spells of a mermaid that he was ready to give up his kingdom and follow
her into the sea. His councillors begged of him to leave her, the court
magicians tried in every way to break her spells, but they could not
succeed. While they were waving their wands and saying over their
charms, she lay on a rock out in the sea and laughed them to scorn. ‘Go
on,’ she said. ‘Keep him if you can. I’ll have his soul yet in spite of
all you can do.’ At last all the priests in the kingdom came together.
Each one took a great vase of holy water, and they walked entirely
around the island, sprinkling the shore as they went. The wicked
mermaid could not cross the ring of holy water. Day after day she lay
on the rock by the shore, calling and calling the Prince to come to
her; but the priests had done their work so thoroughly that he had no
longer any wish to go to the wicked creature. When she found that she
had lost him, she shrieked with rage and anger and pronounced seven
dreadful curses upon him. Six of them the priests could overthrow, but
there was one over which they had no power, because it did not affect
the Prince himself, but his first grandchild.”
“And that is our baby!” said the Queen, clasping the little Princess
closer in her arms.
“Yes,” replied the King, “and the curse was this: If she once looks
upon the ocean before the end of her eighteenth year, sorrow shall come
to her and to all who love her.”
The King and the Queen talked together sadly about what they should do
to save their little daughter. The kingdom was one large island. The
palace was on a high hill in the very middle of the island, and from
every room in the palace the ocean could be seen.
“Couldn’t we give up the kingdom and go somewhere to live far, far away
from the ocean?” asked the Queen, with tearful eyes.
“No,” replied the King. “There is no heir to the throne save our little
daughter; and if I should go away, there would be war. I have no right
to bring war upon my people even to save my child.”
All night long they talked and planned, and when morning came, they
hoped they had found a way to save the Princess. A band of white silk
was bound about the pretty blue eyes, and four of the most trusty women
in the kingdom were chosen to be the child’s nurses. These were the
orders that the King gave them:--
“Two of you must be with her by night and two by day. She must never
be left alone for one moment. The band about her eyes must never be
removed except at night, and then it must be replaced before the first
ray of light in the morning.” If the Princess passed her eighteenth
birthday in safety, each one of them was to have ten thousand pieces
of gold.
Year after year went on, and the Princess still wore the bandage over
her eyes. If she ventured to lay a finger upon it, she was punished as
severely as if she had been the child of a peasant; but in everything
else she did exactly as she liked. Whatever she asked for was always
given her and whatever she wished to have done was done at once. Some
princesses would have become haughty and disagreeable, but this one was
always kind-hearted and unselfish.
The King had made no secret of the sad story. Indeed, every one in the
kingdom knew it except the Princess herself; and the people loved her
so much that they were almost as eager as her parents for her to pass
her eighteenth birthday in safety. “They say her eyes are like stars,”
whispered the people; and gradually they forgot the many names that
had been given her when she was christened and spoke of her only as the
Star Princess. Wherever she went, she was guarded not only by two of
her nurses, but also by all of her father’s subjects who chanced to be
in sight. She had never seen the ocean or the sun or had even a single
glimpse of daylight, and yet she was the happiest, merriest little
maiden in the world. One reason for this was that she did not know that
she was at all different from other people. When little girls were
brought to play with her, their eyes were always bandaged like her own,
and they played only such games as they could play blindfolded. No one
was allowed even to mention the sun or the daylight or the ocean in her
presence. “Why do people never uncover their eyes until the candles are
lighted for dinner?” she once asked. And the nurses replied, “Because
before that time eyes are so ugly that no one can bear to look at them.”
One day she asked suddenly, “What is the strange sound that we hear all
the time? It is like murmuring and sighing and sobbing and singing.
Sometimes it groans and sometimes it almost laughs. Nurses, what is it?”
“It is your greatest enemy,” the nurses replied.
“It must be a dragon,” thought the Princess, and she asked, “Why
doesn’t my father drive it away?”
“He would if he could,” the nurses answered, “but it is stronger than
he. It never can come any nearer, however; so all its groaning will not
hurt you.”
As time passed and the Star Princess grew older, she asked more and
more questions. “She must be amused,” declared the King. He sent out
his orders and one morning a great troop of workmen appeared at the
palace with spades and pickaxes. They were to dig down, down, into the
earth, for there a wonderful ballroom was to be made which the King
meant should be the most beautiful one in all the world. The walls
were of white marble, and over them from floor to ceiling were most
exquisite traceries all made in jewels. There were trees drawn with
emeralds and beryl, beds of scarlet poppies made of the clearest and
most brilliant rubies; there were roses made of pearls and garnets and
topaz stones; there were forget-me-nots of the bluest turquoise; there
were violets of amethyst; and all about and among the trees and flowers
were birds of sapphires and diamonds. In this room the Star Princess
was always safe, for not a ray of sunlight could ever enter it. It was
anything but gloomy, however, for when the hundreds of candles were
lighted, it was such a blaze of brightness and color that one might
almost fancy it was the very home of the rainbows. It was no wonder
that people came from near and far to see the marvelous room, for there
was not another one like it in all the world. Here entertainments of
all sorts were given, for the King was ready to do anything to amuse
the Star Princess and keep her from being lonely or unhappy or from
asking questions that he did not wish to answer.
At last she came to the end of her eighteenth year. The next day, at
precisely four o’clock in the morning, she would be eighteen years
old, and then there would be no more danger. The King and Queen were
so happy that they hardly knew what to do. There was to be a splendid
ball, of course, on the night of her birthday, and they had busied
themselves in planning to make it the most brilliant fête that the
Island Kingdom had ever seen.
“But I should so like to have her all to ourselves on that day,” the
Queen had said wistfully. “Couldn’t we give the ball on the eve of her
birthday? She will be with us and with the whole roomful of dancers.
Nothing could possibly happen to her then.”
The King was not quite pleased with the idea, but he had finally
yielded, and the ball had been arranged to come on the eve of her
birthday.
Invitations were sent to the kings and queens and princes and
princesses of many and many a kingdom, and every one was accepted. For
seven days before the ball, ships whose sails were of cloth of silver
and cloth of gold were continually coming up to the royal wharves. All
day long the King’s golden chariots were going and coming between
the palace and the shore to bring up the guests. There was music and
feasting and merriment of all sorts, and on the evening of the seventh
day came the ball. After all were assembled, the King led in the
Star Princess. She was dressed in a gown of white, of some wonderful
material that glowed like opals in a soft, subdued light and flashed
like diamonds when the light was stronger. Her golden hair almost
touched the floor, and gleamed like sunshine. Around her waist and
her neck were rows and rows of pearls, and above her forehead shone
one diamond star. She was so lovely that more than one noble prince
said to himself, “She is surely a fairy. No mortal maiden was ever so
beautiful.”
Among the guests there was one who had not been invited, but who was,
nevertheless, the most welcome of all. He was the son of the greatest
king in that part of the world, but in his babyhood he had been stolen
away by trolls. He had just been rescued and was on his way to take
possession of his kingdom. When his ship came near the Island Kingdom,
strains of music floated down from the palace, and there at the wharves
lay the royal vessels of many and many a sovereign with the royal
pennants streaming in the wind.
“What does that mean?” the Prince asked.
“It must be a great ball,” replied his attendants.
“I never went to a ball in my life,” said the Prince; and he added with
a grim smile, “We did not have balls in the palace of the trolls.”
“Would your Highness wish to attend this one?” suggested his
companions, for they, too, had much curiosity to see what was going
on in the Island Kingdom. “Of course your Highness knows that there is
no court on this side of the world that would not feel honored by your
presence.”
The end of it was that the Prince, too, moored his vessel at the royal
wharves and rode up to the palace in the royal chariot, and received a
most royal welcome. He was presented to the Star Princess at once, of
course, and from that moment he could not keep his eyes from her. He
danced with her again and again. He seized every opportunity to talk
with her, and she was very willing to listen. He told her about his
having been stolen away by trolls. “But now,” he said, “I have a good
ship. The sea is calm, the sun is bright, there is a fair wind, and
soon I shall be in my own kingdom.”
The Star Princess looked puzzled. “I think I can guess what a ship is,”
she said. “It must be a little like a palace; but I don’t know what
the sea is or the sun.”
The Prince stared in amazement. “Why, the sun is above us and it gives
us warmth and light,” he said; “though I am sure it never shone so
bright as your beautiful eyes.”
“I have never seen this strange sun,” the Star Princess said. “Candles
give light, but how can there be any light without them?”
“Can she be out of her right mind?” thought the Prince. He said no
more about the sun, but began to talk about the beautiful room and the
jewels that were flashing and gleaming.
The Star Princess, however, had no idea of dropping the subject. “But
what is the sea?” she asked. “You said you came in your ship on the
sea. What is the sea?”
When the Prince looked into her clear, calm blue eyes, he could not
believe that she was not in her right mind, and he began in a dazed
fashion to try to tell her about the sea. “It’s water,” he said, “and
it lies all around the island, and ships sail on it.”
“Does it murmur and sing and sigh and moan and laugh?” asked the Star
Princess eagerly.
“Why, yes, I suppose it does,” replied the Prince, a little doubtfully.
“Then it must be the dragon,” declared the Star Princess. “Surely you
have seen the dragon. My nurses say that it lies around the island, but
that it will never hurt me. Is the sea a dragon?”
“Yes--no--the sea is just the sea,” returned the puzzled young Prince.
“I can’t explain it exactly, but if you should look out of your window,
you would see it, I am sure. It must be in view from every window
in the palace. Look out to-morrow morning at sunrise. The sea is
beautiful. It is dark and blue, it is like your own glorious eyes. I am
so eager to see them in the daylight.”
“Is daylight before dinner?” the Star Princess asked. “People’s eyes
are very ugly before dinner, you know; and that is why they always
wear bandages over them till the table is spread and the candles are
lighted.” Then the Star Princess was called away to meet some other one
of the great folk who had come to the ball, and she saw no more of the
Prince.
All night long and until three o’clock in the morning the dancing and
feasting and merriment went on. Soon after three the Star Princess left
the room, and her going was the signal for the breaking-up of the ball.
The Prince lingered, and when he made his farewell to the King and the
Queen, he asked if he might speak with them on a most important matter.
Of course they said yes, for of course they guessed what it was. Then
he told them that the Star Princess had won his heart, and he begged
of them to give her to him to be his bride. “I know well that I am not
worthy of her,” he said humbly, “but I will do everything in my power
to make her happy. At her slightest wish I will give my wealth and
my life as freely as you would pour out this glass of water,” and he
caught up a glass of water that stood on the banquet table and emptied
it.
The King and the Queen were glad and they were sorry. They liked the
bearing and manner of the young Prince, and they knew that he was the
sovereign of the richest kingdom in that part of the world. They were
glad to have their daughter become his queen, but it did seem hard that
they should not have her to themselves for a while after the time had
come when they could enjoy her without having to guard her and watch
her so carefully. At last the King said:--
“If it is the wish of our daughter, we will give her to you for your
bride, but you must first leave her with us for a year and a day that
we may accustom ourselves to the thought of losing her.”
Of course the Prince could only agree to so moderate a condition as
this. Then they told him the story of the mermaid’s curse, and that on
her first day of freedom no one but her father and her mother were to
see her; and he went away to wait impatiently until her birthday should
have passed.
Now when the Star Princess left the ballroom and went to her own room,
two of the nurses went with her as usual. She had little to say, for
her thoughts were all on the young Prince and his words to her. “The
sun--the sea,” she said to herself; “what can they mean?” Then she
remembered that he had said, “Look out of your window at sunrise and
you will see it.” Just what “sunrise” meant, she did not know; but
whatever it might be, she meant to look out of the window just once
before the nurses put back the band over her eyes. She said to one of
them:--
“Nurse, I am so thirsty. Will you get me some water from the north side
of the well that is on the north side of the palace.”
For a moment the nurse hesitated. Then she said to herself, “The
servants are not up yet, and it would be a pity to call one just for
this. To-day is her eighteenth birthday, and nothing can harm her
now,” so one nurse started to go down the stairs. The other nurse was
putting away the opal-like gown and the diamond star and the ropes
of pearls. She stepped into another room for a moment, and the Star
Princess quickly pulled the curtains apart and took her first look at
the sunrise and the sea. She gazed and gazed at them. It was all so
beautiful that she could not turn away, and when the nurse came back,
there she stood.
“O my Princess,” the nurse exclaimed, “what have you done,
what have you done!” Just then the bell on the castle rang,
“One--two--three--four!” It was four o’clock in the morning, and the
Star Princess was full eighteen years of age. Then the nurse thought,
“Ten thousand broad pieces of gold is a great deal to lose. It was only
a moment before the time, and surely no harm is done. Perhaps it will
never be known.” She concluded to say nothing about the matter, and to
the Star Princess she said, “I thought you must have hurt yourself, and
I was frightened. Now go to your bed and rest awhile, for to-day you
are to be happier than ever before.”
The Star Princess was so used to obeying her nurses that she went
meekly to bed and even allowed them to put the band over her eyes as
usual; but she was puzzled and confused. In that one long look she had
found that no dragon, but a thing more beautiful than anything she had
ever seen before even in her dreams lay around the Island Kingdom.
What could it mean? Why had she never been allowed to see it? What
was that glorious light that came up from the blue and was a thousand
times brighter than the candles? Over and over she said to herself,
“Sun--sea--ship,” but she could not solve the mystery. She lay as if
asleep until the time came to go to her father and her mother. Then she
heard the whole story of the wicked mermaid and the seventh curse. “Now
you are free,” they said joyfully. She took a hand of each parent and
roamed over the palace from garret to cellar, gazing from window after
window upon the glorious ocean and the deep blue sky. They went out of
doors, and she saw the trees, the flowers, and the birds. She watched
the rippling of the waves on the shore. Every hour was more delightful
than those before it. At last came the glory of the sunset, and she
exclaimed, “Oh, this is even more beautiful than the sunrise!”
“But what do you know of the sunrise?” her father asked gravely, and
she told him of her one look from the window. Both her parents were
troubled, but the Star Princess was so happy that they could not bear
to alarm her. Then, too, they said to themselves, “It was only a
moment before the clock struck, and surely no harm can come of it.”
So the happy day went on. When evening was fully come, the mother sat
with her arm about her daughter and the father told her very gently
about the love of the Prince and his wish to make her his queen.
“To-morrow you will see him,” said the King, “and if you are willing to
be his wife, he will come for you in a year and a day.”
It was easy to see from the face of the Star Princess that the Prince
would be welcome when he came. “We will talk more of this in the
morning,” said the King, as he kissed his daughter good-night.
The Star Princess went to her own rooms, and after her maids had left
her, she was alone for the first time in her life. She drew aside the
curtains and stood gazing upon the ocean in the moonlight. She listened
to its music. At first it seemed to murmur peacefully to itself.
Then she fancied that it sobbed and moaned. Then she heard clearly a
sweet voice that called, “Come to me, come, maiden, come to me!” It
was a richer, more exquisite melody than she had ever heard before;
and as she listened, she found herself answering, “Yes, I will come,
I will come.” She went softly down the stairs and out of the door.
Every one else in the palace was asleep, and no one hindered her. She
slipped down the hillside in the shadows and went nearer and nearer to
the shore. The voice still called. Sometimes it was low and gentle,
sometimes it was loud and strong; but whether low or loud, it drew the
Star Princess toward it as if it were a magic cord. She followed it
along the shore until she found herself on a steep cliff that towered
far above the sea. The waters beat upon the rocks at its base, the
breakers boomed and thundered; but out of all the wild uproar still
came that enchanting voice, calling, “Come to me, come to me, come,
come!” Straight to the very edge of the cliff went the Star Princess.
For a moment she thought of her father and her mother, of the Prince
who was coming in the morning to tell her of his love, and she drew
back; but the voice called with a bewitching sweetness and charm,
“Come, Star Princess, come.” She held out her arms and answered, “Yes,
I come,” and sprang from the edge of the cliff.
A triumphant howl rang out above all the roaring of the waters:--
“I have you now, grandchild of a faithless prince, and you shall pay
the forfeit of his falseness. You did not see the ocean for eighteen
years, but you shall see it now.” And the cruel mermaid, for she it
was who had bewitched the Star Princess and drawn her from her home,
laughed so savagely and unpityingly that the heart of the maiden almost
ceased to beat.
She was alone and in the hands of the wicked mermaid. “Oh, my father,
my mother!” she cried. “My Prince, my Prince, save me, save me!” But
the mermaid clutched her roughly and dragged her to the palace of her
son, the merking who ruled the waters for leagues around.
“Here is the grandchild of the man who scorned my love,” she shrieked.
“What shall she suffer? By what death shall she die?”
The merking looked upon the Star Princess. Her eyes were cast down in
fear, her hair was wild and tangled, her cheeks were pale, and she
trembled with fright, but even then she was beautiful, and the merking
said:--
[Illustration: “SHE IS FAIRER THAN ANY OF MY MAIDENS”]
“She is fairer than any of my maidens. She shall not be put to death
to-day. I will have her for my wife, and when I am tired of her, then
you may torment her and kill her as you will. Come with me, earth
maiden.”
“Oh, no, no,” cried the Star Princess. “Let me die! I will never be
your wife.”
“It is far too noble a fate for her,” grumbled the cruel mermaid. “Such
as she should not have honors like that. Will you be my son’s bride or
will you not?” she demanded.
“Oh, no, never, never!” answered the Star Princess, with a shudder.
“Then you shall be tormented with such tortures as you never dreamed
of,” cried the mermaid angrily; and she caught hold of the Star
Princess to drag her away.
“Not yet,” interposed the merking. “You know how to give hard tasks.
Give her a task or two, and she will be glad enough to be free from you
and come to me.”
“Tasks she shall have,” declared the mermaid, “and such ones that she
will plead and beg to come to you. Come, earth creature,” she called;
and, clutching her prisoner, she dragged her away to a horrible cavern
full of sea-monsters. To one of them she said, “Go with the earth
creature and do not let her out of your sight.” Then she turned to
the Star Princess. “My son’s throne needs jewels,” she said. “Go, and
within three days bring me ten thousand pearls.”
The Star Princess was in despair; but it was worse, she thought, to be
the bride of the merking than even to have the dreadful sea-monster for
a jailer, and she followed him meekly.
“Where do you intend to go?” he asked.
“Indeed, I do not know,” she replied.
“Then you may as well stay here,” the sea-monster said, with a horrible
grin.
“Oh, I don’t dare,” moaned the Star Princess. “What shall I do! what
shall I do!”
Even the sea-monster could not help being just a little sorry for her,
and he said grimly:--
“You can come this way if you like. It is better than staying there.”
And she followed him gladly, for anything was better than staying with
the merking and his mother.
As they went on through the water, she noticed a little sculpin that
seemed determined to go with them. It was ugly, indeed, but it kept
between her and the sea-monster, and she was grateful. Somehow she
felt that the little creature was her friend; and when it came nearer
and even touched her hand, she did not draw back, but was glad of its
company.
After a long, long while, the sea-monster stopped before a bank of
jagged rocks.
“There are the pearl oysters,” it said, “thousands of them. Perhaps
you can get them to give up their treasures.” The creature laughed
scornfully and added, “You can’t get away very well, and I shall take a
nap. Wake me when you get your pearls.”
The Star Princess was in despair, but as soon as the monster was fairly
asleep, the little sculpin had something to say.
“Star Princess,” he whispered, “I was once stolen by trolls.” The Star
Princess started, for her Prince, too, had met the same fate. “When I
was rescued,” continued the sculpin, “the troll was forced to make me
three gifts. One of them was that I should have the power to persuade
all honest creatures of earth, air, and water to do my will. This ledge
is covered with oysters, and I think they will gladly give you their
pearls.” He swam close to the ledge and spoke softly to the oysters. In
a moment pearls were falling like raindrops. The Star Princess picked
them up, and there were far more than ten thousand. She carried them
back to the mermaid, and the mermaid cried:--
“So you got the pearls, did you? That was an easy task. How did you
like your journey? You shall have another to-morrow.”
When the morning had come, the mermaid said:--
“I wish to know how many grains of sand there are on the beach that
lies to the north of my son’s kingdom. One of my creatures shall take
you there, and if you do not count aright, then at the end of three
days you shall lose one of those blue eyes that you are so proud of. A
wooden one is good enough for a girl who cannot use what she has.”
The Star Princess was put in the charge of a sea-monster far more
horrible than the one that had gone with her before. “I shall have to
show you the way to the beach,” he said, “but you’ll get no other help
from me, understand that.”
The Star Princess was in despair, for the friendly sculpin was nowhere
to be seen, and how could she ever count all the grains of sand on a
beach. When they had come to the shore, she took up a handful of sand
and tried to count the grains, but of course it was hopeless.
“You may as well kill me,” she cried to the sea-monster, “for I cannot
do this.”