|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 4
Chapter One
The Prince of Pingaree
If you have a map of the Land of Oz handy, you will
find that the great Nonestic Ocean washes the shores of
the Kingdom of Rinkitink, between which and the Land of
Oz lies a strip of the country of the Nome King and a
Sandy Desert. The Kingdom of Rinkitink isn't very big
and lies close to the ocean, all the houses and the
King's palace being built near the shore. The people
live much upon the water, boating and fishing, and the
wealth of Rinkitink is gained from trading along the
coast and with the islands nearest it.
Four days' journey by boat to the north of Rinkitink
is the Island of Pingaree, and as our story begins here
I must tell you something about this island. At the
north end of Pingaree, where it is widest, the land is
a mile from shore to shore, but at the south end it is
scarcely half a mile broad; thus, although Pingaree is
four miles long, from north to south, it cannot be
called a very big island. It is exceedingly pretty,
however, and to the gulls who approach it from the sea
it must resemble a huge green wedge lying upon the
waters, for its grass and trees give it the color of
an emerald.
The grass came to the edge of the sloping shores; the
beautiful trees occupied all the central portion of
Pingaree, forming a continuous grove where the branches
met high overhead and there was just space beneath
them for the cosy houses of the inhabitants. These
houses were scattered everywhere throughout the
island, so that there was no town or city, unless the
whole island might be called a city. The canopy of
leaves, high overhead, formed a shelter from sun and
rain, and the dwellers in the grove could all look past
the straight tree-trunks and across the grassy slopes
to the purple waters of the Nonestic Ocean.
At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the
royal palace of King Kitticut, the lord and ruler of
Pingaree. It was a beautiful palace, built entirely of
snow-white marble and capped by domes of burnished
gold, for the King was exceedingly wealthy. All along
the coast of Pingaree were found the largest and finest
pearls in the whole world.
These pearls grew within the shells of big oysters,
and the people raked the oysters from their watery
beds, sought out the milky pearls and carried them
dutifully to their King. Therefore, once every year His
Majesty was able to send six of his boats, with sixty
rowers and many sacks of the valuable pearls, to the
Kingdom of Rinkitink, where there was a city called
Gilgad, in which King Rinkitink's palace stood on a
rocky headland and served, with its high towers, as a
lighthouse to guide sailors to the harbor. In Gilgad
the pearls from Pingaree were purchased by the King's
treasurer, and the boats went back to the island laden
with stores of rich merchandise and such supplies of
food as the people and the royal family of Pingaree
needed.
The Pingaree people never visited any other land but
that of Rinkitink, and so there were few other lands
that knew there was such an island. To the southwest
was an island called the Isle of Phreex, where the
inhabitants had no use for pearls. And far north of
Pingaree -- six days' journey by boat, it was said --
were twin islands named Regos and Coregos, inhabited by
a fierce and warlike people.
Many years before this story really begins, ten big
boatloads of those fierce warriors of Regos and Coregos
visited Pingaree, landing suddenly upon the north end
of the island. There they began to plunder and conquer,
as was their custom, but the people of Pingaree,
although neither so big nor so strong as their foes,
were able to defeat them and drive them all back to the
sea, where a great storm overtook the raiders from
Regos and Coregos and destroyed them and their boats,
not a single warrior returning to his own country.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|