Rudolph was allowed to roam undisturbed through the splendid saloons,
vast halls, and pillared galleries of the palace, where at every step he
saw some new subject of wonder. No treasure-house of princes could for
one moment compare with the wealth and grandeur here exhibited, and the
Fairy Queen informed him that all should be his, when by knowledge he
had earned a title to it--it should be the reward of his application to
the noble studies to which she wished to introduce him. "I would do a
good deal to get all these beautiful things: I hope the lessons are not
very hard, for I never did like to study. I love play a great deal
better." "But play is only meant for babies and kittens, Rudolph: it is
unworthy of a being who can think. I know you have great talents, and I
am the one to develop them. I mean to teach you mineralogy and
chemistry, natural philosophy and history, astronomy and geology, botany
and geometry. You shall be wise, and shall learn to look beyond the
surface of things into their natures and constituent parts. You shall
know _why_ every thing was made just as it is, and shall understand the
exact proportions of all things to each other, and to the universe, so
that the whole system goes on in perfect and beautiful harmony. You
shall learn the balancings of the clouds, and the potent spell which
keeps the sun in its place, and makes the moon circle round the world.
You shall go with me into the dark caverns of the earth, and see how
rocks and metals are made in nature's forging shop. You shall witness
the operation of the subterranean forces which have altered the whole
aspect of this planet, and thrown up the lofty mountains, and tossed out
from the treasury below the varied wealth it held, making the world both
beautiful and rich. And I will show you ancient creatures, more huge
than whales, which once frolicked on the earth, before man was made: oh,
I have a thousand wonders to point out to you, and a great deal to
teach." "Thank you; you are very good. But indeed it sounds very hard,
and I don't like such things at all. I'd much rather play ball."

"Silly child!" thought the Fairy Queen, "he has been too long perverted
by the trifling ways of man: I should have taken him younger. I see that
I cannot at once indoctrinate him into the arcana of nature; I must
gradually lead him on, as if in play. Good! a bright idea! that must be
the right way to educate frivolous, frolicksome childhood. Science in
s