LOOK AT THE MOON.
Early the next morning, the prince set out to look for something to
eat, which he soon found at a forester's hut, where, for many following
days, he was supplied with all that a brave prince could consider
necessary. And, having plenty to keep him alive for the present, he
would not think of wants not yet in existence. Whenever Care intruded,
this prince always bowed him out in the most princely manner.
"When he returned from his breakfast to his watch-cave, he saw the
princess already floating about in the lake, attended by the king and
queen,--whom he knew by their crowns,--and a great company in lovely
little boats, with canopies of all the colors of the rainbow, and flags
and streamers of a great many more. It was a very bright day, and soon
the prince, burned up with the heat, began to long for the water and
the cool princess. But he had to endure till the twilight; for the
boats had provisions on board, and it was not till the sun went down,
that the gay party began to vanish. Boat after boat drew away to the
shore, following that of the king and queen, till only one, apparently
the princess' own boat, remained. But she did not want to go home even
yet, and the prince thought he saw her order the boat to the shore
without her. At all events, it rowed away; and now, of all the radiant
company, only one white speck remained. Then the prince began to sing.
"And this was what he sang:
"Lady fair,
Swan-white,
Lift thine eyes,
Banish night
By the might
Of thine eyes.
Snowy arms,
Oars of snow,
Oar her hither.
Flashing low,
Soft and slow,
Oar her hither
"Stream behind her
O'er the lake,
Radiant whiteness!
In her wake
Following, following for her sake,
Radiant whiteness!
"Cling about her,
Waters blue;
Part not from her,
But renew
Cold and true
Kisses round her.
Lap me round,
Waters sad
That have left her;
Make me glad,
For he had
Kissed her ere ye left her.
"Before he had finished his song, the princess was just under the
place where he sat, and looking up to find him. Her ears had led her
truly.
"'Would you like a fall, princess?' said the prince, looking down.
"'Ah! there you are. Yes, if you please, prince,' said the princess
looking up.
"How do you know I am a prince, princess,' said the prince.
"'Because you are a very nice young man, prince, said the princess.
"'Come up then, princess.'
"'Fetch me, prince.'
"Then the prince took off his scarf, then his sword-belt, then his
tunic, and tied them all together, and let them down. But the line was
far too short. He unwound his turban, and added it to the rest, when it
was all but long enough, and his purse completed it. The princess just
managed to lay hold of the knot of money, and was beside him in a
moment. This rock was much higher than the other, and the splash and
the dive were tremendous. The princess was in ecstasies of delight and
their swim was delicious.
"Night after night, they met, and swam about in the dark, clear lake,
where such was the prince's delight, that (whether the princess' way of
looking at things infected him, or he was actually getting light-
headed) he often fancied that he was swimming in the sky instead of the
lake. But when he talked about being in heaven, the princess laughed at
him dreadfully.
"When the moon came, she brought them fresh pleasure. Everything looked
strange and new in her light, with an old, withered, yet unfading
newness. When the moon was nearly full, one of their great delights
was, to dive deep in the water, and then, turning round, look up
through it at the great blot of light close above them, shimmering and
trembling and wavering, spreading and contracting, seeming to melt
away, and again grow solid. Then they would shoot up through it; and
lo! there was the moon, far off, clear and steady and cold, and very
lovely, at the bottom of a deeper and bluer lake than theirs, as the
princess said.
"The prince soon found out that, while in the water, the princess was
very like other people. And, besides this, she was not so forward in
her questions, or pert in her replies at sea as on shore. Neither did
she laugh so much; and when she did laugh it was more gently. She
seemed altogether more modest and maidenly in the water than out of it.
But when the prince, who had really fallen in love when he fell in the
lake, began to talk to her about love, she always turned her head
towards him and laughed. After a while, she began to look puzzled, as
if she were trying to understand what he meant, but could not--
revealing a notion that he meant something. But as soon as ever she
left the lake, she was so altered, that the prince said to himself: 'If
I marry her, I see no help for it, we must turn merman and mermaid, and
go out to sea once."