Yellow Dwarf

“ Delighted at seeing his betrothed, he ran to embrace her, and dropped his sword. Yellow Dwarf, picking it up, demanded that Gold-Mine should resign the lady, and, on his refusing to do so, slew him with the magic sword. The princess, rushing forward to avert the blow, fell dead on the body of her dying lover.
Yellow Dwarf was so called from his complexion and the orange tree he lived in.... He wore wooden shoes, a coarse, yellow stuff jacket, and had no hair to hide his large ears.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“The Yellow Dwarf,” 1682) . ”

“ The child considered him attentively. "I don't suppose you could get one, anyhow, do you?" she said. "Always, you know, the dwarfs try to get the princesses, but never they do. You never was yellow, was you?" she asked, with a sudden note of apprehension in her voice.
"No, Snow-white, never yellow; only green."
The child bubbled over. "Was you truly green?" she cried. "Isn't that funny, dwarf? and then you turned brown, didn't you? you don't suppose I'll turn brown, do you? because I ain't green, am I? but I was just thinking, suppose you should be the Yellow Dwarf, wouldn't it be awful?" ”

“ The following month I gave "The Yellow Dwarf," which I wrote myself, and which, I must admit, was exceedingly puerile. It was accompanied by dissolving views, and this Christmas entertainment was produced to oblige Prof. Pepper; but I did not relish being stuck at a piano in the corner and in complete darkness. If I am not seen, I am no good at all. I do not infer I am much good when I am seen. The only thing that went really well in "The Yellow Dwarf" was my setting of some words which appeared in Punch. ”

“ So they had a fight, and while they were fighting that horrid old Fairy hit the Princess, and then the Yellow Dwarf took her up on the cat, and flewed away wiz her. That's all about the first part. Don't you think it's time for luncheon?"
"Oh, but you are never going to stop there, Snow-white! I want to know what became of them. Even if the dwarf did carry off the Princess, and even if she had promised to marry him,—for she did promise, you say,—still, of course he did not get her. Dwarfs have no rights that anybody is bound to respect, have they, Snow-white?" ”

“ From that day the dwarf grew rapidly better, and before the flowers were all gone out of the borders, or the last red and yellow leaves had fluttered from the lime tree on the lawn, he was able to saunter up and down the gravel paths, his hand on Darby's shoulder, the baby holding fast by one of his fingers, with Joan and the kittens frolicking among their feet, and racing here, there, and everywhere, all over the place. ”

“ But before the axe could reach him there was no dwarf there. Whether he melted into nothing, or whether he disappeared down one of those trap-doors which [Pg 123] are to be found in every stage, or what else became of him, will probably never be known. At all events the blade of the axe came down upon the bare boards and buried itself six inches deep in the wood, and no dwarf was there, but only the glittering half of a spade guinea, strung on a broken thread of silk. This the Headsman placed in Yellow-cap's hand, and he hid it in his bosom.
'He lives still!' said Silvia, smiling again. ”

“ Between them they kept constant watch beside the faithful creature, feeling as if nothing that they might do could repay him for the devotion which he had displayed towards the children. Bit by bit they had gathered from Darby and Joan the story of their quest of the Happy Land, what befell them by the way, and all that the dwarf had done to deliver them from the clutches of Thieving Joe, and the captivity of life dragged out within the narrow compass of the Satellite Circus Company's old yellow caravan. ”

“ How very civil the wolf is, thought the silly girl; how wrong people are to be afraid of him and givo out that he eats children. I dare say it is an untruth. I am suro he was very kind to me; the day is indeed warm, and why should I fatigue myself, there is plenty of time between this and dusk. So she amused herself with catching butterflies, and filling the top of her basket with field flowers, to make bow pots for the mantel-piece ”

“ I must carry some token to prove that I am an authorised messenger. What shall it be? Ah! this will do—this half of a spade guinea that you wear at your neck. Permit me to remove it,' And he began to fumble with the silken string.
'Stop! that is my betrothal pledge—you can't have that!' cried Raymond, putting up his hand to withhold the dwarf's claw.
'And who was it gave it to you, in the first place, I should like to know?' exclaimed the dwarf tartly. 'Fie! have you so little confidence in your friends? It is for your own good that I must have the token. ”

“ The wolf having closed tho door, put on tho old woman’s night-cap and gown, and got into bed, whero ho lay quite snug, waiting tho arrival of Red Riding-Hood.
When ho had lain about an hour, she camo with two or three gentlo raps.
“Who is there?” said tho wolf, with such a rough voice that poor Celia was startled, until she rocollected hearing that her grandmother had a sovore cold. Sho answered, “It is me, Little Red Riding-Hood, with a pot of butter, some cakes, and a bottle of wino.” ”

“ Tho King, in the meantime, after parting with the Mermaid, advanced boldly forward, and meeting with two terriblo sphinxes, who flew at him, would have torn him in a thousand pioces, had it not been for the Mermaid's sword, which glittered so in their eyes, that thoy fell down at his feet without any strength, when he gavo each a mortal wound. ”

“ Near a village called Roseville, in the South of France, dwelt an infirm aged woman, who had nothing to subsist on but the savings of former industry; her chief comfort was a grand-daughter, who resided with her parents, about three miles distant in a fertile valley. Her namo was Celia, but she was better known by that of Little Red Riding-Hood, from her grandmother having mado her one of cherry-coloured silk, which very much became her protty face and dolicato form. ”

“ As I was taking the butter out of my churn yesterday afternoon there came into my dairy-room an ugly little long-armed man, with a hook nose and a great pair of moustachios. I asked him what he wanted, and he said that he wanted me, and that I had promised to marry him.' [Pg 118]
'Ha!' said King Yellow-cap. 'And what did you say to that?'
'I was very indignant, Sire,' said the maiden, 'because I had that very day promised to wed a young man of our own village, whom I had known and loved for many years. But this ugly dwarf said, "You belong to me ”

“ Seeing this, the dwarf altered his tone, and from being abrupt and overbearing became friendly and familiar.
'Come, my dear boy,' he said, laying his great claw on Raymond's arm. 'Men must be men; we mustn't let ourselves be ordered about by a parcel of women. ”

“ The next instant the walls closed together again, but a faint illumination still remained, in which Calladon and Callia again seemed to themselves to resume their natural form. But even then, Calladon caught a glimpse of himself in the enchanted mirror; and there was once more the crook-backed, grisly-faced dwarf that had frightened him in Cada, now made more ugly yet by the serpent-mud of Bra.
'Oh, Callia, it is the truth!' groaned he. 'Our own eyes have deceived us, and our lamp has led us astray ”

“ Adjacent to the seal-killer’s residence there is a large rock, uncovered at half-tide, and this appears the most favourite haunt for the animal to bask upon. The rock is easily approached from the main land, and on a sunny day, when the wind favours the attempt, the hunter, undressed, and armed with his bludgeon, silently winds among the stones, and steals upon his sleeping prey. Wary as the creature is, the Red Dwarf seldom fails in surprising him, and with astonishing expertness generally despatches him with a single blow.—Wild Sports. ”

“ Wasn't that puffickly awful, dwarf?"
"It chills my marrow, Snow-white. Go on!"
"What is your marrow? what does it look like? why do you have it, if it gets cold so easy as that? I wouldn't! Well! So at last the Princess said she guessed she would marry the King of the Golden Mines, 'cause he was puffickly beautiful, and most prob'ly the old dwarf wouldn't dare to say a word when he found how beautiful he was, and strong and big and rich and everything."
"No!" said the dwarf, bitterly. "The poor dwarf would have no chance, certainly, against that kind of king. ”

“ I shouted, as the little creature came out. "A woman!" I shouted again—"a pigmy!" The little creature shrieked, looking at me. "Nchendé! nchendé! nchendé!" said she. "Oh! oh! oh! Yo! yo! yo!" and her piercing wail rent the air.
What a sight! I had never seen the like. "What!" said I, "now I do see the Dwarfs of Equatorial Africa—the Dwarfs of Homer, Herodotus—the Dwarfs of the ancients."
How queer the little old woman looked! How frightened she was! she trembled all over. She was neither white nor black; she was of a yellow, or mulatto color. "What a little head! what a little body! ”

“ Notwithstanding the little man's ill-temper, the girls gave themselves all imaginable trouble, in order to release the dwarf, but in vain—the beard was held too fast.
"I will run and call somebody else," said Rosy-red. "Idiot," replied the dwarf, "who would go and fetch more people? here are already two too many; can you not think of anything better?" "Do not be impatient," said Snow-white, "I will try and consider." Clapping her hands, as if she had found a remedy, she took out her scissors, and instantly released the dwarf by cutting off the end of his beard. ”

“ As the ugly, thick-limbed little Dwarf said this, he stamped one foot,—a loud wind was heard, and in a moment he went straight down through the earth, and was quite gone! At the same moment we heard a sweet voice singing in the air, which said:—
‘He thinks he makes what mortals see;
It seems so—but it shall not be.’
Before we had time to recover ourselves, we saw that the whole scene of frost and snow was changing into a bright summer. ”

“ A hundred years or so ago, many stories were told by old folks about the dwarfs. One of these will show how kind, obliging, and useful, or how surly and troublesome, the dwarfs could be—according as they are treated by merry, or by grumpy folks.
For example, Mr. Hilty was a dairy farmer, or shepherd, who was always ready to treat a dwarf with a cocoanut dipper full of cream. Because of this, the dwarfs were willing, whenever he called them, to look after his herds, when he wanted to leave his chalet, in the high pastures, and go down into the valley, to sell his cheeses, or to buy groceries. ”

“ Returning to the water-side, we passed a field, where dwarfs were laboring in beds of yams, heaping the soil around the roots, by scratching it backward; as a dog.
All things in readiness, Yoky’s valet, a tri-armed dwarf, treated us to a glorious start, by giving each canoe a vigorous triple-push, crying, “away with ye, monsters!” ”

“ At that the child laughed aloud, instead of screaming, as she had just been beginning to think she might; and then in a moment there was the dwarf, looking in at the green entrance, smiling and nodding at her.
"Oh, you dear dwarf!" said the child. "I am glad to see you. I forgotted where I was in this funny place. Isn't it a funny place, dwarf? how did you get here? what made you know about it? why don't you always live here all the time? what's that that's bright up there?"
Indeed, the hollow in the tree made a good-sized room enough, if a person were not too big. ”

“ She was tall, and her white profile was stern and grave, and she was attended by the most diminutive black dwarf in the world—a little creature who appeared absolutely to perspire under the weight of her enormous train, which was of some dark rich stuff, but brilliantly brocaded with white stars. The captain paused and bowed very low, lifting up the end of his long claymore, believing that this stately dame might wish to descend ”

“ And the more modern Dwarves of Germany, frequenting the clefts of rocks, were silent, mild, and well-disposed, and apt to bring presents to those who took their fancy. Like others of the elf-kingdom, they loved to borrow from mortals. Once a little bowing Dwarf came to a lady for the loan of her silk gown for a fairy-bride. (You can imagine that, at the ceremony, the groom must have had a pretty hunt among the wilderness of finery to get at her ring-finger!) ”

“ But one night, just as the soft outside edges of his heart began to take on a shining tinge, a little boy ran out in the road where the dwarf was passing, and in the dark mistook him for his father, and jumped up and threw his arms about the dwarf’s neck and hugged him. And of a sudden the dwarf’s heart began to beat, and when he got in the house, he saw that he wasn’t gold any more, and he wasn’t a dwarf—but he was straight and strong and real. “And so,” the Lady ended it, “you must love every grown-up you can, because maybe their hearts are turning into gold and you can stop it that way.” ”

“ In this case the small male reproduced his small Mexican great-grandsire, while the large males took after their West Highland ancestors.
But dwarfs often enough turn up in old-established “pure” breeds, and now and again a dwarf is found in an otherwise normal human family. There is no reason for supposing that such dwarfs are the result of reversion. Just as one of a litter of pups may prove a dwarf, one of five or six foals, full brothers and sisters, may prove a dwarf. ”