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diff --git a/old/ltprn10.txt b/old/ltprn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a926d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ltprn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2130 @@ +********The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Light Princess****** +#2 in our series by George MacDonald + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Benedictine + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Benedictine University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +THE LIGHT PRINCESS + + +GEORGE MACDONALD + + + + + +1. What! No Children? + + +Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, +there lived a king and queen who had no children. + +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. + +"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say +sons; that might be too much to expect." + +"I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen. + +"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make +a virtue of that, surely." + +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. + +The queen smiled. + +"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said +she. + +She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she +could not oblige the king immediately. + + + +2. Won't I, Just? + + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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:-- + + +"Light of spirit, by my charms, +Light of body, every part, +Never weary human arms-- +Only crush thy parents' heart!" + + +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. + + + +3. She Can't Be Ours. + + +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. + +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. + +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,-- + +"She can't be ours, queen!" + +Now the queen was much cleverer than the king, and had begun +already to suspect that "this effect defective came by cause." + + +"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." + +"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. + +"I beg your pardon, my love; I did not hear you.--John! bring the +steps I get on my throne with." + +For he was a little king with a great throne, like many other +kings. + +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. + +John could reach the baby now, and the little princess was handed +down by the tongs. + + + +4. Where Is She? + + +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. + +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. + +"Please, your Majesty, shall I take the baby?" said she. + +"Where is she?" asked the queen. + +"Please forgive me. I know it was wrong." + +"What do you mean?" said the queen, looking grave. + +"Oh! don't frighten me, your Majesty!" exclaimed the nurse, +clasping her hands. + +The queen saw that something was amiss, and fell down in a faint. +The nurse rushed about the palace, screaming, "My baby! my baby!" + +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. + +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. + + + +5. What Is to Be Done? + + +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. + +"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!" + +And he hated his gold sovereigns, as they lay with a broad smile of +self-satisfaction all over their yellow faces. + +The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. But at the +second mouthful she burst out crying, and could not swallow it. + +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. + +"What is all this about?" exclaimed he. "What are you crying for, +queen?" + +"I can't eat it," said the queen, looking ruefully at the +honey-pot. + +"-No wonder!" retorted the king. "You've just eaten your breakfast +--two turkey eggs, and three anchovies." + +"Oh, that's not it!" sobbed her Majesty. "It's my child, my child!" + +"Well, what's the matter with your child? She's neither up the +chimney nor down the draw-well. Just hear her laughing." + +Yet the king could not help a sigh, which he tried to turn into a +cough, saying-- + +"It is a good thing to be light-hearted, I am sure, whether she be +ours or not." + +"It is a bad thing to be light-headed," answered the queen, looking +with prophetic soul far into the future. + +"'Tis a good thing to be light-handed," said the king. + +"'Tis a bad thing to be light-fingered," answered the queen. + +"'Tis a good thing to be light-footed," said the +king. + +"'Tis a bad thing--" began the queen; but the king interrupted her. + +"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." + +"But it is a bad thing altogether to be light- minded," retorted +the queen, who was beginning to lose her temper. + +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. + +"And it's a bad thing to be light-haired," screamed she, determined +to have more last words, now that her spirit was roused. + +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? + +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. + +"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." + +"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!" + +She looked so rueful, that the king took her in his arms; and they +sat down to consult. + +"Can you bear this?" said the king. + +"No, I can't," said the queen. + +"Well, what's to be done?" said the king. + +"I'm sure I don't know," said the queen. "But might you not try an +apology?" + +"To my old sister, I suppose you mean?" said the king. + +"Yes," said the queen. + +"Well, I don't mind," said the king. + +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. + +"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." + +"But what if she should marry?" exclaimed the king, in sudden +consternation at the idea. + +"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." + +"That is no business of ours," replied the queen. "Besides, by that +time they will have learned to take care of themselves." + +A sigh was the king's only answer. + +He would have consulted the court physicians; but he was afraid +they would try experiments upon her. + + +6. She Laughs Too Much. + + +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,-- + +"What queer faces mamma makes! And she squeezes water out of her +cheeks? Funny mamma!" + +And when her papa stormed at her, she laughed, and danced round and +round him, clapping her hands, and crying-- + +"Do it again, papa. Do it again! It's SUCH fun! Dear, funny papa!" + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +7. Try Metaphysics. + + +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. + +"My dear child," said the king, "you must be aware by this time +that you are not exactly like other people." + +"Oh, you dear funny papa! I have got a nose, and two eyes, and all +the rest. So have you. So has mamma." + +"Now be serious, my dear, for once," said the queen. + +"No, thank you, mamma; I had rather not." + +"Would you not like to be able to walk like other people?" said the +king. +"No indeed, I should think not. You only crawl. You are such slow +coaches!" + +"How do you feel, my child?" he resumed, after a pause of +discomfiture. + +"Quite well, thank you." + +"I mean, what do you feel like?" + +"Like nothing at all, that I know of." + +"You must feel like something." + +"I feel like a princess with such a funny papa, and such a dear pet +of a queen-mamma!" + +"Now really!" began the queen; but the princess interrupted her. + +"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." + +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. + +"Is there nothing you wish for?" resumed the king, who had learned +by this time that it was useless to be angry with her. + +"Oh, you dear papa!--yes," answered she. + +"What is it, my darling?" + +"I have been longing for it--oh, such a time!--ever since last +night." +"Tell me what it is." + +"Will you promise to let me have it?" + +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. + +"No no. Promise first." + +"I dare not. What is it?" + +"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--" + +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. + +"Now, queen," he said, turning to her Majesty, "what IS to be +done?" + +"There is but one thing left," answered she. "Let us consult the +college of Metaphysicians." + +"Bravo!" cried the king; "we will." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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--" + +"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:-- + +"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." + +"Which would presently arrive in the form of grim Death," said +Kopy-Keck. + +"If it should, she would yet die in doing our duty," retorted +Hum-Drum. + +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. + + + +8. Try a Drop of Water. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"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!" + +This was the only consideration that made her wish to be like other +people. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +9. Put Me in Again. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"You naughty, naughty, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY man!" she cried. + +No one had ever succeeded in putting her into a passion before.- +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,-- + +"I'll tell papa." + +"Oh no, you won't!" returned the prince. + +"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." + +"Pardon me. I did not mean to hurt you." + +"I don't believe you have any brains; and that is a worse loss than +your wretched gravity. I pity you.' + +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,-- + +"Put me up directly." + +"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince. + +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. + +"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince. + +"In the water, you stupid!" answered the princess. + +"Come, then," said the prince. + +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,-- + +"How am I to put you in?" +"That is your business," she answered, quite snappishly. "You took +me out--put me in again." + +"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-- + +"How do you like falling in?" said the prince. + +After some effort the princess panted out,-- + +"Is that what you call FALLING IN?" + +"Yes," answered the prince, "I should think it a very tolerable +specimen." + +"It seemed to me like going up," rejoined she. + +"My feeling was certainly one of elevation too," the prince +conceded. + +The princess did not appear to understand him, for she retorted his +question:-- + +"How do YOU like falling in?" said the princess. + +"Beyond everything," answered he; "for I have fallen in with the +only perfect creature I ever saw." + +"No more of that: I am tired of it," said the princess. + +Perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning. + +"Don't you like falling in then?" said the prince. + +"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!" + +Here the poor princess looked almost sad. + +"I shall be most happy to fall in with you any time you like," said +the prince, devotedly. + +"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." + +"With all my heart," responded the prince. + +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. + +"I must go home," said the princess. "I am very sorry, for this is +delightful." + +"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." + +"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!" + +"With more obedience than pleasure," said the prince, gallantly; +and away they swam, very gently. + +"Will you be in the lake to-morrow night?" the prince ventured to +ask. + +"To be sure I will. I don't think so. Perhaps," was the princess's +somewhat strange answer. + +But the prince was intelligent enough not to press her further; and +merely whispered, as he gave her the parting lift, "Don't tell." + +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." + +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. + + + +10. Look at the Moon. + + +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:-- + + +"Lady fair, +Swan-white, +Lift thine eyes, +Banish night +By the might +Of thine eyes. + +Snowy arms, +Oars of snow, +Oar her hither, +Plashing low. +Soft and slow, +Oar her hither. + + +Stream behind her +O'er the lake, +Radiant whiteness! +In her wake +Following, following for her sake. +Radiant whiteness! + +Cling about her, +Waters blue; +Part not from her, +But renew +Cold and true +Kisses round her. + +Lap me round, +Waters sad, +That have left her. +Make me glad, +For ye had +Kissed her ere ye left her." + +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. + +"Would you like a fall, princess?" said the prince, looking down. + +"Ah! there you are! Yes, if you please, prince," said the princess, +looking up. + +"How do you know I am a prince, princess?" said the prince. + +"Because you are a very nice young man, prince," said the princess. + +"Come up then, princess." + +"Fetch me, prince." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + + + +11. Hiss! + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +But she never cried. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +And she laughed a ferocious laugh, that made the hairs on the back +of her black cat stand erect with terror. + +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. + +Then she took the keys and went down to her cellar; and as she +unlocked the door she said to herself,-- + +"This is worth living for!" +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. + +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. + +"That's right, my beauty!" cried the princess; "drain it dry." + +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. + +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. + + + +12. Where Is the Prince? + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +At length the lake was all but gone, only a few of the deepest +pools remaining unexhausted. + +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:-- + + +"Death alone from death can save. +Love is death, and so is brave-- +Love can fill the deepest grave. +Love loves on beneath the wave." + + +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:-- + + +"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." + + + +13. Here I Am. + + +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. + +No one, however, came forward. + +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. + +When he had acquainted himself with all the particulars, he sat +down and thought,-- + +"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." + +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. + +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. + +"Please your Majesty, I'm your butler," said he. + +"My butler! you lying rascal! What do you mean?" + +"I mean, I will cork your big bottle." + +"Is the fellow mad?" bawled the king, raising the point of his +sword. + +"I will put a stopper--plug--what you call it, in your leaky lake, +grand monarch," said the prince. + +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?" + +'No, thank you," replied the prince. + +"Very well," said the king. "Would you like to run and see your +parents before you make your experiment?" + +"No, thank you," said the prince. + +"Then we will go and look for the hole at once," said his Majesty, +and proceeded to call some attendants. + +"Stop, please your Majesty; I have a condition to make," interposed +the prince. + +"What!" exclaimed the king, "a condition! and with me! How dare +you?" + +"As you please," returned the prince, coolly. "I wish your Majesty +a good morning." + +"You wretch! I will have you put in a sack, and stuck in the hole." + +"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." + +"Well, you have offered yourself," retorted the king. + +"Yes, upon one condition." + +"Condition again!" roared the king, once more drawing his sword. +"Begone! Somebody else will be glad enough to take the honour off +your shoulders." + +"Your Majesty knows it will not be easy to get another to take my +place." + +"Well, what is your condition?" growled the king, feeling that the +prince was right. + +"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." + + +Here the prince's voice faltered, and he very nearly grew +sentimental, in spite of his resolution. + +"Why didn't you tell me before what your condition was? Such a fuss +about nothing!" exclaimed the king. + +"Do you grant it?" persisted the prince. +"Of course I do," replied the king. + +"Very well. I am ready." + +"Go and have some dinner, then, while I set my people to find the +place." + +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. + + +14.This Is Very Kind of You. + + +The prince went to dress for the occasion, for he was resolved to +die like a prince. + +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. + +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. + +In a few minutes the prince appeared. The princess recognized him +at once, but did not think it worth while to acknowledge him. + +"Here I am," said the prince. "Put me in." + +"They told me it was a shoeblack," said the princess. + +"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." + +The courtiers did not resent his bluntness, except by saying to +each other that he was taking it out in impudence. + +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,-- + +"Now you can go." + +The king had already gone home to dinner. + +"Now you can go," repeated the princess after him, like a parrot. + +The people obeyed her and went. + +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:-- + + +"As a world that has no well, +Darting bright in forest dell; +As a world without the gleam +Of the downward-going stream; +As a world without the glance +Of the ocean's fair expanse; +As a world where never rain +Glittered on the sunny plain;-- +Such, my heart, thy world would be, +if no love did flow in thee. + +As a world without the sound +Of the rivulets underground; +Or the bubbling of the spring +Out of darkness wandering; +Or the mighty rush and flowing +Of the river's downward going; +Or the music-showers that drop +On the outspread beech's top; +Or the ocean's mighty voice, +When his lifted waves rejoice;-- +Such, my soul, thy world would be, +if no love did sing in thee. + +Lady, keep thy world's delight; +Keep the waters in thy sight. +Love hath made me strong to go, +For thy sake, to realms below, +Where the water's shine and hum +Through the darkness never come; +Let, I pray, one thought of me +Spring, a little well, in thee; +Lest thy loveless soul be found +Like a dry and thirsty ground." + + +"Sing again, prince. It makes it less tedious," said the princess. + +But the prince was too much overcome to sing any more, and a long +pause followed. + +"This is very kind of you, prince," said the princess at last, +quite coolly, as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut. + +"I am sorry I can't return the compliment," thought the prince; +"but you are worth dying for, after all." + +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. + +At last he could bear it no longer. + +"Princess!" said he. + +But at the moment up started the princess, crying,-- + +"I'm afloat! I'm afloat!" + +And the little boat bumped against the stone. + +"Princess!" repeated the prince, encouraged by seeing her wide +awake and looking eagerly at the water. + +"Well?" said she, without looking round. + +"Your papa promised that you should look at me, and you haven't +looked at me once." + +"Did he? Then I suppose I must. But I am so sleepy!" + +"Sleep then, darling, and don't mind me," said the poor prince. + +"Really, you are very good," replied the princess. "I think I will +go to sleep again." + +"Just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit first," said the +prince, very humbly. + + +"With all my heart," said the princess, and gaped as she said it. + +She got the wine and the biscuit, however, and leaning over the +side of the boat towards him, was compelled to look at him. + +"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 in deed. "Only I shall +die before it is of any use to you, unless I have something to +eat." + +"There, then," said she, holding out the wine to him. + +"Ah! you must feed me. I dare not move my hands. The water would +run away directly." + +"Good gracious!" said the princess; and she began at once to feed +him with bits of biscuit and sips of wine. + +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. + +"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." + +"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. + +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. + +"Why can't we go and have a swim?" said the princess. "There seems +to be water enough Just about here." + +"I shall never swim more," said the prince. + +"Oh, I forgot," said the princess, and was silent. + +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. + +"Will you kiss me, princess?" said he, feebly. + +The nonchalance was all gone now. + +"Yes, I will," answered the princess, and kissed him with a long, +sweet, cold kiss. + +"Now," said he, with a sigh of content, "I die happy." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +"But the lake, your Highness!" said the chamberlain, who, roused by +the noise, came in, in his nightcap. + +"Go and drown yourself in it!" she said. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, +the prince opened his eyes. + + + +15. Look at the Rain! + + +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. + +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. + +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,-- + +"My darling child! she's found her gravity!" + +"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." + +"Hurrah!" cried the prince from the bed. "If you've come round, +princess, so have I. How's the lake?" + +"Brimful," answered the nurse. + +"Then we're all happy." + +"That we are indeed!" answered the princess, sobbing. + +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. + +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. + +"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." + +"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." + +"That's better," said she. "I don't mind that so much." + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of The Light Princess + diff --git a/old/ltprn10.zip b/old/ltprn10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13e63c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ltprn10.zip |