ancient one looked down him i he has long limbs and strong ones he will make a great king he said give him to me j the queen held out the little new born one in her arms take him away quickly before he hears the people at the palace gate she said take him to the castle on the mountain keep him there until he is old enough come down and be king when the sun sinks behind the clouds i shall die � � � � p� the land of the blue flower but if he is with you he will learn what kings should know the ancient one took the child folded him in his long gray robe and strode through the palace gates through the ugly city and out over the plains to the mountain when he began to climb its steep sides the sun was setting and casting a golden rose color over the big rocks and the wild flowers and bushes which grew on every side so that there seemed no path to be found but the ancient one knew his way anywhere in the world without a path to guide him he climbed and climbed and little slept soundly in the folds of his gray robe he reached the summit at last and pushing his way through a of twisted vines all w r i m the land of the blue flower over with pale sweet scented he stood looking at the castle which was set on the very and looked out over the mountain s edge at the sea and the sky and the spreading plains below the sky was dark blue now and lit by a stars and all was so still that the world seemed thousands of miles away and and and people who seemed things which were not true a sweet cool wind blew about them as the ancient one took king from the folds of his gray robe and laid him on the carpet of scented moss the stars are very near he said young king and see how near they are and know they are your brothers your brother the wind is � � a the land of the blue flower bringing to you the breath of your brothers the trees you are at home then king opened his eyes and when he saw the stars in the dark above him he smiled and though he was not yet a whole day old he threw up his small hand and it touched his forehead like a king and a soldier he them said the ancient one though he does not know he did it t the castle was huge and splendid though it had been deserted for a hundred years for three generations the royal owners had not cared to look out on the world from high places they knew nothing of the wind and the trees and the stars they lived on the plains in their cities and hunted and the land of the blue flower � and heavy taxes on their wretched people and the castle had lived through its and alone it had and towers which stood out clear against the sky and there was a great banquet hall and chambers for hundreds of guests and rooms for a thousand men at arms and the was big enough to hold a in in the midst of its space and splendor the little king lived alone but for the companionship of the ancient one and a servant as old as himself but they knew a secret which had kept them young in spite of the years they had passed through they knew that they were the brothers of all things in the world and that the man who never knows an or evil thought can j t i � � � � � � pi i m � � � � � � � i i m m t m i the land of the blue flower never know a foe they were strong and straight and wise and the wildest creature stopped to give them greeting as it passed and they understood its language when it spoke because they held no dark thoughts in their minds they knew no fear and because they knew no fear the wild creatures knew none and the speech of each was clear to the other each morning they went out on the at dawn to see the splendid sun rise slowly out of the purple sea one of the very first things the child king remembered in his life � and he remembered it always � was a dawning day when the ancient one i him gently and folding him in his long gray robe carried him up the winding and narrow stone mt r if mt m m i m m � m u m m� m j the land of the blue flower until at last they stepped forth on the top of the huge castle which seemed to the little creature to be so high that it was quite close to the wonderful sky itself the sun is going to rise and wake the world said the ancient one j young king watch the wonder of it lifted his little head and looked he was only just old enough to be beginning to understand things but he loved the ancient one and all he said and did far below the mountain lay the sea in the night while it slept it had looked dark blue or violet but now it was slowly changing its color the sky was changing too � it was growing paler and paler � next it grew faintly brighter so did the sea then a slight � � � � � the land of the blue flower � i � w ii � � � r� flush crept over land and water and all the small floating clouds were rosy pink 