Frances Hodgson Burnett

“ There every one loved him, and he loved every one, and was four times as happy as the day is long.
He loved the Princess more dearly every day, and of course, as soon as they were old enough, they were married. And of course, too, they used to go in the summer to the forest and dance in the moonlight with the fairies, who adored them both.
When they went to visit Stumpinghame, they always bathed their feet in the pool of the red berries; and when they returned, they made them small again in the fountain of the nightingales. ”

“ If you are a fairy, you have to be careful. If you'll believe me, that woman once turned her second cousin's sister-in-law into a mushroom, and somebody picked her and she was made into catsup—which is a thing no man likes to have happen in his family."
"Of course not," said Fairyfoot, politely.
"The difficulty is," said the little man, "that some fairies don't graduate. They learn how to turn people into things, but they don't learn how to unturn them; and then, when they get mad in their families,—you know how it is about getting mad in families,—there is confusion. ”

“ Her name was Gauzita. To-morrow I shall go and place flowers on her tomb."
"I thought fairies never died," said Fairyfoot.
"Only on rare occasions and only from love," answered Robin. "They needn't die unless they wish to. They have been known to do it through love. They frequently wish they hadn't afterward,—in fact, invariably,—and then they can come to life again. But Gauzita—"
"Are you quite sure she is dead?" ”

“ But for you, even if I'd escaped that hawk, I should have had to spend the night in that beastly robin's nest, crowded into a corner by those squawking things, and domineered over by her! I wasn't made for that! I'm superior to it. Domestic life doesn't suit me. I was made for society. ”

“ It had never occurred to any one that a member of such a royal family could possibly disgrace himself by being born with small feet. Well, you may imagine, then, what a terrible and humiliating state of affairs arose when there was born into that royal family a little son, a prince, whose feet were so very small and slender and delicate that they would have been considered small even in other places than Stumpinghame. Grief and confusion seized the entire nation. The Queen fainted six times a day ”

“ Once upon a time, in the days of the fairies, there was in the far west country a kingdom which was called by the name of Stumpinghame. It was a rather curious country in several ways. In the first place, the people who lived there thought that Stumpinghame was all the world; they thought there was no world at all outside of Stumpinghame. And they thought that the people of Stumpinghame knew everything that could possibly be known, and that what they did not know was of no consequence at all. ”

“ I wonder where he came from."
"Why, my dear," said the other; "is it possible you don't know that he is Prince Fairyfoot?"
"What! "said the first nightingale—"the King of Stumpinghame's son who was born with small feet?"
"Yes," said the second. "And the poor child has lived in the forest, keeping the swineherd's pigs, ever since. And he is a very nice boy, too—never throws stones at birds or robs nests."
"What a pity he doesn't know about the pool where the red berries grow!" ”

“ On they went and joined the fairies, and they danced and played fairy games and feasted on fairy dainties, and were so gay and happy that Fairyfoot was wild with joy. Everybody made him welcome and seemed to like him, and the lady fairies were simply delightful, especially Gauzita, who took a great fancy to him. Just before the sun rose, Robin gave him something from another flagon, and he grew large again, and two minutes and three seconds and a half before daylight the ball broke up, and Robin took him home and left him, promising to call for him the next night. ”

“ It was evident that she was very popular and that she did not object to it at all; in fact, the way her eyes sparkled and danced was distinctly reprehensible.
"You have engaged to dance the next waltz with every one of us!" said one of her adorers. "How are you going to do it?"
"Did I engage to dance with all of you?" she said, giving her lily stem the sauciest little swing, which set all the bells ringing. "Well, I am not going to dance it with all." ”

“ In Stumpinghame the larger a person's feet were, the more beautiful and elegant he or she was considered; and the more aristocratic and nobly born a man was, the more immense were his feet. Only the very lowest and most vulgar persons were ever known to have small feet. ”

“ They sent him to the hut of a swineherd who lived deep, deep in a great forest which seemed to end nowhere.
They gave the swineherd some money, and some clothes for Fairyfoot, and told him that if he would take care of the child, they would send money and clothes every year. As for themselves, they only wished to be sure of never seeing Fairyfoot again.
THE SWINEHERD IS WELL PLEASED TO RECEIVE THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE MONEY. This pleased the swineherd well enough. ”