[H]From “The Golden Spear,” by Edmund Leamy; used by permission of the publisher, Desmond Fitzgerald, New York.
[H]From “The Golden Spear,” by Edmund Leamy; used by permission of the publisher, Desmond Fitzgerald, New York.
THE STRAW OXA Russian TaleAn old man and an old woman lived in an old house on the edge of the forest. The old man worked in the field all day and the woman spun flax. But for all of their hard work they were very poor—never one penny could they save. One day the old man said to the old woman:“I would like to give you something to please you, but I have nothing to give.”“Never mind that,” said the old woman, “make me a straw ox.”“A straw ox!” cried the old man. “What will you do with that?”“Never mind that,” said the old woman.So the old man made a straw ox.“Smear it all over with tar,” said the old woman.“Why should I smear it with tar?” asked the old man.“Never mind that,” said the old woman.So the old man smeared the straw ox all over with tar.The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather flax she took the straw ox with her and left it standing alone near the edge of the forest.A bear came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”replied the ox.“Oh,” said the bear. “I need some straw to mend my coat, and the tar will keep it in place. Give me some straw and some tar.”“Help yourself,” said the ox.So the bear began to tear at the ox, and his great paws stuck fast, and he pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away.Then the ox dragged the bear to the old house on the edge of the forest.When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox with the bear stuck fast to him.“Husband, husband! Come here at once,” she cried. “The ox has brought home a bear; what shall we do?”So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the bear off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.The next morning when the old woman went into the field to gather flax she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left him standing alone near the edge of the forest.A wolf came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”replied the ox.“Oh,” said the wolf, “I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs cannot catch me.”“Help yourself,” said the ox.The wolf put up his paws to take the tar and his paws stuck fast. He pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck and he could not get away.Then the ox dragged the wolf to the old house on the edge of the forest.When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox in the yard with the wolf stuck fast to him.“then came the fox, with manygeese running before him”“Husband, husband! Come here at once!” shecried. “The ox has brought home a wolf; what shall we do?”So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the wolf off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather flax she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left it standing alone near the edge of the forest.A fox came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”replied the ox.“Oh,” said the fox, “I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs cannot catch me.”“Help yourself,” said the ox.The fox put up his paws to take the tar, and his paws stuck fast. He pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away.Then the ox dragged the fox to the old house on the edge of the forest.When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox with the fox stuck fast to him.“Husband, husband! Come here at once!” she cried. “The ox has brought home a fox; what shall we do?”So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the fox off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.The next morning when the woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the ox had gone and she had run home as fast as she could, there stood the ox with a rabbit stuck fast to him.And the old man threw the rabbit into the cellar.The next morning the old man said:“Now we will see what will come of all of this.”So he took his knife and sat down by the cellar door and began to make the knife sharp and bright.“What are you doing, old man?” asked the bear.“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat and make a nice warm jacket for the old woman to keep her warm this winter.”“Oh,” said the bear. “Do not cut up my coat. Let me go, and I will bring you some nice, sweet honey to eat.”“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”So the old man let the bear go.Then he sat down again and began to make his knife sharp and bright.“What are you doing, old man?” asked the wolf.“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat to make me a fine fur cap,” said the old man.“Oh,” said the wolf. “Do not cut up my coat. Let me go and I will bring you some sheep.”“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”So the old man let the wolf go.Then he sat down again with his knife in his hand.“What are you doing, old man?” asked the fox.“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat to make me a nice fur collar.”“Oh,” said the fox, “do not cut up my coat. Let me go and I will bring you some geese.”“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”And in the same way he let the rabbit loose, who said that he would bring some cabbage and some turnips and some carrots.The next morning early the old woman woke up and said:“Some one is knocking at the door.”So the old man got up and went to the door and opened it.“See,” said the bear, “I have brought you a jar full of honey.”“Very well,” said the old man, and he gave the jar to the old woman who put it on the shelf.Then came the wolf driving a flock of sheep into the yard.“See,” said the wolf, “I have brought you a flock of sheep.”“Very well,” said the old man, and he drove the sheep into the pasture.Then came the fox, with many geese running before him, and the old man drove them into the pen; and then came the rabbit with cabbages and turnips and carrots and other good things, and the old woman took them and put them into the pot and cooked them.And the old man said to the old woman, “Now we have sheep in the pasture and many geese in the pen, and we are rich, and I can give you something to please you.”The little princess of thefearless heartBY B. J. DASKAMOnce upon a time the great, yellow stork carried a baby Princess to the Queen of that country which lies next to fairy-land.All throughout the kingdom the bells rang, the people shouted, and the King declared a holiday for a whole year. But the Queen was very anxious, for she knew that the fairies are a queer lot, and their borders were very close indeed.“We must be very careful to slight none of them at the christening,” she said, “for goodness knows what they might do, if we did!”So the wise-men drew up the lists, and when the day for the christening arrived, the fairies were all there, and everything went as smoothly as a frosted cake.But the Queen said to the Lady-in-waiting:“The first fairy godmother gave her nothing but a kiss! I don’t call that much of a gift!”“’Sh!” whispered the Lady-in-waiting. “The fairies hear everything!”And indeed, the fairy heard her well enough, and very angry she was about it, too. For she was so old that she knew all about it, from beginning to end, and she was sure that the Wizard with Three Dragons was sitting in the Black Forest, watching the whole matter in his crystal globe. So she had whispered her gift—which was nothing more nor less than a Fearless Heart—into the ear of the Little Princess. But the Queen thought she had only kissed her.So, when the clock was on the hour of four (which, as every one knows, is the end of christenings and fairy gifts) the first godmother went up to the golden cradle.“Since my first gift was not satisfactory to every one,” she said, angrily, “I will give the Little Princess another. And that is, that when the time comes she shall marry the Prince of the Black Heart!”Then the clock struck four, while the Queen wept on the bosom of the Lady-in-waiting.And that was the end of the christening.Then the King called the wise-men together, and for forty days and nights they read the books and studied the stars.In the end, they laid out a Garden, with a wall so high that the sun could not shine over it until noon, and so broad that it was a day’s journey for a swift horse to cross it. One tiny door there was: but the first gate was of iron, and five-and-twenty men-at-arms stood before it, day and night, with drawn swords; the second gate was of beaten copper, and before that were fifty archers, with arrows on the string; the third gate was of triple brass, and before it a hundred knights, in full armor, rode without ceasing.Into the Garden went the Little Princess, and the Queen, and all her ladies; but no man might pass the gates, save the King himself. And there the Princess dwelt until her seventeenth birthday, without seeing any more of the world than the inside of the wall.Now it happened that, some time before, a young Prince had ridden out of the west and set about his travels. For the wise-man on the hill had come to him and said:“In the kingdom which lies next to fairyland dwells a Little Princess who has a Fearless Heart. There is a wall which will not be easy to climb, but the Princess is more beautiful than anything else in the world!”And that was enough for the Prince, so he girded on his sword, and set out, singing as hewent for pure lightness of heart.But it is not so easy to find fairyland as it is to eat a ripe apple, and the Prince could have told you that, before he was through. For in some places it is so broad that it takes in the whole world, and in others so narrow that a flea could cross it in two jumps. So that some people never leave it all their lives long, but others cross at a single step, and never see it at all.Finally, the Prince came to the place where all roads meet, and they were as much alike as the hairs on a dog’s back. But it was all one to him, so he rode straight ahead and lost himself in fairyland.When the first fairy godmother saw him, she laughed to herself and flew away, straight over his head, to the wall around the Garden. But you may be sure that she did not trouble the guards at the triple gates: for, if one has wings, what is the use of stairs? So over the wall she flew to the room where the Little Princess lay sleeping.You may readily believe that the Princess was astonished when she awoke to find the fairy beside her bed, but she was not in the least alarmed, for, you see, she did not know that there was anything in the world to be afraid of.“My dear,” said the old lady, “I am your first fairy godmother.”“How do you do, Godmother?” said the Princess, and she sat up in bed and courtesied. Which is a very difficult trick, indeed, and it is not every Princess who can do it.Her godmother was so delighted that she leaned over and kissed her.“That is the second time I have kissed you,” she said. “When I go, I will kiss you again, and you had better save the three of them, for they will be useful when you go out into the world. And, my dear, it is high time that you were going out.”Then the Little Princess was overjoyed, but she only nodded her head wisely and said:“I know, the world is as big as the whole Garden, and wider than the wall. But I can never go out, for the gates are always locked.”“If you do not go now,” said the fairy, “you will have to go later, and that might not be so well. And you should not argue with me, for I am older than you will ever be, and your godmother, besides. Now kiss me, for I must be going.”So she flew away, about her other affairs, for she was a very busy old lady indeed.In the morning the Princess went to breakfast with the King and the Queen.“Mother,” she said, “it is high time that I went out into the world!”The Queen was so startled that she dropped her egg on the floor and the King was red as a beet with anger.“Tut! Tut!” he shouted. “What nonsense is this?”“My fairy godmother was here last night,” said the Princess, “and she told me all about it. I will go this morning, please, if I may.”“Nonsense!” roared the King.“You will do no such thing!” wailed the Queen.“There could have been no one here,” said the King, “for the gates were all locked.”“Who told you that you had a fairy godmother?” asked the Queen.And there was an end of that.But that night, after the Princess had said her prayers and crept into bed, she heard her godmother calling to her from the Garden, so she slipped on her cloak and stole out into the moonlight. There was no one to be seen, so she pattered along in her little bare feet until she came to the gate in the wall.While she was hesitating whether or not to run back to her little white bed, the gates of triple brass opened as easily as if her godmother had oiled them, and the Little Princess passed through the copper gates, and the iron gate, and out into fairyland.But if you ask me why she saw the guards at the gates no more than they saw her, I can only tell you that I do not know, and you will have to be satisfied with that.As for the Princess, she was as happy as a duck in a puddle. As she danced along through the forests, the flowers broke from their stems to join her, the trees dropped golden fruit into her very hands, and the little brook which runs through fairyland left its course, and followed her, singing.And all the while, her godmother was coming down behind her, close at hand, to see that she came to no harm; but the Princess did not know that.At last she came to the place where the Prince from the west lay sleeping. He was dreaming that he had climbed the wall and had found the Princess, so that he smiled in his sleep and she knelt above him, wondering, for she had never seen a man before, save her father, the King, and the Prince was very fair. So she bent closer and closer, until her breath was on his cheek, and as he opened his eyes, she kissed him.As for the Prince, he thought that he was still asleep, till he saw that she was many times more beautiful than in his dreams, and he knewthat he had found her at last.the princess and the fairy“You are more beautiful than anything else in the world,” he said, “and I love you better than my life!”“And I love you with all my heart!” said the Little Princess.“Will you marry me,” asked the Prince, “and live with me forever and ever?”“That I will,” said the Princess, “and gladly, if my father, the King, and my mother, the Queen, will let me leave the Garden.”And she told the Prince all about the wall with the triple gates.The Prince saw that it would be no easy task to win the consent of the King and the Queen, so nothing would do but that he must travel back to the west and return with a proper retinue behind him.So he bade the Princess good-by and rode bravely off toward the west.The Princess went slowly back through fairyland, till she came to the wall, just as the sun was breaking in the east. As every one knows, White Magic is not of very much use in the daytime, outside of fairyland, and if you ask why this is not so at christenings, I will send you to Peter Knowall, who keeps the Big Red Book.So the guards at the triple gates saw the Princess, and they raised such a hub-bub, that the King and the Queen rushed out to see what all the noise was about. You can easily believe that they were in a great way when they saw the Little Princess, who they thought was safe asleep in her bed.They lost no time in bundling her through the gates, and then they fell to kissing her, and scolding her, and shaking her, and hugging her, all in the same breath.But the Princess said, “I have been out into the world, and I am going to marry the Prince!”Then perhaps there was not a great to-do about the Garden!They bullied and coaxed and scolded and wept, but the Princess only said,“I love him with all my heart and when the time comes I will go to him, if I have to beg my way from door to door!”At that the King flew into a towering rage.“Very well, Miss!” he shouted. “But when you go, you may stay forever! I will cut your name off the records, and any one who speaks it will be beheaded, if it is the High Lord Chancellor, himself!”Then it was the turn of the Princess to weep, for she loved her parents dearly, but she could not promise to forget the Prince.So matters went from pence to ha’pennies, as the saying goes, till finally the Princess could bear it no longer, so she found her cloak and stole down to the triple gates.Everything went very much as it had before, save that there was no Prince asleep under the tree where she had first found him. Then the Princess would have turned back, but the little brook which followed at her heel had swollen out into a broad, deep river, and there was nothing to do but go ahead, till she came to a cottage among the trees, and before the door sat an old, old woman, spinning gold thread out of moonlight. And by that any one could have told that she was a fairy, but the Princess thought it was always done that way in the world.“Oh, Mother,” she cried, “how shall I find my way out of the forest?”But the old woman went on spinning, and the Princess thought that she had never seen anything fly so fast as the shuttle.“Where were you wanting to go?” she asked.“I am searching for the Prince from the west,” said the Princess sadly. “Can you tell me where to find him?”The fairy shook her head and went on with her spinning, so fast that you could not see the shuttle at all.But the Princess begged so prettily that finally she said,“If I were looking for a Prince, I would follow my nose until I came to the Black Forest, and then I would ask the Wizard with Three Dragons, who knows all about it, and more, too! That is, unless I thought that I would be afraid in the Black Forest.”“What is afraid?” asked the Little Princess. “I do not know that.”And no more she did, so the fairy laughed, for she saw trouble coming for the Wizard. She stopped her wheel with a click, but for all her fast spinning, there was only enough gold thread to go around the second finger of the Princess’s left hand.As for the Princess, she thanked the old lady very kindly, and set bravely off toward the Black Forest.But the Wizard with Three Dragons only laughed as he gazed into his crystal globe, for in it he could see everything that was happening in any place in the world, and I do not need Jacob Wise-man to tell me that a globe like that is worth having!Now, when the Prince had left the Princess in fairyland, he lost no time in riding back to the west. The old King, his father, was overjoyed when he heard of the Little Princess, and he gave the Prince a retinue that stretched for amile behind him.the wizard with the three dragons,and his crystal globeBut when they came to the place where all roads meet, the Prince was greatly perplexed, for this time, you see, he knew where he wanted to go. In the end, he trusted to chance and rode ahead, but they had not gone far before they came to the castle of the Wizard with Three Dragons, in the middle of the Black Forest.In the great hall sat the Wizard, himself, waiting for them, and he was as soft as butter.Yes, yes, he knew the Princess well enough, but it was too late to go further that night. So the Prince and all his train had best come into the castle and wait till morning.That was what the Wizard said, and the Prince was glad enough to listen to him, for he was beginning to fear that he would never find the Princess again. But hardly had the last bowman come within the doors than the Wizard blew upon his crystal globe, and muttered a spell.At that, the Prince and his entire train were changed to solid stone, in the twinkling of an eye, and there they remained till, at the proper time, the Little Princess of the Fearless Heart came up the great stone steps of the castle.The Wizard was sitting on his throne with his Dragons behind his shoulder, staring into his crystal globe as it spun in the air, hanging on nothing at all.He never took his eyes away when the Princess came up to the throne, and she was far too polite to interrupt him when he was so busy. So for a long, long time she stood there waiting, and the Wizard chuckled to himself, for he thought that she was too frightened to speak. So he breathed upon his crystal globe and muttered a spell.But of course, nothing happened, for the Little Princess had a Fearless Heart!Then the Wizard grew black as night, for he saw that the matter was not so easy as plucking wild flowers, so he turned away from the crystal globe and stared at the Princess. His eyes burned like two hot coals, so that she drew her cloak closer about her, but you cannot hide your heart from a Wizard with Three Dragons, unless your cloak is woven of sunlight, and the Little Black Dwarf has the only one of those in the whole world, stowed away in an old chest in the garret.So the Wizard saw at once that the Little Princess had a Fearless Heart, and his voice was soft as rain-water.“Oh, Little Princess,” he said. “What is it that you want of me in the Black Forest?”“I am looking for the Prince from the west,” said the Princess, eagerly. “Can you tell me where to find him?”“Yes,” said the Wizard. “I can tell you that, and perhaps some other things, besides. But what will you give me for my trouble?”Then the Little Princess hung her head, for she had nothing about her that was worth so much as a bone button, and the Wizard knew that as well as you and I. So he said, very softly, “Will you give me your Fearless Heart?”And there was the whole matter in a nutshell!But the Princess stamped her foot on the stone floor. “Of course I will not give you my heart,” she said. “And if you will not tell me for kindness, I will be going on, for I have nothing with which to pay you!”“Not so fast!” cried the Wizard—for he was as wise as a rat in a library—“If you will not give me your heart, just let me have a kiss and I will call it a bargain!”Then the Princess remembered her godmother’s three kisses, and she thought that this was the place for them, if they were ever to be used at all, although she liked the thought of kissing the Wizard about as much as she liked sour wine. She crept up to the throne, and, with her eyes tight closed, gave the Wizard the first of the three kisses.At that the whole Black Forest shook with the force of the Magic, hissing through the trees, and the Wizard, with his Three Dragons turned into solid stone!The crystal globe spun around in the air, humming like a hive full of bees and sank slowly to the foot of the throne.Hardly had it touched the ground than the whole castle rent and split into a thousand pieces, and I would not like to have been there, unless I had a bit of gold thread spun out of moonlight around my finger, for the huge rocks were falling as thick as peas in a pan!But the Princess hardly noticed the rocks at all, for, as the sun rose over the Black Forest, she recognized the marble figure of the Prince, standing among the ruins. You may be sure that she was heartbroken as she went up to him, weeping very bitterly and calling and calling on his name. Then in her sorrow she reached up and kissed the cold stone face with the second magic kiss.Then suddenly she felt the marble grow soft and warm beneath her touch, and the Prince came back to life and took her in his arms.When he recognized the silent figures of his gay train, he was sad as death, and the Princess wept with him. But suddenly they saw an old, old woman picking her way among the fallen stones.“Oh,” said the Little Princess, “that is the oldwoman whom I met in the forest, spinning!”At that the fairy laughed so hard that her hair tumbled down about her feet, and it turned from gray to silver, and silver to gold. The years fell from her like a cloak, until she was more beautiful than the thought of man could conceive!“Ah! I know you now!” cried the Little Princess. “You are my first fairy godmother!”And that was the way of it, so she kissed them both for pure joy. But when they asked her as to which of the stone figures should have the third magic kiss, she shook her head,“None of them at all!” she said. “But give me back that bit of gold thread, for you will have no further use for it.”Then she stretched the thread between her two hands until it was so fine that you could not see it at all, and laid it on the ground around the Wizard and his Dragons, and tied a magic knot, just behind the crystal globe.“Now give the third kiss to the crystal globe,” she said, “and see what will happen!”So the Little Princess kissed the globe, and from the place where her lips touched it, a stream of water trickled down. As it touched the feet of each statue, the marble softened to flesh and blood, and the breath came back to it until all of the Prince’s train were alive again; but as for the Wizard, the water could not pass the gold thread, so there he sits until this day—unless some busybody has untied the magic knot. Then the fairy flew away, singing a low, happy song.When the Prince and the Princess came to the Garden, there was a wedding which lasted a month, and then they rode off toward the west.After they had gone, the Queen whispered to the Lady-in-waiting,“You see what careful parents can do! The first fairy godmother was quite wrong about the Prince of the Black Heart!”But at that very moment, the Prince had bared his arm to pluck a water-flower, as they rested beside the way.“What is that black mark on your arm?” asked the Princess.“Oh,” said the Prince, laughing, “that is just a scar I have borne from birth. It is in the shape of a heart, and so, for a jest, my people call me the Prince of the Black Heart.”“Black Heart, indeed!” cried the Little Princess, angrily.And that is the end of the story, for if you have no fear in your heart, black magic is no such great thing after all.But if any old fogy should wag his gray beard and say there is not a word of truth in it, you may be very sure that he came to fairyland at the narrow place, and never saw it at all. So you may just smile at him, for there is one thing, at least, that you know more about than he does!MOPSA THE FAIRYRETOLD FROM JEAN INGELOW“For he that hath his own worldHath many worlds more.”A boy, whom I knew very well, was once going through a meadow which was full of buttercups. He sat down by an old hawthorn hedge which was covered with blossoms, and took out a slice of plum-cake for his lunch. While the boy was eating, he observed that this hedge was very high and thick, and that there was a great hollow in the trunk of the old thorn-tree, and he heard a twittering as if there was a nest somewhere inside. So he thrust his head in, twisted himself around, and looked up. After getting used to the dim light in the hollow of the tree, he saw, a good way above his head, a curious nest. It was about three times as large as a goldfinch’s. Just then he thought he heard some little voices cry, “Jack, Jack!”“I must get near,” said the boy. So he began to wriggle and twist himself up, and just as he reached the top three heads which had been peeking over the edge of the nest suddenly popped down again.“Those heads had no beaks, and the things have no feathers,” said Jack, as he stood on tip-toe and poked in one of his fingers.When he snatched one of them out of the nest, it gave a loud squeak, and Jack was so frightened that he lost his footing, dropped it, and slipped down himself. Luckily, he was not hurt, nor the “thing” either. It was creeping about like an old baby, and had on a little frock and pinafore.THE FAIRY BABY’S LUNCH“It’s a fairy!” exclaimed Jack, “and this must be a fairies’ nest.”The young Fairy climbed up the side of the hollow and scrambled again into her nest, and Jack followed. Upon which all the nestlings popped up their heads, and showing their pretty white teeth pointed at the slice of cake.“It’s a small piece, and I may not have anything more to eat for a long time,” said Jack; “but your mouths are very small, so you shall each have a piece.”The young fairies were a long time munching the cake, and before they had finished it began to be rather dark, because a thunder-storm was coming up. The wind rose and made the old tree rock, and creak, and tremble. The little Fairies were so frightened that they got out of the nest and crept into Jack’s pockets.After the storm was over, Jack pulled one of the Fairies out of his waistcoat pocket and said to her: “It is time for supper. Where are we going to get it?” Then in the light of the moon he looked at her very attentively. “When I first saw you in the nest,” said he, “you had a pinafore on, and now you have a smart little apron with lace around it.”“That is because I am much older now,” said the Fairy. “We never take such a long time to grow up as you do. Put me into your pocket again, and whistle as loudly as you can.”THE GREAT WHITE BIRDSo Jack whistled loudly; and suddenly without hearing anything, he felt something take hold of his legs and give him a jerk which hoisted him on to its back, where he sat astride. It was a large white bird, and presently he found that they were rising up through the trees and out into the moonlight, with Jack on the bird’s back and all the fairies in his pockets.“And so we are going to Fairy-land,” exclaimed Jack; “how delightful!”As the evening grew dark the great white bird began to light up. She did it in this way. First, one of her eyes began to beam with a beautiful green light, and then when it was as bright as a lamp, the other eye began to shine, and the light of that eye was red. So they sailed through the darkness, Jack reminding the bird once in a while that he was very hungry.TO THE FAIR CITYThey were sailing over the ocean by this time, and there were boats and vessels. The great white bird hovered among them, making choice of one to take Jack and the Fairies up the wonderful river which leads to Fairy-land. Finally she set him down in a beautiful little open boat, with a great carved figure-head to it. The bird said: “Lie down in the bottom of the boat and go to sleep. You will dream that you have some roast fowl, some new potatoes, and an apple pie. Mind you, don’t eat too much in your dream, or you will be sorry for it when you wake.” Jack put his arms around the neck of the bird andhugged her; then she spread her wings and sailed slowly away. Then Jack fell asleep in the rocking boat, and dreamed as the bird promised, and when he woke up he was not hungry any more!it was a large white birdfrom a drawing by harry rountreeMorning came, and the Fairies were still asleep in his pocket. The boat moved on through the night, and now he found himself in the outlet of the wonderful river, the shores of which were guarded, not by real soldiers, but by rose-colored flamingoes.Now that he had fairies in his pockets, he could understand bird talk, and so he heard many wise words from the birds of that country which guided him on his way.It was not long before he came to the city that was the capital. It was a fair day, and the city square was full of white canopies, lined with splendid flutings of pink. It was impossible to be sure whether they were real tents, or gigantic mushrooms. Each one of the people who sold in these tents had a little high cap on his head shaped just like a bee-hive made of straw. In fact, Jack soon saw bees flying in and out, and it was evident that these folks had their honey made on the premises.THE LITTLE OLD FAIRY WOMANAfter Jack had visited the fairy city, he went back to the river. The water was so delightfully clear that he thought he would have a swim, so he took off his clothes and folded them very carefully so as not to hurt the Fairies, and laid them beside a hay-cock. When he came out he saw a little old woman with spectacles on, knitting beside his clothes. She smiled upon him pleasantly.“I will give you some breakfast out of my basket,” said she. So she took out a saucerful of honey, a roll of bread, and a cup of milk.“Thank you,” said Jack, “but I am not a beggar boy, so I can buy this breakfast. You look very poor.”It seems that the old woman was very poor; in fact, she was a slave, and on that very day they were about to sell her in the slave market in the city square. So Jack went along into the city again with her, and when she was put up for sale, he bought her from her cruel master, although it took a half-crown, the biggest piece of money that he had. His next largest piece he gave to the little woman, and told her to buy some clothes with it. She came back to the boat where Jack was, with her hands empty, but her face full of satisfaction.THE WONDERFUL PURPLE ROBE“Why, you have not bought any new clothes,” said Jack.“I have bought what I wanted,” said the Fairy Woman; and she took out of her pocket a little tiny piece of purple ribbon, with a gold-colored satin edge, and a very small tortoise-shell comb.She took the piece of ribbon and pulled and pulled it until it was as large as a handkerchief. Then she pulled and pulled it again, and the silk stretched until it nearly filled the boat. Next, the little old woman pulled off her ragged gown and put on the silk. It was now a most beautiful robe of purple, with a gold border, and it just fitted her. Then she took out the little tortoise-shell comb, pulled off her cap and threw it into the river. As she combed her hair, it grew much longer and thicker, until it fell in waves all about her body. It all turned gold color, and she was so covered with it that you could not see one bit of her except her eyes, which peeped out and were very bright.Then she began to gather up her lovely locks and said: “Master, look at me now!” So she threw back the hair from her face, and it was a beautiful young face, and she looked so happy that Jack was glad he had bought her with his half-crown.THE MAGIC KISSThen instantly the little Fairies awoke and sprang out of Jack’s pockets. One of them had a green velvet cap and sword; the second had a white spangled robe, and lovely rubies and emeralds around her neck; but the third one, who sat down on Jack’s knee, had a white frock and a blue sash, was very little, and she had a face just like that of a sweet little child.“How comes it that you are not like the others?” asked Jack. She answered: “It is because you kissed me.”“Somehow,” Jack explained to the former Fairy Slave, “she was my favorite.”“Then you will have to let her sit on your knee, master, sometimes,” she explained; “and you must take special care of her, for she cannot now take the same care of herself that others can. The love of a mortal works changes indeed to the life of a fairy.”“I don’t want to have a slave,” said Jack to the little lady. “Can’t you find some way to be wholly free again?”“Yes, master, I can be free if you can think of anything that you really like better than the half-crown that you paid for me.”“I would like going up this river to Fairy-land much better,” said Jack. So suddenly theriver became full of thousands of little people coming down the stream in rafts. They had come to take the Fairy Woman away with them.THE FAIRY WOMAN’S PARTING GIFT“What gift may I give you before I go?” she asked.“I should like,” said Jack, “to have a little tiny bit of that purple gown of yours with the gold border.”So she told Jack to lend her his knife, and with it she cut off a very small piece of the skirt of her robe and gave it to him. “Now I advise you,” she said, “never to stretch this unless you want to make something particular out of it.”“Will ye step aboard, my dearest?” sang the Fairy Woman as she sailed away.“Will ye step aboard, my dearest? for the high seas lie before us.So I sailed adown the river in those days without alloy.We are launched! But when, I wonder, shall a sweeter sound float o’er usThan yon ‘pull’e haul’e, pull’e haul’e, yoy! heave, hoy!’”All Jack had to do to make his magic boat go wherever he wished was to give it a command, so he ordered it to float up the river to Fairy-land.It was not long before the towers of the castle of the Queen of Fairy-land could be seen in the distance; and soon the castle, with its beautiful gardens, was close beside them along the river bank. But Jack did not dare to enter the castle until he was sure of a shelter of his own. So he pulled and pulled at the piece of purple silk, until it became large enough to make a splendid canopy like a tent. It roofed in all the after-part of the boat, so now he had a delightful little home of his own, and there was no fear of its being blown away, for no wind ever blows in Fairy-land.TO THE PALACEWhen the Fairy Woman went back to her people she took all of the fairy children with her, and left only Mopsa with Jack. Now, Jack carefully washed her face, and put a beautiful clean white frock on her.“We will go into the Queen’s palace together,” said he.The Queen greeted Mopsa and Jack very kindly; and every day they went up to the palace, and every night back again to the tent on the little boat.One song which they liked to sing made Jack rather uncomfortable:“And all the knights shall woo again,And all the doves shall coo again,And all the dreams come true again,And Jack shall go home.”Every evening Jack noticed that Mopsa was a little taller, and had grown-up to a higher button on his coat. She looked much wiser, too. “You must learn to read,” said he; and as she made no objection, he arranged daisies and buttercups into the forms of the letters, and she learned nearly all of them in one evening, while crowds of the fairies from the castle looked on, hanging from the boughs and shouting out the names of the letters as Mopsa said them. They were very polite to Jack, for they gathered up all the flowers for him, and emptied them from their little caps at his feet as fast as he wanted them.MOPSA IS TO BE A QUEENNow it seems that as soon as Mopsa was full grown she was destined to be Queen herself. One day, just before dusk, she said to Jack: “Jack, will you give me your little purse that has the silver fourpence in it?”Now this purse was lined with a nice piece of pale green silk; and when Jack gave it to her, she pulled the silk out and stretched it, just as the fairy woman had done, and it became a most lovely cloak. Then she twisted up her long hair into a coil, fastened it around her head, and called to the fireflies, which were beginning to glitter on the trees; and they came and alighted in a row upon the coil, and turned into diamonds directly! So now Mopsa had a crown and a robe. She was so beautiful that Jack thought he would never be tired of looking at her.The next morning Jack found that his fairy boat had floated away. He called to it, but it would not return. “Never mind,” said Mopsa, “my country is still waiting for me beyond the purple mountains. I shall never be happy unless we go there, and we can go together on foot.”So they walked toward the purple mountains hand-in-hand. When night came, and they were too tired to walk any further, the shooting stars began to appear in all directions; and at Mopsa’s command they brought a little cushion, and Jack and Mopsa sat upon it, and the stars carried the two over the paths of the mountains and half-way down the other side. When they awoke the nextmorning, there spread before them the loveliest garden one ever saw, and among the trees and woods was a most beautiful castle.queen mopsa flies to her kingdomfrom a drawing by florence mary anderson“Oh, Jack!” said Mopsa, “I am sure that castle is the place I am to live in. I shall soon be Queen and there I shall reign.”“And I shall be King there,” said Jack. “Shall I?”“Yes, if you can,” answered Mopsa; “and in Fairy-land, of course, whatever you can do, you may do.”It was a long way to the castle; and at last Jack and Mopsa were so tired that they sat down, and Mopsa began to cry.“Remember,” said Jack, “that you are nearly a Queen, and you can never reach your castle by sitting still.”All of a sudden they heard the sweetest sound in the world; it was the castle clock, and it was striking twelve at noon. As it finished striking, they came out at the farther edge of a great bed of reeds, and there was the castle straight before them.Inside the castle lived a lovely lady, and when she saw Mopsa she took her to her arms. “Who are you?” asked the lovely lady.“I am a Queen,” said Mopsa.“Yes, my sweet Queen,” answered the lady, “I know you are.”“Do you promise that you will be kind to me until I grow up?” inquired Mopsa. “Will you love me and teach me how to reign? I am only ten years old, and the throne is too big for me to sit upon, but I am Queen.”“Yes,” answered the lady, “and I will love you just as if I were your mother.”QUEEN MOPSAWhen Mopsa ran through the castle door it shut suddenly behind her, and Jack was left behind. After great difficulty he succeeded in climbing the walls, and crept through a window; and when he got inside he saw a very wonderful sight. There was Mopsa in the great audience-room, dressed superbly in a white satin gown, with a long train of crimson velvet, which was glittering with diamonds. It reached almost from one end of the gallery to the other, and had hundreds of fairies to hold it to keep it in its place; but in her hair were no jewels, only a little crown made of daisies, and on her shoulders her robe was fastened with a little golden image of a boat. These things were to show the land she had come from and the vessel she had come in. At one side of Mopsa stood the lovely lady; and on the other, to Jack’s amazement, a little boy of his own size, who looked exactly like himself.“I will go in,” said Jack. “There is nothing to prevent me.” He set his foot on the step, and while he hesitated Mopsa came out to meet him. He looked at her earnestly, because her lovely eyes were not looking at him, but far away toward the west.“Jack lives there,” she said, as if speaking to herself. “He will play there again, in his father’s garden.”Then she brought her eyes down slowly from the rose-flush in the cloud and looked at him and said, “Jack.”“Yes,” said Jack, “here I am. What is it that you wish to say?”She answered, “I am come to give you back your kiss.”GOOD-BY TO MOPSASo she stooped forward as she stood on her step and kissed him, and her tears fell on his cheek.“Farewell,” she said; and she turned and went up the steps into the great hall. Jack gazed at her as she entered, and would fain have followed, but could not stir, the great doors closed together again, and he was left outside. Then he knew, without having been told, that he should never enter them any more.Suddenly he perceived that reeds were growing up between him and the great doors, and he walked on among them toward the west. Then, as the rosy sky turned gold color, all on a sudden he came to the edge of the reed-bed and walked out upon a rising ground. Jack ran up it, looking for the castle. At last he saw it, lying so far, so very far off that all its clear outlines were lost; and very soon, as it grew dark, they seemed to mingle with the shapes of the hill and the forest.He looked up into the rosy sky, and held out his arms, and called: “Come! Oh, come!” In a minute or two he saw a little black mark overhead, a small speck, that grew larger and larger. In another instant he saw a red light and a green light; then he heard the winnowing noise of a bird’s great wings, and suddenly the great white bird alighted at his feet and said: “Here I am.”“I wish to go home,” said Jack.“That is well,” answered the bird.As Jack flew through the darkness he thought once again of the little boy who looked just like himself, who lived in the far castle; and he did not feel sure whether he himself was upon the back of the bird or within the castle with QueenMopsa. Then he fell asleep, and did not dream at all, nor know anything more until the great bird woke him.“Wake up, now, Jack,” she said, “we are at home.”As they flew toward the earth Jack saw the church, and the wood, and his father’s house, which seemed to be starting up to meet him. In two seconds he stepped down into the deep grass of his father’s meadow.“Good-by,” said the great bird. “Make haste and run in, for the dews are falling.” And before he could ask her one question, or even thank her, she made a wide sweep over the grass, beat her magnificent wings and soared away.JACK COMES HOMEJack opened the little gate that led into the garden, stole through the shrubbery and came up to the drawing-room window and peeped in. His father and mother were sitting there, his mother sat with her back to the open window, but a candle was burning, and she was reading aloud about a Shepherd Lady and a Lord.At last his father noticed him, and beckoned him to come in. So Jack did, and got upon his father’s knee, and laid his head on his father’s waistcoat, and wondered what he would think if he should tell him about the fairies that had been in somebody else’s waistcoat pocket. He thought, besides, what a great thing a man is. He had never seen anything so large in Fairy-land, nor so important; so, on the whole, he was glad that he had come back and felt very happy.“I think,” said his father, “it must be time this man of ours was in bed.”So his mother kissed him good-night, and he went up into his own room and said his prayers. He got into his little white bed and comfortably fell asleep.THE LINE OF GOLDEN LIGHT,OR THE LITTLE BLIND SISTER[I]BY ELIZABETH HARRISONOnce upon a time there lived a child whose name was Avilla; she was sweet and loving, and fair to look upon, with everything in the world to make her happy—but she had a little blind sister, and Avilla could not be perfectly happy as long as her sister’s eyes were closed so that she could not see God’s beautiful world, nor enjoy His bright sunshine. Little Avilla kept wondering if there was not something that she could do which would open this blind sister’s eyes.At last, one day, she heard of an old, old woman, nobody knew how old, who had lived for hundreds of years in a dark cave, not many miles away. This queer, old woman knew a secret enchantment, by means of which the blind could receive their sight. The child Avilla asked her parents’ permission to make a journey to the cave, in order that she might try to persuade the old woman to tell her this secret. “Then,” exclaimed she, joyfully, “my dear sister need sit no longer in darkness.” Her parents gave a somewhat unwilling consent, as they heard many strange and wicked stories about the old woman. At last, however, one fine spring morning, Avilla started on her journey. She had a long distance to walk, but the happy thoughts in her heart made the time pass quickly, and the soft, cool breeze seemed to be whispering a song to her all the way.When she came to the mouth of the cave, it looked so dark and forbidding that she almost feared to enter it, but the thought of her little blind sister gave her courage, and she walked in. At first she could see nothing, for all the sunshine was shut out by the frowning rocks that guarded the entrance. Soon, however, she discerned the old woman sitting on a stone chair, spinning a pile of flax into a fine, fine thread. She seemed bent nearly double with age, and her face wore a look of worry and care, which made her appear older.The child Avilla came close to her side, and thought, she is so aged that she must be hard of hearing. The old woman did not turn her head, nor stop her spinning. Avilla waited a moment, and then took fresh courage, and said, “I have come to ask you if you will tell me how I can cure my blind sister?” The strange creature turned and stared at her as if she were very much surprised; she then spoke in a deep, hollow voice, so hollow that it sounded as if she had not spoken for a very long time. “Oh,” said she with a sneer, “I can tell you well enough, but you’ll not do it. People who can see, trouble themselves very little about those who are blind!” This last was said with a sigh, and then she scowled atAvilla until the child’s heart began to beat very fast. But the thought of her little blind sister made her brave again, and she cried out, “Oh please tell me. I will do anything to help my dear sister!” The old woman looked long and earnestly at her this time. She then stooped down and searched in the heap of the fine-spun thread which lay at her side until she found the end of it. This she held out to the child, saying, “Take this and carry it all around the world, and when you have done that, come to me and I will show you how your blind sister may be cured.” Little Avilla thanked her and eagerly seized the tiny thread, and wrapping it carefully around her hand that she might not lose it, turned and hastened out of the close, damp cave.“avilla ran forward and cried:‘now give sight to my sister’”She had not traveled far before she looked back to be sure the thread had not broken, it was so thin. Imagine her surprise to see that instead of its being a gray thread of spun flax, it was a thread of golden light, that glittered and shone in the sunlight, as if it were made of the most precious stuff on earth. She felt sure now that it must be a magic thread, and that it somehow would help her to cure her blind sister. So she hastened on, glad and happy.Soon, however, she approached a dark, dense forest. No ray of sunlight seemed ever to have fallen on the trunks of its trees. In the distance she thought she could hear the growl of bears and the roar of lions. Her heart almost stopped beating. “Oh, I can never go through that gloomy forest,” said she to herself, and her eyes filled with tears. She turned to retrace her steps, when the soft breeze which still accompanied her whispered: “Look at the thread you have been carrying! Look at the golden thread!” She looked back, and the bright, tiny line of light seemed to be actually smiling at her, as it stretched across the soft greensward, far into the distance, and, strange to say, each tiny blade of grass which it had touched, had blossomed into a flower. So, as the little girl looked back, she saw a flowery path with a glittering line of golden light running through it. “How beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I did not notice the flowers as I came along, but the enchanted thread will make the next traveler see them.”This thought filled her with such joy that she pushed forward into the dark woods. Sometimes she knocked her head against a tree which stood in her way; sometimes she almost feared she was lost, but every now and then she would look back and the sight of the tiny thread of golden light always renewed her courage. Once in a while she felt quite sure that she could see the nose of some wild beast poking out in front of her, but when she came nearer it proved to be the joint in a tree trunk, or some strange fungus which had grown on a low branch. Then she would laugh at her own fear and go on. One of the wonderful things about the mysterious little thread which she carried in her hand was, that it seemed to open a path behind it, so that one could easily follow in her footsteps without stumbling over fallen trees, or bumping against living ones. Every now and then a gray squirrel would frisk by her in a friendly fashion, as if to assure her that she was not alone, even in the twilight of the dark woods. By and by she came to the part of the forest where the trees were less dense, and soon she was out in the glad sunshine again.But now a new difficulty faced her. As far as she could see stretched a low, swampy marsh of wet land. The mud and slime did not look very inviting, but the thought of her little blind sister came to her again, and she bravely plunged into the mire. The dirty, dripping mud clung to her dress and made her feet so heavy that she grew weary lifting them out of it. Sometimes she seemed to be stuck fast, and it was only with a great effort that she could pull out, first one foot, and then the other. A lively green frog hopped along beside her, and seemed to say, in his funny, croaking voice, “Never mind the mud, you’ll soon be through it.” When she had at last reached the end of the slippery, sticky marsh, and stood once more on firm ground, she looked back at the tiny thread of golden light which trailed along after her. What do you think had happened? Wherever the mysterious and beautiful thread had touched the mud, the water had dried up, and the earth had become firm and hard, so that any other person who might wish to cross the swampy place could walk on firm ground. This made the child Avilla so happy that she began to sing softly to herself.Soon, however, her singing ceased. As the day advanced, the air grew hotter and hotter. The trees had long ago disappeared, and now the grass became parched and dry, until at last she found herself in the midst of a dreary desert. For miles and miles the scorching sand stretched on every side. She could not even find a friendly rock in whose shadow she might rest for a time. The blazing sun hurt her eyes and made her head ache, and the hot sand burned her feet. Still she toiled on, cheered by a swarm of yellow butterflies that fluttered just ahead of her. At last the end of the desert was reached, just as the sun disappeared behind a crimson cloud. Dusty and weary, the child Avilla was about to throwherself down on the ground to rest. As she did so, her eyes turned to look once more at the golden thread which had trailed behind her all day on the hot sand. Lo, and behold! What did she see? Tall shade trees had sprung up along the path she had traveled, and each tiny grain of sand that the wonderful thread had touched was now changed into a diamond, or ruby, or emerald, or some other precious stone. On one side the pathway across the desert shone and glittered, while on the other the graceful trees cast a cool and refreshing shade.Little Avilla stood amazed as she looked at the beautiful trees and the sparkling gems. All feeling of weariness was gone. The air now seemed mild and refreshing, and she thought that she could hear in the distance some birds singing their evening songs. One by one the bright stars came out in the quiet sky above her head, as if to keep guard while she slept through the night.The next morning she started forward on her long journey round the world. She traveled quite pleasantly for a while, thinking of how cool and shady the desert path would now be for any one who might have to travel it, and of the precious jewels she had left for some one else to gather up. She could not stop for them herself, she was too anxious to press forward and finish her task, in order that her little blind sister might the sooner see.After a time she came to some rough rocks tumbled about in great confusion, as if angry giants had hurled them at each other. Soon the path grew steeper and steeper, and the rocks sharper and sharper, until they cut her feet. Before her she could see nothing but more rocks until they piled themselves into a great mountain, which frowned down upon her, as much as to say, “How dare you attempt to climb to my summit?” The brave child hesitated. Just then two strong eagles with outspread wings rose from their nest of sticks on the side of a steep cliff near by, and soared majestically and slowly aloft. As they passed far above her head they uttered a loud cry which seemed to say, “Be brave and strong and you shall meet us at the mountain-top.”Sometimes the ragged edges of the rocks tore her dress, and sometimes they caught the tiny golden thread, and tangled it so that she had to turn back and loosen it from their hold. The road was very steep and she was compelled to sit down every few minutes and get her breath. Still she climbed on, keeping the soaring eagles always in sight. As she neared the top, she turned and looked back at the enchanted thread of golden light which she had carried through all the long, strange journey. Another marvelous thing had happened! The rugged path of sharp, broken rocks had changed into broad and beautiful white marble steps, over which trailed the shining thread of light. She knew that she had made a pathway up this difficult mountain and her heart rejoiced.She turned again to proceed on her journey, when, only a short distance in front of her, she saw the dark cave in which lived the strange old woman who had bidden her carry the line of light around the world. She hastened forward, and on entering the cave, she saw the old creature, almost bent double, still spinning the mysterious thread. Avilla ran forward and cried out, “I have done all you told me to do, now give sight to my sister.” The old woman sprang to her feet, seized the thread of golden light and exclaimed, “At last! at last! I am freed! The spell has now been broken.”Then came so strange and wonderful a change that Avilla could hardly believe her own eyes. Instead of the ugly, cross-looking old crone, there stood a beautiful princess, with long golden hair, and tender blue eyes, her face radiant with joy. Her story was soon told. Hundreds of years ago she had been changed into the bent old woman, and shut up in the dark cave on the mountain-side, because she, a daughter of the King, had been selfish and idle, thinking only of herself, and her punishment had been that she must remain thus disguised and separated from all companions and friends until she could find someone who would be generous and brave enough to take the long, dangerous journey around the world for the sake of others. Her mother had been a fairy princess and had taught her many things which we mortals have yet to learn. She showed the child Avilla how, by dipping the golden thread into a spring of ordinary water, she could change the water into golden water, which glittered and sparkled like liquid sunshine. Filling a pitcher with this they hastened together to where the little blind sister sat in darkness waiting for some one to come and lead her home. The beautiful princess told Avilla to dip her hands into the bowl of enchanted water, and then press them upon the closed eyes of her sister. They opened! And the little blind girl could see!After that the fairy princess came and lived with little Avilla and her sister, and taught them how to do many wonderful things, of which I have not time to tell you to-day.
A Russian Tale
An old man and an old woman lived in an old house on the edge of the forest. The old man worked in the field all day and the woman spun flax. But for all of their hard work they were very poor—never one penny could they save. One day the old man said to the old woman:
“I would like to give you something to please you, but I have nothing to give.”
“Never mind that,” said the old woman, “make me a straw ox.”
“A straw ox!” cried the old man. “What will you do with that?”
“Never mind that,” said the old woman.
So the old man made a straw ox.
“Smear it all over with tar,” said the old woman.
“Why should I smear it with tar?” asked the old man.
“Never mind that,” said the old woman.
So the old man smeared the straw ox all over with tar.
The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather flax she took the straw ox with her and left it standing alone near the edge of the forest.
A bear came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”
“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”
replied the ox.
“Oh,” said the bear. “I need some straw to mend my coat, and the tar will keep it in place. Give me some straw and some tar.”
“Help yourself,” said the ox.
So the bear began to tear at the ox, and his great paws stuck fast, and he pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away.
Then the ox dragged the bear to the old house on the edge of the forest.
When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox with the bear stuck fast to him.
“Husband, husband! Come here at once,” she cried. “The ox has brought home a bear; what shall we do?”
So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the bear off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.
The next morning when the old woman went into the field to gather flax she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left him standing alone near the edge of the forest.
A wolf came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”
“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”
replied the ox.
“Oh,” said the wolf, “I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs cannot catch me.”
“Help yourself,” said the ox.
The wolf put up his paws to take the tar and his paws stuck fast. He pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck and he could not get away.
Then the ox dragged the wolf to the old house on the edge of the forest.
When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox in the yard with the wolf stuck fast to him.
“then came the fox, with manygeese running before him”
“Husband, husband! Come here at once!” shecried. “The ox has brought home a wolf; what shall we do?”
So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the wolf off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.
The next morning when the old woman went out into the field to gather flax she again took the straw ox with her, and again she left it standing alone near the edge of the forest.
A fox came out of the woods, and said to the ox: “Who are you?”
“I am an ox all smeared with tar,And filled with straw, as oxen are,”
replied the ox.
“Oh,” said the fox, “I need some tar to smear my coat so that the dogs cannot catch me.”
“Help yourself,” said the ox.
The fox put up his paws to take the tar, and his paws stuck fast. He pulled and he tugged, and he tugged and he pulled, and the more he pulled and tugged, the faster he stuck, and he could not get away.
Then the ox dragged the fox to the old house on the edge of the forest.
When the old woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the straw ox had gone she ran home as fast as she could. There stood the ox with the fox stuck fast to him.
“Husband, husband! Come here at once!” she cried. “The ox has brought home a fox; what shall we do?”
So the old man came as fast as he could, pulled the fox off the ox, tied him up, and threw him into the cellar.
The next morning when the woman came back with her apron full of flax and saw that the ox had gone and she had run home as fast as she could, there stood the ox with a rabbit stuck fast to him.
And the old man threw the rabbit into the cellar.
The next morning the old man said:
“Now we will see what will come of all of this.”
So he took his knife and sat down by the cellar door and began to make the knife sharp and bright.
“What are you doing, old man?” asked the bear.
“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat and make a nice warm jacket for the old woman to keep her warm this winter.”
“Oh,” said the bear. “Do not cut up my coat. Let me go, and I will bring you some nice, sweet honey to eat.”
“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”
So the old man let the bear go.
Then he sat down again and began to make his knife sharp and bright.
“What are you doing, old man?” asked the wolf.
“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat to make me a fine fur cap,” said the old man.
“Oh,” said the wolf. “Do not cut up my coat. Let me go and I will bring you some sheep.”
“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”
So the old man let the wolf go.
Then he sat down again with his knife in his hand.
“What are you doing, old man?” asked the fox.
“I am making my knife sharp and bright so as to cut up your coat to make me a nice fur collar.”
“Oh,” said the fox, “do not cut up my coat. Let me go and I will bring you some geese.”
“Very well,” said the old man, “see to it that you do.”
And in the same way he let the rabbit loose, who said that he would bring some cabbage and some turnips and some carrots.
The next morning early the old woman woke up and said:
“Some one is knocking at the door.”
So the old man got up and went to the door and opened it.
“See,” said the bear, “I have brought you a jar full of honey.”
“Very well,” said the old man, and he gave the jar to the old woman who put it on the shelf.
Then came the wolf driving a flock of sheep into the yard.
“See,” said the wolf, “I have brought you a flock of sheep.”
“Very well,” said the old man, and he drove the sheep into the pasture.
Then came the fox, with many geese running before him, and the old man drove them into the pen; and then came the rabbit with cabbages and turnips and carrots and other good things, and the old woman took them and put them into the pot and cooked them.
And the old man said to the old woman, “Now we have sheep in the pasture and many geese in the pen, and we are rich, and I can give you something to please you.”
The little princess of thefearless heart
BY B. J. DASKAM
Once upon a time the great, yellow stork carried a baby Princess to the Queen of that country which lies next to fairy-land.
All throughout the kingdom the bells rang, the people shouted, and the King declared a holiday for a whole year. But the Queen was very anxious, for she knew that the fairies are a queer lot, and their borders were very close indeed.
“We must be very careful to slight none of them at the christening,” she said, “for goodness knows what they might do, if we did!”
So the wise-men drew up the lists, and when the day for the christening arrived, the fairies were all there, and everything went as smoothly as a frosted cake.
But the Queen said to the Lady-in-waiting:
“The first fairy godmother gave her nothing but a kiss! I don’t call that much of a gift!”
“’Sh!” whispered the Lady-in-waiting. “The fairies hear everything!”
And indeed, the fairy heard her well enough, and very angry she was about it, too. For she was so old that she knew all about it, from beginning to end, and she was sure that the Wizard with Three Dragons was sitting in the Black Forest, watching the whole matter in his crystal globe. So she had whispered her gift—which was nothing more nor less than a Fearless Heart—into the ear of the Little Princess. But the Queen thought she had only kissed her.
So, when the clock was on the hour of four (which, as every one knows, is the end of christenings and fairy gifts) the first godmother went up to the golden cradle.
“Since my first gift was not satisfactory to every one,” she said, angrily, “I will give the Little Princess another. And that is, that when the time comes she shall marry the Prince of the Black Heart!”
Then the clock struck four, while the Queen wept on the bosom of the Lady-in-waiting.
And that was the end of the christening.
Then the King called the wise-men together, and for forty days and nights they read the books and studied the stars.
In the end, they laid out a Garden, with a wall so high that the sun could not shine over it until noon, and so broad that it was a day’s journey for a swift horse to cross it. One tiny door there was: but the first gate was of iron, and five-and-twenty men-at-arms stood before it, day and night, with drawn swords; the second gate was of beaten copper, and before that were fifty archers, with arrows on the string; the third gate was of triple brass, and before it a hundred knights, in full armor, rode without ceasing.
Into the Garden went the Little Princess, and the Queen, and all her ladies; but no man might pass the gates, save the King himself. And there the Princess dwelt until her seventeenth birthday, without seeing any more of the world than the inside of the wall.
Now it happened that, some time before, a young Prince had ridden out of the west and set about his travels. For the wise-man on the hill had come to him and said:
“In the kingdom which lies next to fairyland dwells a Little Princess who has a Fearless Heart. There is a wall which will not be easy to climb, but the Princess is more beautiful than anything else in the world!”
And that was enough for the Prince, so he girded on his sword, and set out, singing as hewent for pure lightness of heart.
But it is not so easy to find fairyland as it is to eat a ripe apple, and the Prince could have told you that, before he was through. For in some places it is so broad that it takes in the whole world, and in others so narrow that a flea could cross it in two jumps. So that some people never leave it all their lives long, but others cross at a single step, and never see it at all.
Finally, the Prince came to the place where all roads meet, and they were as much alike as the hairs on a dog’s back. But it was all one to him, so he rode straight ahead and lost himself in fairyland.
When the first fairy godmother saw him, she laughed to herself and flew away, straight over his head, to the wall around the Garden. But you may be sure that she did not trouble the guards at the triple gates: for, if one has wings, what is the use of stairs? So over the wall she flew to the room where the Little Princess lay sleeping.
You may readily believe that the Princess was astonished when she awoke to find the fairy beside her bed, but she was not in the least alarmed, for, you see, she did not know that there was anything in the world to be afraid of.
“My dear,” said the old lady, “I am your first fairy godmother.”
“How do you do, Godmother?” said the Princess, and she sat up in bed and courtesied. Which is a very difficult trick, indeed, and it is not every Princess who can do it.
Her godmother was so delighted that she leaned over and kissed her.
“That is the second time I have kissed you,” she said. “When I go, I will kiss you again, and you had better save the three of them, for they will be useful when you go out into the world. And, my dear, it is high time that you were going out.”
Then the Little Princess was overjoyed, but she only nodded her head wisely and said:
“I know, the world is as big as the whole Garden, and wider than the wall. But I can never go out, for the gates are always locked.”
“If you do not go now,” said the fairy, “you will have to go later, and that might not be so well. And you should not argue with me, for I am older than you will ever be, and your godmother, besides. Now kiss me, for I must be going.”
So she flew away, about her other affairs, for she was a very busy old lady indeed.
In the morning the Princess went to breakfast with the King and the Queen.
“Mother,” she said, “it is high time that I went out into the world!”
The Queen was so startled that she dropped her egg on the floor and the King was red as a beet with anger.
“Tut! Tut!” he shouted. “What nonsense is this?”
“My fairy godmother was here last night,” said the Princess, “and she told me all about it. I will go this morning, please, if I may.”
“Nonsense!” roared the King.
“You will do no such thing!” wailed the Queen.
“There could have been no one here,” said the King, “for the gates were all locked.”
“Who told you that you had a fairy godmother?” asked the Queen.
And there was an end of that.
But that night, after the Princess had said her prayers and crept into bed, she heard her godmother calling to her from the Garden, so she slipped on her cloak and stole out into the moonlight. There was no one to be seen, so she pattered along in her little bare feet until she came to the gate in the wall.
While she was hesitating whether or not to run back to her little white bed, the gates of triple brass opened as easily as if her godmother had oiled them, and the Little Princess passed through the copper gates, and the iron gate, and out into fairyland.
But if you ask me why she saw the guards at the gates no more than they saw her, I can only tell you that I do not know, and you will have to be satisfied with that.
As for the Princess, she was as happy as a duck in a puddle. As she danced along through the forests, the flowers broke from their stems to join her, the trees dropped golden fruit into her very hands, and the little brook which runs through fairyland left its course, and followed her, singing.
And all the while, her godmother was coming down behind her, close at hand, to see that she came to no harm; but the Princess did not know that.
At last she came to the place where the Prince from the west lay sleeping. He was dreaming that he had climbed the wall and had found the Princess, so that he smiled in his sleep and she knelt above him, wondering, for she had never seen a man before, save her father, the King, and the Prince was very fair. So she bent closer and closer, until her breath was on his cheek, and as he opened his eyes, she kissed him.
As for the Prince, he thought that he was still asleep, till he saw that she was many times more beautiful than in his dreams, and he knewthat he had found her at last.
the princess and the fairy
“You are more beautiful than anything else in the world,” he said, “and I love you better than my life!”
“And I love you with all my heart!” said the Little Princess.
“Will you marry me,” asked the Prince, “and live with me forever and ever?”
“That I will,” said the Princess, “and gladly, if my father, the King, and my mother, the Queen, will let me leave the Garden.”
And she told the Prince all about the wall with the triple gates.
The Prince saw that it would be no easy task to win the consent of the King and the Queen, so nothing would do but that he must travel back to the west and return with a proper retinue behind him.
So he bade the Princess good-by and rode bravely off toward the west.
The Princess went slowly back through fairyland, till she came to the wall, just as the sun was breaking in the east. As every one knows, White Magic is not of very much use in the daytime, outside of fairyland, and if you ask why this is not so at christenings, I will send you to Peter Knowall, who keeps the Big Red Book.
So the guards at the triple gates saw the Princess, and they raised such a hub-bub, that the King and the Queen rushed out to see what all the noise was about. You can easily believe that they were in a great way when they saw the Little Princess, who they thought was safe asleep in her bed.
They lost no time in bundling her through the gates, and then they fell to kissing her, and scolding her, and shaking her, and hugging her, all in the same breath.
But the Princess said, “I have been out into the world, and I am going to marry the Prince!”
Then perhaps there was not a great to-do about the Garden!
They bullied and coaxed and scolded and wept, but the Princess only said,
“I love him with all my heart and when the time comes I will go to him, if I have to beg my way from door to door!”
At that the King flew into a towering rage.
“Very well, Miss!” he shouted. “But when you go, you may stay forever! I will cut your name off the records, and any one who speaks it will be beheaded, if it is the High Lord Chancellor, himself!”
Then it was the turn of the Princess to weep, for she loved her parents dearly, but she could not promise to forget the Prince.
So matters went from pence to ha’pennies, as the saying goes, till finally the Princess could bear it no longer, so she found her cloak and stole down to the triple gates.
Everything went very much as it had before, save that there was no Prince asleep under the tree where she had first found him. Then the Princess would have turned back, but the little brook which followed at her heel had swollen out into a broad, deep river, and there was nothing to do but go ahead, till she came to a cottage among the trees, and before the door sat an old, old woman, spinning gold thread out of moonlight. And by that any one could have told that she was a fairy, but the Princess thought it was always done that way in the world.
“Oh, Mother,” she cried, “how shall I find my way out of the forest?”
But the old woman went on spinning, and the Princess thought that she had never seen anything fly so fast as the shuttle.
“Where were you wanting to go?” she asked.
“I am searching for the Prince from the west,” said the Princess sadly. “Can you tell me where to find him?”
The fairy shook her head and went on with her spinning, so fast that you could not see the shuttle at all.
But the Princess begged so prettily that finally she said,
“If I were looking for a Prince, I would follow my nose until I came to the Black Forest, and then I would ask the Wizard with Three Dragons, who knows all about it, and more, too! That is, unless I thought that I would be afraid in the Black Forest.”
“What is afraid?” asked the Little Princess. “I do not know that.”
And no more she did, so the fairy laughed, for she saw trouble coming for the Wizard. She stopped her wheel with a click, but for all her fast spinning, there was only enough gold thread to go around the second finger of the Princess’s left hand.
As for the Princess, she thanked the old lady very kindly, and set bravely off toward the Black Forest.
But the Wizard with Three Dragons only laughed as he gazed into his crystal globe, for in it he could see everything that was happening in any place in the world, and I do not need Jacob Wise-man to tell me that a globe like that is worth having!
Now, when the Prince had left the Princess in fairyland, he lost no time in riding back to the west. The old King, his father, was overjoyed when he heard of the Little Princess, and he gave the Prince a retinue that stretched for amile behind him.
the wizard with the three dragons,and his crystal globe
But when they came to the place where all roads meet, the Prince was greatly perplexed, for this time, you see, he knew where he wanted to go. In the end, he trusted to chance and rode ahead, but they had not gone far before they came to the castle of the Wizard with Three Dragons, in the middle of the Black Forest.
In the great hall sat the Wizard, himself, waiting for them, and he was as soft as butter.
Yes, yes, he knew the Princess well enough, but it was too late to go further that night. So the Prince and all his train had best come into the castle and wait till morning.
That was what the Wizard said, and the Prince was glad enough to listen to him, for he was beginning to fear that he would never find the Princess again. But hardly had the last bowman come within the doors than the Wizard blew upon his crystal globe, and muttered a spell.
At that, the Prince and his entire train were changed to solid stone, in the twinkling of an eye, and there they remained till, at the proper time, the Little Princess of the Fearless Heart came up the great stone steps of the castle.
The Wizard was sitting on his throne with his Dragons behind his shoulder, staring into his crystal globe as it spun in the air, hanging on nothing at all.
He never took his eyes away when the Princess came up to the throne, and she was far too polite to interrupt him when he was so busy. So for a long, long time she stood there waiting, and the Wizard chuckled to himself, for he thought that she was too frightened to speak. So he breathed upon his crystal globe and muttered a spell.
But of course, nothing happened, for the Little Princess had a Fearless Heart!
Then the Wizard grew black as night, for he saw that the matter was not so easy as plucking wild flowers, so he turned away from the crystal globe and stared at the Princess. His eyes burned like two hot coals, so that she drew her cloak closer about her, but you cannot hide your heart from a Wizard with Three Dragons, unless your cloak is woven of sunlight, and the Little Black Dwarf has the only one of those in the whole world, stowed away in an old chest in the garret.
So the Wizard saw at once that the Little Princess had a Fearless Heart, and his voice was soft as rain-water.
“Oh, Little Princess,” he said. “What is it that you want of me in the Black Forest?”
“I am looking for the Prince from the west,” said the Princess, eagerly. “Can you tell me where to find him?”
“Yes,” said the Wizard. “I can tell you that, and perhaps some other things, besides. But what will you give me for my trouble?”
Then the Little Princess hung her head, for she had nothing about her that was worth so much as a bone button, and the Wizard knew that as well as you and I. So he said, very softly, “Will you give me your Fearless Heart?”
And there was the whole matter in a nutshell!
But the Princess stamped her foot on the stone floor. “Of course I will not give you my heart,” she said. “And if you will not tell me for kindness, I will be going on, for I have nothing with which to pay you!”
“Not so fast!” cried the Wizard—for he was as wise as a rat in a library—“If you will not give me your heart, just let me have a kiss and I will call it a bargain!”
Then the Princess remembered her godmother’s three kisses, and she thought that this was the place for them, if they were ever to be used at all, although she liked the thought of kissing the Wizard about as much as she liked sour wine. She crept up to the throne, and, with her eyes tight closed, gave the Wizard the first of the three kisses.
At that the whole Black Forest shook with the force of the Magic, hissing through the trees, and the Wizard, with his Three Dragons turned into solid stone!
The crystal globe spun around in the air, humming like a hive full of bees and sank slowly to the foot of the throne.
Hardly had it touched the ground than the whole castle rent and split into a thousand pieces, and I would not like to have been there, unless I had a bit of gold thread spun out of moonlight around my finger, for the huge rocks were falling as thick as peas in a pan!
But the Princess hardly noticed the rocks at all, for, as the sun rose over the Black Forest, she recognized the marble figure of the Prince, standing among the ruins. You may be sure that she was heartbroken as she went up to him, weeping very bitterly and calling and calling on his name. Then in her sorrow she reached up and kissed the cold stone face with the second magic kiss.
Then suddenly she felt the marble grow soft and warm beneath her touch, and the Prince came back to life and took her in his arms.
When he recognized the silent figures of his gay train, he was sad as death, and the Princess wept with him. But suddenly they saw an old, old woman picking her way among the fallen stones.
“Oh,” said the Little Princess, “that is the oldwoman whom I met in the forest, spinning!”
At that the fairy laughed so hard that her hair tumbled down about her feet, and it turned from gray to silver, and silver to gold. The years fell from her like a cloak, until she was more beautiful than the thought of man could conceive!
“Ah! I know you now!” cried the Little Princess. “You are my first fairy godmother!”
And that was the way of it, so she kissed them both for pure joy. But when they asked her as to which of the stone figures should have the third magic kiss, she shook her head,
“None of them at all!” she said. “But give me back that bit of gold thread, for you will have no further use for it.”
Then she stretched the thread between her two hands until it was so fine that you could not see it at all, and laid it on the ground around the Wizard and his Dragons, and tied a magic knot, just behind the crystal globe.
“Now give the third kiss to the crystal globe,” she said, “and see what will happen!”
So the Little Princess kissed the globe, and from the place where her lips touched it, a stream of water trickled down. As it touched the feet of each statue, the marble softened to flesh and blood, and the breath came back to it until all of the Prince’s train were alive again; but as for the Wizard, the water could not pass the gold thread, so there he sits until this day—unless some busybody has untied the magic knot. Then the fairy flew away, singing a low, happy song.
When the Prince and the Princess came to the Garden, there was a wedding which lasted a month, and then they rode off toward the west.
After they had gone, the Queen whispered to the Lady-in-waiting,
“You see what careful parents can do! The first fairy godmother was quite wrong about the Prince of the Black Heart!”
But at that very moment, the Prince had bared his arm to pluck a water-flower, as they rested beside the way.
“What is that black mark on your arm?” asked the Princess.
“Oh,” said the Prince, laughing, “that is just a scar I have borne from birth. It is in the shape of a heart, and so, for a jest, my people call me the Prince of the Black Heart.”
“Black Heart, indeed!” cried the Little Princess, angrily.
And that is the end of the story, for if you have no fear in your heart, black magic is no such great thing after all.
But if any old fogy should wag his gray beard and say there is not a word of truth in it, you may be very sure that he came to fairyland at the narrow place, and never saw it at all. So you may just smile at him, for there is one thing, at least, that you know more about than he does!
RETOLD FROM JEAN INGELOW
“For he that hath his own worldHath many worlds more.”
A boy, whom I knew very well, was once going through a meadow which was full of buttercups. He sat down by an old hawthorn hedge which was covered with blossoms, and took out a slice of plum-cake for his lunch. While the boy was eating, he observed that this hedge was very high and thick, and that there was a great hollow in the trunk of the old thorn-tree, and he heard a twittering as if there was a nest somewhere inside. So he thrust his head in, twisted himself around, and looked up. After getting used to the dim light in the hollow of the tree, he saw, a good way above his head, a curious nest. It was about three times as large as a goldfinch’s. Just then he thought he heard some little voices cry, “Jack, Jack!”
“I must get near,” said the boy. So he began to wriggle and twist himself up, and just as he reached the top three heads which had been peeking over the edge of the nest suddenly popped down again.
“Those heads had no beaks, and the things have no feathers,” said Jack, as he stood on tip-toe and poked in one of his fingers.
When he snatched one of them out of the nest, it gave a loud squeak, and Jack was so frightened that he lost his footing, dropped it, and slipped down himself. Luckily, he was not hurt, nor the “thing” either. It was creeping about like an old baby, and had on a little frock and pinafore.
THE FAIRY BABY’S LUNCH
“It’s a fairy!” exclaimed Jack, “and this must be a fairies’ nest.”
The young Fairy climbed up the side of the hollow and scrambled again into her nest, and Jack followed. Upon which all the nestlings popped up their heads, and showing their pretty white teeth pointed at the slice of cake.
“It’s a small piece, and I may not have anything more to eat for a long time,” said Jack; “but your mouths are very small, so you shall each have a piece.”
The young fairies were a long time munching the cake, and before they had finished it began to be rather dark, because a thunder-storm was coming up. The wind rose and made the old tree rock, and creak, and tremble. The little Fairies were so frightened that they got out of the nest and crept into Jack’s pockets.
After the storm was over, Jack pulled one of the Fairies out of his waistcoat pocket and said to her: “It is time for supper. Where are we going to get it?” Then in the light of the moon he looked at her very attentively. “When I first saw you in the nest,” said he, “you had a pinafore on, and now you have a smart little apron with lace around it.”
“That is because I am much older now,” said the Fairy. “We never take such a long time to grow up as you do. Put me into your pocket again, and whistle as loudly as you can.”
THE GREAT WHITE BIRD
So Jack whistled loudly; and suddenly without hearing anything, he felt something take hold of his legs and give him a jerk which hoisted him on to its back, where he sat astride. It was a large white bird, and presently he found that they were rising up through the trees and out into the moonlight, with Jack on the bird’s back and all the fairies in his pockets.
“And so we are going to Fairy-land,” exclaimed Jack; “how delightful!”
As the evening grew dark the great white bird began to light up. She did it in this way. First, one of her eyes began to beam with a beautiful green light, and then when it was as bright as a lamp, the other eye began to shine, and the light of that eye was red. So they sailed through the darkness, Jack reminding the bird once in a while that he was very hungry.
TO THE FAIR CITY
They were sailing over the ocean by this time, and there were boats and vessels. The great white bird hovered among them, making choice of one to take Jack and the Fairies up the wonderful river which leads to Fairy-land. Finally she set him down in a beautiful little open boat, with a great carved figure-head to it. The bird said: “Lie down in the bottom of the boat and go to sleep. You will dream that you have some roast fowl, some new potatoes, and an apple pie. Mind you, don’t eat too much in your dream, or you will be sorry for it when you wake.” Jack put his arms around the neck of the bird andhugged her; then she spread her wings and sailed slowly away. Then Jack fell asleep in the rocking boat, and dreamed as the bird promised, and when he woke up he was not hungry any more!
it was a large white birdfrom a drawing by harry rountree
Morning came, and the Fairies were still asleep in his pocket. The boat moved on through the night, and now he found himself in the outlet of the wonderful river, the shores of which were guarded, not by real soldiers, but by rose-colored flamingoes.
Now that he had fairies in his pockets, he could understand bird talk, and so he heard many wise words from the birds of that country which guided him on his way.
It was not long before he came to the city that was the capital. It was a fair day, and the city square was full of white canopies, lined with splendid flutings of pink. It was impossible to be sure whether they were real tents, or gigantic mushrooms. Each one of the people who sold in these tents had a little high cap on his head shaped just like a bee-hive made of straw. In fact, Jack soon saw bees flying in and out, and it was evident that these folks had their honey made on the premises.
THE LITTLE OLD FAIRY WOMAN
After Jack had visited the fairy city, he went back to the river. The water was so delightfully clear that he thought he would have a swim, so he took off his clothes and folded them very carefully so as not to hurt the Fairies, and laid them beside a hay-cock. When he came out he saw a little old woman with spectacles on, knitting beside his clothes. She smiled upon him pleasantly.
“I will give you some breakfast out of my basket,” said she. So she took out a saucerful of honey, a roll of bread, and a cup of milk.
“Thank you,” said Jack, “but I am not a beggar boy, so I can buy this breakfast. You look very poor.”
It seems that the old woman was very poor; in fact, she was a slave, and on that very day they were about to sell her in the slave market in the city square. So Jack went along into the city again with her, and when she was put up for sale, he bought her from her cruel master, although it took a half-crown, the biggest piece of money that he had. His next largest piece he gave to the little woman, and told her to buy some clothes with it. She came back to the boat where Jack was, with her hands empty, but her face full of satisfaction.
THE WONDERFUL PURPLE ROBE
“Why, you have not bought any new clothes,” said Jack.
“I have bought what I wanted,” said the Fairy Woman; and she took out of her pocket a little tiny piece of purple ribbon, with a gold-colored satin edge, and a very small tortoise-shell comb.
She took the piece of ribbon and pulled and pulled it until it was as large as a handkerchief. Then she pulled and pulled it again, and the silk stretched until it nearly filled the boat. Next, the little old woman pulled off her ragged gown and put on the silk. It was now a most beautiful robe of purple, with a gold border, and it just fitted her. Then she took out the little tortoise-shell comb, pulled off her cap and threw it into the river. As she combed her hair, it grew much longer and thicker, until it fell in waves all about her body. It all turned gold color, and she was so covered with it that you could not see one bit of her except her eyes, which peeped out and were very bright.
Then she began to gather up her lovely locks and said: “Master, look at me now!” So she threw back the hair from her face, and it was a beautiful young face, and she looked so happy that Jack was glad he had bought her with his half-crown.
THE MAGIC KISS
Then instantly the little Fairies awoke and sprang out of Jack’s pockets. One of them had a green velvet cap and sword; the second had a white spangled robe, and lovely rubies and emeralds around her neck; but the third one, who sat down on Jack’s knee, had a white frock and a blue sash, was very little, and she had a face just like that of a sweet little child.
“How comes it that you are not like the others?” asked Jack. She answered: “It is because you kissed me.”
“Somehow,” Jack explained to the former Fairy Slave, “she was my favorite.”
“Then you will have to let her sit on your knee, master, sometimes,” she explained; “and you must take special care of her, for she cannot now take the same care of herself that others can. The love of a mortal works changes indeed to the life of a fairy.”
“I don’t want to have a slave,” said Jack to the little lady. “Can’t you find some way to be wholly free again?”
“Yes, master, I can be free if you can think of anything that you really like better than the half-crown that you paid for me.”
“I would like going up this river to Fairy-land much better,” said Jack. So suddenly theriver became full of thousands of little people coming down the stream in rafts. They had come to take the Fairy Woman away with them.
THE FAIRY WOMAN’S PARTING GIFT
“What gift may I give you before I go?” she asked.
“I should like,” said Jack, “to have a little tiny bit of that purple gown of yours with the gold border.”
So she told Jack to lend her his knife, and with it she cut off a very small piece of the skirt of her robe and gave it to him. “Now I advise you,” she said, “never to stretch this unless you want to make something particular out of it.”
“Will ye step aboard, my dearest?” sang the Fairy Woman as she sailed away.
“Will ye step aboard, my dearest? for the high seas lie before us.So I sailed adown the river in those days without alloy.We are launched! But when, I wonder, shall a sweeter sound float o’er usThan yon ‘pull’e haul’e, pull’e haul’e, yoy! heave, hoy!’”
All Jack had to do to make his magic boat go wherever he wished was to give it a command, so he ordered it to float up the river to Fairy-land.
It was not long before the towers of the castle of the Queen of Fairy-land could be seen in the distance; and soon the castle, with its beautiful gardens, was close beside them along the river bank. But Jack did not dare to enter the castle until he was sure of a shelter of his own. So he pulled and pulled at the piece of purple silk, until it became large enough to make a splendid canopy like a tent. It roofed in all the after-part of the boat, so now he had a delightful little home of his own, and there was no fear of its being blown away, for no wind ever blows in Fairy-land.
TO THE PALACE
When the Fairy Woman went back to her people she took all of the fairy children with her, and left only Mopsa with Jack. Now, Jack carefully washed her face, and put a beautiful clean white frock on her.
“We will go into the Queen’s palace together,” said he.
The Queen greeted Mopsa and Jack very kindly; and every day they went up to the palace, and every night back again to the tent on the little boat.
One song which they liked to sing made Jack rather uncomfortable:
“And all the knights shall woo again,And all the doves shall coo again,And all the dreams come true again,And Jack shall go home.”
Every evening Jack noticed that Mopsa was a little taller, and had grown-up to a higher button on his coat. She looked much wiser, too. “You must learn to read,” said he; and as she made no objection, he arranged daisies and buttercups into the forms of the letters, and she learned nearly all of them in one evening, while crowds of the fairies from the castle looked on, hanging from the boughs and shouting out the names of the letters as Mopsa said them. They were very polite to Jack, for they gathered up all the flowers for him, and emptied them from their little caps at his feet as fast as he wanted them.
MOPSA IS TO BE A QUEEN
Now it seems that as soon as Mopsa was full grown she was destined to be Queen herself. One day, just before dusk, she said to Jack: “Jack, will you give me your little purse that has the silver fourpence in it?”
Now this purse was lined with a nice piece of pale green silk; and when Jack gave it to her, she pulled the silk out and stretched it, just as the fairy woman had done, and it became a most lovely cloak. Then she twisted up her long hair into a coil, fastened it around her head, and called to the fireflies, which were beginning to glitter on the trees; and they came and alighted in a row upon the coil, and turned into diamonds directly! So now Mopsa had a crown and a robe. She was so beautiful that Jack thought he would never be tired of looking at her.
The next morning Jack found that his fairy boat had floated away. He called to it, but it would not return. “Never mind,” said Mopsa, “my country is still waiting for me beyond the purple mountains. I shall never be happy unless we go there, and we can go together on foot.”
So they walked toward the purple mountains hand-in-hand. When night came, and they were too tired to walk any further, the shooting stars began to appear in all directions; and at Mopsa’s command they brought a little cushion, and Jack and Mopsa sat upon it, and the stars carried the two over the paths of the mountains and half-way down the other side. When they awoke the nextmorning, there spread before them the loveliest garden one ever saw, and among the trees and woods was a most beautiful castle.
queen mopsa flies to her kingdomfrom a drawing by florence mary anderson
“Oh, Jack!” said Mopsa, “I am sure that castle is the place I am to live in. I shall soon be Queen and there I shall reign.”
“And I shall be King there,” said Jack. “Shall I?”
“Yes, if you can,” answered Mopsa; “and in Fairy-land, of course, whatever you can do, you may do.”
It was a long way to the castle; and at last Jack and Mopsa were so tired that they sat down, and Mopsa began to cry.
“Remember,” said Jack, “that you are nearly a Queen, and you can never reach your castle by sitting still.”
All of a sudden they heard the sweetest sound in the world; it was the castle clock, and it was striking twelve at noon. As it finished striking, they came out at the farther edge of a great bed of reeds, and there was the castle straight before them.
Inside the castle lived a lovely lady, and when she saw Mopsa she took her to her arms. “Who are you?” asked the lovely lady.
“I am a Queen,” said Mopsa.
“Yes, my sweet Queen,” answered the lady, “I know you are.”
“Do you promise that you will be kind to me until I grow up?” inquired Mopsa. “Will you love me and teach me how to reign? I am only ten years old, and the throne is too big for me to sit upon, but I am Queen.”
“Yes,” answered the lady, “and I will love you just as if I were your mother.”
QUEEN MOPSA
When Mopsa ran through the castle door it shut suddenly behind her, and Jack was left behind. After great difficulty he succeeded in climbing the walls, and crept through a window; and when he got inside he saw a very wonderful sight. There was Mopsa in the great audience-room, dressed superbly in a white satin gown, with a long train of crimson velvet, which was glittering with diamonds. It reached almost from one end of the gallery to the other, and had hundreds of fairies to hold it to keep it in its place; but in her hair were no jewels, only a little crown made of daisies, and on her shoulders her robe was fastened with a little golden image of a boat. These things were to show the land she had come from and the vessel she had come in. At one side of Mopsa stood the lovely lady; and on the other, to Jack’s amazement, a little boy of his own size, who looked exactly like himself.
“I will go in,” said Jack. “There is nothing to prevent me.” He set his foot on the step, and while he hesitated Mopsa came out to meet him. He looked at her earnestly, because her lovely eyes were not looking at him, but far away toward the west.
“Jack lives there,” she said, as if speaking to herself. “He will play there again, in his father’s garden.”
Then she brought her eyes down slowly from the rose-flush in the cloud and looked at him and said, “Jack.”
“Yes,” said Jack, “here I am. What is it that you wish to say?”
She answered, “I am come to give you back your kiss.”
GOOD-BY TO MOPSA
So she stooped forward as she stood on her step and kissed him, and her tears fell on his cheek.
“Farewell,” she said; and she turned and went up the steps into the great hall. Jack gazed at her as she entered, and would fain have followed, but could not stir, the great doors closed together again, and he was left outside. Then he knew, without having been told, that he should never enter them any more.
Suddenly he perceived that reeds were growing up between him and the great doors, and he walked on among them toward the west. Then, as the rosy sky turned gold color, all on a sudden he came to the edge of the reed-bed and walked out upon a rising ground. Jack ran up it, looking for the castle. At last he saw it, lying so far, so very far off that all its clear outlines were lost; and very soon, as it grew dark, they seemed to mingle with the shapes of the hill and the forest.
He looked up into the rosy sky, and held out his arms, and called: “Come! Oh, come!” In a minute or two he saw a little black mark overhead, a small speck, that grew larger and larger. In another instant he saw a red light and a green light; then he heard the winnowing noise of a bird’s great wings, and suddenly the great white bird alighted at his feet and said: “Here I am.”
“I wish to go home,” said Jack.
“That is well,” answered the bird.
As Jack flew through the darkness he thought once again of the little boy who looked just like himself, who lived in the far castle; and he did not feel sure whether he himself was upon the back of the bird or within the castle with QueenMopsa. Then he fell asleep, and did not dream at all, nor know anything more until the great bird woke him.
“Wake up, now, Jack,” she said, “we are at home.”
As they flew toward the earth Jack saw the church, and the wood, and his father’s house, which seemed to be starting up to meet him. In two seconds he stepped down into the deep grass of his father’s meadow.
“Good-by,” said the great bird. “Make haste and run in, for the dews are falling.” And before he could ask her one question, or even thank her, she made a wide sweep over the grass, beat her magnificent wings and soared away.
JACK COMES HOME
Jack opened the little gate that led into the garden, stole through the shrubbery and came up to the drawing-room window and peeped in. His father and mother were sitting there, his mother sat with her back to the open window, but a candle was burning, and she was reading aloud about a Shepherd Lady and a Lord.
At last his father noticed him, and beckoned him to come in. So Jack did, and got upon his father’s knee, and laid his head on his father’s waistcoat, and wondered what he would think if he should tell him about the fairies that had been in somebody else’s waistcoat pocket. He thought, besides, what a great thing a man is. He had never seen anything so large in Fairy-land, nor so important; so, on the whole, he was glad that he had come back and felt very happy.
“I think,” said his father, “it must be time this man of ours was in bed.”
So his mother kissed him good-night, and he went up into his own room and said his prayers. He got into his little white bed and comfortably fell asleep.
BY ELIZABETH HARRISON
Once upon a time there lived a child whose name was Avilla; she was sweet and loving, and fair to look upon, with everything in the world to make her happy—but she had a little blind sister, and Avilla could not be perfectly happy as long as her sister’s eyes were closed so that she could not see God’s beautiful world, nor enjoy His bright sunshine. Little Avilla kept wondering if there was not something that she could do which would open this blind sister’s eyes.
At last, one day, she heard of an old, old woman, nobody knew how old, who had lived for hundreds of years in a dark cave, not many miles away. This queer, old woman knew a secret enchantment, by means of which the blind could receive their sight. The child Avilla asked her parents’ permission to make a journey to the cave, in order that she might try to persuade the old woman to tell her this secret. “Then,” exclaimed she, joyfully, “my dear sister need sit no longer in darkness.” Her parents gave a somewhat unwilling consent, as they heard many strange and wicked stories about the old woman. At last, however, one fine spring morning, Avilla started on her journey. She had a long distance to walk, but the happy thoughts in her heart made the time pass quickly, and the soft, cool breeze seemed to be whispering a song to her all the way.
When she came to the mouth of the cave, it looked so dark and forbidding that she almost feared to enter it, but the thought of her little blind sister gave her courage, and she walked in. At first she could see nothing, for all the sunshine was shut out by the frowning rocks that guarded the entrance. Soon, however, she discerned the old woman sitting on a stone chair, spinning a pile of flax into a fine, fine thread. She seemed bent nearly double with age, and her face wore a look of worry and care, which made her appear older.
The child Avilla came close to her side, and thought, she is so aged that she must be hard of hearing. The old woman did not turn her head, nor stop her spinning. Avilla waited a moment, and then took fresh courage, and said, “I have come to ask you if you will tell me how I can cure my blind sister?” The strange creature turned and stared at her as if she were very much surprised; she then spoke in a deep, hollow voice, so hollow that it sounded as if she had not spoken for a very long time. “Oh,” said she with a sneer, “I can tell you well enough, but you’ll not do it. People who can see, trouble themselves very little about those who are blind!” This last was said with a sigh, and then she scowled atAvilla until the child’s heart began to beat very fast. But the thought of her little blind sister made her brave again, and she cried out, “Oh please tell me. I will do anything to help my dear sister!” The old woman looked long and earnestly at her this time. She then stooped down and searched in the heap of the fine-spun thread which lay at her side until she found the end of it. This she held out to the child, saying, “Take this and carry it all around the world, and when you have done that, come to me and I will show you how your blind sister may be cured.” Little Avilla thanked her and eagerly seized the tiny thread, and wrapping it carefully around her hand that she might not lose it, turned and hastened out of the close, damp cave.
“avilla ran forward and cried:‘now give sight to my sister’”
She had not traveled far before she looked back to be sure the thread had not broken, it was so thin. Imagine her surprise to see that instead of its being a gray thread of spun flax, it was a thread of golden light, that glittered and shone in the sunlight, as if it were made of the most precious stuff on earth. She felt sure now that it must be a magic thread, and that it somehow would help her to cure her blind sister. So she hastened on, glad and happy.
Soon, however, she approached a dark, dense forest. No ray of sunlight seemed ever to have fallen on the trunks of its trees. In the distance she thought she could hear the growl of bears and the roar of lions. Her heart almost stopped beating. “Oh, I can never go through that gloomy forest,” said she to herself, and her eyes filled with tears. She turned to retrace her steps, when the soft breeze which still accompanied her whispered: “Look at the thread you have been carrying! Look at the golden thread!” She looked back, and the bright, tiny line of light seemed to be actually smiling at her, as it stretched across the soft greensward, far into the distance, and, strange to say, each tiny blade of grass which it had touched, had blossomed into a flower. So, as the little girl looked back, she saw a flowery path with a glittering line of golden light running through it. “How beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I did not notice the flowers as I came along, but the enchanted thread will make the next traveler see them.”
This thought filled her with such joy that she pushed forward into the dark woods. Sometimes she knocked her head against a tree which stood in her way; sometimes she almost feared she was lost, but every now and then she would look back and the sight of the tiny thread of golden light always renewed her courage. Once in a while she felt quite sure that she could see the nose of some wild beast poking out in front of her, but when she came nearer it proved to be the joint in a tree trunk, or some strange fungus which had grown on a low branch. Then she would laugh at her own fear and go on. One of the wonderful things about the mysterious little thread which she carried in her hand was, that it seemed to open a path behind it, so that one could easily follow in her footsteps without stumbling over fallen trees, or bumping against living ones. Every now and then a gray squirrel would frisk by her in a friendly fashion, as if to assure her that she was not alone, even in the twilight of the dark woods. By and by she came to the part of the forest where the trees were less dense, and soon she was out in the glad sunshine again.
But now a new difficulty faced her. As far as she could see stretched a low, swampy marsh of wet land. The mud and slime did not look very inviting, but the thought of her little blind sister came to her again, and she bravely plunged into the mire. The dirty, dripping mud clung to her dress and made her feet so heavy that she grew weary lifting them out of it. Sometimes she seemed to be stuck fast, and it was only with a great effort that she could pull out, first one foot, and then the other. A lively green frog hopped along beside her, and seemed to say, in his funny, croaking voice, “Never mind the mud, you’ll soon be through it.” When she had at last reached the end of the slippery, sticky marsh, and stood once more on firm ground, she looked back at the tiny thread of golden light which trailed along after her. What do you think had happened? Wherever the mysterious and beautiful thread had touched the mud, the water had dried up, and the earth had become firm and hard, so that any other person who might wish to cross the swampy place could walk on firm ground. This made the child Avilla so happy that she began to sing softly to herself.
Soon, however, her singing ceased. As the day advanced, the air grew hotter and hotter. The trees had long ago disappeared, and now the grass became parched and dry, until at last she found herself in the midst of a dreary desert. For miles and miles the scorching sand stretched on every side. She could not even find a friendly rock in whose shadow she might rest for a time. The blazing sun hurt her eyes and made her head ache, and the hot sand burned her feet. Still she toiled on, cheered by a swarm of yellow butterflies that fluttered just ahead of her. At last the end of the desert was reached, just as the sun disappeared behind a crimson cloud. Dusty and weary, the child Avilla was about to throwherself down on the ground to rest. As she did so, her eyes turned to look once more at the golden thread which had trailed behind her all day on the hot sand. Lo, and behold! What did she see? Tall shade trees had sprung up along the path she had traveled, and each tiny grain of sand that the wonderful thread had touched was now changed into a diamond, or ruby, or emerald, or some other precious stone. On one side the pathway across the desert shone and glittered, while on the other the graceful trees cast a cool and refreshing shade.
Little Avilla stood amazed as she looked at the beautiful trees and the sparkling gems. All feeling of weariness was gone. The air now seemed mild and refreshing, and she thought that she could hear in the distance some birds singing their evening songs. One by one the bright stars came out in the quiet sky above her head, as if to keep guard while she slept through the night.
The next morning she started forward on her long journey round the world. She traveled quite pleasantly for a while, thinking of how cool and shady the desert path would now be for any one who might have to travel it, and of the precious jewels she had left for some one else to gather up. She could not stop for them herself, she was too anxious to press forward and finish her task, in order that her little blind sister might the sooner see.
After a time she came to some rough rocks tumbled about in great confusion, as if angry giants had hurled them at each other. Soon the path grew steeper and steeper, and the rocks sharper and sharper, until they cut her feet. Before her she could see nothing but more rocks until they piled themselves into a great mountain, which frowned down upon her, as much as to say, “How dare you attempt to climb to my summit?” The brave child hesitated. Just then two strong eagles with outspread wings rose from their nest of sticks on the side of a steep cliff near by, and soared majestically and slowly aloft. As they passed far above her head they uttered a loud cry which seemed to say, “Be brave and strong and you shall meet us at the mountain-top.”
Sometimes the ragged edges of the rocks tore her dress, and sometimes they caught the tiny golden thread, and tangled it so that she had to turn back and loosen it from their hold. The road was very steep and she was compelled to sit down every few minutes and get her breath. Still she climbed on, keeping the soaring eagles always in sight. As she neared the top, she turned and looked back at the enchanted thread of golden light which she had carried through all the long, strange journey. Another marvelous thing had happened! The rugged path of sharp, broken rocks had changed into broad and beautiful white marble steps, over which trailed the shining thread of light. She knew that she had made a pathway up this difficult mountain and her heart rejoiced.
She turned again to proceed on her journey, when, only a short distance in front of her, she saw the dark cave in which lived the strange old woman who had bidden her carry the line of light around the world. She hastened forward, and on entering the cave, she saw the old creature, almost bent double, still spinning the mysterious thread. Avilla ran forward and cried out, “I have done all you told me to do, now give sight to my sister.” The old woman sprang to her feet, seized the thread of golden light and exclaimed, “At last! at last! I am freed! The spell has now been broken.”
Then came so strange and wonderful a change that Avilla could hardly believe her own eyes. Instead of the ugly, cross-looking old crone, there stood a beautiful princess, with long golden hair, and tender blue eyes, her face radiant with joy. Her story was soon told. Hundreds of years ago she had been changed into the bent old woman, and shut up in the dark cave on the mountain-side, because she, a daughter of the King, had been selfish and idle, thinking only of herself, and her punishment had been that she must remain thus disguised and separated from all companions and friends until she could find someone who would be generous and brave enough to take the long, dangerous journey around the world for the sake of others. Her mother had been a fairy princess and had taught her many things which we mortals have yet to learn. She showed the child Avilla how, by dipping the golden thread into a spring of ordinary water, she could change the water into golden water, which glittered and sparkled like liquid sunshine. Filling a pitcher with this they hastened together to where the little blind sister sat in darkness waiting for some one to come and lead her home. The beautiful princess told Avilla to dip her hands into the bowl of enchanted water, and then press them upon the closed eyes of her sister. They opened! And the little blind girl could see!
After that the fairy princess came and lived with little Avilla and her sister, and taught them how to do many wonderful things, of which I have not time to tell you to-day.