[story] the princess and the fallen star
author: h bright (Dreamwidth)
Once upon a time, before there was a sun, when everyone lived in darkness save for candlelight and firelight and starlight, a star fell to earth from the sky. Many people saw it fall, but the only one who marked where it came to rest was the Princess of the Kingdom By The Sea. She was watching the star from the highest window of the highest tower of her castle when it began suddenly to descend, and she saw it hit the ground in the mountains to the north.
The Princess called her brother and said, "I have seen a star fall in the mountains to the north. If we hurry and find it before anyone else, we can bring it back here to give us light." For in those days the most important thing to everyone was the making of light.
So the Princess and her brother, the Wandering Prince, set out with many servants and many horses for the mountains in the north. They rode for hours under the stars and finally, when the moon rose - which for them was morning - they reached the foot of the mountains. There they found a little river flowing in a narrow valley, and this they followed, high into the mountains, until they suddenly saw a bright glow ahead of them. The Princess, excited, rode forward to a bend in the track to see what caused it.
A terrible fire blazed in the gully ahead. Small trees had blackened, the grass had withered, and even the water in the stream was boiling. The Princess was dismayed and a little frightened. When her brother came up behind her and saw the flames, he said, "Who has done this? Is it some witchcraft to prevent us from reaching the star?"
For in those days, people believed stars were cold.
At length, the Princess called their servants to quell the blaze with water from downriver, and beat out the embers with brooms made of birch. When the river ran cold again, they led their horses through the water (for the ground was still too hot to tread) and further up the valley. But soon they stopped short, for there was only a rock face in front of them, with the stream issuing from a crack. The Wandering Prince and the Princess searched and searched for some path or ravine, but found nothing but a small, dark cave too small for them to enter.
"There is no star here," said the Wandering Prince.
"Yet this is where I saw it fall," said the Princess.
"Then perhaps it was destroyed in the fire or stolen by someone else," said the Wandering Prince, a trifle impatiently, for he was now both soaking wet and slightly scorched. "At any rate, there is nothing here for us. We must return to the castle while the moon is up."
The Wandering Prince ordered the party to turn around, but the Princess lingered in the gully. At last, when everyone else had left, she sighed and prepared to mount her horse. Just then she heard a small voice.
"Hello?"
The Princess spun around. The voice was coming from the cave.
"Hello? Can you... can you help me?"
"Who's there?" called the Princess.
Out of the cave came crawling a little girl dressed in white. Her hands and knees were muddy and she shivered with cold. Her hair was a bright white-gold, brighter than the moon above.
"I am Sei," said the little girl. "And I am cold and I don't know where I am."
The Princess picked her up at once, and wrapped her in the royal cloak, and put her on the horse, and rode fast to find the rest of the party. When she caught them up, she made them stop and find warm blankets for Sei. Her brother was amazed to hear that the girl had been in the cave.
"How did you get there?" he asked.
"I don't know, I can't remember," said Sei.
"Did the fire not scare you?"
"I don't know, I can't remember."
Sei began to cry. No matter what they asked her, all she could say was "I don't know, I can't remember." The Princess made them stop, and took the little girl in her arms on her horse, and they returned to the castle to tell the court they had not found the star.
Although there was a great search for Sei's parents, they could not be found, and so the Princess resolved to bring her up herself. Sei still did not remember anything, but she was quick and clever, and her hair was so bright that it seemed to shine on its own in the darkness. The Princess had her own tutors instruct Sei, and the Wandering Prince took her riding on his horse about the city and the realm, and everyone loved her. From the time she came to the castle by the sea, the candles and torches burned brighter, the fires gave more warmth, and the clouds never obscured the moon. Yet Sei was often cold, and liked to sit so close to the hearth that they were afraid she would burn herself.
One day, as the Princess was putting her to bed, she decided to tell Sei the story of how they had come to find her in the mountains.
"Why did you want it?" asked Sei when she was done.
"Because it is always dark," said the Princess.
"But what is a star?" asked Sei.
"A star is a great gemstone like a diamond, bigger than my two fists together. It is very cold but very bright."
Sei laughed and laughed as if this were the greatest joke she had ever heard, and finally said, "That's silly. Stars are hot, not cold, and much bigger than anyone's hands!"
The Princess was surprised, and asked her who had told her such nonsense. The little girl frowned.
"I don't know, I can't remember."
After that, the Princess would often find Sei on the tops of the towers, gazing at the stars and the moon.
One day, Sei said, "It's not that they are cold, or small, it's just that they are far away." She pointed to a tiny flicker of light in the distant hills. "If you were over there, that would be a bonfire, but from here it is only a spark."
And the Princess thought about the great blaze in the mountains, and she wondered if Sei might not be right, and the thought made her uneasy. She told Sei to speak of it to no-one.
Not long after this, the Princess's maid came to tell her that Sei refused to get out of bed. The Princess was concerned and went to find her ward. The little girl was buried under a pile of blankets and shivering.
"I can't get up. It's too cold."
The Princess ordered a blazing fire to be built in the hearth, and after a little while Sei sat up and said she was warm enough now.
But the next day it happened again, and again Sei could not get up until the fire was roaring. So the Princess had her maids stay up all night by turns to keep the fire going, and she herself slept in Sei's bed to keep her warm. For a few days Sei was able to rise in the morning, but at last, on a day when the room was so hot the Princess was sweltering, she woke to find Sei shaking like a leaf with cold. Her eyes were closed and her skin icy to the touch.
The Princess summoned all the doctors in the land, but they were baffled, for Sei had no fever; she was only cold, even when they made her room as hot as a furnace. The Wandering Prince, who loved Sei as his own sister, ordered a great fire to be built in the main hall, and when it was so hot it scorched the skin, they brought Sei to it wrapped in blankets. When she felt the warmth on her face, Sei slowly seemed to revive. Opening her eyes, she looked at the fire, and then at the Princess and the Wandering Prince, and said, "It's not enough. Make a bigger one in the courtyard."
The Princess at once ordered wood to be brought, all the wood in the castle, and piled up in the courtyard. When they were done, the Wandering Prince carried Sei to the window, but she shook her head and said, "Not enough."
Then the Princess ordered the servants to take the ancient, wooden furniture from the halls and chambers, chop it into pieces, and pile it with the rest. And Sei looked at it and shook her head and said, "Still not enough."
Then the Princess and the Wandering Prince were at a loss, for there was no more wood to be had in all the castle, save only the beautiful lacquered chests and gilded altars in the royal shrine. And so at last the Princess said, "It must be done," and brother and sister themselves took axes to the shrine, permitting no other to share in its destruction. Then, when all the broken wood, still showing red and gold, was piled up with the rest, Sei looked at it and said,
"Yes. It is enough. Now pour oil over it and set it alight."
"If we do that, even the stone walls will surely crack and burn!" said the Wandering Prince, but the Princess lifted Sei in her arms and ordered it done.
When they stepped outside the heat was so intense that their skin smarted and they stopped dead, unable to approach the inferno. But Sei wriggled down from the Princess's arms and walked a few steps towards the fire. Her hair glimmered with firelight and seemed to shine as bright as the flames.
"Sei, stop! You'll burn!" cried the Princess.
"Yes," said Sei, turning to smile at them. Her eyes glowed bright, though they shimmered with tears. "I shall burn. And you shall have light. I know now. I remember now."
Then Sei turned and walked away, heedless of all their cries, and they could not follow her for the heat. As she approached the flames, her hair caught alight and flowed behind her, a mane of fire. She stepped into the blaze, and it leaped up so high it seemed it must scorch the sky. The Princess and the Wandering Prince were terrified, and their servants fled the castle for fear they would all burn.
Then, out of the fire, something shot into the air, so bright it hurt the eyes. The flames immediately died to nothing. Squinting against the glare, brother and sister beheld a great Phoenix hovering over the castle, its wings trailing fire and its tail feathers like smoke.
"You cared for me and kept me warm," it said, and the voice was Sei's. "I shall not go back to the others. They are too far away. I shall give you light."
Then the Phoenix soared up, up into the air, and out to the east, across the sea. The Princess and her brother raced to the top of the tallest tower and watched as the Phoenix seemed to dive below the edge of the world. The horizon glowed golden where it had disappeared, and they waited with sorrowful hearts for the light to vanish.
But as they watched, the glow brightened and tinged the clouds with gold, then pink, which became a pale blue that washed over the dome of the sky like a gentle wave. The stars disappeared and the air grew warm.
And then the sun rose for the very first time.
the end
Once upon a time, before there was a sun, when everyone lived in darkness save for candlelight and firelight and starlight, a star fell to earth from the sky. Many people saw it fall, but the only one who marked where it came to rest was the Princess of the Kingdom By The Sea. She was watching the star from the highest window of the highest tower of her castle when it began suddenly to descend, and she saw it hit the ground in the mountains to the north.
The Princess called her brother and said, "I have seen a star fall in the mountains to the north. If we hurry and find it before anyone else, we can bring it back here to give us light." For in those days the most important thing to everyone was the making of light.
So the Princess and her brother, the Wandering Prince, set out with many servants and many horses for the mountains in the north. They rode for hours under the stars and finally, when the moon rose - which for them was morning - they reached the foot of the mountains. There they found a little river flowing in a narrow valley, and this they followed, high into the mountains, until they suddenly saw a bright glow ahead of them. The Princess, excited, rode forward to a bend in the track to see what caused it.
A terrible fire blazed in the gully ahead. Small trees had blackened, the grass had withered, and even the water in the stream was boiling. The Princess was dismayed and a little frightened. When her brother came up behind her and saw the flames, he said, "Who has done this? Is it some witchcraft to prevent us from reaching the star?"
For in those days, people believed stars were cold.
At length, the Princess called their servants to quell the blaze with water from downriver, and beat out the embers with brooms made of birch. When the river ran cold again, they led their horses through the water (for the ground was still too hot to tread) and further up the valley. But soon they stopped short, for there was only a rock face in front of them, with the stream issuing from a crack. The Wandering Prince and the Princess searched and searched for some path or ravine, but found nothing but a small, dark cave too small for them to enter.
"There is no star here," said the Wandering Prince.
"Yet this is where I saw it fall," said the Princess.
"Then perhaps it was destroyed in the fire or stolen by someone else," said the Wandering Prince, a trifle impatiently, for he was now both soaking wet and slightly scorched. "At any rate, there is nothing here for us. We must return to the castle while the moon is up."
The Wandering Prince ordered the party to turn around, but the Princess lingered in the gully. At last, when everyone else had left, she sighed and prepared to mount her horse. Just then she heard a small voice.
"Hello?"
The Princess spun around. The voice was coming from the cave.
"Hello? Can you... can you help me?"
"Who's there?" called the Princess.
Out of the cave came crawling a little girl dressed in white. Her hands and knees were muddy and she shivered with cold. Her hair was a bright white-gold, brighter than the moon above.
"I am Sei," said the little girl. "And I am cold and I don't know where I am."
The Princess picked her up at once, and wrapped her in the royal cloak, and put her on the horse, and rode fast to find the rest of the party. When she caught them up, she made them stop and find warm blankets for Sei. Her brother was amazed to hear that the girl had been in the cave.
"How did you get there?" he asked.
"I don't know, I can't remember," said Sei.
"Did the fire not scare you?"
"I don't know, I can't remember."
Sei began to cry. No matter what they asked her, all she could say was "I don't know, I can't remember." The Princess made them stop, and took the little girl in her arms on her horse, and they returned to the castle to tell the court they had not found the star.
Although there was a great search for Sei's parents, they could not be found, and so the Princess resolved to bring her up herself. Sei still did not remember anything, but she was quick and clever, and her hair was so bright that it seemed to shine on its own in the darkness. The Princess had her own tutors instruct Sei, and the Wandering Prince took her riding on his horse about the city and the realm, and everyone loved her. From the time she came to the castle by the sea, the candles and torches burned brighter, the fires gave more warmth, and the clouds never obscured the moon. Yet Sei was often cold, and liked to sit so close to the hearth that they were afraid she would burn herself.
One day, as the Princess was putting her to bed, she decided to tell Sei the story of how they had come to find her in the mountains.
"Why did you want it?" asked Sei when she was done.
"Because it is always dark," said the Princess.
"But what is a star?" asked Sei.
"A star is a great gemstone like a diamond, bigger than my two fists together. It is very cold but very bright."
Sei laughed and laughed as if this were the greatest joke she had ever heard, and finally said, "That's silly. Stars are hot, not cold, and much bigger than anyone's hands!"
The Princess was surprised, and asked her who had told her such nonsense. The little girl frowned.
"I don't know, I can't remember."
After that, the Princess would often find Sei on the tops of the towers, gazing at the stars and the moon.
One day, Sei said, "It's not that they are cold, or small, it's just that they are far away." She pointed to a tiny flicker of light in the distant hills. "If you were over there, that would be a bonfire, but from here it is only a spark."
And the Princess thought about the great blaze in the mountains, and she wondered if Sei might not be right, and the thought made her uneasy. She told Sei to speak of it to no-one.
Not long after this, the Princess's maid came to tell her that Sei refused to get out of bed. The Princess was concerned and went to find her ward. The little girl was buried under a pile of blankets and shivering.
"I can't get up. It's too cold."
The Princess ordered a blazing fire to be built in the hearth, and after a little while Sei sat up and said she was warm enough now.
But the next day it happened again, and again Sei could not get up until the fire was roaring. So the Princess had her maids stay up all night by turns to keep the fire going, and she herself slept in Sei's bed to keep her warm. For a few days Sei was able to rise in the morning, but at last, on a day when the room was so hot the Princess was sweltering, she woke to find Sei shaking like a leaf with cold. Her eyes were closed and her skin icy to the touch.
The Princess summoned all the doctors in the land, but they were baffled, for Sei had no fever; she was only cold, even when they made her room as hot as a furnace. The Wandering Prince, who loved Sei as his own sister, ordered a great fire to be built in the main hall, and when it was so hot it scorched the skin, they brought Sei to it wrapped in blankets. When she felt the warmth on her face, Sei slowly seemed to revive. Opening her eyes, she looked at the fire, and then at the Princess and the Wandering Prince, and said, "It's not enough. Make a bigger one in the courtyard."
The Princess at once ordered wood to be brought, all the wood in the castle, and piled up in the courtyard. When they were done, the Wandering Prince carried Sei to the window, but she shook her head and said, "Not enough."
Then the Princess ordered the servants to take the ancient, wooden furniture from the halls and chambers, chop it into pieces, and pile it with the rest. And Sei looked at it and shook her head and said, "Still not enough."
Then the Princess and the Wandering Prince were at a loss, for there was no more wood to be had in all the castle, save only the beautiful lacquered chests and gilded altars in the royal shrine. And so at last the Princess said, "It must be done," and brother and sister themselves took axes to the shrine, permitting no other to share in its destruction. Then, when all the broken wood, still showing red and gold, was piled up with the rest, Sei looked at it and said,
"Yes. It is enough. Now pour oil over it and set it alight."
"If we do that, even the stone walls will surely crack and burn!" said the Wandering Prince, but the Princess lifted Sei in her arms and ordered it done.
When they stepped outside the heat was so intense that their skin smarted and they stopped dead, unable to approach the inferno. But Sei wriggled down from the Princess's arms and walked a few steps towards the fire. Her hair glimmered with firelight and seemed to shine as bright as the flames.
"Sei, stop! You'll burn!" cried the Princess.
"Yes," said Sei, turning to smile at them. Her eyes glowed bright, though they shimmered with tears. "I shall burn. And you shall have light. I know now. I remember now."
Then Sei turned and walked away, heedless of all their cries, and they could not follow her for the heat. As she approached the flames, her hair caught alight and flowed behind her, a mane of fire. She stepped into the blaze, and it leaped up so high it seemed it must scorch the sky. The Princess and the Wandering Prince were terrified, and their servants fled the castle for fear they would all burn.
Then, out of the fire, something shot into the air, so bright it hurt the eyes. The flames immediately died to nothing. Squinting against the glare, brother and sister beheld a great Phoenix hovering over the castle, its wings trailing fire and its tail feathers like smoke.
"You cared for me and kept me warm," it said, and the voice was Sei's. "I shall not go back to the others. They are too far away. I shall give you light."
Then the Phoenix soared up, up into the air, and out to the east, across the sea. The Princess and her brother raced to the top of the tallest tower and watched as the Phoenix seemed to dive below the edge of the world. The horizon glowed golden where it had disappeared, and they waited with sorrowful hearts for the light to vanish.
But as they watched, the glow brightened and tinged the clouds with gold, then pink, which became a pale blue that washed over the dome of the sky like a gentle wave. The stars disappeared and the air grew warm.
And then the sun rose for the very first time.
the end