"Dear mother," said Proserpina, "I shall be very lonely whileyou are away. May I not run down to the shore, and ask some ofthe sea nymphs to come up out of the waves and play with me?"
"Yes, child," answered Mother Ceres. "The sea nymphs are goodcreatures, and will never lead you into any harm. But you musttake care not to stray away from them, nor go wandering aboutthe fields by yourself. Young girls, without their mothers totake care of them, are very apt to get into mischief."
The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-upwoman; and, by the time the winged dragons had whirled the carout of sight, she was already on the shore, calling to the seanymphs to come and play with her. They knew Proserpina's voice,and were not long in showing their glistening faces andsea-green hair above the water, at the bottom of which wastheir home. They brought along with them a great many beautifulshells; and sitting down on the moist sand, where the surf wavebroke over them, they busied themselves in making a necklace,which they hung round Proserpina's neck. By way of showing hergratitude, the child besought them to go with her a little wayinto the fields, so that they might gather abundance offlowers, with which she would make each of her kind playmates awreath.
"O no, dear Proserpina," cried the sea nymphs; "we dare not gowith you upon the dry land. We are apt to grow faint, unless atevery breath we can snuff up the salt breeze of the ocean. Anddon't you see how careful we are to let the surf wave breakover us every moment or two, so as to keep ourselvescomfortably moist? If it were not for that, we should look likebunches of uprooted seaweed dried in the sun.
"It is a great pity," said Proserpina. "But do you wait for mehere, and I will run and gather my apron full of flowers, andbe back again before the surf wave has broken ten times overyou. I long to make you some wreaths that shall be as lovely asthis necklace of many colored shells."
"We will wait, then," answered the sea nymphs. "But while youare gone, we may as well lie down on a bank of soft spongeunder the water. The air to-day is a little too dry for ourcomfort. But we will pop up our heads every few minutes to seeif you are coming."
The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot where, only the daybefore, she had seen a great many flowers. These, however, werenow a little past their bloom; and wishing to give her friendsthe freshest and loveliest blossoms, she strayed farther intothe fields, and found some that made her scream with delight.Never had she met with such exquisite flowers before--violetsso large and fragrant--roses with so rich and delicate ablush--such superb hyacinths and such aromatic pinks--and manyothers, some of which seemed to be of new shapes and colors.Two or three times, moreover, she could not help thinking thata tuft of most splendid flowers had suddenly sprouted out ofthe earth before her very eyes, as if on purpose to tempt her afew steps farther. Proserpina's apron was soon filled, andbrimming over with delightful blossoms. She was on the point ofturning back in order to rejoin the sea nymphs, and sit withthem on the moist sands, all twining wreaths together. But, alittle farther on, what should she behold? It was a largeshrub, completely covered with the most magnificent flowers inthe world.
"The darlings!" cried Proserpina; and then she thought toherself, "I was looking at that spot only a moment ago. Howstrange it is that I did not see the flowers!"
The nearer she approached the shrub, the more attractive itlooked, until she came quite close to it; and then, althoughits beauty was richer than words can tell, she hardly knewwhether to like it or not. It bore above a hundred flowers ofthe most brilliant hues, and each different from the others,but all having a kind of resemblance among themselves, whichshowed them to be sister blossoms. But there was a deep, glossyluster on the leaves of the shrub, and on the petals of theflowers, that made Proserpina doubt whether they might not bepoisonous. To tell you the truth, foolish as it may seem, shewas half inclined to turn round and run away.
"What a silly child I am!" thought she, taking courage. "It isreally the most beautiful shrub that ever sprang out of theearth. I will pull it up by the roots, and carry it home, andplant it in my mother's garden."
Holding up her apron full of flowers with her left hand,Proserpina seized the large shrub with the other, and pulled,and pulled, but was hardly able to loosen the soil about itsroots. What a deep-rooted plant it was! Again the girl pulledwith all her might, and observed that the earth began to stirand crack to some distance around the stem. She gave anotherpull, but relaxed her hold, fancying that there was a rumblingsound right beneath her feet. Did the roots extend down intosome enchanted cavern? Then laughing at herself for so childisha notion, she made another effort: up came the shrub, andProserpina staggered back, holding the stem triumphantly in herhand, and gazing at the deep hole which its roots had left inthe soil.
Much to her astonishment, this hole kept spreading wider andwider, and growing deeper and deeper, until it really seemed tohave no bottom; and all the while, there came a rumbling noiseout of its depths, louder and louder, and nearer and nearer,and sounding like the tramp of horses' hoofs and the rattlingof wheels. Too much frightened to run away, she stood strainingher eyes into this wonderful cavity, and soon saw a team offour sable horses, snorting smoke out of their nostrils, andtearing their way out of the earth with a splendid goldenchariot whirling at their heels. They leaped out of thebottomless hole, chariot and all; and there they were, tossingtheir black manes, flourishing their black tails, andcurvetting with every one of their hoofs off the ground atonce, close by the spot where Proserpina stood. In the chariotsat the figure of a man, richly dressed, with a crown on hishead, all flaming with diamonds. He was of a noble aspect, andrather handsome, but looked sullen and discontented; and hekept rubbing his eyes and shading them with his hand, as if hedid not live enough in the sunshine to be very fond of itslight.
As soon as this personage saw the affrighted Proserpina, hebeckoned her to come a little nearer.
"Do not be afraid," said he, with as cheerful a smile as heknew how to put on. "Come! Will you not like to ride a littleway with me, in my beautiful chariot?"
But Proserpina was so alarmed, that she wished for nothing butto get out of his reach. And no wonder. The stranger did notlook remarkably good-natured, in spite of his smile; and as forhis voice, its tones were deep and stern, and sounded as muchlike the rumbling of an earthquake underground than anythingelse. As is always the case with children in trouble,Proserpina's first thought was to call for her mother.
"Mother, Mother Ceres!" cried she, all in a tremble. "Comequickly and save me."
But her voice was too faint for her mother to hear. Indeed, itis most probable that Ceres was then a thousand miles off,making the corn grow in some far distant country. Nor could ithave availed her poor daughter, even had she been withinhearing; for no sooner did Proserpina begin to cry out, thanthe stranger leaped to the ground, caught the child in hisarms, and again mounted the chariot, shook the reins, andshouted to the four black horses to set off. They immediatelybroke into so swift a gallop, that it seemed rather like flyingthrough the air than running along the earth. In a moment,Proserpina lost sight of the pleasant vale of Enna, in whichshe had always dwelt. Another instant, and even the summit ofMount Aetna had become so blue in the distance, that she couldscarcely distinguish it from the smoke that gushed out of itscrater. But still the poor child screamed, and scattered herapron full of flowers along the way, and left a long crytrailing behind the chariot; and many mothers, to whose ears itcame, ran quickly to see if any mischief had befallen theirchildren. But Mother Ceres was a great way off, and could nothear the cry.
As they rode on, the stranger did his best to soothe her.
"Why should you be so frightened, my pretty child?" said he,trying to soften his rough voice. "I promise not to do you anyharm. What! you have been gathering flowers? Wait till we cometo my palace, and I will give you a garden full of prettierflowers than those, all made of pearls, and diamonds, andrubies. Can you guess who I am? They call my name Pluto; and Iam the king of diamonds and all other precious stones. Everyatom of the gold and silver that lies under the earth belongsto me, to say nothing of the copper and iron, and of the coalmines, which supply me with abundance of fuel. Do you see thissplendid crown upon my head? You may have it for a plaything.O, we shall be very good friends, and you will find me moreagreeable than you expect, when once we get out of thistroublesome sunshine."
"Let me go home!" cried Proserpina. "Let me go home!"
"My home is better than your mother's," answered King Pluto."It is a palace, all made of gold, with crystal windows; andbecause there is little or no sunshine thereabouts, theapartments are illuminated with diamond lamps. You never sawanything half so magnificent as my throne. If you like, you maysit down on it, and be my little queen, and I will sit on thefootstool."
"I don't care for golden palaces and thrones," sobbedProserpina. "Oh, my mother, my mother! Carry me back to mymother!"
But King Pluto, as he called himself, only shouted to hissteeds to go faster.
"Pray do not be foolish, Proserpina," said he, in rather asullen tone. "I offer you my palace and my crown, and all theriches that are under the earth; and you treat me as if I weredoing you an injury. The one thing which my palace needs is amerry little maid, to run upstairs and down, and cheer up therooms with her smile. And this is what you must do for KingPluto."
"Never!" answered Proserpina, looking as miserable as shecould. "I shall never smile again till you set me down at mymother's door."
But she might just as well have talked to the wind thatwhistled past them, for Pluto urged on his horses, and wentfaster than ever. Proserpina continued to cry out, and screamedso long and so loudly that her poor little voice was almostscreamed away; and when it was nothing but a whisper, shehappened to cast her eyes over a great broad field of wavinggrain--and whom do you think she saw? Who, but Mother Ceres,making the corn grow, and too busy to notice the golden chariotas it went rattling along. The child mustered all her strength,and gave one more scream, but was out of sight before Ceres hadtime to turn her head.
King Pluto had taken a road which now began to grow excessivelygloomy. It was bordered on each side with rocks and precipices,between which the rumbling of the chariot wheels wasreverberated with a noise like rolling thunder. The trees andbushes that grew in the crevices of the rocks had very dismalfoliage; and by and by, although it was hardly noon, the airbecame obscured with a gray twilight. The black horses hadrushed along so swiftly, that they were already beyond thelimits of the sunshine. But the duskier it grew, the more didPluto's visage assume an air of satisfaction. After all, he wasnot an ill-looking person, especially when he left off twistinghis features into a smile that did not belong to them.Proserpina peeped at his face through the gathering dusk, andhoped that he might not be so very wicked as she at firstthought him.
"Ah, this twilight is truly refreshing," said King Pluto,"after being so tormented with that ugly and impertinent glareof the sun. How much more agreeable is lamplight or torchlight,more particularly when reflected from diamonds! It will be amagnificent sight, when we get to my palace."
"Is it much farther?" asked Proserpina. "And will you carry meback when I have seen it?"
"We will talk of that by and by," answered Pluto. "We are justentering my dominions. Do you see that tall gateway before us?When we pass those gates, we are at home. And there lies myfaithful mastiff at the threshold. Cerberus! Cerberus! Comehither, my good dog!"
So saying, Pluto pulled at the reins, and stopped the chariotright between the tall, massive pillars of the gateway. Themastiff of which he had spoken got up from the threshold, andstood on his hinder legs, so as to put his fore paws on thechariot wheel. But, my stars, what a strange dog it was! Why,he was a big, rough, ugly-looking monster, with three separateheads, and each of them fiercer than the two others; but fierceas they were, King Pluto patted them all. He seemed as fond ofhis three-headed dog as if it had been a sweet little spaniel,with silken ears and curly hair. Cerberus, on the other hand,was evidently rejoiced to see his master, and expressed hisattachment, as other dogs do, by wagging his tail at a greatrate. Proserpina's eyes being drawn to it by its brisk motion,she saw that this tail was neither more nor less than a livedragon, with fiery eyes, and fangs that had a very poisonousaspect. And while the three-headed Cerberus was fawning solovingly on King Pluto, there was the dragon tail waggingagainst its will, and looking as cross and ill-natured as youcan imagine, on its own separate account.
"Will the dog bite me?" asked Proserpina, shrinking closer toPluto. "What an ugly creature he is!"
"O, never fear," answered her companion. "He never harmspeople, unless they try to enter my dominions without beingsent for, or to get away when I wish to keep them here. Down,Cerberus! Now, my pretty Proserpina, we will drive on."
On went the chariot, and King Pluto seemed greatly pleased tofind himself once more in his own kingdom. He drew Proserpina'sattention to the rich veins of gold that were to be seen amongthe rocks, and pointed to several places where one stroke of apickaxe would loosen a bushel of diamonds. All along the road,indeed, there were sparkling gems, which would have been ofinestimable value above ground, but which here were reckoned ofthe meaner sort and hardly worth a beggar's stooping for.
Not far from the gateway, they came to a bridge, which seemedto be built of iron. Pluto stopped the chariot, and badeProserpina look at the stream which was gliding so lazilybeneath it. Never in her life had she beheld so torpid, soblack, so muddy-looking a stream; its waters reflected noimages of anything that was on the banks, and it moved assluggishly as if it had quite forgotten which way it ought toflow, and had rather stagnate than flow either one way or theother.
"This is the River Lethe," observed King Pluto. "Is it not avery pleasant stream?"
"I think it a very dismal one," answered Proserpina.
"It suits my taste, however," answered Pluto, who was apt to besullen when anybody disagreed with him. "At all events, itswater has one excellent quality; for a single draught of itmakes people forget every care and sorrow that has hithertotormented them. Only sip a little of it, my dear Proserpina,and you will instantly cease to grieve for your mother, andwill have nothing in your memory that can prevent your beingperfectly happy in my palace. I will send for some, in a goldengoblet, the moment we arrive."
"O, no, no, no!" cried Proserpina, weeping afresh. "I had athousand times rather be miserable with remembering my mother,than be happy in forgetting her. That dear, dear mother! Inever, never will forget her."
"We shall see," said King Pluto. "You do not know what finetimes we will have in my palace. Here we are just at theportal. These pillars are solid gold, I assure you."
He alighted from the chariot, and taking Proserpina in hisarms, carried her up a lofty flight of steps into the greathall of the palace. It was splendidly illuminated by means oflarge precious stones, of various hues, which seemed to burnlike so many lamps, and glowed with a hundred-fold radiance allthrough the vast apartment. And yet there was a kind of gloomin the midst of this enchanted light; nor was there a singleobject in the hall that was really agreeable to behold, exceptthe little Proserpina herself, a lovely child, with one earthlyflower which she had not let fall from her hand. It is myopinion that even King Pluto had never been happy in hispalace, and that this was the true reason why he had stolenaway Proserpina, in order that he might have something to love,instead of cheating his heart any longer with this tiresomemagnificence. And, though he pretended to dislike the sunshineof the upper world, yet the effect of the child's presence,bedimmed as she was by her tears, was as if a faint and waterysunbeam had somehow or other found its way into the enchantedhall.
Pluto now summoned his domestics, and bade them lose no time inpreparing a most sumptuous banquet, and above all things, notto fail of setting a golden beaker of the water of Lethe byProserpina's plate.
"I will neither drink that nor anything else," said Proserpina."Nor will I taste a morsel of food, even if you keep me foreverin your palace."
"I should be sorry for that," replied King Pluto, patting hercheek; for he really wished to be kind, if he had only knownhow. "You are a spoiled child, I perceive, my littleProserpina; but when you see the nice things which my cook willmake for you, your appetite will quickly come again."
Then, sending for the head cook, he gave strict orders that allsorts of delicacies, such as young people are usually fond of,should be set before Proserpina. He had a secret motive inthis; for, you are to understand, it is a fixed law, that whenpersons are carried off to the land of magic, if they oncetaste any food there, they can never get back to their friends.Now, if King Pluto had been cunning enough to offer Proserpinasome fruit, or bread and milk (which was the simple fare towhich the child had always been accustomed), it is veryprobable that she would soon have been tempted to eat it. Buthe left the matter entirely to his cook, who, like all othercooks, considered nothing fit to eat unless it were richpastry, or highly-seasoned meat, or spiced sweet cakes--thingswhich Proserpina's mother had never given her, and the smell ofwhich quite took away her appetite, instead of sharpening it.
But my story must now clamber out of King Pluto's dominions,and see what Mother Ceres had been about, since she was bereftof her daughter. We had a glimpse of her, as you remember, halfhidden among the waving grain, while the four black steeds wereswiftly whirling along the chariot, in which her belovedProserpina was so unwillingly borne away. You recollect, too,the loud scream which Proserpina gave, just when the chariotwas out of sight.
Of all the child's outcries, this last shriek was the only onethat reached the ears of Mother Ceres. She had mistaken therumbling of the chariot wheels for a peal of thunder, andimagined that a shower was coming up, and that it would assisther in making the corn grow. But, at the sound of Proserpina'sshriek, she started, and looked about in every direction, notknowing whence it came, but feeling almost certain that it washer daughter's voice. It seemed so unaccountable, however, thatthe girl should have strayed over so many lands and seas (whichshe herself could not have traversed without the aid of herwinged dragons), that the good Ceres tried to believe that itmust be the child of some other parent, and not her own darlingProserpina, who had uttered this lamentable cry. Nevertheless,it troubled her with a vast many tender fears, such as areready to bestir themselves in every mother's heart, when shefinds it necessary to go away from her dear children withoutleaving them under the care of some maiden aunt, or other suchfaithful guardian. So she quickly left the field in which shehad been so busy; and, as her work was not half done, the grainlooked, next day, as if it needed both sun and rain, and as ifit were blighted in the ear, and had something the matter withits roots.
The pair of dragons must have had very nimble wings; for, inless than an hour, Mother Ceres had alighted at the door of herhome, and found it empty. Knowing, however, that the child wasfond of sporting on the sea-shore, she hastened thither as fastas she could, and there beheld the wet faces of the poor seanymphs peeping over a wave. All this while, the good creatureshad been waiting on the bank of sponge, and once, every halfminute or so, had popped up their four heads above water, tosee if their playmate were yet coming back. When they sawMother Ceres, they sat down on the crest of the surf wave, andlet it toss them ashore at her feet.
"Where is Proserpina?" cried Ceres. "Where is my child? Tellme, you naughty sea nymphs, have you enticed her under thesea?"
"O, no, good Mother Ceres," said the innocent sea nymphs,tossing back their green ringlets, and looking her in the face."We never should dream of such a thing. Proserpina has been atplay with us, it is true; but she left us a long while ago,meaning only to run a little way upon the dry land, and gathersome flowers for a wreath. This was early in the day, and wehave seen nothing of her since."
Ceres scarcely waited to hear what the nymphs had to say,before she hurried off to make inquiries all through theneighborhood. But nobody told her anything that would enablethe poor mother to guess what had become of Proserpina. Afisherman, it is true, had noticed her little footprints in thesand, as he went homeward along the beach with a basket offish; a rustic had seen the child stooping to gather flowers;several persons had heard either the rattling of chariotwheels, or the rumbling of distant thunder; and one old woman,while plucking vervain and catnip, had heard a scream, butsupposed it to be some childish nonsense, and therefore did nottake the trouble to look up. The stupid people! It took themsuch a tedious while to tell the nothing that they knew, thatit was dark night before Mother Ceres found out that she mustseek her daughter elsewhere. So she lighted a torch, and setforth, resolving never to come back until Proserpina wasdiscovered.
In her haste and trouble of mind, she quite forgot her car andthe winged dragons; or, it may be, she thought that she couldfollow up the search more thoroughly on foot. At all events,this was the way in which she began her sorrowful journey,holding her torch before her, and looking carefully at everyobject along the path. And as it happened, she had not gone farbefore she found one of the magnificent flowers which grew onthe shrub that Proserpina had pulled up.
"Ha!" thought Mother Ceres, examining it by torchlight. "Hereis mischief in this flower! The earth did not produce it by anyhelp of mine, nor of its own accord. It is the work ofenchantment, and is therefore poisonous; and perhaps it haspoisoned my poor child."
But she put the poisonous flower in her bosom, not knowingwhether she might ever find any other memorial of Proserpina.
All night long, at the door of every cottage and farm-house,Ceres knocked, and called up the weary laborers to inquire ifthey had seen her child; and they stood, gaping and half-asleep, at the threshold, and answered her pityingly, andbesought her to come in and rest. At the portal of everypalace, too, she made so loud a summons that the menialshurried to throw open the gate, thinking that it must be somegreat king or queen, who would demand a banquet for supper anda stately chamber to repose in. And when they saw only a sadand anxious woman, with a torch in her hand and a wreath ofwithered poppies on her head, they spoke rudely, and sometimesthreatened to set the dogs upon her. But nobody had seenProserpina, nor could give Mother Ceres the least hint whichway to seek her. Thus passed the night; and still she continuedher search without sitting down to rest, or stopping to takefood, or even remembering to put out the torch although firstthe rosy dawn, and then the glad light of the morning sun, madeits red flame look thin and pale. But I wonder what sort ofstuff this torch was made of; for it burned dimly through theday, and, at night, was as bright as ever, and never wasextinguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary days andnights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina.
It was not merely of human beings that she asked tidings of herdaughter. In the woods and by the streams, she met creatures ofanother nature, who used, in those old times, to haunt thepleasant and solitary places, and were very sociable withpersons who understood their language and customs, as MotherCeres did. Sometimes, for instance, she tapped with her fingeragainst the knotted trunk of a majestic oak; and immediatelyits rude bark would cleave asunder, and forth would step abeautiful maiden, who was the hamadryad of the oak, dwellinginside of it, and sharing its long life, and rejoicing when itsgreen leaves sported with the breeze. But not one of theseleafy damsels had seen Proserpina. Then, going a littlefarther, Ceres would, perhaps, come to a fountain, gushing outof a pebbly hollow in the earth, and would dabble with her handin the water. Behold, up through its sandy and pebbly bed,along with the fountain's gush, a young woman with drippinghair would arise, and stand gazing at Mother Ceres, half out ofthe water, and undulating up and down with its ever- restlessmotion. But when the mother asked whether her poor lost childhad stopped to drink out of the fountain, the naiad, withweeping eyes (for these water-nymphs had tears to spare foreverybody's grief, would answer "No!" in a murmuring voice,which was just like the murmur of the stream.
Often, likewise, she encountered fauns, who looked likesunburnt country people, except that they had hairy ears, andlittle horns upon their foreheads, and the hinder legs ofgoats, on which they gamboled merrily about the woods andfields. They were a frolicsome kind of creature but grew as sadas their cheerful dispositions would allow, when Ceres inquiredfor her daughter, and they had no good news to tell. Butsometimes she same suddenly upon a rude gang of satyrs, who hadfaces like monkeys, and horses' tails behind them, and who weregenerally dancing in a very boisterous manner, with shouts ofnoisy laughter. When she stopped to question them, they wouldonly laugh the louder, and make new merriment out of the lonewoman's distress. How unkind of those ugly satyrs! And once,while crossing a solitary sheep pasture, she saw a personagenamed Pan, seated at the foot of a tall rock, and making musicon a shepherd's flute. He, too, had horns, and hairy ears, andgoats' feet; but, being acquainted with Mother Ceres, heanswered her question as civilly as he knew how, and invitedher to taste some milk and honey out of a wooden bowl. Butneither could Pan tell her what had become of Proserpina, anybetter than the rest of these wild people.
And thus Mother Ceres went wandering about for nine long daysand nights, finding no trace of Proserpina, unless it were nowand then a withered flower; and these she picked up and put inher bosom, because she fancied that they might have fallen fromher poor child's hand. All day she traveled onward through thehot sun; and, at night again, the flame of the torch wouldredden and gleam along the pathway, and she continued hersearch by its light, without ever sitting down to rest.
On the tenth day, she chanced to espy the mouth of a cavernwithin which (though it was bright noon everywhere else) therewould have been only a dusky twilight; but it so happened thata torch was burning there. It flickered, and struggled with theduskiness, but could not half light up the gloomy cavern withall its melancholy glimmer. Ceres was resolved to leave no spotwithout a search; so she peeped into the entrance of the cave,and lighted it up a little more, by holding her own torchbefore her. In so doing, she caught a glimpse of what seemed tobe a woman, sitting on the brown leaves of the last autumn, agreat heap of which had been swept into the cave by the wind.This woman (if woman it were) was by no means so beautiful asmany of her sex; for her head, they tell me, was shaped verymuch like a dog's, and, by way of ornament, she wore a wreathof snakes around it. But Mother Ceres, the moment she saw her,knew that this was an odd kind of a person, who put all herenjoyment in being miserable, and never would have a word tosay to other people, unless they were as melancholy andwretched as she herself delighted to be.
"I am wretched enough now," thought poor Ceres, "to talk withthis melancholy Hecate, were she ten times sadder than ever shewas yet." So she stepped into the cave, and sat down on thewithered leaves by the dog-headed woman's side. In all theworld, since her daughter's loss, she had found no othercompanion.
"O Hecate," said she, "if ever you lose a daughter, you willknow what sorrow is. Tell me, for pity's sake, have you seen mypoor child Proserpina pass by the mouth of your cavern?"
"No," answered Hecate, in a cracked voice, and sighing betwixtevery word or two; "no, Mother Ceres, I have seen nothing ofyour daughter. But my ears, you must know, are made in such away, that all cries of distress and affright all over the worldare pretty sure to find their way to them; and nine days ago,as I sat in my cave, making myself very miserable, I heard thevoice of a young girl, shrieking as if in great distress.Something terrible has happened to the child, you may restassured. As well as I could judge, a dragon, or some othercruel monster, was carrying her away."
"You kill me by saying so," cried Ceres, almost ready to faint."Where was the sound, and which way did it seem to go?"
"It passed very swiftly along," said Hecate, "and, at the sametime, there was a heavy rumbling of wheels towards theeastward. I can tell you nothing more, except that, in myhonest opinion, you will never see your daughter again. Thebest advice I can give you is, to take up your abode in thiscavern, where we will be the two most wretched women in theworld."
"Not yet, dark Hecate," replied Ceres. "But do you first comewith your torch, and help me to seek for my lost child. Andwhen there shall be no more hope of finding her (if that blackday is ordained to come), then, if you will give me room tofling myself down, either on these withered leaves or on thenaked rock, I will show what it is to be miserable. But, untilI know that she has perished from the face of the earth, I willnot allow myself space even to grieve."
The dismal Hecate did not much like the idea of going abroadinto the sunny world. But then she reflected that the sorrow ofthe disconsolate Ceres would be like a gloomy twilight roundabout them both, let the sun shine ever so brightly, and thattherefore she might enjoy her bad spirits quite as well as ifshe were to stay in the cave. So she finally consented to go,and they set out together, both carrying torches, although itwas broad daylight and clear sunshine. The torchlight seemed tomake a gloom; so that the people whom they met, along the road,could not very distinctly see their figures; and, indeed, ifthey once caught a glimpse of Hecate, with the wreath of snakesround her forehead, they generally thought it prudent to runaway, without waiting for a second glance.
As the pair traveled along in this woe-begone manner, a thoughtstruck Ceres.
"There is one person," she exclaimed, "who must have seen mypoor child, and can doubtless tell what has become of her. Whydid not I think of him before? It is Phoebus."
"What," said Hecate, "the young man that always sits in thesunshine? O, pray do not think of going near him. He is a gay,light, frivolous young fellow, and will only smile in yourface. And besides, there is such a glare of the sun about him,that he will quite blind my poor eyes, which I have almost weptaway already."
"You have promised to be my companion," answered Ceres. "Come,let us make haste, or the sunshine will be gone, and Phoebusalong with it."
Accordingly, they went along in quest of Phoebus, both of themsighing grievously, and Hecate, to say the truth, making agreat deal worse lamentation than Ceres; for all the pleasureshe had, you know, lay in being miserable, and therefore shemade the most of it. By and by, after a pretty long journey,they arrived at the sunniest spot in the whole world. Therethey beheld a beautiful young man, with long, curling ringlets,which seemed to be made of golden sunbeams; his garments werelike light summer clouds; and the expression of his face was soexceedingly vivid, that Hecate held her hands before her eyes,muttering that he ought to wear a black veil. Phoebus (for thiswas the very person whom they were seeking) had a lyre in hishands, and was making its chords tremble with sweet music; atthe same time singing a most exquisite song, which he hadrecently composed. For, beside a great many otheraccomplishments, this young man was renowned for his admirablepoetry.
As Ceres and her dismal companion approached him, Phoebussmiled on them so cheerfully that Hecate's wreath of snakesgave a spiteful hiss, and Hecate heartily wished herself backin her cave. But as for Ceres, she was too earnest in her griefeither to know or care whether Phoebus smiled or frowned.
"Phoebus!" exclaimed she, "I am in great trouble, and have cometo you for assistance. Can you tell me what has become of mydear child Proserpina?"
"Proserpina! Proserpina, did you call her name?" answeredPhoebus, endeavoring to recollect; for there was such acontinual flow of pleasant ideas in his mind, that he was aptto forget what had happened no longer ago than yesterday. "Ah,yes, I remember her now. A very lovely child, indeed. I amhappy to tell you, my dear madam, that I did see the littleProserpina not many days ago. You may make yourself perfectlyeasy about her. She is safe, and in excellent hands."
"O, where is my dear child?" cried Ceres, clasping her hands,and flinging herself at his feet.
"Why," said Phoebus--and as he spoke he kept touching his lyreso as to make a thread of music run in and out among hiswords--"as the little damsel was gathering flowers (and she hasreally a very exquisite taste for flowers), she was suddenlysnatched up by King Pluto, and carried off to his dominions. Ihave never been in that part of the universe; but the royalpalace, I am told, is built in a very noble style ofarchitecture, and of the most splendid and costly materials.Gold, diamonds, pearls, and all manner of precious stones willbe your daughter's ordinary playthings. I recommend to you, mydear lady, to give yourself no uneasiness. Proserpina's senseof beauty will be duly gratified, and even in spite of the lackof sunshine, she will lead a very enviable life."
"Hush! Say not such a word!" answered Ceres, indignantly. "Whatis there to gratify her heart? What are all the splendors youspeak of without affection? I must have her back again. Willyou go with me you go with me, Phoebus, to demand my daughterof this wicked Pluto?"
"Pray excuse me," replied Phoebus, with an elegant obeisance."I certainly wish you success, and regret that my own affairsare so immediately pressing that I cannot have the pleasure ofattending you. Besides, I am not upon the best of terms withKing Pluto. To tell you the truth, his three-headed mastiffwould never let me pass the gateway; for I should be compelledto take a sheaf of sunbeams along with me, and those, you know,are forbidden things in Pluto's kingdom."
"Ah, Phoebus," said Ceres, with bitter meaning in her words,"you have a harp instead of a heart. Farewell."
"Will not you stay a moment," asked Phoebus, "and hear me turnthe pretty and touching story of Proserpina into extemporary verses?"
But Ceres shook her head, and hastened away, along with Hecate.Phoebus (who, as I have told you, was an exquisite poet)forthwith began to make an ode about the poor mother's grief;and, if we were to judge of his sensibility by this beautifulproduction, he must have been endowed with a very tender heart.But when a poet gets into the habit of using his heartstringsto make chords for his lyre, he may thrum upon them as much ashe will, without any great pain to himself. Accordingly, thoughPhoebus sang a very sad song, he was as merry all the while aswere the sunbeams amid which he dwelt.
Poor Mother Ceres had now found out what had become of herdaughter, but was not a whit happier than before. Her case, onthe contrary, looked more desperate than ever. As long asProserpina was above ground, there might have been hopes ofregaining her. But now that the poor child was shut up withinthe iron gates of the king of the mines, at the threshold ofwhich lay the three-headed Cerberus, there seemed nopossibility of her ever making her escape. The dismal Hecate,who loved to take the darkest view of things, told Ceres thatshe had better come with her to the cavern, and spend the restof her life in being miserable. Ceres answered, that Hecate waswelcome to go back thither herself, but that, for her part, shewould wander about the earth in quest of the entrance to KingPluto's dominions. And Hecate took her at her word, and hurriedback to her beloved cave, frightening a great many littlechildren with a glimpse of her dog's face as she went.
Poor Mother Ceres! It is melancholy to think of her, pursuingher toilsome way, all alone, and holding up that never-dyingtorch, the flame of which seemed an emblem of the grief andhope that burned together in her heart.
So much did she suffer, that, though her aspect had been quiteyouthful when her troubles began, she grew to look like anelderly person in a very brief time. She cared not how she wasdressed, nor had she ever thought of flinging away the wreathof withered poppies, which she put on the very morning ofProserpina's disappearance. She roamed about in so wild a way,and with her hair so disheveled, that people took her for somedistracted creature, and never dreamed that this was MotherCeres, who had the oversight of every seed which the husbandmanplanted. Nowadays, however, she gave herself no trouble aboutseed time nor harvest, but left the farmers to take care oftheir own affairs, and the crops to fade or flourish, as thecase might be. There was nothing, now, in which Ceres seemed tofeel an interest, unless when she saw children at play, orgathering flowers along the wayside. Then, indeed, she wouldstand and gaze at them with tears in her eyes. The children,too, appeared to have a sympathy with her grief, and wouldcluster themselves in a little group about her knees, and lookup wistfully in her face; and Ceres, after giving them a kissall round, would lead them to their homes, and advise theirmothers never to let them stray out of sight.
"For if they do," said she, "it may happen to you, as it has tome, that the iron-hearted King Pluto will take a liking to yourdarlings, and snatch them up in his chariot, and carry themaway."
One day, during her pilgrimage in quest of the entrance toPluto's kingdom, she came to the palace of King Cereus, whoreigned at Eleusis. Ascending a lofty flight of steps, sheentered the portal, and found the royal household in very greatalarm about the queen's baby. The infant, it seems, was sickly(being troubled with its teeth, I suppose), and would take nofood, and was all the time moaning with pain. The queen--hername was Metanira--was desirous of funding a nurse; and whenshe beheld a woman of matronly aspect coming up the palacesteps, she thought, in her own mind, that here was the veryperson whom she needed. So Queen Metanira ran to the door, withthe poor wailing baby in her arms, and besought Ceres to takecharge of it, or, at least, to tell her what would do it good.
"Will you trust the child entirely to me?" asked Ceres.
"Yes, and gladly, too," answered the queen, "if you will devoteall your time to him. For I can see that you have been amother."
"You are right," said Ceres. "I once had a child of my own.Well; I will be the nurse of this poor, sickly boy. But beware,I warn you, that you do not interfere with any kind oftreatment which I may judge proper for him. If you do so, thepoor infant must suffer for his mother's folly."
Then she kissed the child, and it seemed to do him good; for hesmiled and nestled closely into her bosom.
So Mother Ceres set her torch in a corner (where it keptburning all the while), and took up her abode in the palace ofKing Cereus, as nurse to the little Prince Demophoon. Shetreated him as if he were her own child, and allowed neitherthe king nor the queen to say whether he should be bathed inwarm or cold water, or what he should eat, or how often heshould take the air, or when he should be put to bed. You wouldhardly believe me, if I were to tell how quickly the babyprince got rid of his ailments, and grew fat, and rosy, andstrong, and how he had two rows of ivory teeth in less timethan any other little fellow, before or since. Instead of thepalest, and wretchedest, and puniest imp in the world (as hisown mother confessed him to be, when Ceres first took him incharge), he was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing,kicking up his heels, and rolling from one end of the room tothe other. All the good women of the neighborhood crowded tothe palace, and held up their hands, in unutterable amazement,at the beauty and wholesomeness of this darling little prince.Their wonder was the greater, because he was never seen totaste any food; not even so much as a cup of milk.
"Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, "how is it that you makethe child thrive so?"
"I was a mother once," Ceres always replied; "and having nursedmy own child, I know what other children need."
But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had a great curiosityto know precisely what the nurse did to her child. One night,therefore, she hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and thelittle prince were accustomed to sleep. There was a fire in thechimney, and it had now crumbled into great coals and embers,which lay glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering up nowand then, and flinging a warm and ruddy light upon the walls.Ceres sat before the hearth with the child in her lap, and thefirelight making her shadow dance upon the ceiling overhead.She undressed the little prince, and bathed him all over withsome fragrant liquid out of a vase. The next thing she did wasto rake back the red embers, and make a hollow place amongthem, just where the backlog had been. At last, while the babywas crowing, and clapping its fat little hands, and laughing inthe nurse's face (just as you may have seen your little brotheror sister do before going into its warm bath), Ceres suddenlylaid him, all naked as he was, in the hollow among the red-hotembers. She then raked the ashes over him, and turned quietlyaway.
You may imagine, if you can, how Queen Metanira shrieked,thinking nothing less than that her dear child would be burnedto a cinder. She burst forth from her hiding-place, and runningto the hearth, raked open the fire, and snatched up poor littlePrince Demophoon out of his bed of live coals, one of which hewas gripping in each of his fists. He immediately set up agrievous cry, as babies are apt to do, when rudely startled outof a sound sleep. To the queen's astonishment and joy, shecould perceive no token of the child's being injured by the hotfire in which he had lain. She now turned to Mother Ceres, andasked her to explain the mystery.
"Foolish woman," answered Ceres, "did you not promise tointrust this poor infant entirely to me? You little know themischief you have done him. Had you left him to my care, hewould have grown up like a child of celestial birth, endowedwith superhuman strength and intelligence, and would have livedforever. Do you imagine that earthly children are to becomeimmortal without being tempered to it in the fiercest heat ofthe fire? But you have ruined your own son. For though he willbe a strong man and a hero in his day, yet, on account of yourfolly, he will grow old, and finally die, like the sons ofother women. The weak tenderness of his mother has cost thepoor boy an immortality. Farewell."
Saying these words, she kissed the little Prince Demophoon, andsighed to think what he had lost, and took her departurewithout heeding Queen Metanira, who entreated her to remain,and cover up the child among the hot embers as often as shepleased. Poor baby! He never slept so warmly again.
While she dwelt in the king's palace, Mother Ceres had been socontinually occupied with taking care of the young prince, thather heart was a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina.But now, having nothing else to busy herself about, she becamejust as wretched as before. At length, in her despair, she cameto the dreadful resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor ablade of grass, not a potato, nor a turnip, nor any othervegetable that was good for man or beast to eat, should besuffered to grow until her daughter were restored. She evenforbade the flowers to bloom, lest somebody's heart should becheered by their beauty.
Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus ever presumed topoke itself out of the ground, without the especial permissionof Ceres, you may conceive what a terrible calamity had herefallen upon the earth. The husbandmen plowed and planted asusual; but there lay the rich black furrows, all as barren as adesert of sand. The pastures looked as brown in the sweet monthof June as ever they did in chill November. The rich man'sbroad acres and the cottager's small garden patch were equallyblighted. Every little girl's flower bed showed nothing but drystalks. The old people shook their white heads, and said thatthe earth had grown aged like themselves, and was no longercapable of wearing the warm smile of summer on its face. It wasreally piteous to see the poor, starving cattle and sheep, howthey followed behind Ceres, lowing and bleating, as if theirinstinct taught them to expect help from her; and everybodythat was acquainted with her power besought her to have mercyon the human race, and, at all events, to let the grass grow.But Mother Ceres, though naturally of an affectionatedisposition, was now inexorable.
"Never," said she. "If the earth is ever again to see anyverdure, it must first grow along the path which my daughterwill tread in coming back to me."
Finally, as there seemed to be no other remedy, our old friendQuicksilver was sent post-haste to King Pluto, in hopes that hemight be persuaded to undo the mischief he had done, and to seteverything right again, by giving up Proserpina. Quicksilveraccordingly made the best of his way to the great gate, took aflying leap right over the three-headed mastiff, and stood atthe door of the palace in an inconceivably short time. Theservants knew him both by his face and garb; for his shortcloak, and his winged cap and shoes, and his snaky staff hadoften been seen thereabouts in times gone by. He requested tobe shown immediately into the king's presence; and Pluto, whoheard his voice from the top of the stairs, and who loved torecreate himself with Quicksilver's merry talk, called out tohim to come up. And while they settle their business together,we must inquire what Proserpina had been doing ever since wesaw her last.
The child had declared, as you may remember, that she would nottaste a mouthful of food as long as she should be compelled toremain in King Pluto's palace. How she contrived to maintainher resolution, and at the same time to keep herself tolerablyplump and rosy, is more than I can explain; but some youngladies, I am given to understand, possess the faculty of livingon air, and Proserpina seems to have possessed it too. At anyrate, it was now six months since she left the outside of theearth; and not a morsel, so far as the attendants were able totestify, had yet passed between her teeth. This was the morecreditable to Proserpina, inasmuch as King Pluto had caused herto be tempted day by day, with all manner of sweetmeats, andrichly-preserved fruits, and delicacies of every sort, such asyoung people are generally most fond of. But her good motherhad often told her of the hurtfulness of these things; and forthat reason alone, if there had been no other, she would haveresolutely refused to taste them.
All this time, being of a cheerful and active disposition, thelittle damsel was not quite so unhappy as you may havesupposed. The immense palace had a thousand rooms, and was fullof beautiful and wonderful objects. There was a never-ceasinggloom, it is true, which half hid itself among the innumerablepillars, gliding before the child as she wandered among them,and treading stealthily behind her in the echo of herfootsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of the precious stones,which flamed with their own light, worth one gleam of naturalsunshine; nor could the most brilliant of the many-coloredgems, which Proserpina had for playthings, vie with the simplebeauty of the flowers she used to gather. But still, wheneverthe girl went among those gilded halls and chambers, it seemedas if she carried nature and sunshine along with her, and as ifshe scattered dewy blossoms on her right hand and on her left.After Proserpina came, the palace was no longer the same abodeof stately artifice and dismal magnificence that it had beforebeen. The inhabitants all felt this, and King Pluto more thanany of them.
"My own little Proserpina," he used to say. "I wish you couldlike me a little better. We gloomy and cloudy-natured personshave often as warm hearts, at bottom, as those of a morecheerful character. If you would only stay with me of your ownaccord, it would make me happier than the possession of ahundred such palaces as this."
"Ah," said Proserpina, "you should have tried to make me likeyou before carrying me off. And the best thing you can now dois, to let me go again. Then I might remember you sometimes,and think that you were as kind as you knew how to be. Perhaps,too, one day or other, I might come back, and pay you a visit."
"No, no," answered Pluto, with his gloomy smile, "I will nottrust you for that. You are too fond of living in the broaddaylight, and gathering flowers. What an idle and childishtaste that is! Are not these gems, which I have ordered to bedug for you, and which are richer than any in my crown--arethey not prettier than a violet?"
"Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatching the gems fromPluto's hand, and flinging them to the other end of the hall."O my sweet violets, shall I never see you again?"
And then she burst into tears. But young people's tears havevery little saltness or acidity in them, and do not inflame theeyes so much as those of grown persons; so that it is not to bewondered at, if, a few moments afterwards, Proserpina wassporting through the hall almost as merrily as she and the foursea nymphs had sported along the edge of the surf wave. KingPluto gazed after her, and wished that he, too, was a child.And little Proserpina, when she turned about, and beheld thisgreat king standing in his splendid hall, and looking so grand,and so melancholy, and so lonesome, was smitten with a kind ofpity. She ran back to him, and, for the first time in all herlife, put her small, soft hand in his.
"I love you a little," whispered she, looking up in his face.
"Do you, indeed, my dear child?" cried Pluto, bending his darkface down to kiss her; but Proserpina shrank away from thekiss, for, though his features were noble, they were very duskyand grim. "Well, I have not deserved it of you, after keepingyou a prisoner for so many months, and starving you besides.Are you not terribly hungry? Is there nothing which I can getyou to eat?"
In asking this question, the king of the mines had a verycunning purpose; for, you will recollect, if Proserpina tasteda morsel of food in his dominions, she would never afterwardsbe at liberty to quit them.
"No indeed," said Proserpina. "Your head cook is always baking,and stewing, and roasting, and rolling out paste, andcontriving one dish or another, which he imagines may be to myliking. But he might just as well save himself the trouble,poor, fat little man that he is. I have no appetite foranything in the world, unless it were a slice of bread, of mymother's own baking, or a little fruit out of her garden."
When Pluto heard this, he began to see that he had mistaken thebest method of tempting Proserpina to eat. The cook's madedishes and artificial dainties were not half so delicious, inthe good child's opinion, as the simple fare to which MotherCeres had accustomed her. Wondering that he had never thoughtof it before, the king now sent one of his trusty attendantswith a large basket, to get some of the finest and juiciestpears, peaches, and plums which could anywhere be found in theupper world. Unfortunately, however, this was during the timewhen Ceres had forbidden any fruits or vegetables to grow; and,after seeking all over the earth, King Pluto's servant foundonly a single pomegranate, and that so dried up as not to beworth eating. Nevertheless, since there was no better to behad, he brought this dry, old withered pomegranate home to thepalace.
put it on a magnificent golden salver, and carried it up toProserpina. Now, it happened, curiously enough, that, just asthe servant was bringing the pomegranate into the back door ofthe palace, our friend Quicksilver had gone up the front steps,on his errand to get Proserpina away from King Pluto.
As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate on the golden salver,she told the servant he had better take it away again.
"I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. "If I were everso hungry, I should never think of eating such a miserable, drypomegranate as that."
"It is the only one in the world," said the servant.
He set down the golden salver, with the wizened pomegranateupon it, and left the room. When he was gone, Proserpina couldnot help coming close to the table, and looking at this poorspecimen of dried fruit with a great deal of eagerness; for, tosay the truth, on seeing something that suited her taste, shefelt all the six months' appetite taking possession of her atonce. To be sure, it was a very wretched-looking pomegranate,and seemed to have no more juice in it than an oyster shell.But there was no choice of such things in King Pluto's palace.This was the first fruit she had seen there, and the last shewas ever likely to see; and unless she ate it up immediately,it would grow drier than it already was, and be wholly unfit toeat.
"At least, I may smell it," thought Proserpina.
So she took up the pomegranate, and applied it to her nose;and, somehow or other, being in such close neighborhood to hermouth, the fruit found its way into that little red cave. Dearme! what an everlasting pity! Before Proserpina knew what shewas about, her teeth had actually bitten it, of their ownaccord. Just as this fatal deed was done, the door of theapartment opened, and in came King Pluto, followed byQuicksilver, who had been urging him to let his little prisonergo. At the first noise of their entrance, Proserpina withdrewthe pomegranate from her mouth. But Quicksilver (whose eyeswere very keen, and his wits the sharpest that ever anybodyhad) perceived that the child was a little confused; and seeingthe empty salver, he suspected that she had been taking a slynibble of something or other. As for honest Pluto, he neverguessed at the secret.
"My little Proserpina," said the king, sitting down, andaffectionately drawing her between his knees, "here isQuicksilver, who tells me that a great many misfortunes havebefallen innocent people on account of my detaining you in mydominions. To confess the truth, I myself had already reflectedthat it was an unjustifiable act to take you away from yourgood mother. But, then, you must consider, my dear child, thatthis vast palace is apt to be gloomy (although the preciousstones certainly shine very bright), and that I am not of themost cheerful disposition, and that therefore it was a naturalthing enough to seek for the society of some merrier creaturethan myself. I hoped you would take my crown for a plaything,and me--ah, you laugh, naughty Proserpina--me, grim as I am,for a playmate. It was a silly expectation."
"Not so extremely silly," whispered Proserpina. "You havereally amused me very much, sometimes."
"Thank you," said King Pluto, rather dryly. "But I can seeplainly enough, that you think my palace a dusky prison, and methe iron-hearted keeper of it. And an iron heart I shouldsurely have, if I could detain you here any longer, my poorchild, when it is now six months since you tasted food. I giveyou your liberty. Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home to your dearmother."
Now, although you may not have supposed it, Proserpina found itimpossible to take leave of poor King Pluto without someregrets, and a good deal of compunction for not telling himabout the pomegranate. She even shed a tear or two, thinkinghow lonely and cheerless the great palace would seem to him,with all its ugly glare of artificial light, after sheherself--his one little ray of natural sunshine, whom he hadstolen, to be sure, but only because he valued her somuch--after she should have departed. I know not how many kindthings she might have said to the disconsolate king of themines, had not Quicksilver hurried her way.
"Come along quickly," whispered he in her ear, "or his majestymay change his royal mind. And take care, above all things,that you say nothing of what was brought you on the goldensalver."
In a very short time, they had passed the great gateway(leaving the three-headed Cerberus, barking, and yelping, andgrowling, with threefold din, behind them), and emerged uponthe surface of the earth. It was delightful to behold, asProserpina hastened along, how the path grew verdant behind andon either side of her. Wherever she set her blessed foot, therewas at once a dewy flower. The violets gushed up along thewayside. The grass and the grain began to sprout with tenfoldvigor and luxuriance, to make up for the dreary months that hadbeen wasted in barrenness. The starved cattle immediately setto work grazing, after their long fast, and ate enormously, allday, and got up at midnight to eat more.
But I can assure you it was a busy time of year with thefarmers, when they found the summer coming upon them with sucha rush. Nor must I forget to say, that all the birds in thewhole world hopped about upon the newly-blossoming trees, andsang together, in a prodigious ecstasy of joy.
Mother Ceres had returned to her deserted home, and was sittingdisconsolately on the doorstep, with her torch burning in herhand. She had been idly watching the flame for some momentspast, when, all at once, it flickered and went out.
"What does this mean?" thought she. "It was an enchanted torch,and should have kept burning till my child came back."
Lifting her eyes, she was surprised to see a sudden verdureflashing over the brown and barren fields, exactly as you mayhave observed a golden hue gleaming far and wide across thelandscape, from the just risen sun.
"Does the earth disobey me?" exclaimed Mother Ceres,indignantly. "Does it presume to be green, when I have biddenit be barren, until my daughter shall be restored to my arms?"
"Then open your arms, dear mother," cried a well-known voice,"and take your little daughter into them."
And Proserpina came running, and flung herself upon hermother's bosom. Their mutual transport is not to be described.The grief of their separation had caused both of them to shed agreat many tears; and now they shed a great many more, becausetheir joy could not so well express itself in any other way.
When their hearts had grown a little more quiet, Mother Cereslooked anxiously at Proserpina.
"My child," said she, "did you taste any food while you were inKing Pluto's palace?"
"Dearest mother," exclaimed Proserpina, "I will tell you thewhole truth. Until this very morning, not a morsel of food hadpassed my lips. But to-day, they brought me a pomegranate (avery dry one it was, and all shriveled up, till there waslittle left of it but seeds and skin), and having seen no fruitfor so long a time, and being faint with hunger, I was temptedjust to bite it. The instant I tasted it, King Pluto andQuicksilver came into the room. I had not swallowed a morsel;but--dear mother, I hope it was no harm--but six of thepomegranate seeds, I am afraid, remained in my mouth."
"Ah, unfortunate child, and miserable me!" exclaimed Ceres."For each of those six pomegranate seeds you must spend onemonth of every year in King Pluto's palace. You are but halfrestored to your mother. Only six months with me, and six withthat good-for-nothing King of Darkness!"
"Do not speak so harshly of poor King Pluto," said Prosperina,kissing her mother. "He has some very good qualities; and Ireally think I can bear to spend six months in his palace, ifhe will only let me spend the other six with you. He certainlydid very wrong to carry me off; but then, as he says, it wasbut a dismal sort of life for him, to live in that great gloomyplace, all alone; and it has made a wonderful change in hisspirits to have a little girl to run up stairs and down. Thereis some comfort in making him so happy; and so, upon the whole,dearest mother, let us be thankful that he is not to keep methe whole year round."
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