Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (23 page)

"How could I hope that you would come back to me
King's son?" she said. And then he stroked and petted
her, and told her of his successful journey, and how he had
come back to ask her help, as he believed that it was
impossible to find what the King demanded. The White
Cat looked serious, and said she must think what was to
be done, but that, luckily, there were some cats in the
castle who could spin very well, and if anybody could
manage it they could, and she would set them the task
herself.

And then the hands appeared carrying torches, and
conducted the Prince and the White Cat to a long gallery
which overlooked the river, from the windows of which
they saw a magnificent display of fireworks of all sorts;
after which they had supper, which the Prince liked even
better than the fireworks, for it was very late, and he was
hungry after his long ride. And so the days passed quickly
as before; it was impossible to feel dull with the White
Cat, and she had quite a talent for inventing new
amusements—indeed, she was cleverer than a cat has any right
to be. But when the Prince asked her how it was that she
was so wise, she only said:

"King's son, do not ask me; guess what you please. I
may not tell you anything."

The Prince was so happy that he did not trouble himself
at all about the time, but presently the White Cat
told him that the year was gone, and that he need not be
at all anxious about the piece of muslin, as they had made
it very well.

"This time," she added, "I can give you a suitable
escort"; and on looking out into the courtyard the Prince
saw a superb chariot of burnished gold, enameled in flame
color with a thousand different devices. It was drawn by
twelve snow-white horses, harnessed four abreast; their
trappings were flame-colored velvet, embroidered with
diamonds. A hundred chariots followed, each drawn by
eight horses, and filled with officers in splendid uniforms,
and a thousand guards surrounded the procession. "Go!"
said the White Cat, "and when you appear before the
King in such state he surely will not refuse you the crown
which you deserve. Take this walnut, but do not open
it until you are before him, then you will find in it the
piece of stuff you asked me for."

"Lovely Blanchette," said the Prince, "how can I
thank you properly for all your kindness to me? Only tell
me that you wish it, and I will give up for ever all thought
of being king, and will stay here with you always."

"King's son," she replied, "it shows the goodness of
your heart that you should care so much for a little white
cat, who is good for nothing but to catch mice; but you
must not stay."

So the Prince kissed her little paw and set out. You can
imagine how fast he traveled when I tell you that they
reached the King's palace in just half the time it had
taken the wooden horse to get there. This time the
Prince was so late that he did not try to meet his brothers
at their castle, so they thought he could not be coming,
and were rather glad of it, and displayed their pieces of
muslin to the King proudly, feeling sure of success. And
indeed the stuff was very fine, and would go through the
eye of a very large needle; but the King, who was only too
glad to make a difficulty, sent for a particular needle,
which was kept among the Crown jewels, and had such a
small eye that everybody saw at once that it was impossible
that the muslin should pass through it. The Princes
were angry, and were beginning to complain that it was
a trick, when suddenly the trumpets sounded and the
youngest Prince came in. His father and brothers were
quite astonished at his magnificence, and after he had
greeted them he took the walnut from his pocket and
opened it, fully expecting to find the piece of muslin, but
instead there was only a hazel-nut. He cracked it, and
there lay a cherry-stone. Everybody was looking on, and
the King was chuckling to himself at the idea of finding
the piece of muslin in a nutshell.

However, the Prince cracked the cherry-stone, but
everyone laughed when he saw it contained only its own
kernel. He opened that and found a grain of wheat, and
in that was a millet seed. Then he himself began to
wonder, and muttered softly:

"White Cat, White Cat, are you making fun of me?"

In an instant he felt a cat's claw give his hand quite a
sharp scratch, and hoping that it was meant as an
encouragement he opened the millet seed, and drew out of
it a piece of muslin four hundred ells long, woven with the
loveliest colors and most wonderful patterns; and when
the needle was brought it went through the eye six times
with the greatest ease! The King turned pale, and the
other Princes stood silent and sorrowful, for nobody could
deny that this was the most marvelous piece of muslin
that was to be found in the world.

Presently the King turned to his sons, and said, with a
deep sigh:

"Nothing could console me more in my old age than to
realize your willingness to gratify my wishes. Go then
once more, and whoever at the end of a year can bring
back the loveliest princess shall be married to her, and
shall, without further delay, receive the crown, for my
successor must certainly be married." The Prince considered
that he had earned the kingdom fairly twice over
but still he was too well bred to argue about it, so he
just went back to his gorgeous chariot, and, surrounded
by his escort, returned to the White Cat faster than he
had come. This time she was expecting him, the path was
strewn with flowers, and a thousand braziers were burning
scented woods which perfumed the air. Seated in a gallery
from which she could see his arrival, the White Cat waited
for him. "Well, King's son," she said, "here you are once
more, without a crown." "Madam," said he, "thanks to
your generosity I have earned one twice over; but the
fact is that my father is so loth to part with it that it would
be no pleasure to me to take it."

"Never mind," she answered, "it's just as well to try
and deserve it. As you must take back a lovely princess
with you next time I will be on the look-out for one for
you. In the meantime let us enjoy ourselves; to-night I
have ordered a battle between my cats and the river rats
on purpose to amuse you." So this year slipped away
even more pleasantly than the preceding ones. Sometimes
the Prince could not help asking the White Cat how
it was she could talk.

"Perhaps you are a fairy," he said. "Or has some
enchanter changed you into a cat?"

But she only gave him answers that told him nothing.
Days go by so quickly when one is very happy that it is
certain the Prince would never have thought of its being
time to go back, when one evening as they sat together
the White Cat said to him that if he wanted to take a
lovely princess home with him the next day he must be
prepared to do what she told him.

"Take this sword," she said, "and cut off my head!"

"I!" cried the Prince, "I cut off your head! Blanchette
darling, how could I do it?"

"I entreat you to do as I tell you, King's son," she
replied.

The tears came into the Prince's eyes as he begged her
to ask him anything but that—to set him any task she
pleased as a proof of his devotion, but to spare him the
grief of killing his dear Pussy. But nothing he could say
altered her determination, and at last he drew his sword,
and desperately, with a trembling hand, cut off the little
white head. But imagine his astonishment and delight
when suddenly a lovely princess stood before him, and,
while he was still speechless with amazement, the door
opened and a goodly company of knights and ladies
entered, each carrying a cat's skin! They hastened with
every sign of joy to the Princess, kissing her hand and
congratulating her on being once more restored to her
natural shape. She received them graciously, but after a
few minutes begged that they would leave her alone with
the Prince, to whom she said:

"You see, Prince, that you were right in supposing me
to be no ordinary cat. My father reigned over six
kingdoms. The Queen, my mother, whom he loved dearly,
had a passion for traveling and exploring, and when I was
only a few weeks old she obtained his permission to visit
a certain mountain of which she had heard many marvelous
tales, and set out, taking with her a number of her
attendants. On the way they had to pass near an old
castle belonging to the fairies. Nobody had ever been
into it, but it was reported to be full of the most wonderful
things, and my mother remembered to have heard that
the fairies had in their garden such fruits as were to be
seen and tasted nowhere else. She began to wish to try
them for herself, and turned her steps in the direction of
the garden. On arriving at the door, which blazed with
gold and jewels, she ordered her servants to knock loudly,
but it was useless; it seemed as if all the inhabitants of the
castle must be asleep or dead. Now the more difficult it
became to obtain the fruit, the more the Queen was
determined that have it she would. So she ordered that they
should bring ladders, and get over the wall into the garden;
but though the wall did not look very high, and they tied
the ladders together to make them very long, it was quite
impossible to get to the top.

"The Queen was in despair, but as night was coming on
she ordered that they should encamp just where they
were, and went to bed herself, feeling quite ill, she was so
disappointed. In the middle of the night she was suddenly
awakened, and saw to her surprise a tiny, ugly old
woman seated by her bedside, who said to her:

"'I must say that we consider it somewhat troublesome
of your Majesty to insist upon tasting our fruit; but to
save you annoyance, my sisters and I will consent to give
you as much as you can carry away, on one condition—that
is, that you shall give us your little daughter to bring
up as our own.'

"'Ah! my dear madam,' cried the Queen, 'is there nothing
else that you will take for the fruit? I will give you
my kingdoms willingly.'

"'No,' replied the old fairy, 'we will have nothing but
your little daughter. She shall be as happy as the day is
long, and we will give her everything that is worth having
in fairy-land, but you must not see her again until she is
married.'

"'Though it is a hard condition,' said the Queen, 'I
consent, for I shall certainly die if I do not taste the fruit,
and so I should lose my little daughter either way.'

"So the old fairy led her into the castle, and, though it
was still the middle of the night, the Queen could see
plainly that it was far more beautiful than she had been
told, which you can easily believe, Prince," said the
White Cat, "when I tell you that it was this castle that
we are now in. 'Will you gather the fruit yourself,
Queen?' said the old fairy, 'or shall I call it to come to
you?'

"'I beg you to let me see it come when it is called,'
cried the Queen; 'that will be something quite new.' The
old fairy whistled twice, then she cried:

"'Apricots, peaches, nectarines, cherries, plums, pears,
melons, grapes, apples, oranges, lemons, gooseberries,
strawberries, raspberries, come!'

"And in an instant they came tumbling in one over
another, and yet they were neither dusty nor spoilt, and
the Queen found them quite as good as she had fancied
them. You see they grew upon fairy trees.

"The old fairy gave her golden baskets in which to take
the fruit away, and it was as much as four hundred mules
could carry. Then she reminded the Queen of her agreement,
and led her back to the camp, and next morning
she went back to her kingdom, but before she had gone
very far she began to repent of her bargain, and when the
King came out to meet her she looked so sad that he
guessed that something had happened, and asked what
was the matter. At first the Queen was afraid to tell him,
but when, as soon as they reached the palace, five frightful
little dwarfs were sent by the fairies to fetch me, she
was obliged to confess what she had promised. The
King was very angry, and had the Queen and myself shut
up in a great tower and safely guarded, and drove the
little dwarfs out of his kingdom; but the fairies sent a
great dragon who ate up all the people he met, and whose
breath burnt up everything as he passed through the
country; and at last, after trying in vain to rid himself of
this monster, the King, to save his subjects, was obliged
to consent that I should be given up to the fairies. This
time they came themselves to fetch me, in a chariot of
pearl drawn by sea-horses, followed by the dragon, who
was led with chains of diamonds. My cradle was placed
between the old fairies, who loaded me with caresses, and
away we whirled through the air to a tower which they
had built on purpose for me. There I grew up surrounded
with everything that was beautiful and rare, and learning
everything that is ever taught to a princess, but without
any companions but a parrot and a little dog, who could
both talk; and receiving every day a visit from one of the
old fairies, who came mounted upon the dragon. One
day, however, as I sat at my window I saw a handsome
young prince, who seemed to have been hunting in the
forest which surrounded my prison, and who was standing
and looking up at me. When he saw that I observed him
he saluted me with great deference. You can imagine
that I was delighted to have some one new to talk to, and
in spite of the height of my window our conversation was
prolonged till night fell, then my prince reluctantly bade
me farewell. But after that he came again many times
and at last I consented to marry him, but the question
was how was I to escape from my tower. The fairies
always supplied me with flax for my spinning, and by
great diligence I made enough cord for a ladder that would
reach to the foot of the tower; but, alas! just as my prince
was helping me to descend it, the crossest and ugliest of
the old fairies flew in. Before he had time to defend
himself my unhappy lover was swallowed up by the dragon.
As for me, the fairies, furious at having their plans
defeated, for they intended me to marry the king of the
dwarfs, and I utterly refused, changed me into a white
cat. When they brought me here I found all the lords
and ladies of my father's court awaiting me under the
same enchantment, while the people of lesser rank had
been made invisible, all but their hands.