FOR THE CHILDREN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14808, 11 October 1911, Page 10

FOR THE CHILDREN.

', ; THE THREE PRINCES. : !f||l " What seek you with me?" demanded the magician. "We are sorrowful because wc have no children, 0 magician," replied the young King and Queen. ->M^S "Sign this bond here," said the magi-: cian, pointing to the foot of a document, "and three sons shall be born to you on the same day. They shall be named "Could - Be," "May Be," and "Will Be." Without reading it, the King signed the bond, to. which the magician affixed his black seal. s . On that day, when the three princes- • were born, there was grief in the land, tm for the beautiful Queen died, and people' said it was through the malice of the magician, ' % "•„<--

On their 20th birthday, the King called - the three handsome young princes and said, "My sons, the time is come when I am compelled to send you forth for a year and a day; whether I shall ever see you again depends on yourselves. My bond will not allow me to give you more than a small bag of gold each. You must "..- first go to the house of the wise man, and there choose a suit which you must wear all the time. . Seek the wise man's advice, for if you return in the wrong .'' dress you will find the gates barred against you, and no power of mine can open them.,"./: . . • * Half in sorrow half in joy the three princes went to the house of, the wise nun, who took them into a large room filled with all kinds of wearing apparel. Could Be walked straight to a case containing a showy suit of green and white embroidered with : gold; and a coronet with three upstanding feathers. "I will wear that," said he. "It is but velveteen, poor satin, brass, and sham jewels," said the wise man. Prince May Be paused before a case containing a long cloak of rainbow -hue, a silver flute, a tiny paint brush, and a'small lamp. " What is that cloak?" asked he. "One which few are allowed to wear, but one of rare magic for those who wear it aright. Such become kings among men," said the wise man. " Then I will wear it," said Prince May Be. "Work hard with the flute and the brush and keep the lamp trimmed or the cloak will be your ruin," said the wise man to May Be, as he wrapped himself in its gleaming folds. , , " Teach roe to choose aright, 0 wise man," said Will Be. The wise man pointed to a coarse brown suit and an axe. "The clothes will stand the wear and tear of a year and a day; with the axe you can cut your /way," said he. Will Be put on the brown clothes, and shouldered the axe. When his brothers

saw him they jeeringly said that they would not be seen with a clodhopper, so Will Be went on his way alone. 'Ere long the two brothers came to a signpost bearing the words, ■" Rainbow cloak this way." "Farewell, brother, here we part,"- 1 said May Be, and Could Be went on his way alone until he came to the city of rich and gay people. * When; the people saw him. they said, "He seems to be very rich, for he wears ■velvet, satin, gold, and jewels." So they invited , him ■■■ to * their feasts, and allowed him to have all things without paying until the end of a year, then, when they saw . how shabby his clothes had grown, ,\' :that his feathers were dirty and broken, that his coronet was brass, and his jewel paste and his money spent they were angry •||| and would have put him in prison if he had not fled in terror to the gates of his father's kingdom, but these gates were fast barred and guarded by soldiers with drawn swords. "I am Prince Could Be, admit me," he shouted. " The gate is fast barred against you, for you do not wear a royal robe, and the name 'Seems to Be' is graven on your ■ brazen coronet," they replied. !■■' Thus this prince lost his inheritance. I _ Prince May Be * came tola beautiful j city rilled with 5 those who made sweet music, painted beautiful pictures, or with j their lamps sought knowledge and truth. When they saw the, prince, they said, .'- He wears the rainbow ; cloak, and maj; be one of us." But now Prince May Be fell in with' evil companions, and with his remaining gold bought flash oil - for his lamp and used its light to go into foul places where his beautiful rainbow cloak] grew stained'/.v/ and all its fair colours vanished; more than this, the heat of his lamp so scorched his hand that he could hold neither flute nor brush. When at the end of a year and a day he came to the gate, and said, " Open and admit your prince," the sentinel answered, " I see by your cloak your name is ' Might Have Been,' and we have no prince of that name, the gate is barred ;/ against you." l Thus the second prince lost his inheritanceAs Prince Will Be went on' his rough and lonely road he noticed a cottage with the words, " Blankets sold here," painted : on 'the door. Soon after he came to a mountain cap* ped with snow and covered with ice as smooth as glass. . At the foot was a broad road leading to a sunny flower-decked valley which he was about to take when ha ;j saw, weeping by the wayside, a little-; woman who was very old and very ugly. 'What ris your trouble, good damef said he. ' "Woe is me, but I am under an evil spell, and shall be roasted by a slow fire . , unless I can find one who will wrap ,me in a blanket afid carry me on his back over: the ice mountain," was her reply. With a sigh the prince looked longingly, at the flowery valley, then answered kindly, "Wait here, dame, while I go back .to the cottage to buy blanket and rope ; for I will bind you on my backs //«j and carry you over the mountain." He was surprised to find the price of rope and blanket took all his gold, and still more surprised at the weight of the /, old woman. The ascent was weary work, for he had to cut each step in the ice with his axe, and his burden grew heavier; and heavier. / : i Many a' time he thought he would have* to give up. -When at last the other side* was reached every muscle ached, and he* was so exhausted that the instant he put / the old woman down he fell into a deep sleep. When he awoke the old woman had vanished, and before him rose a great? < thicket out of which came the sound of her voice crying, " Save me, I am in the thicket, and the thorns are pricking ma to death." Then the prince took his.axe and begat* to hack and hew at the spiney growths While he was chopping/who should com* : by but the magician who held the bond. "Hurry home, Prince Will Be, or th#, " year and a day will be gone and your inheritance forfeited," said he. But the prince answered :" I should not be worthy of, \ my royal name if I left the old; and- feeble -in distress." .With a yell of rage the magician went. v on, and the prince again took up his I axe, when 10, at one stroke the thicket|||| fell away, and instead of the old woman ■'■ he saw the loveliest princess in the world. ;.'y_| There was great rejoicing. In due tim» Be and Do became King and Queen, and reigned so wisely that the people said.- ■ C Happy.is thelanjl Joiftd &*ss - Ml!