Favorite Fairy Tales
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Logan Marshall >> Favorite Fairy Tales
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When Aladdin returned from hunting and found that his wife and his
Palace had vanished, he was overcome with anguish, guessing that his
enemy, the Magician, had by some means got possession of the lamp. The
Sultan, whose grief and anger at the loss of his daughter were terrible,
ordered him to leave the Court at once, and told him that unless he
returned in forty days with the Princess safe and well, he would have
him beheaded.
Aladdin went out from the Sultan's presence, not knowing what to do or
where to turn. But after he had wandered about for some time in despair,
he remembered the ring which he still wore on his finger. He rubbed it,
and in a moment the genie stood before him. But when Aladdin commanded
him to bring back the Palace and the Princess, the genie answered--
"What you command is not in my power. You must ask the slave of the
lamp. I am only the slave of the ring."
"Then," said Aladdin, "if you cannot bring my Palace to me, I command
you to take me to my Palace." No sooner were the words out of his mouth
than he found himself standing in Africa, close to the missing Palace.
The Princess Badroulboudour, who, since the moment when the Magician had
had her in his power, had not ceased to weep and lament for her
foolishness in exchanging the lamp, happened to be looking out of the
window; and when she saw Aladdin she nearly fainted with joy, and sent
a slave to bring him secretly into the Palace.
Then she and Aladdin made a plan to get the better of the Magician and
to recover the lost lamp. Aladdin summoned the genie of the ring, who
procured for him a very powerful sleeping-powder, which he gave to the
Princess. Then Aladdin hid himself behind some curtains in the room,
and the Princess sent a message to the Magician asking him to take
supper with her.
[Illustration]
The Magician was delighted at the Princess's invitation, and accepted
it joyfully, never dreaming that Aladdin had found his way to Africa.
As they were eating and drinking together, the Princess put the
sleeping-powder into the Magician's cup of wine--and no sooner had he
tasted it than he fell down in a deep sleep as if dead.
This was Aladdin's chance. Hastily coming out from behind the curtains,
he snatched the lamp from the Magician's bosom, and called the genie to
come to his assistance.
The genie, having first thrown out the Magician, then carried the Palace
with the Princess and Aladdin back to the spot from which it had been
taken.
Great was the Sultan's joy at receiving back his daughter. The whole
city was given over to rejoicings, and for ten days nothing was heard
but the sound of drums and trumpets and cymbals, and nothing was seen
but illuminations and gorgeous entertainments in honor of Aladdin's safe
return.
[Illustration]
Aladdin and the Princess ascended the throne after the Sultan died and
they lived long and happily and had many beautiful children.
[Illustration]
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
[Illustration]
Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had no children. They
longed very much for a child; and when at last they had a little
daughter they were both delighted, and great rejoicings took place.
When the time came for the little Princess to be christened, the King
made a grand feast and invited all but one of the fairies in his kingdom
to be godmothers. There happened to be thirteen fairies in the kingdom;
but as the King had only twelve gold plates, he had to leave one of
them out.
The twelve fairies that were invited came to the christening, and
presented the little Princess with the best gifts in their possession.
One gave her beauty, one gave her wisdom, another grace, another
goodness, until all but one had presented their offerings. Just as the
last fairy was about to step forward and offer her gift, there came a
tremendous knocking at the door, and before anybody could get there to
open it, it was burst open, and in came the thirteenth fairy, in a
furious rage at not having been invited to the feast.
When she saw all the gifts which the other fairies had presented the
child, she laughed and exclaimed:
"A lot of good all this beauty and virtue and wealth will do to you, my
pretty Princess! You shall pay for the slight your Royal Father has put
upon me!" Then, turning to the terrified King and Queen, she said, in a
loud voice:
"When the Princess is fifteen years old she shall prick her finger with
a spindle and die!" Having said this she flew away as noisily as she
came.
The King and Queen were in despair, and the courtiers stood aghast at
the terrible disaster; while the little Princess began to cry piteously,
as if she knew the fate in store for her. Then the twelfth fairy stepped
forward.
"Do not be afraid," she said, "I have not yet given my gift. I cannot
undo the wicked spell, but I can soften the evil. The Princess, on her
fifteenth birthday, shall prick her finger with a spindle, but she shall
not die. Instead, she shall fall asleep for a hundred years."
"Alas!" cried the Queen, "what comfort will that be to us? Long before
the hundred years are past we shall be dead, and our darling child will
be as lost to us as if she were indeed to die!"
[Illustration]
"I can make that right," said the fairy. "When the Princess falls
asleep, you shall sleep, too; and awaken with her when the hundred
years are passed."
But the King still hoped to save his daughter from such a terrible
misfortune. So he ordered all the spinning-wheels in his kingdom to be
burnt or destroyed, and made a law that no one was to use one on pain of
instant death. But all his care was useless. On her fifteenth birthday
the Princess slipped away from her attendants, and wandered all through
the Palace. At last she came to a tower which she had never seen before,
and, wondering what it contained, she climbed the stairs. From a room at
the top came a curious humming noise, and the Princess, wondering what
it could be, pushed open the door and stepped inside.
There sat an old woman, bent with age, working at a strangely shaped
wheel. The Princess was full of curiosity.
[Illustration]
"What is that funny-looking thing?" she asked.
"It is a spinning-wheel, Princess," answered the old woman, who was no
other than the wicked fairy in disguise.
"A spinning-wheel--what is that? I have never heard of such a thing,"
said the Princess. She stood watching for a few minutes, then she added:
"It looks quite easy. May I try to do it?"
"Certainly, gracious lady," said the wicked fairy, and the Princess sat
down and tried to turn the wheel. But no sooner did she lay her hand
upon it than the spindle, which was enchanted, pricked her finger, and
the Princess fell back against a silk-covered couch--fast asleep.
In a moment a deep silence fell upon all who were in the castle. The
King fell asleep in the midst of his councillors, the Queen with her
ladies-in-waiting. The horses in the stable, the pigeons on the roof,
the flies upon the walls, even the very fire upon the hearth fell
asleep, too. The meat which was cooking in the kitchen ceased to
frizzle; and the cook, who was just about to box the kitchen boy's
ears, fell asleep with her hand outstretched, and began to snore
aloud. The butler who was tasting the ale, fell asleep with the
jug at his lips.
A great hedge sprang up around the castle, which, as the years passed
on, grew and grew until it formed an impenetrable barrier around the
sleeping Palace. The old people of the country died, and their children
grew up and died also, and their children, and their children, and the
story of the sleeping Princess became a legend, handed down from one
generation to another; and a cloud of mystery, as thick and impenetrable
as the hedge of thorns, lay over the old castle. Many brave and gallant
Princes tried to force their way through the magic hedge, in order to
solve the mystery and to see for themselves the beautiful maiden who lay
in an enchanted sleep behind that thorny barrier. But the thorns caught
them, and held them from going forward or back, and the gallant youths
perished miserably in the thickets.
[Illustration]
After many, many years there came a King's son into that country, who
heard the story of the Princess and the hedge of briers; and he made up
his mind to try and force his way to the castle to awake the sleeping
Princess. People told him of the fate of the other Princes, who had also
attempted this difficult task; but the Prince would not be warned.
"I have made up my mind to see this maiden of whose beauty I have heard
so many wonderful tales," he cried. "I will force a way through the
hedge of thorns and awake this Sleeping Beauty, or die in the attempt!"
Now, it happened that this day was the last day of the hundred years;
and when the Prince came to the thicket that surrounded the castle and
began to push his way through, he found that the briers yielded readily
to his touch. The thorns had all blossomed into roses that scented the
air with fragrance as he went by. Primroses sprang up before his feet
and made a pathway to lead him straight to the castle gates; and the
birds suddenly broke forth into singing, as if to tell the world that
the hundred years of enchantment were over, and the Princess about to
be awakened from her long sleep.
The Prince passed through the council chamber, where the King and his
councillors were sleeping; through the room where the Queen and her
ladies slept. He passed on from hall to hall, climbed from stair to
stair, until at last he reached the tower chamber where the sleeping
Princess lay. For a moment he stood and gazed in wonder at her lovely
face; then he sank on his knees beside her, and kissed her as she lay
asleep.
Instantly the spell was broken. The King and Queen awoke, and all the
courtiers with them; the horses neighed in the stables, and shook their
glossy manes; the pigeons cooed upon the roof; the flies on the wall
moved again; the fire burnt up brightly; and the meat in the kitchen
began to frizzle once more as the spit turned round. The cook gave the
kitchen boy the tremendous box on the ear that she had started to give
him a hundred years ago, and everything and everybody went on just as
usual, as if nothing at all out of the common had occurred.
And up in the tower chamber the Princess opened her eyes to meet the
gaze of the Prince, who had dared to risk his life for her sake. What
they said to each other nobody quite knows, for nobody was there to
hear or see. But whatever it was, it must have been something very
satisfactory; for very soon after they were married, and lived happily
ever afterwards.
[Illustration]
PUSS-IN-BOOTS
[Illustration]
There was once a Miller, who, at his death, had nothing to leave to his
three sons except his mill, his ass, and his cat. The eldest son took
the mill, the second took the ass--and as for the youngest, all that
remained for him was the cat.
The youngest son grumbled at this. "My brothers," said he, "will be able
to earn an honest living; but when I have eaten my cat and sold his skin
I shall die of hunger."
The Cat, who was sitting beside him, overheard this.
[Illustration]
"Nay, Master," he said, "don't take such a gloomy view of things. If you
will get me a pair of boots made so that I can walk through the brambles
without hurting my feet, and give me a bag, you shall soon see what I am
worth."
The Cat's master was so surprised to hear his Cat talking, that he at
once got him what he wanted. The Cat drew on the boots and slung the
bag round his neck and set off for a rabbit warren. When he got there
he filled his bag with bran and lettuces, and stretching himself out
beside it as if dead, waited until some young rabbit should be tempted
into the bag. This happened very soon. A fat, thoughtless rabbit went
in headlong, and the Cat at once jumped up, pulled the strings and
killed him.
Puss was very proud of his success, and, going to the King's palace, he
asked to speak to the King. When he was shown into the King's presence
he bowed respectfully, and, laying the rabbit down before the throne,
he said--
"Sire, here is a rabbit, which my master, the Marquis of Carabas,
desires me to present to your Majesty."
"Tell your master," said the King, "that I accept his present, and am
very much obliged to him."
A few days later, the Cat went and hid himself in a cornfield and laid
his bag open as before. This time two splendid partridges were lured
into the trap, and these also he took to the Palace and presented to the
King from the Marquis of Carabas. The King was very pleased with this
gift, and ordered the messenger of the Marquis of Carabas to be
handsomely rewarded.
[Illustration]
For two or three months the Cat went on in this way, carrying game every
day to the Palace, and saying it was sent by the Marquis of Carabas.
At last the Cat happened to hear that the King was going to take a drive
on the banks of the river, with his daughter, the most beautiful
Princess in the world. He at once went to his master.
"Master," said he, "if you follow my advice, your fortune will be made.
Go and bathe in the river at a place I shall show you, and I will do the
rest."
"Very well," said the Miller's son, and he did as the Cat told him. When
he was in the water, the Cat took away his clothes and hid them, and
then ran to the road, just as the King's coach went by, calling out as
loudly as he could--
"Help, help! The Marquis of Carabas will be drowned."
The King looked out of the carriage window, and when he saw the Cat who
had brought him so many fine rabbits and partridges, he ordered his
bodyguards to fly at once to the rescue of the Marquis of Carabas.
Then the Cat came up to the carriage and told the King that while his
master was bathing some robbers had stolen all his clothes. The King
immediately ordered one of his own magnificent suits of clothes to be
taken to the Marquis; so when the Miller's son appeared before the
monarch and his daughter, he looked so handsome, and was so splendidly
attired, that the Princess fell in love with him on the spot.
The King was so struck with his appearance that he insisted upon his
getting into the carriage to take a drive with them.
The Cat, delighted with the way his plans were turning out, ran on
before. He reached a meadow where some peasants were making hay.
"Good people," said he, "if you do not tell the King, when he comes this
way, that the meadow you are mowing belongs to the Marquis of Carabas,
you shall all be chopped up into little pieces."
When the King came by, he stopped to ask the haymakers to whom the
meadow belonged.
"To the Marquis of Carabas, if it please Your Majesty," answered they,
trembling, for the Cat's threat had frightened them terribly.
The Cat, who continued to run before the carriage, now came to some
reapers.
"Good people," said he, "if you do not tell the King that all this corn
belongs to the Marquis of Carabas, you shall all be chopped up into
little pieces."
[Illustration]
The King again stopped to ask to whom the land belonged, and the
reapers, obedient to the Cat's command, answered--
"To the Marquis of Carabas, please Your Majesty."
And all the way the Cat kept running on before the carriage, repeating
the same instructions to all the laborers he came to; so that the King
became very astonished at the vast possessions of the Marquis of
Carabas.
At last the Cat arrived at a great castle, where an Ogre lived who was
very rich, for all the lands through which the King had been riding were
part of his estate. The Cat knocked at the castle door, and asked to see
the Ogre.
The Ogre received him very civilly, and asked him what he wanted.
"If you please, sir," said the Cat, "I have heard that you have the
power of changing yourself into any sort of animal you please--and I
came to see if it could possibly be true."
"So I have," replied the Ogre, and in a moment he turned himself into a
lion. This gave the Cat a great fright, and he scrambled up the curtains
to the ceiling.
"Indeed, sir," he said, "I am now quite convinced of your power to turn
yourself into such a huge animal as a lion; but I do not suppose you can
change yourself into a small one--such as a mouse, for instance?"
"Indeed, I can," cried the Ogre, indignantly; and in a moment the lion
had vanished, while a little brown mouse frisked about the floor.
In less than half a second the Cat sprang down from the curtains and,
pouncing upon the mouse, ate him all up before the Ogre had time to
return to any other shape.
And when the King arrived at the castle gates, there stood the Cat upon
the doorstep, bowing and saying--
"Welcome to the castle of the Marquis of Carabas!"
The Marquis helped the King and the Princess to alight, and the Cat led
them into a great hall, where a feast had been spread for the Ogre.
The King was so delighted with the good looks, the charming manners, and
the great wealth of the Marquis of Carabas, that he said the Marquis
must marry his daughter.
The Marquis, of course, replied that he should be only too happy; and
the very next day he and the Princess were married.
As for the Cat, he was given the title of Puss-in-Boots, and ever after
only caught mice for his own amusement.
[Illustration]
ADVENTURES OF TOM THUMB
[Illustration]
A long time ago, a woodcutter lived with his wife in a small cottage not
far from a great forest. They had seven children--all boys; and the
youngest was the smallest little fellow ever seen. He was called Tom
Thumb. But though he was so small, he was far cleverer than any of his
brothers, and he heard a great deal more than anybody ever imagined.
It happened that just at this time there was a famine in the land, and
the woodcutter and his wife became so poor that they could no longer
give their boys enough to eat.
One night--after the boys had gone to bed--the husband sighing deeply,
said--
"We cannot feed our children any longer, and to see them starve before
our eyes is more than I can bear. To-morrow morning, therefore, we will
take them into the forest and leave them in the thickest part of it, so
that they will not be able to find their way back."
[Illustration]
His wife wept bitterly at the thought of leaving their children to
perish in the forest; but she, too, thought it better than to see them
die before her eyes. So she consented to her husband's plan.
But all this time Tom Thumb had been awake, and he had overheard all
the conversation. He lay awake a long while thinking what to do. Then,
slipping quietly out of bed, he ran down to the river and filled his
pocket with small white pebbles from the river's brink.
In the morning the parents called the children, and, after giving them a
crust of bread, they all set out for the wood. Tom Thumb did not say a
word to his brothers of what he had overheard; but, lingering behind, he
dropped the pebbles from his pocket one by one, as they walked, so that
he should be able to find his way home. When they reached a very thick
part of the forest, the father and mother told the children to wait
while they went a little farther to cut wood, but as soon as they were
out of sight they turned and went home by another way.
When darkness fell, the children began to realize that they were
deserted, and they began to cry loudly. Tom Thumb, however, did not cry.
"Do not weep, my brothers," he said encouragingly. "Only wait until the
moon rises, and we shall soon be able to find our way home."
When at length the moon rose, it shone down upon the white pebbles
which Tom Thumb had scattered; and, following this path, the children
soon reached their father's house.
But at first they were afraid to go in, and waited outside the door to
hear what their parents were talking about.
[Illustration]
Now, it happened that when the father and mother reached home, they
found a rich gentleman had sent them ten crowns, in payment for work
which had been done long before. The wife went out at once and bought
bread and meat, and she and her husband sat down to make a hearty meal.
But the mother could not forget her little ones; and at last she cried
to her husband:
"Alas! where are our poor children? How they would have enjoyed this
good feast!"
The children, listening at the door, heard this and cried out, "Here we
are, mother; here we are!" and, overjoyed, the mother flew to let them
in and kissed them all round.
Their parents were delighted to have their little ones with them again;
but soon the ten crowns were spent, and they found themselves as badly
off as before. Once more they agreed to leave the children in the
forest, and once again Tom Thumb overheard them. This time he did not
trouble himself very much; he thought it would be easy for him to do as
he had done before. He got up very early the next morning to go and get
the pebbles; but, to his dismay, he found the house door securely
locked. Then, indeed, he did not know what to do, and for a little while
he was in great distress. However, at breakfast the mother gave each of
the children a slice of bread, and Tom Thumb thought he would manage to
make his piece of bread do as well as the pebbles, by breaking it up and
dropping the crumbs as he went.
This time the father and mother took the children still deeper and
farther into the wood, and then, slipping away, left them alone.
Tom Thumb consoled his brothers as before; but when he came to look for
the crumbs of bread, not one of them was left. The birds had eaten them
all up, and the poor children were lost in the forest, with no possible
means of finding their way home.
[Illustration]
Tom Thumb did not lose courage. He climbed to the top of a high tree and
looked round to see if there was any way of getting help. In the
distance he saw a light burning, and, coming down from the tree, he led
his brothers toward the house from which it came.
When they knocked at the door, it was opened by a pleasant-looking
woman, and Tom Thumb told her they were poor children who had lost their
road, and begged her to give them a night's shelter.
"Alas, my poor children!" said the woman, "you do not know where you
have come to. This is the house of an ogre who eats up little boys and
girls."
"But, madam," replied Tom Thumb, "what shall we do? If we go back to the
forest we are certain to be torn to pieces by the wolves. We had better,
I think, stay and be eaten by the ogre."
The ogre's wife had pity on the little things, and she thought she would
be able to hide them from her husband for one night. She took them in,
gave them food, and let them warm themselves by the fire.
Very soon there came a loud knocking at the door. It was the ogre come
home. His wife hid the children under the bed, and then hurried to let
her husband in.
No sooner had the ogre entered than he began to sniff this way and
that. "I smell flesh," he said, looking round the room.
"It must be the calf which has just been killed," said his wife.
"I smell child's flesh, I tell you!" cried the ogre, and he suddenly
made a dive under the bed, and drew out the children one by one.
[Illustration]
"Oh, ho, madam!" said he; "so you thought to cheat me, did you? But,
really, this is very lucky! I have invited three ogres to dinner
to-morrow; these brats will make a nice dish."
He fetched a huge knife and began sharpening it, while the poor boys
fell on their knees and begged for mercy. But their prayers and
entreaties were useless. The ogre seized one of the children and was
just about to kill him, when his wife said--
"What in the world makes you take the trouble of killing them to-night?
Why don't you leave them till the morning? There will be plenty of time,
and they will be much fresher."
"That is very true," said the ogre, throwing down the knife. "Give them
a good supper, so that they may not get lean, and send them to bed."
[Illustration]
Now, the ogre had seven young daughters, who were all about the same age
as Tom Thumb and his brothers. These young ogresses all slept together
in one large bed, and every one of them had a crown of gold on her head.
There was another bed of the same size in the room, and in this the
ogre's wife, having provided them all with nightcaps, put the seven
little boys.
[Illustration]
But Tom Thumb was afraid that the ogre might change his mind in the
night, and kill him and his brothers while they were asleep. So he crept
softly out of bed, took off his brothers' nightcaps and his own, and
stole over to the bed where the young ogresses lay. He drew off their
crowns very gently, and put the nightcaps on their heads instead. Then
he put the crowns on his brothers' heads and his own, and got into bed
again.
[Illustration]
In the middle of the night the ogre woke up, and began to be sorry that
he had put off killing the boys until the morning.
"Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day," he said; and,
jumping out of bed, he got his knife and walked stealthily to the room
where the boys were. He walked up to the bed, and they were all asleep
except Tom Thumb, who, however, kept his eyes fast shut, and did not
show that he was awake. The ogre touched their heads, one after another,
and feeling the crowns of gold, he said to himself:
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