Back again into the golden sunshine Ethelda came, and once more the beautiful Moon shone down caressingly upon her. Freed from the black dwarf’s spell, and with her loved companions, she soon recovered from her long imprisonment, and was lovelier and more joyous than ever. She had almost forgotten those trying days and the black dwarf’s cruelty, but the Earth Queen had not.
Her Majesty summoned the dwarf and all his wicked followers to court for trial, and he did not dare to disobey her summons. Ethelda and the Sun Prince were invited to hear his sentence; and an awful punishment it was that was put upon him. He was condemned to live always in the dark cave where he had kept Ethelda prisoner. With his followers he would never again be allowed to see the Sun or the Moon; never again could he behold the face of the Earth.
The Moon Princess shuddered as she heard the dreadful sentence, for to her darkness was the worst of punishments. She turned to the Earth Queen and said impulsively: “Oh, your Majesty, be not so cruel! Sentence them to anything rather than eternal darkness.”
So the Earth Queen, listening to the tender pleadings of the gentle Moon maiden, relented; but still the dwarf’s crime must not be dealt with lightly. She consented, however, to allow the culprits to see the Sun and the Moon, but they were destined to become the slaves of the mermaids, and live always in the water. Then, fearing they might forget they were put into the water to expiate their crime (for the mermaids were kind-hearted and good), she changed them into fishes, and marked every one with the shining colors of the Sun and Moon. Even now, if you notice carefully the pretty fish swimming in the sparkling water, you will see the fiery red color of the sun blending with the delicate silver tints of the moon. These markings of gold and silver they must carry for ever as evidence of their slavery, and in punishment of their wicked deed. In other respects they are not unhappy.
Ethelda and the Sun Prince dwelt always after upon the Earth, but they loved it, as you know. The Moon Mother, looking down and seeing their joy, and how contented they were, gradually became reconciled to their remaining. As a proof of her forgiveness and friendliness to them and their descendants, she has left the Moon ladder down. She has never taken it away since the night the bridal party walked down its shimmering silver stairs. Every night, between the mystic hours of dusk and the rosy dawn, somewhere in the heavens, that splendid white palace is shining, and its bright ladder is stretching down in a flood of glory.
Since then, maybe (who knows?) other Moon maidens have walked down those jewelled steps to a honeymoon on the Earth.
THE END.
Mrs. Harrison’s Previous Successful Fairy Books