Carleton College - Algol Yearbook (Northfield, MN)

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written and she enjoyed it very much. After a while she found a few jests which troubled her a little. She remembered what her mother had said-'iNever think a thing which you would not want the whole world, if necessary, to know. But it is very witty and clever and beautiful in style and I am strong enough not to have it harm me-me, the Princess Innocence. Surely it will not hurt to read this little book. So she read on in spite of slight uncomfortable twinges. A little later she met the same knight again and this time sl1e bowed. Beautiful Princess, he said, a while ago I heard your voice, or was it the lark-given human speech-and I hoped I mighthave some time the pleasure of singing with you. Flat- tered by such praise from one whom she knew to sing like a very seraph, she consented, and he taught her a carol which they sang together, as if it had been angels. And another day she found lying on her garden seat another book, and another day, still another, and though each was worse than the preceding, she did not realize it nor was her conscience troubled. There are many things outside the realm of chemistry which deaden feeling. And he taught her other songs-but these songs angels would not have sung, nor would the queen mother have listened to them with pleasure. And so the days went on and the jewel hung, a blackened, broken stone, and the gold was tarnished and dull, and oh, the pity of it-she did not know it. Though she lived many long years, the blackened pearl, the tarnished gold, disfigured her and she never knew it. Hard lines were on her face but she did not see them. Few books would make her shudder. Of few songs would she disapprove. But she did not know that she was different. The fifth sister's loss was similar, but the way her jewel lost its beauty was by walking through the Byway of Deceit. It was such an easy path to travel. It was so near the road she was in. She could plainly see where it again connected with the road and it was a much pleasanter way and shorter. But she lost her way, and her jewel began to darken. I think that if she had at once retraced her steps, thus frankly owning to those who saw her that she had gone into that forbidden path and that she would no longer do so, the open sunlight might have turned it bright again, but she was too proud or more truly, not proud enough for that. Unlike her sister, she knew that the jewel was black and hideous, but she did not care. She had lost all power to appreciate the beautiful. And now the sixth princess started forth. My heart aches as I tell her story, for of all the sisters I could have loved her best-the beautiful princess Charity. She was not only good and lovely but so full of sympathy and helpfulness that she was beloved by young and old, rich and poor. The Palace of Pleasure was no temptation to her, for she carried her pleasure with her. Deceit, she did not understand. Evil tales she could not even compre- hend. And the years went on and she grew lovelier and more sympathetic. 13

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First, the oldest sister, the princess Clothilde, started out from home one day and one of the knights came out politely and said: i'My Lady Clothilde, in my father's house, gloomy though it looks on the exterior, is a large Hall, the Hall of Pleasure. If thy tiny feet will but tread it and thy merry laugh echo through it, great happiness will be ours, and it may be that we can repay the favor by giving thee merriment as well. HI thank you, good sir, said she, hbut my parents have forbidden my entering that gloomy looking castle. Indeed. courteously said the knight, they fear that thy strength of character is not great enough to withstand the temptations there. They fear that thou canst not forbear to stay when once thou hast entered and that thou wilt enter not only the Hall of Pleasure but the Hall of Wickeclness as well. The handsome knight spoke very respectfully, but the Princess Clothilde detected a sneer. Now, if there was anything that she prided herself upon, it was her strength of character, and she thought with sudden anger of her parents' prohibition. They think me a child, she said, Uthey think I can not rule myself. I will go in and go no farther than the Hall of Pleasure and come out very soon and it will hurt no one. Then she entered with the knight. For some years afterward the Princess Clothilde lived, but she never left the Hall of Pleasure. Some who passed by saw her, gay and seemingly merry, but they' noticed that her beautiful pearl was gone, that her face was never quite peaceful, that her laugh began to sound hollow-and not many years afterward she was laid to rest. But her resting place was not near the Hall of Pleasure. The second sister went out into the sunshine one morning, singing, with her bright neck- lace shining in the sunlight. I shall not tcll her story nor that of the third sister, for they are too sad to think of unless it be necessary, but some day, if you see women whom you would not like to receive into your homes, nor speak to on the street-ask their story and it may not be unlike that of these two sisters and they, like the beautiful princesses, may be mourning bitterly because they can not find again the treasure entrusted to them. For long and bitterly did the princesses repent and at last came into a quiet happiness because of a long life of re- pentance and good works, but never, never again the beautiful jewelsg never, never again the happy light in the eyes and the merry, merry laugh, never, never again. . The fourth sister went out alone-the Princess Innocence-and as she walked she met one of the knights and when he bowed, she very properly passed by without speaking, for indeed, these brothers were very, very bad, thoughyery handsome, I must say. As she walked on, she found on a seat under a tree a pretty little book with an illumin- ated cover. She picked it up and began to read. It was very interesting and charmingly I2

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And the evil brothers laid their toils for her in vain till this last method occurred to them and they tried it. The youngest of the brothers lay fallen at the foot of a tree with his face covered with blood and upon it a look of despair. ' The fair princess passed by and saw him. Now, her heart was too warm and tender to see even so wicked a man lying there, so she went toward him to see what was the trouble. When he saw her he begged her for help. Wait a moment, said she, Hand I will call our henchman Hugo to care for you. It is not my bodily suffering but the memory of my unjust and dishonest life, which weighs me down, he answered. i'Then I will send for a lawyer that you may make restitution-always the first step in re- pentancef' But it is not any special unjust act which troubles me but my whole evil nature. 4 Then, I can go for our good priest, who will be best of all for trouble of any sort. 'iNay, priests have never helped me and can not do so now. It is you, you in your lovely purity and goodness, who have made me see myself as I am. It is you alone who can help me. Come to my home and teach me thy way. It was a hard place in which to put the princess Charity. If she had only heard the words just then: He even secketh not to please God more CWhich meaneth other-wisej than as God please. Or those others More careful not to serve thee much As please thee perfectly. K'My father bade me have nothing to do with him, she said to herself, but surely it would be a great thing to reform this wicked man. It is wrong to go with him to the forbid- den castle, I know, but good may come of it. It cannot be wrong to do a little evil that great good may come. So she walked on with this wicked man, side by side, and with him entered the castle. Scarcely had she entered before she saw that her pearl was gone. Did she lose it or did he steal it? I do not know. At once she fled from the castle and thereafter, during a long and beautiful life, she was very tender, very sympathetic, very gentle with the erring, but she never saw her pearl again-never again. Now, but one pearl was left. I wish you could have seen the youngest sister, princess Bertha, though I do not believe that she was so much different from others in outward appear- ance till later years. I shall not tell you all of the ways in which the knights tempted her, for there was never yet a girl who did not sooner or later, have all the temptations with which the 14