The princess on the glass hill

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PAISLEY.


SECOND DEPARTMENT.


SESSION .


Pri'3e Awardcedl to




FOR


MARY J. SMITH,
Mistress.


The Baldwin Library
Univcsity
RmBF10f








THE PRINCESS ON THE

GLASS HILL

AND OTHER STORIES

BASED ON THE TALES IN THE 'BLUE FAIRY BOOK'
EDITED BY
ANDREW LANG

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 1I. J. FORD & G. P. JACOMB HOOD


LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN,


AND CO.


AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET
1890


All rights reserved













CONTENTS


PAGE
THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL-PART I. 7
SII. 12
S,, III. .. 15
SIV 21
S, V. 25
THE TERRIBLE HEAD-PART I. 30
S II 35
,, ,,ll. . 39
.IV ... 43
SV. 48
FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS-PART I. 54
II. 57
III 61
IV. . 65
SV. 68
THE _WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS-PART . 74
II. 77
., I . 80
SIV. 83
S V. 87
BLUE BEARD-PART I. .. 93
II. 96
S III .. .. 99
THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS-PART I.. .106
II. .109
SIII. 113
S., ,, IV. 117
., V. .120
SVI. 123
S VII. .129
SVIII. 132
THE TALE OF A YOUTH WHO SET OUT TO LEARN WHAT
FEAR WAS PART I. 136
II. 139
.. ,. ,, III. 143
,. IV. 146
V. 148
VI. 153
SVII. 157














THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS BILL
PART I

ONCE upon a time there was a man who had a
meadow which lay on the side of a mountain,
and in the meadow there was a barn in which
he stored hay.
But there had not been much hay in the
barn for the last two years, for every St. John's
eve, when the grass was in the height of its
vigour, it was all eaten clean up, just as if a
whole flock of sheep had gnawed it down to
the ground during the night.
This happened once, and it happened twice,
but then the man got tired of losing his crop,
and said to his sons-he had three of them,
and the third was called Cinderlad-that one
of them must go and sleep in the barn on
St. John's night.
He said it was absurd to let the grass be
eaten up again, blade and stalk, as it had been





8 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

the last two years, and the one who went to
watch must keep a sharp look-out.
The eldest was quite willing to go to the
meadow. He would watch the grass, he said,
and he would do it so well that neither man,
nor beast, nor even the fiend himself should
have any of it.
So when evening came he went to the barn,
and lay down to sleep. But when night was
drawing near, there was such a rumbling and
such an earthquake, that the walls and roof
shook again.
So the lad jumped up and took to his heels
as fast as he could, and never even looked
back, and the barn remained empty that year
just as it had been for the last two.
Next St. John's eve the man again said
that he could not go on in this way, losing
all the grass in this field year after year, and
that one of his sons must just go there and
watch it, and watch well too.
So the next oldest son was willing to show
what he could do.
He went to the barn and lay down to sleep,
as his brother had done.
But when night was drawing near there was





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 9

a great rumbling, and then an earthquake,
which was even worse than that on the former
St. John's night, and when the youth heard
it he was terrified, and went off, running as if
for a wager.
The year after, it was Cinderlad's turn, but
when he made ready to go the others laughed
at him, and mocked him.
'Well, you are just the right one to watch
the hay, you who have never learnt anything
but how to sit among the ashes and bake
yourself !' said they.
Cinderlad, however did not trouble himself
about what they said, but when evening drew
near rambled away to the field.
When he got there he went into the barn
and lay down, but in about an hour's time
the rumbling and creaking began, and it was
frightful to hear it.
Well, if it gets no worse than that, I can
manage to stand it,' thought Cinderlad.
In a little time the creaking began again,
and the earth quaked so that all the hay flew
about the boy.
'Oh! if it gets no worse than that I can
manage to stand it,' thought Cinderlad.





10 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

But then came a third rumbling, and a third
earthquake, so violent that the boy thought the
walls and roof had fallen down.
But when that was over, everything around
him suddenly grew as still as death.


'I am pretty sure that it will come again,'
thought Cinderlad; but no, it did not.
Everything was quiet, and everything stayed
quiet, and when he had lain still a short time,
he heard something that sounded as if a horse
were standing chewing just outside the barn
door.





'HE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 11

He stole away to the door, which was ajar,
to see what was there, and behold, there was
a horse standing eating quite close to him.
It was so big, and fat, and fine a horse that
Cinderlad had never seen one like it before,
and a saddle and bridle lay upon it, and a
complete suit of armour for a knight, and every
thing was of copper, and so bright that it shone
again.
Ha, ha! it is thou who eatest up our
hay then,' thought the boy; but I will
stop that.'
So he made haste, and took out his steel for
striking fire, and threw it over the horse, and
then it had no power to stir from the spot, and
became so tame that the boy could do what he
liked with it.
So he mounted it and rode away to a place
which no one knew of but himself, and there
he tied it up.
When he went home again, his brothers
laughed and asked how he had got on.
'You didn't lie long in the barn, if even
you have been so far as the field !' said
they.
'I lay in the barn till the sun rose, but I





12 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

saw nothing and heard nothing, not I,' said
the boy. 'I can't think what there was to
make you two so frightened.'
'Well, we shall soon see whether you have
watched the meadow or not,' answered the
brothers. But when they got there the grass
was all standing, just as long and as thick as
it had been the night before.




THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

PART II

THE next St. John's eve it was the same thing
once again.
Neither of the two brothers dared to go to
the outlying field to watch the crop, but Cin-
derlad went, and everything happened exactly
the same as on the previous St. John's eve.
First there was a rumbling and an earth-
quake, and then there was another, and then a
third. But all three earthquakes were much,
very much more violent than they had been
the year before.





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 13

Then everything became still as death again,
and the boy heard something chewing outside
the barn door. So he stole as softly as he could
to the door, which was slightly ajar, and again
there was a horse standing close by the wall
of the house, eating and chewing. It was far
larger and fatter than the first horse, and it
had a saddle on its back, and a bridle was on
it too, and a full suit of armour for a knight,
all of bright silver, and as beautiful as anyone
could wish to see.
'Ho, ho!' thought the boy, 'it is thou
who eatest up our hay in the night; but I will
put a stop to that.'
So he took out his steel for striking fire, and
threw it over the horse's mane, and the beast
sto6d there as quiet as a lamb.
Then the boy rode this horse, too, away to
the place where he kept the other, and then
went home again.
'I suppose you will tell us that you
have watched well again this time,' said the
brothers.
'Well, so I have,' aid Cinderlad.
So they went here again, and there the
grass was, staiing as high and as thick as it





14 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

had been before, but that did not make them
any kinder to Cinderlad.
When the third St. John's night came,
neither of the two elder brothers dared to lie
in the outlying barn to watch the grass, for
they had been so heartily frightened the night
that they had slept there, that they could not
get over it. But Cinderlad dared to go, and
everything happened just the same as on the
two former nights.
There were three earthquakes, each worse
than the other, and the last flung the boy from
one wall of the barn to the other, but then
everything suddenly became still as death.
When he had lain quietly a short time,
he heard something chewing outside the barn
door.
Then he once more stole to the door,
which was slightly ajar, and behold, a horse
was standing just outside it, which was much
larger and fatter than the two others he had
caught.
Ho, ho it is thou, then, who art eating up
our hay this time,' thought the boy; 'but I
will put a stop to that.'
So he pulled out his steel for striking fire,





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 15

and threw it over the horse, and it stood as still
as 'if it. had been nailed to the field, and the
boy could do just what he liked with it.
Then he mounted it, and rode away to the
place where he had the two others, and then
he went home again.
Then the two brothers mocked him just as
they had done before, and told him that they
could see that he must have watched the grass
very carefully that night, for he looked just
as if he were walking in his sleep.
But Cinderlad did not trouble himself about
that, but just bade them go to the field and see.
They did go, and this time too the grass was
standing, looking as fine and as thick as ever.




THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

PART III

THE King of the country in which Cinder-
lad's father dwelt had a daughter, whom he
would give to no one who could not ride up
to the top of the glass hill, for there was a





1(6 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL


high, high hill of glass, slippery as ice, and it
was close to the King's palace.
Upon the very top of this, the King's
daughter was to sit with three gold apples in
her lap, and the man who could ride up and
take the three golden apples should marry
her, and have half the kingdom. The King
had this proclaimed in every church in the
whole kingdom, and in many other king-
doms too.
The Princess was very beautiful, and all
who saw her fell violently in love with her,
even in spite of themselves.
So it is needless to say that all the princes
and knights were eager to win her, and half the
kingdom besides, and that for this cause they
came riding thither from the very end of the
world, dressed so splendidly that their raiments
gleamed in the sunshine. They rode on horses
which seemed to dance as they went, and there
was not one of these princes, who did not think
that he was sure to win the Princess.
When the day appointed by the King had
come, there was such a host of knights and
princes under the glass hill that they seemed
to swarm, and everyone who could walk or





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 17

even creep was there too, to see who should
win the King's daughter.


_I I
'4;~


Cinderlad's two brothers were there too, but
they would not hear of letting him go with


W,





18 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

them, for he was so dirty and black with
sleeping and grubbing among the ashes, that
they said everyone would laugh at them, if they
were seen in the company of such an oaf.
'Well, then, I will go all alone by myself,'
said Cinderlad.
When the two brothers got to the glass hill,
all the princes and knights were trying to ride
up it, and their horses were in a foam.
But it was all in vain, for no sooner did the
horses set foot upon the hill than down they
slipped, and there was not one which could get
even so much as a couple of yards up.
Nor was that strange, for the hill was as
smooth as a glass window-pane, and as steep as
the side of a house.
But they were all eager to win the King's
daughter and half the kingdom, so they rode
and they slipped, and thus it went on.
At length all the horses were so tired that
they could do no more, and so hot that the
foam dropped from them, and the riders were
forced to give up the attempt.
The King was just thinking that he would
cause it to be proclaimed, that the riding should
begin afresh on the following day, when perhaps





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 19

it might go better, when suddenly a knight
came riding up on so fine a horse that no one
had ever seen the like of it before. The
knight had armour of copper, and his bridle
was of copper too, and everything about both
the knight and his horse were so bright that
they shone again.
The other knights all called out to him,
that he might just as well spare himself the
trouble of trying to ride up the glass hill, for
it was of no use to try. But he did not heed
them, and rode straight off to it, and went
up as if it were nothing at all.
Thus he rode for a long way-it may have
been a third part of the way up-but when he
had got so far, he turned his horse round and
rode down again.
But the Princess thought that she had never
yet seen so handsome a knight, and while he
was riding up she was sitting thinking:
'Oh! how I hope he may be able to come
up to the top!'
And when she saw that he was turning
his horse back, she threw one of the golden
apples down after him, and it rolled into his
shoe.





20 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

But when he had come down from off the
hill he rode away, and that so fast that no one
knew what had become of him.
So all the princes and knights were bidden
to present themselves before the King that
night, so that he who had ridden so far up the
glass hill, might show the golden apple which
the King's daughter had thrown down.
But no one had anything to show.
One knight presented himself after the
other, and none could show the apple.
At night, too, Cinderlad's brothers came
home again, and had a long story to tell about
the riding up the glass hill.
At first, they said, there was not one who
was able to get even so much as one step up,
but then came a knight who had armour of
copper, and a bridle of copper, and his armour
and trappings were so bright that they shone
to a great distance, and it was something like
a sight to see him riding.
He rode one-third of the way up the glass
hill, and he could easily have ridden the whole
of it if he had liked. But he had turned
back, for he had made up his mind that that
was enough for once.





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 21

'Oh!' I should have liked to see him
too, that I should,' said Cinderlad, who was as
usual sitting by the chimney among the cinders.
'You, indeed !' said the brothers. 'You
look as if you were fit to be among such great
lords, nasty beast that you are to sit there!'




THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

PART IV

NEXT day the brothers were for setting out
again, and this time too Cinderlad begged them
to let him go with them and see who rode. But
no; they said he was not fit to do that, for he
was much too ugly and dirty.
'Well, well, then I will go all alone by
myself,' said Cinderlad.
So the brothers went to the glass hill, and
all the princes and knights began to ride again,
and this time they had taken care to rough
the shoes of their horses.
But that did not help them. They rode
and they slipped as they had done the day





22" THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

before, and not one of them could -even get
so far as a yard up the hill.
When they had tired out their horses, so
that they could do no more, they again had
to stop altogether.
But just as the King was thinking, that
it would be well to proclaim that the riding
should take place next day for the last time,
so that they might have one more chance,
he suddenly bethought himself that it would
be well to wait a little longer, to see if the
knight in copper armour would come on this
day too.
But nothing was to be seen of him.
Just as they were still looking for him,
however, came a knight riding on a steed that
was much, much finer than that which the
knight in copper armour had ridden. And this
knight had silver armour and a silver saddle
and bridle, and all were so bright that they
shone and glistened, when he was a long way off.
Again the other knights called to him, and
said that he might just as well give up the
attempt to ride up the glass hill, for it was
useless to try.
But the knight paid no heed to them,, but





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 23

rode straight away to the glass hill, and went
still farther up than the knight in copper
armour had gone.


But when he had ridden two-thirds of the
way up he turned his horse round, and rode
down again.





24 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS IHLL

The Princess liked this knight still better
than she had liked the other, and sat longing
that he might be able to get up above.
When she saw him turning back she threw
the second apple after him, and it rolled into
his shoe, and as soon as he had got down the
glass hill, he rode away so fast that no one
could see what had become of him.
In the evening, when everyone was to ap-
pear before the King and Princess, in order
that he who had the golden apple might show
it, one knight went in after the other, but
none of them had a golden apple to show.
At -niight the two brothers went home as
they had done the night before, and told
how things had gone, and how everyone had
ridden, but no one had been able to get up
the hill.
But last of all,' they said, 'came one in
silver armour, and he had a silver bridle on
his horse, and a silver saddle, and oh, but he
could ride! He took his horse two-thirds of
the way up the hill, but then he turned back.
He was a fine fellow,' said the brothers, 'and
the Princess threw the second golden apple to
him!'





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 25

'Oh, how I should have liked to have seen
him too said Cinderlad.
'Oh, indeed! iHe was a little brighter than
the ashes that you sit grubbing among, you
dirty black creature!' said the brothers.




THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

PART V

ON the third day everything went just as on
the former days.
Cinderlad wanted to go with them to look
at the riding, but the two brothers would not
have him in their company, and when they got
to the glass hill, there was no one who could
ride even so far as a yard up it, and everyone
waited for the knight in silver armour, but he
was neither to be seen nor heard of.
At last, after a long time, came a knight
riding upon a horse that was such a fine one,
its equal had never yet been seen.
The knight had golden armour, and the
horse a golden saddle and bridle, and these





26 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

were all so bright that they shone and dazzled
everyone, even while the knight was still at a
great distance.
The other princes and knights were not
able even to call to tell him how useless it was
to try to ascend the hill, so amazed were they
at the sight of his magnificence.
He rode straight away to the glass hill,
and galloped up it as if it were no hill at all,
so that the Princess had not even time to wish
that he might get up the whole way.
As soon as he had ridden to the top, he
took the third golden apple from the lap of
the Princess, and then turned his horse about
and rode down again, and vanished from their
sight before anyone was able to say a word to
him.
When the two brothers came home again
at night, they had much to tell of how the
riding had gone off that day, and at last they
told about the knight in the golden armour too.
He was a fine fellow, that he was I Such
another splendid knight is not to be found on
earth !' said the brothers.
'Oh, how I should have liked to have seen
him too!' said Cinderlad.





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 27

'Well, he shone nearly as brightly as the
coal-heaps that thou art always lying raking
amongst, dirty black creature that thou art!'
said the brothers.
Next day all the knights and princes were
to appear before the King and the Princess-
it had been too late for them to do it the
night before-in order that he who had the
golden apple might produce it.
They all went in turn, first princes, and
then knights, but none of them had a golden
apple.
'But somebody must have it,' said the
King, 'for with our own eyes we all saw a
man ride up and take it.'
So he commanded that everyone in the
kingdom should come to the palace, and see
if he could show the apple.
And one after the other they all came,
but no one had the golden apple, and after a
long, long time Cinderlad's two brothers came
likewise.
They were the last of all, so the King asked
them if there was no one else in the kingdom
left to come.
'Oh, yes, we have a brother,' said the two;






28 THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL

' but he never got the golden apple 1 He never
left the cinder-heap on any of the three days.'
'Never mind that,' said the King; 'as


everyone else has come to the palace, let him
come too.'
So Cinderlad was forced to go to the King's
palace.





THE PRINCESS ON THE GLASS HILL 29

Hast thou the golden apple ?' asked the
King.
'Yes; here is the first, and here is the
second, and here is the third, too,' said Cin-
derlad. Saying this, he took all the three
apples out of his pocket, and with that threw
off his sooty rags, and appeared there before
them in his bright golden armour, which
gleamed as he stood.
'Thou shalt have my daughter, and the half
of my kingdom, and thou hast well earned
both !' said the King.
So there was a wedding, and Cinderlad got
the King's daughter, and everyone made merry
at the wedding, for all of them could make
merry, though they could not ride up the glass
hill, and if they have not left off their merry-
making they must be at it still.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


THE TERRIBLE HEAD

PART I

ONCE upon a time there was a king whose
only child was a girl.
Now the King had been very anxious to
have a son, or at least a grandson, to come after
him, but he was told by a prophet whom he
consulted, that his own daughter's son should
kill him.
This news terrified him so much, that he
made up his mind never to let his daughter
be married, for he thought it was better to
have no grandson at all, than to be killed by
his grandson.
He therefore called his workmen together,
and bade them dig a deep round hole in the
earth, and then he had a prison of brass built
in the hole, and then, when it was finished,
he locked up his daughter in it.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


No man ever saw her, and she never
saw even the fields and the sea, but only
the sky and the sun, for there was a wide
open window in the roof of the house of
brass.
So the Princess would sit looking up at
the sky, and watching the clouds float across,
and wondering whether she should ever get
out of her prison.
Now, one day it seemed to her that the
sky opened above her, and a great shower of
shining gold fell through the window in the
roof, and lay glittering in her room.
Not very long after, the Princess had a
baby, a little boy, but when the King her
father heard of it he was very angry and
afraid, for now the child was born that should
be his death.
Yet, cowardly as he was, he had not quite
the heart to kill the Princess and her baby
outright, but he had them put in a huge brass-
bound chest and thrust out to sea, that they
might either be drowned or starved, or per-
haps come to a country where they would be.
out of his way.
So the Princess and the baby floated and






THE TERRIBLE HEAD


drifted in the chest on the sea all day and all
night, but the baby was not afraid of the
waves nor of the wind, for he did not know
that they could hurt him, and he slept quite
soundly.
And the Princess sang a song over him,
and this was her song:

Child, my child, how sound you sleep!
Though your mother's care is deep,
You can lie with heart at rest
In the narrow brass-bound chest;
In the starless night and drear
You can sleep, and never hear
Billows breaking, and the cry
Of the night-wind wandering by;
In soft purple mantle sleeping
With.your little face on mine,
Hearing not your mother weeping
And the breaking of the brine.

Well, the daylight came at last, and the
great chest was driven by the waves against
the shore of an island.
There the brass-bound chest lay, with the
Princess and her baby in it, till a man of that
country came past, and saw it, and dragged
it on to the beach, and when he had broken it
open, behold I there was a beautiful lady and





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


a little boy. So he took them home, and was
very kind to them, and brought up the boy
till he was a young man.
Now, when the boy had come to his full
strength the King of that country fell in love
with his mother, and wanted to marry her, but
he knew that she would never part from her
boy. So he thought of a plan to get rid of
the boy, and this was his plan.
A great queen of a country not far off was
going to be married, and this king said that
all his subjects must bring him wedding pre-
sents to give her.
And he made a feast to which he invited
them all, and they all brought their presents.
Some brought gold cups, and some brought
necklaces of gold and amber, and some brought
beautiful horses.
But the boy had nothing, though he was
the son of a princess, for his mother had
nothing to give him.
Then the rest of the company began to
laugh at him, and the King said:
'If you have nothing else to give, at least
you might go and fetch the Terrible
Head.'





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


The boy was proud, and spoke without
thinking :
Then I swear that I will bring the Ter-
rible Head, if it may be brought by a living
man. But of what head you speak I know
not.'
Then they told him that somewhere, a long
way off, there dwelt three dreadful sisters,
strange old women, with golden wings and
claws of brass, and with serpents growing on
their heads instead of hair.
Now these women were so awful to look
on, that whoever saw them was turned at once
into stone.
And two of them could not be put to
death, but the youngest, whose face was very
beautiful, could be killed, and it was her head
that the boy had promised to bring. You will.
see that it was no easy task.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


THE TERRIBLE HEAD

PART II

WHEN he heard all this, he was perhaps sorry
that he had sworn to bring. the Terrible
Head, but he was determined to keep his
oath.
So he went out from the feast, where they
all sat drinking and making merry, and he
walked alone beside the sea in the dusk of
the evening, at the place where the great
chest, with himself and his mother in it, had
been cast ashore.
There he went and sat down on a rock,
looking towards the sea, and wondering how
he should begin to fulfil his vow.
Then he felt some one touch him on the
shoulder; and he turned, and saw a young
man like a king's son, having with him a tall
and beautiful lady, whose blue eyes shone like
stars.
They were taller than mortal men, and the
young man had a staff in his hand with golden






THE TERRIBLE HEAD


wings on it, and two golden serpents twisted
round it, and he had wings on his cap and on
his shoes.


He spoke to the boy, and asked him why
he was so unhappy; and the boy told him


-K4 e





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


how he had sworn to bring the Terrible Head,
and knew not how to begin to set about the
adventure.
Then the beautiful lady also spoke, and
said that 'it was a foolish oath and a hasty,
but it might be kept if a brave man had
sworn it.' Then the boy answered that he
was not afraid, if only he knew the way.
Then the lady said, that to kill the dreadful
woman with the golden wings and the brass
claws, and to cut off her head, he needed three
things. First, a Cap of Darkness, which would
make him invisible when he wore it. Next, a
Sword of Sharpness, which would cleave iron
at one blow. And last, the Shoes of Swift-
ness, with which he might fly in the air.
The boy answered that he knew not where
such things were to be had, and that, wanting
them, he could only try and fail.
Then the young man, taking off his own
shoes, said:
'First, you shall use these shoes till you
have taken the Terrible Head, and then you
must give them back to me.
'And with these shoes you will fly as fleet
as a bird, or a thought, over the land or over





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


the waves of the sea, wherever the shoes know
the way.
'But there are ways which they do not
know-roads beyond the borders of the world.
And these roads have you to travel..
'Now, first you must go to the Three
Grey Sisters, who live far off in the north,
and are so very old that they have only one
eye and one tooth among the three.
'You must creep up close to them, and
as one 'of them passes the eye to the other
you must seize it, and refuse to give it up
till they have told you the way to the Three
Fairies of the Garden, and they will give you
the Cap of Darkness and the Sword of Sharp-
ness, and show you how to wing beyond this
world to the land of the Terrible Head.'
Then the beautiful lady said:
Go forth at once, and do not return to
say good-bye to your mother, for these things
must be done quickly, and the Shoes of
Swiftness themselves will carry you to the
land of the Three Grey Sisters-for they
know the measure of that way.'





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


THE TERRIBLE HEAD
PART III

So the boy thanked her, and he fastened on
the Shoes of Swiftness, and turned to say good-
bye to the young man and the lady. But,
behold! they had gone, he knew not how or
where!
Then he leaped in the air to try the
Shoes of Swiftness, and they carried him more
swiftly than the wind, over the warm blue sea,
over the happy lands of the south, over the
northern peoples who drank mare's milk and
lived in great waggons, wandering after their
flocks.
Across the wide rivers, where the wild fowl
rose and fled before him, and over the plains
and the cold North Sea he went, over the
fields of snow and the hills of ice, to a place
where the world ends, and all water is frozen,
and there are no men, nor beasts, nor any
green grass.
There in a blue cave of the ice he found the
Three Grey Sisters, the oldest of living things.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


Their hair was as white as the snow, and
their flesh of an icy blue, and they mumbled
and nodded in a kind of dream, and their
frozen breath hung round them like a
cloud.
Now, the opening of the cave in the ice
was narrow, and it was not easy to pass in
without touching one of the Grey Sisters.
But, floating on the Shoes of Swiftness, the
boy just managed to steal in, and waited till
one of the sisters said to another, who had
their one eye:
'Sister, what do you see? do you see old
times coming back?'
'No, sister.'
'Then give me the eye, for perhaps I can
see farther than you.'
Then the first sister passed the eye to the
second, but as the second groped for it the
boy caught it cleverly out of her hand.
'Where is the eye, sister ? said the second
Grey Woman.
'You have taken it yourself, sister!' said
the first Grey Woman.
Have you lost the eye, sister? have you
lost the eye?' said the third Grey Woman.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


'Shall we never find it again, and see old
times coming back ?'
Then the boy slipped from behind them out
of the cold cave into the air, and he laughed
aloud.
When the Grey Women heard that laugh


they began to weep, for now they knew that a
stranger had robbed them, and that they could
not help themselves, and their tears froze as
they fell from the hollows where no eyes
were, and rattled on the icy ground of the
cave.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


Then they began to beg of the boy to give
them their eye back again, and he could not
help being sorry for them, they were so
pitiful.
But he said he would never give them the
eye, till they told him the way to the Fairies
of the Garden.
Then they wrung their hands, for they
guessed why he had come, and how he was
going to try to win the Terrible Head.
Now the Dreadful Women were akin to the
Three Grey Sisters, and it was hard for them
to tell the boy the way.
But at last they told him to keep always
south, and with the land on his left and the
sea on his right, till he reached the Island of
the Fairies of the Garden.
Then he gave them back the eye, and they
began to look out once more for the old times
coming back again.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


THE TERRIBLE HEAD

PART IV

BUT the boy flew south between sea and land,
keeping the land always on his left hand, till
he saw a beautiful island crowned with flower-
ing trees.
There he alighted, and there he found the
Three Fairies of the Garden.
They were like three very beautiful young
women, dressed one in green, one in white, and
one in red, and they were dancing and singing
round an apple tree with apples of gold, and
this was their song:


THE SONG OF THE WESTERN FAIRIES.
Round and round the apples of gold,
Round and round dance we;
Thus do we dance from the days of old
About the enchanted tree;
Round, and round, and round we go,
While the spring is green, or the stream shall flow,
Or the wind shall stir the sea!






THE TERRIBLE HEAD


There is none may taste of the golden fruit
Till the golden new times'come;
Many a tree shall spring from shoot,
Many a blossom be withered at root,


Many a song be dumb ;
Broken and still shall be many a lute
Or ever the new times come!





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


Round and round the tree of gold,
Round and round dance we,
So doth the great world spin from of old,
Summer and winter, and fire and cold,
Song that is sung, and tale that is told,
Even as we dance, that fold and unfold
Round the stem of the fairy tree !


These grave dancing fairies were very un-
like the Grey Women, and they were glad to
see the boy, and treated him kindly.
Then they asked him why he had come;
and he told them how he was sent to find the
Sword of Sharpness and the Cap of Darkness.
And the fairies gave him these, and a wal-
let, and a shield, and belted the sword, which
had a diamond blade, round his waist, and the
cap they set on his head, and told him that
now even they could not see him though they
were fairies.
Then 'he took it off, and they each kissed
him and wished him good fortune, and then
they began again their- eternal dance round
the golden tree, for it is their business to guard
it till the new times come, or till the world
is ending.
So the boy put the cap on 'his head, and


. 45





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


hung the wallet round his waist, and the shin-
ing shield on his shoulders, and flew beyond
the great river that lies coiled like a serpent
round the whole world.
And by the banks of that river, there he
found the three Terrible Women all asleep
beneath a poplar tree, and the dead poplar
leaves lay all about them.
Their golden wings were folded and their
brass claws were crossed, and two of them
slept with their ugly heads beneath their wings
like birds, and the serpents in their hair
pushed out their heads from under the feathers
of gold.
But the youngest slept between her two
sisters, and she lay on her back, with her
beautiful, sad face turned to the sky; and
though she slept her eyes were wide open.
If the boy had seen her, he would have
been changed into stone by the terror and the
pity of it, she was so awful; but he had
thought of a plan for killing her without
looking on her face.
As soon as he caught sight of the three
from far off he took his shining shield from
his shoulders, and held it up like a mirror, so





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


that he saw the Dreadful Women in it, and
did not see the Terrible Head itself.
Then he came nearer and nearer, till he
reckoned that he was within a sword's stroke
of the youngest, and he guessed where he
should strike a back blow behind him.
Then he drew the Sword of Sharpness and
struck once, and the Terrible Head was cut
from the shoulders of the creature, and the
blood leaped out and struck him like a blow.
But he thrust the Terrible Head into his
wallet, and flew away without looking behind.
Then the two Dreadful Sisters who were left
wakened, and rose in the air like great birds;
and though they could not see him because of
his Cap of Darkness, they flew after him up
the wind, following by the scent through the
clouds, like hounds hunting in a wood.
They came so close that he could hear the
clatter of their golden wings, and their shrieks
to each other: Here, here !' 'No, there; this
way he went!' as they chased him.
But the Shoes of Swiftness flew too fast
for them, and at last their cries and the
rattle of their wings died away, as he crossed
the great river that runs round the world.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


THE TERRIBLE HEAD

PART V

Now, when the horrible creatures were far in
the distance, and the- boy found himself on
the right side of the river, he flew straight
eastward, trying to seek his own country.
But as he looked down from the air he
saw a very strange sight-a beautiful girl
chained to a stake at the high-water mark of
the sea.
The girl was so frightened or so tired, that
she was only prevented from falling by the
iron chain about her waist, and there she
hung, as if she were dead. The boy was very
sorry for her, and flew down and stood beside
her.
When he spoke she raised her head and
looked round, but his voice only seemed to
frighten her.
Then he remembered that he was wearing
the Cap of Darkness, and that she could only
hear him, not see him.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


So he took it off, and there he stood be-
fore her, the handsomest "young man- she had
ever seen in all her life, with short, curly
yellow hair, and blue eyes, and a laughing
face. And he thought her the most beau-
tiful girl in the world.
So first, with one blow of the Sword of
Sharpness, he cut the iron chain that bound
her, and then he asked her what she did
here, and why men treated her so cruelly.
And she told him that she was the daughter
of the King of that country, and that she was
tied there to be eaten by a monstrous beast
out of the sea; for the beast came and de-
voured a girl every day.
Now the lot had fallen on her; and as she
was just saying this a long, fierce head of a
cruel sea creature rose out of the waves and
snapped at the girl.
But the beast had been too greedy and
too hurried, so he missed his aim the first
time.
Before he could rise and bite again, the
boy had whipped the Terrible Head out of his
wallet and held it up.
And when the sea-beast leaped out once





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


more its eyes fell on the head, and instantly it
was turned into a stone. And the stone beast
is there on the sea-coast to this day.
Then the boy and the girl went to the palace
of the King, her father, where everyone was
weeping for her death, and they could hardly
believe their eyes when they saw her come
back well.
And the King and Queen made much of
the boy, and could not contain themselves for
delight, when they found he wanted to marry
their daughter.
So the two were married with the most
splendid rejoicings, and when they had passed
some time at court, they went home in a. ship
to the boy's own country.
'For he could not carry his bride through
the air, so he took the Shoes of Swiftness,
and the Cap of Darkness, and the Sword
of Sharpness up to a lonely place in the
hills.
There he left them, and there they were
found by the man and woman who had met
him at home beside the sea, and had helped
him to start on his journey.
When this had been done the boy and his





THE TERRIBLE HEAD


bride set forth for home, and landed at the
harbour of his native land.
But whom should he meet in the very
street of the town but his own mother, flying
for her life from the wicked King, who now
wished to kill her because he found that she
would never marry him!
For if she had liked the King ill before,
she liked him far worse now that he had
caused her son to disappear so suddenly.
She did not know, of course, where the boy
had gone, but thought the King had slain him
secretly.
So now she was running for her very life,
and the wicked King was following her with
a sword in his hand.
Then, behold! she ran into her son's very
arms, but he had only time to kiss her and
step in front of her, when the King struck
at him with his sword.
The boy caught the blow on his shield, and
cried to the King:
I swore to bring you the Terrible Head,
and see how I keep my oath !'
'Then he drew forth the head from his
wallet, and when the King's eyes fell on it,





52 THE TERRIBLE HEAD

instantly he was turned into stone, just as
he stood there with his sword lifted!
Now all the people were glad, because
the wicked King should rule them no longer.
And they asked the boy to be their king,
but he said no, he must take his mother
home to her father's house.
So the people chose for king the man who
had been kind to his mother, when first she
was cast on the island in the great chest.
Presently the boy and his mother and his
wife set sail for his mother's own country,
from which she had been driven so unkindly.
But on the way they stayed at the court of
a king, and it happened that he was holding
games, and giving prizes to the best runners,
boxers, and quoit-throwers.
Then the boy would try his strength with
the rest, but he threw the quoit so far that
it went beyond what had ever been thrown
before, and fell in the crowd, striking a man
so that he died.
Now, this man was no other than the father
of the boy's mother, who had fled away from
his own kingdom for fear his grandson should
find and kill him after all.





THE TERRIBLE HEAD 53

Thus he was destroyed by his own cow-
ardice and by chance, and thus the prophecy
was fulfilled.
But the boy and his wife and his mother
went back to the kingdom that was theirs, and
lived long and happily after all their troubles.





54 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS


FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

PART I

ONCE upon a time there was a poor labourer
who, feeling that he had not much longer to
live, wished to divide his possessions between
his son and daughter, whom he loved dearly.
So he called them to him, and said:
Your mother brought me as her dowry
two stools and a straw bed. I have, besides,
a hen, a pot of pinks, and a silver ring, which
were given me by a noble lady who once
lodged in my poor cottage. When she went
away she said to me:
'" Be careful of my gifts, good man; see
that you do not lose the ring or forget to
water the pinks. As for your daughter, I
promise you that she shall be more beautiful
than anyone you ever saw in your life.
'" Call her Felicia, and when she grows





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 55

up give her the ring and the pot of pinks to
console her for her poverty."
'Take them both, then, my dear child,' he
added, and your brother shall have every-
thing else.'
The two children seemed quite contented,
and when their father died they wept for him,
and divided his possessions- as he had told
them.
Felicia believed that her brother loved her,
but when she sat down upon one of the stools
he said angrily:
Keep your pot of pinks and your ring,
but let my things alone. I like order in my
house.'
Felicia, who was very gentle, said nothing,
but stood up crying quietly; while Bruno, for
that was her brother's name, sat comfortably
by the fire.
Presently, when supper-time came, Bruno
had a new-laid egg, and he threw the shell to
Felicia, saying:
'There, that is all I can give you; if you
don't like it, go out and catch frogs; there
are plenty of them in the marsh close by.'
Felicia did not answer, but she cried more





56 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

bitterly than ever, and went away to her own
little room. She found it filled with the sweet
scent of the pinks, and, going up to them, she
said sadly:
Beautiful pinks, you are so sweet and so


pretty, you are the only comfort I have
Be very sure that I will take care of
and water you well, and never allow
cruel hand to tear you from your stems.'


left.
you,
any





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 57

As she leant over them she noticed that
they were very dry. So, taking her pitcher,
she ran off in the clear moonlight to the
fountain, which was at some distance.




FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS
PART II

WHEN she reached it she sat down upon the
brink to rest, but she had hardly done so
when she saw a stately lady coming towards
her, surrounded by numbers of attendants.
Six maids of honour. carried her train, and
she leaned upon the arm of another.
When they came near the fountain a canopy
was spread for her, under which was placed a
sofa of cloth-of-gold, and soon after a dainty
supper was served, upon a table covered with
dishes of gold, while the wind in the trees
and the falling water of the fountain mur-
mured the softest music.
Felicia was hidden in the shade, too much
astonished by all she saw to dare to move;
but in a few moments the Queen said:





58 FELICIA AND TIE POT OF PINKS

'I fancy I see a shepherdess near that
tree; bid her come hither.'
So Felicia came forward and spoke to the
Queen timidly, but with so much grace that
all were surprised.
What are you doing here, my pretty
child ? asked the Queen. 'Are you not
afraid of robbers ?'
'Ah! madam,' said Felicia, 'a poor shep-
herdess who has nothing to lose does not fear
robbers.'
'You are not very rich, then ?' said the
Queen, smiling.
I am so poor,' said Felicia, 'that a pot of
pinks and a silver ring are all that I own in
the world.'
'But you have a heart,' said the Queen.
' What should you say if anybody wanted to
steal that ?'
'I do not know what it is like to lose
one's heart, madam,' she said; 'but I have
always heard that without a heart one can-
not live, and if it is broken one must die;
and in spite of my poverty I should be sorry
not to live.'
'You are quite right to take care of your





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 59

heart, pretty one,' said the Queen. 'But tell
me, have you supped ? '
'No, madam,' said Felicia; 'my brother
ate all the supper there was.'
Then the Queen ordered that a place should
be made for her at the table, and herself loaded
Felicia's plate with good things; but she was
too much astonished to be hungry.
'I want to know what you were doing at
the fountain so late?' said the Queen pre-
sently.
I came to fetch a pitcher of water for my
pinks, madam,' she answered, stooping to pick
up the pitcher which stood beside her. But
when she showed it to the Queen she was
amazed to see that it had turned to gold, all
sparkling with great diamonds, and the water,
of which it was full, was more fragrant than
the sweetest roses. She was afraid to take it
until the Queen said:
'It is yours, Felicia; go and water your
pinks with it, and let it remind you that the
Queen of the Woods is your friend.'
The shepherdess threw herself at the Queen's
feet, and thanked her humbly for her kind
words.





60 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

Ah! madam,' she cried, 'if I might beg
you to stay here a moment I would run and
fetch my pot of pinks for you-they could not
fall into better hands.'
'Go, Felicia,' said the Queen, stroking her
cheek softly; 'I will wait here until you come
back.'
So Felicia took up her pitcher and ran to
her little room. But while she had been away
Bruno had gone in and taken the pot of
pinks, leaving a great cabbage in its place.
When she saw the unlucky cabbage Felicia
was much distressed, and did not know what
to do. But at last she ran back to the fountain,
and, kneeling before the Queen, said:
'Madam, Bruno has stolen my pot of pinks,
so I have nothing but my silver ring; but I
beg you to take it as a proof of my gratitude.'
'But if I take your ring, my pretty shep-
herdess,' said the Queen, 'you will have no-
thing left; and what will you do then ?'
'Ah! madam,' she answered simply, 'if I
have your friendship I shall do very well.'





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 61


FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS
PART III

So the Queen took the ring and put it on her
finger, and mounted her chariot, which was
made of coral studded with emeralds, and
drawn by six milk-white horses.
And Felicia looked after her until the
winding of the forest path hid her from her
sight, and then she went back to the cottage,
thinking over all the wonderful things that
had happened.
The first thing she did when she reached
her room, was to throw the cabbage out of
the window.
But she was very much surprised to hear
an odd little voice cry out: 'Oh! I am half
killed!' and could not tell where it came
from, because cabbages do not generally speak.
As soon as it was light, Felicia, who was
very unhappy about her pot of pinks, went
out to look for it, and the first thing she
found was the unfortunate cabbage. She gave
it a push with her foot, saying:





62 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS


'What are you doing here, and how dared
you put yourself in the place of my pot of
pinks ?'
If I hadn't been carried,' replied the cab-
bage, 'you may be very sure that I shouldn't
have thought of going the.re.'
It made her shiver with fright to hear the
cabbage talk, but he went on:
If you will be good enough to plant me
by my comrades again, I can tell you where
your pinks are at this moment-hidden in
Bruno's bed!'
Felicia was in despair when she heard this,
not knowing how she was to get them back.
But she replanted the cabbage very kindly in
his old place, and, as she finished doing it, she
saw Bruno's hen, and said, catching hold
of it:
'Come here, horrid little creature you shall
suffer for all the unkind things my brother has
done to me.'
'Ah! shepherdess,' said the hen, 'don't kill
me; I am rather a gossip, and I can tell you
some surprising things that you will like to
hear. Don't think for a moment that you
are the daughter of the poor labourer who





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 63

brought you up. Your mother was a queen
who had. six girls already, and the King
swore that unless she had a son who could
inherit his kingdom, she should have her head
cut off.


'So when the Queen had another little
daughter she was quite frightened, and agreed
with her sister (who was a fairy) to exchange
her for the fairy's little son.
'Now, the Queen had been shut up in a





64 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

great tower by the King's orders, and when
a great many days went by and still she
heard nothing from the fairy, she made her
escape from the window by means of a rope
ladder, taking her little baby with her.
'After wandering about until she was half
dead with cold and fatigue, she reached this
cottage. I was the labourer's wife, and was
a good nurse, and the Queen gave you into
my charge, and told me all her misfortunes,
and then died before she had time to say
what was to become of you.
'As I never in all my life could keep a
secret, I could not help telling this strange
tale to my neighbours, and one day a beauti-
ful lady came here, and I told it to her also.
When I had finished, she touched me with
a wand she held in her hand,- and instantly
I became a hen, and there was an end of
my talking !
I was very sad, and my husband, who was
out when it happened, never knew what had
become of me. After seeking me everywhere,
he believed that I must have been drowned,
or eaten up by wild beasts in the forest.
That same lady came here once more, and





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 65


commanded that you should be called Felicia,
and left the ring and the pot of pinks to be
given to you. While she was in the house
twenty-five of the King's guards came to
search for you, doubtless meaning to kill you;
but she muttered a few words, and at once
they all turned into cabbages.
'It was one of them whom you threw out
of your window yesterday.
'I don't know how it was that he could
speak-I have never heard either of them say
a word before, nor have I been able to do it
myself until now.'



FELICIA AND TIE POT OF PINKS
PART IV

THE Princess was greatly astonished at the
hen's story, and said kindly:
'I am truly sorry for you, my poor nurse,
and wish it was in my* power to restore you
to your real form. But we must not despair;
it seems to me, after what you have told me,
that something must be going to happen soon.





66 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

Just now, however, I must go and look for
my pinks, which I love better than anything
in the world.'
Bruno had gone out into the forest, never
thinking that Felicia would search in his room
for the pinks, and she was delighted by his
unexpected absence, and thought to get them
back without further trouble.
But as soon as she entered the room she
saw a terrible army of rats, who were guarding
the straw bed; and when she moved to go
near it they sprang at her, biting and scratch-
ing furiously. Quite terrified, she drew back,
crying out :
'Oh! my dear pinks, how can you stay
here in such bad company ?'
Then she suddenly bethought herself of the
pitcher of water, and, hoping that it might
have some magic power, she ran to fetch it,
and sprinkled a few drops over the fierce-
looking swarm of rats.
In a moment not a tail or a whisker was to
be seen. Each one had made for his hole as
fast as his legs could carry him, so that the
Princess could safely take her pot of pinks.
She found them nearly dying for want of




FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 67

water, and hastily poured all that was left in
the pitcher upon them. As she bent over
them, enjoying their sweet scent, a soft voice,
that seemed to rustle among the leaves, said:
'Lovely Felicia, the day has come at last
when I may have the happiness of telling you,
how even the flowers love you and rejoice in
your beauty.'
The Princess, quite overcome by the strange-
ness of hearing a cabbage, a hen, and a pink
speak, and by the terrible sight of an army of
rats, suddenly became very pale, _and fainted
away.
At this moment in came Bruno. Working
hard in the heat had not improved his temper,
and when he saw that Felicia had found her
pinks, he was so angry that he dragged her out
into the garden, and shut the door upon her.
The fresh air soon made her open her pretty
eyes, and there before her stood the Queen of
the Woods, looking as charming as ever.
'You have a bad brother,' she said; 'I
saw how cruelly he turned you out. Shall I
punish him for it ?'
'Ah! no, madam,' she said; 'I am not
angry with him.'




68 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

'But supposing he was not your brother,
after all, what would you say then ?' asked
the Queen.
'Oh! but I think he must be,' said Felicia.
What!' said the Queen, 'have you not
heard that you are a princess ?'
'I was told so a little while ago, madam,
but how could I believe it without a single
proof ?'
Ah! dear child,' said the Queen, 'the
way you speak assures me that, in spite of
your humble upbringing, you are indeed a
real princess, and I can save you from being
treated in such a way again.'




FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS
PART V

SHE was interrupted at this moment by the
arrival of a very handsome young man.. He
wore a coat of green velvet fastened with
emerald clasps, and had a crown of pinks on
his head. He knelt upon one knee and kissed
the Queen's hand.






FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 69

'Ah! she cried, my pink, my dear son,
what a happiness to see you restored to your
natural shape by Felicia's aid!' And she
embraced him joyfully. Then, turning to
Felicia, she said:
'Charming Princess, I know all the hen
told you, but you cannot have heard that the
zephyrs, to whom was entrusted the task of
carrying my son to the tower where the Queen,
your mother, so anxiously waited for him, left
him instead in a garden of flowers, while they
flew off to tell your mother.
'Whereupon a fairy with whom I had
quarrelled changed him into a pink, and I
could do nothing to prevent it.
You may imagine how angry I was, and
how I tried to find some means of undoing
the mischief she had done; but there was no
help for it.
'I could only bring Prince Pink to the
place where you were being brought up,
hoping that, when you grew up he might
love you, and by your care be restored to
his natural form. And you see everything
has come right, as I hoped it would.
'Your giving me the silver ring was the






70 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS


sign, that the power of the charm was nearly
over, and my enemy's last chance was to
frighten you with her army of rats.
That she did not succeed in doing; so
now, my dear Fclicia, if you will be married
to my son with this silver ring your future
happiness is certain. Do you think him
handsome and good enough to be willing to
marry him ? '
'Madam,' replied Felicia, blushing, 'you
overwhelm me with your kindness. I know
that you are my mother's sister, and that by
your art you turned the soldiers who were sent
to kill me into cabbages, and my nurse into a
hen, and that you do me only too much honour
in proposing that I shall marry your son.
'How can I explain to you the cause of
my hesitation ? I feel, for the first time in
my life, how happy it would make me to be
beloved. Can you indeed give me the Prince's
heart ?'
It is yours already, lovely Princess!' he
cried, taking her hand in his; 'but for the
horrible enchantment which kept me silent, I
.should have told you long ago how dearly I
love you.'





FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 71

This made the Princess very happy, and
the Queen, who could not bear to see her
dressed like a poor shepherdess, touched her
with her wand, saying:


'I wish you to be dressed as befits your
rank and beauty.'
And in an instant the Princess's cotton





72 FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS

dress became a robe of the richest silk,
trimmed with precious stones, and upon her
soft dark hair was a crown of diamonds,
from which floated a clear white veil.
With her bright eyes, and the charming
colour in her cheeks, she was altogether such
a dazzling sight that the Prince could hardly
bear it.
'How pretty you are, Felicia! he cried.
'Don't keep me in suspense, I entreat you;
say that you will marry me.'
Ah!' said the Queen, smiling, I think
she will not refuse now.'
Just then Bruno, who was going back to
his work, came out of the cottage, and
thought he must be dreaming when he saw
Pelicia; but she called him very kindly, and
begged the Queen to take pity on him.
'What!' she said, 'when he was so un-
kind to you?'
Ah! madam,' said the Princess, 'I am so
happy that I should like everybody else to be
happy too.'
The Queen kissed her, and said: 'Well,
to please you, let me see what I can do for
.this cross Bruno.'






FELICIA AND THE POT OF PINKS 73

And with a wave of her wand she turned
the poor little cottage into a palace, full of
treasures; only the two stools and the straw
bed remained just as they were, to remind
him of his former poverty.
Then the Queen touched Bruno himself,
and made him gentle and polite and grateful,
and he thanked her and the Princess a thou-
sand times.
Lastly, the Queen restored the hen and the
cabbages to their natural forms, and left them
all very contented.
The Prince and Princess were married as
soon as possible with great splendour, and
lived happily ever after.





74 THE WATER-LIL Y THE GOLD-SPINNERS


THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS
PART I

ONCE upon a time, in a large forest, there
lived an old woman and three maidens. They
were all three beautiful, but the youngest was
the fairest.
Their hut was quite hidden by trees, and
none saw their beauty but the sun by day,
the moon by night, and the eyes of the stars.
The old woman kept the girls hard at
work, from morning till night, spinning gold
flax into yarn, and when one distaff was
empty another was given them, so they had
no rest.
The thread had to be fine and even, and
when done was locked up in a secret chamber
by the old woman, who twice or thrice every
summer went a journey.
Before she went she gave out work for
each day of her absence, and always returned






THE WA TER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS 75

in the night, so that the girls never saw what
she brought back with her, neither would she
tell them whence the gold flax came, nor what
it was to be used for.
Now, when the time came round for the
old woman to set out on one of these
journeys, she gave each maiden work for six
days, with the usual warning:
'Children, don't let your eyes wander, and
on no account speak to a man, for, if you do,
your thread will lose its brightness, and mis-
fortunes of all kinds will follow.'
They laughed at this oft-repeated caution,
saying to each other:
How can our gold thread lose its bright-
ness, and have we any chance of speaking to
a man ?'
On the third day after the old woman had
gone a young prince, hunting in the forest,
got away from his companions, and was com-
pletely lost. Weary of seeking his way, he
flung himself down under a tree, leaving his
horse to browse at will, and fell asleep.
The sun had set when he awoke and
began once more to try and find his way out
of the forest. At last he saw a narrow foot-






76 THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS

path, which he followed, and found that it led
him to a small hut.
The maidens, who were sitting at the door
of their hut for coolness, saw him coming,
and the two elder were much alarmed, for
they remembered the old woman's warning;
but the youngest said:













'Never before have I seen anyone like
him; let me have one look.'
They begged her to come in, but, seeing
that she would not, left her, and the Prince,
coming up, spoke kindly to the maiden, and
told her he had lost his way in the forest and
was both hungry and weary.
She set food before him, and was so de-




THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS 77

lighted with his talk, that she forgot the old
woman's caution, and lingered for hours.




THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS
PART II

IN the meantime the Prince's companions
sought him far and wide, but to no purpose,
so they sent two messengers to tell the sad
news to the King, who at once ordered a
large number of men to go and look for
him.
After three days' search, they found the
hut. The Prince was still sitting by the door,
and had been so happy in the maiden's com-
pany, that the time had seemed like a single
hour. Before leaving he promised to return
and fetch her to his father's court, where he
would make her his bride.
When he had gone, she sat down to her
wheel to make up for lost time, but was dis-
mayed to find that her thread had lost all its
brightness. Her heart beat fast and she wept





78 THE WATER-LZ Y THE GOLD-SPINNERS

bitterly, for she remembered the old woman's
warning, and knew not what misfortune might
now befall her.
The old woman returned in the night, and
knew by the tarnished thread what had hap-
pened in her absence. She was very angry,
and told the maiden that she had brought
down misery both on herself and on the
Prince.
The maiden could not rest for thinking of
this. At last she could bear it no longer,
and resolved to seek help from the Prince.
As a child she had learnt to understand
the speech of birds, and this was now of great
use to her, for, seeing a raven pluming itself
on a pine bough, she cried softly to it:
Dear bird, cleverest of all birds, as well
as swiftest of wing, wilt thou help me ?'
How can I help thee ?' asked the raven.
She answered :
'Fly away, until thou comest to a splendid
town, where stands a king's palace; seek out
the king's son, and tell him that a great mis-
fortune has befallen me.'
Then she told the raven how her thread
had lost its brightness, how very angry the





THE WATER-LIL Y THE GOLD-SPINNERS 79

old woman was, and how she feared some
great trouble. The raven promised faithfully
to do her bidding, and, spreading its wings,
flew away.
The maiden now went home, and worked
hard all day at winding up the yarn her elder
sisters had spun, for the old woman would let
her spin no longer. Towards evening she heard
the raven's 'craa, craa' from the pine tree,
and eagerly hastened thither to hear the answer.
By great good fortune the raven had found
a wind wizard's son in the palace garden, who
understood the speech of birds, and to him he
had given the message.
When the Prince heard it, he was very
sorrowful, and took counsel with his friends
how to free the maiden. Then he said to the
wind wizard's son:
'Beg the raven to fly quickly back to the
maiden, and tell her to be ready on the ninth
night, for then will I come and fetch her away.'
The wind wizard's son did this, and the
raven flew so swiftly, that it reached the hut
that same evening. The maiden thanked the
bird heartily and went home, telling no one
what she had heard.





80 THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS


THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS
PART III
As the ninth night drew near she became
very .unhappy, for she feared lest some ter-
rible mischance should arise and ruin all.
When the night came she crept quietly out
of the house, and waited trembling at some
little distance from the hut.
Presently she heard the tramp of horses,
and soon the armed troop appeared, led by
the Prince, who had marked all the trees be-
forehand, in order to know the way.
When he saw the maiden he sprang from
his horse, lifted her into the saddle, and then,
mounting behind, rode homewards. The moon
shone so brightly, that they had no difficulty
in seeing the marked trees.
By-and-by the coming dawn loosened the
tongues of all the birds, and, had the Prince
only known what they were saying, or the
maiden been listening, they might have been
spared much sorrow. But they were thinking
only of each other, and when they came out
of the forest the sun was high in the heavens.





THE WTATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS 81

Next morning, when the youngest girl did
not come to her work, the old woman asked
where she was. The sisters pretended not to
know, but the old woman easily guessed what
had happened, and, as she was in reality a
wicked witch, she determined to punish the
poor girl.
So she collected nine different kinds of en-
chanters' nightshade, added some salt, which
she first bewitched, and, doing all up in a
cloth into the shape of a fluffy ball, sent it
after them on the wings of the wind, saying:
'Whirlwind !-mother of the wind !
Lend thy aid againstt her who sinned!
Carry with thee this magic ball.
Cast her from his arms for ever,
Bury her in the rippling river.'

At midday the Prince and his men came
to a deep river, spanned by so narrow a
bridge, that only one rider could cross at a
time. The horse on which the Prince and the
maiden were riding had just reached the
middle, when the magic ball flew by. The
horse in its fright suddenly reared, and before
anyone could stop it, flung the maiden into
the swift current below.





82 THE WATER-LIL Y THE GOLD-SPINNERS

The Prince tried to jump in after her, but
his men held him back, and in spite of his
struggles led him home, where for six weeks
he shut himself up in a secret chamber, and
would neither eat nor drink, so great was his
grief.
At last he became so ill his life was given
up, and in great alarm the King caused all
the wizards of his country to be called to-
gether. But none could cure him. At last
the wind wizard's son said to the King:
Send for the old wizard from Finland, he
knows more than all the wizards of your
kingdom put together.'
A messenger was at once sent to Finland,
and a week later, the old wizard himself
arrived on the wings of the wind.
Honoured King,' said the wizard, 'the
wind has blown this illness upon your son,
and a magic ball has snatched away his be-
loved. This it is which makes him grieve so
constantly. Let the wind blow upon him that
it may blow away his sorrow.'
Then the King made his son go out into
the wind, and he gradually got better and
told his father all.





THE WATER-LIL Y THE GOLD-SPINNERS 83

'Forget the maiden,' said the King, and
take another bride;' but the Prince said he
could never love another.




THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS
PART IV

A YEAR afterwards, he came suddenly upon
the bridge where his beloved had met her
death. As he recalled the misfortune he wept
bitterly, and would have given all he pos-
sessed to have her once more alive.
In the midst of his grief he thought he
heard a voice singing, and looked round, but
could see no one. Then he heard the voice
again, and it said:
Alas! bewitched and all forsaken,
'Tis I must lie for ever here !
My beloved no thought has taken
To free his bride, that was so dear.'

He was greatly astonished, sprang from his
horse, and looked everywhere to see if any one
were hidden under the bridge; but no one was
there.





84 THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS

Then he noticed a yellow water-lily floating
on the surface of the water, half hidden by
its broad leaves; but flowers do not sing, and
in great surprise he waited, hoping to hear
more.
Then again the voice sang:

'Alas bewitched and all forsaken,
'Tis I must lie for ever here !
My beloved no thought has taken
To free his bride, that was so dear.'

The Prince suddenly remembered the gold-
spinners, and said to himself:
If I ride thither, who knows but that
they could explain this to me ? '
He at once rode to the hut, and found the
two maidens at the fountain. He told them
what had befallen their sister the year before,
and how he had twice heard a strange song,
but yet could see no singer.
They said that the yellow water-lily could
be none other than their sister, who was not
dead, but changed into a flower by the magic
ball.
Before he went to bed, the eldest made a
cake of magic herbs, which she gave him to






THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS 85
















N// k
'/ ,- S v ,




4T





0A I




IF'





86 THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS

eat. In the night he dreamt that he was living
in the forest, and could understand all that the
birds said to each other.
Next morning he told this to the maidens,
and they said that the charmed cake had caused
it, and advised him to listen well to the birds,
and see what they could tell him, and when
he had recovered his bride, they begged him to
return and deliver them from their wretched
bondage.
Having promised this, he joyfully returned
home, and as he was riding through the forest,
he could perfectly understand all that the birds
said. He heard a thrush say to a magpie:
How stupid men are they cannot under-
stand the simplest thing. It is now quite a
year since the maiden was changed into a
water-lily, and, though she sings so sadly that
anyone going over the bridge must hear her,
yet no one comes to her aid. Her former
bridegroom rode over it a few days ago and
heard her singing, but was no wiser than the
rest.'
'And he is to blame for all her misfor-
tunes,' added the magpie. 'If he heeds only
the words of men she will remain a flower for





THE WATER-IIY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS 87

ever. She were soon delivered were the matter
only laid before the old wizard of Finland.'
After hearing this, the Prince wondered how
he could get a message carried to Finland. He
heard one swallow cry to another: 'Come, let
us fly to Finland: we can build better nests
there.'
'Stop, kind friends cried the Prince.
' Will ye do something for me?' The birds
consented, and he said:
'Take a thousand greetings from me to the
wizard of Finland, and ask him how I may
restore a maiden who is changed into a flower
to her own form.'




THE WATER-LILY, THE GOLI-SPINNERS

PART V

THE swallows flew away, and the Prince rode
on to the bridge. There he waited, hoping to
hear the song. But he heard nothing but the
rushing of the water and the moaning of the
wind, and, disappointed, rode home.
Shortly after, he was sitting in the garden,





88 THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS

thinking that the swallows must have forgot-
ten his message, when he saw an eagle flying
above him. The bird gradually flew nearer,
until it perched on a tree close to the Prince,
and said:
The wizard of Finland greets thee and
bids me say, that thou may'st free the maiden
thus : Go to the river and smear thyself all
over with mud; then say:
'" From a man into a crab," and thou wilt
become a crab. Plunge boldly into the water,
swim as close as thou canst to the water-lily's
roots, and loosen them from the mud and
reeds. This done, fasten thy claws into the
roots and rise with them to the surface.
'Let the water flow all over the flower, and
drift with the current until thou comest to a
mountain ash tree on the left bank. There is
near it a large stone. Stop there and say :
From a crab into a man, from a water-
lily into a maiden," and ye will both be
now restored to your forms.'
Full of doubt and fear, the Prince let some
time pass before he was bold enough to attempt
to rescue the maiden. Then a crow said to
him :





THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS 89

'Why dost thou hesitate ? The old wizard
has not told thee wrong, neither have the birds
deceived thee; hasten and dry the maiden's
tears.'


'Nothing worse than death can befall
thought the Prince, 'and death is better


me,'
than


endless sorrow.' So he mounted his horse and
went to the bridge.
Again he heard the water-lily's lament, and,
stopping no longer, smeared himself all over
with mud, and saying : From a man into a
crab,' plunged into the river.
For one moment the water hissed in his





90 THE WATER-LILY. THE GOLD-SPINNERS

ears, and then all was silent. He swam up to
the plant and began to loosen its roots, but so
firmly were they fixed in the mud and reeds
that this took him a long time.
He then grasped them and rose to the sur-
face, letting the water flow over the flower.
The current carried them down the stream,
but nowhere could he see the mountain ash.
At last he saw it, and close by the large
stone. Here he stopped and said:
From a crab into a man, from a water-
lily into a maiden,' and to his delight found
himself once more a prince, and the maiden
was by his side.
She was ten times more beautiful than
before, and wore a pale yellow robe, sparkling
with jewels.
She thanked him for having freed her from
the cruel witch's power, and willingly consented
to marry him.
But when they came to the bridge where
he had left his horse, it was nowhere to be
seen, for, though the Prince thought he had
been a crab only a few hours, he had in
reality been under the water for more than ten
days.





THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS 91

While they were wondering how they should
reach his father's court, they saw a splendid
coach driven by six horses coming along the
bank. In this they drove to the palace.
The King and Queen were at church, weep-
ing for their son, whom they had long mourned
for dead.
Great was their delight and astonishment
when the Prince entered, leading the beautiful
maiden by the hand.
The wedding was at once celebrated, and
there was feasting and merry-making through-
out the kingdom for six weeks.
Some time afterwards the Prince and his
bride were sitting in the garden, when a crow
said to them:
Ungrateful creatures Have ye forgotten
the two poor maidens who helped ye in your
distress ? Must they spin gold flax for ever ?
Have no pity on the old witch. The three
maidens are princesses, whom she stole away
when they were children, together with all
the silver things which she turned into gold
flax. Poison were her fittest punishment.'
The Prince was ashamed of having forgot-
ten his promise, and set out at once, and by





92 THE WATER-LILY THE GOLD-SPINNERS

great good fortune reached the hut when the
old woman was away.
The maidens had dreamt that he was coming,
and were ready to go with him, but first they
made a cake in which they put poison, and
left it on a table where the old woman was
likely to see it, when she returned.
She did see it, and thought it looked so
tempting that she greedily ate it up and at
once died.
In the secret chamber were found fifty
waggon-loads of gold flax, and as much more
was discovered buried.
The hut was razed to the ground, and the
Prince and his bride and her two sisters lived
happily ever after.






BLUE BEARD


BLUE BEARD
PART I

THERE was a man who had fine houses, both
in town and country, a deal of silver and gold
plate, fine furniture, and coaches gilded all
over with gold.
But this man was so unlucky as to have
a blue beard, which made him so frightfully
ugly, that all the women and girls ran away
from him.
One of his neighbours, a lady of quality,
had two daughters who were perfect beauties.
He desired of her one of them in marriage,
leaving to her choice which of the two she
would bestow on him.
They would neither of them have him, and
sent him backwards and forwards from one
to another, not being able to bear the thoughts
of marrying a man who had a blue beard.
Another reason for their being shy of him,





BLUE BEARD


was his having already been married to several
wives, and nobody ever knew what became of
them.
Blue Beard, to engage their affection, took
them, with the lady their mother and three or
four ladies of their acquaintance, with other
young people of the neighbourhood, to one
of his country seats, where they stayed a whole
week.
There was nothing then to be seen but
parties of pleasure, hunting, fishing, dancing,
mirth, and feasting.
Nobody went to bed, but all passed the
night in laughing and joking with each other.
In short, everything succeeded so well, that
the youngest daughter began to think the
master of the house not to have a beard so
very blue, and that he was a mighty civil
gentleman. And so she agreed to marry him.
As soon as they returned home, the mar-
riage was concluded.
About a month afterwards, Blue Beard told
his wife that he was obliged to take a country
journey for six weeks at least, about affairs of
very great consequence. He said he wished
her to amuse herself in his absence, to send





BLUE BEARD


for her friends and acquaintances, to carry
them into the country, if she pleased, and to
make good cheer wherever she was.
Here,' said he, 'are the keys of the two
great wardrobes, wherein I have my best furni-
ture. These are of my silver and gold plate,
which is not every day in use. These open
my strong boxes, which hold my money, both
gold and silver. These my caskets of jewels.
And this is the master-key to all my apart-
ments.
But for this little one here, it is the key
of the closet at the end of the great gallery
on the ground floor.
'Open them all. Go into all and every
one of them, except that little closet, which
I forbid you, and forbid it in such a manner
that, if you happen to open it, there's nothing
but what you may expect from my just anger
and resentment.'
She promised to observe, very exactly,
whatever he had ordered; and he, after having
embraced her, got into his coach and pro-
ceeded on his journey.






BLUE BEARD


BLUE BEARD
PART II

HER neighbours and good friends did not
stay to be sent for by the new-married lady,
so great was their impatience to see all the
rich furniture of her house. They dare not
come while her husband was there, because of
his blue beard, which frightened them.
They ran through all the rooms, closets,
and wardrobes, which were all so fine and
rich that they seemed to surpass one another.
After that they went up into the two
great rooms, where were the best and richest
furniture.
They could not sufficiently admire the
number and beauty of the curtains, beds,
couches, stands, tables, and looking-glasses, in
which you might see yourself from head to
foot. Some of them were framed with glass,
others with silver, plain and gilded, the finest
that ever were seen.
They ceased not to envy the happiness of
their friend, who in the meantime in no way





BLUE BEA.D


amused herself in looking upon all these rich
things, because of the impatience she had to
go and open the closet on the ground floor.
She was so much pressed by her curiosity
that, without considering that it was very un-
civil to leave her company, she went down
a little back staircase, and with such great
haste, that she had twice or thrice like to
have broken her neck.
Being come to the closet-door, she made a
stop for some time, thinking upon her hus-
band's orders, and considering what unhappi-
ness might attend her if she was disobedient.
But the temptation was so strong she
could not overcome it.
She then took the little key, and opened
the door, trembling, but could not at first see
anything plainly, because the windows were
shut.
After some moments she saw that the
floor was all covered over with clotted blood,
on which lay the bodies of -several dead
women, ranged against the walls.
These were all the wives whom Blue
Beard had married and murdered, one after
another.





BLUE BEARD


She thought she should have died for fear,
and the key, which she pulled out of the
lock, fell, out of her hand.


After having somewhat recovered her sur-




BLUE BEARD


prise, she took up the key, locked the door,
and went upstairs into her chamber to recover
herself. But she could not, so much was she
frightened.
Having observed that the key of the closet
was stained with blood, she tried two or three
times to wipe it off, but the blood would not
come out.
In vain did she wash it, and even rub it
with soap and sand; the blood still remained,
for the key was magical, and she could never
make it quite clean. When the blood was
gone off from one side, it came again on the
other.


BLUE BEARD
PART III

BLUE BEARD returned from his journey the
same evening, and said he had received letters
upon the road, informing him that the affair
he went about was ended to his advantage.
His wife did all she could to convince him
that she was very glad of his speedy return.
Next morning he asked her for the keys,





BLUE BEARD


which she gave him, but with such a trem-
bling hand that he easily guessed what had
happened.
'What!' said he, 'is not the key of my
closet among the rest ?'
'I must certainly,' she said, 'have left it
above upon the table.'
'Fail not,' said Blue Beard, 'to bring it
me presently.'
After several goings backwards and for-
wards she was forced to bring him the key.
Blue Beard, having looked at it very
closely, said to his wife:
'How comes this blood upon the key?'
'I do not know,' cried the poor woman,
paler than death.
'You do not know!' replied Blue Beard.
'I very well know. You were resolved to go
into the closet, were you not? Mighty well,
madam; you shall go in, and take your place
among the ladies you saw there.'
Upon this she threw herself at her hus-
band's feet, and begged his pardon with all
the signs of a true repentance, vowing that
she would never disobey him again.
She would have melted a rock, so beautiful


100