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The Baldwin Library
Rm B University
CHILD,
Ly.
LIBRARY
ONCE
URON A TIME
THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY.
THE BROWN OWL.
A CHINA CUP.
STORIES FROM FAIRYLAND,
TALES FROM THE MABINOGION.
THE STORY OF A PUPPET.
THE LITTLE PRINCESS,
IRISH FAIRY TALES.
AN ENCHANTED GARDEN.
LA BELLE NIVERNAISE.
THE FEATHER.
FINN AND HIS COMPANIONS.
NUTCRACKER AND MOUSE KING.
ONCE UPON A TIME.
(Others in the Press.)
ONCE
UPON A FIME
WAT RYS AA ES
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN OF
LUIGI CAPUANA
ILLUSTRATED BY MAZZANTI
NEW YORK
CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY
104 & 106 FOURTH AVENUE
1893
CONTENTS
PAGE
MIRROR OF THE SUN. : 2 I
THE GOLDEN ORANGES . : 4 16
LiTTLe Froccie . 5 . : 29
No-Ears . : : : 3 46
THE WERE-WOLF : ; ‘ 56
CHICK-PEA 5 : ; A 76
THE TALKING TREE : j ; 90
THE THREE RINGS ; ‘ » 102
THE LITTLE OLD WomANn : » 113
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY ; Sg E25
THE BRONZE STEED : : » 42
THE Biack Ecc. : j ene
T1-TiritI-Tr a z ‘ » 170
SERPENTINA % e A - 184
Tur Penny wity A Hoe In ir » 195
Tuer Farry-TaLe TELLER 5 . 206
MIRROR OF THE SUN
ONCE upon a time there lived a poor- woman,
who had one only daughter, as black as soot
and as ugly as mortal sin.
~ They earned their living by baking bread
for the people about, and little Blackface,
as the girl was nicknamed, was ordered up
and down from morning till night.
‘Ehi, heat the water!—Ehi, knead the’
dough !’ Then with her baking-board under
her arm, and a roll of cloth on her head to
steady whatever she had to carry, off she
went from house to house, to fetch the
loaves and cakes to be fired; after that, she
would set out again with a great basket full
of bread on her back, and have to run about,
carrying the bread home. In fact she never
had one moment's rest,
Yet Blackface was always in the best of
humours. One mass of soot and dirt, her
black hair all tangled, with bare mud-stained
feet, and only a few old tatters on her back,
but her merry laugh rang from one end of
the street to the other.
%s B
2 ONCE UPON A TIME 2
‘Blackface is laying an egg,’ the neigh-
bours would say when they heard her.
At the Ave Maria, as night fell, the
mother and daughter would shut themselves
up in their poor house, and never so much
as put the point of their nose out. That
was all very well in winter time... . But
in the fine summer evenings, when all the
neighbourhood turned out to enjoy a little
cool air and the bright moonlight? Oh,
surely those two were mad to stay cooped
up at home with such heat! The neigh-
bours puzzled their wits out over it.
‘Oh, you baker-women, come out into the
cool air, come along !’
‘It’s cooler in the house, thank you.’
‘But can’t you come down? see what a
fine moon there is! just see now!’
‘We've a brighter light at home.’
Eh, something must be wrong in there!
So the neighbours set to listen at the door,
Through the chinks they could see a bright
dazzling light, and every now and then
heard the mother sing:
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree |’
Blackface laughing all the time.
‘They must be gone mad, said the
neighbours.
And so on every evening till midnight :
MIRROR OF THE SUN 3
‘ Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree!’
At last the thing reached the King’s ears.
He flew into a great rage, and ordered the
two women to be brought to his presence.
‘You old witch, if you go on this way
Pll have you thrown into prison, you and
your Blackface !’
‘Please, your Majesty, it is not at all true ;
the neighbours are a set of story-tellers.’
But Blackface laughed, even in the King’s
face.
‘Ah, you’re laughing, are you?’
And he had them both taken to jail,
mother and daughter.
But during the night one of the warders
saw a great light that quite dazzled him
streaming through the cracks in the door of
the horrid chamber they were shut up in,
and from time to time he heard the voice of
the old woman singing :
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
And Blackface cackled away ; her laughter
rang again all through the prison.
The warder ran to the King and told
him everything, and the King flew into a
greater rage than ever:
Was that how they meant to carry on?
4 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Throw them into the criminal prison, under-
ground in the dungeon.’ 3
It was really a most horrid dungeon—no
air, no light, with the damp oozing out on
the walls, a place no one could long hope
to live in. But during the night, even in
that damp, dank prison-chamber, behold the
dazzling light shone out again, and the old
woman crooned as before:
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
The warder went back to the King.
This time his Majesty was quite astounded.
He called the Crown Council to consult on
the matter: some of the councillors were of
opinion that the women’s heads should forth-
with be chopped off; others thought they
were mad and had better be set at liberty.
‘After all, what had the woman said?
“ Tf Heaveniagree !†Where was the harm ?
Supposing Heaven did agree, then not even
your Majesty would be able to hinder it.’
‘Well, look now ! it is even so!’ said the
King, and he gave orders to let them out of
prison.
The two baker-women took up their
business again. Nobody could bake bread
half so well as they, and all their old
customers came back to them at once.
The Queen herself would have her bread
baked by them, so Blackface had to pass by
MIRROR OF THE SUN 5
the Palace stairs many a time with her
bare, mud-stained feet. The Queen used to
ask her:
' *Blackface,: why don’t you wash your
face ??
‘Please your Majesty, my skin is so
delicate, the water would spoil it’
‘Blackface, why don’t you comb out your
hair?’
‘Please your Majesty, my hair is so fine,
the comb would break it all.’
‘Blackface, why don’t you buy yourself a
pair of shoes ??
‘Please your Majesty, I have such tender
little feet, the shoes would give me corns on
them.’
‘Blackface, why does your mother call
you Afirror of the Sun†??
“A queen I shall be
If Heaven agree!’
answered Blackface.
The Queen thought this great fun, and
when Blackface passed with her baking-
board on her head, carrying the loaves and
breakfast-rolls to the Palace, she laughed
louder than ever. The neighbours who
heard her going by cried:
‘Blackface is cackling !?
All this time, the same story went on
every night. The neighbours were fit to
eat their hearts out for curiosity, and as
6 ONCE UPON A TIME
soon as they saw the dazzling light, and
heard the old woman’s rhyme, away they
flocked, every one of them, to listen at the
door, though they did not know what ex-
cuse to give to get a peep inside:
‘Good women, be so kind as to lend me
your sieve, mine has a hole in it!’ â€
And Blackface would open the door ever
so little, and reach out the sieve.
‘What, are you in the dark? but as I
knocked I saw you had a light.’
‘Uh, you must have imagined it !’
‘Good women, be so kind as to lend me
a needle; I’ve broken mine, and I havea
bit of work to finish.’
Then Blackface would open the see and
pass out the needle.
‘ How now, are you in the dark? While
I was, knocking I saw a light.’
‘Uh, you must have dreamt it!’
The report of these things at last reached
the ears of the Prince Royal, who was
already sixteen years of age. This Prince
was extremely proud and haughty, and when
he met Blackface with her baking-board on
her head, coming up the Palace stairs, or
with her heavy basket of bread on her
shoulder, he used to turn aside so as not
to see her, for the sight of her disgusted
him, and he was once even so rude as to
spit at her.
That day Blackface went home crying.
MIRROR OF THE SUN 7
‘What is the matter with you, child?’
asked her mother.
‘The Prince Royal spat at me.’
‘It is the will of Heaven, child, and the
Prince is the master.’
And the neighbours were ready to dance
for joy: -
‘The Prince spat at her! serve her right
for pretending to be “ A@irror of the Sun†\?
Another day the Prince met her on the
landing-place. He fancied that Blackface
had pushed him with her baking-board, and
flying into a passion he gave her such a
kick that sent her rolling down the stairs.
How could she have the courage to carry
her loaves and rolls to the Queen? they
were all covered with dust, and crushed out
of shape!
So Blackface went home again, crying
bitterly.
‘What ails you, dear child?’ cries her
mother.
‘ The Prince Royal kicked me down stairs,
and upset all my bread in the dirt.’
‘Let the will of Heaven be done, child,
the Prince is the master !’
The kind-hearted neighbours were beside
themselves with joy:
‘The Prince had kicked her down stairs !
serve her right !?
A few years after this the Prince Royal
bethought himself of marrying, and sent to
8 ONCE UPON A TIME
ask the hand of the King of Spain’s daughter.
But his Ambassador arrived too late; the
King of Spain’s daughter had been married
just the day before.
The Prince was so savage that he wanted
to have the Ambassador hanged. But the
Ambassador saved his head by proving that
he had accomplished the journey in half a
day less than the others. Then the Prince
sent him to demand the daughter of the
King of France. But again the Ambassador
arrived too late, for that Princess had been
given away in marriage just the day before.
Now this time the Prince wanted at all
costs to hang the traitor who never reached
his destination in time, but the Ambassador
again proved to him that he had accom-
plished the journey in a day less than any
of the others. So the Prince sent him to
ask the Grand Turk for his daughter; but
as usual the Ambassador arrived too late,
and found that the Grand Turk’s daughter
had wedded the day before.
The Prince Royal could bear it no longer,
and he wept outright, like the great baby
he was, The King and Queen and all the
Ministers of State stood around him in utter
consternation.
‘Are there then no more Princesses left ?
There’s the King of England’s daughter ;
let us send and ask for her hand.’
Off flew the wretched Ambassador, like
MIRROR OF THE SUN 9
an arrow from the bow, travelling day and
night till at length he reached London
Town. Strange fatality! the King of Eng-
land’s daughter had just been married the
day before.
Imagine the state the Prince Royal was
in!
One day, in order to divert his thoughts,
he set off hunting.
Having lost his way in a wood, far from
his attendants, he wandered about all day
long without being able to find his way
out. Finally he discovered a small hut in
the midst of the thicket. Through the open
door he could see within a very old man,
with a great white beard, who having lit a
fine fire was cooking his supper.
‘My good man, can you show me the
way out of this wood ?’
‘Ah, you are come at last!â€
At the sound of the deep gruff voice in
which these words were uttered, the poor
Prince felt his very hair stand on end.
‘My good sir, I have not the pleasure of
knowing you; I am the Prince Royal,’
‘Prince or no Prince, take that hatchet
and chop me up some firewood.’
And the Prince, fearing something worse
might come if he refused, began chopping
the firewood. ;
‘Prince or no Prince, go to the fountain
and fetch me some water,’
Io ONCE UPON A TIME
And the Prince, for prudence’ sake, took
the water-pitcher on his shoulder and went
to the fountain.
‘Prince or no Prince, serve me at table,’
So the Prince, for fear of something worse
coming, had to serve him at table. When
the meal was finished, the old man gave
him the leavings.
‘Now, throw yourself down there; that’s
your sleeping-place.’
And the unfortunate Prince cowered down
as best he could on some straw in a corner,
but he could not sleep.
Now this old man was a magician, and
lord of the forest.
Each time he went out he spread an
enchanted net all round his dwelling, and
by this means kept the poor Prince as his
prisoner and slave.
In the meantime the King and Queen
wept for their son as dead, and put on the
deepest mourning.
However, one fine day, nobody knew how,
news reached them that the Prince Royal
had become the slave of the Magician. The
King forthwith sent his messengers :
‘ All the wealth of my kingdom, if he will
but release my son.’
‘Iam richer than he,’ replied the Magician.
At this answer the King was in the
greatest consternation. He again sent off
messengers :
MIRROR OF THE SUN II
‘What did he want? He had but to
mention it. The King was ready to give
his very heart’s blood.’
‘Send me a loaf and a cake made by the
Queen’s own hands, and the Prince Royal
will be free,’
‘Oh, that was a mere nothing !’
The Queen set to work, sifted the flour,
mixed the dough and kneaded it well, and
made a loaf and a cake of it, heated the
oven with her own fair hands, and put them
in to bake. But she was not accustomed
to that sort of thing; loaf and cake came
out all burned.
When the Magician saw them he turned
up his nose:
‘Good for the dogs,’ said he.
And he threw them to his great mastiff,
The Queen again took flour and sifted it,
made the dough and kneaded it well, and
made another loaf and cake. Then she
heated the oven with her own hands, and
put them into bake. But she was not used
to it, and the loaf and cake turned out
underdone.
When the Magician saw them he made
a wry face:
‘Good for the dogs,’ quoth he.
And he threw them to his mastiff.
And the poor Queen tried and tried again,
but her bread was always overdone, or under-
done, or sodden ; and in the meantime the
12 ONCE UPON A TIME
Prince Royal remained with the Magician
as his slave.
The King again called the eounel of
State,
“Most august Majesty,’ said one of the
Ministers ; ‘let us try if the Magician is a
good hand at guessing. The Queen will
sift the flour this time, knead it into dough
and make the loaf and cake, then we shall
call in Blackface to heat the oven and bake
them.’
‘Capital idea! Excellent!’ cried his
Majesty.
And so they did, But the Magician
again turned up his nose:
' *Bad cake, bad bread,
Get away and wash your head !’
And he threw them to his dog. -He had
understood at once that Blackface had had
a hand in them.
“And now,’ said the Ministers, ‘there is
only one remedy left.’
‘Which ?’ asked the King.
‘To let the Prince Royal marry Blackface,
Thus the Magician will have bread sifted,
kneaded, and baked by a Queen’s hand, and
the Prince will regain his liberty.’
‘It must really be the will of Heaven !’
said the King.
‘Mirror of the’Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
MIRROR OF THE SUN 13
And he issued a royal decree proclaiming
the Prince Royal and Blackface man and
wife. The Magician got his loaf and cake,
sifted, kneaded, and baked by the Queen’s
own hands, and the Prince was set free.
Now, let us return to him: he would
not hear of marrying Blackface upon any
account,
‘What! that heap of soot his wife? that
nasty, ugly baker-wench a queen? Never!’
‘But there is a royal decree! .. .’
‘Indeed! since the King did that, he
may undo it!’
Blackface, being now a Princess, had
come to live in the Royal Palace. But
they could not induce her to wash her
face, or comb her hair, or change her
clothes, or put on a pair of shoes,
‘T shall tidy myself up when the Prince
comes home,’
Now, was such a thing possible? There
she sat, shut up in her chamber, waiting
for the Prince to come and fetch her, But
there was no means of persuading him to
do so,
‘That baker-wench disgusts me! I had
rather die than wed her !’
When these words were repeated to
Blackface she burst out laughing:
‘He will come to me, don’t fear, he will
come !’
‘7 goto her? ... See how I shall go!’
14 ONCE UPON A TIME
And the Prince, beside himself with rage,
rushed, sword in hand, towards the chamber
of Blackface: he would cut her head off!
The door was locked fast, so our Prince
looked through the key-hole! The sword
fell from his grasp! ... He beheld a
beauty such as eyes had never fell on—a
real, living Mirror of the Sun!
‘Open, my Princess! open to me!’
And Blackface, on the other side of the
door, cried out mockingly :
‘A heap of soot, forsooth !?
‘Open, sweet Princess of my heart !’
And Blackface, laughing :
‘That nasty, ugly baker-wench !’
‘Open to me, my own Blackface !’
MIRROR OF THE SUN 15
And then the door flew open, and Bride
and Bridegroom fell into each other’s arms.
The wedding was celebrated that very
evening, and the Prince and his dear
Blackface lived long years, happy and
contented... .
And so my-story’s ended,
THE GOLDEN ORANGES
Ir is related that once upon a téme there
lived a King who had a magnificent garden
behind his Palace. No kind of tree was
wanting in it; but. the rarest and most
valued of all was the tree that bore the
Golden Oranges.
When the orange season came round, the
King used to set a sentinel to guard it day
and night; and every morning he would go
down to the garden, to make sure with his
own eyes that not even a leaf was wanting.
One morning he comes into the garden
and finds the sentinel fast asleep. He
glances up at the tree... the Golden
Oranges were all gone !
I leave you to imagine his anger !
‘You wretched sentinel! you shall pay
this with your head !’
‘Please your Majesty, it is not my fault.
A Goldfinch came and perched on one of
the branches, and began to sing. He sang
and sang, and as he sang my eyes grew
heavy. 1 drove him away from one branch,
'
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 17
but he lighted on another. He sang and
sang, and as he sang I grew sleepier and
sleepier. J drove him away from that branch
too, and no sooner did he cease singing
than my sleepiness disappeared. But then
he perched himself at the very top of the
tree, and sang and sang... andsang.. .
I have slept tillnow! ...’
So the King did him no harm.
When the next orange time came, he
charged the Prince Royal in person to keep
watch,
One morning he comes into the garden,
and finds the Prince sleeping. He looks
up at the tree . . . not one Golden Orange
to be seen !
So you may fancy the fury he was in!
‘How is this? Even you fell asleep !’
‘Please your Majesty, it is not my fault,
A Goldfinch came and sat on a bough and
began to sing. He sang and sang and sang,
till my eyes grew heavy. I said to him,
“You perfidious Goldfinch, you'll have no
chance with me!†And he made fun of me,
saying, ‘The Prince is sleeping ! the Prince.
sleeps!†— ‘You treacherous Goldfinch,
you're not a match for me!†And again
he mocked at me, saying, ‘“ Hush-a-ba,
baby, my pretty Prince!†and he sang and
sang... andsang,and!I .. . have slept
till now !?
So the King wanted to try himself; and
Cc
18 ONCE UPON A TIME
when the season came round again, he
mounted guard by the tree. When the
Oranges were quite ripe, behold! the Gold-
finch came and perched upon a branch and
began to sing, The King would have dearly
liked having a-shot at him, but it was as
dark as pitch; besides, he felt very, very
sleepy.
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 19
“You treacherous Goldfinch, this time
you have found your match!...’ But
it was hard work to keep his eyes open !
The Goldfinch began to mock at him:
‘Hush! hush! his Majesty slumbers !
Hush! hush! the King is sleeping !’
And he sang and sang and sang, till the
King fell asleep, fast as a dormouse.
Next morning, when he opened his eyes,
the Golden Oranges were no longer there !
Then he issued a warrant throughout all
his dominions: Whoever would bring him
the Goldfinch dead or alive should receive
in reward a mule laden with gold.
Six months passed, but no one came
forward.
“ At last one day a peasant in very poor
trim presented himself:
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch? Promise me the hand of the
Princess, and within three days your
Majesty shall have it.’
The King caught the fellow by the shoulder,
and turned him out of doors,
The next day the man returned :
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch ? Then promise me the hand of
the Princegs, and in less than three days
you shall have it.’
The King seized him by the shoulder, and
with a good kick turned him out,
20 ONCE UPON A TIME
But the following day the bumpkin
returned, as obstinate as ever:
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch ? Then promise me the hand of
the Princess, and in less than three days
you shall have it,’
The King in a fury called a guard and
had him led to prison.
In the meantime he ordered an iron
grating to be set up all round the tree;
with such great iron bars that there would
surely be no need for a sentinel now.
But when the Oranges were ripe again,
going into his garden one fine morning
the King looked up... not one Orange
left !
You can imagine his state !
Sohe was forced to come to an agree-
ment with the young peasant.
‘Bring me the Goldfinch alive, and the
Princess is yours,
‘In three days’ time, your Majesty.’
And before the three days were over, he
was back again with the bird.
‘ May it please your Majesty, the Princess
is now mine.’
The King looked black. Was he to give
the Princess to such a lout?
‘If you wish for gems or gold, you shall
have as much as you can carry away. But
as to having the Princess, you must put that
idea quite out of your head.’
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 21
‘But, please your Majesty, that was our
agreement.’
‘Do you want gems? Do you want
gold ??
‘Keep them for yourself We shall see
what will happen !’
And the King said to the Goldfinch :
‘Now that you are in my hands, I mean
to torment you.’
And the Goldfinch cried out, as he felt his
feathers being plucked out one by one.
‘Where have my Golden Oranges been
hidden away ?’
‘Tf your Majesty will but promise not to
hurt me any more, I will tell?
‘Well, then, I’ll not touch you any more.’
‘The Golden Oranges are stowed away
in the Grotto of the Seven Gates; but the
Merchant with the Red Cap keeps guard
over them. Your Majesty must know the
password ; only two persons in the world
know it—the Merchant and that peasant
who caught me.’
The King sent to call the peasant :
‘Let us make another bargain. I should
like to get into the Grotto of the Seven Gates,
and I don’t know the password. If you will
but disclose it to me, the Princess is yours,’
‘On your word as a King ??
‘On my royal word !?
‘Then, your Majesty, this is the pass-
word :
22 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Drier and drier,
Open, old Sire!'
‘Very well,’ said the King.
So the King betook himself to the Grotto,
and as he pronounced the password it
opened to him. The peasant remained
waiting outside,
Now, this Grotto was all one blaze of
dazzling light, because of the diamonds that
lay heaped upon the floor. The King, seeing
that he was alone, stooped down and filled
his pockets; but when he passed into the
second chamber, he saw that the diamonds
fee GOLDEN ORANGES 23
there, also in heaps on the ground, were
much larger and finer, so he emptied his
pockets and again set to filling them with
those. And so on till the very last chamber,
where, lo ! he beheld all the Golden Oranges
from the Royal Garden piled up in a corner.
A great wallet lay near on the ground,
and the King stuffed it quite full, Now that
he knew the word, he meant to come back
more than once.
On coming out of the Grotto, with the
wallet on his back, he found the peasant
there waiting for him.
_ ‘Please your Majesty, the Princess is now
mine.’
The King grew as black as night. Must he
then give the Princess to that great clown ?
‘Ask me any other favour, and it will be
granted you. But as to having the Princess,
don’t think of it.’
‘And your Majesty’s royal word ?’
‘The wind blows words away !’
‘Then just wait till you get home to your
Palace, and you'll see !’
No sooner did the King reach home than
he set down the wallet on the ground, and
went to open it. But what should he see?
. Instead of the Golden Oranges it was
full of spoilt ones |
Then he put his hands into his pockets
. the diamonds had all turned into snail-
shells !
24 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘That beast of a peasant has played me
a fine trick !’ ;
But the Goldfinch would pay for it.
And he began torturing the poor thing
again. :
“Where are my Golden Oranges ??
‘If your Majesty will but leave off hurtin
me, I will tell’ - ;
‘Well, I won’t hurt you any longer,’
‘Then you must know that your Oranges
are all where you saw: them, but in order
to have them back again you must know
another word, and there are but two persons
who know it—the Merchant and the peasant
who caught me.’
So the King sent for the peasant :
‘Let us make a new agreement. Tell
me the word to get the Oranges back with,
and the Princess is yours.’
‘On your royal word ??
‘On my royal word !?
‘Please your Majesty, this is the word:
‘In the fruit lies. the stone,
Come, give me the bone !’
‘Very well,’ said the King.
And he went and came several times,
with the wallet crammed full, and so
carried all the Golden Oranges back to
his Palace.
Then the peasant presented himself,
saying :
‘THE GOLDEN ORANGES 25
‘Please your Majesty, the Princess is
mine now.’
The King grew blackas thunder. Must
_ he then give the Princess to that bumpkin ?
‘Behold, this is my royal treasure: take
whatever you like. But as to the Princess,
put that quite out of your head !’
-¢ Well, let us say no more about it,’ said
the peasant, and he took himself off.
Now, ever since the Goldfinch was kept
in the cage at the Palace, the Golden
Oranges were allowed to remain on the
tree from one year to another. |
One day the Princess came to the King
and said :
‘Please your Majesty, I should like to
have that Goldfinch to keep in my room,’
‘Then take it, dear daughter; only see
it does not escape.’
Once in the Princess’s room, the Gold-
finch sang no longer.
‘Goldfinch, why don’t you sing any more?’
‘Because my master weeps.’
‘And why does he weep?’
‘Because he may not have his heart’s
desire.’
‘And pray, what does he want?’
‘He wants the Princess! He says:
© T've laboured so hard,
And well it is known,
But my labour is all
To the wild wind blown !â€
26 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Who is your master? That country
fellow ??
‘Princess, that country fellow is a greater
king than your royal father.’
‘Ah, if that were true, I would wed him
at once; go and tell him, and come back
immediately.’
‘Do you swear it?’
‘T swear it!’
And she opened his cage and let him fly.
But the Goldfinch did not come back again.
One day the King asked the Princess :
‘Does the Goldfinch not sing any more?
it is a long time since I’ve heard him.’
‘Please your Majesty, he is not very
well.’
So the King put his mind at rest.
In the meantime the poor Princess lived
in constant dread and anxiety.
‘Ah, Goldfinch, you traitor! both you
and your master !’
And as the orange season was drawing -
near, she felt her very heart grow small for
fear of her father.
In the meantime there came an Ambas-
sador from the King of France to ask her
in marriage. Her father was delighted
beyond words, and immediately said ‘yes,’
but the Princess cried:
‘May it please your Majesty, I had rather
remain a maiden !’
He flew into a mighty rage.
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 27
She said ‘no’ now that he had pledged
his royal word and could not take it back!
‘Your Majesty knows that “the wind
blows words away†!’
The Courtiers tried in vain to calm the
King; his eyes flashed fire:
‘That obstinate hussy !’
‘T don’t want him! I won’t have him!
I want to live and die a maid !’
But the worst was when the King of
France sent word that he was coming
within eight days.
How was he to manage with that bad,
stubborn child ?
In his anger he had her bound hand and
foot, and let her down into a draw-well:
‘Say “yes,†or Pl let you drow!’
But the Princess remained silent; the
King let her down half-way :
‘Say “yes,†or I shall drown you !?
Still the Princess remained silent: the
King let her right down into the water ;
only her head remained out.
‘Say “yes,†or Pll surely drown you !’
But the Princess was still silent.
Must he then really drown her? .. .
And he drew her up again, but only to
lock her into a dark room, on bread and
water. The Princess wept and cried:
*Ah, Goldfinch, you traitor ! you and your
master! J must endure all these misfortunes
for having kept my word to you!’
28 ONCE UPON A TIME
The King of France came with a mag-
nificent retinue, and took up his abode in
the Royal Palace.
“Where is the Princess? Will she not
see me??
‘Please your Majesty, she is slightly
indisposed. . , .?
The King of France was rather em-
barrassed, and did not know what to -
answer,
‘Take her this present from me,’
It was a small golden casket all studded
over with diamonds; but the Princess put
it on one side, without even caring to open
it. And still she wept:
‘Goldfinch, you traitor! you and your
master !?
‘We are no traitors, neither I nor my
master !?
On hearing this answer come from the
casket, the Princess ran and opened it :
‘Ob, my dear Goldfinch ! how many
tears you have made me shed |?
“Your fate willed itso! Now your destiny
is accomplished,’
When his Majesty the King knew who
the peasant was, he gave the tree that bore
the Golden Oranges as a marriage portion
to the Princess, and the day after she was
wed to the King of France,
So let us laugh, and sing, and dance !
LITTLE FROGGIE
THis is the pretty story of ‘ Little Froggie,
give your paw!’ and you shall presently
hear why it is called so.
It is related that once upon a time there
was a poor fellow who had seven children,
who ate him out of house and home. The
eldest was twelve years of age, and the
youngest barely two.
One evening the father made them all
come before him. ;
‘Children,’ said he, ‘it is now two days
that we haven’t tasted so much as a drop of
_ water, and I am in despair. I don’t know
what to do; do you know what I have
thought ? To-morrow I shall get our neigh-
bour to lend us his donkey, I'll saddle him
with the creels, and carry you round for sale
like fish. We'll see if you have any luck !’
At these words all the brats set to howl-
ing: they were not going to be sold, not
they! Only the last, the little one two
years old, did not cry.
‘And you, my little Froggie?’ asked his
30 ONCE UPON A TIME
father, who had given him that name
because he was as tiny as a frog.
‘I am quite pleased,’ he answered.
So the next morning the poor father took
him in his arms and began going about the
town with him, crying:
‘Who will buy my little Froggie? who
will have my little Froggie ?’
But no one wanted him, he was such a
tiny wee thing!
The King’s daughter happened to be
looking out of window:
‘What have you for sale, good man ??
‘I’m selling this baby ; who wants to buy
him ??
The Princess looked at the child, made a
face, and banged the window to.
‘Pretty manners !’ quoth the poor fellow.
And he began again, crying out:
‘Who will buy my little Froggie ? who
will have my little Froggie ??
But no one would have him, such a tiny
wee thing as that !
The poor fellow had not heart to go
home, where his other children were wait-
ing for him, like so many souls in purgatory,
half dead with hunger.
Little Froggie, in the meantime, had
fallen asleep in his arms,
Then he bethought him that it would
be better to kill the poor little creature
rather than see it suffer. He would kill
LITTLE FROGGIE 31
them all, one by one, and would begin with
this one.
It was now evening, and, leaving the town,
he retired into a cave where no one could
.see him. He laid the baby down on the
ground ; it was fast asleep, and as he looked
at it his heart was full of pity.
‘Dear little heart !
‘And must these hands of mine kill you?
‘Must I then kill you, my own little
Froggie?
‘And I shall no more see you toddling
about the house, no more, no more ?
‘Ah, poor, dear little heart !
‘And who was the witch that bewitched
you in your cradle, who was she?
‘Ah, my poor little Froggie !’
It would have melted the heart of a stone
to hear him.
‘What has happened that you are weep-
ing so?’
At these words the poor fellow turned
round, and beheld an old woman sitting
right over against the mouth of the cave;
she held a staff in her hand.
‘What has happened to me? I have
seven children and no work, and we are all
dying of hunger. Not to see my little ones
suffer any more I have made up my mind |
to kill them, and I am going to begin with
this one.
‘What is he called ?’
32 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘His name is Beppo, but we all call him
little Froggie,’
‘Then Froggie let him be!’
The old woman barely touched the baby
with the end of her staff, and he was already
changed into a little frog, and went hopping
and jumping all about.
The poor father stood aghast,
‘Take heart,’ said the old dame. ‘Go
and search in that corner; there is some
bread and cheese, so for this evening you
will all sup. Be waiting for me to-morrow
at noon, right under the windows of the
King’s Palace: you will make your fortune.’
LITTLE FROGGIE 33
When the other children saw their father
come back without their little brother, they
set up a great cry.
‘Be quiet ; here is some bread and cheese
for you.’ :
‘But where is little Froggie ?’
‘He is dead !’ 3
He said this because he did not want to
be bothered with questions.
Well, the next day, long before the hour,
he went and took up his stand under the
windows of the King’s Palace. He waited
and waited, but no old woman was to be
seen.
The King’s daughter was at one of the
windows, combing out her hair ; she recog-
nised him, and to make fun of him asked
him :
‘I say, good man, did any one buy your
little Froggie ?? i
But before he could answer, behold, the
old woman appeared, with a whole troop of
people at her heels! The people made a
.circle round her, and the old woman said:
‘Little Froggie, give your paw!’ and
little Froggie at once held out his paw.
The others all tried in vain, saying,
‘Little Froggie, give your paw !’—he would
have nothing to do with them. Such a
wonder had never been seen, and every one
present paid a penny for having a sight.
The Princess bade the old woman come
D
34 ONCE UPON A TIME
right under her window; she too wanted to
see:
‘ Little Froggie, give me your paw!’ And
Froggie forthwith held out his little paw.
The Princess was enchanted, and ran
straight off to the King:
‘Papa, if you love me, you must buy me
little Froggie !?
‘Whatever do you want with a frog?’
‘I want to keep him in my room, he
amuses me so much !’
And the King consented.
‘Good woman, how much do you want
for your little frog ?’
‘Please your Majesty, I'll sell him for his
weight in gold, for he is well worth it.’
‘But you are making game of me, old
woman !’
‘I am but saying the truth; to-morrow
he will be worth twice as much. Little
Froggie, give your paw !’
And little Frogzie put out his paw, and
gave it to the old woman.
The others all tried till they were tired,
with their ‘ Little Froggie, give your paw !’
—he would have nothing to do with them.
‘You see,’ said the King; ‘we should
need to take the old woman too.’
The Princess had not tried yet, so she
said:
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw !’
With one bound Froggie was beside her,
LITTLE FROGGIE 35
and having made a fine bow held out his
little paw.
So there was no use, he had to be bought ;
it was the only way to have peace.
Froggie was put into one side of the
scales, and a little gold piece in the other,
but the scale would not rise. Was it pos-
sible a little Froggie could weigh so much?
They heaped up the scale with gold, but it
would not go down. The Princess and the
Queen took off their rings and bracelets,
and pulled out their ear-rings, and threw
them in. It was of no use! The King
undid his girdle, which was of massive gold,
and threw it in. Nothing!
‘Even my crown! Now, I should like
tosee!...
The scale rose up, quite on a level with
the other, not one hairbreadth wanting.
The old woman emptied out the great
heap of gold into her apron, and went away.
Froggie’s father was waiting her at the
Palace gate.
‘Here!’ and she filled his pockets; ‘mind
this well, though: spend as much as ever
you like, but woe betide you if you sell or
lose the Royal Crown }’
The Princess amused herself all day long
with little Froggie:
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw !’
It was such fun! She held him in her
hand, and carried him about wherever she
36 ONCE UPON A TIME
went. At table Froggie was to eat out of
her plate.
‘It is quite shocking!’ cried the Queen.
But as she was their only child, they forgave
her all her caprices.
Time passed, and at last the Princess
was old enough to be given away in
marriage. The Prince of Portugal had
asked for her hand, and the King and
Queen were delighted, but she said ‘ No.’
She would wed her little Froggie.
Now, was such a thing possible? .. .
But there was no means of persuading
her.
‘Froggie or nobody!’ _
‘lll Froggie you, roared the King, and
seizing the little creature by one of his legs
he was going to dash him on the ground; but
an eagle flew in at the open window, snatched
Froggie out of his hand, and disappeared.
The Princess wept day and night; poor
girl, it made one sad to see her! and all
the Court had to put on mourning.
In the meantime, in little Froggie’s old
home, it was a continual carnival. His
brothers made ‘ducks and drakes’ with the
gold their father had brought them; half
the neighbourhood banqueted there daily,
and money ran like a river. At last not
one penny-piece was remaining.
‘Papa, let us sell the King’s Crown )?
‘We must not touch the King’s Crown !?
LITTLE FROGGIE 37
‘Then are we to starve to death? ...
Let us sell it !’ :
‘The King’s Crown must not be sold !’
The poor father went back to the cave in
search of the old woman ; he began weeping.
‘What is the matter?’ she asked.
‘Good mother, our money is all spent,
and those boys of mine would fain sell the
King’s Crown, but I won’t allow them.’
‘Search well in that corner, there is some
bread and cheese, so you will sup-this even-
ing. Go to-morrow at noon, and wait for
me under the Palace windows: it will be
the making of your fortune.’
And he returned home; but a fearful
tragedy had taken place in his absence:
five of his sons lay dead on the floor in a
pool of blood, and one could just barely
breathe. j
‘Ah, dear father,’ gasped he, ‘a great
strong eagle came and knocked at the
window with his beak :
‘My boys, please show me the King’s
Crown.â€
‘“ Our father keeps it under lock and key.â€
* And where does he keep it ?â€
‘In this great coffer.†And the mighty
bird set to breaking open the coffer with
blows from his beak, and as we tried to
prevent him he murdered us all.’
Saying these words, the boy expired.
The poor man felt his very hair stand on
38 ONCE UPON A TIME
end: his children all slain, the King’s
Crown stolen !
The next day, when he met the old woman,
he related everything to her.
‘ Leave it to me,’ she answered.
Now, the Princess had fallen very ill;
the doctors were at their wits’ end, and no
longer knew what to give her.
‘May it please your Majesty,’ said they
at last to the King; ‘here we require little
Froggie, or it is all over with her Royal
Highness.’
LITTLE FROGGIE 39
The King was frantic with despair:
‘Where can we find that accursed Froggie?
the eagle must have digested him since ever
so long !’
At this juncture the old woman appeared:
‘May it please your Majesty, I know
where you can find Froggie, but you'll need
all your courage.’
‘IT am ready to let myself be torn to
pieces !’ replied the poor King.
‘Then take a knife with a diamond
blade, the finest ox in all your herds, and a
rope a mile long, and come with me’
The King took the knife with the diamond
blade, the finest ox in all his herds, and the
rope a mile long, and set out with the old
woman. No one was to follow them.
They walked on for two whole days, and
on the third, towards sunset, they reached a
wide plain. There stood the enchanted
tower, a mile high, without either doors or
windows.
‘Little Froggie is up there,’ said the old
woman. ‘Those ugly birds flying about
the top of the tower are his jailors. You
must climb up there,’
‘And how ??
‘Your Majesty must first kill the ox, and
then we shall see.’
So the King killed the ox.
‘Your Majesty must now skin it, and leave
a great deal of the flesh sticking to the hide.’
4o ONCE UPON A TIME
So the King skinned the ox, taking care
to leave a great deal of flesh sticking to the
hide.
‘Now, we must turn this hide inside out,’
said the old woman. ‘I shall sew you into
it, and those ugly birds will swoop down,
and carry you up in their strong beaks,
During the night you must slit open the
hide with your diamond knife, and in the
morning, when the eagle and those horrid
birds go off to seek for prey, you must make
the rope fast to the top of the tower; then
take little Froggie and the Royal Crown,
and holding the knife between, your teeth
let yourself slip down the rope.’
The King hesitated :
‘And supposing the rope were to give
way?..
‘Tf you keep the knife fast between your
teeth the rope will not break.’
So the King, for love of his daughter,
let himself be sewn into the ox-hide at once;
and lo! the hateful carrion birds came swoop-
ing down, and bore him up to the tower top
in their strong talons.
When it was dark night he slit the hide
open with his: diamond knife, and creeping
out of it hid himself in a gloomy corner.
When daylight came he waited in his
hiding-place till the eagle and the other
birds of prey had taken themselves off in
quest of food, Then he made fast the rope
42 ONCE UPON A TIME
to the topmost ledge of the great tower,
took little Froggie and the Crown, which
he had found, as the old woman told him
he would, and began to let himself slip
down the rope.
And the knife? . . . he had quite forgot-
ten it! ;
He had scarcely got down a little bit
when the rope began to screak fearfully :
‘Ahi, ahi! Iam going to snap, give me a
drink !?
What could he do? He bit a vein in
his.arm and let the warm blood gush out
on the rope, and all the while kept slipping
down. ,
But soon after the rope again cried :
‘Ahi, ahi! I am breaking, give me a
drink !? - :
The poor King bit a vein in his other
arm and let the warm blood gush out on
the rope, and all the while he kept slipping
down,
But the rope began again: é
‘Ahi, ahi! I am going to break, give
me a drink!’
The King, seeing that but little was
wanting to reach the ground, said:
‘Then break if you will!’ -
And break it did; but luckily he got off
with only a few bruises, And the old
woman gathered some leaves from a plant
growing near, with which she dressed the
LITTLE FROGGIE 43
torn veins in his arms, and they closed up
at once.
No sooner did the Princess behold her
little Froggie than she began to recover :
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw!’ .
And the Froggie held out his paw at
once, and to her only.
The King, to put an end to all this, wanted
to have the wedding celebrated at once, but
the old woman said:
‘You must wait yet a month. In the
meantime cause a great caldron full of
boiling oil to be prepared.’
‘What is to be done with it?’
‘You will know when the time comes.’
When the day came at last, the oil was
boiling and seething in the great caldron.
The old woman made her appearance,
followed by Froggie’s poor father, driving
a cart on which were laid the dead bodies
of his Six sons.
‘Princess,’ said the old woman, ‘if you
want to wed little Froggie, you must take
him by a leg and plunge him three times
into the boiling oil.’
The Princess hesitated,
‘Throw me in, do throw me in!’ cried
little Froggie to her.
And she plunged him in, once! twice!
but the third time he slipped from her hold
and fell right to the bottom of the caldron.
The Princess fainted clean away !
44 ONCE UPON A TIME
The King wanted to have the old woman
put to death; but she quickly seized the
dead bodies of the six brothers, and throw-
ing them one after another into the boiling
oil, began to stir it round with her long
staff; and all the while she sang:
‘ What fine soap-suds, what fine lye!
Soon they’ll jump out, high-and dry !’
And as she sang, lo and behold! the
eldest brother was the first to jump out
alive !
‘ What fine soap-suds, what fine lye !
Soon they'll jump out, high and dry!’
And she stirred away with a will. And
behold! out jumped the second, And so
on, one by one, all the brothers.
‘What fine soap-suds, what fine lye !
Soon he'll jump out, high and dry {'
And she stirred away with all her might.
But little Froggie only came to the top
and floated about ; he didn’t jump out.
No sooner did the Princess catch sight
of him than she tried to take him out, but
the old woman drew her back.
Did she want to scald herself? She
must do as usual,
‘ Little Froggie, give me your paw!’
Little Froggie held out his paw to the
Princess . . . and who should step out of
LITTLE FROGGIE 45
the oil but a most beautiful young man,
who looked every inch a king !
The Princess recognised in him the baby
the poor man had wanted to sell to her, and
begged pardon for having been so rude as
to slam the window to in his face. Little
Froggie, as you may well think, had already
quite forgiven her.
The wedding was celebrated with the
most splendid rejoicings, and in the course
of time little Froggie became King.
So my story's ended,
If you are offended
Run to the Blacksmith’'s
And get it mended !
NO-EARS
ONCE upon a time there was a King who
had one only child, a little daughter. The
Queen had died at the little one’s birth,
and the King had taken in a Nurse to bring
her up.
One day, when the little girl was about
three years of age, the Nurse brought her
NO-EARS 47
down to play as usual in the Royal Garden,
and she ran about in the shade of the wide-
spreading trees, and rolled over and over
on the soft green grass. Towards noon
the Nurse, who felt very drowsy with the
heat, dropped off to sleep; but when she
awoke, the little Princess was no longer to
be seen. She searched for the child high
and low, and called to her all over the
garden: no answer came! The child had
really disappeared.
How on earth was she to appear before
the King, who simply doated on his little
daughter ?
The poor woman beat her breast and
tore her hair at the thought of it.
‘O Lord! O Lord! his Majesty will
surely have me hanged, to say the least.’
The guards came running at her cries,
and searched and hunted everywhere, but
all in vain.
Dinner-time came.
‘And where is the Princess?’ asked the
King.
The Cabinet Ministers, as white as sheets,
looked at each other, but not a word did
they answer.
‘Where zs the Princess ?’ again.
‘Oh, please your Majesty,’ stammered
out the Prime Minister, ‘an accident has
happened !’
The poor King was frantic with grief.
48 ONCE UPON A TIME
He immediately caused a proclamation to
be issued :
‘To whoever brings back the missing
Princess, any favour he asks will be granted !’
But six whole months passed and nobody
presented himself at the Royal Palace,
Messengers were sent from kingdom to
kingdom :
‘Be he Christian, be he Infidel, to who-
ever brings back the Princess any favour
he asks will be granted
But a year passed and yet no one pre-
sented himself at the Royal Palace.
The King was inconsolable, he wept day
and night.
Now you must know that in the Royal
Garden there stood a draw-well, and while
her Nurse was asleep the little Princess had
gone up to it and leant over the edge.
Deep down in the glassy water she saw,
as in a mirror, another child like herself,
and had called out to it ‘Ehi! ehi!’ beckon-
ing with her little hand, Thereupon a great
long hairy arm had stretched up from the
bottom of the well, and seizing hold of her
had drawn her down into its depths. Thus
for several years she dwelt in the bottom
of the well with the Were-Wolf, for he it
was who had dragged her down,
At the bottom of the well lay a great cave,
ten times as big as the King’s Palace. The
rooms were all encrusted with gold and
NO-EARS 49
diamonds, one richer and more beautiful
than the other. True it is, the sun’s rays
never reached them, but it was light all the
same. The child was cared for and waited
on as became a Princess of her rank,
There was a maid to undress her, another to
dress her ; one to wash her, another to do her
hair ; one to bring her her breakfast, another
to wait on her at dinner; finally one to put her
to bed. She had grown quite accustomed to
living there, and was not at all unhappy.
The Were-Wolf used to sleep and snore
all day long, and at night he went away.
And as the child would scream with terror
whenever she saw him, he showed himself
but rarely, so as not to frighten her.
During all this time the Princess had
grown up into a most lovely young girl.
One evening she had already gone to
bed, but could not sleep. Hearing the
Were-Wolf about to go away, she listened
more attentively than usual. He roared
out with his ugly hoarse voice :
‘Call me the Cook!’
The Cook came.
‘J think it is just about time, said the
Were-Wolf; ‘she is as plump as a partridge.’
‘We must see,’ replied the Cook.
And the Princess heard them turn the
handle of her door ever so gently.
Alas! then they were speaking of her!
Did the Were-Wolf want to eat her up?
E
50 ONCE UPON A TIME
She felt her very flesh creep at the thought,
as you may well believe. So she curled
herself up as small as possible, and made
believe to be fast asleep. The Were-Wolf
came near the bed, drew down the coverlet
very carefully, and began feeling her all
over, just as though she were a fowl whose
neck he was going to Wale es
‘Another week yet,’ said the Cook, ‘and
she will be.a morsel fit for a King!’
As she heard these words the-poor Prin-
cess breathed more freely.
Eight days yet! ah, the Were-Wolf would
not eat that partridge! not if she knew it!
So she thought, and thought, and thought;
at last a bright idea came to her. She
jumped out of bed as soon as it was morn-
ing, and ran to the mouth ‘of the cave, just
under the well, and there she waited till
some one would come to draw water. At
last the pulley began to creak, and the bucket
made a great splash as it reached the surface
of the water; the Princess grasped tight
hold of the rope, steadying her little feet on
the edge of the bucket. They began to
draw her up slowly, for she was rather
heavy. All at once, break goes the rope,
and down comes the bucket, Princess and
all; patapunfete /
Her handmaidens came running and
pulled her out of the water.
‘I got dizzy and fell in; don’t speak of
NO-EARS Sr
this, for pity’s sake; the Were-Wolf would
beat me !’
And so one day passed.
The second day she waited and waited,
but the bucket did not come down. She
must find some other means of escape ; but
that was easier said than done. Which
means? ‘There was only that one way out
of the cave.
And another day passed.
Yet the Princess did not lose heart. As
soon as it was daylight, there she was at
her post ; but no bucket came down,
And two more days passed so.
One morning, as she was weeping bitterly
and staring hard at the clear water, she be-
held a small Red Fish, that looked like
gold, with his tail as white as silver, and
three black spots on his back.
‘Oh, you little Fish, how lucky you are!
You are free to swim about in the water,
and here am I, all alone, without family or
friends !?
The little Fish swam right up to the
surface of the water, wagging his tail about,
and opening and shutting his mouth; he
seemed to have heard her.
‘Oh, you little Fish,’ again cried the
Princess, ‘how fortunate you are! Here
am I, all alone, without family or friends,
and in four days I am to be eaten up !’
The little Red Fish with the silver-white
52 ONCE UPON A TIME
tail and the three black spots on his back
came near the edge:
‘If you were of royal blood, and willing
to marry me, we should both be free,
Nothing else is wanting to break my enchant-
ment.’
‘I am of royal blood, O little Gold-Fish,
and from.this moment I am your bride.’
‘Then get on my back,’ said the. little
Fish, ‘and hold on tightly.’
The Princess got up on the back of the
little Fish, and, seized hold of his fins; and
the Fish swam and swam till he bore her
right down to the bottom of the well, An
underground stream flowed past. The little
Fish got well into the current, with the
Princess holding on by his fins as fast as
she could.
But all of a sudden they met an enormous
NO-EARS 53
fish, with its mouth gaping wide open; it
came straight to swallow them up.
‘Pay your toll-money, or you don’t pass
here !’ cried the monster.
The Princess tore off one of her ears, and
threw it to the creature; and so they passed,
and swam on and on. But lo! they met
another great fish, ever so much larger than
the first, with its huge mouth a-gape, show-
ing a whole forest of teeth:
‘ Pay the toll, or you don’t pass here !?
And the Princess tore off her other ear
and threw it to the monster.
When at last the kind stream bore them
into the open air, the little Fish set the
Princess down on the bank, and with one
leap was out of the water. He had changed
into a very handsome young man, with three
moles on his face.
‘Let us go and present ourselves to my
father,’ said the Princess ; ‘it is now thirteen
years since he saw me.’
At the Palace gates the guards refused
to let them pass.
‘But I am your Princess! I am the
King’s daughter !’
No one would believe her, not even the
King himself; yet he gave orders that she
should be brought before him.
‘Who knows?’ he thought; ‘it might just *
be true!’
The King looked hard at her from top to
54 ONCE UPON A TIME
toe; it seemed true, and yet it didn’t seem
true. She related to him all her story, only
she said nothing about her ears, for she was
ashamed ; she even kept her hair hanging
down to hide their absence.
But one of the Ministers noticed them,
and cried:
‘And your ears, my good girl? Where
did you lose your ears?’
The King was indignant at having been im-
posed upon, as he fancied, and ordered her
off to clean the pots and pans in the royal
kitchen, Prince Fish (as he was called
from the first) was sent to sweep out the
stables.
So they would learn to make game of the
King !
One fine day his Majesty wanted to
have some fish to dinner, but in all the
market there were only two fish to be found,
and nobody knew what kind of fish they
were, not even the fishmongers themselves.
They had been lying there since the day
before, and were even beginning to go bad.
‘Very well,’ said the King, ‘have them
brought to the kitchen all the same!’
Once in the kitchen the Cook went to
open them, and what should he find in their
insides? two little human ears, still fresh
with blood!
He immediately called No-Ears; that
was the name they had given her:
NO-EARS 55
‘No-Ears! No-Ears! here’s something
for you !’
The Princess came running; they were
really her ears. Trembling with joy she
fitted them.on to her head, and they grew
fast on at once.
And now with her ears on her father
recognised her :
‘It is she! It is indeed my own
daughter !â€
And he ordered great rejoicings to be
held for eight whole days. Then as he was
very old he resigned his crown to the young
couple, and King Fishikin and Queen No-
Ears reigned long and happily for many
years.
The leaf is green, the way is long ;
My story’s told, now sing your song !
THE WERE-WOLF
ONCE upon a time there were a King and
a Queen who had no children, and they
prayed day and night that one might be
granted them, at least one!
At the same time they also consulted all
the wise men of their kingdom;
‘Your Majesty must do this.’
‘Your Majesty must do that,’
And pills here, and potions there; but
the much-sighed-for child did not make its
appearance.
One fine winter’s day it was rather cold,
and the Queen -had come down to walk
about in front of the Palace, to warm her-
self in the sun. A little old woman came
by:
‘Please give me something for charity,
fair lady !’
The Queen, to save herself the trouble of
taking her hands out of her muff, answered :
‘I have nothing to give you.’
And the little old woman hobbled away
grumbling,
THE WERE-WOLF 57
‘What was she muttering?’ asked the
Queen of her attendants.
‘She said that one day or another your
Majesty would need her aid’
The Queen bade one of the pages run
after her to call her back, but the little old
woman had turned the corner and dis-
appeared.
Eight days later a stranger presented
himself, and requested to speak to the King
in private :
‘Please your Majesty, 1 have a potion
58 ONCE UPON A TIME
that will cure the Queen, but first of all let
us make a bargain.’
‘Oh, capital!’ cried the King; ‘let us
make the bargain, then !?
‘Well, if a boy is born to you, you will
keep him for yourself?
‘And should it be a girl instead ??
‘If it is a girl, as soon as she has accom-
plished her seventh year you must bring her
up to the top of that mountain, and there aban-
don her—you will never hear of her again,
‘I must consult the Queen,’ said the poor
King.
‘Ah! that means that we shall come to
no agreement.’
Driven thus between the wall and the
door, the King accepted the conditions.
The stranger then drew from his pocket
a phial so very small that it could hardly be
seen between his fingers, and said:
‘This is a powerful potion. As soon as
the Queen falls asleep this evening your
Majesty must pour all the phial into her ear.
That will be enough.’
And so it was. -A short time after this
the Queen gave birth to a child, a most
beautiful little girl When the King was
told he burst into tears :
‘Poor little one! what a sad destiny
awaits her! what a sad fate !?
The Queen heard of this, and when she
saw the King, asked:
THE WERE-WOLP 59
‘Why did your Majesty weep and say
“ Poor little one! what a sad fate†?’
‘Don’t pay any attention to that, dear!â€
Well, the Princess grew up, more beauti-
ful than the sunlight; the King and Queen
quite worshipped her. When she entered
her seventh year the poor father had no
more peace of mind, thinking that he would
soon have to carry her up to the top of the
mountain, and there abandon her, never to
hear of her any more. But that was the
agreement he had made, and he was forced
to maintain it.
The day the Princess completed her
seventh year, the King said to the Queen:
‘I am going to the country with the child,
and we shall be back towards evening.’
So they set out together, and walked and
walked till they reached the foot of the
mountain, and began to ascend it. The
Princess got tired and could not climb,
so the King took her in his arms.
‘Papa, what are we going to do up |
there? . . . Let us go back again !’
The King did not reply, but swallowed the
salt tears that were running down his cheeks,
so that the little one might not see them.
‘Papa, dear, what are we going up there
for? Let us turn back again !’
And again the King drank the bitter
tears that ran down his cheeks, but not a
word did he answer.
60 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Papa, why are we coming up here?
Let us go home again!’
‘Sit down here and wait a minute, darling.’
And putting her down he went away,
and abandoned her to her fate.
When the Queen saw him return alone,
she began crying out:
‘And our child? My little daughter ?
What have you done with her ??
‘An eagle swooped down on us, and seizing
her in its talons bore her away.’
‘Oh, my poor little daughter! It cannot
be true!’
‘A-wild animal rushed out on us, and
carried her off to devour her in the forest.’
‘Oh, my poor little daughter! but it
cannot be true !?
‘She was playing on the banks of a
stream, and she fell in, and the current
carried her away.’
‘It can’t be true! It can’t be true !’
still cried the wretched mother.
Then at last the King told her all the truth,
word for word, and the poor Queen rushed
off like a madwoman in quest of her little
daughter.
When she reached the mountain top
she searched about and called to her for
three days and three nights, but did not
find the faintest trace of her ; and at last she
returned home to her Palace, heart-broken
and disconsolate.
THE WERE-WOLF 61
Seven long years passed away. Nothing
had ever been heard or seen of the missing
child.
One day the: Queen happened to look
over the parapet of a small terrace, and
whom should she see down in the street
below but the little old woman, the very
same that she had caused so much search °
to be made for.
‘Good woman! good woman! please to
come up here!’
‘Please your Majesty, I am in a great
hurry now; I shall come back to-morrow,
The Queen felt rather put out. The
next day she stayed the whole morning on
the little terrace waiting for her.
No sooner did she see her pass than
she cried :
_*Good woman! good woman! will you
please come up here !’
‘Please your Majesty, I am in great
haste to-day; I shall pass again to-morrow.’
The following day the Queen, to make
sure of her, went down and waited before
the front door.
‘Please your Majesty, I am in a greater
hurry than ever; I shall come back to-
morrow.’
But the Queen caught hold of her by the
arm, and would not let her go; and there on
the stairs she humbly begged the old woman’s
pardon for having refused to give her alms.
62 ONCE UPON A TIME
“Ah, good woman! good woman! let me
but find my child again !’
‘But, your Majesty, what can I know
about her? I am but a poor little old
woman.’ :
‘Ah, good woman! good woman! only
help me to find my child again!’
‘Then it is bad news~I must give your
Majesty; the Princess is fallen into the
power of the Were-Wolf; it was he who
gave the phial with the potion and made the
bargain with the King. In a month’s time
hence he will ask her: “Do you want me
for your husband?†If she answers “no,â€
he will make but two mouthfuls of her.
You must give her warning in time.’
‘And where does the Were-Wolf live ??
‘Please your Majesty, he lives under-
ground ; you must go down and down for
three days and three nights, without ever
eating or drinking or resting, and on the
third day you will be there. Take with
you a little knife, a ball of thread, and a
handful of corn, and come with me.’
The Queen took everything as the old
woman had ordered her, and they set out
together,
At last they reached a hole in the earth,
through which they could just barely pass.
The little old woman fastened one end of
the ball of thread to a small plant growing
near, and said:
THE WERE-WOLF 63
‘Who sows well, reaps the harvest ;
Who ties thee, unties thee best !’
And in they went. Then down, and
down, and down; the Queen felt her knees
breaking under her:
‘My little old woman, let us rest a while!’
‘Quite impossible, your Majesty !’
And down, and down, and down; the
Queen could go no farther for hunger:
‘Little old woman, let us eat a mouthful,
1 am fainting from weakness !’
‘It is quite impossible, your Majesty |’
So down, and down, and down they went ;
the Queen’s throat was parched with thirst :
‘Little old woman, for pity’s sake, one
drop of water !?
‘Please your Majesty, it is quite im-
possible !’
At last they came out on a vast plain.
The ball of thread was now finished, so
the little old woman tied the other end of
it to a small shrub hard by, and said:
‘Who sows well, reaps the harvest ;
Who ties thee, unties thee best !’
After that they advanced into the plain.
At every step the Queen was to drop a
grain of corn into the earth, and the old
woman said cach time:
‘Corn, good corn, grow high and free !
As I sow, shall 1 reap thee !’
64 ONCE UPON A TIME
And the corn took root and grew up at
once, with long full ears that hung down.
‘Now, your Majesty must stick the little
knife into the ground, and cough three times ;
we are at our journey’s end,’
So the Queen stuck the little knife into
the ground and coughed three times, and
the little old woman said :
‘ Little knife, little knife so stout,
As I stick thee in, so I'll pull thee out !’
And now let us leave them to return to
the Princess.
When she saw she was left quite alone
on the top of the mountain she began to
cry and scream for terror, till at last, poor
child, she cried herself to sleep. She woke
up again in a great Palace, but in all the
splendid rooms and halls she found not
one living soul. She wandered about alone
till she felt tired.
‘Sit down, Princess ; sit down !’
It was the chairs that spoke.
She sat down, and after a little she began
to feel hungry: lo! a table appeared, all
ready laid, with smoking-hot dishes served
upon it,
‘Eat, my Princess; eat!’
And it was the table that spoke.
She ate and drank heartily, and soon after
drowsiness crept on her.
‘Sleep, my Princess; sleep!’
THE WERE-WOLF 68
It was a soft couch that spoke; she was
quite astounded! . . . So she lay down,
and fell asleep at once.
And so on every day. She wanted for
nothing, but she wearied terribly of staying
there all alone, without ever seeing a human
face; and often she wept thinking of her
good papa and mamma. Once she began
to call for them, quite loud, and sobbing :
‘Dear papa! my own mamma! how have
you the heart to leave me here? Mamma!
mamma !’
But a great rough voice called out to her:
‘Be quiet there! silence !’
She shrank away into a corner, much
frightened, and did not venture to speak
again.
After a whole year had passed, one fine
day she heard a voice asking :
‘Would you like to see me?’
And it was not at all that gruff nasty
voice that had frightened her so; she
answered :
‘Very willingly !’
And behold! the doors of her chamber
flew open of themselves, and from the end of
a long suite of rooms there came forward
such a tiny little thing, only a foot high,
all dressed in stuff of golden tissue, with
a little red velvet cap on his head, from
which rose a magnificent white feather,
taller than himself.
F
66 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Good day, Princess !’
‘Good day! Oh, you dear little fellow,
how pretty you are!’ cried the Princess.
And she caught him in her arms, and began
kissing and petting him, and jumping him
up in the air as if he had been a doll.
‘Will you have me for your husband ?
Do you want to have me?’ asked the little
creature.
The Princess laughed and answered :
‘Yes, I want you! I want you!’
And she jumped him up in the air, catch--
ing him again in her hands,
‘What’s your name, little thing ?’
‘Little Spoolikin,’ answered he.
‘What are you doing here ?’
‘I am the master here,’
THE WERE-WOLF 67
‘Ah, then, let me go! let me go to my
own home !’
‘No, no! we are to be married !?
‘Rather think of growing for the present,
my little man !’
Spoolikin was quite offended and went
away, and for a whole year did not show
himself again.
The Princess wearied of being there all
alone and never seeing a human face,
Every day she would call out : j
‘Spoolikin ! Spoolikin !?
But no Spoolikin answered. One day,
at last, the voice again asked her:
‘Would you like to see me?’
‘Most willingly !’ replied the Princess,
Surely he must have grown a little-in a
year’s time! but when the doors were thrown
open the same tiny creature appeared before
her, in the same suit of golden tissue, with
his red velvet cap with the fine white feather
taller than himself.
‘Good day, Princess.’
‘Good day, Spoolikin.’
The Princess was surprised to see him
quite the same, not one bit grown. She
caught him up in her arms, and began to
kiss and caress him, tossing him up in the
air like a doll, ,
‘Will you have me for your husband ??
asked the manikin ; ‘will you have me ??
And the Princess laughed outright :
68 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Yes, Vl have you! yes, I'll have you!
but in the meantime see and grow a little
bigger.’
Then she made him turn a somersault in
the air, and caught him again in her hands.
Spoolikin was highly offended at this,
and went away.
And regularly every year the same thing
happened: and seven years had passed
away. During these seven years the Prin-
cess had grown up to be such a lovely
maiden that four pairs of eyes would have
been necessary to guard her.
One night, as she could not sleep, she
was thinking sadly of her father and mother.
‘Who knows if they still remember me ?
They may think I am dead !’
And she was weeping on her pillow, when
all at once she heard some one throwing
little pebbles against the outer shutter of her
window.
Who on earth could it be at that hour?
. She gathered up courage, jumped out of
bed, opened the shutters ever so gently,
and asked in a whisper :
‘Who is there? what do you want ?’
‘It is I, my daughter; we are come on
your account !’
The Princess was ready to jump out of
the window for joy.
‘Listen, my child,’ said the Queen in an
‘undertone; ‘that Spoolikin is the Were-
THE WERE-WOLF 69
Wolf. He appeared to you in that fashion
so as not to frighten you, but now that you
are grown up he will, in a few days, show
himself in his real shape. But do not be
alarmed, dear child, and if he again says to
you ‘Will you have me for your husband ?â€
be sure and answer “yes,†or you are lost;
‘he would then make but two mouthfuls of
you. To-morrow night, at this same hour,
we shall meet again.’
In the morning the Princess heard the
voice as usual ;
“Do you want to see me?’
‘Oh, most willingly !’ answered she.
And the doors flew open, but instead of
Spoolikin there sprang forward the Were-
Wolf, a great, gaunt, hairy monster, with
such fearful eyes and teeth! May the Lord
preserve all of us from ever falling into his
power ! :
The poor Princess at.this sight felt that
she was going to faint.
‘Will you have me for your husband ?’
roared the brute; ‘I made you on purpose
for myself.’
She was trembling like a leaf, and dared
not reply.
“Will you have me for your husband ??
yelled he.
The more the Princess heard the fright-
ful voice the more she trembled, and she
got bewildered. She wanted to answer
jo ONCE UPON A TIME
‘yes,’ but in her trouble ‘Oh no, no!? fell
from her lips instead,
‘Then come here!’ howled the Were-
Wolf.
And he pounced on her with his terrible
claws to swallow her up.
‘Wait at least till to-morrow! I beg it of
you as a grace!’
The Were-Wolf paused a minute uncer-
tain, and then answered :
‘Be it as you desire! To-morrow you
shall be eaten up!’ é
That night, at the hour fixed upon, the
Princess looked out of her window :
‘Oh, my own mamma dear,’ she cried
under her breath, ‘I said “no†without
wanting to: to-morrow I am to be eaten
up!’
‘ Take courage!’ said the little old woman,
and she knocked loudly at the Palace gate.
‘Who is there? Whom do you want ??
At the roar of the Were-Wolf all the
building shook.
‘I am Little Knife,
I’m planted in the hard ground,
To defend the child I've found.’
The Were-Wolf could do nothing against
this charm, And next morning, at dawn,
he came out, and seeing the little knife stuck
in the ground, he gnawed his hands for
rage:
THE WERE-WOLF qt
‘If I find out who has planted this, I
shall make but one mouthful of him !’
And he looked and searched all over the
place, but not a soul could he find. At
last he called the Princess :
‘Come here! wrench this little knife out
of the ground for me, and I promise not to
eat you up.’
The Princess believed him, and drew out
the little knife.
‘And now come here!’ roared the
monster.
And he seized upon her with his mighty
claws, and was going to gobble her up.
‘Ah! wait at least till to-morrow to eat
me! I beg it of you as a grace!’
The Were-Wolf reflected a minute as if
uncertain, then replied :
‘Then I grant it you !’
That night the Princess again looked
out of her window:
‘Oh, my own dear mamma! what shall
I do? He said, “Wrench this little
knife out of the ground for me,†and I
drew it out, and now I must be eaten up
to-morrow.’
‘Take courage, child.’
And the little old woman knocked at the
gate, louder than before.
‘Who is there? whom do you want ?’
At the Were-Wolf’s roar all the Palace
shook again.
72 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Iam Little Barley-Corn !
I’m planted in the dark ground,
To defend the child I've found !'
And the Were-Wolf could do nothing
against this charm, Next morning, at
dawn, he came down, and when he saw the
corn springing from the ground, with the
ears all ripe and hanging down, he bit his
very hands for rage:
‘If I find out who has sown this, I'll
make but one mouthful of him !’
And he looked and searched all about,
but found nobody. And when the Princess
came down he said to her:
‘Come here! reap this corn for me, and
I promise I shall not eat you.’
The Princess again believed him, which
was very foolish. of her, I think, and set to
work. There was no charm ‘against her, so
in one day she easily reaped it all.
‘And now come here till I eat you!’
cried the Were-Wolf.
‘I beg you as a grace,’ sobbed she, ‘ wait
at least till to-morrow to eat me!’
He hesitated one minute to consider, and
then said:
‘Well, I grant you it, for the last time!’
And when night came, the unfortunate
Princess looked out of her window.
‘Oh, my own dear mamma! He said to
me, ‘‘ Reap me this corn,†and I reaped it for
him, and to-morrow I am to be eaten up.’
THE WERE-WOLF 73.
‘Take courage, child,’
And once mote the little old woman
knocked loudly at the gate.
‘Who is there?’ roared out the Were-
Wolf.
‘I am fine Yarn Thread !
To the green plant I am bound,
To defend the child I’ve found !'
The Were-Wolf could do nothing against
this charm either. Next morning, at dawn,
he came out, and as soon as he saw the
thread tied to the little plant he bit his
hands for sheer rage, and cried to the
Princess :
‘Come here, and untie me this thread at
both ends; I promise not to eat you!’
But this time the old woman had taught
the Princess how to do.
She was not to stop Once, but go on
walking and walking ; nor was she to eat or
drink, but wind and wind at the thread,
and so straight on.
So she untied the zear end of the thread,
and began walking straight forward, wind-
ing it up; and the Were-Wolf came after
her.
‘Eat a mouthful, eat a mouthful,’ said he;
‘you must be hungry.’
‘Tam not hunery, I'll eat when I am,’
said the Princess,
And on and on: she in front winding up
74 ONCE UPON A TIME
the thread, and the Were-Wolf close after
her,
‘ Drink a drop of water, only a little drop,’
said he.
‘I shall drink when I’m thirsty,’ was her
answer.
By this time they had reached the hole
that served as way out. When the Were-
Wolf saw that the other end of the thread
was tied to a little plant outside the hole,
he gnawed and bit at his hands for very
rage. At the sight of the little old woman
he got as white in the face as bleached
linen,
‘Oh! my arch-enemy!’ he faltered; ‘I
am lost! I am lost !’
And the Queen and the Princess turned
round, and instead of the little old woman
beheld a most beautiful lady, lovely as the
morning star. It was the Queen of the
Fairies.
You can well imagine their joy!
In the meantime, the Queen of the Fairies
was taking stones and piling them up, one
upon the other, before the hole:
‘Stones, stones, both good and true!
Who builds you up shall undo you too!’
And when the hole was quite walled up,
the Queen of the Fairies disappeared before
they could even thank her.
THE WERE-WOLF 75
So the horrid, wicked Were-Wolf was left
inside to die of hunger.
The Queen and the Princess returned
home to their Palace, safe and sound, and
a year later the Princess married the King
of Portugal.
CHICK-PEA
ONCE upon a time there lived a King who
loved hunting above all things,
His Ministers of State would often say to
him:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects would like to have a
Queen,’
And his answer always was :
‘I shall marry next year.’
’ But the year would pass; then the
Ministers would return to the attack:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects would like you: to
give them a Queen,’
‘I shall certainly marry next year,’ would
he say.
But chaz year never came.
Every morning, as soon as the first dawn
of light began to peep, he would sling his
game-pouch on his back, and with his gun
on his shoulder and his dogs at his heels,
away he would go to the woods and covers.
Whoever required to speak to the King
CHICK-PEA 77
on business of any kind had to go search-
ing for him all over the country.
The Ministers once more made an
attempt:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects ardently desire a
Queen.’
So that at last, to get rid of them, the
King made up his mind to ask the hand of
the King of Spain’s daughter.
But when he went to Spain to wed her,
he remarked that she was a little hunch-
backed :
‘What! I marry a hunchback? No,
never |?
‘But her face is lovely, and she is most
virtuous,’ objected his Ministers.
‘But she is hunchbacked, and that is
more than enough! No, never!’ cried the
King.
And he returned home to his hunting,
and his woods and covers.
Now, you must know that the hunch-
backed Princess had a Fairy Godmother.
The Fairy, seeing her weeping because of
the King’s refusal, said to her:
‘Be of good heart; he shal? marry you,
and shall have to come and sue for your
hand. Leave it all to me!’
Well, it happened one day that the King
in going out shooting met a poor, common-
looking woman, so thin and poverty-stricken
78 ONCE UPON A TIME
that a blast of wind might have blown her
away.
‘Good sport to your Majesty !’ cried she.
The King, irritated at the sight of such
an ill-omened face, shrugged his shoulders
rudely, and made no answer.
That day he didn’t even bag so much as
a tom-tit.
Another morning he went out, and there
he met the same poor woman again, so thin
and starved-looking that a breath might
have blown her over.
“Good sport to your Majesty !’
‘Now listen, you old witch!’ roared the
King to her; ‘if I catch you once again on
my way, I’ll give you to understand! mind
my words !’
And all that day he didn’t even ae so
much as one little wren.
But the following morning there was
that ill-omened old woman again:
‘Good sport to your Majesty !’
‘Pll give you some good sport, that I
will!’ cried the King in a fury.
He had brought a body of guards with
him, and he ordered the poor old woman
to be shut up in prison.
From that day forth the King went out
shooting in vain; he was never able to
bring down so much as a feather. The
game had all disappeared as by magic
from his woods and covers. Not a hare, not
CHICK-PEA 79
even a rabbit, was to be had, even had he
been ready to pay its weight in gold for it.
But still worse befell him.
As he was no longer able to take his
usual exercise in going out shooting, the
King began to get fatter and fatter, and
in a short time he had grown so stout that
he weighed two hundredweights, and his
body had swollen out till it looked like a
wine-cask. When he would take two or
three turns in the rooms of his Palace, he
felt as if he had walked a hundred miles : he
would then breathe so hard that he seemed
a forge-bellows, and the perspiration that
streamed down his cheeks formed a pool
on the floor. Then he would have to sit
down at once to rest and eat something very
substantial to restore his failing strength.
He was quite in despair, and consulted
all the doctors,
‘I should like to get thin again,’ he would
say to them.
And the doctors wrote prescription after
prescription for him: they consumed gallons
of ink. Not a day passed that the chemist
did not send up great bottles of mixtures
and messes, as bitter as gall,
But the more physic his Majesty took,
the stouter he grew.
All the doors of the rooms had to be
made wider, that the King might pass
through; and once the Court architects
80 ONCE UPON A TIME
even said that if the floors and pavements
were not well propped up, his Majesty
would sink through them some day or other.
The poor King was desperate.
Was there then no remedy for him ?
And he had other doctors called in, but
all in vain; the more they prescribed for
him, the fatter he grew.
At last one day an old woman presented
herself, and said to the King:
‘Your Majesty is under a malignant
charm; I could break it, but as a recom-
pense your Majesty must wed my daughter,
who is called Chick-Pea, because she is so
very tiny.’
‘Then Pll wed your Chick-Pea!’ answered
the wretched monarch.
Heaven only knows what he would zof
have done, so as only to get rid of his
unwieldy body.
‘Then bring her to me!’
The old woman thrust her hand into
her apron-pocket and drew out Chick-Pea,
who was barely an inch high, but very
pretty, and in perfect proportion.
No sooner did she behold that great fat
mass than she burst out laughing; and as
the woman held her on the palm of her
hand to let the King see her better, with
one bound she skipped away and began
climbing up his Majesty’s body, running
here and there as if it were a hill for her.
CHICK-PEA 81
The King felt her little feet pattering
over him, and wanted to stop her, but she
sprang about here and there, worse than
any cricket, and would not let herself be
caught. The King laughed, Ha, ha, ha!
for her feet tickled him, and his great body
heaved and rolled so funnily: Ha, ha, ha!
Then Chick-Pea sang :
‘The King’s body shall be
A fit mansion for me!’
The King was laughing so loud, with his
mouth wide open—in sprang Chick-Pea,
and down his throat :
‘The King's body shall be
A fit mansion for me!’
I let you imagine for yourself the terror
that his Majesty and all his Court were
in!
In the midst of the confusion the old
woman had disappeared.
And Chick-Pea gave orders from her
mansion :
‘Give me something to eat!’
And the King was obliged to eat for her
as well as for himself.
‘Give me something to drink !?
And the King had also to drink for her.
‘Now, let me go to sleep !’
And there the King had to sit quite quiet,
that Chick-Pea might sleep,
‘Please your Majesty,’ said one of his
G
82 ONCE UPON A TIME
Ministers, ‘this may be some charm cast on
your Majesty by that thin, starved-looking
woman who was thrown into prison.’
‘Then have her brought before me,’
quoth the King.
When the warders went to open her
prison they found it empty. The woman
must have escaped through the key-hole !
And what was to be done now?
Meanwhile Chick-Pea in the King’s great
body kept calling out :
‘Give me something to eat! give me
something to drink !’
At last the King’s subjects began
grumbling over the taxes they had to pay,
for so much food was required to fill his
Majesty’s enormous stomach and _ satisfy
Chick-Pea! And they had to pay for it
all.
The King finally issued a proclamation :
Whoever would succeed in getting Chick-
Pea out of the King’s stomach would receive
the title of Prince Royal, and as much wealth
as he could desire !
But the heralds went all through the
kingdom in vain. And as Chick-Pea grew,
even a little, the King’s body swelled out
more and more, till there was danger of
his bursting at any moment.
Then the poor King entreated her:
‘Come out, my beautiful little Chick-Pea !
come out, and I shall make you my Queen!
CHICE-PEA . 83
‘Oh, please your Majesty, I am very
comfortable in here; will you give me some-
thing to eat ??
‘Come out, my lovely Chick-Pea, and you
shall be my Queen !? |
‘Please your Majesty, I am quite comfort-
able in here; I should like something to
drink !’
Had it not been for fear of dying, the
King would have torn himself open with his
own hands.
And his subjects grumbled more and
more: |
‘The King’s great body swallows up all
we’ve got; we're tired of working only for
King Glutton !?
As if their poor King Glutton, as they
called him, found much pleasure in it! He
alone could know how much he suffered,
with that odious Chick-Pea in his stomach,
ordering him about, and insisting on being
obeyed !| |
Happily the old woman made her appear-
ance one day.
‘Ah, you wicked old creature!’ cried the
King on seeing her; ‘take your Chick-Pea
away from me, or it will be worse for you !?
‘Please your Majesty, I am come on
purpose, with my two doctors.’
Now, her two doctors were two horrible-
looking birds, bigger than turkeys, with
great beaks a foot long and as strong as steel.
84 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Your Majesty must lie down flat on your
back in the middle of a plain.’
The poor King, who had grown so stout
that he could not move one single step,
ordered his attendants to roll him there.
And they forthwith began to roll him like
a cask, down the stairs and along the
streets, where a carpet had been spread ;
they were soon bathed in perspiration with
their hard work.
When they reached the plain, and had
laid the King flat on his back, one of the
great horrid birds perched itself on his body
and pecked at him, and what do you think
gushed out? Why, a jet of excellent wine,
all the wine his Majesty had drunk during
so many years !
And the people came running with casks,
and barrels, and vats, and flagons, and kegs,
and flasks, and decanters, and pig-skins, and
bottles, and glasses to fill; but there was no
finding enough of vessels to contain it all. It
was quite like vintage-time, and a jolly good
vintage too! And they were all tippling
and tasting, and hobnobbing to one another,
and getting as tipsy as could be,
Well, the King’s great body grew a little
less !
Then the other horrible bird came and
perched on him, and pecked at him in its
turn, and behold! out came all the good
things the King had eaten in so many years !
CHICK-PEA ~ 85
Macaroni, and sausages, and roast fowls, and
beef-steaks, and cakes, and fruit, and every
sort of dainty. The people did not know
where to stow them away. They all ate
to their hearts’ content. It was quite a
carnival !
And the King’s great body grew less and
* less!
Then he said:
‘Come out, my beautiful Chick-Pea, and
I shall make you my Queen !?
Chick-Pea passed her head through one
of the holes the birds had made, and answered,
laughing :
‘Here I am!’
And the King immediately grew to his
former stature.
So they were married, But his Majesty
fancied that with such a little make-believe
of a wife, barely a hand high, he was at
liberty to return to his old life and amuse-
ments, his shooting and dogs and guns;
and he used to stay away from home whole
weeks at a time.
Poor Chick-Pea stayed in her Palace and
wept:
‘Ah, poor little me !
A Queen without a King must I be !’
The King grew not to be able to bear her
because of her complaining.
And he went to consult a witch, and said:
86 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘What must I do in order to get rid of
Chick-Pea ?’
‘Your Majesty must
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted !’
He did not like to eat her; however, he
returned home and said to Chick-Pea:
‘To-morrow I’ll take you out shooting
with me, and you can amuse yourself.’
He wanted to lead her into the depths of
the forest, where no one would be able to
see him.-
But Chick-Pea replied :
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted ?
‘Thanks, your Majesty !
‘Ah, poor little me !
A Queen without a King must I be!’
The King was quite astonished.
How could she know it ?
So he went back to the witch and related
the whole thing to her,
‘When Chick-Pea will have fallen asleep,
your Majesty must cut off a lock of her
hair, and bring it to me.’
However, as fate would have it, Chick-
Pea did not seem much inclined to go to
bed that evening. ‘
‘Come to bed, Chick-Pea,’ said the King.
CHICK-PEA 87
‘A little later, your Majesty; I don’t
feel at all sleepy yet. :
So the King waited and waited; he was
the first to fall asleep. When he awoke
next morning, he saw that Chick-Pea was
already up and dressed.
‘Have you not slept all night, my Chick-
Pea?’
‘Thanks, your Majesty! Prudence is a
virtue !
‘Ah, poor little me |!
- A Queen without a King must I be!’
The King was more astonished than ever.
However did she come to know it?
And he returned to the witch and told
her everything.
‘Your Majesty must invite King Crow
to dinner; as soon as he sees her he will
make but one mouthful of her.’
So King Crow was invited, and came:
‘Craw! craw! craw! craw!’ was all
he could say.
And no sooner did he set eyes on little
Chick-Pea, who was but a palm’s-length high,
than he gobbled her down at one mouthful,
‘A thousand thanks, King Crow!’ said
his Majesty ; ‘now you may go away |’
‘Craw! craw! craw! thank you! but
before I go I must peck your eyes out.’
And with only two strokes of his beak
he put out his eyes.
88 ONCE UPON A TIME
The poor King wept tears of blood.
Chick-Pea dead, and he blind of both
eyes !
After some time had passed, the same
old woman again made her appearance.
She was no other than the Fairy Godmother
of the Princess of Spain.
‘Your Majesty must not give way to
affliction : Chick-Pea is alive, and your eyes
are hidden away in a safe spot; they are
inside the hump of the Princess of Spain !’
The King dragged himself as far as the
Royal Palace where the Princess dwelt,
and began crying piteously from outside
the door: :
‘Ah, good Princess, do but give me back
my eyes!’
The Princess answered him from the
window :
‘I marry that little hunch-back? No,
never !?
‘Forgive me, dear Princess! and give
me back my eyes!’ pleaded the King.
And still the Princess replied from the
window :
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted !'
Then the King understood that the Prin-
cess of Spain and Chick-Pea were but one
person, and he continued to cry out still
louder :
CHICK-PEA 89
‘Ah, Princess, my own dear Chick-Pea,
give me back my eyes !’
The Princess at last came down, and
gave him back his eyes.
But the King had no sooner put them in
again than he stared at her in amazement.
The Princess was no longer hunch-backed,
and was the exact image of pretty little
Chick-Pea, only of natural height.
So he was forgiven for all, and in a short
time they were wed—a true grand wedding
this time! And in remembrance of these
adventures the Queen wished to be always
called Chick-Pea.
They lived long, happy, and contented,
And I must go, my story's ended !
THE TALKING TREE
ONCE upon a time there was a King who
fancied he had collected together in his
Palace all the rarest things in the world.
One day a stranger came and asked per-
mission to visit the collection; he observed
everything minutely, and then said:
‘May it please your Majesty, but the
best thing of all is wanting.’
‘What is wanting ?’ inquired the King.
‘The Talking Tree,’ replied the stranger.
And of a truth, the Talking Tree was not
among all those wonderful things.
So with this flea in his ear the King had
no more peace, he could not even sleep at
night. He sent messengers and exploring
commissions throughout the whole world
in search of the Talking Tree, but they
all returned empty-handed,
The King then thought the stranger must
have been making fun of him, and ordered
him to be arrested.
‘Please your Majesty,’ said he, ‘if your
messengers and explorers have searched
THE TALKING TREE QL
badly, how can it be my fault? Let them
seek better.’
‘But have you seen the Talking Tree
with your own eyes?’
‘1 have seen it with my own eyes, and
what is more, I’ve heard it with my own
ears.’
‘Where ?’
‘I no longer remember now.’
‘And what did it say ?’
‘Well, it said:
«« Byer to wait for what never comes,
Why, it does quite give one the doldrums Tol
So the story was really true! The King
again sent off his messengers. A whole
year passed, and they all returned as before,
empty-handed.
Then the King was so angry, he ordered
the stranger’s head to be chopped off.
‘But what fault of mine is it if your
Majesty's people have searched badly ?
Let them seek better.’ i
His persistence struck the King as sing-
ular! He called together his Ministers and
announced to them his intention of going
himself in quest of the Talking Tree. He
would not consider himself a King until he
had it safe within his Palace walls !
So he set out in disguise.
He walked and walked; after many
days’ journey he was at last benighted ina
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The Baldwin Library
Rm B University
CHILD,
Ly.
LIBRARY
ONCE
URON A TIME
THE CHILDREN'S LIBRARY.
THE BROWN OWL.
A CHINA CUP.
STORIES FROM FAIRYLAND,
TALES FROM THE MABINOGION.
THE STORY OF A PUPPET.
THE LITTLE PRINCESS,
IRISH FAIRY TALES.
AN ENCHANTED GARDEN.
LA BELLE NIVERNAISE.
THE FEATHER.
FINN AND HIS COMPANIONS.
NUTCRACKER AND MOUSE KING.
ONCE UPON A TIME.
(Others in the Press.)
ONCE
UPON A FIME
WAT RYS AA ES
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN OF
LUIGI CAPUANA
ILLUSTRATED BY MAZZANTI
NEW YORK
CASSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY
104 & 106 FOURTH AVENUE
1893
CONTENTS
PAGE
MIRROR OF THE SUN. : 2 I
THE GOLDEN ORANGES . : 4 16
LiTTLe Froccie . 5 . : 29
No-Ears . : : : 3 46
THE WERE-WOLF : ; ‘ 56
CHICK-PEA 5 : ; A 76
THE TALKING TREE : j ; 90
THE THREE RINGS ; ‘ » 102
THE LITTLE OLD WomANn : » 113
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY ; Sg E25
THE BRONZE STEED : : » 42
THE Biack Ecc. : j ene
T1-TiritI-Tr a z ‘ » 170
SERPENTINA % e A - 184
Tur Penny wity A Hoe In ir » 195
Tuer Farry-TaLe TELLER 5 . 206
MIRROR OF THE SUN
ONCE upon a time there lived a poor- woman,
who had one only daughter, as black as soot
and as ugly as mortal sin.
~ They earned their living by baking bread
for the people about, and little Blackface,
as the girl was nicknamed, was ordered up
and down from morning till night.
‘Ehi, heat the water!—Ehi, knead the’
dough !’ Then with her baking-board under
her arm, and a roll of cloth on her head to
steady whatever she had to carry, off she
went from house to house, to fetch the
loaves and cakes to be fired; after that, she
would set out again with a great basket full
of bread on her back, and have to run about,
carrying the bread home. In fact she never
had one moment's rest,
Yet Blackface was always in the best of
humours. One mass of soot and dirt, her
black hair all tangled, with bare mud-stained
feet, and only a few old tatters on her back,
but her merry laugh rang from one end of
the street to the other.
%s B
2 ONCE UPON A TIME 2
‘Blackface is laying an egg,’ the neigh-
bours would say when they heard her.
At the Ave Maria, as night fell, the
mother and daughter would shut themselves
up in their poor house, and never so much
as put the point of their nose out. That
was all very well in winter time... . But
in the fine summer evenings, when all the
neighbourhood turned out to enjoy a little
cool air and the bright moonlight? Oh,
surely those two were mad to stay cooped
up at home with such heat! The neigh-
bours puzzled their wits out over it.
‘Oh, you baker-women, come out into the
cool air, come along !’
‘It’s cooler in the house, thank you.’
‘But can’t you come down? see what a
fine moon there is! just see now!’
‘We've a brighter light at home.’
Eh, something must be wrong in there!
So the neighbours set to listen at the door,
Through the chinks they could see a bright
dazzling light, and every now and then
heard the mother sing:
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree |’
Blackface laughing all the time.
‘They must be gone mad, said the
neighbours.
And so on every evening till midnight :
MIRROR OF THE SUN 3
‘ Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree!’
At last the thing reached the King’s ears.
He flew into a great rage, and ordered the
two women to be brought to his presence.
‘You old witch, if you go on this way
Pll have you thrown into prison, you and
your Blackface !’
‘Please, your Majesty, it is not at all true ;
the neighbours are a set of story-tellers.’
But Blackface laughed, even in the King’s
face.
‘Ah, you’re laughing, are you?’
And he had them both taken to jail,
mother and daughter.
But during the night one of the warders
saw a great light that quite dazzled him
streaming through the cracks in the door of
the horrid chamber they were shut up in,
and from time to time he heard the voice of
the old woman singing :
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
And Blackface cackled away ; her laughter
rang again all through the prison.
The warder ran to the King and told
him everything, and the King flew into a
greater rage than ever:
Was that how they meant to carry on?
4 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Throw them into the criminal prison, under-
ground in the dungeon.’ 3
It was really a most horrid dungeon—no
air, no light, with the damp oozing out on
the walls, a place no one could long hope
to live in. But during the night, even in
that damp, dank prison-chamber, behold the
dazzling light shone out again, and the old
woman crooned as before:
‘Mirror of the Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
The warder went back to the King.
This time his Majesty was quite astounded.
He called the Crown Council to consult on
the matter: some of the councillors were of
opinion that the women’s heads should forth-
with be chopped off; others thought they
were mad and had better be set at liberty.
‘After all, what had the woman said?
“ Tf Heaveniagree !†Where was the harm ?
Supposing Heaven did agree, then not even
your Majesty would be able to hinder it.’
‘Well, look now ! it is even so!’ said the
King, and he gave orders to let them out of
prison.
The two baker-women took up their
business again. Nobody could bake bread
half so well as they, and all their old
customers came back to them at once.
The Queen herself would have her bread
baked by them, so Blackface had to pass by
MIRROR OF THE SUN 5
the Palace stairs many a time with her
bare, mud-stained feet. The Queen used to
ask her:
' *Blackface,: why don’t you wash your
face ??
‘Please your Majesty, my skin is so
delicate, the water would spoil it’
‘Blackface, why don’t you comb out your
hair?’
‘Please your Majesty, my hair is so fine,
the comb would break it all.’
‘Blackface, why don’t you buy yourself a
pair of shoes ??
‘Please your Majesty, I have such tender
little feet, the shoes would give me corns on
them.’
‘Blackface, why does your mother call
you Afirror of the Sun†??
“A queen I shall be
If Heaven agree!’
answered Blackface.
The Queen thought this great fun, and
when Blackface passed with her baking-
board on her head, carrying the loaves and
breakfast-rolls to the Palace, she laughed
louder than ever. The neighbours who
heard her going by cried:
‘Blackface is cackling !?
All this time, the same story went on
every night. The neighbours were fit to
eat their hearts out for curiosity, and as
6 ONCE UPON A TIME
soon as they saw the dazzling light, and
heard the old woman’s rhyme, away they
flocked, every one of them, to listen at the
door, though they did not know what ex-
cuse to give to get a peep inside:
‘Good women, be so kind as to lend me
your sieve, mine has a hole in it!’ â€
And Blackface would open the door ever
so little, and reach out the sieve.
‘What, are you in the dark? but as I
knocked I saw you had a light.’
‘Uh, you must have imagined it !’
‘Good women, be so kind as to lend me
a needle; I’ve broken mine, and I havea
bit of work to finish.’
Then Blackface would open the see and
pass out the needle.
‘ How now, are you in the dark? While
I was, knocking I saw a light.’
‘Uh, you must have dreamt it!’
The report of these things at last reached
the ears of the Prince Royal, who was
already sixteen years of age. This Prince
was extremely proud and haughty, and when
he met Blackface with her baking-board on
her head, coming up the Palace stairs, or
with her heavy basket of bread on her
shoulder, he used to turn aside so as not
to see her, for the sight of her disgusted
him, and he was once even so rude as to
spit at her.
That day Blackface went home crying.
MIRROR OF THE SUN 7
‘What is the matter with you, child?’
asked her mother.
‘The Prince Royal spat at me.’
‘It is the will of Heaven, child, and the
Prince is the master.’
And the neighbours were ready to dance
for joy: -
‘The Prince spat at her! serve her right
for pretending to be “ A@irror of the Sun†\?
Another day the Prince met her on the
landing-place. He fancied that Blackface
had pushed him with her baking-board, and
flying into a passion he gave her such a
kick that sent her rolling down the stairs.
How could she have the courage to carry
her loaves and rolls to the Queen? they
were all covered with dust, and crushed out
of shape!
So Blackface went home again, crying
bitterly.
‘What ails you, dear child?’ cries her
mother.
‘ The Prince Royal kicked me down stairs,
and upset all my bread in the dirt.’
‘Let the will of Heaven be done, child,
the Prince is the master !’
The kind-hearted neighbours were beside
themselves with joy:
‘The Prince had kicked her down stairs !
serve her right !?
A few years after this the Prince Royal
bethought himself of marrying, and sent to
8 ONCE UPON A TIME
ask the hand of the King of Spain’s daughter.
But his Ambassador arrived too late; the
King of Spain’s daughter had been married
just the day before.
The Prince was so savage that he wanted
to have the Ambassador hanged. But the
Ambassador saved his head by proving that
he had accomplished the journey in half a
day less than the others. Then the Prince
sent him to demand the daughter of the
King of France. But again the Ambassador
arrived too late, for that Princess had been
given away in marriage just the day before.
Now this time the Prince wanted at all
costs to hang the traitor who never reached
his destination in time, but the Ambassador
again proved to him that he had accom-
plished the journey in a day less than any
of the others. So the Prince sent him to
ask the Grand Turk for his daughter; but
as usual the Ambassador arrived too late,
and found that the Grand Turk’s daughter
had wedded the day before.
The Prince Royal could bear it no longer,
and he wept outright, like the great baby
he was, The King and Queen and all the
Ministers of State stood around him in utter
consternation.
‘Are there then no more Princesses left ?
There’s the King of England’s daughter ;
let us send and ask for her hand.’
Off flew the wretched Ambassador, like
MIRROR OF THE SUN 9
an arrow from the bow, travelling day and
night till at length he reached London
Town. Strange fatality! the King of Eng-
land’s daughter had just been married the
day before.
Imagine the state the Prince Royal was
in!
One day, in order to divert his thoughts,
he set off hunting.
Having lost his way in a wood, far from
his attendants, he wandered about all day
long without being able to find his way
out. Finally he discovered a small hut in
the midst of the thicket. Through the open
door he could see within a very old man,
with a great white beard, who having lit a
fine fire was cooking his supper.
‘My good man, can you show me the
way out of this wood ?’
‘Ah, you are come at last!â€
At the sound of the deep gruff voice in
which these words were uttered, the poor
Prince felt his very hair stand on end.
‘My good sir, I have not the pleasure of
knowing you; I am the Prince Royal,’
‘Prince or no Prince, take that hatchet
and chop me up some firewood.’
And the Prince, fearing something worse
might come if he refused, began chopping
the firewood. ;
‘Prince or no Prince, go to the fountain
and fetch me some water,’
Io ONCE UPON A TIME
And the Prince, for prudence’ sake, took
the water-pitcher on his shoulder and went
to the fountain.
‘Prince or no Prince, serve me at table,’
So the Prince, for fear of something worse
coming, had to serve him at table. When
the meal was finished, the old man gave
him the leavings.
‘Now, throw yourself down there; that’s
your sleeping-place.’
And the unfortunate Prince cowered down
as best he could on some straw in a corner,
but he could not sleep.
Now this old man was a magician, and
lord of the forest.
Each time he went out he spread an
enchanted net all round his dwelling, and
by this means kept the poor Prince as his
prisoner and slave.
In the meantime the King and Queen
wept for their son as dead, and put on the
deepest mourning.
However, one fine day, nobody knew how,
news reached them that the Prince Royal
had become the slave of the Magician. The
King forthwith sent his messengers :
‘ All the wealth of my kingdom, if he will
but release my son.’
‘Iam richer than he,’ replied the Magician.
At this answer the King was in the
greatest consternation. He again sent off
messengers :
MIRROR OF THE SUN II
‘What did he want? He had but to
mention it. The King was ready to give
his very heart’s blood.’
‘Send me a loaf and a cake made by the
Queen’s own hands, and the Prince Royal
will be free,’
‘Oh, that was a mere nothing !’
The Queen set to work, sifted the flour,
mixed the dough and kneaded it well, and
made a loaf and a cake of it, heated the
oven with her own fair hands, and put them
in to bake. But she was not accustomed
to that sort of thing; loaf and cake came
out all burned.
When the Magician saw them he turned
up his nose:
‘Good for the dogs,’ said he.
And he threw them to his great mastiff,
The Queen again took flour and sifted it,
made the dough and kneaded it well, and
made another loaf and cake. Then she
heated the oven with her own hands, and
put them into bake. But she was not used
to it, and the loaf and cake turned out
underdone.
When the Magician saw them he made
a wry face:
‘Good for the dogs,’ quoth he.
And he threw them to his mastiff.
And the poor Queen tried and tried again,
but her bread was always overdone, or under-
done, or sodden ; and in the meantime the
12 ONCE UPON A TIME
Prince Royal remained with the Magician
as his slave.
The King again called the eounel of
State,
“Most august Majesty,’ said one of the
Ministers ; ‘let us try if the Magician is a
good hand at guessing. The Queen will
sift the flour this time, knead it into dough
and make the loaf and cake, then we shall
call in Blackface to heat the oven and bake
them.’
‘Capital idea! Excellent!’ cried his
Majesty.
And so they did, But the Magician
again turned up his nose:
' *Bad cake, bad bread,
Get away and wash your head !’
And he threw them to his dog. -He had
understood at once that Blackface had had
a hand in them.
“And now,’ said the Ministers, ‘there is
only one remedy left.’
‘Which ?’ asked the King.
‘To let the Prince Royal marry Blackface,
Thus the Magician will have bread sifted,
kneaded, and baked by a Queen’s hand, and
the Prince will regain his liberty.’
‘It must really be the will of Heaven !’
said the King.
‘Mirror of the’Sun, Mirror of the Sun,
A queen thou shalt be
If Heaven agree !’
MIRROR OF THE SUN 13
And he issued a royal decree proclaiming
the Prince Royal and Blackface man and
wife. The Magician got his loaf and cake,
sifted, kneaded, and baked by the Queen’s
own hands, and the Prince was set free.
Now, let us return to him: he would
not hear of marrying Blackface upon any
account,
‘What! that heap of soot his wife? that
nasty, ugly baker-wench a queen? Never!’
‘But there is a royal decree! .. .’
‘Indeed! since the King did that, he
may undo it!’
Blackface, being now a Princess, had
come to live in the Royal Palace. But
they could not induce her to wash her
face, or comb her hair, or change her
clothes, or put on a pair of shoes,
‘T shall tidy myself up when the Prince
comes home,’
Now, was such a thing possible? There
she sat, shut up in her chamber, waiting
for the Prince to come and fetch her, But
there was no means of persuading him to
do so,
‘That baker-wench disgusts me! I had
rather die than wed her !’
When these words were repeated to
Blackface she burst out laughing:
‘He will come to me, don’t fear, he will
come !’
‘7 goto her? ... See how I shall go!’
14 ONCE UPON A TIME
And the Prince, beside himself with rage,
rushed, sword in hand, towards the chamber
of Blackface: he would cut her head off!
The door was locked fast, so our Prince
looked through the key-hole! The sword
fell from his grasp! ... He beheld a
beauty such as eyes had never fell on—a
real, living Mirror of the Sun!
‘Open, my Princess! open to me!’
And Blackface, on the other side of the
door, cried out mockingly :
‘A heap of soot, forsooth !?
‘Open, sweet Princess of my heart !’
And Blackface, laughing :
‘That nasty, ugly baker-wench !’
‘Open to me, my own Blackface !’
MIRROR OF THE SUN 15
And then the door flew open, and Bride
and Bridegroom fell into each other’s arms.
The wedding was celebrated that very
evening, and the Prince and his dear
Blackface lived long years, happy and
contented... .
And so my-story’s ended,
THE GOLDEN ORANGES
Ir is related that once upon a téme there
lived a King who had a magnificent garden
behind his Palace. No kind of tree was
wanting in it; but. the rarest and most
valued of all was the tree that bore the
Golden Oranges.
When the orange season came round, the
King used to set a sentinel to guard it day
and night; and every morning he would go
down to the garden, to make sure with his
own eyes that not even a leaf was wanting.
One morning he comes into the garden
and finds the sentinel fast asleep. He
glances up at the tree... the Golden
Oranges were all gone !
I leave you to imagine his anger !
‘You wretched sentinel! you shall pay
this with your head !’
‘Please your Majesty, it is not my fault.
A Goldfinch came and perched on one of
the branches, and began to sing. He sang
and sang, and as he sang my eyes grew
heavy. 1 drove him away from one branch,
'
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 17
but he lighted on another. He sang and
sang, and as he sang I grew sleepier and
sleepier. J drove him away from that branch
too, and no sooner did he cease singing
than my sleepiness disappeared. But then
he perched himself at the very top of the
tree, and sang and sang... andsang.. .
I have slept tillnow! ...’
So the King did him no harm.
When the next orange time came, he
charged the Prince Royal in person to keep
watch,
One morning he comes into the garden,
and finds the Prince sleeping. He looks
up at the tree . . . not one Golden Orange
to be seen !
So you may fancy the fury he was in!
‘How is this? Even you fell asleep !’
‘Please your Majesty, it is not my fault,
A Goldfinch came and sat on a bough and
began to sing. He sang and sang and sang,
till my eyes grew heavy. I said to him,
“You perfidious Goldfinch, you'll have no
chance with me!†And he made fun of me,
saying, ‘The Prince is sleeping ! the Prince.
sleeps!†— ‘You treacherous Goldfinch,
you're not a match for me!†And again
he mocked at me, saying, ‘“ Hush-a-ba,
baby, my pretty Prince!†and he sang and
sang... andsang,and!I .. . have slept
till now !?
So the King wanted to try himself; and
Cc
18 ONCE UPON A TIME
when the season came round again, he
mounted guard by the tree. When the
Oranges were quite ripe, behold! the Gold-
finch came and perched upon a branch and
began to sing, The King would have dearly
liked having a-shot at him, but it was as
dark as pitch; besides, he felt very, very
sleepy.
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 19
“You treacherous Goldfinch, this time
you have found your match!...’ But
it was hard work to keep his eyes open !
The Goldfinch began to mock at him:
‘Hush! hush! his Majesty slumbers !
Hush! hush! the King is sleeping !’
And he sang and sang and sang, till the
King fell asleep, fast as a dormouse.
Next morning, when he opened his eyes,
the Golden Oranges were no longer there !
Then he issued a warrant throughout all
his dominions: Whoever would bring him
the Goldfinch dead or alive should receive
in reward a mule laden with gold.
Six months passed, but no one came
forward.
“ At last one day a peasant in very poor
trim presented himself:
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch? Promise me the hand of the
Princess, and within three days your
Majesty shall have it.’
The King caught the fellow by the shoulder,
and turned him out of doors,
The next day the man returned :
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch ? Then promise me the hand of
the Princegs, and in less than three days
you shall have it.’
The King seized him by the shoulder, and
with a good kick turned him out,
20 ONCE UPON A TIME
But the following day the bumpkin
returned, as obstinate as ever:
‘Does your Majesty really want that
Goldfinch ? Then promise me the hand of
the Princess, and in less than three days
you shall have it,’
The King in a fury called a guard and
had him led to prison.
In the meantime he ordered an iron
grating to be set up all round the tree;
with such great iron bars that there would
surely be no need for a sentinel now.
But when the Oranges were ripe again,
going into his garden one fine morning
the King looked up... not one Orange
left !
You can imagine his state !
Sohe was forced to come to an agree-
ment with the young peasant.
‘Bring me the Goldfinch alive, and the
Princess is yours,
‘In three days’ time, your Majesty.’
And before the three days were over, he
was back again with the bird.
‘ May it please your Majesty, the Princess
is now mine.’
The King looked black. Was he to give
the Princess to such a lout?
‘If you wish for gems or gold, you shall
have as much as you can carry away. But
as to having the Princess, you must put that
idea quite out of your head.’
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 21
‘But, please your Majesty, that was our
agreement.’
‘Do you want gems? Do you want
gold ??
‘Keep them for yourself We shall see
what will happen !’
And the King said to the Goldfinch :
‘Now that you are in my hands, I mean
to torment you.’
And the Goldfinch cried out, as he felt his
feathers being plucked out one by one.
‘Where have my Golden Oranges been
hidden away ?’
‘Tf your Majesty will but promise not to
hurt me any more, I will tell?
‘Well, then, I’ll not touch you any more.’
‘The Golden Oranges are stowed away
in the Grotto of the Seven Gates; but the
Merchant with the Red Cap keeps guard
over them. Your Majesty must know the
password ; only two persons in the world
know it—the Merchant and that peasant
who caught me.’
The King sent to call the peasant :
‘Let us make another bargain. I should
like to get into the Grotto of the Seven Gates,
and I don’t know the password. If you will
but disclose it to me, the Princess is yours,’
‘On your word as a King ??
‘On my royal word !?
‘Then, your Majesty, this is the pass-
word :
22 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Drier and drier,
Open, old Sire!'
‘Very well,’ said the King.
So the King betook himself to the Grotto,
and as he pronounced the password it
opened to him. The peasant remained
waiting outside,
Now, this Grotto was all one blaze of
dazzling light, because of the diamonds that
lay heaped upon the floor. The King, seeing
that he was alone, stooped down and filled
his pockets; but when he passed into the
second chamber, he saw that the diamonds
fee GOLDEN ORANGES 23
there, also in heaps on the ground, were
much larger and finer, so he emptied his
pockets and again set to filling them with
those. And so on till the very last chamber,
where, lo ! he beheld all the Golden Oranges
from the Royal Garden piled up in a corner.
A great wallet lay near on the ground,
and the King stuffed it quite full, Now that
he knew the word, he meant to come back
more than once.
On coming out of the Grotto, with the
wallet on his back, he found the peasant
there waiting for him.
_ ‘Please your Majesty, the Princess is now
mine.’
The King grew as black as night. Must he
then give the Princess to that great clown ?
‘Ask me any other favour, and it will be
granted you. But as to having the Princess,
don’t think of it.’
‘And your Majesty’s royal word ?’
‘The wind blows words away !’
‘Then just wait till you get home to your
Palace, and you'll see !’
No sooner did the King reach home than
he set down the wallet on the ground, and
went to open it. But what should he see?
. Instead of the Golden Oranges it was
full of spoilt ones |
Then he put his hands into his pockets
. the diamonds had all turned into snail-
shells !
24 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘That beast of a peasant has played me
a fine trick !’ ;
But the Goldfinch would pay for it.
And he began torturing the poor thing
again. :
“Where are my Golden Oranges ??
‘If your Majesty will but leave off hurtin
me, I will tell’ - ;
‘Well, I won’t hurt you any longer,’
‘Then you must know that your Oranges
are all where you saw: them, but in order
to have them back again you must know
another word, and there are but two persons
who know it—the Merchant and the peasant
who caught me.’
So the King sent for the peasant :
‘Let us make a new agreement. Tell
me the word to get the Oranges back with,
and the Princess is yours.’
‘On your royal word ??
‘On my royal word !?
‘Please your Majesty, this is the word:
‘In the fruit lies. the stone,
Come, give me the bone !’
‘Very well,’ said the King.
And he went and came several times,
with the wallet crammed full, and so
carried all the Golden Oranges back to
his Palace.
Then the peasant presented himself,
saying :
‘THE GOLDEN ORANGES 25
‘Please your Majesty, the Princess is
mine now.’
The King grew blackas thunder. Must
_ he then give the Princess to that bumpkin ?
‘Behold, this is my royal treasure: take
whatever you like. But as to the Princess,
put that quite out of your head !’
-¢ Well, let us say no more about it,’ said
the peasant, and he took himself off.
Now, ever since the Goldfinch was kept
in the cage at the Palace, the Golden
Oranges were allowed to remain on the
tree from one year to another. |
One day the Princess came to the King
and said :
‘Please your Majesty, I should like to
have that Goldfinch to keep in my room,’
‘Then take it, dear daughter; only see
it does not escape.’
Once in the Princess’s room, the Gold-
finch sang no longer.
‘Goldfinch, why don’t you sing any more?’
‘Because my master weeps.’
‘And why does he weep?’
‘Because he may not have his heart’s
desire.’
‘And pray, what does he want?’
‘He wants the Princess! He says:
© T've laboured so hard,
And well it is known,
But my labour is all
To the wild wind blown !â€
26 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Who is your master? That country
fellow ??
‘Princess, that country fellow is a greater
king than your royal father.’
‘Ah, if that were true, I would wed him
at once; go and tell him, and come back
immediately.’
‘Do you swear it?’
‘T swear it!’
And she opened his cage and let him fly.
But the Goldfinch did not come back again.
One day the King asked the Princess :
‘Does the Goldfinch not sing any more?
it is a long time since I’ve heard him.’
‘Please your Majesty, he is not very
well.’
So the King put his mind at rest.
In the meantime the poor Princess lived
in constant dread and anxiety.
‘Ah, Goldfinch, you traitor! both you
and your master !’
And as the orange season was drawing -
near, she felt her very heart grow small for
fear of her father.
In the meantime there came an Ambas-
sador from the King of France to ask her
in marriage. Her father was delighted
beyond words, and immediately said ‘yes,’
but the Princess cried:
‘May it please your Majesty, I had rather
remain a maiden !’
He flew into a mighty rage.
THE GOLDEN ORANGES 27
She said ‘no’ now that he had pledged
his royal word and could not take it back!
‘Your Majesty knows that “the wind
blows words away†!’
The Courtiers tried in vain to calm the
King; his eyes flashed fire:
‘That obstinate hussy !’
‘T don’t want him! I won’t have him!
I want to live and die a maid !’
But the worst was when the King of
France sent word that he was coming
within eight days.
How was he to manage with that bad,
stubborn child ?
In his anger he had her bound hand and
foot, and let her down into a draw-well:
‘Say “yes,†or Pl let you drow!’
But the Princess remained silent; the
King let her down half-way :
‘Say “yes,†or I shall drown you !?
Still the Princess remained silent: the
King let her right down into the water ;
only her head remained out.
‘Say “yes,†or Pll surely drown you !’
But the Princess was still silent.
Must he then really drown her? .. .
And he drew her up again, but only to
lock her into a dark room, on bread and
water. The Princess wept and cried:
*Ah, Goldfinch, you traitor ! you and your
master! J must endure all these misfortunes
for having kept my word to you!’
28 ONCE UPON A TIME
The King of France came with a mag-
nificent retinue, and took up his abode in
the Royal Palace.
“Where is the Princess? Will she not
see me??
‘Please your Majesty, she is slightly
indisposed. . , .?
The King of France was rather em-
barrassed, and did not know what to -
answer,
‘Take her this present from me,’
It was a small golden casket all studded
over with diamonds; but the Princess put
it on one side, without even caring to open
it. And still she wept:
‘Goldfinch, you traitor! you and your
master !?
‘We are no traitors, neither I nor my
master !?
On hearing this answer come from the
casket, the Princess ran and opened it :
‘Ob, my dear Goldfinch ! how many
tears you have made me shed |?
“Your fate willed itso! Now your destiny
is accomplished,’
When his Majesty the King knew who
the peasant was, he gave the tree that bore
the Golden Oranges as a marriage portion
to the Princess, and the day after she was
wed to the King of France,
So let us laugh, and sing, and dance !
LITTLE FROGGIE
THis is the pretty story of ‘ Little Froggie,
give your paw!’ and you shall presently
hear why it is called so.
It is related that once upon a time there
was a poor fellow who had seven children,
who ate him out of house and home. The
eldest was twelve years of age, and the
youngest barely two.
One evening the father made them all
come before him. ;
‘Children,’ said he, ‘it is now two days
that we haven’t tasted so much as a drop of
_ water, and I am in despair. I don’t know
what to do; do you know what I have
thought ? To-morrow I shall get our neigh-
bour to lend us his donkey, I'll saddle him
with the creels, and carry you round for sale
like fish. We'll see if you have any luck !’
At these words all the brats set to howl-
ing: they were not going to be sold, not
they! Only the last, the little one two
years old, did not cry.
‘And you, my little Froggie?’ asked his
30 ONCE UPON A TIME
father, who had given him that name
because he was as tiny as a frog.
‘I am quite pleased,’ he answered.
So the next morning the poor father took
him in his arms and began going about the
town with him, crying:
‘Who will buy my little Froggie? who
will have my little Froggie ?’
But no one wanted him, he was such a
tiny wee thing!
The King’s daughter happened to be
looking out of window:
‘What have you for sale, good man ??
‘I’m selling this baby ; who wants to buy
him ??
The Princess looked at the child, made a
face, and banged the window to.
‘Pretty manners !’ quoth the poor fellow.
And he began again, crying out:
‘Who will buy my little Froggie ? who
will have my little Froggie ??
But no one would have him, such a tiny
wee thing as that !
The poor fellow had not heart to go
home, where his other children were wait-
ing for him, like so many souls in purgatory,
half dead with hunger.
Little Froggie, in the meantime, had
fallen asleep in his arms,
Then he bethought him that it would
be better to kill the poor little creature
rather than see it suffer. He would kill
LITTLE FROGGIE 31
them all, one by one, and would begin with
this one.
It was now evening, and, leaving the town,
he retired into a cave where no one could
.see him. He laid the baby down on the
ground ; it was fast asleep, and as he looked
at it his heart was full of pity.
‘Dear little heart !
‘And must these hands of mine kill you?
‘Must I then kill you, my own little
Froggie?
‘And I shall no more see you toddling
about the house, no more, no more ?
‘Ah, poor, dear little heart !
‘And who was the witch that bewitched
you in your cradle, who was she?
‘Ah, my poor little Froggie !’
It would have melted the heart of a stone
to hear him.
‘What has happened that you are weep-
ing so?’
At these words the poor fellow turned
round, and beheld an old woman sitting
right over against the mouth of the cave;
she held a staff in her hand.
‘What has happened to me? I have
seven children and no work, and we are all
dying of hunger. Not to see my little ones
suffer any more I have made up my mind |
to kill them, and I am going to begin with
this one.
‘What is he called ?’
32 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘His name is Beppo, but we all call him
little Froggie,’
‘Then Froggie let him be!’
The old woman barely touched the baby
with the end of her staff, and he was already
changed into a little frog, and went hopping
and jumping all about.
The poor father stood aghast,
‘Take heart,’ said the old dame. ‘Go
and search in that corner; there is some
bread and cheese, so for this evening you
will all sup. Be waiting for me to-morrow
at noon, right under the windows of the
King’s Palace: you will make your fortune.’
LITTLE FROGGIE 33
When the other children saw their father
come back without their little brother, they
set up a great cry.
‘Be quiet ; here is some bread and cheese
for you.’ :
‘But where is little Froggie ?’
‘He is dead !’ 3
He said this because he did not want to
be bothered with questions.
Well, the next day, long before the hour,
he went and took up his stand under the
windows of the King’s Palace. He waited
and waited, but no old woman was to be
seen.
The King’s daughter was at one of the
windows, combing out her hair ; she recog-
nised him, and to make fun of him asked
him :
‘I say, good man, did any one buy your
little Froggie ?? i
But before he could answer, behold, the
old woman appeared, with a whole troop of
people at her heels! The people made a
.circle round her, and the old woman said:
‘Little Froggie, give your paw!’ and
little Froggie at once held out his paw.
The others all tried in vain, saying,
‘Little Froggie, give your paw !’—he would
have nothing to do with them. Such a
wonder had never been seen, and every one
present paid a penny for having a sight.
The Princess bade the old woman come
D
34 ONCE UPON A TIME
right under her window; she too wanted to
see:
‘ Little Froggie, give me your paw!’ And
Froggie forthwith held out his little paw.
The Princess was enchanted, and ran
straight off to the King:
‘Papa, if you love me, you must buy me
little Froggie !?
‘Whatever do you want with a frog?’
‘I want to keep him in my room, he
amuses me so much !’
And the King consented.
‘Good woman, how much do you want
for your little frog ?’
‘Please your Majesty, I'll sell him for his
weight in gold, for he is well worth it.’
‘But you are making game of me, old
woman !’
‘I am but saying the truth; to-morrow
he will be worth twice as much. Little
Froggie, give your paw !’
And little Frogzie put out his paw, and
gave it to the old woman.
The others all tried till they were tired,
with their ‘ Little Froggie, give your paw !’
—he would have nothing to do with them.
‘You see,’ said the King; ‘we should
need to take the old woman too.’
The Princess had not tried yet, so she
said:
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw !’
With one bound Froggie was beside her,
LITTLE FROGGIE 35
and having made a fine bow held out his
little paw.
So there was no use, he had to be bought ;
it was the only way to have peace.
Froggie was put into one side of the
scales, and a little gold piece in the other,
but the scale would not rise. Was it pos-
sible a little Froggie could weigh so much?
They heaped up the scale with gold, but it
would not go down. The Princess and the
Queen took off their rings and bracelets,
and pulled out their ear-rings, and threw
them in. It was of no use! The King
undid his girdle, which was of massive gold,
and threw it in. Nothing!
‘Even my crown! Now, I should like
tosee!...
The scale rose up, quite on a level with
the other, not one hairbreadth wanting.
The old woman emptied out the great
heap of gold into her apron, and went away.
Froggie’s father was waiting her at the
Palace gate.
‘Here!’ and she filled his pockets; ‘mind
this well, though: spend as much as ever
you like, but woe betide you if you sell or
lose the Royal Crown }’
The Princess amused herself all day long
with little Froggie:
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw !’
It was such fun! She held him in her
hand, and carried him about wherever she
36 ONCE UPON A TIME
went. At table Froggie was to eat out of
her plate.
‘It is quite shocking!’ cried the Queen.
But as she was their only child, they forgave
her all her caprices.
Time passed, and at last the Princess
was old enough to be given away in
marriage. The Prince of Portugal had
asked for her hand, and the King and
Queen were delighted, but she said ‘ No.’
She would wed her little Froggie.
Now, was such a thing possible? .. .
But there was no means of persuading
her.
‘Froggie or nobody!’ _
‘lll Froggie you, roared the King, and
seizing the little creature by one of his legs
he was going to dash him on the ground; but
an eagle flew in at the open window, snatched
Froggie out of his hand, and disappeared.
The Princess wept day and night; poor
girl, it made one sad to see her! and all
the Court had to put on mourning.
In the meantime, in little Froggie’s old
home, it was a continual carnival. His
brothers made ‘ducks and drakes’ with the
gold their father had brought them; half
the neighbourhood banqueted there daily,
and money ran like a river. At last not
one penny-piece was remaining.
‘Papa, let us sell the King’s Crown )?
‘We must not touch the King’s Crown !?
LITTLE FROGGIE 37
‘Then are we to starve to death? ...
Let us sell it !’ :
‘The King’s Crown must not be sold !’
The poor father went back to the cave in
search of the old woman ; he began weeping.
‘What is the matter?’ she asked.
‘Good mother, our money is all spent,
and those boys of mine would fain sell the
King’s Crown, but I won’t allow them.’
‘Search well in that corner, there is some
bread and cheese, so you will sup-this even-
ing. Go to-morrow at noon, and wait for
me under the Palace windows: it will be
the making of your fortune.’
And he returned home; but a fearful
tragedy had taken place in his absence:
five of his sons lay dead on the floor in a
pool of blood, and one could just barely
breathe. j
‘Ah, dear father,’ gasped he, ‘a great
strong eagle came and knocked at the
window with his beak :
‘My boys, please show me the King’s
Crown.â€
‘“ Our father keeps it under lock and key.â€
* And where does he keep it ?â€
‘In this great coffer.†And the mighty
bird set to breaking open the coffer with
blows from his beak, and as we tried to
prevent him he murdered us all.’
Saying these words, the boy expired.
The poor man felt his very hair stand on
38 ONCE UPON A TIME
end: his children all slain, the King’s
Crown stolen !
The next day, when he met the old woman,
he related everything to her.
‘ Leave it to me,’ she answered.
Now, the Princess had fallen very ill;
the doctors were at their wits’ end, and no
longer knew what to give her.
‘May it please your Majesty,’ said they
at last to the King; ‘here we require little
Froggie, or it is all over with her Royal
Highness.’
LITTLE FROGGIE 39
The King was frantic with despair:
‘Where can we find that accursed Froggie?
the eagle must have digested him since ever
so long !’
At this juncture the old woman appeared:
‘May it please your Majesty, I know
where you can find Froggie, but you'll need
all your courage.’
‘IT am ready to let myself be torn to
pieces !’ replied the poor King.
‘Then take a knife with a diamond
blade, the finest ox in all your herds, and a
rope a mile long, and come with me’
The King took the knife with the diamond
blade, the finest ox in all his herds, and the
rope a mile long, and set out with the old
woman. No one was to follow them.
They walked on for two whole days, and
on the third, towards sunset, they reached a
wide plain. There stood the enchanted
tower, a mile high, without either doors or
windows.
‘Little Froggie is up there,’ said the old
woman. ‘Those ugly birds flying about
the top of the tower are his jailors. You
must climb up there,’
‘And how ??
‘Your Majesty must first kill the ox, and
then we shall see.’
So the King killed the ox.
‘Your Majesty must now skin it, and leave
a great deal of the flesh sticking to the hide.’
4o ONCE UPON A TIME
So the King skinned the ox, taking care
to leave a great deal of flesh sticking to the
hide.
‘Now, we must turn this hide inside out,’
said the old woman. ‘I shall sew you into
it, and those ugly birds will swoop down,
and carry you up in their strong beaks,
During the night you must slit open the
hide with your diamond knife, and in the
morning, when the eagle and those horrid
birds go off to seek for prey, you must make
the rope fast to the top of the tower; then
take little Froggie and the Royal Crown,
and holding the knife between, your teeth
let yourself slip down the rope.’
The King hesitated :
‘And supposing the rope were to give
way?..
‘Tf you keep the knife fast between your
teeth the rope will not break.’
So the King, for love of his daughter,
let himself be sewn into the ox-hide at once;
and lo! the hateful carrion birds came swoop-
ing down, and bore him up to the tower top
in their strong talons.
When it was dark night he slit the hide
open with his: diamond knife, and creeping
out of it hid himself in a gloomy corner.
When daylight came he waited in his
hiding-place till the eagle and the other
birds of prey had taken themselves off in
quest of food, Then he made fast the rope
42 ONCE UPON A TIME
to the topmost ledge of the great tower,
took little Froggie and the Crown, which
he had found, as the old woman told him
he would, and began to let himself slip
down the rope.
And the knife? . . . he had quite forgot-
ten it! ;
He had scarcely got down a little bit
when the rope began to screak fearfully :
‘Ahi, ahi! Iam going to snap, give me a
drink !?
What could he do? He bit a vein in
his.arm and let the warm blood gush out
on the rope, and all the while kept slipping
down. ,
But soon after the rope again cried :
‘Ahi, ahi! I am breaking, give me a
drink !? - :
The poor King bit a vein in his other
arm and let the warm blood gush out on
the rope, and all the while he kept slipping
down,
But the rope began again: é
‘Ahi, ahi! I am going to break, give
me a drink!’
The King, seeing that but little was
wanting to reach the ground, said:
‘Then break if you will!’ -
And break it did; but luckily he got off
with only a few bruises, And the old
woman gathered some leaves from a plant
growing near, with which she dressed the
LITTLE FROGGIE 43
torn veins in his arms, and they closed up
at once.
No sooner did the Princess behold her
little Froggie than she began to recover :
‘Little Froggie, give me your paw!’ .
And the Froggie held out his paw at
once, and to her only.
The King, to put an end to all this, wanted
to have the wedding celebrated at once, but
the old woman said:
‘You must wait yet a month. In the
meantime cause a great caldron full of
boiling oil to be prepared.’
‘What is to be done with it?’
‘You will know when the time comes.’
When the day came at last, the oil was
boiling and seething in the great caldron.
The old woman made her appearance,
followed by Froggie’s poor father, driving
a cart on which were laid the dead bodies
of his Six sons.
‘Princess,’ said the old woman, ‘if you
want to wed little Froggie, you must take
him by a leg and plunge him three times
into the boiling oil.’
The Princess hesitated,
‘Throw me in, do throw me in!’ cried
little Froggie to her.
And she plunged him in, once! twice!
but the third time he slipped from her hold
and fell right to the bottom of the caldron.
The Princess fainted clean away !
44 ONCE UPON A TIME
The King wanted to have the old woman
put to death; but she quickly seized the
dead bodies of the six brothers, and throw-
ing them one after another into the boiling
oil, began to stir it round with her long
staff; and all the while she sang:
‘ What fine soap-suds, what fine lye!
Soon they’ll jump out, high-and dry !’
And as she sang, lo and behold! the
eldest brother was the first to jump out
alive !
‘ What fine soap-suds, what fine lye !
Soon they'll jump out, high and dry!’
And she stirred away with a will. And
behold! out jumped the second, And so
on, one by one, all the brothers.
‘What fine soap-suds, what fine lye !
Soon he'll jump out, high and dry {'
And she stirred away with all her might.
But little Froggie only came to the top
and floated about ; he didn’t jump out.
No sooner did the Princess catch sight
of him than she tried to take him out, but
the old woman drew her back.
Did she want to scald herself? She
must do as usual,
‘ Little Froggie, give me your paw!’
Little Froggie held out his paw to the
Princess . . . and who should step out of
LITTLE FROGGIE 45
the oil but a most beautiful young man,
who looked every inch a king !
The Princess recognised in him the baby
the poor man had wanted to sell to her, and
begged pardon for having been so rude as
to slam the window to in his face. Little
Froggie, as you may well think, had already
quite forgiven her.
The wedding was celebrated with the
most splendid rejoicings, and in the course
of time little Froggie became King.
So my story's ended,
If you are offended
Run to the Blacksmith’'s
And get it mended !
NO-EARS
ONCE upon a time there was a King who
had one only child, a little daughter. The
Queen had died at the little one’s birth,
and the King had taken in a Nurse to bring
her up.
One day, when the little girl was about
three years of age, the Nurse brought her
NO-EARS 47
down to play as usual in the Royal Garden,
and she ran about in the shade of the wide-
spreading trees, and rolled over and over
on the soft green grass. Towards noon
the Nurse, who felt very drowsy with the
heat, dropped off to sleep; but when she
awoke, the little Princess was no longer to
be seen. She searched for the child high
and low, and called to her all over the
garden: no answer came! The child had
really disappeared.
How on earth was she to appear before
the King, who simply doated on his little
daughter ?
The poor woman beat her breast and
tore her hair at the thought of it.
‘O Lord! O Lord! his Majesty will
surely have me hanged, to say the least.’
The guards came running at her cries,
and searched and hunted everywhere, but
all in vain.
Dinner-time came.
‘And where is the Princess?’ asked the
King.
The Cabinet Ministers, as white as sheets,
looked at each other, but not a word did
they answer.
‘Where zs the Princess ?’ again.
‘Oh, please your Majesty,’ stammered
out the Prime Minister, ‘an accident has
happened !’
The poor King was frantic with grief.
48 ONCE UPON A TIME
He immediately caused a proclamation to
be issued :
‘To whoever brings back the missing
Princess, any favour he asks will be granted !’
But six whole months passed and nobody
presented himself at the Royal Palace,
Messengers were sent from kingdom to
kingdom :
‘Be he Christian, be he Infidel, to who-
ever brings back the Princess any favour
he asks will be granted
But a year passed and yet no one pre-
sented himself at the Royal Palace.
The King was inconsolable, he wept day
and night.
Now you must know that in the Royal
Garden there stood a draw-well, and while
her Nurse was asleep the little Princess had
gone up to it and leant over the edge.
Deep down in the glassy water she saw,
as in a mirror, another child like herself,
and had called out to it ‘Ehi! ehi!’ beckon-
ing with her little hand, Thereupon a great
long hairy arm had stretched up from the
bottom of the well, and seizing hold of her
had drawn her down into its depths. Thus
for several years she dwelt in the bottom
of the well with the Were-Wolf, for he it
was who had dragged her down,
At the bottom of the well lay a great cave,
ten times as big as the King’s Palace. The
rooms were all encrusted with gold and
NO-EARS 49
diamonds, one richer and more beautiful
than the other. True it is, the sun’s rays
never reached them, but it was light all the
same. The child was cared for and waited
on as became a Princess of her rank,
There was a maid to undress her, another to
dress her ; one to wash her, another to do her
hair ; one to bring her her breakfast, another
to wait on her at dinner; finally one to put her
to bed. She had grown quite accustomed to
living there, and was not at all unhappy.
The Were-Wolf used to sleep and snore
all day long, and at night he went away.
And as the child would scream with terror
whenever she saw him, he showed himself
but rarely, so as not to frighten her.
During all this time the Princess had
grown up into a most lovely young girl.
One evening she had already gone to
bed, but could not sleep. Hearing the
Were-Wolf about to go away, she listened
more attentively than usual. He roared
out with his ugly hoarse voice :
‘Call me the Cook!’
The Cook came.
‘J think it is just about time, said the
Were-Wolf; ‘she is as plump as a partridge.’
‘We must see,’ replied the Cook.
And the Princess heard them turn the
handle of her door ever so gently.
Alas! then they were speaking of her!
Did the Were-Wolf want to eat her up?
E
50 ONCE UPON A TIME
She felt her very flesh creep at the thought,
as you may well believe. So she curled
herself up as small as possible, and made
believe to be fast asleep. The Were-Wolf
came near the bed, drew down the coverlet
very carefully, and began feeling her all
over, just as though she were a fowl whose
neck he was going to Wale es
‘Another week yet,’ said the Cook, ‘and
she will be.a morsel fit for a King!’
As she heard these words the-poor Prin-
cess breathed more freely.
Eight days yet! ah, the Were-Wolf would
not eat that partridge! not if she knew it!
So she thought, and thought, and thought;
at last a bright idea came to her. She
jumped out of bed as soon as it was morn-
ing, and ran to the mouth ‘of the cave, just
under the well, and there she waited till
some one would come to draw water. At
last the pulley began to creak, and the bucket
made a great splash as it reached the surface
of the water; the Princess grasped tight
hold of the rope, steadying her little feet on
the edge of the bucket. They began to
draw her up slowly, for she was rather
heavy. All at once, break goes the rope,
and down comes the bucket, Princess and
all; patapunfete /
Her handmaidens came running and
pulled her out of the water.
‘I got dizzy and fell in; don’t speak of
NO-EARS Sr
this, for pity’s sake; the Were-Wolf would
beat me !’
And so one day passed.
The second day she waited and waited,
but the bucket did not come down. She
must find some other means of escape ; but
that was easier said than done. Which
means? ‘There was only that one way out
of the cave.
And another day passed.
Yet the Princess did not lose heart. As
soon as it was daylight, there she was at
her post ; but no bucket came down,
And two more days passed so.
One morning, as she was weeping bitterly
and staring hard at the clear water, she be-
held a small Red Fish, that looked like
gold, with his tail as white as silver, and
three black spots on his back.
‘Oh, you little Fish, how lucky you are!
You are free to swim about in the water,
and here am I, all alone, without family or
friends !?
The little Fish swam right up to the
surface of the water, wagging his tail about,
and opening and shutting his mouth; he
seemed to have heard her.
‘Oh, you little Fish,’ again cried the
Princess, ‘how fortunate you are! Here
am I, all alone, without family or friends,
and in four days I am to be eaten up !’
The little Red Fish with the silver-white
52 ONCE UPON A TIME
tail and the three black spots on his back
came near the edge:
‘If you were of royal blood, and willing
to marry me, we should both be free,
Nothing else is wanting to break my enchant-
ment.’
‘I am of royal blood, O little Gold-Fish,
and from.this moment I am your bride.’
‘Then get on my back,’ said the. little
Fish, ‘and hold on tightly.’
The Princess got up on the back of the
little Fish, and, seized hold of his fins; and
the Fish swam and swam till he bore her
right down to the bottom of the well, An
underground stream flowed past. The little
Fish got well into the current, with the
Princess holding on by his fins as fast as
she could.
But all of a sudden they met an enormous
NO-EARS 53
fish, with its mouth gaping wide open; it
came straight to swallow them up.
‘Pay your toll-money, or you don’t pass
here !’ cried the monster.
The Princess tore off one of her ears, and
threw it to the creature; and so they passed,
and swam on and on. But lo! they met
another great fish, ever so much larger than
the first, with its huge mouth a-gape, show-
ing a whole forest of teeth:
‘ Pay the toll, or you don’t pass here !?
And the Princess tore off her other ear
and threw it to the monster.
When at last the kind stream bore them
into the open air, the little Fish set the
Princess down on the bank, and with one
leap was out of the water. He had changed
into a very handsome young man, with three
moles on his face.
‘Let us go and present ourselves to my
father,’ said the Princess ; ‘it is now thirteen
years since he saw me.’
At the Palace gates the guards refused
to let them pass.
‘But I am your Princess! I am the
King’s daughter !’
No one would believe her, not even the
King himself; yet he gave orders that she
should be brought before him.
‘Who knows?’ he thought; ‘it might just *
be true!’
The King looked hard at her from top to
54 ONCE UPON A TIME
toe; it seemed true, and yet it didn’t seem
true. She related to him all her story, only
she said nothing about her ears, for she was
ashamed ; she even kept her hair hanging
down to hide their absence.
But one of the Ministers noticed them,
and cried:
‘And your ears, my good girl? Where
did you lose your ears?’
The King was indignant at having been im-
posed upon, as he fancied, and ordered her
off to clean the pots and pans in the royal
kitchen, Prince Fish (as he was called
from the first) was sent to sweep out the
stables.
So they would learn to make game of the
King !
One fine day his Majesty wanted to
have some fish to dinner, but in all the
market there were only two fish to be found,
and nobody knew what kind of fish they
were, not even the fishmongers themselves.
They had been lying there since the day
before, and were even beginning to go bad.
‘Very well,’ said the King, ‘have them
brought to the kitchen all the same!’
Once in the kitchen the Cook went to
open them, and what should he find in their
insides? two little human ears, still fresh
with blood!
He immediately called No-Ears; that
was the name they had given her:
NO-EARS 55
‘No-Ears! No-Ears! here’s something
for you !’
The Princess came running; they were
really her ears. Trembling with joy she
fitted them.on to her head, and they grew
fast on at once.
And now with her ears on her father
recognised her :
‘It is she! It is indeed my own
daughter !â€
And he ordered great rejoicings to be
held for eight whole days. Then as he was
very old he resigned his crown to the young
couple, and King Fishikin and Queen No-
Ears reigned long and happily for many
years.
The leaf is green, the way is long ;
My story’s told, now sing your song !
THE WERE-WOLF
ONCE upon a time there were a King and
a Queen who had no children, and they
prayed day and night that one might be
granted them, at least one!
At the same time they also consulted all
the wise men of their kingdom;
‘Your Majesty must do this.’
‘Your Majesty must do that,’
And pills here, and potions there; but
the much-sighed-for child did not make its
appearance.
One fine winter’s day it was rather cold,
and the Queen -had come down to walk
about in front of the Palace, to warm her-
self in the sun. A little old woman came
by:
‘Please give me something for charity,
fair lady !’
The Queen, to save herself the trouble of
taking her hands out of her muff, answered :
‘I have nothing to give you.’
And the little old woman hobbled away
grumbling,
THE WERE-WOLF 57
‘What was she muttering?’ asked the
Queen of her attendants.
‘She said that one day or another your
Majesty would need her aid’
The Queen bade one of the pages run
after her to call her back, but the little old
woman had turned the corner and dis-
appeared.
Eight days later a stranger presented
himself, and requested to speak to the King
in private :
‘Please your Majesty, 1 have a potion
58 ONCE UPON A TIME
that will cure the Queen, but first of all let
us make a bargain.’
‘Oh, capital!’ cried the King; ‘let us
make the bargain, then !?
‘Well, if a boy is born to you, you will
keep him for yourself?
‘And should it be a girl instead ??
‘If it is a girl, as soon as she has accom-
plished her seventh year you must bring her
up to the top of that mountain, and there aban-
don her—you will never hear of her again,
‘I must consult the Queen,’ said the poor
King.
‘Ah! that means that we shall come to
no agreement.’
Driven thus between the wall and the
door, the King accepted the conditions.
The stranger then drew from his pocket
a phial so very small that it could hardly be
seen between his fingers, and said:
‘This is a powerful potion. As soon as
the Queen falls asleep this evening your
Majesty must pour all the phial into her ear.
That will be enough.’
And so it was. -A short time after this
the Queen gave birth to a child, a most
beautiful little girl When the King was
told he burst into tears :
‘Poor little one! what a sad destiny
awaits her! what a sad fate !?
The Queen heard of this, and when she
saw the King, asked:
THE WERE-WOLP 59
‘Why did your Majesty weep and say
“ Poor little one! what a sad fate†?’
‘Don’t pay any attention to that, dear!â€
Well, the Princess grew up, more beauti-
ful than the sunlight; the King and Queen
quite worshipped her. When she entered
her seventh year the poor father had no
more peace of mind, thinking that he would
soon have to carry her up to the top of the
mountain, and there abandon her, never to
hear of her any more. But that was the
agreement he had made, and he was forced
to maintain it.
The day the Princess completed her
seventh year, the King said to the Queen:
‘I am going to the country with the child,
and we shall be back towards evening.’
So they set out together, and walked and
walked till they reached the foot of the
mountain, and began to ascend it. The
Princess got tired and could not climb,
so the King took her in his arms.
‘Papa, what are we going to do up |
there? . . . Let us go back again !’
The King did not reply, but swallowed the
salt tears that were running down his cheeks,
so that the little one might not see them.
‘Papa, dear, what are we going up there
for? Let us turn back again !’
And again the King drank the bitter
tears that ran down his cheeks, but not a
word did he answer.
60 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Papa, why are we coming up here?
Let us go home again!’
‘Sit down here and wait a minute, darling.’
And putting her down he went away,
and abandoned her to her fate.
When the Queen saw him return alone,
she began crying out:
‘And our child? My little daughter ?
What have you done with her ??
‘An eagle swooped down on us, and seizing
her in its talons bore her away.’
‘Oh, my poor little daughter! It cannot
be true!’
‘A-wild animal rushed out on us, and
carried her off to devour her in the forest.’
‘Oh, my poor little daughter! but it
cannot be true !?
‘She was playing on the banks of a
stream, and she fell in, and the current
carried her away.’
‘It can’t be true! It can’t be true !’
still cried the wretched mother.
Then at last the King told her all the truth,
word for word, and the poor Queen rushed
off like a madwoman in quest of her little
daughter.
When she reached the mountain top
she searched about and called to her for
three days and three nights, but did not
find the faintest trace of her ; and at last she
returned home to her Palace, heart-broken
and disconsolate.
THE WERE-WOLF 61
Seven long years passed away. Nothing
had ever been heard or seen of the missing
child.
One day the: Queen happened to look
over the parapet of a small terrace, and
whom should she see down in the street
below but the little old woman, the very
same that she had caused so much search °
to be made for.
‘Good woman! good woman! please to
come up here!’
‘Please your Majesty, I am in a great
hurry now; I shall come back to-morrow,
The Queen felt rather put out. The
next day she stayed the whole morning on
the little terrace waiting for her.
No sooner did she see her pass than
she cried :
_*Good woman! good woman! will you
please come up here !’
‘Please your Majesty, I am in great
haste to-day; I shall pass again to-morrow.’
The following day the Queen, to make
sure of her, went down and waited before
the front door.
‘Please your Majesty, I am in a greater
hurry than ever; I shall come back to-
morrow.’
But the Queen caught hold of her by the
arm, and would not let her go; and there on
the stairs she humbly begged the old woman’s
pardon for having refused to give her alms.
62 ONCE UPON A TIME
“Ah, good woman! good woman! let me
but find my child again !’
‘But, your Majesty, what can I know
about her? I am but a poor little old
woman.’ :
‘Ah, good woman! good woman! only
help me to find my child again!’
‘Then it is bad news~I must give your
Majesty; the Princess is fallen into the
power of the Were-Wolf; it was he who
gave the phial with the potion and made the
bargain with the King. In a month’s time
hence he will ask her: “Do you want me
for your husband?†If she answers “no,â€
he will make but two mouthfuls of her.
You must give her warning in time.’
‘And where does the Were-Wolf live ??
‘Please your Majesty, he lives under-
ground ; you must go down and down for
three days and three nights, without ever
eating or drinking or resting, and on the
third day you will be there. Take with
you a little knife, a ball of thread, and a
handful of corn, and come with me.’
The Queen took everything as the old
woman had ordered her, and they set out
together,
At last they reached a hole in the earth,
through which they could just barely pass.
The little old woman fastened one end of
the ball of thread to a small plant growing
near, and said:
THE WERE-WOLF 63
‘Who sows well, reaps the harvest ;
Who ties thee, unties thee best !’
And in they went. Then down, and
down, and down; the Queen felt her knees
breaking under her:
‘My little old woman, let us rest a while!’
‘Quite impossible, your Majesty !’
And down, and down, and down; the
Queen could go no farther for hunger:
‘Little old woman, let us eat a mouthful,
1 am fainting from weakness !’
‘It is quite impossible, your Majesty |’
So down, and down, and down they went ;
the Queen’s throat was parched with thirst :
‘Little old woman, for pity’s sake, one
drop of water !?
‘Please your Majesty, it is quite im-
possible !’
At last they came out on a vast plain.
The ball of thread was now finished, so
the little old woman tied the other end of
it to a small shrub hard by, and said:
‘Who sows well, reaps the harvest ;
Who ties thee, unties thee best !’
After that they advanced into the plain.
At every step the Queen was to drop a
grain of corn into the earth, and the old
woman said cach time:
‘Corn, good corn, grow high and free !
As I sow, shall 1 reap thee !’
64 ONCE UPON A TIME
And the corn took root and grew up at
once, with long full ears that hung down.
‘Now, your Majesty must stick the little
knife into the ground, and cough three times ;
we are at our journey’s end,’
So the Queen stuck the little knife into
the ground and coughed three times, and
the little old woman said :
‘ Little knife, little knife so stout,
As I stick thee in, so I'll pull thee out !’
And now let us leave them to return to
the Princess.
When she saw she was left quite alone
on the top of the mountain she began to
cry and scream for terror, till at last, poor
child, she cried herself to sleep. She woke
up again in a great Palace, but in all the
splendid rooms and halls she found not
one living soul. She wandered about alone
till she felt tired.
‘Sit down, Princess ; sit down !’
It was the chairs that spoke.
She sat down, and after a little she began
to feel hungry: lo! a table appeared, all
ready laid, with smoking-hot dishes served
upon it,
‘Eat, my Princess; eat!’
And it was the table that spoke.
She ate and drank heartily, and soon after
drowsiness crept on her.
‘Sleep, my Princess; sleep!’
THE WERE-WOLF 68
It was a soft couch that spoke; she was
quite astounded! . . . So she lay down,
and fell asleep at once.
And so on every day. She wanted for
nothing, but she wearied terribly of staying
there all alone, without ever seeing a human
face; and often she wept thinking of her
good papa and mamma. Once she began
to call for them, quite loud, and sobbing :
‘Dear papa! my own mamma! how have
you the heart to leave me here? Mamma!
mamma !’
But a great rough voice called out to her:
‘Be quiet there! silence !’
She shrank away into a corner, much
frightened, and did not venture to speak
again.
After a whole year had passed, one fine
day she heard a voice asking :
‘Would you like to see me?’
And it was not at all that gruff nasty
voice that had frightened her so; she
answered :
‘Very willingly !’
And behold! the doors of her chamber
flew open of themselves, and from the end of
a long suite of rooms there came forward
such a tiny little thing, only a foot high,
all dressed in stuff of golden tissue, with
a little red velvet cap on his head, from
which rose a magnificent white feather,
taller than himself.
F
66 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Good day, Princess !’
‘Good day! Oh, you dear little fellow,
how pretty you are!’ cried the Princess.
And she caught him in her arms, and began
kissing and petting him, and jumping him
up in the air as if he had been a doll.
‘Will you have me for your husband ?
Do you want to have me?’ asked the little
creature.
The Princess laughed and answered :
‘Yes, I want you! I want you!’
And she jumped him up in the air, catch--
ing him again in her hands,
‘What’s your name, little thing ?’
‘Little Spoolikin,’ answered he.
‘What are you doing here ?’
‘I am the master here,’
THE WERE-WOLF 67
‘Ah, then, let me go! let me go to my
own home !’
‘No, no! we are to be married !?
‘Rather think of growing for the present,
my little man !’
Spoolikin was quite offended and went
away, and for a whole year did not show
himself again.
The Princess wearied of being there all
alone and never seeing a human face,
Every day she would call out : j
‘Spoolikin ! Spoolikin !?
But no Spoolikin answered. One day,
at last, the voice again asked her:
‘Would you like to see me?’
‘Most willingly !’ replied the Princess,
Surely he must have grown a little-in a
year’s time! but when the doors were thrown
open the same tiny creature appeared before
her, in the same suit of golden tissue, with
his red velvet cap with the fine white feather
taller than himself.
‘Good day, Princess.’
‘Good day, Spoolikin.’
The Princess was surprised to see him
quite the same, not one bit grown. She
caught him up in her arms, and began to
kiss and caress him, tossing him up in the
air like a doll, ,
‘Will you have me for your husband ??
asked the manikin ; ‘will you have me ??
And the Princess laughed outright :
68 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Yes, Vl have you! yes, I'll have you!
but in the meantime see and grow a little
bigger.’
Then she made him turn a somersault in
the air, and caught him again in her hands.
Spoolikin was highly offended at this,
and went away.
And regularly every year the same thing
happened: and seven years had passed
away. During these seven years the Prin-
cess had grown up to be such a lovely
maiden that four pairs of eyes would have
been necessary to guard her.
One night, as she could not sleep, she
was thinking sadly of her father and mother.
‘Who knows if they still remember me ?
They may think I am dead !’
And she was weeping on her pillow, when
all at once she heard some one throwing
little pebbles against the outer shutter of her
window.
Who on earth could it be at that hour?
. She gathered up courage, jumped out of
bed, opened the shutters ever so gently,
and asked in a whisper :
‘Who is there? what do you want ?’
‘It is I, my daughter; we are come on
your account !’
The Princess was ready to jump out of
the window for joy.
‘Listen, my child,’ said the Queen in an
‘undertone; ‘that Spoolikin is the Were-
THE WERE-WOLF 69
Wolf. He appeared to you in that fashion
so as not to frighten you, but now that you
are grown up he will, in a few days, show
himself in his real shape. But do not be
alarmed, dear child, and if he again says to
you ‘Will you have me for your husband ?â€
be sure and answer “yes,†or you are lost;
‘he would then make but two mouthfuls of
you. To-morrow night, at this same hour,
we shall meet again.’
In the morning the Princess heard the
voice as usual ;
“Do you want to see me?’
‘Oh, most willingly !’ answered she.
And the doors flew open, but instead of
Spoolikin there sprang forward the Were-
Wolf, a great, gaunt, hairy monster, with
such fearful eyes and teeth! May the Lord
preserve all of us from ever falling into his
power ! :
The poor Princess at.this sight felt that
she was going to faint.
‘Will you have me for your husband ?’
roared the brute; ‘I made you on purpose
for myself.’
She was trembling like a leaf, and dared
not reply.
“Will you have me for your husband ??
yelled he.
The more the Princess heard the fright-
ful voice the more she trembled, and she
got bewildered. She wanted to answer
jo ONCE UPON A TIME
‘yes,’ but in her trouble ‘Oh no, no!? fell
from her lips instead,
‘Then come here!’ howled the Were-
Wolf.
And he pounced on her with his terrible
claws to swallow her up.
‘Wait at least till to-morrow! I beg it of
you as a grace!’
The Were-Wolf paused a minute uncer-
tain, and then answered :
‘Be it as you desire! To-morrow you
shall be eaten up!’ é
That night, at the hour fixed upon, the
Princess looked out of her window :
‘Oh, my own mamma dear,’ she cried
under her breath, ‘I said “no†without
wanting to: to-morrow I am to be eaten
up!’
‘ Take courage!’ said the little old woman,
and she knocked loudly at the Palace gate.
‘Who is there? Whom do you want ??
At the roar of the Were-Wolf all the
building shook.
‘I am Little Knife,
I’m planted in the hard ground,
To defend the child I've found.’
The Were-Wolf could do nothing against
this charm, And next morning, at dawn,
he came out, and seeing the little knife stuck
in the ground, he gnawed his hands for
rage:
THE WERE-WOLF qt
‘If I find out who has planted this, I
shall make but one mouthful of him !’
And he looked and searched all over the
place, but not a soul could he find. At
last he called the Princess :
‘Come here! wrench this little knife out
of the ground for me, and I promise not to
eat you up.’
The Princess believed him, and drew out
the little knife.
‘And now come here!’ roared the
monster.
And he seized upon her with his mighty
claws, and was going to gobble her up.
‘Ah! wait at least till to-morrow to eat
me! I beg it of you as a grace!’
The Were-Wolf reflected a minute as if
uncertain, then replied :
‘Then I grant it you !’
That night the Princess again looked
out of her window:
‘Oh, my own dear mamma! what shall
I do? He said, “Wrench this little
knife out of the ground for me,†and I
drew it out, and now I must be eaten up
to-morrow.’
‘Take courage, child.’
And the little old woman knocked at the
gate, louder than before.
‘Who is there? whom do you want ?’
At the Were-Wolf’s roar all the Palace
shook again.
72 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Iam Little Barley-Corn !
I’m planted in the dark ground,
To defend the child I've found !'
And the Were-Wolf could do nothing
against this charm, Next morning, at
dawn, he came down, and when he saw the
corn springing from the ground, with the
ears all ripe and hanging down, he bit his
very hands for rage:
‘If I find out who has sown this, I'll
make but one mouthful of him !’
And he looked and searched all about,
but found nobody. And when the Princess
came down he said to her:
‘Come here! reap this corn for me, and
I promise I shall not eat you.’
The Princess again believed him, which
was very foolish. of her, I think, and set to
work. There was no charm ‘against her, so
in one day she easily reaped it all.
‘And now come here till I eat you!’
cried the Were-Wolf.
‘I beg you as a grace,’ sobbed she, ‘ wait
at least till to-morrow to eat me!’
He hesitated one minute to consider, and
then said:
‘Well, I grant you it, for the last time!’
And when night came, the unfortunate
Princess looked out of her window.
‘Oh, my own dear mamma! He said to
me, ‘‘ Reap me this corn,†and I reaped it for
him, and to-morrow I am to be eaten up.’
THE WERE-WOLF 73.
‘Take courage, child,’
And once mote the little old woman
knocked loudly at the gate.
‘Who is there?’ roared out the Were-
Wolf.
‘I am fine Yarn Thread !
To the green plant I am bound,
To defend the child I’ve found !'
The Were-Wolf could do nothing against
this charm either. Next morning, at dawn,
he came out, and as soon as he saw the
thread tied to the little plant he bit his
hands for sheer rage, and cried to the
Princess :
‘Come here, and untie me this thread at
both ends; I promise not to eat you!’
But this time the old woman had taught
the Princess how to do.
She was not to stop Once, but go on
walking and walking ; nor was she to eat or
drink, but wind and wind at the thread,
and so straight on.
So she untied the zear end of the thread,
and began walking straight forward, wind-
ing it up; and the Were-Wolf came after
her.
‘Eat a mouthful, eat a mouthful,’ said he;
‘you must be hungry.’
‘Tam not hunery, I'll eat when I am,’
said the Princess,
And on and on: she in front winding up
74 ONCE UPON A TIME
the thread, and the Were-Wolf close after
her,
‘ Drink a drop of water, only a little drop,’
said he.
‘I shall drink when I’m thirsty,’ was her
answer.
By this time they had reached the hole
that served as way out. When the Were-
Wolf saw that the other end of the thread
was tied to a little plant outside the hole,
he gnawed and bit at his hands for very
rage. At the sight of the little old woman
he got as white in the face as bleached
linen,
‘Oh! my arch-enemy!’ he faltered; ‘I
am lost! I am lost !’
And the Queen and the Princess turned
round, and instead of the little old woman
beheld a most beautiful lady, lovely as the
morning star. It was the Queen of the
Fairies.
You can well imagine their joy!
In the meantime, the Queen of the Fairies
was taking stones and piling them up, one
upon the other, before the hole:
‘Stones, stones, both good and true!
Who builds you up shall undo you too!’
And when the hole was quite walled up,
the Queen of the Fairies disappeared before
they could even thank her.
THE WERE-WOLF 75
So the horrid, wicked Were-Wolf was left
inside to die of hunger.
The Queen and the Princess returned
home to their Palace, safe and sound, and
a year later the Princess married the King
of Portugal.
CHICK-PEA
ONCE upon a time there lived a King who
loved hunting above all things,
His Ministers of State would often say to
him:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects would like to have a
Queen,’
And his answer always was :
‘I shall marry next year.’
’ But the year would pass; then the
Ministers would return to the attack:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects would like you: to
give them a Queen,’
‘I shall certainly marry next year,’ would
he say.
But chaz year never came.
Every morning, as soon as the first dawn
of light began to peep, he would sling his
game-pouch on his back, and with his gun
on his shoulder and his dogs at his heels,
away he would go to the woods and covers.
Whoever required to speak to the King
CHICK-PEA 77
on business of any kind had to go search-
ing for him all over the country.
The Ministers once more made an
attempt:
‘May it please your Most Gracious
Majesty, your subjects ardently desire a
Queen.’
So that at last, to get rid of them, the
King made up his mind to ask the hand of
the King of Spain’s daughter.
But when he went to Spain to wed her,
he remarked that she was a little hunch-
backed :
‘What! I marry a hunchback? No,
never |?
‘But her face is lovely, and she is most
virtuous,’ objected his Ministers.
‘But she is hunchbacked, and that is
more than enough! No, never!’ cried the
King.
And he returned home to his hunting,
and his woods and covers.
Now, you must know that the hunch-
backed Princess had a Fairy Godmother.
The Fairy, seeing her weeping because of
the King’s refusal, said to her:
‘Be of good heart; he shal? marry you,
and shall have to come and sue for your
hand. Leave it all to me!’
Well, it happened one day that the King
in going out shooting met a poor, common-
looking woman, so thin and poverty-stricken
78 ONCE UPON A TIME
that a blast of wind might have blown her
away.
‘Good sport to your Majesty !’ cried she.
The King, irritated at the sight of such
an ill-omened face, shrugged his shoulders
rudely, and made no answer.
That day he didn’t even bag so much as
a tom-tit.
Another morning he went out, and there
he met the same poor woman again, so thin
and starved-looking that a breath might
have blown her over.
“Good sport to your Majesty !’
‘Now listen, you old witch!’ roared the
King to her; ‘if I catch you once again on
my way, I’ll give you to understand! mind
my words !’
And all that day he didn’t even ae so
much as one little wren.
But the following morning there was
that ill-omened old woman again:
‘Good sport to your Majesty !’
‘Pll give you some good sport, that I
will!’ cried the King in a fury.
He had brought a body of guards with
him, and he ordered the poor old woman
to be shut up in prison.
From that day forth the King went out
shooting in vain; he was never able to
bring down so much as a feather. The
game had all disappeared as by magic
from his woods and covers. Not a hare, not
CHICK-PEA 79
even a rabbit, was to be had, even had he
been ready to pay its weight in gold for it.
But still worse befell him.
As he was no longer able to take his
usual exercise in going out shooting, the
King began to get fatter and fatter, and
in a short time he had grown so stout that
he weighed two hundredweights, and his
body had swollen out till it looked like a
wine-cask. When he would take two or
three turns in the rooms of his Palace, he
felt as if he had walked a hundred miles : he
would then breathe so hard that he seemed
a forge-bellows, and the perspiration that
streamed down his cheeks formed a pool
on the floor. Then he would have to sit
down at once to rest and eat something very
substantial to restore his failing strength.
He was quite in despair, and consulted
all the doctors,
‘I should like to get thin again,’ he would
say to them.
And the doctors wrote prescription after
prescription for him: they consumed gallons
of ink. Not a day passed that the chemist
did not send up great bottles of mixtures
and messes, as bitter as gall,
But the more physic his Majesty took,
the stouter he grew.
All the doors of the rooms had to be
made wider, that the King might pass
through; and once the Court architects
80 ONCE UPON A TIME
even said that if the floors and pavements
were not well propped up, his Majesty
would sink through them some day or other.
The poor King was desperate.
Was there then no remedy for him ?
And he had other doctors called in, but
all in vain; the more they prescribed for
him, the fatter he grew.
At last one day an old woman presented
herself, and said to the King:
‘Your Majesty is under a malignant
charm; I could break it, but as a recom-
pense your Majesty must wed my daughter,
who is called Chick-Pea, because she is so
very tiny.’
‘Then Pll wed your Chick-Pea!’ answered
the wretched monarch.
Heaven only knows what he would zof
have done, so as only to get rid of his
unwieldy body.
‘Then bring her to me!’
The old woman thrust her hand into
her apron-pocket and drew out Chick-Pea,
who was barely an inch high, but very
pretty, and in perfect proportion.
No sooner did she behold that great fat
mass than she burst out laughing; and as
the woman held her on the palm of her
hand to let the King see her better, with
one bound she skipped away and began
climbing up his Majesty’s body, running
here and there as if it were a hill for her.
CHICK-PEA 81
The King felt her little feet pattering
over him, and wanted to stop her, but she
sprang about here and there, worse than
any cricket, and would not let herself be
caught. The King laughed, Ha, ha, ha!
for her feet tickled him, and his great body
heaved and rolled so funnily: Ha, ha, ha!
Then Chick-Pea sang :
‘The King’s body shall be
A fit mansion for me!’
The King was laughing so loud, with his
mouth wide open—in sprang Chick-Pea,
and down his throat :
‘The King's body shall be
A fit mansion for me!’
I let you imagine for yourself the terror
that his Majesty and all his Court were
in!
In the midst of the confusion the old
woman had disappeared.
And Chick-Pea gave orders from her
mansion :
‘Give me something to eat!’
And the King was obliged to eat for her
as well as for himself.
‘Give me something to drink !?
And the King had also to drink for her.
‘Now, let me go to sleep !’
And there the King had to sit quite quiet,
that Chick-Pea might sleep,
‘Please your Majesty,’ said one of his
G
82 ONCE UPON A TIME
Ministers, ‘this may be some charm cast on
your Majesty by that thin, starved-looking
woman who was thrown into prison.’
‘Then have her brought before me,’
quoth the King.
When the warders went to open her
prison they found it empty. The woman
must have escaped through the key-hole !
And what was to be done now?
Meanwhile Chick-Pea in the King’s great
body kept calling out :
‘Give me something to eat! give me
something to drink !’
At last the King’s subjects began
grumbling over the taxes they had to pay,
for so much food was required to fill his
Majesty’s enormous stomach and _ satisfy
Chick-Pea! And they had to pay for it
all.
The King finally issued a proclamation :
Whoever would succeed in getting Chick-
Pea out of the King’s stomach would receive
the title of Prince Royal, and as much wealth
as he could desire !
But the heralds went all through the
kingdom in vain. And as Chick-Pea grew,
even a little, the King’s body swelled out
more and more, till there was danger of
his bursting at any moment.
Then the poor King entreated her:
‘Come out, my beautiful little Chick-Pea !
come out, and I shall make you my Queen!
CHICE-PEA . 83
‘Oh, please your Majesty, I am very
comfortable in here; will you give me some-
thing to eat ??
‘Come out, my lovely Chick-Pea, and you
shall be my Queen !? |
‘Please your Majesty, I am quite comfort-
able in here; I should like something to
drink !’
Had it not been for fear of dying, the
King would have torn himself open with his
own hands.
And his subjects grumbled more and
more: |
‘The King’s great body swallows up all
we’ve got; we're tired of working only for
King Glutton !?
As if their poor King Glutton, as they
called him, found much pleasure in it! He
alone could know how much he suffered,
with that odious Chick-Pea in his stomach,
ordering him about, and insisting on being
obeyed !| |
Happily the old woman made her appear-
ance one day.
‘Ah, you wicked old creature!’ cried the
King on seeing her; ‘take your Chick-Pea
away from me, or it will be worse for you !?
‘Please your Majesty, I am come on
purpose, with my two doctors.’
Now, her two doctors were two horrible-
looking birds, bigger than turkeys, with
great beaks a foot long and as strong as steel.
84 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Your Majesty must lie down flat on your
back in the middle of a plain.’
The poor King, who had grown so stout
that he could not move one single step,
ordered his attendants to roll him there.
And they forthwith began to roll him like
a cask, down the stairs and along the
streets, where a carpet had been spread ;
they were soon bathed in perspiration with
their hard work.
When they reached the plain, and had
laid the King flat on his back, one of the
great horrid birds perched itself on his body
and pecked at him, and what do you think
gushed out? Why, a jet of excellent wine,
all the wine his Majesty had drunk during
so many years !
And the people came running with casks,
and barrels, and vats, and flagons, and kegs,
and flasks, and decanters, and pig-skins, and
bottles, and glasses to fill; but there was no
finding enough of vessels to contain it all. It
was quite like vintage-time, and a jolly good
vintage too! And they were all tippling
and tasting, and hobnobbing to one another,
and getting as tipsy as could be,
Well, the King’s great body grew a little
less !
Then the other horrible bird came and
perched on him, and pecked at him in its
turn, and behold! out came all the good
things the King had eaten in so many years !
CHICK-PEA ~ 85
Macaroni, and sausages, and roast fowls, and
beef-steaks, and cakes, and fruit, and every
sort of dainty. The people did not know
where to stow them away. They all ate
to their hearts’ content. It was quite a
carnival !
And the King’s great body grew less and
* less!
Then he said:
‘Come out, my beautiful Chick-Pea, and
I shall make you my Queen !?
Chick-Pea passed her head through one
of the holes the birds had made, and answered,
laughing :
‘Here I am!’
And the King immediately grew to his
former stature.
So they were married, But his Majesty
fancied that with such a little make-believe
of a wife, barely a hand high, he was at
liberty to return to his old life and amuse-
ments, his shooting and dogs and guns;
and he used to stay away from home whole
weeks at a time.
Poor Chick-Pea stayed in her Palace and
wept:
‘Ah, poor little me !
A Queen without a King must I be !’
The King grew not to be able to bear her
because of her complaining.
And he went to consult a witch, and said:
86 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘What must I do in order to get rid of
Chick-Pea ?’
‘Your Majesty must
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted !’
He did not like to eat her; however, he
returned home and said to Chick-Pea:
‘To-morrow I’ll take you out shooting
with me, and you can amuse yourself.’
He wanted to lead her into the depths of
the forest, where no one would be able to
see him.-
But Chick-Pea replied :
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted ?
‘Thanks, your Majesty !
‘Ah, poor little me !
A Queen without a King must I be!’
The King was quite astonished.
How could she know it ?
So he went back to the witch and related
the whole thing to her,
‘When Chick-Pea will have fallen asleep,
your Majesty must cut off a lock of her
hair, and bring it to me.’
However, as fate would have it, Chick-
Pea did not seem much inclined to go to
bed that evening. ‘
‘Come to bed, Chick-Pea,’ said the King.
CHICK-PEA 87
‘A little later, your Majesty; I don’t
feel at all sleepy yet. :
So the King waited and waited; he was
the first to fall asleep. When he awoke
next morning, he saw that Chick-Pea was
already up and dressed.
‘Have you not slept all night, my Chick-
Pea?’
‘Thanks, your Majesty! Prudence is a
virtue !
‘Ah, poor little me |!
- A Queen without a King must I be!’
The King was more astonished than ever.
However did she come to know it?
And he returned to the witch and told
her everything.
‘Your Majesty must invite King Crow
to dinner; as soon as he sees her he will
make but one mouthful of her.’
So King Crow was invited, and came:
‘Craw! craw! craw! craw!’ was all
he could say.
And no sooner did he set eyes on little
Chick-Pea, who was but a palm’s-length high,
than he gobbled her down at one mouthful,
‘A thousand thanks, King Crow!’ said
his Majesty ; ‘now you may go away |’
‘Craw! craw! craw! thank you! but
before I go I must peck your eyes out.’
And with only two strokes of his beak
he put out his eyes.
88 ONCE UPON A TIME
The poor King wept tears of blood.
Chick-Pea dead, and he blind of both
eyes !
After some time had passed, the same
old woman again made her appearance.
She was no other than the Fairy Godmother
of the Princess of Spain.
‘Your Majesty must not give way to
affliction : Chick-Pea is alive, and your eyes
are hidden away in a safe spot; they are
inside the hump of the Princess of Spain !’
The King dragged himself as far as the
Royal Palace where the Princess dwelt,
and began crying piteously from outside
the door: :
‘Ah, good Princess, do but give me back
my eyes!’
The Princess answered him from the
window :
‘I marry that little hunch-back? No,
never !?
‘Forgive me, dear Princess! and give
me back my eyes!’ pleaded the King.
And still the Princess replied from the
window :
‘Skin her, then toasted
Eat her, or roasted !'
Then the King understood that the Prin-
cess of Spain and Chick-Pea were but one
person, and he continued to cry out still
louder :
CHICK-PEA 89
‘Ah, Princess, my own dear Chick-Pea,
give me back my eyes !’
The Princess at last came down, and
gave him back his eyes.
But the King had no sooner put them in
again than he stared at her in amazement.
The Princess was no longer hunch-backed,
and was the exact image of pretty little
Chick-Pea, only of natural height.
So he was forgiven for all, and in a short
time they were wed—a true grand wedding
this time! And in remembrance of these
adventures the Queen wished to be always
called Chick-Pea.
They lived long, happy, and contented,
And I must go, my story's ended !
THE TALKING TREE
ONCE upon a time there was a King who
fancied he had collected together in his
Palace all the rarest things in the world.
One day a stranger came and asked per-
mission to visit the collection; he observed
everything minutely, and then said:
‘May it please your Majesty, but the
best thing of all is wanting.’
‘What is wanting ?’ inquired the King.
‘The Talking Tree,’ replied the stranger.
And of a truth, the Talking Tree was not
among all those wonderful things.
So with this flea in his ear the King had
no more peace, he could not even sleep at
night. He sent messengers and exploring
commissions throughout the whole world
in search of the Talking Tree, but they
all returned empty-handed,
The King then thought the stranger must
have been making fun of him, and ordered
him to be arrested.
‘Please your Majesty,’ said he, ‘if your
messengers and explorers have searched
THE TALKING TREE QL
badly, how can it be my fault? Let them
seek better.’
‘But have you seen the Talking Tree
with your own eyes?’
‘1 have seen it with my own eyes, and
what is more, I’ve heard it with my own
ears.’
‘Where ?’
‘I no longer remember now.’
‘And what did it say ?’
‘Well, it said:
«« Byer to wait for what never comes,
Why, it does quite give one the doldrums Tol
So the story was really true! The King
again sent off his messengers. A whole
year passed, and they all returned as before,
empty-handed.
Then the King was so angry, he ordered
the stranger’s head to be chopped off.
‘But what fault of mine is it if your
Majesty's people have searched badly ?
Let them seek better.’ i
His persistence struck the King as sing-
ular! He called together his Ministers and
announced to them his intention of going
himself in quest of the Talking Tree. He
would not consider himself a King until he
had it safe within his Palace walls !
So he set out in disguise.
He walked and walked; after many
days’ journey he was at last benighted ina
92 ONCE UPON A TIME
deep valley, where not one living soul was
to be seen. He stretched himself out upon
the ground, and was just dropping off asleep
when he heard a voice, as of some one
weeping :
‘Ever to wait for what never comes,
Why, it does quite give one the doldrums !
He started up and lent an ear. Had he
been dreaming?
‘Ever to wait for what never comes,
Why, it's enough to give one the doldrums !'
Then he had mot been dreaming. And
he immediately asked :
‘Who are you ??
Nobody answered. Yet the words were
exactly those of the Talking Tree.
Again: ‘Who are you?’
Yet nobody answered. Next morning,
as soon as it was dawn, he perceived near
at hand a beautiful tree with branches
bending down to the earth.
This must be it.
And to make sure he stretched out his
hand and plucked two leaves.
‘Ahi! why do you tear me?’ said a sad
voice.
The King was quite terrified in spite of
all his daring ; yet he asked :
‘Who are you? If you are a baptized
soul, in the name of Heaven answer me !?
>
THE TALKING TREE 93
‘IT am the King of Spain’s daughter,’ said
the voice.
‘And how come you to be here ?’
‘One day I saw a fountain as clear as
crystal and thought I would bathe in it;
no sooner did its waters touch me than I
fell under this enchantment,
‘What can I do in order to set you free ?’
‘You must find out the words of the spell,
and swear to marry me’
‘That I swear immediately ; as. to the
spell, I shall manage to find it out if I have to
go to the ends of the earth! Only, tell me
first why you did not answer me last night’
‘Ah!’ sighed the Tree, ‘the witch was
there! Be quiet! Goaway now! I hear
her coming back. If by misfortune she
found you here, she would throw the spell
over you also.’
The King ran and hid himself behind a
sort of low wall that ran near, and saw the
witch come riding on her broomstick.
‘Whom were you talking to ?’ asked she.
‘To the wind that blows,’ answered the
Tree.
‘But I see footmarks here !’
‘They may be your own.’
‘Ah, they’re mine, are they?’ cried the
enraged witch, and seizing a great iron club
she struck the Tree, screaming all the while:
‘Wait till I get at you! ITU let you
know !?
od ONCE UPON A TIME
‘That will do!’ shrieked the Tree; ‘I
shall do it no more! I shall never do it
again !’
But the witch :
‘Ah, they’re mine, are they ?’
And then:
‘Wait till I get at you! Ill let you see!’
The King was greatly distressed at this,
but as he could do nothing he saw it was
useless to remain there any longer. He
had better go and try to find out the spell.
So he began to retrace his steps, but he
took the wrong path. When he perceived
that he had quite lost his way in the midst
of a thick wood, and could not find any
issue from it, he thought, as it was getting
late, that he had better climb up into some
high tree, and there pass the night, to be
out of reach of the wild beasts that would
have made but one mouthful of him.
So up he climbed. But, lo and behold!
just at midnight he heard a deafening noise
that rang through the whole wood. It was
an Ogre coming home, with his hundred
mastiffs barking and yelping at his heels.
‘Oh, what a fine smell of Christian
- flesh !’ cried the Ogre; and he stopped at
the foot of the tree our King was on, and
began sniffing up in the air.
‘Oh, what a good smell !’
The poor King felt cold shivers pass all
over him, while he heard the mastiffs root-
THE. TALKING TREE 95
ing and growling among the brush-wood
around, scraping up the earth and snuffing
at his foot-marks. But, luckily, it was as
dark as pitch, and the Ogre, after looking
about in vain for some little time, at last
went away and called off his mastiffs.
When daylight came the King, still
quaking with fear, slid down from the tree,
and began going forward very cautiously,
After some time he met a beautiful young
girl.
“Lovely maiden,’ said he, addressing her,
‘for charity’s sake show me how I may get
96 ONCE UPON A TIME
out of this wood; I am a traveller who has
lost his way,’
‘Ah, my poor fellow! however did you
get here? My father will pass again in a
short time, and will most surely eat you up
alive, you poor soul!’
And indeed they could hear the barking
of the mastiffs not far off, and the voice of
the Ogre calling them after him.
‘I am lost this time!’ thought the
King,
‘Come here !’ cried the maiden; ‘throw
yourself flat down on your face; I shall sit
on you, and cover you over with my skirts,
Don’t even breathe !’
When the Ogre saw his daughter, he
stopped :
‘What are you sitting there for?’
‘TI am resting a little,’
‘Oh, what a good smell of Christian
flesh !? ,
‘A little boy went past and I gobbled
him up.’
‘Well done! and his bones ??
‘The dogs ate them up.’
Yet the Ogre continued sniffing at the
air:
‘Oh, what a good smell !’
‘Well, father, if you wish to reach the
seashore in time, don’t stop on the way.’
As soon as the Ogre had gone off with
himself the King came out from his hiding-
THE TALKING TREE 97
place, and related his story, word by word,
to the kind maiden.
‘If your Majesty will but promise to
marry me, I can give you the spell you need
to break the charm.’
Now this girl was a perfect beauty, and
the King would have been nothing loath to
wed her, but he remembered his former
promise.
‘Alas, fair maiden, I have already
pledged my word ! a
‘That’s unlucky for me. But no matter.’
She led him to a great mansion, and
taking a pot of ointment that belonged to
her father, smeared some of it on him,
which at once spread a charm over him.
‘And now, my pretty maid, you must
please lend me an axe.’
‘ Here is one,’
‘What is this grease on the edge ?’
‘It is but some oil from the whetstone
on which it was sharpened.’
With the charm he now had upon him,
the King was able to get back in a twinkling
to the spot where stood the Talking Tree.
The witch was not there, so the Tree
said to him:
‘Take care! my heart is hidden away in
the trunk. When you cut me down, don’t
mind what the witch says; if she tells you
to strike high up, you must strike down ; if
she tells you to strike down, you must strike
H
98 ONCE UPON A TIME
up; if not, you will killme. Then you must
cut the nasty old witch’s head off at one
blow, or it will be all over with you; not .
even the charm can save you.’
The witch came after some time:
‘What are you seeking for in these
parts ?’ she asked of the King.
‘I am looking for a tree to make charcoal
of, and I have just been considering this
one? zs
‘Will it suit you? I make you a present
of it, on condition that in felling it you
strike exactly where I tell you.’
‘Very well! Thank you!’
‘ Strike here !?
But instead the King smote there.
‘Oh, I made a mistake! let me begin
again !’
All the while he could not manage to get
a stroke at the witch; she was on her
guard. At last he cried:
- €Q-0-0-0-0-h !?
‘What do you see ?’
‘Such a fine star!’
‘By daylight! that’s impossible !’
‘See! up there! right over that branch !’
And while the witch turned her back to
him to look right over the branch, the King
aimed a mighty blow and cut her head
clean off.
No sooner was the enchantment thus
broken than from the trunk of the Tree
THE TALKING TREE 99
there stepped forth a damsel so lovely, one
could scarcely look at her.
The King, delighted at having saved her,
brought her back with him to his Palace,
and ordered splendid rejoicings and prepara-
tions for the celebration of their wedding.
When the day came the Court ladies
were dressing the Queen in her bridal robes ;
to their great astonishment they perceived
that she was made of wood, though so
beautiful, One of them flew to the King:
‘Please your Majesty, the Queen is not
of flesh and blood, but of wood !?
The King and his Ministers went to see
this wonder. To the sight she was like any
living person, any one would have been
deceived, but to the touch she was wood;
yet she could talk and move, ,
The Ministers declared that the King
could not marry a wooden doll, even though
it could talk and move; and they counter-
manded the feasting and rejoicings,
‘There must still be some other spell
hanging over her!’ thought the King, and
he remembered the grease on the axe.
He took a piece of meat, and cut it up
with the axe. He had guessed aright !
The bits of meat still seemed to all appear-
ance to be meat, any one would have been
deceived, but to the touch they were wood.
It was the Ogre’s daughter who had betrayed:
him through jealousy !
roo ONCE UPON A TIME
So he said to his Ministers ; &
‘I am going away, but shall soon return.’
And he travelled till he came to the wood
where he had met the beautiful maiden.
“Your Majesty here again? What good
wind has brought you back ?’
‘I am come for you, dear !’
But the Ogre’s daughter would not
believe him :
‘On your word of honour as a King, did
you really come for me ?’
‘On my royal word !’
And he said quite true ; only she imagined
it was for their wedding he had come.
So, taking his arm, they went into the
house together.
‘See, here is the axe you lent me.’ And
in giving it to her the King contrived to
prick her hand with the point.
‘Ah! what has your Majesty done to
me? Iam turning into wood!’
The King made believe to be much grieved
at this accident :
‘Js there no remedy for it ??
‘Yes! Open that cupboard and you will
find a pot of ointment in it; rub me all
over with the oil it contains, and I shall
be cured at once.’
So the King did as she bade him, and
took the pot of ointment.
‘Now, wait till I come back!’ he cried,
and dashed out of the house.
THE TALKING TREE _ Tor
She understood, but too late, and began
screaming after him :
‘Treason! treason !’
Then she unchained her father’s great
mastiffs to give him chase with. But it
was all to no use! ... the King was
already far out of sight.
So the Queen was quite freed from the
spell that bound her, and returned to her
natural state again; and as she was no
longer a wooden doll, the Ministers agreed
to the celebration of the wedding.
There was right royal feasting for eight
days, but we did not even get a penny for
our pains !
THE THREE RINGS
ONCE upon a time there was a Tailor who
had three daughters, each one lovelier than
the other. His wife was déad some time
since, and the poor fellow simply racked his
brains how to‘ get hi§ girls well married.
They had no dowry, so it was rather diffi-
cult to find husbands for them.
One day this poor father bethought him-
self of going out on to a wide plain, and
calling to Fate:
‘Fate! O Fate!’
An old woman appeared to him, with her
distaff and spindle:
‘Why did you call me?’
‘T have called you because of my
daughters.’
‘Then bring them here to me, one at
a time; they shall choose their destiny
themselves.’
The good man went home again quite
content, and said to his daughters :
‘Your fortune is assured !?
And he related them everything. Then
THE THREE RINGS 103
the eldest came forward pertly, and
said :
‘I have a right to the first choice; I
shall choose the best !’
The day after, father and daughter set
out for the plain.
‘Fate! O Fate!’ cried they.
The old woman appeared with her spindle
and distaff :
‘Why have you called me?’
‘This is my eldest daughter,’ said the
Tailor, and he presented her.
The old woman fumbled a little in
her pocket, then drew out ‘three rings —
one of gold, one of silver, and one of
iron—-and ranged them on her outspread
palm : : :
‘Choose, and may Heaven help you!’
‘This one,’ said the maiden, and naturally
she chose the gold one,
‘All hail to your Majesty !’ grinned the
old woman; and making a low curtsey
she disappeared.
When they returned home the eldest
sister said to the two others, giving herself
a grand air: f
‘T am to be a Queen, and you may bear
up the train of my royal mantle !’
The next day the father went with his:
second daughter.
The old woman again came with her
distaff and spindle, and taking the two ~
To4 ONCE UPON A TIME
remaining rings out of her pocket, the one
of silver and the other of iron:
‘Choose,’ she said, ‘and may Heaven
help you!’
‘This one,’ said the young woman ; and,
as you will have already imagined, she chose
the silver one.
‘Princess, I greet you!’ said the old hag,
and with a low curtsey disappeared.
When she’ went home she said to her
eldest sister :
‘So you shall be Queen, and I a Princess!’
And they both began to make game of
their younger sister, saying :
‘How can you help it? Last come, last
served, you know! You ought to have been
born sooner !’
But she made them no answer.
The following day the father brought his
youngest daughter to the plain,
The old woman appeared as usual, with
her distaff and spindle, and drew from her
pocket, as the first time, three rings—one of
gold, one of silver, and one of iron:
‘Choose, and may Heaven help you!’
‘This one,’ said the maiden.
To her father’s rage and disgust, she
chose the iron ring.
The old woman said not a word, and
disappeared.
All the way home the Tailor did nothing
but upbraid the poor girl:
THE THREE RINGS LO5
‘Why couldn’t you choose the gold one,
you stupid ?’
‘The Lord inspired me to choose as I
did,’ “answered she.
Her two sisters, through sheer curiosity,
came out to meet her on the stairs :
‘Let us see! Let us see!’
As soon as they set eyes on the iron ring
they fell into convulsions of laughter and
made fun of her; and when they heard
that she had chosen it in preference to
one of gold and ohe of silver, they thought
her a fool, and showed her as much.
But she, gentle soul, said never a word!
In the meantime the rumour spread abroad
that the Tailor’s three lovely daughters had
won the Lucky Rings.
The King of Portugal, who was looking
out for a wife, came to see them. He was
enchanted with the eldest..
‘You shall be Queen of Portugal!’ he
said. And he wedded her with great festiv-
ities, and led her away to his home. «
Shortly after a Prince.came. He was
much struck with the second:
‘You shall be my Princess!’ he cried.
And he wedded her amid great rejoicings,
and brought her away.
The youngest one remained, and nobody
asked for her.
Finally, one day a shepherd presented
himself:
106 ONCE UPON A TIME
- Will you give me your donee in
marriage ?’ asked he.
Now the Tailor, who had one daughter
a Queen and another a Princess, had grown
quite proud, and answered :
‘Excuse me, but we /ave a shepherd at
our service ; he will do for the present.’
Another year had almost passed away; the
youngest daughter was still at home, and her
father did nothing but grumble,night and day.
‘Serve you right, you stupid thing! You
will always remain in your corner, with that
iron ring of yours!’
Exactly at the end of the year the shepherd
again presented himself:
‘Will you give me your daughter ??
‘Take her!’ cried the Tailor; ‘she
deserves nothing better !’
They were married without any sort of
rejoicings or fuss, and the shepherd took
her away with him.
Then the Tailor said :
‘I want to go and pay a visit to my
‘ daughter, the Queen of Portugal.’
When he reached her kingdom, he found
her weeping :
‘What grieves you so, my daughter ??
‘Oh, I am so unhappy! The King
wants a son, and I have no children;
Heaven alone sends them !’
‘But is your Lucky Ring, then, of no use
to you ??
THE THREE RINGS 107
‘Of no use whatever! The King has
said to me: “If within a year you don’t
give me a son, woe to you!†I feel sure,
dear papa, he'll have my head cut off.’
What could the poor father do to improve
matters? He went off to pay a visit to
his second daughter.
But he found her also in tears:
‘What ails you, dear daughter ?’
‘Ah, I am so unfortunate! All my
children die when they are but two days
old }?
’ *And your Lucky Ring is then of no
use ??
‘Not the least! The Prince has said:
“Tf your next child dies, woe to you!†I
am sure, dear father, he will drive me out
of the house !â€
What could the poor fellow do? So he
went away rather disconsolate.
By the way the idea came to him to go
and see how his other daughter was getting
‘on, the one that had married the shepherd ;
but he felt ashamed to present himself.
So he disguised himself as a pedlar, took
a few trifles to sell, and walked and walked
till he reached those distant parts.
He beheld a magnificent palace all spark-
ling with gold, and inquired to whom it
belonged.
‘It’s the palace of the Sun King!’ was
the answer.
108 ONCE UPON A TIME
While he stood there staring at it in
astonishment, he heard some one calling
to him from a window:
‘Packman, if you have any fine wares,
come up here. The Queen wants to buy
something.’
So he went up. But who do you think
was the Queen? . .. His youngest daughter,
the shepherd’s wife! ... He was struck
dumb with amazement, and stood stock-
still, unable even to open his pack to show
the wares he had for sale,
THE THREE RINGS 10g
‘Do you feel ill, my poor fellow ?’ asked
the Queen.
‘My child, I am your father, and ask
you to pardon me!’
But she had recognised him, and would
not allow him to throw himself at her feet ;
she flung her arms round him, crying :
‘You are welcome, dear father! Every-
thing is forgotten, Eat, drink, and rest,
only you must go away before evening,
for if the Sun King found you, you would
be turned into ashes.’
Then after he had eaten and drunk
heartily, his daughter said to him:
‘These presents are for you. And this
hazel nut is for my elder sister; this little
phial of water for the other. The nut must
be swallowed shell and all, and the water
must be taken a drop a day, but not more.
They must take heed, papa, or evil may
come of it !?
When her two sisters heard of her good
fortune, and saw what sort of presents she
had sent them, they burned with envy and
spite. :
Was she making game of them, with her
nut and her drops of water?
The eldest threw the nut on the floor,
and trod well on it with her heel.
Blood spurted out from it, for inside there
was a tiny little babe, but the Queen had
crushed its head !
LIO ONCE UPON A TIME
The King, seeing how proud she was,
and the baby crushed to death, cried:
‘Ho there! take her out of my sight
and chop her head off!’
And he had her put to death without pity
or mercy.
At the same time the other sister had
_ taken the stopper out of the little phial,
and going to an open window had poured
out all the water into the road below.
Some children were just then passing,
carrying a poor dead bird to be buried;
some of the water fell on it, and it im-
mediately returned to life.
‘Ab! you wretch !’ cried the Prince, her
husband; ‘you have destroyed our children’s
good luck !?
And in a fit of fury he strangled her
with his own hands.
The poor father returned to his youngest
daughter, and with many tears told her of
these misfortunes.
‘Eat and drink and rest here, father,
only go away before evening, for if the
Sun King were to find you, you would be
turned into ashes. As soon as I have
any good news, I shall send for you.’
When the Sun King returned in the
evening, she asked him:
‘What has your Majesty seen by the
way ??
‘I saw a Queen have her head cut off,
THE THREE RINGS LIL
and a Princess being strangled. They both
deserved it well!’
‘Ah, your Majesty, they were my un-
fortunate sisters! But you can call them
back to life again! I implore you, do not
refuse me this grace!’
‘We shall see,’ replied the Sun King.
The next day, as soon as he reached
the spot where the Queen lay buried, he
struck the grave and cried:
‘To her who under damp earth lies,
I’m by her sister sent ;
If from dark death she would arise,
Let her of sin repent !’
The answer came:
‘Bear answer to my sister dear,
That very well I’m doing here ;
Fate send her sorrow and great fear!
May I know it within the year !'
‘Then stay where you are, you bad,
wicked woman !’
And the Sun King continued his journey.
When he reached the burial-place of the
Princess he struck on her grave and
cried :
‘To her who under damp earth lies,
I'm by her sister sent ;
“If from dark death she would arise,
Of sin let her repent !’
But the same answer came:
112 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Go answer to my sister dear,
That very well I’m doing here ;
Great sorrow, known or unknown,
I wish her, e’er a month be flown !’
‘Then lie where you are, you bad, wicked
woman !?
And the Sun King continued on his bright
journey, but the two wicked sisters became
the food of worms.
Green is the leaf, long is the way !
My story's told, now say your say !
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN
ONCE upon a time there was a very young
King who wanted to get married, but he
wanted his bride to be the most beautiful
maiden in the whole world.
‘And supposing she were not of royal
blood ?’ objected the Ministers.
‘Oh, I don’t care in the least!’ replied
the King.
‘Then your Majesty must know that the
most beautiful maiden in the world is a
cobbler’s daughter ; but the common people,
through spite, might call her Queen Down-
at-Heels. That would never do! your
Majesty ought to reflect better !?
And the King made answer:
‘The cobbler’s daughter is the most
beautiful maiden in the world? Then
she alone shall be my bride and Queen.
PH go and have a look at her, without
letting myself be known: I set out. to-
morrow.’
Next morning early, he ordered one of
his horses to be saddled, and accompanied
I
114 ONCE UPON A TIME
by one single attendant set out for the
village where dwelt this cobbler.
On their way they met a little old woman
who asked them for alms:
‘Give me something for charity, help a
poor old woman !’
The King paid not the least heed to her.
The little old woman hobbled after him :
‘Give me some charity, good sir! give
me some charity!’
The King’s horse shied and knocked the
poor old soul over, and she tumbled to the
ground,
The King, without paying the slightest
attention to what had happened, rode on;
but his attendant, moved to pity at the
sight, got down from his horse, helped her
up, and after seeing that she was not hurt,
took out of his pocket the few coppers he
possessed and put them into her hand.
‘My little old woman, I have nothing
else to give you,’ said the kind-hearted
fellow.
‘Thank you, my son!’ said she. ‘It
shows what a good heart you have. Accept
this little ring, and wear it on your finger ;
it will bring you good luck!’
And the attendant dashed on after his
lord.
Having reached their destination, the
King and his attendant passed and repassed
before the cobbler’s stall, till they managed
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN IIS
to get a peep at his daughter, who was said
to be the most beautiful maiden in the whole
world. When at last they did see her, they
were quite dazzled by her beauty !
And without losing any time, the King
addressed the cobbler :
‘Iam the King; I want your daughter,
to make her my wife!’ i
‘May it please your Majesty, but there is
a difficulty: my daughter is under the influ-
ence of a charm: whoever in speaking to
her for the first time shall cause her to feel
a sharp pain in her little finger, he alone is
destined to be her husband. We can try !?
The King felt rather put out at this news :
but then he thought to himself:
‘If this charm is to bring her good
fortune, then she must be destined to wed a
sovereign,’
And quite pleased at the idea, he said to
the cobbler :
‘Let us try, then !?
The cobbler called his daughter to him,
but told her nothing about the King, who
when he saw her was more dazzled by her.
beauty than ever.
‘Good day, my pretty maiden !?
‘Good day, sir !?
Now, she knew nothing about the charm.
Her father, who would have been delighted
to see her a Queen, asked her:
‘Do you feel nothing ??
116 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Nothing at all! What haye I to feel ?’
The poor King felt ready to die at this
answer, and was going away very crestfallen
and dejected, when his attendant, who had
remained till then in a corner, thought it
would be better to warn the girl:
‘Take care! it is his Majesty the King !’
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!’ she began screaming.
She felt such a pain run through her
little finger, and began shaking her hand
about :
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!’
I leave you to fancy the King’s face
when he understood that the maiden, the
loveliest in the whole world, was destined
to be the bride of that rough, rude fellow of
a servant !
He drew the cobbler apart, and said to
him:
‘Leave it to me! your daughter shall be
Queen !’
When he returned to his Royal Palace,
he ordered the attendant to appear before
him: y
‘Before I can allow you to wed the
cobblers fair daughter, you must do me a
service ; I can trust nobody but you. Carry
this letter for me to the King of Spain, and
wait for his answer; but mind, no one must
know where or wherefore you travel !’
‘It shall be done as your Majesty orders,’
and he set out.
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN 117
Half-way he met the little old woman :
‘Where are you going in such haste, my
son ??
‘Where my legs will carry me to.’
‘Ah, poor fellow! little do you know
what is in store for you! That letter con-_
tains treason ; if you deliver it to the King
of Spain you will immediately be murdered.
Take him this one instead, it will produce
quite another effect.’
So he took the letter the old woman gave
him, and threw that of the King away. He
thanked her heartily, and continued his
journey.
A whole year passed away, and nothing
more was heard of him.
So the King returned to the cobbler, and
said to the fair maiden:
‘That common fellow must be dead: a
whole year has already passed, and we have
heard nothing of him. The best thing we
can do is to get married, we two!’
‘As it pleases your Majesty,’ was the
maiden’s meek reply.
The King ordered all the preparations
to be made for the celebration of the
wedding, and when the day came he
went, accompanied by all his Ministers
of State, to fetch away his bride in a
splendid coach.
In the cobbler’s house they found but a
sweeping-broom standing straight upright
118 ONCE UPON A TIME
in the middle of the room; and the King
turning towards his Ministers said :
‘Behold her Majesty the Queen !’
The Ministers, petrified with stupefaction,
stood and stared at one another without
daring to say a word. At last one of them
ventured timidly :
‘But, please your Majesty, this is a sweep-
ing-broom !’
However, in that broom the King saw
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN 119
the cobbler’s daughter, the most beautiful
maiden in the world; taking it by the stick
end (he thought to take her by her hand)
he conducted it with much ceremony to his
coach, and began addressing it all sorts of
fine speeches.
The Ministers were in a state of conster-
nation, whispering to each other:
‘What a misfortune! The King’s gone
mad! clean mad !’
Before reaching the city, where the people
were all waiting to see the Queen’s entry,
they picked up courage, and one of them
said: :
‘I crave your Majesty’s pardon, but this
is a broom !’
The King flew into a tremendous fury !
He took it as an insult offered to the Queen.
He ordered the coach to stop, and com-
manded the soldiers of the guard to bind
the insolent Minister to a horse’s tail, and
let him be dragged thus to the Royal
Palace.
The others, seeing the ugly turn things
were taking, held their peace. When the
King reached his Palace, he looked out of
the coach window, to show the Queen to
the people assembled :
‘Behold your Queen !’
He had not finished saying these words
when a veil seemed to fall from before his eyes,
and there he found himself with a broom in
120 ONCE UPON A TIME
his hand, and the people laughing, because
his Majesty looked for all the world like a
crossing-sweeper.
But who was to blame? It was all the
fault of his unlucky star, and of the charm
the maiden was under !
However, all this only made him more
obstinate in wanting her for his wife.
Soon after his missing servant returned
safe and sound, and laden with costly
presents.
‘Well, what answer sends the King of
Spain ?’ cried the King, much surprised.
‘Please your Majesty, the King of Spain
made answer :
reeTry ! try! try!
In vain you do hard fate defy !""’
The King made believe to be satisfied
with this answer, but afterwards he called
in a wizard and related to him all that had
happened ; then he asked:
‘How comes all this ?’
‘May it ‘please your Most Gracious
Majesty,’ replied the wise man, ‘it is all
clear enough. That man-servant of yours
possesses a ring given him by the Fairy
Queen ; so long as he wears it on his finger
you will not be able to get rid of him, You
must find out some cunning art by means
of which you may get the ring from him ;
force can be of no avail!’
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN 121
So the King thought and thought, till he
almost thought his wits out. At last, once
day, happening to see his attendant all
streaming with perspiration after some very
hard work, he said to him:
‘Come here, I want to give you a glass
of my very own wine; you well deserve
it !?
But the wine was drugged with opium,
and the poor fellow had no sooner drunk it
down than he fell into a heavy sleep.
His Majesty then drew the magic ring
from his finger, and slipped it on to his own,
and off he went to present himself to the
cobbler’s fair daughter :
‘Good day, my lovely maiden !’ quoth he,
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!’
The young maiden had felt a terrible
pang pass through her little finger, and
shook her hand about, screaming :
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!’
It was all right now. So the King again
gave orders to make ready for the wedding,
and when the day came he went to fetch his
bride in a grand state-coach.
When they got back to the Royal Palace,
the King said to the maiden:
‘These are your Majesty’s own apart-
ments,’ and showed her into a splendid suite
of rooms.
But a short time after, when he wanted
to go and pay her a visit, he went round
122 ONCE UPON A TIME
and round, but he could not find the door,
only he saw written on the wall:
‘Try! try! try!
In vain you do hard fate defy !'
The Queen came to the Court balls, she
took part in the banquets, where there were
always plenty of guests ; and then she would
retire to her own apartments. And when
the King wanted to go to see her, he tried
here, and there, and everywhere, but could
never find the door; only he could read on
the walls :
‘Try ! try! try!
In vain you do hard fate defy |’
He was in despair, but said nothing to
any one, for he did not want to be laughed
at a second time.
Now, the poor servant-man, after a pro-
found sleep that lasted two days and two
nights, had no sooner opened his eyes than
he perceived that the ring had been stolen
from his-finger; he had then rushed out of
the King’s Palace, bewailing his misfortune.
Outside the city gates he found the little
old woman :
‘Oh, my dear little old woman! they
have stolen my ring from me!’
‘Don’t despair for that, it is nothing!
When the King marries the cobbler’s
daughter, as soon as he brings her back to
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN 123
the Palace, and she enters her own apart-
ments, you plant this nail on the threshold
of her door and you'll see !’
So that was the reason why the King
could never find the door when he wanted
to enter the Queen’s rooms. The nail
planted on the threshold prevented him.
He was ready to burst with rage. And
he again sent for the wizard, and related
everything to him in the greatest secrecy.
‘Now, how does this come to pass ?’
‘Please your Majesty, it is all plain
enough. ‘Your servant has got an enchanted
nail from the Fairy Queen and has planted
it on the threshold of the Queen’s apart-
ments; this time there is no cunning that
can avail, so it please your Majesty; there
is nothing for you but to remain a husband
without a wife !’
‘But what injury have I done to this
Fairy Queen? I don’t even know her by
sight !?
‘May it please your Majesty, but you are
inthe wrong. Does your Majesty remember
a certain little old woman, who asked for
charity the day you went to the cobbler’s
for the first time? Do you remember
knocking her over, and that she fell to the
ground ??
‘Ah, yes !?
‘Well, she was the Fairy Queen !?
So the King had to convince himself that
24 ONCE UPON A TIME
it was quite useless to contend with a Fairy,
and to. be resigned to wedding a maiden |
who was very beautiful indeed, but not the
loveliest in the whole world. He wedded
- the daughter of the King of France. g
His attendant married the cobbler’s fair
daughter, and the King gave him a rich
dowry with her, and made him the steward
of his Palace.
And the King and his steward had many weans,
While we stand here like a sack of beans !
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY
ONCE upon a time there was a King anda
Queen who had one only daughter. The
poor child was painfully ugly, and all de-
formed; her parents were quite wretched
about her.
They kept her locked up all alone in an
out-of-the-way room; and, turn about, they
brought her her food themselves in a little
basket. When they were there alone with
her they would give way to their sorrow,
weeping bitterly :
‘Ah, my unhappy child, you were born to
a throne, and can never enjoy your good
fortune |’
When the Princess had grown up, and
was sixteen years of age, she said to her
father :
‘Why does your Majesty keep me locked
up here? Let me go into the wide world.
My heart tells me that I'll find my fortune.’
But the King would not hear of it.
‘Where can you go to all alone, and
without experience? It is quite impossible!’
126 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Ah, let me go, or I feel I shall die!’
With this fear in his mind the King dared
not resist her entreaties any longer.
‘Then go, my child, if you must !?
He gave her plenty of money, and one
night, when all in the Royal Palace were
sleeping, the Princess set out on her journey.
She walked and walked till she reached a
country place. It was noon, and the sun
was scorching hot, so she took shelter
under a tree. After she had been resting
there some little time, she heard a kind of
low complaint :
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!?
She looked about her rather afraid, but
could see no one.
‘Ahi! ahi! ahi!’ again.
Then taking courage, she approached the
spot whence the wailing seemed to come,
and there among the grass she discovered a
poor little lizard, sadly moving a stump of
a tail, and making a low moan,
‘What is the matter, you poor little
lizard ?’
‘They have broken my tail and I can’t
find the other bit. Oh, if you could but
find it for me, I would make you a valuable
present !’
The Princess, touched with compassion,
began to search all around; she searched
and searched among the grass, till at last
_ there it was !
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 127
‘Thank you, my good girl! Now, dig
down in the earth, here, and yow'll find
the present I promised you !’
After having scooped up the earth for
some time, the Princess at last drew forth
an onion, very little larger than a hazel nut.
‘What am I to do with this ?’ she asked.
‘Take great care of it,’ replied the grate-
ful little lizard ; ‘it may some day be of use
to you.’
So the Princess put it into her pocket.
Farther on her way she met an old
woman carrying a sack of corn on her back.
All at once the sack came undone, and all
the corn fell out on the ground.
The old woman began tearing her hair
for sorrow.
‘Never mind!’ said the good Princess ;
‘Vl gather it all up for you !?
‘Ah, but the grains are counted! My
husband will kill me if even one be want-
ing !?
But the Princess with much patience
picked every grain of it up for her; not
even one was wanting.
‘Thank you, my good girl; I can only
give you this.’
And she gave her a common, cheap Kittle
knife—one of those with an iron handle, you
know.
‘And what would you have me do with
this ?’? asked the Princess.
128 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Take great care of it. Perhaps some
day it may be of use to you.’
So the Princess put it into her pocket.
And she walked and walked, till she
reached the edge of a deep ditch, She
heard a tremulous bleating, and looking in
saw a little kid lying at the bottom.
‘My poor little kid, what has happened
to you?’
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 129
‘I have fallen into this ditch and broken
my leg.’
She then got down into the ditch, and
took up the poor kid in her arms; she
bound up its leg so deftly, with a strip torn
from her pocket-handkerchief, that it could
walk pretty well, though it limped a little.
‘Thank you, my kind girl!’ said the kid ;
‘what can I give you?... Ah! my little
bell 1?
‘What good can it do me?’
‘ Take care of it, and perhaps one day it
may be of service to you.’
So the Princess untied the little bell
from the kid’s neck, and put it in her
pocket, together with the onion and the
little common knife.
Then she walked and walked, till one
evening she reached a farm that stood in
a retired spot.
‘Kind people, pray give me a night’s
lodging !’ she asked.
The mistress of the house seemed a good
sort of woman, and they began chatting
together before the kitchen fire, while the
pot was boiling for supper.
‘Who are you ?’ asked the woman, ‘and
where are you going to ??
And the Princess began to relate her
story.
‘Hold your tongue, you chatterbox !
Hush !?
K
130 ONCE UPON A TIME
It was the pot that was grumbling so,
but she alone heard it. She paid no
attention, and went on with her story a
little, till she came to where she left the
Royal Palace.
‘Be silent, you chatterbox! Be quiet,
will you! Hush, there!’
It was again the pot that grumbled thus ;
she alone could hear it. This struck her,
and she stopped.
‘And after that ?’ asked the woman.
‘Well, you see! here I am!’
When her husband came home, the
woman related everything to him minutely.
Then she said :
“Do you know what I have been thinking,
husband? We have a daughter as lovely
as sunlight, let us bring her to the King.
We shall tell him that it is his own daughter,
whom a fairy has made so beautiful. As to
the Princess, we can lock her up in the
granary, ard there let her die of hunger,’
‘But how can we make the King believe
us ?’ asked he.
‘Oh, I have all the proofs, leave it to
me !?
And so they did. In the middle of the
night they seized the Princess and locked
her up in the empty granary; the next
day they set out with their own daughter,
and brought her to the King’s Palace.
The King and Queen listened to this
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 131
story about the fairy, but were still
uncertain,
Then the girl, who had been taught by
her parents what to say, cried:
‘Does your Majesty not remember
coming to my room with the little basket ?
And when you used to weep and say,
“Ah! my unhappy child! you were born
to a throne, and can never enjoy your good
fortune †?’
At this the King and Queen were much
astonished. No one but their daughter
could have heard those precise words. So
they embraced the girl, and ordered right
royal festivities to honour her return.
They gave quite a heap of gold pieces to
the two that had brought her back. _
In the meanwhile the poor Princess, after
passing three days bathed in tears, began
to feel very hungry in spite of her sorrow.
She called out, over and over again, begging
them to give her at least a crust of dry
bread! Notasoul came to her. At last
she remembered her little onion.
Well, it would serve to quiet her hunger
for a moment !
And she drew it from her pocket.
‘Command me, Princess! Command
me!’ said a voice.
‘Something to eat!’ was the ready
answer,
And behold! a table-cloth lay spread out
132 ONCE UPON A TIME
before her, with knife, fork, and spoon on it,
and a bottle and glass, and smoking dishes.
When she had done eating, everything
disappeared again.
She then took the little knife from her
pocket.
‘Command me, Princess! Command
me!’
‘Split me that door, and chop it up for
firewood !’
And in a twinkling the door was reduced
to a heap of firewood.
Then the Princess took out the little bell
and began to ring it; and behold! a large
flock of goats appeared, too many to be
counted !
‘Command us, Princess ! Command us!’
‘Graze in these fields, till not one blade
of grass be left!’
And in a minute, all the corn and vines
and trees of the farm were destroyed.
The Princess then set out on her way,
and at last reached a city where dwelt a
King, whose only son lay dangerously ill.
All the most learned doctors in the world
had been called in, but were unable to
understand his malady. They said he was
mad, but he reasoned perfectly well; only
he was full of whims and fancies, and got
thinner and thinner, till he at last looked
like a lamp-post. i
It chanced one day that the Prince was
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 133
looking out. of one of the windows of the
Royal Palace, and he saw the Princess
passing :
‘Oh, what a fright she is! I want her up
here! I want her up here!’
The King, the Ministers, the doctors,
all tried to get this strange fancy out of his
head ; but he only made the greater noise,
screaming and stamping his feet :
‘Oh, what a fright she is! I want her
up here! I want her up here!’
So the King had to send to call her up.
‘My good girl, would you like to come
to service with me??
‘Most willingly, your Majesty !’
‘Then you will have to wait upon the
Prince Royal.’
So she began to wait upon him.
‘You ugly creature, do this! you fright,
do that !’
In this pretty manner did his Royal
Highness order her about ; he even insisted
upon her washing up the dishes.
Now the Prince was one day seized with
a great wish to eat new beans; but it was
autumn ! wherever were they to be found?
‘Green beans! new beans!’ he cried.
He spoke of nothing else, and refused to
eat anything.
The King would have paid for the beans
their weight in gold, but no beans were to
be had.
134 ONCE UPON A TIME
The Princess remembered about her
little onion, and drew it from her pocket.
‘Command me, Princess! Command
me!’
‘A fine dish of new beans !’
And behold! there was a dish heaped
full of new beans in their pods!
The Prince ate them up with great relish,
and then said:
“1 feel much better !’
Another time a great wish came to him
for a pie of snails, But it was not the
season,
‘Snail-pie, or I die! Snail-pie or
Deel
He said but that all day long, refusing
all other food.
The King would have gladly paid for the
snails their weight in gold, but no snails
were to be had.
The Princess again had recourse to her
little onion.
‘Command me, Princess! Command
me !?
‘A pie made of snails !’
It came at once, and the Prince ate it
up with the greatest relish, and then said:
‘] feel ever so much better !’
And, indeed, he was beginning to look a
little fatter.
Finally, another time he had a wish to
eat forcemeat balls made of swallows. It
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY — 135
was not the season for them; where on earth
could they be found ?
‘Swallow-flesh balls! I want swallow-
flesh balls!’ was the constant cry.
The King was ready to pay for the swal-
lows their weight in gold.
The Princess, as usual, pulled the little
onion out of her pocket.
‘Command me, Princess! Command
me!’
‘Forcemeat balls made with swallows’
flesh !’
The Prince ate them all up with the
greatest gusto, and then said:
‘Now I feel perfectly well !’
He had grown quite plump and as
blooming as a rose, and did not even
remember he had been ill. One day soon
after this he saw the Princess :
‘Oh, how ugly she is! Drive her away !’
And the Princess went away weeping.
Her unlucky star would have it so!
On her way she met the old woman,
the same one whose corn she had gathered
up.
‘What is the matter, child?’ asked the
good old dame.
In a few words the poor Princess related
her all that had happened.
‘Be of good cheer, daughter! I shall
help you! Come with me!’
And she led her before a great cave.
136 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Listen!’ she said. ‘In there is the
Fountain of Beauty; whoever can plunge
into it all at once becomes as lovely as
the sunlight. Now, pay great attention to
what I say. Inside this cave there are four
chambers. In the first there is a terrible
dragon; throw your little onion down his
gaping throat and he will let you pass.
In the second chamber you will find a
giant all clothed in steel armour, and
brandishing an iron club; only show him
the blade of your little knife, and he will
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 137
at once let you pass. In the third there
is a famishing lion; as soon as he comes
near you, ring your little bell: he will not
even try to touch you, but you must not
be afraid, or goodbye to dear life! you
are done for! Finally, in the fourth
chamber stands the Fountain of Beauty ;
as soon as you enter, without a moment’s
hesitation, plunge right into its waters,
clothes and all.’
Then the Princess went forward into the
cave, and there sure enough was the dragon,
with a great mouth ever so wide open, and
stretching out his neck to catch her and
swallow her up. She quickly threw her
little onion down his great yawning throat,
and he drew back, coiled himself up very
gently, and went to sleep.
She passed on. And behold, the giant
all clothed in steel armour sprang towards
her, brandishing his iron club and uttering
horrible yells. She but showed him the
blade of her little knife, and he crouched
away into a corner,
The Princess then passed on into the
third chamber, and there was the lion
roaring, with his enormous mouth wide
open, lashing his tail till the very air
trembled. She rang her little bell, and
out ran a flock of goats; the lion sprang
upon them, tore them to pieces and devoured
them.
138 ONCE UPON A TIME
And so she went on, and at last saw the
Fountain. In she goes with all her clothes !
At the same time she feels a great change
come over her; she is quite another person,
and does not even recognise herself. Since
the world was created, such a beauty had
never been seen !
After this she returned to the city where
the Prince dwelt, and rented a house right
opposite the Royal Palace.
The Prince was highly astonished :
‘Oh, what a beauty! What a beauty
she is! If she were but of royal blood,
how gladly ’d make her my wife !’
The old King, who loved his son as the
apple of his eye, immediately sent one of
his Ministers to inquire as to her birth.
She made answer :
‘Yes, I am of royal blood! But if his
Royal Highness wants me, he must make
me three presents.’
‘What must these presents be, fair lady?’
‘The Comb of the Golden Cock, the
Skin of the Moorish King, the Fish without
Gall. I give him three years’ time! If he
find them not within that space, he cannot
have me !?
So the Prince set out in search of the
‘Golden Cock, that was to be found in
certain thickets full of wild animals, It
was a most perilous undertaking, for
whoever heard it crow must die. After
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY — 139
a thousand difficulties and hardships our
Prince at last discovered it, early one
morning, roosting on the branch of a tree.
To take his aim and bring it down at a
shot was but one act! And he returned
home triumphant.
‘Very well,’ said the Princess; ‘put it
down there. I am now waiting for the
Skin of the Moorish King.’
Now the Moorish King was very terrible.
Up to the present no warrior had been
able to fight him. The Prince sent to
challenge him: he wanted his skin!
‘Then let him come and take it himself!’
was the answer.
They fought fiercely with swords, and
the Moorish King reduced the Prince to
such a state that he was streaming with
blood all over.
But in a lucky moment the Prince was able
to level a good blow, just at the King’s heart.
‘I am lost!’ rose a great cry, and he
rolled dead to the ground.
Then the Prince skinned him carefully,
and brought his pelt to the Princess.
‘Very well,’ said she ; ‘put it down there!
Now I am waiting for the Fish without
Gall !?
This was even more difficult. Among
so many fishes that people the sea, go and
fish out the right one, if you can! Yet
fish it he must !
140 ONCE UPON A TIME
Well, he took a fishing-rod with line and
bait, and set off for the sea-shore,
He stayed there for months and months—
all lost time! Only eight days were want-
ing to complete the third year !
On the very last day he drew out a
shabby-looking little fish. Fortune had be-
friended him, it was the Fish without Gall!
‘Very well!’ said the Princess when he
brought it to her; ‘put it down there!
And now send to ask me of the King,
my father, for I will not marry without his
consent.’
An Ambassador was sent off, but he soon
returned :
‘The King says we must be mad! He
has his daughter there with him, and if we
wish to see her we may.’
‘Thus you have been making game of
us!’ said they to the Princess. And they
threw her into prison.
She had still her little bell in her pocket.
In her despair she began ringing it furiously.
The little kid she had saved came run-
ning to her:
‘Oh, my kid, my little kid!’ she cried ;
‘see what has happened to me!’
‘Take this herb,’ said the grateful animal;
‘chew it well and keep it in your mouth,’
And as she chewed it the Princess again
became very ugly, and all crooked and
deformed as she had once been.
THE FOUNTAIN OF BEAUTY 141
‘When you want to become beautiful
again,’ said the kid, ‘you have only to
spit it out. Now, hush! and follow me!’
They got out of the prison without any
of the guards or jailors seeing them, and
the Princess hastened to show herself to
her parents.
No sooner did the King and Queen see
her than they understood the deceit that
had been practised on them; and when
she told them of the treachery of the
husband and wife, they sent to arrest them,
and had them put into prison together with
their daughter.
The Princess then threw away the herb
she had in her mouth, and once more ap-
peared in all her beauty.
Since the world first saw light, such
wonderful beauty had never been seen !
The Prince was sent for, and they got
married, and lived happy and contented
to a ripe old age,
THE BRONZE STEED
Once upon a time there lived a King and a
Queen, whose only child was a daughter ;
she was more beautiful than the sun and
the moon, and dearer to them than the
apple of their eye. f
One day a person came and said to the
King:
‘Please your Majesty, I was passing by
the wood that stands near, and I met
the Wild Man. He said to me: ‘Go
and tell the King that I want the Princess
for my wife. If he does not send her
to me within three days’ time, woe betide
him !â€â€?
Upon hearing these words the King-was
in the greatest consternation, and called
together the Crown Council. ‘
What was to be done?... The Wild
Man was so terrible he might devastate the
whole kingdom !
‘Please your Majesty,’ suggested one of
the Ministers, ‘let us look for a beautiful
maiden, dress her up in the robes of the
THE BRONZE STEED 143
Princess, and send her to him: the Wild
Man will be quite content.’
So they found a maiden quite as lovely as
the Princess, one of whose most costly robes
they made her put on, and then sent her
into the wood.
She was to say she was the King’s
daughter,
However, the next day the maiden ré-
turned.
‘What has happened ?’ asked the King.
‘May it please your Majesty, I found the
Wild Man, and he asked me, “Who are
you ?â€â€”-**T am the Princess!†I said. He
then unbuttoned the sleeve of my left arm,
and roared out, “It’s not true! The Prin-
cess,†says he, “has a mole on this arm!â€
and he sent me back. If within two days
he has not his bride, woe to you!’
The King did not know what to do, and
again called the Crown Council.
‘The Wild Man knows that the Princess
has a mole on her left arm; there is no use
trying to deceive him,’
Please your Majesty,’ said the Prime
Minister, ‘let us look for another maiden,
and call in a clever painter to paint a mole,
exactly like that of the Princess, on her left
arm ; then let us dress her up as before, and
send her to the wood. The Wild Man will
not find us out this time.’
So they found the beautiful maiden and
44 ONCE UPON A TIME
had the mole painted on her left arm, just
like the Princess, in one of whose richest
robes they dressed her, and then sent her
into the wood. She was to say that she
was the King’s daughter.
But the next day that maiden came back
like the other.
‘What has happened ?’ asked the King.
‘Please your Majesty, I found the Wild
Man, and he asked, “‘ Who are you?â€â€”“]
am the Princess,†said I. “Then let me
see!†He looked well at my hair, and
roared out, “It’s not true! The Princess
has three white hairs growing on the nape
of her neck!†If his bride be not there
to-morrow, woe to you!’
The poor King and Queen were ready to
dash their heads against the wall.
And were they to throw away their jewel
of a daughter on the Wild Man ?
‘Please your Majesties,’ said the Ministers,
“let us make one last attempt. Let us find
another maiden; the painter will paint the
mole on her arm, and dye three of the hairs
on the nape of her neck white; then we
shall dress her up in the clothes of the
Princess, and send her to the wood. This
time the Wild Man will have no fault to find.’
But the very day after they sent her,
behold ! even the third maiden came back !
‘What has happened?’ once more asked
the King.
THE BRONZE STEED 145
‘Please your Majesty, I found the Wild
Man, and he asked, ‘‘ Who are you? â€â€”—“I
am the Princess,†said I, ‘Let me see
then!†He looked at my left arm, “ That’s
all right!†He looked at my hair, “ That’s
all right!†Then taking a pair of em-
broidered shoes he ordered me, “ Put these
on!†and as my foot could not get in, he
roared out, ‘It’s not true!†and he sent me
back, saying, “Woe to them! Let them
beware !â€â€?
Then the Ministers said :
‘Ah, your Majesty, some disaster will
surely follow this! You must sacrifice the
Princess to save the kingdom !’
But the King could not resign himself to
the thought; he would have gladly given
all the blood in his veins rather than his
dear daughter! But fate would have it so,
and he had to bow his head.
The Princess showed the most courage
of all. ;
After all, the Wild Man would not eat
her!
So she dressed herself as a bride, and
accompanied by the King and Queen, and
all the Court, and an immense crowd of
people, all in tears and uttering heartrend-
ing cries, she went forth towards the wood.
When she reached it she embraced her
parents, consoling them with the assurance
that she would soon return to sce them, and
L
146 ONCE UPON A TIME
disappeared among the trees and the thick-
growing shrubs. Nothing more was heard
of her, nor of the Wild Man.
A year, a month, and a day had passed.
A stranger came to the Palace and requested
to speak to the King. He was a little
dwarf, only two hands high, hunch-backed
and bandy-legged, with a nose that looked
like an owl’s beak, and two small squinting
eyes. The poor King had not the faintest
THE BRONZE STEED 147
desire to laugh, but at the sight of the little
fright he could not contain himself.
What did he want ? :
‘Please your Majesty, I come to make
a proposal. If you will give me half your
kingdom, and the Princess for my wife, I
shall go. and deliver her from the hands of
the Wild Man,’
‘ Magari /’+ cried the King. ‘Not the
half, but the whole of my kingdom I readily
give you!’ sae
‘A King’s word cannot be recalled !? said
the little man.
‘I give you my royal word!’ was the
reply.
And the Dwarf went away.
A week had not passed, when the King
received warning :
‘To-morrow, at daybreak, be near the
wood, with the Queen, the Court, and all
the people, to receive with rejoicings the
Princess, who is coming back !?
The King and Queen hardly dared believe
the good news ; they feared that little fright
was making game of them; however, they
set out, and at daybreak, behold! the little
hunch-backed, bandy-legged Dwarf came
forward from the wood, leading by the hand
the Princess, dressed as a bride, just like
the day she had gone away to the Wild
Man!
1 Would to Heaven!
148 ONCE UPON A TIME
Let us imagine the joy of every one!
The feasting and banquets seemed never
coming to an end. But there was no
mention of the wedding, nor of half the
kingdom either.
Now that he had his daughter safe back
again, and that the Wild Man had been
slain by the Dwarf, the King had not the
least intention of keeping his word. The
Dwarf would ask him every now and then:
THE BRONZE STEED 149
‘Please your Majesty, what about my
wedding ??
But the King would change the conversa-
tion ; he was deaf of that ear.
‘And, please your Majesty, my half of
the kingdom ?’
But again the King would change the
conversation ; he was deaf of that ear also.
‘A fine way for a King to keep his word !?
said the Dwarf one day. f
‘Ah, you horrid, impudent Dwarf !?
And with that the King gave him a good
kick from behind, and sent him flying out
of the window.
‘He must surely have been killed !?
They ran down to see in the street, but
no Dwarf was there, He had picked him-
self up, cleaned the dust from his little
doublet, and made off with himself in all
haste, as if nothing had happened.
‘Good journey to him!’ quoth the King,
mightily pleased to be rid of him.
But from that day forward the Princess
became very sad; she never spoke a word,
nor was heard to laugh ; and she was getting
quite pale.
‘What do you feel, my child?’ the King
would ask her,
‘Nothing, your Majesty; but . . . who
pledges his word ought to keep it !?
How, now! she wanted to marry that
hunch-backed, bandy-legged little Dwarf !
Iso ONCE UPON A TIME
No, she did not quite mean that; but...
who gives his word ought to keep it!
The Queen, too, did not feel at her ease.
‘That Dwarf was very powerful: he had
overcome the Wild Man; he must be plotting
some revenge !’
The King replied, with a shrug of his
shoulders :
‘If that little fright appears before me
again, he’ll see! ..
But the Princess kept on repeating :
‘Who pledges his word should keep it !’
In the meanwhile the news got abroad
that the Princess had been delivered from
the Wild Man, and the King of Portugal’s
son sent to ask her in marriage.
The Princess said neither ‘yea’ nor
‘nay’; but the King and Queen looked
forward impatiently to the celebration of
the wedding.
The Prince of Portugal set out to come,
and on his way met a man driving‘a great
waggon; in it there was a bronze horse, so
perfectly made it really seemed alive.
‘Oh, good.man! where are you driving
that horse to?’ asked the Prince.
‘I am driving it about to sell it.’
The Prince bought it and made a present
of it to his future father-in-law.
The wedding day was very near. The
people came in crowds to the royal gardens
to sce the Bronze Steed, which had been
THE BRONZE STEED 151
raised on a magnificent pedestal, and they
were wonder-struck,
‘Tt is like life! One can fancy one hears
it neigh !’ and so on.
The King with his Court also came down
to see it:
‘Why! it is quite life-like! One can
fancy one hears it neigh |’
Only the Princess said nothing.
The Prince of Portugal was astonished
at this, and asked her:
‘Does your Royal Highness not admire
it ?? :
‘Yes,’ she replied; ‘so much so that I
feel a great wish to mount on its back.’
A ladder was ordered to be brought, and
the Princess got upon the back of the Bronze
Steed. She stroked its mane and patted it
- on the neck, pressing its flank lightly with
her heel, all the while saying playfully :
‘My steed, my fair steed,
From thy pedestal spring !
Let thy footing be sure,
Swift as bird on the wing ;
My steed, my fair steed !’
No sooner had she pronounced the last
word than the Bronze Steed started, tossed
its mane, neighed loudly, and away with
one bound, right through the air! In the
twinkling of an eye, horse and Princess
were out of sight !
They were all terrified, they scarcely
152 ONCE UPON A TIME
dared breathe! But in the midst of the
consternation and silence a little laugh
burst out all of a sudden, such a mocking
little laugh :
‘ Ha-ha-ha-ha !?
The King looked round and saw the
Dwarf holding his sides and shaking with
laughter, with that horrid hump of his and
his little bandy legs! He immediately
understood that the enchanted steed was all
his work.
‘Ah, my Dwarf, my dear little Dwarf!’
said his Majesty, quite repentant; ‘if you
will bring me back my daughter, she shall
be your bride, and have half my kingdom
for her dowry !’
But the Dwarf continued wriggling with
laughter :
‘ Ha-ha-ha-ha !’
And seeing him go on that way, the
people began to laugh too, and then even
the Queen :
‘ Ha-ha-ha-ha !’
They all held their sides, and could bear
it no longer. Only the poor King stood
there, so sad-looking and so put to shame
that one really felt sorry for him.
‘Oh, my Dwarf, my dear little Dwarf!
if you will but bring me back my daughter,
she shall be your bride, and have half my
kingdom for dowry !’
‘If your Majesty is speaking in good
THE BRONZE STEED 153
earnest,’ replied the Dwarf at last, ‘you
must receive back from me what you gave
me that day.’
‘What did I give you ?’
‘Well, a fine kick behind !’
The King hesitated; he felt ashamed to
let himself be kicked there, before all his
people and the Court.
But his love for his daughter made him
say ‘yes,’ all the same.
So he turned round his back to the
Dwarf, and stood waiting for the kick; but
the Dwarf showed he was more generous
than the King had been, for instead of
giving him the kick he said:
‘My steed, my fair steed,
From thy pedestal spring !
Swift as bird on the wing,
Let thy footing be sure,
My steed, my fair steed |’
And in the twinkling of an eye, the horse
and the Princess were back again.
Then the Dwarf said to the King:
‘If your Majesty would please give me a
good blow on my hump! Don’t be afraid !?
The king gave him a blow, and a good
one, on his hump; it immediately dis-
appeared,
‘If your Majesty would now give my legs
a pull! Don’t be afraid !’
The King gave his little legs a good pull,
and they got straight directly.
184 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘If your Majesty would now take well hold
of me by the shoulders and the Queen by
my feet and give me another good pull!’
So the King and Queen seized hold of
him, one by the feet and the other by his
shoulders, and they pulled and pulled and
pulled, and from being a dwarf he became
a handsome young man of imposing stature.
The Prince of Portugal now felt that he
was rather in the way, and said:
‘ At least give me the horse, and I’ll take
myself off all the more quickly !’
So he mounted on the back of the Bronze
Steed, and pronouncing the magic words,
was gone in a trice.
The Princess and the Dwarf (for so he
was called ever after) became husband and
wife.
And while the happy twilight lingers
We all sit here and count our fingers.
THE BLACK EGG
OncE upon a time there was an old woman
who lived upon charity, and she shared
everything that was given her with her hen.
Every morning at dawn the hen would
set up such a cackling, for it had laid an
egg. And the old woman would then sell
the egg for a halfpenny, and buy a half
penny’s worth of bread. She then. broke
up the crust into small bits for her hen, and
-ate the crumb herself; after that she went
out again to beg for alms.
But a bad year came. And one day the
poor old woman had to go home without
anything.
‘Ah, my little hen, we must go with an
empty crop to-day !’
‘ Patience is a virtue !’ answered the fowl ;
‘we'll eat to-morrow !’
The next morning, just about dawn, the
hen set up a most tremendous cackling.
Instead of only one egg it had laid two—
one black and one white.
The old woman went out to sell them
156 ONCE UPON A TIME
as usual, She sold the white one at once;
but nobody would believe the black one
was a hen’s egg. So the poor old dame
bought her halfpenny loaf, and went home
again.
.©Oh, my dear little hen, nobody will
have your Black Egg !’
‘Take it to the King, then!’
And the old woman carried it to the King:
‘What kind of an egg is this ?’ he asked.
‘A hen’s egg, so it please your Majesty.’
‘How much do you want for it ?’
‘What your Majesty’s good heart will tell
you to give.’
‘Give her a hundred shillings,’ ordered
the King.
The little old dame thought she was
richer even than his Majesty, with her
hundred shillings !
Just in those days her Majesty the Queen
had set a hen to hatch some eggs for her,
so she added this black one which the King
gave her to the others. But the hen would
not sit on it.
The King sent for the old woman:
‘That egg of yours must be addled !?
‘Please your Majesty, that can’t be; my
hen had laid it that very morning.’
‘Yet it won’t hatch.’
‘The Queen herself must hatch it!’
This seemed very odd; but the Queen
felt rather curious about it, and she said:
THE BLACK EGG 157
‘Well, then, Pll hatch it!’
And she slipped it into the bosom of her
gown.
After twenty-two days had passed she
heard the shell give a little crack: she
looked, and out hopped a little white chick,
a perfect beauty !
‘Majesty ! Majesty ! make me some sops
with wine !’ chirped the little mite.
And it pipped away at a great rate.
‘Are you a little cock ora little hen?’
inquired the Queen.
‘Please your Majesty, I’m a little cock !?
-*Then crow, and let me hear you !’
And crow it did:
‘ Chic-chic-chic-chiri-chi ! Cock-a-doodle-
doo !?
It really was a young cock, then! And
he became the amusement of the whole
Court.
But the more he grew up, the more
impudent he became.
At table he would peck in the King and
Queen’s plates, and scraped and spluttered
about in those of the Ministers, as though
it were quite the proper thing: they, poor
souls, through respect for the King, didn’t
even venture to say ‘shu-shu,’ or to drive
him away. He strutted all- over the place,
roosting wherever he chose, messing and
dirtying everywhere and everything. And
then all day long: ‘ Chic-chic-chic-chiri-chi !
158 ONCE UPON A TIME
Cock-a-doodle-doo-o-o-0 |’ It quite deafened
one’s ears. The people about Court could
stand it no longer.
Well, one day the Queen had just got
home a splendid new gown, made in the
very last fashion ; it was a wonder of beauty,
and had cost heaps of money. Before she
had even time to try it on, does not our
fine fowl go and dirty it all!
The Queen flew into a blazing fury:
‘You filthy bird! For this once it may
pass, but just you try it another time, and
Pll let you know!’ a
And she ordered another and richer gown
from the Court dressmaker. The dress-
maker took the greatest pains with it, so
you can imagine what a fine gown it was
when it was finished! But before the
Queen had even time to try it on, the
little Cock went and dirtied it all over!
This time the Queen was almost blind
with rage:
‘You dirty fowl! Now you shall pay
for it! Call me the head cook !’
The cook presented himself, and the
Queen said in an angry tone:
¢ Make me a good cup of broth of this fowl.’
So his neck was wrung down in the
kitchen, and he was put on the fire to boil.
No sooner did the pot begin to simmer
than ‘Chic-chiri-chic-chic-chi! Cock-a-doodle-
doo !’
THE BLACK EGG 159
The Cock sprang out, as though he had
never had his neck wrung in his life, nor
been plucked and singed into the bargain.
The cook, dismayed, rushed off to the
Queen.
‘Please your Majesty, that fowl is come
to life again !?
This was too extraordinary! So the
Cock became an object of wonder and
value. All looked up to him with the
greatest respect mingled with awe! And,
as you may think, he took advantage of this,
He pecked away worse than ever in the
160 ONCE UPON A TIME
King and Queen’s plates, and, as a matter
of course, scraped and spluttered in those
of the Ministers, who, through respect to
their Majesties, did not even dare say
‘scto’ to him. He roosted about wherever
he thought fit, dirtying even the Royal
Throne, and filling every corner with filth,
And then day and night: ‘ Chic-chiri-chic-
chic-chi! Cock-a-doodle-doo!’ till they were
quite stunned with the noise and racket.
The people swore at him between their teeth:
‘Bad luck to that fowl, and to those that
breed him so !’
One day his Majesty had an important
letter to write: he took paper, pen, and
ink, wrote the letter, and left it open on
the table to dry.
Straight off went the Cock, and dirtied
it just at the King’s signature!
‘You dirty fowl!’ cried the King; ‘for
this once I let it pass. But the very next
time, T’ll teach you !’
Then the King wrote the letter over
again, and left it lying open to dry. Back
goes the fowl and dirties it again, just at
the signature !
The King was beside himself with anger :
‘Now, I'll settle you, you dirty fowl!
Call me the cook !’
The cook presently appeared.
‘Roast me this fowl for dinner !’ roared
his Majesty.
THE BLACK EGG 161
So down in the kitchen he had his neck
wrung, and the spit was passed through
his body, and he was put down to roast.
When it was dinner-time the cook served
him up to table. The King began carving,
and helped this person to a wing, that one to
a leg, another to a slice of the breast, and
so on; he kept the neck and head, with
its comb and gills, for himself.
He had no sooner finished eating, than
from the depths of his stomach there came
such a ‘ Chic-chic-chic-chiri-chi! Cock-a-
doodle-doo !’
There was a movement of general con-
sternation.
The Court physicians were immediately
sent for; they said:
‘It would be necessary to open the King,
but who would undertake the Operation ??
And every now and then, from the depths
of the King’s stomach, the Cock sent forth
a lusty ‘Chic-chiri-chic-chic-chi! Cock-a-
doodle-doo !?
‘Call the old woman to me!? said the
King.
She happened to be just coming to beg
for alms at the Palace gate, so they at once
led her upstairs.
‘You wicked old witch,’ cried the King
as soon as he saw her, ‘what charm did
you put in that egg? I ate the fowls
head, and now he is crowing away down
M
62 ONCE UPON A TIME
in my stomach. If you don’t rid me of
him pretty quickly, yow’re a dead woman !’
‘Your Majesty must give me a day’s
time,’ she made answer.
And she immediately went back home
again.
‘Oh, my dear little hen, the King sent
for me and said: “I have eaten the fowl’s
head, and now he is crowing away down
in my stomach!†If I can’t rid him of it,
I am a dead woman !’
‘My good little old woman, this is a
mere nothing!’ answered the hen. ‘To-
morrow you must take some corn, and go
back to the King and begin to say “Chuck,
chuck, chuck, chuck!†When he hears your
voice, the Cock will soon come out.’
And so it happened.
Now, this was so very strange, that the
Cock became quite a celebrity, and, as you
may fancy, carried on far worse than before.
One morning, just before dawn, they
heard :
‘Chic-chic-chiri-chi! Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Please your Majesty, I want a lady-hen !’
‘Then let us give him a hen!’ said the
King and Queen.
But the day after, just before dawn:
*Chic-chic-chiri-chi! I want another,
please your Majesties !’
And so on, till he had a whole dozen of
them. :
THE BLACK EGG 163
Then another morning, just before dawn:
‘Chic-chic-chiri-chi! Please your Majesty,
I want a pair of golden spurs !?
‘Well, let him have these golden spurs,
and be done with it!’ said the King,
In the meantime the chicken had grown
up into a fine young Cock; he strutted
about with his golden spurs, pecking at
everything and making ever so much fuss.
Another day, just before dawn:
‘Chic-chic-chiri-chi! Please your Majesty,
I want a double golden comb !?
‘Well, then, let him have his golden
comb !?
The King was beginning to get rather
tired of all this; but the Cock with his
golden spurs and double golden comb went
strutting about bolder than ever, and pecking
everywhere and at everything.
At last one morning, just before dawn:
‘ Chic-chic-chiri-chi! Cock-a-doodle-doo !
I want half your Majesty’s kingdom, I have
a crown as well as you!’
This time the King quite lost his
patience :
‘Take this impudent bird out of my
sight !? he cried,
But what was to be done with him? It
was useless trying to kill him, for he always
came back to life again. Nor would it be
of any avail to carry him to a distance, he
would only come back, Kind treatment
164 ONCE UPON A TIME
but made him worse; he always answered,
making fun of them, with his—
© Chic-chic-chiri-chi! Cock-a-doodle-doo!’
The King, driven to despair, sent for the
old woman, and said to her:
‘If you don’t rid me of this fowl, I shall
have your head chopped off!’
‘Please your Majesty, give me one day’s
time,’ she answered,
And she returned to her home immedi-
ately and said to her hen:
‘Ah, my dear little hen! I have again
been called before the King, and he said:
“If you don’t rid me of this fowl, I shall
have your head chopped off!†‘What must
T answer him ?’
‘Answer: “ Your Majesty has no
children ; adopt him as your son, and he
will soon quieten down.â€â€™
The King, thus pushed to the wall, resolved
to adopt him. But that seemed of little use.
With all those hens about, the Royal
Palace had become quite like a poultry-yard.
The King and Queen, the Ministers, the
Court ladies, all the servants, were covered
from head to foot with the mess these
tiresome fowls made; they could stand it
no longer. And then with the noise and
cock-a-doodle-dooing all over the place,
they felt their heads like balloons,
And the people swore at them between
their teeth :
THE BLACK EGG 165
‘Bad luck to this Cock and his hens,
and to who keeps them here!’
‘Now, hark, you old witch!’ cried the
King ; ‘if within one day you don’t sweep
me out all these fowls and their litter, you
shall pay it with your head !’
‘Please your Majesty, only the Fairy
Morgana can do that; send to call her’
The King sent to call the Fairy Morgana.
The Fairy sent answer:
‘Who wills goes, who wills not sends !?
Thus the King was obliged to go to her
himself.
‘Your Majesty must know,’ said the
Fairy, ‘that until that Cock becomes a
man like yourself, you can never have
peace.’
‘Then what must I do in order to change
him into a man like myself?’
‘You must take three kinds of grain, then
make three furrows in the earth with your
hands, and sow these three kinds of grain
in them. When it grows up, and is ripe,
you must reap it and thresh it, but without
mixing it, and then say:.
Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck !
And sprinkle the first kind of grain on
the ground. When not one grain of it is
left, say again:
166 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck!
Then sprinkle this other kind on the
ground, and when not one grain of it is
left, say again:
© Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck !
And sprinkle the third quality on the
ground.’
Well, the King did his best to do all she
told him to the letter, When the time
came he said:
‘Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck !'
And half the hens dropped down dead.
Then:
‘Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck!’
And the other half of the hens fell down
dead.
Lastly :
“Chuck, chuck, chuck ;
Who wants it, takes it,
And trusts to luck !’
This last time the Cock began to peck at
the grain all alone, and no sooner did he
THE BLACK EGG 167
pick up the last seed than he began to
stretch himself out, and grew taller and
taller: ‘Chic-chic-chiri-chi!’ And he shook
all his feathers off, and there he stood, a
tall, handsome young man. Nothing re-
mained to show he had once been a cock
but his comb and spurs. But that did not
much matter.
The King then said to the people:
‘TI have no children: this is your Prince
Royal. Respect him as such.’
‘Long live the Prince! Long live the
Prince !? resounded on all sides.
But they grumbled to themselves, and
said :
‘We shall see! A cock must crow!’
After several months had passed the
Prince began to look very melancholy. He
liked being alone, and would speak to
nobody.
‘What ails you, my son?’ asked the
King.
‘Nothing, your Majesty.’
He did not like to say it, for he felt
ashamed, but the truth was he wanted
very badly to cry out ‘ Cock-a-doodle-doo !’
Well, the Court physicians were called in:
they even sent for the cleverest that could
be found in foreign parts. But not one
of them all could understand the Prince’s
symptoms, :
‘Maybe he is in love!’ suggested one.
168 ONCE UPON A TIME
No, he was not in love.
Then what did he want? He had but
to speak ; whatever he asked for would be
granted at once,
‘Well, I should like to crow a little,’ said
he at last.
So they had to let him have his wish:
he crowed and screamed all day long, to
his heart’s, content.
Then they cut off his comb; so that
desire could never return to him any more.
But the people still grumbled:
‘We shall see! A cock must scratch!’
After some months the Prince again
began to look dull. He always wanted to
be alone, and would speak to nobody.
‘What is the matter with you, my son ?’
asked the King.
‘Nothing, your Majesty.’
He did not like to say it, for shame, but
the truth was he felt a great longing to go
out in the yard and scrape in the dust.
The physicians were again called in, but
they could make nothing out of the Prince’s
ailment.
‘Perhaps the Prince is in love, and wants
to get married ?’
No, he had no wish to get married,
Then what dd he want: he had but to
say it, and it would be granted.
‘I should very much like to go out and
scrape in the dust !’ he said.
THE BLACK EGG 169
And they had to let him go.
After that they tore his spurs off, so that
wish never came back to him again.
It was now high time to think of finding
him a wife, so the King one day said to him:
‘My son, would you like to wed the King
of Spain’s daughter ?’
‘May it please your Majesty, but if I
must marry . . . I should prefer to wed
a young pullet !’
Were they to begin the dolorous story all
over again? ...
That day the King happened to be in a
very bad temper. He lost all patience and,
drawing his sword, cut the Prince’s head
clean off.
But instead of human blood, there
streamed out chicken’s blood !
Then the old woman came back once
more, and said :
‘Behold! the charm is now broken !?
The Prince’s head was replaced on his
shoulders, where it soon grew fast again,
and he returned to life.
Now that he really was a man he became
quiet and reasonable, and not long after
this was married to the King of Spain’s
daughter.
In the course of time he and his bride
became King and Queen, and lived long
and happily, doing much good.
And so my story’s ended !
TI-TIRITI-TI
Once upon a time there was a little old
peasant who had but one small field no bigger
than the palm of your hand, and all full of
stones and briars. He had set up a hay-rick
in it, and there he lived, digging, sowing,
and weeding, from year’s end to year’s end,
and farming it as best he could.
When it was time to rest he would pull
a whistle from his pocket, and ‘ 77-2¢rid2-t2’
went the tune, always the same one; then
he would go to work again.
But all this time that poor little bit of a
field full of stones and briars yielded him
more profits than a farm. When his neigh-
bours gathered in twenty times what they
had sown, he was sure to have a hundred-
fold, to say the least.
So his kind neighbours were naturally
full of spite and envy. At one time not
one of them would have taken that bit of
ground, even as a gift; and now that he
had it, there was nothing they would not
have done to get it away from him.
Ti-TIRITI-TI I7i
‘I say, neighbour, don’t you want to get
rid of that heap of stones? ... 1 know
some one who would pay you three times
its value.’
But the peasant would answer :
« These stones are all my own,
Not even the King on his throne
Can make me give them away !’
And another would say: ‘Neighbour,
don’t you want to get rid of these stones?
I know somebody who would be glad to pay
you three times their value.’
But the answer was always:
‘ These stones are all my own,
Not even the King on his throne
Can make me give them away !’
Now it once happened that the King
passed that way, accompanied by his
Ministers. When he saw the little field
(which looked more like a garden, so green
and flourishing was its crop, while the corn
in the fields round about was so poor and
faded it looked like the bristles of an old
brush) he stopped, struck with amazement,
and said to his Ministers :
‘What a fine crop of corn! I would
willingly buy thrt field.’
‘May it please your Majesty, but it is not
for sale. It belongs to a very odd sort of
man, who answers all offers with these
words :
172 ONCE UPON A TIME
« These stones are all my own,
Not even the King on his throne
Can make me give them away !’
‘Oh, I should like to see if he'll answer
me that way !’ said the King, and he ordered
the peasant to be called to him.
‘Is it true that you would not give up
your field even to the King ?’
‘His Majesty has so many fields, what
good would my poor heap of stones do
him ??
‘ But supposing he wanted them? . . .
‘Supposing he wanted them ?
Ah!...
?
‘ These stones are all my own,
Not even the King on his throne
Can make me give them away !'
The King made believe to have taken no
offence at this, but during the night he sent
a hundred guardsmen to trample down the
crop without making any noise, so as not
to leave so much as one blade of grass
standing upright.
You may think what a sight met the
peasant’s eyes the next morning when he
came out from his hayrick, Everything
destroyed! And all his kind neighbours
standing there staring over the hedge with
the greatest satisfaction, though they tried
to look as if they were sorry.
‘Ah, neighbour, neighbour! If you had
Tl-TIRITI-TI 173
but sold your heap of stones in time, this
misfortune would not have befallen you !’
But to all this he answered not a word,
just as though they had not been speaking
to him.
When they had all taken themselves off
about their business, he pulled his whistle
out of his pocket, and ‘ 77-triti-¢7,’ the corn
began to rise up again; and ‘ 7i-dér¢z7-t/,) it
all stood up quite straight, as if nothing had
happened to it.
The King, quite sure of his affair, sent
for the peasant, and began :
‘I hear there is some one who bears you
a grudge, my man, and that last night
your crop of corn was half-destroyed.
Now, sell me that heap of stones of yours ;
174 ONCE UPON A TIME
when the folk know they are mine, they'll
keep at a respectful distance.’
‘Please your Majesty, what has been
told you is not true; my crop is finer
than ever.’
The King bit his lips :
So, then, his orders had not been obeyed !
And he blamed the Ministers. But when
they told him that the poor guardsmen could
not even move, they had stamped so hard
all night, his Majesty was astounded.
‘Then to-night turn all my flocks into
the field !’
Next morning, when the peasant came
out from his hayrick, what a sight he
beheld! the ground was perfectly stripped
and as smooth as satin !
And his good neighbours as usual :
‘Ah, neighbour, neighbour! If you had
but taken advice, and sold that heap of
stones there, this new misfortune would not
have fallen upon you!’
But he, without saying a word, went
shuffling about as if they had not been
speaking to him.
When at last they had all gone about
their business, out he pulled his whistle,
and ‘ Ti-trifz-¢2, the corn began to sprout
up again; and ‘ 7i-tréti-td, the corn was
waving high and green, as if nothing had
ever happened to it.
This time the King was quite sure he
TI-TIRITI-TI 175
had won the day. He wanted to see that
man! just think what a face he would
make !
So no sooner did the peasant come into
his presence than:
‘ There really must be some one who bears
you a grudge, my poor fellow. I hear that
last night your crop of corn was again quite
destroyed. Come now! you sell me that
heap of stones of yours; when the people
know they belong to me, they’ll look at them
from a respectful distance,
‘But, please your Majesty, my crop is not
destroyed ; it is finer than ever !?
The King bit his lips for spite.
Then his orders had not been obeyed this
time either !
And he found fault with his Ministers.
But the Ministers told him that the flocks
had eaten so much during the night that the
sheep were all swollen to bursting, and that
half of them had already died of repletion !
The King was more astonished than ever:
‘There is some mystery in all this. You
must find it out. I give you three days’
time !?
Now there was no joking with his
Majesty. The Ministers set to scratching
their bald heads, in hopes of getting some
idea out of them, and they thought and
thought! ..,
At last one proposed to go in the night-
176 ONCE UPON A TIME
time, and hide behind that accursed peasant’s
hayrick till daybreak. Who could know
what might happen?...
‘Well thought !’
So they went; and as there were several
openings in the rick, they set to peeping in
through them.
All night the King was not able to close
an eye for thinking of what had happened,
and next morning, first thing, he had his
Ministers called to him.
‘Oh, please your Majesty! . What a sight
we have seen! What a sight we have seen!’
‘Whatever Aave you seen, then ? you look
mighty well pleased, all of you!’
‘Well, that peasant has a whistle, and
the moment he begins to play on it the
inside of his hayrick changes into a sump-
tuous palace !’
‘And then?’.. 2
‘And then out comes a young girl, more
lovely than sunlight ; and he plays “ 7z-¢¢rct¢-
zz,†and makes her dance to his playing ;
after that he says to her:
‘Yair daughter, if the King would win thy hand,
Seven years in sun and rain must he stand,
If seven years in sun and rain he will not bide,
Then, fair daughter, you can never be his bride!’
‘And then ??
‘And then he began playing again, and
in a twinkling the splendid palace once
more became a hayrick’
TI-TIRITI-T1I 177
‘Tl give it to him, with his sun and
rain! But first let us see this miracle of
beauty !?
And the next night he went, accompanied
by his Ministers.
And behold! the peasant pulled out his
whistle from his pocket, and ‘ 7¢-dérdtd-d2,)
in a trice the haystack was changed into
a royal dwelling; and ‘ 7%-#77#-#) the
lovely maiden appeared and began to dance.
At that sight the King went clean out of
his wits.
‘Oh, what a beauty she is! She shall
be mine! She shall be mine!’
And without losing any time he began
knocking at the entrance.
The peasant stopped playing, and all at
once the royal palace became a_hayrick
again ; but there was no sign of its opening,
and the King, though burning with im-
patience, was forced to go home as he had
come.
Before dawn, however, he sent a mes-
senger in great haste:
The King wanted to see him dwmediately /
The peasant came and presented himself:
What did his Majesty command of him?
‘My will is that you give me your
daughter for my bride; she shall be made
Queen, and you Lord Chamberlain.’
‘Please your Majesty, but there is a
condition to fulfil :
N
178 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Let him who would my daughter wed
Stand seven years in sun and rain ;
Jf seven years in sun and rain he stand not,
Whoever he be, he shall woo her in vain,’
The King would have rarely liked to give
him the sun and rain! But then there was
the maiden at stake, and for love of her he
would do anything !
So he shrugged his shoulders, and replied :
‘Then I shall wait seven years in sun and
rain,’
He placed the government of his kingdom
in the hands of the Ministers for all the time
he would be absent, and went to live with
the old peasant, exposed all day to the
scorching sun, or the pouring rain, even
when it came down in bucketfuls.
Poor King! after a short time no one
would have been able to recognise him ; his
skin was burnt to such a degree that he
seemed made of derra cotta. But he had
one compensation, however. Every now
and again, when it was night, the peasant
would pull out his whistle, and before
beginning his tune would say to him:
‘Your Majesty must remember well that
‘Who touches rends,
Who speaks offends |’
And then ‘ 7¢-¢¢rd¢i-#z,’ in less time than
I tell you the hayrick became a sumptuous
palace, and ‘ 77-déréti-#2,’ the maiden ap-
TI-TIRITI-TI 179
peared, more beautiful than the sun, moon,
and stars ! fl
All the time she danced the King simply
devoured her with his eyes; he had to make
a great effort not to rush up to her, and
folding her in his arms say, ‘You shall be
my Queen!’ His great love for her and the
fear of losing her alone kept him back.
Six years, six months, and six days had
already flown. The King would rub his
hands for joy.
Soon, very soon, that maiden, more
beautiful than the sun, moon, and stars,
would become his bride, and he would return
to his Royal Palace, a King as before, only
much, much happier than ever he had been !
But bad luck would have it that one night
the peasant took out his whistle as usual
and began playing without reminding him:
‘Your Majesty :
‘Who touches rends,
Who speaks offends !'
When he saw her the King could no
longer restrain himself, and running up to
the fair maiden embraced her, crying :
‘You shall be my Queen! You shall be
my Queen !?
Like a flash of lightning the maiden was
turned into a knotty trunk of a tree !
‘Yet I had warned your Majesty !? said
the peasant :
180 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Who touches rends,
Who speaks offends !'
The King seemed turned to stone with
grief and amazement.
Must he begin all over again ?
Yes, he must begin all over again !
Well, over again he began; he roasted
himself in the sun:
‘Sun, fair sun above,
I suffer here for love !’
He let himself be drenched by the rain:
‘Rain, good, gentle rain,
For the maid I suffer pain!’
And when the peasant would pull his
whistle out of his pocket, and § 77-dir¢¢i-£7,’
the maiden appeared and began to dance,
he devoured her with his eyes from a corner,
but as quiet and still as oil, for he did not
feel inclined to begin all over again another
time.
And again six years, six months, and six
days had passed away, and the King would
rub his hands for joy.
But misfortune would have it that one
night, when the maiden was dancing to the
sound of the peasant’s whistle as she had
never danced before, with such grace! such
elegance ! the King could stand it no longer,
and rushing up to her, embraced her, crying :
‘Ah! my Queen! my Queen!’
LI-TIRITI-TI 181
And what should he find in his arms
again but the knotty trunk of a tree!
‘Ah! your Majesty! your Majesty !’
said the old peasant; ‘yet I had told you:
‘Who touches rends,
Who speaks offends !’
The wretched King stood stock-still in
dismay and disappointment :
‘Must I begin all over again ??
‘Yes, you must begin all over again !?
And he began again:
‘Sun, fair sun above,
I suffer here for love ;
Rain, good, gentle rain,
For the maid I suffer pain !’
This time, however, he was more on his
guard, and when at last the seven years
appointed had passed, he won the maiden
more beautiful than sunlight. He could
hardly believe it was true!
But what had happened in the meanwhile ?
Well, his Ministers and subjects, thinking
he had gone mad, had forgotten all about
him, and had conferred the crown, some
years before, on one of his relations.
When the King presented himself at his
Palace, with his fair bride leaning on his
arm, the soldiers who stood at the gate as
sentinels said :
‘ You can’t pass here, sir! You can’t pass
here !?
182 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Tam the King! call down my Ministers!’
But the old ones he had known were all
dead, and those of the new King let him
talk till he was tired.
He then turned to his people:
‘How is this? Do you not recognise
your King?’
The people very civilly laughed in his face,
but otherwise paid him not the slightest
attention.
Quite in despair he went back to the
peasant’s little field, where the hayrick
once stood; but to his surprise he saw a
splendid edifice worthy of being a king’s
palace. He went upstairs, but instead of
the peasant there came forward to meet
him a handsome old man with a flowing
white beard: it was no other than the great
Magician Sabino !
‘Don’t lose heart!’ he said, and taking
the King by the hand he led him into a
splendid hall where stood a large basin full
of clear water. The Magician, seizing the
basin, poured its contents on his head, and
the King, from being a rather elderly-looking
man, once more became a blooming youth,
as when he was but twenty years of age.
Then the Magician said to him:
‘Look out of window and play on this
whistle, and you shall see!’
And so the King did, playing ‘ 72-d7riti-
ti,’ and behold, a large army of magnificent
LI-TIRITI-TI 183
men clad in full armour, as compact in their
ranks as a London fog, came streaming over
the hills, and down into the valley.
War was declared, and while the soldiers
fought he stood on the top of a rising ground
and played away, ‘ 7i-tiriti-td,’ never stop-
ping till the battle was won.
Then he returned to his Royal Palace,
conquering and triumphant. He forgave
everybody, and to celebrate his wedding
with the fair maid he loved so well, gave
his people a whole month of feasting and
merry-making.
And soon was given to him a son and heir,
And they all lived happily without a care.
SERPENTINA
OncE upon a time there was a King whose
Queen wished very much to have a little
child.
At last one day there happened to pass
one of those gipsies who go about telling
fortunes, and the King had her called in.
‘Will her Majesty ever have a child?’
he asked of her.
‘Yes!’ replied the gipsy ; ‘a serpent!’
They were astonished beyond expression,
and not over pleased; and they again
asked:
What were they to do with it? ... To
kill it as soon as it was born? ... Or to
bring itup?...
They were to bring it up, answered the
gipsy woman.
At these words the poor Queen burst
into tears : :
Whoever would nurse the disgusting
creature? As to her, she would die of
terror! And then, if it bit her?
‘Your Majesty has no cause to fear,’
SERPENTINA 185
continued the gipsy.- ‘It will have but one
single tooth, a golden tooth !?
And so it came to pass: the Queen hada
pretty little serpent, black and green, which
was no sooner born than it sprang from the
‘nurse’s hands right into its mother’s arms,
and there lay quite quietly.
When it had gone to sleep the King
opened its mouth, and saw that it really
had one single golden tooth. However, as
the royal pair did not wish their misfortune
to be known abroad, they spread the report
that the Queen had given birth to a pretty
little girl, whom they had named Serpentina.
Serpentina grew very quickly ; and when-
ever she opened her mouth, her golden tooth
shone and glittered.
One day the same gipsy passed, and the
King had her called in to him.
‘Tell me my Serpentina’s fortune !’
The gipsy took Serpentina’s tail in her
hand, and began observing it attentively.
Then she shook her head.
‘What do you see, Gipsy, that makes
you shake your head ??
‘Ah, your Majesty, I see misfortunes !’
‘And is there no remedy for them ??
‘Your Majesty must consult one who is
more learned than I—the Hunchbacked
Fairy.’
‘And where am I to find this Hunch-
backed Fairy ??
186 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Take with you bread and wine sufficient
to last for eight days, and go on walking
straight before you; but mind, you must
never turn to look back. On the eighth
day you will see before you a great cave:
there dwells the Hunchbacked Fairy.’
So he took with him provisions to last
eight days, and set out, When he was half
way he heard a voice behind him:
‘Your Majesty! your Majesty !’
And he was just going to turn round to
see who it was when he remembered the
gipsy’s injunction, so instead he kept going
straight on.
Another day he héard cries as of a human
being in distress :
‘Ahi! they are murdering me! Ahi! ahi!’
The good King stopped a moment
ivresolute: those cries wrung his heart,
and he was just going to turn round;
but again he remembered the gipsy’s
warning, and continued his way, straight
on.
Another day he heard a great noise
behind him, as of many horses at full gallop.
‘Take care! take care!’ came a shout.
This alarmed him, and he was on the
point of turning round, but happily he recalled
to mind the gipsy’s words, and went on with-
out paying further heed.
At last he reached the cave, and began
calling out:
SERPENTINA : 187
‘Hunchbacked Fairy! Hunchbacked
Fairy !’ ss
‘Hunchback yourself!’ cried out an angry
voice.
And the poor King felt a slight weight on
his shoulders, and felt with his hand to see
what it was: a hump had really grown on
his back!
And now, what was he to do? How
could he go home again with that mon-
strosity ?
He resolved to return by night, so that
nobody might see him. When the Queen
caught sight of the hump on his back, she
asked :
‘Whatever has your Majesty got on your
back ??
‘I bear my misfortune!’ was the doleful
reply. And he told her how things had gone.
The Queen then resolved to try herself:
‘Between women, we are sure to come
to a better understanding !’
Then she made her provision of bread
and wine, enough to last for eight days, and
set out.
Halfway :
‘Your Majesty! your Majesty !’
She turned right round without thinking,
and lo! there she was at the very spot
whence she had started !
‘Patience!’ she cried ; ‘I'll begin all over
again !?
188 ONCE UPON A TIME
The second time, a little farther on than
halfway, she heard a great noise coming up
behind her, as of ever so many horses at
full gallop :
‘Take care! take care !’
Seized with terror she turned round, and
again found herself at the same spot whence
she had set out.
Then, as she was very smart and clever,
she said to the King:
‘Let your Majesty stuff my ears with
cotton-wool and pour a little wax on the
top of it, so I shall hear nothing, and thus
be able to reach the Hunchbacked Fairy’s ;
without that it would be quite impossible !’
So the King stopped her ears well up as
she had desired, and she again set out.
When she at last came to the cave she
took the wadding out of her ears and knocked.
She knocked and knocked again, but no
one answered, Yet she did not want to call
out, so she seized a heavy stick with both
hands and beat on the door with all her
might.
Finally a voice roared out: ‘Who is there?
Whom do you seek ?’
‘It is 1; I am seeking the Fairy!’
‘Which Fairy? there are so many of
them !?
¢The Hunchbacked Fairy!!!’
Poor Queen! the words escaped her
quite against her will.
SERPENTINA . 189
‘You'll be the Hunchback!’ came back
the pleasant answer.
The Queen immediately felt her back,
and there, sure enough, was a fine hump!
She went back by night, so as not to be
seen ; the first thing the King did was to
turn her round and look at her back:
‘What has your Majesty got on your
back ?? :
‘T bear my misfortune!’ she answered rue-
fully, and related to him how things had gone.
And all this on account of Serpentina !
‘Let us crush her head!’ cried the
wretched Queen ; ‘all our misfortunes come
from her !? 4
But the King could not make up his mind
to such a thing:
‘Was she not their own child ?’
‘JT shall do as I think fit,’ said the Queen
to herself.
And without the King’s knowledge, she
called one of the Palace guards:
‘Take this box and go into the forest.
When you get there, make a heap of wood,
place this upon it, and set fire to it all. You
must not come away till every stick is burnt
up
‘It shall be done as your Majesty orders.
In the meanwhile the King ordered the
gipsy to be called to his presence:
‘Tell me once more Serpentina’s fortune,’
said the King.
2
190 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Good or bad, your Majesty ?’
‘Good or bad.’
‘Well, then, your Majesty must know that
Serpentina is at this moment in great danger
of death :
© And if poor Serpentina die,
Your kingdom will in ruins lie.’
‘What danger can threaten her within
these royal chambers ?’
‘But, your Majesty, she is no longer
here !’
When the King heard what his wife had
done, he began tearing his hair:
Their ruin was complete, he cried.
‘Ah, my poor Serpentina, where are
you?’
And a voice far, far away:
‘Your Majesty, I am in the forest !’
‘And what are you doing there?’
I hear strange noises !’
Then the King issued orders:
‘Let the fleetest horse in my stables be
saddled !?
No sooner was it ready than he sprang
on its back, and away like lightning on the
road that led to the wood. Every now and
then he stopped for a moment to ask:
‘Where are you, Serpentina?’
‘In the midst of the forest, your Majesty!’
Now the voice seemed nearer.
‘And what are you doing there?’
SERPENTINA IQI
‘Please, your Majesty, I feel too warm !?
And the King plunged his spurs into his
horse’s flanks ; he would have had him fly.
But as he neared the middle of the forest he
saw great flames,
“Serpentina, where are you ??
‘In the midst of the forest, your Majesty !?
‘What are you doing there?’
‘Changing my skin, your Majesty !â€
The King rushed up to the heap of
flaming wood, and without heeding the
burns he got, dragged the box out from the
red-hot cinders, He opened it in all haste,
and behold, a most beautiful young girl
sprang out, only her skin was all scaly like
a serpent’s !
‘Too much haste, your Majesty! Now
I am disfigured for life |’
Serpentina had not had time to change
her skin, and she burst out crying, and
would not be consoled.
‘Leave me here all alone! I shall go
to the Hunchbacked Fairy.’
So not being able to persuade her to do
otherwise, the King left her alone in the
midst of the forest, and returned to his
Royal Palace.
But Serpentina wandered and wandered
all about, and could not find her way out of
the thicket. At last she met a little black
beetle :
‘Black beetle! my beautiful black beetle!
Ig2 ONCE UPON A TIME
if you will only bring me to the Hunch-
backed Fairy’s, I shall make you a splendid
present.’
‘IT don’t know her,’ quoth the black
beetle, and off she went.
Farther on Serpentina saw a little
mouse,
‘Mousie! my dear little mousie! if you
will but bring me to the Hunchbacked
Fairy’s, I will make you a magnificent
present !’
‘But I don’t know her!’ quoth mousie,
and away he went.
Still farther on she saw a nightingale on
the topmost branch of a tree:
‘Nightingale! sweet nightingale! if you
will only bring me to the Hunchbacked
Fairy’s, I shall make you a fine present !’
‘I am very sorry,’ replied the kindly bird,
‘but I cannot. IJ am waiting for the Fair
Maid with the Golden Tooth; she is to
pass this way.’
‘Nightingale! sweet nightingale! I am
the Fair Maid with the Golden Tooth.’
And she showed him her tooth.
‘Oh, my Princess! I have been waiting
for you all these years |?’
And while he spoke the nightingale
changed into the handsomest young man
ever seen; he took her by the hand and led
her forth from the forest.
When they reached the cave where the
SERPENTINA 193
Fairy dwelt, the handsome young man
knocked.
‘Who are you?’ came the voice,
‘It is Serpentina and I !?
‘Whom do you want ?’
‘The Fairy Queen !?
The portals of the cave flew open, and
they beheld within the Hunchbacked F, airy’s
palace; but they had to call her ‘ Fairy
Queen,’ or she would have taken offence.
‘You are welcome, my daughter!’ said
the Fairy to Serpentina; ‘I have been
expecting you for some time. This young
man is the son of a powerful monarch; a
Fairy had laid him under a spell, which
could only be broken by the Fair Maid with
the Golden Tooth, and you must both get
married.’
Now the Princess with that scaly skin of
hers was horrible to look at in spite of her
beautiful face and form. The Hunchbacked
Fairy had but to touch her with her magic
wand and it all fell off, and there she stood
in her dazzling beauty !
When the Queen heard that Serpentina
was still alive, she flew into a most awful
rage:
‘If she comes here, I must go! She is
our bad luck !’
But when she heard that Serpentina
was to bring her an ointment that would
make her hump disappear, she went out
oO
194 ONCE UPON A TIME
to meet her with the King and the whole -
Court. §
There were great rejoicings to celebrate
the wedding, and Serpentina and her princely
husband lived happily for many years.
And so were ended all their fears !
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT
ONCE upon a time there was a poor woman
who had been left a widow with a little child
to bring up. She was of very delicate health,
and having to nurse her baby could not do
much hard work.
She did little services for her neighbours,
who in return helped her; so that she and
her infant did not quite die of starvation.
The child was lovely as a sunbeam; and
every morning after she had washed him,
and done him up in his swaddling-clothes,
and combed his hair, she used to sing to him,
half in joke, and half as a good omen:
‘ My baby, thou a baron shalt be,
A duke, my baby own ;
Thou'lt be a prince of high degree,
A king upon a throne !’
And each time, when she said ‘A king
upon a throne!’ the baby nodded his little
head as if he quite understood.
One day it happened that just as she was
saying these words the King passed and
heard her. He was much offended at this
196 ONCE UPON A TIME
because he had no children of his own, a
thing which grieved him to the heart.
‘My young neighbour,’ said he to the
poor woman, ‘don’t attempt to say that
again, or it may be bad for you 1g
The poor woman was too frightened to
answer. However, now that his mother no
longer sang to him, every morning, as soon
as he was washed and combed and swathed
up, the baby began crying and screaming,
Then she would say to hush him:
‘My baby, thou a baron shalt be,
A duke, my baby own ;
Thou'lt be a prince of high degree !’
But the baby would not be quieted. So
one day, just to try-the effect, she added,
quite in a whisper :
‘A king upon a throne!’
And Baby nodded his little head as if he
had understood, and did not cry any more
that day.
From this the poor woman felt convinced
that her child had some great fortune in
store for him; and fearing the King’s anger
she began to think of going to live in some
other town.
In the meanwhile, as the baby was growing
bigger, and no longer required so much
nursing, she had managed to find some work
to do; she went out charing, and she used
to ask one of her neighbours :
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT 1067
‘Neighbour, will you keep an eye to my
little one; I’m going away, but I shall not
be long.’
One day she happened to stay away later
than usual. The neighbour was tired of
holding the naughty little thing in her arms,
for he did nothing but cry and call for his
mother. Just at that moment a rag-picker
came along, with his bag full of rags on his
back :
‘Old rags, good women ! old rags !’ cried
he.
‘Will you have this rag ?’ asked the neigh-
bour half in jest, holding out the baby.
‘If we can agrec about the price, I'll take
it?
‘V’ll give it you for a penny !?
The rag-picker took the child in his arms,
and put a penny-piece with a hole in it into
the woman’s hand.
She and the other neighbours present at
this scene laughed heartily ; while they were
so occupied, the ragman disappeared round
the corner of the street. They ran after him
to bring back the child, but call and search
as they might ... who saw any more of
him?
I leave you to imagine the tears the poor
mother wept when she heard of her misfortune,
She at once hastened to the King, crying:
‘Justice, your Majesty ! justice! He has
stolen my child away from me !’
198 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Thou'lt be a prince of high degree,
A king upon a throne !’
sang the King in reply, to make fun of her.
And he sent her away, quite delighted to
think that that evil omen for his descendants
had disappeared.
The poor woman’s eyes seemed changed
into two rivers. She wandered about all
day long, stopping the people by the way:
‘ Good people, have you seen the rag-picker
that stole my baby ?’
Those who knew nothing about it thought
she had gone mad, and even laughed in her
face.
On the day of her misfortune the neigh-
bour had given her the penny with the hole
in it which the rag-picker had left in her
hand; but the poor mother was so grieved
and angry that she tossed it aside.
The next morning, when she pulled out
her drawer to take something ... there
lay the penny !
‘Accursed penny! I don’t even want to
see you!’
And again she threw it away, out of
window this time.
But the next morning she again went
to open her drawer, and what should she
see? .. . The penny with a hole in it!
She banged the drawer to in a temper:
‘If it had been ten shillings, at least...
I might have bought myself a rag of a gown.’
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT 199
No sooner had she done speaking than
she heard a sound as of money chinking in
the drawer. She opened it again; the
penny seemed to have multiplied, for besides
it there were ever so many other penny-
pieces, just enough to make ten shillings !
’ Ever after that, when she was in want of
money, it was enough for her to say:
‘ My little penny, I want ahundred pounds,
I want a thousand pounds !’
And there were the hundred or thousand
pounds!
The poor woman did not keep this money
for herself, but gave it nearly all away in
charity to those who were as poor as she
once had been; and she soon came to be
looked upon as a blessing sent from Heaven,
But she did all this good thinking of her
poor little lost baby, and hoping that some
one would be kind to him.
What did she care for all that good fortune
without her child ?
And so she lived on from day to day, in
the hope that Heaven would at last comfort
her.
During this time, it once happened that
the King took a fancy to a splendid horse
and wanted to buy it; after much discussion
he at last closed the bargain, and went to
take the money from the strong-box where he
generally put it by: to his surprise a large
sum was wanting.
200 ONCE UPON A TIME
He placed two guards to watch over the
safe and catch the thief if he. came back,
and after some days had passed he returned
to see: another large sum was missing.
Then he lay in wait himself; he was
actually beginning to suspect his own
Ministers !
Well, one morning he heard a voice as in
the air, far, far away:
“My little penny, I want a thousand
pounds !’
And then he heard a great confusion and
noise inside the strong-box, just as though
some one were taking money out of it in
handfuls.
He threw it open in the greatest haste:
the thousand pounds were really wanting,
but there was nobody inside!
How could this be?
The King was half out of his wits puzzling
over it.
However, though he was rather miserly
and annoyed at losing so much money, what
grieved him still more was the thought of
not having any children to whom he could
leave his wealth and his throne.
He used to quarrel awfully with the poor
Queen, as if it were her fault ! and he treated
her very badly. He often said:
She was not able to give him a baby, not
even a ferva-cotta one!
The Queen was indignant at this, and to
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT 201
show that she was good for something, set
to modelling with her own hands a pretty
little baby in clay.
‘See, now, if I am good for nothing!’ she
said to the King.
Everybody hastened to the Palace to see
the beautiful éevva-cotta baby the Queen had
made, and among the rest was the poor
woman whose child had been stolen,
‘Good heavens!’ she cried; ‘it is quite
my boy!’ and she burst into tears,
When the King heard these words he
flew into a great fury, and kicked over the
little statue, which was broken into a thousand
pieces.
The poor woman felt as if she had seen
her own son torn to pieces before her cyes.
But what dared she say to his Majesty?
She was forced to swallow down her bitter
sorrow and go back to her lonely home
without a word.
All this time the money kept disappearing
from the King’s strong-box; and ever he
heard that voice in the air, far, far away:
‘My little penny, I want a hundred
pounds, I want a thousand pounds !?
And as much as the voice would say, so
much did the King hear the hands of the
invisible thief taking out.
Then he set spies to try and discover
whose voice it might be; and who should
his spies drag before him one day, with
202 ONCE UPON A TIME
chains on her hands, but the poor woman
whose baby had been stolen !
It was she who had said ‘My little
penny, I want a hundred pounds |â€
The King would not even listen to the
poor creature, who wanted to relate to him
how the thing was, and he ordered her to
be thrown into prison.
But from that day his peace was flown.
Did he go to bed, the bed-clothes were
dragged off him by unseen hands :
‘Your Majesty is not to sleep!’
Who could it be? ... There was no
one in the room!
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT 203
Did he sit down to table, the dish was
carried away from before him:
‘Your Majesty is not to eat!’
Who was it? . . . Nobody was to be seen!
Were this state of things to last a little
longer the King would surely die of want.
So he sent to consult an old Magician.
The Magician came—he was no other
than our friend the rag-picker, who had
stolen the child so as to protect it from the
Monarch’s anger ; he only replied :
‘Thou'lt be a prince of high degree,
A king upon a throne!’
Seeing that fate willed it so, and not
wishing to die of hunger, the King began
by letting the poor woman out of prison,
and again sent for the Magician:
How was he to find this child? It had
been stolen away by a ragman, and no one
had heard aught of it since.
Then answered the Magician : ;
‘Gather up the bits of the sevrva-cotta
baby, and stick them together with the
white of a crow’s egg?
The King, though much against his will,
gathered up the broken pieces of the little
statue, and stuck them together as he had
been told.
‘And now ?’ he asked.
‘Now,’ said the Magician, ‘prepare great
festivities, and do thus... and thus...’
204 ONCE UPON A TIME
The King gave orders according to the
instructions he had received from the
Magician; he sent for the child’s mother
and had her brought to his Palace, where
he made her sit beside the Queen.
The zerra-cotta baby, now well stuck
together again, stood on a pedestal in the
centre of the great hall, and all around were
Ministers, Princes, and Courtiers, waiting
there in their robes of state.
When at last the hour came, they heard
down in the street :
‘Old rags, good women? old rags !’
At that cry the statue cracked all over,
and out stepped a beautiful youth; while
with much chinking and noise an immense
quantity of gold pieces rolled on to the floor
in every direction.
The King, who was well pleased also
because he got back all his money, wanted
to embrace the boy, as though he were his
own son, but the youth first ran to his
mother, and clung with his arms round her
neck in the most tender manner.
‘Thou'lt be a prince of high degree,
A king upon a throne |’
And indeed he was already Prince Royal,
for the King had adopted him.
At this point of the proceedings a guard
entered the hall and said:
‘May it please your Majesty, there is a
THE PENNY WITH A HOLE IN IT 208
rag-picker downstairs; he wants to have
back his penny with a hole in it,
The King knew nothing of all this, but
the poor woman immediately replied :
‘Here it is!’
When the King at last heard the whole
story, he thought it would be better to keep
it for himself, so he went into another room,
bored a hole in another penny, and gave it
to the rag-picker instead.
But evil came of this trick. The very
first time he said ‘ My little penny, I want
a thousand pounds!’ instead of a thousand
pounds he got a thousand blows from a cat-
o’-nine-tails, which quite settled his account,
so that he died.
‘Thou'lt be a prince of high degree,
A king upon a throne !’
And so it really came true.
Narrow is the leaf, wide is the way :
Your story must keep for another day !
THE FAIRY-TALE TELLER
OncE upon a time there was a poor fellow
who had tried his hand at every trade, and
had succeeded in none.
One day the idea struck him to go about
telling fairy-tales to the children. It seemed
te him that it ought to be an easy occupa-
THE FAIRV-TALE TELLER 207
tion, and one that would amuse himself as
well, So he set out, and in the first city he
came to began to go about the streets, crying:
‘Fairy-tales, children! Fairy-tales !
Who wants to hear my fairy-tales ??
And the children came round him from
every direction, quarrelling, too, as to who
would have the best place. So he began:
‘Once upon a time there was a King
and Queen who had no children, and they
used to offer up: vows at shrines, and make
pilgrimages . . ?
‘I say, we know that story by heart!’
cried the children. ‘It’s the story of Sleeping
Beauty in the Wood. Another! another!’
‘Well, ll tell you another.’ And he
began again:
‘Once upon a time there was a little girl
who had a very silly mamma, and a gran’-
mamma who was still sillier. The gran’-
mamma had made her a little hood of
scarlet cloth .. 7
‘But we all know that by heart! It’s
Little Red Riding-Hood! Another! another!’
The poor man felt rather annoyed; how
ever, he began again:
‘Once upon a time there was a gentleman
who had one only daughter. His wife had
died, and he had married a second time,
taking a widow who had two daughters . . .’
‘ But, I say, that’s the story of Cinderella!
We know this one also!’
208 ONCE UPON A TIME
And seeing that he had nothing but old
fairy-stories to tell them, the children turned
their backs on him, and left him standing
there like Wednesday, in the middle of the
week !
He felt very silly-looking, and went off to
another city. And no sooner did he get
there than he began crying out along the
streets :
‘Fairy-tales, children! Fairy- tales!
Who wants to hear my fairy-tales ?’
The children came trooping round him
on all sides, pushing and disputing for places
near him. But no sooner did he begin a
story than they at once screamed out:
‘Not that one! not that one! We know
it !?
And when they saw he was only good at
telling old fairy-tales, they turned away and
left him standing there like a goose,
After that he tried several other places,
but always with the same bad luck; at last
he grew quite discouraged, poor soul, and
did not know what to turn to.
Much distressed, he set out walking
straight before him, without heeding where
his feet might carry him, till he found him-
self in the midst of a thick wood.
Night came on, and he stretched himself
out on the grass at the foot of a tree, and
tried to go to sleep, but he could not shut
an eye; he felt very much afraid indeed.
THE FAIRY-TALE TELLER 209
It seemed to him as if the trees, when they
rustled their foliage, were all whispering to
each other in low voices; and the forest
' beasts and night-birds, with their strange
cries and songs, seemed to be all plotting
against him.
His heart beat wildly in his breast, and
he thought that morning would never come.
But just at midnight, what did he see?
A great light began to glow all through the
wood, and from every plant and tree there
came forth crowds of people, laughing,
dancing, and singing. At the same time
beautiful tents sprang up on every side, with
tables all glistening over with gold, and
loaded with dainties such as he had never
seen nor dreamt of. He began to understand
that he was in the midst of an elfen-fair ;
so he took courage, and got up. He thought
to himself:
‘The “Little People†will surely have
some brand-new fairy-tales to sell! I must
see if I can’t manage to get some!’
And going up to one who was selling
different wares under a rich tent near where
he had been lying, he asked:
‘Have you any new fairy-tales to sell ?’
‘There are no new fairy-tales; the seed
of that plant has been lost !’
Not much convinced by this answer he
went on to another fairy, on whose table
_ Stood a great display of beautiful things in
P
210 ONCE UPON A TIME
crystal jars: the first fairy had nothing half
so fine. He again asked:
‘Have you any new fairy-tales for sale ?’
‘There are no new fairy-tales,’ was the
reply ; ‘the seed has been all lost!’
That made two failures! ...
He went round about for a long time,
looking here and there; at last perceiving a
tent far richer than all the rest, he went up
to it timidly, and asked of the fairy who
stood there:
‘Have you any new fairy-tales to sell ?’
‘But there are no new fairy-tales!’ she
cried ; ‘the seed was lost long ago!’
That made three times! ...
But the kind fairy, seeing that he looked
rather put out, said to him:
‘My good man, do you know what you
must do? ‘You must go to the Magician
Tre-pi, who has whole rooms full of them,
‘And where am I to find this Magician
Tre-pi ?’
‘Far, far away, among his perfumed
orange groves!’ was the fairy’s answer.
The fair came to a close just before dawn.
Fairies, tents, and everything disappeared ;
and our poor fellow remained there all
alone in the midst of the wood, scarcely
knowing whether he had been awake or only
dreaming.
He walked and walked till he met a way-
farer :
THE FAIRY-TALE TELLER 211
‘Good sir, can you tell me where lie the
orange groves of the Magician Tre-pi??
‘Go on and on, always straight ahead !’
That was not much help to him, but he
walked on and on; then he met an old
woman :
‘Kind dame, can you tell me where stand
the orange groves of the Magician Tre-pi ?’
‘Go on and on, always straight before
you.’
But walk as he would, he never seemed
to get there!
At last, behold, the orange groves rose
before him! But they were surrounded by
high walls, and the only way in was by a
small gate guarded by a mastiff.
‘For whom are you seeking in these parts ?’
, growled the mastiff at him.
‘I want to see the Magician Tre-pi.’
‘He is out; you must wait till he comes
back.
And behold! ... late in the evening
came the Magician Tre-pi, black as a pepper-
corn, with a great black beard, and big
black eyes that darted fire.
‘Oh, my good Magician!’ said the poor
fellow, “you must please do me a favour !’
‘Speak, then ; what do you want ?’
‘I should like to have some new fairy-
tales. You who have whole stores full of
them might give me a few.’
‘There are no new fairy-tales,’ said the
212 ONCE UPON A TIME
Magician, ‘and the seed has been lost.
You would not know what to do with those
I have; besides, they are of use to me, I
preserve them embalmed. Perhaps you
would like to see them.’
And he led the man into his store-rooms.
There were all the fairy-tales in the world,
neatly done up in caskets made on purpose
for them, all classed and numbered. All
the time the Magician kept looking at the
THE FAIRV-TALE TELLER 213
man’s hands, for fear he should carry any
of them away with him.
‘But is there really no means of finding
any new ones?’
‘New ones! .. .’ said the Magician:
‘there is an old fairy who perhaps may
know some, Fairy Fancy her name is; but
she never wants to tell them to any one.
She lives all alone in a cave, and you must
go there together with the Sleeping Beauty
in the Wood, Little Red Riding - Hood,
Cinderella, Hop-o’-my-Thumb, and such
folk. You can try! However, I warn you
that it will be labour lost !’
‘I don’t care,’ quoth the poor fellow; ‘I
shall try !’
So he turned back again and went to
Sleeping Beauty in the Wood:
‘Dear Sleeping Beauty, I beg of you,
come with me!’
‘Most willingly!’ she answered, with a
gentle yawn,
‘My good Little Red Riding-Hood, pray
do come with me!’
‘With all my heart!’ replied the smiling
child.
‘Ah, my pretty Cinderella, will you
please come with me too?’
And Cinderella pulled up the heels of her
shoes :
‘Here Iam!’
To cut it short: he assembled them
?
214 ONCE UPON A TIME
all together, and they set out on their
journey.
Sleeping Beauty and her companions
knew where stood the cave in which the
old Fairy lived shut up, and they had no
difficulty in conducting him there. They
knocked at the door :
‘Who are you ?’
‘It’s we!?
Fairy Fancy recognised them at once, and
came to open the door. But when she saw
the man she exclaimed :
‘What do you want? ... And who is
this fellow? ... How dare you come to
trouble me, you rash creature ?’
And she would have driven him away.
But the others pacified her, and explained
the motive of their coming:
‘Good Fairy, this poor unfortunate fellow
has tried every trade, and has succeeded in
none. He had begun telling fairy-tales, but
the children, who already know our stories
by heart, now want to hear new ones, and
so would not listen to him. Fair Fairy
Fancy, do please help him !’
But she answered like the rest :
‘There are no new fairy-tales; the seed
is lost !’
‘Beautiful Fairy Fancy, please do help
me !’
And hearing them entreat her with tears
in their eyes, the Fairy’s heart was touched :
THE FAIRY-TALE TELLER 215
‘Let me go for a moment,’ she said; ‘I
am coming back.’
She returned into her cave, and after
a short time reappeared, with her apron
full of things.
‘Hold, my good fellow!’ she said to the
poor man; ‘ perhaps you may succeed better
with these.’
And she gave him a Loaf of Bread, a
Golden Orange, a Little Frog, a Tiny Green
Serpent, a Black Egg, Three Rings, and a
lot of other things.
‘What am I to do with these ?’
‘Take them with you, and you'll see!’
He thanked her heartily, and quite content
went and accompanied all his kind little
friends to their homes. Then, in the first
city he came to, he began crying out in the
streets :
‘Fairy-tales, children! Fairy-tales! Who
wants to hear my fairy-tales ?’
The children came flocking round him on
all sides, disputing for the best places.
He took the Loaf of Bread in his hand,
and began:
‘Once upon atime...
He did not know one word of what he
was going to relate, but when he opened his
mouth the fairy-tale came out quite pat, as
though he had learnt it by heart; and it
was the story of Mirror of the Sun.
The children liked it, and cried out:
?
216 ONCE UPON A TIME
‘Another! another !’
Then he took out, quite at hazard, another
of the Fairy’s presents, which he carried all
together in a bag. He began:
‘Once upon atime...
And though he did not know a single
word of what he was going to say, no sooner
did he open his mouth than the fairy-tale
came out quite pat, as if he had known it
by heart ever so long ; and he told them the
story of Little Froggte, give me your Paw.
The children were pleased with it, and
asked for another.
And so on, he told more than a dozen, ©
and was even more amused than the children.
After that he went to another city:
‘Fairy-tales ! Who wants my fairy-tales ?’
And he began them all over again. The
children were delighted !
But after all they were always the same
stories—Mfirror of the Sun, Little Frogegie,
Chick-Pea, The Bronze Steed, Serpentina ;
so at last the children got tired of hearing
them, and as soon as he began ‘ Once upon
atime .. . would interrupt him with:
‘Oh, we know that one, we know it by
heart now !’
What was he to do with all those fairy-
tales, now that the children would have
none of them, because they knew them all
by heart?
He thought he would go and make a
THE FAIRY-TALE TELLER 217
present of them to the Magician Tre-pi, who
could put them in his caskets with the other
embalmed stories. So he went to pay him
a visit.
At the gate stood the same burly mastiff:
‘Whom are you seeking for in these
parts?’
‘I want the Magician Tre-pi.’
‘He is out; you must wait his return,
Late in the evening, against the red
sunset, behold! the Magician Tre-pi came
over the hill—black as a peppercorn, with
his great black beard, and his black eyes
that darted fire.
‘So here you are back again, my fine
fellow! Well, what do you want from me
now ??
‘Nothing, my good Magician; indeed, I
am come to make you a little present.
These fairy-tales are all quite new, and you
have not any of them in your collection.
Now that the children know them all by
heart, I have thought of making you a
present of them; you might perhaps like to
put them with the others you have em-
balmed.’
‘Ah, you fool! you poor fool!’ cried
the Magician. ‘Can’t you see what you
have in your hand ??
The Fairy-Tale Teller looked down: he
held but a handful of flies in his grasp, and
as he opened his hand they all flew away.
218 ONCE UPON A TIME
And he came away from the Magician,
quite ashamed and downcast, and would
hear no more talk of fairy-tales.
’ So the conclusion of it all is: *
‘There are no new fairy-tales ; the seed
has been lost !’
The Why and Wherefore of this, dear
children, you will understand but too easily
when you grow big.
THE END
Printed by RB & R, Crark, Edinburgh.
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