world they agreed to call him Prince Wish. He had beautiful blue eyes
and a sweet little mouth, but his nose was so big that it covered half
his face. The queen, his mother, was inconsolable; but her ladies
tried to satisfy her by telling her that the nose was not nearly so
large as it seemed, that it would grow smaller as the prince grew
bigger, and that if it did not a large nose was indispensable to a
hero. All great soldiers, they said, had great noses, as everybody
knew. The queen was so very fond of her son that she listened eagerly
to all this comfort. Shortly she grew so used to the prince's nose
that it did not seem to her any larger than ordinary noses of the
court; where, in process of time, everybody with a long nose was very
much admired, and the unfortunate people who had only snubs were taken
very little notice of.
Great care was observed in the education of the prince; and as soon as
he could speak they told him all sorts of amusing tales, in which all
the bad people had short noses, and all the good people had long ones.
No person was suffered to come near him who had not a nose of more
than ordinary length; nay, to such an extent did the courtiers carry
their fancy, that the noses of all the little babies were ordered to
be pulled out as far as possible several times a day, in order to make
them grow. But grow as they would, they never could grow as long as
that of Prince Wish. When he was old enough his tutor taught him
history; and whenever any great king or lovely princess was referred
to, the tutor always took care to mention that he or she had a long
nose. All the royal apartments were filled with pictures and portraits
having this peculiarity, so that at last Prince Wish began to regard
the length of his nose as his greatest perfection, and would not have
had it an inch less even to save his crown.
When he was twenty years old his mother and his people wished him to
marry. They procured for him the likenesses of many princesses, but
the one he preferred was Princess Darling, daughter of a powerful
monarch and heiress to several kingdoms. Alas! with all her beauty,
this princess had one great misfortune, a little turned-up nose,
which, every one else said, made her only the more bewitching. But
here, in the kingdom of Prince Wish, the courtiers were thrown by it
into the utmost perplexity. They were in the habit of laughing at all
small noses; but how dared they make fun of the nose of Princess
Darling? Two unfortunate gentlemen, whom Prince Wish had overheard
doing so, were ignominiously banished from the court and capital.
After this, the courtiers became alarmed, and tried to correct their
habit of speech; but they would have found themselves in constant
difficulties, had not one clever person struck out a bright idea. He
said that though it was indispensably necessary for a man to have a
great nose, women were different; and that a learned man had
discovered in a very old manuscript that the celebrated Cleopatra,
Queen of Egypt, the beauty of the ancient world, had a turned-up nose.
At this information Prince Wish was so delighted that he made the
courtier a very handsome present, and immediately sent off ambassadors
to demand Princess Darling in marriage.
She accepted his offer at once, and returned with the ambassadors. He
made all haste to meet and welcome her; but when she was only three
leagues distant from his capital, before he had time even to kiss her
hand, the magician who had once assumed the shape of his mother's cat,
Minon, appeared in the air and carried her off before the lover's very
eyes.
Prince Wish, almost beside himself with grief, declared that nothing
should induce him to return to his throne and kingdom till he had
found Darling. He would suffer none of his courtiers or attendants to
follow him; but, bidding them all adieu, mounted a good horse, laid
the reins on the animal's neck, and let him take him wherever he
would.
The horse entered a wide-extended plain, and trotted on steadily the
whole day without finding a single house. Master and beast began
almost to faint with hunger; and Prince Wish might have wished himself
safe at home again, had he not discovered, just at dusk, a cavern,
where there sat, beside a bright lantern, a little woman who might
have been more than a hundred years old.
She put on her spectacles the better to look at the stranger, and he
noticed that her nose was so small that the spectacles would hardly
stay on; then the prince and the fairy,--for it was a fairy--burst
into a mutual fit of laughter.
"What a funny nose?" cried the one.
"Not so funny as yours, madam," returned the other. "But pray let us
leave our noses alone, and be good enough to give me something to
eat, for I am dying with hunger, and so is my poor horse."
"With all my heart," answered the fairy. "Although your nose is
ridiculously long, you are no less the son of one of my best friends.
I loved your father like a brother; _he_ had a very handsome nose."
"What is wanting to my nose?" asked Wish, rather savagely.
"Oh! nothing at all. On the contrary there is a great deal too much of
it; but never mind, one may be a very honest man, and yet have too big
a nose. As I said, I was a great friend of your father's; he came
often to see me. I was very pretty then, and oftentimes he used to say
to me, 'My sister--'"
"I will hear the rest, madam, with pleasure, when I have supped; but
will you condescend to remember that I have tasted nothing all day?"
"Poor boy," said the fairy, "I will give you some supper directly; and
while you eat it I will tell you my history in six words, for I hate
much talking. A long tongue is as insupportable as a long nose; and I
remember when I was young how much I used to be admired because I was
not a talker; indeed, some one said to the queen, my mother,--for poor
as you see me now I am the daughter of a great king, who always--"
"Ate when he was hungry, I hope," interrupted the Prince, whose
patience was fast departing.
"You are right," said the imperturbable old fairy; "and I will bring
you your supper directly, only I wish first just to say that the king
my father--"
"Hang the king your father!" Prince Wish was about to exclaim, but he
stopped himself, and only observed that however the pleasure of her
conversation might make him forget his hunger, it could not have the
same effect upon his horse, who was really starving.
The fairy, pleased at his civility, called her servants and bade them
supply him at once with all he needed. "And," added she, "I must say
you are very polite and very good-tempered, in spite of your nose."
"What has the old woman to do with my nose?" thought the prince. "If I
were not so very hungry I would soon show her what she is--a regular
old gossip and chatter-box. She to fancy she talks little, indeed! One
must be very foolish not to know one's own defects. This comes of
being born a princess. Flatterers have spoiled her, and persuaded her
that she talks little. Little, indeed! I never knew anybody chatter so
much."
While the prince thus meditated, the servants were laying the table,
the fairy asking them a hundred unnecessary questions, simply for the
pleasure of hearing herself talk. "Well," thought Wish, "I am
delighted that I came hither, if only to learn how wise I have been in
never listening to flatterers, who hide from us our faults, or make us
believe they are perfections. But they could never deceive me. I know
all my own weak points, I trust." As truly he believed he did.
So he went on eating contentedly, nor stopped till the old fairy began
to address him.
"Prince," said she, "will you be kind enough to turn a little? Your
nose casts such a shadow that I cannot see what is in my plate. And,
as I was saying, your father admired me and always made me welcome at
court. What is the court etiquette there now? Do the ladies still go
to assemblies, promenades, balls?--I beg your pardon for laughing, but
how _very_ long your nose is."
"I wish you would cease to speak of my nose," said the prince,
becoming annoyed. "It is what it is, and I do not desire it any
shorter."
"Oh! I see that I have vexed you," returned the fairy. "Nevertheless,
I am one of your best friends, and so I shall take the liberty of
always--" She would doubtless have gone on talking till midnight; but
the prince, unable to bear it any longer, here interrupted her,
thanked her for her hospitality, bade her a hasty adieu, and rode
away.
He travelled for a long time, half over the world, but he heard no
news of Princess Darling. However, in each place he went to, he heard
one remarkable fact--the great length of his own nose. The little boys
in the streets jeered at him, the peasants stared at him, and the more
polite ladies and gentlemen whom he met in society used to try in vain
to keep from laughing, and to get out of his way as soon as they
could. So the poor prince became gradually quite forlorn and solitary;
he thought all the world was mad, but still he never thought of there
being anything queer about his own nose.
At last the old fairy, who, though she was a chatter-box, was very
good-natured, saw that he was almost breaking his heart. She felt
sorry for him, and wished to help him in spite of himself, for she
knew the enchantment, which hid from him the Princess Darling, could
never be broken till he had discovered his own defect. So she went in
search of the princess, and being more powerful than the magician,
since she was a good fairy, and he was an evil magician, she got her
away from him, and shut her up in a palace of crystal, which she
placed on the road which Prince Wish had to pass.
He was riding along, very melancholy, when he saw the palace; and at
its entrance was a room, made of the purest glass, in which sat his
beloved princess, smiling and beautiful as ever. He leaped from his
horse, and ran towards her. She held out her hand for him to kiss, but
he could not get at it for the glass. Transported with eagerness and
delight, he dashed his sword through the crystal, and succeeded in
breaking a small opening, to which she put up her beautiful rosy
mouth. But it was in vain, Prince Wish could not approach it. He
twisted his neck about, and turned his head on all sides, till at
length, putting up his hand to his face, he discovered the
impediment.
"It must be confessed," exclaimed he, "that my nose _is_ too long."
That moment the glass walls all split asunder, and the old fairy
appeared, leading Princess Darling.
"Avow, prince," said she, "that you are very much obliged to me, for
now the enchantment is ended. You may marry the object of your choice.
But," added she, smiling, "I fear I might have talked to you for ever
on the subject of your nose, and you would not have believed me in its
length, till it became an obstacle to your own inclinations. Now
behold it!" and she held up a crystal mirror. "Are you satisfied to be
no different from other people?"
"Perfectly," said Prince Wish, who found his nose had shrunk to an
ordinary length. And, taking the Princess Darling by the hand, he
kissed her, courteously, affectionately, and satisfactorily. Then they
departed to their own country, and lived very happy all their days.
THE HIND OF THE FOREST.
A beautiful queen, whose subjects adored her, and whose husband
thought her the best woman in the world, had but one sorrow, which was
equally a sorrow both to the king and the country--she brought him no
heir to the throne. She, at last, grew so melancholy, that she was
ordered for her health to drink the medicinal waters that were found
in a celebrated wood; and one day, sitting beside one of these
fountains, which fell into a marble and porphyry basin, she sent all
her ladies away, that she might the better weep and lament unobserved.
"How unhappy am I," said she; "five years I have been married, and am
still childless, while the poorest women in the land have children by
the dozen. Am I to die without ever giving the king an heir?"
While she spoke, she noticed that the water of the fountain was
slightly disturbed, and there issued thence a large cray-fish, who
thus addressed her, "Great queen, you shall have what you desire; but
first you must go to the fairy-palace which is near here, though so
surrounded by mists and clouds as to be invisible to mortal eyes,
unless you will be conducted there by a poor cray-fish."
Though very much surprised, the queen answered courteously that she
had no objection, except that the animal's method of walking would not
well suit her own.
The shell-fish smiled--if a shell-fish can smile--and immediately took
the shape of a pretty little old woman. "Madam," said she, "we now
need not walk crab-fashion. Consider me as your friend, for, indeed, I
am desirous of being so."
So saying, she jumped out of the fountain, her clothes not being the
least wet, though they were made of white and crimson velvet, nor her
grey hair damp: it was tied with green ribbons, and appeared all in
order and smooth as silk. She saluted the queen, and then conducted
her by a road which, strange to say, well as she knew every portion of
the wood, her majesty had never before seen, to a palace of which the
walls, roofs, and balconies were built entirely of diamonds.
"Is all this a dream?" cried the delighted queen.
But no, it was a reality, for the gates straightway opened, and six
beautiful fairies appeared, who, making her a profound reverence,
presented her with six flowers composed of jewels: a rose, a tulip, an
anemone, a jasmine, a carnation, and a heartsease.
"Madam," said they, "we could not give you a greater mark of our
favour than in permitting you to come here. We are delighted to tell
you that by and by you will have a little daughter, whom you must
name Désirée--the Desired. As soon as she is born, call us, and we
will endow her with all sorts of good qualities. You have only to take
this bouquet, and name each separate flower, thinking of us, when
immediately we shall be present in your chamber."
The queen, transported with joy, embraced all the fairies, spent the
day with them, and returned, laden with presents, to the fountain
side; where the little old woman jumped into the water, became a
cray-fish again, and disappeared.
In due time the Princess Désirée was born, and the queen did as she
was told in naming the flowers. Soon, all the six fairies appeared, in
different chariots; of ebony, drawn by white pigeons--of ivory, drawn
by black crows, and so on, in great variety. They entered the royal
chamber with an air at once cheerful and majestic, embraced the queen
and the little princess, and spread out all their presents. These
were, linen, so fine that none but fairy hands could have spun it;
lace and embroidery without end; and a cradle, the wonder of the
world. It was made of wood more precious than gold, and at each corner
stood four animated images, little cupids, who, as soon as the baby
cried, began to rock it of their own accord. Then the six fairies
kissed and dandled the princess, bestowing on her for her portion
beauty, good temper, good health, talents, long life, and the faculty
of doing thoroughly well everything she tried to do. The queen,
overcome with gratitude, was thanking them with all her heart for
their kindness to her little daughter, when she saw enter her chamber
a cray-fish, so large that it could hardly pass through the door.
"Ungrateful queen," said the crab, "have you forgotten the fairy of
the fountain? You sent for these my sisters, and not for me, who am
the one to whom you owed most of all."
The queen made a hundred apologies, and the six fairies tried vainly
to pacify the other one; but she was determined, as she said, to
punish ingratitude. "However," added she, "I will give no worse gift
to the princess than to warn you, that if you let her see daylight
before she is fifteen years old, you will repent it." So saying, she
retired backwards, crab-fashion, resisting all entreaties to resume
her proper form and join in the festivities.
The afflicted mother took council with the six fairies how she was to
save her baby from this impending evil, and after many conflicting
opinions they advised her to build a tower without doors or windows,
and with a subterranean entrance, which the princess might inhabit
till she had passed the fatal age. Everything is easy to fairies; so
three strokes of their wands, making eighteen strokes in all, began
and finished the edifice. It was built of green and white marble,
ornamented inside with diamonds and emeralds, and hung with
tapestry--all fairy work--on which was pictured the lives of heroes.
Though there was only lamp-light allowed, yet the lamps were so
numerous, that they made the tower seem as bright as day. Whether the
princess was ever permitted any fresh air, or taken out for a walk by
starlight or moonlight, the history does not say; but it does say one
thing, that she grew up very happy, very lovely, and very well
educated.
The six fairies came frequently to see her, and were most kind and
affectionate to her; but the one she loved best among them all was
Tulip. By this fairy's advice, the nearer she approached the age of
fifteen, the more carefully was Désirée shut up from daylight. But her
mother, who was very proud of her beauty, caused her portrait to be
painted, and sent among all the neighbouring courts, in order that
some prince might seek her in marriage. There was one prince who was
so captivated by this likeness, that he shut himself up with it, and
talked to it, as if it had been alive, making love to it in the most
passionate manner, and then falling into a hopeless melancholy.
When his father tried to discover the cause of this--"Sir," said
Prince Warrior (he went by that name, because, young as he was, he had
already gained three battles), "my grief is that you wish me to marry
the Black Princess, while I will only marry the Princess Désirée. I
have seen her portrait, and without her I shall surely die. Behold
her!"
The king looked at the portrait. "Well, my son, I cannot wish for a
more charming daughter-in-law, we will retract our offers for the
Black Princess, and send an ambassador to propose for the Princess
Désirée."
The prince, kissing his father's hand, overwhelmed him with his
gratitude and joy. A courtier, Becafico by name, young and gallant,
was despatched with eighty equipages, a hundred mounted squires, and
the portrait of the Prince Warrior, to ask the Princess Désirée in
marriage. The report of his splendours travelled before him, till it
reached the ears of the king and queen, and of the six fairies, who
were all equally delighted.
"But," said the Fairy Tulip, who was the sagest of them, "beware,
queen, of allowing Becafico to see our child," as they tenderly called
Désirée, "and do not upon any account suffer her to leave her tower
for the kingdom of Prince Warrior until her fifteenth birthday is
past."
The ambassador arrived; his magnificent train took twenty-three days
in going through the gates of the city. He made his harangue to the
king and queen, and much state ceremonial passed between them; then he
begged for the honour of an audience with the princess, and was very
much astonished to find it denied him--still more so, when the king
candidly told him the whole story.
The queen had strictly enjoined the ladies of honour not to tell her
daughter one word of the ambassador's visit, or her intended marriage;
yet somehow the princess already knew it quite well. But she was wise
enough to say nothing about it; and when her mother showed her the
prince's portrait, and asked her if she should like such a gallant
young man for her husband, she replied humbly that she should be
quite satisfied with any choice her parents made for her. So her hand
was promised, but as she still wanted three months of fifteen, the
prince was requested to wait thus long.
He took this delay so much to heart, that he could neither eat nor
sleep; meantime Désirée was little better--she did nothing but look at
the prince's portrait, and was exceedingly irritable with Longthorn
and Gilliflower, her two maids of honour. The other lady--the Black
Princess--was in equally sore plight, for she, too, had fallen in love
with the prince's portrait, and his rejection of her hand offended her
much.
"What," said she to the ambassador, "your master does not find me
handsome enough, or rich enough?"
"Madam," said the ambassador, "as much as a subject dare blame a
sovereign, I blame my prince; had I the first throne in the world, I
should know to whom to offer it."
He said this, because he feared the bastinado, for Ethiopians are warm
haters as well as warm lovers. The Black Princess was softened, and
dismissed him, on which he gladly took himself out of the country.
But the Ethiopian lady was too deeply offended with Prince Warrior to
pardon him so readily. She mounted her ivory car, drawn by six
ostriches which ran at the rate of six leagues an hour, and went to
the palace of her godmother, the Fairy of the Fountain, who had been
so offended by being forgotten at the birth of Désirée. Arrived
there, she unfolded all her annoyances. The fairy consoled her, and
promised to aid her in her revenge.
Meantime Becafico had travelled with all diligence to the capital of
Désirée's father, where with earnest entreaties he begged that the
princess might be sent back with him to her betrothed spouse, who
otherwise would certainly die; at which tidings the princess herself
was so much moved that she fainted away. Thus her parents discovered
how deeply in love she was with Prince Warrior.
"Do not disquiet yourself, my dear child," said the queen; "if the
prince suffers, it is you who can console him. My only fear is on
account of the menaces of the Fairy of the Fountain."
But Désirée was so eager to start, that she suggested being sent away
in a closed carriage, where the light of day should never penetrate,
and which should only be opened at night-time to give her food. She
was willing to suffer any inconvenience for the sake of saving the
life of Prince Warrior.
The parents assented. So there was built a magnificent equipage of
green velvet outside, and lined with rose-colour and silver brocade.
It was very large, but it shut up as tight as a box, and it had a huge
lock, the key of which was entrusted to one of the highest noblemen of
the court. In this carriage Désirée was placed, after most affecting
adieus, by her father and mother; and with her were sent her maids of
honour Longthorn and Gilliflower, and a lady-in-waiting, who was the
mother of both. Now, Longthorn cared little for the princess, but she
cared very much for Prince Warrior, whose portrait she had seen; and
when the bridal train departed, she said to her mother that she should
certainly die if this marriage were accomplished; so the mother,
notwithstanding the confidence placed in her by queen, that she should
watch over the princess, and carefully seclude her from daylight until
she had reached the age of fifteen, yielded to her own child's
persuasions, and determined to betray her trust.
Longthorn, who learned each evening from the officers of the
household, when they came to bring the princess her supper, how far
they were on their journey, at last persuaded her mother, who put off
the cruel act as long as she could, that it would never do to wait any
longer. They were nearly at the capital, and the young prince might,
in his impatience, come to meet them, and the opportunity be lost. So
next day, at noon, when the sun was at the hottest, the
lady-in-waiting took out a knife, which she had brought with her for
the purpose, cut a large hole in the side of the carriage where they
were all shut up together, and the princess, for the first time in her
life, beheld daylight. She uttered a deep sigh, and immediately leaped
out of the carriage in the form of a white hind, which fled away like
lightning, and hid itself in the thickest recesses of a neighbouring
wood.