Part 15 (1/2)
”I wished to see the beauties of Norway,” he gathered courage to answer, ”and I found them greater than I expected. But who art thou, wondrous being, who venturest to stay alone in this solitude, with none save the ocean and yon stern rocks to bear thee company?”
”I am the sea-fairy,” she answered gravely. ”The golden evening suns.h.i.+ne, which streamed down into my castle, enticed me to the strand, as it has done many a time before. But thou art the first mortal that I have seen here for thousands of years.”
He did not answer, but gazed dreamily on her lovely form. In his soul the fairy tales of childhood shone dimly forth--tales of the crystal castle under the sea, and of the fascinating beauty of the sea-fairy; and now, could these have been no fables, but reality--sweet tangible reality?
For a moment he covered his eyes with his hand, and looked again. No, she had not vanished. The rosy light of the evening sun lay now on her white garment, and her beautiful form seemed still more lovely in this radiance. She rose slowly, and apparently with the intention of going away to the waves, when such burning pain came in the young man's soul that he took his hand from the point of the rock and stepped respectfully, but with firm tread, up to the beautiful lady.
”No, do not go,” he begged, raising his hand in earnest entreaty; ”do not go, thou vision of my childhood. But if thou canst not tarry longer here, then take me down into thy ocean kingdom. There is no one on earth to miss me; and now that I know that thou really dwellest beneath these waves, I shall feel an unappeasable longing after thee, as in the days of my childhood, when I lay for hours on the sh.o.r.e of my native land hoping to catch a glimpse of the pinnacles of thy castle.”
The fairy stood still, and her eye, blue and fathomless as the ocean at the horizon, looked in the young man's face as if to read his soul.
”Knowest thou what thou askest?” she said earnestly. ”If I grant thy pet.i.tion and take thee with me, it is for no short amus.e.m.e.nt, which thou canst leave when tired, and wander further at thy will. No; if thou go with me it is to stay in my kingdom, and only with thy life wilt thou be permitted to release thyself from thy vow. Consider it well. In thy veins flows the blood of a faithless race; but we are of a different nature. Ingrat.i.tude and faithlessness we punish severely, and our heart knows no weak pity for those who incur our wrath.”
”Try me, lady,” said the youth, with firm determination. ”Take me with thee, and let me serve thee and surround thee with love and obedience; and if thou find me faithless, spare not thine anger.”
”Come then,” said the sea-fairy, ”and forget not that it is thine own choice.” And Antonio, for that was the young man's name, walked joyfully beside the wondrous woman towards the waves. She loosed the star-set girdle from her dress, and gave it to the youth. ”Put it on,”
she said, ”that those beneath the waves may recognise thee as one of mine;” and he did as she bade him. Then she gave him her hand, and stepped out upon the sea, which grew smooth beneath her foot as a path of crystal. Antonio followed joyfully; the magic girdle prevented him from sinking, and when the sh.o.r.e lay a few steps behind them, the glittering plain opened and disclosed a gla.s.sy stair that led down into the depths of the ocean kingdom. Did he step down on them, or did they, rising upwards, offer themselves to his foot? He could not make out how it was, for, now that he was led by the fairy's hand and girt with her girdle, earthly laws had no longer power over him. He only knew that they were descending into the water with marvellous swiftness, and that the waves of the Gulf Stream, which flows with the warmth of spring around these coasts, played softly round his head and shoulders, while he breathed among them as freely as on the air above.
And when he looked upwards he saw the crystal steps break and form again into waves as soon as the foot left them, and above his head the sea heaved as was its wont, the great waves following one after the other with a glorious play of ever-changing colours.
Soon he stood at the bottom of the sea; and here there was nothing dark or gloomy, as we are apt to think, but all around the reflection of the evening sky lit the clear depths with golden light.
”Now thou art in my kingdom,” said the sea-fairy; ”forget not that it is the home of thine own choice.”
His eyes shone as he gave a joyful a.s.sent. ”His home!” And he would never long for another; of that he was quite sure.
They walked together over the soft, s.h.i.+ning, golden sand. Not far off purple trees rose on their slender stems, and sent their wide branches out on every side.
”That is my coral park,” said the sea-fairy; ”it stands in wide circles round the ocean castle, and keeps the wild waves far from this retreat.”
Soon they stood at the gate of the magic hedge, and the fairy laid her hand upon the rock. Suddenly an electric current seemed to stir the whole line of trees. Thousands of little slumbering creatures awoke, and stretched their tiny heads out of the openings between the branches to greet their lady. She, meantime, walked with Antonio through the intricate paths of the coral grove, till they reached the s.h.i.+ning plain where the castle of the sea-fairy stood. Its lofty walls were crowned by a glittering roof, over which the waves glided to and fro with softest music.
Antonio gazed in happy astonishment on the radiant edifice, which excelled in beauty all the childish dreams of which it reminded him.
”And may I stay here? and shall I never be obliged to leave this splendour?” he asked in a gentle whisper; but before the fairy could answer there was a trembling in the waves around. Over the transparent roof, and out of the shadows of the coral grove, came myriads of little star-fishes of violet and rosy hues, and played round the head of Antonio and among the sea-fairy's locks like b.u.t.terflies on a summer day. Then they fluttered away again, and lost themselves in the trembling dance of the waves.
The beautiful lady, still carefully keeping hold of Antonio's hand, walked now over the watery meadow which surrounded the castle with its gentle waves; and when she reached the high-arched portal the transparent gates opened of themselves, and the empress of the ocean entered her enchanted palace.
Antonio's eye was dazzled by the splendour all around. Hall after hall followed in brilliant succession, and over all stretched the high arches of the crystal roof, through which the evening sky shed its undiminished splendour. Warm and soft as the breath of spring, the little waves glided through these enchanted rooms and fell back with gentle splas.h.i.+ng from the crystal walls--now s.h.i.+ning like a flood of crimson, now azure blue, and now like liquid amber; thus they mirrored the changing play of colours in the fleeting clouds overhead.
The sea-fairy looked into Antonio's joyous face. ”Thinkest thou that thou canst forget thine earthly home here in my kingdom?” she asked graciously.
”Forget it?” he replied. ”If home is the fairest spot on earth, then I have only found mine now. Henceforth all other places lie eternally forgotten. But what is that yonder?” he asked, pointing to tall green pillars whose tops reached nearly to the crystal roof.
”See for thyself,” said the sea-fairy, and he moved by her side towards the last hall in which the graceful columns stood. And now he glides between their slender shafts, and utters a joyous cry as he looks up at the transparent dome, beneath which leafy tree-crowns waved, while little star-fishes gleamed brightly as they glided among the leaves.
”Palm trees!” cried Antonio, breathless with astonishment--”palm trees, such as I have heard rustling by the banks of the Ganges! This must be some delusion, some golden dream, out of which I must sooner or later wake. No, no, there are the tender lianas winding round the kingly stems, and there in the shadow lurks my lotos flower, the most beautiful of all the gorgeous blossoms of India!”
[Ill.u.s.tration: ANTONIO IN THE CRYSTAL CASTLE. F. C., p. 178.]
He dropped the fairy's hand, hastened forward, and looked into the s.h.i.+ning cup, whose purple streamers trembled in the waves.