Fairy dreams or, Wanderings in Elf-land
the corner, which served him for a pantry, and taking a wooden platter
with the remains of a broiled fish upon it. This he set upon the table
in front of the gray cat, who, first rubbing herself with a melodious
purr against his hand, applied herself to the fish, and daintily eat
some of the best pieces, then drank a little water which Ernest offered
her with an apology for having no milk to give, which he said he had
heard ladies of her degree were very fond of. “But,” as he said, “since
I not only have no milk, but never saw it, or even the cows and goats
which give it, I am very glad to see that your highness can drink
water.”
The cat, having finished her meal, leaped softly to the floor, and,
after walking slowly round the room, looking attentively at every
thing in it, she sprang gracefully into Ernest’s arm-chair (which was
indeed the only chair in the whole house), and, seating herself upright
in the middle of the cushion, began to wash her face and paws with her
little red tongue.
“That’s right, my queen, don’t be ceremonious,” said Ernest, laughing
aloud. “To be sure you have left me nothing to sit on except this log
of wood, but then you are company, and should have the best. Pray make
yourself entirely at home. I am very sorry I have no fine napkin to
offer you to wipe those pretty paws upon now that you have washed them,
but perhaps you can dry them by the fire. Let me make it up.”
So Ernest threw some more wood upon the fire; and then, seating himself
upon a great block in the opposite chimney corner, leaned his elbows
upon his knees and took an attentive survey of his visitor, who, having
completed her toilet, sat regarding the fire with half-closed eyes,
purring softly a little tune of her own composition, and beating time
with her long tail.
She was a very pretty cat, with fur of a rich dark gray, except her
paws and face, which were pure white, and a crown or circle about her
head, of an indescribable glittering appearance. It was this crown-like
circle which had induced Ernest to call her highness and queen.
After looking at her a while, the young man reached across the fire,
and, taking the cat gently up, placed her in his lap and began to
smoothe her rich fur and fondle her, but in spite of all his endeavors
to hold her, Pussy glided from his grasp, and with noiseless leap
regained her position in the easy-chair.
“You don’t like familiarity--mustn’t be handled, eh?” said Ernest.
“Your majesty is very unkind, I think; but perhaps when we are better
acquainted----”
Ernest stopped thunderstruck. It was just twelve o’clock, although he
did not know it; and at the moment when the clock, had there been one,
would have struck the hour, a cloud of golden sparks rose from the
circlet upon the cat’s head and filled the whole room, so that Ernest
closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.
In a moment, however, he looked up and rubbed his eyes. The flaming
sparks no longer blinded him, but still he doubted his own sight, for
there before him, there where a moment before he had seen the gray
cat, he now beheld, seated in his old arm-chair, as if on a throne,
a beautiful and majestic woman, in the first bloom of youth and
loveliness.
Her long, wide dress, which flowed upon the ground at each side, was a
rich, soft velvet of a beautiful silver-gray color, and from its loose
sleeves and beneath its hem peeped the smallest and whitest of hands
and feet. The beautiful face was surrounded by long, dark hair, and in
a circle about the head was the glittering, crown-like appearance which
Ernest had noticed on the cat’s head. It did not seem of any substance,
like gold, for instance, but merely light and color. The large,
light-colored eyes of the beautiful stranger were fixed anxiously upon
Ernest, as if waiting for him to speak.
At last he stammered out:
“Are you--can it be--but it was a cat!”
“Yes, it was a cat,” replied the sweetest voice in the world, “but it
was also me, Ernest. I am the princess Phelia, only daughter of the
king of Catland. All my race have the privilege of assuming at will the
human form or the cat form. The nobility and royalty generally appear
as men and women, only assuming the cat form in play or as a disguise;
but vast numbers of our subjects of the inferior order retain the cat
form altogether, and as such live unsuspected among men.
“As for me, I never was degraded from the human form until in an
unhappy hour I wandered from my father’s kingdom into that of our
neighbor, the Gold King. Here I met his daughter Oriphera, who is an
enchantress, and of a very bad disposition. She hated me beside,
because she had heard that I was more beautiful than she. So snatching
from my head the crown which I always wore as a badge of my rank, she
threw some water in my face and said:
“‘Take your cat form, you miserable Pussy, and retain it for the rest
of your life, except during the half hour between twelve and one
o’clock on Halloween. You never shall be released from this spell
unless you can find a young man twenty-five years of age, who has never
looked on woman’s face, although free to go wherever he chooses, and
who shall be able to take from me this crown, and replace it on your
head before two years from this day.’
“As she finished she threw some more water upon me (I never
_could_ bear to be wet), and with a mew of grief and anger I ran
away as fast as I could go. Of course I could not present myself at
my father’s court in such a disguise,--I, who had always taken pride
in being as un-cat-like in my demeanor as possible; and so I wandered
uneasily about the world, looking for the wonderful youth, who,
although at perfect liberty to do so, had never looked upon a woman’s
face. Fortunately I was not to be mistaken for a common cat. Oriphera,
although she stole my crown, could not deprive me of its light, which
is my birthright, and by that I have always been recognized among cats
as one of the royal family, although no one knew me as the unhappy
Phelia.
“You may be sure I never omitted to ask every cat with whom I met if
they had ever heard of a young man such as I described, but every one
answered no, and I began to despair, for in one month more, the two
years will be gone, and after that all aid is vain. But a few weeks ago
I fell in with a seafaring cat, just returned from a whaling voyage,
and he, in answer to my inquiries turned two somersets backward (which
is equivalent among cats to clapping the hands among men), and said,
“‘I know the very man. My master, who is a sailor, was shipwrecked four
years ago, and rescued by the very youth you want to find. I have often
heard him speak of him.’
“My friend, the seafaring cat, then proceeded to tell me minutely
where to find you; and, not to be tedious, I arrived very tired and
discouraged at your window this evening.” Here the princess, overcome
by her feelings, covered her face with her hands and made a long
pause,--at last looking up and smiling sweetly upon Ernest, she said,
“Now tell me, will you recover my crown from that ---- Oriphera, and
make me the happiest of princesses”
“Can you ask, revered princess? My life is yours; only tell me how and
where to find her,” exclaimed Ernest.
“The kingdom of Aura, her father, is in the centre of the earth. You
will find the entrance in the forest of Gnomes; but you can never get
the crown unless you have the flute from the Cave of the Four Winds, to
lull the Gnomes to sleep.”
“And where is the Cave of the Four Winds, most beautiful of
princesses?” asked Ernest, eagerly.
“It is on the top of ---- m-e-w!” This last word was uttered in a very
angry voice, for just as Phelia had said “top of,” her half hour of
freedom closed, and she was suddenly retransformed into a cat, without
even power to add the one word which would have directed Ernest to the
Cave of the Four Winds.
The young man was as much disappointed as the princess, but consoled
himself by promising her that he would use so much diligence and make
so many inquiries, that he did not doubt to soon meet with some one who
could direct him to the cave where the magic flute was to be found.
To this, however, the cat only shook her head with a melancholy air,
and Ernest felt quite discouraged again. Suddenly, as he sat thinking
of every possible way in which to gain the desired information, a
thought flashed into his head which made him clap his hands for joy.
“I have it, dear Phelia,” said he. “The winds themselves shall carry
me.” He then went on to narrate that several years before he had been
visited by an old man of wise and venerable appearance, who appeared
to be very much delighted about something; and at last told him that
he had travelled the world over to find the place where the Four Winds
meet, for there is where they bring every thing that is lost in the
world, and heap all up together, so that any man who can find this
place may help himself to whatever he pleases. The old man had taken
all he wished, which was a parchment containing the secret of a lost
art,--that of making gold; and he was going away content. He advised
Ernest to go and search in this wonderful collection, which abounded in
wealth, honors, and all that men value. “But,” said he, “you must be
careful not to be caught there when the Four Winds meet at midnight,
for you would be whirled up and carried away to their cave before you
knew it.”
Ernest had never thought much about the old man’s advice till now, as
he did not know exactly what he wanted to find, and had never lost any
thing; but now he at once determined to go to the place described,
and wait till midnight, when the Four Winds should meet to go home
together, and would whirl him away with them.
He told his plan to the gray cat, who purred an assent; and then, as
morning had broke, he led her out to the sea-shore and showed her a
little cove where every evening she would find fish of some kind
stranded among the rocks. He advised her to remain in the hut all the
time when she was not at the cove, lest something should happen to
harm her, and he faithfully promised, that, unless he lost his life
in the attempt, she should see him with the missing crown in his hand
before many days. Ernest then took leave of the disguised princess, who
graciously presented her white paw for him to kiss, and set out upon
his lonely travels.
All that day and the next he journeyed among the mountains which
lay behind his little hut, but although he followed attentively the
directions which the old man had given him, it was not until evening on
the second day that he found himself approaching the place where the
Four Winds meet.
This was a deep, rocky valley, approached from the north, south, east,
and west by a deep, narrow ravine, which was the only means by which
the valley was made accessible.
All the surface of the valley was strewn with the lost articles which
the winds had swooped up and brought there. It would take a whole
book, and a large one too, to tell half the precious things which lay
scattered there; so I will only say that every thing which once was
possessed, and now is hopelessly lost, was to be seen there, and a
wonderful sight it was.
In the middle of the valley, however, was a small space entirely clear
of every thing, even of the least particle of dust. It was swept clean
every night by the Four Winds when they met. Ernest knew in a moment
that this must be the case; and when it grew too dark for him to see
the curious things which lay scattered about him, he wrapped himself
closely in the great cloak which he wore, and seated himself in the
centre of the clean-swept space.
Presently, overcome by fatigue, he fell asleep; nor did he stir till