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diff --git a/15145-8.txt b/15145-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5be248b --- /dev/null +++ b/15145-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4647 @@ +Project Gutenberg's My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales, by Edric Vredenburg + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales + +Author: Edric Vredenburg + +Release Date: February 22, 2005 [EBook #15145] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY BOOK OF FAVORITE FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sandra Brown and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +MY BOOK + +OF + +FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES + + +ILLUSTRATED BY JENNIE HARBOUR. + + +[Illustration: From "THE GOOSE GIRL"] + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +THE GOOSE GIRL] + + + + + +MY BOOK OF + +FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES + + +RETOLD BY THE EDITOR + +& OTHERS + + +[Illustration] + + +ILLUSTRATED BY JENNIE HARBOUR + + +EDITED BY CAPT. EDRIC VREDENBURG + + +RAPHAEL TUCK &. SONS. LTP + +_Publishers in Their Majesties the King & Queen_ + +LONDON & PARIS + + +DESIGNED & PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN + + +PHILADELPHIA + +DAVID MCKAY COMPANY + +WASHINGTON SQUARE + + +[Illustration: From "THE SLEEPING BEAUTY"] + + + + + +CONTENTS + + THE OLD, OLD STORIES + + THE GOOSE GIRL + + LITTLE SNOW-WHITE + + CINDERELLA + + PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR + + LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD + + THE WHITE FAWN + + HANSEL AND GRETHEL + + SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED + + THE SLEEPING BEAUTY + + PRINCE CHÉRI + + THE WHITE CAT + + BLUEBEARD + + BEAUTY AND THE BEAST + + TUFTY RIQUET + + THUMBLING + +[Illustration: From "THE WHITE FAWN"] + + + + +LIST OF COLOUR PLATES + + THE GOOSE GIRL _Frontispiece_ + + THE MAGIC MIRROR + + CINDERELLA + + LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD + + THE WHITE FAWN + + HANSEL AND GRETHEL + + SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED + + THE SLEEPING BEAUTY + + ZÉLIE AND THE FAIRY CANDIDE + + BLUEBEARD + + BEAUTY AND THE BEAST + + THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS + +[Illustration: From "PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR"] + +[Illustration: From "CINDERELLA"] + + + + +THE OLD, OLD STORIES + + +Here they are again, the old, old stories, the very best; dear +Cinderella, wicked old Bluebeard, tiny Thumbling, beautiful Beauty and +the ugly Beast, and a host of others. But the old stories, I may tell +you, are always new, and always must be so, because there are new +children to read them every day, and to these, of course, these old +tales might have been written yesterday. + +But the stories in this book are new in another way. Look how they are +clothed, look at their beautiful setting, the wonderful pictures! Have +you ever seen such charming princes and lovely princesses, such dainty +grace and delicate feeling? + +What would our grandfathers and grandmothers have said of such a book! +They would have thought there was magic in the brush and pencil. + +Surely we are favoured in this generation when we see before us, the +old, old fairy tales, which are ever new, dressed in such a beautiful +and splendid fashion! + +_EDRIC VREDENBURG._ + +[Illustration: From "HANSEL AND GRETHEL"] + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE GOOSE GIRL + + +An old queen, whose husband had been dead some years, had a beautiful +daughter. When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived +a great way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she +got ready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen, +her mother, packed up a great many costly things--jewels, and gold, +and silver; trinkets, fine dresses, and, in short, everything that +became a royal bride; for she loved her child very dearly: and she +gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her, and give her into the +bridegroom's hands; and each had a horse for the journey. Now the +princess's horse was called Falada, and could speak. + +When the time came for them to set out, the old queen went into her +bed-chamber, and took a little knife, and cut off a lock of her hair, +and gave it to her daughter, and said, "Take care of it, dear child; +for it is a charm that may be of use to you on the road." Then they +took a sorrowful leave of each other, and the princess put the lock of +her mother's hair into her bosom, got upon her horse, and set off on +her journey to her bridegroom's kingdom. One day, as they were riding +along by the side of a brook, the princess began to feel very thirsty, +and said to her maid, "Pray get down and fetch me some water, in my +golden cup, out of yonder brook, for I want to drink." "Nay," said +the maid, "if you are thirsty, get down yourself, and lie down by the +water and drink; I shall not be your waiting-maid any longer." Then +the princess was so thirsty that she got down, and knelt over the +brook and drank, for she was frightened, and dared not bring out her +golden cup; and then she wept, and said "Alas! what will become of +me?" And the lock of hair answered her, and said-- + + "Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, + Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it." + +But the princess was very humble and meek, so she said nothing to her +maid's ill behaviour, but got upon her horse again. + +Then all rode further on their journey, till the day grew so warm, and +the sun so scorching, that the bride began to feel very thirsty again; +and at last, when they came to a river, she forgot her maid's rude +speech, and said, "Pray get down and fetch me some water to drink +in my golden cup." But the maid answered her, and even spoke more +haughtily than before, "Drink, if you will, but I shall not be your +waiting-maid." Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her +horse and lay down, and held her head over the running stream, and +cried, and said, "What will become of me?" And the lock of hair +answered her again-- + + "Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, + Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it." + +And as she leaned down to drink, the lock of hair fell from her bosom +and floated away with the water, without her seeing it, she was so +frightened. But her maid saw it, and was very glad, for she knew the +charm, and saw that the poor bride would be in her power now that she +had lost the hair. So when the bride had drunk, and would have got +upon Falada again, the maid said, "I shall ride upon Falada and you +may have my horse instead;" so she was forced to give up her horse, +and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes, and put on her +maid's shabby ones. + +At last, as they drew near the end of the journey, this treacherous +servant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told anyone what +had happened. But Falada saw it all, and marked it well. Then the +waiting-maid got upon Falada, and the real bride was set upon the +other horse, and they went on in this way till at last they came +to the royal court. There was great joy at their coming, the prince +hurried to meet them, and lifted the maid from her horse, thinking she +was the one who was to be his wife; and she was led upstairs to the +royal chamber, but the true princess was told to stay in the court +below. + +[Illustration] + +But the old king happened to be looking out of the window, and saw her +in the yard below; and as she looked very pretty, and too delicate for +a waiting-maid, he went into the royal chamber to ask the bride who it +was she had brought with her, that was thus left standing in the +court below. "I brought her with me for the sake of her company on the +road," said she. "Pray give the girl some work to do, that she may not +be idle." The old king could not for some time think of any work for +her to do, but at last he said, "I have a lad who takes care of my +geese; she may go and help him." Now the name of this lad, that the +real bride was to help in watching the king's geese, was Curdken. + +Soon after, the false bride said to the prince, "Dear husband pray do +me one piece of kindness." "That I will," said the prince. "Then tell +one of your slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon, +for it was very unruly, and plagued me sadly on the road." But the +truth was, she was very much afraid lest Falada should speak, and +tell all she had done to the princess. She carried her point, and the +faithful Falada was killed; but when the true princess heard of it she +wept, and begged the man to nail up Falada's head against a large +dark gate in the city through which she had to pass every morning +and evening, that there she might still see him sometimes. Then the +slaughterer said he would do as she wished; cut off the head, and +nailed it fast under the dark gate. + +Early the next morning, as she and Curdken went out through the gate, +she said sorrowfully-- + + "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!" + +and the head answered-- + + "Bride, bride, there thou art ganging! + Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, + Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it." + +Then they went out of the city, and drove the geese in. And when she +came to the meadow, she sat down upon a bank here, and let down her +waving locks of hair, which were all of pure gold; and when Curdken +saw it glitter in the sun, he ran up, and would have pulled some of +the locks out; but she cried-- + + "Blow, breezes, blow! + Let Curdken's hat go! + Blow, breezes, blow! + Let him after it go! + O'er hills, dales, and rocks. + Away be it whirl'd, + Till the golden locks + Are all comb'd and curl'd!" + +[Illustration] + +Then there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken's hat, and +away it flew over the hills, and he after it; till, by the time he +came back, she had done combing and curling her hair, and put it up +again safe. Then he was very angry and sulky, and would not speak +to her at all; but they watched the geese until it grew dark in the +evening, and then drove them homewards. + +The next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poor +girl looked up at Falada's head, and cried-- + + "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!" + +and it answered-- + + "Bride, bride, there thou art ganging! + Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, + Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it." + +Then she drove on the geese and sat down again in the meadow, and +began to comb out her hair as before, and Curdken ran up to her, and +wanted to take hold of it; but she cried out quickly-- + + "Blow, breezes, blow! + Let Curdken's hat go, + Blow, breezes, blow! + Let him after it go! + O'er hills, dales, and rocks, + Away be it whirl'd, + Till the golden locks + Are all comb'd and curl'd!" + +Then the wind came and blew his hat, and off it flew a great way, over +the hills and far away, so that he had to run after it; and when he +came back, she had done up her hair again, and all was safe. So they +watched the geese till it grew dark. + +In the evening, after they came home, Curdken went to the old king, +and said, "I cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the +geese any longer." + +"Why?" said the king. + +"Because she does nothing but tease me all day long." + +Then the king made him tell all that had passed. + +And Curdken said, "When we go in the morning through the dark gate +with our flock of geese, she weeps, and talks with the head of a horse +that hangs upon the wall, and says-- + + "'Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!'" + +and the head answers-- + + "'Bride, bride, there thou art ganging! + Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, + Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it.'" + +And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow +where the geese fed; and how his hat was blown away, and he was forced +to run after it, and leave his flock. But the old king told him to +go out again as usual the next day, and when morning came, the king +placed himself behind the gate, and heard how she spoke to Falada, and +how Falada answered; and then he went into the field and hid himself +in a bush by the meadow's side, and soon saw with his own eyes how +they drove the flock of geese, and how, after a little time, she let +down her hair that glittered in the sun; and then he heard her say-- + + "Blow, breezes, blow! + Let Curdken's hat go! + Blow, breezes, blow! + Let him after it go! + O'er hills, dales, and rocks, + Away be it whirl'd, + Till the golden locks, + Are all comb'd and curl'd!" + +[Illustration: "THEN THERE CAME A WIND SO STRONG THAT IT BLEW OFF +CURDKEN'S HAT."] + +And soon came a gale of wind, and carried away Curdken's hat, while +the girl went on combing and curling her hair. + +All this the old king saw: so he went home without being seen; and +when the little goose girl came back in the evening, he called her +aside, and asked her why she did so: but she burst into tears, and +said, "That I must not tell you or any man, or I shall lose my life." + +But the old king begged so hard that she had no peace till she had +told him all, word for word: and it was very lucky for her that she +did so, for the king ordered royal clothes to be put upon her, and +gazed on her with wonder, she was so beautiful. + +Then he called his son, and told him that he had only the false bride, +for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while the true one stood by. + +And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty, and heard how meek +and patient she had been; and without saying anything, ordered a great +feast to be got ready for all his court. + +The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false princess on one side, +and the true one on the other; but nobody knew her, for she was quite +dazzling to their eyes, and was not at all like the little goose-girl, +now that she had her brilliant dress. + +When they had eaten and drunk, and were very merry, the old king told +all the story, as one that he had once heard of, and asked the true +waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who would +behave thus. + +"Nothing better," said this false bride, "than that she should be +thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that two white +horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street to street +till she is dead." + +"Thou art she!" said the old king; "and since thou hast judged +thyself, it shall be so done to thee." + +And the young king was married to his true wife, and they reigned over +the kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives. + + + + +[Illustration] + +LITTLE SNOW-WHITE + + +It was in the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were +falling around, that a certain queen sat working at the window, the +frame of which was made of fine black ebony; and as she was looking +out upon the snow, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood +fell upon it. Then she gazed thoughtfully upon the red drops which +sprinkled the white snow, and said, "Would that my little daughter +may be as white as that snow, as red as the blood, and as black as the +ebony window-frame!" And so the little girl grew up: her skin was as +white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as blood, and her hair as black as +ebony; and she was called Snow-White. + +But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who was +very beautiful, but so proud that she could not bear to think that any +one could surpass her. She had a magical looking-glass, to which she +used to go and gaze upon herself in it, and say, + + "Tell me, glass, tell me true! + Of all the ladies in the land. + Who is fairest? Tell me who?" + +And the glass answered, "Thou, Queen, art fairest in the land." + +But Snow-White grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven +years old, she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen +herself. Then the glass one day answered the queen, when she went to +consult it as usual: + + "Thou, Queen, may'st fair and beauteous be, + But Snow-White is lovelier far than thee!" + +When she heard this she turned pale with rage and envy; and calling +to one of her servants said, "Take Snow-White away into the wide wood, +that I may never see her more." Then the servant led her away; but his +heart melted when she begged him to spare her life, and he said, "I +will not hurt thee, thou pretty child." So he left her by herself, and +though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her +to pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when +he had made up his mind not to kill her, but leave her to her fate. + +[Illustration] + +Then poor Snow-White wandered along through the wood in great fear; +and the wild beasts roared about her, but none did her any harm. In +the evening she came to a little cottage, and went in there to rest +herself, for her weary feet would carry her no further. Everything was +spruce and neat in the cottage: on the table was spread a white cloth, +and there were seven little plates with seven little loaves and seven +little glasses with wine in them; and knives and forks laid in order, +and by the wall stood seven little beds. Then, as she was very hungry, +she picked a little piece off each loaf, and drank a very little wine +out of each glass; and after that she thought she would lie down and +rest. So she tried all the little beds; and one was too long, and +another was too short, till at last the seventh suited her; and there +she laid herself down and went to sleep. Presently in came the masters +of the cottage, who were seven little dwarfs that lived among the +mountains, and dug and searched about for gold. They lighted up their +seven lamps, and saw directly that all was not right. The first said, +"Who has been sitting on my stool?" The second, "Who has been eating +off my plate?" The third, "Who has been picking at my bread?" the +fourth, "Who has been meddling with my spoon?" The fifth, "Who has +been handling my fork?" The sixth, "Who has been cutting with my +knife?" The seventh, "Who has been drinking my wine?" Then the first +looked round and said. "Who has been lying on my bed?" And the rest +came running to him, and every one cried out that somebody had been +upon his bed. But the seventh saw Snow-White, and called upon his +brethren to come and see her; and they cried out with wonder and +astonishment, and brought their lamps to look at her, and said, "Good +heavens! What a lovely child she is!" and they were delighted to see +her, and took care not to waken her; and the seventh dwarf slept an +hour with each of the other dwarfs in turn, till the night was gone. + +[Illustration: THE MAGIC MIRROR--"LITTLE SNOW-WHITE"] + +In the morning Snow-White told them all her story; and they pitied +her, and said if she would keep all things in order, and cook and +wash, and knit and spin for them, she might stay where she was, and +they would take good care of her. Then they went out all day long +to their work, seeking for gold and silver in the mountains; and +Snow-White remained at home: and they warned her, and said, "The queen +will soon find out where you are, so take care and let no one in." But +the queen, now that she thought Snow-White was dead, believed that +she was certainly the handsomest lady in the land; and she went to her +glass, and the glass answered, + + "Thou, Queen, thou art fairest in all this land; + But over the hills, in the greenwood shade. + Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made. + There Snow-White is hiding her head; and she + Is lovelier far, O Queen, than thee." + +Then the queen was very much alarmed; for she knew that the glass +always spoke the truth, and was sure that the servant had betrayed +her. And she could not bear to think that anyone lived who was more +beautiful than she was; so she disguised herself as a pedlar and went +her way over the hills to the place where the dwarfs dwelt. Then +she knocked at the door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" Snow-White +looked out of the window, and cried, "Good-day, good woman; what have +you to sell?" "Good wares, fine wares," said she; "laces and bobbins +of all colours." "I will let the old lady in; she seems to be a +very good sort of a body," thought Snow-White; so she ran down, and +unbolted the door. "Bless me!" said the woman, "how badly your +stays are laced. Let me lace them up with one of my nice new laces." +Snow-White did not dream of any mischief; so she stood up before +the old woman; but she set to work so nimbly, and pulled the lace so +tight, that Snow-White lost her breath, and fell down as if she were +dead. "There's an end of all thy beauty," said the spiteful queen, and +went away home. + +[Illustration: "'THERE'S AN END TO ALL THY BEAUTY' SAID THE SPITEFUL +QUEEN, AND SHE WENT AWAY HOME."] + +In the evening the seven dwarfs returned; and I need not say how +grieved they were to see their faithful Snow-White stretched upon the +ground motionless, as if she were quite dead. However, they lifted her +up, and when they found what was the matter, they cut the lace; and in +a little time she began to breathe, and soon came to life again. Then +they said, "The old woman was the queen herself; take care another +time, and let no one in when we are away." + +When the queen got home, she went to her glass, and spoke to it, but +to her surprise it said the same words as before. + +Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to see +that Snow-White still lived; and she dressed herself up again in a +disguise, but very different from the one she wore before, and took +with her a poisoned comb, When she reached the dwarf's cottage, she +knocked at the door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" but Snow-White +said, "I dare not let anyone in." Then the queen begged, "Only look at +my beautiful combs;" and gave her the poisoned one. And it looked so +pretty that she took it up and put it into her hair to try it; but the +moment it touched her head the poison was so powerful that she fell +down senseless. + +"There you may lie," said the queen, and went her way. But by good +luck the dwarfs returned very early that evening; and when they saw +Snow-White lying on the ground, they thought what had happened, +and soon found the poisoned comb. And when they took it away, she +recovered, and told them all that had passed; and they warned her once +more not to open the door to anyone. + +[Illustration] + +Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled with rage +when she received exactly the same answer as before; and she said +"Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life." So she went secretly +into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple; the outside looked very +rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure to die. Then she +dressed herself up as a peasant's wife, and travelled over the hills +to the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked at the door; but Snow-White put +her head out of the window, and said, "I dare not let anyone in, for +the dwarfs have told me not to." "Do as you please," said the old +woman, "but at any rate take this pretty apple; I will make you a +present of it." "No," said Snow-White, "I dare not take it." "You +silly girl!" answered the other, "what are you afraid of? Do you think +it is poisoned? Come! do you eat one part, and I will eat the other." +Now the apple was so prepared that one side was good, though the other +side was poisoned. Then Snow-White was very much tempted to taste, for +the apple looked exceedingly nice; and when she saw the old woman eat, +she could refrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece into +her mouth, when she fell down dead upon the ground. "This time nothing +will save thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass, and +at last it said, + + "Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair." + +And then her envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart +could be. + +When evening came, and the dwarfs returned home, they found Snow-White +lying on the ground; no breath passed her lips, and they were afraid +that she was quite dead. They lifted her up, and combed her hair, +and washed her face with wine and water; but all was in vain, for the +little girl seemed quite dead. So they laid her down upon a bier, and +all seven watched and bewailed her three whole days; and then they +proposed to bury her; but her cheeks were still rosy, and her face +looked just as it did while she was alive; so they said, "We will +never bury her in the cold ground." And they made a coffin of glass +so that they might still look at her, and wrote her name upon it in +golden letters, and that she was a king's daughter. And the coffin +was placed upon the hill, and one of the dwarfs always sat by it and +watched. And the birds of the air came too, and bemoaned Snow-White. +First of all came an owl, and then a raven, but at last came a dove. + +And thus Snow-White lay for a long, long time, and still only looked +as though she were asleep; for she was even now as white as snow, +and as red as blood, and as black as ebony. At last a prince came and +called at the dwarfs' house; and he saw Snow-White, and read what +was written in gold letters. Then he offered the dwarfs money, and +earnestly prayed them to let him take her away; but they said, "We +will not part with her for all the gold in the world." At last, +however, they had pity on him, and gave him the coffin; but the moment +he lifted it up to carry it home with him, the piece of apple fell +from between her lips, and Snow-White awoke, and said, "Where am I?" +And the prince answered, "Thou art safe with me." Then he told her all +that had happened, and said, "I love you better than all the world; +come with me to my father's palace, and you shall be my wife." And +Snow-White consented, and went home with the prince; and everything +was prepared with great pomp and splendour for their wedding. + +To the feast was invited, among the rest, Snow-White's old enemy, +the queen; and as she was dressing herself in fine, rich clothes, she +looked, in the glass, and the glass answered, + + "Thou, lady, art the loveliest _here_, I ween; + But lovelier far is the new-made queen." + +When she heard this, she started with rage; but her envy and curiosity +were so great, that she could not help setting out to see the bride. +And when she arrived, and saw that it was none other than Snow-White, +who she thought had been dead a long while, she choked with passion, +and fell ill and died; but Snow-White and the prince lived and reigned +happily over that land many, many years. + +[Illustration] + + + + + +[Illustration] + +CINDERELLA + + +The wife of a rich man fell sick: and when she felt that her end drew +nigh, she called her only daughter to her bedside, and said, "Always +be a good girl, and I will look down from heaven and watch over you." +Soon afterwards she shut her eyes and died, and was buried in the +garden; and the little girl went every day to her grave and wept, +and was always good and kind to all about her. And the snow spread a +beautiful white covering over the grave: but by the time the sun had +melted it away again, her father had married another wife. This new +wife had two daughters of her own, that she brought home with her: +they were fair in face but foul at heart, and it was now a sorry time +for the poor little girl. "What does the good-for-nothing thing want +in the parlour?" said they; "they who would eat bread should first +earn it; away with the kitchen maid!" Then they took away her fine +clothes, and gave her an old frock to put on, and laughed at her and +turned her into the kitchen. + +Then she was forced to do hard work; to rise early, before daylight, +to bring the water, to make the fire, to cook and to wash. Besides +that, the sisters plagued her in all sorts of ways and laughed at her. +In the evening, when she was tired, she had no bed to lie down on, but +was made to sleep by the hearth among the ashes; and then, as she was +of course always dusty and dirty, they called her Cinderella. + +It happened once that the father was going to the fair, and asked his +wife's daughters what he should bring them. "Fine clothes," said the +first: "Pearls and diamonds," said the second. "Now, child," said he +to his own daughter, "what will you have?" "The first sprig, dear +father, that rubs against your hat on your way home," said she. Then +he bought for the two first the fine clothes and pearls and diamonds +they had asked for: and on his way home as he rode through a green +copse, a sprig of hazel brushed against him, and almost pushed off his +hat; so he broke it off and brought it away; and when he got home he +gave it to his daughter. Then she took it and went to her mother's +grave and planted it there, and cried so much that it was watered with +her tears; and there it grew and became a fine tree. Three times every +day she went to it and wept; and soon a little bird came and built +its nest upon the tree, and talked with her and watched over her, and +brought her whatever she wished for. + +Now it happened that the king of the land held a feast which was to +last three days, and out of those who came to it his son was to choose +a bride for himself; and Cinderella's two sisters were asked to come. +So they called her up and said, "Now, comb our hair, brush our shoes, +and tie our sashes for us, for we are going to dance at the king's +feast." Then she did as she was told, but when all was done she could +not help crying, for she thought to herself, she would have liked to +go to the dance too; and at last she begged her mother very hard to +let her go. "You! Cinderella?" said she; "you who have nothing to +wear, no clothes at all, and who cannot even dance--you want to go to +the ball?" And when she kept on begging--to get rid of her, she said +at last, "I will throw this basinful of peas into the ash heap, and +if you have picked them all out in two hours' time you shall go to +the feast too." Then she threw the peas into the ashes; but the little +maiden ran out at the back door into the garden, and cried out-- + + "Hither, hither, through the sky. + Turtle-doves and linnets, fly! + Blackbird, thrush, and chaffinch gay, + Hither, hither, haste away! + One and all, come help me quick, + Haste ye, haste ye--pick, pick, pick!" + +[Illustration] + +Then first came two white doves flying in at the kitchen window; and +next came two turtle-doves; and after them all the little birds under +heaven came chirping and fluttering in, and flew down into the ashes; +and the little doves stooped their heads down and set to work, pick, +pick, pick; and then the others began to pick, pick, pick; and picked +out all the good grain and put it in a dish, and left the ashes. At +the end of one hour the work was done, and all flew out again at the +windows. Then Cinderella brought the dish to her mother, overjoyed at +the thought that now she should go to the feast. But she said, "No, +no! Girl, you have no clothes and cannot dance, you shall not go." And +when Cinderella begged very hard to go, she said, "If you can in one +hour's time pick two of these dishes of peas out of the ashes, you +shall go too." And thus she thought she should at last get rid of her. +So she shook two dishes of peas into the ashes; but the little maiden +went out into the garden at the back of the house, and cried as +before-- + + "Hither, hither, through the sky. + Turtle-doves and linnets, fly! + Blackbird, thrush, and chaffinch gay, + Hither, hither, haste away! + One and all, come help me quick, + Haste ye, haste ye--pick, pick, pick!" + +Then first came two white doves in at the kitchen window; and next +came the turtle-doves; and after them all the little birds under +heaven came chirping and hopping about, and flew down about the ashes; +and the little doves put their heads down and set to work, pick, pick, +pick; and then the others began to pick, pick, pick; and they put +all the good grain into the dishes, and left all the ashes, Before +half-an-hour's time all was done, and out they flew again. And then +Cinderella took the dishes to her mother, rejoicing to think that she +should now go to the ball. But her mother said, "It is all of no use, +you cannot go, you have no clothes, and cannot dance, and you would +only put us to shame:" and off she went with her two daughters to the +feast. + +Now when all were gone, and nobody left at home, Cinderella went +sorrowfully and sat down under the hazel-tree, and cried out-- + + "Shake, shake, hazel tree, + Gold and silver over me!" + +Then her friend the bird flew out of the tree and brought a gold and +silver dress for her, and slippers of spangled silk; and she put them +on, and followed her sisters to the feast. But they did not know her, +and thought it must be some strange princess, she looked so fine +and beautiful in her rich clothes; and they never once thought of +Cinderella, but took for granted that she was safe at home in the +dirt. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +CINDERELLA] + + +[Illustration] + +The king's son soon came up to her, and took her by the hand and +danced with her and no one else; and he never left her hand; but when +any one else came to ask her to dance, he said, "This lady is dancing +with me." Thus they danced till a late hour of the night, and then she +wanted to go home: and the king's son said, "I shall go and take care +of you to your home;" for he wanted to see where the beautiful maid +lived. But she slipped away from him unawares, and ran off towards +home, and the prince followed her; but she jumped up into the +pigeon-house and shut the door. Then he waited till her father came +home, and told him that the unknown maiden who had been at the feast +had hidden herself in the pigeon-house. But when they had broken open +the door they found no one within; and as they came back into the +house, Cinderella lay as she always did, in her dirty frock by the +ashes, and her dim little lamp burnt in the chimney; for she had +run as quickly as she could through the pigeon-house and on to the +hazel-tree, and had there taken off her beautiful clothes, and laid +them beneath the tree, that the bird might carry them away, and had +seated herself amid the ashes again in her little old frock. + +The next day, when the feast was again held, and her father, mother, +and sisters were gone, Cinderella went to the hazel tree, and said-- + + "Shake, shake, hazel tree, + Gold and silver over me!" + +And the bird came and brought a still finer dress than the one she had +worn the day before. And when she came in it to the ball, every one +wondered at her beauty; but the king's son, who was waiting for her, +took her by the hand, and danced with her; and when any one asked +her to dance, he said as before, "This lady is dancing with me." When +night came she wanted to go home; and the king's son followed her as +before, that he might see into what house she went; but she sprang +away from him, all at once, into the garden behind her father's house. +In this garden stood a fine large pear tree full of ripe fruit; and +Cinderella, not knowing where to hide herself, jumped up into it +without being seen. Then the king's son could not find out where she +was gone, but waited till her father came home, and said to him, "The +unknown lady who danced with me has slipped away, and I think she must +have sprung into the pear tree." The father thought to himself, "Can +it be Cinderella?" So he ordered an axe to be brought; and they cut +down the tree, but found no one upon it. And when they came back into +the kitchen, there lay Cinderella in the ashes as usual; for she had +slipped down on the other side of the tree, and carried her beautiful +clothes back to the bird at the hazel tree, and then put on her little +old frock. + +The third day, when her father and mother and sisters were gone she +went again into the garden, and said--- + + "Shake, shake, hazel tree, + Gold and silver over me!" + +Then her kind friend the bird brought a dress still finer than the +former ones, and slippers which were all of gold; so that when she +came to the feast no one knew what to say for wonder at her beauty; +and the king's son danced with her alone; and when any one else asked +her to dance he said, "This lady is my partner." Now when night came +she wanted to go home; and the king's son would go with her, and said +to himself, "I will not lose her this time;" but, however, she managed +to slip away from him, though in such a hurry that she dropped her +left golden slipper upon the stairs. + +[Illustration: "SHE SPRANG AWAY FROM HIM, ALL AT ONCE, INTO THE GARDEN +BEHIND HER FATHER'S HOUSE."] + +So the prince took the shoe, and went the next day to the king his +father, and said, "I will take for my wife the lady that this golden +shoe fits." Then both the sisters were overjoyed to hear this; for +they had beautiful feet, and had no doubt that they could wear the +golden slipper. The eldest went first into the room where the slipper +was, and wanted to try it on, and the mother stood by. But her great +toe could not go into it, and the shoe was altogether much too small +for her. Then the mother gave her a knife, and said, "Never mind, cut +it off; when you are queen you will not care about toes, you will +not want to go on foot." So the silly girl cut her great toe off, and +squeezed the shoe on, and went to the king's son. Then he took her for +his bride, and set her beside him on his horse and rode away with +her. But on their way home they had to pass by the hazel tree that +Cinderella had planted and there sat a little dove on the branch +singing--- + + "Back again! back again! look to the shoe! + The shoe is too small, and not made for you! + Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, + For she's not the true one that sits by thy side." + +Then the prince got down and looked at her foot, and saw by the blood +that streamed from it what a trick she had played him. So he turned +his horse round and brought the false bride back to her home, and +said, "This is not the right bride; let the other sister try and put +on the slipper." Then she went into the room and got her foot into the +shoe, all but the heel, which was too large. But her mother squeezed +it in till the blood came, and took her to the king's son; and he set +her as his bride beside him on his horse, and rode away with her. But +when they came to the hazel tree the little dove sat there still, and +sang-- + + "Back again! back again! look to the shoe! + The shoe is too small, and not made for you! + Prince! prince! look again for thy bride, + For she's not the true one that sits by thy side." + +[Illustration] + +Then he looked down and saw that the blood streamed so from the shoe +that her white stockings were quite red. So he turned his horse and +brought her back again also. "This is not the true bride," said he to +the father; "have you no other daughters?" "No," said he; "there is +only a little dirty Cinderella here, the child of my first wife; I am +sure she cannot be the bride." However, the prince told him to send +her. But the mother said, "No, no, she is much too dirty, she will not +dare to show herself;" still the prince would have her come. And she +first washed her face and hands, and then went in and curtsied to him, +and he handed to her the golden slipper. + +Then she took her clumsy shoe off her left foot and put on the golden +slipper; and it fitted her as if it had been made for her. And when +the Prince drew near and looked at her face he knew her, and said, +"This is the right bride." + +But the mother and both the sisters were frightened and turned pale +with anger as he took Cinderella on his horse, and rode away with her. +And when they came to the hazel tree, the white dove sang-- + + "Home! home! look at the shoe! + Princess! the shoe was made for you! + Prince! prince! take home thy bride. + For she is the true one that sits by thy side!" + +And when the dove had done its song, it came flying and perched upon +her shoulder, and so went home with her. + + + + +PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR + + +There was once a King's daughter who was the most beautiful thing in +the world, and as her hair was fair and reached to her feet she was +called the Princess Goldenhair. + +A handsome young King in the neighbourhood, although he had never seen +this Princess, fell so deeply in love with her from what he had heard, +that he could neither eat nor sleep. + +So an ambassador was sent with a magnificent chariot, more than a +hundred horses, and fifty pages, to bring the Princess to the King, +and great preparations were made for her reception. + +[Illustration: "AN AMBASSADOR WAS SENT WITH MORE THAN A HUNDRED +HORSES, AND FIFTY PAGES TO BRING THE PRINCESS TO THE KING."] + +But whether the Princess Goldenhair was in an ill humour when the +ambassador arrived at her Court, or whatever was the reason, certain +it is that she sent a message to the young King thanking him but +saying that she did not wish to marry. + +When the King heard of her refusal he wept like a child. + +Now at his Court there was a young man called Avenant. He was as +beautiful as the sun, and a more finely made fellow than any in the +kingdom; everybody loved him except a few envious people, who were +angry because the King favoured and confided in him, and in the +presence of these, one day, Avenant incautiously remarked, + +"If the King had sent me to fetch the Princess Goldenhair, I am +certain she would have come," and these words were repeated to the +King in such a manner that they made him very angry, and he ordered +Avenant to be shut up in a high tower, to die of hunger. + +In this sad plight, Avenant exclaimed one day, "How have I offended +his Majesty? He has no more faithful subject than I." + +The King who happened to be passing by the tower, heard this; he +called for Avenant to be brought forth who, throwing himself on his +knees, begged to know in what way he had offended his royal master. + +"You mocked me," said the King, "you said that you would have +succeeded with the Princess Goldenhair where I have failed." + +"It is true, sir," replied Avenant, "I did say so, for I would have +represented your noble qualities in such a way, that she could not +help being persuaded." + +The King was convinced of the young man's sincerity, and with a letter +of introduction, Avenant set out for the Court of the goldenhaired +beauty, riding alone, according to his wish, and thinking as he went +how he best could woo the Princess for his beloved master. + +One day, alighting from his horse to write down some suitable words +that had come into his mind, he saw a golden carp who, leaping from +the water to catch flies, had thrown herself upon the river bank, and +was now nearly dead. + +Avenant pitied the poor thing, and put her carefully back into +the water. Recovering directly, the carp dived to the bottom, but +returning to the edge of the river, said, + +"Avenant, I thank you; you have saved my life, I will repay you;" then +she swam off leaving the young man in great astonishment. + +Another day as Avenant journeyed he noticed a raven who was pursued by +an eagle. "What right has that eagle to persecute the raven? thought +Avenant, and he drew his bow and shot the fierce bird. The raven +perched on a bough and cried. + +"Avenant you have saved my life, I will not be ungrateful, I will +repay you." + +[Illustration] + +Not long after this, Avenant found an owl caught in a snare, he cut +the strings, and freed the trembling captive. "Avenant," said the owl, +"you have saved my life, I will repay you." + +These three adventures were the most important that befell Avenant, +and he went on his way, shortly before he arrived at his destination +purchasing a beautiful little dog named Cabriole. + +When Avenant reached the Palace of the Princess Goldenhair, and saw +the Princess seated upon her throne, she looked so lovely that at +first all his fine speeches forsook him, and he could not utter a +word; however, taking courage, he addressed her in exquisitely chosen +language, begging her to become the King's bride. + +To this the Princess replied most graciously, saying that his petition +moved her more than any other could do, "but know," she added, "as I +was walking by the river a month ago, as I took off my glove, a ring, +that I greatly value, fell into the water, and I have vowed that I +will not heed any proposal of marriage, except from the ambassador who +brings me back my ring." + +Sad at heart Avenant left the Palace, but his little dog, Cabriole, +said, "My dear master, do not despair, you are too good to be unhappy. +Early to-morrow morning let us go to the river-side." Avenant patted +him, but did not answer, and, still sad, fell asleep. + +As soon as it was day, Cabriole awoke him saying, "Dress yourself, my +master, and come out." + +They wandered down to the river, and there Avenant heard a voice +calling him, and what should he see but the golden carp, with the +Princess's ring in her mouth. "Take it, dear Avenant," said she, "I +promised to repay you for saving my life, and now I can fulfil my +promise." + +Thanking her a thousand times, Avenant, going at once to the Palace, +said, "Princess, your command is fulfilled; may it please you to +receive the King, my master, as your husband." + +The Princess thought she must be dreaming when she saw the ring, but +she set Avenant another task. + +"Not far from here there is a prince named Galifron," said she; "he +wishes to marry me, and threatens to ravish my kingdom if I refuse; +but how can I accept him? He is a giant, taller than my highest tower, +he eats a man as a monkey would eat a chestnut, and when he speaks, +his voice is so loud that it deafens those who hear him. He will not +take my refusal, but kills my subjects. You must fight and bring me +his head." + +[Illustration] + +"Well, madam," replied Avenant, "I will fight Galifron; I expect I +shall be killed, but I shall die a brave man." And, taking Cabriole, +Avenant set out for Galifron's country, asking news of the giant as he +went along, and the more he heard the more he feared him, but Cabriole +reassured him. "My dear master," said the little dog, "while you are +fighting him I will bite his legs, then he will stoop to chase me, and +you will kill him." Avenant admired the bravery of the little dog, but +he knew his help would not be sufficient. + +Presently they perceived how the roads were covered with the bones of +the men that Galifron had eaten, and soon they saw the giant coming +towards them through a wood. His head was higher than the highest +trees, and he sang in a terrific voice: + + "Where are the children small, so small, + With my teeth I will crush them all, + On so many would I feed, feed, feed. + The whole world can't supply my need." + +Using the same tune, Avenant began to sing: + + "Look down, here is Avenant beneath, beneath + He will draw from your head, the teeth, the teeth + Although he is not very big, 'tis true, + He is able to fight with such as you." + +The giant put himself into a terrible passion, and would have killed +Avenant with one blow, only a raven from above flew at his head, and +pecked him straight in the eyes, so violently that he was blinded. He +began striking out on all sides, but Avenant avoided his blows, and +with his sword pierced him so many times that at last he fell to the +ground. Then Avenant cut off his head, and the raven, who had perched +on a tree, said, + +"I have not forgotten how you rescued me from the eagle; I promised to +repay you, I think I have done so to-day." + +"I owe everything to you, Mr. Raven," responded Avenant, as, holding +Galifron's head, he rode off. + +When he entered the town, crowds followed him crying, "Here is the +brave Avenant who has slain the monster." + +Avenant advanced to the Princess, and said, "Madam, your enemy is +dead. I hope you will no more refuse the King, my master." + +"Although it is so," answered the Princess, "I shall refuse him unless +you will bring me some water from the Grotto of Darkness. At the +entrance there are two dragons, with fire in their eyes and mouths; +inside the grotto there is a deep pit into which you must descend, it +is full of toads, scorpions, and serpents. At the bottom of this pit +there is a little cave where flows the fountain of beauty and health. +Positively I must possess the water; all who wash in it, if they are +beautiful, continue so always, if they are ugly they become beautiful; +if they are young they remain young, if they are old they regain their +youth. You cannot wonder, Avenant, that I will not leave my kingdom +without taking it with me." + +So once more Avenant and Cabriole set out; they journeyed on until +they came to a rock, black as ink, from which smoke was issuing, and +a moment later there appeared one of the dragons belching forth fire +from his eyes and mouth. He was a frightful looking creature with a +green and yellow body, and his tail was so long that it went into a +hundred curves. Avenant saw all this, but resolved to die, he drew his +sword, and, carrying the flask the Princess had given to him to hold +the water, he said to Cabriole: + +"My days are ended, I can never obtain that water the dragons are +guarding; when I am dead, fill this flask with my blood and carry it +to the Princess, that she may know what it has cost me, then go to the +King, my master, and tell him of my misfortune." + +As he was speaking, a voice called, "Avenant, Avenant," and looking +around he saw an owl. "You saved my life from the fowlers," said the +owl. "I promised to repay you, the time has now come. Give me your +flask. I will bring you the water of beauty." + +And carrying the flask, the owl entered the grotto, unhindered, +returning in less than a quarter of an hour with it full to the brim. +Avenant thanked the owl heartily, and joyously started for the town, +where he presented the flask to the Princess, who immediately gave +orders to prepare for her departure. + +But as she considered Avenant altogether charming, before she set out, +she several times said to him: "If you wish, we need not go, for I +will make you king of my country." But Avenant made reply: + +"I would not displease my master for all the kingdoms of earth, +although your beauty I consider greater than that of the sun." + +Thus they arrived at the King's capital, and the wedding took place +amidst great rejoicings; but Princess Goldenhair, who loved Avenant +from the depths of her heart, was not happy unless she could see him, +and was for ever singing his praises. "I should not have come, had it +not been for Avenant," she told the King, "you ought to be very much +obliged to him." Then the envious courtiers counselled the King, and +Avenant was cast once more into the tower, chained hand and foot. When +Princess Goldenhair heard of this imprisonment, she fell on her knees +before the King, and begged for Avenant's release; but he would not +heed her, so that she became saddened and would speak no more. + +Then the King thought: "Maybe I am not handsome enough to please her!" +so he determined to wash his face in the water of beauty. + +Now it had happened that a chamber-maid had broken the flask +containing this wonderful water, so that it was all spilled; then, +without saying anything to anyone, she had replaced it by a similar +flask taken from the King's apartment, but the liquid in this flask +was really that which was used when the princes or great lords were +condemned to death, for, instead of being beheaded, their faces were +washed with this water and they fell asleep and did not wake again. +And so the King using this water one evening, thinking it to be the +beauty water, and hoping and expecting to be made more handsome, went +to sleep and awoke no more. Upon hearing what had occurred, Cabriole +at once went and told Avenant, who asked him to go to the Princess +Goldenhair and beseech her to remember the poor prisoner. When the +Princess received this message, she went straight to the tower, and, +with her own hands, struck off the chains that bound Avenant, and +placing a crown of gold upon his head, and a royal mantle upon his +shoulders, said: "Come, dear Avenant, I will make you King, and take +you for my husband." Then there was a grand wedding, and Princess +Goldenhair and Avenant, with Cabriole, lived long, all of them happy +and contented. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD + + +Many years ago there lived a dear little girl, who was beloved by +everyone who knew her; but her grandmother was so very fond of her +that she never felt that she could think and do enough for her. + +On her grand-daughter's birthday she presented her with a red silk +hood; and as it suited her very well, she would never wear anything +else; and so she was called Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother +said to her, "Come, Red Riding Hood, here is a nice piece of meat, +and a bottle of wine: take these to your grandmother; she is weak and +ailing, and they will do her good. Be there before she gets up; go +quietly and carefully; and do not run, or you may fall and break the +bottle, and then your grandmother will have nothing. When you go into +her room, do not forget to say 'Good-morning'; and do not pry into all +the corners." "I will do just as you say," answered Red Riding Hood, +bidding good-bye to her mother. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD] + +The grandmother lived far away in the wood, a long walk from the +village, and as Little Red Riding Hood came among the trees she met a +wolf; but she did not know what a wicked animal it was, and so she +was not at all frightened. "Good-morning, Little Red Riding Hood," he +said. + +"Thank you, Mr. Wolf," she said. + +"Where are you going so early, Little Red Riding Hood?" + +"To my grandmother's," she answered. + +"And what are you carrying under your apron?" + +"Some wine and meat," she replied. "We baked the meat yesterday, so +that grandmother, who is very weak, might have a nice strengthening +meal." + +"And where does your grandmother live?" asked the Wolf. + +"Oh, quite twenty minutes' walk further in the forest. The cottage +stands under three great oak trees; and close by are some nut bushes, +by which you will at once know it." + +The wolf was thinking to himself, "She is a nice tender thing, and +will taste better than the old woman; I must act cleverly, that I may +make a meal of both." + +[Illustration: "WHERE ARE YOU GOING SO EARLY, LITTLE RED RIDING +HOOD."] + +Presently he came up again to Little Red Riding Hood and said. "Just +look at the beautiful flowers which grow near you; why do you not look +about you? I believe you don't hear how sweetly the birds are singing. +You walk as if you were going to school; see how cheerful everything +is around you in the forest." + +And Little Red Riding Hood opened her eyes; and when she saw how the +sunbeams glanced and danced through the trees, and what bright flowers +were blooming in her path, she thought, "If I take my grandmother a +fresh nosegay she will be much pleased; and it is so very early that +I can, even then, get there in good time:" and running into the forest +she looked about for flowers. But when she had once begun she did +not know how to leave off, and kept going deeper and deeper among the +trees looking for some still more beautiful flower. The Wolf, however, +ran straight to the house of the old grandmother, and knocked at the +door. + +"Who's that?" asked the old lady. + +"Only little Red Riding Hood, bringing you some meat and wine; please +open the door," answered the Wolf. + +"Lift up the latch," cried the grandmother; "I am much too ill to get +up myself." + +So the Wolf lifted the latch, and the door flew open; and without a +word he jumped on to the bed and gobbled up the poor old lady. Then he +put on her clothes, and tied her night-cap over his head; got into the +bed, and drew the blankets over him. + +All this time Red Riding Hood was gathering flowers; and when she had +picked as many as she could carry, she thought of her grandmother, and +hurried to the cottage. She wondered very much to find the door +open; and when she got into the room, she began to feel very ill, and +exclaimed, "How sad I feel! I wish I had not come to-day." Then she +said, "Good morning," but received no reply; so she went up to the +bed, and drew back the curtains, and there lay her grandmother as +she imagined, with the cap drawn half over her eyes and looking very +fierce. + +"Oh, grandmother, what great ears you have!" + +"All the better to hear you with," was the reply. + +"And what great eyes you have!" + +"All the better to see you with." + +"And what great hands you have!" + +"All the better to touch you with." + +"But, grandmother, what very great teeth you have!" + +"All the better to eat you with;" and hardly were the words spoken +when the Wolf made a jump out of bed and swallowed down poor Little +Red Riding Hood also. + +As soon as he had thus satisfied his hunger, he laid himself down +again on the bed, and went to sleep and snored very loudly. A huntsman +passing by overheard him, and said, "How loudly that old woman snores! +I must see if anything is the matter." + +So he went into the cottage; and when he came to the bed, he saw the +Wolf sleeping in it. + +"What! are you here, you old rascal? I have been looking for you," +exclaimed he; and taking up his gun, he shot the old Wolf through the +head. + +But it is also said that the story ends in a different manner; for +that one day, when Red Riding Hood was taking some presents to her +grandmother, a Wolf met her, and wanted to mislead her; but she went +straight on, and told her grandmother that she had met a Wolf, who +said good-day; but he looked so hungrily out of his great eyes, as if +he would have eaten her up had she not been on the high road. + +So her grandmother said, "We will shut the door, and then he cannot +get in." + +Soon after, up came the Wolf, who tapped, and exclaimed, "I am Little +Red Riding Hood, grandmother; I have some roast meat for you." But +they kept quite quiet, and did not open the door; so the Wolf, after +looking several times round the house, at last jumped on to the roof, +thinking to wait till Red Riding Hood went home in the evening, and +then to creep after her and eat her in the darkness. + +The old woman, however, saw what the villain intended. There stood +before the door a large stone trough, and she said to Little Red +Riding Hood, "Take this bucket, dear: yesterday I boiled some meat in +this water, now pour it into the stone trough." Then the Wolf sniffed +the smell of the meat, and his mouth watered, and he wished very much +to taste. + +At last he stretched his neck too far over, so that he lost his +balance, and fell down from the roof, right into the great trough +below, and there he was drowned. + +[Illustration: "WITHOUT A WORD HE JUMPED ON TO THE BED AND GOBBLED UP +THE POOR OLD LADY."] + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE WHITE FAWN + + +There was once upon a time a King and Queen who were perfectly happy, +with one exception, and that was that they had no child. + +One day when the Queen was staying in a watering-place, some distance +from home, she was sitting by a fountain alone, sadly thinking of the +daughter she longed to have, when she perceived a crab coming in her +direction, who, to the Queen's surprise, addressed her thus: + +"Great Queen, if you will condescend to be conducted by a humble +crab, I will lead you to a Fairies' palace and your wish shall be +fulfilled." + +"I would certainly come with you," replied the Queen, "but I am afraid +that I cannot walk backwards." + +The crab smiled, and transforming herself into a beautiful little old +woman, said: + +"Now, madam, it is not necessary to go backwards. Come with me, and +I beg of you to look upon me as your friend." She then escorted the +Queen to the most magnificent palace that could possibly be imagined, +it was built entirely of diamonds. + +In this superb place dwelt six Fairies who received the Queen with +the greatest respect, and each one presented her with a flower made of +precious stones--a rose, tulip, an anemone, a columbine, a violet, and +a carnation. + +"Madam," they said, "we have pleasure in telling you that soon you +will have a daughter whom you will name Desirée. Directly she arrives, +do not fail to call upon us, for we will bestow all sorts of good +gifts upon her. You have only to hold this bouquet, and mention each +flower, thinking of us, and be assured that we shall at once appear in +your chamber." + +The Queen, transported with joy, and overcome with gratitude, threw +herself upon their necks, and warmly embraced them; she then spent +several hours admiring the wonders of the palace and its gardens, and +it was not until evening that she returned to her attendants, who were +in a serious state of anxiety at the prolonged absence of Her Majesty. + +[Illustration] + +Not very long afterwards, when the Queen was once more at home in her +Royal Palace, a baby Princess was born, whom she named Desirée. Then +taking the bouquet into her hand, the Queen, one by one, pronounced +the names of the flowers, when there immediately appeared, flying +through the air in elegant chariots drawn by different kinds of birds, +the six Fairies who entered the apartment, bearing beautiful presents +for the little baby. Marvellously fine linen, but so strong that it +could be worn a hundred years without going into holes, lace of the +finest, with the history of the world worked into its pattern, toys +of all descriptions that a child would love to play with, and a cradle +ornamented with rubies and diamonds, and supported by four Cupids +ready to rock it should the baby cry. But, best of all, the Fairies +endowed the little Princess with beauty, and virtue, and health, and +every good thing that could be desired. + +The Queen was thanking the Fairies a thousand times for all their +favours, when the door opened, and a crab appeared. + +"Ungrateful Queen," said the crab, "you have not deigned to remember +me, the Fairy of the Fountain; and to punish your ingratitude, if the +Princess sees daylight before she is fifteen years old, she will have +cause to repent it, and it may cost her her life. It was well I took +the form of a crab, for your friendship instead of advancing has gone +backwards." Then in spite of all the Queen and the Fairies could say, +the crab went backwards out of the door, leaving them in the saddest +consternation, and it was long before they could decide what was best +to be done. + +Then, with three waves of a wand, the Fairies caused a high tower to +spring up; it had neither door nor window, an underground passage was +made, through which everything necessary could be carried, and in +this tower the little Princess was shut up and there she lived by +candlelight, where never a glimpse of the sun could come. + +When the Princess Desirée was fourteen years old, the Queen had her +portrait painted, and copies of it were carried to all the Courts +in the world. All the Princes admired it greatly, but there was one +Prince, named Guerrier, who loved it above everything; he used to +stand before the picture and avow his passion, just as if it heard +what he said, and at last he told the King, his father. + +"You have resolved that I shall marry the Princess Noire, but this I +can never do, so great is my love for the Princess Desirée." + +"But where have you seen her?" enquired the King. + +The Prince hastened to fetch her portrait, and the King was so greatly +struck by Desirée's beauty that he agreed to follow his son's wishes +and break off his engagement with the Princess Noire, that he might +wed the Princess Desirée. So the King despatched as ambassador a rich +young lord named Bécafigue. + +Bécafigue was devoted to Prince Guerrier, and he fitted out a most +splendid retinue to visit the Princess Desirée's Court. Besides +numerous magnificent presents, Bécafigue took with him the Prince's +portrait, which had been painted by such a clever artist that it would +speak; it could not exactly answer questions, but could make certain +remarks. It was truly a speaking likeness of the young Prince. +Desirée's father and mother were delighted when they heard that the +Prince Guerrier was seeking their daughter's hand in marriage, for +they knew him to be a brave and noble young man. But as it still +wanted three months to the Princess's fifteenth year, warned by +the Fairy Tulip, who had taken Desirée under her special care, they +refused to let him see their daughter or to let her yet marry the +Prince Guerrier, but they showed her the Prince's portrait, with +which she was greatly pleased, and particularly when it said, "Lovely +Desirée, you cannot imagine how ardently I am waiting for you; come +soon into our Court to make it beautiful by your presence." + +[Illustration] + +When Prince Guerrier saw the ambassador return without Desirée, he +was so terribly disappointed that he could neither eat nor sleep, and +before long fell dangerously ill. + +Meanwhile Desirée had no less pleasure in looking at the Prince's +portrait than he had had admiring hers, and this was soon discovered +by those around her, and among others Giroflée and Longue Epine, her +maids of honour. Giroflée loved her passionately and faithfully, but +Longue Epine was full of envy of the Princess who was so good and +beautiful, and, besides Longue Epine, Desirée had another enemy, +and that was the Princess Noire, to whom Prince Guerrier had been +betrothed. This Princess Noire now went to the Fairy of the Fountain, +who was her best friend, and begged her to take revenge upon Princess +Desirée, and this the Fairy promised to do. Meanwhile once more +Bécafigue came to the capital where Desirée's father lived, and +throwing himself at the King's feet, besought him in most touching +words to let his daughter go with him at once to the Prince, who would +surely die if he could not behold her. + +When Princess Desirée heard of the Prince's illness, she suggested +that she should set out without delay, but in a dark carriage, +that only at night should be opened to give her food. This plan was +approved of; the ambassador was told, and he departed full of joy. So +in a carriage like a large dark box, shut up with her Lady in Waiting +and her two Maids of Honour, Giroflée and Longue Epine, Princess +Desirée departed for Prince Guerrier's Court. + +Perhaps you will remember that Longue Epine did not like Princess +Desirée, but she greatly admired Prince Guerrier, for she had seen his +portrait speaking, and she had told her mother, the Lady in Waiting, +that she should die if he married Desirée. + +The King and Queen had begged the Lady in Waiting to take the greatest +of care of their dear daughter, and above all to be heedful that she +did not see the light of day until her fifteenth birthday, saying that +the ambassador had promised that until then she should be placed where +there was no other light than that of candles. But now as they drew +near their destination, while it was broad daylight the wicked woman, +urged by her envious daughter, Longue Epine, all at once took a large +knife which she had brought for the purpose, and with it cut the +covering of the carriage. + +Then, for the first time, the Princess Desirée saw the light of day!!! +Hardly had she perceived it when, uttering a deep sigh, she threw +herself from the carriage, and in the form of a white fawn fleetly +fled into a forest near by. + +The Fairy of the Fountain, who was the cause of this disaster seeing +that all who were accompanying the Princess were about to hasten to +the town to tell the Prince Guerrier what had happened, called up a +great thunderstorm and scattered them in every direction. Only the +Lady in Waiting, Longue Epine and Giroflée were left, Giroflée, who +ran after her mistress, making the trees and rocks echo with her +mournful calls. Then Longue Epine clothed herself in the rich bridal +robes provided for Desirée. She placed the crown upon her head, the +sceptre and orb she carried in her hands, so that all should take her +for the Princess. With her mother bearing her train she gravely walked +in the direction of the town. + +[Illustration: "A GREAT THUNDERSTORM SCATTERED THEM IN EVERY +DIRECTION."] + +They had not gone far when a brilliant procession came towards them, +amongst whom was the sick Prince in a litter, and to those in advance +Longue Epine announced that she was the Princess Desirée, with her +Lady in Waiting, but that a jealous Fairy had sent a thunderstorm +which had destroyed her carriage and scattered her other attendants. +When the Prince was told of this, he could not refrain from saying +to the messengers: "Now acknowledge, is she not truly a miracle of +beauty, a Princess beyond compare?" + +No one replied at first, and then one of the boldest said, + +"Sir, you will see; apparently the fatigue of the journey has somewhat +changed her." The Prince was surprised, but when he saw Longue Epine +words fail to express what he felt. + +She was so tall that it was alarming, and the garments of the Princess +hardly came to her knees. She was frightfully thin, and her nose, +which was more hooked than a parrot's beak, shone like a danger +signal. Then her teeth were black and uneven, and, in fact, she was as +ugly as Desirée was beautiful. + +At first the Prince could not speak a word, he simply gazed at her +in amazement. Then he said, turning to his father, "We have been +deceived, that portrait was painted to mislead us. It will be the +death of me." + +"What do I hear, they have deceived you," fiercely exclaimed Longue +Epine. + +"It is not to be wondered at," remarked the King, "that your father +kept such a treasure shut up for fifteen years." + +Then he and the Prince turned towards the town, and the false Princess +and the Lady in Waiting, without any ceremony, were mounted each +behind a soldier and taken to be shut up in a castle. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +THE WHITE FAWN] + +Soon after his terrible disappointment, Prince Guerrier, unable to +bear any longer the life at court, secretly departed from the palace +with his faithful friend Bécafigue, leaving a letter for his father +saying he would return to him as soon as his mind was in a happier +state, and begging him meanwhile to keep the ugly Princess prisoner, +and think of some revenge upon the deceitful king, her father. + +After three or four days' journeying, the wanderers found themselves +in a thick forest. Quite wearied out, the Prince threw himself +upon the ground, while Bécafigue went on further in search of fruit +wherewith to refresh his royal master. + +It is a long time since we left the White Fawn, that is to say the +charming Princess. + +Very desolately she wept when in a stream she saw her figure +reflected, and when night came she was in great fear, for she heard +wild beasts about her, and sometimes forgetting she was a fawn she +would try to climb a tree. But with morning dawn she felt a little +safer, and the sun appeared a marvellous sight to her from which she +could hardly turn her eyes. But now the Fairy Tulip, who had always +loved the Princess guided Giroflée's feet in her direction, and +when the White Fawn saw her faithful Maid of Honour her delight was +boundless. + +It did not take Giroflée long to discover that this was her +dearly-loved mistress, and she promised the White Fawn never to +forsake her, for she found she could hear all that was said although +she could not speak. Towards night the fear of having no shelter made +the two friends so dreadfully dismayed that the Fairy Tulip suddenly +appeared before them. + +[Illustration] + +"I am not going to scold you," she said, "although it is through not +following my advice that you are in this misfortune, for it goes to +my heart to see you thus. I cannot release you altogether from this +enchantment, but I have power to shorten the time, and also to say +that during the night you may regain your rightful form, but by day +again must you run through the forest as a Fawn." The fairy also told +them where they could find a little hut in which to pass the nights. +Then she disappeared. Giroflée and the Fawn walked in the direction +the Fairy had pointed out, and arrived at a neat little cottage where +an old woman showed them a room which they could occupy. + +As soon as it was night Desirée came to her rightful form, but when +day appeared she was once more a Fawn and, escaping into the thicket, +commenced to run about in the ordinary way. + +You have heard how Prince Guerrier rested in the forest while +Bécafigue searched for fruit; quite late in the evening Bécafigue +arrived at the cottage of the good woman who had given shelter to +Giroflée and the White Fawn. He addressed her politely and asked for +the things he required for his master. She hastened to fill a basket, +and gave it to him, saying, "I fear that if you pass a night without +shelter some harm may come to you. I can offer you a poor one, but at +any rate it is secure from the lions." + +Bécafigue went back to the Prince and together they returned to the +cottage, where they were led into the room next to that occupied by +the Princess. + +Next morning the Prince arose early and went out; he had not long been +in the forest when he saw a beautiful little Fawn. Hunting had ever +been his favourite pastime, and now he pursued the little creature. +All day long hither and thither he chased, but did not succeed in +capturing her, and as evening fell the Fawn slipped away and gained +the little hut where Giroflée anxiously awaited her, and on hearing +her adventure the Maid of Honour told her she must never again venture +out, but the Princess replied: + +"It is no use talking thus, when I am a Fawn this room is stifling to +me and I must depart from it." + +The next day the young Prince sought in vain for the White Fawn, and +finally tired out threw himself upon the grass and fell asleep. + +While he lay there the little Fawn drew near and looking at him +quietly, to her astonishment she recognised his features as those of +the Prince Guerrier. Coming nearer and nearer she presently touched +him and he awoke. + +His surprise was great at seeing close by the shy little Fawn, who +stayed not an instant longer but fled away, the Prince following. + +"Stay, dear little Fawn," he cried, "I would not hurt you for the +world." But the wind carried off the words before they reached her +ears. Long he chased the poor creature, till at last worn out the Fawn +sank down on the ground and the Prince came up to her. + +"Beautiful Fawn," said he, "do not fear me, I shall lead you with +me everywhere." Then he covered her with roses and fed her with the +choicest leaves and grasses. + +But as evening drew near the Fawn longed to escape, for what would +happen should she suddenly change into a Princess there in the forest. +Presently the Prince went to fetch some water for her, and while he +was gone she ran homewards. The next day for a long time she hid from +the Prince, but at last he found her, and as she dashed off he shot an +arrow which wounded her in the leg. + +Sad that he should have done so cruel a thing, the Prince took herbs +and laid them upon the wound, and at last he went to fetch Bécafigue +to help him carry her to the house. He tied her to a tree. + +Alas! Who would have thought that the most beautiful Princess in the +world would be treated thus? While she was straining at the ribbons +trying to break them, Giroflée arrived, and was leading her away when +the Prince met them and claimed the Fawn as his. + +"Sir," politely replied Giroflée, "the Fawn was mine before it was +yours," and she spoke to the Fawn, and the Fawn obeyed her in such +a way that the Prince could not doubt that what she said was true. +Giroflée then went on, and, to the surprise of the Prince and +Bécafigue, entered the old woman's house where they themselves lodged. +Then Bécafigue told the Prince that unless he was much mistaken the +owner of the Fawn had lived with the Princess Desirée when he went +there as ambassador. + +"I mean to see her again," said Bécafigue, "there is only a partition +between her room and ours." And soon he had made a hole large enough +to peep through, and through it he saw the charming Princess dressed +in a robe of brocaded silver, with flowers embroidered in gold and +emeralds, her hair falling in heavy masses on the most beautiful neck +in the world. Giroflée was on her knees before her, bandaging up +one arm from which the blood was flowing. They both seemed greatly +concerned about the wound: "Let me die," the Princess was saying, +"death would be better than the life which I lead. To be a Fawn all +the day, to hear him speaking, and not to be able to tell him of my +sad fate." + +One can guess the astonishment of Bécafigue and of the Prince. +Guerrier would almost have died of pleasure had he not thought that +it must be some enchantment, for did he not know that Desirée and her +Lady in Waiting were shut up in the castle. + +He went softly and knocked at the chamber door, which Giroflée opened, +thinking it was the old woman, for she required help for the wounded +arm. + +The Prince entered, threw himself at Desirée's feet, and found she was +indeed his Princess. + +Great was their joy thus at last meeting, and while they were talking +to each other the night passed, and the day dawned, and daylight came, +and the morning sun shone brightly before Desirée had time to notice +that she had not again taken the shape of a Fawn, but was her own +beautiful self. + +Then it was found that it was the Fairy Tulip in disguise of the old +woman who had provided that sheltering cottage in the forest. + +The joy of the King upon once more seeing his son can well be +imagined, and the marriage of the Prince and Desirée, and Bécafigue +and Giroflée took place on the same day, the Fairies giving their +diamond palace as their wedding present to Princess Desirée, and Fairy +Tulip presenting four gold mines in the Indies to Giroflée. + +[Illustration] + +And, in accordance with the wish of Princess Desirée, Longue Epine and +her mother, the false Lady in Waiting, were set at liberty. + +[Illustration] + + + + +HANSEL AND GRETHEL + + +Once upon a time there dwelt near a large wood a poor wood cutter, +with his wife, and two children by his former marriage, a little boy +called Hansel, and a girl named Grethel. He had little enough to break +or bite; and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he could +hardly procure even his daily bread; and as he lay thinking in his bed +one night, he sighed, and said to his wife, "What will become of us? +How can we feed our children, when we have no more than we can eat +ourselves?" + +"Know then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away, quite +early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and there +make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread, then we +will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not find the +way home again, and we shall be freed from them." + +"No, wife," replied he, "that I can never do; how can you bring your +heart to leave my children all alone in the wood; for the wild beasts +will soon come and tear them to pieces?" + +"Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die of hunger; +you had better plane the coffins for us." But she left him no peace +till he consented, saying, "Ah, but I shall miss the poor children." + +The two children, however, had not gone to sleep, for very hunger, and +so they overheard what the stepmother said to their father. Grethel +wept bitterly, and said to Hansel, "What will become of us?" + +"Be quiet, Grethel," said he; "do not cry--I will help you." And as +soon as their parents had gone to sleep, he got up, put on his coat, +and, unbarring the back door, went out. The moon shone brightly, and +the white pebbles which lay before the door seemed like silver pieces, +they glittered so brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into +his pocket as it would hold; and then going back he said to Grethel, +"Be of good cheer, dear sister, and sleep in peace; God will not +forsake us." And so saying, he went to bed again. + +The next morning, before the sun arose, the wife went and awoke the +two children. "Get up, you lazy things; we are going into the forest +to chop wood." Then she gave them each a piece of bread, saying, +"There is something for your dinner; do not eat it before the time, +for you will get nothing else." Grethel took the bread in her apron, +for Hansel's pocket was full of pebbles; and so they all set out upon +their way. When they had gone a little distance, Hansel stood still, +and peeped back at the house; and this he repeated several times, till +his father said, "Hansel, what are you looking at, and why do you lag +behind? Take care, and remember your legs." + +"Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat sitting upon +the roof of the house, and trying to say good-bye." + +"You simpleton!" said the wife, "that is not a cat; it is only the sun +shining on the white chimney." But in reality Hansel was not looking +at a cat; but every time he stopped, he dropped a pebble out of his +pocket upon the path. + +When they came to the middle of the forest, the father told the +children to collect wood, and he would make them a fire, so that they +should not be cold. So Hansel and Grethel gathered together quite a +little mount of twigs. Then they set fire to them; and as the flame +burnt up high, the wife said, "Now, you children, lie down near the +fire, and rest yourselves, whilst we go into the forest and chop more +wood; when we are ready we will come and call you." + +Hansel and Grethel sat down by the fire, and when it was noon, each +ate the piece of bread; and because they could hear the blows of an +axe they thought their father was near; but it was not an axe, but a +branch which he had bound to an old tree, so as to be blown to and fro +by the wind. They waited so long, that at last their eyes closed from +weariness, and they fell fast asleep. When they awoke, it was quite +dark, and Grethel began to cry. "How shall we get out of the wood?" +But Hansel tried to comfort her by saying, "Wait a little while till +the moon rises, and then we will quickly find the way." The moon shone +forth, and Hansel, taking his sister's hand, followed the pebbles, +which glittered like new-coined silver pieces, and showed them the +way. All night long they walked on, and as day broke they came to +their father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the wife +opened it, and saw Hansel and Grethel, she exclaimed, "You wicked +children! Why did you sleep so long in the wood? We thought you were +never coming home again." But their father was extremely glad, for it +had grieved his heart to leave them all alone. + +[Illustration: "HANSEL AND GRETHEL SAT DOWN BY THE FIRE."] + +Not long afterwards there was again great scarcity in every corner of +the land; and one night the children overheard their mother saying to +their father, "Everything is once more consumed; we have only half a +loaf left, and then the song is ended: the children must be sent away. +We will take them deeper into the wood, so that they may not find the +way out again; it is the only means of escape for us." + +But her husband felt heavy at heart, and thought, "It were better +to share the last crust with the children." His wife, however, would +listen to nothing that he said, and scolded and reproached him without +end. + +He who says A must say B too; and he who consents the first time must +also the second. + +The children, however, had heard the conversation as they lay awake, +and as soon as their parents went to sleep Hansel got up, intending to +pick up some pebbles as before; but the wife had locked the door, so +that he could not get out. Nevertheless he comforted Grethel, saying, +"Do not weep; sleep in quiet; the good God will not forsake us." + +Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out of bed, +and gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smaller than the +former piece. On the way Hansel broke his in his pocket, and stopping +every now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path. "Hansel, why do +you stop and look about?" said the father, "keep in the path." "I am +looking at my little dove," answered Hansel, "nodding a good-bye to +me." "Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is no dove, but only the sun +shining on the chimney." But Hansel kept still dropping crumbs as he +went along. + +The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they had never +been before, and there making a gigantic fire, she said to them, "Sit +down here and rest, and when you feel tired you can sleep for a little +while. We are going into the forest to hew wood, and in the evening, +when we are ready, we will come and fetch you again." + +When noon came, Grethel shared her bread with Hansel, who had strewn +his on the path. They then went to sleep; but the evening arrived and +no one came to visit the poor children, and in the dark night they +awoke, and Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "Only wait, Grethel, +till the moon comes out, then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I +have dropped, and they will show us the way home." The moon shone and +they got up, but they could not see any crumbs, for the thousands of +birds which had been flying about in the woods and fields had picked +them all up. Hansel kept saying to Grethel, "We will soon find the +way;" but they did not, and they walked the whole night long and the +next day, but still they did not come out of the wood; and they got +very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but the berries which they +found upon the bushes. Soon they were so tired that they could not +drag themselves along, then they lay down under a tree and again went +to sleep. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +HANSEL AND GRETHEL] + +It was now the third morning since they had left their father's house, +and they still walked on; but they only got deeper, and deeper, and +deeper into the wood, and Hansel felt that if help did not come +very soon they must die of hunger. As soon as it was noon they saw a +beautiful, snow-white bird sitting upon a bough, singing so sweetly +that they stood still and listened to it. It soon ceased, and +spreading its wings flew off; and they followed it until it arrived at +a cottage, upon the roof of which it perched; and when they went close +up to it they saw that the cottage was made of bread and cakes, and +the window-panes were of clear sugar. + +"We will go in here," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast. I will +eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Will they not be +sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off the roof, in order +to see how it tasted; while Grethel stepped up to the window and +began to bite it. Then a sweet voice called out in the room, "Tip-tap, +tip-tap, who knocks at my door?" and the children answered, "The +wind, the wind, the child of heaven;" and they went on eating without +interruption. Hansel thought the roof tasted very nice, and so he tore +off a great piece; while Grethel broke a large round pane out of the +window, and sat down quite contentedly. Just then the door opened, and +a very old woman, walking upon crutches, came out. Hansel and Grethel +were so much frightened that they let fall what they had in their +hands; but the old woman nodding her head, said, "Ah, you dear +children, what has brought you here? Come in and stop with me, and no +harm shall come to you;" and so saying she took them both by the hand, +and led them into her cottage. A good meal of milk and pancakes, with +sugar, apples and nuts, was spread on the table, and in the back +room were two nice little beds, covered with white, where Hansel and +Grethel laid themselves down, and were happy as could be. The old +woman behaved very kindly to them, but in reality she was a wicked +old witch who way-laid children, and built the breadhouse in order to +entice them in; but as soon as they were in her power she killed them, +cooked and ate them, and made a great festival of the day. Witches +have red eyes, and cannot see very far; but they have a fine sense of +smelling, like wild beasts, so that they know when children approach +them. When Hansel and Grethel came near the witch's house she laughed +wickedly, saying, "Here come two who shall not escape me." And early +in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them, and saw how +lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks; and she +mumbled to herself, "That will be a good bite." Then she took up +Hansel with her rough hand, and shut him up in a little cage with +a lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was of no use. +Grethel came next, and shaking her till she awoke, she said, "Get up, +you lazy brat, and fetch some water to cook something good for your +brother, who must remain in that stall and get fat; and when he is fat +enough I shall eat him." Grethel began to cry, but it was all useless, +for the old witch made her do as she wanted. So a nice meal was cooked +for Hansel, but Grethel got nothing else but a crab's claw. + +Every morning the old witch came to the cage and said, "Hansel, +stretch out your finger that I may feel whether you are getting fat." +But Hansel used to stretch out a bone, and the old woman, having very +bad sight, thought it was his finger, and wondered very much why he +did not get fat. When four weeks had passed, and Hansel still kept +quite lean, she lost all her patience, and would not wait any longer. +"Grethel," she cried in a passion, "get some water quickly; be Hansel +fat or lean, this morning I will kill and cook him." Oh, how the poor +little sister grieved, as she was forced to fetch the water, and +fast the tears ran down her cheeks! "Dear good God, help us now!" she +prayed. "Had we only been eaten by the wild beasts in the wood, then +we should have died together." But the old witch called out, "Leave +off that noise; it will not help you a bit." + +So early in the morning Grethel was compelled to go out and fill the +kettle, and make a fire. "First, we will bake, however," said the old +woman; "I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough;" and +so saying, she pushed poor Grethel up to the oven, out of which the +flames were burning fiercely. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if +it is hot enough, and then we will put in the bread," but she intended +when Grethel got in, to shut up the oven and let her bake, so that she +might eat her as well as Hansel. Grethel perceived her wicked thoughts +and said, "I do not know how to do it; how shall I get in?" "You +stupid goose," said she, "the opening is big enough. See, I could even +get in myself!" and she got up, and put her head into the oven. Then +Grethel gave her a push, so that she fell right in, and shutting the +iron door bolted it. Oh! how horribly the witch howled; but Grethel +ran away, and left her to burn to ashes. + +[Illustration] + +Now she ran to Hansel, and, opening the door, called out, "Hansel we +are saved; the old witch is dead?" + +So he sprang out, like a bird from his cage when the door was opened; +and they were so glad that they fell upon each other's neck, and +kissed each other over and over again. And now, as there was nothing +to fear, they went back to the witch's house, where in every corner +were caskets full of pearls and precious stones. "These are better +than pebbles," said Hansel, putting as many into his pocket as it +would hold; while Grethel thought, "I will take some home too," and +filled her apron full. + +"We must be off now," said Hansel, "and get out of this enchanted +forest;" but when they had walked for two hours they came to a large +piece of water. + +"We cannot get over," said Hansel; "I can see no bridge at all." "And +there is no boat either," said Grethel, "but there swims a white duck, +I will ask her to help us over;" and she sang, + + "Little Duck, good little Duck, + Grethel and Hansel, together we stand; + There is neither stile nor bridge, + Take us on your back to land." + +So the Duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and bade his +sister sit beside him. "No," replied Grethel, "that will be too much +for the Duck, she shall take us over one at a time." This the good +little bird did, and when both were happily arrived on the other side, +and had gone a little way, they came to a well-known wood, which they +knew the better every step they went, and at last they perceived their +father's house. Then they began to run, and rushing into the house, +they fell upon their father's neck. He had not had one happy hour +since he had left the children in the forest; and his wife was dead. +Grethel shook her apron, and the pearls and precious stones rolled out +upon the floor, and Hansel threw down one handful after the other +out of his pocket. Then all their sorrows were ended, and they lived +together in great happiness. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED + + +A poor widow once lived in a little cottage. In front of the cottage +was a garden, in which were growing two rose trees; one of these bore +white roses, and the other red. + +She had two children, who resembled the rose trees. One was called +Snow-White, and the other Rose-Red; and they were as religious and +loving, busy and untiring, as any two children ever were. + +Snow-White was more gentle, and quieter than her sister, who liked +better skipping about the fields, seeking flowers, and catching summer +birds; while Snow-White stayed at home with her mother, either helping +her in her work, or, when that was done, reading aloud. + +The two children had the greatest affection the one for the other. +They were always seen hand in hand; and should Snow-White say to her +sister, "We will never separate," the other would reply, "Not while +we live," the mother adding, "That which one has, let her always share +with the other." + +They constantly ran together in the woods, collecting ripe berries; +but not a single animal would have injured them; quite the reverse, +they all felt the greatest esteem for the young creatures. The hare +came to eat parsley from their hands, the deer grazed by their side, +the stag bounded past them unheeding; the birds, likewise, did not +stir from the bough, but sang in entire security. No mischance befell +them; if benighted in the wood, they lay down on the moss to repose +and sleep till the morning; and their mother was satisfied as to their +safety, and felt no fear about them. + +Once, when they had spent the night in the wood, and the bright +sunrise awoke them, they saw a beautiful child, in a snow-white +robe, shining like diamonds, sitting close to the spot where they had +reposed. She arose when they opened their eyes, and looked kindly at +them; but said no word, and passed from their sight into the wood. +When the children looked around they saw they had been sleeping on +the edge of a precipice, and would surely have fallen over if they had +gone forward two steps further in the darkness. Their mother said +the beautiful child must have been the angel who watches over good +children. + +Snow-White and Rose-Red kept their mother's cottage so clean that it +gave pleasure only to look in. In summer-time Rose-Red attended to the +house, and every morning, before her mother awoke, placed by her bed +a bouquet which had in it a rose from each of the rose-trees. In +winter-time Snow-White set light to the fire, and put on the kettle, +after polishing it until it was like gold for brightness. In the +evening, when snow was falling, her mother would bid her bolt the +door, and then, sitting by the hearth, the good widow would read aloud +to them from a big book while the little girls were spinning. Close +by them lay a lamb, and a white pigeon, with its head tucked under its +wing, was on a perch behind. + +[Illustration] + +One evening, as they were all sitting cosily together like this, there +was a knock at the door, as if someone wished to come in. + +"Make haste, Rose-Red!" said her mother; "open the door; it is surely +some traveller seeking shelter." Rose-Red accordingly pulled back the +bolt, expecting to see some poor man. But it was nothing of the kind; +it was a bear, that thrust his big head in at the open door. Rose-Red +cried out and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove fluttered her +wings and Snow-White hid herself behind her mother's bed. The bear +began speaking, and said, "Do not be afraid: I will not do you any +harm; I am half-frozen, and would like to warm myself a little at your +fire." + +"Poor bear!" the mother replied; "come in and lie by the fire; only be +careful that your hair is not burnt." Then she called Snow-White and +Rose-Red, telling them that the bear was kind, and would not harm +them. They came, as she bade them, and presently the lamb and the dove +drew near also without fear. + +"Children," begged the bear; "knock some of the snow off my coat." So +they brought the broom and brushed the bear's coat quite clean. + +After that he stretched himself out in front of the fire, and pleased +himself by growling a little, only to show that he was happy and +comfortable. Before long they were all quite good friends, and the +children began to play with their unlooked for visitor, pulling his +thick fur, or placing their feet on his back, or rolling him over and +over. Then they took a slender hazel twig, using it upon his thick +coat, and they laughed when he growled. The bear permitted them to +amuse themselves in this way, only occasionally calling out, when it +went a little too far, "Children, spare me an inch of life!" + +[Illustration] + +When it was night, and all were making ready to go to bed, the widow +told the bear, "You may stay here and lie by the hearth, if you like, +so that you will be sheltered from the cold and from the bad weather." + +The offer was accepted, but when morning came, as the day broke in +the east, the two children let him out, and over the snow he went back +into the wood. + +After this, every evening at the same time the bear came, lay by the +fire, and allowed the children to play with him; so they became quite +fond of their curious playmate, and the door was not ever bolted in +the evening until he had appeared. + +When springtime came, and all around began to look green and bright, +one morning the bear said to Snow-White, "Now I must leave you, and +all the summer long I shall not be able to come back." + +"Where, then, are you going, dear bear?" asked Snow-White. "I have to +go to the woods to protect my treasure from the bad dwarfs. In winter +time when the earth is frozen hard, they must remain underground, and +cannot make their way through; but now that the sunshine has thawed +the earth they can come to the surface, and whatever gets into their +hands, or is brought to their caves, seldom, if ever, again sees +daylight." + +Snow-White was very sad when she said good-bye to the good-natured +beast, and unfastened the door, that he might go; but in going out he +was caught by a hook in the lintel, and a scrap of his fur being torn, +Snow-White thought there was something shining like gold through the +rent; but he went out so quickly that she could not feel certain what +it was, and soon he was hidden among the trees. + +One day the mother sent her children into the wood to pick up sticks. +They found a big tree lying on the ground. It had been felled, and +towards the roots they noticed something skipping and springing, which +they could not make out, as it was sometimes hidden in the grasses. As +they came nearer they could see it was a dwarf, with a shrivelled up +face and a snow-white beard an ell long. The beard was fixed in a gash +in the tree trunk, and the tiny fellow was hopping to and fro, like a +dog at the end of a string, but he could not manage to free himself. +He stared at the children, with his red, fiery eyes, and called out, +"Why are you standing there? Can't you come and try to help me?" + +"What were you doing, little fellow?" enquired Rose-Red. + +"Stupid, inquisitive goose!" replied the dwarf; "I meant to split the +trunk, so that I could chop it up for kitchen sticks; big logs would +burn up the small quantity of food we cook, for people like us do +not consume great heaps of food, as you heavy, greedy folk do. +The bill-hook I had driven in, and soon I should have done what +I required; but the tool suddenly sprang from the cleft, which so +quickly shut up again that it caught my handsome white beard; and +here I must stop, for I cannot set myself free. You stupid, pale-faced +creatures! You laugh, do you?" + +In spite of the dwarf's bad temper, the girls took all possible pains +to release the little man, but without avail; the beard could not be +moved, it was wedged too tightly. + +"I will run and get someone else," said Rose-Red. + +"Idiot!" cried the dwarf. "Who would go and get more people? Already +there are two too many. Can't you think of something better?" + +"Don't be so impatient," said Snow-White. "I will try to think." She +clapped her hands as if she had discovered a remedy, took out her +scissors, and in a moment set the dwarf free by cutting off the end of +his beard. + +Immediately the dwarf felt that he was free he seized a sackful +of gold that was hidden among the tree roots, and, lifting it up, +grumbled out, "Clumsy creatures, to cut off a bit of my beautiful +beard, of which I am so proud! I leave the cuckoos to pay you for what +you did." Saying this, he swung the sack across his shoulder and went +off without even casting a glance at the children. + +Not long afterwards the two sisters went to angle in the brook, +meaning to catch fish for dinner. As they were drawing near the water +they perceived something, looking like a large grasshopper, springing +towards the stream, as if it were going in. They hurried up to see +what it might be, and found that it was the dwarf. "Where are you +going?" said Rose-Red. "Surely you will not jump into the water?" + +"I'm not such a simpleton as that!" yelled the little man. "Don't you +see that a wretch of a fish is pulling me in?" + +The dwarf had been sitting angling from the side of the stream when, +by ill-luck, the wind had entangled his beard in his line, and just +afterwards a big fish taking the bait, the unamiable little fellow had +not sufficient strength to pull it out; so the fish had the advantage, +and was dragging the dwarf after it. Certainly he caught at every +stalk and spray near him, but that did not assist him greatly; he was +forced to follow all the twistings of the fish, and was perpetually in +danger of being drawn into the brook. + +The girls arrived just in time. They caught hold of him firmly, and +endeavoured to untwist his beard from the line, but in vain; it was +too tightly entangled. There was nothing left but again to make use of +the scissors; so they were taken out, and the tangled portion was cut +off. + +When the dwarf noticed what they were about, he exclaimed, in a great +rage, "Is this how you damage my beard? Not content with making it +shorter before, you are now making it still smaller, and completely +spoiling it. I shall not ever dare to show my face to my friends. +I wish you had missed your way before you took this road." Then he +fetched a sack of pearls that lay among the rushes, and saying not +another word, hobbled off and disappeared behind a large stone. + +Soon after this it chanced that the poor widow sent her children to +the town to purchase cotton, needles, ribbon and tape. The way to the +town ran over a common on which in every direction large masses +of rocks were scattered about. The children's attention was soon +attracted to a big bird that hovered in the air. They remarked that +after circling slowly for a time, and gradually getting nearer to +the ground, it all of a sudden pounced down amongst a mass of rock. +Instantly a heart-rending cry reached their ears, and, running quickly +to the place, they saw, with horror, that the eagle had seized their +former acquaintance, the dwarf, and was just about to carry him off. +The kind children did not hesitate for an instant. They took a firm +hold of the little man, they strove so stoutly with the eagle for +possession of his contemplated prey, that, after much rough treatment +on both sides, the dwarf was left in the hands of his brave little +friends, and the eagle took to flight. + +As soon as the little man had in some measure recovered from his +alarm, his small, squeaky, cracked voice was heard saying, "Couldn't +you have held me more gently? See my little coat; you have rent and +damaged it in a fine manner, you clumsy, officious things!" Then he +picked up a sack of jewels, and slipped out of sight behind a piece of +rock. + +The maidens by this time were quite used to his ungrateful, ungracious +ways; so they took no notice of it, but went on their way, made their +purchases, and then were ready to return to their happy home. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED] + +On their way back, suddenly, once more they ran across their dwarf +friend. + +Upon a clear space he had turned out his sack of jewels, so that he +could count and admire them, for he had not imagined that anybody +would at so late an hour be coming across the common. The setting sun +was shining upon the brilliant stones, and their changing hues and +sparkling rays caused the children to pause to admire them also. + +"What are you gazing at?" cried the dwarf, at the same time becoming +red with rage; "and what are you standing there for, making ugly +faces?" + +It is probable that he might have proceeded in the same complimentary +manner, but suddenly a great growl was heard near by them, and a big +bear joined the party. Up jumped the dwarf in extremest terror, but +could not get to his hiding-place, the bear was too close to him; so +he cried out in very evident anguish-- + +"Dear Mr. Bear, forgive me, I pray! I will render to you all my +treasure. Just see those precious stones lying there! Grant me my +life! What would you do with such an insignificant little fellow? +You would not notice me between your teeth. See, though, those +two children, they would be delicate morsels, and are as plump as +partridges; I beg of you to take them, good Mr. Bear, and let me go." + +But the bear would not be moved by his speeches. He gave the +ill-disposed creature a blow with his paw, and he lay lifeless on the +ground. Meanwhile, the maidens were running away, making off for home +as well as they could; but all of a sudden they were stopped by a +well-known voice that called out, "Snow-White, Rose-Red, stay! Do not +fear. I will accompany you." + +The bear quickly came towards them, but as he reached their side, +suddenly the bear-skin slipped to the ground, and there before them +was standing a handsome man, completely garmented in gold, who said, +"I am a king's son, who was enchanted by the wicked dwarf lying +over there. He stole my treasure, and compelled me to roam the woods +transformed into a big bear until his death should set me free. +Therefore he has only received a well-deserved punishment." + +[Illustration: "THE BEARSKIN SLIPPED TO THE GROUND."] + +Then Rose-Red and Snow-White and the Prince all went back to the +cottage, and some time afterwards Snow-White married the Prince, and +Rose-Red, his brother, who shared between them the enormous treasure +which the dwarf had collected in his cave. + +The old mother spent many happy years with her children. The two +rose-trees she took with her when she left the cottage, and they grew +in front of her window, where they continued to bear each year the +most beautiful roses, red and white. + +[Illustration] + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE SLEEPING BEAUTY + + +Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children; and +this they lamented very much. But one day, as the queen was walking by +the side of the river, a little fish lifted its head out of the water, +and said, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, and you shall soon have a +daughter." + +What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and the Queen had +a little girl who was so very beautiful that the king could not cease +looking on her for joy, and determined to hold a great feast. So he +invited not only his relations, friends, and neighbours, but also all +the fairies, that they might be kind and good to his little daughter. +Now there were thirteen fairies in his kingdom, and he had only twelve +golden dishes for them to eat out of, so that he was obliged to leave +one of the fairies without an invitation. The rest came, and after the +feast was over they gave all their best gifts to the little princess; +one gave her virtue, another beauty, another riches, and so on till +she had all that was excellent in the world. When eleven had done +blessing her, the thirteenth, who had not been invited, and was very +angry on that account, came in, and determined to take her revenge. +So she cried out, "The King's daughter shall in her fifteenth year be +wounded by a spindle, and fall down dead." Then the twelfth, who had +not yet given her gift, came forward and said that the bad wish +must be fulfilled, but that she could soften it, and that the king's +daughter should not die, but fall asleep for a hundred years. + +[Illustration] + +But the king hoped to save his dear child from the threatened evil, +and ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom should be bought up +and destroyed. All the fairies' gifts were in the meantime fulfilled; +for the princess was so beautiful, and well-behaved, and amiable, and +wise, that everyone who knew her loved her. Now it happened that on +the very day she was fifteen years old the king and queen were not +at home, and she was left alone in the palace. So she roved about by +herself, and poked at all the rooms and chambers, till at last she +came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircase ending +with a little door. In the door there was a golden key, and when she +turned it the door sprang open, and there sat an old lady spinning +away very busily. + +"Why, how now, good mother," said the princess, "what are you doing +there?" + +"Spinning," said the old lady, and nodded her head. + +"How prettily that little thing turns round!" said the princess, and +took the spindle and began to spin. But scarcely had she touched it +before the prophecy was fulfilled, and she fell down, as if lifeless, +on the ground. + +However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep; and +the king and queen, who just then came home, and all their court, fell +asleep too, and the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in the +court, the pigeons on the house-top, and the flies on the walls. Even +the fire on the hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; and the +meat that was roasting stood still; and the cook, who was at that +moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the +ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; +and so everything stood still, and slept soundly. + +[Illustration] + +A large hedge of thorns soon grew around the palace, and every year it +became higher and thicker, till at last the whole place was surrounded +and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. +But there went a report, through all the land, of the beautiful +sleeping Briar Rose (for so was the king's daughter called) so that +from time to time several kings' sons came, and tried to break through +the thicket into the palace. This they could never do; for the thorns +and bushes laid hold of them as it were with hands, and there they +stuck fast and died miserably. + +[Illustration: "ALL WAS SO QUIET THAT HE COULD HEAR EVERY BREATH HE +DREW."] + +After many years came yet another king's son into that land, and +an old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns, and how a +beautiful palace stood behind it, in which was a wondrous princess, +called Briar Rose, asleep with all her court. He told, too, how he had +heard from his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had +tried to break through the thicket, but had stuck fast and died. + +Then the young prince said, "All this shall not frighten me; I will +go and see Briar Rose." The old man tried to dissuade him, but he +persisted in going. + +Now that very day were the hundred years completed; and as the prince +came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, +through which he passed with ease, and they closed after him, as firm +as ever. Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court +lay the dogs asleep, and the horses in the stables, and on the roof +sat the pigeons fast asleep with their heads under their wings; and +when he came into the palace, the flies slept on the walls, and the +cook in the kitchen was still holding up her hand as if she would beat +the boy, and the maid with her pail in her hand was going a-milking. + +Then he went on still further, and all was so quiet that he could hear +every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower and opened +the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was, and there she lay +fast asleep, and looked so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes +away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he +kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke, and smiled upon him. For the +spell was broken. + +Then they went out together, and presently the king and queen also +awoke, and all the court, and they gazed on each other with great +wonder. And the horses got up and shook themselves, and the dogs +jumped about and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their +wings, and looked around and flew into the fields; the flies on the +walls buzzed; the fire in the kitchen blazed up and cooked the dinner, +and the roast meat turned round again; the cook gave the boy the box +on his ear so that he cried out, and the maid went to milk the cows. +And then was the wedding of the prince and Briar Rose celebrated, and +they lived happily together all their lives long. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +THE SLEEPING BEAUTY] + +[Illustration: + + More close and close his footsteps wind: + The Magic Music in his heart + Beats quick and quicker, till he find + The quiet chamber far apart. + Tennyson] + + + + + +PRINCE CHÉRI + + +There was once a king who was such an honourable man that his subjects +called him "The Good King." + +One day while he was out hunting, a little rabbit that his dogs were +about to kill, threw itself into his arms. The King caressed the +little creature, and said: + +"As you have put yourself under my protection nobody shall harm you," +and he carried the rabbit to his palace, and ordered a pretty little +hutch to be made for it. + +That night when he was alone in his room, there appeared a lovely +lady. She wore a robe as white as snow, and a wreath of white roses on +her head. She addressed him thus: + +"I am the Fairy Candide; I wished to see if you were as good as +everybody declares you are, and for this reason I changed myself into +the little rabbit, and ran to you in my distress, for I know that +those who have pity for dumb creatures have still more pity for +mankind. I have come to thank you for what you did and to say that I +shall always be your friend, and will grant any request you would now +like to make." + +[Illustration] + +"Madam," replied the King, "I have one only son whom I love devotedly; +he is named Prince Chéri; if you have any good will for me, be a +friend to my son." + +[Illustration] + +"Willingly," responded the Fairy, "I will make your son the most +handsome prince in the world, or the richest, or the most powerful; +choose which you will for him." + +"I desire none of these things," replied the King, "but I shall be +very much obliged if you will make him the best of all princes, for +what good would it do to him to be handsome, rich, or powerful if he +were wicked? You know he would be unhappy, for it is only goodness +which brings content." + +"You are right," answered the Fairy, "but that I cannot do; Prince +Chéri must himself strive to become good. All that I can promise is +that I will give him good advice, and punish him for his faults, if he +will not himself correct them." + +And with this the father had to rest content. + +Not long afterwards the good King died, and two days later the Fairy +appeared to Prince Chéri. + +"I promised your father to be your friend," she told him; "here is a +little gold ring, take care of it, for it is worth more than diamonds. +Every time that you are about to do any wrong action it will prick +you. If, in spite of the pricks, you continue your bad actions, you +will lose my friendship and I shall become your enemy." + +Saying this the Fairy vanished, leaving the Prince very much +astonished. + +For some time Chéri behaved so well that the ring did not prick +at all, but one day when he returned from the chase, having caught +nothing, he felt so ill-humoured, that when his dog Bibi came fawning +upon him, he kicked the poor, faithful creature from him. At that +moment the ring pricked like a pin running into his finger. + +"What is this?" he exclaimed: "the Fairy must be mocking me, surely +I've done no great harm in kicking an animal that annoyed me. What's +the use of being ruler of a great empire if I may not treat my dog as +I will?" + +"I am not mocking you," he heard in reply to his thoughts; "you have +been bad tempered, and you have behaved unkindly to a poor animal who +did not deserve such treatment. I know you are higher than a dog, but +the advantage of being ruler of a great empire is not in doing all the +harm one wishes, but in doing all the good one can." + +Chéri promised to be better, but he did not keep his word, and so the +ring often pricked him, sometimes until his finger bled, and at last, +in anger, he threw it away. + +Now he thought he would be truly happy, and he gave way to any foolish +fancies and wrong wishes that came into his head, until he really +became very wicked and was disliked by everyone. + +One day when he was out walking he saw a girl named Zélie, who was so +beautiful that he resolved to marry her. + +But Zélie was as good as she was beautiful, and said to him: + +"Sir, I am only a shepherdess and have no fortune, but, in spite of +that, I will never marry you, for although I should be a Queen, and +you are handsome and rich, your evil behaviour would make me hate +you." + +Upon this, Chéri flew into a passion, and ordered his officers to +carry Zélie to the Palace, but she was not used unkindly there, for +the Prince loved her. + +However, after a while, urged by his foster-brother, a bad man who +encouraged Chéri in his wickedness, the young man rushed in a rage to +the room in which Zélie was confined, determined that, if she still +refused to marry him, the very next day she should be sold as a slave. + +Great was his surprise, on entering the apartment, to find the captive +had disappeared, for he carried the key of the door in his pocket. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +ZÉLIE AND THE FAIRY CANDIDE "PRINCE CHÉRI"] + +Amongst those at the Royal Court was a Councillor named Suliman, a man +of a noble mind, who had often dared to tell the Prince of his faults, +and had at first been thanked for this, but later on Chéri grew angry +that anyone should presume to blame him while all others at the Court +were full of flattery and praise, but in his heart of hearts the +Prince respected this good man, and this the wicked flatterers knew +full well, and therefore feared lest he should come into the Prince's +favour. + +So now they falsely said, that it was Suliman who had helped Zélie +to escape, and beyond himself with fury, Chéri commanded his +foster-brother to send soldiers to bring Suliman to him in chains, +like a criminal. + +After giving these orders Chéri retired to his chamber, but scarcely +had he entered, when the earth trembled, there came a great clap of +thunder, and the Fairy Candide appeared before him. + +"I promised your father," said she in a stern voice, "to give you +good advice, and to punish you if you refused to follow it. You +have despised my counsels and your crimes have converted you into a +monster, the horror of heaven and earth. Now it is time to fulfill my +promise of punishment. I condemn you to take the resemblance of the +beasts you are like in disposition--A lion, because of your fury--a +wolf, on account of your greediness--a serpent, for destroying him who +has been your second father--a bull, by reason of your brutality." + +[Illustration] + +Hardly had the Fairy pronounced these words, when Chéri perceived with +horror that his body had been transformed. + +He had a lion's head, a bull's horns, the feet of a wolf, and the +tail of a viper. At the same moment he found himself in a forest, and +there, after roaming about miserably for some time, he fell into a +pit dug by hunters. He was captured and led into the capital of his +Kingdom. + +On the way thither instead of acknowledging that he had brought this +evil plight upon himself, he bit at his chains, and cursed the Fairy. +As he was nearing the city great rejoicings were seen on every side, +and, on the hunters enquiring the reason, they were told that Prince +Chéri, whose only pleasure it was to torment his people, had been +crushed to death in his chamber by a thunder-bolt, a just punishment +for his offences. Four of his wicked companions had tried to partition +the Kingdom between them, but the people would have none such to rule, +and they had offered the crown to the good and wise Suliman. Chéri +panted with rage on hearing this, and in the Palace Square he saw +Suliman on a superb throne, and all the people who shouted with joy, +and wished him a long life to repair the evil brought about by their +former sovereign. "I accept the throne," said Suliman, "but it is to +preserve it for Prince Chéri. A fairy has revealed to me that he +is not dead, and possibly will return to you as virtuous as in his +earliest years. Alas!" cried Suliman, bursting into tears, "his +flatterers have ruined him, I know that at heart he is good." These +words moved Chéri to sorrow for his crimes, and he felt that he had +not been punished as severely as he deserved, and he now resolved to +amend his faults. + +[Illustration] + +Therefore he obeyed the man who had charge over him, and who +constantly cruelly beat him, and one day when this keeper lay asleep, +and a tiger who had broken loose was about to devour him, Chéri fought +the fierce beast, and saved the man's life. + +Then a voice was heard saying, "a good action shall be rewarded!" and, +to Chéri's joy he was instantaneously transformed into a pretty little +dog which the keeper carried to the Queen. + +The Queen was delighted with him, but, for fear he should grow bigger, +she gave him only small pieces of bread to eat, so that poor Chéri +nearly died of hunger. + +One day he carried his little piece of bread into the garden to eat it +there, but wandering with it in his mouth, still further on, he saw a +young girl pale and thin, and almost fainting for want of food. + +"I am hungry," thought Chéri, "but if I give my breakfast to this +poor thing, perhaps I shall save her life." He placed his bread in the +girl's hand, and she ate it hungrily. Just then he heard loud cries, +and saw that it was the beautiful Zélie struggling to free herself +from four men who were carrying her into a house near by. + +Chéri, longing to help her, followed them barking, and although the +men kicked him savagely, he would not leave the place. Presently from +a window was thrown a plateful of tempting-looking food. Chéri was +just about to devour it, when the girl to whom he had given the bread, +rushed forward and throwing her arms around him cried, + +[Illustration: "COME, MY CHILDREN, I AM GOING TO TRANSPORT YOU TO YOUR +PALACE."] + +"Poor little dog, do not touch that food, it is poisoned." Just then +a voice was heard saying, "You see that a good action meets with +reward," and at the same time Chéri was changed into a pretty white +pigeon. For several days he flew around hoping to catch sight of +Zélie, and at last, seated by a hermit, outside a cave, he found +her. Fluttering down he alighted upon her shoulder. Zélie stroked his +feathers whispering that she now accepted his gift and would love +him always, and at that moment Chéri regained his natural figure, +and Fairy Candide appeared in place of the hermit whose form she had +taken. "Come, my children," said she, "I am going to transport you +to your Palace, that Chéri may receive his crown of which he has now +become worthy," and hardly had she ceased speaking, when they found +themselves in Suliman's presence. The worthy Governor was delighted to +behold his dear master, and gladly resigned the throne to him. Chéri +and Zélie reigned long and happily, and we are told that the ring, +which the Prince now wore again, never once severely pricked him. + + + + +[Illustration] + +THE WHITE CAT + + +There was once a King who had three sons, all handsome and brave, but +it came to his ears that they wished to reign now instead of waiting +until he died, he therefore determined to divert their minds by making +promises the fulfilment of which he would always be able to evade. So +he called them to his room and spoke: "You must agree with me, my +dear children, that at my great age I cannot manage the business of +my kingdom as I used to do, and as I am intending retiring into the +country, it seems to me that a clever, faithful dog would be very good +company, and I promise you that whichever brings me the most beautiful +little dog at once succeeds to the kingdom." + +The Princes were much surprised to hear their father's wish for a +little dog, but agreed with pleasure to go in search of one. They said +goodbye to the King, who gave them money and jewels, announcing that +in a year he should expect them to return, all on the same day and at +the same hour, bringing to him their little dogs. + +[Illustration: "ON A CERTAIN NIGHT, DURING A STORM OF THUNDER AND +RAIN, HE LOST HIS WAY."] + +Then the Princes set out, each by a different road, agreeing in a +year's time to meet at a certain place a short distance from their +home. + +The two elder met with many adventures, but it is only the youngest +that we shall follow. + +This youngest Prince was very courteous, merry, clever and +accomplished, he was tall, handsome, and all that a prince should be. + +Very seldom a day passed without his buying dogs, little dogs, big +dogs, sporting dogs, spaniels, hounds, dogs of all sorts. When he +found a beautiful one and then came across a still better, he let the +first one go, for being alone--the Princes had declined to take any +attendants--he could not take charge of thirty or forty thousand dogs. + +He travelled on, keeping to one road, until on a certain night, during +a storm of thunder and rain, he lost his way, and after some wandering +arrived at a most superb castle where nobody was to be seen but about +a dozen hands all holding torches. Other hands pushed him forwards, +and guided him through one apartment after another, all so rich in +precious stones and beautiful paintings, that it was like enchantment. + +After passing through sixty rooms, the hands stopped him, and here the +wet garments of the Prince were taken away, and he was clad in raiment +of the most exquisite description. The hands then conducted him into +a banqueting hall, where entered a little figure, not two feet high, +covered with a long black crepe veil, followed by a great procession +of cats. + +The Prince was too much astonished to move. The little figure +approached him, raising the veil, and he saw the most beautiful White +Cat he had ever beheld. + +Addressing the Prince she said: + +"King's son! welcome! my Feline Majesty sees you with pleasure!" + +"Madame Cat," replied the Prince, "it is very good of you to receive +me thus, but you are not an ordinary cat; being able to speak, and +possessing this superb castle, are proof of that." + +After they had conversed a little while, supper was served to them, +during which the Prince entertained the Cat by telling her all sorts +of news, and he discovered that she was well informed as to what was +taking place in the world. + +Supper over, various cats came in, dressed in fancy costumes, and +danced a ballet, then the White Cat bid her visitor good-night, and +the hands which had conducted him before, led him to a bed-chamber. + +Early the next morning the hands awoke him, and dressing him in a +handsome hunting costume, led him to the courtyard, where he found the +White Cat upon a splendid monkey, with about five hundred other cats +assembled, all ready for the chase; and never had the Prince enjoyed +anything so much, for although mounted only upon a wooden horse, he +rode at a great pace. + +Day after day passed in such delights as made the Prince almost forget +his own country. + +"Alas!" said he to the White Cat again and again, "how sad I shall be +to leave you! I love you so dearly! Either become a woman, or change +me into a cat!" + +A year passes very quickly when one has no care or trouble, and is +enjoying life. But the White Cat knew when the Prince should return +home, and reminded him, saying, "Don't you know you have only three +days to look for the little dog for your father, and that your +brothers will have found the most beautiful?" + +Then the Prince came to himself, and cried, "By what charm have you +made me forget what is so important? Where shall I find the dog, and a +horse swift enough for such a journey?" And he was in great distress. + +The White Cat comforted him, however, saying that the wooden horse +would take him to his journey's end sufficiently quickly, and that she +would herself also provide the little dog; then she handed to him +a walnut, saying, "Put your ear to this shell and you will hear him +barking." + +So the Prince met his brothers, and they came into the King's +presence. + +[Illustration] + +The two elder sons had brought little dogs so delicate and small that +one hardly dared to touch them, and none could decide which should +have the kingdom. Then the youngest took from his pocket the nut the +Cat had given to him, and there was seen a little dog so tiny that +it could go through a ring without touching it; he was also able to +dance, and play the castanets, while his ears touched the ground. +The King was embarassed, for it was impossible to find a flaw in this +lovely little creature. + +However as he did not desire to part with his crown, he declared that +they had succeeded so well in their first quest that now he should +like them to search, by land and sea, for a piece of linen so fine +that it would pass through the eye of a very small needle. + +Then the three Princes set out once more, but the youngest mounted his +wooden horse and repaired at once to the White Cat, who was rejoiced +to see him, and the second year passed by as the first had done. + +When the day came round appointed by the King for the return of his +sons, the two elder appeared before him, and, without awaiting the +arrival of their brother, displayed their pieces of linen, which were +of a fineness quite astonishing. But although they would pass through +the eye of a large needle, through the small needle the King had +selected they would not go. + +There was much murmuring at this, and while the brothers were +disputing the King's decision, a charming sound was heard of trumpets +and other musical instruments. + +It was the youngest Prince who arrived in a chariot with out-riders +and numerous attendants, all of which had been provided for him by the +White Cat. + +After respectfully greeting his father and embracing his brothers, he +took out of a jewelled box a nut which he broke. On breaking the +nut he found a cherry stone, the stone was broken and there was the +kernel, in the kernel was a grain of corn, in the grain of corn a +millet seed, and within that a piece of linen so fine that it passed +six times through the smallest needle's eye, and moreover on it were +exquisite paintings of people and places without number. + +The King heaved a deep sigh, and turning to his children said, + +"Nothing pleases me, in my old age, so much as your deference to my +desires, and I wish to prove you once more. Travel for a year, and he +who at the end of the year brings home the most beautiful girl shall +marry her, and be crowned king on his marriage. I promise you that I +will not defer this reward any longer." + +Our Prince saw the injustice of all this; his little dog and piece +of linen were worth ten kingdoms, not only one; but he was too well +brought up to go against his father's wishes, and, mounting into his +chariot, with his retinue, he returned to the White Cat's Castle. + +"Well! King's son!" said the White Cat, "you have returned once more +without your crown?" + +"Madam," answered the Prince, "your gifts should have gained it for +me, but I am convinced that the King would have more pain in giving it +up than I should have pleasure in possessing it!" + +"Never mind," she replied, "you shall not neglect anything that may +deserve it; and if you must conduct a beautiful girl to your father's +court, I will look for one so that you may gain the prize. Meanwhile +let us be happy." + +[Illustration] + +If the Cat had not taken pains to remember the time when he must +return to the court, the Prince would surely have forgotten it. On the +evening before, she told him that she would bring him to one of the +most beautiful Princesses in the world, that at last the hour had +arrived to destroy the fatal work of an evil fairy, and to do this he +must make up his mind to cut off her head and tail, which he was at +once to throw into the fire. + +"I," cried the Prince, "Blanchette that I love: do you think I should +be cruel enough to kill you? No doubt, you wish to prove my heart +which will certainly never forget what I owe to you for your +kindness." + +"No! King's son," she continued, "I don't think you are ungrateful. Do +this that I beseech you, and then we shall begin to be happy with one +another, by the faith and honour of a cat, believe that I am truly +your friend." + +Tears flowed from the Prince's eyes even at the thought, and he said +all that he could to avoid it, but she urged him so vehemently that +at last he took his sword and tremblingly cut off the head and tail of +his dear friend the Cat. + +In the same moment took place the most marvellous change imaginable. + +The body of the White Cat grew large, and was transformed into that +of a girl; how, one could not say; one only knew it was so. Her figure +was majestic, her manners charming, her whole appearance beautiful +beyond words. + +Then there entered an immense number of lords and ladies, who carrying +their cats' skins, or with them thrown across their shoulders, came +and cast themselves at the feet of the Queen, expressing their joy at +seeing her again in her rightful form. + +She received them all with a kindness which showed the goodness of her +heart, and then turning to the Prince she told the story of her life, +and how by a wicked enchantment she had been transformed into a White +Cat. + +"But it is you, my Prince, who have freed me," she concluded; "as soon +as I saw you I knew my troubles were at an end." + +They set out forthwith in a splendid carriage. As they drew near the +castle, at the place where the three brothers were to meet, the Queen +entered into a little crystal rock ornamented with precious stones, +and this was carried by richly dressed young men. + +The Prince who had remained in the carriage, saw his brothers, +approaching with wondrously beautiful ladies. + +On being questioned he told them that all he had brought was a little +White Cat. + +[Illustration: "THE BODY OF THE WHITE CAT GREW LARGE AND WAS +TRANSFORMED INTO THAT OF A GIRL."] + +They began to laugh at him, and drove on followed by the young Prince, +while after him was brought the crystal rock. + +Arrived at the Palace the two elder Princes dismounted with their +marvellous Princesses. + +The King received them graciously, and did not know to which to award +the prize. + +He looked at his youngest son and said, "This time, then, you have +come alone." "Your Majesty will see in this rock a little White +Cat who mews sweetly and has soft little velvet paws," answered the +Prince. + +The King smiled, and himself went to open the rock. But, as he came +near, the Queen, with a touch, made it shatter to pieces, and from out +of it she appeared like the sun that has been hidden by clouds; her +fair hair was spread over her shoulders, and fell in waves to her +feet, and she was robed in a gown of white and rose-colour. + +She made a deep curtsey to the King who, struck with admiration, could +not help exclaiming, + +"Here is one who is matchless, and she deserves my crown." + +"Sire," she answered, "I have not come to take away the throne that +you fill with such dignity; I was born heir to six kingdoms, allow +me to offer you one, and one of them I give to each of your sons. In +return all I ask of you is this young Prince for my husband. We shall +still have three kingdoms." + +The King and all the Court uttered loud cries of joy. The marriage was +at once celebrated, also that of the other two Princes; and in such a +manner that the Court spent several months in fêtes of all sorts. + +Then each one of them departed to govern his kingdom, the White Cat +making herself ever remembered as much by her kindness and generosity +as by her rare merit and beauty. + +[Illustration] + + + + +BLUEBEARD + + +In the long ago times, in a splendid house, surrounded by fine +gardens and a park, there lived a man who had riches in abundance, and +everything to make him popular except one, and that was his beard, for +his beard was neither black as a raven's wing, golden as the sunlight, +nor just an ordinary every-day colour, but it was blue, bright blue. + +Of course had blue beards come into fashion his would have been +considered beautiful beyond words, but, as far as we know, blue beards +have never as yet been fashionable, nor are they likely to be so. + +However, in spite of his blue beard this man had married several +times, though what had become of his wives nobody could say. + +Now, not far from Bluebeard's house there dwelt a widow with two very +lovely daughters, and one of these Bluebeard wished to marry, but +which he did not mind, they might settle that between themselves. + +Neither of these girls had the least desire to have a husband with a +blue beard, and also, not knowing the fate of the other wives, they +did not like to risk disappearing from the world as those had done, +but being very polite young women they would not refuse Bluebeard's +proposals outright. The younger said, "I would not for a moment take +away Sister Anne's chance of marrying such a wealthy man," while +Sister Anne declared that, although the elder, she would much prefer +to give way to her sister. And so it went on for some time. + +Then Bluebeard invited the widow and her daughters to spend a week +with him, and many of their neighbours he also invited. + +Most sumptuous was the entertainment provided for them. Hunting and +fishing expeditions, picnics and balls went on from morning till +night, and all the night through, so that there was not time even to +think of sleep, only feasting and pleasure the whole week long. + +So well, indeed, did the younger sister enjoy this, that by the end of +the week she had begun to think perhaps after all her host's beard was +not so very blue, and that it would be a fine thing to be the mistress +of such a magnificent mansion, and the wife of such a rich husband. + +And so, not long afterwards, there was a grand wedding, and the +widow's younger daughter became Mrs. Bluebeard. + +About a month later, Bluebeard told his wife that he must leave her +for several weeks, having to travel on business. + +"While I am absent, my dear," said he, "invite your relations and +friends and enjoy yourself just as you please in entertaining them. +See here are my keys, the keys of the rooms and of the chests where I +keep my money, my gold and silver plate, and my jewels. Unlock rooms +and chests and use freely what you will." + +[Illustration] + +"This small key," he added, pointing to quite a little one, "is the +key of the door at the end of the lower landing, you will not need to +use this at all. In fact, should you open that door, or even put this +key into the lock, I should be dreadfully angry, indeed I should make +you suffer for it in a terrible way." + +Then Bluebeard bid his wife good-bye, and departed. + +As soon as Mrs. Bluebeard's friends and relations knew that her +husband was away, they came flocking to visit her, for they longed to +see all her splendid possessions, but had feared to come before. + +They could not enough admire the magnificent apartments, and ran from +one to another praising everything they beheld. + +But the young wife heeded nothing they said or did, all she thought +of was that little key which she must not use, wondering more and more +why she ought not to open that one particular door. + +At last she could bear it no longer, but slipping away from her +visitors, she ran along the passages and stairs, nearly falling down +them, so great was her haste, until she came to that door at the end +of the corridor. + +Not pausing an instant, she thrust the key into the lock, and the door +sprang open. + +At first she could distinguish nothing, for the room was dark and +gloomy, but then, all of a sudden, she knew what had become of +Bluebeard's other wives, for there they lay, in a long, straight row, +all dead. She stood horrified for a moment or two, gazing at the +pale faces, and long hair spread out around them, then picking up +the little key which she had taken from the lock but dropped in her +fright, she hastily quitted the room, shut and locked the door, and +ran to her own chamber to calm herself before returning to her guests. +But she was unable to rest for an instant, so dreadful were her +feelings; then with terror she noticed that on the key there was a +stain. She wiped it with her handkerchief, but alas! it was blood that +would not be wiped away. She washed the key and rubbed it, and +scraped it and polished it, but all to no purpose, if she succeeded +in cleansing one side, the mark came out on the other. For the key was +enchanted. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +BLUEBEARD] + +That same evening Bluebeard returned saying he had met the man whom +he was wanting to see, and so the long journey was unnecessary, and he +was rejoiced to be at home again. + +Next morning he called for the keys; his wife brought them to him, +but not the little one; that she left behind. Bluebeard noticed this +directly and sent her to fetch it. Trembling, and white as a sheet, +she was forced to give it into his hand. + +"Ha! what is this?" he cried, "what is this stain that I see!" + +His poor wife trembled still more, and could not speak. + +"Wretched woman!" shouted Bluebeard, "you have used this key, you have +unlocked the door of that room at the end of the passage. You shall +die!!!" + +In vain did his wife plead with him to spare her, kneeling before him +with tears streaming from her eyes. "You shall die!" he cried again, +more savagely than before. + +"Let me have a few moments alone, to prepare for death," + +"Half a quarter of an hour, but not a moment longer," he replied, and +left her. + +The poor young woman hastened to a room at the foot of the turret +stairs where was her Sister Anne, and called to her. + +"Sister Anne, Sister Anne, look from the tower window. Can you see no +one coming?" And Sister Anne, looking out, answered: + +"Alas! No! Nothing but the green grass, and the sun which shines upon +it." + +Bluebeard shouted from below that the time was almost up. + +"Sister Anne, Sister Anne, look once again, can you see no one +coming?" whispered the young wife wringing her hands. Her brothers, +she knew, were to visit her that day--if only they would come in time! + +"Alas, No!" Sister Anne replied. "I see a cloud of dust, but it is +only a flock of sheep on the road." + +But now Bluebeard bawled out so loudly for his wife to come down, that +the whole house shook. + +"Sister Anne, Sister Anne, tell me is no one coming?" + +"I see two horsemen afar off," cried Sister Anne. "I will beckon to +them to hasten hither." + +But Bluebeard would wait not a moment longer, and nearly dead with +terror his wife descended, still entreating him to spare her life. + +He would not, however, give heed to her prayers, and was just +brandishing his sword, so that it might come down straight and true +upon her slender neck, when the door burst open and two young army +officers came rushing in, whom Bluebeard recognised as the brothers +of his wife. He swiftly fled, but they speedily followed, and for his +many crimes slew him then and there. + +All his wealth now belonged to his widow, and she gratefully rewarded +her brothers by purchasing them commissions in the army; she settled +a large sum of money upon her sister, and after a while she married +again, and with a good husband lived a happy life. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +BEAUTY AND THE BEAST + + +Once upon a time, a long while ago, there was a Beast. + +He was a Great Beast, and lived in a Great Castle that stood in the +middle of a Great Park, and everybody in the country held the Beast in +great fear. In fact everything about the Beast was great; his roar was +great and terrific and could be heard for miles around the park, and +when he roared the people trembled. + +Nobody ever saw the Beast, which was by no means remarkable, for the +Beast never came out of his Park, and no one, I can assure you, ever +ventured on to his estate. + +But matters were not allowed to remain like this for ever, for +something very wonderful happened to the Beast and to somebody else, +and if that something had not happened this story would never have +been written. + +About two miles and three quarters from the Castle gates there lived +a rich merchant and his three daughters. The two elder girls were ugly +disagreeable things, and although they had all they could wish for to +make them happy they were always grumbling; but the youngest daughter, +whose name was Beauty, was very pretty, and her nature was happy and +good, her presence was sunshine, and she was the joy of her father's +heart. + +Well, one day the two elder sisters had something to grumble about +with a vengeance, for a telegram arrived to say that the merchant was +no longer a rich merchant, for he had lost all his money. + +So the horses and carriages had to be sold, and everything that was +of value was got rid of, the servants were sent away, and the merchant +and his daughters had to do their own work. + +Dear me, it was shocking, the way those two sisters grumbled, but +Beauty, oh dear no, she was all smiles, for her heart was as sunny as +ever, as she rolled up the sleeves of her print frock, and cooked the +dinner, and scrubbed the floors, and made herself useful, here, there, +and everywhere. + +Things had been going on like this for about three months, when one +fine morning another telegram boy came with another telegram to say +that somebody who owed the merchant a great deal of money was ready to +pay the debt, and all the merchant had to do was to go to the city and +get it. + +Of course, everybody was delighted at this good news, and the merchant +didn't waste any time, but started off to the city at once. + +"Mind you bring me something back," said the eldest daughter as he was +starting. + +"What shall it be?" asked the merchant. + +"A white satin dress trimmed with lace and pearls," said his eldest +daughter. + +"And you must bring me something too, please, father," said the second +daughter. + +"And what do you want," asked the merchant. + +"A purse full of gold so that I can buy what I want myself," said the +second daughter. + +"I will try and do what you both ask," he said, "and what shall I +bring for my Beauty?" + +"I will wait a little for my dresses and things," replied the smiling +Beauty, as she helped her father on with his cloak, "but I should like +you to bring me home a rose, a lovely red rose, if you can." + +So her father kissed her, and promised he would bring her the rose, +and went on his way full of hopes. + +What a pity it is that our hopes cannot be always realized, and that +we are so often doomed to disappointment! When the merchant arrived at +the city, to his dismay he found that the man who owed him the money +was still unable to pay him, the man had been disappointed himself at +the last moment. + +So the unhappy father had to return home without the white satin dress +trimmed with lace and pearls, and without the bag of money, and he +dreaded meeting his two daughters, for he knew they would be terribly +angry. + +[Illustration] + +Now on his way home from the station to his house he had to pass by +part of the wall that surrounded the Great Park where the Great Beast +lived in his Great Castle; and as he passed by a corner of the wall +what should he see hanging just over the top, and just within his +reach if he stood on his toes, but a lovely red rose. + +"At any rate I can take my Beauty what she asked for," he said to +himself, and, without so much as giving a thought to the wrong he was +doing, he stood on his toes and plucked the rose. + +He was sorry he did it. + +Of a sudden there was a roar, such a roar that the very ground shook, +and as to the poor merchant he quivered like a leaf. + +Enough to make him quiver indeed, for a gate in the wall suddenly +opened, and out rushed the _Beast_. + +Yes, the Beast, if you please, and he seized the merchant by the +scruff of his neck, and dragged him into the Park, and shut the gate +after him. + +"Don't you know it's a sin to steal?" roared the Beast. "How dare you +steal my roses? I am going to kill you." + +"Oh, mercy, Mr. Beast," cried the unhappy man, flinging himself on his +knees before the monster. + +[Illustration] + +"I'm going to kill you," roared the Beast still more loudly. "It's +taken years to cultivate this sort of rose, and--and I'm going to +kill you. Unless," he added after a pause, "you send me one of your +daughters here instead." + +"All right," said the merchant and got on his feet again. + +"She must be here to-morrow by breakfast time, and I breakfast early," +said the Beast, as he let the merchant out of the gate. "If she is not +here, I shall come for you, and don't you forget it." + +It was by no means likely that he would forget it, in fact he could +think of nothing else. He hurried home and told his dreadful news, and +received a dreadful scolding from his two elder daughters, who were +angry at not getting their presents. + +"And it is Beauty's fault that you have got into this trouble," they +said. "Beauty and her stupid rose. Beauty had better get you out of +the trouble." Beauty said little, but smiled on, with sunshine in her +heart, and trust in her loving nature, and cooked the dinner. + +[Illustration: "WHEN SHE CAME TO THE GATE IN THE WALL SHE KNOCKED UPON +IT THREE TIMES"] + +Early next morning when the dawn was breaking she left her father's +house, leaving a little note behind her begging him not to be anxious +but that she had gone to the Beast's castle. + +When she came to the gate in the wall she knocked upon it three +times and it opened as if by magic, for she could see no one. And she +stepped into the garden of red roses, and in the distance across the +Park she saw the Castle, and she thought she had never seen anything +so beautiful. For it was built of mother-of-pearl, and the red and +yellow gleams of the rising sun shone upon its glistening walls, and +lit them up with a thousand radiant lights. + +Beauty marvelled at the loveliness and walked on. And when she arrived +at this beautiful Castle, the huge gates opened as if by magic, and +the doors opened as if by magic, for never a soul did she see, nor +living thing of any sort. + +And in the great hall was the breakfast table laid for two. It was +a nice breakfast with steaming hot dishes, and jams, honey, and hot +rolls, and brightly polished silver, and sweet flowers. + +Then the Beast appeared suddenly from behind a curtain; oh, he was +an awful Beast, and Beauty's heart beat fast! But he seemed a polite +Beast for all that. + +He handed Beauty a chair, and when she had sat down said: + +"I bid you welcome; which do you take, tea or coffee?" + +"Tea please," answered Beauty. + +"Then pour it out," he said, "and I'll take tea too, please. Eggs, do +you like eggs hard or soft?" + +"I always cook mine three minutes and a half," replied Beauty. + +"Half a minute too much, I think. But you shall have just what you +like." + +And so she had; not only at the breakfast table but in everything. She +had only to express a wish and it was immediately gratified. She +had ponies to ride, and dogs and cats, and pet birds, and the most +beautiful dresses ever worn by real princesses. + +And if it had not been that she was away from her father she would +really have been happy. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +BEAUTY AND THE BEAST] + +The Beast was most kind and attentive to her, and told her that he +loved her, and three times a day he asked her to marry him, but Beauty +shook her head and said, oh no, she couldn't. + +Well, Beauty had been at the great Castle some time when she began to +pine to go home and see her father, and she begged the Beast to let +her go. + +"Very good," he said with a great sigh, "you may go home to-day, but +promise me that you will be back early to-morrow morning. If you do +not come back early I am sure I shall die for I love you so dearly." + +So Beauty promised and went home, and she took presents for her father +and her sisters, and when the sisters heard of all the wonderful +things at the great Castle, they were envious and jealous, and made up +their minds to do Beauty and the Beast a great injury. + +So they mixed something in Beauty's supper that made her sleep nearly +all the next day, and so she did not keep her promise. It was evening +when she arrived at the gate in the wall, instead of early morning. + +But she knocked three times and the gate opened by magic, and she went +through the garden and hurried to the Castle, that shone like fire in +the light of the setting sun. And the huge gates opened by magic, and +the doors opened by magic, and she stood in the great hall, but there +was no Beast there. She searched in all the rooms but he was not +there; with fear and anxiety in her heart she ran into the gardens, +and there she found him at last. Found him lying stretched out on the +grass, and she thought he was dead. + +"Oh, dear darling Beast," she cried, as she threw herself on her knees +beside him, and raised his ugly head, "dear Beast, do not die, for +I love you with all my heart, and will marry you to-morrow." And she +kissed him. Then of a sudden he sprang to his feet, but no longer +the Beast, no longer a hideous monster, but a beautiful prince most +beautifully dressed. "Dearest," he said, "a wicked fairy turned me +into this brute form until a day should come when a good girl like you +should tell me that she loved me. And you will marry me to-morrow." + +"Oh, yes," answered Beauty, "but the wicked fairy could not change +your nature. I would have married you if you had remained just as you +were." + +[Illustration] + +And so they married and lived happy ever afterwards, and they took +care of Beauty's father until the end of his days; so he was happy, +and they forgave the two sisters and gave them fine dresses and +jewels, and the two sisters turned over a new leaf and were less +selfish, and they were happy, so this is a very happy ending to the +story. + +What a pity all stories can't end the same way! + + + + +[Illustration] + +TUFTY RIQUET + + +There was once upon a time a Queen who had the ugliest little baby +imaginable, so ugly, indeed, that it was almost impossible to believe +he was a little boy at all. + +A fairy, however, assured his mother that the little baby would be +very good and clever, saying that she was also giving him a gift which +would enable him to make that person whom he loved the best as clever +as himself. + +This somewhat consoled the Queen, but still she was very unhappy +because her son was so ugly, though no sooner had he begun to speak +than he could talk about all sorts of things, and he had such pretty +ways that people were charmed with him. + +I forgot to say, that, when he was quite a baby, he had a funny little +tuft of hair on his head, so he was called Tufty Riquet, for Riquet +was the family name. + +When Riquet was about seven years old, the Queen of a kingdom near by +was given two baby daughters, twins, of which one was so exquisitely +beautiful that the Queen nearly died of joy when she saw her, and so +the fairy, the same one who had given Riquet his gift of cleverness, +to keep the Queen from making herself ill with excitement, told her +that this little Princess would not be at all clever, indeed she would +be as stupid as she was beautiful. + +[Illustration] + +The Queen was very much grieved at this, and felt still more troubled +when she beheld her other daughter, for the second Princess was +extremely ugly. + +"Do not take it too much to heart, madam," remarked the fairy, "for +this second daughter will be so clever that it will scarcely be +noticed that she is not beautiful." + +"Well, if it must be so, it must," remarked the Queen, "but I should +certainly have liked the elder one, who is beautiful, to be just a +little bit clever too." + +"I can do nothing as to her mind, madam," replied the fairy, "but for +her beauty I can, and as there is nothing I would not do to please +you, I will give her a gift so that she can make the one who wins her +heart beautiful too." + +As the Princesses grew up, their gifts likewise grew with them, so +that everybody spoke about the beauty of the one and the cleverness +of the other; but also their defects grew, so that it could not but +be noticed that the younger was daily uglier, and the elder day by +day became more stupid, until she either said nothing in reply to a +question, or something quite silly, and so clumsy was she that she +could not arrange four china ornaments on the chimney piece without +breaking one, or drink a glass of water without spilling half of it on +her frock. + +Although it is a great thing to have beauty, yet the younger generally +received more attention in company than her elder sister. + +At first, everybody would gather around the beautiful one admiringly, +but before long they would leave her for the clever Princess, to +listen to her pleasant conversation; and by the end of a quarter of +an hour the elder would be left alone, while the other would be the +centre of a group. + +This the elder sister noticed, in spite of her stupidity, and she +would gladly have given all her beauty for half the cleverness of +her sister, and sometimes the Queen, although full of kindness, would +reproach her daughter for her foolishness, which caused the Princess +almost to die of grief. + +One day when she had retreated to a wood to brood over her +unhappiness, she saw a little man coming towards her. He was +uncommonly ugly and unpleasing in appearance, but was very richly +dressed. + +It was the young Prince Tufty Riquet, who had fallen in love with the +pictures he had seen of her, and had left his father's kingdom for the +sake of making her acquaintance. + +Delighted to meet her alone in this manner, he accosted her as +courteously as possible, but soon, noticing that she was melancholy, +he said: + +"I cannot understand how it is that anyone as beautiful as you are, +can be as sad as you appear to be; for I must own, that although I +can boast of having seen many beauties, not one have I ever met whose +beauty equalled yours." + +[Illustration] + +"It pleases you to say so, sir," replied the Princess, and relapsed +into silence. + +"Beauty," went on Riquet, "is so delightful that one would give +everything for it, and if anyone is beautiful I can't understand +anything troubling greatly." + +"I would rather be as ugly as you," answered the Princess, "and be +clever, than as beautiful as I am, and be stupid." + +"To think you are stupid is a sure sign that you have a certain amount +of cleverness, madam," replied Riquet. + +"I don't think about that," said the Princess, "but I am quite sure +that I am very silly, and the grief of that is killing me." + +"If that is all that troubles you, I can soon put an end to your +grief," said Riquet, "for I have the power of giving cleverness to the +person whom I love the best, and if only you will marry me, you shall +become as clever as you can wish." + +The Princess was greatly astonished, but remained silent. + +"I can see," continued Riquet, "that this proposal is not to your +taste, and I am not astonished. I will give you a year to think about +it." + +So great was the longing of the Princess to be clever, that she at +once promised Riquet to marry him in a year's time, and no sooner had +she made the promise than a great change took place in her, and she +found she could say all sorts of pleasant things, on all sorts of +subjects, in quite an easy manner. + +She at once began a conversation with Riquet, making such brilliant +remarks, that he could almost think he had given her all his +cleverness and had kept none for himself. + +When the Princess returned to the Palace, everybody was astonished +at the sudden and extraordinary change, for, instead of saying stupid +things, or just nothing at all, she was now full of beautiful ideas +which she expressed most charmingly. + +The report of this transformation was soon spread abroad, and all +the young Princes of the neighbouring kingdoms asked for her hand in +marriage, but not one did she find altogether suitable. + +However, at last one arrived, who was so powerful, rich, clever and +handsome, that she could not help approving of him, and her father, +noticing this, told her she was quite free to choose what husband she +wished. + +The Princess thanked him, and asked for time to consider the matter. + +[Illustration] + +Then, to think it over, she went by chance, into the wood where she had +met Tufty Riquet. + +While she was walking, deep in thought, she noticed a loud noise +beneath her feet, as of many persons hastening to and fro; then, +listening attentively, she heard a voice say, "Bring me the saucepan," +and another voice cry, "Put some wood on the fire." + +At the same moment the earth opened and she saw a big kitchen full +of cooks, and all sorts of things necessary for the making of a +magnificent banquet, and everybody hard at work. + +The Princess, astonished at this sight, asked the men for whom they +were working. + +"For the Prince Tufty Riquet," answered the head cook, "for to-morrow +is his wedding day." + +The Princess, more surprised than ever, all at once recollected that +it was just a year ago that very day that she had promised to marry +the ugly Tufty Riquet. + +[Illustration: "TO THINK IT OVER SHE WENT INTO THE WOOD."] + +The reason that she had not remembered her promise before was that she +was foolish when she made it, and in becoming clever she had forgotten +all her former stupidities. + +She had only walked on a few steps further, when Riquet appeared +before her, magnificently clad, as a Prince about to marry. + +"Here you see me, madam," said he, "keeping my word, and I have no +doubt that you also came here to keep yours, and by giving me your +hand to make me the happiest of men." + +"I frankly confess," replied the Princess, "that I have not yet made +up my mind, and I do not think I can ever do as you wish." + +"You surprise me, madam," said Riquet. + +"I can quite believe that," said the Princess, "and if you were not +a good and clever man, I should not know how to act. But you are well +aware that it was when I was stupid I promised to marry you, but now, +as you may imagine, I am not so easily pleased." + +"Except for my ugliness," said Riquet, "have you anything against me? +Do you object to my birth, my character, or my manners?" + +"Not at all," replied the Princess, "I love those things in you." + +"If that is so," answered Riquet, "I shall indeed be made happy, +because you can cause me to become the most delightful of men if only +you will desire it. For know, madam, the same fairy who at my birth +gave me the power to impart cleverness to whomsoever I should love, +gave you a gift also, that of being able to render beautiful the one +to whom you would grant this favour." + +"If that is the case," exclaimed the Princess, "I desire with all my +heart that you might be the most handsome and pleasing Prince in the +world." + +No sooner had the Princess uttered these words than her wish was +fulfilled, though some say that no change really took place in Riquet, +but that the Princess loved him now so much that all his ugliness was +seen as beauty by her eyes. + +However that may be, she straightway consented to be his bride, and, +as the preparations had already been made, the wedding took place the +very next day. + +[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_ +THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS--"TUFTY RIQUET"] + +[Illustration] + + + + +THUMBLING + + +There was once a poor woodman sitting by the fire in his cottage and +his wife sat by his side spinning. "How lonely it is," said he, "for +you and me to sit here by ourselves without any children to play about +and amuse us, while other people seem so happy and merry with their +children!" "What you say is very true," said the wife, sighing, and +turning her wheel; "how happy should I be if I had but one child! and +if it were ever so small, nay, if it were no bigger than my thumb, I +should be very happy, and love it dearly." Now it came to pass that +this good woman's wish was fulfilled just as she desired; for, some +time afterwards, she had a little boy, who was quite healthy and +strong, but not much bigger than my thumb. So they said, "Well, we +cannot say we have not got what we wished for, and, little as he is, +we will love him dearly;" and they called him Thumbling. + +They gave him plenty of food, yet he never grew bigger, but remained +just the same size as when he was born; still, his eyes were sharp and +sparkling and he soon showed himself to be a clever little fellow, +who always knew well what he was about. One day, as the woodman was +getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel, he said, "I wish I had +some one to bring the cart after me, for I want to make haste." "Oh, +father!" cried Thumbling, "I will take care of that; the cart shall +be in the wood by the time you want it." Then the woodman laughed and +said, "How can that be? You cannot reach up to the horse's bridle." +"Never mind that, father," said Thumbling; "if my mother will only +harness the horse, I will get into his ear, and tell him which way to +go." "Well," said the father, "we will try for once." + +When the time came, the mother harnessed the horse to the cart, and +put Thumbling into its ear; and as he sat there, the little man told +the beast how to go, crying out, "Go on," and "Stop," as he wanted; +so the horse went on just as if the woodman had driven it himself into +the wood. It happened that, as the horse was going a little too fast, +and Thumbling was calling out "Gently, gently!" two strangers came up. +"What an odd thing that is!" said one, "there is a cart going along, +and I heard a carter talking to the horse but can see no one." "That +is strange," said the other; "let us follow the cart and see where it +goes." So they went on into the wood, till at last they came to the +place where the woodman was. Then Thumbling, seeing his father, cried +out, "See, father, here I am, with the cart, all right and safe; now +take me down." So his father took hold of the horse with one hand, and +with the other took his son out of the ear; then he put him down upon +a straw, where he sat as merry as you please. The two strangers were +all this time looking on, and did not know what to say for wonder. At +last one took the other aside and said, "That little urchin will make +our fortune if we can get him, and carry him about from town to town +as a show; we must buy him." So they went to the woodman and asked him +what he would take for the little man: "He will be better off," said +they, "with us than with you." "I won't sell him at all," said the +father, "my own flesh and blood is dearer to me than all the silver +and gold in the world." But Thumbling, hearing of the bargain they +wanted to make, crept up his father's coat to his shoulder, and +whispered in his ear, "Take the money, father, and let them have me; +I'll soon come back to you." + +[Illustration] + +So the woodman at last agreed to sell Thumbling to the strangers for +a large piece of gold. "Where do you like to sit?" said one of them. +"Oh! put me on the rim of your hat, that will be a nice gallery for +me; I can walk about there, and see the country as we go along." +So they did as he wished; and when Thumbling had taken leave of his +father, they carried him away with them. They journeyed on till it +began to be dusky, and then the little man said, "Let me get down, +I'm tired." So the man took off his hat and set him down on a clod of +earth in a ploughed field by the side of the road, But Thumbling ran +about amongst the furrows, and at last slipped into a mouse-hole. +"Good-night, masters," said he, "I'm off! mind and look sharp after me +the next time." They ran directly to the place, and poked the ends +of their sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain; Thumbling only +crawled further and further in, and at last it became quite dark, so +they were obliged to go their way without their prize, as sulky as you +please. + +[Illustration] + +When Thumbling found they were gone, he came out of his hiding-place. +"What dangerous walking it is," said he, "in this ploughed field! If +I were to fall from one of these great clods, I should certainly break +my neck." At last, by good chance, he found a large empty snail-shell. +"This is lucky," said he, "I can sleep here very well," and in he +crept. Just as he was falling asleep he heard two men passing, and one +said to the other, "How shall we manage to steal that rich parson's +silver and gold?" "I'll tell you," cried Thumbling. "What noise was +that?" said the thief, frightened. "I am sure I heard some one speak." +They stood still listening, and Thumbling said, "Take me with you, +and I'll soon show you how to get the parson's money." "But where are +you?" said they. "Look about on the ground," answered he, "and listen +where the sound comes from." At last the thieves found him out, and +lifted him up in their hands. "You little urchin!" said they, "what +can you do for us?" "Why, I can get between the iron window-bars of +the parson's house, and throw you out whatever you want." "That's a +good thought," said the thieves: "come along, we shall see what you +can do." + +When they came to the parson's house, Thumbling slipped through the +window-bars into the room, and then called out as loudly as he could +bawl, "Will you have all that is here?" At this the thieves were +frightened, and said "Softly, softly, speak low that you may not +awaken anybody." But Thumbling pretended not to understand them, and +bawled out again, "How much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?" +Now the cook lay in the next room, and hearing a noise she raised +herself in her bed and listened. Meanwhile the thieves were +frightened, and ran off to a little distance; but at last they plucked +up courage, and said, "The little urchin is only trying to make fools +of us." So they came back and whispered softly to him, saying, "Now, +let us have no more of your jokes, but throw out some of the money." +Then Thumbling called out as loudly as he could, "Very well; hold out +your hands, here it comes." The cook heard this quite plainly, so she +sprang out of bed and ran to open the door. The thieves rushed off as +if a wolf were at their heels; and the maid, having groped about +and found nothing, went away for a light. By the time she returned, +Thumbling had slipped off into the barn; and when the cook had looked +about and searched every hole and corner, and found nobody, she went +to bed, thinking she must have been dreaming with her eyes open. The +little man crawled about in the hay-loft, and at last found a glorious +place to finish his night's rest in; so he laid himself down, meaning +to sleep till daylight, and then find his way home to his father and +mother. But, alas! how cruelly was he disappointed! what crosses and +sorrows happen in this world! The cook got up early, before daybreak, +to feed the cows: she went straight to the hay loft, and carried away +a large bundle of hay with the little man in the middle of it fast +asleep. He still, however, slept on, and did not wake till he found +himself in the mouth of the cow, who had taken him up with a mouthful +of hay: "Good lack-a-day!" said he, "how did I manage to tumble into +the mill?" But he soon found out where he really was, and was obliged +to have all his wits about him in order that he might not get between +the cow's teeth, and so be crushed to death. At last she swallowed him +down. "It is rather dark here," said he; "they forgot to build windows +in this room to let the sun in; a candle would be no bad thing." + +[Illustration] + +Though he made the best of his bad luck, he did not like his quarters +at all; and the worst of it was, that more and more hay was always +coming down, and the space in which he was became smaller and smaller. +At last he cried out as loudly as he could, "Don't bring me any more +hay! Don't bring me any more hay!" The maid happened to be just then +milking the cow, and hearing someone speak and seeing nobody, and +yet being quite sure it was the same voice that she had heard in the +night, she was so much frightened that she fell off her stool and +overset the milk-pail. She ran off as fast as she could to her master, +the parson, and said, "Sir, sir, the cow is talking!" But the parson +said, "Woman, thou art surely mad!" However, he went with her into the +cow-house to see what was the matter. Scarcely had they set their feet +on the threshold when Thumbling called out, "Don't bring me any more +hay!" Then the parson himself was frightened; and thinking the cow was +surely bewitched, ordered that she should be killed directly. So the +cow was killed, and the part in which Thumbling lay was thrown away. + +Thumbling soon set himself to work to get out, which was not a very +easy task; but at last, just as he had made room to get his head +through, a new misfortune befell him: a hungry wolf passed by +and swallowed Thumbling and all, at a single gulp, and ran away. +Thumbling, however, was not disheartened; and thinking the wolf would +not dislike having some chat with him as he was going along, he called +out, "My good friend, I can show you a famous treat." "Where's that?" +said the wolf. "In such and such a house," said Thumbling, describing +his father's house, "you can crawl through the drain into the kitchen, +and there you will find cakes, ham, beef, and everything your heart +can desire." The wolf did not want to be asked twice; so that very +night he went to the house and crawled through the drain into the +kitchen, and ate and drank there to his heart's content. As soon as he +was satisfied, he wanted to get away; but he had eaten so much that +he could not get out the same way that he came in. This was just what +Thumbling had reckoned upon; and he now began to set up a great shout, +making all the noise he could. "Will you be quiet?" said the wolf, +"you'll awaken everybody in the house." "What's that to me?" said the +little man, "you have had your frolic, now I've a mind to be merry +myself;" and he began again singing and shouting as loudly as he +could. + +[Illustration: "THE WOODMAN AND HIS WIFE, BEING AWAKENED BY THE NOISE, +PEEPED THROUGH A CRACK IN THE DOOR."] + +The woodman and his wife, being awakened by the noise, peeped through +a crack in the door; but when they saw that the wolf was there, you +may well suppose that they were terribly frightened; and the woodman +ran for his axe, and gave his wife a scythe. "Now do you stay behind," +said the woodman; "and when I have knocked him on the head, do you +cut him open with the scythe." Thumbling heard all this, and said, +"Father, father! I am here; the wolf has swallowed me;" and his father +said, "Heaven be praised! we have found our dear child again;" and +he told his wife not to use the scythe, for fear she should hurt +him. Then he aimed a great blow, and struck the wolf on the head, and +killed him on the spot; and when he was dead they cut open his body +and set Thumbling free. "Ah!" said the father, "what fears we have had +for you!" "Yes, father," answered he, "I have travelled all over the +world, since we parted, in one way or other; and now I am very glad to +get fresh air again." "Why, where have you been?" said the father. "I +have been in a mouse-hole, in a snail-shell, down a cow's throat, and +inside the wolf; and yet here I am again safe and sound." "Well," said +they, "we will not sell you again for all the riches in the world." So +they hugged and kissed their dear little son, and gave him plenty to +eat and drink, and fetched new clothes for him, for his old ones were +quite spoiled on his journey. + +[Illustration: From "THE GOOSE GIRL"] + + + + +THE RAPHAEL HOUSE LIBRARY OF GIFT BOOKS + +_FOR BOYS AND GIRLS_ + +THIRTY BEAUTIFUL VOLUMES + +Edited by CAPTAIN EDRIC VREDENBURG + +Pictorial Boards, Cloth Back. Cloth, Bevelled Gilt Edges + +A charming series of delightful volumes that have certainly taken a +foremost place amongst the cherished classics for young people. Each +book embodies a distinct feature, all are carefully compiled, and +appeal alike to children and their elders. The tales are told by able +authors of to-day and celebrated writers of past years, with lavish +and excellent illustrations by popular artists. The volumes are bound +in attractive covers. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM OLD BRITISH LEGENDS + +BY M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE AND HILDA HART. + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY G. THEAKER. + +These ancient legends of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, +delightfully narrated and brilliantly illustrated, constitute a volume +which may well claim to be amongst the most beautiful books of this +beautiful series. Printed on rough art paper. 10 full-page colour +plates, 144 pp. letterpress, 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "Children's Stories from Old British Legends."_] + + +MY BOOK OF FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES + +STORIES RE-TOLD BY CAPT. EDRIC VREDENBURG AND OTHERS. + +ILLUSTRATED BY JENNIE HARBOUR. + +The well-known stories of "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," +"Red Riding Hood," etc., etc. Popular tales that are ever in demand, +sumptuously illustrated with exquisitely decorative and highly +original designs. Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour +plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES + +ILLUSTRATED BY MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL + +Dainty grace and quaint charm pervade this exquisite edition of a +selection from the beloved fairy tales. Numerous black and white +drawings. Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 +pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES + +ILLUSTRATED BY MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL + +New editions of these famous stories are ever acceptable, and in these +illustrations Mabel Lucie Attwell has excelled herself, so admirably +has she depicted the conceptions of the famous writers. Printed on +rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, +crown 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "My Book of Favourite Fairy Tales."_] + + +[Illustration: _From "Animal Legends from many Lands."_] + +ANIMAL LEGENDS FROM MANY LANDS + +BY ROSE YEATMAN WOOLF + +ILLUSTRATED BY EDWIN NOBLE + +Truly splendid stories illustrative of the cunning of the Fox, +the greediness of the Wolf, the obstinacy of the Mule, and other +fancifully descriptive tales of the ways and doings of the inhabitants +of the Animal Kingdom. These stories, as the title of the volume +indicates, are collected from the legendary lore of many lands. The +pictures are in the artist's most spirited and powerful style. Printed +on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, +crown 4to. + + +ÆSOP'S FABLES + +ILLUSTRATED BY EDWIN NOBLE + +A magnificent edition of these ever-applicable and world-famed Fables, +strikingly pictured with excellent coloured and black and white +drawings, and forming a most desirable volume alike for young and old, +and a handsome addition to any library. Printed on rough art paper, 12 +full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +[Illustration: _From "Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the +Round Table."] + +TALES OF KING ARTHUR + +AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE + +BY DORIS ASHLEY + +ILLUSTRATED BY ARTHUR A. DIXON. + +A particularly apt selection from the marvellous exploits of the +Knights of the Round Table, related in thrilling language and +illustrated in an ideal manner with pictures in colour and black +and white. A perfect present for a boy or girl. Printed on rough art +paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +GLORIOUS BATTLES OF ENGLISH HISTORY + +BY MAJOR C.H. WYLLY + +WITH FOREWORD BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY PAYNE + +Books of Battles are ever popular, and this one, with its well-chosen +incidents, told in an easy and interesting style by an officer of the +British Army, and its inspiring foreword, will take a high rank and +be greatly in demand particularly amongst that large section of the +public to whom fact appeals so much more strongly than fiction. The +illustrator has spared no pains in making his pictures worthy of their +subject. Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates and +numerous black and white drawings. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE + +BY E. NESBIT; AND + +WHEN SHAKESPEARE WAS A BOY + +BY DR. F.J. FURNIVALL, M.A. + +NEW EDITION + +This book brings before the minds of children, in a most attractive +manner, many of the great dramatic poet's works, acquainting them +with the characters and plots of the plays in a delicate way, and in +a style that is certain to make them long for the time when they +shall read the whole for themselves. The introductory history by Dr. +Furnivall is full of charm and instruction. This entirely new edition +has full-page colour and black and white drawings by John H. Bacon, +A.R.A., Arthur Dixon, Howard Davie and Harold Copping. Printed on +rough art paper. 10 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, +crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM TENNYSON + +BY NORA CHESSON + +NEW EDITION + +The most popular poems of Tennyson, "The Lily Maid," "Lady Clare," +"The Lord of Burleigh," "The Story of King Arthur," etc., etc., retold +in prose, and so introducing to the minds of young people the great +poet's works, and familiarising them with his celebrated characters. +This is a new edition, with additional beautiful illustrations in +colour and black and white by John H. Bacon, A.R.A., Gordon Browne, +R.I., Arthur Dixon and others. Printed on rough art paper. 10 +full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "Children's Stories from Tennyson."_] + + +[Illustration: _From "Children's Stories from Italian Fairy Tales."_] + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ITALIAN FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS + +BY LILIA ROMANO + +ILLUSTRATED BY HOWARD DAVIE Their charm enhanced by the numerous +characteristic illustrations, these stories, with their vivid local +colouring, gathered from the fairy tales and folk-lore of lovely +Italy, translated and retold, form a truly magnificent volume. Printed +on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, +crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM JAPANESE FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS + +BY N. KATO + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY G. THEAKER + +The stories most sympathetic to the feelings of the English-reading +juvenile public have been collected and translated, and the book, +with its fascinating illustrations in colour and black and white, has +proved a valuable addition to the series. Printed on rough art paper. +10 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS + +ILLUSTRATED BY A.A. DIXON + +Translated from the original, and adapted by Miss Seraphima Pulman, +these stories are truly charming, while they are valuable as giving +an insight into Russian life and habits. The illustrations possess +all that delicacy and beauty which is characteristic of the artist. +Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. +letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM INDIAN LEGENDS + +BY M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE AND HILDA HART + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY G. THEAKER + +Written with much feeling and charm, while the artist has delineated +the episodes with strikingly beautiful drawings in colour and black +and white, this book is also popular as furthering the knowledge of a +land and people so closely bound in the heart of the British Empire. +Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. +letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM FRENCH FAIRY TALES + +BY DORIS ASHLEY + +ILLUSTRATED BY MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL + +Tales to be read with breathless interest, so full of incident and +romance are they, and in dealing with them the writer has shown +consummate tact, both in her choice of stories and her manner +of handling them, and this, combined with the wholly fascinating +illustrations, in colour and black and white, has resulted in an +altogether lovely volume. Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page +colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "Children's Stories from French Fairy Tales_"] + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE NORTHERN LEGENDS + +BY M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE AND HILDA HART + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY G. THEAKER + +Those entrancing legends of the Icelandic and Scandinavian poets are +here recounted in a cohesive and lucid style suitable for boys and +girls, thus in an easy way introducing the famous and fantastic heroes +and heroines of Norse Mythology. The beautiful colour pictures, with +the black and white drawings, are full of poetry and interest. Printed +on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, +crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM LONGFELLOW + +BY DORIS ASHLEY + +(NEW EDITION) + +An admirable collection of the most famous poems, delightfully +translated into prose, and profusely illustrated with exquisite +pictures in colour and black and white by Harold Copping, A. Dixon, M. +Bowley and others, rendering the readers anxious for, and appreciative +of, such poems as "The Golden Legend," "Evangeline," and "Hiawatha," +which, with other favourites, are placed before them in this +attractive guise. To this new edition more pictures have been added. +Printed on rough art paper. 10 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. +letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY + +TOLD BY E. NESBIT AND DORIS ASHLEY + +Some of the most noteworthy and interesting historical events +woven into entertaining stories, and so of great value in indelibly +impressing them upon the mind. The volume is charmingly illustrated +throughout by the late John H. Bacon, A.R.A., Howard Davie, M. Bowley, +and other popular artists. Printed on rough art paper. 9 full-page +colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "Alice in Wonderland"_] + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE POETS + +BY M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE AND HILDA HART + +ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK ADAMS + +Characters and incidents in the works of Chaucer, Pope, Keats, Milton, +Browning, and other great poets, teeming with interest, and with +which all minds should be conversant, are here presented in extremely +fascinating prose narrative, beautifully illustrated in colour +and black and white by Frank Adams. Printed on rough art paper. 12 +full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +ALICE IN WONDERLAND + +ILLUSTRATED BY MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL + +An exceptionally attractive edition of the popular Fairy Tale by Lewis +Carroll, characteristically and charmingly illustrated with many black +and white drawings and full-page colour plates. This story, which will +hold its own as long as dreams are dreamed, is here presented in a +worthy setting, and one which will meet with universal approbation. +Printed on rough art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 152 pp. +letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM DICKENS + +BY MARY ANGELA DICKENS + +ILLUSTRATED BY HAROLD COPPING + +The child interest from some of Dickens' masterpieces is here +depicted afresh, and told in simple and charming language by his +grand-daughter, Mary Angela Dickens, and other writers, with an +introduction by Percy Fitzgerald, the friend of, and eminent authority +on, Charles Dickens. The stories of Little David Copperfield, Little +Nell, Tiny Tim, Little Paul Dombey, etc., etc., are here narrated, all +being profusely illustrated. Printed on rough art paper 11 full-page +coloured plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM SCOTT + +BY DORIS ASHLEY + +ILLUSTRATED BY HAROLD C. EARNSHAW + +The histories of Sir Walter Scott's most popular characters condensed +into short stories, and thus adapted as an interesting introduction to +the Scott classics, so worthily considered a part of the education of +every up-to-date boy and girl. These tales are admirably illustrated +with numerous drawings in colour and black and white. Printed on rough +art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS + +BY ROSE YEATMAN WOOLF + +ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY G. THEAKER + +An admirable collection of the most popular tales, carefully compiled +so as to form an entirely delightful and charming volume. The book +is beautifully illustrated with pictures gorgeous in their Eastern +colours, and innumerable black and white drawings. Printed on rough +art paper. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. letterpress, crown 4to. + +[Illustration: _From "Children's Stories from Dickens"_] + + + + +THE RAPHAEL HOUSE LIBRARY OF GIFT BOOKS + +Edited by CAPTAIN EDRIC VREDENBURG + +Thirty beautiful Volumes, profusely illustrated in colour and black +and white. Pictorial Boards, Cloth Back, or Cloth. Bevelled, Gilt +Edges. Crown 4to. + +TALES OF THE ALHAMBRA. By WASHINGTON IRVING. Illustrated by H.M. +BROCK. 12 full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +"ANIMAL LEGENDS FROM MANY LANDS." By ROSE YEATMAN WOOLF. Illustrated +by EDWIN NOBLE. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +TALES OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. By DORIS +ASHLEY. Illustrated by A.A. DIXON. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +MY BOOK OF FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES. By CAPT. EDRIC VREDENBURG and +others. Illustrated by JENNIE HARBOUR. 12 full-page colour plates. +144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM OLD BRITISH LEGENDS. By M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE +and HILDA HART. Illustrated by HARRY G. THEAKER. 10 full-page colour +plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM FRENCH FAIRY TALES. By DORIS ASHLEY. +Illustrated by MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 +pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ITALIAN FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS. By LILIA +ROMANO. Illustrated by HOWARD DAVIE 12 full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM INDIAN LEGENDS. By M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE and +HILDA HART. Illustrated by H.G. THEAKER. 12 full-page colour plates. +144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM JAPANESE FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS. Translated +and adapted by N. KATO. Illustrated by H.G. THEAKER. 10 full-page +colour plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ROUMANIAN FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS By Dr. M. +GASTER, Ph.D., late President of the English Folk-lore Society, &c. +Illustrated by C.E. BROCK. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES AND LEGENDS. Translated +and adapted by SERAPHIMA PULMAN. Illustrated by ARTHUR A. DIXON. 12 +full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE NORTHERN LEGENDS. By M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE +and HILDA HART. Illustrated by HARRY G. THEAKER. 12 full-page colour +plates. 152 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM SCOTT. By DORIS ASHLEY. Illustrated by HAROLD +C. EARNSHAW. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE POETS. By M. DOROTHY BELGRAVE and HILDA +HART. Illustrated by FRANK ADAMS. 12 full-page colour plates. 152pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. By E. NESBIT and DORIS +ASHLEY. Illustrated by JOHN H. BACON, A.R.A., HOWARD DAVIE, and +others. 9 full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. By ROSE YEATMAN WOOLF. +Illustrated by H.G. THEAKER 12 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM DICKENS. By MARY ANGELA DICKENS. Illustrated +by HAROLD COPPING. 11 full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By E. NESBIT. Illustrated by +J.H. BACON, A.R.A., HOWARD DAVIE, and H. COPPING. 10 full-page colour +plates. 144 pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM TENNYSON. By NORA CHESSON. Illustrated by JOHN +H. BACON, A.R.A., ARTHUR DIXON, HAROLD COPPING, and other artists. 10 +full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +CHILDREN'S STORIES FROM LONGFELLOW. By DORIS ASHLEY. Illustrated by +A.A. DIXON, H. COPPING, and others. 10 full-page colour plates. 144 +pp. + +GLORIOUS BATTLES OF ENGLISH HISTORY. By Major C.H. WYLLY. With +Foreword by Sir ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. Illustrated by HARRY PAYNE. 12 +full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +THE WATER BABIES. By CHARLES KINGSLEY. Abridged Edition. Illustrated +by MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL. 12 full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. Illustrated by MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL. 12 +full-page colour plates. 144 pp. + +GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. Illustrated by MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL. 12 full-page +colour plates. 144 pp. + +ALICE IN WONDERLAND. By LEWIS CARROLL. Illustrated by MABEL LUCIE +ATTWELL. 12 full-page colour plates. 152pp. + +MOTHER GOOSE. Illustrated by MABEL LUCIE ATTWELL. 12 full-page colour +plates. 144 pp. + +ÆSOP'S FABLES. Illustrated by EDWIN NOBLE. 12 full-page colour plates. +144pp. + +CURLY HEADS AND LONG LEGS. Stories by the Editor, GRACE C. FLOYD, and +others. Illustrated by HILDA COWHAM. 12 full-page colour plates. 144 +pp. + +GOLDEN LOCKS AND PRETTY FROCKS. Stories by NORMAN GALE, GRACE C. +FLOYD, the Editor, and others. Illustrated by AGNES RICHARDSON. 12 +full-page colour plates. 144pp. + +TINKER, TAILOR. Stories by Captain EDRIC VREDENBURG. Illustrated by +Louis WAIN. 12 full-page colour plates. 144pp. + + +_Raphael Tuck and Sons, Ltd., London, Paris, New York._ +_Publishers by special appointment to Their Majesties the King and +Queen_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales +by Edric Vredenburg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY BOOK OF FAVORITE FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 15145-8.txt or 15145-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/1/4/15145/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sandra Brown and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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