The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault
the hundred years she had been asleep: her skin was somewhat tough,
tho' very fair and white; and how to find in the yard a beast so firm,
was what puzzled him. He took then a resolution, that he might save
his own life, to cut the Queen's throat; and going up into her
chamber, with intent to do it at once, he put himself into as great a
fury as he could possibly, and came into the young Queen's room with
his dagger in his hand. He would not, however, surprise her, but told
her, with a great deal of respect, the orders he had received from the
Queen-mother.
"Do it, do it," said she stretching out her neck, "execute your
orders, and then I shall go and see my children, my poor children,
whom I so much and so tenderly loved," for she thought them dead ever
since they had been taken away without her knowledge.
"No, no, Madam," cried the poor clerk of the kitchen, all in tears,
"you shall not die, and yet you shall see your children again; but it
must be in my lodgings, where I have concealed them, and I shall
deceive the Queen once more, by giving her in your stead a young
hind."
Upon this he forthwith conducted her to his chamber; where leaving her
to embrace her children, and cry along with them, he went and dressed
a hind, which the Queen had for her supper, and devoured it with the
same appetite, as if it had been the young Queen. Exceedingly was she
delighted with her cruelty, and she had invented a story to tell the
King, at his return, how ravenous wolves had eaten up the Queen his
wife, and her two children.
One evening, as she was, according to her custom, rambling round about
the courts and yards of the palace, to see if she could smell any
fresh meat, she heard, in a ground-room little Day crying, for his
mamma was going to whip him, because he had been naughty; and she
heard, at the same time, little Aurora begging pardon for her brother.
The Ogress presently knew the voice of the Queen and her children, and
being quite mad that she had been thus deceived, she commanded next
morning, by break of day (with a most horrible voice, which made every
body tremble) that they should bring into the middle of the great
court a large tub, which she caused to be filled with toads, vipers,
snakes, and all sorts of serpents, in order to have thrown into it the
Queen and her children, the clerk of the kitchen, his wife and maid;
all whom she had given orders should be brought thither with their
hands tied behind them.
They were brought out accordingly, and the executioners were just
going to throw them into the tub, when the King (who was not so soon
expected) entered the court on horse-back (for he came post) and
asked, with the utmost astonishment, what was the meaning of that
horrible spectacle? No one dared to tell him; when the Ogress, all
inraged to see what had happened, threw herself head-foremost into the
tub, and was instantly devoured by the ugly creatures she had ordered
to be thrown into it for others. The King could not but be very sorry,
for she was his mother; but he soon comforted himself with his
beautiful wife, and his pretty children.
_The Moral_
_To get as prize a husband rich and gay.
Of humour sweet, with many years to stay,
Is natural enough, 'tis true;
To wait for him a hundred years,
And all that while asleep, appears
A thing entirely new.
Now at this time of day,
Not one of all the sex we see
Doth sleep with such profound tranquillity:
But yet this Fable seems to let us know
That very often Hymen's blisses sweet,
Altho' some tedious obstacles they meet,
Are not less happy for approaching slow.
'Tis nature's way that ladies fair
Should yearn conjugal joys to share;
And so I've not the heart to preach
A moral that's beyond their reach._
_The Master Cat; or, Puss in Boots_
The Master Cat or Puss in Boots
There was a miller, who left no more estate to the three sons he had,
than his Mill, his Ass, and his Cat. The partition was soon made.
Neither the scrivener nor attorney were sent for. They would soon have
eaten up all the poor patrimony. The eldest had the Mill, the second
the Ass, and the youngest nothing but the Cat.
The poor young fellow was quite comfortless at having so poor a lot.
"My brothers," said he, "may get their living handsomely enough, by
joining their stocks together; but for my part, when I have eaten up
my Cat, and made me a muff of his skin, I must die with hunger."
The Cat, who heard all this, but made as if he did not, said to him
with a grave and serious air:
"Do not thus afflict yourself, my good master; you have only to give
me a bag, and get a pair of boots made for me, that I may scamper
thro' the dirt and the brambles, and you shall see that you have not
so bad a portion of me as you imagine."
Tho' the Cat's master did not build very much upon what he said, he
had however often seen him play a great many cunning tricks to catch
rats and mice; as when he used to hang by the heels, or hide himself
in the meal, and make as if he were dead; so that he did not
altogether despair of his affording him some help in his miserable
condition.
When the Cat had what he asked for, he booted himself very gallantly;
and putting his bag about his neck, he held the strings of it in his
two fore paws, and went into a warren where was great abundance of
rabbits. He put bran and sow-thistle into his bag, and stretching
himself out at length, as if he had been dead, he waited for some
young rabbit, not yet acquainted with the deceits of the world, to
come and rummage his bag for what he had put into it.
Scarce was he lain down, but he had what he wanted; a rash and foolish
young rabbit jumped into his bag, and Monsieur Puss, immediately
drawing close the strings, took and killed him without pity. Proud of
his prey, he went with it to the palace, and asked to speak with his
Majesty. He was shewed up stairs into the King's apartment, and,
making a low reverence, said to him:
"I have brought you, sir, a rabbit of the warren which my noble lord
the Marquis of Carabas" (for that was the title which Puss was pleased
to give his master) "has commanded me to present to your Majesty from
him."
"Tell thy master," said the King, "that I thank him, and that he does
me a great deal of pleasure."
Another time he went and hid himself among some standing corn, holding
still his bag open; and when a brace of partridges ran into it, he
drew the strings, and so caught them both. He went and made a present
of these to the King, as he had done before of the rabbit which he
took in the warren. The King in like manner received the partridges
with great pleasure, and ordered him some money to drink.
The Cat continued for two or three months, thus to carry his Majesty,
from time to time, game of his master's taking. One day in particular,
when he knew for certain that the King was to take the air, along the
river side, with his daughter, the most beautiful Princess in the
world, he said to his master:
"If you will follow my advice, your fortune is made; you have nothing
else to do, but go and wash yourself in the river, in that part I
shall shew you, and leave the rest to me."
The Marquis of Carabas did what the Cat advised him to, without
knowing why or wherefore.
While he was washing, the King passed by, and the Cat began to cry
out, as loud as he could:
"Help, help, my lord Marquis of Carabas is drowning."
At this noise the King put his head out of his coach-window, and
finding it was the Cat who had so often brought him such good game, he
commanded his guards to run immediately to the assistance of his
lordship the Marquis of Carabas.
While they were drawing the poor Marquis out of the river, the Cat
came up to the coach, and told the King that while his master was
washing, there came by some rogues, who went off with his clothes,
tho' he had cried out "Thieves, thieves," several times, as loud as he
could. This cunning Cat had hidden them under a great stone. The King
immediately commanded the officers of his wardrobe to run and fetch
one of his best suits for the lord Marquis of Carabas.
The King received him with great kindness, and as the fine clothes he
had given him extremely set off his good mien (for he was well made,
and very handsome in his person), the King's daughter took a secret
inclination to him, and the Marquis of Carabas had no sooner cast two
or three respectful and somewhat tender glances, but she fell in love
with him to distraction. The King would needs have him come into his
coach, and take part of the airing. The Cat, quite overjoyed to see
his project begin to succeed, marched on before, and meeting with some
countrymen, who were mowing a meadow, he said to them:
"Good people, you who are mowing, if you do not tell the King, that
the meadow you mow belongs to my lord Marquis of Carabas, you shall be
chopped as small as mince-meat."
The King did not fail asking of the mowers, to whom the meadow they
were mowing belonged.
"To my lord Marquis of Carabas," answered they all together; for the
Cat's threats had made them terribly afraid.
"Truly a fine estate," said the King to the Marquis of Carabas.
"You see, sir," said the Marquis, "this is a meadow which never fails
to yield a plentiful harvest every year."
The Master Cat, who still went on before, met with some reapers, and
said to them:
"Good people, you who are reaping, if you do not tell the King that
all this corn belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall be chopped
as small as mince-meat."
The King, who passed by a moment after, would needs know to whom all
that corn, which he then saw, did belong. "To my lord Marquis of
Carabas," replied the reapers; and the King again congratulated the
Marquis.
The Master Cat, who went always before, said the same words to all he
met; and the King was astonished at the vast estates of my lord
Marquis of Carabas.
Monsieur Puss came at last to a stately castle, the master of which
was an Ogre, the richest had ever been known; for all the lands which
the King had then gone over belonged to this castle. The Cat, who had
taken care to inform himself who this Ogre was, and what he could do,
asked to speak with him, saying, he could not pass so near his castle,
without having the honour of paying his respects to him.
The Ogre received him as civilly as an Ogre could do, and made him sit
down.
"I have been assured," said the Cat, "that you have the gift of being
able to change yourself into all sorts of creatures you have a mind
to; you can, for example, transform yourself into a lion, or elephant,
and the like."
"This is true," answered the Ogre very briskly, "and to convince you,
you shall see me now become a lion."
Puss was so sadly terrified at the sight of a lion so near him, that
he immediately got into the gutter, not without abundance of trouble
and danger, because of his boots, which were ill-suited for walking
upon the tiles. A little while after, when Puss saw that the Ogre had
resumed his natural form, he came down, and owned he had been very
much frightened.
"I have been moreover informed," said the Cat, "but I know not how to
believe it, that you have also the power to take on you the shape of
the smallest animals; for example, to change yourself into a rat or a
mouse; but I must own to you, I take this to be impossible."
"Impossible?" cried the Ogre, "you shall see that presently," and at
the same time changed into a mouse, and began to run about the floor.
Puss no sooner perceived this, but he fell upon him, and ate him up.
Meanwhile the King, who saw, as he passed, this fine castle of the