chimney-swift shook in her nest, and the big fish in the Silver Sea
jumped out of the water.
If the Giant had spied Pease-Blossom and the nightingale it would have
gone hard with them; but luckily for them his wife, who was a
kind-hearted woman, saw them before he did, and upset the golden cage
right in his way.
[Illustration: STRAIGHT TO THE ENCHANTED WOOD THEY WENT.]
"The whole place is bewitched," thundered he, stumbling over the
cage; and in the stir which followed the nightingale slipped away
unseen.
Over the Silver Sea where the fish swam, over the hedge of thorns
which guarded the palace of the lovely princess, over the fields and
the fells where the dew sparkled, straight to the Enchanted Wood they
went.
"Who comes here?" called the fairy warder of the dell.
"Pease-Blossom and the nightingale," answered the fay; and great was
the joy in fairyland at their return.
"How long you have been!" said Quick-As-Lightning.
"How fast you have come!" said little Twinkle-Toes.
But as for Spice-of-Life he could not speak at all for laughing at
sooty Pease-Blossom.
Then Pease-Blossom made haste to bathe himself in the brook, and put
on his finest court suit of pink satin rose-petals trimmed with lace
from a spider's web; for the fairy queen had ordered a grand court
ball in his honor, and there was no time to lose.
A cricket band played merrily, the nightingale sang from a thicket
close at hand, and tripping and twirling the little folks went till
the cock crowed and the sun came up; and it was fairy bedtime.
In light of sun and light of moon
How different all things seem, oh!
Wake up, wake up, dear Sleepy Head,
'Twas nothing but a dream, oh.
But who can tell? Some other night
When mellow shines the moon, oh,
Perhaps we'll dream the dream again
And may that night come soon, oh!
THE MAGIC FLOWER
Once upon a time there lived a wee woman whose bit of a garden was a
delight to all eyes.
Such flowers as she had! And in the midst of them, green as an emerald
and smooth as velvet, was a grass plot with never a weed upon it. And
through the grass ran a garden walk as white as snow. Every one who
saw it declared there was no prettier garden in the king's country and
what they said was no more than what was true.
Early and late the wee woman worked to keep her garden fair and lovely
but in spite of all her care whenever the east wind blew it brought
with it a whirl of trash from her neighbor's dooryard, and scattered
it among her flowers.
Alack and alas, what a dooryard was that! Except for the trash that
was always upon it, it was as bare as the palm of your hand; and there
was a heap of dirt and ashes as high as a hillock in front of the
door. Everybody who passed it turned their eyes away from it, for
there was no uglier spot in the king's country; and that is nothing
but the truth of it.
Whenever the wee woman looked from her windows or walked in her garden
she saw the dooryard and many was the day when she said to herself:
"I wish I were a thousand miles away from it;" and if she made up her
mind, as sometimes she did, that she would trouble no more about it,
the east wind was sure to come with a whirl of its trash. Oh, it
seemed as if she were always cleaning because of that dooryard!
And what to do about it she did not know. She puzzled and planned, she
wished and she worked, but she had come to the end of her wits when,
one day, her fairy godmother came to see her.
"Never fret," said the godmother when she had heard the trouble. "In
your own garden grows a magic flower that can set things right; and if
you will only tend it and watch it and wait long enough you shall see
what you shall see."
And when she had pointed out the flower she went on her way, leaving
the wee woman much comforted.
She tended the flower and watched it and waited to see what she should
see; and while she was watching and waiting, the flower burst into
bloom. The loveliest bloom! Every blossom was as rosy as the little
clouds at sunrise; and the wee woman's garden was more beautiful than
before because of them.
"'Tis the prettiest garden in the king's country," said every one who
passed; and what they said was no more than what was true.
But as for the neighbor's dooryard it was as bare and ugly as ever.
The heap of dirt and ashes grew larger every day; and whenever the
wind blew from the east it brought a whirl of its trash into the wee
woman's garden just as it had always done.
The wee woman looked each morning to see if the magic of the flower
had begun to work but morning after morning nothing changed.
"It is long waiting and weary watching for magic things to work," said
she to herself; but because of what her fairy godmother had told her,
she tended the flower from day to day, and hoped in her heart that
something might come of it yet.
By and by the blossoms of the flower faded and fell and after them
came the seed. Hundreds and hundreds of feathery seed there were, and
one day the wind from the west came by, and blew them away in a whirl
over the fence and into the neighbor's dooryard. No one saw them go,
not even the wee woman knew what had become of them; and as for the
dooryard, it was as ugly as ever with its ash heap and its trash.
Everybody who passed it turned their eyes away from it.
[Illustration: WHILE SHE WAS WATCHING AND WAITING, THE FLOWER BURST
INTO BLOOM.]
The wee woman herself would look at it no longer.
"I will look at the magic flower instead," she said to herself, and so
she did. Early and late she tended the plant and worked to make her
garden fair and lovely; but she kept her eyes from the dooryard. And
if the wind from the east blew trash among her flowers she raked it
away and burned it up and troubled no more about it.
Summer slipped into autumn and autumn to winter and the flowers slept;
but at the first peep of spring the wee woman's garden budded and
bloomed once more; and one day as she worked there, with her back to
the dooryard, she heard passers-by call out in delight:
"Of all the gardens in the king's country there are none so pretty as these
two," and when she looked around in surprise to see what they meant she saw
that the neighbor's dooryard was full of flowers--hundreds and hundreds of
lovely blossoms, every one as rosy as the little clouds at sunrise. They
covered the heap of dirt and ashes, they clustered about the door stone;
they filled the corners; and in the midst of them was the neighbor, raking
and cleaning as busily as if she were the wee woman herself.
"'Tis fine weather for flowers," said she, nodding and smiling at the
wee woman.
"The finest in the world," said the wee woman; and she nodded and
smiled too, for she knew that the magic flower had done its work.
THE LIONS IN THE WAY[7]
Once upon a time three friends set out to go to the palace of the
king, which was known as the House Beautiful.
[Footnote 7: Founded upon the incident of the Lions in the Way in
Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."]
The king himself had invited them there, and that they might have no
trouble in finding the way he sent to them a scroll upon which the
path was marked so plainly that it would have been a hard matter to
have missed it. And to make assurance doubly sure he wrote upon the
scroll with his own hand, bidding them to keep to the path.
"Turn neither to the right nor to the left," his message said; "but
follow the path and it will lead you safely to the House Beautiful,
where I have prepared a place for you."
All their lives the three friends had heard of the wonders of the
king's house. Some people said that it was built of gold bright as the
sun itself, and others that it was made of gleaming pearl. Its windows
were said to overlook the whole world, and its towers to reach higher
than the sky. And every one agreed that there was naught within its
gates but peace and joy.
So eager were the friends to see it that they could not journey fast
enough to satisfy themselves, and from morning until night they urged
each other on.
The path by which they were to go was a narrow path, with a rough
place now and then, and now and then a briar or sharp stone upon it,
but for the most part it was a pleasant way. The travelers hastened
joyfully along it and all went well with them until, one day, they met
a man whose face was turned toward the land from which they had just
come.
"Good neighbors," he cried, "why travel you so fast? Is a house afire
or a friend ill; or does a feast wait till you come? Tell me, I pray
you, that I may sorrow with you, or rejoice, as your need may be."
"Rejoice, rejoice!" cried the three; "for we journey to the king's
House Beautiful, where a place is prepared for us."
But when the man heard this he shook his head sorrowfully as if what
they told him was grievous news indeed.
"I, too, had thought of going there," he said; "but that was before I
knew of the lions in the way."
"Lions in the way!" cried the travelers, looking at each other with
startled eyes.
"Aye, lions," repeated the man solemnly, "the fiercest and largest
that ever man saw. Their very roaring shakes the ground, and many a
traveler has been devoured by them, so people say. As for myself, I
have not seen them. To hear of them is enough for me."
"And for me," said one of the travelers; and in spite of all his
companions might do or say to persuade him, he would go no farther.
"The king's house may be beautiful as the morning and as full of
wonders as the sky is full of stars, but what good will it be to me if
I am eaten by the lions?" said he.
And his friends were forced to journey on without him.
As they went they talked of the lions in the way and the one said to
the other:
"Think you it is true, or but an idle tale?"
"True or not we shall pass in safety. Have we not the king's own word
for it?" said the other; and he led the way with such great strides
that his friend could scarcely keep pace with him.
On and on they traveled without stop or hindrance, till all at once
the air was filled with a great noise that shook the earth beneath
their feet and set their knees to trembling.
There was no mistaking what it was. Even though they had never heard
the sound before, they knew it was the roaring of the lions.
And the second traveler began to grow afraid.
"Let us go around by another way," he said. "Surely there are more
paths than one to the king's house."
And though the other spread out before him the scroll on which the
path was marked and read once more the message of the king: "Turn
neither to the right nor to the left but follow the path and it will
lead you safely to the House Beautiful, where a place is prepared for
you," he would pay no heed to it but turned away into a by-path and
followed it out of sight.
The other traveler was forced to journey on the path alone, with the
roaring of the lions in his ears and the shaking of the earth beneath
his feet. Nor had he gone a furlong more when just ahead he spied the
lions themselves. One on each side of the path they stood with flaming
eyes and yawning mouths; and at the very sight of them the traveler's
heart beat quick and sharp and his feet faltered upon the way.
But his faith in the king's word was greater than his fear. "Falter
not, oh, feet! Fear not, oh, heart! There is safety in the path. The
king himself has said it," he cried as he pressed on.
And lo! and behold, when he had come to the lions he found that they
were chained. Roar as they might and strive as they would, they could
not touch those who walked in the path that the king had marked; and
the traveler passed in safety.
[Illustration: WHEN HE HAD COME TO THE LIONS HE FOUND THAT THEY WERE
CHAINED.]
Beyond the lions stood the House Beautiful, with walls of gold bright
as the sun itself and gates of gleaming pearl. Its windows overlooked
the world, its towers reached above the sky, and of its wonders not
the half had ever been told him.
The traveler's place was prepared for him, and the king was waiting to
welcome him to his house; and he lived there in peace and joy forever
after.
THE END