Walter Jerrold

“ The King’s son fell in love with her, and thinking that such a gift as she possessed was worth more than any ordinary dower brought by another, he carried her off to his father’s palace, and there married her.
As for her sister, she made herself so hated, that her own mother drove her from the house. The miserable girl, having gone about in vain trying to find someone who would take her in, crept away into the corner of a wood, and there died.
Of higher worth are gentle words
Than diamonds or gold,
And even o’er the minds of men
A greater power they hold. ”

“ The swallow flew down with Thumbeline and put her upon one of the broad leaves; what was her astonishment to find a little man in the middle of the flower, as bright and transparent as if he had been made of glass. He had a lovely golden crown upon his head and the most beautiful bright wings upon his shoulders; he was no bigger than Thumbeline. He was the fairy of the flowers. There was a similar little man or woman in every flower, but he was the king of them all. ”

“ Four hundred maidens of the highest rank, dressed in long white robes, and crowned with cypress, accompanied the Princess, who was carried in an open litter of black velvet, that all might look on this masterpiece of beauty. Her hair, tied with crape, hung over her shoulders, and she wore a crown of jasmine, mingled with a few marigolds. The grief of the King and Queen, who followed, overcome by their deep sorrow, appeared the only thing that moved her. ”

“ Although Moufette had seen them ever since she was born, her beautiful eyes could not accustom themselves to the sight of these creatures, and she would run away and hide in her mother’s arms. “Shall we remain here long?” she asked her; “is there to be no end to our misery?” The Queen spoke hopefully in order to cheer her child, but in her heart she had no hope; the absence of the Frog, her unbroken silence, the long time that had elapsed since she had news of the King, all these things filled her with sorrow and despair. ”

“ I am the Fairy Lioness, whose dwelling is near here; you must come and live with me.” The Queen looked sorrowfully at her, and said, “If you will be good enough, Madam Lioness, to take me back to my castle, and tell the King what ransom you demand, he loves me so dearly, that he will not refuse you even the half of his kingdom.” “No,” replied the giantess, “I am rich enough, but for some time past my lonely life has seemed dull to me; you are intelligent, and will be able perhaps to amuse me.” ”

“ After gazing at it a while, the King of the Peacocks said, “I can scarcely believe that there is so beautiful a maiden in the whole world.” “She is a thousand times more beautiful,” said the King. “You are jesting,” replied the King of the Peacocks. “Sire,” rejoined the Prince, “here is my brother, who is a King, like yourself; he is called King, and my name is Prince; our sister, of whom this is the portrait, is the Princess Rosette. We have come to ask if you will marry her; she is good and beautiful, and we will give her, as dower, a bushel of golden crowns.” “It is well,” said the King. ”

“ The Queen, fearing he would at length grow weary, called to him not to lose courage, that the Fairy Lioness wanted to tire him out, but that true love knew how to face all difficulties. She and Moufette then stretched out their hands towards him with imploring gestures. Seeing this, the King was filled with renewed courage, and raising his voice, he said that he would rather pass the remainder of his life in this melancholy region than go away without them. He needed great patience, for no king on earth ever spent such a wretched time before. ”

“ She was dazzlingly lovely as she stood there in all her magnificence; the courtiers bent low before her, and the king wooed her as his bride, although the archbishop shook his head, and whispered that he feared the beautiful wood maiden was a witch, who had dazzled their eyes and infatuated the king.
The king refused to listen to him, he ordered the music to play, the richest food to be brought, and the loveliest girls to dance before her. ”

“ But good ones love the dark, and find
The night as pleasant as the day.
When the song was finished Oberon and Titania arose on their throne and faint strains of music were heard in the air; for a moment the whole place sparkled with light and colour, and then all the fairies had gone in a flash to their distant places, and nothing but a faint circle of darker grass showed where the great assembly had been. ”

“ The King put his hat on the top of his stick, and the Queen tied her handkerchief to the end of another, as signals of encouragement to the Prince; and all their Court followed suit. As a fact, this was not necessary, for his own heart and the peril in which he saw Moufette, were sufficient to animate his courage. And what efforts did he not make! the ground was covered with stings, claws, horns, wings, and scales of the Dragon; the earth was coloured blue and green with the mingled blood of the Dragon and the horse. ”

“ The Princess had no sooner pronounced these words than Riquet with the Tuft appeared to her eyes, of all men in the world, the handsomest, the best made, and most attractive she had ever seen. There are some who assert that it was not the spell of the fairy, but love alone that caused the metamorphosis. They say that the Princess, having reflected on the perseverance of her lover, on his prudence, and on all the good qualities of his heart and mind, no longer saw the deformity of his body, or the ugliness of his features ”

“ It must be a miserable fate to be born a little bird! Thank heaven! no child of mine can be a bird; a bird like that has nothing but its twitter and dies of hunger in the winter.”
“Yes, as a sensible man, you may well say that,” said the field-mouse. “What has a bird for all its twittering when the cold weather comes? It has to hunger and freeze, but then it must cut a dash.”
Thumbeline did not say anything, but when the others turned their backs to the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the feathers which lay over its head, and kissed its closed eyes. ”

“ Then the Heroes decided that of all the gifts the hammer was the best, and that, therefore, Loki had lost his wager and must lose his head. Loki offered to give all sorts of things to save himself, but the dwarf would not listen to any of them. “Catch me, then!” cried the mischievous one; but when Brok stretched his hand upon him Loki had gone, for he wore shoes which would carry him over the sea or through the air.
“Catch him!” cried the ugly little dwarf piteously to Thor, and in an instant Loki stood before them, trembling in Thor’s strong grasp. ”

“ Heavens! how frightened poor little Thumbeline was when the cockchafer carried her up into the tree, but she was most of all grieved about the pretty white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf; if he could not succeed in getting loose he would be starved to death. ”

“ On entering the royal apartment, the king demanded his errand, when the young man said: “I have served you faithfully for many years, and now desire permission to go and seek for the princess.” Hereupon the king grew angry and said: “How canst thou, a herd-boy, think of doing that which no warrior nor prince has been able to accomplish?” But the youth answered boldly, that he would either discover the princess or, for her sake, lay down his life. The king then let his anger pass, and called to mind the old proverb: A heart worthy of scarlet often lies under a coarse woollen cloak. ”

“ The crone, thinking that Pinkel had burst with the quantity of porridge he had eaten, was not a little glad, clapped her hands together, and ran off to look for her daughter, who was gone to the well. But as the weather was wet and stormy, she first took off her beautiful fur cloak and laid it aside in the hut. Before she could have proceeded far, the youth came to life again, and springing up like lightning, seized on the golden cloak, and ran off at the top of his speed. ”

“ The Benevolent Frog There was once a King who for many years had been engaged in a war with his neighbours; a great number of battles had been fought, and at last the enemy laid siege to his capital. The King, fearing for the safety of the Queen, begged her to retire to a fortified castle, which he himself had never visited but once. The Queen endeavoured, with many prayers and tears, to persuade him to allow her to remain beside him and to share his fate, and it was with loud cries of grief that she was put into her chariot by the King to be driven away. ”

“ You are going to have a splendid husband; the queen herself hasn’t the equal of his black velvet coat; both his kitchen and his cellar are full. You should thank heaven for such a husband!”
So they were to be married; the mole had come to fetch Thumbeline; she was to live deep down under the ground with him, and never to go out into the warm sunshine, for he could not bear it. The poor child was very sad at the thought of bidding good-bye to the beautiful sun; while she had been with the field-mouse she had at least been allowed to look at it from the door. ”

“ When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived a great way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she got ready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen, her mother, packed up a great many costly things; jewels, and gold, and silver; trinkets, fine dresses, and in short everything that became a royal bride. And she gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her, and give her into the bridegroom’s hands; and each had a horse for the journey. Now the princess’s horse was the fairy’s gift, and it was called Falada, and could speak. ”

“ The betrothed Princess, and the ambassadors who had come to be present at the marriage, began to pull long faces. One of the most important of the guests turned to the King, and said, “Sire, can you think of breaking so solemn an engagement, on the word of a toad like that? This scum of the marshes has the insolence to come and tell lies before the whole Court, for the pleasure of being heard!” “Know, your Excellency,” replied the Frog, “that I am no scum of the marshes, and since I am forced to exhibit my powers: Come forth, fairies all!” ”

“ When he found himself safe, he was overjoyed to think that he had got the Water of Life; and as he was going on his way homewards, he passed by the little dwarf, who, when he saw the sword and the loaf, said, “You have made a noble prize; with the sword you can at a blow slay whole armies, and the bread will never fail you.” Then the prince thought to himself, “I cannot go home to my father without my brothers”; so he said, “My dear friend, cannot you tell me where my two brothers are, who set out in search of the Water of Life before me, and never came back?” ”

“ Why art thou pale as if thou hadst come from among the dead? Surely thou art but a sorry bridegroom.”
Then answered the dwarf: “Allwise my name is; I dwell in a cavern beneath the earth, and I am come to fetch my bride for the Heroes will not break their plighted word.”
“I will break it,” said Thor firmly, “for Freya is my ward, and I was not of those who made the promise to you. It is needful that I should hallow the weddings of the Heroes.”
“Who is this fellow,” said Allwise the dwarf scornfully, “who claims to control the fair-beaming maid?” ”

“ At this the herd-boy was so confused that he could neither answer nor speak. But he took the lamb with him, and found his greatest pleasure in guarding it, and the animal attached itself to him, as a dog to its master. From that day the herd-boy frequently enjoyed the sight of the fair princess. In the morning, when he drove his cattle to the pasture, she would stand at the window listening to his song; but in the evening, when he returned from the forest, she would descend to caress her little lamb, and say a few friendly words to the herd-boy. ”

“ We do not live here; there is another land, just as beautiful as this beyond the sea; but the way to it is very long and we have to cross the mighty ocean to get to it. There is not a single island on the way where we can spend the night, only one solitary little rock juts up above the water midway. ”

“ When he was thus armed from head to foot, the old man bound a sharp sword by his side, and said: “It is decreed that the giant shall fall by this sword, and this armour no steel can penetrate.” The young herdsman felt quite at ease in the golden armour, and moved as gracefully as if he had been a prince of the highest degree. They then returned to the dark dungeon; the youth thanked the elf-king for his timely succour, and they parted from each other. ”

“ You will have a little Princess, more beautiful than Venus herself; do not trouble yourself about anything else, time alone can comfort you.” The Queen’s head drooped, a few tears fell from her eyes, but she resolved to trust her friend: “At least,” she said to her, “do not leave me here alone; and befriend me when my little one is born.” The Frog promised to remain with her, and comforted her as best she could.
But it is now time to return to the King. While the enemy kept him shut up in his capital, he could not continually send messengers to the Queen. ”

“ A large tulip petal floated on the water, and on this little Thumbeline sat and sailed about from one side of the plate to the other; she had two white horse hairs for oars. It was a pretty sight. She could sing, too, with such delicacy and charm as was never heard before. ”

“ The stubble was quite a forest for her to walk about in; oh, how she shook with the cold. Then she came to the door of a field-mouse’s home. It was a little hole down under the stubble. The field-mouse lived so cosily and warm there, her whole room was full of corn, and she had a beautiful kitchen and larder besides. Poor Thumbeline stood just inside the door like any other poor beggar child and begged for a little piece of barley corn, for she had had nothing to eat for two whole days. ”

“ I will not let you go.” “I shall die of grief,” said he, “if you keep me here; when I hear the horns, I feel as if I could fly.” Then Grethel was forced to let him go: so she opened the door with a heavy heart, and he bounded out gaily into the wood.
When the king saw him, he said to his huntsmen, “Now chase him all day long, till you catch him; but let none of you do him any harm.” The sun set, however, without their being able to overtake him, and the king called away the huntsmen, and said to the one who had watched, “Now come and show me the little hut.” ”

“ The treacherous boatman, seeing and hearing all this, said in a low voice to the nurse, “There is something wrong, good mother; your daughter should have been better looking.” She answered, “Hold your tongue, stupid, or you will bring us into trouble.”
The King had word brought him that the Princess was approaching. “Well,” he said, “have her brothers, I wonder, told me the truth? Is she more beautiful than her portrait?” “Sire,” said those near him, “there will be nothing to wish for, if she is as beautiful.” “You are right,” replied the King, “I shall be well content with that. ”

“ The joy of the Queen at once more seeing the sun may be imagined. So unaccustomed had she grown to its light, that at first she thought it would blind her. As for Moufette, she was so quick and intelligent, that even, at five or six years of age, she never failed to hit her mark, and so, in this way, the mother and daughter succeeded in somewhat lessening the ferocity of the fairy.
The Frog travelled over mountains and valleys, never stopping day or night; at last she drew near the capital, where the King was in residence. She was surprised to see dancing and festivity in every direction ”