Chapter 4 Changes
Chapter 4 Changes Chapter 4 Changes Then came the morning when the princess went looking for her friends, only to find that they had not even left their rooms. She ran from one chamber to another, calling to them: "Ruby, Pearl, Jade! What is the matter?" One by one they answered her in much the same way. "Oh, only let me rest," said Ruby. "I have no strength for your girlish games." And with that, she hobbled to the fireplace. There she sat down in a rocking chair from which she could reach
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Chapter 4 Changes
Chapter 4 Changes
Then came the morning when the princess went looking for her friends,only to find that they had not even left their rooms.She ran from one chamber to another, calling to them: "Ruby, Pearl, Jade! What is the matter?"
One by one they answered her in much the same way.
"Oh, only let me rest," said Ruby. "I have no strength for your girlish games."And with that, she hobbled to the fireplace.There she sat down in a rocking chair from which she could reach out to the fire and warm her shaking hands.
"Foolish girl," croaked Pearl, barely moving in the softest chair in her room,"don't you see, these old limbs want only to rest?"
Of the three, Jade's reply was the hardest to bear.
Lifting her head from her pillow, she said, "Young woman, I don't know who you are.I do know that you have disturbed the sleep that is my only comfort."
Amber finally understood that her friends had mysteriously aged overnight.And now they were actually wasting away.They had turned into old, shriveled women who leaned on sticks and walked with bent backs and trembling legs.
Running from the sight of them, Amber ran to find the prince."What have you done to my friends?" she cried after telling him what she had seen.
"There's nothing I can do," he replied sheepishly."As the sap in the plants from which they were formed dried up, so did the beings they had become."He promised to go immediately in search of other roots and restore her friends to her.
Once again the princess was overwhelmed with sadness.She found herself drifting toward the garden, hoping that the cheerful flowers might give her comfort.But even the gnome's magic could not hold back the changing seasons.It was autumn, and the flowers were fading. Even the grass had lost its sheen.And the songs of the remaining birds were less cheerful. Every chirp seemed to say "Good-bye."
Meanwhile, the gnome was searching the fields, moving farther and farther from the castle.The fields were now covered with fallen leaves, and deer had cropped the tops of the plants.Still, Beryl felt certain that he could make everything right again.
