CHAPTER I
There was once a child named Florio, who had neither father nor mother,uncle nor aunt, and so it happened that he was adopted by a witch. Hemight have had a fairy godmother if anybody had remembered to ask one tothe christening, but as no one took enough interest in him for that, itwas neglected, and poor Florio became the property of a hideous, hatefulold hag, who was never so happy as when she was making trouble. Ofcourse Florio was compelled to do her bidding. Naturally inoffensive andgentle, he was continually obliged to do violence to his conscience byobeying the witch.
For instance, the witch--who was known by the name of Fussioldfuri, andlived in a miserable cavern when she was not travelling about--hadgreat delight in spoiling any one's innocent amusement or upsetting hisor her plans; she even started children quarrelling and disputing;indeed, she found this one of her particular pastimes when she was notengaged in annoying older people.
It was among children that she made Florio particularly useful--souseful, in fact, that he never had a friend. If she found him amusinghimself with a happy little company, she made him do some selfish orugly thing which at once put a stop to all the cheerfulness; and often,before he knew what he was about, he would be struggling and kicking andscreaming and flinging himself upon one or the other of his comrades,while Fuss--as we must call her for convenience--laughed till she shook,and tears of joy ran down her ugly leathery cheeks. Then Florio,ashamed, miserable, and unhappy, would creep off to a corner and weep asif his little heart would break.
It was after one of these dreadful occurrences one day that Florio,hiding in the woods, heard a strange rustling among the bushes. He wasso used to wandering about after old Fuss, and living anyhow andanywhere, that he was more like a little creature of the woods himselfthan anything else, and it took a good deal to frighten him. Patter,patter, patter it went. What could it be? He peered in and out and underthe bush, but he saw nothing except a nest full of little blue eggs,which he would not touch for the world; no, he knew too well how pleasedold Fuss would be to have him disturb this little bird family, and heconcealed it again. As he did so, the sweetest little voice said,
"That's right."
Florio jumped as if a wasp had stung him.
"Yes," continued the voice, "you couldn't have pleased me better."
"But who are you? where are you?" asked Florio, to whom kind words wereunknown, but on whom they had the effect of making his heart beat with anew and strange emotion.
"I cannot tell you anything just now very well, but if you will meet mehere in the moonlight this evening, Florio, I will be glad to see you."
"To-night?" questioned the boy, who did not like the darkness.
"Yes, child; have no fear. I am the fairy Florella. Adieu."
The days were generally too short for Florio, who hated the nights inthe dismal cavern, when Fuss pulled his hair and pinched his nose andtripped him up over her staff by way of amusement; but now he longed forthe night to come, although it must be confessed he was not withoutfears. Fuss was uglier than usual, but this did not affect Florio as itmight have done had he not had something unusual and exciting to thinkof. Soon as the witch tumbled down on her heap of straw for the night,and showed by her heavy breathing and frightful snoring that she wasasleep, Florio crept softly from the cavern.
It was a beautiful evening, soft and balmy, but to leave the brightroadway and enter the dark woods demanded some courage, for ill-usagehad rendered Florio timid in the darkness, though, as I have saidbefore, he did not fear wild animals. Indeed, when a young fox camecautiously out of the thicket, and glanced about, Florio approached nearenough to touch his bushy tail.
It was somewhat difficult to find the precise spot of the day'soccurrence, but he noticed that whenever he went in a wrong direction acrowd of fire-flies would start up and show him the right way, and thushe was enabled to find the sweet-brier bush. As he reached it he heardthe same patter, patter, patter on the leaves of the bush, and lookingup he saw what caused the sound. Troops of tiny creatures werefluttering from leaf to leaf. Each had little silvery wings likebutterflies, and each carried sprigs and sprays of blossoms, whilefollowing them came elves of most grotesque appearance, bearing plattersof fruit and wild honey. In a moment they had formed a circle on thegrass, and danced about, singing as they went, while the elves arrangeda feast.
When all was in readiness, one--of largest size and of apparentsuperiority--beckoned to Florio to come near. Afraid to disobey, yetequally fearful of treading upon them, Florio approached, and in amoment he was surrounded, and with gentle pressure obliged to take theirvarious offerings. One gave him grape leave cups and baskets woven ofperfumed grasses, another filled them with honey and fruit, while alllaughed to see what appeared to them the enormous quantities necessaryfor one so large.
"Florio, you have done well to obey me," said the same sweet voice hehad heard in the daytime. "This, added to your consideration for thebird's-nest to-day, has pleased me, and your evident misery has arousedmy compassion. Fussioldfuri is an enemy of ours, and I never expected tosee one trained by her show a pitiful or kind spirit. It proves to methat there must be something in you worth cultivating. Are you willingto be guided by me? Do you want to leave old Fuss, and become one of myservitors?"
Florio was not quite sure that he fully understood all that was said tohim, but he was delighted at the idea of leaving Fuss, and said so.
Florella smiled upon him, and continued, "It may not be so easy as youimagine; those who serve me have to stand a test of faithfulness,energy, and courage. Our life seems one of careless mirth, but it is notso. We, of course, are happy, and enjoy ourselves; but we have manyduties, and are not altogether free, as would be supposed. I am at thehead of this little band. We are Flower Fairies, cousins to the WindFairies and Herb Elves. I am familiar with every wild-flower that grows,and I am now desirous of getting for our forests some seeds of theSwiss Edelweiss. If you can procure them for me I will reward youhandsomely."
Poor Florio heard this speech with consternation. He had never in allhis life known one flower from another. Where, when, how could he go?And if he went, how should he escape Fuss? These thoughts made the poorchild falter and grow pale. It would have been so much easier to say hecould not do it, and have done with the matter; but the remembrance ofhis horrible slavery, and the thought that Florella believed in hisability to aid her, stimulated his courage, and he said,
"I know nothing of flowers, dear lady; I am a very ignorant fellow; butif you will direct me, and tell me where to go, I am ready to try."
"Spoken well, my lad," said the fairy. "I do not expect impossibilities._We_ are the only ones who can do what seems impossible to man. TheEdelweiss is a mountain flower, growing on the highest Alps, and many aman has lost his life striving to pluck it for one he loved. It is muchesteemed for its rarity, and because of the often great difficulty ofgetting it. See, here is a dried blossom;" and she put in his hand asmall white flower like an immortelle, though Florio thought that itlooked as if it were made of flannel, it was so soft and woolly.
"This you must keep; see, I will put it in this case of birch-bark, andyou had better place it in your bosom. Now I must tell you about thejourney. To leave Fussioldfuri immediately might make the task moredifficult. She is about starting for the mountains, and if you keep withher a while longer you will be able to find the place you need muchsooner than if you went alone. But when you reach Geneva you are toleave her. Can you remember that?"
"Oh yes, the rhyme will help me:
"'When I get to Geneva, Then I must leave her.'"
"Exactly; and then you are to seek the Edelweiss, and when you havegathered the seeds you are to meet me here in this forest, whether it bewinter or whether it be summer. Adieu."
The fairy vanished, and with her went her band--nodding, waving, andkissing their finger-tips.
Oh, how dreary the woods seemed without the little troop! The windsighed in the pines, and the moonlight cast fearful shadows from t
hegnarled and knotty boughs.
Florio rose with a sigh and stretched his limbs, wondering if it wasworth while to try and do the fairy's bidding when he had to go back tohear the dreaded voice of old Fuss. Then he made sure of the birch-barkcase, and again with the aid of the fire-flies found the road. Fuss wassound asleep still when he laid himself down on his bundle of straw inthe farthest corner of the cavern. One thing he did not notice, and thatwas the young fox whose bushy tail he had touched going into the woods.It had followed him home, and crept in under the straw beside him.
Adventures of Prince Lazybones, and Other Stories Page 26