THIS IS VERY KIND OF YOU.
The prince went to dress for the occasion, for he was resolved to die
like a prince. "When the princess heard that a man had offered to die
for her, she was so transported that she jumped off the bed, feeble as
she was, and danced about the room for joy. She did not care who the
man was; that was nothing to her. The hole wanted stopping; and if only
a man would do, why, take one. In an hour or two more, everything was
ready. Her maid dressed her in haste, and they carried her to the side
of the lake. When she saw it, she shrieked, and covered her face with
her hands. They bore her across to the stone, where they had already
placed a little boat for her. The water was not deep enough to float
it, but they hoped it would be, before long. They laid her on cushions,
placed in the boat wines and fruits and other nice things, and
stretched a canopy over all.
"In a few minutes, the prince appeared. The princess recognized him at
once; but did not think it worth while to acknowledge him.
"'Here I am,' said the prince. 'Put me in.
"'They told me it was a shoeblack,' said the princess.
"'So I am,' said the prince. 'I blacked your little boots three times a
day, because they were all I could get of you. Put me in.'
"The courtiers did not resent his bluntness, except by saying to each
other that he was taking it out in impudence.
"But how was he to be put in? The golden plate contained no
instructions on this point. The prince looked at the hole, and saw but
one way. He put both his legs into it, sitting on the stone, and,
stooping forward, covered the two corners that remained open with his
two hands. In this uncomfortable position he resolved to abide his
fate, and, turning to the people, said:--
"'Now you can go.'
"The king had already gone home to dinner.
"'Now you can go,' repeated the princess after him, like a parrot.
"The people obeyed her, and went.
"Presently a little wave flowed over the stone, and wetted one of the
prince's knees. But he did not mind it much. He began to sing, and the
song he sang was this:--
"'As a world that has no well,
Darkly bright in forest-dell:
As a world without the gleam
Of the downward-going stream;
As a world without the glance
Of the ocean's fair expanse;
As a world where never rain
Glittered on the sunny plain,--
Such, my heart, thy world would be,
If no love did flow in thee.
"'As a world without the sound
Of the rivulets under ground;
Or the bubbling of the spring
Out of darkness wandering;
Or the mighty rush and flowing
Of the river's downward going;
Or the music-showers that drop
On the out-spread beech's top;
Or the ocean's mighty voice,
When his lifted waves rejoice,--
Such my soul, thy world would be,
If no love did sing in thee.
"'Lady, keep thy world's delight;
Keep the waters in thy sight;
Love hath made me strong to go,
For thy sake, to realms below,
Where the water's shine and hum
Through the darkness never come
Let, I pray, one thought of me
Spring, a little well, in thee;
Lest thy loveless soul be found
Like the dry and thirsty ground.'
"'Sing again, prince. It makes it less tedious,' said the princess.
"But the prince was too much overcome to sing any more. And a long
pause followed.
"'This is very kind of you, prince,' said the princess at last, quite
coolly, as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut.
"' I am sorry I can't return the compliment,' thought the prince; 'but
you are worth dying for, after all.'
"Again a wavelet, and another, and another, flowed over the stone, and
wetted both the prince's knees thoroughly; but he did not speak or
move. Two--three--four hours passed in this way, the princess
apparently fast asleep, and the prince very patient. But he was much
disappointed in his position, for he had none of the consolation he had
hoped for.
"At last he could bear it no longer.
"'Princess!' said he.
"But at the moment, up started the princess, crying:--
"'I'm afloat! I'm afloat!'
"'And the little boat bumped against the stone.
"'Princess!' repeated the prince, encouraged by seeing her wide awake,
and looking eagerly at the water.
"'Well?' said she, without once looking around.
"'Your papa promised that you should look at me; and you haven't looked
at me once.'
"'Did he? Then I suppose I must. But I am so sleepy!'
"'Sleep, then, darling, and don't mind me,' said the poor prince.
"'Really, you are very good,' replied the princess. 'I think I will go
to sleep again.'
"'Just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit, first,' said the prince
very humbly.
"'With all my heart,' said the princess, and gaped as she said it.
"She got the wine and the biscuit, however, and coming nearer with
them:--
"'Why, prince,' she said, 'you don't look well? Are you sure you don't
mind it?'
"'Not a bit,' answered he, feeling very faint indeed. 'Only, I shall
die before it is of any use to you, unless I have something to eat.'
"'There, then!' said she, holding out the wine to him.
"'Ah! you must feed me. I dare not move my hands. The water would run
away directly.'
"'Good gracious!' said the princess, and she began at once to feed him
with bits of biscuit, and sips of wine.
"As she fed him, he contrived to kiss the tips of her fingers now and
then. She did not seem to mind it, one way or the other. But the prince
felt better.
"'Now for your own sake, princess,' said he, 'I cannot let you go to
sleep. You must sit and look at me, else I shall not be able to keep
up.'
"'Well, I will do anything I can to oblige you,' answered she, with
condescension, and, sitting down, she did look at him, and kept looking
at him, with wonderful steadiness, considering all things.
"The sun went down, and the moon came up, and gush after gush the
waters were flowing over the rock. They were up to the prince's waist,
now.
"'Why can't we go and have a swim?' said the princess. 'There seems to
be water enough just about here.'
"'I shall never swim more,' said the prince.
"'Oh! I forgot,' said the princess, and was silent.
"So the water grew and grew, and rose up and up on the prince. And the
princess sat and looked at him. She fed him now and then. The night
wore on. The waters rose and rose. The moon rose likewise, higher and
higher, and shone full on the face of the dying prince. The water was
up to his neck.
"'Will you kiss me, princess?' said he, feebly, at last, for the fun
was all out of him now.
"'Yes, I will,' answered the princess, and kissed him with a long,
sweet, cold kiss.
"'Now,' said he, with a sigh of content, 'I die happy.'
"He did not speak again. The princess gave him some wine for the last
time: he was past eating. Then she sat down again, and looked at him.
The water rose and rose. It touched his chin. It touched his lower lip.
It touched between his lips. He shut them hard to keep it out. The
princess began to feel strange. It touched his upper lip. He breathed
through his nostrils. The princess looked wild. It covered his
nostrils. Her eyes looked scared, and shone strange in the moonlight.
His head fell back; the water closed over it; and the bubbles of his
last breath bubbled up through the water. The princess gave a shriek,
and sprang into the lake.
"She laid hold first of one leg, then of the other, and pulled and
tugged, but she could not move either. She stopped to take breath, and
that made her think that he could not get any breath. She was frantic.
She got hold of him, and held his head above the water, which was
possible, now his hands were no longer on the hole. But it was of no
use, for he was past breathing.
"Love and water brought back all her strength. She got under the water,
and pulled and pulled with her whole might, till, at last, she got one
leg out. The other hastily followed. How she got him into the boat she
never could tell; but when she did she fainted away. Coming to herself,
she seized the oars, kept herself steady as best she could, and rowed
and rowed, though she had never rowed before. Round rocks, and over
shallows, and through mud, she rowed, till she got to the landing
stairs of the palace. By this time, her people were on the shore, for
they had heard her shriek. She made them carry the prince to her own
room, and lay him in her bed, and light a fire, and send for the
doctors.
"'But the lake, your Highness,' said the chamberlain, who, roused by
the noise, came in, in his nightcap.
"'Go and drown yourself in it,' said she.
"This was the last rudeness of which the princess was ever guilty, and
one must allow that she had good cause to feel provoked with the lord
chamberlain.
"Had it been the king himself, he would have fared no better. But both
he and the queen were fast asleep. And the chamberlain went back to
bed. So the princess and her old nurse were left with the prince.
Somehow, the doctors never came. But the old nurse was a wise woman,
and knew what to do.
"They tried everything for a long time without success. The princess
vas nearly distracted between hope and fear, but she tried on and on,
one thing after another, and everything over and over again.
"At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, the
prince opened his eyes."