he attitude of giving, seemed transparent; and her
great clear eyes wrapped all upon whom they fell in a fond embrace.

"It's the Queen!" said Tyltyl.

"It's a Fairy Princess!" cried Mytyl, kneeling beside her brother.

"No, my Children," said the Fairy. "It is Light!"

Smiling, Light stepped towards the two little ones. She, the Light of
Heaven, the strength and beauty of the Earth, was proud of the humble
mission entrusted to her; she, never before held captive, living in
space and bestowing her bounty upon all alike, consented to be
confined, for a brief spell, within a human shape, so as to lead the
Children out into the world and teach them to know that other Light,
the Light of the Mind, which we never see, but which helps us to see
all things that are.

"It is Light!" exclaimed the Things and the Animals; and, as they all
loved her, they began to dance around her with cries of pleasure.

Tyltyl and Mytyl capered with joy. Never had they pictured so amusing
and so pretty a party; and they shouted louder than all the rest.

Then what was bound to happen came. Suddenly, three knocks were heard
against the wall, loud enough to throw the house down! It was Daddy
Tyl, who had been waked up by the din and who was now threatening to
come and put a stop to it.

"Turn the diamond!" cried the Fairy to Tyltyl.

Our hero hastened to obey, but he had not the knack of it yet;
besides, his hand shook at the thought that his father was coming. In
fact, he was so awkward that he nearly broke the works.

"Not so quick, not so quick!" said the Fairy. "Oh dear, you've turned
it too briskly: they will not have time to resume their places and we
shall have a lot of bother!"

There was a general stampede. The walls of the cottage lost their
splendour. All ran hither and thither, to return to their proper
shape: Fire could not find his chimney; Water ran about looking for
her tap; Sugar stood moaning in front of his torn wrapper; and Bread,
the biggest of the loaves, was unable to squeeze into his pan, in
which the other loaves had jumped higgledy-piggledy, taking up all the
room. As for the Dog, he had grown too large for the hole in his
kennel; and the Cat also could not get into her basket. The Hours
alone, who were accustomed always to run faster than Man wished, had
slipped back into the clock without delay.

Light stood motionless and unruffled, vainly setting an example of
calmness to the others, who were all weeping