Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 06 (2 page)

So, at break of day, she stamped on the ground, as the fairy had
told her, and instantly the dress like the sky lay across her
tiny bed. Her room was so small that there was no place for the
train of her dress to spread itself out, but she pinned it up
carefully when she combed her beautiful hair and piled it up on
the top of her head, as she had always worn it. When she had
done, she was so pleased with herself that she determined never
to let a chance pass of putting on her splendid clothes, even if
she had to wear them in the fields, with no one to admire her but
the sheep and turkeys.

Now the farm was a royal farm, and, one holiday, when 'Donkey
Skin' (as they had nicknamed the princess) had locked the door of
her room and clothed herself in her dress of sunshine, the king's
son rode through the gate, and asked if he might come and rest
himself a little after hunting. Some food and milk were set
before him in the garden, and when he felt rested he got up, and
began to explore the house, which was famous throughout the whole
kingdom for its age and beauty. He opened one door after the
other, admiring the old rooms, when he came to a handle that
would not turn. He stooped and peeped through the keyhole to see
what was inside, and was greatly astonished at beholding a
beautiful girl, clad in a dress so dazzling that he could hardly
look at it.

The dark gallery seemed darker than ever as he turned away, but
he went back to the kitchen and inquired who slept in the room at
the end of the passage. The scullery maid, they told him, whom
everybody laughed at, and called ' Donkey Skin;' and though he
perceived there was some strange mystery about this, he saw quite
clearly there was nothing to be gained by asking any more
questions. So he rode back to the palace, his head filled with
the vision he had seen through the keyhole.

All night long he tossed about, and awoke the next morning in a
high fever. The queen, who had no other child, and lived in a
state of perpetual anxiety about this one, at once gave him up
for lost, and indeed his sudden illness puzzled the greatest
doctors, who tried the usual remedies in vain. At last they told
the queen that some secret sorrow must be at the bottom of all
this, and she threw herself on her knees beside her son's bed,
and implored him to confide his trouble to her. If it was
ambition to be king, his father would gladly resign the cares of
the crown, and suffer him to reign in his stead; or, if it was
love, everything should be sacrificed to get for him the wife he
desired, even if she were daughter of a king with whom the
country was at war at present!

'Madam,' replied the prince, whose weakness would hardly allow
him to speak, 'do not think me so unnatural as to wish to deprive
my father of his crown. As long as he lives I shall remain the
most faithful of his subjects! And as to the princesses you speak
of, I have seen none that I should care for as a wife, though I
would always obey your wishes, whatever it might cost me.'

'Ah! my son,' cried she, 'we will do anything in the world to
save your life —-and ours too, for if you die, we shall die
also.'

'Well, then,' replied the prince, 'I will tell you the only thing
that will cure me —a cake made by the hand of "Donkey Skin." '

'Donkey Skin?' exclaimed the queen, who thought her son had gone
mad; 'and who or what is that?'

'Madam,' answered one of the attendants present, who had been
with the prince at the farm, "'Donkey Skin" is, next to the wolf,
the most disgusting creature on the face of the earth. She is a
girl who wears a black, greasy skin, and lives at your farmer's
as hen-wife.'

'Never mind,' said the queen; 'my son seems to have eaten some of
her pastry. It is the whim of a sick man, no doubt; but send at
once and let her bake a cake.'

The attendant bowed and ordered a page to ride with the message.

Now it is by no means certain that 'Donkey Skin' had not caught a
glimpse of the prince, either when his eyes looked through the
keyhole, or else from her little window, which was over the road.
But whether she had actually seen him or only heard him spoken
of, directly she received the queen's command, she flung off the
dirty skin, washed herself from head to foot, and put on a skirt
and bodice of shining silver. Then, locking herself into her
room, she took the richest cream, the finest flour, and the
freshest eggs on the farm, and set about making her cake.

As she was stirring the mixture in the saucepan a ring that she
sometimes wore in secret slipped from her finger and fell into
the dough. Perhaps 'Donkey Skin' saw it, or perhaps she did not;
but, any way, she went on stirring, and soon the cake was ready
to be put in the oven. When it was nice and brown she took off
her dress and put on her dirty skin, and gave the cake to the
page, asking at the same time for news of the prince. But the
page turned his head aside, and would not even condescend to
answer.

The page rode like the wind, and as soon as he arrived at the
palace he snatched up a silver tray and hastened to present the
cake to the prince. The sick man began to eat it so fast that the
doctors thought he would choke; and, indeed, he very nearly did,
for the ring was in one of the bits which he broke off, though he
managed to extract it from his mouth without anyone seeing him.

The moment the prince was left alone he drew the ring from under
his pillow and kissed it a thousand times. Then he set his mind
to find how he was to see the owner—for even he did not dare to
confess that he had only beheld 'Donkey Skin' through a keyhole,
lest they should laugh at this sudden passion. All this worry
brought back the fever, which the arrival of the cake had
diminished for the time; and the doctors, not knowing what else
to say, informed the queen that her son was simply dying of love.
The queen, stricken with horror, rushed into the king's presence
with the news, and together they hastened to their son's bedside.

'My boy, my dear boy!' cried the king, 'who is it you want to
marry? We will give her to you for a bride; even if she is the
humblest of our slaves. What is there in the whole world that we
would not do for you?'

The prince, moved to tears at these words, drew the ring, which
was an emerald of the purest water, from under his pillow.

'Ah, dear father and mother, let this be a proof that she whom I
love is no peasant girl. The finger which that ring fits has
never been thickened by hard work. But be her condition what it
may, I will marry no other.'

The king and queen examined the tiny ring very closely, and
agreed, with their son, that the wearer could be no mere farm
girl. Then the king went out and ordered heralds and trumpeters
to go through the town, summoning every maiden to the palace. And
she whom the ring fitted would some day be queen.

First came all the princesses, then all the duchesses' daughters,
and so on, in proper order. But not one of them could slip the
ring over the tip of her finger, to the great joy of the prince,
whom excitement was fast curing. At last, when the high-born
damsels had failed, the shopgirls and chambermaids took their
turn; but with no better fortune.

'Call in the scullions and shepherdesses,' commanded the prince;
but the sight of their fat, red fingers satisfied everybody.

'There is not a woman left, your Highness,' said the chamberlain;
but the prince waved him aside.

'Have you sent for "Donkey Skin," who made me the cake?' asked
he, and the courtiers began to laugh, and replied that they would
not have dared to introduce so dirty a creature into the palace.

'Let some one go for her at once,' ordered the king. ' I
commanded the presence of every maiden, high or low, and I meant
it.'

The princess had heard the trumpets and the proclamations, and
knew quite well that her ring was at the bottom of it all. She,
too, had fallen in love with the prince in the brief glimpse she
had had of him, and trembled with fear lest someone else's finger
might be as small as her own. When, therefore, the messenger from
the palace rode up to the gate, she was nearly beside herself
with delight. Hoping all the time for such a summons, she had
dressed herself with great care, putting on the garment of
moonlight, whose skirt was scattered over with emeralds. But when
they began calling to her to come down, she hastily covered
herself with her donkey-skin and announced she was ready to
present herself before his Highness. She was taken straight into
the hall, where the prince was awaiting her, but at the sight of
the donkey-skin his heart sank. Had he been mistaken after all?

'Are you the girl,' he said, turning his eyes away as he spoke,
'are you the girl who has a room in the furthest corner of the
inner court of the farmhouse?'

'Yes, my lord, I am,' answered she.

'Hold out your hand then,' continued the prince, feeling that he
must keep his word, whatever the cost, and, to the astonishment
of every one present, a little hand, white and delicate, came
from beneath the black and dirty skin. The ring slipped on with
the utmost ease, and, as it did so, the skin fell to the ground,
disclosing a figure of such beauty that the prince, weak as he
was, fell on his knees before her, while the king and queen
joined their prayers to his. Indeed, their welcome was so warm,
and their caresses so bewildering, that the princess hardly knew
how to find words to reply, when the ceiling of the hall opened,
and the fairy godmother appeared, seated in a car made entirely
of white lilac. In a few words she explained the history of the
princess, and how she came to be there, and, without losing a
moment, preparations of the most magnificent kind were made for
the wedding.

The kings of every country in the earth were invited, including,
of course, the princess's adopted father (who by this time had
married a widow), and not one refused.

But what a strange assembly it was! Each monarch travelled in the
way he thought most impressive; and some came borne in litters,
others had carriages of every shape and kind, while the rest were
mounted on elephants, tigers, and even upon eagles. So splendid a
wedding had never been seen before; and when it was over the king
announced that it was to be followed by a coronation, for he and
the queen were tired of reigning, and the young couple must take
their place. The rejoicings lasted for three whole months, then
the new sovereigns settled down to govern their kingdom, and made
themselves so much beloved by their subjects, that when they
died, a hundred years later, each man mourned them as his own
father and mother.

(From le Cabinet de Fees.)

'Don't stir from the fireplace to-night,' said old Peggy, 'for
the wind is blowing so violently that the house shakes; besides,
this is Hallow-e'en, when the witches are abroad, and the
goblins, who are their servants, are wandering about in all sorts
of disguises, doing harm to the children of men.'

'Why should I stay here?' said the eldest of the young people.
'No, I must go and see what the daughter of old Jacob, the rope-
maker, is doing. She wouldn't close her blue eyes all night if I
didn't visit her father before the moon had gone down.'

'I must go and catch lobsters and crabs' said the second, 'and
not all the witches and goblins in the world shall hinder me.'

So they all determined to go on their business or pleasure, and
scorned the wise advice of old Peggy. Only the youngest child
hesitated a minute, when she said to him, 'You stay here, my
little Richard, and I will tell you beautiful stories.'

But he wanted to pick a bunch of wild thyme and some blackberries
by moonlight, and ran out after the others. When they got outside
the house they said: 'The old woman talks of wind and storm, but
never was the weather finer or the sky more clear; see how
majestically the moon stalks through the transparent clouds!'

Then all of a sudden they noticed a little black pony close
beside them.

'Oh, ho!' they said, 'that is old Valentine's pony; it must have
escaped from its stable, and is going down to drink at the horse-
pond.'

'My pretty little pony,' said the eldest, patting the creature
with his hand, 'you mustn't run too far; I'll take you to the
pond myself.'

With these words he jumped on the pony's back and was quickly
followed by his second brother, then by the third, and so on,
till at last they were all astride the little beast, down to the
small Richard, who didn't like to be left behind.

On the way to the pond they met several of their companions, and
they invited them all to mount the pony, which they did, and the
little creature did not seem to mind the extra weight, but
trotted merrily along.

The quicker it trotted the more the young people enjoyed the fun;
they dug their heels into the pony's sides and called out,
'Gallop, little horse, you have never had such brave riders on
your back before!'

In the meantime the wind had risen again, and the waves began to
howl; but the pony did not seem to mind the noise, and instead of
going to the pond, cantered gaily towards the sea-shore.

Richard began to regret his thyme and blackberries, and the
eldest brother seized the pony by the mane and tried to make it
turn round, for he remembered the blue eyes of Jacob the rope-
maker's daughter. But he tugged and pulled in vain, for the pony
galloped straight on into the sea, till the waves met its
forefeet. As soon as it felt the water it neighed lustily and
capered about with glee, advancing quickly into the foaming
billows. When the waves had covered the children's legs they
repented their careless behaviour, and cried out: 'The cursed
little black pony is bewitched. If we had only listened to old
Peggy's advice we shouldn't have been lost.'