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diff --git a/697-h/697-h.htm b/697-h/697-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f65ff96 --- /dev/null +++ b/697-h/697-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2999 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Light Princes, by George MacDonald +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +PRE { font-size: medium ; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; ] + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Light Princess, by George MacDonald + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Light Princess + +Author: George MacDonald + +Posting Date: July 26, 2008 [EBook #697] +Release Date: October, 1996 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIGHT PRINCESS *** + + + + +Produced by Jo Churcher. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE LIGHT PRINCESS +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +GEORGE MACDONALD +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Contents +</H2> + +<PRE> + 1. <A HREF="#chap01">What! No Children?</A> + 2. <A HREF="#chap02">Won't I, Just?</A> + 3. <A HREF="#chap03">She Can't Be Ours.</A> + 4. <A HREF="#chap04">Where Is She?</A> + 5. <A HREF="#chap05">What Is to Be Done?</A> + 6. <A HREF="#chap06">She Laughs Too Much.</A> + 7. <A HREF="#chap07">Try Metaphysics.</A> + 8. <A HREF="#chap08">Try a Drop of Water.</A> + 9. <A HREF="#chap09">Put Me in Again.</A> + 10. <A HREF="#chap10">Look at the Moon.</A> + 11. <A HREF="#chap11">Hiss!</A> + 12. <A HREF="#chap12">Where Is the Prince?</A> + 13. <A HREF="#chap13">Here I Am.</A> + 14. <A HREF="#chap14">This Is Very Kind of You.</A> + 15. <A HREF="#chap15">Look at the Rain!</A> +</PRE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +1. What! No Children? +</H3> + +<P> +Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, +there lived a king and queen who had no children. +</P> + +<P> +And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintance have +children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my +queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind to be +cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient +queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But the queen +pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one too. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say +sons; that might be too much to expect." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make a +virtue of that, surely." +</P> + +<P> +But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment +would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart. This, +however, was an affair of state. +</P> + +<P> +The queen smiled. +</P> + +<P> +"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said she. +</P> + +<P> +She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she could +not oblige the king immediately. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +2. Won't I, Just? +</H3> + +<P> +The king tried to have patience, but he succeeded very badly. It was +more than he deserved, therefore, when, at last, the queen gave him a +daughter—as lovely a little princess as ever cried. +</P> + +<P> +The day drew near when the infant must be christened. The king wrote +all the invitations with his own hand. Of course somebody was +forgotten. Now it does not generally matter if somebody is forgotten, +only you must mind who. Unfortunately, the king forgot without +intending to forget; and so the chance fell upon the Princess +Makemnoit, which was awkward. For the princess was the king's own +sister; and he ought not to have forgotten her. But she had made +herself so disagreeable to the old king, their father, that he had +forgotten her in making his will; and so it was no wonder that her +brother forgot her in writing his invitations. But poor relations +don't do anything to keep you in mind of them. Why don't they? The +king could not see into the garret she lived in, could he? +</P> + +<P> +She was a sour, spiteful creature. The wrinkles of contempt crossed +the wrinkles of peevishness, and made her face as full of wrinkles as a +pat of butter. If ever a king could be justified in forgetting +anybody, this king was justified in forgetting his sister, even at a +christening. She looked very odd, too. Her forehead was as large as +all the rest of her face, and projected over it like a precipice. When +she was angry, her little eyes flashed blue. When she hated anybody, +they shone yellow and green. What they looked like when she loved +anybody, I do not know; for I never heard of her loving anybody but +herself, and I do not think she could have managed that if she had not +somehow got used to herself. But what made it highly imprudent in the +king to forget her was that she was awfully clever. In fact, she was a +witch; and when she bewitched anybody, he very soon had enough of it; +for she beat all the wicked fairies in wickedness, and all the clever +ones in cleverness. She despised all the modes we read of in history, +in which offended fairies and witches have taken their revenges; and +therefore, after waiting and waiting in vain for an invitation, she +made up her mind at last to go without one, and make the whole family +miserable, like a princess as she was. +</P> + +<P> +So she put on her best gown, went to the palace, was kindly received by +the happy monarch, who forgot that he had forgotten her, and took her +place in the procession to the royal chapel. When they were all +gathered about the font, she contrived to get next to it, and throw +something into the water; after which she maintained a very respectful +demeanour till the water was applied to the child's face. But at that +moment she turned round in her place three times, and muttered the +following words, loud enough for those beside her to hear:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Light of spirit, by my charms,<BR> +Light of body, every part,<BR> +Never weary human arms—<BR> +Only crush thy parents' heart!"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +They all thought she had lost her wits, and was repeating some foolish +nursery rhyme; but a shudder went through the whole of them +notwithstanding. The baby, on the contrary, began to laugh and crow; +while the nurse gave a start and a smothered cry, for she thought she +was struck with paralysis: she could not feel the baby in her arms. +But she clasped it tight and said nothing. The mischief was done. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +3. She Can't Be Ours. +</H3> + +<P> +Her atrocious aunt had deprived the child of all her gravity. If you +ask me how this was effected, I answer, "In the easiest way in the +world. She had only to destroy gravitation." For the princess was a +philosopher, and knew all the ins and outs of the laws of gravitation +as well as the ins and outs of her boot-lace. And being a witch as +well, she could abrogate those laws in a moment; or at least so clog +their wheels and rust their bearings, that they would not work at all. +But we have more to do with what followed than with how it was done. +</P> + +<P> +The first awkwardness that resulted from this unhappy privation was, +that the moment the nurse began to float the baby up and down, she flew +from her arms towards the ceiling. Happily, the resistance of the air +brought her ascending career to a close within a foot of it. There she +remained, horizontal as when she left her nurse's arms, kicking and +laughing amazingly. The nurse in terror flew to the bell, and begged +the footman, who answered it, to bring up the house-steps directly. +Trembling in every limb, she climbed upon the steps, and had to stand +upon the very top, and reach up, before she could catch the floating +tail of the baby's long clothes. +</P> + +<P> +When the strange fact came to be known, there was a terrible commotion +in the palace. The occasion of its discovery by the king was naturally +a repetition of the nurse's experience. Astonished that he felt no +weight when the child was laid in his arms, he began to wave her up and +not down, for she slowly ascended to the ceiling as before, and there +remained floating in perfect comfort and satisfaction, as was testified +by her peals of tiny laughter. The king stood staring up in speechless +amazement, and trembled so that his beard shook like grass in the wind. +At last, turning to the queen, who was just as horror-struck as +himself, he said, gasping, staring, and stammering,— +</P> + +<P> +"She can't be ours, queen!" +</P> + +<P> +Now the queen was much cleverer than the king, and had begun already to +suspect that "this effect defective came by cause." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure she is ours," answered she. "But we ought to have taken +better care of her at the christening. People who were never invited +ought not to have been present." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, ho!" said the king, tapping his forehead with his forefinger, "I +have it all. I've found her out. Don't you see it, queen? Princess +Makemnoit has bewitched her." "That's just what I say," answered the +queen. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon, my love; I did not hear you.—John! bring the steps +I get on my throne with." +</P> + +<P> +For he was a little king with a great throne, like many other kings. +</P> + +<P> +The throne-steps were brought, and set upon the dining-table, and John +got upon the top of them. But he could not reach the little princess, +who lay like a baby-laughter-cloud in the air, exploding continuously. +"Take the tongs, John," said his Majesty; and getting up on the table, +he handed them to him. +</P> + +<P> +John could reach the baby now, and the little princess was handed down +by the tongs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +4. Where Is She? +</H3> + +<P> +One fine summer day, a month after these her first adventures, during +which time she had been very carefully watched, the princess was lying +on the bed in the queen's own chamber, fast asleep. One of the windows +was open, for it was noon, and the day was so sultry that the little +girl was wrapped in nothing less ethereal than slumber itself. The +queen came into the room, and not observing that the baby was on the +bed, opened another window. A frolicsome fairy wind, which had been +watching for a chance of mischief, rushed in at the one window, and +taking its way over the bed where the child was lying, caught her up, +and rolling and floating her along like a piece of flue, or a dandelion +seed, carried her with it through the opposite window, and away. The +queen went down-stairs, quite ignorant of the loss she had herself +occasioned. +</P> + +<P> +When the nurse returned, she supposed that her Majesty had carried her +off, and, dreading a scolding, delayed making inquiry about her. But +hearing nothing, she grew uneasy, and went at length to the queen's +boudoir, where she found her Majesty. +</P> + +<P> +"Please, your Majesty, shall I take the baby?" said she. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is she?" asked the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Please forgive me. I know it was wrong." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" said the queen, looking grave. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! don't frighten me, your Majesty!" exclaimed the nurse, clasping +her hands. +</P> + +<P> +The queen saw that something was amiss, and fell down in a faint. The +nurse rushed about the palace, screaming, "My baby! my baby!" +</P> + +<P> +Every one ran to the queen's room. But the queen could give no orders. +They soon found out, however, that the princess was missing, and in a +moment the palace was like a beehive in a garden; and in one minute +more the queen was brought to herself by a great shout and a clapping +of hands. They had found the princess fast asleep under a rose-bush, +to which the elvish little wind-puff had carried her, finishing its +mischief by shaking a shower of red rose-leaves all over the little +white sleeper. Startled by the noise the servants made, she woke, and, +furious with glee, scattered the rose-leaves in all directions, like a +shower of spray in the sunset. +</P> + +<P> +She was watched more carefully after this, no doubt; yet it would be +endless to relate all the odd incidents resulting from this peculiarity +of the young princess. But there never was a baby in a house, not to +say a palace, that kept the household in such constant good humour, at +least below-stairs. If it was not easy for her nurses to hold her, at +least she made neither their arms nor their hearts ache. And she was +so nice to play at ball with! There was positively no danger of +letting her fall. They might throw her down, or knock her down, or +push her down, but couldn't let her down. It is true, they might let +her fly into the fire or the coal-hole, or through the window; but none +of these accidents had happened as yet. If you heard peals of laughter +resounding from some unknown region, you might be sure enough of the +cause. Going down into the kitchen, or the room, you would find Jane +and Thomas, and Robert and Susan, all and sum, playing at ball with the +little princess. She was the ball herself, and did not enjoy it the +less for that. Away she went, flying from one to another, screeching +with laughter. And the servants loved the ball itself better even than +the game. But they had to take some care how they threw her, for if +she received an upward direction, she would never come down again +without being fetched. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +5. What Is to Be Done? +</H3> + +<P> +But above-stairs it was different. One day, for instance, after +breakfast, the king went into his counting-house, and counted out his +money. The operation gave him no pleasure. +</P> + +<P> +"To think," said he to himself, "that every one of these gold +sovereigns weighs a quarter of an ounce, and my real, live, +flesh-and-blood princess weighs nothing at all!" +</P> + +<P> +And he hated his gold sovereigns, as they lay with a broad smile of +self-satisfaction all over their yellow faces. +</P> + +<P> +The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. But at the +second mouthful she burst out crying, and could not swallow it. +</P> + +<P> +The king heard her sobbing. Glad of anybody, but especially of his +queen, to quarrel with, he clashed his gold sovereigns into his +money-box, clapped his crown on his head, and rushed into the parlour. +</P> + +<P> +"What is all this about?" exclaimed he. "What are you crying for, +queen?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't eat it," said the queen, looking ruefully at the honey-pot. +</P> + +<P> +"No wonder!" retorted the king. "You've just eaten your breakfast—two +turkey eggs, and three anchovies." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's not it!" sobbed her Majesty. "It's my child, my child!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's the matter with your child? She's neither up the chimney +nor down the draw-well. Just hear her laughing." +</P> + +<P> +Yet the king could not help a sigh, which he tried to turn into a +cough, saying— +</P> + +<P> +"It is a good thing to be light-hearted, I am sure, whether she be ours +or not." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a bad thing to be light-headed," answered the queen, looking +with prophetic soul far into the future. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a good thing to be light-handed," said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a bad thing to be light-fingered," answered the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a good thing to be light-footed," said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"'Tis a bad thing—" began the queen; but the king interrupted her. +</P> + +<P> +"In fact," said he, with the tone of one who concludes an argument in +which he has had only imaginary opponents, and in which, therefore, he +has come off triumphant—"in fact, it is a good thing altogether to be +light-bodied." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is a bad thing altogether to be light-minded," retorted the +queen, who was beginning to lose her temper. +</P> + +<P> +This last answer quite discomfited his Majesty, who turned on his heel, +and betook himself to his counting-house again. But he was not +half-way towards it, when the voice of his queen overtook him. +</P> + +<P> +"And it's a bad thing to be light-haired," screamed she, determined to +have more last words, now that her spirit was roused. +</P> + +<P> +The queen's hair was black as night; and the king's had been, and his +daughter's was, golden as morning. But it was not this reflection on +his hair that arrested him; it was the double use of the word light. +For the king hated all witticisms, and punning especially. And +besides, he could not tell whether the queen meant light-haired or +light-heired; for why might she not aspirate her vowels when she was +exasperated herself? +</P> + +<P> +He turned upon his other heel, and rejoined her. She looked angry +still, because she knew that she was guilty, or, what was much the +same, knew that HE thought so. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear queen," said he, "duplicity of any sort is exceedingly +objectionable between married people of any rank, not to say kings and +queens; and the most objectionable form duplicity can assume is that of +punning." +</P> + +<P> +"There!" said the queen, "I never made a jest, but I broke it in the +making. I am the most unfortunate woman in the world!" +</P> + +<P> +She looked so rueful, that the king took her in his arms; and they sat +down to consult. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you bear this?" said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I can't," said the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what's to be done?" said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I don't know," said the queen. "But might you not try an +apology?" +</P> + +<P> +"To my old sister, I suppose you mean?" said the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't mind," said the king. +</P> + +<P> +So he went the next morning to the house of the princess, and, making a +very humble apology, begged her to undo the spell. But the princess +declared, with a grave face, that she knew nothing at all about it. +Her eyes, however, shone pink, which was a sign that she was happy. +She advised the king and queen to have patience, and to mend their +ways. The king returned disconsolate. The queen tried to comfort him. +</P> + +<P> +"We will wait till she is older. She may then be able to suggest +something herself. She will know at least how she feels, and explain +things to us." +</P> + +<P> +"But what if she should marry?" exclaimed the king, in sudden +consternation at the idea. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what of that?" rejoined the queen. "Just think! If she were to +have children! In the course of a hundred years the air might be as +full of floating children as of gossamers in autumn." +</P> + +<P> +"That is no business of ours," replied the queen. "Besides, by that +time they will have learned to take care of themselves." +</P> + +<P> +A sigh was the king's only answer. +</P> + +<P> +He would have consulted the court physicians; but he was afraid they +would try experiments upon her. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +6. She Laughs Too Much. +</H3> + +<P> +Meantime, notwithstanding awkward occurrences, and griefs that she +brought upon her parents, the little princess laughed and grew—not +fat, but plump and tall. She reached the age of seventeen, without +having fallen into any worse scrape than a chimney; by rescuing her +from which, a little bird-nesting urchin got fame and a black face. +Nor, thoughtless as she was, had she committed anything worse than +laughter at everybody and everything that came in her way. When she +was told, for the sake of experiment, that General Clanrunfort was cut +to pieces with all his troops, she laughed; when she heard that the +enemy was on his way to besiege her papa's capital, she laughed hugely; +but when she was told that the city would certainly be abandoned to the +mercy of the enemy's soldiery—why, then she laughed immoderately. She +never could be brought to see the serious side of anything. When her +mother cried, she said,— +</P> + +<P> +"What queer faces mamma makes! And she squeezes water out of her +cheeks? Funny mamma!" +</P> + +<P> +And when her papa stormed at her, she laughed, and danced round and +round him, clapping her hands, and crying— +</P> + +<P> +"Do it again, papa. Do it again! It's SUCH fun! Dear, funny papa!" +</P> + +<P> +And if he tried to catch her, she glided from him in an instant, not in +the least afraid of him, but thinking it part of the game not to be +caught. With one push of her foot, she would be floating in the air +above his head; or she would go dancing backwards and forwards and +sideways, like a great butterfly. It happened several times, when her +father and mother were holding a consultation about her in private, +that they were interrupted by vainly repressed outbursts of laughter +over their heads; and looking up with indignation, saw her floating at +full length in the air above them, whence she regarded them with the +most comical appreciation of the position. +</P> + +<P> +One day an awkward accident happened. The princess had come out upon +the lawn with one of her attendants, who held her by the hand. Spying +her father at the other side of the lawn, she snatched her hand from +the maid's, and sped across to him. Now when she wanted to run alone, +her custom was to catch up a stone in each hand, so that she might come +down again after a bound. Whatever she wore as part of her attire had +no effect in this way: even gold, when it thus became as it were a part +of herself, lost all its weight for the time. But whatever she only +held in her hands retained its downward tendency. On this occasion she +could see nothing to catch up but a huge toad, that was walking across +the lawn as if he had a hundred years to do it in. Not knowing what +disgust meant, for this was one of her peculiarities, she snatched up +the toad and bounded away. She had almost reached her father, and he +was holding out his arms to receive her, and take from her lips the +kiss which hovered on them like a butterfly on a rosebud, when a puff +of wind blew her aside into the arms of a young page, who had just been +receiving a message from his Majesty. Now it was no great peculiarity +in the princess that, once she was set agoing, it always cost her time +and trouble to check herself. On this occasion there was no time. She +must kiss-and she kissed the page. She did not mind it much; for she +had no shyness in her composition; and she knew, besides, that she +could not help it. So she only laughed, like a musical box. The poor +page fared the worst. For the princess, trying to correct the +unfortunate tendency of the kiss, put out her hands to keep her off the +page; so that, along with the kiss, he received, on the other cheek, a +slap with the huge black toad, which she poked right into his eye. He +tried to laugh, too, but the attempt resulted in such an odd contortion +of countenance, as showed that there was no danger of his pluming +himself on the kiss. As for the king, his dignity was greatly hurt, +and he did not speak to the page for a whole month. +</P> + +<P> +I may here remark that it was very amusing to see her run, if her mode +of progression could properly be called running. For first she would +make a bound; then, having alighted, she would run a few steps, and +make another bound. Sometimes she would fancy she had reached the +ground before she actually had, and her feet would go backwards and +forwards, running upon nothing at all, like those of a chicken on its +back. Then she would laugh like the very spirit of fun; only in her +laugh there was something missing. What it was, I find myself unable +to describe. I think it was a certain tone, depending upon the +possibility of sorrow—MORBIDEZZA, perhaps. She never smiled. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +7. Try Metaphysics. +</H3> + +<P> +After a long avoidance of the painful subject, the king and queen +resolved to hold a council of three upon it; and so they sent for the +princess. In she came, sliding and flitting and gliding from one piece +of furniture to another, and put herself at last in an armchair, in a +sitting posture. Whether she could be said to sit, seeing she received +no support from the seat of the chair, I do not pretend to determine. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear child," said the king, "you must be aware by this time that +you are not exactly like other people." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you dear funny papa! I have got a nose, and two eyes, and all the +rest. So have you. So has mamma." +</P> + +<P> +"Now be serious, my dear, for once," said the queen. +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you, mamma; I had rather not." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you not like to be able to walk like other people?" said the +king. +</P> + +<P> +"No indeed, I should think not. You only crawl. You are such slow +coaches!" +</P> + +<P> +"How do you feel, my child?" he resumed, after a pause of discomfiture. +</P> + +<P> +"Quite well, thank you." +</P> + +<P> +"I mean, what do you feel like?" +</P> + +<P> +"Like nothing at all, that I know of." +</P> + +<P> +"You must feel like something." +</P> + +<P> +"I feel like a princess with such a funny papa, and such a dear pet of +a queen-mamma!" +</P> + +<P> +"Now really!" began the queen; but the princess interrupted her. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh Yes," she added, "I remember. I have a curious feeling sometimes, +as if I were the only person that had any sense in the whole world." +</P> + +<P> +She had been trying to behave herself with dignity; but now she burst +into a violent fit of laughter, threw herself backwards over the chair, +and went rolling about the floor in an ecstasy of enjoyment. The king +picked her up easier than one does a down quilt, and replaced her in +her former relation to the chair. The exact preposition expressing +this relation I do not happen to know. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there nothing you wish for?" resumed the king, who had learned by +this time that it was useless to be angry with her. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you dear papa!—yes," answered she. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it, my darling?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have been longing for it—oh, such a time!—ever since last night." +"Tell me what it is." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you promise to let me have it?" +</P> + +<P> +The king was on the point of saying Yes, but the wiser queen checked +him with a single motion of her head. "Tell me what it is first," said +he. +</P> + +<P> +"No no. Promise first." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare not. What is it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mind, I hold you to your promise.—It is—to be tied to the end of a +string—a very long string indeed, and be flown like a kite. Oh, such +fun! I would rain rose-water, and hail sugar-plums, and snow +whipped-cream, and—and—and—" +</P> + +<P> +A fit of laughing checked her; and she would have been off again over +the floor, had not the king started up and caught her just in time. +Seeing nothing but talk could be got out of her, he rang the bell, and +sent her away with two of her ladies-in-waiting. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, queen," he said, turning to her Majesty, "what IS to be done?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is but one thing left," answered she. "Let us consult the +college of Metaphysicians." +</P> + +<P> +"Bravo!" cried the king; "we will." +</P> + +<P> +Now at the head of this college were two very wise Chinese +philosophers-by name Hum-Drum, and Kopy-Keck. For them the king sent; +and straightway they came. In a long speech he communicated to them +what they knew very well already—as who did not?—namely, the peculiar +condition of his daughter in relation to the globe on which she dwelt; +and requested them to consult together as to what might be the cause +and probable cure of her INFIRMITY. The king laid stress upon the +word, but failed to discover his own pun. The queen laughed; but +Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck heard with humility and retired in silence. +</P> + +<P> +The consultation consisted chiefly in propounding and supporting, for +the thousandth time, each his favourite theories. For the condition of +the princess afforded delightful scope for the discussion of every +question arising from the division of thought-in fact, of all the +Metaphysics of the Chinese Empire. But it is only justice to say that +they did not altogether neglect the discussion of the practical +question, what was to be done. +</P> + +<P> +Hum-Drum was a Materialist, and Kopy-Keck was a Spiritualist. The +former was slow and sententious; the latter was quick and flighty: the +latter had generally the first word; the former the last. +</P> + +<P> +"I reassert my former assertion," began Kopy-Keck, with a plunge. +"There is not a fault in the princess, body or soul; only they are +wrong put together. Listen to me now, Hum-Drum, and I will tell you in +brief what I think. Don't speak. Don't answer me. I won't hear you +till I have done.— At that decisive moment, when souls seek their +appointed habitations, two eager souls met, struck, rebounded, lost +their way, and arrived each at the wrong place. The soul of the +princess was one of those, and she went far astray. She does not +belong by rights to this world at all, but to some other planet, +probably Mercury. Her proclivity to her true sphere destroys all the +natural influence which this orb would otherwise possess over her +corporeal frame. She cares for nothing here. There is no relation +between her and this world. +</P> + +<P> +"She must therefore be taught, by the sternest compulsion, to take an +interest in the earth as the earth. She must study every department of +its history—its animal history; its vegetable history; its mineral +history; its social history; its moral history; its political history, +its scientific history; its literary history; its musical history; its +artistical history; above all, its metaphysical history. She must +begin with the Chinese dynasty and end with Japan. But first of all +she must study geology, and especially the history of the extinct races +of animals-their natures, their habits, their loves, their hates, their +revenges. She must—" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold, h-o-o-old!" roared Hum-Drum. "It is certainly my turn now. My +rooted and insubvertible conviction is, that the causes of the +anomalies evident in the princess's condition are strictly and solely +physical. But that is only tantamount to acknowledging that they +exist. Hear my opinion.— From some cause or other, of no importance +to our inquiry, the motion of her heart has been reversed. That +remarkable combination of the suction and the force-pump works the +wrong way-I mean in the case of the unfortunate princess: it draws in +where it should force out, and forces out where it should draw in. The +offices of the auricles and the ventricles are subverted. The blood is +sent forth by the veins, and returns by the arteries. Consequently it +is running the wrong way through all her corporeal organism—lungs and +all. Is it then at all mysterious, seeing that such is the case, that +on the other particular of gravitation as well, she should differ from +normal humanity? My proposal for the cure is this:— +</P> + +<P> +"Phlebotomize until she is reduced to the last point of safety. Let it +be effected, if necessary, in a warm bath. When she is reduced to a +state of perfect asphyxy, apply a ligature to the left ankle, drawing +it as tight as the bone will bear. Apply, at the same moment, another +of equal tension around the right wrist. By means of plates +constructed for the purpose, place the other foot and hand under the +receivers of two air-pumps. Exhaust the receivers. Exhibit a pint of +French brandy, and await the result." +</P> + +<P> +"Which would presently arrive in the form of grim Death," said +Kopy-Keck. +</P> + +<P> +"If it should, she would yet die in doing our duty," retorted Hum-Drum. +</P> + +<P> +But their Majesties had too much tenderness for their volatile +offspring to subject her to either of the schemes of the equally +unscrupulous philosophers. Indeed, the most complete knowledge of the +laws of nature would have been unserviceable in her case; for it was +impossible to classify her. She was a fifth imponderable body, sharing +all the other properties of the ponderable. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +8. Try a Drop of Water. +</H3> + +<P> +Perhaps the best thing for the princess would have been to fall in +love. But how a princess who had no gravity could fall into anything +is a difficulty—perhaps THE difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +As for her own feelings on the subject, she did not even know that +there was such a beehive of honey and stings to be fallen into. But +now I come to mention another curious fact about her. +</P> + +<P> +The palace was built on the shores of the loveliest lake in the world; +and the princess loved this lake more than father or mother. The root +of this preference no doubt, although the princess did not recognise it +as such, was, that the moment she got into it, she recovered the +natural right of which she had been so wickedly deprived—namely, +gravity. Whether this was owing to the fact that water had been +employed as the means of conveying the injury, I do not know. But it +is certain that she could swim and dive like the duck that her old +nurse said she was. The manner in which this alleviation of her +misfortune was discovered was as follows. +</P> + +<P> +One summer evening, during the carnival of the country, she had been +taken upon the lake by the king and queen, in the royal barge. They +were accompanied by many of the courtiers in a fleet of little boats. +In the middle of the lake she wanted to get into the lord chancellor's +barge, for his daughter, who was a great favourite with her, was in it +with her father. Now though the old king rarely condescended to make +light of his misfortune, yet, Happening on this occasion to be in a +particularly good humour, as the barges approached each other, he +caught up the princess to throw her into the chancellor's barge. He +lost his balance, however, and, dropping into the bottom of the barge, +lost his hold of his daughter; not, however, before imparting to her +the downward tendency of his own person, though in a somewhat different +direction; for, as the king fell into the boat, she fell into the +water. With a burst of delighted laughter she disappeared in the lake. +A cry of horror ascended from the boats. They had never seen the +princess go down before. Half the men were under water in a moment; +but they had all, one after another, come up to the surface again for +breath, when—tinkle, tinkle, babble, and gush! came the princess's +laugh over the water from far away. There she was, swimming like a +swan. Nor would she come out for king or queen, chancellor or +daughter. She was perfectly obstinate. +</P> + +<P> +But at the same time she seemed more sedate than usual. Perhaps that +was because a great pleasure spoils laughing. At all events, after +this, the passion of her life was to get into the water, and she was +always the better behaved and the more beautiful the more she had of +it. Summer and winter it was quite the same; only she could not stay +so long in the water when they had to break the ice to let her in. Any +day, from morning till evening in summer, she might be descried—a +streak of white in the blue water—lying as still as the shadow of a +cloud, or shooting along like a dolphin; disappearing, and coming up +again far off, just where one did not expect her. She would have been +in the lake of a night, too, if she could have had her way; for the +balcony of her window overhung a deep pool in it; and through a shallow +reedy passage she could have swum out into the wide wet water, and no +one would have been any the wiser. Indeed, when she happened to wake +in the moonlight she could hardly resist the temptation. But there was +the sad difficulty of getting into it. She had as great a dread of the +air as some children have of the water. For the slightest gust of wind +would blow her away; and a gust might arise in the stillest moment. +And if she gave herself a push towards the water and just failed of +reaching it, her situation would be dreadfully awkward, irrespective of +the wind; for at best there she would have to remain, suspended in her +nightgown, till she was seen and angled for by someone from the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! if I had my gravity," thought she, contemplating the water, "I +would flash off this balcony like a long white sea-bird, headlong into +the darling wetness. Heigh-ho!" +</P> + +<P> +This was the only consideration that made her wish to be like other +people. +</P> + +<P> +Another reason for her being fond of the water was that in it alone she +enjoyed any freedom. For she could not walk out without a cortege, +consisting in part of a troop of light horse, for fear of the liberties +which the wind might take with her. And the king grew more +apprehensive with increasing years, till at last he would not allow her +to walk abroad at all without some twenty silken cords fastened to as +many parts of her dress, and held by twenty noblemen. Of course +horseback was out of the question. But she bade good-by to all this +ceremony when she got into the water. +</P> + +<P> +And so remarkable were its effects upon her, especially in restoring +her for the time to the ordinary human gravity, that Hum-Drum and +Kopy-Keck agreed in recommending the king to bury her alive for three +years; in the hope that, as the water did her so much good, the earth +would do her yet more. But the king had some vulgar prejudices against +the experiment, and would not give his consent. Foiled in this, they +yet agreed in another recommendation; which, seeing that one imported +his opinions from China and the other from Thibet, was very remarkable +indeed. They argued that, if water of external origin and application +could be so efficacious, water from a deeper source might work a +perfect cure; in short, that if the poor afflicted princess could by +any means be made to cry, she might recover her lost gravity. +</P> + +<P> +But how was this to be brought about? Therein lay all the +difficulty—to meet which the philosophers were not wise enough. To +make the princess cry was as impossible as to make her weigh. They +sent for a professional beggar; commanded him to prepare his most +touching oracle of woe; helped him out of the court charade box, to +whatever he wanted for dressing up, and promised great rewards in the +event of his success. But it was all in vain. She listened to the +mendicant artist's story, and gazed at his marvellous make up, till she +could contain herself no longer, and went into the most undignified +contortions for relief, shrieking, positively screeching with laughter. +</P> + +<P> +When she had a little recovered herself, she ordered her attendants to +drive him away, and not give him a single copper; whereupon his look of +mortified discomfiture wrought her punishment and his revenge, for it +sent her into violent hysterics, from which she was with difficulty +recovered. +</P> + +<P> +But so anxious was the king that the suggestion should have a fair +trial, that he put himself in a rage one day, and, rushing up to her +room, gave her an awful whipping. Yet not a tear would flow. She +looked grave, and her laughing sounded uncommonly like screaming—that +was all. The good old tyrant, though he put on his best gold +spectacles to look, could not discover the smallest cloud in the serene +blue of her eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +9. Put Me in Again. +</H3> + +<P> +It must have been about this time that the son of a king, who lived a +thousand miles from Lagobel set out to look for the daughter of a +queen. He travelled far and wide, but as sure as he found a princess, +he found some fault in her. Of course he could not marry a mere woman, +however beautiful; and there was no princess to be found worthy of him. +Whether the prince was so near perfection that he had a right to demand +perfection itself, I cannot pretend to say. All I know is, that he was +a fine, handsome, brave, generous, well-bred, and well-behaved youth, +as all princes are. +</P> + +<P> +In his wanderings he had come across some reports about our princess; +but as everybody said she was bewitched, he never dreamed that she +could bewitch him. For what indeed could a prince do with a princess +that had lost her gravity? Who could tell what she might not lose +next? She might lose her visibility, or her tangibility; or, in short, +the power of making impressions upon the radical sensorium; so that he +should never be able to tell whether she was dead or alive. Of course +he made no further inquiries about her. One day he lost sight of his +retinue in a great forest. These forests are very useful in delivering +princes from their courtiers, like a sieve that keeps back the bran. +Then the princes get away to follow their fortunes. In this way they +have the advantage of the princesses, who are forced to marry before +they have had a bit of fun. I wish our princesses got lost in a forest +sometimes. +</P> + +<P> +One lovely evening, after wandering about for many days, he found that +he was approaching the outskirts of this forest; for the trees had got +so thin that he could see the sunset through them; and he soon came +upon a kind of heath. Next he came upon signs of human neighbourhood; +but by this time it was getting late, and there was nobody in the +fields to direct him. +</P> + +<P> +After travelling for another hour, his horse, quite worn out with long +labour and lack of food, fell, and was unable to rise again. So he +continued his journey on foot. At length he entered another wood—not +a wild forest, but a civilized wood, through which a footpath led him +to the side of a lake. Along this path the prince pursued his way +through the gathering darkness. Suddenly he paused, and listened. +Strange sounds came across the water. It was, in fact, the princess +laughing. Now there was something odd in her laugh, as I have already +hinted; for the hatching of a real hearty laugh requires the incubation +of gravity; and perhaps this was how the prince mistook the laughter +for screaming. Looking over the lake, he saw something white in the +water; and, in an instant, he had torn off his tunic, kicked off his +sandals, and plunged in. He soon reached the white object, and found +that it was a woman. There was not light enough to show that she was a +princess, but quite enough to show that she was a lady, for it does not +want much light to see that. +</P> + +<P> +Now I cannot tell how it came about,—whether she pretended to be +drowning, or whether he frightened her, or caught her so as to +embarrass her,—but certainly he brought her to shore in a fashion +ignominious to a swimmer, and more nearly drowned than she had ever +expected to be; for the water had got into her throat as often as she +had tried to speak. +</P> + +<P> +At the place to which he bore her, the bank was only a foot or two +above the water; so he gave her a strong lift out of the water, to lay +her on the bank. But, her gravitation ceasing the moment she left the +water, away she went up into the air, scolding and screaming. +</P> + +<P> +"You naughty, naughty, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY man!" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +No one had ever succeeded in putting her into a passion before.—When +the prince saw her ascend, he thought he must have been bewitched, and +have mistaken a great swan for a lady. But the princess caught hold of +the topmost cone upon a lofty fir. This came off; but she caught at +another; and, in fact, stopped herself by gathering cones, dropping +them as the stalks gave way. The prince, meantime, stood in the water, +staring, and forgetting to get out. But the princess disappearing, he +scrambled on shore, and went in the direction of the tree. There he +found her climbing down one of the branches towards the stem. But in +the darkness of the wood, the prince continued in some bewilderment as +to what the phenomenon could be; until, reaching the ground, and seeing +him standing there, she caught hold of him, and said,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'll tell papa." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no, you won't!" returned the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will," she persisted. "What business had you to pull me down +out of the water, and throw me to the bottom of the air? I never did +you any harm." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me. I did not mean to hurt you." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe you have any brains; and that is a worse loss than +your wretched gravity. I pity you." +</P> + +<P> +The prince now saw that he had come upon the bewitched princess, and +had already offended her. But before he could think what to say next, +she burst out angrily, giving a stamp with her foot that would have +sent her aloft again but for the hold she had of his arm,— +</P> + +<P> +"Put me up directly." +</P> + +<P> +"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince. +</P> + +<P> +He had fallen in love with her almost, already; for her anger made her +more charming than any one else had ever beheld her; and, as far as he +could see, which certainly was not far, she had not a single fault +about her, except, of course, that she had not any gravity. No prince, +however, would judge of a princess by weight. The loveliness of her +foot he would hardly estimate by the depth of the impression it could +make in mud. +</P> + +<P> +"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"In the water, you stupid!" answered the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, then," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +The condition of her dress, increasing her usual difficulty in walking, +compelled her to cling to him; and he could hardly persuade himself +that he was not in a delightful dream, notwithstanding the torrent of +musical abuse with which she overwhelmed him. The prince being +therefore in no hurry, they came upon the lake at quite another part, +where the bank was twenty-five feet high at least; and when they had +reached the edge, he turned towards the princess, and said,— +</P> + +<P> +"How am I to put you in?" "That is your business," she answered, quite +snappishly. "You took me out—put me in again." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said the prince; and, catching her up in his arms, he +sprang with her from the rock. The princess had just time to give one +delighted shriek of laughter before the water closed over them. When +they came to the surface, she found that, for a moment or two, she +could not even laugh, for she had gone down with such a rush, that it +was with difficulty she recovered her breath. The instant they reached +the surface— +</P> + +<P> +"How do you like falling in?" said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +After some effort the princess panted out,— +</P> + +<P> +"Is that what you call FALLING IN?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," answered the prince, "I should think it a very tolerable +specimen." +</P> + +<P> +"It seemed to me like going up," rejoined she. +</P> + +<P> +"My feeling was certainly one of elevation too," the prince conceded. +</P> + +<P> +The princess did not appear to understand him, for she retorted his +question:— +</P> + +<P> +"How do YOU like falling in?" said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Beyond everything," answered he; "for I have fallen in with the only +perfect creature I ever saw." +</P> + +<P> +"No more of that: I am tired of it," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you like falling in then?" said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the most delightful fun I ever had in my life," answered she. +"I never fell before. I wish I could learn. To think I am the only +person in my father's kingdom that can't fall!" +</P> + +<P> +Here the poor princess looked almost sad. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be most happy to fall in with you any time you like," said the +prince, devotedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you. I don't know. Perhaps it would not be proper. But I +don't care. At all events, as we have fallen in, let us have a swim +together." +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart," responded the prince. +</P> + +<P> +And away they went, swimming, and diving, and floating, until at last +they heard cries along the shore, and saw lights glancing in all +directions. It was now quite late, and there was no moon. +</P> + +<P> +"I must go home," said the princess. "I am very sorry, for this is +delightful." +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," returned the prince. "But I am glad I haven't a home to go +to—at least, I don't exactly know where it is." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I hadn't one either," rejoined the princess; "it is so stupid! +I have a great mind," she continued, "to play them all a trick. Why +couldn't they leave me alone? They won't trust me in the lake for a +single night!—You see where that green light is burning? That is the +window of my room. Now if you would just swim there with me very +quietly, and when we are all but under the balcony, give me such a +push—up you call it-as you did a little while ago, I should be able to +catch hold of the balcony, and get in at the window; and then they may +look for me till to-morrow morning!" +</P> + +<P> +"With more obedience than pleasure," said the prince, gallantly; and +away they swam, very gently. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you be in the lake to-morrow night?" the prince ventured to ask. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure I will. I don't think so. Perhaps," was the princess's +somewhat strange answer. +</P> + +<P> +But the prince was intelligent enough not to press her further; and +merely whispered, as he gave her the parting lift, "Don't tell." +</P> + +<P> +The only answer the princess returned was a roguish look. She was +already a yard above his head. The look seemed to say, "Never fear. +It is too good fun to spoil that way." +</P> + +<P> +So perfectly like other people had she been in the water, that even yet +the prince could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw her ascend +slowly, grasp the balcony, and disappear through the window. He +turned, almost expecting to see her still by his side. But he was +alone in the water. So he swam away quietly, and watched the lights +roving about the shore for hours after the princess was safe in her +chamber. As soon as they disappeared, he landed in search of his tunic +and sword, and, after some trouble, found them again. Then he made the +best of his way round the lake to the other side. There the wood was +wilder, and the shore steeper-rising more immediately towards the +mountains which surrounded the lake on all sides, and kept sending it +messages of silvery streams from morning to night, and all night long. +He soon found a spot whence he could see the green light in the +princess's room, and where, even in the broad daylight, he would be in +no danger of being discovered from the opposite shore. It was a sort +of cave in the rock, where he provided himself a bed of withered +leaves, and lay down too tired for hunger to keep him awake. All night +long he dreamed that he was swimming with the princess. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +10. Look at the Moon. +</H3> + +<P> +Early the next morning the prince set out to look for something to eat, +which he soon found at a forester's hut, where for many following days +he was supplied with all that a brave prince could consider necessary. +And having plenty to keep him alive for the present, he would not think +of wants not yet in existence. Whenever Care intruded, this prince +always bowed him out in the most princely manner. When he returned +from his breakfast to his watch-cave, he saw the princess already +floating about in the lake, attended by the king and queen whom he knew +by their crowns—and a great company in lovely little boats, with +canopies of all the colours of the rainbow, and flags and streamers of +a great many more. It was a very bright day, and soon the prince, +burned up with the heat, began to long for the cold water and the cool +princess. But he had to endure till twilight; for the boats had +provisions on board, and it was not till the sun went down that the gay +party began to vanish. Boat after boat drew away to the shore, +following that of the king and queen, till only one, apparently the +princess's own boat, remained. But she did not want to go home even +yet, and the prince thought he saw her order the boat to the shore +without her. At all events, it rowed away; and now, of all the radiant +company, only one white speck remained. Then the prince began to sing. +And this is what he sung:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Lady fair,<BR> +Swan-white,<BR> +Lift thine eyes,<BR> +Banish night<BR> +By the might<BR> +Of thine eyes.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Snowy arms,<BR> +Oars of snow,<BR> +Oar her hither,<BR> +Plashing low.<BR> +Soft and slow,<BR> +Oar her hither.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Stream behind her<BR> +O'er the lake,<BR> +Radiant whiteness!<BR> +In her wake<BR> +Following, following for her sake.<BR> +Radiant whiteness!<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Cling about her,<BR> +Waters blue;<BR> +Part not from her,<BR> +But renew<BR> +Cold and true<BR> +Kisses round her.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Lap me round,<BR> +Waters sad,<BR> +That have left her.<BR> +Make me glad,<BR> +For ye had<BR> +Kissed her ere ye left her."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Before he had finished his song, the princess was just under the place +where he sat, and looking up to find him. Her ears had led her truly. +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like a fall, princess?" said the prince, looking down. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! there you are! Yes, if you please, prince," said the princess, +looking up. +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know I am a prince, princess?" said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Because you are a very nice young man, prince," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"Come up then, princess." +</P> + +<P> +"Fetch me, prince." +</P> + +<P> +The prince took off his scarf, then his sword-belt, then his tunic, and +tied them all together, and let them down. But the line was far too +short. He unwound his turban, and added it to the rest, when it was +all but long enough; and his purse completed it. The princess just +managed to lay hold of the knot of money, and was beside him in a +moment. This rock was much higher than the other, and the splash and +the dive were tremendous. The princess was in ecstasies of delight, +and their swim was delicious. +</P> + +<P> +Night after night they met, and swam about in the dark clear lake; +where such was the prince's gladness, that (whether the princess's way +of looking at things infected him, or he was actually getting +light-headed) he often fancied that he was swimming in the sky instead +of the lake. But when he talked about being in heaven, the princess +laughed at him dreadfully. +</P> + +<P> +When the moon came, she brought them fresh pleasure. Everything looked +strange and new in her light, with an old, withered, yet unfading +newness. When the moon was nearly full, one of their great delights +was, to dive deep in the water, and then, turning round, look up +through it at the great blot of light close above them, shimmering and +trembling and wavering, spreading and contracting, seeming to melt +away, and again grow solid. Then they would shoot up through the blot; +and lo! there was the moon, far off, clear and steady and cold, and +very lovely, at the bottom of a deeper and bluer lake than theirs, as +the princess said. +</P> + +<P> +The prince soon found out that while in the water the princess was very +like other people. And besides this, she was not so forward in her +questions or pert in her replies at sea as on shore. Neither did she +laugh so much; and when she did laugh, it was more gently. She seemed +altogether more modest and maidenly in the water than out of it. +</P> + +<P> +But when the prince, who had really fallen in love when he fell in the +lake, began to talk to her about love, she always turned her head +towards him and laughed. After a while she began to look puzzled, as +if she were trying to understand what he meant, but could +not—revealing a notion that he meant something. But as soon as ever +she left the lake, she was so altered, that the prince said to himself, +"If I marry her, I see no help for it: we must turn merman and mermaid, +and go out to sea at once." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +11. Hiss! +</H3> + +<P> +The princess's pleasure in the lake had grown to a passion, and she +could scarcely bear to be out of it for an hour. Imagine then her +consternation, when, diving with the prince one night, a sudden +suspicion seized her that the lake was not so deep as it used to be. +The prince could not imagine what had happened. She shot to the +surface, and, without a word, swam at full speed towards the higher +side of the lake. He followed, begging to know if she was ill, or what +was the matter. She never turned her head, or took the smallest notice +of his question. Arrived at the shore, she coasted the rocks with +minute inspection. But she was not able to come to a conclusion, for +the moon was very small, and so she could not see well. She turned +therefore and swam home, without saying a word to explain her conduct +to the prince, of whose presence she seemed no longer conscious. He +withdrew to his cave, in great perplexity and distress. +</P> + +<P> +Next day she made many observations, which, alas! strengthened her +fears. She saw that the banks were too dry; and that the grass on the +shore, and the trailing plants on the rocks, were withering away. She +caused marks to be made along the borders, and examined them, day after +day, in all directions of the wind; till at last the horrible idea +became a certain fact—that the surface of the lake was slowly sinking. +</P> + +<P> +The poor princess nearly went out of the little mind she had. It was +awful to her to see the lake, which she loved more than any living +thing, lie dying before her eyes. It sank away, slowly vanishing. The +tops of rocks that had never been seen till now, began to appear far +down in the clear water. Before long they were dry in the sun. It was +fearful to think of the mud that would soon lie there baking and +festering, full of lovely creatures dying, and ugly creatures coming to +life, like the unmaking of a world. And how hot the sun would be +without any lake! She could not bear to swim in it any more, and began +to pine away. Her life seemed bound up with it; and ever as the lake +sank, she pined. People said she would not live an hour after the lake +was gone. +</P> + +<P> +But she never cried. +</P> + +<P> +A Proclamation was made to all the kingdom, that whosoever should +discover the cause of the lake's decrease, would be rewarded after a +princely fashion. Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck applied themselves to their +physics and metaphysics; but in vain. Not even they could suggest a +cause. +</P> + +<P> +Now the fact was that the old princess was at the root of the mischief. +When she heard that her niece found more pleasure in the water than any +one else out of it, she went into a rage, and cursed herself for her +want of foresight. +</P> + +<P> +"But," said she, "I will soon set all right. The king and the people +shall die of thirst; their brains shall boil and frizzle in their +skulls before I will lose my revenge." +</P> + +<P> +And she laughed a ferocious laugh, that made the hairs on the back of +her black cat stand erect with terror. +</P> + +<P> +Then she went to an old chest in the room, and opening it, took out +what looked like a piece of dried seaweed. This she threw into a tub +of water. Then she threw some powder into the water, and stirred it +with her bare arm, muttering over it words of hideous sound, and yet +more hideous import. Then she set the tub aside, and took from the +chest a huge bunch of a hundred rusty keys, that clattered in her +shaking hands. Then she sat down and proceeded to oil them all. +Before she had finished, out from the tub, the water of which had kept +on a slow motion ever since she had ceased stirring it, came the head +and half the body of a huge gray snake. But the witch did not look +round. It grew out of the tub, waving itself backwards and forwards +with a slow horizontal motion, till it reached the princess, when it +laid its head upon her shoulder, and gave a low hiss in her ear. She +started—but with joy; and seeing the head resting on her shoulder, +drew it towards her and kissed it. Then she drew it all out of the +tub, and wound it round her body. It was one of those dreadful +creatures which few have ever beheld—the White Snakes of Darkness. +</P> + +<P> +Then she took the keys and went down to her cellar; and as she unlocked +the door she said to herself,— +</P> + +<P> +"This is worth living for!" +</P> + +<P> +Locking the door behind her, she descended a few steps into the cellar, +and crossing it, unlocked another door into a dark, narrow passage. +She locked this also behind her, and descended a few more steps. If +any one had followed the witch-princess, he would have heard her unlock +exactly one hundred doors, and descend a few steps after unlocking +each. When she had unlocked the last, she entered a vast cave, the +roof of which was supported by huge natural pillars of rock. Now this +roof was the under side of the bottom of the lake. +</P> + +<P> +She then untwined the snake from her body, and held it by the tail high +above her. The hideous creature stretched up its head towards the roof +of the cavern, which it was just able to reach. It then began to move +its head backwards and forwards, with a slow oscillating motion, as if +looking for something. At the same moment the witch began to walk +round and round the cavern, coming nearer to the centre every circuit; +while the head of the snake described the same path over the roof that +she did over the floor, for she kept holding it up. And still it kept +slowly oscillating. Round and round the cavern they went, ever +lessening the circuit, till at last the snake made a sudden dart, and +clung to the roof with its mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"That's right, my beauty!" cried the princess; "drain it dry." +</P> + +<P> +She let it go, left it hanging, and sat down on a great stone, with her +black cat, which had followed her all round the cave, by her side. +Then she began to knit and mutter awful words. The snake hung like a +huge leech, sucking at the stone; the cat stood with his back arched, +and his tail like a piece of cable, looking up at the snake; and the +old woman sat and knitted and muttered. Seven days and seven nights +they remained thus; when suddenly the serpent dropped from the roof as +if exhausted, and shrivelled up till it was again like a piece of dried +seaweed. The witch started to her feet, picked it up, put it in her +pocket, and looked up at the roof. One drop of water was trembling on +the spot where the snake had been sucking. As soon as she saw that, +she turned and fled, followed by her cat. Shutting the door in a +terrible hurry, she locked it, and having muttered some frightful +words, sped to the next, which also she locked and muttered over; and +so with all the hundred doors, till she arrived in her own cellar. +Then she sat down on the floor ready to faint, but listening with +malicious delight to the rushing of the water, which she could hear +distinctly through all the hundred doors. +</P> + +<P> +But this was not enough. Now that she had tasted revenge, she lost her +patience. Without further measures, the lake would be too long in +disappearing. So the next night, with the last shred of the dying old +moon rising, she took some of the water in which she had revived the +snake, put it in a bottle, and set out, accompanied by her cat. Before +morning she had made the entire circuit of the lake, muttering fearful +words as she crossed every stream, and casting into it some of the +water out of her bottle. When she had finished the circuit she +muttered yet again, and flung a handful of water towards the moon. +Thereupon every spring in the country ceased to throb and bubble, dying +away like the pulse of a dying man. The next day there was no sound of +falling water to be heard along the borders of the lake. The very +courses were dry; and the mountains showed no silvery streaks down +their dark sides. And not alone had the fountains of mother Earth +ceased to flow; for all the babies throughout the country were crying +dreadfully—only without tears. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +12. Where Is the Prince? +</H3> + +<P> +Never since the night when the princess left him so abruptly had the +prince had a single interview with her. He had seen her once or twice +in the lake; but as far as he could discover, she had not been in it +any more at night. He had sat and sung, and looked in vain for his +Nereid; while she, like a true Nereid, was wasting away with her lake, +sinking as it sank, withering as it dried. When at length he +discovered the change that was taking place in the level of the water, +he was in great alarm and perplexity. He could not tell whether the +lake was dying because the lady had forsaken it; or whether the lady +would not come because the lake had begun to sink. But he resolved to +know so much at least. +</P> + +<P> +He disguised himself, and, going to the palace, requested to see the +lord chamberlain. His appearance at once gained his request; and the +lord chamberlain, being a man of some insight, perceived that there was +more in the prince's solicitation than met the ear. He felt likewise +that no one could tell whence a solution of the present difficulties +might arise. So he granted the prince's prayer to be made shoeblack to +the princess. It was rather cunning in the prince to request such an +easy post, for the princess could not possibly soil as many shoes as +other princesses. +</P> + +<P> +He soon learned all that could be told about the princess. He went +nearly distracted; but after roaming about the lake for days, and +diving in every depth that remained, all that he could do was to put an +extra polish on the dainty pair of boots that was never called for. +</P> + +<P> +For the princess kept her room, with the curtains drawn to shut out the +dying lake, But she could not shut it out of her mind for a moment. It +haunted her imagination so that she felt as if the lake were her soul, +drying up within her, first to mud, then to madness and death. She +thus brooded over the change, with all its dreadful accompaniments, +till she was nearly distracted. As for the prince, she had forgotten +him. However much she had enjoyed his company in the water, she did +not care for him without it. But she seemed to have forgotten her +father and mother too. The lake went on sinking. Small slimy spots +began to appear, which glittered steadily amidst the changeful shine of +the water. These grew to broad patches of mud, which widened and +spread, with rocks here and there, and floundering fishes and crawling +eels swarming. The people went everywhere catching these, and looking +for anything that might have dropped from the royal boats. +</P> + +<P> +At length the lake was all but gone, only a few of the deepest pools +remaining unexhausted. +</P> + +<P> +It happened one day that a party of youngsters found themselves on the +brink of one of these pools in the very centre of the lake. It was a +rocky basin of considerable depth. Looking in, they saw at the bottom +something that shone yellow in the sun. A little boy jumped in and +dived for it. It was a plate of gold covered with writing. They +carried it to the king. On one side of it stood these words:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Death alone from death can save.<BR> +Love is death, and so is brave—<BR> +Love can fill the deepest grave.<BR> +Love loves on beneath the wave."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Now this was enigmatical enough to the king and courtiers. But the +reverse of the plate explained it a little. Its writing amounted to +this:— +</P> + +<P> +"If the lake should disappear, they must find the hole through which +the water ran. But it would be useless to try to stop it by any +ordinary means. There was but one effectual mode.—The body of a +living man could alone stanch the flow. The man must give himself of +his own will; and the lake must take his life as it filled. Otherwise +the offering would be of no avail. If the nation could not provide one +hero, it was time it should perish." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +13. Here I Am. +</H3> + +<P> +This was a very disheartening revelation to the king—not that he was +unwilling to sacrifice a subject, but that he was hopeless of finding a +man willing to sacrifice himself. No time was to be lost, however, for +the princess was lying motionless on her bed, and taking no nourishment +but lake-water, which was now none of the best. Therefore the king +caused the contents of the wonderful plate of gold to be published +throughout the country. +</P> + +<P> +No one, however, came forward. +</P> + +<P> +The prince, having gone several days' journey into the forest, to +consult a hermit whom he had met there on his way to Lagobel, knew +nothing of the oracle till his return. +</P> + +<P> +When he had acquainted himself with all the particulars, he sat down +and thought,— +</P> + +<P> +"She will die if I don't do it, and life would be nothing to me without +her; so I shall lose nothing by doing it. And life will be as pleasant +to her as ever, for she will soon forget me. And there will be so much +more beauty and happiness in the world!—To be sure, I shall not see +it." (Here the poor prince gave a sigh.) "How lovely the lake will be +in the moonlight, with that glorious creature sporting in it like a +wild goddess!—It is rather hard to be drowned by inches, though. Let +me see—that will be seventy inches of me to drown." (Here he tried to +laugh, but could not.) "The longer the better, however," he resumed: +"for can I not bargain that the princess shall be beside me all the +time? So I shall see her once more, kiss her perhaps,—who knows?—and +die looking in her eyes. It will be no death. At least, I shall not +feel it. And to see the lake filling for the beauty again!—All right! +I am ready." +</P> + +<P> +He kissed the princess's boot, laid it down, and hurried to the king's +apartment. But feeling, as he went, that anything sentimental would be +disagreeable, he resolved to carry off the whole affair with +nonchalance. So he knocked at the door of the king's counting-house, +where it was all but a capital crime to disturb him. +</P> + +<P> +When the king heard the knock he started up, and opened the door in a +rage. Seeing only the shoeblack, he drew his sword. This, I am sorry +to say, was his usual mode of asserting his regality when he thought +his dignity was in danger. But the prince was not in the least alarmed. +</P> + +<P> +"Please your Majesty, I'm your butler," said he. +</P> + +<P> +"My butler! you lying rascal! What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean, I will cork your big bottle." +</P> + +<P> +"Is the fellow mad?" bawled the king, raising the point of his sword. +</P> + +<P> +"I will put a stopper—plug—what you call it, in your leaky lake, +grand monarch," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +The king was in such a rage that before he could speak he had time to +cool, and to reflect that it would be great waste to kill the only man +who was willing to be useful in the present emergency, seeing that in +the end the insolent fellow would be as dead as if he had died by his +Majesty's own hand. "Oh!" said he at last, putting up his sword with +difficulty, it was so long; "I am obliged to you, you young fool! Take +a glass of wine?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you," replied the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," said the king. "Would you like to run and see your +parents before you make your experiment?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we will go and look for the hole at once," said his Majesty, and +proceeded to call some attendants. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop, please your Majesty; I have a condition to make," interposed the +prince. +</P> + +<P> +"What!" exclaimed the king, "a condition! and with me! How dare you?" +</P> + +<P> +"As you please," returned the prince, coolly. "I wish your Majesty a +good morning." +</P> + +<P> +"You wretch! I will have you put in a sack, and stuck in the hole." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, your Majesty," replied the prince, becoming a little more +respectful, lest the wrath of the king should deprive him of the +pleasure of dying for the princess. "But what good will that do your +Majesty? Please to remember that the oracle says the victim must offer +himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you have offered yourself," retorted the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, upon one condition." +</P> + +<P> +"Condition again!" roared the king, once more drawing his sword. +"Begone! Somebody else will be glad enough to take the honour off your +shoulders." +</P> + +<P> +"Your Majesty knows it will not be easy to get another to take my +place." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what is your condition?" growled the king, feeling that the +prince was right. +</P> + +<P> +"Only this," replied the prince: "that, as I must on no account die +before I am fairly drowned, and the waiting will be rather wearisome, +the princess, your daughter, shall go with me, feed me with her own +hands, and look at me now and then to comfort me; for you must confess +it IS rather hard. As soon as the water is up to my eyes, she may go +and be happy, and forget her poor shoeblack." +</P> + +<P> +Here the prince's voice faltered, and he very nearly grew sentimental, +in spite of his resolution. +</P> + +<P> +"Why didn't you tell me before what your condition was? Such a fuss +about nothing!" exclaimed the king. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you grant it?" persisted the prince. "Of course I do," replied the +king. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well. I am ready." +</P> + +<P> +"Go and have some dinner, then, while I set my people to find the +place." +</P> + +<P> +The king ordered out his guards, and gave directions to the officers to +find the hole in the lake at once. So the bed of the lake was marked +out in divisions and thoroughly examined, and in an hour or so the hole +was discovered. It was in the middle of a stone, near the centre of +the lake, in the very pool where the golden plate had been found. It +was a three-cornered hole of no great size. There was water all round +the stone, but very little was flowing through the hole. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +14. This Is Very Kind of You. +</H3> + +<P> +The prince went to dress for the occasion, for he was resolved to die +like a prince. +</P> + +<P> +When the princess heard that a man had offered to die for her, she was +so transported that she jumped off the bed, feeble as she was, and +danced about the room for joy. She did not care who the man was; that +was nothing to her. The hole wanted stopping; and if only a man would +do, why, take one. In an hour or two more everything was ready. Her +maid dressed her in haste, and they carried her to the side of the +lake. When she saw it she shrieked, and covered her face with her +hands. They bore her across to the stone where they had already placed +a little boat for her. +</P> + +<P> +The water was not deep enough to float it, but they hoped it would be, +before long. They laid her on cushions, placed in the boat wines and +fruits and other nice things, and stretched a canopy over all. +</P> + +<P> +In a few minutes the prince appeared. The princess recognized him at +once, but did not think it worth while to acknowledge him. +</P> + +<P> +"Here I am," said the prince. "Put me in." +</P> + +<P> +"They told me it was a shoeblack," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +"So I am," said the prince. "I blacked your little boots three times a +day, because they were all I could get of you. Put me in." +</P> + +<P> +The courtiers did not resent his bluntness, except by saying to each +other that he was taking it out in impudence. +</P> + +<P> +But how was he to be put in? The golden plate contained no +instructions on this point. The prince looked at the hole, and saw but +one way. He put both his legs into it, sitting on the stone, and, +stooping forward, covered the corner that remained open with his two +hands. In this uncomfortable position he resolved to abide his fate, +and turning to the people, said,— +</P> + +<P> +"Now you can go." +</P> + +<P> +The king had already gone home to dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you can go," repeated the princess after him, like a parrot. +</P> + +<P> +The people obeyed her and went. +</P> + +<P> +Presently a little wave flowed over the stone, and wetted one of the +prince's knees. But he did not mind it much. He began to sing, and +the song he sang was this:— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"As a world that has no well,<BR> +Darting bright in forest dell;<BR> +As a world without the gleam<BR> +Of the downward-going stream;<BR> +As a world without the glance<BR> +Of the ocean's fair expanse;<BR> +As a world where never rain<BR> +Glittered on the sunny plain;—<BR> +Such, my heart, thy world would be,<BR> +If no love did flow in thee.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +As a world without the sound<BR> +Of the rivulets underground;<BR> +Or the bubbling of the spring<BR> +Out of darkness wandering;<BR> +Or the mighty rush and flowing<BR> +Of the river's downward going;<BR> +Or the music-showers that drop<BR> +On the outspread beech's top;<BR> +Or the ocean's mighty voice,<BR> +When his lifted waves rejoice;—<BR> +Such, my soul, thy world would be,<BR> +If no love did sing in thee.<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +Lady, keep thy world's delight;<BR> +Keep the waters in thy sight.<BR> +Love hath made me strong to go,<BR> +For thy sake, to realms below,<BR> +Where the water's shine and hum<BR> +Through the darkness never come;<BR> +Let, I pray, one thought of me<BR> +Spring, a little well, in thee;<BR> +Lest thy loveless soul be found<BR> +Like a dry and thirsty ground."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Sing again, prince. It makes it less tedious," said the princess. +</P> + +<P> +But the prince was too much overcome to sing any more, and a long pause +followed. +</P> + +<P> +"This is very kind of you, prince," said the princess at last, quite +coolly, as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry I can't return the compliment," thought the prince; "but +you are worth dying for, after all." +</P> + +<P> +Again a wavelet, and another, and another flowed over the stone, and +wetted both the prince's knees; but he did not speak or move. +Two—three—four hours passed in this way, the princess apparently +asleep, and the prince very patient. But he was much disappointed in +his position, for he had none of the consolation he had hoped for. +</P> + +<P> +At last he could bear it no longer. +</P> + +<P> +"Princess!" said he. +</P> + +<P> +But at the moment up started the princess, crying,— +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afloat! I'm afloat!" +</P> + +<P> +And the little boat bumped against the stone. +</P> + +<P> +"Princess!" repeated the prince, encouraged by seeing her wide awake +and looking eagerly at the water. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" said she, without looking round. +</P> + +<P> +"Your papa promised that you should look at me, and you haven't looked +at me once." +</P> + +<P> +"Did he? Then I suppose I must. But I am so sleepy!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sleep then, darling, and don't mind me," said the poor prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Really, you are very good," replied the princess. "I think I will go +to sleep again." +</P> + +<P> +"Just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit first," said the prince, +very humbly. +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart," said the princess, and gaped as she said it. +</P> + +<P> +She got the wine and the biscuit, however, and leaning over the side of +the boat towards him, was compelled to look at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, prince," she said, "you don't look well! Are you sure you don't +mind it?" "Not a bit," answered he, feeling very faint indeed. "Only +I shall die before it is of any use to you, unless I have something to +eat." +</P> + +<P> +"There, then," said she, holding out the wine to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! you must feed me. I dare not move my hands. The water would run +away directly." +</P> + +<P> +"Good gracious!" said the princess; and she began at once to feed him +with bits of biscuit and sips of wine. +</P> + +<P> +As she fed him, he contrived to kiss the tips of her fingers now and +then. She did not seem to mind it, one way or the other. But the +prince felt better. +</P> + +<P> +"Now for your own sake, princess," said he, "I cannot let you go to +sleep. You must sit and look at me, else I shall not be able to keep +up." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I will do anything I can to oblige you," answered she, with +condescension; and, sitting down, she did look at him, and kept looking +at him with wonderful steadiness, considering all things. +</P> + +<P> +The sun went down, and the moon rose, and, gush after gush, the waters +were rising up the prince's body. They were up to his waist now. +</P> + +<P> +"Why can't we go and have a swim?" said the princess. "There seems to +be water enough Just about here." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall never swim more," said the prince. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I forgot," said the princess, and was silent. +</P> + +<P> +So the water grew and grew, and rose up and up on the prince. And the +princess sat and looked at him. She fed him now and then. The night +wore on. The waters rose and rose. The moon rose likewise higher and +higher, and shone full on the face of the dying prince. The water was +up to his neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you kiss me, princess?" said he, feebly. +</P> + +<P> +The nonchalance was all gone now. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will," answered the princess, and kissed him with a long, +sweet, cold kiss. +</P> + +<P> +"Now," said he, with a sigh of content, "I die happy." +</P> + +<P> +He did not speak again. The princess gave him some wine for the last +time: he was past eating. Then she sat down again, and looked at him. +The water rose and rose. It touched his chin. It touched his lower +lip. It touched between his lips. He shut them hard to keep it out. +The princess began to feel strange. It touched his upper lip. He +breathed through his nostrils. The princess looked wild. It covered +his nostrils. Her eyes looked scared, and shone strange in the +moonlight. His head fell back; the water closed over it, and the +bubbles of his last breath bubbled up through the water. The princess +gave a shriek, and sprang into the lake. +</P> + +<P> +She laid hold first of one leg, and then of the other, and pulled and +tugged, but she could not move either. She stopped to take breath, and +that made her think that HE could not get any breath. She was frantic. +She got hold of him, and held his head above the water, which was +possible now his hands were no longer on the hole. But it was of no +use, for he was past breathing. +</P> + +<P> +Love and water brought back all her strength. She got under the water, +and pulled and pulled with her whole might, till at last she got one +leg out. The other easily followed. How she got him into the boat she +never could tell; but when she did, she fainted away. Coming to +herself, she seized the oars, kept herself steady as best she could, +and rowed and rowed, though she had never rowed before. Round rocks, +and over shallows, and through mud she rowed, till she got to the +landing-stairs of the palace. By this time her people were on the +shore, for they had heard her shriek. She made them carry the prince +to her own room, and lay him in her bed, and light a fire, and send for +the doctors. +</P> + +<P> +"But the lake, your Highness!" said the chamberlain, who, roused by the +noise, came in, in his nightcap. +</P> + +<P> +"Go and drown yourself in it!" she said. +</P> + +<P> +This was the last rudeness of which the princess was ever guilty; and +one must allow that she had good cause to feel provoked with the lord +chamberlain. +</P> + +<P> +Had it been the king himself, he would have fared no better. But both +he and the queen were fast asleep. And the chamberlain went back to +his bed. Somehow, the doctors never came. So the princess and her old +nurse were left with the prince. But the old nurse was a wise woman, +and knew what to do. +</P> + +<P> +They tried everything for a long time without success. The princess +was nearly distracted between hope and fear, but she tried on and on, +one thing after another, and everything over and over again. +</P> + +<P> +At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, the +prince opened his eyes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +15. Look at the Rain! +</H3> + +<P> +The princess burst into a passion of tears, and fell on the floor. +There she lay for an hour, and her tears never ceased. All the pent-up +crying of her life was spent now. And a rain came on, such as had +never been seen in that country. The sun shone all the time, and the +great drops, which fell straight to the earth, shone likewise. The +palace was in the heart of a rainbow. It was a rain of rubies, and +sapphires, and emeralds, and topazes. The torrents poured from the +mountains like molten gold; and if it had not been for its +subterraneous outlet, the lake would have overflowed and inundated the +country. It was full from shore to shore. +</P> + +<P> +But the princess did not heed the lake. She lay on the floor and wept, +and this rain within doors was far more wonderful than the rain out of +doors. +</P> + +<P> +For when it abated a little, and she proceeded to rise, she found, to +her astonishment, that she could not. At length, after many efforts, +she succeeded in getting upon her feet. But she tumbled down again +directly. Hearing her fall, her old nurse uttered a yell of delight, +and ran to her, screaming,— +</P> + +<P> +"My darling child! she's found her gravity!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's it! is it?" said the princess, rubbing her shoulder and her +knee alternately. "I consider it very unpleasant. I feel as if I +should be crushed to pieces." +</P> + +<P> +"Hurrah!" cried the prince from the bed. "If you've come round, +princess, so have I. How's the lake?" +</P> + +<P> +"Brimful," answered the nurse. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we're all happy." +</P> + +<P> +"That we are indeed!" answered the princess, sobbing. +</P> + +<P> +And there was rejoicing all over the country that rainy day. Even the +babies forgot their past troubles, and danced and crowed amazingly. +And the king told stories, and the queen listened to them. And he +divided the money in his box, and she the honey in her pot, among all +the children. And there was such jubilation as was never heard of +before. +</P> + +<P> +Of course the prince and princess were betrothed at once. But the +princess had to learn to walk, before they could be married with any +propriety. And this was not so easy at her time of life, for she could +walk no more than a baby. She was always falling down and hurting +herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Is this the gravity you used to make so much of?" said she one day to +the prince, as he raised her from the floor. "For my part, I was a +great deal more comfortable without it." +</P> + +<P> +"No, no, that's not it. This is it," replied the prince, as he took +her up, and carried her about like a baby, kissing her all the time. +"This is gravity." +</P> + +<P> +"That's better," said she. "I don't mind that so much." +</P> + +<P> +And she smiled the sweetest, loveliest smile in the prince's face. And +she gave him one little kiss in return for all his; and he thought them +overpaid, for he was beside himself with delight. I fear she +complained of her gravity more than once after this, notwithstanding. +</P> + +<P> +It was a long time before she got reconciled to walking. But the pain +of learning it was quite counterbalanced by two things, either of which +would have been sufficient consolation. The first was, that the prince +himself was her teacher; and the second, that she could tumble into the +lake as often as she pleased. Still, she preferred to have the prince +jump in with her; and the splash they made before was nothing to the +splash they made now. +</P> + +<P> +The lake never sank again. In process of time, it wore the roof of the +cavern quite through, and was twice as deep as before. +</P> + +<P> +The only revenge the princess took upon her aunt was to tread pretty +hard on her gouty toe the next time she saw her. But she was sorry for +it the very next day, when she heard that the water had undermined her +house, and that it had fallen in the night, burying her in its ruins; +whence no one ever ventured to dig up her body. There she lies to this +day. +</P> + +<P> +So the prince and princess lived and were happy; and had crowns of +gold, and clothes of cloth, and shoes of leather, and children of boys +and girls, not one of whom was ever known, on the most critical +occasion, to lose the smallest atom of his or her due proportion of +gravity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Light Princess, by George MacDonald + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIGHT PRINCESS *** + +***** This file should be named 697-h.htm or 697-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/697/ + +Produced by Jo Churcher. 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