{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_77025/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_77025","id":"gutenberg_77025","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77025","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Fairy tales"],"text":"This ebook was created in honour of Distributed Proofreaders\u2019\n25th Anniversary.\n\n\n\n\nBy Eva March Tappan\n\n  THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR.\n  WHEN KNIGHTS WERE BOLD.\n  DIXIE KITTEN.\n  AN OLD, OLD STORY-BOOK.\n  THE CHAUCER STORY BOOK.\n  LETTERS FROM COLONIAL CHILDREN.\n  AMERICAN HERO STORIES.\n  THE STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE.\n  THE STORY OF THE GREEK PEOPLE.\n  THE GOLDEN GOOSE AND OTHER FAIRY TALES.\n  THE CHRIST STORY.\n  OLD BALLADS IN PROSE.\n\nAll of the above are illustrated.\n\n\nHOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n\nBOSTON AND NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR\n\n\n  [Illustration:           (p. 30)\n  THE CHILDREN TOLD THE MOON LADY]\n\n\n\n\n  THE HOUSE WITH THE\n  SILVER DOOR\n\n  BY\n  EVA MARCH TAPPAN\n\n  WITH ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n  [Illustration]\n\n  BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY\n  The Riverside Press Cambridge\n  1913\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1913, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN\n\nALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\n_Published September 1913_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n    I. THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR      1\n\n   II. KING HANSEL THE FIRST              67\n\n  III. THE STAR PRINCESS                 129\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  THE CHILDREN TOLD THE MOON LADY      _Frontispiece_\n\n  SILVERBOY CALLED, \u201cWHO\u2019S THERE?\u201d                 52\n\n  A GREAT COARSE HAND PULLED HIM IN                94\n\n  \u201cSHE IS FAIRER THAN ANY OF MY MAIDENS\u201d          158\n\n        _From drawings by Emily Hall Chamberlain._\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR\n\n\n\n\nTHE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR\n\n\nOnce upon a time a man and his wife lived in a cottage in the forest,\nso far away that no one could think how far it was even if he tried for\na month. They had two children, a boy and a girl. There was only one\nthing more that they wanted, and that was a silver door to the cottage.\n\n\u201cHow I should like to have a silver door,\u201d said the goodman, \u201cso I\ncould see the sun shine upon it at sunset when I came in from my work!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow I should like to have a silver door,\u201d said the goodwife. \u201cI should\ndraw in the latchstring at night, and go to sleep thinking, \u2018My door is\nmade of silver, and how it will shine when the sun strikes it in the\nmorning.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe children had heard this every day since they could remember, and\nwhen they had grown older, they determined to go away and see if they\ncould not find a silver door for their father and mother.\n\nVery early one morning, long before their parents were awake, Silverboy\nand Silvergirl, for those were their names, took hold of each other\u2019s\nhand and went softly out of the cottage and far away. They climbed over\nfallen trees, they waded through brooks and mossy pools, they were\ncaught in the briers, and they scrambled down breakneck cliffs. After\na long time they came to the edge of the forest, but nowhere had they\nseen what they were looking for.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do?\u201d cried Silvergirl, sobbing. \u201cI\u2019m afraid we shall\nnever find a silver door.\u201d\n\nSilverboy might have cried, too, if he had been alone, but now he\nplucked up his courage and answered bravely:--\n\n\u201cOh, we\u2019ll find it yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we don\u2019t even know where to look for it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you see that great oak tree, the one with so many knots? I saw a\nsquirrel run into a hole in the trunk just now. Maybe he\u2019s the Wizard\nSquirrel himself, and I mean to ask him if he will tell us where to go.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, don\u2019t,\u201d pleaded Silvergirl. \u201cI am afraid he might hurt you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSome wizards are bad,\u201d declared Silverboy as wisely as if he had gone\nfishing with wizards every day of his life, \u201cbut some are good, and I\u2019m\nalmost sure that this is a good one.\u201d Then he went under the tree and\ncalled softly:--\n\n\u201cSquirrel, squirrel, are you the Wizard Squirrel?\u201d\n\n\u201cWizard yourself!\u201d scolded the squirrel, making up a comical face at\nhim. \u201cI wish you\u2019d keep quiet; I want to eat my supper.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut won\u2019t you please tell us where to look for a silver door?\u201d begged\nSilverboy.\n\n\u201cIn the place where they keep them, of course,\u201d retorted the Wizard\nSquirrel, for it was really he himself.\n\n\u201cWon\u2019t you please tell us where that is?\u201d Silverboy persisted.\n\n\u201cPerhaps it is in the moon,\u201d declared the Wizard Squirrel meditatively.\n\u201cIt looks as if there was a good deal of silver up there. Why don\u2019t you\nask the Moon King?\u201d he added, dropping a bit of nutshell directly upon\nSilverboy\u2019s nose. \u201cNow, run away; you ask too many questions. Squirrels\nnever ask questions at suppertime.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we can\u2019t get to the moon,\u201d said Silverboy sadly.\n\n\u201cNo more can you get to me,\u201d retorted the Wizard Squirrel, \u201cbut you\nwon\u2019t stop talking to me.\u201d And with a whisk of his bushy tail he\nslipped out of sight into his hole.\n\n\u201cHe means that we shall call to the moon,\u201d said Silvergirl.\n\nThey went out from the forest to an open field to watch for the moon,\nand soon it shone down clear and bright, and they cried:--\n\n\u201cO moon, moon, won\u2019t you please help us and tell us where to find a\nsilver door?\u201d\n\nBut the moon sailed on among the little clouds and answered never a\nword. Right behind the children, however, they heard a funny little\nchattering. It was the Wizard Squirrel, and he called:--\n\n\u201cYou are real moon calves! I never told you to call out in that\nfashion. I\u2019ve thought of something. What will you do for me if I tell\nyou which way to go to find a silver door?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you a great pile of nuts,\u201d said Silverboy.\n\n\u201cHo, nuts, indeed!\u201d declared the Wizard Squirrel. \u201cI can get nuts\nmyself, and I can go to the very tops of trees that you wouldn\u2019t think\nof climbing.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll do anything you say,\u201d promised Silverboy eagerly.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s just one thing that you can do for me,\u201d said the Wizard\nSquirrel. \u201cI don\u2019t want the All-Alone Axe to cut down the Ancient Oak,\nand if you will go to the mountain over there and get him to promise to\nlet it alone, you will be started on the right way to find the silver\ndoor. If he won\u2019t do it, you may as well go home, for you\u2019ll never find\nyour door if you hunt till the skies fall. I can\u2019t stop to talk with\nmoon calves any longer,\u201d and in a flash he was gone.\n\n\u201cShall we do it?\u201d asked Silvergirl; and her brother replied stoutly,\n\u201cYes, come on, and let us climb the mountain.\u201d\n\nSo on they went, across the meadow and over the swamp and through the\nthicket and up the side of the mountain. When they were halfway to the\ntop, they heard the sound of chopping. Then they heard the fall of a\ntree.\n\n\u201cThat must be the All-Alone Axe,\u201d said Silverboy. \u201cIt sounds as if\nit was over there, just behind the cliff. Come, and we will find the\nwoodchopper and ask him not to cut down the Ancient Oak.\u201d\n\nThey hurried around the cliff, but no woodchopper was there. Nothing at\nall was to be seen but a great axe chopping away all by its lone self.\n\n\u201cPlease, Mr. All-Alone Axe,\u201d said Silverboy, rather timidly, for he had\nnever before seen an axe chopping away alone. \u201cPlease, Mr. All-Alone\nAxe, will you tell us where the woodchopper is?\u201d\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you see?\u201d demanded the All-Alone Axe sharply. \u201cI\u2019m chopping, and\nI\u2019m chopping wood. What more woodchopper do you want?\u201d And he cut away\nfaster than ever.\n\nThe trees began to fall on the right and on the left, and Silvergirl\nwas badly frightened. \u201cOh, if we only could get away!\u201d she thought; but\nshe called up all her courage and asked very politely:--\n\n\u201cIs there anything we can do for you, Mr. All-Alone Axe?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a girl who knows an axe from a hatchet!\u201d cried the All-Alone\nAxe; and he was so pleased that he actually stopped cutting for at\nleast two minutes. \u201cYes,\u201d he added; \u201cover on that mountain the Gentle\nGiant lives, and after I have cut down some trees, he often comes and\ndrags them away. If you\u2019ll make him promise to let my trees alone, I\u2019ll\ndo whatever you want.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you let the Ancient Oak stand?\u201d asked Silvergirl.\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d replied the All-Alone Axe; so the children said good-bye and\nstarted for the mountain where the Gentle Giant lived.\n\nIt was a long, long way. They had to make a little raft before they\ncould cross the river. They had to climb steep cliffs, to scramble down\ninto deep gullies, and to creep over slippery rocks. At last they were\nwell up the side of the Gentle Giant\u2019s mountain; and now they began to\nhear a loud rustling as if all the winds of the heavens were blowing\nall the branches of all the trees. They caught hold of each other\u2019s\nhand and stood listening. Pretty soon they heard, \u201cHo-ho! Ho-ho!\u201d It\nsounded like some one taking a deep breath, but it was almost if not\nquite as loud as thunder. Silverboy and Silvergirl were so frightened\nthat they would surely have run off down the mountain had not the\nGentle Giant just then caught sight of them and roared out:--\n\n\u201cHo, there! Stop, I say. I\u2019m lonesome, I want to see you. Come here and\ntalk to me.\u201d\n\nIt was not of the least use to try to run away, for he had stretched\nout two hands as big as pine trees, and in a moment he had Silverboy in\nhis right hand and Silvergirl in his left hand and was holding them up\nbefore his eyes to get a better view of them.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d he roared as softly as he could, for he was not one of\nthe hateful giants, but one of the good-natured sort. \u201cWhere are you\ngoing?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to find a silver door for the cottage,\u201d shouted Silverboy\nas loud as ever he could.\n\n\u201cEh?\u201d roared the Gentle Giant. \u201cWhat\u2019s that? Talk a little louder,\ncan\u2019t you?\u201d And he held the children up to his ear.\n\nThen Silvergirl screamed with all her might:--\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re going to find a silver door for the cottage.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s all right,\u201d said the Gentle Giant, with a laugh that shook the\ntrees like a tempest. \u201cI wonder if _she\u2019d_ like a silver door,\u201d he\nadded, trying to look through the trees to another mountain even higher\nthan his. \u201cWhen you find your silver door, you might come up here and\ntell me about it,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cIf you are going up on\n_that_ mountain, I\u2019ll carry you over the swamp and halfway up the hill.\nI don\u2019t dare to go any farther.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, how could any one hurt _you_?\u201d cried Silverboy, taking hold of\nthe Gentle Giant\u2019s ear with both hands and shouting into it.\n\nThe Gentle Giant seemed so good-natured that the children did not feel\none bit afraid; but now something happened that did frighten them, for\nthe giant began to cry, and he cried such floods of tears that they had\nto cling to his fingers with all their might to keep from being washed\noff and down the side of the mountain.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sorry as I can be,\u201d said Silvergirl. \u201cDon\u2019t cry, Mr. Gentle\nGiant.\u201d And Silverboy called, \u201cWe\u2019ll help you, and there shan\u2019t anybody\nhurt you.\u201d\n\nThe Gentle Giant laughed till he was almost crying again, and he shook\nso that the children had to hold on harder than ever. Then he said:--\n\n\u201cCome up on the mountain and see my house and eat dinner with me, will\nyou? I\u2019m lonesome up there, and it isn\u2019t often that I get any children\nto come and play with me.\u201d\n\nOf course they said yes, and he carried them carefully up the mountain\nto the biggest house that they ever saw. It was built of logs, bigger\nthan any trees that grew in their own forest. The door was so high that\nthe clouds could have floated in as easy as anything. In one corner was\nthe bed. To make it, the giant had driven into the floor a stake, or\nrather the trunk of a great pine tree. He had laid long rails from this\nstake to the two walls, shutting in the corner. On top of the rails\nwere stout boughs, and on top of the boughs were whole barnfuls of soft\nspruce and fir and hemlock branches, until there was as comfortable a\nbed as was ever seen. For a table he had driven another tree trunk into\nthe middle of the floor. Then he had split in two the biggest tree on\nthe mountain and had fastened it to the top of the trunk, the flat side\nup. At one end of the room was the chimney, and that was large enough\nto roast at least ten oxen, eleven deer, and fifteen bears, with plenty\nof room between them for pigs and partridges.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t feel hungry to-day,\u201d said the Gentle Giant, \u201cso I put on\nonly five oxen, four deer, and three bears to roast, with perhaps\nhalf a dozen little pigs; but now I have company, I\u2019ll hang up a few\npartridges, too, just for a relish.\u201d\n\nHe hung a score or two of partridges in front of the fire, and when\nthey were done, he called the children to sit down and eat with him,\nthough at first it was rather hard to see how they could do it. He\nput them on two of his wooden stools, but, stretch their necks as they\nmight, they could not see over the edge of the table.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll soon fix that,\u201d declared the Gentle Giant.\n\nHe went to the end of the room, not more than a quarter of a mile away,\nand brought back his tallest churn. He set it on the stool bottomside\nup, and put Silvergirl on top of it.\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t any other churn that is tall enough for you,\u201d said the\ngiant, \u201cbut I\u2019ll just bring in a pebble and put a cushion on it.\u201d\n\nSo out of the door he went and soon came back with a stone in his hand\nbig enough for a doorstep. He set that up on the stool and laid a\ncushion on top of it, and then they were ready for dinner.\n\n\u201cWhich will you have first,\u201d he asked, \u201can ox or a bear?\u201d\n\n\u201cCould I have a partridge?\u201d asked Silvergirl.\n\n\u201cJust as many of them as you want,\u201d replied the giant. \u201cIn my country\nwe always ate the oxen and bears first; but you shall do as you like.\u201d\n\nSo he gave each of the children some partridges, and then he himself\nbegan on the oxen. One by one they disappeared, and the pile of bones\nbeside his plate grew higher and higher, till at last the children\ncould not see his face at all. Through the bones, however, his great\nvoice came rumbling as he called: \u201cAren\u2019t you ready for your oxen yet,\nor will you have a deer or two and a few little pigs?\u201d\n\nHe did not wait for an answer, but piled up oxen and bears and deer and\npigs on the table before them.\n\n\u201cTruly, Mr. Gentle Giant,\u201d declared Silverboy, \u201cwe can\u2019t eat any more.\nCouldn\u2019t you eat these?\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps,\u201d replied the giant, \u201cthough I don\u2019t seem to have so much\nappetite as usual. I\u2019ll take just a bite or two more and then we\u2019ll all\nsit down under the trees and you can tell me where you are going and\nwhat you know about silver doors. I know a lady who--I mean I might\nwant to find one myself some day.\u201d\n\nThe Gentle Giant had already eaten the five oxen and the four deer, and\nnow he ate the three bears and the little pigs. \u201cJust one mouthful more\nto leave a good taste,\u201d he said, and in two minutes the rest of the\npartridges were gone.\n\n\u201cNow come out of doors,\u201d he called, and led the way to the great door,\nbut the children did not follow him. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cWe can\u2019t get down,\u201d they replied.\n\nThe Gentle Giant laughed until the stars would have rattled in the sky\nif it had been night. \u201cI don\u2019t have company of your size very often,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cand I forget my manners.\u201d Then he took Silvergirl in one\ngreat hand and Silverboy in the other and carried them out under the\ntrees. \u201cI\u2019ll lie down on the moss,\u201d he said, \u201cand you can talk right\ninto my ear. Tell me who you are and where you are going.\u201d\n\nSo the Gentle Giant stretched himself out on the ground and Silverboy\ncalled into his ear:--\n\n\u201cWe live in a cottage in our own forest, far as far away from here. Our\nfather and our mother want a silver door, and we are going to find one\nfor them.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you know where to look?\u201d asked the Gentle Giant, rather\ndrowsily, for he was getting sleepy.\n\n\u201cWe asked the Wizard Squirrel, and he told us to go to the All-Alone\nAxe. The All-Alone Axe told us to come here. We thought at first that\nthe Wizard Squirrel meant us to call out to the Moon King, but he\ndidn\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cEh!\u201d shouted the Gentle Giant, starting up. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe thought he meant that we should call out to the Moon King, but he\ndidn\u2019t,\u201d repeated Silverboy.\n\n\u201cAre you sure as sure that he didn\u2019t say \u2018the Moon Lady\u2019?\u201d demanded the\nGentle Giant eagerly.\n\n\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t,\u201d Silverboy answered, \u201cbut he said we must get the\nAll-Alone Axe to promise not to cut down the Ancient Oak.\u201d\n\n\u201cDid he promise?\u201d the Gentle Giant asked.\n\n\u201cHe said he would not touch the Ancient Oak if we could get you to\npromise not to drag away his trees after he has cut them down.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have to,\u201d declared the Gentle Giant earnestly. \u201cYou see, I must\nbuild a big house to bring her to if she should ever marry me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt seems to me that your house is pretty big now,\u201d said Silvergirl.\n\nBut the Gentle Giant shook his great head.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted it as big as all outdoors, but it isn\u2019t more\nthan half as big.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen is she coming?\u201d asked Silverboy.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d replied the Gentle Giant sadly. \u201cWhen I asked her to\nmarry me, she only laughed; but maybe she\u2019ll change her mind some day,\nand I should be so ashamed if I hadn\u2019t a house big enough for her.\u201d\n\nAnd the Gentle Giant dropped a tear as big as a waterpail. It fell upon\nSilvergirl and wet her from head to foot, but the Gentle Giant was so\nbusy thinking that he did not notice the mischief he had done.\n\n\u201cI hope she\u2019ll come,\u201d declared Silverboy warmly.\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d said Silvergirl.\n\nThe Gentle Giant sat for a long while gazing on a mountain that could\njust be seen through the trees. He seemed to be hard at work thinking.\nAt last he turned to Silvergirl and asked:--\n\n\u201cSo you really think this house is big enough, do you?\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed I do,\u201d declared Silvergirl.\n\n\u201cI suppose you ought to know what a lady would like better than a great\nclumsy fellow like me,\u201d the Gentle Giant mused. Then he said suddenly,\n\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I\u2019ll do. If you will get the Moon Lady to say\nshe\u2019ll marry me, I\u2019ll not drag away any more trees from the All-Alone\nAxe, and I\u2019ll carry you both halfway up her mountain besides.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll try our very best,\u201d said the children.\n\nThen the Gentle Giant set Silverboy on his right shoulder and\nSilvergirl on his left, and away they went to the Moon Lady\u2019s mountain.\nWhen you ride on the shoulder of a giant who can take a quarter of a\nmile at a stride, even a long journey is soon done, and before they\nhad any idea that they were halfway up the mountain, the Gentle Giant\nwhispered as softly as he could:--\n\n\u201cHere you are, little folk. Just go up the mountain, and you\u2019ll be at\nher house in no time.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome with us,\u201d the children pleaded, for it seemed very lonesome to be\nleft in the forest without the good-natured giant.\n\nBut he shook his head and whispered so gently that it was not much\nlouder than a waterfall:--\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t dare. She might look right at me and laugh and ask what I had\ncome for, and then I should feel so ashamed. You go on, and if she only\nsays she will marry me, tie a burning torch to the pine tree at the top\nof the mountain, and I\u2019ll come and get you all and carry you wherever\nyou wish.\u201d And before the children could say another word, they heard\nhis steps crashing down through the trees.\n\nThey went on and on toward the top of the mountain, and just as the sun\nwas setting, they began to see something shining through the trees.\nIt looked like glass and cream candy and rainbows, like brooks in the\nsunshine and quiet pools in the moonlight. It flashed and glowed and\ngleamed and sparkled. When they came nearer, they saw that it was a\nsplendid palace, and looking out of one of the windows was the most\nbeautiful lady that they had ever seen. She was laughing more musically\nthan they had ever heard any one laugh before. The sound was like that\nmade by little brooks rippling over stones, or little waves running up\non the shore. When she caught sight of the children, she called:--\n\n\u201cCome in, you little dears. I\u2019ll meet you at the door.\u201d\n\nShe disappeared from the window, but they could hear her laughing\nhappily as she tripped though the halls. In a minute she stood in the\ndoorway, holding out her hands to them. She wore a silken gown almost\nas yellow as the sunshine. Her hair, too, was yellow and hung down to\nthe ground in long ripples that gleamed and shimmered as the sunbeams\ntouched them. On her head was a golden crescent, and above it was just\none golden star. The children stood gazing at her, for in all their\nlives they had never seen any one half so lovely.\n\n\u201cWell, what is it?\u201d she called lightly. \u201cAm I so ugly? You stand there\ngazing at me as if I were a monster.\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not know anybody could be so beautiful,\u201d cried Silverboy\nhonestly. Silvergirl slipped up beside her, and the Moon Lady took her\nlittle brown hand in her own and began to laugh from pure pleasure and\nmerriment.\n\n\u201cCome in,\u201d she cried, \u201ccome in. I\u2019ve been waiting for you. I knew you\nwere coming. It\u2019s hard to keep secrets from the Moon Lady. Secrets\nare such nice things to laugh at, don\u2019t you think so?\u201d she called to\nSilverboy; and in a minute she had his hand, too, and was leading both\nthe children into the palace and up the broad marble stairs. \u201cNow,\u201d she\nsaid, \u201cI have one room full of candy, and another full of toys, and\nanother full of brooks to sail boats in, and another full of ponies for\nchildren to ride, and another full of pretty gardens to play in, and--\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can there be gardens and brooks in a room in a house?\u201d asked\nSilvergirl, gazing at her with great wondering eyes.\n\nThe Moon Lady looked amused. \u201cBecause this is a Wonder Palace,\u201d she\nsaid at last. \u201cDon\u2019t you know that in a Wonder Palace one can have\nwhatever she likes? You like gardens to play in, I am sure of that,\nand so there are gardens in one of my rooms. You like ponies, and so\nthere are ponies here. I don\u2019t see anything strange about it,\u201d and she\nlaughed so merrily that the children could not help laughing with her.\nThey went to the candy room and the toy room and the brook room and the\npony room and the others. These were all so delightful that when the\nMoon Lady asked which they liked best, they could not choose.\n\n\u201cThat is no matter,\u201d she declared, \u201cfor you must stay here with me\nforever and always, and there will be new rooms for you every day, and\neach one will be full of finer things than you ever saw before.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried the children, \u201cbut we must not. We must go on and find a\nsilver door for the father and the mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that about a silver door?\u201d asked the Moon Lady. \u201cA wizard told\nme something about a silver door once, but I don\u2019t know what he meant.\nHe said:--\n\n  When the silver door flies open,\n  Then the iron door shuts tight.\n  Silver cheats you in the moonbeams,\n  Iron is honest in the light.\u201d\n\n\u201cWas the wizard a squirrel, dear Moon Lady?\u201d the children asked.\n\n\u201cI forget,\u201d she replied, \u201cit was so long ago; but it was a good thing\nto laugh at,\u201d and again she laughed so lightly and musically that the\nchildren fancied they heard a summer shower falling upon the leaves.\n\u201cHave you seen a wizard, too?\u201d she asked; \u201cand has he told you about a\nsilver door? Come into the room that is full of all the music of all\nthe world and tell me about it.\u201d\n\nSo they went into the room, and while all the music of all the world\nwas playing softly around them, the children told the Moon Lady about\ntheir little home in the far-away forest. They told her how much the\nfather and the mother wanted a silver door, and how they had come out\ninto the world to try to find one. They told her about the Wizard\nSquirrel who would help them if the All-Alone Axe would agree to spare\nthe Ancient Oak; about the All-Alone Axe who would spare the Ancient\nOak if the Gentle Giant would stop dragging away his trees; and then\nabout the Gentle Giant who would stop dragging away the trees if only--\n\n\u201cWhat next?\u201d the Moon Lady interrupted; \u201cthe Gentle Giant would stop\ndragging away the trees if what?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you would only marry him,\u201d said Silverboy boldly. \u201cWon\u2019t you please\nmarry him, for we do want to find a silver door so very, very much?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat kind of giant is he?\u201d the Moon Lady asked, trying to look very\nserious.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s the best giant in all the world, I just know he is,\u201d declared\nSilverboy; and Silvergirl added, \u201cHe was so good to us. I\u2019m sure you\nwould love him. He said you told him you wouldn\u2019t marry him, but you\nwill, won\u2019t you?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d replied the Moon Lady, \u201cI\u2019d just as soon as not. I meant\nto all the time, but I wanted to see whether he would come back and ask\nme again.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll go to the very top of the mountain and tie a lighted torch\nto the topmost bough of the tall pine tree, so he will know that you\nare willing to marry him,\u201d cried Silverboy, and in a moment he would\nhave been away had not the Moon Lady stopped him.\n\n\u201cIf the Gentle Giant wants me very much, he will come and get me,\u201d she\nsaid.\n\n\u201cBut he\u2019s afraid,\u201d cried Silvergirl; \u201che said he was.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen he can\u2019t have me,\u201d declared the Moon Lady.\n\n\u201cThen we can\u2019t get the silver door,\u201d said Silverboy soberly.\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the Moon Lady lightly. \u201cWandering about the world to\nfind silver doors is not the thing for a girl, of course, but you can\ndo it if you like. Silvergirl must stay here with me, but you may go\nout and search. There\u2019s nothing to hinder your going straight up to the\nmoon and choosing one for yourself. I\u2019ve been there many a time. My\nbrother is the King of the Moon.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can I get there?\u201d cried Silverboy. \u201cCan I go to the top of a\nhigh, high mountain and leap upon the moon when it passes by?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf that isn\u2019t just like a boy!\u201d cried the Moon Lady, with another of\nher merry laughs. \u201cSilvergirl wouldn\u2019t try to get there in any such\nfoolish way, I know. Would you, Silvergirl?\u201d\n\n\u201cI believe I should try to go to the top of the tallest tree in the\nworld,\u201d replied Silvergirl, \u201cand then, when the moonbeams touched it, I\nwould beg them to carry me home with them.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s much more sensible,\u201d said the Moon Lady gravely; and she added\nwith a little twinkle in her bright eyes, \u201cIf there wasn\u2019t any other\nway, yours would be the best, but there\u2019s one way that is better.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d cried the children together.\n\n\u201cYou must go to the Slippery Spider and ask him for web enough to build\na ladder,\u201d she replied; \u201cthat is, you may go, Silverboy; and when you\ncome back, we\u2019ll talk about All-Alone Axes and Wizard Squirrels, and\nmaybe about Gentle Giants. There\u2019s one thing you must remember; so long\nas you are on the face of the earth you are safe, but if you go into\nthe earth you will never come here again. Will you promise not to go\ninto the earth?\u201d\n\nSilverboy promised. Then he said good-bye and set out in search of the\nSlippery Spider. He went down the mountain and over the fields, asking\nevery bird and every bee that he met if they knew where to find the\nSlippery Spider, but not one of them could tell him. At length he asked\na little fly that was sitting on a green leaf in the sunshine.\n\n\u201cYes, I know,\u201d said the fly, \u201cbut it makes me flutter to think of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow do you find his home?\u201d asked Silverboy.\n\n\u201cYou have to go into the Valley of Twilight, past nine gray rocks and\nthree dead trees. By and by, you come to a great mass of briers, and\nunder the briers is where the Slippery Spider lives; but don\u2019t go\nthere. He is--\u201d But Silverboy was already on his way to the Valley of\nTwilight. He went past the nine gray rocks and the three dead trees and\ncame to the great mass of briers; but no Slippery Spider was to be seen.\n\n\u201cSlippery Spider, O Slippery Spider,\u201d he called, \u201cwon\u2019t you please give\nme a little web to make a ladder to go to the moon?\u201d\n\nHe heard a rustling in the leaves, and in a moment there stood beside\nhim the queerest, most dried-up little old man that he had ever seen.\nThe little old man made a bow and in a thin, squeaky voice he replied:--\n\n\u201cCertainly, my good sir. I shall be glad to give you web enough to go\nto the moon or seven times as far, if you wish. Will you kindly walk\ninto my underground house. It is cool and comfortable there, and we\nwill talk this matter over together.\u201d\n\nSilverboy was about to follow the Slippery Spider when he remembered\nwhat the Moon Lady said, that he must not go into the earth, and he\nasked:--\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t we sit down here and talk about it?\u201d He fancied that the\nSlippery Spider\u2019s eyes flashed red for a moment, but the little old man\nsaid quietly:--\n\n\u201cI see. Some one has been telling you stories about my home. If you\nprefer, we will sit down under these beautiful brier bushes. Here is my\nfavorite lane, between the Tumbling Rock and the Withering Grass. Will\nyou come?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m too big. I can\u2019t get in there,\u201d replied Silverboy.\n\n\u201cOh, we can manage all that,\u201d said the Slippery Spider, in an offhand\nway. \u201cJust step in and there will be no trouble.\u201d\n\nSilverboy thought he heard the buzzing of a fly, but he said to\nhimself, \u201cSurely, there\u2019s no harm in just stepping toward the briers,\u201d\nand he said to the Slippery Spider:--\n\n\u201cCertainly I will if you wish.\u201d\n\nHe took one step into the narrow passageway; and he was surprised\nenough to find that he could walk in it without the least difficulty.\n\u201cI wonder how he has done that,\u201d he thought. \u201cSomehow he has made the\ngrass as tall as I am, and the brier bushes are as big as any tree in\nthe forest. I wonder what strange thing that is a way up above my head.\nIt looks like a mushroom, but it is as high as the roof of a house.\u201d\nSuddenly it burst upon him that this really was a mushroom and that,\ninstead of making the passage big, the Slippery Spider had made him so\nlittle that when the dreadful creature caught hold of him and dragged\nhim down into a cavern, he could not do anything to save himself.\n\nThe cavern was dark as dark, but after his eyes were a little used to\nthe darkness, he could see that a strong spider-web had been drawn\nacross the opening. He felt in his tiny pocket for his tiny knife and\nbegan to cut away at the stout cords of the web; but he could not make\neven the smallest break.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d called the thin, squeaky voice, \u201cyou are a good jailer;\nI shan\u2019t have to watch you.\u201d\n\nSilverboy looked up, and there was the Slippery Spider peering through\nthe web, twice as tall as his prisoner. It did not seem quite so dark\nas at first, and Silverboy could see what an ugly grin was on his face.\n\n\u201cI suppose you don\u2019t know,\u201d said the Slippery Spider, with a hateful\nchuckle, \u201cthat this is a magic web, and that every time you cut a\nthread, you make it exactly seven times as strong as it was before.\nOh, you\u2019re a good jailer, you are!\u201d and again he laughed, the most\nsneering, malicious laugh that can be imagined. At last he went away,\nleaving Silverboy in the darkness. He came back once more for a moment\nand called:--\n\n\u201cI say, you\u2019re not fat enough yet. When you get fatter, I shall eat\nyou. You won\u2019t have long to wait.\u201d\n\nPoor Silverboy, there he sat and wondered if there was any way to\nescape. He thought of his father and mother and sister. \u201cI shall never,\nnever see them again,\u201d he sobbed; and he threw himself on the cold\nfloor of the cave and cried and cried.\n\nSuddenly he felt a little hand wiping away his tears with the softest\nand daintiest of handkerchiefs. The hand was so smooth and gentle that\nat first he pretended not to know that it was there for fear it would\ngo away. Then a sweet little voice said softly:--\n\n\u201cBoy, poor boy, don\u2019t cry.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Silverboy. \u201cHow did you come here? Did the\nSlippery Spider bring you, too?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was walking alone,\u201d said the sweet voice, \u201cand I saw the lane. It\nlooked pretty, for the briers were in bloom, and I started to come into\nit; but before I knew it, I was in this dreadful den.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd did he make you small as he made me?\u201d asked Silverboy.\n\n\u201cOh, no, I am just as tall as ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s stand up back to back,\u201d said Silverboy, \u201cand I will put my hand\non my head and then on yours, for I don\u2019t see how any one could get\nin here and not be made little.\u201d So they stood up back to back, and\nSilverboy put his hand on his own head and then on hers, and he found,\nas he had expected, that she was no taller than he. Indeed, she was\nnot quite so tall.\n\n\u201cBut what is this on your head?\u201d he asked. \u201cIt feels pointed and queer.\nWhat is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s my pearl coronet,\u201d the little girl replied. \u201cI wear it because\nmy father is a king. They call me the Pearl Princess. What is your\nname?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am Silverboy. I wish it was light so I could see your face.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo do I,\u201d said the Pearl Princess; \u201cI mean, so I could see yours.\nDon\u2019t you suppose we can ever, ever get out of this horrible place?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll find a way somehow,\u201d declared Silverboy; for now that he was not\nalone, he felt much more courageous and hopeful. He pulled and tugged\nat the bars with all his might and main; but, try his best, he could\nnot stir them one bit. Indeed, they only grew stronger and firmer\nwhenever he touched them; and even after a long, long time had passed\naway, Silverboy and the Pearl Princess were still prisoners in the den\nof the Slippery Spider.\n\nAll this while Silvergirl was living in the Wonder Palace with the\nMoon Lady. As time passed, she was no more a child, but a tall young\ngirl who grew prettier every day until she had become the fairest\nlittle maiden in all the land. She would have been the happiest if her\nbrother had only come back; but the brother did not come, and she began\nto grow sad and pale. The Moon Lady sent her servants to scour the\ncountry roundabout. They peered into the valleys, they looked through\nand through every little corner of the forest; they asked all the brook\nfairies and all the flower fairies and all the grass fairies, but none\nof them had seen anything of Silverboy. Every night when they came\nin from their search, Silvergirl asked, \u201cHave you found my brother?\u201d\nWhen they answered, \u201cNo, but perhaps we shall find him to-morrow,\u201d she\nlooked sadder than ever.\n\nThe Moon Lady was very much troubled.\n\n\u201cOh, I wish the Moon King would come!\u201d she often said. \u201cHe would know\nwhat to do to help us.\u201d\n\nOne night, just as it was growing dark, the Moon Lady and Silvergirl\nsaw a bright light shining in the east. It grew larger and brighter\nand came nearer every minute. The palace glowed and gleamed with the\nreflection as if there were blazing torches in every corner of it.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s my brother,\u201d cried the Moon Lady joyfully. \u201cHe is the Moon\nKing, and he will know how to help us find Silverboy.\u201d\n\nBy and by the Moon King came driving straight up the side of the\nmountain with his six shining white horses. The Moon Lady threw her\narms about his neck and kissed him. Then she made a great feast for\nhim. On the table were the most delicious things of all the countries.\nThe air was full of all the music of all the world, and it was a very\nhappy time.\n\nBut after a little while the Moon King did not even look at the\ndainties or listen to the music. He looked at pretty Silvergirl and he\nlistened to nothing but her voice.\n\n\u201cI saw your face in a dream last night,\u201d he said, \u201cand I want you for\nmy Moon Queen. Will you marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut my brother has not come back,\u201d she answered, \u201cand I haven\u2019t yet\nfound the silver door for my father and mother.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you silver doors for all the cottages in the forest,\u201d cried\nthe Moon King, \u201cand I\u2019ll find your brother if he is aboveground.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the Moon Lady\u2019s servants have looked everywhere aboveground,\u201d said\nSilvergirl sadly, \u201cand they could not find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I\u2019ll look underground,\u201d declared the Moon King. \u201cI know all the\ngnomes and dwarfs and pixies and underworld fairies and crickets and\nfield mice; and there isn\u2019t one of them that wouldn\u2019t be gladder than\nglad to do me a favor. Will you marry me when I have found Silverboy?\u201d\n\nEven the little bird at the window could not hear her answer; but it\nseemed to please the Moon King, for he cried joyfully to his sister,\n\u201cTake good care of my bride, and I\u2019ll be here with Silverboy in the\ntwinkling of a star.\u201d And before she could say good-bye, his white\nhorses with their golden harness were tearing down the mountain as if\nthey were trying to catch up with the swiftest river that ever flowed.\n\nFinding Silverboy was not quite so easy as the Moon King had expected,\nfor no one but the Slippery Spider knew that he had become so tiny. The\ngnomes and the dwarfs and the pixies and the underworld fairies and\nall the rest looked in vain for a tall boy in search of a silver door.\nThe crickets and the field mice looked, but Silverboy was nowhere to\nbe found. Silvergirl grew paler and paler, and the Moon Lady began to\nfeel anxious, not only lest some wild beast or some fierce bird of prey\nshould have devoured Silverboy, but also lest Silvergirl should grieve\nherself to death for the loss of her brother.\n\nAll the little folk of the forest and field, those that wore feathers\nor furs or hair or just plain skin, were talking about the lost\nSilverboy, and at last the news came to the Thoughtful Snail. No one\nhad dreamed of his joining in the search because he was so slow and had\nto carry his house about with him; but the Thoughtful Snail went to his\nneighbor, the Friendly Glowworm, and said:--\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell?\u201d said the Friendly Glowworm.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking,\u201d declared the Thoughtful Snail for the third time,\nand then he told what he thought. \u201cThe Moon King has been good to me,\u201d\nhe said slowly, \u201cand I\u2019ve been thinking that I should like to find the\nbrother of his bride.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm. \u201cWe\u2019d every one of us\nlike to find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I\u2019ve been thinking,\u201d said the Thoughtful Snail again, and then he\nstopped to think a little more. The Friendly Glowworm waited patiently,\nand at last the Thoughtful Snail continued:--\n\n\u201cIf they can\u2019t find a tall young man aboveground, then there isn\u2019t any\ntall young man, and he must be short.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm again.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the Thoughtful Snail slowly. \u201cI\u2019ve thought of something\nelse. All the real wizards are good friends of the Moon King, and\nthere\u2019s only one of the creatures of the forest that can change the\nshape of a man.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou mean the Slippery Spider?\u201d asked his friend.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the Thoughtful Snail; \u201cand I\u2019ve been thinking that if\nthe Slippery Spider has changed his shape, he has made him smaller than\nhimself, of course, or else he would have got away long before this.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s so,\u201d exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm, beginning to be\ninterested.\n\n\u201cI think he is smaller than a spider and that the Slippery Spider has\nfastened him into some den. You know that he can spin a magic web. It\ncan be cut from the outside, but if any one tries to cut it from the\ninside, it grows stronger.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen you think--\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking,\u201d the Thoughtful Snail interrupted; \u201cand I think\nthat if you will go with me to carry the torch, we will go to the\nSlippery Spider\u2019s hole to-night when he is away watching his nets, and\nperhaps we shall find Silverboy.\u201d\n\nThat night the Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm made their\nway to the lane of the Slippery Spider. The Friendly Glowworm crept\nunder a dry leaf, and the Thoughtful Snail crouched in front of him so\nthat the keen eyes of the Slippery Spider should see no ray of light.\nThey watched him come out of his little lane and go away to look at his\nnets to see if some unwary traveler had not been caught in them; then\nthey crept boldly in toward the den in the rock. The lane was so rough\nthat more than once the Friendly Glowworm was tumbled from one side\nto the other, and so briery that the delicate horns of the Thoughtful\nSnail were scratched and torn; but on they went until at last they were\nin front of the Slippery Spider\u2019s den. Behold, there was the magic web\nstretched across the opening, and thicker and stronger than was ever\nthe web of a spider before.\n\nThe Friendly Glowworm was so excited that he quivered like a jelly;\nand as for the Thoughtful Snail, his shell fairly rattled against the\nrock. It made such a noise that Silverboy called:--\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d\n\n\u201cWho\u2019s _there_?\u201d cried the Thoughtful Snail gladly. \u201cAre you Silverboy?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, who are you?\u201d\n\nFor answer the Thoughtful Snail pushed his whole weight against the\nweb, while the Friendly Glowworm caught hold of it and pulled and\ntugged with all his might. It fell on the ground, and Silverboy stepped\nout, pale as pale, and so small that his new friends could hardly see\nhim; but it was the real Silverboy himself.\n\n\u201cCome quick,\u201d said they, \u201cbefore the Slippery Spider comes home.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: SILVERBOY CALLED, \u201cWHO\u2019S THERE?\u201d]\n\n\u201cBut I must go back for the Pearl Princess,\u201d he declared. And although\nthe Thoughtful Snail grumbled that he had not come to get any sort of\nprincess, Silverboy would not think of going without her. He took\nher by the hand and led her out; and when the Thoughtful Snail and the\nFriendly Glowworm saw how beautiful she was, they were glad, indeed,\nthat she had not been left in the den to be devoured by the Slippery\nSpider.\n\nDown the little lane they all went, and at every step Silverboy and the\nPearl Princess grew larger, until when they were near the opening, they\nhad to crouch and creep to get through it at all. Silverboy was so glad\nto find himself growing taller again that he did not care a straw for\nthat, and he only laughed when the briers tore his hands and his face\nas he tried his best to keep their sharp points from the Pearl Princess.\n\nAt last they were out of the lane, and the Thoughtful Snail cried:--\n\n\u201cCome, Silverboy, come. Don\u2019t wait. The Slippery Spider may be here at\nany moment\u201d; for he had forgotten that Silverboy was large enough now\nto kill a hundred Slippery Spiders.\n\nBut Silverboy stood gazing into the face of the Pearl Princess as if he\nwas bewitched.\n\n\u201cI never, never saw any one so beautiful,\u201d he cried. \u201cDear Pearl\nPrincess, I\u2019m a man now. Won\u2019t you marry me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the Pearl Princess, \u201cI will; that is,\u201d she added, \u201cI\nwill, if you will promise never to tell any one that once I was smaller\nthan a spider.\u201d\n\nSilverboy was now a tall young man. He led the Pearl Princess with one\nhand and carried the Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm in the\nother, and they all went across fields and meadows and brooks, through\nforests and forests, and up the highest of all mountains to the Wonder\nPalace of the Moon Lady.\n\nThen there was rejoicing that _was_ rejoicing from the very bottom of\nthe palace to the top. The candy room threw its door open and begged to\nbe eaten. The toys set to playing all of their own accord. The brooks\nran faster than brooks ever ran before and made prettier little dimples\nand ripples than any other brooks ever made. The ponies began to trot\nand prance and canter. The gardens became more beautiful than any one\never dreamed that even a garden could be. The Moon King and Silvergirl\nwere married, and Silverboy and the Pearl Princess were married, and\nthe Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm danced at the weddings.\n\nThe air was full of all the music that ever was in all the world; but\nfrom another mountain a sound came across the valley, and up, up, to\nthe Wonder Palace, that was not music, but a most mournful sighing.\nWhen the Moon Lady heard it, her face grew pink, and she turned away\nand looked out of the window on the farther side of the palace.\n\n\u201cHeigh, there!\u201d cried the Moon King. \u201cWho is that sighing on the night\nof my wedding? Find him and give him whatever he wants. Do you know\nhim, sister? What does he want?\u201d\n\n\u201cI think it must be that he wants me,\u201d replied the Moon Lady demurely.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s--that\u2019s--why, that\u2019s--\u201d stammered the Moon King, and stood\nstaring straight at his sister, too much surprised to say another word.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s the Gentle Giant over on the other mountain,\u201d Silverboy\nexplained. \u201cHe said he would not drag away the trees of the All-Alone\nAxe if the Moon Lady would marry him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd so, my Moon Lady sister, you\u2019re going to marry the Gentle Giant\nto save the trees of the All-Alone Axe, are you?\u201d exclaimed the Moon\nKing in amazement.\n\n\u201cI think perhaps I will,\u201d replied the Moon Lady, with one of her little\nrippling laughs. \u201cI don\u2019t see any other way to keep him from sighing,\nand you don\u2019t like to hear sighing.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I never thought of such a thing!\u201d declared the Moon King.\n\nAnd the Moon Lady retorted gayly, \u201cI did, then. I\u2019ve thought of it as\nmany times as three, and I\u2019m going to do it. He\u2019s the best giant in all\nthe world, and I\u2019m going to marry him whenever he--\u201d\n\nJust then there was a commotion outside, as if some one was crashing\nthrough the forest in a great hurry. There was a tramping and a\nstamping, and the face of the Gentle Giant appeared at the door, all\nashine with pleasure.\n\n\u201cI heard you, I heard you,\u201d he cried. \u201cI heard you down the mountain,\nand I\u2019ve come to get you. We\u2019ll be married this very night, we will.\u201d\nAnd the Gentle Giant clapped his hands and danced and sang and laughed\nout of pure happiness.\n\nSo there was another wedding in the palace, and then they all set off\nto carry the Moon Lady to the home of the Gentle Giant. The Thoughtful\nSnail and the Friendly Glowworm went, too, for Silverboy carried one,\nand the Pearl Princess carried the other. The Friendly Glowworm shone\nso bright that no one noticed a strange thing that was happening.\nSomething else had joined the wedding procession. It was the Wonder\nPalace itself. After a little while it disappeared. It went up the\nmountain a shorter way, and when they came to the great door of the\nhouse of the Gentle Giant and looked in, behold, it was all aglow with\nlight; and no wonder, for there were sunbeams and rainbows and dewdrop\nsparkles and waterfall gleams and fireplace sparks and Northern light\nglimmerings, all in one brilliant and glorious tangle. In the midst of\nit and round about it was all the music of all the world, for the whole\nWonder Palace had slipped in through the farther door.\n\n\u201cThe Thoughtful Snail and I have brought our houses with us,\u201d said\nthe bride as quietly as if she always traveled with a palace for a\ncompanion. \u201cBut, truly,\u201d she whispered to the Gentle Giant, \u201cI did not\nknow it was coming.\u201d\n\n\u201cEverything bright and beautiful is where you are,\u201d he whispered back.\n\nSo it was that the Gentle Giant won his beautiful bride; that the trees\nof the All-Alone Axe were never again dragged away; and that the Wizard\nSquirrel was never driven from his home in the Ancient Oak.\n\nBut all this time the father and the mother were in their cottage far\naway in the depths of the forest. At twilight the two often sat in the\ndoorway and talked about their children.\n\n\u201cThey will come home some day,\u201d declared the mother bravely.\n\n\u201cWe shall never see them again,\u201d said the father.\n\nOne night as they were saying this, they heard from far away a tramping\nof many horses. Up the forest road they came, their hoofs beating\nsoftly on the mossy ground. When they were in full sight, the father\nand the mother saw, first, a long line of knights in red armor, riding\non milk-white horses; then a line of knights in blue armor, riding on\nhorses black as the darkness itself. So they came. There were knights\nin green and knights in yellow; and last of all, there were three\nchariots abreast and an empty one behind them. The chariot on the left\nwas made of steel that flashed in the light of the torches. In it sat\na handsome young man. Beside him was his princess, and she was all\naglow with softly gleaming pearls. On the right was an immense chariot\nof silver, and in this was a giant with so gentle a face that no one\ncould ever be afraid of him, even though he was so large. He, too, had\na bride sitting beside him. She had strings and strings of opals about\nher throat. Over them and over her face played a soft clear light that\nwas almost like the moonbeams on the water. Between these two chariots\nwas a third. It was all ablaze with diamonds, and in it sat one that\nevery one who looked upon him would have known to be a king. The\nshadows were growing deeper, but a brilliant light that did not come\nfrom the torches was all about him and his beautiful bride. Whenever\nthey spoke or looked at each other, the light flashed joyfully and made\nall around them as bright as day.\n\nThe father and the mother sat in the door, saying never a word, but\nlooking and looking and looking. The wonderful procession swept past\ntheir humble little cottage, until the three chariots were in front of\nthe door. Then they stopped. The father and the mother rose quickly and\nbowed themselves before the king.\n\n\u201cIt is ordered that you shall no longer dwell in this cottage,\u201d he said\ngravely.\n\nAt first the father and the mother were too grieved and alarmed to\nspeak, but finally the mother plucked up courage to plead:--\n\n\u201cO king, if you will only let us stay here till the children come home!\nWe will do never a bit of harm. We won\u2019t even pick up the dead sticks\nfor firewood, or the dry grass to make our bed. If we go away, the\nchildren will not know where to find us, and we shall never see them\nagain. Please, please let us stay till we have seen them just once\nmore.\u201d\n\nThe king shook his head sternly and said:--\n\n\u201cYou are to live here no longer.\u201d\n\nThen the father hid his face in his hands and the mother threw her\napron over her head; but in a moment the young man had sprung down\nfrom the chariot of steel and was crying, \u201cFather, father, don\u2019t you\nknow your own boy?\u201d And the beautiful young woman who had been in the\nchariot that was all a-glitter with diamonds had pulled the apron away\nfrom the face of the mother and was crying, \u201cMother, mother, have you\nforgotten your own daughter?\u201d\n\nThe Moon King sent away the knights, and then he and Silvergirl, the\nPearl Princess and Silverboy, and the Moon Lady and the Gentle Giant\nsat down together on the soft grass just outside the cottage. Such\nstories as they had to tell of the search for the silver door! They\ntold about the Wizard Squirrel, the All-Alone Axe, the Wonder Palace,\nthe Slippery Spider, and no one can say how many other folk. They\ntalked and talked and talked; and while they were talking, they heard a\nfunny little chattering over their heads. They all looked up, and there\non the bough of a pine tree sat the Wizard Squirrel and the All-Alone\nAxe, hobnobbing in the most sociable way, while the Friendly Glowworm\nand the Thoughtful Snail, who had come, of course, with the rest of the\ncompany and were now sitting on the moss at the foot of the tree, were\nstaring at them with all their eyes, for they had never before seen an\naxe and a squirrel dancing together on a branch.\n\nFor three days and three nights the happy people talked of the\nwonderful things that had happened. Then Silvergirl said:--\n\n\u201cBut, father and mother, you haven\u2019t asked for the silver door.\u201d\n\n\u201cLittle we care for silver doors,\u201d they cried, \u201cnow that we have our\nchildren back again.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut we have one for you. It is in the country of the Moon King; and\nwhen you go through the silver door, you come into a golden palace.\nWill you come with us and stay all your lives long?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, we will come,\u201d said the father and the mother, and they stepped\njoyfully into the golden chariot that had been empty before.\n\nThen the knights came back and lifted their plumed hats and bowed\nbefore the father and the mother. They all rode away and away and away\nfrom the gloomy forest to the happy country of the Moon King; and when\na messenger last came from that country, they were all living together\nin the greatest peace and happiness in the beautiful golden palace with\nthe silver door.\n\n\n\n\nKING HANSEL THE FIRST\n\n\n\n\nKING HANSEL THE FIRST\n\n\nThere was once a boy named Hansel who had lost his father, mother, and\nsister. Some people thought that they had been stolen by trolls, but\nno one knew certainly. Everybody\u2019s house was full, and there was no\nroom for the lonely little boy. \u201cThere is nothing for you to do but to\ngo out into the world and seek your fortune,\u201d people said to him; so\nHansel put on his little cap and started out.\n\nHe walked along the highway until he came to a place where four roads\nmet. The first went through a forest; the second went down a steep\nhill; the third led over a sunny plain; and the fourth wound up a\nbleak, rocky mountainside. \u201cWhen one has nowhere to go, one road is\nas good as another,\u201d said Hansel to himself, and he looked at each\nin turn. The sun was warm and the forest looked cool and shady, so he\ndecided to go through the forest.\n\nThe road was soft and mossy. There were many flowers along the way.\nEvery little while there were open glades that were red with sweet wild\nstrawberries. He often stopped to pick them, and as he went along, he\nsaid to himself, \u201cIt isn\u2019t so bad a thing, after all, to have to seek\none\u2019s fortune--if I only had a father and mother to go back to after I\nhave found it. Such a pleasant road as this must lead to some beautiful\nplace. Maybe I shall come to a palace. It will be made of gold, of\ncourse, and the windows will sparkle like diamonds. I will go around to\nthe smallest back door and ask, \u2018Do you want a boy to herd the sheep or\nthe cattle?\u2019 The king\u2019s man will answer, \u2018Yes, we do. Come in and we\nwill pay you a silver penny every month.\u2019 I can grow up fast, and some\nday, when the king\u2019s daughter is crossing the river, she will fall in\nand I--\u201d\n\nThese thoughts were broken in upon by a pitiful noise of a sort that\nthe boy had never heard before. It sounded a little like the crowing\nof a cock, but it was hoarse and half-stifled. \u201cSome creature is in\ntrouble,\u201d said Hans to himself. \u201cI\u2019ll hurry on and see what it is.\u201d He\nran down the road, and every minute the crying sounded louder and more\ndistressed. At last he came to a tiny clearing where a little hut was\nstanding. The door was closed and the owner had evidently gone from\nhome. Not far from the house was a coop, and in the coop was one lone\ncock.\n\n\u201cPlease give me some water,\u201d he begged; \u201cI am dying of thirst.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere shall I find it?\u201d Hansel asked.\n\n\u201cIndeed, I don\u2019t know,\u201d the cock gasped. \u201cThe brook said it was tired\nof having creatures drink it. \u2018I don\u2019t drink them,\u2019 it said, \u2018and why\nshould I let them drink me?\u2019 and then it ran off downhill as fast as it\ncould go. But do find me some water. I am choking.\u201d\n\nHansel began to search for water, but not a pool or a pond or a river\nor a brook or a spring or a swamp could be found. There was not even a\ndrop of dew to carry to the suffering cock, for the sun was warm and\neven the dew had vanished. Then Hansel went back and said:--\n\n\u201cI have searched the country through, and not a drop of water can I\nfind.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen I shall die,\u201d the cock groaned.\n\n\u201cNo, you won\u2019t,\u201d said the boy cheerily, \u201cfor I\u2019m going to dig a well\nfor you.\u201d\n\nHansel looked all around the little place and at last he found a spade.\nThen he pulled off his jacket and began to dig. The sun grew hotter\nand hotter, but still he kept at it.\n\n\u201cHave you found water yet?\u201d cried the cock, after a little while.\n\n\u201cNot yet,\u201d answered Hansel, \u201cbut the farther I dig, the nearer I am to\nit,\u201d and he dug faster than ever.\n\n\u201cHave you found it yet?\u201d asked the cock again, a little later.\n\n\u201cThe earth is moist,\u201d Hansel answered; but he was now so deep down in\nthe hole that his voice could hardly be heard.\n\n\u201cHave you found it yet?\u201d the cock gasped faintly, after a few minutes.\n\u201cI can\u2019t stand up any longer. I think I am dying.\u201d\n\nHansel was now so deep down that he could not hear the cock\u2019s question;\nbut he gave it a good answer, nevertheless, for he climbed out of the\nwell as fast as ever he could. The water was coming in by pailfuls,\nand he carried his cap all full and dripping to the thirsty cock.\n\nIt was not long before the cock was as well as ever. Hansel made a\nlittle trench from the well to the coop so that the poor thing should\nnot suffer from thirst again. Then he said:--\n\n\u201cGood-bye, Friend Cock. I must go on my way now, for I am seeking my\nfortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I haven\u2019t thanked you yet,\u201d said the cock. \u201cHow shall I pay you\nfor what you have done for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t want any pay,\u201d called Hansel over his shoulder, for he was\nalready on his way.\n\n\u201cBut I have a gift for you,\u201d cried the cock, and Hansel went back. The\ncock stretched his neck through the bars of the coop. Something was in\nhis bill.\n\n\u201cThis is for you,\u201d he said, and he dropped a little black seed into\nthe boy\u2019s hand. \u201cWhen you are in trouble, plant that seed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThank you very much,\u201d said Hansel. \u201cI\u2019ll keep it to remember you by,\u201d\nand he dropped it into his pocket. \u201cGood-bye again,\u201d he called.\n\n\u201cOh, but wait a minute,\u201d pleaded the cock. \u201cI have some advice for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right,\u201d replied the boy good-naturedly. \u201cWhat is it? Advice isn\u2019t\nheavy, and I can carry it in the same pocket with the seed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe first time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer\n\u2018Yes.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI hope I\u2019ll not meet any giants, but if I do, I\u2019ll not forget,\u201d Hansel\npromised. \u201cAll good things are three, so good-bye again.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen gifts should be three,\u201d declared the cock, \u201cand the third is yet\nto come. This is a bit of advice, too. There\u2019s no good fortune down\nthis road. Whoever walks beyond this house comes to trouble. Turn back\nand choose another way.\u201d\n\nHansel hesitated, for he remembered how hot and sandy or rocky the\nother roads looked; but he remembered, too, what his old nurse used\nto say, \u201cThere\u2019s many and many a thing that the beasts and birds know\nwhich men and women have yet to learn.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll go back,\u201d he said; \u201cand now good-bye for the last time.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood-bye,\u201d called the cock, with a cheery crow. \u201cDon\u2019t lose the seed\nand don\u2019t forget to say \u2018Yes\u2019 to the first question that a giant asks\nyou.\u201d\n\nThen Hansel went back through the forest, and it was not long before\nhe came to the place where the four roads met. \u201cOne is as good as\nanother,\u201d he said to himself again, \u201cand I may as well take the\nsecond.\u201d\n\nAt first it was not an easy road, for it went down a steep hill covered\nwith round stones. The boy had to pick his way among them as gingerly\nas if they had been eggs. But when he was once at the foot of the hill,\nit became a very pleasant road, for it went along beside the shore of\na pretty lake. The tiny waves rippled up against the yellow sand as\nif they thought the little lake was a real ocean and themselves real\nbreakers. Pearly shells lay on the shore. Hansel picked up a handful\nand walked along tossing them up in the air and catching them. Then he\nbegan to talk to himself. He said:--\n\n\u201cNurse used to tell me about the King of the Water World. He lives in\na cave far down in the ocean. He wears a crown of pearls and he sits\non a throne. The sun never shines there, but the walls of the cave\nare covered with rubies and emeralds, and they sparkle so that it is\nas light as day. When I come near his palace, I will ask if he has any\nwork that a boy can do. He will say, \u2018Yes, one of my mermaids has been\nstolen away from me, and I will give you half of my kingdom if you will\nbring her back.\u2019 Then I will go far and far and farther than far. I\nwill go through groves of coral, over beds of green and blue and yellow\nsea-mosses. I shall see shells of crimson and silver and gold; but I\nwon\u2019t stop for one of them. I\u2019ll go on and on and on till I come to the\nden of the sea-monster that stole the mermaid. There\u2019ll be a little\nhole in her dungeon, and she will stretch out her white hand and beckon\nme. I\u2019ll kill the dragon and--\u201d\n\n\u201cMeow, meow!\u201d came to his ears; \u201chelp me, help me!\u201d\n\n\u201cI know what that is, anyhow,\u201d said the boy to himself; and he called,\n\u201cPussy, pussy, what\u2019s the matter? I\u2019m coming to help you. But where are\nyou?\u201d he cried, for no cat was in sight.\n\n\u201cMeow, meow!\u201d wailed the cat, and Hansel began to search for her. Far\nout in the lake was a tiny green island, and the cries seemed to come\nfrom that, though nothing was to be seen on it but a sandy beach, a\nrock, and a tall tree. Hansel waded out into the lake, but the water\ngrew deep so fast that he had to go back to the shore. Still the\npitiful cries continued. The boy threw off his clothes and swam out to\nthe island. Behind the rock lay a heavy bag, tied with seven knots; and\nit was from the bag that the cries were coming.\n\n\u201cHold on, pussy, I\u2019ll get you out,\u201d he said, and he set to work to\nuntie the seven knots. Each one was more difficult than the ones\nbefore it, but at last the seventh had been untied, and a poor,\nforlorn, yellow-and-black cat crept out. Hansel stroked her wet fur and\nrubbed it dry with some bits of dead grass. The cat purred and arched\nher back and rubbed her head against his hand.\n\n\u201cHow did you happen to be in that bag?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cSome one gave my master a pretty gray cat,\u201d she replied. \u201cHe said he\ndid not want two, and so he tied me up in the bag and threw me into the\nlake.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad I came along in time to get you out,\u201d said Hansel heartily.\n\u201cIf you will sit on my shoulder, I will swim ashore and carry you.\u201d\n\nThe cat sprang eagerly to his shoulder, and he started to swim ashore.\nAt first she was as light as a feather, but before they had gone\nfar from the island, she began to grow heavy. She grew heavier and\nheavier, but the boy would not throw her off to drown. He struggled on\nand came at last to the shore, but he was so tired that he could hardly\nstand. As he lay on the shore resting, the cat scrambled about among\nthe bushes, and seemed to be searching for something.\n\nAfter a little, the boy cried:--\n\n\u201cGood-bye, pussy, good-bye. When a boy is seeking his fortune, he must\nseek it,\u201d and he started to go on farther.\n\n\u201cBut I haven\u2019t thanked you yet,\u201d cried the cat, running out of the\nbushes. \u201cWhat shall I give you for what you have done for me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t want any reward,\u201d cried Hansel. \u201cI\u2019m glad I got you out.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have a gift for you,\u201d called the cat, and Hansel went back. The\ncat dropped a tiny white seed into his hand. \u201cWhen you are in trouble,\nplant that,\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cThank you, thank you,\u201d said Hansel. \u201cI\u2019ll keep it to remember you by,\u201d\nand he put it into his pocket to lie beside the little black seed.\n\u201cGood-bye again,\u201d he cried.\n\n\u201cAh, but wait a minute,\u201d pleaded the cat. \u201cI have some advice for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am getting so much advice,\u201d thought Hansel, \u201cthat I am afraid I\nshall be a wise man before I have made my fortune\u201d; but he said aloud,\n\u201cAll right, what is it? I can carry it in another pocket.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe second time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer,\n\u2018With salt.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWith salt, with salt,\u201d repeated the boy. \u201cTo the first question I am\nto answer \u2018Yes,\u2019 and to the second I must say, \u2018With salt.\u2019 I certainly\nhope I shan\u2019t meet any giants, but if there\u2019s nothing harder to do than\nto answer a few questions, I can surely do that. Good-bye again, I\u2019m\ngoing on till I find my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there\u2019s no good fortune down this road,\u201d said the cat. \u201cWhoever\npasses this lake comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another road.\u201d\n\nThe thought of that long, long hill with the rolling stones was not\nvery pleasant, and Hansel hesitated; but the cat looked at him so\nearnestly that at last he answered:--\n\n\u201cAll right, pussy, I\u2019ll go back and I won\u2019t lose the little white seed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd don\u2019t forget to say \u2018With salt\u2019 to the second question,\u201d cried the\ncat.\n\n\u201cNo, I won\u2019t. Good-bye, pussy, good-bye.\u201d\n\nClimbing the long hill was not nearly so hard as he had expected, for\nhe had rolled so many of the round stones from the path as he went\ndown. Then, too, the sun was no longer directly overhead. Indeed, the\nair grew cooler and cooler, and when he came to where the four roads\nmet, it was so cold that he had to blow on his fingers to keep them\nfrom being stiff and numb.\n\n\u201cI suppose a boy can seek his fortune whether it is hot or cold,\u201d\nthought Hansel, and he set off bravely to walk in the third road.\nThis seemed to lead directly across a vast plain; but he could not\nsee very far, for there were thick clouds of dust blowing in little\nwhirlwinds. \u201cAll this dust must come from some great city,\u201d thought the\nboy. \u201cPerhaps I shall come to it before long. I will go straight to\nthe Lord Mayor, and say, \u2018Sir Lord Mayor, is there anything for a boy\nto do to make his fortune?\u2019 He will answer, \u2018Yes, one of my ships is\nall ready to sail. You may sail with her, and if you have anything to\nventure, perhaps you will make your fortune in one voyage. What have\nyou to send?\u2019 Then I\u2019ll say, \u2018Sir Lord Mayor, I have a black seed and\na white one.\u2019 No, I forget, if he happens to be a giant, I must say\n\u2018Yes\u2019 to the first question. That will be such nonsense that he will\nthink I am a philosopher, and he will say, \u2018I need another counselor,\nand I\u2019ll take you. You shall have a long red gown and a white wig, and\nevery morning before breakfast you shall have a great piece of red, red\ngold.\u2019 I will say \u2018Thank you, I--\u2019\u201d\n\nWithout thinking what he was about, Hansel had been talking aloud; and\nnow the words were fairly blown from his lips, for a great storm had\nsuddenly arisen. Big hailstones beat upon him. He was thrown into the\nbrambles and against the stones. His cap was lost, his clothes were\ntorn, and he was almost exhausted when at last he managed to get into\nthe shelter of a high rock that kept the biting wind from him.\n\nIt seemed to him that he had hardly taken three long breaths before he\nheard a loud buzzing. \u201cCome and help us,\u201d it said; \u201ccome and help us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI knew cocks could talk,\u201d thought Hansel in surprise, \u201cand cats can,\nof course, but I never heard bees talk before. They must be in some\ngreat trouble. I can\u2019t do anything to help them, that\u2019s sure, for it is\nall I can do to get my breath.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome and help us,\u201d buzzed the bees, until Hansel could not bear to\nhear their pleading any longer and he asked:--\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cOur hive is blown over,\u201d they replied. \u201cThe storm came up so suddenly\nthat many bees are away, and when they come back, they will not know\nwhere to go if the hive is not in its place. Do put it back for us.\u201d\n\n\u201cSurely, I can do so much for them if I am tired,\u201d thought Hansel; and\nhe asked, \u201cWhere does your hive belong?\u201d\n\n\u201cOn top of this high rock,\u201d they replied.\n\n\u201cI shouldn\u2019t think it would stay there in this wind,\u201d said Hansel to\nhimself, \u201cbut I suppose they know best. People say that bees are wise,\nand maybe they know some way of making it firm.\u201d--\u201cI don\u2019t know whether\nI can climb the rock in this storm,\u201d he said aloud, \u201cbut at least I can\ntry.\u201d\n\nSo Hansel took up the beehive carefully and began to climb. It seemed\nat every step as if the wind would surely blow him away; but he kept on\nand on, and at last he was at the top of the rock and had put the hive\ninto the place that the bees pointed out. The storm grew worse and\nworse until it almost seemed as if the rock itself would be blown over.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t see how your hive is going to stay there,\u201d said Hansel. \u201cThe\nmoment I let go, it will fall down and be blown to nobody knows where.\u201d\n\n\u201cPlease stay and hold it for us,\u201d the bees pleaded anxiously.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all I can do to hold my head on my shoulders,\u201d replied Hansel.\n\nBut the bees still begged, \u201cDo stay and help us, do help us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll try it,\u201d said Hansel, \u201cbut it looks as if the hive and\nthe rock and myself would all blow away together.\u201d\n\nThe wind blew as if it feared it would never have another chance and\nmeant to make the best of this one. The rain fell, not in drops, it\nseemed to Hansel, or in pailfuls, but in whole pondfuls, in oceanfuls.\nHe threw one arm around the hive and the other around a jagged point\nof rock, and there he clung for dear life. It was a hard pull for the\ntired boy, but after a while the storm cleared as suddenly as it had\narisen. Many of the wandering bees returned and made their way into the\nhive and were safe. The other bees buzzed a welcome to them, and Hansel\ncould not help being glad that he had saved their home. They clustered\naround Hansel and buzzed their thanks into his ear. They gave him all\nthe honey he could eat and a fine large piece of comb to carry away\nwith him.\n\n\u201cBut where are you going?\u201d they asked.\n\n\u201cEverywhere and nowhere,\u201d answered Hansel. \u201cI haven\u2019t any father or any\nmother or any place to stay in, and I am going out into the world to\nseek my fortune.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no good fortune to be found on this road,\u201d declared the bees.\n\u201cYou must go back to where the four roads meet and choose another.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are roads enough in the world,\u201d said Hansel with a laugh, \u201cbut\nsomehow none of them seem to be the right ones.\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery one has his own road,\u201d said the bees. \u201cSome find it in one day,\nsome in two days, and some in three days, but there is surely a road.\u201d\n\n\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll go back and try the road uphill,\u201d Hansel said. \u201cBees\nare wise, I know. Can you tell me whether I shall find my fortune on\nthat road? The mountain is so steep that I am sure I should break my\nneck if I had to come down it by night; and then, too, there are no\nmore roads to try.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must not say any more,\u201d buzzed the bees, \u201cbut we can make you a\ngift that will be of help in time of need\u201d; and they brought out from\nthe farthest corner of the hive a tiny seed as yellow as their own\nhoney. \u201cTake good care of this,\u201d they said, \u201cfor the time will come\nwhen you will have need of it. And there is one thing more; we have\nsome advice for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ve had two pieces already,\u201d rejoined Hansel, laughing, \u201cand yet I\ndon\u2019t seem to be wise enough to find the right road.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt least, we can tell you something that will keep you from going\nwhere you do not wish to go,\u201d buzzed the bees.\n\n\u201cThank you kindly,\u201d said Hansel. \u201cI will put it into my jacket pocket\nwith the other pieces. When one has not much else to carry, he can\nsurely carry a piece of advice. What is it, then?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the third question that a giant asks you, be sure to answer, \u2018In\nthe land and in the sea,\u2019\u201d replied the bees earnestly. \u201cDo not forget.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019ll remember,\u201d Hansel promised. \u201cTo the first question I am to\nsay \u2018Yes\u2019; to the second, \u2018With salt\u2019; and to the third, \u2018In the land\nand in the sea.\u2019 I hope no one will ask me a fourth question, for I\u2019d\nhave to answer that all out of my own wit. Now good-bye. Thank you\nkindly for the honey and the seed and the bit of advice. I\u2019ll turn back\nand go up the mountain if I can see to find the road.\u201d He waved his\nhand in farewell, turned back, and crossed the plain once more.\n\nBefore long he was at the place where the four roads met. He could\nnot exactly \u201cchoose\u201d which one to take, for there was only one left\nthat he had not tried; but he gazed for at least three minutes at the\nlong, winding way that disappeared in the shadows. He fancied that\nthere was a heavy stone castle at the top of the mountain, but it was\nfast growing dusky and he could not be sure whether what he saw was\nnot a gray cloud. It was a lonely road to follow in the twilight, and\nHansel could not help thinking of the other boys who were safe in their\nown homes; but he was a stout-hearted little fellow, and he said to\nhimself, \u201cI suppose that if a boy is seeking his fortune, he must seek\nit; and since the end of the road won\u2019t come to me, why, then, I\u2019ll go\nto the end of the road.\u201d And he set off bravely to climb the mountain.\n\nThe road wound about and went in many zigzags, but at last Hansel was\nat the top of the mountain. Sure enough, there was a great stone castle\nthat towered up till the battlements really seemed to reach the clouds.\nHansel walked timidly up to the gate and knocked. No one answered. He\nknocked again, for it was so dark and wild on the hill that he began\nto feel afraid. \u201cIf they will only let me come in,\u201d he thought, \u201cand\ngive me a bit of straw to lie on, I don\u2019t care for any grand fortune\u201d;\nand he knocked a third time.\n\nThen the gate was opened a little way, and a great coarse hand as large\nas Hansel\u2019s whole body was stretched out and pulled him in through the\nopening. Of course, the hand belonged to a giant, who was almost as\ntall as the walls of the castle. The boy ventured to put his head back\nand take one look at the giant\u2019s face. It would have been frightful\nenough in any case, for it looked so hateful; but it was especially\nstartling because it had three eyes, one above each ear and one on\nthe top of the head. The giant could see best with that, and now he\nbent his head over and glared at Hansel with it. This eye was red and\nfiery, and at its flashing the boy felt as though the lightning was\nabout to strike him. The giant gazed a minute or two and then called:--\n\n[Illustration: A GREAT COARSE HAND PULLED HIM IN]\n\n\u201cBrothers Humpkin and Lumpkin, here\u2019s a boy.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s eat him, Brother Mumpkin,\u201d cried two harsh voices, and\nimmediately two more dreadful giants came shambling out of the castle\nkeep. One had three ears, and the other had three mouths. This third\ngiant was Lumpkin, and he was the most horrible of the three, for he\nwas continually grating his teeth and mumbling his heavy lips.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll eat him, well eat him,\u201d they cried; but when they caught sight\nof the boy and saw how small and thin he was, they laughed scornfully.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019ll be only a mouthful apiece for us,\u201d said Humpkin. Lumpkin,\nhowever, began to feel the boy\u2019s ribs and thighs, pinching him now and\nthen to see if the flesh was firm and solid.\n\n\u201cMaybe he\u2019ll not be so bad,\u201d said Lumpkin. \u201cWell put him into one of\nthe dungeons, and in a day or two we\u2019ll have a feast. These little\ncreatures are small, but they are tender.\u201d\n\nNow one giant would have been enough to frighten anybody, but with\nthree such monsters before him it is no wonder that Hansel was white\nwith terror. Mumpkin held him up by the back of the neck as if he was a\nkitten and demanded:--\n\n\u201cDo they eat boys in the land of the Pogglywogs?\u201d\n\nIf Hansel had answered, \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d the giant would probably have\nretorted, \u201cYou\u2019ll find out that we do here,\u201d and perhaps have taken a\nbite on the instant, but Hansel in all his terror had not forgotten\nhis promise to the cock, and he faltered, \u201cYes.\u201d\n\n\u201cListen to that!\u201d cried Humpkin. \u201cNow we\u2019ll know how the Pogglywogs do\nit, for we must do like them if we want to grow any taller.\u201d\n\nThen Mumpkin gave the boy a pinch to make sure that he was attending\nand asked in a voice that sounded like distant thunder:--\n\n\u201cHow do they eat them?\u201d\n\n\u201cWith salt,\u201d answered the boy faintly.\n\n\u201cHe says, \u2018With salt,\u2019\u201d repeated Mumpkin. \u201cWhat\u2019s salt? I never saw\nany. You boy, where do they find salt?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the sea and in the land,\u201d answered the boy.\n\n\u201c\u2018In the sea and in the land,\u2019\u201d repeated Mumpkin. \u201cThere\u2019s one thing\nsure, we must have some salt, whatever it may be. Humpkin, if you will\ntake the boy to the dungeon, I\u2019ll go out and look the land through for\nsome salt.\u201d\n\nSo poor Hansel was taken to the dungeon and left there. Giants are\nusually dull, and although these monsters wanted him to grow fat, it\nnever entered their stupid heads that they must give him anything to\neat. They shut the door, locked and bolted it, and went away, thinking\nwhat a dainty morsel would be ready for them when Mumpkin came back\nwith the salt.\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t take him long to find it,\u201d said Humpkin. \u201cThat third eye of\nhis can see all there is to see.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wonder where he will go,\u201d said Lumpkin.\n\n\u201cOh, not farther than the foot of the hill,\u201d declared Humpkin. \u201cThere\nisn\u2019t much land beyond.\u201d\n\nWhile they were talking, Mumpkin was plunging down the hill. He kicked\nthe great stones from his path as if they were only so many pebbles,\nand he tore up the bushes and little trees along his way. It was night,\nof course, but that made no difference, for, as any three-eyed person\nknows, one who has three eyes can see as well in the night as in the\ndaytime. When he came to the foot of the hill, he looked around at the\ndifferent roads. He did not know anything about salt and thought it\nwas as likely to grow on trees as anywhere else, so he started to go\nthrough the forest. With two eyes he looked at the trees on either side\nof the way and with the third, the one on the top of his head, he kept\nclose watch of the moon. \u201cI heard once that the moon was made of green\ncheese,\u201d he said to himself, \u201cand maybe salt is a kind of cheese.\u201d\n\nNow Mumpkin was not at all used to thinking, and he was so tired by\nthis effort that he had to sit down to rest. He fell asleep and slept\na long while. He was awakened by a loud \u201cCock-a-doodle-doo!\u201d directly\nin front of him. The giant rubbed his three eyes and looked around. A\nbig handsome cock was strutting up and down in the path, looking at the\nmonster as if he were a new kind of worm that might or might not be\ngood to eat.\n\n\u201cGet out of the road!\u201d roared the giant.\n\n\u201cWith pleasure,\u201d replied the cock. It gave a little flutter with its\nwings and in a moment it was resting comfortably on the giant\u2019s left\nshoulder.\n\n\u201cYah! Get off!\u201d the giant growled.\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d the cock replied, \u201cbut if you knew how much I know, you\nwould be glad to have me whisper in your ear.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll wring your neck,\u201d roared the giant, and put up his hand to catch\nthe cock; but in a twinkling the bird was on the limb of a tree higher\nthan even a giant could well reach.\n\n\u201cAre you going farther down this road?\u201d the cock asked.\n\n\u201cYes, I am,\u201d said the giant. \u201cI am going to find salt; but it\u2019s no\nbusiness of yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I give you a bit of advice?\u201d asked the cock politely.\n\n\u201cKeep your advice to yourself,\u201d the giant growled.\n\n\u201cBut I have to give it,\u201d said the cock. \u201cThat is what I am put here\nfor. It is this: Do not go down this road any farther. There is no salt\nhere, and if you go, something will surely happen to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething might happen to you, you stupid little bunch of bill and\nfeathers,\u201d shouted the giant angrily, \u201cbut things don\u2019t happen to folk\nas big as I am, I\u2019ll have you know.\u201d And he started off down the road\nfaster than he had ever walked before in all his life.\n\nFor a long while nothing happened except that the trees grew taller and\ntaller; but suddenly the giant heard a growling which sounded louder\nthan any growling that he had ever heard before, and in a moment a\ndreadful creature came out of the woods. It was a thousand times as big\nas the giant. Its enormous tail switched from side to side. It walked\non four legs, and when it stretched one of them out, the giant saw\nthat it was armed with sharp claws almost as long as his whole body.\nThe creature was covered with a thick growth of yellow-and-black hair\nwhich stood on end at the sight of the strange object in the road. It\nglared at him with horrible great yellow eyes, and then put out one big\npaw to touch him and rolled him over and over in the dust. Never was a\ngiant so terribly frightened before. The monster tumbled him about and\nplayed with him awhile, then gave a great yawn which revealed a vast\ncavern of a mouth as red as a fiery furnace, and walked away.\n\nThe giant lay trembling, but after a time he shook himself and turned\ntoward home. \u201cSalt or no salt, I\u2019ll go no farther,\u201d he declared. \u201cI\u2019ll\ngo home, and I\u2019ll run faster than any giant ever ran before.\u201d\n\nHe ran as fast as he could, but somehow he did not get over the ground\nat all rapidly. It seemed a long way from one tree to another. He was\ntired and he was thirsty. He stopped at a clear, quiet little pool to\nget a drink. A beetle sat in the bottom of the pool, looking straight\nat him. \u201cI never saw a beetle like that in the water before,\u201d growled\nthe giant, and he made an ugly face at it. The beetle did the same, but\nmade no reply. The giant drank what he wanted and went on. It was a\nlong, long way. The sun rose and the sun set many and many a time, but\nat last the giant was at the gate of the castle.\n\n\u201cLet me in,\u201d he cried. \u201cI tell you, let me in.\u201d He pounded on the gate\nwith all his might, and at last he heard his brothers coming. \u201cI\u2019ll\nkill them,\u201d he growled, \u201cfor keeping me out here,\u201d and he thumped\nlouder than ever. At last Lumpkin opened the gate.\n\n\u201cIt is strange, isn\u2019t it,\u201d he said, \u201cthat Mumpkin does not come. I\nsuppose he\u2019s found something good to eat, another boy, maybe, and he\nmeans to keep it all for himself. I don\u2019t care whether he comes or\nnot, but I want that salt. Ugh! what a horrid beetle that is,\u201d and he\ncrushed it with his foot. This was the end of Mumpkin. The forest was\nno ordinary forest, of course, but an enchanted wilderness; and whoever\nwent too far in it turned into some wild creature. The giant had not\nfound it out, but he had really been a beetle for a long, long time,\nand the monster that had given him such a fright was only a playful cat.\n\nThe brothers shut the gate and went into the castle again. They were\ntired of waiting for a mouthful of roasted boy, but they were always\nafraid that the other race of giants, the Pogglywogs, would become\nlarger than they; and now that they had heard that the Pogglywogs ate\nsalt with their boys, they did not want to taste this one without it.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t wait any longer,\u201d declared Lumpkin. \u201cI\u2019m going to find some\nsalt, and what\u2019s more, I won\u2019t be so long about it as that stupid\nlubber.\u201d So the second giant set out to search for salt. When he\ncame to the foot of the mountain, he looked at the three roads and\nconcluded to go on the one that went still farther down. The rolling\nstones gave him considerable trouble, and more than once he had rather\na hard fall because of them. He was half-stunned by the last tumble,\nand he lay on the ground a minute or two before he tried to get up.\nWhen he rose again and looked around him, there stood a cock quietly\nwatching him.\n\n\u201cMay I ask,\u201d said the cock politely, \u201cif you intend to go much farther\non this road?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that to you?\u201d growled Lumpkin, rubbing his bruised elbow and\ngrating his teeth horribly. \u201cI\u2019ll eat you, I will. I always eat cocks.\u201d\n\n\u201cMay I give you a bit of advice?\u201d asked the cock.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d the giant thundered. \u201cI can make advice for myself. Get out.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have to give it,\u201d said the cock quietly. \u201cThat is what I am put\nhere for. This is it: Do not go down this road any farther. There is no\nsalt here, and if you go, something will surely happen to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSomething will happen to _you_!\u201d shouted the giant, and with all three\nmouths at once he tried to bite the cock\u2019s head off. The cock flew up\non the limb of a great tree, far above the head of the giant, and sat\nthere watching as the giant strode off down the hill.\n\nIt was not long before he came to a lake. Now the giant had never seen\nwater in that form before. This looked smooth and easy to walk on, so\nhe set out to walk on it instead of on the road. Even near the shore\nthe water was deep, and in a little less than no time the giant was\ndown on his knees in the lake, spluttering and storming and snarling\nand growling and grating his teeth together as if he meant to eat even\nthe rocks and the sand.\n\n\u201cThere are better ways of getting over the water than trying to walk on\nit,\u201d said a voice pleasantly.\n\nThe giant staggered to his feet and looked around.\n\n\u201cEh?\u201d said he.\n\n\u201cThere are better ways of getting over the water than trying to walk\non it,\u201d the voice repeated; and now the giant saw that it proceeded\nfrom a boat that was coming nearer and nearer. In the boat was a\nyellow-and-black cat, who bowed politely and sat waiting for him to\nspeak.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that thing you\u2019re in?\u201d demanded the giant.\n\n\u201cThis is a boat,\u201d the cat replied. \u201cWith it one can easily go on the\nwater.\u201d\n\n\u201cGet out, I want it,\u201d the giant growled.\n\nThe cat\u2019s yellow eyes began to look fiery, but she asked very quietly:--\n\n\u201cAre you sure that you can manage it?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course I can; I am a hundred times as big as you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I have a collar around my neck, and you have none.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll have one, too,\u201d the giant cried. \u201cWhere\u2019s the stuff you make it\nof?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s some stuff you might use on the ground on the farther side of\nthat big rock,\u201d said the cat. \u201cSee that you make it thick enough.\u201d\n\nThe giant picked up a great mass of the stuff. It was lead and it was\nexceedingly heavy, but he bent it and squeezed it and pulled it and\npunched it and jammed it and pounded it until he had made a collar big\nenough to go over his head with only the least bit of crowding. It\nwould have taken at least ten common men to lift it, but the giant put\nit on without any trouble.\n\n\u201cBring that boat to me,\u201d he called in a voice that would have\nfrightened most cats out of a year\u2019s growth; but this one only looked\nat him and slowly rowed the boat up to the shore. Then she sprang out\nlightly and curled herself up on a warm rock. The giant stepped on the\ngunwale of the boat with one of his enormous feet. Then he lifted the\nother foot, and, of course, the boat tipped over just as any other boat\nwould have done, and in a moment the giant lay on the bottom of the\nlake. His head with the leaden collar was down and his heels were up;\nand up they stayed, for this was the end of the three-mouthed giant\nLumpkin.\n\n\u201cFolk that never use their heads ought not to mind losing them,\u201d said\nthe cat, as she yawned comfortably and stretched herself out to take a\nnap.\n\nMeanwhile, several events had taken place in the castle of the three\ngiants. Humpkin had more than once gone to the top of the tower and\nlistened first with one ear, then with another, and then with all\nthree; but not a sound could he hear of either Mumpkin or Lumpkin. \u201cI\nrather think they are killed,\u201d he said, \u201cand I\u2019m glad of it, for now\nI\u2019ll eat that boy all by myself. I don\u2019t care anything about salt,\nwhatever it may be, and I\u2019ll go straight to the dungeon and get him.\u201d\n\nNow several events had been happening in the dungeon also. At first it\nwas a very white-faced and badly frightened boy who lay there on the\ndamp floor; but as hour after hour passed and no one came to harm him,\nhe began to recover from his fright a little and to look about him\nto see if there was any way of making his escape. The walls were of\nstone, the window was far above his head, and the door was evidently\nlocked and bolted. What could he do?\n\nWhile he sat pondering, he thought he heard a sound on the other side\nof the wall as if some one was speaking. He could see a tiny crack in\nthe wall, so he lay down on the floor and put his ear to the crack.\nThen he heard a voice that asked:--\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m a boy, and my name is Hansel. I came out to seek my fortune. The\ncock and the cat and the bees wouldn\u2019t let me go on the other roads,\nand so I came here, and the giants caught me. They say they mean to eat\nme. Who are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am a magician,\u201d the voice replied.\n\n\u201cThen why don\u2019t you tear the castle down or kill the giants or call\nup an earthquake or do something?\u201d the boy cried. \u201cI always thought\nmagicians could do anything they chose.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo they can if they choose something that they can do,\u201d declared the\nvoice. \u201cBut even magicians,\u201d he added, \u201ccannot do everything without\nanything.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan\u2019t you draw a magic circle so the giants can\u2019t touch you?\u201d asked\nHansel.\n\n\u201cI could if I had anything to draw it with,\u201d said the magician, \u201cbut I\nhaven\u2019t.\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t even a crumb of anything to eat,\u201d said Hansel, \u201cand I am\nhungry as hungry.\u201d\n\n\u201cHaven\u2019t you a bit of bread or a kernel of corn or a grain of wheat\nabout you?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot one. I have only three little seeds of nobody knows what; a black\none that a cock gave me; a yellow one that some bees gave me; and a\nwhite one that a cat gave me. They\u2019re of no use; they wouldn\u2019t make a\nmouthful for a sparrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaybe they will for a boy, though,\u201d said the magician thoughtfully. \u201cI\nshouldn\u2019t be in the least surprised if they were magic seeds. At any\nrate, they are of no use as they are, and you may as well plant them\nand see what will come up.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no earth to plant them in,\u201d said Hansel.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s no matter,\u201d replied the magician. \u201cMagic seeds do not need\nearth. Just lay one of them down in a corner and say over it:--\n\n  I plant thee, seed,\n  Now in my need.\n  Be not afraid\n  To lend thy aid.\u201d\n\nSo many strange things had come to pass that Hansel was almost afraid\nto have anything to do with the seeds; but he finally decided to plant\nthe yellow one, and then, if nothing dreadful happened, to plant\nthe black one, and after that, the white. He laid the yellow one\ndown gently, repeated the magician\u2019s spell over it, and turned away.\nBefore he could get across the little room, he felt something touch\nhis shoulder. It was a branch of a tree, and was loaded with bright\nred apples; another was full of thick slices of bread and butter well\nsprinkled with sugar; from another hung many little buckets of creamy\nmilk; another was weighted down with cake and gingerbread; another with\nsugar cookies; and yet another with tender, juicy roast beef and roast\nchicken. While he stood gazing at all these things, the tree kept on\ngrowing; and even before the hungry boy could put out his hand for a\nsingle mouthful, it had almost reached the top of the room, and every\nbranch had something good on it.\n\nHansel threw himself on the floor beside the crack in the wall and\ntold the magician of the amazing thing that had happened. \u201cI wish I\ncould get through this wall,\u201d he said, \u201cso I could give you something\nto eat. Can\u2019t you dig through it?\u201d he asked eagerly. \u201cHaven\u2019t you any\nknife?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe giants took it away,\u201d replied the magician; \u201cbut never mind. Since\nyour seeds are magic seeds, there is hope for us, and I don\u2019t mind\ngoing hungry for a while. Be quick and plant another and see what will\ncome of it.\u201d\n\nHansel planted the tiny black seed, saying over the same magic spell.\nHe did not turn his back this time, you may be sure; but now, although\na little shoot came up at once, it grew more slowly, and it was at\nleast ten minutes before it bore any fruit. Even when the fruit\nappeared, it did not look very valuable, for it was only one pod, long\nand brown and thick. Hansel told the magician about it, and before\nhe had fairly finished speaking, he heard something drop heavily on\nthe floor behind him. The pod had ripened and burst and the fruit had\nfallen out--the biggest, sharpest, strongest jackknife that was ever\nmade in all the world.\n\n\u201cOh, oh!\u201d cried Hansel. \u201cNow, Mr. Magician, I can dig through this\nwall.\u201d\n\nThat would not have been so easily done with any common knife; but this\none actually seemed to dig of itself, for whether Hansel was holding\nit or not, it kept on working and the bits of stone kept on falling.\nIt was not many minutes before the hole was large enough for a boy to\ncreep through; and through it Hansel went with his hands full of bread\nand butter and gingerbread and roast beef.\n\nIf only there had been no giants to fear, the boy and the magician\nwould have had a delightful time together. Even as it was, they had so\nmuch to tell that for a little while they forgot all about the third\nseed. At last the magician thought of it and he said:--\n\n\u201cThere is no knowing how soon the giants may come upon us. Hurry back\nand plant the third seed and see what help that will give us.\u201d\n\nThen Hansel crept back and planted the little white seed. That was\neven slower than the black one in coming up; but yet it was not many\nminutes before it was up to Hansel\u2019s knees and had begun to form its\nfruit. Never was there such fruit seen before. It was perfectly white\nand round and hard. After a while it fell off, and Hansel in great\ndisappointment carried it to the magician.\n\n\u201cHere it is,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it is no good at all. It looks just like a\npiece of chalk.\u201d\n\nMuch to his surprise, the magician clapped his hands and cried:--\n\n\u201cThis is best of all. Now we are safe. Come giant or dwarf or troll or\ndemon, they cannot harm us.\u201d\n\nHansel was afraid the magician had gone mad, but in a moment he\nunderstood. The white fruit really was chalk, and in only two or three\nseconds longer than no time at all, the magician was down on his knees,\ndrawing a magic circle about himself and the boy as fast as ever he\ncould.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d he said, with a deep sigh of relief. \u201cNothing can hurt us now.\nThere\u2019s something else for you to know. The magic seeds were given to\nyou, and, therefore, you have the right to ask three questions. What is\nthe first?\u201d\n\nIt did not take Hansel long to think what he wanted to know, and\nwithout a moment\u2019s delay he cried:--\n\n\u201cPlease tell me where is the terrible giant with three eyes?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe lies dead outside the gate of the castle,\u201d said a voice.\n\n\u201cWhere is the one with the three mouths?\u201d\n\n\u201cHis feet are in the air, his head in the water, and he is drowned as\ndead as a stone,\u201d replied the voice.\n\n\u201cAnd where is the one with the three ears?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe stands outside the dungeon and is just about to open the door,\u201d was\nthe reply; and sure enough, the bolts were drawn, the key was turned,\nand the giant Humpkin strode into the room.\n\n\u201cHow did you get here, you young rascal, you?\u201d he roared. \u201cI put you\ninto the other dungeon to wait till I came to eat you. You\u2019ll pay for\nthis, you will.\u201d Humpkin caught him by the arm, or rather, tried to\ncatch him, for the instant the giant put one foot within the circle,\nsomething or other struck him a heavy blow. He tried again, and this\ntime he was struck so terribly that he howled with pain and fright and\nran for his life, leaving all the doors wide open behind him.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d cried the magician; \u201ccome quick!\u201d He caught the boy by the hand\nand half dragged him out of the dungeon. \u201cStay there,\u201d he said when\nthey had come to the courtyard, and he himself ran through the gate\nof the castle. Then, while Humpkin was half running and half rolling\ndown the mountain, the magician, too, was running as fast as he could\ngo, making a wide chalk mark entirely around the castle. When this was\ndone, he went back into the court, not troubling himself to close the\ngate, and called to Hansel.\n\n\u201cCome, let\u2019s go up into the tower,\u201d he said, \u201cand see what will happen.\u201d\n\nThey climbed to the top of the highest tower and looked around. Pretty\nsoon they saw Humpkin come stumbling up the hill, snarling and growling\nand by turns rubbing his head and shaking his great fist. \u201cI\u2019ll be\nthere,\u201d he muttered, \u201cand then you\u2019ll pay for this, you will. I\u2019ll eat\nyou both before you can say--\u2018Oh! Oh!\u2019\u201d he screeched, for again he had\ntouched the magic circle, and a third blow, worse than either of the\nothers, had sent him a quarter of a league from the gate. He tried\nagain and again, but as he made the third attempt, a swarm of bees flew\ninto his face, buzzing and stinging so savagely that they drove him\nover the cliff. This cliff was so high that he broke into pieces long\nbefore he reached the bottom, such small pieces that as yet no one has\never found even one of them.\n\nAfter the magician and Hansel had seen the last of the giant, they came\ndown from the tower and began to look through the castle. Of course\nthere were, as in every giant\u2019s castle, rooms upon rooms filled from\nfloor to ceiling with silver and gold; there were others fairly crammed\nwith diamonds and rubies and emeralds and pearls.\n\n\u201cYou will be the richest boy in the whole land,\u201d said the magician.\n\u201cYou are king, of course.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, aren\u2019t you going to be king?\u201d asked the boy, with wide-open eyes.\n\n\u201cKing? No, not I. I am a magician,\u201d was the proud reply. \u201cOnly let me\nhave a quiet tower where no one ever slams the doors or interrupts me\nwhen I am making my calculations, and I would not give a fig for all\nthe gold and jewels in the castle. But come, now, and let us go down\ninto the dungeons. There may be some one else shut up there.\u201d\n\nDown into the dungeons they went. The giant\u2019s keys were sticking in the\ndoor of the dungeon where the magician had been shut up. Room after\nroom was unlocked, but no one was to be seen.\n\n\u201cWe must have been the only prisoners,\u201d said the magician. \u201cThere seem\nto be no more rooms.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thought I saw a little door out of that dark place under the\nstairs,\u201d Hansel said. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s a room.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d said the magician, and he tried key after key, but none\nof them fitted. \u201cI fancy there\u2019s a touch of magic about this,\u201d he said\nthoughtfully. \u201cSome magician must have been here and made this lock.\nThere\u2019s one thing sure, what magic has done, magic can undo.\u201d\n\nHe drew a circle entirely around the little door and wrote some\nmysterious figures and signs within it. He had hardly finished the last\none before the door flung itself open. There stood a tall, stately\nman, and by his side was a beautiful woman with her arm thrown closely\naround a young girl two or three years older than Hansel.\n\nNow comes the strangest part of the whole story and the one that is\nhardest to believe, for these three people proved to be Hansel\u2019s father\nand mother and sister. They had really been stolen away by trolls, as\ntheir friends thought, and had been put into the dungeon of the giants\nfor safe-keeping. The trolls had been overcome by other trolls who\nwere stronger than they and put to death. The giants were not used to\nremembering things, and they had forgotten all about their prisoners.\nLuckily, Hansel\u2019s father had some magic food in his pockets, or else\nthey would have starved long before. There they were, alive and well;\nand now Hansel, the lonely little boy whom nobody wanted, had a father\nand mother and sister, a powerful friend, and rooms upon rooms filled\nwith gold and silver from floor to ceiling.\n\nThe doors of the castle keep were flung wide open. The sun shone in and\nthe sweet, strong wind blew through and through it until every corner\nwas fresh and pure. Little flowers began to grow in the courtyard.\nThey showed their faces timidly at first, but soon there were great\ncompanies of them, bright and cheery and happy as ever flowers could\nbe. Vines ran up the walls and peered over into the very keep of the\ncastle. Some even slipped in through the gratings of the dungeons to\nsee what kind of places they were. Night and day the gates stood\nopen, for there were no enemies to be afraid of. Hansel grew into a\ntall young man, and he ruled the country so kindly and wisely that\nthe people declared there never was in all the wide world so good a\nsovereign as their own King Hansel the First.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR PRINCESS\n\n\n\n\nTHE STAR PRINCESS\n\n\nThere was great rejoicing at the royal palace. Flags waved from every\ntower. Bright-colored silken streamers floated from every window. Each\nmaidservant had been given a new gown and each servingman a broad\nsilver piece. Little bells were tinkling joyously. Soft strains of\nmusic came from one corner and another. The rejoicing was not only at\nthe palace, but throughout the Island Kingdom. Men and women took a\nholiday from their work. Children went about the streets singing. When\nnight came, every window was ablaze with light and every hilltop was\nglowing with a bonfire; for the King and Queen had a little daughter.\nHer eyes were as blue as the ocean, her skin was as white as its foam,\nand her hair was as yellow as the gleam of the sunlight on the sand.\n\nBy and by there was a magnificent christening feast. Kings and nobles\nand princes and witches and magicians and fairies were all invited.\nEvery one came and every one gave the beautiful baby Princess his very\nbest wishes.\n\n\u201cThe King is a happy man to have a child like that,\u201d said one guest to\nanother as they were leaving the palace.\n\n\u201cTrue,\u201d replied the other, \u201cbut he did not look happy. Did not you\nnotice how troubled his face was and how strangely he acted? When some\none pushed the curtains aside for a bit of air, did you see how quickly\nhe ran to the window and drew them together again with his own hands,\nand looked at the baby as if he was afraid it would disappear at a ray\nof daylight? I am sure that he is anxious about something. The Queen\nis not. She is as happy as the day is long.\u201d\n\n\u201cI should think she would be. She has everything in the world that she\nwants, and not one thing to trouble her.\u201d\n\nWhen all the guests had gone and the candles had burned low, the King\nwent to the Queen and said:--\n\n\u201cMy Queen, I have something very sad to tell you. Can you bear it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI can bear anything with such a child as this,\u201d she replied.\n\nThen the King said:--\n\n\u201cWhen my father was a young, young man, he was so bewitched by the\nspells of a mermaid that he was ready to give up his kingdom and follow\nher into the sea. His councillors begged of him to leave her, the court\nmagicians tried in every way to break her spells, but they could not\nsucceed. While they were waving their wands and saying over their\ncharms, she lay on a rock out in the sea and laughed them to scorn. \u2018Go\non,\u2019 she said. \u2018Keep him if you can. I\u2019ll have his soul yet in spite of\nall you can do.\u2019 At last all the priests in the kingdom came together.\nEach one took a great vase of holy water, and they walked entirely\naround the island, sprinkling the shore as they went. The wicked\nmermaid could not cross the ring of holy water. Day after day she lay\non the rock by the shore, calling and calling the Prince to come to\nher; but the priests had done their work so thoroughly that he had no\nlonger any wish to go to the wicked creature. When she found that she\nhad lost him, she shrieked with rage and anger and pronounced seven\ndreadful curses upon him. Six of them the priests could overthrow, but\nthere was one over which they had no power, because it did not affect\nthe Prince himself, but his first grandchild.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd that is our baby!\u201d said the Queen, clasping the little Princess\ncloser in her arms.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied the King, \u201cand the curse was this: If she once looks\nupon the ocean before the end of her eighteenth year, sorrow shall come\nto her and to all who love her.\u201d\n\nThe King and the Queen talked together sadly about what they should do\nto save their little daughter. The kingdom was one large island. The\npalace was on a high hill in the very middle of the island, and from\nevery room in the palace the ocean could be seen.\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t we give up the kingdom and go somewhere to live far, far away\nfrom the ocean?\u201d asked the Queen, with tearful eyes.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d replied the King. \u201cThere is no heir to the throne save our little\ndaughter; and if I should go away, there would be war. I have no right\nto bring war upon my people even to save my child.\u201d\n\nAll night long they talked and planned, and when morning came, they\nhoped they had found a way to save the Princess. A band of white silk\nwas bound about the pretty blue eyes, and four of the most trusty women\nin the kingdom were chosen to be the child\u2019s nurses. These were the\norders that the King gave them:--\n\n\u201cTwo of you must be with her by night and two by day. She must never\nbe left alone for one moment. The band about her eyes must never be\nremoved except at night, and then it must be replaced before the first\nray of light in the morning.\u201d If the Princess passed her eighteenth\nbirthday in safety, each one of them was to have ten thousand pieces\nof gold.\n\nYear after year went on, and the Princess still wore the bandage over\nher eyes. If she ventured to lay a finger upon it, she was punished as\nseverely as if she had been the child of a peasant; but in everything\nelse she did exactly as she liked. Whatever she asked for was always\ngiven her and whatever she wished to have done was done at once. Some\nprincesses would have become haughty and disagreeable, but this one was\nalways kind-hearted and unselfish.\n\nThe King had made no secret of the sad story. Indeed, every one in the\nkingdom knew it except the Princess herself; and the people loved her\nso much that they were almost as eager as her parents for her to pass\nher eighteenth birthday in safety. \u201cThey say her eyes are like stars,\u201d\nwhispered the people; and gradually they forgot the many names that\nhad been given her when she was christened and spoke of her only as the\nStar Princess. Wherever she went, she was guarded not only by two of\nher nurses, but also by all of her father\u2019s subjects who chanced to be\nin sight. She had never seen the ocean or the sun or had even a single\nglimpse of daylight, and yet she was the happiest, merriest little\nmaiden in the world. One reason for this was that she did not know that\nshe was at all different from other people. When little girls were\nbrought to play with her, their eyes were always bandaged like her own,\nand they played only such games as they could play blindfolded. No one\nwas allowed even to mention the sun or the daylight or the ocean in her\npresence. \u201cWhy do people never uncover their eyes until the candles are\nlighted for dinner?\u201d she once asked. And the nurses replied, \u201cBecause\nbefore that time eyes are so ugly that no one can bear to look at them.\u201d\n\nOne day she asked suddenly, \u201cWhat is the strange sound that we hear all\nthe time? It is like murmuring and sighing and sobbing and singing.\nSometimes it groans and sometimes it almost laughs. Nurses, what is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is your greatest enemy,\u201d the nurses replied.\n\n\u201cIt must be a dragon,\u201d thought the Princess, and she asked, \u201cWhy\ndoesn\u2019t my father drive it away?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe would if he could,\u201d the nurses answered, \u201cbut it is stronger than\nhe. It never can come any nearer, however; so all its groaning will not\nhurt you.\u201d\n\nAs time passed and the Star Princess grew older, she asked more and\nmore questions. \u201cShe must be amused,\u201d declared the King. He sent out\nhis orders and one morning a great troop of workmen appeared at the\npalace with spades and pickaxes. They were to dig down, down, into the\nearth, for there a wonderful ballroom was to be made which the King\nmeant should be the most beautiful one in all the world. The walls\nwere of white marble, and over them from floor to ceiling were most\nexquisite traceries all made in jewels. There were trees drawn with\nemeralds and beryl, beds of scarlet poppies made of the clearest and\nmost brilliant rubies; there were roses made of pearls and garnets and\ntopaz stones; there were forget-me-nots of the bluest turquoise; there\nwere violets of amethyst; and all about and among the trees and flowers\nwere birds of sapphires and diamonds. In this room the Star Princess\nwas always safe, for not a ray of sunlight could ever enter it. It was\nanything but gloomy, however, for when the hundreds of candles were\nlighted, it was such a blaze of brightness and color that one might\nalmost fancy it was the very home of the rainbows. It was no wonder\nthat people came from near and far to see the marvelous room, for there\nwas not another one like it in all the world. Here entertainments of\nall sorts were given, for the King was ready to do anything to amuse\nthe Star Princess and keep her from being lonely or unhappy or from\nasking questions that he did not wish to answer.\n\nAt last she came to the end of her eighteenth year. The next day, at\nprecisely four o\u2019clock in the morning, she would be eighteen years\nold, and then there would be no more danger. The King and Queen were\nso happy that they hardly knew what to do. There was to be a splendid\nball, of course, on the night of her birthday, and they had busied\nthemselves in planning to make it the most brilliant f\u00eate that the\nIsland Kingdom had ever seen.\n\n\u201cBut I should so like to have her all to ourselves on that day,\u201d the\nQueen had said wistfully. \u201cCouldn\u2019t we give the ball on the eve of her\nbirthday? She will be with us and with the whole roomful of dancers.\nNothing could possibly happen to her then.\u201d\n\nThe King was not quite pleased with the idea, but he had finally\nyielded, and the ball had been arranged to come on the eve of her\nbirthday.\n\nInvitations were sent to the kings and queens and princes and\nprincesses of many and many a kingdom, and every one was accepted. For\nseven days before the ball, ships whose sails were of cloth of silver\nand cloth of gold were continually coming up to the royal wharves. All\nday long the King\u2019s golden chariots were going and coming between\nthe palace and the shore to bring up the guests. There was music and\nfeasting and merriment of all sorts, and on the evening of the seventh\nday came the ball. After all were assembled, the King led in the\nStar Princess. She was dressed in a gown of white, of some wonderful\nmaterial that glowed like opals in a soft, subdued light and flashed\nlike diamonds when the light was stronger. Her golden hair almost\ntouched the floor, and gleamed like sunshine. Around her waist and\nher neck were rows and rows of pearls, and above her forehead shone\none diamond star. She was so lovely that more than one noble prince\nsaid to himself, \u201cShe is surely a fairy. No mortal maiden was ever so\nbeautiful.\u201d\n\nAmong the guests there was one who had not been invited, but who was,\nnevertheless, the most welcome of all. He was the son of the greatest\nking in that part of the world, but in his babyhood he had been stolen\naway by trolls. He had just been rescued and was on his way to take\npossession of his kingdom. When his ship came near the Island Kingdom,\nstrains of music floated down from the palace, and there at the wharves\nlay the royal vessels of many and many a sovereign with the royal\npennants streaming in the wind.\n\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d the Prince asked.\n\n\u201cIt must be a great ball,\u201d replied his attendants.\n\n\u201cI never went to a ball in my life,\u201d said the Prince; and he added with\na grim smile, \u201cWe did not have balls in the palace of the trolls.\u201d\n\n\u201cWould your Highness wish to attend this one?\u201d suggested his\ncompanions, for they, too, had much curiosity to see what was going\non in the Island Kingdom. \u201cOf course your Highness knows that there is\nno court on this side of the world that would not feel honored by your\npresence.\u201d\n\nThe end of it was that the Prince, too, moored his vessel at the royal\nwharves and rode up to the palace in the royal chariot, and received a\nmost royal welcome. He was presented to the Star Princess at once, of\ncourse, and from that moment he could not keep his eyes from her. He\ndanced with her again and again. He seized every opportunity to talk\nwith her, and she was very willing to listen. He told her about his\nhaving been stolen away by trolls. \u201cBut now,\u201d he said, \u201cI have a good\nship. The sea is calm, the sun is bright, there is a fair wind, and\nsoon I shall be in my own kingdom.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess looked puzzled. \u201cI think I can guess what a ship is,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cIt must be a little like a palace; but I don\u2019t know what\nthe sea is or the sun.\u201d\n\nThe Prince stared in amazement. \u201cWhy, the sun is above us and it gives\nus warmth and light,\u201d he said; \u201cthough I am sure it never shone so\nbright as your beautiful eyes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have never seen this strange sun,\u201d the Star Princess said. \u201cCandles\ngive light, but how can there be any light without them?\u201d\n\n\u201cCan she be out of her right mind?\u201d thought the Prince. He said no\nmore about the sun, but began to talk about the beautiful room and the\njewels that were flashing and gleaming.\n\nThe Star Princess, however, had no idea of dropping the subject. \u201cBut\nwhat is the sea?\u201d she asked. \u201cYou said you came in your ship on the\nsea. What is the sea?\u201d\n\nWhen the Prince looked into her clear, calm blue eyes, he could not\nbelieve that she was not in her right mind, and he began in a dazed\nfashion to try to tell her about the sea. \u201cIt\u2019s water,\u201d he said, \u201cand\nit lies all around the island, and ships sail on it.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes it murmur and sing and sigh and moan and laugh?\u201d asked the Star\nPrincess eagerly.\n\n\u201cWhy, yes, I suppose it does,\u201d replied the Prince, a little doubtfully.\n\n\u201cThen it must be the dragon,\u201d declared the Star Princess. \u201cSurely you\nhave seen the dragon. My nurses say that it lies around the island, but\nthat it will never hurt me. Is the sea a dragon?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes--no--the sea is just the sea,\u201d returned the puzzled young Prince.\n\u201cI can\u2019t explain it exactly, but if you should look out of your window,\nyou would see it, I am sure. It must be in view from every window\nin the palace. Look out to-morrow morning at sunrise. The sea is\nbeautiful. It is dark and blue, it is like your own glorious eyes. I am\nso eager to see them in the daylight.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs daylight before dinner?\u201d the Star Princess asked. \u201cPeople\u2019s eyes\nare very ugly before dinner, you know; and that is why they always\nwear bandages over them till the table is spread and the candles are\nlighted.\u201d Then the Star Princess was called away to meet some other one\nof the great folk who had come to the ball, and she saw no more of the\nPrince.\n\nAll night long and until three o\u2019clock in the morning the dancing and\nfeasting and merriment went on. Soon after three the Star Princess left\nthe room, and her going was the signal for the breaking-up of the ball.\nThe Prince lingered, and when he made his farewell to the King and the\nQueen, he asked if he might speak with them on a most important matter.\nOf course they said yes, for of course they guessed what it was. Then\nhe told them that the Star Princess had won his heart, and he begged\nof them to give her to him to be his bride. \u201cI know well that I am not\nworthy of her,\u201d he said humbly, \u201cbut I will do everything in my power\nto make her happy. At her slightest wish I will give my wealth and\nmy life as freely as you would pour out this glass of water,\u201d and he\ncaught up a glass of water that stood on the banquet table and emptied\nit.\n\nThe King and the Queen were glad and they were sorry. They liked the\nbearing and manner of the young Prince, and they knew that he was the\nsovereign of the richest kingdom in that part of the world. They were\nglad to have their daughter become his queen, but it did seem hard that\nthey should not have her to themselves for a while after the time had\ncome when they could enjoy her without having to guard her and watch\nher so carefully. At last the King said:--\n\n\u201cIf it is the wish of our daughter, we will give her to you for your\nbride, but you must first leave her with us for a year and a day that\nwe may accustom ourselves to the thought of losing her.\u201d\n\nOf course the Prince could only agree to so moderate a condition as\nthis. Then they told him the story of the mermaid\u2019s curse, and that on\nher first day of freedom no one but her father and her mother were to\nsee her; and he went away to wait impatiently until her birthday should\nhave passed.\n\nNow when the Star Princess left the ballroom and went to her own room,\ntwo of the nurses went with her as usual. She had little to say, for\nher thoughts were all on the young Prince and his words to her. \u201cThe\nsun--the sea,\u201d she said to herself; \u201cwhat can they mean?\u201d Then she\nremembered that he had said, \u201cLook out of your window at sunrise and\nyou will see it.\u201d Just what \u201csunrise\u201d meant, she did not know; but\nwhatever it might be, she meant to look out of the window just once\nbefore the nurses put back the band over her eyes. She said to one of\nthem:--\n\n\u201cNurse, I am so thirsty. Will you get me some water from the north side\nof the well that is on the north side of the palace.\u201d\n\nFor a moment the nurse hesitated. Then she said to herself, \u201cThe\nservants are not up yet, and it would be a pity to call one just for\nthis. To-day is her eighteenth birthday, and nothing can harm her\nnow,\u201d so one nurse started to go down the stairs. The other nurse was\nputting away the opal-like gown and the diamond star and the ropes\nof pearls. She stepped into another room for a moment, and the Star\nPrincess quickly pulled the curtains apart and took her first look at\nthe sunrise and the sea. She gazed and gazed at them. It was all so\nbeautiful that she could not turn away, and when the nurse came back,\nthere she stood.\n\n\u201cO my Princess,\u201d the nurse exclaimed, \u201cwhat have you done,\nwhat have you done!\u201d Just then the bell on the castle rang,\n\u201cOne--two--three--four!\u201d It was four o\u2019clock in the morning, and the\nStar Princess was full eighteen years of age. Then the nurse thought,\n\u201cTen thousand broad pieces of gold is a great deal to lose. It was only\na moment before the time, and surely no harm is done. Perhaps it will\nnever be known.\u201d She concluded to say nothing about the matter, and to\nthe Star Princess she said, \u201cI thought you must have hurt yourself, and\nI was frightened. Now go to your bed and rest awhile, for to-day you\nare to be happier than ever before.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess was so used to obeying her nurses that she went\nmeekly to bed and even allowed them to put the band over her eyes as\nusual; but she was puzzled and confused. In that one long look she had\nfound that no dragon, but a thing more beautiful than anything she had\never seen before even in her dreams lay around the Island Kingdom.\nWhat could it mean? Why had she never been allowed to see it? What\nwas that glorious light that came up from the blue and was a thousand\ntimes brighter than the candles? Over and over she said to herself,\n\u201cSun--sea--ship,\u201d but she could not solve the mystery. She lay as if\nasleep until the time came to go to her father and her mother. Then she\nheard the whole story of the wicked mermaid and the seventh curse. \u201cNow\nyou are free,\u201d they said joyfully. She took a hand of each parent and\nroamed over the palace from garret to cellar, gazing from window after\nwindow upon the glorious ocean and the deep blue sky. They went out of\ndoors, and she saw the trees, the flowers, and the birds. She watched\nthe rippling of the waves on the shore. Every hour was more delightful\nthan those before it. At last came the glory of the sunset, and she\nexclaimed, \u201cOh, this is even more beautiful than the sunrise!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what do you know of the sunrise?\u201d her father asked gravely, and\nshe told him of her one look from the window. Both her parents were\ntroubled, but the Star Princess was so happy that they could not bear\nto alarm her. Then, too, they said to themselves, \u201cIt was only a\nmoment before the clock struck, and surely no harm can come of it.\u201d\n\nSo the happy day went on. When evening was fully come, the mother sat\nwith her arm about her daughter and the father told her very gently\nabout the love of the Prince and his wish to make her his queen.\n\u201cTo-morrow you will see him,\u201d said the King, \u201cand if you are willing to\nbe his wife, he will come for you in a year and a day.\u201d\n\nIt was easy to see from the face of the Star Princess that the Prince\nwould be welcome when he came. \u201cWe will talk more of this in the\nmorning,\u201d said the King, as he kissed his daughter good-night.\n\nThe Star Princess went to her own rooms, and after her maids had left\nher, she was alone for the first time in her life. She drew aside the\ncurtains and stood gazing upon the ocean in the moonlight. She listened\nto its music. At first it seemed to murmur peacefully to itself.\nThen she fancied that it sobbed and moaned. Then she heard clearly a\nsweet voice that called, \u201cCome to me, come, maiden, come to me!\u201d It\nwas a richer, more exquisite melody than she had ever heard before;\nand as she listened, she found herself answering, \u201cYes, I will come,\nI will come.\u201d She went softly down the stairs and out of the door.\nEvery one else in the palace was asleep, and no one hindered her. She\nslipped down the hillside in the shadows and went nearer and nearer to\nthe shore. The voice still called. Sometimes it was low and gentle,\nsometimes it was loud and strong; but whether low or loud, it drew the\nStar Princess toward it as if it were a magic cord. She followed it\nalong the shore until she found herself on a steep cliff that towered\nfar above the sea. The waters beat upon the rocks at its base, the\nbreakers boomed and thundered; but out of all the wild uproar still\ncame that enchanting voice, calling, \u201cCome to me, come to me, come,\ncome!\u201d Straight to the very edge of the cliff went the Star Princess.\nFor a moment she thought of her father and her mother, of the Prince\nwho was coming in the morning to tell her of his love, and she drew\nback; but the voice called with a bewitching sweetness and charm,\n\u201cCome, Star Princess, come.\u201d She held out her arms and answered, \u201cYes,\nI come,\u201d and sprang from the edge of the cliff.\n\nA triumphant howl rang out above all the roaring of the waters:--\n\n\u201cI have you now, grandchild of a faithless prince, and you shall pay\nthe forfeit of his falseness. You did not see the ocean for eighteen\nyears, but you shall see it now.\u201d And the cruel mermaid, for she it\nwas who had bewitched the Star Princess and drawn her from her home,\nlaughed so savagely and unpityingly that the heart of the maiden almost\nceased to beat.\n\nShe was alone and in the hands of the wicked mermaid. \u201cOh, my father,\nmy mother!\u201d she cried. \u201cMy Prince, my Prince, save me, save me!\u201d But\nthe mermaid clutched her roughly and dragged her to the palace of her\nson, the merking who ruled the waters for leagues around.\n\n\u201cHere is the grandchild of the man who scorned my love,\u201d she shrieked.\n\u201cWhat shall she suffer? By what death shall she die?\u201d\n\nThe merking looked upon the Star Princess. Her eyes were cast down in\nfear, her hair was wild and tangled, her cheeks were pale, and she\ntrembled with fright, but even then she was beautiful, and the merking\nsaid:--\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE IS FAIRER THAN ANY OF MY MAIDENS\u201d]\n\n\u201cShe is fairer than any of my maidens. She shall not be put to death\nto-day. I will have her for my wife, and when I am tired of her, then\nyou may torment her and kill her as you will. Come with me, earth\nmaiden.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no, no,\u201d cried the Star Princess. \u201cLet me die! I will never be\nyour wife.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is far too noble a fate for her,\u201d grumbled the cruel mermaid. \u201cSuch\nas she should not have honors like that. Will you be my son\u2019s bride or\nwill you not?\u201d she demanded.\n\n\u201cOh, no, never, never!\u201d answered the Star Princess, with a shudder.\n\n\u201cThen you shall be tormented with such tortures as you never dreamed\nof,\u201d cried the mermaid angrily; and she caught hold of the Star\nPrincess to drag her away.\n\n\u201cNot yet,\u201d interposed the merking. \u201cYou know how to give hard tasks.\nGive her a task or two, and she will be glad enough to be free from you\nand come to me.\u201d\n\n\u201cTasks she shall have,\u201d declared the mermaid, \u201cand such ones that she\nwill plead and beg to come to you. Come, earth creature,\u201d she called;\nand, clutching her prisoner, she dragged her away to a horrible cavern\nfull of sea-monsters. To one of them she said, \u201cGo with the earth\ncreature and do not let her out of your sight.\u201d Then she turned to\nthe Star Princess. \u201cMy son\u2019s throne needs jewels,\u201d she said. \u201cGo, and\nwithin three days bring me ten thousand pearls.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess was in despair; but it was worse, she thought, to be\nthe bride of the merking than even to have the dreadful sea-monster for\na jailer, and she followed him meekly.\n\n\u201cWhere do you intend to go?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cIndeed, I do not know,\u201d she replied.\n\n\u201cThen you may as well stay here,\u201d the sea-monster said, with a horrible\ngrin.\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t dare,\u201d moaned the Star Princess. \u201cWhat shall I do! what\nshall I do!\u201d\n\nEven the sea-monster could not help being just a little sorry for her,\nand he said grimly:--\n\n\u201cYou can come this way if you like. It is better than staying there.\u201d\nAnd she followed him gladly, for anything was better than staying with\nthe merking and his mother.\n\nAs they went on through the water, she noticed a little sculpin that\nseemed determined to go with them. It was ugly, indeed, but it kept\nbetween her and the sea-monster, and she was grateful. Somehow she\nfelt that the little creature was her friend; and when it came nearer\nand even touched her hand, she did not draw back, but was glad of its\ncompany.\n\nAfter a long, long while, the sea-monster stopped before a bank of\njagged rocks.\n\n\u201cThere are the pearl oysters,\u201d it said, \u201cthousands of them. Perhaps\nyou can get them to give up their treasures.\u201d The creature laughed\nscornfully and added, \u201cYou can\u2019t get away very well, and I shall take a\nnap. Wake me when you get your pearls.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess was in despair, but as soon as the monster was fairly\nasleep, the little sculpin had something to say.\n\n\u201cStar Princess,\u201d he whispered, \u201cI was once stolen by trolls.\u201d The Star\nPrincess started, for her Prince, too, had met the same fate. \u201cWhen I\nwas rescued,\u201d continued the sculpin, \u201cthe troll was forced to make me\nthree gifts. One of them was that I should have the power to persuade\nall honest creatures of earth, air, and water to do my will. This ledge\nis covered with oysters, and I think they will gladly give you their\npearls.\u201d He swam close to the ledge and spoke softly to the oysters. In\na moment pearls were falling like raindrops. The Star Princess picked\nthem up, and there were far more than ten thousand. She carried them\nback to the mermaid, and the mermaid cried:--\n\n\u201cSo you got the pearls, did you? That was an easy task. How did you\nlike your journey? You shall have another to-morrow.\u201d\n\nWhen the morning had come, the mermaid said:--\n\n\u201cI wish to know how many grains of sand there are on the beach that\nlies to the north of my son\u2019s kingdom. One of my creatures shall take\nyou there, and if you do not count aright, then at the end of three\ndays you shall lose one of those blue eyes that you are so proud of. A\nwooden one is good enough for a girl who cannot use what she has.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess was put in the charge of a sea-monster far more\nhorrible than the one that had gone with her before. \u201cI shall have to\nshow you the way to the beach,\u201d he said, \u201cbut you\u2019ll get no other help\nfrom me, understand that.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess was in despair, for the friendly sculpin was nowhere\nto be seen, and how could she ever count all the grains of sand on a\nbeach. When they had come to the shore, she took up a handful of sand\nand tried to count the grains, but of course it was hopeless.\n\n\u201cYou may as well kill me,\u201d she cried to the sea-monster, \u201cfor I cannot\ndo this.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, the mermaid will kill you in her own way. You need not fear that\nshe will leave you alive,\u201d retorted the sea-monster, and grinned at her\nmost horribly. \u201cGo to work. For three days you are to count grains of\nsand; but be quiet about it and don\u2019t disturb me.\u201d In two minutes the\ncreature was fast asleep.\n\nSuddenly the Star Princess heard all around her a gentle rustling, as\nif the softest of the breezes were touching lightly the tiniest leaves\nof the forest. In a moment she found that it was made by thousands\nupon thousands of little sand fleas hopping toward her. \u201cOur friend,\nthe sculpin, has asked us to help you,\u201d they said, \u201cand we have been\ncounting as fast as ever we could. Lie down and rest, and in one hour\nlonger, the task will be done.\u201d\n\nWhen the third day had come, the sea-monster took the maiden back to\nthe mermaid.\n\n\u201cHow many grains of sand are on the beach?\u201d the mermaid demanded.\n\nThe Star Princess told her, and she had to admit that it was the right\nnumber. She was very angry to find that the task had been done, and she\nactually shrieked with rage. Then she cried, \u201cWill you marry my son,\nyou wretch, or will you go on another journey? You need not think that\nyou will get off from this one so easily. Will you marry him?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I will not,\u201d declared the Star Princess; and she would not yield\neven when the mermaid gnashed her teeth in a fury and screamed, \u201cYou\nshall have a task to-morrow that is a task. This is only child\u2019s play.\u201d\n\nWhen morning had come, the mermaid said:--\n\n\u201cThe sharks once rebelled against my son, and he has never punished\ntheir leader as he deserved. Go you to the Waters of the Sharks, take\ntheir king prisoner, and bring him to me to pay the penalty of his\nrebellion. One of my people will show you the way.\u201d And she pointed out\na sea-monster more dreadful than both the others put together.\n\nThe monster led the way, and the Star Princess followed. \u201cOh, if I\ncould only see my father and my mother once more,\u201d she thought. \u201cHow\ncould I think the voice of the mermaid was sweet! I should be so\nhappy if I were only the lowest servant in my father\u2019s house. And the\nPrince--I wonder--\u201d\n\n\u201cHere you are,\u201d said the monster; \u201cthat is, you are as near as I intend\nto go. I\u2019m not going to risk my head and fins in the Waters of the\nSharks. I\u2019ll wait here till the third day, but I rather think the\nsharks will save me the trouble of carrying you home.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNow while all this was going on in the Water World, there was the\ndeepest amazement and sorrow in the Island Kingdom, for the Star\nPrincess had disappeared. In the morning of the second day of her\nnineteenth year, her maids waited and waited for her call. At last\nthey went to her door. It stood ajar, and they could see that she was\nnot in the room. \u201cShe is so happy in being free,\u201d they said, \u201cthat she\nhas slipped out into the palace gardens to see the world in the early\nmorning.\u201d So they searched the gardens through and through. They ran\nhither and yon, and looked into every corner of the palace; but no\nStar Princess was to be seen. Then they went to the King, weeping and\nwailing and wringing their hands, and cried:--\n\n\u201cO your Majesty, the Star Princess has disappeared! Oh, oh, what shall\nwe do! what shall we do!\u201d\n\nThe royal guests were still at the palace, and in three minutes every\none of them had heard the distressing news. Then began a search that\nwas a search. Every corner, every crack of the great palace was looked\ninto, not only once but over and over, for each one thought that he\nmight perhaps see something that the others had passed by. Then the\ngardens were searched and the forests and the fields. All the subjects\nof the kingdom gave up their work and joined in the hunt. Every inch of\nthe seashore was gone over and over, until it seemed as if some one had\nlooked under every blade of grass and into every mouse-hole. They went\nto the cliff, of course, but the light steps of the Princess had left\nno trace, and they could not even guess what had become of her.\n\nThe King was heartbroken, and the Queen lay on her bed, moaning her\nlife away; but the young Prince was even more wretched than they. \u201cHer\nfather and mother have had her all those eighteen years,\u201d he said to\nhimself, \u201cbut I have found her only to lose her again.\u201d\n\nAfter the Island Kingdom had been searched through and through, the\nKing sent out every ship in the navy to look for his child, and all the\nstranger kings and princes whose ships lay at the royal wharves put out\nto sea to try to find the Star Princess. They sailed north and south\nand east and west, but they all came back with lowered flags and the\nsame report, \u201cWe cannot find her.\u201d\n\nThe days passed. The royal guests bade farewell to the sorrowing King\nand Queen and sailed away to their own kingdoms, all but one, the\nfaithful young Prince. \u201cI cannot leave the place where I first met\nher,\u201d he said to her parents. \u201cWill you let me stay with you for a\ntime?\u201d Of course they were only too glad to have him; but one morning\nthe young Prince, too, was missing. He had vanished from the Island\nKingdom as suddenly as the Star Princess. It was known that he had left\nhis rooms in the palace late in the evening; but this was a thing that\nhe often did, especially on such moonlight nights as the one on which\nthe Princess had vanished. So many times he had been seen pacing to and\nfro on the sand that no one thought of watching him or of noticing when\nhe returned to the palace.\n\nAfter he, too, disappeared, the beach was searched as closely as it had\nbeen for the Star Princess. The print of his footsteps was seen and\nthey were traced up and down the sand, then to one side toward a high\nhill. On the path up the hill, little twigs had been broken, and here\nand there a leaf had been bruised and crushed; and so it was known that\nhe had climbed to the top of the hill. He was traced still farther, to\nthe very edge of a cliff that overhung sharp rocks and a wild commotion\nof breakers. The people looked upon them sadly and shook their heads.\n\u201cPoor Prince,\u201d they said, \u201chis love for the Star Princess has made him\nmad and he has flung himself over the cliff.\u201d But one sage old man,\nwho had seen many strange things in his long life, shook his head and\nmuttered, \u201cNot madness but magic.\u201d\n\nIf the breakers that beat on the base of the cliff had chosen to speak,\nthey, too, would have said, \u201cNot madness but magic.\u201d The Prince had\ngone out on the shore, as he so often went, and that night he heard the\nsame sweet voice that had called the Star Princess into the sea. \u201cCome\nto me, come to me,\u201d it cried, now low and sweet, now loud and strong,\nbut ever so powerful that even the Prince could hardly resist it.\nSuddenly, in the midst of the strength and the sweetness, there came a\nwail that tore his very heart. \u201cMy Prince, my Prince,\u201d it said, \u201csave\nme, save me!\u201d And without a glance behind him he sprang straight off\nthe cliff and into the raging sea.\n\n\u201cAha, now I have two of you!\u201d shrieked the mermaid with fiendish\ndelight. Then, when she looked upon him more closely and saw how tall\nand noble and beautiful he was, she hesitated. \u201cI will not tear you\nlimb from limb,\u201d she said. \u201cI have a daughter who will soon take a\nhusband, and if she chooses you, you may live.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will have no false mermaid for a wife,\u201d declared the young Prince,\nas boldly as if he had still been in the palace of the Island Kingdom.\n\n\u201cYou will not?\u201d shrieked the mermaid. \u201cHow dare you insult my daughter,\nyou earthborn creature!\u201d She waved her hands to and fro before his\nface. His eyes closed, and for a moment he was in a deep slumber. When\nhe awoke, the mermaid had gone. He was alone, but he was no longer a\nhandsome young prince; she had put upon him the form of a sculpin.\n\nPrince or sculpin, he had but one thought, to find the Star Princess;\nand he swam as rapidly as he could, first in one direction, then in\nanother, until he came in sight of the Waterworld den where the mermaid\nand her monsters dwelt. It was just at the moment when the mermaid was\nsending out the Star Princess and the sea-monster to find the ten\nthousand pearls.\n\n\u201cI cannot rescue her yet,\u201d said the Prince to himself, \u201cbut at least\nI can save her from the torments of the mermaid.\u201d So he kept out of\nsight until the mermaid had gone back into her den. Then he hastened\nafter the Star Princess, and it was he who had kept between her and the\nmonster and who had persuaded the pearl oysters to give her of their\npearls. It was he, too, who had induced the sand fleas to count the\ngrains of sand for her. She did not know this, and she had seen no more\nof him after her first journey. Now she stood in terror, gazing into\nthe Waters of the Sharks. The horrible creatures swam about and dived\nand rolled over and showed their sharp, white teeth. The Star Princess\nwas in an agony of terror. She could not run away, for the sea-monster\nwas behind her, and he was almost as dreadful as the sharks.\n\n\u201cGo on,\u201d he cried mockingly. \u201cTell them you want their king. The\nearth-girl who will not marry our merking is only fit for sharks\u2019 food.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess looked so pitiful and so beautiful that even the\nsea-monster was as nearly touched as a monster could be. He muttered,\n\u201cIt _is_ rather a pity to have her eaten up.\u201d\n\nThen he called to her:--\n\n\u201cGirl, earth-girl, if you will agree to marry our king, I will take you\nback without the shark, and if she is angry, I think I know a way to\nsave you.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no, no,\u201d she replied, shuddering. \u201cI can never marry the merking.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen go on and be devoured by the sharks,\u201d growled the monster, \u201cbut\nyou may as well be about it. If you keep me waiting much longer, I\nwill eat you myself.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess turned toward the Waters of the Sharks. As she gazed\nin terror, she saw the ugly little sculpin coming toward her, and\nbehind him swam the whole company of sharks.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid,\u201d the sculpin called as they swept by. \u201cOnly wait. You\nare safe.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess waited. She was all alone in the vast ocean, for\nat the coming of the sharks, the sea-monster had fled for his life.\nShe covered her eyes with her hands for fear she should see something\ndreadful; but it was not long before she felt a soft touch. It was the\nfriendly sculpin. \u201cCome quick,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is not a moment to\nlose. The sharks are fighting the merking and his monsters. Follow me.\nDo not be afraid, I can find the way, for the second gift of my troll\njailer was that I should never fail to find the place that I sought.\u201d\n\nThe little sculpin swam to the land faster than ever sculpin had swum\nbefore, and the Princess ran after him faster than ever princess had\nrun before. She dared not glance behind her for fear of seeing some of\nthe horrible creatures. At last they were so far away that the sculpin\nknew there was no more danger of pursuit. They had come to the shore.\nThere he stopped and said:--\n\n\u201cStar Princess, now you are safe. Rest for a little and then you shall\ngo home to the palace of the Island Kingdom.\u201d\n\nThe Star Princess burst into tears of joy. \u201cYou have saved me,\u201d she\ncried. \u201cWhat shall I do for you? My father is a king and he will give\nyou whatever you ask. He will build a wall around an ocean for you if\nyou wish and drive away from it every creature that would trouble you.\nHe will--\u201d and there she stopped, for, try her best, she could not\nthink of anything else that would be at all likely to please a sculpin.\n\nThe ugly little fish replied:--\n\n\u201cStar Princess, my rightful home is not in the sea, but on the land.\nI was born in a palace larger and more beautiful than that of your\nfather. I fell into the hands of the wicked mermaid, and she threw over\nme the sculpin form that I now wear.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy father has wizards and magicians at his court,\u201d cried the Star\nPrincess eagerly, \u201cand surely some one among them can free you from the\nmermaid\u2019s power.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am under a power that you alone can free me from,\u201d declared the\nsculpin. \u201cI am the sovereign of a kingdom larger and richer than your\nfather\u2019s. I am but a little older than yourself. They tell me I am\nhandsome. You can free me if you will stroke my head three times and\nsay--\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd say what?\u201d cried the Star Princess.\n\n\u201cAnd say, \u2018I promise to marry you as soon as we have come to my\nfather\u2019s palace,\u2019\u201d the sculpin answered.\n\n\u201cOh, no, no,\u201d cried the Star Princess. \u201cI will do anything but that.\nI will give you everything I have, and when the kingdom is mine, you\nshall have that, too, and I will go out into the world and beg my\nbread, but I cannot marry any one except my own Prince.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd are you so sure that he will care to take a portionless bride?\u201d\nasked the sculpin.\n\nThe maiden looked down upon the sand, then out upon the water, then she\nanswered softly:--\n\n\u201cEven if he refused me, I could never marry any one else; but,\u201d she\nadded, \u201cI am sure that he will want me.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo am I,\u201d said a manly voice behind her, and, behold, there stood\nthe Prince himself, for the third gift of the troll was that no magic\nshould have power to change his form against his will. He had kept\nthe form of a sculpin for a while because he knew he could be of more\nservice to the Princess in that shape. They sat down on the yellow\nsand, and he told her the long, long story of his love and his sorrow,\nof his remaining in her father\u2019s kingdom that he might at least be near\nthe place where he had first seen her, of his pacing up and down the\nshore and thinking of her, and at last of his springing from the cliff\nbecause he was sure that he heard her voice crying, \u201cMy Prince, save\nme, save me!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut look about you, my Star Princess,\u201d he said. \u201cDo you not know this\nshore and this cliff towering over our heads? These waves beat upon\nthe coast of your father\u2019s kingdom. Come, let us go to the palace.\u201d\n\nHe took hold of her hand and led her across the sandy shore, up the\nlittle hill, over a grassy meadow where flowers sprang up wherever they\nstepped. Then they went through the woods, where the pathway was soft\nwith pine needles and the air was rich with fragrance, and so on to the\npalace of the King.\n\nAt one of the upper windows stood the Queen, gazing sadly over the\nwater. The King was by her side. His arm was thrown around her, and he\nseemed to be trying to comfort her. The Prince and the Star Princess\nwaved their hands to them; but they were looking far out to the\nhorizon, and the wanderers were up the hill and into the palace and\nclose beside them before they had any idea that their loneliness was\nat an end.\n\nSuch a welcoming as there was! The Queen wept for the suffering that\nthey had all been through, and she laughed for joy that they were\ntogether again. Everybody in the kingdom had a whole year of holidays.\nThe prisoners were set free. There were feasts upon feasts for all\nwho chose to partake of them. The grass was greener, the flowers were\nbrighter. There were such blue skies and such soft little clouds as had\nnever been seen over the land before. The birds no longer stayed in the\nforest, but came freely into the city. They perched upon windows and\nfences and balconies and sang more sweetly than ever birds sang before.\n\nAfter a year and a day of this rejoicing came the wedding of the Prince\nand the Star Princess. Just as the wedding procession was setting off\nfor the church, some one noticed a great sea-turtle toiling up the hill\nto the palace.\n\n\u201cI want to see the King,\u201d he called, waving a flipper to call his\nattention.\n\nThe procession waited till the turtle had come up the hill. Then the\nKing went forward cordially, and said:--\n\n\u201cYou are welcome, Friend Turtle. Have you come to the wedding?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d the turtle gasped, for he was not used to climbing such high\nhills, and he had not yet fully caught his breath; \u201cbut I have\nsomething to say to you. I have just come from the Waterworld, and I\nhave brought you some news.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is that?\u201d cried the King anxiously, for even now he was\nafraid of the power of the cruel mermaid.\n\n\u201cThe war is ended,\u201d said the turtle. \u201cThe merking, the mermaid, and all\ntheir monsters are killed and devoured. Neither you nor your Queen nor\nthe Prince nor the Star Princess has an enemy on the land or in the\nsea.\u201d\n\nThen the bells throughout the whole kingdom rang for joy, the drums\nbeat, the trumpets blew, and the banners waved, all of their own accord.\n\n\u201cBring another chariot,\u201d ordered the King. Another chariot was brought,\nand the turtle was helped into it. It took its place just behind the\nbridal party, and they all rode away to the wedding.\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n\n  The Riverside Press\n  CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS\n  U . S . A\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES:\n\n\n  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.\n\n  Perceived typographical errors have been corrected.\n\n  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.","title":"The house with the silver door","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":26916}