{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_77280/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_77280","id":"gutenberg_77280","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77280","summary":null,"tags":["Children's stories, American","Fairy tales -- United States"],"text":"\ufeff\n\n\n\n                           THE GENIAL SULTAN\n\n                                  AND\n                             OTHER STORIES\n\n                        _Harriet Maxon Thayer_\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSELIM, THE SULTAN OF DAR, RENOWNED FOR HIS GOOD NATURE,\nHAD SET HIS HEART ON A FISHING TRIP\u201d]\n\n\n\n\n                           The Genial Sultan\n\n                    The Princess Who Could Not See\n                        Late for the Coronation\n\n                       _By Harriet Maxon Thayer_\n\n                        [Illustration: colophon]\n\n            _Publishers_      DORRANCE      _Philadelphia_\n\n                            Copyright 1923\n\n                        Dorrance & Company Inc\n\n\n             Manufactured in the United States of America\n\n\n                                  To\n\n                               My Mother\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nTHE GENIAL SULTAN                                                     13\n\nTHE PRINCESS WHO COULD NOT SEE                                        25\n\nLATE FOR THE CORONATION                                               49\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n\u201cSelim, the Sultan of Dar, renowned for\nhis good nature, had set his heart on\na fishing trip.\u201d                                           _Frontispiece_\n\n\u201cThe Princess Gloriana, called for her\nbeauty the Morning Star, was blind.\u201d                                  26\n\n\u201cHer heart full of joy, the little Princess\ncame at last to her Coronation.\u201d                                      50\n\n\n\n\nTHE GENIAL SULTAN\n\n\nA sultan should be genial, you\u2019ll admit, even if he is nothing else.\nBut, because so few sultans are, Selim, the Sultan of Dar, renowned for\nhis good nature, was much beloved not only among his own subjects, but\namong those of nearby lands, all of whom wanted to live in his kingdom.\n\nIn fact they crowded in so thickly that Selim had to think and think of\nways to get someone else to help take care of them. The truth of the\nmatter was that he wanted a vacation. For he was, as you can imagine, a\nvery busy as well as a very genial sultan. But, although he had set his\nheart on a fishing trip, it was impossible to find anyone who could take\nhis place even for a week; no one else was able to be, at one and the\nsame time, Decider of Quarrels, Commander in Chief of the Army, Head\nWriter of the Laws, and also Champion Ball-Player of the nation.\n\nHis was indeed a difficult place to fill. Long and long the sultan\npuzzled over the matter while many new wrinkles went crinkling over his\nforehead and about his eyes as he pondered. Where was he to find a man\nto take his place? The Sultan thought of everyone, from Matzar, the\nAdviser in Chief, whose business it was to give unnecessary advice, and\nPiff, the Head Jailer, who was out of a job most of the time because the\nSultan always pardoned all prisoners two or three hours after he had\nimprisoned them, to Casia, the youngest of his thirty-one wives, who\nwould have made a very good ruler if she could only have kept herself\nfrom poking her nose into other people\u2019s affairs. It was a trait the\nSultan very much disliked. But she got along very well with all the\nother wives because there was nothing that went on inside or outside the\nminds of others that she could not tell them. She had even come to the\npoint of informing the Sultan of thoughts that he was going to think the\nday after tomorrow, which was, you will agree, too much.\n\nTo go away was not as simple as it would at first appear. The Sultan\ncalled a meeting. Of course Matzar, the Chief Adviser, Piff, the Head\nJailer, Peran, the First Wife, and Casia, the Beautiful, were there.\nWhen the Sultan asked his questions they all fell to talking and\nplanning so hard that they had little time to think of ways and means to\nhelp him.\n\nAt last Selim, pulling at the corners of his fierce black moustache,\ncried aloud:\n\n\u201cBut all this does not help me to go fishing!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will not take my advice----\u201d began Matzar.\n\n\u201cAnd when, Matzar,\u201d demanded the Sultan, \u201chas your advice been taken?\nYour office is to _give_ advice which no one ever _follows_. You have\nbeen very good--I could ask no better counsellor. But that does not help\nme to go fishing!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are thinking,\u201d put in Casia sweetly, \u201cof how lovely it would be if\nyou could just go away without a word and never come back.\u201d\n\nAt that the Sultan glared at her while the ends of his black moustache\nwaved in the air.\n\n\u201cI had not thought of it yet,\u201d he cried curtly. \u201cI was about to think of\nit the day after tomorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe might think of it, my dear,\u201d said Peran, the First Wife, \u201cbut he\nwould never do so. He is far too busy. Last week he sent one hundred and\nthree men to prison for theft, laziness and curiosity! He is a very busy\nman.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d wailed Piff, the Head Jailer, \u201cyou do not know! That same week he\npardoned one hundred and four of them and my jail is as empty as ever!\nOh, for the old days when his father, Trebizond, the Terrible, ruled!\nThere was no overcrowding in the country _then_. Only the prisons were\ncrowded--and those who escaped fled at once to other lands. _Now_ they\ncannot come back quickly enough. But the rooms in my jail are all going\nto waste because of Your Majesty\u2019s regrettable good nature. If Your\nMajesty would not pardon all of them, there would be plenty of room in\nthe city for the rest of us.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d agreed Peran, \u201che is hopelessly genial.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is much in what you say,\u201d replied the Sultan. \u201cBut all this does\nnot help me to go fishing.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe was always one to stick to a point,\u201d went on Peran, a remark which\nalmost made the Sultan angry.\n\n\u201cI have an idea!\u201d he exclaimed finally, pleased with himself to have\nthought of it before Casia could guess it.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d they demanded in one breath.\n\n\u201cI shall have a medal struck off,\u201d said the Sultan. \u201cThere shall be but\none like it in all the land. It shall be wrought of ivory and inlaid\nwith rubies--and he who wins it shall rule in my place for a week.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what must he do to win it?\u201d asked Matzar.\n\n\u201cThat, is my secret,\u201d answered Selim, looking very hard at Casia whom he\nfeared had already guessed it.\n\n\u201cCould a woman win it?\u201d demanded Peran.\n\n\u201cThat she might,\u201d said Selim, who had no objection to women voting,\nthinking or even talking--he was so genial.\n\n\u201cBut how?\u201d gasped Peran and Casia together.\n\nFor answer the Sultan only put his finger to his lips and smiled\nmysteriously.\n\nThe next morning forty craftsmen went to work for forty days on the\nivory medal, carving it, hunting for precious stones to adorn it, and\npolishing them until they shone like starlight over mountain torrents.\nThen, when it was finished, the Sultan sent forth a herald who carried\nit aloft, swung on a golden chain, and proclaimed to all the people\nthat he who won it should rule for a week in the Sultan\u2019s palace.\n\nMuch clamor and talk arose throughout the length and breadth of the\nland. The news flew from mouth to mouth. Crowds gathered in the already\nover-crowded streets. But when, one day, the Sultan appeared dressed as\na hermit in rough, gray robes and walking barefooted, excitement and\ncuriosity knew no bounds. All stopped to look and gape, pressing so\nclose to him that only a very narrow pathway was left for the Sultan\namid the jostling shoulders.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d advised Matzar, who was shocked at this behavior, \u201cI\nshould like to suggest that you put on your royal robes again instead of\nthese ridiculous rags. What are you doing in the streets without your\nproper clothing?\u201d\n\n\u201cMerely trying to do my morning shopping,\u201d replied the Sultan calmly,\n\u201cif these people would only let me pass. I am badly in need of some new\nfish-hooks----\u201d\n\n\u201cYour Majesty\u2019s jokes,\u201d interrupted Matzar, \u201care not----\u201d\n\nBut his words were cut short by a loud cheer; and, as he looked, he saw\nthat the Sultan had shed his gray hermit\u2019s robe and now appeared as a\nfighter, armed only with a short dagger. The people then thought that\nthey understood and, nodding wisely, many of them ran home and returned\nsimilarly clad. But, although the Sultan fought with many he\nencountered, bearing defeat from some (while others he vanquished), no\none was awarded the ivory medal, not even Matzar, who had disarmed the\nSultan three times.\n\n\u201cWhy do I not then win the medal?\u201d he demanded of the Sultan.\n\nBut the Sultan only threw back his head and laughed.\n\n\u201cIt is not a medal for fighters,\u201d he replied. \u201cIs it not enough that you\nhave defeated your ruler?\u201d\n\nBut, although the Sultan laughed much, he was still sad at heart. He\nthought of all the fishes slipping away forever down the flashing\nstreams to the sea, and sighed.\n\nThree days went by and on the fourth the Sultan issued from his palace\nclad in the bright orange garments of a street merchant. On his head he\nbalanced, somewhat awkwardly, a tray on which were silver images,\njewelled bracelets and strings of pearls. There was no one who did not\nstop his work to watch the Sultan pass. No one thought of anything else\nthat day. Still the medal remained hidden in the Sultan\u2019s scarlet\ngirdle; and although he joked with those who bought his wares, a longer\nwrinkle than ever crept toward the corners of his mouth. He walked on,\nbalancing the heavy tray on his head, until he had come to the outskirts\nof the city. There again Matzar addressed him.\n\n\u201cIs this a joke?\u201d he demanded huffily, \u201cthis medal and this fishing\ntrip? If so, I advise you to give it up.\u201d\n\n\u201cBe careful, Matzar,\u201d warned the Sultan. \u201cSomeday you will give advice\nthat I can follow and then you will lose your job.\u201d\n\nJust then the Sultan stopped short and he was so surprised at what he\nsaw that he very nearly tipped over the precious tray and all that it\ncontained.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d exclaimed Selim.\n\nThere, seated on a high chair before her shop, stringing jade beads upon\na scarlet thread, sat a young slave girl, her bronze arms flashing in\nthe sunlight with each motion of her slender body. Her profile was fine\nas the line of the cloud that had drifted across the sky. Her clear\ngreen eyes followed each turn of her needle so intently that she never\nglanced at Selim and Matzar as they paused before her. When she did look\nup, however, Selim knew that she recognized him--for who in all the land\nknew not the Genial Sultan--but, unlike the mob, she gave no sign of\nsurprise.\n\n\u201cWouldst buy or sell?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cI would buy your string of green beads,\u201d the Sultan answered, \u201cgreen\nlike the forests where I am so soon to go.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour Majesty does not _know_ that he----\u201d began Matzar.\n\nBut the Sultan did not let him finish. He addressed the girl again.\n\n\u201cDo you know me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are Selim,\u201d replied the slave girl, \u201cSultan of Dar.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd do you not think it strange that I lay aside my royal robes to walk\nthe streets as a common merchant?\u201d\n\nThen the slave girl made a reply that caused all the crowd to gasp.\n\n\u201cI ply my trade and you ply yours,\u201d she said, while her silver needle\nagain flashed in the air, \u201cnor have I time to sit and stare.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, of all----!\u201d Matzar started to speak, but once more the Sultan\nstopped him.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want for your string of jade?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cWhat will you give me for it?\u201d replied the slave girl.\n\nFor answer the Sultan slipped his hand into his orange robe and drew\nforth the ivory medal that it had taken forty days to fashion, and threw\nit about her neck.\n\n\u201cShe only,\u201d he said, \u201cwho can tend her own affairs in peace and let me\ntend mine, can rule my people wisely.\u201d\n\nSo the slave girl, amid the rejoicings of the multitude, was crowned\nThirty-Second Sultana of the land.\n\n\u201cWe will turn the jail into a hotel,\u201d she said on her Coronation Day,\n\u201cfor with the Genial Sultan as ruler, it is a complete waste as a jail.\nIt is so big that there will be plenty of room for all.\u201d\n\nThe Sultan, hearing, knew that he had chosen well and, slipping his rods\nover his shoulder and his pail over his arm, he crept quietly out of the\nback door of the palace and went fishing.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS WHO COULD NOT SEE\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE PRINCESS GLORIANA, CALLED FOR HER BEAUTY THE\nMORNING STAR, WAS BLIND\u201d]\n\n\nAway to the south, in the country where all the dead flowers go to grow\nagain in winter time, an aged king reigned with his daughter over an\noutlying island, set like a green bouquet amid the tossing blue of the\nwaves. Happy were the people over whom he ruled and King Hesperon might\nwell have been happy, too, had it not been that one great sorrow brought\ntrouble to his heart and soon silvered the hair beneath his gem-set\ncrown. For the Princess Gloriana, called for her beauty the Morning\nStar, was blind. No vision had ever come to the deep eyes, blue as the\nlarkspur that bent in the winds as they raced through her father\u2019s\ngardens. When she looked out to the open spaces of the sea, there was\nnothing but a dark veil before her eyes, and when she listened to the\nscreams of the birds, curving over her head, she could only picture them\nin her fancy. Strange pictures she made, perhaps not at all like the\nreal birds, but to her they were very beautiful. Much indeed her father\nhad told her about the pink petals of a rose and the soft curve of a\nbaby\u2019s cheek and of the slim fishes that shot noiselessly through the\nbrooks. Still it was only natural that, with it all, the Princess had\nher own ideas, and, growing more and more to understand things by the\nsounds that they made, she grew to love them in her own way.\n\n\u201cBut oh!\u201d she cried one day to her father, \u201cif I could only see the\nbirds and the clouds but once and look just once on your face and at the\ngreat face of the sea, I could be happy.\u201d\n\nAnd the King, hearing, gave a deep sigh, while a tear like shining dew\ncame to his eye. \u201cIf it takes half my kingdom you shall have your\nwish,\u201d he told her, while she clung to him tightly, her own tears lying\nthick in her long lashes.\n\n\u201cAlas, Your Majesty,\u201d she said, \u201cit is not possible.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall see,\u201d he told her.\n\nNow it happened that in a nearby island there was a group of students\nwho were learning to cure the world of its illness and trouble by the\nstudy of medicine and a knowledge of the human body. To these the King\nsent word in a message written upon fine parchment and embossed in many\ncolors. \u201cTo him,\u201d ran the message, \u201cwho shall bring sight to the eyes of\nthe Princess Gloriana, shall be given half my kingdom and the hand of\nthe Princess herself in marriage.\u201d\n\nSo ran the message; and the people, hearing, hurried back and forth\nthrough the funny, crooked streets, spreading the news.\n\n\u201cWhat think you of this?\u201d said one to his neighbor. \u201cThe Princess\nGloriana, she whose beauty is greater than the dawn, she whom kings\nhave loved, is promised in marriage to any comer who can make her see.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Princess Gloriana?\u201d\n\n\u201cAye.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you seen her?\u201d (A crowd began to gather in the streets.)\n\n\u201cI have seen her once,\u201d came the reply, \u201cand so lovely was she, with her\nwhite cloak flowing in the wind and her hair, like yellow flower-dust,\nfalling beneath the band of sapphires, that I looked away and the tears\ncame to my eyes at the thought that so lovely a creature should never\nbehold herself in the deep waters of her father\u2019s well.\u201d\n\n\u201cBeautiful she is, indeed,\u201d croaked the old Master-teacher, who, finding\nthat no one had come to school, had joined the throng outside, \u201cbut\nthere is only one to win her that I know of in all the world, and\nhe--alas----!\u201d He shook his old bald head on which his dirty black cap\nsat like a withered bug, and uttered a deep sigh, by which he meant\nthat he feared some awful tragedy, some gloomy end for the Princess\nGloriana.\n\n\u201cWho--who is it?\u201d they asked him. \u201cOf whom dost thou speak?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot Stanley the Stalwart?\u201d asked one.\n\n\u201cPerhaps Rupert the Wise,\u201d wondered another.\n\n\u201cWhy do you shake your old bald head?\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd scowl so, Master?\u201d\n\n\u201cSpeak----!\u201d \u201cSpeak!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd that I will if you but give me leave. Many there are that will go\nto the fair towers of King Hesperon\u2019s castle; but none there be who can\nwork the miracle--excepting one--Stepan, son of Pandor, the Cobbler.\u201d\n\nAfter he had spoken there was, for a moment, silence. Then a shout\narose, full of laughter and jeerings.\n\n\u201cStepan?\u201d cried one.\n\n\u201cNot Stepan, the Awkward?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou _can\u2019t_ mean Stepan?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat ungainly fellow?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are mocking us, Master!\u201d\n\n\u201cHo, ho, ho! Imagine the Princess Gloriana married to that clodhopper!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, he couldn\u2019t make a proper bow at court. His doublet is worn\nthreadbare!\u201d\n\n\u201cHis nose is so large that, when the sun shines, it casts a shadow over\nhalf his face!\u201d\n\n\u201cMaster!--_Master!_\u201d\n\nBut the old Master, clapping his hands about his ears, ran down the\ncobbled streets to his house, his black sleeves flying to each side of\nhim like the pointed wings of a bat.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt was the last day of the contest. In the high throne room of King\nHesperon all were agog with excitement. For weeks and weeks students and\nmasters, kings and peasants, had been trying their cures. The poor\nPrincess was very discouraged. The King sat in gloomy silence on his\nwhite rock throne, his head resting on his hand. Several times he had\nhoped that the cure might work. Once a fine-looking fellow with a velvet\ncoat and lace ruffles and a perfumed handkerchief had shown great\npromise. Everyone had wanted him to win--everyone except perhaps the\nPrincess herself, who had turned aside a little as he bent over her. It\nmay have been that the perfume had offended her, used as her nostrils\nwere only to the scent of roses and jasmine!\n\nBut today there was a larger throng than ever. Nobles from afar in gaily\nstriped robes of blue and gold were there; young students in\nflame-colored brocades and silver buckles, masters in black robes and\npointed shoes and common people in rough brown, all went whispering and\nlaughing up and down the gray stone throne room. It sounded like a great\ncouncil of bees. Many kings had come from strange countries, and fine\nladies in silks and satins, among them two very young, very new queens\nwho had never worn crowns before, and had made terrible mistakes in\npicking them out. One had bought a crown much too big for her which\nslipped down over her ears like a bandage, and the other had chosen one\nso much too tight that she kept pushing it off her head whenever she got\nexcited, as she frequently did. They both were quite content with\nthemselves however.\n\n\u201cI would that the nice young fellow in velvet had won the Princess,\u201d\nsaid the First Queen. \u201cI was so excited when he tried his cure that I\nfelt cold even in my ermine coat.\u201d You see, she had not had an ermine\ncloak very long and she wanted to talk about it, which was quite\nnatural. A nearby student, hearing them, remarked that the fellow had\nknown nothing of medicine or cures and so had failed.\n\n\u201cThat doesn\u2019t matter in the least,\u201d snapped the First Queen, getting\nvery angry and shoving her crown off her ears for it was scratching\nthem terribly. \u201cHe was very handsome and dressed in _perfect_ taste.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd his wonderful perfume, my dear,\u201d cried the Other Queen. \u201cI could\nsmell it--even from here!\u201d Suddenly she nudged the First Queen with her\nelbow. \u201cWho is _that_?\u201d she asked in a loud whisper, drawing her skirts\naside lest they touch the cheap, dark garments of the man who passed\nthem.\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d replied her companion, \u201cis Stepan, the Cobbler. Watch him making\nhis bow to the King. He looks as though he would break in two.\u201d And she\nlaughed so hard that her crown got altogether out of place and slipped\naround over one ear like a tam-o\u2019-shanter.\n\nSilence fell for a moment as the King\u2019s Prime Minister rose to announce\nthe newcomer.\n\n\u201cStepan, son of Pandor, the Cobbler of Seristo,\u201d read the Prime Minister\nin a loud voice, while a little ripple of laughter ran through the\nhall. But the King looked at the Cobbler so kindly that a gleam of hope\nsparked in the depths of Stepan\u2019s gray eyes, and he made another bow,\nnot quite so clumsy as the first.\n\n\u201cI also have come, Your Majesty,\u201d he said, while his form seemed to gain\ndignity from his speech, \u201cto cure your daughter\u2019s malady.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou speak with great assurance,\u201d said the King.\n\n\u201cAnd is it not right that he should speak so,\u201d replied Stepan, \u201cwho has\npower to do all that he claims?\u201d\n\nOnce again a little rivulet of laughter rose and died along the great\nstone walls of the throne room. Long the King looked at him, and sighed.\n\n\u201cWe shall see,\u201d he said. \u201cIn your turn, Stepan.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut it _is_ his turn,\u201d interrupted the Prime Minister rudely, \u201c_because\neveryone else has tried and failed_.\u201d\n\nSo the Princess was summoned, and, when she stood at the doorway, a hush\nfell like night over the people; for her beauty had a great radiance. In\nthe narrow circlet that bound her long, gold hair, a yellow topaz shone\nlike the morning star, and, as she moved, the gauze of her dress, soft\nas the peaceful, purple shadows over the hills, swept like a cloud about\nher ankles. But her eyes, blue as the larkspur, looked forth, unseeing.\nA little wearily, a little sadly, perhaps, she leaned on the arm of the\nPrime Minister who had come forward to help her to her throne.\n\nNow so intent was Stepan upon the thing that he was about to do, that he\nalmost forgot to make his third bow to the King, and started up the\nsteps to the throne on which sat the Princess, giving only the jerkiest\nnod of the head toward the King\u2019s throne. The remarks that flew from\nmouth to mouth were anything but complimentary!\n\nThen an odd thing happened, very strange at Court where it is the\ncustom for no one to speak unless commanded to do so by the King.\nStepan, when he had almost reached the white ivory throne on which sat\nthe Princess awaiting him, turned abruptly to the King. And what he said\nwas so surprising and absurd, and Stepan looked so awkward standing\nthere in his patched, brown clothes among all those gay colors, that the\nPrime Minister gave a little grunt right out loud and the two queens\nforgot altogether to whisper to each other and stood looking at Stepan\nwith their mouths wide open.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d began Stepan in a quiet but very soft and mellow voice\nthat brought a little smile to the lips of the Princess, \u201cYour Majesty,\nbefore I shall apply my remedy to your daughter\u2019s eyes, I have one\nrequest to make--in case I am successful.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell!\u201d exclaimed the queen with the big crown, that by this time had\nfallen down over one eye, \u201cthe greedy fellow! As if the King----! The\nrest of her remark was lost in the King\u2019s reply.\n\n\u201cSpeak, Stepan,\u201d he said, \u201cfor I have sworn to restore my daughter\u2019s\nsight if it takes all that I have.\u201d\n\n\u201cSire,\u201d responded Stepan, and his tone was so kindly that the Princess\nleaned forward eagerly to catch all that he would say, \u201cit is not of\nmyself or of added riches that I would speak, but of the Princess\nGloriana.\u201d\n\nIt was very quiet in the throne room now. You could hear the great\nbranches of the trees brushing against the window frettings, and the\nswish and gurgle of waves against the rocks.\n\n\u201cIf I restore the sight of the Princess,\u201d continued Stepan, \u201cI would beg\nof Your Majesty that her hand be given to that man whom she herself\nshall choose.\u201d\n\nAs he finished, no one spoke in all that vast room. The King himself sat\nthere staring, and, as for the Prime Minister, he was so startled that\nhe dropped the parchment roll of names and it went bumping down the\nsteps like a jackstraw. Then arose the sound of voices in all pitches\nand keys. Each person wanted to tell his particular friend just what he\nthought of such a piece of impudence. For, you see, this was an unheard\nof thing at Court, or any other place, at that time. Princesses, as well\nas other girls, were supposed to be very contented with whatever\nhusbands their fathers should choose for them. How could it be otherwise\nwhen such care was taken in the choice of husbands?\n\nYou can easily see that Stepan\u2019s request was nothing short of a\nthunderbolt to them. All sorts of remarks were to be heard.\n\n\u201cThe Princess pick out her own husband, indeed!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, what could she know about the matter?\u201d\n\n\u201cRidiculous!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t being done!\u201d\n\nIn fact, it never had been done! Only the Princess, strange to say,\nunable to see the expressions of horror on so many faces, sat there\nsmiling serenely and nodding her head in quite the most pleased and\nfriendly manner in the world. To her it did not seem to be so very\nridiculous a request and far--yes, really far from annoying or\ntroublesome. Indeed, I really believe that at that moment she thought\nherself fully capable.\n\nThe King found his voice at last.\n\n\u201cStepan,\u201d he said gravely, \u201cyou have o\u2019er-reached yourself. But there is\nnothing for me to do but to grant your request. Perhaps it is your\nnatural modesty that makes you ask this.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Sire,\u201d replied Stepan quickly, \u201c\u2019tis my pride.\u201d\n\nI do not need to tell you how it was that Stepan cured the Princess; how\nhe worked over her until the long, weary afternoon drew to a close, and\nthe sun hung like a huge, gold clock over the far hills. At last he\napproached her where she sat with her hands resting along the white arms\nof the throne, and her eyes covered with a large, black bandage.\n\n\u201cPrincess Gloriana,\u201d said Stepan, \u201care you ready to look out on the\nworld with all that it holds of beauty and of ugliness?\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is a conceited fellow,\u201d whispered the queen whose crown had grown so\ntight for her that she had a headache (though she wouldn\u2019t for the world\nacknowledge it and go home).\n\nThe Princess, merely turning her head upward, smiled trustingly.\n\n\u201cI am ready,\u201d she said softly and Stepan drew the big black bandage from\nher eyes.\n\nIt was a moment never to be forgotten in all the history of the island.\nLong afterwards would the students and the masters and the two queens in\nthe uncomfortable crowns talk of this! For a moment the Princess sat\nthere puzzled, a little scowl deepening on her forehead. Gradually it\ndisappeared and very slowly she rose from her throne, her dress floating\nabout her like mist. And all the while a little smile was touching her\nlips and growing. It was a lovely thing to behold that smile--such a\nsmile of joy and wonder as no one had ever seen before or since.\nSuddenly she put her hands before her eyes as though to brush aside the\nfog and gave a little sob like the call of a wild bird.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she cried, \u201cit is so wonderful and so strange and so funny! I can\nsee! _I can see!_\u201d\n\nA very happy time followed for the Princess. She ran to the King, her\nfather, stroking his long silky beard, touching the ruby crown, and\nlaughing. She threw kisses to the crowd, utterly forgetting that she was\na Princess and should have some dignity, and she laughed at the two\nqueens in their badly fitting crowns until they got very red in the face\nand a little ashamed of themselves. It was strange, too, that many\nthings that others had found beautiful, such as brilliant reds and\noranges, she thought ugly because the glaring colors hurt her eyes, and\nmany things that other people thought ugly, such as the over-grown walks\nin the gardens and the clovers that grew like weeds, she believed to be\nvery beautiful. And much that was not usually noticed seemed very\nunusual to the Princess, such as the shadows over the hills and the\nquick, brown thrushes slipping through the bushes. So you can see that,\nduring her long blindness, she had come to have ideas of her own on many\nthings.\n\n\u201cIt is now time,\u201d said the Prime Minister sternly, thinking that she had\nplayed long enough, \u201cfor you to choose your husband.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy!\u201d exclaimed the Princess, \u201cI had entirely forgotten.\u201d\n\nNo one believed that but, since they all loved the little Princess, they\nmerely smiled and said nothing. You can imagine, however, how exciting\nit was as the Princess passed among them, talking to each in turn, and\nhow everybody held his breath when she came near Stanley, the Stalwart\nor when she laughed at some brilliant saying of Rupert, the Wise. It\ntook her a long time; and, in fact, the Prime Minister, who was used to\nhaving things done with some speed, grew very impatient. It looked\nalmost as if she would have no husband at all.\n\n\u201cIt would serve her right if she didn\u2019t,\u201d remarked one of the new queens\ncrossly.\n\n\u201cYou speak sharply,\u201d said Stepan who had come and stood near them, quite\nby accident.\n\nAt this moment the Princess paused and stood very still with her head\njust a little to one side. It was in this way that she used to stand in\nthe garden when she first learned to tell the cries of the different\nbirds. Across the huge stone throne room her eyes met those of Stepan\nand they gazed at each other in silence for a long time. Then the\nPrincess, having, as I have said, no idea at all of beauty, and having\nduring her childhood learned to judge by many signs of which we do not\nknow, walked straight up to Stepan, the Cobbler, and put her hand in\nhis.\n\n\u201cHe it is that I choose,\u201d she said gravely, \u201cfor to me he is the most\nbeautiful of them all.\u201d\n\nStrange as it may seem, Stepan in his surprise and joy forgot altogether\nto be awkward and indeed the happiness in his eyes made him almost\nhandsome, and the robe of blue that the Prime Minister threw over his\nshoulders (in spite of the cross looks of the two queens) gave him quite\nan air of elegance. At least so thought the Princess, who had ideas of\nher own on the subject.\n\nVery happily lived the Princess with Stepan, the Cobbler, who ruled\nwisely, and so greatly was he beloved on the little island, it is said,\nthat long before he died brown clothes and long noses had become very\nmuch the fashion and were thought beautiful by all. For who shall say\nwhat is beautiful and what is not? Perhaps if anything seems beautiful\nto us, that makes it so. So thought the Princess Gloriana, who made up\nher own mind about these things; and I daresay she was right.\n\n\n\n\nLATE FOR THE\nCORONATION\n\n[Illustration: \u201cHER HEART FULL OF JOY, THE LITTLE PRINCESS CAME AT LAST\nTO HER CORONATION\u201d]\n\n\nThe little Princess lay on her bed and sobbed. Tomorrow she was to be\ncrowned Queen, and her manners were still far from perfect. In fact\nPom-Pom, the Lord High Chamberlain, and Mizzi, the Master-teacher, and\nBombo, the Chief Cook, had all gone so far as to say that she had none\nat all. And they had reason. She cried for buttered crackers and hot\nmilk when Bombo served her with fine salads and roasted pigeons, she\nnever learned her spelling lessons, and she treated Rollo, the Errand\nBoy, as though he were a Prince. Once they had seen her giggling--yes,\nactually giggling with him, on the very day on which he had borrowed\nPom-Pom\u2019s white wig and his best handkerchief, on which were written all\nthe State Secrets! Pom-Pom did not know what they were laughing at, but\nhe had an idea that it was at _him_ that they were laughing. At any rate\nthe little Princess enjoyed herself so much that she had a very large\nappetite that night for dinner, which was not considered ladylike in the\nRoyal Palace, and she ate three large bowls of crackers and milk instead\nof one.\n\nToday three things had happened to spoil her happiness. She had been\nforbidden by Carla, the Head Nurse, to go into the gardens, she had had\nto listen to a long talk between Pom-Pom and a stranger about a new war;\nand, worst of all, Rollo, her only playmate, was to be sent away, far,\nfar away Pom-Pom had said. He had told her in his everyday manner, quite\nin the same tone of voice that he used in talking about boundary lines\nand armies; and all the time he kept looking down at her over his rimmed\nglasses and his bumpy, red nose. It made the Princess very unhappy and\nangry, and she felt like crying. Of course she did not cry. Princesses\ndo not cry, because crying is even worse than laughing. But oh, how she\nhated Pom-Pom! He was fat and round, like a stuffed canary, in his\nyellow velvet coat and breeches. His stomach stuck out like a stuffed\ncanary\u2019s, his feet in the long, pointed shoes stuck out, and then his\nnose stuck out.\n\n\u201cYour Highness,\u201d he said, \u201cwill rest indoors today and retire early, so\nas to be ready for the Coronation tomorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t want----\u201d began the Princess and stopped. Hadn\u2019t she been\ntold that it is the most unladylike thing in the world to argue? Pom-Pom\nshowed his surprise with a \u201cTch--Tch\u201d noise in his throat. Then he bowed\nvery low, as though he were a servant.\n\n\u201cFor many, many years there have been customs among the Royal House. It\nis these that you will obey, when you are Queen--and not myself or\nanyone else.\u201d\n\nHe bowed again, and it was so hard for him to do it that the Princess\nfelt like laughing again, because, all tumbled-over like that, he looked\nlike a round, yellow muffin. You and I would have laughed surely, but\nnot the Princess. She bowed too, looking up slyly to see if he _could_\nstraighten out, and when he _had_, she gave a great sigh of relief. When\nthe door had closed upon him, she sighed again.\n\nIt was after that that she threw herself on the bed and wept bitterly.\nAnd it was while she was sobbing that a Big Idea came to her. She turned\nover on the bed, propped herself on her elbows, and blew her nose hard.\nThis helped her a lot. The Big Idea grew bigger and bigger, and the\nfunny thing about it was that Pom-Pom himself had put it into her head.\nHad he not said that it was a _custom_ she was to obey and not himself\nor Mizzi, or Carla, the Nurse, or Bombo, the Chief Cook?\n\n\u201cCustom, custom,\u201d repeated the little Princess to herself,\n\u201ck-u-s-t-u-m--custom.\u201d She had got so into the habit of spelling every\nword for Carla and Mizzi that she did it without thinking.\n\n\u201cAnd what is a custom?\u201d said the Princess to herself. \u201cWhy, I suppose\nit\u2019s a rule--r-o-o-l.\u201d\n\nAt that she fell to thinking very hard and this is what she thought:\n\n\u201cIt is much easier to disobey a rule than to disobey Pom-Pom or Bombo or\nMizzi, because none of them made the rule.\u201d It had been made, you see,\nmany, many years ago. The Princess now sat up very straight and smiled\nright through her tears.\n\nBut someone must have made it at sometime!\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d said the little Princess to herself, \u201cthe people that made it\naren\u2019t even alive!\u201d\n\nIt was perfectly plain to see that, if they weren\u2019t alive, they couldn\u2019t\ncare a bit whether she stayed in her room, whether she ate crackers and\nmilk, whether she laughed with Rollo, or even whether she came to the\nCoronation at all!\n\n\u201cI will go away,\u201d whispered the little Princess to herself, \u201cwhere there\naren\u2019t so many rules.\u201d\n\nAs soon as this Idea came to her, the Princess lost no time. She put her\nclothes and her jewels into a little sack which she hid carefully under\na long, black cape. Then she tied an old shawl of Carla\u2019s over her head\nand crept carefully, without making the slightest noise, down the back\nstairs of the castle. It was just twilight and she hid behind the pantry\ndoor until it grew dark, and then she slipped out among the thick\nbushes.\n\nIt was some time before she found Rollo, crying near the garden wall,\nhis curly head buried in his arm. She came up to him on tiptoe.\n\n\u201cRollo,\u201d she whispered. \u201c_Rollo!_\u201d\n\nHe turned, startled, but, when he saw who it was a smile spread slowly\nover his face.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m going with you, Rollo,\u201d said the Princess softly. \u201cCome.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you cannot do that!\u201d cried Rollo. \u201cThink of Pom-Pom, and Mizzi and\nBombo. Would you disobey?\u201d\n\nThe Princess stood very straight.\n\n\u201cI am a Queen,\u201d she said. \u201cI need never obey Pom-Pom or anyone. Only a\nrule. Pom-Pom said so himself--and that is easy to break. I shall merely\nmake new rules.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where are you going?\u201d gasped Rollo.\n\n\u201cTo see my country,\u201d the little Princess told him.\n\nHand in hand they sought the long passage beneath the castle, and though\nit was full of cobwebs and even bats, the little Princess did not\ncomplain, but, drawing the hood of her long cape over her head, went\nforward through the darkness and dust, until at last a little streak of\nlight showed them that they were coming out into the world.\n\nSo Rollo and the little Princess went forth to see her own country, and\nwhat befell them on the way I will soon tell you.\n\nNow there were some words that Carla, the Royal Nurse, and Pom-Pom had\nexplained to the Princess very fully, such as wars and boundary lines\nand Court and manners; but there were other words that they had not\nthought needful to a Princess, so they had not even mentioned them to\nher. This caused her to make many mistakes as soon as she went outside\nthe castle gardens and to learn much that Pom-Pom had never taught her.\n\nThe first of these mistakes occurred very soon after Rollo and the\nPrincess had left the castle. They had gone some distance along a narrow\npathway and already the castle looked like a lump of black towers at the\ntop of the hill. It was very dark and they had to stumble over the\nuneven road as best they could. The Princess\u2019 robe was torn and her\nface was scratched, but she scarcely noticed it, so happy was she to be\nable to laugh and talk all she wanted to with Rollo. Now a soft, rounded\nobject like an orange cushion crept from behind the hills.\n\n\u201cThe moon!\u201d exclaimed Rollo.\n\n\u201cThe moon? Oh, Goodie!\u201d said the Princess, who had always been put to\nbed by Carla before the moon was up. She began to dance a little dance\nall her own down the road, when Rollo jerked her by the sleeve.\n\n\u201cSh-sh-h-h!\u201d he whispered. \u201cThey\u2019ll be hunting for you all over soon.\nAnd anyhow tonight we\u2019ll be hungry--and then what\u2019ll we do?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, what?\u201d gasped the little Princess, forgetting her glee.\n\nRollo was silent. They walked on so for a moment or two, while the\norange moon grew and grew, from a flat cushion into a round balloon, and\nfinally it rose right out of the woods and seemed to balance itself\nfoolishly on the pointed arm of a pine tree. Suddenly Rollo grasped the\nlittle Princess roughly by the arm.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d he said. \u201cDid you see that?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d\n\nHe pointed through the bushes to a very faint light that flickered\nthrough the leaves; and, going toward it, they soon came to a tiny house\nand garden. Rollo walked boldly up and knocked. After what seemed a very\nlong wait, they heard footsteps and a pounding that sounded like a cane\nand then the key turned in the lock.\n\nThe little Princess was sure she had never seen anything like the old\nman that stood in the doorway as it swung open. Had she not seen him\nwith her own eyes, she would never have believed that there could be\nanything so withered and knotted and bent as he was, or that there could\nbe anything as worn and loose and baggy as his clothes, quite unlike the\nyellow velvet breeches that Pom-Pom wore. But beneath the soft, silky\nhair of the old man, a pair of blue eyes twinkled at the Princess and\nquite charmed her. He invited her to come in so pleasantly and stood\naside holding the candle to light the way in so friendly a fashion that\nthe Princess felt more welcome than she ever had in her own castle. The\nroom was certainly more comfortable than the castle. Instead of high\nwindows and carved chairs, there were little cross-barred windows and\nGrandfathers\u2019-chairs, some flowers, and a low stool before a blazing\nfire.\n\n\u201cStep right in,\u201d said the old man, \u201cstep right in and warm yourselves.\nAnd perhaps,\u201d he added, his little eyes sparkling merrily, \u201cperhaps\nyou\u2019ll have a cup of tea with Gamma Turkin and myself.\u201d\n\nThe little Princess laughed and clapped her hands.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019d love it, wouldn\u2019t we, Rollo? Tea--and cookies?\u201d\n\n\u201cCookies of course,\u201d replied the old fellow, and he shouted to someone\nin the other room, then turned and looked at the little Princess as\nthough he thought her the loveliest creature in all the world.\n\nAt the sound of the voices an old woman appeared at the door, as\nwrinkled and bent as himself, and dressed in a rough brown dress and the\nwhitest, cleanest cap imaginable.\n\n\u201cWhat, tea at this time!\u201d she exclaimed. Then, catching sight of the\nlittle Princess, \u201cWherever did you come from, child? Sit right down and\nGamma Turkin will bring you tea.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd cookies,\u201d the little Princess reminded her. (You see Bombo had\nnever been allowed to feed the little Princess more than one cooky a\nweek, because cookies were much too common for a Princess.)\n\nIt was a feast and the little Princess, munching greedily, asked as many\nquestions as she liked, and you can see from what she asked how many\nthings Mizzi and Pom-Pom and Carla had forgotten to teach her.\n\nIt was in the midst of the fifth cooky that the little Princess paused\nfor breath and asked the first question.\n\n\u201cWhat is _that_ for?\u201d she said, trailing her finger around a large patch\non the old man\u2019s knee. Gamma Turkin gave an angry snort, but, seeing the\nsweet expression on the little Princess\u2019 face, smiled instead.\n\n\u201cThat is a patch,\u201d the old man explained gently. \u201cHave you never seen\none?\u201d\n\nThe little Princess shook her head.\n\n\u201cWhat is it _for_?\u201d she asked again.\n\n\u201cWhy!\u201d said Gamma Turkin, \u201cto cover a hole, of course!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut----\u201d began the little Princess, and just then Rollo kicked her.\n\n\u201cSh-h-h!\u201d he whispered.\n\n\u201cLet her ask what questions she chooses,\u201d said the old man much puzzled,\nbut looking at the Princess affectionately.\n\n\u201cThen--why not wear another coat?\u201d said the Princess.\n\n\u201cBecause I have no other.\u201d\n\n\u201cCouldn\u2019t you get one?\u201d\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t you see?\u201d Rollo interrupted.\n\n\u201cLet her be!\u201d cried the old man. Then, turning to the little Princess,\n\u201cI am too poor.\u201d\n\nFor sometime the little Princess stared at him in silence, while a\nstrange frightened feeling grew about her heart.\n\n\u201cWhat--is poor?\u201d she asked finally.\n\n\u201cPoor,\u201d said the old man, \u201cis always to live in hope. To have few\nthings--but to prize them highly.\u201d\n\nAnd the Princess, seeing tears in Gamma Turkin\u2019s eyes, threw her arms\nabout her.\n\n\u201cI, too, have been poor!\u201d she cried. \u201cBut, oh, so differently!\u201d\n\nSo saying she drew from her sack one of the crown jewels, a rare and\nlovely ruby, and slipped it in the pocket of Gamma Turkin\u2019s worn dress.\nBut Gamma Turkin did not see her, and it was only long afterwards that\nshe found the ruby. But that I will have to tell you a little later.\n\nIn the morning, rested by a good night\u2019s sleep in a high feathered bed,\nthe little Princess and Rollo set out again on their journey. It was a\nhot, dusty road and the little Princess shared her cookies with all who\npassed, so that by noon none were left. But she had had a very happy\ntime, talking to all whom she met, and learning all about their lives,\nwhich seemed very strange to the Princess.\n\nBy nightfall they were both hot and dirty and hungry, but this time\nthere was no house in sight. On all sides a thick forest stood about\nthem, with fearful shadows and rustling noises. It grew darker. A star\nglimmered to the north, but there was as yet no moon. The little\nPrincess felt like crying, but Princesses do not cry. So she grasped\nRollo even tighter by the hand and they trudged on.\n\n\u201cYou must rest soon,\u201d said Rollo finally.\n\nThe little Princess shook her head. But she put her hand to her head and\nto her foot. \u201cThough I feel something here,\u201d she said, \u201cand here.\u201d\n\nJust at that moment they heard a low groan that seemed to come from the\nwoods, so close that the little Princess jumped and her heart beat\nstrangely. Sounds of music and soldiers marching and even guns the\nlittle Princess had heard before, but never a noise like that! She would\nhave hung back, had not Rollo seized her by the hand. Quickly parting\nthe bushes, they came upon a little twisting path that after a few turns\nled them to a white tent from which the groans still issued. Rollo\nlifted the flap of the tent and peered in. Then he beckoned to the\nPrincess. There on a straw mattress in the corner lay a very thin young\nman, who looked at them crossly at first; but, upon seeing the face of\nthe little Princess, he smiled.\n\n\u201cCome in,\u201d he said in a high voice. The Princess did so, very quietly,\nand it was only then that she noticed that the young man\u2019s face was\ndrawn about the lips and eyes in a way that she had never seen before.\nHe held out his hand to her.\n\n\u201cPerhaps you will stay for supper--though it isn\u2019t much that I have to\noffer you. Only crackers and milk, which an old peasant woman brings me\nevery morning.\u201d\n\nThe Princess jumped up and down for joy.\n\n\u201cOh, I hoped that you would ask us to supper!\u201d she cried. \u201cAnd I think\ncrackers and milk the best thing on earth. You see, Pom-Pom----\u201d\n\nHere Rollo coughed to remind her that she must not give her secret away.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d the sick man questioned her. \u201cA fairy or just a gypsy?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you after supper,\u201d replied the little Princess. \u201cBut isn\u2019t\nit time that you were getting up?\u201d\n\nThe man gave her a strange look, which soon changed to one of\npuzzlement.\n\n\u201cI do not get up--at least for some weeks,\u201d he told her. \u201cI am sick.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is _that_?\u201d asked the little Princess. You see now how very\nlittle Pom-Pom and Mizzi had taught her, for no sick person had ever\nbeen allowed to come into the Royal Rooms occupied by the Princess.\n\n\u201cSick is to have pain. Something that is with you constantly, either in\nyour body or in your mind--and makes you feel--while it lasts--that you\ncan never laugh again.\u201d\n\nThe little Princess\u2019 hand went to her head and then to her feet--just as\nit had along the road when her feet felt sore from tramping and her head\nhad become dizzy from hunger.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s it!\u201d exclaimed the man on the cot. \u201cYou must have had very funny\nteachers.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey taught me a great deal,\u201d said the little Princess, \u201cbut it is all\nvery strange----\u201d She broke off suddenly. \u201cWhen were you first sick?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the war,\u201d he answered her gently, and this was a word the little\nPrincess understood.\n\n\u201cAnd do wars always make men sick?\u201d\n\nHe nodded gravely. At that the little Princess fell to thinking, and she\nthought so long and so hard that Rollo had to poke her to tell her that\nsupper was ready at last.\n\nThat night the little Princess slept but little on the straw provided\nfor her in the tent, for she had a great many things to think about. And\nin the morning, before the sick man was awake, she took another jewel\nfrom her sack--this time a sapphire that sparkled like morning sunlight\nover a lake--and she slipped it into a coffee cup. Then very quietly she\nand Rollo started out along the road.\n\nA long, long way they walked--how many days and nights passed the\nPrincess could not remember; and everywhere they stopped people were\nkind to them and took them in, and everywhere the little Princess\nlearned new words, and every day her sack got lighter and lighter, until\nthere was only one jewel left.\n\nAt last one night Rollo found the little Princess so absorbed in\nthinking over all she had learned that she did not answer him when he\nspoke to her. He felt of her sack in which the one jewel remained, and\nhe felt afraid for what would become of them. It was a very lonely road\nand once more the moon was slowly crawling over the end of it. At last\nthe little Princess turned to Rollo.\n\n\u201cWhere shall we rest--and eat?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d cried Rollo, \u201cwhen you were not hungry I was beginning to think\nthat something was the matter. But, alas! where _shall_ we eat and\nrest?\u201d\n\nHe looked about him sadly. Under a cloudy sky the road stretched before\nthem empty of travellers. It looked as though it led straight into the\ncenter of the moon. But in a few minutes the moon lifted itself away\nfrom the road and lighted up the whole country with a soft, white light.\nThen Rollo gave a sudden leap of joy.\n\n\u201cLook there!\u201d he commanded, pointing to a bridge that ran over a tiny\nstream.\n\nThere near the steps of the bridge stood an old man, and nearby stood a\nyouth and a young girl in whose yellow hair the moonbeams were caught\nand tangled. But as Rollo and the little Princess approached, they could\nsee that she had been weeping.\n\nThe Princess held her breath for a moment. Then she went straight up to\nthe old man--he was the sort of old man that one would go straight up\nto--and she whispered in his ear.\n\n\u201cWhy--is she crying?\u201d\n\nHe looked at her for a long time and she repeated her question.\n\n\u201cWhat is the--matter?\u201d\n\nThe old man set down his cane and put his hand on the little Princess\u2019\nshoulder.\n\n\u201cIs it really true that you do not know?\u201d\n\nRollo opened his mouth to speak but wisely decided not to.\n\n\u201cI do not know--many things,\u201d said the little Princess, remembering all\nher other visits.\n\n\u201cShe is crying,\u201d explained the old man, \u201cbecause she loves the boy--and\nhe is going away.\u201d\n\nThe Princess looked very grave. She thought that she had asked almost\nenough questions, and that she had better stop. But finally she got up\ncourage and said:\n\n\u201cWhat _is_ love?\u201d\n\nIf the old man had looked surprised before, he looked as though someone\nhad really puzzled him now. But, glancing at the little Princess, he\ncould not doubt her honesty.\n\n\u201cIt is difficult to explain,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it is like having everything\nyou want in the world--and then, sometimes, like having nothing at\nall.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d said the little Princess. \u201cShe is smiling now--almost laughing.\nAt least her eyes are laughing.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d agreed the old man, \u201cthey are both smiling now.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd why is she happy now?\u201d\n\n\u201cFor everyone we love,\u201d said the old man patiently, \u201cwe gain\nsomething--and we give up something.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it wise, then?\u201d asked the little Princess, \u201cto love?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d said the old man.\n\nAnd the Princess, looking at the two lovers, sighed and smiled.\n\n\u201cI think it is wise,\u201d she said, which is just what you would have\nexpected of her. \u201cI, too,\u201d said the little Princess, \u201clove.\u201d\n\nThe old man nodded, as though she had told him no news.\n\n\u201cWhom do you love?\u201d he asked her.\n\n\u201cI love Gamma Turkin and the sick man of the tent. I love Rollo and the\nbeautiful lady with the golden hair and----\u201d the little Princess swung\nher arms about as though to include the world--\u201cand everybody,\u201d she\nsaid. \u201cI love even Pom-Pom and Mizzi and Carla--and Bombo--and----\u201d\n\n\u201cStop!\u201d cried the old man. \u201cYou are going much too fast!\u201d\n\nThe little Princess looked at him, her mouth open.\n\n\u201cOnly a Queen,\u201d continued the old man \u201cshould love so many people.\u201d\n\nAnd for the last time in her life the little Princess said, \u201c_Why?_\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause only she who loves all the people of her country can rule\nwisely.\u201d\n\nFor a moment the little Princess regarded him in silence.\n\n\u201cAh, then,\u201d she said finally. \u201cI must go back.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d demanded the old man.\n\n\u201cHome,\u201d said the little Princess. \u201cFor I have learned something.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what is that?\u201d\n\n\u201cTo obey a rule,\u201d she answered sadly.\n\nSo it was that Rollo and the little Princess of their own accord started\non their homeward way. But before they left the Princess took the last\njewel from her sack. It was warm with the yellow flame of firelight and\nit was cool with the clear yellow of moonlight, and for an instant the\nlittle Princess gazed at it longingly, then she slipped it into the old\nman\u2019s hand; and he, being as you have seen a very wise old man, asked no\nquestions but only pointed out the road to them and wished them\nGodspeed.\n\nThey had gone only a very short distance however when Pom-Pom\u2019s army,\nthat had been hunting them high and low, discovered them, torn and\nbedraggled, and carried them back post-haste to the castle gates.\n\nThere a great crowd awaited them. It seemed that all the people of the\nland, learning that the little Princess had been found, had gathered\ntogether to welcome her back. It was very surprising.\n\nSuddenly the little Princess was aware of Pom-Pom in his rimmed\nspectacles and his velvet suit. One thing was very plain to see and that\nwas that he was exceedingly angry. Once more he bowed low, and once\nagain the little Princess thought of Bombo\u2019s yellow muffins and wondered\nwhether he could straighten out again. He did straighten out, however,\nat which the little Princess gave a sigh of relief, while Bombo frowned\nand Carla and Mizzi shook their heads. Something very terrible was in\nstore for the little Princess and they knew it.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d said Pom-Pom puffily, \u201cit has long been a custom and a\nrule in this Court that no Royal Princess shall be crowned Queen who is\nlate to her own Coronation.\u201d\n\nHe paused to let his words sink in.\n\n\u201cThe crown will go to the next in line.\u201d He closed his mouth tightly and\nlooked down at the Princess over his rimmed glasses and his bumpy, red\nnose.\n\nThe little Princess could hardly restrain her tears. It is a dreadful\nthing to find out that you cannot do a thing just when you have decided\nthat you must do it. And the Princess had just decided that she wanted\nto be Queen.\n\n\u201cBut what am I to do?\u201d she cried. \u201cWhat that will become of----\u201d\n\nA great roar from the crowd swallowed up her question. It seemed to come\nfrom miles and miles around and to grow louder every instant, until even\nPom-Pom had to put his hands over his ears. A man who leaned on a cane\ncame forward, and the Princess saw that it was the sick man of the tent.\nHe looked much stronger and bigger. When he raised his hand the crowd\nbecame silent. Then he bowed very low to Pom-Pom.\n\n\u201cThe people,\u201d he said, \u201cwill have no other Queen.\u201d\n\nPom-Pom grew red in the face.\n\n\u201cThey have nothing to say about it,\u201d he snapped.\n\nThe man bowed again.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he agreed. \u201cBut they are saying it very loudly.\u201d\n\nPom-Pom\u2019s face was now purple.\n\n\u201cShe cannot reign in this castle!\u201d he shouted angrily.\n\n\u201cBe that as it may,\u201d said the man of the tent, \u201cshe will reign in the\nhearts of her people.\u201d\n\nAt that moment, amid the cheers and laughter of the throng, an old lady,\nin a neat brown dress and the most spotlessly white cap imaginable, came\nforward; and in her hand she held a crown. It was woven of mistletoe and\nthistle-down; and in the center, where the great ruby should have been,\nwas instead a large red poppy; and where the yellow topazes shone in the\nroyal crown this one had a cluster of yellow wood-violets; and where the\nsapphire should have been set, there was a larkspur. Very carefully\nGamma Turkin and a beautiful lady, whose golden hair was still more\nlovely in the morning light, placed the crown on the head of the little\nPrincess. And the sun came out and shone on all its petals, and the wind\nrustled down, scattering its perfumes among all. It was a very beautiful\nsight.\n\nEven Pom-Pom took off his rimmed spectacles and blew his nose long and\nhard on his best silk handkerchief on which were embroidered all the\nState Secrets of the Kingdom. This caused him to lose several pounds.\nThe Princess could not help laughing; but she was at the same time so\nsorry for him that she decided, in spite of the protests of the crowd,\nto keep him at the castle as Lord-High Censor of the Spelling Book, a\npost that he fulfilled with honor and dignity until he died. As for\nRollo, he became her Chief Adviser and wore a white wig that pleased him\nmightily, although it was not in the least becoming.\n\nSo, standing at her castle gates, her ragged cape hanging loosely from\nher shoulders, her sack empty of jewels but her heart full of joy, the\nlittle Princess came at last to her Coronation.\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"The genial sultan; The princess who could not see; Late for the coronation","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":9906}