between her room and ours." And soon he had made a hole large enough
to peep through, and through it he saw the charming Princess dressed
in a robe of brocaded silver, with flowers embroidered in gold and
emeralds, her hair falling in heavy masses on the most beautiful neck
in the world. Giroflée was on her knees before her, bandaging up
one arm from which the blood was flowing. They both seemed greatly
concerned about the wound: "Let me die," the Princess was saying,
"death would be better than the life which I lead. To be a Fawn all
the day, to hear him speaking, and not to be able to tell him of my
sad fate."
One can guess the astonishment of Bécafigue and of the Prince.
Guerrier would almost have died of pleasure had he not thought that
it must be some enchantment, for did he not know that Desirée and her
Lady in Waiting were shut up in the castle.
He went softly and knocked at the chamber door, which Giroflée opened,
thinking it was the old woman, for she required help for the wounded
arm.
The Prince entered, threw himself at Desirée's feet, and found she was
indeed his Princess.
Great was their joy thus at last meeting, and while they were talking
to each other the night passed, and the day dawned, and daylight came,
and the morning sun shone brightly before Desirée had time to notice
that she had not again taken the shape of a Fawn, but was her own
beautiful self.
Then it was found that it was the Fairy Tulip in disguise of the old
woman who had provided that sheltering cottage in the forest.
The joy of the King upon once more seeing his son can well be
imagined, and the marriage of the Prince and Desirée, and Bécafigue
and Giroflée took place on the same day, the Fairies giving their
diamond palace as their wedding present to Princess Desirée, and Fairy
Tulip presenting four gold mines in the Indies to Giroflée.
[Illustration]
And, in accordance with the wish of Princess Desirée, Longue Epine and
her mother, the false Lady in Waiting, were set at liberty.
[Illustration]
HANSEL AND GRETHEL
Once upon a time there dwelt near a large wood a poor wood cutter,
with his wife, and two children by his former marriage, a little boy
called Hansel, and a girl named Grethel. He had little enough to break
or bite; and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he could
hardly procure even his daily bread; and as he lay thinking in his bed
one night, he sighed, and said to his wife, "What will become of us?
How can we feed our children, when we have no more than we can eat
ourselves?"
"Know then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away, quite
early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and there
make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread, then we
will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not find the
way home again, and we shall be freed from them."
"No, wife," replied he, "that I can never do; how can you bring your
heart to leave my children all alone in the wood; for the wild beasts
will soon come and tear them to pieces?"
"Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die of hunger;
you had better plane the coffins for us." But she left him no peace
till he consented, saying, "Ah, but I shall miss the poor children."
The two children, however, had not gone to sleep, for very hunger, and
so they overheard what the stepmother said to their father. Grethel
wept bitterly, and said to Hansel, "What will become of us?"
"Be quiet, Grethel," said he; "do not cry--I will help you." And as
soon as their parents had gone to sleep, he got up, put on his coat,
and, unbarring the back door, went out. The moon shone brightly, and
the white pebbles which lay before the door seemed like silver pieces,
they glittered so brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into
his pocket as it would hold; and then going back he said to Grethel,
"Be of good cheer, dear sister, and sleep in peace; God will not
forsake us." And so saying, he went to bed again.
The next morning, before the sun arose, the wife went and awoke the
two children. "Get up, you lazy things; we are going into the forest
to chop wood." Then she gave them each a piece of bread, saying,
"There is something for your dinner; do not eat it before the time,
for you will get nothing else." Grethel took the bread in her apron,
for Hansel's pocket was full of pebbles; and so they all set out upon
their way. When they had gone a little distance, Hansel stood still,
and peeped back at the house; and this he repeated several times, till
his father said, "Hansel, what are you looking at, and why do you lag
behind? Take care, and remember your legs."
"Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat sitting upon
the roof of the house, and trying to say good-bye."
"You simpleton!" said the wife, "that is not a cat; it is only the sun
shining on the white chimney." But in reality Hansel was not looking
at a cat; but every time he stopped, he dropped a pebble out of his
pocket upon the path.
When they came to the middle of the forest, the father told the
children to collect wood, and he would make them a fire, so that they
should not be cold. So Hansel and Grethel gathered together quite a
little mount of twigs. Then they set fire to them; and as the flame
burnt up high, the wife said, "Now, you children, lie down near the
fire, and rest yourselves, whilst we go into the forest and chop more
wood; when we are ready we will come and call you."
Hansel and Grethel sat down by the fire, and when it was noon, each
ate the piece of bread; and because they could hear the blows of an
axe they thought their father was near; but it was not an axe, but a
branch which he had bound to an old tree, so as to be blown to and fro
by the wind. They waited so long, that at last their eyes closed from
weariness, and they fell fast asleep. When they awoke, it was quite
dark, and Grethel began to cry. "How shall we get out of the wood?"
But Hansel tried to comfort her by saying, "Wait a little while till
the moon rises, and then we will quickly find the way." The moon shone
forth, and Hansel, taking his sister's hand, followed the pebbles,
which glittered like new-coined silver pieces, and showed them the
way. All night long they walked on, and as day broke they came to
their father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the wife
opened it, and saw Hansel and Grethel, she exclaimed, "You wicked
children! Why did you sleep so long in the wood? We thought you were
never coming home again." But their father was extremely glad, for it
had grieved his heart to leave them all alone.
[Illustration: "HANSEL AND GRETHEL SAT DOWN BY THE FIRE."]
Not long afterwards there was again great scarcity in every corner of
the land; and one night the children overheard their mother saying to
their father, "Everything is once more consumed; we have only half a
loaf left, and then the song is ended: the children must be sent away.
We will take them deeper into the wood, so that they may not find the
way out again; it is the only means of escape for us."
But her husband felt heavy at heart, and thought, "It were better
to share the last crust with the children." His wife, however, would
listen to nothing that he said, and scolded and reproached him without
end.
He who says A must say B too; and he who consents the first time must
also the second.
The children, however, had heard the conversation as they lay awake,
and as soon as their parents went to sleep Hansel got up, intending to
pick up some pebbles as before; but the wife had locked the door, so
that he could not get out. Nevertheless he comforted Grethel, saying,
"Do not weep; sleep in quiet; the good God will not forsake us."
Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out of bed,
and gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smaller than the
former piece. On the way Hansel broke his in his pocket, and stopping
every now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path. "Hansel, why do
you stop and look about?" said the father, "keep in the path." "I am
looking at my little dove," answered Hansel, "nodding a good-bye to
me." "Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is no dove, but only the sun
shining on the chimney." But Hansel kept still dropping crumbs as he
went along.
The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they had never
been before, and there making a gigantic fire, she said to them, "Sit
down here and rest, and when you feel tired you can sleep for a little
while. We are going into the forest to hew wood, and in the evening,
when we are ready, we will come and fetch you again."
When noon came, Grethel shared her bread with Hansel, who had strewn
his on the path. They then went to sleep; but the evening arrived and
no one came to visit the poor children, and in the dark night they
awoke, and Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "Only wait, Grethel,
till the moon comes out, then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I
have dropped, and they will show us the way home." The moon shone and
they got up, but they could not see any crumbs, for the thousands of
birds which had been flying about in the woods and fields had picked
them all up. Hansel kept saying to Grethel, "We will soon find the
way;" but they did not, and they walked the whole night long and the
next day, but still they did not come out of the wood; and they got
very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but the berries which they
found upon the bushes. Soon they were so tired that they could not
drag themselves along, then they lay down under a tree and again went
to sleep.
[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_
HANSEL AND GRETHEL]
It was now the third morning since they had left their father's house,
and they still walked on; but they only got deeper, and deeper, and
deeper into the wood, and Hansel felt that if help did not come
very soon they must die of hunger. As soon as it was noon they saw a
beautiful, snow-white bird sitting upon a bough, singing so sweetly
that they stood still and listened to it. It soon ceased, and
spreading its wings flew off; and they followed it until it arrived at
a cottage, upon the roof of which it perched; and when they went close
up to it they saw that the cottage was made of bread and cakes, and
the window-panes were of clear sugar.
"We will go in here," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast. I will
eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Will they not be
sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off the roof, in order
to see how it tasted; while Grethel stepped up to the window and
began to bite it. Then a sweet voice called out in the room, "Tip-tap,
tip-tap, who knocks at my door?" and the children answered, "The
wind, the wind, the child of heaven;" and they went on eating without
interruption. Hansel thought the roof tasted very nice, and so he tore
off a great piece; while Grethel broke a large round pane out of the
window, and sat down quite contentedly. Just then the door opened, and
a very old woman, walking upon crutches, came out. Hansel and Grethel
were so much frightened that they let fall what they had in their
hands; but the old woman nodding her head, said, "Ah, you dear
children, what has brought you here? Come in and stop with me, and no
harm shall come to you;" and so saying she took them both by the hand,
and led them into her cottage. A good meal of milk and pancakes, with
sugar, apples and nuts, was spread on the table, and in the back
room were two nice little beds, covered with white, where Hansel and
Grethel laid themselves down, and were happy as could be. The old
woman behaved very kindly to them, but in reality she was a wicked
old witch who way-laid children, and built the breadhouse in order to
entice them in; but as soon as they were in her power she killed them,
cooked and ate them, and made a great festival of the day. Witches
have red eyes, and cannot see very far; but they have a fine sense of
smelling, like wild beasts, so that they know when children approach
them. When Hansel and Grethel came near the witch's house she laughed
wickedly, saying, "Here come two who shall not escape me." And early
in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them, and saw how
lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks; and she
mumbled to herself, "That will be a good bite." Then she took up
Hansel with her rough hand, and shut him up in a little cage with
a lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was of no use.
Grethel came next, and shaking her till she awoke, she said, "Get up,
you lazy brat, and fetch some water to cook something good for your
brother, who must remain in that stall and get fat; and when he is fat
enough I shall eat him." Grethel began to cry, but it was all useless,
for the old witch made her do as she wanted. So a nice meal was cooked
for Hansel, but Grethel got nothing else but a crab's claw.
Every morning the old witch came to the cage and said, "Hansel,
stretch out your finger that I may feel whether you are getting fat."
But Hansel used to stretch out a bone, and the old woman, having very
bad sight, thought it was his finger, and wondered very much why he
did not get fat. When four weeks had passed, and Hansel still kept
quite lean, she lost all her patience, and would not wait any longer.
"Grethel," she cried in a passion, "get some water quickly; be Hansel
fat or lean, this morning I will kill and cook him." Oh, how the poor
little sister grieved, as she was forced to fetch the water, and
fast the tears ran down her cheeks! "Dear good God, help us now!" she
prayed. "Had we only been eaten by the wild beasts in the wood, then
we should have died together." But the old witch called out, "Leave
off that noise; it will not help you a bit."
So early in the morning Grethel was compelled to go out and fill the
kettle, and make a fire. "First, we will bake, however," said the old
woman; "I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough;" and
so saying, she pushed poor Grethel up to the oven, out of which the
flames were burning fiercely. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if
it is hot enough, and then we will put in the bread," but she intended
when Grethel got in, to shut up the oven and let her bake, so that she
might eat her as well as Hansel. Grethel perceived her wicked thoughts
and said, "I do not know how to do it; how shall I get in?" "You
stupid goose," said she, "the opening is big enough. See, I could even
get in myself!" and she got up, and put her head into the oven. Then
Grethel gave her a push, so that she fell right in, and shutting the
iron door bolted it. Oh! how horribly the witch howled; but Grethel
ran away, and left her to burn to ashes.
[Illustration]
Now she ran to Hansel, and, opening the door, called out, "Hansel we
are saved; the old witch is dead?"
So he sprang out, like a bird from his cage when the door was opened;
and they were so glad that they fell upon each other's neck, and
kissed each other over and over again. And now, as there was nothing
to fear, they went back to the witch's house, where in every corner
were caskets full of pearls and precious stones. "These are better
than pebbles," said Hansel, putting as many into his pocket as it
would hold; while Grethel thought, "I will take some home too," and
filled her apron full.
"We must be off now," said Hansel, "and get out of this enchanted
forest;" but when they had walked for two hours they came to a large
piece of water.
"We cannot get over," said Hansel; "I can see no bridge at all." "And
there is no boat either," said Grethel, "but there swims a white duck,
I will ask her to help us over;" and she sang,
"Little Duck, good little Duck,
Grethel and Hansel, together we stand;
There is neither stile nor bridge,
Take us on your back to land."
So the Duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and bade his
sister sit beside him. "No," replied Grethel, "that will be too much
for the Duck, she shall take us over one at a time." This the good
little bird did, and when both were happily arrived on the other side,
and had gone a little way, they came to a well-known wood, which they
knew the better every step they went, and at last they perceived their
father's house. Then they began to run, and rushing into the house,
they fell upon their father's neck. He had not had one happy hour
since he had left the children in the forest; and his wife was dead.
Grethel shook her apron, and the pearls and precious stones rolled out
upon the floor, and Hansel threw down one handful after the other
out of his pocket. Then all their sorrows were ended, and they lived
together in great happiness.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED
A poor widow once lived in a little cottage. In front of the cottage
was a garden, in which were growing two rose trees; one of these bore
white roses, and the other red.
She had two children, who resembled the rose trees. One was called
Snow-White, and the other Rose-Red; and they were as religious and
loving, busy and untiring, as any two children ever were.
Snow-White was more gentle, and quieter than her sister, who liked
better skipping about the fields, seeking flowers, and catching summer
birds; while Snow-White stayed at home with her mother, either helping
her in her work, or, when that was done, reading aloud.
The two children had the greatest affection the one for the other.
They were always seen hand in hand; and should Snow-White say to her
sister, "We will never separate," the other would reply, "Not while
we live," the mother adding, "That which one has, let her always share
with the other."
They constantly ran together in the woods, collecting ripe berries;
but not a single animal would have injured them; quite the reverse,
they all felt the greatest esteem for the young creatures. The hare
came to eat parsley from their hands, the deer grazed by their side,
the stag bounded past them unheeding; the birds, likewise, did not
stir from the bough, but sang in entire security. No mischance befell
them; if benighted in the wood, they lay down on the moss to repose
and sleep till the morning; and their mother was satisfied as to their
safety, and felt no fear about them.
Once, when they had spent the night in the wood, and the bright
sunrise awoke them, they saw a beautiful child, in a snow-white
robe, shining like diamonds, sitting close to the spot where they had
reposed. She arose when they opened their eyes, and looked kindly at
them; but said no word, and passed from their sight into the wood.
When the children looked around they saw they had been sleeping on
the edge of a precipice, and would surely have fallen over if they had
gone forward two steps further in the darkness. Their mother said
the beautiful child must have been the angel who watches over good
children.
Snow-White and Rose-Red kept their mother's cottage so clean that it
gave pleasure only to look in. In summer-time Rose-Red attended to the
house, and every morning, before her mother awoke, placed by her bed
a bouquet which had in it a rose from each of the rose-trees. In
winter-time Snow-White set light to the fire, and put on the kettle,
after polishing it until it was like gold for brightness. In the
evening, when snow was falling, her mother would bid her bolt the
door, and then, sitting by the hearth, the good widow would read aloud
to them from a big book while the little girls were spinning. Close
by them lay a lamb, and a white pigeon, with its head tucked under its
wing, was on a perch behind.
[Illustration]
One evening, as they were all sitting cosily together like this, there
was a knock at the door, as if someone wished to come in.
"Make haste, Rose-Red!" said her mother; "open the door; it is surely
some traveller seeking shelter." Rose-Red accordingly pulled back the
bolt, expecting to see some poor man. But it was nothing of the kind;
it was a bear, that thrust his big head in at the open door. Rose-Red
cried out and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove fluttered her
wings and Snow-White hid herself behind her mother's bed. The bear
began speaking, and said, "Do not be afraid: I will not do you any
harm; I am half-frozen, and would like to warm myself a little at your
fire."
"Poor bear!" the mother replied; "come in and lie by the fire; only be
careful that your hair is not burnt." Then she called Snow-White and
Rose-Red, telling them that the bear was kind, and would not harm
them. They came, as she bade them, and presently the lamb and the dove
drew near also without fear.
"Children," begged the bear; "knock some of the snow off my coat." So
they brought the broom and brushed the bear's coat quite clean.
After that he stretched himself out in front of the fire, and pleased
himself by growling a little, only to show that he was happy and
comfortable. Before long they were all quite good friends, and the
children began to play with their unlooked for visitor, pulling his
thick fur, or placing their feet on his back, or rolling him over and
over. Then they took a slender hazel twig, using it upon his thick
coat, and they laughed when he growled. The bear permitted them to
amuse themselves in this way, only occasionally calling out, when it
went a little too far, "Children, spare me an inch of life!"
[Illustration]
When it was night, and all were making ready to go to bed, the widow
told the bear, "You may stay here and lie by the hearth, if you like,
so that you will be sheltered from the cold and from the bad weather."
The offer was accepted, but when morning came, as the day broke in
the east, the two children let him out, and over the snow he went back
into the wood.
After this, every evening at the same time the bear came, lay by the
fire, and allowed the children to play with him; so they became quite
fond of their curious playmate, and the door was not ever bolted in
the evening until he had appeared.
When springtime came, and all around began to look green and bright,
one morning the bear said to Snow-White, "Now I must leave you, and
all the summer long I shall not be able to come back."
"Where, then, are you going, dear bear?" asked Snow-White. "I have to
go to the woods to protect my treasure from the bad dwarfs. In winter
time when the earth is frozen hard, they must remain underground, and
cannot make their way through; but now that the sunshine has thawed
the earth they can come to the surface, and whatever gets into their
hands, or is brought to their caves, seldom, if ever, again sees
daylight."
Snow-White was very sad when she said good-bye to the good-natured
beast, and unfastened the door, that he might go; but in going out he
was caught by a hook in the lintel, and a scrap of his fur being torn,
Snow-White thought there was something shining like gold through the
rent; but he went out so quickly that she could not feel certain what
it was, and soon he was hidden among the trees.
One day the mother sent her children into the wood to pick up sticks.
They found a big tree lying on the ground. It had been felled, and
towards the roots they noticed something skipping and springing, which
they could not make out, as it was sometimes hidden in the grasses. As
they came nearer they could see it was a dwarf, with a shrivelled up
face and a snow-white beard an ell long. The beard was fixed in a gash
in the tree trunk, and the tiny fellow was hopping to and fro, like a
dog at the end of a string, but he could not manage to free himself.
He stared at the children, with his red, fiery eyes, and called out,
"Why are you standing there? Can't you come and try to help me?"
"What were you doing, little fellow?" enquired Rose-Red.
"Stupid, inquisitive goose!" replied the dwarf; "I meant to split the
trunk, so that I could chop it up for kitchen sticks; big logs would
burn up the small quantity of food we cook, for people like us do
not consume great heaps of food, as you heavy, greedy folk do.
The bill-hook I had driven in, and soon I should have done what
I required; but the tool suddenly sprang from the cleft, which so
quickly shut up again that it caught my handsome white beard; and
here I must stop, for I cannot set myself free. You stupid, pale-faced
creatures! You laugh, do you?"
In spite of the dwarf's bad temper, the girls took all possible pains
to release the little man, but without avail; the beard could not be
moved, it was wedged too tightly.
"I will run and get someone else," said Rose-Red.
"Idiot!" cried the dwarf. "Who would go and get more people? Already
there are two too many. Can't you think of something better?"
"Don't be so impatient," said Snow-White. "I will try to think." She
clapped her hands as if she had discovered a remedy, took out her
scissors, and in a moment set the dwarf free by cutting off the end of
his beard.