He then presented King Prigio with a large diamond , and came down into the courtyard to see him mount . `` He 's very fresh , '' said the groom who held the bridle ; `` has not been out of the stable for three hundred years ! '' Prigio sprang into the saddle among the salaams of the dusky multitude , and all the ladies of the seraglio waved their scented handkerchiefs out of the windows . The king , as he had been instructed , turned a knob of gold in the saddle of the Flying Horse , then kissed his hand to the ladies , and , giving the steed his head , cried , in excellent Persian : `` To the moon ! '' Up flew the horse with an easy action , and the king 's head nearly swam with the swiftness of the flight . Soon the earth below him was no bigger than a top , spinning on its own axis -LRB- see Geography books for this -RRB- , and , as night fell , earth was only a great red moon . -LCB- King Prigio on the Flying Horse : p178.jpg -RCB- Through the dark rode King Prigio , into the silver dawn of the moon . All now became clear and silvery ; the coasts of the moon came into sight , with white seas breaking on them ; and at last the king reached the silver walls , and the gate of opal . Before the gate stood two beautiful ladies . One was fair , with yellow locks , the colour of the harvest moon . She had a crown of a golden snake and white water-lilies , and her dress now shone white , now red , now golden ; and in her hand was the golden pitcher that sheds the dew , and a golden wand . The other lady was as dark as night -- dark eyes , dark hair ; her crown was of poppies . She held the ebony Wand of Sleep . Her dress was of the deepest blue , sown with stars . The king knew that they were the maidens of the bright and the dark side of the moon -- of the side you see , and of the side that no one has ever seen , except King Prigio . He stopped the Flying Horse by turning the other knob in the saddle , alighted , and bowed very low to each of the ladies . `` Daring mortal ! what make you here ? '' they asked . And then the king told them about Jaqueline and the Earthquaker , and how he needed a great weight of Stupidity to flatten him out with .
The ladies heard him in silence , and then they said : `` Follow us , '' and they flew lightly beside the Flying Horse till they had crossed all the bright side XXXXX the moon , above the silver palaces and silver seas , and reached the summit of the Mountains of the Moon which separate the bright from the dark side .
Before Through Up among at except into of on that