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CRISTOBAL, rage 32, 
 
LITTLE PRUDY SERIES. 
 
 FAIRY BOOK 
 
 BY 
 
 SOP HIE MA To ..^^^u,^\ 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, 
 
 (Successors to Phillips, Sajipsok, & Cq.) 
 
 1865. 
 

 c. 
 
 M"- 
 
 "7=^-^ ^^-j^'- 
 
 a 
 
 Eater«Hl, according to Act of Congress, in tne year ldtJ5, by 
 ill tnc Ckrk's Office of tfee .liisirict Court sS'tfa.eDifltrict of JSlaasachutietta 
 
 Mr\ "^. -44.*-^*^^ 
 
<D>€>IS. <Q>IP 3?A3X2E'T XA3L,3B^ 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
 TO LITTXiE BESSIE. 
 
 IV' 
 
 i2.i^fr^- 
 
LITTLE PRUDY SERIES. 
 
 BY SOPHIE MAY. 
 
 :>>^<^ 
 
 I. 
 
 LITTLE PRUDY. 
 
 n. 
 
 LITTLE PRUDY'S SISTER SUSY. 
 
 ni. 
 
 LITTLE PRUDY'S CAPTAIN HORACE. 
 
 IV. 
 LITTLE PRUDY'S COUSIN GRACE. 
 
 V. 
 
 LITTLE PRUDY'S FAIRY BOOK. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 IN^TRODUCTIOX 9 
 
 CRISTOBAL 10 
 
 WILD ROBIN C5 
 
 THE YESRER STAR 53 
 
 THE WATER-KELPIE 50 
 
 THE LOST SYLPHID 7i 
 
 THE CASTLE OF GEMS 100 
 
 THE ELF OF LIGHT 117 
 
 THE PRINCESS HILDA 137 
 
 GOLDILOCKS IGO 
 
FAIEY BOOK. 
 
 >>«<c 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 While Prudy was in Indiana visiting the 
 Cliffords, and in the midst of her trials with 
 mosquitoes, she said one day, — 
 
 '^ I wouldn't cry, Aunt 'Ria, only my 
 heart's breaking. The very next person 
 that eyer dies, I wish they'd ask God to 
 please stop sending these awful skeeters. I 
 can't bear 'em any longer, now, certainly." 
 
 There was a look of utter despair on 
 Prudy's disfigured face. Bitter tears were 
 trickling from the two white puff-balls which 
 had been her eyes ; her forehead and cheeks 
 were of a flaming pink, broken into Kttle 
 
 9 
 
10 . 
 
 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 snow-drifts full of stings : slie looked as if 
 she had just been rescued from an angry bee- 
 hive. Altogether, her appearance was ex- 
 ceedingly droll; yet Grace would not allow 
 herself to smile at her afflicted little cousin. 
 " Strange/' said she, " what makes our mos- 
 quitoes so imjDolite to strangers ! It's a 
 downright shame, isn't it, ma, to have little 
 Prudy so imposed upon ? If I could only 
 amuse her, and make her forget it ! " 
 
 ^^ Oh, mamma," Grace broke forth again sud- 
 denly, " I have an idea, a very brilliant idea ! 
 Please listen, and pay particular attention ; 
 for I shall speak in a figure, as Robin says. 
 There's a certain small individual who is not 
 to understand." 
 
 '' I wouldn't risk that style of talking," said 
 Mrs. Clifford, smiling ; '^ or, if you do, your 
 figures of speech must be very obscure, re- 
 member." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 *^Well, ma/' continued Grace with a sig- 
 nificant glance at Prudy, '^ what I was going 
 to say is this : We wish to treat certain 
 young relatives of ours very kindly ; don't we, 
 now? — certain afflicted and abused young 
 relatives, you know. 
 
 ^' Now, I've thought of an entertainment. 
 Ahem ! Yesterday I entered a certain Eng- 
 lishman's house, " — here Grace pointed 
 through the windov towards Mr. Sherwood's 
 cottage, lest her mother should, by chance, 
 lose her meaning, — ''I entered a certain 
 Englishman's house just as the family were 
 sitting down to the table, — festal hoard, I 
 mean. 
 
 *' They were talking about mistle-toe 
 boughs, and all sorts of old-country customs ; 
 and then they said what a funny time they 
 had one Christmas, with the youngest, about 
 the mizzle, as he called it : do you remember, 
 ma? do you understand ? " 
 
12 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 ** You mean little Harvey ? Oh, yes." 
 *^ Pray do be careful, ma ! Then Mr. Sher- 
 wood said to his — I mean, the hat said to 
 the bonnet J that there were some wonderful 
 
 — ahem — legends, about genii and sprites 
 and — and so forth ; not printed, but written^ 
 which the boy liked to hear when he was 
 * overgetting ' the measles. A certain lady, 
 not three inches from your chair, ma, was the 
 one who wrote them ; and now " — 
 
 Prudy had turned about, and the only rem- 
 nants of her face which looked at all natural 
 
 — that is, the irises and pupils of her swollen 
 eyes — were shining with curiosity. 
 
 '^ There, now, what is it, Gracie ? what is 
 it you don't want me to hear ? " 
 
 Grace laughed. '' Oh, nothing much, dear : 
 never mind." 
 
 " You oughtn't to say ^ Never mind,' " pur- 
 sued Prudy: ''my mother tells me always io 
 mind." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 '^ I only mean it isn't any matter, Prudy." 
 
 '' Oh ! do you ? Then don't yon care for 
 my skeeter-bites ? You always say, ' Never 
 mind ! ' I didn't know it wasn't any matter^' 
 
 ^' Now, ma," Grace went on, " I want to ask 
 you where are those I-don't-know-what-to- 
 call-'ems ? And may I copy them, Cassy and 
 I, into a book, for a certain afflicted rel- 
 ative?" 
 
 '^ Yes, yes, on gold-edged paper ! " cried 
 Prudy, springing up from the sofa ; '' oh, do, 
 do ; I'll love you dearly if you will ! Fairy 
 stories are just as nice ! What little Harvey 
 Sherwood likes, /like, and I've had the mea- 
 sles; hut I shouldn't think his father and 
 mother'd wear their hat and bonnet to the 
 dinner-table ! " 
 
 ^' Deary me ! " laughed Grace ; ^' how hap- 
 pened that Little thing to mistrust what I 
 meant ? " 
 
14 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 " It would be strange if a child of her age, 
 of ordinary abiUties, should oiot understand/^ 
 remarked Mrs. Clifford, somewhat amused. 
 " Next time you wish to ask me any thing 
 confidentially, I advise you to choose a better 
 opportunity." 
 
 *' When may she, Aunt 'Ria ? " cried Pru- 
 dy, entirely forgetting her troubles; ^^when 
 may she write it. Aunt 'Ria, she and Gas- 
 sy?" 
 
 *^A pretty piece of folly it would be, 
 wouldn't it, dear, when you can't read a Avord 
 of writing ? " 
 
 " But Susy can a little, auntie : and mother 
 can a great deal : and I'll never tease 'em, 
 only nights when I go to bed, and days when 
 I don't feel well. Please, Aunt 'Ria." 
 
 " Yes, ma, I know you can't refuse," said 
 Grace. 
 
 Mrs. Clifford hesitated. '^ The stories are 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 yellow with age, Grace ; they were written 
 in my girlhood :. and they are rather torn and 
 disarranged, if I remember. Besides, my 
 child, my flowing hand is difficult to read." 
 
 "Oh, mamma, I think you write beautifully ! 
 splendidly ! " 
 
 " Another objection," continued Mrs. Clif- 
 ford : " they are rather too old for Prudy, I 
 should judge." 
 
 " But I keep argrowing, Aunt 'Eia ! Don't 
 you s'pose I know what fairy stories mean ? 
 They don't mean any thing ! You didn't feel 
 afraid I'd believe 'em, did you ? I wouldn't 
 believe 'em, I promise I wouldn't; just as 
 true's I'm walking on this floor ! " 
 
 "Indeed, I hope you would not, little 
 Prudy ; for I made them up as I went along. 
 There are no fairies but those we have in our 
 hearts. Our best thoughts are good fairies ; 
 and our worst thoughts are evil fairies." 
 
16 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 '^ Oh, yes, auntie, I know ! When we go 
 bathing in the ocean, Susy says, ^ Let's be all 
 clean, so the spirit of the water can enter 
 our hearts.' And it does ; but it goes in by 
 our noses." 
 
 Mrs. Clifford had tacitly given her consent 
 to Grace's copying the stories. This task 
 was performed accordingly, much to the dis- 
 gust of Horace, who declared that of the 
 whole number only the tale of '^ Wild Robin '' 
 was worth reading. 
 
 " And ^ Wild Robin,' " said Grace, instruc- 
 tively, '' is the only one that has a moral for 
 you, Horace. When our soldiers are starv- 
 ing so, it is really dreadful to see how you 
 dislike corned beef and despise vegetables ! 
 Such a dainty boy as you needs to be stolen 
 a while by the fairies." 
 
 " Well, Gracie, I reckon you'd run double- 
 quick to pull me off the milk-white steed. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 YoTi couldn't get along without me two days. 
 Look here ! what story has a moral for you, 
 miss ? It's the ' Water-kelpie.' You are like 
 the man that married Moneta : you're always 
 wanting money." 
 
 " But it's for the soldiers, Horace," said 
 Grace, with a smile of forbearance toward 
 her brother. '^ I'm willing to give all my 
 pocket-money ; and I mean the other girls 
 shall. If we're stingy to our country these 
 days, we ought to be shot ! * Princess Hilda's' 
 the best story in the book. I wish Isa Har- 
 rington could read it ! She wouldn't make 
 any more mischief between Cassy and me ! " 
 
 '' I like ' The Lost Sylphid' the best," said 
 Prudy ; '^ but ivas she a great butterfly, do 
 you s'pose ? The stories are all just as nice ; 
 just like book stories. I shouldn't think any- 
 body made 'em up. Aunt 'Ria can write as 
 
18 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 good as tlie big girls to tlie grammar-scliool. 
 I promised not to believe a single word ; and 
 I sba'n't. I'm glad she called it my Fairy 
 Book." 
 
CRISTOBAL. 19 
 
 CEISTOBAL. 
 
 A CHRISTMAS LEGEND. 
 
 Long ago, in fair Burgundy, lived a lad 
 named Cristobal. His large dark eyes lay 
 under the fringe of his lids, full of shadows j 
 eyes as lustrous as purple amethysts, and, 
 alas ! as. sightless. 
 
 He had not always been blind, as perhaps 
 a wild and passionate lad, named Jasper, 
 might have told you. On a certain Christ- 
 mas Eve, a merry boy was little Cristobal, 
 as he pattered along to church, trying with 
 his wooden shoes to keep time to the dancing 
 bells. In his hand he carried a Christmas 
 candle of various colors. Never, he thought. 
 
20 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 was a rainbow so exquisitely tinted as that 
 candle. Carefully he watched it when it 
 winked its sleepy eye, eagerly begging his 
 mamma to snuff it awake again. How gayly 
 the streets twinkled with midnight lanterns I 
 And how mortifying to the stars to be out- 
 done by such a grand illumination ! 
 
 A new painting had just been hung in the 
 church, — the Holy Child, called by the peo- 
 ple '' Little Jesus," with an aureola about his 
 head. Cristobal looked at this picture with 
 reverent delight ; and, to his surprise, the 
 Holy Child returned his gaze : wherever he 
 went, the sweet, sorrowful eyes followed him. 
 There was a wondrous charm in that plead- 
 ing glance. Why was it so wistful ? What 
 had those deep eyes to say ? 
 
 The air was cloudy with the breath of 
 frankincense and myrrh. Deep voices and 
 the heavy organ sounded chants and an- 
 
CKISTOBAL. 21 
 
 thems. There were prayers to the coming 
 Messiah, and the sprinkKng of holy water; 
 and, at last, the midnight mass was ended. 
 
 Then, in tumult and great haste, the peo- 
 ple went home for merry-makings. Cris- 
 tobal, eager to see what the Yule-log might 
 have in store for him, rushed out of the 
 church with careless speed, stumbling over a 
 boy who stood in his way, — the haughty, in- 
 solent Jasper. Jasper's beautiful Christmas- 
 candle was cracked in twenty pieces by his 
 fall 
 
 '^ I'll teach you better manners, young 
 peasant ! " cried he, rushing upon Cristobal 
 in a frenzy, and dealing fierce blows without 
 mercy or reason. 
 
 It was then that Cristobal's eyes went out 
 like falling stars. Their lustre and beauty 
 remained ; but they were empty caskets, 
 their vision gone. 
 
22 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Then followed terrible anguish ; and all 
 Cristobal's mother could do was to hold her 
 boy in her arms, and soothe him by singing. 
 At last the fever was spent ; but the pain 
 still throbbed on, and sometimes seemed to 
 burn into Cristobal's brain. He cried out 
 again and again, ^^ "What right had that 
 fierce Jasper to spring upon me so ? I meant 
 him no harm ; and he knew it. Oh, I would 
 like to see him chained in a den ! He is like 
 the wicked people who are turned into 
 wolves at Christmas-tide. I would cry for 
 joy if I could hear him groan with such pain 
 as mine ! " . 
 
 Poor Cristobal never hoped to see again. 
 He carried in his mind pictures of cities and 
 hamlets, of trees, flowers, -and old familiar 
 faces ; but oftenest came Jasper's face, just 
 as it had last glared on him with blood-thirsty 
 eyes. It was a terrible countenance. Only 
 
CRISTOBAL. 23 
 
 one charm conld dispel the horror, — the 
 remembrance of the beautiful Child in the 
 church. That picture blotted out every 
 thing else. It was like the refrain in the 
 Burgundy carols, " Noel, Noel," which comes 
 again and again, and never tires of coming. 
 
 A whole year passed away. Cristobal's 
 mother only prayed now that her boy might 
 suffer less: she had ceased to pray for the 
 healing of his blindness. 
 
 Now it was Christmjas - tide again. Ever 
 since Advent, people had been clearing their 
 throats, and singing carols. They roasted 
 chestnuts, drank white wine, and chanted 
 praises of the '' Little Jesus," who was soon 
 to come, bringing peace on earth, good-will to 
 men. 
 
 In the streets, one heard bagpipes and min- 
 strels ; and, by the hearthstones, the music of 
 the wandering piper. The children began to 
 
24 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 talk again of the Yule-log, and to wonder 
 wliat gifts Noel would bring to place under 
 each end of it ; for these little folks, Avho have 
 no stocking - saint like our Santa Claus, be- 
 lieve in another quite as good, Avho rains 
 down sugar -plums in the night. 
 
 Everywhere there was a joyful bustle. 
 Housewives were making ready their choi- 
 cest dishes for the great Christmas - supper ; 
 fathers were slyly peeping into shop - win- 
 dows, and children hoarding their sous and 
 centimes for bonbons and comfits. 
 
 Everybody was merry but Cristobal ; or 
 so thought the lad. He had no money to 
 spend, and little but pain for his holiday- 
 cheer. A patch here and there in his worn 
 clothes was the best present his thrifty moth- 
 er was able to make ; always excepting the 
 little variegated taper, Avhich few were too 
 poor to buy. 
 
CRISTOBAL. 25 
 
 Christmas Eve came. Family friends 
 dropped in. The Yule-log was set on the fire 
 with shouts and singing. ^^ Oh that I could 
 see these kind faces ! " moaned Cristobal. 
 '' Xo doubt, Jasper's chestnuts are popping 
 merrily ; and his shoes will be full of pres- 
 ents. And here am 1 1 My head aches, and 
 my eye-balls burn." 
 
 He stole out of the room, and, throwing 
 himself on a wicker bench, mused over his 
 troubles in solitude. One might have sup- 
 posed him sleeping ; for how should one im- 
 agine that his beautiful eyes were of no 
 manner of use, except when they were 
 closed? When Cristobal said, ''Let me see," 
 he dropped his eye-lids ; and what he saw 
 then, no artist can paint. 
 • On this night, a beautiful child appeared 
 before him, as like the picture of the Little 
 Jesus as if it had stepped out of its frame on 
 
26 FAIRY BOOK, 
 
 the cimrcli-wall. Even tlie crimson and blue 
 tints of the old painting were faithfully pre- 
 served; and every fold of the soft drapery 
 was the very same. 
 
 " I saw you, Cristobal, when you came be- 
 fore me with your colored candle, one year 
 ago." 
 
 ^^I knew it, I knew it!" cried Cristobal, 
 clasping his hands in awe. '' I saw your 
 eyes follow me ; and I never once turned but 
 you were looking. They told me it was only 
 a picture ; but I said for that very reason 
 your eyes were sorrowful, — you longed to 
 be alive." 
 
 The child replied by a slight motion of the 
 head ; and the aureola trembled like sunlight 
 on the water. The longer Cristobal gazed, 
 the more courage he gathered. ^^Lovel^i^ 
 vision," said he, ^^ if vision you may be, — I 
 have said to myself, I would gladly walk to 
 
CRISTOBAL. 27 
 
 Eome witti peas in my shoes, if I could know 
 what you wished to say to me that Christmas 
 night." 
 
 " Only this, little brother : Are you ready 
 for Christmas?" 
 
 "Alas ! no : I never am. I have only two 
 sous in the world." 
 
 '' Poor Cristobal ! Yet, without a centime, 
 one may be ready for Christmas." 
 
 " But I am so very unhappy ! " 
 
 " You do indeed look sad, little brother : 
 where is your pain ? " 
 
 ''In my eyes," moaned the boy, pouring out 
 the words with a delightful sense of relief; 
 for he was sure they dropped into a pitying 
 heart. '' Beloved little Jesus, let me tell you 
 that since I saw you last I have been wick- 
 edly injured. Now I have always a pain in 
 my eyes : there are two flames behind them, 
 which burn day and night." 
 
28 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 I grieve for you," said the Child with ex- 
 quisite teDderness ; '^ yet, dear boy, for all 
 that, you might ^be ready for Christmas : but 
 is there not also a pain throbbing and burn- 
 ing in your heart ? " 
 
 '' Oh, if you mean that, I am tossed up and 
 down by vexation : I am full of hatred 
 against that terrible Jasper. It was all about 
 a miserable Christmas-candle he carried. I 
 broke it by pushing him down. Tell me, 
 was he right to fly at me like a wild beast ? 
 Ought he not to suffer even as I have suf- 
 fered ? Is it just, is it right, for the great 
 man's son to put out a peasant boy's eyes, 
 and be- happy again ? " 
 
 " Misguided Jasper ! " said the Child sol- 
 emnly ; 'Met him answer for his own sin : 
 judge not; little brother." 
 
 Cristobal hid hig face in his hands, and 
 wept for shame. 
 
CRISTOBAL. 29 
 
 " Shall I give you ten golden words for a 
 Christmas-gift ? Will you hide them in your 
 heart, and be happy ? " 
 
 " I will," answered Cristobal. 
 
 "They are these/' said the Child with a 
 voice of wondrous sweetness : " Pray for 
 them which despitefully use you and perse- 
 cute you." 
 
 Cristobal repeated the words, a soft light 
 stealing over his face. " I will remember," 
 he said, looking up to meet the pleading eyes 
 of the Child : but, lo ! the whole face had 
 melted into the aureola ; nothing was left but 
 light. Yet Cristobal was filled with a new 
 joy ; and, as he opened his eyes, his dream — 
 if dream it were — changed, becoming as 
 sweet and solemn as a prayer. It seemed to 
 him that the roof of the cottage glittered 
 with stars, and was no longer a roof, but the 
 boundless sky ; and, afar off, like remem- 
 
30 FAIEY BOOK. 
 
 bered music, a voice fell on his ear, '^ For if 
 ye forgive men their trespasses, your heav-. 
 enly Father will also forgive you your tres- 
 passes." 
 
 Cristobal arose, and, although still blind, 
 walked in light. ^' It is the aureola which 
 has stolen into my heart," thought Cristobal. 
 ^' The pain and hate are all gone. Now I am 
 ready for Christmas. I wish I could help 
 poor Jasper, who has such a weight of guilt 
 to carry ! " 
 
 Next day, '' golden-sided " Burgundy saw 
 no happier boy than Cristobal. He walked 
 in the procession that night, carrying a can- 
 dle whose light he could not see ; but what 
 did it signify, since there was light in his 
 soul?" 
 
 Hark I In the midst of the Christmas- 
 chimes breaks the jangling of fire-bells. The 
 count's house is on fire ! The sparks pour 
 
CRISTOBAL. 31 
 
 out thicker and faster ; tongues of flame leap 
 to the sky ; the. bells clang hoarsely ; the 
 Christmas procession is broken 'into wild dis- 
 order ; the wheels of the engine roll through 
 the streets, unheard in the din. 
 
 Cristobal rushed eagerly toward the flames, 
 but was pulled away by the people. 
 
 '^ We cannot drown the fire ! " they cried : 
 " the building must fall ! Are the inmates 
 aUsafe?" 
 
 *^ All, thank Heaven ! " cried the count. 
 
 " No : Jasjper ! See, he waves his hand 
 from the third story ! Save him ! save my 
 boy ! " 
 
 Jasper had set fire to a curtain with his fa- 
 tal Christmas - candle. Now he raved and 
 shouted in vain: no one would venture up 
 the ladder. ^ 
 
 *' Little Jesus," whispered Cristobal, 
 " give light to my eyes, even as unto my 
 soul ! Let me save Jasper ! '^ 
 
32 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 At once tlie iron band fell from Cristobal's 
 vision. He saw, and, at tlie same moment, 
 felt a supernatural strength. He tore away 
 from the restraining arms of the people ; he 
 rushed up the ladder, shouting, '^ In the 
 name of the Little Jesus ! " He reached the 
 window, heedless of his scorched arms. 
 "Jasper !" he cried, seizing the half-conscious 
 boy, " be not afraid : I have the strength to 
 carry you." 
 
 And down the ladder he bore him, step by 
 step, through the crackling flames. 
 
 Jasper was revived ; and the fainting Cris- 
 tobal was borne through the streets in the 
 arms of the populace. 
 
 " Wonder of wonders ! " they all shouted. 
 
 " It was the Little Jesus," gasped Cristo- 
 bal: 'Mic opened my eyes; he guided me 
 up the ladder, and down again ! " 
 
 ** Hallelujah 1 " was now the cry. "On the 
 
CEISTOBAL. 33 
 
 birthday of our Lord, the Wind receive their 
 sight." 
 
 ^'Jt is a triumph of faith," said the saints 
 reverently.* 
 
 ^* A miracle/' murmured the nuns, making 
 the sign of the cross. 
 
 '' Not a miracle/' replied the wise doctors, 
 after they had first consulted their books : 
 " it is only the electrifying of the optic 
 nerve." 
 
 But hardly any two could agree ; and what 
 was so mysterious at the time is no clearer 
 now. 
 
 " Dear little Cristobal," sobbed the broken- 
 hearted Jasper, '' how could you forgive 
 such a wicked boy as I ? " 
 
 '^ It was very easy, " replied Cristobal, 
 '' when once the Little Jesus called me 
 * brother,' and bade me pray for you." 
 
 " Oh that I could repay you for your won- 
 
 2 
 
34 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 derful deed of love/' said Jasper, through 
 his tears. 
 
 '^ Do not thank me," whispered Cristobal, 
 with a look of awe ; '^ thank the Little Jesus. 
 And when he comes again next year, to ask 
 what feelings we hold in our hearts, let us 
 both be ready for Christmas.'* 
 
WILD ROBIN. 35 
 
 WILD ROBIN. 
 
 A SCOTTISH FAIRY TALE. 
 
 In the green valley of the Yarrow, near 
 the castle-keep of Norham, dwelt an honest, 
 sonsy little family, whose only grief was an 
 unhappy son, named Hobin. 
 
 Janet, Avith jimp form, bonnie eyes, and 
 cherry cheeks, was the best of daughters : 
 the boys, Sandie and Davie, were swift-footed, 
 brave, kind, and obedient ; but Eobin, the 
 youngest, had a stormy temper, and, when 
 his will was crossed, he became as reckless 
 as a reeling hurricane. Once, in a passion, 
 he drove two of his father's '' kye," or cattle, 
 down a steep hill to their death. He seemed 
 not to care for home or kindred, and often 
 pierced the tender heart of his mother with 
 
36 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 sharp words. "When she came at night, and 
 " happed " the bed-clothes carefully about his 
 form, and then stooped to kiss his nut-brown 
 cheeks, he turned away with a frown, mutter- 
 ing, '^ Mither, let me be.*' 
 
 It was a sad case with Wild Robin, who 
 seemed to have neither love nor conscience. 
 
 '' My heart is sair, '' sighed his mother, 
 *' wi' greeting over sicli a son." 
 
 '^ He hates our auld cottage and our muckle 
 wark,'' said the poor father. '^ Ah, weel ! I 
 could a'maist wish the fairies had him for a 
 season, to teach him better manners."' 
 
 This the gudeman said heedlessly, little 
 knowing there was any danger of Robin's 
 being carried away to Elf-land. Whether the 
 fairies were at that instant listening under 
 the eaves, will never be known ; but it 
 chanced, one day, that Wild Robin was sent 
 across the moors to fetch the kye. 
 
WILD EOBIN. 37 
 
 '' I'll rin away," thought the boy : '^ 'tis 
 hard indeed if ilka day a great lad like me 
 must mind the kye. I'll gae aff ; and they'll 
 think me dead." 
 
 So he gaed, and he gaed, over round swell- 
 ing hills, over old battle-fields, past the roof- 
 less ruins of houses whose walls were 
 crowned with tall climbing grasses, till he 
 came to a crystal sheet of water, called St, 
 Mary's Loch. Here he paused to take 
 breath. The sky was dull and lowering ; but 
 at his feet were yellow flowers, which shone, 
 on that gray day, like freaks of sunshine. 
 
 He threw himself wearily upon the grass, 
 not heeding that he had chosen his couch with- 
 in a little mossy circle known as a '^ fairy's 
 ring." Wild Robin knew that the country 
 people would say the fays had pressed that 
 green circle with their light feet. He had 
 heard all the Scottish lore of brownies, elves. 
 
38 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 will-o'-the-wisps, and the strange water-kel- 
 pies, who shriek with eldritch laughter. He 
 had been told that the queen of the fairies 
 had coveted him from his birth, and would 
 have stolen him away, only that, just as she 
 was about to seize him from the cradle, he 
 had sneezed ; and from that instant the fairy- 
 spell was over, and she had no more control 
 of him. 
 
 Yet, in spite of all these stories, the. boy 
 was not afraid ; and if he had been informed 
 that any of the uncanny people were, even 
 now, haunting his footsteps, he would "not 
 have believed it. 
 
 ^' I see," said Wild Eobin, ^^ the sun is 
 drawing his night-cap over his eyes, and 
 dropping asleep. I believe I'll e'en take a 
 nap mysel', and see what comes o' it." 
 
 In two minutes he had forgotten St. Mary's 
 Loch, the hills, the moors, the yellow flowers. 
 
WILD EOBIN. 39 
 
 He heard, or fancied he heard, his sister 
 Janet calling him home. 
 
 " And what have ye for supper ? " he mut- 
 tered between his teeth. 
 
 '^ Parritch and milk/' answered the lassie 
 gently. 
 
 " Parritch and milk ! Whist ! say nae mair ! 
 Lang, lang may ye wait for Wild Robin: 
 he'll not gae back for oatmeal parritch ! " 
 
 Next a sad voice fell on his ear. 
 
 " Mither's ; and she mourns me dead ! " 
 thought he ; but it was only the far-oiOf vil- 
 lage-bell, which sounded like the echo of 
 music he had heard lang syne, but might 
 never hear again. 
 
 ''Wye think I'm not alive?" tolled the 
 bell. "I sit all day in my little wooden tem- 
 ple, brooding over the sins of the parish." 
 
 '' A brazen lie ! " cried Robin. 
 
 '^ Nay, the truth, as I'm a living soul ! 
 
40 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Wae worth ye, Robin Telfer : ye think yer- 
 sel' hardly used. Say, have your brithers 
 softer beds than yours? Is your ain father 
 served with larger j)otatoes or creamier but- 
 termilk? Whose mither sae kind as yours, 
 ungrateful chiel ? Gae to Elf-land, Wild Eob- 
 in ; and dool and wae follow ye ! dool and 
 wae follow ye ! " 
 
 The round yellow sun had dropped behind 
 the hills ; the evening breezes began to blow ; 
 and now could be heard the faint trampling 
 of small hoofs, and the tinkling of tiny bridle- 
 bells : the fairies were trooping over the 
 ground. First of 'all rode the queen. 
 
 " Her skirt was of tlie grass-green silk, 
 Her mantle of the velvet fine ; 
 At ilka tress of her horse's mane 
 Hung fifty silver bells and nine." 
 
 But Wild Robin's closed eyes saw nothing; 
 
WILD ROBIN. 41 
 
 his sleep-sealed ears heard nothing. The 
 queen of faries dismounted, stole up to him, 
 and laid her soft fingers on his cheeks. 
 
 '' Here is a little man alter my ain heart/^ 
 said she : " I like his knitted brow, and the 
 downward curve of his lips. Knights, lift 
 him gently, set him on a red-roan steed, and 
 waft him away to Fairy-land.'' 
 
 Wild Robin was lifted as gently as a brown 
 leaf borne by the wind ; he rode as softly as 
 if the red-roan steed had been saddled with 
 satin, and shod with velvet. It even may be 
 that the fliint tinkling of the bridle-bells 
 lulled him into a deeper slumber; for when 
 he awoke it was morning in Fairy-land. 
 
 Robin sprang from his mossy conch, and 
 stared about him. "Where was he ? He 
 rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Dream- 
 ing, no doubt ; but what meant all these nim- 
 ble little beings bustling hither and thither 
 
42 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 in hot haste ? "What meant these pearl-be- 
 decked caves, scarcely larger than swallows' 
 nests ? these green canopies, overgrown with 
 moss ? He pinched himself, and gazed again. 
 Countless flowers nodded to him, and 
 seemed, like himself, on tiptoe with curiosity, 
 he thought. He beckoned one of the busy, 
 dwarfish little brownies toward him. 
 
 " I ken I'm talking in my sleep," said the 
 lad ; '^ but can ye tell me what dell is this, 
 and how I chanced to be in it?" 
 
 The brownie might or might not have 
 heard ; but, at any rate, he deigned no reply, 
 and went on with his task, which was pound- 
 ing seeds in a stone mortar. 
 
 "Am I Robin Telfer, of the Yalley of 
 Yarrow, and yet canna shake aff my silly 
 dreams?" 
 
 " Weel, my lad," quoth the queen of the 
 fairies, giving him a smart tap with her wand, 
 
WILD ROBIN. 43 
 
 '' stir yerseP, and be at work ; for naebody 
 idles in Elf-land.^' 
 
 Bewildered Robin ventured a look at the 
 little queen. By daylight she seemed some- 
 what sleepy and tired ; and was withal so 
 tiny, that he might almost have taken her be- 
 tween his thumb and finger, and twirled her 
 above his head; yet she poised herself be- 
 fore him on a mullein-stalk, and looked every 
 inch a queen. Robin found her gaze op- 
 pressive ; for her eyes were hard and cold 
 and gray, as if they had been little orbs of 
 granite. 
 
 " Get ye to work, Wild Robin ! " 
 
 " What to do ? " meekly asked the ^ boy, 
 hungrily glancing at a few kernels of rye 
 which had rolled out of one of the brownie's 
 mortars. 
 
 " Are ye hungry, my laddie ? " touch a 
 grain of rye if ye dare ! Shell these dry 
 
44 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 bains ; and if so be ye're starving, eat as 
 many as ye can boil in an acorn-cup." 
 
 With these Avords she gave the boy a with- 
 ered bean-pod, and, summoning a meek httle 
 brownie, bade him see that the lad did not 
 over-fill the acorn-cup, and that he did not so 
 much as. peck at a grain of rye. Then, 
 glancing sternly at her unhappy prisoner, she 
 withdreAv, sweeping after her the long train 
 of her green robe. 
 
 The dull days crept by, and still there 
 seemed no hope that Wild Robin would ever 
 escape from his beautiful but detested prison. 
 He had no wings, poor laddie ; and he could 
 neither become invisible nor draw himself 
 through a keyhole bodily. 
 
 It is true, he had mortal companions : 
 many chubby babies ; many bright-eyed 
 boys and girls, wdiose distracted parents 
 were still seeking them, far and wide, upon 
 
WILD ROBIN. 45 
 
 the earth. It would almost seem that the 
 wonders of Fairy-land might make the little 
 prisoners happy. There were countless treas- 
 ures to be had for the taking, and the very 
 dust in the little streets was precious with 
 specks of gold: but the poor children shiv- 
 ered for the want of a mother's love ; they 
 all pined for the dear home-people. If a cer- 
 tain task seemed to them particularly irk- 
 some, the heartless queen was sure to find it 
 out, and oblige them to perform it, day after 
 day. If they disliked any article of food, 
 that, and no other, were they forced to eat, 
 or starve. 
 
 "Wild Robin, loathing his withered beans 
 and unsalted broths, longed intensely for one 
 little breath of fragrant steam from the tooth- 
 some parritch on his father's table, one glance 
 at a roasted potato. He was homesick for 
 the gentle sister he had neglected, the 
 
46 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 rough brothers whose cheeks he had pelted 
 black and blue ; and yearned for the very 
 chinks in the walls, thd very thatch on the 
 home-roof. 
 
 Gladly would he have given every fairy- 
 flower, at the root of which clung a lump of 
 gold ore, if he might have had his own cov- 
 erlet " happed " about him once more by the 
 gentle hands he had despised. 
 
 " Mither," he whispered in his dreams, 
 " my shoon are worn, and my feet bleed ; but 
 I'll soon creep hame, if I can. Keep the 
 parritch warm for me." 
 
 Robin was as strong as a mountain-goat ; 
 and his strength was jout to the task of thresh- 
 ing rye, grinding oats and corn, or drawing 
 water from a brook. 
 
 Every night, troops of gay fairies and plod- 
 ding brownies stole off on a visit to the up- 
 per world, leaving Robin and his companions 
 
WILD ROBIN. 47 
 
 in ever deeper despair. Poor Kobin ! he 
 was fain to sing, — 
 
 " Oh that my father had ne'er on me smiled ! 
 Oh that my mother had ne'er to me sung ! 
 Oh that my cradle had never been rocked, 
 But that I had died -when I was young ! " 
 
 Now, there was one good-natured brownie 
 who pitied Robin. When he took a journey 
 to earth with his fellow-brownies, he often 
 threshed rye for the laddie's father, or 
 churned butter in his good mother's dairy, 
 unseen and unsuspected. If the little crea- 
 ture had been watched, and paid for these 
 good offices, he would have left the farm- 
 house forever in sore displeasure. 
 
 To homesick Eobin he brought news of 
 the family who mourned him as dead. He 
 stole a silky tress of Janet's fair hair, and 
 wondered to see the boy weep over it ; for 
 
48 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 brotherly affection is a sentiment which 
 never vet penetrated the heart of a brownie. 
 The dull little sprite would gladly have 
 helped the poor lad to his freedom, but told 
 him that only on one night of the year was 
 there the least hope, and that was on Hal- 
 low-e'en, when the whole nation of fairies 
 ride in procession through the streets of 
 earth. 
 
 So Robin was instructed to spin a dream, 
 which the kind brownie would hum in 
 Janet's ear while she slept. By this means 
 the lassie would not only learn that her 
 brother was in the power of the elves, but 
 would also learn how to release him. 
 
 Accordingly, the night before Hallow- 
 e'en, the bonnie Janet dreamed that the long- 
 lost Robin was living in Elf-land, and that he 
 was to pass through the streets with a caval- 
 cade of fairies. But, alas ! how should even 
 
WILD ROBIN. 49 
 
 a sister know him in the dim starhght, among 
 the passing troops of elfish and mortal ri- 
 ders ? The dream assured her that she 
 might let the first company go hy, and the 
 second; but Robin would be one of the 
 third : — 
 
 " First let pass the black, Janet, 
 And syne let pass the brown ; 
 But grip ye to the milk-white steed, 
 And pull the rider down. 
 
 For / ride on the milk-white steed, 
 
 And aye nearest the town : 
 Because I was a christened lad 
 
 They gave me that renown. 
 
 My right hand will be gloved, Janet ; 
 
 My left hand will be bare ; 
 And these the tokens I give thee : 
 
 No doubt I will be there. 
 
50 ■ FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Thejll shape me in your arms, Janet, 
 
 A toad, snake, and an eel 
 But hold me fast, nor let me gang, 
 
 As you do love me weel. 
 
 They'll shape me in your arms, Janet, 
 
 A dove, bat, and a swan : 
 Cast your green mantle over me, 
 
 I'U be myself again." 
 
 The good sister Janet, far from remember- 
 ing any of the old sins of her brother, wept 
 for joy to know that he was yet among the liy- 
 ing. She told no one of her strange dream ; 
 but hastened secretly to the Miles Cross, saw 
 the strange cayalcade pricking through the 
 greenwood, and pulled down the rider on the 
 milk-white steed, holding him fast through all 
 his changing shapes. But when she had 
 thrown her green mantle oyer him, and 
 clasped him in her arms as her own brother 
 
WILD ROBIN. 51 
 
 Robin, the angry voice of the fairy queen 
 was heard : — 
 
 ' Up then spake the queen of fairies, 
 
 Out of a bush of rye, 
 ' You've taken away the bonniest lad 
 
 In all my companie. 
 
 * Had I but had the wit, yestreen, 
 
 That I have learned to-day, 
 I'd pinned the sister to her bed 
 E're he'd been won away ! ' " 
 
 However, it was too late now. Wild Robin 
 was safe, and the elves had lost their power 
 over him forever. His forgiving parents 
 and his leal-hearted brothers welcomed him 
 home with more than the old love. 
 
 So grateful and happy was the poor laddie, 
 that he nevermore grumbled at his oat-meal 
 parritch, or minded his kye with a scowling 
 brow. 
 
52 FAIEY BOOK. 
 
 But to the end of his days, when he heard 
 mention of fairies and brownies, his mind 
 wandered off in a mizmaze. He died in 
 peace, and was buried on the banks of the 
 Yarrow. 
 
THE VESPER STAR. 53 
 
 THE VESPER STAR. 
 
 OxcE upon a time, the new moon was shin- 
 ing like a silver bow in the heavens, and the 
 stars glittered and trembled as if they were 
 afraid. 
 
 '^What frightens you?" said the placid 
 Moon ; " be calm, like me.'' 
 
 '' I am freezing," answered the North Star ; 
 ^^ that is why I shake." 
 
 '^ We are dancing," said the Seven Sisters ; 
 " and, watch as closely as you please, you can 
 never get a fair peep at our golden sandals, 
 our feet twinkle so." 
 
 '' I am sleepy," grumbled the Great Bear ; 
 '^ I am trying to keep my eyes open. Per- 
 haps that is the reason I wink so much." 
 
54 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Thus, with one accord, they made excuses 
 to the pale Moon, who is their guardian, — 
 all but the sweet Vesper Star: she was si- 
 lent ; and when a white cloud floated by, she 
 was glad of an excuse to hide her face. 
 
 " Let the North Star shiver, and the Seven 
 Sisters dance, and all the golden stars hold a 
 revel,'' thought she ; ^' as for me, I am sad." 
 
 For you must know that the Yesper Star 
 has a task to perform, and is not allowed to 
 sleep. She keeps vigil over the Earth, by 
 night; and never ceases her watch till the 
 world is up in the morning. For the sick 
 and sad, who cannot sleep, she feels an un- 
 utterable pity, so that her heart is always 
 throbbing with sorrow. 
 
 The Moon looked at the Yesper Star, and 
 said, '' Dream on, sweet sister ; for you, the 
 noblest of all, have told me no falsehood." 
 
 This the Moon said because she knew that 
 
THE VESPER STAR. 55 
 
 none of the stars had given a true reason for 
 twinkling so gayly that night. The truth was, 
 they were filled with envy, and were trying 
 to be as brilliant as possible, to compete with 
 a flaming Comet which had just appeared in 
 the sky. 
 
 It is not for man to know how long and 
 how' peacefully the gentle stars had travelled 
 together, doing the work which God has ap- 
 pointed, without a murmur. But now that 
 this distinguished stranger had arrived, the 
 whole firmament was in dismay. How 
 proudly he strode the heavens ! how his 
 blaze illumined the sky ! The Stars whis- 
 pered one to another, and cast angry eyes on 
 the shining wonder. 
 
 '' Make way for me," he said, sweeping 
 after him a glorious train of light. 
 
 *' Not I,'' muttered the fiery Mars. 
 
 *' Not 1,'^ quoth the majestic Jupiter ; " I 
 do not move an inch." 
 
56 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 The Comet flashed with a lofty disdain. 
 
 " Puny Stars/' said he, ^^ keep your places, 
 give out all your light, — nobody heeds you ; 
 the place of honor is always by the Vesper 
 Star ; here I make my throne." 
 
 The Yesper Star smiled sadly, but without 
 a tT^dnge of envy. 
 
 " Welcome, shinins^ one ! Warm me with 
 3^our fires ; let us work together." 
 
 " Work ! " cried the Comet, throwing out 
 sparkles of scorn; ''I was not born to work, 
 but to sliine ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! " said the Yesper Star ; " you 
 have come into strange company, then; for 
 here we all work with a good will.'' ''He 
 does not burn vrith the true fire," thought 
 the good Star ; and she wrapped herself 
 about with a soft cloud, and said no more. 
 
 '^ Oh that I could be set on fire like the 
 Comet I" thought the cold North Star. '^ I 
 
THE VESPER STAR. 57 
 
 would gladly burn to death if I could aston- 
 ish the world with my blaze ! '' 
 
 ^' Let us die ! " said the Seven Sisters ; 
 
 ^^ let us die together; we have ceased to be 
 
 « 
 noticed." 
 
 '^ Ah, hum ! " growled the Great Bear ; 
 *' so many years as I have kept watch in this 
 sky ; and now to be set one side by this up- 
 start of a foreigner ! I've a great mind to 
 go to sleep and never wake up ! "' 
 
 '' Hush ! " whispered the Yesper Star gen- 
 tly ; ''do your duty, and trust God for the 
 rest." 
 
 And lo ! that very night there was an end 
 of the Comet's splendor. 
 
 " Adieu, my dull friends," said he ; '' I am 
 tired of a quiet life : a little more, and I 
 should fade out entirely ! " 
 
 Then, with a blaze and a whiz, and a dizzy 
 wheel, he flashed out of the sky ; and no one 
 
58 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 knew whither he went, or whence he came, 
 any more than the path of the quick light- 
 ning. 
 
 The stars were ashamed of their envj; and 
 went to their old work with a stronger will 
 and a steadier purpose : but to the Yesper 
 Star was given a brighter and sweeter light 
 than to any other, because she had done her 
 work without envy and without repining. 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 59 
 
 THE WATER-KELPIE. 
 
 Once there lived under the earth a race 
 of fairies called gnomes. They were strange 
 little beings, with dull eyes and harsh voices ; 
 but they did no harm, and lived in peace. 
 
 They never saw the sun ; but they had 
 lamps much brighter than our gaslight, which 
 burned night and day, year after year. 
 
 They had music ; but it was the tinkling 
 of silver bells and golden harps, — not half 
 so sweet as the singing of birds and the bab- 
 bling of brooks. 
 
 Flowers they had none, but plenty of 
 gems, — ^Hhe stars of earth." There were 
 green trees in the kingdom : but the leaves 
 
60 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 were hard emeralds ; and the fruit, apples of 
 gold or cherries of ruby ; and these precious 
 gems the gnomes ground to powder, and 
 swallowed with much satisfaction. 
 
 They heaped up piles of gold and diar 
 monds as high as your head ; and never was 
 there a gnome so poor as to build a house of 
 any thing a whit coarser than jasper or onyx. 
 You would have beheved yourself dreaming, 
 if you could have walked through the streets 
 of their cities. They were paved with rosy 
 almandine and snowy alabaster ;. and the pal- 
 aces glittered in the gay lampHght like a 
 million stars. 
 
 These gnomes led, for the most part, 
 rather dull lives. Like their cousins, the 
 water-sprites, or undines, they were roguish 
 and shrewd, but had no higher views of life 
 than our katydids and crickets. Indeed, 
 they hardly cared for any thing but frisking 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 61 
 
 about, eating and sleeping. But, after all, 
 what can be expected of creatures without 
 souls ? One sees, now and seen, stupid hu- 
 man beings, whose eves have no thoughts in 
 them, and whose souls seem to be sound 
 asleep. Such lumps of dulness might almost 
 as well be gnomes, and slip into the earth 
 and have done with it. 
 
 These underground folk had a great hor- 
 ror of our world. They knew all about it ; 
 for one of them had peeped out and taken a 
 bird's-eye view. He went up very bravely, 
 but hurried back with such strange accounts, 
 that his friends considered him a little insane. 
 
 '^ Listen !" said the gnome, whose name was 
 Clod. '^^ The earth has a soft carpet, of a new 
 kind of emerald ; overhead is a blue roof, 
 made of turquoise ; but I am told that there 
 is a crack in it, and sometimes water comes 
 pouring down in torrents. But the worst 
 
62 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 plague of all is a great glaring eyeball of 
 fire, which mortals call the sun.'' 
 
 When Clod told his stories of the earth, he 
 always ended by saying, — 
 
 ^^ Believe me, it is bad luck to have the 
 sun shine on you. It nearly put my eyes 
 out ; and I have had the headache ever 
 since." 
 
 Now, there was a young girl, named Mon- 
 eta, who listened very eagerly to the old 
 gnome's stories of the earth, and thought she 
 would like to see it for herself. She was a 
 kind little maiden, as playful as a kitten ; and 
 her friends were not willing she should go. 
 But Moneta had somewhere heard that 
 fairies Avho marry mortals receive the gift 
 of a human soul : so, in sjDite of all objec- 
 tions, she was resolved to take the journey ; 
 for she had in her dark mind some vague as- 
 pirations after a higher state of being. 
 
THE WATER. KELPIE 63 
 
 Then the gnome-family declared, that, if 
 she once went away, they would never allow 
 her to return; for they highly disapproved 
 of running backward and forward between 
 the two worlds, gossiping. 
 
 ''Have you no love of country," cried 
 they, ''that you would willingly cast your 
 lot among silly creatures who look down 
 upon your race ? " 
 
 The old gnome, who had travelled, took the 
 romantic maiden one side, and said, — 
 
 " My dear Moneta, since you ivill go, I 
 must tell 3^ou a secret ; for you remember I 
 b^ve seen the world, and know all about it. 
 Mortals are a higher race than ourselves, it is 
 true ; but that is only because they live atop 
 o' the earth, while we are under their feet. 
 They make a great parade about their little 
 ticking jewel they call Conscience ; but, after 
 all, they will any of them sell it for one of 
 
64 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 our ear-rings ! I assure 5^ou they love money 
 better than their own souls ; and I would ad- 
 vise you, as a friend that has seen the world, 
 to load yourself with as much gold as you 
 can carry." 
 
 So Moneta donned a heavy dress of spun 
 gold, Avhich was woven in such a manner, 
 that, at every motion she made, it let fall a 
 shower of gold-dust. She filled the sleeves 
 with sardonyx, almandine, and amethyst ; and 
 hid in her bosom diamonds and sapphires 
 enough to purchase a kingdom. 
 
 Then she went up a steep ladder, and 
 knocked on the alabaster ceiling, using the 
 charm which the gnome had given her : — 
 
 "Mother Earth, Mother Earth, set me 
 free ! " 
 
 At her words there was a sound as of an 
 earthquake, and a little space was made, just 
 large enough for her to crawd through. 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 65 
 
 When she had reached the top, the earth 
 closed again, and she was left seated upon a 
 *'ock; and the hght of the sun was so daz- 
 ding, that she hid her face in her hands. 
 
 Thus she sat for a long time, not knowing 
 tyhither to go, till a young man chanced to 
 come that way, who said, ^' What do yon 
 here ? " 
 
 She raised her face at his words, and could 
 not speak, so great was her surprise at the 
 beauty of the strange youth. He, for his 
 part, could not help smiling; for she was as' 
 yellow as an orange ; and an uglier little 
 creature he had never beheld : but he said 
 in a kind voice, — 
 
 " Come with me to my mother's house, and 
 yon shall be refreshed with cake and wine." 
 
 She arose to follow him ; and, as she 
 walked, a bright shower of gold-dust sprin- 
 kled the earth at every step. 
 
 5 
 
66 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 The young man held out his hands eagerly 
 to catch the shining spray, thinking he would 
 like such a rarely-gifted damsel for his wife; 
 and, in truth, he smiled so sweetly, and 
 dropped such winning words, that in time he 
 won her heart and she became his bride. 
 
 "And, when slie cam' into the kirk, 
 
 She shimmered like the sun ; 
 
 The belt that was about her waist 
 
 Was a' with pearles bedone." 
 
 So great was her love for him, that she 
 forgot her lost home under the earth ; and 
 every day, when she bade her husband 
 "good-morning," she placed in' his hand a 
 precious stone ; and he kissed her, calling 
 her his ^' dear Moneta^" his '^ heart's jewel." 
 But at last the diamonds, sapphires, and ru- 
 bies were all gone ; and she was also losing 
 the power of shedding gold-dust. Then her 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 67 
 
 husband frowned on her, and no longer called 
 her his ^' heart's jewel/' or his '^ dear Mo- 
 neta." 
 
 At length she presented him with a little 
 daughter as lovely as a water-sprite, with 
 hair like threads of gold. Now the father 
 watched the babe with a greedy eye ; for its 
 mother had wept precious tears of molten 
 gold before she received the gift of human 
 grief, and he hoped her child would do 
 the same ; but, when he found it was only a 
 common mortal, he shut his heart against the 
 babe. Moneta w^as no longer yellow and 
 ugly, but very beautiful ; with deep eyes, out 
 of which looked a sweet soul : yet she had 
 lost her fairy gifts, and her husband had 
 ceased to love her. The good w^oman 
 mourned in secret; and would have wished 
 to die, only her precious child comforted her 
 heart. 
 
68 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 One day, as she was sitting by the shore 
 of the lake, a water-kelpie saw her weeping, 
 and came to her in the form of a white-haired 
 old man, saying, — 
 
 ^^ Charming lady! why do you weep? 
 Come with me to my kingdom under the wa- 
 ters. My people are always happy.'' 
 
 Then she looked where he bade her, and 
 saw, afar down under the waters, a beauti- 
 ful city, whose streets were paved with red 
 and white coral. 
 
 The kelpie said, '' Will you go down? " 
 
 '^ No," sighed Moneta, thinking of the kind 
 words her husband had sometimes spoken to 
 her: ''I cannot go yet." 
 
 But the kelpie came every day, repeating 
 the question, ''Will you go now?" and she 
 answered, ''I cannot go yet." 
 
 But at last her husband said, — 
 
 " How often the thought comes to me, If 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 69 
 
 I had no wife and child, all this gold would 
 be mine ! " and he knitted his brows with a 
 frown. 
 
 Then Moneta looked in his face, and 
 said, — 
 
 ''Dear Ivan, I have loved you truly ; but 
 you no longer care for Moneta. I will go 
 away with the little child, and all our gold 
 shall be yours. Farewell ! " 
 
 Then she embraced him with falling tears. 
 His heart was stirred within him ; and he 
 would have followed her, only he knew not 
 which way she had gone. 
 
 Soon the water-kelpie came to him in the 
 form of a horse ; and ran before him, neigh- 
 ing fiercely, and breathing fire from his 
 mouth. This is the way kelpies take to an- 
 nounce the fact that some one has gone un- 
 der the water. 
 
 So the man followed the kelpie. His heart 
 
TO FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 was sTvelling with grief; and all his love for 
 his wife and child had come back to him. 
 
 He looked into the lake, and saw the fair 
 city. In a transparent palace Moneta was 
 sitting, crowned with pearls, the child sleep- 
 ing on her bosom. He shouted, — 
 
 " Come back, Moneta ! *' but she heard 
 him not. 
 
 He went every day to the same spot, 
 never leaving it until the water was clear, 
 and he had seen his wife and child. He 
 cared no more for his fine castle and his 
 gold ; for the castle was empty, and the gold 
 could not speak. 
 
 "Alas," cried he, " if I could listen to the 
 music of Moneta's voice ! if I could hold the 
 child in my arms once more ! '' 
 
 Now he cared for nothing but to gaze into 
 the waters at Moneta and her child. 
 
 One day, the water-kelpie appeared to him 
 in the form of an old man. 
 
THE WATER-KELPIE. Page 70. 
 
 # 
 
tfe* 
 
THE WATER. KELPIE. 71 
 
 '' Why sit you here, sighing like the north 
 wind ? " said the kelpie. 
 
 "I have loved gold better than my best 
 friends," replied Ivan ; ^' and now my best 
 friends are taken away from me, and the gold 
 is left ; but I love it no longer," 
 
 ^' Ah, ah ! " growled the kelpie ; ^^ I have 
 heard of such men as you : nothing is dear 
 till it is missed. You should have thought 
 of that before. If your lost ones were to 
 return, you would treat them as badly as 
 ever, no doubt." 
 
 ^^ No no," groaned Ivan ; " I would love 
 them better than all the wealth in the world ! 
 I would love them better than my own life ! 
 Ah, the sting it is to think of my own ingrati- 
 tude ! " 
 
 ^^ Hold ! " said the kelpie : " grumble to 
 yourself if you like, but don't vex my ears 
 with your complaints. Suppose I were to 
 
72 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 bring back Moneta and the child, — would 
 3^ou give me your chests of gold ? '^ 
 
 ^^ That I will/' cried the man, '' right joy- 
 fully." 
 
 '^ Not so fast : will you give me your castle 
 as well?" 
 
 " Ah, yes, castle and gold ; take them, and 
 welcome." 
 
 "Not so fast: Moneta and her child are 
 worth more than these. "Will you give me 
 the castle and gold, and ten years of your 
 life?" 
 
 " With all my heart." 
 
 "Then," said the kelpie "go home, and 
 to-morrow you shall see Moneta and her 
 child." 
 
 When the morrow came, the husband and 
 wife wept for joy at meeting once more ; and 
 Ivan said, — 
 
 " Can you forgive me, dearest Moneta ? " 
 
THE WATER -KELPIE. 73 
 
 Moneta had already forgiven him ; and the 
 three — father, mother, and child — loved 
 one another, and were content to the end of 
 their lives ; and Ivan said, — 
 
 '' Once for all I have found that gold can- 
 not make one happy ; but, with the blessing 
 of a clear conscience, warm hearts and loving 
 words are the sweetest things in life." 
 
74 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 THE LOST SYLPHID. 
 
 " I tell the tale as 'twas told to me." 
 
 I HAVE heard that one night, on a distant 
 shore, a band of water-nixies were dancing 
 to gentle music, their golden sandals twink- 
 ling like stars. 
 
 A lord and lady were walking on the same 
 shore. The lord's eyes were bent on the 
 ground ; but his wife paused, and said, — 
 
 '' Listen, my lord, to that enchanting mu- 
 sic ! " ^ 
 
 ^^ I hear no music," he replied, laughing. 
 *' You must wake up, dear wife. 
 
 " With half-shut eyes, ever you seem 
 Falling asleep in a half-dream.' " 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 75 
 
 ^'But, my lord, those exquisite beings in 
 gossamer robes ! surely you see them ! " 
 
 '^ I see the play of the moonbeams, my 
 love, and nothing more." 
 
 But the wife stood transfixed. One beau- 
 tiful fairy, taller and fairer than her compan- 
 ions, had wings, and floated through the 
 dance, scarcely touching the earth. 
 
 "Was ever such a vision of lovliness?" 
 cried the enraptured lady : " she must be my 
 own little daughter, — eat of my bread, and 
 sleep upon my bosom." 
 
 Then, kneeling, she sang, — 
 
 " Fair little nixies, that dwell near the •water, 
 Give me the winged one to be my own daughter. '* 
 
 The dance ceased. The nixies, bewil- 
 dered, looked north and south, and knew 
 not which way to flee ; but the winged fairy, 
 attracted by the human love in the lady's 
 
76 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 eyes, glided slowly forward. Then the nix- 
 ies stormed in fierce wrath, their willowy 
 figures swaying to and fro as if blown by the 
 wind. 
 
 ^^ They shall not harm yon, little one. 
 Come with me, be my own daughter, and I 
 will carry you home." 
 
 " Home ! '' echoed the lovely child ; " my 
 home is in the Summer-land. Oh, will you 
 indeed carry me there ? '' 
 
 Then she folded her white wings, and 
 nestled in the lady's bosom like a gentle 
 dove, and was borne to a beautiful castle that 
 overlooked the sea. The water-nixies soon 
 forgot her, for they could not hold her mem- 
 ory in their little humming-bird hearts. 
 
 She was not of their race. Her wings 
 were soft and transparent, like those of a 
 white butterfly; and she ever declared that 
 she had once alighted from a cloud, and been 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 77 
 
 caught in a nixie's net spread upon the 
 grass. 
 
 But, in time, her wings dwindled and disap- 
 peared ; and then the lord, who was now her 
 father, could not remember that she had ever 
 been other than an earthly child. 
 
 '^ You fancy you were once a sylphid," 
 said he ; " but there are no sylphids, my 
 sweet one, and there is no Summer-land."' 
 
 The child became as dear to the lord and 
 lady as their very heart's blood; and they 
 forgot her foreign birth, and almost believed, 
 as all the world did, that she was their own 
 little daughter. But the child did not for- 
 get. She longed for the true home she had 
 left ; but whither should she go to seek 
 it? 
 
 " Dear papa," said she, one day, ^' I beg 
 you will not say again there are no sylphids ; 
 for I remember so well how I spread my 
 
78 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 wings and flew. It was glorious to see the 
 clouds float under my feet ! '^ 
 
 ^^Veiy well/' said the lord; '^ if you like, 
 I will say there are sylphids in the air, and 
 trolls inside the earth ; and, once on a time, 
 I was myself a great white butterfly : do you 
 remember chasing me over a bed of roses ? " 
 
 '' papa, now you laugh ! I love the 
 twinkle in your eye ; and I am so glad it is 
 you, and no one else, who is my papa; but 
 just the same, and forevermore, I shall keep 
 saying, I loas a sylj^liidV 
 
 Sometimes, when she set her white teeth 
 into some delicious fruit, she said with 
 dreamy eyes, — 
 
 " These grapes of Samarcand came across 
 the seas ; but they are not so sweet as the 
 fruit in my own garden, mamma." 
 
 "And where is your garden, my child ? " 
 
 " Oh, in the Summer-land. I always forget 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 7^ 
 
 that you have never seen it. When I go 
 there again, mamma, I will certainly take yon 
 too ; for I love yon with all my heart. I can 
 never go without yon." 
 
 When she heard the evening-bells from the 
 minster, she said, ^^ Oh, they are like the joy- 
 bells at home, only not so sweet. Nothing, 
 here, is so sweet. Even my dear mamma is 
 not so lovely as the lady who comes when I 
 am asleep." 
 
 Little One — they called her Little One for 
 the want of a name — loved to prattle about 
 the wonders of that mysterious fairy-land, 
 which no one but herself had ever seen. Her 
 mother would not check her, but let her tell 
 her pretty visions of remembered rainbows, 
 and palaces, and precious gems. She said, — 
 
 ''The child has such a vivid fancy! It is 
 not all of us who can see pictures when our 
 eyes are shut." 
 
80 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 But the lord was not so well pleased ; and 
 once, when his daughter looked at a frozen 
 stream and murmured, '^ JVe have the happi- 
 est rivers at home ; they sing all day long, 
 all the year, without freezing ! Can I find 
 that Summer- land again ! Oh, I would 
 creep all over the world to seek it, '' he 
 replied, — 
 
 " Little One, it is some cloud-city you are 
 thinking of, some dream-land, or isle of Long 
 Ago, which you will never see again. I beg 
 you to forget these wild fancies.'' 
 
 But still the child dreamed on. Once she 
 heard the glad song of the Hyperboreans : — 
 
 " I come from a land in the sun-briglit deep, 
 Where golden gardens glow ; 
 Where the winds of the Korth, becalmed in sleep, 
 Their conch-shells never blow." 
 
 She clapped her hands, murmuring to her- 
 self, — 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID, 81 
 
 " There is mj home ! I think I remember 
 now it was ^a land in the sun -bright 
 deep ! ' " 
 
 So, when she journeyed with her parents 
 to distant countries, she always hoped that 
 some ship would bear her away to the Happy 
 Isles ; and when they once touched a bright 
 shore, and some one cried, '' The isles of 
 Greece ! the isles of Greece ! '' she thought 
 she was home at last, and hardly dared look 
 at the remembered shore. But, alas, she had 
 not yet reached the Summer-land : this was 
 not her home. 
 
 Then she heard her father say that the 
 jewels she wore had been brought up from 
 the deep places under the earth. 
 
 '' I wonder I had not thought of that," she 
 said to herself " Since there are such beau- 
 tiful gems in my lost home, it must lie under 
 the earth. No doubt if I could only find the 
 
82 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 right cave, and walk in it far enough' I 
 should come to the Summer-land." 
 
 So she set out, one daj^ in wild haste, but 
 only lost herself in a deep cavern ; and, when 
 she found daylight again, she was all alone 
 upon the face of the earth. Her father and 
 mother were nowhere to be seen. She 
 shouted their names, and ran to and fro seek- 
 ing them till her strength was all spent. It 
 was growing dark ; and Little One could only 
 creep under a shelter, and weep herself 
 asleep. 
 
 Next morning it was no better, but far 
 worse. Her wretched parents had gone 
 home, believing her drowned in the sea. 
 Poor Little One was now all alone in the 
 world, and her heart ached with the cold. 
 Kind friends gave her food and shelter, and 
 her clothing was warm as warm could be ; 
 still her heart ached with the cold. People 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 83 
 
 praised her beauty so much that she dared 
 not look up to let them see how lovely she 
 was; but she had lost both her father and 
 mother, and her heart ached and ached. She 
 thought winter was coming on ; and the 
 world was growing so chilly, that now she 
 must certainly set out for the Summer-land. 
 Then she said, — 
 
 '^ If I am a sylphid, perhaps my home is 
 over the hills, and far away. Yes : I think it 
 must be in the country where the music 
 goes." 
 
 For she thought, when she heard music, 
 that it seemed to hover and float over the 
 earth, and lose itself in the sky ; so she be- 
 gan to set her face toward the country where 
 the music goes. But, though she gazed till 
 her eyes ached, she never saw her long-lost 
 home, nor so much as a glimpse of one of its 
 spires. 
 
84 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 One night, after gazing and weeping till 
 she could scarcely see, and had no tears left, 
 the bright being who visited her dreams 
 came and whispered, — 
 
 " If tliere be a land so fair 
 
 O'er the mountain shining, 
 You will never enter there 
 By looking up and pining." 
 
 *' Dear me ! then what shall I do ? " said 
 Little One, clasping her hands. '^ I am tired 
 of the dropping rain, and the bleak winds ; 
 I have lost my father and mother ; I long to 
 go home to the Summer-land.'^ 
 
 " There are hills to climb, and streams to 
 cross," said the fairy. 
 
 ^' But I have stout shoes," laughed Little 
 One. 
 
 There are thorns and briers all along the 
 
 road." 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 85 
 
 ^ But I can bear to be pricked." 
 
 " Then I will guide you/' said the fairy. 
 
 " How can that be ? " cried the child. 
 *'You come to me in dreams; but by day- 
 light I cannot see so much as the tips of 
 your wings." 
 
 " Listen, and you will hear my voice," re- 
 plied the fairy. ^^ Set out toward the East, 
 at dawn, to-morrow, and I will be with you." 
 
 When Little One awoke, the sun was rising, 
 and she said, — 
 
 " Oh that golden gate ! The sun has left 
 it open: do you see it, beautiful lady?" 
 
 '' I see it," whispered the fairy : '' I am 
 close beside you." 
 
 " Then," said Little One, fastening her 
 dress, and putting on all the jewels she could 
 possibly carry, '^ I think I will set out at 
 once ; for, if I make all speed, I may reach 
 the Suromer-land before that golden gate is 
 closed." 
 
86 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 She pressed on, as the fairy directed, up a 
 steep hill, her eyes fixed on the glowing east- 
 ern sky. But, as the sun strode up higher, 
 the morning clouds melted away. 
 
 " Where is my golden gate ? " cried the 
 child. 
 
 "Weeping so soon?" whispered the fairy. 
 
 *' Do not scold me, dear Whisper," moaned 
 the child ; " you know I have lost my kind 
 father and mother ; and the thorns prick me ; 
 and then this is such a lonely road ; there is 
 nobody to be seen." 
 
 The truth was, there were children gather- 
 ing strawberries on the hill, and old women 
 digging herbs; but Little One did not see 
 them, for she was all the while watching the 
 sky. But she was soon obliged to pause, and 
 take breath. 
 
 ''Look about you," said the Whisper, ''you 
 may see some one as unhappy as yourself." . 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 87 
 
 The child looked, and saw a little girl driv- 
 ing a goat ; while large tears trickled down 
 her cheeks, and moistened her tattered dress. 
 For a moment, Little One's heart ceased ach- 
 ing with its own troubles. 
 
 "What is your name, little girl?" said she: 
 " and why do you weep ? " 
 
 '^My name is Poor Dorel," replied the 
 child : " my father and mother are long since 
 dead ; and I have nothing to eat but goat's 
 milk and strawberries : " and, as she spoke, 
 the large tears started afresh. 
 
 " Poor Dorel ! you are the first one I ever 
 saw who had as much trouble as I. I, too, 
 have lost a father and mother." 
 
 "Were they a king and queen?" asked 
 Dorel, wiping her eyes, and gazing at Little 
 One's beautiful dress and glittering orna- 
 ments. 
 
 *^ They loved me dearly," replied Little 
 
88 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 One sadly ; ^^ yet I never heard tliat they 
 were king and queen. Come with me, dar- 
 ling Dorel ! " I never before saw any one who 
 was hungry. Come with me ! I live in a 
 country where there is food enough for 
 everybody." 
 
 ^' Where is that?'' said Dorel, eagerly. 
 
 '^ I do not quite know, little girl; but it is 
 not in the bosom of the earth, and it is not in 
 the sun-bright deep : so I suppose it is over 
 the hills, and far away." 
 
 '' Now I know who you are," said Dorel. 
 "You are the lost syljjhid; and people say 
 you have travelled all over the world. But, 
 if you do not know the way home, pray how 
 can you tell which road to take ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I have a guide, — a beautiful fairy, 
 called Whisper : she shows me every step of 
 the way. I wish you would go too, little 
 Dorel ! " 
 
THE LOST BYLPHID. 89 
 
 '' I think I will not, little Sylphid ; for, if 
 you have only n Whisper for a guide, I do 
 not believe you will ever get there ; but, oh, 
 you are very, very beautiful ! " 
 
 " If you will not go," said Little One, '* let 
 me, at least, give you a few of ray jewels : 
 you can sell them for bread." 
 
 So saying, she took from her girdle some 
 turquoise ornaments, and placed them in Bo- 
 rel's hand with a kiss which had her whole 
 heart in it. 
 
 " Now I love you," said Dorel ; '' but more 
 for the kiss than any thing else ; and I am 
 going before you to cut down the thorns 
 that shoot out by the wayside. I am a little 
 mountain-girl, and know how to use the 
 pruning-knife." 
 
 Little One danced for joy. She found she 
 could now walk with wonderful ease ; for not 
 only were there no more sharp thorns to 
 
90 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 prick her^ but her heart was also full of a 
 new love; which made the whole world look 
 beautiful. 
 
 " You see the way is growing easier," said 
 the Whisper. 
 
 " Pour out thy love like the rush of a river, 
 Wasting its waters forever and ever.'* 
 
 '' So I will," said Little One. " Is there 
 any one else to love ? " 
 
 By and by she met an old woman, bent 
 nearly double, and picking up dry sticks with 
 trembling hands. 
 
 ''Poor woman!" said Little One: ''I am 
 going to love you." 
 
 " Dear me ! " said the old crone, dropping 
 her sticks, and looking up with surprise in 
 every wrinkle : '' you don't mean me ? Why, 
 my heart is all dried up." 
 
 " Then you need to be loved all the more," 
 cried Little One heartily. 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 91 
 
 The poor woman laughed; but, at the same 
 time, brushed a tear from her eye with the 
 corner of her apron. 
 
 "I thought," said Little One, "I was the 
 only unhappy one in the world: it seemed 
 a pity my heart should ache so much ; but, 
 oh, I would rather have it ache than be dried 
 up ! " 
 
 '' I suppose you never were beaten,'' said 
 the old woman : '^ you were never pelted 
 with whizzing stones ? '' 
 
 '^ Indeed I never, never was ! " replied Lit- 
 tle One, greatly shocked by the question. 
 
 '' By your costly dress, I know you never 
 were so poor as to be always longing for 
 food. Let me tell you, my good child, when 
 one is beaten and scolded, and feels cold all 
 winter, and hungry all summer, it is no won- 
 der one's heart dries up ! " 
 
 Little One threw her arms about the old 
 
92 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 woman's neck. '^ Let me help you pick 
 sticks ! " said she ; " you are too old for hard 
 work ; your hands tremble too much." 
 
 Swiftly gathering up a load of fagots, she 
 put them together in a bundle. 
 
 " Now, how many jewels shall I give her ? '^ 
 thought the child. ^^ She must never want 
 for food again.'' 
 
 ^' How many ? " echoed the Whisper. 
 
 " Give as the morning that flows out of heaven : 
 Give as the free air and sunshine are given." 
 
 " Then she shall have half/' said Little 
 One in great glee. ^' Here, poor woman, 
 take these sapphires and rubies and di.a- 
 monds, and never be hungry again ! " 
 
 " Heavenly child ! " said the stranger, lay- 
 ing her wasted hand on the sylphid's bright 
 head, and blessing her, " it is little except 
 thanks that an old creature like me can give j 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 93 
 
 yet may be you will not scorn this pair of lit- 
 tle shoes : they are strong, and, when you 
 have to step on the sharp mountain-rocks, 
 they will serve you well." 
 
 Little One's delicate slippers were already 
 much worn, and she gladly exchanged them 
 for the goat-skin shoes ; but, strange to re- 
 late, no sooner had she done so than she 
 found herself flitting over rocks and rough 
 places with perfect ease, and at such speedy 
 that, when she looked back, in a moment, she 
 had already left the old woman far behind, 
 and out of sight. They were magical shoes ; 
 butj no matter how fast they skimmed over 
 the ground, Dorel, out of pure love, con- 
 tinued to go before, talking and laughing and 
 smoothing the way. 
 
 One by one Little One sold her jewels to 
 buy bread, which she shared with all the 
 needy she chanced to meet. After many 
 
94 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 days there remained but one gem ; and she 
 wept because she had no more to give. But, 
 through her tears, she now, for the first time, 
 fancied she could see the spires and turrets 
 of her beautiful home, though, as yet, very 
 far ofi*. 
 
 '' How fast I have come ! " said she, laugh- 
 ing with delight. '^ But for these magical 
 shoes, and Dorel's pruning-knife, I should 
 have been even now struggling at the foot 
 of the hill." 
 
 Then she looked down at her torn dress. 
 
 ^^ "What a sad plight I am in ! no one will 
 know me when I get home ! " 
 
 " Never fear ! " said the fairy : " you are 
 sure to be welcome." 
 
 Little One now held up her last jewel in 
 the sunlight, while a starving boy looked at 
 it with eager eyes. 
 
 " Take it ! " said she, weeping with the ten- 
 
fe 
 
 ::;:lA '&J'& 
 
 THE LOST SYLPHID. Page 95. 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 95 
 
 derest pity. '^ I only wish it were a diar 
 mond instead of a ruby, — a diamond as 
 large as my heart ! " 
 
 The boy blessed her with a tremulous 
 voice. Little One pressed on, singing softly 
 to herself, till she came to a frightful chasm, 
 full of water. 
 
 '^ How shall I ever cross it ! '' she cried in 
 alarm. 
 
 " May I help you, fair Sylphid ? " said the 
 grateful boy to whom she had given her last 
 jewel. '' I can make a bridge in the twink- 
 ling of an eye.'' 
 
 So saying, he threw across the roaring 
 torrent a film which looked as frail as any 
 spider's web. 
 
 ^^ It will bear you/' said the Whisper : " do 
 not be afraid ! " 
 
 So Little One ventured upon the gossamer 
 bridge, which was to the eye as delicate as 
 
96 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 mist; but to the feet as strong as adamant. 
 She hushed her fears, and walked over it 
 with a stout heart. 
 
 Now, she was on the borders of the Sum- 
 mer-land. Here were the turrets and spires, 
 the soft white clouds, the green fields, and 
 sunny streams. Instantly her long-lost wings 
 appeared again ; and she spread them like a 
 happy bird, and flew home. Oh, it was 
 worth years of longing and pain ! She was 
 held in tender embraces, and kissed lovingly 
 by well-remembered friends. To her great 
 surprise and delight, her father and mother 
 were both there they had arrived at the 
 Summer-land while seeking their Little One. 
 
 " Now I know," said her father, '^ that my 
 daughter was not dreaming when she longed 
 for her remembered home." 
 
 Little One looked at her soiled dress ; but 
 the stains had disappeared ; and, most won- 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 97 
 
 derful ! all the jewels she had worn on her 
 neck and arms, and in her girdle, were there 
 yet, burning with increased brilliancy. Lit- 
 tle One gazed again, and counted to see if 
 any were missing. Yes : two she had sold for 
 bread were not there. It was the jewels she 
 had given away which had come back in 
 some mysterious manner and were more re- 
 splendent than before. 
 
 '' Ah ! " said she, with a beaming smile, 
 '^ now I know what it means when they say, 
 * All you give, you will carry with you.' It 
 was delightful to scatter my gems by the 
 wayside ,* but I did not think they would all 
 be given back to me when I reached home ! '' 
 
 Then, intwining arms with a bright syl- 
 phid, she flew with her over the gardens in 
 a trance of delight. 
 
 " Here," said Little One, " is my own dear 
 garden. I remember the border and the 
 
98 FAIEY BOOK. 
 
 paths right well; but it never bore such 
 golden fruit, it never glowed with such beau- 
 tiful flowers." 
 
 *^ Your fairy, the one you call Whisper, has 
 taken care of it for your sake," said the 
 sister sylphid. '' Do you know that those 
 flowers, and those trees with fruit like * bon- 
 ny beaten gold,' have been watered by your 
 tears, Little One ? It is in this way they 
 have attained their matchless beauty and 
 grace." 
 
 ^^My tearSf little sister?" 
 
 "Yes, your tears. Every one you shed 
 upon earth, your fairy most carefully pre- 
 served ; and see what wonders have been 
 wrought ! " 
 
 "If I had known that," said Little One 
 clapping her hands, " I would have been glad 
 of all my troubles ! I would have smiled 
 through my tears ! " 
 
THE LOST SYLPHID. 99 
 
 Now I know no more than I have told of 
 this story of the Lost Sylphid. I tell the 
 tale as 'twas told to me ; and I^wish, with all 
 my heart, it were true. 
 
100 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 THE CASTLE OF GEMS. 
 
 Once upon a time, though I cannot tell 
 when, and in what country I do not now re- 
 member, there lived a maiden as fair as a 
 lily, as gentle as a dewdrop, and as modest 
 as a violet. A pure, sweet name she had, — 
 it was Blanche. 
 
 She stood one evening, with her friend 
 Victor, by the shore of a lake. Never had 
 the youth or maiden seen the moonlight so 
 enchanting ; but they did not know 
 
 " It was midsummer day, 
 When all tlie fairy people 
 From elf-land come away." 
 
 Presently, while they gazed at the lake, 
 which shone like liquid emerald and sapphire 
 
THE CASTLE OF, GEMS, 101 
 
 and topaz, a boat, laden with strangely beau- 
 tiful beings, glided towards them across the 
 waters. The fair voyagers were clad in 
 robes of misty blue with white mantles 
 about their waists, and on their heads 
 wreaths of valley-lilies. 
 
 They were all as fair as need be ; but fair- 
 est of all was the helms-woman, the queen of 
 the fairies. Her face Avas soft and clear like 
 moonlight ; and she wore a crown of nine 
 large diamonds, which refracted the evening 
 rays, and formed nine lunar rainbows. 
 
 The fairies were singing a roundelay ; and, 
 as .the melody floated over the waters, Victor 
 and Blanche hstened with throbbing hearts. 
 Fairy music has almost pa'Ssed away from the 
 earth; but those who hear it are strangely 
 moved, and have dreams of beautiful things 
 which have been, and may be again. 
 
 '' It makes me think of the days of long 
 
lOii FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 ago when there was no sin," whispered 
 Blanche. 
 
 '^ It makes me long to be a hero," answered 
 "Victor with a sparkling eye. 
 
 All the while the pearly boat was drifting 
 toward the youth and maiden ; and, when it 
 had touched the shore, the queen stepped 
 out upon the land as lightly as if she had 
 been made entirely of dewdrops. 
 
 ^^ I am Fontana," said she ; " and is this 
 Blanche?" 
 
 She laid her soft hand upon the maid- 
 en's shoulder ; and Blanche thought she 
 would like to die then and there, so full was 
 she of joy. 
 
 ^' I have heard of thy good heart, my 
 maiden : now what would please thee 
 most ? " said the queen. 
 
 Blanche bowed her head, and dared not 
 speak. 
 
THE CASTLE OF GEMS. 103 
 
 Queen Fontana smiled : when she smiled 
 it was as if a soft cloud had slid away from 
 the moon, revealing a beautiful light. 
 
 *' Say pearls and diamonds," said Yictor in 
 her ear. 
 
 '^ I don't know," whispered Blanche : " they 
 are not the best things." 
 
 " No," said the queen kindly : " pearls and 
 diamonds are not the best things." 
 
 Then Blanche knew that her whisper had 
 been overheard, and she hid her face in 
 her hands for shame. But the queen 
 only smiled down on her, and, without speak- 
 ing, dropped into the ground a little seed. 
 Eight at the feet of Blanche, it fell ; and, in a 
 moment, two green leaves shot upward, and 
 between them a spotless lily, which hung its 
 head with modest grace. 
 
 Yictor gazed at the perfect flower in won- 
 der, and, before he knew it, said aloud, "Ah, 
 how like Blanche ! " 
 
104 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 The queen herself broke it from, the steni, 
 and gave it to the maiden,- saying, — 
 
 ^' Take it ! it is my choicest gift. Till it 
 fades (which will never be), love will be 
 thine ; and, in time to come, it will have 
 power to open the strongest locks, and swing 
 back the heaviest doors. 
 
 ' Gates of brass cannot withstand 
 One touch of this magic wand.' " 
 
 Blanche looked up to thank the queen; 
 but no words came, — only tears. 
 
 '^ I see a wish in thine eyes " said Fon- 
 tana. 
 
 ^'It is for Yictor," falte'i'ed Blanche, at 
 last: ''he wishes to be rich and great." 
 
 The queen looked grave. 
 
 '' Shall I make him one of the great men 
 of the earth, little Blanche ? Then he may 
 
THE CASTLE OP GEMS. 105 
 
 one day go to the ends of the world, and for- 
 get thee." 
 
 Blanche only smiled, and Victor's cheek 
 flushed. 
 
 '^ I shall be a great man/' said he, — " per- 
 haps a prince ; but, where I go, Blanche shall 
 go : she will be my wife." 
 
 ^' That is well," said the queen : '' never 
 forget Blanche, for her love will be your 
 dearest blessing." 
 
 Then, removing from her girdle a pair of 
 spectacles, she placed them in the youth's 
 hand. He drew back in surprise. ^' Does 
 she take me for an old man? "thought he. 
 He had expected a casket of gems at least ; 
 perhaps a crown. 
 
 ^' Wait," said Fontana: *' they are the eyes 
 of Wisdom. When you have learned their 
 use, you will not despise my gift. Keep a 
 pure heart, and always remember Blanche. 
 And now farewell ! " 
 
106 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 So saying, she moved on to the boat, float- 
 ing over the ground as softly as a creeping 
 mist. 
 
 When Blanche awoke next morning, her 
 first thought was, " Happy are the maidens 
 who have sweet dreams ! " for she thought 
 she had only been wandering in a midsum- 
 mer's night's dream ; so, when she saw her lily 
 in the broken pitcher where she had placed 
 it, great was her delight. But a change had 
 come over it during the night. It was no 
 longer a common lily, — its petals were large 
 pearls, and the green leaves were now green 
 emeralds. This strange thing had happened 
 to the flower, that it might never fade. 
 
 After this, people looked at Blanche, and 
 said, ^'How is it? she grows fairer every 
 day ! " and every one loved her; for the hu- 
 man heart has no choice but to love what is 
 good and gentle. 
 
THE CASTLE OP GEMS. 107 
 
 As for Victor, he at first put on his specta- 
 cles with a scornful smile : but, when he had 
 worn them a moment, he found them very 
 wonderful things. When he looked through 
 them, he could see people's thoughts written 
 out on their faces ; he could easily decipher 
 the fine writing which you see traced ou 
 green leaves ; and found there were long 
 stories written on pebbles in "little black and 
 gray dots. 
 
 When he wore the spectacles, he looked so 
 wise, that Blanche hardly dared speak to him. 
 She saw that one day he was to become a 
 great man. 
 
 At last Victor said he must leave his home, 
 and sail across the seas. Tears filled the 
 eyes of Blanche ; but the youth whis- 
 pered, — 
 
 '^ I am going away to find a home for you 
 and me : so adieu, dearest Blanche 1 " 
 
108 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Now Victor tliouglit the ship in which he 
 sailed moved very slowly ; for he longed to 
 reach the land which he could see through 
 his magic spectacles : it was a beautiful king- 
 dom, rich with mines of gold and silver. 
 
 When the ship touched shore^ the streets 
 were lined with people who walked to and 
 fro with sad faces. The king's daughter, a 
 beautiful young maiden, was very ill ; and it 
 was feared she must die. 
 
 Victor asked one of the people if there 
 was no hope. 
 
 It so happened that this man was the 
 greatest physician in the kingdom and he 
 answered, — 
 
 " Alas, there is no hope ! " 
 
 Then Victor went to a distant forest where 
 he knew a healing spring was to be found. 
 Very few remembered it was there ; and 
 those who had seen it did not know of its 
 power to heal disease. 
 
THE CASTLE OF GEMS. 109 
 
 Yictor filled a crystal goblet with the pre- 
 cious water, and carried it to the palace. 
 The old king shook his head sadly, but con- 
 sented to let the attendants moisten the 
 parched lips of the princess with the water, 
 as it could do no harm. Far from doing 
 harm, it wrought a great good ; and, in time, 
 the roy^ maiden was restored to health. 
 
 Then, for gratitude, the king would have 
 given his daughter to Yictor for a wife ; but 
 Victor remembered Blanche, and knew that 
 no other maiden must be bride of his. 
 
 Kot long after this, the king was lost over- 
 board at sea during a storm. Now the peo- 
 ple must have a new ruler. They deter- 
 mined to choose a wise and brave man ; and, 
 young as he was, no man could be found 
 braver and wiser than Yictor : so the people 
 elected him for their king. Thus Fontana's 
 gift of the eyes of Wisdom had made him 
 truly " one of the great men of earth.'' 
 
110 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 In her humble home, Blanche dreamed 
 every night of Victor, and hoped he would 
 grow good, if he did not become great ; and 
 Victor remembered Blanche, and knew that 
 her love was his dearest blessing. 
 
 ^^ This old palace," thought he ^' will never 
 do for my beautiful bride." 
 
 So he called together his people,^nd told 
 them he must have a castle of gems. Some 
 of the walls were to be of rubies, some of 
 emeralds, some of pearls. There was to be 
 any amount of beaten gold for doors and 
 pillars ; and the ceilings were to be of milk- 
 white opals, with a rosy light which comes 
 and goes. 
 
 All was done as he desired ; and, when the 
 castle of gems was finished, it would need a 
 pen of jasponyx dipped in rainbows to de- 
 scribe it. 
 
 Victor thought he would not have a guard 
 
THE CASTLE OF GEMS. Ill 
 
 of soldiers for his castle, but would lock tlie 
 four golden gates with a raagic key, so that 
 no one could enter unless the gates should 
 swing back of their own accord. 
 
 When the castle of gems was just com- 
 pleted, and not a soul was in it, Victor locked 
 the gates with a magic key, and then dropped 
 the key into the ocean. 
 
 " Now," thought he, *' I have done a wise 
 thing. None but the good and true can enter 
 my castle of gems. The gates will not swing 
 open for men with base thoughts or proud 
 hearts ! " 
 
 Then he hid himself under the shadow of 
 a tree, and watched the people trying to 
 enter. But they were proud men, and so the 
 gates would not open. 
 
 King Yictor laughed, and said to him- 
 self, — 
 
 ^' I have done a wise thing with my magic 
 
112 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 key. How safe I shall be in my castle of 
 gems ! '^ 
 
 So he stepped out of his hiding-place, and 
 said to the people, — 
 
 " None but the good and true can get in." 
 
 Then he tried to go in himself; but the 
 gates would not move. 
 
 The king bowed his head in shame^ and 
 walked back to his old palace. 
 
 '^ Alas ! " said he to himself, " wise and 
 great as I am, I thought I could go in. I see 
 it must be because I am filled with pride. 
 Let me hide my face ; for what would 
 Blanche say if she knew, that, because my 
 heart is proud, I am shut out of my own cas- 
 tle? I am not worthy that she should love 
 me ; but I hope I shall learn of her to be 
 humble and good." 
 
 The next day he sailed for the home of his 
 childhood. When Blanche saw him, she 
 
THE CASTLE OF GEMS. 113 
 
 blushed, and cast down her eyes ; but Yictor 
 knew they were full of tears of joy. He 
 held her hand, and whispered, — 
 
 ^' Will you go with me and be my bride, 
 beautiful Blanche ? " 
 
 ^^ I will go with you," she answered soft- 
 ly ; and Victor's heart rejoiced. 
 
 All the while Blanche never dreamed that 
 he was a great prince, and that the men who 
 came with him were his courtiers. *• 
 
 When they reached Victor's kingdom, and 
 the people shouted '^ Long live the queen ! " 
 Blanche veiled her face, and trembled ; for 
 Victor whispered in her ear that the shouts 
 were for her. And, as the people saw her 
 beautiful face through her gossamer veil, 
 they cried all the more loudly, — 
 
 '' Long live Queen Blanche ! Thrice wel- 
 come, fair lady ! " 
 
 The sun was sinking in the west, and his 
 
114 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 rays fell with dazzling splendor upon the cas- 
 tle of gems. When Blanche saw the silent, 
 closed castle and its golden gates, she re- 
 membered the words of Queen Fontana, who 
 had said that her lily should have power to 
 "open the strongest locks, and swing back 
 the heaviest doors." 
 
 Like one walking in a dream, she led Tic- 
 tor toward the resplendent castle. She 
 touched, with her lily, the lock which fas- 
 tened one of the gates. 
 
 " Gates of gold could not withstand 
 One toucli of that magic wand." 
 
 In an instant, the hinges trembled ; and the 
 massive door swung open so far, that forty 
 people could walk in side by side. Then it 
 slowly closed, and locked itself without 
 noise. 
 
 One of the people who passed in was the 
 
THE CASTLE OF GEMS. 115 
 
 king, whose heart was no longer proud. The 
 others, who had entered unwittingly, could 
 not speak for wonder. Some of them were 
 poor, and some were lame or blind; but all 
 were good and true. 
 
 At the rising of the moon a wonderful 
 thing came to pass. The people entered the 
 castle of gems, and became beautiful. This 
 was through the power of the magic lily. 
 
 Now there were no more crooked backs 
 and lame feet and sightless eyes ; and the 
 king looked at these people, who were beau- 
 tiful as well as good, and declared he would 
 have them live in the castle ; and the gen- 
 tlemen should be knights; and the ladies, 
 maids of honor. 
 
 To this day Victor and Blanche rule the 
 kingdom ; and such is the charm of the lily, 
 ■ — so like the pure heart of the queen, — that 
 the people are becoming gentle and good. 
 
116 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Until Queen Fontana shall call for the 
 magic spectacles and the lily of pearl, it is 
 believed that Victor and Blanche will live in 
 fiiQ castle of gems, though the time should be 
 a hundred years. 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 117 
 
 THE ELF OF LIGHT. 
 
 A NOESE TALE. 
 
 In the strange island of Iceland, thrown 
 Tip, by fire, from the depths of the sea, there 
 once lived a lad who worshipped the god 
 Odin, and was tanght from two absurd books 
 called the Eddas. He wished to fight and 
 die on a battle-field, so that his soul might 
 cross a rainbow-bridge, and dwell in the 
 beautiful halls of Yalhalla. There — so the 
 Eddas say — are the chosen heroes, who are 
 forever fighting all day, and feasting all 
 night. 
 
 Thus, instead of a Bible, young Thule 
 studied wild fairy-tales ; yet. for all his hea- 
 
118 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 thenish trainingj he had some noble traits, 
 which a Christian lad might imitate. 
 
 He lived with his widowed mother at the 
 edge of a forest. The snow piled itself in 
 drifts^ and the wind howled through the 
 trees, and crept in at the windows ; for the 
 cottage was old, and a blind hurricane might 
 almost have mistaken it for a heap of brush- 
 wood. But Thule was quite as happy as if 
 the hut had been a palace. He loved the 
 winter-beauty of his mother's face, and the 
 silvery hair half hidden under her black 
 cap. All the fire they burned was made 
 of the dry sticks he gathered in the forest, 
 and more than half the money they used 
 was earned by his small hands. 
 
 In one of the ice-months of the year, when 
 the weather was sharper than a serpent's 
 tooth, Thule came home from a hard day's 
 work ; and, the chillier he grew, the more he 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 119 
 
 whistled to keep up a brave heart. Looking 
 at the horizon before him, he saw the cold 
 glare which Ave call Northern Lights, but 
 which he knew to be the flickering of hel- 
 mets and shields and spears. 
 
 " The warlike maidens are out to-night," 
 thought the boy : ^Hhey are going to the bat- 
 tle-fields to decide who is worthy to be slain. 
 How I love to see the sky lighted up with 
 the flash of their armor ! Odin, grant I may 
 one day be a hero, and walk over the bridge 
 of a rainbow ! " 
 
 Then Thule went to his whistling again; 
 but, just as he struck into the forest where , 
 the deep shadows lay, he heard a faint moan, 
 which sounded like a human voice, or might 
 have been a sudden gust of wind in a hoUow 
 tree. 
 
 *^ Perchance it is some poor creature even 
 colder than I," thought the boy : *^ I hope not 
 Q. troll!'' 
 
120 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Hurrying to tlie spot Avhence tlie sound 
 came, lie found an ugly, long-nosed dwarf ly- 
 ing on the ground, nearly perishing Avith 
 cold. It was growing late, and the boy him- 
 self was benumbed ; but he went briskly to 
 work, chafing the hands and face of the 
 stranger, even taking off his own blue jacket 
 to wrap it about the dwarfs neck. 
 
 '^ Poor old soul, you shall not die of cold ! ^' 
 said he 5 then, helping him to rise, he added 
 cheerily, ^' We will go to my mother's cot- 
 tage, and have a warm supper of oat-cakes 
 and herrings ; and our fire of dry boughs will 
 do you good.^' 
 
 The noble boy knew there was barely sup- 
 per enough for two, but did not mind going 
 hungry to bed for charity's sake. In the ear 
 of his heart, he heard the words of his 
 mother : — 
 
 "Never fear starving, my son, but freely 
 share your last loaf with the needy." 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 121 
 
 They walked through the forest, the old 
 man leaning heavily on the youth's shoulder. 
 
 " "Why should you befriend a poor wretch 
 who cannot repay you ? " whined the dwarf 
 in a hollow voice which startled Thule, it was 
 so like the echo sent back by a mountain or a 
 rock. 
 
 ^' I do not ask or wish to be repaid/'' Avas- 
 the reply. ''Don't you know what the prov- 
 erb says ? ' Do good, and throw it into the 
 sea ; if the fishes don't know it, Odin will ! ' " 
 
 '' Yes : Odin shall know it, never fear," an- 
 swered the dwarf; ''but, as I happen to be 
 informed that your tea-table is not quite large 
 enough for three, I think I will dechne your 
 invitation to supper. Really, my lad,'^ he 
 continued, " it would delight me to do you a 
 httle favor; for, though I am only a poor 
 dwarf, I knoAv how to be grateful. By the 
 way, have you seen such a thing hereabouts 
 as a green alder-tree ? '^ 
 
122 • FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 ^' A green alder-tree in winter-time I ^' cried 
 Thule. 
 
 ^^ A curious thing, indeed/' said the dwarf; 
 ^' but I chanced to see one the other night in 
 my rambles. Ah! look, here it is right be- 
 fore your eyes." 
 
 All the other forest-trees were dry and 
 hard, their hearts frozen within them; but 
 this tree was alive, hidden behind a clump of 
 firs. When Thule began to dig about its 
 roots, it seemed to come out of the ground 
 of its own free will, and to lie over his shoul- 
 ders as if it would caress him. 
 
 ^' Take home the little tree, and plant it be- 
 fore your door, my lad." 
 
 The youth turned to thank the stranger; 
 but he had vanished. Then Thule ran home 
 with all speed to tell his mother of the little 
 old man who had faded from his sight like a 
 wreath of smoke. 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 123 
 
 ** Now I wonder what it is you have seen/' 
 said the good woman, raising her "hands in 
 surprise. '^Was he brown, my son, with a 
 long nose ? '' 
 
 " As brown as a nut, mother, with no end 
 of nose.'' 
 
 ^^ Just as I supposed, my child ! That 
 dwarf is a wonderful creature, — one of the 
 night-elves, a race gifted with great under- 
 standing. Know, my son, that he carves 
 runes upon stones ; and he no doubt assisted 
 in making Thor's hammer, that terrible in- 
 strument which can crush the skull of a 
 giant." 
 
 " One thing I observed," said the boy : ''he 
 blinked at that flashing in the sky, which peo- 
 ple call Northern Lights ; he had to shade his 
 eyes with his funny little hand." 
 
 " Did he, indeed ? Poor Elf ! Light is pain- 
 ful to his race ; and I have even heard that 
 
124 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 a stroke of sunsldne is able to turn tliem into 
 stones. I am almost afraid of this little tree/'' 
 added the good mother musingly. ^' Yon 
 know what we read in the holy Eddas : Both 
 the alder and the ash trees should be held sa- 
 cred ; for Odin formed man from the ash, and 
 woman from the alder. Nevertheless, the 
 night-elf could not have meant to do you a 
 mischief. Let us plant the tree as he di- 
 rected." 
 
 ^^What, in the frozen ground, under the 
 snow ? " 
 
 But it now, for the first time, appeared that 
 there was a spot -of earth near the south 
 window, which must have been waiting for 
 the tree, since it was as soft and warm as if 
 the sun had been shining on it all the year. 
 Here they planted the alder ; and Thule 
 brought water, and moistened the roots. 
 
 Next morning the tree seemed to have 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 125 
 
 grown a foot higher; and by daylight its 
 leaves showed a silver lining. 
 
 ^^May Odin favor my pretty alder!" said 
 Thule ; ^' nor let the frost pinch it, nor the 
 winds blacken its green buds ! " 
 
 Thule went into the woods again ; and, as 
 he was whistling at his work, he happened to 
 look down, and there, on the ground, at his 
 feet, lay a purse, well lined with gold. He 
 counted the pieces : fifty, all bright and new. 
 
 '^ I will go to the town," thought the boy, 
 shaking his head and sighing (for the gold 
 was very tempting), '' I will go to the town, 
 and ask who has lost a purse with fifty pieces 
 of precious gold. Ah, me ! I wish I could 
 keep it ! " then we should swim in herrings 
 and oil ; and who knows but, for once in my 
 life, I might even get a taste of venison ? " 
 
 But next moment he loosened his greedy 
 clutch at the purse. '^ No matter how brave- 
 
126 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 ly it shines ! it is not my gold ; and it is too 
 heavy for me to carry. Stolen money is 
 worse than a mill-stone about one's neck, so 
 my mother says." 
 
 ^' Keep the purse, little boy," said a sweet 
 voice close by his elbow. He turned, and 
 saw a beautiful child, as radiant as a sun- 
 beam, and clad in garments of delicate and 
 transparent texture. 
 
 " I will be your friend, little boy. That 
 purse was dropped by a lady who wears a fur 
 cloak and long veil. If she asks for her 
 treasure, I can say it fell into a hole in the 
 ground. Everybody believes me : never 
 fear ! " 
 
 " Poor misguided angel ! " said the boy, 
 amazed by her wondrous beauty no less than 
 by her apparent want of truth. " You are, 
 indeed, a lovely little tempter ; but I have a 
 dear mother at home, and I love her better 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 127 
 
 than a million pieces of gold. I must go to 
 the town, and seek out this lady you mention, 
 who wears a fur cloak and long veil." 
 
 " Nay, if you will be so stupid/' said the 
 shining child, '' why, I will even go with you, 
 and show you the way." 
 
 So, gliding gracefully before the bewil- 
 dered youth, she led him out of the forest, in- 
 to the most crowded part of the city, up to 
 the door of a splendid mansion ; but, when 
 Thule turned his head only an instant, she 
 was gone, and no trace of her was to be 
 seen : she seemed to have melted into sun- 
 shine. 
 
 The lady of the house received the purse 
 with thanks, and would gladly have given 
 Thule a piece of the gold ; but, much as the 
 boy longed for it, he put it aside, saying, 
 " Xo, madam : my mother assures me I must 
 be honest without the hope of reward. She 
 
128 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 would not like me to take wages for not be- 
 ing a thief! '^ 
 
 The next morning the alder-tree had grown 
 another foot ] and Thule and his mother 
 watched the growii?^' leaves, and touched 
 them with reverent fingers. They were cer- 
 tainly of a tender green, lined with shining 
 silver. 
 
 ^^ May Odin favor my pretty alder ! " said 
 Thule ; '^ nor let the frost pinch it, nor the 
 winds blacken. its green buds !'' 
 
 Then Thule kissed his mother, and trudged 
 off to the forest as usual. But he seemed 
 doomed to adventures ; for this time he was 
 met by three armed men, who were roaming 
 the country as if seeking something. 
 
 " Prithee, little urchin," said one of the 
 men, " can you tell us what has become of a 
 young alder-tree, whose green leaves are 
 lined with silver ? " 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 129 
 
 *^ I dug up an alder-bush, kind sirs/*' re- 
 plied the boy, trembling, and remembering 
 that his mother had said she was almost 
 afraid of that little tree. 
 
 " There are many alder-bushes,'' said an- 
 other of the men gruffly ; '' but only one is 
 green at this time of year, and has silver- 
 lined leaves. It was j^laced here by com- 
 mand of the giant Loki, and no one was to 
 touch it under pain of death ; for, when his 
 mountain-garden should be laid out in the 
 spring, the tree was to be uprooted, and 
 planted therein." 
 
 Thule grew almost as stiff and white as if 
 a frost-giant had suddenly breathed on him. 
 He knew that Loki was a pitiless god, feared 
 by all, and beloved by none, — a god who 
 had an especial grudge against the whole hu- 
 man race. 
 
 "I will hold my peace," thought Thule. 
 
130 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 " I will never confess that the tree I carried 
 away has silver-lined leaves. I will hasten 
 home, pluck np the bush, and burn it : then 
 who will be the wiser? " 
 
 But Thule, in spite of his trembling, could 
 not forget his good mother's counsel : — 
 
 '' Your words, my boy, let them be truth, 
 and nothing but truth, though a sword should 
 be swinging over your head." 
 
 Then, as soon as his voice returned to him, 
 he confessed that the tree he had removed 
 was really just such an one as the men de- 
 scribed, and begged for mercy, because, as 
 he said, he had committed the sin ignorantly, 
 not knowing the mandate of the terrible 
 giant. 
 
 But the men bade Thule lead them to his 
 mother's house, and point out his stolen treas- 
 ure ; declaring that they could show no mer- 
 cy ; for, when Loki had made a decree, no 
 man should alter it by one jot or one tittle. 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 131 
 
 '' Oh ! " thought the unfortunate boy, wring- 
 ing his hands, and trembhng till the woollen 
 tassel on his cap danced a gallopade, '^ oh, if 
 the cruel night-elf, who led me into this mis- 
 chief, would only come forward now, and help 
 me out of it ! But, alas, it is of no avail to 
 invoke him ; for it is now broad daylight, 
 and the sun would strike him into a stone im- 
 age in a twinkhng." 
 
 When Thule, followed by the messengers 
 of Loki, had reached the door of his cottage, 
 he found his gray-haired mother sprinkling 
 the roots of the beautiful alder, and fondling 
 its leaves with innocent pleasure. At sight 
 of the armed men, she started back in af- 
 fright. 
 
 ^^It is indeed the giant's tree," said the 
 men to Thule. '' Pluck it up, and foUow us 
 with it to Loki's castle on the mountain." 
 
 " To Loki's castle I " shrieked the wretched 
 
132 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 mother. '^ Then he must pass a frightful wil- 
 derness, be assailed by the frost-giants ; and, 
 if there be any breath left in him, Loki will 
 dash it out at a glance ! Have mercy on a 
 poor old mother, good soldiers ! '' 
 
 The unhappy boy touched the tree, and it 
 came out of the ground of its own free will ; 
 and, in a trice, stood on its feet, shook out its 
 branches into arms, and in another moment 
 was no longer a tree, but a child, with a 
 bpauty as dazzling as sunshine. 
 
 ^'Unfortunate men!'' said she, in. a voice 
 whose angriest tones were sweeter than the 
 music of an ^Eolian harp, " unfortunate are 
 you in being the servants of Loki ! Go, tell 
 your cruel master that the schemes he has 
 plotted against me and mine have all failed : 
 my enchantment is over forever. Yonder 
 boy," said she, pointing to little Thule, '^ has 
 saved me. I was, and still remain, an elf of 
 
THE ELF OP LIGHT. 133 
 
 light, as playful and harmless as sunshine. 
 The merciless Loki, enraged at the love I 
 bear the children of men, changed me to a 
 httle alder-tree, which is the emblem of girl- 
 hood. But he had no power to keep me in 
 that form forever. He was obliged to make 
 a condition, and he made the hardest one that 
 his artful mind could invent : * Since you love 
 mortals so dearly,' said he, ^ no one but a mor- 
 tal shall free you from your imprisonment. 
 You shall remain a tree till a good child shall 
 touch you, — a child who is generous enough 
 
 to SHARE HIS LAST LOAF WITH A STRANGER, 
 
 honest enough to give back a reward for 
 HIS HOXESTY, brave enough to speak the 
 
 TRUTH when a LIE WOULD HAVE SAVED HIS 
 
 LIFE. Long shall you wait for such a deliv- 
 erer ! ^ 
 
 " Now how amazed will Loki be when 
 
 he learns that this little boy has been 
 
134 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 tempted in all these particulars, yet proves 
 true. My poor soldiers, you may return 
 whence you came, for the alder-tree will 
 never rustle its silver leaves in the moun- 
 tain-garden of Loki." 
 
 Then the men disappeared, not sorry that 
 the good boy had escaped his threatened 
 doom. 
 
 Thule, looking at the beautiful elf so lately 
 a tree, could hardly trust his own eyes ; and 
 I fancy that many a boy, even at the present 
 day, would have felt rather bewildered under 
 the circumstances. 
 
 ^^ Shining. child!" said he: "you look vastly 
 like the wonderful little being who led me 
 out of the forest yesterday.'' 
 
 " That may well be," replied the elf of 
 light ; " for she is my sister. The brown 
 dwarf who pointed out to you the alder-tree 
 
THE ELF OF LIGHT. 135 
 
 is also an excellent friend of mine, though, 
 strange to say, I have never seen him. TVe 
 love to aid each other in all possible Tvays ; 
 yet we can never meet, for there is a fatality 
 in my eyes which would strike him dead. 
 He had heard of Thule, the little woodcutter 
 who was called so brave and generous and 
 true. He tried you, you see ; and so did my 
 frolicsome sister, who was fairly ablaze with 
 delight when she found you could not be 
 tempted to steal ! " 
 
 Thule's mother had stood all the while on 
 the threshold, overawed and dumb. Now 
 she came forward, and said, — 
 
 '^ I am prouder to-day than I should be if 
 my son had slain ten men on the battle- 
 field ! '' 
 
 The beautiful elf of light, penetrated with 
 gratitude and admiration, remained Thule's 
 
136 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 fast friend as long as he lived. She gave 
 the lad and his mother an excellent home, 
 and made them happy all the days of their 
 lives. 
 
THE PEINCESS HILDA. 137 
 
 THE PRINCESS HILDA. 
 
 Princess Hildegarde sat at an open win- 
 dow, looking out upon her garden of flowers. 
 She was very beautiful, with a face as fair 
 and sweet as a rose. Not far off sat, watching 
 her, her young cousin Zora, with a frown on 
 her brow. 
 
 There was bitter hatred in Zora's heart be- 
 cause Hildegarde was rich and she was poor ; 
 because Hildegarde would, in time, be a 
 queen, and she one of her subjects. More- 
 over, Hildegarde was so beautiful and good 
 that the fame of her loveliness had spread far 
 and wide ; and it was for her beauty that 
 Zora hated her more than for any thing else. 
 
138 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 In childhood Zora had been very fair ; and 
 the courtiers had petted her, and pronounced 
 her even fairer than the princess ; but her 
 beauty had never meant any thing but bright 
 eyes and cherry cheeks : so it could not last. 
 If she had only cherished pure thoughts and 
 kind wishes, she might still have been as 
 lovely as Hilda ; but who does not know that 
 evil feelings write themselves on the face ? 
 
 Jealousy had puhed her mouth down at 
 the corners; deceit had given it a foolish 
 smirk; spite had plowed an ugly frown in 
 her brow ; while she had tried so many arts 
 to make her rich brown skin as delicately 
 white as Hilda's, that it was changed to the 
 tint of chrome yellow. 
 
 It was said in those days, that Zora was in 
 the power of wicked fairies, who twisted her 
 features into the shape that pleased them 
 best. 
 
THE PEINCESS HILDA. 139 
 
 At any rate, how the amiable Princess 
 Hilda was to blame for all these deformities 
 it would be hard to say ; and she little 
 dreamed of the malice in her cousin's heart. 
 
 But, while Hilda was looking out of the 
 window, a noble knight passed that way ; and 
 so delighted was he with the rare sweetness 
 of her face, that he forgot himself, and 
 paused a moment to gaze at her. The prin- 
 cess blushed, and let fall the silken curtain ; 
 but Zora had seen the knight, and knew he 
 was the royal Prince Reginald. She ground 
 her teeth in rage ; for she had determined 
 that the prince should never see her beauti- 
 ful cousin. • 
 
 " They shall not meet," said she to herself: 
 ^' no, not if there are bad fairies enough to 
 prevent it." 
 
 But, when the princess looked up, Zora 
 was smiling very sweetly. Who could have 
 
140 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 dreamed that she was thinking of nothing 
 but how to ruin the peace of her gentle 
 cousin? 
 
 Zora could hardly wait for nightfall, so 
 eager was she to do her wicked work. When 
 it was dark, and all was quiet, she stole out 
 of the castle, wearing a black mantle which 
 hid her face. 
 
 ^' Now," thought she, " no one can recog- 
 nize me, and I will seek the fairy Gerula." ' 
 
 You must know that Gerula was one of 
 the most wicked and hideous sprites that 
 ever existed. She dwelt in a cave far from 
 the abodes of men. It was hidden by huge 
 tree% through which the wind never ceased 
 howling. At evening owls hooted overhead, 
 and many creeping things wound their 
 length along the ground. The more toads 
 and snakes she could see about her, the bet- 
 ter was she pleased ; for fairies, as well as 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 141 
 
 mortals, are attracted hy what is akin to 
 tliemselves. 
 
 Slie was descended from a race' called ko- 
 bolds or goblins ; and she loved all the metals 
 which lie under the earth as well as the liv- 
 ing things which crawl up out of its bosom. 
 
 So acute were her ears, that she heard 
 Zora's steps from a great distance. She 
 brushed back her elf-locks, and gave a low 
 grunt like some wild beast. It pleased her 
 that the Lady Zora should find need of her 
 counsel; but, when Zora had reached the 
 cave, the cunning fairy pretended to be sleep- 
 ing, and started up in seeming surprise. 
 
 '' What brings a body here at this time of 
 night?" said she. 
 
 " I am Lady Zora. I have come, sweet 
 fairy, to beg a favor. The Princess Hilda is 
 hateful to me : work one of your charms on 
 her, and let me see her face no more." 
 
142 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 The old fairy pricked up her ears and said 
 to herself, ^' Ha ! ha ! I will have nice sport 
 out o' this ! " then said aloud, " Say, what 
 harm has the princess done to my rosebud, 
 my lily, my pride ? " 
 
 Zora's eyes flashed. " Prince Reginald has 
 seen her ; and to see her is to love her. My 
 heart is set on wedding Prince Reginald. 
 Take her out of his way ! " 
 
 Just then a broad gleam of moonlight fell 
 on the treacherous maiden. It was strange 
 how much she looked like the cruel fairy ; 
 and Gerula gazed on her with delight. 
 
 " My beautiful viper ! " said she, using the 
 sweetest pet-name she could think of, '^ I will 
 do your bidding. But first say what you will 
 give me if I put Hildegarde out of your 
 way.'' 
 
 Then she chuckled, and rubbed her hands 
 in great glee. Zora started back in alarm. 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 143 
 
 *^ I did not know you sold your charms for 
 gold ; but I would give you half my fortune 
 if need be, any thing, to be rid of Hilda." 
 
 The fairy chuckled again. '' Just the dam- 
 sel for me/' thought she. 
 
 '' I will give you a diamond necklace/' said 
 Zora : '^ it is worth a small kingdom, and was 
 given me by my cousin Hilda. You can 
 surely ask no more ? " 
 
 '' Diamonds ! " said the goblin, snapping 
 her fingers. '^ What think you I care for 
 them ? Do I not tire of stooping to pick 
 them up ? for they are given me by my 
 cousins, the gnomes, any day. No diamonds 
 for me ! Keep them and your gold. I ask 
 but one thing, my dear." 
 
 Here she spoke in low hissing tones, more 
 terrible than her loudest croakings. 
 
 " Promise me, if you do not marry Prince 
 
144 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Eeginald, you will let me change you into a 
 charming green snake." 
 
 *' Alas ! " cried Zora, turning pale, '^ who 
 ever heard of such a cruel request ? " 
 
 " Cruel, am I ? " said the goblin in delight. 
 " Oh, I must seem cruel to one who is so 
 gentle and lovely as Hilda ! " 
 
 " Alas," cried Zora, '^ I may fail to win 
 Prince Reginald." 
 
 " All the better," chuckled the fairy. 
 '^ When you become a snake, you and I shall 
 enjoy each other's society, I assure you." 
 
 Zora shuddered. 
 
 '^ But it's all one to me," added the goblin, 
 beginning to yawn. '^ On the whole, I think 
 you may as well go home." 
 
 Zora wrung her hands, and groaned. 
 
 '' Yes," said the gnome : " go back to the 
 castle. Ugh ! I would sooner trust one of 
 my winking owls to do a daring deed than 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 145 
 
 you I Fie upon you ! Creep back to your 
 bed, and let Hilda marry the prince : a 
 lovely pair they will make. Off with you, 
 for I have to make up my sleep I have 
 lost." 
 
 But Zora was thinking. 
 
 '' I am silly indeed ! " she said to herself. 
 ** Why do I fear that I shall not win the love 
 of Prince Reginald? Only Hilda stands in 
 my way." Then she said aloud^ — 
 
 '' Lovely being ! sweetest of all the race ! 
 Great as is my horror, I will consent to your 
 wiU." 
 
 Just then was heard a crackling in the dry 
 leaves. 
 
 " Only a snake," said the goblin. Zora 
 trembled. 
 
 '^ Will you promise me that Hilda will 
 never trouble me again ? " 
 
 '' I promise," said the goblin, with one of 
 
 10 
 
146 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 her merriest laughs^ as loud and hoarse as 
 the song of a frog. 
 
 Just then a sigh was heard not far from the 
 place where Zora stood. ^' There is some 
 one here : we are watched/'' she whispered. 
 But Gerula thought it the howling of the 
 wind ; for she was busily musing over the 
 charm she was about to obtain of her cousins, 
 the gnomes, and her eyes and ears were not 
 as sharp as usual. 
 
 She took from the ground her crooked staff. 
 
 ^' Hush/' said she ; "if the sky were to fall 
 on your head, you are not to speak ; for now 
 begins the charm." 
 
 Then she drew a circle three times on the 
 ground, with her staff, and said in low tones, — 
 
 " Hither, ye cousins, that come at my call : 
 The princess is young and fair ; 
 IVIix me a charm that shall bring her to woe 
 Spin me your vilest snare." 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 147 
 
 A mist arose, in whicli Zora could see dim 
 figures, one after another. Zora held her 
 breath. Gerula muttered again in low 
 tones, — 
 
 " Hilda is gentle, and dreams of no guile ; 
 
 The little gnomes sit and weep ; 
 * Make her, — if must be, — a snowy wee lamb, 
 
 In the fold with her father's sheep.' '* 
 
 Zora clapped her hands in delight. But 
 just then, a faint sound was heard, as of some 
 one talking between the teeth. Then Zora 
 spoke, and the charm was broken. She did 
 not intend to speak; but asked, ^' What noise 
 was that ? " before she thought. 
 
 " You have broken the charm," said the 
 fairy. ''The soft-hearted gnomes are unwill- 
 ing to punish Hilda; but I hoped, by my 
 craft, I could force them to keep her a lamb 
 forever; or, at most, to let her grow to a 
 sheep, and die by the knife. 
 
148 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 ^^1 will now weave a new charm; but I 
 fear me they will repent ; and Hilda will 
 not be got out of the way, after all. Not 
 a word more, I warn you." 
 
 So saying, the goblin made another circle 
 three time|^ on the ground, and again mut- 
 tered, — 
 
 " How long is fair Hilda a snowy wee lamb ? 
 The little gnomes cry, ' "We fear 
 Till comes a brave lion so tender and true, 
 She lives by his side a year.' " 
 
 Zora clapped her hands again. '^ That is 
 well," said she, '' for never was a lion seen 
 who could let a little helpless lamb pass his 
 way without tearing it in pieces." 
 
 " True," said the gnome, well pleased, ^' it 
 has worked well. Hilda will never trouble 
 you again : so creep home softly, and go to 
 your rest : dream of bats and creeping 
 
THE PRI^SXESS HILDA. 149 
 
 snakes ; and to-morrow, at sunrise, ask your 
 cousin to walk with you in the park. Now 
 adieu ! '^ 
 
 " Adieu, sweetest and best of fairies ! " said 
 Zora, drawing her silken mantle closely about 
 her face. As she left the hideous cave, 
 snakes hissed after her, and a bat flew in her 
 face ; but she had sold herself to evil, and 
 walked on without fear of the creatures she 
 so strongly resembled. 
 
 Next morning, at the first peep of the sun, 
 she cried, '' Awake, dearest Hilda, joy of my 
 life, and walk with me in the park. I have 
 lost my diamond necklace ; and last night I 
 dreamed it was lying in the grass." 
 
 So Princess Hildegarde opened her eyes, 
 and hastened to follow her cousin; for her 
 heart was quickly moved to any act of kind- 
 ness. 
 
 '^ What a fine flock of sheep ! " cried Hilda, 
 
150 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 as they were walking in the park. " Such 
 innocent " 
 
 She would have said more, but the words 
 on her tongue were suddenly changed to ten- 
 der bleatings ; and even as Zora stood look- 
 ing at her, she crouched down on all fours, 
 dwindled in size, was enveloped in white 
 fleece, and became a dumb lamb. 
 
 Overwhelmed with horror and surprise, 
 she raised her pleading, tearful eyes to the 
 face of her cousin. But Zora gave a mock- 
 ing laugh, and said, pointing her finger at 
 her, — 
 
 " Who now is the heir of the throne ? Will 
 they set the royal crown on a' sheep's head, 
 think you ? Bravo, sweet creature ! You 
 may stand now between me and Prince Regi- 
 nald as much as you please. It's all my 
 work. I tell you once for all, I hate you, Hil- 
 degarde.'' 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 151 
 
 "Was this Zora's return for her coiisin's 
 love ? The princess would fain have ex- 
 pressed her grief and amazement. 
 
 *'Pray don't try to talk, my bonny wee 
 thing! It is not one of your gifts, at pres- 
 ent. Your voice has ceased to be musical. 
 I can sing now as well as you. Go to nib- 
 bhng grass, deary, and a long life to you ! " 
 
 Then the treacherous Zora turned on her 
 heel, and left her poor cousin to her mute 
 despair. 
 
 A search was made far and wide for the 
 missing princess. Forests were hunted, 
 rivers were dragged ; but without avail. 
 Deep gloom fell on the people, and the queen 
 nearly died of sorrow. They all believed 
 Hilda dead, all but Zora, who knew too well 
 her cruel fate. 
 
 Then Zora was treated like the king's 
 daughter. Wherever she went, there were ser- 
 
152 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Yants to follow her ; yet none loved her, and 
 behind her back they made wry faces, and 
 said she looked like one who was tormented 
 by evil fairies. 
 
 But, alas for Zora, nothing more was seen 
 of Prince Reginald. She watched the win- 
 dows day after day, hoping to see him ride 
 by qn his coal-black steed ; but he never 
 came. Then she grew crosser than ever, and 
 the frown on her brow ploughed deeper still. 
 She dreamed every night of horrible goblins 
 and slender green snakes. 
 
 All the while, poor Hildegarde roamed 
 about the park. The other lambs were con- 
 tent to nip the sweet grass, and frisk in the 
 sun ; but the princess remembered something 
 better, for her soul did not sleep. 
 
 The king himself, in his walks, was struck 
 with the beauty of the lamb ; its fleece was 
 far softer, finer, and whiter than was common. 
 
!rHE PRINCESS HILDA. 153 
 
 He said to his chief shepherd, '^ Watch well 
 yonder snow-white lamb, and give it particu- 
 lar care.'' 
 
 For there was something in its soft dark 
 eyes, as they were raised to his face, which 
 stirred the king's heart, though he knew not 
 why. 
 
 One day the city was thrown into a great 
 tumult. A lion had been seen in the thicket 
 which bordered the park. The huntsmen, 
 hearing of it, stole out privately to waylay 
 him in a snare. He was caught alive by the 
 king's favorite huntsman. It was agreed 
 that such a fine lion had never been seen be- 
 fore ; and the king ordered a strong iron 
 cage for the beast, and made his favorite 
 huntsman his keeper. 
 
 . Now the cage was in the midst of the 
 park ; and such was the terror of the sheep 
 and deer, that none of them went near it. 
 
154 FAIRY BOOK. , 
 
 ^' I will go," thoTiglit poor Hildegarde ; ^' let 
 the lion tear me in pieces. Sooner would I 
 perish, than live on, a poor wee lamb all my 
 days." 
 
 So she went up to the cage, though with a 
 faint heart ; but the lion put his paw out of 
 the bars, and stroked her face, as if he would 
 bid her welcome. The keeper reported the 
 fact with great surprise. 
 
 It may be that the beautiful brown eyes of 
 the lamb tamed the fierce spirit of the lion ; 
 for they were human eyes, full of Hilde- 
 garde's own soul. Be that as it may, the 
 lamb went every day to the cage, till the lion 
 learned to watch for her, and gave a low 
 growl of joy when he saw her coming. At 
 last the keeper ventured to drop her care- 
 fully into the cage. The lion was beside 
 himself with joy ; and, after that, the lamb 
 was placed in the cage every morning, and 
 only taken out at night. 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 155 
 
 Then the king invited all the noblemen in- 
 to his park, to see the strange sight of a lion 
 and a lamb living together in peace. And all 
 the while Hildegarde loved her shaggy com- 
 panion, and asked herself every day how it 
 could be that a lion should have such speak- 
 ing eyes and such a tender heart. But she 
 almost believed that he was a human being, 
 shut up, like herself, in a cruel disguise. 
 
 At last, when a whole year had gone by, 
 the time came for Hilda to be disenchanted ; 
 for the good little gnomes had declared that 
 if she could live for a twelvemonth in peace 
 with a lion, the charm would then be at an 
 end. 
 
 Hilda did not know this ; but awoke at 
 sunrise, and, going to drink, saw the image 
 of her old self in the fountain ; and faint 
 voices repeated in chorus these lines : — 
 
156 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 " Thrice welcome, sweet Hilda ! the little gnomes saj 
 At sunrise their charms shall end ; 
 So go to the lion, and open the cage ; 
 The prince is your own true friend." 
 
 This was so sudden and unexpected that 
 the happy Hilda could hardly believe her 
 senses. She gazed at her jewelled fingers ; 
 she touched her velvet robe. '^ It is Hilde- 
 garde/' said she dreamily; ''where has she 
 stayed so long ? " 
 
 She went to the cage ; and, finding the key 
 hanging on the outside, would fain have freed 
 the poor lion, but thought of the terror it 
 would cause the sheep and deer, and dared 
 not do it. 
 
 She put her soft white arms within the 
 bars, saying, — 
 
 " You have been a true friend to the little 
 white Iamb. She has found her tongue again, 
 and can say so. Kind old lion, gentle pris- 
 oner, Hildegarde will not forget you." 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 157 
 
 The noble beast looked at the disenchanted 
 princess, and the next instant was changed 
 to his true form ; and, in place of a tawny 
 lion, it was the brave Prince Reginald. 
 Hilda blushed with joyful surprise, and 
 w^ould have taken down the key to unlock the 
 cage, but the prince said, — 
 
 ^^ Loveliest Hildegarde, will you be my 
 bride ? Speak before you unlock the cage ; 
 for, if you say nay, Reginald must again be- 
 come a dumb beast, and, as he has been for a 
 year, so will he be for the rest of his days." 
 
 Hildegarde cast down her eyes, and an- 
 swered, ''If so be the lion and the lamb 
 could live side by side for a year, may not 
 Reginald and Hilda dwell together in 
 peace?" 
 
 '' Then," said the joyful Prince Reginald, 
 ^' I pray thee unlock the cage." 
 
 Now, as they walked together in the park. 
 
158 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 the prince told Hildegarde, that he had loved 
 her for a twelvemonth and a day. 
 
 He described Hilda's visit to the cruel gob- 
 lin. He said that he himself had overheard 
 the two talking together, had ground his 
 teeth, and sighed. Then the gnomes, seeing 
 his grief, had come asking him if he would be 
 changed for a year, and maybe for life, into a 
 lion ; and for Hildegarde's sake he had gladly 
 consented. 
 
 Hearing all these things, the grateful prin- 
 cess wept, and said, — 
 
 " Now I know that Prince Reginald is my 
 own true friend." 
 
 The prince led Hilda to the palace, and 
 presented her to the king and queen. Great 
 was the wonder, and loud the rejoicing 
 throughout the land. 
 
 The treacherous Zora was seen no more, 
 but was changed into a slender green snake ; 
 
THE PRINCESS HILDA. 159 
 
 and the king said she deserved her fate ; 
 *' for, mark you/' cried he, '^ there is no crime 
 worse than to play false to those whom we 
 pretend to love." 
 
 But Prince Reginald and Hildegarde were 
 married, and lived in peace all the rest of 
 their lives. 
 
160 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 GOLDILOCKS. 
 
 " A king lived long ago, 
 In the morning of the -world,** 
 
 who had two children, Despard and Goldi- 
 locks. They were twin brother and sister, 
 but no more ahke than a queen-lily and a 
 nightshade, a raven and a dove. 
 
 Goldilocks was a bright young damsel, 
 with hair like fine threads of gold, and a face 
 so radiant that people questioned if the blood 
 in her veins might not be liquid sunshine. 
 Her eyes were as soft as violets ; and her 
 laugh was like the music of a spring robin. 
 
 Despard, on the other hand, was as melan- 
 choly as an owl. His raven hair cast gloomy 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 161 
 
 shadows, and his mournful eyes pierced you 
 with a sudden sorrow. He was too low- 
 spirited to chase butterflies, weave daisy- 
 chains, and dance with Goldilocks among the 
 flowers. He liked better to play at a mimic 
 funeral, and deck himself as chief mourner, 
 in a friar's robe with sable plumes. He 
 could never understand why laughing Goldi- 
 locks should object to making believe die, 
 and be buried in the large jewel-cofier, which 
 stood for a tomb. 
 
 He always said that, if he lived to be a 
 man, he should grow all the more wretched, 
 and creep over the earth like a great black 
 cloud. When Despard spoke so hopelessly, 
 Goldilocks paused in her song or her play, 
 and stealthily brushed a rare tear from her 
 eye. She was afraid her brother's words 
 might prove true. 
 
 These children lived in what is called the 
 11 
 
162 FAIEY BOOK. 
 
 Golden Age, when the rivers flowed with 
 milk and wine, and yellow honey dripped 
 from oak-trees. Their childhood would prob- 
 ably have lasted forever ; but the Silver Age 
 came on, and every thing was changed. 
 Then, it was sometimes too warm, and some- 
 times too cold. People began to live in 
 caves, and weave houses of twigs. The 
 king, their father, died, and went, so it 
 was said, to the '' Isles of the Blessed." 
 
 The children were shipwrecked upon a for- 
 eign shore, all because of a sudden swell 
 of the ocean. Here they were desolate and 
 homesick. The strange people among whom 
 they had fallen did not know they were the 
 children of a king. No one was left to care 
 for them but their old nurse, named Sibyl. 
 
 This aged woman was growing lame, and 
 her hair was gray ; yet she loved the twins, 
 and would spin all th© day long, to buy black 
 
GOLDILOCKS. - 163 
 
 bread for them, and now and then a little 
 choice fruit. 
 
 " Alas," she sighed, ** alas, for the Golden 
 Age, when the forests had never been 
 robbed, when oxen were not called to draw 
 the plough, and the beautiful earth laughed, 
 and tossed up fruit and flowers without wait- 
 ing to be asked ! " 
 
 The frocks that Sibyl made for Goldilocks 
 were coarse ; but on fair spring days she 
 took from the chest a delicate, rosy robe, em- 
 broidered with gold, and smiled to see how it 
 adorned the child. 
 
 But as for Despard, she had no hope that 
 he would ever look well in any thing. She 
 would part Goldilocks' wonderful hair, and 
 say,— 
 
 " Old Sibyl knows who is her love ; she 
 knows who would be glad to give her pome- 
 granates and grapes, when she is too old to 
 spin, and too weak to sit up.'* 
 
164 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 Little Goldilocks would laughingly re- 
 
 ** And I know, too : when I am a woman I 
 shall weave a net of my hatr, and fish up all 
 the gold that has sunk to the beds of the riv- 
 ers. Then I know who will have a set of 
 hard gold teeth, and a silver rocking-chair." 
 
 "Thou art lovely enough to be a goddess, 
 little Goldilocks. And what wilt thou do 
 with the rest of the gold ? " 
 
 " Oh, Despard shall have all he can carry ; 
 for Despard is good, let people say what they 
 may. And I will have a crown made for him, 
 with diamonds set in it as plenty as plums in 
 a pudding." 
 
 " Listen, my children," said the old Sibyl, 
 sadly : " there will be no one to give me 
 grapes and pomegranates when I am faint 
 and weak. I can read by the stars that you 
 are soon to go on a pilgrimage, and leave 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 165 
 
 your old nurse behind. You may well weep, 
 my good little boy : there is to bie no rest for 
 your feet till you have travelled over the 
 whole world, from north to south." 
 
 Despard groaned aloud ; but Goldilocks 
 clapped her hands and laughed. " Oh, let us 
 start to-night/' she cried. 
 
 " When the sun-god has made twelve jour- 
 neys in his winged boat,'' sighed Sibyl, " and 
 when the young moon has arisen out of the 
 ocean, then you may go." 
 
 And, at the appointed time, the faithful 
 nurse, with many tears, prepared her foster- 
 children for their long journey. She took 
 from a worm-eaten coffer some family heir- 
 looms, which had been lying since the days 
 of the Golden Age, enveloped in rose-leaves 
 and gold paper. 
 
 She placed in the hand of Despard a dag- 
 ger with a jewelled hilt, a quiver of poisoned 
 
166 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 arrows, and a glittering sword, with a blade 
 sharper than a serpent's tooth. 
 
 But to Goldilocks she gave a flask of 
 smooth, fragrant oil, a vase of crystal-bright 
 water, and a fan made of the feathers of the 
 beautiful bird of Paradise. 
 
 Kissing the little pilgrims, she said, — 
 
 "These gifts have been saved for you 
 these many years : use them as an inward 
 voice shall whisper you : I give you my bless- 
 ing. The gods attend you ! Farewell." 
 
 The children at first walked on sorrow- 
 fully ; but soon the gay spirits of Goldilocks 
 rebounded, and she waltzed hither and thith- 
 er, like a morsel of thistle-down. 
 
 '' See, brother," said she, " we almost fly ! 
 What a glorious thing it is to go on a pil- 
 grimage ! I am glad the beautiful Silver 
 Age has come, and Jupiter has given us 
 leave to take a peep at the world ! " 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 16T 
 
 '*A11 very well for you to say/' moaned 
 Despard ; " you. flit about as if you had 
 wings on your feet; while, as for me, it is 
 true I move with equal speed, but so pain- 
 fully that I wonder my footprints are not 
 stained with blood." 
 
 Soon the children observed, not far off, 
 a party of youths rowing on the bosom of a 
 lake. They sat in a rocking, unsteady little 
 bark, but were in gay spirits, blowing bub- 
 bles, watching idle clouds, and throwing up 
 empty shouts to be caught up and echoed by 
 the hills. 
 
 " I wish we had not seen these happy peo- 
 ple," sighed Despard; ^'for, if you can be- 
 lieve me, sister, I really feel as if I must pelt 
 them with my arrows." 
 
 So saying, little Despard began to fire his 
 poisonous darts at random. 
 
 " Why, brother," cried Goldilocks, in alarm, 
 
168 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 " are you possessed by the furies ? Take 
 care how you aira, or you will surely do mis- 
 chief/' 
 
 Even as she spoke, several of the gay 
 youths dropped to the bottom of the boat, ap- 
 parently wounded. Their companions pushed 
 for the shore ; and Goldilocks almost flew, to 
 pour into the red wounds her brother had 
 made the smooth healing oil from her flask. 
 
 " Poor dears," said she, pitying their pain, 
 " I have done my best ; and, see ! these ugly 
 gashes are almost healed. I cannot promise 
 you, though, that they will not leave scars." 
 
 The youths thanked the sweet girl, and as- 
 sured her it was almost a pleasure to be 
 wounded, if one might be nursed by such 
 gentle hands as hers. But as for Despard, it 
 was hardly strange that they should look 
 upon the poor boy as a wicked little highway- 
 man ; or, at best, a saucy, careless fellow. 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 169 
 
 Some of the older youths, however, patted 
 him on the shoulder, and said, '' For your 
 sweet sister's sake we can even endure 
 your pranks." 
 
 " Do not despise me," said the boy, sadly ; 
 " for as I am moved, so must I do. Not for 
 the whole world would I fire a poisonous 
 arrow, if the mighty Jove did not compel 
 me." 
 
 As they walked on, Despard, against his 
 will, flung into the air a quantity of winged 
 torments, which he found stowed away in his 
 wallet, such as gnats, wasps, and flies. 
 
 "There, now," said sweet Goldilocks, 
 ready to weep, " why could you not look be- 
 fore you, and see those pretty children play- 
 ing yonder in that fragrant meadow ? " 
 
 " I saw them," said Despard ; " but what 
 good did that do ? " 
 
 " brother, I wish the Golden Age would 
 
170 FAIRT BOOK. 
 
 come again, and then you would cease scat- 
 tering mischief and trouble." 
 
 The little ones, suddenly stopped in their 
 play by the army of insects, ran hither and 
 thither over the meadow, screaming with 
 pain. But Goldilocks appeared in the midst 
 of them, with her shining hair, violet eyes, 
 and laugh like the music of a spring robin. 
 
 " Come to me," said she ; " let me kiss 
 away the stings." 
 
 In a very short space the children were 
 soothed, and had forgotten their trouble. 
 Then they threw their little arms about Goldi- 
 locks' neck, and begged her to stay and play 
 with them. 
 
 " Sweet children, it is my mission, — so the 
 stars say, — to travel all over this world, 
 from north to south. But, for all that, I will 
 frolic with you till the sun sets." 
 
 ''Will the sad boy come too? " asked the 
 children. 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 171 
 
 Goldilocks shook her bright curls. *' He 
 is planting a garden/' said she ; '^ no need to 
 ask him ; he hears nothing while he is at 
 play, and his games are as solemn as mid- 
 night." 
 
 The children made believe that the beauti- 
 ful Goldilocks, in her rose-colored dress, with 
 her beaming hair and flying feet, was a great 
 butterfly, which they were trying to catch. 
 Now here, now there, the glowing butterfly 
 flitted from flower to flower, leading her fol- 
 lowers a merry chase. Every child thought 
 to seize and hold her, for a kiss. She 
 laughed ; and the breezes danced with her 
 hair, like — 
 
 " Zephyr witli Aurora playing, 
 As he met her once a-Maying." 
 
 But before any one had kissed or even 
 touched her, she had disappeared, leaving 
 
172 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 the children gazing into the air, and seeking 
 their late companion with tearful eyes. 
 
 Goldilocks had only gone back to Despard, 
 who was still planting flower-seeds. 
 
 " What a miserable game," said Goldi- 
 locks ; ''it is worse than playing funeral I 
 Who thought you could make flowers grow ? 
 Our old nurse said it was only Demeter, the 
 goddess, who could do that. Here, now, you 
 have called up a bristling crop of thistles 
 and brambles ! On my word, Despard, it is a 
 pity!" 
 
 " Well, well, Goldilocks, see what you can 
 make of them. I am doomed to work, 
 though I don't wish it ; and my work is 
 always disagreeable, though I can't tell 
 why ! '^ 
 
 Goldilocks knelt, and blew on the prickly 
 plants with her sweet breath. By the nod- 
 ding of the next breeze, they were changed 
 to roses, violets, and hare-bells. 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 173 
 
 *^It is pleasant to see any thing smile, 
 even a flower/' said Goldilocks, laughing as 
 she spoke. 
 
 "I think/' replied Despard, " that this is a 
 strange pilgrimage. I believe our very 
 thoughts are alive. I wish I could stop 
 thinking." 
 
 By and by they came to a rude house, — as 
 fine a one, though, as people in the Silver 
 Age had yet learned how to build. Despard 
 paused, and knocked gently. ''Why linger 
 here ? " whispered his sister. 
 
 " I know not," sighed the boy, " but so 
 must I do." 
 
 *' How now, little ones ? you startled me 
 so ! " cried a woman, opening the door by the 
 width of a crack. 
 
 "Let us come in/' said Despard, sorrow- 
 fully; ''we are two little wanderers; and our 
 hairs are wet with night-dews." 
 
174 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 *' Come in, then, little ones, and welcome ; 
 but never, at any one's door, knock so loud 
 again," added the woman, pressing her hand 
 against her heart. 
 
 " I only tapped with the ends of my fin- 
 gers," said the boy. 
 
 " Ah," said the woman, " it was louder to 
 me than thunder." Then, after she had set 
 before them a supper of bread and milk, she 
 rocked her baby, and sang to it a sweet cradle- 
 song about mother Juno j,nd high Olympus. 
 
 The children lay down on beds of rushes ; 
 and Goldilocks, soothed by the lullaby, fell 
 asleep ; but soon awoke, and saw her brother 
 leaning, on tiptoe, over the osier basket. 
 The baby's face looked, in the moonlight, 
 white and pinched; and its sick hands were 
 pressed together like two withered rose- 
 leaves. 
 
 ^' Let me kiss him," whispered Goldilocks 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 175 
 
 smiling. But bitter tears rolled down Des- 
 pard's cheeks. Drawing his little sword 
 from its sheath, he pricked the baby's- heart 
 till one red drop, the life-drop, stained the 
 steel. The sick baby ceased to breathe. 
 
 '' Despard, what have you done?" cried 
 Goldilocks, seizing his arm. 
 
 "I know not," said the boy; "but as my 
 heart moves me, so must I do." 
 
 Hearing voices, the mother awoke, and, as 
 her habit was, turned at once to the cradle. 
 The baby lay there beautiful and still ; the 
 pinched look gone, and its furrowed brow 
 smoothed into a baby's smile. The mother 
 wept bitterly. 
 
 "Ah, little stranger," said she, turning to 
 Despard, " I knew you when I let you in. 
 Why did I open the door for you ? " 
 
 " Poor mother," said the boy sorrowfully, 
 " if you had not opened the door, I must have 
 come in by the window." 
 
176 FAIRY BOOK. 
 
 But Groldilocks threw her soft arms about 
 the woman's neck, and comforted her till it 
 was morning, and the '^ gilded car of day " 
 had risen from the ocean. The tears on her 
 cheeks she dried with her fan, made of magi- 
 cal feathers. 
 
 When the children set out again on their 
 journey, the woman gave Goldilocks a loving 
 kiss, and then embraced Despard, saying, — 
 
 " For the sake of your sweet sister, I love 
 even you." 
 
 " Poor little brother,'' said Goldilocks when 
 they had gone farther on their journey, " you 
 are as good as I ; but how is it ? you make 
 people weep, while I must go with you to 
 dry the tears you call forth." 
 
 ''I am a black cloud," groaned Despard, 
 *^you a sunbeam." 
 
 '* But I like to have a cloud to shine on," 
 said loving li4:tle Goldilocks. 
 
GOLDILOCKS. 177 
 
 Footsore and weary, the little pilgrims 
 travelled on ; and, when they had gone from 
 north to south, and back again, the. Sihylmet 
 them with tender kisses; and; when they 
 were refreshed, bade them go forth again; 
 
 <? For," said she, ^' this Avorld is always 
 new, my dears. The people who are born to- 
 day were not here yesterday ; and every 
 mortal must see the faces of my foster-chil- 
 dren." 
 
 It was now the Brazen Age, and Despard 
 and Goldilocks had grown to be a youth and 
 maiden ; but still they travelled on. The 
 Iron Age came ; and Despard's raven hair 
 was frosted ; but Goldilocks' curls never 
 faded. Let her live as long as live she may, 
 she can never grow old. 
 
 Their pilgrimage is not over yet ; nor will 
 it bo while the earth revolves about the sun,. 
 
 12 
 
178 FxURY BOOK. 
 
 The brother and sister come to every liouse ; 
 they knock at every door. 
 
 To all the children who open their eyes 
 upon the light, come Despard and Goldilocks, 
 the bitter and the sweet of life, the twin an- 
 gels of HapjDiness and Sorrow. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY