Go from the water
To the Moon’s daughter;
There lies she in prison bound!”
Never a word more would she utter, and the poor Prince would puzzle himself about how he could reach the Princess. But he continued his search. He would often go to the spot where his beloved had disappeared. A stately tree, as slender as the Princess, had sprung up there. Its waving green branches swayed gently, and stretched out with delicate, tender leaves. Its trunk wore the white and silver dress of the Moon maiden, and stood like a ghost to mark the place.
The Earth people ever after called it the Silver Birch. At its foot a beautiful little spring had bubbled up, and its crystal-clear waters had formed a tiny stream that gurgled over the rocks, seeking to reach the sea. In its shining depths he sometimes saw the Moon’s ladder, and he fancied the clear blue eyes of Ethelda looked out wistfully at him. But it was only the blue patches of sky overhead.
One night, sad and depressed, he sat beside the Ocean. The great throbbing sea seemed to soothe him a little. While he sat there thinking of Ethelda, and almost despairing, a mermaid floated shoreward. Resting her beautiful arms on the white gleaming sand, she spoke to him.
“O, Prince of the Sun,” she began, “I have news for you—news of your lost bride.”
“News of my beloved Ethelda?” cried the Prince, joyously.
“Yes,” answered the mermaid, “your Ethelda is safe and unharmed. I have seen her.”
“You have seen her?” cried the Prince. “O favored mermaid, take me to her at once.”