Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 03 (22 page)

As the clock struck twelve he woke, and his heart sank as he came
down out of his tree and saw them laying the table for dinner.

'Did the Princess come?' he asked.

'Yes, indeed, she did. She left this flower-coloured scarf for
you; said she would pass by to-morrow at seven o'clock, but it
would be the last time.'

'I must have been bewitched,' thought the little soldier. Then he
took the scarf, which had a strange kind of scent, and tied it
round his left arm, thinking all the while that the best way to
keep awake was not to go to bed at all. So he paid his bill, and
bought a horse with the money that remained, and when the evening
came he mounted his horse and stood in front of the inn door,
determined to stay there all night.

Every now and then he stooped to smell the sweet perfume of the
scarf round his arm; and gradually he smelt it so often that at
last his head sank on to the horse's neck, and he and his horse
snored in company.

When the Princess arrived, they shook him, and beat him, and
screamed at him, but it was all no good. Neither man nor horse
woke till the coach was seen vanishing away in the distance.

Then John put spurs to his horse, calling with all his might
'Stop! stop!' But the coach drove on as before, and though the
little soldier rode after it for a day and a night, he never got
one step nearer.

Thus they left many villages and towns behind them, till they came
to the sea itself. Here John thought that at last the coach must
stop, but, wonder of wonders! it went straight on, and rolled over
the water as easily as it had done over the land. John's horse,
which had carried him so well, sank down from fatigue, and the
little soldier sat sadly on the shore, watching the coach which
was fast disappearing on the horizon.

However, he soon plucked up his spirits again, and walked along
the beach to try and find a boat in which he could sail after the
Princess. But no boat was there, and at last, tired and hungry, he
sat down to rest on the steps of a fisherman's hut.

In the hut was a young girl who was mending a net. She invited
John to come in, and set before him some wine and fried fish, and
John ate and drank and felt comforted, and he told his adventures
to the little fisher-girl. But though she was very pretty, with a
skin as white as a gull's breast, for which her neighbours gave
her the name of the Seagull, he did not think about her at all,
for he was dreaming of the green eyes of the Princess.

When he had finished his tale, she was filled with pity and said:

'Last week, when I was fishing, my net suddenly grew very heavy,
and when I drew it in I found a great copper vase, fastened with
lead. I brought it home and placed it on the fire. When the lead
had melted a little, I opened the vase with my knife and drew out
a mantle of red cloth and a purse containing fifty crowns. That is
the mantle, covering my bed, and I have kept the money for my
marriage-portion. But take it and go to the nearest seaport, where
you will find a ship sailing for the Low Countries, and when you
become King you will bring me back my fifty crowns.'

And the Kinglet answered: 'When I am King of the Low Countries, I
will make you lady-in-waiting to the Queen, for you are as good as
you are beautiful. So farewell,' said he, and as the Seagull went
back to her fishing he rolled himself in the mantle and threw
himself down on a heap of dried grass, thinking of the strange
things that had befallen him, till he suddenly exclaimed:

'Oh, how I wish I was in the capital of the Low Countries!'

In one moment the little soldier found himself standing before a
splendid palace. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself, and when
he was quite sure he was not dreaming he said to a man who was
smoking his pipe before the door, 'Where am I?'

'Where are you? Can't you see? Before the King's palace, of
course.'

'What King?'

'Why the King of the Low Countries!' replied the man, laughing and
supposing that he was mad.

Was there ever anything so strange? But as John was an honest
fellow, he was troubled at the thought that the Seagull would
think he had stolen her mantle and purse. And he began to wonder
how he could restore them to her the soonest. Then he remembered
that the mantle had some hidden charm that enabled the bearer to
transport himself at will from place to place, and in order to
make sure of this he wished himself in the best inn of the town.
In an instant he was there.

Enchanted with this discovery, he ordered supper, and as it was
too late to visit the King that night he went to bed.

The next day, when he got up, he saw that all the houses were
wreathed with flowers and covered with flags, and all the church
bells were ringing. The little soldier inquired the meaning of all
this noise, and was told that the Princess Ludovine, the King's
beautiful daughter, had been found, and was about to make her
triumphal entry. 'That will just suit me,' thought the Kinglet; 'I
will stand at the door and see if she knows me.'

He had scarcely time to dress himself when the golden coach of
Ludovine went by. She had a crown of gold upon her head, and the
King and Queen sat by her side. By accident her eyes fell upon the
little soldier, and she grew pale and turned away her head.

'Didn't she know me?' the little soldier asked himself, 'or was
she angry because I missed our meetings?' and he followed the
crowd till he got to the palace. When the royal party entered he
told the guards that it was he who had delivered the Princess, and
wished to speak to the King. But the more he talked the more they
believed him mad and refused to let him pass.

The little soldier was furious. He felt that he needed his pipe to
calm him, and he entered a tavern and ordered a pint of beer. 'It
is this miserable soldier's helmet,' said he to himself 'If I had
only money enough I could look as splendid as the lords of the
Court; but what is the good of thinking of that when I have only
the remains of the Seagull's fifty crowns?'

He took out his purse to see what was left, and he found that
there were still fifty crowns.

'The Seagull must have miscounted,' thought he, and he paid for
his beer. Then he counted his money again, and there were still
fifty crowns. He took away five and counted a third time, but
there were still fifty. He emptied the purse altogether and then
shut it; when he opened it the fifty crowns were still there!

Then a plan came into his head, and he determined to go at once to
the Court tailor and coachbuilder.

He ordered the tailor to make him a mantle and vest of blue velvet
embroidered with pearls, and the coachbuilder to make him a golden
coach like the coach of the Princess Ludovine. If the tailor and
the coachbuilder were quick he promised to pay them double.

A few days later the little soldier was driven through the city in
his coach drawn by six white horses, and with four lacqueys richly
dressed standing behind. Inside sat John, clad in blue velvet,
with a bouquet of immortelles in his hand and a scarf bound round
his arm. He drove twice round the city, throwing money to the
right and left, and the third time, as he passed under the palace
windows, he saw Ludovine lift a corner of the curtain and peep
out.

The next day no one talked of anything but the rich lord who had
distributed money as he drove along. The talk even reached the
Court, and the Queen, who was very curious, had a great desire to
see the wonderful Prince.

'Very well,' said the King; 'let him be asked to come and play
cards with me.'

This time the Kinglet was not late for his appointment.

The King sent for the cards and they sat down to play. They had
six games, and John always lost. The stake was fifty crowns, and
each time he emptied his purse, which was full the next instant.

The sixth time the King exclaimed, 'It is amazing!'

The Queen cried, 'It is astonishing!'

The Princess said, 'It is bewildering!'

'Not so bewildering,' replied the little soldier, 'as your change
into a serpent.'

'Hush!' interrupted the King, who did not like the subject.

'I only spoke of it,' said John, 'because you see in me the man
who delivered the Princess from the goblins and whom she promised
to marry.'

'Is that true?' asked the King of the Princess.

'Quite true,' answered Ludovine. 'But I told my deliverer to be
ready to go with me when I passed by with my coach. I passed three
times, but he slept so soundly that no one could wake him.'

'What is your name?' said the King, 'and who are you?'

'My name is John. I am a soldier, and my father is a boatman.'

'You are not a fit husband for my daughter. Still, if you will
give us your purse, you shall have her for your wife.'

'My purse does not belong to me, and I cannot give it away.'

'But you can lend it to me till our wedding-day,' said the
Princess with one of those glances the little soldier never could
resist.

'And when will that be?'

'At Easter,' said the monarch.

'Or in a blue moon!' murmured the Princess; but the Kinglet did
not hear her and let her take his purse.

Next evening he presented himself at the palace to play picquet
with the King and to make his court to the Princess. But he was
told that the King had gone into the country to receive his rents.
He returned the following day, and had the same answer. Then he
asked to see the Queen, but she had a headache. When this had
happened five or six times, he began to understand that they were
making fun of him.

'That is not the way for a King to behave,' thought John. 'Old
scoundrel!' and then suddenly he remembered his red cloak.

'Ah, what an idiot I am!' said he. 'Of course I can get in
whenever I like with the help of this.'

That evening he was in front of the palace, wrapped in his red
cloak.

On the first story one window was lighted, and John saw on the
curtains the shadow of the Princess.

'I wish myself in the room of the Princess Ludovine,' said he, and
in a second he was there.

The King's daughter was sitting before a table counting the money
that she emptied from the inexhaustible purse.

'Eight hundred and fifty, nine hundred, nine hundred and fifty—'

'A thousand,' finished John. 'Good evening everybody!'

The Princess jumped and gave a little cry. 'You here! What
business have you to do it? Leave at once, or I shall call—'

'I have come,' said the Kinglet, 'to remind you of your promise.
The day after to-morrow is Easter Day, and it is high time to
think of our marriage.'

Ludovine burst out into a fit of laughter. 'Our marriage! Have you
really been foolish enough to believe that the daughter of the
King of the Low Countries would ever marry the son of a boatman?'

'Then give me back the purse,' said John.

'Never,' said the Princess, and put it calmly in her pocket.

'As you like,' said the little soldier. 'He laughs best who laughs
the last;' and he took the Princess in his arms. 'I wish,' he
cried, 'that we were at the ends of the earth;' and in one second
he was there, still clasping the Princess tightly in his arms.

'Ouf,' said John, laying her gently at the foot of a tree. 'I
never took such a long journey before. What do you say, madam?'
The Princess understood that it was no time for jesting, and did
not answer. Besides she was still feeling giddy from her rapid
flight, and had not yet collected her senses.

The King of the Low Countries was not a very scrupulous person,
and his daughter took after him. This was why she had been changed
into a serpent. It had been prophesied that she should be
delivered by a little soldier, and that she must marry him, unless
he failed to appear at the meeting-place three times running. The
cunning Princess then laid her plans accordingly.

The wine that she had given to John in the castle of the goblins,
the bouquet of immortelles, and the scarf, all had the power of
producing sleep like death. And we know how they had acted on
John.

However, even in this critical moment, Ludovine did not lose her
head.

'I thought you were simply a street vagabond,' said she, in her
most coaxing voice; 'and I find you are more powerful than any
king. Here is your purse. Have you got my scarf and my bouquet?'

'Here they are,' said the Kinglet, delighted with this change of
tone, and he drew them from his bosom. Ludovine fastened one in
his buttonhole and the other round his arm. 'Now,' she said, 'you
are my lord and master, and I will marry you at your good
pleasure.'

'You are kinder than I thought,' said John; 'and you shall never
be unhappy, for I love you.'

'Then, my little husband, tell me how you managed to carry me so
quickly to the ends of the world.'

The little soldier scratched his head. 'Does she really mean to
marry me,' he thought to himself, 'or is she only trying to
deceive me again?'

But Ludovine repeated, 'Won't you tell me?' in such a tender voice
he did not know how to resist her.

'After all,' he said to himself, 'what does it matter telling her
the secret, as long as I don't give her the cloak.'

And he told her the virtue of the red mantle.

'Oh dear, how tired I am!' sighed Ludovine. 'Don't you think we
had better take a nap? And then we can talk over our plans.'

She stretched herself on the grass, and the Kinglet did the same.
He laid his head on his left arm, round which the scarf was tied,
and was soon fast asleep.

Ludovine was watching him out of one eye, and no sooner did she
hear him snore than she unfastened the mantle, drew it gently from
under him and wrapped it round her, took the purse from his
pocket, and put it in hers, and said: 'I wish I was back in my own
room.' In another moment she was there.