Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 03 (12 page)

'My name is Grumedan. I am an extremely well-connected Enchanter;
my power is immense. In spite of all this, the charms of your
daughter Potentilla have so fascinated me that I cannot live
without her. She fancies that she loves a certain contemptible
puppy called Narcissus; but I have made very short work with him.
I really do not care whether you consent to my marriage with your
daughter or not, but I am bound to ask your consent, on account of
a certain meddling Fairy called Melinette, with whom I have reason
for wishing to keep on good terms.'

The King and Queen were somewhat embarrassed to know what answer
to make to this terrible suitor, but at last they asked for time
to talk over the matter: since, they said, their subjects might
think that the heir to the throne should not be married with as
little consideration as a dairymaid.

'Oh! take a day or two if you like,' said the Enchanter; 'but in
the meantime, I am going to send for your daughter. Perhaps you
will be able to induce her to be reasonable.'

So saying, he drew out his favourite whistle, and blew one ear-
piercing note—whereupon the great lion, who had been dozing in
the sunny courtyard, come bounding in on his soft, heavy feet.
'Orion,' said the Enchanter, 'go and fetch me the Princess, and
bring her here at once. Be gentle now!'

At these words Orion went off at a great pace, and was soon at the
other end of the King's gardens. Scattering the guards right and
left, he cleared the wall at a bound, and seizing the sleeping
Princess, he threw her on to his back, where he kept her by
holding her robe in his teeth. Then he trotted gently back, and in
less than five minutes stood in the great hall before the
astonished King and Queen.

The Enchanter held his club close to the Princess's charming
little nose, whereupon she woke up and shrieked with terror at
finding herself in a strange place with the detested Grumedan.
Frivola, who had stood by, stiff with displeasure at the sight of
the lovely Princess, now stepped forward, and with much pretended
concern proposed to carry off Potentilla to her own apartments
that she might enjoy the quiet she seemed to need. Really her one
idea was to let the Princess be seen by as few people as possible;
so, throwing a veil over her head, she led her away and locked her
up securely. All this time Prince Narcissus, gloomy and
despairing, was kept a prisoner by Melinette in her castle in the
air, and in spite of all the splendour by which he was surrounded,
and all the pleasures which he might have enjoyed, his one thought
was to get back to Potentilla. The Fairy, however, left him there,
promising to do her very best for him, and commanding all her
swallows and butterflies to wait upon him and do his bidding. One
day, as he paced sadly to and fro, he thought he heard a voice he
knew calling to him, and sure enough there was the faithful
Philomel, Potentilla's favourite, who told him all that had
passed, and how the sleeping Princess had been carried off by the
Lion to the great grief of all her four-footed and feathered
subjects, and how, not knowing what to do, he had wandered about
until he heard the swallows telling one another of the Prince who
was in their airy castle and had come to see if it could be
Narcissus. The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried
vainly to escape from the castle, by leaping from the roof into
the clouds; but every time they caught him, and rolling softly up,
brought him back to the place from which he started, so at last he
gave up the attempt and waited with desperate patience for the
return of Melinette. Meanwhile matters were advancing rapidly in
the court of King Cloverleaf, for the Queen quite made up her mind
that such a beauty as Potentilla must be got out of the way as
quickly as possible. So she sent for the Enchanter secretly, and
after making him promise that he would never turn herself and King
Cloverleaf out of their kingdom, and that he would take Potentilla
far away, so that never again might she set eyes upon her, she
arranged the wedding for the next day but one.

You may imagine how Potentilla lamented her sad fate, and
entreated to be spared. All the comfort she could get out of
Frivola was, that if she preferred a cup of poison to a rich
husband she would certainly provide her with one.

When, then, the fatal day came the unhappy Potentilla was led into
the great hall between the King and Queen, the latter wild with
envy at the murmurs of admiration which rose on all sides at the
loveliness of the Princess. An instant later in came Grumedan by
the opposite door. His hair stood on end, and he wore a huge bag-
purse and a cravat tied in a bow, his mantle was made of a shower
of silver coins with a lining of rose colour, and his delight in
his own appearance knew no bounds. That any Princess could prefer
a cup of poison to himself never for an instant occurred to him.
Nevertheless, that was what did happen, for when Queen Frivola in
jest held out the fatal cup to the Princess, she took it eagerly,
crying:

'Ah! beloved Narcissus, I come to thee!' and was just raising it
to her lips when the window of the great hall burst open, and the
Fairy Melinette floated in upon a glowing sunset cloud, followed
by the Prince himself:

All the court looked on in dazzled surprise, while Potentilla,
catching sight of her lover, dropped the cup and ran joyfully to
meet him.

The Enchanter's first thought was to defend himself when he saw
Melinette appear, but she slipped round his blind side, and
catching him by the eyelashes dragged him off to the ceiling of
the hall, where she held him kicking for a while just to give him
a lesson, and then touching him with her wand she imprisoned him
for a thousand years in a crystal ball which hung from the roof.
'Let this teach you to mind what I tell you another time,' she
remarked severely. Then turning to the King and Queen, she begged
them to proceed with the wedding, since she had provided a much
more suitable bridegroom. She also deprived them of their kingdom,
for they had really shown themselves unfit to manage it, and
bestowed it upon the Prince and Princess, who, though they were
unwilling to take it, had no choice but to obey the Fairy.
However, they took care that the King and Queen were always
supplied with everything they could wish for.

Prince Narcissus and Princess Potentilla lived long and happily,
beloved by all their subjects. As for the Enchanter, I don't
believe he has been let out yet.

La Princesse Pimprenella et Le Prince Romarin.

Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen, who were the best
creatures in the world, and so kind-hearted that they could not
bear to see their subjects want for anything. The consequence was
that they gradually gave away all their treasures, till they
positively had nothing left to live upon; and this coming to the
ears of their neighbour, King Bruin, he promptly raised a large
army and marched into their country. The poor King, having no
means of defending his kingdom, was forced to disguise himself
with a false beard, and carrying his only son, the little Prince
Featherhead, in his arms, and accompanied only by the Queen, to
make the best of his way into the wild country. They were lucky
enough to escape the soldiers of King Bruin, and at last, after
unheard-of fatigues and adventures, they found themselves in a
charming green valley, through which flowed a stream clear as
crystal and overshadowed by beautiful trees. As they looked round
them with delight, a voice said suddenly: 'Fish, and see what you
will catch.' Now the King had always loved fishing, and never went
anywhere without a fish-hook or two in his pocket, so he drew one
out hastily, and the Queen lent him her girdle to fasten it to,
and it had hardly touched the water before it caught a big fish,
which made them an excellent meal—and not before they needed it,
for they had found nothing until then but a few wild berries and
roots. They thought that for the present they could not do better
than stay in this delightful place, and the King set to work, and
soon built a bower of branches to shelter them; and when it was
finished the Queen was so charmed with it that she declared
nothing was lacking to complete her happiness but a flock of
sheep, which she and the little Prince might tend while the King
fished. They soon found that the fish were not only abundant and
easily caught, but also very beautiful, with glittering scales of
every imaginable hue; and before long the King discovered that he
could teach them to talk and whistle better than any parrot. Then
he determined to carry some to the nearest town and try to sell
them; and as no one had ever before seen any like them the people
flocked about him eagerly and bought all he had caught, so that
presently not a house in the city was considered complete without
a crystal bowl full of fish, and the King's customers were very
particular about having them to match the rest of the furniture,
and gave him a vast amount of trouble in choosing them. However,
the money he obtained in this way enabled him to buy the Queen her
flock of sheep, as well as many of the other things which go to
make life pleasant, so that they never once regretted their lost
kingdom. Now it happened that the Fairy of the Beech-Woods lived
in the lovely valley to which chance had led the poor fugitives,
and it was she who had, in pity for their forlorn condition, sent
the King such good luck to his fishing, and generally taken them
under her protection. This she was all the more inclined to do as
she loved children, and little Prince Featherhead, who never cried
and grew prettier day by day, quite won her heart. She made the
acquaintance of the King and the Queen without at first letting
them know that she was a fairy, and they soon took a great fancy
to her, and even trusted her with the precious Prince, whom she
carried off to her palace, where she regaled him with cakes and
tarts and every other good thing. This was the way she chose of
making him fond of her; but afterwards, as he grew older, she
spared no pains in educating and training him as a prince should
be trained. But unfortunately, in spite of all her care, he grew
so vain and frivolous that he quitted his peaceful country life in
disgust, and rushed eagerly after all the foolish gaieties of the
neighbouring town, where his handsome face and charming manners
speedily made him popular. The King and Queen deeply regretted
this alteration in their son, but did not know how to mend
matters, since the good old Fairy had made him so self-willed.

Just at this time the Fairy of the Beech-Woods received a visit
from an old friend of hers called Saradine, who rushed into her
house so breathless with rage that she could hardly speak.

'Dear, dear! what is the matter?' said the Fairy of the Beech-
Woods soothingly.

'The matter!' cried Saradine. 'You shall soon hear all about it.
You know that, not content with endowing Celandine, Princess of
the Summer Islands, with everything she could desire to make her
charming, I actually took the trouble to bring her up myself; and
now what does she do but come to me with more coaxings and
caresses than usual to beg a favour. And what do you suppose this
favour turns out to be—when I have been cajoled into promising to
grant it? Nothing more nor less than a request that I will take
back all my gifts—"since," says my young madam, "if I have the
good fortune to please you, how am I to know that it is really I,
myself? And that's how it will be all my life long, whenever I
meet anybody. You see what a weariness my life will be to me under
these circumstances, and yet I assure you I am not ungrateful to
you for all your kindness!" I did all I could,' continued
Saradine, 'to make her think better of it, but in vain; so after
going through the usual ceremony for taking back my gifts, I'm
come to you for a little peace and quietness. But, after all, I
have not taken anything of consequence from this provoking
Celandine. Nature had already made her so pretty, and given her
such a ready wit of her own, that she will do perfectly well
without me. However, I thought she deserved a little lesson, so to
begin with I have whisked her off into the desert, and there left
her!'

'What! all alone, and without any means of existence?' cried the
kind-hearted old Fairy. 'You had better hand her over to me. I
don't think so very badly of her after all. I'll just cure her
vanity by making her love someone better than herself. Really,
when I come to consider of it, I declare the little minx has shown
more spirit and originality in the matter than one expects of a
princess.'

Saradine willingly consented to this arrangement, and the old
Fairy's first care was to smooth away all the difficulties which
surrounded the Princess, and lead her by the mossy path overhung
with trees to the bower of the King and Queen, who still pursued
their peaceful life in the valley.

They were immensely surprised at her appearance, but her charming
face, and the deplorably ragged condition to which the thorns and
briers had reduced her once elegant attire, speedily won their
compassion; they recognised her as a companion in misfortune, and
the Queen welcomed her heartily, and begged her to share their
simple repast. Celandine gracefully accepted their hospitality,
and soon told them what had happened to her. The King was charmed
with her spirit, while the Queen thought she had indeed been
daring thus to go against the Fairy's wishes.

'Since it has ended in my meeting you,' said the Princess, 'I
cannot regret the step I have taken, and if you will let me stay
with you, I shall be perfectly happy.'

The King and Queen were only too delighted to have this charming
Princess to supply the place of Prince Featherhead, whom they saw
but seldom, since the Fairy had provided him with a palace in the
neighbouring town, where he lived in the greatest luxury, and did
nothing but amuse himself from morning to night. So Celandine
stayed, and helped the Queen to keep house, and very soon they
loved her dearly. When the Fairy of the Beech-Woods came to them,
they presented the Princess to her, and told her story, little
thinking that the Fairy knew more about Celandine than they did.
The old Fairy was equally delighted with her, and often invited
her to visit her Leafy Palace, which was the most enchanting place
that could be imagined, and full of treasures. Often she would say
to the Princess, when showing her some wonderful thing: