“Don’t be afraid,” said the Shining One, in a quiet voice that made Barak
feel happy even in his fear. “Tell me what you can see following the
bear?”
“Yarra Yarra it is,” said the boy joyfully; “a deep swift river flows in
the track you make with your foot as you pass along.”
“And look in front of you now, what do you see there?”
“The sea, the beautiful sea,” said Barak.
“We will go on the sea to the Great Spirit who sent me when you called to
Him for help; but the bear, who only thinks of revenge, will be caught
between the river and the deep blue sea.”
And so it happened.
Barak was taken in the Shining One’s arms right up to the Great Spirit
who had heard and answered his cry for help, and the bear, who only
wanted revenge, was drowned.
Barak’s mother waited long for the honey. When she found no dear little
black son coming back to her, she followed his tracks until she came to
the tree from which the chase had begun. There she found marks of her
dear boy’s feet, and knew he had been chased by a big, big bear. There,
too, she found, where all had been dry and hard, a hole in the earth, as
if some one had thrust in their foot with great force, and from this hole
flowed water.
[Illustration: “FINDING THE FOOTPRINT OF THE ‘SHINING ONE.’”]
Barak’s mother followed the flowing water for many days, for she could
not go fast like the Shining One. At last she came to the place where the
water flowed into the sea, and there, on the seashore, was the big bear
quite dead and harmless. Far away over the seas was a bright, beautiful
light, and even as the lonely mother stood looking at it, the bright
clouds parted, there came forth the Shining One, and as he left the
golden glory Barak’s face shone out. He beckoned with his hand, and his
mother heard him say, “Come with the Shining One, mother; I am waiting
for you here.”
[Illustration]
FORGET-ME-NOT
[Illustration: “THE MAN IN THE MOON.”]
[Illustration: For-get-me-not.]
“Marie, Marie, go and make those boys cease their quarrelling.” It was
the old housekeeper who ruled over “Sunny Farm” whose voice could be
heard calling to Marie, her daughter, and the boys who were quarrelling
were the seven sons of King Olaf, who, wishing them to be strong sturdy
fellows, had sent them to live at a farm in the country, for they had
all been ill, and the sweet fresh air and pure milk and the outdoor life
would do more to make them strong and healthy than all the medicine in
the world. So said the Court physician (who perhaps was tired of having
to doctor such troublesome patients).
At first they enjoyed the free country life, but after a short time they
tired of it, and longed for the excitement of town and the palace. At
least, six out of the seven princes were tired of it, but the seventh,
Prince Charlie, wished he might stay there always. His days were always
full and happy, for, unless his brothers insisted upon his joining in
their rough games, he followed the farmer at the animals’ feeding time,
watched the chaff-cutting, and the hundred and one interesting things
at the farm, and when he was tired would go indoors and sit in the big
cool kitchen, where he was sure to find Marie, gentle, blue-eyed Marie,
busily sewing, or, perchance, reading a book. Marie always greeted his
entrance with a smile, and willingly read to him, or told him a story
while she plied her needle. To-day, however, the princes had insisted
that Charlie must join in their game, which consisted of each throwing up
a golden ball at the same time to see which could throw his the highest.
They all threw their balls at the same time, so, of course, it was quite
impossible to say whose went highest, and a great noise and squabbling
ensued. Such a noise that it disturbed the farmer’s wife in the kitchen,
so she sent her little daughter Marie to make peace amongst them.
Out ran Marie to do her mother’s bidding, but at the door she saw an old
bent man with a bundle of sticks on his back, and a wallet at his side.
He was listening to the great hubbub coming from the field where the
princes were quarrelling.
“Hey day! where away so fast?” he asked, as Marie was running past him
after having made him a deep curtsey.
“Mother sent me to stop that dreadful noise, but I know it will be hard
work. They are growing more and more disagreeable every day.”
She ran on, and, when she reached the princes, they were actually
fighting with their fists. The only one who would listen to her pleading
was Prince Charlie, who readily left his brothers and went with her back
to the house.
When they entered the kitchen, the old bent man was enjoying a cup of
tea. He looked up and asked how Marie had managed the quarrel, as the
noise seemed as great as ever.
“They would not stop, at least, I mean that six of them would not. Of
course Prince Charlie came away. He does not care for fights.”
“Ah, I’ll remember that,” said the Old Man, and that night, when the
princes were in bed and asleep, the Old Man (who was no less a personage
than the Old Man in the Moon, who had come to the earth for various
reasons) went to the bedroom where lay the seven brothers, opened the
golden ball of each (with the exception of Prince Charlie’s), then,
holding each of the six in turn by the hair with his magic tweezers, he
kept them suspended in the air until their size had become so small that
they could easily be put in their golden balls, popped them in, closed
the balls, and placed the six of them in his wallet.
All this had been done without a word being said to the farmer or his
wife. The Old Man came back to the room, and sat down again by the fire,
remarking that he would go to bed now, as the moon would be level with
the earth at four o’clock, and he must be there punctually to step in
and do his work. They had all risen to go to their rooms, when great
thundering knocks resounded on the door, and a voice cried—
“Open in the King’s name!”
The farmer hastily unlocked the door, and there entered Prince Claude,
the cousin of the seven princes. He was followed by several soldiers.
“Where is the King?” he demanded.
“In the palace, I suppose,” answered the farmer.
“The King is here,” said the Prince; “do you not know that the late King,
the father of the seven princes, died yesterday, and I have come to take
his eldest son back to the palace to be King in his father’s place?”
The farmer started to go to the room where the seven princes had slept,
but he was stopped by the Old Man of the Moon.
“You need not go,” said the Old Man, “it is too late. This evening, after
they had gone to bed, I did what your wife has so often asked me to do.”
“What was that?” they cried out together.
“Why, I took means to stop their quarrelling.”
Then he told them how he had done it, showed them the tweezers with which
he had worked the magic, showed them also the six golden balls containing
the six princes.
“There are only six,” said the farmer’s wife.
“Ah, yes, Prince Charlie ceased quarrelling when told to do so, therefore
he is still sleeping in bed.”
“He, then, must be King in his father’s place,” said Prince Claude, but
he did not mean what he said, for he had quickly formed the wicked plan
of doing to Prince Charlie what the Old Man had done to the other princes.
When every one was in bed, and the house quite still and silent, Prince
Claude went to the room where the Old Man slept, quietly took the magic
tweezers and the wallet, and in a very few minutes had secured poor
Prince Charlie in his own golden ball, and placed it with the other six
in the wallet which he then placed by the Old Man’s side again.
At six o’clock, when the farmer roused the household, it was discovered
that not only had the Old Man gone, but Prince Charlie had disappeared.
Prince Claude pretended he knew nothing about it, and soon gladly set
off for the palace, for he was the one who must now be King. Poor little
Marie went about her work very sadly, taking long walks when she had time
to do so, and asking every one she met if they had seen any one answering
to the description of Prince Charlie.
Almost a year had gone by, when, one day, as she wandered about further
from home than usual, she heard some one moaning, and going towards the
spot from whence the sound came, she saw a man tied to a tree, his face
all swollen and looking full of agony.
“Water, water, for the love of heaven, a few drops of water!”
“Poor man,” said tender-hearted Marie, and she soon brought him some
water in her hat from the stream near by.
“You do not know me,” moaned the man, “but I know you, you are Marie of
‘Sunny Farm.’”
[Illustration: “MARIE FINDING THE MAN.”]
Of course Marie asked her usual question, and this time she got an
answer. The man told her that he was Prince Claude. This she could not
believe at first, for he was dressed in rags. He told her what he had
done to Prince Charlie, how he had also gone to the palace, and had been
crowned King, but that his conscience had troubled him so much that he
had done many wicked and foolish things to try and forget his sin. He
told her, too, how his subjects had rebelled against him, and had driven
him away from the palace, and that robbers had set upon him, robbed and
beaten him, taken away his good clothes, and put those rags upon him, and
had then tied him to a tree, where, all through the hot day, he had been
in sight of the water, and could not get a drop.
“You have been very wicked,” said Marie, “but at least you have told me
where to look for dear Prince Charlie. I cannot cut the leather which
binds you to the tree, so, before I set out to find Prince Charlie, I
shall run back to the farm, and get my father to come and set you free.”
The farmer came, but long before he arrived Prince Claude was dead, and
all that could be done for the wretched man was to bury him.
[Illustration: “MARIE GOING TO THE MOON.”]
Not another instant did Marie lose. At once she set off on her long
journey to the point where the moon touches the earth. For days and days
she walked, begging food at houses by the way, and at last she reached
the desired point; but, alas! when she saw the Old Man and asked him to
give her back Prince Charlie’s ball, he told her that the balls were not
in his keeping, and the only one to help her was the boatman who ferried
a boat across daily from the moon to the stars, for the seven balls had
been placed in the sky as seven stars. They waited until the queer boat
came alongside the moon, and the Old Man helped Marie into the boat.
When the boatman heard Marie’s story and her request, he at once steered
towards a point where shone seven stars in this fashion.
[Illustration]
The one in the centre shone brightly, but those around it were dim and
gave but little light. “That is Prince Charlie’s, I am sure,” said Marie,
“the one in the middle;” and when she looked closely at it, she found a
little mark that Prince Charlie had made upon it one day. How she thanked
the boatman! But the boatman smiled at her sadly, for he knew that any
one once touched by the magic tweezers and enclosed in the golden ball,
could never be brought to life again.
The boatman rowed her back to the moon, and the Old Man helped her out
gently and lovingly. “Kind little girl,” he said, “you can never see
bonnie Prince Charlie again in this world, but take the ball to the
earth, bury it in your garden, weep tears of loving sorrow over the tiny
grave, and you will be rewarded.”
Marie clasped the ball lovingly. When she reached the earth again, she
set off at once for home, hardly stopping to rest or eat by the way, for
she wished to see what would happen when she buried the golden ball.
“Oh, my dear! my dear!” cried her mother, when Marie returned, “how I
have missed you!”
“Little one, you must never go away again; we cannot spare you,” said her
father.
“I shall never leave you again, dear mother and father; for all I love is
here now.”
She buried the golden ball in her garden just under her bedroom window,
and indeed she _did_ water the little grave with the tears of love, as
the Old Man had told her to do, and the next time he came to visit the
farm, she led him to the little grave, and, lo, it was covered with a
pretty blue flower which had a tiny golden centre.
“Ah!” said the Old Man, “did I not tell you you would be rewarded?”
“The blue eyes and the golden hair of Prince Charlie will never be
forgotten now; they seem to say to me, ‘Forget-me-not, forget-me-not,’”
answered Marie.
And ever since that time the tiny flower has been called “Forget-me-not.”
[Illustration]
THE PALACE OF TRUTH
[Illustration: “THEY CAME IN SIGHT OF AN ENORMOUS TREE, UPON WHICH GREW
GOLDEN APPLES.”]
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF TRUTH.]
There was once a King who had three sons, three such haughty sons, indeed
they were as bad as it was possible for princes to be. Their mother had
died when the youngest was a baby, and every one had petted and spoilt
them until they had become unbearable. At last the Queen of the Fairies
decided that if they were to do any good in the world as Princes, she had
better have a hand in their education. Tutors they had had until at last
there was not to be found any one in the Kingdom who would undertake to
teach them. The present one had given notice that he meant to leave, but
the Fairy Queen stopped that.
Their last day (for some time) amongst mortals had come. Oh, it had been
a terrible day for every one in the Palace! It seemed as if the Princes
had gone mad, and they had ended up by breaking every piece of crockery
in every bedroom, little dreaming what hard work it would mean for them
in Fairyland.
Night came, the three Princes were in bed and fast asleep. Suddenly they
awoke, hearing their names distinctly called. Each Prince sat up in bed,
gazing, in something like fear, at a lovely little vision, the Queen of
the Fairies herself. They were only conscious of a beautiful face, above
a shimmer of gold, looking sadly at them. “Princes you are called, but,
unless the Fairies themselves help you, you will never be worthy of the
title. You must come with me to the ‘Palace of Truth,’” said the Queen.
“Only give us one more chance,” they all said together.
“You have had too many chances already; get up and put on your clothes.”
They obeyed in silence.
“Turn out your pockets.” They obediently pulled out string, knives, and
other things.
“Stand up in front of me and look at me.” The three Princes fixed their
eyes upon the Fairy’s face. She waved her golden wand gently to and fro,
and, as she waved it over them, they gradually grew smaller and smaller,
until at last they were as tiny as it is possible for human beings to
become.
“Now I shall call my carriage, and you may drive with me.” She called,
her voice sounding like the tinkle of a silver bell, and in answer
to her call, there came through the open window a carriage made of
mother-of-pearl and drawn by butterflies. The drive really was
delightful, and when they found themselves rapidly going over the Black
Forest, they looked at each other joyfully.
“We have never been allowed to go near the Black Forest,” said Prince
Thomas.
“No, that was the one thing we could not persuade any one to let us do,
because it is haunted by hobgoblins and devils,” said Prince Richard.
“You are going there, now,” replied the Fairy, and to their astonishment
the butterflies flew down to the ground in the very heart of the Forest.
The three Princes got out of the carriage at a sign from the Fairy Queen.
She then told them that their education in Fairyland had begun, and they
must walk through the Forest until they arrived at the Palace of Truth.
She gave them each a present. Prince Thomas received a tiny
walking-stick. Prince Richard two small round stones. Prince Henry a
small box. The Princes thought these were stupid presents, but were
afraid to say so; only they determined to throw them away as soon as they
were alone.
All too soon the Fairy Queen drove away in her carriage, and the boys
in fear took hold of hands, and tried to feel brave, but oh dear! how
frightened they were! As long as they kept to a narrow path, which
seemed to go on and on for miles, nothing happened, but if they wandered
ever such a little way from the path, they heard growls and horrid
noises, and saw creatures glaring at them. So they kept to the path and
walked forward until they felt so weary that they really had to rest; so
they sat down on the edge of the path, in the shade of a tree, and as
they sat there they heard a curious grind, grind, grinding noise as of
two stones grinding something between them.
Their curiosity at last made them go to try and discover what the noise
really was, but, when they attempted to go near the bush from behind
which the noise came, they were driven back by the silly little Stick
that the Fairy had given Prince Thomas. It looked such a funny little
thing as it went hoppity, hoppity, hop on its one leg that they could
do nothing but roll on the ground and laugh, and then the silly Stick
stood bolt upright with its crook turned towards them, and somehow it
looked exactly like their last teacher. You see, it really was their last
teacher turned into a stick by the Fairy, and given this work to do.
When the Princes discovered the likeness in the Stick to the tutor, they
laughed more than ever—indeed they laughed until they could laugh no more.
As they lay very still on the ground, tired with laughing, they heard
the grinding sound cease. Prince Thomas jumped up quickly, and ran to
look behind the bush. This time the Stick did not attempt to stop him.
There he found three plates of bread and milk, three cups of coffee, and
three slices of bread and butter. How the Princes enjoyed that meal,
prepared by the Two Stones who, of course, were the two cooks from the
Palace transformed by the Fairy. After breakfast, they went on their
journey again, not because they wished to go, for indeed they wanted to
lie still under the trees and be lazy, but the Stick drove them along,
and, if one of them dared to go away from the right path, the Stick just
whacked him until he went back to the path.
All day they went along that narrow path, only stopping for meals, and,
when evening came, they were really tired and gladly followed the Stick
to the shelter of a bush, where, to their surprise, they found three nice
soft blankets. It did not take them long to roll themselves up snugly,
and they were soon fast asleep. I know you have guessed that the blankets
came out of the wee box given by the Fairy to Prince Henry.
For days and days they marched through the Forest, never seeming to get
any nearer the end of it. Each day was just like that first one—The Stick
compelled them to keep to the road, their meals were prepared by the Two
Stones, and their blankets spread from the mysterious box.
At last one day they came in sight of an enormous tree, upon which grew
golden apples, and, for the first time during their journey in the
Forest, they saw people. But were they people? they looked like it,
except for their noses, which were dreadfully long. Noses of all lengths
they saw. There was one man whose nose wound round his legs and tripped
him up when he tried to walk. “Keep away, keep away,” shouted this man,
“take warning by me; if you eat of the fruit of this tree, if you even
take a bite, you cannot leave off.” Even while he spoke, he kept on
grabbing and eating. Fortunately for the Princes the Stick kept strict
watch, and would not even let them go on the side near the tree, and when
they were safely past, he hopped behind, to protect any of them running
back to the fascinating fruit trees.
But soon they forgot all about the tree at the sight which met their
eyes. Straight in front of them was a beautiful Palace, built of pure
glass, and the narrow path along which they had journeyed for so many
days led up to the very steps of the Palace. Hoppity, hoppity, hop went
the Stick, leading the way. Open flew the door to admit them, but it
closed with a bang when they were inside. Hoppity, hoppity, hop went the
Stick down the big hall to a room at the far end, and when the Princes
went into the room, the Stick hung itself upon a nail by the door, its
work for the day being finished.
The room, which was to be their dining-room, play-room, and bedroom
combined, for many days to come, was clean, but very plainly furnished
with three beds, three chairs, a table, and an enormous cupboard on the
top of which stood a big Noah’s Ark. The Princes tried to open the big
cupboard, but could not; then they thought they would get the Noah’s Ark
down and play with that, but it was so far out of their reach that even
a chair held on top of another chair standing on the table was not high
enough to get it down. The Princes gazed sadly at the coveted toy.
“I wish,” said Prince Thomas, after some time, “I wish it would _come_
down.” No sooner had he uttered the wish than the little men and animals
all came rushing pell-mell from their Ark, and were soon on the table.
“What fun,” cried the Prince, “to play with things that can come to you
of their own accord.”
[Illustration: “THE TOYS RUNNING AWAY.”]
For some time the strange new toy charmed the three Princes, but it
was impossible for such spoiled boys to play together for long without
a quarrel, and a big quarrel began between Henry and Richard for the
possession of the camels. They quarrelled so badly that fists began to be
used, and only stopped when Thomas called to them to look at the funny
playthings, for they were all running away. Off the table scampered
animals, as well as Noah and the other men, and before the Princes could
stop them, they had climbed up the cupboard, gone into their Ark and shut
the door. No amount of coaxing could bring them down this time, and as
the top of the cupboard was quite out of reach, the Princes decided to go
to bed.
A real bed was very comfortable after having lain on the ground in the
Forest for so many nights. They were so excited with the strange Palace
and the wonderful Noah’s Ark that they could not sleep, so they talked
for a long time—at least, Thomas and Henry talked, but Prince Richard
shut his eyes and tried to sleep. His brothers’ voices kept him awake,
and by degrees the bed which had seemed so comfortable grew harder and
harder; really he was growing more and more grumbly, although he did not
know it. He turned from side to side impatiently, then, alas! a grumble
slipped out: “Bother this bed, it is so hard that I——” The sentence was
never finished, for the bed shot up on its end and sent Richard sprawling
to the floor in the midst of the blankets. The worst of it was that the
bed refused to allow him to sleep in it that night. There it stood up on
end, and the united efforts of the three Princes could not bring it into
its usual position. The other Princes invited Richard into their beds,
but as soon as he attempted to get in, the bed began to rise upon end,
and he was tumbled out.
“No use,” said Richard, “I know it is my own fault; I grumbled, so I must
sleep on the floor to-night. The Fairies mean to punish me.”
After breakfast next morning the Princes intended to play with the
animals of the Noah’s Ark again, but no amount of wishing would bring
them down from their resting-place, for morning is the time for lessons,
not for toys.
While they were still standing in front of the cupboard, looking up at
the Ark and wishing their hardest, the Stick came in and drove them out
of the room, down the big hall, and into a small room. There he left
them, and, as the door banged behind him, they looked round the room in
curiosity. It seemed to be full of dead flies, butterflies, and other
insects, and while they were wondering why they should be brought into
what seemed to be a burying-place for dead insects, the Queen of the
Fairies appeared before them.
“Princes,” she said scornfully, “these poor dumb things which could not
protect themselves were tormented and killed by Princes, who are not
worthy even of the term boy, which stands for bravery—and Princes should
be the leaders of boys, the bravest of the brave.” She looked terrible in
her anger. The poor Princes dared not utter a word.
She went on, “You had your ‘fun,’ as you called it, now you have got to
pay for it, and this is the price. Every day from morning till night, you
must stay in this room, and work at these poor little insects. Every leg
and every wing must be put on its owner’s body in the right place. When
all are ready, I shall appear.”