times and it opened as if by magic, for she could see no one. And she
stepped into the garden of red roses, and in the distance across the
Park she saw the Castle, and she thought she had never seen anything
so beautiful. For it was built of mother-of-pearl, and the red and
yellow gleams of the rising sun shone upon its glistening walls, and
lit them up with a thousand radiant lights.
Beauty marvelled at the loveliness and walked on. And when she arrived
at this beautiful Castle, the huge gates opened as if by magic, and
the doors opened as if by magic, for never a soul did she see, nor
living thing of any sort.
And in the great hall was the breakfast table laid for two. It was
a nice breakfast with steaming hot dishes, and jams, honey, and hot
rolls, and brightly polished silver, and sweet flowers.
Then the Beast appeared suddenly from behind a curtain; oh, he was
an awful Beast, and Beauty's heart beat fast! But he seemed a polite
Beast for all that.
He handed Beauty a chair, and when she had sat down said:
"I bid you welcome; which do you take, tea or coffee?"
"Tea please," answered Beauty.
"Then pour it out," he said, "and I'll take tea too, please. Eggs, do
you like eggs hard or soft?"
"I always cook mine three minutes and a half," replied Beauty.
"Half a minute too much, I think. But you shall have just what you
like."
And so she had; not only at the breakfast table but in everything. She
had only to express a wish and it was immediately gratified. She
had ponies to ride, and dogs and cats, and pet birds, and the most
beautiful dresses ever worn by real princesses.
And if it had not been that she was away from her father she would
really have been happy.
[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST]
The Beast was most kind and attentive to her, and told her that he
loved her, and three times a day he asked her to marry him, but Beauty
shook her head and said, oh no, she couldn't.
Well, Beauty had been at the great Castle some time when she began to
pine to go home and see her father, and she begged the Beast to let
her go.
"Very good," he said with a great sigh, "you may go home to-day, but
promise me that you will be back early to-morrow morning. If you do
not come back early I am sure I shall die for I love you so dearly."
So Beauty promised and went home, and she took presents for her father
and her sisters, and when the sisters heard of all the wonderful
things at the great Castle, they were envious and jealous, and made up
their minds to do Beauty and the Beast a great injury.
So they mixed something in Beauty's supper that made her sleep nearly
all the next day, and so she did not keep her promise. It was evening
when she arrived at the gate in the wall, instead of early morning.
But she knocked three times and the gate opened by magic, and she went
through the garden and hurried to the Castle, that shone like fire in
the light of the setting sun. And the huge gates opened by magic, and
the doors opened by magic, and she stood in the great hall, but there
was no Beast there. She searched in all the rooms but he was not
there; with fear and anxiety in her heart she ran into the gardens,
and there she found him at last. Found him lying stretched out on the
grass, and she thought he was dead.
"Oh, dear darling Beast," she cried, as she threw herself on her knees
beside him, and raised his ugly head, "dear Beast, do not die, for
I love you with all my heart, and will marry you to-morrow." And she
kissed him. Then of a sudden he sprang to his feet, but no longer
the Beast, no longer a hideous monster, but a beautiful prince most
beautifully dressed. "Dearest," he said, "a wicked fairy turned me
into this brute form until a day should come when a good girl like you
should tell me that she loved me. And you will marry me to-morrow."
"Oh, yes," answered Beauty, "but the wicked fairy could not change
your nature. I would have married you if you had remained just as you
were."
[Illustration]
And so they married and lived happy ever afterwards, and they took
care of Beauty's father until the end of his days; so he was happy,
and they forgave the two sisters and gave them fine dresses and
jewels, and the two sisters turned over a new leaf and were less
selfish, and they were happy, so this is a very happy ending to the
story.
What a pity all stories can't end the same way!
[Illustration]
TUFTY RIQUET
There was once upon a time a Queen who had the ugliest little baby
imaginable, so ugly, indeed, that it was almost impossible to believe
he was a little boy at all.
A fairy, however, assured his mother that the little baby would be
very good and clever, saying that she was also giving him a gift which
would enable him to make that person whom he loved the best as clever
as himself.
This somewhat consoled the Queen, but still she was very unhappy
because her son was so ugly, though no sooner had he begun to speak
than he could talk about all sorts of things, and he had such pretty
ways that people were charmed with him.
I forgot to say, that, when he was quite a baby, he had a funny little
tuft of hair on his head, so he was called Tufty Riquet, for Riquet
was the family name.
When Riquet was about seven years old, the Queen of a kingdom near by
was given two baby daughters, twins, of which one was so exquisitely
beautiful that the Queen nearly died of joy when she saw her, and so
the fairy, the same one who had given Riquet his gift of cleverness,
to keep the Queen from making herself ill with excitement, told her
that this little Princess would not be at all clever, indeed she would
be as stupid as she was beautiful.
[Illustration]
The Queen was very much grieved at this, and felt still more troubled
when she beheld her other daughter, for the second Princess was
extremely ugly.
"Do not take it too much to heart, madam," remarked the fairy, "for
this second daughter will be so clever that it will scarcely be
noticed that she is not beautiful."
"Well, if it must be so, it must," remarked the Queen, "but I should
certainly have liked the elder one, who is beautiful, to be just a
little bit clever too."
"I can do nothing as to her mind, madam," replied the fairy, "but for
her beauty I can, and as there is nothing I would not do to please
you, I will give her a gift so that she can make the one who wins her
heart beautiful too."
As the Princesses grew up, their gifts likewise grew with them, so
that everybody spoke about the beauty of the one and the cleverness
of the other; but also their defects grew, so that it could not but
be noticed that the younger was daily uglier, and the elder day by
day became more stupid, until she either said nothing in reply to a
question, or something quite silly, and so clumsy was she that she
could not arrange four china ornaments on the chimney piece without
breaking one, or drink a glass of water without spilling half of it on
her frock.
Although it is a great thing to have beauty, yet the younger generally
received more attention in company than her elder sister.
At first, everybody would gather around the beautiful one admiringly,
but before long they would leave her for the clever Princess, to
listen to her pleasant conversation; and by the end of a quarter of
an hour the elder would be left alone, while the other would be the
centre of a group.
This the elder sister noticed, in spite of her stupidity, and she
would gladly have given all her beauty for half the cleverness of
her sister, and sometimes the Queen, although full of kindness, would
reproach her daughter for her foolishness, which caused the Princess
almost to die of grief.
One day when she had retreated to a wood to brood over her
unhappiness, she saw a little man coming towards her. He was
uncommonly ugly and unpleasing in appearance, but was very richly
dressed.
It was the young Prince Tufty Riquet, who had fallen in love with the
pictures he had seen of her, and had left his father's kingdom for the
sake of making her acquaintance.
Delighted to meet her alone in this manner, he accosted her as
courteously as possible, but soon, noticing that she was melancholy,
he said:
"I cannot understand how it is that anyone as beautiful as you are,
can be as sad as you appear to be; for I must own, that although I
can boast of having seen many beauties, not one have I ever met whose
beauty equalled yours."
[Illustration]
"It pleases you to say so, sir," replied the Princess, and relapsed
into silence.
"Beauty," went on Riquet, "is so delightful that one would give
everything for it, and if anyone is beautiful I can't understand
anything troubling greatly."
"I would rather be as ugly as you," answered the Princess, "and be
clever, than as beautiful as I am, and be stupid."
"To think you are stupid is a sure sign that you have a certain amount
of cleverness, madam," replied Riquet.
"I don't think about that," said the Princess, "but I am quite sure
that I am very silly, and the grief of that is killing me."
"If that is all that troubles you, I can soon put an end to your
grief," said Riquet, "for I have the power of giving cleverness to the
person whom I love the best, and if only you will marry me, you shall
become as clever as you can wish."
The Princess was greatly astonished, but remained silent.
"I can see," continued Riquet, "that this proposal is not to your
taste, and I am not astonished. I will give you a year to think about
it."
So great was the longing of the Princess to be clever, that she at
once promised Riquet to marry him in a year's time, and no sooner had
she made the promise than a great change took place in her, and she
found she could say all sorts of pleasant things, on all sorts of
subjects, in quite an easy manner.
She at once began a conversation with Riquet, making such brilliant
remarks, that he could almost think he had given her all his
cleverness and had kept none for himself.
When the Princess returned to the Palace, everybody was astonished
at the sudden and extraordinary change, for, instead of saying stupid
things, or just nothing at all, she was now full of beautiful ideas
which she expressed most charmingly.
The report of this transformation was soon spread abroad, and all
the young Princes of the neighbouring kingdoms asked for her hand in
marriage, but not one did she find altogether suitable.
However, at last one arrived, who was so powerful, rich, clever and
handsome, that she could not help approving of him, and her father,
noticing this, told her she was quite free to choose what husband she
wished.
The Princess thanked him, and asked for time to consider the matter.
[Illustration]
Then, to think it over, she went by chance, into the wood where she had
met Tufty Riquet.
While she was walking, deep in thought, she noticed a loud noise
beneath her feet, as of many persons hastening to and fro; then,
listening attentively, she heard a voice say, "Bring me the saucepan,"
and another voice cry, "Put some wood on the fire."
At the same moment the earth opened and she saw a big kitchen full
of cooks, and all sorts of things necessary for the making of a
magnificent banquet, and everybody hard at work.
The Princess, astonished at this sight, asked the men for whom they
were working.
"For the Prince Tufty Riquet," answered the head cook, "for to-morrow
is his wedding day."
The Princess, more surprised than ever, all at once recollected that
it was just a year ago that very day that she had promised to marry
the ugly Tufty Riquet.
[Illustration: "TO THINK IT OVER SHE WENT INTO THE WOOD."]
The reason that she had not remembered her promise before was that she
was foolish when she made it, and in becoming clever she had forgotten
all her former stupidities.
She had only walked on a few steps further, when Riquet appeared
before her, magnificently clad, as a Prince about to marry.
"Here you see me, madam," said he, "keeping my word, and I have no
doubt that you also came here to keep yours, and by giving me your
hand to make me the happiest of men."
"I frankly confess," replied the Princess, "that I have not yet made
up my mind, and I do not think I can ever do as you wish."
"You surprise me, madam," said Riquet.
"I can quite believe that," said the Princess, "and if you were not
a good and clever man, I should not know how to act. But you are well
aware that it was when I was stupid I promised to marry you, but now,
as you may imagine, I am not so easily pleased."
"Except for my ugliness," said Riquet, "have you anything against me?
Do you object to my birth, my character, or my manners?"
"Not at all," replied the Princess, "I love those things in you."
"If that is so," answered Riquet, "I shall indeed be made happy,
because you can cause me to become the most delightful of men if only
you will desire it. For know, madam, the same fairy who at my birth
gave me the power to impart cleverness to whomsoever I should love,
gave you a gift also, that of being able to render beautiful the one
to whom you would grant this favour."
"If that is the case," exclaimed the Princess, "I desire with all my
heart that you might be the most handsome and pleasing Prince in the
world."
No sooner had the Princess uttered these words than her wish was
fulfilled, though some say that no change really took place in Riquet,
but that the Princess loved him now so much that all his ugliness was
seen as beauty by her eyes.
However that may be, she straightway consented to be his bride, and,
as the preparations had already been made, the wedding took place the
very next day.
[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_
THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS--"TUFTY RIQUET"]
[Illustration]
THUMBLING
There was once a poor woodman sitting by the fire in his cottage and
his wife sat by his side spinning. "How lonely it is," said he, "for
you and me to sit here by ourselves without any children to play about
and amuse us, while other people seem so happy and merry with their
children!" "What you say is very true," said the wife, sighing, and
turning her wheel; "how happy should I be if I had but one child! and
if it were ever so small, nay, if it were no bigger than my thumb, I
should be very happy, and love it dearly." Now it came to pass that
this good woman's wish was fulfilled just as she desired; for, some
time afterwards, she had a little boy, who was quite healthy and
strong, but not much bigger than my thumb. So they said, "Well, we
cannot say we have not got what we wished for, and, little as he is,
we will love him dearly;" and they called him Thumbling.
They gave him plenty of food, yet he never grew bigger, but remained
just the same size as when he was born; still, his eyes were sharp and
sparkling and he soon showed himself to be a clever little fellow,
who always knew well what he was about. One day, as the woodman was
getting ready to go into the wood to cut fuel, he said, "I wish I had
some one to bring the cart after me, for I want to make haste." "Oh,
father!" cried Thumbling, "I will take care of that; the cart shall
be in the wood by the time you want it." Then the woodman laughed and
said, "How can that be? You cannot reach up to the horse's bridle."
"Never mind that, father," said Thumbling; "if my mother will only
harness the horse, I will get into his ear, and tell him which way to
go." "Well," said the father, "we will try for once."
When the time came, the mother harnessed the horse to the cart, and
put Thumbling into its ear; and as he sat there, the little man told
the beast how to go, crying out, "Go on," and "Stop," as he wanted;
so the horse went on just as if the woodman had driven it himself into
the wood. It happened that, as the horse was going a little too fast,
and Thumbling was calling out "Gently, gently!" two strangers came up.
"What an odd thing that is!" said one, "there is a cart going along,
and I heard a carter talking to the horse but can see no one." "That
is strange," said the other; "let us follow the cart and see where it
goes." So they went on into the wood, till at last they came to the
place where the woodman was. Then Thumbling, seeing his father, cried
out, "See, father, here I am, with the cart, all right and safe; now
take me down." So his father took hold of the horse with one hand, and
with the other took his son out of the ear; then he put him down upon
a straw, where he sat as merry as you please. The two strangers were
all this time looking on, and did not know what to say for wonder. At
last one took the other aside and said, "That little urchin will make
our fortune if we can get him, and carry him about from town to town
as a show; we must buy him." So they went to the woodman and asked him
what he would take for the little man: "He will be better off," said
they, "with us than with you." "I won't sell him at all," said the
father, "my own flesh and blood is dearer to me than all the silver
and gold in the world." But Thumbling, hearing of the bargain they
wanted to make, crept up his father's coat to his shoulder, and
whispered in his ear, "Take the money, father, and let them have me;
I'll soon come back to you."
[Illustration]
So the woodman at last agreed to sell Thumbling to the strangers for
a large piece of gold. "Where do you like to sit?" said one of them.
"Oh! put me on the rim of your hat, that will be a nice gallery for
me; I can walk about there, and see the country as we go along."
So they did as he wished; and when Thumbling had taken leave of his
father, they carried him away with them. They journeyed on till it
began to be dusky, and then the little man said, "Let me get down,
I'm tired." So the man took off his hat and set him down on a clod of
earth in a ploughed field by the side of the road, But Thumbling ran
about amongst the furrows, and at last slipped into a mouse-hole.
"Good-night, masters," said he, "I'm off! mind and look sharp after me
the next time." They ran directly to the place, and poked the ends
of their sticks into the mouse-hole, but all in vain; Thumbling only
crawled further and further in, and at last it became quite dark, so
they were obliged to go their way without their prize, as sulky as you
please.
[Illustration]
When Thumbling found they were gone, he came out of his hiding-place.
"What dangerous walking it is," said he, "in this ploughed field! If
I were to fall from one of these great clods, I should certainly break
my neck." At last, by good chance, he found a large empty snail-shell.
"This is lucky," said he, "I can sleep here very well," and in he
crept. Just as he was falling asleep he heard two men passing, and one
said to the other, "How shall we manage to steal that rich parson's
silver and gold?" "I'll tell you," cried Thumbling. "What noise was
that?" said the thief, frightened. "I am sure I heard some one speak."
They stood still listening, and Thumbling said, "Take me with you,
and I'll soon show you how to get the parson's money." "But where are
you?" said they. "Look about on the ground," answered he, "and listen
where the sound comes from." At last the thieves found him out, and
lifted him up in their hands. "You little urchin!" said they, "what
can you do for us?" "Why, I can get between the iron window-bars of
the parson's house, and throw you out whatever you want." "That's a
good thought," said the thieves: "come along, we shall see what you
can do."
When they came to the parson's house, Thumbling slipped through the
window-bars into the room, and then called out as loudly as he could
bawl, "Will you have all that is here?" At this the thieves were
frightened, and said "Softly, softly, speak low that you may not
awaken anybody." But Thumbling pretended not to understand them, and
bawled out again, "How much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?"
Now the cook lay in the next room, and hearing a noise she raised
herself in her bed and listened. Meanwhile the thieves were
frightened, and ran off to a little distance; but at last they plucked
up courage, and said, "The little urchin is only trying to make fools
of us." So they came back and whispered softly to him, saying, "Now,
let us have no more of your jokes, but throw out some of the money."
Then Thumbling called out as loudly as he could, "Very well; hold out
your hands, here it comes." The cook heard this quite plainly, so she
sprang out of bed and ran to open the door. The thieves rushed off as
if a wolf were at their heels; and the maid, having groped about
and found nothing, went away for a light. By the time she returned,
Thumbling had slipped off into the barn; and when the cook had looked
about and searched every hole and corner, and found nobody, she went
to bed, thinking she must have been dreaming with her eyes open. The
little man crawled about in the hay-loft, and at last found a glorious
place to finish his night's rest in; so he laid himself down, meaning
to sleep till daylight, and then find his way home to his father and
mother. But, alas! how cruelly was he disappointed! what crosses and
sorrows happen in this world! The cook got up early, before daybreak,
to feed the cows: she went straight to the hay loft, and carried away
a large bundle of hay with the little man in the middle of it fast
asleep. He still, however, slept on, and did not wake till he found
himself in the mouth of the cow, who had taken him up with a mouthful
of hay: "Good lack-a-day!" said he, "how did I manage to tumble into
the mill?" But he soon found out where he really was, and was obliged
to have all his wits about him in order that he might not get between
the cow's teeth, and so be crushed to death. At last she swallowed him
down. "It is rather dark here," said he; "they forgot to build windows
in this room to let the sun in; a candle would be no bad thing."
[Illustration]
Though he made the best of his bad luck, he did not like his quarters
at all; and the worst of it was, that more and more hay was always
coming down, and the space in which he was became smaller and smaller.
At last he cried out as loudly as he could, "Don't bring me any more
hay! Don't bring me any more hay!" The maid happened to be just then
milking the cow, and hearing someone speak and seeing nobody, and
yet being quite sure it was the same voice that she had heard in the
night, she was so much frightened that she fell off her stool and
overset the milk-pail. She ran off as fast as she could to her master,
the parson, and said, "Sir, sir, the cow is talking!" But the parson
said, "Woman, thou art surely mad!" However, he went with her into the
cow-house to see what was the matter. Scarcely had they set their feet
on the threshold when Thumbling called out, "Don't bring me any more
hay!" Then the parson himself was frightened; and thinking the cow was
surely bewitched, ordered that she should be killed directly. So the
cow was killed, and the part in which Thumbling lay was thrown away.
Thumbling soon set himself to work to get out, which was not a very
easy task; but at last, just as he had made room to get his head
through, a new misfortune befell him: a hungry wolf passed by
and swallowed Thumbling and all, at a single gulp, and ran away.
Thumbling, however, was not disheartened; and thinking the wolf would
not dislike having some chat with him as he was going along, he called
out, "My good friend, I can show you a famous treat." "Where's that?"
said the wolf. "In such and such a house," said Thumbling, describing
his father's house, "you can crawl through the drain into the kitchen,
and there you will find cakes, ham, beef, and everything your heart
can desire." The wolf did not want to be asked twice; so that very
night he went to the house and crawled through the drain into the
kitchen, and ate and drank there to his heart's content. As soon as he
was satisfied, he wanted to get away; but he had eaten so much that
he could not get out the same way that he came in. This was just what
Thumbling had reckoned upon; and he now began to set up a great shout,
making all the noise he could. "Will you be quiet?" said the wolf,
"you'll awaken everybody in the house." "What's that to me?" said the
little man, "you have had your frolic, now I've a mind to be merry
myself;" and he began again singing and shouting as loudly as he
could.
[Illustration: "THE WOODMAN AND HIS WIFE, BEING AWAKENED BY THE NOISE,
PEEPED THROUGH A CRACK IN THE DOOR."]