The Red Fairy Book - Andrew Lang (best novels for beginners TXT) 📗

It is only a nail which caught you.’ VII

They went down, down, down, till at last they came to a passage

with a door at one end, which was only fastened with a latch. The

eldest Princess opened it, and they found themselves immediately

in a lovely little wood, where the leaves were spangled with drops

of silver which shone in the brilliant light of the moon.

 

They next crossed another wood where the leaves were sprinkled

with gold, and after that another still, where the leaves glittered

with diamonds.

 

At last the Star Gazer perceived a large lake, and on the shores

of the lake twelve little boats with awnings, in which were seated

twelve princes, who, grasping their oars, awaited the princesses.

 

Each princess entered one of the boats, and Michael slipped into

that which held the youngest. The boats glided along rapidly, but

Lina’s, from being heavier, was always behind the rest. `We never

went so slowly before,’ said the Princess; `what can be the reason?’

 

`I don’t know,’ answered the Prince. `I assure you I am rowing

as hard as I can.’

 

On the other side of the lake the garden boy saw a beautiful

castle splendidly illuminated, whence came the lively music of

fiddles, kettle-drums, and trumpets.

 

In a moment they touched land, and the company jumped out

of the boats; and the princes, after having securely fastened their

barques, gave their arms to the princesses and conducted them to

the castle.

VIII

Michael followed, and entered the ball-room in their train.

Everywhere were mirrors, lights, flowers, and damask hangings.

 

The Star Gazer was quite bewildered at the magnificence of the

sight.

 

He placed himself out of the way in a corner, admiring the grace

and beauty of the princesses. Their loveliness was of every kind.

Some were fair and some were dark; some had chestnut hair, or

curls darker still, and some had golden locks. Never were so many

beautiful princesses seen together at one time, but the one whom

the cow-boy thought the most beautiful and the most fascinating

was the little Princess with the velvet eyes.

 

With what eagerness she danced! leaning on her partner’s

shoulder she swept by like a whirlwind. Her cheeks flushed, her

eyes sparkled, and it was plain that she loved dancing better than

anything else.

 

The poor boy envied those handsome young men with whom

she danced so gracefully, but he did not know how little reason he

had to be jealous of them.

 

The young men were really the princes who, to the number of

fifty at least, had tried to steal the princesses’ secret. The princesses

had made them drink something of a philtre, which froze the

heart and left nothing but the love of dancing.

IX

They danced on till the shoes of the princesses were worn into

holes. When the cock crowed the third time the fiddles stopped,

and a delicious supper was served by negro boys, consisting of

sugared orange flowers, crystallised rose leaves, powdered violets,

cracknels, wafers, and other dishes, which are, as everyone knows,

the favourite food of princesses.

 

After supper, the dancers all went back to their boats, and this

time the Star Gazer entered that of the eldest Princess. They crossed

again the wood with the diamond-spangled leaves, the wood with

gold-sprinkled leaves, and the wood whose leaves glittered with

drops of silver, and as a proof of what he had seen, the boy broke

a small branch from a tree in the last wood. Lina turned as she

heard the noise made by the breaking of the branch.

 

`What was that noise?’ she said.

 

`It was nothing,’ replied her eldest sister; `it was only the

screech of the barn-owl that roosts in one of the turrets of the

castle.’

 

While she was speaking Michael managed to slip in front, and

running up the staircase, he reached the princesses’ room first. He

flung open the window, and sliding down the vine which climbed

up the wall, found himself in the garden just as the sun was

beginning to rise, and it was time for him to set to his work.

X

That day, when he made up the bouquets, Michael hid the branch

with the silver drops in the nosegay intended for the youngest

Princess.

 

When Lina discovered it she was much surprised. However,

she said nothing to her sisters, but as she met the boy by accident

while she was walking under the shade of the elms, she suddenly

stopped as if to speak to him; then, altering her mind, went on her

way.

 

The same evening the twelve sisters went again to the ball, and

the Star Gazer again followed them and crossed the lake in Lina’s

boat. This time it was the Prince who complained that the boat

seemed very heavy.

 

`It is the heat,’ replied the Princess. `I, too, have been feeling

very warm.’

 

During the ball she looked everywhere for the gardener’s boy,

but she never saw him.

 

As they came back, Michael gathered a branch from the wood

with the gold-spangled leaves, and now it was the eldest Princess

who heard the noise that it made in breaking.

 

`It is nothing,’ said Lina; `only the cry of the owl which roosts

in the turrets of the castle.’

XI

As soon as she got up she found the branch in her bouquet.

When the sisters went down she stayed a little behind and said to

the cow-boy: `Where does this branch come from?’

 

`Your Royal Highness knows well enough,’ answered Michael.

 

`So you have followed us?’

 

`Yes, Princess.’

 

`How did you manage it? we never saw you.’

 

`I hid myself,’ replied the Star Gazer quietly.

 

The Princess was silent a moment, and then said:

 

`You know our secret!—keep it. Here is the reward of your

discretion.’ And she flung the boy a purse of gold.

 

`I do not sell my silence,’ answered Michael, and he went away

without picking up the purse.

 

For three nights Lina neither saw nor heard anything

extraordinary; on the fourth she heard a rustling among the diamond-spangled leaves of the wood. That day there was a branch of the

trees in her bouquet.

 

She took the Star Gazer aside, and said to him in a harsh voice:

 

`You know what price my father has promised to pay for our secret?’

 

`I know, Princess,’ answered Michael.

 

`Don’t you mean to tell him?’

 

`That is not my intention.’

 

`Are you afraid?’

 

`No, Princess.’

 

`What makes you so discreet, then?’

 

But Michael was silent.

XII

Lina’s sisters had seen her talking to the little garden boy, and

jeered at her for it.

 

`What prevents your marrying him?’ asked the eldest, `you

would become a gardener too; it is a charming profession. You

could live in a cottage at the end of the park, and help your husband

to draw up water from the well, and when we get up you could

bring us our bouquets.’

 

The Princess Lina was very angry, and when the Star Gazer

presented her bouquet, she received it in a disdainful manner.

 

Michael behaved most respectfully. He never raised his eyes to her,

but nearly all day she felt him at her side without ever seeing him.

 

One day she made up her mind to tell everything to her eldest sister.

 

`What!’ said she, `this rogue knows our secret, and you never

told me! I must lose no time in getting rid of him.’

 

`But how?’

 

`Why, by having him taken to the tower with the dungeons, of course.’

 

For this was the way that in old times beautiful princesses got

rid of people who knew too much.

 

But the astonishing part of it was that the youngest sister did

not seem at all to relish this method of stopping the mouth of the

gardener’s boy, who, after all, had said nothing to their father.

XIII

It was agreed that the question should be submitted to the other

ten sisters. All were on the side of the eldest. Then the youngest

sister declared that if they laid a finger on the little garden boy, she

would herself go and tell their father the secret of the holes in their shoes.

 

At last it was decided that Michael should be put to the test;

that they would take him to the ball, and at the end of supper would

give him the philtre which was to enchant him like the rest.

 

They sent for the Star Gazer, and asked him how he had contrived

to learn their secret; but still he remained silent.

 

Then, in commanding tones, the eldest sister gave him the order

they had agreed upon.

 

He only answered:

 

`I will obey.’

 

He had really been present, invisible, at the council of princesses,

and had heard all; but he had made up his mind to drink of the

philtre, and sacrifice himself to the happiness of her he loved.

 

Not wishing, however, to cut a poor figure at the ball by the side

of the other dancers, he went at once to the laurels, and said:

 

`My lovely rose laurel, with the golden rake I have raked thee,

with the golden bucket I have watered thee, with a silken towel I

have dried thee. Dress me like a prince.’

 

A beautiful pink flower appeared. Michael gathered it, and

found himself in a moment clothed in velvet, which was as black as

the eyes of the little Princess, with a cap to match, a diamond

aigrette, and a blossom of the rose laurel in his button-hole.

 

Thus dressed, he presented himself that evening before the Duke

of Beloeil, and obtained leave to try and discover his daughters’

secret. He looked so distinguished that hardly anyone would have

known who he was.

XIV

The twelve princesses went upstairs to bed. Michael followed

them, and waited behind the open door till they gave the signal for

departure.

 

This time he did not cross in Lina’s boat. He gave his arm to

the eldest sister, danced with each in turn, and was so graceful that

everyone was delighted with him. At last the time came for him

to dance with the little Princess. She found him the best partner

in the world, but he did not dare to speak a single word to her.

 

When he was taking her back to her place she said to him in a

mocking voice:

 

`Here you are at the summit of your wishes: you are being

treated like a prince.’

 

`Don’t be afraid,’ replied the Star Gazer gently. `You shall

never be a gardener’s wife.’

 

The little Princess stared at him with a frightened face, and he

left her without waiting for an answer.

 

When the satin slippers were worn through the fiddles stopped,

and the negro boys set the table. Michael was placed next to the

eldest sister, and opposite to the youngest.

 

They gave him the most exquisite dishes to eat, and the most

delicate wines to drink; and in order to turn his head more

completely, compliments and flattery were heaped on him from every

side.

 

But he took care not to be intoxicated, either by the wine or the

compliments.

XV

At last the eldest sister made a sign, and one of the black pages

brought in a large golden cup.

 

`The enchanted castle has no more secrets for you,’ she said to

the Star Gazer. `Let us drink to your triumph.’

 

He cast a lingering glance at the little Princess,