them by authority, and I am unwilling to trust to unauthorized
narratives when dealing with a subject of such immense importance. That
which it most concerns us to know, however, is that the wedding
actually took place, which fact having been once ascertained, even the
appearance of the bride and the dresses of the bridesmaids become
matters of comparatively little moment Of this great fact there is
happily no doubt.
King Famcram was legally married to Ophelia Pigspud after the custom of
Pigmy marriages, and the maiden was undoubtedly Queen of the Pigmies.
Her first act was at once gracious and becoming. She caused Binks and
Chinks to be reinstated in their former offices, and arranged that
pecuniary compensation should be given them for the losses they had
sustained. Furthermore, she appointed Euphemia and Araminta Binks,
together with the three daughters of the lord chamberlain, Asphalia,
Bettina, and Paraphernalia, as her ladies in waiting, and promised to
them and to herself that the court should ever be made the scene of
gaieties and entertainments to which it had long been a stranger.
But however good were the motives of Ophelia, however kind her feeling
towards these five young ladies, however pleasant her plans might have
appeared to them under other circumstances, I am sorry to say that they
neither believed in nor appreciated them.
Feelings of jealousy had sprung up within their tender breasts, from
the first moment that they had found Ophelia preferred to the throne
before themselves. Possessed, as has been related, of beauty, wit, and
fascination in different degrees, but in the case of each of them, a
superior degree to the generality of maidens, they felt that they had,
each and all, as good a right to have shared the throne of Famcram as
the more fortunate damsel who had obtained that position.
Instead, therefore, of being loyal to Ophelia, and grateful for her
kindness towards them, they regarded her with envy and spite, and their
beautiful faces but ill reflected the ugly feelings which occupied
their hearts. Ignorant of this, Ophelia had forgotten her first fears
and doubts upon the question of their release, and, unsuspicious of
evil, kept one or other of the maidens constantly near her.
For a day or two all went well. The king kept in the same state of
torpor, and his passive obedience to his wife made him, in the general
opinion of Pigmy ladies, a model for all husbands. Ophelia, however,
knowing the source from which her power was derived, kept her jar
always at hand, so that she might be able to have immediate recourse to
it if the occasion should arise. It was not extraordinary that, under
these circumstances, her ladies in waiting should become acquainted
with, and take notice of, the fact. It became, very shortly after their
appointment, a matter of conversation amongst them, and of wonder that
the Queen should always carry about with her a common looking little
jar, of which they knew neither the use nor the contents.
Paraphernalia, the youngest and prettiest of the Chinks family, wished
to ask a question about it outright, but the worldly wisdom of her
elder sisters checked her, for they feared that their position at court
might be imperilled by any forwardness or impertinence of the kind.
Whether Ophelia, if asked, would have given such information, or at
least have dropped such hints, as might have prevented the occurrence
of the facts I am about to relate, cannot now be known. The opportunity
was not afforded her, and the five ladies in waiting remained in
ignorance upon the subject.
On the third day after her marriage, Ophelia was to receive the ladies
of the court and such of the fairer portion of Pigmyland as desired to
be presented to her. She was richly arrayed in garments well suited to
the occasion, and looked right royal as she stood to receive her
guests. The king, with meek and submissive gait, stood by her side, and
never had she looked more lovely or felt more triumphant. Resolved,
however, to take care of safety as well as of appearance, she kept in
her left hand the little jar, having a scarf lightly thrown over her
arm and concealing it from view. It had not, however, escaped the sharp
eyes of Paraphernalia Chinks, who determined in her own mind that the
day should not pass by without her knowing something more about the
evident mystery to which that jar related. The ladies in waiting were,
naturally enough, near the queen, and stood looking on whilst those who
were presented to her majesty trooped by, making their reverent
obeisances as they did so.
After a while, Ophelia began to feel rather tired of bowing and
smiling, but still continued graciously to do so, until an elderly dame
in passing, tripped over her train and seemed in danger of falling. The
queen made an involuntary movement forward as if to save her, and in so
doing happened to loosen her hold upon the jar in her left hand. At the
very same instant, Paraphernalia, who had been watching her opportunity
all the time, started forward as if to assist her majesty, and, as if
by accident, gave a violent push to her left arm, when, sad to relate,
the jar fell from her hand upon the marble pavement at her feet, and
was instantly broken in pieces.
At the sight of the contents, which appeared to be ordinary jam, the
ladies-in-waiting could hardly restrain themselves from exclamations of
surprise, and all the more so when they perceived the pallor which
immediately overspread the countenance of the queen. But their
attention was at once directed to something else.
Scarcely had the accident happened, and the jar slipped from Ophelia's
grasp and met with the fate I have described, when a great and
marvellous change came over the appearance and demeanour of the king.
No longer meek and subdued, his countenance flushed with rage, his
squinting appeared more furiously malicious than ever, and he stood
before the Court, not the obedient slave and husband, but once more the
tyrant Famcram, restored to his former self.
He passed his hand across his brow, as if to sweep away from him some
unpleasant memories, and then glared fiercely around him for a minute
without uttering a syllable. There was a dead silence. Everybody feared
some dreadful outburst, and nobody knew what to expect.
Then Famcram broke forth in fury--
"What sorcery is here?" he cried. "What witchcraft has been going on?
What drab is this whom I see beside me assuming a place as if she were
queen? Who are these over-dressed peacocks on every side? Toads,
vipers, serpents! Ho, guards! away with them!" and again he looked with
frightful grimaces upon those who stood about him.
Binks, Chinks, and Pigspud fell instantly on their knees, all in a row.
The ladies-in-waiting, between trembling and fainting, did nothing for
the moment, whilst Ophelia, recognising at once that her power of
compulsion was gone, resolved to make an instant appeal to the better
feelings of the king.
"Sire," she said, turning round and confronting him with dignity, "I am
your lawful queen. Three days ago you wedded me, and I share your
throne. Pray let us govern with justice and mercy, and you shall never
have cause to repent of having elevated me to this position."
"Position! You! Throne! Queen! _Us_ govern!" shrieked Famcram at the
top of his voice, now perfectly beside himself with fury. "You fool!
You idiot! You jackanapes! You witch! You vile creature! _You_ a queen,
forsooth! Out upon your folly, that led you to try and deceive Famcram.
Seize her, guards!" he continued; "seize the whole lot of them! Strip
off their fine robes, and away with them to the palace dungeons! We
will soon see who is to be king and master here!"
As he spoke, the obedient guards came forward; and, in spite of all
that Ophelia could do or say, stripped her of her ornaments, and cloak
of rich fur, took from her head the crown with which the queens of that
country were always decorated on state occasions, and began to drag her
away.
Famcram grinned with malicious spite as he saw her in the hands of his
rough attendants.
"Ah!" said he, "this is _real_ jam, now!" and from these casual words
of the king sprang an expression which has now become proverbial in
that country, indicating some special pleasure or remarkably gratifying
incident.
Ophelia was not alone in her misfortune. Her five ladies-in-waiting
were all seized at the same time, their fine clothing taken from them,
and themselves conveyed back again to the same dungeons which they had
previously occupied, and which the wretched Ophelia now shared with
them.
Their behaviour to the fallen queen was, I am sorry to say, neither
ladylike nor generous. Forgetful of the fact that it was to her they
had owed their liberty, and that she had shown them all possible
kindness during her brief period of prosperity, they only remembered
that it was through her discomfiture that they were themselves
suffering at the moment They overwhelmed her with reproaches, in which
Paraphernalia, herself the real cause of their joint misfortune, was
especially forward, and not content with this, the three daughters of
Chinks set upon her, cuffed her, scratched her, slapped her, pulled her
hair, and vowed that they would do much worse before they had done with
her.
Paraphernalia went so far as to suggest cutting off all her hair, and
spoiling her beauty by burning or otherwise marking her face; but the
others had hardly come to such a state of wickedness and malice as
this, although they joined in making the poor girl more miserable than
she would otherwise have been, and showed a want of consideration and
good feeling which was much to be blamed.
The discomfort and misery of all the ladies were, as may be supposed,
considerable; nor was their condition at all improved by the news that
Famcram had resolved that the parents of the three families, Binks,
Chinks, and Pigspud, should be executed in the public market place
within three days. This news, conveyed to them by some of those
officious persons who always like to bring unpleasant tidings, if only
that they may watch their effects upon the people they are likely to
make unhappy, plunged all six ladies into the deepest sorrow.
Nor was the next piece of news at all calculated to lighten the burden
of affliction which weighed them down. Famcram sent a special messenger
to inform the captives that they should all suffer the extreme penalty
of the law also. At first he had declared that they should be publicly
whipped in the square opposite the palace, and afterwards be beheaded,
but upon an earnest representation being made to him by a deputation
from the anti-flogging society, who were numerous in the city, he
consented to forego that part of the punishment, and to have them sewn
up in sacks and thrown into the river, which was a form of punishment
much in vogue in that part of the world.
Resolved, however, to make them suffer as much as possible, he directed
that their execution should take place upon the day preceding that of
their fathers, and that the latter should be obliged to tie the mouths
of the sacks, and roll their own children into the water.
The girls heard this doom with horror, but there was no way of averting
it. On the morning of the day on which the sentence was to be carried
into effect, the daughters of Chinks became more furious than ever
against Ophelia, and declared that she ought to be scratched to death
in the dungeon, and not share the fate of honourable damsels like
themselves. But a better spirit had come over Euphemia and Araminta,
the daughters of the late Prime Minister.
They had felt some compunction at the treatment of Ophelia by their
friends and prison companions, and had not joined in the personal
attack which had been led by Paraphernalia. And when they remembered
how Ophelia had behaved as queen, and saw how meekly she bore the cruel
insults now heaped upon her by the others, they spoke out boldly, and
interfered to prevent further violence.
So the hours passed by until the afternoon arrived, and all six ladies,
having a thick coarse white sheet cast round each of them, as if about
to stand and do penance, were led forth from the palace dungeons and
taken to the appointed place of execution.
Everything had been arranged under the direct orders of the tyrant
himself. Marshalled two and two between their guards, the poor girls
found that they had to pass through a crowd of gaping and staring
people, and to walk over the mud and stones upon their bare feet.
Their beauty attracted general notice, but Ophelia's form and bearing
made by far the greatest impression upon the bystanders.
Side by side she walked by Euphemia Binks, but the latter's beauty was
entirely eclipsed by that of the late queen. The daughter of Pigspud
walked with a royal air--upright, majestic in figure, with a look of
resignation and yet contempt of fate--she excited an universal feeling
of pity and admiration.
Low murmurs were heard among the crowd, and whispers which, had they
come to Famcram's ears, would certainly have caused the whisperers
trouble. The tyrant, however, was so much feared, and the loyalty of
Pigmies is ever so devoted, even when their sovereign is one whom no
one can love or respect, that no sign of an outbreak was shown.
Slowly the mournful procession marched upon its way, until it reached
the road leading directly to the river.
At this moment the great cathedral bell began to toll, filling the
hearts of those who heard it with a certain awful feeling impossible to
be described in words, which was increased in intensity when men in
black garments, with masks over their faces, appeared, carrying the
sacks which were to be employed in the execution of the unhappy
maidens.
With a refinement of cruelty, the brutal tyrant had directed that the
procession should turn aside and pass through the hall of the Chief
Justice's house, so that Ophelia in her disgrace and misery, should be
made to look upon the place in which her recent but shortlived triumph
had occurred. So they marched into the house and through the great
banqueting-room, and out into the gardens, and as they slowly descended
to the river, again the solemn deep death-warning clang of the
cathedral bell sounded in their ears, and the girls knew that now
indeed their end was very near.
Close to the spot which he had fixed for the execution, in a
magnificent arm-chair upon a kind of temporary dais erected for the
occasion, sat Famcram himself, uglier than ever, with his crown upon
his head, and the famous sceptre in his hand. As the procession drew
near he arose from his chair, around which stood his principal
courtiers, whilst at a little distance might be observed the wretched
Binks, Chinks, and Pigspud, each guarded by two armed attendants.
When the ladies had approached quite close to the king, he grinned upon
them with more than his usual malice, and began to sneer at and abuse
them.
"Is this our queen?" he asked in a jeering tone. "The queen that was to
share our throne, and it was to be 'us' who would govern, was it not?
Poor wretch! the bed of the river will soon be your royal couch, and
you shall share it with the eels--if" (and here he grinned horribly)
"they can make their way through the sack which will hold your lovely
form. _You_ to be queen, you nasty, staring, goggle-eyed vixen! And
here come our Prime Minister's and Lord Chamberlain's children! Pretty
ducklings, you shall be sown up nice and tight, and your own fathers
shall give you to the pike and the rats. Nice tender morsels for these
ye will be!"
To these taunts the poor girls made no reply, and the tyrant continued
to insult them, having ordered the procession to stand still for the
purpose. And still the great bell tolled on.
They had stopped very near to the river, and now, at a signal from the
king, the men clothed in black came forward with the sacks, the white
sheets were taken from the fair shoulders of the victims, and each was
thrust into her sack in the dishevelled garments she wore, and left
there for a few moments until the unhappy fathers should perform the
duties assigned to them.
Up to this time Ophelia had kept silence. She despised the wretched
Famcram too much to condescend to answer his taunts. If death was to be
met, she would meet it like a true daughter of Pigspud, and her ancient
lineage should never be disgraced by her behaviour.
But, at this extreme moment, a ray of hope darted suddenly into her
heart. Where was she? Upon the very spot where she had received the
mystic jar which had worked for her such wonders. The place was the
same--the hour, though not so late, was possibly not unpropitious, for
the sun was beginning to sink behind the higher buildings of the city.
Was it impossible that the same power which had helped her before might
again befriend her? The effort was at least worth making, and failure
could make matters no worse.
So, even in the sack, before it was closed over her head, with enemies
seemingly all around, and death staring her in the face, Ophelia lifted
up her head and looking towards the river, slowly pronounced these
words.
"Marley-quarley-pachel-farley--
Mansto macken furlesparley,--
Mondo pondo sicho pinto,
Framsigalen hannotinto!"
Everybody was surprised at the words and behaviour of the unfortunate
lady.
But what followed surprised them infinitely more. A curious whining,
murmuring, incomprehensible sound came along the banks of the river,
filling the hearts of those who heard it with a strange sense of fear,
and a feeling that something wonderful was about to happen.
The river, too, instead of flowing on in its usual quiet and majestic
manner, seemed perturbed in an extraordinary manner, and became as
rough as the open ocean in a storm.
By common consent everyone who was present stood as if struck by one
feeling of awe, which palsied and unfitted them for action. The men who
were supporting the sacks in which the unhappy maidens stood, shivering
with fear, remained rooted to their places, and mingled fear and wonder
sat upon the faces of the people.
Then slowly arose from the rushes by the waterside the same grotesque
figure which had once before held converse with Ophelia. The red cloak,
the umbrella, the poke bonnet, the keen eye, were all there, and the
old woman stood upon the bank within a very short distance of the
sacks.
She looked round upon the people as if rather surprised at seeing them
there, but appeared after a short time to have eyes only for Ophelia,
upon whom she fixed her gaze attentively, and striking her umbrella
upon the ground accosted her in the following words:
"What is it, Ophelia! and what do you fear
That you've called your affectionate godmother here?
Have matters gone wrong since you wanted me last?
I fear that they have, as my eyes round I cast--
You haven't got on the same dress that you wore
When you came down to see the old lady before--
And unless my old eyesight its certainty lacks
You seem hampered and bound in the coarsest of sacks,
And some other girls, too! in what sad plight you are;
My darling; has aught gone amiss with the jar?"
In a mournful voice Ophelia replied at once:--
"Dear godmother! my woes are great,
And miserable is my fate:
The jar is broken! and I am
Both 'out of luck' and 'out of' jam!
This cruel tyrant, whom I wed
(I would I'd been at Bath instead!)
His senses managed to recover,
And, now no more obedient lover,
Used language really quite past bearing
(He always _was_ too prone to swearing),
Swore I no more his wealth should sponge on,
And clapt me in a dirty dungeon.
And then, his wrath no way abating,
My ladies--five of them--in waiting
He also sent there--scarce politely--
And tho' they've not behaved quite rightly,
They scarcely have in crime abounded
So much--as to be sacked--and drownded!
Tho' if my throne I once were back in
_I_ should have given _three_ a "sacking"--
But, godmother, see what I'm brought to!
That naughty king!--he didn't ought to!"
Ophelia sobbed aloud when she had concluded these words, which were
uttered somewhat incoherently, as if the poor girl was quite overcome
by her misfortune. But scarcely had she finished, when the old woman
strode up to the sack without another word, and drawing a large pair of
scissors from her belt, immediately cut it open in such a manner that
the maiden was set free.
Up to this time King Famcram had remained quiet, as if sharing in the
general fear and astonishment. No sooner, however, did he see that the
old woman's purpose was to set free at least one of his prisoners, and
that the chief offender, than fear gave way to wrath, and he leaped up
from his armchair in a tremendous passion.
"Who is this?" he cried loudly, "who is this that interferes with the
King's sentence? Seize her, guards! Vile hag, you shall soon receive
your deserts."
But not a guard moved. Some power greater than that of Famcram seemed
to restrain them, and the old woman quietly accomplished her task
without taking the slightest notice of anybody but Ophelia.
When the latter was free, and standing by her side, she once more spoke
in the same masculine voice as at first, and smiling upon the maiden,
thus addressed her:--
"Tho' jars may be broken and jam may be spoiled,
The plans of your godmother never are foiled,
And power and good-will I must certainly lack
Ere my favourite god-child be drowned in a sack.
Yet if you desire it, my god-daughter sweet,
These ladies of thine shall their recompense meet--
And since they've behaved, dear, so badly to thee,
We'll give them a ducking--just say--shall it be!"
Ophelia, who now began to feel sure that she was safe, was too much
rejoiced thereat to wish harm to anyone else, and in a few well chosen
words she begged her godmother not to be severe on the poor creatures,
who, she was certain, would never do it again.
She also told her of the better behaviour of the two daughters of
Binks, upon which the old lady cut their sacks open immediately, but
could hardly be restrained from punishing the others, especially
Paraphernalia, who cried like a great baby from sheer fright and begged
Ophelia to forgive her. The godmother then took from her finger a ring
which she held before Ophelia and addressed her in these words.
"I give thee, my daughter, this emerald ring
(Its colour, you see, is a wonderful green),
And tho' you may lose your detestable king
You still shall be owned as the Pigmy-land queen.
Reign long and be happy--through many bright days,
May all your past troubles your happiness prove,
And would you be safe--hear what godmother says,
Be kind to your people, and govern by love!"
As she said these words the old woman placed the ring upon Ophelia's
finger, and smiled upon her in an affectionate manner.
At this moment Famcram's rage grew beyond all bounds. He literally
foamed at the mouth with fury--both at the scene which was being
enacted before his eyes, and the unwillingness or impotence of his
guards to help him. He yelled out to them again at the top of his
voice, whilst his red hair seemed to blaze with fury as he whirled his
sceptre round his head.
"Seize the vile witch, I say!" he shouted. "Who dares to talk of any
one reigning here while Famcram lives? Seize her and burn her! Varlets!
Will none of ye stand by your king?"
With these words the king jumped from the dais on which he had been
sitting, and rushed forward himself, calling loudly to his guards to
come on.
But his cries were to no purpose--every man stood rooted to the ground,
and not a hand was lifted to help the tyrant. Then the smile left the
face of the old woman, and she turned from Ophelia to face the king. He
paused, as she raised her hand and pointed at him with her umbrella,
while she spoke again in the same voice as before. And these were her
words:--
"Thou slayer of women, disgrace to thy line,
The vengeance is near--be thy punishment mine--
You wished my dear god-child in river to drown.
No, no, tyrant Famcram, _this_ time you're 'done brown!'"
She had no time for more, for, overcoming his fear or whatever had
hitherto restrained him, the little tyrant rushed upon her.
The old woman now adopted a most curious course. Dropping her umbrella
upon the ground, she made no more ado, but seized Famcram the moment he
was within reach, wrenched his sceptre from him, and shook him
severely.
He struggled, bit, kicked and yelled, but it was all in vain. That
fearful grasp was upon him, against which twenty times his strength had
been of no avail.