THE LOST PRINCE OF THE POLES.
The polar bears, as you probably know, are a large and powerful nation. They are governed by a king, who is called the Solar-Polarity of the Hypopeppercorns.
“Oh!” cried Toto. “What does that mean?”
Nobody knows what it means. That is the great charm of the title. Gives it majesty, you understand. The present Solar-Polarity is, I am told, quite worthy of his title, for he is very majestic, and knows absolutely nothing. He sits on the top of the North Pole, and directs the movement of the icebergs.
At the time of which I am going to tell you, which was so long ago as to be no particular time at all, the Solar-Polarity had an only son,—a most promising young bear,—the heir to the kingdom. He was brought up with the greatest care possible, and when he had arrived at a suitable age, his father begged him to choose a mate among the youngest and fairest of the she-bears, or, as they are more elegantly termed, bearesses. To the amazement of the Solar-Polarity, the Prince flatly refused.
“I will not marry one of these cold, white creatures!” he said; “I am tired of white. I want to marry one of those things;” and he pointed to the north, where the Northern Lights were shooting up in long streamers of crimson and green and purple.
“One of those things!” cried his father. “My dear son, are you mad? Those are Rory-Bories; they are not the sort of thing one can marry. It’s—it’s ridiculous to think of such a thing.”
“Well,” said the Prince, “then I will marry the creature that is most like them. There must be some creature that has those pretty colors. I will go and ask the Principal Whale.”
So he went and asked the Principal Whale if he knew any creature that was colored like the Rory-Bories.
“Frankly,” said the whale, “I do not. Doubtless there are such, but I have never happened to meet any of them. I will tell you what I will do, however,” he said, seeing the Prince’s look of disappointment. “I am just starting on a voyage to the Southern seas; and if you like I will take you with me, and you can look about you and decide for yourself.”