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Long ago there was a king who had one beautiful daughter. To her was given whatsoever she desired. Men servants and maid servants waited to do her bidding.
So it chanced that the little Princess became a spoiled and willful child. She never thought of the wishes of others. She always followed her own desires.
The little Princess was vain, and admired her own beauty. She always wore gowns of beautiful red silk. They were as soft and as gaily coloured as the petals of the gorgeous garden poppies.
Every morning the gentle, careful little maid combed the Princess's long dark hair with a golden comb.
At noontime she carried to the Princess a golden plate loaded with the finest ripe fruit. She offered her foaming, creamy milk in a cup of gold.
At eveningtide the maid robed the Princess in a nightgown of silk, and tucked her snugly in the softest and downiest of silken beds.
When the Princess slept, the little maid drew the silken curtains of the bed, and herself slept on a couch close by, that she might waken at the Princess's least movement.
The maid was always gentle, patient, and obedient, and her eyes were as true and blue as the petals of the corn-flower, and her hair as golden as the stalks of the ripe wheat in the field.
One day the Princess sat on the wide veranda on the shady side of the palace. The little maid fanned her with a fan of sweet-scented grasses. Afar in the field the reapers were at work in the harvest.
"Come," said the Princess. "Bring my parasol of bright red silk, and we will go to the fields and watch the harvesters."
The little maid bowed so low that you could not see the blue of her eyes, only the gold of her hair and the blue of her gown. She hastened to bring the red silk parasol, and together they found their way to the harvest field.
Now the reapers loved their king and respected him. For his sake they loved the wilful little Princess. When the Princess and her maid reached the field the workmen stopped their work for a moment and bowed respectfully before the two little girls. The Princess tossed her dark head saucily, and twirled her red silk parasol impatiently. She spoke scornfully to the honest workmen, and bade them go about their work.
But the little maid smiled kindly upon the honest workmen. So though it was to the Princess that the workmen bowed, it was into the blue eyes of the little maid that they looked. It was the flutter of her simple blue gown which they caught as they looked back across the fields.
Now the Princess was weary from her long walk across the fields. She commanded the maid to find her a place in which to rest. The little maid found a soft place on the shady side of a shock of golden wheat, and brought cool water from a stream close by.
As she sat there the Princess looked far out across the fields, and away on the horizon she saw a long, slender, black streak of cloud. She sprang to her feet and clapped her hands and called loudly to the workmen. From their places in the field they came running to do her bidding.
"See!" cried the Princess, pointing with her umbrella, "a storm is rising. Build me a cabin from your sheaves. Be quick! I am the Princess! I am the king's daughter!"
The workmen sprang to do as she wished. But one old man who had long served her father, the king, bowed low before the Princess and spoke.
"Oh, beautiful Princess," he said, "pardon me, but there will be no rain. That is not a rain cloud. See how brightly the sun shines!"
The Princess screamed with rage.
"How dare you?" she cried. "How dare you? Is not the command of your Princess enough? Do you refuse to obey?"
"Your pardon, Princess," said the old man, sadly. "There is not a man in the field but would gladly lay down his life to serve the Princess. But your command is useless, and the sheaves are precious."
The Princess was speechless and white with anger, but she still pointed to the dark cloud which was slowly sinking away.
Quickly the reapers built the shelter for the Princess. They knew that the good sheaves which they wasted might have made bread for their children. Therefore it was sadly that the reapers wrought, knowing that the long winter would surely come.
Presently a tiny house was finished. With golden sheaves of the ripe grain were the floors laid. With sheaves were the walls built. With sheaves were the roof covered.
When it was completed, the Princess lowered her red silk parasol, and, still frowning, passed inside. "Come in!" she cried, sharply, and the little maid, with tears of pity in her blue eyes followed. The workmen turned again to the uncut grain and said nothing.
By this time there was no cloud to be seen in all the blue heavens. The air was clear and cool. But the Princess and her little maid sat within the house of sheaves.
Then without a second's warning an awful thing happened! From the clear sky came a flash of lightning. From the cloudless sky came a roll of thunder.
From the harvest field shot up red tongues of flame, for the house of sheaves was on fire. The burning sheaves fell about the selfish Princess and her little maid. Nothing could save them.
When the flames died out, nothing was left but a heap of gray ashes.
Then the old man who had begged the Princess not to command the workmen's time for a useless whim turned away. He went sadly across the stubble fields and in at the great palace gates. He went straight up the steps to the throne where sat the king and queen. To them he told the fate of the two little girls.
The parents were heart-broken. They mourned long for their little daughter. As the days went by and they sat in their loneliness they came to see that they had made a great mistake in letting their child pet her own selfishness. When they saw this, they bowed their heads and wept aloud.
The following summer at harvest-time the reapers came upon two new flowers blooming in the spot where the house of sheaves was built.
One flower was tall, and stood up proudly among the wheat. Its petals were as silky and scarlet as the gown of the Princess. In the breezes it tossed its head haughtily.
Beside the scarlet poppy grew a pretty little blue corn-flower.
"As blue as the eyes of the little maid," said the workmen in a whisper. "As dainty and simple as the fluttering blue gown she wore!"
Then, turning slowly, they went again about their reaping, leaving the corn-flower and the poppy blooming side by side.
By: Lenore E. Mulets
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