The Orange Fairy Book (36 page)

The days passed very slowly with him during the making of the shoe and
the preparation of the varnish, but on the eighth morning the physician
appeared, bringing with him the shoe in a case. He drew it out to slip
on the king's foot, and over the goat-skin he had rubbed a polish so
white that the snow itself was not more dazzling.

'While you wear this shoe you will not feel the slightest pain,' said
the doctor. 'For the balsam with which I have rubbed it inside and out
has, besides its healing balm, the quality of strengthening the
material it touches, so that, even were your majesty to live a thousand
years, you would find the slipper just as fresh at the end of that time
as it is now.'

The king was so eager to put it on that he hardly gave the physician
time to finish. He snatched it from the case and thrust his foot into
it, nearly weeping for joy when he found he could walk and run as
easily as any beggar boy.

'What can I give you?' he cried, holding out both hands to the man who
had worked this wonder. 'Stay with me, and I will heap on you riches
greater than ever you dreamed of.' But the doctor said he would accept
nothing more than had been agreed on, and must return at once to his
own country, where many sick people were awaiting him. So king
Balancin had to content himself with ordering the physician to be
treated with royal honours, and desiring that an escort should attend
him on his journey home.

For two years everything went smoothly at court, and to king Balancin
and his daughter the sun no sooner rose than it seemed time for it to
set. Now, the king's birthday fell in the month of June, and as the
weather happened to be unusually fine, he told the princess to
celebrate it in any way that pleased her. Diamantina was very fond of
being on the river, and she was delighted at this chance of delighting
her tastes. She would have a merry-making such as never had been seen
before, and in the evening, when they were tired of sailing and rowing,
there should be music and dancing, plays and fireworks. At the very
end, before the people went home, every poor person should be given a
loaf of bread and every girl who was to be married within the year a
new dress.

The great day appeared to Diamantina to be long in coming, but, like
other days, it came at last. Before the sun was fairly up in the
heavens the princess, too full of excitement to stay in the palace, was
walking about the streets so covered with precious stones that you had
to shade your eyes before you could look at her. By-and-by a trumpet
sounded, and she hurried home, only to appear again in a few moments
walking by the side of her father down to the river. Here a splendid
barge was waiting for them, and from it they watched all sorts of races
and feats of swimming and diving. When these were over the barge
proceeded up the river to the field where the dancing and concerts were
to take place, and after the prizes had been given away to the winners,
and the loaves and the dresses had been distributed by the princess,
they bade farewell to their guests, and turned to step into the barge
which was to carry them back to the palace.

Then a dreadful thing happened. As the king stepped on board the boat
one of the sandals of the white slipper, which had got loose, caught in
a nail that was sticking out, and caused the king to stumble. The pain
was great, and unconsciously he turned and shook his foot, so that the
sandals gave way, and in a moment the precious shoe was in the river.

It had all occurred so quickly that nobody had noticed the loss of the
slipper, not even the princess, whom the king's cries speedily brought
to his side.

'What is the matter, dear father?' asked she. But the king could not
tell her; and only managed to gasp out: 'My shoe! my shoe!' While the
sailors stood round staring, thinking that his majesty had suddenly
gone mad.

Seeing her father's eyes fixed on the stream, Diamantina looked hastily
in that direction. There, dancing on the current, was the point of
something white, which became more and more distant the longer they
watched it. The king could bear the sight no more, and, besides, now
that the healing ointment in the shoe had been removed the pain in his
foot was as bad as ever; he gave a sudden cry, staggered, and fell over
the bulwarks into the water.

In an instant the river was covered with bobbing heads all swimming
their fastest towards the king, who had been carried far down by the
swift current. At length one swimmer, stronger than the rest, seized
hold of his tunic, and drew him to the bank, where a thousand eager
hands were ready to haul him out. He was carried, unconscious, to the
side of his daughter, who had fainted with terror on seeing her father
disappear below the surface, and together they were place in a coach
and driven to the palace, where the best doctors in the city were
awaiting their arrival.

In a few hours the princess was as well as ever; but the pain, the
wetting, and the shock of the accident, all told severely on the king,
and for three days he lay in a high fever. Meanwhile, his daughter,
herself nearly mad with grief, gave orders that the white slipper
should be sought for far and wide; and so it was, but even the
cleverest divers could find no trace of it at the bottom of the river.

When it became clear that the slipper must have been carried out to sea
by the current, Diamantina turned her thoughts elsewhere, and sent
messengers in search of the doctor who had brought relief to her
father, begging him to make another slipper as fast as possible, to
supply the place of the one which was lost. But the messengers
returned with the sad news that the doctor had died some weeks before,
and, what was worse, his secret had died with him.

In his weakness this intelligence had such an effect on the king that
the physicians feared he would become as ill as before. He could
hardly be persuaded to touch food, and all night long he lay moaning,
partly with pain, and partly over his own folly in not having begged
the doctor to make him several dozens of white slippers, so that in
case of accidents he might always have one to put on. However,
by-and-by he saw that it was no use weeping and wailing, and commanded
that they should search for his lost treasure more diligently than ever.

What a sight the river banks presented in those days! It seemed as if
all the people in the country were gathered on them. But this second
search was no more fortunate than the first, and at last the king
issued a proclamation that whoever found the missing slipper should be
made heir to the crown, and should marry the princess.

Now many daughters would have rebelled at being disposed of in the
manner; and it must be admitted that Diamantina's heart sank when she
heard what the king had done. Still, she loved her father so much that
she desired his comfort more than anything else in the world, so she
said nothing, and only bowed her head.

Of course the result of the proclamation was that the river banks
became more crowded than before; for all the princess's suitors from
distant lands flocked to the spot, each hoping that he might be the
lucky finder. Many times a shining stone at the bottom of the stream
was taken for the slipper itself, and every evening saw a band of
dripping downcast men returning homewards. But one youth always
lingered longer than the rest, and night would still see him engaged in
the search, though his clothes stuck to his skin and his teeth
chattered.

One day, when the king was lying on his bed racked with pain, he heard
the noise of a scuffle going on in his antechamber, and rang a golden
bell that stood by his side to summon one of his servants.

'Sire,' answered the attendant, when the king inquired what was the
matter, 'the noise you heard was caused by a young man from the town,
who has had the impudence to come here to ask if he may measure your
majesty's foot, so as to make you another slipper in place of the lost
one.'

'And what have you done to the youth?' said the king.

'The servants pushed him out of the palace, and, added a few blows to
teach him not to be insolent,' replied the man.

'Then they did very ill,' answered the king, with a frown. 'He came
here from kindness, and there was no reason to maltreat him.'

'Oh, my lord, he had the audacity to wish to touch your majesty's
sacred person—he, a good-for-nothing boy, a mere shoemaker's
apprentice, perhaps! And even if he could make shoes to perfection
they would be no use without the soothing balsam.'

The king remained silent for a few moments, then he said:

'Never mind. Go and fetch the youth and bring him to me. I would
gladly try any remedy that may relieve my pain.'

So, soon afterwards, the youth, who had not gone far from the palace,
was caught and ushered into the king's presence.

He was tall and handsome and, though he professed to make shoes, his
manners were good and modest, and he bowed low as he begged the king
not only to allow him to take the measure of his foot, but also to
suffer him to place a healing plaster over the wound.

Balancin was pleased with the young man's voice and appearance, and
thought that he looked as if he knew what he was doing. So he
stretched out his bad foot which the youth examined with great
attention, and then gently laid on the plaster.

Very shortly the ointment began to soothe the sharp pain, and the king,
whose confidence increased every moment, begged the young man to tell
him his name.

'I have no parents; they died when I was six, sire,' replied the youth,
modestly. 'Everyone in the town calls me Gilguerillo
[1]
, because,
when I was little, I went singing through the world in spite of my
misfortunes. Luckily for me I was born to be happy.'

'And you really think you can cure me?' asked the king.

'Completely, my lord,' answered Gilguerillo.

'And how long do you think it will take?'

'It is not an easy task; but I will try to finish it in a fortnight,'
replied the youth.

A fortnight seemed to the king a long time to make one slipper. But he
only said:

'Do you need anything to help you?'

'Only a good horse, if your majesty will be kind enough to give me
one,' answered Gilguerillo. And the reply was so unexpected that the
courtiers could hardly restrain their smiles, while the king stared
silently.

'You shall have the horse,' he said at last, 'and I shall expect you
back in a fortnight. If you fulfil your promise you know your reward;
if not, I will have you flogged for your impudence.'

Gilguerillo bowed, and turned to leave the palace, followed by the
jeers and scoffs of everyone he met. But he paid no heed, for he had
got what he wanted.

He waited in front of the gates till a magnificent horse was led up to
him, and vaulting into the saddle with an ease which rather surprised
the attendant, rode quickly out of the town amidst the jests of the
assembled crowd, who had heard of his audacious proposal. And while he
is on his way let us pause for a moment and tell who he is.

Both father and mother had died before the boy was six years old; and
he had lived for many years with his uncle, whose life had been passed
in the study of chemistry. He could leave no money to his nephew, as
he had a son of his own; but he taught him all he knew, and at his dead
Gilguerillo entered an office, where he worked for many hours daily.
In his spare time, instead of playing with the other boys, he passed
hours poring over books, and because he was timid and liked to be alone
he was held by everyone to be a little mad. Therefore, when it became
known that he had promised to cure the king's foot, and had ridden
away—no one knew where—a roar of laughter and mockery rang through
the town, and jeers and scoffing words were sent after him.

But if they had only known what were Gilguerillo's thoughts they would
have thought him madder than ever.

The real truth was that, on the morning when the princess had walked
through the streets before making holiday on the river Gilguerillo had
seen her from his window, and had straightway fallen in love with her.
Of course he felt quite hopeless. It was absurd to imagine that the
apothecary's nephew could ever marry the king's daughter; so he did his
best to forget her, and study harder than before, till the royal
proclamation suddenly filled him with hope. When he was free he no
longer spent the precious moments poring over books, but, like the
rest, he might have been seen wandering along the banks of the river,
or diving into the stream after something that lay glistening in the
clear water, but which turned out to be a white pebble or a bit of
glass.

And at the end he understood that it was not by the river that he would
win the princess; and, turning to his books for comfort, he studied
harder than ever.

There is an old proverb which says: 'Everything comes to him who knows
how to wait.' It is not all men who know hot to wait, any more than it
is all men who can learn by experience; but Gilguerillo was one of the
few and instead of thinking his life wasted because he could not have
the thing he wanted most, he tried to busy himself in other directions.
So, one day, when he expected it least, his reward came to him.

He happened to be reading a book many hundreds of years old, which told
of remedies for all kinds of diseases. Most of them, he knew, were
merely invented by old women, who sought to prove themselves wiser than
other people; but at length he came to something which caused him to
sit up straight in his chair, and made his eyes brighten. This was the
description of a balsam— which would cure every kind of sore or
wound—distilled from a plant only to be found in a country so distant
that it would take a man on foot two months to go and come back again.