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THE TEMPLE CLASSICS
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
[Illustration]
TALES _of_ PASSED TIMES
TOLD BY
MASTER CHARLES PERRAULT
_WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY_
CHARLES ROBINSON
LONDON:
J.M. DENT & COMPANY
ALDINE HOUSE, BEDFORD STREET
COVENT GARDEN.
1900.
It is to Perrault that we owe our acquaintance with the greater number
of good old-fashioned fairy-tales, but an edition of these, although it
includes such intimate friends of our childhood as Blue Beard, the
Sleeping Beauty, and Little Red Riding-Hood, is hardly complete without
"Beauty and the Beast"; a version of this tale, by Mme. Le Prince de
Beaumont, has, therefore, been added to this collection. It has also
been increased, space permitting it, by the insertion of two tales by
Mme. la Comtesse d'Aulnoy; her writings, of a less robust class than
those of Perrault, possess in their atmosphere of hidden magic, the
charm which resides in that special feature of fairyland, and the
addition of "The Benevolent Frog" and "Princess Rosette" will not, we
think, be unwelcome to the youthful reader.
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD 5
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD 23
BLUE BEARD 31
MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTS 43
THE FAIRIES 55
CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER 63
RIQUET WITH THE TUFT 77
LITTLE THUMBLING 91
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 109
THE BENEVOLENT FROG 133
PRINCESS ROSETTE 169
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
CINDERELLA _Frontispiece_
SHE FELL INTO A SWOON 9
"GRANDMA, WHAT GREAT EARS YOU HAVE!" 25
"YOUR TEARS ARE USELESS," SAID BLUE BEARD;
"YOU MUST DIE" 37
PUSS AMONG THE REAPERS 47
SHE GAVE IT TO THE WOMAN 57
THE KING'S SON GAVE HER HIS HAND 67
"THEN," SAID THE PRINCESS, "I WISH YOU MAY
BE THE HANDSOMEST PRINCE IN THE WORLD" 85
THE BOYS FOLLOWED HIM 93
WHEN SHE OPENED HER EYES, SHE SAW, STANDING BESIDE
HER, A WOMAN OF GIGANTIC SIZE CLOTHED IN A
LION'S SKIN 137
"OH, YOU ARE JESTING," SAID THE KING OF THE
PEACOCKS 177
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD
There were once a King and Queen, who were very unhappy at not having
any children, more unhappy than words can tell. Vows, pilgrimages,
everything was tried, but nothing was of any avail; at length, however,
a little daughter was born to them.
There was a splendid christening. For godmothers, they gave the young
Princess all the fairies they could find in the country--they were seven
in number--in order that each making her a gift, according to the custom
of fairies in those days, the Princess might, by these means, become
possessed of all imaginable perfections. When the ceremony was over, all
the company returned to the King's palace, where a great banquet had
been prepared for the fairies. The table was magnificently laid for
them, and each had placed for her a massive gold case, containing a
spoon, a fork, and a knife of fine gold, set with diamonds and rubies.
But as they were all taking their seats, there was seen to enter an old
fairy, who had not been invited, for everyone thought that she was
either dead or enchanted, as she had not been outside the tower in
which she lived for upwards of fifty years. The King ordered a cover to
be laid for her, but there was no possibility of giving her a massive
gold case, such as the others had, because there had been only seven
made expressly for the seven fairies. The old fairy thought she was
treated with contempt, and muttered some threats between her teeth. One
of the young fairies, who chanced to be near her, overheard her
grumblings, and was afraid she might bestow some evil gift on the young
Princess. Accordingly, as soon as they rose from table, she went and hid
herself behind the hangings, in order to be the last to speak, and so
enable herself to repair, as far as possible, any harm the old fairy
might have done. Meanwhile the fairies began bestowing their gifts on
the Princess. The youngest, as her gift, promised that she should be the
most beautiful person in the world; the next fairy, that she should have
the mind of an angel; the third, that every movement of hers should be
full of grace; the fourth, that she should dance to perfection; the
fifth, that she should sing like a nightingale; the sixth, that she
should play on every kind of instrument in the most exquisite manner
possible. It was now the turn of the old fairy, and she said, while her
head shook more with malice than with age, that the Princess should
pierce her hand with a spindle, and die of the wound.
The whole company trembled when they heard this terrible prediction, and
there was not one among them who did not shed tears. At this moment the
young fairy advanced from behind the tapestry, and said, speaking that
all might hear,--
"Comfort yourselves, King and Queen; your daughter shall not die of the
wound. It is true that I have not sufficient power to undo entirely what
my elder has done. The Princess will pierce her hand with a spindle,
but, instead of dying, she will only fall into a deep sleep, which will
last a hundred years, at the end of which time a king's son will come
and wake her."
The King, in the hope of preventing the misfortune foretold by the old
fairy, immediately sent forth a proclamation forbidding everyone, on
pain of death, either to spin with a spindle, or to have spindles in
their possession.
Fifteen or sixteen years had passed, when, the King and Queen being
absent at one of their country houses, it happened that the Princess,
while running about the castle one day, and up the stairs from one room
to the other, came to a little garret at the top of a turret, where an
old woman sat alone spinning with distaff and spindle, for this good
woman had never heard the King's proclamation forbidding the use of the
spindle.
"What are you doing there?" asked the Princess.
"I am spinning, my pretty child," answered the old woman, who did not
know who she was.
"Oh, how pretty it is!" exclaimed the Princess. "How do you do it? Give
it to me, that I may see if I can do it as well."
She had no sooner taken hold of the spindle, than, being very hasty, and
rather thoughtless, and moreover, the fairies having ordained that it
should be so, she pierced her hand with the point of it, and fainted
away. The poor old woman was in great distress, and called for help.
People came running from all quarters; they threw water in the
Princess's face, they unlaced her dress, they slapped her hands, they
rubbed her temples with Queen of Hungary's water, but nothing would
bring her to. The King, who had run upstairs at the noise, then
remembered the prediction of the fairies, and wisely concluded that this
accident must have happened as the fairies had said it would. He ordered
the Princess to be carried into a beautiful room of the palace, and laid
on a bed embroidered with silver and gold. One might have thought it was
an angel lying there, so lovely did she look, for the rich colours of
her complexion had not faded in her swoon; her cheeks were still rosy,
and her lips like coral. Only, her eyes were closed, but they could hear
her breathing softly, which showed that she was not dead.
The King gave orders that she was to be left to sleep there in quiet,
until the hour of her awaking should arrive. The good fairy who had
saved her life, by condemning her to sleep for a hundred years, was in
the Kingdom of Mataquin, twelve thousand leagues away, when the Princess
met with her accident, but she was informed of it instantly by a little
dwarf, who had a pair of seven-league boots, that is, boots which
enabled the wearer to take seven leagues at a stride.
[Illustration: "_She fell into a swoon._"
_The Sleeping Beauty_]
The fairy set out immediately, and an hour afterwards she was seen
arriving in a chariot of fire, drawn by dragons.
The King advanced to hand her out of the chariot. She approved of all he
had done, but being gifted with great foresight, she bethought her that
the Princess would feel very lost and bewildered on awaking and finding
herself all alone in the old castle; so this is what the fairy did. With
her wand she touched everybody who was in the castle, except the King
and Queen: governesses, maids of honour, women of the bed-chamber,
gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, scullions, boys, guards, porters,
pages, footmen; she also touched the horses that were in the stables
with their grooms, the great mastiffs in the courtyard, and little
Fluff, the pet dog of the Princess, that was on the bed beside her. As
soon as she had touched them, they all fell asleep, not to wake again
until the hour arrived for their mistress to do so, in order that they
should all be ready to attend upon her as soon as she should want them.
Even the spits before the fire, hung with partridges and pheasants, and
the very fire itself, went to sleep. All this was done in a moment, for
fairies never lost much time over their work.
The King and Queen now kissed their dear daughter, who still slept on,
quitted the castle, and issued a proclamation forbidding any person,
whosoever, to approach it. These orders were unnecessary, for in a
quarter of an hour there grew up around the park such a number of trees,
large and small, of brambles and thorns interlacing each other, that
neither man nor beast could have got through them, and nothing could be
now seen of the castle but the tops of the turrets, and they only from
a considerable distance. Nobody doubted that this also was some of the
fairy's handiwork, in order that the Princess might be protected from
the curiosity of strangers during her long slumber.
When the hundred years had passed away, the son of the King at that time
upon the throne, and who was of a different family to that of the
sleeping Princess, having been hunting in the neighbourhood, inquired
what towers they were that he saw above the trees of a very thick wood.
Each person answered him according to the story he had heard. Some said
it was an old castle, haunted by ghosts; others, that all the witches of
the country held their midnight revels there. The more general opinion,
however, was that it was the abode of an ogre, and that he carried
thither all the children he could catch, in order to eat them at his
leisure, and without being pursued, he alone having the power of making
his way through the wood.
The Prince did not know what to believe of all this, when an old peasant
spoke in his turn, and said to him, "Prince, it is more than fifty years
ago since I heard my father say, that there was in that castle the most
beautiful Princess that was ever seen; that she was to sleep for a
hundred years, and would be awakened by a king's son, for whom she was
intended and was waiting."
The young Prince, at these words, felt himself all on fire. He had not a
moment's doubt that he was the one chosen to accomplish this famous
adventure, and urged to the deed by love and glory, he resolved,
without delay, to see what would come of it.
Scarcely had he approached the wood, when all those great trees, all
those brambles and thorns, made way for him to pass of their own accord.
He walked towards the castle, which he saw at the end of a long avenue
he had entered, and he was somewhat surprised to find that none of his
people had been able to follow him, the trees having closed up again as
soon as he had passed. Nevertheless, he continued to advance; a young
prince, inspired by love, is always courageous. He came to a large
fore-court, where everything he saw might well have frozen his blood
with terror. A frightful silence reigned around; death seemed everywhere
present; on every side, nothing to be seen but the bodies of men and
animals stretched out, apparently lifeless. He soon discovered, however,
by the shining noses and red faces of the porters, that they were only
asleep; and their goblets, in which still remained a few drops of wine,
sufficiently proved that they had dozed off whilst drinking.
He next passed through a large courtyard paved with marble, ascended the
staircase, and entered the guard-room, where the guards stood, drawn up
in line, their carbines shouldered, and snoring their loudest. He
traversed several rooms with ladies and gentlemen all asleep, some
standing, others seated. At last he came to one covered with gold, and
there on a bed, the curtains of which were open on either side, he saw
the most lovely sight he had ever looked upon--a Princess, who appeared
to be about fifteen or sixteen, and whose dazzling beauty shone with a
radiance which scarcely seemed to belong to this world. He approached,
trembling and admiring, and knelt down beside her.
At that moment, the enchantment being ended, the Princess awoke, and
gazing at him for the first time with unexpected tenderness, "Is it you,
Prince?" she said; "I have waited long for you to come." The Prince,
delighted at these words, and still more by the tone in which they were
uttered, knew not how to express his joy and gratitude. He assured her
that he loved her better than himself. His words were rather confused,
but she was all the more pleased with them; there was little eloquence,
but a great deal of love. He was much more embarrassed than she was,
which is not to be wondered at. She had had time to think over what she
should say to him, for there is reason to believe, although history does
not mention it, that during her long, long sleep, the good fairy had let
her enjoy very pleasant dreams. In short, they talked for four hours
without having said half what they had to say to each other.
In the meanwhile, all the palace had been roused at the same time as the
Princess. Everybody remembered his or her duty, and, as they were not
all in love, they were dying with hunger. The lady-in-waiting, as hungry
as any of them, became impatient, and announced loudly to the Princess
that the meat was on the table. The Prince assisted the Princess to
rise; she was fully dressed, and most magnificently, but he was careful
not to tell her that she was dressed like his grandmother, and wore a
stand-up collar, for, in spite of this, she was not a whit less
beautiful.
They passed into a hall of mirrors, where they supped, waited upon by
the officers of the Princess. The violins and hautboys played old but
charming pieces of music, notwithstanding that it was a hundred years
since they had been performed by anybody, and after supper, without loss
of time, the grand almoner married the royal lovers in the chapel of the
castle.
Early next morning the Prince returned to the city, where he knew his
father would be in anxiety about him. The Prince told him that he had
lost his way in the forest whilst hunting, and that he had slept in the
hut of a woodcutter, who had given him black bread and cheese to eat.
The King, his father, who was a simple-minded man, believed him, but his
mother was not so easily satisfied. She noticed that he went hunting
nearly every day, and had always some story ready as an excuse, when he
had slept two or three nights away from home, and so she felt quite sure
that he had a lady-love. More than two years went by and the Princess
had two children, the first, which was a girl, was named Aurora, and the
second, a son, was called Day, because he was still more beautiful than
his sister.
The Queen, hoping to find out the truth from her son, often said to him
that he ought to form some attachment, but he never dared to trust her
with his secret. Although he loved her, he feared her, for she was of
the race of ogres, and the King had only married her on account of her
great riches. It was even whispered about the court that she had the
inclinations of an ogress, and that when she saw little children
passing, it was with the greatest difficulty that she restrained herself
from pouncing upon them. The Prince, therefore, would never say one word
to her about his affairs.
On the death of the King, however, which took place two years later, the
Prince, being now his own master, made a public declaration of his
marriage, and went in great state to bring the Queen, his wife, to the
palace. She made a magnificent entry into the capital, with her two
children, one on either side of her.
Sometime afterwards, the King went to war with his neighbour, the
Emperor Cantalabute. He left the Queen, his mother, Regent of the
Kingdom, earnestly recommending to her care his wife and children. He
was likely to be all summer in the field, and he had no sooner left than
the Queen-mother sent her daughter-in-law and the children to a country
house in the wood, so that she might more easily gratify her horrible
longing. She followed them thither a few days after, and one evening
said to her head cook, "I will eat little Aurora for dinner to-morrow."
"Ah, madam!" exclaimed the cook. "I will," said the Queen, and she said
it in the voice of an ogress longing to eat fresh meat; "and I will have
her served with my favourite sauce."
The poor man, seeing plainly that an ogress was not to be trifled with,
took his great knife and went up to little Aurora's room. She was then
about four years old, and came jumping and laughing to throw her arms
about his neck, and ask him for sweetmeats. He burst into tears, and
the knife fell from his hands; then he went down again and into the
farmyard, and there killed a little lamb which he served up with so
delicious a sauce, that his mistress assured him she had never eaten
anything so excellent. In the meanwhile, he had carried off little
Aurora, and given her to his wife, that she might hide her in the
lodging which she occupied at the further end of the farmyard. A week
later, the wicked Queen said to her head cook, "I will eat little Day
for supper." He made no reply, having decided in his own mind to deceive
her as before.
He went in search of little Day, and found him with a tiny foil in his
hand, fencing with a great monkey, though he was only three years old.
He carried the child to his wife, who hid him where she had hidden his
sister, and then cooked a very tender little kid in the place of little
Day, which the ogress thought wonderfully good. All had gone well enough
so far, but one evening this wicked Queen said to the head cook, "I
should like to eat the Queen with the same sauce that I had with the
children."
Then the poor cook was indeed in despair, for he did not know how he
should be able to deceive her. The young Queen was over twenty years of
age, without counting the hundred years she had slept, and no longer
such tender food, although her skin was still white and beautiful, and
where among all his animals should he find one old enough to take her
place?
He resolved at last that, to save his own life, he would kill the Queen,
and he went up to her room, determined to carry out his purpose without
delay. He worked himself up into a passion, and entered the young
Queen's room, dagger in hand. He did not wish, however, to take her by
surprise, and so he repeated to her, very respectfully, the order he had
received from the Queen-mother. "Do your duty," she said, stretching out
her neck to him; "obey the orders that have been given you. I shall
again see my children, my poor children, whom I loved so dearly," for
she had thought them dead, ever since they had been carried away from
her without a word of explanation.
"No, no, madam!" replied the poor cook, touched to the quick, "you shall
not die, and you shall see your children again, but it will be in my own
house, where I have hidden them; I will again deceive the Queen-mother
by serving up to her a young hind in your stead."
He led her forthwith to his own apartments, then, leaving her to embrace
her children and weep with them, he went and prepared a hind, which the
Queen ate at her supper with as much appetite as if it had been the
young Queen. She exulted in her cruelty, and intended to tell the King,
on his return, that some ferocious wolves had devoured the Queen, his
wife, and her two children.
One evening, while she was prowling, as usual, round the courts and
poultry-yards of the castle, to inhale the smell of fresh meat, she
overheard little Day crying in one of the lower rooms, because the
Queen, his mother, was about to whip him for being naughty, and she also
heard little Aurora begging forgiveness for her brother. The ogress
recognised the voices of the Queen and her children, and, furious at
having been deceived, she gave orders, in a voice that made everybody
tremble, that the next morning early there should be brought into the
middle of the court a large copper, which she had filled with toads,
vipers, adders, and serpents, in order to throw into it the Queen and
her children, the head cook, his wife, and his maid-servant. She further
commanded that they should be brought thither with their hands tied
behind them.
There they stood, and the executioners were preparing to fling them into
the copper, when the King, who was not expected back so soon, entered
the courtyard on horseback. He had ridden post-haste, and in great
astonishment asked what was the meaning of this horrible spectacle? No
one dared tell him, when the ogress, enraged at what she saw, flung
herself head foremost into the copper, where she was instantly devoured
by the horrid reptiles, with which she had herself caused it to be
filled. The King could not help being sorry for it; she was his mother;
but he quickly consoled himself with his beautiful wife and children.
Some time for a husband to wait
Who is young, handsome, wealthy and tender,
May not be a hardship too great
For a maid whom love happy would render.
But to be for a century bound
To live single, I fancy the number
Of Beauties but small would be found
So long who could patiently slumber.
To lovers who hate time to waste,
And minutes as centuries measure,
I would hint, those who marry in haste
May live to repent it at leisure
Yet so ardently onwards they press,
And on prudence so gallantly trample,
That I haven't the heart, I confess,
To urge on them Beauty's example.
LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD
There was once upon a time a little village girl, the prettiest ever
seen or known, of whom her mother was dotingly fond. Her grandmother was
even fonder of her still, and had a little red hood made for the child,
which suited her so well, that wherever she went, she was known by the
name of Little Red Riding-Hood.
One day, her mother having baked some cakes, said to her, "Go and see
how your grandmother is getting on, for I have been told she is ill;
take her a cake and this little jar of butter." Whereupon Little Red
Riding-Hood started off without delay towards the village in which her
grandmother lived. On her way she had to pass through a wood, and there
she met that sly old fellow, Mr Wolf, who felt that he should very much
like to eat her up on the spot, but was afraid to do so, as there were
woodcutters at hand in the forest. He asked her which way she was going,
and the poor child, not knowing how dangerous it is to stop and listen
to a wolf, answered, "I am going to see my grandmother, and am taking a
cake and a little jar of butter, which my mother has sent her."
"Does she live far from here?" asked the Wolf.
"Oh, yes!" replied Little Red Riding-Hood, "on the further side of the
mill that you see down there; hers is the first house in the village."
"Well, I was thinking of going to visit her myself," rejoined the Wolf,
"so I will take this path, and you take the other, and we will see which
of us gets there first."
The Wolf then began running off as fast as he could along the shorter
way, which he had chosen, while the little girl went by the longer way,
and amused herself with stopping to gather nuts, or run after
butterflies, and with making little nosegays of all the flowers she
could find.
It did not take the Wolf long to reach the grandmother's house; he
knocked: tap, tap.
"Who is there?"
"It is your grand-daughter, Little Red Riding-Hood," answered the Wolf,
imitating the child's voice. "I have brought a cake and a little jar of
butter, which my mother has sent you." The good grandmother, who was ill
in bed, called out, "Pull the bobbin, and the latch will go up." The
Wolf pulled the bobbin, and the door opened. He leaped on to the poor
old woman, and ate her up in less than no time, for he had been three
days without food. He then shut the door again, and laid himself down in
the grandmother's bed, to wait for Little Red Riding-Hood. Presently she
came and knocked at the door: tap, tap.
[Illustration: '_Grandma, what great ears you have!_'
_Little Red Riding-Hood_]
"Who is there?" Little Red Riding-Hood was frightened at first, on
hearing the Wolf's gruff voice, but thinking that her grandmother had a
cold, she answered,--
"It is your grand-daughter, Little Red Riding-Hood. I have brought a
cake and a little jar of butter, which my mother has sent you."
The Wolf called out, this time in rather a softer voice, "Pull the
bobbin, and the latch will go up." Little Red Riding-Hood pulled the
bobbin, and the door opened.
When the Wolf saw her come in, he hid himself under the bedclothes, and
said to her, "Put the cake and the little jar of butter in the cupboard,
and come into bed with me."
Little Red Riding-Hood undressed, and went to the bedside, and was very
much astonished to see how different her grandmother looked to what she
did when she was up and dressed.
"Grandmother," she exclaimed, "what long arms you have!"
"All the better to embrace you with, my little girl."
"Grandmother, what long legs you have!"
"All the better to run with, child."
"Grandmother, what long ears you have!"
"All the better to hear with, child."
"Grandmother, what large eyes you have!"
"All the better to see with, child."
"Grandmother, what large teeth you have!"
"All the better to eat you with!" and saying these words, the wicked
Wolf sprang out upon Little Red Riding-Hood, and ate her up.
MORAL
Now, children, take warning, and chiefly, I pray,
You maidens so gentle and fair,
When you come across all kinds of folk, have a care
Not to listen to what they may say;
For it can't be thought strange if you do,
Should the Wolf choose to eat up a few.
_The_ Wolf, I say here, for you'll find
Wolves are many, and vary in kind;
There are some, easy-mannered and tame,
Without malice, or temper, the same,
Most obliging and sweet in their way,
Like to follow their tender young prey,
And will track them right into their homes--lack-a-day!
Who among us has not learnt by this time to know,
The most dangerous of wolves is the soft, smooth-tongued foe!
BLUE BEARD
Once upon a time there was a man who had fine houses in town and
country, gold and silver plate, embroidered furniture, and coaches gilt
all over; but, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard, which made him
look so ugly and terrible, that there was not a woman or girl who did
not run away from him.
One of his neighbours, a lady of rank, had two daughters, who were
perfectly beautiful. He proposed to marry one of them, leaving the
mother to choose which of the two she would give him. Neither of the
daughters, however, would have him, and they sent him from one to the
other, each being unable to make up her mind to marry a man with a blue
beard. A further reason which they had for disliking him was, that he
had already been married several times, and nobody knew what had become
of his wives. Blue Beard, in order to improve the acquaintance, took the
girls with their mother, three or four of their most intimate friends,
and some other young people who resided in the neighbourhood, to one of
his country seats, where they spent an entire week. Nothing was thought
of but excursions, hunting and fishing-parties, balls, entertainments,
suppers; nobody went to bed; the whole night was passed in games and
playing merry tricks on one another. In short, all went off so well,
that the youngest daughter began to think that the beard of the master
of the house was not so blue as it used to be, and that he was a very
worthy man. Immediately upon their return to town the marriage took
place.
At the end of a month, Blue Beard told his wife that he was obliged to
take a journey, which would keep him away from home for six weeks at
least, as he had business of great importance to attend to. He begged
her to amuse herself as well as she could during his absence, to invite
her best friends, and, if she liked, take them into the country, and
wherever she was, to have the best of everything for the table.
"Here," said he to her, "are the keys of my two large store-rooms; these
are those of the chests in which the gold and silver plate, not in
general use, is kept; these are the keys of the strong boxes in which I
keep my money; these open the caskets that contain my jewels, and this
is the master-key of all the rooms. As for this little key, it is that
of the closet at the end of the long gallery on the ground floor. Open
everything, and go everywhere except into that little closet, which I
forbid you to enter, and I forbid you so strictly, that if you should
venture to open the door, there is nothing that you may not have to
dread from my anger!" She promised to obey his orders to the letter,
and, after having embraced her, he got into his coach and set out on his
journey.
The friends and neighbours of the young bride did not wait for her
invitation, so eager were they to see all the rich treasures in the
house, and not having ventured to visit her while her husband was at
home, so frightened were they at his blue beard. They were soon to be
seen running through all the rooms, and into the closets and wardrobes,
each one more beautiful and splendid than the last. Then they went
upstairs to the store-rooms; there they could not sufficiently express
their admiration at the number and beauty of the hangings, the beds, the
sofas, the cabinets, the elegant little stands, the tables, the mirrors
in which they could see themselves from head to foot, framed some with
glass, some with silver, some with gilt metal, all of a costliness
beyond what had ever before been seen. They never ceased enlarging upon,
and envying, the good fortune of their friend, who, meanwhile, took no
pleasure in the sight of all these treasures, so great was her longing
to go and open the door of the closet on the ground floor. Her curiosity
at last reached such a pitch that, without stopping to consider how rude
it was to leave her guests, she ran down a little back staircase leading
to the closet, and in such haste that she nearly broke her neck two or
three times before she reached the bottom. At the door of the closet she
paused for a moment, calling to mind her husband's prohibition, and
reflecting that some trouble might fall upon her for her disobedience;
but the temptation was so strong that she could not resist it. So she
took the little key, and with a trembling hand opened the door of the
closet.
At first she could distinguish nothing, for the windows were closed; in
a few minutes, however, she began to see that the floor was covered with
blood, in which was reflected the bodies of several dead women hanging
on the walls. These were all the wives of Blue Beard, who had killed
them one after another. She was ready to die with fright, and the key,
which she had taken out of the lock, fell from her hand.
After recovering her senses a little, she picked up the key, locked the
door again, and went up to her room to try and compose herself; but she
found it impossible to quiet her agitation.
She now perceived that the key of the closet was stained with blood; she
wiped it two or three times, but the blood would not come off. In vain
she washed it, and even scrubbed it with sand and free-stone, the stain
was still there, for the key was an enchanted one, and there were no
means of cleaning it completely; when the blood was washed off one side,
it came back on the other.
Blue Beard returned that very evening, and said that he had received
letters on the road, telling him that the business on which he was going
had been settled to his advantage.
His wife did all she could to make him believe that she was delighted at
his speedy return.
The next morning he asked her for his keys again; she gave them to him;
but her hand trembled so, that he had not much difficulty in guessing
what had happened.
"How comes it," said he, "that the key of the closet is not with the
others?"
"I must have left it," she replied, "upstairs on my table."
"Fail not," said Blue Beard, "to give it me presently."
After several excuses, she was obliged to go and fetch the key. Blue
Beard having examined it, said to his wife, "Why is there blood on this
key?" "I don't know," answered the poor wife, paler than death.
"You don't know!" rejoined Blue Beard; "I know well enough. You must
needs go into the closet. Well, madam, you shall go in again, and take
your place among the ladies you saw there."
She flung herself at her husband's feet, weeping and begging his pardon,
with all the signs of a true repentance at having disobeyed him. Her
beauty and sorrow might have melted a rock, but Blue Beard had a heart
harder than rock.
"You must die, madam," said he, "and at once."
"If I must die," she replied, looking at him with streaming eyes, "give
me a little time to say my prayers."
"I give you half a quarter of an hour," answered Blue Beard, "not a
minute more."
As soon as she found herself alone, she called her sister, and said to
her, "Sister Anne"--for so she was named--"go up, I pray you, to the top
of the tower, and see if my brothers are not in sight. They promised
they would come to visit me to-day, and if you see them, sign to them to
make haste."
Sister Anne mounted to the top of the tower, and the poor unhappy wife
called to her from time to time, "Anne! Sister Anne! do you not see
anything coming?" and Sister Anne answered her, "I see nothing but the
dust turning gold in the sun, and the grass growing green."
Meanwhile, Blue Beard, with a large cutlass in his hand, called out with
all his might to his wife, "Come down quickly, or I shall come up
there." "One minute more, if you please," replied his wife; and then
said quickly in a low voice, "Anne! Sister Anne! do you not see anything
coming?" And Sister Anne answered, "I see nothing but the dust turning
gold in the sun, and the grass growing green."
"Come down quickly," roared Blue Beard, "or I shall come up there."
"I am coming," answered his wife; and then called "Anne! Sister Anne! do
you not see anything coming?"
"I see a great cloud of dust moving this way," said Sister Anne.
"Is it my brothers?"
"Alas! no, sister, only a flock of sheep."
"Will you not come down?" shouted Blue Beard.
"One minute more," replied his wife; and then she cried, "Anne! Sister
Anne! do you not see anything coming?"
"I see two horsemen coming this way," she replied, "but they are still a
great distance off. Heaven be praised!" she exclaimed a moment
afterwards. "They are my brothers! I am making all the signs I can to
hasten them."
[Illustration: _"Your tears are useless" said Bluebeard, "you must
die!"_ _Bluebeard._]
Blue Beard began to roar so loudly that the whole house shook again. The
poor wife went down and threw herself at his feet with weeping eyes and
dishevelled hair. "It is of no use," said Blue Beard; "you must die!"
Then, taking her by the hair with one hand, and raising the cutlass with
the other, he was about to cut off her head.
The poor wife, turning towards him her dying eyes, begged him to give
her one short moment to collect herself. "No, no," said he; "commend
yourself to heaven," and, lifting his arm.... At this moment there was
such a loud knocking at the gate that Blue Beard stopped short. It was
opened, and two horsemen were immediately seen to enter, who, drawing
their swords, ran straight at Blue Beard. He recognised them as the
brothers of his wife, one a dragoon, the other a musketeer, and he
therefore fled at once, hoping to escape; but they pursued him so
closely that they overtook him before he could reach the steps to his
door, and, running their swords through his body, left him dead on the
spot. The poor wife was almost as dead as her husband, and had not
strength to rise and embrace her brothers.
It was found that Blue Beard had left no heirs, and so his widow came
into possession of all his property. She employed part of it in marrying
her Sister Anne to a man who had long loved her; another part in buying
captains' commissions for her two brothers; and with the remainder she
married herself to a very worthy man, who made her forget the dreadful
time she had passed with Blue Beard.
Provided one has common sense,
And of the world but knows the ways,
This story bears the evidence
Of being one of bygone days.
No husband now is so terrific,
Impossibilities expecting:
Though jealous, he is still pacific,
Indifference to his wife affecting.
And of his beard, whate'er the hue,
His spouse need fear no such disaster;
Indeed, 'twould often puzzle you
To say which of the twain is master.
MASTER CAT; OR, PUSS IN BOOTS
A miller bequeathed to his three sons all he possessed of worldly goods,
which consisted only of his Mill, his Ass, and his Cat. It did not take
long to divide the property, and neither notary nor attorney was called
in; they would soon have eaten up the poor little patrimony. The eldest
son had the Mill; the second son, the Ass; and the youngest had nothing
but the Cat.
The latter was very disconsolate at having such a poor share of the
inheritance. "My brothers," said he, "may be able to earn an honest
livelihood by entering into partnership; but, as for me, when I have
eaten my Cat and made a muff of his skin, I must die of hunger." The
Cat, who had heard this speech, although he had not appeared to do so,
said to him with a sedate and serious air, "Do not be troubled, master;
you have only to give me a bag, and get a pair of boots made for me in
which I can go among the bushes, and you will see that you are not left
so badly off as you believe." Though his master did not place much
reliance on the Cat's words, he had seen him play such cunning tricks in
catching rats and mice, when he would hang himself up by the heels, or
hide in the flour pretending to be dead, that he was not altogether
without hope of being helped by him out of his distress.
As soon as the Cat had what he asked for, he boldly pulled on his boots,
and, hanging his bag round his neck, he took the strings of it in his
fore-paws, and started off for a warren where there were a great number
of rabbits. He put some bran and sow-thistles in his bag, and then,
stretching himself out as if he were dead, he waited till some young
rabbit, little versed in the wiles of the world, should come and poke
his way into the bag, in order to eat what was inside it.
He had hardly laid himself down before he had the pleasure of seeing a
young scatterbrain of a rabbit get into the bag, whereupon Master Cat
pulled the strings, caught it, and killed it without mercy. Proud of his
prey, he went to the palace, and asked to speak to the King. He was
ushered upstairs and into the state apartment, and, after making a low
bow to the King, he said, "Sire, here is a wild rabbit, which my Lord
the Marquis of Carabas--for such was the title he had taken a fancy to
give to his master--has ordered me to present, with his duty, to your
Majesty."
"Tell your master," replied the King, "that I thank him and am pleased
with his gift."
Another day he went and hid himself in the wheat, keeping the mouth of
his bag open as before, and as soon as he saw that a brace of partridges
had run inside, he pulled the strings, and so took them both. He went
immediately and presented them to the King, as he had the rabbits. The
King was equally grateful at receiving the brace of partridges, and
ordered drink to be given him.
For the next two or three months, the Cat continued in this manner,
taking presents of game at intervals to the King, as if from his master.
One day, when he knew the King was going to drive on the banks of the
river, with his daughter, the most beautiful Princess in the world, he
said to his master, "If you will follow my advice, your fortune is made;
you have only to go and bathe in a part of the river I will point out to
you, and then leave the rest to me."
The Marquis of Carabas did as his Cat advised him, without knowing what
good would come of it. While he was bathing, the King passed by, and the
Cat began to call out with all his might, "Help! Help! My Lord the
Marquis of Carabas is drowning!" Hearing the cry, the King looked out of
the coach window, and recognising the Cat who had so often brought him
game, he ordered his guards to fly to the help of my Lord the Marquis of
Carabas. Whilst they were getting the poor Marquis out of the river, the
Cat went up to the royal coach, and told the King that, while his master
had been bathing, some robbers had come and carried off his clothes,
although he had shouted, "Stop thief," as loud as he could. The rogue
had hidden them himself under a large stone. The King immediately
ordered the officers of his wardrobe to go and fetch one of his
handsomest suits for my Lord the Marquis of Carabas. The King embraced
him a thousand times, and as the fine clothes they dressed him in set
off his good looks--for he was handsome and well made--the Marquis of
Carabas quite took the fancy of the King's daughter, and after he had
cast two or three respectful and rather tender glances towards her, she
fell very much in love with him. The King insisted upon his getting into
the coach, and accompanying them in their drive. The Cat, delighted to
see that his plans were beginning to succeed, ran on before, and coming
across some peasants who were mowing a meadow, he said to them, "You,
good people, who are mowing here, if you do not tell the King that this
meadow you are mowing belongs to my Lord the Marquis of Carabas, you
shall all be cut in pieces as small as minced meat." The King did not
fail to ask the peasants whose meadow it was they were mowing. "It
belongs to my Lord the Marquis of Carabas," said they all together, for
the Cat's threat had frightened them. "You have a fine property there,"
said the King to the Marquis of Carabas.
"As you say, sire," responded the Marquis of Carabas, "for it is a
meadow which yields an abundant crop every year."
Master Cat, who still kept in advance of the party, came up to some
reapers, and said to them, "You, good people, who are reaping, if you do
not say that all this corn belongs to my Lord the Marquis of Carabas,
you shall all be cut into pieces as small as minced meat."
[Illustration: _Puss among the reapers._]
The King, who passed by a minute afterwards, wished to know to whom
belonged all the cornfields he saw. "To my Lord the Marquis of Carabas,"
repeated the reapers, and the King again congratulated the Marquis on
his property.
The Cat, still continuing to run before the coach, uttered the same
threat to everyone he met, and the King was astonished at the great
wealth of my Lord the Marquis of Carabas. Master Cat at length arrived
at a fine castle, the owner of which was an ogre, the richest ogre ever
known, for all the lands through which the King had driven belonged to
the Lord of this castle. The Cat took care to find out who the ogre was,
and what he was able to do; then he asked to speak with him, saying that
he did not like to pass so near his castle without doing himself the
honour of paying his respects to him. The ogre received him as civilly
as an ogre can, and made him sit down.
"I have been told," said the Cat, "that you have the power of changing
yourself into all kinds of animals; that you could, for instance,
transform yourself into a lion or an elephant."
"'Tis true," said the ogre, abruptly, "and to prove it to you, you shall
see me become a lion." The Cat was so frightened when he saw a lion in
front of him, that he quickly scrambled up into the gutter, not without
difficulty and danger, on account of his boots, which were worse than
useless for walking on the tiles. Shortly afterwards, seeing that the
ogre had resumed his natural form, the Cat climbed down again, and
admitted that he had been terribly frightened. "I have also been
assured," said the Cat, "but I cannot believe it, that you have the
power besides of taking the form of the smallest animal; for instance,
that of a rat, or a mouse; I confess to you I hold this to be utterly
impossible." "Impossible!" exclaimed the ogre, "you shall see!" and he
immediately changed himself into a mouse, and began running about the
floor. The cat no sooner caught sight of it, than he pounced upon it and
ate it.
In the meanwhile, the King, seeing the fine castle of the ogre as he was
driving past, thought he should like to go inside. The Cat, who heard
the noise of the coach rolling over the draw-bridge, ran to meet it, and
said to the King, "Your Majesty is welcome to the Castle of my Lord the
Marquis of Carabas!"
"How, my Lord Marquis," exclaimed the King, "this castle belongs to you?
Nothing could be finer than this courtyard, and all these buildings
which surround it. Let us see the inside of it, if you please."
The Marquis handed out the young Princess, and following the King, who
led the way upstairs, they entered a grand hall, where they found
prepared a magnificent repast, which the ogre had ordered in expectation
of some friends, who were to have visited him that very day, but who did
not venture to enter when they heard the King was there. The King, as
greatly delighted with the excellent qualities of my Lord the Marquis of
Carabas as his daughter, who was more than ever in love with him, seeing
what great wealth he possessed, said to him, after having drunk five or
six bumpers, "It depends entirely on yourself, my Lord Marquis, whether
or not you become my son-in-law." The Marquis, making several profound
bows, accepted the honour the King offered him, and that same day was
married to the Princess. The Cat became a great lord, and never again
ran after mice, except for his amusement.
Be the advantage never so great
Of owning a superb estate,
From sire to son descended,
Young men oft find, on industry,
Combined with ingenuity,
They'd better have depended.
* * * * *
If the son of a miller so quickly could gain
The heart of a Princess, it seems pretty plain,
With good looks and good manners, and some aid from dress,
The humblest need not quite despair of success.
THE FAIRIES
There was once a widow who had two daughters. The elder was so like her
mother in temper and face, that to have seen the one was to have seen
the other. They were both so disagreeable and proud, that it was
impossible to live with them. The younger, who was the exact portrait of
her father in her kindly and polite ways, was also as beautiful a girl
as one could see. As we are naturally fond of those who resemble us, the
mother doted on her elder daughter, while for the younger she had a most
violent aversion, and made her take her meals in the kitchen and work
hard all day. Among other things that she was obliged to do, this poor
child was forced to go twice a day to fetch water from a place a mile or
more from the house, and carry back a large jug filled to the brim. As
she was standing one day by this spring, a poor woman came up to her,
and asked the girl to give her some water to drink.
"Certainly, my good woman," she replied, and the beautiful girl at once
stooped and rinsed out the jug, and then, filling it with water from the
clearest part of the spring, she held it up to the woman, continuing to
support the jug, that she might drink with greater comfort. Having
drunk, the woman said to her, "You are so beautiful, so good and kind,
that I cannot refrain from conferring a gift upon you," for she was
really a fairy, who had taken the form of a poor village woman, in order
to see how far the girl's kind-heartedness would go. "This gift I make
you," continued the fairy, "that with every word you speak, either a
flower or a precious stone will fall from your mouth."