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-<head>
-<title>Blue Fairy Book</title>
-</head>
-
-<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" LINK="#FFD700" VLINK="#FFD700" ALINK="#FFD700">
-
-<table border="0" width="95%" cellpadding="15" cellspacing="0" align=center>
- <tr>
-
- <td width="20%" cellpadding="15" valign=left bgcolor="#4682B4" rowspan=2>
-
-<p><b><font color="#FFD700">TABLE OF CONTENTS</font></b></p>
-<br>
-
-
-<a name="NAME"></a>
-<a href="#NAME"></a>
-
-
-
-<font size=2>
-
-<p><a href="#THE BRONZE RING">THE BRONZE RING</a>
-<p><a href="#PRINCE HYACINTH AND THE DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS">PRINCE HYACINTH AND THE DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS</a>
-<p><a href="#EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON">EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON</a>
-<p><a href="#THE YELLOW DWARF">THE YELLOW DWARF</a>
-<p><a href="#LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD">LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD</a>
-
-<p><a href="#THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD">THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD</a>
-<p><a href="#CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER">CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER</a>
-<p><a href="#ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP">ALADDIN AND THE WONDERFUL LAMP</a>
-<p><a href="#THE TALE OF A YOUTH WHO SET OUT TO LEARN WHAT FEAR WAS">THE TALE OF A YOUTH WHO SET OUT TO LEARN WHAT FEAR WAS</a>
-<p><a href="#RUMPELSTILTZKIN">RUMPELSTILTZKIN</a>
-
-<p><a href="#BEAUTY AND THE BEAST">BEAUTY AND THE BEAST</a>
-<p><a href="#THE MASTER-MAID">THE MASTER-MAID</a>
-<p><a href="#WHY THE SEA IS SALT">WHY THE SEA IS SALT</a>
-<p><a href="#THE MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTS">THE MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTS</a>
-<p><a href="#FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS">FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS</a>
-
-<p><a href="#THE WHITE CAT">THE WHITE CAT</a>
-<p><a href="#THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS">THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS</a>
-<p><a href="#THE TERRIBLE HEAD">THE TERRIBLE HEAD</a>
-<p><a href="#THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS">THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS</a>
-<p><a href="#THE HISTORY OF WHITTINGTON">THE HISTORY OF WHITTINGTON</a>
-
-<p><a href="#THE WONDERFUL SHEEP">THE WONDERFUL SHEEP</a>
-<p><a href="#LITTLE THUMB">LITTLE THUMB</a>
-<p><a href="#THE FORTY THIEVES">THE FORTY THIEVES</a>
-<p><a href="#HANSEL AND GRETTEL">HANSEL AND GRETTEL</a>
-<p><a href="#SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED">SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED</a>
-
-<p><a href="#THE GOOSE-GIRL">THE GOOSE-GIRL</a>
-<p><a href="#TOADS AND DIAMONDS">TOADS AND DIAMONDS</a>
-<p><a href="#PRINCE DARLING">PRINCE DARLING</a>
-<p><a href="#BLUE BEARD">BLUE BEARD</a>
-<p><a href="#TRUSTY JOHN">TRUSTY JOHN</a>
-
-<p><a href="#THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR">THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR</a>
-<p><a href="#A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT">A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT</a>
-<p><a href="#THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL">THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL</a>
-<p><a href="#THE STORY OF PRINCE AHMED AND THE FAIRY PARIBANOU">THE STORY OF PRINCE AHMED AND THE FAIRY PARIBANOU</a>
-<p><a href="#THE HISTORY OF JACK THE GIANT-KILLER">THE HISTORY OF JACK THE GIANT-KILLER</a>
-<p><a href="#THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY">THE BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY</a>
-<p><a href="#THE RED ETIN">THE RED ETIN</a>
-</font>
-
- </td>
-
- <td valign=top>
-
-
-<p>*******The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Blue Fairy Book*******
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-<p>A LARGE Collection of Fairy Tales!
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-<p>We will also be presenting the Red Fairy Book
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-<p>The Blue Fairy Book
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-<p>April, 1996 [Etext #503]
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-<br><br><br><br><br><br><hr>
-
-
-
-
-<h2><font color="#B8860B"><center><b>THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK</b></center></font></h2>
-<br>
-<p><font size=2 color="000000"><center>Based on the Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang.</center></font></p>
-<br><br><br>
-
-<br><br><br>
-<hr>
-<br><br>
-
-
-<p><font color="#8B5A00"><center><b><a name="THE BRONZE RING">THE BRONZE RING</a></b></center></font></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p>Once upon a time in a certain country there lived a
-
-king whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden.
-
-But, though the gardeners were many and the soil was
-
-good, this garden yielded neither flowers nor fruits, not
-
-even grass or shady trees.
-
-
-
-<p>The King was in despair about it, when a wise old man
-
-said to him:
-
-
-
-<p>"Your gardeners do not understand their business: but
-
-what can you expect of men whose fathers were cobblers
-
-and carpenters? How should they have learned to cultivate
-
-your garden?"
-
-
-
-<p>"You are quite right," cried the King.
-
-
-
-<p>"Therefore," continued the old man, "you should send
-
-for a gardener whose father and grandfather have been
-
-gardeners before him, and very soon your garden will be
-
-full of green grass and gay flowers, and you will enjoy its
-
-delicious fruit."
-
-
-
-<p>So the King sent messengers to every town, village, and
-
-hamlet in his dominions, to look for a gardener whose
-
-forefathers had been gardeners also, and after forty days
-
-one was found.
-
-
-
-<p>"Come with us and be gardener to the King," they said
-
-to him.
-
-
-
-<p>"How can I go to the King," said the gardener, "a poor
-
-wretch like me?"
-
-
-
-<p>"That is of no consequence," they answered. "Here are
-
-new clothes for you and your family."
-
-
-
-<p>"But I owe money to several people."
-
-
-
-<p>"We will pay your debts," they said.
-
-
-
-<p>So the gardener allowed himself to be persuaded, and
-
-went away with the messengers, taking his wife and his
-
-son with him; and the King, delighted to have found a
-
-real gardener, entrusted him with the care of his garden.
-
-The man found no difficulty in making the royal garden
-
-produce flowers and fruit, and at the end of a year the
-
-park was not like the same place, and the King showered
-
-gifts upon his new servant.
-
-
-
-<p>The gardener, as you have heard already, had a son,
-
-who was a very handsome young man, with most agree-
-
-able manners, and every day he carried the best fruit of
-
-the garden to the King, and all the prettiest flowers to his
-
-daughter. Now this princess was wonderfully pretty and
-
-was just sixteen years old, and the King was beginning
-
-to think it was time that she should be married.
-
-
-
-<p>"My dear child," said he, "you are of an age to take a
-
-husband, therefore I am thinking of marrying you to the
-
-son of my prime minister.
-
-
-
-<p>"Father," replied the Princess, "I will never marry the
-
-son of the minister."
-
-
-
-<p>"Why not?" asked the King.
-
-
-
-<p>"Because I love the gardener's son," answered the
-
-Princess.
-
-
-
-<p>On hearing this the King was at first very angry, and
-
-then he wept and sighed, and declared that such a husband
-
-was not worthy of his daughter; but the young
-
-Princess was not to be turned from her resolution to
-
-marry the gardener's son.
-
-
-
-<p>Then the King consulted his ministers. "This is what
-
-you must do," they said. "To get rid of the gardener you
-
-must send both suitors to a very distant country, and the
-
-one who returns first shall marry your daughter."
-
-
-
-<p>The King followed this advice, and the minister's son
-
-was presented with a splendid horse and a purse full of
-
-gold pieces, while the gardener's son had only an old lame
-
-horse and a purse full of copper money, and every one
-
-thought he would never come back from his journey.
-
-
-
-<p>The day before they started the Princess met her lover
-
-and said to him:
-
-
-
-<p>"Be brave, and remember always that I love you. Take
-
-this purse full of jewels and make the best use you can of
-
-them for love of me, and come back quickly and demand
-
-my hand."
-
-
-
-<p>The two suitors left the town together, but the
-
-minister's son went off at a gallop on his good horse, and very
-
-soon was lost to sight behind the most distant hills. He
-
-traveled on for some days, and presently reached a fountain
-
-beside which an old woman all in rags sat upon a
-
-stone.
-
-
-
-<p>"Good-day to you, young traveler," said she.
-
-
-
-<p>But the minister's son made no reply.
-
-
-
-<p>"Have pity upon me, traveler," she said again. "I am
-
-dying of hunger, as you see, and three days have I been
-
-here and no one has given me anything."
-
-
-
-<p>"Let me alone, old witch," cried the young man; "I can
-
-do nothing for you," and so saying he went on his way.
-
-
-
-<p>That same evening the gardener's son rode up to the
-
-fountain upon his lame gray horse.
-
-
-
-<p>"Good-day to you, young traveler," said the beggar-
-
-woman.
-
-
-
-<p>"Good-day, good woman," answered he.
-
-
-
-<p>"Young traveler, have pity upon me."
-
-
-
-<p>Take my purse, good woman," said he, "and mount
-
-behind me, for your legs can't be very strong."
-
-
-
-<p>The old woman didn't wait to be asked twice, but
-
-mounted behind him, and in this style they reached the
-
-chief city of a powerful kingdom. The minister's son was
-
-lodged in a grand inn, the gardener's son and the old
-
-woman dismounted at the inn for beggars.
-
-
-
-<p>The next day the gardener's son heard a great noise in
-
-the street, and the King's heralds passed, blowing all
-
-kinds of instruments, and crying:
-
-
-
-<p>The King, our master, is old and infirm. He will give
-
-a great reward to whoever will cure him and give him
-
-back the strength of his youth."
-
-
-
-<p>Then the old beggar-woman said to her benefactor:
-
-
-
-<p>"This is what you must do to obtain the reward which
-
-the King promises. Go out of the town by the south gate,
-
-and there you will find three little dogs of different colors;
-
-the first will be white, the second black, the third red. You
-
-must kill them and then burn them separately, and gather
-
-up the ashes. Put the ashes of each dog into a bag of its own
-
-color, then go before the door of the palace and cry out,
-
-`A celebrated physician has come from Janina in Albania.
-
-He alone can cure the King and give him back the
-
-strength of his youth.' The King's physicians will say,
-
-This is an impostor, and not a learned man,' and they
-
-will make all sorts of difficulties, but you will overcome
-
-them all at last, and will present yourself before the sick
-
-King. You must then demand as much wood as three
-
-mules can carry, and a great cauldron, and must shut
-
-yourself up in a room with the Sultan, and when the
-
-cauldron boils you must throw him into it, and there leave
-
-him until his flesh is completely separated from his bones.
-
-Then arrange the bones in their proper places, and throw
-
-over them the ashes out of the three bags. The King will
-
-come back to life, and will be just as he was when he was
-
-twenty years old. For your reward you must demand the
-
-bronze ring which has the power to grant you everything
-
-you desire. Go, my son, and do not forget any of my
-
-instructions."
-
-
-
-<p>The young man followed the old beggar-woman's
-
-directions. On going out of the town he found the white,
-
-red, and black dogs, and killed and burnt them, gathering
-
-the ashes in three bags. Then he ran to the palace and
-
-cried:
-
-
-
-<p>"A celebrated physician has just come from Janina in
-
-Albania. He alone can cure the King and give him back
-
-the strength of his youth."
-
-
-
-<p>The King's physicians at first laughed at the unknown
-
-wayfarer, but the Sultan ordered that the stranger should
-
-be admitted. They brought the cauldron and the loads
-
-of wood, and very soon the King was boiling away.
-
-Toward mid-day the gardener's son arranged the bones in
-
-their places, and he had hardly scattered the ashes over
-
-them before the old King revived, to find himself once
-
-more young and hearty.
-
-
-
-<p>"How can I reward you, my benefactor?" he cried.
-
-"Will you take half my treasures?"
-
-
-
-<p>"No," said the gardener's son.
-
-
-
-<p>"My daughter's hand?"
-
-
-
-<p>"NO."
-
-
-
-<p>"Take half my kingdom."
-
-
-
-<p>"No. Give me only the bronze ring which can instantly
-
-grant me anything I wish for."
-
-
-
-<p>"Alas!" said the King, "I set great store by that
-
-marvelous ring; nevertheless, you shall have it." And he gave
-
-it to him.
-
-
-
-<p>The gardener's son went back to say good-by to the old
-
-beggar-woman; then he said to the bronze ring:
-
-
-
-<p>"Prepare a splendid ship in which I may continue my
-
-journey. Let the hull be of fine gold, the masts of silver,
-
-the sails of brocade; let the crew consist of twelve young
-
-men of noble appearance, dressed like kings. St. Nicholas
-
-will be at the helm. As to the cargo, let it be diamonds,
-
-rubies, emeralds, and carbuncles."
-
-
-
-<p>And immediately a ship appeared upon the sea which
-
-resembled in every particular THE DESCRIPTION GIVEN BY THE
-
-GARDENER'S SON, and, stepping on board, he continued his
-
-journey. Presently he arrived at a great town and established
-
-himself in a wonderful palace. After several days
-
-he met his rival, the minister's son, who had spent all his
-
-money and was reduced to the disagreeable employment
-
-of a carrier of dust and rubbish. The gardener's son said
-
-to him:
-
-
-
-<p>"What is your name, what is your family, and from
-
-what country do you come?"
-
-
-
-<p>"I am the son of the prime minister of a great nation,
-
-and yet see what a degrading occupation I am reduced
-
-to."
-
-
-
-<p>"Listen to me; though I don't know anything more
-
-about you, I am willing to help you. I will give you a ship
-
-to take you back to your own country upon one condition."
-
-
-
-<p>"Whatever it may be, I accept it willingly."
-
-
-
-<p>"Follow me to my palace."
-
-
-
-<p>The minister's son followed the rich stranger, whom he
-
-had not recognized. When they reached the palace the
-
-gardener's son made a sign to his slaves, who completely
-
-undressed the new-comer.
-
-
-
-<p>"Make this ring red-hot," commanded the master, "and
-
-mark the man with it upon his back."
-
-
-
-<p>The slaves obeyed him.
-
-
-
-<p>"Now, young man," said the rich stranger, "I am going
-
-to give you a vessel which will take you back to your own
-
-country."
-
-
-
-<p>And, going out, he took the bronze ring and said:
-
-
-
-<p>"Bronze ring, obey thy master. Prepare me a ship of
-
-which the half-rotten timbers shall be painted black, let
-
-the sails be in rags, and the sailors infirm and sickly. One
-
-shall have lost a leg, another an arm, the third shall be a
-
-hunchback, another lame or club-footed or blind, and
-
-most of them shall be ugly and covered with scars. Go,
-
-and let my orders be executed."
-
-
-
-<p>The minister's son embarked in this old vessel, and
-
-thanks to favorable winds, at length reached his own
-
-country. In spite of the pitiable condition in which he
-
-returned they received him joyfully.
-
-
-
-<p>"I am the first to come back," said he to the King;
-
-now fulfil your promise, and give me the princess in
-
-marriage.
-
-
-
-<p>So they at once began to prepare for the wedding
-
-festivities. As to the poor princess, she was sorrowful and
-
-angry enough about it.
-
-
-
-<p>The next morning, at daybreak, a wonderful ship with
-
-every sail set came to anchor before the town. The King
-
-happened at that moment to be at the palace window.
-
-
-
-<p>"What strange ship is this," he cried, "that has a
-
-golden hull, silver masts, and silken sails, and who are the
-
-young men like princes who man it? And do I not see St.
-
-Nicholas at the helm? Go at once and invite the captain
-
-of the ship to come to the palace."
-
-
-
-<p>His servants obeyed him, and very soon in came an
-
-enchantingly handsome young prince, dressed in rich
-
-silk, ornamented with pearls and diamonds.
-
-
-
-<p>"Young man," said the King, "you are welcome,
-
-whoever you may be. Do me the favor to be my guest as long
-
-as you remain in my capital."
-
-
-
-<p>"Many thanks, sire," replied the captain, "I accept
-
-your offer."
-
-
-
-<p>"My daughter is about to be married," said the King;
-
-"will you give her away?"
-
-
-
-<p>"I shall be charmed, sire."
-
-
-
-<p>Soon after came the Princess and her betrothed.
-
-
-
-<p>"Why, how is this?" cried the young captain; "would
-
-you marry this charming princess to such a man as that?"
-
-
-
-<p>"But he is my prime minister's son!"
-
-
-
-<p>"What does that matter? I cannot give your daughter
-
-away. The man she is betrothed to is one of my servants."
-
-
-
-<p>"Your servant?"
-
-
-
-<p>"Without doubt. I met him in a distant town reduced
-
-to carrying away dust and rubbish from the houses. I
-
-had pity on him and engaged him as one of my servants."
-
-
-
-<p>"It is impossible!" cried the King.
-
-
-
-<p>"Do you wish me to prove what I say? This young man
-
-returned in a vessel which I fitted out for him, an unsea-
-
-worthy ship with a black battered hull, and the sailors
-
-were infirm and crippled."
-
-
-
-<p>"It is quite true," said the King.
-
-
-
-<p>"It is false," cried the minister's son. "I do not know
-
-this man!"
-
-
-
-<p>"Sire," said the young captain, "order your daughter's
-
-betrothed to be stripped, and see if the mark of my ring
-
-is not branded upon his back."
-
-
-
-<p>The King was about to give this order, when the
-
-minister's son, to save himself from such an indignity,
-
-admitted that the story was true.
-
-
-
-<p>"And now, sire," said the young captain, "do you not
-
-recognize me?"
-
-
-
-<p>"I recognize you," said the Princess; "you are the
-
-gardener's son whom I have always loved, and it is you
-
-I wish to marry."
-
-
-
-<p>"Young man, you shall be my son-in-law," cried the
-
-King. "The marriage festivities are already begun, so you
-
-shall marry my daughter this very day."
-
-
-
-<p>And so that very day the gardener's son married the
-
-beautiful Princess.
-
-
-
-<p>Several months passed. The young couple were as
-
-happy as the day was long, and the King was more and
-
-more pleased with himself for having secured such a son-
-
-in-law.
-
-
-
-<p>But, presently, the captain of the golden ship found it
-
-necessary to take a long voyage, and after embracing his
-
-wife tenderly he embarked.
-
-
-
-<p>Now in the outskirts of the capital there lived an old
-
-man, who had spent his life in studying black arts--
-
-alchemy, astrology, magic, and enchantment. This man
-
-found out that the gardener's son had only succeeded in
-
-marrying the Princess by the help of the genii who obeyed
-
-the bronze ring.
-
-
-
-<p>"I will have that ring," said he to himself. So he went
-
-down to the sea-shore and caught some little red fishes.
-
-Really, they were quite wonderfully pretty. Then he came
-
-back, and, passing before the Princess's window, he began
-
-to cry out:
-
-
-
-<p>"Who wants some pretty little red fishes?"
-
-
-
-<p>The Princess heard him, and sent out one of her slaves,
-
-who said to the old peddler:
-
-
-
-<p>"What will you take for your fish?"
-
-
-
-<p>"A bronze ring."
-
-
-
-<p>"A bronze ring, old simpleton! And where shall I find
-
-one?"
-
-
-
-<p>"Under the cushion in the Princess's room."
-
-
-
-<p>The slave went back to her mistress.
-
-
-
-<p>The old madman will take neither gold nor silver,"
-
-said she.
-
-
-
-<p>"What does he want then?"
-
-
-
-<p>"A bronze ring that is hidden under a cushion."
-
-
-
-<p>Find the ring and give it to him," said the Princess.
-
-
-
-<p>And at last the slave found the bronze ring, which the
-
-captain of the golden ship had accidentally left behind
-
-and carried it to the man, who made off with it instantly.
-
-
-
-<p>Hardly had he reached his own house when, taking the
-
-ring, he said, "Bronze ring, obey thy master. I desire that
-
-the golden ship shall turn to black wood, and the crew to
-
-hideous negroes; that St. Nicholas shall leave the helm
-
-and that the only cargo shall be black cats."
-
-
-
-<p>And the genii of the bronze ring obeyed him.
-
-
-
-<p>Finding himself upon the sea in this miserable
-
-condition, the young captain understood that some one must
-
-have stolen the bronze ring from him, and he lamented
-
-his misfortune loudly; but that did him no good.
-
-
-
-<p>"Alas!" he said to himself, "whoever has taken my ring
-
-has probably taken my dear wife also. What good will it
-
-do me to go back to my own country?" And he sailed
-
-about from island to island, and from shore to shore,
-
-believing that wherever he went everybody was laughing at
-
-him, and very soon his poverty was so great that he and
-
-his crew and the poor black cats had nothing to eat but
-
-herbs and roots. After wandering about a long time he
-
-reached an island inhabited by mice. The captain landed
-
-upon the shore and began to explore the country. There
-
-were mice everywhere, and nothing but mice. Some of
-
-the black cats had followed him, and, not having been fed
-
-for several days, they were fearfully hungry, and made
-
-terrible havoc among the mice.
-
-
-
-<p>Then the queen of the mice held a council.
-
-
-
-<p>"These cats will eat every one of us," she said, "if the
-
-captain of the ship does not shut the ferocious animals up.
-
-Let us send a deputation to him of the bravest among us."
-
-
-
-<p>Several mice offered themselves for this mission and set
-
-out to find the young captain.
-
-
-
-<p>"Captain," said they, "go away quickly from our island,
-
-or we shall perish, every mouse of us."
-
-
-
-<p>"Willingly," replied the young captain, "upon one
-
-condition. That is that you shall first bring me back a bronze
-
-ring which some clever magician has stolen from me. If
-
-you do not do this I will land all my cats upon your
-
-island, and you shall be exterminated."
-
-
-
-<p>The mice withdrew in great dismay. "What is to be
-
-done?" said the Queen. "How can we find this bronze
-
-ring?" She held a new council, calling in mice from every
-
-quarter of the globe, but nobody knew where the bronze
-
-ring was. Suddenly three mice arrived from a very distant
-
-country. One was blind, the second lame, and the
-
-third had her ears cropped.
-
-
-
-<p>"Ho, ho, ho!" said the new-comers. "We come from a
-
-far distant country."
-
-
-
-<p>"Do you know where the bronze ring is which the genii
-
-obey?"
-
-
-
-<p>"Ho, ho, ho! we know; an old sorcerer has taken
-
-possession of it, and now he keeps it in his pocket by day and in
-
-his mouth by night."
-
-
-
-<p>"Go and take it from him, and come back as soon as
-
-possible."
-
-
-
-<p>So the three mice made themselves a boat and set sail
-
-for the magician's country. When they reached the capital
-
-they landed and ran to the palace, leaving only the
-
-blind mouse on the shore to take care of the boat. Then
-
-they waited till it was night. The wicked old man lay
-
-down in bed and put the bronze ring into his mouth, and
-
-very soon he was asleep.
-
-
-
-<p>"Now, what shall we do?" said the two little animals to
-
-each other.
-
-
-
-<p>The mouse with the cropped ears found a lamp full of
-
-oil and a bottle full of pepper. So she dipped her tail first
-
-in the oil and then in the pepper, and held it to the
-
-sorcerer's nose.
-
-
-
-<p>"Atisha! atisha!" sneezed the old man, but he did not
-
-wake, and the shock made the bronze ring jump out of his
-
-mouth. Quick as thought the lame mouse snatched up the
-
-precious talisman and carried it off to the boat.
-
-
-
-<p>Imagine the despair of the magician when he awoke and
-
-the bronze ring was nowhere to be found!
-
-
-
-<p>But by that time our three mice had set sail with their
-
-prize. A favoring breeze was carrying them toward the
-
-island where the queen of the mice was awaiting them.
-
-Naturally they began to talk about the bronze ring.
-
-
-
-<p>"Which of us deserves the most credit?" they cried all
-
-at once.
-
-
-
-<p>"I do," said the blind mouse, "for without my
-
-watchfulness our boat would have drifted away to the open sea."
-
-
-
-<p>"No, indeed," cried the mouse with the cropped ears;
-
-"the credit is mine. Did I not cause the ring to jump out
-
-of the man's mouth?"
-
-
-
-<p>"No, it is mine," cried the lame one, "for I ran off with
-
-the ring."
-
-
-
-<p>And from high words they soon came to blows, and,
-
-alas! when the quarrel was fiercest the bronze ring fell into
-
-the sea.
-
-
-
-<p>"How are we to face our queen," said the three mice
-
-"when by our folly we have lost the talisman and condemned
-
-our people to be utterly exterminated? We cannot
-
-go back to our country; let us land on this desert
-
-island and there end our miserable lives." No sooner said
-
-than done. The boat reached the island, and the mice
-
-landed.
-
-
-
-<p>The blind mouse was speedily deserted by her two
-
-sisters, who went off to hunt flies, but as she wandered
-
-sadly along the shore she found a dead fish, and was eating
-
-it, when she felt something very hard. At her cries the
-
-other two mice ran up.
-
-
-
-<p>"It is the bronze ring! It is the talisman!" they cried
-
-joyfully, and, getting into their boat again, they soon
-
-reached the mouse island. It was time they did, for the
-
-captain was just going to land his cargo of cats, when a
-
-deputation of mice brought him the precious bronze ring.
-
-
-
-<p>"Bronze ring," commanded the young man, "obey thy
-
-master. Let my ship appear as it was before."
-
-
-
-<p>Immediately the genii of the ring set to work, and the
-
-old black vessel became once more the wonderful golden
-
-ship with sails of brocade; the handsome sailors ran to the
-
-silver masts and the silken ropes, and very soon they set
-
-sail for the capital.
-
-
-
-<p>Ah! how merrily the sailors sang as they flew over the
-
-glassy sea!
-
-
-
-<p>At last the port was reached.
-
-
-
-<p>The captain landed and ran to the palace, where he
-
-found the wicked old man asleep. The Princess clasped
-
-her husband in a long embrace. The magician tried to
-
-escape, but he was seized and bound with strong cords.
-
-
-
-<p>The next day the sorcerer, tied to the tail of a savage
-
-mule loaded with nuts, was broken into as many pieces as
-
-there were nuts upon the mule's back.[1]
-
-
-
-
-
-<p>[1] Traditions Populaires de l'Asie Mineure. Carnoy et
-
-Nicolaides. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1889.
-
-
-
-<br><br>
-<hr>
-<br><br>
-
-
-
-<p><font color="#8B5A00"><center><b><a name="PRINCE HYACINTH AND THE DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS">PRINCE HYACINTH AND THE DEAR LITTLE PRINCESS</a></b></center></font></p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<p>Once upon a time there lived a king who was deeply in
-
-love with a princess, but she could not marry anyone,
-
-because she was under an enchantment. So the King set out
-
-to seek a fairy, and asked what he could do to win the
-
-Princess's love. The Fairy said to him:
-
-
-
-<p>"You know that the Princess has a great cat which she
-
-is very fond of. Whoever is clever enough to tread on
-
-that cat's tail is the man she is destined to marry."
-
-
-
-<p>The King said to himself that this would not be very
-
-difficult, and he left the Fairy, determined to grind the
-
-cat's tail to powder rather than not tread on it at all.
-
-
-
-<p>You may imagine that it was not long before he went
-
-to see the Princess, and puss, as usual, marched in before
-
-him, arching his back. The King took a long step, and
-
-quite thought he had the tail under his foot, but the cat
-
-turned round so sharply that he only trod on air. And so
-
-it went on for eight days, till the King began to think that
-
-this fatal tail must be full of quicksilver--it was never
-
-still for a moment.
-
-
-
-<p>At last, however, he was lucky enough to come upon
-
-puss fast asleep and with his tail conveniently spread out.
-
-So the King, without losing a moment, set his foot upon it
-
-heavily.
-
-
-
-<p>With one terrific yell the cat sprang up and instantly
-
-changed into a tall man, who, fixing his angry eyes upon
-
-the King, said:
-
-
-
-<p>"You shall marry the Princess because you have been
-
-able to break the enchantment, but I will have my
-
-revenge. You shall have a son, who will never be happy
-
-until he finds out that his nose is too long, and if you ever
-
-tell anyone what I have just said to you, you shall vanish
-
-away instantly, and no one shall ever see you or hear of
-
-you again."
-
-
-
-<p>Though the King was horribly afraid of the enchanter,
-
-he could not help laughing at this threat.
-
-
-
-<p>"If my son has such a long nose as that," he said to
-
-himself, "he must always see it or feel it; at least, if he is
-
-not blind or without hands."
-
-
-
-<p>But, as the enchanter had vanished, he did not waste
-
-any more time in thinking, but went to seek the Princess,
-
-who very soon consented to marry him. But after all,
-
-they had not been married very long when the King died,
-
-and the Queen had nothing left to care for but her little
-
-son, who was called Hyacinth. The little Prince had large
-
-blue eyes, the prettiest eyes in the world, and a sweet
-
-little mouth, but, alas! his nose was so enormous that it
-
-covered half his face. The Queen was inconsolable when
-
-she saw this great nose, but her ladies assured her that it
-
-was not really as large as it looked; that it was a Roman
-
-nose, and you had only to open any history to see that
-
-every hero has a large nose. The Queen, who was devoted
-
-to her baby, was pleased with what they told her, and
-
-when she looked at Hyacinth again, his nose certainly did
-
-not seem to her QUITE so large.
-
-
-
-<p>The Prince was brought up with great care; and, as
-
-soon as he could speak, they told him all sorts of dreadful
-
-stories about people who had short noses. No one was
-
-allowed to come near him whose nose did not more or less
-
-resemble his own, and the courtiers, to get into favor with
-
-the Queen, took to pulling their babies' noses several
-
-times every day to make them grow long. But, do what
-
-they would, they were nothing by comparison with the
-
-Prince's.
-
-
-
-<p>When he grew sensible he learned history; and whenever
-
-any great prince or beautiful princess was spoken of,
-
-his teachers took care to tell him that they had long noses.
-
-
-
-<p>His room was hung with pictures, all of people with
-
-very large noses; and the Prince grew up so convinced
-
-that a long nose was a great beauty, that he would not on
-
-any account have had his own a single inch shorter!
-
-
-
-<p>When his twentieth birthday was passed the Queen
-
-thought it was time that he should be married, so she
-
-commanded that the portraits of several princesses should
-
-be brought for him to see, and among the others was a
-
-picture of the Dear Little Princess!
-
-
-
-<p>Now, she was the daughter of a great king, and would
-
-some day possess several kingdoms herself; but Prince
-
-Hyacinth had not a thought to spare for anything of that
-
-sort, he was so much struck with her beauty. The Princess,
-
-whom he thought quite charming, had, however, a
-
-little saucy nose, which, in her face, was the prettiest
-
-thing possible, but it was a cause of great embarrassment
-
-to the courtiers, who had got into such a habit of laughing
-
-at little noses that they sometimes found themselves
-
-laughing at hers before they had time to think; but this
-
-did not do at all before the Prince, who quite failed to see
-
-the joke, and actually banished two of his courtiers who
-
-had dared to mention disrespectfully the Dear Little
-
-Princess's tiny nose!
-
-
-
-<p>The others, taking warning from this, learned to think
-
-twice before they spoke, and one even went so far as to
-
-tell the Prince that, though it was quite true that no man
-
-could be worth anything unless he had a long nose, still,
-
-a woman's beauty was a different thing; and he knew a
-
-learned man who understood Greek and had read in some
-
-old manuscripts that the beautiful Cleopatra herself had
-
-a "tip-tilted" nose!
-
-
-
-<p>The Prince made him a splendid present as a reward for
-
-this good news, and at once sent ambassadors to ask the
-
-Dear Little Princess in marriage. The King, her father,
-
-gave his consent; and Prince Hyacinth, who, in his anxiety
-
-to see the Princess, had gone three leagues to meet her
-
-was just advancing to kiss her hand when, to the horror
-
-of all who stood by, the enchanter appeared as suddenly
-
-as a flash of lightning, and, snatching up the Dear Little
-
-Princess, whirled her away out of their sight!
-
-
-
-<p>The Prince was left quite unconsolable, and declared
-
-that nothing should induce him to go back to his kingdom
-
-until he had found her again, and refusing to allow any of
-
-his courtiers to follow him, he mounted his horse and rode
-
-sadly away, letting the animal choose his own path.
-
-
-
-<p>So it happened that he came presently to a great plain,
-
-across which he rode all day long without seeing a single
-
-house, and horse and rider were terribly hungry, when, as
-
-the night fell, the Prince caught sight of a light, which
-
-seemed to shine from a cavern.
-
-
-
-<p>He rode up to it, and saw a little old woman, who
-
-appeared to be at least a hundred years old.
-
-
-
-<p>She put on her spectacles to look at Prince Hyacinth,
-
-but it was quite a long time before she could fix them
-
-securely because her nose was so very short.
-
-
-
-<p>The Prince and the Fairy (for that was who she was)
-
-had no sooner looked at one another than they went into
-
-fits of laughter, and cried at the same moment, "Oh, what
-
-a funny nose!"
-
-
-
-<p>"Not so funny as your own," said Prince Hyacinth to
-
-the Fairy; "but, madam, I beg you to leave the consideration
-
-of our noses--such as they are--and to be good
-
-enough to give me something to eat, for I am starving,
-
-and so is my poor horse."
-
-
-
-<p>"With all my heart," said the Fairy. "Though your nose
-
-is so ridiculous you are, nevertheless, the son of my best
-
-friend. I loved your father as if he had been my brother.
-
-Now HE had a very handsome nose!"
-
-
-
-<p>"And pray what does mine lack?" said the Prince.
-
-
-
-<p>"Oh! it doesn't LACK anything," replied the Fairy. "On
-
-the contrary quite, there is only too much of it. But
-
-never mind, one may be a very worthy man though his
-
-nose is too long. I was telling you that I was your father's
-
-friend; he often came to see me in the old times, and you
-
-must know that I was very pretty in those days; at least,
-
-he used to say so. I should like to tell you of a conversation
-
-we had the last time I ever saw him."
-
-
-
-<p>"Indeed," said the Prince, "when I have supped it will
-
-give me the greatest pleasure to hear it; but consider,
-
-madam, I beg of you, that I have had nothing to eat
-
-today."
-
-
-
-<p>"The poor boy is right," said the Fairy; "I was
-
-forgetting. Come in, then, and I will give you some supper, and
-
-while you are eating I can tell you my story in a very few
-
-words--for I don't like endless tales myself. Too long a
-
-tongue is worse than too long a nose, and I remember
-
-when I was young that I was so much admired for not
-
-being a great chatterer. They used to tell the Queen, my
-
-mother, that it was so. For though you see what I am
-
-now, I was the daughter of a great king. My father----"
-
-
-
-<p>"Your father, I dare say, got something to eat when he
-
-was hungry!" interrupted the Prince.
-
-
-
-<p>"Oh! certainly," answered the Fairy, "and you also
-
-shall have supper directly. I only just wanted to tell
-
-you----"
-
-
-
-<p>"But I really cannot listen to anything until I have had
-
-something to eat," cried the Prince, who was getting quite
-
-angry; but then, remembering that he had better be
-
-polite as he much needed the Fairy's help, he added:
-
-
-
-<p>"I know that in the pleasure of listening to you I should
-
-quite forget my own hunger; but my horse, who cannot
-
-hear you, must really be fed!"
-
-
-
-<p>The Fairy was very much flattered by this compliment,
-
-and said, calling to her servants:
-
-
-
-<p>"You shall not wait another minute, you are so polite,
-
-and in spite of the enormous size of your nose you are
-
-really very agreeable."
-
-
-
-<p>"Plague take the old lady! How she does go on about
-
-my nose!" said the Prince to himself. "One would almost
-
-think that mine had taken all the extra length that hers
-
-lacks! If I were not so hungry I would soon have done
-
-with this chatterpie who thinks she talks very little! How
-
-stupid people are not to see their own faults! That comes
-
-of being a princess: she has been spoiled by flatterers, who
-
-have made her believe that she is quite a moderate talker!"
-
-
-
-<p>Meanwhile the servants were putting the supper on the
-
-table, and the prince was much amused to hear the Fairy
-
-who asked them a thousand questions simply for the
-
-pleasure of hearing herself speak; especially he noticed
-
-one maid who, no matter what was being said, always
-
-contrived to praise her mistress's wisdom.
-
-
-
-<p>"Well!" he thought, as he ate his supper, "I'm very glad
-
-I came here. This just shows me how sensible I have been
-
-in never listening to flatterers. People of that sort praise
-
-us to our faces without shame, and hide our faults or
-
-change them into virtues. For my part I never will be
-
-taken in by them. I know my own defects, I hope."
-
-
-
-<p>Poor Prince Hyacinth! He really believed what he said,
-
-and hadn't an idea that the people who had praised his
-
-nose were laughing at him, just as the Fairy's maid was
-
-laughing at her; for the Prince had seen her laugh slyly
-
-when she could do so without the Fairy's noticing her.
-
-
-
-<p>However, he said nothing, and presently, when his
-
-hunger began to be appeased, the Fairy said:
-
-
-
-<p>"My dear Prince, might I beg you to move a little more
-
-that way, for your nose casts such a shadow that I really
-
-cannot see what I have on my plate. Ah! thanks. Now
-
-let us speak of your father. When I went to his Court he
-
-was only a little boy, but that is forty years ago, and I
-
-have been in this desolate place ever since. Tell me what
-
-goes on nowadays; are the ladies as fond of amusement as
-
-ever? In my time one saw them at parties, theatres, balls,
-
-and promenades every day. Dear me! WHAT a long nose
-
-you have! I cannot get used to it!"
-
-
-
-<p>"Really, madam," said the Prince, "I wish you would
-
-leave off mentioning my nose. It cannot matter to you
-
-what it is like. I am quite satisfied with it, and have no
-
-wish to have it shorter. One must take what is given one."
-
-
-
-<p>"Now you are angry with me, my poor Hyacinth," said
-
-the Fairy, "and I assure you that I didn't mean to vex
-
-you; on the contrary, I wished to do you a service. However,
-
-though I really cannot help your nose being a shock
-
-to me, I will try not to say anything about it. I will even
-
-try to think that you have an ordinary nose. To tell the
-
-truth, it would make three reasonable ones."
-
-
-
-<p>The Prince, who was no longer hungry, grew so impatient
-
-at the Fairy's continual remarks about his nose that
-
-at last he threw himself upon his horse and rode hastily
-
-away. But wherever he came in his journeyings he thought
-
-the people were mad, for they all talked of his nose, and
-
-yet he could not bring himself to admit that it was too
-
-long, he had been so used all his life to hear it called handsome.
-
-
-
-<p>The old Fairy, who wished to make him happy, at last
-
-hit upon a plan. She shut the Dear Little Princess up in
-
-a palace of crystal, and put this palace down where the
-
-Prince would not fail to find it. His joy at seeing the
-
-Princess again was extreme, and he set to work with all
-
-his might to try to break her prison; but in spite of all his
-
-efforts he failed utterly. In despair he thought at least
-
-that he would try to get near enough to speak to the Dear
-
-Little Princess, who, on her part, stretched out her hand
-
-that he might kiss it; but turn which way he might, he
-
-never could raise it to his lips, for his long nose always
-
-prevented it. For the first time he realized how long it
-
-really was, and exclaimed:
-
-
-
-<p>"Well, it must be admitted that my nose IS too long!"
-
-
-
-<p>In an instant the crystal prison flew into a thousand
-
-splinters, and the old Fairy, taking the Dear Little Princess
-
-by the hand, said to the Prince:
-
-
-
-<p>"Now, say if you are not very much obliged to me.
-
-Much good it was for me to talk to you about your nose!
-
-You would never have found out how extraordinary it
-
-was if it hadn't hindered you from doing what you wanted
-
-to. You see how self-love keeps us from knowing our own
-
-defects of mind and body. Our reason tries in vain to
-
-show them to us; we refuse to see them till we find them
-
-in the way of our interests."
-
-
-
-<p>Prince Hyacinth, whose nose was now just like anyone's
-
-else, did not fail to profit by the lesson he had
-
-received. He married the Dear Little Princess, and they
-
-lived happily ever after.[1]
-
-
-
-
-
-<p>[1] Le Prince Desir et la Princesse Mignonne. Par Madame
-
-Leprince de Beaumont.
-
-
-
-<br><br>
-<hr>
-<br><br>
-
-
-
-
-<p><font color="#8B5A00"><center><b><a name="EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON">EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON</a></b></center></font></p>
-
-
-
-
-<p>Once upon a time there was a poor husbandman who
-
-had many children and little to give them in the way
-
-either of food or clothing. They were all pretty, but the
-
-prettiest of all was the youngest daughter, who was so
-
-beautiful that there were no bounds to her beauty.
-
-
-
-<p>So once--it was late on a Thursday evening in autumn,
-
-and wild weather outside, terribly dark, and raining so
-
-heavily and blowing so hard that the walls of the cottage
-
-shook again--they were all sitting together by the fireside,
-
-each of them busy with something or other, when
-
-suddenly some one rapped three times against the window-
-
-pane. The man went out to see what could be the matter,
-
-and when he got out there stood a great big white bear.
-
-
-
-<p>"Good-evening to you," said the White Bear.
-
-
-
-<p>"Good-evening," said the man.
-
-
-
-<p>"Will you give me your youngest daughter?" said the
-
-White Bear; "if you will, you shall be as rich as you are
-
-now poor.
-
-
-
-<p>Truly the man would have had no objection to be rich,
-
-but he thought to himself: "I must first ask my daughter
-
-about this," so he went in and told them that there was a
-
-great white bear outside who had faithfully promised to
-
-make them all rich if he might but have the youngest
-
-daughter.
-
-
-
-<p>She said no, and would not hear of it; so the man went
-
-out again, and settled with the White Bear that he should
-
-come again next Thursday evening, and get her answer.
-
-Then the man persuaded her, and talked so much to her
-
-about the wealth that they would have, and what a good
-
-thing it would be for herself, that at last she made up her
-
-mind to go, and washed and mended all her rags, made
-
-herself as smart as she could, and held herself in readiness
-
-to set out. Little enough had she to take away with her.
-
-
-
-<p>Next Thursday evening the White Bear came to fetch
-
-her. She seated herself on his back with her bundle, and
-
-thus they departed. When they had gone a great part of
-
-the way, the White Bear said: "Are you afraid?"
-
-
-
-<p>"No, that I am not," said she.
-
-
-
-<p>" Keep tight hold of my fur, and then there is no
-
-danger," said he.
-
-
-
-<p>And thus she rode far, far away, until they came to a
-
-great mountain. Then the White Bear knocked on it, and
-
-a door opened, and they went into a castle where there
-
-were many brilliantly lighted rooms which shone with
-
-gold and silver, likewise a large hall in which there was a
-
-well-spread table, and it was so magnificent that it would
-
-be hard to make anyone understand how splendid it was.
-
-The White Bear gave her a silver bell, and told her that
-
-when she needed anything she had but to ring this bell,
-
-and what she wanted would appear. So after she had
-
-eaten, and night was drawing near, she grew sleepy after
-
-her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed.
-
-She rang the bell, and scarcely had she touched it before
-
-she found herself in a chamber where a bed stood ready
-
-made for her, which was as pretty as anyone could wish
-
-to sleep in. It had pillows of silk, and curtains of silk
-
-fringed with gold, and everything that was in the room
-
-was of gold or silver, but when she had lain down and
-
-put out the light a man came and lay down beside her,
-
-and behold it was the White Bear, who cast off the form
-
-of a beast during the night. She never saw him, however,
-
-for he always came after she had put out her light, and
-
-went away before daylight appeared.
-
-
-
-<p>So all went well and happily for a time, but then she
-
-began to be very sad and sorrowful, for all day long she
-
-had to go about alone; and she did so wish to go home to
-
-her father and mother and brothers and sisters. Then the
-
-White Bear asked what it was that she wanted, and she
-
-told him that it was so dull there in the mountain, and
-
-that she had to go about all alone, and that in her parents'
-
-house at home there were all her brothers and sisters, and
-
-it was because she could not go to them that she was so
-
-sorrowful.
-
-
-
-<p>"There might be a cure for that," said the White Bear,
-
-"if you would but promise me never to talk with your
-
-mother alone, but only when the others are there too; for
-
-she will take hold of your hand," he said, "and will want
-
-to lead you into a room to talk with you alone; but that
-
-you must by no means do, or you will bring great misery
-
-on both of us."
-
-
-
-<p>So one Sunday the White Bear came and said that they
-
-could now set out to see her father and mother, and they
-
-journeyed thither, she sitting on his back, and they went
-
-a long, long way, and it took a long, long time; but at last
-
\ No newline at end of file |