anything very tempting to him as he passed through the land of Labor,
and it seemed a long and weary way from the beginning to the end of
it. But the forest, even at its entrance, was very dark and gloomy
indeed. Thick trees crossed each other overhead, and shut out the
bright, cheerful daylight. He could hardly see his way along the
narrow, tortuous paths, and the thorns which the peasant had spoken of
ran into him continually, for they grew high as well as thick, and
crossed the path in every direction. He began heartily to repent that
he had quitted the palace of Prosperity, and wished himself back again
with all his heart, thinking that he should care little about yawning
Satiety if he could but get out of the thorns of Adversity. Indeed, he
tried to turn his horse back; but he found it more difficult than he
imagined, for, as I have told you, the road was very narrow and those
thorns hedged it on every side. There was nothing for it, in short,
but to try and force his way on through the wood, in the hope of
finding something better beyond.
The Prince did not know which way to take, indeed, and he tried a
great number of paths, but in vain. Still there were the same thorns
and the same gloomy darkness. He was hungry and thirsty, and he looked
round for those fruits he had heard of; but he could see none of them
at the time, and the more he sought his way out, the deeper he seemed
to get into the forest. The air was very sultry and oppressive, too;
he grew weary and faint, quite sick at heart, and even the limbs of
his good horse seemed to be failing him, and hardly able to carry him
on.
Dark as it all was, it at length began to grow darker, and he
perceived that night was coming, so that the poor Prince began to give
up all hope, and to think that there would be nothing for him but to
lie down and die in despair, when suddenly he caught a sort of
twinkling light through the thick bushes, which seemed to lie in the
way he was going, and on he went, slowly enough, poor man! But still
the light was before him, till suddenly he came to a great rock,
overgrown in many places with briers and brambles. In the midst of
it, however, was the mouth of a large cave, with great masses of
stone hanging over, as if ready to fall on a traveler's head. It was a
very stern and gloomy looking place indeed, with clefts and crevices
and ragged crags all around. But a few steps in the cave some one
seemed to have built himself a house; for it was blocked up with
large, unhewn boards of wood, and in this partition there was a door
and a window, through which came the light he had seen. The Prince
dismounted from his horse, and though he did not know who might be
within, he thought it best to knock at the door, and ask for food and
shelter.
The moment he knocked a loud, hoarse voice cried: "Come in!" and tying
his horse to a tree, he opened the door.
III
Now, whatever the poor Prince had expected to find, he was certainly
disappointed; for that thicket of Adversity is full of disappointments,
as every one knows who has traveled through it. He had thought he
should see some poor woodman or honest peasant, who would welcome him
to his homely hut in the rock with kindness and benevolence; but
instead of that he beheld, seated at the table, carving away at a
piece of stick by the light of a very small twinkling candle, one of
the most tremendous monsters ever man's eyes lighted upon. In shape he
was like a man, but he was a great deal stronger than any man. His
face looked as if it were cast in iron, so hard and rigid were all the
features; and there was an ever-lasting frown planted on his brow. His
hands were long and sinewy, with terrible sharp claws upon them; and
his feet were so large and heavy that they seemed as if they would
crush anything they would set upon to pieces.
The poor Prince, though he was a very brave young man, stopped and
hesitated at the sight of this giant; but the monster, without ever
turning his head, cried out again: "Come in! Why do you pause? All men
must obey me, and I am the only one that all men do obey."
"You must be a mighty monarch, then," said the young Prince, taking
courage, "Pray, what is your name?"
"My name is Necessity," answered the other in his thundering voice;
"and some people give me bad names, and call me 'Hard Necessity' and
'Dire Necessity;' but, nevertheless, I often lead men to great things
and teach them useful arts if they do but struggle with me valiantly."
"Then I wish you would lead me to where I can get some rest," said the
Prince, "and teach me how I can procure food for myself and my poor
famishing horse."
The monster rose up almost as tall as a steeple and suddenly laid his
great clutches upon the Prince's shoulders, saying: "I will do both,
if you do but wrestle with me courageously. You must do it, for there
is no other way of escaping from my hands."
The Prince had never been handled so roughly before, and as he was
brave, strong, and active, he made a great effort to free himself, and
tried a thousand ways, but to no purpose. The giant did not hurt him,
however, though he pressed him very hard, and at length he cried out:
"Ho, ho! you are a brave young man! Leave off struggling, and you
shall have some food and drink, such as you would never have tasted
had you not come to me."
Thereupon he led him to his own coarse wooden table, and set before
him half of a hard brown loaf and a pitcher of water; but so hungry
and thirsty was the Prince that the bread seemed to him the best he
had ever eaten, and the water sweeter than any in the world.
"Unfasten your horse's bridle," said Necessity, when the Prince had
done, "and I will soon teach him where to find something to feed
upon."
The Prince did as the giant told him at once, and then his
stern-looking companion pointed to a wooden bedstead in a dark corner
of the cave, which looked as hard as his own face, saying: "There, lie
down and sleep."
"I can never sleep on that thing," said the Prince.
"Ho, ho!" cried the other; "Necessity can make any bed soft," and
taking a bundle of straw, he threw it down on the bedstead.
IV
Sleep was sweeter to the Prince that night than it had ever been upon
a bed of down, and when he rose the next morning the monster's
features did not seem half so stern and forbidding as they had done at
first. The inside of the cave, too, looked much more light and
blithesome, though it was a dark and frowning place enough still, with
hard rock all round, and nothing but one window to let in a little
sunshine.
Necessity, however, did not intend to keep the Prince there, and as
soon as he was up the giant said to him: "Come, trudge; you must quit
my cave, and go on."
"You must open the door for me, then," said the Prince; "for the bolt
is so high up I cannot reach it."
"You cannot get out by the door through which you came in," said the
giant, "for it is the door of Idleness. There is but one way for you
to get out, and that I will show you."
So, taking him by the hand, he led him on into a very dark part of the
cave, which went a long way under ground, and then said to him: "You
must now go on until you come to a great house, where you will find an
old woman, who will give you your meals at least."
"But I want to return to my own palace of Prosperity," replied the
Prince.
"She will show you the way," replied the monster, "and without her you
will never find it. Go on at once, and don't stand talking."
"But I cannot see the path," said the Prince.
"You must find it," said Necessity, and gave him a great push, which
sent him on at a very rapid rate.
For some time he continued to grope his way almost in darkness, but
soon a light began to shine before him, which grew bigger and bigger
as he advanced, and he perceived that he was coming to another mouth
of the cave, leading to an open but very rough country. The Prince was
very glad indeed to issue forth and breathe the fresh air, and he
looked at the clear sky with great satisfaction. Just before him,
however, there was a large house, with a great number of doors and
windows; and as he felt very hungry, he determined to knock, and see
if he could get any breakfast.
Almost as soon as he had touched the knocker the door was opened by a
little old woman, plainly dressed, but neat and tidy: and when the
Prince told her who he was, and what he wanted, she answered him with
a good-humored smile, very different from the frown of stern
Necessity: "Every one can have food in my house who chooses to work
for it; nobody without. I can help you on your way, too; and as for
your poor horse you talk about, he shall be provided for. My name is
Industry, and Industry always takes care of her beasts. Come in, young
man; come in."
The Prince went in with a glad step, and found the house quite full of
people, all as busy as bees in a field of clover, and all looking as
bright and cheerful as if they had washed their faces in sunshine.
It would take me an hour to tell you all the different things they
were employed in, every one working by himself on his separate task,
although two or three were often seen doing different pieces of the
same work. But there were two very nice, pretty girls there whom I
must speak of, who seemed to be handmaidens to the mistress of the
house. One was a thoughtful-looking, careful girl, who was busy in
every part of the room alternately, picking up all the little odds and
ends which were left after any piece of work was completed--little
bits of string, ends of tape or thread, stray nails, chips of wood, or
pieces of paper. These, as soon as she had gathered them up, she put
safely by, where she could find them again; and it is wonderful how
often she was called upon by the workmen for some little scrap or
another, just sufficient to complete what they were about. Her name
was Economy.
The other was a brighter, quicker-looking person, with very clear
eyes, like two stars, who went continually through the room, putting
everything to rights. If a chair was out of its place, or a table
turned awry, or a tool put down where it should not be, she could not
bear to see it for a minute, but put all things straight again, so
that nobody was at a loss where to find anything, She was called
Order.
The hungry Prince was somewhat mortified to find a good, large piece
of work assigned him to do before he could get his breakfast, and at
first he was exceedingly awkward, and did not know how to set about
it; but Industry showed him the way, Order helped him a good deal, and
Economy supplied him with the materials.
V
At the end of an hour he had completed his task, and the old lady
patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Well done; you are a very good
young man. Now Industry will give you your breakfast, and help you on
the way to a very nice place, where you will get all you desire."
Thus saying, she led him into a great hall, where there was a vast
number of people, all eating rich fruits, with a somewhat hard-favored
dame, whom they called Labor, scattering sugar on the different
dishes.
When the Prince heard her name, he asked one of the people near if
that was really Labor, saying, "I passed through her land not long
ago, and it seemed so poor and hard a country that I should have
thought it produced nothing good."
"That is a mistake," said the other. "That is the land where grows the
sugar-cane, and Labor always sweetens the food of Industry."
As soon as his breakfast was over, the Prince was taken to another
door, and shown a road which was very narrow at first, but seemed to
grow wider and wider as it went on.
"You have nothing to do but to walk straight forward," said Industry,
"neither to turn to the right nor to the left. Keep yourself upright,
so that you may have that distant mountain peak before your eyes, and
don't suffer yourself to grow faint or get tired. If you should have
any doubt or difficulty, you will find some one on the road who will
show you the way. But only remember always to keep straight forward,
and don't be tempted to turn aside."
"What is the name of this road?" asked the Prince.
"It is called the 'Right Path'" was the reply; and on he set upon his
way with a stout heart. Nevertheless, he began to get somewhat tired
before an hour was over, although the road was pleasant enough to walk
in. There were beautiful green meadows on every side, and richly
colored flowers, and what seemed very delicious fruit; and here and
there, at a little distance, were pleasant groves, with a number of
gay birds, singing very sweetly.
At the end of an hour and a half the Prince became hungry and thirsty
again, as well as tired, and he said to himself, "There could be no
great harm surely in going across that meadow and gathering some of
that fruit, to eat under the shade of the trees, while the birds sing
over my head. I do not know how far I have to go. I see no end to this
long, straight road. I think I will try and rest for a little under
those trees. I can easily find my way back again."
But just at that moment, luckily for himself, the Prince spied a man
trudging on before him, and he hurried after, saying to himself, "I
will ask him how far I have to go, and whether I have time to stop."
VI
The man did not walk very fast, but he kept steadily on, with a great
pikestaff in his hand; and though the Prince called after him as soon
as he was within hearing, he did not halt for a moment, or even turn
his head, but trudged onward, saying, "Come along, come along; one
never gets to the end of one's journey if one stops to chatter by the
way."
At length the Prince came up with him, and said in a civil tone, "Pray
can you tell me whither this road leads, and if it will be very long
before I get to some house where I can find rest and food?"
"It leads to a very fine and beautiful castle," replied the other
somewhat doggedly, and still walking on. "I think, if you come along
with me, you will get there in time. I am generally well received
there, and in some sort may call myself the master of the house, so
that those who go with me are generally made welcome by my lady, who,
though she is sometimes a little whimsical, is the most charming
person in the world when she smiles upon me. But you must keep on
steadily with me; for if you stop or turn aside, a thousand to one you
will be lost."
When the Prince found him so communicative, he asked him if they could
not cross one of the meadows to refresh themselves a little, and told
him how he had been tempted to do so just before he saw him.
"Lucky you did not," answered the other; "for those meadows are full
of swamps and quagmires, the groves filled with snakes, and many of
the fruits poisonous. You might have got yourself into such troubles
that not even I could have helped you out of them."
"If it is not improper, may I ask your name?" said the Prince.
"Come along," answered the other, "Names matter little; but if you
want to know mine, it is Perseverance."
Not long after the Prince began to think he saw several tall towers
glittering before him in the distance, with some misty clouds round
about them, which only seemed to make them look the more beautiful.
"What a fine castle!" he exclaimed.
"That is where I am leading you," answered the other; "and the first
prospect is always very charming. But we have some way to go yet, I
can tell you, and not a little to overcome. You would never get there
without me; so come on, and do not be daunted at anything you see."
The Prince soon found that his companion's warning was just. The way
did seem very long; and sometimes, as they went over hill and dale,
the sight of the beautiful castle, which cheered him so much, was
quite shut out from his eyes, and at length, when they were coming
very near it, with nothing but one valley between them and the
building, he perceived that the road went over a narrow drawbridge,
and saw two terrible monsters lying close beside the way. Their bodies
were like those of lions, very large and very strong, but they had
necks like that of a snake, and from each neck issued a hundred
horrible heads, all differing in kind from one another.
The poor Prince was alarmed, and said to his companion: "Do you see
those horrible brutes? Is there no other way into the castle but
between them?"
"There are a thousand ways into the castle," replied his companion,
"but every way is guarded by monsters just like those. But do not be
alarmed. Go on with me, and I will help you. Besides, some one will
come out of the castle, most likely, to give us assistance."
VII
Upon these words, the Prince went on more cheerfully, especially when
he saw a man come running down from the gate of the castle as they
approached the drawbridge.
"Ay," said his companion, stepping on without stopping a moment,
"there comes my friend Courage to help us. He is a good, serviceable
fellow."
Just as he spoke, the two monsters sprang forward, and the one which
was nearest to Perseverance growled terribly at him; but he struck him
a blow with his pikestaff, which knocked him down and cowed him
entirely; and there he lay, with all his hundred heads prostrated in a
manner which the Prince could hardly have thought possible. The other
brute sprang right at the Prince himself, as if to destroy him, so
that he was inclined to draw back; but the man Courage, who had run
down from the castle, put his foot upon the creature's snaky neck, and
crushed it into the earth.
"Go on, go on, young man!" he cried. "These are terrible monsters
truly, but you see our friend Perseverance has vanquished Difficulty,
and I have trampled upon Danger."
As he spoke, the Prince passed on rapidly over the drawbridge; and
when he stood under the gate of the castle, Perseverance took him by
the hand with a smiling air, and led him in, saying: "Now I will
conduct you to my lady, Success."
At the very sound the poor Prince seemed quite refreshed, forgot all
the weary way he had traveled, the dark forest of Adversity, the grim
frown of Necessity, the faintness and the weariness, and
hundred-headed Difficulty and Danger. But he was more rejoiced still
when, on entering the building, he found himself suddenly, all at
once, in the great hall of his own palace of Prosperity, with a
beautiful lady, all smiles, standing ready to receive him with a crown
in her hand.
"Come hither, Prince," she said, "and receive this crown, which I
never bestow on any but my greatest favorites. It is called the crown
of Contentment. I reserve it for those who, led on by Perseverance,
come to me by the Right Path, in spite of Difficulty and Danger. Those
who arrive at my presence by any of the many other roads that are open
to mankind I give over to the charge of some of my inferior
attendants, such as Pride, Vanity, or Ambition, who amuse themselves
by making them play all manner of strange tricks."
Thus saying, she put the crown upon his head, and the Prince found the
most delightful tranquil feeling spread through his whole body.
Nevertheless, he could not help looking about almost instantly for the
figure of the ugly little gray dwarf; and, as he could not see him
anywhere, he said to the beautiful lady: "Where is that hideous,
yawning Satiety? I hope he has left the palace."
"He may be hanging about in some dark corners of the palace," answered
the lady, "or hiding among the roses in your garden of Pleasure; but
he will never appear in your presence again, so long as you wear that
crown upon your head; for there is a rich jewel called Moderation in
the crown of Contentment which is too bright and pure to be looked
upon by Satiety."
THE FRUITS OF DISOBEDIENCE
OR THE KIDNAPPED CHILD
In a beautiful villa on the banks of the Medway resided a gentleman
whose name was Darnley, who had, during the early part of life, filled
a post of some importance about the Court, and even in its decline
preserved that elegance of manners which so peculiarly marks a
finished gentleman.
The loss of a beloved wife had given a pensive cast to his features,
and a seriousness to his deportment, which many people imagined
proceeded from haughtiness of disposition, yet nothing could be
further from Mr. Darnley's character, for he was affable, gentle,
benevolent, and humane.
His family consisted of an only sister, who, like himself, had lost
the object of her tenderest affection, but who, in dividing her
attention between her brother and his amiable children, endeavored to
forget her own misfortunes.
Mr. Darnley's fortune was sufficiently great to enable him to place
his daughters in the first school in London, but he preferred having
them under his immediate instruction, and as Mrs. Collier offered to
assist him in their education he resolved for some years not to engage
a governess, as Nurse Chapman was one of those worthy creatures to
whose care he could securely trust them.
An old friend of Mr. Darnley's had recently bought a house at
Rochester, and that gentleman and his sister were invited to pass a
few days there, and as Emily grew rather too big for the nurse's
management Mrs. Collier resolved to make her of the party, leaving
Sophia, Amanda, and Eliza under that good woman's protection.
It was Mr. Darnley's wish that the young folks should rise early and
take a long walk every morning before breakfast, but they were
strictly ordered never to go beyond their own grounds unless their
aunt or father accompanied them. This order they had frequently
endeavored to persuade Nurse Chapman to disregard, but, faithful to
the trust reposed in her, she always resisted their urgent entreaties.
The morning after Mr. Darnley went to Rochester the poor woman found
herself thoroughly indisposed, and wholly incapable of rising at the
accustomed hour. The children, however, were dressed for walking, and
the nurse-maid charged not to go beyond the shrubbery, and they all
sallied out in high good humor.
"Now, Susan," said Sophia, as soon as they entered the garden, "this
is the only opportunity you may ever have of obliging us. Do let us
walk to the village, and then you know you can see your father and
mother."
"La, missy!" replied the girl, "why, you know 'tis as much as my place
is worth if Nurse Chapman should find out."
"Find it out indeed," said Amanda; "how do you think she is to find it
out? Come, do let us go, there's a dear, good creature."
"Yes, dear, dear Susan, do let us go," said Eliza, skipping on before
them, "and I'll show you the way, for I walked there last summer with
father."
Whether it was the wish of obliging the young ladies, or the desire of
seeing her parents, I cannot pretend to say, but in a luckless hour
Susan yielded, and the party soon reached the village.
Susan's mother was delighted at seeing her, and highly honored by the
young ladies' presence.
"Oh, sweet, dear creatures!" said the old woman, "I must get something
for them to eat after their long walk, and my oven's quite hot, and I
can bake them a little cake in a quarter of an hour, and I'll milk
Jenny in ten minutes."
The temptation of her hot cake and new milk was not to be withstood,
and Susan began taking down some smart china cups, which were arranged
in form upon the mantelpiece, and carefully dusted them for the young
ladies' use.
Eliza followed the old woman into the cow-house, and began asking a
thousand questions, when her attention was suddenly attracted by the
appearance of a tame lamb, who went up bleating to its mistress with
a view of asking its accustomed breakfast.
"You must wait a little, Billy," said the woman, "and let your betters
be served before you. Don't you see that we have got gentlefolks to
breakfast with us this morning?"
Eliza was so delighted with the beauty of the little animal that she
wanted to kiss it, and attempted to restrain it for that purpose,
while Billy, ungrateful for her intended kindness, gave a sudden
spring and frisked away.
Eliza followed in hopes of being able to catch him, but he ran baaing
along into the high road.
A woman whose appearance was descriptive of poverty but whose smiling
countenance indicated good nature, at that moment happened to pass,
and, accosting Eliza in a tone of familiarity, said: "That's not half
such a pretty lamb, miss, as I have got at home, and not a quarter so
tame, for if you did but say, 'Bob' he'd follow you from one end of
the town to the other, and then he'll fetch and carry like a dog,
stand up on his hind legs, when my husband says 'Up' for the thing,
and play more tricks than a young kitten."
"Oh, the pretty creature," replied Eliza, "how I should like to see
it!"
"Well, come along with me, miss," said the woman, "for I only lives
just across the next field, but you must run as hard as you can,
because my husband is going to work, and he generally takes Bob with
him."
"Well, make haste, then," said Eliza.
"Give me your hand, miss," replied the woman; "for we can run faster
together. But there goes my husband, I declare; and there's Bob, as
usual, skipping on before."
"Where? where?" exclaimed Eliza, stretching her little neck as far as
she possibly could, to see if she could discern the lamb.