“That depends upon yourself,” replied the fairy. “If you do not, like
Adam, long for what is forbidden, you can remain here always.”
“I should not touch the fruit on the tree of knowledge,” said the prince;
there is abundance of fruit equally beautiful.”
“Examine your own heart,” said the princess, “and if you do not feel sure
of its strength, return with the East Wind who brought you. He is about to
fly back, and will not return here for a hundred years. The time will not
seem to you more than a hundred hours, yet even that is a long time for
temptation and resistance. Every evening, when I leave you, I shall be
obliged to say, ‘Come with me,’ and to beckon to you with my hand. But
you must not listen, nor move from your place to follow me; for with every
step you will find your power to resist weaker. If once you attempted to
follow me, you would soon find yourself in the hall, where grows the tree of
knowledge, for I sleep beneath its perfumed branches. If you stooped over
me, I should be forced to smile. If you then kissed my lips, the garden of
paradise would sink into the earth, and to you it would be lost. A keen wind
from the desert would howl around you; cold rain fall on your head, and
sorrow and woe be your future lot.”
“I will remain,” said the prince.
So the East Wind kissed him on the forehead, and said, “Be firm; then
shall we meet again when a hundred years have passed. Farewell, farewell.”
Then the East Wind spread his broad pinions, which shone like the lightning
in harvest, or as the northern lights in a cold winter.
“Farewell, farewell,” echoed the trees and the flowers.
Storks and pelicans flew after him in feathery bands, to accompany him
to the boundaries of the garden.
“Now we will commence dancing,” said the fairy; “and when it is nearly
over at sunset, while I am dancing with you, I shall make a sign, and ask
you to follow me: but do not obey. I shall be obliged to repeat the same
thing for a hundred years; and each time, when the trial is past, if you resist,
you will gain strength, till resistance becomes easy, and at last the
