“Sir, I am Fine Ear, and before things happen I hear them. Do not you know, Fair Sir” (this is the way fairies speak), “that if you fall asleep the first day that you are in Fairy-land, it is years before you wake? Some people don’t wake.”
Little Boy felt that he was in high society, so he said, politely:
“Gracious Prince, a million thanks; but how can I keep awake?”
“It is only for one night, young sir. Come with me. My sister, Goody Two-Shoes, lives close by, and she may help us.”
So they went along through the twilight and walked far, until Little Boy was ready to drop. At last Fine Ear said that as he heard his sister breathing, she could not be more than three miles away. As they climbed a great hill, it became dark, and Little Boy grew more and more sleepy, and could not see his way, and tumbled about so much that at last the Prince stood still and said: “My dear fellow, this won’t do; you will be in Dream-land before I can pinch you.” Then he whistled, and a little silver star—a shining white light—fell out of the fairy sky and rolled beside them, making all the road as bright as day, and quite waking up Little Boy.
After this they walked on, and the Prince said he would ask Jack the Giant-killer to supper. Little Boy replied that he would be proud to meet him. Just as they came near to the house, which was built of pearls and rubies, the Prince said: “Alas! here comes that tiresome fool, Humpty Dumpty.” When Little Boy looked, he saw a short man very crooked in the back, and with a head all to one side, not having been well mended by the doctors, as you may recall. Also his mouth was very large, which was a pity, because when he stopped before them and bowed in a polite way, all of a sudden he opened this great mouth and gaped; and when poor, sleepy Little Boy saw this, what could he do but gape for company, and at once fall down sound asleep before the kind Prince could move?
“Alas! fool,” said Fine Ear, “why must you gape at a mortal? You knew what would happen. It was lucky you did not sneeze.”
Meanwhile, there lay Little Boy sound asleep, and what was to be done? At last he was carried into the house of Goody Two-Shoes and put on a bed. Every one knew that he could not be waked up, and so they put fairy food in his mouth twice a day, and just let him alone, so that for several years he slept soundly, and by reason of being fed with fairy food grew tall and beautiful; what was more strange, his clothes grew also.
At the end of seven years a great Sayer of Sooth came by on his way to visit his fairy godmother, and when he heard about Little Boy’s sleep he stood still and uttered a loud Sooth. When Goody Two-Shoes heard it she was sorry, because it was told her that Little Boy would never wake until he was carried back to the country of mortals, when he would wake up at once. Now by this time she had come to love him very much, and was sorry to part with him, because in seven years he had never spoken one cross word!
