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

since I came to this country,’ she said to herself. `One

would think that I and my crutch were put in on purpose to make

that slim, charming young shepherdess in the next picture look

prettier by contrast. Ah! how nice it would be to be as pretty as

that.’ And then she looked at herself in a mirror, and turned away

quickly with tears in her eyes from the doleful sight. All at once

she became aware that she was not alone, for behind her stood a

tiny old woman in a cap, who was as ugly again as herself and

quite as lame.

 

`Princess,’ she said, `your regrets are so piteous that I have

come to offer you the choice of goodness or beauty. If you wish to

be pretty you shall have your way, but you will also be vain,

capricious, and frivolous. If you remain as you are now, you shall

be wise and amiable and modest.’

 

`Alas I madam,’ cried the Princess, `is it impossible to be at once

wise and beautiful?’

 

`No, child,’ answered the old woman, `only to you it is decreed

that you must choose between the two. See, I have brought with

me my white and yellow muff. Breathe upon the yellow side and

you will become like the pretty shepherdess you so much admire, and

you will have won the love of the handsome shepherd whose picture

I have already seen you studying with interest. Breathe upon the

white side and your looks will not alter, but you will grow better

and happier day by day. Now you may choose.’

 

`Ah well,’ said the Princess, `I suppose one can’t have

everything, and it’s certainly better to be good than pretty.’

 

And so she breathed upon the white side of the muff and thanked

the old fairy, who immediately disappeared. The Princess Cabbage-Stalk felt very forlorn when she was gone, and began to think that

it was quite time her father sent an army to rescue her.

 

`If I could but get up into the turret,’ she thought, `to see if any

one is coming.’ But to climb up there seemed impossible. Nevertheless

she presently hit upon a plan. The great clock was in the

turret, as she knew, though the weights hung down into the gallery.

Taking one of them off the rope, she tied herself on in its place, and

when the clock was wound, up she went triumphantly into the

turret. She looked out over the country the first thing, but seeing

nothing she sat down to rest a little, and accidentally leant back

against the wall which Curlicue, or rather Prince Peerless, had so

hastily mended. Out fell the broken stone, and with it the golden

key. The clatter it made upon the floor attracted the Princess

Cabbage-Stalk’s attention.

 

She picked it up, and after a moment’s consideration decided

that it must belong to the curious old cabinet in the corner, which

had no visible keyhole. And then it was not long before she had it

open, and was admiring the treasures it contained as much as Prince

Peerless had done before her, and at last she came to the carbuncle

box. No sooner had she opened it than with a shudder of horror

she tried to throw it down, but found that some mysterious power

compelled her to hold it against her will. And at this moment a

voice in her ear said softly:

 

`Take courage, Princess; upon this adventure your future happiness

depends.’

 

`What am I to do?’ said the Princess trembling.

 

`Take the box,’ replied the voice, `and hide it under your pillow,

and when you see an Eagle, give it to him without losing a moment.’

 

Terrified as the Princess was, she did not hesitate to obey, and

hastened to put back all the other precious things precisely as she

had found them. By this time her guards were seeking her everywhere,

and they were amazed to find her up in the turret, for they

said she could only have got there by magic. For three days nothing

happened, but at last in the night the Princess heard something

flutter against her window, and drawing back her curtains she saw

in the moonlight that it was an Eagle.

 

Limping across at her utmost speed she threw the window open,

and the great Eagle sailed in beating with his wings for joy. The

Princess lost no time in offering it the carbuncle box, which it

grasped in its talons, and instantly disappeared, leaving in its place

the most beautiful Prince she had ever seen, who was splendidly

dressed, and wore a diamond crown.

 

`Princess,’ said he, `for two hundred years has a wicked

enchanter kept me here. We both loved the same Fairy, but she pre-ferred me. However, he was more powerful than I, and succeeded,

when for a moment I was off my guard, in changing me into an

Eagle, while my Queen was left in an enchanted sleep. I knew

that after two hundred years a Prince would recall her to the light

of day, and a Princess, in restoring to me the hand which my enemy

had cut off, would give me back my natural form. The Fairy who

watches over your destiny told me this, and it was she who guided

you to the cabinet in the turret, where she had placed my hand. It

is she also who permits me to show my gratitude to you by granting

whatever favour you may ask of me. Tell me, Princess, what is it

that you wish for most? Shall I make you as beautiful as you

deserve to be?’

 

`Ah, if you only would!’ cried the Princess, and at the same

moment she heard a crick-cracking in all her bones. She grew tall

and straight and pretty, with eyes like shining stars, and a skin as

white as milk.

 

`Oh, wonderful! can this really be my poor little self?’ she

exclaimed, looking down in amazement at her tiny worn-out crutch

as it lay upon the floor.

 

`Indeed, Princess,’ replied Florimond, `it is yourself, but you

must have a new name, since the old one does not suit you now.

Be called Princess Sunbeam, for you are bright and charming

enough to deserve the name.’

 

And so saying he disappeared, and the Princess, without knowing

how she got there, found herself walking under shady trees by

a clear river. Of course, the first thing she did was to look at her

own reflection in the water, and she was extremely surprised to find

that she was exactly like the shepherdess she had so much admired,

and wore the same white dress and flowery wreath that she had seen

in the painted windows. To complete the resemblance, her flock

of sheep appeared, grazing round her, and she found a gay crook

adorned with flowers upon the bank of the river. Quite tired out by so

many new and wonderful experiences, the Princess sat down to rest

at the foot of a tree, and there she fell fast asleep. Now it happened

that it was in this very country that Prince Peerless had been set

down, and while the Princess Sunbeam was still sleeping peacefully,

he came strolling along in search of a shady pasture for his sheep.

 

The moment he caught sight of the Princess he recognised her

as the charming shepherdess whose picture he had seen so often

in the tower, and as she was far prettier than he had remembered

her, he was delighted that chance had led him that way.

 

He was still watching her admiringly when the Princess opened

her eyes, and as she also recognised him they were soon great

friends. The Princess asked Prince Peerless, as he knew the

country better than she did, to tell her of some peasant who would

give her a lodging, and he said he knew of an old woman whose cottage

would be the very place for her, it was so nice and so pretty. So

they went there together, and the Princess was charmed with the

old woman and everything belonging to her. Supper was soon

spread for her under a shady tree, and she invited the Prince to

share the cream and brown bread which the old woman provided.

This he was delighted to do, and having first fetched from his own

garden all the strawberries, cherries, nuts and flowers he could find.

they sat down together and were very merry. After this they met

every day as they guarded their flocks, and were so happy that Prince

Peerless begged the Princess to marry him, so that they might never

be parted again. Now though the Princess Sunbeam appeared to

be only a poor shepherdess, she never forgot that she was a real

Princess, and she was not at all sure that she ought to marry a

humble shepherd, though she knew she would like to do so very

much.

 

So she resolved to consult an Enchanter of whom she had heard

a great deal since she had been a shepherdess, and without saying

a word to anybody she set out to find the castle in which he lived

with his sister, who was a powerful Fairy. The way was long,

and lay through a thick wood, where the Princess heard strange

voices calling to her from every side, but she was in such a hurry

that she stopped for nothing, and at last she came to the courtyard

of the Enchanter’s castle.

 

The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a

hundred years since anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got

through at last, though she gave herself a good many scratches by

the way, and then she went into a dark, gloomy hall, where there

was but one tiny hole in the wall through which the daylight could

enter. The hangings were all of bats’ wings, and from the ceiling

hung twelve cats, who filled the hall with their ear piercing yells.

Upon the long table twelve mice were fastened by the tail, and just

in front of each one’s nose, but quite beyond its reach, lay a tempting

morsel of fat bacon. So the cats could always see the mice, but could not

touch them, and the hungry mice were tormented by the sight and smell

of the delicious morsels which they could never seize.

 

The Princess was looking at the poor creatures in dismay, when

the Enchanter suddenly entered, wearing a long black robe and

with a crocodile upon his head. In his hand he carried a whip

made of twenty long snakes, all alive and writhing, and the Princess

was so terrified at the sight that she heartily wished she had never

come. Without saying a word she ran to the door, but it was

covered with a thick spider’s web, and when she broke it she found

another, and another, and another. In fact, there was no end to

them; the Princess’s arms ached with tearing them down, and yet

she was no nearer to getting out, and the wicked Enchanter behind

her laughed maliciously. At last he said:

 

`You might spend the rest of your life over that without doing

any good, but as you are young, and quite the prettiest creature I

have seen for a long time, I will marry you if you like, and I will

give you those cats and mice that you see there for your own.

They are princes and princesses who have happened to offend me.

They used to love one another as much as they now hate one

another. Aha! It’s a pretty little revenge to keep them like that.’

 

`Oh! If you would only change me into a mouse too,’ cried the Princess.