* *

And there was joy throughout the palace, and in the storks' nest also;
but _there_ the joy was principally for the good food, the swarms of
nice frogs; and whilst the learned noted down in haste, and very
carelessly, the history of the two princesses and of the lotus flower
as an important event, and a blessing to the royal house, and to the
country in general, the old storks related the history in their own
way to their own family; but not until they had all eaten enough, else
these would have had other things to think of than listening to any
story.

"Now thou wilt be somebody," whispered the stork-mother; "it is only
reasonable to expect that."

"Oh! what should _I_ be?" said the stork-father. "And what have _I_
done? Nothing!"

"Thou hast done more than all the others put together. Without thee
and the young ones the two princesses would never have seen Egypt
again, or cured the old man. Thou wilt be nothing! Thou shouldst, at
the very least, be appointed court doctor, and have a title bestowed
on thee, which our young ones would inherit, and their little ones
after them. Thou dost look already exactly like an Egyptian doctor in
my eyes."

The learned and the wise lectured upon "the fundamental notion," as
they called it, which pervaded the whole tissue of events. "Love
bestows life." Then they expounded their meaning in this manner:--

"The warm sunbeam was the Egyptian princess; she descended to the
mud-king, and from their meeting sprang a flower----"

"I cannot exactly repeat the words," said the stork-father, who had
been listening to the discussion from the roof, and was now telling in
his nest what he had heard. "What they said was not easy of
comprehension, but it was so exceedingly wise that they were
immediately rewarded with rank and marks of distinction. Even the
prince's head cook got a handsome present--that was, doubtless, for
having prepared the repast."

"And what didst thou get?" asked the stork-mother. "They had no right
to overlook the most important actor in the affair, and that was
thyself. The learned only babbled about the matter. But so it is
always."

Late at night, when the now happy household reposed in peaceful
slumbers, there was one who was still awake; and that was not the
stork-father, although he was standing upon his nest on one leg, and
dozing like a sentry. No; little Helga was awake, leaning over the
balcony, and gazing through the clear air at the l