The Blue Fairy Book
You can easily imagine how delighted he was when he heard the news,
and how angry it made all the other kings to lose for ever the hope of
marrying the Princess; but, after all, Bellissima could not have married
twenty kings--indeed, she had found it quite difficult enough to choose
one, for her vanity made her believe that there was nobody in the world
who was worthy of her.
Preparations were begun at once for the grandest wedding that had ever
been held at the palace. The King of the Gold Mines sent such immense
sums of money that the whole sea was covered with the ships that brought
it. Messengers were sent to all the gayest and most refined Courts,
particularly to the Court of France, to seek out everything rare and
precious to adorn the Princess, although her beauty was so perfect that
nothing she wore could make her look prettier. At least that is what
the King of the Gold Mines thought, and he was never happy unless he was
with her.
As for the Princess, the more she saw of the King the more she liked
him; he was so generous, so handsome and clever, that at last she was
almost as much in love with him as he was with her. How happy they were
as they wandered about in the beautiful gardens together, sometimes
listening to sweet music! And the King used to write songs for
Bellissima. This is one that she liked very much:
In the forest all is gay
When my Princess walks that way.
All the blossoms then are found
Downward fluttering to the ground,
Hoping she may tread on them.
And bright flowers on slender stem
Gaze up at her as she passes
Brushing lightly through the grasses.
Oh! my Princess, birds above
Echo back our songs of love,
As through this enchanted land
Blithe we wander, hand in hand.
They really were as happy as the day was long. All the King’s
unsuccessful rivals had gone home in despair. They said good-by to the
Princess so sadly that she could not help being sorry for them.
“Ah! madam,” the King of the Gold Mines said to her “how is this? Why
do you waste your pity on these princes, who love you so much that all
their trouble would be well repaid by a single smile from you?”
“I should be sorry,” answered Bellissima, “if you had not noticed how
much I pitied these princes who were leaving me for ever; but for you,
sire, it is very different: you have every reason to be pleased with
me, but they are going sorrowfully away, so you must not grudge them my
compassion.”
The King of the Gold Mines was quite overcome by the Princess’s
good-natured way of taking his interference, and, throwing himself at
her feet, he kissed her hand a thousand times and begged her to forgive
him.
At last the happy day came. Everything was ready for Bellissima’s
wedding. The trumpets sounded, all the streets of the town were hung
with flags and strewn with flowers, and the people ran in crowds to the
great square before the palace. The Queen was so overjoyed that she had
hardly been able to sleep at all, and she got up before it was light to
give the necessary orders and to choose the jewels that the Princess was
to wear. These were nothing less than diamonds, even to her shoes, which
were covered with them, and her dress of silver brocade was embroidered
with a dozen of the sun’s rays. You may imagine how much these had cost;
but then nothing could have been more brilliant, except the beauty of
the Princess! Upon her head she wore a splendid crown, her lovely
hair waved nearly to her feet, and her stately figure could easily be
distinguished among all the ladies who attended her.
The King of the Gold Mines was not less noble and splendid; it was easy
to see by his face how happy he was, and everyone who went near him
returned loaded with presents, for all round the great banqueting hall
had been arranged a thousand barrels full of gold, and numberless bags
made of velvet embroidered with pearls and filled with money, each one
containing at least a hundred thousand gold pieces, which were given
away to everyone who liked to hold out his hand, which numbers of people
hastened to do, you may be sure--indeed, some found this by far the most
amusing part of the wedding festivities.
The Queen and the Princess were just ready to set out with the King when
they saw, advancing toward them from the end of the long gallery, two
great basilisks, dragging after them a very badly made box; behind them
came a tall old woman, whose ugliness was even more surprising than her
extreme old age. She wore a ruff of black taffeta, a red velvet hood,
and a farthingale all in rags, and she leaned heavily upon a crutch.
This strange old woman, without saying a single word, hobbled three
times round the gallery, followed by the basilisks, then stopping in the
middle, and brandishing her crutch threateningly, she cried:
“Ho, ho, Queen! Ho, ho, Princess! Do you think you are going to break
with impunity the promise that you made to my friend the Yellow Dwarf? I
am the Fairy of the Desert; without the Yellow Dwarf and his orange
tree my great lions would soon have eaten you up, I can tell you, and in
Fairyland we do not suffer ourselves to be insulted like this. Make up
your minds at once what you will do, for I vow that you shall marry the
Yellow Dwarf. If you don’t, may I burn my crutch!”
“Ah! Princess,” said the Queen, weeping, “what is this that I hear? What
have you promised?”
“Ah! my mother,” replied Bellissima sadly, “what did _you_ promise,
yourself?”
The King of the Gold Mines, indignant at being kept from his happiness
by this wicked old woman, went up to her, and threatening her with his
sword, said:
“Get away out of my country at once, and for ever, miserable creature,
lest I take your life, and so rid myself of your malice.”
He had hardly spoken these words when the lid of the box fell back on
the floor with a terrible noise, and to their horror out sprang the
Yellow Dwarf, mounted upon a great Spanish cat. “Rash youth!” he cried,
rushing between the Fairy of the Desert and the King. “Dare to lay a
finger upon this illustrious Fairy! Your quarrel is with me only. I
am your enemy and your rival. That faithless Princess who would have
married you is promised to me. See if she has not upon her finger a ring
made of one of my hairs. Just try to take it off, and you will soon find
out that I am more powerful than you are!”
“Wretched little monster!” said the King; “do you dare to call yourself
the Princess’s lover, and to lay claim to such a treasure? Do you know
that you are a dwarf--that you are so ugly that one cannot bear to look
at you--and that I should have killed you myself long before this if you
had been worthy of such a glorious death?”
The Yellow Dwarf, deeply enraged at these words, set spurs to his
cat, which yelled horribly, and leaped hither and thither--terrifying
everybody except the brave King, who pursued the Dwarf closely, till he,
drawing a great knife with which he was armed, challenged the King to
meet him in single combat, and rushed down into the courtyard of the
palace with a terrible clatter. The King, quite provoked, followed him
hastily, but they had hardly taken their places facing one another, and
the whole Court had only just had time to rush out upon the balconies to
watch what was going on, when suddenly the sun became as red as blood,
and it was so dark that they could scarcely see at all. The thunder
crashed, and the lightning seemed as if it must burn up everything; the
two basilisks appeared, one on each side of the bad Dwarf, like giants,
mountains high, and fire flew from their mouths and ears, until they
looked like flaming furnaces. None of these things could terrify the
noble young King, and the boldness of his looks and actions reassured
those who were looking on, and perhaps even embarrassed the Yellow Dwarf
himself; but even _his_ courage gave way when he saw what was happening
to his beloved Princess. For the Fairy of the Desert, looking more
terrible than before, mounted upon a winged griffin, and with long
snakes coiled round her neck, had given her such a blow with the lance
she carried that Bellissima fell into the Queen’s arms bleeding and
senseless. Her fond mother, feeling as much hurt by the blow as the
Princess herself, uttered such piercing cries and lamentations that
the King, hearing them, entirely lost his courage and presence of mind.
Giving up the combat, he flew toward the Princess, to rescue or to die
with her; but the Yellow Dwarf was too quick for him. Leaping with his
Spanish cat upon the balcony, he snatched Bellissima from the Queen’s
arms, and before any of the ladies of the Court could stop him he had
sprung upon the roof of the palace and disappeared with his prize.
The King, motionless with horror, looked on despairingly at this
dreadful occurrence, which he was quite powerless to prevent, and to
make matters worse his sight failed him, everything became dark, and he
felt himself carried along through the air by a strong hand.
This new misfortune was the work of the wicked Fairy of the Desert, who
had come with the Yellow Dwarf to help him carry off the Princess,
and had fallen in love with the handsome young King of the Gold Mines
directly she saw him. She thought that if she carried him off to some
frightful cavern and chained him to a rock, then the fear of death would
make him forget Bellissima and become her slave. So, as soon as they
reached the place, she gave him back his sight, but without releasing
him from his chains, and by her magic power she appeared before him as
a young and beautiful fairy, and pretended to have come there quite by
chance.
“What do I see?” she cried. “Is it _you_, dear Prince? What misfortune
has brought you to this dismal place?”
The King, who was quite deceived by her altered appearance, replied:
“Alas! beautiful Fairy, the fairy who brought me here first took away
my sight, but by her voice I recognized her as the Fairy of the Desert,
though what she should have carried me off for I cannot tell you.”
“Ah!” cried the pretended Fairy, “if you have fallen into _her_ hands,
you won’t get away until you have married her. She has carried off more
than one Prince like this, and she will certainly have anything she
takes a fancy to.” While she was thus pretending to be sorry for the
King, he suddenly noticed her feet, which were like those of a griffin,
and knew in a moment that this must be the Fairy of the Desert, for her
feet were the one thing she could not change, however pretty she might
make her face.
Without seeming to have noticed anything, he said, in a confidential
way:
“Not that I have any dislike to the Fairy of the Desert, but I really
cannot endure the way in which she protects the Yellow Dwarf and keeps
me chained here like a criminal. It is true that I love a charming
princess, but if the Fairy should set me free my gratitude would oblige
me to love her only.”
“Do you really mean what you say, Prince?” said the Fairy, quite
deceived.
“Surely,” replied the Prince; “how could I deceive you? You see it is
so much more flattering to my vanity to be loved by a fairy than by
a simple princess. But, even if I am dying of love for her, I shall
pretend to hate her until I am set free.”
The Fairy of the Desert, quite taken in by these words, resolved at once
to transport the Prince to a pleasanter place. So, making him mount
her chariot, to which she had harnessed swans instead of the bats which
generally drew it, away she flew with him. But imagine the distress
of the Prince when, from the giddy height at which they were rushing
through the air, he saw his beloved Princess in a castle built of
polished steel, the walls of which reflected the sun’s rays so
hotly that no one could approach it without being burnt to a cinder!