The White Slipper

: The Orange Fairy Book

Once upon a time there lived a king who had a daughter just fifteen

years old. And what a daughter!



Even the mothers who had daughters of their own could not help allowing

that the princess was much more beautiful and graceful than any of

them; and, as for the fathers, if one of them ever beheld her by

accident he could talk of nothing else for a whole day afterwards.



Of course the king whose name was Balancin, was the complete slave of

his little girl from the moment he lifted her from the arms of her dead

mother; indeed, he did not seem to know that there was anyone else in

the world to love.



Now Diamantina, for that was her name, did not reach her fifteenth

birthday without proposals for marriage from every country under

heaven; but be the suitor who he might, the king always said him nay.



Behind the palace a large garden stretched away to the foot of some

hills, and more than one river flowed through. Hither the princess

would come each evening towards sunset, attended by her ladies, and

gather herself the flowers that were to adorn her rooms. She also

brought with her a pair of scissors to cut off the dead blooms, and a

basket to put them in, so that when the sun rose next morning he might

see nothing unsightly. When she had finished this task she would take

a walk through the town, so that the poor people might have a chance of

speaking with her, and telling her of their troubles; and then she

would seek out her father, and together they would consult over the

best means of giving help to those who needed it.



But what has all this to do with the White Slipper? my readers will ask.



Have patience, and you will see.



Next to his daughter, Balancin loved hunting, and it was his custom to

spend several mornings every week chasing the boars which abounded in

the mountains a few miles from the city. One day, rushing downhill as

fast as he could go, he put his foot into a hole and fell, rolling into

a rocky pit of brambles. The king's wounds were not very severe, but

his face and hands were cut and torn, while his feet were in a worse

plight still, for, instead of proper hunting boots, he only wore

sandals, to enable him to run more swiftly.



In a few days the king was as well as ever, and the signs of the

scratches were almost gone; but one foot still remained very sore,

where a thorn had pierced deeply and had festered. The best doctors in

the kingdom treated it with all their skill; they bathed, and

poulticed, and bandaged, but it was in vain. The foot only grew worse

and worse, and became daily more swollen and painful.



After everyone had tried his own particular cure, and found it fail,

there came news of a wonderful doctor in some distant land who had

healed the most astonishing diseases. On inquiring, it was found that

he never left the walls of his own city, and expected his patients to

come to see him; but, by dint of offering a large sum of money, the

king persuaded the famous physician to undertake the journey to his own

court.



On his arrival the doctor was led at once into the king's presence, and

made a careful examination of his foot.



'Alas! your majesty,' he said, when he had finished, 'the wound is

beyond the power of man to heal; but though I cannot cure it, I can at

least deaden the pain, and enable you to walk without so much

suffering.'



'Oh, if you can only do that,' cried the king, 'I shall be grateful to

you for life! Give your own orders; they shall be obeyed.'



'Then let your majesty bid the royal shoemaker make you a shoe of

goat-skin very loose and comfortable, while I prepare a varnish to

paint over it of which I alone have the secret!' So saying, the doctor

bowed himself out, leaving the king more cheerful and hopeful than he

had been for long.



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[FN#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.



When I say that the book declared that the balsam could heal every sort

of sore or wound, there were a few against which it was powerless, and

it gave certain signs by which these might be known. This was the

reason why Gilguerillo demanded to see the king's foot before he would

undertake to cure it; and to obtain admittance he gave out that he was

a shoemaker. However, the dreaded signs were absent, and his heart

bounded at the thought that the princess was within his reach.



Perhaps she was; but a great deal had to be accomplished yet, and he

had allowed himself a very short time in which to do it.



He spared his horse only so much as was needful, yet it took him six

days to reach the spot where the plant grew. A thick wood lay in front

of him, and, fastening the bridle tightly to a tree, he flung himself

on his hands and knees and began to hunt for the treasure. Many time

he fancied it was close to him, and many times it turned out to be

something else; but, at last, when light was fading, and he had almost

given up hope, he came upon a large bed of the plant, right under his

feet! Trembling with joy, he picked every scrap he could see, and

placed it in his wallet. Then, mounting his horse, he galloped quickly

back towards the city.



It was night when he entered the gates, and the fifteen days allotted

were not up till the next day. His eyes were heavy with sleep, and his

body ached with the long strain, but, without pausing to rest, he

kindled a fire on is hearth, and quickly filling a pot with water,

threw in the herbs and left them to boil. After that he lay down and

slept soundly.



The sun was shining when he awoke, and he jumped up and ran to the pot.

The plant had disappeared and in its stead was a thick syrup, just as

the book had said there would be. He lifted the syrup out with a

spoon, and after spreading it in the sun till it was partly dry, poured

it into a small flask of crystal. He next washed himself thoroughly,

and dressed himself, in his best clothes, and putting the flask in his

pocket, set out for the palace, and begged to see the king without

delay.



Now Balancin, whose foot had been much less painful since Gilguerillo

had wrapped it in the plaster, was counting the days to the young man's

return; and when he was told Gilguerillo was there, ordered him to be

admitted at once. As he entered, the king raised himself eagerly on

his pillows, but his face fell when he saw no signs of a slipper.



'You have failed, then?' he said, throwing up his hands in despair.



'I hope not, your majesty; I think not,' answered the youth. And

drawing the flask from his pocket, he poured two or three drops on the

wound.



'Repeat this for three nights, and you will find yourself cured,' said

he. And before the king had time to thank him he had bowed himself out.



Of course the news soon spread through the city, and men and women

never tired of calling Gilguerillo an impostor, and prophesying that

the end of the three days would see him in prison, if not on the

scaffold. But Gilguerillo paid no heed to their hard words, and no

more did the king, who took care that no hand but his own should put on

the healing balsam.



On the fourth morning the king awoke and instantly stretched out his

wounded foot that he might prove the truth or falsehood of

Gilguerillo's remedy. The wound was certainly cured on that side, but

how about the other? Yes, that was cured also; and not even a scar was

left to show where it had been!



Was ever any king so happy as Balancin when he satisfied himself of

this?



Lightly as a deer he jumped from his bed, and began to turn head over

heels and to perform all sorts of antics, so as to make sure that his

foot was in truth as well as it looked. And when he was quite tired he

sent for his daughter, and bade the courtiers bring the lucky young man

to his room.



'He is really young and handsome,' said the princess to herself,

heaving a sigh of relief that it was not some dreadful old man who had

healed her father; and while the king was announcing to his courtiers

the wonderful cure that had been made, Diamantina was thinking that if

Gilguerillo looked so well in his common dress, how much improved by

the splendid garments of a king' son. However, she held her peace, and

only watched with amusement when the courtiers, knowing there was no

help for it, did homage and obeisance to the chemist's boy.



Then they brought to Gilguerillo a magnificent tunic of green velvet

bordered with gold, and a cap with three white plumes stuck in it; and

at the sight of him so arrayed, the princess fell in love with him in a

moment. The wedding was fixed to take place in eight days, and at the

ball afterwards nobody danced so long or so lightly as king Balancin.



[From Capullos de Rosa, por D. Enrique Ceballos Quintana.]



[FN#1] Linnet.