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The Bound Princess
I The Fire-Eaters |
II The Galloping Plough |
III The Thirsty Well |
IV The Princess Melilot |
V The Burning Rose |
VI The Camphor-Worm
VI
THE CAMPHOR-WORM
'TELL me quickly of the Camphor-Worm,'
cried the youth as he
feasted his eyes on the
Princess's loveliness,
made more unendurable by the awakening
within of love. 'Where and what is it?'
'It is not so far as was the way to the
Burning Rose,' answered the crone; 'an
hour on the back of the Plough shall bring
it near to you; but the danger and difficulty of this quest is more, not less. For
to reach the Camphor-Worm you need to
be a diver in deep waters, whose weight
crushes a man; and to touch its lips you
must master the loathing of your nature; and to carry away its breath you must
have strength of will and endurance beyond
what is mortal,' 'You trouble me with
things I need not know,' cried Noodle.
'Tell me,' he said, 'how I may reach the
Camphor-Worm; and of it and its ways,'
'By this path, and by that,' said the old
woman, pointing him, 'go on till you come
to the thick waters of the Bitter Lake; they
are blacker than night, and their weight
is heavier than lead, and in the depths
dwells the Camphor-Worm. Once a year,
when the air is sweetest with the scents of
summer, she rises to breathe, lifting her
black snout through the surface of the
waters. Then she draws fresh air into her
lungs, flavoured with leaves and flowers,
and after she has breathed it in she lets go
the last bubble of the^reath she drew from
the summer of the year before; and it is
this bubble of breath alone that will give
back life to the five senses of Princess Melilot. But the Worm's time for rising
is far; and how you shall bear the weight
in the depths of those waters, or make the
Worm give up the bubble before her time,
or at last bear back the bubble to lay it
on the lips of the Princess so that she may
wake, these are things I know not the
way of, for to my eyes they seem dark with
difficulty and peril.'
Then Noodle, opening the petals of
the Burning Rose as it lay upon the heart
of Melilot, drew out honey from its
centre, filling his hand with the golden
crumblings of fragrance; and he leapt
upon the Galloping Plough, urging it in
the way the Princess's nurse had pointed
out to him. As they went he caressed it
with all the names under heaven, stroking
it with his hand and praising it for the
delicacy of its steering : saying, 'O my
moonbeam, if thou wouldst save the life
of thy master, or restore the five senses of the Princess Melilot, thou must surpass
thyself to-day. Listen, thou heaven-sent
limb, thou miracle of quicksilver, and have
a long mind to my words; for in a short
while I shall have no speech left in me
till the thing be done, and the deliverance, from head to feet, of my Beloved
accomplished.'
Even while he spoke they came to the
edge of the Bitter Lake a small pool,
but its waters were blacker than night, and
heavier than lead to the eye. Then
Noodle leapt down from the Plough, and
caressed it for the last time, saying: 'Set
thy face for the garden where the Princess Melilot is; and when I am come back
to thee speechless out of the Lake and am
striding thee once more, then wait not for
a word but carry me to her with more
speed than thou hast ever mustered to my
aid till now; go faster than wind or lightning or than the eye of man can see! So, by good fortune, I may live till I reach
her lips; but if thou tarry at all I am a
dead man. And when thou art come to
Melilot set thy share beneath the roots of
her feet, and take her up to me out of the
ground. Do this tenderly, but abate not
speed till it be done!'
Then the youth put into his mouth the
honey of the Burning Rose, and into his
lips the Sweetener, and stripped himself as
a bather to the pool. And the Plough,
remembering its master's word, turned and
set its face to where lay the garden with
Melilot waiting to be relieved of her enchantment. Whereat Noodle, bowing his
head, and blessing it with lips of farewell,
turned shortly and slid down into the
blackness of the lake.
The weight of that water was like a vice
upon his limbs, and around his throat, as
he swam out into the centre of the pool.
As he went he breathed upon the water, and the scent of the honey of the Burning
Rose passing through the Sweetener made
an incomparable fragrance, gentle, and
subtle, and wooing to the senses.
When he came to the middle of the
lake he stayed breathing full breaths, till
the air deepened with fragrance around
him. Presently underneath him he felt
the movement of a great thing coming up
from the bottom of the pool. It touched
his feet and came grazing along his side ;
and all at once shuddering and horror took
hold upon him, for his whole nature was
filled with loathing of its touch.
Out of the pool's surface before him
rose a great black snout, that opened,
showing a round hole. Then he thought
of Melilot and her beauty laid fast under
a charm, and drawing a full breath he laid
his lips containing the ring, the Sweetener,
to the lips of the Worm.
The Worm began to breathe. As the Worm drank the air out of him, he drew
in more through his nostrils, and more
and more, till the great gills were filled
and satisfied.
Then the Worm let go the last bubble
of air which remained from the year before,
and had lain ever since in its body, by
which alone life could be given back to the
five senses of Melilot. Then drawing in
its head it lowered itself once more to the
bottom of the pool ; and Noodle, feeling
in his mouth the precious globule of air,
fastened his lips upon it and shot out for
shore.
Against the weight of those leaden waters
a longing to gasp possessed him ; but he
knew that with the least breath the bubble
would be lost, and all his labour undone.
Not too soon his feet caught hold of the
bank, and drew him free to land. He
cast himself speechless across the back of
the Galloping Plough and clung.
The Plough gathered itself together
and sprang away through space. Remembering its master's word it showed itself a
miracle of speed; like lightning became
its flight.
The eye of Noodle grew blind to the
passing of things; he could take no
count of the collapsing leagues. More
and more grew the amazingness of the
Plough's leaps, things only to be measured
by miles, and counted as joltings on the
way ; while fast to the back of it clung
Noodle, and endured, praying that shortness of breath might not overmaster him,
or the check of his lungs give way and
burst him to the emptiness of a drum.
His senses rocked and swayed; he felt
the gates of his resolve slackening and
forcing themselves apart; and still the
Galloping Plough plunged him blindly
along through space.
But now the shrill crying of the crone struck in upon his ears, and he stretched
open his arms for the accomplishment of
the deliverance. Even in that nick of time
was the end of the thing brought about;
for the Plough, guiding itself as a thread
to the needle's eye, gave the uprooting
stroke to the white feet of Melilot; and
Noodle, swooning for the last gasp, saw all
at once her beauty swaying level to his gaze
and her body bending down upon his.
Then he fastened his lips upon hers,
and loosed the bubble from his mouth; and
panting and sobbing themselves back to
life they hung in each other's arms. She
warmed and ripened in his embrace, opening upon him the light of her eyes ; and
the greatness and beauty of the reward
abashed him and bore him down to earth.
He heard the old crone clucking and crowing, like a hen over its egg, of the
happiness that had come to her old years; till recognising the youth's state she covered him over with a cloak amid exclamations of astonishment.
The Princess saw nothing but her
lover's face and the happy feasting of his
eyes. She bent her head nearer and
nearer to his, and the story of what he had
done became a dream that she remembered, and that waking made true. 'O
you Noodle,' she said, laughing, 'you wise,
wise Noodle!' And then everything was
finished, for she had kissed him !
So Noodle and the Princess were
married, and came to the throne together
and reigned over a happy land. The
Fire-eaters were their friends, and the
gifts of fortune were theirs. The Galloping Plough made all the waste places
fertile; and the water of the Thirsty Well
rose and ran in rivers through the land;
and over the walls of their palace, where
they had planted it, grew the flower of
the Burning Rose.
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