The Queen's Triplets, a Nursery Tale for the old.
The Queen's Triplets, a Nursery Tale for the old]
Once upon a time there was a Queen who unexpectedly gave birth tothree Princes. They were all so exactly alike that after a moment ortwo it was impossible to remember which was the eldest or which wasthe youngest. Any two of them, sort them how you pleased, were alwaystwins. They all cried in the same key and with the same comicgrimaces. In short, there was not a hair's-breadth of differencebetween them--not that they had a hair's-breadth between them, for,like most babies, they were prematurely bald.
The King was very much put out. He did not mind the expense of keepingthree Heir Apparents, for that fell on the country, and was defrayedby an impost called "The Queen's Tax." But it was the consecratedcustom of the kingdom that the crown should pass over to the eldestson, and the absence of accurate knowledge upon this point wasperplexing. A triumvirate was out of the question; the multiplicationof monarchs would be vexation to the people, and the rule of threewould drive them mad.
The Queen was just as annoyed, though on different grounds. She feltit hard enough to be the one mother in the realm who could not get theQueen's bounty, without having to suffer the King's reproaches. Herheart was broken, and she died soon after of laryngitis.
To distinguish the triplets (when it was too late) they were alwaysdressed one in green, one in blue, and one in black, the colours ofthe national standard, and naturally got to be popularly known by thesobriquets of the Green Prince, the Blue Prince, and the Black Prince.Every year they got older and older till at last they became youngmen. And every year the King got older and older till at last hebecame an old man, and the fear crept into his heart that he might berestored to his wife and leave the kingdom embroiled in civil feudunless he settled straightway who should be the heir. But, beinghuman, notwithstanding his court laureates, he put off thedisagreeable duty from day to day, and might have died without anheir, if the envoys from Paphlagonia had not aroused him to thenecessity of a decision. For they announced that the Princess ofPaphlagonia, being suddenly orphaned, would be sent to him in thetwelfth moon that she might marry his eldest son as covenanted byancient treaty. This was the last straw. "But I don't know who is myeldest son!" yelled the King, who had a vast respect for covenants andthe Constitution.
In great perturbation he repaired to a famous Oracle, at that timeworked by a priestess with her hair let down her back. The King askedher a plain question: "Which is my eldest son?"
After foaming at the mouth like an open champagne bottle, shereplied:--
"The eldest is he that the Princess shall wed."
"'THE ELDEST IS HE THAT THE PRINCESS SHALL WED.'"]
The King said he knew that already, and was curtly told that if thereplies did not give satisfaction he could go elsewhere. So he went tothe wise men and the magicians, and held a levee of them, and theygave him such goodly counsel that the Chief Magician was henceforthhonoured with the privilege of holding the Green, Black, and BlueTricolour over the King's head at mealtimes. Soon after, it being thetwelfth moon, the King set forward with a little retinue to meet thePrincess of Paphlagonia, whose coming had got abroad; but returned twodays later with the news that the Princess was confined to her room,and would not arrive in the city till next year.
"THE CHIEF MAGICIAN."]
On the last day of the year the King summoned the three Princes to thePresence Chamber. And they came, the Green Prince, and the BluePrince, and the Black Prince, and made obeisance to the Monarch, whosat in moire antique robes, on the old gold throne, with his courtiersall around him.
"My sons," he said, "ye are aware that, according to the immemoriallaws of the realm, one of you is to be my heir, only I know not whichof you he is; the difficulty is complicated by the fact that I havecovenanted to espouse him to the Princess of Paphlagonia, of whoseimminent arrival ye have heard. In this dilemma there are those whowould set the sovereignty of the State upon the hazard of a die. Butnot by such undignified methods do I deem it prudent to extort thedesigns of the gods. There are ways alike more honourable to you andto me of ascertaining the intentions of the fates. And first, the wisemen and the magicians recommend that ye be all three sent forth uponan arduous emprise. As all men know, somewhere in the great seas thatengirdle our dominion, somewhere beyond the Ultimate Thule, thererangeth a vast monster, intolerable, not to be borne. Every ninth moonthis creature approacheth our coasts, deluging the land with an inkyvomit. This plaguy Serpent cannot be slain, for the soothsayers averit beareth a charmed life, but it were a mighty achievement, if foronly one year, the realm could be relieved of its oppression. Are yewilling to set forth separately upon this knightly quest?"
"'THERE RANGETH A VAST MONSTER.'"]
Then the three Princes made enthusiastic answer, entreating to be spedon the journey forthwith, and a great gladness ran through thePresence Chamber, for all had suffered much from the annual incursionsof the monster. And the King's heart was fain of the gallant spirit ofthe Princes.
"'Tis well," said he. "To-morrow, at the first dawn of the new year,shall ye fare forth together; when ye reach the river ye shall part,and for eight moons shall ye wander whither ye will; only, when theninth moon rises, shall ye return and tell me how ye have fared.Hasten now, therefore, and equip yourselves as ye desire, and if therebe aught that will help you in the task, ye have but to ask for it."
Then, answering quickly before his brothers could speak, the BlackPrince cried: "Sire, I would crave the magic boat which saileth underthe sea and destroyeth mighty armaments."
"It is thine," replied the King.
Then the Green Prince said: "Sire, grant me the magic car whichsaileth through the air over the great seas."
The Black Prince started and frowned, but the King answered, "It isgranted." Then, turning to the Blue Prince, who seemed lost inmeditation, the King said: "Why art thou silent, my son? Is therenothing I can give thee?"
"Thanks, I will take a little pigeon," answered the Blue Princeabstractedly.
The courtiers stared and giggled, and the Black Prince chuckled, butthe Blue Prince was seemingly too proud to back out of his request.
So at sunrise on the morrow the three Princes set forth, journeyingtogether till they came to the river where they had agreed to partcompany. Here the magic boat was floating at anchor, while the magiccar was tied to the trunk of a plane-tree upon the bank, and thelittle pigeon, fastened by a thread, was fluttering among thebranches.
Now, when the Green Prince saw the puny pigeon, he was like to die oflaughing.
"Dost thou think to feed the Serpent with thy pigeon?" he sneered. "Ifear me thou wilt not choke him off thus."
"And what hast thou to laugh at?" retorted the Black Prince,interposing. "Dost thou think to find the Serpent of the Sea in theair?"
"He is always in the air," murmured the Blue Prince, inaudibly.
"Nay," said the Green Prince, scratching his head dubiously. "But thoudidst so hastily annex the magic boat, I had to take the next bestthing."
"Dost thou accuse me of unfairness?" cried the Black Prince in apained voice. "Sooner than thou shouldst say that, I would change withthee."
"Wouldst thou, indeed?" enquired the Green Prince eagerly.
"Ay, that would I," said the Black Prince indignantly. "Take the magicboat, and may the gods speed thee." So saying he jumped briskly intothe magic car, cut the rope, and sailed aloft. Then, looking downcontemptuously upon the Blue Prince, he shouted: "Come, mount thypigeon, and be off in search of the monster."
But the Blue Prince replied, "I will await you here."
Then the Green Prince pushed off his boat, chuckling louder than ever."Dost thou expect to keep the creature off our coasts by guarding thehead of the river?" he scoffed.
But the Blue Prince replied, "I will await you both here till theninth moon."
No sooner were his brothers gone than the Blue Prince set aboutbuilding a hut. Here he lived happily, fishing his meals
out of theriver or snaring them out of the sky. The pigeon was never for amoment in danger of being eaten. It was employed more agreeably toitself and its master in operations which will appear anon. Most ofthe time the Blue Prince lay on his back among the wild flowers,watching the river rippling to the sea or counting the passing of theeight moons, that alternately swelled and dwindled, now showing likethe orb of the Black Prince's car, now like the Green Prince's boat.Sometimes he read scraps of papyrus, and his face shone.
One lovely starry night, as the Blue Prince was watching the heavens,it seemed to him as if the eighth moon in dying had dropped out of thefirmament and was falling upon him. But it was only the Black Princecome back. His garments were powdered with snow, his brows wereknitted gloomily, he had a dejected, despondent aspect.
"Thou here!" he snapped.
"Of course," said the Blue Prince cheerfully, though he seemed alittle embarrassed all the same. "Haven't I been here all the time?But go into my hut, I've kept supper hot for thee."
"Has the Green Prince had his?"
"No, I haven't seen anything of him. Hast thou scotched the Serpent?"
"No, I haven't seen anything of him," growled the Black Prince. "I'vepassed backwards and forwards over the entire face of the ocean, butnowhere have I caught the slightest glimpse of him. What a fool I wasto give up the magic boat! He never seems to come to the surface."
All this while the Blue Prince was dragging his brother withsuspicious solicitude towards the hut, where he sat him down to hisown supper of ortolans and oysters. But the host had no sooner runoutside again, on the pretext of seeing if the Green Prince wascoming, than there was a disturbance and eddying in the stream as of arally of water-rats, and the magic boat shot up like a catapult, andthe Green Prince stepped on deck all dry and dusty, and with the airof a draggled dragon-fly.
"Good evening, hast thou er--scotched the Serpent?" stammered the BluePrince, taken aback.
"No, I haven't even seen anything of him," growled the Green Prince."I have skimmed along the entire surface of the ocean, and sailedevery inch beneath it, but nowhere have I caught the slightestglimpse of him. What a fool I was to give up the magic car! From aheight I could have commanded an ampler area of ocean. Perhaps he wasup the river."
"No, I haven't seen anything of him," replied the Blue Prince hastily."But go into my hut, thy supper must be getting quite cold." Hehurried his verdant brother into the hut, and gave him some chestnutsout of the oven (it was the best he could do for him), and then rushedoutside again, on the plea of seeing if the Serpent was coming. But heseemed to expect him to come from the sky, for, leaning against thetrunk of the plane-tree by the river, he resumed his anxious scrutinyof the constellations. Presently there was a gentle whirring in theair, and a white bird became visible, flying rapidly downwards in hisdirection. Almost at the same instant he felt himself pinioned by arope to the tree-trunk, and saw the legs of the alighting pigeonneatly prisoned in the Black Prince's fist.
"Aha!" croaked the Black Prince triumphantly. "Now we shall seethrough thy little schemes."
He detached the slip of papyrus which dangled from the pigeon's neck.
"How darest thou read my letters?" gasped the Blue Prince.
"If I dare to rob the mail, I shall certainly not hesitate to read theletters," answered the Black Prince coolly, and went on to enunciateslowly (for the light was bad) the following lines:--
"Heart-sick I watch the old moon's ling'ring death, And long upon my face to feel thy breath; I burn to see its final flicker die, And greet our moon of honey in the sky."
"What is all this moonshine?" he concluded in bewilderment.
Now the Blue Prince was the soul of candour, and seeing that nothingcould now be lost by telling the truth, he answered:--
"This is a letter from a damsel who resideth in the Tower ofTelifonia, on the outskirts of the capital; we are engaged. No doubtthe language seemeth to thee a little overdone, but wait till thy turncometh."
THE DAMSEL OF THE TOWER.]
"And so thou hast employed this pigeon as a carrier between thee andthis suburban young person?" cried the Black Prince, feeling vaguelyboiling over with rage.
"Even so," answered his brother, "but guard thy tongue. The lady ofwhom thou speakest so disrespectfully is none other than the Princessof Paphlagonia."
"Eh? What?" gasped the Black Prince.
"She hath resided there since the twelfth moon of last year. The Kingreceived her the first time he set out to meet her."
"Dost thou dare say the King hath spoken untruth?"
"Nay, nay. The King is a wise man. Wise men never mean what they say.The King said she was confined to her room. It is true, for he hadconfined her in the Tower with her maidens for fear she should fall inlove with the wrong Prince, or the reverse, before the rightful heirwas discovered. The King said she would not arrive in the city tillnext year. This also is true. As thou didst rightly observe, the Towerof Telifonia is situated in the suburbs. The King did not bargain formy discovering that a beautiful woman lived in its topmost turret."
"Nay, how couldst thou discover that? The King did not lend thee themagic car, and thou certainly couldst not see her at that heightwithout the magic glass!"
"I have not seen her. But through the embrasure I often saw thesunlight flashing and leaping like a thing of life, and I knew it waswhat the children call a 'Johnny Noddy.' Now a 'Johnny Noddy' arguetha mirror, and a mirror argueth a woman, and frequent use thereofargueth a beautiful woman. So, when in the Presence Chamber the Kingtold us of his dilemma as to the hand of the Princess of Paphlagonia,it instantly dawned upon me who the beautiful woman was, and why theKing was keeping her hidden away, and why he had hidden away hismeaning also. Wherefore straightway I asked for a pigeon, knowing thatthe pigeons of the town roost on the Tower of Telifonia, so that I hadbut to fly my bird at the end of a long string like a kite toestablish communication between me and the fair captive. In time mylittle messenger grew so used to the journey to and fro that I coulddispense with the string. Our courtship has been most satisfactory. Welove each other ardently, and--"
"But you have never seen each other!" interrupted the Black Prince.
"Thou forgettest we are both royal personages," said the Blue Princein astonished reproof.
"But this is gross treachery--what right hadst thou to make theseunderhand advances in our absence?"
"Thou forgettest I had to scotch the Serpent," said the Blue Prince inastonished reproof. "Thou forgettest also that she can only marry theheir to the throne."
"Ah, true!" said the Black Prince, considerably relieved. "And as thouhast chosen to fritter away the time in making love to her, thou hasttaken the best way to lose her."
"Thou forgettest I shall have to marry her," said the Blue Prince inastonished reproof. "Not only because I have given my word to a lady,but because I have promised the King to do my best to scotch theSerpent of the Sea. Really thou seemest terribly dull to-day. Let meput the matter in a nutshell. If he who scotches the Sea Serpent is tomarry the Princess, then would I scotch the Sea Serpent by marryingthe Princess, and marry the Princess to scotch the Sea Serpent. Thouhast searched the face of the sea, and our brother has dragged itsdepths, and nowhere have ye seen the Sea Serpent. Yet in the ninthmoon he will surely come, and the land will be covered with an inkyvomit as in former years. But if I marry the Princess of Paphlagoniain the ninth moon, the Royal Wedding will ward off the Sea Serpent,and not a scribe will shed ink to tell of his advent. Therefore,instead of ranging through the earth, I stayed at home and paid myaddresses to the--"
"Yes, yes, what a fool I was!" interrupted the Black Prince, smitinghis brow with his palm, so that the pigeon escaped from between hisfingers, and winged its way back to the Tower of Telifonia as if tocarry his words to the Princess.
"Thou forgettest thou art a fool still," said the Blue Prince inastonished reproof. "Prithee, unbind me forthwith."
"Nay, I am a fool no longer, for it is I th
at shall wed the Princessof Paphlagonia and scotch the Sea Serpent, it is I that have sent thepigeon to and fro, and unless thou makest me thine oath to be silenton the matter I will slay thee and cast thy body into the river."
"Thou forgettest our brother, the Green Prince," said the Blue Princein astonished reproof.
"Bah! he hath eyes for naught but the odd ortolans and oysters Isacrificed that he might gorge himself withal, while I spied out thysecret. He shall be told that I returned to exchange my car for thypigeon even as I exchanged my boat for his car. Come, thine oath orthou diest." And a jewelled scimitar shimmered in the starlight.
"A JEWELLED SCIMITAR SHIMMERED IN THE STARLIGHT."]
The Blue Prince reflected that though life without love was hardlyworth living, death was quite useless. So he swore and went in tosupper. When he found that the Green Prince had not spared even abaked chestnut before he fell asleep, he swore again. And on themorrow when the Princes approached the Tower of Telifonia, with itsflashing "Johnny Noddy," they met a courier from the King, who, havinginformed himself of the Black Prince's success, ran ahead with therumour thereof. And lo! when the Princes passed through the city gatethey found the whole population abroad clad in all their bravery, andflags flying and bells ringing and roses showering from the balconies,and merry music swelling in all the streets for joy of the prospect ofthe Sea Serpent's absence. And when the new moon rose, the threePrinces, escorted by flute-players, hied them to the Presence Chamber,and the King embraced his sons, and the Black Prince stood forward andexplained that if a Prince were married in the ninth moon it wouldprevent the monster's annual visit. Then the King fell upon the BlackPrince's neck and wept and said, "My son! my son! my pet! my baby! mytootsicums! my popsy-wopsy!"
And then, recovering himself, and addressing the courtiers, he said:"The gods have enabled me to discover my youngest son. If they willonly now continue as propitious, so that I may discover the elder ofthe other two, I shall die not all unhappy."
"'THE GODS HAVE ENABLED ME TO DISCOVER MY YOUNGESTSON.'"]
But the Black Prince could repress his astonishment no longer. "Am Idreaming, sire?" he cried. "Surely I have proved myself the eldest,not the youngest!"
"Thou forgettest that thou hast come off successful," replied the Kingin astonished reproof. "Or art thou so ignorant of history or of thesacred narratives handed down to us by our ancestors that thou artunaware that when three brothers set out on the same quest, it isalways the youngest brother that emerges triumphant? Such is the willof the gods. Cease, therefore, thy blasphemous talk, lest theyoverhear thee and be put out."
A low, ominous murmur from the courtiers emphasised the King'swarning.
"But the Princess--she at least is mine," protested the unhappyPrince. "We love each other--we are engaged."
"Thou forgettest she can only marry the heir," replied the King inastonished reproof. "Wouldst thou have us repudiate our solemntreaty?"
"But I wasn't really the first to hit on the idea at all!" cried theBlack Prince desperately. "Ask the Blue Prince! he never tellethuntruth."
"Thou forgettest I have taken an oath of silence on the matter,"replied the Blue Prince in astonished reproof. "The Black Prince itwas that first hit on the idea," volunteered the Green Prince. "Heexchanged his boat for the car and the car for the pigeon."
So the three Princes were dismissed, while the King took counsel withthe magicians and the wise men who never mean what they say. And theCourt Chamberlain, wearing the orchid of office in his buttonhole, wassent to interview the Princess, and returned saying that she refusedto marry any one but the proprietor of the pigeon, and that she stillhad his letters as evidence in case of his marrying anyone else.
"Bah!" said the King, "she shall obey the treaty. Six feet ofparchment are not to be put aside for the whim of a girl five footeight. The only real difficulty remaining is to decide whether theBlue Prince or the Green Prince is the elder. Let me see--what was itthe Oracle said? Perhaps it will be clearer now:--
"'The eldest is he that the Princess shall wed.'
"No, it still seems merely to avoid stating anything new."
"Pardon me, sire," replied the Chief Magician; "it seems perfectlyplain now. Obviously, thou art to let the Princess choose her husband,and the Oracle guarantees that, other things being equal, she shallselect the eldest. If thou hadst let her have the pick from among thethree, she would have selected the one with whom she was in love--theBlack Prince to wit, and that would have interfered with the Oracle'sarrangements. But now that we know with whom she is in love, we canremove that one, and then, there being no reason why she should choosethe Green Prince rather than the Blue Prince, the deities of the realmundertake to inspire her to go by age only."
"Thou hast spoken well," said the King. "Let the Princess ofPaphlagonia be brought, and let the two Princes return."
So after a space the beautiful Princess, preceded by trumpeters, wasconducted to the Palace, blinking her eyes at the unaccustomedsplendour of the lights. And the King and all the courtiers blinkedtheir eyes, dazzled by her loveliness. She was clad in white samite,and on her shoulder was perched a pet pigeon. The King sat in hismoire robes on the old gold throne, and the Blue Prince stood on hisright hand, and the Green Prince on his left, the Black Prince as theyoungest having been sent to bed early. The Princess courtesied threetimes, the third time so low that the pigeon was flustered, and flewoff her shoulder, and, after circling about, alighted on the head ofthe Blue Prince.
"THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS, PRECEDED BY TRUMPETERS, WASCONDUCTED TO THE PALACE."]
"It is the Crown," said the Chief Magician, in an awestruck voice.Then the Princess's eyes looked around in search of the pigeon, andwhen they lighted on the Prince's head they kindled as the grey seakindles at sunrise.
An answering radiance shone in the Blue Prince's eyes, as, taking thepigeon that nestled in his hair, he let it fly towards the Princess.But the Princess, her bosom heaving as if another pigeon flutteredbeneath the white samite, caught it and set it free again, and againit made for the Blue Prince.
Three times the bird sped to and fro. Then the Princess raised herhumid eyes heavenward, and from her sweet lips rippled like music theverse:--
"Last night I watched its final flicker die."
And the Blue Prince answered:--
"_Now_ greet our moon of honey in the sky."
Half fainting with rapture the Princess fell into his arms, and fromall sides of the great hall arose the cries, "The Heir! The Heir! Longlive our future King! The eldest-born! The Oracle's fulfilled!"
Such was the origin of lawn tennis, which began with people tossingpigeons to each other in imitation of the Prince and Princess in thePalace Hall. And this is why love plays so great a part in the game,and that is how the match was arranged between the Blue Prince and thePrincess of Paphlagonia.
The King of Schnorrers: Grotesques and Fantasies Page 14