stood like kings and queens, red, yellow, pink,\nwhite, and gorgeous orange. When they saw the little wicked man they\nwere terrified, poor things, and though they tried to look bold and\nstand up straight, they knew in their hearts that he had come to kill\nthem.\n\nClose by stood a cottage in which the gardener was asleep in his bed,\nwearing a fine red nightcap with a handsome tassel on the end of it. He\nwas very kind to the little boy who lived in the stone house, for he had\nno children of his own, and he liked to take him out and show him birds\u2019\nnests and flowers, and teach him to dig and plant and water the garden.\n\nIn the middle of his sleep he was wakened by hearing a strange noise\noutside. He sat up in bed.\n\n\u201cTap, tap,\u201d it went on.\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d cried the gardener, jumping out of bed and opening the\nwindow.\n\nThe robin was on the window-sill, very much excited and dancing about.\n\u201cPlease, sir,\u201d said he, \u201cJack Frost is sitting up in a tree close to the\ngarden.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you! Thank you!\u201d said the gardener, beginning to put on his\ntrousers. \u201cI\u2019ll get up this moment!\u201d\n\nHe had just got them on when a loud scraping began on the window-sill.\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d cried the gardener, again.\n\n\u201cMe!\u201d said the squirrel; \u201cquick! quick! Jack Frost is sitting on the\ngarden wall.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you! Thank you!\u201d said the gardener, beginning to put on his\nboots.\n\nIn another moment there was a great cry outside. \u201cTu-whoo! Tu-whoo!\u201d and\na great flapping of wings.\n\n\u201cCome out! Come out!\u201d screamed the owl. \u201cJack Frost has jumped down into\nthe garden.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you! thank you!\u201d cried the gardener, catching up a big stick and\nrunning out of the house.\n\nJack Frost was in a flower bed looking up into the face of a beautiful\npink hollyhock and thinking which of its blossoms he would pinch first,\nwhen he heard a loud shout and saw the gardener with his red nightcap\nand his big stick coming in at the garden door. He was most dreadfully\nfrightened, and began to run with all his might. The gardener was after\nhim at once, so he tried to reach the gooseberry bushes and hide himself\namong them, hoping it would be too dark for anybody to see him.\n\nBut the owl, who could see everything at night, flew after him, calling\nout, \u201cThere goes Jack Frost among the gooseberry bushes! There he is!\nThis way! This way!\u201d So he found it impossible to hide himself. It was a\ngood thing for him that he could run much faster than the gardener,\nbecause he was so thin and had such long legs.\n\nHe ran and ran, and the gardener puffed and blew and could not catch\nhim, so at last he took up a flower pot and threw it as hard as he could\nat Jack Frost. It hit him in the very middle of the back and knocked him\nflat on his face on the path. He tried to get up, but the gardener got\nhold of him by the collar and shook and beat him with his big stick till\nhe prayed for mercy. Then he took him by the ear and dragged him out of\nthe garden.\n\nAt last Jack Frost wriggled out of his grasp and ran for his life; he\ndashed into the larch-tree and climbed up the branches to the topmost\nbough where the weathercock was. There was no moon for him to get on to,\nfor she had gone to bed and the sky was so high that he could not jump\nup all the way at once, so he was obliged to sit hidden in the tree\nuntil the next night.\n\nThe next night was misty and the moon came only occasionally out of the\ncloud. The little boy who lived in the stone house got out of his bed\nagain to see her.\n\nWhile he was looking, Jack Frost took a mighty leap and sprang up right\nthrough the clouds.\n\n\u201cLook! Look!\u201d cried the little boy, \u201cthere is the funny man again!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s you who are funny,\u201d said the nurse; and she hurried him back into\nbed and gave him one of his favourite toys to put under his pillow.\n\nShe knew nothing about little men who jumped among the trees.\n\nJack Frost landed safely on the moon and then flew high, high up. But he\nnever came down into that garden again.\n\n                                THE END\n   R. CLAY AND SONS, LTD., BREAD ST. HILL, E.C., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.\n\n\n\n\n                           TRANSCRIBER NOTES\n\n    Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where\n    multiple spellings occur, majority use has been employed.\n\n    Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer\n    errors occur.\n\n    Book cover is placed in the public domain.\n\n    [The end of _The Golden Heart_, by Violet Jacob.]","title":"The golden heart, and other fairy stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":40467}