Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy literature
Then they sent to the various villages and towns of the Kingdom and the
architects said "Let Blessed-Eyes be King! Has he not created the great
Court of Honor from which we have all learned to make beautiful whatever
we build!" And the carpenters and joiners and plasterers and painters
all cried out, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"
Then they sent to the mills and the factories of the great cities and
the masterworkmen and designers answered and said, "Why not make
Blessed-Eyes our King? It was he who first introduced Art into our land
and showed us how to make as beautiful as pictures our carpets and
curtains and walls. Have not these things made our merchandise sought
for all over the world." Then the spinners and weavers and dyers all
shouted aloud, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"
Then they sent to all the colleges and schools in the land and the grave
presidents and superintendents said, "We know of no better man than
Blessed-Eyes. He first taught us that a love of the beautiful should be
part of each child's education." Then the youths and the maidens, the
boys and the girls, and even the little children shouted until they were
hoarse, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"
Then the whole nation seemed to cry out, "Blessed-Eyes, Blessed-Eyes,
Long live King Blessed-Eyes!" There is none among us whom he has not
helped. When the news was brought to Blessed-Eyes that all the people
desired him to rule over them, he smiled gently and said, "I had hoped
to rest now, but if I can serve my country I must do it." So he was made
King and the nation became wise and great and powerful under his reign.
For the little children grew up learning to love the beautiful and to
see it everywhere until at last there was a whole nation of
blessed-eyes, and every city in the land became as beautiful as was the
White City by the Lake.
_THE LOVING CUP WHICH WAS MADE OF IRON._
Upon the edge of a great forest a woodcutter had built him a cottage,
and soon he brought a fair young bride to live in it. She was a neat,
trim, little body, who wasted nothing and kept everything in the house
in perfect order, so that in a short time their small yard showed her
care also.
One day some cousins came from town to see the woodcutter, and his wife.
They brought with them their dinner in a large basket, and a jolly time
they had of it, wandering through the woods, lying on the soft green
grass, and gathering the wild flowers. Finally, hunger drove them back
to the woodcutter's house, and as they sat on the porch eating their
luncheon, they thoughtlessly threw the skins of their oranges and the
banana peelings on the grass in front of them. The woodcutter's wife
said nothing, but she felt sure that such litter and dirt on the fresh
green grass would grieve the wood-fairies who were trying to keep the
forest and all of its surroundings as beautiful as possible. Therefore
when the guests had gone, she quietly picked up all the skins and scraps
of paper and burned them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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