Every one knew that she was a princess because she wandered all day
through the castle without doing any work. It was a very busy kingdom
indeed even if it was so tiny. It was only about two inches high above
the meadow, not nearly as tall as the grass blades that grew all
around it. The grass looked like a forest of trees to the little red
princess, and a wild forget-me-not that bent down over the castle made
her sky, for it was almost as blue and nearly as large to her wee
eyes.
There were many roads and streets that went up and down through the
kingdom, none of them much wider than the stalk of a daisy. There were
many little houses along the streets and there was the castle of the
little red princess with more windows than one could count, and more
winding passages than she could walk through.
The castle was full of other busy little people in red who waited on
the princess. They milked her cows, and played with her, and managed
the house-keeping so that she did not have to do a bit of work. She
was the only one, though, in the whole kingdom who did not work.
As the little red princess looked from her highest window she saw her
subjects hurrying to and fro. They were always bringing sand for
building, whole lines of them, and putting up new houses, and making
better roads. Sentinels watched the gates of the city, and hundreds of
workers in red brought in food from the meadow.
If one could have heard so tiny a person as the little red princess
speak, she would have said,
"Why should I work when I have so many subjects to wait upon me? I was
intended to look pretty, and sit in my doorway, and keep the whole
kingdom working for me!"
One day something wonderful happened. The little red princess felt a
strange pricking on her shoulders. When she turned her tiny head about
to see what was the matter, she found out that she had a beautiful
pair of wee, gossamer wings!
If any of the little red workers of the kingdom had been in doubt as
to whether their princess were a real princess or not, they were sure
now. Hadn't she wings? They waited on the princess more carefully than
ever for fear she might hurt herself. And they declared a holiday for
her to try her wings when they would stop work and go with her
outside of the kingdom.
The little red princess was very much excited indeed about her flight.
She had never been outside in all her life, and she went at the head
of a procession, all the workers dancing and running along beside her.
Oh, how wonderful she found it in the meadow! The wind in the grass
was like a forest wind to her. The sun dazzled her. Now she knew that
the blue flower was not at the top of things. Far, far above it was
more blue, and yellow sunlight, that she thought was gold, shone all
for her because she was a princess!
She spread her wings! Up, up she flew! The others who had no wings
watched her and clapped their hands as she rose in the bright air. It
was not such a very long flight, not much higher than a tall parasol
of Queen Anne's lace, but it was like flying into the clouds to the
little red princess.
"I shall fly all the time!" she thought to herself. "I will alight
only long enough to tell my subjects to go back to work for me. I am
going to fly all the rest of the time."
So the little red princess dropped lightly to the ground again.
How they crowded about her! But she pushed them all aside a little
scornfully. They looked surprised and tried to lead her toward the
gate of the kingdom again. Then she pushed harder, and stamped her
tiny feet. She tried to spread her wings, but they would not let her.
The little red workers surrounded their princess. They began cutting
off her wings! It was a rule of the kingdom that a princess might fly
only once. She did not know it, of course.
Some princesses were satisfied with trying their wings just once and
then took them off themselves, but she was not that kind of princess.
She wanted wings all the time!
She struggled, and tried to bite her kind little red subjects who
really knew what was best for her. They did not pay any attention to
her, though. They did not hurt her very much, but they did not stop
until every scrap of her gossamer wings was gone.
"Now look at me! Just see what you have done to your princess!" she
tried to say.
"Yes, just look! See what has happened to you!" the others tried to
reply, hopping merrily around her.
It was true. Something wonderful had happened to the little red
princess. She had changed into a little red queen!
So she did not mind in the least losing her wings. In fact, she was
rather glad. She went home to the castle and went right to work
ordering her servants about, and keeping house, and taking care of her
royal family and all the nurses. She very seldom has time to look out
of her castle window, so you may never see her. Her kingdom lies very
near you, though, for the little red queen is the real, true queen of
the ant hill!