it was not so very long after the children had crowned him lord of the sacred tunkel until the golden hearted planned to have them all with him again. he made up his mind to spend his lifetime teaching because he thought that was the most useful thing he could do, but he was determined to make the lessons for the children as pleasant as possible. he and the wise men taught the older people how to divide the days into weeks, months and years, and how to make a calendar, and all about the sun and the moon and the stars, but this was too hard for the children. so he decided to take them up on the roof of the temple of the sun in the moonlight and tell them some simple pretty story about the sky at night.
in that country, the houses were built with flat roofs covered with red tiles, and there was either a ladder or a winding staircase from the ground, so it was not much trouble to get up on the roof. in fact, many of the dwellings had beautiful potted plants up there, and it was really a pleasant place to go of a warm summer evening. this night there was not a breath of air, and the children did not need anything on their heads 46 nor any wraps. only around the lower edges of the sky were there clouds and these were soft and white like big piles of cotton. the whole heavens looked like a bright blue veil thickly sprinkled with diamonds. it was very still and quiet and there were so many flowers in bloom that the very atmosphere was fragrant with them. in the mill pond close by the frogs croaked, and around the eaves of the houses the crickets and katydids were singing an evening hymn.
it was just a lovely night to go out and nearly every one was in the street. the doors and windows were wide open, and the people went about bareheaded and laughed and chatted to their heart's content.
"the goodness of this perfect night be upon my little friends," said the prince, when he came up on the roof of the temple and found a lot of children he knew. "i have invited you to witness the stars' ball to-night, but before we begin, i must introduce you to the most prominent ones."
then he pointed out the milky way with its millions of stars that looked like little pin heads in a band of light because they were so far away. below the handle of the big dipper, and off to one side was the north star. jupiter with his broad dark bands and tiny moons was there, and so was saturn with his three rings. over in another place was mars twinkling and batting his eyes as if he wanted to fight something. the dog star was still lower down and quite by himself. 47
"i will first make you acquainted with the big-faced, silver moon," said the prince. "she is sailing along as if she were in a great hurry, but there will be time enough for you to see the man up there if you look sharp about it."
the children knew there was not a surely man in the moon so they all laughed and clapped their hands and then threw kisses at the beautiful queen of the night.
"i cannot show you mercury, the messenger of the sun, because he is such a sleepy head he has already gone to bed. he never stays up long after the sun goes down, but he is an industrious little fellow and often gets up first in the morning."
the children thought that was a very funny way to speak of a star, but they saw the prince was in a good humor and they enjoyed listening to what he said.
"venus is our evening star," he continued, pointing to the brightest object in the western sky, "and she is winking and smiling at us. look closely now, and see if you can find her."
"an old-fashioned almanac"
when all the children had seen her, the golden hearted turned to another part of the heavens and said, "here is old father time, who frowns and scowls, and finally grinds the life out of our bodies." he was speaking about saturn because it rolls and tumbles one way while its three rings whirl around the other way, and all the people in olden times believed that the stars could give good or bad luck and could make our lives long or short. 49 there were a number of this kind of fortune tellers among the wise men, so of course the prince knew what they thought about the stars. the children understood it too, and when he pointed out saturn, they said to each other in a whisper, "it is the death star; let us hope it will not shine upon us nor upon those we love."
"if we have need to fear the master of time, we have every reason to love the broad-belted planet with its sturdy little companions. it has been rightly named 'the beneficent,'" said the prince—indicating the position of jupiter among the stars. "its children pop in and out behind it as if they were playing hide and seek."
for ages people thought that jupiter gave them good luck and made them wise, tender and kind. this is why the children said, "the big, white, shining star has a heart like our prince."
mars is the nearest planet to us, and he sputters and fumes as if he really had as bad a temper as these people credited him with. all the wars and troubles they had came from him, they said, and the children did not care to look at him very long. he gives out a beautiful red light, while jupiter is bluish white, and the dog star has all colors like the rainbow.
"now," said the prince, "i will show you the most important group in the sky. it is the pleiades, directly over our heads at this time. there are seven of these sisters, and the pale, dim one is the center of the whole system of stars because all the rest of them circle around her." 50
then he explained to them how each star and planet, as well as the earth, turns over and over of its own accord, besides going around the sun in a very wide circle. all the stars are wonderful tumblers and they spin around just like tops, and this whirling motion was what made the prince say that they were having a ball. when they twinkled and sparkled, he said they were dancing.
as soon as he sat down, one of the children got the sacred tunkel, and then some took hold of his hands, others held on to his mantle and still others put their arms around his neck and begged him to sing for them. he did not wish to refuse them, but he did not know any song suitable for the occasion so he made this up as he went along:
oh! the stars one and all
they had a great ball
one night way up in the sky;
they invited the earth
to join in their mirth
but it feared to go up so high.
no fiddler had they
their music to play,
and the stars were afraid 'twould fail;
but the man in the moon
he whistled a tune
and the comet kept time with his tail. 51
they danced and they danced,
and they pranced and they pranced,
till the moon said 'twas all he desired,
for his lips were so sore
he could whistle no more,
and the comet began to get tired.
so they faded away
in the dim light of day
the moon and the stars from the ball.
but, sad to relate,
next night they were late,
and came near not shining at all.
