And he whose ear is tuned aright,
Will hear no discord in the three,
But the most perfect harmony!”
In like manner, you will remember how the Prince, in connection with the long, long march to the Magic Well, constantly encouraged his followers to sing the Marching Song he had written for them. And how it cheered and strengthened them. Even when they were almost ready to drop with fatigue, a little singing always seemed to take away the tired feeling and put them in good humour again.
Applying the same idea to matters of greater importance, he says that Music stirs folks to think fine thoughts, prevents them from thinking bad ones, and helps to make them happy. No happy person can possibly be wicked! It is the unhappy who say and do the vile things! Knowing this to be the case, he has very wisely ordered that at least two Bands shall play for his people every day—one in the Fountain Gardens and one on the Lake.
In addition, seeing that all Fairies are very fond of dancing, and that they always dance in circles, he has also provided for them a [[68]]couple of Fairy Rings, where they may indulge in their favourite pastime as much and as often as they please.
Lastly, there are five story-tellers, who, although they once had very nice names—and you may be told them later on—were long, long ago called “Touch,” “Taste,” “Sight,” “Smell” and “Hearing,” and every day they have such interesting tales to tell that no one who cares to hearken need ever be dull or depressed. So now you know why it is that all the Prince’s people are so entirely happy and contented.
Of the other rooms of the Palace not yet mentioned there is only time to describe one more on this occasion. It is sometimes called “The Hall of the Captive Sunbeams”; but in reality, it is the Reception Room—that is to say, it is the Room where guests or visitors are received prior to being entertained at dinner, or at a musical evening, or at whatever other form of entertainment is to be given them. The reason for its being popularly named “The Hall of the Captive Sunbeams” is due to the fact that certain portions of the Walls appear to radiate sunlight. This peculiar and striking effect has been brought out by the use of tiles, set like pictures in frames of brightly burnished silver. In the tiles themselves captured sunbeams shimmer and dance perpetually.
How this was done is difficult to say; but the story goes that when making the tiles, the Fairies set them where the Sun’s rays gently touched them every day; and, just as the sun was declining, they each day swiftly brushed the fronts of the tiles with a kind of liquid glaze that kept the light beneath it. When, in this way, several thicknesses of light were captured, so to speak, the tiles were burned in specially prepared kilns, and to the very great joy of the Fairy Craftsmen it was found, when finished, that one sunbeam seemed to be for ever chasing another over and over the face of the tiles! There is but one other notable feature about the “Hall of the Captive Sunbeams”—it is that the more the place is filled with gaiety and laughter the more merrily do the sunbeams seem to pour forth a running, rippling tide of light, to enhance and stimulate the general jollity!
And now you have some faint conception of the beauty and the glory of the Prince’s Palace, some little idea of its furnishing for use [[69]]and entertainment, and, above all, some grasp of the outstanding features which make it not only the most noticeable structure in the Fairy City, but of such unequalled originality and excellence as to be without a rival anywhere.