Part 3
Then there was rejoicing that _was_ rejoicing from the very bottom of the palace to the top. The candy room threw its door open and begged to be eaten. The toys set to playing all of their own accord. The brooks ran faster than brooks ever ran before and made prettier little dimples and ripples than any other brooks ever made. The ponies began to trot and prance and canter. The gardens became more beautiful than any one ever dreamed that even a garden could be. The Moon King and Silvergirl were married, and Silverboy and the Pearl Princess were married, and the Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm danced at the weddings.
The air was full of all the music that ever was in all the world; but from another mountain a sound came across the valley, and up, up, to the Wonder Palace, that was not music, but a most mournful sighing. When the Moon Lady heard it, her face grew pink, and she turned away and looked out of the window on the farther side of the palace.
“Heigh, there!” cried the Moon King. “Who is that sighing on the night of my wedding? Find him and give him whatever he wants. Do you know him, sister? What does he want?”
“I think it must be that he wants me,” replied the Moon Lady demurely.
“That’s--that’s--why, that’s--” stammered the Moon King, and stood staring straight at his sister, too much surprised to say another word.
“It’s the Gentle Giant over on the other mountain,” Silverboy explained. “He said he would not drag away the trees of the All-Alone Axe if the Moon Lady would marry him.”
“And so, my Moon Lady sister, you’re going to marry the Gentle Giant to save the trees of the All-Alone Axe, are you?” exclaimed the Moon King in amazement.
“I think perhaps I will,” replied the Moon Lady, with one of her little rippling laughs. “I don’t see any other way to keep him from sighing, and you don’t like to hear sighing.”
“Well, I never thought of such a thing!” declared the Moon King.
And the Moon Lady retorted gayly, “I did, then. I’ve thought of it as many times as three, and I’m going to do it. He’s the best giant in all the world, and I’m going to marry him whenever he--”
Just then there was a commotion outside, as if some one was crashing through the forest in a great hurry. There was a tramping and a stamping, and the face of the Gentle Giant appeared at the door, all ashine with pleasure.
“I heard you, I heard you,” he cried. “I heard you down the mountain, and I’ve come to get you. We’ll be married this very night, we will.” And the Gentle Giant clapped his hands and danced and sang and laughed out of pure happiness.
So there was another wedding in the palace, and then they all set off to carry the Moon Lady to the home of the Gentle Giant. The Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm went, too, for Silverboy carried one, and the Pearl Princess carried the other. The Friendly Glowworm shone so bright that no one noticed a strange thing that was happening. Something else had joined the wedding procession. It was the Wonder Palace itself. After a little while it disappeared. It went up the mountain a shorter way, and when they came to the great door of the house of the Gentle Giant and looked in, behold, it was all aglow with light; and no wonder, for there were sunbeams and rainbows and dewdrop sparkles and waterfall gleams and fireplace sparks and Northern light glimmerings, all in one brilliant and glorious tangle. In the midst of it and round about it was all the music of all the world, for the whole Wonder Palace had slipped in through the farther door.
“The Thoughtful Snail and I have brought our houses with us,” said the bride as quietly as if she always traveled with a palace for a companion. “But, truly,” she whispered to the Gentle Giant, “I did not know it was coming.”
“Everything bright and beautiful is where you are,” he whispered back.
So it was that the Gentle Giant won his beautiful bride; that the trees of the All-Alone Axe were never again dragged away; and that the Wizard Squirrel was never driven from his home in the Ancient Oak.
But all this time the father and the mother were in their cottage far away in the depths of the forest. At twilight the two often sat in the doorway and talked about their children.
“They will come home some day,” declared the mother bravely.
“We shall never see them again,” said the father.
One night as they were saying this, they heard from far away a tramping of many horses. Up the forest road they came, their hoofs beating softly on the mossy ground. When they were in full sight, the father and the mother saw, first, a long line of knights in red armor, riding on milk-white horses; then a line of knights in blue armor, riding on horses black as the darkness itself. So they came. There were knights in green and knights in yellow; and last of all, there were three chariots abreast and an empty one behind them. The chariot on the left was made of steel that flashed in the light of the torches. In it sat a handsome young man. Beside him was his princess, and she was all aglow with softly gleaming pearls. On the right was an immense chariot of silver, and in this was a giant with so gentle a face that no one could ever be afraid of him, even though he was so large. He, too, had a bride sitting beside him. She had strings and strings of opals about her throat. Over them and over her face played a soft clear light that was almost like the moonbeams on the water. Between these two chariots was a third. It was all ablaze with diamonds, and in it sat one that every one who looked upon him would have known to be a king. The shadows were growing deeper, but a brilliant light that did not come from the torches was all about him and his beautiful bride. Whenever they spoke or looked at each other, the light flashed joyfully and made all around them as bright as day.
The father and the mother sat in the door, saying never a word, but looking and looking and looking. The wonderful procession swept past their humble little cottage, until the three chariots were in front of the door. Then they stopped. The father and the mother rose quickly and bowed themselves before the king.
“It is ordered that you shall no longer dwell in this cottage,” he said gravely.
At first the father and the mother were too grieved and alarmed to speak, but finally the mother plucked up courage to plead:--
“O king, if you will only let us stay here till the children come home! We will do never a bit of harm. We won’t even pick up the dead sticks for firewood, or the dry grass to make our bed. If we go away, the children will not know where to find us, and we shall never see them again. Please, please let us stay till we have seen them just once more.”
The king shook his head sternly and said:--
“You are to live here no longer.”
Then the father hid his face in his hands and the mother threw her apron over her head; but in a moment the young man had sprung down from the chariot of steel and was crying, “Father, father, don’t you know your own boy?” And the beautiful young woman who had been in the chariot that was all a-glitter with diamonds had pulled the apron away from the face of the mother and was crying, “Mother, mother, have you forgotten your own daughter?”
The Moon King sent away the knights, and then he and Silvergirl, the Pearl Princess and Silverboy, and the Moon Lady and the Gentle Giant sat down together on the soft grass just outside the cottage. Such stories as they had to tell of the search for the silver door! They told about the Wizard Squirrel, the All-Alone Axe, the Wonder Palace, the Slippery Spider, and no one can say how many other folk. They talked and talked and talked; and while they were talking, they heard a funny little chattering over their heads. They all looked up, and there on the bough of a pine tree sat the Wizard Squirrel and the All-Alone Axe, hobnobbing in the most sociable way, while the Friendly Glowworm and the Thoughtful Snail, who had come, of course, with the rest of the company and were now sitting on the moss at the foot of the tree, were staring at them with all their eyes, for they had never before seen an axe and a squirrel dancing together on a branch.
For three days and three nights the happy people talked of the wonderful things that had happened. Then Silvergirl said:--
“But, father and mother, you haven’t asked for the silver door.”
“Little we care for silver doors,” they cried, “now that we have our children back again.”
“But we have one for you. It is in the country of the Moon King; and when you go through the silver door, you come into a golden palace. Will you come with us and stay all your lives long?”
“Yes, we will come,” said the father and the mother, and they stepped joyfully into the golden chariot that had been empty before.
Then the knights came back and lifted their plumed hats and bowed before the father and the mother. They all rode away and away and away from the gloomy forest to the happy country of the Moon King; and when a messenger last came from that country, they were all living together in the greatest peace and happiness in the beautiful golden palace with the silver door.
KING HANSEL THE FIRST
KING HANSEL THE FIRST
There was once a boy named Hansel who had lost his father, mother, and sister. Some people thought that they had been stolen by trolls, but no one knew certainly. Everybody’s house was full, and there was no room for the lonely little boy. “There is nothing for you to do but to go out into the world and seek your fortune,” people said to him; so Hansel put on his little cap and started out.
He walked along the highway until he came to a place where four roads met. The first went through a forest; the second went down a steep hill; the third led over a sunny plain; and the fourth wound up a bleak, rocky mountainside. “When one has nowhere to go, one road is as good as another,” said Hansel to himself, and he looked at each in turn. The sun was warm and the forest looked cool and shady, so he decided to go through the forest.
The road was soft and mossy. There were many flowers along the way. Every little while there were open glades that were red with sweet wild strawberries. He often stopped to pick them, and as he went along, he said to himself, “It isn’t so bad a thing, after all, to have to seek one’s fortune--if I only had a father and mother to go back to after I have found it. Such a pleasant road as this must lead to some beautiful place. Maybe I shall come to a palace. It will be made of gold, of course, and the windows will sparkle like diamonds. I will go around to the smallest back door and ask, ‘Do you want a boy to herd the sheep or the cattle?’ The king’s man will answer, ‘Yes, we do. Come in and we will pay you a silver penny every month.’ I can grow up fast, and some day, when the king’s daughter is crossing the river, she will fall in and I--”
These thoughts were broken in upon by a pitiful noise of a sort that the boy had never heard before. It sounded a little like the crowing of a cock, but it was hoarse and half-stifled. “Some creature is in trouble,” said Hans to himself. “I’ll hurry on and see what it is.” He ran down the road, and every minute the crying sounded louder and more distressed. At last he came to a tiny clearing where a little hut was standing. The door was closed and the owner had evidently gone from home. Not far from the house was a coop, and in the coop was one lone cock.
“Please give me some water,” he begged; “I am dying of thirst.”
“Where shall I find it?” Hansel asked.
“Indeed, I don’t know,” the cock gasped. “The brook said it was tired of having creatures drink it. ‘I don’t drink them,’ it said, ‘and why should I let them drink me?’ and then it ran off downhill as fast as it could go. But do find me some water. I am choking.”
Hansel began to search for water, but not a pool or a pond or a river or a brook or a spring or a swamp could be found. There was not even a drop of dew to carry to the suffering cock, for the sun was warm and even the dew had vanished. Then Hansel went back and said:--
“I have searched the country through, and not a drop of water can I find.”
“Then I shall die,” the cock groaned.
“No, you won’t,” said the boy cheerily, “for I’m going to dig a well for you.”
Hansel looked all around the little place and at last he found a spade. Then he pulled off his jacket and began to dig. The sun grew hotter and hotter, but still he kept at it.
“Have you found water yet?” cried the cock, after a little while.
“Not yet,” answered Hansel, “but the farther I dig, the nearer I am to it,” and he dug faster than ever.
“Have you found it yet?” asked the cock again, a little later.
“The earth is moist,” Hansel answered; but he was now so deep down in the hole that his voice could hardly be heard.
“Have you found it yet?” the cock gasped faintly, after a few minutes. “I can’t stand up any longer. I think I am dying.”
Hansel was now so deep down that he could not hear the cock’s question; but he gave it a good answer, nevertheless, for he climbed out of the well as fast as ever he could. The water was coming in by pailfuls, and he carried his cap all full and dripping to the thirsty cock.
It was not long before the cock was as well as ever. Hansel made a little trench from the well to the coop so that the poor thing should not suffer from thirst again. Then he said:--
“Good-bye, Friend Cock. I must go on my way now, for I am seeking my fortune.”
“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” said the cock. “How shall I pay you for what you have done for me?”
“Oh, I don’t want any pay,” called Hansel over his shoulder, for he was already on his way.
“But I have a gift for you,” cried the cock, and Hansel went back. The cock stretched his neck through the bars of the coop. Something was in his bill.
“This is for you,” he said, and he dropped a little black seed into the boy’s hand. “When you are in trouble, plant that seed.”
“Thank you very much,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,” and he dropped it into his pocket. “Good-bye again,” he called.
“Oh, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cock. “I have some advice for you.”
“All right,” replied the boy good-naturedly. “What is it? Advice isn’t heavy, and I can carry it in the same pocket with the seed.”
“The first time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer ‘Yes.’”
“I hope I’ll not meet any giants, but if I do, I’ll not forget,” Hansel promised. “All good things are three, so good-bye again.”
“Then gifts should be three,” declared the cock, “and the third is yet to come. This is a bit of advice, too. There’s no good fortune down this road. Whoever walks beyond this house comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another way.”
Hansel hesitated, for he remembered how hot and sandy or rocky the other roads looked; but he remembered, too, what his old nurse used to say, “There’s many and many a thing that the beasts and birds know which men and women have yet to learn.”
“I’ll go back,” he said; “and now good-bye for the last time.”
“Good-bye,” called the cock, with a cheery crow. “Don’t lose the seed and don’t forget to say ‘Yes’ to the first question that a giant asks you.”
Then Hansel went back through the forest, and it was not long before he came to the place where the four roads met. “One is as good as another,” he said to himself again, “and I may as well take the second.”
At first it was not an easy road, for it went down a steep hill covered with round stones. The boy had to pick his way among them as gingerly as if they had been eggs. But when he was once at the foot of the hill, it became a very pleasant road, for it went along beside the shore of a pretty lake. The tiny waves rippled up against the yellow sand as if they thought the little lake was a real ocean and themselves real breakers. Pearly shells lay on the shore. Hansel picked up a handful and walked along tossing them up in the air and catching them. Then he began to talk to himself. He said:--
“Nurse used to tell me about the King of the Water World. He lives in a cave far down in the ocean. He wears a crown of pearls and he sits on a throne. The sun never shines there, but the walls of the cave are covered with rubies and emeralds, and they sparkle so that it is as light as day. When I come near his palace, I will ask if he has any work that a boy can do. He will say, ‘Yes, one of my mermaids has been stolen away from me, and I will give you half of my kingdom if you will bring her back.’ Then I will go far and far and farther than far. I will go through groves of coral, over beds of green and blue and yellow sea-mosses. I shall see shells of crimson and silver and gold; but I won’t stop for one of them. I’ll go on and on and on till I come to the den of the sea-monster that stole the mermaid. There’ll be a little hole in her dungeon, and she will stretch out her white hand and beckon me. I’ll kill the dragon and--”
“Meow, meow!” came to his ears; “help me, help me!”
“I know what that is, anyhow,” said the boy to himself; and he called, “Pussy, pussy, what’s the matter? I’m coming to help you. But where are you?” he cried, for no cat was in sight.
“Meow, meow!” wailed the cat, and Hansel began to search for her. Far out in the lake was a tiny green island, and the cries seemed to come from that, though nothing was to be seen on it but a sandy beach, a rock, and a tall tree. Hansel waded out into the lake, but the water grew deep so fast that he had to go back to the shore. Still the pitiful cries continued. The boy threw off his clothes and swam out to the island. Behind the rock lay a heavy bag, tied with seven knots; and it was from the bag that the cries were coming.
“Hold on, pussy, I’ll get you out,” he said, and he set to work to untie the seven knots. Each one was more difficult than the ones before it, but at last the seventh had been untied, and a poor, forlorn, yellow-and-black cat crept out. Hansel stroked her wet fur and rubbed it dry with some bits of dead grass. The cat purred and arched her back and rubbed her head against his hand.
“How did you happen to be in that bag?” he asked.
“Some one gave my master a pretty gray cat,” she replied. “He said he did not want two, and so he tied me up in the bag and threw me into the lake.”
“I’m glad I came along in time to get you out,” said Hansel heartily. “If you will sit on my shoulder, I will swim ashore and carry you.”
The cat sprang eagerly to his shoulder, and he started to swim ashore. At first she was as light as a feather, but before they had gone far from the island, she began to grow heavy. She grew heavier and heavier, but the boy would not throw her off to drown. He struggled on and came at last to the shore, but he was so tired that he could hardly stand. As he lay on the shore resting, the cat scrambled about among the bushes, and seemed to be searching for something.
After a little, the boy cried:--
“Good-bye, pussy, good-bye. When a boy is seeking his fortune, he must seek it,” and he started to go on farther.
“But I haven’t thanked you yet,” cried the cat, running out of the bushes. “What shall I give you for what you have done for me?”
“Oh, I don’t want any reward,” cried Hansel. “I’m glad I got you out.”
“But I have a gift for you,” called the cat, and Hansel went back. The cat dropped a tiny white seed into his hand. “When you are in trouble, plant that,” she said.
“Thank you, thank you,” said Hansel. “I’ll keep it to remember you by,” and he put it into his pocket to lie beside the little black seed. “Good-bye again,” he cried.
“Ah, but wait a minute,” pleaded the cat. “I have some advice for you.”
“I am getting so much advice,” thought Hansel, “that I am afraid I shall be a wise man before I have made my fortune”; but he said aloud, “All right, what is it? I can carry it in another pocket.”
“The second time that a giant asks you a question, be sure to answer, ‘With salt.’”
“With salt, with salt,” repeated the boy. “To the first question I am to answer ‘Yes,’ and to the second I must say, ‘With salt.’ I certainly hope I shan’t meet any giants, but if there’s nothing harder to do than to answer a few questions, I can surely do that. Good-bye again, I’m going on till I find my fortune.”
“But there’s no good fortune down this road,” said the cat. “Whoever passes this lake comes to trouble. Turn back and choose another road.”
The thought of that long, long hill with the rolling stones was not very pleasant, and Hansel hesitated; but the cat looked at him so earnestly that at last he answered:--
“All right, pussy, I’ll go back and I won’t lose the little white seed.”
“And don’t forget to say ‘With salt’ to the second question,” cried the cat.
“No, I won’t. Good-bye, pussy, good-bye.”