The Blue Fairy Book
feeling quite ill, she was so disappointed. In the middle of the night
she was suddenly awakened, and saw to her surprise a tiny, ugly old
woman seated by her bedside, who said to her:
“‘I must say that we consider it somewhat troublesome of your Majesty to
insist upon tasting our fruit; but to save you annoyance, my sisters
and I will consent to give you as much as you can carry away, on one
condition--that is, that you shall give us your little daughter to bring
up as our own.’
“‘Ah! my dear madam,’ cried the Queen, ‘is there nothing else that you
will take for the fruit? I will give you my kingdoms willingly.’
“‘No,’ replied the old fairy, ‘we will have nothing but your little
daughter. She shall be as happy as the day is long, and we will give her
everything that is worth having in fairy-land, but you must not see her
again until she is married.’
“‘Though it is a hard condition,’ said the Queen, ‘I consent, for I
shall certainly die if I do not taste the fruit, and so I should lose my
little daughter either way.’
“So the old fairy led her into the castle, and, though it was still the
middle of the night, the Queen could see plainly that it was far more
beautiful than she had been told, which you can easily believe, Prince,”
said the White Cat, “when I tell you that it was this castle that we are
now in. ‘Will you gather the fruit yourself, Queen?’ said the old fairy,
‘or shall I call it to come to you?’
“‘I beg you to let me see it come when it is called,’ cried the Queen;
‘that will be something quite new.’ The old fairy whistled twice, then
she cried:
“‘Apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums, pears, melons, grapes,
apples, oranges, lemons, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, come!’
“And in an instant they came tumbling in one over another, and yet they
were neither dusty nor spoilt, and the Queen found them quite as good as
she had fancied them. You see they grew upon fairy trees.
“The old fairy gave her golden baskets in which to take the fruit away,
and it was as much as four hundred mules could carry. Then she reminded
the Queen of her agreement, and led her back to the camp, and next
morning she went back to her kingdom, but before she had gone very far
she began to repent of her bargain, and when the King came out to meet
her she looked so sad that he guessed that something had happened, and
asked what was the matter. At first the Queen was afraid to tell him,
but when, as soon as they reached the palace, five frightful little
dwarfs were sent by the fairies to fetch me, she was obliged to confess
what she had promised. The King was very angry, and had the Queen and
myself shut up in a great tower and safely guarded, and drove the little
dwarfs out of his kingdom; but the fairies sent a great dragon who ate
up all the people he met, and whose breath burnt up everything as he
passed through the country; and at last, after trying in vain to rid
himself of this monster, the King, to save his subjects, was obliged to
consent that I should be given up to the fairies. This time they came
themselves to fetch me, in a chariot of pearl drawn by sea-horses,
followed by the dragon, who was led with chains of diamonds. My cradle
was placed between the old fairies, who loaded me with caresses, and
away we whirled through the air to a tower which they had built on
purpose for me. There I grew up surrounded with everything that was
beautiful and rare, and learning everything that is ever taught to a
princess, but without any companions but a parrot and a little dog, who
could both talk; and receiving every day a visit from one of the old
fairies, who came mounted upon the dragon. One day, however, as I sat at
my window I saw a handsome young prince, who seemed to have been hunting
in the forest which surrounded my prison, and who was standing and
looking up at me. When he saw that I observed him he saluted me with
great deference. You can imagine that I was delighted to have some one
new to talk to, and in spite of the height of my window our conversation
was prolonged till night fell, then my prince reluctantly bade me
farewell. But after that he came again many times and at last I
consented to marry him, but the question was how was I to escape from my
tower. The fairies always supplied me with flax for my spinning, and by
great diligence I made enough cord for a ladder that would reach to
the foot of the tower; but, alas! just as my prince was helping me to
descend it, the crossest and ugliest of the old fairies flew in. Before
he had time to defend himself my unhappy lover was swallowed up by the
dragon. As for me, the fairies, furious at having their plans defeated,
for they intended me to marry the king of the dwarfs, and I utterly
refused, changed me into a white cat. When they brought me here I found
all the lords and ladies of my father’s court awaiting me under the same
enchantment, while the people of lesser rank had been made invisible,
all but their hands.
“As they laid me under the enchantment the fairies told me all my
history, for until then I had quite believed that I was their child, and
warned me that my only chance of regaining my natural form was to win
the love of a prince who resembled in every way my unfortunate lover.
“And you have won it, lovely Princess,” interrupted the Prince.
“You are indeed wonderfully like him,” resumed the Princess--“in voice,
in features, and everything; and if you really love me all my troubles
will be at an end.”
“And mine too,” cried the Prince, throwing himself at her feet, “if you
will consent to marry me.”
“I love you already better than anyone in the world,” she said; “but
now it is time to go back to your father, and we shall hear what he says
about it.”
So the Prince gave her his hand and led her out, and they mounted the
chariot together; it was even more splendid than before, and so was the
whole company. Even the horses’ shoes were of rubies with diamond nails,
and I suppose that is the first time such a thing was ever seen.
As the Princess was as kind and clever as she was beautiful, you may
imagine what a delightful journey the Prince found it, for everything
the Princess said seemed to him quite charming.
When they came near the castle where the brothers were to meet, the
Princess got into a chair carried by four of the guards; it was hewn out
of one splendid crystal, and had silken curtains, which she drew round
her that she might not be seen.
The Prince saw his brothers walking upon the terrace, each with a lovely
princess, and they came to meet him, asking if he had also found a wife.
He said that he had found something much rarer--a white cat! At which
they laughed very much, and asked him if he was afraid of being eaten up
by mice in the palace. And then they set out together for the town. Each
prince and princess rode in a splendid carriage; the horses were decked
with plumes of feathers, and glittered with gold. After them came the
youngest prince, and last of all the crystal chair, at which everybody
looked with admiration and curiosity. When the courtiers saw them coming
they hastened to tell the King.
“Are the ladies beautiful?” he asked anxiously.
And when they answered that nobody had ever before seen such lovely
princesses he seemed quite annoyed.
However, he received them graciously, but found it impossible to choose
between them.
Then turning to his youngest son he said:
“Have you come back alone, after all?”
“Your Majesty,” replied the Prince, “will find in that crystal chair a
little white cat, which has such soft paws, and mews so prettily, that I
am sure you will be charmed with it.”
The King smiled, and went to draw back the curtains himself, but at a
touch from the Princess the crystal shivered into a thousand splinters,
and there she stood in all her beauty; her fair hair floated over her
shoulders and was crowned with flowers, and her softly falling robe was
of the purest white. She saluted the King gracefully, while a murmur of
admiration rose from all around.
“Sire,” she said, “I am not come to deprive you of the throne you fill
so worthily. I have already six kingdoms, permit me to bestow one upon
you, and upon each of your sons. I ask nothing but your friendship, and
your consent to my marriage with your youngest son; we shall still have
three kingdoms left for ourselves.”
The King and all the courtiers could not conceal their joy and
astonishment, and the marriage of the three Princes was celebrated at
once. The festivities lasted several months, and then each king and
queen departed to their own kingdom and lived happily ever after.(1)
(1) La Chatte blanche. Par Madame la Comtesse d’Aulnoy.
THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS
Once upon a time, in a large forest, there lived an old woman and
three maidens. They were all three beautiful, but the youngest was the
fairest. Their hut was quite hidden by trees, and none saw their beauty
but the sun by day, and the moon by night, and the eyes of the stars.
The old woman kept the girls hard at work, from morning till night,
spinning gold flax into yarn, and when one distaff was empty another was
given them, so they had no rest. The thread had to be fine and even, and
when done was locked up in a secret chamber by the old woman, who twice
or thrice every summer went a journey. Before she went she gave out work
for each day of her absence, and always returned in the night, so that
the girls never saw what she brought back with her, neither would she
tell them whence the gold flax came, nor what it was to be used for.
Now, when the time came round for the old woman to set out on one of
these journeys, she gave each maiden work for six days, with the usual
warning: “Children, don’t let your eyes wander, and on no account speak
to a man, for, if you do, your thread will lose its brightness, and
misfortunes of all kinds will follow.” They laughed at this oft-repeated
caution, saying to each other: “How can our gold thread lose its
brightness, and have we any chance of speaking to a man?”
On the third day after the old woman’s departure a young prince, hunting
in the forest, got separated from his companions, and completely lost.
Weary of seeking his way, he flung himself down under a tree, leaving
his horse to browse at will, and fell asleep.
The sun had set when he awoke and began once more to try and find his
way out of the forest. At last he perceived a narrow foot-path, which he
eagerly followed and found that it led him to a small hut. The maidens,
who were sitting at the door of their hut for coolness, saw him
approaching, and the two elder were much alarmed, for they remembered
the old woman’s warning; but the youngest said: “Never before have I
seen anyone like him; let me have one look.” They entreated her to come
in, but, seeing that she would not, left her, and the Prince, coming up,
courteously greeted the maiden, and told her he had lost his way in the
forest and was both hungry and weary. She set food before him, and
was so delighted with his conversation that she forgot the old woman’s
caution, and lingered for hours. In the meantime the Prince’s companions
sought him far and wide, but to no purpose, so they sent two messengers
to tell the sad news to the King, who immediately ordered a regiment of
cavalry and one of infantry to go and look for him.
After three days’ search, they found the hut. The Prince was still
sitting by the door and had been so happy in the maiden’s company that
the time had seemed like a single hour. Before leaving he promised to
return and fetch her to his father’s court, where he would make her his
bride. When he had gone, she sat down to her wheel to make up for
lost time, but was dismayed to find that her thread had lost all