HOW THE SUN PRINCE RESCUED THE MOON PRINCESS
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
In the meanwhile Prince Dorion, distracted with grief, was trying in
every way to dig down deep enough to rescue his beloved bride. But the
stones would not yield. He had seen his darling disappear in the hands
of the hideous black dwarf, and he often came to that place to mourn.
Night after night he visited it, hoping a miracle would restore Ethelda
to him there. But all day he searched the world for her.
The Earth, mortified by this outrage to her hospitality, tried to help
him. Her granddaughters, the mermaids, had sought information from every
part of the globe, but as yet without success. The Moon Princess had
disappeared from the face of the Earth completely. The year passed, and
sorrowful and sick at heart the Sun Prince bade his companions adieu. He
determined to abide upon the Earth until he found Ethelda. What was his
amazement, therefore, when the knights and maidens refused to leave him.
They would wait with him, they said. The loss of his bride had bound
them more closely together. The Sun’s rays looked down appealingly and
the Moon ladder glittered temptingly, but they bravely turned their eyes
away. They built a beautiful city near the Ocean, where they could see
the Moon ladder more plainly, but they had lost the right to climb its
shining steps, for the twelve months had expired.
Prince Dorion searched every day for his bride. He consulted a wise
witch living alone in a deep forest, but she shook her head sadly, and
always replied in these curious words:—
“Search as you please,
But not among trees
Shall the fair Princess be found.
Go from the water
To the Moon’s daughter;
There lies she in prison bound!”
Never a word more would she utter, and the poor Prince would puzzle
himself about how he could reach the Princess. But he continued his
search. He would often go to the spot where his beloved had disappeared.
A stately tree, as slender as the Princess, had sprung up there. Its
waving green branches swayed gently, and stretched out with delicate,
tender leaves. Its trunk wore the white and silver dress of the Moon
maiden, and stood like a ghost to mark the place.
The Earth people ever after called it the Silver Birch. At its foot a
beautiful little spring had bubbled up, and its crystal-clear waters had
formed a tiny stream that gurgled over the rocks, seeking to reach the
sea. In its shining depths he sometimes saw the Moon’s ladder, and he
fancied the clear blue eyes of Ethelda looked out wistfully at him. But
it was only the blue patches of sky overhead.
One night, sad and depressed, he sat beside the Ocean. The great
throbbing sea seemed to soothe him a little. While he sat there thinking
of Ethelda, and almost despairing, a mermaid floated shoreward. Resting
her beautiful arms on the white gleaming sand, she spoke to him.
“O, Prince of the Sun,” she began, “I have news for you—news of your
lost bride.”
“News of my beloved Ethelda?” cried the Prince, joyously.
“Yes,” answered the mermaid, “your Ethelda is safe and unharmed. I have
seen her.”
“You have seen her?” cried the Prince. “O favored mermaid, take me to
her at once.”
“Mighty Prince,” replied she, “I have come to show you the way. Do you
remember the bubbling stream you have often sat beside? It was formed
from Ethelda’s tears. Those crystal drops arose even through the rocks
to comfort you; but deeper down ran the stream, cutting into the Earth
until it formed a dark and gloomy river to lead you back to her. I found
this stream and followed it—straight from the crystal spring into a dark
and gloomy cave. There Ethelda lives and waits for you.”
A moment more and Prince Dorion was swimming beside the little mermaid.
They swam along the coast until a dark line showed them where the river
joined the ocean. And after many a turn and twist in the black river,
they reached Ethelda’s cave.
The Moon Princess sat within the vaulted Star Chamber alone. What a
radiant creature she was! Her silver halo surrounded her, and she was
chanting in a musical voice the pretty words which had caused it to
form. The Sun Prince’s eyes dwelt lovingly upon her, but he was amazed
to see overhead the stars shining in the clear blue vault of heaven.
“Ethelda,” he cried softly; and his heart leaped with love at the sight
of his bride, and bounding forward he reached her side. In another
moment she lay in his arms, sobbing and laughing for joy.
“Beloved, you are unhurt?” he questioned anxiously.
“Yes,” she answered, growing calmer. “I am unharmed; and in a way he was
not unkind. But he wished me to marry him, and so kept me in this gloomy
cave, hoping I would consent.
“See, beloved, even the stars above us he stole to comfort me and win my
love. Every shooting star that fell from the heavens was brought here
and placed in that high ceiling. They shine so brightly there that the
blackness of the ceiling seems almost blue, and sometimes I almost
believe I am gazing into the skies. But, beloved, nothing comforted me
in your absence. I have sat weeping here, forming this river of tears to
bring you to me.”
Prince Dorion pressed her tenderly to his breast at these words, and
whispered: “Dry your tears now, sweetheart, you will not need them
longer, for I shall take you for ever away from this hideous prison.”
Silently he carried her to the mermaid’s side, and softly they slipped
away.
But before Ethelda left, feeling herself safe again within her husband’s
arms, she slipped out of the Moon’s halo and left it in the famous Star
Chamber of the black cave. There it stays for every one to see, lighting
the room with its silver rays in company with the glorious stars which
the black dwarf stole and placed there.
Back again into the golden sunshine Ethelda came, and once more the
beautiful Moon shone down caressingly upon her. Freed from the black
dwarf’s spell, and with her loved companions, she soon recovered from
her long imprisonment, and was lovelier and more joyous than ever. She
had almost forgotten those trying days and the black dwarf’s cruelty,
but the Earth Queen had not.
Her Majesty summoned the dwarf and all his wicked followers to court for
trial, and he did not dare to disobey her summons. Ethelda and the Sun
Prince were invited to hear his sentence; and an awful punishment it was
that was put upon him. He was condemned to live always in the dark cave
where he had kept Ethelda prisoner. With his followers he would never
again be allowed to see the Sun or the Moon; never again could he behold
the face of the Earth.
The Moon Princess shuddered as she heard the dreadful sentence, for to
her darkness was the worst of punishments. She turned to the Earth Queen
and said impulsively: “Oh, your Majesty, be not so cruel! Sentence them
to anything rather than eternal darkness.”
So the Earth Queen, listening to the tender pleadings of the gentle Moon
maiden, relented; but still the dwarf’s crime must not be dealt with
lightly. She consented, however, to allow the culprits to see the Sun
and the Moon, but they were destined to become the slaves of the
mermaids, and live always in the water. Then, fearing they might forget
they were put into the water to expiate their crime (for the mermaids
were kind-hearted and good), she changed them into fishes, and marked
every one with the shining colors of the Sun and Moon. Even now, if you
notice carefully the pretty fish swimming in the sparkling water, you
will see the fiery red color of the sun blending with the delicate
silver tints of the moon. These markings of gold and silver they must
carry for ever as evidence of their slavery, and in punishment of their
wicked deed. In other respects they are not unhappy.
Ethelda and the Sun Prince dwelt always after upon the Earth, but they
loved it, as you know. The Moon Mother, looking down and seeing their
joy, and how contented they were, gradually became reconciled to their
remaining. As a proof of her forgiveness and friendliness to them and
their descendants, she has left the Moon ladder down. She has never
taken it away since the night the bridal party walked down its
shimmering silver stairs. Every night, between the mystic hours of dusk
and the rosy dawn, somewhere in the heavens, that splendid white palace
is shining, and its bright ladder is stretching down in a flood of
glory.
Since then, maybe (who knows?) other Moon maidens have walked down those
jewelled steps to a honeymoon on the Earth.
THE END.
[Illustration: (unlabelled)]
_Mrs. Harrison’s Previous Successful Fairy Books_
Prince Silverwings, and Other Fairy Tales. _Fourth Edition._
The Star Fairies, and Other Tales. _Second Edition._
Both volumes illustrated in color by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Small 4to,
$1.25 _net_.
A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers, Chicago.
_By Edith Ogden Harrison, Author of
“The Moon Princess”_
Prince Silverwings
_and Other Fairy Tales_
THIRD EDITION
Mrs. Harrison made her literary _debut_ in this very attractive volume,
which is of the kind that is sure to be always popular. There are seven
stories in the book, and they are all told in a singularly direct and
unaffected manner, with the engaging simplicity that is so appreciated
by young readers. The pictures by Mrs. Perkins are in delicate tints,
and show a charming fancy and imagination.
“The stories are set forth in simple and serene English. They have a
great deal of prettiness, and a delicate fancy wavers over them as the
sun glints on a wall. The book is in pictorial ways extraordinary ...
delicately colored, exquisitely executed fancies that make palpable the
illusive dreams of fairy land.”—_Chicago Tribune._
_Illustrations in Color by Lucy Fitch Perkins_
$1.25 Net
A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers
_By Edith Ogden Harrison, Author of
“The Moon Princess”_
The Star Fairies
_and Other Tales_
Mrs. Harrison’s first book, “Prince Silverwings,” captured the public
completely because it was, in a way, a revival of the old-fashioned
fairy book, the simple little tales that young children really enjoy.
This second collection of stories is written with the same idea of
pleasing the smallest of readers,—direct, simple language and always, of
course, the “happy ending.” The book is dedicated to “the little readers
of ‘Prince Silverwings,’” and they are sure to find it quite as
delightful as that charming collection. Mrs. Perkins’ pictures are
original and artistic in coloring, and go admirably with the text.
“The child who has not known the delight of an acquaintance with the
bright little twinkling sky fairies may be introduced by these dainty
little tales unearthed by Mrs. Harrison. The illustrations are exquisite
little mural plates by Lucy Fitch Perkins, and the cover design and its
treatment are very attractive.”—_Chicago Evening Post._
_Illustrations in Color by Lucy Fitch Perkins_
$1.25 Net
A. C. McClurg & Co., Publishers
Transcriber’s Notes
--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
domain in the country of publication.
--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard (or amusing)
spellings and dialect unchanged.
--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
End of Project Gutenberg's The Moon Princess, by Edith Ogden Harrison