LEV KASSIL
to burst. But Amalgam knew that the phase would not last, for
art is eternal only when man can freely put the whole of
his
heart into it.
Hard times came upon Sinegoriya. The evil winds dried up
the fields and gardens; where there had once been forest land ,
was now a mass of wind-fallen trees, where there had once been '
sweet-scented roses was now overgrown with weeds. All that
was
heard was the howl of the winds in the chimneys and the rattle
of the iron weathervanes, while the king kept blowing soap
bubbles, listening to the spinning of the weathervanes and
the
blaring of brass bands and gazing with pleasure at the thistle·
down floating through the air.
In the meantime John Greenfingers' daughter Melchiora
had grown up a thousand times more beautiful than the finest
lily which had ever adorned his flower-beds. And the clear-eyed
Amalgam, languishing in his dingy dungeon, fell in love with her.
Melchiora's eyes reminded him of the rainbow and her laughter
was like the crystal tinkle of rays reflected in a mirror.
The girl also fell in love with the Master Craftsman for
his
radiant eyes, light-colored hair and sunny nature. John Green·
fingers tried to hide his daughter from the king, but the drafts
got to know this and reported to Vainglorious.
"Whew!" whistled Vainglorious, seeing how beautiful Mel·
chiora was. "I didn't know that the old gardener had been hiding
his finest flower from us . .. why shouldn't I make his daughter
a member of my court?"
I
The beauty started back in horror from the greedy monster.
The king realized that Melchiora would never love him, so,
on Once-Upon-a-Tirne's advice, he resorted to cunning.
He
knew there was not one mirror in the palace and that Melchiora
had never seen her face and had no idea she was beautiful.
So
Vainglorious ordered all those who surrounded John Green·
fingers' beautiful daughter to tell her she was monstrously ugly.
From then on, whenever they met Melchiora, the courtiers would
turn away in disgust and horror, and the king took advantage of
