The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (interesting novels to read .txt) π
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of the forest.
Now, as he was longing to see the princesses, he was very anxious
to come to a river or a fountain, but, though he rode for hours, a
river or fountain was nowhere to be seen. Still his heart was light,
for he felt that he had got through the most difficult part of his task,
and the rest was easy.
About mid-day he reached a sandy plain, scorching in the sun.
Here he was seized with dreadful thirst; he took his gourd and
raised it to his lips.
But the gourd was empty; in the excitement of his joy he had
forgotten to fill it. He rode on, struggling with his sufferings, but
at last he could bear it no longer.
He let himself slide to the earth, and lay down beside his horse,
his throat burning, his chest heaving, and his head going round.
Already he felt that death was near him, when his eyes fell on the
bag where the oranges peeped out.
Poor Desire, who had braved so many dangers to win the lady
of his dreams, would have given at this moment all the princesses
in the world, were they pink or golden, for a single drop of water.
`Ah!β he said to himself. `If only these oranges were real fruitβ
fruit as refreshing as what I ate in Flanders! And, after all, who
knows?β
This idea put some life into him. He had the strength to lift
himself up and put his hand into his bag. He drew out an orange
and opened it with his knife.
Out of it flew the prettiest little female canary that ever was
seen.
`Give me something to drink, I am dying of thirst,β said the
golden bird.
`Wait a minute,β replied Desire, so much astonished that he
forgot his own sufferings; and to satisfy the bird he took a second
orange, and opened it without thinking what he was doing. Out
of it flew another canary, and she too began to cry:
`I am dying of thirst; give me something to drink.β
Then Tubbyβs son saw his folly, and while the two canaries
flew away he sank on the ground, where, exhausted by his last
effort, he lay unconscious.
VIIWhen he came to himself, he had a pleasant feeling of freshness
all about him. It was night, the sky was sparkling with stars, and
the earth was covered with a heavy dew.
The traveller having recovered, mounted his horse, and at the
first streak of dawn he saw a stream dancing in front of him, and
stooped down and drank his fill.
He hardly had courage to open his last orange. Then he
remembered that the night before he had disobeyed the orders of the
old man. Perhaps his terrible thirst was a trick of the cunning
witch, and suppose, even though he opened the orange on the
banks of the stream, that he did not find in it the princess that he
sought?
He took his knife and cut it open. Alas! out of it flew a little
canary, just like the others, who cried:
`I am thirsty; give me something to drink.β
Great was the disappointment of Desire. However, he was
determined not to let this bird fly away; so he took up some water
in the palm of his hand and held it to its beak.
Scarcely had the canary drunk when she became a beautiful
girl, tall and straight as a poplar tree, with black eyes and a golden
skin. Desire had never seen anyone half so lovely, and he stood
gazing at her in delight.
On her side she seemed quite bewildered, but she looked about
her with happy eyes, and was not at all afraid of her deliverer.
He asked her name. She answered that she was called the
Princess Zizi; she was about sixteen years old, and for ten years of
that time the witch had kept her shut up in an orange, in the
shape of a canary.
`Well, then, my charming Zizi,β said the young Prince, who
was longing to marry her, `let us ride away quickly so as to
escape from the wicked witch.β
But Zizi wished to know where he meant to take her.
`To my fatherβs castle,β he said.
He mounted his horse and took her in front of him, and, holding
her carefully in his arms, they began their journey.
VIIIEverything the Princess saw was new to her, and in passing
through mountains, valleys, and towns, she asked a thousand
questions. Desire was charmed to answer them. It is so delightful
to teach those one loves!
Once she inquired what the girls in his country were like.
`They are pink and white,β he replied, `and their eyes are blue.β
`Do you like blue eyes?β said the Princess; but Desire thought
it was a good opportunity to find out what was in her heart, so he
did not answer.
`And no doubt,β went on the Princess, `one of them is your
intended bride?β
Still he was silent, and Zizi drew herself up proudly.
`No,β he said at last. `None of the girls of my own country
are beautiful in my eyes, and that is why I came to look for a wife
in the land of the sun. Was I wrong, my lovely Zizi?β
This time it was Ziziβs turn to be silent.
IXTalking in this way they drew near to the castle. When they
were about four stone-throws from the gates they dismounted in
the forest, by the edge of a fountain.
`My dear Zizi,β said Tubbyβs son, `we cannot present ourselves
before my father like two common people who have come back
from a walk. We must enter the castle with more ceremony.
Wait for me here, and in an hour I will return with carriages and
horses fit for a princess.β
`Donβt be long,β replied Zizi, and she watched him go with
wistful eyes.
When she was left by herself the poor girl began to feel afraid.
She was alone for the first time in her life, and in the middle of a
thick forest.
Suddenly she heard a noise among the trees. Fearing lest it
should be a wolf, she hid herself in the hollow trunk of a willow
tree which hung over the fountain. It was big enough to hold
her altogether, but she peeped out, and her pretty head was
reflected in the clear water.
Then there appeared, not a wolf, but a creature quite as wicked
and quite as ugly. Let us see who this creature was.
XNot far from the fountain there lived a family of bricklayers.
Now, fifteen years before this time, the father in walking through
the forest found a little girl, who had been deserted by the gypsies.
He carried her home to his wife, and the good woman was sorry
for her, and brought her up with her own sons. As she grew
older, the little gypsy became much more remarkable for strength
and cunning than for sense or beauty. She had a low forehead,
a flat nose, thick lips, coarse hair, and a skin not golden like that
of Zizi, but the colour of clay.
As she was always being teased about her complexion, she got
as noisy and cross as a titmouse. So they used to call her Titty.
Titty was often sent by the bricklayer to fetch water from the
fountain, and as she was very proud and lazy the gypsy disliked
this very much.
It was she who had frightened Zizi by appearing with her
pitcher on her shoulder. Just as she was stooping to fill it, she
saw reflected in the water the lovely image of the Princess.
`What a pretty face!β she exclaimed, `Why, it must be
mine! How in the world can they call me ugly? I am certainly
much too pretty to be their water carrier!β
So saying, she broke her pitcher and went home.
`Where is your pitcher?β asked the bricklayer.
`Well, what do you expect? The pitcher may go many times
to the wellβ¦ .β
`But at last it is broken. Well, here is a bucket that will not
break.β
The gypsy returned to the fountain, and addressing once more
the image of Zizi, she said:
`No; I donβt mean to be a beast of burden any longer.β And
she flung the bucket so high in the air that it stuck in the branches
of an oak.
`I met a wolf,β she told the bricklayer, `and I broke the bucket
across his nose.β
The bricklayer asked her no more questions, but took down a
broom and gave her such a beating that her pride was humbled
a little.
Then he handed to her an old copper milk-can, and said:
`If you donβt bring it back full, your bones shall suffer for it.β
XITitty went off rubbing her sides; but this time she did not dare
to disobey, and in a very bad temper stooped down over the well.
It was not at all easy to fill the milk-can, which was large and
round. It would not go down into the well, and the gypsy had to
try again and again.
At last her arms grew so tired that when she did manage to get
the can properly under the water she had no strength to pull it up,
and it rolled to the bottom.
On seeing the can disappear, she made such a miserable face
that Zizi, who had been watching her all this time, burst into fits of
laughter.
Titty turned round and perceived the mistake she had made;
and she felt so angry that she made up her mind to be revenged at
once.
`What are you doing there, you lovely creature?β she said to
Zizi.
`I am waiting for my lover,β Zizi replied; and then, with a
simplicity quite natural in a girl who so lately had been a canary,
she told all her story.
The gypsy had often seen the young Prince pass by, with his
gun on his shoulder, when he was going after crows. She was too
ugly and ragged for him ever to have noticed her, but Titty on her
side had admired him, though she thought he might well have been
a little fatter.
`Dear, dear!β she said to herself. `So he likes yellow women!
Why, I am yellow too, and if I could only think of a wayβ-β
It was not long before she did think of it.
`What!β cried the sly Titty, `they are coming with great pomp
to fetch you, and you are not afraid to show yourself to so many
fine lords and ladies with your hair down like that? Get down at
once, my poor child, and let me dress your hair for you!β
The innocent Zizi came down at once, and stood by Titty. The
gypsy began to comb her long brown locks, when suddenly she drew
a pin from her stays, and, just as the titmouse digs its beak into
the heads of linnets and larks, Titty dug the pin into the head of
Zizi.
No sooner did Zizi feel the prick of the pin than she became a
bird again, and, spreading her wings, she flew away.
`That was neatly done,β said the gypsy. `The Prince will be
clever if he finds his bride.β And, arranging her dress, she seated
herself on the grass to await Desire.
XIIMeanwhile the Prince was
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