The East Wind swept the Prince up in his arms and carried him across to the island,where the petals and leaves sang all the lovely old songs of his childhood,but far,far sweeter than any human voice could sing.Were these palm trees that grew there,or immense water plants?Such vast and verdant trees the Prince had never seen before.The most marvelous climbing vines hung in garlands such as are to be seen only in old illuminated church books,painted in gold and bright colors in the margins or twined about the initial letters.Here was the oddest assortment of birds,flowers,and twisting vines.
On the grass near-by,with their brilliantly starred tails spread wide,was a flock of peacocks.Or so they seemed,but when the Prince touched them he found that these were not birds.They were plants.They were large burdock leaves that were as resplendent as a peacock's train.Lions and tigers leaped about,as lithe as cats,in the green shrubbery which the olive blossoms made so fragrant.The lions and tigers were quite tame,for the wild wood pigeon,which glistened like a lovely pearl,brushed the lion's mane with her wings,and the timid antelopes stood by and tossed their heads as if they would like to join in their play.
Then the fairy of the garden came to meet them.Her garments were as bright as the sun,and her face was as cheerful as that of a happy mother who is well pleased with her child.She was so young and lovely,and the other pretty maidens who followed her each wore a shining star in their hair.When the East Wind gave her the palm-leaf message from the phoenix,her eyes sparkled with pleasure.
She took the Prince by his hand and led him into her palace,where the walls had the color of a perfect tulip petal held up to the sun.The ceiling was made of one great shining flower,and the longer one looked up the deeper did the cup of it seem to be.The Prince went to the window.As he glanced out through one of the panes he saw the Tree of Knowledge,with the serpent,and Adam and Eve standing under it.
“Weren't they driven out?”he asked.
The fairy smilingly explained to him that Time had glazed a picture in each pane,but that these were not the usual sort of pictures.No,they had life in them.The leaves quivered on the trees,and the people came and went as in a mirror.
He looked through another pane and there was Jacob's dream,with the ladder that went up to Heaven,and the great angels climbing up and down.Yes,all that ever there was in the world lived on,and moved across these panes of glass.Only Time could glaze such artistic paintings so well.
The fairy smiled and led him on into a vast and lofty hall,with walls that seemed transparent.On the walls were portraits,each fairer than the one before.These were millions of blessed souls,a happy choir which sang in perfect harmony.The uppermost faces appeared to be smaller than the tiniest rosebud drawn as a single dot in a picture.In the center of the hall grew a large tree,with luxuriantly hanging branches.Golden apples large and small hung like oranges among the leaves.This was the Tree of Knowledge,of which Adam and Eve had tasted.A sparkling red drop of dew hung from each leaf,as if the Tree were weeping tears of blood.
“Now let us get into the boat,”the fairy proposed.“There we will have some refreshments on the heaving water.Though the rocking boat stays in one place,we shall see all the lands in the world glide by.”
It was marvelous how the whole shore moved.Now the high snow-capped Alps went past,with their clouds and dark evergreen trees.The Alpine horn was heard,deep and melancholy,and the shepherds yodeled gaily in the valley.But soon the boat was overhung by the long arching branches of banana trees.Jet-black swans went swimming by,and the queerest animals and plants were to be seen along the banks.This was new Holland and the fifth quarter of the globe that glided past,with its blue hills in the distance.They heard the songs of the priests and saw the savages dance to the sound of drums,and trumpets of bone.The cloud-tipped pyramids of Egypt,the fallen columns,and sphinxes half buried in the sands,swept by.The Northern Lights blazed over the glaciers around the Pole,in a display of fireworks that no one could imitate.The Prince saw a hundred times more than we can tell,and he was completely happy.
“May I always stay here?”he asked.
“That is up to you,”the fairy told him.“Unless,as Adam did,you let yourself be tempted and do what is forbidden,you may stay here always.”
“I won't touch the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge,”the Prince declared.“Here are thousands of other fruits that are just as attractive.”
“Look into your heart,and,if you have not strength enough,go back with the East Wind who brought you here.He is leaving soon,and will not return for a hundred years,which you will spend as quickly here as if they were a hundred hours.