More Tales in the Land of Nursery Rhyme | Page 6

bordered on each side with shells that shone like mother-o'-pearl.
Flowers, flowers everywhere, of every hue and shade. Canterbury bells
and sunflowers indeed! What should you say to bells of real silver,
glowing and shining? To fair maids blossoming and curtseying in the
flower-beds, fair maids so beautiful that the Knight would fain have
stopped with them all day? To roses flowering everywhere? To lillies
trickling oozy scent into gold bowls laid ready to receive it? To whole
bowers of honeysuckle, and whole beds of lavender? To hedges of
every flowering shrub imaginable? To lofty trees whose leaves
whispered soft invitations to the passers-by to come and sleep beneath
their soothing shade? To fountains plashing and showing a thousand
different colours? To fruit of gold and silver hanging from the branches
of the fruit trees, and to birds of every plumage singing the sweetest
songs imaginable?
Truly there never was such a garden!
"There must be a great many gardeners here!" gasped Sir Hunny Bee.
"Oh, no," answered the old man. "The Princess does it all herself, with
the help of some Bees (cousins of yours by the way), a few of the
Byrdes, and the nymphs Wynde and Worta. Everything looks so
beautiful now, because the Princess is in the garden. If we wait in this
arbour here, she will pass behind it on her way to the palace. But do not
go out until she calls you. For no man is allowed to see her face until
she gives him permission. When she speaks to you, tell her your
business speedily."
They waited in the arbour; the little old man still held Sir Hunny Bee's
silver bell in his hat. Presently soft footsteps were heard approaching,
and a gentle voice said:
"Not to-day,"--and the footsteps passed on behind the arbour.
Then the colour faded from the grass and flowers and shells. The
fountains ceased to play, and the birds to sing; and Sir Hunny Bee was
almost ready to cry with vexation.

"She is gone," he said, "and I have come so far to seek her."
"You must wait till to-morrow now," said the old man.
So Sir Hunny Bee waited till to-morrow, and exactly the same thing
happened. The grass shone, and the flowers glowed. The fair maids
turned and curtseyed on their stems. The fountains splashed, and the
birds sang. The Princess passed behind the arbour and once more said
in her gentle voice, "Not to-day," and then all grew dull and dim and
silent, and Sir Hunny Bee more impatient.
He remained there for seven days--and on the seventh, without waiting
for the old man to give him leave, as the Princess approached he called
out:
"Seven times seven leagues over hill and dale have I ridden, most
gracious Princess--and I have waited here for you for seven days. Oh,
grant me permission to tell you of my quest."
Then the gentle voice said:
"Have you paid your fine, oh, bold stranger?"
"Yes," said Sir Hunny Bee.
"Throw it from the arbour that I may see it," said the Princess.
So the old man took the silver bell from his hat and flung it out on to a
flower-bed near.
Immediately it began to grow and blossom till it was many feet high.
"The Princess smiles on it," said the old man, "tell her your mission
speedily."
"Gracious lady," said Sir Hunny Bee from within the arbour, "the King
of a far kingdom has sent me to beg you to come back with me to his
kingdom, and smile on his back-yard that it may become a
garden,--even as when you smiled on my poor bell it grew and

blossomed."
"Oh, stranger," answered the Princess, "go home and tell your master
that through the air must he send yet another messenger to fetch me, ere
I will come to him. Come forth now and pluck the flower that sprang
from your bell, and take it to your master in token that I speak truth."
So Sir Hunny Bee came forth from the arbour to pluck the flower, and
his eyes fell on the glory of the Princess Mary Radiant.
She was dressed all in gold, and her hair was gold, and her glowing
smile was more beautiful than words can tell. Sir Hunny Bee was
dazzled with the sight of her, and, kneeling, kissed her hand.
"Pluck your flower and go," she said, "and if your master will send yet
another messenger, I will come."
So Sir Hunny Bee plucked the flower, and, mounting his horse, rode
away the way he had come. But when he stopped to look at the flower
he had plucked, he found it was only quite an ordinary Canterbury bell!
The King was waiting on the steps of the back-yard when Sir