Hello my sleepy friends and welcome.
I'm your host Joanne and it's a pleasure sharing this quiet time with you tonight.
For our story,
I'll be sharing The Country Called Nonamia by Evelyn Sharpe.
A whimsical little fairy tale about a princess,
An absent-minded magician,
And a rather wonderful castle in the air.
But before we begin,
Let's take a little time to settle in and get comfortable.
For the next little while.
Give yourself permission to rest here quietly.
Perhaps notice the gentle weight of your hands,
Wherever they happen to be resting.
Or the way your feet have settled beneath the covers.
You don't need to change anything.
Just notice how your body naturally begins to grow calmer when it's given a little time.
Let your breathing find its own comfortable rhythm,
Easy and unhurried.
And with each passing moment.
Little by little.
The sounds and thoughts of the day can become a little less important.
While the story ahead becomes your quiet focus.
You may find your eyelids growing heavier now.
Your thoughts beginning to wander more slowly as you settle in and listen.
And whenever you're ready,
Let's begin.
Ever so long ago,
In the wonderful country of Monamia,
There lived an absent-minded magician.
It is not usual,
Of course,
For a magician to be absent-minded,
But then,
If it were usual,
It would not have happened in Onamia.
Nobody knew very much about this particular magician.
For he lived in his castle in the air.
And it is not easy to visit anyone who lives in the air.
He did not want to be visited,
However.
Visitors always meant conversation.
And he could not endure conversation.
This,
By the way,
Was not surprising.
For he was so absent-minded that he always forgot the end of his sentence before he was halfway through the beginning of it.
And asked for his visitors' remarks.
Well,
If he had had any visitors,
He would never have heard their remarks at all.
So,
When someone did call on him one day,
And that was when he had been living in his castle in the air for 777 years and had almost forgotten who he was and why he was there,
The magician was so astonished that he could not think of anything to say.
How did you get here?
He asked at last.
For even an absent-minded magician cannot remain altogether silent when he looks out of his castle in the air and sees a princess in a gold and silver frock.
With a bright little crown on her head.
Floating about on a soft white cloud.
Well,
I just came,
That's all,
" answered the princess,
With a particularly friendly smile.
You see,
I've never been able to find my own castle in the air.
So when the West Wind told me about yours,
I asked him to blow me here.
May I come in and see what it is like?
Certainly not,
Said the magician hastily.
It is not like anything.
And even if it were.
I should not let you come in.
Don't you know that?
If you were ever to enter another person's castle in the air,
It would vanish away like a puff of smoke.
Oh dear,
Sighed the princess.
I did so want to know what a real castle in the air was like.
I wonder if yours is at all like mine.
Tell me about yours,
" said the magician.
I may be able to help you find it.
Of course,
He only said this in order to prevent her from coming inside his own castle.
At the same time,
A little conversation with a friendly princess in a gold and silver gown is not at all unpleasant when one has lived in a castle in the air for 777 years.
My castle in the air is much bigger than yours,
" she explained.
It has ever so many rooms in it.
A large room to laugh in.
And a small room to cry in.
To cry and interrupted the magician.
Why no one ever thinks of crying in a castle in the air.
One never knows,
Answered the princess gravely.
Supposing I were to prick my finger.
What should I do if there wasn't a room to cry in?
Then there is a middling sized room to be serious in.
For there is just a chance that I might want to be serious sometimes,
And it would be as well to have a room in case.
Perhaps it would,
Observed the magician.
Who had never listened so attentively to a conversation in the whole of his long life.
What else will you have in your castle?
I shall have lots of nice books that end happily,
Answered the princess.
And they shall be talking books.
So that I need not read them to find out what they are about.
I shall have plenty of happy thoughts in my castle too,
And lots of nice dreams piled up in heaps.
And,
Well,
There is just one thing more.
What is that?
Ask the magician.
Well,
I think I should like to have a prince in my castle.
Are nice prints.
Who would not want to be just dull and princely like all the princes I have ever danced with.
But a prince who would like my castle exactly as I have built it,
And would play with me all day long.
That would be something like a prince,
Wouldn't it?
You could not possibly have a prince,
" said the magician.
If you allowed someone else even to look into your castle in the air.
It would vanish away like a puff of smoke.
I have lived in my castle for 777 years,
And I have never allowed anyone to put a foot in it.
It is so beautiful then,
Your castle in the air,
Asked the princess wonderingly.
I'm sure I don't know,
Said the absent-minded magician.
I don't think I ever noticed.
I came to live in it because it was the only place in which I could be left alone.
That reminds me.
That if you do not go away at once,
I shall be obliged to become exceedingly angry with you.
By all means,
" said the Princess,
Who had the most charming manners in the world.
But I should like to have my castle first.
I haven't got it here,
Said the magician,
Looking about him vaguely.
I know I saw it somewhere not long ago.
But I can't remember what I did with it.
However,
If you ask the people of Nonemia,
They won't be able to tell you where it has gone.
You will find that they are very obliging.
Will they not be surprised?
Asked the princess.
Dear me,
No.
The nonamiacs are never surprised at anything,
Said the magician.
And he drew his head from the window.
The princess in the gold and silver frock sailed away on her cloud.
And landed presently in the flat,
Green country of Nonemia.
Have you seen my castle in the air?
" she asked very politely.
What is it like?
Ask the Nonamiac without showing the least surprise.
It is ever so large and ever so beautiful.
And it is packed full of happiness.
And there is a nice prince inside,
Answered the princess.
Ah,
" said the Nonamiac,
Then it must be the one I saw being blown along by the south wind.
But there was no prince inside.
The princess thanked him and hastened away in the direction of the south wind,
Until she met another Nonamiac.
To whom she explained as politely as before what she wanted to know.
Ah,
" said the Nonamiac,
That must be the castle I met just now as it was being carried off by the north wind.
But I saw no prince inside.
The princess turned round and hurried after the north wind as fast as she could go.
As soon as she met another no name yak however.
She had to turn round once more.
For he told her that her castle had just been stolen by the east wind.
And when she had been walking quite a long time in the direction of the east wind.
She met yet another Nonamiac who told her that it was the west wind who had taken away her castle in the air.
It is too bad,
" said the little princess,
Sitting down exhausted on a large stone by the side of the road.
Why should all the winds be playing with my castle in the air?
Castles in the air generally go to the winds,
Observed a traveler in a dusty brown cloak.
Who was sitting on another large stone not very far off.
She was quite sure he had not been there the moment before,
But in Nonemia,
There was nothing remarkable about that.
The princess wiped the tears out of her eyes with a small lace handkerchief and looked at the stranger.
Mine is a very particular castle in the air,
You see,
" she said.
It is ever so large and ever so beautiful,
And it is packed with happiness and dreams,
And perhaps there is a prince in it too.
A prince,
Said the stranger.
What sort of prince?
A nice prince,
Explained the princess.
Who can play games and tell stories and be amusing.
All the princes I know can do nothing but dance,
And they are not at all amusing.
I'm afraid though,
She added sighing.
That I am going to have my castle without a prince after all.
Would it do?
" asked the Traveler in the dusty brown cloak.
If you were to have a prince without a castle?
Oh no,
Answered the princess decidedly.
If you knew how beautiful my castle in the air is.
You would not even ask such a stupid question.
Then she again took up her small lace handkerchief.
And she brushed the dust from her gold and silver gown.
And polished up her bright little gold crown and made herself as neat and dainty as a princess should be.
For in nonemia,
One never knows what may happen next,
And it is just as well to be prepared.
No sooner was she quite tidy,
Than the west wind came hurrying along with her castle in the air.
The princess gave a shout of joy and sprang inside it.
And the west wind blew and blew and blew until the castle that was packed full of happiness and the little princess in the gold and silver gown were both completely out of sight.
The traveler looked after them and felt a little forlorn.
Then he picked up his stick and walked on until he came to the magician's castle.
This may seem a little surprising,
As he had no wings of any kind,
And the Magician's castle was in the air.
But it must be remembered that it all happened in Nonemia.
"'Dear,
Dear,
Here's another of them,
' grumbled the magician,
When he looked out of his window,
And saw the stranger standing below.
After being alone for 777 years,
It was a little exhausting to have two visitors on the same day.
Besides,
A traveler in a dusty brown cloak is not at all the same thing as a dainty princess in a gold and silver gown.
Good day,
" said the stranger.
Are you the magician who has given a castle in the air to a princess in a gold and silver frock with a bright little crown on her head?
Very likely,
But I cannot say for certain,
" said the absent-minded magician.
I believe there was something of the kind.
Now you come to mention it.
But I couldn't tell you what it was.
However,
I don't mean to give away any more castles in the air.
So the sooner you leave me alone,
The better.
I don't want a castle in the air,
" laughed the stranger.
People who spend their lives in building real houses never have time to build castles in the air.
I want to find the princess,
Not the castle.
That will never do as long as she is happy in it,
" said the magician.
People who live in castles in the air are never to be found,
Unless they have grown tired of living in them.
Oh,
Chuckled the stranger.
Are you tired of living in yours then?
The absent-minded magician tried to determine whether he should be angry or not,
When the stranger said this,
But By the time he had made up his mind to be angry,
He had forgotten what there was to be angry about.
And while he was thinking about it.
The man in the dusty brown cloak walked away and left him.
Evidently,
It was not very long before the princess grew tired of living in her castle in the air.
For the very next day,
As the traveler was once more resting on the large stone by the side of the road,
Down she came,
Castle and all,
And stopped just in front of him.
Truly,
There is no end to the wonderful things that happen in nonamia.
Hello,
Said the traveler smiling.
What is it like inside your castle?
It is not half so nice as I expected to find it,
" said the princess,
Popping her head out of the top window.
You see,
There's no one to play with.
And even if your castle is the most beautiful castle in the world.
It is always dull when there's no one to play with,
Isn't it?
I don't know,
Answered the stranger.
I have never had anyone to play with.
What else is wrong with your castle?
Well,
Continued the princess.
It is all very well to have a castle that is packed with happiness,
But when it is packed so tight that you cannot get it out without someone to help you,
It is not much good,
Is it?
I don't know,
Answered the stranger.
My happiness has never been packed so tight as all that.
Have you anything else to complain of?
A great many things,
Said the princess.
It is all that stupid magician's fault.
When I said,
A small room to cry in,
I didn't really mean a room to cry in,
Did I?
But everywhere I turn,
There's always the room to cry in,
Staring me in the face.
I am sure there is something seriously wrong with my castle in the air.
No doubt about it,
Said the traveler,
And it is clearly the magician's fault.
When you came to live in your castle in the air,
Continued the princess plaintively.
Did you find that it was very different from the one you had built?
The Traveler in the dusty brown cloak burst out laughing.
I have no time to build castles in the air,
" he said.
I build real houses for other people to live in.
People who would,
Perhaps,
Have no houses at all if I did not build them.
That is more important than building castles in the air for oneself.
What are your wheelhouses like?
Asked the princess.
They are strong,
Answered the stranger proudly.
All the four winds joined together could not blow them down.
Not one has ever built such strong houses as mine.
Are they beautiful too?
Asked the princess.
I have no time to look after that,
Answered the stranger.
I built more houses than anyone else in the world,
And still,
There are people who are waiting for houses to live in.
I must build as fast as I can,
Day after day,
Year after year.
Then why are you not building houses now?
Asked the princess.
The Great Builder looked soreful.
There is something wrong about my real houses too,
He confessed.
The people who live in them are never quite contented.
And I have come away to think out a new plan by myself.
So that the next houses I build shall be the most wonderful houses in the world.
The princess leaned her chin on her hand and looked quite thoughtful for a moment or two.
May I come and help you to build real houses for a change?
" she said presently.
I am dreadfully tired of building houses in the air that do not turn out properly.
Though,
Of course,
That was principally the magician's fault.
If you were to show me the way.
I might be able to build something real that would turn out properly,
And that would be ever so much more amusing.
It is not at all amusing,
" said the traveller,
Shaking his head.
You would soon grow tired of it.
Besides,
You would have no prince to play with.
I don't think I want a prince to play with,
" said the charming princess in the gold and silver frock.
He might turn out to be as dull as my castle in the air.
Especially if the magician had anything to do with it.
I would much sooner come and help you build real houses.
The Traveler in the dusty brown cloak still shook his head.
Little ladies in gold and silver gowns can only build castles in the air,
He said.
Do the people who live in your houses never build castles in the air?
" asked the princess.
I never thought of asking them,
Answered the Great Builder.
I have been too much occupied in building their real houses.
Then let us go and ask them now,
" said the princess.
And she came down from her castle in the air and stepped once more on the dusty road.
And held out her little white hand to the traveler.
Her castle in the air vanished like a puff of smoke the moment she stepped out of it.
What would be the use of that?
Asked the traveler smiling.
He took the little white hand,
However,
For no one could have refused that much to such a very charming princess.
Why?
" said the princess in the gold and silver frock.
Then we could make their real houses just like their castles in the air,
And only think how packed with happiness they would be.
The traveler looked at her in amazement.
It was certainly astonishing that so great a builder as he should find out what was wrong with his houses.
From a princess with a bright little crown on her head who had never done anything but build castles in the air.
Still,
We must remember that it all happened in Nonamia,
And that accounts for a great deal.
You are quite right,
" said the Traveler.
You know far more about it than I do.
You shall come and help me to build real houses,
And they shall be the most wonderful houses that have ever been built.
All beautiful to look at,
And packed with happiness inside,
" cried the dainty little princess,
Clapping her hands for joy.
And we won't let that stupid magician spoil our real houses,
Will we?
The magician was looking out of his window at nothing at all.
When they came past his castle,
Hand in hand.
We are going to build the most wonderful houses in the world,
Cried the princess.
Ever so much more wonderful than the stupid castle in the air you gave me.
This was not very gracious of her,
For,
After all,
The magician had given her exactly what she had built for herself.
However,
As he had already forgotten both of them and could not think of anything to say,
And as they were in too great a hurry to stay and help him.
There is nothing more to be said about the magician.
Except that he is still living in his castle in the air and looking out of his window at nothing at all,
Which is a right and proper occupation for a magician who is absent-minded.
As for the Traveler and the Charming Princess,
They spent the rest of their days in building the most wonderful houses in the world.
For the people who had nowhere to live.
And ask for the people who had nowhere to live.
It was only natural that they should all find their way to the country called Nonemia.
Where a little lady in a gold and silver gown taught them to build a castle in the air.
And a great builder in a dusty brown cloak.
Made it into a real house that was packed with happiness.
It is a little difficult to believe that this is all true.
But then it must be remembered.
That it all happened in Nonemia ever so long ago.
Ever so long ago,
In the wonderful country of Monamia,
There lived an absent-minded magician.
It is not usual,
Of course,
For a magician to be absent-minded,
But then,
If it were usual,
It would not have happened in Onamia.
Nobody knew very much about this particular magician.
For he lived in his castle in the air.
And it is not easy to visit anyone who lives in the air.
He did not want to be visited,
However.
Visitors always meant conversation.
And he could not endure conversation.
This,
By the way,
Was not surprising.
For he was so absent-minded that he always forgot the end of his sentence before he was halfway through the beginning of it.
And asked for his visitors' remarks.
Well,
If he had had any visitors,
He would never have heard their remarks at all.
So,
When someone did call on him one day,
And that was when he had been living in his castle in the air for 777 years and had almost forgotten who he was and why he was there,
The magician was so astonished that he could not think of anything to say.
How did you get here?
" he asked at last.
For even an absent-minded magician cannot remain altogether silent when he looks out of his castle in the air and sees a princess in a gold and silver frock.
With a bright little crown on her head.
Floating about on a soft white cloud.
Well,
I just came,
That's all,
" answered the princess,
With a particularly friendly smile.
You see,
I've never been able to find my own castle in the air.
So when the West Wind told me about yours,
I asked him to blow me here.
May I come in and see what it is like?
Certainly not,
Said the magician hastily.
It is not like anything.
And even if it were.
I should not let you come in.
Don't you know that?
If you were ever to enter another person's castle in the air,
It would vanish away like a puff of smoke.
Oh dear,
Sighed the princess.
I did so want to know what a real castle in the air was like.
I wonder if yours is at all like mine.
Tell me about yours,
Said the magician.
I may be able to help you find it.
Of course,
He only said this in order to prevent her from coming inside his own castle.
At the same time,
A little conversation with a friendly princess in a gold and silver gown is not at all unpleasant when one has lived in a castle in the air for 777 years.
My castle in the air is much bigger than yours,
" she explained.
It has ever so many rooms in it.
A large room to laugh in.
And a small room to cry in.
To cry and interrupted the magician.
Why no one ever thinks of crying in a castle in the air.
One never knows,
Answered the princess gravely.
Supposing I were to prick my finger.
What should I do if there wasn't a room to cry in?
Then there is a middling-sized room to be serious in.
For there is just a chance that I might want to be serious sometimes,
And it would be as well to have a room in case.
Perhaps it would,
Observed the magician.
Who had never listened so attentively to a conversation in the whole of his long life.
What else will you have in your castle?
I shall have lots of nice books that end happily,
Answered the princess.
And they shall be talking books.
So that I need not read them to find out what they are about.
I shall have plenty of happy thoughts in my castle too,
And lots of nice dreams piled up in heaps.
And,
Well,
There is just one thing more.
What is that?
Ask the magician.
Well,
I think I should like to have a prince in my castle.
Are nice prints.
Who would not want to be just dull and princely like all the princes I have ever danced with.
But a prince who would like my castle exactly as I have built it,
And would play with me all day long.
That would be something like a prince,
Wouldn't it?
You could not possibly have a prince,
" said the magician.
If you allowed someone else even to look into your castle in the air.
It would vanish away like a puff of smoke.
I have lived in my castle for 777 years,
And I have never allowed anyone to put a foot in it.
It is so beautiful then,
Your castle in the air,
Asked the princess wonderingly.
I'm sure I don't know,
Said the absent-minded magician.
I don't think I ever noticed.
I came to live in it,
Because it was the only place in which I could be left alone.
That reminds me.
That if you do not go away at once,
I shall be obliged to become exceedingly angry with you.
By all means,
" said the Princess,
Who had the most charming manners in the world.
But I should like to have my castle first.
I haven't got it here,
" said the magician,
Looking about him vaguely.
I know I saw it somewhere not long ago.
But I can't remember what I did with it.
However,
If you ask the people of Nonemia,
They will be able to tell you where it has gone.
You will find that they are very obliging.
Will they not be surprised?
Asked the princess.
Dear me,
No.
The nonamiacs are never surprised at anything,
Said the magician.
And he drew his head from the window.
The princess in the gold and silver frocks sailed away on her cloud.
And landed presently in the flat,
Green country of Nonemia.
Have you seen my castle in the air?
" she asked,
Very politely,
Of the first Nonamiac she met.
What is it like?
Asked an onamiac without showing the least surprise.
It is ever so large and ever so beautiful.
And it is packed full of happiness.
And there is a nice prince inside,
Answered the princess.
"'Ah,
' said the Nonamiac.
Then it must be the one I saw being blown along by the south wind.
But there was no prince inside.
The princess thanked him and hastened away in the direction of the south wind,
Until she met another Nonamiac,
To whom she explained as politely as before what she wanted to know.
Ah,
" said the Nonamiac,
That must be the castle I met just now as it was being carried off by the north wind.
But I saw no prince inside.
The princess turned round and hurried after the north wind as fast as she could go.
As soon as she met another no-name yak,
However.
She had to turn round once more.
For he told her that her castle had just been stolen by the east wind.
And when she had been walking quite a long time in the direction of the east wind.
She met yet another no-name yak.
Who told her that it was the west wind who had taken away her castle in the air.
It is too bad,
" said the little princess,
Sitting down exhausted on a large stone by the side of the road.
Why should all the winds be playing with my castle in the air?
Castles in the air generally go to the winds,
Observed a traveler in a dusty brown cloak.
Who was sitting on another large stone not very far off.
She was quite sure he had not been there the moment before,
But in Nonemia,
There was nothing remarkable about that.
The princess wiped the tears out of her eyes with a small lace handkerchief and looked at the stranger.
Mine is a very particular castle in the air,
You see,
" she said.
It is ever so large and ever so beautiful,
And it is packed with happiness and dreams,
And perhaps there is a prince in it too.
A prince,
Said the stranger.
What sort of prince?
A nice prince,
Explained the princess.
Who can play games and tell stories and be amusing.
All the princes I know can do nothing but dance,
And they are not at all amusing.
I'm afraid though,
She added sighing.
That I am going to have my castle without a prince after all.
Would it do?
" asked the traveller in the dusty brown cloak.
If you were to have a prince without a castle?
Oh no,
Answered the princess decidedly.
If you knew how beautiful my castle in the air is.
You would not even ask such a stupid question.
Then she again took up her small lace handkerchief.
And she brushed the dust from her gold and silver gown.
And polished up her bright little gold crown.
And made herself as neat and dainty as a princess should be.
For in nonemia,
One never knows what may happen next,
And it is just as well to be prepared.
No sooner was she quite tidy,
Than the west wind came hurrying along with her castle in the air.
The princess gave a shout of joy and sprang inside it.
And the west wind blew and blew and blew until the castle that was packed full of happiness and the little princess in the gold and silver gown were both completely out of sight.
The traveler looked after them.
And felt a little forlorn.
Then he picked up his stick and walked on until he came to the magician's castle.
This may seem a little surprising,
As he had no wings of any kind,
And the Magician's castle was in the air.
But it must be remembered that it all happened in Nonemia.
Dear,
Dear,
Here's another of them,
" grumbled the magician when he looked out of his window and saw the stranger standing below.
After being alone for 777 years,
It was a little exhausting to have two visitors on the same day.
Besides,
A traveler in a dusty brown cloak is not at all the same thing as a dainty princess in a gold and silver gown.
Good day,
" said the stranger.
Are you the magician who has given a castle in the air to a princess in a gold and silver frock with a bright little crown on her head?
Very likely,
But I cannot say for certain,
" said the absent-minded magician.
I believe there was something of the kind.
Now you come to mention it.
But I couldn't tell you what it was.
However,
I don't mean to give away any more castles in the air.
So the sooner you leave me alone,
The better.
I don't want a castle in the air,
" laughed the stranger.
People who spend their lives in building real houses never have time to build castles in the air.
I want to find the princess,
Not the castle.
That will never do as long as she is happy in it,
Said the magician.
People who live in castles in the air are never to be found,
Unless they have grown tired of living in them.
Oh,
Chuckled the stranger.
Are you tired of living in yours then?
The absent-minded magician tried to determine whether he should be angry or not,
When the stranger said this,
But.
.
.
By the time he had made up his mind to be angry,
He had forgotten what there was to be angry about.
And while he was thinking about it.
The man in the dusty brown cloak walked away and left him.
Evidently,
It was not very long before the princess grew tired of living in her castle in the air.
For the very next day,
As the traveler was once more resting on the large stone by the side of the road,
Down she came,
Castle and all,
And stopped just in front of him.
Truly,
There is no end to the wonderful things that happen in nonamia.
Hello,
Said the traveler smiling.
What is it like inside your castle?
It is not half so nice as I expected to find it,
" said the princess,
Popping her head out of the top window.
You see,
There's no one to play with.
And even if your castle is the most beautiful castle in the world,
It is always dull when there's no one to play with,
Isn't it?
I don't know,
Answered the stranger.
I have never had anyone to play with.
What else is wrong with your castle?
Well,
Continued the princess.
It is all very well to have a castle that is packed with happiness,
But when it is packed so tight that you cannot get it out without someone to help you,
It is not much good,
Is it?
I don't know,
Answered the stranger.
My happiness has never been packed so tight as all that.
Have you anything else to complain of?
A great many things,
Said the princess.
It is all that stupid magician's fault.
When I said,
A small room to cry in,
I didn't really mean a room to cry in,
Did I?
But everywhere I turn,
There's always the room to cry in,
Staring me in the face.
I am sure there is something seriously wrong with my castle in the air.
No doubt about it,
Said the traveler,
And it is clearly the magician's fault.
When you came to live in your castle in the air,
Continued the princess plaintively.
Did you find that it was very different from the one you had built?
The Traveler in the dusty brown cloak burst out laughing.
I have no time to build castles in the air,
" he said.
I build real houses for other people to live in.
People who would,
Perhaps,
Have no houses at all if I did not build them.
That is more important than building castles in the air for oneself.
What are your wheelhouses like?
Asked the princess.
They are strong,
Answered the stranger proudly.
All the four winds joined together could not blow them down.
Not one has ever built such strong houses as mine.
Are they beautiful too?
Asked the princess.
I have no time to look after that,
Answered the stranger.
I build more houses than anyone else in the world,
And still,
There are people who are waiting for houses to live in.
I must build as fast as I can,
Day after day,
Year after year.
And why are you not building houses now?
Asked the princess.
The great builder looked soreful.
There is something wrong about my real houses too,
He confessed.
The people who live in them are never quite contented.
And I have come away to think out a new plan by myself,
So that the next houses I build shall be the most wonderful houses in the world.
The princess leaned her chin on her hand and looked quite thoughtful for a moment or two.
May I come and help you to build real houses for a change?
" she said presently.
I am dreadfully tired of building houses in the air that do not turn out properly,
Though,
Of course,
That was principally the magician's fault.
If you were to show me the way.
I might be able to build something real that would turn out properly,
And that would be ever so much more amusing.
It is not at all amusing,
" said the traveller,
Shaking his head.
You would soon grow tired of it.
Besides,
You would have no prince to play with.
I don't think I want a prince to play with,
" said the charming princess in the gold and silver frock.
He might turn out to be as dull as my castle in the air.
Especially if the magician had anything to do with it.
I would much sooner come and help you build real houses.
The Traveler in the dusty brown cloak still shook his head.
Little ladies in gold and silver gowns can only build castles in the air,
He said.
Do the people who live in your houses never build castles in the air?
" asked the princess.
I never thought of asking them,
Answered the Great Builder.
I have been too much occupied in building their real houses.
Then let us go and ask them now,
" said the princess.
And she came down from her castle in the air,
And stepped once more on the dusty road,
And held out her little white hand to the traveler.
Her castle in the air vanished like a puff of smoke the moment she stepped out of it.
What would be the use of that?
Asked the traveler smiling.
He took the little white hand,
However,
For no one could have refused that much to such a very charming princess.
Why?
" said the princess in the gold and silver frock.
Then we could make their real houses just like their castles in the air,
And only think how packed with happiness they would be.
The traveler looked at her in amazement.
It was certainly astonishing that so great a builder as he should find out what was wrong with his houses.
From a princess with a bright little crown on her head who had never done anything but build castles in the air.
Still,
We must remember that it all happened in Nonamia,
And that accounts for a great deal.
You are quite right,
" said the Traveler.
You know far more about it than I do.
You shall come and help me to build real houses.
And they shall be the most wonderful houses that have ever been built.
All beautiful to look at,
And packed with happiness inside,
" cried the dainty little princess,
Clapping her hands for joy.
And we won't let that stupid magician spoil our real houses,
Will we?
The magician was looking out of his window at nothing at all.
When they came past his castle,
Hand in hand.
We are going to build the most wonderful houses in the world!
" cried the Princess.
Ever so much more wonderful than the stupid castle in the air you gave me!
This was not very gracious of her,
For,
After all,
The Magician had given her exactly what she had built for herself.
However,
As he had already forgotten both of them and could not think of anything to say,
And as they were in too great a hurry to stay and help him.
There is nothing more to be said about the magician.
Except that he is still living in his castle in the air and looking out of his window at nothing at all,
Which is a right and proper occupation for a magician who is absent-minded As for the Traveler and the Charming Princess,
They spent the rest of their days in building the most wonderful houses in the world.
For the people who had nowhere to live.
And as for the people who had nowhere to live,
It was only natural that they should all find their way to the country called Nonemia.
Where a little lady in a gold and silver gown taught them to build a castle in the air.
And a great builder and a dusty brown cloak.
Made it into a real house that was packed with happiness.
It is a little difficult to believe that this is all true.
But then it must be remembered.
That it all happened in Nonemia ever so long ago.
Sweet dreams my friends.
Sleep well.
