(unlabelled)
“oh, how charming the rainbow sisters must be!” said ethelda, “and how i love to hear you tell these wonderful stories of the earth! do you know any more?”
“yes,” replied the guide, smiling, “a good many more, but what would you like to hear about?”
“won’t you tell us of how the sun princess happened to come to this world?” interrupted a dainty little moon maiden; “i really have never heard it exactly, and as we are going to visit her, perhaps princess ethelda will let us all hear about it?”
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“most willingly,” replied ethelda; “i know the wonderful story almost by heart, of course, but i never tire of it,” she added, looking tenderly at prince dorion the while.
so the guide, with this permission, began:—
“in the land of the sun there was once a palace of wisdom, where all the science in the universe could be studied. of course this palace of wisdom became very famous. far and wide it was heard of, so that from all parts came representative young men to study and become wise. now, the ruler of the sun lands was a powerful king, possessing many sons, but only one daughter, the princess kuldah. she was a maiden of wonderful beauty. her countenance was so exquisitely lovely, that all who looked upon her immediately fell in love with her. this caused the young princess, as well as her father, great annoyance, because her suitors became legion. one day, however, with the help of her maidens she wove a veil of delicate texture, which completely concealed her features. in this way, she was enabled to go and come throughout her father’s vast possessions in comparative ease.
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“notwithstanding her great indifference toward her lovers, kings and princes sought her hand in marriage, but her father (who adored her and could deny her nothing) was secretly well content that she chose none of them, but remained always in his dominions with him.
“tall and of majestic appearance, the princess kuldah looked the daughter of the sun king. her eyes were brown and large, with brilliant lights within, and her curling brown hair, falling below her waist, had caught a little of the golden fire of the sun. her gleaming white teeth looked like pretty little pearls when she smiled. indeed, she was a queenly sight as she drove in her handsome chariot toward the fire mountains.
“these mountains were a great range of gorgeous-hued stones, piled very high. rising in blazing splendor, they perpetually sent forth their red beams in dazzling streams of light across the sun country. but the heat and glare of her home—which would have burned and killed an earth maiden—were but life-giving elements to the sun princess. she loved the glitter of her country, and no glare seemed too great for her. the palace where she dwelt was built of the brightest, yellowest gold to be found, and she moved through it a splendid vision of beauty.
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“her favorite ride was toward the fire mountains. one morning as she drove the fiery steeds toward their flaming heights her horses became unmanageable. pull as she would, she could not control them; they went like the wind at his greatest fury. she had outrun all her companions in her mad race, and she was in the most imminent danger of being killed. at this critical moment there arose in her path a tall and handsome young man. the horses were as startled as the young princess at this sudden appearance, and for a moment, in alarm, slackened their speed. it was in this second of hesitation that the young man leaped into the chariot beside kuldah, and snatched the reins from her hands. it took but a few moments of his great strength to subdue the enraged animals completely, and in a little while they were trotting along quietly, as if nothing had happened.
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“then of course the grateful princess turned to thank her preserver. in her excitement (when she had lost control of the horses), she had thrown back her veil, and the young man found himself steadily gazing into her beautiful countenance. strive as he would, he could not resist the love that surged in his heart as he looked upon her. but although he was falling in love rapidly, he had heard too much of the haughty princess’s coldness and indifference to feel sure of winning her. he guessed at once it was she, because he had heard she was the loveliest being in the sun world, but he determined he would not yield to her influence and become one of her suitors. the princess’s own feelings, when she looked at the young man, surprised her very much. he was so modest and dignified, and withal so handsome and charming, that she could not help wondering who he was. he was certainly not one of her suitors, for she had never seen him before. this young man, too, seemed quite indifferent to her attractions, and talked to her very seriously about driving her horses, and showed her how to manage the reins in case they tried to run away again. she might have been just a plain girl for all the admiration he showed. at first this indifference pleased her; later she rebelled a little against it.
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“she learned he was a young prince who had been studying in the palace of wisdom. this astonished her still more, for although he had been in her country some time he had never sought her out at all. he had come to the land of the sun to study its fire and flame, and he was evidently absorbed only in that study. the princess was so astonished to learn all these facts, and to observe his indifference to her famous beauty (which was proved by his not seeking her hand in marriage), that she forgot to lower her veil, and sat talking to him much longer than she otherwise would have done. finally remembering, she covered her face, but not before she had asked him to call at the palace and let her father thank him properly for having saved her life.
“the young man secretly determined he would not accept her invitation, for he had already learned to love her, and feared the usual fate of her suitors. however, when the hour approached the next day he could not resist the temptation to see once more the lovely princess; after that he found many excuses to call, and managed each day to see her.
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“but the wonderful part of it all was, that kuldah took as much pleasure in his company as he did in hers. so later, when he asked her to marry him she said yes, right on the spot, fearing to delay, lest he might go off and become as indifferent as he was at first, and never come back again.
“he was very happy when she said yes, and thus far everything had gone very smoothly for them both; but when they went in to see the old king their troubles began. kuldah was wreathed in smiles, and prince minio looked very happy and proud. the old king, who had never supposed for one minute that his daughter would accept any man,—having refused so many,—had one day rashly promised all the suitors that, if she ever made a choice, they should each have a fair chance to win her. this, of course, was the cause of the lovers’ trouble now. the princess was indignant that her father should have made such a promise about her. she considered herself free to choose for herself. so she stormed and wept about it as only a sun princess could do, and declared she would never, never marry any man but the man she loved.
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“but her old father, who was so indulgent and yielding with her usually, remained firm in his decision, and said he could not break a promise once made, for that would not be honorable. therefore, the very next day he announced to everybody that a contest in skill and science should take place between the suitors for her hand. the princess was very unhappy, of course, during the days that followed, but prince minio cheered her by saying he felt equal to winning her in a fair contest. his love was far greater than that of the others, and therefore he felt assured he would learn a way to win her for his bride in spite of them all.
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“when the great day for the contest came, a large gathering of the suitors was held in an open field at the foot of the fire mountains. they were a fine and noble company of young men who contended for kuldah’s hand, and her father said she should have felt proud and glad at such a sight. but she was too sad to feel proud. she had dressed as became a sun princess, and her gown was of finely spun gold, embroidered in diamonds. her white arms and throat gleamed through the thin gauze dress, and a girdle of diamonds encircled her slender waist. from her shoulders fell a train, which swept for yards behind her, and a narrow gold band held her beautiful hair in place. for her hair hung about her in loose masses, falling far below her waist, and mingling its burnt-gold color with that of her brilliant dress, so that one could hardly tell where one ended and the other began. as she stood she looked like a golden princess, except that her face was as pale as the fleecy clouds overhead.
“in her majestic beauty she let them kneel and kiss her hand. each one, as he touched her hand, swore in turn to be faithful and true to the knight who should win her, but each one believed secretly he himself would be the winner. then began the tournament of skill. one showed how he could ride; another how he could mount and dismount, or how he could unhorse an enemy; a third used the gloves or the sword with wonderful dexterity; another engaged in a trial of strength, or swiftness in running; and so on until the long list was completed.
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“it seemed to the princess, as she watched in despair their wonderful deeds, that there was nothing left for her beloved even to attempt. the suitors had all done such marvellous things; and her heart ached within her when she learned from one of her handmaidens that her lover was the last to appear on the lists. yet, when he did step forth, calm and serene, her heart leaped again to her throat, her confidence returned; for he looked strong and handsome, and it was only with pride and pleasure she gazed upon him. she leaned forward with a smiling face to listen to his words, for he was speaking.
“‘o mighty king of the sun,’ he was saying. ‘i have one request to make of you before beginning my experiment. if successful in what i undertake, i want your consent to take the princess away with me from the sun lands. what i shall try to accomplish to-day is but the beginning of a great problem i wish to work out. it may take thousands of years to complete, and i wish to live in a land of my own choosing, that i may be able to accomplish it.’
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“the sun king, astonished at these words, hesitated to grant such a remarkable request, but the princess threw herself at her father’s feet, and added her pleadings to the prince’s. finally the sun king reluctantly consented; but the other suitors smiled broadly among themselves, as they heard the words, for no matter what the prince might do they believed he never could show more skill or wisdom than they had already displayed.
“having bowed smilingly to the king and kissed kuldah’s hand, prince minio turned to his competitors and said: ‘i have made a close study of the sun’s fire, and i am convinced that, no matter where this fire is sent, it will continue to burn and hold its remarkable glint and its quickening power. it will never be extinguished, but glow brilliantly for ever. therefore, my experiment in skill to-day shall be made from it alone; it will serve my purpose better than anything else.’ so saying, he picked up a huge bowlder from the fire mountain nearest him. the stone was so big that it seemed impossible for any one to lift it. but the prince gathered it up in his arms with a terrific effort, and balancing it perfectly threw it far out into the heavens. it bounded away and rolled into space with tremendous force, making a whirring noise as it dashed along. again and again he lifted out the big rocks and tossed them off in the distance. it seemed as if he would never tire of this remarkable exhibition of strength. hundreds and thousands of the brilliantly burning stones went whizzing through space, before the eyes of the astonished spectators. yet he continued, calmly throwing more and more stones, until the heavens fairly gleamed with millions of burning lights. thus were the star fires first kindled, and they were truly a magnificent sight, even to the sun people, accustomed as they were to splendid spectacles.
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“as the prince predicted, the stars have never lost their brilliancy, the sun’s power to warm and enliven all creatures has proved very strong and lasting, and those splendid, flaming signals light the turquoise-blue skies every night, even to this day.
“finally, prince minio selected with great care seven superb stones, even brighter than the rest, and threw them not quite so far from the sun. in this way they felt the sun’s influence more strongly; though they flew to a good distance they always revolved about their old home. whizzing and whirling continually, yet never flying away from the sun, they appeared to the spectators to be the prettiest of all the stars in the sky. then the prince, turning to the princess, who was bewildered with the joy of his brilliant success, bade her choose from the seven stars the one that should be their home. she chose what she thought the loveliest of all the seven, and they named it the earth!
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“the old king unhesitatingly pronounced prince minio the victor. for he acknowledged that, beside the great strength the prince had displayed in lifting the stones from fire mountain, the sun people had never before witnessed such a glorious sight as the star-studded heavens; and even the suitors, though much disappointed, consented in a manly way that he should take princess kuldah as his bride, saying he had fairly won her.
“shortly afterward a marriage of magnificence and splendor followed, and prince minio and his charming wife came to the earth to spend many years. the earth, owing allegiance to the sun, never loses sight of him, and though she continues to rush through space at a terrible rate, yet the sun king always sees her.
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“out of the white mist on the earth came trooping a wonderful band of little creatures to greet the sun people. they were very tiny; their skirts of silver glistened like the moonlight, and their jewelled wands sparkled like the dew. these little creatures were fairies, and ever after dwelt among the earth children, helping to beautify the world. they wander about us in the moonshine and are sometimes caught in the mist, but they can never come out in the sunlight. one of the laws in fairyland is to be in bed before the dawn. from dusk until dawn the fairies lead a gay life. they hold their revels, they dance, and they travel the world over, frolicking like mad sometimes, but only the moon’s white light shines on their silver dresses.
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“many other charming people adopted the earth as their home, for it was beautiful to live upon. the sun princess and her husband did not object to others coming to their home at all, only, as the strangers came in great numbers, they finally decided to set apart a great space for themselves alone. they reserved, therefore, a charming bit of country for the prince’s workshop, otherwise there would have been so many interruptions prince minio could never hope to accomplish his scientific work. charming as the earth people were, they interfered with the prince’s heart’s desire. therefore, he and his friends from the sun chose a wonderful valley which lay in the heart of a great range of mountains. the valley covered many miles of ground, and it had the most sublime scenery in the world. rivers ran through it, and big mountains rose suddenly in its midst. small silver lakes also shone like crystal mirrors. wonderful springs abounded there; boiling water came out of one, while from the next shot up cool and deliciously sparkling drops. they called the bubbling, spouting springs geysers, and people come from all over the world to see and study them.
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“after the sun people had reserved the country, the earth people never remained long on that spot; they recognized the law and accepted it, only making short visits to the marvellous place. sometimes, if one mortal, more daring than the rest, determined to live there, and built him a house, he was promptly punished, for the fairies at once opened a geyser directly under the carefully chosen home and destroyed it entirely. so this beautiful valley of yellow stones and brilliant lights and rushing waters is left to the sun princess and her people. it is certainly a valley of enchantment, for it is never very cold and never very hot there, but is an ideal workshop for a prince. the geysers and boiling pools are just the escaping gas and steam of his big furnaces; for the fires in his furnaces under the earth are kept burning day and night. it is all very mysterious. in one part he has a big hot lake, and in another an ice-cold one. the cold lake is shaped like a human hand, and near it is a big fountain that dashes up clouds of white spray, hundreds of feet high, flecking the green surface of the water with foam.
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“nothing can be more beautiful than this enchanted valley. the fairies are busy beautifying it all the time. they have painted the colors of the rainbow in the rocks, and the great canyon looks now as if millions of jewels were piled up there. for it is a bewildering mass of color. amethyst, topaz, and emerald tints sparkle everywhere, and when the sunshine pours down on it you feel as if all the wealth of the world must be hidden in the rocks, for they sparkle like diamonds and rubies. as the years go on the valley grows more beautiful, for the sun prince and his bride watch it by day,—and of course as the fairies have charge at night it is never neglected.
“when the sun prince has finished his great labors and solved his problem, of course, he will close his workshop, and with his lovely bride go back to their home in the golden palace of the sun. but until then his workshop fires will burn. the geysers and fountains will spout up great volumes of water and steam, making the valley one of the wonders of the world. and all the earth mortals who go there will be made welcome by the fairies.”
