diamonds,
and emeralds, and pearls. You shall see me mix the rainbow, and scatter
the dew upon the flowers at night. I have a thousand pretty things I
want to teach you: do you not wish to learn them?" "Oh, very much
indeed! I should like to do such things; I love dearly to work: mamma
often lets me water her flowers with a little watering-pot; is that the
way you scatter the dew?" "Child, child! How ignorant he is! But under
my tuition he will soon learn to understand the mysteries of nature. On
earth, children are so mismanaged--no wonder they become the sort of men
they do. My Rudolph shall be different; he shall hear no silly nursery
tales, shall waste no time in learning exploded nonsense, but shall
early become acquainted with _things_, and shall learn to value science.
I quite long to begin! It is a grand experiment; the work of education
is a noble one. And when he is a man, and has become under my teaching
a perfect specimen of what a man should be, what then? Shall I let him
return to earth? It is time enough yet to think of that." "May I go now,
and play, pretty lady? You are not talking to me." "True, I forgot
myself; come with me, Rudolph, and I will show you through my palace and
pleasure-grounds: recollect that you are now my son."

What words can describe the sights of beauty that awaited him? All
spectacles that could enchant the eye, all melodies that could ravish
the ear, were collected together, in infinite variety. Nothing that was
exquisite upon earth was unrepresented; but the grossness and the
imperfection which will cleave to every thing earthly, was left out. It
was the very palace of delights. And nothing faded here--the flowers
were ever-blooming, and if picked, were instantly replaced by fairer
blossoms. Delicious fruit, ever ripe, but never decaying, hung from the
boughs; streams of milk, wine, sherbet, and other delicious drinks,
trickled from the rocks into marble basins, and gold cups were suspended
near, to invite the thirsty to partake; while pure, sparkling water rose
high into the air, as if ambitious to greet the kindred clouds, and then
fell into large receptacles, fashioned out of one pearl, emerald, or
ruby. The pleasure-grounds were separated from the gross outer world by
a thick and lofty wall of evergreens, impervious to mortals, which
forbade both ingress and egress: at least, Rudolph's eyes could see no
mode of exit. But what could be wished for beyond? It was a paradise!