Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 03 (18 page)

Neither the King, the Queen, nor the Princess could in the least
understand the amazing conduct of Brandatimor's Ambassador;
nevertheless the preparations for the war went forward briskly and
all the Princes who had not gone on towards the Ice Mountain
offered their services, at the same time demanding all the best
appointments in the King's army. Mannikin was one of the first to
volunteer, but he only asked to go as aide-de-camp to the
Commander-in chief, who was a gallant soldier and celebrated for
his victories. As soon as the army could be got together it was
marched to the frontier, where it met the opposing force headed by
Brandatimor himself, who was full of fury, determined to avenge
the insult to his Ambassador and to possess himself of the
Princess Sabella. All the army of Farda-Kinbras could do, being so
heavily outnumbered, was to act upon the defensive, and before
long Mannikin won the esteem of the officers for his ability, and
of the soldiers for his courage, and care for their welfare, and
in all the skirmishes which he conducted he had the good fortune
to vanquish the enemy.

At last Brandatimor engaged the whole army in a terrific conflict,
and though the troops of Farda-Kinbras fought with desperate
courage, their general was killed, and they were defeated and
forced to retreat with immense loss. Mannikin did wonders, and
half-a-dozen times turned the retreating forces and beat back the
enemy; and he afterwards collected troops enough to keep them in
check until, the severe winter setting in, put an end to
hostilities for a while.

He then returned to the Court, where consternation reigned. The
King was in despair at the death of his trusty general, and ended
by imploring Mannikin to take the command of the army, and his
counsel was followed in all the affairs of the Court. He followed
up his former plan of amusing the Princess, and on no account
reminding her of that tedious thing called 'love,' so that she was
always glad to see him, and the winter slipped by gaily for both
of them.

The Prince was all the while secretly making plans for the next
campaign; he received private intelligence of the arrival of a
strong reinforcement of Spaniels, to whom he sent orders to post
themselves along the frontier without attracting attention, and as
soon as he possibly could he held a consultation with their
Commander, who was an old and experienced warrior. Following his
advice, he decided to have a pitched battle as soon as the enemy
advanced, and this Brandatimor lost not a moment in doing, as he
was perfectly persuaded that he was now going to make an end of
the war and utterly vanquish Farda-Kinbras. But no sooner had he
given the order to charge than the Spaniels, who had mingled with
his troops unperceived, leaped each upon the horse nearest to him,
and not only threw the whole squadron into confusion by the terror
they caused, but, springing at the throats of the riders, unhorsed
many of them by the suddenness of their attack; then turning the
horses to the rear, they spread consternation everywhere, and made
it easy for Prince Mannikin to gain a complete victory. He met
Brandatimor in single combat, and succeeded in taking him
prisoner; but he did not live to reach the Court, to which
Mannikin had sent him: his pride killed him at the thought of
appearing before Sabella under these altered circumstances. In the
meantime Prince Fadasse and all the others who had remained behind
were setting out with all speed for the conquest of the Ice
Mountain, being afraid that Prince Mannikin might prove as
successful in that as he seemed to be in everything else, and when
Mannikin returned he heard of it with great annoyance. True he had
been serving the Princess, but she only admired and praised him
for his gallant deeds, and seemed no whit nearer bestowing on him
the love he so ardently desired, and all the comfort Mousta could
give him on the subject was that at least she loved no one else,
and with that he had to content himself. But he determined that,
come what might, he would delay no longer, but attempt the great
undertaking for which he had come so far. When he went to take
leave of the King and Queen they entreated him not to go, as they
had just heard that Prince Fadasse, and all who accompanied him,
had perished in the snow; but he persisted in his resolve. As for
Sabella, she gave him her hand to kiss with precisely the same
gracious indifference as she had given it to him the first time
they met. It happened that this farewell took place before the
whole Court, and so great a favourite had Prince Mannikin become
that they were all indignant at the coldness with which the
Princess treated him.

Finally the King said to him:

'Prince, you have constantly refilled all the gifts which, in my
gratitude for your invaluable services, I have offered to you, but
I wish the Princess to present you with her cloak of marten's fur,
and that I hope you will not reject!' Now this was a splendid fur
mantle which the Princess was very fond of wearing, not so much
because she felt cold, as that its richness set off to perfection
the delicate tints of her complexion and the brilliant gold of her
hair. However, she took it off, and with graceful politeness
begged Prince Mannikin to accept it, which you may be sure he was
charmed to do, and, taking only this and a little bundle of all
kinds of wood, and accompanied only by two spaniels out of the
fifty who had stayed with him when the war was ended, he set
forth, receiving many tokens of love and favour from the people in
every town he passed through. At the last little village he left
his horse behind him, to begin his toilful march through the snow,
which extended, blank and terrible, in every direction as far as
the eye could see. Here he had appointed to meet the other forty-
eight spaniels, who received him joyfully, and assured him that,
happen what might, they would follow and serve him faithfully. And
so they started, full of heart and hope. At first there was a
slight track, difficult, but not impossible to follow; but this
was soon lost, and the Pole Star was their only guide. When the
time came to call a halt, the Prince, who had after much
consideration decided on his plan of action, caused a few twigs
from the faggot he had brought with him to be planted in the snow,
and then he sprinkled over them a pinch of the magic powder he had
collected from the enchanted boat. To his great joy they instantly
began to sprout and grow, and in a marvellously short time the
camp was surrounded by a perfect grove of trees of all sorts,
which blossomed and bore ripe fruit, so that all their wants were
easily supplied, and they were able to make huge fires to warm
themselves. The Prince then sent out several spaniels to
reconnoitre, and they had the good luck to discover a horse laden
with provisions stuck fast in the snow. They at once fetched their
comrades, and brought the spoil triumphantly into the camp, and,
as it consisted principally of biscuits, not a spaniel among them
went supperless to sleep. In this way they journeyed by day and
encamped safely at night, always remembering to take on a few
branches to provide them with food and shelter. They passed by the
way armies of those who had set out upon the perilous enterprise,
who stood frozen stiffly, without sense or motion; but Prince
Mannikin strictly forbade that any attempt should be made to thaw
them. So they went on and on for more than three months, and day
by day the Ice Mountain, which they had seen for a long time, grew
clearer, until at last they stood close to it, and shuddered at
its height and steepness. But by patience and perseverance they
crept up foot by foot, aided by their fires of magic wood, without
which they must have perished in the intense cold, until presently
they stood at the gates of the magnificent Ice Palace which
crowned the mountain, where, in deadly silence and icy sleep, lay
the heart of Sabella. Now the difficulty became immense, for if
they maintained enough heat to keep themselves alive they were in
danger every moment of melting the blocks of solid ice of which
the palace was entirely built, and bringing the whole structure
down upon their heads; but cautiously and quickly they traversed
courtyards and halls, until they found themselves at the foot of a
vast throne, where, upon a cushion of snow, lay an enormous and
brilliantly sparkling diamond, which contained the heart of the
lovely Princess Sabella. Upon the lowest step of the throne was
inscribed in icy letters, 'Whosoever thou art who by courage and
virtue canst win the heart of Sabella enjoy peacefully the good
fortune which thou hast richly deserved.'

Prince Mannikin bounded forward, and had just strength left to
grasp the precious diamond which contained all he coveted in the
world before he fell insensible upon the snowy cushion. But his
good spaniels lost no time in rushing to the rescue, and between
them they bore him hastily from the hall, and not a moment too
soon, for all around them they heard the clang of the falling
blocks of ice as the Fairy Palace slowly collapsed under the
unwonted heat. Not until they reached the foot of the mountain did
they pause to restore the Prince to consciousness, and then his
joy to find himself the possessor of Sabella's heart knew no
bounds.

With all speed they began to retrace their steps, but this time
the happy Prince could not bear the sight of his defeated and
disappointed rivals, whose frozen forms lined his triumphant way.
He gave orders to his spaniels to spare no pains to restore them
to life, and so successful were they that day by day his train
increased, so that by the time he got back to the little village
where he had left his horse he was escorted by five hundred
sovereign Princes, and knights and squires without number, and he
was so courteous and unassuming that they all followed him
willingly, anxious to do him honour. But then he was so happy and
blissful himself that he found it easy to be at peace with all the
world. It was not long before he met the faithful Mousta, who was
coming at the top of his speed hoping to meet the Prince, that he
might tell him of the sudden and wonderful change that had come
over the Princess, who had become gentle and thoughtful and had
talked to him of nothing but Prince Mannikin, of the hardships she
feared he might be suffering, and of her anxiety for him, and all
this with a hundred fonder expressions which put the finishing
stroke to the Prince's delight. Then came a courier bearing the
congratulations of the King and Queen, who had just heard of his
successful return, and there was even a graceful compliment from
Sabella herself. The Prince sent Mousta back to her, and he was
welcomed with joy, for was he not her lover's present?

At last the travellers reached the capital, and were received with
regal magnificence. Farda-Kinbras and Birbantine embraced Prince
Mannikin, declaring that they regarded him as their heir and the
future husband of the Princess, to which he replied that they did
him too much honour. And then he was admitted into the presence of
the Princess, who for the first time in her life blushed as he
kissed her hand, and could not find a word to say. But the Prince,
throwing himself on his knees beside her, held out the splendid
diamond, saying:

'Madam, this treasure is yours, since none of the dangers and
difficulties I have gone through have been sufficient to make me
deserve it.'

'Ah! Prince,' said she, 'if I take it, it is only that I may give
it back to you, since truly it belongs to you already.'

At this moment in came the King and Queen, and interrupted them by
asking all the questions imaginable, and not infrequently the same
over and over again. It seems that there is always one thing that
is sure to be said about an event by everybody, and Prince
Mannikin found that the question which he was asked by more than a
thousand people on this particular occasion was:

'And didn't you find it very cold?'

The King had come to request Prince Mannikin and the Princess to
follow him to the Council Chamber, which they did, not knowing
that he meant to present the Prince to all the nobles assembled
there as his son-in-law and successor. But when Mannikin perceived
his intention, he begged permission to speak first, and told his
whole story, even to the fact that he believed himself to be a
peasant's son. Scarcely had he finished speaking when the sky grew
black, the thunder growled, and the lightning flashed, and in the
blaze of light the good Fairy Genesta suddenly appeared. Turning
to Prince Mannikin, she said:

'I am satisfied with you, since you have shown not only courage
but a good heart.' Then she addressed King Farda-Kinbras, and
informed him of the real history of the Prince, and how she had
determined to give him the education she knew would be best for a
man who was to command others. 'You have already found the
advantage of having a faithful friend,' she added to the Prince
'and now you will have the pleasure of seeing King Bayard and his
subjects regain their natural forms as a reward for his kindness
to you.'

Just then arrived a chariot drawn by eagles, which proved to
contain the foolish King and Queen, who embraced their long-lost
son with great joy, and were greatly struck with the fact that
they did indeed find him covered with fur! While they were
caressing Sabella and wringing her hands (which is a favourite
form of endearment with foolish people) chariots were seen
approaching from all points of the compass, containing numbers of
Fairies.

'Sire,' said Genesta to Farda-Kinbras, 'I have taken the liberty
of appointing your Court as a meeting-place for all the Fairies
who could spare the time to come; and I hope you can arrange to
hold the great ball, which we have once in a hundred years, on
this occasion.'

The King having suitably acknowledged the honour done him, was
next reconciled to Gorgonzola, and they two presently opened the
ball together. The Fairy Marsontine restored their natural forms
to King Bayard and all his subjects, and he appeared once more as
handsome a king as you could wish to see. One of the Fairies
immediately despatched her chariot for the Queen of the Spice
Islands, and their wedding took place at the same time as that of
Prince Mannikin and the lovely and gracious Sabella. They lived
happily ever afterwards, and their vast kingdoms were presently
divided between their children.