the princess smiled， and told him that time hadengraved each event on a window-pane in the formof a picture; but， unlike other pictures， all that itrepresented lived and moved，—the leaves rustled，and the persons went and came， as in a looking-glass. He looked through another pane， and sawthe ladder in Jacob's dream， on which the angelswere ascending and descending with outspreadwings. All that had ever happened in the world herelived and moved on the panes of glass， in picturessuch as time alone could produce. The fairy now ledthe prince into a large， lofty room with transparent walls， through which the light shone.Here were portraits， each one appearing more beautiful than the other—millions of happybeings， whose laughter and song mingled in one sweet melody： some of these were in suchan elevated position that they appeared smaller than the smallest rosebud， or like pencil dotson paper. In the centre of the hall stood a tree， with drooping branches， from which hunggolden apples， both GREat and small， looking like oranges amid the green leaves. It was thetree of knowledge of good and evil， from which Adam and Eve had plucked and eaten theforbidden fruit， and from each leaf trickled a bright red dewdrop， as if the tree were weepingtears of blood for their sin. “Let us now take the boat，” said the fairy： “a sail on the coolwaters will refresh us. But we shall not move from the spot， although the boat may rock onthe swelling water; the countries of the world will glide before us， but we shall remain still.”
It was indeed wonderful to behold. First came the lofty Alps， snow-clad， and coveredwith clouds and dark pines. The horn resounded， and the shepherds sang merrily in thevalleys. The banana-trees bent their drooping branches over the boat， black swans floated onthe water， and singular animals and flowers appeared on the distant shore. New Holland， thefifth division of the world， now glided by， with mountains in the background， looking blue inthe distance. They heard the song of the priests， and saw the wild dance of the savage to thesound of the drums and trumpets of bone; the pyramids of Egypt rising to the clouds;columns and sphinxes， overthrown and buried in the sand， followed in their turn; while thenorthern lights FLASHed out over the extinguished volcanoes of the north， in fireworks nonecould imitate.
the prince was delighted， and yet he saw hundreds of other wonderful things more thancan be described. “Can I stay here forever?” asked he.
“That depends upon yourself，” replied the fairy. “If you do not， like Adam， long for whatis forbidden， you can remain here always.”
“I should not touch the fruit on the tree of knowledge，” said the prince; there isabundance of fruit equally beautiful.“
“Examine your own heart，” said the princess， “and if you do not feel sure of itsstrength， return with the East Wind who brought you. He is about to fly back， and will notreturn here for a hundred years. The time will not seem to you more than a hundred hours，yet even that is a long time for temptation and resistance. Every evening， when I leave you，I shall be obliged to say， 'Come with me，' and to beckon to you with my hand. But you mustnot listen， nor move from your place to follow me; for with every step you will find yourpower to resist weaker. If once you attempted to follow me， you would soon find yourself inthe hall， where grows the tree of knowledge， for I sleep beneath its perfumed branches. Ifyou stooped over me， I should be forced to smile. If you then kissed my lips， the garden ofparadise would sink into the earth， and to you it would be lost. A keen wind from the desertwould howl around you; cold rain fall on your head， and sorrow and woe be your future lot.”
“I will remain，” said the prince.
So the East Wind kissed him on the forehead， and said， “Be firm; then shall we meetagain when a hundred years have passed. Farewell， farewell.” Then the East Wind spread hisbroad pinions， which shone like the lightning in harvest， or as the northern lights in a coldwinter.
“Farewell， farewell，” echoed the trees and the flowers.
Storks and pelicans flew after him in feathery bands， to accompany him to the boundariesof the garden.
“Now we will commence dancing，” said the fairy; “and when it is nearly over at sunset，while I am dancing with you， I shall make a sign， and ask you to follow me： but do not obey.I shall be obliged to repeat the same thing for a hundred years; and each time， when the trialis past， if you resist， you will gain strength， till resistance becomes easy， and at last thetemptation will be quite overcome. This evening， as it will be the first time， I have warnedyou.”
After this the fairy led him into a large hall， filled with transparent lilies. The yellowstamina of each flower formed a tiny golden harp， from which came forth strains of music likethe mingled tones of flute and lyre. Beautiful maidens， slender and graceful in form， androbed in transparent gauze， floated through the dance， and sang of the happy life in thegarden of paradise， where death never entered， and where all would bloom forever inimmortal youth. As the sun went down， the whole heavens became crimson and gold， andtinted the lilies with the hue of roses. Then the beautiful maidens offered to the princesparkling wine; and when he had drank， he felt happiness GREater than he had ever knownbefore. Presently the background of the hall opened and the tree of knowledge appeared，surrounded by a halo of glory that almost blinded him. Voices， soft and lovely as his mother'ssounded in his ears， as if she were singing to him， “My child， my beloved child.” Then thefairy beckoned to him， and said in sweet accents， “Come with me， come with me.” Forgettinghis promise， forgetting it even on the very first evening， he rushed towards her， while shecontinued to beckon to him and to smile. The fragrance around him overpowered his senses，the music from the harps sounded more entrancing， while around the tree appeared millions ofsmiling faces， nodding and singing. “Man should know everything; man is the lord of theearth.” The tree of knowledge no longer wept tears of blood， for the dewdrops shone likeglittering stars.