Once upon a time [15] there was a poor woman who had a great fancy
for eating parsley. To her it was the greatest luxury, and as she
had no garden of her own, and no money to spend on anything not an
absolute necessity of life, she had to go about poaching in other
people's gardens to satisfy her fancy.
Near her cottage was the garden of a great palace, and in this garden
grew plenty of fine parsley; but the garden was surrounded by a wall,
and to get at it she had to carry a ladder with her to get up by, and,
as soon as she had reached the top of the wall, to let it down on the
other side to get down to the parsley-bed. There was such a quantity
of parsley growing here that she thought it would never be missed,
and this made her bold, so that she went over every day and took as
much as ever she liked.
But the garden belonged to a witch, [16] who lived in the palace, and,
though she did not often walk in this part of the garden, she knew
by her supernatural powers that some one was eating her parsley; so
she came near the place one day, and lay in wait till the poor woman
came. As soon, therefore, as she came, and began eating the parsley,
the witch at once pounced down, and asked her, in her gruff voice,
what she was doing there. Though dreadfully frightened, the poor
woman thought it best to own the whole truth; so she confessed that
she came down by the ladder, adding that she had not taken anything
except the parsley, and begged forgiveness.
'I know nothing about forgiveness,' replied the witch. 'You have eaten
my parsley, and must take the consequences; and the consequences are
these: I must be godmother to your first child, be it boy or girl;
and as soon as it is grown to be of an age to dress itself without
help, it must belong to me.'
When, accordingly, the poor woman's first child was born, the witch
came, as she had declared she would, to be its godmother. It was
a fine little girl, and she gave it the name of Filagranata; after
that she went away again, and the poor woman saw her no more till
her little girl was grown up old enough to dress herself, and then
she came and fetched her away inexorably; nor could the poor mother,
with all her tears and entreaties, prevail on her to make any exchange
for her child.
So Filagranata was taken to the witch's palace to live, and was put
in a room in a little tower by herself, where she had to feed the
pigeons. Filagranata grew fond of her pigeons, and did not at all
complain of her work, yet, without knowing why, she began to grow
quite sad and melancholy as time went by; it was because she had no
one to play with, no one to talk to, except the witch, who was no
very delightful companion. The witch came every day, once in the day,
to see that she was attending properly to her work, and as there was
no door or staircase to the tower--this was on purpose that she might
not escape--the witch used to say when she came under the tower--
Filagranata, so fair, so fair,
Unloose thy tresses of golden hair:
I, thy old grandmother, am here; [17]
and as she said these words, Filagranata had to let down her beautiful
long hair through the window, and by it the witch climbed up into
her chamber to her. This she did every day.
Now, it happened that about this time a king's son was travelling that
way searching for a beautiful wife; for you know it is the custom
for princes to go searching all over the world to find a maiden fit
to be a prince's wife; at least they say so.
Well, this prince, travelling along, came by the witch's palace where
Filagranata was lodged. And it happened that he came that way just as
the witch was singing her ditty. If he was horrified at the sight of
the witch, he was in proportion enchanted when Filagranata came to the
window. So struck was he with the sight of her beauty, and modesty,
and gentleness, that he stopped his horse that he might watch her as
long as she stayed at the window, and thus became a spectator of the
witch's wonderful way of getting into the tower.
The prince's mind was soon made up to gain a nearer view of
Filagranata, and with this purpose he rode round and round the
tower seeking some mode of ingress in vain, till at last, driven
to desperation, he made up his mind that he must enter by the same
strange means as the witch herself. Thinking that the old creature had
her abode there, and that she would probably go out for some business
in the morning, and return at about the same hour as on the present
occasion, he rode away, commanding his impatience as well as he could,
and came back the next day a little earlier.
Though he could hardly hope quite to imitate the hag's rough and
tremulous voice so as to deceive Filagranata into thinking it was
really the witch, he yet made the attempt and repeated the words he
had heard--
Filagranata, thou maiden fair,
Loose thy tresses of golden hair:
I, thy old grandmother, am here.
Filagranata, surprised at the soft modulation of voice, such as
she had never heard before, ran quickly to the window with a look of
pleasure and astonishment which gave her face a more winning expression
than ever.
The prince looked up, all admiration and expectation; and the thought
quickly ran through Filagranata's head--'I have been taught to loose
my hair whenever those words are said; why should not I loose it to
draw up such a pleasant-looking cavalier, as well as for the ugly
old hag?' and, without waiting for a second thought, she untied the
ribbon that bound her tresses and let them fall upon the prince. The
prince was equally quick in taking advantage of the occasion, and,
pressing his knees firmly into his horse's flanks, so that it might
not remain below to betray him, drew himself up, together with his
steed, just as he had seen the witch do.
Filagranata, half frightened at what she had done the moment the
deed was accomplished, had not a word to say, but blushed and hung
her head. The prince, on the other hand, had so many words to pour
out, expressive of his admiration for her, his indignation at her
captivity, and his desire to be allowed to be her deliverer, that
the moments flew quickly by, and it was only when Filagranata found
herself drawn to the window by the power of the witch's magic words
that they remembered the dangerous situation in which they stood.
Another might have increased the peril by cries of despair, or lost
precious time in useless lamentations; but Filagranata showed a
presence of mind worthy of a prince's wife by catching up a wand of
the witch, with which she had seen her do wonderful things. With this
she gave the prince a little tap, which immediately changed him into
a pomegranate, and then another to the horse, which transformed him
into an orange. [18] These she set by on the shelf, and then proceeded
to draw up the witch after the usual manner.
The old hag was not slow in perceiving there was something unusual
in Filagranata's room.
'What a stink [19] of Christians! What a stink of Christians!' she kept
exclaiming, as she poked her nose into every hole and corner. Yet she
failed to find anything to reprehend; for as for the beautiful ripe
pomegranate and the golden orange on the shelf, the Devil himself could
not have thought there was anything wrong with them. Thus baffled,
she was obliged to finish her inspection of the state of the pigeons,
and end her visit in the usual way.
As soon as she was gone Filagranata knew she was free till the next
day, and so once more, with a tap of the wand, restored the horse
and his rider to their natural shapes.
'And this is how your life passes every day! Is it possible?' exclaimed
the prince; 'no, I cannot leave you here. You may be sure my good
horse will be proud to bear your little weight; you have only to mount
behind me, and I will take you home to my kingdom, and you shall live
in the palace with my mother, and be my queen.'
It is not to be supposed but that Filagranata very much preferred the
idea of going with the handsome young prince who had shown so devoted
an appreciation of her, and being his queen, to remaining shut up in
the doorless tower and being the witch's menial; so she offered no
opposition, and the prince put her on to his good horse behind him,
and away they rode.
On, on, on, [20] they rode for a long, long way, until they came at
last to a wood; but for all the good horse's speed, the witch, who
was not long in perceiving their escape and setting out in pursuit,
was well nigh overtaking them. Just then they saw a little old woman
[21] standing by the way, making signs and calling to them to arrest
their course. How great soever was their anxiety to get on, so urgent
was her appeal to them to stop and listen to her that they yielded
to her entreaties. Nor were they losers by their kindness, for the
little old woman was a fairy, [22] and she had stopped them, not on
her own account, but to give them the means of escaping from the witch.
To the prince she said: 'Take these three gifts, and when the witch
comes very near throw down first the mason's trowel; and when she
nearly overtakes you again throw down the comb; and when she nearly
comes upon you again after that, throw down this jar [23] of oil. After
that she won't trouble you any more.' And to Filagranata she whispered
some words, and then let them go. But the witch was now close behind,
and the prince made haste to throw down the mason's trowel. Instantly
there rose up a high stone wall between them, which it took the witch
some time to climb over. Nevertheless, by her supernatural powers she
was not long in making up for the lost time, and had soon overtaken
the best speed of the good horse. Then the prince threw down the comb,
and immediately there rose up between them a strong hedge of thorns,
which it took the witch some time to make her way through, and that
only with her body bleeding all over from the thorns. Nevertheless,
by her supernatural powers she was not long in making up for the lost
time, and had soon overtaken the best speed of the good horse. Then
the prince threw down the jar of oil, and the oil spread and spread
till it had overflowed [24] the whole country side; and as wherever
you step in a pool of oil the foot only slides back, the witch could
never get out of that, so the prince and Filagranata rode on in all
safety towards the prince's palace.
'And now tell me what it was the old woman in the wood whispered to
you,' said the prince, as soon as they saw their safety sufficiently
secured to breathe freely.
'It was this,' answered Filagranata; 'that I was to tell you that
when you arrive at your own home you must kiss no one--no one at all,
not your father, or mother, or sisters, or anyone--till after our
marriage. Because if you do you will forget all about your love for me,
and all you have told me you think of me, and all the faithfulness
you have promised me, and we shall become as strangers again to
each other.'
'How dreadful!' said the prince. 'Oh, you may be sure I will kiss no
one if that is to be the consequence; so be quite easy. It will be
rather odd, to be sure, to return from such a long journey and kiss
none of them at home, not even my own mother; but I suppose if I tell
them how it is they won't mind. So be quite easy about that.'
Thus they rode on in love and confidence, and the good horse soon
brought them home.
On the steps of the palace the chancellor of the kingdom came
out to meet them, and saluted Filagranata as the chosen bride the
prince was to bring home; he informed him that the king his father
had died during his absence, and that he was now sovereign of the
realm. Then he led him in to the queen-mother, to whom he told all
his adventures, and explained why he must not kiss her till after his
marriage. The queen-mother was so pleased with the beauty, and modesty,
and gentleness of Filagranata, that she gave up her son's kiss without
repining, and before they retired to rest that night it was announced
to the people that the prince had returned home to be their king,
and the day was proclaimed when the feast for his marriage was to
take place.
Then all in the palace went to their sleeping-chambers. But the prince,
as it had been his wont from his childhood upwards, went into his
mother's room to kiss her after she was asleep, and when he saw her
placid brow on the pillow, with the soft white hair parted on either
side of it, and the eyes which were wont to gaze on him with so much
love, resting in sleep, he could not forbear from pressing his lips
on her forehead and giving the wonted kiss.
Instantly there passed from his mind all that had taken place since
he last stood there to take leave of the queen-mother before he
started on his journey. His visit to the witch's palace, his flight
from it, the life-perils by the way, and, what is more, the image of
Filagranata herself,--all passed from his mind like a vision of the
night, and when he woke up and they told him he was king, it was as
if he heard it for the first time, and when they brought Filagranata
to him it was as though he knew her not nor saw her.
'But,' he said, 'if I am king there must be a queen to share my
throne;' and as a reigning sovereign could not go over the world
to seek a wife, he sent and fetched him a princess meet to be the
king's wife, and appointed the betrothal. The queen-mother, who loved
Filagranata, was sad, and yet nothing that she could say could bring
back to his mind the least remembrance of all he had promised her
and felt towards her.
But Filagranata knew that the prince had kissed his mother, and this
was why the spell was on him; so she said to her mother-in-law: 'You
get me much fine-sifted flour [25] and a large bag of sweetmeats, and I
will try if I cannot yet set this matter straight.' So the queen-mother
ordered that there should be placed in her room much sifted flour and
a large bag of sweetmeats. And Filagranata, when she had shut close
the door, set to work and made paste of the flour, and of the paste
she moulded two pigeons, and filled them inside with the comfits. Then
at the banquet of the betrothal she asked the queen-mother to have her
two pigeons placed on the table; and she did so, one at each end. But
as soon as all the company were seated, before any one was helped,
the two pigeons which Filagranata had made began to talk to each other
across the whole length of the table: and everybody stood still with
wonder to listen to what the pigeons of paste said to each other.
'Do you remember,' said the first pigeon, 'or is it possible that you
have really forgotten, when I was in that doorless tower of the witch's
palace, and you came under the window and imitated her voice, saying,--
Filagranata, thou maiden fair,
Loose thy tresses of golden hair:
I, thy old grandmother, am here,
till I drew you up?'