When the fairies were all in the banqueting hall they were served a splendid feast. They were all going to their places when Magotine made her entry; she was the sister of Carabosse, and no less wicked. The queen shivered when she saw her, fearing disaster, for she had not invited her to the feast; but she carefully concealed her anxiety, and herself went in search of a chair, covered in green velvet and embroidered with sapphires. Since Magotine was the senior fairy there, the others all arranged themselves to make way for her, and whispered to each other: We must hurry sisters, to make our gifts to the little princesses, to forestall Magotine –
When she was offered the chair she said rudely that she did not want one, and was quite tall enough to eat standing up – but she was wrong about this, for the table was somewhat high, and she was unable to see over it, since she was extremely short of stature. This quite put her out of temper, and increased her ill-will
My lady, said the queen, I do beg you to take your place at the table.
If you had wanted me there, replied the fairy, you would have invited me with the others – I see that the only people welcome at your court are beautiful people, fair of face and straight of limb, like my sisters. I myself am far too old and ugly for you – but all the same I have just as many powers as they have – indeed, without boasting, I can safely say I have a few more.
All the fairies begged her so pressingly to join them at the table that in the end she agreed. Then a golden basket was brought in, containing twelve beautiful bouquets of jewelled flowers – the first twelve fairies each took one, and nothing was left for Magotine, who began to mutter unpleasantly, and grind her teeth. The queen flew to her bureau and brought back a Spanish leather case, delicately perfumed, covered with rubies and full of diamonds, and begged the fairy to accept it. But Magotine shook her head and said: Keep your jewels, ma’am – I’ve got much better ones at home – I only came to find out whether you had remembered me, and I see that you had in fact completely ignored me.
Thereupon she struck the table with her wand, and all the lovely food was changed into snake stew, which upset the other fairies so much that they threw down their napkins and abandoned the feast.
While they were discussing the nasty trick Magotine had just played on them, the savage little fairy went up to the cradle where the princesses were all swaddled in sheets of cloth-of-gold, most beautiful to behold. I grant you, she said briskly to one of them, perfect ugliness – ; she was going on to pronounce some equivalent malediction on the other, when the rest of the fairies, terribly upset, hurried up to prevent her – to such good effect that the wicked Magotine smashed a large glass window, shot through it like a bolt of lightning, and vanished from sight.
Whatever gifts the well-disposed fairies were able to bestow on the princess, the poor queen was not really able to feel their kindness, since she was wholly possessed by the unhappiness of finding herself mother of the ugliest creature in the world. She took the little thing in her arms and watched miserably as she grew uglier and uglier every moment. She made terrible efforts to control her grief, and to stop herself from bursting into tears in front of the gracious fairies – but the tears could not be kept back, and the fairies were seized with pity for her.
What shall we do, sisters? they asked each other. What can we do to console the unfortunate queen?
They held a great council, and then told the queen to be less overwhelmed by her grief, for a time was to come when her daughter would be greatly happy –
But – interrupted the queen – But will she become beautiful?
We may not tell you any more at present, replied the fairies. You must be content to know that your daughter will be happy.
She thanked them repeatedly, and did not forget to send them away with many presents – for although the fairies were extremely rich, they still liked to be offered gifts, and this custom has since come to be observed by all the peoples of the world, and remains quite unaffected by the passage of time.
The queen called her elder daughter Hidessa, and the younger one Bella. These names suited them perfectly, for Hidessa grew to appear so frightful that, however intelligent she was, it was impossible to look her in the face. Her sister grew prettier and prettier and seemed a most attractive child. The result of this was that when Hidessa was twelve, she threw herself at the feet of her parents and begged them to allow her to go and shut herself away in the Lonely Castle, to hide her ugliness, and to spare them any further misery. They had not given up loving her, despite her deformities, so they felt some reluctance in giving their consent. But Bella remained, which was quite sufficient consolation, so they agreed.
Hidessa asked the queen to send with her only her nurse and a few household servants.
There is no need to be afraid of anyone carrying me off, she told her mother – and I assure you that, shaped as I am, I want to hide away even from daylight.
The king and the queen agreed to her request, and she was escorted to the castle she had chosen. It was centuries old; it was approached from the sea, and its windows opened on foam and breakers; a great forest lay behind it, in which it was possible to ride and to wander, and in another direction lay open meadows. The princess played skilfully on various instruments, and sang wonderfully well. She stayed two years in this pleasant solitude, and even wrote various books of thoughts and meditations. But, in time, she felt a stronger and stronger need to see the king and queen, so she had her horses put to, and travelled to the court. She arrived exactly at the moment when the Princess Bella was to be married. All was joy and festivity. When they saw Hidessa everyone looked upset. Neither of her parents kissed her or hugged her, and the only welcome anyone gave her was to tell her that she had grown considerably uglier, and that she really shouldn’t think about coming to the ball – if, however, she wanted just to have a look at it, they might find some little hole or cranny for her to peep through.
She replied that she had not come to dance, nor indeed to listen to the violins – but that she had been so long in the Lonely Castle that she had felt compelled to leave it to pay her respects to their majesties the king and the queen, and that she was now very painfully aware that they could not stand the sight of her – so she would go back to her wilderness, where the trees, the flowers and the fountains made no comments about her ugliness when she came near them. When the king and queen saw that she was so angry, they begged her, at some cost to their own peace of mind, to stay with them for two or three days. But since she had a spirited and generous nature, she replied that she would find it too hard to leave, if she passed so much time in such good company. They were too eager for her to leave to try to hold her back, so they merely replied coldly that they were sure she was perfectly right.
On the occasion of her wedding the Princess Bella gave her sister an old ribbon which she herself had worn all that year attached to her muff, and the king she was marrying gave his new sister-in-law a skirt-length of taffeta, in a harsh purplish-reddish colour called zinzolin.16 She felt a fierce urge to throw both the ribbon and the zinzolinnery back in the faces of the very generous persons who offered her such meagre entertainment; but she had so much spirit, so much good sense and so much real wisdom, that she would not let herself show any hint of bitterness. Then she left with her faithful nurse for her Lonely Castle, her heart so full of sadness that she passed the whole journey without saying a word.
*
One day, when she was on one of the darkest paths of the forest, she saw beneath a tree a large green snake, which lifted its head and said: Hidessa, you are not alone in your unhappiness. Look at my terrible face, and know that I was born even more beautiful than you.
The princess, seized by fear, did not hear half these words – she fled, and for several days did not dare to go out, for terror of a similar encounter. In the end, becoming bored with being alone in her room, she came down one evening and wandered along the sea-shore, walking slowly, brooding on her sad fate. Suddenly she saw, coming towards her,
a small golden boat, hung about with all sorts of intricate devices. The sail was gold brocade, the mast was cedar, the oars were sandalwood; it seemed to be propelled by chance alone; and as it halted very near the shore, the princess, curious to see all its beauties, stepped inside. She discovered that it was upholstered in crimson cut velvet, on cloth-of-gold, and its studs appeared to be made of diamond. But suddenly the boat sped away from the shore – the princess, in alarm, took to the oars to turn it back, but her efforts were in vain – a wind sprang up, the waves swelled higher and higher, and she was soon out of sight of land. Surrounded by sea and sky, she abandoned herself to fortune – expecting, moreover, that fortune would bring her nothing pleasant, and thinking to herself that Magotine had played this nasty trick on her, as was her habit. I am going to die, she said to herself. What are the secret prickings and shrinkings that make me fear death? What pleasures have I known so far to make me hate it? My ugliness frightens even my nearest relations. My sister is a great queen and I am dispatched to a wilderness where the only company I found was a talking snake. It is better for me to die, than to drag out my miserable days any longer.
These thoughts dried the princess’s tears. She looked about courageously to see what side death would come from – she seemed indeed to be asking it not to delay any longer, when she saw riding the waves, a serpent which came near the boat and said: If you felt disposed to accept help from a poor Green Worm, such as me, I am able to save your life.
Death frightens me much less than you do, cried the princess – and if you do wish to please me, make sure I never have to look at you again!
The Green Worm gave a long hiss (that is a serpentine way of sighing) and without reply, plunged beneath the waves. What a loathsome monster, said the princess to herself; he has greenish wings, and his body is all sorts of changing colours – he has ivory claws and his head is covered with a sort of mane of ugly fronds. I really would rather die than owe my life to that creature. And yet, she went on, what makes him want to follow me, and by what mysterious agency does he talk like a rational being?
She was musing in this way when a voice seemed to answer her thoughts, saying: Understand, Hidessa, that you must not despise the Green Worm – and, if it isn’t too harsh a thing to say, I would point out that he is much less ugly in his kind than you are in yours – but far from wishing to anger you, we are anxious to comfort your distress, if you will give your consent.
This voice startled the princess considerably, and what it said appeared to her so reasonable, that she was quite unable to hold back her tears. But then she thought to herself – How silly I am not to be able to weep for my approaching death because someone or other points out how ugly I am – even if I were the most beautiful woman in the world, I should perish nevertheless – and that ought even to be a sort of comfort to me, and stop me from caring about the life I am about to lose –
Whilst she was moralising in this way, the boat, still floating along at the winds’ will, suddenly hit a rock, and shattered into splinters. The poor princess saw that all her philosophy was no use at all against such immediate danger. She reached out for a few planks which she felt herself clasp in her arms, and felt herself borne up, and carried, with great good fortune, to the foot of the huge rock. Imagine her state, when she became aware that she was clinging tightly to the Great Green Worm!
When he saw the state of terror she was in, he went away a little distance, and called to her: You would fear me less if you knew me better – but it is my harsh fate to put terror into everyone I meet – and he threw himself immediately into the water, and Hidessa was left alone on the huge rock.
Whichever way she looked, she saw nothing to alleviate her despair; night was coming on; she had nothing to eat, and nowhere to lay her head. I thought I was about to end my life in the sea, she said sadly to herself, but now I see my last moments will be on this rock – some sea-monster will come to swallow me, or I shall starve to death. She seated herself at the top of the rock. Whilst daylight lasted she looked at the sea, and when the night was upon her, she took off her zinzolin taffeta skirt and wrapped her head and face in it – and so she waited, in great anxiety, for what might come to pass.
In the end she fell asleep, and it seemed to her that she could hear the sound of musical instruments; she decided that she must be dreaming – but after a moment or two she heard singing, and the song seemed to be composed especially for her.
Let sweet love hurt you –
His arrows may burn
But their sharpness and fierceness
Quickly will turn
To softness and sweetness –
Princess, now learn
To let sweet love hurt you
And no longer mourn.
Listening carefully to these words woke her up altogether. What lies in wait for me? she asked herself. Happiness, misery – can there possibly be any kind of good life still to come? She opened her eyes with considerable apprehension, fearing to find herself surrounded by monsters – but what was her surprise when, in place of the wild and dreadful rock, she found herself in a bedroom all panelled with gold; the bed in which she lay was furnished richly enough for the most magnificent palace; she lay and stared, trying to work out where she might be, what might have happened, unable quite to believe that she was truly awake. In the end she got up, and ran to open the glass door which led to a wide balcony, from which she beheld all those earthly beauties made by the combined energies of nature and art – gardens full of wonderful flowers, of glittering fountains, graceful statues, and rare trees; there were forests in the distance, and palaces whose walls were studded with precious stones, whose roofs were pearl, all perfectly wrought. Beyond was a mild and rippling sea, covered with all sorts of craft, whose sails, pennants and streamers ruffled by the wind made a perfectly pleasing picture.
O just Gods! she cried. What do I see? Where am I? What an amazing transformation! What has become of the terrible rock which appeared to threaten the heavens with its frowning crags? Am I still the person who yesterday was about to perish in a boat, and was saved by the aid of a serpent? She spoke aloud in this way; she walked up and down; she stopped; finally she heard some kind of sound in her room; she went in, and saw coming towards her a hundred pagods (small Oriental figures, with nodding heads). They were clothed and constructed in a hundred different ways. The tallest were maybe two feet high, and the tiniest no more than four fingerlengths. Some were handsome, gracious and pleasant; others were hideous, fearsome in their ugliness; they were made of diamond, emerald, ruby, pearl, crystal, amber, coral, porcelain, gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and earthenware; some without arms, others without feet, with mouths in their ears, squinting eyes and flattened noses – in a word, there was no greater difference between all the creatures who inhabit this world, than there was between these pagods.
Those who made their appearance before the princess were deputies of the kingdom. After having addressed her in a long exhortation, studded with a series of judicious reflections, they told her, in order to cheer her, that for some time they had been travelling through the world, but in order to gain permission to do this from their ruler, they had to make a vow, on leaving, never to speak of their experiences – some of them were even so scrupulous that they were unwilling to move their heads, their feet or their hands – but nevertheless most of them were unable to prevent themselves from doing so. They told her that in this way they ran all over the universe, and that, on their return they delighted their king by telling the tale of all the most secret happenings in the different courts where they were received. This pleasure, my lady, added these deputies, we will also sometimes bestow on you, for we are commanded to forget nothing which might amuse or interest you – instead of bringing you presents, we have come to sing and dance for your delight. And they immediately began to sing the following words, whilst dancing in rounds with basque drums and castanets.
Pleasures bring sweet delight
After harsh
pains
Pleasures bring sweet delight
After great fear and fright
Break not your chains
Gentle young lovers
For pleasures bring sweet delight
After harsh pains
Pleasures bring such delight
After great fear and fright.
After your cruel despair
Tomorrow’s skies, bright and fair
Bring dawn after night,
Soft-smiling and bright.
Pleasures bring sweet delight
After harsh pains.
When they had come to an end, the deputy who had been their spokesman said to the princess: Here, my lady, are a hundred pagodines who are chosen for the honour of serving you; everything in the world you may desire can be accomplished, provided that you remain amongst us. The pagodines in their turn made their appearance; they were all carrying baskets, appropriate to their heights, full of hundreds of different objects, so pretty, so useful, so well constructed and so richly decorated that Hidessa could not weary of admiring, praising, and exclaiming over the marvels before her. The most prominent of the pagodines, who was a small creature made of diamond, suggested that she should go into the bathing cavern, since the heat of the day was increasing. The princess stepped in the direction pointed out to her, between two rows of bodyguards whose size and expressions were enough to make anyone die of laughing. She found two huge vessels, made of crystal and decorated in gold, full of water whose perfume was so good and so fine that she was astonished; a canopy of cloth-of-gold mixed with green was raised above them. She asked why there were two baths, and was answered that one was for her and the other was for the ruler of the pagods. But, she cried, where is he to be found? My lady, someone said, at present he is at war – you will see him when he returns. The princess then asked if he was married, and was answered that he was not, and that he was so good a prince, and so gentle, that he had so far found no one worthy to be his bride. She did not persist in her curiosity; she undressed and entered the bath. Immediately pagods and pagodines began to sing and to play their instruments – some had theorbos made of walnut-shells, some had viols made of almond-shells – for their instruments had to be proportionate to their stature – but all was so exact, and so harmonious, that nothing could be more agreeable than these sorts of concerts.
Wonder Tales Page 17