III.
Was the girl the fairy queen? She began to think that she must be, as she sat on some marble steps in the wood. She was dressed in white, and had long silk stockings; and a veil of shining gossamer was fastened on her head with a gold band, and it fell down to her feet, and wrapped her round like a glittering cloud, and she held the lily in her hand. And the music pealed on like a grand triumphal march, and made the girl feel very proud and joyful.
Not very far off there was a carved chair, with some velvet cushions upon it.
"Perhaps for me to be crowned in," said the girl, tossing her head. "I wonder where my crown is?"
And as she said this she heard a burst of laughter, as if a thousand grasshoppers were chirping. And an owl seated not far off said—
"Only queens are crowned, little girl."
"How do you know I am not a queen?" asked the girl, angrily. "Look at my dress and my veil."
But the owl only said—
"Tu-whit, tu-whoo! tu-whit, tu-whoo!" and laughed so loudly that all the wood-elves began to laugh also; so did the birds and the frogs, and even the flowers. And the echoes answered back again.
There was so much noise that a troop of little sailors came running up from the shore to see what was the matter.
"Are you ready?" said they to the girl; "the boat is waiting
With its silken sails,
The moon shines clear and bright;
There is no fear of stormy gales
Upon the sea to-night."
"I don't know what you are talking about," answered the girl. "There is no sea near here, and if there is I am not going upon it."
But the sailors had wheeled the carved chair close to the marble steps, and they went on speaking—
"To-night upon the sea we go,
And you with us must sail.
Step in; the tide is up, and we
Must start off without fail."
And the girl found herself in the chair, which the sailors pushed down to the beach.
On the sea was a fine boat, with silken sails and a crimson flag.
The boat had a gilt figure-head, and its sides were painted blue and gold. A red velvet carpet was spread upon the deck, and the sailors, having hoisted the girl in the chair up the side of the vessel, placed her upon the velvet carpet, and she found herself sailing fast away from the land before she had time to think of how she had got there.
The sailors were all standing at one end of the deck playing upon various musical instruments, and the tune they played seemed to answer back the beautiful music that she had heard for so many days floating in the air. Also the sailors sang—
"Away it sails, the music-ship,
Over the moonlit sea,
And the trumpet that the captain blows
Is the only rudder the vessel knows,
As we sail so merrily,
The fiddles, and fifes, and drums, and horns
All carry the ship along,
It shapes its course by the cymbal clash
To the land of music and song."
"on a couch lay the master of the castle" ([p. 297]).
The girl did not quite understand what the sailors meant by their strange song. It did not seem to be altogether sense to her, but she supposed that they knew where they were going. Still she asked—
"Whither are we sailing?"
"Don't you hear the music calling to us from the castle?" said the captain: "the castle on the purple island in the golden sea. We are sailing there; the music has spoken to us many times, but we did not attend to it until now."
"Has it called me?" asked the girl.
And she thought of the beautiful tune that had seemed to say "Come, come." And now, as they sailed beneath the castle walls, the tune issued forth very clear, sweet, and strong from an open window.
"It is the master of the castle: he plays night and day, and is always inviting those who love music to come and dwell with him."
The girl looked up at the stately castle.
"If I had known that I should have come here before."
"No, you would not."
"Why?"
"Because no one would have brought you. You can only come at the right time. Hush!"