The house of the Earth Fairy lay in a corner of the Fairy Kingdom, between two marvelous birch trees, and surrounded by flowers of all sorts. It was a comfortable house made of tree bark; not very big perhaps, but snug and homelike. Out of the roof stuck the chimney, which was always smoking. The door leading into the house was rectangular at the bottom, but oval-shaped at the top, and on this hung a large mat made of grass. Dried flowers were woven in it, making a cheery picture. Inside a little carpet of the same material lay on the dirt floor.

The fairy city of Myriada (named because of the myriad of fairies that lived and passed through there) was situated on a magnificent mountain; actually, the whole mountain was but part of the city. The Fairy Queen’s palace was on the mountain, and from there the city wound down and landed at the mountain’s foot, where it spread out for three miles round.

Chapter One