then the skipper said: "all good things defend you, nigel, from sailing near that light. it is not mentioned in all charts; but it is marked in the old chart i steer by, which was my father's father's before me, and his father's father's before him. it is the light that shines from the lone tower that stands above the nine whirlpools. and when my father's father was young he heard from the very old man, his great-great-grandfather, that in that tower an enchanted princess, fairer than the day, waits to be delivered. but there is no deliverance, so never steer that way; and think no more of the princess, for that is only an idle tale. but the whirlpools are quite real."