Chapter 28
Soon the chariot alighted at a lonely palace, shut in by a wall of emeralds on one side and the sea on the other.
Well, the King just cast his eyes around the place, and made up his mind not to stay there long.
"I'll escape somehow," he said to himself; and he did, too, before very long.
He pretended to be in love with the Desert Fairy, and this pleased and flattered her so much that she began to treat him very kindly indeed.
She even allowed him to walk alone on the seash.o.r.e for half an hour each day.
One morning as the King stood upon the beach he was surprised to see a charming mermaid rise up from the water.
"King of the Golden Mines," she said, "I know your story, and have the power to set you free. I can also restore your Princess All-fair to you once more. Now, as I am an enemy of the Desert Fairy, I will do this for you."
The King thanked her, of course, and the mermaid bade him set himself upon her tail, and away they sailed at full speed across the blue ocean until they had gone many miles.
"The Princess, you must know," said the mermaid, "is being kept a prisoner by the Yellow Dwarf. She is in a bright steel castle, and in another hour we shall reach the place."
On they went still farther, and at length the mermaid set the King down upon the seash.o.r.e.
"The rest of the journey," she said, "you must take alone, and you will have many enemies to fight before you reach the Princess. But," she added, "I will present you with this magic sword, which will overcome everything, so long as you never let it out of your hand."
The King took the sword, and thanked the mermaid again and again, and then he set out to seek the steel castle.
But before he had gone a hundred yards, four terrible griffins attacked him, and the King stood a good chance of being torn to pieces by their long claws. Just in time, however, he remembered his magic sword, and no sooner did the four griffins behold it than they sank to the ground, blinded by its brightness.
After that it was an easy matter to cut off their heads, and the King went on his way again.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MERMAID TAKING THE KING OF THE GOLDEN MINES TO THE STEEL CASTLE]
Soon after he met six big dragons, and each one was covered with scales like cast iron. But by means of his magic sword the King was able to kill them also, and then he hoped his troubles were nearly over.
Alas! before he had gone many yards, twenty-four nymphs, all lovely as the sun, set themselves right in his path.
"Our business," they said, "is to keep you from reaching the steel castle. If we let you pa.s.s, all our lives will be sacrificed. We have done you no harm, so do go back again that our innocent lives may be spared."
Well, the King scarcely knew how to act; it seemed a pity to destroy such lovely creatures, and yet get to the steel castle he must.
"Strike! Strike!" cried a voice loudly, "or you will
So his Majesty destroyed the whole twenty-four of them, and at that moment the steel castle appeared in sight.
On the balcony stood All-fair, just as she had been when he pa.s.sed through the air in the chariot drawn by swans.
"Princess," he cried, "your faithful lover has returned at last!"
"Faithful indeed!" replied All-fair angrily. "You were not faithful when I saw you being carried through the air in company with a beautiful maiden."
"Indeed I was," replied the King of the Golden Mines. "The maiden you saw was the wicked Desert Fairy. She carried me off to an island, and there I should be now, if a kind mermaid had not set me free."
Then the King cast himself at her feet; but, unfortunately, he managed to drop the magic sword over the balcony.
Out popped the ugly Yellow Dwarf from behind a big cabbage, where he was hiding, and he snapped up the sword in a trice.
The Princess gave a loud shriek when she set eyes on the dwarf, but the little man, who knew well what a treasure the sword was, just uttered two magic words, with the weapon in his hand, and there appeared two terrible giants, who at once bound the King in chains in spite of his struggles.
"Now," chuckled the Yellow Dwarf, "your lover is in my power. If he will consent to your becoming my bride, I will set him free at once."
"Never!" cried the King of the Golden Mines.
"Then take that," replied the Yellow Dwarf, and he buried the magic sword in the heart of the King.
The poor Princess was filled with sorrow at the loss of her lover, and she cried loudly:
"Hideous dwarf, you have gained nothing by slaying my lover, for I will never marry you. Since he is dead, I will die too."
Then she seized the sword and plunged it into her own heart.
The good mermaid was very unhappy when she heard what had taken place, but as her only power lay in the magic sword, she could help them no further.
So she changed them into two palm trees, growing side by side, and every time the soft breezes blew, their branches caressed and kissed each other, so they were happy together, after all, in spite of the ugly Yellow Dwarf.
_Graciosa and Percinet_
Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who had one charming daughter. She was so graceful and pretty and clever that she was called Graciosa, and the Queen was so fond of her that she could think of nothing else.
Every day she gave the Princess a lovely new frock of gold brocade, or satin, or velvet, and when she was hungry she had bowls full of sugarplums, and at least twenty pots of jam. Everybody said she was the happiest princess in the world. Now there lived at this same court a very rich old d.u.c.h.ess whose name was Grumbly. She was more frightful than tongue can tell; her hair was red as fire, and she had but one eye, and that not a pretty one! Her face was as broad as a full moon, and her mouth was so large that everybody who met her would have been afraid they were going to be eaten up, only she had no teeth. As she was as cross as she was ugly, she could not bear to hear everyone saying how pretty and how charming Graciosa was; so she presently went away from the court to her own castle, which was not far off. But if anybody who went to see her happened to mention the charming Princess, she would cry angrily:
"It's not true that she is lovely. I have more beauty in my little finger than she has in her whole body."
Soon after this, to the great grief of the Princess, the Queen was taken ill and died, and the King became so melancholy that for a whole year he shut himself up in his palace. At last his physicians, fearing that he would fall ill, ordered that he should go out and amuse himself; so a hunting party was arranged, but as it was very hot weather the King soon grew tired, and said he would dismount and rest at a castle which they were pa.s.sing.
This happened to be the d.u.c.h.ess Grumbly's castle, and when she heard that the King was coming she went out to meet him, and said that the cellar was the coolest place in the whole castle if he would condescend to come down into it. So down they went together, and the King seeing about two hundred great casks ranged side by side, asked if it was only for herself that she had this immense store of wine.
"Yes, sire," answered she, "it is for myself alone, but I shall be most happy to let you taste some of it. Which do you like, canary, St.
Julien, champagne, hermitage sack, raisin, or cider?"
"Well," said the King, "since you are so kind as to ask me, I prefer champagne to anything else."
Then d.u.c.h.ess Grumbly took up a little hammer and tapped upon the cask twice, and out came at least a thousand crowns.
"What's the meaning of this?" said she, smiling.
Then she tapped the next cask, and out came a bushel of gold pieces.
"I don't understand this at all," said the d.u.c.h.ess, smiling more than before.