n by servants
dressed in blue and silver. In the carriage sat a prince, and over his
head a golden umbrella was held, to protect him from the sun's rays.

'Oh, if I were only a prince!' said the stone-cutter to himself, as the
carriage vanished round the corner. 'Oh, if I were only a prince, and
could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held over me, how
happy I should be!'

And the voice of the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; a
prince you shall be.'

And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men and
another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him along,
the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything heart could
desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked round still for
something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite of the water he
poured on his grass the rays of the sun scorched it, and that in spite
of the umbrella held over his head each day his face grew browner and
browner, he cried in his anger: 'The sun is mightier than I; oh, if I
were only the sun!'

And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the sun you shall
be.'

And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot his
beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the grass in
the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of poorer folk.
But in a short time he began to grow tired of his might, for there
seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once more filled his soul,
and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the earth from him, he cried
in his anger: 'Does the cloud hold captive my rays, and is it mightier
than I? Oh, that I were a cloud, and mightier than any!'

And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; a cloud you shall
be!'

And a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He caught the
sun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew green again
and flowers blossomed. But that was not enough for him, and for days and
weeks he poured forth rain till the rivers overflowed their banks, and
the crops of rice stood in water. Towns and villages were destroyed by
the power of the rain, only the great rock on the mountain side remained
unmoved. The cloud was amazed at the sight, and cried in wonder: 'Is the
rock, then, mightier than I? Oh, if I were only the rock!'

And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the rock you
shall be!

And the rock he was, and gloried i