"In fact, you don't know a bit, do you?" said the Prince; and he burst out laughing just as unpleasantly as the Wymp had done when he stood on his head.
So the Royal Physician drove away again in his coach-and-four, and the Prince went on telling people exactly what he thought of them. The only person to whom he was not rude was the little Lady Daffany, for he thought nothing but nice things about her, and therefore he had nothing but nice things to say to her. But for all that, she was most unhappy, for she could not bear hearing that other people disliked the Prince; and all the people were beginning to dislike him very much indeed. So one day she slipped out of her father's house quite early in the morning, and went into the wood at the end of the garden. Now she was so kind to all the animals and flowers, that the Fairies had given her the power of understanding their language; so she went straight to her favorite squirrel, who lived in a beech-tree in the middle of the wood, and she told him all about the Prince and the Wymps' gift. The squirrel stopped eating nuts, and ran after his tail for a few moments without speaking. Then he winked his eye at her very knowingly, and nodded his smart little head several times, and spoke at last in a tone of great wisdom.
"You must go to the Wymps and intercede for the Prince," he said, and cracked another nut.
"But would they listen to me?" asked Lady Daffany, doubtfully.
"Go and try," said the squirrel. "The Wymps are not bad little fellows, really. They like making fun of people, that's all; and they saw the Prince was a bit of a prig, so they thought they would give him a lesson, don't you see?"
"Perhaps they will think I am a prig too," said Lady Daffany, sadly.
"My dear little lady," laughed the squirrel, "the Wymps never make fun of people like you. Just you go and find the biggest sunbeam you can, and climb up it until you come to the land of the Wymps at the back of the sun. Only you must go with bare feet and with nothing on your head. Now be off with you; I want to finish my breakfast."
The biggest sunbeam she could find was the one that came in at the library window and sent her father, the Count, to sleep over the state documents. And there she took off her little red shoes and stockings, and pulled the golden pins out of her hair, and let it fall loosely round her shoulders, and she began to climb slowly up the ray of sunlight. At first it was very hard work, for it was very slippery, and she was frightened of falling off; but she thought of the Prince, and went on as bravely as she could. And then it seemed as though invisible hands came and helped her upwards, for after that it was quite easy, and she glided up higher and higher and higher until she came to the sun itself—the big round sun. And she went straight through the sun, just as though it were a paper hoop at the circus, and she tumbled out on the other side into a land of yellow fog. There was no sunshine there, and no moon, and no stars, and no daylight—nothing but a dull red glow over everything, like the light of a lamp.
"Why," said Lady Daffany, feeling her clothes to see if they were singed, "I always thought the sun was hot!"
"I have no doubt you did; it is quite absurd what mistakes are made about the sun," said a familiar voice, and, looking round, she saw the identical Wymp who had come to disturb the betrothal banquet.