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

on, the Queen and the little Princess grew

thinner and thinner, for their hard-hearted gaoler gave them every

day only three boiled peas and a tiny morsel of black bread, so

they were always terribly hungry. At last, one evening, as the

Queen sat at her spinning-wheel—for the King was so avaricious

that she was made to work day and night—she saw a tiny, pretty

little mouse creep out of a hole, and said to it:

 

`Alas, little creature! what are you coming to look for here?

I only have three peas for my day’s provision, so unless you wish

to fast you must go elsewhere.’

 

But the mouse ran hither and thither, and danced and capered

so prettily, that at last the Queen gave it her last pea, which she

was keeping for her supper, saying: `Here, little one, eat it up; I

have nothing better to offer you, but I give this willingly in return

for the amusement I have had from you.’

 

She had hardly spoken when she saw upon the table a delicious

little roast partridge, and two dishes of preserved fruit. `Truly,’ said

she, `a kind action never goes unrewarded; `and she and the little

Princess ate their supper with great satisfaction, and then the

Queen gave what was left to the little mouse, who danced better

than ever afterwards. The next morning came the gaoler with

the Queen’s allowance of three peas, which he brought in upon a

large dish to make them look smaller; but as soon as he set it

down the little mouse came and ate up all three, so that when the

Queen wanted her dinner there was nothing left for her. Then

she was quite provoked, and said:

 

`What a bad little beast that mouse must be! If it goes on like

this I shall be starved.’ But when she glanced at the dish again

it was covered with all sorts of nice things to eat, and the Queen

made a very good dinner, and was gayer than usual over it. But

afterwards as she sat at her spinning-wheel she began to consider

what would happen if the little Princess did not grow up pretty

enough to please the King, and she said to herself:

 

`Oh! if I could only think of some way of escaping.’

 

As she spoke she saw the little mouse playing in a corner with

some long straws. The Queen took them and began to plait them,

saying:

 

`If only I had straws enough I would make a basket with them,

and let my baby down in it from the window to any kind passer-by who would take care of her.’

 

By the time the straws were all plaited the little mouse had

dragged in more and more, until the Queen had plenty to make

her basket, and she worked at it day and night, while the little

mouse danced for her amusement; and at dinner and supper time

the Queen gave it the three peas and the bit of black bread, and

always found something good in the dish in their place. She

really could not imagine where all the nice things came from.

At last one day when the basket was finished, the Queen was looking

out of the window to see how long a cord she must make to

lower it to the bottom of the tower, when she noticed a little old

woman who was leaning upon her stick and looking up at her.

Presently she said:

 

`I know your trouble, madam. If you like I will help you.’

 

`Oh! my dear friend,’ said the Queen. `If you really wish to

be of use to me you will come at the time that I will appoint, and

I will let down my poor little baby in a basket. If you will take

her, and bring her up for me, when I am rich I will reward you

splendidly.’

 

`I don’t care about the reward,’ said the old woman, `but there

is one thing I should like. You must know that I am very

particular about what I eat, and if there is one thing that I fancy

above all others, it is a plump, tender little mouse. If there is

such a thing in your garret just throw it down to me, and in

return I will promise that your little daughter shall be well taken

care of.’

 

The Queen when she heard this began to cry, but made no

answer, and the old woman after waiting a few minutes asked her

what was the matter.

 

`Why,’ said the Queen, `there is only one mouse in this garret,

and that is such a dear, pretty little thing that I cannot bear to

think of its being killed.’

 

`What!’ cried the old woman, in a rage. `Do you care more

for a miserable mouse than for your own baby? Good-bye, madam!

I leave you to enjoy its company, and for my own part I thank my

stars that I can get plenty of mice without troubling you to give

them to me.’

 

And she hobbled off grumbling and growling. As to the Queen,

she was so disappointed that, in spite of finding a better dinner

than usual, and seeing the little mouse dancing in its merriest

mood, she could do nothing but cry. That night when her baby

was fast asleep she packed it into the basket, and wrote on a slip

of paper, `This unhappy little girl is called Delicia!’ This she

pinned to its robe, and then very sadly she was shutting the basket,

when in sprang the little mouse and sat on the baby’s pillow.

 

`Ah! little one,’ said the Queen, `it cost me dear to save your

life. How shall I know now whether my Delicia is being taken care

of or no? Anyone else would have let the greedy old woman have

you, and eat you up, but I could not bear to do it.’ Whereupon

the Mouse answered:

 

`Believe me, madam, you will never repent of your kindness.’

 

The Queen was immensely astonished when the Mouse began

to speak, and still more so when she saw its little sharp nose turn

to a beautiful face, and its paws to hands and feet; then it suddenly

grew tall, and the Queen recognised the Fairy who had come with

the wicked King to visit her.

 

The Fairy smiled at her astonished look, and said:

 

`I wanted to see if you were faithful and capable of feeling a

real friendship for me, for you see we fairies are rich in everything

but friends, and those are hard to find.’

 

`It is not possible that YOU should want for friends, you charming

creature,’ said the Queen, kissing her.

 

`Indeed it is so,’ the Fairy said. `For those who are only

friendly with me for their own advantage, I do not count at all.

But when you cared for the poor little mouse you could not have

known there was anything to be gained by it, and to try you further

I took the form of the old woman whom you talked to from the

window, and then I was convinced that you really loved me.’ Then,

turning to the little Princess, she kissed her rosy lips three times,

saying:

 

`Dear little one, I promise that you shall be richer than your

father, and shall live a hundred years, always pretty and happy,

without fear of old age and wrinkles.’

 

The Queen, quite delighted, thanked the Fairy gratefully, and

begged her to take charge of the little Delicia and bring her up as

her own daughter. This she agreed to do, and then they shut the

basket and lowered it carefully, baby and all, to the ground at the

foot of the tower. The Fairy then changed herself back into the

form of a mouse, and this delayed her a few seconds, after which

she ran nimbly down the straw rope, but only to find when she got

to the bottom that the baby had disappeared.

 

In the greatest terror she ran up again to the Queen, crying:

 

`All is lost! my enemy Cancaline has stolen the Princess away.

You must know that she is a cruel fairy who hates me, and as

she is older than I am and has more power, I can do nothing against

her. I know no way of rescuing Delicia from her clutches.’

 

When the Queen heard this terrible news she was heart-broken,

and begged the Fairy to do all she could to get the poor little Princess

back again. At this moment in came the gaoler, and when he

missed the little Princess he at once told the King, who came in a

great fury asking what the Queen had done with her. She answered

that a fairy, whose name she did not know, had come and carried

her off by force. Upon this the King stamped upon the ground, and

cried in a terrible voice:

 

`You shall be hung! I always told you you should.’ And without

another word he dragged the unlucky Queen out into the nearest

wood, and climbed up into a tree to look for a branch to which he

could hang her. But when he was quite high up, the Fairy, who

had made herself invisible and followed them, gave him a sudden

push, which made him lose his footing and fall to the ground with

a crash and break four of his teeth, and while he was trying to

mend them the fairy carried the Queen off in her flying chariot to a

beautiful castle, where she was so kind to her that but for the loss of

Delicia the Queen would have been perfectly happy. But though

the good little mouse did her very utmost, they could not find out

where Cancaline had hidden the little Princess.

 

Thus fifteen years went by, and the Queen had somewhat

recovered from her grief, when the news reached her that the son of

the wicked King wished to marry the little maiden who kept the

turkeys, and that she had refused him; the wedding-dresses had been

made, nevertheless, and the festivities were to be so splendid that

all the people for leagues round were flocking in to be present at

them. The Queen felt quite curious about a little turkey-maiden

who did not wish to be a Queen, so the little mouse conveyed herself

to the poultry-yard to find out what she was like.

 

She found the turkey-maiden sitting upon a big stone, barefooted,

and miserably dressed in an old, coarse linen gown and cap; the

ground at her feet was all strewn with robes of gold and silver,

ribbons and laces, diamonds and pearls, over which the turkeys were

stalking to and fro, while the King’s ugly, disagreeable son stood

opposite her, declaring angrily that if she would not marry him she

should be killed.

 

The Turkey-maiden answered proudly:

 

`I never will marry you I you are too ugly and too much like

your cruel father. Leave me in peace with my turkeys, which I like

far better than all your fine gifts.’

 

The little mouse watched her with the greatest admiration, for

she was as beautiful as the spring; and as soon as the wicked Prince

was gone, she took the form of an old peasant woman and said to

her:

 

`Good day, my pretty one! you have a fine flock of turkeys

there.’

 

The young Turkey-maiden turned her gentle eyes upon the old

woman, and answered:

 

`Yet they wish me to leave them to become a miserable Queen!

what is your advice upon the matter?’

 

`My child,’ said the Fairy, `a crown is a very pretty thing, but

you know