s
always spring. Yet when did the flowers bloom, if they had not yet had
time to open? And, if they did not bloom, why was it? This question,
and many another one, Petru asked himself on his way to the palace. No
one barred his progress, no one interfered with his thoughts, every
body was asleep; the nymphs beside the fountains, the birds on the
boughs, the deer in the thickets, and the butterflies on the flowers,
all were sunk in dreams by the music of the flute. Nay, even the wind
no longer played with the leaves, the sunbeams no longer drank the
dewdrops from the grass, and the river had ceased to flow. Petru alone
was awake, awake with his thoughts, and his wonder at these thoughts.
He reached the court-yard of the palace. Around it stretched a thick,
beautiful grass-plot--a grass plot that swayed like the wind. Before
him was the gate--a gate made entirely of flowers and other beautiful
things. Below and beside the gate were more flowers, each one more
beautiful than the other, so that Petru fancied he was treading upon
clouds as he passed over them. On the right and left slept fairies,
who should have guarded the entrance of the court-yard. Petru looked
around him in every direction, said once more, "God be with me!" and
entered the palace.

What Petru saw I can not describe; surely every body knows that the
palace of the Fairy Aurora can be no ordinary place. Around it were
petrified fairies, trees with golden leaves, and flowers made of
pearls and gems, columns wrought of sunbeams, steps as soft and
lustrous as the couches of princesses, and a sweet, soothing
atmosphere. Such was the court-yard of the Fairy Aurora's palace, and
it could have been no different. Why should it? Petru went up the
steps and entered the palace. The first twelve rooms were hung with
linen, the next twelve with silk; then came twelve decked with silver
and twelve with gold. Petru passed swiftly through the whole
forty-eight, and in the forth-ninth apartment, which was the most
magnificent of all, he found the Fairy Aurora. The chamber was large,
broad, and high, like one of the finest churches. The walls were
covered with all sorts of silk and beautiful things, and on the floor,
where one sets one's foot, was something, I don't know exactly what,
but something as glittering as a mirror and as soft as cushions,
besides many other beautiful things, such as a Fairy Aurora must have.
Where should there be lovely things, if not in her palac