Hearing these words, King Loc turned away his head. Yet he opened a third coffer and showed the young girl a crystal in which a drop of water had been a prisoner since the earliest time of the world, and, when shaken, the crystal showed this drop of water moving. He also displayed to her pieces of yellow amber in which insects more dazzling than jewels had been taken for millions of years. Their delicate legs and frail membranes were distinguishable, and they would have taken wing again if some power had melted like ice their scented prison-house.
"These are great natural curiosities; I give them to you, Bee."
But Bee answered:
"Little King Loc, keep the amber and the crystal, for I could not give back their liberty either to the fly or the drop of water."
King Loc looked at her for a time and said:
"Bee, the richest treasures will be well placed in your hands. You will possess them and they will not possess you. The greedy are the prey of their own gold; only those who despise wealth can possess it with safety; their souls will always be greater than their fortune."
Having thus spoken, he made a sign to his treasurer who presented a crown of gold on a cushion to the young girl.
"Receive this jewel as a sign of the esteem we have for you, Bee," said King Loc. "Henceforward you will be called the Princess of the Dwarfs."
And he himself placed the crown on the brow of Bee.
CHAPTER XII