ay,' said the Prince, 'just tell me who is this Princess, and where
is the Garden of Paradise?'

'Oh ho!' said the Eastwind, 'if that is where you want to go you must
fly with me to-morrow. But I may as well tell you that no human being
has been there since Adam and Eve's time. You know all about them I
suppose from your Bible stories?'

'Of course,' said the Prince.

'When they were driven away the Garden of Eden sank into the ground, but
it kept its warm sunshine, its mild air, and all its charms. The queen
of the fairies lives there. The Island of Bliss, where death never
enters, and where living is a delight, is there. Get on my back
to-morrow and I will take you with me; I think I can manage it! But you
mustn't talk now, I want to go to sleep.'

When the Prince woke up in the early morning, he was not a little
surprised to find that he was already high above the clouds. He was
sitting on the back of the Eastwind, who was holding him carefully; they
were so high up that woods and fields, rivers and lakes, looked like a
large coloured map.

'Good morning,' said the Eastwind. 'You may as well sleep a little
longer, for there is not much to be seen in this flat country below us,
unless you want to count the churches. They look like chalk dots on the
green board.'

He called the fields and meadows 'the green board.'

'It was very rude of me to leave without saying good-bye to your mother
and brothers,' said the Prince.

'One is excused when one is asleep!' said the Eastwind, and they flew on
faster than ever. You could mark their flight by the rustling of the
trees as they passed over the woods; and whenever they crossed a lake,
or the sea, the waves rose and the great ships dipped low down in the
water, like floating swans. Towards evening the large towns were amusing
as it grew dark, with all their lights twinkling now here, now there,
just as when one burns a piece of paper and sees all the little sparks
like children coming home from school. The Prince clapped his hands, but
the Eastwind told him he had better leave off and hold tight, or he
might fall and find himself hanging on to a church steeple.

The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the Eastwind flew more
swiftly still. The Kossack on his little horse sped fast over the
plains, but the Prince sped faster still.

[Illustration: _The eagle in the great forest flew swiftly, but the
Eastwind flew more swiftly still._]

'Now you can see the