‘Is it long since you came? Was it yesterday? Or was it today, because it was so wet that I couldn’t get out?’
‘I’ve been here ever since you came yourself.’
‘What a long time!’ said the princess. ‘I don’t remember it at all.’
‘No. I suppose not.’
‘But I never saw you before.’
‘No. But you shall see me again.’
‘Do you live in this room always?’
‘I don’t sleep in it. I sleep on the opposite side of the landing. I sit here most of the day.’
‘I shouldn’t like it. My nursery is much prettier. You must be a queen too, if you are my great big grand-mother.’
‘Yes, I am a queen.’
‘Where is your crown, then?’ ‘In my bedroom.’
‘I should like to see it.’
‘You shall some day—not today.’
‘I wonder why nursie never told me.’
‘Nursie doesn’t know. She never saw me.’
‘But somebody knows that you are in the house?’
‘No; nobody.’
‘How do you get your dinner, then?’
‘I keep poultry—of a sort.’
‘Where do you keep them?’
‘I will show you.’
‘And who makes the chicken broth for you?’
‘I never kill any of MY chickens.’
‘Then I can’t understand.’
‘What did you have for breakfast this morning?’ asked the lady.
‘Oh! I had bread and milk, and an egg—I dare say you eat their eggs.’
‘Yes, that’s it. I eat their eggs.’
‘Is that what makes your hair so white?’
‘No, my dear. It’s old age. I am very old.’
‘I thought so. Are you fifty?’
‘Yes—more than that.’
‘Are you a hundred?’
‘Yes—more than that. I am too old for you to guess. Come and see my chickens.’
Again she stopped her spinning. She rose, took the princess by the hand, led her out of the room, and opened the door opposite the stair. The princess expected to see a lot of hens and chickens, but instead of that, she saw the blue sky first, and then the roofs of the house, with a multitude of the loveliest pigeons, mostly white, but of all colours, walking about, making bows to each other, and talking a language she could not understand. She clapped her hands with delight, and up rose such a flapping of wings that she in her turn was startled.
‘You’ve frightened my poultry,’ said the old lady, smiling.
‘And they’ve frightened me,’ said the princess, smiling too. ‘But what very nice poultry! Are the eggs nice?’
‘Yes, very nice.’ ‘What a small egg-spoon you must have! Wouldn’t it be better to keep hens, and get bigger eggs?’
‘How should I feed them, though?’
‘I see,’ said the princess. ‘The pigeons feed themselves. They’ve got wings.’
‘Just so. If they couldn’t fly, I couldn’t eat their eggs.’
‘But how do you get at the eggs? Where are their nests?’
The lady took hold of a little loop of string in the wall at the side of the door and, lifting a shutter, showed a great many pigeon-holes with nests, some with young ones and some with eggs in them. The birds came in at the other side, and she took out the eggs on this side. She closed it again quickly, lest the young ones should be frightened.
‘Oh, what a nice way!’ cried the princess. ‘Will you give me an egg to eat? I’m rather hungry.’
‘I will some day, but now you must go back, or nursie will be miserable about you. I dare say she’s looking for you everywhere.’
‘Except here,’ answered the princess. ‘Oh, how surprised she will be when I tell her about my great big grand-grand-mother!’
‘Yes, that she will!’ said the old lady with a curious smile. ‘Mind you tell her all about it exactly.’
‘That I will. Please will you take me back to her?’
‘I can’t go all the way, but I will take you to the top of the stair, and then you must run down quite fast into your own room.’
The little princess put her hand in the old lady’s, who, looking this way and that, brought her to the top of the first stair, and thence to the bottom of the second, and did not leave her till she saw her half-way down the third. When she heard the cry of her nurse’s pleasure at finding her, she turned and walked up the stairs again, very fast indeed for such a very great grandmother, and sat down to her spinning with another strange smile on her sweet old face.
About this spinning of hers I will tell you more another time.
Guess what she was spinning.
CHAPTER 4.What the Nurse Thought of It
‘Why, where can you have been, princess?’ asked the nurse, taking her in her arms. ‘It’s very unkind of you to hide away so long. I began to be afraid—’ Here she checked herself.
‘What were you afraid of, nursie?’ asked the princess.
‘Never mind,’ she answered. ‘Perhaps I will tell you another day. Now tell me where you have been.’
‘I’ve been up a long way to see my very great, huge, old grandmother,’ said the princess.
‘What do you mean by that?’ asked the nurse, who thought she was making fun.
‘I mean that I’ve been a long way up and up to see My GREAT grandmother. Ah, nursie, you don’t know what a beautiful mother of grandmothers I’ve got upstairs. She is such an old lady, with such lovely white hair—as white as my silver cup. Now, when I think of it, I think her hair must be silver.’
‘What nonsense you are talking, princess!’ said the nurse.
‘I’m not talking nonsense,’ returned Irene, rather offended. ‘I will tell you all about her. She’s much taller than you, and much prettier.’
‘Oh, I dare say!’ remarked the nurse.
‘And she lives upon pigeons’ eggs.’
‘Most likely,’ said the nurse.
‘And she sits in an empty room, spin-spinning all day long.’
‘Not a doubt of it,’ said the nurse.
‘And she keeps her crown in her bedroom.’
‘Of course—quite the proper place to keep her crown in. She wears it in bed, I’ll be bound.’
‘She didn’t say that. And I don’t think she does. That wouldn’t be comfortable—would it? I don’t think my papa wears his crown for a night-cap. Does he, nursie?’
‘I never asked him. I dare say he does.’
‘And she’s been there ever since I came here—ever so many years.’
‘Anybody could have told you that,’ said the nurse, who did not believe a word Irene was saying.
‘Why didn’t you tell me, then?’
‘There was no necessity. You could make it all up for yourself.’
‘You don’t believe me, then!’ exclaimed the princess, astonished and angry, as she well might be.
‘Did you expect me to believe you, princess?’ asked the nurse coldly. ‘I know princesses are in the habit of telling make-believes, but you are the first I ever heard of who expected to have them believed,’ she added, seeing that the child was strangely in earnest.
The princess burst into tears.
‘Well, I must say,’ remarked the nurse, now thoroughly vexed with her for crying, ‘it is not at all becoming in a princess to tell stories and expect to be believed just because she is a princess.’
‘But it’s quite true, I tell you.’
‘You’ve dreamt it, then, child.’
‘No, I didn’t dream it. I went upstairs, and I lost myself, and if I hadn’t found the beautiful lady, I should never have found myself.’
‘Oh, I dare say!’
‘Well, you just come up with me,
and see if I’m not telling the truth.’
‘Indeed I have other work to do. It’s your dinnertime, and I won’t have any more such nonsense.’
The princess wiped her eyes, and her face grew so hot that they were soon quite dry. She sat down to her dinner, but ate next to nothing. Not to be believed does not at all agree with princesses: for a real princess cannot tell a lie. So all the afternoon she did not speak a word. Only when the nurse spoke to her, she answered her, for a real princess is never rude—even when she does well to be offended.
Of course the nurse was not comfortable in her mind—not that she suspected the least truth in Irene’s story, but that she loved her dearly, and was vexed with herself for having been cross to her. She thought her crossness was the cause of the princess’s unhappiness, and had no idea that she was really and deeply hurt at not being believed. But, as it became more and more plain during the evening in her every motion and look, that, although she tried to amuse herself with her toys, her heart was too vexed and troubled to enjoy them, her nurse’s discomfort grew and grew. When bedtime came, she undressed and laid her down, but the child, instead of holding up her little mouth to be kissed, turned away from her and lay still. Then nursie’s heart gave way altogether, and she began to cry. At the sound of her first sob the princess turned again, and held her face to kiss her as usual. But the nurse had her handkerchief to her eyes, and did not see the movement.
‘Nursie,’ said the princess, ‘why won’t you believe me?’
‘Because I can’t believe you,’ said the nurse, getting angry again.
‘Ah! then, you can’t help it,’ said Irene, ‘and I will not be vexed with you any more. I will give you a kiss and go to sleep.’
‘You little angel!’ cried the nurse, and caught her out of bed, and walked about the room with her in her arms, kissing and hugging her.
‘You will let me take you to see my dear old great big grandmother, won’t you?’ said the princess, as she laid her down again.
‘And you won’t say I’m ugly, any more—will you, princess?’ ‘Nursie, I never said you were ugly. What can you mean?’
‘Well, if you didn’t say it, you meant it.’
‘Indeed, I never did.’
‘You said I wasn’t so pretty as that—’
‘As my beautiful grandmother—yes, I did say that; and I say it again, for it’s quite true.’
‘Then I do think you are unkind!’ said the nurse, and put her handkerchief to her eyes again.
‘Nursie, dear, everybody can’t be as beautiful as every other body, you know. You are very nice-looking, but if you had been as beautiful as my grandmother—’
‘Bother your grandmother!’ said the nurse.
‘Nurse, that’s very rude. You are not fit to be spoken to till you can behave better.’
The princess turned away once more, and again the nurse was ashamed of herself.
‘I’m sure I beg your pardon, princess,’ she said, though still in an offended tone. But the princess let the tone pass, and heeded only the words.
‘You won’t say it again, I am sure,’ she answered, once more turning towards her nurse. ‘I was only going to say that if you had been twice as nice-looking as you are, some king or other would have married you, and then what would have become of me?’
‘You are an angel!’ repeated the nurse, again embracing her. ‘Now,’ insisted Irene, ‘you will come and see my grandmother—won’t you?’
‘I will go with you anywhere you like, my cherub,’ she answered; and in two minutes the weary little princess was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 5.The Princess Lets Well Alone
When she woke the next morning, the first thing she heard was the rain still falling. Indeed, this day was so like the last that it would have been difficult to tell where was the use of It. The first thing she thought of, however, was not the rain, but the lady in the tower; and the first question that occupied her thoughts was whether she should not ask the nurse to fulfil her promise this very morning, and go with her to find her grandmother as soon as she had had her breakfast. But she came to the conclusion that perhaps the lady would not be pleased if she took anyone to see her without first asking leave; especially as it was pretty evident, seeing she lived on pigeons’ eggs, and cooked them herself, that she did not want the household to know she was there. So the princess resolved to take the first opportunity of running up alone and asking whether she might bring her nurse. She believed the fact that she could not otherwise convince her she was telling the truth would have much weight with her grandmother.
The princess and her nurse were the best of friends all dressing-time, and the princess in consequence ate an enormous little breakfast.
‘I wonder, Lootie’—that was her pet name for her nurse—’what pigeons’ eggs taste like?’ she said, as she was eating her egg—not quite a common one, for they always picked out the pinky ones for her.
‘We’ll get you a pigeon’s egg, and you shall judge for yourself,’ said the nurse.
‘Oh, no, no!’ returned Irene, suddenly reflecting they might disturb the old lady in getting it, and that even if they did not, she would have one less in consequence.
‘What a strange creature you are,’ said the nurse—’first to want a thing and then to refuse it!’
But she did not say it crossly, and the princess never minded any remarks that were not unfriendly.
‘Well, you see, Lootie, there are reasons,’ she returned, and said no more, for she did not want to bring up the subject of their former strife, lest her nurse should offer to go before she had had her grandmother’s permission to bring her. Of course she could refuse to take her, but then she would believe her less than ever.
Now the nurse, as she said herself afterwards, could not be every moment in the room; and as never before yesterday had the princess given her the smallest reason for anxiety, it had not yet come into her head to watch her more closely. So she soon gave her a chance, and, the very first that offered, Irene was off and up the stairs again.
This day’s adventure, however, did not turn out like yesterday’s, although it began like it; and indeed to-day is very seldom like yesterday, if people would note the differences—even when it rains. The princess ran through passage after passage, and could not find the stair of the tower. My own suspicion is that she had not gone up high enough, and was searching on the second instead of the third floor. When she turned to go back, she failed equally in her search after the stair. She was lost once more.
Something made it even worse to bear this time, and it was no wonder that she cried again. Suddenly it occurred to her that it was after having cried before that she had found her grandmother’s stair. She got up at once, wiped her eyes, and started upon a fresh quest.
This time, although she did not find what she hoped, she found what was next best: she did not come on a stair that went up, but she came upon one that went down. It was evidently not the stair she had come up, yet it was a good deal better than none; so down she went, and was singing merrily before she reached the bottom. There, to her surprise, she found herself in the kitchen. Although she was not allowed to go there alone, her nurse had often taken her, and she was a great favourite with the servants. So there was a general rush at her the moment she appeared, for every one wanted to have her; and the report of where she was soon reached the nurse’s ears. She came at once to fetch her; but she never suspected how she had got there, and the princess kept her own counsel.
Her failure to find the old lady not only disappointed her, but made her very thoughtful. Sometimes she came almost to the nurse’s opinion that she had dreamed all about her; but that fancy never lasted very long. She wondered much whether she should ever see her again, and thought it very sad not to have been able to find her when she particularly wanted her. She resolved to say nothing more to her nurse on the subject, seeing it w
as so little in her power to prove her words.
CHAPTER 6.The Little Miner
The next day the great cloud still hung over the mountain, and the rain poured like water from a full sponge. The princess was very fond of being out of doors, and she nearly cried when she saw that the weather was no better. But the mist was not of such a dark dingy grey; there was light in it; and as the hours went on it grew brighter and brighter, until it was almost too brilliant to look at; and late in the afternoon the sun broke out so gloriously that Irene clapped her hands, crying:
‘See, see, Lootie! The sun has had his face washed. Look how bright he is! Do get my hat, and let us go out for a walk. Oh, dear! oh, dear! how happy I am!’
Lootie was very glad to please the princess. She got her hat and cloak, and they set out together for a walk up the mountain; for the road was so hard and steep that the water could not rest upon it, and it was always dry enough for walking a few minutes after the rain ceased. The clouds were rolling away in broken pieces, like great, overwoolly sheep, whose wool the sun had bleached till it was almost too white for the eyes to bear. Between them the sky shone with a deeper and purer blue, because of the rain. The trees on the roadside were hung all over with drops, which sparkled in the sun like jewels. The only things that were no brighter for the rain were the brooks that ran down the mountain; they had changed from the clearness of crystal to a muddy brown; but what they lost in colour they gained in sound—or at least in noise, for a brook when it is swollen is not so musical as before. But Irene was in raptures with the great brown streams tumbling down everywhere; and Lootie shared in her delight, for she too had been confined to the house for three days.
At length she observed that the sun was getting low, and said it was time to be going back. She made the remark again and again, but, every time, the princess begged her to go on just a little farther and a little farther; reminding her that it was much easier to go downhill, and saying that when they did turn they would be at home in a moment. So on and on they did go, now to look at a group of ferns over whose tops a stream was pouring in a watery arch, now to pick a shining stone from a rock by the wayside, now to watch the flight of some bird. Suddenly the shadow of a great mountain peak came up from behind, and shot in front of them. When the nurse saw it, she started and shook, and catching hold of the princess’s hand turned and began to run down the hill.
The Classic Children's Literature Collection: 39 Classic Novels Page 4