{"product_id":"2940015577099","title":"The Oriental Story Book","description":"INTRODUCTION.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a beautiful distant kingdom, of which there is a saying, that the\u003cbr\u003esun on its everlasting green gardens never goes down, ruled, from the\u003cbr\u003ebeginning of time even to the present day, Queen Phantasie. With full\u003cbr\u003ehands, she used to distribute for many hundred years, the abundance of\u003cbr\u003eher blessings among her subjects, and was beloved and respected by all\u003cbr\u003ewho knew her. The heart of the Queen, however, was too great to allow\u003cbr\u003eher to stop at her own land with her charities; she herself, in the\u003cbr\u003eroyal attire of her everlasting youth and beauty, descended upon the\u003cbr\u003eearth; for she had heard that there men lived, who passed their lives\u003cbr\u003ein sorrowful seriousness, in the midst of care and toil. Unto these\u003cbr\u003eshe had sent the finest gifts out of her kingdom, and ever since the\u003cbr\u003ebeauteous Queen came through the fields of earth, men were merry at\u003cbr\u003etheir labor, and happy in their seriousness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer children, moreover, not less fair and lovely than their royal\u003cbr\u003emother, she had sent forth to bring happiness to men. One day\u003cbr\u003eMärchen[A], the eldest daughter of the Queen, came back in haste from\u003cbr\u003ethe earth. The mother observed that Märchen was sorrowful; yes, at\u003cbr\u003etimes it would seem to her as if her eyes would be consumed by\u003cbr\u003eweeping.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What is the matter with thee, beloved Märchen?\" said the Queen to\u003cbr\u003eher. \"Ever since thy journey, thou art so sorrowful and dejected; wilt\u003cbr\u003ethou not confide to thy mother what ails thee?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah! dear mother,\" answered Märchen, \"I would have kept silence, had I\u003cbr\u003enot known that my sorrow is thine also.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Speak, my daughter!\" entreated the fair Queen. \"Grief is a stone,\u003cbr\u003ewhich presses down him who bears it alone, but two draw it lightly out\u003cbr\u003eof the way.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Thou wishest it,\" rejoined Märchen, \"so listen. Thou knowest how\u003cbr\u003egladly I associate with men, how cheerfully I sit down before the huts\u003cbr\u003eof the poor, to while away a little hour for them after their labor;\u003cbr\u003eformerly, when I came, they used to ask me kindly for my hand to\u003cbr\u003esalute, and looked upon me afterwards, when I went away, smiling and\u003cbr\u003econtented; but in these days, it is so no longer!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Poor Märchen!\" said the Queen as she caressed her cheek, which was\u003cbr\u003ewet with a tear. \"But, perhaps, thou only fanciest all this.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Believe me, I feel it but too well,\" rejoined Märchen; \"they love me\u003cbr\u003eno more. Wherever I go, cold looks meet me; nowhere am I any more\u003cbr\u003egladly seen; even the children, who ever loved me so well, laugh at\u003cbr\u003eme, and slyly turn their backs upon me.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Queen leaned her forehead on her hand, and was silent in\u003cbr\u003ereflection. \"And how, then, Märchen,\" she asked, \"should it happen\u003cbr\u003ethat the people there below have become so changed?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"See, O Queen Phantasie! men have stationed vigilant watchmen, who\u003cbr\u003einspect and examine all that comes from thy kingdom, with sharp eyes.\u003cbr\u003eIf one should arrive who is not according to their mind, they raise a\u003cbr\u003eloud cry, and put him to death, or else so slander him to men, who\u003cbr\u003ebelieve their every word, that one finds no longer any love, any\u003cbr\u003elittle ray of confidence. Ah! how fortunate are my brothers, the\u003cbr\u003eDreams! they leap merrily and lightly down upon the earth, care\u003cbr\u003enothing for those artful men, seek the slumbering, and weave and paint\u003cbr\u003efor them, what makes happy the heart, and brightens the eye with joy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Thy brothers are light-footed,\" said the Queen, \"and thou, my\u003cbr\u003edarling, hast no reason for envying them. Besides, I know these\u003cbr\u003eborder-watchmen well; men are not so wrong in sending them out; there\u003cbr\u003ecame so many boastful fellows, who acted as if they had come straight\u003cbr\u003efrom my kingdom, and yet they had, at best, only looked down upon us\u003cbr\u003efrom some mountain.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But why did they make me, thine own daughter, suffer for this?\" wept\u003cbr\u003eforth Märchen. \"Ah, if thou knewest how they have acted towards me!\u003cbr\u003eThey called me an old maid, and threatened the next time not to admit\u003cbr\u003eme!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How, my daughter?--not to admit thee more?\" asked the Queen, as\u003cbr\u003eanger heightened the color on her cheeks. \"But already I see whence\u003cbr\u003ethis comes; that wicked cousin has slandered us!\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47084561432816,"sku":"2940015577099","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940015577099","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}