[Illustration]
A long time ago--so long that it was ages before my grandfather was a
little boy, and long before his grandmother was a little girl--there
was, not far from fairyland, a beautiful lake, the waters of which were
so clear that as they sparkled in the sunlight they glistened and
gleamed like silver: and so it was called the Silver Lake. Beautiful
white swans sailed majestically on its surface, and thousands of gold
fishes swam in its clear waters.
On one part of the lake the most lovely water-lilies opened up their
white flowers, looking, as some people said, like tiny boats; but one of
the little girls I am going to tell you about thought they looked like a
set of green saucers and white cups, and used to call them the swans'
best tea-things. Now, in the midst of this Silver Lake stood the
beautiful island called Child's Island. Such a lovely little island as
it was had never been seen before, and I verily believe has never been
seen since.
Black clouds never came near it, for there the sky was blue and
cloudless always, and I am told that at night more stars might be seen
from that pretty isle than from any other part of the world; but whether
that is true or not I cannot tell. But I do know that its shores sloped
green down to the water's edge, that the brightest and sweetest flowers
bordered every pathway, that the roses were without thorns, and there
was not a single nettle in the whole island. I know, also, that the
grass was the greenest, the trees the shadiest, the flowers the
brightest, and the fruit the ripest to be found anywhere. As to the
animals, there were none but the gentlest kind. Little white mice went
peeping about with their wee pink eyes, pretty tame squirrels bounded
from tree to tree, and a herd of graceful fawns fed and played in the
meadows. Birds of the gayest plumage and sweetest song were there;
pretty poll-parrots hopped among the trees, crying, "What's o'clock?
What's o'clock?" In short, it was the brightest, merriest, sunniest spot
in the world, and I can say no more in its praise than that. All day
long the sun shone gently down upon the little isle, and the wind never
raised its voice above a whisper.
But, besides birds and butterflies, fawns, and flowers, there was
something else in this pretty isle. Now, what do you guess that
something was? Why, a beautiful fairy palace.
I call it a fairy palace, not because fairies lived there, for they did
not, but because it was the work of fairy hands, and was more beautiful
than any other palace in the world. It stood in the midst of a lovely
garden, but no wall or railing shut it in from the rest of the island;
and you and I, had we been there, might have walked across the green
lawn, and plucked some of the gay flowers, and gone up the marble steps,
without anyone saying, "Stop! You must not go there." Round about the
palace, in groups of twos and threes, were several little houses, all
very beautiful and all exactly alike.
[Illustration]
Now, I daresay you will think that this was a very pretty place, at the
same time, very strange; yet the strangest and, to me, the most charming
thing of all was that there were none but children in this little
island. They were all quite young, the eldest amongst them were not
twelve years old; they were the king and the queen, who, of course,
lived in the beautiful palace. And thus, because only children dwelt
there, it was called Child Island.
[Illustration]
Well, these little folks had nothing to do but to play; and a rare time
they had of it, as you shall hear; but perhaps you would first like to
know how it happened that they were alone in this island without any
grown people to take care of them. Then listen, and I will tell you.
The Silver Lake and Child Island belonged to the good fairy Corianda,
who was very fond of little children, and took great pleasure in
inventing games for, and otherwise amusing them. She loved all children,
but she was especially fond of those of Noviland, the king of which was
one of her subjects. She used often to slip on her magic veil, which
rendered her invisible, and go amongst the little folks of Noviland to
watch them at their play, or at their lessons, or to peep at them whilst
they slept. It was in this way that she found out there was scarcely a
child in Noviland but what was discontented with what it had, and sighed
for what it had not.
One fancied that Noviland would be the jolliest place in the world for
little boys if there were no lessons, no schools; but grammar and
spelling spoiled all. Pepitia thought that if she might wear fine
dresses like mamma, have a coach and six to ride in, and no one to
control her, she would be perfectly contented. The little Teresa sighed
for a land where there was no A B C, and Dorinda for one where toys grew
on trees, and no hard-hearted shopkeeper demanded money before they were
plucked. Herbert wished he lived in a place where there were plenty of
gay butterflies, and that he had nothing to do but to hunt them. Thus
each child had something to wish for, and something to be discontented
about.
I wonder whether there are children in any other part of the world who,
like those of Noviland, want what they have not, and grumble at what
they have? Do you know any? Ah, no! I suppose there are no other little
folks so silly, so I won't urge the question, but go on with my story.
When the good fairy heard all these murmurings, she said to herself, "I
will gratify these little people for a short time in what they want, and
we shall see if they will be happy then."
So she set her fays to work, and had built on Child Island the beautiful
palace and houses I have told you of. When all was ready, she and her
fays took the little grumblers out of their beds one fine night and
wafted them away, whilst still asleep, to Child Island, taking care, I
should tell you, to leave changelings from Fairyland in their places, so
that the parents might not be filled with grief in the morning to find
that their dear children had been stolen away.
The next morning, after the sun had dispelled the mist which always
seemed to hang about him before breakfast at Child Island, and he was
fresh and bright for the day, like little boys with clean faces ready
for school, the young strangers were all assembled on the lawn in front
of the palace, and the fairy spoke to them as follows:--
"My dear children, as you all fancy you would be happier if you were
quite free from control, and if you had nothing to do but to play, I
have brought you to this beautiful island, where you can amuse
yourselves all day long. You will have everything supplied to you, and
there will be no one to dictate to you. These pretty houses I give you
to live in. The palace is for the king and queen, and the other houses
are so precisely alike that none of you will be able to dispute as to
choice. You, Philip, who are the eldest boy, shall be king, and you,
Pepitia, who are the eldest girl, shall be queen. Be kind and
good-natured to one another, and I will always be your friend. Don't eat
too much fruit or cake, as that will make you ill. Now, come with me,
and I will show you the inside of the palace."
Then they followed the good fairy, in a merry crowd, up the marble
steps into the hall of the palace, and a grand hall it was, with its
rows of pillars and richly decorated walls. The fairy led them up the
staircase and through the royal apartments, which consisted of
drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, and dressing-rooms, where the
looking-glasses reached from floor to ceiling and the wardrooms were
filled with magnificent dresses. Then into the throne-room, hung with
crimson velvet embroidered in gold, and where, at the upper end, were
two golden thrones inlaid with precious stones and cushioned with
crimson velvet. The more they saw the more delighted the little folks
were; they clapped their hands with joy, and cried, "Oh, my! how
beautiful!" at least twenty times in a minute.
"Oh! shouldn't I like to be you," said Amanda to Pepitia, "you will be
queen, and have all these fine things."
After they had seen all that was in the palace, the fairy took them over
the other houses, all of which were elegantly furnished, but it would
take up too much time to tell you of all the beautiful things that were
in them. Just fancy how you would like to furnish a little house that
had drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and whatever you
fancy you would like to put there _was_ there, and even more than that.
No wonder the children were pleased.
After the fairy had shown them all the pretty things the houses
contained, and had allotted to each set of children the particular house
they were to inhabit, a crystal car, drawn by six white swans, was seen
to approach the shore. Then the fairy said, "Now, my little dears, I
must go, for here is my coach and six come to fetch me." So she kissed
them all round, bade them be good children, said she would come to see
them again some day, got into her car, and was soon out of sight, the
children shouting, "Good-bye, dear Fairy, good-bye," till they could see
her no longer.