"Let me tell you one thing, my children," said the Fairy Queen, "and it is this: No matter what you see, you must not tell any person where the Valley of Gold is to be found. That is a secret which we Fairies have guarded for thousands of years, and you must by no means tell of it."
So both Zuzu and Lulu promised, and ever since they have kept their word; and what is told here is told only that you may know how wonderful a place it is, and what strange things are to be seen there; but no one can tell you how to get there unless you may be fortunate enough to find a White Cricket and ask of it the way. And, as White Crickets are very few and hard to find, so there are very few children who ever really see Fairy-land, and most children are obliged only to read about it in the stories of those who have really been there.
"When we telephoned," said Zuzu, "we got the wrong kind of Cricket, and had it not been that we had the Enchanted Banjo with us, we might have met all sorts of trouble. We thank you, good Queen, for not punishing us; but we should like to know how the really-truly Fairy Telephone would be."
"Good Banjo," said the Fairy Queen, "can you not tell these dear young people how the really-truly Fairy Telephone goes?"
"With the greatest of pleasure, your Majesty," replied the Banjo, with a smile. And then it sang:
TO TELEPHONE TO FAIRY-LAND
If you want to telephone to Fairy-land
You must have a snow-white Cricket in your hand.
It is easy; don't you see?
Just as easy as can be
If the way to telephone you understand.
When the crickets are all chirping in the night
Then you have to go and seek by candle-light,
And keep watching as you pass
Through the bushes and the grass
For a Cricket that is perfectly snow-white.
"Hello! Hello! Is this the land of Fairies?"
"Hello! Hello!" you'll hear the faint reply
From one whose cheeks are redder than the cherries;
"Hello! Hello!" You'll do it if you try.
When you find the snow-white Cricket, all you need
Is a line that's made of cobweb—yes, indeed!
Do not let the Cricket go;
Hold it tight and say "Hello!"
In the hollow of a flower gone to seed.
It's a very simple thing to understand,
If you want to telephone to Fairy-land
Take a candle; go alone;
Find the Fairy Telephone—
But first have a snow-white Cricket in your hand.
"Hello! Hello! Is this the land of Fairies?"
"Hello! Hello!" A voice will come to you
From one whose eyes are blacker than blackberries—
"Hello! Hello!" Now talk an hour or two.