Chapter VII

In the middle of the flower she saw a little tiny man. He was no larger than Thumbling.

The tiny man was as pure and white as if made of glass. He had a gold crown on his head and bright wings on his shoulders.

He was the King of the flower fairies.

“Oh, how beautiful he is!” said Thumbling to the Swallow.

The fairy King was glad to see Thumbling. He took off his crown and put it on her head.

“You shall be Queen of all the flower fairies,” he said.

How happy every one was! Out of every flower came a tiny flower fairy.

Each one brought the Queen a gift, but the one she liked best was a pair of golden wings.

When she put these on she could fly from flower to flower.

“You shall not be called Thumbling,” said the fairy King. “That is an ugly name. We will call you Maia.”

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN (_Adapted_).

MIDSUMMER NIGHT.

When the moon shines, and the stars are bright, and the warm winds blow, the fairies meet together. They come from everywhere.

The fairy queen, Titania, sends one to hang pearls of dew on the flowers. She sends another to kill the worms that are eating the roses. She sends others to frighten away the birds that cry at night.

When Titania lies down upon a bed of cowslips, the fairies sing her to sleep.

Other fairies wait upon Oberon, the king. The one he likes best is Puck.

Puck is the merriest fairy of all. He plays all sorts of tricks to make the king laugh.

The fairies dance merrily together in the moonlight. But when they are frightened they hide in acorn cups.

The king and the queen and all their fairies stay in the woods through the summer night. But when they first see the sunlight, they fly away, and follow darkness around the world.

SHAKESPEARE’S “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (_Adapted_).

THE TEETER.

Said the brownest little Brownie,
To the weest little Fairy,
“Won’t you come along
And play a while with me?”
Said the weest little Fairy
To the brownest little Brownie,
“Tell me what you want to play,
Then I will see!”
So this sprightly happy fellow
Found the broadest blade of grass,
And balanced it upon a mossy stone.
And those little fairy children
Teetered gaily up and down,
Up and down all the afternoon alone.

MAUD BURNHAM.

THE NIXIE’S MUSIC.

Little Nils was born on Sunday.

His mother told him that the fairies always liked a Sunday child. They would help him to be a great and good man.

She said that if he were kind and true, he would see the Nixie sometime. Then the Nixie would grant him three wishes.

Nils wanted to see the Nixie more than anything else. Many a time he sat by the water where the Nixie lived and listened for her music.

Sometimes on midsummer nights he thought he could hear it. But he could not see the Nixie nor tell her his three wishes.

“Perhaps I am not good enough,” thought Nils. Then he tried to be kind to the birds and animals. He was also very gentle with his little sister.

He knew what his three wishes would be, when he saw the Nixie.

First he wanted to be wise; then he wanted to be famous. But most of all he wanted a violin, so that he could play the Nixie’s music.

One day he asked the schoolmaster to let him take his violin.

The kind old man listened to Nils’s story. Then he said, “I will teach you to play the violin.”

After a few lessons, Nils tried to play the Nixie’s music. But though his ears could hear it, his fingers could not play it.

II

After a while the old schoolmaster died and left his violin to Nils.

Nils played on it all the time when he was not at work in the woods with his father.

The people said that he could play the Nixie’s music. They came from far and near to hear it. But Nils knew that he could not play it, although he could still hear it.

He played at all the feasts. He made more money with his violin than he did when he worked in the woods.

When he grew to be a man, he was very gentle and kind. People came to him when they were sad and wanted help. They called him Wise Nils.

Once two men were traveling through the country. They came to hear Nils play.

The travelers had never heard such beautiful music. They asked Nils to go with them and play in many countries.

“No!” Nils answered. “I must stay here. My people need me.”