Part 6
“It must be a dragon,” thought the Princess, and she asked, “Why doesn’t my father drive it away?”
“He would if he could,” the nurses answered, “but it is stronger than he. It never can come any nearer, however; so all its groaning will not hurt you.”
As time passed and the Star Princess grew older, she asked more and more questions. “She must be amused,” declared the King. He sent out his orders and one morning a great troop of workmen appeared at the palace with spades and pickaxes. They were to dig down, down, into the earth, for there a wonderful ballroom was to be made which the King meant should be the most beautiful one in all the world. The walls were of white marble, and over them from floor to ceiling were most exquisite traceries all made in jewels. There were trees drawn with emeralds and beryl, beds of scarlet poppies made of the clearest and most brilliant rubies; there were roses made of pearls and garnets and topaz stones; there were forget-me-nots of the bluest turquoise; there were violets of amethyst; and all about and among the trees and flowers were birds of sapphires and diamonds. In this room the Star Princess was always safe, for not a ray of sunlight could ever enter it. It was anything but gloomy, however, for when the hundreds of candles were lighted, it was such a blaze of brightness and color that one might almost fancy it was the very home of the rainbows. It was no wonder that people came from near and far to see the marvelous room, for there was not another one like it in all the world. Here entertainments of all sorts were given, for the King was ready to do anything to amuse the Star Princess and keep her from being lonely or unhappy or from asking questions that he did not wish to answer.
At last she came to the end of her eighteenth year. The next day, at precisely four o’clock in the morning, she would be eighteen years old, and then there would be no more danger. The King and Queen were so happy that they hardly knew what to do. There was to be a splendid ball, of course, on the night of her birthday, and they had busied themselves in planning to make it the most brilliant fête that the Island Kingdom had ever seen.
“But I should so like to have her all to ourselves on that day,” the Queen had said wistfully. “Couldn’t we give the ball on the eve of her birthday? She will be with us and with the whole roomful of dancers. Nothing could possibly happen to her then.”
The King was not quite pleased with the idea, but he had finally yielded, and the ball had been arranged to come on the eve of her birthday.
Invitations were sent to the kings and queens and princes and princesses of many and many a kingdom, and every one was accepted. For seven days before the ball, ships whose sails were of cloth of silver and cloth of gold were continually coming up to the royal wharves. All day long the King’s golden chariots were going and coming between the palace and the shore to bring up the guests. There was music and feasting and merriment of all sorts, and on the evening of the seventh day came the ball. After all were assembled, the King led in the Star Princess. She was dressed in a gown of white, of some wonderful material that glowed like opals in a soft, subdued light and flashed like diamonds when the light was stronger. Her golden hair almost touched the floor, and gleamed like sunshine. Around her waist and her neck were rows and rows of pearls, and above her forehead shone one diamond star. She was so lovely that more than one noble prince said to himself, “She is surely a fairy. No mortal maiden was ever so beautiful.”
Among the guests there was one who had not been invited, but who was, nevertheless, the most welcome of all. He was the son of the greatest king in that part of the world, but in his babyhood he had been stolen away by trolls. He had just been rescued and was on his way to take possession of his kingdom. When his ship came near the Island Kingdom, strains of music floated down from the palace, and there at the wharves lay the royal vessels of many and many a sovereign with the royal pennants streaming in the wind.
“What does that mean?” the Prince asked.
“It must be a great ball,” replied his attendants.
“I never went to a ball in my life,” said the Prince; and he added with a grim smile, “We did not have balls in the palace of the trolls.”
“Would your Highness wish to attend this one?” suggested his companions, for they, too, had much curiosity to see what was going on in the Island Kingdom. “Of course your Highness knows that there is no court on this side of the world that would not feel honored by your presence.”
The end of it was that the Prince, too, moored his vessel at the royal wharves and rode up to the palace in the royal chariot, and received a most royal welcome. He was presented to the Star Princess at once, of course, and from that moment he could not keep his eyes from her. He danced with her again and again. He seized every opportunity to talk with her, and she was very willing to listen. He told her about his having been stolen away by trolls. “But now,” he said, “I have a good ship. The sea is calm, the sun is bright, there is a fair wind, and soon I shall be in my own kingdom.”
The Star Princess looked puzzled. “I think I can guess what a ship is,” she said. “It must be a little like a palace; but I don’t know what the sea is or the sun.”
The Prince stared in amazement. “Why, the sun is above us and it gives us warmth and light,” he said; “though I am sure it never shone so bright as your beautiful eyes.”
“I have never seen this strange sun,” the Star Princess said. “Candles give light, but how can there be any light without them?”
“Can she be out of her right mind?” thought the Prince. He said no more about the sun, but began to talk about the beautiful room and the jewels that were flashing and gleaming.
The Star Princess, however, had no idea of dropping the subject. “But what is the sea?” she asked. “You said you came in your ship on the sea. What is the sea?”
When the Prince looked into her clear, calm blue eyes, he could not believe that she was not in her right mind, and he began in a dazed fashion to try to tell her about the sea. “It’s water,” he said, “and it lies all around the island, and ships sail on it.”
“Does it murmur and sing and sigh and moan and laugh?” asked the Star Princess eagerly.
“Why, yes, I suppose it does,” replied the Prince, a little doubtfully.
“Then it must be the dragon,” declared the Star Princess. “Surely you have seen the dragon. My nurses say that it lies around the island, but that it will never hurt me. Is the sea a dragon?”
“Yes--no--the sea is just the sea,” returned the puzzled young Prince. “I can’t explain it exactly, but if you should look out of your window, you would see it, I am sure. It must be in view from every window in the palace. Look out to-morrow morning at sunrise. The sea is beautiful. It is dark and blue, it is like your own glorious eyes. I am so eager to see them in the daylight.”
“Is daylight before dinner?” the Star Princess asked. “People’s eyes are very ugly before dinner, you know; and that is why they always wear bandages over them till the table is spread and the candles are lighted.” Then the Star Princess was called away to meet some other one of the great folk who had come to the ball, and she saw no more of the Prince.
All night long and until three o’clock in the morning the dancing and feasting and merriment went on. Soon after three the Star Princess left the room, and her going was the signal for the breaking-up of the ball. The Prince lingered, and when he made his farewell to the King and the Queen, he asked if he might speak with them on a most important matter. Of course they said yes, for of course they guessed what it was. Then he told them that the Star Princess had won his heart, and he begged of them to give her to him to be his bride. “I know well that I am not worthy of her,” he said humbly, “but I will do everything in my power to make her happy. At her slightest wish I will give my wealth and my life as freely as you would pour out this glass of water,” and he caught up a glass of water that stood on the banquet table and emptied it.
The King and the Queen were glad and they were sorry. They liked the bearing and manner of the young Prince, and they knew that he was the sovereign of the richest kingdom in that part of the world. They were glad to have their daughter become his queen, but it did seem hard that they should not have her to themselves for a while after the time had come when they could enjoy her without having to guard her and watch her so carefully. At last the King said:--
“If it is the wish of our daughter, we will give her to you for your bride, but you must first leave her with us for a year and a day that we may accustom ourselves to the thought of losing her.”
Of course the Prince could only agree to so moderate a condition as this. Then they told him the story of the mermaid’s curse, and that on her first day of freedom no one but her father and her mother were to see her; and he went away to wait impatiently until her birthday should have passed.
Now when the Star Princess left the ballroom and went to her own room, two of the nurses went with her as usual. She had little to say, for her thoughts were all on the young Prince and his words to her. “The sun--the sea,” she said to herself; “what can they mean?” Then she remembered that he had said, “Look out of your window at sunrise and you will see it.” Just what “sunrise” meant, she did not know; but whatever it might be, she meant to look out of the window just once before the nurses put back the band over her eyes. She said to one of them:--
“Nurse, I am so thirsty. Will you get me some water from the north side of the well that is on the north side of the palace.”
For a moment the nurse hesitated. Then she said to herself, “The servants are not up yet, and it would be a pity to call one just for this. To-day is her eighteenth birthday, and nothing can harm her now,” so one nurse started to go down the stairs. The other nurse was putting away the opal-like gown and the diamond star and the ropes of pearls. She stepped into another room for a moment, and the Star Princess quickly pulled the curtains apart and took her first look at the sunrise and the sea. She gazed and gazed at them. It was all so beautiful that she could not turn away, and when the nurse came back, there she stood.
“O my Princess,” the nurse exclaimed, “what have you done, what have you done!” Just then the bell on the castle rang, “One--two--three--four!” It was four o’clock in the morning, and the Star Princess was full eighteen years of age. Then the nurse thought, “Ten thousand broad pieces of gold is a great deal to lose. It was only a moment before the time, and surely no harm is done. Perhaps it will never be known.” She concluded to say nothing about the matter, and to the Star Princess she said, “I thought you must have hurt yourself, and I was frightened. Now go to your bed and rest awhile, for to-day you are to be happier than ever before.”
The Star Princess was so used to obeying her nurses that she went meekly to bed and even allowed them to put the band over her eyes as usual; but she was puzzled and confused. In that one long look she had found that no dragon, but a thing more beautiful than anything she had ever seen before even in her dreams lay around the Island Kingdom. What could it mean? Why had she never been allowed to see it? What was that glorious light that came up from the blue and was a thousand times brighter than the candles? Over and over she said to herself, “Sun--sea--ship,” but she could not solve the mystery. She lay as if asleep until the time came to go to her father and her mother. Then she heard the whole story of the wicked mermaid and the seventh curse. “Now you are free,” they said joyfully. She took a hand of each parent and roamed over the palace from garret to cellar, gazing from window after window upon the glorious ocean and the deep blue sky. They went out of doors, and she saw the trees, the flowers, and the birds. She watched the rippling of the waves on the shore. Every hour was more delightful than those before it. At last came the glory of the sunset, and she exclaimed, “Oh, this is even more beautiful than the sunrise!”
“But what do you know of the sunrise?” her father asked gravely, and she told him of her one look from the window. Both her parents were troubled, but the Star Princess was so happy that they could not bear to alarm her. Then, too, they said to themselves, “It was only a moment before the clock struck, and surely no harm can come of it.”
So the happy day went on. When evening was fully come, the mother sat with her arm about her daughter and the father told her very gently about the love of the Prince and his wish to make her his queen. “To-morrow you will see him,” said the King, “and if you are willing to be his wife, he will come for you in a year and a day.”
It was easy to see from the face of the Star Princess that the Prince would be welcome when he came. “We will talk more of this in the morning,” said the King, as he kissed his daughter good-night.
The Star Princess went to her own rooms, and after her maids had left her, she was alone for the first time in her life. She drew aside the curtains and stood gazing upon the ocean in the moonlight. She listened to its music. At first it seemed to murmur peacefully to itself. Then she fancied that it sobbed and moaned. Then she heard clearly a sweet voice that called, “Come to me, come, maiden, come to me!” It was a richer, more exquisite melody than she had ever heard before; and as she listened, she found herself answering, “Yes, I will come, I will come.” She went softly down the stairs and out of the door. Every one else in the palace was asleep, and no one hindered her. She slipped down the hillside in the shadows and went nearer and nearer to the shore. The voice still called. Sometimes it was low and gentle, sometimes it was loud and strong; but whether low or loud, it drew the Star Princess toward it as if it were a magic cord. She followed it along the shore until she found herself on a steep cliff that towered far above the sea. The waters beat upon the rocks at its base, the breakers boomed and thundered; but out of all the wild uproar still came that enchanting voice, calling, “Come to me, come to me, come, come!” Straight to the very edge of the cliff went the Star Princess. For a moment she thought of her father and her mother, of the Prince who was coming in the morning to tell her of his love, and she drew back; but the voice called with a bewitching sweetness and charm, “Come, Star Princess, come.” She held out her arms and answered, “Yes, I come,” and sprang from the edge of the cliff.
A triumphant howl rang out above all the roaring of the waters:--
“I have you now, grandchild of a faithless prince, and you shall pay the forfeit of his falseness. You did not see the ocean for eighteen years, but you shall see it now.” And the cruel mermaid, for she it was who had bewitched the Star Princess and drawn her from her home, laughed so savagely and unpityingly that the heart of the maiden almost ceased to beat.
She was alone and in the hands of the wicked mermaid. “Oh, my father, my mother!” she cried. “My Prince, my Prince, save me, save me!” But the mermaid clutched her roughly and dragged her to the palace of her son, the merking who ruled the waters for leagues around.
“Here is the grandchild of the man who scorned my love,” she shrieked. “What shall she suffer? By what death shall she die?”
The merking looked upon the Star Princess. Her eyes were cast down in fear, her hair was wild and tangled, her cheeks were pale, and she trembled with fright, but even then she was beautiful, and the merking said:--
[Illustration: “SHE IS FAIRER THAN ANY OF MY MAIDENS”]
“She is fairer than any of my maidens. She shall not be put to death to-day. I will have her for my wife, and when I am tired of her, then you may torment her and kill her as you will. Come with me, earth maiden.”
“Oh, no, no,” cried the Star Princess. “Let me die! I will never be your wife.”
“It is far too noble a fate for her,” grumbled the cruel mermaid. “Such as she should not have honors like that. Will you be my son’s bride or will you not?” she demanded.
“Oh, no, never, never!” answered the Star Princess, with a shudder.
“Then you shall be tormented with such tortures as you never dreamed of,” cried the mermaid angrily; and she caught hold of the Star Princess to drag her away.
“Not yet,” interposed the merking. “You know how to give hard tasks. Give her a task or two, and she will be glad enough to be free from you and come to me.”
“Tasks she shall have,” declared the mermaid, “and such ones that she will plead and beg to come to you. Come, earth creature,” she called; and, clutching her prisoner, she dragged her away to a horrible cavern full of sea-monsters. To one of them she said, “Go with the earth creature and do not let her out of your sight.” Then she turned to the Star Princess. “My son’s throne needs jewels,” she said. “Go, and within three days bring me ten thousand pearls.”
The Star Princess was in despair; but it was worse, she thought, to be the bride of the merking than even to have the dreadful sea-monster for a jailer, and she followed him meekly.
“Where do you intend to go?” he asked.
“Indeed, I do not know,” she replied.
“Then you may as well stay here,” the sea-monster said, with a horrible grin.
“Oh, I don’t dare,” moaned the Star Princess. “What shall I do! what shall I do!”
Even the sea-monster could not help being just a little sorry for her, and he said grimly:--
“You can come this way if you like. It is better than staying there.” And she followed him gladly, for anything was better than staying with the merking and his mother.
As they went on through the water, she noticed a little sculpin that seemed determined to go with them. It was ugly, indeed, but it kept between her and the sea-monster, and she was grateful. Somehow she felt that the little creature was her friend; and when it came nearer and even touched her hand, she did not draw back, but was glad of its company.
After a long, long while, the sea-monster stopped before a bank of jagged rocks.
“There are the pearl oysters,” it said, “thousands of them. Perhaps you can get them to give up their treasures.” The creature laughed scornfully and added, “You can’t get away very well, and I shall take a nap. Wake me when you get your pearls.”
The Star Princess was in despair, but as soon as the monster was fairly asleep, the little sculpin had something to say.
“Star Princess,” he whispered, “I was once stolen by trolls.” The Star Princess started, for her Prince, too, had met the same fate. “When I was rescued,” continued the sculpin, “the troll was forced to make me three gifts. One of them was that I should have the power to persuade all honest creatures of earth, air, and water to do my will. This ledge is covered with oysters, and I think they will gladly give you their pearls.” He swam close to the ledge and spoke softly to the oysters. In a moment pearls were falling like raindrops. The Star Princess picked them up, and there were far more than ten thousand. She carried them back to the mermaid, and the mermaid cried:--
“So you got the pearls, did you? That was an easy task. How did you like your journey? You shall have another to-morrow.”
When the morning had come, the mermaid said:--
“I wish to know how many grains of sand there are on the beach that lies to the north of my son’s kingdom. One of my creatures shall take you there, and if you do not count aright, then at the end of three days you shall lose one of those blue eyes that you are so proud of. A wooden one is good enough for a girl who cannot use what she has.”
The Star Princess was put in the charge of a sea-monster far more horrible than the one that had gone with her before. “I shall have to show you the way to the beach,” he said, “but you’ll get no other help from me, understand that.”
The Star Princess was in despair, for the friendly sculpin was nowhere to be seen, and how could she ever count all the grains of sand on a beach. When they had come to the shore, she took up a handful of sand and tried to count the grains, but of course it was hopeless.
“You may as well kill me,” she cried to the sea-monster, “for I cannot do this.”
“Oh, the mermaid will kill you in her own way. You need not fear that she will leave you alive,” retorted the sea-monster, and grinned at her most horribly. “Go to work. For three days you are to count grains of sand; but be quiet about it and don’t disturb me.” In two minutes the creature was fast asleep.