There were great festivities in the Valley of Mo when the King had a
birthday. The jolly monarch was born so many years ago that so every
one had forgotten the date. One of the Wise Men said the King was born
in February; another declared it was in May, and a third figured the
great event happened in October. So the King issued a royal decree that
he should have three birthdays every year, in order to be on the safe
side; and whenever he happened to think of it he put in an odd birthday
or two for luck. The King's birthdays came to be regarded as very
joyful events, for on these occasions festivities of unusual
magnificence were held, and everybody in the kingdom was invited to
participate.
On one occasion the King, suddenly recollecting he had not celebrated
his birthday for several weeks, announced a royal festival on a most
elaborate scale. The cream-puff crop was an unusually large one, and
the bushes were hanging full of the delicious ripe puffs, which were
highly prized by the people of Mo.
So all the maidens got out their best dresses and brightest ribbons,
and the young men carefully brushed their hair and polished their
boots, and soon the streets leading to the palace were thronged with
gay merry-makers.
When the guests were all assembled a grand feast was served, in which
the newly-picked cream puffs were an important item.
Then the King stood up at the head of the table and ordered his ruby
casket to be brought him, and when the people heard this they at once
became quiet and attentive, for the Ruby Casket was one of the most
curious things in the Valley. It was given the King many years before
by the sorceress, Maetta, and whenever it was opened something was
found in it that no living person had seen before.
So the people, and even the King himself, always watched the opening of
the Ruby Casket with much curiosity, for they never knew what would be
disclosed.
The King placed the casket on a small table before him, and then, after
a solemn look at the expectant faces, he said, slowly:
"Giggle-gaggle-goo!" which was the magic word that opened the box.
At once the lid flew back, and the King peered within and exclaimed:
"Ha!"
This made the guests more excited than before, for they did not know
what he was saying "ha!" about; and they held their breaths when the
King put his thumb and finger into the box and drew out a little wooden
man about as big as my finger. He wore a blue jacket and a red cap and
held a little brass horn in his hand.
The King stood the wooden man upon the table and then reached within
the box and brought out another wooden man, dressed just the same as
the other, and also holding a horn in his hand. This the King stood
beside the first wooden man, and then took out another, and another,
until ten little wooden men were standing in a row on the table,
holding drums, and cymbals, and horns in their small, stiff hands.
"I declare," said the King, when he had stood them all up, "it's a
little German band. But what a shame it is they can not play."
No sooner had the King uttered the word "play" than every little wooden
man put his horn to his mouth, or beat his drum, or clashed his cymbal;
and immediately they began to play such delicious music that all the
people were delighted, and even the King clapped his hands in applause.
Just then from out the casket leaped a tiny Baby Elephant, about as
large as a mouse, and began capering about on its toes. It was dressed
in short, fluffy skirts, like those worn by a ballet-dancer, and it
danced so funnily that all who saw it roared with laughter.
When the elephant stopped to rest, two pretty Green Frogs sprang from
the casket and began to play leapfrog before the astonished guests, who
had never before seen such a thing as a frog. The little green
strangers jumped over each other quick as a flash, and finally one of
them jumped down the other's throat. Then, as the Baby Elephant opened
his mouth to yawn, the remaining frog jumped down the elephant's
throat.
The audience was so much amused at this feat that the Baby Elephant
thought he would see what he could do to please them; so he stood on
his head and gave a great jump, and disappeared down his own throat,
leaving the musicians to play by themselves.
Then all the young men caught the girls about their waists and began
spinning around in a pretty dance of their own, and the fun continued
until they were tired out.
The King thanked the tiny wooden musicians and put them back in the
Ruby Casket. He did not offer to take up a collection for them, there
being no money of any kind in the Valley of Mo. The casket was then
carried back to the royal treasury, where it was guarded with much care
when not in use.
Just then a young man approached the King, asking permission for the
people to skate on the Crystal Lake, and his Majesty graciously
consented.
As it was never cold in the Kingdom of Mo there was, of course, no ice
for skating. But the Crystal Lake was composed of sugar-syrup, and the
sun had candied the surface of the lake, so it had become solid enough
to skate on, and was, moreover, as smooth as glass.
It was not often the King allowed skating there, for he feared some one
might break through the crust; but as it was his birthday he could
refuse the people nothing. So presently hundreds of the boys and girls
were skating swiftly on the Crystal Lake and having rare sport; for it
was just as good as ice, without being cold or damp.
In the center there was one place where the crust was quite thin, and
just as the merriment was at its height, crack! went the ice--or candy,
rather--and down into the sugar-syrup sank the Princess Truella, and
the Prince Jollikin, and the King's royal chamberlain, Nuphsed.
Down and down they went until they reached the bottom of the lake; and
there they stood, stuck fast in the syrup and unable to move a bit,
while all the people gathered on the shore to look at them, the lake
being as clear as the clearest water.
Of course, this calamity put an end to further skating, and the King
rushed around asking every one how he could get his daughter and his
son and his royal chamberlain out of the mass. But no one could tell
him.
Finally the King consulted the Wise Donkey; and after he had thought
the matter over and consulted his learning, the donkey advised his
Majesty to fish for them.
"Fish!" exclaimed the King; "how can we do that?"
"Take a fish-line and put a sinker on it, to make it sink through the
syrup. Then bait the end of the line with the thing that each one of
them likes best. In that way you can catch hold of them and draw them
out of the lake."
"Well," said the King, "I'll try it, for of course you know what you
are talking about."
"Have you ever eaten a geography?" demanded the Wise Donkey.
"No," said the King.
"Well, I have," declared the donkey, haughtily; "and what I don't know
about lakes and such things isn't in the geography."
So the King went back to the Crystal Lake and got a strong fish-line,
which he tied to the end of a long pole. Then he put a sinker on the
end of the line and was ready for the bait.
"What does the Princess Truella like best?" he asked the Queen.
"I'm sure I do not know," replied the royal lady; "but you might try
her with a kiss."
So one of the nicest young men sent a kiss to the Princess, and the
King tied it to the end of the line and put it in the lake. The sinker
carried it down through the sugar-syrup until the kiss was just before
the sweet, red lips of the pretty Princess. She took the kiss at once,
as the Queen had guessed, and the King pulled up the line, with the
Princess at the end of it, until he finally landed her on the shore.
Then all the people shouted for joy and the Queen took the Princess
Truella home to change her clothes, for they were very sticky.
"What does the Prince Jollikin like best?" asked the King.
"A laugh!" replied a dozen at once, for every one knew the Prince's
failing.
Then one of the girls laughed quite hard, and the King tied it to the
end of the line and dropped it into the lake. The Prince caught the
laugh at once, and was quickly drawn from the syrup and likewise sent
home to change his clothes.
Then the King looked around on the people and asked:
"What does the Chamberlain Nuphsed like best?"
But they were all silent, for Nuphsed liked so many things it was
difficult to say which he liked best. So again the King was obliged to
go to the Wise Donkey, in order to find out how he should bait the line
to catch the royal chamberlain.
The Wise Donkey happened to be busy that day over his own affairs and
was annoyed at being consulted so frequently without receiving anything
in return for his wisdom. But he pretended to consider the matter, as
was his wont, and said:
"I believe the royal chamberlain is fond of apples. Try to catch him
with a red apple."
At this the King and his people hunted all over the kingdom, and at
last found a tree with one solitary red apple growing on a little
branch nearly at the top. But unfortunately some one had sawed off the
trunk of the tree, close up to the branches, and had carried it away
and chopped it up for kindling wood. For this reason there was no way
to climb the tree to secure the apple.
While the King and the people were considering how they might get into
the tree, Prince Thinkabit came up to them and asked what they wanted.
"We want the apple," replied the King, "but some one has cut away the
tree trunk, so that we can not climb up."
Prince Thinkabit rubbed the top of his head a minute, to get his brain
into good working order. It was a habit he had acquired. Then he walked
to the bank of the river, which was near, and whistled three times.
Immediately a school of fishes swam up to him, and one of the biggest
cried out:
"Good afternoon, Prince Thinkabit; what can we do for you?"
"I wish to borrow a flying fish for a few minutes," replied the Prince.
Scarcely had he spoken when a fish flew out of the river and perched
upon his shoulder. Then he walked up to the tree and said to the fish:
"Get me the apple."
The flying fish at once flew into the tree and bit off the stem of the
apple, which fell down and hit the King on the nose, for,
unfortunately, he was standing exactly under it. Then the Prince
thanked the flying fish and sent it back to the river, and the King,
having first put a plaster over his nose, took the apple and started
for the Crystal Lake, followed by all his people.
But when the apple was fastened to the fish-line and let down through
the syrup to the royal chamberlain, Nuphsed refused to touch it.
"He doesn't like it," said the King, with a sigh; and he went again to
the Wise Donkey.
"Didn't he want the apple?" asked the donkey, as if surprised. But you
must know he was not surprised at all, as he had planned to get the
apple for himself.
"No, indeed," replied the King. "We had an awful job to find the apple,
too."
"Where is it?" inquired the donkey.
"Here," said the King, taking it out of his pocket.
The donkey took the apple, looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, and
then ate it up and smacked his lips, for he was especially fond of red
apples.
"What shall we do now?" asked the King.
"I believe the thing Nuphsed likes best is a kind word. Bait the line
with that, and you may catch him."
So the King went again to the lake, and having put a kind word on the
fish-line quickly succeeded in bringing the royal chamberlain to the
shore in safety. You can well imagine poor Nuphsed was glad enough to
be on dry land after his long immersion in the sugar-syrup.
And now that all had been rescued from the Crystal Lake, the King put a
rope around the broken crust and stuck up a sign that said "Danger!" so
that no one else would fall in.
After that the festivities began again, and as there were no further
accidents the King's birthday ended very happily.
_The Sixth Surprise_