There were, like many others in the world, a man and a woman
over-burthened with children, and very poor. The woman no more knew
what to do. She said that she would go and beg. She goes off, far,
far, far away, and she arrives at the city of the fairies. After she
had told them how many children she had, all give her a great many
alms--she was laden with them.
The queen of the fairies gives her besides twenty pounds in gold,
and says to her:
"If you will give me your child when you are confined--you shall
bring it up in your law--I will give you a great deal of money,
if you will do that."
She told her that the godmother was already decided upon, but that she
would speak about it to her husband. The queen told her to go home,
and to return with the answer in a week.
She gets home as she best can, very much fatigued by her burthen. Her
husband was astonished that she could have carried so much. She tells
him what had happened with the queen of the fairies. He says to her:
"Certainly, we will make her godmother."
And she returns at the end of a week to tell the queen that she accepts
her. She tells her not to send and tell her when she is confined,
that she will know it herself, and that she will come all right. At
the end of a week she is confined of a daughter. The queen arrives,
as she had said, with a mule laden with gold. When they came back
from the christening, the godmother and the child fly away; and the
parents console themselves with their other children, thinking that
she will be happier in the house of the queen of the fairies.
The queen takes her to a corner of a mountain. It is there where her
house was. She had already another god-daughter; this was a little
dog, whose name was Rose, [58] and she named this last god-daughter
Pretty-Rose. She gave her, too, a glint of diamonds in the middle of
her forehead. [59] She was very pretty. She grew up in the corner of
the mountain, amusing herself with this dog. She said to her one day:
"Has the queen no other houses? I am tired of being always here."
The dog said to her: "Yes, she has a very fine one by the side of
the king's highway, and I will speak to my godmamma about it."
And the dog then told her how Pretty-Rose was bored, and (asked
her) if she would not change her house. She said to her, "Yes,"
and off they go. While they were there one day Pretty-Rose was on
the balcony, and a king's son passes, and he was astonished at the
beauty of Pretty-Rose; and the king begged and prayed her to look at
him again, and (asked her) if she would not go with him. She told him,
"No, that she must tell it to her godmamma." Then the dog said, aside:
"No, without me she shall not go anywhere."
This king says to her: "But I will take you, too, willingly; but how
shall I get you?"
Rose says to him: "As I give every evening to my godmother always
a glass of good liqueur to make her sleep well, as if by mistake,
instead of half a glass, I will give her the glass full, and as she
will not be able to rise any more to shut the door as usual, I, I will
go and take the key to shut it. I will pretend to, and will give her
back the key, leaving the door open, and you will open it when you
come. She will not hear anything; she will be in a deep sleep."
The king's son said that he would come at midnight, in his flying
chariot.
When night came, Rose gave her godmother the good drink in a glass,
brim, brim-full. The godmother said:
"What! what! child!"
"You will sleep all the better, godmamma."
"You are right," and she drinks it all.
But she could not any more get up to shut the door, she had become
so sleepy.
Rose said to her: "Godmamma! I will shut the door to-day; stop where
you are."
She gave her the key, and Rose turns and turns it back again and again
in the keyhole as if she had locked it; and leaving it unlocked she
gave the key to her godmother, and she puts it in her pocket. She
goes to bed; but Rose and Pretty-Rose did not go to bed at all. At
midnight the son of the king arrives with his flying chariot. Rose
and Pretty-Rose get into it, and go to this young man's house. The
next day Rose says to Pretty-Rose:
"You are not so pretty as you were yesterday;" and looking at her
closely, "I find you very ugly to-day."
Pretty-Rose said to her: "My godmamma must have taken away my diamond
glint."
And she said to Rose, "You must go to my godmamma, and ask her to
give me back the glint that I had before."
Rose did not want to go there--she was afraid; but Pretty-Rose prayed
her so much, that she took off the silver dress and set out. [60]
When she came to the mountain, she began to call out:
"Godmamma! godmamma! Give Pretty-Rose her beautiful glint as before. I
shall be angry with you for always (if you do not), and you will see
what will happen to you."
The godmother said to her:
"Come here, come in, I will give you breakfast."