SUNSHINE AND MOONSHINE
Long years ago, there lived in a distant land a good and handsome prince named Sunshine. He dwelt in a splendid palace with his father, who was a Khan, his stepmother and his stepbrother, whose name was Moonshine. His father and brother loved him dearly, but his stepmother hated him, being jealous for her own son, Moonshine. So, while the two boys lived happily together, never suspecting ill, this wicked woman plotted and schemed to destroy the life of Sunshine and so make her son heir to the throne.
At last, one day, she thought of a plan. Going to her room, she lay down, groaning and crying out as if she were ill and [[165]]in frightful pain. The Khan was soon notified and was much alarmed when he found the queen apparently in such a bad condition.
“My dear wife,” he cried, “I will have the court physician summoned at once, that he may give you a remedy.”
“Nay,” said the queen feebly, “it will do no good. Already I am nigh unto death, and none can help me. I am dying, my Khan—I am dying fast, and the one and only remedy for my sickness I can never have.”
“One remedy?” said the king. “If there is anything on earth which will cure you, my dear, you shall have it, though I give my kingdom to get it for you! Only tell me what it is, that I may procure it at once!”
“It is more than your kingdom,” she replied, with another groan. “It is of such a nature that I dare not speak of it!” Then she writhed and shuddered as if in fearful [[166]]agony, and the Khan was nigh distracted to see her suffering so.
“Tell me, my love, tell me!” he begged. “No matter what it is, you shall have it! You have my sacred promise!”
“Your son,” whispered the wicked woman, “Sunshine has worked an evil charm upon me, and I shall surely die this night if his heart’s blood is not given me!”
The Khan shrank from his wife in horror. He loved his eldest child more than life itself, and to kill him would be impossible. Nevertheless, something must be done quickly. “The queen,” he thought, “is mad; she must be humored, and there is my kingly word which must not be broken. I will have a goat killed, and its heart given her, and when she is well again, she will be as glad as I that I thus deceived her!” So he drew near the queen and spoke reassuringly to her: