mountain, ran up the path of a rainbow, and travelled and travelled across
the sky till he came to the Sun's house.

"What do you want, little brother?" the Sun said, when he saw him.

"I come," said the Rat King, very importantly, "to offer you the hand of
my daughter, the princess, because you are the most powerful person in the
world; no one else is good enough."

"Ha, ha!" laughed the jolly round Sun, and winked with his eye. "You are
very kind, little brother, but if that is the case the princess is not for
me; the Cloud is more powerful than I am; when he passes over me I cannot
shine."

"Oh, indeed," said the Rat King, "then you are not my man at all"; and he
left the Sun without more words. The Sun laughed and winked to himself.
And the Rat King travelled and travelled across the sky till he came to
the Cloud's house.

"What do you want, little brother?" sighed the Cloud when he saw him.

"I come to offer you the hand of my daughter, the princess," said the Rat
King, "because you are the most powerful person in the world; the Sun said
so, and no one else is good enough."

The Cloud sighed again. "I am not the most powerful person," he said;
"the Wind is stronger than I,--when he blows, I have to go wherever he
sends me."

"Then you are not the person for my daughter," said the Rat King proudly;