and their daughter Kathleen received him, and gave him welcome. He
hardly saw the king and queen, for his eyes were fixed on the Princess
Kathleen, who looked more beautiful than a flower. He thought he had
never seen anyone so lovely, for, of course, he had forgotten all about
poor Eileen pining away in her castle prison in the lonely valley. When
the king and queen had given welcome to the prince a great feast was
spread, and all the lords and ladies of the court sat down to it, and
the prince sat between the queen and the Princess Kathleen, and long
before the feast was finished he was over head and ears in love with
her. When the feast was ended the queen ordered the ballroom to be made
ready, and when night fell the dancing began, and was kept up until the
morning star, and the prince danced all night with the princess, falling
deeper and deeper in love with her every minute. Between dancing by
night and feasting by day weeks went by. All the time poor Eileen in the
giant's castle was counting the hours, and all this time the dwarfs were
winding the balls, and a ball and a half were already wound. At last the
prince asked the king and queen for their daughter in marriage, and they
were delighted to be able to say yes, and the day was fixed for the
wedding. But on the evening before the day on which it was to take place
the prince was in his room, getting ready for a dance, when he felt
something rubbing against his leg, and, looking down, who should he see
but the little white cat. At the sight of him the prince remembered
everything, and sad and sorry he was when he thought of Eileen watching
and waiting and counting the days until he returned to save her. But he
was very fond of the Princess Kathleen, and so he did not know what to
do.
[Illustration: "At the sight of him the prince remembered everything"]
"You can't do anything to-night," said the cat, for he knew what the
prince was thinking of, "but when morning comes go down to the sea, and
look not to the right or the left, and let no living thing touch you,
for if you do you shall never leave the island. Drop the second ball
into the water, as you did the first, and when the boat comes step in
at once. Then you may look behind you, and you shall see what you shall
see, and you'll know which you love best, the Princess Eileen or the
Princess Kathleen, and you can either go or stay."
The prince didn't sleep a wink that night, and at the first glimpse of
the morning he stole from the palace. When he reached the sea he threw
out the ball, and when it had floated out of sight, he saw the little
boat sparkling on the horizon like a newly-risen star. The prince had
scarcely passed through the palace doors when he was missed, and the
king and queen and the princess, and all the lords and ladies of the
court, went in search of him, taking the quickest way to the sea. While
the maidens with the silver harps played sweetest music, the princess,
whose voice was sweeter than any music, called on the prince by his
name, and so moved his heart that he was about to look behind, when he
remembered how the cat had told him he should not do so until he was in
the boat. Just as it touched the shore the princess put out her hand and
almost caught the prince's arm, but he stepped into the boat in time
to save himself, and it sped away like a receding wave. A loud scream
caused the prince to look round suddenly, and when he did he saw no sign
of king or queen, or princess, or lords or ladies, but only big green
serpents, with red eyes and tongues, that hissed out fire and poison as
they writhed in a hundred horrible coils.
The prince, having escaped from the enchanted island, sailed away for
three days and three nights, and every night he hoped the coming morning
would show him the island he was in search of. He was faint with hunger
and beginning to despair, when on the fourth morning he saw in the
distance an island that, in the first rays of the sun, gleamed like
fire. On coming closer to it he saw that it was clad with trees, so
covered with bright red berries that hardly a leaf was to be seen. Soon
the boat was almost within a stone's cast of the island, and it began to
sail round and round until it was well under the bending branches. The
scent of the berries was so sweet that it sharpened the prince's hunger,
and he longed to pluck them; but, remembering what had happened to him
on the enchanted island, he was afraid to touch them. But the boat kept
on sailing round and round, and at last a great wind rose from the sea
and shook the branches, and the bright, sweet berries fell into the boat
until it was filled with them, and they fell upon the prince's hands,
and he took up some to look at them, and as he looked the desire to eat
them grew stronger, and he said to himself it would be no harm to taste
one; but when he tasted it the flavor was so delicious he swallowed it,
and, of course, at once he forgot all about Eileen, and the boat drifted
away from him and left him standing in the water.
He climbed on to the island, and having eaten enough of the berries, he
set out to see what might be before him, and it was not long until he
heard a great noise, and a huge iron ball knocked down one of the trees
in front of him, and before he knew where he was a hundred giants came
running after it. When they saw the prince they turned towards him, and
one of them caught him up in his hand and held him up that all might see
him. The prince was nearly squeezed to death, and seeing this the giant
put him on the ground again.
"Who are you, my little man?" asked the giant.
"I am a prince," replied the prince.
"Oh, you are a prince, are you?" said the giant. "And what are you good
for?" said he.
The prince did not know, for nobody had asked him that question before.
"I know what he's good for," said an old giantess, with one eye in her
forehead and one in her chin. "I know what he's good for. He's good to
eat."
When the giants heard this they laughed so loud that the prince was
frightened almost to death.
"Why," said one, "he wouldn't make a mouthful."
"Oh, leave him to me," said the giantess, "and I'll fatten him up; and
when he is cooked and dressed he will be a nice dainty dish for the
king."
The giants, on this, gave the prince into the hands of the old giantess.
She took him home with her to the kitchen, and fed him on sugar and
spice and all things nice, so that he should be a sweet morsel for the
king of the giants when he returned to the island. The poor prince would
not eat anything at first, but the giantess held him over the fire until
his feet were scorched, and then he said to himself it was better to eat
than to be burnt alive.
Well, day after day passed, and the prince grew sadder and sadder,
thinking that he would soon be cooked and dressed for the king; but sad
as the prince was, he was not half as sad as the Princess Eileen in the
giant's castle, watching and waiting for the prince to return and save
her.
And the dwarfs had wound two balls, and were winding a third.
At last the prince heard from the old giantess that the king of the
giants was to return on the following day, and she said to him:
"As this is the last night you have to live, tell me if you wish for
anything, for if you do your wish will be granted."
"I don't wish for anything," said the prince, whose heart was dead
within him.
"Well, I'll come back again," said the giantess, and she went away.
The prince sat down in a corner, thinking and thinking, until he heard
close to his ear a sound like "purr, purr!" He looked around, and there
before him was the little white cat.
"I ought not to come to you," said the cat; "but, indeed, it is not for
your sake I come. I come for the sake of the Princess Eileen. Of course,
you forgot all about her, and, of course, she is always thinking of you.
It's always the way--
"'Favored lovers may forget,
Slighted lovers never yet.'"
The prince blushed with shame when he heard the name of the princess.
"'Tis you that ought to blush," said the cat; "but listen to me now, and
remember, if you don't obey my directions this time you'll never see me
again, and you'll never set your eyes on the Princess Eileen. When the
old giantess comes back tell her you wish, when the morning comes, to go
down to the sea to look at it for the last time. When you reach the sea
you will know what to do. But I must go now, as I hear the giantess
coming." And the cat jumped out of the window and disappeared.
"Well," said the giantess, when she came in, "is there anything you
wish?"
"Is it true I must die to-morrow?" asked the prince.
"It is."
"Then," said he, "I should like to go down to the sea to look at it for
the last time."
"You may do that," said the giantess, "if you get up early."
"I'll be up with the lark in the light of the morning," said the prince.
"Very well," said the giantess, and, saying "good night," she went away.
The prince thought the night would never pass, but at last it faded
away before the gray light of the dawn, and he sped down to the sea. He
threw out the third ball, and before long he saw the little boat coming
towards him swifter than the wind. He threw himself into it the moment
it touched the shore. Swifter than the wind it bore him out to sea, and
before he had time to look behind him the island of the giantess was
like a faint red speck in the distance. The day passed and the night
fell, and the stars looked down, and the boat sailed on, and just as the
sun rose above the sea it pushed its silver prow on the golden strand of
an island greener than the leaves in summer. The prince jumped out, and
went on and on until he entered a pleasant valley, at the head of which
he saw a palace white as snow.
As he approached the central door it opened for him. On entering the hall
he passed into several rooms without meeting with anyone; but, when he
reached the principal apartment, he found himself in a circular room, in
which were a thousand pillars, and every pillar was of marble, and on
every pillar save one, which stood in the centre of the room, was a
little white cat with black eyes. Ranged round the wall, from one
door-jamb to the other, were three rows of precious jewels. The first
was a row of brooches of gold and silver, with their pins fixed in the
wall and their heads outwards; the second a row of torques of gold and
silver; and the third a row of great swords, with hilts of gold and
silver. And on many tables was food of all kinds, and drinking horns
filled with foaming ale.[11]
While the prince was looking about him the cats kept on jumping from
pillar to pillar; but seeing that none of them jumped on to the pillar
in the centre of the room, he began to wonder why this was so, when, all
of a sudden, and before he could guess how it came about, there right
before him on the center pillar was the little white cat.
"Don't you know me?" said he.
"I do," said the prince.
"Ah, but you don't know who I am. This is the palace of the Little White
Cat, and I am the King of the Cats. But you must be hungry, and the
feast is spread."
Well, when the feast was ended, the King of the Cats called for the
sword that would kill the giant Trencoss, and the hundred cakes for the
hundred watch-dogs.
The cats brought the sword and the cakes and laid them before the king.
"Now," said the king, "take these; you have no time to lose. To-morrow
the dwarfs will wind the last ball, and to-morrow the giant will claim
the princess for his bride. So you should go at once; but before you go
take this from me to your little girl."
And the king gave him a brooch lovelier than any on the palace walls.
The king and the prince, followed by the cats, went down to the strand,
and when the prince stepped into the boat all the cats "mewed" three
times for good luck, and the prince waved his hat three times, and the
little boat sped over the waters all through the night as brightly and
as swiftly as a shooting star. In the first flush of the morning it
touched the strand. The prince jumped out and went on and on, up hill
and down dale, until he came to the giant's castle. When the hounds
saw him they barked furiously, and bounded towards him to tear him to
pieces. The prince flung the cakes to them, and as each hound swallowed
his cake he fell dead. The prince then struck his shield three times
with the sword which he had brought from the palace of the little white
cat.
When the giant heard the sound he cried out:
"Who comes to challenge me on my wedding-day?"
The dwarfs went out to see, and, returning, told him it was a prince who
challenged him to battle.
The giant, foaming with rage, seized his heaviest iron club, and rushed
out to the fight. The fight lasted the whole day, and when the sun went
down the giant said:
"We have had enough of fighting for the day. We can begin at sunrise
to-morrow."
"Not so," said the prince. "Now or never; win or die."
"Then take this," cried the giant, as he aimed a blow with all his force
at the prince's head; but the prince, darting forward like a flash of
lightning, drove his sword into the giant's heart, and, with a groan,
he fell over the bodies of the poisoned hounds.
When the dwarfs saw the giant dead they began to cry and tear their
hair. But the prince told them they had nothing to fear, and he bade
them go and tell the Princess Eileen he wished to speak with her. But
the princess had watched the battle from her window, and when she saw
the giant fall she rushed out to greet the prince, and that very night
he and she and all the dwarfs and harpers set out for the Palace of the
Silver River, which they reached the next morning, and from that day to
this there never has been a gayer wedding than the wedding of the Prince
of the Silver River and the Princess Eileen; and though she had diamonds
and pearls to spare, the only jewel she wore on her wedding-day was the
brooch which the prince had brought her from the Palace of the Little
White Cat in the far-off seas.
PRINCESS FINOLA AND THE DWARF
A long, long time ago there lived in a little hut in the midst of a
bare, brown, lonely moor an old woman and a young girl. The old woman
was withered, sour-tempered, and dumb. The young girl was as sweet and
as fresh as an opening rosebud, and her voice was as musical as the
whisper of a stream in the woods in the hot days of summer. The little
hut, made of branches woven closely together, was shaped like a beehive.
In the center of the hut a fire burned night and day from year's end to
year's end, though it was never touched or tended by human hand. In the
cold days and nights of winter it gave out light and heat that made the
hut cozy and warm, but in the summer nights and days it gave out light
only. With their heads to the wall of the hut and their feet towards the
fire were two sleeping-couches--one of plain woodwork, in which slept
the old woman; the other was Finola's. It was of bog-oak, polished as
a looking-glass, and on it were carved flowers and birds of all kinds,
that gleamed and shone in the light of the fire. This couch was fit for
a princess, and a princess Finola was, though she did not know it
herself.
Outside the hut the bare, brown, lonely moor stretched for miles on
every side, but towards the east it was bounded by a range of mountains
that looked to Finola blue in the daytime, but which put on a hundred
changing colors as the sun went down. Nowhere was a house to be seen,
nor a tree, nor a flower, nor sign of any living thing. From morning
till night, nor hum of bee, nor song of bird, nor voice of man, nor any
sound fell on Finola's ear. When the storm was in the air the great
waves thundered on the shore beyond the mountains, and the wind shouted
in the glens; but when it sped across the moor it lost its voice, and
passed as silently as the dead. At first the silence frightened Finola,
but she got used to it after a time, and often broke it by talking to
herself and singing.
The only other person beside the old woman Finola ever saw was a dumb
dwarf who, mounted on a broken-down horse, came once a month to the hut,
bringing with him a sack of corn for the old woman and Finola. Although
he couldn't speak to her, Finola was always glad to see the dwarf and
his old horse, and she used to give them cake made with her own white
hands. As for the dwarf he would have died for the little princess, he
was so much in love with her, and often and often his heart was heavy
and sad as he thought of her pining away in the lonely moor.
It chanced that he came one day, and she did not, as usual, come out to
greet him. He made signs to the old woman, but she took up a stick and
struck him, and beat his horse and drove him away; but as he was leaving
he caught a glimpse of Finola at the door of the hut, and saw that she
was crying. This sight made him so very miserable that he could think of
nothing else but her sad face that he had always seen so bright, and he
allowed the old horse to go on without minding where he was going.
Suddenly he heard a voice saying: "It is time for you to come."
The dwarf looked, and right before him, at the foot of a green hill, was
a little man not half as big as himself, dressed in a green jacket with
brass buttons, and a red cap and tassel.
"It is time for you to come," he said the second time; "but you are
welcome, anyhow. Get off your horse and come in with me, that I may
touch your lips with the wand of speech, that we may have a talk
together."
The dwarf got off his horse and followed the little man through a hole
in the side of a green hill. The hole was so small that he had to go on
his hands and knees to pass through it, and when he was able to stand
he was only the same height as the little fairyman. After walking three
or four steps they were in a splendid room, as bright as day. Diamonds
sparkled in the roof as stars sparkle in the sky when the night is
without a cloud. The roof rested on golden pillars, and between the
pillars were silver lamps, but their light was dimmed by that of the
diamonds. In the middle of the room was a table, on which were two
golden plates and two silver knives and forks, and a brass bell as big
as a hazelnut, and beside the table were two little chairs covered with
blue silk and satin.
"Take a chair," said the fairy, "and I will ring for the wand of
speech."
The dwarf sat down, and the fairyman rang the little brass bell, and in
came a little weeny dwarf no bigger than your hand.
"Bring me the wand of speech," said the fairy, and the weeny dwarf bowed
three times and walked out backwards, and in a minute he returned,
carrying a little black wand with a red berry at the top of it, and,
giving it to the fairy, he bowed three times and walked out backwards as
he had done before.
The little man waved the rod three times over the dwarf, and struck him
once on the right shoulder and once on the left shoulder, and then
touched his lips with the red berry, and said: "Speak!"
The dwarf spoke, and he was so rejoiced at hearing the sound of his own
voice that he danced about the room.
"Who are you at all, at all?" said he to the fairy.
"Who is yourself?" said the fairy. "But come, before we have any talk
let us have something to eat, for I am sure you are hungry."
Then they sat down to table, and the fairy rang the little brass bell
twice, and the weeny dwarf brought in two boiled snails in their shells,
and when they had eaten the snails he brought in a dormouse, and when
they had eaten the dormouse he brought in two wrens, and when they had
eaten the wrens he brought in two nuts full of wine, and they became
very merry, and the fairyman sang "Cooleen dhas," and the dwarf sang
"The little blackbird of the glen."
"Did you ever hear the 'Foggy Dew'?" said the fairy.
"No," said the dwarf.
"Well, then, I'll give it to you; but we must have some more wine."
And the wine was brought, and he sang the "Foggy Dew," and the dwarf
said it was the sweetest song he had ever heard, and that the fairyman's
voice would coax the birds off the bushes.
"You asked me who I am?" said the fairy.
"I did," said the dwarf.
"And I asked you who is yourself?"
"You did," said the dwarf.
"And who are you, then?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I don't know," said the dwarf, and he blushed
like a rose.
"Well, tell me what you know about yourself."
"I remember nothing at all," said the dwarf, "before the day I found
myself going along with a crowd of all sorts of people to the great fair
of the Liffey. We had to pass by the king's palace on our way, and as we
were passing the king sent for a band of jugglers to come and show their
tricks before him. I followed the jugglers to look on, and when the play
was over the king called me to him, and asked me who I was and where I
came from. I was dumb then, and couldn't answer; but even if I could
speak I could not tell him what he wanted to know, for I remembered
nothing of myself before that day. Then the king asked the jugglers, but
they knew nothing about me, and no one knew anything, and then the king
said he would take me into his service; and the only work I have to do
is to go once a month with a bag of corn to the hut in the lonely moor."
"And there you fell in love with the little princess," said the fairy,
winking at the dwarf.
The poor dwarf blushed twice as much as he had done before.
"You need not blush," said the fairy; "it is a good man's case. And now
tell me, truly, do you love the princess, and what would you give to
free her from the spell of enchantment that is over her?"
"I would give my life," said the dwarf.
"Well, then, listen to me," said the fairy. "The Princess Finola was
banished to the lonely moor by the king, your master. He killed her
father, who was the rightful king, and would have killed Finola, only he
was told by an old sorceress that if he killed her he would die himself
on the same day, and she advised him to banish her to the lonely moor,
and she said she would fling a spell of enchantment over it, and that
until the spell was broken Finola could not leave the moor. And the
sorceress also promised that she would send an old woman to watch over
the princess by night and by day, so that no harm should come to her;
but she told the king that he himself should select a messenger to take
food to the hut, and that he should look out for someone who had never
seen or heard of the princess, and whom he could trust never to tell
anyone anything about her; and that is the reason he selected you."
"Since you know so much," said the dwarf, "can you tell me who I am, and
where I came from?"
"You will know that time enough," said the fairy. "I have given you back
your speech. It will depend solely on yourself whether you will get back
your memory of who and what you were before the day you entered the
king's service. But are you really willing to try and break the spell of
enchantment and free the princess?"
"I am," said the dwarf.
"Whatever it will cost you?"
"Yes, if it cost me my life," said the dwarf; "but tell me, how can the
spell be broken?"
"Oh, it is easy enough to break the spell if you have the weapons," said
the fairy.
"And what are they, and where are they?" said the dwarf.
"The spear of the shining haft and the dark blue blade and the silver
shield," said the fairy. "They are on the farther bank of the Mystic
Lake in the Island of the Western Seas. They are there for the man who
is bold enough to seek them. If you are the man who will bring them back
to the lonely moor you will only have to strike the shield three times
with the haft, and three times with the blade of the spear, and the
silence of the moor will be broken for ever, the spell of enchantment
will be removed, and the princess will be free."
"I will set out at once," said the dwarf, jumping from his chair.
"And whatever it cost you," said the fairy, "will you pay the price?"
"I will," said the dwarf.
"Well, then, mount your horse, give him his head, and he will take you
to the shore opposite the Island of the Mystic Lake. You must cross to
the island on his back, and make your way through the water-steeds that
swim around the island night and day to guard it; but woe betide you if
you attempt to cross without paying the price, for if you do the angry
water-steeds will rend you and your horse to pieces. And when you come
to the Mystic Lake you must wait until the waters are as red as wine,
and then swim your horse across it, and on the farther side you will
find the spear and shield; but woe betide you if you attempt to cross
the lake before you pay the price, for if you do, the black Cormorants
of the Western Seas will pick the flesh from your bones."
"What is the price?" said the dwarf.
"You will know that time enough," said the fairy; "but now go, and good
luck go with you."