the ashes which
the old man had left behind, and took them to the road, hoping that
his luck might be as good as the old man's, or perhaps even better.
His heart beat with pleasure when he caught the first glimpses of the
Daimio's train, and he held himself ready for the right moment. As the
Daimio drew near he flung a great handful of ashes over the trees, but
no buds or flowers followed the action: instead, the ashes were all
blown back into the eyes of the Daimio and his warriors, till they cried
out from pain. Then the prince ordered the evil-doer to be seized and
bound and thrown into prison, where he was kept for many months. By the
time he was set free everybody in his native village had found out his
wickedness, and they would not let him live there any longer; and as he
would not leave off his evil ways he soon went from bad to worse, and
came to a miserable end.

(Japanische Marchen.)

THE FAIRY OF THE DAWN

Once upon a time what should happen DID happen; and if it had not
happened this tale would never have been told.

There was once an emperor, very great and mighty, and he ruled over an
empire so large that no one knew where it began and where it ended. But
if nobody could tell the exact extent of his sovereignty everybody was
aware that the emperor's right eye laughed, while his left eye wept.
One or two men of valour had the courage to go and ask him the reason of
this strange fact, but he only laughed and said nothing; and the reason
of the deadly enmity between his two eyes was a secret only known to the
monarch himself.

And all the while the emperor's sons were growing up. And such sons! All
three like the morning stars in the sky!

Florea, the eldest, was so tall and broad-shouldered that no man in the
kingdom could approach him.

Costan, the second, was quite different. Small of stature, and slightly
built, he had a strong arm and stronger wrist.

Petru, the third and youngest, was tall and thin, more like a girl than
a boy. He spoke very little, but laughed and sang, sang and laughed,
from morning till night. He was very seldom serious, but then he had a
way when he was thinking of stroking his hair over his forehead, which
made him look old enough to sit in his father's council!

'You are grown up, Florea,' said Petru one day to his eldest brother;
'do go and ask father why one eye laughs and the other weeps.'

But Florea would not go. He had learnt by experience that this questi