A long time ago—the time when the fairies used to bethere was a country where the king was dead. And there was silence all through that country-and then there was a disturbance. This is why there was silence. The people were mourning, and thinking. In every house the people sat still. They did not speak, but they sat and mourned, and they thought to themselves, "Where shall we get another king? We do not like our prince, the king's eldest son. We would rather not have him for our king. Where shall we find the man who will be as good as our dead king was?" L. And why was there a disturbance? P. That you shall know soon. I am going first to tell you of some one who lived in that city. In one of the quiet streets there was a middling - sized house, with every one of the shutters closed. Many of the people inside were mourning, for the house belonged to a young man who was one of the late king's relations-he was cousin to the prince. If you had seen this young man, and had noticed his plain dress, and the plain furniture of his house, you would not have thought him to be related to the king. But the truth is, the royal family was very large, and he belonged to a branch of the family which was extremely poor. This young man was a poet, though he did many other things besides writing poetry. He used to study very much; sometimes he collected specimens of plants, and insects, and other animals, and gave them to his rich cousin. He was fond of doing good; so, when he found any knowledge, he used to give it to men of science to put in their books; or he would teach it to the artisans in the manufactories, and to the labourers who were engaged in the gardens and fields. And the knowledge which he gave to these people was such as they could turn to good account. "the This young man, or Poet," as the people called him, was known all over the city. He had taught those who lived in dirty houses, or wore dirty clothes, to be clean; and he had shown them how to improve their houses; he had even given some of the little money he had to help to build better dwellings. And when he found that the good men who worked, and produced good things, were ruining themselves by drinking bad drinks at the public-house, he asked his uncle, the late king,. for a piece of land. And with this land he made a park for the workmen and their children to play in; and when the winter evenings came he made places of amusement in-doors, where he taught them wonderful things from the works of God; and, in course of time, many of those who had children learned to stop at home, and teach the little ones about the new things they had heard of. So that all the old men, and the young men, and the lads of the city knew this poet very well. They had learned from him new and wiser ways of being happy than they had known before; even the little children knew the poet, for they used to sing some of his verses in the new schools that he had persuaded the people to build. You may remember that this poet had not much wealth. He gave so many of his days to learning, and to helping his neighbours, that he had not much time for making money. He had a little land of his own; he earned a little money by writing poetry, and by his learning; and he received a small sum every quarter from the prince for the services which I told you he rendered. Yet, though he had only just enough to support his wife and his own children, he was content, for he had greater pleasures than those which money can give. As the poet was so good a man, you may be sure he would mourn in earnest for the good king who was dead. When the disturbance which I spoke of came, he was one of those who heard it. one of his servants, coming to his private room: "there are strange news, outside." Then the poet listened, and heard a noise in the street, and went to see what was the matter. People were coming out from all the houses, and there was a great crowd. And when one of the crowd saw the poet and his household standing at their door, he came to tell them the news. "What is the matter?" said the poet. "Nothing, sir, only there is a strange messenger in the city -a curious-looking man. He is come from the fairies; and he says that his masters will arrive in this city before the king is buried. They are coming to put us all 'to rights'." What else does he say ?" asked the poet. "He says that he is an old servant of the fairies; and that he has lived with them ever since they began to visit men. He says, too, that they go about, through all the worlds, to make alterations. And then, again, he says that people are always changing; that they fall into a bad habit of calling things by their wrong names-so he and his masters think they are wanted here, and are therefore coming to-night." (Continued on next page.) IF you desire a length of days And peace to crown your mortal state, Restrain your feet from evil ways, Your lips from slander and deceit. A FAIRY TALE. CHAPTER II. THE COMING OF THE FAIRIES. AND when it was night the fairies came. But I cannot tell you of all the sights. How many rode in Oberon's car, and whether it was drawn by butterflies or lady-birds, I cannot say. How many thousands rode on dragon-flies, or how many bright lantern-flies, and fire-flies, and glow-worms were brought to illuminate the place, I cannot tell. How many wore cobweb and gossamer robes, or glittered in green and gold-how the court were decked with diamonds and pearls, and the fairies of the sea sparkled with drops of glittering dew, no one can ever relate. How the beauties of the peacock were surpassed by the emeralds of Oberon, and the radiant birds of Paradise looked dim by the side of Queen Mab, you could never imagine unless you had been there to see. Nor the beautiful music they made; it is of no use to talk of such sounds. Indeed, the fairies did not sing long, for the noisy hum of the people who had come from all the streets of the city to see the sight was so great that Oberon was obliged to command silence. When the whole kingdom of the fairies arrived, there was so great a crowd that I could never remember all their names. There came Oberon, the emperor; Mab, the empress; Queen Titania, Perriwiggin, Perriwinckle, Puck, Hobgoblin, Tomalin, and Tom Thumb, the courtiers. Then came the maids of honour, Hop, Mop, Drop, Pip, Grip, Skip, Tub, Tib, Tick, Pink, Pin, Quick, Gill, Jin, Im, Tit, Wap, Win, and Nit. These are the true names of the principal guests, according to the calendar. But then, the crowds that followed! The tribes of elfins and sprites; and other spirits of the mountains! There were Pea-blossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustard-seed, from Shakspere-land; the Peris, from the fairy-land of Persia; the Ginns of Arabia, from the land called "Ginnistan ; " the Water-nymphs and Mermaids, who drove their own dolphins ; and the smaller tribes, who rode on water-snails." To tell you all their names would be a very hard thing to do. Besides the good fairies, there were the poor Brownies, who were not fair, but brown-they were the drudges who did the domestic work, and all other laborious duties. And then there followed, afar off, the fairies who were not good-the imps, hobgoblins, and demons of discord and mischief: they did not dare to show their faces, but they hovered about, here and there, in a very uneasy manner; for they knew they were not wanted. But when "Order" was proclaimed they settled down on the ground. Then Oberon spoke "Mortals, be glad! We come with good intent. We'll give thee help, that thou mayest find a fit and pleasing king. Go, search throughout the city; find him who hath RICHES. The richest man is fittest to be king. Him shalt thou choose, and bring to us, that we may try him, whether the riches he hath be really his or not; and whether they be sound and true. To-morrow night we'll come to thee again." And that was all!-for when king Oberon had said these words, the fairies slowly vanished. And the people only knew that they were gone when the sound of the sweet songs they sang was very distant and soft, like gentle sighs. Then there arose amongst the people sighs which were aught but gentle. These sighs were very heavy, for the people mourned again at the words of the fairies. 66 Ah," said one, "I know whom they must choose; there is no one in all the country so rich as the prince." "The fairies," said another, "have made a mistake; the prince will not make a good king. He is gay, selfish, and proud; he is cruel too, but ". "But," said another, "the prince must be a happy man, for ever since he was a boy he has been trying to get rich, and he has always succeeded. He has gained more and more gold, and now he has all that he wants." news was sent to all the rich men in the country. The prince, also, heard the message that the fairies had left in the night. The prince said that, of course, he had a right to be king; but he respected the fairies very much, and, as he felt sure that he was the richest man in the world, he would abide by their decision. When the evening came, however, the prince would not go out to meet the company, for he was too proud to be very polite. He said that if they chose to call on him he would soon prove to them how rich he was. But the fairies were not rude. When the sorrowing people told them the prince's message, and hoped that they would not choose him to be king, old Oberon made no remarks-he good-naturedly called for his car, and set off for the palace; all his company scampered after him, the bad fairies keeping behind, and still hovering around, without venturing to approach the rest. When they arrived at the palace, Oberon told the people that they need not wait; he and his fairies would examine the riches of the prince, and would let them know their decision. Only the poet and one or two other relations of the prince went in with the fairies. I cannot tell you of all that happened in the palace that night. The prince prepared for his guests a great and splendid feast; he showed them his thousands of servants, his vessels of silver and gold, his halls When the morning came, the of marble, and his splendid gar dens and parks. Before the light of the morning began to break, he brought from his gardens the most luscious and rich-flavoured fruit for the fairies to taste; and most gorgeous flowers, of magnificent size and elegant shape. He had collected every kind of plant that grew upon the earth; and many rare and curious animals. He had large studs of horses, and elephants, and other huge beasts, with which he could make fine processions and shows for his own amusement. And when he had shown these things to his guests, he led them through his grounds, back to the palace. They were led over broad lawns and through groves; through cool grottoes and rosy bowers; they passed by cooling fountains and waterfalls; and along the bank of a broad majestic river; and the beautiful place that they saw seemed so like a paradise, even by the early morning light, that all the fairies sang songs of delight, to which the birds in the grove made answer, as soon as they were awoke by the sound. And when the prince reached the palace, he led the fairies through other and larger marble halls, up to his own room of state, which place filled the fairies with astonishment. The walls of this room were of gold, and so were the great arches and pillars; the large windows were made of ten-thousands of diamonds, while the floors were of hundreds of thousands of precious stones, all green, and blue, and red. But while the crowd of fairies were dancing up and down for delight, king Oberon seemed rather tired, and he asked the prince when he would be ready to show them his riches. The prince seemed much surprised at this question, but he replied, "Here are my riches! none in my kingdom ever had such riches as these." At these words a loud laughing was heard all through the room. The bad fairies were flying about and were mocking. They had heard the answer of the prince, and some cried, Ha, ha!" and one bad fairy Why, we have things 66 said, 66 like these!" At this the prince grew rather angry. He related to his guests all his immense possessions, and told them of his mines of gold in foreign lands. Then he declared he was sure that no one on earth ever had such riches as his. But the good fairies did not laugh; they looked in his face with pity, and Oberon said, "Poor man!" "Poor man," said queen Mab; "is that all you have? Have you nothing else to show? These things are not riches at all." Then the prince became very angry indeed. He said they were mocking him, and he asked if they had forgotten the splendid things they had seen. "These are the riches," he said, "for which I have worked all my life. I have got them nowthey are mine! When I was a boy at school I thought of these things, and said, I will be rich;' and when I became a man I said again, 'I will be |