r to the Island of Bliss, where the Garden of Paradise
bloomed.

The Eastwind took the Prince in his arms and bore him over. The flowers
and leaves there sang all the beautiful old songs of his childhood, but
sang them more wonderfully than any human voice could sing them.

Were these palm trees or giant water plants growing here? The Prince
had never seen such rich and mighty trees. The most wonderful climbing
plants hung in wreaths, such as are only to be found pictured in gold
and colours on the margins of old books of the Saints or entwined among
their initial letters. It was the most extraordinary combination of
birds, flowers and scrolls.

Close by on the grass stood a flock of peacocks with their brilliant
tails outspread. Yes, indeed, it seemed so, but when the Prince touched
them he saw that they were not birds but plants. They were big dock
leaves, which shone like peacocks' tails. Lions and tigers sprang like
agile cats among the green hedges, which were scented with the blossom
of the olive, and the lion and the tiger were tame. The wild dove,
glistening like a pearl, beat the lion's mane with his wings; and the
antelope, otherwise so shy, stood by nodding, just as if he wanted to
join the game.

The Fairy of the Garden now advanced to meet them; her garments shone
like the sun, and her face beamed like that of a happy mother rejoicing
over her child. She was young and very beautiful, and was surrounded by
a band of lovely girls, each with a gleaming star in her hair.

When the Eastwind gave her the inscribed leaf from the Phoenix her
eyes sparkled with delight. She took the Prince's hand and led him into
her palace, where the walls were the colour of the brightest tulips in
the sunlight. The ceiling was one great shining flower, and the longer
one gazed into it the deeper the calyx seemed to be. The Prince went to
the window, and looking through one of the panes saw the Tree of
Knowledge, with the Serpent, and Adam and Eve standing by.

'Are they not driven out?' he asked, and the Fairy smiled, and explained
that Time had burned a picture into each pane, but not of the kind one
usually sees; they were alive, the leaves on the trees moved, and people
came and went like the reflections in a mirror.

Then he looked through another pane, and he saw Jacob's dream, with the
ladder going straight up into heaven, and angels with great wings were
fluttering up and down. All that had ever happened in this worl