"We have? Where?"
"It is the blue-and-white one over the sideboard."
"Oh! is that a magic plate? That was your grandmother's plate. Old
families used to value that kind of ware from China--I do not know why."
"Come with me, and take it down, for Sky-High knows the story of the
picture."
Mrs. Van Buren went in and took the plate down; and little Sky-High
said, "It is the mandarin plate of our country. In the plate you cannot
see the Good Spirit in the air, but it is there. This Good Spirit in the
air changes people into other forms when trouble comes, and they fly
away."
"But what is the story?" asked Lucy.
"There was once a prince," said Sky-High, "whose name was Chang. He was
a good prince; and there he is--the young man in the plate.
"And Prince Chang, the Good, loved a beautiful princess, as good as she
was pretty; and there _she_ is--the young woman in the plate.
"The prince and princess went to live on a beautiful isle, where was an
orange-tree--see--and there was an old mandarin who lived near--see his
house there--and he did not like the good prince and pretty princess
when he saw how happy they were on the Isle of the Orange-tree.
"So he determined to separate them; and one day, when he was very full
of dislike, he went towards the bridge that led to the Beautiful Isle to
catch them. But something very wonderful happened."
"Oh, what _did_ happen?" said Lucy. "I can hardly wait to learn."
"The Good Spirit of the air saw the grim old mandarin stealing away
toward the bridge to cross to the Beautiful Isle of the Orange-tree, and
he changed the prince and princess into two birds and they flew away.
See them flying there at the top of the plate!"
"I will give you the plate," said Mrs. Van Buren to Lucy; "for it was
your grandmother's plate, and her name was Lucy, and she would be glad,
were she living, to have you delight in a legend like that. It is good
to think that a loving Spirit hovers over us when evil draws near us--I
like the parable of the plate. I thank you for the story, Sky-High. Your
country has good stories."
"The story of the mandarin plate," said the little Chinaman, "is also
told in my country in a more tragic way; that the lovely girl is the
mandarin's daughter, and that he slays the lovers, and that it is their
souls that are seen flying away in the two birds. But it is the other
story that our scholars like."