Princess Omicron, too, led astray by his example (for nothing is more ruinous than bad examples), angrily threw her battledore at the Universe. Which was not nice in a little girl.
Now in the kingdom of Spirits there was a law that whoever lost sight of the respect due to the Queen, or threw anything at the Universe, should be punished for the same by a temporary loss of all rank and dignity.
Prince Upsilon became a grain of sand.
After having behaved well for a couple of thousand years, he received the joyful tidings that he was promoted to the rank of a tuft of moss.
In this capacity he kept his duty in mind, and did everything that a good moss tuft ought to do. And on a certain morning he awoke as a polype.
This happened about the time when human beings first began to prepare their food by means of fire.
He built one or two continents, and in about two thousand years’ time he was rewarded for his zeal by being changed into a shrimp.
In this position, also, no one had the slightest reason to complain of his conduct, and in due course he was transferred to the class of sea-serpents.
He amused himself, innocently enough, by playing at hide-and-seek with the sailors, but did no one any harm; and some time afterwards he received four feet and the rank of mastodon, with the privilege of disporting himself on shore.
With philosophic calm he adapted himself to his new circumstances, and occupied himself with geological observations. A few million ages later....