CHAPTER 2
The Princess Loses Herself
I have said the Princess Irene was about eight years old when my storybegins. And this is how it begins.
One very wet day, when the mountain was covered with mist which wasconstantly gathering itself together into raindrops, and pouring downon the roofs of the great old house, whence it fell in a fringe ofwater from the eaves all round about it, the princess could not ofcourse go out. She got very tired, so tired that even her toys couldno longer amuse her. You would wonder at that if I had time todescribe to you one half of the toys she had. But then, you wouldn'thave the toys themselves, and that makes all the difference: you can'tget tired of a thing before you have it. It was a picture, though,worth seeing--the princess sitting in the nursery with the sky ceilingover her head, at a great table covered with her toys. If the artistwould like to draw this, I should advise him not to meddle with thetoys. I am afraid of attempting to describe them, and I think he hadbetter not try to draw them. He had better not. He can do a thousandthings I can't, but I don't think he could draw those toys. No mancould better make the princess herself than he could, though--leaningwith her back bowed into the back of the chair, her head hanging down,and her hands in her lap, very miserable as she would say herself, noteven knowing what she would like, except it were to go out and getthoroughly wet, and catch a particularly nice cold, and have to go tobed and take gruel. The next moment after you see her sitting there,her nurse goes out of the room.
Even that is a change, and the princess wakes up a little, and looksabout her. Then she tumbles off her chair and runs out of the door,not the same door the nurse went out of, but one which opened at thefoot of a curious old stair of worm-eaten oak, which looked as if neveranyone had set foot upon it. She had once before been up six steps,and that was sufficient reason, in such a day, for trying to find outwhat was at the top of it.
Up and up she ran--such a long way it seemed to her!--until she came tothe top of the third flight. There she found the landing was the endof a long passage. Into this she ran. It was full of doors on eachside. There were so many that she did not care to open any, but ran onto the end, where she turned into another passage, also full of doors.When she had turned twice more, and still saw doors and only doorsabout her, she began to get frightened. It was so silent! And allthose doors must hide rooms with nobody in them! That was dreadful.Also the rain made a great trampling noise on the roof. She turned andstarted at full speed, her little footsteps echoing through the soundsof the rain--back for the stairs and her safe nursery. So she thought,but she had lost herself long ago. It doesn't follow that she waslost, because she had lost herself, though.
She ran for some distance, turned several times, and then began to beafraid. Very soon she was sure that she had lost the way back. Roomseverywhere, and no stair! Her little heart beat as fast as her littlefeet ran, and a lump of tears was growing in her throat. But she wastoo eager and perhaps too frightened to cry for some time. At last herhope failed her. Nothing but passages and doors everywhere! She threwherself on the floor, and burst into a wailing cry broken by sobs.
She did not cry long, however, for she was as brave as could beexpected of a princess of her age. After a good cry, she got up, andbrushed the dust from her frock. Oh, what old dust it was! Then shewiped her eyes with her hands, for princesses don't always have theirhandkerchiefs in their pockets, any more than some other little girls Iknow of. Next, like a true princess, she resolved on going wisely towork to find her way back: she would walk through the passages, andlook in every direction for the stair. This she did, but withoutsuccess. She went over the same ground again an again without knowingit, for the passages and doors were all alike. At last, in a corner,through a half-open door, she did see a stair. But alas! it went thewrong way: instead of going down, it went up. Frightened as she was,however, she could not help wishing to see where yet further the staircould lead. It was very narrow, and so steep that she went on like afour-legged creature on her hands and feet.