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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78382-0.txt b/78382-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e240d25 --- /dev/null +++ b/78382-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5349 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78382 *** + + + + + A DOORWAY IN FAIRYLAND + + + + +This selection of fairy-tales is reprinted from the following original +editions, now out of print: + + _A Farm in Fairyland_ (1894) + _The House of Joy_ (1895) + _The Field of Clover_ (1898) + _The Blue Moon_ (1904) + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration: + + A DOORWAY IN FAIRYLAND + BY LAURENCE HOUSMAN + + NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE & COMPANY + + ENGRAVED BY + CLEMENCE HOUSMAN +] + + + + + _Made and + Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., + London and Aylesbury._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + THE BLUE MOON 13 + + THE WISHING-POT 21 + + THE WAY OF THE WIND 33 + + THE BOUND PRINCESS: + + THE FIRE-EATERS 53 + + THE GALLOPING PLOUGH 59 + + THE THIRSTY WELL 66 + + THE PRINCESS MELILOT 74 + + THE BURNING ROSE 82 + + THE CAMPHOR-WORM 90 + + THE RAT-CATCHER’S DAUGHTER 97 + + THE TRAVELLER’S SHOES 108 + + THE ROOTED LOVER 133 + + THE WOOING OF THE MAZE 147 + + THE MOON-FLOWER 156 + + THE WHITE KING 181 + + THE PASSIONATE PUPPETS 192 + + KNOONIE IN THE SLEEPING PALACE 211 + + + + +THE BLUE MOON + + +Nillywill and Hands-pansy were the most unimportant and happy pair of +lovers the world has ever gained or lost. With them it had been a case +of love at first blindness since the day when they had tumbled into +each other’s arms in the same cradle. And Hands-pansy, when he first +saw her, did not discover that Nillywill was a real princess hiding her +birthright in the home of a poor peasant; nor did Nillywill, when she +first saw Hands, see in him the baby-beginnings of the most honest and +good heart that ever sprang out of poverty and humble parentage. So +from her end of their little crib she kicked him with her royal rosy +toes, and he from his kicked back and laughed: and thus, as you hear, +at first blindness they fell head over ears in love with one another. + +Nothing could undo that; for day by day earth and sun and wind came to +rub it in deeper, and water could not wash it off. So when they had +been seven years together there could be no doubt that they felt as if +they had been made for each other in heaven. And then something very +big and sad came to pass; for one day Nillywill had to leave off being +a peasant child and become a princess once more. People very grand and +grown-up came to the woodside where she flowered so gaily, and caught +her by the golden hair of her head and pulled her up by her dear little +roots, and carried her quite away from Hands-pansy to a place she had +never been in before. They put her into a large palace, with woods and +terraces and landscape gardens on all sides of it; and there she sat +crying and pale, saying that she wanted to be taken back to Hands-pansy +and grow up and marry him, though he was but the poor peasant boy he +had always been. + +Those that had charge of Nillywill in her high station talked wisely, +telling her to forget him. “For,” said they, “such a thing as a +princess marrying a peasant boy can only happen once in a blue moon!” + +When she heard that, Nillywill began every night to watch the moon +rise, hoping some evening to see it grow up like a blue flower against +the dusk and shake down her wish to her like a bee out of its deep +bosom. + +But night by night, silver, or ruddy, or primrose, it lit a place for +itself in the heavens; and years went by, bringing the Princess no +nearer to her desire to find room for Hands-pansy amid the splendours +of her throne. + +She knew that he was five thousand miles away and had only wooden +peasant shoes to walk in; and when she begged that she might once +more have sight of him, her whole court, with the greatest utterable +politeness, cried “No!” + +The Princess’s memory sang to her of him in a thousand tunes, like +woodland birds carolling; but it was within the cage which men call a +crown that her thoughts moved, fluttering to be out of it and free. + +So time went on, and Nillywill had entered gently into sweet +womanhood--the comeliest princess that ever dropped a tear; and all +she could do for love was to fill her garden with dark-eyes pansies, +and walk among their humble upturned faces which reminded her so well +of her dear Hands--Hands who was a long five thousand miles away. “And, +oh!” she sighed, watching for the blue moon to rise, “when will it come +and make me at one with all my wish?” + +Looking up, she used to wonder what went on there. She and Hands had +stolen into the woods, when children together, and watched the small +earth-fairies at play, and had seen them, when the moon was full, lift +up their arms to it, making, perhaps, signals of greeting to far-off +moon-brothers. So she thought to herself, “What kind are the fairies +up there, and who is the greatest moon-fairy of all who makes the blue +moon rise and bring goodwill to the sad wishers of the human race? Is +it,” thought Nillywill, “the moon-fairy who then opens its heart and +brings down healing therefrom to the lovers of earth?” + +And now, as happens to all those who are captives of a crown, Nillywill +learned that she must wed with one of her own rank who was a stranger +to her save for his name and his renown as the lord of a neighbouring +country; there was no help for her, since she was a princess, but she +must wed according to the claims of her station. When she heard of it, +she went at nightfall to her pansies, all lying in their beds, and told +them of her grief. They, awakened by her tears, lifted up their grave +eyes and looked at her. + +“Do you not hear?” said they. + +“Hear what?” asked the Princess. + +“We are low in the ground: we hear!” said the pansies. “Stoop down your +head and listen!” + +The Princess let her head go to the ground; and “click, click,” she +heard wooden shoes coming along the road. She ran to the gate, and +there was Hands, tall and lean, dressed as a poor peasant, with a +bundle tied up in a blue cotton handkerchief across his shoulder, and +five thousand miles trodden to nothing by the faithful tramping of his +old wooden shoes. + +“Oh, the blue moon, the blue moon!” cried the Princess; and running +down the road, she threw herself into his arms. + +How happy and proud they were of each other! He, because she remembered +him and knew him so well by the sight of his face and the sound of his +feet after all these years; and she, because he had come all that way +in a pair of wooden shoes, just as he was, and had not been afraid that +she would be ashamed to know him again. + +“I am so hungry!” said Hands, when he and Nillywill had done kissing +each other. And when Nillywill heard that, she brought him into the +palace through the pansies by her own private way; then with her own +hands she set food before him, and made him eat. Hands, looking at her, +said, “You are quite as beautiful as I thought you would be!” + +“And you--so are you!” she answered, laughing and clapping her hands. +And “Oh, the blue moon,” she cried--“surely the blue moon must rise +to-night!” + +Low down in the west the new moon, leaning on its side, rocked and +turned softly in its sleep; and there, facing the earth through the +cleared night, the blue moon hung like a burning grape against the sky. +Like the heart of a sapphire laid open, the air flushed and purpled to +a deeper shade. The wind drew in its breath close and hushed, till not +a leaf quaked in the boughs; and the sea that lay out west gathered its +waves together softly to its heart, and let the heave of its tide fall +wholly to slumber. Round-eyed, the stars looked at themselves in the +charmed water, while in a luminous azure flood the light of the blue +moon flowed abroad. + +Under the light of many tapers within drawn curtains of tapestry, and +feasting her eyes upon the happiness of Hands, the Princess felt the +change that had entranced the outer world. “I feel,” she said, “I do +not know how--as if the palace were standing siege. Come out where we +can breathe the fresh air!” + +The light of the tapers grew ghostly and dim, as, parting the thick +hangings of the window, they stepped into the night. + +“The blue moon!” cried Nillywill to her heart; “oh, Hands, it is the +blue moon!” + +All the world seemed carved out of blue stone; trees with stems +dark-veined as marble rose up to give rest to boughs which drooped the +altered hues of their foliage like the feathers of peacocks at roost. +Jewel within jewel they burned through every shade from beryl to onyx. +The white blossoms of a cherry-tree had become changed into turquoise, +and the tossing spray of a fountain as it drifted and swung was like a +column of blue fire. Where a long inlet of sea reached in and touched +the feet of the hanging gardens the stars showed like glow-worms, +emerald in a floor of amethyst. + +There was no motion abroad, nor sound: even the voice of the +nightingale was stilled, because the passion of his desire had become +visible before his eyes. + +“Once in a blue moon!” said Nillywill, waiting for her dream to become +altogether true. “Let us go now,” she said, “where I can put away my +crown! To-night has brought you to me, and the blue moon has come for +us: let us go!” + +“Where shall we go?” asked Hands. + +“As far as we can,” cried Nillywill. “Suppose to the blue moon! +To-night it seems as if one might tread on water or air. Yonder across +the sea, with the stars for stepping-stones, we might get to the blue +moon as it sets into the waves.” + +But as they went through the deep alleys of the garden that led down to +the shore they came to a sight more wonderful than anything they had +yet seen. + +Before them, facing toward the sea, stood two great reindeer, their +high horns reaching to the overhead boughs; and behind them lay a +sledge, long and with deep sides like the sides of a ship. All blue +they seemed in that strange light. + +There, too, but nearer to hand, was the moon-fay himself waiting--a +great figure of lofty stature, clad in furs of blue fox-skin, and with +heron’s wings fastened above the flaps of his hood; and these lifted +themselves and clapped as Hands and the Princess drew near. + +“Are you coming to the blue moon?” called the fay, and his voice +whistled and shrilled to them like the voice of a wind. + +Hands-pansy gave back answer stoutly: “Yes, yes, we are coming!” And +indeed what better could he say? + +“But,” cried Nillywill, holding back for a moment, “what will the blue +moon do for us?” + +“Once you are there,” answered the moon-fay, “you can have your wish +and your heart’s desire; but only once in a blue moon can you have it. +Are you coming?” + +“We are coming!” cried Nillywill. “Oh, let us make haste!” + +“Tread softly,” whispered the moon-fay, “and stoop well under these +boughs, for if anything awakes to behold the blue moon, the memory of +it can never die. On earth only the nightingale of all living things +has beheld a blue moon; and the triumph and pain of that memory wakens +him ever since to sing all night long. Tread softly, lest others waken +and learn to cry after us; for we in the blue moon have our sleep +troubled by those who cry for a blue moon to return.” He looked towards +Nillywill, and smiled with friendly eyes. “Come!” he said again, and +all at once they had leapt upon the sledge, and the reindeer were +running fast down towards the sea. + +The blue moon was resting with its lower rim upon the waters. At that +sight, before they were clear of the avenues of the garden, one of the +reindeer tossed up his great branching horns and snorted aloud for joy. +With a soft stir in the thick boughs overhead, a bird with a great +trail of feathers moved upon its perch. + +The sledge, gliding from land, passed out over the smoothed waters, +running swiftly as upon ice; and the reflection of the stars shone +up like glow-worms as Nillywill and Hands-pansy, in the moon-fay’s +company, sped away along its bright surface. + +The still air whistled through the reindeers’ horns; so fast they went +that the trees and the hanging gardens and the palace walls melted away +from view like wreaths of smoke. Sky and sea became one magic sapphire +drawing them in towards the centre of its life, to the heart of the +blue moon itself. + +When the blue moon had set below the sea, then far behind them upon +the land they had left the leaves rustled and drew sharply together, +shuddering to get rid of the stony stillness, and the magic hues in +which they had been dyed; and again the nightingale broke out into +passionate triumph and complaint. + +Then also, from the bough which the reindeer had brushed with its +horns, a peacock threw back its head and cried in harsh lamentation, +having no sweet voice wherewith to acclaim its prize. And so ever since +it cries, as it goes up into the boughs to roost, because it shares +with the nightingale its grief for the memory of departed beauty which +never returns to earth save once in a blue moon. + +But Nillywill and Hands-pansy, living together in the blue moon, look +back upon the world, if now and then they choose to remember, without +any longing for it or sorrow. + + + + +THE WISHING-POT + + +Tulip was the son of a poor but prudent mother; from the moment of his +birth she had trained him to count ten before ever he wanted or asked +for anything. An otherwise reckless youth, he acquired an intrinsic +value through the practice of this habit. Only once, just as he was +reaching, but had not quite reached, years of discretion, did his habit +of precaution fail him; and this same failure became in the end the +opening of his fortunes. + +Bathing one day in the river, to whose banks the woods ran down in +steep terraces, he heard a voice come singing along one of the upper +slopes; and looking up under the boughs of cedar and sycamore, he saw a +pair of green feet go dancing by, up and down like grasshoppers on the +prance. + +There was such rhythm in them, and such sweetness in the voice, that +his heart was out of him before he could harness it to the number ten, +and he came out of the water the most natural and forlorn of lovers. + +Before he was dressed the green feet and the voice were gone, and +before he got home his health and his appetite seemed to have gone +also. He pined industriously from day to day, and spent all his hours +in searching among the woods by the river side for his lady of the dear +green feet. He did not know so much as the size or colour of her face; +the sound of her voice alone, and the running up and down of her feet, +had, as he told his mother, “decimated his affections.” + +In his trouble he could think of only one possible remedy, and that +he counted well over, knowing its risk. Away in the loneliest part of +the forest there lived a wise woman, to whom, now and then, folk went +for help when everything else had failed them. So he had heard tell +of a certain Wishing-Pot that was hers in which people might see the +thing they desired most, and into which for a fee she allowed lovers +and other poor fools of fortune to look. One thing, however, was told +against the virtues of this Wishing-Pot, that though many had had a +sight of it, and their wishes revealed to them therein, others had +gone and had never again returned to their homes, but had vanished +altogether from men’s sight, nor had any news ever been heard of them +after. There were some wise folk who held that they had only gone +elsewhere to seek the fortune that the Wishing-Pot had shown to them. +Nevertheless, for the most part, the wise woman and her Wishing-Pot had +an ill name in that neighbourhood. + +To a lover’s heart risk gives value; so one fine morning Tulip kissed +his mother, counted ten, and set out for the woods. + +Towards evening he came to the house of the witch and knocked at the +door. “Good mother,” said he, when she opened to him, “I have brought +you the fee to buy myself a wish over the Wishing-Pot.” “Ay, surely,” +answered the crone, and drew him in. + +In one corner of the room stood a great crystal bowl. Nearly round +it was, and had a small opening at the top, to which a man might +place his eye and look in. To Tulip, as he looked at it, it seemed +all coloured fires and falling stars, and a soft crackling sound came +from it, as though heat burned in its veins. It threw long shapes and +lustres upon the walls, and within innumerable things writhed, and ran, +and whiffed in the floating of its vapours. + +“You may have two wishes,” said the old witch, “a one and a two.” And +she said the spell that undid the secret of the Pot to the wisher. + +Then Tulip bent down his head and looked in, counting softly to +himself, and at ten, he let the wish go to his lady of the dear green +feet. + +The colours changed and sprang, as though stirred and fed with fresh +fuel; and down in the depths of the Wishing-Pot he saw the feet of his +Beloved go by in twinkling green slippers. + +As soon as he saw that he began counting ten in great haste for the +second wish. “O to be inside the Wishing-Pot with her!” was his thought +now. He had got to nine, and the wish was almost on his tongue, when +he caught sight of the old woman’s eye looking at him. And the eye +had become like a large green spider, with great long limbs that kept +clutching up and out again! + +His heart queegled to a jelly at the sight; but the green feet lured +him so, that he still thought how to get to them and yet be safe. +Surely, to be in the Wishing-Pot and out by the sound of the next +Angelus became the shape of his wish. He shut his eyes, cried ten upon +the venture, and was in the Wishing-Pot! + +The little green feet were trebling over the glass with a sound like +running water; and he himself began running at full speed, shot off +into the Wishing-Pot like a pellet from a pop-gun. Nothing could he +see of his dear but her wee green feet. But above them as they ran he +heard showery laughter, and he knew that his lady was there before him, +though invisible to the eye. + +The Pot, now he was in it, seemed bigger than the biggest dome in the +world; to run all round it took him two or three minutes. Away in the +centre of its base stood a great opal knob, like the axle to a wheel +round which he and the green feet kept circling. + +However much he wished and wished, the green feet still kept their +distance, for now he was _in_ the Wishing-Pot wishes availed him +nothing. The green feet flew faster than his; the light laugh rang +further and further away; right across to the other side of the hall +his lady had passed from him now. + +The magic fires of the crystal leaped and crackled under his tread; +now it seemed as if his feet ran on a green lawn, out of which broke +crocuses and daffodils, and now roses reddened in the track, and now +the purple of grapes spurted across the path like spilled wine. The +sound of the green feet and the running of overhead laughter, as they +distanced him in front, came nearer and nearer behind him from across +the hall. He felt that he must follow and not turn, however beaten he +might be. + +Presently a voice, that he knew was his Beloved’s, cried,-- + + “Heart that would have me must hatch me! + Feet that would find me must catch me! + Man that would mate me must match me!” + +Oh, how? wondered spent feet, and failing heart, and reeling brain. +He stumbled slower and slower in the race, till presently with quick +innumerable patterings the green feet grew closer, and were overtaking +him from the rear. + +Warm breath was in his hair,--lips and a hand; he turned, open armed, +to snatch the mischievous morsel, but all that he clasped was a gust of +air; and he saw the green feet scudding out and away on a fresh start +before him. + +Again, with laughter, the voice cried,-- + + “Lap for lap you must wind me: + Equal, before you can find me! + You are a lap behind me!” + +Where they raced the surface of the glass sloped slightly to the upward +rise of its walls; Tulip shifted his ground, and ran where the footing +was leveller towards the centre, and the circle began to go smaller. So +he began to gain, till the green slippers, seeing how the advantage had +come about, shifted also in their turn. + +Thus they ran on; there were no inner posts to mark the course, only +the great opal standing in the centre of all formed the pivot of the +race, and round and round it, a great way off, they ran. + +All at once a big thought came into Tulip’s head; he waited not to +count ten, but, before Green Slippers knew what he was after, he had +reached the opal centre, and was circling it. Then quickly all the +laughter stopped; the green feet came twinkling sixteen to the dozen, +so as to get round the post before him and away. + +One lap, he was before her; two laps, he turned again to her coming, +and found her falling into his arms. She blossomed into sight at his +touch: from top to toe she was there! All rosy and alive he had her in +his clasp, laughing, crying, clinging, yet struggling to be free. She +made a most endless handful, till Tulip had caught her by the hair and +kissed her between the eyes. + +All round and overhead the magic crystal reared up arches of fire, to +a roof that dropped like rain, while Tulip and his prize sank down +exhausted on the great hub of opal to rest. As he touched it all the +secret wonders of the Wishing-Pot were opened and revealed to his gaze. + +Crowds and crowds of faces were what he most saw; everywhere that he +turned he saw old friends and neighbours who, he thought, had been dead +and gone, looking sadly, and shaking long sorrowful faces at him. “You +here too, Tulip?” they seemed for ever to be saying. “Always another, +and another; and now you here too!” + +There was the dairyman’s wife, who had waited seven years to have a +child, holding a little will-o’-the-wisp of a thing in her arms. Now +and then for a while it would lie still, and then suddenly it would +leap up and dart away; and she, poor soul, must up and after it, though +the chase were ever so long! + +There also was Miller Dick with his broad thumbs, counting over a +rich pile of gold, which, ever and anon, spun up into the air, and +went strewing itself like dead leaves before the wind. Then he too +must needs up and after it, till it was all caught again, and added +together, and made right. + +There were small playmates of Tulip’s childhood, each with its +little conceit of treasure: one had a toy, and another a lamb, another +a bird; and all of them hunted and caught the thing they loved, and +kissed it and again let go. So it went on, over and over again, more +sad than the sight of a quaker as he twiddles his thumbs. + +[Illustration] + +Whenever they were at peace for a moment, they turned their eyes his +way. “What, you here too, Tulip?” was always the thing they seemed to +be saying. + +While Tulip sat looking at them, and thinking of it all, suddenly his +lady disappeared, and only her green feet darted from his side and +began running round and round in a circle. Then was he just about to +set off running after them, when he felt himself caught up to the +coloured fires of the roof and sent spinning ungovernably through +space. Suddenly he was dumped to the ground, and just as his feet were +gathering themselves up under him he heard the Angelus bell ringing +from the village below the slopes of the wood. + +He was standing again by the side of the Wishing-Pot, and the old woman +sat cowering, and blinking her spider eye at him, too much astonished +to speak or move. + +Tulip looked at her with a pleasant and engaging air. “Oh, good mother, +what a treat you have given me!” he said. “How I wish I had money for +another wish! what a pity it was ever to have wished myself back again!” + +When the old witch heard that she thought still to entrap him, and +answered joyfully, “Why, kind Sir, surely, kind Sir, if you like it you +shall look again! Take another wish, and never mind about the money.” +So she said the spell once more which opened to him the wonders of the +Wishing-Pot. + +Then cried Tulip, clapping his hands, “What better can I wish than to +have you in the Wishing-Pot, in the place of all those poor folk whom +you have imprisoned with their wishes!” + +Hardly was the thing said than done; all the children who had been +Tulip’s playmates, and Miller Dick with his broad thumbs, and the +dairyman’s wife, were every one of them out, and the old witch woman +was nowhere to be seen. + +But Tulip put his eye to the mouth of the Wishing-Pot; and there down +below he saw the old witch, running round and round as hard as she +could go, pursued by a herd of green spiders. And there without doubt +she remains. + +And now everybody was happy except Tulip himself; for the children had +all of them their toys, and the old miller his gold, and as for the +dairyman’s wife, she found that she had become the mother of a large +and promising infant. But Tulip had altogether lost his lady of the +dear green feet, for in thinking of others he had forgotten to think of +himself. All the gratitude of the poor people he had saved was nothing +to him in that great loss which had left him desolate. For his part he +only took the Wishing-Pot up under his arm, and went sadly away home. + +But before long the noise of what he had done reached to the king’s +ears; and he sent for Tulip to appear before him and his Court. Tulip +came, carrying the Wishing-Pot under his arm, very downcast and sad +for love of the lady of the dear green feet. + +At that time all the Court was in half mourning; for the Princess +Royal, who was the king’s only child, and the most beautiful and +accomplished of her sex, had gone perfectly distraught with grief, of +which nothing could cure her. All day long she sat with her eyes shut, +and tears running down, and folded hands and quiet little feet. And +all this came, it was said, from a dream which she could not tell or +explain to anybody. + +The king had promised that whoever could rouse her from her grief, +should have the princess for his wife, and become heir to the throne; +and when he heard that there was such a thing in the world as a +Wishing-Pot, he thought that something might be done with it. + +From Tulip he learned, however, that no one knew the spell which opened +the resources of the Wishing-Pot save the old witch woman who was shut +up fast for ever in its inside. So it seemed to the king that the Pot +could be of no use for curing the princess. + +But it was so beautiful, with its shooting stars and coloured fires, +that, when Tulip brought it, they carried it in to show to her. + +After three hours the princess was prevailed upon to open her eyes; and +directly they fell upon the great opal bowl, all at once she started to +her feet and began laughing and dancing and singing. + +These are the words that they heard her sing,-- + + “Lap for lap I must wind you; + Equal, before I can find you; + I am a lap behind you!” + +Tulip, as soon as he heard the sweetness of that voice, and the words, +pushed his way past the king and all his court, to where the princess +was. And there over the heads of the crowd he saw his lady of the dear +green feet laughing and opening her white arms to him. + +As she set eyes on his face the dream of the princess came true, and +all her unhappiness passed from her. So they loved and were married, to +the astonishment and edification of the whole court; and lived to be +greatly loved and admired by all their grandchildren. + + + + +THE WAY OF THE WIND + + +Where the world breaks up into islands among the blue waves of an +eastern sea, in a little house by the seashore, lived Katipah, the only +child of poor parents. When they died she was left quite alone and +could not find a heart in the world to care for her. She was so poor +that no man thought of marrying her, and so delicate and small that as +a drudge she was worth nothing to anybody. + +Once a month she would go and stand at the temple gate, and say to the +people as they went in to pray, “Will nobody love me?” And the people +would turn their heads away quickly and make haste to get past, and +in their hearts would wonder to themselves: “Foolish little Katipah! +Does she think that we can spare time to love anyone so poor and +unprofitable as she?” + +On the other days Katipah would go down to the beach, where everybody +went who had a kite to fly--for all the men in that country flew kites, +and all the children,--and there she would fly a kite of her own up +into the blue air; and watching the wind carrying it farther and +farther away, would grow quite happy thinking how a day might come at +last when she would really be loved, though her queer little outside +made her seem so poor and unprofitable. + +Katipah’s kite was green, with blue eyes in its square face; and in +one corner it had a very small pursed-up red mouth holding a spray of +peach-blossom. She had made it herself; and to her it meant the green +world, with the blue sky over it when the spring begins to be sweet; +and there, tucked away in one corner of it, her own little warm mouth +waiting and wishing to be kissed: and out of all that wishing and +waiting the blossom of hope was springing, never to be let go. + +All round her were hundreds of others flying their kites, and all had +some wish or prayer to Fortune. But Katipah’s wish and prayer were only +that she might be loved. + +The silver sandhills lay in loops and chains round the curve of the +blue bay, and all along them flocks of gaily coloured kites hovered and +fluttered and sprang. And, as they went up into the clear air, the wind +sighing in the strings was like the crying of a young child. “Wahoo! +wahoo!” every kite seemed to cradle the wailings of an invisible infant +as it went mounting aloft, spreading its thin apron to the wind. + +“Wahoo! wahoo!” sang Katipah’s blue-and-green kite, “shall I ever be +loved by anybody?” And Katipah, keeping fast hold of the string, would +watch where it mounted and looked so small, and think that surely some +day her kite would bring her the only thing she much cared about. + +Katipah’s next-door neighbour had everything that her own lonely heart +most wished for: not only had she a husband, but a fine baby as well. +Yet she was such a jealous, cross-grained body that she seemed to get +no happiness out of the fortune Heaven had sent her. Husband and child +seemed both to have caught the infection of her bitter temper; all +day and night beating and brawling went on; there seemed no peace in +that house. + +[Illustration] + +But for all that the woman, whose name was Bimsha, was quite proud of +being a wife and a mother: and in the daytime, when her man was away, +she would look over the fence and laugh at Katipah, crying boastfully, +“Don’t think you will ever have a husband, Katipah: you are too poor +and unprofitable! Look at me, and be envious!” + +Then Katipah would go softly away, and send up her kite by the seashore +till she heard a far-off, sweet, babe-like cry as the wind blew through +the strings high in air. + +“Shall I ever be loved by anybody?” thought she, as she jerked at the +cord; and away the kite flew higher than ever, and the sound of its +call grew fainter. + +One morning, in the beginning of the year, Katipah went up on to the +hill under plum-boughs white with bloom, meaning to gather field-sorrel +for her midday meal; and as she stooped with all her hair blowing over +her face, and her skirts knotting and billowing round her pretty brown +ankles, she felt as if someone had kissed her from behind. + +“That cannot be,” thought Katipah, with her fingers fast upon a stalk +of field-sorrel; “it is too soon for anything so good to happen.” So +she picked the sorrel quietly, and put it into her basket. But now, not +to be mistaken, arms came round her, and she _was_ kissed. + +She stood up and put her hands into her breast, quite afraid lest her +little heart, which had grown so light, should be caught by a puff of +wind and blown right away out of her bosom, and over the hill and into +the sea, and be drowned. + +And now her eyes would not let her doubt; there by her side stood a +handsome youth, with quick-fluttering, posy-embroidered raiment. His +long dark hair was full of white plum-blossoms, as though he had just +pushed his head through the branches above. His hands also were loaded +with the same, and they kept sifting out of his long sleeves whenever +he moved his arms. Under the hem of his robe Katipah could see that he +had heron’s wings bound about his ankles. + +“He must be very good,” thought Katipah, “to be so beautiful! and +indeed he must be very good to kiss poor me!” + +“Katipah,” said the wonderful youth, “though you do not know me, I know +you. It is I who so often helped you to fly your green kite by the +shore. I have been up there, and have looked into its blue eyes, and +kissed its little red mouth which held the peach-blossom. It was I who +made songs in its strings for your heart to hear. I am the West Wind, +Katipah--the wind that brings fine weather. ‘Gamma-gata’ you must call +me, for it is I who bring back the wings that fly till the winter is +over. And now I have come down to earth, to fetch you away and make you +my wife. Will you come, Katipah?” + +“I will come, Gamma-gata!” said Katipah, and she crouched and kissed +the heron-wings that bound his feet; then she stood up and let herself +go into his arms. + +“Have you enough courage?” asked the West Wind. + +“I do not know,” answered Katipah, “for I have never tried.” + +“To come with me,” said the Wind, “you need to have much courage; if +you have not, you must wait till you learn it. But none the less for +that shall you be the wife of Gamma-gata, for I am the gate of the wild +geese, as my name says, and my heart is foolish with love of you.” +Gamma-gata took her up in his arms, and swung with her this way and +that, tossing his way through blossom and leaf; and the sunlight became +an eddy of gold round her, and wind and laughter seemed to become part +of her being, so that she was all giddy and dazed and glad when at last +Gamma-gata set her down. + +“Stand still, my little one!” he cried--“stand still while I put on +your bridal veil for you; then your blushes shall look like a rose-bush +in snow!” So Katipah stood with her feet in the green sorrel, and +Gamma-Gata went up into the plum-tree and shook, till from head to foot +she was showered with white blossom. + +“How beautiful you seem to me!” cried Gamma-gata when he returned to +ground. + +Then he lifted her once more and set her in the top of a plum-tree, and +going below, cried up to her, “Leap, little Wind-wife, and let me see +that you have courage!” + +Katipah looked long over the deep space that lay between them, and +trembled. Then she fixed her eyes fast upon those of her lover, and +leapt, for in the laughter of his eyes she had lost all her fear. + +He caught her half-way in air as she fell. “You are not really brave,” +said he; “if I had shut my eyes you would not have jumped.” + +“If you had shut your eyes just then,” cried Katipah, “I would have +died for fear.” + +He set her once more in the tree-top, and disappeared from her sight. +“Come down to me, Katipah!” she heard his voice calling all round her. + +Clinging fast to the topmost bough, “Oh, Gamma-gata,” she cried, “let +me see your eyes, and I will come.” + +Then with darkened brow he appeared to her again out of his blasts, and +took her in his arms and lifted her down a little sadly till her feet +touched safe earth. And he blew away the beautiful veil of blossoms +with which he had showered her, while Katipah stood like a shamed child +and watched it go, shredding itself to pieces in the spring sunshine. + +And Gamma-gata, kissing her tenderly, said: “Go home, Katipah, and +learn to have courage! and when you have learned it I will be faithful +and will return to you again. Only remember, however long we may be +parted, and whatever winds blow ill-fortune up to your door, Gamma-gata +will watch over you. For in deed and truth you are the wife of the West +Wind now, and truly he loves you, Katipah!” + +“Oh, Gamma-gata!” cried Katipah, “tell the other winds, when they come, +to blow courage into me, and to blow me back to you: and do not let +that be long!” + +“I will tell them,” said Gamma-gata; and suddenly he was gone. Katipah +saw a drift of white petals borne over the tree-tops and away to sea, +and she knew that there went Gamma-gata, the beautiful windy youth who, +loving her so well, had made her his wife between the showers of the +plum-blossom and the sunshine, and had promised to return to her as +soon as she was fit to receive him. + +So Katipah gathered up her field-sorrel, and went away home and ate +her solitary midday meal with a mixture of pride and sorrow in her +timid little breast. “Some day, when I am grown brave,” she thought, +“Gamma-gata will come back to me; but he will not come yet.” + +In the evening Bimsha looked over the fence and jeered at her. “Do not +think, Katipah,” she cried, “that you will ever get a husband, for all +your soft looks! You are too poor and unprofitable.” + +Katipah folded her meek little body together like a concertina when it +shuts, and squatted to earth in great contentment of spirit. “Silly +Bimsha,” said she, “I already have a husband, a fine one! Ever so much +finer than yours!” + +Bimsha turned pale and cold with envy to hear her say that, for she +feared that Katipah was too good and simple to tell her an untruth, +even in mockery. But she put a brave face upon the matter, saying only, +“I will believe in that fine husband of yours when I see him!” + +“Oh, you will see him,” answered Katipah, “if you look high enough! +But he is far away over _your_ head, Bimsha; and you will not hear him +beating me at night, for that is not his way!” + +At this soft answer Bimsha went back into her house in a fury, and +Katipah laughed to herself. Then she sighed, and said, “Oh, Gamma-gata, +return to me quickly, lest my word shall seem false to Bimsha, who +hates me!” + +Every day after this Bimsha thrust her face over the fence to say: +“Katipah, where is this fine husband of yours? He does not seem to come +home often.” + +Katipah answered slyly: “He comes home late, when it is dark, and he +goes away very early, almost before it is light. It is not necessary +for his happiness that he should see _you_.” + +“Certainly there is a change in Katipah,” thought Bimsha: “she has +become saucy with her tongue.” But her envious heart would not allow +her to let matters be. Night and morning she cried to Katipah, +“Katipah, where is your fine husband?” And Katipah laughed at her, +thinking to herself: “To begin with, I will not be afraid of anything +Bimsha may say. Let Gamma-gata know that!” + +And now every day she looked up into the sky to see what wind was +blowing; but east, or north, or south, it was never the one wind that +she looked for. + +The east wind came from the sea, bringing rain, and beat upon Katipah’s +door at night. Then Katipah would rise and open, and standing in the +downpour, would cry, “East wind, east wind, go and tell your brother +Gamma-gata that I am not afraid of you any more than I am of Bimsha!” + +One night the east wind, when she said that, pulled a tile off Bimsha’s +house, and threw it at her; and Katipah ran in and hid behind the +door in a great hurry. After that she had less to say when the east +wind came and blew under her gable and rattled at her door. “Oh, +Gamma-gata,” she sighed, “if I might only set eyes on you, I would fear +nothing at all!” + +When the weather grew fine again Katipah returned to the shore and +flew her kite as she had always done before the love of Gamma-gata had +entered her heart. Now and then, as she did so, the wind would change +softly, and begin blowing from the west. Then little Katipah would pull +lovingly at the string, and cry, “Oh, Gamma-gata, have you got fast +hold of it up there?” + +One day after dusk, when she, the last of all the flyers, hauled down +her kite to earth, there she found a heron’s feather fastened among the +strings. Katipah knew who had sent that, and kissed it a thousand times +over; nor did she mind for many days afterwards what Bimsha might say, +because the heron’s feather lay so close to her heart, warming it with +the hope of Gamma-gata’s return. + +But as weeks and months passed on, and Bimsha still did not fail to say +each morning, “Katipah, where is your fine husband to-day?” the timid +heart grew faint with waiting. “Alas!” thought Katipah, “if Heaven +would only send me a child, I would show it to her; she would believe +me easily then! However tiny, it would be big enough to convince her. +Gamma-gata, it is a very little thing that I ask!” + +And now every day and all day long she sent up her kite from the +seashore, praying that a child might be born to her and convince +Bimsha of the truth. Everyone said: “Katipah is mad about kite-flying! +See how early she goes and how late she stays: hardly any weather keeps +her indoors.” + +One day the west wind came full-breathed over land and sea, and Katipah +was among the first on the beach to send up her messenger with word +to Gamma-gata of the thing for which she prayed. “Gamma-gata,” she +sighed, “the voice of Bimsha afflicts me daily; my heart is bruised by +the mockery she casts at me. Did I not love thee under the plum-tree, +Gamma-gata? Ask of Heaven, therefore, that a child may be born to +me--ever so small let it be--and Bimsha will become dumb. Gamma-gata, +it is a very little thing that I am asking!” + +All day long she let her kite go farther up into the sky than all the +other kites. Overhead the wind sang in their strings like bees, or like +the thin cry of very small children; but Katipah’s was so far away she +could scarcely see it against the blue. “Gamma-gata,” she cried; till +the twilight drew sea and land together, and she was left alone. + +Then she called down her kite sadly; hand over hand she drew it by +the cord, till she saw it fluttering over her head like a great moth +searching for a flower in the gloom. “Wahoo! wahoo!” she could hear the +wind crying through its strings like the wailing of a very small child. + +It had become so dark that Katipah hardly knew what the kite had +brought her till she touched the tiny warm limbs that lay cradled +among the strings that netted the frame to its cord. Full of wonder +and delight, she lifted the windling out of its nest, and laid it in +her bosom. Then she slung her kite across her shoulder, and ran home, +laughing and crying for joy and triumph to think that all Bimsha’s +mockery must now be at an end. + +So, quite early the next morning, Katipah sat herself down very +demurely in the doorway, with her child hidden in the folds of her +gown, and waited for Bimsha’s evil eye to look out upon her happiness. + +She had not long to wait. Bimsha came out of her door, and looking +across to Katipah, cried, “Well, Katipah, and where is your fine +husband to-day?” + +“My husband is gone out,” said Katipah, “but if you care to look you +can see my baby. It is ever so much more beautiful than yours.” + +Bimsha, when she heard that, turned green and yellow with envy; and +there, plain to see, was Katipah holding up to view the most beautiful +babe that ever gave the sunlight a good excuse for visiting this wicked +earth. The mere sight of so much innocent beauty and happiness gave +Bimsha a shock from which it took her three weeks to recover. After +that she would sit at her window and for pure envy keep watch to see +Katipah and the child playing together--the child which was so much +more beautiful and well-behaved than her own. + +As for Katipah, she was so happy now that the sorrow of waiting for +her husband’s return grew small. Day by day the west wind blew softly, +and she knew that Gamma-gata was there, keeping watch over her and her +child. + +Every day she would say to the little one, “Come, my plum-petal, my +wind-flower, I will send thee up to thy father that he may see how fat +thou art getting, and be proud of thee!” And going down to the shore, +she would lay the child among the strings of her kite and send it up +to where Gamma-gata blew a wide breath over sea and land. As it went +she would hear the child crow with joy at being so uplifted from earth, +and laughing to herself, she would think, “When he sees his child so +patterned after his own heart, Gamma-gata will be too proud to remain +long away from me.” + +When she drew the child back to her out of the sky, she covered it with +caresses, crying, “Oh, my wind-blown one, my cloudlet, my sky-blossom, +my little piece out of heaven, hast thou seen thy father, and has he +told thee that he loves me?” And the child would crow with mysterious +delight, being too young to tell anything it knew in words. + +Bimsha, out of her window, watched and saw all this, not comprehending +it: and in her evil heart a wish grew up that she might by some means +put an end to all Katipah’s happiness. So one day towards evening, when +Katipah, alone upon the shore, had let her kite and her little one go +up to the fleecy edges of a cloud through which the golden sunlight was +streaming, Bimsha came softly behind and with a sharp knife cut the +string by which alone the kite was held from falling. + +“Oh, silly Bimsha!” cried Katipah, “what have you done that for?” + +Up in air the kite made a far plunge forward, fluttered and stumbled +in its course, and came shooting headlong to earth. “Oh dear!” cried +Katipah, “if my beautiful little kite gets torn, Bimsha, that will be +your fault!” + +When the kite fell, it lay unhurt on one of the soft sandhills that +ringed the bay; but no sign of the child was to be seen. Katipah was +laughing when she picked up her kite and ran home. And Bimsha thought, +“Is it witchcraft, or did the child fall into the sea?” + +In the night the West Wind came and tapped at Katipah’s window; and +rising from her bed, she heard Gamma-gata’s voice calling tenderly to +her. When she opened the window to the blindness of the black night, he +kissed her, and putting the little one in her arms, said, “Wait only a +little while longer, Katipah, and I will come again to you. Already you +are learning to be brave.” + +In the morning Bimsha looked out, and there sat Katipah in her own +doorway, with the child safe and sound in her arms. And, plain to see, +he had on a beautiful golden coat and little silver wings were fastened +to his feet, and his head was garnished with a wreath of flowers the +like of which were never seen on earth. He was like a child of noble +birth and fortune, and the small motherly face of Katipah shone with +pride and happiness as she nursed him. + +“Where did you steal those things?” asked Bimsha, “and how did that +child come back? I thought he had fallen into the sea and been drowned.” + +“Ah!” answered Katipah slyly, “he was up in the clouds when the kite +left him, and he came down with the rain last night. It is nothing +wonderful. You were foolish, Bimsha, if you thought that to fall into +the clouds would do the child any harm. Up there you can have no idea +how beautiful it is--such fields of gold, such wonderful gardens, such +flowers and fruits: it is from there that all the beauty and wealth of +the world must come. See all that he has brought with him! and it is +all your doing, because you cut the cord of my kite. Oh, clever Bimsha!” + +As soon as Bimsha heard that, she ran and got a big kite, and fastening +her own child into the strings, started it to fly. “Do not think,” +cried the envious woman, “that you are the only one whose child is to +be clothed in gold! My child is as good as yours any day; wait, and you +shall see!” + +So presently, when the kite was well up into the clouds, as Katipah’s +kite had been, she cut the cord, thinking surely that the same fortune +would be for her as had been for Katipah. But instead of that, all at +once the kite fell headlong to earth, child and all; and when she ran +to pick him up, Bimsha found that her son’s life had fallen forfeit to +her own enviousness and folly. + +The wicked woman went green and purple with jealousy and rage; and +running to the chief magistrate, she told him that while she was flying +a kite with her child fastened to its back, Katipah had come and cut +the string, so that by her doing the child was now dead. + +When the magistrate heard that, he sent and caused Katipah to be thrown +into prison, and told her that the next day she should certainly be put +to death. + +Katipah went meekly, carrying her little son in one hand and her +blue-and-green kite in the other, for that had become so dear to her +she could not now part from it. And all the way to prison Bimsha +followed, mocking her, and asking, “Tell us, Katipah, where is your +fine husband now?” + +In the night the West Wind came and tapped at the prison window, and +called tenderly, “Katipah, Katipah, are you there?” And when Katipah +got up from her bed of straw and looked out, there was Gamma-gata once +more, the beautiful youth whom she loved and had been wedded to, and +had heard but had not seen since. + +Gamma-gata reached his hands through the bars and put them round her +face. “Katipah,” he said, “you have become brave: you are fit now to +become the wife of the West Wind. To-morrow you shall travel with me +all over the world; you shall not stay in one land any more. Now give +me our son; for a little while I must take him from you. To prove your +courage you must find your own way out of this trouble which you have +got into through making a fool of Bimsha.” So Katipah gave him the +child through the bars of her prison window, and when he was gone lay +down and slept till it became light. + +In the morning the chief magistrate and Bimsha, together with the whole +populace, came to Katipah’s cell to see her led out to death. And when +it was found that her child had disappeared, “She is a witch!” they +cried; “she has eaten it!” And the chief magistrate said that, being a +witch, instead of hanging she was to be burned. + +“I have not eaten my child, and I am no witch,” said Katipah, as, +taking with her her blue-and-green kite she trotted out to the place +of execution. When she was come to the appointed spot she said to +the chief magistrate, “To every criminal it is permitted to plead in +defence of himself; but because I am innocent, am I not also allowed to +plead?” The magistrate told her she might speak if she had anything to +say. + +“All I ask,” said Katipah, “is that I may be allowed once more to fly +my blue-and-green kite as I used to do in the days when I was happy; +and I will show you soon that I am not guilty of what is laid to my +charge. It is a very little thing that I ask.” + +So the magistrate gave her leave; and there before all the people +she sent up her kite till it flew high over the roofs of the town. +Gently the West Wind took it and blew it away towards the sea. “Oh, +Gamma-gata,” she whispered softly, “hear me now, for I am not afraid.” + +The wind blew hard upon the kite, and pulled as though to catch it +away, so Katipah twisted the cord once or twice round her waist that +she might keep the safer hold over it. Then she said to the chief +magistrate and to all the people that were assembled: “I am innocent of +all that is charged against me; for, first, it was that wicked Bimsha +herself who killed her own child.” + +“Prove it!” cried the magistrate. + +“I cannot,” replied Katipah. + +“Then you must die!” said the magistrate. + +“In the second place,” went on Katipah, “I did not eat my own child.” + +“Prove it!” cried the chief magistrate again. + +“I will,” said Katipah; “O Gamma-gata, it is a very little thing that I +ask.” + +Down the string of the kite, first a mere speck against the sky, then +larger till plain for all to see came the missing one, slithering and +sliding, with his golden coat, and the little silver wings tied to his +ankles, and handfuls of flowers which he threw into his mother’s face +as he came. “Oh! cruel chief magistrate,” cried Katipah, receiving the +babe in her arms, “does it seem that I have eaten him?” + +“You are a witch!” said the chief magistrate, “or how do you come to +have a child that disappears and comes again from nowhere! It is not +possible to permit such things to be: you and your child shall both be +burned together!” + +Katipah drew softly upon the kite-string. “Oh, Gamma-gata,” she cried, +“lift me up now very high, and I will not be afraid!” + +Then suddenly, before all eyes, Katipah was lifted up by the cord of +the kite which she had wound about her waist; right up from the earth +she was lifted till her feet rested above the heads of the people. + +Katipah, with her babe in her arms, swung softly through the air, out +of reach of the hands stretched up to catch her, and addressed the +populace in these words: + +“Oh, cruel people, who will not believe innocence when it speaks, you +must believe me now! I am the wife of the West Wind--of Gamma-gata, the +beautiful, the bearer of fine weather, who also brings back the wings +that fly till the winter is over. Is it well, do you think, to be at +war with the West Wind? + +“Ah, foolish ones, I go now, for Gamma-gata calls me, and I am no +longer afraid: I go to travel in many lands, whither he carries me, +and it will be long before I return here. Many dark days are coming to +you, when you shall not feel the west wind, the bearer of fine weather, +blowing over you from land to sea; nor shall you see the blossoms +open white over the hills, nor feel the earth grow warm as the summer +comes in, because the bringer of fair weather is angry with you for +the foolishness which you have done. But when at last the west wind +returns to you, remember that Katipah the poor and unprofitable one, is +Gamma-gata’s wife, and that she has remembered, and has prayed for you.” + +And so saying, Katipah threw open her arms and let go the cord of the +kite which held her safe. “Oh, Gamma-gata,” she cried, “I do not see +your eyes, but I am not afraid!” And at that, even while she seemed +upon the point of falling to destruction, there flashed into sight +a fair youth with dark hair and garments full of a storm of flying +petals, who, catching up Katipah and her child in his arms, laughed +scorn upon those below, and roaring over the roofs of the town, +vanished away seawards. + +When a chief magistrate and his people, after flagrant wrong-doing, +become thoroughly cowed and frightened, they are apt also to be cruel. +Poor Bimsha! + + + + +THE BOUND PRINCESS + + +I + +THE FIRE-EATERS + +A long time ago there lived a man who had the biggest head in the +world. Into it he had crammed all the knowledge that might be gathered +from the four corners of the earth. Everyone said he was the wisest man +living. “If I could only find a wife,” said the sage, “as wise for a +woman as I am for a man, what a race of headpieces we could bring into +the world!” + +He waited many years before any such mate could be found for him: yet, +at last, found she was--one into whose head was bestowed all the wisdom +that might be gathered from the four quarters of heaven. + +They were both old, but kings came from all sides to their wedding, and +offered themselves as god-parents to the first-born of the new race +that was to be. But, to the grief of his parents, the child, when he +arrived, proved to be a simpleton; and no second child ever came to +repair the mistake of the first. + +That he was a simpleton was evident; his head was small and his +limbs were large, and he could run long before he could talk or do +arithmetic. In the bitterness of their hearts his father and mother +named him Noodle, without the aid of any royal god-parents; and from +that moment, for any care they took in his bringing-up, they washed +their wise hands of him. + +Noodle grew and prospered, and enjoyed life in his own foolish way. +When his father and mother died within a short time of each other, they +left him alone without any friend in the world. + +For a good while Noodle lived on just what he could find in the house, +in a hand-to-mouth sort of way, till at last only the furniture and the +four bare walls were left to him. + +One cold winter’s night he sat brooding over the fire, wondering where +he should get food for the morrow, when he heard feet coming up to the +door, and a knock striking low down upon the panel. Outside there was a +faint chirping and crackling sound, and a whispering as of fire licking +against the woodwork without. + +He opened the door and peered forth into the night. There, just before +him, stood seven little men huddled up together; three feet high they +were, with bright yellow faces all shrivelled and sharp, and eyes whose +light leaped and sank like candle flame before a gust. + +When they saw him, they shut their eyes and opened famished mouths +at him, pointing inwards with flickering finger-tips, and shivering +from head to foot with cold, although it seemed to the youth as if the +warmth of a slow fire came from them. “Alas!” said Noodle, in reply +to these signs of hunger, “I have not left even a crust of bread in +the house to give you! But at least come in and make yourselves warm!” +He touched the foremost, making signs for them all to enter. “Ah,” he +cried, “what is this, and what are you, that the mere touch of you +burns my finger?” + +[Illustration] + +Without answer they huddled tremblingly across the threshold; but +so soon as they saw the fire burning on the hearth, they yelped all +together like a pack of hounds, and, throwing themselves face forwards +into the hot embers, began ravenously to lap up the flames. They lapped +and lapped, and the more they lapped the more the fire sank away and +died. Then with their flickering finger-tips they stirred the hot logs +and coals, burrowing after the thin tapes and swirls of vanishing +flame, and fetching them out like small blue eels still wriggling for +escape. + +After each blue wisp had been gulped down, they sipped and sucked at +their fingers for any least tricklet of flavour that might be left; and +at the last seemed more famished than when they began. + +“More, more, O wise Noodle, give us more!” they cried; and Noodle threw +the last of his fuel on the embers. + +They breathed round it, fanning it into a great blaze that leaped and +danced up to the rafters; then they fell on, till not a fleck or a +flake of it was left. Noodle, seeing them still famished, broke up a +stool and threw that on the hearth. And again they flared it with their +breath and gobbled off the flame. When the stool was finished he threw +in the table, then the dresser, and after that the oak-chest and the +window-seat. + +Still they feasted and were not fed. Noodle fetched an axe, and broke +down the door; then he wrenched up the boards from the floor, and +pulled the beams and rafters out of the ceiling; yet, even so, his +guests were not to be satisfied. + +“I have nothing left,” he said, “but the house itself; but since you +are still hungry you shall be welcome to it!” + +He scattered the fire that remained upon the hearth, and threw it out +and about the room; and as he ran forth to escape, up against all the +walls and right through the roof rose a great crackling sheaf of flame. +In the midst of the fire, Noodle could see his seven guests lying along +on their bellies, slopping their hands in the heat, and lapping up the +flames with their tongues. “Surely,” he thought, “I have given them +enough to eat at last!” + +After a while all the fire was eaten away, and only the black and +smouldering ruins were left. Day came coldly to light, and there sat +Noodle, without a home in the world, watching with considerate eye his +seven guests finishing their inordinate repast. + +They all rose to their feet together, and came towards him bowing; as +they approached he felt the heat of their bodies as it had been seven +furnaces. + +“Enough, O wise Noodle!” said they, “we have had enough!” “That,” +answered Noodle, “is the least thing left me to wonder at. Go your ways +in peace; but first tell me, who are you?” They replied, “We are the +Fire-eaters: far from our own land, and strangers, you have done us +this service; what, now, can we do to serve you?” “Put me in the way +of a living,” said Noodle, “and you will do me the greatest service of +all.” + +Then the one of them who seemed to be chief took from his finger a ring +having for its centre a great firestone, and threw it into the snow, +saying, “Wait for three hours till the ring shall have had time to +cool, then take it, and wear it; and whatever fortune you deserve it +shall bring you. For this ring is the sweetener of everything that it +touches: bread it turns into rich meats, water into strong wine, grief +into virtue, and labour into strength. Also, if you ever need our help, +you have but to brandish the ring, and the gleam of it will reach us, +and we will be with you wherever you may be.” + +With that they bowed their top-knots to the ground and departed, +inverting themselves swiftly till only the shining print of seven pairs +of feet remained, red-hot, over the place where they had been standing. + +Noodle waited for three hours; then he took up the firestone ring, and +putting it on his finger set out into the world. + +At the first door he came to, he begged a crust of bread, and touching +it with the ring found it tasted like rich meats, well cooked and +delicately flavoured. Also, the water which he drew in the hollow of +his hand from a brook by the roadside tasted to him like strong wine. + + +II + +THE GALLOPING PLOUGH + +Noodle went on many miles till he came near to a rich man’s farm. +Though it was the middle of winter, all the fields showed crops of corn +in progress; here it was in thin blade, and here green, but in full +ear; and here it was ripe and ready for harvest. “How is this,” he +said to the first man he met, “that you have corn here in the middle +of winter?” “Ah!” said the man, “you have not heard of the Galloping +Plough; you too have to fall under bondage to my master.” “What is your +master?” inquired Noodle, “and in what bondage does he bind men?” “My +master, and your master that shall soon be,” answered the old man, “is +the owner of all this land and the farmer of it. He is rich and sleek +and fat like his own furrows, for he has the Galloping Plough as his +possession. Ah, that! ’tis a very miracle, a wonder, a thing to catch +at the heartstrings of all beholders; it shines like a moonbeam, and is +better than an Arab mare for swiftness; it warms the very ground that +it enters, so that seeds take root and spring, though it be the middle +of winter. No man sees it but what he loses his heart to it, and sells +his freedom for the possession of it. All here are men like myself who +have become slaves because of that desire. You also, when you see it, +will become slave to it.” + +Noodle went on through the summer and the spring corn, till he came +to bare fields. Ahead of him on a hill-top he saw the farmer himself, +sleek and rosy, and of full paunch, lolling like a lord at his ease; +yet with a working eye in the midst of his leisure. + +To and fro, up to him and back, shot a silver gleam over the purple +brown of the fields; and Noodle’s heart gave a thump at the sight, for +the spell of the Galloping Plough was on him. + +Now and then he heard a clear sound that startled him with its note. +It was like the sweet whistling cry of a bird many times multiplied. +Ever when the silver gleam of the Plough had run its farthest from the +farmer, the cry sounded; and at the sound the gleam wavered and stayed +and flew back dartingly to the farmer’s side. So Noodle understood how +this was the farmer’s signal for the Plough to return; and the Plough +knew it as a horse its master’s voice, and came so fast that the wind +whistled against its silver side. + +As he watched, Noodle’s heart went down into the valley and up the +hillside, following in the track of the Galloping Plough. “I can never +be happy again,” thought he; “either I must possess it, or must die.” + +He came to the farmer where he sat calling his Plough to him and +letting it go; and the farmer smiled, the wide indulgent smile of a man +who knows that a bargain is about to fall his way. + +“What is the price,” asked Noodle, “of yonder Galloping Plough, that +runs like an Arab mare, and returns to you at your call?” + +Said the farmer, “A year’s service; and if the Plough will follow you, +it is yours; if not, then you must be my bondman until you die!” + +Noodle looked once the way of the Galloping Plough, and his heart +flapped at his side like a sail which the wind drops and lets go; and +he had no thought or will left in him but to be where the Galloping +Plough was. So he closed hands on the bargain, to be the farmer’s +servant either for a year, or for his whole life. + +For a year he worked upon the farm, and all the while plotted how he +might win the Galloping Plough to himself. The farmer kept no watch +upon it, nor put it under lock and key, for the Plough recognised no +voice but his own, nor went nor came save at his bidding. In the night +Noodle would go down to the shed or field where it lay, and whistle to +it, trying to put forth notes of the same magical power as those which +came through the farmer’s lips. + +But no sound that came from his lips ever stroked life into its silver +sides. The year was nearly run out, and Noodle was in despair. + +Then he remembered the firestone ring, the Sweetener. “Maybe,” said +he, “since it changes to sweetness whatever I eat and drink, it will +sweeten my voice also, so that the Plough will obey.” So he put the +ring between his lips and whistled; and at the sound his heart turned +a somersault for joy, for he felt that out of his mouth the farmer’s +magic had been over-topped and conquered. + +The Galloping Plough stirred faintly from the furrow where it lay, +breaking the ground and marring its smooth course. Then it shook its +head slowly, and returned impassively to rest. + +In the morning the farmer came and saw the broken earth close under +the Plough’s nose. Noodle, hiding among the corn hard by, heard him +say, “What hast thou heard in the night, O my moonbeam, my miracle, +that thy lily-foot has trodden up the ground? Hast thou forgotten whose +hand feeds thee, whose corn it is thou lovest, whose heart’s care also +cherishes thee?” + +[Illustration] + +The farmer went away, and presently came back bearing a bowl of corn; +and Noodle saw the Plough lift its head to its master’s palm, and feed +like a horse on the grain. + +Then Noodle, gay of heart, waited till it was night, and surely his +time was short, for on the morrow his wages were to be paid, and the +Plough was to be his, or else he was to be the farmer’s bond-servant +for the rest of his life. He took with him three handfuls of corn, and +went down to where the Plough stood waiting by the furrow. Shaping his +lips to the ring, he whistled gently like a lover, and immediately the +Plough stirred, and lifted up its head as if to look at him. + +“O my moonbeam, my miracle,” whispered Noodle, “wilt thou not come to +the one that feeds thee?” and he held out a handful of corn. But the +Plough gave no regard to him or his grain: slowly it moved away from +him back into the furrow. + +Then Noodle laughed softly and dropped his ring, the Sweetener, into +the hand that held the grain; and barely had he offered the corn before +he felt the silver Plough nozzling at his palm, and eating as a horse +eats from the hand of its master. + +Then he whistled again, placing the Sweetener back between his lips; +and the Galloping Plough sprang after him, and followed at his heels +like a dog. + +So, finding himself its master, he bid it stay for the night; and in +the morning he said to the farmer, “Give me my wages, and let me go!” +And the farmer laughed, saying, “Take your wages, and go!” + +Then Noodle took off his ring, the Sweetener, and laid it between his +lips and blew through it; and up like a moonbeam, and like an Arab +mare, sprang the Galloping Plough at his call. So he leaped upon its +back, crying, “Carry me away out of this land, O thou moonbeam, and +miracle of beauty, and never slacken nor stay except I bid thee!” + +Vainly the farmer, borne down on a torrent of rage and amazement, +whistled his best, and threw corn and rice from the rear; for the +whistling of Noodle was sweeter to the ear, and his corn sweeter to the +taste, and he nearer to the heart of the Galloping Plough than was the +old master whom it left behind. + + +III + +THE THIRSTY WELL + +So they escaped, slitting the swift hours with ungovernable speed. The +furrow they two made in the world that day, as they went shooting over +the round of it, was called in after times the Equator, and men still +know it by the heat of it, though it has since been covered over by the +dust of ages. + +To Noodle, as he went careering round it, the whole world’s circuit ran +in a line across his brain, entering his vision and passing through it +as a thread through the needle’s eye. Nor would he of his own will +ever have stopped his galloping, but that at the completion of the +first round a mighty thirst took hold of him. “O my moonbeam,” he said, +choking behind parched lips, and sick at heart, “check me, or I faint!” +And the Galloping Plough stopped at once, and set him to earth in a +green space under the shadow of overhanging boughs. + +He found himself in a richly grown garden, a cool paradise for a +traveller to rest in. Close at hand and inviting to the eye was a well +with a bucket slung ready to be let down. Noodle had little thought of +seeking for the owner of the garden to beg for a drink, since water is +an equal gift to all and the right of any man; but as he drew near he +found the means to it withheld from him, the lid being fast locked. He +went on in search of the owner, till at length he came upon the same +lying half asleep under a thorn-bush with the key in her hand. She was +an old woman, so withered and dry, she looked as if no water could have +ever passed her lips. + +When Noodle asked for a drink from the well, she looked at him bright +and sharp, and said: “Before any man drinks of my water he must make a +bargain with me.” “What is the bargain?” asked Noodle; and she led him +down to the well. + +Then she unlocked the lid and bade him look in; and at the sight Noodle +knew for a second time that his heart had been stolen from him, and +that to be happy he must taste that water or die. + +Again he asked, with his eyes intent upon the blue wrimpling of the +water in the well’s depth, “What is the bargain?” And the old woman +answered, “If you fail to draw water out of the well you must fling +yourself into it.” For answer Noodle swung down the bucket, lowering +it as fast as it would go; then he set both hands to the windlass and +wound. + +He heard the water splashing off the sides of the bucket all the way +up, as the shortening rope brought it near; but when he drew it over +the well’s brink wonder and grief held him fast, for the bucket was as +empty as vanity. From behind him came a noise of laughter, and there +was the old witch running round and round in a circle; and everywhere a +hedge of thorns came shooting up to enclose him and keep him fast for +her. + +“What a trap I am in!” thought Noodle; but once more he lowered the +bucket, and once more it returned to him empty. + +The old woman climbed up into the thorn-hedge, and sat on its top, +singing: + + “Overground, underground, round-about spell; + The Thirsty has come to the Thirsty Well!” + +Again Noodle let down the bucket; and this time as he drew it up he +looked over into the well’s heart, and saw all the way up the side +a hundred blue arms reaching out crystal scallops and drawing water +out of the bucket as hard as they could go. He saw thick lips like +sea-anemones thrust out between the crevices of the wall, sucking the +crystals dry as fast as they were filled. “Truly,” he said to himself, +“this is a thirsty well, but myself am thirstier!” + +[Illustration] + +When he had drawn up the bucket empty for the third time, he stood +considering; and at last he fastened to it the firestone ring, the +Sweetener, and lowered it once more. Then he laughed to himself as he +drew up, and felt the bucket lightening at every turn till it touched +the surface of things. + +Empty he found it, with only his firestone hanging by the rim, and once +again he let it down to be refilled. But this time as he wound up, +nothing could keep him from letting a curious eye go over the brink, +to see how the Well-folk fared over their wine; and in what he beheld +there was already comfort for his soul. + +The blue arms went like oars out of unison; like carpet-beaters +stricken in the eyes and throat with dust, they beat foolishly against +the sides and bottom of the bucket, shattering and letting fall their +goblets in each unruly attempt. And because Noodle wound leniently at +the rope, willing that they should have their fill, at the last gasp +they were able to send the bucket empty to the top. It was the last +staving off of destiny that lay in their power to make; thereafter wine +conquered them. + +Quickly Noodle drew out the ring, and sent the bucket flying on its +last errand. It smacked the water, heeled over, and dipped under a +full draught. Then Noodle spun the windlass with the full pinch of his +energies, calling on the bucket to ascend. He heard the water spilling +from its sides, and knew that the blue arms were there, battling to +arrest it as it flew, and to pay him back once more with emptiness and +mockery. Yet in spite of them the bucket hasted and lightened not, but +was drawn up to the well’s head brimming largely, and winking a blue +eye joyously to the light of day. + +Over head and ears Noodle plunged for the quenching of his thirst, nor +stayed nor drew back till his head had smitten upon the bottom of the +bucket in his pursuit of the draught. Then it was apparent that only +a third of the water remained, the rest having obeyed the imperative +suction of his throat, and that the thirsty well had at last found a +master under the eye of heaven. + +In the depth of the bucket the water flashed like a burning sapphire +and swung circling, curling and coiling, tossing this way and that, +as if struggling to get out. At last with a laugh it threw down the +bucket, and tore back into the well with a crash like thunder. + +Up from the well rose a chant of voices: + + “Under Heaven, over Hell, + You have broken the spell, + You are lord of the Well.” + +Noodle stepped over the brink of his new realm, calling the Well-folk +to reach hands for him and bear him down. All round, the blue arms +started out, catching him and handing him on from one to another +ladderwise, down, and down, and down. As he went, anemone lips came out +of the crannies in the wall, and kissed his feet and hands in token of +allegiance. “You are lord of the well!” they said, as they passed him +each one to the next. + +He came to the bottom of the well; under his feet, wherever he stepped +upon its waters, hands came up and sustained him. The knowledge of +everything that was there had become his. “Give me,” he said, “the +crystal cup that is for him who holds kingship over you; so shall I be +lord of you in all places wherever I go.” + +A blue arm reached down and drew up from the water a small crystal, +that burned through the darkness with a blue fire, and gave it to +Noodle. “Now I am your king, however far from you!” said Noodle. And +they answered, chanting: + + “Under Heaven, over Hell, + You have broken the spell, + You are lord of the Well.” + +“Lift me up!” said he; and the blue arms caught him and lifted him up; +from one to another they passed him in ascending circles, till he came +to the mouth of the well. + +There overhead was the old witch, crouching and looking in to know what +had become of him; and her hair hung far down over her eyes into the +well. He caught her to him by it over the brink. “Old witch,” he said, +“you must change places with me now!” and he tossed her down to the +bottom of the well. + +She went like a falling shuttlecock, shrieking as she fell; and as she +struck the water, the drowned bodies of the men she had sent there came +to the surface, and caught her by the feet and hair, and drew her down, +making an end of her, as she also had made of them. + + +IV + +THE PRINCESS MELILOT + +When Noodle, carrying the crystal with him, set foot once more upon +dry land, straightway he was again upon the back of the Galloping +Plough, with the world flying away under him. But now weariness came +over him, and his head weighed this way and that, so that earth and +sky mixed themselves before his gaze, and he was so drugged with sleep +that he had no wits to bid the Plough slacken from its speed. Therefore +it happened that as they passed a wood, a hanging bough caught him, +and brushed him like a feather from his place, landing him on a green +bosom of grass, where he slept the sleep of the weary, nor ever lifted +his head to see the Plough fast disappearing over hill and valley and +plain, out of sound of his voice or sight of his eye. + +When Noodle awoke and found that the Plough was gone, he was bitter +against himself for his folly. “So poor a use to make of so noble +a steed!” he cried; “no wonder it has gone from me to seek for a +worthier master! If by good fortune I find it again, needs must I do +great things by its aid to be worthy of its service.” So he set out, +following the furrow of its course, determined, however far he must +seek, to journey on till he found it. + +For a whole year he travelled, till at length he came, footsore and +weary, to a deserted palace standing in the midst of an overgrown +garden. The great gates, which lay wide open, were overrun with +creepers, and the paths were green with weeds. That morning he had +thought that he saw far away on the hills the gleam of his silver +Plough, and now hope rose high, for he could see by its track that +the Plough had passed before him into the garden of the palace. “O my +moonbeam,” he thought, “is it here I shall find you at last?” + +Within the garden there was a sound of cross questions and crooked +answers, of many talking with loud voices, and of one weeping apart +from the rest. When he got quite close, he was struck still with awe, +and joy, and wonder. For first there lay the Galloping Plough in the +middle of a green lawn, and round it a score of serving-men, tugging at +it and trying to make it move on. Near by stood an old woman, wringing +her hands and begging them to leave it alone: “For,” cried she, “if the +Plough touches but the feet of the Princess, she will be uprooted, and +will presently wither away and die. Of what use is it to break one, if +the other enchantments cannot be broken?” + +In the centre of the lawn grew a bower of roses, and beneath the bower +stood the loveliest princess that ever eye beheld; but she stood there +motionless, and without sign of life. She seemed neither to hear, nor +see, nor breathe; her feet were rooted to the ground; though they +seemed only to rest lightly under her weight upon the grass, no man, +nor a hundred men, could stir her from where she stood. And, as the +spell that held her fast bound to the spot, even so was the spell that +sealed her senses,--no man might lift it from her. When Noodle set eyes +upon her he knew that for the third time his heart had been stolen +from him, and that to be happy he must possess her, or die. + +He ran quickly to the old woman, who, unregarded by the serving-men, +stood weeping and wringing her hands. “Tell me,” said Noodle, “who is +this sleeper who stands enchanted and rooted like a flower to earth? +And who are you, and these others who work and cry at cross purposes?” + +The old woman cried from a wide mouth: “It is my mistress, the +honey-jewel of my heart, whom you see here so grievously enchanted. All +the gifts of the fairies at her christening did not prevent what was +foretold of her at her birth. In her seventeenth year, as you see her +now, so it was told of her that she should be.” + +“Does she live?” asked Noodle; “is she asleep? She is not dead; when +will she wake? Tell me, old woman, her history, and how this fate has +come upon her.” + +“She was the daughter of the king of this country by his first wife,” +said the old woman, “and heir to the throne after his death; but when +her mother died the king married again, and the three daughters he had +by his second wife were jealous of the beauty, and charm, and goodness +which raised their sister so high above them in the estimation of all +men. So they asked their mother to teach them a spell that should rob +Melilot of her charms, and make them useless in the eyes of men. And +their mother, who was wise in such arts, taught to each of them a +spell, so that together they might work their will. + +[Illustration] + +“One day they came running to Melilot, and said, ‘Come and play with +us a new game that our mother has taught us!’ Then they began turning +themselves into flowers. ‘I will be a hollyhock!’ said one. ‘And I will +be a columbine!’ said another; and saying the spell over each other +they became each the flower they had named. + +“Then they unloosed the spells, and became themselves again. ‘Oh, it is +so nice to be a flower!’ they cried, laughing and clapping their hands. +But Melilot knew no spell. + +“At last, seeing how her sisters turned into flowers, and came back +safe again, ‘I will be a rose!’ she cried; ‘turn me into a rose and out +again!’ + +“Then her three sisters joined their tongues together, and finished the +spell over her. And so soon as she had become a rose-tree, the three +sisters turned into three moles, and went down under the earth and +gnawed at the roots. + +“Then they came up, and took their own forms again, and sang,-- + + “‘Sister, sister, here you are now, + Till the ploughman come with the Galloping Plough!’ + +“Then they turned into bees, and sucked out the honey from the roses, +and coming to themselves again they sang,-- + + “‘Sister, here you must doze and doze, + Till they bring you a flower of the Burning Rose!’ + +“Then they shook the dewdrops out of her eyes, crying,-- + + “‘Sister, your brain lies under our spell, + Till water be brought from the Thirsty Well!’ + +“Then they took the top blossom of all, and broke it to pieces, and +threw the petals away as they cried,-- + + “‘Sister, your life goes down for a term, + Till they bring you breath from the Camphor-Worm!’ + +“And when they had done all this, they turned her back into her +true shape, and left her standing even as you see her now, without +warmth, or sight, or memory, or motion, dead saving for her beauty, +that never changes or dies. And here she must stand till the spells +which have been fastened upon her have been unloosed. No long time +after, the wickedness of the three sisters and of their cruel mother +was discovered to the king, and they were all put to death for the +crime. Yet the ill they had done remained; and the king’s grief became +so great to see his loved daughter standing dead before him that he +removed with his court to another place, and left this palace to the +care of only a few serving-men, and myself to keep watch and guard over +the Princess. + +“So now four-fold is the spell that holds her, and to break the +lightest of them the water of the Thirsty Well is needed; with two of +its drops laid upon her eyes memory will come back to her, and her mind +will remember of the things of the past. And for the breaking of the +second spell is needed a blossom of the Burning Rose, and the plucking +of that no man’s hand can achieve; but when the Rose is laid upon her +breast, her heart will belong to the world once more, and will beat +again under her bosom. And for the breaking of the third spell one must +bring the breath of the Camphor-Worm that has lain for a whole year +inside its body, and breathe it between her lips; then she will breathe +again, and all her five senses will return to her. And for the last +spell only the Galloping Plough can uproot her back to life, and free +her feet for the ways of earth. Now, here we have the Galloping Plough +with no man who can guide it, and what aid can it be? If these fools +should be able to make it so much as but touch the feet of my dear +mistress, she will be mown down like grass, and die presently for lack +of earth; for only the three other charms I have told you of can put +whole life back into her.” + +“As for the mastery of the Plough,” said Noodle, “I will fetch that +from them in a breath. See, in a moment, how marvellous will be the +uplifting of their eyes!” He put to his lips the firestone ring--the +Sweetener--and blew but one note through it. Then in a moment the crowd +divided hither and thither, with cries of wonder and alarm, for the +Plough turned and bounded back to its master quickly, as an Arab mare +at the call of her owner. + +The old woman, weeping for gladness, cried: “Thou art master of the +Plough! art thou master of all the other things as well?” + +He said: “Of one thing only. Tell me of the Burning Rose and the +Camphor-Worm; what and where are they? For I am the master of the ends +of the earth by reason of the speed with which this carries me; and I +am lord of the Thirsty Well, and have the Fire-eaters for my friends.” + +The old woman clapped her hands, and blessed him for his youth, and his +wisdom, and his courage. “First,” she said, “restore to the Princess +her memory by means of the water of the Thirsty Well; then I will show +you the way to the Burning Rose, for the easier thing must be done +first.” + +Then Noodle drew out the crystal and breathed in it, calling on the +Well-folk for the two drops of water to lay on Princess Melilot’s +eyes. Immediately in the bottom of the cup appeared two blue drops of +water, that came climbing up the sides of the glass and stood trembling +together on the brim. And Noodle, touching them with the firestone ring +to make the memory of things sweet to her, bent back the Princess’s +face, and let them fall under her closed lids. + +“Look!” cried the faithful nurse, “light trembles within those eyes of +hers! In there she begins to remember things; but as yet she sees and +hears nothing. Now it is for you to be swift and fetch her the blossom +of the Burning Rose. Be wise, and you shall not fail!” + + +V + +THE BURNING ROSE + +She told him how he was to go, across the desert southward, till he +found a giant, longer in length than a day’s journey, lying asleep upon +the sand. Over his head, it was told, hung a cloud, covering him from +the heat and resting itself against his brows; within the cloud was a +dream, and within the dream grew the garden of the Burning Rose. Than +this she knew no more, nor by what means Noodle might gain entrance and +become possessor of the Rose. + +Noodle waited for no more; he mounted upon the Galloping Plough, and +pressed away over the desert to the south. For three days he travelled +through parched places, refreshing himself by the way with the water of +the Thirsty Well, calling on the Well-folk for the replenishment of his +crystal, and turning the draught to wine by the sweetness of his magic +ring. + +At length he saw a cloud rising to him from a distance; like a great +opal it hung motionless between earth and heaven. Coming nearer he saw +the giant himself stretched out for a day’s journey across the sand. +His head lay under the colours of the dawn, and his feet were covered +with the dusk of evening, and over his middle shone the noonday sun. + +Under the giant’s shadow Noodle stopped, and gazed up into the cloud; +through the outer covering of its mists he saw what seemed to be balls +of fire, and knew that within lay the dream and the garden of the +Burning Rose. + +The giant laughed and muttered in his sleep, for the dream was sweet +to him. “O Rose,” he said, “O sweet Rose, what end is there of thy +sweetness? How innumerable is the dance of the Roses of my Rose-garden!” + +Noodle caught hold of the ropes of the giant’s hair, and climbed till +he sat within the hollow of his right ear. Then he put to his lips the +ring, the Sweetener, and sang till the giant heard him in his sleep; +and the sweet singing mixed itself with the sweetness of the Rose in +the giant’s brain, and he muttered to himself, saying: “O bee, O sweet +bee, O bee in my brain, what honey wilt thou fetch for me out of the +roses of my Rose-garden?” + +So, more and more, Noodle sweetened himself to the giant, till the +giant passed him into his brain and into the heart of the dream, even +into the garden of the Burning Rose. + +Far down below the folds of the cloud, Noodle remembered that the +Galloping Plough lay waiting a call from him. “When I have stolen the +Rose,” thought he, “I may need swift heels for my flight.” And he put +the Sweetener to his lips and whistled the Plough up to him. + +It came, cleaving the encirclement of clouds like a silver gleam of +moonlight, and for a moment, where they parted, Noodle saw a rift of +blue sky, and the light of the outer world clear through their midst. + +The giant turned uneasily in his sleep, and the garden of the Burning +Rose rocked to its foundations as the edge of things real pierced into +it. + +“While I stay here there is danger,” thought Noodle. “Surely I must +make haste to possess myself of the Rose and to escape!” + +All round him was a garden set thick with rose-trees in myriads of +blossom, rose behind rose as far as the eye could reach, and the +fragrance of them lay like a heavy curtain of sleep upon the senses. +Noodle, beginning to feel drowsy, stretched out his hand in haste to +the nearest flower, lest in a little while he should be no more than a +part of the giant’s dream. “O beloved Heart of Melilot!” he cried, and +crushed his fingers upon the stem. + +[Illustration] + +The whole bough crackled and sprang away at his touch; the Rose turned +upon him, screaming and spouting fire; a noise like thunder filled all +the air. Every rose in the garden turned and spat flame at where he +stood. His face and his hands became blistered with the heat. + +Leaping upon the back of his Plough, he cried, “Carry me to the borders +of the garden where there are open spaces! The price of the Princess is +upon my head!” + +The Plough bounded this way and that, searching for some outlet by +which to escape. It flew in spirals and circles, it leaped like a +flea, it burrowed like a mole, it ploughed up the rose-trees by the +roots. But so soon as it had passed they stood up unharmed again, and +to whatever point of refuge the Plough fled, that way they all turned +their heads and darted out vomitings of fire. + +In vain did Noodle summon the Well-folk to his aid; his crystal shot +forth fountains of water that turned into steam as they rose, and fell +back again, scalding him. + +Then with two deaths threatening to devour him, he brandished the ring, +calling upon the Fire-eaters for their aid. + +They laughed as they came. “Here is food for you!” he cried. “Multiply +your appetites about me, or I shall be consumed in these flames!” + +“Brandish again!” cried they--the same seven whom he had fed. “We are +not enough; this fire is not quenchable.” + +Noodle brandished till the whole garden swarmed with their kind. One +fastened himself upon every rose, a gulf opposing itself to a torrent. +All sight of the conflagration disappeared; but within there went a +roaring sound, and the bodies of the Fire-eaters crackled, growing +large and luminous the while. + +“Do your will quickly and begone!” cried the Fire-eaters. “Even now we +swell to bursting with the pumping in of these fires!” + +Noodle seized on a rose to which one hung, sucking out its heats. He +tugged, but the strong fibres held. Then he locked himself to the back +of the Plough, crying to it and caressing its speed with all names +under heaven, and beseeching it in the name of Melilot to break free. +And the Plough giving but one plunge, the Rose came away into Noodle’s +hand, panting and a prisoner. All blushing it grew and radiant, with a +soft inner glow, and an odour of incomparable sweetness. He seemed to +see the heart of Melilot beating before him. + +But now there came a blast of fire behind him, for the Fire-eaters +had disappeared, and all was whirling and shaken before his eyes; +and the Plough sped desperately over earthquake and space. For the +plucking of the Rose had awakened the giant from his sleep; and the +dream shrivelled and spun away in a whirl of flame-coloured vapours. +Leaping into clear day out of the unravelment of its mists, Noodle +found himself and his Plough launching over an edge of precipice for a +downward dive into space. The giant’s hair, standing upright from his +head in the wrath and horror of his awakening, made a forest ending in +his forehead that bowered them to right and to left. Quitting it they +slid ungovernably over the bulge of his brow, and went at full spurt +for the abyss. + +Dexterously the Plough steered its descent, catching on the bridge and +furrowing the ridge of the nose; nine leagues were the duration of a +second. + +The giant, thinking some venomous parasite was injuring his flesh, +aimed, and a moment too late had thumped his fist upon the place. But +already the Plough skirting the amazed opening of his mouth was lost +in the trammels of his beard. Thence, as it escaped the rummaging +of his fingers, it flew scouring his breast, and inflicted a flying +scratch over the regions of his abdomen. Then, still believing it to +be the triumphal procession of a flea, he pursued it to his thigh, and +mistaking the shadow for the substance allowed it yet again to escape. +At his kneecap there was but a hair’s-breadth between Noodle and the +weight of his thumb; but thereafter the Plough out-distanced his every +effort, and, with Noodle preserved whole and alive, sped fast and far, +bearing the Burning Rose to the heart of the beloved Melilot. + +The crone was aware of his coming before she heard him, or saw the +gleam of his Plough running beam-like over the land. From her seat by +the Princess’s bower she clapped her hands, and springing to his neck +ere he alighted: “A long way off, and a long time off,” she cried, “I +knew what fortune was with you; for when you plucked off the Rose, +and bore it out of the heart of the dream, the scent of it filled the +world; and I felt the sweetness of youth once more in my blood.” + +Then she led him to the Princess, and bade him lay the Rose in her +breast, that her heart might be won back into the world. Looking at +her face again, Noodle saw how memory had made it more beautiful than +ever, and how between her lips had grown the tender parting of a smile. +Then he laid the Rose where the movement of the heart should be; and +presently under the white breast rose the music of its beating. + +“Ah!” cried the old nurse, weeping for happiness, “now her heart that +loved me is come back, and I can listen all day to the sound of it! You +have brought memory to her, you have brought love; now bring breath, +and the awakening of her five senses. Surely the light of her eyes will +be your reward!” + + +VI + +THE CAMPHOR-WORM + +“Tell me quickly of the Camphor-Worm,” cried the youth as he feasted +his eyes on the Princess’s loveliness, made more unendurable by the +awakening within of love. “Where and what is it?” “It is not so far +as was the way to the Burning Rose,” answered the crone; “an hour on +the back of the Plough shall bring it near to you; but the danger +and difficulty of this quest is more, not less. For to reach the +Camphor-Worm you need to be a diver in deep waters, whose weight +crushes a man; and to touch its lips you must master the loathing of +your nature; and to carry away its breath you must have strength of +will and endurance beyond what is mortal.” “You trouble me with things +I need not know,” cried Noodle. “Tell me,” he said, “how I may reach +the Camphor-Worm; and of it and its ways.” + +“By this path, and by that,” said the old woman, pointing him, “go on +till you come to the thick waters of the Bitter Lake; they are blacker +than night, and their weight is heavier than lead, and in the depths +dwells the Camphor-Worm. Once a year, when the air is sweetest with the +scents of summer, she rises to breathe, lifting her black snout through +the surface of the waters. Then she draws fresh air into her lungs, +flavoured with leaves and flowers, and after she has breathed it in she +lets go the last bubble of the breath she drew from the summer of the +year before; and it is this bubble of breath alone that will give back +life to the five senses of Princess Melilot. But the Worm’s time for +rising is far; and how you shall bear the weight in the depths of those +waters, or make the Worm give up the bubble before her time, or at last +bear back the bubble to lay it on the lips of the Princess so that she +may wake,--these are things I know not the way of, for to my eyes they +seem dark with difficulty and peril.” + +Then Noodle, opening the petals of the Burning Rose as it lay upon +the heart of Melilot, drew out honey from its centre, filling his +hand with the golden crumblings of fragrance; and he leapt upon the +Galloping Plough, urging it in the way the Princess’s nurse had pointed +out to him. As they went he caressed it with all the names under +heaven, stroking it with his hand and praising it for the delicacy of +its steering: saying, “O my moonbeam, if thou wouldst save the life +of thy master, or restore the five senses of the Princess Melilot, +thou must surpass thyself to-day. Listen, thou heaven-sent limb, thou +miracle of quicksilver, and have a long mind to my words; for in a +short while I shall have no speech left in me till the thing be done, +and the deliverance, from head to feet, of my Beloved accomplished.” + +Even while he spoke they came to the edge of the Bitter Lake--a small +pool, but its waters were blacker than night, and its heart heavier +than lead. Then Noodle leapt down from the Plough, and caressed it for +the last time, saying: “Set thy face for the garden where the Princess +Melilot is; and when I am come back to thee speechless out of the Lake +and am striding thee once more, then wait not for a word but carry me +to her with more speed than thou hast ever mustered to my aid till now; +go faster than wind or lightning or than the eye of man can see! So, by +good fortune, I may live till I reach her lips; but if thou tarry at +all I am a dead man. And when thou art come to Melilot set thy share +beneath the roots of her feet, and take her up to me out of the ground. +Do this tenderly, but abate not speed till it be done!” + +Then the youth put into his mouth the honey of the Burning Rose, and +into his lips the Sweetener, and stripped himself as a bather to the +pool. And the Plough, remembering its master’s word, turned and set its +face to where lay the garden with Melilot waiting to be relieved of her +enchantment. Whereat Noodle, bowing his head, and blessing it with lips +of farewell, turned shortly and slid down into the blackness of the +lake. + +The weight of that water was like a vice upon his limbs, and around +his throat, as he swam out into the centre of the pool. As he went he +breathed upon the water, and the scent of the honey of the Burning Rose +passing through the Sweetener made an incomparable fragrance, gentle, +and subtle, and wooing to the senses. + +When he came to the middle of the lake he stayed breathing full +breaths, till the air deepened with fragrance around him. Presently +underneath him he felt the movement of a great thing coming up from +the bottom of the pool. It touched his feet and came grazing along his +side; and all at once shuddering and horror took hold upon him, for his +whole nature was filled with loathing of its touch. + +Out of the pool’s surface before him rose a great black snout, that +opened, showing a round hole. Then he thought of Melilot and her beauty +laid fast under a charm, and drawing a full breath he laid his lips +containing the ring, the Sweetener, to the lips of the Worm. + +The Worm began to breathe. As the Worm drank the air out of him, he +drew in more through his nostrils, and more and more, till the great +gills were filled and satisfied. + +Then the Worm let go the last bubble of air which remained from the +year before, and had lain ever since in its body, by which alone life +could be given back to the five senses of Melilot. Then drawing in its +head it lowered itself once more to the bottom of the pool; and Noodle, +feeling in his mouth the precious globule of air, fastened his lips +upon it and shot out for shore. + +Against the weight of those leaden waters a longing to gasp possessed +him; but he knew that with the least breath the bubble would be lost, +and all his labour undone. Not too soon his feet caught hold of the +bank, and drew him free to land. He cast himself speechless across the +back of the Galloping Plough and clung. + +The Plough gathered itself together and sprang away through space. +Remembering its master’s word it showed itself a miracle of speed; like +lightning became its flight. + +The eye of Noodle grew blind to the passing of things; he could take no +count of the collapsing leagues. More and more grew the amazingness of +the Plough’s leaps, things only to be measured by miles, and counted +as joltings on the way; while fast to the back of it clung Noodle, and +endured, praying that shortness of breath might not overmaster him, or +the check of his lungs give way and burst him to the emptiness of a +drum. His senses rocked and swayed; he felt the gates of his resolve +slackening and forcing themselves apart; and still the Galloping Plough +plunged him blindly along through space. + +But now the shrill crying of the crone struck in upon his ears, and +he stretched open his arms for the accomplishment of the deliverance. +Even in that nick of time was the end of the thing brought about; for +the Plough, guiding itself as a thread to the needle’s eye, gave the +uprooting stroke to the white feet of Melilot; and Noodle, swooning for +the last gasp, saw all at once her beauty swaying level to his gaze and +her body bending down upon his. + +Then he fastened his lips upon hers, and loosed the bubble from his +mouth; and panting and sobbing themselves back to life they hung in +each other’s arms. She warmed and ripened in his embrace, opening upon +him the light of her eyes; and the greatness and beauty of the reward +abashed him and bore him down to earth. + +He heard the old crone clucking and crowing, like a hen over its egg, +of the happiness that had come to her old years; till recognising the +youth’s state she covered him over with a cloak amid exclamations of +astonishment. + +The Princess saw nothing but her lover’s face and the happy feasting of +his eyes. She bent her head nearer and nearer to his, and the story of +what he had done became a dream that she remembered, and that waking +made true. “O you Noodle,” she said, laughing, “you wise, wise Noodle!” +And then everything was finished, for she had kissed him! + +So Noodle and the Princess were married, and came to the throne +together and reigned over a happy land. The Fire-eaters were their +friends, and the gifts of fortune were theirs. The Galloping Plough +made all the waste places fertile; and the water of the Thirsty Well +rose and ran in rivers through the land; and over the walls of their +palace, where they had planted it, grew the flower of the Burning Rose. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE RAT-CATCHER’S DAUGHTER + + +Once upon a time there lived an old rat-catcher who had a daughter, the +most beautiful girl that had ever been born. Their home was a dirty +little cabin; but they were not so poor as they seemed, for every night +the rat-catcher took the rats he had cleared out of one house and let +them go at the door of another, so that on the morrow he might be sure +of a fresh job. + +His rats got quite to know him, and would run to him when he called; +people thought him the most wonderful rat-catcher, and could not make +out how it was that a rat remained within reach of his operations. + +Now anyone can see that a man who practised so cunning a roguery was +greedy beyond the intentions of Providence. Every day, as he watched +his daughter’s beauty increase, his thoughts were: “When will she be +able to pay me back for all the expense she has been to me?” He would +have grudged her the very food she ate, if it had not been necessary +to keep her in the good looks which were some day to bring him his +fortune. For he was greedier than any gnome after gold. + +Now all good gnomes have this about them: they love whatever is +beautiful, and hate to see harm happen to it. A gnome who lived far +away underground below where stood the rat-catcher’s house, said to his +fellows: “Up yonder is a man who has a daughter; so greedy is he, he +would sell her to the first comer who gave him gold enough! I am going +up to look after her.” + +So one night, when the rat-catcher set a trap, the gnome went and got +himself caught in it. There in the morning, when the rat-catcher came, +he found a funny little fellow, all bright and golden, wriggling and +beating to be free. + +“I can’t get out!” cried the little gnome. “Let me go!” + +The rat-catcher screwed up his mouth to look virtuous. “If I let you +out, what will you give me?” + +“A sack full of gold,” answered the gnome, “just as heavy as +myself--not a pennyweight less!” + +“Not enough!” said the rat-catcher. “Guess again!” + +“As heavy as you are!” cried the gnome, beginning to plead in a thin, +whining tone. + +“I’m a poor man,” said the rat-catcher; “a poor man mayn’t afford to be +generous!” + +“What is it you want of me?” cried the gnome. + +“If I let you go,” said the rat-catcher, “you must make me the richest +man in the world!” Then he thought of his daughter: “Also you must make +the king’s son marry my daughter; then I will let you go.” + +The gnome laughed to himself to see how the trapper was being trapped +in his own avarice as, with the most melancholy air he answered: “I can +make you the richest man in the world; but I know of no way of making +the king’s son marry your daughter, except one.” + +“What way?” asked the rat-catcher. + +“Why,” answered the gnome, “for three years your daughter must come and +live with me underground, and by the end of the third year her skin +will be changed into pure gold like ours. And do you know any king’s +son who would refuse to marry a beautiful maiden who was pure gold from +the sole of her foot to the crown of her head?” + +The rat-catcher had so greedy an inside that he could not believe in +any king’s son refusing to marry a maiden of pure gold. So he clapped +hands on the bargain, and let the gnome go. + +The gnome went down into the ground, and fetched up sacks and sacks of +gold, until he had made the rat-catcher the richest man in the world. +Then the father called his daughter, whose name was Jasomé, and bade +her follow the gnome down into the heart of the earth. + +It was all in vain that Jasomé begged and implored; the rat-catcher was +bent on having her married to the king’s son. So he pushed, and the +gnome pulled, and down she went; and the earth closed after her. + +The gnome brought her down to his home under the hill upon which stood +the town. Everywhere round her were gold and precious stones; the very +air was full of gold dust, so that when she remained still it settled +on her hands and her hair, and a soft golden down began to show itself +over her skin. So there in the house of the gnome sat Jasomé, and +cried; and, far away overhead, she heard the days come and go, by the +sound of people walking and the rolling of wheels. + +The gnome was very kind to her; nothing did he spare of underground +commodities that might afford her pleasure. He taught her the legends +of all the heroes that have gone down into earth, and been forgotten, +and the lost songs of the old poets, and the buried languages that once +gave wisdom to the world: down there all these things are remembered. + +She became the most curiously accomplished and wise maiden that ever +was hidden from the light of day. “I have to train you,” said the +gnome, “to be fit for a king’s bride!” But Jasomé, though she thanked +him, only cried to be let out. + +In front of the rat-catcher’s house rose a little spring of salt water +with gold dust in it, that gilded the basin where it sprang. When he +saw it, he began rubbing his hands with delight, for he guessed well +enough that his daughter’s tears had made it; and the dust in it told +him how surely now she was being turned into gold. + +And now the rat-catcher was the richest man in the world: all his traps +were made of gold, and when he went rat-hunting he rode in a gilded +coach drawn by twelve hundred of the finest and largest rats. This was +for an advertisement of the business. He now caught rats for the fun of +it, and the show of it, but also to get money by it; for, though he was +so rich, ratting and money-grubbing had become a second nature to him; +unless he were at one or the other, he could not be happy. + +Far below, in the house of the gnome, Jasomé sat and cried. When the +sound of the great bells ringing for Easter came down to her, the gnome +said: “To-day I cannot bind you; it is the great rising day for all +Christians. If you wish, you may go up, and ask your father now to +release you.” + +[Illustration] + +So Jasomé kissed the gnome, and went up the track of her own tears, +that brought her to her father’s door. When she came to the light of +day, she felt quite blind; a soft yellow tint was all over her, and +already her hair was quite golden. + +The rat-catcher was furious when he saw her coming back before her +time. “Oh, father,” she cried, “let me come back for a little while +to play in the sun!” But her father, fearing lest the gilding of her +complexion should be spoiled, drove her back into the earth, and +trampled it down over her head. + +The gnome seemed quite sorry for her when she returned; but already, +he said, a year was gone--and what were three years, when a king’s son +would be the reward? + +At the next Easter he let her go again; and now she looked quite +golden, except for her eyes, and her white teeth, and the nails on her +pretty little fingers and toes. But again her father drove her back +into the ground, and put a heavy stone slab over the spot to make sure +of her. + +At last the third Easter came, and she was all gold. + +She kissed the gnome many times, and was almost sorry to leave him, +for he had been very kind to her. And now he told her about her father +catching him in the trap, and robbing him of his gold by a hard +bargain, and of his being forced to take her down to live with him, +till she was turned into gold, so that she might marry the king’s son. +“For now,” said he, “you are so compounded of gold that only the +gnomes could rub it off you.” + +So this time, when Jasomé came up once more to the light of day, she +did not go back again to her cruel father, but went and sat by the +roadside, and played with the sunbeams, and wondered when the king’s +son would come and marry her. + +And as she sat there all the country-people who passed by stopped and +mocked her; and boys came and threw mud at her because she was all +gold from head to foot--an object, to be sure, for all simple folk to +laugh at. So presently, instead of hoping, she fell to despair, and sat +weeping, with her face hidden in her hands. + +Before long the king’s son came that road, and saw something shining +like sunlight on a pond; but when he came near, he found a lovely +maiden of pure gold lying in a pool of her own tears, with her face +hidden in her hair. + +Now the king’s son, unlike the country-folk, knew the value of gold; +but he was grieved at heart for a maiden so stained all over with it, +and more, when he beheld how she wept. So he went to lift her up; +and there, surely, he saw the most beautiful face he could ever have +dreamed of. But, alas! so discoloured--even her eyes, and her lips, +and the very tears she shed were the colour of gold! When he could +bring her to speak, she told him how, because she was all gold, all the +people mocked at her, and boys threw mud at her; and she had nowhere to +go, unless it were back to the kind gnome who lived underground, out of +sight of the sweet sun. + +So the prince said, “Come with me, and I will take you to my father’s +palace, and there nobody shall mock you, but you shall sit all your +days in the sunshine, and be happy.” + +And as they went, more and more he wondered at her great beauty--so +spoiled that he could not look at her without grief--and was taken with +increasing wonder at the beautiful wisdom stored in her golden mind; +for she told him the tales of the heroes which she had learned from the +gnome, and of buried cities; also the songs of old poets that have been +forgotten; and her voice, like the rest of her, was golden. + +The prince said to himself, “I shut my eyes, and am ready to die loving +her; yet, when I open them, she is but a talking statue!” + +One day he said to her, “Under all this disguise you must be the most +beautiful thing upon earth! Already to me you are the dearest!” and he +sighed, for he knew that a king’s son might not marry a figure of gold. + +Now one day after this, as Jasomé sat alone in the sunshine and cried, +the little old gnome stood before her, and said, “Well, Jasomé, have +you married the king’s son?” + +“Alas!” cried Jasomé, “you have so changed me: I am no longer human! +Yet he loves me, and, but for that, he would marry me.” + +“Dear me!” said the gnome. “If that is all, I can take the gold off you +again: why, I said so!” + +Jasomé entreated him, by all his former kindness, to do so for her now. + +“Yes,” said the gnome, “but a bargain is a bargain. Now is the time +for me to get back my bags of gold. Do you go to your father, and let +him know that the king’s son is willing to marry you if he restores to +me my treasure that he took from me; for that is what it comes to.” + +Up jumped Jasomé, and ran to the rat-catcher’s house. “Oh, father,” she +cried, “now you can undo all your cruelty to me; for now, if you will +give back the gnome his gold, he will give my own face back to me, and +I shall marry the king’s son!” + +But the rat-catcher was filled with admiration at the sight of her, and +would not believe a word she said. “I have given you your dowry,” he +answered; “three years I had to do without you to get it. Take it away, +and get married, and leave me the peace and plenty I have so hardly +earned!” + +Jasomé went back and told the gnome. “Really,” said he, “I must show +this rat-catcher that there are other sorts of traps, and that it isn’t +only rats and gnomes that get caught in them! I have given him his +taste of wealth; now it shall act as pickle to his poverty!” + +So the next time the rat-catcher put his foot out of doors the ground +gave way under it, and, snap!--the gnome had him by the leg. + +“Let me go!” cried the rat-catcher; “I can’t get out!” + +“Can’t you?” said the gnome. “If I let you out, what will you give me?” + +“My daughter!” cried the rat-catcher; “my beautiful golden daughter!” + +“Oh no!” laughed the gnome. “Guess again!” + +“My own weight in gold!” cried the rat-catcher, in a frenzy; but +the gnome would not close the bargain till he had wrung from the +rat-catcher the promise of his last penny. + +So the gnome carried away all the sacks of gold before the +rat-catcher’s eyes; and when he had them safe underground, then at last +he let the old man go. Then he called Jasomé to follow him, and she +went down willingly into the black earth. + +For a whole year the gnome rubbed and scrubbed and tubbed her to get +the gold out of her composition; and when it was done, she was the most +shiningly beautiful thing you ever set eyes on. + +When she got back to the palace, she found her dear prince pining for +love of her, and wondering when she would return. So they were married +the very next day; and the rat-catcher came to look on at the wedding. + +He grumbled because he was in rags, and because he was poor; he wept +that he had been robbed of his money and his daughter. But gnomes and +daughters, he said, were in one and the same box; such ingratitude as +theirs no one could beat. + + + + +THE TRAVELLER’S SHOES + + +A long while ago there lived a young cobbler named Lubin, who, when +his father died, was left with only the shop and the shoe-leather out +of which to make his fortune. From morning to night he toiled, making +and mending the shoes of the poor village folk; but his earnings were +small, and he seemed never able to get more than three days ahead of +poverty. + +One day, as he sat working at his window-bench, the door opened, and in +came a traveller. He had on a pair of long red shoes with pointed ends; +but of one the seams had split, so that all his toes were coming out of +it. + +The stranger, putting up one foot after the other, took off both shoes, +and giving that one which wanted cobbling to Lubin, he said: “To-night +I shall be sleeping here at the inn; have this ready in good time +to-morrow, for I am in haste to go on!” And having said this he put the +other shoe into his pocket, and went out of the door barefoot. + +“What a funny fellow,” thought Lubin, “not to make the most of one shoe +when he has it!” But without stopping to puzzle himself he took up the +to-be-mended shoe and set to work. When it was finished he threw it +down on the floor behind him, and went on working at his other jobs. He +meant to work late, for he had not enough money yet to get himself his +Sunday’s dinner; so when darkness shut in he lighted a rushlight and +cobbled away, thinking to himself all the while of the roast meat that +was to be his reward. + +It came close on midnight, and he was just putting on the last heel of +the last pair of shoes when he was aware of a noise on the floor behind +him. He looked round, and there was the red shoe with the pointed toe, +cutting capers and prancing about by itself in the middle of the room. + +“Peace on earth!” exclaimed Lubin. “I never saw a shoe do a thing so +tipsy before!” He went up and passed his hand over it and under it, +but there was nothing to account for its caperings; on it went, up and +down, toeing and heeling, skipping and sliding, as if for a very wager. +Lubin could even tell himself the name of the reel and the tune that it +was dancing to, for all that the other foot was missing. Presently the +shoe tripped and toppled, falling heel up upon the floor; nor, although +Lubin watched it for a full hour, did it ever start upon a fresh jig. + +Soon after daybreak, when Lubin had but just opened his shutters and +sat himself down to work, in came the traveller, limping upon bare +feet, with the shoe’s fellow pointing its red toe out of his pocket. +“Oh, so,” he said, seeing the other shoe ready mended and waiting for +him, “how much am I owing you for the job?” + +“Just a gold piece,” said Lubin, carelessly, carrying on at his work. + +“A gold piece for the mere mending of a shoe!” cried the stranger. “You +must be either a rogue or a funny fellow.” + +“Neither!” said Lubin, “and for mending a shoe my charge is only +a penny; but for mending _that_ shoe, and for all the worry and +temptation to make it my own and run off with it--a gold piece!” + +“To be sure, you are an honest fellow,” said the traveller, “and +honesty is a rare gift; though, had you made off with it, I should have +soon caught you. Still, you were not so wise as to know that, so here’s +your gold piece for you.” He pulled out a big bag of gold as he spoke, +pouring its contents out on to the window bench. + +“That is a lot of money for a lonely man to carry about,” said Lubin. +“Are you not afraid?” + +“Why, no,” answered the man. “I have a way, so that I can always follow +it up even if I lose it.” He took two of the gold pieces, and dropped +one into the sole of each shoe as he was putting them on. “There!” +said he, “now, if any man steal my money, I need only wait till it is +midnight; and then I have but to say to my shoes ‘Seek!’ and up they +jump, with me in them, and carry me to where my stolen property is, +were it to the world’s end. It is as if they had the nose and sagacity +of a pair of bloodhounds. Ah, son of a cobbler, had you run off with +the one I should have very soon caught you with the other; for if one +walks the other is bound to follow. But, as you were honest, we part +friends; and I trust God may bring you to fortune.” Then the traveller +did up his bag of gold, nodded to the cobbler from the doorway, and was +gone. + +Lubin laid down his work, and went off to the inn. “Did anything +happen here last night?” he asked. + +“Nothing of much note,” answered the innkeeper. “Three travelling +fiddlers were here, and afterwards a man came in barefoot, but with a +red shoe sticking out of his pocket. I thought of turning the fellow +away, till he let me see the colour of his gold. Presently the fiddlers +started to play and the other man to drink. At first when they called +on him to dance he excused himself for his feet’s sake; but presently, +what with the music and the liquor, he got so lively in his head that +he pulled on his one shoe and danced like three ordinary men put +together.” + +“What time was that?” asked Lubin. + +“Getting on for midnight,” answered the innkeeper. + +“Ah!” said Lubin, and went home thinking much on the way. + +Towards evening he found that he had run out of leather, and must go +into the town, ten miles off, to buy more. “Now my gold piece comes +in handy,” thought he; so he locked up the house, put the key in his +pocket, and set out. + +Though it was the season of long days it was growing dark when he came +to a part of the road that led through the wood; but being so poor a +man he had no fear, nor thought at all about the robbers who were said +to be in those parts. But as he went, he saw all at once by the side of +the road two red spikes sticking up out of a ditch, their bright colour +making them plain to the eye. He came quite near and saw that they were +two red shoes with pointed toes; and then he saw more clearly that +along with them lay the traveller, his wallet empty and with a dagger +stuck through his heart. + +The cobbler’s son was as sorry as he could be. “Alas, poor soul,” +thought he, “what good are the shoes to you now? Now that thieves have +killed you and taken away your gold, surely I do no harm if I give an +honest man your shoes!” He stooped down, and was about taking them off +when he saw the eyes of the dead man open. The eyes looked at him as if +they would remind him of something; and at once, when he loosed hold of +the shoes, they seemed satisfied. Then he remembered, and thought to +himself, “The world has many marvels in it; I will wait till midnight +and see.” + +For over three hours he kept watch by the dead man’s side. “Only last +night,” he said to himself, “this poor fellow was dancing as merry a +measure as ever I saw, for the half of it surely I saw; and now!” Then +he judged that midnight must be come, so he bent over the shoes and +whispered to them but one word. + +The dead man stood up in his shoes and began running. Lubin followed +close, keeping an eye on him, for the shoes made no sound on the earth. +They ran on for two hours, till they had come to the thickest part +of the forest; then some way before them Lubin began to see a light +shining. It came from a small square house in a court-yard, and round +the court-yard lay a deep moat; only one narrow plank led over and up +to the entrance. + +The red shoes, carrying the dead man, walked over, and Lubin followed +them. When they were at the other side they turned, facing towards the +plank that they had crossed, and Lubin seemed to read in the dead man’s +eye what he was to do. + +Then he turned and lifted the plank away from over the moat, so that +there was no longer any entrance or exit to the place. Through the +window of the house he could see the three fiddlers quarrelling over +the dead man’s gold. + +The red shoes went on, carrying their dead owner, till they got to the +threshold, and there stopped. Then Lubin came and clicked up the latch, +and pushed open the door, and in walked the dead man with the dagger +sticking out of his heart. + +The three fiddlers, when they saw that sight, dropped their gold and +leapt out of the window; and as they fled, shrieking, thinking to +cross the moat by the plank-bridge that was no longer there, one after +the other they fell into the water, and, clutching each other by the +throat, were drowned. + +But the red shoes stayed where they were, and, tilting up his feet, let +the traveller go gently upon the ground; and when Lubin held down the +lantern to his face, on it lay a good smile, to tell him that the dead +man thanked him for all he had done. + +So in the morning Lubin went and fetched a priest to pray for the +repose of the traveller’s soul, and to give him good burial; and to him +he gave all the dead man’s money, but for himself he took the red shoes +with the pointed toes, and set out to make his fortune in the world. + +Walking along he found that however far he went he never grew tired. +When he had gone on for more than a hundred miles, he came to the +capital where the King lived with his Court. + +All the flags of the city were at half-mast, and all the people were in +half-mourning. Lubin asked at the first inn where he stopped what it +all meant. + +“You must indeed be a stranger,” said his host, “not to know, for ’tis +now nearly a year since this trouble began; and this very night more +cause for mourning becomes due.” + +“Tell me of it, then,” said Lubin, “for I know nothing at all.” + +“At least,” returned the innkeeper, “you will know how, a little more +than a year ago, the Queen, who was the most beautiful woman in the +world, died, leaving the King with twelve daughters, who, after her, +were reckoned the fairest women on earth, though the King says that all +their beauty rolled into one would not equal that of his dead wife; +and, indeed, poor man, there is no doubt that he loved her devotedly +during her life, and mourns for her continually now she is dead.” + +“Only a small part of all this have I known,” said Lubin. + +“Well, but at least,” said the innkeeper, “you will have heard how the +Princesses were famed for their hair; so beautiful it was, so golden, +and so long! And now, at every full moon, one of them goes bald in a +night; and bald her head stays as a stone, for never an inch of hair +grows on it again; and with her hair all her beauty goes pale, so that +she is but the shadow of her former self--a thin-blooded thing, as if +a vampire had come and sucked out half her life. Yes; ten months this +has happened, and ten of the Princesses have lost their looks and +their hair as well; and now only the Princess Royal and the youngest +of all remain untouched; and doubtless one of them is to lose her crop +to-night.” + +“But how does it happen?” cried Lubin. “Is no one put to keep watch, to +guard them from the thing being done?” + +“Ah! you talk, you talk!” said the innkeeper. “How? The King has +offered half his kingdom to anyone who can tell him how the mischief is +done; and the other half to the man who will put an end to it. To put +it shortly, if you believe yourself a clever enough man, you may have +the King for your father-in-law, with the pick of his daughters for +your bride, and be his heir and lord of all when he dies!” + +“For such a reward,” said Lubin, “has no man made the attempt?” + +“Aye, one a month; every time there has been some man fool enough to +think himself so clever; and he has been turned out of the palace next +day with his ears cropped.” + +“I will risk having my ears cropped,” said Lubin; for his heart was +sorry for the young Princesses, and the vanishing of their beauty. So +he went up and knocked at the gates of the palace. + +They went and told the King that a new man had come willing and wanting +to have his ears cropped on the morrow. “Well, well,” said the King, +“let the poor fool in!” for indeed he had given up all hope. From the +King Lubin heard the whole story over again. The old man sighed so it +took him whole hours to tell it. + +“I would be glad to be your son,” said Lubin, when the King had ended; +“but I would like better to make you rid of your sorrow.” + +“That is kind of you,” said the King. “Perhaps I will only crop one of +your ears to-morrow.” + +“When may one see the Princesses?” asked Lubin. + +“They will be down to supper, presently,” answered the King; “then you +shall see them, what there is left of them.” + +Though it was reckoned that the next day Lubin would have to be drummed +out of the palace with his ears cropped short, on this day he was to be +treated like an honoured guest. When they went in to supper the King +made him sit upon his right hand. + +The twelve Princesses came in, their heads bowed down with weeping; +all were fair, but ten of them were thin and pale, and wore white +wimples over their heads like nuns; only the Princess Royal, who was +the eldest, and Princess Lyneth, who was the youngest, had gold hair +down to their feet, and were both so shiningly beautiful that the poor +cobbler was altogether dazzled by the sight of them. + +The King looked out of the window and said: “Heigho! There is the full +moon beginning to rise.” Then they all said grace and sat down. + +But when the viands were handed round, all the Princesses sat weeping +into their plates, and seemed unable to eat anything. For the pale and +thin ones said: “To-night another of our sisters will lose her golden +hair and her good looks, and be like us!” Therefore they wept. + +And Lyneth said: “To-night, either my dear sister or myself will fall +under the spell!” Therefore she wept more than the other ten. But the +Princess Royal sat trembling, and crying: + +“To-night I know that the curse is to fall upon me, and me only!” +Therefore she wept more than all. + +Lubin sat, and watched, and listened, with his head bent down over +his golden plate. “Which of these two shall I try most to save?” he +thought. “How shall I test them, so as to know? If I could only tell +which of them was to lose her hair to-night, then I might do something.” + +He saw that the youngest sister cried so much that she could eat +nothing; but the Princess Royal, between her bursts of grief, picked up +a morsel now and again from her plate, and ate it as though courage or +despair reminded her that she must yet strive to live. + +When the meat-courses were over, the King said to the Princesses: “I +wish you would try to eat a little pudding! Here is a very promising +youth, who is determined by all that is in him that harm shall happen +to none of you to-night.” + +“To-morrow he will be sent away with his ears cut short!” said Princess +Lyneth; and her tears, as she spoke, ran down over the edge of her +plate on to the cloth. + +When supper was over the Princess Royal came up to Lubin, and said: “Do +not be angry with my sister for what she said! It has only been too +true of many who came before; to-night, unless you do better than them +all, I shall lose my hair. It has been a wonder to me how I have been +spared so long, seeing that I am the eldest, and, as some will have +it, the fairest. Will you keep a good guard over me to-night, as though +you knew for certain that I am to be the one this time to suffer?” + +“I will guard you as my own life,” said Lubin, “if you will but do as I +ask you.” + +“Pledge yourself to me, then, in this cup!” said she, and lifted +to his lips a bowl of red wine. Over the edge of it her eyes shone +beautifully; he drank gazing into their clear depth. + +“Where am I to be for the night,” he asked of the King, “so that I may +watch over the two Princesses?” + +The King took him to a chamber with two further doors that opened out +of it. “Here,” said the King, “you are to sleep, and in the inner rooms +sleep the Princess Royal and the Princess Lyneth. There is no entrance +or exit to them but through this; therefore, when you are here with +your door bolted, one would suppose that you had them safe. Alas! ten +other men have tried like you to ward off the harm, and have failed; +and so to-day I have ten daughters with no looks left to them, and no +hair upon their heads.” + +As they were speaking, the two Princesses, with their sisters, came up +to bed. And the pale ones, wearing their white wimples, came and kissed +the golden hair of the other two, crying over it, and saying, “To one +of you we are saying good-bye; to-morrow one of you will be like us!” +Then they went away to their sleeping-place, and the Princess Royal and +Lyneth kissed each other, and parted weeping, each into her own chamber. + +“Watch well over us!” said Lyneth to Lubin, as she passed through. +“Watch over me!” said the Princess Royal. And then the two doors were +closed. + +[Illustration] + +Lubin said to the King, “Could I now see the two Princesses, without +being seen by them, it would help me to know what to do.” + +“Come down to my cabinet,” said the King. “I have an invisible cap +there, that I can lend you if you think you can do any good with it.” +So they went; and the King reached down the cap from the wall and gave +it to Lubin. + +“Now, good-night, your Majesty,” said Lubin; “I will do for you all I +can.” + +The King answered, “Either you shall be my son-in-law to-morrow, or you +shall have no ears. My wishes are with you that the former state may be +yours.” + +Lubin went into his chamber and closed and bolted the door; then he put +the bed up against it. “Now, at least,” he thought, “there are three of +us, and no more!” He put on his invisible cap, and going softly to the +Princess Royal’s door, opened it and peeped in. + +She stood up before her glass, combing out her long gold hair, and +smiling proudly because of its beauty. She gathered it up by all its +ends and kissed it; then, letting it fall, she went on combing as +before. + +Lubin went out, closing the door again; then he took off his cap and +knocked, and presently he heard the Princess Royal saying, “Come in!” +She was lying down upon the bed, squeezing her eyes with her hands. + +“Princess,” he said, “I will watch over you like my own life, if you +will do what I bid you. I am but a poor man, and the best that I can +do is but poor; but I think, if you will, I can save your head from +becoming as bare as a billiard ball.” + +The Princess asked him how. + +“You know,” said he, “that to-night something is to happen to one of +you” (“To me!” said the Princess), “and all your hair will be stolen in +such a way that nothing will ever make it grow again. See, here I have +a pair of common scissors; let me but cut your hair close off all over +your head, and then who can steal it? For a few months you will be a +fright, but it can grow again.” + +“I think you are a silly fellow!” said the Princess. “Better for you to +get to bed, and have your ears cropped quietly in the morning! After +all, it may be my sister’s turn to lose her hair, not mine. I shall not +make myself a fright for a year of my life in order to save you.” + +“If you think so poorly of my offer,” said Lubin, “I had better go to +bed and sleep, and not trouble the Princess Lyneth at all with it.” + +“No, indeed!” said the Princess Royal. “Go to bed and sleep, poor +fool!” And, in truth, Lubin was feeling so sleepy that he could hardly +keep open his eyes. + +Then he left her, and, pulling the invisible cap once more over his +head, crept softly into Princess Lyneth’s chamber. + +She was standing before her glass with all her beautiful hair flowing +down from shoulders to feet; and tears were falling fast out of her +eyes as she kept drawing her hair together in her hands, kissing and +moaning over it. + +Then Lubin went out again, and, taking off his cap, knocked softly at +the door. + +“Come in!” said the Princess; and when he went in she was still +standing before the glass weeping and moaning for her beautiful hair, +that might never see another day. On the bed was lying a white wimple, +ready for her to put on when her head was become bald. + +“Princess,” said Lubin, very humbly, “will you help me to save your +beautiful hair, by doing what I ask?” + +“What is it that you ask?” said she. + +“Only this,” he answered; “I am a poor man, and cannot do much for you, +but only my best. To-night you or your sister must lose your hair; and +we know that afterwards, if that happen, it can never grow again. Now, +come, here I have a common pair of scissors; if I could cut your hair +quite short, in a few months it will grow again, and there will be +nothing to-night that the Fates can steal. Will you let me do this for +you in true service?” + +The Princess looked at him, and looked at her glass. “Oh, my hair, my +hair!” she moaned. Then she said, “What matters it? You mean to be good +to me, and a month is the most that my fortune can last. If I do not +lose it to-night, I lose it at the next full moon!” Then she shut her +eyes and bade him take off all he wished. When he had finished, she +picked up the wimple and covered her head with it; but Lubin took up +the long coil of gold hair and wound it round his heart. + +He knelt down at her feet. “Princess,” he said, “be sure now that I can +save you! Only I have one other request to make.” + +“What is that?” asked the Princess. + +He took off one of his red shoes with the pointed toes. “Will you, for +a strange thing, put on this shoe and wear it all to-night in your +sleep? And in the morning I will ask you for it again.” + +The Princess promised faithfully that she would do so. Even before he +had left the room she had put foot in it, promising that only he should +take it off again. + +Lubin’s eyes were shut down with sleep as he groped his way to bed; +he lay down with the other red shoe upon his foot. “Watch for your +fellow!” he said to it; and then his senses left him and he was fast +asleep. + +In the middle of the night, while he was deep in slumber, the red shoe +caught him by the foot and yanked him out of bed; he woke up to find +himself standing in the middle of the room, and there before him stood +the two doors of the inner chambers open; through that of the Princess +Royal came a light. He heard the Princess Lyneth getting very softly +out of her bed, and presently she stood in the doorway, with her hands +out and her eyes fast shut; and the red shoe was on one foot, and the +white wimple on her head. Little tears were running down from under her +closed lids; and she sighed continually in her sleep. “Have pity on +me!” she said. + +She crossed slowly from one door to the other; and Lubin, putting on +his invisible cap, crept softly after her. The Princess Royal’s chamber +was empty, but her glass was opened away from the wall like a door, and +beyond lay a passage and steps. At the top of the steps was another +door, and through it light came, and the sound of a soft voice singing. + +Princess Lyneth, knowing nothing in her sleep, passed along the passage +and up the steps till she came to the further doorway. Looking over +her shoulder Lubin saw the Princess Royal sitting before a loom. In it +lay a great cloth of gold, like a bride’s mantle, into which she was +weaving the last threads of her skein. Close to her side lay a pair of +great shears that shone like blue fire; and while she sang they opened +and snapped, keeping time to the music she made. + +Without ever turning her head the Princess Royal sat passing her +fingers along the woof and crying: + + “Sister, sister, bring me your hair, + Of our Mother’s beauty give me your share. + You must grow pale, while I must grow fair!” + +And while she was so singing, Lyneth drew nearer and nearer, with her +eyes fast shut, and the white wimple over her head. “Have pity on me!” +she said, speaking in her sleep. + +As soon as the Princess Royal heard that she laughed for joy, and +catching up the great flaming shears, turned herself round to where +Lyneth was standing. Then she opened the shears, and took hold of the +wimple, and pulled it down. + +All in a moment she was choking with rage, for horrible was the sight +that met her eye. “Ah! cobbler’s son,” cried she, “you shall die for +this! To-morrow not only shall you have your two ears cropped, but you +shall die: do not be afraid!” + +Lubin looked at her and smiled, knowing how little she thought that he +heard her words. “Ah! Princess Royal,” he said to himself, “there is +another who should now be afraid, but is not.” + +Then for very spite the Princess began slapping her sister’s face. “Ah! +wicked little sister,” she cried, “you have cheated me this time! But +go back and wait till your hair has grown, and then my gown of gold +shall be finished, although this once you have been too sly!” She threw +down the shears, and drove her sister back by stair and passage, and +through the looking-glass door at the other end. + +Lubin following, stayed first to watch how by a secret spring the +Princess Royal closed the mirror back into the wall; then he slipped +on before, and taking his cap off, lay down on his bed pretending to +be fast asleep. He heard Princess Lyneth return to her couch, and then +came the Princess Royal and ground her teeth at him in the darkness. + +Presently she, too, returned to her bed and lay down; and an hour after +Lubin got up very softly and went into her chamber. There she lay +asleep, with her beautiful hair all spread out upon the pillow; but +Lubin had Princess Lyneth’s hair wound round his heart. He touched the +secret spring, so that the mirror opened to him, and he passed through +toward the little chamber where stood the loom. + +There hung the cloth of gold, all but finished; beside it the shears +opened and snapped, giving out a blue light. He took up the shears in +his hand, and pulled down the gold web from the loom, and back he went, +closing the mirror behind him. + +Then he came to the Princess Royal as she lay asleep; and first he laid +the cloth of gold over her, and saw how at once she became ten times +more fair than she was by rights, as fair almost as her dead mother, +lacking one part only. But her beauty did not win him to have pity on +her. + +“There can be thieves, it seems, in high places!” he said; and with +that he opened the shears over her head and let them snap: then all her +long hair came out by the roots, and she lay white and withered before +his eyes, and as bald as a stone. + +He gathered up all her hair with one hand, and the cloth of gold with +the other, and went quietly away. Then, hiding the shears in a safe +place, first he burnt the Princess Royal’s hair, till it became only a +little heap of frizzled cinders; and after that he went to the chamber +of the ten Princesses, whose hair and whose sweet youth had been stolen +from them. There they lay all in a row in ten beds, with pale, gentle +faces, asleep under their white wimples. + +He went to the first, and, laying the cloth of hair over her, cried: + + “Sister, sister, I bring you your hair, + Of your Mother’s beauty I give you your share. + One must grow pale, but you must grow fair!” + +And as he said the words one part of the cloth unwove itself from the +rest, and ran in ripples up the coverlet, and on to the pillow where +the Princess’s head lay. There it coiled itself under the wimple, a +great mass of shining gold, and the face of the Princess flushed warm +and lovely in her sleep. + +Lubin passed on to the next bed, and there uttered the same words; +and again one part of the web came loose, and wound itself about the +sleeper’s face, that grew warm and lovely at its touch. So he went from +bed to bed, and when he came to the end there was no more of the web +left. + +He went back into his own chamber, laughing in his heart for joy, and +there he dropped himself between the sheets and fell into a sound +slumber. + +He was awakened in the morning by the King knocking and trying to get +into the room. Lubin pulled back the bed, and in came the King with a +mournful countenance. + +“Which of them is it?” said he. + +“Go and ask them!” said Lubin. + +The King went over and knocked at the Princess Royal’s door: the +knocking opened her eyes. Lubin heard her suddenly utter a yell. “Ah! +now she has looked at herself in the glass,” thought he. + +“What is the matter?” called the King. “Come out and let me look at +you!” But the Princess Royal would not come out. She ran quick to +her mirror, and touched the secret spring. “At least,” she thought, +“though fiends have robbed me of all my beauty, I can get it back by +wearing the cloth woven from my sisters’ hair!” She skipped along the +passage and up the steps to the little chamber where the loom was. + +The King, getting no answer, went across and knocked at Lyneth’s door; +she came out, all fresh in her beauty, but wearing upon her head the +wimple. “Ah!” said the King dolorously; and he snipped his fingers at +Lubin. + +Lubin laughed out. “But look at her face!” he said. “Surely she is +beautiful enough?” + +The Princess lifted up her wimple, and showed the King her hair all +shorn beneath. “That was my doing,” said Lubin; “’twas the way of +saving it.” + +“What a Dutchman’s remedy!” cried the King; and just then the Princess +Royal’s door flew open. + +She came out tearing herself to pieces with rage; her face was pale and +thin, and her head was as bare as a billiard ball. “Have that clown of +a cobbler killed!” she cried in a passion. “That fool, that numbskull, +that cheat! Have him beheaded, I say!” + +“No, no, I am only to have one of my ears cropped off!” said Lubin, +looking hard at her all the time. + +“I am not at all sure,” said the King. “You have done foolishly and +badly, for not only have you let the disease go on, but your very +remedy is as bad. Two heads of hair gone in one night! You had better +have kept away. If the Princesses wish it, certainly I will have you +put to death.” + +“Will you not see the other Princesses too?” asked Lubin. “Let them +decide between them whether I am to live or die!” + +The King was just going to call for them, when suddenly the ten +Princesses opened the door of their chamber, and stood before him +shining like stars, with all their golden hair running down to their +feet. + +“Now put me to death!” said Lubin; and all the time he kept his eye +upon the Princess Royal, who turned flame-coloured with rage. + +“No, indeed!” cried the King. “Now you must be more than pardoned! You +see, my dears,” he said to Lyneth and the Princess Royal, “though you +have suffered, your sisters have recovered all that they lost. They are +ten to two; and I can’t go back on arithmetic; I am bound to do even +more than pardon him for this.” + +“Indeed and indeed yes!” replied the Princess Lyneth. “He has done ten +times more than we thought of asking him!” And she went from one to +another of her recovered sisters, kissing their beautiful long hair for +pure gladness of heart. But when she came to the Princess Royal, she +kissed her many times, and stooped down her face upon her shoulder, and +cried over her. + +“Tell me now,” said the King to Lubin, “for you are a very wonderful +fellow, how did it all happen?” + +Lubin looked at the Princess Royal; after all he could not betray a +lady’s secret. “I cannot tell you,” he said; “if I did, there would be +a death in the family.” + +“Well,” said the King, “however you may have done it, I own that you +have earned your reward. You have only to choose now which of my +daughters is to make you my son-in-law. From this day you shall be +known as my heir.” He ranged all the Princesses in line, according to +their ages. “Now choose,” said the King, “and choose well!” + +Lubin went up to the Princess Royal. “I won’t have you!” he said, +looking very hard at her; and the Princess Royal dropped her eyes. Then +he went on to the next. “Sweet lady,” he said, “I dare not ask one with +such beautiful hair as yours to marry me, who am a poor cobbler’s son.” +But all the while he had the Princess Lyneth’s hair bound round his +heart. + +He went on from one to another, and of each he kissed the hand, saying +that she was too fair to marry him. + +He came to Lyneth and knelt down at her feet. “Lyneth,” he said, “will +you give the poor cobbler back his shoe?” + +Lyneth, looking in his eyes, saw all that he meant. “And myself in it,” +she said, “for you love me dearly!” She put her arms round his neck, +and whispered, “You marry me because I am a fright, and have no hair!” + +But Lubin said, “I have your hair all wound round my heart, making it +warm!” + +So they were married, and lived together more happily than cobbler +and princess ever lived in the world before. And the cobbler dropped +mending shoes: only his wife’s shoes he always mended. Very soon +Lyneth’s hair grew again, more shining and beautiful than before; but +the Princess Royal remained pale, and thin, and was bald to the day of +her death. + + + + +THE ROOTED LOVER + + +Morning and evening a ploughboy went driving his team through a lane at +the back of the palace garden. Over the hedge the wind came sweet with +the scents of a thousand flowers, and through the hedge shot glimpses +of all the colours of the rainbow, while now and then went the sheen +of silver and gold tissue when the Princess herself paced by with her +maidens. Also above all the crying and calling of the blackbirds and +thrushes that filled the gardens with song, came now and then an airy +exquisite voice flooding from bower to field; and that was the voice of +the Princess Fleur-de-lis herself singing. + +When she sang all the birds grew silent; new flowers came into bud to +hear her and into blossom to look at her; apples and pears ripened and +dropped down at her feet; her voice sang the bees home as if it were +evening: and the ploughboy as he passed stuck his face into the thorny +hedge, and feasted his eyes and ears with the sight and sound of her +beauty. + +He was a red-faced boy, red with the wind and the sun: over his face +his hair rose like a fair flame, but his eyes were black and bold, and +for love he had the heart of a true gentleman. + +Yet he was but a ploughboy, rough-shod and poorly clad in a coat of +frieze, and great horses went at a word from him. But no word from him +might move the heart of that great Princess; she never noticed the +sound of his team as it jingled by, nor saw the dark eyes and the +bronzed red face wedged into the thorn hedge for love of her. + +“Ah! Princess,” sighed the ploughboy to himself, as the thorns pricked +into his flesh, “were it but a thorn-hedge which had to be trampled +down, you should be my bride to-morrow!” But shut off by the thorns, he +was not a whit further from winning her than if he had been kneeling at +her feet. + +He had no wealth in all the world, only a poor hut with poppies growing +at the door; no mother or father, and his own living to get. To think +at all of the Princess was the sign either of a knave or a fool. + +No knave, but perhaps a fool, he thought himself to be. “I will go,” he +said at last, “to the wise woman who tells fortunes and works strange +cures, and ask her to help me.” + +So he took all the money he had in the world and went to the wise +woman in her house by the dark pool, and said, “Show me how I may win +Princess Fleur-de-lis to be my wife, and I will give you everything I +possess.” + +“That is a hard thing you ask,” said the wise woman; “how much dare you +risk for it?” + +“Anything you can name,” said he. + +“Your life?” said she. + +“With all my heart,” he replied; “for without her I shall but end by +dying.” + +“Then,” said the wise woman, “give me your money, and you shall take +your own risk.” + +Then he gave her all. + +“Now,” said she, “you have but to choose any flower you like, and I +will turn you into it; then, in the night I will take you and plant you +in the palace garden; and if before you die the Princess touches you +with her lips and lays you as a flower in her bosom, you shall become a +man again and win her love; but if not, when the flower dies you will +die too and be no more. So if that seem to you a good bargain, you have +but to name your flower, and the thing is done.” + +[Illustration] + +“Agreed, with all my heart!” cried the ploughboy. “Only make me into +some flower that is like me, for I would have the Princess to know what +sort of a man I am, so that she shall not be deceived when she takes me +to her bosom.” + +He looked himself up and he looked himself down in the pool which was +before the wise woman’s home; at his rough frieze coat with its frayed +edges, his long supple limbs, and his red face with its black eyes, and +hair gleaming at the top. + +“I am altogether like a poppy,” he said, “what with my red head, and my +rough coat, and my life among fields which the plough turns to furrow. +Make a poppy of me, and put me in the palace garden and I will be +content.” + +Then she stroked him down with her wand full couthly, and muttered her +wise saws over him, for she was a wonderful witch-woman; and he turned +before her very eyes into a great red poppy, and his coat of frieze +became green and hairy all over him, and his feet ran down into the +ground like roots. + +The wise woman got a big flower-pot and a spade; and she dug him up out +of the ground and planted him in the pot, and having watered him well, +waited till it was quite dark. + +As soon as the pole-star had hung out its light she got across her +besom, tucked the flower-pot under her arm, and sailed away over hedge +and ditch till she came to the palace garden. + +There she dug a hole in a border by one of the walks, shook the +ploughboy out of his flower-pot, and planted him with his feet deep +down in the soil. Then giving a wink all round, and a wink up to the +stars, she set her cap to the east, mounted her besom, and rode away +into thin space. + +But the poppy stood up where she had left him taking care of his +petals, so as to be ready to show them off to the Princess the next +morning. He did not go fast asleep, but just dozed the time away, and +found it quite pleasant to be a flower, the night being warm. Now and +then small insects ran up his stalks, or a mole passed under his roots, +reminding him of the mice at home. But the poppy’s chief thought was +for the morning to return; for then would come the Princess walking +straight to where he stood, and would reach out a hand and gather him, +and lay her lips to his and his head upon her bosom, so that in the +shaking of a breath he could turn again to his right shape, and her +love would be won for ever. + +Morning came, and gardeners with their brooms and barrows went all +about, sweeping up the leaves, and polishing off the slugs from the +gravel-paths. The head gardener came and looked at the poppy. “Who has +been putting this weed here?” he cried. And at that the poppy felt a +shiver of red ruin go through him; for what if the gardener were to +weed him up so that he could never see the Princess again? + +All the other gardeners came and considered him, twisting wry faces at +him. But they said, “Perhaps it is a whim of the Princess’s. It’s none +of our planting.” So after all they let him be. + +The sun rose higher and higher, and the gardeners went carrying away +their barrows and brooms; but the poppy stood waiting with his black +eye turned to the way by which the Princess should come. + +It was a long waiting, for princesses do not rise with the lark, and +the poppy began to think his petals would be all shrivelled and old +before she came. But at last he saw slim white feet under the green +boughs and heard voices and shawm-like laughter and knew that it was +the Princess coming to him. + +Down the long walks he watched her go, pausing here and there to taste +a fruit that fell or to look at a flower that opened. To him she would +come shortly, and so bravely would he woo her with his red face, that +she would at once bend down and press her lips to his, and lift him +softly to her bosom. Yes, surely she would do this. + +She came; she stopped full and began looking at him: he burned under +her gaze. “That is very beautiful!” she said at last. “Why have I not +seen that flower before? Is it so rare, then, that there is no other?” +But, “Oh, it is too common!” cried all her maids in a chorus; “it is +only a common poppy such as grows wild in the fields.” + +“Yet it is very beautiful,” said the Princess; and she looked at it +long before she passed on. She half bent to it. “Surely now,” said the +poppy, “her lips to mine!” + +“Has it a sweet smell?” she asked. But one of her maids said, “No, +only a poor little stuffy smell, not nice at all!” and the Princess +drew back. + +“Alas, alas,” murmured the poor poppy in his heart, as he watched her +departing, “why did I forget to choose a flower with a sweet smell? +then surely at this moment she would have been mine.” He felt as if his +one chance were gone, and death already overtaking him. But he remained +brave; “At least,” he said, “I will die looking at her; I will not +faint or wither, till I have no life left in me. And after all there is +to-morrow.” So he went to sleep hoping much, and slept late into the +morning of the next day. + +Opening his eyes he was aware of a great blaze of red in a border +to his right. Ears had been attentive to the words of Princess +Fleur-de-lis, and a whole bed of poppies had been planted to gratify +her latest fancy. There they were, in a thick mass burning the air +around them with their beauty. Alas! against their hundreds what chance +had he? + +And the Princess came and stood by them, lost in admiration, while +the poppy turned to her his love-sick eye, trying to look braver than +them all. And she being gracious, and not forgetful of what first had +given her pleasure, came and looked at him also, but not very long; +and as for her lips, there was no chance for him there now. Yet for +the delight of those few moments he was almost contented with the fate +he had chosen--to be a flower, and to die as a flower so soon as his +petals fell. + +Days came and went; they were all alike now, save that the Princess +stayed less often to look at him or the other poppies which had stolen +his last chance from him. He saw autumn changes coming over the +garden; flowers sickened and fell, and were removed, and the nights +began to get cold. + +Beside him the other poppies were losing their leaves, and their +flaming tops had grown scantier; but for a little while he would hold +out still; so long as he had life his eye should stay open to look at +the Princess as she passed by. + +The sweet-smelling flowers were gone, but the loss of their fragrant +rivalry gave him no greater hopes: one by one every gorgeous colour +dropped away; only when a late evening primrose hung her lamp beside +him in the dusk did he feel that there was anything left as bright as +himself to the eye. And now death was taking hold of him, each night +twisting and shrivelling his leaves; but still he held up his head, +determined that, though but for one more day, his eye should be blessed +by a sight of his Princess. If he could keep looking at her he believed +he should dream of her when dead. + +At length he could see that he was the very last of all the poppies, +the only spot of flame in a garden that had gone grey. In the cold dewy +mornings cobwebs hung their silvery hammocks about the leaves, and the +sun came through mist, making them sparkle. And beautiful they were, +but to him they looked like the winding-sheet of his dead hopes. + +Now it happened just about this time that the Prince of a neighbouring +country was coming to the Court to ask Princess Fleur-de-lis’ hand in +marriage. The fame of his manners and his good looks had gone before +him, and the Princess being bred to the understanding that princesses +must marry for the good of nations according to the bidding of their +parents, was willing, since the King her father wished it, to look upon +his suit with favour. All that she looked for was to be wooed with +sufficient ardour, and to be allowed time for a becoming hesitancy +before yielding. + +A great ball was prepared to welcome the Prince on his arrival; and +when the day came, Princess Fleur-de-lis went into the garden to find +some flower that she might wear as an adornment of her loveliness. But +almost everything had died of frost, and the only flower that retained +its full beauty was the poor bewitched poppy, kept alive for love of +her. + +“How wonderfully that red flower has lasted!” she said to one of her +maidens. “Gather it for me, and I will wear it with my dress to-night.” + +The poppy, not knowing that he was about to meet a much more dangerous +rival than any flower, thrilled and almost fainted for bliss as the +maid picked him from the stalk and carried him in. + +He lay upon Princess Fleur-de-lis’ toilet-table and watched the putting +on of her ballroom array. “If she puts me in her breast,” he thought, +“she must some time touch me with her lips; and then!” + +And then, when the maid was giving soft finishing touches to the +Princess’s hair, the beloved one herself took up the poppy and arranged +it in the meshes of gold. “Alas!” thought the poppy, even while he +nestled blissfully in its warm depths, “I shall never reach her lips +from here; but I shall dream of her when dead; and for a ploughboy, +that surely is enough of happiness.” + +So he went down with her to the ball, and could feel the soft +throbbing of her temples, for she had not yet seen this Prince who +was to be her lover, and her head was full of gentle agitation and +excitement to know what he would be like. Very soon he was presented to +her in state. Certainly he was extremely passable: he was tall and fine +and had a pair of splendid mustachios that stuck out under his nostrils +like walrus-tusks, and curled themselves like ram’s horns. Beyond a +slight fear that these might sweep her away when he tried to kiss her, +she favoured his looks sufficiently to be prepared to accept his hand +when he offered it. + +Then music called to them invitingly, and she was led away to the dance. + +As they danced the Prince said: “I cannot tell how it is, I feel as if +someone were looking at me.” + +“Half the world is looking at you,” said the Princess in slight +mockery. “Do you not know you are dancing with Princess Fleur-de-lis?” + +“Beautiful Princess,” said the Prince, “can I ever forget it? But it +is not in that way I feel myself looked at. I could swear I have seen +somewhere a man with a sunburnt face and a bold black eye looking at +me.” + +“There is no such here,” said the Princess; and they danced on. + +When the dance was over the Prince led her to a seat screened from view +by rich hangings of silken tapestry; and Princess Fleur-de-lis knew +that the time for the wooing was come. + +She looked at him; quite clearly she meant to say “Yes.” Without being +glad, she was not sorry. If he wooed well she would have him. + +“It is strange,” said the Prince, “I certainly feel that I am being +looked at.” + +The Princess was offended. “I am not looking at you in the least,” she +said slightingly. + +“Ah!” replied the other, “if you did, I should lose at once any less +pleasant sensation; for when your eyes are upon me I know only that I +love you--you, Princess, who are the most beautiful, the most radiant, +the most accomplished, the most charming of your sex! Why should I +waste time in laying my heart bare before you? It is here; it is yours. +Take it!” + +“Truly,” thought the Princess, “this is very pretty wooing, and by no +means ill done.” She bent down her head, and she toyed and she coyed, +but she would not say “Yes” yet. + +But the poppy, when he heard the Prince’s words, first went all of a +tremble, and then giving a great jump fell down at the Princess’s feet. +And she, toying and coying, and not wishing to say “Yes” yet, bent down +and taking up the poppy from where it had fallen, brushed it gently to +and fro over her lips to conceal her smiles, and then tucking her chin +down into the dimples of her neck began to arrange the flower in the +bosom of her gown. + +As she did so, all of a sudden a startled look came over her face. “Oh! +I am afraid!” she cried. “The man, the man with the red face, and the +strong black eyes!” + +“What is the matter?” demanded the Prince, bending over her in the +greatest concern. + +“No, no!” she cried, “go away! Don’t touch me! I can’t and I won’t +marry you! Oh, dear! oh, dear! what is going to become of me?” And +she jumped up and ran right away out of the ballroom, and up the great +staircase, where she let the poppy fall, and right into her own room, +where she barred and bolted herself in. + +In the palace there was the greatest confusion: everybody was running +about and shaking heads at everybody else. “Heads and tails! has it +come to this?” cried the King, as he saw a party of serving-men turning +out a ploughboy who by some unheard of means had found his way into the +palace. Then he went up to interview his daughter as to her strange and +sudden refusal of the Prince. + +The Princess wrung her hands and cried: she didn’t know why, but she +couldn’t help herself: nothing on earth should induce her to marry him. + +Then the King was full of wrath, and declared that if she were not +ready to obey him in three days’ time, she should be turned out into +the world like a beggar to find a living for herself. + +So for three days the Princess was locked up and kept on nothing but +bread and water; and every day she cried less, and was more determined +than ever not to marry the Prince. + +“Whom do you suppose you are going to marry then?” demanded the King in +a fury. + +“I don’t know,” said the Princess, “I only know he is a dear; and has +got a beautiful tanned face and bold black eyes.” + +The King felt inclined to have all the tanned faces and bold black eyes +in his kingdom put to death: but as the Princess’s obstinacy showed no +signs of abating, he ended by venting all his anger upon her. So on +the third day she was clothed in rags, and had all her jewellery taken +off her, and was turned out of the palace to find her way through the +world alone. + +And as she went on and on, crying and wondering what would become +of her, she suddenly saw by the side of the road a charming cottage +with winter poppies growing at the door. And in the doorway stood a +beautiful man, with a tanned face and bold black eyes, looking as like +a poppy as it was possible for a man to look. + +Then he opened his arms: and the Princess opened her arms: and he ran, +and she ran. And they ran and they ran and they ran, till they were +locked in each other’s arms, and lived happily ever after. + + + + +THE WOOING OF THE MAZE + + +Once upon a time there lived a beautiful Princess named Rosemary who +had all she wanted in the world but freedom. She had riches, and power, +and glory without end; but above and beyond all these things, her +beauty was like the sound of a trumpet. + +If she lifted the veil from her face, or looked out from her window +at morning as she combed her bright hair, the whole plain at her +feet became like an army of banners, and the hillsides dark with the +galloping of her suitors. + +Rejected potentates went clamouring to the four winds of heaven, of her +charm and of her cruelty; and the saying went that she had paved the +floor of her palace with the hearts which she had broken. + +But she was weary, was weary of saying “No” to wooers she did not love; +and often when alone she would cry that her riches and her power and +her glory might vanish away from her, and her beauty too, save so much +of it as would win her the heart of the one man she loved, and leave +her to be tended by his hands, as was her sweet namesake rosemary. + +One day at noon, when it was the middle of summer, she was lying on a +couch in the palace watching how the flies’ wings threw a network on +the air as they made love to each other and played. It seemed to her so +like the net that the swarm of her suitors threw round her day by day, +that she caught one of the flies, and to make it more like herself, +sprinkled it with gold dust so that it shone; then she let it go. But +to her surprise all the other flies avoided it, and the gilded one went +about solitary and alone. + +“Oh! why then,” she cried, “am I not left free like yonder fly +sprinkled with gold?” + +Just then under the window a young gardener at his work among the +flowers began singing; and this is what he sang: + + “What will I do for my rose of the roses? + Build her a window that looks at the sky; + Fashion her bower with a door that so closes, + No man shall open or enter but I.” + +The Princess waited till the words of the song were ended; then a smile +broke over her face; she took up her guitar, and with musically skilled +fingers played over the air as it had been sung. One by one the clear +notes sprang through the open window and fell upon the ears of the +listener on the green lawn below. Also her voice took up the air and +sang: + + “Thus, in her heart, saith thy rose of the roses, + ‘Build me a window with heaven for its brow; + Fashion my bower with a door that so closes, + No man shall open or enter but thou.’” + +That same day the Princess, sitting upon her throne and having crown +and sceptre in her hands, caused the gardener to be called into her +presence. The courtiers thought it was very strange that the Princess +should have a thing of such importance to make known to a gardener that +it was necessary for her to receive him with crown and throne and +sceptre, as if it were an affair of state. + +To the gardener, when he stood before her, she said, “Gardener, it +is my wish that there should be fashioned for me a very great maze, +so intricate and deceitful that no man who has not the secret of it +shall be able to penetrate therein. Inmost is to be a little tower and +fountains, and borders of sweet-smelling flowers and herbs. But the +man who fashions this maze and has its secret must remain in it for +ever lest he should betray his knowledge to others. So it is my will +that you should devise such a maze for my delight, and be yourself the +prisoner of your own craft when it is accomplished.” + +The gardener lifted his head where he knelt, and saw the Princess +sitting with eyes fast shut and hard-bitten lips, and hands down loose +on either side of her, from which had fallen the crown and sceptre they +had held. Then he answered her, “Princess, by all the might of my craft +I will be, and it shall be so as you wish.” + +Now the Princess gave it out to the world that, being so wooed, she was +minded to put all men who required her hand to a great test, that so +he who deserved her most might win her. Therefore at such and such a +time she made it to be known that she would withdraw herself from all +men’s eyes to the centre of a great maze strongly knit round by magic, +and that whoever desired her beauty and could penetrate through all the +deceits and dangers of that maze should possess herself and her lands +and her power, and live in glory of his achievement. + +Day by day, out of her palace window, she watched the great maze as +it grew. Wondrously it wound like a huge serpent, gathering into its +fold many miles of country--wood and hill and valley, and great pits +and caverns. And far within rose a small round tower about which stood +fountains like silver willows blown by the wind; but the door no man +could see, for mighty hedges and walls circled all ways about, cutting +off what was below the eye, so that the inner garden lay hidden like a +skylark’s nest in the corn. + +One day when the Princess asked, “How strong is this maze to be?” the +gardener answered, “As strong as love.” And when she asked, “How hard +will its way be to find?” he answered, “As hard as is the foolishness +of the kings and princes who shall seek thee therein.” Then she laughed +and was comforted in her heart when the day approached on which all the +world was to be parted from her. + +On that day a hundred suitors had gathered to the Court, eager to prove +their prowess and win the most beautiful woman in all the world for a +bride. At night the palace was ablaze from floor to roof, for there a +great feast was held, at which sat Princess Rosemary, magnificent in +her beauty and the splendour of her robes and crown. And all the kings +and princes and lords bent round her with love and worship. + +When the clocks struck midnight she rose, and all her jewels shone in +the fashion of a star, so thickly clustered the eye might not discern +one from other; but from heel to crown they clothed her as in a sheet +of fire. She passed down the midst of the hall, bowing both ways to +the assembly in gracious farewell, and her train as it went from floor +to floor was as a great retinue following her when she herself had +passed forth. + +She went from terrace to terrace of garden under great trees where +torches and trombones hung, blown by the wind, till she came to the +entrance of the maze. Then she drew out of her breast a small chart, +and gazing thereon went as though fate-led out of sight and sound. And +all the crowd standing without watched the mysterious jewelled train of +her robe passing in after she was gone, as though itself knew the way +it had to go and the windings that led into the very heart of the maze. +A whispered tale went from mouth to mouth that he who had devised and +fashioned the maze had disappeared--was dead, lest the secret should be +betrayed. Some said “Poison”; some said nothing, but shook their heads +darkly and seemed wise. + +At the first dawn of day the hundred kings, princes, and knights went +forth to the wooing of the maze, for there were many paths, and each +one went his own way. + +For many days the doors remained sealed and silent as a tomb, and the +crowds that gathered daily to watch began dwindling away, and went back +to resume their neglected trades. At last the countries whose kings +did not return sent ambassadors with messages that became more and +more urgent in demanding their presence. They spoke of the balance of +thrones, and the encroachments of neighbouring powers, and the deaths +of relatives. These ambassadors went down to the various entrances at +which their masters had been seen to go in, and thence shot arrows at a +venture with the urgent messages attached to them. But yet none came to +answer. + +Then the ambassadors were summoned away, for new kings had seized on +the vacant thrones, and the return of their predecessors became no +longer expedient. People almost forgot at last to trouble their heads, +save when fresh suitors came desirous of joining in the great wooing of +the maze, the more by reason of its apparent dangers. Then indeed for a +time gossips would wait and talk, but afterwards they went away. + +Many years went by, and at last there came forth a knight with grizzled +hair and bowed head. He walked in loops and circles, and his eyes slid +from right to left over the ground at his feet. He seemed crazed, and +stuttered when he spoke. They asked him how he had fared. He showed +them many badges of other knights fastened about his shield and helmet. +“I overthrew these,” he said, “till I met one who said, ‘I am Old Age: +turn back!’” + +They watched after him with his middle-aged stoop, till he had stumbled +his way into his own country. Some remembered him as a gallant young +knight fifteen years ago. + +Yet the story went that the wondrous beauty of the Princess did not +fade; and the people became proud of a legend that spread so great a +distinction for their land, and would point to the maze and the far-off +fountains, and say, “There waits our beautiful Princess till one come +worthy to woo her.” + +Twenty years had gone by when one day a goodly young Prince, with a +smiling countenance, and two long lances slung over his back, made his +appearance at the palace and demanded admittance to the maze. Half +the population streamed out to meet him, for it was many years since +the last wooer had come and vanished never to return. The country +remembered its importance, and gave him a great welcome. “Look what +long lances he has!” shouted the crowd. And then the doors of the maze +closed on him, and they went back to their work. + +When the Prince had made some way into the maze, he fastened his horse +to a tree, took down his lances and--chopped off their points. Lo, and +behold! he had turned them into stilts, great high stilts, so that by +mounting them he could see far away over the windings of the maze into +the very heart of it. + +Far off he could see the silver glint of fountains like grey willows +blown slantwise in the wind. That way with a pleasant tune in his heart +he straddled merrily along. If he found himself in a blind alley, or +being carried back by the windings of the road, he stood on one stilt +and went “leg over” with the other; thus his goings prospered. + +Here and there, he came upon dead men lying in their armour; some of +them were quite old, others had long lances by their sides; they must +have been hard of understanding and foolish. He passed them all by. + +For the whole long day he travelled, till towards evening he came upon +a little wood, and saw through the tree-boles the grey stones of the +little tower, and felt on his face the spray of the fountains carried +by the wind. Also he heard the sound of pleasant voices, and the stroke +of a spade in the earth. + +Free of the wood the path led straight on, till at the end of it, +over a high hedge, lay a dainty bright garden. A man and a woman were +bending together over a border of flowers. Their faces were close +together, full of smiles as their hands gathered sprays of rosemary; +their hair was wet with the drift of the fountains. + +Both were in the early middle-age of life, the woman tall and +broad-bosomed, her hair like a plaited crown of gold. + +The man, as her face brushed his, laughed and began singing: + + “What shall I do for my rose of the roses? + Build her a window that looks at the sky, + Fashion a door to her bower that so closes, + No man shall open or enter but I.” + +The Prince came and looked over the hedge; at the end of the song the +gardener and his wife had raised themselves; the woman had her face +resting on the man’s shoulder, and her arms about his waist. As she +stood, her eyes came straight upon the intruder, who hung a laughing +head and shoulders over the garden hedge. Her mouth and eyes went wide +open, but breath was wanting for speech. She pinched her husband to +make him look round. + +The Prince smiling, addressed them with the utmost courtesy, “Good Sir +and Madam, can you tell me whether the Princess is at home?” As he +spoke he lifted a stilt and planted it down on the flower-bed inside. +One more stride and he was in. There was a sudden clapping of hands. +“He’s a humorist!” cried the gardener’s wife. + +“Please,” said he, as he climbed down from his height and stood once +more on his own feet, “please, I am come for the Princess; and I hope +she is not tired of waiting, and is as beautiful, and as young, as +report has led me to believe.” + +The gardener’s wife laughed and ran into the tower. Presently from roof +to floor it was filled with a great rustling sound, and all the windows +shone with the colour of fire. Then out of the door came a lovely girl +blazing with jewels and drawing behind her a wonderful great train. +“Here is your Princess,” said her mother. How beautiful she was, how +radiant, how young! She came softly towards the Prince, laughing +and holding out her hand. He took it, and as he did so the whole of +the maze disappeared, and only the little tower with its fountains +remained. So the young couple went back to the palace and were married, +but the other couple stayed at home; and there they lived happily ever +after. + + + + +THE MOON-FLOWER + + +Princess Berenice sat by a window of her father’s palace, looking out +of the Moon. In her hand she held a great white pearl, and smiled, for +it was her mother’s birthday gift. The chamber in which she sat was of +pure silver, and in the floor was a small window by which she could see +out of the Moon and right down on to the Earth, where the moonbeams +were going. There it lay like a great green emerald; and wherever the +clouds parted to let the moonbeams go through, she could see the tops +of the trees, and broad fields with streams running by. + +“Yonder is the land of the coloured stones,” she said to herself, “that +the merchants go down the moonbeams and bring home and sell.” And as +she bent lower and lower and gazed with curious eyes, the great pearl +rolled from her hand and fell out of the Moon, and went slipping and +sliding down a moonbeam, never stopping till it got to the Earth. + +“My mother’s pearl!” cried the Princess, “the most beautiful of all her +pearls that she gave me. I must run down and bring it back; for if I +wait it will be lost. And as to-night is the full-moon down there upon +Earth, I can return before anyone finds out that I am gone.” + +The Earth was sparkling a brighter green under the approach of night. +“Oh, land of the coloured stones!” cried the Princess; and, slipping +through the window, she stepped out of the Moon, and went running down +the same moonbeam by which the pearl had fallen. + +Night came; and the Earth and the Moon lay looking at each other in +the midst of heaven, like an emerald and a pearl; but through the +palace, and within, over all its gardens and terraces there began +to be callings on the Princess Berenice; and presently there were +heart-searchings and fear, for they found the empty room with its open +window: and the Princess Berenice was not there. + +Now, not long before this, upon our own Earth there had lived and died +a King who had four sons, but only three kingdoms. So when he came to +die he gave to each of his three eldest sons a kingdom apiece; but to +the youngest, having nothing else left to give, he gave only a pair of +travelling shoes, and said: “Wear these, and some day they will take +you to fortune!” + +So, when the King was dead, the young Prince wore the shoes night and +day, hoping that some time or another they would take him to fortune. +His brothers laughed at him, and said: “Our father was wise to play +those old shoes off upon you! If it had been either of us we would have +gone and bought ourselves an army and fought for a just share in the +inheritance. But you seem pleased, so we ought to be.” + +Now one day the Prince went out hunting in the forest, and there, +having become separated from all his friends, he thoroughly lost his +way. Wherever he turned the wood seemed to grow denser, the thickets +higher, and the solitude more than he ever remembered before. Night +came on, and, there being nothing else that he could do, he lay down +and wrapped himself in his cloak and slept. + +When he awoke it was day, but the woods were as still as death; no +bird sang, and not a cricket chirped among the grass. As he sat up he +noticed that the shoe was gone from his left foot, nor could he see +it anywhere near. “’Tis the half of my inheritance gone!” he said to +himself, and got up to search about him. But still no shoe could he +find. At last he gave up the search as useless, and set off walking +without it. Then as it seemed to him so ridiculous to go limping along +with only one shoe on, he took off the remaining one, and threw it +away, saying: “Go, stupid, and find your fellow!” + +To the Prince’s great astonishment, it set off at a rapid pace through +the wood, all of its own accord. The Prince, barefoot except for his +stockings, began to run after it. + +Presently he found that he was losing his breath. “Hie, hie!” he +called out, “not quite so fast, little leather-skins!” But the shoe +paid him no heed and went on as before. It skipped through the grass +and brushwood, as if a young girl’s foot were dancing inside it; and +whenever it came to a fallen tree, or a boulder of rock it was up and +over with a jump like a grasshopper. + +Before long the Prince’s stockings were nothing but holes and tatters; +as he ran they fluttered from his legs like ribbons. He had lost his +hat, and his cloak was torn into patterns, and he felt from head to +foot like a house all doors and windows. He was almost on his last +gasp when he saw that the shoe was making straight for a strange little +house of green bronze, shut in by a high wall, and showing no windows; +and in the middle of the wall was a bronze door shut fast. As he came +near he found that outside, on the doorstep, stood his other shoe as if +waiting to be let in. “So it was worth running for!” thought he; and +then, putting on both shoes again, he began knocking at the door. + +As he knocked the door opened. It opened in such a curious way, flat +down like a swing-bridge or like the lid of a box. For some time he +was half afraid to walk in on the top of it. Presently, however, he +summoned up his courage and stepped across it. + +The door closed behind him like a trap, and he found himself in a +beautiful house; all its walls were hung with gold and precious stones, +but everywhere was the emptiness and the silence of death. + +He went from room to room seeking for any that lived there, but could +see no one. In one place he found thrown down a fan of white feathers +and pearl; and in another flowers, fresh plucked, lying close by a +cushion dinted and hollowed, as though the weight of a head or arm had +rested there. But beyond these there was no sign of a living thing to +be found. + +Through the windows he saw deep bowery gardens hemmed in by high walls, +within which grew flowers of the loveliest kinds. All the paths were of +smooth grass, and everywhere were the traces of gentle handiwork; but +still not a soul was to be seen. + +It seemed to the Prince now and then that there was something in the +garden which moved, distinct from the flowers, and shifting with a +will of its own. Though the sun shone full down, casting clear shadows +across the lawns, this that he saw was altogether misty and faint. Now +it seemed like a feather blown to and fro in the wind, and now like +broken gossamer threads, or like filmy edges of clouds melting away in +the heat. Where it went the flowers moved as though to make way for it, +swaying apart and falling together again as it passed. + +The Prince watched and watched. He tired his eyes with watching, yet he +could see no more; and no way could he find to the garden, for all the +doors leading to it were locked fast and barred. + +There was another strange thing he noticed which seemed to him to have +no meaning. All over the garden, between the trees and the sky, was +stretched a silver net, so fine that it showed only as a faint film +against the blue; but a net for all that. Here and there, the light of +the sun catching it, hung sparkling in its silver meshes. It was like +the net that a gardener throws over strawberry beds or currant bushes +to keep off the birds from the fruit. So was it with this net; through +it no bird could enter the garden, and no bird that was in the garden +could leave it. + +All day the Prince had these two things before his eyes to wonder +about, till the sun went down and it began to get dusk. + +At the moment when the sun sank below the earth there was a sound of +opening doors all over the house. The Prince ran and found one of the +doors leading into the garden wide open, and through it he could see +the stir of leaves, and the deep colours of the flowers growing deeper +in the dusk; only the evening primroses were lighting their soft lamps. + +[Illustration] + +From a distant part of the garden came the sound of falling water, and +a voice singing. As he approached he saw something shining against the +dark leaves higher than the heads of the flowers; and before he well +knew what he saw, he found before his eyes the most lovely woman that +the mind of man could believe in. + +In her hand hung a watering-can, with the water falling from it in +sprays on to the flower beds beneath. Her head was bent far down, yet +how she looked slender and tall! She was very pale, yet a soft light +seemed to grow from her, the light of a new moon upon a twilight sky. +And now the Prince heard clearly the sweet voice, and the words that +she was singing: + + “Listen, listen, listen, + O heart of the sea! + I am the Pearl of pearls + I am the Mother of pearls, + And the Mother of thee. + Glisten, glisten, glisten, + O bed of the sea! + Lost is the Pearl of pearls, + And all the divers for pearls + Are drowning for me.” + +He stood enchanted to hear her; but the words of the song ended +suddenly in a deep sigh. The singer lifted her head; her eyes moved +like grey moths in the dusk, amid the whiteness of her face. At sight +of him they grew still and large, widening with a quiet wonder. Then +the beautiful face broke into smiles, and the Princess stretched out +her hands to him and laughed. + +“Have you come,” she said, “to set me free?” + +“To set you free?” asked the Prince. + +“I am a prisoner,” she told him. + +“Alas, then!” answered the Prince, “I am a prisoner also, and can +free no one; but were I now free to go wherever I would, I should be +a prisoner still, for I have seen the face of the loveliest heart on +earth!” + +“Alas!” she sighed, “and can you not set me free?” + +“Tell me,” he said, “what makes you a prisoner here?” + +She pointed to the net over their heads, to the walls that stood on all +sides of them, and to the ground beneath their feet. “That,” she said, +“and that, and this.” + +“Who are you?” he asked, “and where do you come from? and whose power +is it that now holds you captive?” + +She led him on to a terrace, from which they could see out towards the +west; and there lay the new Moon, low down in the sky. “Yonder,” she +said, pointing to it, “is my home!” She wept. “Shall I ever return to +it?” + +The Prince, gazing at her in wonder, cried, “Are you one of a Fairy +race?” + +“No, oh, no!” she sighed. “I am but mortal like yourself; only my home +is there, while yours is here. We, who dwell in the Moon, are as you +are, but the sun has greater power over us; the light of it falling on +us makes us pale and unsubstantial, so that we weigh not so much as a +gossamer and become transparent as thin fleeces of cloud. Then we can +go where you cannot go, treading the light as it flies; but at sunset +we regain our strength, and our bodies come to us again; and we are as +you see me now--no different from yourselves, the inhabitants of the +Earth.” + +“Tell me,” said the Prince, “of yourself, and the dwellers in the Moon! +Is it not cold there, and barren?” + +She answered smiling, for the memory of her home was sweet to her, +“Outside, the Moon is cold and barren; but within it is very warm and +rich and fertile; more beautiful than any place I have seen on earth. +It is there we live; and we have flocks, and herds, and woods, and +rivers, and harbours, and seas. Also we have great cities built inside +the Moon’s crust, for the Moon is a great hollow shell, and we walk +upon its inner surface and are warm. The sunlight comes to us through +craters and clefts in the ground; and the beams of it are like solid +pillars of gold that quiver and sway as they shoot upwards into the +opal twilight of our world; and the shine and the warmth of it come to +us, and colour the air above our heads; but we are safe from its full +light falling on us, for the ground is between us and it. Only when +we pass through to the outer side do we become pale and faint, a mere +whisper of our former selves. And then we are so light that if we +step upon a moonbeam it will bear our weight; and the moonbeam carries +us swiftly as its own light travels, till it reaches the Earth: so we +come. But to return there is another way.” + +And when the Prince asked her, she told him of the other way back into +the Moon. + +“When we wish to return,” she went on “(for the falling light of a +moonbeam cannot carry us back), we must go where there is a pool of +still water and wait for the reflection of the Moon to fall on it; and +when the Moon is full, and throws its image into the water, then we +dive down, and with our lips touch the reflection of its face, crying, +‘Open, open to me, for I am a Moon-child!’ And the Moon will open her +face like a door of pearl, and let us pass in; and when she draws her +reflection out of the pool, we find ourselves once again among our own +people and in our own land. Many of us have so come and so returned,” +she sighed deeply, “but I fear that I shall never again return.” + +Then the Prince asked her further whose power it was that held her +captive; and she told him how she had dropped the pearl that her mother +had given her, and had come down seeking it. Then she said, “In the +Moon we have many jewels, for we have opals and onyxes, and pearls and +moonstones, but we have no rubies, or emeralds, or sapphires, or stones +of a single colour, such as you have. Therefore, we have a passion for +these things, and our merchants come down and bring them back to us at +a great price. + +“Now it chanced that in my search I came upon a gnome who had dealings +with our merchants and had many jewels to sell, and he, seeming to be +kind, helped me until my pearl was found. Then he took me to see his +own treasures; and, alas, while my eyes were feasting on the colours +of the stones he showed to me, my poor beauty inflamed the avarice of +his evil heart, and the desire to have me for his wife became great. So +when I asked him the price of his jewels, he vowed that the only price +at which he would let them go was that of my own hand in marriage. +Alas, I am young and innocent, and without subtlety, nor did I know how +great was his power and wickedness. As I laughed at his request his +face grew dark with rage, and I saw that I had incurred the undying +enmity of his cruel heart. And now for a whole year he has held me in +his enchantment, striving to break me to his will by the length and +weariness of my captivity; and lest search or any help should come +for me from my father’s people, he has covered me in with a net, and +surrounded me with walls; and here there is no pool into which the full +Moon may fall, and at the mere touch of my lips upon its face, open and +draw me free from my enchantment, and back into the heart of my own +land. Only yonder, in the corner of the garden is a deep well, where +the Moon never shines; so there is no way here left for me by which I +may get free.” + +“Does not the gnome ever come to see you in your captivity?” asked the +Prince. “If so, I may by some means be able to entrap him, and force +him to let you go.” + +“Twice in the year he has visited me,” answered the Princess. “He comes +up out of the ground in the form of a Red Mole; but he looks at me +wickedly and cunningly with the eyes of a man, seeming to say, ‘Will +you have me yet?’ And when I shake my head he burrows under again, and +is gone till another six months shall be past.” + +The Prince thought for a while and said, “I do not know whether I have +the power or the wit to make you free; if love only were needed for the +work, to-morrow would see you as free as a bird.” + +The Princess, between smiles and sighs, said, “I have been most lonely +here; already you make my imprisonment seem less.” Then she led him +within doors, from room to room, showing him the splendours of her +prison. Wherever they went, out of the floor before them rose burning +jewels that hung hovering over their heads to light them as they +passed; and when she struck her hands together, up from the ground rose +a table covered with fruit and dainties of all sorts; and when she and +the Prince had eaten, she clapped her hands again, and they disappeared +by the same way that they had come. + +The Prince was struck with admiration at the delicacy of these marvels. +“When I think of the Red Mole, they sicken me!” said the Moon-Princess. +The good youth used all his arts to cheer her, promising to devote +himself, and if need be his life, to the task of setting her free. And +now and then she laughed and was almost merry again, forgetting the +walls that still held her spell-bound from her own people and her own +land. + +She showed the Prince a chamber where he might sleep; and so soft and +warm was the couch after his last hard night on the ground, that it +was full day before he awoke. The Princess Berenice appeared before him +misty and faint, for the sunlight threw a veil upon her beauty; but +still as he looked at her he did not love her less, and it still seemed +to him that hers was the face of the loveliest heart on earth. + +All day he watched her drifting about the garden, seeming to feed +herself on the scent of the flowers. In the evening, when the sun set, +her body grew strong and her face shone out to him like the new Moon +upon a twilight sky. + +Then he drew water for her from the well, and watched her as she +watered the flowers which were her only delight. Presently he said, +“There is much water in the well, for the rope goes down into it many +fathoms; and yet I find no bottom.” + +“Yes,” answered the Princess, “I doubt not that the well is deep.” + +“Before many days are over,” said the Prince, “the well shall become a +pool.” + +The Princess wondered to hear him. “Is there,” he went on, “no such +thing as a spade for me to dig with?” Then she led him to a shed, where +lay all the needed implements for gardening. So his eyes brightened, +while he cried, “O, beautiful Princess Berenice, as I love you, before +many weeks are over you shall be free!” + +The next morning he arose very early, and in the centre of the garden, +where the ground hollowed somewhat, he marked out a space and set to +work to dig. + +All day the Princess went to and fro, faint and pale as a mist, +watching him at his work. At dusk her beauty shone full upon him, and +she said, “What is this that you are doing?” He answered, “What I am +making shall presently become a pool; then when the pool is full, and +the full Moon comes and shines on it, you shall go down into the water, +and shall kiss the face of its reflection with your lips, and be free +from your enchantment.” + +Princess Berenice looked long at him, and her eyes clung to his like +soft moths in the gloom. “But you?” she said, “You are no Moon-child, +and this will never set you free.” + +“Ever since I saw you,” said the Prince, “I have not thought of +freedom; my dearest wish is but to set you free.” + +The Princess gave him her hand. “And mine,” she said, “my dearest wish +henceforth is to set you free also. Yet I know but one way, and I +cannot name it.” She smiled tenderly on him, and bowed her face into +the shadow of her hair. + +The Prince caught her in his arms, “One way is my way!” he cried. “Your +way,” she said, “is my way.” Then, when he had finished kissing her, +she said, “Look, on my finger is a ring; this ring is for him to whom +I give myself in marriage. Surely, it opens to him the heart of my own +people, and he becomes one of us, a child of the Moon.” She showed him +an opal ring, full of fires. “If your way is my way,” she said, “draw +this off my finger, and put it upon your own, and take me to be your +wife!” + +So the Prince drew off the ring from her finger, and set it upon his +own; and as he did so he felt indeed the heart of the Moon-people +become his own, and the love of the Moon strike root in him. Yet did +the love of the Earth remain his as well, making it seem as if all the +love in his heart had but doubled itself. + +So he and the most beautiful Berenice were married there by the +light of the new Moon, and all thought of sorrow or danger from the +encirclement that bound them was lost in their great joy. + +During the whole of the next day the Prince went on with his digging, +making a broad shallow in the ground. “Before the full Moon comes,” he +said, “I will make it deep.” And he worked on, refusing to take any +rest. + +The Princess loved him more and more as she watched him; and his love +for her daily increased, for every day, while the Moon grew full, her +beauty shone in greater perfection and splendour. “Here,” she said to +him, “the coming of the full Moon is like the coming of Spring to me: I +feel it in my blood. After the full Moon my beauty will wane and grow +paler. But in my own land I do not feel these changes, for there it is +always the full Moon.” The Prince answered her, “To me your beauty, +though it grows more, will not ever grow less.” + +At last, on the day before that of the full Moon, the pit which he had +dug was broad and deep; then he began to fill it with water from the +well. “To-morrow,” he said to his wife, when the pool was nearly full, +as she came and stood by his side at sunset in the full blaze of her +beauty, “to-morrow we shall be free; and you will carry me away with +you into your own land.” + +“I do not know,” said the Princess; “I begin to be afraid!” and she +sighed heavily. “Any day the Red Mole may come: one day is not too soon +for him to be here.” + +“But why need you fear him now?” asked the Prince. “Since you are +married to me, you cannot be married to him.” + +“As to that,” said she, “I fear that to have outwitted him will but +make his malice all the greater against us!” Then she walked softly +among the moonbeams, bathing her hands in them, and letting them fall +upon the loveliness of her face; and as she stood in their light, tears +rained down out of her eyes. + +In the morning it seemed as if her happiness had returned. The Prince, +as he toiled under the blazing sun, carrying water from the well to the +pool, felt her moving by his side, and heard her light shadowy laughter +when, just before sunset, the water flowed level to the pool’s brink. +And when dusk rose out of the grass, there she stood glowing with the +full Moon of her beauty and leaning in all the light of her loveliness +towards him. + +The happy night drew round them; out of the East came the glow of the +full Moon as it rose; soon, soon it would cross the tops of the trees +and rest its face upon the quiet waters of the pool. They clung in each +other’s arms, entranced. “My beautiful,” said the Prince, “shall we not +take to your mother some of those jewels she loves--the green, and the +red, and the blue, and the pearl which was hers, the quest of which has +cost you so much?” He ran into one of the jewelled chambers where lay +the pearl, and caught from the walls the largest stones he could find. +Quickly he went and returned, for the Moon was now fast cresting the +avenues of the garden. He came bearing the jewels in his hands. + +Princess Berenice stood no longer by the brink of the pool, though +therein lay the image of the Moon’s face, a circle of pale gold upon +the water. “Berenice,” called the Prince, and ran through the garden +searching for her. “Berenice!” he cried by the well; but she was not +there. “Berenice!” His voice grew trembling and weak, and quick fear +took hold of him. “O, my beautiful, my beloved, where are you?” + +Only the silence stood up to answer him. Under his feet ran a Red Mole. + +It scampered across the grass, and disappeared through a burrow in the +ground. Then the Prince knew that the worst had surely come, and that +his Princess had been taken away from him. Where she was he could not +know; within her former prison she was nowhere to be seen. + +All night the Prince lay weeping by the brink of the pool, where she +had last stood before his sight; the print of her dear feet still +lay on the lawn where she had stayed waiting with him so long. “O, +miserable wretch that I am!” he cried, kissing the trodden grass. “Now +never again may I hope to behold you, or hear your dear voice!” + +All the day following he wandered like a ghost from place to place, +filling the empty garden with memories of her presence, and sighing +over and over again the music of her name. All the flowers glowed +round him in their accustomed beauty; new buds came into life, and full +blooms broke and fell; not a thing seemed to sorrow for her loss except +himself. As for the flowers, he paid them little heed. + +In his sleep that night a dream came to him, a dream as of something +that whispered and laughed in his ear. Over and over again it seemed to +be saying, “The Red Mole came, and the full Moon came, and the Princess +jumped down into the water!” Then his heart knocked so loud for joy +that he started awake, and saw the Red Mole scuffling away to its +borrow in the ground. + +Then he feared that the dream was but a thing devised to cheat his +fancy, and get rid of him by making him go away and search for his +Princess in the land of the Moon, by the way that she had told him. +But he thought to himself, “If the Red Mole wants so much to get me +away, it means that my beloved is somewhere near at hand. Is she in the +well?” he began wondering; and as soon as it was light he went to where +lay the well in its corner under the shadow of the wall. But though he +searched long and diligently, there was no trace of her that he could +find. + +Yet every time he came near to the well sorrow seemed to take hold of +him, and, mixed with it, a kind of joy, as though indeed the heart of +his beloved beat in this place. Near to the well stood a tall flower +with bowed head. It seemed to him the only one in the whole garden that +had any share in his sorrow: he wondered if the flower had grown up to +mark the sad place of her burial. + +“O, my beloved Berenice, art thou near me now?” he murmured, +heart-broken, one day as he passed by: then it seemed to him that all +at once the flower stirred. He turned to look at it; it was like a +sunflower, but white even to its centre, and its head kept drooping as +if for pure grief. “Berenice, Berenice!” he wept, passing it. + +At dusk he returned again; and now the flower’s head was lifted up, and +shone with a strange lustre. The Prince, as he went by on his way to +the well, saw the flower turn its head, bending its face ever towards +where he was. Then grief and joy stirred in his heart. “The flower +knows where she is!” he said. + +So he bent, whispering, “Where, then, is Berenice?” and the flower +lifted its head, and hung quite still, looking at him. + +Then the Prince whispered again, “The Red Mole came, and the full Moon +came, and the Princess jumped down into the water?” + +But the flower swayed its head from side to side, and the Prince found +that it had answered “No.” + +Then he had it in his mind to ask of it further things; but, as he was +about to speak, he beheld its face all brimming over with tears, that +suddenly broke and fell down in a shower over its leaves. + +At that his heart leaped, and his voice choked as he cried, “Art _thou_ +my beloved, my Berenice?” And all at once the flower swayed down, and +leaned, and fell weeping against his breast. + +So at last he knew! And joy and grief struggled together in him for +mastery. + +All that night he knelt with the flower’s head upon his heart, stroking +its soft leaves, and letting it rest between his hands; till, towards +dawn, it seemed to him that peace was upon it and sleep. + +All through the day it hung faint upon its stem; but when evening came +it lifted its head and shone in moon-like beauty; and so deep for it +was the Prince’s love and compassion that he could hardly bear to be +absent from its side one moment of the day or night. + +And, when he was very weary, he lay down under its shadow to sleep; and +the Moon-flower bent down and rested its head upon his face. + +All night long in dreams Berenice came back to him. He seemed to hear +how the Red Mole had come, and changed her to a rooted shape, lest the +full Moon in the water should carry her away from him back into her own +land. Yet it was only a dream, and the Prince could learn nothing there +of the way by which he might set her free. + +A month went by, and he said to his Flower, “To-night is the night of +the full Moon: now, if I drew you from the ground, and carried you +down, and called for the Moon’s face to open to us, would you not +be free from the enchantment, when you were come again to your own +people?” But the Moon-flower shook its head, as if to bid him still +wait and watch patiently. + +Now, as the Prince came and went day by day, he began to notice that +the Moon-flower had its roots in a small green mound, no bigger than a +mole-hill; and he thought to himself, “surely that mound was not there +at first: the Red Mole must be down below at work!” So he watched it +from day to day; and at last he knew for certain that, as time went on, +the mound grew larger. + +Month by month the mound upon which the Moon-flower had root increased +in size; yet the Flower thrived, and its beauty shone brighter as each +full Moon approached, so that at last the Prince’s fear lest the Red +Mole were working mischief against its life, passed away. + +Once, on the night of a full Moon, as the Prince lay with his head +upon Earth, and the Moon-flower bowed over his face, he heard under +the mound a peal of silvery laughter; and at the sound of it the +Moon-flower started, and stood erect, and a stir of delight seemed to +take hold of its leaves. Again the laughter came, and the soft earth +moved at the sound of it. + +The Prince started up, and ran and fetched a spade, and struck it down +under the loose soil of the mound. When he lifted up the earth, out +sprang a tiny child like a lobe of quicksilver, laughing merrily with +its first leap into the light. But even then its laughter changed into +a cry; for out after it darted the Red Mole, with fury in its whiskers, +and wrath flashing out of its eyes. + +The quicksilver child sprang away, darting swiftly over the grass +towards the margin of the pool. There lay the full Moon’s image upon +the clear stillness of the water; and the child leapt down the bank, +and laughed as it sprang safely away. Then there followed a tiny +splash; and the Prince, amid the rings upon the water’s surface, saw, +like a door of pearl, the Moon’s face open and close again. And the +Red Mole went down into the earth gnashing its teeth for rage. + +The Prince ran back to the Moon-flower, and found it bent forwards +and trembling with fear. Then he drew its head towards his heart, and +whispered “The Red Mole came, and the full Moon came, and the silver +child jumped down into the water!” And at that the Flower lifted its +head and began clapping its leaves for joy. + +A month went by, and the green mound had disappeared from beneath the +Moon-flower’s roots; and still every night the Prince lay down under +the shadow of its leaves; and the Flower bent over him, and laid its +head against his face. + +As he lay so, one night, and watched the full Moon travelling high +overhead, he saw a shadow begin to cross over it; and he knew that it +was the eclipse, which is the shadow of the Earth passing over the face +of the Moon; then he rose softly, leaving the Moon-flower asleep, and +went and stood by the brink of the pool. + +Up in the Moon the silver child felt the shadow of the Earth fall upon +the face of the Moon; and he came and touched the Earth’s shadow with +his lips, crying, “Open, open to me, for I am an Earth-child!” Then +the Earth’s shadow that was upon the Moon opened, and the silver child +sprang through. + +The Prince, watching the veiled image of the Moon’s face in the water, +saw the Earth’s shadow open like a door, so that for an instant the +brightness of the Moon shone through, and out sprang the quicksilver +child, up to the surface of the pool. + +He leapt laughing up the bank, and went running over the grass to where +the Moon-flower was standing. He reached up his arms, and caught the +Flower by the head. + +“O mother, mother, mother!” he cried as he kissed it. + +And at the touch of his lips the Moon-flower opened and changed, +growing wondrously tall and fair; and the flower turned into a face, +and the leaves disappeared, till it was the beautiful Princess Berenice +herself, who stooped down and took the quicksilver child up into her +arms. + +She cried, fondling him, “Did they give you your name?” + +And the child laughed. “They call me Gammelyn,” he said. + +The Prince caught them both together in his arms. “Come, come!” he +shouted and laughed, “for yonder is the full Moon waiting for us!” And, +lifting them up, he ran with them to the borders of the pool. + +And the Red Mole came, and the full Moon came; and the Prince, and the +Princess, and the silver child jumped down into the water. + +Then the Prince laid his lips against the reflection of the Earth’s +shadow, crying, “Open, open to me, for I am a child of the Earth!” +And the shadow opened like a door to let them pass through. Then they +pressed their lips against the reflection of the Moon’s face crying, +“Open, open to us, for we are Moon-children!” And the Moon opened her +face like a door of pearl, so that they sprang through together, and +were safe. + +And when the Moon drew its reflection out of the pool, they found +themselves in the land of the Moon, in the silver chamber with the +round window, in the palace of Princess Berenice’s father. + +Looking out through the window, down at the end of a long moonbeam they +saw the Red Mole gnashing his whiskers for rage. Then the Prince took +off his shoes, and threw them with all his might down the moonbeam at +the Mole. + +As the shoes fell, they went faster, and faster, and faster, till they +came to earth; and they struck the Mole so hard upon the head that he +died. + +Now as for Gammelyn and the shoes we may hear of them again elsewhere; +but as for the Prince and his beautiful Princess Berenice, the +happiness in which they lived for the rest of their days is too great +even to be told. + + + + +THE WHITE KING + + +Many years ago there lived a Queen who could not keep count of the +countries over which she ruled. Her wealth and her wonderful beauty +made her an apple of discord to all the kings who lived round about her +borders. For love of her they waged perpetual war upon one another, +and every King who proved victorious made a gift to the Queen of the +country of the one whom he had conquered, in the hopes of thereby +strengthening his claim to her favour. Thus it came about that she +could no longer keep count of the lands which had fallen under her +rule; yet still of all her suitors she chose none. + +Now at this time there was one King, and only one, who had not +succeeded in losing his heart to the Queen’s majesty, in spite of her +wealth and power, and all her wonderful beauty. And so, during a long +time, since his fancy was thus free, he was left in undisturbed peace +and prosperity, while other kings fought out their jealous battles, and +stole away each other’s lands. And because his reign was so quiet and +his country in such rest, his people for a pet-name and for their pride +in him, named him the White King. + +Now after a time the Queen took it as an insult that anyone should be +so indifferent to the power of her charms, and she began to threaten +him with war for this reason and for that, wishing thereby to cajole +him into becoming her suitor. But the White King saw through all +the disguises with which she covered her meaning, and understood the +arrogance of her claim; so one day he sent to her as a gift a statue of +himself with his sword sheathed, and all his armour covered over with +the cloak of peace. Round the base of it was written + + “When a heart in stone doth move, + Then your lover I may prove; + But until the marvel’s done, + Fruitlessly your wars are won.” + +The Queen looked once at the statue, and for a long time after never +looked away; and when at last she did her heart had been taken captive. +Then she looked at the words beneath, and the red flush that rose to +her face was not gone when the last of her army passed out of the city +gates to carry war into the country of the man who had dared thus to +speak scorn of her. + +For a whole year the White King fought with the forces she sent against +him; but when all the other kings came to her aid, then, stronghold by +stronghold, all his cities were taken, and his lands were laid waste +and their villages burnt, and nothing but defeat and ruin remained. + +Yet in the last battle, when his enemies thought to have him a +safe prisoner, all of a sudden they found that the White King had +disappeared. + +Back came the Queen’s armies in triumph with their allies, and the +conquered territory was added as one more to the many that formed her +realm. But the Queen sighed as she looked at the White King’s statue, +and her triumph grew bitter to her. Day by day, as she looked at the +calm marble face, her love for it increased, and she owned sadly to +herself, “He whom I have conquered has conquered me!” + +Of the lost King himself no tidings could be learned, though search was +made far and wide. Minstrels came to the court, and sang of his great +deeds in fighting against odds, but of his end they sang variously. +Some sang that he lay buried beneath the thickest of the slain; others +that from his last battle he had been carried by good fairies, and that +after he had been healed of his wounds, he would return in a hundred +years and recover his kingdom. + +One minstrel came to stay at the court who sang of ruined homes and +wasted fields, and a happy land laid desolate, and how its King +wandered friendless and unknown through the world, hiding himself in +disguise, sometimes in the cottages of the poor, and sometimes in the +dwellings of the rich. But from no one could the Queen learn any news +that satisfied her or gave hope that he would at last bend down his +pride, and come and sue to her for forgiveness. + +Wishing to have a hiding place for her grief, she caused the statue to +be set up in a green glade in the most lonely part of the gardens; and +there often she would go and gaze on the calm noble face (whose closed +eyes seemed even now to disdain her love), and would wonder how long a +queen’s heart took to break. + +But after a time she thought, “Though I may never win the love of the +White King for my own, is there no way by which my passion can assuage +itself, when by lifting my finger I can summon half fairyland to my +aid?” + +So she called to her the most powerful fairy she knew, and taking her +into the green glade, began sighing and weeping in front of the White +King’s statue. “This,” she said, “is the image of the only man on earth +I can love! But the man himself is lost, gone I know not where; and my +heart is breaking for grief! Give this statue a life and a heart, and +teach it to love me, else soon I shall surely be dead!” + +The Fairy said to her, “All the might of Fairyland could not do so +much; but a little of it I can do; and if Fate is kind to you, Fate may +bring the rest of it to pass.” + +“How much can you do?” asked the Queen. + +“This only,” said the Fairy, “but even that you must do for yourself. +I can but show you the way. Stone is stone, and out of stone I cannot +make a heart; but a heart may grow into it, and this is the way to +compass it. + +“You must find first a man who is loved, but does not love (for if +he loves, the statue’s heart when it wakes will turn from you); and +him you must kill with your own hand, and take out his heart and bury +it beneath the feet of the statue. Then I will work my charms, and +gradually, as a flower draws its life out of the ground, so the statue +will draw life out of the human heart buried below. And after a little +time you will see it move, and in a little time more its senses will +come, and it will be able to hear, and see, and speak. But full life +will not come to it until it has learned to love. Then, so soon as it +learns to love, it will become no longer stone, but a human being.” + +But the Queen said, “Supposing its love were to turn from me to +another, where should I be then?” + +“Surely,” said the Fairy, “the secret will be your own, and the +watching of its life as it grows will be yours. Your voice it will +hear, your face it will see; whom, then, will it learn to love more +than you?” + +“Wait, then, till I have found the man,” said the Queen, “and we will +do this thing between us!” + +She searched long among her court for some man whose heart was whole, +but who was himself loved. Generally, however, she found it was all the +other way. There was not a man at the court who was not in love, or did +not think himself so; and if there were one who had no thought of love, +he was too poor and mean for the love of any woman to be his. + +But one day the Queen heard a minstrel in the palace courtyard singing +and making merry against love. It was that same minstrel who sang only +sad songs of the White King’s lands laid waste and himself a wanderer: +a fellow with a dark sunburnt face, and thick hair hanging over his +eyes. And as he sang and rattled his jests at the courtiers who stood +by to listen, the Queen noticed one of her waiting-women looking out of +a small lattice, who, as she watched the singer’s face, and listened to +his words, had tears running fast down out of her eyes. + +“Is this a case,” thought the Queen, “of a man who is loved but who +does not love?” + +She sent for the minstrel, and said to him, when he stood bending his +head before her, “Is this pretty scorn that you cast on love earnest or +jest?” + +“Nay,” he answered, “I jest in good earnest; for to speak of love in +earnest is to jest about it.” + +“So,” said the Queen, “you are heart-whole?” + +“Why,” said the minstrel, “I doubt if a mouse could find its way in; +and if I am heart-whole in your presence, I ought to be safe from all +the world!” + +“Now,” thought the Queen, “if only my waiting-woman answers the test, +here is the heart I will have out!” + +Then she bade the minstrel follow her to where stood the White King’s +statue, bidding him sit down under it and sing her more of his rhymes +about love. + +So the minstrel crossed his legs in the long grass and sang. His song +became bitter to the Queen’s ears, for he took the words that were +round the statue, and rhymed them and chimed them, and threw them +laughing in the Queen’s face. She hated him so that she could have +poisoned him; but she remembered that his life was necessary for her +experiment to reach its end. So she sent instead for a sleepy wine, +which she gave him to drink, and presently his voice grew thick and his +head dropped down upon his breast, and his legs slid out and brought +him down level with the grass. When night came on she left him soundly +sleeping with his head between the feet of the White King’s statue. + +Then she sent for the waiting-woman and said, “Go down to the White +King’s statue, and find for me my handkerchief which I have dropped +there.” But as the girl went, the Queen stole secretly after her, and +watched her come to where the minstrel lay asleep. + +[Illustration] + +And when the waiting-maid saw him lying so, with his face thrown back, +she knelt down in the grass by his side, and putting her arms softly +about him, kissed him upon the lips over and over again as though she +could never come to an end; and her tears dropped down on to his face, +and, as if her mind were gone mad for love of him, the Queen heard her +sighing, “Oh, White King, my White King, my Beloved, whom I love, but +who loves me not!” + +As soon as the waiting-maid was gone, the Queen came softly to the +place, and with a sharp knife she cut out the minstrel’s heart and +buried it at the base of the statue. + +In the morning the minstrel was found lying dead with his heart gone; +and when they washed the dead face and put back the hair that covered +the eyes, they found that it was the White King himself. + +That day, and for many days after, there were two women weeping in the +palace: one was the Queen and the other was the waiting-woman. But the +body of the White King they buried close by the statue in the green +glade. + +Now presently, when the first violence of her grief was over, the Queen +came to look at the place; and, sure enough, the Fairy had been there +with her spells. When the wind blew the statue swayed gently like a +tree in the wind. + +The Queen caused gates and barriers to be put up so that no one should +enter the glade but herself; only Love found a way, and at night, when +all the world was asleep, the waiting-woman crept through a loose pale +in the barriers, and came to moan over the place where her lover had +been slain. + +All night she would lie with her arms round the feet of the White +King’s statue, and dream of the dead minstrel whom she had loved and +known through all his disguise. And all night long her lips would +murmur his name, and whisper over and over again the sad story of her +love. + +And presently, as the statue drew life from the heart buried beneath +its feet, its ears were opened and it heard. + +In the daytime the Queen would come and sit before it and whisper words +of love, offering it all the gifts of riches and power that are in the +hands of kings to give; but at night came the waiting-woman and offered +it only love. + +Out of the ground the Queen saw grow a small plant, that began to creep +upwards and to wind itself round the base of the statue; and when she +saw that its flower was the deadly nightshade, her heart trembled and +her conscience made her afraid. + +But the waiting-maid, when she saw it, picked the sad blossoms and made +a crown for the statue’s head as of pale amethyst and gold: for she +said to herself, “Down below my dear lies dead, and the roots of this +flower are in his hair.” + +One day as the Queen came into the glade, she heard the dead minstrel’s +voice, and her heart shook with terror as she saw the statue open its +white lips and sing, and recognised the tune and the words as those +which had made her heart feel so bitter against him; for she thought, +“What if he knows that it is I who have slain him?” + +Now that she saw that the stone had its five senses, and could see and +speak and hear, she pleaded to it all day out of the greatness of her +grief and her love. But the statue never returned her a word. + +At night, lying with her face bowed between the White King’s statue’s +feet, the waiting-woman knew nothing of all this change; only the +statue heard and saw and knew. And at last one day as her tears dropped +on them, she felt the feet grow warm between her hands; and a voice +over her head that she remembered and loved, said, “Little heart, why +are you weeping so?” + +In the morning the Queen came and found the statue gone. There on the +pedestal was only the print of his feet, half covered by the deadly +nightshade which had climbed up to his knees and fallen. There it lay +heavy and half-withered, clasping the hollows where his feet had been. + +The Queen knelt down and caught the bare stone pedestal in her arms. +“Oh, Love,” she cried, “have you left me? Oh, White King, my White +King, have you betrayed me?” And as she clung there weeping, her lips +touched the deadly nightshade; and the nightshade thrilled, and felt +joy give new life down into its roots. + +It reached up and laid its arms about the Queen, about her throat, +and about her feet and about her waist. “Dearly, dearly we love each +other,” said the nightshade, “do we not?” + +At night the courtiers came, and found only a dead Queen lying, and the +statue gone. + +But the White King had gone home to his own land to marry the +waiting-woman. + + + + +THE PASSIONATE PUPPETS + + +When the long days of summer began, Killian, the cow-herd, was able +to lead his drove up into the hills, giving them the high pastures to +range. Then from sunrise to sunset he was alone, except when, early +each morning, Grendel and the other girls came up to carry down the +milk to the villages. + +All day long the cow-bells sounded in his ears, but still the time of +his wedding was a long way off; it would be five years before he and +Grendel could afford to set up a house and farm, with cows of their own. + +The great stretch of world that lay out under him, like a broad map +coloured blue and green, made him full of a restless longing to try +his fortune. Yonder he could pick out the towns with their spires and +glittering roofs, and the overhead mists, that gave token of crowded +life below. It was there that wealth could be got; and with wealth men +married soon, and were at ease. Somewhere, he had heard, lived kings +and queens, wearing rich robes and gold crowns on the top of their +heart’s desire. For kings and queens, he supposed, loved as did he and +Grendel, regarding nothing else as much in the world besides. + +So Killian, putting heart into his deft hands, set to work. + +One evening Grendel came up from the valley, after her day’s work, to +have a look at her lover; she had brought him some brown cakes and a +bottle of wine. But Killian, who had caught sight of her eyes over the +green rise at his feet, was hiding something behind his back. + +“Whatever have you there?” she asked, as she saw chips, and tools, and +bits of bright foil, lying scattered about the ground. Yet for three +days he would show her nothing, only he said, “What I do is because we +love each other so.” + +At the end of that time, he showed her what he had done. There she saw +a little king and queen, about six inches high; he was in blue, and +she in white; and they were both as dear as they were small. The king +was partly like a cow-herd, having a crown over his broad-brimmed hat, +with thick wooden shoes, and leather-bound legs; and the queen was +like Grendel, with great long plaits past her waist, and a gold-worked +bodice, such as Grendel had for Sunday wear. “Aye, aye,” cried Grendel, +“why, it is you and me!” + +Then Killian showed her how the joints of the little puppets moved on +delicate wires, and how four strings ran up, one from each limb, to be +fastened to the player’s fingers, so that he might make them act as +though life were in them. + +“I shall take these down with me to the valley,” said Killian. “First I +shall go about among the villages; then, when I can do better, I shall +go to the towns. After that no doubt the kings and queens will hear of +me, and will send for me to play before them, and I shall become rich. +Then I shall come home and marry you.” + +Grendel thought her lover the most wonderful man in the world, and it +is the truth he was very clever; she kissed him a hundred times, and +the little marionettes also. “Ah,” she said, “now we shall not have to +wait five years! in five months you will come back rich and famous, and +we shall marry, and live happily.” + +How Killian had loved her while making his puppets, only she knew as +well as he. Truly, he had put his heart into them, so that they were +like living beings,--and so small that their very smallness made them +a marvel. Being a lover, he had put inside each breast a little heart, +and, for the luck of the thing, had christened them with a drop of his +own blood, and a drop of Grendel’s; so each heart had in it one little +drop of blood. Now he was to go out, and try his fortune. + +He found a lad to come and take his place and see after the cows; then +he said good-bye to Grendel, and set off on a round of all the villages +of the plain. + +At every inn where he put up, he called the country folk together to +the sound of his shepherd’s bag-pipes, and showed them his play. It was +only himself and Grendel, no story at all, merely lovers parting and +meeting again, each believing the other dead, and in the end living +happily to the sound of cow-bells, that showed how rich they were in +herds. + +And the villagers laughed and cried, and gave him pence, and a night’s +lodging, and food; so that presently he was able to make himself a +little travelling-stage, and hire a piper to play dance-music for him. +But it was always the one story of himself and Grendel, and no other, +though the two puppets wore crowns upon their heads. + + * * * * * + +The little marionettes had hearts. That was the beginning of things: +they remembered nothing else. When their eyes had grown open to the +fact, then for them life had begun. After that they lived like bee and +blossom, only that the bee never flew away, and the honey remained in +the blossom. + +How this came to pass was a question they never asked; why they loved +each other they did not know. If they had had to think of it they would +have said, “It is because we cannot help it.” And every day one same +thing happened to them that they could not help, the most beautiful +thing in life. It came to them by instinct, taking hold of them from +head to feet and saying, “Love, love, love,” in all sorts of wonderful +ways. + +Whenever this thing happened they began to move about softly, going +to and fro, and round and round, dancing, and holding each other by +the hand, putting their cheeks so close together that their eyelids +brushed, and sometimes their little hearts that heaved. And all the +while music from somewhere was giving a meaning to these things; and +over and over again, “Love, love, love” was what it kept saying to them. + +Their happiness was so great, that they would begin playing with it, +pretending that it was all turned into grief. First he would kiss her +from forehead to chin, and into the hollow of her little throat; and +then all down each dear arm, even to the finger-tips; and last of all +her feet; and again last of all her lips, and again last of all her +breast. And then he would go away, walking backwards most of the time, +or if not, still turning round and round to take another look at her. +Then when he was altogether out of sight, she would sit down and cry, +though all the while he would be peeping at her from his hiding-place, +to let her know that he was not really gone. Then she would lie down, +and cry more, and at last leave off crying and stay almost still on a +little bed, that seemed to come to her from nowhere, just when she was +ready to fall on it. Then, at last, she would shut her eyes, and cover +her face up very slowly with a sheet, and lie so still that he would +grow quite frightened, and come running from his hiding-place, and lift +the sheet, and look at her; then he would fall down as if his legs had +been cut from under him; then he would get up and throw flowers over +her, and at last catch her up and begin to carry her; and at that she +would wake up all at once and kiss him, to a sound of bells. + +They did not know why they did this; it was so beautiful they could not +have thought of it for themselves, and yet it said everything of life +that they wanted to say. For love was the beginning and the end of it; +and always, as they came to the sad part, they had tender tremblings +for fear the other should think the sorrow was real: he, lest she +should think he had really gone away and left her, never to return; and +she, lest he should believe that she always meant to lie so cruelly +still, with a sheet over her eyes. Yet the kissings that came after +made the fearfulness almost the sweetest thing in their prayer-sayings +to each other. + +For to them this was a daily prayer, the most solemn thing in their +lives; heart praying to heart, and hand reaching to hand; and from +somewhere overhead gentle monitions as to what they must do next coming +to them, so that they knew how to pray best, now by lifting a hand, or +now by turning the head, or now by running fast with both feet. And +all this beautiful worship of love their bodies learned to do more +perfectly day by day; yet the little quaking of fear was still in the +centre of it all. + + * * * * * + +Killian’s fingers grew nimble; and yet he often wondered to see how +true to life his puppets were, how they sighed, how they embraced and +clung, as if their hearts were coming in two when the parting drew +near. How lingeringly the little queen drew up the sheet over her +face, when her lover did not return, and let it fall to cover her with +a quiet sigh. Often he cried when she did that part, so like Grendel +was it,--the tender waiting, and the last giving in! And then, how the +little king shuddered as he drew the cloth from her face; and how he +threw the flowers, as if there were not enough in the world to express +his grief! And yet it was only a play, made by the twitching of the +strings tied to his fingers, with love as the beginning and end of it. + +Killian was getting quite rich in copper coin, so he sent some of it +home to Grendel, that she might buy stock for the home that was so soon +to be theirs. And presently he made bold to go into the towns, where, +instead of copper, he might gain silver. He built a bigger stage, +and had more music to go to the dance; but still it was the story of +himself and Grendel, with crowns upon their heads, and nothing more. + +And now, indeed, people began to cry, “Here is a wonderful new actor! +He has it all at the ends of his fingers! What a pity he has no better +play in which to show himself off!” But Killian said, “It is the only +play I know how to do.” + +Presently there came a sharp fellow to him, who said: “If you will go +shares with me I will make your fortune. We have only to put our heads +together, and the thing is done. I will write the plays for you, and +you shall play them on the strings. What is wanted is a little more +real life.” + +Killian was a simple fellow, who believed all the world to be wiser +than himself. He was glad enough to meet with a clever fellow who could +write plays for him. His partner wanted him to make new dresses for +the marionettes, to suit their new parts; but to that Killian would +not agree. So whatever they were they still wore their broad hats and +crowns, and their wooden shoes, that still he might watch in his own +mind himself and Grendel making their way to fortune and happiness. + +The marionettes grew bewildered with their new taking; they did not +understand the meaning of all the coarse things they had to do. So +in the middle of a play, the little queen would fail now and then in +her part, and move awkwardly, wondering what her lover meant when he +sprawled to and fro, and seemed trying to find in the air more feet +than he had upon the ground. + +Yet the crowd found her bashful fear so irresistibly funny, that it +roared again. Also, when the little cow-herd with the crown on his +head, lifted his hand or foot towards his partner, and then shrank +trembling away, it roared yet more at the poltroon manner of the thing. + +Killian’s partner said, “You alter all my plays, but the way you do +them is something to marvel at. Only, why do you always bring them +round again to that silly lovers’ ending?” + +“I cannot help it,” said Killian; “often now, with these new plays, I +can’t get the strings to work properly. I think the poor puppets are +getting worn out.” + +His partner began examining the puppets, and watching how Killian +played them, with more attention; and presently he knew that there was +more in it than met the eye. “It is the puppets who are the marvel, not +the man,” he said to himself. “I could work them better myself, if I +had practice.” + +Soon after this he proposed that they should set off for another town; +it was the chief town of all, where they hoped at last to be allowed +to show their plays to the queen herself. “It must be a real play this +time,” said the partner, “a tragedy; but it wants a third person. You +must make another puppet, while I write the play!” + +So Killian set to work. But he had no love for the third puppet, which +was neither himself nor Grendel, and he put no heart inside it, and no +little drop of blood. So the new marionette was but limbs, and a head +drawn on wires. + +“Soon,” thought Killian, “I shall be rich enough to go home and marry +Grendel. Then I will throw this stupid third one away; but the other +two we will always keep close to the niche with the statue of Our Lady, +to help to make us thankful for the good things God gives us in this +world.” + +It was beautiful late spring weather when he and his companion set out +for the capital. On the way Killian’s partner told him the play that +would have to be played before the queen, and said, “In case three +should be too much for you to manage, you had better teach me also to +handle the strings.” So Killian began to teach him, with the two little +marionettes alone, the first play which he had brought down with him +from the mountains,--that being the easiest of all to learn, and the +one he loved best to teach. + +The partner was surprised to find how wonderfully the puppets followed +the leading-strings; in spite of his clumsiness the story acted itself +to perfection. + +Simple-hearted Killian was charmed. “Ah! you clever townsman,” said +he, “see how at first trial you equal poor me, who have been at it for +months! It had better be you, after all, to do the play when it is +called for at the court.” And this Killian proposed truly out of pure +modesty, but also because he did not like the play his partner had made +for him. “It is too cruel a one!” he said. “After they have played it +together so long, I feel as if my two puppets can do nothing else so +well as love each other, and live happily.” + +“Ah, but,” said his partner, “the queen would find that very dull!” +Killian could not see why; but he believed that the townsman was wiser +than himself, and gave in. All he wanted now was to get money enough to +run back home with, and throw himself into his dear Grendel’s arms for +life. + +So they journeyed on, and at last, one day, they came in sight of the +capital. But it had been such a long way to come that when they reached +the gates they found them shut. + +The night was warm, and a high moon was overhead. “Come,” said Killian, +“and let us lie down in one of these orchards that are outside the +walls!” So they left the high road, and went and lay down. + +First they ate some food that they carried with them. Then Killian +opened the case in which lay the two marionettes, and looked them over +to see that they were in working order. His partner took up the odd +number, and began practising it; but Killian’s attention all went to +the little king-cowherd and his queen. + +He fondled them gently with his hands, and as he looked at them his +heart went up into the mountains to pray for his dear Grendel. + +Presently he began dreaming to himself like Jacob, only his dream was +just of the simple things of earth. Down the great green uplands came +troops of white cattle; but to him they seemed to be bridesmaids coming +to Grendel’s wedding day, and the ringing of the cow-bells was as +sweet to him as the songs of angels. Before he was fast asleep the two +marionettes had slipped off his knee and lay in the deep grass looking +up at the sky. + + * * * * * + +They had never seen so beautiful a sight before, for never had they +spent a night in the sweet open air till now. Over their heads swung +dusky clusters of blossom, that would look white by day; and over them +the moon went kissing its way from star to star. + +Now and then single blossoms dropped as if they had something to say to +the little cow-herd and his queen, lying there in the cool grass. + +But the marionettes said nothing; their hearts were very full; now, at +last, they found their old happiness return to them. Their prayers, +that they used to say to each other so tenderly, had been going wrong +for quite a long time; sudden starts and tremblings of fear had taken +hold of their light-hearted deceptions of each other; and every day +things had been going worse. But now they felt like entering upon a +long rest. + +As they lay, their hands met together. The little cow-herd could count +her fingers across the palm of his hand, and never once did she pretend +to be drawing them away. How good it all seemed! + +Close by them the odd man was strutting in stiff, ungainly attitudes, +cricking his neck and elbows, and tossing up his toes. How foolish he +seemed to them in their innocent wisdom! They knew he was nothing to +them, for he had no heart; he was nothing but a trick on springs. Yet +they wished he would go away, and give them room to be alone, while the +moon was making a white dream over their lives. + + * * * * * + +The partner grumbled to himself at the awkward ways of the new +puppet. Instead of obeying, it kicked at the leading strings, and did +everything like a stick, all angles and corners. Presently he put +it back into its box; and then he saw the little king and queen lying +together on the damp grass. He picked them up, growling at Killian as +a simpleton, for leaving them there to get rusty with the dew. Then he +put them also away, and curled himself up to dream about the success of +his play on the morrow. + +[Illustration] + +Quite early in the morning he and Killian went into the city, and set +up their stage in a corner of the market-place. The wonderful acting +of the little king and queen, compared with the ungainly hobblings +and jerkings of the odd man, threw the townspeople into ecstasies of +laughter. They declared they had never seen so funny a sight in their +lives as the beautiful nervous acting of the pair, side by side with +the stiff-jointed awkwardness of the other. + +Presently, sure enough, the queen heard tell of this new form of +entertainment, and sent word for the mummers to appear at the palace. + +Killian said to his partner: “There is something the matter with the +puppets to-day; they want careful handling. I am glad we settled that +you are to do the new play; for, before the queen and her great ladies, +I am likely to lose my head.” + +All the court was gathered together to watch the puppet-play, while +behind the scenes the partner took all the leading strings into his own +hands. + + * * * * * + +The two marionettes opened their eyes, and saw daylight; they began +moving to and fro softly; every now and then they put their faces +together and kissed. The stupid odd man seemed to have gone; they were +so glad to be left alone. + +Soon the little king lay down, pretending to be tired, but it was only +that he might put his head in the queen’s lap. She bent over him, and +laid her fingers on his eyes, seeming to say, “Go to sleep, then! I +will shut your eyes for you.” How pretty it was of her! + +Then she covered his face over with her handkerchief; and all at once +in came the odd man, walking on the points of his toes. The little +king, now that the handkerchief was over his face, opened his eyes, and +looked through it, to see what his dear queen would be doing now. The +odd man had his arms round her neck, and was kissing her, and the queen +looked as if she were going to kiss him back; but all at once she had +pushed away the odd man so hard that he fell down with his heels in the +air; and then she snatched the handkerchief from the king’s face, and +began trembling, and kissing him. + +The whole of the court shouted, first with laughter at the odd man’s +fall, and then with admiration at the wonderful acting of the little +queen. + +Behind the scenes the partner began grumbling to Killian: “They are +going all wrong! It’s all your doing, leaving them to lie in the damp +grass last night!” + +But still the whole court shouted and applauded. So the play went on; +and now, more and more, the showman had cause to grumble. Whenever he +came to a part where the play required that the queen should turn from +her own cow-herd to the ugly odd man, everything went wrong. “Very +well,” thought he at last, “she may be as innocent as Desdemona but it +will all come to the same at the last!” + +And so, still more, as the play went on, the little marionettes +trembled and shook with fear. They wished the silly odd man would go +away, and not come interrupting their prayers; and all the while they +loved each other so! No idea of jealousy ever entered the little king’s +head; and as for the queen, if the odd man came and put his arms round +her neck and kissed her, could she help it? All she could do was to run +and put her arms round her own lover when he reappeared; and how the +court shouted and applauded, when she went so quick from one to the +other. + +At last the final act was begun; the king came running in with a sword +in his hand, why, he did not know, until he saw his poor little queen +struggling in the arms of the odd man. “Ah,” thought he, “it is to +drive him away! Then we shall be by ourselves again, and happy.” + +No one ever fought so wonderfully on a stage before as the little +cow-herd. All the court started to their feet, shouting; and still, +while they shouted, they laughed to see the impossible odd man scooping +about with his sword, and jerking head over heels, and high up into the +air, to get away from the little king’s sword-play. The partner had to +keep snatching him up out of harm’s way, for fear of a wrong ending. +Then, suddenly he let him come down with a jump on the little king’s +head. And at that the king fell back upon the ground, and felt a sharp +pain go through his heart. + +The odd man drew out his sword and laughed; on the end of it was a tiny +drop of blood. The poor little queen ran up, and bent down to look in +her lover’s face, to know if he were really hurt. And then a terrible +thing happened. + +Three times the little king raised his sword and pointed it at her +heart, and dropped it again. And all the time the partner was tugging +at the strings, and swearing by all the worst things he knew. + +The little king felt himself growing weak; he was very frightened. He +felt as if he were going away altogether, and leaving her to think he +did not love her any more. And still his arm went up and down, pointing +the sword at her heart. + +The showman tugged angrily; then there was the sound of a wire that +snapped--the king had thrown away his sword. + +He reached up his two arms, and laid them fast round the queen’s neck. +“Now at last she knows that I have not left off loving her.” He felt +her drawing herself away, he held her more and more tightly to his +breast; and now her little face lay close against his. Nothing can take +her away from him now! + +The showman pulled violently with all his might, to get her away; there +was a snapping of strings, and then--the queen reached out two weak +little hands, and laid them under her lover’s head. + +They lay quite still, quite still for a long time, and never moved. +“The play is over!” said the showman, disgusted and angry at the wreck +of his plot. + +Suddenly the whole stage became showered with gold; the great queen and +all her court threw out showers of it like rain. It fell all over the +two marionettes, covering them where they lay, just as the babes in the +wood when they died were covered over with leaves. + +Killian dropped his head on to the boards of the little stage, and +sobbed. The partner let down the curtain, and began gathering up the +gold. + +And still, from without, the queen and her court clapped, and cried +their applause; and still within lay Killian with his head upon the +stage, sobbing for the two little marionettes, lying still with all the +springs and strings of their bodies quite broken. Inside, though he +could not see them, their hearts were broken also. “Now,” he thought, +“I must go back to Grendel, or I too shall die!” + +Later, in the middle of the night, the partner went away, carrying +with him all the gold that the little marionettes had earned by their +deaths. And these, indeed, he left, seeing that they were useless any +more. But to Killian, when he woke the next morning, they were the only +things left him in the world, to take back to Grendel. + +He took them just as they were, locked in each other’s arms, and went +back all the long way to Grendel, up into the hills of his home, as +poor in money as when he first started. + +But Grendel saw that he had come back rich; for his face was grown +tender and wise. And for five years they waited very patiently +together, till by cow-keeping he had earned enough for them to keep +some cows of their own, and to live in married happiness. + +The little marionettes they put on a shelf, beneath the cross, and the +statue of our Lady; and there, locked in each other’s arms, those two +disciples and martyrs of love lie at peace, feeling no pain any more in +their broken hearts. + + + + +KNOONIE IN THE SLEEPING PALACE + + +Just when the palace fell into its deep sleep, the porter’s son had run +out to follow a swarm of bees which had flown over the fish-ponds into +the woods lying outside the royal demesne. In the very minute after +he had climbed the wood-pales, to the time when the shifty swarm came +swinging its long bright tangle for home, calling on him to retrace +his pursuit, sleep had clapped down like a great eyelid over the whole +palace. + +Knoonie made a clear leap over the palings into the royal clover; and +then felt something hurting his heart, he could not know what or why, +very strange, very frightening; it was like waking up all alone in +the middle of a dark night, and feeling that something was standing +quite still in the silence before him--quite still, because he himself +had moved. He took one step forward, and at that sprang aside as if a +snake were under him: his foot had made no sound in the clover! Then, +thinking his ears must have deceived him, he tried once more. Ah! now +it was so frightful that his courage went utterly: “Help, help!” he +cried with all the force of his lungs: but his voice gave no sound. The +dead silence that weighed on his struggles to cry, drove him wild with +terror. + +He set off running as if Death were after him: running like a blind +thing; and knew nothing more till he fell half-stunned and bleeding +into the gateway of the palace-courtyard. + +He sprang, and tapped with his hand on the porter’s wicket. “Father, +dear father, open quick!” he cried. But the words fell mute, and the +wicket did not open. Then he began beating with his fists on the bronze +panels, and, seizing hold of the knocker, battered for dear life. +For dear life! But dear reason almost died in the attempt. The great +bronze knocker beat without making a sound. He stopped his ears with +his fingers to get rid of the stillness which was so terrible: and then +at last he began to think that while in the wood he must have gone +stone-deaf. But he was frightened; though he was deaf, others surely +should hear him: again he beat and beat upon the knocker, throwing his +whole weight upon it, and cried with the tears running down his face +for his father to come to him. + +Surely somebody must come. No, all was quite still as well as silent: +nothing moved: everywhere it was the same. There was a sentry on guard +over the gate: Knoonie could see his helmet and the top of his halbert +shining in the sun. He cried to him to come down and let him in; but +the man stood so still that he began to think he must truly have lost +the power of speech as well as of hearing. He stooped down, and taking +up a stone, threw it at the soldier to make him turn round; moving away +from the wall so as to get a better aim, he was able to see more of +him. The sentry stood very strangely; he must be asleep or sun-struck, +for a small green paroquet had come and perched on his shoulder. + +The fifth stone Knoonie threw (for fear had made his hand tremble) hit +the soldier on the head; and yet he did not wake up, and the strange +little paroquet remained as if stuffed and glued to its perch. + +Then Knoonie, casting his eyes all round for anything to help, saw a +new sight. All down the broad avenues of the park a movement was taking +place from the earth upwards: it came nearer and nearer: it was like a +green army on the march: it waved long prickly spears and many-pointed +crests, and sent green things like lizards swarming into the high +trees that stood in its way. Up and up, closer and higher to the very +gates of the palace it came--a wall of thistles, magic in strength and +stature, over-ranked by beetling heads of hemlock, and under-run by +long snakey loops of bramble, that writhed in and out of the earth like +huge worms. + +“I must be dreaming!” thought Knoonie for a way out of his distress. +“It’s all one horrid dream which will come to an end just as the worst +thing happens.” But the giant thistles came crowding close, reaching +hungry hands at him. He caught hold of the knocker, and dragging +himself up was able in his terror to force open the wicket, and work +his small body through, just as the first thistle caught him by the +leg. He escaped shoeless and with all his hose torn into ribands from +the knee. Inside he came upon his father, sitting in his accustomed +niche, keys in hand, sitting quite still with head bent and closed eyes. + +The child began to tremble and cry; he forgot any longer to think it +was a dream; a remembrance like the touch of dead lips chilled his +heart: the remembrance that while his father had been sitting there +almost within reach of his hand, he, Knoonie, had cried and beaten +with all his force upon the door, and had not been heard. He threw his +arms round his father’s neck, and clinging close to the deaf face he +loved: “Father, father,” he cried, “wake!” But his words had no sound, +and the porter made no sound or stir. + +Dead, dead! Knoonie threw up his hands, and trying vainly to utter one +call for help, darted into the palace. + +After a long time, he came out again with a white face, looking dazed +into the sunlight: what was it he had seen in there? Beautiful lords +and ladies, still as death, smiling and bending over golden plates and +half-tasted wine; serving men who stood upright and still as death, +carrying dishes and tilting out the wine into great tankards; and, over +all, the yellow sunlight streaming in licked the dead faces as a beast +licks carrion. + +He ran tottering over the marble pavement, as fast as fear would send +him; to get away out of the palace and fetch help for all these dead or +dying people: for there must still be somebody left somewhere. But when +he came to the porter’s lodge, there was a sight in the wicket that +stopped him: the small square aperture was bulged through by thistle +and bramble, in the midst of which his little shoe hung trussed and +skewered; the hard grasp of the thistles had bent it out of shape, and +the thorns of the bramble had cut into the leather like the steel teeth +of a trap. Looking through, he could see nothing but one dense forest +of thistles, made the more impassable by a thick mesh of creepers that +clung about their stems. He climbed up on to the walls: everywhere +was the same; those death’s heads of hemlock had grown higher than the +trees of the park, and threw their shadows over the whole palace. + +Slowly, the meaning of the horror which had first been so impossible +for his mind to take in grew clear to his imagination. The sleeping +palace, that whispered tale of his childhood, was embodied before him; +and of all those who had heard it told, and laughed it lightly away +because every day brought sameness of life to each sense, he alone +was left awake to drink the full cup of this sleep of doom, he alone, +amid others unconscious of their arrested life, with all the ways +of knowledge closed from him by an overwhelming silence, he and he +only must live and move, and endure this living tomb, till the Prince +Rescuer should come, of whom the same tale gave promise. The great +palace where he had been such a little thing at everybody’s beck and +call, one for the grooms to tease, and for maids and serving-men to +harry, was his own possession now, to do in what he would; but no joy +came to him with this growing sense of a strange liberty. He went from +place to place, tiptoeing at first, hardly daring to enter those grand +chambers where the king and his great lords were sitting in state; but +the lords-in-waiting stood making way for him with closed eyes; and he +might see and touch and taste whatever he chose. + +He went and stood behind great ladies, and stroked their shining hair, +and touched their white wondrous throats, and the strong hands of the +knights, the King’s even, with its gold signet ring; but there was no +joy in any of these things. And when hunger came on him he put out +his hand and helped himself from the King’s plate: yet though he had +tasted no such delicacies in his life before, they gave him no pleasure +now. He looked at all the beautiful ladies with their sweet-smiling +lips, and remembered how he had thought that to be kissed by them would +be almost death, so great must be the delight. Now he climbed up to the +sweetest of them all, and tried to imagine her as the mother he had +never known; yet when he kissed, and saw how the lips went smiling on, +it was such bitterness that the tears burst from his eyes, and fell +into the velvet lap of her dress. He caught up a napkin, “For when +she wakes up she will see what a mess I have made and be angry,” he +thought: then he remembered the hundred years, and cried still more. + +At last, when it began to get dark, weary with sorrow, and drawn +thither by a growing fear of his loneliness, he went back to the gate, +and there, kissing him, lay down with his head on his father’s knee, +and clinging to the hand that had hold of the keys of his prison, wept +himself to sleep. Ah! how happy would he be if sleep would join his +lot to theirs, and his eyes never open again till the whole day of +deliverance was come. Alas! that the bees should have led him beyond +reach of the charm which would have brought sleep, and only back to be +enclosed in the impenetrable embrace of that thorny fastness. + +The next day’s sun shone down and opened Knoonie’s eyes; and he rose +up into the life-long silence that encompassed him; and, kissing +his father’s face, went forth into the joyless splendours of his +prison-house. + +This day he climbed all the towers, and strained his eyes for a glimpse +of the great unsleeping world beyond. But high and far the forest of +thorns had stretched itself; and he could only see here and there the +blue of the most distant hills through gaps of thicket. + +Then he went down, and sought out all his old acquaintances, the +stable-boys who played with him, the grooms who bullied, and the maids +who teased. He came face to face with the terrible head-cook, who had +so many times threatened to beat him to a jelly; now Knoonie could have +boxed the tyrant’s head off, and no hand would be there to stay him; +but he only stood and looked at the big grim face and the closed eyes, +and longed hungrily for a blow from that coarse red fist. + +He went on to the stables; and now who was there to forbid him his +heart’s desire to climb on to the back of the King’s great charger, who +stood sleeping with beautifully arched neck: yet when he had clambered +his way up by the manger, it was no pride to him to be there: he only +bowed his face down into the black mane and wept. + +That same day he found the Princess sleeping in her chamber; +oh! so beautiful she was with her little white hand laid on the +spinning-wheel, a small prick of scarlet showing on the delicate skin. +So beautiful she was, he dared not kiss her yet, for he did not know +that anyone who could win entrance into the sleeping palace, could +by kissing the Princess break the charm and gain her for his bride. +Already more than one brave knight had entered that vast forest of +thorns and thrown away his life in striving to get to those lips which +were Knoonie’s for a little stooping. But he was a child and he did not +understand. + +The days went by, the weeks went by, and the child fell in with ever +deepening sadness to the loneliness of his environment. His wistful +face grew beautiful and pure in that still air, and the picture of +courtly life that encircled his lent him an unconscious grace. Yet +he stayed humble and sad, and every night, leaving beds of down and +pillows of lace untouched, went back to kiss his father’s face and lie +with his head on his knee. As for food, that great palace held stores +which would suffice him through many lives; and during the magic sleep +nothing changed or decayed: even the milk stayed fresh through the many +years to come; a hundred shining pails of it standing in the king’s +dairy. + +The weeks, the months, even the years went by; but the child forgot the +passing of time; and the less and less of a child, retained the child’s +heart still, lonely and sad; with a child’s will and brain, with the +memory of its childish prattle dying away, and no words or thoughts of +a growing man to take its place; and amid that sleep of dreamless men, +where even the thought of evil did not enter, his heart was left to +him, gentle, simple, and pure. + +Every night at his father’s knee Knoonie knelt and said his evening +prayer, and slept well, with the porter’s hand in his. Years made his +body fair and of a slender strength, and through the deep silence he +grew tall. And he would go and look at the sweet-faced women, and +wonder why he sighed, and why it was so sad to kiss their lips that +smiled and yet cared nothing--so sad that as years went on he left +off from that which seemed to put a double silence on his life, the +pain being too keen for his heart. And then he would go and look at the +Princess whose lips he had never kissed: and that seemed the saddest +thing of all. + +Still years went on, and his mild mute life bore him very slowly on +to age: and still night by night, a young man once, and then a man in +his full prime, and then a man with grey hair showing on his head, and +then a man beginning to bend down with age, went and said his childish +prayer, and kissed his father’s face, and slept with his head against +his father’s knee. + +Very gently had life cradled him to age when a hundred years came +round: he had lost all knowledge or thought of speech, save that one +form of daily use, and his silver-grey face was a reflection of the +spirit that brooded over the sleeping palace. + +The great day came when all the palace clocks, and the sounds of +speech and laughter woke back to life. The thorns and thistles +had disappeared, dropping a child’s shoe for luck over the palace +threshold: the Prince had come and broken the spell. The cook was +screaming that a hundred cats had been at the cream. + +In a far-off corner of the palace Knoonie heard, and knew what these +sounds meant, and his heart trembled for joy: but it was so very +terrible! To him the pain, the bewilderment, the multitude of sights +and sounds made this renewed life an agony past knowing; he was so +giddy he could only creep hand over hand along the wall towards the +gate where his father sat. Now his one thought was to see his father. + +As he came under the archway, the porter took him by the shoulder +roughly, and turned him out of doors. “We want no naked old mendicants +here.” + +Knoonie found no words to say; he just walked on and on, a beautiful +bowed down old man, bespoken of none, until one night he knocked at a +doorway in fairyland, and there with me found contentment and a home. + + + _Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld., + London and Aylesbury._ + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + +Hyphens restored in “will-o’-the-wisp” (page 26) and “Fire-eaters” +(page 88). All other inconsistencies in hyphenation have been left +unchanged. + +Page 145: Extraneous quotation mark in “I don’t know,” removed. + +Page 171: Typo “Princesss” corrected. + +Missing puncutation restored: “out of his heart.” (page 113); “kissed +the hand,” (page 131); “try his fortune.” (page 192). + +Some illustrations have been moved from the original positions for +readability. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78382 *** diff --git a/78382-h/78382-h.htm b/78382-h/78382-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e41889a --- /dev/null +++ b/78382-h/78382-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7593 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + A Doorway in Fairyland | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + 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+.transnote { + margin-left:17.5%; + margin-right:17.5%; +} + +/* Conventional dropcaps */ +p.dropcap { + text-indent: 0em; +} +p.dropcap:first-letter { + float: left; + margin: 0.1em 0.1em 0em 0em; + font-size: 300%; + line-height: 0.85em; +} +.x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { + float: none; + margin: 0; + font-size: 100%; +} + +.upper-case +{ + text-transform: uppercase; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .ep6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +li { margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom:0; line-height: 1.2em; } + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2.0em;} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} + +.frame-wrapper { + width: 100%; + max-width: 800px; + margin: 0 auto; + display: block; +} + +#title-page { + position: relative; +} + +#title-page .border-image { + width: 75%; + margin: 0 auto; + height: auto; + display: block; +} + +#title-page .content { + position: absolute; + top: 12%; + left: 2%; + right: 12%; + bottom: 2%; + padding: 10px; + overflow: hidden; +} + +#title-page .content2 { + position: absolute; + top: 74.8%; + left: 2%; + right: 12%; + padding: 5px; + overflow: hidden; +} + +#title-page .content, +#title-page .content2 { + color: black; + text-decoration: none; +} + +figure.full-frame { display: none; } +.x-ebookmaker figure.full-frame { display: block; } + +@media (max-width: 1000px) { + .frame-wrapper #title-page { display: none; } + figure#i_title { display: block; } +} +.illowp50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp50 {width: 100%;} +.illowp75 {width: 75%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78382 ***</div> +<div class="transnote center"> +Images in this book can be clicked on for a larger version. +</div> +<h1> +A DOORWAY IN FAIRYLAND +</h1> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<div style="width: 50%; margin: auto;"> + <p> + This selection of fairy-tales is + reprinted from the following + original editions, now out of + print: + </p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>A Farm in Fairyland</i> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +(1894) +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>The House of Joy</i> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +(1895) +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>The Field of Clover</i> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +(1898) +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<i>The Blue Moon</i> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +(1904) +</td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_frontispiece" style="max-width: 30em;"> + <a href="images/i_frontispiece_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<figure class="figcenter illowp100 full-frame" id="i_title" style="max-width: 30em;"> + <a href="images/i_title_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_title.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + + + +<div class="frame-wrapper x-ebookmaker-drop" style="max-width: 750px;"> +<a href="images/i_title_large.jpg"> +<div id="title-page"> +<img src="images/i_title_blank.jpg" alt="" class="border-image"> +<div class="content"> +<p class="center"> +<span style="font-size: large;">A DOORWAY IN FAIRYLAND</span><br> +BY LAURENCE HOUSMAN<br> +</p> +<p class="center" style="font-size: small;"> +NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE & COMPANY +</p> +</div> +<div class="content2"> +<p class="center" style="font-size: xx-small;"> +ENGRAVED BY<br> +CLEMENCE HOUSMAN +</p> +</div> +</div> +</a> +</div> + +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center ep6" style="font-size: small;"><i>Made and<br> +Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld.,<br> +London and Aylesbury.</i></p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<th> +</th> +<th class="tdr"> +PAGE +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Blue Moon</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_BLUE_MOON">13</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Wishing-Pot</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_WISHING-POT">21</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Way of the Wind</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_WAY_OF_THE_WIND">33</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Bound Princess</span>: +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Fire-Eaters</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_FIRE-EATERS">53</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Galloping Plough</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_GALLOPING_PLOUGH">59</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Thirsty Well</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_THIRSTY_WELL">66</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Princess Melilot</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_PRINCESS_MELILOT">74</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Burning Rose</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_BURNING_ROSE">82</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 2em;"> +<span class="smcap">The Camphor-Worm</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_CAMPHOR-WORM">90</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_RAT-CATCHERS_DAUGHTER">97</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Traveller’s Shoes</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_TRAVELLERS_SHOES">108</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Rooted Lover</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_ROOTED_LOVER">133</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Wooing of the Maze</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_WOOING_OF_THE_MAZE">147</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Moon-Flower</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_MOON-FLOWER">156</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The White King</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_WHITE_KING">181</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Passionate Puppets</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#THE_PASSIONATE_PUPPETS">192</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Knoonie in the Sleeping Palace</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#KNOONIE_IN_THE_SLEEPING_PALACE">211</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a><a id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_BLUE_MOON"> + THE BLUE MOON + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Nillywill</span> and Hands-pansy were the +most unimportant and happy pair of lovers +the world has ever gained or lost. With +them it had been a case of love at first blindness +since the day when they had tumbled into each +other’s arms in the same cradle. And Hands-pansy, +when he first saw her, did not discover that Nillywill +was a real princess hiding her birthright in the home +of a poor peasant; nor did Nillywill, when she first +saw Hands, see in him the baby-beginnings of the +most honest and good heart that ever sprang out of +poverty and humble parentage. So from her end of +their little crib she kicked him with her royal rosy +toes, and he from his kicked back and laughed: +and thus, as you hear, at first blindness they fell +head over ears in love with one another.</p> + +<p>Nothing could undo that; for day by day earth +and sun and wind came to rub it in deeper, and +water could not wash it off. So when they had been +seven years together there could be no doubt that +they felt as if they had been made for each other +in heaven. And then something very big and sad +came to pass; for one day Nillywill had to leave off +being a peasant child and become a princess once +more. People very grand and grown-up came to +the woodside where she flowered so gaily, and caught +her by the golden hair of her head and pulled her +up by her dear little roots, and carried her quite +away from Hands-pansy to a place she had never +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>been in before. They put her into a large palace, +with woods and terraces and landscape gardens on +all sides of it; and there she sat crying and pale, +saying that she wanted to be taken back to Hands-pansy +and grow up and marry him, though he was +but the poor peasant boy he had always been.</p> + +<p>Those that had charge of Nillywill in her high +station talked wisely, telling her to forget him. +“For,” said they, “such a thing as a princess +marrying a peasant boy can only happen once in a +blue moon!”</p> + +<p>When she heard that, Nillywill began every night +to watch the moon rise, hoping some evening to see +it grow up like a blue flower against the dusk and +shake down her wish to her like a bee out of its +deep bosom.</p> + +<p>But night by night, silver, or ruddy, or primrose, +it lit a place for itself in the heavens; and years +went by, bringing the Princess no nearer to her +desire to find room for Hands-pansy amid the +splendours of her throne.</p> + +<p>She knew that he was five thousand miles away and +had only wooden peasant shoes to walk in; and when +she begged that she might once more have sight of +him, her whole court, with the greatest utterable +politeness, cried “No!”</p> + +<p>The Princess’s memory sang to her of him in a +thousand tunes, like woodland birds carolling; but +it was within the cage which men call a crown +that her thoughts moved, fluttering to be out of it +and free.</p> + +<p>So time went on, and Nillywill had entered gently +into sweet womanhood—the comeliest princess that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>ever dropped a tear; and all she could do for love +was to fill her garden with dark-eyes pansies, and walk +among their humble upturned faces which reminded +her so well of her dear Hands—Hands who was a +long five thousand miles away. “And, oh!” she +sighed, watching for the blue moon to rise, “when +will it come and make me at one with all my +wish?”</p> + +<p>Looking up, she used to wonder what went on +there. She and Hands had stolen into the woods, +when children together, and watched the small +earth-fairies at play, and had seen them, when the +moon was full, lift up their arms to it, making, +perhaps, signals of greeting to far-off moon-brothers. +So she thought to herself, “What kind are the +fairies up there, and who is the greatest moon-fairy +of all who makes the blue moon rise and bring goodwill +to the sad wishers of the human race? Is it,” +thought Nillywill, “the moon-fairy who then opens +its heart and brings down healing therefrom to the +lovers of earth?”</p> + +<p>And now, as happens to all those who are captives +of a crown, Nillywill learned that she must wed with +one of her own rank who was a stranger to her save +for his name and his renown as the lord of a neighbouring +country; there was no help for her, since she +was a princess, but she must wed according to the +claims of her station. When she heard of it, she +went at nightfall to her pansies, all lying in their beds, +and told them of her grief. They, awakened by her +tears, lifted up their grave eyes and looked at her.</p> + +<p>“Do you not hear?” said they.</p> + +<p>“Hear what?” asked the Princess.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span></p> + +<p>“We are low in the ground: we hear!” said the +pansies. “Stoop down your head and listen!”</p> + +<p>The Princess let her head go to the ground; and +“click, click,” she heard wooden shoes coming +along the road. She ran to the gate, and there +was Hands, tall and lean, dressed as a poor peasant, +with a bundle tied up in a blue cotton handkerchief +across his shoulder, and five thousand miles +trodden to nothing by the faithful tramping of his +old wooden shoes.</p> + +<p>“Oh, the blue moon, the blue moon!” cried the +Princess; and running down the road, she threw +herself into his arms.</p> + +<p>How happy and proud they were of each other! +He, because she remembered him and knew him so +well by the sight of his face and the sound of his feet +after all these years; and she, because he had come +all that way in a pair of wooden shoes, just as he was, +and had not been afraid that she would be ashamed to +know him again.</p> + +<p>“I am so hungry!” said Hands, when he and +Nillywill had done kissing each other. And when +Nillywill heard that, she brought him into the palace +through the pansies by her own private way; then +with her own hands she set food before him, and +made him eat. Hands, looking at her, said, “You +are quite as beautiful as I thought you would +be!”</p> + +<p>“And you—so are you!” she answered, laughing +and clapping her hands. And “Oh, the blue moon,” +she cried—“surely the blue moon must rise to-night!”</p> + +<p>Low down in the west the new moon, leaning on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>its side, rocked and turned softly in its sleep; and +there, facing the earth through the cleared night, +the blue moon hung like a burning grape against +the sky. Like the heart of a sapphire laid open, the +air flushed and purpled to a deeper shade. The +wind drew in its breath close and hushed, till not a +leaf quaked in the boughs; and the sea that lay out +west gathered its waves together softly to its heart, +and let the heave of its tide fall wholly to slumber. +Round-eyed, the stars looked at themselves in the +charmed water, while in a luminous azure flood the +light of the blue moon flowed abroad.</p> + +<p>Under the light of many tapers within drawn curtains +of tapestry, and feasting her eyes upon the +happiness of Hands, the Princess felt the change that +had entranced the outer world. “I feel,” she said, +“I do not know how—as if the palace were standing +siege. Come out where we can breathe the fresh +air!”</p> + +<p>The light of the tapers grew ghostly and dim, as, +parting the thick hangings of the window, they +stepped into the night.</p> + +<p>“The blue moon!” cried Nillywill to her heart; +“oh, Hands, it is the blue moon!”</p> + +<p>All the world seemed carved out of blue stone; +trees with stems dark-veined as marble rose up to +give rest to boughs which drooped the altered hues +of their foliage like the feathers of peacocks at roost. +Jewel within jewel they burned through every +shade from beryl to onyx. The white blossoms of a +cherry-tree had become changed into turquoise, +and the tossing spray of a fountain as it drifted and +swung was like a column of blue fire. Where a long +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>inlet of sea reached in and touched the feet of the +hanging gardens the stars showed like glow-worms, +emerald in a floor of amethyst.</p> + +<p>There was no motion abroad, nor sound: even +the voice of the nightingale was stilled, because +the passion of his desire had become visible before +his eyes.</p> + +<p>“Once in a blue moon!” said Nillywill, waiting +for her dream to become altogether true. “Let +us go now,” she said, “where I can put away my +crown! To-night has brought you to me, and the +blue moon has come for us: let us go!”</p> + +<p>“Where shall we go?” asked Hands.</p> + +<p>“As far as we can,” cried Nillywill. “Suppose +to the blue moon! To-night it seems as if one +might tread on water or air. Yonder across the sea, +with the stars for stepping-stones, we might get to +the blue moon as it sets into the waves.”</p> + +<p>But as they went through the deep alleys of the +garden that led down to the shore they came to a +sight more wonderful than anything they had yet +seen.</p> + +<p>Before them, facing toward the sea, stood two +great reindeer, their high horns reaching to the overhead +boughs; and behind them lay a sledge, long +and with deep sides like the sides of a ship. All +blue they seemed in that strange light.</p> + +<p>There, too, but nearer to hand, was the moon-fay +himself waiting—a great figure of lofty stature, clad +in furs of blue fox-skin, and with heron’s wings +fastened above the flaps of his hood; and these +lifted themselves and clapped as Hands and the +Princess drew near.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span></p> + +<p>“Are you coming to the blue moon?” called the +fay, and his voice whistled and shrilled to them like +the voice of a wind.</p> + +<p>Hands-pansy gave back answer stoutly: “Yes, +yes, we are coming!” And indeed what better +could he say?</p> + +<p>“But,” cried Nillywill, holding back for a moment, +“what will the blue moon do for us?”</p> + +<p>“Once you are there,” answered the moon-fay, +“you can have your wish and your heart’s desire; +but only once in a blue moon can you have it. Are +you coming?”</p> + +<p>“We are coming!” cried Nillywill. “Oh, let +us make haste!”</p> + +<p>“Tread softly,” whispered the moon-fay, “and +stoop well under these boughs, for if anything +awakes to behold the blue moon, the memory of it +can never die. On earth only the nightingale of all +living things has beheld a blue moon; and the +triumph and pain of that memory wakens him ever +since to sing all night long. Tread softly, lest others +waken and learn to cry after us; for we in the blue +moon have our sleep troubled by those who cry for +a blue moon to return.” He looked towards Nillywill, +and smiled with friendly eyes. “Come!” he +said again, and all at once they had leapt upon the +sledge, and the reindeer were running fast down +towards the sea.</p> + +<p>The blue moon was resting with its lower rim upon +the waters. At that sight, before they were clear +of the avenues of the garden, one of the reindeer +tossed up his great branching horns and snorted +aloud for joy. With a soft stir in the thick boughs +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>overhead, a bird with a great trail of feathers moved +upon its perch.</p> + +<p>The sledge, gliding from land, passed out over +the smoothed waters, running swiftly as upon ice; +and the reflection of the stars shone up like glow-worms +as Nillywill and Hands-pansy, in the moon-fay’s +company, sped away along its bright surface.</p> + +<p>The still air whistled through the reindeers’ +horns; so fast they went that the trees and the +hanging gardens and the palace walls melted away +from view like wreaths of smoke. Sky and sea became +one magic sapphire drawing them in towards +the centre of its life, to the heart of the blue moon +itself.</p> + +<p>When the blue moon had set below the sea, then +far behind them upon the land they had left the +leaves rustled and drew sharply together, shuddering +to get rid of the stony stillness, and the magic hues +in which they had been dyed; and again the nightingale +broke out into passionate triumph and complaint.</p> + +<p>Then also, from the bough which the reindeer +had brushed with its horns, a peacock threw back its +head and cried in harsh lamentation, having no +sweet voice wherewith to acclaim its prize. And so +ever since it cries, as it goes up into the boughs to +roost, because it shares with the nightingale its grief +for the memory of departed beauty which never +returns to earth save once in a blue moon.</p> + +<p>But Nillywill and Hands-pansy, living together +in the blue moon, look back upon the world, if now +and then they choose to remember, without any +longing for it or sorrow.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_WISHING-POT"> + THE WISHING-POT + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Tulip</span> was the son of a poor but prudent +mother; from the moment of his birth she +had trained him to count ten before ever he +wanted or asked for anything. An otherwise reckless +youth, he acquired an intrinsic value through +the practice of this habit. Only once, just as he was +reaching, but had not quite reached, years of discretion, +did his habit of precaution fail him; and +this same failure became in the end the opening of +his fortunes.</p> + +<p>Bathing one day in the river, to whose banks the +woods ran down in steep terraces, he heard a voice +come singing along one of the upper slopes; and +looking up under the boughs of cedar and sycamore, +he saw a pair of green feet go dancing by, up and +down like grasshoppers on the prance.</p> + +<p>There was such rhythm in them, and such sweetness +in the voice, that his heart was out of him before +he could harness it to the number ten, and he came +out of the water the most natural and forlorn of +lovers.</p> + +<p>Before he was dressed the green feet and the voice +were gone, and before he got home his health and +his appetite seemed to have gone also. He pined +industriously from day to day, and spent all his +hours in searching among the woods by the river +side for his lady of the dear green feet. He did not +know so much as the size or colour of her face; the +sound of her voice alone, and the running up and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>down of her feet, had, as he told his mother, “decimated +his affections.”</p> + +<p>In his trouble he could think of only one possible +remedy, and that he counted well over, knowing +its risk. Away in the loneliest part of the forest +there lived a wise woman, to whom, now and then, +folk went for help when everything else had failed +them. So he had heard tell of a certain Wishing-Pot +that was hers in which people might see the +thing they desired most, and into which for a fee +she allowed lovers and other poor fools of fortune to +look. One thing, however, was told against the +virtues of this Wishing-Pot, that though many had +had a sight of it, and their wishes revealed to them +therein, others had gone and had never again returned +to their homes, but had vanished altogether from +men’s sight, nor had any news ever been heard of +them after. There were some wise folk who held +that they had only gone elsewhere to seek the fortune +that the Wishing-Pot had shown to them. Nevertheless, +for the most part, the wise woman and her +Wishing-Pot had an ill name in that neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>To a lover’s heart risk gives value; so one fine +morning Tulip kissed his mother, counted ten, and +set out for the woods.</p> + +<p>Towards evening he came to the house of the +witch and knocked at the door. “Good mother,” +said he, when she opened to him, “I have brought +you the fee to buy myself a wish over the Wishing-Pot.” +“Ay, surely,” answered the crone, and drew +him in.</p> + +<p>In one corner of the room stood a great crystal +bowl. Nearly round it was, and had a small opening +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>at the top, to which a man might place his eye and +look in. To Tulip, as he looked at it, it seemed all +coloured fires and falling stars, and a soft crackling +sound came from it, as though heat burned in its +veins. It threw long shapes and lustres upon the +walls, and within innumerable things writhed, and +ran, and whiffed in the floating of its vapours.</p> + +<p>“You may have two wishes,” said the old witch, +“a one and a two.” And she said the spell that +undid the secret of the Pot to the wisher.</p> + +<p>Then Tulip bent down his head and looked in, +counting softly to himself, and at ten, he let the +wish go to his lady of the dear green feet.</p> + +<p>The colours changed and sprang, as though stirred +and fed with fresh fuel; and down in the depths of +the Wishing-Pot he saw the feet of his Beloved go +by in twinkling green slippers.</p> + +<p>As soon as he saw that he began counting ten in +great haste for the second wish. “O to be inside the +Wishing-Pot with her!” was his thought now. He +had got to nine, and the wish was almost on his +tongue, when he caught sight of the old woman’s +eye looking at him. And the eye had become like +a large green spider, with great long limbs that kept +clutching up and out again!</p> + +<p>His heart queegled to a jelly at the sight; but +the green feet lured him so, that he still thought how +to get to them and yet be safe. Surely, to be in the +Wishing-Pot and out by the sound of the next +Angelus became the shape of his wish. He shut his +eyes, cried ten upon the venture, and was in the +Wishing-Pot!</p> + +<p>The little green feet were trebling over the glass +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>with a sound like running water; and he himself +began running at full speed, shot off into the Wishing-Pot +like a pellet from a pop-gun. Nothing could he +see of his dear but her wee green feet. But above +them as they ran he heard showery laughter, and he +knew that his lady was there before him, though invisible +to the eye.</p> + +<p>The Pot, now he was in it, seemed bigger than the +biggest dome in the world; to run all round it took +him two or three minutes. Away in the centre of its +base stood a great opal knob, like the axle to a wheel +round which he and the green feet kept circling.</p> + +<p>However much he wished and wished, the green +feet still kept their distance, for now he was <i>in</i> the +Wishing-Pot wishes availed him nothing. The +green feet flew faster than his; the light laugh rang +further and further away; right across to the other +side of the hall his lady had passed from him now.</p> + +<p>The magic fires of the crystal leaped and crackled +under his tread; now it seemed as if his feet ran on +a green lawn, out of which broke crocuses and daffodils, +and now roses reddened in the track, and now +the purple of grapes spurted across the path like +spilled wine. The sound of the green feet and the +running of overhead laughter, as they distanced him +in front, came nearer and nearer behind him from +across the hall. He felt that he must follow and not +turn, however beaten he might be.</p> + +<p>Presently a voice, that he knew was his Beloved’s, +cried,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Heart that would have me must hatch me!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Feet that would find me must catch me!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Man that would mate me must match me!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> + +<p>Oh, how? wondered spent feet, and failing heart, +and reeling brain. He stumbled slower and slower +in the race, till presently with quick innumerable +patterings the green feet grew closer, and were overtaking +him from the rear.</p> + +<p>Warm breath was in his hair,—lips and a hand; +he turned, open armed, to snatch the mischievous +morsel, but all that he clasped was a gust of air; and +he saw the green feet scudding out and away on a +fresh start before him.</p> + +<p>Again, with laughter, the voice cried,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Lap for lap you must wind me:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Equal, before you can find me!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You are a lap behind me!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Where they raced the surface of the glass sloped +slightly to the upward rise of its walls; Tulip +shifted his ground, and ran where the footing was +leveller towards the centre, and the circle began to +go smaller. So he began to gain, till the green slippers, +seeing how the advantage had come about, +shifted also in their turn.</p> + +<p>Thus they ran on; there were no inner posts to +mark the course, only the great opal standing in the +centre of all formed the pivot of the race, and round +and round it, a great way off, they ran.</p> + +<p>All at once a big thought came into Tulip’s head; +he waited not to count ten, but, before Green Slippers +knew what he was after, he had reached the opal +centre, and was circling it. Then quickly all the +laughter stopped; the green feet came twinkling +sixteen to the dozen, so as to get round the post +before him and away.</p> + +<p>One lap, he was before her; two laps, he turned +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>again to her coming, and found her falling into his +arms. She blossomed into sight at his touch: from +top to toe she was there! All rosy and alive he had +her in his clasp, laughing, crying, clinging, yet struggling +to be free. She made a most endless handful, +till Tulip had caught her by the hair and kissed her +between the eyes.</p> + +<p>All round and overhead the magic crystal reared +up arches of fire, to a roof that dropped like rain, +while Tulip and his prize sank down exhausted on the +great hub of opal to rest. As he touched it all the +secret wonders of the Wishing-Pot were opened and +revealed to his gaze.</p> + +<p>Crowds and crowds of faces were what he most +saw; everywhere that he turned he saw old friends +and neighbours who, he thought, had been dead +and gone, looking sadly, and shaking long sorrowful +faces at him. “You here too, Tulip?” they +seemed for ever to be saying. “Always another, +and another; and now you here too!”</p> + +<p>There was the dairyman’s wife, who had waited +seven years to have a child, holding a little will-o’-the-wisp +of a thing in her arms. Now and then for a +while it would lie still, and then suddenly it would +leap up and dart away; and she, poor soul, must up +and after it, though the chase were ever so long!</p> + +<p>There also was Miller Dick with his broad thumbs, +counting over a rich pile of gold, which, ever and +anon, spun up into the air, and went strewing itself +like dead leaves before the wind. Then he too must +needs up and after it, till it was all caught again, and +added together, and made right.</p> + +<p>There were small playmates of Tulip’s childhood, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a><a id="Page_28"></a><a id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span>each with its little conceit of treasure: one had a toy, +and another a lamb, another a bird; and all of them +hunted and caught the thing they loved, and kissed +it and again let go. So it went on, over and over +again, more sad than the sight of a quaker as he +twiddles his thumbs.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_027" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_027_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_027.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>Whenever they were at peace for a moment, they +turned their eyes his way. “What, you here too, +Tulip?” was always the thing they seemed to be +saying.</p> + +<p>While Tulip sat looking at them, and thinking of +it all, suddenly his lady disappeared, and only her +green feet darted from his side and began running +round and round in a circle. Then was he just +about to set off running after them, when he felt +himself caught up to the coloured fires of the roof +and sent spinning ungovernably through space. +Suddenly he was dumped to the ground, and just +as his feet were gathering themselves up under him +he heard the Angelus bell ringing from the village +below the slopes of the wood.</p> + +<p>He was standing again by the side of the Wishing-Pot, +and the old woman sat cowering, and blinking +her spider eye at him, too much astonished to speak +or move.</p> + +<p>Tulip looked at her with a pleasant and engaging +air. “Oh, good mother, what a treat you have +given me!” he said. “How I wish I had money +for another wish! what a pity it was ever to have +wished myself back again!”</p> + +<p>When the old witch heard that she thought still +to entrap him, and answered joyfully, “Why, kind +Sir, surely, kind Sir, if you like it you shall look +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>again! Take another wish, and never mind about +the money.” So she said the spell once more which +opened to him the wonders of the Wishing-Pot.</p> + +<p>Then cried Tulip, clapping his hands, “What +better can I wish than to have you in the Wishing-Pot, +in the place of all those poor folk whom you +have imprisoned with their wishes!”</p> + +<p>Hardly was the thing said than done; all the +children who had been Tulip’s playmates, and +Miller Dick with his broad thumbs, and the dairyman’s +wife, were every one of them out, and the +old witch woman was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>But Tulip put his eye to the mouth of the Wishing-Pot; +and there down below he saw the old +witch, running round and round as hard as she +could go, pursued by a herd of green spiders. And +there without doubt she remains.</p> + +<p>And now everybody was happy except Tulip +himself; for the children had all of them their +toys, and the old miller his gold, and as for the +dairyman’s wife, she found that she had become +the mother of a large and promising infant. But +Tulip had altogether lost his lady of the dear green +feet, for in thinking of others he had forgotten to +think of himself. All the gratitude of the poor +people he had saved was nothing to him in that +great loss which had left him desolate. For his +part he only took the Wishing-Pot up under his +arm, and went sadly away home.</p> + +<p>But before long the noise of what he had done +reached to the king’s ears; and he sent for Tulip +to appear before him and his Court. Tulip came, +carrying the Wishing-Pot under his arm, very downcast +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>and sad for love of the lady of the dear green +feet.</p> + +<p>At that time all the Court was in half mourning; +for the Princess Royal, who was the king’s only +child, and the most beautiful and accomplished of +her sex, had gone perfectly distraught with grief, +of which nothing could cure her. All day long she +sat with her eyes shut, and tears running down, and +folded hands and quiet little feet. And all this +came, it was said, from a dream which she could not +tell or explain to anybody.</p> + +<p>The king had promised that whoever could rouse +her from her grief, should have the princess for his +wife, and become heir to the throne; and when he +heard that there was such a thing in the world as +a Wishing-Pot, he thought that something might +be done with it.</p> + +<p>From Tulip he learned, however, that no one knew +the spell which opened the resources of the Wishing-Pot +save the old witch woman who was shut up fast +for ever in its inside. So it seemed to the king that +the Pot could be of no use for curing the princess.</p> + +<p>But it was so beautiful, with its shooting stars +and coloured fires, that, when Tulip brought it, +they carried it in to show to her.</p> + +<p>After three hours the princess was prevailed upon +to open her eyes; and directly they fell upon the +great opal bowl, all at once she started to her feet +and began laughing and dancing and singing.</p> + +<p>These are the words that they heard her sing,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Lap for lap I must wind you;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Equal, before I can find you;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am a lap behind you!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span></p> + +<p>Tulip, as soon as he heard the sweetness of that +voice, and the words, pushed his way past the king +and all his court, to where the princess was. And +there over the heads of the crowd he saw his lady +of the dear green feet laughing and opening her +white arms to him.</p> + +<p>As she set eyes on his face the dream of the princess +came true, and all her unhappiness passed from +her. So they loved and were married, to the +astonishment and edification of the whole court; +and lived to be greatly loved and admired by all +their grandchildren.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_WAY_OF_THE_WIND"> + THE WAY OF THE WIND + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Where</span> the world breaks up into islands +among the blue waves of an eastern sea, +in a little house by the seashore, lived +Katipah, the only child of poor parents. When +they died she was left quite alone and could not +find a heart in the world to care for her. She was +so poor that no man thought of marrying her, and +so delicate and small that as a drudge she was worth +nothing to anybody.</p> + +<p>Once a month she would go and stand at the +temple gate, and say to the people as they went in +to pray, “Will nobody love me?” And the people +would turn their heads away quickly and make +haste to get past, and in their hearts would wonder +to themselves: “Foolish little Katipah! Does she +think that we can spare time to love anyone so +poor and unprofitable as she?”</p> + +<p>On the other days Katipah would go down to +the beach, where everybody went who had a kite +to fly—for all the men in that country flew kites, +and all the children,—and there she would fly a +kite of her own up into the blue air; and watching +the wind carrying it farther and farther away, would +grow quite happy thinking how a day might come +at last when she would really be loved, though her +queer little outside made her seem so poor and +unprofitable.</p> + +<p>Katipah’s kite was green, with blue eyes in its +square face; and in one corner it had a very small +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>pursed-up red mouth holding a spray of peach-blossom. +She had made it herself; and to her it +meant the green world, with the blue sky over it +when the spring begins to be sweet; and there, +tucked away in one corner of it, her own little warm +mouth waiting and wishing to be kissed: and out +of all that wishing and waiting the blossom of hope +was springing, never to be let go.</p> + +<p>All round her were hundreds of others flying +their kites, and all had some wish or prayer to Fortune. +But Katipah’s wish and prayer were only +that she might be loved.</p> + +<p>The silver sandhills lay in loops and chains round +the curve of the blue bay, and all along them flocks +of gaily coloured kites hovered and fluttered and +sprang. And, as they went up into the clear air, +the wind sighing in the strings was like the crying +of a young child. “Wahoo! wahoo!” every kite +seemed to cradle the wailings of an invisible infant +as it went mounting aloft, spreading its thin apron +to the wind.</p> + +<p>“Wahoo! wahoo!” sang Katipah’s blue-and-green +kite, “shall I ever be loved by anybody?” +And Katipah, keeping fast hold of the string, would +watch where it mounted and looked so small, and +think that surely some day her kite would bring her +the only thing she much cared about.</p> + +<p>Katipah’s next-door neighbour had everything +that her own lonely heart most wished for: not +only had she a husband, but a fine baby as well. +Yet she was such a jealous, cross-grained body that +she seemed to get no happiness out of the fortune +Heaven had sent her. Husband and child seemed +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a><a id="Page_36"></a><a id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span>both to have caught the infection of her bitter +temper; all day and night beating and brawling +went on; there seemed no peace in that house.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_035" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_035_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_035.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>But for all that the woman, whose name was +Bimsha, was quite proud of being a wife and a +mother: and in the daytime, when her man was +away, she would look over the fence and laugh at +Katipah, crying boastfully, “Don’t think you will +ever have a husband, Katipah: you are too poor +and unprofitable! Look at me, and be envious!”</p> + +<p>Then Katipah would go softly away, and send up +her kite by the seashore till she heard a far-off, +sweet, babe-like cry as the wind blew through the +strings high in air.</p> + +<p>“Shall I ever be loved by anybody?” thought +she, as she jerked at the cord; and away the kite +flew higher than ever, and the sound of its call +grew fainter.</p> + +<p>One morning, in the beginning of the year, +Katipah went up on to the hill under plum-boughs +white with bloom, meaning to gather field-sorrel +for her midday meal; and as she stooped with all +her hair blowing over her face, and her skirts knotting +and billowing round her pretty brown ankles, +she felt as if someone had kissed her from behind.</p> + +<p>“That cannot be,” thought Katipah, with her +fingers fast upon a stalk of field-sorrel; “it is +too soon for anything so good to happen.” So she +picked the sorrel quietly, and put it into her basket. +But now, not to be mistaken, arms came round her, +and she <i>was</i> kissed.</p> + +<p>She stood up and put her hands into her breast, +quite afraid lest her little heart, which had grown +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>so light, should be caught by a puff of wind and +blown right away out of her bosom, and over the +hill and into the sea, and be drowned.</p> + +<p>And now her eyes would not let her doubt; there +by her side stood a handsome youth, with quick-fluttering, +posy-embroidered raiment. His long +dark hair was full of white plum-blossoms, as though +he had just pushed his head through the branches +above. His hands also were loaded with the same, +and they kept sifting out of his long sleeves whenever +he moved his arms. Under the hem of his +robe Katipah could see that he had heron’s wings +bound about his ankles.</p> + +<p>“He must be very good,” thought Katipah, “to +be so beautiful! and indeed he must be very good +to kiss poor me!”</p> + +<p>“Katipah,” said the wonderful youth, “though +you do not know me, I know you. It is I who so +often helped you to fly your green kite by the +shore. I have been up there, and have looked into +its blue eyes, and kissed its little red mouth which +held the peach-blossom. It was I who made songs +in its strings for your heart to hear. I am the West +Wind, Katipah—the wind that brings fine weather. +‘Gamma-gata’ you must call me, for it is I who +bring back the wings that fly till the winter is over. +And now I have come down to earth, to fetch you +away and make you my wife. Will you come, +Katipah?”</p> + +<p>“I will come, Gamma-gata!” said Katipah, and +she crouched and kissed the heron-wings that bound +his feet; then she stood up and let herself go into +his arms.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> + +<p>“Have you enough courage?” asked the West +Wind.</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” answered Katipah, “for I have +never tried.”</p> + +<p>“To come with me,” said the Wind, “you need +to have much courage; if you have not, you must +wait till you learn it. But none the less for that +shall you be the wife of Gamma-gata, for I am the +gate of the wild geese, as my name says, and my +heart is foolish with love of you.” Gamma-gata +took her up in his arms, and swung with her this +way and that, tossing his way through blossom and +leaf; and the sunlight became an eddy of gold +round her, and wind and laughter seemed to become +part of her being, so that she was all giddy and dazed +and glad when at last Gamma-gata set her down.</p> + +<p>“Stand still, my little one!” he cried—“stand +still while I put on your bridal veil for you; then +your blushes shall look like a rose-bush in snow!” +So Katipah stood with her feet in the green sorrel, +and Gamma-Gata went up into the plum-tree and +shook, till from head to foot she was showered with +white blossom.</p> + +<p>“How beautiful you seem to me!” cried +Gamma-gata when he returned to ground.</p> + +<p>Then he lifted her once more and set her in the +top of a plum-tree, and going below, cried up to +her, “Leap, little Wind-wife, and let me see that +you have courage!”</p> + +<p>Katipah looked long over the deep space that lay +between them, and trembled. Then she fixed her +eyes fast upon those of her lover, and leapt, for in +the laughter of his eyes she had lost all her fear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span></p> + +<p>He caught her half-way in air as she fell. “You +are not really brave,” said he; “if I had shut my +eyes you would not have jumped.”</p> + +<p>“If you had shut your eyes just then,” cried +Katipah, “I would have died for fear.”</p> + +<p>He set her once more in the tree-top, and disappeared +from her sight. “Come down to me, +Katipah!” she heard his voice calling all round +her.</p> + +<p>Clinging fast to the topmost bough, “Oh, +Gamma-gata,” she cried, “let me see your eyes, +and I will come.”</p> + +<p>Then with darkened brow he appeared to her +again out of his blasts, and took her in his arms and +lifted her down a little sadly till her feet touched +safe earth. And he blew away the beautiful veil of +blossoms with which he had showered her, while +Katipah stood like a shamed child and watched it +go, shredding itself to pieces in the spring sunshine.</p> + +<p>And Gamma-gata, kissing her tenderly, said: +“Go home, Katipah, and learn to have courage! +and when you have learned it I will be faithful and +will return to you again. Only remember, however +long we may be parted, and whatever winds blow +ill-fortune up to your door, Gamma-gata will +watch over you. For in deed and truth you are +the wife of the West Wind now, and truly he loves +you, Katipah!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Gamma-gata!” cried Katipah, “tell the +other winds, when they come, to blow courage into +me, and to blow me back to you: and do not let +that be long!”</p> + +<p>“I will tell them,” said Gamma-gata; and suddenly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>he was gone. Katipah saw a drift of white +petals borne over the tree-tops and away to sea, and +she knew that there went Gamma-gata, the beautiful +windy youth who, loving her so well, had +made her his wife between the showers of the +plum-blossom and the sunshine, and had promised +to return to her as soon as she was fit to receive +him.</p> + +<p>So Katipah gathered up her field-sorrel, and went +away home and ate her solitary midday meal with +a mixture of pride and sorrow in her timid little +breast. “Some day, when I am grown brave,” she +thought, “Gamma-gata will come back to me; +but he will not come yet.”</p> + +<p>In the evening Bimsha looked over the fence and +jeered at her. “Do not think, Katipah,” she cried, +“that you will ever get a husband, for all your soft +looks! You are too poor and unprofitable.”</p> + +<p>Katipah folded her meek little body together like +a concertina when it shuts, and squatted to earth +in great contentment of spirit. “Silly Bimsha,” +said she, “I already have a husband, a fine one! +Ever so much finer than yours!”</p> + +<p>Bimsha turned pale and cold with envy to hear +her say that, for she feared that Katipah was too +good and simple to tell her an untruth, even in +mockery. But she put a brave face upon the +matter, saying only, “I will believe in that fine +husband of yours when I see him!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, you will see him,” answered Katipah, “if +you look high enough! But he is far away over +<i>your</i> head, Bimsha; and you will not hear him +beating me at night, for that is not his way!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> + +<p>At this soft answer Bimsha went back into her +house in a fury, and Katipah laughed to herself. +Then she sighed, and said, “Oh, Gamma-gata, +return to me quickly, lest my word shall seem false +to Bimsha, who hates me!”</p> + +<p>Every day after this Bimsha thrust her face over +the fence to say: “Katipah, where is this fine +husband of yours? He does not seem to come +home often.”</p> + +<p>Katipah answered slyly: “He comes home late, +when it is dark, and he goes away very early, almost +before it is light. It is not necessary for his happiness +that he should see <i>you</i>.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly there is a change in Katipah,” thought +Bimsha: “she has become saucy with her tongue.” +But her envious heart would not allow her to let +matters be. Night and morning she cried to +Katipah, “Katipah, where is your fine husband?” +And Katipah laughed at her, thinking to herself: +“To begin with, I will not be afraid of anything +Bimsha may say. Let Gamma-gata know that!”</p> + +<p>And now every day she looked up into the sky +to see what wind was blowing; but east, or north, +or south, it was never the one wind that she looked +for.</p> + +<p>The east wind came from the sea, bringing rain, +and beat upon Katipah’s door at night. Then +Katipah would rise and open, and standing in the +downpour, would cry, “East wind, east wind, go +and tell your brother Gamma-gata that I am not +afraid of you any more than I am of Bimsha!”</p> + +<p>One night the east wind, when she said that, +pulled a tile off Bimsha’s house, and threw it at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>her; and Katipah ran in and hid behind the door +in a great hurry. After that she had less to say +when the east wind came and blew under her gable +and rattled at her door. “Oh, Gamma-gata,” she +sighed, “if I might only set eyes on you, I would +fear nothing at all!”</p> + +<p>When the weather grew fine again Katipah returned +to the shore and flew her kite as she had +always done before the love of Gamma-gata had +entered her heart. Now and then, as she did so, +the wind would change softly, and begin blowing +from the west. Then little Katipah would pull +lovingly at the string, and cry, “Oh, Gamma-gata, +have you got fast hold of it up there?”</p> + +<p>One day after dusk, when she, the last of all the +flyers, hauled down her kite to earth, there she found +a heron’s feather fastened among the strings. +Katipah knew who had sent that, and kissed it a +thousand times over; nor did she mind for many +days afterwards what Bimsha might say, because +the heron’s feather lay so close to her heart, warming +it with the hope of Gamma-gata’s return.</p> + +<p>But as weeks and months passed on, and Bimsha +still did not fail to say each morning, “Katipah, +where is your fine husband to-day?” the timid +heart grew faint with waiting. “Alas!” thought +Katipah, “if Heaven would only send me a child, +I would show it to her; she would believe me easily +then! However tiny, it would be big enough to +convince her. Gamma-gata, it is a very little thing +that I ask!”</p> + +<p>And now every day and all day long she sent up +her kite from the seashore, praying that a child +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>might be born to her and convince Bimsha of the +truth. Everyone said: “Katipah is mad about +kite-flying! See how early she goes and how late +she stays: hardly any weather keeps her indoors.”</p> + +<p>One day the west wind came full-breathed over +land and sea, and Katipah was among the first on +the beach to send up her messenger with word to +Gamma-gata of the thing for which she prayed. +“Gamma-gata,” she sighed, “the voice of Bimsha +afflicts me daily; my heart is bruised by the +mockery she casts at me. Did I not love thee under +the plum-tree, Gamma-gata? Ask of Heaven, +therefore, that a child may be born to me—ever so +small let it be—and Bimsha will become dumb. +Gamma-gata, it is a very little thing that I am +asking!”</p> + +<p>All day long she let her kite go farther up into +the sky than all the other kites. Overhead the +wind sang in their strings like bees, or like the thin +cry of very small children; but Katipah’s was so +far away she could scarcely see it against the blue. +“Gamma-gata,” she cried; till the twilight drew +sea and land together, and she was left alone.</p> + +<p>Then she called down her kite sadly; hand over +hand she drew it by the cord, till she saw it fluttering +over her head like a great moth searching for +a flower in the gloom. “Wahoo! wahoo!” she +could hear the wind crying through its strings like +the wailing of a very small child.</p> + +<p>It had become so dark that Katipah hardly knew +what the kite had brought her till she touched the +tiny warm limbs that lay cradled among the strings +that netted the frame to its cord. Full of wonder +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>and delight, she lifted the windling out of its nest, +and laid it in her bosom. Then she slung her kite +across her shoulder, and ran home, laughing and +crying for joy and triumph to think that all Bimsha’s +mockery must now be at an end.</p> + +<p>So, quite early the next morning, Katipah sat +herself down very demurely in the doorway, with +her child hidden in the folds of her gown, and waited +for Bimsha’s evil eye to look out upon her happiness.</p> + +<p>She had not long to wait. Bimsha came out of +her door, and looking across to Katipah, cried, +“Well, Katipah, and where is your fine husband +to-day?”</p> + +<p>“My husband is gone out,” said Katipah, “but +if you care to look you can see my baby. It is ever +so much more beautiful than yours.”</p> + +<p>Bimsha, when she heard that, turned green and +yellow with envy; and there, plain to see, was +Katipah holding up to view the most beautiful +babe that ever gave the sunlight a good excuse for +visiting this wicked earth. The mere sight of so +much innocent beauty and happiness gave Bimsha +a shock from which it took her three weeks to recover. +After that she would sit at her window and +for pure envy keep watch to see Katipah and the +child playing together—the child which was so +much more beautiful and well-behaved than her own.</p> + +<p>As for Katipah, she was so happy now that the +sorrow of waiting for her husband’s return grew +small. Day by day the west wind blew softly, and +she knew that Gamma-gata was there, keeping watch +over her and her child.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p> + +<p>Every day she would say to the little one, “Come, +my plum-petal, my wind-flower, I will send thee up +to thy father that he may see how fat thou art +getting, and be proud of thee!” And going down +to the shore, she would lay the child among the +strings of her kite and send it up to where Gamma-gata +blew a wide breath over sea and land. As it +went she would hear the child crow with joy at +being so uplifted from earth, and laughing to herself, +she would think, “When he sees his child so patterned +after his own heart, Gamma-gata will be too +proud to remain long away from me.”</p> + +<p>When she drew the child back to her out of the +sky, she covered it with caresses, crying, “Oh, my +wind-blown one, my cloudlet, my sky-blossom, my +little piece out of heaven, hast thou seen thy father, +and has he told thee that he loves me?” And the +child would crow with mysterious delight, being too +young to tell anything it knew in words.</p> + +<p>Bimsha, out of her window, watched and saw all +this, not comprehending it: and in her evil heart a +wish grew up that she might by some means put an +end to all Katipah’s happiness. So one day towards +evening, when Katipah, alone upon the shore, had +let her kite and her little one go up to the fleecy +edges of a cloud through which the golden sunlight +was streaming, Bimsha came softly behind and with +a sharp knife cut the string by which alone the kite +was held from falling.</p> + +<p>“Oh, silly Bimsha!” cried Katipah, “what have +you done that for?”</p> + +<p>Up in air the kite made a far plunge forward, +fluttered and stumbled in its course, and came shooting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>headlong to earth. “Oh dear!” cried Katipah, +“if my beautiful little kite gets torn, Bimsha, that +will be your fault!”</p> + +<p>When the kite fell, it lay unhurt on one of the soft +sandhills that ringed the bay; but no sign of the +child was to be seen. Katipah was laughing when +she picked up her kite and ran home. And Bimsha +thought, “Is it witchcraft, or did the child fall into +the sea?”</p> + +<p>In the night the West Wind came and tapped at +Katipah’s window; and rising from her bed, she +heard Gamma-gata’s voice calling tenderly to her. +When she opened the window to the blindness of +the black night, he kissed her, and putting the little +one in her arms, said, “Wait only a little while +longer, Katipah, and I will come again to you. +Already you are learning to be brave.”</p> + +<p>In the morning Bimsha looked out, and there sat +Katipah in her own doorway, with the child safe and +sound in her arms. And, plain to see, he had on a +beautiful golden coat and little silver wings were +fastened to his feet, and his head was garnished with +a wreath of flowers the like of which were never seen +on earth. He was like a child of noble birth and +fortune, and the small motherly face of Katipah +shone with pride and happiness as she nursed him.</p> + +<p>“Where did you steal those things?” asked +Bimsha, “and how did that child come back? I +thought he had fallen into the sea and been +drowned.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” answered Katipah slyly, “he was up in +the clouds when the kite left him, and he came down +with the rain last night. It is nothing wonderful. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>You were foolish, Bimsha, if you thought that to +fall into the clouds would do the child any harm. +Up there you can have no idea how beautiful it is—such +fields of gold, such wonderful gardens, such +flowers and fruits: it is from there that all the +beauty and wealth of the world must come. See +all that he has brought with him! and it is all your +doing, because you cut the cord of my kite. Oh, +clever Bimsha!”</p> + +<p>As soon as Bimsha heard that, she ran and got a +big kite, and fastening her own child into the strings, +started it to fly. “Do not think,” cried the +envious woman, “that you are the only one whose +child is to be clothed in gold! My child is as good +as yours any day; wait, and you shall see!”</p> + +<p>So presently, when the kite was well up into the +clouds, as Katipah’s kite had been, she cut the cord, +thinking surely that the same fortune would be for +her as had been for Katipah. But instead of that, +all at once the kite fell headlong to earth, child and +all; and when she ran to pick him up, Bimsha +found that her son’s life had fallen forfeit to her own +enviousness and folly.</p> + +<p>The wicked woman went green and purple with +jealousy and rage; and running to the chief magistrate, +she told him that while she was flying a kite +with her child fastened to its back, Katipah had +come and cut the string, so that by her doing the +child was now dead.</p> + +<p>When the magistrate heard that, he sent and +caused Katipah to be thrown into prison, and told +her that the next day she should certainly be put to +death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></p> + +<p>Katipah went meekly, carrying her little son in +one hand and her blue-and-green kite in the other, +for that had become so dear to her she could not +now part from it. And all the way to prison Bimsha +followed, mocking her, and asking, “Tell us, +Katipah, where is your fine husband now?”</p> + +<p>In the night the West Wind came and tapped at +the prison window, and called tenderly, “Katipah, +Katipah, are you there?” And when Katipah got +up from her bed of straw and looked out, there was +Gamma-gata once more, the beautiful youth whom +she loved and had been wedded to, and had heard +but had not seen since.</p> + +<p>Gamma-gata reached his hands through the bars +and put them round her face. “Katipah,” he said, +“you have become brave: you are fit now to become +the wife of the West Wind. To-morrow you shall +travel with me all over the world; you shall not stay +in one land any more. Now give me our son; for +a little while I must take him from you. To prove +your courage you must find your own way out of +this trouble which you have got into through making +a fool of Bimsha.” So Katipah gave him the child +through the bars of her prison window, and when +he was gone lay down and slept till it became light.</p> + +<p>In the morning the chief magistrate and Bimsha, +together with the whole populace, came to Katipah’s +cell to see her led out to death. And when it was +found that her child had disappeared, “She is a +witch!” they cried; “she has eaten it!” And +the chief magistrate said that, being a witch, instead +of hanging she was to be burned.</p> + +<p>“I have not eaten my child, and I am no witch,” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>said Katipah, as, taking with her her blue-and-green +kite she trotted out to the place of execution. When +she was come to the appointed spot she said to the +chief magistrate, “To every criminal it is permitted +to plead in defence of himself; but because I am +innocent, am I not also allowed to plead?” The +magistrate told her she might speak if she had anything +to say.</p> + +<p>“All I ask,” said Katipah, “is that I may be allowed +once more to fly my blue-and-green kite as I +used to do in the days when I was happy; and I +will show you soon that I am not guilty of what is +laid to my charge. It is a very little thing that I +ask.”</p> + +<p>So the magistrate gave her leave; and there before +all the people she sent up her kite till it flew high over +the roofs of the town. Gently the West Wind took +it and blew it away towards the sea. “Oh, Gamma-gata,” +she whispered softly, “hear me now, for I am +not afraid.”</p> + +<p>The wind blew hard upon the kite, and pulled as +though to catch it away, so Katipah twisted the cord +once or twice round her waist that she might keep +the safer hold over it. Then she said to the chief +magistrate and to all the people that were assembled: +“I am innocent of all that is charged against me; +for, first, it was that wicked Bimsha herself who +killed her own child.”</p> + +<p>“Prove it!” cried the magistrate.</p> + +<p>“I cannot,” replied Katipah.</p> + +<p>“Then you must die!” said the magistrate.</p> + +<p>“In the second place,” went on Katipah, “I did +not eat my own child.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span></p> + +<p>“Prove it!” cried the chief magistrate again.</p> + +<p>“I will,” said Katipah; “O Gamma-gata, it is +a very little thing that I ask.”</p> + +<p>Down the string of the kite, first a mere speck +against the sky, then larger till plain for all to see +came the missing one, slithering and sliding, with his +golden coat, and the little silver wings tied to his +ankles, and handfuls of flowers which he threw into +his mother’s face as he came. “Oh! cruel chief +magistrate,” cried Katipah, receiving the babe in +her arms, “does it seem that I have eaten him?”</p> + +<p>“You are a witch!” said the chief magistrate, “or +how do you come to have a child that disappears and +comes again from nowhere! It is not possible to +permit such things to be: you and your child shall +both be burned together!”</p> + +<p>Katipah drew softly upon the kite-string. “Oh, +Gamma-gata,” she cried, “lift me up now very high, +and I will not be afraid!”</p> + +<p>Then suddenly, before all eyes, Katipah was lifted +up by the cord of the kite which she had wound +about her waist; right up from the earth she was +lifted till her feet rested above the heads of the +people.</p> + +<p>Katipah, with her babe in her arms, swung softly +through the air, out of reach of the hands stretched +up to catch her, and addressed the populace in these +words:</p> + +<p>“Oh, cruel people, who will not believe innocence +when it speaks, you must believe me now! I am +the wife of the West Wind—of Gamma-gata, the +beautiful, the bearer of fine weather, who also brings +back the wings that fly till the winter is over. Is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>it well, do you think, to be at war with the West +Wind?</p> + +<p>“Ah, foolish ones, I go now, for Gamma-gata calls +me, and I am no longer afraid: I go to travel in +many lands, whither he carries me, and it will be +long before I return here. Many dark days are +coming to you, when you shall not feel the west +wind, the bearer of fine weather, blowing over you +from land to sea; nor shall you see the blossoms +open white over the hills, nor feel the earth grow +warm as the summer comes in, because the bringer +of fair weather is angry with you for the foolishness +which you have done. But when at last the west +wind returns to you, remember that Katipah the +poor and unprofitable one, is Gamma-gata’s wife, +and that she has remembered, and has prayed for +you.”</p> + +<p>And so saying, Katipah threw open her arms and +let go the cord of the kite which held her safe. “Oh, +Gamma-gata,” she cried, “I do not see your eyes, +but I am not afraid!” And at that, even while she +seemed upon the point of falling to destruction, +there flashed into sight a fair youth with dark hair +and garments full of a storm of flying petals, who, +catching up Katipah and her child in his arms, +laughed scorn upon those below, and roaring over +the roofs of the town, vanished away seawards.</p> + +<p>When a chief magistrate and his people, after +flagrant wrong-doing, become thoroughly cowed +and frightened, they are apt also to be cruel. Poor +Bimsha!</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_BOUND_PRINCESS"> + THE BOUND PRINCESS + </h2> +</div> + + +<h3 id="THE_FIRE-EATERS">I<br> +THE FIRE-EATERS</h3> + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">A long</span> time ago there lived a man who had +the biggest head in the world. Into it he +had crammed all the knowledge that might +be gathered from the four corners of the earth. +Everyone said he was the wisest man living. “If +I could only find a wife,” said the sage, “as wise for +a woman as I am for a man, what a race of headpieces +we could bring into the world!”</p> + +<p>He waited many years before any such mate +could be found for him: yet, at last, found she was—one +into whose head was bestowed all the wisdom +that might be gathered from the four quarters of +heaven.</p> + +<p>They were both old, but kings came from all sides +to their wedding, and offered themselves as god-parents +to the first-born of the new race that was +to be. But, to the grief of his parents, the child, +when he arrived, proved to be a simpleton; and no +second child ever came to repair the mistake of +the first.</p> + +<p>That he was a simpleton was evident; his head +was small and his limbs were large, and he could run +long before he could talk or do arithmetic. In the +bitterness of their hearts his father and mother +named him Noodle, without the aid of any royal +god-parents; and from that moment, for any care +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>they took in his bringing-up, they washed their wise +hands of him.</p> + +<p>Noodle grew and prospered, and enjoyed life in +his own foolish way. When his father and mother +died within a short time of each other, they left him +alone without any friend in the world.</p> + +<p>For a good while Noodle lived on just what he +could find in the house, in a hand-to-mouth sort of +way, till at last only the furniture and the four bare +walls were left to him.</p> + +<p>One cold winter’s night he sat brooding over the +fire, wondering where he should get food for the +morrow, when he heard feet coming up to the door, +and a knock striking low down upon the panel. +Outside there was a faint chirping and crackling +sound, and a whispering as of fire licking against the +woodwork without.</p> + +<p>He opened the door and peered forth into the +night. There, just before him, stood seven little +men huddled up together; three feet high they were, +with bright yellow faces all shrivelled and sharp, +and eyes whose light leaped and sank like candle +flame before a gust.</p> + +<p>When they saw him, they shut their eyes and +opened famished mouths at him, pointing inwards +with flickering finger-tips, and shivering from head +to foot with cold, although it seemed to the youth +as if the warmth of a slow fire came from them. +“Alas!” said Noodle, in reply to these signs of +hunger, “I have not left even a crust of bread in the +house to give you! But at least come in and make +yourselves warm!” He touched the foremost, +making signs for them all to enter. “Ah,” he cried, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a><a id="Page_56"></a><a id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>“what is this, and what are you, that the mere touch +of you burns my finger?”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_055" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_055_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_055.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>Without answer they huddled tremblingly across +the threshold; but so soon as they saw the fire burning +on the hearth, they yelped all together like a +pack of hounds, and, throwing themselves face +forwards into the hot embers, began ravenously to +lap up the flames. They lapped and lapped, and the +more they lapped the more the fire sank away and +died. Then with their flickering finger-tips they +stirred the hot logs and coals, burrowing after the +thin tapes and swirls of vanishing flame, and fetching +them out like small blue eels still wriggling for +escape.</p> + +<p>After each blue wisp had been gulped down, they +sipped and sucked at their fingers for any least +tricklet of flavour that might be left; and at the last +seemed more famished than when they began.</p> + +<p>“More, more, O wise Noodle, give us more!” +they cried; and Noodle threw the last of his fuel +on the embers.</p> + +<p>They breathed round it, fanning it into a great +blaze that leaped and danced up to the rafters; then +they fell on, till not a fleck or a flake of it was left. +Noodle, seeing them still famished, broke up a stool +and threw that on the hearth. And again they +flared it with their breath and gobbled off the flame. +When the stool was finished he threw in the table, +then the dresser, and after that the oak-chest and +the window-seat.</p> + +<p>Still they feasted and were not fed. Noodle +fetched an axe, and broke down the door; then he +wrenched up the boards from the floor, and pulled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>the beams and rafters out of the ceiling; yet, even +so, his guests were not to be satisfied.</p> + +<p>“I have nothing left,” he said, “but the house +itself; but since you are still hungry you shall be +welcome to it!”</p> + +<p>He scattered the fire that remained upon the +hearth, and threw it out and about the room; and +as he ran forth to escape, up against all the walls +and right through the roof rose a great crackling +sheaf of flame. In the midst of the fire, Noodle +could see his seven guests lying along on their bellies, +slopping their hands in the heat, and lapping up the +flames with their tongues. “Surely,” he thought, +“I have given them enough to eat at last!”</p> + +<p>After a while all the fire was eaten away, and only +the black and smouldering ruins were left. Day +came coldly to light, and there sat Noodle, without +a home in the world, watching with considerate eye +his seven guests finishing their inordinate repast.</p> + +<p>They all rose to their feet together, and came towards +him bowing; as they approached he felt the +heat of their bodies as it had been seven furnaces.</p> + +<p>“Enough, O wise Noodle!” said they, “we have +had enough!” “That,” answered Noodle, “is +the least thing left me to wonder at. Go your ways +in peace; but first tell me, who are you?” They +replied, “We are the Fire-eaters: far from our own +land, and strangers, you have done us this service; +what, now, can we do to serve you?” “Put me +in the way of a living,” said Noodle, “and you will +do me the greatest service of all.”</p> + +<p>Then the one of them who seemed to be chief +took from his finger a ring having for its centre a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>great firestone, and threw it into the snow, saying, +“Wait for three hours till the ring shall have had +time to cool, then take it, and wear it; and whatever +fortune you deserve it shall bring you. For this +ring is the sweetener of everything that it touches: +bread it turns into rich meats, water into strong wine, +grief into virtue, and labour into strength. Also, +if you ever need our help, you have but to brandish +the ring, and the gleam of it will reach us, and we will +be with you wherever you may be.”</p> + +<p>With that they bowed their top-knots to the +ground and departed, inverting themselves swiftly +till only the shining print of seven pairs of feet remained, +red-hot, over the place where they had been +standing.</p> + +<p>Noodle waited for three hours; then he took up +the firestone ring, and putting it on his finger set +out into the world.</p> + +<p>At the first door he came to, he begged a crust of +bread, and touching it with the ring found it tasted +like rich meats, well cooked and delicately flavoured. +Also, the water which he drew in the hollow of his +hand from a brook by the roadside tasted to him like +strong wine.</p> + + +<h3 id="THE_GALLOPING_PLOUGH"> + II<br> +THE GALLOPING PLOUGH +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Noodle</span> went on many miles till he came +near to a rich man’s farm. Though it was +the middle of winter, all the fields showed +crops of corn in progress; here it was in thin blade, +and here green, but in full ear; and here it was ripe +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>and ready for harvest. “How is this,” he said to +the first man he met, “that you have corn here +in the middle of winter?” “Ah!” said the man, +“you have not heard of the Galloping Plough; +you too have to fall under bondage to my master.” +“What is your master?” inquired Noodle, “and +in what bondage does he bind men?” “My +master, and your master that shall soon be,” answered +the old man, “is the owner of all this land and +the farmer of it. He is rich and sleek and fat like +his own furrows, for he has the Galloping Plough +as his possession. Ah, that! ’tis a very miracle, a +wonder, a thing to catch at the heartstrings of all +beholders; it shines like a moonbeam, and is better +than an Arab mare for swiftness; it warms the very +ground that it enters, so that seeds take root and +spring, though it be the middle of winter. No man +sees it but what he loses his heart to it, and sells +his freedom for the possession of it. All here are +men like myself who have become slaves because +of that desire. You also, when you see it, will become +slave to it.”</p> + +<p>Noodle went on through the summer and the +spring corn, till he came to bare fields. Ahead of +him on a hill-top he saw the farmer himself, sleek +and rosy, and of full paunch, lolling like a lord at +his ease; yet with a working eye in the midst of +his leisure.</p> + +<p>To and fro, up to him and back, shot a silver +gleam over the purple brown of the fields; and +Noodle’s heart gave a thump at the sight, for the +spell of the Galloping Plough was on him.</p> + +<p>Now and then he heard a clear sound that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>startled him with its note. It was like the sweet +whistling cry of a bird many times multiplied. Ever +when the silver gleam of the Plough had run its +farthest from the farmer, the cry sounded; and at +the sound the gleam wavered and stayed and flew +back dartingly to the farmer’s side. So Noodle +understood how this was the farmer’s signal for the +Plough to return; and the Plough knew it as a +horse its master’s voice, and came so fast that the +wind whistled against its silver side.</p> + +<p>As he watched, Noodle’s heart went down into +the valley and up the hillside, following in the track +of the Galloping Plough. “I can never be happy +again,” thought he; “either I must possess it, or +must die.”</p> + +<p>He came to the farmer where he sat calling his +Plough to him and letting it go; and the farmer +smiled, the wide indulgent smile of a man who +knows that a bargain is about to fall his way.</p> + +<p>“What is the price,” asked Noodle, “of yonder +Galloping Plough, that runs like an Arab mare, and +returns to you at your call?”</p> + +<p>Said the farmer, “A year’s service; and if the +Plough will follow you, it is yours; if not, then you +must be my bondman until you die!”</p> + +<p>Noodle looked once the way of the Galloping +Plough, and his heart flapped at his side like a sail +which the wind drops and lets go; and he had no +thought or will left in him but to be where the +Galloping Plough was. So he closed hands on the +bargain, to be the farmer’s servant either for a year, +or for his whole life.</p> + +<p>For a year he worked upon the farm, and all the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>while plotted how he might win the Galloping +Plough to himself. The farmer kept no watch +upon it, nor put it under lock and key, for the +Plough recognised no voice but his own, nor went +nor came save at his bidding. In the night Noodle +would go down to the shed or field where it lay, +and whistle to it, trying to put forth notes of the +same magical power as those which came through +the farmer’s lips.</p> + +<p>But no sound that came from his lips ever stroked +life into its silver sides. The year was nearly run +out, and Noodle was in despair.</p> + +<p>Then he remembered the firestone ring, the +Sweetener. “Maybe,” said he, “since it changes +to sweetness whatever I eat and drink, it will +sweeten my voice also, so that the Plough will +obey.” So he put the ring between his lips and +whistled; and at the sound his heart turned a +somersault for joy, for he felt that out of his mouth +the farmer’s magic had been over-topped and conquered.</p> + +<p>The Galloping Plough stirred faintly from the +furrow where it lay, breaking the ground and +marring its smooth course. Then it shook its head +slowly, and returned impassively to rest.</p> + +<p>In the morning the farmer came and saw the +broken earth close under the Plough’s nose. Noodle, +hiding among the corn hard by, heard him say, +“What hast thou heard in the night, O my moonbeam, +my miracle, that thy lily-foot has trodden +up the ground? Hast thou forgotten whose hand +feeds thee, whose corn it is thou lovest, whose +heart’s care also cherishes thee?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_063" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_063_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_063.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a><a id="Page_65"></a>[Pg 65]</span></p> + +<p>The farmer went away, and presently came back +bearing a bowl of corn; and Noodle saw the +Plough lift its head to its master’s palm, and feed +like a horse on the grain.</p> + +<p>Then Noodle, gay of heart, waited till it was +night, and surely his time was short, for on the +morrow his wages were to be paid, and the Plough +was to be his, or else he was to be the farmer’s bond-servant +for the rest of his life. He took with him +three handfuls of corn, and went down to where +the Plough stood waiting by the furrow. Shaping +his lips to the ring, he whistled gently like a lover, +and immediately the Plough stirred, and lifted up +its head as if to look at him.</p> + +<p>“O my moonbeam, my miracle,” whispered +Noodle, “wilt thou not come to the one that feeds +thee?” and he held out a handful of corn. But +the Plough gave no regard to him or his grain: +slowly it moved away from him back into the +furrow.</p> + +<p>Then Noodle laughed softly and dropped his +ring, the Sweetener, into the hand that held the +grain; and barely had he offered the corn before +he felt the silver Plough nozzling at his palm, +and eating as a horse eats from the hand of its +master.</p> + +<p>Then he whistled again, placing the Sweetener +back between his lips; and the Galloping Plough +sprang after him, and followed at his heels like a +dog.</p> + +<p>So, finding himself its master, he bid it stay for +the night; and in the morning he said to the +farmer, “Give me my wages, and let me go!” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>And the farmer laughed, saying, “Take your wages, +and go!”</p> + +<p>Then Noodle took off his ring, the Sweetener, +and laid it between his lips and blew through it; +and up like a moonbeam, and like an Arab mare, +sprang the Galloping Plough at his call. So he +leaped upon its back, crying, “Carry me away out +of this land, O thou moonbeam, and miracle of +beauty, and never slacken nor stay except I bid +thee!”</p> + +<p>Vainly the farmer, borne down on a torrent of +rage and amazement, whistled his best, and threw +corn and rice from the rear; for the whistling of +Noodle was sweeter to the ear, and his corn sweeter +to the taste, and he nearer to the heart of the +Galloping Plough than was the old master whom +it left behind.</p> + + +<h3 id="THE_THIRSTY_WELL"> + III<br> +THE THIRSTY WELL +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">So</span> they escaped, slitting the swift hours with +ungovernable speed. The furrow they two +made in the world that day, as they went +shooting over the round of it, was called in after +times the Equator, and men still know it by the +heat of it, though it has since been covered over +by the dust of ages.</p> + +<p>To Noodle, as he went careering round it, the +whole world’s circuit ran in a line across his brain, +entering his vision and passing through it as a +thread through the needle’s eye. Nor would he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>of his own will ever have stopped his galloping, but +that at the completion of the first round a mighty +thirst took hold of him. “O my moonbeam,” he +said, choking behind parched lips, and sick at heart, +“check me, or I faint!” And the Galloping +Plough stopped at once, and set him to earth in a +green space under the shadow of overhanging +boughs.</p> + +<p>He found himself in a richly grown garden, a +cool paradise for a traveller to rest in. Close at +hand and inviting to the eye was a well with a +bucket slung ready to be let down. Noodle had +little thought of seeking for the owner of the garden +to beg for a drink, since water is an equal gift to +all and the right of any man; but as he drew near +he found the means to it withheld from him, the +lid being fast locked. He went on in search of +the owner, till at length he came upon the same +lying half asleep under a thorn-bush with the key +in her hand. She was an old woman, so withered +and dry, she looked as if no water could have ever +passed her lips.</p> + +<p>When Noodle asked for a drink from the well, +she looked at him bright and sharp, and said: “Before +any man drinks of my water he must make +a bargain with me.” “What is the bargain?” +asked Noodle; and she led him down to the well.</p> + +<p>Then she unlocked the lid and bade him look in; +and at the sight Noodle knew for a second time +that his heart had been stolen from him, and that +to be happy he must taste that water or die.</p> + +<p>Again he asked, with his eyes intent upon the +blue wrimpling of the water in the well’s depth, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>“What is the bargain?” And the old woman +answered, “If you fail to draw water out of the +well you must fling yourself into it.” For answer +Noodle swung down the bucket, lowering it as fast +as it would go; then he set both hands to the +windlass and wound.</p> + +<p>He heard the water splashing off the sides of the +bucket all the way up, as the shortening rope +brought it near; but when he drew it over the +well’s brink wonder and grief held him fast, for the +bucket was as empty as vanity. From behind him +came a noise of laughter, and there was the old +witch running round and round in a circle; and +everywhere a hedge of thorns came shooting up to +enclose him and keep him fast for her.</p> + +<p>“What a trap I am in!” thought Noodle; but +once more he lowered the bucket, and once more +it returned to him empty.</p> + +<p>The old woman climbed up into the thorn-hedge, +and sat on its top, singing:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Overground, underground, round-about spell;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The Thirsty has come to the Thirsty Well!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Again Noodle let down the bucket; and this +time as he drew it up he looked over into the well’s +heart, and saw all the way up the side a hundred +blue arms reaching out crystal scallops and drawing +water out of the bucket as hard as they could +go. He saw thick lips like sea-anemones thrust out +between the crevices of the wall, sucking the crystals +dry as fast as they were filled. “Truly,” he said +to himself, “this is a thirsty well, but myself am +thirstier!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_069" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_069_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_069.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a><a id="Page_71"></a>[Pg 71]</span></p> + +<p>When he had drawn up the bucket empty for +the third time, he stood considering; and at last +he fastened to it the firestone ring, the Sweetener, +and lowered it once more. Then he laughed to +himself as he drew up, and felt the bucket lightening +at every turn till it touched the surface of things.</p> + +<p>Empty he found it, with only his firestone hanging +by the rim, and once again he let it down to be +refilled. But this time as he wound up, nothing +could keep him from letting a curious eye go over +the brink, to see how the Well-folk fared over their +wine; and in what he beheld there was already +comfort for his soul.</p> + +<p>The blue arms went like oars out of unison; like +carpet-beaters stricken in the eyes and throat with +dust, they beat foolishly against the sides and bottom +of the bucket, shattering and letting fall their +goblets in each unruly attempt. And because +Noodle wound leniently at the rope, willing that +they should have their fill, at the last gasp they +were able to send the bucket empty to the top. It +was the last staving off of destiny that lay in their +power to make; thereafter wine conquered them.</p> + +<p>Quickly Noodle drew out the ring, and sent the +bucket flying on its last errand. It smacked the +water, heeled over, and dipped under a full draught. +Then Noodle spun the windlass with the full pinch +of his energies, calling on the bucket to ascend. +He heard the water spilling from its sides, and knew +that the blue arms were there, battling to arrest it +as it flew, and to pay him back once more with +emptiness and mockery. Yet in spite of them the +bucket hasted and lightened not, but was drawn +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>up to the well’s head brimming largely, and winking +a blue eye joyously to the light of day.</p> + +<p>Over head and ears Noodle plunged for the +quenching of his thirst, nor stayed nor drew back +till his head had smitten upon the bottom of the +bucket in his pursuit of the draught. Then it was +apparent that only a third of the water remained, +the rest having obeyed the imperative suction of +his throat, and that the thirsty well had at last +found a master under the eye of heaven.</p> + +<p>In the depth of the bucket the water flashed like +a burning sapphire and swung circling, curling and +coiling, tossing this way and that, as if struggling +to get out. At last with a laugh it threw down the +bucket, and tore back into the well with a crash +like thunder.</p> + +<p>Up from the well rose a chant of voices:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Under Heaven, over Hell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You have broken the spell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You are lord of the Well.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Noodle stepped over the brink of his new realm, +calling the Well-folk to reach hands for him and +bear him down. All round, the blue arms started +out, catching him and handing him on from one to +another ladderwise, down, and down, and down. +As he went, anemone lips came out of the crannies +in the wall, and kissed his feet and hands in token +of allegiance. “You are lord of the well!” they +said, as they passed him each one to the next.</p> + +<p>He came to the bottom of the well; under his +feet, wherever he stepped upon its waters, hands +came up and sustained him. The knowledge of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>everything that was there had become his. “Give +me,” he said, “the crystal cup that is for him who +holds kingship over you; so shall I be lord of you +in all places wherever I go.”</p> + +<p>A blue arm reached down and drew up from the +water a small crystal, that burned through the +darkness with a blue fire, and gave it to Noodle. +“Now I am your king, however far from you!” +said Noodle. And they answered, chanting:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Under Heaven, over Hell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You have broken the spell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You are lord of the Well.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“Lift me up!” said he; and the blue arms +caught him and lifted him up; from one to +another they passed him in ascending circles, till +he came to the mouth of the well.</p> + +<p>There overhead was the old witch, crouching and +looking in to know what had become of him; and +her hair hung far down over her eyes into the well. +He caught her to him by it over the brink. “Old +witch,” he said, “you must change places with me +now!” and he tossed her down to the bottom of +the well.</p> + +<p>She went like a falling shuttlecock, shrieking as +she fell; and as she struck the water, the drowned +bodies of the men she had sent there came to the +surface, and caught her by the feet and hair, and +drew her down, making an end of her, as she also +had made of them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span></p> + + +<h3 id="THE_PRINCESS_MELILOT"> + IV<br> +THE PRINCESS MELILOT +</h3> + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">When</span> Noodle, carrying the crystal with +him, set foot once more upon dry land, +straightway he was again upon the back +of the Galloping Plough, with the world flying +away under him. But now weariness came over +him, and his head weighed this way and that, so +that earth and sky mixed themselves before his gaze, +and he was so drugged with sleep that he had no +wits to bid the Plough slacken from its speed. +Therefore it happened that as they passed a wood, +a hanging bough caught him, and brushed him like +a feather from his place, landing him on a green +bosom of grass, where he slept the sleep of the +weary, nor ever lifted his head to see the Plough +fast disappearing over hill and valley and plain, out +of sound of his voice or sight of his eye.</p> + +<p>When Noodle awoke and found that the Plough +was gone, he was bitter against himself for his folly. +“So poor a use to make of so noble a steed!” he +cried; “no wonder it has gone from me to seek +for a worthier master! If by good fortune I find +it again, needs must I do great things by its aid to +be worthy of its service.” So he set out, following +the furrow of its course, determined, however +far he must seek, to journey on till he found it.</p> + +<p>For a whole year he travelled, till at length he +came, footsore and weary, to a deserted palace +standing in the midst of an overgrown garden. +The great gates, which lay wide open, were overrun +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>with creepers, and the paths were green with weeds. +That morning he had thought that he saw far +away on the hills the gleam of his silver Plough, and +now hope rose high, for he could see by its track +that the Plough had passed before him into the +garden of the palace. “O my moonbeam,” he +thought, “is it here I shall find you at last?”</p> + +<p>Within the garden there was a sound of cross +questions and crooked answers, of many talking +with loud voices, and of one weeping apart from +the rest. When he got quite close, he was struck +still with awe, and joy, and wonder. For first there +lay the Galloping Plough in the middle of a green +lawn, and round it a score of serving-men, tugging +at it and trying to make it move on. Near by +stood an old woman, wringing her hands and begging +them to leave it alone: “For,” cried she, +“if the Plough touches but the feet of the Princess, +she will be uprooted, and will presently wither +away and die. Of what use is it to break one, if the +other enchantments cannot be broken?”</p> + +<p>In the centre of the lawn grew a bower of roses, +and beneath the bower stood the loveliest princess +that ever eye beheld; but she stood there motionless, +and without sign of life. She seemed neither +to hear, nor see, nor breathe; her feet were rooted +to the ground; though they seemed only to rest +lightly under her weight upon the grass, no man, +nor a hundred men, could stir her from where she +stood. And, as the spell that held her fast bound +to the spot, even so was the spell that sealed her +senses,—no man might lift it from her. When +Noodle set eyes upon her he knew that for the third +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>time his heart had been stolen from him, and that +to be happy he must possess her, or die.</p> + +<p>He ran quickly to the old woman, who, unregarded +by the serving-men, stood weeping and +wringing her hands. “Tell me,” said Noodle, +“who is this sleeper who stands enchanted and +rooted like a flower to earth? And who are you, +and these others who work and cry at cross purposes?”</p> + +<p>The old woman cried from a wide mouth: “It +is my mistress, the honey-jewel of my heart, whom +you see here so grievously enchanted. All the gifts +of the fairies at her christening did not prevent +what was foretold of her at her birth. In her +seventeenth year, as you see her now, so it was told +of her that she should be.”</p> + +<p>“Does she live?” asked Noodle; “is she +asleep? She is not dead; when will she wake? +Tell me, old woman, her history, and how this fate +has come upon her.”</p> + +<p>“She was the daughter of the king of this country +by his first wife,” said the old woman, “and heir +to the throne after his death; but when her mother +died the king married again, and the three daughters +he had by his second wife were jealous of the +beauty, and charm, and goodness which raised their +sister so high above them in the estimation of all +men. So they asked their mother to teach them +a spell that should rob Melilot of her charms, and +make them useless in the eyes of men. And their +mother, who was wise in such arts, taught to each +of them a spell, so that together they might work +their will.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_077" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_077_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_077.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a><a id="Page_79"></a>[Pg 79]</span></p> + +<p>“One day they came running to Melilot, and +said, ‘Come and play with us a new game that +our mother has taught us!’ Then they began +turning themselves into flowers. ‘I will be a +hollyhock!’ said one. ‘And I will be a columbine!’ +said another; and saying the spell over +each other they became each the flower they had +named.</p> + +<p>“Then they unloosed the spells, and became +themselves again. ‘Oh, it is so nice to be a +flower!’ they cried, laughing and clapping their +hands. But Melilot knew no spell.</p> + +<p>“At last, seeing how her sisters turned into +flowers, and came back safe again, ‘I will be a +rose!’ she cried; ‘turn me into a rose and out +again!’</p> + +<p>“Then her three sisters joined their tongues together, +and finished the spell over her. And so +soon as she had become a rose-tree, the three sisters +turned into three moles, and went down under the +earth and gnawed at the roots.</p> + +<p>“Then they came up, and took their own forms +again, and sang,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Sister, sister, here you are now,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till the ploughman come with the Galloping Plough!’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“Then they turned into bees, and sucked out +the honey from the roses, and coming to themselves +again they sang,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Sister, here you must doze and doze,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till they bring you a flower of the Burning Rose!’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> + +<p>“Then they shook the dewdrops out of her eyes, +crying,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Sister, your brain lies under our spell,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till water be brought from the Thirsty Well!’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“Then they took the top blossom of all, and broke +it to pieces, and threw the petals away as they cried,—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Sister, your life goes down for a term,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Till they bring you breath from the Camphor-Worm!’</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>“And when they had done all this, they turned +her back into her true shape, and left her standing +even as you see her now, without warmth, or sight, +or memory, or motion, dead saving for her beauty, +that never changes or dies. And here she must +stand till the spells which have been fastened upon +her have been unloosed. No long time after, the +wickedness of the three sisters and of their cruel +mother was discovered to the king, and they were all +put to death for the crime. Yet the ill they had +done remained; and the king’s grief became so +great to see his loved daughter standing dead before +him that he removed with his court to another place, +and left this palace to the care of only a few serving-men, +and myself to keep watch and guard over the +Princess.</p> + +<p>“So now four-fold is the spell that holds her, +and to break the lightest of them the water of the +Thirsty Well is needed; with two of its drops laid +upon her eyes memory will come back to her, and +her mind will remember of the things of the past. +And for the breaking of the second spell is needed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>a blossom of the Burning Rose, and the plucking of +that no man’s hand can achieve; but when the Rose +is laid upon her breast, her heart will belong to the +world once more, and will beat again under her +bosom. And for the breaking of the third spell +one must bring the breath of the Camphor-Worm +that has lain for a whole year inside its body, and +breathe it between her lips; then she will breathe +again, and all her five senses will return to her. And +for the last spell only the Galloping Plough can +uproot her back to life, and free her feet for the +ways of earth. Now, here we have the Galloping +Plough with no man who can guide it, and what aid +can it be? If these fools should be able to make it +so much as but touch the feet of my dear mistress, +she will be mown down like grass, and die presently +for lack of earth; for only the three other charms +I have told you of can put whole life back into her.”</p> + +<p>“As for the mastery of the Plough,” said Noodle, +“I will fetch that from them in a breath. See, in +a moment, how marvellous will be the uplifting of +their eyes!” He put to his lips the firestone ring—the +Sweetener—and blew but one note through it. +Then in a moment the crowd divided hither and +thither, with cries of wonder and alarm, for the +Plough turned and bounded back to its master +quickly, as an Arab mare at the call of her owner.</p> + +<p>The old woman, weeping for gladness, cried: +“Thou art master of the Plough! art thou master +of all the other things as well?”</p> + +<p>He said: “Of one thing only. Tell me of the +Burning Rose and the Camphor-Worm; what and +where are they? For I am the master of the ends +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>of the earth by reason of the speed with which this +carries me; and I am lord of the Thirsty Well, and +have the Fire-eaters for my friends.”</p> + +<p>The old woman clapped her hands, and blessed +him for his youth, and his wisdom, and his courage. +“First,” she said, “restore to the Princess her memory +by means of the water of the Thirsty Well; then +I will show you the way to the Burning Rose, for +the easier thing must be done first.”</p> + +<p>Then Noodle drew out the crystal and breathed +in it, calling on the Well-folk for the two drops of +water to lay on Princess Melilot’s eyes. Immediately +in the bottom of the cup appeared two blue drops of +water, that came climbing up the sides of the glass +and stood trembling together on the brim. And +Noodle, touching them with the firestone ring +to make the memory of things sweet to her, bent +back the Princess’s face, and let them fall under her +closed lids.</p> + +<p>“Look!” cried the faithful nurse, “light trembles +within those eyes of hers! In there she begins to +remember things; but as yet she sees and hears nothing. +Now it is for you to be swift and fetch her +the blossom of the Burning Rose. Be wise, and you +shall not fail!”</p> + + +<h3 id="THE_BURNING_ROSE"> + V<br> +THE BURNING ROSE +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">She</span> told him how he was to go, across the desert +southward, till he found a giant, longer in +length than a day’s journey, lying asleep upon +the sand. Over his head, it was told, hung a cloud, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>covering him from the heat and resting itself against +his brows; within the cloud was a dream, and within +the dream grew the garden of the Burning Rose. +Than this she knew no more, nor by what means +Noodle might gain entrance and become possessor +of the Rose.</p> + +<p>Noodle waited for no more; he mounted upon +the Galloping Plough, and pressed away over the +desert to the south. For three days he travelled +through parched places, refreshing himself by the +way with the water of the Thirsty Well, calling on +the Well-folk for the replenishment of his crystal, +and turning the draught to wine by the sweetness +of his magic ring.</p> + +<p>At length he saw a cloud rising to him from a +distance; like a great opal it hung motionless between +earth and heaven. Coming nearer he saw +the giant himself stretched out for a day’s journey +across the sand. His head lay under the colours of +the dawn, and his feet were covered with the dusk +of evening, and over his middle shone the noonday +sun.</p> + +<p>Under the giant’s shadow Noodle stopped, and +gazed up into the cloud; through the outer covering +of its mists he saw what seemed to be balls of fire, +and knew that within lay the dream and the garden +of the Burning Rose.</p> + +<p>The giant laughed and muttered in his sleep, for +the dream was sweet to him. “O Rose,” he said, +“O sweet Rose, what end is there of thy sweetness? +How innumerable is the dance of the Roses of my +Rose-garden!”</p> + +<p>Noodle caught hold of the ropes of the giant’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>hair, and climbed till he sat within the hollow of his +right ear. Then he put to his lips the ring, the +Sweetener, and sang till the giant heard him in his +sleep; and the sweet singing mixed itself with the +sweetness of the Rose in the giant’s brain, and he +muttered to himself, saying: “O bee, O sweet bee, +O bee in my brain, what honey wilt thou fetch for +me out of the roses of my Rose-garden?”</p> + +<p>So, more and more, Noodle sweetened himself +to the giant, till the giant passed him into his brain +and into the heart of the dream, even into the +garden of the Burning Rose.</p> + +<p>Far down below the folds of the cloud, Noodle +remembered that the Galloping Plough lay waiting +a call from him. “When I have stolen the Rose,” +thought he, “I may need swift heels for my flight.” +And he put the Sweetener to his lips and whistled +the Plough up to him.</p> + +<p>It came, cleaving the encirclement of clouds like +a silver gleam of moonlight, and for a moment, +where they parted, Noodle saw a rift of blue sky, +and the light of the outer world clear through their +midst.</p> + +<p>The giant turned uneasily in his sleep, and the +garden of the Burning Rose rocked to its foundations +as the edge of things real pierced into it.</p> + +<p>“While I stay here there is danger,” thought +Noodle. “Surely I must make haste to possess myself +of the Rose and to escape!”</p> + +<p>All round him was a garden set thick with rose-trees +in myriads of blossom, rose behind rose as far +as the eye could reach, and the fragrance of them lay +like a heavy curtain of sleep upon the senses. Noodle, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a><a id="Page_86"></a><a id="Page_87"></a>[Pg 87]</span>beginning to feel drowsy, stretched out his hand in +haste to the nearest flower, lest in a little while he +should be no more than a part of the giant’s dream. +“O beloved Heart of Melilot!” he cried, and crushed +his fingers upon the stem.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_085" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_085_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_085.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>The whole bough crackled and sprang away at his +touch; the Rose turned upon him, screaming and +spouting fire; a noise like thunder filled all the air. +Every rose in the garden turned and spat flame at +where he stood. His face and his hands became +blistered with the heat.</p> + +<p>Leaping upon the back of his Plough, he cried, +“Carry me to the borders of the garden where there +are open spaces! The price of the Princess is upon +my head!”</p> + +<p>The Plough bounded this way and that, searching +for some outlet by which to escape. It flew in spirals +and circles, it leaped like a flea, it burrowed like a +mole, it ploughed up the rose-trees by the roots. +But so soon as it had passed they stood up unharmed +again, and to whatever point of refuge the Plough +fled, that way they all turned their heads and darted +out vomitings of fire.</p> + +<p>In vain did Noodle summon the Well-folk to his +aid; his crystal shot forth fountains of water that +turned into steam as they rose, and fell back again, +scalding him.</p> + +<p>Then with two deaths threatening to devour him, +he brandished the ring, calling upon the Fire-eaters +for their aid.</p> + +<p>They laughed as they came. “Here is food for +you!” he cried. “Multiply your appetites about +me, or I shall be consumed in these flames!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span></p> + +<p>“Brandish again!” cried they—the same seven +whom he had fed. “We are not enough; this fire +is not quenchable.”</p> + +<p>Noodle brandished till the whole garden swarmed +with their kind. One fastened himself upon every +rose, a gulf opposing itself to a torrent. All sight +of the conflagration disappeared; but within there +went a roaring sound, and the bodies of the Fire-eaters +crackled, growing large and luminous the +while.</p> + +<p>“Do your will quickly and begone!” cried the +Fire-eaters. “Even now we swell to bursting with +the pumping in of these fires!”</p> + +<p>Noodle seized on a rose to which one hung, +sucking out its heats. He tugged, but the strong +fibres held. Then he locked himself to the back +of the Plough, crying to it and caressing its speed +with all names under heaven, and beseeching it in +the name of Melilot to break free. And the Plough +giving but one plunge, the Rose came away into +Noodle’s hand, panting and a prisoner. All blushing +it grew and radiant, with a soft inner glow, and an +odour of incomparable sweetness. He seemed to see +the heart of Melilot beating before him.</p> + +<p>But now there came a blast of fire behind him, for +the Fire-eaters had disappeared, and all was whirling +and shaken before his eyes; and the Plough sped +desperately over earthquake and space. For the +plucking of the Rose had awakened the giant from +his sleep; and the dream shrivelled and spun away +in a whirl of flame-coloured vapours. Leaping into +clear day out of the unravelment of its mists, Noodle +found himself and his Plough launching over an edge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>of precipice for a downward dive into space. The +giant’s hair, standing upright from his head in the +wrath and horror of his awakening, made a forest +ending in his forehead that bowered them to right +and to left. Quitting it they slid ungovernably +over the bulge of his brow, and went at full spurt +for the abyss.</p> + +<p>Dexterously the Plough steered its descent, catching +on the bridge and furrowing the ridge of the +nose; nine leagues were the duration of a second.</p> + +<p>The giant, thinking some venomous parasite was +injuring his flesh, aimed, and a moment too late had +thumped his fist upon the place. But already the +Plough skirting the amazed opening of his mouth was +lost in the trammels of his beard. Thence, as it +escaped the rummaging of his fingers, it flew scouring +his breast, and inflicted a flying scratch over the regions +of his abdomen. Then, still believing it to be +the triumphal procession of a flea, he pursued it to +his thigh, and mistaking the shadow for the substance +allowed it yet again to escape. At his kneecap +there was but a hair’s-breadth between Noodle +and the weight of his thumb; but thereafter the +Plough out-distanced his every effort, and, with +Noodle preserved whole and alive, sped fast and far, +bearing the Burning Rose to the heart of the beloved +Melilot.</p> + +<p>The crone was aware of his coming before she +heard him, or saw the gleam of his Plough running +beam-like over the land. From her seat by the +Princess’s bower she clapped her hands, and springing +to his neck ere he alighted: “A long way off, +and a long time off,” she cried, “I knew what fortune +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>was with you; for when you plucked off the +Rose, and bore it out of the heart of the dream, +the scent of it filled the world; and I felt the sweetness +of youth once more in my blood.”</p> + +<p>Then she led him to the Princess, and bade him +lay the Rose in her breast, that her heart might be +won back into the world. Looking at her face again, +Noodle saw how memory had made it more beautiful +than ever, and how between her lips had grown the +tender parting of a smile. Then he laid the Rose +where the movement of the heart should be; and +presently under the white breast rose the music of +its beating.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” cried the old nurse, weeping for happiness, +“now her heart that loved me is come back, and I +can listen all day to the sound of it! You have +brought memory to her, you have brought love; +now bring breath, and the awakening of her five +senses. Surely the light of her eyes will be your +reward!”</p> + + +<h3 id="THE_CAMPHOR-WORM"> + VI<br> +THE CAMPHOR-WORM +</h3> + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">“Tell</span> me quickly of the Camphor-Worm,” +cried the youth as he feasted his eyes on +the Princess’s loveliness, made more unendurable +by the awakening within of love. “Where +and what is it?” “It is not so far as was the way +to the Burning Rose,” answered the crone; “an +hour on the back of the Plough shall bring it near to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>you; but the danger and difficulty of this quest is +more, not less. For to reach the Camphor-Worm +you need to be a diver in deep waters, whose weight +crushes a man; and to touch its lips you must +master the loathing of your nature; and to carry +away its breath you must have strength of will and +endurance beyond what is mortal.” “You trouble +me with things I need not know,” cried Noodle. +“Tell me,” he said, “how I may reach the Camphor-Worm; +and of it and its ways.”</p> + +<p>“By this path, and by that,” said the old woman, +pointing him, “go on till you come to the thick +waters of the Bitter Lake; they are blacker than +night, and their weight is heavier than lead, and in +the depths dwells the Camphor-Worm. Once a +year, when the air is sweetest with the scents of +summer, she rises to breathe, lifting her black snout +through the surface of the waters. Then she draws +fresh air into her lungs, flavoured with leaves and +flowers, and after she has breathed it in she lets go the +last bubble of the breath she drew from the summer +of the year before; and it is this bubble of breath +alone that will give back life to the five senses +of Princess Melilot. But the Worm’s time for +rising is far; and how you shall bear the weight +in the depths of those waters, or make the Worm +give up the bubble before her time, or at last bear +back the bubble to lay it on the lips of the Princess +so that she may wake,—these are things I know not +the way of, for to my eyes they seem dark with +difficulty and peril.”</p> + +<p>Then Noodle, opening the petals of the Burning +Rose as it lay upon the heart of Melilot, drew out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>honey from its centre, filling his hand with the golden +crumblings of fragrance; and he leapt upon the +Galloping Plough, urging it in the way the Princess’s +nurse had pointed out to him. As they went he +caressed it with all the names under heaven, stroking +it with his hand and praising it for the delicacy of +its steering: saying, “O my moonbeam, if thou +wouldst save the life of thy master, or restore the +five senses of the Princess Melilot, thou must surpass +thyself to-day. Listen, thou heaven-sent limb, +thou miracle of quicksilver, and have a long mind +to my words; for in a short while I shall have no +speech left in me till the thing be done, and the +deliverance, from head to feet, of my Beloved +accomplished.”</p> + +<p>Even while he spoke they came to the edge of the +Bitter Lake—a small pool, but its waters were blacker +than night, and its heart heavier than lead. Then +Noodle leapt down from the Plough, and caressed +it for the last time, saying: “Set thy face for the +garden where the Princess Melilot is; and when I am +come back to thee speechless out of the Lake and +am striding thee once more, then wait not for a word +but carry me to her with more speed than thou hast +ever mustered to my aid till now; go faster than +wind or lightning or than the eye of man can see! +So, by good fortune, I may live till I reach her lips; +but if thou tarry at all I am a dead man. And when +thou art come to Melilot set thy share beneath the +roots of her feet, and take her up to me out of the +ground. Do this tenderly, but abate not speed till +it be done!”</p> + +<p>Then the youth put into his mouth the honey of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>the Burning Rose, and into his lips the Sweetener, +and stripped himself as a bather to the pool. And +the Plough, remembering its master’s word, turned +and set its face to where lay the garden with Melilot +waiting to be relieved of her enchantment. Whereat +Noodle, bowing his head, and blessing it with lips +of farewell, turned shortly and slid down into the +blackness of the lake.</p> + +<p>The weight of that water was like a vice upon his +limbs, and around his throat, as he swam out into the +centre of the pool. As he went he breathed upon the +water, and the scent of the honey of the Burning Rose +passing through the Sweetener made an incomparable +fragrance, gentle, and subtle, and wooing to the +senses.</p> + +<p>When he came to the middle of the lake he +stayed breathing full breaths, till the air deepened +with fragrance around him. Presently underneath +him he felt the movement of a great thing coming +up from the bottom of the pool. It touched his +feet and came grazing along his side; and all at once +shuddering and horror took hold upon him, for his +whole nature was filled with loathing of its touch.</p> + +<p>Out of the pool’s surface before him rose a great +black snout, that opened, showing a round hole. +Then he thought of Melilot and her beauty laid fast +under a charm, and drawing a full breath he laid his +lips containing the ring, the Sweetener, to the lips +of the Worm.</p> + +<p>The Worm began to breathe. As the Worm +drank the air out of him, he drew in more through his +nostrils, and more and more, till the great gills were +filled and satisfied.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></p> + +<p>Then the Worm let go the last bubble of air which +remained from the year before, and had lain ever +since in its body, by which alone life could be given +back to the five senses of Melilot. Then drawing in +its head it lowered itself once more to the bottom of +the pool; and Noodle, feeling in his mouth the +precious globule of air, fastened his lips upon it and +shot out for shore.</p> + +<p>Against the weight of those leaden waters a longing +to gasp possessed him; but he knew that with +the least breath the bubble would be lost, and all his +labour undone. Not too soon his feet caught hold +of the bank, and drew him free to land. He cast +himself speechless across the back of the Galloping +Plough and clung.</p> + +<p>The Plough gathered itself together and sprang +away through space. Remembering its master’s +word it showed itself a miracle of speed; like lightning +became its flight.</p> + +<p>The eye of Noodle grew blind to the passing of +things; he could take no count of the collapsing +leagues. More and more grew the amazingness of +the Plough’s leaps, things only to be measured by +miles, and counted as joltings on the way; while +fast to the back of it clung Noodle, and endured, +praying that shortness of breath might not overmaster +him, or the check of his lungs give way and +burst him to the emptiness of a drum. His senses +rocked and swayed; he felt the gates of his resolve +slackening and forcing themselves apart; and still +the Galloping Plough plunged him blindly along +through space.</p> + +<p>But now the shrill crying of the crone struck in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>upon his ears, and he stretched open his arms for +the accomplishment of the deliverance. Even in +that nick of time was the end of the thing brought +about; for the Plough, guiding itself as a thread +to the needle’s eye, gave the uprooting stroke to +the white feet of Melilot; and Noodle, swooning +for the last gasp, saw all at once her beauty swaying +level to his gaze and her body bending down upon +his.</p> + +<p>Then he fastened his lips upon hers, and loosed +the bubble from his mouth; and panting and sobbing +themselves back to life they hung in each +other’s arms. She warmed and ripened in his embrace, +opening upon him the light of her eyes; +and the greatness and beauty of the reward abashed +him and bore him down to earth.</p> + +<p>He heard the old crone clucking and crowing, +like a hen over its egg, of the happiness that had +come to her old years; till recognising the youth’s +state she covered him over with a cloak amid exclamations +of astonishment.</p> + +<p>The Princess saw nothing but her lover’s face +and the happy feasting of his eyes. She bent her +head nearer and nearer to his, and the story of +what he had done became a dream that she remembered, +and that waking made true. “O you +Noodle,” she said, laughing, “you wise, wise +Noodle!” And then everything was finished, for +she had kissed him!</p> + +<p>So Noodle and the Princess were married, and +came to the throne together and reigned over a +happy land. The Fire-eaters were their friends, +and the gifts of fortune were theirs. The Galloping +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>Plough made all the waste places fertile; and +the water of the Thirsty Well rose and ran in rivers +through the land; and over the walls of their +palace, where they had planted it, grew the flower +of the Burning Rose.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="i_096" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_096_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_096.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_RAT-CATCHERS_DAUGHTER"> + THE RAT-CATCHER’S DAUGHTER + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Once</span> upon a time there lived an old rat-catcher +who had a daughter, the most +beautiful girl that had ever been born. +Their home was a dirty little cabin; but they were +not so poor as they seemed, for every night the +rat-catcher took the rats he had cleared out of one +house and let them go at the door of another, so +that on the morrow he might be sure of a fresh job.</p> + +<p>His rats got quite to know him, and would run +to him when he called; people thought him the +most wonderful rat-catcher, and could not make +out how it was that a rat remained within reach of +his operations.</p> + +<p>Now anyone can see that a man who practised +so cunning a roguery was greedy beyond the intentions +of Providence. Every day, as he watched his +daughter’s beauty increase, his thoughts were: +“When will she be able to pay me back for all the +expense she has been to me?” He would have +grudged her the very food she ate, if it had not +been necessary to keep her in the good looks which +were some day to bring him his fortune. For he +was greedier than any gnome after gold.</p> + +<p>Now all good gnomes have this about them: they +love whatever is beautiful, and hate to see harm +happen to it. A gnome who lived far away underground +below where stood the rat-catcher’s house, +said to his fellows: “Up yonder is a man who has +a daughter; so greedy is he, he would sell her to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>the first comer who gave him gold enough! I am +going up to look after her.”</p> + +<p>So one night, when the rat-catcher set a trap, +the gnome went and got himself caught in it. +There in the morning, when the rat-catcher came, +he found a funny little fellow, all bright and golden, +wriggling and beating to be free.</p> + +<p>“I can’t get out!” cried the little gnome. +“Let me go!”</p> + +<p>The rat-catcher screwed up his mouth to look +virtuous. “If I let you out, what will you give +me?”</p> + +<p>“A sack full of gold,” answered the gnome, +“just as heavy as myself—not a pennyweight less!”</p> + +<p>“Not enough!” said the rat-catcher. “Guess +again!”</p> + +<p>“As heavy as you are!” cried the gnome, beginning +to plead in a thin, whining tone.</p> + +<p>“I’m a poor man,” said the rat-catcher; “a +poor man mayn’t afford to be generous!”</p> + +<p>“What is it you want of me?” cried the gnome.</p> + +<p>“If I let you go,” said the rat-catcher, “you +must make me the richest man in the world!” +Then he thought of his daughter: “Also you must +make the king’s son marry my daughter; then I +will let you go.”</p> + +<p>The gnome laughed to himself to see how the +trapper was being trapped in his own avarice as, +with the most melancholy air he answered: “I +can make you the richest man in the world; but +I know of no way of making the king’s son marry +your daughter, except one.”</p> + +<p>“What way?” asked the rat-catcher.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> + +<p>“Why,” answered the gnome, “for three years +your daughter must come and live with me underground, +and by the end of the third year her skin +will be changed into pure gold like ours. And do +you know any king’s son who would refuse to marry +a beautiful maiden who was pure gold from the +sole of her foot to the crown of her head?”</p> + +<p>The rat-catcher had so greedy an inside that he +could not believe in any king’s son refusing to marry +a maiden of pure gold. So he clapped hands on +the bargain, and let the gnome go.</p> + +<p>The gnome went down into the ground, and +fetched up sacks and sacks of gold, until he had +made the rat-catcher the richest man in the world. +Then the father called his daughter, whose name +was Jasomé, and bade her follow the gnome down +into the heart of the earth.</p> + +<p>It was all in vain that Jasomé begged and implored; +the rat-catcher was bent on having her +married to the king’s son. So he pushed, and the +gnome pulled, and down she went; and the earth +closed after her.</p> + +<p>The gnome brought her down to his home under +the hill upon which stood the town. Everywhere +round her were gold and precious stones; the very +air was full of gold dust, so that when she remained +still it settled on her hands and her hair, and a soft +golden down began to show itself over her skin. +So there in the house of the gnome sat Jasomé, and +cried; and, far away overhead, she heard the days +come and go, by the sound of people walking and +the rolling of wheels.</p> + +<p>The gnome was very kind to her; nothing did +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>he spare of underground commodities that might +afford her pleasure. He taught her the legends of +all the heroes that have gone down into earth, and +been forgotten, and the lost songs of the old poets, +and the buried languages that once gave wisdom +to the world: down there all these things are +remembered.</p> + +<p>She became the most curiously accomplished and +wise maiden that ever was hidden from the light +of day. “I have to train you,” said the gnome, +“to be fit for a king’s bride!” But Jasomé, though +she thanked him, only cried to be let out.</p> + +<p>In front of the rat-catcher’s house rose a little +spring of salt water with gold dust in it, that gilded +the basin where it sprang. When he saw it, he +began rubbing his hands with delight, for he guessed +well enough that his daughter’s tears had made +it; and the dust in it told him how surely now she +was being turned into gold.</p> + +<p>And now the rat-catcher was the richest man +in the world: all his traps were made of gold, and +when he went rat-hunting he rode in a gilded coach +drawn by twelve hundred of the finest and largest +rats. This was for an advertisement of the business. +He now caught rats for the fun of it, and the +show of it, but also to get money by it; for, though +he was so rich, ratting and money-grubbing had +become a second nature to him; unless he were at +one or the other, he could not be happy.</p> + +<p>Far below, in the house of the gnome, Jasomé +sat and cried. When the sound of the great bells +ringing for Easter came down to her, the gnome +said: “To-day I cannot bind you; it is the great +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a><a id="Page_102"></a><a id="Page_103"></a>[Pg 103]</span>rising day for all Christians. If you wish, you +may go up, and ask your father now to release you.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_101" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_101_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_101.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>So Jasomé kissed the gnome, and went up the +track of her own tears, that brought her to her +father’s door. When she came to the light of +day, she felt quite blind; a soft yellow tint was all +over her, and already her hair was quite golden.</p> + +<p>The rat-catcher was furious when he saw her +coming back before her time. “Oh, father,” +she cried, “let me come back for a little while to +play in the sun!” But her father, fearing lest the +gilding of her complexion should be spoiled, drove +her back into the earth, and trampled it down over +her head.</p> + +<p>The gnome seemed quite sorry for her when she +returned; but already, he said, a year was gone—and +what were three years, when a king’s son would +be the reward?</p> + +<p>At the next Easter he let her go again; and now +she looked quite golden, except for her eyes, and +her white teeth, and the nails on her pretty little +fingers and toes. But again her father drove her +back into the ground, and put a heavy stone slab +over the spot to make sure of her.</p> + +<p>At last the third Easter came, and she was all +gold.</p> + +<p>She kissed the gnome many times, and was +almost sorry to leave him, for he had been very +kind to her. And now he told her about her father +catching him in the trap, and robbing him of his +gold by a hard bargain, and of his being forced to +take her down to live with him, till she was turned +into gold, so that she might marry the king’s son. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>“For now,” said he, “you are so compounded of +gold that only the gnomes could rub it off you.”</p> + +<p>So this time, when Jasomé came up once more +to the light of day, she did not go back again to her +cruel father, but went and sat by the roadside, and +played with the sunbeams, and wondered when +the king’s son would come and marry her.</p> + +<p>And as she sat there all the country-people who +passed by stopped and mocked her; and boys came +and threw mud at her because she was all gold +from head to foot—an object, to be sure, for all +simple folk to laugh at. So presently, instead of +hoping, she fell to despair, and sat weeping, with +her face hidden in her hands.</p> + +<p>Before long the king’s son came that road, and +saw something shining like sunlight on a pond; +but when he came near, he found a lovely maiden +of pure gold lying in a pool of her own tears, with +her face hidden in her hair.</p> + +<p>Now the king’s son, unlike the country-folk, knew +the value of gold; but he was grieved at heart for +a maiden so stained all over with it, and more, when +he beheld how she wept. So he went to lift her +up; and there, surely, he saw the most beautiful +face he could ever have dreamed of. But, alas! so +discoloured—even her eyes, and her lips, and the +very tears she shed were the colour of gold! When +he could bring her to speak, she told him how, +because she was all gold, all the people mocked at +her, and boys threw mud at her; and she had +nowhere to go, unless it were back to the kind +gnome who lived underground, out of sight of the +sweet sun.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span></p> + +<p>So the prince said, “Come with me, and I will +take you to my father’s palace, and there nobody +shall mock you, but you shall sit all your days in +the sunshine, and be happy.”</p> + +<p>And as they went, more and more he wondered +at her great beauty—so spoiled that he could not +look at her without grief—and was taken with increasing +wonder at the beautiful wisdom stored in +her golden mind; for she told him the tales of the +heroes which she had learned from the gnome, and +of buried cities; also the songs of old poets that +have been forgotten; and her voice, like the rest +of her, was golden.</p> + +<p>The prince said to himself, “I shut my eyes, +and am ready to die loving her; yet, when I open +them, she is but a talking statue!”</p> + +<p>One day he said to her, “Under all this disguise +you must be the most beautiful thing upon earth! +Already to me you are the dearest!” and he +sighed, for he knew that a king’s son might not +marry a figure of gold.</p> + +<p>Now one day after this, as Jasomé sat alone in +the sunshine and cried, the little old gnome stood +before her, and said, “Well, Jasomé, have you +married the king’s son?”</p> + +<p>“Alas!” cried Jasomé, “you have so changed +me: I am no longer human! Yet he loves me, +and, but for that, he would marry me.”</p> + +<p>“Dear me!” said the gnome. “If that is all, +I can take the gold off you again: why, I said so!”</p> + +<p>Jasomé entreated him, by all his former kindness, +to do so for her now.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said the gnome, “but a bargain is a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>bargain. Now is the time for me to get back my +bags of gold. Do you go to your father, and let +him know that the king’s son is willing to marry +you if he restores to me my treasure that he took +from me; for that is what it comes to.”</p> + +<p>Up jumped Jasomé, and ran to the rat-catcher’s +house. “Oh, father,” she cried, “now you can +undo all your cruelty to me; for now, if you will +give back the gnome his gold, he will give my own +face back to me, and I shall marry the king’s son!”</p> + +<p>But the rat-catcher was filled with admiration at +the sight of her, and would not believe a word she +said. “I have given you your dowry,” he answered; +“three years I had to do without you to +get it. Take it away, and get married, and leave +me the peace and plenty I have so hardly earned!”</p> + +<p>Jasomé went back and told the gnome. “Really,” +said he, “I must show this rat-catcher that there +are other sorts of traps, and that it isn’t only rats +and gnomes that get caught in them! I have +given him his taste of wealth; now it shall act as +pickle to his poverty!”</p> + +<p>So the next time the rat-catcher put his foot out +of doors the ground gave way under it, and, snap!—the +gnome had him by the leg.</p> + +<p>“Let me go!” cried the rat-catcher; “I can’t +get out!”</p> + +<p>“Can’t you?” said the gnome. “If I let you +out, what will you give me?”</p> + +<p>“My daughter!” cried the rat-catcher; “my +beautiful golden daughter!”</p> + +<p>“Oh no!” laughed the gnome. “Guess +again!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p> + +<p>“My own weight in gold!” cried the rat-catcher, +in a frenzy; but the gnome would not +close the bargain till he had wrung from the rat-catcher +the promise of his last penny.</p> + +<p>So the gnome carried away all the sacks of gold +before the rat-catcher’s eyes; and when he had +them safe underground, then at last he let the old +man go. Then he called Jasomé to follow him, +and she went down willingly into the black earth.</p> + +<p>For a whole year the gnome rubbed and scrubbed +and tubbed her to get the gold out of her composition; +and when it was done, she was the most +shiningly beautiful thing you ever set eyes on.</p> + +<p>When she got back to the palace, she found her +dear prince pining for love of her, and wondering +when she would return. So they were married the +very next day; and the rat-catcher came to look +on at the wedding.</p> + +<p>He grumbled because he was in rags, and because +he was poor; he wept that he had been robbed +of his money and his daughter. But gnomes and +daughters, he said, were in one and the same box; +such ingratitude as theirs no one could beat.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_TRAVELLERS_SHOES"> + THE TRAVELLER’S SHOES + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">A long</span> while ago there lived a young +cobbler named Lubin, who, when his father +died, was left with only the shop and the +shoe-leather out of which to make his fortune. +From morning to night he toiled, making and mending +the shoes of the poor village folk; but his +earnings were small, and he seemed never able to +get more than three days ahead of poverty.</p> + +<p>One day, as he sat working at his window-bench, +the door opened, and in came a traveller. He had +on a pair of long red shoes with pointed ends; but +of one the seams had split, so that all his toes were +coming out of it.</p> + +<p>The stranger, putting up one foot after the +other, took off both shoes, and giving that one +which wanted cobbling to Lubin, he said: “To-night +I shall be sleeping here at the inn; have +this ready in good time to-morrow, for I am in +haste to go on!” And having said this he put +the other shoe into his pocket, and went out of +the door barefoot.</p> + +<p>“What a funny fellow,” thought Lubin, “not +to make the most of one shoe when he has it!” +But without stopping to puzzle himself he took up +the to-be-mended shoe and set to work. When it +was finished he threw it down on the floor behind +him, and went on working at his other jobs. He +meant to work late, for he had not enough money +yet to get himself his Sunday’s dinner; so when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>darkness shut in he lighted a rushlight and cobbled +away, thinking to himself all the while of the roast +meat that was to be his reward.</p> + +<p>It came close on midnight, and he was just putting +on the last heel of the last pair of shoes when +he was aware of a noise on the floor behind him. +He looked round, and there was the red shoe with +the pointed toe, cutting capers and prancing about +by itself in the middle of the room.</p> + +<p>“Peace on earth!” exclaimed Lubin. “I never +saw a shoe do a thing so tipsy before!” He went +up and passed his hand over it and under it, but +there was nothing to account for its caperings; on +it went, up and down, toeing and heeling, skipping +and sliding, as if for a very wager. Lubin could +even tell himself the name of the reel and the tune +that it was dancing to, for all that the other foot +was missing. Presently the shoe tripped and +toppled, falling heel up upon the floor; nor, +although Lubin watched it for a full hour, did it +ever start upon a fresh jig.</p> + +<p>Soon after daybreak, when Lubin had but just +opened his shutters and sat himself down to work, +in came the traveller, limping upon bare feet, with +the shoe’s fellow pointing its red toe out of his +pocket. “Oh, so,” he said, seeing the other shoe +ready mended and waiting for him, “how much +am I owing you for the job?”</p> + +<p>“Just a gold piece,” said Lubin, carelessly, +carrying on at his work.</p> + +<p>“A gold piece for the mere mending of a shoe!” +cried the stranger. “You must be either a rogue +or a funny fellow.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> + +<p>“Neither!” said Lubin, “and for mending a +shoe my charge is only a penny; but for mending +<i>that</i> shoe, and for all the worry and temptation +to make it my own and run off with it—a gold +piece!”</p> + +<p>“To be sure, you are an honest fellow,” said the +traveller, “and honesty is a rare gift; though, had +you made off with it, I should have soon caught +you. Still, you were not so wise as to know that, +so here’s your gold piece for you.” He pulled out +a big bag of gold as he spoke, pouring its contents +out on to the window bench.</p> + +<p>“That is a lot of money for a lonely man to +carry about,” said Lubin. “Are you not afraid?”</p> + +<p>“Why, no,” answered the man. “I have a +way, so that I can always follow it up even if I lose +it.” He took two of the gold pieces, and dropped +one into the sole of each shoe as he was putting +them on. “There!” said he, “now, if any man +steal my money, I need only wait till it is midnight; +and then I have but to say to my shoes ‘Seek!’ +and up they jump, with me in them, and carry me +to where my stolen property is, were it to the +world’s end. It is as if they had the nose and +sagacity of a pair of bloodhounds. Ah, son of a +cobbler, had you run off with the one I should have +very soon caught you with the other; for if one +walks the other is bound to follow. But, as you +were honest, we part friends; and I trust God +may bring you to fortune.” Then the traveller +did up his bag of gold, nodded to the cobbler from +the doorway, and was gone.</p> + +<p>Lubin laid down his work, and went off to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>inn. “Did anything happen here last night?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>“Nothing of much note,” answered the innkeeper. +“Three travelling fiddlers were here, and +afterwards a man came in barefoot, but with a red +shoe sticking out of his pocket. I thought of turning +the fellow away, till he let me see the colour +of his gold. Presently the fiddlers started to play +and the other man to drink. At first when they +called on him to dance he excused himself for his +feet’s sake; but presently, what with the music +and the liquor, he got so lively in his head that he +pulled on his one shoe and danced like three ordinary +men put together.”</p> + +<p>“What time was that?” asked Lubin.</p> + +<p>“Getting on for midnight,” answered the innkeeper.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said Lubin, and went home thinking +much on the way.</p> + +<p>Towards evening he found that he had run out +of leather, and must go into the town, ten miles +off, to buy more. “Now my gold piece comes in +handy,” thought he; so he locked up the house, put +the key in his pocket, and set out.</p> + +<p>Though it was the season of long days it was growing +dark when he came to a part of the road that +led through the wood; but being so poor a man he +had no fear, nor thought at all about the robbers who +were said to be in those parts. But as he went, he +saw all at once by the side of the road two red spikes +sticking up out of a ditch, their bright colour making +them plain to the eye. He came quite near and saw +that they were two red shoes with pointed toes; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>and then he saw more clearly that along with them +lay the traveller, his wallet empty and with a dagger +stuck through his heart.</p> + +<p>The cobbler’s son was as sorry as he could be. +“Alas, poor soul,” thought he, “what good are +the shoes to you now? Now that thieves have +killed you and taken away your gold, surely I do no +harm if I give an honest man your shoes!” He +stooped down, and was about taking them off when he +saw the eyes of the dead man open. The eyes looked +at him as if they would remind him of something; +and at once, when he loosed hold of the shoes, they +seemed satisfied. Then he remembered, and +thought to himself, “The world has many marvels +in it; I will wait till midnight and see.”</p> + +<p>For over three hours he kept watch by the dead +man’s side. “Only last night,” he said to himself, +“this poor fellow was dancing as merry a measure +as ever I saw, for the half of it surely I saw; and +now!” Then he judged that midnight must be +come, so he bent over the shoes and whispered to +them but one word.</p> + +<p>The dead man stood up in his shoes and began +running. Lubin followed close, keeping an eye on +him, for the shoes made no sound on the earth. +They ran on for two hours, till they had come to the +thickest part of the forest; then some way before +them Lubin began to see a light shining. It came +from a small square house in a court-yard, and round +the court-yard lay a deep moat; only one narrow +plank led over and up to the entrance.</p> + +<p>The red shoes, carrying the dead man, walked over, +and Lubin followed them. When they were at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>other side they turned, facing towards the plank that +they had crossed, and Lubin seemed to read in the +dead man’s eye what he was to do.</p> + +<p>Then he turned and lifted the plank away from +over the moat, so that there was no longer any +entrance or exit to the place. Through the window +of the house he could see the three fiddlers quarrelling +over the dead man’s gold.</p> + +<p>The red shoes went on, carrying their dead owner, +till they got to the threshold, and there stopped. +Then Lubin came and clicked up the latch, and +pushed open the door, and in walked the dead man +with the dagger sticking out of his heart.</p> + +<p>The three fiddlers, when they saw that sight, +dropped their gold and leapt out of the window; +and as they fled, shrieking, thinking to cross the +moat by the plank-bridge that was no longer there, +one after the other they fell into the water, +and, clutching each other by the throat, were +drowned.</p> + +<p>But the red shoes stayed where they were, and, +tilting up his feet, let the traveller go gently upon the +ground; and when Lubin held down the lantern to +his face, on it lay a good smile, to tell him that the +dead man thanked him for all he had done.</p> + +<p>So in the morning Lubin went and fetched a +priest to pray for the repose of the traveller’s soul, +and to give him good burial; and to him he gave all +the dead man’s money, but for himself he took the +red shoes with the pointed toes, and set out to make +his fortune in the world.</p> + +<p>Walking along he found that however far he went +he never grew tired. When he had gone on for more +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>than a hundred miles, he came to the capital where +the King lived with his Court.</p> + +<p>All the flags of the city were at half-mast, and +all the people were in half-mourning. Lubin asked +at the first inn where he stopped what it all meant.</p> + +<p>“You must indeed be a stranger,” said his host, +“not to know, for ’tis now nearly a year since this +trouble began; and this very night more cause for +mourning becomes due.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me of it, then,” said Lubin, “for I know +nothing at all.”</p> + +<p>“At least,” returned the innkeeper, “you will +know how, a little more than a year ago, the Queen, +who was the most beautiful woman in the world, +died, leaving the King with twelve daughters, who, +after her, were reckoned the fairest women on earth, +though the King says that all their beauty rolled into +one would not equal that of his dead wife; and, +indeed, poor man, there is no doubt that he loved her +devotedly during her life, and mourns for her continually +now she is dead.”</p> + +<p>“Only a small part of all this have I known,” said +Lubin.</p> + +<p>“Well, but at least,” said the innkeeper, “you +will have heard how the Princesses were famed for +their hair; so beautiful it was, so golden, and so +long! And now, at every full moon, one of them +goes bald in a night; and bald her head stays as a +stone, for never an inch of hair grows on it again; +and with her hair all her beauty goes pale, so that +she is but the shadow of her former self—a thin-blooded +thing, as if a vampire had come and sucked +out half her life. Yes; ten months this has happened, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>and ten of the Princesses have lost their +looks and their hair as well; and now only the Princess +Royal and the youngest of all remain untouched; +and doubtless one of them is to lose her crop to-night.”</p> + +<p>“But how does it happen?” cried Lubin. “Is +no one put to keep watch, to guard them from the +thing being done?”</p> + +<p>“Ah! you talk, you talk!” said the innkeeper. +“How? The King has offered half his kingdom to +anyone who can tell him how the mischief is done; +and the other half to the man who will put an end +to it. To put it shortly, if you believe yourself a +clever enough man, you may have the King for your +father-in-law, with the pick of his daughters for your +bride, and be his heir and lord of all when he dies!”</p> + +<p>“For such a reward,” said Lubin, “has no man +made the attempt?”</p> + +<p>“Aye, one a month; every time there has been +some man fool enough to think himself so clever; +and he has been turned out of the palace next day +with his ears cropped.”</p> + +<p>“I will risk having my ears cropped,” said Lubin; +for his heart was sorry for the young Princesses, and +the vanishing of their beauty. So he went up and +knocked at the gates of the palace.</p> + +<p>They went and told the King that a new man had +come willing and wanting to have his ears cropped +on the morrow. “Well, well,” said the King, “let +the poor fool in!” for indeed he had given up all +hope. From the King Lubin heard the whole +story over again. The old man sighed so it took +him whole hours to tell it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></p> + +<p>“I would be glad to be your son,” said Lubin, +when the King had ended; “but I would like better +to make you rid of your sorrow.”</p> + +<p>“That is kind of you,” said the King. “Perhaps +I will only crop one of your ears to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“When may one see the Princesses?” asked +Lubin.</p> + +<p>“They will be down to supper, presently,” answered +the King; “then you shall see them, what +there is left of them.”</p> + +<p>Though it was reckoned that the next day Lubin +would have to be drummed out of the palace with +his ears cropped short, on this day he was to be +treated like an honoured guest. When they went in +to supper the King made him sit upon his right hand.</p> + +<p>The twelve Princesses came in, their heads +bowed down with weeping; all were fair, but ten +of them were thin and pale, and wore white wimples +over their heads like nuns; only the Princess Royal, +who was the eldest, and Princess Lyneth, who was +the youngest, had gold hair down to their feet, and +were both so shiningly beautiful that the poor cobbler +was altogether dazzled by the sight of them.</p> + +<p>The King looked out of the window and said: +“Heigho! There is the full moon beginning to +rise.” Then they all said grace and sat down.</p> + +<p>But when the viands were handed round, all the +Princesses sat weeping into their plates, and seemed +unable to eat anything. For the pale and thin ones +said: “To-night another of our sisters will lose her +golden hair and her good looks, and be like us!” +Therefore they wept.</p> + +<p>And Lyneth said: “To-night, either my dear +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>sister or myself will fall under the spell!” Therefore +she wept more than the other ten. But the +Princess Royal sat trembling, and crying:</p> + +<p>“To-night I know that the curse is to fall upon +me, and me only!” Therefore she wept more than +all.</p> + +<p>Lubin sat, and watched, and listened, with his +head bent down over his golden plate. “Which of +these two shall I try most to save?” he thought. +“How shall I test them, so as to know? If I could +only tell which of them was to lose her hair to-night, +then I might do something.”</p> + +<p>He saw that the youngest sister cried so much +that she could eat nothing; but the Princess Royal, +between her bursts of grief, picked up a morsel now +and again from her plate, and ate it as though courage +or despair reminded her that she must yet strive +to live.</p> + +<p>When the meat-courses were over, the King said +to the Princesses: “I wish you would try to eat a +little pudding! Here is a very promising youth, +who is determined by all that is in him that harm +shall happen to none of you to-night.”</p> + +<p>“To-morrow he will be sent away with his ears +cut short!” said Princess Lyneth; and her tears, +as she spoke, ran down over the edge of her plate on +to the cloth.</p> + +<p>When supper was over the Princess Royal came up +to Lubin, and said: “Do not be angry with my +sister for what she said! It has only been too true +of many who came before; to-night, unless you do +better than them all, I shall lose my hair. It has +been a wonder to me how I have been spared so long, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>seeing that I am the eldest, and, as some will have it, +the fairest. Will you keep a good guard over me to-night, +as though you knew for certain that I am to +be the one this time to suffer?”</p> + +<p>“I will guard you as my own life,” said Lubin, +“if you will but do as I ask you.”</p> + +<p>“Pledge yourself to me, then, in this cup!” said +she, and lifted to his lips a bowl of red wine. Over +the edge of it her eyes shone beautifully; he drank +gazing into their clear depth.</p> + +<p>“Where am I to be for the night,” he asked of the +King, “so that I may watch over the two Princesses?”</p> + +<p>The King took him to a chamber with two further +doors that opened out of it. “Here,” said the +King, “you are to sleep, and in the inner rooms +sleep the Princess Royal and the Princess Lyneth. +There is no entrance or exit to them but through +this; therefore, when you are here with your door +bolted, one would suppose that you had them safe. +Alas! ten other men have tried like you to ward +off the harm, and have failed; and so to-day I have +ten daughters with no looks left to them, and no +hair upon their heads.”</p> + +<p>As they were speaking, the two Princesses, with +their sisters, came up to bed. And the pale ones, +wearing their white wimples, came and kissed the +golden hair of the other two, crying over it, and +saying, “To one of you we are saying good-bye; to-morrow +one of you will be like us!” Then they +went away to their sleeping-place, and the Princess +Royal and Lyneth kissed each other, and parted +weeping, each into her own chamber.</p> + +<p>“Watch well over us!” said Lyneth to Lubin, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a><a id="Page_120"></a><a id="Page_121"></a>[Pg 121]</span>as she passed through. “Watch over me!” said +the Princess Royal. And then the two doors were +closed.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_119" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_119_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_119.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>Lubin said to the King, “Could I now see the +two Princesses, without being seen by them, it would +help me to know what to do.”</p> + +<p>“Come down to my cabinet,” said the King. +“I have an invisible cap there, that I can lend you +if you think you can do any good with it.” So they +went; and the King reached down the cap from the +wall and gave it to Lubin.</p> + +<p>“Now, good-night, your Majesty,” said Lubin; +“I will do for you all I can.”</p> + +<p>The King answered, “Either you shall be my +son-in-law to-morrow, or you shall have no ears. +My wishes are with you that the former state may +be yours.”</p> + +<p>Lubin went into his chamber and closed and +bolted the door; then he put the bed up against it. +“Now, at least,” he thought, “there are three of +us, and no more!” He put on his invisible cap, +and going softly to the Princess Royal’s door, opened +it and peeped in.</p> + +<p>She stood up before her glass, combing out her +long gold hair, and smiling proudly because of its +beauty. She gathered it up by all its ends and kissed +it; then, letting it fall, she went on combing as +before.</p> + +<p>Lubin went out, closing the door again; then +he took off his cap and knocked, and presently he +heard the Princess Royal saying, “Come in!” +She was lying down upon the bed, squeezing her +eyes with her hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span></p> + +<p>“Princess,” he said, “I will watch over you like +my own life, if you will do what I bid you. I am +but a poor man, and the best that I can do is but +poor; but I think, if you will, I can save your head +from becoming as bare as a billiard ball.”</p> + +<p>The Princess asked him how.</p> + +<p>“You know,” said he, “that to-night something +is to happen to one of you” (“To me!” said the +Princess), “and all your hair will be stolen in such +a way that nothing will ever make it grow again. +See, here I have a pair of common scissors; let me +but cut your hair close off all over your head, and +then who can steal it? For a few months you will +be a fright, but it can grow again.”</p> + +<p>“I think you are a silly fellow!” said the Princess. +“Better for you to get to bed, and have +your ears cropped quietly in the morning! After +all, it may be my sister’s turn to lose her hair, not +mine. I shall not make myself a fright for a year +of my life in order to save you.”</p> + +<p>“If you think so poorly of my offer,” said Lubin, +“I had better go to bed and sleep, and not trouble +the Princess Lyneth at all with it.”</p> + +<p>“No, indeed!” said the Princess Royal. “Go +to bed and sleep, poor fool!” And, in truth, +Lubin was feeling so sleepy that he could hardly +keep open his eyes.</p> + +<p>Then he left her, and, pulling the invisible cap +once more over his head, crept softly into Princess +Lyneth’s chamber.</p> + +<p>She was standing before her glass with all her +beautiful hair flowing down from shoulders to feet; +and tears were falling fast out of her eyes as she +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>kept drawing her hair together in her hands, kissing +and moaning over it.</p> + +<p>Then Lubin went out again, and, taking off his +cap, knocked softly at the door.</p> + +<p>“Come in!” said the Princess; and when he +went in she was still standing before the glass +weeping and moaning for her beautiful hair, that +might never see another day. On the bed was +lying a white wimple, ready for her to put on when +her head was become bald.</p> + +<p>“Princess,” said Lubin, very humbly, “will you +help me to save your beautiful hair, by doing what +I ask?”</p> + +<p>“What is it that you ask?” said she.</p> + +<p>“Only this,” he answered; “I am a poor man, +and cannot do much for you, but only my best. +To-night you or your sister must lose your hair; +and we know that afterwards, if that happen, it +can never grow again. Now, come, here I have a +common pair of scissors; if I could cut your hair +quite short, in a few months it will grow again, +and there will be nothing to-night that the Fates +can steal. Will you let me do this for you in true +service?”</p> + +<p>The Princess looked at him, and looked at her +glass. “Oh, my hair, my hair!” she moaned. +Then she said, “What matters it? You mean to +be good to me, and a month is the most that my +fortune can last. If I do not lose it to-night, I +lose it at the next full moon!” Then she shut +her eyes and bade him take off all he wished. When +he had finished, she picked up the wimple and +covered her head with it; but Lubin took up +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>the long coil of gold hair and wound it round his +heart.</p> + +<p>He knelt down at her feet. “Princess,” he said, +“be sure now that I can save you! Only I have +one other request to make.”</p> + +<p>“What is that?” asked the Princess.</p> + +<p>He took off one of his red shoes with the pointed +toes. “Will you, for a strange thing, put on this +shoe and wear it all to-night in your sleep? And +in the morning I will ask you for it again.”</p> + +<p>The Princess promised faithfully that she would +do so. Even before he had left the room she had +put foot in it, promising that only he should take +it off again.</p> + +<p>Lubin’s eyes were shut down with sleep as he +groped his way to bed; he lay down with the other +red shoe upon his foot. “Watch for your fellow!” +he said to it; and then his senses left him and he +was fast asleep.</p> + +<p>In the middle of the night, while he was deep +in slumber, the red shoe caught him by the foot +and yanked him out of bed; he woke up to find +himself standing in the middle of the room, and +there before him stood the two doors of the inner +chambers open; through that of the Princess +Royal came a light. He heard the Princess Lyneth +getting very softly out of her bed, and presently +she stood in the doorway, with her hands out and +her eyes fast shut; and the red shoe was on one +foot, and the white wimple on her head. Little +tears were running down from under her closed lids; +and she sighed continually in her sleep. “Have +pity on me!” she said.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> + +<p>She crossed slowly from one door to the other; +and Lubin, putting on his invisible cap, crept softly +after her. The Princess Royal’s chamber was +empty, but her glass was opened away from the +wall like a door, and beyond lay a passage and steps. +At the top of the steps was another door, and +through it light came, and the sound of a soft +voice singing.</p> + +<p>Princess Lyneth, knowing nothing in her sleep, +passed along the passage and up the steps till she +came to the further doorway. Looking over her +shoulder Lubin saw the Princess Royal sitting +before a loom. In it lay a great cloth of gold, like +a bride’s mantle, into which she was weaving the +last threads of her skein. Close to her side lay a +pair of great shears that shone like blue fire; and +while she sang they opened and snapped, keeping +time to the music she made.</p> + +<p>Without ever turning her head the Princess +Royal sat passing her fingers along the woof and +crying:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sister, sister, bring me your hair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of our Mother’s beauty give me your share.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">You must grow pale, while I must grow fair!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>And while she was so singing, Lyneth drew nearer +and nearer, with her eyes fast shut, and the white +wimple over her head. “Have pity on me!” she +said, speaking in her sleep.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Princess Royal heard that she +laughed for joy, and catching up the great flaming +shears, turned herself round to where Lyneth was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>standing. Then she opened the shears, and took +hold of the wimple, and pulled it down.</p> + +<p>All in a moment she was choking with rage, for +horrible was the sight that met her eye. “Ah! +cobbler’s son,” cried she, “you shall die for this! +To-morrow not only shall you have your two ears +cropped, but you shall die: do not be afraid!”</p> + +<p>Lubin looked at her and smiled, knowing how +little she thought that he heard her words. “Ah! +Princess Royal,” he said to himself, “there is another +who should now be afraid, but is not.”</p> + +<p>Then for very spite the Princess began slapping +her sister’s face. “Ah! wicked little sister,” she +cried, “you have cheated me this time! But go +back and wait till your hair has grown, and then +my gown of gold shall be finished, although this +once you have been too sly!” She threw down the +shears, and drove her sister back by stair and passage, +and through the looking-glass door at the other end.</p> + +<p>Lubin following, stayed first to watch how by a +secret spring the Princess Royal closed the mirror +back into the wall; then he slipped on before, and +taking his cap off, lay down on his bed pretending +to be fast asleep. He heard Princess Lyneth return +to her couch, and then came the Princess +Royal and ground her teeth at him in the darkness.</p> + +<p>Presently she, too, returned to her bed and lay +down; and an hour after Lubin got up very softly +and went into her chamber. There she lay asleep, +with her beautiful hair all spread out upon the +pillow; but Lubin had Princess Lyneth’s hair +wound round his heart. He touched the secret +spring, so that the mirror opened to him, and he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>passed through toward the little chamber where +stood the loom.</p> + +<p>There hung the cloth of gold, all but finished; +beside it the shears opened and snapped, giving out +a blue light. He took up the shears in his hand, +and pulled down the gold web from the loom, and +back he went, closing the mirror behind him.</p> + +<p>Then he came to the Princess Royal as she lay +asleep; and first he laid the cloth of gold over her, +and saw how at once she became ten times more +fair than she was by rights, as fair almost as her +dead mother, lacking one part only. But her +beauty did not win him to have pity on her.</p> + +<p>“There can be thieves, it seems, in high places!” +he said; and with that he opened the shears over +her head and let them snap: then all her long hair +came out by the roots, and she lay white and +withered before his eyes, and as bald as a stone.</p> + +<p>He gathered up all her hair with one hand, and +the cloth of gold with the other, and went quietly +away. Then, hiding the shears in a safe place, +first he burnt the Princess Royal’s hair, till it became +only a little heap of frizzled cinders; and after that +he went to the chamber of the ten Princesses, +whose hair and whose sweet youth had been stolen +from them. There they lay all in a row in ten beds, +with pale, gentle faces, asleep under their white +wimples.</p> + +<p>He went to the first, and, laying the cloth of +hair over her, cried:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Sister, sister, I bring you your hair,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of your Mother’s beauty I give you your share.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">One must grow pale, but you must grow fair!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span></p> + +<p>And as he said the words one part of the cloth +unwove itself from the rest, and ran in ripples up +the coverlet, and on to the pillow where the Princess’s +head lay. There it coiled itself under the +wimple, a great mass of shining gold, and the face +of the Princess flushed warm and lovely in her +sleep.</p> + +<p>Lubin passed on to the next bed, and there +uttered the same words; and again one part of +the web came loose, and wound itself about the +sleeper’s face, that grew warm and lovely at its +touch. So he went from bed to bed, and when he +came to the end there was no more of the web +left.</p> + +<p>He went back into his own chamber, laughing +in his heart for joy, and there he dropped himself +between the sheets and fell into a sound +slumber.</p> + +<p>He was awakened in the morning by the King +knocking and trying to get into the room. Lubin +pulled back the bed, and in came the King with a +mournful countenance.</p> + +<p>“Which of them is it?” said he.</p> + +<p>“Go and ask them!” said Lubin.</p> + +<p>The King went over and knocked at the Princess +Royal’s door: the knocking opened her eyes. +Lubin heard her suddenly utter a yell. “Ah! +now she has looked at herself in the glass,” thought +he.</p> + +<p>“What is the matter?” called the King. +“Come out and let me look at you!” But the +Princess Royal would not come out. She ran quick +to her mirror, and touched the secret spring. “At +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>least,” she thought, “though fiends have robbed +me of all my beauty, I can get it back by wearing +the cloth woven from my sisters’ hair!” She +skipped along the passage and up the steps to the +little chamber where the loom was.</p> + +<p>The King, getting no answer, went across and +knocked at Lyneth’s door; she came out, all fresh in +her beauty, but wearing upon her head the wimple. +“Ah!” said the King dolorously; and he snipped +his fingers at Lubin.</p> + +<p>Lubin laughed out. “But look at her face!” +he said. “Surely she is beautiful enough?”</p> + +<p>The Princess lifted up her wimple, and showed +the King her hair all shorn beneath. “That was +my doing,” said Lubin; “’twas the way of saving +it.”</p> + +<p>“What a Dutchman’s remedy!” cried the +King; and just then the Princess Royal’s door +flew open.</p> + +<p>She came out tearing herself to pieces with rage; +her face was pale and thin, and her head was as bare +as a billiard ball. “Have that clown of a cobbler +killed!” she cried in a passion. “That fool, that +numbskull, that cheat! Have him beheaded, I +say!”</p> + +<p>“No, no, I am only to have one of my ears +cropped off!” said Lubin, looking hard at her all +the time.</p> + +<p>“I am not at all sure,” said the King. “You +have done foolishly and badly, for not only have +you let the disease go on, but your very remedy +is as bad. Two heads of hair gone in one night! +You had better have kept away. If the Princesses +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>wish it, certainly I will have you put to +death.”</p> + +<p>“Will you not see the other Princesses too?” +asked Lubin. “Let them decide between them +whether I am to live or die!”</p> + +<p>The King was just going to call for them, when +suddenly the ten Princesses opened the door of their +chamber, and stood before him shining like stars, +with all their golden hair running down to their +feet.</p> + +<p>“Now put me to death!” said Lubin; and all +the time he kept his eye upon the Princess Royal, who +turned flame-coloured with rage.</p> + +<p>“No, indeed!” cried the King. “Now you must +be more than pardoned! You see, my dears,” he +said to Lyneth and the Princess Royal, “though you +have suffered, your sisters have recovered all that they +lost. They are ten to two; and I can’t go back on +arithmetic; I am bound to do even more than +pardon him for this.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed and indeed yes!” replied the Princess +Lyneth. “He has done ten times more than we +thought of asking him!” And she went from one +to another of her recovered sisters, kissing their +beautiful long hair for pure gladness of heart. But +when she came to the Princess Royal, she kissed her +many times, and stooped down her face upon her +shoulder, and cried over her.</p> + +<p>“Tell me now,” said the King to Lubin, “for +you are a very wonderful fellow, how did it all +happen?”</p> + +<p>Lubin looked at the Princess Royal; after all he +could not betray a lady’s secret. “I cannot tell +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>you,” he said; “if I did, there would be a death in +the family.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the King, “however you may +have done it, I own that you have earned your reward. +You have only to choose now which of my +daughters is to make you my son-in-law. From +this day you shall be known as my heir.” He +ranged all the Princesses in line, according to their +ages. “Now choose,” said the King, “and choose +well!”</p> + +<p>Lubin went up to the Princess Royal. “I won’t +have you!” he said, looking very hard at her; and +the Princess Royal dropped her eyes. Then he went +on to the next. “Sweet lady,” he said, “I dare not +ask one with such beautiful hair as yours to marry +me, who am a poor cobbler’s son.” But all the while +he had the Princess Lyneth’s hair bound round his +heart.</p> + +<p>He went on from one to another, and of each he +kissed the hand, saying that she was too fair to marry +him.</p> + +<p>He came to Lyneth and knelt down at her feet. +“Lyneth,” he said, “will you give the poor cobbler +back his shoe?”</p> + +<p>Lyneth, looking in his eyes, saw all that he meant. +“And myself in it,” she said, “for you love me +dearly!” She put her arms round his neck, and +whispered, “You marry me because I am a fright, +and have no hair!”</p> + +<p>But Lubin said, “I have your hair all wound round +my heart, making it warm!”</p> + +<p>So they were married, and lived together more +happily than cobbler and princess ever lived in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>world before. And the cobbler dropped mending +shoes: only his wife’s shoes he always mended. +Very soon Lyneth’s hair grew again, more shining +and beautiful than before; but the Princess Royal +remained pale, and thin, and was bald to the day of +her death.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_ROOTED_LOVER"> + THE ROOTED LOVER + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Morning</span> and evening a ploughboy went +driving his team through a lane at the +back of the palace garden. Over the hedge +the wind came sweet with the scents of a thousand +flowers, and through the hedge shot glimpses of all +the colours of the rainbow, while now and then +went the sheen of silver and gold tissue when the +Princess herself paced by with her maidens. Also +above all the crying and calling of the blackbirds +and thrushes that filled the gardens with song, +came now and then an airy exquisite voice flooding +from bower to field; and that was the voice of +the Princess Fleur-de-lis herself singing.</p> + +<p>When she sang all the birds grew silent; new +flowers came into bud to hear her and into blossom +to look at her; apples and pears ripened and dropped +down at her feet; her voice sang the bees home as if +it were evening: and the ploughboy as he passed +stuck his face into the thorny hedge, and feasted his +eyes and ears with the sight and sound of her beauty.</p> + +<p>He was a red-faced boy, red with the wind and the +sun: over his face his hair rose like a fair flame, but +his eyes were black and bold, and for love he had the +heart of a true gentleman.</p> + +<p>Yet he was but a ploughboy, rough-shod and +poorly clad in a coat of frieze, and great horses went +at a word from him. But no word from him might +move the heart of that great Princess; she never +noticed the sound of his team as it jingled by, nor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>saw the dark eyes and the bronzed red face wedged +into the thorn hedge for love of her.</p> + +<p>“Ah! Princess,” sighed the ploughboy to himself, +as the thorns pricked into his flesh, “were it but a +thorn-hedge which had to be trampled down, you +should be my bride to-morrow!” But shut off +by the thorns, he was not a whit further from +winning her than if he had been kneeling at her feet.</p> + +<p>He had no wealth in all the world, only a poor hut +with poppies growing at the door; no mother or +father, and his own living to get. To think at all of +the Princess was the sign either of a knave or a fool.</p> + +<p>No knave, but perhaps a fool, he thought himself +to be. “I will go,” he said at last, “to the wise +woman who tells fortunes and works strange cures, +and ask her to help me.”</p> + +<p>So he took all the money he had in the world and +went to the wise woman in her house by the dark +pool, and said, “Show me how I may win Princess +Fleur-de-lis to be my wife, and I will give you everything +I possess.”</p> + +<p>“That is a hard thing you ask,” said the wise +woman; “how much dare you risk for it?”</p> + +<p>“Anything you can name,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Your life?” said she.</p> + +<p>“With all my heart,” he replied; “for without +her I shall but end by dying.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the wise woman, “give me your +money, and you shall take your own risk.”</p> + +<p>Then he gave her all.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said she, “you have but to choose any +flower you like, and I will turn you into it; then, +in the night I will take you and plant you in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a><a id="Page_136"></a><a id="Page_137"></a>[Pg 137]</span>palace garden; and if before you die the Princess +touches you with her lips and lays you as a flower in +her bosom, you shall become a man again and win +her love; but if not, when the flower dies you will +die too and be no more. So if that seem to you a +good bargain, you have but to name your flower, and +the thing is done.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_135" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_135_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_135.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>“Agreed, with all my heart!” cried the ploughboy. +“Only make me into some flower that is +like me, for I would have the Princess to know what +sort of a man I am, so that she shall not be deceived +when she takes me to her bosom.”</p> + +<p>He looked himself up and he looked himself down +in the pool which was before the wise woman’s +home; at his rough frieze coat with its frayed edges, +his long supple limbs, and his red face with its black +eyes, and hair gleaming at the top.</p> + +<p>“I am altogether like a poppy,” he said, “what +with my red head, and my rough coat, and my life +among fields which the plough turns to furrow. +Make a poppy of me, and put me in the palace garden +and I will be content.”</p> + +<p>Then she stroked him down with her wand full +couthly, and muttered her wise saws over him, for +she was a wonderful witch-woman; and he turned +before her very eyes into a great red poppy, and his +coat of frieze became green and hairy all over him, +and his feet ran down into the ground like roots.</p> + +<p>The wise woman got a big flower-pot and a spade; +and she dug him up out of the ground and planted +him in the pot, and having watered him well, waited +till it was quite dark.</p> + +<p>As soon as the pole-star had hung out its light she +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>got across her besom, tucked the flower-pot under +her arm, and sailed away over hedge and ditch till +she came to the palace garden.</p> + +<p>There she dug a hole in a border by one of the +walks, shook the ploughboy out of his flower-pot, +and planted him with his feet deep down in the +soil. Then giving a wink all round, and a wink up +to the stars, she set her cap to the east, mounted her +besom, and rode away into thin space.</p> + +<p>But the poppy stood up where she had left him +taking care of his petals, so as to be ready to show +them off to the Princess the next morning. He did +not go fast asleep, but just dozed the time away, +and found it quite pleasant to be a flower, the night +being warm. Now and then small insects ran up +his stalks, or a mole passed under his roots, reminding +him of the mice at home. But the poppy’s chief +thought was for the morning to return; for then +would come the Princess walking straight to where +he stood, and would reach out a hand and gather +him, and lay her lips to his and his head upon her +bosom, so that in the shaking of a breath he could +turn again to his right shape, and her love would +be won for ever.</p> + +<p>Morning came, and gardeners with their brooms +and barrows went all about, sweeping up the leaves, +and polishing off the slugs from the gravel-paths. +The head gardener came and looked at the poppy. +“Who has been putting this weed here?” he cried. +And at that the poppy felt a shiver of red ruin go +through him; for what if the gardener were to weed +him up so that he could never see the Princess again?</p> + +<p>All the other gardeners came and considered him, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span>twisting wry faces at him. But they said, “Perhaps +it is a whim of the Princess’s. It’s none of our planting.” +So after all they let him be.</p> + +<p>The sun rose higher and higher, and the gardeners +went carrying away their barrows and brooms; +but the poppy stood waiting with his black eye +turned to the way by which the Princess should +come.</p> + +<p>It was a long waiting, for princesses do not rise +with the lark, and the poppy began to think his +petals would be all shrivelled and old before she +came. But at last he saw slim white feet under the +green boughs and heard voices and shawm-like laughter +and knew that it was the Princess coming to him.</p> + +<p>Down the long walks he watched her go, pausing +here and there to taste a fruit that fell or to look +at a flower that opened. To him she would come +shortly, and so bravely would he woo her with his +red face, that she would at once bend down and press +her lips to his, and lift him softly to her bosom. +Yes, surely she would do this.</p> + +<p>She came; she stopped full and began looking at +him: he burned under her gaze. “That is very +beautiful!” she said at last. “Why have I not seen +that flower before? Is it so rare, then, that there +is no other?” But, “Oh, it is too common!” +cried all her maids in a chorus; “it is only a common +poppy such as grows wild in the fields.”</p> + +<p>“Yet it is very beautiful,” said the Princess; and +she looked at it long before she passed on. She half +bent to it. “Surely now,” said the poppy, “her +lips to mine!”</p> + +<p>“Has it a sweet smell?” she asked. But one of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>her maids said, “No, only a poor little stuffy smell, +not nice at all!” and the Princess drew back.</p> + +<p>“Alas, alas,” murmured the poor poppy in his +heart, as he watched her departing, “why did I +forget to choose a flower with a sweet smell? then +surely at this moment she would have been mine.” +He felt as if his one chance were gone, and death +already overtaking him. But he remained brave; +“At least,” he said, “I will die looking at her; I +will not faint or wither, till I have no life left in me. +And after all there is to-morrow.” So he went to +sleep hoping much, and slept late into the morning +of the next day.</p> + +<p>Opening his eyes he was aware of a great blaze of +red in a border to his right. Ears had been attentive +to the words of Princess Fleur-de-lis, and a whole +bed of poppies had been planted to gratify her latest +fancy. There they were, in a thick mass burning +the air around them with their beauty. Alas! +against their hundreds what chance had he?</p> + +<p>And the Princess came and stood by them, lost +in admiration, while the poppy turned to her his +love-sick eye, trying to look braver than them all. +And she being gracious, and not forgetful of what +first had given her pleasure, came and looked at him +also, but not very long; and as for her lips, there +was no chance for him there now. Yet for the delight +of those few moments he was almost contented +with the fate he had chosen—to be a flower, and to +die as a flower so soon as his petals fell.</p> + +<p>Days came and went; they were all alike now, +save that the Princess stayed less often to look at +him or the other poppies which had stolen his last +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>chance from him. He saw autumn changes coming +over the garden; flowers sickened and fell, and were +removed, and the nights began to get cold.</p> + +<p>Beside him the other poppies were losing their +leaves, and their flaming tops had grown scantier; +but for a little while he would hold out still; so +long as he had life his eye should stay open to look +at the Princess as she passed by.</p> + +<p>The sweet-smelling flowers were gone, but the loss +of their fragrant rivalry gave him no greater hopes: +one by one every gorgeous colour dropped away; +only when a late evening primrose hung her lamp +beside him in the dusk did he feel that there was +anything left as bright as himself to the eye. And +now death was taking hold of him, each night twisting +and shrivelling his leaves; but still he held up +his head, determined that, though but for one more +day, his eye should be blessed by a sight of his Princess. +If he could keep looking at her he believed he +should dream of her when dead.</p> + +<p>At length he could see that he was the very last +of all the poppies, the only spot of flame in a garden +that had gone grey. In the cold dewy mornings +cobwebs hung their silvery hammocks about the +leaves, and the sun came through mist, making them +sparkle. And beautiful they were, but to him they +looked like the winding-sheet of his dead hopes.</p> + +<p>Now it happened just about this time that the +Prince of a neighbouring country was coming to the +Court to ask Princess Fleur-de-lis’ hand in marriage. +The fame of his manners and his good looks had +gone before him, and the Princess being bred to the +understanding that princesses must marry for the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>good of nations according to the bidding of their +parents, was willing, since the King her father +wished it, to look upon his suit with favour. All +that she looked for was to be wooed with sufficient +ardour, and to be allowed time for a becoming +hesitancy before yielding.</p> + +<p>A great ball was prepared to welcome the Prince +on his arrival; and when the day came, Princess +Fleur-de-lis went into the garden to find some flower +that she might wear as an adornment of her loveliness. +But almost everything had died of frost, and +the only flower that retained its full beauty was the +poor bewitched poppy, kept alive for love of her.</p> + +<p>“How wonderfully that red flower has lasted!” +she said to one of her maidens. “Gather it for me, +and I will wear it with my dress to-night.”</p> + +<p>The poppy, not knowing that he was about to +meet a much more dangerous rival than any flower, +thrilled and almost fainted for bliss as the maid +picked him from the stalk and carried him in.</p> + +<p>He lay upon Princess Fleur-de-lis’ toilet-table +and watched the putting on of her ballroom array. +“If she puts me in her breast,” he thought, “she +must some time touch me with her lips; and then!”</p> + +<p>And then, when the maid was giving soft finishing +touches to the Princess’s hair, the beloved one herself +took up the poppy and arranged it in the meshes +of gold. “Alas!” thought the poppy, even while +he nestled blissfully in its warm depths, “I shall +never reach her lips from here; but I shall dream of +her when dead; and for a ploughboy, that surely +is enough of happiness.”</p> + +<p>So he went down with her to the ball, and could +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>feel the soft throbbing of her temples, for she had +not yet seen this Prince who was to be her lover, +and her head was full of gentle agitation and excitement +to know what he would be like. Very soon +he was presented to her in state. Certainly he was +extremely passable: he was tall and fine and had a +pair of splendid mustachios that stuck out under his +nostrils like walrus-tusks, and curled themselves like +ram’s horns. Beyond a slight fear that these might +sweep her away when he tried to kiss her, she +favoured his looks sufficiently to be prepared to accept +his hand when he offered it.</p> + +<p>Then music called to them invitingly, and she was +led away to the dance.</p> + +<p>As they danced the Prince said: “I cannot tell +how it is, I feel as if someone were looking at me.”</p> + +<p>“Half the world is looking at you,” said the +Princess in slight mockery. “Do you not know you +are dancing with Princess Fleur-de-lis?”</p> + +<p>“Beautiful Princess,” said the Prince, “can I ever +forget it? But it is not in that way I feel myself +looked at. I could swear I have seen somewhere a +man with a sunburnt face and a bold black eye +looking at me.”</p> + +<p>“There is no such here,” said the Princess; and +they danced on.</p> + +<p>When the dance was over the Prince led her to a +seat screened from view by rich hangings of silken +tapestry; and Princess Fleur-de-lis knew that the +time for the wooing was come.</p> + +<p>She looked at him; quite clearly she meant to +say “Yes.” Without being glad, she was not sorry. +If he wooed well she would have him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span></p> + +<p>“It is strange,” said the Prince, “I certainly feel +that I am being looked at.”</p> + +<p>The Princess was offended. “I am not looking at +you in the least,” she said slightingly.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” replied the other, “if you did, I should +lose at once any less pleasant sensation; for when +your eyes are upon me I know only that I love you—you, +Princess, who are the most beautiful, the most +radiant, the most accomplished, the most charming +of your sex! Why should I waste time in laying +my heart bare before you? It is here; it is yours. +Take it!”</p> + +<p>“Truly,” thought the Princess, “this is very +pretty wooing, and by no means ill done.” She +bent down her head, and she toyed and she coyed, +but she would not say “Yes” yet.</p> + +<p>But the poppy, when he heard the Prince’s words, +first went all of a tremble, and then giving a great +jump fell down at the Princess’s feet. And she, +toying and coying, and not wishing to say “Yes” +yet, bent down and taking up the poppy from where +it had fallen, brushed it gently to and fro over her +lips to conceal her smiles, and then tucking her chin +down into the dimples of her neck began to arrange +the flower in the bosom of her gown.</p> + +<p>As she did so, all of a sudden a startled look came +over her face. “Oh! I am afraid!” she cried. +“The man, the man with the red face, and the +strong black eyes!”</p> + +<p>“What is the matter?” demanded the Prince, +bending over her in the greatest concern.</p> + +<p>“No, no!” she cried, “go away! Don’t touch +me! I can’t and I won’t marry you! Oh, dear! +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>oh, dear! what is going to become of me?” And +she jumped up and ran right away out of the ballroom, +and up the great staircase, where she let the +poppy fall, and right into her own room, where she +barred and bolted herself in.</p> + +<p>In the palace there was the greatest confusion: +everybody was running about and shaking heads at +everybody else. “Heads and tails! has it come to +this?” cried the King, as he saw a party of serving-men +turning out a ploughboy who by some unheard +of means had found his way into the palace. +Then he went up to interview his daughter as to her +strange and sudden refusal of the Prince.</p> + +<p>The Princess wrung her hands and cried: she +didn’t know why, but she couldn’t help herself: +nothing on earth should induce her to marry him.</p> + +<p>Then the King was full of wrath, and declared +that if she were not ready to obey him in three days’ +time, she should be turned out into the world like a +beggar to find a living for herself.</p> + +<p>So for three days the Princess was locked up and +kept on nothing but bread and water; and every +day she cried less, and was more determined than ever +not to marry the Prince.</p> + +<p>“Whom do you suppose you are going to marry +then?” demanded the King in a fury.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know,” said the Princess, “I only know +he is a dear; and has got a beautiful tanned face and +bold black eyes.”</p> + +<p>The King felt inclined to have all the tanned +faces and bold black eyes in his kingdom put to death: +but as the Princess’s obstinacy showed no signs of +abating, he ended by venting all his anger upon her. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>So on the third day she was clothed in rags, and had +all her jewellery taken off her, and was turned out of +the palace to find her way through the world alone.</p> + +<p>And as she went on and on, crying and wondering +what would become of her, she suddenly saw by the +side of the road a charming cottage with winter +poppies growing at the door. And in the doorway +stood a beautiful man, with a tanned face and bold +black eyes, looking as like a poppy as it was possible +for a man to look.</p> + +<p>Then he opened his arms: and the Princess +opened her arms: and he ran, and she ran. And +they ran and they ran and they ran, till they were +locked in each other’s arms, and lived happily ever +after.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_WOOING_OF_THE_MAZE"> + THE WOOING OF THE MAZE + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Once</span> upon a time there lived a beautiful +Princess named Rosemary who had all she +wanted in the world but freedom. She had +riches, and power, and glory without end; but +above and beyond all these things, her beauty was +like the sound of a trumpet.</p> + +<p>If she lifted the veil from her face, or looked out +from her window at morning as she combed her +bright hair, the whole plain at her feet became like an +army of banners, and the hillsides dark with the +galloping of her suitors.</p> + +<p>Rejected potentates went clamouring to the four +winds of heaven, of her charm and of her cruelty; +and the saying went that she had paved the floor of +her palace with the hearts which she had broken.</p> + +<p>But she was weary, was weary of saying “No” to +wooers she did not love; and often when alone she +would cry that her riches and her power and her +glory might vanish away from her, and her beauty +too, save so much of it as would win her the heart +of the one man she loved, and leave her to be tended +by his hands, as was her sweet namesake rosemary.</p> + +<p>One day at noon, when it was the middle of summer, +she was lying on a couch in the palace watching +how the flies’ wings threw a network on the air as +they made love to each other and played. It seemed +to her so like the net that the swarm of her suitors +threw round her day by day, that she caught one of +the flies, and to make it more like herself, sprinkled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>it with gold dust so that it shone; then she let it go. +But to her surprise all the other flies avoided it, and +the gilded one went about solitary and alone.</p> + +<p>“Oh! why then,” she cried, “am I not left free +like yonder fly sprinkled with gold?”</p> + +<p>Just then under the window a young gardener at +his work among the flowers began singing; and +this is what he sang:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“What will I do for my rose of the roses?</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Build her a window that looks at the sky;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fashion her bower with a door that so closes,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">No man shall open or enter but I.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The Princess waited till the words of the song +were ended; then a smile broke over her face; she +took up her guitar, and with musically skilled fingers +played over the air as it had been sung. One by +one the clear notes sprang through the open window +and fell upon the ears of the listener on the +green lawn below. Also her voice took up the air +and sang:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Thus, in her heart, saith thy rose of the roses,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">‘Build me a window with heaven for its brow;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fashion my bower with a door that so closes,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">No man shall open or enter but thou.’”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>That same day the Princess, sitting upon her +throne and having crown and sceptre in her hands, +caused the gardener to be called into her presence. +The courtiers thought it was very strange that the +Princess should have a thing of such importance to +make known to a gardener that it was necessary for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>her to receive him with crown and throne and +sceptre, as if it were an affair of state.</p> + +<p>To the gardener, when he stood before her, she +said, “Gardener, it is my wish that there should +be fashioned for me a very great maze, so intricate +and deceitful that no man who has not the secret +of it shall be able to penetrate therein. Inmost is +to be a little tower and fountains, and borders of +sweet-smelling flowers and herbs. But the man +who fashions this maze and has its secret must +remain in it for ever lest he should betray his knowledge +to others. So it is my will that you should +devise such a maze for my delight, and be yourself +the prisoner of your own craft when it is accomplished.”</p> + +<p>The gardener lifted his head where he knelt, and +saw the Princess sitting with eyes fast shut and hard-bitten +lips, and hands down loose on either side of +her, from which had fallen the crown and sceptre +they had held. Then he answered her, “Princess, +by all the might of my craft I will be, and it shall +be so as you wish.”</p> + +<p>Now the Princess gave it out to the world that, +being so wooed, she was minded to put all men +who required her hand to a great test, that so he +who deserved her most might win her. Therefore +at such and such a time she made it to be known that +she would withdraw herself from all men’s eyes to +the centre of a great maze strongly knit round by +magic, and that whoever desired her beauty and +could penetrate through all the deceits and dangers +of that maze should possess herself and her lands +and her power, and live in glory of his achievement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p> + +<p>Day by day, out of her palace window, she +watched the great maze as it grew. Wondrously it +wound like a huge serpent, gathering into its fold +many miles of country—wood and hill and valley, +and great pits and caverns. And far within rose a +small round tower about which stood fountains like +silver willows blown by the wind; but the door +no man could see, for mighty hedges and walls +circled all ways about, cutting off what was below +the eye, so that the inner garden lay hidden like a +skylark’s nest in the corn.</p> + +<p>One day when the Princess asked, “How strong +is this maze to be?” the gardener answered, “As +strong as love.” And when she asked, “How hard +will its way be to find?” he answered, “As hard +as is the foolishness of the kings and princes who +shall seek thee therein.” Then she laughed and +was comforted in her heart when the day approached +on which all the world was to be parted from her.</p> + +<p>On that day a hundred suitors had gathered to +the Court, eager to prove their prowess and win +the most beautiful woman in all the world for a +bride. At night the palace was ablaze from floor +to roof, for there a great feast was held, at which +sat Princess Rosemary, magnificent in her beauty +and the splendour of her robes and crown. And +all the kings and princes and lords bent round her +with love and worship.</p> + +<p>When the clocks struck midnight she rose, and +all her jewels shone in the fashion of a star, so thickly +clustered the eye might not discern one from other; +but from heel to crown they clothed her as in a +sheet of fire. She passed down the midst of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>hall, bowing both ways to the assembly in gracious +farewell, and her train as it went from floor to floor +was as a great retinue following her when she herself +had passed forth.</p> + +<p>She went from terrace to terrace of garden under +great trees where torches and trombones hung, +blown by the wind, till she came to the entrance +of the maze. Then she drew out of her breast a +small chart, and gazing thereon went as though +fate-led out of sight and sound. And all the crowd +standing without watched the mysterious jewelled +train of her robe passing in after she was gone, as +though itself knew the way it had to go and the +windings that led into the very heart of the maze. +A whispered tale went from mouth to mouth that +he who had devised and fashioned the maze had +disappeared—was dead, lest the secret should be +betrayed. Some said “Poison”; some said nothing, +but shook their heads darkly and seemed +wise.</p> + +<p>At the first dawn of day the hundred kings, +princes, and knights went forth to the wooing of +the maze, for there were many paths, and each one +went his own way.</p> + +<p>For many days the doors remained sealed and +silent as a tomb, and the crowds that gathered daily +to watch began dwindling away, and went back to +resume their neglected trades. At last the countries +whose kings did not return sent ambassadors +with messages that became more and more urgent +in demanding their presence. They spoke of the +balance of thrones, and the encroachments of neighbouring +powers, and the deaths of relatives. These +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>ambassadors went down to the various entrances +at which their masters had been seen to go in, and +thence shot arrows at a venture with the urgent +messages attached to them. But yet none came +to answer.</p> + +<p>Then the ambassadors were summoned away, for +new kings had seized on the vacant thrones, and the +return of their predecessors became no longer +expedient. People almost forgot at last to trouble +their heads, save when fresh suitors came desirous +of joining in the great wooing of the maze, the more +by reason of its apparent dangers. Then indeed +for a time gossips would wait and talk, but afterwards +they went away.</p> + +<p>Many years went by, and at last there came forth +a knight with grizzled hair and bowed head. He +walked in loops and circles, and his eyes slid from +right to left over the ground at his feet. He seemed +crazed, and stuttered when he spoke. They asked +him how he had fared. He showed them many +badges of other knights fastened about his shield +and helmet. “I overthrew these,” he said, “till +I met one who said, ‘I am Old Age: turn +back!’”</p> + +<p>They watched after him with his middle-aged +stoop, till he had stumbled his way into his own +country. Some remembered him as a gallant young +knight fifteen years ago.</p> + +<p>Yet the story went that the wondrous beauty +of the Princess did not fade; and the people +became proud of a legend that spread so great a +distinction for their land, and would point to the +maze and the far-off fountains, and say, “There +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>waits our beautiful Princess till one come worthy +to woo her.”</p> + +<p>Twenty years had gone by when one day a +goodly young Prince, with a smiling countenance, +and two long lances slung over his back, made his +appearance at the palace and demanded admittance +to the maze. Half the population streamed out to +meet him, for it was many years since the last wooer +had come and vanished never to return. The +country remembered its importance, and gave him +a great welcome. “Look what long lances he has!” +shouted the crowd. And then the doors of the +maze closed on him, and they went back to their +work.</p> + +<p>When the Prince had made some way into the +maze, he fastened his horse to a tree, took down +his lances and—chopped off their points. Lo, and +behold! he had turned them into stilts, great high +stilts, so that by mounting them he could see far +away over the windings of the maze into the very +heart of it.</p> + +<p>Far off he could see the silver glint of fountains +like grey willows blown slantwise in the wind. That +way with a pleasant tune in his heart he straddled +merrily along. If he found himself in a blind alley, +or being carried back by the windings of the road, +he stood on one stilt and went “leg over” with +the other; thus his goings prospered.</p> + +<p>Here and there, he came upon dead men lying +in their armour; some of them were quite old, +others had long lances by their sides; they must +have been hard of understanding and foolish. He +passed them all by.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></p> + +<p>For the whole long day he travelled, till towards +evening he came upon a little wood, and saw +through the tree-boles the grey stones of the little +tower, and felt on his face the spray of the fountains +carried by the wind. Also he heard the +sound of pleasant voices, and the stroke of a spade +in the earth.</p> + +<p>Free of the wood the path led straight on, till +at the end of it, over a high hedge, lay a dainty +bright garden. A man and a woman were bending +together over a border of flowers. Their faces were +close together, full of smiles as their hands gathered +sprays of rosemary; their hair was wet with the +drift of the fountains.</p> + +<p>Both were in the early middle-age of life, the +woman tall and broad-bosomed, her hair like a +plaited crown of gold.</p> + +<p>The man, as her face brushed his, laughed and +began singing:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“What shall I do for my rose of the roses?</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Build her a window that looks at the sky,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fashion a door to her bower that so closes,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">No man shall open or enter but I.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The Prince came and looked over the hedge; at +the end of the song the gardener and his wife had +raised themselves; the woman had her face resting +on the man’s shoulder, and her arms about his +waist. As she stood, her eyes came straight upon +the intruder, who hung a laughing head and shoulders +over the garden hedge. Her mouth and eyes +went wide open, but breath was wanting for +speech. She pinched her husband to make him +look round.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span></p> + +<p>The Prince smiling, addressed them with the +utmost courtesy, “Good Sir and Madam, can you +tell me whether the Princess is at home?” As he +spoke he lifted a stilt and planted it down on the +flower-bed inside. One more stride and he was in. +There was a sudden clapping of hands. “He’s a +humorist!” cried the gardener’s wife.</p> + +<p>“Please,” said he, as he climbed down from his +height and stood once more on his own feet, “please, +I am come for the Princess; and I hope she is not +tired of waiting, and is as beautiful, and as young, +as report has led me to believe.”</p> + +<p>The gardener’s wife laughed and ran into the +tower. Presently from roof to floor it was filled +with a great rustling sound, and all the windows +shone with the colour of fire. Then out of the +door came a lovely girl blazing with jewels and +drawing behind her a wonderful great train. “Here +is your Princess,” said her mother. How beautiful +she was, how radiant, how young! She came +softly towards the Prince, laughing and holding out +her hand. He took it, and as he did so the whole +of the maze disappeared, and only the little tower +with its fountains remained. So the young couple +went back to the palace and were married, but the +other couple stayed at home; and there they lived +happily ever after.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_MOON-FLOWER"> + THE MOON-FLOWER + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Princess Berenice</span> sat by a window of +her father’s palace, looking out of the Moon. +In her hand she held a great white pearl, and +smiled, for it was her mother’s birthday gift. The +chamber in which she sat was of pure silver, and +in the floor was a small window by which she could +see out of the Moon and right down on to the +Earth, where the moonbeams were going. There +it lay like a great green emerald; and wherever +the clouds parted to let the moonbeams go through, +she could see the tops of the trees, and broad fields +with streams running by.</p> + +<p>“Yonder is the land of the coloured stones,” +she said to herself, “that the merchants go down +the moonbeams and bring home and sell.” And +as she bent lower and lower and gazed with curious +eyes, the great pearl rolled from her hand and fell +out of the Moon, and went slipping and sliding +down a moonbeam, never stopping till it got to the +Earth.</p> + +<p>“My mother’s pearl!” cried the Princess, “the +most beautiful of all her pearls that she gave me. +I must run down and bring it back; for if I wait +it will be lost. And as to-night is the full-moon +down there upon Earth, I can return before anyone +finds out that I am gone.”</p> + +<p>The Earth was sparkling a brighter green under +the approach of night. “Oh, land of the coloured +stones!” cried the Princess; and, slipping through +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>the window, she stepped out of the Moon, and +went running down the same moonbeam by which +the pearl had fallen.</p> + +<p>Night came; and the Earth and the Moon lay +looking at each other in the midst of heaven, like +an emerald and a pearl; but through the palace, +and within, over all its gardens and terraces there +began to be callings on the Princess Berenice; and +presently there were heart-searchings and fear, for +they found the empty room with its open window: +and the Princess Berenice was not there.</p> + +<p>Now, not long before this, upon our own Earth +there had lived and died a King who had four sons, +but only three kingdoms. So when he came to +die he gave to each of his three eldest sons a kingdom +apiece; but to the youngest, having nothing +else left to give, he gave only a pair of travelling +shoes, and said: “Wear these, and some day they +will take you to fortune!”</p> + +<p>So, when the King was dead, the young Prince +wore the shoes night and day, hoping that some +time or another they would take him to fortune. +His brothers laughed at him, and said: “Our +father was wise to play those old shoes off upon +you! If it had been either of us we would have +gone and bought ourselves an army and fought for +a just share in the inheritance. But you seem +pleased, so we ought to be.”</p> + +<p>Now one day the Prince went out hunting in +the forest, and there, having become separated from +all his friends, he thoroughly lost his way. Wherever +he turned the wood seemed to grow denser, +the thickets higher, and the solitude more than he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>ever remembered before. Night came on, and, +there being nothing else that he could do, he lay +down and wrapped himself in his cloak and slept.</p> + +<p>When he awoke it was day, but the woods were +as still as death; no bird sang, and not a cricket +chirped among the grass. As he sat up he noticed +that the shoe was gone from his left foot, nor could +he see it anywhere near. “’Tis the half of my inheritance +gone!” he said to himself, and got up +to search about him. But still no shoe could he +find. At last he gave up the search as useless, and +set off walking without it. Then as it seemed to +him so ridiculous to go limping along with only one +shoe on, he took off the remaining one, and threw +it away, saying: “Go, stupid, and find your +fellow!”</p> + +<p>To the Prince’s great astonishment, it set off at +a rapid pace through the wood, all of its own +accord. The Prince, barefoot except for his stockings, +began to run after it.</p> + +<p>Presently he found that he was losing his breath. +“Hie, hie!” he called out, “not quite so fast, +little leather-skins!” But the shoe paid him no +heed and went on as before. It skipped through +the grass and brushwood, as if a young girl’s foot +were dancing inside it; and whenever it came to +a fallen tree, or a boulder of rock it was up and +over with a jump like a grasshopper.</p> + +<p>Before long the Prince’s stockings were nothing +but holes and tatters; as he ran they fluttered from +his legs like ribbons. He had lost his hat, and his +cloak was torn into patterns, and he felt from head +to foot like a house all doors and windows. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>was almost on his last gasp when he saw that the +shoe was making straight for a strange little house +of green bronze, shut in by a high wall, and showing +no windows; and in the middle of the wall was a +bronze door shut fast. As he came near he found +that outside, on the doorstep, stood his other shoe +as if waiting to be let in. “So it was worth +running for!” thought he; and then, putting +on both shoes again, he began knocking at the +door.</p> + +<p>As he knocked the door opened. It opened in +such a curious way, flat down like a swing-bridge +or like the lid of a box. For some time he was +half afraid to walk in on the top of it. Presently, +however, he summoned up his courage and stepped +across it.</p> + +<p>The door closed behind him like a trap, and he +found himself in a beautiful house; all its walls +were hung with gold and precious stones, but +everywhere was the emptiness and the silence of +death.</p> + +<p>He went from room to room seeking for any +that lived there, but could see no one. In one +place he found thrown down a fan of white feathers +and pearl; and in another flowers, fresh plucked, +lying close by a cushion dinted and hollowed, as +though the weight of a head or arm had rested +there. But beyond these there was no sign of a +living thing to be found.</p> + +<p>Through the windows he saw deep bowery +gardens hemmed in by high walls, within which +grew flowers of the loveliest kinds. All the paths +were of smooth grass, and everywhere were the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>traces of gentle handiwork; but still not a soul +was to be seen.</p> + +<p>It seemed to the Prince now and then that there +was something in the garden which moved, distinct +from the flowers, and shifting with a will of +its own. Though the sun shone full down, casting +clear shadows across the lawns, this that he saw +was altogether misty and faint. Now it seemed +like a feather blown to and fro in the wind, and now +like broken gossamer threads, or like filmy edges of +clouds melting away in the heat. Where it went +the flowers moved as though to make way for it, +swaying apart and falling together again as it passed.</p> + +<p>The Prince watched and watched. He tired his +eyes with watching, yet he could see no more; and +no way could he find to the garden, for all the doors +leading to it were locked fast and barred.</p> + +<p>There was another strange thing he noticed +which seemed to him to have no meaning. All +over the garden, between the trees and the sky, +was stretched a silver net, so fine that it showed +only as a faint film against the blue; but a net for +all that. Here and there, the light of the sun +catching it, hung sparkling in its silver meshes. It +was like the net that a gardener throws over strawberry +beds or currant bushes to keep off the birds +from the fruit. So was it with this net; through +it no bird could enter the garden, and no bird that +was in the garden could leave it.</p> + +<p>All day the Prince had these two things before +his eyes to wonder about, till the sun went down +and it began to get dusk.</p> + +<p>At the moment when the sun sank below the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a><a id="Page_162"></a><a id="Page_163"></a>[Pg 163]</span>earth there was a sound of opening doors all over +the house. The Prince ran and found one of the +doors leading into the garden wide open, and through +it he could see the stir of leaves, and the deep +colours of the flowers growing deeper in the dusk; +only the evening primroses were lighting their soft +lamps.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_161" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_161_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_161.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>From a distant part of the garden came the +sound of falling water, and a voice singing. As he +approached he saw something shining against the +dark leaves higher than the heads of the flowers; +and before he well knew what he saw, he found +before his eyes the most lovely woman that the +mind of man could believe in.</p> + +<p>In her hand hung a watering-can, with the +water falling from it in sprays on to the flower beds +beneath. Her head was bent far down, yet how +she looked slender and tall! She was very pale, +yet a soft light seemed to grow from her, the light +of a new moon upon a twilight sky. And now the +Prince heard clearly the sweet voice, and the words +that she was singing:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Listen, listen, listen,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">O heart of the sea!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the Pearl of pearls</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I am the Mother of pearls,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And the Mother of thee.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Glisten, glisten, glisten,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">O bed of the sea!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Lost is the Pearl of pearls,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And all the divers for pearls</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Are drowning for me.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>He stood enchanted to hear her; but the words +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>of the song ended suddenly in a deep sigh. The +singer lifted her head; her eyes moved like grey +moths in the dusk, amid the whiteness of her face. +At sight of him they grew still and large, widening +with a quiet wonder. Then the beautiful face broke +into smiles, and the Princess stretched out her +hands to him and laughed.</p> + +<p>“Have you come,” she said, “to set me free?”</p> + +<p>“To set you free?” asked the Prince.</p> + +<p>“I am a prisoner,” she told him.</p> + +<p>“Alas, then!” answered the Prince, “I am a +prisoner also, and can free no one; but were I now +free to go wherever I would, I should be a prisoner +still, for I have seen the face of the loveliest heart +on earth!”</p> + +<p>“Alas!” she sighed, “and can you not set me +free?”</p> + +<p>“Tell me,” he said, “what makes you a prisoner +here?”</p> + +<p>She pointed to the net over their heads, to the +walls that stood on all sides of them, and to the +ground beneath their feet. “That,” she said, +“and that, and this.”</p> + +<p>“Who are you?” he asked, “and where do you +come from? and whose power is it that now holds +you captive?”</p> + +<p>She led him on to a terrace, from which they +could see out towards the west; and there lay the +new Moon, low down in the sky. “Yonder,” she +said, pointing to it, “is my home!” She wept. +“Shall I ever return to it?”</p> + +<p>The Prince, gazing at her in wonder, cried, +“Are you one of a Fairy race?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p> + +<p>“No, oh, no!” she sighed. “I am but mortal +like yourself; only my home is there, while yours +is here. We, who dwell in the Moon, are as you +are, but the sun has greater power over us; the +light of it falling on us makes us pale and unsubstantial, +so that we weigh not so much as a gossamer +and become transparent as thin fleeces of cloud. +Then we can go where you cannot go, treading +the light as it flies; but at sunset we regain our +strength, and our bodies come to us again; and +we are as you see me now—no different from yourselves, +the inhabitants of the Earth.”</p> + +<p>“Tell me,” said the Prince, “of yourself, and the +dwellers in the Moon! Is it not cold there, and +barren?”</p> + +<p>She answered smiling, for the memory of her home +was sweet to her, “Outside, the Moon is cold and +barren; but within it is very warm and rich and +fertile; more beautiful than any place I have seen on +earth. It is there we live; and we have flocks, and +herds, and woods, and rivers, and harbours, and seas. +Also we have great cities built inside the Moon’s +crust, for the Moon is a great hollow shell, and we +walk upon its inner surface and are warm. The +sunlight comes to us through craters and clefts in +the ground; and the beams of it are like solid pillars +of gold that quiver and sway as they shoot upwards +into the opal twilight of our world; and the shine +and the warmth of it come to us, and colour the air +above our heads; but we are safe from its full light +falling on us, for the ground is between us and it. +Only when we pass through to the outer side do we +become pale and faint, a mere whisper of our former +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>selves. And then we are so light that if we step upon +a moonbeam it will bear our weight; and the moonbeam +carries us swiftly as its own light travels, till it +reaches the Earth: so we come. But to return there +is another way.”</p> + +<p>And when the Prince asked her, she told him of +the other way back into the Moon.</p> + +<p>“When we wish to return,” she went on “(for +the falling light of a moonbeam cannot carry us +back), we must go where there is a pool of still water +and wait for the reflection of the Moon to fall on it; +and when the Moon is full, and throws its image into +the water, then we dive down, and with our lips +touch the reflection of its face, crying, ‘Open, open +to me, for I am a Moon-child!’ And the Moon will +open her face like a door of pearl, and let us pass in; +and when she draws her reflection out of the pool, +we find ourselves once again among our own people +and in our own land. Many of us have so come and +so returned,” she sighed deeply, “but I fear that I +shall never again return.”</p> + +<p>Then the Prince asked her further whose power +it was that held her captive; and she told him how +she had dropped the pearl that her mother had given +her, and had come down seeking it. Then she said, +“In the Moon we have many jewels, for we have +opals and onyxes, and pearls and moonstones, but +we have no rubies, or emeralds, or sapphires, or stones +of a single colour, such as you have. Therefore, we +have a passion for these things, and our merchants +come down and bring them back to us at a great +price.</p> + +<p>“Now it chanced that in my search I came upon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span>a gnome who had dealings with our merchants and +had many jewels to sell, and he, seeming to be kind, +helped me until my pearl was found. Then he took +me to see his own treasures; and, alas, while my eyes +were feasting on the colours of the stones he showed +to me, my poor beauty inflamed the avarice of his +evil heart, and the desire to have me for his wife became +great. So when I asked him the price of his +jewels, he vowed that the only price at which he +would let them go was that of my own hand in marriage. +Alas, I am young and innocent, and without +subtlety, nor did I know how great was his power +and wickedness. As I laughed at his request his +face grew dark with rage, and I saw that I had incurred +the undying enmity of his cruel heart. And +now for a whole year he has held me in his enchantment, +striving to break me to his will by the length +and weariness of my captivity; and lest search or +any help should come for me from my father’s people, +he has covered me in with a net, and surrounded me +with walls; and here there is no pool into which the +full Moon may fall, and at the mere touch of my lips +upon its face, open and draw me free from my enchantment, +and back into the heart of my own land. +Only yonder, in the corner of the garden is a deep +well, where the Moon never shines; so there is no +way here left for me by which I may get free.”</p> + +<p>“Does not the gnome ever come to see you in +your captivity?” asked the Prince. “If so, I may +by some means be able to entrap him, and force him +to let you go.”</p> + +<p>“Twice in the year he has visited me,” answered +the Princess. “He comes up out of the ground +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>in the form of a Red Mole; but he looks at me +wickedly and cunningly with the eyes of a man, +seeming to say, ‘Will you have me yet?’ And +when I shake my head he burrows under again, and +is gone till another six months shall be past.”</p> + +<p>The Prince thought for a while and said, “I do +not know whether I have the power or the wit to +make you free; if love only were needed for the work, +to-morrow would see you as free as a bird.”</p> + +<p>The Princess, between smiles and sighs, said, “I +have been most lonely here; already you make my +imprisonment seem less.” Then she led him within +doors, from room to room, showing him the splendours +of her prison. Wherever they went, out of the +floor before them rose burning jewels that hung +hovering over their heads to light them as they +passed; and when she struck her hands together, +up from the ground rose a table covered with fruit +and dainties of all sorts; and when she and the +Prince had eaten, she clapped her hands again, and +they disappeared by the same way that they had +come.</p> + +<p>The Prince was struck with admiration at the +delicacy of these marvels. “When I think of the +Red Mole, they sicken me!” said the Moon-Princess. +The good youth used all his arts to cheer her, +promising to devote himself, and if need be his life, +to the task of setting her free. And now and then +she laughed and was almost merry again, forgetting +the walls that still held her spell-bound from her own +people and her own land.</p> + +<p>She showed the Prince a chamber where he might +sleep; and so soft and warm was the couch after +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>his last hard night on the ground, that it was full +day before he awoke. The Princess Berenice appeared +before him misty and faint, for the sunlight +threw a veil upon her beauty; but still as he looked +at her he did not love her less, and it still seemed to +him that hers was the face of the loveliest heart on +earth.</p> + +<p>All day he watched her drifting about the garden, +seeming to feed herself on the scent of the flowers. +In the evening, when the sun set, her body grew +strong and her face shone out to him like the new +Moon upon a twilight sky.</p> + +<p>Then he drew water for her from the well, and +watched her as she watered the flowers which were +her only delight. Presently he said, “There is +much water in the well, for the rope goes down into it +many fathoms; and yet I find no bottom.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” answered the Princess, “I doubt not that +the well is deep.”</p> + +<p>“Before many days are over,” said the Prince, +“the well shall become a pool.”</p> + +<p>The Princess wondered to hear him. “Is there,” +he went on, “no such thing as a spade for me to dig +with?” Then she led him to a shed, where lay +all the needed implements for gardening. So his eyes +brightened, while he cried, “O, beautiful Princess +Berenice, as I love you, before many weeks are over +you shall be free!”</p> + +<p>The next morning he arose very early, and in the +centre of the garden, where the ground hollowed +somewhat, he marked out a space and set to work to +dig.</p> + +<p>All day the Princess went to and fro, faint and pale +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span>as a mist, watching him at his work. At dusk her +beauty shone full upon him, and she said, “What is +this that you are doing?” He answered, “What +I am making shall presently become a pool; then +when the pool is full, and the full Moon comes and +shines on it, you shall go down into the water, and +shall kiss the face of its reflection with your lips, and +be free from your enchantment.”</p> + +<p>Princess Berenice looked long at him, and her eyes +clung to his like soft moths in the gloom. “But +you?” she said, “You are no Moon-child, and this +will never set you free.”</p> + +<p>“Ever since I saw you,” said the Prince, “I have +not thought of freedom; my dearest wish is but to +set you free.”</p> + +<p>The Princess gave him her hand. “And mine,” +she said, “my dearest wish henceforth is to set +you free also. Yet I know but one way, and I cannot +name it.” She smiled tenderly on him, and +bowed her face into the shadow of her hair.</p> + +<p>The Prince caught her in his arms, “One way +is my way!” he cried. “Your way,” she said, “is +my way.” Then, when he had finished kissing her, +she said, “Look, on my finger is a ring; this ring is +for him to whom I give myself in marriage. Surely, +it opens to him the heart of my own people, and he +becomes one of us, a child of the Moon.” She showed +him an opal ring, full of fires. “If your way is my +way,” she said, “draw this off my finger, and put +it upon your own, and take me to be your wife!”</p> + +<p>So the Prince drew off the ring from her finger, +and set it upon his own; and as he did so he felt +indeed the heart of the Moon-people become his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>own, and the love of the Moon strike root in him. +Yet did the love of the Earth remain his as well, +making it seem as if all the love in his heart had but +doubled itself.</p> + +<p>So he and the most beautiful Berenice were +married there by the light of the new Moon, and all +thought of sorrow or danger from the encirclement +that bound them was lost in their great joy.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the next day the Prince +went on with his digging, making a broad shallow +in the ground. “Before the full Moon comes,” he +said, “I will make it deep.” And he worked on, +refusing to take any rest.</p> + +<p>The Princess loved him more and more as she +watched him; and his love for her daily increased, +for every day, while the Moon grew full, her beauty +shone in greater perfection and splendour. “Here,” +she said to him, “the coming of the full Moon is +like the coming of Spring to me: I feel it in my +blood. After the full Moon my beauty will wane +and grow paler. But in my own land I do not feel +these changes, for there it is always the full Moon.” +The Prince answered her, “To me your beauty, +though it grows more, will not ever grow less.”</p> + +<p>At last, on the day before that of the full Moon, +the pit which he had dug was broad and deep; +then he began to fill it with water from the well. +“To-morrow,” he said to his wife, when the pool +was nearly full, as she came and stood by his side at +sunset in the full blaze of her beauty, “to-morrow +we shall be free; and you will carry me away with +you into your own land.”</p> + +<p>“I do not know,” said the Princess; “I begin to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span>be afraid!” and she sighed heavily. “Any day the +Red Mole may come: one day is not too soon for +him to be here.”</p> + +<p>“But why need you fear him now?” asked the +Prince. “Since you are married to me, you cannot +be married to him.”</p> + +<p>“As to that,” said she, “I fear that to have outwitted +him will but make his malice all the greater +against us!” Then she walked softly among the +moonbeams, bathing her hands in them, and letting +them fall upon the loveliness of her face; and as she +stood in their light, tears rained down out of her +eyes.</p> + +<p>In the morning it seemed as if her happiness +had returned. The Prince, as he toiled under the +blazing sun, carrying water from the well to the +pool, felt her moving by his side, and heard her light +shadowy laughter when, just before sunset, the water +flowed level to the pool’s brink. And when dusk +rose out of the grass, there she stood glowing with +the full Moon of her beauty and leaning in all the +light of her loveliness towards him.</p> + +<p>The happy night drew round them; out of the +East came the glow of the full Moon as it rose; soon, +soon it would cross the tops of the trees and rest +its face upon the quiet waters of the pool. They +clung in each other’s arms, entranced. “My +beautiful,” said the Prince, “shall we not take to +your mother some of those jewels she loves—the +green, and the red, and the blue, and the pearl which +was hers, the quest of which has cost you so much?” +He ran into one of the jewelled chambers where lay +the pearl, and caught from the walls the largest +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>stones he could find. Quickly he went and returned, +for the Moon was now fast cresting the avenues of +the garden. He came bearing the jewels in his +hands.</p> + +<p>Princess Berenice stood no longer by the brink +of the pool, though therein lay the image of the +Moon’s face, a circle of pale gold upon the water. +“Berenice,” called the Prince, and ran through the +garden searching for her. “Berenice!” he cried +by the well; but she was not there. “Berenice!” +His voice grew trembling and weak, and quick fear +took hold of him. “O, my beautiful, my beloved, +where are you?”</p> + +<p>Only the silence stood up to answer him. Under +his feet ran a Red Mole.</p> + +<p>It scampered across the grass, and disappeared +through a burrow in the ground. Then the Prince +knew that the worst had surely come, and that his +Princess had been taken away from him. Where +she was he could not know; within her former +prison she was nowhere to be seen.</p> + +<p>All night the Prince lay weeping by the brink +of the pool, where she had last stood before his +sight; the print of her dear feet still lay on the +lawn where she had stayed waiting with him so +long. “O, miserable wretch that I am!” he +cried, kissing the trodden grass. “Now never +again may I hope to behold you, or hear your dear +voice!”</p> + +<p>All the day following he wandered like a ghost +from place to place, filling the empty garden with +memories of her presence, and sighing over and +over again the music of her name. All the flowers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span>glowed round him in their accustomed beauty; +new buds came into life, and full blooms broke and +fell; not a thing seemed to sorrow for her loss +except himself. As for the flowers, he paid them +little heed.</p> + +<p>In his sleep that night a dream came to him, a +dream as of something that whispered and laughed +in his ear. Over and over again it seemed to be +saying, “The Red Mole came, and the full Moon +came, and the Princess jumped down into the +water!” Then his heart knocked so loud for joy +that he started awake, and saw the Red Mole scuffling +away to its borrow in the ground.</p> + +<p>Then he feared that the dream was but a thing +devised to cheat his fancy, and get rid of him by +making him go away and search for his Princess +in the land of the Moon, by the way that she had +told him. But he thought to himself, “If the +Red Mole wants so much to get me away, it means +that my beloved is somewhere near at hand. Is +she in the well?” he began wondering; and as +soon as it was light he went to where lay the well +in its corner under the shadow of the wall. But +though he searched long and diligently, there was +no trace of her that he could find.</p> + +<p>Yet every time he came near to the well sorrow +seemed to take hold of him, and, mixed with it, +a kind of joy, as though indeed the heart of his +beloved beat in this place. Near to the well stood +a tall flower with bowed head. It seemed to him +the only one in the whole garden that had any +share in his sorrow: he wondered if the flower had +grown up to mark the sad place of her burial.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span></p> + +<p>“O, my beloved Berenice, art thou near me +now?” he murmured, heart-broken, one day as +he passed by: then it seemed to him that all at +once the flower stirred. He turned to look at it; +it was like a sunflower, but white even to its centre, +and its head kept drooping as if for pure grief. +“Berenice, Berenice!” he wept, passing it.</p> + +<p>At dusk he returned again; and now the flower’s +head was lifted up, and shone with a strange lustre. +The Prince, as he went by on his way to the well, +saw the flower turn its head, bending its face ever +towards where he was. Then grief and joy stirred +in his heart. “The flower knows where she is!” +he said.</p> + +<p>So he bent, whispering, “Where, then, is Berenice?” +and the flower lifted its head, and hung +quite still, looking at him.</p> + +<p>Then the Prince whispered again, “The Red +Mole came, and the full Moon came, and the Princess +jumped down into the water?”</p> + +<p>But the flower swayed its head from side to +side, and the Prince found that it had answered +“No.”</p> + +<p>Then he had it in his mind to ask of it further +things; but, as he was about to speak, he beheld its +face all brimming over with tears, that suddenly +broke and fell down in a shower over its leaves.</p> + +<p>At that his heart leaped, and his voice choked +as he cried, “Art <i>thou</i> my beloved, my Berenice?” +And all at once the flower swayed down, and leaned, +and fell weeping against his breast.</p> + +<p>So at last he knew! And joy and grief struggled +together in him for mastery.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span></p> + +<p>All that night he knelt with the flower’s head +upon his heart, stroking its soft leaves, and letting +it rest between his hands; till, towards dawn, it +seemed to him that peace was upon it and sleep.</p> + +<p>All through the day it hung faint upon its stem; +but when evening came it lifted its head and shone +in moon-like beauty; and so deep for it was the +Prince’s love and compassion that he could hardly +bear to be absent from its side one moment of the +day or night.</p> + +<p>And, when he was very weary, he lay down +under its shadow to sleep; and the Moon-flower +bent down and rested its head upon his face.</p> + +<p>All night long in dreams Berenice came back to +him. He seemed to hear how the Red Mole had +come, and changed her to a rooted shape, lest the +full Moon in the water should carry her away from +him back into her own land. Yet it was only a +dream, and the Prince could learn nothing there of +the way by which he might set her free.</p> + +<p>A month went by, and he said to his Flower, +“To-night is the night of the full Moon: now, if +I drew you from the ground, and carried you +down, and called for the Moon’s face to open to +us, would you not be free from the enchantment, +when you were come again to your own people?” +But the Moon-flower shook its head, as if to bid +him still wait and watch patiently.</p> + +<p>Now, as the Prince came and went day by day, +he began to notice that the Moon-flower had its +roots in a small green mound, no bigger than a +mole-hill; and he thought to himself, “surely +that mound was not there at first: the Red Mole +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>must be down below at work!” So he watched +it from day to day; and at last he knew for certain +that, as time went on, the mound grew larger.</p> + +<p>Month by month the mound upon which the +Moon-flower had root increased in size; yet the +Flower thrived, and its beauty shone brighter as +each full Moon approached, so that at last the +Prince’s fear lest the Red Mole were working mischief +against its life, passed away.</p> + +<p>Once, on the night of a full Moon, as the Prince +lay with his head upon Earth, and the Moon-flower +bowed over his face, he heard under the mound a +peal of silvery laughter; and at the sound of it the +Moon-flower started, and stood erect, and a stir of +delight seemed to take hold of its leaves. Again +the laughter came, and the soft earth moved at the +sound of it.</p> + +<p>The Prince started up, and ran and fetched a +spade, and struck it down under the loose soil of +the mound. When he lifted up the earth, out +sprang a tiny child like a lobe of quicksilver, laughing +merrily with its first leap into the light. But even +then its laughter changed into a cry; for out after +it darted the Red Mole, with fury in its whiskers, +and wrath flashing out of its eyes.</p> + +<p>The quicksilver child sprang away, darting +swiftly over the grass towards the margin of the +pool. There lay the full Moon’s image upon the +clear stillness of the water; and the child leapt +down the bank, and laughed as it sprang safely +away. Then there followed a tiny splash; and the +Prince, amid the rings upon the water’s surface, +saw, like a door of pearl, the Moon’s face open and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span>close again. And the Red Mole went down into +the earth gnashing its teeth for rage.</p> + +<p>The Prince ran back to the Moon-flower, and +found it bent forwards and trembling with fear. +Then he drew its head towards his heart, and whispered +“The Red Mole came, and the full Moon +came, and the silver child jumped down into the +water!” And at that the Flower lifted its head +and began clapping its leaves for joy.</p> + +<p>A month went by, and the green mound had +disappeared from beneath the Moon-flower’s roots; +and still every night the Prince lay down under the +shadow of its leaves; and the Flower bent over +him, and laid its head against his face.</p> + +<p>As he lay so, one night, and watched the full +Moon travelling high overhead, he saw a shadow +begin to cross over it; and he knew that it was +the eclipse, which is the shadow of the Earth +passing over the face of the Moon; then he rose +softly, leaving the Moon-flower asleep, and went +and stood by the brink of the pool.</p> + +<p>Up in the Moon the silver child felt the shadow +of the Earth fall upon the face of the Moon; and +he came and touched the Earth’s shadow with his +lips, crying, “Open, open to me, for I am an +Earth-child!” Then the Earth’s shadow that +was upon the Moon opened, and the silver child +sprang through.</p> + +<p>The Prince, watching the veiled image of the +Moon’s face in the water, saw the Earth’s shadow +open like a door, so that for an instant the brightness +of the Moon shone through, and out sprang +the quicksilver child, up to the surface of the pool.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span></p> + +<p>He leapt laughing up the bank, and went running +over the grass to where the Moon-flower was +standing. He reached up his arms, and caught +the Flower by the head.</p> + +<p>“O mother, mother, mother!” he cried as he +kissed it.</p> + +<p>And at the touch of his lips the Moon-flower +opened and changed, growing wondrously tall and +fair; and the flower turned into a face, and the +leaves disappeared, till it was the beautiful Princess +Berenice herself, who stooped down and took the +quicksilver child up into her arms.</p> + +<p>She cried, fondling him, “Did they give you +your name?”</p> + +<p>And the child laughed. “They call me Gammelyn,” +he said.</p> + +<p>The Prince caught them both together in his +arms. “Come, come!” he shouted and laughed, +“for yonder is the full Moon waiting for us!” +And, lifting them up, he ran with them to the +borders of the pool.</p> + +<p>And the Red Mole came, and the full Moon +came; and the Prince, and the Princess, and the +silver child jumped down into the water.</p> + +<p>Then the Prince laid his lips against the reflection +of the Earth’s shadow, crying, “Open, open +to me, for I am a child of the Earth!” And the +shadow opened like a door to let them pass through. +Then they pressed their lips against the reflection +of the Moon’s face crying, “Open, open to us, for +we are Moon-children!” And the Moon opened +her face like a door of pearl, so that they sprang +through together, and were safe.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span></p> + +<p>And when the Moon drew its reflection out of +the pool, they found themselves in the land of the +Moon, in the silver chamber with the round window, +in the palace of Princess Berenice’s father.</p> + +<p>Looking out through the window, down at the +end of a long moonbeam they saw the Red Mole +gnashing his whiskers for rage. Then the Prince +took off his shoes, and threw them with all his +might down the moonbeam at the Mole.</p> + +<p>As the shoes fell, they went faster, and faster, +and faster, till they came to earth; and they struck +the Mole so hard upon the head that he died.</p> + +<p>Now as for Gammelyn and the shoes we may +hear of them again elsewhere; but as for the Prince +and his beautiful Princess Berenice, the happiness +in which they lived for the rest of their days is too +great even to be told.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_WHITE_KING"> + THE WHITE KING + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Many</span> years ago there lived a Queen who +could not keep count of the countries over +which she ruled. Her wealth and her wonderful +beauty made her an apple of discord to all the +kings who lived round about her borders. For love +of her they waged perpetual war upon one another, +and every King who proved victorious made a gift +to the Queen of the country of the one whom he +had conquered, in the hopes of thereby strengthening +his claim to her favour. Thus it came about +that she could no longer keep count of the lands +which had fallen under her rule; yet still of all her +suitors she chose none.</p> + +<p>Now at this time there was one King, and only +one, who had not succeeded in losing his heart to +the Queen’s majesty, in spite of her wealth and +power, and all her wonderful beauty. And so, +during a long time, since his fancy was thus free, he +was left in undisturbed peace and prosperity, while +other kings fought out their jealous battles, and +stole away each other’s lands. And because his reign +was so quiet and his country in such rest, his people +for a pet-name and for their pride in him, named +him the White King.</p> + +<p>Now after a time the Queen took it as an insult +that anyone should be so indifferent to the power +of her charms, and she began to threaten him with +war for this reason and for that, wishing thereby +to cajole him into becoming her suitor. But the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span>White King saw through all the disguises with which +she covered her meaning, and understood the arrogance +of her claim; so one day he sent to her as a +gift a statue of himself with his sword sheathed, and +all his armour covered over with the cloak of peace. +Round the base of it was written</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When a heart in stone doth move,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Then your lover I may prove;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But until the marvel’s done,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Fruitlessly your wars are won.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The Queen looked once at the statue, and for a +long time after never looked away; and when at last +she did her heart had been taken captive. Then she +looked at the words beneath, and the red flush that +rose to her face was not gone when the last of her +army passed out of the city gates to carry war into +the country of the man who had dared thus to speak +scorn of her.</p> + +<p>For a whole year the White King fought with the +forces she sent against him; but when all the other +kings came to her aid, then, stronghold by stronghold, +all his cities were taken, and his lands were laid waste +and their villages burnt, and nothing but defeat and +ruin remained.</p> + +<p>Yet in the last battle, when his enemies thought +to have him a safe prisoner, all of a sudden they found +that the White King had disappeared.</p> + +<p>Back came the Queen’s armies in triumph with +their allies, and the conquered territory was added +as one more to the many that formed her realm. But +the Queen sighed as she looked at the White King’s +statue, and her triumph grew bitter to her. Day +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>by day, as she looked at the calm marble face, her +love for it increased, and she owned sadly to herself, +“He whom I have conquered has conquered me!”</p> + +<p>Of the lost King himself no tidings could be +learned, though search was made far and wide. +Minstrels came to the court, and sang of his great +deeds in fighting against odds, but of his end they +sang variously. Some sang that he lay buried beneath +the thickest of the slain; others that from his +last battle he had been carried by good fairies, and +that after he had been healed of his wounds, he would +return in a hundred years and recover his kingdom.</p> + +<p>One minstrel came to stay at the court who sang +of ruined homes and wasted fields, and a happy land +laid desolate, and how its King wandered friendless +and unknown through the world, hiding himself in +disguise, sometimes in the cottages of the poor, and +sometimes in the dwellings of the rich. But from +no one could the Queen learn any news that satisfied +her or gave hope that he would at last bend down +his pride, and come and sue to her for forgiveness.</p> + +<p>Wishing to have a hiding place for her grief, she +caused the statue to be set up in a green glade in the +most lonely part of the gardens; and there often +she would go and gaze on the calm noble face (whose +closed eyes seemed even now to disdain her love), +and would wonder how long a queen’s heart took to +break.</p> + +<p>But after a time she thought, “Though I may +never win the love of the White King for my own, +is there no way by which my passion can assuage +itself, when by lifting my finger I can summon half +fairyland to my aid?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span></p> + +<p>So she called to her the most powerful fairy she +knew, and taking her into the green glade, began +sighing and weeping in front of the White King’s +statue. “This,” she said, “is the image of the only +man on earth I can love! But the man himself is +lost, gone I know not where; and my heart is breaking +for grief! Give this statue a life and a heart, +and teach it to love me, else soon I shall surely be +dead!”</p> + +<p>The Fairy said to her, “All the might of Fairyland +could not do so much; but a little of it I can +do; and if Fate is kind to you, Fate may bring the +rest of it to pass.”</p> + +<p>“How much can you do?” asked the Queen.</p> + +<p>“This only,” said the Fairy, “but even that you +must do for yourself. I can but show you the way. +Stone is stone, and out of stone I cannot make a +heart; but a heart may grow into it, and this is the +way to compass it.</p> + +<p>“You must find first a man who is loved, but does +not love (for if he loves, the statue’s heart when it +wakes will turn from you); and him you must kill +with your own hand, and take out his heart and bury +it beneath the feet of the statue. Then I will work +my charms, and gradually, as a flower draws its life +out of the ground, so the statue will draw life out of +the human heart buried below. And after a little +time you will see it move, and in a little time more +its senses will come, and it will be able to hear, and +see, and speak. But full life will not come to it until +it has learned to love. Then, so soon as it learns to +love, it will become no longer stone, but a human +being.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span></p> + +<p>But the Queen said, “Supposing its love were +to turn from me to another, where should I be +then?”</p> + +<p>“Surely,” said the Fairy, “the secret will be your +own, and the watching of its life as it grows will be +yours. Your voice it will hear, your face it will see; +whom, then, will it learn to love more than you?”</p> + +<p>“Wait, then, till I have found the man,” said the +Queen, “and we will do this thing between us!”</p> + +<p>She searched long among her court for some man +whose heart was whole, but who was himself loved. +Generally, however, she found it was all the other +way. There was not a man at the court who was +not in love, or did not think himself so; and if +there were one who had no thought of love, he was +too poor and mean for the love of any woman to be +his.</p> + +<p>But one day the Queen heard a minstrel in the +palace courtyard singing and making merry against +love. It was that same minstrel who sang only sad +songs of the White King’s lands laid waste and himself +a wanderer: a fellow with a dark sunburnt face, +and thick hair hanging over his eyes. And as he +sang and rattled his jests at the courtiers who stood +by to listen, the Queen noticed one of her waiting-women +looking out of a small lattice, who, as she +watched the singer’s face, and listened to his words, +had tears running fast down out of her eyes.</p> + +<p>“Is this a case,” thought the Queen, “of a man +who is loved but who does not love?”</p> + +<p>She sent for the minstrel, and said to him, when +he stood bending his head before her, “Is this pretty +scorn that you cast on love earnest or jest?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span></p> + +<p>“Nay,” he answered, “I jest in good earnest; +for to speak of love in earnest is to jest about it.”</p> + +<p>“So,” said the Queen, “you are heart-whole?”</p> + +<p>“Why,” said the minstrel, “I doubt if a mouse +could find its way in; and if I am heart-whole in +your presence, I ought to be safe from all the world!”</p> + +<p>“Now,” thought the Queen, “if only my waiting-woman +answers the test, here is the heart I will +have out!”</p> + +<p>Then she bade the minstrel follow her to where +stood the White King’s statue, bidding him sit down +under it and sing her more of his rhymes about love.</p> + +<p>So the minstrel crossed his legs in the long grass +and sang. His song became bitter to the Queen’s +ears, for he took the words that were round the +statue, and rhymed them and chimed them, and +threw them laughing in the Queen’s face. She +hated him so that she could have poisoned him; +but she remembered that his life was necessary for +her experiment to reach its end. So she sent instead +for a sleepy wine, which she gave him to drink, +and presently his voice grew thick and his head +dropped down upon his breast, and his legs slid out +and brought him down level with the grass. When +night came on she left him soundly sleeping with +his head between the feet of the White King’s +statue.</p> + +<p>Then she sent for the waiting-woman and said, +“Go down to the White King’s statue, and find for +me my handkerchief which I have dropped there.” +But as the girl went, the Queen stole secretly after +her, and watched her come to where the minstrel +lay asleep.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_187" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_187_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_187.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a><a id="Page_189"></a>[Pg 189]</span></p> + +<p>And when the waiting-maid saw him lying so, +with his face thrown back, she knelt down in the +grass by his side, and putting her arms softly about +him, kissed him upon the lips over and over again as +though she could never come to an end; and her +tears dropped down on to his face, and, as if her mind +were gone mad for love of him, the Queen heard her +sighing, “Oh, White King, my White King, my +Beloved, whom I love, but who loves me not!”</p> + +<p>As soon as the waiting-maid was gone, the Queen +came softly to the place, and with a sharp knife she +cut out the minstrel’s heart and buried it at the base +of the statue.</p> + +<p>In the morning the minstrel was found lying dead +with his heart gone; and when they washed the +dead face and put back the hair that covered the +eyes, they found that it was the White King himself.</p> + +<p>That day, and for many days after, there were two +women weeping in the palace: one was the Queen +and the other was the waiting-woman. But the +body of the White King they buried close by the +statue in the green glade.</p> + +<p>Now presently, when the first violence of her grief +was over, the Queen came to look at the place; and, +sure enough, the Fairy had been there with her +spells. When the wind blew the statue swayed +gently like a tree in the wind.</p> + +<p>The Queen caused gates and barriers to be put +up so that no one should enter the glade but herself; +only Love found a way, and at night, when all the +world was asleep, the waiting-woman crept through +a loose pale in the barriers, and came to moan over +the place where her lover had been slain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p> + +<p>All night she would lie with her arms round the +feet of the White King’s statue, and dream of the +dead minstrel whom she had loved and known +through all his disguise. And all night long her +lips would murmur his name, and whisper over and +over again the sad story of her love.</p> + +<p>And presently, as the statue drew life from the +heart buried beneath its feet, its ears were opened +and it heard.</p> + +<p>In the daytime the Queen would come and sit +before it and whisper words of love, offering it all +the gifts of riches and power that are in the hands +of kings to give; but at night came the waiting-woman +and offered it only love.</p> + +<p>Out of the ground the Queen saw grow a small +plant, that began to creep upwards and to wind +itself round the base of the statue; and when she +saw that its flower was the deadly nightshade, her +heart trembled and her conscience made her afraid.</p> + +<p>But the waiting-maid, when she saw it, picked +the sad blossoms and made a crown for the statue’s +head as of pale amethyst and gold: for she said to +herself, “Down below my dear lies dead, and the +roots of this flower are in his hair.”</p> + +<p>One day as the Queen came into the glade, she +heard the dead minstrel’s voice, and her heart shook +with terror as she saw the statue open its white +lips and sing, and recognised the tune and the +words as those which had made her heart feel so +bitter against him; for she thought, “What if he +knows that it is I who have slain him?”</p> + +<p>Now that she saw that the stone had its five +senses, and could see and speak and hear, she +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span>pleaded to it all day out of the greatness of her +grief and her love. But the statue never returned +her a word.</p> + +<p>At night, lying with her face bowed between the +White King’s statue’s feet, the waiting-woman knew +nothing of all this change; only the statue heard +and saw and knew. And at last one day as her tears +dropped on them, she felt the feet grow warm +between her hands; and a voice over her head +that she remembered and loved, said, “Little +heart, why are you weeping so?”</p> + +<p>In the morning the Queen came and found the +statue gone. There on the pedestal was only the +print of his feet, half covered by the deadly nightshade +which had climbed up to his knees and fallen. +There it lay heavy and half-withered, clasping the +hollows where his feet had been.</p> + +<p>The Queen knelt down and caught the bare +stone pedestal in her arms. “Oh, Love,” she +cried, “have you left me? Oh, White King, my +White King, have you betrayed me?” And as +she clung there weeping, her lips touched the +deadly nightshade; and the nightshade thrilled, +and felt joy give new life down into its roots.</p> + +<p>It reached up and laid its arms about the Queen, +about her throat, and about her feet and about +her waist. “Dearly, dearly we love each other,” +said the nightshade, “do we not?”</p> + +<p>At night the courtiers came, and found only a +dead Queen lying, and the statue gone.</p> + +<p>But the White King had gone home to his own +land to marry the waiting-woman.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_PASSIONATE_PUPPETS"> + THE PASSIONATE PUPPETS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">When</span> the long days of summer began, +Killian, the cow-herd, was able to lead +his drove up into the hills, giving them +the high pastures to range. Then from sunrise to +sunset he was alone, except when, early each morning, +Grendel and the other girls came up to carry +down the milk to the villages.</p> + +<p>All day long the cow-bells sounded in his ears, +but still the time of his wedding was a long way +off; it would be five years before he and Grendel +could afford to set up a house and farm, with cows +of their own.</p> + +<p>The great stretch of world that lay out under +him, like a broad map coloured blue and green, +made him full of a restless longing to try his fortune. +Yonder he could pick out the towns with +their spires and glittering roofs, and the overhead +mists, that gave token of crowded life below. It +was there that wealth could be got; and with +wealth men married soon, and were at ease. Somewhere, +he had heard, lived kings and queens, wearing +rich robes and gold crowns on the top of their +heart’s desire. For kings and queens, he supposed, +loved as did he and Grendel, regarding nothing else +as much in the world besides.</p> + +<p>So Killian, putting heart into his deft hands, +set to work.</p> + +<p>One evening Grendel came up from the valley, +after her day’s work, to have a look at her lover; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span>she had brought him some brown cakes and a bottle +of wine. But Killian, who had caught sight of her +eyes over the green rise at his feet, was hiding +something behind his back.</p> + +<p>“Whatever have you there?” she asked, as she +saw chips, and tools, and bits of bright foil, lying +scattered about the ground. Yet for three days he +would show her nothing, only he said, “What I +do is because we love each other so.”</p> + +<p>At the end of that time, he showed her what +he had done. There she saw a little king and +queen, about six inches high; he was in blue, and +she in white; and they were both as dear as they +were small. The king was partly like a cow-herd, +having a crown over his broad-brimmed hat, with +thick wooden shoes, and leather-bound legs; and +the queen was like Grendel, with great long plaits +past her waist, and a gold-worked bodice, such as +Grendel had for Sunday wear. “Aye, aye,” cried +Grendel, “why, it is you and me!”</p> + +<p>Then Killian showed her how the joints of the +little puppets moved on delicate wires, and how +four strings ran up, one from each limb, to be fastened +to the player’s fingers, so that he might +make them act as though life were in them.</p> + +<p>“I shall take these down with me to the valley,” +said Killian. “First I shall go about among the +villages; then, when I can do better, I shall go to +the towns. After that no doubt the kings and +queens will hear of me, and will send for me to +play before them, and I shall become rich. Then +I shall come home and marry you.”</p> + +<p>Grendel thought her lover the most wonderful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span>man in the world, and it is the truth he was very +clever; she kissed him a hundred times, and the +little marionettes also. “Ah,” she said, “now we +shall not have to wait five years! in five months +you will come back rich and famous, and we shall +marry, and live happily.”</p> + +<p>How Killian had loved her while making his +puppets, only she knew as well as he. Truly, he +had put his heart into them, so that they were like +living beings,—and so small that their very smallness +made them a marvel. Being a lover, he had +put inside each breast a little heart, and, for the +luck of the thing, had christened them with a drop +of his own blood, and a drop of Grendel’s; so each +heart had in it one little drop of blood. Now he +was to go out, and try his fortune.</p> + +<p>He found a lad to come and take his place and +see after the cows; then he said good-bye to Grendel, +and set off on a round of all the villages of the +plain.</p> + +<p>At every inn where he put up, he called the +country folk together to the sound of his shepherd’s +bag-pipes, and showed them his play. It was only +himself and Grendel, no story at all, merely lovers +parting and meeting again, each believing the other +dead, and in the end living happily to the sound +of cow-bells, that showed how rich they were in +herds.</p> + +<p>And the villagers laughed and cried, and gave +him pence, and a night’s lodging, and food; so +that presently he was able to make himself a little +travelling-stage, and hire a piper to play dance-music +for him. But it was always the one story +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>of himself and Grendel, and no other, though the +two puppets wore crowns upon their heads.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The little marionettes had hearts. That was the +beginning of things: they remembered nothing +else. When their eyes had grown open to the fact, +then for them life had begun. After that they +lived like bee and blossom, only that the bee +never flew away, and the honey remained in the +blossom.</p> + +<p>How this came to pass was a question they never +asked; why they loved each other they did not +know. If they had had to think of it they would +have said, “It is because we cannot help it.” And +every day one same thing happened to them that +they could not help, the most beautiful thing in +life. It came to them by instinct, taking hold of +them from head to feet and saying, “Love, love, +love,” in all sorts of wonderful ways.</p> + +<p>Whenever this thing happened they began to +move about softly, going to and fro, and round and +round, dancing, and holding each other by the +hand, putting their cheeks so close together that +their eyelids brushed, and sometimes their little +hearts that heaved. And all the while music from +somewhere was giving a meaning to these things; +and over and over again, “Love, love, love” was +what it kept saying to them.</p> + +<p>Their happiness was so great, that they would +begin playing with it, pretending that it was all +turned into grief. First he would kiss her from +forehead to chin, and into the hollow of her little +throat; and then all down each dear arm, even to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span>the finger-tips; and last of all her feet; and again +last of all her lips, and again last of all her breast. +And then he would go away, walking backwards +most of the time, or if not, still turning round and +round to take another look at her. Then when he +was altogether out of sight, she would sit down +and cry, though all the while he would be peeping +at her from his hiding-place, to let her know that +he was not really gone. Then she would lie down, +and cry more, and at last leave off crying and stay +almost still on a little bed, that seemed to come to +her from nowhere, just when she was ready to fall +on it. Then, at last, she would shut her eyes, and +cover her face up very slowly with a sheet, and lie +so still that he would grow quite frightened, and +come running from his hiding-place, and lift the +sheet, and look at her; then he would fall down as +if his legs had been cut from under him; then he +would get up and throw flowers over her, and at +last catch her up and begin to carry her; and at +that she would wake up all at once and kiss him, to +a sound of bells.</p> + +<p>They did not know why they did this; it was +so beautiful they could not have thought of it for +themselves, and yet it said everything of life that +they wanted to say. For love was the beginning +and the end of it; and always, as they came to the +sad part, they had tender tremblings for fear the +other should think the sorrow was real: he, lest +she should think he had really gone away and left +her, never to return; and she, lest he should +believe that she always meant to lie so cruelly still, +with a sheet over her eyes. Yet the kissings that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span>came after made the fearfulness almost the sweetest +thing in their prayer-sayings to each other.</p> + +<p>For to them this was a daily prayer, the most +solemn thing in their lives; heart praying to heart, +and hand reaching to hand; and from somewhere +overhead gentle monitions as to what they must do +next coming to them, so that they knew how to +pray best, now by lifting a hand, or now by turning +the head, or now by running fast with both feet. +And all this beautiful worship of love their bodies +learned to do more perfectly day by day; yet the +little quaking of fear was still in the centre of it all.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>Killian’s fingers grew nimble; and yet he often +wondered to see how true to life his puppets were, +how they sighed, how they embraced and clung, as +if their hearts were coming in two when the parting +drew near. How lingeringly the little queen drew +up the sheet over her face, when her lover did not +return, and let it fall to cover her with a quiet sigh. +Often he cried when she did that part, so like +Grendel was it,—the tender waiting, and the last +giving in! And then, how the little king shuddered +as he drew the cloth from her face; and how +he threw the flowers, as if there were not enough +in the world to express his grief! And yet it was +only a play, made by the twitching of the strings +tied to his fingers, with love as the beginning and +end of it.</p> + +<p>Killian was getting quite rich in copper coin, so +he sent some of it home to Grendel, that she might +buy stock for the home that was so soon to be theirs. +And presently he made bold to go into the towns, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span>where, instead of copper, he might gain silver. He +built a bigger stage, and had more music to go to the +dance; but still it was the story of himself and Grendel, +with crowns upon their heads, and nothing more.</p> + +<p>And now, indeed, people began to cry, “Here is +a wonderful new actor! He has it all at the ends +of his fingers! What a pity he has no better play +in which to show himself off!” But Killian said, +“It is the only play I know how to do.”</p> + +<p>Presently there came a sharp fellow to him, who +said: “If you will go shares with me I will make your +fortune. We have only to put our heads together, +and the thing is done. I will write the plays for +you, and you shall play them on the strings. What +is wanted is a little more real life.”</p> + +<p>Killian was a simple fellow, who believed all the +world to be wiser than himself. He was glad enough +to meet with a clever fellow who could write plays +for him. His partner wanted him to make new +dresses for the marionettes, to suit their new parts; +but to that Killian would not agree. So whatever +they were they still wore their broad hats and crowns, +and their wooden shoes, that still he might watch +in his own mind himself and Grendel making their +way to fortune and happiness.</p> + +<p>The marionettes grew bewildered with their new +taking; they did not understand the meaning of +all the coarse things they had to do. So in the +middle of a play, the little queen would fail now and +then in her part, and move awkwardly, wondering +what her lover meant when he sprawled to and fro, +and seemed trying to find in the air more feet than +he had upon the ground.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span></p> + +<p>Yet the crowd found her bashful fear so irresistibly +funny, that it roared again. Also, when the little +cow-herd with the crown on his head, lifted his +hand or foot towards his partner, and then shrank +trembling away, it roared yet more at the poltroon +manner of the thing.</p> + +<p>Killian’s partner said, “You alter all my plays, +but the way you do them is something to marvel +at. Only, why do you always bring them round +again to that silly lovers’ ending?”</p> + +<p>“I cannot help it,” said Killian; “often now, +with these new plays, I can’t get the strings to work +properly. I think the poor puppets are getting +worn out.”</p> + +<p>His partner began examining the puppets, and +watching how Killian played them, with more attention; +and presently he knew that there was more in +it than met the eye. “It is the puppets who are +the marvel, not the man,” he said to himself. “I +could work them better myself, if I had practice.”</p> + +<p>Soon after this he proposed that they should set +off for another town; it was the chief town of all, +where they hoped at last to be allowed to show their +plays to the queen herself. “It must be a real +play this time,” said the partner, “a tragedy; but +it wants a third person. You must make another +puppet, while I write the play!”</p> + +<p>So Killian set to work. But he had no love for the +third puppet, which was neither himself nor Grendel, +and he put no heart inside it, and no little drop of +blood. So the new marionette was but limbs, and +a head drawn on wires.</p> + +<p>“Soon,” thought Killian, “I shall be rich enough +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span>to go home and marry Grendel. Then I will throw +this stupid third one away; but the other two we +will always keep close to the niche with the statue +of Our Lady, to help to make us thankful for the +good things God gives us in this world.”</p> + +<p>It was beautiful late spring weather when he and +his companion set out for the capital. On the way +Killian’s partner told him the play that would have +to be played before the queen, and said, “In case +three should be too much for you to manage, you +had better teach me also to handle the strings.” +So Killian began to teach him, with the two little +marionettes alone, the first play which he had +brought down with him from the mountains,—that +being the easiest of all to learn, and the one he loved +best to teach.</p> + +<p>The partner was surprised to find how wonderfully +the puppets followed the leading-strings; in +spite of his clumsiness the story acted itself to +perfection.</p> + +<p>Simple-hearted Killian was charmed. “Ah! +you clever townsman,” said he, “see how at first +trial you equal poor me, who have been at it for +months! It had better be you, after all, to do the +play when it is called for at the court.” And this +Killian proposed truly out of pure modesty, but also +because he did not like the play his partner had made +for him. “It is too cruel a one!” he said. “After +they have played it together so long, I feel as if my +two puppets can do nothing else so well as love each +other, and live happily.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, but,” said his partner, “the queen would +find that very dull!” Killian could not see why; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>but he believed that the townsman was wiser than +himself, and gave in. All he wanted now was to +get money enough to run back home with, and throw +himself into his dear Grendel’s arms for life.</p> + +<p>So they journeyed on, and at last, one day, they +came in sight of the capital. But it had been such +a long way to come that when they reached the gates +they found them shut.</p> + +<p>The night was warm, and a high moon was overhead. +“Come,” said Killian, “and let us lie down +in one of these orchards that are outside the walls!” +So they left the high road, and went and lay down.</p> + +<p>First they ate some food that they carried with +them. Then Killian opened the case in which lay +the two marionettes, and looked them over to see +that they were in working order. His partner took +up the odd number, and began practising it; but +Killian’s attention all went to the little king-cowherd +and his queen.</p> + +<p>He fondled them gently with his hands, and as +he looked at them his heart went up into the mountains +to pray for his dear Grendel.</p> + +<p>Presently he began dreaming to himself like Jacob, +only his dream was just of the simple things of earth. +Down the great green uplands came troops of white +cattle; but to him they seemed to be bridesmaids +coming to Grendel’s wedding day, and the ringing +of the cow-bells was as sweet to him as the songs of +angels. Before he was fast asleep the two marionettes +had slipped off his knee and lay in the deep +grass looking up at the sky.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>They had never seen so beautiful a sight before, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span>for never had they spent a night in the sweet open +air till now. Over their heads swung dusky clusters +of blossom, that would look white by day; and over +them the moon went kissing its way from star to +star.</p> + +<p>Now and then single blossoms dropped as if they +had something to say to the little cow-herd and his +queen, lying there in the cool grass.</p> + +<p>But the marionettes said nothing; their hearts +were very full; now, at last, they found their old +happiness return to them. Their prayers, that they +used to say to each other so tenderly, had been going +wrong for quite a long time; sudden starts and +tremblings of fear had taken hold of their light-hearted +deceptions of each other; and every day +things had been going worse. But now they felt +like entering upon a long rest.</p> + +<p>As they lay, their hands met together. The little +cow-herd could count her fingers across the palm +of his hand, and never once did she pretend to be +drawing them away. How good it all seemed!</p> + +<p>Close by them the odd man was strutting in stiff, +ungainly attitudes, cricking his neck and elbows, and +tossing up his toes. How foolish he seemed to them +in their innocent wisdom! They knew he was +nothing to them, for he had no heart; he was nothing +but a trick on springs. Yet they wished he would +go away, and give them room to be alone, while the +moon was making a white dream over their lives.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The partner grumbled to himself at the awkward +ways of the new puppet. Instead of obeying, it +kicked at the leading strings, and did everything like +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a><a id="Page_204"></a><a id="Page_205"></a>[Pg 205]</span>a stick, all angles and corners. Presently he put it +back into its box; and then he saw the little king and +queen lying together on the damp grass. He picked +them up, growling at Killian as a simpleton, for +leaving them there to get rusty with the dew. Then +he put them also away, and curled himself up to +dream about the success of his play on the +morrow.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="i_203" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> + <a href="images/i_203_large.jpg"><img class="w100" src="images/i_203.jpg" alt=""></a> +</figure> + +<p>Quite early in the morning he and Killian went +into the city, and set up their stage in a corner of +the market-place. The wonderful acting of the +little king and queen, compared with the ungainly +hobblings and jerkings of the odd man, threw the +townspeople into ecstasies of laughter. They +declared they had never seen so funny a sight +in their lives as the beautiful nervous acting of the +pair, side by side with the stiff-jointed awkwardness +of the other.</p> + +<p>Presently, sure enough, the queen heard tell of +this new form of entertainment, and sent word for +the mummers to appear at the palace.</p> + +<p>Killian said to his partner: “There is something +the matter with the puppets to-day; they want +careful handling. I am glad we settled that you +are to do the new play; for, before the queen and +her great ladies, I am likely to lose my head.”</p> + +<p>All the court was gathered together to watch the +puppet-play, while behind the scenes the partner +took all the leading strings into his own hands.</p> + +<hr class="tb"> + +<p>The two marionettes opened their eyes, and saw +daylight; they began moving to and fro softly; +every now and then they put their faces together +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span>and kissed. The stupid odd man seemed to have +gone; they were so glad to be left alone.</p> + +<p>Soon the little king lay down, pretending to be +tired, but it was only that he might put his head +in the queen’s lap. She bent over him, and laid +her fingers on his eyes, seeming to say, “Go to +sleep, then! I will shut your eyes for you.” How +pretty it was of her!</p> + +<p>Then she covered his face over with her handkerchief; +and all at once in came the odd man, +walking on the points of his toes. The little king, +now that the handkerchief was over his face, opened +his eyes, and looked through it, to see what his +dear queen would be doing now. The odd man +had his arms round her neck, and was kissing her, +and the queen looked as if she were going to kiss +him back; but all at once she had pushed away +the odd man so hard that he fell down with his +heels in the air; and then she snatched the handkerchief +from the king’s face, and began trembling, +and kissing him.</p> + +<p>The whole of the court shouted, first with +laughter at the odd man’s fall, and then with +admiration at the wonderful acting of the little +queen.</p> + +<p>Behind the scenes the partner began grumbling +to Killian: “They are going all wrong! It’s all +your doing, leaving them to lie in the damp grass +last night!”</p> + +<p>But still the whole court shouted and applauded. +So the play went on; and now, more and more, +the showman had cause to grumble. Whenever he +came to a part where the play required that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>queen should turn from her own cow-herd to the +ugly odd man, everything went wrong. “Very +well,” thought he at last, “she may be as innocent as +Desdemona but it will all come to the same at the +last!”</p> + +<p>And so, still more, as the play went on, the little +marionettes trembled and shook with fear. They +wished the silly odd man would go away, and not +come interrupting their prayers; and all the while +they loved each other so! No idea of jealousy +ever entered the little king’s head; and as for the +queen, if the odd man came and put his arms round +her neck and kissed her, could she help it? All +she could do was to run and put her arms round her +own lover when he reappeared; and how the court +shouted and applauded, when she went so quick +from one to the other.</p> + +<p>At last the final act was begun; the king came +running in with a sword in his hand, why, he did +not know, until he saw his poor little queen struggling +in the arms of the odd man. “Ah,” thought +he, “it is to drive him away! Then we shall be by +ourselves again, and happy.”</p> + +<p>No one ever fought so wonderfully on a stage +before as the little cow-herd. All the court started +to their feet, shouting; and still, while they +shouted, they laughed to see the impossible odd +man scooping about with his sword, and jerking +head over heels, and high up into the air, to get +away from the little king’s sword-play. The +partner had to keep snatching him up out of harm’s +way, for fear of a wrong ending. Then, suddenly +he let him come down with a jump on the little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span>king’s head. And at that the king fell back upon +the ground, and felt a sharp pain go through his +heart.</p> + +<p>The odd man drew out his sword and laughed; +on the end of it was a tiny drop of blood. The poor +little queen ran up, and bent down to look in her +lover’s face, to know if he were really hurt. And +then a terrible thing happened.</p> + +<p>Three times the little king raised his sword and +pointed it at her heart, and dropped it again. And +all the time the partner was tugging at the strings, +and swearing by all the worst things he knew.</p> + +<p>The little king felt himself growing weak; he +was very frightened. He felt as if he were going +away altogether, and leaving her to think he did +not love her any more. And still his arm went up +and down, pointing the sword at her heart.</p> + +<p>The showman tugged angrily; then there was +the sound of a wire that snapped—the king had +thrown away his sword.</p> + +<p>He reached up his two arms, and laid them fast +round the queen’s neck. “Now at last she knows +that I have not left off loving her.” He felt her +drawing herself away, he held her more and more +tightly to his breast; and now her little face lay +close against his. Nothing can take her away from +him now!</p> + +<p>The showman pulled violently with all his might, +to get her away; there was a snapping of strings, +and then—the queen reached out two weak little +hands, and laid them under her lover’s head.</p> + +<p>They lay quite still, quite still for a long time, +and never moved. “The play is over!” said the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span>showman, disgusted and angry at the wreck of his +plot.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the whole stage became showered with +gold; the great queen and all her court threw out +showers of it like rain. It fell all over the two +marionettes, covering them where they lay, just +as the babes in the wood when they died were +covered over with leaves.</p> + +<p>Killian dropped his head on to the boards of the +little stage, and sobbed. The partner let down the +curtain, and began gathering up the gold.</p> + +<p>And still, from without, the queen and her court +clapped, and cried their applause; and still within +lay Killian with his head upon the stage, sobbing +for the two little marionettes, lying still with all +the springs and strings of their bodies quite broken. +Inside, though he could not see them, their hearts +were broken also. “Now,” he thought, “I must +go back to Grendel, or I too shall die!”</p> + +<p>Later, in the middle of the night, the partner +went away, carrying with him all the gold that +the little marionettes had earned by their deaths. +And these, indeed, he left, seeing that they +were useless any more. But to Killian, when +he woke the next morning, they were the only +things left him in the world, to take back to Grendel.</p> + +<p>He took them just as they were, locked in each +other’s arms, and went back all the long way to +Grendel, up into the hills of his home, as poor in +money as when he first started.</p> + +<p>But Grendel saw that he had come back rich; +for his face was grown tender and wise. And for +five years they waited very patiently together, till +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span>by cow-keeping he had earned enough for them to +keep some cows of their own, and to live in married +happiness.</p> + +<p>The little marionettes they put on a shelf, beneath +the cross, and the statue of our Lady; and +there, locked in each other’s arms, those two disciples +and martyrs of love lie at peace, feeling no +pain any more in their broken hearts.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="KNOONIE_IN_THE_SLEEPING_PALACE"> + KNOONIE IN THE SLEEPING PALACE + </h2> +</div> + + +<p class="dropcap"><span class="upper-case">Just</span> when the palace fell into its deep sleep, +the porter’s son had run out to follow a swarm +of bees which had flown over the fish-ponds into +the woods lying outside the royal demesne. In the +very minute after he had climbed the wood-pales, +to the time when the shifty swarm came swinging +its long bright tangle for home, calling on him to +retrace his pursuit, sleep had clapped down like a +great eyelid over the whole palace.</p> + +<p>Knoonie made a clear leap over the palings into +the royal clover; and then felt something hurting +his heart, he could not know what or why, very +strange, very frightening; it was like waking up all +alone in the middle of a dark night, and feeling +that something was standing quite still in the silence +before him—quite still, because he himself had moved. +He took one step forward, and at that sprang aside as +if a snake were under him: his foot had made no +sound in the clover! Then, thinking his ears must +have deceived him, he tried once more. Ah! now +it was so frightful that his courage went utterly: +“Help, help!” he cried with all the force of his +lungs: but his voice gave no sound. The dead +silence that weighed on his struggles to cry, drove +him wild with terror.</p> + +<p>He set off running as if Death were after him: +running like a blind thing; and knew nothing +more till he fell half-stunned and bleeding into the +gateway of the palace-courtyard.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span></p> + +<p>He sprang, and tapped with his hand on the +porter’s wicket. “Father, dear father, open +quick!” he cried. But the words fell mute, and +the wicket did not open. Then he began beating +with his fists on the bronze panels, and, seizing hold +of the knocker, battered for dear life. For dear +life! But dear reason almost died in the attempt. +The great bronze knocker beat without making a +sound. He stopped his ears with his fingers to get +rid of the stillness which was so terrible: and then +at last he began to think that while in the wood he +must have gone stone-deaf. But he was frightened; +though he was deaf, others surely should hear him: +again he beat and beat upon the knocker, throwing +his whole weight upon it, and cried with the tears +running down his face for his father to come to him.</p> + +<p>Surely somebody must come. No, all was quite +still as well as silent: nothing moved: everywhere it +was the same. There was a sentry on guard over the +gate: Knoonie could see his helmet and the top of +his halbert shining in the sun. He cried to him to +come down and let him in; but the man stood so +still that he began to think he must truly have lost +the power of speech as well as of hearing. He +stooped down, and taking up a stone, threw it at +the soldier to make him turn round; moving away +from the wall so as to get a better aim, he was able to +see more of him. The sentry stood very strangely; +he must be asleep or sun-struck, for a small green +paroquet had come and perched on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>The fifth stone Knoonie threw (for fear had made +his hand tremble) hit the soldier on the head; and +yet he did not wake up, and the strange little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span>paroquet remained as if stuffed and glued to its +perch.</p> + +<p>Then Knoonie, casting his eyes all round for anything +to help, saw a new sight. All down the broad +avenues of the park a movement was taking place +from the earth upwards: it came nearer and nearer: +it was like a green army on the march: it waved long +prickly spears and many-pointed crests, and sent +green things like lizards swarming into the high trees +that stood in its way. Up and up, closer and higher +to the very gates of the palace it came—a wall of +thistles, magic in strength and stature, over-ranked +by beetling heads of hemlock, and under-run by +long snakey loops of bramble, that writhed in and +out of the earth like huge worms.</p> + +<p>“I must be dreaming!” thought Knoonie for a +way out of his distress. “It’s all one horrid dream +which will come to an end just as the worst thing +happens.” But the giant thistles came crowding +close, reaching hungry hands at him. He caught +hold of the knocker, and dragging himself up was +able in his terror to force open the wicket, and work +his small body through, just as the first thistle caught +him by the leg. He escaped shoeless and with all +his hose torn into ribands from the knee. Inside +he came upon his father, sitting in his accustomed +niche, keys in hand, sitting quite still with head +bent and closed eyes.</p> + +<p>The child began to tremble and cry; he forgot +any longer to think it was a dream; a remembrance +like the touch of dead lips chilled his heart: the +remembrance that while his father had been sitting +there almost within reach of his hand, he, Knoonie, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span>had cried and beaten with all his force upon the door, +and had not been heard. He threw his arms round his +father’s neck, and clinging close to the deaf face he +loved: “Father, father,” he cried, “wake!” But +his words had no sound, and the porter made no +sound or stir.</p> + +<p>Dead, dead! Knoonie threw up his hands, and +trying vainly to utter one call for help, darted into +the palace.</p> + +<p>After a long time, he came out again with a white +face, looking dazed into the sunlight: what was it +he had seen in there? Beautiful lords and ladies, +still as death, smiling and bending over golden plates +and half-tasted wine; serving men who stood upright +and still as death, carrying dishes and tilting +out the wine into great tankards; and, over all, the +yellow sunlight streaming in licked the dead faces as +a beast licks carrion.</p> + +<p>He ran tottering over the marble pavement, as +fast as fear would send him; to get away out of the +palace and fetch help for all these dead or dying +people: for there must still be somebody left somewhere. +But when he came to the porter’s lodge, +there was a sight in the wicket that stopped him: +the small square aperture was bulged through by +thistle and bramble, in the midst of which his little +shoe hung trussed and skewered; the hard grasp of +the thistles had bent it out of shape, and the thorns +of the bramble had cut into the leather like the steel +teeth of a trap. Looking through, he could see nothing +but one dense forest of thistles, made the more +impassable by a thick mesh of creepers that clung +about their stems. He climbed up on to the walls: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>everywhere was the same; those death’s heads of +hemlock had grown higher than the trees of the +park, and threw their shadows over the whole palace.</p> + +<p>Slowly, the meaning of the horror which had first +been so impossible for his mind to take in grew clear to +his imagination. The sleeping palace, that whispered +tale of his childhood, was embodied before him; +and of all those who had heard it told, and laughed +it lightly away because every day brought sameness +of life to each sense, he alone was left awake to drink +the full cup of this sleep of doom, he alone, amid +others unconscious of their arrested life, with all +the ways of knowledge closed from him by an overwhelming +silence, he and he only must live and move, +and endure this living tomb, till the Prince Rescuer +should come, of whom the same tale gave promise. +The great palace where he had been such a little +thing at everybody’s beck and call, one for the +grooms to tease, and for maids and serving-men to +harry, was his own possession now, to do in what he +would; but no joy came to him with this growing +sense of a strange liberty. He went from place to +place, tiptoeing at first, hardly daring to enter those +grand chambers where the king and his great lords +were sitting in state; but the lords-in-waiting stood +making way for him with closed eyes; and he might +see and touch and taste whatever he chose.</p> + +<p>He went and stood behind great ladies, and stroked +their shining hair, and touched their white wondrous +throats, and the strong hands of the knights, the +King’s even, with its gold signet ring; but there +was no joy in any of these things. And when hunger +came on him he put out his hand and helped himself +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>from the King’s plate: yet though he had tasted no +such delicacies in his life before, they gave him no +pleasure now. He looked at all the beautiful ladies +with their sweet-smiling lips, and remembered how +he had thought that to be kissed by them would be +almost death, so great must be the delight. Now +he climbed up to the sweetest of them all, and tried +to imagine her as the mother he had never known; +yet when he kissed, and saw how the lips went smiling +on, it was such bitterness that the tears burst from +his eyes, and fell into the velvet lap of her dress. He +caught up a napkin, “For when she wakes up she +will see what a mess I have made and be angry,” he +thought: then he remembered the hundred years, +and cried still more.</p> + +<p>At last, when it began to get dark, weary with +sorrow, and drawn thither by a growing fear of his +loneliness, he went back to the gate, and there, +kissing him, lay down with his head on his father’s +knee, and clinging to the hand that had hold of the +keys of his prison, wept himself to sleep. Ah! how +happy would he be if sleep would join his lot to +theirs, and his eyes never open again till the whole +day of deliverance was come. Alas! that the bees +should have led him beyond reach of the charm +which would have brought sleep, and only back to +be enclosed in the impenetrable embrace of that +thorny fastness.</p> + +<p>The next day’s sun shone down and opened +Knoonie’s eyes; and he rose up into the life-long +silence that encompassed him; and, kissing his +father’s face, went forth into the joyless splendours +of his prison-house.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> + +<p>This day he climbed all the towers, and strained +his eyes for a glimpse of the great unsleeping world +beyond. But high and far the forest of thorns had +stretched itself; and he could only see here and there +the blue of the most distant hills through gaps of +thicket.</p> + +<p>Then he went down, and sought out all his old +acquaintances, the stable-boys who played with +him, the grooms who bullied, and the maids who +teased. He came face to face with the terrible +head-cook, who had so many times threatened to beat +him to a jelly; now Knoonie could have boxed the +tyrant’s head off, and no hand would be there to +stay him; but he only stood and looked at the big +grim face and the closed eyes, and longed hungrily +for a blow from that coarse red fist.</p> + +<p>He went on to the stables; and now who was there +to forbid him his heart’s desire to climb on to the +back of the King’s great charger, who stood sleeping +with beautifully arched neck: yet when he had +clambered his way up by the manger, it was no +pride to him to be there: he only bowed his face +down into the black mane and wept.</p> + +<p>That same day he found the Princess sleeping +in her chamber; oh! so beautiful she was with her +little white hand laid on the spinning-wheel, a small +prick of scarlet showing on the delicate skin. So +beautiful she was, he dared not kiss her yet, for he did +not know that anyone who could win entrance into +the sleeping palace, could by kissing the Princess +break the charm and gain her for his bride. Already +more than one brave knight had entered that vast +forest of thorns and thrown away his life in striving +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>to get to those lips which were Knoonie’s for a little +stooping. But he was a child and he did not understand.</p> + +<p>The days went by, the weeks went by, and the +child fell in with ever deepening sadness to the loneliness +of his environment. His wistful face grew +beautiful and pure in that still air, and the picture +of courtly life that encircled his lent him an unconscious +grace. Yet he stayed humble and sad, and +every night, leaving beds of down and pillows of lace +untouched, went back to kiss his father’s face and +lie with his head on his knee. As for food, that +great palace held stores which would suffice him +through many lives; and during the magic sleep +nothing changed or decayed: even the milk stayed +fresh through the many years to come; a hundred +shining pails of it standing in the king’s dairy.</p> + +<p>The weeks, the months, even the years went by; +but the child forgot the passing of time; and the +less and less of a child, retained the child’s heart still, +lonely and sad; with a child’s will and brain, with +the memory of its childish prattle dying away, and +no words or thoughts of a growing man to take its +place; and amid that sleep of dreamless men, +where even the thought of evil did not enter, his +heart was left to him, gentle, simple, and pure.</p> + +<p>Every night at his father’s knee Knoonie knelt +and said his evening prayer, and slept well, with the +porter’s hand in his. Years made his body fair and +of a slender strength, and through the deep silence +he grew tall. And he would go and look at the +sweet-faced women, and wonder why he sighed, and +why it was so sad to kiss their lips that smiled and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span>yet cared nothing—so sad that as years went on he +left off from that which seemed to put a double +silence on his life, the pain being too keen for his +heart. And then he would go and look at the +Princess whose lips he had never kissed: and that +seemed the saddest thing of all.</p> + +<p>Still years went on, and his mild mute life bore +him very slowly on to age: and still night by night, +a young man once, and then a man in his full prime, +and then a man with grey hair showing on his head, +and then a man beginning to bend down with age, +went and said his childish prayer, and kissed his +father’s face, and slept with his head against his +father’s knee.</p> + +<p>Very gently had life cradled him to age when a +hundred years came round: he had lost all knowledge +or thought of speech, save that one form of daily +use, and his silver-grey face was a reflection of the +spirit that brooded over the sleeping palace.</p> + +<p>The great day came when all the palace clocks, +and the sounds of speech and laughter woke back +to life. The thorns and thistles had disappeared, +dropping a child’s shoe for luck over the palace +threshold: the Prince had come and broken the +spell. The cook was screaming that a hundred cats +had been at the cream.</p> + +<p>In a far-off corner of the palace Knoonie heard, +and knew what these sounds meant, and his heart +trembled for joy: but it was so very terrible! To +him the pain, the bewilderment, the multitude of +sights and sounds made this renewed life an agony +past knowing; he was so giddy he could only creep +hand over hand along the wall towards the gate where +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span>his father sat. Now his one thought was to see his +father.</p> + +<p>As he came under the archway, the porter took +him by the shoulder roughly, and turned him out +of doors. “We want no naked old mendicants +here.”</p> + +<p>Knoonie found no words to say; he just walked +on and on, a beautiful bowed down old man, bespoken +of none, until one night he knocked at a +doorway in fairyland, and there with me found +contentment and a home.</p> + + +<p class="p4 center"> + <i>Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld.,</i><br> + <i>London and Aylesbury.</i> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="transnote"> + <p class="ph2"> + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + </p> + + + +<p>Hyphens restored in “will-o’-the-wisp” (<a href="#Page_26">page 26</a>) and “Fire-eaters” (<a href="#Page_88">page 88</a>). +All other inconsistencies in hyphenation have been left unchanged.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_145">Page 145</a>: Extraneous quotation mark in “I don’t know,” removed.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_171">Page 171</a>: Typo “Princesss” corrected.</p> + +<p>Missing puncutation restored: “out of his heart.” (<a href="#Page_113">page 113</a>); +“kissed the hand,” (<a href="#Page_131">page 131</a>); “try his fortune.” (<a href="#Page_192">page 192</a>).</p> + +<p>Some illustrations have been moved from the original positions for +readability.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78382 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78382-h/images/cover.jpg b/78382-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cddfe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/78382-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/78382-h/images/i_027.jpg b/78382-h/images/i_027.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85d5130 --- /dev/null +++ b/78382-h/images/i_027.jpg diff --git a/78382-h/images/i_027_large.jpg b/78382-h/images/i_027_large.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c486fc --- 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..230c340 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #78382 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78382) |
