feel provoked with the lord
chamberlain.

Had it been the king himself, he would have fared no better. But both
he and the queen were fast asleep. And the chamberlain went back to
his bed. Somehow, the doctors never came. So the princess and her old
nurse were left with the prince. But the old nurse was a wise woman,
and knew what to do.

They tried everything for a long time without success. The princess
was nearly distracted between hope and fear, but she tried on and on,
one thing after another, and everything over and over again.

At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, the
prince opened his eyes.

15. Look at the Rain!

The princess burst into a passion of tears, and fell on the floor.
There she lay for an hour, and her tears never ceased. All the pent-up
crying of her life was spent now. And a rain came on, such as had
never been seen in that country. The sun shone all the time, and the
great drops, which fell straight to the earth, shone likewise. The
palace was in the heart of a rainbow. It was a rain of rubies, and
sapphires, and emeralds, and topazes. The torrents poured from the
mountains like molten gold; and if it had not been for its
subterraneous outlet, the lake would have overflowed and inundated the
country. It was full from shore to shore.

But the princess did not heed the lake. She lay on the floor and wept,
and this rain within doors was far more wonderful than the rain out of
doors.

For when it abated a little, and she proceeded to rise, she found, to
her astonishment, that she could not. At length, after many efforts,
she succeeded in getting upon her feet. But she tumbled down again
directly. Hearing her fall, her old nurse uttered a yell of delight,
and ran to her, screaming,--

"My darling child! she's found her gravity!"

"Oh, that's it! is it?" said the princess, rubbing her shoulder and her
knee alternately. "I consider it very unpleasant. I feel as if I
should be crushed to pieces."

"Hurrah!" cried the prince from the bed. "If you've come round,
princess, so have I. How's the lake?"

"Brimful," answered the nurse.

"Then we're all happy."

"That we are indeed!" answered the princess, sobbing.

And there was rejoicing all over the country that rainy day. Even the
babies forgot their past troubles, and danced and crowed amazingly.
And the king told stories, and the queen listened to them. And he
divided the money in