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diff --git a/26386-8.txt b/26386-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8679166 --- /dev/null +++ b/26386-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5949 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Laboulaye's Fairy Book, by Various + +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: Laboulaye's Fairy Book + +Author: Various + +Commentator: Kate Douglas Wiggin + +Illustrator: Edward G. McCandlish + +Translator: Mary L. Booth + +Release Date: August 21, 2008 [EBook #26386] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LABOULAYE'S FAIRY BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, David Edwards, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + [Illustration: HE FLUNG HUGE MASSES OF ROCK AFTER THE VESSEL] + + + _Laboulaye's_ FAIRY BOOK + + + _Illustrated by_ + + + Edward G. + McCandlish + + _Translated by_ + + Mary L. Booth + + + _Introduction by_ + + Kate Douglas Wiggin + + + + + + + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK _and_ LONDON + + + + + LABOULAYE'S FAIRY BOOK + + Copyright, 1866, 1920, by Harper & Brothers + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +INTRODUCTION ix + +YVON AND FINETTE 3 + +THE CASTLE OF LIFE 46 + +DESTINY 79 + +THE TWELVE MONTHS 86 + +SWANDA, THE PIPER 96 + +THE GOLD BREAD 102 + +THE STORY OF THE NOSES 109 + +THE THREE CITRONS 115 + +THE STORY OF COQUERICO 137 + +KING BIZARRE AND PRINCE CHARMING 145 + + * * * * * + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +HE FLUNG HUGE MASSES OF ROCK AFTER THE VESSEL _Frontispiece_ + +HE WAS SOON SNORING SO LOUDLY THAT IT SEEMED LIKE THUNDER +SHAKING THE MOUNTAINS _Facing p._ 16 + +SHE FOUND HERSELF IN FRONT OF A WRETCHED HUT AT THE DOOR OF +WHICH STOOD AN OLD WOMAN, OF WHOM SHE BEGGED SHELTER FOR +THE NIGHT " 26 + +AT NIGHT THE GRANDMOTHER ALWAYS GAVE HIM GOOD COUNSELS +FOR HIM TO FOLLOW WHEN SHE WAS GONE " 48 + +PRETTY DOBRUNKA WAS OBLIGED TO DO ALL THE WORK OF THE +HOUSE " 88 + +TURNED OUT BY HER MOTHER, DOBRUNKA WENT UNHAPPILY INTO +THE FOREST " 92 + +HE BEGAN TO PLAY, AND NEVER HAD HIS MUSIC PRODUCED SUCH AN +EFFECT " 100 + +AS THE MOTHER GAZED LOVINGLY AT HER BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, +MARIENKA LAUGHED IN HER SLEEP " 106 + +HE RAN TO THE TREE AND SHOOK IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, WHEN, +BEHOLD! A YOUNG GIRL FELL FROM THE BRANCHES " 112 + +HE INSTANTLY GAVE HER THE WATER, WHEN, LO! A BEAUTIFUL, +SLENDER YOUNG GIRL STOOD BEFORE HIM " 126 + +PAZZA, THOUGH SHE LOVED THE PRINCE, WAS A VERY STERN " 154 +SCHOOLMISTRESS + +THE MOST RENOWNED PHYSICIANS OF THE FACULTY MET ONE EVENING +IN CONSULTATION AT THE PALACE " 178 + + * * * * * + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +By KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN + + +There was once a green book, deliciously thick, with gilt-edged pages +and the name of the author in gilt script on the front cover. + +Like an antique posy ring, it was a "box of jewels, shop of rarities"; +it was a veritable Pandora's box, and if you laid warm, childish hands +upon it and held it pressed close to your ear, you could hear, as +Pandora did, soft rustlings, murmurings, flutterings, and whisperings +from the fairy folk within. For this was a fairy book--Edouard +Laboulaye's "Tales," and its heroes and heroines became first the +daily companions, and then the lifetime possession, of the two little +girls to whom it belonged. + +From the New England village where it was originally given to them, it +traveled to the far West and its tales were told to countless +immigrant children of San Francisco, whose great eyes opened wider +still as they listened, breathless, to stories beloved by their +ancestors. In later years the green volume journeyed by clumsy, +rattling stage and rawboned nags to Mexico, and the extraordinary +adventures of "Yvon and Finette," "Carlino," and "Graceful" were +repeated in freshly learned Spanish, to many a group of brown-cheeked +little people on the hillsides of Sonora. + +And now, long, long afterward, there stands on a shelf above my desk +the very selfsame worn green volume, read and re-read a hundred times, +but so tenderly and respectfully that it has kept all its pages and +both its covers; and on this desk itself are the proofs of a new +edition with clear, beautiful print and gay pictures by Edward +McCandlish! + +To be asked to write an introduction to this particular book seems +insufferable patronage; yet one would do it for love of Laboulaye, or +for the sake of one's own "little past," or to draw one more young +reader into the charmed circle that will welcome these pages. + +The two children who adored Laboulaye's "Tales" possessed many another +fairy book, so why did this especial volume hold a niche apart in the +gallery of their hearts? + +Partly, perhaps, because of the Gallic wit and vivacity with which the +tales are told, for children are never too young to appreciate the +charms of style. + +You remember, possibly, the French chef who, being imprisoned with no +materials save the tools of his trade, and commanded on pain of death +to produce an omelette, proudly emerged at last, bearing a savory dish +made out of the sole of his shoe? + +Of even such stuff Laboulaye could have concocted a delectable tale; +but with Brittany, Bohemia, Italy, Dalmatia, Hungary, and Spain for +his storehouses, one has only to taste to know how finely flavored are +the dishes he sets forth. + +In his preface to the first American edition Laboulaye writes a letter +to Mlle. Gabrielle Laboulaye, aged two! In it he says: "When you throw +away this book with your doll, do not be too severe with your old +grandfather for wasting his time on such trifles as fairy stories. +Experience will teach you that the truest and sweetest things in life +are not those which we see, but of which we dream." Happy the children +who have this philosophy set before them early in life. + +Like the fairy tales Robert Louis Stevenson remembered, these of +Laboulaye's have "the golden smell of broom and the shade of pine," +and they will come back to the child whenever the Wind of Memory +blows. + +In common with the stories of Charles Perrault, literary parent of the +fairy tale, Laboulaye's charming narratives have a certain unique +quality due to the fact that they were intended and collected for the +author's own children, were told to them round the fireside in the +evening, and so received at first hand the comment and suggestion of a +bevy of competent, if somewhat youthful, critics. + +It is said that there is a great scarcity of fairy folk in modern +France; and that, terrified by the thunders of the Revolution, they +left their unhappy country in a body during its stormy years, first +assembling in grateful concourse around the tomb of Perrault, upon +whose memory they conferred the boon of immortality. + +If this story is true--and the last reported act of the fairies on +leaving France makes it appear so--then we may be sure that a few of +the more hardy and adventurous fays skipped back again across the +border and hid themselves in Laboulaye's box of jewels, where they +give to each gem an even brighter sheen and a more magical luster. + +"QUILLCOTE," HOLLIS, MAINE. + +_August, 1920._ + + + + +LABOULAYE'S FAIRY BOOK + + + + +On the Kerver + +YVON _and_ FINETTE + +_A Tale of Brittany_ + +[Illustration: ] + + +I + +Once upon a time there lived in Brittany a noble lord, who was called +the Baron Kerver. His manor-house was the most beautiful in the +province. It was a great Gothic castle, with a groined roof and walls, +covered with carving, that looked at a distance like a vine climbing +over an arbor. On the first floor six stained-glass balcony windows +looked out on each side toward the rising and the setting sun. In the +morning, when the baron, mounted on his dun mare, went forth into the +forest, followed by his tall greyhounds, he saw at each window one of +his daughters, with prayer-book in hand, praying for the house of +Kerver, and who, with their fair curls, blue eyes, and clasped hands, +might have been taken for six Madonnas in an azure niche. At evening, +when the sun declined and the baron returned homeward, after riding +round his domains, he perceived from afar, in the windows looking +toward the west, six sons, with dark locks and eagle gaze, the hope +and pride of the family, that might have been taken for six sculptured +knights at the portal of a church. For ten leagues round, all who +wished to quote a happy father and a powerful lord named the Baron +Kerver. + +The castle had but twelve windows, and the baron had thirteen +children. The last, the one that had no place, was a handsome boy of +sixteen, by the name of Yvon. As usual, he was the best beloved. In +the morning, at his departure, and at evening, on his return, the +baron always found Yvon waiting on the threshold to embrace him. With +his hair falling to his waist, his graceful figure, his wilful air, +and his bold bearing, Yvon was beloved by all the Bretons. At twelve +years of age he had bravely attacked and killed a wolf with an ax, +which had won him the name of _Fearless_. He deserved the title, for +never was there a bolder heart. + +One day, when the baron had stayed at home, and was amusing himself by +breaking a lance with his squire, Yvon entered the armory in a +traveling dress, and, bending one knee to the ground, "My lord and +father," said he to the baron, "I come to ask your blessing. The house +of Kerver is rich in knights, and has no need of a child; it is time +for me to go to seek my fortune. I wish to go to distant countries to +try my strength and to make myself a name." + +"You are right, Fearless," replied the baron, more moved than he +wished to appear. "I will not keep you back; I have no right to do so; +but you are very young, my child; perhaps it would be better for you +to stay another year with us." + +"I am sixteen, my father; at that age you had already fought one of +the proudest lords of the country. I have not forgotten that our arms +are a unicorn ripping up a lion, and our motto. Onward! I do not wish +the Kervers to blush for their last child." + +Yvon received his father's blessing, shook hands with his brothers, +embraced his sisters, bid adieu to all the weeping vassals, and set +out with a light heart. + +Nothing stopped him on his way. A river appeared, he swam it; a +mountain, he climbed it; a forest, he made his way through it with the +sun for a guide. "_On--the Kerver!_" he cried, whenever he met with an +obstacle, and went straight forward in spite of everything. + +For three years he had been roaming over the world in search of +adventures, sometimes conquering, sometimes conquered, always bold and +gay, when he received an offer to go to fight the heathen of Norway. +To kill unbelievers and to conquer a kingdom was a double pleasure. +Yvon enlisted twelve brave comrades, freighted a ship, and hoisted +from the mainmast a blue standard with the unicorn and motto of the +Kervers. + +The sea was calm, the wind fair, and the night serene. Yvon, +stretched on the deck, watched the stars, and sought the one which +cast its trembling light on his father's castle. All at once the +vessel struck upon a rock; a terrible crash was heard; the sails fell +like tinder; and an enormous wave burst over the deck and swept away +everything upon it. + +"_On--the Kerver!_" cried Yvon, as soon as his head appeared above the +water, and he began to swim as tranquilly as if he had been bathing in +the lake of the old castle. Happily the moon was rising. Yvon saw, at +a little distance, a black speck among the silvery waves--it was land. +He approached it, not without difficulty, and finally succeeded in +gaining a foothold. Dripping wet, exhausted with fatigue, and out of +breath, he dragged himself on the sand, then, without more anxiety, +said his prayers and went to sleep. + + +II + +In the morning, on awaking, Yvon tried to discover in what country he +had been cast. He saw in the distance a house as large as a church, +with windows fifty feet in height. He walked a whole day before +reaching it, and at last found himself in front of an immense door, +with a knocker so heavy that it was impossible for a man to lift it. + +Yvon took a great stone and began to knock. "Come in," cried a voice +that sounded like the roar of a bull. At the same instant the door +opened, and the little Breton found himself in the presence of a +giant not less than forty feet in height. + +"What is your name, and what do you want here?" said the giant, taking +up Yvon between his thumb and finger and lifting him from the ground +so as to see him better. + +"My name is Fearless, and I am seeking my fortune," answered Yvon, +looking at the monster with an air of defiance. + +"Well, brave Fearless, your fortune is made," said the giant, in a +mocking tone. "I am in need of a servant and I will give you the +place. You can go to work directly. This is the time for leading my +sheep to the pasture; you may clean the stable while I am gone. I +shall give you nothing else to do," added he, bursting into a laugh. +"You see that I am a good master. Do your task, and, above all things, +don't prowl about the house, or it will cost you your life." + +"Certainly I have a good master; the work is not hard," thought Yvon, +when the giant was gone. "I have plenty of time to sweep the stable. +What shall I do meanwhile to amuse myself? Shall I look about the +house? Since I am forbidden to do so, it must be because there is +something to see." + +He entered the first room, and saw a large fireplace in which a great +pot was hanging, suspended from a hook. The pot was boiling, but there +was no fire on the hearth. + +"What does this mean?" thought Yvon; "there is some mystery here." He +cut off a lock of his hair, dipped it into the pot, and took it out +all coated with copper. + +"Oh, oh!" cried he, "this is a new kind of soup; anybody that swallows +it must have an iron-clad stomach." + +He went into the next room; there also a pot was suspended from a +hook, and boiling without fire. Yvon dipped a lock of hair into it, +and took it out all coated with silver. + +"The broth is not so rich as this in the Kerver kitchen," thought he, +"but it may have a better taste." + +Upon this, he entered the third room. There also a pot was suspended +from a hook, and boiling without fire. Yvon dipped a lock of hair into +it, and took it out all coated with gold. It shone so brightly that it +might have been mistaken for a sunbeam. + +"Good!" cried he. "In our country the old women have a saying, 'Everything +gets worse and worse'; here it is just the contrary--everything gets +better and better. What shall I find in the fourth room, I wonder--diamond +soup?" + +He pushed open the door and saw something rarer than precious stones. +This was a young woman of such marvelous beauty that Yvon, dazzled, +fell on his knees at the sight. + +"Unfortunate youth!" cried she, in a trembling voice, "what are you +doing here?" + +"I belong to the house," answered Yvon; "the giant took me into his +service this morning." + +"His service!" repeated the young girl. "May Heaven preserve you from +it!" + +"Why so?" said Yvon. "I have a good master; the work is not hard. The +stable once swept, my task is finished." + +"Yes, and how will you set to work to sweep it?" said the lady. "If +you sweep it in the usual way, for every forkful of dung that you +throw out of the door, ten will come in at the window. But I will tell +you what to do. Turn the fork and sweep with the handle, and the dung +will instantly fly out of itself." + +"I will obey," said Yvon; upon which he sat down by the young girl and +began to talk with her. She was the daughter of a fairy, whom the +wretched giant had made his slave. Friendship soon springs up between +companions in misfortune. Before the end of the day Finette (for that +was the lady's name) and Yvon had already promised to belong to each +other if they could escape from their abominable master. The +difficulty was to find the means. + +Time passes quickly in this kind of talk. Evening was approaching when +Finette sent away her new friend, advising him to sweep the stable +before the giant came home. + +Yvon took down the fork and attempted to use it as he had seen it +done at his father's castle. He soon had enough of it. In less than a +second there was so much dung in the stable that the poor boy knew not +which way to turn. He did as Finette had bid him; he turned the fork +and swept with the handle, when, behold! in the twinkling of an eye +the stable was as clean as if no cattle had ever entered it. + +The task finished, Yvon seated himself on a bench before the door of +the house. As soon as he saw the giant coming he lolled back in his +seat, crossed his legs, and began to sing one of his native airs. + +"Have you cleaned the stable?" asked the giant, with a frown. + +"Everything is ready, master," answered Yvon, without troubling +himself to move. + +"I am going to see for myself," howled the giant. He entered the +stable grumbling, found everything in order, and came out furious. + +"You have seen my Finette," cried he; "this trick did not come from +your own head." + +"What is myfinette?" asked Yvon, opening his mouth and shutting his +eyes. "Is it one of the animals that you have in this country? Show it +to me, master." + +"Hold your tongue, fool," replied the giant; "you will see her sooner +than you will want to." + +The next morning the giant gathered his sheep together to lead them +to the pasture, but before setting out he ordered Yvon to go in the +course of the day in search of his horse, which was turned out to +graze on the mountain. "After that," said he, bursting into a laugh, +"you can rest all day long. You see that I am a good master. Do your +task; and, above all things, don't prowl about the house or I will cut +off your head." + +Yvon winked his eye as the giant left. "Yes, you are a good master," +said he, between his teeth. "I understand your tricks; but, in spite +of your threats, I shall go into the house and talk with your Finette. +It remains to be seen whether she will not be more mine than yours." + +He ran to the young girl's room. "Hurrah!" cried he; "I have nothing +to do all day but to go to the mountain after a horse." + +"Very well," said Finette. "How will you set to work to ride him?" + +"A fine question," returned Yvon. "As if it was a difficult thing to +ride a horse! I fancy that I have ridden worse ones than this." + +"It is not so easy as you think," replied Finette; "but I will tell +you what to do. Take the bit that hangs behind the stable door, and, +when the animal rushes toward you breathing fire and smoke from his +nostrils, force it straight between his teeth; he will instantly +become as gentle as a lamb, and you can do what you please with him." + +"I will obey," said Yvon; upon which he sat down by the side of +Finette and began to talk with her. They talked of everything; but, +however far their fancy strayed, they always came back to the point +that they were promised to each other and that they must escape from +the giant. Time passes quickly in this kind of talk. The evening drew +nigh. Yvon had forgotten the horse and the mountain, and Finette was +obliged to send him away, advising him to bring back the animal before +his master's arrival. + +Yvon took down the bit that was hidden behind the stable door and +hastened to the mountain, when, lo! a horse almost as large as an +elephant rushed toward him at full gallop, breathing fire and smoke +from his nostrils. Yvon firmly awaited the huge animal, and, the +moment he opened his enormous jaws, thrust between them the bit; when, +lo! the horse instantly became as gentle as a lamb. Yvon made him +kneel down, sprang on his back, and tranquilly returned home. + +His task finished, Yvon seated himself on the bench before the door of +the house. As soon as he saw the giant coming, he lolled back in his +seat, crossed his legs, and began to sing one of his native airs. + +"Have you brought back the horse?" asked the giant, with a frown. + +"Yes, master," answered Yvon, without taking the trouble to move. "He +is a fine animal and does you credit. He is gentle, well trained, and +as quiet as a lamb. He is feeding yonder in the stable." + +"I am going to see for myself," howled the giant. He entered the +stable, grumbling, found everything in order, and came out furious. + +"You have seen my Finette," he said; "this trick did not come from +your own head." + +"Oh, master," returned Yvon, opening his mouth and shutting his eyes, +"it is the same story over again. What is this myfinette? Once for +all, show me this monster." + +"Hold your tongue, fool," returned the giant; "you will see her sooner +than you will want to." + +The third day at dawn the giant gathered his sheep together to lead +them to the pasture; but, before setting out, he said to Yvon: + +"To-day you must go to the bottomless pit to collect my rent. After +that," continued he, bursting into a laugh, "you may rest all day +long. You see that I am a good master." + +"A good master, so be it," murmured Yvon, "but the task is none the +less hard. I will go and see my Finette, as the giant says; I have +great need of her help to get through to-day's business." + +When Finette had learned what was the task of the day, "Well," said +she, "how will you go to work to do it?" + +"I don't know," said Yvon, sadly; "I have never been to the bottomless +pit, and, even if I knew the way there, I should not know what to ask +for. Tell me what to do." + +"Do you see that great rock yonder?" said Finette; "that is one of the +gates of the bottomless pit. Take this stick, knock three times on the +stone, and a demon will come out all streaming with flames, who will +ask you how much you want. Take care to answer, 'No more than I can +carry.'" + +"I will obey," said Yvon; upon which he took a seat by the side of +Finette and began to talk with her. He would have been there till this +time if the young girl had not sent him to the great rock, when the +evening drew nigh, to execute the giant's commands. + +On reaching the spot pointed out to him, Yvon found a great block of +granite. He struck it three times with the stick, when, lo! the rock +opened and a demon came forth all streaming with flames. + +"What do you want?" he cried. + +"I have come for the giant's rent," answered Yvon, calmly. + +"How much do you want?" + +"I never want any more than I can carry," replied the Breton. + +"It is well for you that you do not," returned the man in flames. +"Enter this cavern and you will find what you want." + +Yvon entered, and opened his eyes wide. Everywhere he saw nothing but +gold, silver, diamonds, carbuncles, and emeralds. They were as +numerous as the sands on the seashore. The young Kerver filled a sack, +threw it across his shoulder, and tranquilly returned home. + +His task finished, our Breton seated himself on the bench before the +door of the house. As soon as he saw the giant coming he lolled back +in his seat, crossed his legs, and began to sing one of his native +airs. + +"Have you been to the bottomless pit to collect my rent?" asked the +giant, with a frown. + +"Yes, master," answered Yvon, without taking the trouble to stir. "The +sack is right there before your eyes; you can count it." + +"I am going to see for myself," howled the giant. He untied the +strings of the sack, which was so full that the gold and silver rolled +in all directions. + +"You have seen my Finette," he cried; "this trick did not come from +your own head." + +"Don't you know but one song?" said Yvon, opening his mouth and +shutting his eyes. "It is the old story, myfinette, myfinette. Once +for all, show me this thing." + +"Well, well," roared the giant, with fury, "wait till to-morrow and +you shall make her acquaintance." + +"Thank you, master," said Yvon. "It is very good of you; but I see +from your face that you are laughing at me." + + +III + +The next morning the giant went out without giving Yvon any orders, +which troubled Finette. At noon he returned without his flock, +complaining of the heat and fatigue, and said to the young girl: + +"You will find a child, my servant, at the door. Cut his throat, put +him into the great pot to boil, and call me when the broth is ready." +Saying this, he stretched himself on the bed to take a nap, and was +soon snoring so loudly that it seemed like thunder shaking the +mountains. + +Finette prepared a log of wood, took a large knife, and called Yvon. +She pricked his little finger; three drops of blood fell on the log. + +"That is enough," said Finette; "now help me to fill the pot." + +They threw into it all that they could find--old clothes, old shoes, +old carpets, and everything else. Finette then took Yvon by the hand +and led him through the three antechambers, where she ran in a mold +three bullets of gold, two bullets of silver, and one bullet of +copper, after which they quitted the house and ran toward the sea. + +[Illustration: HE WAS SOON SNORING SO LOUDLY THAT IT SEEMED LIKE +THUNDER SHAKING THE MOUNTAINS] + +"_On--the Kerver!_" cried Yvon, as soon as he saw himself in the +country. "Explain yourself, dear Finette; what farce are we playing +now?" + +"Let us run--let us run!" she cried; "if we do not quit this wretched +island before night, it is all over with us." + +"_On--the Kerver!_" replied Yvon, laughing, "and down with the giant!" + +When he had snored a full hour, the giant stretched his limbs, half +opened one eye, and cried, "Is it ready?" + +"It is just beginning to boil," answered the first drop of blood on +the log. + +The giant turned over, and snored louder than ever for an hour or two +longer. Then he stretched his limbs, half opened one eye, and cried +out: "Do you hear me? Is it almost ready?" + +"It is half done," answered the second drop of blood on the log. + +The giant turned over, and slept an hour longer. Then he yawned, +stretched his great limbs, and cried out, impatiently: + +"Isn't it ready yet?" + +"It is ready now," answered the third drop of blood on the log. + +The giant sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, and looked around to see who +had spoken; but it was in vain to look; he saw nobody. + +"Finette," howled he, "why isn't the table set?" + +There was no answer. The giant, furious, sprang out of bed, seized a +ladle, which looked like a caldron with a pitchfork for a handle, and +plunged it into the pot to taste the soup. + +"Finette!" howled he, "you haven't salted it. What sort of soup is +this? I see neither meat nor vegetables." + +No; but, in return, he saw his carpet, which had not quite all boiled +to pieces. At this sight he fell into such a fit of rage that he could +not keep his feet. + +"Villains!" said he, "you have played a fine trick on me; but you +shall pay for it." + +He rushed out with a stick in his hand, and strode along at such a +rate that in a quarter of an hour he discovered the two fugitives +still far from the seashore. He uttered such a cry of joy that the +earth shook for twelve leagues around. + +Finette stopped, trembling. Yvon clasped her to his heart. + +"_On--the Kerver!_" said he; "the sea is not far off; we shall be +there before our enemy." + +"Here he is! here he is!" cried Finette, pointing to the giant not a +hundred yards off; "we are lost if this charm does not save us." + +She took the copper bullet and threw it on the ground, saying, + + "Copper bullet, save us, pray; + Stop the giant on his way." + +And behold, the earth cracked apart with a terrific noise, and an +enormous fissure, a bottomless pit, stopped the giant just as he was +stretching out his hand to seize his prey. + +"Let us fly!" cried Finette, grasping the arm of Yvon, who was gazing +at the giant with a swaggering air, defying him to come on. + +The giant ran backward and forward along the abyss, like a bear in his +cage, seeking a passage everywhere and finding none; then, with a +furious jerk, he tore up an immense oak by the roots and flung it +across the gap. The branches of the oak nearly crushed the children as +it fell. The giant seated himself astride the huge tree, which bent +under his weight, and crept slowly along, suspended between heaven and +earth, entangled as he was among the branches. When he reached the +other side, Yvon and Finette were already on the shore, with the sea +rolling before them. + +Alas! there was neither bark nor ship. The fugitives were lost. Yvon, +always brave, picked up stones to attack the giant and to sell his +life dearly. Finette, trembling with fear, threw one of the silver +bullets into the sea, saying, + + "Silver bullet, bright and pliant, + Save us from this frightful giant." + +Scarcely had she spoken the magic words when a beautiful ship rose +from the waves like a swan spreading its white wings. Yvon and Finette +plunged into the sea; a rope was thrown them by an invisible hand, +and when the furious giant reached the shore the ship was receding +rapidly at full sail, leaving behind it a long furrow of shining foam. + +Giants do not like the water. This fact is certified to by old Homer, +who knew Polyphemus; and the same observation will be found in all +natural histories worthy of the name. Finette's master resembled +Polyphemus. He roared with rage when he saw his slaves about to escape +him. He ran hesitatingly along the shore; he flung huge masses of rock +after the vessel, which happily fell by the side of it and only made +great black holes in the water; and, finally, mad with anger, he +plunged head foremost into the sea and began to swim after the ship +with frightful speed. At each stroke he advanced forty feet, blowing +like a whale, and like a whale cleaving the waves. By degrees he +gained on his enemies; one more effort would bring him within reach of +the rudder, and already he was stretching out his arm to seize it, +when Finette threw the second silver bullet into the sea and cried, in +tears, + + "Silver bullet, bright and pliant, + Save us from this frightful giant." + +Suddenly from the midst of the foam darted forth a gigantic swordfish, +with a sword at least twenty feet in length. It rushed straight toward +the giant, who scarcely had time to dive, chased him under the water, +pursued him on the top of the waves, followed him closely whichever +way he turned, and forced him to flee as fast as he could to his +island, where he finally landed with the greatest difficulty, and fell +upon the shore dripping, worn out, and conquered. + +"_On--the Kerver!_" cried Yvon; "we are saved." + +"Not yet," said Finette, trembling. "The giant has a witch for a +godmother; I fear that she will revenge on me the insult offered to +her godson. My art tells me, my dear Yvon, that if you quit me a +single instant until you give me your name in the chapel of the +Kervers I have everything to dread." + +"By the unicorn of my ancestors," cried Yvon, "you have the heart of a +hare and not of a hero! Am I not here? Am I going to abandon you? Do +you believe that Providence has saved us from the fangs of that +monster to wreck us in port?" + +He laughed so gaily that Finette laughed in turn at the terror that +had seized her. + + +IV + +The rest of the voyage passed off admirably. An invisible hand seemed +to impel the ship onward. Twenty days after their departure the boat +landed Yvon and Finette near Kerver Castle. Once on shore, Yvon turned +to thank the crew. No one was there. Both boat and ship had vanished +under the waves, leaving no trace behind but a gull on the wing. + +Yvon recognized the spot where he had so often gathered shells and +chased the crabs to their holes when a child. Half an hour's walk +would bring him in sight of the towers of the old castle. His heart +beat; he looked tenderly at Finette and saw, for the first time, that +her dress was fantastic and unworthy of a woman about to enter the +noble house of Kerver. + +"My dear child," said he, "the baron, my father, is a noble lord, +accustomed to be treated with respect. I cannot introduce you to him +in this gipsy dress; neither is it fitting that you should enter our +great castle on foot like a peasant. Wait for me a few moments, and I +will bring you a horse and one of my sister's dresses. I wish you to +be received like a lady of high degree. I wish my father himself to +meet you on your arrival, and hold it an honor to give you his hand." + +"Yvon, Yvon," cried Finette, "do not quit me, I beg you. Once returned +to your castle, I know that you will forget me." + +"Forget you!" exclaimed Yvon. "If any one else were to offer me such +an insult I would teach him with my sword to suspect a Kerver. Forget +you, my Finette! You do not know the fidelity of a Breton." + +That the Bretons are faithful no one doubts; but that they are still +more headstrong is a justice that none will deny them. It was useless +for poor Finette to plead in her most loving tones; she was forced to +yield. She resigned herself with a heavy heart, and said to Yvon: + +"Go without me, then, to your castle, but only stay long enough to +speak to your friends; then go straight to the stable, and return as +soon as possible. You will be surrounded by people; act as if you saw +no one, and, above all, do not eat or drink anything whatever. Should +you take only a glass of water, evil would come upon us both." + +Yvon promised and swore all that Finette asked, but he smiled in his +heart at this feminine weakness. He was sure of himself; and he +thought with pride how different a Breton was from those fickle +Frenchmen whose words, they say, are borne away by the first breath of +the wind. + +On entering the old castle he could scarcely recognize its dark walls. +All the windows were festooned with leaves and flowers within and +without; the courtyard was strewn with fragrant grass; on one side was +spread tables groaning under their weight; on the other, musicians, +mounted on casks, were playing merry airs. The vassals, dressed in +their holiday attire, were singing and dancing and dancing and +singing. It was a great day of rejoicing at the castle. The baron +himself was smiling. It is true that he had just married his fifth +daughter to the Knight of Kervalec. This marriage added another +quartering to the illustrious escutcheon of the Kervers. + +Yvon, recognized and welcomed by all the crowd, was instantly +surrounded by his relatives, who embraced him and shook him by the +hand. Where had he been? Where did he come from? Had he conquered a +kingdom, a duchy, or a barony? Had he brought the bride the jewels of +some queen? Had the fairies protected him? How many rivals had he +overthrown? All these questions were showered upon him without reply. +Yvon respectfully kissed his father's hand, hastened to his sisters' +chamber, took two of their finest dresses, went to the stable, saddled +a pony, mounted a beautiful Spanish jennet, and was about to quit the +castle, when he found his relatives, friends, and vassals all standing +in his way, their glasses in their hands, ready to drink their young +lord's health and his safe return. + +Yvon gracefully thanked them, bowed, and made his way by degrees +through the crowd, when, just as he was about to cross the drawbridge, +a fair-haired lady, with a haughty and disdainful air, a stranger to +him, a sister of the bridegroom, perhaps, approached him, holding a +pomegranate in her hand. + +"My handsome knight," said she, with a singular smile, "you surely +will not refuse a lady's first request. Taste this pomegranate, I +entreat you. If you are neither hungry nor thirsty after so long a +journey, I suppose at least that you have not forgotten the laws of +politeness." + +Yvon dared not refuse this appeal. He was very wrong. Scarcely had he +tasted the pomegranate when he looked round him like a man waking from +a dream. + +"What am I doing on this horse?" thought he. "What means this pony +that I am leading? Is not my place in my father's house at my sister's +wedding? Why should I quit the castle?" + +He threw the bridle to one of the grooms, leaped lightly to the +ground, and offered his hand to the fair-haired lady, who accepted him +as her attendant on the spot, and gave him her bouquet to hold as a +special mark of favor. + +Before the evening was over there was another betrothed couple in the +castle. Yvon had pledged his faith to the unknown lady and Finette was +forgotten. + + +V + +Poor Finette, seated on the seashore, waited all day long for Yvon, +but Yvon did not come. The sun was setting in the fiery waves when +Finette rose, sighing, and took the way to the castle in her turn. She +had not walked long in a steep road, bordered with thorn-trees in +blossom, when she found herself in front of a wretched hut at the door +of which stood an old woman about to milk her cow. Finette approached +her and, making a low courtesy, begged a shelter for the night. + +The old woman looked at the stranger from head to foot. With her +buskins trimmed with fur, her full red petticoat, her blue jacket +edged with jet, and her diadem, Finette looked more like an Egyptian +princess than a Christian. The old woman frowned and, shaking her fist +in the face of the poor forsaken girl, "Begone, witch!" she cried; +"there is no room for you in this honest house." + +"My good mother," said Finette, "give me only a corner of the stable." + +"Oh," said the old woman, laughing and showing the only tooth she had +left, which projected from her mouth like a bear's tusk, "so you want +a corner of the stable, do you! Well, you shall have it if you will +fill my milk-pail with gold." + +"It is a bargain," said Finette, quietly. She opened a leather purse +which she wore at her belt, took from it a golden bullet, and threw it +into the milk-pail, saying, + + "Golden bullet, precious treasure, + Save me, if it be thy pleasure." + +And behold! the pieces of gold began to dance about in the pail; they +rose higher and higher, flapping about like fish in a net, while the +old woman, on her knees, gazed with wonder at the sight. + +[Illustration: SHE FOUND HERSELF IN FRONT OF A WRETCHED HUT AT THE +DOOR OF WHICH STOOD AN OLD WOMAN, OF WHOM SHE BEGGED SHELTER FOR THE +NIGHT] + +When the pail was full the old woman rose, put her arm through the +handle, and said to Finette, "Madam, all is yours, the house, the cow, +and everything else. Hurrah! I am going to the town to live like a +lady with nothing to do. Oh dear, how I wish I were only sixty!" And, +shaking her crutch, without looking backward, she set out on a run +toward Kerver Castle. + +Finette entered the house. It was a wretched hovel, dark, low, damp, +bad-smelling, and full of dust and spiders' webs--a horrible refuge +for a woman accustomed to living in the giant's grand castle. Without +seeming troubled, Finette went to the hearth, on which a few green +boughs were smoking, took another golden bullet from her purse, and +threw it into the fire, saying, + + "Golden bullet, precious treasure, + Save me, if it be thy pleasure." + +The gold melted, bubbled up, and spread all over the house like +running water, and behold! the whole cottage, the walls, the thatch, +the wooden rocking-chair, the stool, the chest, the bed, the cow's +horns--everything, even to the spiders in their webs, was turned to +gold. The house gleamed in the moonlight, among the trees, like a star +in the night. + +When Finette had milked the cow and drank a little new milk, she threw +herself on the bed without undressing, and, worn out by the fatigue +of the day, fell asleep in the midst of her tears. + +Old women do not know how to hold their tongues, at least in Brittany. +Finette's hostess had scarcely reached the village when she hastened +to the house of the steward. He was an important personage, who had +more than once made her tremble when she had driven her cow into her +neighbor's pasture by mistake. The steward listened to the old woman's +story, shook his head, and said it looked like witchcraft; then he +mysteriously brought a pair of scales, weighed the guineas, which he +found to be genuine and of full weight, kept as many of them as he +could, and advised the owner to tell no one of this strange adventure. +"If it should come to the ears of the bailiff or the seneschal," said +he, "the least that would happen to you, mother, would be to lose +every one of these beautiful bright guineas. Justice is impartial; it +knows neither favor nor repugnance; it takes the whole." + +The old woman thanked the steward for his advice, and promised to +follow it. She kept her word so well that she only told her story that +evening to two neighbors, her dearest friends, both of whom swore on +the heads of their little children to keep it secret. The oath was a +solemn one, and so well kept that at noon the next day there was not a +boy of six in the village that did not point his finger at the old +woman, while the very dogs seemed to bark in their language, "Here is +the old woman with her guineas!" + +A girl that amuses herself by filling milk-pails with gold is not to +be found every day. Even though she should be something of a witch, +such a girl would none the less be a treasure in a family. The +steward, who was a bachelor, made this wise reflection that night on +going to bed. Before dawn he rose to make his rounds in the direction +of the stranger's cottage. By the first gleam of day he spied +something shining in the distance like a light among the woods. On +reaching the place, he was greatly surprised to find a golden cottage +instead of the wretched hut that had stood there the day before. But, +on entering the house, he was much more surprised and delighted to +find a beautiful young girl, with raven hair, sitting by the window +and spinning on her distaff with the air of an empress. + +Like all men, the steward did himself justice, and knew, at the bottom +of his heart, that there was not a woman in the world that would not +be too happy to give him her hand. Without hesitating, therefore, he +declared to Finette that he had come to marry her. The young girl +burst out laughing, upon which the steward flew into a passion. + +"Take care!" said he, in a terrible voice. "I am the master here. No +one knows who you are or whence you came. The gold that you gave the +old woman has raised suspicions. There is magic in this house. If you +do not accept me for a husband this very instant, I will arrest you, +and before night, perhaps, a witch will be burned before Kerver +Castle." + +"You are very amiable," said Finette, with a charming grimace; "you +have a peculiar way of paying court to ladies. Even when they have +decided not to refuse, a gallant man spares their blushes." + +"We Bretons are plain-spoken people," replied the steward; "we go +straight to the point. Marriage or prison, which do you choose?" + +"Oh!" cried Finette, laying down the distaff, "there are the +firebrands falling all over the room." + +"Don't trouble yourself," said the steward; "I will pick them up." + +"Lay them carefully on the top of the ashes," returned Finette. "Have +you the tongs?" + +"Yes," said the steward, picking up the crackling coals. + +"_Abracadabra!_" cried Finette, rising. "Villain, may the tongs hold +you, and may you hold the tongs till sunset!" + +No sooner said than done. The wicked steward stood there all day with +the tongs in his hand, picking up and throwing back the burning coals +that snapped in his face and the hot ashes that flew into his eyes. It +was useless for him to shout, pray, weep, and blaspheme; no one heard +him. If Finette had stayed at home, she would doubtless have taken +pity on him; but after putting the spell upon him, she hastened to +the seashore, where, forgetting everything else, she watched for Yvon +in vain. + +The moment that the sun set, the tongs fell from the steward's hands. +He did not stop to finish his errand, but ran as if the devil or +justice were at his heels. He made such leaps, he uttered such groans, +he was so blackened, scorched, and benumbed, that every one in the +village was afraid of him, thinking that he was mad. The boldest tried +to speak to him, but he fled without answering, and hid himself in his +house, more ashamed than a wolf that has left his paw in the trap. + +At evening, when Finette returned home in despair, instead of the +steward she found another visitor little less formidable. The bailiff +had heard the story of the guineas and had also made up his mind to +marry the stranger. He was not rough, like the steward, but a fat, +good-natured man that could not speak without bursting into a laugh, +showing his great yellow teeth, and puffing and blowing like an ox, +though at heart he was not less obstinate or less threatening than his +predecessor. Finette entreated the bailiff to leave her alone. He +laughed, and hinted to her, in a good-natured way, that, by right of +his office, he had the power to imprison and hang people without +process of law. She clasped her hands and begged him with tears to go. +For his only answer, he took a roll of parchment from his pocket, +wrote on it a contract of marriage, and declared to Finette that, +should he stay all night, he would not leave the house till she had +signed the promise. + +"Nevertheless," said he, "if you do not like my person, I have another +parchment here on which I will write an agreement to live apart; and +if my sight annoys you you have only to shut your eyes." + +"Why," said Finette, "I might decide to do as you wish if I were sure +of finding a good husband in you; but I am afraid." + +"Of what, my dear child?" asked the bailiff, smiling, and already as +proud as a peacock. + +"Do you think," said she, with a pettish air, "that a good husband +would leave that door wide open and not know that his wife was +freezing with cold?" + +"You are right, my dear," said the bailiff; "it was very stupid in me. +I will go and shut it." + +"Have you hold of the knob?" asked Finette. + +"Yes, my charmer," answered the happy bailiff; "I am just shutting the +door." + +"_Abracadabra!_" cried Finette. "May you hold the door, villain, and +may the door hold you till daybreak." + +And behold! the door opened and shut, and slammed against the walls +like an eagle flapping its wings. You may judge what a dance the poor +captive kept up all night. Never had he tried such a waltz, and I +imagine that he never wished to dance a second one of the same sort. +Sometimes the door swung open with him in the street; sometimes it +flew back and crushed him against the wall. He swung backward and +forward, screaming, swearing, weeping, and praying, but all in vain; +the door was deaf, and Finette asleep. + +At daybreak his hands unclasped and he fell in the road head foremost. +Without waiting to finish his errand, he ran as if the Moors were +after him. He did not even turn round, for fear that the door might be +at his heels. Fortunately for him, all were still asleep when he +reached the village, and he could hide himself in bed without any one +seeing his deplorable plight. This was a great piece of good fortune +for him, for he was covered with whitewash from head to foot, and so +pale, haggard, and trembling that he might have been taken for the +ghost of a miller escaped from the infernal regions. + +When Finette opened her eyes she saw by her bedside a tall man dressed +in black, with a velvet cap and a sword. It was the seneschal of the +barony of Kerver. He stood with his arms folded, gazing at Finette in +a way that chilled the very marrow of her bones. + +"What is your name, vassal?" said he, in a voice of thunder. + +"Finette, at your service, my lord," replied she, trembling. + +"Is this house and furniture yours?" + +"Yes, my lord, everything, at your service." + +"I mean that it shall be at my service," returned the seneschal, +sternly. "Rise, vassal! I do you the honor to marry you, and to take +yourself, your person, and your property under my guardianship." + +"My lord," returned Finette, "this is much too great an honor for a +poor girl like me, a stranger, without friends or kindred." + +"Be silent, vassal!" replied the seneschal. "I am your lord and +master; I have nothing to do with your advice. Sign this paper." + +"My lord," said Finette, "I don't know how to write." + +"Do you think that I do, either?" returned the seneschal, in a voice +that shook the house. "Do you take me for a clerk? A cross--that is +the signature of gentlemen." + +He made a large cross on the paper, and handed the pen to Finette. + +"Sign," said he. "If you are afraid to make a cross, infidel, you pass +your own death sentence, and I shall take on myself to execute it." He +drew his heavy sword from the scabbard as he spoke, and threw it on +the table. + +For her only answer, Finette leaped out of the window and ran to the +stable. The seneschal pursued her thither, but, on attempting to +enter, an unexpected obstacle stopped him. The frightened cow had +backed at the sight of the young girl, and stood in the doorway, with +Finette clinging to her horns and making of her a sort of buckler. + +"You shall not escape me, sorceress!" cried the seneschal, and, with a +grasp like that of Hercules, he seized the cow by the tail and dragged +her out of the stable. + +"_Abracadabra!_" cried Finette. "May the cow's tail hold you, villain, +and may you hold the cow's tail till you have both been around the +world together." + +And behold! the cow darted off like lightning, dragging the unhappy +seneschal after her. Nothing stopped the two inseparable comrades; +they rushed over mountains and valleys, crossed marshes, rivers, +quagmires, and brakes, glided over the seas without sinking, were +frozen in Siberia and scorched in Africa, climbed the Himalayas, +descended Mont Blanc, and at length, after thirty-six hours of a +journey, the like of which had never been seen, both stopped out of +breath in the public square of the village. + +A seneschal harnessed to a cow's tail is a sight not to be seen every +day, and all the peasants in the neighborhood crowded together to +wonder at the spectacle. But, torn as he was by the cactuses of +Barbary and the thickets of Tartary, the seneschal had lost nothing of +his haughty air. With a threatening gesture he dispersed the rabble, +and limped to his house to taste the repose of which he began to feel +the need. + + +VI + +While the steward, the bailiff, and the seneschal were experiencing +these little unpleasantnesses, of which they did not think it proper +to boast, preparations were being made for a great event at Kerver +Castle, namely, the marriage of Yvon and the fair-haired lady. Two +days had passed in these preparations, and all the friends of the +family had gathered together for twenty leagues round, when, one fine +morning Yvon and his bride, with the Baron and Baroness Kerver, took +their seats in a great carriage adorned with flowers, and set out for +the celebrated church of St. Maclou. + +A hundred knights in full armor, mounted on horses decked with +ribbons, rode on each side of the betrothed couple, each with his +vizor raised and his lance at rest in token of honor. By the side of +each baron, a squire, also on horseback, carried the seigniorial +banner. At the head of the procession rode the seneschal, with a +gilded staff in his hand. Behind the carriage gravely walked the +bailiff, followed by the vassals, while the steward railed at the +serfs, a noisy and curious rabble. + +As they were crossing a brook, a league from the castle, one of the +traces of the carriage broke, and they were forced to stop. The +accident repaired, the coachman cracked his whip, and the horses +started with such force that the new trace broke in three pieces. Six +times this provoking piece of wood was replaced, and six times it +broke anew, without drawing the carriage from the hole where it was +wedged. + +Every one had a word of advice to offer; even the peasants, as +wheelwrights and carpenters, were not the last to make a show of their +knowledge. This gave the steward courage; he approached the baron, +took off his cap, and, scratching his head, + +"My lord," said he, "in the house that you see shining yonder among +the trees there lives a woman who does things such as nobody else can +do. Only persuade her to lend you her tongs, and, in my opinion, they +will hold till morning." + +The baron made a sign, and ten peasants ran to the cottage of Finette, +who very obligingly lent them her gold tongs. They were put in the +place of the trace; the coachman cracked his whip, and off went the +carriage like a feather. + +Every one rejoiced, but the joy did not last long. A hundred steps +farther, lo! the bottom of the carriage gave way; little more, and the +noble Kerver family would have sunk quite out of sight. The +wheelwrights and the carpenters set to work at once; they sawed +planks, nailed them down fast, and in the twinkling of an eye repaired +the accident. The coachman cracked his whip and the horses started, +when, behold! half of the carriage was left behind; the Baroness +Kerver sat motionless by the side of the bride, while Yvon and the +baron were carried off at full gallop. Here was a new difficulty. +Three times was the carriage mended, three times it broke anew. There +was every reason to believe that it was enchanted. + +Every one had a word of advice to offer. This gave the bailiff +courage. He approached the baron and said, in a low tone: + +"My lord, in the house that you see shining yonder among the trees +there lives a woman who does things such as nobody else can do. Only +persuade her to lend you her door for the bottom of the carriage, and, +in my opinion, it will hold till morning." + +The baron made a sign, and twenty peasants ran to the cottage of +Finette, who very obligingly lent them her gold door. They put it in +the bottom of the carriage, where it fitted as if it had been made +expressly for it. The party took their seats in the carriage, the +coachman cracked his whip, the church was in sight, and all the +troubles of the journey seemed ended. + +Not at all! Suddenly the horses stopped and refused to draw. There +were four of them. Six, eight, ten, twenty-four more were put to the +carriage, but all in vain; it was impossible to stir them. The more +they were whipped the deeper the wheels sunk into the ground, like the +coulter of a plow. + +What were they to do? To go on foot would have been a disgrace. To +mount a horse and ride to the church like simple peasants was not the +custom of the Kervers. They tried to lift the carriage, they pushed +the wheels, they shook it, they pulled it, but all in vain. Meanwhile +the day was declining and the hour for the marriage had passed. + +Every one had a word of advice to offer. This gave the seneschal +courage. He approached the baron, alighted from his horse, raised his +velvet cap, and said: + +"My lord, in the house that you see shining yonder among the trees +there lives a woman who does things such as nobody else can do. Only +persuade her to lend you her cow to draw the carriage, and, in my +opinion, she will draw it till morning." + +The baron made a sign, and thirty peasants ran to the cottage of +Finette, who very obligingly lent them her golden-horned cow. + +To go to church drawn by a cow was not, perhaps, what the ambitious +bride had dreamed of, but it was better than to remain unmarried in +the road. The heifer was harnessed, therefore, before the four horses, +and everybody looked on anxiously to see what this boasted animal +would do. + +But before the coachman had time to crack his whip, lo! the cow +started off as if she were about to go around the world anew. Horses, +carriage, baron, betrothed, coachman, all were hurried away by the +furious animal. In vain the knights spurred their horses to follow the +pair; in vain the peasants ran at full speed, taking the cross-road +and cutting across the meadows. The carriage flew as if it had wings; +a pigeon could not have followed it. + +On reaching the door of the church, the party, a little disturbed by +this rapid journey, would not have been sorry to alight. Everything +was ready for the ceremony and the bridal pair had long been expected; +but, instead of stopping, the cow redoubled her speed. Thirteen times +she ran round the church like lightning, then suddenly made her way in +a straight line across the fields to the castle, with such force that +the whole party were almost shaken to pieces before their arrival. + + +VII + +No more marriage was to be thought of for that day; but the tables +were set and the dinner served, and the Baron Kerver was too noble a +knight to take leave of his brave Bretons until they had eaten and +drunk according to custom--that is, from sunset till sunrise, and even +a little later. + +Orders were given for the guests to take their seats. Ninety-six +tables were ranged in eight rows. In front of them, on a large +platform covered with velvet, with a canopy in the middle, was a table +larger than the rest, and loaded with fruit and flowers, to say +nothing of the roast hares, and the peacocks smoking beneath their +plumage. At this table the bridal pair were to have been seated in +full sight, in order that nothing might be lacking to the pleasures +of the feast, and that the meanest peasant might have the honor of +saluting them by emptying his cup of hydromel to the honor and +prosperity of the high and mighty house of Kerver. + +The baron seated the hundred knights at his table, and placed their +squires behind their chairs to serve them. At his right he put the +bride and Yvon, but he left the seat at his left vacant, and, calling +a page, "Child," said he, "run to the house of the stranger lady who +obliged us only too much this morning. It was not her fault if her +success exceeded her good will. Tell her that the Baron Kerver thanks +her for her help and invites her to the wedding feast of his son, Lord +Yvon." + +On reaching the golden house, where Finette, in tears, was mourning +for her beloved, the page bent one knee to the ground and, in the +baron's name, invited the stranger lady to the castle to do honor to +the wedding of Lord Yvon. + +"Thank your master for me," answered the young girl, proudly, "and +tell him that if he is too noble to come to my house, I am too noble +to go to his." + +When the page repeated this answer to his master the Baron Kerver +struck the table such a blow that three plates flew in the air. + +"By my honor," said he, "this is spoken like a lady, and for the first +time I own myself beaten. Quick, saddle my dun mare, and let my +knights and squires prepare to attend me." + +It was with this brilliant train that the baron alighted at the door +of the golden cottage. He begged Finette's pardon, held the stirrup +for her, and seated her behind him on his own horse, neither more nor +less than a duchess in person. Through respect, he did not speak a +single word to her on the way. On reaching the castle he uncovered his +head and led her to the seat of honor that he had chosen for her. + +The baron's departure had made a great excitement, and his return +caused still greater surprise. Every one asked who the lady could be +that the baron treated with such respect. Judging from her costume, +she was a foreigner. Could she be the Duchess of Normandy or the Queen +of France? The steward, the bailiff, and the seneschal were appealed +to. The steward trembled, the bailiff turned pale, and the seneschal +blushed, but all three were as mute as fishes. The silence of these +important personages added to the general wonder. + +All eyes were fixed on Finette, who felt a deadly chill at her heart, +for Yvon saw, but did not know her. He cast an indifferent glance at +her, then began again to talk in a tender tone to the fair-haired +lady, who smiled disdainfully. + +Finette, in despair, took from the purse the golden bullet, her last +hope. While talking with the baron, who was charmed with her wit, she +shook the little ball in her hand, and repeated, in a whisper, + + "Golden bullet, precious treasure, + Save me, if it be thy pleasure." + +And behold! the bullet grew larger and larger, until it became a +goblet of chased gold, the most beautiful cup that ever graced the +table of baron or king. + +Finette filled the cup herself with spiced wine, and, calling the +seneschal, who was cowering behind her, she said, in her gentlest +tones, "My good seneschal, I entreat you to offer this goblet to Lord +Yvon. I wish to drink his health, and I am sure that he will not +refuse me this pleasure." + +Yvon took the goblet, which the seneschal presented to him on a salver +of enamel and gold, with a careless hand, bowed to the stranger, drank +the wine, and, setting the cup on the table before him, turned to the +fair-haired lady who occupied all his thoughts. The lady seemed +anxious and vexed. He whispered a few words in her ear that seemed to +please her, for her eyes sparkled, and she placed her hand again in +his. + +Finette cast down her head and began to weep. All was over. + +"Children," cried the baron, in a voice of thunder, "fill your +glasses. Let us drink to the noble stranger who honors us with her +presence. To the noble lady of the golden cottage!" + +All began to huzzah and drink. Yvon contented himself with raising his +goblet to a level with his eyes. Suddenly he started and stood mute, +his mouth open and his eyes fixed, like a man that has a vision. + +It was a vision. In the gold of the goblet Yvon saw his past life as +in a mirror: the giant pursuing him; Finette dragging him along; both +embarking in the ship that saved them; both landing on the shore of +Brittany; he quitting her for an instant; she weeping at his +departure. Where was she? By his side, of course. What other woman +than Finette could be by the side of Yvon? + +He turned toward the fair-haired lady and cried out like a man +treading on a serpent. Then, staggering as if he were drunk, he rose +and looked around him with haggard eyes. At the sight of Finette he +clasped his trembling hands and, dragging himself toward her, fell on +his knees and exclaimed, "Finette, forgive me!" + +To forgive is the height of happiness. Before evening Finette was +seated by the side of Yvon, both weeping and smiling. + +And what became of the fair-haired lady? No one knows. At the cry of +Yvon she disappeared; but it was said that a wretched old hag was seen +flying on a broomstick over the castle walls, chased by the dogs; and +it was the common opinion among the Kervers that the fair-haired lady +was none other than the witch, the godmother of the giant. I am not +sure enough of the fact, however, to dare warrant it. It is always +prudent to believe, without proof, that a woman may be a witch, but it +is never wise to say so. + +What I can say on the word of a historian is that the feast, +interrupted for a moment, went on gayer than ever. Early the next +morning they went to the church, where, to the joy of his heart, Yvon +married Finette, who was no longer afraid of evil spirits; after which +they ate, drank, and danced for thirty-six hours, without any one +thinking of resting. The steward's arms were a little heavy, the +bailiff rubbed his back at times, and the seneschal felt a sort of +weariness in his limbs, but all three had a weight on their +consciences which they could not shake off, and which made them +tremble and flutter, till finally they fell on the ground and were +carried off. Finette took no other vengeance on them; her only desire +was to render all happy around her, far and near, who belonged to the +noble house of Kerver. Her memory still lives in Brittany; and among +the ruins of the old castle, any one will show you the statue of the +good lady, with five bullets in her hand. + + + + +_The_ Castle _of_ Life + +[Illustration:] + + +Once upon a time there lived at Salerno a poor old woman who earned +her bread by fishing, and whose only comfort and stay in life was her +grandson, a boy twelve years of age, whose father had been drowned in +a storm and whose mother had died of grief. Graceful, for this was the +child's name, loved nobody in the world but his grandmother; he +followed her to the shore every morning before daybreak to pick up the +shell-fish or draw the net to the beach, longing for the time when he +should be strong enough to go to sea himself and brave the waves that +had swallowed up all his kindred. He was so handsome, so well made, +and so promising, that no sooner had he entered the town with his +basket of fish on his head than every one ran after him, and he sold +the whole before he reached the market. + +Unfortunately, the grandmother was very old; she had but one front +tooth left, her head shook with age, and her eyes were dim. Every +morning she found it harder to rise than the day before. Feeling that +she had but a few days longer to live, at night, before Graceful +wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down on the ground to sleep, +she always gave him good counsels for him to follow when she was gone; +she told him what fishermen to avoid, and how, by being good and +industrious, prudent and resolute, he would make his way in the world +and finally have a boat and nets of his own. The poor boy paid little +heed to all this wisdom. As soon as his grandmother began to put on a +grave air he threw his arms around her neck and cried: "Grandmamma, +grandmamma, don't leave me. I have hands, I am strong, I shall soon be +able to work for us both; but if you were not here at night when I +came home from fishing, what would become of me?" + +"My child," said the old woman one day to him, "I shall not leave you +so much alone as you think; when I am gone you will have two powerful +protectors whom more than one prince might envy you. A long time ago I +did a favor to two great ladies, who will not forget you when the time +comes to call them, which will be very soon." + +"Who are these two ladies?" asked Graceful, who had never seen any +women but fishermen's wives in the hut. + +"They are two fairies," replied his grandmother--"two powerful +fairies--the Fairy of the Woods and the Fairy of the Waters. Listen to +me, my child; I am going to intrust you with a secret--a secret which +you must keep as carefully as I have done, and which will give you +wealth and happiness. Ten years ago, the same year that your father +died and your mother also left us, I went out one morning before +daybreak to surprise the crabs asleep in the sand. As I was stooping +down, hidden by a rock, I saw a kingfisher slowly floating toward the +beach. The kingfisher is a sacred bird which should always be +respected; knowing this, I let it alight and did not stir, for fear of +frightening it. At the same moment I saw a beautiful green adder come +from a cleft of the mountain and crawl along the sand toward the bird. +When they were near each other, without either seeming surprised at +the meeting, the adder coiled itself around the neck of the +kingfisher, as if tenderly embracing it; they remained thus entwined +for a few moments, after which they suddenly separated, the adder to +return to the rock, and the kingfisher to plunge into the waves which +bore it away. + +[Illustration: AT NIGHT THE GRANDMOTHER ALWAYS GAVE HIM GOOD COUNSELS +FOR HIM TO FOLLOW WHEN SHE WAS GONE] + +"Greatly astonished at what I had seen, I returned the next morning at +the same hour, and at the same hour the kingfisher also alighted on +the sands and the adder came from its retreat. There was no doubt that +they were fairies, perhaps enchanted fairies, to whom I could render a +service. But what was I to do? To show myself would have been to +displease them and run into danger; it was better to wait for a +favorable opportunity which chance would doubtless offer. For a whole +month I lay in ambush, witnessing the same spectacle every morning, +when one day I saw a huge black cat arrive first at the place of +meeting and hide itself behind a rock, almost under my hand. A black +cat could be nothing else than an enchanter, according to what I had +learned in my childhood, and I resolved to watch him. Scarcely had the +kingfisher and the adder embraced each other when, behold! the cat +gathered itself up and sprang upon these innocents. It was my turn to +throw myself upon the wretch, who already held his victims in his +murderous claws; I seized him, despite his struggles, although he tore +my hands in pieces, and without pity, knowing with whom I had to deal, +I took the knife which I used to open shell-fish, and cut off the +monster's head, claws, and tail, confidently awaiting the success of +my devotion. + +"I did not wait long; no sooner had I thrown the body of the animal +into the sea than I saw before me two beautiful ladies, one crowned +with white plumes, the other with a serpent's skin thrown like a scarf +across her shoulder. They were, as I have already told you, the Fairy +of the Waters and the Fairy of the Woods, who, enchanted by a wretched +genie who had learned their secret, had been forced to remain a +kingfisher and an adder until freed by some generous hand, and who +owed me their power and freedom. + +"'Ask of us what you will,' said they, 'and your request shall be +instantly granted.' + +"I reflected that I was old, and had suffered too much in life to wish +to begin it anew, while the day would come, my child, when nothing +would be too great for your desires; when you wish to be rich, +noble--a general, a marquis, a prince, perhaps! When that day comes, +thought I, I can give him everything, and a single moment of such +happiness will repay me for eighty years of pain and misery. I thanked +the fairies, therefore, and entreated them to keep their good will +till the day when I should have need of it. The Fairy of the Waters +took a small feather from her crown, and the Fairy of the Woods +detached a scale from her scarf. + +"'My good woman,' said they, 'when you wish for us, place this feather +and this scale in a vessel of pure water and call on us, making a +wish. Should we be at the end of the world, we will be at your side in +an instant, ready to pay the debt we owe you.' + +"I bowed my head in token of gratitude. When I raised it all had +vanished; even the wounds and blood had disappeared from my hands, and +I should have thought that I had been dreaming, had not the scale of +the serpent and the feather of the kingfisher remained in my hand." + +"And where are these treasures, grandmamma?" asked Graceful. + +"My child, I have carefully concealed them," answered the old woman, +"not wishing to show them to you till you were a man and able to make +use of them; but since death is about to separate us, the moment has +come to give you these precious talismans. You will find at the back +of the cupboard a wooden chest hidden under some rags; in the chest is +a little pasteboard box, wound about with tow; open this box and you +will find the scale and the feather carefully wrapped in cotton. Take +care not to break them; handle them respectfully, and I will tell you +what next to do." + +Graceful brought the box to the poor woman, who was no longer able to +quit her pallet, and she herself took from it the two articles. + +"Now," said she, giving them to her grandson, "put a bowlful of water +in the middle of the room; place the scale and the feather in the +water, and make a wish--wish for fortune, nobility, wit, power, +whatever you please; only, as I feel that I am dying, kiss me once +more, my child, before speaking the words that will separate us +forever, and receive my last blessing; it will be another talisman to +bring you happiness." + +But, to the old woman's surprise, Graceful did not come near her, +either to kiss her or to receive her blessing. He quickly placed the +bowl in the middle of the room, threw the feather and scale into the +water, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Appear, Fairy of the +Waters! I wish that my grandmother may live forever. Appear, Fairy of +the Woods! I wish that my grandmother may live forever." + +And behold! the water bubbled, bubbled, bubbled; the bowl grew to a +great basin, which the walls of the hut could scarcely hold, and from +the bottom of the basin Graceful saw two beautiful young women rise, +whom he knew directly from their wands to be fairies. One wore a crown +of holly leaves mixed with red berries, and diamond ear-rings +resembling acorns in their cups; she was dressed in a robe of olive +green, over which a speckled skin was knotted like a scarf across the +right shoulder--this was the Fairy of the Woods. As to the Fairy of +the Waters, she wore a garland of reeds on her head, with a white robe +trimmed with the feathers of aquatic birds, and a blue scarf, which +now and then rose above her head and fluttered like the sail of a +ship. Great ladies as they were, they looked smilingly at Graceful, +who had taken refuge in his grandmother's arms, and trembled with fear +and admiration. + +"Here we are, my child," said the Fairy of the Waters, who spoke +first, as the eldest. "We have heard what you said, and your wish does +you honor; but, though we can help you in the plan which you have +conceived, you alone can execute it. We can, indeed, prolong your +grandmother's life for some time, but, for her to live forever, you +must go the Castle of Life, four long days' journey from here, on the +coast of Sicily. There you will find the Fountain of Immortality. If +you can accomplish each of these four days' journey without turning +aside from the road, and, on reaching the castle, can answer three +questions that will be put to you by an invisible voice, you will +obtain what you desire. But, my child, reflect well before undertaking +this adventure, for you will meet more than one danger on the way; and +if you fail a single time to reach the end of your day's journey you +will not only miss the object of your pursuit, but you will never quit +the country, from which none has ever returned." + +"I will go, madam," returned Graceful. + +"But you are very young, my child," said the Fairy of the Woods, "and +you do not even know the way." + +"No matter," replied Graceful. "I am sure, beautiful ladies, that you +will not forsake me, and to save my grandmother I would go to the end +of the world." + +"Wait," said the Fairy of the Woods. Then separating the lead from a +broken window-pane, she placed it in the hollow of her hand. + +And behold! the lead began to melt and bubble without seeming to burn +the fairy, who threw the metal on the hearth, where it cooled in a +thousand different forms. + +"What do you see in all that?" said the fairy to Graceful. + +"It seems to me, madam," said he, after looking attentively, "that I +see a spaniel with a long tail and large ears." + +"Call him," said the fairy. + +A barking was instantly heard, and forth from the metal sprang a black +and flame-colored spaniel, which began to gambol and leap around +Graceful. + +"This will be your companion," said the fairy. "His name is Fido. He +will show you the way; but I warn you that it is for you to direct +him, and not for him to lead you. If you make him obey, he will serve +you; if you obey him, he will destroy you." + +"And I," said the Fairy of the Waters, "have I nothing to give you, my +poor Graceful?" + +Then, looking around her, the lady saw on the ground a bit of paper, +which she tossed into the fire with her tiny foot. The paper caught +fire, and as soon as the blaze had died away thousands of little +sparks were seen chasing one another about. The fairy watched these +sparks with a curious eye; then, as the last one was about to go out, +she blew upon the cinders, when, lo! the chirp of a bird was heard, +and a swallow rose, which fluttered, terrified, about the room and +finally alighted on Graceful's shoulder. + +"This will be your companion," said the Fairy of the Waters. "Her name +is Pensive. She will show you the way; but I warn you it is for you to +direct her, and not for her to lead you. If you make her obey, she +will serve you; if you obey her, she will destroy you." + +"Stir the black ashes," added the good Fairy of the Waters, "and +perhaps you will find something there." + +Graceful obeyed. Under the ashes of the paper he found a vial of rock +crystal, sparkling like a diamond. This, the fairy said, was to hold +the water of immortality, which would break any vessel made by the +hand of man. By the side of the vial Graceful found a dagger with a +triangular blade--a very different thing from the stiletto of his +father the fisherman, which he had been forbidden to touch. With this +weapon he could brave the proudest enemy. + +"My sister, you shall not be more generous than I," said the other +fairy; then, taking a rush from the only chair in the room, she blew +upon it, when, lo! the rush instantly swelled, and in less time than +it takes to tell it became a beautiful musket, inlaid with +mother-of-pearl. A second rush produced a cartridge-box, which +Graceful slung around his body and which became him marvelously. One +would have thought him a prince setting out for the chase; he was so +handsome that his grandmother wept for joy and emotion. + +The two fairies vanished; Graceful kissed the good old woman, urging +her to await his return, and knelt before her to receive her blessing. +She entreated him to be patient, just, and charitable, and, above all, +not to wander from the right path. "Not for my sake," added the old +woman, "for I would gladly welcome death, and I regret the wish that +you have made, but for your own, my child, that you may return to me +and that I may not die without your being here to close my eyes." + +It was late. Graceful threw himself on the ground, too agitated, it +seemed, to sleep. But slumber soon overtook him, and he slept soundly +all night, while his poor grandmother watched the face of her dear +child lighted by the flickering lamp, and did not weary of mournfully +admiring him. + + +II + +Early in the morning, when dawn was scarcely breaking, the swallow +began to twitter, and Fido to pull the blankets. "Let us go, +master--let us go," said the two companions, in their language, which +Graceful understood by the gift of the fairies; "the tide is already +rising on the beach, the birds are singing, the flies are humming, and +the flowers are opening in the sun. Let us go; it is time." + +Graceful kissed his grandmother for the last time, and took the road +to Pæstum, Pensive fluttering to the right and the left in pursuit of +the flies, and Fido fawning on his young master or running before him. + +They had gone two leagues from the town when Graceful saw Fido talking +with the ants, who were marching in regular troops, carrying all their +provisions with them. + +"Where are you going?" asked he. + +"To the Castle of Life," they answered. + +A little farther on Pensive encountered the grasshoppers, who had also +set out on a journey, together with the bees and the butterflies; all +were going to the Castle of Life, to drink of the Fountain of +Immortality. They traveled in company, like people following the same +road. Pensive introduced Graceful to a young butterfly that chatted +agreeably. Friendship springs up quickly in youth; in an hour the two +comrades were inseparable. + +To go straight forward does not suit the taste of butterflies, and +Graceful's friend was constantly losing himself among the grass. +Graceful, who had never been free in his life, nor had seen so many +flowers and so much sunshine, followed all the windings of his +companion, and troubled himself no more about the day than if it were +never to end; but, after a few leagues' journey his new friend began +to be weary. + +"Don't go any farther," said he to Graceful. "See how beautiful is +this landscape, how fragrant these flowers, and how balmy these +fields. Let us stay here; this is life." + +"Let us go on," said Fido; "the day is long, and we are only at the +beginning." + +"Let us go on," said Pensive; "the sky is clear and the horizon +unbounded. Let us go on." + +Graceful, restored to his senses, reasoned sagely with the butterfly, +who fluttered constantly to the right and the left, but all in vain. +"What matters it to me?" said the insect. "Yesterday I was a +caterpillar, to-night I shall be nothing. I will enjoy to-day." And he +settled on a full-blown Pæstum rose. The perfume was so strong that +the poor butterfly was suffocated. Graceful vainly endeavored to +recall him to life; then, bemoaning his fate, he fastened him with a +pin to his hat like a cockade. + +Toward noon the grasshoppers stopped in turn. "Let us rest," said +they; "the heat will overpower us if we struggle against the noonday +sun. It is so pleasant to live in sweet repose! Come, Graceful, we +will divert you and you shall sing with us." + +"Listen to them," said Pensive; "they sing so sweetly!" But Fido would +not stop; his blood seemed on fire, and he barked so furiously that +Graceful forgot the grasshoppers to follow his importunate companion. + +At evening Graceful met the honey-bee loaded with booty. "Where are +you going?" said he. + +"I am returning home," said the bee; "I shall not quit my hive." + +"What!" rejoined Graceful; "industrious as you are, will you do like +the grasshoppers and renounce your share in immortality?" + +"Your castle is too far off," returned the bee. "I have not your +ambition. My daily labor suffices for me; I care nothing for your +travels; to me work is life." + +Graceful was a little moved at losing so many of his fellow-travelers +on the first day; but when he thought with what ease he had +accomplished the first day's journey his heart was filled with joy. He +caressed Fido, caught the flies which Pensive took from his hand, and +slept full of hope, dreaming of his grandmother and the two fairies. + + +III + +The next morning, at daybreak, Pensive called her young master. + +"Let us go," said she; "the tide is already rising on the shore, the +birds are singing, the bees are humming, and the flowers are opening +in the sun. Let us go; it is time." + +"Wait a moment," said Fido. "The day's journey is not long; before +noon we shall be in sight of the temples of Pæstum, where we are to +stop for the night." + +"The ants are already on the way," returned Pensive; "the road is +harder than yesterday, and the weather more uncertain. Let us go." + +Graceful had seen his grandmother smiling on him in his dreams, and he +set out on his way with even greater ardor than the day before. The +morning was glorious; on the right the blue waves broke with a gentle +murmur on the strand; on the left, in the distance, the mountains were +tinged with a roseate hue; the plain was covered with tall grass +sprinkled with flowers; the road was lined with aloes, jujubes, and +acanthuses, and before them lay a cloudless horizon. Graceful, +ravished with hope and pleasure, fancied himself already at the end of +his journey. Fido bounded over the fields and chased the frightened +partridges; Pensive soared in the air and sported with the light. All +at once Graceful saw a beautiful doe in the midst of the reeds, +looking at him with languishing eyes as if she were calling him. He +went toward her; she bounded forward, but only a little way. Three +times she repeated the same trick, as if to allure him on. + +"Let us follow her," said Fido. "I will cut off the way and we will +soon catch her." + +"Where is Pensive?" said Graceful. + +"What does it matter?" replied Fido; "it is the work of an instant. +Trust to me--I was born for the chase--and the doe is ours." + +Graceful did not let himself be bid twice. While Fido made a circuit +he ran after the doe, which paused among the trees as if to suffer +herself to be caught, then bounded forward as soon as the hand of the +pursuer touched her. "Courage, master!" cried Fido, as he came upon +her. But with a toss of the head, the doe flung the dog in the air, +and fled swifter than the wind. + +Graceful sprang forward in pursuit. Fido, with burning eyes and +distended jaws, ran and yelped as if he were mad. They crossed +ditches, brakes, and hedges, unchecked by nothing. The wearied doe +lost ground. Graceful redoubled his ardor, and was already stretching +out his hand to seize his prey when all at once the ground gave way +beneath his feet and he fell, with his imprudent companion, into a +pit covered over with leaves. He had not recovered from his fall when +the doe, approaching the brink, cried, "You are betrayed; I am the +wife of the King of the Wolves, who is coming to eat you both." Saying +this, she disappeared. + +"Alas! master," said Fido, "the fairy was right in advising you not to +follow me. We have acted foolishly and I have destroyed you." + +"At all events," said Graceful, "we will defend our lives"; and, +taking his musket, he double-loaded it, in readiness for the King of +the Wolves; then, somewhat calmed, he examined the deep ditch into +which he had fallen. It was too high for him to escape from it; in +this hole he must await his death. Fido understood the look of his +friend. + +"Master," said he, "if you take me in your arms and throw me with all +your might, perhaps I can reach the top; and, once there, I can help +you." + +Graceful had not much hope. Three times he endeavored to throw Fido, +and three times the poor animal fell back; finally, at the fourth +effort, he caught hold of some roots, and aided himself so well with +his teeth and paws that he escaped from the tomb. He instantly threw +into the ditch the boughs which he found about the edge. + +"Master," said he, "plant these branches in the earth and make +yourself a ladder. Quick! quick!" he added. "I hear the howls of the +King of the Wolves." + +Graceful was adroit and agile. Anger redoubled his strength; in a +moment he was outside. Then he secured his dagger in his belt, changed +the powder in the pan of his musket, and, placing himself behind a +tree, awaited the enemy with firmness. + +Suddenly a frightful cry was heard, and an animal, with tusks like +those of the wild boar, rushed on him with prodigious bounds. Graceful +took aim and fired. The bullet hit the mark and the animal fell back +howling, but instantly sprang forward anew. "Load your musket again! +Make haste!" cried Fido, springing courageously in the face of the +monster and seizing his throat with his teeth. + +The wolf had only to shake his head to fling the poor dog to the +ground. He would have swallowed him at one mouthful had not Fido +glided from his jaws, leaving one of his ears behind. It was +Graceful's turn to save his companion; he boldly advanced and fired +his second shot, taking aim at the shoulder. The wolf fell; but, +rising, with a last effort he threw himself on the hunter, who fell +under him. On receiving this terrible shock, Graceful thought himself +lost; but without losing courage, and calling the good fairies to his +aid, he seized his dagger and thrust it into the heart of the animal, +which, ready to devour his enemy, straightened his limbs and died. + +Graceful rose, covered with blood and froth, and seated himself, +trembling, upon a fallen tree. Fido crept painfully to his feet, +without daring to caress him, for he felt how much he was to blame. + +"Master," said he, "what will become of us? Night is approaching and +we are so far from Pæstum!" + +"We must go," said the child, and he rose; but he was so weak that he +was obliged to sit down again. A burning thirst devoured him; he was +feverish and everything whirled before his eyes. He thought of his +grandmother, and began to weep. What was poor Graceful's remorse for +having so soon forgotten such fair promises, and condemned himself to +die in a country from which there was no return, and all this for the +bright eyes of a doe! How sadly ended the day so well begun! + +Sinister howls were soon heard; the brothers of the King of the Wolves +were calling him and coming to his aid. Graceful embraced Fido, his +only friend, and forgave him the imprudence for which they were both +about to pay with their lives; then loaded his musket, offered up a +prayer to the good fairies, commended his grandmother to them, and +prepared to die. + +"Graceful! Graceful! where are you?" cried a little voice that could +be none other than Pensive's, and the swallow alighted on the head of +her master. + +"Courage!" said she; "the wolves are still far off. There is a spring +close by where you can quench your thirst and stanch your bleeding +wounds, and I have found a hidden path which will lead us to Pæstum." + +Graceful and Fido dragged themselves along to the brook, trembling +with hope and fear; then entered the obscure path, a little reanimated +by the soft twittering of Pensive. The sun had set; they walked in the +twilight for some hours, and, when the moon rose, they were out of +danger. They had still to journey over a painful and dangerous road +for those who no longer had the ardor of the morning. There were +marshes to cross, ditches to leap, and thickets to break through, +which tore Graceful's face and hands; but at the thought that he could +still repair his fault and save his grandmother his heart was so light +that his strength redoubled at every step with his hope. At last, +after a thousand obstacles, they reached Pæstum just as the stars +marked midnight. + +Graceful threw himself on the pavement of the temple of Neptune, and, +after thanking Pensive, fell asleep, with Fido at his feet, wounded, +bleeding, and silent. + + +IV + +The sleep was not long. Graceful was up before daybreak, which seemed +long in coming. On descending the steps of the temple he saw the ants, +who had raised a heap of sand and were bringing grain from the new +harvest. The whole republic was in motion. The ants were all going or +coming, talking to their neighbors, and receiving or giving orders; +some were dragging wisps of straw, others were carrying bits of wood, +others conveying away dead flies, and others heaping up provisions; it +was a complete winter establishment. + +"What!" said Graceful to the ants, "are you not going to the Castle of +Life? Do you renounce immortality?" + +"We have worked long enough," answered one of the laborers; "the time +for harvest has come. The road is long and the future uncertain, and +we are rich. Let fools count on to-morrow; the wise man uses to-day. +When a person has hoarded riches honestly it is true philosophy to +enjoy them." + +Fido thought that the ant was right; but, as he no longer dared +advise, he contented himself with shaking his head as they set out. +Pensive, on the contrary, said that the ant was a selfish fellow, and +that, if life were made only for enjoyment, the butterfly was wiser +than he. At the same time, and with a lighter wing than ever, the +swallow soared upward to lead the way. + +Graceful walked on in silence. Ashamed of the follies of the day +before, although he still regretted the doe, he resolved that on the +third day nothing should turn him aside from the road. Fido, with his +mutilated ear, limped after his master and seemed not less dreamy than +he. At noon they sought for a shady place in which to rest for a few +moments. The sun was less scorching than the day before. It seemed as +if both country and season had changed. The road lay through meadows +lately mown for the second time, or beautiful vineyards full of +grapes, and was lined with great fig-trees laden with fruit, in which +thousands of insects were humming; golden clouds were floating in the +horizon, the air was soft and gentle, and everything tempted to +repose. + +In the most beautiful of the meadows, by the side of a brook which +diffused its coolness afar, Graceful saw a herd of buffaloes chewing +the cud under the shade of the ashes and plane-trees. They were lazily +stretched on the ground, in a circle around a large bull that seemed +their chief and king. Graceful approached them, and was received with +politeness. They invited him by a nod to be seated, and pointed out to +him great bowls full of milk and cheese. Our traveler admired the +calmness and gravity of these peaceful and powerful animals, which +seemed like so many Roman senators in their curule chairs. The gold +ring which they wore in their noses added still more to the majesty of +their aspect. Graceful, who felt calmer and more sedate than the day +before, thought, in spite of himself, how pleasant it would be to live +in the midst of this peace and plenty; if happiness were anywhere, it +must surely be found here. + +Fido shared his master's opinion. It was the season of the southward +migration of the quails; the ground was covered with tired birds, +resting to regain strength before crossing the sea, and Fido had only +to stoop down to find game worthy of a prince. Satiated with eating, +he stretched himself at Graceful's feet and slept soundly. + +When the buffaloes had finished chewing their cud, Graceful, who had +hitherto feared to disturb them, entered into conversation with the +bull, who showed a cultivated mind and wide experience. + +"Are you the masters of this rich domain?" asked he. + +"No," replied the old buffalo; "we belong, with all the rest, to the +Fairy Crapaudine, the Queen of the Vermilion Towers, the richest of +all the fairies." + +"What does she require of you?" asked Graceful. + +"Nothing, except to wear this gold ring in the nose and to pay her a +tribute of milk," returned the bull, "or, at most, to give her one of +our children from time to time to regale her guests. At this price we +enjoy our plenty in perfect security, and we have no reason to envy +any on earth, for none are so happy as we." + +"Have you never heard of the Castle of Life and the Fountain of +Immortality?" asked Graceful, who, without knowing why, blushed as he +put the question. + +"There were some old men among our ancestors who still talked of these +visions," replied the bull; "but we are wiser than our fathers; we +know that there is no other happiness than to chew the cud and +sleep." + +Graceful rose sadly to resume his journey, and asked what were those +reddish square towers which he saw in the distance. + +"They are the Vermilion Towers," returned the bull; "they bar the way; +and you must pass through the castle of the Fairy Crapaudine in order +to continue your road. You will see the fairy, my young friend, and +she will offer you hospitality and riches. Take my advice and do like +those that have gone before you, all of whom accepted the favors of +our mistress, and found that they had done well to abandon their +dreams in order to live happy." + +"And what became of them?" asked Graceful. + +"They became buffaloes like us," rejoined the bull, who, not having +finished his afternoon nap, closed his eyes and fell asleep. + +Graceful started and awakened Fido, who rose, grumbling. He called +Pensive. Pensive did not answer; she was talking with a spider that +had spun a great web between the branches of an ash-tree, which was +glittering in the sun, full of flies. "Why take this long journey?" +said the spider to the swallow. "What is the use of changing your +climate and putting your life at the mercy of the sea, the weather, or +a master? Look at me; I depend on nobody, and have everything for +myself. I am my own mistress; I enjoy my art and genius; I bring the +world to me; nothing can disturb either my calculations, or a +serenity which I owe to myself alone." + +Graceful called Pensive three times without making her hear, so +completely was she engrossed in admiration of her new friend. Every +instant some giddy fly fell into the web, and each time the spider, +like an attentive hostess, offered the prey to her astonished +companion, when suddenly a breeze passed--a breeze so light that it +did not ruffle a feather of the swallow's wing. Pensive looked for the +spider; the web had been swept away by the winds, and the poor insect +was clinging by one foot to the last thread, when a bird seized it and +bore it away. + + +V + +Setting out again on their way, they proceeded in silence to the +palace of Crapaudine. Graceful was introduced with great ceremony by +two beautiful greyhounds, caparisoned with purple and wearing on their +necks broad collars sparkling with rubies. After crossing a great +number of halls, all full of pictures, statues, gold, and silver, and +coffers overflowing with money and jewels, Graceful and his companions +entered a circular temple, which was Crapaudine's drawing-room. The +walls were of lapis-lazuli, and the ceiling, of sky-blue enamel, was +supported by twelve chiseled pillars of massive gold, with capitals of +acanthus leaves of white enamel edged with gold. A huge frog, as +large as a rabbit, was seated in a velvet easy-chair. It was the fairy +of the place. The charming Crapaudine was draped in a scarlet mantle +covered with glittering spangles, and wore on her head a ruby diadem +whose luster lighted up her fat cheeks mottled with green and yellow. +As soon as she perceived Graceful she extended to him her fingers, +covered with rings, which the poor boy was obliged respectfully to +raise to his lips as he bowed. + +"My friend," said the fairy to him, in a hoarse voice, which she +vainly tried to soften, "I was expecting you, and I will not be less +generous to you than my sisters have been. On the way here you have +seen but a small part of my riches. This palace, with its pictures, +its statues, and its coffers full of gold, these vast domains, and +these innumerable flocks, all may be yours if you wish; it depends +only on yourself to become the richest and happiest of men." + +"What must I do for this?" asked Graceful, greatly excited. + +"Less than nothing," replied the fairy; "chop me up into little pieces +and eat me. It is not a very disagreeable thing to do," added +Crapaudine, looking at Graceful with eyes redder than usual. + +"Can I not season you, at least?" said Graceful, who had been unable +to look without envy at the beautiful gardens of the fairy. + +"No, you must eat me without seasoning; but walk about my palace, see +and handle all my treasures, and reflect that, by giving me this proof +of devotion, they will all be yours." + +"Master," sighed Fido, in a supplicating voice, "a little courage! We +are so comfortable here!" + +Pensive said nothing, but her silence was consent. As to Graceful, who +remembered the buffaloes and the gold ring, he distrusted the fairy. +Crapaudine perceived it. + +"Do not think, my dear Graceful, that I wish to deceive you," she +said. "In offering you all that I possess, I also demand of you a +service which I will reward as it deserves. When you have done what I +propose I shall become a young girl, as beautiful as Venus, except +that my hands and feet will remain like those of a frog, which is very +little when one is rich. Ten princes, twenty marquises, and thirty +counts have already begged me to marry them as I am; when I become a +woman, I will give you the preference, and we will enjoy my vast +fortune together. Do not blush for your poverty; you have about you a +treasure that is worth all mine, the vial which my sister gave you." +Saying this, she stretched out her slimy fingers to seize the +talisman. + +"Never!" cried Graceful, shrinking back, "never! I wish neither repose +nor fortune; I wish to quit this place and to go to the Castle of +Life." + +"You shall never go there!" exclaimed the fairy, in a rage. The castle +instantly disappeared, a circle of fire surrounded Graceful, and an +invisible clock began to strike midnight. At the first stroke the +child started; at the second, without hesitating, he plunged headlong +into the flames. To die for his grandmother seemed to him the only +means of showing his love and repentance. + + +VI + +To Graceful's surprise, the flames parted without touching him, and he +suddenly found himself in a new country, with his two companions by +his side. This country was no longer Italy, but Russia, the end of the +earth. He was wandering on a mountain covered with snow. Around him he +saw nothing but great trees, coated with hoar-frost and dripping water +from all their branches; a damp and penetrating mist chilled him to +the bones; the moist earth sank under his feet; and, to crown his +wretchedness, it was necessary to descend a steep precipice, at the +bottom of which a torrent was breaking noisily over the rocks. +Graceful took his dagger and cut a branch from a tree to support his +faltering steps. Fido, with his tail between his legs, barked feebly; +and Pensive, her ruffled feathers covered with icicles, clung to her +master's shoulder. The poor bird was half dead, but she encouraged +Graceful and did not complain. + +When, after infinite pains, he reached the foot of the mountain, +Graceful found a river filled with enormous icebergs, striking against +one another and whirling in the current, and this river he must +cross, without bridge, without boat, and without aid. + +"Master," said Fido, "I can go no farther. Accursed be the fairy that +drew me from nothingness to place me in your service." Saying this, he +lay down on the ground and would not stir. Graceful vainly tried to +restore his courage, and called him his companion and friend. All that +the poor dog could do was to answer his master's caresses for the last +time by wagging his tail and licking his hands; then his limbs +stiffened and he expired. + +Graceful took Fido on his back in order to carry him to the Castle of +Life, and boldly climbed one of the icebergs, still followed by +Pensive. With his staff he pushed this frail bark into the middle of +the current, which bore it away with frightful rapidity. + +"Master," said Pensive, "do you hear the roaring of the waters? We are +floating toward a whirlpool which will swallow us up! Give me a last +caress and farewell!" + +"No," said Graceful. "Why should the fairies have deceived us? The +shore may be close by; perhaps the sun is shining behind the clouds. +Mount, mount, my good Pensive; perchance above the fog you will find +light and will see the Castle of Life!" + +Pensive spread her half-frozen wings, and courageously soared amid the +cold and mist. Graceful listened for a moment to the sound of her +flight; then all was silent, while the iceberg pursued its furious +course through the darkness. Graceful waited a long time; at last, +when he felt himself alone, hope abandoned him, and he lay down to +await death on the tottering iceberg. Livid flashes of lightning shot +through the clouds, horrible bursts of thunder were heard, and the end +of the world and of time seemed approaching. All at once, in the midst +of his despair, Graceful heard the cry of the swallow, and Pensive +fell at his feet. "Master, master," cried she, "you were right. I have +seen the shore; the dawn is close at hand. Courage!" Saying this, she +convulsively spread her tired wings and lay motionless and lifeless. + +Graceful started up, placed the poor bird that had sacrificed itself +for him next his heart, and, with superhuman ardor, urged the iceberg +on to safety or destruction. Suddenly he heard the roaring of the +breakers. He fell on his knees and closed his eyes, awaiting death. + +A wave like a mountain broke over his head and cast him fainting on +the shore, which no living person had touched before him. + + +VII + +When Graceful recovered his senses, the ice, clouds, and darkness had +disappeared. He was lying on the ground in the midst of a charming +country, covered with trees bathed in a soft light. In front of him +was a beautiful castle, from which bubbled a brook that flowed into a +sea as blue, calm, and transparent as the sky. Graceful looked about +him; he was alone--alone with the remains of his two companions, which +the waves had washed on the shore. Exhausted with suffering and +excitement, he dragged himself to the brook and bent over the water to +refresh his parched lips, when he shrank back with affright. It was +not his face that he saw in the water, but that of an old man with +silvery locks who strongly resembled him. He turned round; there was +no one behind him. He again drew near the fountain; he saw the old +man, or rather, doubtless, the old man was himself. "Great fairies," +he cried. "I understand you. If it is my life that you wish in +exchange for that of my grandmother, I joyfully accept the sacrifice." +And without troubling himself further about his old age and wrinkles, +he plunged his head into the water and drank eagerly. + +On rising, he was astonished to see himself again as he was when he +left home, only more beautiful, with blacker hair and brighter eyes +than ever. He picked up his hat, which had fallen near the spring, and +which a drop of water had touched by chance, when what was his +surprise to see the butterfly that he had pinned to it fluttering its +wings and seeking to fly. He gave it its liberty, and ran to the beach +for Fido and Pensive, then plunged them both into the blessed +fountain. Pensive flew upward with a joyful cry and disappeared amid +the turrets of the castle. Fido, shaking the water from both ears, +ran to the kennels of the palace, where he was met by magnificent +watch-dogs, which, instead of barking and growling at the new-comer, +welcomed him joyfully like an old friend. Graceful had at last found +the Fountain of Immortality, or rather the brook that flowed from +it--a brook already greatly weakened, and which only gave two or three +hundred years of life to those that drank of it; but nothing prevented +them from drinking anew. + +Graceful filled his vial with this life-giving water and approached +the palace. His heart beat, for a last trial remained. So near +success, he feared the more to fail. He mounted the steps of the +castle. All was closed and silent; no one was there to receive the +traveler. When he had reached the last step and was about to knock at +the door, a voice, rather gentle than harsh, stopped him. + +"Have you loved?" said the invisible voice. + +"Yes," answered Graceful; "I have loved my grandmother better than any +one in the world." + +The door opened a little way. + +"Have you suffered for her whom you have loved?" resumed the voice. + +"I have suffered," replied Graceful; "much through my own fault, +doubtless, but a little for her whom I wished to save." + +The door opened half-way and the child caught a glimpse of woods, +waters, and a sky more beautiful than anything of which he had ever +dreamed. + +"Have you always done your duty?" said the voice, in a harsher tone. + +"Alas! no," replied Graceful, falling on his knees; "but when I have +failed I have been punished by my remorse even more than by the hard +trials through which I have passed. Forgive me, and punish me as I +deserve, if I have not yet expiated all my faults; but save her whom I +love--save my grandmother." + +The door instantly opened wide, though Graceful saw no one. +Intoxicated with joy, he entered a courtyard surrounded with arbors +embowered in foliage, with a fountain in the midst, spouting from a +tuft of flowers larger, more beautiful, and more fragrant than any he +had seen on earth. By the side of the spring stood a woman dressed in +white, of noble bearing, and seemingly not more than forty years old. +She advanced to meet Graceful, and smiled on him so sweetly that the +child felt himself touched to the heart, and his eyes filled with +tears. + +"Don't you know me?" said the woman. + +"Oh, grandmother! is it you?" he exclaimed. "How came you in the +Castle of Life?" + +"My child," said she, pressing him to her heart, "He who brought me +here is an enchanter more powerful than the fairies of the woods and +the waters. I shall never more return to Salerno. I shall receive my +reward here for the little good I have done by tasting a happiness +which time will not destroy." + +"And me, grandmother!" cried Graceful, "what shall become of me? After +seeing you here, how can I return to suffer alone?" + +"My dear child," she replied, "no one can live on earth after he has +caught a glimpse of the celestial delights of this abode. You have +lived, my dear Graceful; life has nothing more to teach you. You have +passed in four days through the desert where I languished eighty +years, and henceforth nothing can separate us." + +The door closed, and from that time nothing was heard of Graceful or +his grandmother. It was in vain that search was made for the palace +and enchanted fountain; they were never more discovered on earth. But +if we understood the language of the stars, if we felt what their +gentle rays tell us every evening, we should long ago have learned +from them where to look for the Castle of Life and the Fountain of +Immortality. + + + + +Destiny + +_A Dalmatian Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +Once upon a time there were two brothers, who lived together in one +family. One did everything, while the other was an idle fellow who +troubled himself about nothing but eating and drinking. The harvests +were always magnificent; they had cows, horses, sheep, pigs, bees, and +everything else in plenty. + +The elder brother, who did everything, said to himself, one day, "Why +should I work for this idler? It is better for us to separate; I will +work for myself alone, and he can do as he likes." He said to his +brother, therefore: + +"Brother, it is not just for me to do everything, while you trouble +yourself about nothing but eating and drinking; we must separate." + +His brother tried to dissuade him from his plan, saying: + +"Brother, don't do this, we are so well off as we are. You have +everything in your own hands; what is mine is yours; and you know that +I am always satisfied with what you do or order done." + +The elder, however, persisted in his resolution till the younger was +forced to yield. "Since it must be so," said he, "I am not angry. +Divide the property as you like." + +The division made, each took his share. The idler hired a drover for +his cattle, a groom for his horses, a shepherd for his sheep, a +goatherd for his goats, a swineherd for his hogs, and a keeper for his +bees, and said to them all, "I intrust my property to you. May God +have you in His keeping." And he continued to stay at home, with no +more care than before. + +The elder, on the contrary, labored for himself as he had done for the +common good: he kept his own flocks and had an eye to everything; yet, +in spite of all this, he found bad luck and misfortune everywhere; +everything went wrong with him, until at last he was so poor that he +had not even a pair of shoes, but was forced to go barefoot. He said +to himself, "I will go to my brother's house and see how affairs are +prospering with him." + +His road lay through a pasture in which a flock of sheep was feeding. +On approaching them he saw that they had no shepherd. A beautiful +young girl was seated near them, with her distaff, spinning gold +thread. + +He saluted the young girl and asked her to whom the flock belonged. + +"To him to whom I belong belong also these sheep," answered she. + +"And who are you?" said he. + +"I am your brother's fortune?" she replied. + +"And where is my fortune?" he exclaimed, seized with anger and envy. + +"Ah! she is far from you," said the young girl. + +"Can I find her?" asked he. + +"You can," she replied, "if you only look yonder." + +On hearing these words, and seeing that the sheep were the finest that +could be imagined, he had no wish to see the other flocks, but went +straight to his brother, who, as soon as he saw him, burst into tears, +moved with pity. + +"Where have you been so long?" asked he. And, seeing him clothed in +rags and barefooted, he gave him a pair of shoes and some money. + +After staying three days in his brother's house, the poor man set out +for home. No sooner had he reached his house than he threw a bag +across his shoulder, with a piece of bread in it, took a staff in his +hand, and set out to seek his fortune. + +After walking for some time he found himself in a great forest, where +he saw a wretched old hag asleep under a tree. He gave her a blow on +the back with his staff to awaken her. She moved with difficulty, and, +half opening her bleared eyes, said to him, "Thank God that I was +asleep, for if I had been awake you would not have had those shoes." + +"Who are you, then," asked he, "that would have prevented my having +these shoes?" + +"I am your fortune," answered the old woman. + +"What! are you my fortune?" cried he, striking his breast. "May God +exterminate you! Who gave you to me?" + +"It was Destiny," replied the old woman. + +"Where is Destiny?" he asked. + +"Go and find him," said the old woman, lying down to sleep again. + +He set out in search of Destiny. After a long, long journey, at length +he reached a wood, where he found a hermit, of whom he asked the way +to the abode of Destiny. + +"Go straight up yonder mountain and you will find his castle," +answered the hermit; "but when you find him take care not to speak to +him, but only do all that you see him do." + +The traveler thanked the hermit and took his way to the mountain. When +he reached the abode of Destiny he saw a magnificent palace full of +servants constantly bustling about and doing nothing. As to Destiny, +he was supping at a table bountifully served. When the stranger saw +this he also sat down at the table and supped with the master of the +house. After supper Destiny went to bed, and his guest did the same. + +At midnight a terrible noise was heard in the castle, and a voice +cried, "Destiny, Destiny, such a number of souls have come into the +world this night; give them something according to thy good pleasure." + +And behold! Destiny rose, and opened a golden chest filled with +shining guineas, which he scattered by handfuls about the room, +saying, "Such as I am to-day, such shalt thou be all thy life!" + +At daybreak the beautiful castle had vanished, and in its place stood +an ordinary house, in which, however, nothing was wanting. When +evening came Destiny sat down to supper. His guest did the same, but +no one spoke a word. Supper over, they went to bed. At midnight a +terrible noise was heard, and a voice cried, "Destiny, Destiny, such a +number of souls have come into the world this night; give them +something according to thy good pleasure." + +And behold! Destiny rose, and opened a silver chest, but this time +there were no guineas in it, but only silver coin, with a few small +pieces of gold, which Destiny scattered on the floor, saying, "Such as +I am to-day, such shalt thou be all thy life!" + +At daybreak this house had also disappeared, and a smaller one stood +in its place. The same thing happened every night, and every morning +the house was smaller, until finally there was nothing but a wretched +hut. Destiny now took a spade and began to dig the ground. His guest +did the same, and both worked all day. When night came, Destiny took +a crust of bread and, breaking it in two, gave half to his companion. +This was all his supper. When they had eaten it they went to bed. + +At midnight a terrible noise was heard, and a voice cried out, +"Destiny, Destiny, such a number of souls have come into the world +this night; give them something according to thy good pleasure." + +And behold! Destiny rose, and opened a wooden chest filled with +pebbles mixed with a few copper coins, which he scattered on the +ground, saying, "Such as I am to-day, such shalt thou be all thy +life!" + +When morning dawned the cabin was changed into a splendid palace, as +on the first day. Then, for the first time, Destiny spoke to his +guest. "Why did you come here?" asked he. + +The poor man told him the whole story of his wretchedness, and how he +had come to ask Destiny himself why he had given him such a bad +fortune. + +"You saw what I was the first night, when I scattered guineas, and +what followed," replied Destiny. "Such as I am on the night that a man +is born, such will that man be all his life. You were born on a night +of poverty; you will always be poor. Your brother, on the contrary, +came into the world on a lucky night; he will always be fortunate. +But, since you have taken so much trouble to find me, I will tell you +how to help yourself. Your brother has a daughter by the name of +Miliza, who is as fortunate as her father. Take her for your wife when +you return home, but be careful always to say that all that you have +belongs to her." + +The poor man thanked Destiny again and again, and set out for home. As +soon as he arrived he went straight to his brother's house and said, + +"Brother, give me Miliza for a wife; you see that I am all alone in +the world." + +"I am willing," answered his brother; "Miliza is yours." + +The bridegroom carried Miliza to his house. He soon became very rich, +but he always took good care to say, "All that I have belongs to +Miliza." + +One day, however, as he was admiring his wheat, which was the most +beautiful that ever was seen, a stranger passed by and asked, "Whose +wheat is this?" + +"It is mine," answered he, without thinking. But scarcely had he +spoken when, behold! the wheat took fire, and the flames spread all +over the field. Without stopping to put it out, he ran after the +traveler, crying, "Stop, sir, I was mistaken; it belongs to Miliza, my +brother's daughter." + +The fire went out at once of its own accord. He had learned a good +lesson which he never forgot, and from that time thenceforth he was +fortunate, thanks to Miliza. + + + + +The Twelve Months + +_A Bohemian Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +There was once a woman who was left a widow with two children. The +elder, who was only her stepdaughter, was named Dobrunka; the younger, +who was as wicked as her mother, was called Katinka. The mother +worshiped her daughter, but she hated Dobrunka, simply because she was +as beautiful as her sister was ugly. Dobrunka did not even know that +she was pretty, and she could not understand why her stepmother flew +into a rage at the mere sight of her. The poor child was obliged to do +all the work of the house; she had to sweep, cook, wash, sew, spin, +weave, cut the grass, and take care of the cow, while Katinka lived +like a princess--that is to say, did nothing. + +Dobrunka worked with a good will, and took reproaches and blows with +the gentleness of a lamb; but nothing soothed her stepmother, for +every day added to the beauty of the elder sister and the ugliness of +the younger. "They are growing up," thought the mother, "and suitors +will soon appear, who will refuse my daughter when they see this +hateful Dobrunka, who grows beautiful on purpose to spite me. I must +get rid of her, cost what it may." + +One day in the middle of January, Katinka took a fancy for some +violets. She called Dobrunka and said, "Go to the forest and bring me +a bunch of violets, that I may put them in my bosom and enjoy their +fragrance." + +"Oh, sister, what an idea!" answered Dobrunka; "as if there were any +violets under the snow!" + +"Hold your tongue, stupid fool," returned her sister, "and do as I bid +you. If you do not go to the forest and bring me back a bunch of +violets I will beat you to a jelly." Upon this the mother took +Dobrunka by the arm, put her out of the door, and drew the bolt on +her. + +The poor girl went to the forest weeping bitterly. Everything was +covered with snow; there was not even a footpath. She lost her way and +wandered about till, famishing with hunger and perishing with cold, +she entreated God to take her from this wretched life. + +All at once she saw a light in the distance. She went on, climbing +higher and higher, until at last she reached the top of a huge rock, +upon which a great fire was built. Around the fire were twelve stones, +and on each stone sat a motionless figure, wrapped in a large mantle, +his head covered with a hood which fell over his eyes. Three of these +mantles were white like the snow, three were green like the grass of +the meadows, three were golden like the sheaves of ripe wheat, and +three were purple like the grapes of the vine. These twelve figures, +gazing at the fire in silence, were the Twelve Months of the year. + +Dobrunka knew January by his long white beard. He was the only one +that had a staff in his hand. The poor girl was terribly frightened. +She drew near, saying, in a timid voice, "My good sirs, please to let +me warm myself by your fire; I am freezing with cold." + +January nodded his head. "Why have you come here, my child?" he asked. +"What are you looking for?" + +"I am looking for violets," replied Dobrunka. + +"This is not the season for them; there are no violets in the time of +snow," said January, in his gruff voice. + +"I know it," replied Dobrunka, sadly; "but my sister and mother will +beat me to a jelly if I do not bring them some. My good sirs, please +to tell me where I can find them." + +Old January rose, and, turning to a young man in a green mantle, put +his staff in his hand, and said to him, "Brother March, this is your +business." + +March rose in turn, and stirred the fire with the staff, when, behold! +the flames rose, the snow melted, the buds put forth on the trees, the +grass turned green under the bushes, the flowers peeped through the +verdure, and the violets opened--it was spring. + +"Make haste, my child, and gather your violets," said March. + +[Illustration: PRETTY DOBRUNKA WAS OBLIGED TO DO ALL THE WORK OF THE +HOUSE] + +Dobrunka gathered a large bouquet, thanked the Twelve Months, and +joyfully ran home. You can imagine the astonishment of Katinka and the +stepmother. The fragrance of the violets filled the whole house. + +"Where did you find these fine things?" asked Katinka, in a disdainful +voice. + +"Up yonder, on the mountain," answered her sister. "It looked like a +great blue carpet under the bushes." + +Katinka put the bouquet in her bosom and did not even thank the poor +child. + +The next morning the wicked sister, as she sat idling by the stove, +took a fancy for some strawberries. + +"Go to the forest and bring me some strawberries," said she to +Dobrunka. + +"Oh, sister, what an idea! as if there were any strawberries under the +snow!" + +"Hold your tongue, stupid fool, and do as I bid you. If you don't go +to the forest and bring me back a basket of strawberries, I will beat +you to a jelly." + +The mother took Dobrunka by the arm, put her out of the door, and drew +the bolt on her. + +The poor girl returned to the forest, looking with all her eyes for +the light that she had seen the day before. She was fortunate enough +to spy it, and she reached the fire trembling and almost frozen. + +The Twelve Months were in their places, motionless and silent. + +"My good sirs," said Dobrunka, "please to let me warm myself by your +fire; I am almost frozen with cold." + +"Why have you returned?" asked January. "What are you looking for?" + +"I am looking for strawberries," answered she. + +"This is not the season for them," returned January, in his gruff +voice; "there are no strawberries under the snow." + +"I know it," replied Dobrunka, sadly; "but my mother and sister will +beat me to a jelly if I do not bring them some. My good sirs, please +to tell me where I can find them." + +Old January rose and, turning to a man in a golden mantle, he put his +staff in his hand, saying, "Brother June, this is your business." + +June rose in turn, and stirred the fire with the staff, when, behold! +the flames rose, the snow melted, the earth grew green, the trees were +covered with leaves, the birds sang and the flowers opened--it was +summer. Thousands of little white stars enameled the turf, then turned +to red strawberries, looking, in their green cups, like rubies set in +emeralds. + +"Make haste, my child, and gather your strawberries," said June. + +Dobrunka filled her apron, thanked the Twelve Months, and joyfully +ran home. You may imagine the astonishment of Katinka and the +stepmother. The fragrance of the strawberries filled the whole house. + +"Where did you find these things?" asked Katinka, in a disdainful +voice. + +"Up yonder on the mountain," answered her sister; "there were so many +of them that they looked like blood poured on the ground." + +Katinka and her mother devoured the strawberries without even thanking +the poor child. + +The third day the wicked sister took a fancy for some red apples. The +same threats, the same insults, and the same violence followed. +Dobrunka ran to the mountain, and was fortunate enough to find the +Twelve Months warming themselves, motionless and silent. + +"You here again, my child?" said old January, making room for her by +the fire. Dobrunka told him, with tears, how, if she did not bring +home some red apples, her mother and sister would beat her to death. + +Old January repeated the ceremonies of the day before. "Brother +September," said he to a gray-bearded man in a purple mantle, "this is +your business." + +September rose and stirred the fire with the staff, when, behold! the +flames ascended, the snow melted, and the trees put forth a few yellow +leaves, which fell one by one before the wind--it was autumn. The only +flowers were a few late pinks, daisies, and immortelles. Dobrunka saw +but one thing, an apple-tree with its rosy fruit. + +"Make haste, my child; shake the tree," said September. + +She shook it, and an apple fell; she shook it again, and a second +apple followed. + +"Make haste, Dobrunka, make haste home!" cried September, in an +imperious voice. + +The good child thanked the Twelve Months, and joyfully ran home. You +may imagine the astonishment of Katinka and the stepmother. + +"Red apples in January! Where did you get these apples?" asked +Katinka. + +"Up yonder on the mountain; there is a tree there that is as red with +them as a cherry-tree in July." + +"Why did you bring only two? You ate the rest on the way." + +"Oh, sister, I did not touch them; I was only permitted to shake the +tree twice, and but two apples fell." + +"Begone, you fool!" cried Katinka, striking her sister, who ran away +crying. + +The wicked girl tasted one of the apples; she had never eaten anything +so delicious in her life, neither had her mother. How they regretted +not having any more! + +[Illustration: TURNED OUT BY HER MOTHER, DOBRUNKA WENT UNHAPPILY INTO +THE FOREST] + +"Mother," said Katinka, "give me my fur cloak. I will go to the forest +and find the tree, and whether I am permitted or not I will shake +it so hard that all the apples will be ours." + +The mother tried to stop her. A spoiled child listens to nothing. +Katinka wrapped herself in her fur cloak, drew the hood over her head, +and hastened to the forest. + +Everything was covered with snow; there was not even a footpath. +Katinka lost her way, but she pushed on, spurred by pride and +covetousness. She spied a light in the distance. She climbed and +climbed till she reached the place, and found the Twelve Months each +seated on his stone, motionless and silent. Without asking their +permission, she approached the fire. + +"Why have you come here? What do you want? Where are you going?" asked +old January, gruffly. + +"What matters it to you, old fool?" answered Katinka. "It is none of +your business where I came from or whither I am going." She plunged +into the forest. January frowned and raised his staff above his head. +In the twinkling of an eye the sky was overcast, the fire went out, +the snow fell, and the wind blew. Katinka could not see the way before +her. She lost herself, and vainly tried to retrace her steps. The snow +fell and the wind blew. She called her mother, she cursed her sister, +she cursed God. The snow fell and the wind blew. Katinka froze, her +limbs stiffened, and she fell motionless. The snow still fell and the +wind still blew. + +The mother went without ceasing from the window to the door, and from +the door to the window. The hours passed and Katinka did not return. + +"I must go and look for my daughter," said she. "The child has +forgotten herself with those hateful apples." She took her fur cloak +and hood, and hastened to the mountain. Everything was covered with +snow; there was not even a footpath. She plunged into the forest, +calling her daughter. The snow fell and the wind blew. She walked on +with feverish anxiety, shouting at the top of her voice. The snow +still fell and the wind still blew. + +Dobrunka waited through the evening and the night, but no one +returned. In the morning she took her wheel and spun a whole distaff +full; there was still no news. "What can have happened?" said the +girl, weeping. The sun was shining through an icy mist and the ground +was covered with snow. Dobrunka prayed for her mother and sister. They +did not return; and it was not till spring that a shepherd found the +two corpses in the forest. + +Dobrunka remained the sole mistress of the house, the cow, and the +garden, to say nothing of a piece of meadow adjoining the house. But +when a good and pretty girl has a field under her window, the next +thing that follows is a young farmer who offers her his heart and +hand. Dobrunka was soon married. The Twelve Months did not abandon +their child. More than once, when the north wind blew fearfully and +the windows shook in their frames, old January stopped up all the +crevices of the house with snow, so that the cold might not enter this +peaceful abode. + +Dobrunka lived to a good old age, always virtuous and happy, having, +according to the proverb, winter at the door, summer in the barn, +autumn in the cellar, and spring in the heart. + + + + +Swanda the Piper + +_A Bohemian Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +Swanda, the Piper, was a jolly companion. Like every true musician, he +was born with an unquenchable thirst; besides, he was madly fond of +play, and would have risked his soul at strajak, the favorite game at +cards in Bohemia. When he had earned a little money he would throw +aside his pipes, and drink and play with the first comer till he +returned to his home as light in pocket as when he had left it. But he +was always so merry, witty, and good-natured that not a drinker ever +left the table while the piper was there, and his name still lives in +Bohemia as the prince of good fellows. + +One day there was a festival at Mokran, and no merry-making was ever +complete without the piper. Swanda, after blowing his pipe till +midnight and earning twenty zwanzigers, determined to amuse himself on +his own account. Neither prayers nor promises could persuade him to +go on with his music; he was determined to drink his fill and to +shuffle the cards at his ease; but, for the first time in his life, he +found no one to play with him. + +Swanda was not the man to quit the inn so long as he had a kreutzer in +his pocket, and on that day he had many of them. By dint of talking, +laughing, and drinking he took one of those fixed ideas which are not +uncommon among those who look too often in the bottom of their glass, +and determined to play at any price; but all his neighbors refused his +challenge. Furious at finding no partner, he rose with an unsteady +step, paid for what he had drank, and left the inn. + +"I will go to Drazic," said he; "the schoolmaster and the bailiff +there are honest people who are not afraid of play, and I shall find +partners. Hurrah!" + +The night was clear and the moon shone like a fish's eye. On reaching +a cross-road Swanda raised his eyes by chance, and stopped, mute and +motionless. A flock of ravens were croaking over his head, and in +front of him rose four posts, standing like pillars, and connected at +the top by cross-beams, from each of which swung a half-devoured +corpse. It was a robbers' gallows, a spectacle by no means amusing to +a less stoical spirit than that of Swanda. + +He had not recovered from the first shudder when suddenly there +appeared before him a man dressed in black, with pale and hollow +cheeks, and eyes that glittered like carbuncles. + +"Where are you going so late, friend Piper?" asked he, in a soft +voice. + +"To Drazic, Mr. Black Coat," answered the intrepid Swanda. + +"Would you like to earn something by your music?" + +"I am tired of blowing," returned Swanda. "I have some silver in my +pocket, and wish to amuse myself." + +"Who talks to you of silver? It is with gold that we pay." + +Saying this, the stranger flashed before his eyes a handful of shining +ducats. The piper was the son of a thrifty mother; he knew not how to +resist such an invitation, and followed the black man and his gold. + +How the time passed he never could remember. It is true that his head +was a little heavy. The only thing that he recollected was that the +black man warned him to accept whatever was offered him, whether gold +or wine, but never to return thanks except by saying "Good luck, +brother!" + +Without knowing how he had entered, he found himself in a dark room +where three men, dressed in black like his guide, were playing at +strajak by no other light than their glittering eyes. On the table +were piles of gold, and a jug from which each one drank in his turn. + +"Brothers," said the black man, "I bring you friend Swanda, whom you +have long known by reputation. I thought to please you on this +feast-day by giving you a little music." + +"A good idea!" said one of the players. Then, taking the jug, he +handed it to Swanda, saying, "Here, piper, drink and play." + +Swanda had some scruples; but, after all, it is impossible to have +charcoal without putting your finger into the ashes. The wine, though +rather warm, was not bad. He replaced the jug on the table, and +raising his hat, said, "Good luck, brother!" as he had been advised. + +He began to play, and never had his music produced such an effect. +Each note made the players leap for joy. Their eyes shot forth flames; +they moved about uneasily in their chairs; they staked the ducats by +handfuls; they shouted and burst into loud fits of laughter without +stirring a muscle of their pallid faces. The jug passed from hand to +hand, always full, though replenished by no one. + +As soon as Swanda finished an air they handed him the jug, from which +he never failed to drink deeply, and threw handfuls of gold into his +hat. "Good luck, brother!" he repeated, astounded at his +fortune--"good luck!" + +The feast lasted a long time. At last, the piper having struck up a +polka, the black men, in a transport of mirth, quitted the table and +danced and waltzed with an ardor and frenzy which ill accorded with +their icy faces. One of the dancers gathered up all the gold that was +heaped on the table, and, pouring it into Swanda's hat, "Here," said +he, "take this for the pleasure that you have given us." + +"God bless you, my good lords!" said the dazzled piper. Scarcely had +he spoken when men, room, and cards vanished. + +In the morning a peasant on his way to the fields heard the sound of a +pipe as he approached the cross-road. "It is Swanda," said he. But +where was the piper? Seated on a corner of the gallows, he was blowing +with all his might, while the corpses of the robbers danced in the +wind to his music. + +"Halloo, comrade!" cried the peasant. "How long have you been playing +the cuckoo up there?" + +Swanda started, dropped his pipe, opened his eyes, and glided, +bewildered, down the gallows. His first thought, however, was for his +ducats. He rummaged his pockets and turned his hat inside out, but all +in vain; there was not even a kreutzer! + +"My friend," said the peasant, making the sign of the cross, "God has +punished you by giving you the devil for a partner; you love cards too +well." + +"You are right," said Swanda, trembling; "I will never touch them +again in my life." + +[Illustration: HE BEGAN TO PLAY AND NEVER HAD HIS MUSIC PRODUCED SUCH +AN EFFECT.] + +He kept his word; and, to thank Heaven for having preserved him +from such peril, he took the fatal pipe to which the devil had danced, +and suspended it as a votive offering in the church of Strakonic, his +birthplace, where it may be seen to this day. The pipe of Strakonic +has become a proverb, and it is even said that its sound is heard +every year at the day and hour when Swanda played for Satan and his +friends. + + + + +_The_ Gold Bread + +_A Hungarian Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +Once upon a time there was a widow who had a beautiful daughter. The +mother was modest and humble; the daughter, Marienka, was pride +itself. She had suitors from all sides, but none satisfied her; the +more they tried to please her the more she disdained them. + +One night, when the poor mother could not sleep, she took her beads +and began to pray for her dear child, who gave her more than one care. +Marienka was asleep by her side. As the mother gazed lovingly at her +beautiful daughter, Marienka laughed in her sleep. + +"What a beautiful dream she must have to laugh in this way!" said the +mother. Then she finished her prayer, hung her beads on the wall, laid +her head on the same pillow with her daughter, and fell asleep. + +"My dear child," said she in the morning, "what did you dream last +night that you laughed so?" + +"What did I dream, mamma? I dreamed that a nobleman came here for me +in a copper coach, and that he put a ring on my finger set with a +stone that sparkled like the stars. And when I entered the church the +people had eyes for no one but the blessed Virgin and me." + +"My daughter, my daughter, that was a proud dream!" said the mother, +shaking her head. But Marienka went out singing. + +The same day a wagon entered the yard. A handsome young farmer in good +circumstances came to ask Marienka to share a peasant's bread with +him. The mother was pleased with the suitor, but the proud Marienka +refused him, saying, "Though you should come in a copper coach, and +put a ring on my finger set with a stone that sparkled like the stars, +I would not have you for a husband." And the farmer went away storming +at Marienka's pride. + +The next night the mother waked, took her beads, and prayed still more +earnestly for her daughter, when, behold! Marienka laughed again as +she was sleeping. + +"I wonder what she is dreaming," said the mother, who prayed, unable +to sleep. + +"My dear child," she said the next morning, "what did you dream last +night that you laughed aloud?" + +"What did I dream, mamma? I dreamed that a nobleman came here for me +in a silver coach, and that he offered me a golden diadem. And when I +entered the church the people looked at me more than they did at the +blessed Virgin." + +"Hush! you are blaspheming. Pray, my daughter, pray that you may not +fall into temptation." + +But Marienka ran away to escape her mother's sermon. + +The same day a carriage entered the yard. A young lord came to entreat +Marienka to share a nobleman's bread with him. + +"It is a great honor," said the mother; but vanity is blind. + +"Though you should come in a silver coach," said Marienka to the new +suitor, "and should offer me a golden diadem, I would not have you for +a husband." + +"Take care, my child," said the poor mother; "pride is a device of the +Evil One." + +"Mothers never know what they are saying," thought Marienka, and she +went out shrugging her shoulders. + +The third night the mother could not sleep for anxiety. As she lay +awake, praying for her daughter, behold! Marienka burst into a loud +fit of laughter. + +"Oh!" said the mother, "what can the unhappy child be dreaming now?" +And she continued to pray till daylight. + +"My dear child," said she in the morning, "what did you dream last +night?" + +"You will be angry again if I tell you," answered Marienka. + +"No, no," replied the mother. "Tell me." + +"I dreamed that a noble lord, with a great train of attendants, came +to ask me in marriage. He was in a golden coach, and he brought me a +dress of gold lace. And when I entered the church, the people looked +at nobody but me." + +The mother clasped her hands. Marienka, half dressed, sprang from the +bed and ran into the next room, to avoid a lecture that was tiresome +to her. + +The same day three coaches entered the yard, one of copper, one of +silver, and one of gold; the first drawn by two horses, the second by +four, and the third by eight, all caparisoned with gold and pearls. +From the copper and silver coaches alighted pages dressed in scarlet +breeches and green jackets and cloaks, while from the golden coach +stepped a handsome nobleman all dressed in gold. He entered the house, +and, bending one knee on the ground, asked the mother for her +daughter's hand. + +"What an honor!" thought the mother. + +"My dream has come to pass," said Marienka. "You see, mother, that, as +usual, I was right and you were wrong." + +She ran to her chamber, tied the betrothal knot, and offered it +smilingly as a pledge of her faith to the handsome lord, who, on his +side, put a ring on her finger set with a stone that sparkled like the +stars, and presented her with a golden diadem and a dress of gold +lace. + +The proud girl ran to her room to dress for the ceremony, while the +mother, still anxious, said to the bridegroom, "My good sir, what +bread do you offer my daughter?" + +"Among us," said he, "the bread is of copper, silver, and gold. She +can take her choice." + +"What does this mean?" thought the mother. But Marienka had no +anxiety; she returned as beautiful as the sun, took her lover's arm, +and set out for the church without asking her mother's blessing. The +poor woman was left to pray alone on the threshold; and when Marienka +returned and entered the carriage she did not even turn round to look +at her mother or to bid her a last farewell. + +The eight horses set off at a gallop, and did not stop till they +reached a huge rock in which there was a hole as large as the gate of +a city. The horses plunged into the darkness, the earth trembled, and +the rock cracked and crumbled. Marienka seized her husband's hand. + +"Don't be alarmed, my fair one; in a moment it will be light." + +All at once a thousand lights waved in the air. The dwarfs of the +mountain, each with a torch in his hand, came to salute their lord, +the King of the Mines. Marienka learned for the first time her +husband's name. Whether he was a spirit of good or of evil, at least +he was so rich that she did not regret her choice. + +[Illustration: AS THE MOTHER GAZED LOVINGLY AT HER BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, +MARIENKA LAUGHED IN HER SLEEP] + +They emerged from the darkness, and advanced through bleached +forests and mountains that raised their pale and gloomy summits to the +skies. Firs, beeches, birches, oaks, rocks, all were of lead. At the +end of the forest stretched a vast meadow the grass of which was of +silver; and at the bottom of the meadow was a castle of gold, inlaid +with diamonds and rubies. The carriage stopped before the door, and +the King of the Mines offered his hand to his bride, saying, "My fair +one, all that you see is yours." + +Marienka was delighted. But it is impossible to make so long a journey +without being hungry; and it was with pleasure, therefore, that she +saw the mountain dwarfs bring in a table, everything on which +glittered with gold, silver, and precious stones. The dishes were +marvelous--side-dishes of emeralds, and roasts of gold on silver +salvers. Every one ate heartily except the bride, who begged her +husband for a little bread. + +"Bring the copper bread," said the King of the Mines. + +Marienka could not eat it. + +"Bring the silver bread," said he. + +Marienka could not eat it. + +"Bring the gold bread," said he, at length. + +Marienka could not eat it. + +"My fair one," said the King of the Mines, "I am very sorry; but what +can I offer you? We have no other bread." + +The bride burst into tears. Her husband laughed aloud; his heart was +of metal, like his kingdom. + +"Weep, if you like," he cried; "it will do you no good. What you +wished for you possess. Eat the bread that you have chosen." + +It was thus that the rich Marienka lived in her castle, dying of +hunger, and seeking in vain for a root to allay the torture that was +consuming her. God had humbled her by granting her prayer. + +Three days in the year, the Rogation Days, when the ground half opens +to receive the fruitful rain sent by the Lord, Marienka returns to the +earth. Dressed in rags, pale and wrinkled, she begs from door to door, +too happy when any one throws her a few crusts, and when she receives +as alms from the poor what she lacks in her palace of gold--a little +bread and a little pity. + + + + +The Story _of the Noses_ + +_A Bohemian Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +At Dewitz, in the neighborhood of Prague, there once lived a rich and +whimsical old farmer who had a beautiful daughter. The students of +Prague, of whom there were at that time twenty-five thousand, often +walked in the direction of Dewitz, and more than one of them offered +to follow the plow in hopes of becoming the son-in-law of the farmer. +The first condition that the cunning peasant set on each new servant +was this: "I engage you," he would say, "for a year--that is, till the +cuckoo sings the return of spring; but if, from now till then, you say +once that you are not satisfied, I will cut off the end of your nose. +I give you the same right over me," he added, laughing. And he did as +he said. Prague was full of students with the ends of their noses +glued on, which did not prevent an ugly scar, and, still less, bad +jokes. To return from the farm disfigured and ridiculed was well +calculated to cool the warmest passion. + +A young man by the name of Coranda, somewhat ungainly in manner, but +cool, adroit, and cunning, which are not bad aids in making one's +fortune, took it in his head to try the adventure. The farmer received +him with his usual good nature, and, the bargain made, sent him to the +field to work. At breakfast-time the other servants were called, but +good care was taken to forget Coranda. At dinner it was the same. +Coranda gave himself no trouble about it. He went to the house, and +while the farmer's wife was feeding the chickens unhooked an enormous +ham from the kitchen rafters, took a huge loaf from the cupboard, and +went back to the fields to dine and take a nap. + +"Are you satisfied?" cried the farmer, when he returned at night. + +"Perfectly satisfied," said Coranda; "I have dined better than you +have." + +At that instant the farmer's wife came rushing in, crying that her ham +was gone. Coranda laughed, and the farmer turned pale. + +"Are you not satisfied?" asked Coranda. + +"A ham is only a ham," answered his master. "Such a trifle does not +trouble me." But after that time he took good care not to leave the +student fasting. + +Sunday came. The farmer and his wife seated themselves in the wagon to +go to church, saying to Coranda, "It is your business to cook the +dinner. Cut up the piece of meat you see yonder, with onions, carrots, +leeks, and parsley, and boil them all together in the great pot over +the kitchen fire." + +"Very well," answered Coranda. + +There was a little pet dog at the farm-house by the name of Parsley. +Coranda killed him, skinned him, cut him up with the meat and +vegetables, and put the whole to boil over the kitchen fire. When the +farmer's wife returned she called her favorite; but, alas! she saw +nothing but a bloody skin hanging by the window. + +"What have you done?" said she to Coranda. + +"What you ordered me, mistress. I have boiled the meat, onions, +carrots, and leeks, and parsley in the bargain." + +"Wicked wretch!" cried the farmer, "had you the heart to kill the +innocent creature that was the joy of the house?" + +"Are you not satisfied?" said Coranda, taking his knife from his +pocket. + +"I did not say that," returned the farmer. "A dead dog is nothing but +a dead dog." But he sighed. + +A few days after, the farmer and his wife went to market. Fearing +their terrible servant, they said to him, "Stay at home and do exactly +what you see others do." + +"Very well," said Coranda. + +There was an old shed in the yard the roof of which was falling to +pieces. The carpenters came to repair it, and began, as usual, by +tearing down the roof. Coranda took a ladder and mounted the roof of +the house, which was quite new. Shingles, lath, nails, and tiles, he +tore off everything, and scattered them all to the winds. When the +farmer returned the house was open to the sky. + +"Villain!" said he, "what new trick have you played me?" + +"I have obeyed you, master," answered Coranda. "You told me to do +exactly what I saw others do. Are you not satisfied?" And he took out +his knife. + +"Satisfied!" returned the farmer; "why should I not be satisfied? A +few shingles more or less will not ruin me." But he sighed. + +Night came, the farmer and his wife said to each other that it was +high time to get rid of this incarnate demon. As is always the case +with sensible people, they never did anything without consulting their +daughter, it being the custom in Bohemia to think that children always +have more wit than their parents. + +"Father," said Helen, "I will hide in the great pear-tree early in the +morning, and call like the cuckoo. You can tell Coranda that the year +is up, since the cuckoo is singing; pay him and send him away." + +Early in the morning the plaintive cry of the cuckoo was heard through +the fields. The farmer seemed surprised. "Well, my boy, spring is +come," said he. "Do you hear the cuckoo singing yonder? I will pay you +and we will part good friends." + +[Illustration: HE RAN TO THE TREE AND SHOOK IT WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, +WHEN, BEHOLD! A YOUNG GIRL FELL FROM THE BRANCHES] + +"A cuckoo!" said Coranda; "that is a bird which I have always wanted +to see." + +He ran to the tree and shook it with all his might, when, behold! a +young girl fell from the branches, fortunately more frightened than +hurt. + +"Villain!" cried the farmer. + +"Are you not satisfied?" said Coranda, opening his knife. + +"Wretch! you kill my daughter and you think that I ought to be +satisfied! I am furious. Begone, if you would not die by my hand!" + +"I will go when I have cut off your nose," said Coranda. "I have kept +my word. Do you keep yours." + +"Stop!" cried the farmer, putting his hand before his face. "You will +surely let me redeem my nose?" + +"It depends on what you offer," said Coranda. + +"Will you take ten sheep for it?" + +"No." + +"Ten cows?" + +"No; I would rather cut off your nose." And he sharpened his knife on +the door-step. + +"Father," said Helen, "the fault was mine; it belongs to me to repair +it. Coranda, will you take my hand instead of my father's nose?" + +"Yes," replied Coranda. + +"I make one condition," said the young girl. "We will make the same +bargain; the first one of us that is not satisfied after marriage +shall have his nose cut off by the other." + +"Good," replied Coranda. "I would rather it was the tongue; but that +will come next." + +Never was a finer wedding seen at Prague, and never was there a +happier household. Coranda and the beautiful Helen were a model pair. +The husband and wife were never heard to complain of each other; they +loved with drawn swords, and, thanks to their ingenious bargain, kept +for long years both their love and their noses. + + + + +_The Three Citrons_ + +A Neapolitan Tale + +[Illustration: ] + + +Once upon a time there lived a king who was called the King of the +Vermilion Towers. He had but one son, whom he loved as the apple of +his eye, and who was the only hope of a royal line about to become +extinct. The old king's whole ambition was to marry this illustrious +prince--to find him a princess at once handsome, noble, young, and +rich. He could think of nothing but this wished-for marriage. + +Unhappily, among all the virtues in which the heir to a crown is never +lacking, Carlino, for that was the young prince's name, had the +trifling fault of being shyer than a deer. He shook his head and fled +to the woods at the mere sound of a woman's name, to the great grief +of his father, who was in despair at seeing his family about to die +out. But his grief was in vain; nothing touched the heart of Carlino. +The tears of a father, the prayers of a whole people, the interest of +the state, nothing could melt this stony heart. Twenty preachers had +wasted their eloquence and thirty senators their Latin in reasoning +with him. To be stubborn is one of the privileges of royalty, as +Carlino had known from his birth, and he would have thought himself +dishonored by being second to a mule in obstinacy. + +But more things often happen in an hour than in a hundred years, and +no one can say with safety, "This is a road that I shall never +travel." One morning at breakfast, as Carlino, instead of listening to +his father's sermon, was amusing himself by watching the flies buzzing +in the air, he forgot that he had a knife in his hand, and pricked his +finger in a gesture of impatience. The blood gushed forth and fell +into a plate of cream that had just been handed to him, where it made +a curious mixture of white and red. Either by chance or by the +punishment of Heaven, the prince was instantly seized with the maddest +caprice that could be imagined. + +"Sir," said he to his father, "if I do not soon find a woman as white +and red as this cream dyed with my blood, I am lost. This wonder must +exist somewhere. I love her; I am dying for her; I must have her; I +will have her. To a resolute heart nothing is impossible. If you would +have me live, let me go in search of her, or before to-morrow I shall +be dead of loneliness." + +The poor King of the Vermilion Towers was thunderstruck at this folly. +It seemed to him that his palace was crumbling over his head; he +turned red and pale by turns, stammered, wept, and finally cried, in +a voice broken with sobs: + +"Oh, my child, the staff of my old age, my heart's blood, the life of +my soul, what an idea have you taken into your head! Have you lost +your reason? Yesterday you almost made me die of sorrow by refusing to +marry; to-day you are about to drive me from the world by another +piece of folly. Whither would you go, unhappy boy? Why leave your +home, where you have been born and bred? Do you know to what danger +and suffering the traveler exposes himself? Drive away these perilous +fancies, and stay with me, my child, if you would not deprive me of +life and destroy your kingdom and house at one blow." + +All these words, and others equally wise, had no more effect than an +official harangue. Carlino, his eye fixed and his brow bent, listened +to nothing but his passion. All that was said to him went in at one +ear and out at the other; it was eloquence cast to the winds. + +When the old king, worn out with prayers and tears, perceived that it +was easier to melt a leaden weathercock on its steeple than a spoiled +child in pursuit of his whim, he heaved a deep sigh and determined to +let Carlino go; and giving him counsels to which he scarcely listened, +several bags filled with guineas, which were rather better received +than the counsels, and two trusty servants, the good king clasped his +rebellious son to his heart and bade him adieu, then mounted to the +top of the great tower to follow the ungrateful boy with his eyes as +far as he could see. When Carlino at last disappeared in the distance, +the poor monarch thought that his heart was breaking. He buried his +face in his hands and wept, not like a child, but like a father. The +tears of a child are like the summer rain, large drops that are soon +dried up; the tears of a father are like the autumnal rain, which +falls slowly and soaks into the ground. + +While the king wept, Carlino, mounted on a fine horse, rode on gaily, +his plume waving in the wind, like a hero about to conquer the world. +To find what he sought was not an easy task, however, and his journey +lasted more than one day. He crossed mountains and valleys, traversed +kingdoms, duchies, earldoms, and baronies, and visited cities, +villages, castles, and cottages, gazing at all the women, and gazed at +by them in turn; but all in vain: the treasure that he sought was not +to be found in old Europe. + +At the end of four months he reached Marseilles, resolved to embark +for the Indies. At the sight of the raging sea, however, his brave and +faithful servants were seized with an epidemic, called by the +physicians stay-at-homeativeness in Hebrew, and the headache in the +feet in Latin. To the great regret of these honest people, they were +forced to quit their good master and remain quietly on shore, wrapped +in their warm blankets, while Carlino, embarked on a frail bark, +braved the winds and waves. + +Nothing can stop a heart hurried away by passion. The prince roamed +over Egypt, India, and China, going from province to province, from +city to city, from house to house, and from cabin to cabin, everywhere +seeking the original of the fair image that was engraved on his heart, +but in vain. He saw women of all colors and shades, brown, blond, +olive, sandy, white, yellow, red, and black, but he did not see her +whom he loved. + +Always seeking and never finding, Carlino at last reached the end of +the world. There was nothing more before him but the ocean and the +sky. His hopes were at an end; his dream had vanished. As he was +walking despairingly up and down the seashore, he spied an old man +warming himself in the sun. The prince asked him if there was nothing +beyond these waves that stretched as far as the eye could reach. + +"No," said the old man; "no one has ever discovered anything in this +shoreless ocean, or, at least, those who have ventured on it have +never returned to tell the story. I remember, however, having heard +the old men among us say, when I was a child," he added, "that their +fathers had told them that yonder, a long, long way off, far beyond +the horizon, was the Island of the Fates; but woe to the imprudent man +who approaches these merciless fairies: he is struck with death at +their sight." + +"What does that matter?" cried Carlino. "I would face death itself to +gain my wishes." + +A bark lay by the strand. The prince sprang on board and unfurled the +sail. The wind, which blew off the shore, hurried forward the frail +craft, the land disappeared, and Carlino found himself in the midst of +the ocean. In vain he gazed about him; there was nothing but the +sea--the sea everywhere; in vain the bark bounded over the foaming +waves with the speed of lightning, like a steed with mane floating on +the wind; there was nothing but the sea--the sea everywhere. Billows +followed billows, the hours passed one after another, the day +declined, and the solitude and silence seemed to deepen around +Carlino, when all at once he uttered a cry; he saw a black speck in +the distance. At the same instant the bark, shooting ahead like an +arrow, struck upon the sand at the foot of huge rocks, which raised +their dark summits, notched and worn by time, to the skies. Fate had +thrown Carlino upon that strand from which none had ever returned. + +To climb this wall was not an easy matter; there was neither road nor +path; and when Carlino, after long efforts, with torn hands and +wearied limbs, at last succeeded in reaching a level spot, what he +found was not calculated to reassure him. He saw nothing but glaciers +piled upon one another--black, damp rocks rising from the midst of the +snows--not a tree, not a blade of grass, not a bit of moss; it was the +picture of winter and death. The only sign of life in this desert was +a wretched hovel, the roof of which was loaded with great stones in +order to resist the fury of the winds. The prince approached the hut, +and was about to enter it, when he stopped short, struck with surprise +and terror at the spectacle which presented itself. + +At the end of the room was a great web of cloth, on which were +pictured all the conditions of life. There were kings, soldiers, +farmers, and shepherds, with ladies richly dressed, and peasant women +spinning by their side. At the bottom boys and girls were dancing +gaily, holding each other by the hand. Before the web walked the +mistress of the house--an old woman, if the name woman can be given to +a skeleton with bones scarcely hidden by a skin yellower and more +transparent than wax. Like a spider ready to pounce upon its prey, the +old woman, armed with a great pair of shears, peered at all the +figures with a jealous eye, then suddenly fell upon the web and cut it +at random, when, lo! a piercing wail rose from it that would have +moved a heart of stone. The tears of children, the sobs of mothers, +the despair of lovers, the last murmurs of old age, all human sorrow +seemed mingled in this wail. At the sound the old woman burst into a +loud laugh, and her hideous face lighted up with ferocious delight, +while an invisible hand mended the web, eternally destroyed and +eternally repaired. + +The hag, again opening her shears, was already approaching the web +anew, when she saw the shadow of Carlino. + +"Fly, unhappy man," cried she, without turning round; "I know what +brings you here, but I can do nothing for you. Go to my sister; +perhaps she will give you what you desire. She is Life--I am Death." + +Carlino did not wait for a second bidding. He rushed onward, too happy +to escape this scene of horror. + +The landscape soon changed. Carlino found himself in a fertile valley. +On every side were harvests, blossoming fields, vines loaded with +grapes, and olive-trees full of fruit. In the thick shade of a +fig-tree, by a running spring, sat a blind woman unrolling the last +gold and silver thread from a spindle. Around her lay several +distaffs, full of different kinds of materials ready for +spinning--flax, hemp, wool, silk, and others. + +When she had finished her task the fairy stretched out her trembling +hand at random, took the first distaff that came, and began to spin. + +Carlino bowed respectfully to the lady, and began with emotion to tell +her the story of his pilgrimage, when the fairy stopped him at the +first word. + +"My child," said she, "I can do nothing for you. I am only a poor +blind woman that does not even know herself what she is doing. This +distaff, which I have taken at random, decides the fate of all who are +born while I am spinning it. Riches or poverty, happiness or +misfortune, are attached to this thread that I cannot see. The slave +of destiny, I can create nothing. Go to my other sister; perhaps she +will give you what you desire. She is Birth; I am Life." + +"Thanks, madam," answered Carlino; and with a light heart he ran to +find the youngest of the Fates. He soon discovered her, fresh and +smiling as the spring. Everything about her was taking root and +germinating; the corn was bursting through the earth and putting forth +its green blades from the brown furrows; the orange-blossoms were +opening; the buds on the trees were unfolding their pink scales; the +chickens, scarcely feathered, were running round the anxious hen, and +the lambs were clinging to their mother. It was the first smile of +life. + +The fairy received the prince with kindness. After listening to him +without laughing at his folly, she asked him to sup with her, and at +dessert gave him three citrons, and a beautiful knife with a +mother-of-pearl handle. + +"Carlino," said she, "you can now return to your father's house. The +prize is gained; you have found what you have been seeking. Go, then, +and when you have reached your kingdom, stop at the first fountain +that you see and cut one of these citrons. A fairy will come forth, +who will ask you for a drink. Give her the water quickly, or she will +slip through your fingers like quicksilver. If the second escapes you +in the same way, have an eye to the last; give her a drink instantly, +and you will have a wife according to your heart." + +Intoxicated with joy, the prince kissed again and again the charming +hand that crowned his wishes. He was more happy than wise, and little +deserved to succeed; but fairies have their caprices, and Fortune is +always a fairy. + +It was a long distance from the end of the world to the kingdom of the +Vermilion Towers. Carlino experienced more than one storm and braved +more than one danger on his way across land and sea, but at last, +after a long voyage and a thousand trials, he reached his father's +country with his three citrons, which he had treasured like the apple +of his eye. + +He was not more than two hours' journey from the royal castle when he +entered a dense forest where he had hunted many a time. A transparent +fountain, bordered with wild flowers and shaded by the trembling +leaves of the aspen, invited the traveler to repose. Carlino seated +himself on a carpet of verdure enameled with daisies, and, taking his +knife, cut one of the citrons. + +All at once a young girl as white as milk and as red as a strawberry +darted past him like lightning. "Give me a drink!" said she, pausing +an instant. + +"How beautiful she is!" cried the prince, so ravished by her charms +that he forgot the advice of the Fate. He paid dearly for it; in a +second the fairy had disappeared. Carlino smote his breast in despair, +and stood as astonished as a child that sees the running water slip +through his fingers. + +He tried to calm himself, and cut the next citron with a trembling +hand, but the second fairy was even more beautiful and more fleeting +than her sister. While Carlino admired her, wonder-struck, in the +twinkling of an eye she took flight. + +This time the prince burst into tears and wept so bitterly that he +seemed a part of the fountain. He sobbed, tore his hair, and called +down all the maledictions of Heaven on his head. + +"Fool that I am!" he cried; "twice I have let her escape as though my +hands were tied. Fool that I am, I deserve my fate. When I should have +run like a greyhound I stood still like a post. A fine piece of +business! But all is not lost; the third time conquers. I will try the +magic knife once more, and if it deceives me this time I will use it +on myself." + +He cut the last citron. The third fairy darted forth and said, like +her companions, "Give me a drink!" But the prince had learned a +lesson. He instantly gave her the water, when, lo! a beautiful, +slender young girl, as white as milk, with cheeks like roses, stood +before him, looking like a freshly opened rosebud. She was a marvel of +beauty such as the world had never seen, as fresh as a lily and as +graceful as a swan; her hair was of brighter gold than the sun, her +clear blue eyes revealed the depths of her heart, her rosy lips seemed +made only to comfort and charm; in a word, from head to foot she was +the most enchanting creature that had ever descended from heaven to +earth. It is a great pity that we have no likeness of her. + +At the sight of his bride the prince almost lost his reason from joy +and surprise. He could not understand how this miracle of freshness +and beauty had sprung from the bitter rind of a citron. + +"Am I asleep?" he cried. "Am I dreaming? If I am the sport of a +delusion, for pity's sake do not awaken me." + +The fairy's smile soon reassured him. She accepted his hand, and was +the first to ask to repair to the good king of the Vermilion Towers, +who would be so happy to bless his children. + +"My love," answered Carlino, "I am as impatient as you to see my +father and to prove to him that I was right; but we cannot enter the +castle arm in arm like two peasants. You must go like a princess; you +must be received like a queen. Wait for me by this fountain; I will +run to the palace, and return in two hours with a dress and equipage +worthy of you." Saying this, he tenderly kissed her hand and left her. + +The young girl was afraid, on finding herself alone; the cry of a +raven, the rustling of the trees, a dead branch broken by the wind, +everything frightened her. She looked tremblingly about her, and saw +an old oak by the side of the fountain whose huge trunk offered her a +shelter. She climbed the tree and hid herself in it, all but her +lovely face, which, encircled by the foliage, was reflected in the +transparent fountain as in a clear mirror. + +[Illustration: HE INSTANTLY GAVE HER THE WATER, WHEN, LO! A BEAUTIFUL, +SLENDER YOUNG GIRL STOOD BEFORE HIM] + +Now there was a negress, by the name of Lucy, who lived in the +neighborhood, and who was sent every day by her mistress to the +fountain for water. Lucy came, as usual, with her pitcher on her +shoulder, and just as she was about to fill it, she spied the image of +the fairy in the spring. The fool, who had never seen herself, thought +that the face was her own. "Poor Lucy!" she cried. "What! you, so +fresh and beautiful, are forced by your mistress to carry water like a +beast of burden! No, never!" And in her vanity she dashed the pitcher +to the ground and returned home. + +When her mistress asked her why she had broken the pitcher, the slave +shrugged her shoulders and said, "The pitcher that goes often to the +well is soon broken." Upon this her mistress gave her a little wooden +cask and ordered her to go back immediately and fill it at the +fountain. + +The negress ran to the spring, and, gazing lovingly at the beautiful +image in the water, sighed and said, "No, I am not an ape, as I am so +often told; I am more beautiful than my mistress. Mules may carry +casks--not I!" She dashed the cask on the ground, broke it in a +thousand pieces, and returned to her mistress, grumbling. + +"Where is the cask?" asked her mistress, who was waiting impatiently +for the water. + +"A mule ran against me and knocked it down, and it is all broken to +pieces." + +At these words her mistress lost patience. Seizing a broom, she gave +the negress one of those lessons that are not soon forgotten; then, +taking down a leathern bottle that was hanging on the wall, "Run, +wretched ape," she said; "and if you do not instantly bring this back +to me full of water, I will beat you within an inch of your life." + +The negress took to her heels in terror, and filled the bottle +obediently; but when it was filled she stopped to look once more in +the fountain; and seeing the lovely face reflected there, "No!" she +cried, in a burst of anger--"no, I will not be a water-carrier; no, I +was not made to serve my mistress like a dog." + +Saying this, she took from her hair the great pin that held it, and +pierced the bottle through and through. The water spouted out in every +direction. At the sight the fairy in the tree burst into a fit of +laughter. The negress looked up, saw the beautiful stranger, and +understood the whole. + +"Oh!" said she to herself, "so you are the cause of my beating; no +matter, you shall pay me well for it." Then, raising her voice, she +called, in her sweetest tones, "What are you doing up there, lovely +lady?" + +The fairy, who was as good as she was beautiful, tried to comfort the +slave by talking with her. The acquaintance was soon made; an innocent +soul is unsuspicious in friendship. The fairy, without distrust, told +the negress all that had happened to her and the prince, why she was +alone in the forest, and how she was every instant expecting Carlino +with a grand equipage to conduct his bride to the king of the +Vermilion Towers, and to marry her there in the presence of all the +court. + +On hearing this story, the wicked and envious negress conceived an +abominable idea. "Madame," said she, "if the prince is coming with all +his suite, you must be ready to meet him. Your hair is all in +disorder; let me come to you, and I will comb it." + +"With pleasure," answered the fairy, with a gracious smile, as she +stretched out a little white hand, which looked, in Lucy's great black +paw, like a crystal mirror in an ebony frame. + +No sooner had she climbed the tree than the wicked slave untied the +fairy's hair and began to comb it; then, all at once, taking her great +hair-pin, she pierced her to the brain. Feeling herself wounded, the +fairy cried, "Palomba! Palomba!" when she instantly turned to a +wood-pigeon and flew away. The horrible negress took her victim's +place, and stretched out her neck among the foliage, looking like a +statue of jet in a niche of emerald. + +Meanwhile the prince, mounted on a magnificent horse, was riding +thither at full speed, followed by a long cavalcade. Poor Carlino was +astonished to find a crow where he had left a swan. He almost lost his +reason, his voice was choked with tears, and he gazed in all +directions, hoping to see his bride among the foliage. But the +negress, putting on a suffering air, said to him, casting down her +eyes, "Look no farther, my prince; a wicked fairy has made me her +victim, and a wretched fate has changed your lily to charcoal." + +Though he cursed the fairies who had played on his credulity, Carlino, +like a true prince, would not break his word. He gallantly gave his +hand to Lucy and helped her to descend from the tree, all the while +heaving sighs that would have melted a heart of stone. When the +negress was dressed like a princess, and covered with lace and +diamonds that adorned her as the stars adorn the night, by rendering +the darkness still more visible, Carlino seated her at his right hand, +in a magnificent carriage lined with plate-glass and drawn by six +white horses, and took his way to the palace, as happy as a criminal +with the rope about his neck. + +The old king came to meet them a league from the castle. The wonderful +stories of his son had turned his brain. In spite of etiquette and +against the remonstrances of his courtiers, he hastened to admire the +incomparable beauty of his daughter-in-law. "Upon my word," he +exclaimed, at the sight of a crow instead of the dove that had been +promised him--"upon my word, this is too much. I knew that my son was +mad, but I did not know that he was blind. Is this the spotless lily +that he has been to the end of the world to seek? Is this the rose +fresher than the morning dew, the miracle of beauty that has come from +the rind of a citron? Does he think that I will bear this new insult +to my gray hairs? Does he think that I will leave to mulatto children +the empire of the Vermilion Towers, the glorious inheritance of my +ancestors? This baboon shall never enter my palace." + +The prince fell at his father's feet and tried to move him. The prime +minister, a man of great experience, remonstrated with his master +that, at court, black often becomes white and white black in the space +of twenty-four hours; and that there was no reason to be astonished at +such a very natural metamorphosis. What was the king of the Vermilion +Towers to do? He was a king and a father, and by this double title +always accustomed to do the will of others. He yielded and consented +with a bad grace to this strange union. The court gazette announced to +the whole kingdom the happy choice that the prince had made, and +ordered the people to rejoice. The wedding was postponed for a week; +it was impossible to make the preparations for the ceremony in less +time than this. + +The negress was lodged in a magnificent suite of apartments; +countesses disputed with one another the honor of putting on her +slippers; and duchesses obtained, not without difficulty, the glorious +privilege of handing her her nightgown. The town and castle were +adorned with flags of all colors; walls were thrown down, yews were +planted, walks were graveled, old speeches were furbished up, stale +compliments were newly framed, and poems and sonnets that had done +duty everywhere were patched up anew. There was but one idea in the +kingdom--that of thankfulness to the prince for having chosen a wife +so worthy of him. + +The kitchen was not forgotten. Three hundred scullions, a hundred +cooks, and fifty stewards set to work, under the superintendence of +the famous Bouchibus, the chief of the royal kitchens. Pigs were +killed, sheep cut up, capons larded, pigeons plucked, and turkeys +spitted; it was a universal massacre. It is impossible to have a feast +worthy of the name without the help of the poultry-yard. + +In the midst of this bustle a beautiful wood-pigeon, with blue wings, +perched on one of the kitchen windows, and cooed, in a plaintive +voice, + + "Bouchibus, tell me, for you must know, sure, + What has Carlino to do with the Moor?" + +The great Bouchibus was at first too busy with public affairs to +attend to the cooing of a pigeon; but after a while he began to be +astonished at understanding the language of birds, and thought it his +duty to inform his new mistress of the wonder. The negress did not +disdain to go to the kitchen. As soon as she heard the song, with a +cry of affright, she ordered Bouchibus to catch the pigeon and make a +stew of it. + +No sooner said than done. The poor bird suffered itself to be caught +without resistance. In an instant Bouchibus, armed with his great +knife, cut off its head and threw it into the garden. Three drops of +blood fell on the ground; and three days after there sprang from the +earth a beautiful citron-tree, which grew so fast that before night it +was in blossom. + +The prince, while taking the air in his balcony, chanced to spy a +citron-tree which he had never seen before. He called the cook and +asked him who had planted this beautiful tree. The story of Bouchibus +perplexed him greatly. He at once commanded, under penalty of death, +that no one should touch the citron-tree, and that the greatest care +should be taken of it. + +The next morning, as soon as he awoke, the prince hastened to the +garden. There were already three citrons on the tree--three citrons +exactly like those which the Fate had given him. Carlino gathered +them, hastened to his apartments, and shut himself up under lock and +key. With a trembling hand he filled a golden cup, set with rubies, +which had belonged to his mother, with water, and opened the magic +knife, which had never left him. + +He cut a citron, and the first fairy came forth. Carlino scarcely +glanced at her, and suffered her to take flight. It was the same with +the second; but as soon as the third appeared he gave her the cup, +from which she drank with a smile, and stood before him more graceful +than ever. + +The fairy then told Carlino all that she had suffered from the wicked +negress. The prince, beside himself with mingled joy and anger, +laughed and wept, sang and raved. The king, hearing the noise, ran to +see what was the matter, and you may judge of his surprise. He danced +about like a madman, with his crown on his head and his scepter in his +hand. All at once he stopped short, bent his brow, which was a sign +that a thought had struck him, threw a large veil over the princess +which covered her from head to foot, and taking her by the hand, led +her to the dining-room. + +It was the hour for breakfast. The ministers and courtiers were ranged +round a long table, magnificently served, waiting for the entrance of +the royal family to be seated. The king called the guests one after +another, and, raising the veil as each approached the fairy, asked: + +"What shall be done to the person who sought to destroy this marvel of +beauty?" + +And each one, wonder-struck, answered in his own way. Some said that +the author of such a crime deserved a hempen cravat; others thought +that the wretch should be thrown into the water with a stone to his +neck. Beheading seemed to the old minister too mild a punishment for +such a villain; he was in favor of flaying him alive, and all present +applauded his humanity. + +When the negress's turn came she approached without suspicion, and did +not recognize the fairy. "Sire," said she, "a monster capable of +injuring this charming creature deserves to be roasted alive in an +oven, and to have his ashes thrown to the winds." + +"You have pronounced your own sentence," cried the king of the +Vermilion Towers. "Wretch, behold your victim and prepare to die. Let +a funeral pile be built in the square in front of the castle. I will +give my good people the pleasure of seeing a witch burn; it will +occupy them for an hour or two." + +"Sire," said the young fairy, taking the king's hand, "Your Majesty +surely will not refuse me a wedding gift?" + +"No, indeed, my child," replied the old king. "Ask what you will; +should it be my crown, I will gladly give it to you." + +"Sire," continued the fairy, "grant me this wretched creature's +pardon. An ignorant and miserable slave, life has taught her nothing +but hatred and malice; let me render her happy and teach her that the +only happiness on earth consists in loving others." + +"My daughter," said the king, "it is very evident that you are a +fairy; you know nothing of human justice. Among us, we do not reform +the wicked, we kill them; it is sooner done. But I have given my word. +Tame this serpent at your own risk and peril; I am willing." + +The fairy raised the negress, who kissed her hands, weeping; then they +all sat down to the table. The king was so happy that he ate enough +for four. As for Carlino, who kept his eyes fixed on his bride, he cut +his thumb five or six times in a fit of absent-mindedness, which each +time put him in the best humor imaginable. Everything gives us +pleasure when the heart is happy. + +When the old king died, full of years and honor, Carlino and his +lovely wife ascended the throne in turn. For half a century, if +history is to be believed, they neither raised the taxes, shed a drop +of blood, nor caused a tear to fall; and although more than a thousand +years have passed since then, the good people of the Vermilion Towers +still sigh at the mention of this distant age, and little children are +not the only ones to ask when the fairies will reign again. + + + + +Story of + +Coquerico + +_A Spanish Tale_ + +[Illustration:] + + +Once upon a time there was a handsome hen who lived like a great lady +in the poultry-yard of a rich farmer, surrounded by a numerous family +which clucked about her, and none of which clamored more loudly or +picked up the corn faster with his beak than a poor little deformed +and crippled chicken. This was precisely the one that the mother loved +best. It is the way with all mothers; the weakest and most unsightly +are always their favorites. This misshapen creature had but one eye, +one wing, and one leg in good condition; it might have been thought +that Solomon had executed his memorable sentence on Coquerico, for +that was the name of the wretched chicken, and cut him in two with his +famous sword. When a person is one-eyed, lame, and one-armed, he may +reasonably be expected to be modest; but our Castilian ragamuffin was +prouder than his father, the best spurred, most elegant, bravest, and +most gallant cock to be seen from Burgos to Madrid. He thought himself +a phoenix of grace and beauty, and passed the best part of the day +in admiring himself in the brook. If one of his brothers ran against +him by accident, he abused him, called him envious and jealous, and +risked his only remaining eye in battle; if the hens clucked on seeing +him, he said it was to hide their spite because he did not condescend +to look at them. + +One day, when he was more puffed up with vanity than usual, he +resolved no longer to remain in such a narrow sphere, but to go out +into the world, where he would be better appreciated. + +"My lady mother," said he, "I am tired of Spain; I am going to Rome to +see the pope and cardinals." + +"What are you thinking of, my poor child!" cried his mother. "Who has +put such a folly into your head? Never has one of our family been +known to quit his country, and for this reason we are the honor of our +race, and are proud of our genealogy. Where will you find a +poultry-yard like this--mulberry-trees to shade you, a whitewashed +henroost, a magnificent dunghill, worms and corn everywhere, brothers +that love you, and three great dogs to guard you from the foxes? Do +you not think that at Rome itself you will regret the ease and plenty +of such a life?" + +Coquerico shrugged his crippled wing in token of disdain. "You are a +simple woman, my good mother," said he; "everything is accounted +worthy of admiration by him who has never quitted his dunghill. But I +have wit enough to see that my brothers have no ideas and that my +cousins are nothing but rustics. My genius is stifling in this hole; I +wish to roam the world and seek my fortune." + +"But, my son, have you never looked in the brook?" resumed the poor +hen. "Don't you know that you lack an eye, a leg, and a wing? To make +your fortune, you need the eyes of a fox, the legs of a spider, and +the wings of a vulture. Once outside of these walls, you are lost." + +"My good mother," replied Coquerico, "when a hen hatches a duck she is +always frightened on seeing it run to the water. You know me no +better. It is my nature to succeed by my wit and talent. I must have a +public capable of appreciating the charms of my person; my place is +not among inferior people." + +"My son," said the hen, seeing all her counsels useless--"my son, +listen at least to your mother's last words. If you go to Rome, take +care to avoid St. Peter's Church; the saint, it is said, dislikes +cocks, especially when they crow. Shun, moreover, certain personages +called cooks and scullions; you will know them by their paper caps, +their tucked-up sleeves, and the great knives which they wear at their +sides. They are licensed assassins, who track our steps without pity +and cut our throats without giving us time to cry mercy. And now, my +child," she added, raising her claw, "receive my blessing. May St. +James, the patron saint of pilgrims, protect thee!" + +Coquerico pretended not to see the tear that trembled in his mother's +eye, nor did he trouble himself any more about his father, who +bristled his plumage and seemed about to call him back. Without caring +for those whom he left behind, he glided through the half-open door +and, once outside, flapped his only wing and crowed three times, to +celebrate his freedom--"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" + +As he half flew, half hopped over the fields, he came to the bed of a +brook which had been dried up by the sun. In the middle of the sands, +however, still trickled a tiny thread of water, so small that it was +choked by a couple of dead leaves that had fallen into it. + +"My friend," exclaimed the streamlet at the sight of our traveler--"my +friend, you see my weakness; I have not even the strength to carry +away these leaves which obstruct my passage, much less to make a +circuit, so completely am I exhausted. With a stroke of your beak you +can restore me to life. I am not an ingrate; if you oblige me, you may +count on my gratitude the first rainy day, when the water from heaven +shall have restored my strength." + +"You are jesting," said Coquerico. "Do I look like one whose business +it is to sweep the brooks? Apply to those of your own sort." And with +his sound leg, he leaped across the streamlet. + +"You will remember me when you least expect it," murmured the brook, +but with so feeble a voice that it was lost on the proud cock. + +A little farther on, Coquerico saw the wind lying breathless on the +ground. + +"Dear Coquerico, come to my aid," it cried; "here on earth we should +help one another. You see to what I am reduced by the heat of the day; +I, who in former times uprooted the olive-trees and lashed the waves +to frenzy, lie here well-nigh slain by the dog-star. I suffered myself +to be lulled to sleep by the perfume of the roses with which I was +playing; and, lo! here I am, stretched almost lifeless upon the +ground. If you will raise me a couple of inches with your beak and fan +me a little with your wing, I shall have the strength to mount to +yonder white clouds which I see in the distance, where I shall receive +aid enough from my family to keep me alive till I gain fresh strength +from the next whirlwind." + +"My lord," answered the spiteful Coquerico, "Your Excellency has more +than once amused himself by playing tricks at my expense. It is not a +week since your lordship glided like a traitor behind me and diverted +himself by opening my tail like a fan and covering me with confusion +in the face of nations. Have patience, therefore, my worthy friend; +mockers always have their turn; it does them good to repent and to +learn to respect those whose birth, wit, and beauty should screen them +from the jests of a fool." And Coquerico, bristling his plumage, +crowed three times in his shrillest voice and proudly strutted +onward. + +A little farther on he came to a newly mown field where the farmers +had piled up the weeds in order to burn them. Coquerico approached a +smoking heap, hoping to find some stray kernels of corn, and saw a +little flame which was charring the green stalks without being able to +set them on fire. + +"My good friend," cried the flame to the new-comer, "you are just in +time to save my life; I am dying for want of air. I cannot imagine +what has become of my cousin, the wind, who cares for nothing but his +own amusement. Bring me a few dry straws to rekindle my strength, and +you will not have obliged an ingrate." + +"Wait a moment," said Coquerico, "and I will serve you as you deserve, +insolent fellow that dares ask my help!" And behold! he leaped on the +heap of dried weeds, and trampled it down till he smothered both flame +and smoke; after which he exultingly shouted three times, +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" and flapped his wings, as if he had done a great +deed. + +Proudly strutting onward and crowing, Coquerico at last arrived at +Rome, the place to which all roads lead. Scarcely had he reached the +city when he hastened to the great Church of St. Peter. Grand and +beautiful as it was, he did not stop to admire it, but, planting +himself in front of the main entrance, where he looked like a fly +among the great columns, he raised himself on tiptoe and began to +shout, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" only to enrage the saint and disobey his +mother. + +He had not yet ended his song when one of the pope's guard, who +chanced to hear him, laid hands on the insolent wretch who dared thus +to insult the saint, and carried him home in order to roast him for +supper. + +"Quick!" said he to his wife on entering the house, "give me some +boiling water; here is a sinner to be punished." + +"Pardon, pardon, Madame Water!" cried Coquerico. "Oh, good and gentle +water, the best and purest thing in the world, do not scald me, I pray +you!" + +"Did you have pity on me when I implored your aid, ungrateful wretch?" +answered the water, boiling with indignation. And with a single gush +it inundated him from head to foot, and left not a bit of down on his +body. + +The unhappy Coquerico stripped of all his feathers, the soldier took +him and laid him on the gridiron. + +"Oh, fire, do not burn me!" cried he, in an agony of terror. "Oh, +beautiful and brilliant fire, the brother of the sun and the cousin of +the diamond, spare an unhappy creature; restrain thy ardor, and soften +thy flame; do not roast me!" + +"Did you have pity on me when I implored your aid, ungrateful wretch?" +answered the fire, and, fiercely blazing with anger, in an instant it +burnt Coquerico to a coal. + +The soldier, seeing his roast chicken in this deplorable condition, +took him by the leg and threw him out of the window. The wind bore the +unhappy fowl to a dunghill, where it left him for a moment. + +"Oh, wind," murmured Coquerico, who still breathed, "oh, kindly +zephyr, protecting breeze, behold me cured of my vain follies. Let me +rest on the paternal dunghill." + +"Let you rest!" roared the wind. "Wait, and I will teach you how I +treat ingrates." And with one blast it sent him so high in the air +that, as he fell back, he was transfixed by a steeple. + +There St. Peter was awaiting him. With his own hand he nailed him to +the highest steeple in Rome, where he is still shown to travelers. +However high placed he may be, all despise him because he turns with +the slightest wind; black, dried up, stripped of his feathers, and +beaten by the rain, he is no longer called Coquerico, but Weathercock, +and thus expiates, and must expiate eternally, his disobedience, +vanity, and wickedness. + + + + +KING BIZARRE and PRINCE CHARMING + +OR, THE ART OF GOVERNING MEN + +A TALE OF ALL NATIONS + +[Illustration:] + + +I + +KING BIZARRE AND PRINCE CHARMING + +In the kingdom of Wild Oats, a happy country, a land blessed of +Heaven, where the men are always right and the women never wrong, +there lived long ago a king who thought of nothing but the happiness +of his kingdom, and who, it is said, never was dull for lack of +amusement. Whether he was beloved by his people is doubtful; it is +certain that the courtiers had little esteem and less love for their +prince. For this reason, they had given him the surname of King +Bizarre, the only title by which he is known in history, as is seen in +the _Great Chronicles of the Kingdoms and Principalities of the World +Which Have Never Existed_, a learned masterpiece which has +immortalized the erudition and criticism of the reverend father, Dr. +Melchisedec de Mentiras y Necedad. + +Left a widower after a year's marriage, Bizarre had fixed his whole +affections on his son and heir, who was the most beautiful child +imaginable. His complexion was as fresh as a rose; his beautiful hair +fell in golden curls on his shoulders; add to his clear blue eyes a +straight nose, a small mouth, and a dimpled chin, and you have the +portrait of a cherub. At twelve years of age this young marvel danced +enchantingly, rode like a riding-master, and fenced to perfection. No +one could have helped being won by his smile and the truly royal +manner in which he saluted the crowd in passing when he was in good +humor. For this reason, the voice of the people, which is never +mistaken, had christened him Prince Charming, and his name always +clung to him. + +Charming was as beautiful as the day; but the sun itself, it is said, +has spots, and the princes do not disdain to resemble the sun. The +child dazzled the court with his fine mien; but there were shadows +here and there which did not escape the piercing eye of love or envy. +Supple, agile, and adroit in all kinds of bodily exercises, Charming +had an indolent mind. He lacked application, and had taken a fancy +that he ought to know everything without studying. It is true that +governesses, courtiers, and servants had continually repeated to him +that work was not made for kings, and that a prince always knows +enough when he lavishes on poets, writers, and artists, with a +prodigal and disdainful hand, a little of the money which the people +are too happy to offer him. + +These maxims tickled Charming's pride; and at twelve years of age the +beautiful child, with precocious firmness, had steadily refused to +learn the alphabet. Three teachers, chosen from the most able and +patient instructors, a priest, a philosopher, and a colonel, had +attempted in turn to bend his youthful obstinacy; but the priest had +wasted his philosophy, the philosopher his tactics, and the colonel +his Latin. Left master of the field of battle, Charming listened to +nothing but his caprice, and lived lawless and unconstrained. As +stubborn as a mule, as irascible as a turkey-cock, as dainty as a cat, +and as idle as an adder, but an accomplished prince withal, he was the +pride of the beautiful country of Wild Oats, and the hope and love of +a people that esteemed nothing in their kings but grace and beauty. + + +II + +PAZZA + +Notwithstanding he had been brought up at court, King Bizarre was a +man of sense. Charming's ignorance was far from pleasing to him, and +he often asked himself with anxiety what would become of his kingdom +in the hands of a prince whom the basest of flatterers might easily +deceive. But what was he to do, what means could he employ with a +child that a worshiped wife had bequeathed to him in dying? Rather +than see his son weep, Bizarre would have given him his crown; his +affection rendered him powerless. Love is not blind, whatever the +poets may say; alas! it would be too happy not to see a jot. It is the +torment of him who loves to become, despite himself, the slave and +accomplice of the ingrate who feels himself beloved. + +Every day, after the council, the king went to spend the evening with +the Countess of Castro, an old lady who had dandled him on her knees +when an infant, and who alone could recall to him the sweet memories +of his childhood and youth. She was very ugly, and something of a +witch, it is said; but the world is so wicked that we must never +believe more than half its scandal. The countess had large features +and luxuriant gray hair, and it was easy to see that she had been +beautiful in former times. + +One day, when Charming had been more unreasonable than usual, the king +entered the countess's house with an anxious air, and seating himself +before the card-table, began to play a game of Patience. It was his +way of diverting his thoughts and forgetting for a few hours the cares +of royalty. Scarcely had he ranged sixteen cards in a square when he +heaved a deep sigh. + +"Countess," he cried, "you see before you the most wretched of fathers +and kings. Despite his natural grace, Charming is every day becoming +more wilful and vicious. Must I leave such an heir after me, and +intrust the happiness of my people to a crowned fool?" + +"That is the way with Nature," replied the countess; "she always +distributes her gifts with an impartial hand. Stupidity and beauty go +hand in hand, and wit and ugliness are seldom separated. I have an +example of this in my own family. A few days ago a great-grandniece +was sent to me, a child under ten years old, that has no other +relative. She is as tawny as a frog, as scraggy as a spider, yet, +withal, as cunning as an ape, and as learned as a book. Judge for +yourself, sire; here is my little monster coming to salute you." + +Bizarre turned his head and saw a child that answered in every respect +to the countess's description. With a high, round forehead, black, +wild-looking eyes, rough hair turned back in the Chinese fashion, +dull, brown skin, great white teeth, red hands, and long arms, she was +anything but a beauty. But the chrysalis gives birth to the butterfly. +Wait a few years, and you will see what pretty women come from these +frightful little girls of ten. + +The little monster approached the king, and courtesied to him with so +serious an air that Bizarre could not help laughing, though he felt +little like it. + +"Who are you?" asked he, chucking the child under the chin. + +"Sire," she answered, gravely, "I am Donna Dolores Rosario Coral +Concha Balthazara Melchiora Gaspara y Todos Santos, the daughter of +the noble knight Don Pasquale Bartolomeo Francesco de Asiz y--" + +"Enough," said the king. "I did not ask for your genealogy; we are +witnessing neither your baptism nor your marriage. What are you +commonly called?" + +"Sire," replied she, "I am called Pazza."[1] + +[Footnote 1: That is to say, Madcap, in Italian. It appears that a +very mixed language is spoken in the kingdom of Wild Oats.] + +"And why are you called Pazza?" + +"Because it is not my name." + +"That is strange," said the king. + +"No, it is natural," replied the child. "My aunt pretends that I am +too giddy for any saint to wish to own me for her goddaughter, and +that is why she has given me a name that can offend no one in +Paradise." + +"Well answered, my child. I see that you are not an ordinary girl. The +saints in Paradise are not always treated with such consideration. +Since you know so much, tell me what is a wise man?" + +"A wise man, sire, is one who knows what he says when he speaks, and +what he does when he acts." + +"Upon my word," exclaimed the king, "if my wise men were what you +fancied them, I would make the Academy of Sciences my council of +state, and would give it my kingdom to govern. What is an ignorant +man?" + +"Sire," returned Pazza, "there are three kinds of ignorant men: he +who knows nothing, he who talks of what he does not know, and he who +will learn nothing; all three are fit for nothing but to be burned or +hung." + +"That is a proverb. Do you know what proverbs are called?" + +"Yes, sire; they are called the wisdom of nations." + +"And why are they called so?" + +"Because they are mad; they say whatever you please; they are of all +colors, to suit all tastes. Proverbs are like bells, which answer yes +or no according to the humor of their listener." + +Upon which, springing with both feet from the ground, Pazza caught a +fly that was buzzing about the king's nose; then, leaving Bizarre +astonished, she took her doll and, seating herself on the ground, +began to rock it in her arms. + +"Well, sire," the countess said, "what do you think of this child?" + +"She has too much wit," answered the king; "she will not live long." + +"Ah, sire," exclaimed Pazza, "you are not complimentary to my aunt; +she is considerably older than I am." + +"Hush, gipsy!" said the old lady, smiling; "don't you know that nobody +lectures kings?" + +"Countess," said Bizarre, "an idea has just struck me, which is so +strange that I hardly dare tell it to you; yet I have a violent wish +to carry it out. I can do nothing with my son; reason has no power +with the stubborn child. Who knows whether folly would not be more +successful? If I thought so, I would make Pazza Charming's teacher. +The intractable boy, who rejects all masters, might be defenseless +before a child. The only objection is that no one will be of my +opinion; I shall have everybody against me." + +"Bah!" said the countess; "everybody is so stupid that it is a proof +that you are right that you think differently." + + +III + +THE FIRST LESSON + +In this manner Pazza was intrusted with the instruction of the young +prince. There was no official appointment; it was not announced in the +court gazette that the king, with his usual wisdom, had found an +unparalleled genius at the first attempt, to whom he had confided the +heart and mind of his child; but the very next morning Charming was +sent to the countess's house, and was permitted to play with Pazza. + +The two children, left alone together, gazed at each other in silence. +Pazza, being the bolder, was the first to speak. + +"What is your name?" asked she. + +"Those who know me call me Your Highness," answered Charming, in a +piqued tone; "those who do not know me call me simply My Lord, and +everybody says Sir to me; etiquette requires it." + +"What is etiquette?" asked Pazza. + +"I don't know," replied Charming. "When I want to jump, shout, and +roll on the ground, I am told that it is contrary to etiquette; then I +keep still, and yawn for lack of amusement--that is etiquette." + +"Since we are here to amuse ourselves," resumed Pazza, "there is no +etiquette needed; speak to me as if I were your sister, and I will +speak to you as if you were my brother. I will not call you My Lord." + +"But you don't know me," said Charming. + +"What does that matter?" returned Pazza; "I will love you, that is +better. They say that you dance beautifully; teach me to dance, will +you?" + +The ice was broken; Charming took the young girl by the waist, and in +less than half an hour taught her the last new polka. + +"How well you dance!" said he. "You have caught the step directly." + +"It is because you are a good teacher," she replied. "Now it is my +turn to teach you something." + +She took a beautiful picture-book, and showed him fine buildings, +fishes, statesmen, parrots, scholars, curious animals, and flowers, +all of which greatly amused Charming. + +"See," said Pazza, "here is the explanation of all the pictures; read +it." + +"I don't know how to read," replied Charming. + +"I will teach you; I will be your little tutor." + +"No," replied the stubborn prince, "I do not wish to read. My masters +tire me." + +"Very well; but I am not a master. See, here is an A, a beautiful +great A; say A." + +"No," returned Charming, frowning, "I will never say A." + +"Not to please me?" + +"No, never. Enough of this; I do not like people to differ from me." + +"Sir," said Pazza, "a polite man never refuses ladies anything." + +"I would refuse the devil in petticoats," replied the young prince, +tossing his head. "I am tired of you; let me alone. I don't love you +any longer. Call me My Lord." + +"My Lord Charming, or my charming lord," said Pazza, flushed with +anger, "you shall read, or I will know the reason why." + +"I won't read." + +"Will you not? One--two--three!" + +"No! no! no!" + +Pazza raised her hand, and, lo! the king's son received a box on the +ear. Pazza had been told that she was witty to the ends of her +fingers, and had been stupid enough to believe it; it is never right +to jest with children. + +[Illustration: PAZZA, THOUGH SHE LOVED THE PRINCE, WAS A VERY STERN +SCHOOLMISTRESS] + +At this first lesson in reading, Charming turned pale and trembled; +the blood mounted to his cheeks, his eyes filled with tears, and he +gazed at his young teacher with a look that made her start; then all +at once, with a great effort, he regained his self-possession, and +said, in a tremulous voice, "Pazza, that is A." And the same day and +at one sitting he learned all the letters of the alphabet; at the end +of the week he spelled readily, and before the month was ended he read +with ease. + +King Bizarre was delighted. He kissed Pazza on both cheeks; he +insisted on having her always with him or his son, and made this child +his friend and counselor, to the great disdain of all the courtiers. +Charming, still gloomy and silent, learned all that this young mentor +could teach him, then returned to his former preceptors, whom he +astonished by his intelligence and docility. He soon knew his grammar +so well that the priest asked himself one day whether, by chance, +these definitions, which he had never understood, had not a meaning. +Charming none the less astonished the philosopher, who taught him +every evening the opposite of what the priest had taught him in the +morning. But, of all his masters, the one to whom he listened with the +least repugnance was the colonel. It is true that Bayonet, for that +was the colonel's name, was a skilful strategist, and that he could +say, like the ancient poet, with a slight variation, "I am a man, and +nothing that pertains to the art of despatching poor human beings is +indifferent to me." It was he that initiated Charming into the +mysteries of button gaiters and shoulder-straps; it was he that taught +his pupil that the noblest study for a prince is the drilling of +battalions, and that the groundwork of statesmanship is to have +reviews in order to make war, and to make war in order to have +reviews. + +This was not perhaps altogether according to Bizarre's idea of the art +of government; but he thought he could correct any errors in the +future, and besides, he was so rejoiced at Charming's progress that he +was unwilling in any way to meddle with the admirable work of an +education so long considered hopeless. + +"My child," he often said, "never forget that you owe everything to +Pazza." As the king spoke thus, Pazza gazed tenderly at the young man. +Despite all her wit, she was foolish enough to love him. Charming +contented himself with coldly answering that gratitude was a princely +virtue, and that Pazza should some day learn that her pupil had +forgotten nothing. + + +IV + +PAZZA'S WEDDING + +When Prince Charming had attained his seventeenth year, he went one +morning in search of King Bizarre, whose health was declining and who +was very desirous of seeing his son married before his death. + +"Father," said he, "I have long reflected on your wise words. You gave +me life, but Pazza has done still more in awakening my mind and soul. +I see but one way of paying the debt of my heart; that is, to marry +the woman to whom I am indebted for what I am. I come to ask you for +Pazza's hand." + +"My dear child," answered Bizarre, "this step does you credit. Pazza +is not of royal blood; she is not the one whom, in different +circumstances, I should have chosen for your wife; but her virtues, +her merit, and, above all, the service which she has rendered us, make +me forget idle prejudices. Pazza has the soul of a queen; she shall +mount the throne with you. In the country of Wild Oats, wit and humor +are held in sufficient estimation to win you forgiveness for what +fools call a misalliance, and what I call a princely marriage. Happy +is he who can choose an intelligent wife, capable of understanding and +loving him! To-morrow your betrothal shall be celebrated, and in two +years your marriage shall take place." + +The marriage occurred more speedily than the king had foreseen. +Fifteen months after these memorable words, Bizarre expired of languor +and exhaustion. He had taken the vocation of king in earnest; he fell +a victim to royalty. The old countess and Pazza wept their friend and +benefactor, but they were the only mourners. Without being a bad son, +Charming was engrossed with the cares of the empire; and the court +expected everything from the new reign, and thought no more about the +old king, whose eyes were closed in death. + +After honoring his father's memory by magnificent obsequies, the young +prince, thenceforth wholly devoted to love, celebrated his marriage +with a splendor that charmed the good people of Wild Oats. The taxes +were doubled, but who could regret money so nobly employed? Men came +from a hundred leagues round to gaze at the new king, and Pazza, whose +growing beauty and air of goodness fascinated all hearts, was not less +admired. There were interminable dinners, harangues longer than the +dinners, and poems more tedious than the harangues. In a word, it was +an incomparable festival, which was talked of for six months after. + +Evening come, Charming took the hand of his graceful, timid, and +blushing bride, and with cold politeness led her through the corridors +of the old castle. All at once Pazza was frightened to find herself in +a gloomy dungeon, with grated windows and huge bars and locks. + +"What is this?" asked she. "It looks like a prison." + +"Yes," said the prince, with a terrible look, "it is a prison which +you will quit only for the grave." + +"My dear, you frighten me," said Pazza, smiling. "Am I a criminal +without knowing it? Have I deserved your displeasure, that you +threaten me with a dungeon?" + +"You have a short memory," replied Charming. "An insult is written on +sand to the giver; it is inscribed on marble and bronze to the +receiver." + +"Charming," returned the poor child, beginning to be afraid, "you are +repeating something from those speeches that tired me so much. Can you +find nothing better to say to me to-day?" + +"Wretch!" cried the king, "you no longer remember the box on the ear +that you gave me seven years ago, but I have not forgotten it. Know +that if I wished you for my wife, it has been only to have your life +in my hands and to make you slowly expiate your crime of high +treason." + +"My dear," said Pazza, with a pettish manner, "you may put on your +Bluebeard airs, but you will not frighten me, I assure you. I know +you, Charming, and I warn you that if you do not put an end to this +bad jest, I will not only give you one box on the ear, but three, +before I forgive you. Make haste and let me go out, or I vow that I +will keep my word." + +"Vow it then, madame," cried the prince, furious at not intimidating +his victim. "I accept your vow. I vow, too, on my side, that I will +never acknowledge you as my wife till I have been base enough to +receive three times an insult which nothing but blood can wash out. +He laughs well that laughs last. Here, Rachimburg!" + +At this terrible name, a jailer with a bushy beard and threatening +mien entered the room, pushed the queen on a wretched truckle-bed, and +shut and double-locked the iron door. + +If Pazza wept, it was so quietly that no one heard her. Tired of the +silence, Charming departed, with rage in his heart, resolving that his +rigor should break the pride that braved him. Vengeance, it is said, +is the delight of kings. + +Two hours later the countess received a note by a sure hand +acquainting her with the sad fate of her niece. How this note reached +her is known to me, but I will not betray the secret. If a charitable +jailer is found by chance, he should be treated with consideration; +the species is rare, and is daily becoming rarer. + + +V + +A TERRIBLE EVENT + +The next morning the court gazette announced that the queen had been +seized with a raging fit of madness on the very night of her wedding, +and that there was little hope of saving her. There was scarcely a +courtier, indeed, that had not observed the princess's restless air on +the evening before, and no one was surprised at her malady. All pitied +the king, who received with a gloomy and constrained mien the +expressions of affection which were lavished on him. He was doubtless +weighed down with grief, but this grief appeared very much lightened +after the visit of the countess. + +The good lady was very sad, and had a great desire to see her poor +child, but she was so old, and found herself so weak and sensitive, +that she entreated the king to spare her a heartrending spectacle. She +threw herself into the arms of Charming, who tenderly embraced her, +and withdrew, saying that she placed all her hope and trust in the +love of the king and the talent of the chief physician of the court. + +She had scarcely left the room when the physician whispered a few +words in Charming's ear which called to his face a smile quickly +repressed. The countess pacified, there was nothing more to fear; the +vengeance was sure. + +Doctor Wieduwillst was a great physician. Born in the country of +Dreams, he had early quitted his native land to seek his fortune in +the kingdom of Wild Oats. He was too able a man not to find it. In the +five years that he had spent in the celebrated University of +Lugenmaulberg, the medical theory had changed twenty-five times, and, +thanks to this solid education, the doctor had a firmness of principle +which nothing could shake. He had the frankness and bluntness of a +soldier, it was said; he swore at times, even with ladies, a rudeness +which left him at liberty always to be of the same mind with the +stronger, and to demand a fee for having no opinion. The queen had +fallen into his incorruptible hands. + +She had been imprisoned for three days, and the town was already +beginning to talk of something else, when one morning Rachimburg +abruptly entered the king's apartments with a distracted air, and +threw himself trembling at his feet. + +"Sire," said he, "I bring you my head. The queen has disappeared." + +"What do you tell me!" exclaimed the king, turning pale. "The thing is +impossible; the dungeon is barred on all sides." + +"Yes," said the jailer, "the thing is impossible, that is certain; the +bars are in their places, the walls are whole, and neither the locks +nor the bolts have been disturbed; but there are witches in the world +that pass through walls without moving a stone, and who knows but what +the prisoner is one of them? Was it ever known whence she came?" + +The king sent in search of the doctor. He was a strong-minded man and +had little faith in witches. He sounded the walls, shook the bars, and +cross-examined the jailer, but all to no purpose. Trusty men were sent +everywhere through the town, and spies were set on the countess, whom +the doctor suspected, but all in vain, and after a week the search +was abandoned. Rachimburg lost his place as jailer, but as he +possessed the royal secret, as he was needed, and as he thirsted to +avenge himself, he was made the warden of the royal castle. Furious at +his bad luck, he exercised his supervision with such strictness that +in less than three days he arrested Wieduwillst himself half a dozen +times, and disarmed all suspicion. + +At the end of a week some fishermen brought to the court the robe and +mantle of the queen. The waves had cast on the shore these sad relics, +covered with sand and sea-foam. That the poor mad woman had drowned +herself no one doubted on seeing the grief of the king and the tears +of the countess. The council was assembled. It decided with a +unanimous voice that the queen was legally dead and that the king was +legally a widower, and for the interest of the people entreated his +majesty to abridge a painful mourning and to marry again as soon as +possible, in order to strengthen the dynasty. This decision was +transmitted to the king by Wieduwillst, the chief physician to the +king and president of the royal council, who made so touching a speech +that the whole court burst into tears, and Charming threw himself into +the doctor's arms, calling him his cruel friend. + +It is unnecessary to say that the funeral of a queen so much lamented +was magnificent. In the kingdom of Wild Oats everything serves as a +pretext for ceremony. The pageant was worthy of admiration, but the +most admirable thing in it was the attitude of the young girls of the +court. Every one looked at Charming, who was handsomer than ever in +his mourning dress; every one wept with one eye in honor of the +princess, and smiled with the other to attract the king. Ah! had +photography only been invented, what portraits would antiquity have +transmitted to us--what models for our painters! The passions still +existed among these good people; their mobile faces were animated by +love, hatred, and anger; to-day we are all so virtuous and prudent +that we all wear the same dress, the same hat, and the same +expression. Civilization is the triumph of morality and the ruin of +art. + +After the description of the funeral ceremonies, which, according to +etiquette, filled six columns, the court gazette laid down rules for +the full and the second mourning, blue and pink, which are the +mourning colors in the kingdom of Wild Oats. The court was required to +be in deep affliction for three weeks, and to be comforted by degrees +during the three weeks following; but carnival occurring during the +period of the second mourning, and respect being had for trade, it was +determined to give a masked ball at the palace. Tailors and +dressmakers immediately set to work, invitations were solicited by +great and small, and men began to intrigue as if the fate of the +monarchy had been in question. + +It was in this solemn manner that they mourned for poor Pazza. + + +VI + +THE MASKED BALL + +The great day so impatiently expected at length arrived. For six weeks +the good people of Wild Oats had been in a fever of excitement. +Nothing more was heard of ministers, senators, generals, magistrates, +princesses, duchesses, and citizens; for twenty leagues round, clowns, +harlequins, punchinellos, gipsies, Columbines, and Follies alone were +to be seen. Politics were silenced, or, rather, the nation was divided +into two great parties--the conservatives that went to the ball, and +the opposition that stayed at home. + +If the official gazette is to be believed, the festival outshone in +splendor all others past and to come. The ball was held in the midst +of the gardens, in a rotunda magnificently decorated. A winding walk, +shaded by elms and dimly lighted by alabaster lamps, led to a hall +resplendent with gold, verdure, flowers, and light. An orchestra, half +concealed in the foliage, breathed forth music, by turns plaintive and +gay. Add to this the richness of the costumes, the brilliancy of the +diamonds, the piquancy of the masks, and the charm of intrigue, and +you will see that it would have needed the soul of an ancient Stoic to +resist the intoxication of pleasure. + +Yet Prince Charming was not amused. Concealed under a blue domino, +with his face entirely masked, he had addressed himself to the most +elegant and sprightly women, and had lavishly displayed his wit and +grace, yet he had met with nothing but indifference and coldness. They +scarcely listened to him, answered with a yawn, and hastened to quit +him. All eyes were fixed on a black domino with pink rosettes that +moved carelessly among the dancers, receiving with the air of a sultan +the compliments and smiles that every one lavished on him. This domino +was the Lord Wieduwillst, a great friend of the prince, but still more +the friend of his own pleasure. In an unguarded moment the doctor had +said that morning by chance, under the seal of secrecy, and to two +ladies only, that the prince would wear pink rosettes in his black +domino. Was it his fault if the ladies had been indiscreet or the +prince had changed his mind? + +While the doctor was enjoying, despite himself, indeed, his unexpected +triumph, Charming seated himself in a corner of the hall and buried +his face in his hands. Alone in the midst of the crowd, he abandoned +himself to reflection, and the image of Pazza rose before him. He had +no reproaches to make himself; his vengeance was just, yet he felt an +indescribable remorse. Poor Pazza! no doubt she had been guilty; but +at least she loved him, she understood him, she listened to him, her +eyes sparkling with joy. How different from all those fools who had +not recognized a prince under a domino at the first moment by his wit! + +He rose suddenly to quit the hall, when he perceived, a little way +off, a mask that had also left the crowd and seemed lost in +contemplation. A half-open domino disclosed a gipsy's dress and a pair +of slippers with buckles, containing a foot smaller than that of +Cinderella. + +The king approached the stranger, and saw through the velvet mask a +pair of large black eyes, the melancholy glance of which surprised and +charmed him. + +"Fair mask," said he, "your place is not here. Why are you not among +the eager and curious crowd that is pressing around the prince to +dispute his smile and heart? Do you not know that there is a crown to +be gained there?" + +"I make no pretentions," answered the domino, in a grave, sweet voice. +"In this game of chance one runs the risk of taking the servant for +the king. I am too proud to expose myself to such a hazard." + +"But if I show you the prince?" + +"What could I say to him?" replied the stranger. "I could not blame +him without offense, or praise him without flattery." + +"You think much evil of him, then?" + +"No, a little evil and much good; but what does it matter?" And, +opening her fan, the domino relapsed into her reverie. + +This indifference surprised Charming. He addressed her with warmth, +she replied coldly; he prayed her so urgently to listen to him that +she finally consented to do so, not in the ball-room, where the heat +was overpowering and the curiosity indiscreet, but in the long +elm-walk, where a few promenaders were seeking silence and fresh air. + +The night was advancing, and the gipsy had already spoken several +times of retiring, to the great regret of the prince, who vainly +entreated her to unmask. The stranger made no reply. + +"You drive me to despair," cried he, inspired with strange respect and +admiration for this mysterious figure. "Why this cruel silence?" + +"Because I know you, my lord," replied the stranger, with emotion. +"Your voice, which goes to the heart, your language, your grace, all +tell me who you are. Let me go, Prince Charming." + +"No, madam," cried the prince, delighted at so much wit, "you alone +have recognized me, you alone have understood me, to you belong my +heart and kingdom. Throw off that suspicious mask; this very instant +we will return to the ball-room and I will present to the ignorant +crowd the woman whom I have had the happiness not to displease. Say +but one word, and all my people shall be at your feet." + +"My lord," replied the stranger, sadly, "permit me to refuse an offer +which does me honor and the memory of which I shall always preserve. I +am ambitious, I own; the time has been when I should have been proud +to share your throne and name; but before all things I am a woman and +place all my happiness in love. I will not have a divided heart, +should my rival be only a memory; I am jealous even of the past." + +"I have never loved in my life," cried the prince, with a vehemence +that made the stranger start. "There is a mystery concerning my +marriage which I can reveal only to my wife; but I swear to you that I +have never given away my heart; I love now for the first time." + +"Show me your hand," said the gipsy, approaching the lamp, "and let me +see whether you have told the truth." + +Charming extended his hand with assurance; the gipsy studied the lines +and sighed. + +"You are right, my lord," said she, "you have never loved. But this +does not appease my jealousy. Another woman has loved you before me. +These sacred bonds are not broken by death; the queen still loves +you--you belong to her. To accept a heart which is no longer at your +disposal would be sacrilegious and criminal in me. Farewell." + +"Madam," said the king, with an ill-assured voice, "you do not know +what you make me suffer. There are things which I would gladly burn in +eternal silence, but which you force me to reveal. The queen never +loved me; ambition alone dictated her conduct." + +"That is not so," said the stranger, letting go the prince's hand. +"The queen loved you." + +"No, madam," replied Charming; "my father and I were the victims of a +detestable intrigue." + +"Enough!" said the stranger, whose hands trembled and whose fingers +worked in a strange manner. "Respect the dead; do not slander them." + +"Madam," said the prince, "I assure you, and none ever doubted my +word, that the queen never loved me. She was a wicked woman." + +"Ah!" said the domino. + +"Wilful, violent, and jealous." + +"If she was jealous, she loved you," interrupted the mask. "Seek for +proofs which have at least a shadow of probability; do not accuse a +heart which was wholly yours." + +"So far from loving me," said the king, excitedly, "the very night of +my marriage she dared tell me to my face that she had married me only +for my crown." + +"That is not true," said the gipsy, raising her hand. + +"I swear it," replied Charming. + +"You lie!" cried the stranger. And, lo! a box on the ear blinded the +prince; the blow was repeated, and the stranger fled. + +The king stepped back furious, and sought the hilt of his sword; but +men do not go to balls armed as for war; for his sole weapon he found +a knot of ribbons. He ran after his enemy, but which way had she fled? +Charming lost himself twenty times in the labyrinth; he met none but +peaceful dominos walking in couples and scarcely glancing at him as he +passed. Breathless, distracted, and desperate, he returned to the +ball-room, where he doubted not that the stranger had taken refuge; +but how was he to find her? + +A brilliant idea crossed the prince's mind; he would order all to +unmask, and would doubtless see the gipsy, confounded by the king's +presence and betrayed by her own agitation. He instantly leaped on a +chair, and exclaimed in a loud voice that caused every one to start: + +"Ladies and gentlemen, day is approaching and pleasure is languishing; +let us revive mirth by a new caprice. Off with the masks! I set the +example; let all who love me follow it." + +He threw off his domino, raised his mask, and appeared in the richest +and most elegant Spanish costume ever worn by prince. There was a +general outcry; all eyes were at first turned toward the king, then +toward the black domino with pink rosettes, who retreated as fast as +possible with a modesty that was not affected. All unmasked. The +ladies gathered round the king, who, it was remarked, had the most +violent fancy for the gipsy costume. Young or old, all the gipsies +received his homage; he took them by the hand and gazed at them with +an air which made all the other masks ready to burst with envy, then +made a sign to the orchestra; the dance recommenced, and the prince +disappeared. + +He hastened again to the elm-walk in search of the traitress who had +insulted him, doubtless led by vengeance. His blood boiled in his +veins; he wandered at random, suddenly stopping short, looking, +listening, and spying in all directions. At the faintest gleam of +light through the foliage he sprang forward like a madman, laughing +and weeping at the same time as though distracted. + +At the turn of an alley he met Rachimburg advancing toward him +trembling, with an air of terror. + +"Sire," murmured he, in a mysterious voice, "has Your Majesty seen +it?" + +"What?" asked the king. + +"The specter; it passed close by me. I am a lost man; I shall die +to-morrow." + +"What specter?" said Charming. "What fool's tale are you telling me?" + +"A specter--a domino with flashing eyes, that threw me on my knees and +boxed my ears twice." + +"It is she!" cried the king; "it is she! Why did you let her go?" + +"Your Majesty, I had not my pike; but if ever I see her again I will +knock her down." + +"Do no such thing!" returned the king. "If ever she returns, do not +frighten her; follow her and discover her retreat. But where is she? +Which way did she go? Lead me; if I find her your fortune is made." + +"Sire," said the honest porter, looking at the moon, "if the specter +is anywhere, it must be up yonder; I saw it, as plainly as I see Your +Majesty, dissolving in mist. But before taking flight it gave me a +message for Your Majesty." + +"What? Speak quickly!" + +"Sire, its words were terrible; I shall never dare repeat them to Your +Majesty." + +"Speak, I order you." + +"Sire, the specter said, in a sepulchral voice, 'Tell the king that if +he marries again he is a dead man. The loved one will return.'" + +"Here," said the prince, whose eyes shone with a strange luster, "take +this purse. Henceforth I attach you to my person; I appoint you my +first attendant, counting on your devotion and prudence. Let this +affair remain a secret between us." + +"That makes two," murmured Rachimburg, as he departed with a firm +tread, like a man who neither suffers himself to be cast down by fear +or dazzled by good fortune. He was a strong-minded man. + +The next morning the court gazette contained the following lines, in +the form of a letter without signature, in the unofficial part of the +paper: + +"A rumor has been spread that the king is thinking of marrying again. +The king knows what he owes to his people, and is always ready to +sacrifice himself for the happiness of his subjects. But the people of +Wild Oats have too much delicacy not to respect a recent affliction. +The king's whole thoughts are fixed on his beloved wife; he hopes the +consolation from time that is at present refused him." + +This note threw the court and town in agitation. The young girls +thought the scruples of the prince exaggerated; more than one mother +shrugged her shoulders, and said that the king had vulgar prejudices +worthy only of the common people; but at night there was strife in +every well-ordered household. There was not a wife of any pretensions +to aristocratic birth that did not quarrel with her unworthy spouse +and force him to admit that there was but one heart capable of love, +and but one faithful husband in the whole kingdom, namely, Prince +Charming. + + +VII + +TWO CONSULTATIONS + +After so much excitement, the king was seized with a cruel fit of +tedium. To divert himself, he attempted every kind of pleasure; he +hunted, he presided over his council, he went to the play and the +opera, he received all the state corporations with their wives, he +read a Carthaginian novel, and reviewed the troops half a score of +times; but all in vain: an inexorable memory, an ever-present image +left him no rest or peace. The gipsy pursued him even in his dreams; +he saw her, he talked to her, and she listened to him; but, by some +unaccountable fatality, as soon as she raised her mask, Pazza's pale, +sad face always appeared. + +The doctor was the only confidant to whom Charming could avow his +remorse, but at his word Wieduwillst burst into laughter. + +"The effect of habit, sire," he said. "Gain time, multiply +impressions, and all will be effaced." + +To procure the prince excitement and to drive away sorrow by a bold +diversion, the doctor supped every evening alone with His Majesty, and +poured out intoxication and forgetfulness with a liberal hand. +Wieduwillst did not spare himself, but wine had little effect on his +strong brain; he would have defied Bacchus and Silenus together with +Charming. While the prince, by turn noisy and silent, plunged into the +extremes of joy and sadness, always restless and never happy, +Wieduwillst, calm and smiling, directed his thoughts, and through pure +goodness of soul took upon himself all the fatigue and care of the +government. + +Three decrees had already placed in his hands the police, the courts, +and the finances. The doctor well understood all the advantages of +centralization. The way in which he administered the taxes relieved +him from all personal anxiety for the future. The courts punished +those who clamored too loudly; the police silenced those who whispered +too much. Nevertheless, in spite of the ability of these political +schemes, the people, always ungrateful, did not appreciate their +happiness. The inhabitants of Wild Oats delight in complaining; the +pleasure was spoiled for them. + +King Bizarre's name was in all hearts and every one regretted the good +old times when they shouted over the roof-tops that they were gagged. + +The doctor was ambitious; he was born for a prime minister. Every +morning some new ordinance made the people feel that the king was +nothing and the minister everything. Charming was the only one that +did not perceive his nothingness. Shut up in his palace, and dying of +ennui, his sole companion was a page placed near him by the prime +minister on Rachimburg's recommendation. Frolicsome, chattering, and +indiscreet, a good musician and capital card-player, Tonto, for that +was the page's name, amused the king by his pranks; he pleased the +prime minister no less, but by other virtues. Devoted to his +benefactor, the good-natured page innocently repeated to him the most +trifling words of the prince--an easy task, moreover, as the king was +constantly dreaming and never spoke. + +It is a fine thing to have the advantages of power; but appetite comes +by eating even with ministers. The ambitious doctor began to desire +both the honors and luster of royalty. Charming's best friend did not +once think of dethroning him; nations sometimes have foolish +prejudices and cling to old habits, but nothing was easier than to +frighten a sick prince and send him afar off in search of a cure that +would be long coming, while in his absence the doctor would reign as +his proxy. + +Charming was young; he still clung to life, and, moreover, how could +he resist the tender solicitude of the good doctor? The three most +renowned physicians of the faculty met one evening in consultation at +the palace--long Tristram, fat Jocundus, and little Guilleret, three +celebrated men--three geniuses who had made their fortune, each with +one idea, which had been the reason why they had never had any more. + +After the king had been cross-questioned, looked at, handled, +auscultated, and turned round again and again, Tristram spoke first, +in a rude voice. + +"Sire," said he, "you must be bled like a peasant, and live without +any exertion whatever. Your disease is a deficiency of blood, a +constitutional atony. Nothing but a journey to the Clear Waters can +cure you. Go quickly, or you are a dead man. You have my opinion." + +"Sire," said fat Jocundus, "I fully share the admirable opinion of my +dear professional brother. You are suffering from superabundant +vitality. Your disease is a constitutional plethora. Go, drink the +Clear Waters, and you will be a well man again. You have my opinion." + +"Sire," said little Guilleret, "the diagnostic of my masters fills me +with admiration. I bow before their learning. Like them, I believe +that you are suffering from disorder of the sympathetic nerves. Your +disease is a constitutional nervousness. Drink the Clear Waters. Go +quickly, or you are a dead man. You have my opinion." + +A unanimous opinion was drawn up and immediately carried to the court +gazette by Tonto; and the three doctors rose, bowed to the minister +and the king, shook hands with one another, and went down-stairs +quarreling or laughing, I know not which; the chronicle is almost +illegible, owing to a large blot in this place. + +After the three physicians had gone, Wieduwillst read the opinion, +reflected deeply, and looked at the king. Charming, who had supped a +little better this evening even than usual, had not once listened to +the doctors, but sat gazing around him with bloodshot eyes. + +[Illustration: THE MOST RENOWNED PHYSICIANS OF THE FACULTY MET ONE +EVENING IN CONSULTATION AT THE PALACE] + +"Sire," said he, "it is the unanimous opinion of these gentlemen that, +if you wish to be cured, you must go to the Clear Waters and +abandon the affairs of state. Such a resolution appears to me unworthy +of Your Royal Majesty. A great prince should sacrifice himself for his +people, and--" + +"Enough," said the king. "Spare me this worn-out moralizing and come +to the conclusion. You wish me to go, my good friend; you are dying +for me to do so, for my own interest, of course. Draw up a decree +placing the regency in your hands, and I will sign it." + +"Sire, the decree is here, in your portfolio; a good minister always +has papers drawn up to suit whatever circumstances may arise. He never +knows what may happen." + +Charming took the pen, carelessly signed the decree without reading +it, and handed it to the minister, who approached to receive it with a +smile; then, seized with a new caprice, he drew back the paper and +read it. + +"What!" said he, "no statement of reasons; nothing to assure my people +of the kindness I bear them! Doctor, you are too modest; to-morrow +this decree shall be in the gazette, with a statement from the hand of +your friend and master. Good night; these gentlemen have tired me." + +The doctor went out with a light step, erect brow, and sparkling eye, +prouder and more insolent than ever. Charming sank again into his +reverie, thinking that, in spite of all, he was not the most unhappy +of princes, since Heaven had given him such a friend. + +All at once the strangest little doctor that had ever been seen in a +castle entered the king's apartment unannounced. He wore a wig with +long curls, his snow-white beard fell on his breast, and his eyes were +so bright and youthful that it seemed as though they must have come +into the world sixty years after the rest of his body. + +"Where are those knaves?" cried he, with a shrill voice, rapping on +the floor with his cane. "Where are those ignorant fellows, those +pedants, those ill-bred men that did not wait for me? Ah! so you are +the patient," said he to the stupefied king. "That is good. Put out +your tongue. Quick! I am in a hurry." + +"Who are you?" asked the king. + +"I am Doctor Truth, the greatest doctor in the world, as you will see, +in spite of my modesty. Ask Wieduwillst, my pupil, who sent for me +from the Land of Dreams. I cure everybody, even those who are not ill. +Put out your tongue; that's right. Where is the opinion? Very well. +Atony--_asinis!_ Plethora--_asini!_ Nervousness--_asinorum!_ Drink the +Clear Waters--_asininum!_ Do you know what is your disease? It is +vexation, and even worse." + +"Do you see that?" said Charming, terrified. + +"Yes, my son, it is written on your tongue. But I will cure you: it +shall be done by to-morrow noon." + +"To-morrow!" said the king. "All my treasures--" + +"Silence, my son. What portfolio is that?--the minister's? Good. Sign +these three papers for me." + +"They are blank decrees," said the king. "What do you wish to do with +them?" + +"They are my ordinances. Sign. Well done, my son; be obedient, and +to-morrow noon you shall be as gay as a lark. First ordinance: If you +would live at peace, appear at peace; I suppress six regiments. Second +ordinance: A penny in a peasant's pocket is worth twenty in the king's +treasury; I suppress one fourth of the taxes. Third ordinance: Liberty +is like the sunshine--it is the happiness and fortune of the poor; I +throw open the political prisons and demolish the debtors' prisons. +You are laughing, my son; it is a good sign when a patient laughs at +his doctor." + +"Yes," said Charming, "I am laughing to think of Wieduwillst's face +to-morrow on reading these ordinances in the court gazette. Enough of +these follies, buffoon doctor; give me back the papers and put an end +to this farce." + +"What is this?" said the little man, taking up the decree of the +regency. "God forgive me! it is an abdication. What are you thinking +of, Prince Charming? What! the inheritance bequeathed to you by your +fathers, the people intrusted to you by God, your name, your honor, +will you throw all these at the feet of an adventurer? Will you let +yourself be dethroned and duped by a deceiver? Impossible! It does not +suit me. I oppose it. Do you hear?" + +"What insolent fellow addresses his prince in this way?" + +"Politeness is not in words. Charming, are you mad? Are you dreaming? +Are you wholly without heart?" + +"This is too much!" cried the king. "Begone, wretch, or I will throw +you out of the window." + +"Begone!" said the little doctor, in a shrill voice. "No, not till I +have destroyed this mad and stupid document. See, I tear your +abdication in pieces and trample it under-foot!" + +Charming seized the madman and called his guards. No one answered. The +little man struggled with wonderful strength. With his foot he threw +the lamp on the ground; but the king, despite the darkness, kept fast +hold of the sorcerer, who felt his strength failing. + +"Let me go!" murmured he; "for Heaven's sake let me go! You know not +what you are doing. You are breaking my arm." + +His words and prayers were useless. Suddenly a shower of blows, dealt +by a strong hand, fell on the king's ears. Charming let go his hold in +surprise, and turned to attack his invisible enemy. He found nothing +but empty space, and, staggering in the darkness, cried loudly for the +help that did not come. Such a thing could not have happened in a +minister's house; kings are always worse guarded. + + +VIII + +THE END OF A DREAM + +At last a door opened and Rachimburg entered, according to etiquette, +to undress the king. The faithful servant appeared greatly vexed to +find him without a light, groping along the wall. + +"Where is that infernal doctor?" asked Charming, foaming with rage. + +"It is more than an hour, sire, since His Excellency quitted the +palace." + +"Who is talking of Wieduwillst?" cried the king. "Which way did the +villain go that just insulted me?" + +Rachimburg looked at the prince with a contrite air, and raised his +eyes to heaven, sighing. + +"A man went out of the door that leads to your rooms," said Charming. +"How did he enter, and where has he fled?" + +"Sire," said Rachimburg, "I have neither quitted my post nor seen any +one." + +"I tell you that a man was in this room a moment ago." + +"Sire, Your Majesty is never mistaken; if a man was in this room he +is still here, unless he has flown through the window or Your Majesty +has been dreaming." + +"Fool, do I look like a man who has been dreaming? Did I overturn this +lamp? did I tear these papers?" + +"Sire, I am nothing but a worm of the earth; God forbid that I should +contradict my sovereign. Your majesty does not hire me to give him the +lie. But this year strange dreams are an epidemic. No one knows what +he may do or suffer in his sleep. Only just now I was overtaken with +sleep in spite of myself, and if I were not sure that I was dreaming I +should declare that an invisible hand boxed my ears twice, at which I +awakened with a start." + +"It was the specter!" said the king. + +"Your Majesty is right," replied Rachimburg; "I am nothing but a +simpleton; it was the specter." + +"And I did not know her!" resumed Charming. "Nevertheless, it was her +voice and air. What does this mean? Is it a new insult? Is it a +warning from heaven? Does some danger threaten me? No matter, I will +remain in my kingdom. My friend, not a word of all this: take this +purse and keep the secret." + +"That makes the third," murmured the faithful Rachimburg, as he +undressed the king with a zeal and address which several times made +His Majesty smile. + +So many emotions one after another banished sleep; it was daybreak +before the prince dozed, and broad daylight before he awoke. In the +first moment between sleeping and waking Charming fancied that he +heard a strange noise--bells ringing, cannon firing, and three or four +bands of music playing each a different air. He was not mistaken; it +was an infernal hubbub. The king rang. Rachimburg entered, carrying a +bouquet of flowers. + +"Sire," said he, "will His Majesty permit the humblest of his servants +to be the first to express to him the universal joy? Your people are +intoxicated with love and gratitude. The taxes lessened, the prisons +opened, the army reduced! Sire, you are the greatest prince in the +world; never has earth seen a ruler like you. Show yourself at the +balcony; answer these cries of 'Hurrah for the king!' Smile on the +people that bless you." + +Rachimburg could not finish; tears choked his voice. He attempted to +wipe his eyes, but in his excitement he took the gazette from his +pocket instead of a handkerchief, and began to kiss it like a madman. + +Charming took the journal, and vainly attempted, while dressing, to +collect his ideas. By what chance had these insane ordinances found +their way into the official journal? Who had sent them? Why did not +Wieduwillst make his appearance? The prince wished to reflect, +consult, and question; but the people were under the windows, and +their majesties were too impatient to wait. + +As soon as the king appeared in the balcony he was greeted with +shouts of enthusiasm, which, despite everything, thrilled his heart. +Men tossed their caps in the air, women waved their handkerchiefs, +mothers lifted up their children and made them stretch their innocent +hands to heaven, and repeat, "Hurrah for the king!" The guns of the +palace guards were decked with flowers, the drums beat, and the +officers' swords flashed in the sun. It was a scene of delirious joy. +Charming was infected by the general emotion; he wept without exactly +knowing why. At that instant the clock struck noon. The specter was +right--the prince was cured. + +After the crowd it was the turn of the corporations, all of whom, the +ministers at the head, came to congratulate and thank the king for +having so well understood the wishes of his faithful counselors. A +single person was lacking, namely, Wieduwillst. None knew where he had +hidden his ignorance and spite. A mysterious note received by him that +morning had occasioned his flight, yet this note contained only the +words, _The king knows all!_ Who had written this fatal letter? Not +the prince; he alone, perhaps, in the palace, thought of the minister, +and wondered at not seeing him by his side. + +All at once Tonto entered, pale and haggard. He ran to the king and +gave him a letter which an officer had brought at full gallop. The +governor of the province, General Bayonet, sent terrible news; the six +disbanded regiments had mutinied, headed by Wieduwillst. The rebels +had proclaimed the downfall of the king, whom they accused of +abominable crimes, especially of the murder of the queen. Numerous and +well commanded, they were approaching the city, which was defended +only by a few doubtful and disaffected regiments. Bayonet entreated +the king to come instantly and take command; an hour later, and all +would be lost. + +Hurried on by Tonto and Rachimburg, the king secretly quitted the +palace, followed by a few officers. A proclamation, placarded on all +the walls of the city and at every corner of the streets, declared +that there was no truth in the rumors spread by a few malicious +persons, and that the army had never been more devoted or faithful. +Upon this there was a universal panic; stocks fell 50 per cent. in +half an hour, and did not rise again till unofficial news arrived that +the king had been well received at head-quarters. + + +IX + +HEROIC REMEDIES FOR GREAT EVILS + +The news was false; the prince had been received with great coldness. +It was his own fault. Sad, despondent, and abstracted, Charming had +neither found a jest for the soldiers nor a word of trust for the +officers. He entered the general's tent and fell into a chair. Tonto +was little less disheartened. + +"Sire," said Bayonet, "permit me to speak to you with the frankness of +a soldier and the freedom of an old friend. The army is murmuring and +hesitating; we must secure it, or all is lost. The enemy is in sight; +we must attack him. Five minutes sometimes decide the fate of empires; +it is so with us now. Do not wait till it is too late." + +"Very well," said the king. "To horse! in an instant I will be with +you." + +Left alone with Tonto and Rachimburg, the king exclaimed, in despair, +"My good friends, quit a master who can do no more for you. I shall +not dispute my wretched life with my enemies. Betrayed in friendship +and treacherously assassinated, I recognize in my misfortune the hand +of an avenging God. It is in punishment for my crime. I killed the +queen in my stupid vengeance; the hour has come to expiate my fault, +and I am ready." + +"Sire," said Tonto, trying to smile, "shake off these sad thoughts. If +the queen were here she would tell you to defend yourself. Believe +me," he added, twisting his budding mustache, "I am acquainted with +women! Were they dead, they would still love to avenge themselves. +Besides, you did not kill the queen; and perhaps she is not so dead as +you imagine." + +"What do you say?" exclaimed the king; "you are losing your reason." + +"I say that there are women who die expressly to enrage their +husbands; why should there not be those that would rise from the dead +to enrage them still more? Leave the dead, and think of the living who +love you. You are a king; fight like a king, and, if necessary, fall +like a king." + +"Sire," said Bayonet, entering, sword in hand, "time presses." + +"General, to horse!" cried Tonto; "let us go." + +Bayonet quitted the room to give the needful orders. When he was gone, +Charming looked at Tonto and said: "No, I will not go. I do not +understand my feelings; I abhor myself. I am not afraid of death; I am +going to kill myself; nevertheless, I will not fight." + +"Sire," said Tonto, "in Heaven's name, summon up your courage. To +horse! Great God!" he exclaimed, wringing his hands, "the prince will +not listen to me; we are lost. Come!" said he, taking hold of +Charming's cloak; "up, sire; to horse, unhappy prince! Save your +kingdom--save your people--save all that love you. Coward! look at me; +I am nothing but a child, yet I am about to die for you. Fight! do not +disgrace yourself. If you do not rise I will insult you--I, your +servant. You are a coward--do you hear? a coward!" + +And behold! the insolent page boxed the king's ears. + +"S'death!" cried Charming, drawing his sword. "Before dying I will +have the pleasure of punishing one subject, at least." + +But the page had left the tent. With one bound he sprang into the +saddle and galloped toward the enemy, sword in hand, crying, "The +king! my friends--the king! Sound the trumpets! Forward!" + +Charming, mad with anger, spurred his horse in pursuit of the page: +like a bull at the sight of a red flag, he rushed forward, head +downward, caring neither for death nor for danger. Bayonet rushed +after the king, and the army after the general. It was the finest +cavalry charge ever known in history. + +At the noise of the squadrons, which shook the ground like thunder, +the enemy, surprised, scarcely had time to form in line of battle. One +man, however, had recognized the king--the infamous Wieduwillst. +Charming was alone; wholly absorbed in his vengeance, he saw nothing +but the page whom he was pursuing. The traitor threw himself on the +prince, sword in hand, and would have slain him at one stroke had not +Tonto, plunging his spurs into the flanks of his horse, made the +animal rear and fall on Wieduwillst. The page received the blow +intended for his master. He threw up his arms and fell with a loud +cry; but his fall, at least, was avenged. The king thrust his sword +into the throat of the treacherous physician, and drew it forth, +dripping with blood, not without pleasure. Man is decidedly the king +of wild beasts. + +The traitor's death decided the fate of the day. The royal army, +electrified by the heroism of its leader, soon dispersed the +straggling battalions. The rebels, having nothing more to hope, sued +for pardon, and their prayer was granted by the happy and clement +king. + +An hour after quitting the camp where he had wished to die, Charming +returned in triumph, bringing with him conquerors and conquered, all +blended in the same ranks, the former loudly protesting their loyalty, +the latter overpowering them with their enthusiasm. Nothing sharpens +devotion so much as a little treason. + + +X + +IN WHICH WE SEE THAT IT IS WRONG TO JUDGE ACCORDING + +TO APPEARANCES, AND THAT TONTO WAS NOT TONTO + +The king entered his tent to rest a moment, when the sight of +Rachimburg reminded him of Tonto. + +"Is the page dead?" he asked. + +"No, sire," answered Rachimburg; "unfortunately for him, he is still +living; he is hopeless. I ordered him carried to his aunt's, the +Countess de Castro's, close by here." + +"Is he the countess's nephew?" said the king. "I was never told of +it." + +"Your Majesty has forgotten it," replied Rachimburg, quietly. "The +poor child is fatally wounded in the shoulder; he cannot recover. It +would give him great happiness could he see Your Majesty before he +dies." + +"Very well," returned the king; "lead me to him." + +On his arrival at the castle Charming was met by the countess, who +conducted him to a darkened room. The page was stretched, pale and +bleeding, on a couch; nevertheless, he had strength to raise his head +and welcome the king. + +"What a miracle!" exclaimed Charming. "This is the strangest wound +that I ever saw in my life: one side of Tonto's mustache is gone!" + +"Sire," said the countess, "the blade of the sword probably swept off +one side. Nothing is so capricious as sword wounds, as every one +knows." + +"How strange!" cried the king. "On one side it is Tonto, my page, my +insolent subject, and on the other it is--no, I am not mistaken--it is +you, my good angel and my savior; it is you, my poor Pazza!" + +He fell on his knees and seized her hand, which lay on the coverlet. + +"Sire," said Pazza, "my days are numbered, but before dying--" + +"No, no, Pazza, you shall not die," cried the king, in tears. + +"Before dying," she added, casting down her eyes, "I hope that Your +Majesty will forgive me the box on the ear which I gave you this +morning in indiscreet zeal--" + +"Enough," said the king; "I forgive you. After all, a throne and honor +were well worth--what I received." + +"Alas!" said Pazza, "that is not all." + +"What!" exclaimed Charming, "is there anything more?" + +"Oh, sire, what have you done?" cried the countess; "my child is +dying!" + +"My Pazza, you must not die!" exclaimed the king. "Speak, and be sure +that I forgive in advance all you have done. Alas! it is I that have +need of forgiveness." + +"Sire, the little doctor who took the liberty of boxing Your Majesty's +ears--" + +"Was it you that sent him?" asked Charming, with a frown. + +"No, sire, I myself was he. Ah, what would I not have done to save my +king! It was I who, to save Your Majesty from the traitorous knaves +that surrounded you, took the liberty of boxing your ears--" + +"Enough," said Charming; "I forgive you, though the lesson was a harsh +one." + +"Alas! this is not all," said Pazza. + +"What, more?" cried the king, rising. + +"Oh, aunt, I am dying!" exclaimed Pazza. By dint of care, however, she +was restored to life; and, turning her languishing eyes toward the +king, "Sire," said she, "the gipsy girl at the masked ball, who dared +to box your ears--" + +"Was yourself, Pazza?" said charming. "Oh, I forgive you for that; I +well deserved it. How could I doubt you, who are sincerity itself! +But, now I think of it, do you remember the rash vow that you made on +the night of our marriage? You have kept your promise; it is for me to +keep mine. Pazza, make haste to recover, and return to the castle from +which happiness fled with you." + +"I have a last favor to ask of Your Majesty," said Pazza. "Rachimburg +was the witness this morning of a scene for which I blush, and of +which all must remain ignorant. I commend this faithful servant to +your goodness." + +"Rachimburg," said the king, "take this purse, and keep the secret +under penalty of your head." + +"That makes the fourth," whispered Rachimburg to himself; "my fortune +is made." + +In a few moments Pazza was asleep. "Do you think that she will +recover?" asked Charming, anxiously, of the countess. + +"Bah!" said the old lady. "No matter how ill a woman may be, happiness +will bring her back from the brink of the grave. Kiss the queen, my +nephew; it will do her more good than all the doctors in the world." + +Charming stooped and kissed the sleeping Pazza. An angelic smile +stole over her features, at the sight of which he wept like a child. + + +XI + +A WIFE SHOULD OBEY HER HUSBAND + +The countess was right (women are always right--past sixty). A +fortnight of happiness set Pazza on her feet again, and enabled her to +make a triumphant entry into the city with the king, her husband. Her +paleness, and her wounded arm, which she carried in a sling, added to +her grace and beauty. Charming had eyes for no one but the queen, and +the people's looks followed the king's. + +They were more than an hour in reaching the castle. The magistrates +had erected not less than three triumphal arches, frowning fortresses, +defended each by thirty-six deputations and thirty-six speeches. The +first arch, made of trellis-work, and adorned with leaves and flowers, +bore the inscription, + + TO THE MOST TENDER AND FAITHFUL OF HUSBANDS + +This was intrusted to the keeping of five or six thousand young girls, +dressed in white, with pink ribbons, representing the spring of the +year, the hope of the future, welcoming Glory and Beauty. + +The second arch, more solidly built, was a frame covered with +tapestry, surmounted by Justice, with her eyes bandaged and her scales +in her hand. + +On the pedestal of the statue was written, + + TO THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE, + THE BEST AND WISEST OF PRINCES + +A host of priests, statesmen, and magistrates, in robes of all colors, +represented Religion, Wisdom, and Virtue; at least so said these +venerable and discreet personages, who are never in error. + +Last came an immense arch, a true military trophy, bearing as its +motto, + + TO THE BOLDEST AND MOST VALIANT OF KINGS + +Here the army awaited its general, and the queen was saluted by the +majestic voice of a hundred cannon and two hundred drums--a voice +before which all human eloquence falters, and which always has the +last word. + +I spare you a description of the dinner, which was interminable, and +of sixty more speeches from the court gazette, where they had already +done service two or three times, and wherein they were again deposited +for the use of future generations. There is nothing so monotonous as +happiness, and we must be indulgent to those who sing its praises +officially. In such cases, the ablest is he who says the least. + +The long evening, during which the king had lavished his most gracious +smiles on those whom he despised at the bottom of his heart, was at +length at an end, and Charming led Pazza, no longer to a dungeon, but +to a magnificent apartment, where a new surprise awaited her. At the +bottom of the room was an illuminated transparency, on which were +written lines so bad that a king alone could have been the author of +them. These lines, which were published in the official gazette, have +been handed down to us by one of those indiscreet persons who suffer +no follies of the past to be lost. Such persons are the rag-pickers of +history. + + Ye indolent dunces, who rust in your sloth, + Too lazy or wilful to learn; + Ye courtiers, who crowd round the king, nothing loth + By base flattery his favor to earn; + Ye doctors, who laugh at us cowards, and sell + Long words and wise oracles dear-- + Beware lest some night a mischievous sprite + Should give you a box on the ear. + + And you, ye proud husbands, puffed up with conceit, + Who deem yourselves statesmen so wise + That the whole world admiringly bows at your feet-- + Who truth, love, and goodness despise-- + Beware lest some day your less frivolous wives, + Derided by those they held dear, + Should start from your side, aroused by just pride, + And give you a box on the ear. + +"What means this enigma, sire?" asked Pazza. + +"It means that I do myself justice," answered the king. "I am nothing +except through you, dear Pazza; all that I know and all that I think I +owe to you. Without you I am nothing but a soulless body, fit only for +follies." + +"Pardon me if I contradict Your Majesty," said Pazza. + +"Oh," returned the king, "I affect no false modesty; I know very well +that I have the clearest head of any in my council; my ministers +themselves are forced to acknowledge it, for they are always of my +opinion; but with all this there is more wisdom in your little finger +than in all my royal brain. My resolution, therefore, is fixed. Let my +court and people celebrate my wisdom, my goodness, and even my valor; +it is all very well, and I accept the homage. You alone have the right +to laugh at it, and you will not betray me. But from this day I +abandon my power to you. The king, my dear Pazza, will be only the +chief of your subjects, the faithful minister of your will. You shall +write the piece and I will play it; the applause will be mine, +according to custom, and I will give it back to you by force of love." + +"Do not talk in this way, my dear," said Pazza. + +"I know what I am saying," returned the king, warmly. "I wish you to +rule; I mean that in my empire, as in my house, nothing shall be done +except by your command; I am the master and the king; I desire and +order it." + +"Sire," said Pazza, "I am your wife and servant; it is my duty to +obey." + +After this, says the chronicle, they lived happily to a good old age, +beloved by all their subjects; and the people of the kingdom of Wild +Oats still talk of the good old days of Prince Charming and the +Princess Pazza. + + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Laboulaye's Fairy Book, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LABOULAYE'S FAIRY BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 26386-8.txt or 26386-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/3/8/26386/ + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, David Edwards, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + +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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