8-Hour Sleep Track: Night Of Enchantment: Select Fairy Tales

Whatever kind of a day you've had,

It's time to switch off now.

There's no where you need to be except here.

There's no one you have to deal with right now.

You've nothing to do except listen to my voice and let yourself gradually settle while your busy mind,

Hard at work all day,

Finds a simple and rewarding focus in tonight's story.

So whether you're sitting or lying,

Go right ahead and make yourself really comfortable and we'll begin.

The Tsar of the Sea.

In Novgorod,

In the old days,

There was a young man,

Just a boy he was,

The son of a rich merchant who had lost all his money and died.

His name was Sadko.

Sadko was very poor.

He had not a copeck in the world,

Except what people gave him when he played his dulcimer for their dancing.

He had blue eyes and curling hair and he was strong and would have been merry.

But it is dull work playing for other folk to dance and Sadko dared not dance with any young girl for he had no money to marry on and he didn't want to be chased away as a beggar.

And the young women of Novgorod,

They never looked at the handsome Sadko.

No,

They smiled with their bright eyes at the young men who danced with them and if they ever spoke to Sadko,

It was just to tell him sharply,

To keep the music going or to play faster.

So Sadko made do with half a loaf when he couldn't get a whole and with crust when he had no crumb.

He didn't mind so very much what came to him so long as he could play his dulcimer and walk along the banks of the little river Volkov that flows by Novgorod or on the shores of the lake making music for himself and seeing the pale mists rise over the water and dawn or sunset across the shining river.

There is no girl in all Novgorod as pretty as my little river,

He used to say,

And night after night he would sit by the banks of the river or on the shores of the lake playing the dulcimer and singing to himself.

Sometimes he helped the fishermen on the lake and they would give him a little fish for his supper in payment for his strong young arms.

And it happened that one evening the fishermen asked him to watch their nets for them on the shore while they went off to take their fish to sell them in the square at Novgorod.

Sadko sat on the shore on a rock and played his dulcimer and sang.

Very sweetly he sang of the fair lake and the lovely river,

The little river that he thought prettier than all the girls of Novgorod.

And while he was singing he saw a whirlpool in the lake,

Little waves flying from it across the water and in the middle a hollow down into the water.

And in the hollow he saw the head of a great man with blue hair and a gold crown.

He knew that this huge man was the Tsar of the sea and the man came nearer walking up out of the depths of the lake.

A huge great man,

A very giant with blue hair falling to his waist over his broad shoulders.

The little waves ran from him in all directions as he came striding up out of the water.

Sadko didn't know whether to run or stay but the Tsar of the sea called out to him in a great voice like wind and water in a storm.

Sadko of Novgorod,

You have played and sung many days by the side of this lake and on the banks of the little river Volkov.

My daughters love your music and draw it in and it has pleased me too.

Throw out a net into the water and the waters will pay you for your singing.

And if you are satisfied with the payment you must come and play to us down in the green palace of the sea.

With that the Tsar of the sea went down again into the waters of the lake.

The waves closed over him with a roar and presently the lake was as smooth and calm as it had ever been.

Sadko thought and said to himself,

Well there's no harm done in casting out a net,

Though he threw a net out into the lake.

He sat down again and played on his dulcimer and sang and when he had finished his singing the dusk had fallen and the moon shone over the lake.

He put down his dulcimer and took hold of the ropes of the net and began to draw it up out of the silver water.

Easily the ropes came and the net came too,

Dripping and glittering in the moonlight.

I was dreaming,

Said Sadko.

I was asleep when I saw the Tsar of the sea.

There is nothing in the net at all.

But then just as the last of the net was coming ashore he did see something in it,

Square and dark.

He dragged it out and found it was a coffer.

He opened the coffer and it was full of precious stones,

Green,

Red,

Gold,

Gleaming in the light of the moon.

Diamonds shone there like little bundles of sharp knives.

There can be no harm in taking these stones,

Said Sadko,

Whether I dreamed them or not.

He took the coffer on his shoulder and bent onto the weight of it,

Strong though he was.

He put it in a safe place.

All night he sat and watched by the nets and played and sang and planned what he would do.

In the morning the fishermen came laughing and merry after their night in Novgorod and they gave him a little fish for watching their nets and he made a fire on the shore and cooked it and ate it as he used to do.

And that is my last meal as a poor man,

Says Sadko.

Ah me,

Who knows if I shall be happier.

Then he set the coffer on his shoulder and tramped away for Novgorod.

Who is that,

They asked at the gates.

Only Sadko the dulcimer player,

He replied.

Turned porter,

Said they.

One trade is as good as another,

Said Sadko and he walked into the city.

He sold a few of the stones,

Two at a time,

And with what he got for them,

He set up a booth in the market.

Small things led to great and he was soon one of the richest traders and now there was not a girl in the town who could look too sweetly at Sadko.

He has golden hair,

Says one.

Blue eyes like the sea,

Says another.

He could lift the world on his shoulders.

A little money,

You see,

Opens everybody's eyes.

But Sadko was not changed.

Still he walked and played by the little river Volkov.

When work was done and the traders gone,

Sadko would take his dulcimer and play and sing on the banks of the river.

And still,

He said,

There is no girl in all Novgorod as pretty as my little river.

Every time he came back from his long voyages,

For he was trading far and near like the greatest of merchants,

He went at once to the banks of the river to see how his sweet art fared.

And always he brought some little present for her.

He threw it into the waves.

For 12 years he lived,

Unmarried,

In Novgorod and every year made voyages,

Buying and selling and always growing richer and richer.

Many were the mothers in Novgorod who would have liked to see him married to their daughters.

Many were the pillows that were wet with the tears of the young girls as they thought of the blue eyes of Sadko and his golden hair.

And then,

In the 12th year since he walked into Novgorod with the coffer on his shoulder,

He was sailing in a ship on the Caspian Sea,

Far,

Far away.

For many days the ship sailed on and Sadko sat on deck and played his dulcimer and sang of Novgorod and of the little river Volkov that flows under the walls of the town.

Blue was the Caspian Sea and the waves were like furrows in a field,

Long lines of white under the steady wind,

While the sails swelled and the ship shot over the water.

And suddenly the ship stopped.

In the middle of the sea,

Far from land,

The ship stopped and trembled in the waves,

As if she were held by a big hand.

We are aground,

Cried the sailors,

And the captain,

The Great One,

Tells them to take soundings.

Seventy fathoms by the bow it was and seventy fathoms by the stern.

We are not aground,

Says the captain,

Unless there is a rock sticking up like a needle in the middle of the Caspian Sea.

There is magic in this,

Say the sailors.

Hoist more sails,

Says the captain,

And up go the white sails,

Swelling out in the wind while the masts bend and creak.

But still the ship lies shivering and doesn't move out there in the middle of the sea.

Hoist more sail yet,

Says the captain,

And up go the white sails,

Swelling and tugging while the masts creak and groan.

But still the ship lay there shivering and did not move.

There is an unlucky one aboard,

Says an old sailor.

We must draw lots and find him and throw him overboard into the sea.

The other sailors agreed to this and still Sadko sat and played his dulcimer and sang.

The sailors cut pieces of string all of a length,

As many as there were souls in the ship,

And one of those strings they cut in half.

Then they made them into a bundle and each man plucked one string and Sadko stopped his playing for a moment to pluck a string and his was the string that had been cut in half.

Magician,

Sorcerer,

Unclean one,

Shouted the sailors.

Not so,

Said Sadko.

I remember now an old promise I made and I keep it willingly.

He took his dulcimer in his hand and leapt from the ship into the blue Caspian Sea.

The waves had scarcely closed over his head before the ship shot forward again and flew over the waves like a swan's feather and came in the end safely to her harbour.

Sadko dropped into the waves and the waves closed over him.

Down he sank,

Like a pebble thrown into a pool,

Down and down.

First the water blue,

Then green and strange fish with goggle eyes and golden fins swam round him as he sank.

He came at last to the bottom of the sea and there on the bottom of the sea was a palace built of green wood.

Yes,

All the timbers of all the ships that have been wrecked in all the seas of the world are in that palace and they are all green and cunningly fitted together so that the palace is worth a 10 days journey only to see it.

And in front of the palace,

Sadko saw two big knobbly sturgeons,

Each 150 feet long,

Lashing their tails and guarding the gates.

Now,

Sturgeons are the oldest of all fish and these were the oldest of all sturgeons.

Sadko walked between the sturgeons and through the gates of the palace.

Inside there was a great hall and the Tsar of the Sea lay resting in the hall with his gold crown on his head and his blue hair floating around him in the water and his great body covered with scales lying along the hall.

The Tsar of the Sea filled the hall and there is room in that hall for a village and there were fish swimming this way and that in and out of the windows.

Ah,

Sadko,

Says the Tsar of the Sea,

You took what the sea gave you but you have been a long time in coming to sing in the palaces of the sea.

Twelve years I have lain here waiting for you.

Great Tsar,

Forgive,

Says Sadko.

Sing now,

Says the Tsar of the Sea and his voice was like the beating of waves and Sadko played on his dulcimer and sang.

He sang of Novgorod and of the little river Volkov which he loved.

It was in his song that none of the girls of Novgorod were as pretty as the little river and there was the sound of wind over the lake in his song,

The sound of ripples under the prow of a boat,

The sound of ripples on the shore,

The sound of the river flowing past the tall reeds,

The whispering sound of the river at night and all the time he played cunningly on the dulcimer.

The girls of Novgorod had never danced to so sweet a tune when in the old days Sadko played his dulcimer to earn kopecks and crusts of bread.

Never had the Tsar of the Sea heard such music.

I would dance,

Said the Tsar of the Sea and he stood up like a tall tree in the hall.

Play on,

Said the Tsar of the Sea and he strode through the gates.

The sturgeons guarding the gates stirred the water with their tails.

And if the Tsar of the Sea was huge in the hall,

He was huger still when he stood outside on the bottom of the sea.

He grew taller and taller,

Towering like a mountain.

His feet were like small hills.

His blue hair hung down to his waist and he was covered with green scales.

And he began to dance on the bottom of the sea.

Great was that dancing.

The sea boiled and ships went down.

The waves rolled as big as houses.

The sea overflowed its shores and whole towns were underwater as the Tsar danced mightily on the bottom of the sea.

Hither and thither rushed the waves and the very earth shook at the dancing of that tremendous Tsar.

He danced till he was tired and then he came back to the Palace of Greenwood and passed the sturgeons and shrank into himself and came through the gates into the hall where Sadko still played on his dulcimer and sang.

You have played well and given me pleasure,

Says the Tsar of the Sea.

I have 30 daughters and you shall choose one and marry her and be a Prince of the Sea.

Better than all maidens,

I love my little river,

Says Sadko.

And the Tsar of the Sea laughed and threw his head back with his blue hair floating all over the hall.

And then there came in the 30 daughters of the Tsar of the Sea.

Beautiful they were,

Lovely and graceful,

But 29 of them passed by and Sadko fingered his dulcimer and thought of his little river.

There came in the 30th and Sadko cried out aloud,

Here is the only maiden in the world as pretty as my little river.

And she looked at him with eyes that shone like stars reflected in the river.

Her hair was dark like the river at night.

She laughed and her voice was like the flowing of the river.

And what is the name of your little river,

Says the Tsar.

It is the little river Volkov that flows by Novgorod,

Says Sadko,

But your daughter is as fair as the little river and I would gladly marry her if she will have me.

It is a strange thing,

Says the Tsar,

But Volkov is the name of my youngest daughter.

He put Sadko's hand in the hand of his youngest daughter and they kissed each other.

And as they kissed,

Sadko saw a necklace round her neck and knew it for one he had thrown into the river as a present for his sweetheart.

And as they kissed,

Sadko saw a necklace round her neck and knew it for one he had thrown into the river as a present for his sweetheart.

She smiled and come,

Says she,

And took him away to a palace of her own and showed him a coffer and in that coffer were bracelets and rings and earrings,

All the gifts that he had thrown into the river.

And Sadko laughed for joy and kissed the of the Tsar of the Sea and she kissed him back.

Oh my little river,

Says he,

There is no girl in all the world but thou as pretty as my little river.

Well,

They were married and the Tsar of the Sea laughed at the wedding feast till the palace shook and the fish swam off in all directions.

And after the feast,

Sadko and his bride went off together to her palace and before they slept,

She kissed him very tenderly and said,

Oh Sadko,

You will not forget me,

You will play to me sometimes and sing.

I shall never lose sight of you,

My pretty one,

Says he,

And as for music,

I will sing and play all day long.

That's as may be,

Says she,

And they fell asleep.

And in the middle of the night,

Sadko happened to turn in bed and he touched the princess with his left foot and she was cold,

Cold,

Cold as ice in January.

And with that touch of cold,

He woke and he was lying under the walls of Novgorod with his dulcimer in his hand and one of his feet was in the little river Volkhov and the moon was shining.

Salt.

Once upon a time there were three brothers and their father was a great merchant who sent his ships far over the sea and traded here and there in countries the names of which I,

Being an old woman,

Can never rightly call to mind.

Well,

The names of the two elder brothers do not matter,

But the youngest was called Ivan the Ninny because he was always playing and never working and if there was a silly thing to do,

Why,

Off he went and did it.

And so when the brothers grew up,

The father sent the two elder ones off,

Each in a fine ship laden with gold and jewels and rings and bracelets and laces and silks and sticks with little bits of silver hammered into their handles and spoons with patterns of blue and red.

But he made Ivan the Ninny stay at home and didn't give him a ship at all.

Ivan saw his brothers go sailing off over the sea on a summer morning to make their fortunes and come back rich men and then for the first time in his life he wanted to work and to do something useful.

He went to his father and kissed his hand and he kissed the hand of his little old mother and he begged his father to give him a ship so that he could try his fortune like his brothers.

But you've never done a wise thing in your life and no one could count all the silly things you've done if you spent a hundred days in counting,

Said his father.

True,

Said Ivan,

But now I am going to be wise and sail the sea and come back with something in my pockets to show that I'm not a Ninny any longer.

Give me just a little ship father mine,

Just a little ship for myself.

Give him a little ship,

Said the mother.

He may not be a Ninny after all.

Very well,

Said his father,

I will give him a little ship but I'm not going to waste good roubles by giving him a rich cargo.

Give me any cargo you like,

Said Ivan.

So his father gave him a little ship,

A little old ship and a cargo of rags and scraps and things that were not fit for anything but to be thrown away and he gave him a crew of ancient old sailor men who were past work and Ivan went on board and sailed away at sunset like the Ninny he was and the feeble ancient old sailor men pulled up the ragged dirty sails and away they went over the sea to learn what fortune,

Good or bad,

God had in mind for a crew of old men with a Ninny for a master.

The fourth day after they set sail there came a great wind over the sea.

The feeble old men did the best they could with the ship but the old torn sails tore from the masts and the wind did what it pleased and threw the little ship on an unknown island away in the middle of the sea.

Then the wind dropped and left the little ship on the beach and Ivan the Ninny and his ancient old men,

Like good Russians praising God that they were still alive.

Well children,

Said Ivan,

For he knew how to talk to sailors.

Do you stay here and mend the sails and make new ones out of the rags we carry as cargo while I go inland and see if there is anything that could be of use to us?

The ancient old sailor men sat on deck with their legs crossed and made sails out of rags,

Of torn scraps of old brocades,

Of soiled embroidered shawls,

Of all the rubbish that they had with them.

You never saw such sails.

The tide came up and floated the ship and they threw out anchors at Bow and Stern and sat there in the sunlight making sails and patching them and talking of the days when they were young.

All this while Ivan the Ninny went walking off into the island.

Now in the middle of that island was a high mountain,

A high mountain it was,

And so white that when he came near it,

Ivan the Ninny began thinking of sheepskin coats,

Although it was midsummer and the sun was hot in the sky.

The trees were green round about but there was nothing growing on the mountain at all.

It was just a great white mountain piled up into the sky in the middle of a green island.

Ivan walked a little way up the white slopes of the mountain and then,

Because he felt thirsty,

He thought he would let a little snow melt in his mouth.

He took some in his fingers and stuffed it in.

Quickly enough it came out again,

I can tell you,

For the mountain was not made of snow but of good Russian salt,

And if you want to try what a mouthful of salt is like,

You may.

Ivan the Ninny did not stop to think twice.

The salt was so clean and shone so brightly in the sunlight.

He just turned round and ran back to the shore and called out to his ancient old sailor man and told them to empty everything they had on board over into the sea.

Over it all went,

Rags and tags and rotten timbers,

Till the little ship was as empty as a soup bowl after supper.

And then those ancient old men were set to work carrying salt from the mountain and taking it on board the little ship and stowing it away below deck till there was not room for another grain.

Ivan the Ninny would have liked to take the whole mountain but there was not room in the little ship and for that the ancient old sailor man thanked God because their backs ached and their old legs were weak and they said they would have died if they'd had to carry any more.

Then they hoisted up the new sails they had patched together out of rags and scraps of shawls and old brocades and they sailed away once more over the blue sea.

And the wind stood fair and they sailed before it and the ancient old sailors rested their backs and told old tales and took turn and turn about at the rodder.

And after many days sailing they came to a town with towers and churches and painted roofs all set on the side of a hill that sloped down into the sea.

At the foot of the hill was a quiet harbour and they sailed in there and moored the ship and hauled down their patchwork sails.

Ivan the Ninny went ashore and took with him a little bag of clean white salt to show what kind of goods he had for sale and he asked his way to the palace of the Tsar of that town.

He came to the palace and went in and bowed to the ground before the Tsar.

Who are you?

Says the Tsar.

I great lord am a Russian merchant and here in a bag is some of my merchandise and I beg your leave to trade with your subjects in this town.

Let me see what is in the bag says the Tsar.

Ivan the Ninny took a handful from the bag and showed it to the Tsar.

What is it?

Says the Tsar.

Good Russian salt says Ivan the Ninny.

Now in that country they had never heard of salt and the Tsar looked at the salt and he looked at Ivan and he laughed.

Why this says he is nothing but white dust and that we can pick up for nothing.

The men of my town have no need to trade with you.

You must be a Ninny.

Ivan grew very red for he knew what his father used to call him.

He was ashamed to say anything so he bowed to the ground and went away out of the palace.

But when he was outside he thought to himself I wonder what sort of salt they use in these parts if they do not know good Russian salt when they see it.

I will go to the kitchen.

So he went round to the back door of the palace and put his head into the kitchen and said I am very tired.

May I sit down here and rest a little while?

Come in says one of the cooks but you must sit just there and not put even your little finger in the way of us for we are the Tsar's cooks and we are in the middle of making ready his dinner.

And the cook put a stool in a corner out of the way and Ivan slipped in round the door and sat down in the corner and looked about him.

There were seven cooks at least boiling and baking,

Stewing and toasting,

Roasting and frying and as for scullions they were thick as cockroaches.

Dozens of them running to and fro tumbling over each other and helping the cooks.

Ivan the Ninny sat on his stool with his legs tucked under him and the bag of salt on his knees.

He watched the cooks and the scullions but he didn't see them put anything in the dishes which he thought could take the place of salt.

No the meat was without salt,

The kasha was without salt and there was no salt in the potatoes.

Ivan nearly turned sick at the thought of the tastelessness of all that food.

There came the moment when all the cooks and scullions ran out of the kitchen to fetch the silver platters on which to lay the dishes.

Ivan slipped down from his stool and running from stove to stove,

From saucepan to frying pan,

He dropped a pinch of salt,

Just what was wanted no more nor less,

In every one of the dishes.

Then he ran back to the stool in the corner and sat there and watched the dishes being put on the silver platters and carried off in gold embroidered napkins to be the dinner of the Tsar.

The Tsar sat at table and took his first spoonful of soup.

This soup is very good today,

Says he and he finishes the soup to the last drop.

I've never known the soup so good,

Says the Tsaritsa and she finishes hers.

This is the best soup I ever tasted,

Says the princess and down goes hers and she you know was the prettiest princess who ever had dinner in this world.

It was the same with the kasha and the same with the meat.

The Tsar and the Tsaritsa and the princess wondered why they had never had so good a dinner in all their lives before.

Call the cooks,

Says the Tsar and they called the cooks and the cooks all came in and bowed to the ground and stood in a row before the Tsar.

What did you put in the dishes today that you never put before,

Says the Tsar.

We put nothing unusual,

Your greatness,

Say the cooks and bowed to the ground again.

Then why do the dishes taste better?

We do not know your greatness,

Say the cooks.

Call the scullions,

Says the Tsar and the scullions were called and they too bowed to the ground and stood in a row before the Tsar.

What was done in the kitchen today that has not been done there before,

Says the Tsar.

Nothing,

Your greatness,

Say all the scullions except one and that one scullion kept on bowing and then he said,

Please your greatness,

Please great lord,

There is usually none in the kitchen but ourselves.

But today there was a young Russian merchant who sat on the stool in the corner and said he was tired.

Call the merchant,

Says the Tsar.

So they brought in Ivan the Ninny and he bowed before the Tsar and stood there with his little bag of salt in his hand.

Did you do anything to my dinner,

Says the Tsar.

I did your greatness,

Says Ivan.

What did you do?

I put a pinch of Russian salt in every dish.

That white dust,

Says the Tsar,

Nothing but that.

Have you got any more of it?

I have a little ship in the harbour laden with nothing else,

Says Ivan.

It is the most wonderful dust in the world,

Says the Tsar and I will buy every grain of it that you have.

What do you want for it?

Ivan the Ninny scratched his head and thought.

He thought that if the Tsar liked it as much as all that,

It must be worth a fair price.

So he said,

We will put the salt into bags and for every bag of salt you must give me three bags of the same weight.

One of gold,

One of silver and one of precious stones.

Cheaper than that your greatness,

I could not possibly sell.

Agreed,

Says the Tsar and a cheap price too for a dust so full of magic that it makes dull dishes tasty and tasty dishes so good that there is no looking away from them.

So all day long and far into the night the ancient old sailor men bent their backs under sacks of salt and bent them again under sacks of gold and silver and precious stones.

When all the salt had been put in the treasury,

Yes with twenty soldiers guarding it with great swords shining in the moonlight and when the little ship was loaded with riches so that even the deck was piled high with precious stones,

The ancient old man lay down among the jewels and slept till morning when Ivan the Ninny went to bid goodbye to the Tsar.

And whither shall you sail now?

Asked the Tsar.

I shall sail away to Russia in my little ship,

Says Ivan.

And the princess who was very beautiful said,

A little Russian ship?

Yes,

Says Ivan.

I have never seen a Russian ship,

Says the princess and she begs her father to let her go to the harbour with her nurses and maids to see the little Russian ship before Ivan sets sail.

She came with Ivan to the harbour and the ancient old sailor men took them on board.

She ran all over the ship looking now at this and now at that and Ivan told to the names of everything,

Deck,

Mast and rudder.

May I see the sails?

She asked and the ancient old man hoisted the ragged sails and the wind filled the sails and tugged.

Why doesn't the ship move when the sails are up?

Asked the princess.

Haul up the anchor my children and show it to the princess,

Says Ivan to the ancient old sailor men.

And the old man hauled up the anchor and showed it to the princess and she said it was a very good little anchor.

But of course as soon as the anchor was up the ship began to move.

One of the ancient old men bent over the tiller and with a fair wind behind her the little ship slipped out of the harbour and away to the blue sea.

When the princess looked around thinking it was time to go home the little ship was far from land and away in the distance she could see the gold towers of her father's palace glittering like pinpoints in the sunlight.

Her nurses and maids wrung their hands and made an outcry and the princess sat down on a heap of jewels and put a handkerchief to her eyes and cried and cried and cried.

Ivan the Ninny took her hands and comforted her and told her of the wonders of the sea that he would show her and the wonders of the land and she looked up at him while he talked and his eyes were very kind and hers were sweet and the end of it was that they were both very well content and agreed to have a marriage feast as soon as the little ship should bring them to the home of Ivan's father.

Merry was that voyage.

All day long Ivan and the princess sat on deck and said sweet things to each other and at twilight they sang songs and drank tea and told stories.

As for the nurses and maids the princess told them to be glad and so they danced and clapped their hands and ran about the ship and teased the ancient old sailor man.

When they had been sailing many days the princess was looking out over the sea and she cried out to Ivan,

See over there far away are two big ships with white sails not like our sails of brocade and bits of silk.

Ivan looked shading his eyes with his hands,

Why those are the ships of my elder brothers said he,

We shall all sail home together.

And he made the ancient old sailor men give a hail in their cracked old voices and the brothers heard them and came on board to greet Ivan and his bride and when they saw that she was Azar's daughter and that the very decks were heaped with precious stones because there was no room below they said one thing to Ivan and something else to each other.

To Ivan they said thanks be to God he has given you good trading but to each other how can this be says one Ivan the Ninny bringing back such a cargo while we and our fine ships have only a bag or two of gold and what is Ivan the Ninny doing with the princess says the other and they ground their teeth and waited their time and came up suddenly when Ivan was alone in the twilight and picked him up by his head and his heels and hove him overboard into the dark blue sea.

Not one of the old men had seen them and the princess was not on deck.

In the morning they said that Ivan the Ninny must have walked overboard in his sleep and they drew lots.

The eldest brother took the princess and the second brother took the little ship laden with gold and silver and precious stones and so the brothers sailed home very well content but the princess sat and wept all day long looking down into the blue water.

The elder brother could not comfort her and the second brother did not try and the ancient old sailor man muttered in their beards and was sorry and prayed to God to give rest to Ivan's soul for although he had been a Ninny and although he had made them carry a lot of salt and other things yet they loved him because he knew how to talk to ancient old sailor man.

But Ivan was not dead.

As soon as he splashed into the water he crammed his fur hat a little tighter on his head and began swimming in the sea.

He swam about until the sun rose and then not far away he saw a floating timber log and he swam to the log and got astride of it and thanked God and he sat there on the log in the middle of the sea twiddling his thumbs for want of something to do.

There was a strong current in the sea that carried him along and at last after floating for many days without ever a bite for his teeth or a drop for his gullet his feet touched land.

Now that was at night and he left the log and walked up out of the sea and lay down on the shore and waited for morning.

When the sun rose he stood up and saw that he was on a bare island and he saw nothing at all on the island except a huge house as big as a mountain and as he was looking at the house the great door creaked with a noise like that of a hurricane among the pine forests and opened and a giant came walking out and came to the shore and stood there looking down at Ivan.

What are you doing here little one says the giant.

Ivan told him the whole story just as I have told you.

The giant listened to the very end bullying at his monstrous whiskers then he said listen little one I know more of your story than you for I can tell you that tomorrow morning your eldest brother is going to marry your princess but there is no need for you to take on about it.

If you want to be there I will carry you and set you down before the house in time for the wedding and a fine wedding it is like to be for your father thinks well of those brothers of yours bringing back all those precious stones and silver and gold enough to buy a kingdom and with that he picked up Ivan the ninny and set him on his great shoulders and set off striding through the sea.

He went so fast that the wind of his going blew off Ivan's hat.

Stop a moment shouts Ivan my hat has blown off.

We can't turn back for that says the giant we have already left your hat 500 verses behind us and he rushed on splashing through the sea the sea was up to his armpits he rushed on and the sea was up to his waist he rushed on and before the sun had climbed to the top of the blue sky he was splashing up out of the sea with the water about his ankles he lifted Ivan from his shoulders and set him on the ground now says he little man off you run and you'll be in time for the feast but don't you dare boast about riding on my shoulders if you open your mouth about that you'll smart for it if i have to come ten thousand thousand firsts Ivan the ninny thanked the giant for carrying him through the sea promised that he would not boast and then ran off to his father's house long before he got there he heard the musicians in the courtyard playing as if they wanted to wear out their instruments before night the wedding feast had begun and when Ivan ran in there at the high board was sitting the princess and beside her his eldest brother and there were his father and mother his second brother and all the guests and every one of them was as merry as could be except for the princess and she was as white as the salt he had sold to her father suddenly the blood flushed into her cheeks she saw Ivan in the doorway up she jumped at the high board and cried out there there is my true love not this man who sits beside me at the table here what is this says Ivan's father and in a few minutes he knew the whole story he turned two elder brothers out of doors gave their ships to Ivan married Ivan to the princess and made him his heir and the wedding feast began again and they sent for the ancient old sailor men to take part in it and the ancient old sailor men wept with joy when they saw Ivan and the princess like two sweet pigeons sitting side by side yes and they lifted their flagons with their old shaking hands and cheered with their old cracked voices and poured the wine down their dry old throats there was wine enough and to spare beer too and mead enough to drown a herd of cattle and as the guests drank and grew merry and proud they set to boasting this one bragged of his riches that one of his wife another boasted of his cunning another of his new house another of his strength and this one was angry because they would not let him show how he could lift the table on one hand they all drank Ivan's health and he drank theirs and in the end he could not bear to listen to their proud boasts that's all very well says he but i am the only man in the world who rode on the shoulders of a giant to come to this wedding feast the words were scarcely out of his mouth before there was a tremendous trampling and a roar of a great wind the house shook with the footsteps of the giant as he strode up the giant bent down over the courtyard and looked in at the feast little man little man says he you promised not to boast of me i told you what would come if you did and here you are and have boasted already oh forgive me says Ivan it was the drink that boasted not i what sort of drink is it that knows how to boast says the giant you shall taste it says Ivan and he made his ancient old sailor men roll a great barrel of wine into the yard more than enough for a hundred men and after that a barrel of beer that was as big and then a barrel of mead that was no smaller try the taste of that says Ivan the Ninny well the giant did not wait to be asked twice he lifted the barrel of wine as if it had been a little glass and emptied it down his throat he lifted the barrel of beer as if it had been an acorn and emptied it after the wine then he lifted the barrel of mead as if it had been a very small pea and swallowed every drop of mead that was in it and after that he began stamping about and breaking things houses fell to pieces this way and that and trees were swept flat like grass every step the giant took was followed by the crash of breaking timbers then suddenly he fell flat on his back and slept for three days and three nights he slept without waking at last he opened his eyes just look about you says Ivan and see the damage that you've done and did that little drop of drink make me do all that says the giant well well i can well understand that a drink like that can do a bit of bragging and after that says he looking at the wrecks of houses and all the broken things scattered about after that says he you can boast of me for a thousand years and i'll have nothing against you and he tugged at his great whiskers and wrinkled his eyes and went striding off into the sea and that is the story about salt and how it made a rich man of Ivan the Ninny and besides gave him the prettiest wife in the world and she Azar's daughter the light princess chapter one what no children once upon a time so long ago that i've quite forgotten the date there lived a king and queen who had no children and the king said to himself all the queens of my acquaintance have children some three some seven some as many as 12 and my queen has not one i feel ill used so he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it but she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was then the king grew very cross indeed but the queen pretended to take it all as a joke and a very good one too why don't you have any daughters at least said he i don't say sons that might be too much to expect i am sure dear king i'm very sorry said the queen so you ought to be retorted the king you're not going to make a virtue of that surely but he was not an ill-tempered king really and in any matter of less moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart this however was an affair of state the queen smiled you must have patience with the lady you know dear king said she she was indeed a very nice queen and heartily sorry that she could not oblige the king immediately chapter two won't i just the king tried to have patience but he succeeded very badly it was more than he deserved therefore when at last the queen gave him a daughter as lovely a little princess as ever cried the day drew near when the infant must be christened the king wrote all the invitations with his own hand of course somebody was forgotten now it doesn't generally matter if somebody is forgotten only you must mind who unfortunately the king forgot without intending to forget and so the chance fell upon the princess make me know it which was awkward for the princess was the king's own sister and he ought not to have forgotten her but she'd made herself so disagreeable to the old king their father that he'd forgotten her in making his will so it was no wonder that her brother forgot her in writing his invitations but poor relations don't do anything to keep you in mind of them why don't they the king couldn't see into the garret she lived in could he she was a sour spiteful creature the wrinkles of contempt crossed the wrinkles of peevishness and made her face as full of wrinkles as a pat of butter if ever a king could be justified in forgetting anybody this king was justified in forgetting his sister even at a christening she looked very odd too her forehead was as large as all the rest of her face together and projected over it like a precipice when she was angry her little eyes flushed blue when she hated anybody they shone yellow and green what they looked like when she loved anybody i don't know for i never heard of her loving anybody but herself and i don't think she could have managed that if she hadn't somehow got used to herself but what made it highly imprudent in the king to forget her was that she was awfully clever in fact she was a witch and when she bewitched anybody he very soon had enough of it for she beat all the wicked fairies in wickedness and all the clever ones in cleverness she despised all the modes we read of in history in which offended fairies and witches have taken their revenges and therefore after waiting and waiting in vain for an invitation she made up her mind at last to go without one and make the whole family miserable like a princess she was so she put on her best gown went to the palace was kindly received by the happy monarch who forgot that he'd forgotten her and took her place in the procession procession next to the royal chapel when they were all gathered about the font she contrived to get next to it and throw something into the water after which she maintained a very respectful demeanor till the water was applied to the child's face but at that very moment she turned round in her place three times and muttered the following words loud enough for those beside her to hear light of spirit by my charms light of body every part never weary human arms only crush thy parents heart they all thought she'd lost her wits and was repeating some foolish nursery rhyme but a shudder went through the whole lot of them not notwithstanding the baby on the contrary began to laugh and crow while the nurse gave a start and a smothered cry for she thought she was struck with paralysis she couldn't feel the baby in her arms but she clasped it tight and said nothing the mischief was done chapter three she can't be ours her atrocious aunt had deprived the child of all her gravity if you ask me how this was affected i answer in the easiest way in the world she had only to destroy gravitation for the princess was a philosopher i knew all the ins and outs of the laws of gravitation as well as the ins and outs of her boot laces and being a witch as well she could abrogate those laws in a moment or at least so clog their wheels and rust their bearings that they would not work at all but we have more to do with what followed than with how it was done the first awkwardness that resulted from this unhappy privation was that the moment the nurse began to float the baby up and down she flew from her arms towards the ceiling happily the resistance of the air brought her ascending career to a close within a foot of it there she remained horizontal as when she left her nurse's arms kicking and laughing amazingly the nurse in terror flew to the bell and begged the footman who answered it to bring up the house steps directly trembling in every limb she climbed up the steps and had to stand on the very top and reach up before she could catch the floating tail of the baby's long clothes when the strange fact came to be known there was a terrible commotion in the palace the occasion of its discovery by the king was naturally a repetition of the nurse's experience astonished that he felt no weight when the child was laid in his arms he began to wave her up and not down for she slowly ascended to the ceiling as before and and remained there floating in perfect comfort and satisfaction as was testified by her peels of tiny laughter the king stood staring up in speechless amazement and trembled so his beard shook like grass in the wind at last turning to the queen who was just as horror struck as himself he said gasping staring and stammering she can't be ours queen now the queen was much cleverer than the king she had already begun to suspect that this effect defective came by cause i'm sure she's ours answered she but we ought to have taken better care of her at the christening people who were never invited ought not to have been present oh ho said the king tapping his forehead with his forefinger i have it all i've found her out don't you see it queen princess make me know it has bewitched her that's just what i said answered the queen i beg your pardon my love i didn't hear you john bring the steps i get on my throne with for he was a little king with a great throne like many other kings the throne steps were brought and set upon the dining table and john got up upon the top of them but he couldn't reach the little princess who lay like a baby laughter cloud in the air exploding continuously take the tongs john said his majesty and getting up on the table he handed them to him john could reach the baby now and the little princess was handed down by the tongs chapter four where is she one fine summer day a month after these her first adventures during which time she had been very carefully watched the princess was lying on the bed in the queen's own chamber fast asleep one of the windows was open for it was noon and the day was so sultry that the little girl was wrapped in nothing less ethereal than slumber itself the queen came into the room and not observing that the baby was on the bed opened another window a frolic some fairy wind which had been watching for a chance of mischief rushed in at the one window and taking its way over the bed where the child was lying caught her up and rolling and floating her along like a piece of flotsam or a dandelion seed carried her with it through the opposite window and away the queen went downstairs quite ignorant of the loss she had herself occasioned when the nurse returned she supposed that her majesty had carried the girl off and dreading a scolding delayed making inquiry about her but hearing nothing she grew uneasy and went at length to the queen's boudoir where she found her majesty please your majesty shall i take the baby said she where is she asked the queen please forgive me i know it was wrong what do you mean said the queen looking grave oh don't frighten me your majesty exclaimed the nurse clasping her hands the queen saw that something was very amiss and fell down in a faint the nurse rushed about the palace screaming my baby my baby everyone ran to the queen's room but the queen could give no orders they soon found out however that the princess was missing and in a moment the palace was like a beehive in a garden and in one minute more the queen was brought to herself by a great shout and a clapping of hands they'd found the princess fast asleep under a rose bush to which the elvish little windpuff had carried her finishing its mischief by shaking a shower of red rose leaves all over the little white sleeper startled by the noise the servants made she woke and furious with glee scattered the rose leaves in all directions like a shower of spray in the sunset she was watched more carefully after this no doubt yet it would be endless to relate all the odd incidents resulting from this peculiarity of the young princess but there never was a baby in the house not to say a palace that kept the household in such constant good humor at least below stairs if it was not easy for her nurses to hold her at least she made neither the arms nor the heart's ache and she was so nice to play at ball with there was positively no danger of letting her fall they might throw her down or knock her down or push her down but they couldn't let her down it is true they might let her fly into the fire or the coal hole or through the window but none of these accidents had happened as yet if you heard peals of laughter resounding from some unknown region you might be sure enough of the cause going down into the kitchen or the room you would find jane and thomas and robert and susan all and some playing at ball with the little princess she was the ball herself and did not enjoy it the less for that away she went flying from one to another screeching with laughter and the servants loved the ball itself better even than the game but they had to take some care how they threw her for if she received an upward direction she would never come down again without being fetched but above stairs it was different one day for instance after breakfast the king went into his counting house and counted out his money the operation gave him no pleasure to think he said to himself that every one of these gold sovereigns weighs a quarter of an ounce and my real live flesh and blood princess weighs nothing at all and he hated his gold sovereigns as they lay with a broad smile of self-satisfaction all over their yellow faces the queen was in the parlor eating bread and honey but at the second mouthful she burst out crying and could not swallow it the king heard her sobbing glad of anybody but especially of his queen to quarrel with he clashed his gold sovereigns into his money box clapped his crown on his head and rushed into the parlor what is all this about exclaimed he what are you crying for queen i can't eat it said the queen looking ruefully at the honeypot no wonder retorted the king you've just eaten your breakfast two turkey eggs and three anchovies oh that's not it sobbed her majesty it's my child my child well what's the matter with your child she's neither up the chimney nor down the drawer well just here laughing yet the king could not help a sigh which he tried to turn into a cough saying it is a good thing to be light-hearted i'm sure whether she be ours or not it is a bad thing to be light-headed answered the queen looking with prophetic soul far into the future it is a good thing to be light-handed said the king it is a bad thing to be light-fingered answered the queen it is a good thing to be light-footed said the king it is a bad thing began the queen but the king interrupted her in fact he said he with the tone of one who concludes an argument in which he has had only imaginary opponents and in which therefore he has come off triumphant in fact it is a good thing altogether to be light-bodied but it is a bad thing altogether to be light-minded retorted the queen who was beginning to lose her temper this last answer quite discomforted his majesty who turned on his heel and betook himself to his counting house again but he wasn't halfway towards it when the voice of his queen overtook him and it's a bad thing to be light-haired screamed she determined to have more last words now that her spirit was roused the queen's own hair was black as night and the king's had been and his daughter's was golden as morning but it was not this reflection on his hair that arrested him it was the double use of the word light for the king hated all witticisms and punning especially and besides he couldn't tell whether the queen meant light-haired or light-aired for why might she not aspirate her vowels when she was exasperated herself he turned upon his other heel and rejoined her she looked angry still because she knew she was guilty or what was much the same knew that he thought so my dear queen said he duplicity of any sort is exceedingly objectionable between married people of any rank not to say kings and queens and the most objectionable form duplicity can assume is that of punning there said the queen i never made a jest but i broke it in the making i am the most unfortunate woman in the world she looked so rueful that the king took her in his arms and they sat down to consult can you bear this said the king no i can't said the queen well what's to be done said the king i'm sure i don't know said the queen but might you not try an apology to my old sister i suppose you mean said the king yes said the queen well said the king so he went the next morning to the house of the princess and making a very humble apology begged her to undo the spell but the princess declared with a grey face that she knew nothing at all about it her eyes however shone pink which was a sign that she was happy she advised the king and queen to have patience and to mend their ways the king returned disconsolate the queen tried to comfort him we will wait till she's older she may then be able to suggest something herself she will know at least how she feels and explain things to us but what if she should marry exclaimed the king in sudden consternation at the idea well what of that rejoined the queen but just think said the king if she were to have children in the course of a hundred years the air might be as full of floating children as of gossamers in autumn that's no business of ours replied the queen besides by that time they will have learned to take care of themselves a sigh was the king's only answer he would have consulted the court physicians but he was afraid they would try experiments upon her chapter six she laughs too much meantime notwithstanding awkward occurrences and griefs that she brought upon her parents the little princess laughed and grew not fat but plump and tall she reached the age of 17 without having fallen into any worse scrape than a chimney by rescuing from her which a little bird nesting urchin got fame and a black face nor thoughtless as she was had she committed anything worse than laughter at everybody and everything that came her way when she was told for the sake of experiment that general clam run fought was cut to pieces with all his troops she laughed when she heard that the enemy was on his way to besiege her papa's capital she laughed hugely but when she was told the enemy would certainly be abandoned to the mercy of the enemy's soldiery why then she laughed immoderately she never could be brought to see the serious side of anything when her mother cried she said what queer faces mama makes and she squeezes water out of her cheeks funny mama and when her papa stormed at her she laughed and danced round and round him clapping her hands and crying do it again papa do it again it is such fun dear funny papa and if he tried to catch her she glided from him in an instant not in the least afraid of him but thinking it part of the game not to be caught with one push of her foot she would be floating in the air above his head or she would go dancing backwards and forwards and sideways like a great butterfly it happened several times when her father and mother were holding a consultation about her in private that they were interrupted by vainly repressed outbursts of laughter over their heads and looking up with indignation saw her floating at full length in the air above them whence she regarded them with the most comical appreciation of the position one day an awkward accident happened the princess had come out upon the lawn with one of her attendants who held her by the hand spying her father at the other side of the lawn she snatched her hand from the maids and sped across to him now when she wanted to run alone her custom was to catch up a stone in each hand so that she might come down again after a bound whatever she wore as part of her attire had no effect in this way even gold when it thus became as it were a part of herself lost all its weight for the time but whatever she only held in her hands retained its downward tendency on this occasion she could see nothing to catch up but a huge toad that was walking across the lawn as if he had a hundred years to do so not knowing what disgust meant for this was one of her peculiarities she snatched up the toad and bounded away she had almost reached her father and he was holding out his arms to receive her and take from her lips the kiss which hovered on them like a butterfly on a rosebud when a puff of wind blew her aside into the arms of a young page who had just been receiving a message from his majesty now it was no great peculiarity in the princess that once she was set going it always cost her time and trouble to check herself on this occasion there was no time she must kiss and she kissed the page she didn't mind it much for she had no shyness in her composition and she knew besides that she couldn't help it so she only laughed like a musical box the poor page fared the worst for the princess trying to correct the unfortunate tendency of the kiss put out her hands to keep her off the page so that along with the kiss he received on the other cheek a slap with the huge black toad which she poked right into his eye he tried to laugh too but the attempt resulted in such an odd contortion of countenance a show that there was no danger of his pluming himself on the kiss as for the king his dignity was greatly hurt and he didn't speak to the page for a whole month i may hear a mark that it was very amusing to see her run if a mode of progression could properly be called running for first she would make a bound then having alighted she would run a few steps and make another bound sometimes she would fancy she'd reached the ground before she actually had and her feet would go backwards and forwards running on nothing at all like those of a chicken on its back then she would laugh like the very spirit of fun only in her laugh there was something missing what it was i find myself unable to describe but i think it was a certain tone depending upon the possibility of sorrow morbid etzer perhaps she never smiled chapter seven try metaphysics after a long avoidance of the painful subject the king and queen resolved to hold a council of three upon it and so they sent for the princess in she came sliding and flitting and gliding from one piece of furniture to another and put herself at last in an armchair in a sitting posture whether she could be said to sit seeing as she received no support from the seat of the chair i do not pretend to determine my dear child said the king you must be aware by this time that you're not exactly like other people oh you dear funny papa i have got a nose and two eyes and all the rest so have you so has mama now be serious my dear for once said the queen no thank you mama i had rather not would you not like to be able to walk like other people said the king no indeed i should think not you only crawl you were all such slow coaches but how do you feel my child he resumed after a pause of discomfiture quite well thank you i mean what do you feel like like nothing at all that i know of well you must feel like something i feel like a princess with such a funny papa and such a dear pet of a queen mama now really began the queen but the princess interrupted her oh yes she added i remember i have a curious feeling sometimes as if i were the only person that had any sense in the whole world she had been trying to behave herself with dignity but now she burst into a violent fit of laughter threw herself backwards over the chair and went rolling about the floor in an ecstasy of enjoyment the king picked her up easier than one does a down quilt and replaced her in her former relation to the chair the exact preposition expressing this relation i do not happen to know is there nothing you wish for resumed the king who had learned by this time that it was useless to be angry with her oh you dear papa yes answered she what is it my darling i have been longing for it oh such a time ever since last night tell me what it is will you promise to let me have it the king was on the point of saying yes but the wiser queen checked him with a single motion of her head tell me what it is first said he no no promise first i dare not what is it mind i hold you to your promise it is to be tied to the end of a string a very long string indeed and to be flown like a kite oh such fun i would rain rose water and hail sugar plums and snow whipped cream and and a fit of laughing checked her and she would have been off again over the floor had not the king started up and caught her just in time seeing that nothing but talk could be got out of her he rang the bell and sent her away with two of her ladies in waiting now queen he said turning to her majesty what is to be done there is but one thing left answered she let us consult the college of metaphysicians bravo cried the king we will now at the head of this college were two very wise philosophers by name humdrum and copy kek for them the king sent and straight away they came in a long speech he communicated to them what they knew very well already as who did not namely the peculiar condition of his daughter in relation to the globe on which she dwelt and he requested them to consult together as to what might be the cause and probable cure of her infirmity the king laid stress upon that word but failed to discover his own pun the queen laughed but humdrum and copy kek heard with humility and retired in silence the consultation consisted chiefly in propounding and supporting for the thousandth time each his favorite theories but the condition of the princess afforded delightful scope for the discussion of every question arising from the division of thought in fact of all the metaphysics of the chinese empire but it's only justice to say that they didn't altogether neglect the discussion of the practical question what was to be done humdrum was a materialist and copy kek was a spiritualist the former was slow and sententious the latter was quick and flighty the latter had generally the first word the former the last i reassert my former assertion began copy kek with a plunge there is not a fault in the princess body or soul only they are wrong put together listen to me now humdrum and i will tell you in brief what i think don't speak don't answer me i won't hear you till i have done at that decisive moment when souls seek their appointed habitations two eager souls met struck rebounded lost their way and arrived each at the wrong place the soul of the princess was one of those and she went far astray she does not belong by rights to this world at all but to some other planet probably mercury her proclivity to her true sphere destroys all the natural influence which this all would otherwise possess over her corporeal frame she cares for here there is no relation between her and this world she must therefore be taught by the sternest compulsion to take an interest in the earth as the earth she must study every department of its history its animal history its vegetable history its mineral history its social history its moral history its political history its scientific history its literary history its musical history its artistical history and above all its metaphysical history she must begin with the chinese dynasty and end with japan but first of all she must study geology and especially the history of the extinct races of animals their natures their habits their loves their hates their revenges she must hold broad hum drum it is certainly my turn now and my rooted and insubvertible conviction is that the causes of the anomalies evident in the princess's condition are strictly and solely physical but that is only tantamount to acknowledging that they exist hear my opinion from some cause or other of no importance to our inquiry the motion of her heart has been reversed that remarkable combination of the suction and the pump works the wrong way around i mean in the case of the unfortunate princess it draws in where it should force out and forces out where it should draw in the offices of the auricles and the ventricles are subverted the blood is sent forth by the veins and returns by the arteries consequently it's running the wrong way through all her corporeal organism lungs and all is it then at all mysterious seeing that such is the case that on the other particular of gravitation as well she should differ from normal humanity my proposal for the cure is this phlebotomize until she is reduced to the last point of safety let it be affected if necessary in a warm bath when she is reduced to a state of perfect asphyxia apply a ligature to the left ankle drawing it as tight as the bone will bear apply at the same moment another of equal tension around the right wrist by means of plates constructed for the purpose place the other foot and hand under the receivers of two air pumps exhaust the receivers exhibit a pint of french brandy and await the result which would presently arrive in the form of grim death said copy keck if it should she would yet die in doing our duty retorted humdrum but their majesties had too much tenderness for their volatile offspring to subject her to either of the schemes of the equally unscrupulous philosophers indeed the most complete knowledge of the laws of nature would have been unserviceable in her case for it was impossible to classify her she was a fifth imponderable body sharing all the other properties of the ponderable chapter eight try a drop of water perhaps the best thing for the princess would have been to fall in love but how a princess who had no gravity could fall into anything is a difficulty perhaps the difficulty as for her own feelings on the subject she didn't even know that there was such a beehive of honey and stings to be fallen into but now i come to mention another curious fact about her the palace was built on the shores of the loveliest lake in the world and the princess loved this lake more than father or mother the root of this preference no doubt although the princess didn't recognize it as such was that the moment she got into it she recovered the natural right of which she'd been so wickedly deprived namely gravity whether this was owing to the fact that water had been employed as the means of conveying the injury i don't know but it's certain that she could swim and dive like the duck that her old nurse said she was the manner in which this alleviation of her misfortune was discovered was as follows one summer evening during the carnival of the country she had been taken upon the lake by the king and queen in the royal barge they were accompanied by many of the courtiers in a fleet of little boats in the middle of the lake she wanted to get into the lord chancellor's barge for his daughter who was a great favorite with her was in it with her father now though the old king rarely condescended to make light of his misfortune yet happening this on this occasion to be in a particularly good humor as the barges approached each other he caught up the princess to throw her into the chancellor's barge he'd lost his balance however and dropping into the bottom of the barge lost hold of his daughter not however before imparting to her the downward tendency of his own person though in a somewhat different direction for as the king fell into the boat she fell into the water with a burst of delighted laughter she disappeared in the lake a cry of horror ascended from the boats they had never seen the princess go down before half the men were underwater in a moment but they had all one after another come up to the surface again for breath when tinkle tinkle babble and gush came the princess's laugh over the water from far away there she was swimming like a swan nor would she come out for king or queen chancellor or daughter she was perfectly obstinate but at the same time she seemed more sedate than usual perhaps that was because a great pleasure spoils laughing at all events after this the passion of her life was to get into the water and she was always the better behaved and the more beautiful the more she had of it summer and winter it was quite the same only she couldn't stay so long in the water when they had to break the ice to let her in any day from morning till evening in summer she might be described a streak of white in the blue water lying as still as the shadow of a cloud or shooting along like a dolphin disappearing and coming up again far off just where one did not expect her she would have been in the lake of a night too if she could have had her way for the balcony of her window overhung a deep pool in it and through a shallow reedy passage she could have swum out into the wide wet water and no one would have been any the wiser indeed when she happened to wake in the moonlight she could hardly resist the temptation but there was the sad difficulty of getting into it she had as great a dread of the air as some children have of the water for the slightest gust of wind would blow her away and a gust might arise in the stillest moment and if she gave herself a push toward the water and just failed of reaching it her situation would be dreadfully awkward irrespective of the wind for at best there she would have to remain suspended in her nightgown till she was seen and angled for by someone from the window oh if i had my gravity thought she contemplating the water i would flush off this balcony like a white seabird headlong into the darling wetness hey ho this was the only consideration that made her wish to be like other people another reason for her being fond of the water was that in it alone she enjoyed any freedom for she couldn't walk out without a cortege consisting in part of a troop of light horse for fear of the liberties which the wind might take with her intensive with increasing years till at last he would not allow her to walk abroad at all without some 20 silk and cords fastened to as many parts of her dress and held by 20 noblemen of course horseback was out of the question but she bad goodbye to all this ceremony when she got into the water and so remarkable were its effects upon her especially in restoring her for the time to the ordinary human gravity the tum-jum and copycat agreed in recommending the king to bury her alive for three years in the hope that as the water did her so much good the earth would do her yet more but the king had some vulgar prejudices against the experiment and would not give his consent foiled in this they yet agreed in another recommendation which seeing that one imported his opinions from china and the other from tibet was very remarkable indeed they argued that if water of external origin and application could be so efficacious water from a deeper source might work a perfect cure in short if the poor afflicted princess could by any means be made to cry she might recover her lost gravity but how was this to be brought about therein lay all the difficulty to meet which the philosophers were not wise enough to make the princess cry was as impossible as to make her way they sent for a professional beggar commanded him to prepare his most touching ox to whatever he wanted for dressing up and promised great rewards in the event of his success but it was all in vain she listened to the mendicant artist's story and gazed at his marvelous makeup till she could contain herself no longer and went into the most undignified contortions for relief shrieking positively screeching with laughter when she had a little recovered herself she ordered her attendants to drive him away and not give him a single copper whereupon his look of mortified discomfiture wrought her punishment and his revenge for it sent her into violent hysterics from which she was with difficulty recovered but so anxious was the king that the suggestion should have a fair trial that he put himself in a rage one day and rushing up to her room gave her an awful whipping yet not a tear would flow she looked grave and her laughing sounded uncommonly like screaming but that was all the good old tyrant though he put on his best gold spectacles to look could not discover the smallest cloud in the serene blue of her eyes chapter nine put me in again it must have been about this time that the son of a king who lived a thousand miles from lago bell sent out to look for the daughter of a queen he traveled far and wide but as sure as he found a princess he found some fault with her of course he could not marry a mere woman however beautiful and there was no princess to be found worthy of him whether the prince was so near perfection that he had a right to demand perfection itself i cannot pretend to say all i know is he was a fine handsome brave generous well-bred and well-behaved youth as all princes are in his wanderings he had come across some reports about our princess but as everybody said she was bewitched he never dreamed that she could bewitch him for what indeed could a prince do with the princess that had lost her gravity who could tell what she might not lose next she might lose her visibility or her tangibility or in short the power of making impressions upon the radical sensorium so that he should never be able to tell whether she was dead or alive of course he made no further inquiries about her one day he lost sight of his retinue in a great forest these forests are very useful in delivering princes from their courtiers like a sieve that keeps back the bran then the princes get away to follow their fortunes in this way they have the advantage of the princesses who are forced to marry before they've had a bit of fun i wish our princesses got lost in a forest sometimes one lovely evening after wandering about for many days he found that he was approaching the outskirts of this forest but the trees had got so thin that he could see the sun set through them and he soon came upon a kind of heath next he came upon signs of human neighborhood but by this time it was getting late and there was nobody in the fields to direct him after traveling for another hour his horse quite worn out with long labor and lack of food fell and was unable to rise again so he continued his journey on foot at length he entered another wood not a wild forest but a civilized wood through which a footpath led him to the side of a lake along this path the prince pursued his way through the gathering darkness suddenly he paused and listened strange sounds came across the water it was in fact the princess laughing now there was something odd in her laugh as i've already hinted for the hatching of a real hearty laugh requires the incubation of gravity and perhaps this was how the prince mistook the laughter for screaming looking over the lake he saw something white in the water and in an instant he had torn off his tunic kicked off his sandals and plunged in he soon reached the white object and found it was a woman there was not light enough to show that she was a princess but quite enough to show that she was a lady for it doesn't want much light to see that now i can't tell how it came about whether she pretended to be drowning or whether he frightened her or caught her so as to embarrass her but certainly he brought her to shore in a fashion ignominious to a swimmer and more nearly drowned than she had ever expected to be for the water had got into her throat as often as she had tried to speak at the place to which he bore her the bank was only a foot or two above the water so he gave her a strong lift out of the water to lay her on her back but her gravitation ceasing the moment she left the water away she went up into the air scolding and screaming you naughty naughty naughty naughty man she cried no one had ever succeeded in putting her into a passion before when the prince saw her ascent he thought he must have been bewitched and have mistaken a great swan for a lady but the princess caught hold of the topmost cone upon a lofty fur this came off but she caught at another and in fact stopped herself by gathering cones dropping them as the stalks gave way the prince meantime stood in the water staring and forgetting to get out but the princess disappearing he scrambled on shore and went in the direction of the tree there he found her climbing down one of the branches towards the stem but in the darkness of the wood the prince continued in some bewilderment as to what the phenomenon could be until reaching the ground and seeing him standing there she caught hold of him and said i'll tell papa oh no you won't return the prince yes i will she persisted what business had you to pull me down out of the water and throw me to the bottom of the air i never did you any harm pardon me i did not mean to hurt you i don't believe you have any brains and that's a worse loss than your wretched gravity i pity you the prince now saw that he'd come upon the bewitched princess and had already offended but before we could think what to say next she burst out angrily giving a stamp with her foot that would have sent her aloft again but for the hold she had of his arm put me up directly put you up where you beauty asked the prince he had fallen in love with her almost already for her anger made her more charming than anyone else had ever beheld her and as far as he could see which certainly was not far she had not a single fault about her except of course that she had no gravity no prince however would judge a princess by weight the loveliness of her foot he would hardly estimate by the depth of the impression it could make him mud put you up where you beauty he asked again in the water you stupid answered the princess come then said the prince the condition of her dress increasing her usual difficulty in walking compelled her to cling to him and he could hardly persuade himself that he was not in a delightful dream notwithstanding the torrent of musical abuse with which she overwhelmed him the prince being therefore in no hurry they came upon the lake at quite another part where the bank was 20 feet high at the least and when they'd reached the edge he turned towards the princess and said how am I to put you in well that's your business she answered quite snappy you took me out you put me in again very well said the prince and catching her in his arms he sprang with her from the rock the princess had just time to give one delighted shriek of laughter before the water closed over them when they came to the surface she found that for a moment or two she could not even laugh for she had gone down with such a rush that it was with difficulty she recovered her breath the instant they reached the surface how do you like falling in said the prince after some effort the princess panted out is this what you call falling in yes answered the prince i should think it a very tolerable specimen it seemed like me like going up rejoined she my feeling was certainly one of elevation too the prince conceded the princess did not appear to understand him for she repeated his question how do you like falling in beyond everything answered he for i have fallen in with the only perfect creature i ever saw oh no more of that i'm tired of that said the princess perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning don't you like falling in then said the prince it is the most delightful fun i ever had in my life she answered i never fell before i wish i could learn to think i'm the only person in my father's kingdom who can't fall here she looked almost sad i should be most happy to fall in with you anytime you like said the prince devotedly thank you i don't know perhaps it would not be proper but actually i don't care at all events as we have fallen in let us have a swim together with all my heart responded the prince and away they went swimming diving floating until at last they heard cries along the shore and saw lights glancing in all directions it was now quite late and there was no moon i must go home said the princess i'm sorry this is delightful i'm sorry too returned the prince but i'm glad i haven't a home to go to at least i don't exactly know where it is i wish i hadn't won either rejoined the princess it's so stupid i have a great mind she continued to play them all a trick why can't they leave me alone they won't trust me in the lake for a single night you see where that green light is burning that's the window of my room now if you would just swim there with me very quietly and when we are all but onto the balcony give me such a push as you call it as you did a little while ago i should be able to catch hold of the balcony and get in at the window and then they may look for me till tomorrow morning with more obedience than pleasure said the prince gallantly and away they swam very gently will you be in the lake tomorrow night the prince ventured to ask to be sure i will i don't think so perhaps was the princess's somewhat strange answer but the prince was intelligent enough not to press her further and merely whispered as he gave her the parting lift don't tell the only answer the princess returned was a roguish look she was already a yard above his head the look seemed to say never fear it's too good fun to spoil that way so perfectly like other people had she been in the water that even yet the prince could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw her ascend slowly grasp the balcony and disappear through the window he turned almost expecting to see her still by his side but he was alone in the water so he swam away quietly and watched the lights roving about the shore for hours after the princess was safe in her chamber as soon as they disappeared he landed in search of his tunic and sword and after some trouble found them again then he made the best of his way around the lake to the other side there the wood was wilder and the shore steeper rising more immediately towards the mountains which surrounded the lake on all sides and kept sending it messages of silvery streams from morning to night and all night long he soon found a spot whence he could see the green light in the princess's room and where even in the broad daylight he would be in no danger of being discovered from the opposite shore it was a sort of cave in the rock where he provided himself a bed of withered leaves and lay down too tired for hunger to keep him awake all night long he dreamed that he was swimming with the princess early the next morning the prince set out to look for something to eat which he soon found at a forester's hut where for many following days he was supplied with all that a brave prince could consider necessary and having plenty to keep him alive for the present he would not think of wants not yet in existence whenever care intruded this prince always bowed him out in the most princely manner when he returned from his breakfast to his watch cave he saw the princess already floating about in the lake attended by the king and queen whom he knew by their crowns and a great company in lovely little boats with canopies of all the colors of the rainbow and flags and streamers of a great many more it was a very bright day and soon the prince burned up with the heat began to long for the cold water and the cool princess but he had to endure until twilight for the boats had provisions on board and it was not until the sun went down that the gay party began to vanish boat after boat drew away to the shore following that of the king and queen till only one apparent princess's own boat remained but she didn't want to go home even yet and the prince thought he saw her order the boat to the shore without her at all events it rode away and now of all the radiant company only one white speck remained so the prince began to sing and this is what he sung lady fair swan white lift thine eyes banish night by the might of thine eyes snowy arms oars of snow o'er her hither plashing low soft and slow o'er her hither stream behind her o'er the lake radiant whiteness in her wake following following for her sake radiant whiteness cling about her waters blue part not from her but renew cold and true kisses round her lap me round waters sad that have left her make me glad for ye had kissed her ere ye left her before he had finished his song the princess was just under the place where he sat and looking up to find him her ears had led her truly would you like a full princess said the prince looking down ah there you are yes if you please said the princess looking up how do you know i am a prince princess said the prince because you are a very nice young man prince said the princess come up then princess fetch me prince the prince took off his scarf then his sword belt then his tunic and tied them all together and let them down but the line was far too short he unwound his turban and added it to the rest when it was all but long enough and his purse completed it the princess just managed to lay hold of the knot of money and was beside him in a moment the rock was much higher than the other and the splash and the dive were tremendous the princess was in ecstasies of delight and their swim was delicious night after night they met and swam about in the dark clear lake where such was the prince's gladness that whether the princess's way of looking at things infected him or he was actually getting light-headed he often fancied that he was swimming in the sky instead of the lake but when he talked about being in heaven the princess laughed at him dreadfully when the moon came she brought them fresh pleasure everything looked strange and new in her light with an old withered yet unfading newness when the moon was nearly full one of their great delights was to dive deep in the water and then turning round look up through it at the great blot of light close above them shimmering and trembling and wavering spreading and contracting seeming to melt away and again solid then they would shoot up through the blot and lo there was the moon far off clear and steady and cold and very lovely at the bottom of a deeper and bluer lake than theirs as the princess said the prince soon found out that while in the water the princess was very like other people and besides this she was not so forward in her questions or pert in her replies at sea as on shore neither did she laugh so much and when she did laugh it was more gently she seemed altogether more modest and maidenly in the water than out of it but when the prince who had really fallen in love when he fell in the lake began to talk to her about love she always turned her head towards him and laughed after a while she began to look puzzled as if she were trying to understand what he meant but couldn't revealing a notion that he meant something but as soon as ever she left the lake she was so altered that the prince said to himself if i marry her i see no help for it we must turn merman and mermaid and go out to sea at once chapter 11 hiss the princess's pleasure in the lake had grown to a passion and she could scarcely bear to be out of it for an hour imagine then her consternation when diving with the prince one night a sudden suspicion seized her that the lake was not so deep as it used to be the prince couldn't imagine what had happened she shot to the surface and without a word swam at full speed towards the higher side of the lake he followed begging to know if she was ill or what was the matter she never turned her head or took the smallest notice of his question arrived at the shore she coasted the rocks with minute inspection but she wasn't able to come to a conclusion for the moon was very small and so she could not see well she turned therefore and swam home without saying a word to explain her conduct to the prince of whose presence she seemed no longer conscious he withdrew to his cave in great perplexity and distress next day she made many observations which alas strengthened her fears she saw that the banks were too dry and that the grass on the shore and the trailing plants on the rocks were withering away she caused marks to be made along the borders and examined them day after day in all directions of the wind till at last the horrible idea became a certain fact that the surface of the lake was slowly sinking the poor princess nearly went out of her mind it was awful for her to see the lake which she loved more than any living thing lie dying before her eyes it sank away slowly vanishing the tops of the rocks that had never been seen till now began to appear far down in the clear water before long they were dry in the sun it was fearful to think of the mud that would soon lie there baking and festering full of lovely creatures dying and ugly creatures coming to life like the unmaking of a world and how hot the sun would be without any lake she couldn't bear to swim in it anymore and began to pine away her life seemed bound up with it and ever as the lake sank she pined people said she wouldn't live an hour after the lake was gone but she never cried a proclamation was made to all the kingdom that whosoever should discover the cause of the lake's decrease would be rewarded after a princely fashion humdrum and copycat applied themselves to their physics and metaphysics but in vain not even they could suggest a cause now the fact was that the old princess was at the root of the mischief when she heard that her niece found more pleasure in the water than anyone else out of it she went into a rage and cursed herself for her want of foresight but said she i will soon set all right the king and the people shall die of thirst their brains shall boil and frizzle in their skulls before i will lose my revenge and she laughed a ferocious laugh that made the hairs on the back of her black cat stand erect with terror then she went to an old chest in the room and opening it took out what looked like a piece of dried seaweed this she threw into a tub of water then she threw some powder into the water and stirred it with her bare arm muttering over it words of hideous sound and yet more hideous import then she set the tub aside and took from the chest a huge bunch of a hundred rusty keys that clattered in her shaking hands then she sat down and proceeded to oil them all before she had finished out from the tub the water of which had kept on a slow motion ever since she had ceased stirring it came the head and half the body of a huge grey snake but the witch didn't look round it grew out of the tub waving itself backwards and forwards with a slow horizontal motion till it reached the princess when it laid its head upon her shoulder and gave a low hiss in her ear she started but with joy and seeing the head resting on her shoulder drew it towards her and kissed it then she drew it all out of the tub and wound it round her body it was one of those dreadful creatures which few have ever beheld the white snake of darkness then she took the keys and went down to her cellar and as she unlocked the door she said to herself this is worth living for locking the door behind her she descended a few steps into the cellar and crossing it unlocked another door into a dark narrow passage she locked this also behind her and descended a few more steps if anyone had followed the witch princess he would have heard her unlock exactly 100 doors and descend a few steps after locking each when she had unlocked the last she entered a vast cave the roof of which was supported by huge natural pillars of rock now this roof was the underside of the bottom of the lake she then untwined the snake from her body and held it by the tail high above her the hideous creature stretched up its head towards the roof of the cavern which it was just able to reach it then began to move its head backwards and forwards with a slow oscillating motion as if looking for something at the same moment the witch began to walk round and round the cavern coming nearer to the centre every circuit while the head of the snake described the same path over the roof that she did over the floor for she kept holding it up and still it kept slowly oscillating round and round the cavern they went ever lessening the circuit till at last the snake made a sudden dart and clung to the roof with its mouth that's right my beauty cried the witch princess drain it dry she let it go left it hanging and sat down on a great stone with her black cat which had followed her all around the cave by her side then she began to knit and mutter awful words the snake hung like a huge leech sucking at the stone the cat stood with his back arched and his tail like a piece of cable looking up at the snake and the old woman sat and knitted and muttered seven days and seven nights they remained thus when suddenly the serpent dropped from the roof as if exhausted and shriveled up till it was again like a piece of dried seaweed the witch started to her feet picked it up put it in her pocket and looked up at the roof one drop of water was trembling on the spot where the snake had been sucking as soon as she saw that she turned and fled followed by her cat shutting the door in a terrible hurry she locked it and having muttered some frightful words sped to the next which also she locked and muttered over and so with all the hundred doors till she arrived in her own cellar then she sat down on the floor ready to faint but listening with malicious delight to the rushing of the water which she could hear distinctly through all the hundred doors but this was not enough now that she had tasted revenge she lost her patience without further measures the lake would be too long in disappearing so the next night with the last shred of the dying old moon rising she took some of the water in which she had revived the snake put it in a bottle and set out accompanied by her cat before morning she had made the entire circuit of the lake muttering fearful words as she crossed every stream and casting into it some of the water out of her bottle when she had finished the circuit she muttered yet again and flung a handful of water towards the moon thereupon every spring in the country ceased to throb and bubble dying away like the pulse of a dying man the next day there was no sound of falling water to be heard along the borders of the lake the very courses were dry and the mountains showed no silvery streaks down their dark sides and not alone had the fountains of mother earth ceased to flow for all the babies throughout the country were crying dreadfully only without tears chapter 12 where is the prince never since the night when the princess left him so abruptly had the prince had a single interview with her he had seen her once or twice in the lake but as far as he could discover she'd not been it anymore in it anymore at night he had sat and sung and looked in vain for his nereid while she like a true nereid was wasting away with her lake sinking as it sank withering as it dried when at length he discovered the change that was taking place in the level of the water he was in great alarm and perplexity he could not tell whether the lake was dying because the lady had forsaken it or whether the lady would not come because the lake had begun to sink but he resolved to know more he disguised himself and going to the palace requested to see the lord chamberlain his appearance at once gained his request and the chamberlain being a man of some insight perceived that there was more in the prince's solicitation than met the ear he felt likewise that no one could tell whence a solution of the present difficulties might arise so he granted the prince's prayer to be made shoe black to the princess it was rather cunning in the prince to request such an easy post for the princess could not possibly soil as many shoes as other princesses he soon learned all that could be told about the princess he went nearly distracted but after roaming about the lake for days and diving in every depth that remained all that he could do was to put an extra polish on the dainty pair of boots that were never called for but the princess kept to her room with the curtains drawn to shut out the dying lake but she couldn't shut it out of her mind for a moment it haunted her imagination so that she felt as if the lake were her soul drying up within her first to mud then to madness and death she thus brooded over the change with all its dreadful accompaniments till she was nearly distracted as for the prince she had forgotten him however much she had enjoyed his company in the water she didn't care for him without it but she seemed to have forgotten her father and mother too and the lake went on sinking small slimy spots began to appear which glittered steadily amidst the changeful shine of the water these grew to broad patches of mud which widened and spread with rocks here and there and floundering fishes and crawling eels swarming the people went everywhere catching these and looking for anything that might have dropped from the royal boats at length the lake was all but gone only a few of the deepest pools remaining unexhausted it happened one day that a party of youngsters found themselves on the brink of one of these pools in the very center of the lake it was a rocky basin of considerable depth looking in they saw at the bottom something that shone yellow in the sun a little boy jumped in and dived for it it was a plate of gold covered with writing they carried it to the king on one side of it stood these words death alone from death can save love is death and so is brave love can fill the deepest grave love loves on beneath the wave now this was enigmatical enough to the king and courtiers but the reverse of the plate explained it a little its writing amounted to this if the lake should disappear they must find the hole through which the water ran but it would be useless to try to stop it by any ordinary means there was but one effectual mode the body of a living man could alone staunch the flow the man must give himself of his own will and the lake must take his life as it filled otherwise the offering would be of no avail if the nation could not provide one hero it was time it should perish chapter 13 here i am this was a very disheartening revelation to the king not that he was unwilling to sacrifice a subject but that he was hopeless of finding a man willing to sacrifice himself no time was to be lost however for the princess was lying motionless on her bed and taking no nourishment but lake water which was now not the best therefore the king caused the contents of the wonderful plate of gold to be published throughout the land no one however came forward the prince having gone several days journey into the forest to consult a hermit who he'd met there on his way to largo bell knew nothing of the oracle till his return when he had acquainted himself with all the particulars he sat down and thought she would die if i don't do it and life will be nothing to me without her so i shall lose nothing by doing it and life will be as pleasant to her as ever for she will soon forget me and there will be so much more beauty and happiness in the world to be sure i shall not see it here the poor prince gave a sigh how lovely the lake will be in the moonlight with that glorious creature sporting in it like a wild goddess it is rather hard to be drowned by inches though let me see that will be 70 inches of me to drown here he tried to laugh but couldn't the longer the better however he resumed but can i not bargain that the princess shall be beside me all the time so i shall see her once more kiss her perhaps who knows and die looking in her eyes it will be no death at least i shall not feel it and to see the filling for the beauty again all right i'm ready he kissed the princess's boot laid it down and hurried to the king's apartment but feeling as he went that anything sentimental would be disagreeable he resolved to carry off the whole affair with nonchalance so he knocked at the door of the king's counting house where it was all but a capital crime to disturb him when the king heard the knock he started up and opened the door in a rage seeing only the shoe black he drew his sword this i'm sorry to say was his usual mode of asserting his regality when he thought his dignity was in danger but the prince was not in the least alarmed please your majesty i'm your butler said he my butler you lying rascal what do you mean i mean i will cork your big bottle is the fellow mad bought the king raising the point of his sword i will put a stopper plug whatever you call it in your leaky lake grand monarch said the prince the king by now is in such a rage that before he could speak he had time to cool and to reflect that it would be a great waste to kill the only man who was willing to be useful in the present emergency seeing that in the end the insolent fellow would be as dead as if he died by his majesty's own hand oh he said at last putting up his sword with difficulty it was so long i am obliged to you you young fool take a glass of wine no thank you replied the prince very well said the king would you like to run and see your parents before you make your experiment no thank you said the prince then we will go and look for the hole at once said his majesty and proceeded to call some attendance stop please your majesty i have a condition to make interpose the prince what exclaimed the king a condition with me how dare you as you please return the prince coolly i wish your majesty a good morning you wretch i will have you put in a sack and stuck in the hole very well your majesty replied the prince becoming a little more respectful lest the wrath of the king should deprive him of the pleasure of dying for the princess but what good will that do your majesty please remember that the oracle says the victim must offer himself well you have offered yourself retorted the king yes upon one condition condition again roared the king once more drawing his sword be gone somebody else will be glad enough to take the honour off your shoulders your majesty knows it will not be easy to get another to take my place well what is your condition growled the king feeling that the prince was right only this replied the prince that as i must on no account die before i am fairly drowned and the waiting will be rather wearisome the princess your daughter shall go with me feed me with her own hands and look at me now and then to comfort me for you must confess it is rather hard as soon as the water is up to my eyes she may go and be happy and forget her poor shoe black here the prince's voice faltered and he very nearly grew sentimental in spite of his resolution why didn't you tell me before what your condition was such a fuss about nothing exclaimed the king do you grant it persisted the prince of course i do replied the king very well i am ready go and have some dinner then while i set my people to find the place the king ordered out his guards and gave directions to the officers to find the hole in the lake at once so the bed of the lake was marked out in divisions and thoroughly examined and in an hour or so the hole was discovered it was in the middle of a stone near the center of the lake in the very pool where the golden plate had been found it was a three-cornered hole of no great size there was water all around the stone but very little was flowing through the hole chapter 14 this is very kind of you the prince went to dress for the occasion for he was resolved to die like a prince when the princess heard that a man had offered to die for her she was so transported that she jumped off the bed feeble as she was and danced about the room for joy she didn't care who the man was that was nothing to her the hole wanted stopping and if only a man would do why take one in an hour or two more everything was ready her maid dressed her in haste and they carried her to the side of the lake when she saw it she shrieked and covered her face with her hands they bore her across to the stone where they'd already placed a little boat for her the water was not deep enough to float it but they hoped it would be before long they laid her on cushions placed in the boat wines and fruits and other nice things and stretched a canopy over all in a few minutes the prince appeared the princess recognized him at once but didn't think it worthwhile to acknowledge him here i am said the prince put me in they told me it was a shoe black said the princess so i am said the prince i blacked your little boots three times a day because they were all i could get of you put me in the courtiers did not resent his bluntness except by saying to each other that he was taking it out in impudence but how was he to be put in the golden plate contained no instructions on this point the prince looked at the hole and saw but one way he put both his legs into it sitting on the stone and stooping forward covered the corner that remained open with his two hands in this uncomfortable position he resolved to abide his fate and turning to the people said now you can go the king had already gone home to dinner now you can go repeated the princess after him like a parrot the people obeyed her and went presently a little wave flowed over the stone and wetted one of the prince's knees but he didn't mind it much he began to sing and the song he sang was this as a world that has no well darting bright in forest dell as a world without the gleam of the downward going stream as a world without the glance of the ocean's fair expanse as a world where never rain glittered on the sunny plain such my heart thy world would be if no love did flow in thee as a world without the sound of the rivulets underground or the bubbling of the spring out of darkness wandering or the mighty rush and flowing of the rivers downward going or the music showers that drop on the outspread beaches top or the ocean's mighty voice when his lifted waves rejoice such my soul thy world would be if no love did sing in thee lady keep thy world's delight keep the waters in thy sight love hath made me strong to go for thy sake to realms below where the waters shine and hum through the darkness never come let i pray one thought of me spring a little well in thee lest thy loveless soul be found like a dry and thirsty ground sing again prince it makes it less tedious said the princess but the prince was too much overcome to sing anymore and a long pause followed this is very kind of you prince said the princess at last quite coolly as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut i'm sorry i can't return the compliment thought the prince but you are worth dying for after all again a wavelet and another and another flowed over the stone and wetted both the prince's knees but he did not speak or move two three four hours passed in this way the princess apparently asleep and the prince very patient but he was much disappointed in his position for he had none of the consolation he had hoped for at last he could bear it no longer princess said he but at the moment up started the princess crying i'm afloat i'm afloat and the little boat bumped against the stone princess repeated the prince encouraged by seeing her wide awake and looking eagerly at the water well she said without looking around your papa promised that you should look at me and you haven't looked at me once did he then i suppose i must but i'm so sleepy sleep then darling and don't mind me said the poor prince really you are very good said the princess i think i will go to sleep again just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit first said the prince very humbly with all my heart said the princess and gasped as she said it she got the wine in the biscuit however and leaning over the side of the boat towards him was compelled to look at him why prince she said you don't look well are you sure you don't mind this not a bit answered he feeling very faint indeed only i shall die before it is of any use to you unless i have something to eat there then she said holding out the wine to him ah you must feed me i dare not move my hands the water would run away directly good gracious said the princess and she began at once to feed him with bits of biscuit and sips of wine as she fed him he contrived to kiss the tips of her fingers now and then she didn't seem to mind it one way or another but the prince felt better now for your own sake princess he said i can't let you go to sleep you must sit and look at me else i shall not be able to keep up well i will do anything i can to oblige you answered she with condescension and sitting down she did look at him and kept looking at him with wonderful steadiness considering all things the sun went down and the moon rose and gush after gush the waters were rising up the prince's body they were up to his waist now why can't we go and have a swim said the princess there seems to be water enough he i shall never swim more said the prince oh i forgot said the princess and was silent so the water grew and grew and rose up and up on the prince and the princess sat and looked at him she fed him now and then the night wore on the waters rose and rose the moon rose likewise higher and higher and shone full on the face of the dying prince the water was up to his neck will you kiss me princess he said feebly the nonchalance was all gone now yes i will answered the princess and kissed him with a long sweet cold kiss now said he with a sigh of content i die happy he didn't speak again the princess gave him some wine for the last time he was past eating then she sat down again and looked at him the water rose and rose it touched his chin it touched his lower lip it touched between his lips he shut them hard to keep it out the princess began to feel strange it touched his upper lip he breathed through his nostrils the princess looked wild it covered his nostrils her eyes looked scared and shone strange in the moonlight his head fell back the water closed over it and the bubbles of his last breath bubbled up through the water the princess gave a shriek and sprang into the lake she laid hold first of one leg and then of the other and pulled and tugged but she couldn't move either she stopped to take breath and that made her think that he couldn't get any breath she was frantic she got hold of him and held his head above the water which was possible now his hands were no longer on the hole but it was of no use for he was past breathing love and water brought back all her strength she got under the water and pulled and pulled with her whole might till at last she got one leg out the other easily followed how she got him into the boat she never could tell but when she did she fainted away coming to herself she seized the oars kept herself steady as best she could and rode and rode though she had never rode before round rocks and over shallows and through mud she rode till she got to the landing stairs of the palace by this time her people were on the shore for they had heard her shriek she made them carry the prince to her own room and lay him in her bed and light a fire and send for the doctors but the lake your highness said the chamberlain who roused by the noise came in in his nightcap oh go and drown yourself in it she said this was the last rudeness of which the princess was ever guilty and one must allow that she had good cause to feel provoked with the lord chamberlain had it been the king himself he would have fared no better but both he and the queen were fast asleep and the chamberlain went back to his bed somehow the doctors never came so the princess and her old nurse were left with the prince but the old nurse was a wise woman and knew what to do they tried everything for a long time without success the princess was nearly distracted between hope and fear but she tried on and on one thing after another and everything over and over again at last when they had all but given up just as the sun rose the prince opened his eyes chapter 15 look at the rain the princess burst into a passion of tears and fell on the floor there she lay for an hour and her tears never ceased all the pent-up crying of her life was spent now and a rain came on such had never been seen in that country the sun shone all the time and the great drops which fell straight to the earth shone likewise the palace was in the heart of a rainbow it was a rain of rubies and sapphires and emeralds and topazes the torrents poured from the mountains like molten gold and if it had not been for its subterranean outlet the lake would have overflowed and inundated the country it was full from shore to shore but the princess didn't heed the lake she lay on the floor and wept and this rain within doors was far more wonderful than the rain out of doors for when it abated a little and she proceeded to rise she found to her astonishment that she could not at length after many efforts she succeeded in getting upon her feet but she tumbled down again directly hearing her fall her old nurse uttered a yell of delight and ran to her screaming my darling child she's found her gravity oh that's it is it said the princess rubbing her shoulder and her knee alternately i consider it very unpleasant i feel as if i should be crushed to pieces hurrah cried the prince from the bed if you've come round princess so have i how's the lake brimful answered the nurse then we're all happy that we are indeed answered the princess sobbing and there was rejoicing all over the country that rainy day even the babies forgot their past troubles and danced and crowed amazingly and the king told stories and the queen listened to them and he divided the money in his box and she the honey in her pot among all the children and there was such jubilation as was never heard of before of course the prince and princess were betrothed at once but the princess had to learn to walk before they could be married with any propriety and this was not so easy at her time of life for she could walk no more than a baby she was always falling down and hurting herself is this the gravity you used to make so much of she said one day to the prince as he raised her from the floor for my part i was a great deal more comfortable without it no no that's not it this is it replied the prince as he took her up and carried her about like a kissing her all the time this is gravity that's better said she i don't mind that so much and she smiled the sweetest loveliest smile in the prince's face and she gave him one little kiss in return for all his and he thought himself overpaid for he was beside himself with delight i fear she complained of her gravity more than once after this though notwithstanding it was a long time before she got reconciled to walking but the pain of learning it was quite counterbalanced by two things either of which would have been sufficient consolation the first was that the prince himself was her teacher and the second that she could tumble into the lake as often as she pleased still she preferred to have the prince jump in with her and the splash they made before was nothing to the splash they made now the lake never sank again in the process of time it wore the roof of the cavern quite through and was twice as deep as before the only revenge the princess took upon her art was to tread pretty hard on her gouty toe the next time she saw her but she was sorry for it the very next day when she heard that the water had undermined her house and that it had fallen in the night burying her in its ruins and no one ever ventured to dig up her body there she lies to this day so the prince and princess lived and were happy and had crowns of gold and clothes of cloth and shoes of leather and children of boys and girls not one of whom was ever known on the most critical occasion to lose the smallest atom of his or her due proportion of gravity the traveling musicians an honest farmer had once an ass that had been a faithful servant to him a great many years but was now growing old and every day more and more unfit for work his master therefore was tired of keeping him and began to think of putting an end to him but the ass who saw that some mischief was in the wind took himself slyly off and began his journey towards the great city for there thought he i may turn musician after he had traveled a little way he spied a dog lying by the roadside and panting as if he were very tired what makes you pant so said the ass alas said the dog my master was going to knock me on the head because i am old and weak and can no longer make myself useful to him in hunting so i ran away but what can i do to earn my livelihood hark he said the ass i am going to the great city to turn musician suppose you go with me and try what you can do in the same way the dog said he was willing and they jogged on together they hadn't gone far before they saw a cat sitting in the middle of the road and making a most rueful face pray my good lady said the ass what's the matter with you you look quite out of spirits ah me said the cat how can one be in good spirits when one's life is in danger because i am beginning to grow old and had rather lie at my ease by the fire than run about the house after the mice my mistress laid hold of me and was going to drown me and though i've been lucky enough to get away from her i do not know what i am to live upon oh said the ass by all means go with us to the great city you are a good night singer and may make your fortune as a musician the cat was very pleased with that thought and joined the party soon afterwards as they were passing by a farmyard they saw a cock perched upon a gate and screaming out with all his might and mane bravo said the ass upon my word you make a famous noise pray what is all this about why said the cock i was just now saying that we should have fine weather for our washing day and yet my mistress and the cook don't thank me for my pains but threaten to cut my head off tomorrow and make broth of me for the guests that are coming on sunday heaven forbid said the ass come with us master shanticleer it will be better at any rate than staying here to have your head cut off besides who knows if we care to sing in tune we may get up some kind of a concert so come along with us with all my heart said the cockerel so they all four went on jollily together they couldn't however reach the great city on the first day so when night came on they went into a wood to sleep the ass and the dog laid themselves down under a great tree and the cat climbed up into the branches while the cock thinking that the higher he sat the safer he should be flew up to the very top of the tree and then according to his custom before he went to sleep looked out on all sides of himself to see that everything was well in doing this he saw afar off something bright and shining and calling to his companions said there must be a house no great way off for i see a light if that be the case said the ass we had better change our quarters for our lodging is not the best in the world besides added the dog i should not be the worst for a bone or two or a bit of meat so they walked off together towards the spot where chanticleer had seen the light and as they drew near it became larger and brighter till they at last came close to a house in which a gang of lived the ass being the tallest of the company marched up to the window and peeped in well donkey said chanticleer what do you see what do i see replied the ass why i see a table spread with all kinds of good things and robbers sitting around it making merry that would be a noble lodging for us said the cock yes said the ass if we could only get in so they consulted together how they should contrive to get the robbers out and at last they hit upon a plan the ass placed himself upright on his hind legs with his forefeet resting against the window the dog got up upon his back the cat scrambled up to the dog's shoulders and the cock flew up and sat on the cat's head when all was ready a signal was given and they began their music the ass brayed the dog barked the cat meowed and the cock screamed and then they all broke through the window at once and came tumbling into the room amongst the broken glass with the most hideous clatter the robbers who had been not a little frightened by the opening concert had now no doubt that some frightful hobgoblin had broken in upon them and scampered away as fast as they could the coast once clear our travellers soon sat down and dispatched what the robbers had left with as much eagerness as if they had not expected to eat again for a month as soon as they had satisfied themselves they put out the lights and each once more sought out a resting place to his own liking the donkey laid himself down upon a heap of straw in the yard the dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door the cat rolled herself up on the hearth before the war matches and the cock perched upon a beam on the top of the house and as they were all rather tired with their journey they soon fell asleep but about midnight when the robbers saw from afar that the lights were out and that all seemed quiet they began to think that they had been in too great a hurry to run away and one of them who was bolder than the rest went to see what was going on finding everything still he marched into the kitchen and groped about till he found a match in order to light a candle and then espying the glittering fiery eyes of the cat he mistook them for live coals and held the match to them to light it but the cat not understanding this joke sprung at his face and spit and scratched him this frightened him dreadfully and away he ran to the back door but there the dog jumped up and bit him in the leg and as he was crossing over the yard the ass kicked him and the cock who had been awakened by the noise crowed with all his might at this the robber ran back as fast as he could to his comrades and told the captain how a horrid witch had got into the house and had spit at him and scratched his face with long bony fingers how a man with a knife in his hand had hidden himself behind the door and stabbed him in the leg how a black monster stood in the yard and struck him with a club and how the devil had sat upon the top of the house and cried out throw the rascal up here after this the robbers never dared go back to the house but the musicians were so pleased with their quarters that they took up their abode there and there they are i dare say at this very day the water fairy once upon a time there was a miller and his wife who together led a life of contentment and ease they possessed both money and lands and their prosperity steadily increased from year to year but fortune is fickle and misfortune comes upon us unawares and even so it happened that as their riches had increased so gradually year by year they disappeared this went on until the miller could scarcely call the mill he lived in his own he was now full of trouble and even after his day's work was done he was unable to rest for he tossed from side to side on his bed his anxiety keeping him awake one morning he got up before daybreak and went out he thought the heaviness of his heart might perhaps be lightened in the open air just as he crossed the mill dam the first beam of the morning sun shot forth and at the same moment he heard the sound of something disturbing the waters of the mill pond he turned and saw the figure of a beautiful woman slowly rising above the surface her long hair which she held back over her shoulders with her fair slender hands fell around her like a bright garment the miller knew this must be the fairy of the water and in his fear he was uncertain whether to go or stay then he heard her soft voice calling him by name and asking him the reason of his sadness at first he was struck dumb but her kind tones revived his courage and he told her how he had formerly lived in happiness and luxury but that now he was so poor that he didn't know which way to turn be at peace answered the fairy i will make you richer and happier than you were before only you must in return promise to give me what has just been born in your house that can be none other than a puppy or a kitten thought the miller and he gave his promise to her the fairy then vanished beneath the waters and he hurried joyfully back to the house greatly comforted at heart he was but a little way from the house when a maidservant ran out calling to him to rejoice for a little son had been born to him the miller stood still as if thunder struck for it flashed across him in an instant that the fairy had known of this and had beguiled him with drooping head he went into his wife and when she asked why do you show no sign of joy at the sight of your beautiful boy he related to her what had happened and told her of the promise he had made the fairy and of what use or pleasure to me a good fortune or riches he continued if i must lose my son but what am i to do and not one among the relations who had come in to wish them joy knew how to help or advise in the meantime prosperity returned to the miller's house he was successful in all his undertakings and it seemed as if his chests and coffers filled of their own accord and as if the money he put away multiplied itself during the night in a little while his wealth was greater than it had been before but he couldn't enjoy it in perfect peace for the remembrance of the promise he had made to the fairy continually tormented him he never went near the mill pond without a dread at his heart that she would rise out of the water and remind him of what he owed her he would not let the boy himself approach it beware he said to him if you but touch the water a hand will come up out of it seize you and drag you down year after year however passed and the fairy never showed herself again so that at last the miller's fears began to be allayed the boy grew towards manhood he was placed under a huntsman to be trained and when he had himself become an accomplished huntsman he was taken into the service of the lord of the village there lived in the village a beautiful and true-hearted girl with whom the young huntsman fell in love when his master knew of this he made him a present of a little house and the two were married and lived happily and peacefully together one day the huntsman was chasing a roe the animal turned from the wood into the open and he followed it and finally shot it he didn't notice he was now in the neighborhood of the dangerous mill pond and so after touching the animal he went to the water to wash the blood off his hands he had scarcely dipped them in when the fairy rose flung her wet arms around him laughing and dragged him down so quickly that in a moment the waters had closed over him and all was again still when the evening came on and the huntsman didn't return his wife became alarmed she went out to look for him and as he had so often spoken to her of his fear of going near the mill pond lest the fairy should by her wiles get possession of him she suspected what had happened she hastened to the waters and her worst suspicions were confirmed when she saw her husband's hunting pouch lying on the bank wailing and wringing her hands she called her beloved one by name but in vain she ran to the further side of the pond and again called him she poured angry abuse on the fairy but still no answer came the surface of the pond remained unstirred by a single ripple and only the reflection of the half moon looked calmly up at her from the water the poor wife wouldn't leave the pond she walked round and round it without rest or pause sometimes in silence sometimes uttering a loud cry of distress sometimes crying softly to herself but her strength failed her at last she sank to the ground and fell into a deep sleep before long a dream took possession of her in it she was climbing painfully up between large masses of rock her feet were caught by the thorns and briars the rain beat in her face and her long hair was blown about by the wind when however she reached the summit the whole scene changed the sky was now blue a soft air was blowing and the ground slopes gently away to a pretty cottage which stood in a green meadow studded with many colored flowers she went up to it and opened the door and there sat an old woman with white hair who gave her a friendly nod at this moment the poor wife awoke day had already dawned and she resolved at once to follow the guidance of her dream she climbed up the mountain with difficulty and everything was exactly as she had seen it in the night the old woman gave her a kindly welcome and pointed to a chair telling her to sit down some great trouble must have befallen you she said to bring you in search of my lonely cottage the wife told her amidst her tears what had happened be comforted said the old woman i will help you here is a golden comb wait till the moon is at its full then go and comb your long black hair as you sit beside the mill pond when you have finished lay the comb by the water's edge and you will see what will happen the woman returned home but the time seemed long to her before the full moon appeared at last its luminous disc was seen shining in the heavens and then she went back to the mill pond and sat down and combed her long black hair when she had done this she laid the comb down beside the water she hadn't long to wait before the depths became troubled and stormy and a great wave rose and rolled towards the shore bearing the comb away with it as it retired after no longer space of time than was required for the comb to reach the bottom the surface of the water parted and the head of the huntsman rose above it he didn't speak but he looked mournfully towards his wife in the same instant a second wave came rushing up and swept over the man's head and again everything had disappeared the waters of the pond were as tranquil as before and only the face of the full moon lay shining upon them full of sorrow and disappointment the woman turned away but again that night a dream showed her the old woman's cottage the following morning she once more made her way to the wise woman and poured out her grief to her this time the old woman gave her a golden flute and said wait till the full moon comes again then take the flute and play a beautiful air upon it as you sit by the mill pond afterwards lay it on the sand you will see what will happen the wife did as the old woman told her she'd hardly laid the flute down on the sand when the depths of the water were troubled as before and a great wave rose and rolled towards the shore and bore away the flute again the water divided and this time not only the head but half the body of the huntsman appeared he stretched out his arms towards his wife with a longing gesture but a second wave rose and overwhelmed him and drew him down again beneath the water alas exclaimed the unhappy wife of what comfort is it to me to see my beloved one only to lose him again grief overflowed her heart but a third time a dream took her to the cottage of the old woman so she went again to her and the wise woman gave her a golden spinning wheel and spoke cheeringly to her saying everything has not yet been fully accomplished wait till there is again a full moon then take the spinning wheel and sit down by the shore and spin the spindle full when that is done place the wheel near the water and you will see what will happen the wife followed all these directions with care as soon as the full moon appeared she carried the spinning wheel to the side of the mill pond and there sat down and spun industriously until she had used up all the flax and had filled the spindle she had but just placed the wheel near the water when its depths were stirred even more violently than before and an enormous wave rolled rapidly towards the shore and carried away the wheel in the same moment a column of water rose into the air and with it the head and the whole body of her husband he quickly leapt up onto the bank seized his wife by the hand and fled but they had gone but a little distance when with a tremendous roar the whole mill pond rose and with a gigantic force sent its waters rushing over the surrounding country the fugitives saw themselves face to face with death in her terror the wife called upon the old woman for help and she and her husband were instantly changed she into a toad and he into a frog the flood as it reached them could not now kill them but it tore them away from one another and carried them far in opposite directions when the waters had subsided and they again found themselves on dry land they were changed back into their human form but neither knew what had become of the other they were both among strangers who knew nothing of their native land high mountains and deep valleys lay between them in order to support themselves they were both obliged to tend sheep and for many long years they led their flocks over the plains and through the forests full of sorrow and longing once more the spring had broken forth over the earth and as fate would have it they met each other one day while out with their flocks the husband saw a flock of sheep on a distant hillside and drove his own towards them and in a valley on the way he came upon his wife they did not recognize each other but both of them were glad to think that they would no longer be so lonely as heretofore from this time forth they tended their flocks side by side they did not speak much but they felt comforted one evening when the full moon was shining in the heavens above them and the sheep were already lying down for the night the shepherd drew his flute out of his pocket and played on it a beautiful but melancholy air when he'd finished he saw that the shepherdess was weeping bitterly why do you weep he asked alas she answered even as now the full moon was shining when i played that tune for the last time upon the flute and saw my beloved one's head rise above the waters he looked at her and it seemed to him as if a veil fell from before his eyes and he recognized his dearest wife and she looked up and saw the moonlight shining on her husband's face and she also knew him again they kissed and embraced one another and there is no need to ask if they were happy the selfish giant every afternoon as they were coming from school the children used to go and play in the giant's garden it was a large lovely garden with soft green grass here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars and there were 12 peach trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl and in the autumn bore rich fruit the birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them how happy we are here they cried to each other one day the giant came back he had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre and had stayed with him for seven years after the seven years were over he had said all that he had to say for his conversation was limited and he determined to return to his own castle when he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden what are you doing here he cried in a very gruff voice and the children ran away my own garden is my own garden said the giant anyone can understand that and i will allow nobody to play in it except myself so he built a high wall all around it and put up a notice board trespassers will be prosecuted he was a very selfish giant so the poor children now had nowhere to play they tried to play on the road but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones and they didn't like it they used to wander around the high wall when their lessons were over and talk about the beautiful garden inside how happy we were there they said to each other then the spring came and all over the country there were little blossoms and little birds only in the garden of the selfish giant it was still winter the birds did not care to sing in it as there were no children and the trees forgot to blossom once a beautiful flower put its head out from the grass but when it saw the notice board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again and went off to sleep the only people who were pleased with the snow and the frost spring has forgotten this garden they cried so we will live here all the year round the snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak and the frost painted all the trees silver then they invited the north wind to come and stay with them and he came he was wrapped in furs and he roared all day about the garden and blew the chimney pots down this is a delightful spot he said we must ask the hail on a visit so the hail came every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go he was dressed in grey and his breath was like ice i can't understand why the spring is so late in coming said the selfish giant as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden i hope there will be a change in the weather but the spring never came nor the summer the autumn gave golden fruit to every garden but to the giant's garden she gave none he is too selfish she said so it was always winter there and the north wind and the hail and the frost and the snow danced about through the trees one morning the giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music it sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the king's musicians passing by it was really only a little linnet singing outside his window but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world then the hail stopped dancing over his head and the north wind ceased roaring and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement i believe the spring has come at last said the giant and he jumped out of bed and looked out what did he see he saw a most wonderful sight through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in and they were sitting in the branches of the trees in every tree that he could see there was a little child and the trees were so glad to have the children back that they had covered themselves with blossoms and were waving their arms gently above the children's heads the birds were flying about and twittering with delight and the flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing it was a lovely scene only in one corner it was still winter it was the farthest corner of the garden and in it was standing a little boy he was so small that he couldn't reach up to the branches of the tree and he was wandering all around it crying bitterly the poor tree was still quite covered with frost and snow and the north wind was blowing and roaring above it climb up little boy said the tree and it bent its branches down as low as it could but the boy was too tiny and the giant's heart melted as he looked out how selfish i have been he said now i know why the spring would not come here i will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree and then i will knock down the wall and my garden shall be the children's playground forever and ever he was really very sorry for what he had done so he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly and went out into the garden but when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away and the so full of tears that he didn't see the giant coming and the giant stole up behind him and took him gently in his hand and put him up into the tree and the tree broke at once into blossom and the birds came and sang on it and the little boy stretched out his two arms and flung them around the giant's neck and kissed him and the other children when they saw that the giant was not wicked any longer came running back and with them came the spring it is your garden now little children said the giant and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall and when the people were going to market at 12 o'clock they found the giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen all day long they played and in the evening they came to the giant to bid him goodbye but where is your little companion he said the boy i put into the tree the giant loved him the best because he had kissed him we don't know answered the children he has gone away you must tell him to be sure and come here tomorrow said the giant but the children said that they didn't know where he lived and had never seen him before and the giant felt very sad every afternoon when school was over the children came and played with the giant but the little boy whom the giant loved was never seen again the giant was very kind to all the children yet he longed for his first little friend and often spoke of him how i would like to see him he used to say years went over and the giant grew very old and feeble he couldn't play about anymore so he sat in a huge armchair and watched the children at their games and admired his garden i have many beautiful flowers he said but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all one winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing he didn't hate the winter now for he knew it was merely the spring asleep and that the flowers were resting suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder and looked and looked it certainly was a marvelous sight in the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms its branches were all golden and silver fruit hung down from them and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved downstairs ran the giant in great joy and out into the garden he hastened across the grass and came near to the child and when he came quite close his face grew red with anger and he said who have dared to wound thee for on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails and the prints of two nails were on the little feet who hath dared to wound thee cried the giant tell me that i may take my big sword and slay him nay answered the child but these are the wounds of love who art thou said the giant and a strange awe fell on him and he knelt before the little child and the child smiled on the giant and said to him you let me play once in your garden today you shall come with me to my garden which is paradise and when the children ran in that afternoon they found the giant lying dead under the tree all covered with white blossoms the cat who became head forester once upon a time not so very long ago an old peasant had a cat and didn't like him he was a tomcat always fighting and he'd lost one ear and was not very pretty to look at the peasant thought he would get rid of his old cat and buy a new one from a neighbour he didn't care what became of the old tomcat with one ear so long as he never saw him again it was no use thinking of killing him for it is a life's work to kill a cat and it's likely enough that the cat would come alive again at the end so the old peasant he took a sack and he bundled the tomcat into the sack and he sewed up the sack and slung it over his back and walked off into the forest off he went trudging along in the summer sunshine deep into the forest and when he'd gone very many bursts into the forest he took the sack with the cat in it and threw it away among the trees you stay there says he and if you do get out in this desolate place much good may it do you old quarrelsome bundle of bones and fur and with that he turned round and trudged home again he bought a nice looking quiet cat from a neighbour in exchange for a little tobacco and settled down comfortably at home with the new cat in front of the stove and there he may be to this day so far as i know my story doesn't bother with him but only with the old tomcat tied up in a sack away there out in the forest the bag flew through the air and plumped down through a bush to the ground and the old tomcat landed on his feet inside it very much frightened but not hurt thinks he this bag this flight through the air this bump mean that my life is going to change very well there is nothing like something new now and again and presently he began tearing at the bag with his sharp claws soon there was a hole he could put a paw through he went on tearing and scratching and there was a hole he could put two paws through he went on with his work and soon he could put his head through all the easier because he had only one ear a minute or two after that he had wriggled out of the bag and stood up on his four paws and stretched himself in the forest the world seems to be larger than the village he said he washed himself all over curled his tail proudly up in the air cocked the only ear he had left and set off walking under the forest trees i was the head cat in the village says he to himself if all goes well i shall be head here too and he walked along as if he were the tsar himself well he walked on and on and he came to an old hut that had belonged to a forester there was nobody there nor had been for many years and the old tomcat made himself quite at home he climbed up into the loft under the roof and found a little rotten hay a very good bed says he and curls up and falls asleep when he woke he felt hungry so he climbed down and went off in the forest to catch little birds and mice there were plenty of them in the forest and when he had eaten enough he came back to the hut climbed into the loft and spent the night there very comfortably you would have thought he would be content but not he he was a cat he said this is a good enough lodging but i have to catch all my own food in the village they fed me every day and i only caught mice for fun i ought to be able to live like that here a person of my dignity ought not to have to do all that work for himself next day he went walking in the forest and as he was walking he met a fox a vixen a very pretty young thing gay and giddy and the fox saw the cat and was very much astonished all these years she said for although she was young she thought she had lived a long time all these years i've lived in the forest but i've never seen a wild beast like that before what a strange looking animal and with only one ear how handsome and she came up and made her bows to the cat and said tell me great lord who you are what fortunate chance has brought you to this forest and by what name am i to call you your excellency oh the fox was very polite it's not every day that you meet a handsome stranger walking in the forest the cat arched his back and set all his fur on end and said very slowly and quietly i have been sent from the far forests of siberia to be head forester over you and my name is cat ivanovich oh cat ivanovich says the pretty young fox and she makes more bows i didn't know i beg your excellency's pardon will your excellency honor my humble house by visiting it as a guest i will says the cat and what do they call you my name your excellency is lizabeta ivanovna i will come with you lizabeta says the cat and they went together to the fox's earth very snug very neat it was inside and the cat curled himself up in the best place while lizabeta ivanovna the pretty young fox made ready a tasty dish of game and while she was making the meal ready and dusting the furniture with her tail she looked at the cat at last she said slyly tell me cat ivanovich are you married or single single says the cat i too am unmarried says the pretty young fox and goes busily on with her dusting and cooking presently she looks at the cat again what if we were to marry cat ivanovich i would try to be a good wife to you very well lizabeta says the cat i will marry you the fox went to her store and took out all the dainties that she had and made a wedding feast to celebrate her marriage to the great cat ivanovich who had only one ear and had come from the fair siberian forests to be head forester they ate up everything there was in the place next morning the pretty young fox went off busily into the forest to get food for her grand husband but the old tomcat stayed at home and cleaned his whiskers and slept he was a lazy one was that cat and proud the fox was running through the forest looking for game when she met an old friend the handsome young wolf and he began making polite speeches to her what had become of you gossip says he i've been to all the best earths and not found you at all let be full says the fox very shortly don't talk to me like that what are you jesting about formerly i was a young unmarried fox now i am a wedded wife him have you married lizabeta ivanovna what says the fox you have not heard that the great cat ivanovich who has only one ear has been sent from the far siberian forests to be head forester over all of us well i am now the head forester's wife no i have not heard lizabeta ivanovna and when can i pay my respects to his excellency not now not now says the fox cat ivanovich will be raging angry with me if i let anyone come near him presently he will be taking his food look you get a sheep and make it ready and bring it as a greeting to him to show him that he is welcome and that you know how to treat him with respect leave the sheep nearby and hide yourself so that he shall not see you thank you thank you lizabeta ivanovna says the wolf and off he goes to look for a sheep the pretty young fox went idly on taking the air for she knew that the wolf would say for the trouble of looking for food presently she met the bear good day to you lizabeta ivanovna says the bear as pretty as ever i see you are fool don't come worrying me formerly i was a young unmarried fox now i am a wedded wife i beg your pardon says the bear whom have you married lizabeta ivanovna the great cat ivanovich has been sent from the far siberian forests to be head forester over us all and cat ivanovich is now my husband says the fox is it forbidden to have a look at his excellency it is forbidden says the fox cat ivanovich will be raging angry with me if i let anyone come near him presently he will be taking his food get along with you quickly make ready an ox and bring it by way of welcome to him the wolf is bringing a sheep and look you leave the ox nearby and hide yourself so that the great cat ivanovich shall not see you or else brother things may be awkward the bear shumbled off as fast as he could go to get an ox the pretty young fox enjoying the fresh air of the forest went slowly home to her earth and crept in very quietly so as not to awaken the great head forester cat ivanovich who had only one ear and who was sleeping in the best place presently the wolf came through the forest dragging a sheep he had killed he did not dare to go too near the fox's earth because of cat ivanovich the new head forester so he stopped well out of sight and stripped the skin of the sheep and arranged the sheep so as to seem a nice tasty morsel then he stood still thinking what to do next he heard a noise and looked up there was the bear struggling along with the dead ox good day brother michael ivanovich says the wolf good day brother leave on ivanovich says the bear have you seen the fox lizabetta ivanovna with her husband the head forester no brother says the wolf for a long time i have been waiting to see them go on and call out to them says the bear no michael ivanovich says the wolf i will not go do you go you are bigger and bolder than i no no leave on ivanovich i will not go there is no use in risking one's life without need suddenly as they were talking the bear saw him first and roared out hi squint eye trot up along here the hair came up slowly two steps at a time trembling with fright now then you squinting rascal says the bear do you know where the fox lives over there get along there quickly and tell her that michael ivanovich the bear and his brother leave on ivanovich the wolf have been ready for a long time and have bought presents of a sheep and an ox as greetings to his excellency his excellency mind says the wolf don't forget the hair ran off as hard as he could go glad to have escaped so easily meanwhile the wolf and the bear looked for good places in which to hide it will be best to climb trees said the bear i shall go up to the top of this fir but what am i to do says the wolf i can't climb a tree for the life of me brother michael brother michael hide me somewhere or other before you climb up i beg you hide me or i shall certainly be killed crouch down under these bushes says the bear and i will cover you with the dead leaves may you be rewarded says the wolf and he crouched down under the brushes and the bear covered him up with dead leaves so that only the tip of his nose could be seen then the bear climbed slowly up into the fir tree into the very top and looked out to see if the fox and cat ivanovich were coming they were coming oh yes they were coming the hair ran up and knocked on the door and said to the fox michael ivanovich the bear and his brother leave on ivanovich the wolf have been ready for a long time and have brought presents of a sheep and an ox as greetings to his excellency get along squint eye says the fox we are just coming and so the fox and the cat set out together the bear up in the top of the tree saw them and called to the wolf they are coming brother leave on they are coming the fox and her husband but what a little one he is to be sure quiet quiet whispers the wolf he'll hear you and then we're done for the cat came up and arched his back and set all his fur on end and threw himself on the ox and began tearing the meat with his teeth and claws and as he tore he purred and the bear listened and heard the purring of the cat and it seemed to him that the cat was angrily muttering small small small and the bear whispers he's no giant but what a glutton why we couldn't get through a quarter of that and he finds it not enough heaven help us if he comes after us the wolf tried to see but couldn't because his head all but his nose was covered with the dry leaves little by little he moved his head so as to clear the leaves away from in front of his eyes try as he would to be quiet the leaves rustled so little ever so little but enough to be heard by the one ear of the cat the cat stopped tearing the meat and listened i haven't caught a mouse today he thought once more the leaves rustled the cat leapt through the air and dropped with all four paws and his claws out on the nose of the wolf how the wolf yelped the leaves flew like dust and the wolf leapt up and ran off as fast as his legs could carry him well the wolf was frightened i can tell you but not as frightened as the cat when the great wolf leapt up out of the leaves the cat screamed and ran up the nearest tree and that was the tree where michael ivanovich the bear was hiding in the topmost branches oh he has seen me vanavich has seen me thought the bear he had no time to climb down and the cat was coming up in long leaps the bear trusted to providence and jumped from the top of the tree many were the branches he broke as he fell many were the bones he broke when he crushed to the ground he picked himself up and stumbled off groaning the pretty young fox sat still and cried out run run brother leave on quicker on your pins brother michael his excellency is behind you his excellency is close behind ever since then all the wild beasts have been afraid of the cat and the cat and the fox live merrily together and eat fresh meat all the year round which the other animals kill for them and leave a little way off and that is what happened to the old tom cat with one ear who was sewn up in a bag and thrown away in the forest lily and the lion a merchant who had three daughters was once setting out upon a journey but before he went he asked each daughter what gift he should bring back for her the eldest wished for pearls the second for jewels but the third who was called lily said dear father bring me a rose now it was no easy task to find a rose for it was the middle of winter yet as she was his prettiest daughter and was very fond of flowers her father said he would try what he could do so he kissed all three and bid them goodbye and when the time came for him to go home he had bought pearls and jewels for the two eldest but he had sought everywhere in vain for the rose and when he went into any garden and asked for such a thing the people laughed at him and asked him whether he thought roses grew in snow this grieved him very much but lily was his dearest child and as he was journeying home thinking what he should bring her he came to a fine castle and around the castle was a garden in one half of which it seemed to be summertime and in the other half winter on one side the finest flowers were in full bloom and on the other everything looked dreary and buried in the snow a lucky hit said he as he called to his servant and told him to go to a beautiful bed of roses that was there and bring him away one of the finest flowers this stone they were riding away well pleased when up sprang a fierce lion and roared out whoever has stolen my roses shall be eaten up alive the man said i knew not that the garden belonged to you can nothing save my life no said the lion nothing unless you undertake to give me whatever meets you on your return home if you agree to this i will give you your life and the rose too for your daughter but the man was unwilling to do so and said it may be my youngest daughter who loves me most because she always runs to meet me when i go home but the servant was greatly frightened and said it may perhaps be only a cat or a dog so at last the man yielded with a heavy heart and took the rose and said he would give the lion whatever should meet him first on his return and as he came near home it was lily his youngest and dearest daughter that met him she came running and kissed him and welcomed him home and when she saw that he had brought her the rose she was still more glad but her father began to be very sorrowful and to weep saying alas my dearest child i have bought this flower at a high price for i have said i would give you to a wild lion and when he has you he will tear you in pieces and eat you and he told her all that had happened and said she should not go let what would happen but she comforted him and said dear father the word you have given must be kept i will go to the lion and soothe him perhaps he will let me come safe home again the next morning she asked the way she was to go and took leave of her father and went forth with a bold heart into the wood but the lion was an enchanted prince by day he and all his court were lions but in the evening they took their right forms again and when lily came to the castle he welcomed her so courteously that she agreed to marry him the wedding feast was held and they lived happily together a long time the prince was only to be seen as soon as evening came and then he held his court but every morning he left his bride and went away by himself she knew not with her till the night came again after some time he said to her tomorrow there will be a great feast in your father's house for your eldest sister is to be married and if you wish to go and visit her my lions shall lead you thither she rejoiced much at the thought of seeing her father once more and set out with the lions and everyone was overjoyed to see her but they had thought her dead long since but she told them how happy she was and stayed till the feast was over and then went back to the wood her second sister was soon after married and when lily was asked to go to the wedding she said to the prince i won't go alone this time you must go with me but he would not he said it would be a very hazardous thing for if the least ray of the torch light should fall upon him his enchantment would become still worse he should be changed into a be forced to wander about the world for seven long years however she gave him no rest and said she would take care no light should fall upon him so at last they set out together and took with them their little child and she chose a large hall with thick walls for him to sit in while the wedding torches were lighted but unluckily no one saw that there was a crack in the door the wedding was held with great pomp but as the train came from the church and passed with the torches before the hall a very small ray of light fell upon the prince in a moment he disappeared and when his wife came in and looked for him she found only a white dove and it said to her seven years must i fly up and down over the face of the earth but every now and then i will let fall a white feather that will show you the way i am going follow it and at last you may overtake and set me free this said he flew out at the door and poor lily followed and every now and then a white feather fell and showed her the way she was to journey thus she went roving on through the wide world and looked neither to the right hand nor to the left nor took any rest for seven years then she began to be glad and thought to herself that the time was fast coming when all her troubles should end but repose was still far off for one day as she was traveling on she missed the white feather and when she lifted up her eyes she could nowhere see the dove oh no she thought to herself no aid of man can be of use to me so she went to the sun and said thou shiniest everywhere on the hill's top and the valley's depth hast thou anywhere seen my white dove no said the sun i have not seen it but i will give thee a casket open it when thy hour of need comes so she thanked the sun and went on her way till even tide and when the moon arose she cried unto it and said thou shiniest all through the night over field and grove hast thou nowhere seen my white dove no said the moon i cannot help thee but i will give thee an egg break it when need comes she thanked the moon and went on till the night wind blew and she raised up her voice to it and said thou blowest through every tree and under every leaf hast thou not seen my white dove no said the night wind but i will ask three other winds perhaps they've seen it then the east wind and the west wind came and said they too had not seen it but the south wind said i have seen the white dove he has fled to the red sea and is changed once more into a lion but the seven years are past and there he is fighting with a dragon and the dragon is an enchanted princess who seeks to separate him from you then the night wind said i will give thee counsel go to the red sea on the right shore stand many rods count them and when they're commenced to the 11th break it off and smite the dragon with it and so the lion will have the victory and both of them will appear to you in their own forms then look around and thou wilt see a griffin winged like a bird sitting by the red sea jump on his back with thy beloved one as quickly as possible and he will carry you over the waters to your home i will also give thee this nut continued the night wind when you are halfway over throw it down and out of the waters will immediately spring up a high nut tree on which the griffin will be able to rest other he otherwise he would not have the strength to bear you the whole way if therefore no just forget to throw down the nut he will let you both fall into the sea so our poor wanderer went forth and found all as the night wind had said and she plugged to the 11th rod and smote the dragon and the lion forthwith became a prince and the dragon a princess again but no sooner was the princess released from the spell then she seized the prince by the arm and sprang onto the griffins back and went off carrying the prince away with her thus the unhappy chaffer was again forsaken and forlorn but she took heart and said as far as the wind blows and as long as the cock crows i will journey on till i find him once again she went on for a long long way till at length she came to the castle whither the princess had carried the prince and there was a feast got ready and she heard that the wedding was about to be held heaven aid me now said she and she took casket that the sun had given her and found that within it lay a dress as dazzling as the sun itself so she put it on and went into the palace and all the people gazed upon her and the dress pleased the bride so much that she asked whether it was to be sold not for gold and silver said she but for flesh and blood the princess asked what she meant and she said let me speak with the bridegroom this night in his chamber and i will give thee the dress at last the princess agreed but she told her chamberlain to give the prince a sleeping draught that he might not hear or see her when evening came and the prince had fallen asleep she was led into his chamber and she sat herself down at his feet she said i have followed thee seven years i have been to the sun the moon and the night wind to seek thee and at last i have helped thee to overcome the dragon wilt thou then forget me quite but the prince all the time slept so soundly that her voice only passed over him and seemed like the whistling of the wind among the fir trees then poor lily was led away and forced to give up the golden dress and when she saw there was no help for her she went out into a meadow sat herself down and wept but then as she sat she bethought herself of the egg that the moon had given her and when she broke it there ran out a hen and 12 chickens of pure gold that played about and then nestled under the old one's wings so as to form the most beautiful sight in the world and she rose up and drove them before her till the bride saw them from her window and was so pleased that she came forth and asked her if she would sell the brood not for gold or silver but for flesh and blood let me again this evening speak with the bridegroom in his chamber and i will give thee the whole brood the princess thought to betray her as before and agreed to what she asked but when the prince went to his chamber he asked the chamberlain why the wind had whistled so in the night the chamberlain told him all how he had given him a sleeping draught and how a poor maiden had come and spoken to him in his chamber and was to come again that night so the prince took care to throw away the next sleeping draught and when lilly came and began again to tell him what woes had befallen her and how faithful and true to him she had been he knew his beloved wife's voice and sprang up and you have awakened me as from a dream for the strange princess had thrown a spell around me so that i had altogether forgotten you but heaven has sent you to me in a lucky hour and they stalled away out of the palace by night unawares and seated themselves on the griffin who flew back with them over the red sea when they were halfway across lilly let the nut fall into the water and immediately a large nut tree arose from the sea whereon the griffin rested for a while and then carried them safely home there they found their child now grown up to be comely and fair and after all their troubles they lived happily together to the end of their days now we can just sink down the rabbit hole where we can catch up with alice and hear what she's been up to in wonderland since we last saw her chapter three a caucus race and a long tale they were indeed a queer looking party that assembled on the bank the birds with draggled feathers the animals with their fur clinging close to them and all dripping wet cross and uncomfortable the first question of course was how to get dry again they had a consultation about this and after a few minutes it seemed quite natural to alice to find herself talking familiarly with them as if she'd known them all her life indeed she had quite a long argument with the lorry who at last turned sulky and would only say i am older than you and must know better and this alice would not allow without knowing how old it was and as the lorry positively refused to tell its age there was no more to be said at last the mouse who seemed to be a person of authority among them called out sit down all of you and listen to me i'll soon make you dry enough they all sat down at once in a large ring with the mouse in the middle alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it but she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry very soon said the mouse with an important air are you all ready this is the driest thing i know silence all round if you please william the conqueror whose cause was favoured by the pope was soon submitted to by the english who wanted leaders and had been of late much accustomed to usurpation and conquest edwin and more car the earls of mercia and northumbria said the lorry with a shiver i beg your pardon said the mouse frowning but very politely did you speak not i said the lorry hastily i thought you did said the mouse i proceed edwin and more car the earls of mercia and northumbria declared for him and even stegan the patriotic archbishop of canterbury found it advisable found what said the duck found it the mouse replied rather crossly of course you know what it means i know what it means well enough when i find a thing said the duck it's generally a frog or a worm the question is what did the archbishop find the mouse did not notice this question but hurriedly went on found it advisable to go with edgar atheling to meet william and offer him the crown william's conduct at first was moderate but the insolence of his normans how are you getting on now my dear it continued turning to alice as it spoke as wet as ever said alice in a melancholy tone it doesn't seem to dry me at all in that case said the dodo solemnly rising to its feet i move that the meeting adjourn for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies oh speak english said the eaglet i don't know the meaning of half those long words and what's more i don't believe you do either and the eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile some of the other birds tittered audibly what i was going to say said the dodo in an offended tone was that the best thing to get us dry would be a caucus race what is a caucus race said alice not that she wanted much to know but the dodo had paused as if it thought that somebody ought to speak and no one else seemed inclined to say anything why said the dodo the best way to explain it is to do it and as you might like to try the thing yourself some winter day i will tell you how the dodo managed it first it marked out a race course in a sort of circle the exact shape doesn't matter it said and then all the party were placed along the course here and there there was no one two three and away but they began running when they liked and left off when they liked so it wasn't easy to know when the race was over however when they've been running half an hour or so and were quite dry again the dodo suddenly called out the race is over and they all crowded round it panting and asking but who has won this question the dodo couldn't answer without a great deal of thought and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead the position in which you usually see shakespeare in pictures often while the rest waited in silence at last the dodo said everybody has won and all must have prizes but who is to give the prizes a chorus of voices asked why she of course said the dodo pointing to alice with one finger and the whole party at once crowded round her calling out in a confused way prizes prizes alice had no idea what to do and in despair she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out a box of comforts luckily the salt water hadn't got into it and handed them round as prizes there was exactly one a piece all round but she must have a prize herself you know said the mass the dodo replied very gravely what else have you got in your pocket he went on turning to alice only a thimble said alice sadly handed over here said the dodo then they all crowded round her once more while the dodo solemnly presented the thimble saying we beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble and when it had finished this short speech they all cheered alice thought the whole thing very absurd but they all looked so grave that she didn't dare laugh and as she couldn't think of anything to say she simply bowed and took the thimble looking as solemn as she could the next thing was to eat the comforts this caused some noise and confusion as the large birds complained that they couldn't taste theirs and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back however it was over at last and they sat down again in a ring and begged the mouse to tell them something more you promised to tell me your history you know said alice and why it is you hate uh c and d she added half afraid it would be offended again mine is a long and sad tale said the mouse turning to alice and sighing it is a long tale certainly said alice looking down with wonder at the mouse's tail but why do you call it sad and she kept on puzzling about it while the mouse was speaking so her idea of the tale was something like this fury said to a mouse that he met in the house let us both go to law i will prosecute you come i'll take no denial we must have a trial for really this morning i have nothing to do said the mouse to the car such a trial dear sir with no jury or judge would be wasting our breath i'll be judge i'll be jury said cunning old fury i'll try the whole cause and condemn you to death you are not attending said the mouse to alice severely what are you thinking of i beg your pardon said alice very humbly you had got to the fifth bend i think i had not cried the mouse sharply and angrily and not said alice always ready to make herself useful and looking anxiously about her oh do let me help undo it i shall do nothing of the sort said the mouse getting up and walking away you insult me by talking such nonsense i didn't mean it pleaded poor alice but you're so easily offended you know the mouse only growled in reply please come back and finish your story alice called after it and the others all joined in the chorus yes please do but the mouse only shook its head impatiently and walked a little quicker what a pity it wouldn't stay inside the lorry as soon as the mouse was quite out of sight and an old crab took the opportunity of saying to ah my dear let this be a lesson to you never to lose your temper hold your tongue ma said the young crab a little snappy you're you're enough to try the patience of an oyster i wish i had our diner here i know i do said alice aloud addressing nobody in particular she'd soon fetch it back and who is diner if i might venture to ask the question said the lorry alice replied eagerly for she was always ready to talk about her pet diners are cat and she's such a capital one for catching mice she can't think and though i wish you could see her after the birds why she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it this speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party some of the birds hurried off at once one old magpie began wrapping itself up very carefully remarking i really must be getting home the night air doesn't suit my throat and a canary called out in a trembling voice to its children come away my dears it's high time you were all in bed on various pretexts they all moved off and alice was soon left alone i wish i hadn't mentioned diner she said to herself in a melancholy tone nobody here seems to like her and i'm sure she's the best cat in the world oh my dear diner i wonder if i shall ever see you again and here poor alice began to cry because she felt very lonely and low spirited in a little while however she again heard a little pattering of footsteps in the distance and she looked up eagerly half hoping that the mouse had changed his mind and was coming back to finish his story up to four the rabbit sends in a little bill it was the white rabbit trotting slowly back again and looking anxiously about as it went as if it had lost something and she heard it muttering to itself the duchess the duchess oh my dear paws oh my fur and whiskers she'll get me executed sure as ferrets are ferrets where can i have dropped them i wonder alice guessed in a moment that it was looking for the fan and the pair of white kid gloves and she very good-naturedly began hunting about for them but they were nowhere to be seen everything seemed to have changed since her swim in the pool and the great hall with the glass table and the little door had vanished completely very soon the rabbit noticed alice as she went hunting about and called out to her in an angry tone why mary ann what are you doing out here run home this moment and fetch me a pair of gloves and a fan quick now and alice was so much frightened that she ran off at once in the direction it pointed to without trying to explain the mistake it had made he took me for his housemaid she said to herself as she ran how surprised he'll be when he finds out who i am but i'd better take him his fan and gloves if i can find them that is as she said this she came upon a neat little house on the door of which was a bright brass plate with the name w rabbit engraved upon it she went in without knocking and hurried upstairs in great fear lest she should meet the real mary ann and be turned out of the house before she'd found the fan and gloves how queer it seems alice said to herself to be going messages for a rabbit i suppose dinah will be sending me on messages next and she began fancying the sort of thing that would happen miss alice come here directly and get ready for your walk coming in a minute nurse but i've got to see that the mouse doesn't get out only i don't think alice went on that they'd let dinah stop in the house if it began ordering people around like that by this time she had found her way into a room with a table in the window and on it as she had hoped a fan and two or three pairs of tiny white kid gloves she took up the fan and a pair of the gloves and was just going to leave the room when her eye fell upon a little bottle that stood near the looking glass there was no label this time with the words drink me but nevertheless she uncorked it and put it to her lips i know something interesting is sure to happen she said to herself whenever i eat or drink anything so i'll just see what this bottle does i do hope it will make me grow large again for really i'm quite tired of being such a tiny little thing it did so indeed and much sooner than she had expected before she drank half the bottle she found her head pressing against the ceiling and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken she hastily put down the bottle saying to herself that's quite enough i hope i shan't grow anymore as it is i can't get out of the door i do wish i hadn't drunk quite so much alas it was too late to wish that she went on growing and growing and very soon had to kneel down on the floor in another moment there was not even the room for this and she tried the effect of lying down with one elbow against the door and the other arm curled around her head but still she went on growing as a last resort she put one arm out of the window and one foot up the chimney and said to herself now i can do no more whatever happens what will become of me but luckily for alice the little magic bottle had now had its full effect she grew no larger still it was very uncomfortable and as there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting out of the room again no wonder she felt unhappy it was much pleasanter at home thought poor alice when one wasn't always growing larger than smaller and being ordered about by mice and rabbits i almost wish i hadn't gone down that rabbit hole and yet and yet it is rather curious you know this life i do wonder what can have happened to me when i used to read fairy tales i fancied that kind of thing never really happened and now here i am in the middle of one there ought to be a book written about me that there ought and when i grow up i'll write one but i'm grown up now she added in a sorrowful tone at least there's no room to grow up anymore here but then thought alice shall i never get any older than i am now that'll be a comfort one way never to be an old woman but then always to have lessons to learn oh i shouldn't like that oh you foolish alice she answered herself how can you learn lessons in here why there's hardly room for you and no room at all for any lesson books and so she went on taking first one side of the argument and then the other and making quite a conversation of it but after a few minutes she heard a voice outside and stopped to listen marianne marianne said the voice fetch me my gloves this moment then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs alice knew it was the rabbit coming to look for her and she trembled till she shook the house quite forgetting that she was now about a thousand times as large as the rabbit and had no reason to be afraid of it presently the rabbit came up to the door and tried to open it but as the door opened inwards and alice's elbow was pressed hard against it that attempt proved a failure alice heard it say to itself then i'll go round and get in at the window that you won't thought alice and after waiting till she fancied she heard the rabbit just under the window she suddenly spread out her hand and made a snatch in the air she didn't get hold of anything but she heard a little shriek and a fall and a crash of broken glass from which she concluded that it was just possible it had fallen into a cucumber frame or something of that sort next came an angry voice the rabbits pat pat where are you and then a voice she'd never heard before sure then i'm here digging for apples your honor digging for apples indeed said the rabbit angrily here come and help me out of this sounds of more broken glass now tell me pat what's that in the window sure it's an arm your honor he pronounced it arum an arm you goose whoever saw one that size why it fills the whole window sure it does your honor but it's an arm for all that well it's got no business there at any rate go and take it away there was a long silence after this and alice could only hear whispers now and then such as sure i don't like it your honor at all at all do as i tell you you coward then at last she spread out her hand again and made another snatch in the air this time there were two little shrieks and more sounds of broken glass what a number of cucumber frames there must be thought alice i wonder what they'll do next as for pulling me out of the window i only wish they could i'm sure i don't want to stay in here any longer she waited for some time without hearing anything more at last came a rumbling of little cart wheels and the sound of a good many voices all talking together she made out the words where's the other ladder why i haven't to bring but one bill's got the other bill fetch it here lad here put them up at this corner no tie them together first they don't reach half high enough oh they'll do well enough don't be particular here bill catch hold of this rope will the roof bear mind that loose slate oh it's coming down heads below a loud crash now who did that it was bill i fancy who's to go down the chimney nay i shan't you do it that i won't then bill's to go down here bill the master says you to go down the chimney oh so bill's got to come down the chimney has he said alice to herself shy they seem to put everything upon bill i wouldn't be in bill's place for a good deal this fireplace is narrow to be sure but i think i can kick a little she drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could and waited till she heard a little animal she couldn't guess what sort it was scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her then saying to herself this is bill she gave one sharp kick and waited to see what would happen next the first thing she heard was a general chorus of there goes bill then the rabbits voice along catch him you by the hedge then silence and then another confusion of voices hold up his head brandy now don't choke him how was it old fellow what happened to you tell us all about it last came a little feeble squeaking voice that's bill thought alice well i hardly know no more thank you i'm better now but i'm a deal too flustered to tell you all i know is something comes at me like a jack-in-the-box and up i goes like a sky rocket so you did old fellow said the others we must burn the house down said the rabbit's voice and dina called out as loud as she could if you do i'll set diner at you there was a dead silence instantly and alice thought to herself i wonder what they will do next if they had any sense they take the roof off after a minute or two they began moving about again and alice heard the rabbit say a barrelful will do to begin with a barrelful of what thought alice but she'd not long to doubt for the next moment a shower of little pebbles came rattling in at the window and some of them hit her in the face i'll put a stop to this she said to herself and shouted out you better not try that again which produced another dead silence alice noted with some surprise that the pebbles were all turning into little cakes as they lay on the floor a bright idea came into her head if i eat one of these cakes she thought is sure to make some change in my size and as it can't possibly make me larger it must make me smaller i suppose so she swallowed one of the cakes and was delighted to find that she began shrinking straight away as soon as she was small enough to get through the door she ran out of the house and found quite a crowd of little animals and birds waiting outside the poor little lizard bill was in the middle being held up by two guinea pigs who were giving it something out of a bottle they all made a rush at alice the moment she appeared but she ran off as hard as she could and soon found herself safe in a thick wood the first thing i've got to do said alice to herself as she wandered about in the wood is to grow to my right size again and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden i think that will be the best plan it sounded an excellent plan no doubt and very neatly and simply arranged the only difficulty was that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it and while she was peering about anxiously among the trees a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in a great hurry an enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes and feebly stretching out one paw trying to touch her poor little thing said alex in a coaxing tone and she tried hard to whistle to it but she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought that it might be hungry in which case it would be very likely to eat her up in spite of all her coaxing hardly knowing what she did she picked up a little bit of stick and held it out to the puppy the puppy jumped into the air off all its feet at once with a yelp of delight and rushed at the stick and made believe to worry it then alice dodged behind a great thistle to keep herself from being run over and the moment she appeared on the other side the puppy made another rush at the stick and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it then alice thinking it was very like having a game of play with a cart horse and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet ran round the thistle again then the puppy began a series of short charges at the stick running a very little way forwards each time and a long way back and barking hoarsely all the while till at last it sat down a good way off panting with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and its great eyes half shut this seemed to alice a good opportunity for making her escape so she set off at once and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath until the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance and yet what a dear little puppy it was said alice as she lent against a buttercup to rest herself and found herself with one of the leaves i should have liked teaching it tricks very much if if only i'd been the right size to do it oh dear i'd nearly forgotten that i've got to grow up again let me see how is it to be managed i suppose i ought to eat or drink something or other but the great question is what the great question certainly was what alice looked all around her at the flowers and the blades of grass but she did not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances there was a large mushroom growing near her about the same height as herself and when she had looked under it and on both sides of it and behind it it occurred to her she might as well look and see what was on the top of it she stretched herself up on tiptoe and peeped over the edge of the mushroom and her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar that was sitting on the top with its arms folded quietly smoking a long hooker and taking not the smallest notice of her or of anything else the frog prince is one of the grim brothers more well-known folk tales and you've probably heard some version of it somewhere before but this is the original story as recorded during the 19th century so go ahead make yourself really comfortable and i'll begin one fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs and went out to take a walk by herself in a wood and when she came to a cool spring of water that rose in the midst of it she sat herself down to rest a while now she had a golden ball in her hand which was her favorite play thing and she was always tossing it up into the air and catching it again as it fell after a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell and the ball bounded away and rolled along upon the ground till at last it fell down into the spring the princess looked into the spring after her ball but it was very deep so deep that she could not see the bottom of it so she began to bewail her loss and said alas if i could only get my ball back i would give all my fine clothes and jewels and everything that i have in the world while she was speaking a frog put its head out of the water and said princess why do you weep so bitterly alas said she what can you do for me you nasty frog my golden ball has fallen into the spring the frog said i want not your pearls and jewels and fine clothes but if you will love me and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate and sleep upon your bed i will bring you your ball again what nonsense thought the princess this silly frog is talking he can never even get out of the spring to visit me though he may be able to get my ball for me therefore i will tell him he shall have what he asks so she said to the frog well if you will bring me my ball i will do all you ask then the frog put his head down and dive deep under the water and after a little while he came up again with the ball in his mouth and threw it on the edge of the spring as soon as the young princess saw the ball she ran to pick it up and she was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again that she never thought of the frog but ran home with it as fast as she could the frog called after her said princess take me with you as you said but she didn't stop to hear a word the next day just as the princess sat down to dinner she heard a strange noise tap tap splash splash as if something was coming up the marble staircase and soon afterwards there was a gentle knock at the door and a little voice cried out and said open the door my princess dear open the door to thy true love here and mind the words that thou and i said by the fountain cool in the greenwood shade then the princess ran to the door and opened it and there she saw the frog whom she'd quite forgotten at this sight she was sadly frightened and shutting the door as fast as she could came back to her seat the king her father seeing that something had frightened her asked her what was the matter there's a nasty frog said she at the door that lifted my ball for me out of the spring this morning i told him he should live with me here thinking he could never get out of the spring but there he is at the door and he wants to come in while she was speaking the frog knocked again at the door and said open the door my princess dear open the door to thy true love here and mind the words that thou and i said by the fountain cool in the greenwood shade but the king said to the young princess as you have given your word you must keep it so go and let him in she did so and the frog hopped into the room and then straight on tap tap splash splash from the bottom of the room to the top till he came up close to the table where the princess sat pray lift me upon a chair said he to the princess and let me sit next to you as soon as she had done this the frog said put your plate nearer to me that i may eat out of it this she did and when he had eaten as much as he could he said now i am tired carry me upstairs and put me into your bed and the princess though very unwilling took him up in her hand and put him upon the pillow of her own bed where he slept all night long as soon as it was light he jumped up hopped down the stairs and went out of the house now then thought the princess at last he is gone and i shall be troubled with him no more but she was mistaken for when night came again she heard the same tapping at the door and the frog came once more and said open the door my princess dear open the door to thy true love here and mind the words that thou and i said by the fountain cool in the greenwood shade and when the princess opened the door the frog came in and slept upon her pillow as before till the morning broke and the third night he did the same but when the princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see instead of the frog a handsome prince gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen and standing at the head of her bed he told her he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy who had changed him into a frog and that he had been fated to so abide till some princess should take him out of the spring and let him eat from her plate and sleep upon her bed for three nights you said the prince have broken this cruel charm and now i have nothing to wish for but that you should go with me into my father's kingdom where i will marry you and love you as long as you live the young princess you may be sure was not long in saying yes to all that and as they spoke a gay coach drove up with eight beautiful horses decked with plumes of feathers and golden harness and behind the coach rode the prince's servant faithful Heinrich who had bewailed the misfortunes of his dear master during his enchantment so long and so bitterly that his heart had well nigh burst they took leave of the king and got into the coach with eight horses and all set out full of joy and merriment for the prince's kingdom which they reached safely and there they lived happily a great many years frost once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman now the old woman was the old man's second wife his first wife had died and had left him with a little daughter martha she was called then he married again and god gave him a cross wife and with her two more daughters and they were very different from the first the old woman loved her own daughters and gave them red kaisal jelly every day and honey too as much as they could put into their greedy little mouths the eldest she got only what the others left when they were cross they threw away what they left and then she got nothing at all the children grew older and the stepmother made martha do all the work of the house she had to fetch the wood for the stove and light it and keep it burning she had to draw the water for her sisters to wash their hands in she had to make the clothes and wash them and mend them she had to cook the dinner and clean the dishes after the others had done before having a bite for herself for all that the stepmother was never satisfied and was forever shouting at her look the kettle is in the wrong place there is dust on the floor there is a spot on the tablecloth or the spoons are not clean you stupid ugly idle hussy but martha was not idle she worked all day long and got up before the sun while her sisters never stirred from their beds till it was time for dinner and she wasn't stupid and as for being ugly she was the prettiest little girl in the village her father saw all this but he didn't do anything for the old woman was mistress at home and he was terribly afraid of her and as for the daughters they saw how their mother treated martha and they did the same they were always complaining and getting her into trouble it was a pleasure to them to see the tears on her pretty cheeks well time went on and the little girl grew up and the daughters of the stepmother were as ugly as could be their eyes were always cross and their mouths were always complaining their mother saw that no one would want to marry either of them while there was martha about the house with her bright eyes and her songs and her kindness to everybody so she thought of a way to get rid of her stepdaughter and a cruel way it was see here old man says she it is high time martha was married and i have a bridegroom in mind for her tomorrow morning you must harness the old mare to the sledge and put a bit of food together and be ready to start early as i'd like to see you back before night to martha she said tomorrow you must pack your things in a box and put on your best dress to show yourself to your betrothed who is he asked martha with red cheeks you will know him when you see him said the stepmother all that night martha hardly slept she could hardly believe that she was really going to escape from the old woman at last and have a hut of her own where there would be no one to scold her she wondered who the young man was she hoped he was fedor ivanovich who had such kind eyes and such nimble fingers on the balalaika and such a merry way of flinging out his heels when he danced the russian dance but though he always smiled at her when they met she felt she hardly dared hope it was he early in the morning she got up and said her prayers to god put the whole hut in order and packed her things into a little box that was easy because she had so few things it was the other daughters who had new dresses any old thing was good enough for martha but she put on her blue dress and there she was as pretty a little maid as ever walked under the birch trees in spring the old man harnessed the mare to the sledge and brought it to the door the snow was very deep and frozen hard and the wind peeled the skin from his ears before he covered them with the flaps of his fur hat sit down at the table and have a bite before you go says the old woman the old man sat down and his daughter with him and drank a glass of tea and ate some black bread and the old woman put some cabbage soup left from the day before in the salsa and said to martha eat this my little pigeon and get ready for the road but when she said my little pigeon she didn't smile with her eyes but only with her cruel mouth martha was afraid the old woman whispered to the old man i have a word for you old fellow you will take martha to her betrothed and i'll tell you the way you go straight along and then take the road to the right into the forest you know straight to the big fir tree that stands on the hillock and there you will give martha to her betrothed and leave her he will be waiting for her his name is frost the old man stared opened his mouth and stopped eating the little maid who had heard the last words began to cry now what are you whimpering about screamed the old woman frost is a rich bridegroom and a handsome one see how much he owns all the pines and firs are his and the birch trees anyone would envy his possessions and he himself is a very bogateer a man of strength and power the old man trembled and said nothing in reply and martha went on crying quietly though she tried to stop her tears the old man packed up what was left of the black bread told martha to put on her sheepskin coat set her in the sledge and climbed in and drove off along the white frozen road the road was long and the country open and the wind grew colder and colder while the frozen snow blew up from under the hooves of the mare and spattered the sledge with white patches the tale is soon told but it takes time to actually happen and the sledge was white all over long before they turned off into the forest they came in the end deep into the forest and left the road and over the deep snow through the trees to the great fir there the old man stopped told his daughter to get out of the sledge set her little box under the fur and said wait here for your bridegroom and when he comes be sure to receive him with kind words then he turned the mare round and drove home tears running from his eyes and freezing on his cheeks before they had time to reach his beard her sheepskin coat was worn through and in her blue bridal dress she sat while fits of shivering shook her whole body she wanted to run away but she hadn't the strength to move or even to keep her little white teeth from chattering between her frozen lips suddenly not far away she heard frost crackling among the fir trees just as he is crackling now he was leaping from tree to tree crackling as he came he leapt at last into the great fir tree under which the little maid was sitting he crackled in the top of the tree and then called down out of the topmost branches are you a warm little maid warm warm little father frost frost laughed and came a little lower in the tree and crackled and crackled louder than before then he asked are you still warm little maid are you warm little red cheeks the little maid could hardly speak she felt nearly dead but she answered warm dear frost warm little father frost climbed lower in the tree and crackled louder than ever and asked are you still warm little maid are you warm little red cheeks are you warm little paws the little maid was benumbed all over but she whispered so that frost could just hear her warm little pigeon warm dear frost and frost was sorry for her he leapt down with a crackle and a scattering of frozen snow wrapped the little maid up in rich furs in the morning the old woman said to her husband drive off now to the forest and wake the young couple the old man wept when he thought of his little daughter that he was sure he would find her dead he harnessed the mare and drove off through the snow he came to the tree and heard his little daughter singing merrily while frost crackled and laughed there she was alive and warm with a good fur cloak about her shoulders a rich veil costly blankets around her and a box full of splendid presents the old man didn't say a word he was too surprised he just sat in the sledge staring while the little maid lifted her box and the box of presents set them in the sledge climbed in and sat down beside him they came home and the little maid fell at the feet of her stepmother the old woman nearly went off her head with rage when she saw her alive with her fur cloak and rich veil and the box of splendid presents fit for the daughter of a prince ah yes slut she cried you won't get round me like that and she wouldn't say another word to the little maid but went about all day long biting her nails and thinking what to do at night she said to the old man you must take my daughters too to that bridegroom in the forest he will give them better gifts than these things take time to happen though the tale is quickly told early next morning the old woman woke her daughters fed them with good food dressed them like brides hustled the old man made him put clean hay in the sledge and warm blankets and sent them off to the forest the old man did as he was bid drove to the big fir tree set the boxes under the tree lifted out the stepdaughters and set them on the boxes side by side and drove back home they were warmly dressed these two and well fed and at first as they sat there they didn't think about the cold i can't think what put it into mother's head to marry us both at once said the first and to send us here to be married as if there were not enough young men in the village you can tell what sort of fellows we shall meet here then they began to quarrel well says one of them i'm beginning to get the cold shivers if our fated ones do not come soon we shall perish of cold it's a flat lie to say that bridegrooms get ready early it's already dinner time what if only one comes you'll have to come back another time then huh you think he'll look at you well he won't take you anyhow of course he'll take me take you first it's enough to make anyone laugh they began to fight and scratch each other so that their cloaks fell open and the cold entered their bosoms frost crackling among the trees laughing to himself froze the hands of the two quarreling girls and they hid their hands in the sleeves of their fur coats and shivered and went on scolding and jeering at each other oh you ugly mug dirty nose what sort of a housekeeper will you make and what about you boasting one you know nothing but how to gad about and lick your own face we'll soon see which of us he'll take and the two girls went on wrangling and wrangling till they began to freeze in good earnest suddenly they cried out together devil take these bridegrooms for being so long in coming you have turned blue all over and together they replied shivering no bluer than yourself tooth chatterer and frost not so far away crackled and laughed and leapt from fir tree to fir tree crackling as he came the girls heard someone coming through the forest listen there's someone coming yes and with bells on his sledge shut up you slut i can't hear and the frost is taking the skin off me they began blowing on their fingers and frost came nearer and nearer crackling laughing talking to himself just as he does today nearer and nearer he came leaping from treetop to treetop till at last he leapt into the great fur under which the two girls were sitting and quarreling he leant down looking through the branches and asked are you warm maidens are you warm little red cheeks are you warm little pigeons oh frost the cold is hurting us we are frozen we are waiting for our bridegrooms but the cursed fellows have not turned up frost came a little lower in the tree and crackled louder and swifter are you warm maidens are you warm my little red cheeks go to the devil they cried out are you blind our hands and feet are frozen frost came still lower in the branches and crackled and crackled louder than ever are you warm maidens he asked into the pit with you with all the fiends the girls screamed at him you ugly wretched fellow and as they were cursing at him their bad words died on their lips for the two girls the two cross children of the cruel stepmother were frozen stiff where they sat frost hung from the lowest branches of the tree swaying and crackling while he looked at the anger frozen on their faces then he climbed crackling and cracking chuckling to himself and went off leaping from fir tree to fir tree this way and that through the white frozen forest in the morning the old woman says to her husband now then old man harness the mare to the sledge and put new hay in the sledge to be warm for my little ones and lay fresh rushes on the hay to be soft for them and take warm rugs with you for maybe they will be cold even in their furs and look sharp about it and don't keep them waiting the frost is hard this morning and it was harder in the night the old man had not time to even eat a mouthful of black bread before she had driven him out into the snow he put hay and rushes and soft blankets in the sledge and harnessed the mare and went off to the forest he came to the great fir and found the two girls sitting under it dead with their anger still to be seen on their frozen ugly faces he picked them up first one and then the other and put them in the rushes and the warm hay covered them with the blankets and drove home the old woman saw him coming far away over the shining snow she ran to meet him and shouted out where are the little ones in the sledge she snatched off the blankets and pulled aside the rushes and found the bodies of her two cross daughters instantly she flew at the old man in a storm of rage what have you done to my children my little red cherries my little pigeons i will kill you with the oven fork i will break your head with the poker the old man listened till she was out of breath and couldn't say another word that my dears is the only wise thing to do when a woman is in a scolding rage and as soon as she had no breath left with which to answer him he said my little daughter got riches for soft words but yours were always rough of the tongue and it's not my fault anyhow for you yourself sent them into the forest well at last the old woman got her breath again and scolded away till she was tired out but in the end she made her peace with the old man and they lived together as quietly as could be expected as for martha fedor ivanovich sought her in marriage as he'd meant to do all along yes and married her and pretty she looked in the furs that frost had given her i was at the feast and drank beer and mead with the rest and she had the prettiest children that ever was seen yes and the best behaved for if ever they thought of being naughty the old grandfather told them the story of crackling frost and how kind words won kindness and crosswords won cold treatment and now listen to frost hear how he crackles away and mind if ever he asks you if you are warm be as polite to him as you can and to do that the best way is to be good always then it comes easy port in a storm the story was written by a scottish writer called george mcdonald he was a major influence on many of the writers we know so well today such as mark twain lewis carroll or neil gaiman and even wh ordon papa said my sister effie one evening as we all sat about the drawing room fire one after another as nothing followed we turned our eyes upon her there she sat still silent embroidering the corner of a cambrick handkerchief apparently unaware that she had spoken it was a very cold night at the beginning of winter my father had come home early and we had all dined early that we might have a long evening together for it was my father's and mother's wedding day and we always kept it as the homeliest of holidays my father was seated in an easy chair by the chimney corner with a jug of burgundy near him and my mother sat by his side now and then taking a sip out of his glass effie was now nearly 19 the rest of us were younger what she was thinking about we didn't know then though we could all guess now suddenly she looked up and seeing all eyes fixed on her became either aware or suspicious and blushed rosy red you spoke to me effie what was it my dear oh yes papa i wanted to ask you whether you wouldn't tell us tonight the story about how you well my love about how you i am listening my dear i mean about mama and you ah yes yes about how i got your mama for a mother to you yes i paid a dozen of port for her we all and each exclaimed papa and my mother laughed tell us about it was the general cry well i will answered our father i must begin at the beginning though and filling his glass with burgundy he began as far back as i can remember i lived with my father in an old manor house in the country it didn't belong to my father but to an elder brother of his who at that time was captain of a 74.

He loved the sea more than his life and as yet apparently had loved his ship better than any woman at least he was not married my mother had been dead for some years and my father was now in very delicate health he had never been strong and since my mother's death i believe though i was too young to notice it at the time he had pined away i'm not going to tell you anything about him just now because it doesn't belong to my story but when i was about five years old as nearly as i can judge the doctors advised him to leave england the house was put into the hands of an agent to let at least so i suppose and he took me with him to madeira where he died i was brought home by his servant and by my uncle's directions sent to a boarding school from there to eton and from there to oxford before i had finished my studies my uncle had been an admiral for some time the year before i left oxford he married lady georgiana thornberry a widow lady with one daughter thereupon he bad farewell to the sea though i dare say he didn't like the parting and retired with his bride to the house where he was born the same house i told you i was born in which had been in the family for many generations and which your cousin now lives in it was late in the autumn when they arrived at culverwood they were no sooner settled than my uncle wrote to me inviting me to spend christmas tied with them at the old place and here you may see that my story has arrived at its beginning it was with strange feelings that i entered the house it looked so old-fashioned and stately and grand to eyes which had been accustomed to all the modern common places yet the shadowy recollections which hung about it gave an air of homeliness to the place which along with the grandeur occasioned a sense of rare delight for what can be better than to feel that you're in stately company and at the same time perfectly at home in it i am grateful to this day for the lesson i had from the sense of which i've spoken that of mingled awe and tenderness in the aspect of the old hall as i entered it for the first time after 15 years having left it a mere child i was cordially received by my old uncle and my new aunt but the moment kate thornberry entered i lost my heart and have never found it again to this day i get on wonderfully well without it for i have got the loan of a far better heart till i find my own which therefore i hope i never shall my father glanced at my mother as he said this and she returned his look in a way which i can now interpret as a quiet satisfied confidence but the tears came in effy's eyes she had trouble before long poor girl but it's not her story i have to tell my father went on your mother was prettier then than she is now but not so beautiful beautiful enough though to make me think there never had been or could again be anything so beautiful she met me kindly and i met her awkwardly you made me feel that i had no business there said my mother speaking for the first time in the course of the story see there girls said my father you are always so confident in first impressions and instinctive judgment i was awkward because as i said i fell in love with your mother from the moment i saw her and she thought i regarded her as an intruder into the old family precincts i will not follow the story of the days i was very happy except when i felt too keenly how unworthy i was of kate thornberry not that she meant to make me feel it for she was never other than kind but she was such that i could not help feeling it i gathered courage however and before my three days were over i began to tell her all my slowly reviving memories of the place with my childish adventures associated with this and that room or outhouse or spot in the grounds for the longer i was in the place the more my old associations with it revived till i was quite astonished to find how much of my history in connection with culverwood had been thoroughly imprinted on my memory she never showed at least that she was weary of my stories which however interesting to me must have been tiresome to anyone who did not sympathize with what i felt towards my old nest from room to room we rambled talking or silent and nothing could have given me a better chance i believe with a heart like your mother's i think it was not long before she began to like me at least and liking had every opportunity of growing into something stronger if only she too did not come to the conclusion that i was unworthy of her my uncle received me like the jolly old tar that he was welcomed me to the old ship hoped we should make many a voyage together and that i would take the run of the craft all but in one thing you see my boy he said i married above my station and i don't want my wife's friends to say that i laid alongside of her to get hold of her daughter's fortune no no my boy your old uncle has too much salt water in him to do a dog's trick like that so you take care of yourself that's all she might turn the head of a wiser man that never came out of our family i didn't tell my uncle that his advice was already too late for that though it was not an hour since i had first seen her my head was so far turned already that the only way to get it right again was to go on turning it in the same direction even though no doubt there was a danger of overhauling the screw the old gentleman never referred to the matter again nor took any notice of our increasing intimacy so that i sometimes doubt even now if he could have been in earnest in the very simple warning he gave me fortunately lady georgiana liked me at least i thought she did and that gave me courage that's all nonsense my dear said my mother mama was nearly as fond of you as i was but you never wanted courage i knew better than to show my cowardice i dare say returned my father but he continued things grew worse and worse till i was certain i should kill myself or go straight out of my mind if your mother would not have me so it went on for a few days and christmas was at hand the admiral had invited several old friends to come and spend the christmas week with him now you must remember that although you look on me as an old-fashioned fogey oh papa we all interrupted but he went on yet my uncle was an older fashioned fogey and his friends were much the same as himself now i am fond of a glass of port though i dare not take it and must content myself with burgundy uncle bob would have called burgundy pigwash he couldn't do without his port though he was a moderate enough man as customs were fancy then his dismay when on questioning his butler an old coxswain of his own and after going down to inspect in person he found that there was scarcely more than a dozen of port in the wine cellar he turned white with dismay until he had brought the blood back to his countenance by swearing he was something awful to behold in the dim light of the tallow candle old jacob held in his tattooed fist i will not repeat the words he used fortunately they are out of fashion amongst gentlemen although ladies i understand are beginning to revive the custom now old and always ugly jacob reminded his honor that he would not have more put down till he had got a proper cellar built for the one there was he had said was not fit to put anything but dead men in thereupon after abusing jacob for not reminding him of the necessities of the coming season he turned to me and began certainly not to swear at his own father but to expostulate sideways with the absent shade for not having provided a decent cellar before his departure from this world of dinners and wine hinting that it was something selfish and very inconsiderate of the welfare of those who were to come after him having by now a little exhausted his indignation he came up and wrote the most peremptory order to his wine merchant in liverpool to let him have 30 dozen of port before christmas day even if he had to send it by post chaise i took the letter to the post myself for the old man would trust nobody but me and indeed would have preferred taking it himself but in winter he was always lame from the effects of a bruise he had received from a falling spar in the battle of aboukir that night i remember well i lay in bed wondering whether i might venture to say a word or even to give a hint to your mother that there was a word that pined to be said if it might all at once i heard a whine of the wind in the old chimney how well i knew that wine for my kind aunt had taken the trouble to find out from me what room i had occupied as a boy and by the third night i spent there she had got it ready for me i jumped out of bed and found that the snow was falling fast and thick i jumped into bed again and began wondering what my uncle would do if the port did not arrive and then i thought that if the snow went on falling as it did and if the wind rose any higher it might turn out that the roads through the hilly part of yorkshire in which culverwood lay might very well be blocked up the north wind doth blow and we shall have snow and what will my uncle do then poor thing he'll run for his port but he will run short and have too much water to drink poor thing with the influences of the chamber of my childhood crowding upon me i kept repeating the travesty rhyme to myself till i fell asleep now boys and girls if i were writing a novel i should like to make you somehow or other put together the facts that i was in the room i have mentioned that i had been in the cellar with my uncle for the first time that evening that i had seen my uncle's distress and heard his reflections upon his father i may add that i was not myself even then so indifferent to the merits of a good glass of port as to be unable to enter into my uncle's dismay and that of his guests at last if they should find that the snowstorm had actually closed up the sweet approaches of the expected port if i was personally indifferent to the matter i fear it is to be attributed to your mother and not to myself nonsense interposed my mother once more i never knew such a man for making little of himself and much of other people you never drank a glass too much port in your life that's why i'm so fond of it my dear returned my father i declare you make me quite discontented with my pig wash here but that night i had a dream the next day the visitors began to arrive before the evening after they had all come there were five of them three tars and two land crabs as they called each other when they got jolly which by the way they would not have done long without me my uncle's anxiety visibly increased each guest as he came down to breakfast received each morning a more constrained greeting i beg your pardon ladies i forgot to mention that my aunt had lady visitors of course but the fact is it is only the port drinking visitors in whom my story is interested always excepted your mother these ladies my admiral uncle greeted with something approaching servility i understood him well enough he instinctively sought to make a party to protect him when the awful secret of his cellar should be found out but for two preliminary days or so his resources would serve he had plenty of excellent claret and madeira stuff i don't know much about and both jacob and himself condescended to maneuver a little the wine did not arrive but the morning of christmas eve did i was sitting in my room trying to write a song for kate that's your mother my dears i know papa said effie as if she were very knowing to know that then my uncle came into the room looking like sintram with death and the other one after him that's the nonsense you read to me the other day isn't it effie not nonsense dear papa remonstrated effie and i loved her for saying it for surely it isn't nonsense i didn't mean it said my father and turning to my mother added it must be your fault my dear that my children are so serious that they always take a joke for earnest however it was no joke with my uncle if he didn't look like sintram he looked like the other one the roads are frozen i mean snowed up he said there's just one bottle of port left and what captain kolker will say i dare say i know but i'd rather not damn this weather god forgive me that's not right but it is trying ain't it my boy what will you give me for a dozen of port uncle was all my answer give you i'll give you culverwood you rogue darn i cried that is stammered my uncle that is and he reddened like the funnel of one of his hated steamers that is you know always provided you know it wouldn't be fair to lady georgiana now would it i put it to yourself if she took the trouble you know you understand me my boy that's of course uncle i said ah i see you're a gentleman like your father not to trip a man when he stumbles said my uncle for such was the dear old man's sense of honor that he was actually uncomfortable about the hasty promise he had made without first specifying the exception the exception you know has culverwood at the present hour and right welcome he is of course uncle i said between gentlemen you know still i want my joke out too what will you give me for a dozen of port to tide you over christmas day give you my boy i'll give you but here he checked himself as one that had been burned already he said turning his back and going towards the door what's the use of joking about serious affairs like this and so he left the room and i let him go for i had heard that the road from liverpool was impassable the wind and snow having continued every day since that night of which i told you meantime i had never been able to summon the courage to say one word to your mother i beg her pardon i mean miss thornberry christmas day arrived my uncle was awful to behold his friends were evidently anxious about him they thought he was ill there was such a hesitation about him like a shark with a bait and such a flurry like a whale in his last agonies he had a horrible secret which he dared not tell and which yet would come out of its grave at the appointed hour down in the kitchen the roast beef and turkey were meeting their desserts up in the storeroom for lady georgiana was not above housekeeping any more than her daughter the ladies of the house were doing their part and i was oscillating between my uncle and his knees making myself amazingly useful now to one and now to the other the turkey and the beef were on the table nay they had been well eaten before i felt that my moment was come outside the wind was howling and driving the snow with soft pats against the window panes eager eyed i watched general fortescue who despised sherry or madeira even during dinner and would no more touch champagne than he would oh sucre but drank port after fish or with cheese indiscriminately with eager eyes i watched how the last bottle dwindled out its fading life in the clear decanter glass after glass was supplied to general fortescue by the fearless coxswain who if he might have had his choice would rather have boarded a frenchman than waited for what was to follow my uncle scarcely ate at all and the only thing that stopped his face from going longer with the removal of every dish was that nothing but but death could have made it longer than it was already it was my interest to let matters go as far as they might up to a certain point beyond which it was not my interest to let them go if i could help it at the same time i was curious to know how my uncle would announce confess the terrible fact that in his house on christmas day having invited his oldest friends to share with him the festivities of the season there was not one more bottle of port to be had i waited till the last moment till i fancied the admiral was opening his mouth like a fish in despair to make his confession he had not even dared to make a confidante of his wife in such an awful dilemma then i pretended to have dropped my table napkin behind my chair and rising to seek it stole round behind my uncle and whispered in his ear what will you give me for a dozen of port now uncle but he said i'm at the gratings don't torture me i'm in earnest uncle he looked round at me with a sudden flash of bewildered hope in his eye in the last agony he was capable of believing in a miracle but he made me no reply he only stared will you give me kate i want kate i whispered i will my boy that is if she'll have you that is i mean to say if you produce the true tourney of course uncle on a bright as port in a storm i answered trembling in my shoes and everything else i had on but i was not more than three parts confident in the result the gentleman beside kate happening at the moment to be occupied each with the lady on his other side i went behind her and whispered to her as i had whispered to my uncle though not exactly in the same terms perhaps i had got a little courage from the champagne i had drunk or perhaps the presence of the company gave me a kind of mesmeric strength perhaps the excitement of the whole venture kept me up perhaps kate herself gave me courage like a goddess of old in some way i didn't understand at all events i said to her kate we had got so far even then my uncle hasn't another bottle of port in his cellar consider what a state general fortescue will be in soon he'll be tipsy for want of it will you come and help me find a bottle or two she rose at once with a white rose blush so delicate i don't believe anyone saw it but myself but the shadow of a stray ringlet couldn't fall on her cheek without my seeing it when we got into the hall the wind was roaring loud and the few lights were flickering and waving gustily with alternate light and shade across the old portraits which i had known so well as a child for i used to think what each would say first if he or she came down out of the frame and spoke to me i stopped and taking kate's hand i said i daren't let you come further kate before i tell you another thing my uncle has promised if i find him a dozen of port you must have seen what a state the poor man is in to let me say something to you i suppose he meant your mama but i prefer saying it to you if you will let me will you come and help me find the port she said nothing but took up a candle that was on a table in the hall and stood waiting i ventured to look at her her face was now celestial rosy red and i could not doubt that she had understood me she looked so beautiful that i stood staring at her without moving what the servants could have been about that not one of them crossed the hall i can't think at last kate laughed and said well i started and i dare say took my turn at blushing at least i didn't know what to say i had forgotten all about the guests inside where's the port said kate i caught hold of her hand again and kissed it you needn't be quite so minute in your account my dear said my mother smiling i will be more careful in future my love returned my father what do you want me to do said kate only to hold the candle for me i answered restored to my seven senses at last and taking it from her i led the way and she followed till we had passed through the kitchen and reached the cellar stairs these were steep and awkward and she let me help her down now edward said my mother yes yes my love i understand returned my father up to this time your mother had asked no questions but when we stood in a vast low cellar which we had made several turns to reach and i gave her the candle and took up a great crowbar which lay on the floor she said at last edward are you going to bury me alive or what are you going to do i'm going to dig you out i said for i was nearly beside myself with joy as i struck the crowbar like a battering ram into the wall you can fancy that i didn't work the worst that kate was holding the candle for me very soon though with great effort i had dislodged a brick and the next blow i gave into the hole sent back a dull echo i was right i worked now like a madman and in a very few minutes more i had dislodged the hole of the brick thick wall which filled up an archway of stone and curtained an ancient door in the lock of which the key now showed itself it had been well greased and i turned it without much difficulty i took the candle from kate and led her into a spacious region of sawdust cobweb and wine fungus there kate i cried in delight but said kate will the wine be good general fortescue will answer you that i returned exultantly now come and hold the light again while i find the port bin i soon found not one but several well-filled port bins which to choose i couldn't tell i must chance that kate carried a bottle and the candle and i carried two bottles very carefully we put them down in the kitchen with orders they should not be touched we had soon carried the dozen to the table by the dining room door when at length with jacob chuckling and rubbing his hands behind us we entered the dining room kate and i for kate would not part with her share in the joyful business loaded with a level bottle in each hand which we carefully erected on the sideboard i presume from the stare of the company that we presented a rather remarkable appearance kate in her white muslin and i in my best clothes covered with brick dust and cobwebs and lime but we could not be half so amusing to them as they were to us there they sat with the dessert before them but no wine decanters forthcoming how long they had sat thus i have no idea if you think your mama has you may ask her captain caulker and general ford to skew looked positively white about the gills my uncle clinging to the last hope despairingly had sat still and said nothing and the guests could not understand the awful delay even lady georgiana had begun to fear a mutiny in the kitchen or something equally awful but to see the flash that passed across my uncle's face when he saw us appear with ported arms he immediately began to pretend that nothing had been the matter what the juice has kept you ned my boy he said fair hebe he went on i beg your pardon jacob you can go on decanting it was very careless of you to forget it meantime hebe bring that bottle to general jupiter there he's got a corkscrew in the tail of his robe or i'm mistaken out came general fortescue's corkscrew i was trembling once more with anxiety but the cork gave the genuine plop the bottle was lowered glug glug glug came from its beneficent throat and out flowed something tawny as a lion's mane the general lifted it lazily to his lips saluting his nose on the way 15 by jove he cried well admiral this was worth waiting for take care how you decant that jacob on peril of your life my uncle was triumphant he winked hard at me not to tell kate and i retired she to change her dress i to get mine well brushed and my hands washed by the time i returned to the dining room no one had any questions to ask for kate the ladies had gone to the drawing room before she was ready and i believe she had some difficulty in keeping my uncle's counsel but she did need i say that was the happiest christmas i ever spent but how did you find the cellar papa asked effie where are your brains effie don't you remember i told you i had a dream yes but you don't mean to say the existence of the wine cellar was revealed to you in a dream but i do indeed i had seen the wine cellar built up just before we left for madera it was my father's plan for securing the wine when the house was let and very well it turned out for the wine and me too i had forgotten all about it everything had conspired to bring it to my memory but had just failed of success i had fallen asleep under all the influences i told you of influences from the region of my childhood they operated still when i was asleep and all other distracting influences being removed at length roused in my sleeping brain the memory of what i had seen in the morning i remembered not my dream only but the event of which my dream was a reproduction still i was under considerable doubt about the place and in this i followed the dream only as near as i could judge the admiral kept his word and interposed no difficulties between kate and me not that to tell the truth i was ever very anxious about that rock ahead but it was very possible that his fastidious honor or pride might have occasioned a considerable interference with our happiness for a time as it turned out he could not leave me culverwood and i regretted the fact as little as he did himself his gratitude to me was however excessive assuming occasionally ludicrous outbursts to thankfulness i do not believe he could have been more grateful if i had saved his crew for his hospitality was at stake kind old man and here ended my father's story with a light sigh and a gaze into the bright coals a kiss of my mother's hand which he held in his and another glass of burgundy many many years ago lived an emperor who thought so much of new clothes that he spent all his money in order to obtain them his only ambition was to be always well dressed he didn't care for his soldiers and the theater didn't amuse him the only thing in fact he thought anything of was to drive out and show off a new suit of clothes he had a coat for every hour of the day and as one would say of a king he is in his cabinet so one could say of him the emperor is in his dressing room the great city where he resided was very jolly every day many strangers from all parts of the globe arrived one day two swindlers came to the city they made people believe that they were weavers and declared they could manufacture the finest cloth to be imagined their colors and patterns they said were not only exceptionally beautiful but the clothes made of their material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to any man who was unfit for his office or unpardonably stupid that must be wonderful cloth thought the emperor if i were to be dressed in a suit made of this cloth i should be able to find out which men in my empire are unfit for their places and i could distinguish the clever from the stupid i must have this cloth woven for me without delay and he gave a large sum of money to the swindlers in advance that they should set to work without any loss of time they set up two looms and pretended to be very hard at work but they did nothing whatsoever on the looms they asked for the most precious gold cloth all they got they did away with and worked at the empty looms till late at night i should very much like to know how they're getting on with the cloth thought the emperor but he felt rather uneasy when he remembered that whoever was not fit for his office could not see the cloth personally he was of the opinion that he had nothing to fear yet he thought it advisable to send somebody else first to see how matters stood everybody in the town knew what a remarkable quality the stuff possessed and all were anxious to see how bad or stupid their neighbours were i shall send my honest old minister to the weavers thought the emperor he can judge best how the looks but he is intelligent and nobody understands his office better than he the good old minister went into the room where the swindlers sat before the empty looms heaven preserve us he thought and opened his eyes wide i cannot see anything at all but he didn't say so both swindlers requested him to come near and asked him if he did not admire the beautiful colours pointing to the empty looms the poor old minister tried his very best but he could see nothing because there was nothing to be seen oh dear he thought can i be so stupid i should never have thought so and nobody must know it is it possible that i'm not fit for my office no no i cannot say that i'm unable to see the cloth now have you got nothing to say said one of the swindlers while he pretended to be busily weaving oh it is very pretty exceedingly beautiful replied the old minister looking through his glasses what a beautiful pattern what brilliant colours i shall tell the emperor that i like the cloth very much we are pleased to hear that said the two weavers and described to him the colours and explained the curious pattern the old minister listened attentively that he might relate to the emperor what they said and so he did now the swindlers asked for more money silk and old cloth which they required for weaving they kept everything for themselves and not a thread came near the loom but they continued as hitherto to work at the empty looms soon afterwards the emperor sent another honest courtier to the weavers to see how they were getting on and if the cloth was nearly finished like the old minister he looked and looked but could see nothing as there was nothing to be seen is it not a beautiful piece of cloth asked the two swindlers showing and explaining the magnificent pattern which however did not exist i am not stupid said the man it is therefore my good appointment for which i am not fit it is very strange but i must not let anyone know it and he praised the cloth which he didn't see and expressed his joy at the beautiful colours and the fine pattern it is very excellent he said to the emperor everybody in the whole town talked about the cloth at last the emperor wished to see it for himself while it was still on the loom with a number of courtiers including the two who had already been there he went to the two clever swindlers who now worked as hard as they could without using any thread is it not magnificent said the two old statesmen who had been there before your majesty must admire the colours and the pattern and then they pointed to the empty looms that they imagined the others could see the cloth what is this thought the emperor i do not see anything at all that is terrible am i stupid am i unfit to be emperor that would indeed be the most dreadful thing that could happen to me really he said turning to the weavers your cloth has our most gracious approval and nodding contentedly he looked at the empty loom but he didn't like to say that he saw nothing all his attendants who were with him looked and looked and although they could not see anything more than the others they said like the emperor it is very beautiful and all advised him to wear the new magnificent clothes at a great procession which was soon to take place it is magnificent beautiful excellent one heard them say everybody seemed to be delighted and the emperor pointed the two swindlers imperial court weavers the whole night previous to the day on which the procession was to take place the swindlers pretended to work and burned more than 16 candles so that people should see they were busy finishing the emperor's new suit they pretended to take the cloth from the loom and snipped about in the air with big scissors and sewed with needles without thread and said at last the emperor's new suit is ready now the emperor and all his barons then came to the hall the swindlers held up their arms as if they held something there and said these are the trousers this is the coat and here is the cloak and so on they are all as light as a cobweb and one will feel as if one had nothing at all upon the body but that is just the beauty of them indeed said all the courtiers but they couldn't see anything for there was nothing to be seen does it please your majesty now to graciously undress said the swindlers that we may assist your majesty in putting on the new suit before the large looking glass the emperor undressed and the swindlers pretended to put the new suit upon him one piece after the other and the emperor looked at himself in the from every side how well they look how well they fit said all what a beautiful pattern what fine colours that is a magnificent suit of clothes the master of the ceremonies announced that the bearers of the canopy which was to be carried in the procession were ready i am ready said the emperor does my suit not fit me marvellously then he turned once more to the looking glass that people should think he admired his garments the chamberlains who were to carry the train stretched their hands to the ground as if they lifted up a train and pretended to hold something in their hands they didn't like people to know that they couldn't see anything the emperor marched in the procession under the beautiful canopy and all who saw him in the street and out of the windows exclaimed indeed the emperor's new suit is incomparable what a long train he has how well it fits him nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing but then he would have been unfit for his office or too stupid never were the emperor's clothes more admired but he has nothing on at all said a little child at last good heavens listen to the voice of an innocent child and one whispered to the other what the child had said but he has nothing on at all cried all the people at last that made a deep impression upon the emperor for it seemed to him that they were right but he thought to himself now i must bear up to the end and the chamberlains walked with still greater dignity as if they carried the train which didn't exist the three men of power evening midnight and sunrise long ago there lived a king and he had three daughters the loveliest in all the world he loved them so well that he built a palace for them underground lest the rough winds should blow on them or the red sun scorched their delicate faces a wonderful palace it was down there underground with fountains and courts and lamps burning and precious stones littering in the light of the lamps and the three lovely princesses grew up in that palace underground and knew no other light but that of the colored lanterns and had never seen the broad world that lies open under the sun by day and under the stars by night indeed they didn't know that there was a world outside those littering walls above that shining ceiling carved and gilded and set with precious stones but it so happened that among the books that were given them to read was one in which was written of the world how the sun shines in the sky how trees go green how the grass waves in the wind and the leaves whisper together how the rivers flow between their green banks and through the meadows until they come to the blue sea that joins the earth and the sky they read in that book of white walled towns of churches with gilded and painted domes of the brown wooden huts of the peasants of the great forests of the ships on the rivers and of the long roads with the folk moving on them this way and that about the world and when the king came to see them as he was used to do they asked him father is it true that there is a garden in the world yes said the king and green grass yes said the king and little shining flowers why yes said the king wandering and stroking his silver beard and the three lovely princesses all begged him at once oh your majesty our own little father whom we love let us out to see this world let us out just so that we may see this garden and walk in it on the green grass and see the shining flowers the king turned his head away and tried not to listen to them but what could he do they were the loveliest princesses in the world and when they begged him just to let them walk in the garden he could see the tears in their eyes and after all he thought there were high walls to the garden so he called up his army and set soldiers all around the garden and a hundred soldiers to each gate so that no one could come in and then he let the princesses come up from their underground palace and step out into the sunshine in the garden with 10 nurses and maids to each princess to see that no harm came to her the princesses stepped out into the garden under the blue sky shading their eyes at first because they had never before been in the golden sunlight soon they were taking hands and running this way and that along the garden paths and over the green grass and gathering poses of shining flowers to set in their girdles and to shame their golden crowns and the king sat and watched them with love in his eyes and was glad to see how happy they were and after all he thought what with the high walls and the soldiers standing to arms nothing could get in to hurt them but just as he had quieted his old heart a strong whirlwind came down out of the blue sky tearing up trees and throwing them aside and lifting the roofs from the houses but it didn't touch the palace roofs shining green in the sunlight and it plucked no trees from the garden it raged this way and that and then with its swift whirling arms it caught up the three lovely princesses and carried them up into the air over the high walls and over the heads of the guarding soldiers for a moment the king saw them his daughters the three lovely princesses spinning round and round as if they were dancing in the sky a moment later they were no more than little whirling specks like dust in the sunlight and then they were out of sight and the king and all the maids and nurses were alone in the empty garden the noise of the wind had gone the soldiers didn't dare to speak the only sound in the king's ears was the sobbing and weeping of the maids and nurses the king called his generals and made them send the soldiers out in all directions over the country to bring back the princesses if the whirlwind should tire and set them again upon the ground the soldiers went to the very boundaries of the kingdom but they came back as they went not one of them had seen the three lovely princesses then the king called together all his faithful servants and promised a great reward to anyone who should bring news of the three princesses it was the same with the servants as with the soldiers far and wide they galloped out slowly one by one they rode back with bent heads on tired horses not one of them had seen the king's daughters then the king called a grand council of his wise boyars and men of state they all sat round and listened as the king told his tale and asked if one of them would not undertake the task of finding and rescuing the three princesses the wind has not set them down within the boundaries of my kingdom and now god knows they may be in the power of wicked men or worse he said he would give one of the princesses in marriage to anyone who could follow where the wind went and bring his daughters back yes and besides he would make him the richest man in the kingdom but the boyars and the wise men of state sat round in silence he asked them one by one they were all silent and afraid for they were boyars and wise men of state and not one of them would undertake to follow the whirlwind and rescue the three princesses the king wept bitter tears i see he said i have no friends about me in the palace my soldiers cannot my servants cannot and my boyars and wise men will not bring back my three sweet maids whom i love better than my kingdom and with that he sent heralds throughout the kingdom to announce the news and to ask if there were none among the common folk the mujiks the simple folk like us who would put his hand to the work of rescuing the three lovely princesses since not one of the boyars and wise men was willing to do it now at that time in a certain village lived a poor widow and she had three sons strong men true bogatyrs and men of power all three had been born in a single night the eldest at evening the middle one at midnight and the youngest just as the sky was lightening with the dawn for this reason they were called evening midnight and sunrise evening was dark with brown eyes and hair midnight was darker with eyes and hair as black as charcoal while sunrise had hair golden as the sun and eyes blue as the morning sky and all three were as strong as any of the strong men and mighty bogatyrs who have shaken this land of russia with their tread as soon as the king's word had been proclaimed in the village the three brothers asked for their mother's blessing which she gave them kissing them on the forehead and on both cheeks then they made ready for the journey and rode off to the capital evening on his horse of dusky brown midnight on his black horse and sunrise on his horse that was as white as clouds in summer they came to the capital and as they rode through the streets everybody stopped to look at them and all the pretty young women waved handkerchiefs at the windows but the three brothers looked neither to right nor left but straight before them and they rode to the palace of the king they came to the king bowed low before him and said may you live for many years oh king we have come to you not for feasting but for service let us oh king ride out to rescue your three princesses god give you success my good young men says the king what are your names we are three brothers evening midnight and sunrise what will you have to take with you on the road for ourselves oh king we want nothing only do not leave our mother in poverty for she is old the king sent for the old woman their mother and gave her a home in his palace and made her eat and drink at his table and gave her new boots made by his own cobblers and new clothes sewn by the very semestresses who used to make dresses for the three daughters of the king who were the loveliest princesses in the world and have been carried away by the whirlwind no old woman in russia was better looked after than the mother of the three young bogatyrs and men of power evening midnight and sunrise while they were away on their adventure seeking the king's daughters the young men rode out on their journey a month they rode together two months and in the third month they came to a broad desert plain where there were no towns no villages no farms and not a human being to be seen they rode on over the sand through the rank grass over the stony wastes at last on the other side of that desolate plain they came to a thick forest they found a path through the thick undergrowth and rode along that path together into the very heart of the forest and there alone in the heart of the forest they came to a hut with a railed yard and a shed full of cattle and sheep they called out with their strong young voices and were answered by the lowing of the cattle the bleating of the sheep and the strong wind in the tops of the great trees they rode through the railed yard and came to the hut evening lent from his brown horse and knocked on the window there was no answer they forced open the door and found no one at all well brothers says evening let us make ourselves at home let us stay here a while we have been riding for three months let us rest and then ride further we shall deal better with our adventure if we come to it as fresh men and not dusty and weary from the long road the others agreed they tied up their horses fed them drew water from the well and gave them to drink and then tired out they went into the hut said their prayers to god and lay down to sleep with their weapons close to their hands like true bogatyrs and men of power in the morning the youngest brother sunrise said to the eldest brother evening midnight and i are going hunting today and you shall rest here and see what sort of dinner you can give us when we come back very well says evening but tomorrow i shall go hunting and one of you shall stay here and cook the dinner nobody made any bones about that and so evening stood at the door of the hut while the others rode off midnight on his black horse and sunrise on his horse white as a summer cloud they rode off into the forest and disappeared among the green trees evening watched them out of sight and then without thinking twice about what he was doing went out into the yard picked out the finest sheep he could see caught it killed it skinned it cleaned it and set it in a cauldron on the stove so as to be ready and hot whenever his brothers should come riding back from the forest as soon as that was done evening lay down on the broad bench to rest himself he'd scarcely lain down before there were a knocking and a rattling and a stumbling and the door opened and in walked a little man a yard high with a beard seven yards long flowing out behind him over both his shoulders he looked around angrily and saw evening who yawned and sat up on the bench and began chuckling at the sight of him the little man screamed out what are you chuckling about how dare you play the master in my house how dare you kill my best sheep evening answered him laughing grow a little bigger and it won't be so hard to see you down there till then it will be better for you to keep a civil tongue in your head the little man was angry before but now he was angrier what he screamed i am little am i well see what little does and with that he grabbed an old crust of bread leapt on evening's shoulders and began beating him over the head and the little fellow was so strong he beat evening till he was half dead and was blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other then when he was tired he threw evening under the bench took the sheep out of the cauldron gobbled it up in a few mouthfuls and went off again into the forest when evening came to his senses again he bound up his head with a dishcloth and lay on the ground and groaned midnight and sunrise rode back on the black horse and the white and came to the hut where they found their brother groaning on the ground unable to see out of his eyes and with a dishcloth around his head what are you tied up like that for they asked and where is our dinner evening was ashamed to tell them the truth how he had been thumped about with the crust of bread by a little fellow only a yard high he moaned and said oh my brothers i made a fire in the stove and fell ill from the great heat in this little hut my head ached all day i lay senseless and could neither boil nor roast i thought my head would burst with the heat and my brains fly beyond the seventh world next day sunrise went hunting with evening whose head was still bound up in a dishcloth and hurting so sorely that he could hardly see midnight stayed at home it was his turn to see to the dinner sunrise rode out on his cloud white horse and evening on his dusky brown midnight stood in the doorway of the hut watched them disappear among the green trees and then set about getting the dinner he lit the fire but was careful not to make it too hot then he went into the yard and caught the very fattest of the sheep killed it skinned it cleaned it cut it up and set it on the stove then when all was ready he lay down on the bench and rested himself before he had lain there long there was a knocking a stamping a rattling a grumbling in came the little old man one yard high with a beard seven yards long and without wasting words the little fellow leapt on the shoulders of the bogateer and set to beating him and thumping him first on one side of his head and then on the other he gave him such a banging that he very nearly made an end of him altogether then the little fellow ate up the whole of the sheep and a few mouthfuls and went off angrily into the forest with his long white beard flowing behind him midnight tied up his head with the handkerchief and lay down under the bench groaning and groaning unable to put his head to the ground or even to lay it in the crook of his arm it was so bruised by the beating given it by the little old man in the evening the brothers rode back and found midnight groaning under the bench with his head bound up in a handkerchief evening looked at him and said nothing perhaps he was thinking of his own bruised head which was still tied up in a dishcloth what's the matter with you says sunrise there never was such another stove as this says midnight i'd no sooner lit it than it seemed as if the whole hut were on fire my head nearly burst it's aching now and as for your dinner why i've not been able to put a hand to anything at all all day evening chuckled to himself but sunrise only said that's bad brother but you shall go hunting tomorrow and i'll stay at home and see what i can do with the stove so on the third day the two elder brothers went hunting midnight on his black horse evening on his horse of dusky brown sunrise stood in the doorway of the hut and saw them disappear under the green trees the sun shone on his golden curls and his blue eyes were like the sky itself there never was such another bogateer as he he went into the hut and lit the stove then he went out into the yard chose the best sheep he could find killed it skinned it cleaned it cut it up and set it on the stove he made everything ready and then lay down on the bench before he'd lain there very long he heard a stumping a thumping a knocking a rattling a grumbling a rumbling sunrise leapt up from the bench and looked out through the window of the hut there in the yard was the little old man one yard high with a beard seven yards long he was carrying a whole haystack on his head and a great tub of water in his arms he came into the middle of the yard and set down his tub to water all the beasts he set down the haystack and scattered the hay about all the cattle and sheep came together to eat and drink and the little man stood and counted them he counted the oxen he counted the goats and then he counted the sheep he counted them once and his eyes began to flash he counted them twice and began to grind his teeth he counted them a third time made sure one was missing and then he flew into a violent rage rushed across the yard and into the hut and gave sunrise a terrific blow on the head sunrise shook his head as if a fly had settled on it then he jumped and caught the end of the long beard of the little old man and set to pulling him this way and that round and round the hut as if his beard was a rope phew how the little man roared sunrise laughed and talked him this way and that and mocked him crying out if you do not know the ford it is better not to go into the water meaning that the little fellow had begun to beat him without finding out who was the stronger the little old man one yard high with a beard seven yards long began to pray and to beg oh man of power oh great and mighty bogateer have mercy upon me do not kill me leave me my soul to repent with sunrise laughed and dragged the little fellow out into the yard whirled him round at the end of his beard and brought him to a great oak trunk that lay on the ground then with a heavy iron wedge he fixed the end of the little man's beard firmly in the oak and trunk and leaving him howling and lamenting went back to the hut set it in order again saw that the sheep was cooking as it should and then lay down in peace to wait for the coming of his brothers evening and midnight rode home leapt from their horses and came into the hut to see how the little man had dealt with their brother they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw him alive and well without a bruise lying comfortably on the bench he sat up and laughed in their faces well brothers says he come along with me into the yard and i think i can show you that headache of yours it's a good deal stronger than it is big but for the time being you need not be afraid of it for it's fastened to an oak timber that all three of us together couldn't lift he got up and went into the yard evening and midnight followed him with shamed faces but when they came to the oak and timber the little man wasn't there long ago he had torn himself free and run away into the forest but half his beard was left wedged in the trunk and sunrise pointed to it and said tell me brothers was it the heat of the stove that gave you your headaches or have this long beard something to do with it the brothers grew red and laughed and told him the whole truth meanwhile sunrise had been looking at the end of the beard the end of the half beard that was left and he saw it had been torn out by the roots and that drops of blood from the little man's chin showed the way he had gone quickly the brothers went back to the hut and ate up the sheep then they leapt on their horses and rode off into the green forest following the drops of blood that had fallen from the little man's chin for three days they rode through the green forest until at last the red drops of the trail led them to a deep pit a black hole in the earth hidden by thick bushes and going far down into the underworld sunrise left his brothers to guard the hole while he went off into the forest and gathered bast and twisted it and made a strong rope and brought it to the mouth of the pit and asked his brothers to lower him down he made a loop in the rope his brothers kissed him on both cheeks and he kissed them back then he sat in the loop and evening and midnight lowered him down into the darkness down and down he went swinging in the dark till he came into a world under the world with a light that was neither that of the sun nor of the moon nor of the stars he stepped from the loop in the rope of twisted bast and set out walking through the underworld going wither his eyes led him for he found no more drops of blood nor any other traces of the little old man he walked and walked and came at last to a palace of copper green and ruddy in the strange light he went into the palace and they came to meet him in the copper halls a maiden whose cheeks were redder than the aloe and whiter than the snow she was the youngest daughter of the king and the loveliest of the three princesses who were the loveliest in all the world sweetly she curtsied to sunrise he stood there with his golden hair and his eyes blue as the sky at morning and sweetly she asked him how have you come hither my brave young man of your own will or against it your father has sent to rescue you and your sisters she bade him sit at the table and gave him food and brought him a little flask of the water of strength strong you are says she but not strong enough for what is before you drink this and your strength will be greater than it is for you will need all the strength you have and can win if you were to rescue us and live sunrise looked in her sweet eyes and drank the water of strength in a single draft and felt gigantic power forcing its way throughout his body now thought he let come what may instantly a violent wind rushed through the copper palace and the princess trembled the snake that holds me here is coming says she he is flying hither on his strong wings she took the great hand of the bogatyr in her little fingers and drew him to another room and hit him there the copper palace rocked in the wind and there flew into the great hall a huge snake with three heads the snake hissed loudly and called out in a whistling voice i smell the smell of a russian soul what visitor have you here how could anyone come here said the princess you have been flying over russia there you smelt russian souls and the smell is still in your nostrils so you think you smell them here it is true said the snake i have been flying over russia i have flown far let me eat and drink for i'm both hungry and thirsty all this time sunrise was watching from the other room the princess brought meat and drink to the snake and in the drink she put a filter of sleep the snake ate and drank and began to feel sleepy he coiled himself up in rings laid his three heads in the lap of the princess told her to scratch them for him and dropped into a deep sleep the princess called sunrise and the bogatyr rushed in swung his littering sword three times around his golden head and cut off all three heads of the snake it was like felling three oak trees at a single blow then he made a great fire of wood and threw upon it the body of the snake and when it was burnt up scattered the ashes over the open country and now fare you well says sunrise to the princess but she threw her arms about his neck fare you well says he i go to seek your sisters as soon as i have found them i will come back at that she let him go he walked on farther through the underworld he came at last to a palace of silver gleaming in the strange light he went in and was met with sweet words and kindness by the second of the three lovely princesses in that palace he killed the snake with six heads the princess begged him to stay but he told her he had yet to find her elder sister at that she wished him the help of god and he left her and went on farther he walked and walked and came at last to a palace of gold glittering in the light of the underworld all happened as in the other palaces the eldest of the three daughters of the king met him with courtesy and kindness and he killed a snake with 12 heads and freed the princess from her imprisonment the princess rejoiced and thanked sunrise and set about her packing to go home and this was the way of her packing she went out into the broad courtyard and waved a scarlet handkerchief and instantly the whole palace golden and glittering and the kingdom belonging to it became little little little till it went into a little golden egg the princess tied the egg in a corner of her handkerchief and set out with sunrise to join her sisters and go home to her father her sisters did their packing in the same way the silver palace and its kingdom were packed by the second sister into a little silver egg and when they came to the copper palace the youngest of the three lovely princesses clapped her hands and kissed sunrise on both his cheeks and waved a scarlet handkerchief and instantly the copper palace and its kingdom were packed into a little copper egg shining ruddy and green and so sunrise and the three daughters of the king came to the foot of the deep hole down which he had come into the underworld and there was the rope hanging with the loop at its end and they sat in the loop and evening and midnight pulled them up one by one rejoicing together then the three brothers took each of them a princess with him on his horse and they all rode together back to the old king telling tales and singing songs as they went the princess from the golden palace rode with evening on his horse of dusky brown the princess from the silver palace rode with midnight on his horse as black as charcoal but the princess from the copper palace the youngest of them all rode with sunrise on his horse white as a summer cloud merry was the journey through the green forest and gladly they rode over the open plain till they came at last to the palace of their father and there was the old king sitting melancholy and alone when the three brothers with the princesses rode into the courtyard of the palace the old king was so glad that he laughed and cried at the same time and his tears ran down his beard ah me he says i am old and you young men have brought my daughters back from the very world under the world safer they will be if they have you to guard them even than they were in the palace i had built for them underground but i have only one kingdom and three daughters do not trouble about that laughed the three princesses and they all rode out together into the open country and there the princesses broke their eggs one after the other and there were the palaces of silver copper and gold with the kingdoms belonging to them and the cattle and the sheep and the goats there was a kingdom for each of the brothers then they made a great feast and had three weddings all together and the old king sat with the mother of the three strong men and men of power the noble bogateers evening midnight and sunrise sitting at his side great was the feasting loud were the songs and the king made sunrise his heir so that someday he would wear his crown but little did sunrise think of that he thought of nothing but the youngest princess and little she thought of it for she had no eyes but for sunrise and merrily they lived together in the copper palace and happily they rode together on the horse that was as white as clouds in summer alice through the looking glass chapter one looking glass house one thing was certain that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it it was the black kitten's fault entirely for the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour and bearing it pretty well considering so you see that it couldn't have had any hand in the mischief the way dina washed her children's faces was this first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over the wrong way beginning at the nose and just now as i said she was hard at work on the white kitten which was lying quite still and trying to purr no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good but the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon so while alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great armchair half talking to herself and half asleep the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted alice had been trying to wind up and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again and there it was spread over the hearth rug all knots and tangles with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle oh you wicked little thing cried alice catching up the kitten and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace really dina ought to have taught you better manners you walked dina you know you walked she added looking reproachfully at the old cat and speaking in as cross a voice as she could manage and then she scrambled back into the armchair taking the kitten and the worsted with her and began winding up the ball again but she didn't get on very fast as she was talking all the time sometimes to the kitten and sometimes to herself kitty sat very demurely on her knee pretending to watch the progress of the winding and now and then putting out one paw and gently touching the ball as if it would be glad to help if it might do you know what tomorrow is kitty alice began you'd have guessed if you'd been up in the window with me only diner was making you tidy so you couldn't i was watching the boys getting in sticks for the bonfire and it wants plenty of sticks kitty only it got so cold and it snowed so they had to leave off never mind kitty we'll go and see the bonfire tomorrow so here alice wound two or three turns of the worsted around the kitten's neck just to see how it would look this led to a scramble in which the ball rolled down upon the floor and yards and yards of it got unwound again do you know i was so angry kitty said alice as soon as they were comfortably settled again when i saw all the mischief you had been doing i was very nearly opening the window and putting you out into the snow and you'd have deserved it you mischievous little darling what have you got to say for yourself now don't interrupt me she went on holding up one finger i'm going to tell you all your faults number one you squeaked twice while diner was washing your face this morning now you can't deny it kitty i heard you what's that you say pretending that the kitten was speaking her paw went into your eye well that's your fault for keeping your eyes open if you shut them tight up it wouldn't have happened now don't make any more excuses but listen number two you pulled snowdrop away by the tail just as i had put down the saucer of milk before her what you were thirsty were you how do you know she wasn't thirsty too now for number three you unwound every bit of the worsted while i wasn't looking that's three faults kitty and you've not been punished for any of them yet you know i'm saving up all your punishments for wednesday week suppose they'd saved up all my punishments she went on talking more to herself than to the kitten what would they do at the end of a year i should be sent to prison i suppose when the day came or let me see suppose each punishment was to be going without a dinner then when the miserable day came i should have to go without 50 dinners at once well i shouldn't mind that much i'd rather go without them than eat them do you hear the snow against the window panes kitty how nice and soft it sounds just as if someone was kissing the window all over outside i wonder if the snow loves the trees and feels that it kisses them so gently and then it covers them up snug you know with a white quilt and perhaps it says go to sleep darlings till the summer comes again and when they wake up in the summer kitty they dress themselves all in green and dance about whenever the wind blows oh it's so pretty cried alice dropping the ball of worsted to clap her hands and i do so wish it was true i'm sure the woods look sleepy in the autumn when the leaves are getting brown kitty can you play chess now don't smile my dear i'm asking it seriously because when we were playing just now you watched just as if you understood it and when i said check you purred well it was a nice check kitty and really i might have won if it hadn't been for that nasty night that came wiggling down among my pieces kitty dear let's pretend and here i wish i could tell you half the things alice used to say beginning with her favorite phrase let's pretend she'd had quite a long argument with her only the day before all because alice had begun with let's pretend we're kings and queens and her sister who liked being very exact had argued that they couldn't because there were only two of them and alice had been reduced at last to say well you can be one of them and i'll be all the rest and once she'd really frightened her old nurse by shouting suddenly in her ear nurse do let's pretend that i'm a hungry hyena and you're a bone but this is taking us away from alice's speech to the kitten let's pretend that you're the red queen kitty do you know i think if you sat up and folded your arms you'd look exactly like her now do try there's a deer and alice got the red queen off the table and set it up before the kitten as a model for it to imitate however the experiment didn't succeed principally alice said because the kitten wouldn't fold its arms properly so to punish it she held it up to the looking glass that it might see how sulky it was and if you're not good directly she added i'll put you through into looking glass house how would you like that now if you'll only attend kitty and not talk so much i'll tell you all my ideas about looking glass house first there's a room you can see through the glass that's just the same as our drawing room only the things go the other way round i can see all of it when i get upon a chair all but the bit behind the fireplace oh i do wish i could see that bit i want so much to know whether they've a fire in the winter you never can tell you know unless our fire smokes and then smoke comes up into that room too but that may be only pretense just to make it look as if they had a fire well then the books are something like our books only the words go the wrong way i know that because i've held up one of our books to the glass and then they hold one up in the other room how would you like to live in looking glass house kitty i wonder if they'd give you milk in there perhaps looking glass milk isn't good to drink but oh kitty now we come to the passage you can see a little peep of the passage in looking glass house if you leave the door of our drawing room wide open and it's very like our passage as far as you can see only you know it may be quite different beyond oh kitty how nice it would be if we could only get through into looking glass house i'm sure it's got oh such beautiful things in it let's pretend there's a way of getting through into it somehow kitty let's pretend the glass has got all soft like gauze so that we can get through why it's turning into a sort of mist now i declare it'll be easy enough to get through she was up on the chimney piece while she said this though she hardly knew how she'd got there and certainly the glass was beginning to melt away just like a bright silvery mist in another moment alice was through the glass and had jumped lightly down into the looking glass room the very first thing she did was to look whether there was a fire in the fireplace and she was quite pleased to find that there was a real one blazing away as brightly as the one she'd left behind so i shall be as warm here as i was in the old room thought alice warmer in fact because there'll be no one here to scold me away from the fire oh what fun it'll be when they see me through the glass in here and can't get at me then she began looking about and noticed that what could be seen from the old room was quite common and uninteresting but that all the rest was as different as possible for instance the pictures on the wall next to the fire seem to be all alive and the very clock on the chimney piece you know you can only see the back of it in the looking glass had got the face of a little old man and grinned at her they don't keep this room so tidy as the other alice thought to herself as she noticed several of the chess men down in the hearth among the cinders but in another moment with a little oh of surprise she was down on her hands and knees watching them the chessmen were walking about two and two here are the red king and the red queen alice said in a whisper for fear of frightening them and there are the white king and the white queen sitting on the edge of the shovel and here are two castles walking arm in arm i don't think they can hear me she went on as she put her head closer down and i'm nearly sure that they can't see me i feel somehow as if i were invisible here something began squeaking on the table behind alice and made her turn her head just in time to see one of the white pawns roll over and begin kicking she watched it with great curiosity to see what would happen next it is the voice of my child the white queen cried out as she rushed past the king so violently that she knocked him over among the cinders my precious lily my imperial kitten and she began scrambling wildly up the side of the fender imperial fiddle stick said the king rubbing his nose which had been hurt by the fall he had a right to be a little annoyed with the queen for he was covered with ashes from head to foot alice was very anxious to be of use and as the poor little lily was nearly screaming herself into a fit she hastily picked up the queen and set her on the table by the side of her noisy little daughter the queen gasped and sat down the rapid journey through the air had quite taken away her breath and for a minute or two she could do nothing but hug the little lily in silence as soon as she'd recovered her breath a little she called out to the white king who was sitting sulkily among the ashes mind the volcano what volcano said the king looking up anxiously into the fire as if he thought that was the most likely place to find one blew me up panted the queen who was still a little out of breath mind you come up the regular way don't get blown up alice watched the white king as he slowly struggled up from bar to bar till at last she said why you'll be hours and hours getting to the table at that rate i'd far better help you haven't i but the king took no notice of her question it was quite clear that he could neither hear her nor see her so alice picked him up but very gently and lifted him across more slowly than she had lifted the queen that she mightn't take his breath away but before she put him on the table she thought she might as well dust him a little he was so covered in ashes she said afterwards that she had never seen in all her life such a face as the king made when he found himself held in the air by an invisible hand and being dusted he was far too much astonished to cry out but his eyes and his mouth went on getting larger and larger and rounder and rounder till her hand shook so with laughing that she nearly let him drop upon the floor oh please don't make such faces my dear she cried out quite forgetting that the king couldn't hear her you make me laugh so that i can hardly hold you and don't keep your mouth so wide open all the ashes will get into it there now i think you're tidy enough she smoothed his hair and set him up on the table near the queen the king immediately fell flat on his back and lay perfectly still and alice was a little alarmed at what she'd done and went round the room to see if she could find any water to throw over him however she could find nothing but a bottle of ink and when she got back with it she found he'd recovered and he and the queen were talking together in a frightened whisper so low that alice could hardly hear what they said the king was saying i assure you my dear i turned cold to the very ends of my whiskers to which the queen replied you haven't got any whiskers the horror of that moment the king went i shall never never forget you will though the queen said if you don't make a memorandum of it alice looked on with great interest as the king took an enormous memorandum book out of his pocket and began writing a sudden thought struck her and she took hold of the end of the pencil which came some way over his shoulder and began writing for him the poor king looked puzzled and unhappy and struggled with the pencil for some time without saying anything but alice was too strong for him and at last he panted out my dear i really must get a thinner pencil i can't manage this one a bit it writes all manner of things that i don't intend what manner of things said the queen looking over the book in which alice had put the white knight is sliding down the poker he balances very badly that's not a memorandum of your feelings there was a book lying near alice on the table and while she sat watching the white king for she was still a little anxious about him and had the ink all ready to throw over him in case he fainted again she turned over the leaves to find some part that she could read for it's all in some language i don't know she said to herself she puzzled over it for some time but at last a bright thought struck her why it's a looking glass book of course and if i hold it up to the glass the words will all go the right way again and this was the poem that alice read jabberwocky twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe all mimsy were the borrow groves and the moan wraths outgrabe beware the jabberwock my son the jaws that bite the claws that catch beware the job job bird and shun the frumious bander snatch he took his vorpal sword in hand long time the manxome foe he sought so rested he by the tum-tum and stood a while in thought and as in offish thought he stood the jabberwock with eyes of flame came whiffling through the tolgy wood and burbled as it came one two one two and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker snack he left it dead and with its head he went galumphing back and hast thou slain the jabberwock come to my arms my beamish boy oh frabjous day calloo callay he chortled in his joy twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe all mimsy were the borrow groves and the moan wraths outgrabe it seems very pretty she said when she had finished it but it's rather hard to understand you see she didn't like to confess even to herself that she couldn't make it out at all somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas only i don't exactly know what they are however somebody killed something that's clear at any rate but oh thought alice suddenly jumping up if i don't make haste i shall have to go back through the looking glass before i've seen what the rest of the house is like let's have a look at the garden first she was out of the room in a moment and ran downstairs or at least it wasn't exactly running but a new invention of hers for getting downstairs quickly and easily as alice said to herself she just kept the tips of her fingers on the handrail and floated gently down without even touching the stairs with her feet then she floated on through the hall and would have gone straight out at the door in the same way if she hadn't caught hold of the door post she was getting a little giddy with so much floating in the air and was rather glad to find herself walking again in the natural way the magician's gifts there was once a king in whose dominions lived no less than three magicians when the king's eldest son was christened the king invited the three magicians to the christening feast and to make the compliment the greater he asked one of them to stand godfather but the other two who were not asked to be godfathers were so angry at what they held to be a slight that they only waited to see how they might best revenge themselves upon the infant prince when the moment came for presenting the christening gifts the godfather magician advanced to the cradle and said my gift is this whatever he wishes for he shall have and only i who give shall be able to recall this gift for he perceived the jealousy of the other magicians and knew that if possible they would undo what he did but the second magician muttered in his beard and yet i will change it to a curse and coming up to the cradle he said the wishes that he has thus obtained he shall not be able to revoke or change then the third magician grumbled beneath his black robe if he were very wise and prudent he might yet be happy but i will secure his punishment so he also drew near to the cradle and said for my part i give him a hasty temper after which the two dissatisfied magicians withdrew together saying should we permit ourselves to be slighted for nothing but the king and his courtiers were not at all disturbed my son has only to be sure of what he wants said the king and then i suppose he will not desire to recall his wishes and the courtiers added if a prince may not have a hasty temper who may we should like to know and everybody laughed except the godfather magician who went out sighing and shaking his head and was seen no more whilst the king's son was yet a child the gift of the godfather magician began to take effect there was nothing so rare and precious that he could not obtain or so difficult that it could not be accomplished by his mere wish but on the other hand no matter how inconsiderately he spoke or how often he changed his mind what he had once wished must remain as he had wished it in spite of himself and as he often wished for things that were bad for him and often as still wished for a thing one day and regretted it the next his power was the source of quite as much pain as pleasure to him then his temper was so hot that he was apt hastily to wish ill to those who offended him and afterwards bitterly to regret the mischief that he could not undo thus one after another the king appointed his counsellors to the charge of his son who sooner or later in the discharge of their duty were sure to be obliged to thwart him on which the impatient prince would cry i wish you were at the bottom of the sea with your rules and regulations and the counsellors disappeared accordingly and returned no more when there was not a wise man left at court and the king himself lived in daily dread of being the next victim he said only one thing remains to be done to find the godfather magician and persuade him to withdraw his gift so the king offered rewards and sent out messengers in every direction but the magician was not to be found at last one day he met a blind beggar who said to him three nights ago i dreamed that i went by the narrowest of seven roads to seek what you were looking for and was successful when the king returned home he asked his courtiers where are there seven roads lying near to each other some broad and some narrow and one of them replied 21 miles to the west of the palace is a four cross road where three field paths also diverge to this place the king made his way and taking the narrowest of the field paths went on and on till it led him straight into a cave where an old woman sat over a fire does a magician live here asked the king no one lives here but myself said the old woman but as i am a wise woman i may be able to help you if you need it the king then told her of his perplexities and how he was desirous of finding the magician to persuade him to recall his gift he could not recall the other gifts said the wise woman therefore it is better that the prince should be taught to use his power prudently and to control his temper and since all the persons capable of guiding him have disappeared i will return with you and take charge of him myself over me he will have no power to this the king consented and they returned together to the palace where the wise woman became guardian to the prince and she fulfilled her duties so well that he became much more discreet and self-controlled only at times his violent temper got the better of him and led him to wish what he afterwards vainly regretted thus all went well until the prince became a man when though he had great affection for her he felt ashamed because of having an old woman for his counselor and he said i certainly wish that i had a faithful and discreet advisor of my own age and sex on that very day a young nobleman offered himself as companion to the prince and as he was a young man of great ability he was accepted whereupon the old woman took her departure and was never seen again the young nobleman performed his part so well that the prince became deeply attached to him and submitted in every way to his councils but at last a day came when being in a rage the advice of his friend irritated him and he cried hastily will you drive me mad with your long sermons i wish you would hold your tongue forever on which the young nobleman became dumb and so remained for he was not as the wise woman had been independent of the prince's power the prince's grief and remorse knew no bounds am i not under a curse said he truly i ought to be cast out from human society and sent to live with wild beasts in the wilderness i only bring evil upon those i love best indeed there is no hope for me unless i can find my godfather and make him recall this fatal gift so the prince mounted his horse and accompanied by his dumb friend who still remained faithful to him he set forth to find the magician they took no followers except the prince's dog a noble hound who was so quick of hearing that he understood all that was said to him and was next to the young nobleman the wisest person at court mark well my dog said the prince to him we stay nowhere till we find my godfather and when we find him we go no further i rely on your sagacity to help us the dog licked the prince's hand and then trotted so resolutely down a certain road that the two friends allowed him to lead them and followed close behind they traveled in this way to the edge of the king's dominions only halting for needful rest and refreshment at last the dog led them through a wood and towards evening they found themselves in the depths of the forest with no sign of any shelter for the night presently they heard a little bell such as is rung for prayer and the dog ran down a side path and led them straight to a kind of grotto at the door of which stood an aged hermit does a magician live here asked the prince no one lives here but myself said the hermit but i am old and have meditated much my advice is at your service if you need it the prince then related his history and how he was now seeking the magician godfather to rid himself of his gift and yet that will not cure your temper said the hermit it were better that you employed yourself in learning to control that and to use your power prudently no no replied to the prince i must find the magician and when the hermit pressed his advice he cried provoke me not good father or i may be base enough to wish you ill and the evil i do i cannot undo and he departed followed by his friend and calling his dog but the dog seated himself at the hermit's feet and would not move again and again the prince caught him but he only whined and wagged his tail and refused to move coaxing and scolding were both in vain and when at last the prince tried to drag him off by force the dog growled base brute cried the prince flinging him from himself in a transport of rage how have i been so deceived in you i wish you were hanged and even as he spoke the dog vanished and as the prince turned his head he saw the poor beast's body dangling from a tree above him the sight overwhelmed him and he began bitterly to lament his cruelty will no one hang me also he cried and rid the world of such a monster it is easier to die repenting than to live amending said the hermit yet is the latter course the better one wherefore abide with me my son and learn in solitude those lessons of self-government without which no man is fit to rule others it is impossible said the prince these fits of passion are as a madness that comes upon me and they are beyond cure it only remains to find my godfather that he may make me less painful to others by taking away the power i abuse and raising the body of the dog tenderly in his arms he laid it before him on his horse and rode away the dumb nobleman following him they now entered the dominions of another king and in due time arrived at the capital the prince presented himself to the king and asked if he had a magician in his kingdom not to my knowledge replied the king but i do have a remarkably wise daughter and if you want counsel she may be able to help you the princess was sent for and she was so beautiful as well as witty that the prince fell in love with her and begged the king to give her to him for his wife the king of course was unable to refuse what the prince wished and the wedding was celebrated without delay and by the advice of his wife the prince placed the body of his faithful dog in a glass coffin and kept it near him that he might constantly be reminded of the evil results of giving way to his anger for a time all went well at first the prince never said a harsh word to his wife but by and by familiarity made him less careful and one day she said something that offended him and he fell into a violent rage as he went storming up and down the princess wrung her hands and cried oh my dear husband i beg you to be careful what you say to me you say you loved your dog and yet you know where he lies i know that i wish you were with him with your prating cried the prince in a fury and the words were scarcely out of his mouth when the vanished from his side and when he ran to the glass coffin there she lay pale and lifeless with her head upon the body of the hound the prince was now beside himself with remorse and misery and when the dumb nobleman made signs that they should pursue their search for the magician he only cried too late too late but after a while he said i will return to the hermit and pass the rest of my miserable life in solitude and penance and you dear friend go back to my father but the dumb nobleman shook his head and could not be persuaded to leave the prince so they took the glass coffin on their shoulders and on foot and weeping as they went they retraced their steps to the forest for some time the prince remained with the hermit and submitted himself to his direction then the hermit bade him return to his father and he obeyed so every day the prince stood by the glass coffin and beat his breast and cried behold murderer the fruits of anger and he tried hard to overcome the violence of his temper when he lost heart he remembered a saying of the hermit patience had far to go but she was crowned at last and after a while the prince became as gentle as he had before been violent and the king and all the court rejoiced at the change but the prince remained sad at heart thinking of his princess one day he was sitting alone when a man approached him dressed in a long black robe good day godson said he who calls me godson said the prince the magician you have so long sought said the godfather i have come to reclaim my gift what cruelty led you to bestow it upon me asked the prince the king your father would have been dissatisfied with any ordinary present from me said the magician forgetting that the responsibilities of common gifts and very limited power are more than enough for most men to deal with but i have not neglected you i was the wise woman who brought you up again i was the hermit as your dog was sage enough to discover i am come now to reclaim what has caused you such suffering alas cried the prince why is your kindness so tardy if you have not forgotten me why have you withheld this benefit till it is too late for my happiness my friend is dumb my wife is dead my dog is hand when wishes cannot reach these do you think it matters to me what i may command softly prince said the magician i had a reason for the delay but for these bitter lessons you would still be the slave of the violent temper which you have conquered and which as it was no gift of mine i could not remove moreover when the spell which made all things bend to your wish is taken away its effects also are undone god son i recall my gift as the magician spoke the glass sides of the coffin melted into the air and the princess sprung up and threw herself into her husband's arms the dog also rose stretched himself and wagged his tail the dumb noble man ran to tell the good news to the king and all the counsellors came back in a long train from the bottom of the sea and set about the affairs of state as if nothing had happened the old king welcomed his children with open arms and they all lived happily to the end of their days part one of the ancient story of sir gawain and the green knight it's one of the best known tales from the court of king arthur the story was set down by an unknown writer in the late 14th century a writer known simply and forevermore as the gawain poet after the siege and the assault of troy when that berg was destroyed and burnt to ashes and the traitor slain for his treason the noble aeneas and his kin sailed forth to become princes and patrons of wellnigh all the western isles thus romulus built rome and gave to the city his own name which it bears even to this day and tisius turned him to tuscany and langobard raised him up dwellings in lombardy and felix brutus sailed far over the french flood and founded the kingdom of britain wherein have been war and waste and wonder and bliss and bail off time since and in that kingdom of britain have been wrought more gallant deeds than in any other but of all british kings arthur was the most valiant as i have heard tell and therefore will i set forth a wondrous adventure that fell out in his time and if ye will listen to me but for a little while i will tell it even as it stands in stories stiff and strong fixed in the letter as it hath long been known in the land king arthur lay at camelot upon a christmas tide with many a gallant lord and lovely lady and all the noble brotherhood of the round table there they held rich revels with gay talk and jest one while they would ride forth to joust and tourney and again back to the court to make carols for there was the feast holden 15 days with all the mirth that men could devise song and glee glorious to hear in the daytime and dancing at night halls and chambers were crowded with noble guests the bravest of knights and the loveliest of ladies and arthur himself was the comeliest king that ever held a court for all this fair folk were in their youth the fairest and most fortunate under heaven and the king himself of such fame that it were hard now to name so valiant a hero now the new year had but newly come in and on that day a double portion was served on the high table to all the noble guests and thither came the king with all his knights when the service in the chapel had been sung to an end and they greeted each other for the new year and gave rich gifts the one to the other and the maidens laughed and made mirth till it was time to get them to meet then they washed and sat them down to the feast in fitting rank and order and guinevere the queen gaily clad sat on the high dais silken was her seat with a fair canopy over her head of rich tapestries of tars embroidered and studded with costly gems fair she was to look upon with her shining gray eyes a fairer woman might no man boast himself of having seen but arthur would not eat until all was served so full of joy and gladness was he even as a child he liked not either to lie long or to sit long at meat so worked upon him his young blood and his wild brain and another custom he had also that came of his nobility that he would never eat upon a high day till he had been advised of some knightly deed or some strange and marvelous tale of his ancestors or of arms or of other ventures or till some knight should seek for him leave to joust with another that they might set their lives in jeopardy one against another as fortune might favor them such was the king's custom when he sat in hall at each high feast with his noble knights therefore on that new year tide he abode fairer face on the throne and made much mirth with all thus the king sat before the high table and spake of many things and there good sir gawain was seated by guinevere the queen and on her other side sat agravain a la duma both were the king's sister's sons and full gallant knights and at the end of the table which bishop bordewan and ewayne king urion's son sat at the other side alone these were worthily served on the dais and at the lower tables sat many valiant knights then they bear in the first course with the blast of trumpets and waving of banners with the sound of drums and pipes of song and lute that many a heart was uplifted at the melody many were the dainties and rare the meats so great was the plenty they might scarce find room on the board to set on the dishes each helped himself as he liked best and to each two were 12 dishes with great plenty of beer and wine now i will say no more of the service but that ye may know there was no lack for their junior adventure that the folk might well have left their labor to gaze upon as the sound of the music ceased and the first course had been fitly served there came in at the hall door one terrible to behold of stature greater than any on earth from neck to loin so strong and thickly made and with limbs so long and so great that he seemed even as a giant and yet he was but a man only the mightiest that might mount a steed broad of chest and shoulders and slender of waist and all his features of like fashion but men marveled much at his color for he rode even as a knight yet was green all over for he was clad all in green with a straight coat and a mantle above all decked and lined with fur was the cloth and the hood that was thrown back from his locks and lay on his shoulders hose had he of the same green and spurs of bright gold with silk and fastenings richly worked and all his vesture was verily green around his waist and his saddle were bands with fair stones set upon silk and work for too long to tell of all the trifles that were embroidered thereon birds and insects in gay gourds of green and gold all the trappings of his steed were of metal of like enamel even the stirrups that he stood in stained of the same and stirrups and saddlebar alike gleamed and shone with green stones even the steed on which he rode was of the same hue a green horse great and strong and hard to hold with broided bridle meet for the rider the knight was thus gaily dressed in green his hair falling around his shoulders on his breast hung a beard as thick and green as a bush and the beard and the hair of his head were clipped all round above his elbows the lower part of his sleeves were fastened with clasps in the same wise as a king's mantle the horse's mane was crisped and plaited with many a knot folded in with gold thread about the fair green here a twist of the hair here another of gold the tail was twined in like manner and both were bound about with a band of bright green set with many a precious stone then they were tied aloft in a cunning knot whereon rang many bells of burnished gold such a steed might no other ride nor had such ever been looked upon in that hall ere that time and all who saw that night spake and said that a man might scarce abide his stroke the knight bore no helm nor hauberk neither gorge or breastplate neither shaft nor buckler to smite nor to shield but in one hand he had a holly bow that is greenest when the grows are bare and in his other an axe huge and uncomely a cruel weapon in fashion if one would picture it the head was an l yard long the metal all of green steel and gold the blade burnished bright with a broad edge as well sharpened to shear as a sharp razor the steel was set into a strong stuff all bound round with iron even to the end and engraved with green in cunning work a lace was twined about it that looped at the head and all are down the handle it was clasped with tassels on buttons of bright green richly broidered the knight halted in the entrance of the hall looking to the high dais and greeted no man but looked ever upwards and the first words he spake were where is the ruler of this folk i would gladly look upon that hero and have speech with him he cast his eyes on the knights and mustered them up and down striving ever to see who of them was of most renown then was their great gazing to behold that chief for each man marveled what it might mean that a knight and his steed should have even such a hue as the green grass and that seemed even greener than green enamel on bright gold all looked on him as he stood and drew near unto him wondering greatly what he might be for many marvels had they seen but none such as this and phantasm and fairy did the folk deem it therefore with the gallant knights slow to answer and gazed astounded and sat stone still in a deep silence throughout that goodly hall as if a slumber were fallen on them i deem it was not all for doubt but some for courtesy that they might give ear unto his errand then arthur beheld this adventure before his high dais and nightly he greeted him for discourteous was he never sir he said thou art welcome to this place lord of this hall am i and men call me arthur light thee down and tarry a while and what thy will is that we shall learn after nay quoth the stranger so help me he that sitteth on high it was not mine errand to tarry anywhile in this dwelling but the praise of this thy folk and thy city is lifted up on high and thy warriors are holden for the best and the most valiant of those who ride male clad to the fight the wisest and the worthiest of this world are they and well proven in all nightly sports and here as i have heard tell is fairest courtesy therefore have i come hither as at this time ye may be sure by the branch that i bear here that i come in peace seeking no strife for had i willed to journey in warlike guise i have at home both hauberk and helm shield and shining spear and other weapons to mine hand but since i seek no war my raiment is that of peace but if thou be as bold as all men tell thou will freely grant me the boon i ask and arthur answered sir knight if thou cravest battle here thou shall not fail for lack of a foe and the knight answered nay i ask no fight in faith here on the benches are but beardless children were i clad in armor on my steed there is no man here might match me therefore i ask in this court but a christmas jest for that it is yuletide a new year and there are many here if anyone in this hall holds himself so hardy so bold both of blood and brain as to dare strike me one stroke for another i will give him as a gift this axe which is heavy enough in sooth to handle as he may list and i will abide the first blow unarmed as i sit if any knight be so bold as to prove my words let him come swiftly to me here and take this weapon i quit claim to it he may keep it as his own and i will abide his stroke firm on the floor then shalt thou give me the right to deal him another the respite of a year from today shall he have now pledge me thy word and let's see whether any here day say ought now if the knights had been astounded at the first yet stiller were they all high and low when they'd heard his words the knight on his steed straightened himself in the saddle and rolled his eyes fiercely round the hall red they gleamed under his green and bushy brows he frowned and twisted his beard waiting to see who should rise and when none answered he cried aloud in mockery what is this arthur's hall and these the knights whose renown have run through many realms where are now your pride and your conquests your wrath and anger and mighty words now are the praise and the renown of the round table overthrown by one man's speech since all keep silence for dread erever they have seen a blow with that he laughed so loudly that the blood rushed to the king's fair face for very shame he waxed wroth as did all his knights and sprang to his feet and drew near to the stranger and said now by heaven foolish is thine asking and thy folly shall find its fitting answer i know no man aghast at thy great words give me here thine axe and i shall grant thee the boon thou hast asked lightly he sprang to him and courted his hand and the knight fierce of aspect lighted down from his charger then arthur took the axe and gripped the haft and swung it round ready to strike and the knight stood before him taller by the head than any in the hall he stood and stroked his beard and drew down his coat no more dismayed for the king's threats than if one had brought him a drink of wine then gawain who sat by the queen leaned forward to the king and spake i beseech thee my lord let this venture be mine would ye but bid me rise from this seat and stand by your side so that my liege lady thought it not ill then would i come to your council before this goodly court for i think it not seemingly that such challenge should be made in your hall that you yourself should undertake it while there are many bold knights who sit beside ye none are them he thinks of readier will under heaven or more valiant in open field i am the weakest i want and the feeblest of wit and it will be the less loss of my life if ye seek sooth for save that ye are mine uncle naught is there in me to praise no virtue is there in my body save your blood and since this challenge is such folly that it beseems ye not to take it and i have asked it from me first let it fall to me and if i bear myself ungallantly then let all this court blame me then they all spoke with one voice that the king should leave this venture and grant it to goane arthur commanded the knight to rise and he rose up quickly and knelt down before the king and caught hold of the weapon and the king loosed his hold of it and lifted up his hand and gave him his blessing and bade him be strong both of heart and hand keep thee well nephew quoth arthur that thou give him but the one blow and if thou readest him rightly i trow thou shalt well abide the stroke he may give thee after going straight to the stranger axe in hand and he never fearing awaited his coming then the green knight spake to sir goane make we our covenant ere we go further first i ask thee knight what is thy name tell me truly that i may know thee in faith quote the good knight goane am i who give thee this buffet let what may come of it and at this time 12 months will i take another at thine hand with whatsoever weapon thou wilt and none other then the other answered again sir goane so may i thrive as i am feigned to take this buffet at thine hand and he quoted further sir goane it like of me well that i shall take at thy fist that which i have asked here and thou hast readily and truly rehearsed all the covenant that i asked of the king save that thou shall swear me by thy truth to seek me thyself wherever thou hopest that i may be found and win thee such reward as thou dealest me today before this folk where shall i seek thee quote goane where is thy place by him that made me i what never where thou dwellest nor know i thee knight by court nor thy name but teach me truly all that pertaineth thereto and tell me thy name and i shall use all my wit to win my way thither and that i swear thee forsooth and by my sure truth that is enough in the new year it needs no more quote the green knight to the gallant goane if i tell thee truly when i have taken the blow and thou hast smitten me then will i teach thee of my house and home and mine own name then mayest thou ask thy road and keep covenant and if i waste no words then farest thou the batter for thou canst dwell in thy land and seek no further but take now thy toll and let's see how thy strikest gladly will i quote goane handling his axe then the green knight swiftly made him ready he bowed down his head and laid his long locks on the crown that his bare neck might be seen goane gripped his axe and raised it on high the left foot he set forward on the floor and let the blow fall lightly on the bare neck the sharp edge of the blade sundered the bones smote through the neck and clave it in two so that the edge of the steel bit on the ground and the head rolled even to the horse's feet the blood spurted forth and glistened on the green raiment but the knight neither faltered nor fell he started forward with outstretched hand and caught the head and lifted it up then he turned to his steed and took hold of the bridle set his foot in the stirrup and mounted his head he held by the hair in his hand then he seated himself in his saddle as if nought ailed him and he were not headless he turned his steed about the grim corpse bleeding freely the while and they who looked upon him doubted them much for the covenant for he held up the head in his hand and turned the face towards them that sat on the high dais and it lifted up the eyelids and looked upon them and spake as she shall hear look gawain that thou art ready to go as thou has promised and seek leerly till thou find me even as thou hast sworn in this hall in the hearing of these nights come thou i charge thee to the green chapel such a stroke as thou hast dealt thou has deserves it shall be promptly paid thee on new year's morn many men know me as the knight of the green chapel and if thou ask this thou shall not fail to find me therefore it behoves thee to come or to yield thee as recreant with that he turned his bridle and galloped out at the hall door his head in his hands so that the sparks flew from beneath his horse's hooves whether he went none knew no more than they whisked whence he had come and the king and gawain they gazed and laughed for in sooth this had proved a greater marvel than any they had known aforetime though arthur the king was astonished at his heart yet he let no sign of it be seen but spake in courteous wise to the fair queen dear lady be not dismayed such craft is well suited to christmas tide when we seek jesting laughter and song and fair carols of knights and ladies but now i will get me to meet for i've seen a marvel i may not forget then he looked on sir gawain and said gaily now fair nephew hang up thine axe since it has hewn enough and they hung it on the docile above the dais where all men might look on it for a marvel and by its true token tell of the wonder then the twain sat them down together the king and the good knight and men served them with a double portion as was the share of the noblest with all manner of meat and of minstrelsy and they spent that day in gladness but sir gawain must well be thinking of the heavy venture to which he had set his hand bearskin there was once a youth who enlisted as a soldier he bore himself bravely he was always seen to be foremost when the bullets were falling everything went well with him while the war lasted but as soon as peace was proclaimed he received his discharge and was told by his captain that he might go where he pleased he had no longer a home but his parents were dead so he went to his brothers and begged that they would give him food and shelter until war broke out afresh but his brothers were hard-hearted men they said what do we want with you you are of no service to us you must go and fight your own way as best you can the soldier shouldered his rifle which was all that was left to him and went forth into the world in time he came to a wide heath on which there was nothing to be seen but a circle of trees full of sorrowful thoughts he sat down under one of the trees and began meditating on the sadness of his lot i have no money he said to himself and i have learnt no trade but that of fighting and for this i'm no longer wanted since peace was declared i see nothing left for me to do but to starve all at once he heard a sound like the wind blowing and looking up he saw a stranger standing in front of him dressed in a green coat he was of stately appearance but had a cloven foot you have no need to tell me of what you are in want said the stranger i know already both money and property i am prepared to give you as much as you can make use of spend what you will but i must first be assured that you are a man without fear for i do not wish to waste my money on a coward a soldier and fear he answered when were they ever found together you can put me to the proof good replied the stranger turn and look behind you the soldier turned and saw trotting towards him a great bear growling as it came along ho ho cried he i will tickle your nose for you in such a way that you will not want to growl anymore and so saying he aimed at the bear and shot it and the animal fell over and didn't move again i see that you're not wanting encourage said the stranger but there's yet another condition that you will have to fulfill i will consent to anything that doesn't endanger my salvation answered the soldier he was perfectly aware with whom he was dealing otherwise i will have nothing to do with it you shall judge for yourself continued green coat during the next seven years you must neither wash shave comb your hair nor cut your nails nor say a paternoster i will give you a coat and cloak which you must wear the whole time should you die before the end of the seven years you will be mine but if you survive you will be a free man and a rich one as long as you live the soldier thought of the great poverty and distress in which he now found himself and of how often he had before faced death and he made up his mind to brave it once again and gave his consent to the proposed conditions the devil then drew off his coat handed it to the soldier and said when you are wearing this coat you have only to thrust your hand into the pocket and you will find it full of gold he then went and cut off the bear's skin this he said is to be your cloak and your bed on this must you sleep and on no other bed must you lie and on account of your apparel you shall be called bearskin and with these words the devil disappeared the soldier put on the green coat thrust his hand at once into the pocket and found he hadn't been deceived then he threw the bearskin over his shoulders and started again on his travels but he now enjoyed himself and denied himself nothing that did him good and his money harm in the first year his appearance was tolerable but in the second year he began to look more like a monster than a man his face was nearly covered with hair his beard was like a piece of coarse felt there were claws at the end of his fingers and crests might have been grown in the dirt that had collected on his face everyone who saw him fled before him he was still however able to find shelter for himself for in whatever place he strayed he always gave largely to the poor begging them in return to pray for him that he might not die before the close of the seven years and he was always paid handsomely for everything he ordered it was in the course of the fourth year that he came to an inn the landlord of which refused to take him in or even to allow him a place in the stables for he was afraid that even the horses would take fright but when bearskin put his hand in his pocket and held it out to him full of gold pieces the landlord thought better of it and gave him a room in one of the back parts of the house making him promise however not to let himself be seen as it would give his house a bad name as bearskin sat alone that evening wishing with all his heart that the seven years were over he heard sounds of lamentation in the adjoining room now he was a man of a kind and sympathizing heart and he therefore went to the door and opened it and there he saw an old man flinging up his arms in despair and weeping bitterly bearskin stepped nearer but at first sight of him the old man sprung up and was about to escape from the room he paused however when he heard a human voice and finally so persuasively did bearskin speak to him he was induced to disclose the cause of his distress it seemed that his wealth had diminished more and more until he and his daughters were now in a state of starvation he was too poor even to pay the landlord what he owed him and was threatened with imprisonment huh if that is the extent of your trouble said bearskin i have money and to spare and he thereupon sent for the landlord settled the man's account and put a large purse of gold besides into the poor old man's pocket when the old man saw himself so wonderfully delivered from his trouble he didn't know how to express his gratitude come home with me he said to bearskin i have three daughters all miracles of beauty you can choose one of them for your wife when she hears what you have done for me she will not refuse you your appearance is just a little peculiar i must confess but she will soon put all that right for you bearskin was delighted with this proposal and went home with him at the first sight of bearskin's face the eldest daughter was so horrified that she screamed and rushed from the room the second daughter didn't run away but she looked at him from head to toe then she spoke and said how can i marry a man who has no longer even the semblance of a human being i would rather have the shaven bear that was on show here once and gave himself out for a man he had at least a good soldier's coat and a pair of white gloves if it were only a matter of ugliness i might grow accustomed to him but then the youngest rose and said dear father the man who has helped you out of your trouble must be a good man and if you have promised one of us to him as a wife your word mustn't be broken it was a pity that bearskin's face was just then so covered with dirt and hair all those present might have seen how the heart within him laughed for joy when he heard those words he took a ring from his finger broke it in two and gave one half to the girl and kept the other himself then he wrote her name in his half and he wrote his name in hers begging her at the same time to keep it safely after this he took his leave i must continue my travels for three more years he said to his betrothed if at the end of that time i don't return you may know that i am dead and that you are free but pray to god for me that my life might be spared the poor young girl clad herself all in black and whenever she thought of her betrothed husband her eyes filled with tears her sisters treated her to nothing but scorn and derision take care how you offer him your hand the eldest would say for he will give you a blow with his paw he must be careful said the other for bears are fond of sweet things and if he finds you to his taste he will eat you up you must never do anything to irritate him the eldest would start again or he will begin to growl but the wedding will be very lively continued the second bears dance so well the youngest made no answer and would not allow herself to be put out by these taunts meanwhile bearskin wandered about from place to place doing all the good he could and giving freely to the poor in order that they might pray for him the last day of the seven years dawned at last bearskin went to the heath again and sat down under the trees before long there came a sudden rush of wind and the same figure stood looking at him as before but this time it was evident that he was in a very bad humor he threw his old coat back to bearskin and asked for his green one we haven't come to that part of the business yet said bearskin you must first make me clean and whether he liked it or not the devil was now obliged to fetch water and wash him comb his hair and cut his nails bearskin now looked once more like a brave soldier and was handsomer than he had ever been before having at last said goodbye to the devil bearskin felt like a free man again joyful and light-hearted he went into the town put on a magnificent garment of velvet ordered a carriage and four horses and drove to the house of his betrothed of course no one recognized him the father took him for some distinguished military officer and led him into the house and introduced him to his daughters he was invited to sit down between the two eldest and they poured him out wine and offered him the daintiest food thinking all the while that they'd never before seen such a splendid looking man but his betrothed sat opposite to him with her eyes cast down and not speaking a word when finally he asked the father if he would give him one of his daughters for wife the two eldest sprang up and ran to their rooms to put on their richest attire but each felt certain in her own mind that she was the chosen one as soon as the stranger found himself alone with his betrothed he drew out his half of the ring and threw it into a goblet of wine which he then handed across to her she took it from him and drank but her heart gave a great throb as she saw the half ring at the bottom she took her own half which was hung around her neck by a ribbon placed it against the other and saw that the two pieces fitted exactly then he spoke he said i am your betrothed husband whom you saw only as bearskin but by the grace of god my human form is returned to me and i am clean once more and saying this he went up to her and embraced and kissed her at this moment the sisters returned clad in glorious apparel but when they saw that it was a younger sister who the handsome man had chosen and were told that he was bearskin they were so overcome with rage and envy that they both rushed out of the house and were never seen again the tales of hans christian anderson have been part of our cultural heritage for over 150 years and while the brothers grim were known as collectors of fairy tales the danish author wrote many of his own original stories some of them have inspired ballets plays and films and have been translated into over 100 languages the shepherdess and the chimney sweep have you ever seen an old wooden cupboard quite black with age and ornamented with carved foliage and curious figures well just such a cupboard stood in a parlor and had been left to the family as a legacy by the great grandmother it was covered from top to bottom with carved roses and tulips the most curious scrolls were drawn on it and out of them peeped little stags heads with antlers in the middle of the cupboard door was the carved figure of a man most ridiculous to look at he grinned at you no one could call it laughing he had goat's legs little horns on his head and a long beard the children in the room always called him major general field sergeant commander billy goat's legs it was certainly a very difficult name to pronounce and there are very few who ever received such a title but then it seemed wonderful how he came to be carved at all yet there he was always looking at the table under the looking glass where stood a very pretty little shepherdess made of china her shoes were gilt and her dress had a red rose for an ornament she wore a hat and carried a crook both were gilded and looked very bright and pretty close by her side stood a little chimney sweep also made of china he was however as clean and neat as any other china figure and the china workers might really have made him a prince had they felt inclined to do so he stood holding his ladder quite handily and his face was as fair and rosy as a girl's indeed that was rather a mistake as it should have had some black soot marks on it he and the shepherdess had been placed close together side by side and being so placed they became engaged to each other for they were very well suited being both made of the same sort of china and being equally fragile close to them stood another figure three times as large as they were also made of china he was an old china man who could nod his head and used to pretend that he was the grandfather of the shepherdess although he couldn't prove it he however assumed authority over her and therefore when major general field sergeant commander billy goat legs asked for the shepherdess to be his wife he nodded his head to show that he consented you will have a husband said the old china man to her who i really believe is made of mahogany you will be the wife of major general field sergeant commander billy goat's legs he has the whole cupboard full of silver plate which he keeps locked up in secret drawers i won't go into the dark cupboard said the little shepherdess i have heard that he has 11 china wives in there already then you shall be the 12th said the old china man tonight as soon as you hear a rattling in the old cupboard you shall be married as true as i am a china man and then he nodded his head and fell asleep the little shepherdess cried and looked at her sweetheart the china chimney sweep i must entreat you said she to go out with me into the wide world for we cannot stay here i will do whatever you wish said the little chimney sweep let us go immediately i think i shall be able to maintain you with my profession if we were but safely down from the table said she i shall not be happy till we really are out in the world he comforted her and showed her how to place her little foot on the carved edge and gilt leaf ornaments of the table he brought his little ladder to help her and so they contrived to reach the floor but when they looked at the old cupboard they saw it was all in an uproar the carved stags pushed out their heads raised their antlers and twisted their necks the major general sprung up in the air and cried out to the old china man they're running away they are running away the two were rather frightened at this so they jumped into the drawer of the window seat here were three or four packs of cards not quite complete and a doll's theater which had been built up very neatly a comedy was being performed in it and all the queens of diamonds clubs hearts and spades sat in the front row fanning themselves with tulips and behind them stood all the knaves showing that they had heads above and below as playing cards generally have the play was about two lovers who were not allowed to marry and the shepherdess wept because it was so like her own story i cannot bear it said she i must get out of the drawer but when they reached the floor and cast their eyes on the table there was the old china man awake and shaking his whole body till all at once down he came on the floor plump the old china man is coming cried the little shepherdess in a fright and down she fell on one knee i have thought of something said the chimney sweep let us get into the great potpourri jar which stands in the corner there we can lie on rose leaves and lavender and throw salt in his eyes if he comes near us no that will never do said she because i know that the china man and the potpourri jar were lovers once and there always remains behind a feeling of goodwill between those who have been as intimate as that no there is nothing left for us but to go out into the wide world have you really the courage enough to go out into the wide world with me said the chimney sweep have you thought how large it is and that we can never come back here again yes i have she replied when the chimney sweep saw that she was quite firm he said my way is through the stove and up the chimney have you courage to creep with me through the firebox and the iron pipe when we get to the chimney i shall know how to manage very well we shall soon climb too high for anyone to reach us and we shall come through a hole in the top out into the wide world so he led her to the door of the stove it looks very dark said she still she went in with him through the stove and through the pipe where it was as dark as pitch now we're in the chimney said he and look there is a beautiful star shining above it it was a real star shining down upon them as if it would show them the way so they clambered and crept on and a frightful steep place it was but the chimney sweep helped her and supported her till they got higher and higher he showed her the best places on which to set her little china feet so at last they reached the top of the chimney and sat themselves down for they were very tired as may be supposed the sky with all its stars was over their heads and below were the roofs of the town they could see for a very long distance out into the wide world and the poor little shepherdess leaned her head on her chimney sweeps shoulder and wept till she washed the guilt off her sash the world was so different to what she'd expected it's too much she said i cannot bear it the world is too large oh i wish i was safe back on the table again under the looking glass i shall never be happy till i am safe back again now i have followed you out into the wide world you will take me back if you love me the chimney sweep tried to reason with her and spoke of the old chinaman and of major general field sergeant commander billy goat's legs but she sobbed so bitterly and kissed her little chimney sweep till he was obliged to do all she asked foolish as it was and so with a great deal of trouble they climbed down the chimney again and then crept through the pipe and stove which was certainly not very pleasant places then they stood in the dark firebox and listened behind the door to hear what was going on in the room as it was all quiet they peeped out alas there lay the old chinaman on the floor he had fallen down from the table as he attempted to run after them and was broken into three pieces his back had separated entirely and his head had rolled into a corner of the room the major general stood in his old place and appeared lost in thought this is terrible said the little shepherdess my poor old grandfather is broken to pieces and it's our fault i shall never live after this and she wrung her little hands he can be riveted said the chimney sweep he can be riveted do not be so hasty if they cement his back and put a good rivet in it he will be as good as new and be able to say as many disagreeable things to us as ever do you think so said she and then they climbed up to the table and stood in their old places as we have done no good said the chimney sweep we might as well have remained here instead of taking so much trouble i wish grandfather was riveted said the shepherdess will it cost much i wonder she had her wish the family had the chinaman's back mended and a strong rivet put through his neck he looked as good as new but he could no longer nod his head you have become proud since your fall broke you to pieces said major general field sergeant commander billy goat's legs you have no reason to give yourself such airs am i to have her or not the chimney sweep and the shepherdess looked piteously at the old chinaman for they were afraid he might nod but he wasn't able to besides it was so tiresome to always have to tell strangers that he had a rivet in the back of his neck and so the little china people remained together and were glad of grandfather's rivet and continued to love each other till they were broken to pieces Humpty Dumpty the egg only got larger and larger and more and more human when she had come within a few yards of it she saw that it had eyes and a nose and mouth and when she had come close to it she saw clearly that it was Humpty Dumpty himself it can't be anybody else she said to herself i'm as certain of it as if his name were written all over his face it might have been written a hundred times easily on that enormous face Humpty Dumpty was sitting with his legs crossed on the top of a high wall such a narrow one that Alice quite wondered how he could keep his balance and as his eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite direction and he didn't take the least notice of her she thought he must be a stuffed figure after all and how exactly like an egg he is she said aloud standing with her hands ready to catch him for she was every moment expecting him to fall it's very provoking Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence looking away from Alice as he spoke to be called an egg very i said you looked like an egg sir Alice gently explained and some eggs are very pretty you know she added hoping to turn her remark into a sort of compliment some people said Humpty Dumpty looking away from her as usual have no more sense than a baby Alice didn't know what to say to this it wasn't at all like conversation she thought as he never said anything to her in fact his last remark was evidently addressed to a tree so she stood and softly repeated to herself Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty in his place again that last line is much too long for the poetry she added almost out loud forgetting that Humpty Dumpty would hear her don't stand chattering to yourself like that Humpty Dumpty said looking at her for the first time but tell me your name and your business my name is Alice but it's a stupid name enough Humpty Dumpty interrupted what does it mean must a name mean something Alice asked doubtfully of course it must Humpty Dumpty said my name means the shape I am and a good handsome shape it is too with a name like yours you might be any shape almost why do you sit out here all alone said Alice not wishing to begin an argument why because there's nobody with me cried Humpty Dumpty did you think I didn't know the answer to that ask another don't you think you'd be safer down on the ground Alice went on not with any idea of making another riddle she spoke simply in her good-natured anxiety for the queer creature that wall is so very narrow what tremendously easy riddles you ask Humpty Dumpty growled out of course I don't think so why if ever I did fall off which there's no chance of if I did here he pursed up his lips and looked so solemn and grand that Alice could hardly help laughing if I did fall he went on the king has promised me ah you may turn pale if you like you didn't think I was going to say that did you the king has promised me with his very own mouth to to to send all his horses and all his men Alice interrupted rather unwisely now I declare that's too bad Humpty Dumpty cried breaking into a sudden passion you've been listening at doors and behind trees and down chimneys or you couldn't have known it I haven't indeed Alice said very gently it's in a book ah well they may write such things in a book Humpty Dumpty said in a calmer tone that's what you'd call the history of England that is now take a good look at me I'm one that has spoken to a king I am may help you'll never see such another and to show you I'm not proud you may shake hands with me and he grinned from ear to ear as he leant forwards and as nearly as possible fell off the wall in doing so and offered Alice his hand she watched him a little anxiously as she took it if he smiled much more the ends of his mouth might meet behind she thought and then I don't know what would happen to his head I'm afraid it will come off yes all his horses and all his men Humpty Dumpty went on they'd pick me up again in a minute they would however this conversation is going on a little too fast let's go back to the last remark but one I'm afraid I can't quite remember it Alice said very politely in that case we start afresh said Humpty Dumpty and it's my turn to choose a subject he talks about it just as if it was a game thought Alice so here's a question for you how old did you say you were Alice made a short calculation and said seven years and six months wrong Humpty Dumpty exclaimed triumphantly you never said a word like it I thought you meant how old are you Alice explained if I'd have meant that I'd have said it said Humpty Dumpty Alice didn't want to begin another argument though she said nothing seven years and six months Humpty Dumpty repeated thoughtfully an uncomfortable sort of age now if you'd have asked my advice I'd have said leave off at seven but it's too late now I never ask advice about growing Alice said indignantly too proud the other inquired Alice felt even more indignant at this suggestion I mean she said that one can't help growing older one can't perhaps said Humpty Dumpty but two can with proper assistance you might have left off at seven what a beautiful belt you've got on Alice suddenly remarked they had had quite enough on the subject of age she thought and if they really were to take turns in choosing subjects it was her turn now at least she corrected herself on second thoughts a beautiful cravat I should have said no a belt I mean I beg your pardon she added in dismay for Humpty Dumpty looked thoroughly offended and she began to wish she hadn't chosen that subject if only I knew she thought to herself which was the neck and which was the waist evidently Humpty Dumpty was very angry for he said nothing for a minute or two when he did speak again it was in a deep growl it is a most provoking thing he said at last when a person doesn't know a cravat from a belt I know it's very ignorant of me Alice said in so humble a tone that Humpty Dumpty relented it's a cravat child and a beautiful one as you say it's a present from the white king and queen there now is it really said Alice quite pleased to find that she had chosen a good subject after all they gave it to me Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully as he crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands around it they gave it to me for an unbirthday present I beg your pardon Alice said with a puzzled air I'm not offended said Humpty Dumpty I mean what is an unbirthday present a present given when it isn't your birthday of course Alice considered a little I like birthday presents best she said at last you don't know what you're talking about quite Humpty Dumpty how many days are there in a year 365 said Alice and how many birthdays have you one and if you take one from 365 what remains 364 of course Humpty Dumpty looked doubtful I'd rather see that done on paper he said Alice couldn't help smiling as she took out a memorandum book and worked the sum for him 365 minus 1 equals 364 Humpty Dumpty took the book and looked at it carefully that seems to be done right he began you're holding it upside down Alice interrupted to be sure I was Humpty Dumpty said gaily as she turned it round for him I thought it looked a little strange as I was saying that seems to be done right though I haven't time to look it over thoroughly just now and that shows that there are 364 days when you might get unbirthday presents certainly said Alice and only one for birthday presents you know there's glory for you I don't know what you mean by glory Alice said Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously of course you don't till I tell you I meant there's a nice knockdown argument for you but glory doesn't mean a nice knockdown argument Alice objected when I use the word Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone it means just what I choose it to mean neither more nor less the question is said Alice whether you can make words mean so many different things the question is said Humpty Dumpty which is to be master that's all Alice was much too puzzled to say anything so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again they've a temper some of them particularly verbs they're the proudest adjectives you can do anything with but not verbs however I can manage a whole lot of them impenetrability that's what I say would you tell me please said Alice what that means now you talk like a reasonable child said Humpty Dumpty looking very much pleased I meant by impenetrability that we've had enough of that subject and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life that's a great deal to make one word mean Alice said in a thoughtful tone when I make a word do a lot of work like that said Humpty Dumpty I always pay it extra oh said Alice she was much too puzzled to make any other remark ah you should see him come around me of a Saturday night Humpty Dumpty went on wagging his head gravely from side to side for to get their wages you know Alice didn't venture to ask what he paid them with and so you see I can't tell you now you seem very clever at explaining words sir said Alice would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky let's hear it said Humpty Dumpty I can explain all the poems that ever were invented and a good many that haven't been invented just yet this sounded very hopeful so Alice repeated the first verse twas Brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe all mimsy were the borrow groves and the moan wraths outgrabe that's enough to begin with Humpty Dumpty interrupted there are plenty of hard words there Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon the time when you begin broiling things for dinner that'll do very well said Alice and slithy well slithy means live and slimy live is the same as active you see it's like a portmanteau there are two meanings packed up into one word I see it now Alice remarked thoughtfully and what are toves well toves are something like badgers there's something like lizards and there's something like corkscrews they must be very curious looking creatures they are that said Humpty Dumpty also they make their nests under sundials also they live on cheese and what's to gyre and to gimble to gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope to gimble is to make holes like a gimlet and the wabe is the grass around a sundial I suppose said Alice surprised at her own ingenuity of course it is it's called the wabe you know because it goes a long way before it and a long way behind it and a long way beyond it on either side Alice added exactly so well then mimsy is flimsy and miserable there's another portmanteau for you and a borregrove is a thin shabby looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round something like a live mop and then mome wraths said Alice I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble well a wrath is a sort of green pig but mome I'm not certain about I think it's short for from home meaning that they'd lost their way you know and what does outgrabe mean well out gribing is something between bellowing and whistling with a kind of sneeze in the middle however you'll hear it done maybe down in the wood yonder and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you I read it in a book said Alice but I had some poetry repeated to me much easier than this by Tweedledee I think it was as to poetry you know said Humpty Dumpty stretching out one of his great hands I can repeat poetry as well as other folk if it comes to that oh it needn't come to that Alice hastily said hoping to keep him from beginning the piece I'm going to repeat he went on without noticing her remark was written entirely for your amusement Alice felt that in that case she really ought to listen to it so she sat down and said thank you rather sadly in winter when the fields are white I sing this song for your delight only I don't sing it he added as an explanation I see you don't said Alice if you can see whether I'm singing or not you've sharper eyes than most Humpty Dumpty remarked severely Alice was silent in spring when woods are getting green I'll try and tell you what I mean thank you very much said Alice in summer when the days are long perhaps you'll understand the song in autumn when the leaves are brown take pen and ink and write it down I will if I can remember it so long said Alice you needn't go on making remarks like that Humpty Dumpty said they're not sensible and they put me out I sent a message to the fish I told them this is what I wish the little fishes of the sea they sent an answer back to me the little fishes answer was we cannot do it sir because I'm afraid I don't quite understand said Alice it gets easier further on Humpty Dumpty replied I sent to them again to say it will be better to obey the fishes answered with a grin why what a temper you're in I told them once I told them twice they would not listen to advice I took a kettle large and new fit for the deed I had to do my heart went hop my heart went thump I filled the kettle at the pump then someone came to me and said the little fishes are in bed I said to him I said it plain then you must wake them up again I said it very loud and clear I went and shouted in his ear Humpty Dumpty raised his voice almost to a shout as he repeated this verse and Alice thought with a shudder I wouldn't have been that messenger for anything but he was very stiff and proud he said you needn't shout so loud and he was very proud and stiff he said I'd go and wake them if I took a corkscrew from the shelf I went to wake them up myself and when I found the door was locked I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked and when I found the door was shut I tried to turn the handle but there was a long pause is that all Alice timidly asked that's all said Humpty Dumpty goodbye this was rather sudden Alice thought but after such a very strong hint that she ought to be going she felt it would hardly be civil to stay though she got up and held out her hand goodbye till we meet again she said as cheerfully as she could I shouldn't know you again if we did meet Humpty Dumpty replied in a discontented tone giving her one of his fingers to shake you're so exactly like other people the face is what one goes by generally Alice remarked that's just what I complain of said Humpty Dumpty your face is the same as everybody has the two eyes so he marked their places in the air with his thumb nose in the middle mouth under it's always the same now if you have the two eyes on the same side of the nose for instance or the mouth at the top that would be some help it wouldn't look very nice Alice objected but Humpty Dumpty only shut his eyes and said wait till you've tried Alice waited a minute to see if he would speak again but as he never opened his eyes or took any further notice of her she said goodbye once more and getting no answer to this she quietly walked away but she couldn't help saying to herself as she went of all the unsatisfactory she repeated this aloud as it was a great comfort to have such a long word to say of all the unsatisfactory people I ever met she never finished the sentence for at this moment a heavy crash shook the forest from end to end