TALE OF AN EVENING STAR

Ladies' Mirror, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 November 1922, Page 30

TALE OF AN EVENING STAR

by DEARMER MAC CORMAC

ONCE upon a time in the long ago, the bright-eyed daughter of the night dwelt alone in a great golden sky-castle in the West. At first she was very happy there, for the beautiful castle was filled with everything she could wish for, and, best of all, every evening, as soon as the sun had set, her stately gracious mother came to visit and talk with her. But presently she grew tired of being always alone during the day. “Can you not stay with me, mother?” she asked. ' ‘ “I cannot, daughter,” replied the

Queen, “I have work to do that I may not neglect.” “Then may I not go with you and help you ?” asked the Princess eagerly, “Dear daughter, no,” replied the Night Queen. “If you were to leave your castle the sun would see you, and wish to carry you off for his bride. Remember never to show yourself at evening at your great window till he has passed into the West, for I love you, and although he is great and good I cannot spare you to him.” The Princess promised to obey, but she was no longer happy; day by day

the great castle seemed more lonely, and each day seemed longer than the last. An then one evening the sun saw her as he looked back to see that all was well with the earth before he left it. He smiled at the little Princess, who peeped out so shyly from behind the glowing sunset curtains, and from that moment the Princess loved him. “The sun smiled at me,” she told her maidens, who came one by one to learn the cause of her joy. The maidens crowded lovingly about her. “And why should he not?” they asked. “You are the loveliest of all the sky Princesses. But here you are hidden and unknown; leave this dull castle, and go to the sun’s court in the East, where he cannot fail to see how beautiful you

are, and to Jove you and make you his bride." At these words the Princess forgot her promise to her mother; she thought only of the sun. "Yes, I must go," she said. "Bring my richest robes, and my crown, and girdle of diamonds, that I may be beautiful when the sun sees me." They obeyed eagerly, and the Princess had never looked so lovely. So she set out with her maidens on the long journey. The Lady Moon saw her and called a warning. "What will your mother think when she finds you gone?" she asked. HPHE Princess remembered her mo- ■ - ther with sorrow. ■ "But it is too late to turn back now," she said to herself, "and surely my mother will forgive me. when she learns that I am happy and beloved, as I know I shall be. I will send her a message." She went on, and her maidens went joyfully with her. But after a time they began to grow weary. "It is such a long way to the East, Princess," they said, "will you not stop now and rest awhile?" "I may not," the Princess replied. "I must reach the East before the dawn. Try and be patient a little while longer." The maidens tried to go on, but they grew more and more weary, and one by one they drooped, and fell asleep. Presently the Princess was alone, but she went on bravely. "I must be nearly there," she said to herself, and her eyes grew bright with hope. But she had further to go than she thought, and when at last she saw the gates of the Sun's palace, she was so weary that she could scarcely walk. She reached the gates, and sank down outside them. There the cloud fairies found her. They raised her tenderly and stroked her pale cold checks with their long, warm pink fingers. "She must have travelled far," they said. "See, her robes arc torn, and she has lost the jewels from her girdle and crown." The bright-faced sunbeams peeped over their shoulders. "How beautiful she is!" they cried. "Who can she be?" At this moment the great sun came through the gates; the cloud fairies made way for him. and he bent over the little Princess. "What is this?" he cried. "Why, it is the little Princess who peeps out every evening from the windows of the sunset castle. What can she be doing here?" The sound of his voice roused the Princess, and she stirred and sighed, and opened her blue eyes. The Sun smiled at her. "Do not be afraid, little Princess," he said kindly. "Do you want my help? Is there aught I or my servants can do for you ? The Princess made no reply; she hung her bright head, and the soft shy colour covered her sweet face. The Sun smiled at her again, for already he felt that he loved her. "Little Princess," he said, "stay with me and be my bride, and I will never cease to love you and make you happy." He took her hand and led her, blushing with joy, into his beautiful castle. He sent a message to the Night Queen. "Tell her," he said, "that I love her daughter, and. that we may all be happy together, I invite her to come and live in my kingdom." But the Great Queen was grieved and angry, and would not listen. "Tell the Sun," she replied, "that I will come every evening as of old to visit my daughter, but that I will not forgive him for taking her from me." And the Sun and the Princess cannot persuade her to change her mind. Every evening the Princess waits to tell her how happy she is, and to beg her to join them; but the Night Queen still refuses, and every morning the poor little Princess, pale and weary and sad, goes back to the Sun for comfort; for she loves him, and cannot bear to leave him.