Once upon a time there lived in China a wise Emperor, whose daughter was
remarkable for her perfect beauty. Her feet were the smallest in the
world; her eyes were long and slanting, and as bright as brown onyxes,
and when you heard her laugh it was like listening to a tinkling stream,
or to the chimes of a silver bell. Moreover, the Emperor's daughter was
as wise as she was beautiful, and she chanted the verse of the great
poets better than any one in the land. The Emperor was old in years; his
son was married and had begotten a son; he was, therefore, quite happy
about the succession to the throne, but he wished before he died to see
his daughter wedded to some one who should be worthy of her.
Many suitors presented themselves at the palace, as soon as it became
known that the Emperor desired a son-in-law, but when they reached the
palace, they were met by the Lord Chamberlain, who told them the Emperor
had decided that only the man who found and brought back the Blue Rose
should marry his daughter. The suitors were much puzzled by this order.
What was the Blue Rose, and where was it to be found? In all a hundred
and fifty suitors had presented themselves, and out of these, fifty at
once put away from them all thought of winning the hand of the Emperor's
daughter, since they considered the condition imposed to be absurd.
The other hundred set about trying to find the Blue Rose. One of
them--his name was Ti-Fun-Ti, he was a merchant and immensely rich--went
at once to the largest shop in the town and said to the shopkeeper: "I
want a blue rose, the best you have."
The shopkeeper, with many apologies, explained that he did not stock
blue roses. He had red roses in profusion, white, pink, and yellow
roses, but no blue rose. There had hitherto been no demand for the
article.
"Well," said Ti-Fun-Ti, "you must get one for me. I do not mind how much
money it costs, but I must have a blue rose."
The shopkeeper said he would do his best, but he feared it would be an
expensive article and difficult to procure.
Another of the suitors, whose name I have forgotten, was a warrior and
extremely brave; he mounted his horse, and taking with him a hundred
archers and a thousand horsemen he marched into the territory of the
King of Five Rivers, whom he knew to be the richest king in the world
and the possessor of the rarest treasures, and demanded of him the Blue
Rose, threatening him with a terrible doom should he be reluctant to
give it up.
The King of the Five Rivers, who disliked soldiers, and had a horror of
noise, violence, and every kind of fuss (his bodyguard was armed solely
with fans and sunshades), rose from the cushions on which he was lying
when the demand was made, and, tinkling a small bell, said to the
servant who straightway appeared, "Fetch me the Blue Rose."
The servant retired and returned presently bearing on a silken cushion a
large sapphire which was carved so as to imitate a full-blown rose with
all its petals.
"This," said the King of the Five Rivers, "is the Blue Rose. You are
welcome to it."
The warrior took it, and after making brief, soldier-like thanks, he
went straight back to the Emperor's palace, saying that he had lost no
time in finding the Blue Rose. He was ushered into the presence of the
Emperor, who as soon as he heard the warrior's story and saw the Blue
Rose which had been brought, sent for his daughter and said to her:
"This intrepid warrior has brought you what he claims to be the Blue
Rose. Has he accomplished the quest?"
The Princess took the precious object in her hands, and after examining
it for a moment, said: "This is not a rose at all. It is a sapphire; I
have no need of precious stones." And she returned the stone to the
warrior, with many elegantly-expressed thanks. And the warrior went
away in discomfiture.
When Ti-Fun-Ti, the merchant, heard of the warrior's failure, he was all
the more anxious to win the prize. He sought the shopkeeper and said to
him: "Have you got me the Blue Rose? I trust you have; because if not, I
shall most assuredly be the means of your death. My brother-in-law is
chief magistrate, and I am allied by marriage to all the chief officials
in the kingdom."
The shopkeeper turned pale and said: "Sir, give me three days, and I
will procure you the Blue Rose without fail." The merchant granted him
the three days and went away. Now the shopkeeper was at his wit's end as
to what to do, for he knew well there was no such thing as a blue rose.
For two days he did nothing but moan and wring his hands, and on the
third day he went to his wife and said: "Wife, we are ruined!"
But his wife, who was a sensible woman, said: "Nonsense! If there is no
such thing as a blue rose we must make one. Go to the apothecary and
ask him for a strong dye which will change a white rose into a blue
one."
So the shopkeeper went to the apothecary and asked him for a dye, and
the chemist gave him a bottle of red liquid, telling him to pick a white
rose and to dip its stalk into the liquid and the rose would turn blue.
The shopkeeper did as he was told; the rose turned into a beautiful blue
and the shopkeeper took it to the merchant, who at once went with it to
the palace, saying that he had found the Blue Rose.
He was ushered into the presence of the Emperor, who as soon as he saw
the blue rose sent for his daughter and said to her: "This wealthy
merchant has brought you what he claims to be the Blue Rose. Has he
accomplished the quest?"
The Princess took the flower in her hands, and after examining it for a
moment said: "This is a white rose; its stalk has been dipped in a
poisonous dye and it has turned blue. Were a butterfly to settle upon
it, it would die of the potent fume. Take it back. I have no need of a
dyed rose." And she returned it to the merchant with many
elegantly-expressed thanks.
The other ninety-eight suitors all sought in various ways for the Blue
Rose. Some of them travelled all over the world seeking it; some of them
sought the aid of wizards and astrologers, and one did not hesitate to
invoke the help of the dwarfs that live underground. But all of them,
whether they travelled in far countries, or took counsel with wizards
and demons, or sat pondering in lonely places, failed to find the Blue
Rose.
At last they all abandoned the quest except the Lord Chief Justice, who
was the most skilful lawyer and statesman in the country. After thinking
over the matter for several months, he sent for the most skilful artist
in the country and said to him: "Make me a china cup. Let it be
milk-white in colour and perfect in shape, and paint on it a rose, a
blue rose."
The artist made obeisance and withdrew, and worked for two months at the
Lord Chief Justice's cup. In two months' time it was finished, and the
world has never seen such a beautiful cup, so perfect in symmetry, so
delicate in texture, and the rose on it, the blue rose, was a living
flower, picked in fairyland and floating on the rare milky surface of
the porcelain. When the Lord Chief Justice saw it he gasped with
surprise and pleasure, for he was a great lover of porcelain, and never
in his life had he seen such a piece. He said to himself: "Without doubt
the Blue Rose is here on this cup, and nowhere else."
So, after handsomely rewarding the artist, he went to the Emperor's
palace and said that he had brought the Blue Rose. He was ushered into
the Emperor's presence, who as he saw the cup sent for his daughter and
said to her: "This eminent lawyer has brought you what he claims to be
the Blue Rose. Has he accomplished the quest?"
The Princess took the bowl in her hands, and after examining it for a
moment, said: "This bowl is the most beautiful piece of china I have
ever seen. If you are kind enough to let me keep it I will put it aside
until I receive the blue rose. For so beautiful is it that no other
flower is worthy to be put in it except the Blue Rose."
[Illustration: ONE EVENING HE WAS PLAYING HIS ONE-STRINGED INSTRUMENT
OUTSIDE A DARK WALL]
The Lord Chief Justice thanked the Princess for accepting the bowl with
many elegantly-turned phrases, and he went away in discomfiture.
After this there was no one in the whole country who ventured on the
quest of the Blue Rose. It happened that not long after the Lord Chief
Justice's attempt, a strolling minstrel visited the kingdom of the
Emperor. One evening he was playing his one-stringed instrument outside
a dark wall. It was a summer's evening, and the sun had sunk in a glory
of dusty gold, and in the violet twilight one or two stars were
twinkling like spear-heads. There was an incessant noise made by the
croaking of frogs and the chatter of grasshoppers. The minstrel was
singing a short song over and over again to a monotonous tune. The sense
of it was something like this:--
"I watched beside the willow trees
The river, as the evening fell;
The twilight came and brought no breeze,
No dew, no water for the well,
"When from the tangled banks of grass,
A bird across the water flew,
And in the river's hard grey glass
I saw a flash of azure blue."
As he sang he heard a rustle on the wall, and looking up he saw a slight
figure, white against the twilight, beckoning to him. He walked along
under the wall until he came to a gate, and there some one was waiting
for him, and he was gently led into the shadow of a dark cedar tree. In
the twilight he saw two bright eyes looking at him, and he understood
their message. In the twilight a thousand meaningless nothings were
whispered in the light of the stars, and the hours fled swiftly. When
the East began to grow light, the Princess (for it was she) said it was
time to go.
"But," said the minstrel, "to-morrow I shall come to the palace and ask
for your hand."
"Alas!" said the Princess, "I would that were possible, but my father
has made a foolish condition that only he may wed me who finds the Blue
Rose."
"That is simple," said the minstrel, "I will find it!" And they said
good-night to each other.
The next morning the minstrel went to the palace, and on his way he
picked a common white rose from a wayside garden. He was ushered into
the Emperor's presence, who sent for his daughter and said to her: "This
penniless minstrel has brought you what he claims to be the Blue Rose.
Has he accomplished the quest?"
The Princess took the rose in her hands and said: "Yes, this is without
doubt the Blue Rose."
But the Lord Chief Justice and all who were present respectfully pointed
out that the rose was a common white rose and not a blue one, and the
objection was with many forms and phrases conveyed to the Princess.
"I think the rose is blue," said the Princess. "It is, in fact, the Blue
Rose. Perhaps you are all colour blind."
The Emperor, with whom the decision rested, decided that if the Princess
thought the rose was blue, it was blue, for it was well known that her
perception was more acute than that of any one else in the kingdom.
So the minstrel married the Princess, and they settled on the sea-coast
in a little green house with a garden full of white roses, and they
lived happily for ever afterwards. And the Emperor, knowing that his
daughter had made a good match, died in peace.