The Orange Fairy Book (28 page)

Much startled, the king looked about him. He could see nothing, and
somehow, when he thought about it, the voice seemed as if it were part
of himself. Suddenly his eyes fell on the ring, and he understood.

'Fool that I was!' cried he; 'and how much precious time have I wasted?
Dear ring, I beseech you, grant me a vision of my wife and my
daughter!' And even as he spoke there flashed past him a huge lioness,
followed by a lady and a beautiful young maid mounted on fairy horses.

Almost fainting with joy he gazed after them, and then sank back
trembling on the ground.

'Oh, lead me to them, lead me to them!' he exclaimed. And the ring,
bidding him take courage, conducted him safely to the dismal place
where his wife had lived for ten years.

Now the Lion Fairy knew beforehand of his expected presence in her
dominions, and she ordered a palace of crystal to be built in the
middle of the lake of quicksilver; and in order to make it more
difficult of approach she let it float whither it would. Immediately
after their return from the chase, where the king had seen them, she
conveyed the queen and Muffette into the palace, and put them under the
guard of the monsters of the lake, who one and all had fallen in love
with the princess. They were horribly jealous, and ready to eat each
other up for her sake, so they readily accepted the charge. Some
stationed themselves round the floating palace, some sat by the door,
while the smallest and lightest perched themselves on the roof.

Of course the king was quite ignorant of these arrangements, and boldly
entered the palace of the Lion Fairy, who was waiting for him, with her
tail lashing furiously, for she still kept her lion's shape. With a
roar that shook the walls she flung herself upon him; but he was on the
watch, and a blow from his sword cut off the paw she had put forth to
strike him dead. She fell back, and with his helmet still on and his
shield up, he set his foot on her throat.

'Give me back the wife and the child you have stolen from me,' he said,
'or you shall not live another second!'

But the fairy answered:

'Look through the window at that lake and see if it is in my power to
give them to you.' And the king looked, and through the crystal walls
he beheld his wife and daughter floating on the quicksilver. At that
sight the Lion Fairy and all her wickedness was forgotten. Flinging
off his helmet, he shouted to them with all his might. The queen knew
his voice, and she and Muffette ran to the window and held out their
hands. Then the king swore a solemn oath that he would never leave the
spot without taking them if it should cost him his life; and he meant
it, though at the moment he did not know what he was undertaking.

Three years passed by, and the king was no nearer to obtaining his
heart's desire. He had suffered every hardship that could be
imagined—nettles had been his bed, wild fruits more bitter than gall
his food, while his days had been spent in fighting the hideous
monsters which kept him from the palace. He had not advanced one
single step, nor gained one solitary advantage. Now he was almost in
despair, and ready to defy everything and throw himself into the lake.

It was at this moment of his blackest misery that, one night, a dragon
who had long watched him from the roof crept to his side.

'You thought that love would conquer all obstacles,' said he; 'well,
you have found it hasn't! But if you will swear to me by your crown
and sceptre that you will give me a dinner of the food that I never
grow tired of, whenever I choose to ask for it, I will enable you to
reach your wife and daughter.'

Ah, how glad the king was to hear that! What oath would he not have
taken so as to clasp his wife and child in is arms? Joyfully he swore
whatever the dragon asked of him; then he jumped on his back, and in
another instant would have been carried by the strong wings into the
castle if the nearest monsters had not happened to awake and hear the
noise of talking and swum to the shore to give battle. The fight was
long and hard, and when the king at last beat back his foes another
struggle awaited him. At the entrance gigantic bats, owls, and crows
set upon him from all sides; but the dragon had teeth and claws, while
the queen broke off sharp bits of glass and stabbed and cut in her
anxiety to help her husband. At length the horrible creatures flew
away; a sound like thunder was heard, the palace and the monsters
vanished, while, at the same moment—no one knew how— the king found
himself standing with his wife and daughter in the hall of his own home.

The dragon had disappeared with all the rest, and for some years no
more was heard or thought of him. Muffette grew every day more
beautiful, and when she was fourteen the kings and emperors of the
neighbouring countries sent to ask her in marriage for themselves or
their sons. For a long time the girl turned a deaf ear to all their
prayers; but at length a young prince of rare gifts touched her heart,
and though the king had left her free to choose what husband she would,
he had secretly hoped that out of all the wooers this one might be his
son-in-law. So they were betrothed that some day with great pomp, and
then with many tears, the prince set out for his father's court,
bearing with him a portrait of Muffette.

The days passed slowly to Muffette, in spite of her brave efforts to
occupy herself and not to sadden other people by her complaints. One
morning she was playing on her harp in the queen's chamber when the
king burst into the room and clasped his daughter in his arms with an
energy that almost frightened her.

'Oh, my child! my dear child! why were you ever born?' cried he, as
soon as he could speak.

'Is the prince dead?' faltered Muffette, growing white and cold.

'No, no; but—oh, how can I tell you!' And he sank down on a pile of
cushions while his wife and daughter knelt beside him.

At length he was able to tell his tale, and a terrible one it was!
There had just arrived at court a huge giant, as ambassador from the
dragon by whose help the king had rescued the queen and Muffette from
the crystal palace. The dragon had been very busy for many years past,
and had quite forgotten the princess till the news of her betrothal
reached his ears. Then he remembered the bargain he had made with her
father; and the more he heard of Muffette the more he felt sure she
would make a delicious dish. So he had ordered the giant who was his
servant to fetch her at once.

No words would paint the horror of both the queen and the princess as
they listened to this dreadful doom. They rushed instantly to the
hall, where the giant was awaiting them, and flinging themselves at his
feet implored him to take the kingdom if he would, but to have pity on
the princess. The giant looked at them kindly, for he was not at all
hard- hearted, but said that he had no power to do anything, and that
if the princess did not go with him quietly the dragon would come
himself.

Several days went by, and the king and queen hardly ceased from
entreating the aid of the giant, who by this time was getting weary of
waiting.

'There is only one way of helping you,' he said at last, 'and that is
to marry the princess to my nephew, who, besides being young and
handsome, has been trained in magic, and will know how to keep her safe
from the dragon.'

'Oh, thank you, thank you!' cried the parents, clasping his great hands
to their breasts. 'You have indeed lifted a load from us. She shall
have half the kingdom for her dowry.' But Muffette stood up and thrust
them aside.

'I will not buy my life with faithlessness,' she said proudly; 'and I
will go with you this moment to the dragon's abode.' And all her
father's and mother's tears and prayers availed nothing to move her.

The next morning Muffette was put into a litter, and, guarded by the
giant and followed by the king and queen and the weeping maids of
honour, they started for the foot of the mountain where the dragon had
his castle. The way, though rough and stony, seemed all too short, and
when they reached the spot appointed by the dragon the giant ordered
the men who bore the litter to stand still.

'It is time for you to bid farewell to your daughter,' said he; 'for I
see the dragon coming to us.'

It was true; a cloud appeared to pass over the sun, for between them
and it they could all discern dimly a huge body half a mile long
approaching nearer and nearer. At first the king could not believe
that this was the small beast who had seemed so friendly on the shore
of the lake of quicksilver but then he knew very little of necromancy,
and had never studied the art of expanding and contracting his body.
But it was the dragon and nothing else, whose six wings were carrying
him forward as fast as might be, considering his great weight and the
length of his tail, which had fifty twists and a half.

He came quickly, yes; but the frog, mounted on a greyhound, and wearing
her cap on her head, went quicker still. Entering a room where the
prince was sitting gazing at the portrait of his betrothed, she cried
to him:

'What are you doing lingering here, when the life of the princess is
nearing its last moment? In the courtyard you will find a green horse
with three heads and twelve feet, and by its side a sword eighteen
yards long. Hasten, lest you should be too late!'

The fight lasted all day, and the prince's strength was well-nigh
spent, when the dragon, thinking that the victory was won, opened his
jaws to give a roar of triumph. The prince saw his chance, and before
his foe could shut his mouth again had plunged his sword far down his
adversary's throat. There was a desperate clutching of the claws to
the earth, a slow flagging of the great wings, then the monster rolled
over on his side and moved no more. Muffette was delivered.

After this they all went back to the palace. The marriage took place
the following day, and Muffette and her husband lived happy for ever
after.

(From Les Contes des Fees, par Madame d'Aulnoy.)

On the shores of the west, where the great hills stand with their feet
in the sea, dwelt a goatherd and his wife, together with their three
sons and one daughter. All day long the young men fished and hunted,
while their sister took out the kids to pasture on the mountain, or
stayed at home helping her mother and mending the nets.

For several years they all lived happily together, when one day, as the
girl was out on the hill with the kids, the sun grew dark and an air
cold as a thick white mist came creeping, creeping up from the sea.
She rose with a shiver, and tried to call to her kids, but the voice
died away in her throat, and strong arms seemed to hold her.

Loud were the wails in the hut by the sea when the hours passed on and
the maiden came not. Many times the father and brothers jumped up,
thinking they heard her steps, but in the thick darkness they could
scarcely see their own hands, nor could they tell where the river lay,
nor where the mountain. One by one the kids came home, and at every
bleat someone hurried to open the door, but no sound broke the
stillness. Through the night no one slept, and when morning broke and
the mist rolled back, they sought the maiden by sea and by land, but
never a trace of her could be found anywhere.

Thus a year and a day slipped by, and at the end of it Gorla of the
Flocks and his wife seemed suddenly to have grown old. Their sons too
were sadder than before, for they loved their sister well, and had
never ceased to mourn for her. At length Ardan the eldest spoke and
said:

'It is now a year and a day since our sister was taken from us, and we
have waited in grief and patience for her to return. Surely some evil
has befallen her, or she would have sent us a token to put our hearts
at rest; and I have vowed to myself that my eyes shall not know sleep
till, living or dead, I have found her.'

'If you have vowed, then must you keep your vow,' answered Gorla. 'But
better had it been if you had first asked your father's leave before
you made it. Yet, since it is so, your mother will bake you a cake for
you to carry with you on your journey. Who can tell how long it may
be?'

So the mother arose and baked not one cake but two, a big one and a
little one.

'Choose, my son,' said she. 'Will you have the little cake with your
mother's blessing, or the big one without it, in that you have set
aside your father and taken on yourself to make a vow?'

'I will have the large cake,' answered the youth; 'for what good would
my mother's blessing do for me if I was dying of hunger?' And taking
the big cake he went his way.

Straight on he strode, letting neither hill nor river hinder him.
Swiftly he walked— swiftly as the wind that blew down the mountain.
The eagles and the gulls looked on from their nests as he passed,
leaving the deer behind him; but at length he stopped, for hunger had
seized on him, and he could walk no more. Trembling with fatigue he
sat himself on a rock and broke a piece off his cake.

'Spare me a morsel, Ardan son of Gorla,' asked a raven, fluttering down
towards him.

'Seek food elsewhere, O bearer of ill-news,' answered Ardan son of
Gorla; 'it is but little I have for myself.' And he stretched himself
out for a few moments, then rose to his feet again. On and on went he
till the little birds flew to their nests, and the brightness died out
of the sky, and a darkness fell over the earth. On and on, and on,
till at last he saw a beam of light streaming from a house and hastened
towards it.

The door was opened and he entered, but paused when he beheld an old
man lying on a bench by the fire, while seated opposite him was a
maiden combing out the locks of her golden hair with a comb of silver.