Prince Narcissus And The Princess Potentilla

: The Green Fairy Book

Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who, though it is a

very long while since they died, were much the same in their

tastes and pursuits as people nowadays. The King, who was called

Cloverleaf, liked hunting better than anything else; but he

nevertheless bestowed as much care upon his kingdom as he felt

equal to--that is to say, he never made an end of folding and

unfolding the State documents. As to the Quee , she had once been

very pretty, and she liked to believe that she was so still, which

is, of course, always made quite easy for queens. Her name was

Frivola, and her one occupation in life was the pursuit of

amusement. Balls, masquerades, and picnics followed one another in

rapid succession, as fast as she could arrange them, and you may

imagine that under these circumstances the kingdom was somewhat

neglected. As a matter of fact, if anyone had a fancy for a town,

or a province, he helped himself to it; but as long as the King

had his horses and dogs, and the Queen her musicians and her

actors, they did not trouble themselves about the matter. King

Cloverleaf and Queen Frivola had but one child, and this Princess

had from her very babyhood been so beautiful, that by the time she

was four years old the Queen was desperately jealous of her, and

so fearful that when she was grown up she would be more admired

than herself, that she resolved to keep her hidden away out of

sight. To this end she caused a little house to be built not far

beyond the Palace gardens, on the bank of a river. This was

surrounded by a high wall, and in it the charming Potentilla was

imprisoned. Her nurse, who was dumb, took care of her, and the

necessaries of life were conveyed to her through a little window

in the wall, while guards were always pacing to and fro outside,

with orders to cut off the head of anyone who tried to approach,

which they would certainly have done without thinking twice about

it. The Queen told everyone, with much pretended sorrow, that the

Princess was so ugly, and so troublesome, and altogether so

impossible to love, that to keep her out of sight was the only

thing that could be done for her. And this tale she repeated so

often, that at last the whole court believed it. Things were in

this state, and the Princess was about fifteen years old, when

Prince Narcissus, attracted by the report of Queen Frivola's gay

doings, presented himself at the court. He was not much older than

the Princess, and was as handsome a Prince as you would see in a

day's journey, and really, for his age, not so very scatter-

brained. His parents were a King and Queen, whose story you will

perhaps read some day. They died almost at the same time, leaving

their kingdom to the eldest of their children, and commending

their youngest son, Prince Narcissus, to the care of the Fairy

Melinette. In this they did very well for him, for the Fairy was

as kind as she was powerful, and she spared no pains in teaching

the little Prince everything it was good for him to know, and even

imparted to him some of her own Fairy lore. But as soon as he was

grown up she sent him out to see the world for himself, though all

the time she was secretly keeping watch over him, ready to help in

any time of need. Before he started she gave him a ring which

would render him invisible when he put it on his finger. These

rings seem to be quite common; you must often have heard of them,

even if you have never seen one. It was in the course of the

Prince's wanderings, in search of experience of men and things,

that he came to the court of Queen Frivola, where he was extremely

well received. The Queen was delighted with him, so were all her

ladies; and the King was very polite to him, though he did not

quite see why the whole court was making such a fuss over him.



Prince Narcissus enjoyed all that went on, and found the time pass

very pleasantly. Before long, of course, he heard the story about

the Princess Potentilla, and, as it had by that time been repeated

many times, and had been added to here and there, she was

represented as such a monster of ugliness that he was really quite

curious to see her, and resolved to avail himself of the magic

power of his ring to accomplish his design. So he made himself

invisible, and passed the guard without their so much as

suspecting that anyone was near. Climbing the wall was rather a

difficulty, but when he at length found himself inside it he was

charmed with the peaceful beauty of the little domain it enclosed,

and still more delighted when he perceived a slender, lovely

maiden wandering among the flowers. It was not until he had sought

vainly for the imaginary monster that he realised that this was

the Princess herself, and by that time he was deeply in love with

her, for indeed it would have been hard to find anyone prettier

than Potentilla, as she sat by the brook, weaving a garland of

blue forget-me-nots to crown her waving golden locks, or to

imagine anything more gentle than the way she tended all the birds

and beasts who inhabited her small kingdom, and who all loved and

followed her. Prince Narcissus watched her every movement, and

hovered near her in a dream of delight, not daring as yet to

appear to her, so humble had he suddenly become in her presence.

And when evening came, and the nurse fetched the Princess into her

little house, he felt obliged to go back to Frivola's palace, for

fear his absence should be noticed and someone should discover his

new treasure. But he forgot that to go back absent, and dreamy,

and indifferent, when he had before been gay and ardent about

everything, was the surest way of awakening suspicion; and when,

in response to the jesting questions which were put to him upon

the subject, he only blushed and returned evasive answers, all the

ladies were certain that he had lost his heart, and did their

utmost to discover who was the happy possessor of it. As to the

Prince, he was becoming day by day more attached to Potentilla,

and his one thought was to attend her, always invisible, and help

her in everything she did, and provide her with everything that

could possibly amuse or please her. And the Princess, who had

learnt to find diversion in very small things in her quiet life,

was in a continual state of delight over the treasures which the

Prince constantly laid where she must find them. Then Narcissus

implored his faithful friend Melinette to send the Princess such

dreams of him as should make her recognise him as a friend when he

actually appeared before her eyes; and this device was so

successful that the Princess quite dreaded the cessation of these

amusing dreams, in which a certain Prince Narcissus was such a

delightful lover and companion. After that he went a step further

and began to have long talks with the Princess--still, however,

keeping himself invisible, until she begged him so earnestly to

appear to her that he could no longer resist, and after making her

promise that, no matter what he was like, she would still love

him, he drew the ring from his finger, and the Princess saw with

delight that he was as handsome as he was agreeable. Now, indeed,

they were perfectly happy, and they passed the whole long summer

day in Potentilla's favourite place by the brook, and when at last

Prince Narcissus had to leave her it seemed to them both that the

hours had gone by with the most amazing swiftness. The Princess

stayed where she was, dreaming of her delightful Prince, and

nothing could have been further from her thoughts than any trouble

or misfortune, when suddenly, in a cloud of dust and shavings, by

came the enchanter Grumedan, and unluckily he chanced to catch

sight of Potentilla. Down he came straightway and alighted at her

feet, and one look at her charming blue eyes and smiling lips

quite decided him that he must appear to her at once, though he

was rather annoyed to remember that he had on only his second-best

cloak. The Princess sprang to her feet with a cry of terror at

this sudden apparition, for really the Enchanter was no beauty. To

begin with, he was very big and clumsy, then he had but one eye,

and his teeth were long, and he stammered badly; nevertheless, he

had an excellent opinion of himself, and mistook the Princess's

cry of terror for an exclamation of delighted surprise. After

pausing a moment to give her time to admire him, the Enchanter

made her the most complimentary speech he could invent, which,

however, did not please her at all, though he was extremely

delighted with it himself. Poor Potentilla only shuddered and

cried:



'Oh! where is my Narcissus?'



To which he replied with a self-satisfied chuckle: 'You want a

narcissus, madam? Well, they are not rare; you shall have as many

as you like.'



Whereupon he waved his wand, and the Princess found herself

surrounded and half buried in the fragrant flowers. She would

certainly have betrayed that this was not the kind of narcissus

she wanted, but for the Fairy Melinette, who had been anxiously

watching the interview, and now thought it quite time to

interfere. Assuming the Prince's voice, she whispered in

Potentilla's ear:



'We are menaced by a great danger, but my only fear is for you, my

Princess. Therefore I beg you to hide what you really feel, and we

will hope that some way out of the difficulty may present itself.'



The Princess was much agitated by this speech, and feared lest the

Enchanter should have overheard it; but he had been loudly calling

her attention to the flowers, and chuckling over his own smartness

in getting them for her; and it was rather a blow to him when she

said very coldly that they were not the sort she preferred, and

she would be glad if he would send them all away. This he did, but

afterwards wished to kiss the Princess's hand as a reward for

having been so obliging; but the Fairy Melinette was not going to

allow anything of that kind. She appeared suddenly, in all her

splendour, and cried:



'Stay, Grumedan; this Princess is under my protection, and the

smallest impertinence will cost you a thousand years of captivity.

If you can win Potentilla's heart by the ordinary methods I cannot

oppose you, but I warn you that I will not put up with any of your

usual tricks.'



This declaration was not at all to the Enchanter's taste; but he

knew that there was no help for it, and that he would have to

behave well, and pay the Princess all the delicate attentions he

could think of; though they were not at all the sort of thing he

was used to. However, he decided that to win such a beauty it was

quite worth while; and Melinette, feeling that she could now leave

the Princess in safety, hurried off to tell Prince Narcissus what

was going forward. Of course, at the very mention of the Enchanter

as a rival he was furious, and I don't know what foolish things he

would not have done if Melinette had not been there to calm him

down. She represented to him what a powerful enchanter Grumedan

was, and how, if he were provoked, he might avenge himself upon

the Princess, since he was the most unjust and churlish of all the

enchanters, and had often before had to be punished by the Fairy

Queen for some of his ill-deeds. Once he had been imprisoned in a

tree, and was only released when it was blown down by a furious

wind; another time he was condemned to stay under a big stone at

the bottom of a river, until by some chance the stone should be

turned over; but nothing could ever really improve him. The Fairy

finally made Narcissus promise that he would remain invisible when

he was with the Princess, since she felt sure that this would make

things easier for all of them. Then began a struggle between

Grumedan and the Prince, the latter under the name of Melinette,

as to which could best delight and divert the Princess and win her

approbation. Prince Narcissus first made friends with all the

birds in Potentilla's little domain, and taught them to sing her

name and her praises, with all their sweetest trills and most

touching melodies, and all day long to tell her how dearly he

loved her. Grumedan, thereupon, declared that there was nothing

new about that, since the birds had sung since the world began,

and all lovers had imagined that they sang for them alone.

Therefore he said he would himself write an opera that should be

absolutely a novelty and something worth hearing. When the time

came for the performance (which lasted five weary hours) the

Princess found to her dismay that the 'opera' consisted of this

more than indifferent verse, chanted with all their might by ten

thousand frogs:



'Admirable Potentilla, Do you think it kind or wise In this sudden

way to kill a Poor Enchanter with your eyes?'



Really, if Narcissus had not been there to whisper in her ear and

divert her attention, I don't know what would have become of poor

Potentilla, for though the first repetition of this absurdity

amused her faintly, she nearly died of weariness before the time

was over. Luckily Grumedan did not perceive this, as he was too

much occupied in whipping up the frogs, many of whom perished

miserably from fatigue, since he did not allow them to rest for a

moment. The Prince's next idea for Potentilla's amusement was to

cause a fleet of boats exactly like those of Cleopatra, of which

you have doubtless read in history, to come up the little river,

and upon the most gorgeously decorated of these reclined the great

Queen herself, who, as soon as she reached the place where

Potentilla sat in rapt attention, stepped majestically on shore

and presented the Princess with that celebrated pearl of which you

have heard so much, saying:



'You are more beautiful than I ever was. Let my example warn you

to make a better use of your beauty!'



And then the little fleet sailed on, until it was lost to view in

the windings of the river. Grumedan was also looking on at the

spectacle, and said very contemptuously:



'I cannot say I think these marionettes amusing. What a to-do to

make over a single pearl! But if you like pearls, madam, why, I

will soon gratify you.'



So saying, he drew a whistle from his pocket, and no sooner had he

blown it than the Princess saw the water of the river bubble and

grow muddy, and in another instant up came hundreds of thousands

of great oysters, who climbed slowly and laboriously towards her

and laid at her feet all the pearls they contained.



'Those are what I call pearls,' cried Grumedan in high glee. And

truly there were enough of them to pave every path in Potentilla's

garden and leave some to spare! The next day Prince Narcissus had

prepared for the Princess's pleasure a charming arbour of leafy

branches, with couches of moss and grassy floor and garlands

everywhere, with her name written in different coloured blossoms.

Here he caused a dainty little banquet to be set forth, while

hidden musicians played softly, and the silvery fountains plashed

down into their marble basins, and when presently the music

stopped a single nightingale broke the stillness with his

delicious chant.



'Ah!' cried the Princess, recognizing the voice of one of her

favourites, 'Philomel, my sweet one, who taught you that new

song?'



And he answered: 'Love, my Princess.'



Meanwhile the Enchanter was very ill-pleased with the

entertainment, which he declared was dulness itself.



'You don't seem to have any idea in these parts beyond little

squeaking birds!' said he. 'And fancy giving a banquet without so

much as an ounce of plate!'



So the next day, when the Princess went out into her garden, there

stood a summer-house built of solid gold, decorated within and

without with her initials and the Enchanter's combined. And in it

was spread an enormous repast, while the table so glittered with

golden cups and plates, flagons and dishes, candlesticks and a

hundred other things beside, that it was hardly possible to look

steadily at it. The Enchanter ate like six ogres, but the Princess

could not touch a morsel. Presently Grumedan remarked with a grin:



'I have provided neither musicians nor singers; but as you seem

fond of music I will sing to you myself.'



Whereupon he began, with a voice like a screech-owl's, to chant

the words of his 'opera,' only this time happily not at such a

length, and without the frog accompaniment. After this the Prince

again asked the aid of his friends the birds, and when they had

assembled from all the country round he tied about the neck of

each one a tiny lamp of some brilliant colour, and when darkness

fell he made them go through a hundred pretty tricks before the

delighted Potentilla, who clapped her little hands with delight

when she saw her own name traced in points of light against the

dark trees, or when the whole flock of sparks grouped themselves

into bouquets of different colours, like living flowers. Grumedan

leaning back in his arm-chair, with one knee crossed over the

other and his nose in the air, looked on disdainfully.



'Oh! if you like fireworks, Princess,' said he; and the next night

all the will-o'-the-wisps in the country came and danced on the

plain, which could be seen from the Princess's windows, and as she

was looking out, and rather enjoying the sight, up sprang a

frightful volcano, pouring out smoke and flames which terrified

her greatly, to the intense amusement of the Enchanter, who

laughed like a pack of wolves quarrelling. After this, as many of

the will-o'-the-wisps as could get in crowded into Potentilla's

garden, and by their light the tall yew-trees danced minuets until

the Princess was weary and begged to be excused from looking at

anything more that night. But, in spite of Potentilla's efforts to

behave politely to the tiresome old Enchanter, whom she detested,

he could not help seeing that he failed to please her, and then he

began to suspect very strongly that she must love someone else,

and that somebody besides Melinette was responsible for all the

festivities he had witnessed. So after much consideration he

devised a plan for finding out the truth. He went to the Princess

suddenly, and announced that he was most unwillingly forced to

leave her, and had come to bid her farewell. Potentilla could

scarcely hide her delight when she heard this, and his back was

hardly turned before she was entreating Prince Narcissus to make

himself visible once more. The poor Prince had been getting quite

thin with anxiety and annoyance, and was only too delighted to

comply with her request. They greeted one another rapturously, and

were just sitting down to talk over everything cosily, and enjoy

the Enchanter's discomfiture together, when out he burst in a fury

from behind a bush. With his huge club he aimed a terrific blow at

Narcissus, which must certainly have killed him but for the

adroitness of the Fairy Melinette, who arrived upon the scene just

in time to snatch him up and carry him off at lightning speed to

her castle in the air. Poor Potentilla, however, had not the

comfort of knowing this, for at the sight of the Enchanter

threatening her beloved Prince she had given one shriek and fallen

back insensible. When she recovered her senses she was more than

ever convinced that he was dead, since even Melinette was no

longer near her, and no one was left to defend her from the odious

old Enchanter.



To make matters worse, he seemed to be in a very bad temper, and

came blustering and raging at the poor Princess.



'I tell you what it is, madam,' said he: 'whether you love this

whipper-snapper Prince or not doesn't matter in the least. You are

going to marry me, so you may as well make up your mind to it; and

I am going away this very minute to make all the arrangements. But

in case you should get into mischief in my absence, I think I had

better put you to sleep.'



So saying, he waved his wand over her, and in spite of her utmost

efforts to keep awake she sank into a profound and dreamless

slumber.



As he wished to make what he considered a suitable entry into the

King's palace, he stepped outside the Princess's little domain,

and mounted upon an immense chariot with great solid wheels, and

shafts like the trunk of an oak-tree, but all of solid gold. This

was drawn with great difficulty by forty-eight strong oxen; and

the Enchanter reclined at his ease, leaning upon his huge club,

and holding carelessly upon his knee a tawny African lion, as if

it had been a little lapdog. It was about seven o'clock in the

morning when this extraordinary chariot reached the palace gates;

the King was already astir, and about to set off on a hunting

expedition; as for the Queen, she had only just gone off into her

first sleep, and it would have been a bold person indeed who

ventured to wake her.



The King was greatly annoyed at having to stay and see a visitor

at such a time, and pulled off his hunting boots again with many

grimaces. Meantime the Enchanter was stumping about in the hall,

crying:



'Where is this King? Let him be told that I must see him and his

wife also.'



The King, who was listening at the top of the staircase, thought

this was not very polite; however, he took counsel with his

favourite huntsman, and, following his advice, presently went down

to see what was wanted of him. He was struck with astonishment at

the sight of the chariot, and was gazing at it, when the Enchanter

strode up to him, exclaiming:



'Shake hands, Cloverleaf, old fellow! Don't you know me?'



'No, I can't say I do,' replied the King, somewhat embarrassed.



'Why, I am Grumedan, the Enchanter,' said he, 'and I am come to

make your fortune. Let us come in and talk things over a bit.'



Thereupon he ordered the oxen to go about their business, and they

bounded off like stags, and were out of sight in a moment. Then,

with one blow of his club, he changed the massive chariot into a

perfect mountain of gold pieces.



'Those are for your lackeys,' said he to the King, 'that they may

drink my health.'



Naturally a great scramble ensued, and at last the laughter and

shouting awoke the Queen, who rang for her maids to ask the reason

of such an unwonted hurry-burly. When they said that a visitor was

asking for her, and then proceeded each one to tell breathlessly a

different tale of wonder, in which she could only distinguish the

words, 'oxen,' 'gold,' 'club,' 'giant,' 'lion,' she thought they

were all out of their minds. Meanwhile the King was asking the

Enchanter to what he was indebted for the honour of this visit,

and on his replying that he would not say until the Queen was also

present, messenger after messenger was dispatched to her to beg

her immediate attendance. But Frivola was in a very bad humour at

having been so unceremoniously awakened, and declared that she had

a pain in her little finger, and that nothing should induce her to

come.



When the Enchanter heard this he insisted that she must come.



'Take my club to her Majesty,' said he, 'and tell her that if she

smells the end of it she will find it wonderfully reviving.'



So four of the King's strongest men-at-arms staggered off with it;

and after some persuasion the Queen consented to try this novel

remedy. She had hardly smelt it for an instant when she declared

herself to be perfectly restored; but whether that was due to the

scent of the wood or to the fact that as soon as she touched it

out fell a perfect shower of magnificent jewels, I leave you to

decide. At any rate, she was now all eagerness to see the

mysterious stranger, and hastily throwing on her royal mantle,

popped her second-best diamond crown over her night-cap, put a

liberal dab of rouge upon each cheek, and holding up her largest

fan before her nose--for she was not used to appearing in broad

daylight--she went mincing into the great hall. The Enchanter

waited until the King and Queen had seated themselves upon their

throne, and then, taking his place between them, he began

solemnly:



'My name is Grumedan. I am an extremely well-connected Enchanter;

my power is immense. In spite of all this, the charms of your

daughter Potentilla have so fascinated me that I cannot live

without her. She fancies that she loves a certain contemptible

puppy called Narcissus; but I have made very short work with him.

I really do not care whether you consent to my marriage with your

daughter or not, but I am bound to ask your consent, on account of

a certain meddling Fairy called Melinette, with whom I have reason

for wishing to keep on good terms.'



The King and Queen were somewhat embarrassed to know what answer

to make to this terrible suitor, but at last they asked for time

to talk over the matter: since, they said, their subjects might

think that the heir to the throne should not be married with as

little consideration as a dairymaid.



'Oh! take a day or two if you like,' said the Enchanter; 'but in

the meantime, I am going to send for your daughter. Perhaps you

will be able to induce her to be reasonable.'



So saying, he drew out his favourite whistle, and blew one ear-

piercing note--whereupon the great lion, who had been dozing in

the sunny courtyard, come bounding in on his soft, heavy feet.

'Orion,' said the Enchanter, 'go and fetch me the Princess, and

bring her here at once. Be gentle now!'



At these words Orion went off at a great pace, and was soon at the

other end of the King's gardens. Scattering the guards right and

left, he cleared the wall at a bound, and seizing the sleeping

Princess, he threw her on to his back, where he kept her by

holding her robe in his teeth. Then he trotted gently back, and in

less than five minutes stood in the great hall before the

astonished King and Queen.



The Enchanter held his club close to the Princess's charming

little nose, whereupon she woke up and shrieked with terror at

finding herself in a strange place with the detested Grumedan.

Frivola, who had stood by, stiff with displeasure at the sight of

the lovely Princess, now stepped forward, and with much pretended

concern proposed to carry off Potentilla to her own apartments

that she might enjoy the quiet she seemed to need. Really her one

idea was to let the Princess be seen by as few people as possible;

so, throwing a veil over her head, she led her away and locked her

up securely. All this time Prince Narcissus, gloomy and

despairing, was kept a prisoner by Melinette in her castle in the

air, and in spite of all the splendour by which he was surrounded,

and all the pleasures which he might have enjoyed, his one thought

was to get back to Potentilla. The Fairy, however, left him there,

promising to do her very best for him, and commanding all her

swallows and butterflies to wait upon him and do his bidding. One

day, as he paced sadly to and fro, he thought he heard a voice he

knew calling to him, and sure enough there was the faithful

Philomel, Potentilla's favourite, who told him all that had

passed, and how the sleeping Princess had been carried off by the

Lion to the great grief of all her four-footed and feathered

subjects, and how, not knowing what to do, he had wandered about

until he heard the swallows telling one another of the Prince who

was in their airy castle and had come to see if it could be

Narcissus. The Prince was more distracted than ever, and tried

vainly to escape from the castle, by leaping from the roof into

the clouds; but every time they caught him, and rolling softly up,

brought him back to the place from which he started, so at last he

gave up the attempt and waited with desperate patience for the

return of Melinette. Meanwhile matters were advancing rapidly in

the court of King Cloverleaf, for the Queen quite made up her mind

that such a beauty as Potentilla must be got out of the way as

quickly as possible. So she sent for the Enchanter secretly, and

after making him promise that he would never turn herself and King

Cloverleaf out of their kingdom, and that he would take Potentilla

far away, so that never again might she set eyes upon her, she

arranged the wedding for the next day but one.



You may imagine how Potentilla lamented her sad fate, and

entreated to be spared. All the comfort she could get out of

Frivola was, that if she preferred a cup of poison to a rich

husband she would certainly provide her with one.



When, then, the fatal day came the unhappy Potentilla was led into

the great hall between the King and Queen, the latter wild with

envy at the murmurs of admiration which rose on all sides at the

loveliness of the Princess. An instant later in came Grumedan by

the opposite door. His hair stood on end, and he wore a huge bag-

purse and a cravat tied in a bow, his mantle was made of a shower

of silver coins with a lining of rose colour, and his delight in

his own appearance knew no bounds. That any Princess could prefer

a cup of poison to himself never for an instant occurred to him.

Nevertheless, that was what did happen, for when Queen Frivola in

jest held out the fatal cup to the Princess, she took it eagerly,

crying:



'Ah! beloved Narcissus, I come to thee!' and was just raising it

to her lips when the window of the great hall burst open, and the

Fairy Melinette floated in upon a glowing sunset cloud, followed

by the Prince himself:



All the court looked on in dazzled surprise, while Potentilla,

catching sight of her lover, dropped the cup and ran joyfully to

meet him.



The Enchanter's first thought was to defend himself when he saw

Melinette appear, but she slipped round his blind side, and

catching him by the eyelashes dragged him off to the ceiling of

the hall, where she held him kicking for a while just to give him

a lesson, and then touching him with her wand she imprisoned him

for a thousand years in a crystal ball which hung from the roof.

'Let this teach you to mind what I tell you another time,' she

remarked severely. Then turning to the King and Queen, she begged

them to proceed with the wedding, since she had provided a much

more suitable bridegroom. She also deprived them of their kingdom,

for they had really shown themselves unfit to manage it, and

bestowed it upon the Prince and Princess, who, though they were

unwilling to take it, had no choice but to obey the Fairy.

However, they took care that the King and Queen were always

supplied with everything they could wish for.



Prince Narcissus and Princess Potentilla lived long and happily,

beloved by all their subjects. As for the Enchanter, I don't

believe he has been let out yet.