Prince Cherry

: The Best Popular Stories Selected And Rendered Anew

Long ago there lived a monarch, who was such a very honest man that

his subjects entitled him the Good King. One day, when he was out

hunting, a little white rabbit, which had been half killed by his

hounds, leaped right into his majesty's arms. Said he, caressing it:

This poor creature has put itself under my protection, and I will

allow no one to injure it. So he carried it to his palace, had

prepared for it a neat l ttle rabbit-hutch, with abundance of the

daintiest food, such as rabbits love, and there he left it.



The same night, when he was alone in his chamber, there appeared to

him a beautiful lady. She was dressed neither in gold, nor silver, nor

brocade; but her flowing robes were white as snow, and she wore a

garland of white roses on her head. The Good King was greatly

astonished at the sight; for his door was locked, and he wondered how

so dazzling a lady could possibly enter; but she soon removed his

doubts.



I am the Fairy Candide, said she, with a smiling and gracious air.

Passing through the wood, where you were hunting, I took a desire to

know if you were as good as men say you are. I therefore changed

myself into a white rabbit, and took refuge in your arms. You saved

me, and now I know that those who are merciful to dumb beasts will be

ten times more so to human beings. You merit the name your subjects

give you: you are the Good King. I thank you for your protection, and

shall be always one of your best friends. You have but to say what you

most desire, and I promise you your wish shall be granted.



Madam, replied the king, if you are a fairy, you must know, without

my telling you, the wish of my heart. I have one well-beloved son,

Prince Cherry: whatever kindly feeling you have towards me, extend it

to him.



Willingly, said Candide. I will make him the handsomest, richest,

or most powerful prince in the world: choose whichever you desire for

him.



None of the three, returned the father. I only wish him to be

good--the best prince in the whole world. Of what use would riches,

power, or beauty be to him if he were a bad man?



You are right, said the fairy; but I cannot make him good: he must

do that himself. I can only change his external fortunes; for his

personal character, the utmost I can promise is to give him good

counsel, reprove him for his faults, and even punish him, if he will

not punish himself. You mortals can do the same with your children.



Ah, yes! said the king, sighing. Still, he felt that the kindness of

a fairy was something gained for his son, and died not long after,

content and at peace.



Prince Cherry mourned deeply, for he dearly loved his father, and

would have gladly given all his kingdoms and treasures to keep him in

life a little longer. Two days after the Good King was no more, Prince

Cherry was sleeping in his chamber, when he saw the same dazzling

vision of the Fairy Candide.



I promised your father, said she, to be your best friend, and in

pledge of this take what I now give you; and she placed a small gold

ring upon his finger. Poor as it looks, it is more precious than

diamonds; for whenever you do ill it will prick your finger. If, after

that warning, you still continue in evil, you will lose my friendship,

and I shall become your direst enemy.



So saying, she disappeared, leaving Cherry in such amazement, that he

would have believed it all a dream, save for the ring on his finger.



He was for a long time so good that the ring never pricked him at all;

and this made him so cheerful and pleasant in his humour that

everybody called him, Happy Prince Cherry. But, one unlucky day, he

was out hunting and found no sport, which vexed him so much that he

showed his ill temper by his looks and ways. He fancied his ring felt

very tight and uncomfortable, but as it did not prick him, he took no

heed of this: until, re-entering his palace, his little pet dog, Bibi,

jumped up upon him, and was sharply told to get away. The creature,

accustomed to nothing but caresses, tried to attract his attention by

pulling at his garments, when Prince Cherry turned and gave it a

severe kick. At this moment he felt in his finger a prick like a pin.



What nonsense! said he to himself. The fairy must be making game of

me. Why, what great evil have I done! I, the master of a great empire,

cannot I kick my own dog?



A voice replied, or else Prince Cherry imagined it, No, sire; the

master of a great empire has a right to do good, but not evil. I--a

fairy--am as much above you as you are above your dog. I might punish

you, kill you, if I chose; but I prefer leaving you to amend your

ways. You have been guilty of three faults to-day--bad temper,

passion, cruelty: do better to-morrow.



The prince promised, and kept his word awhile; but he had been brought

up by a foolish nurse, who indulged him in every way, and was always

telling him that he would be a king one day, when he might do as he

liked in all things. He found out now that even a king cannot always

do that; it vexed him, and made him angry. His ring began to prick him

so often that his little finger was continually bleeding. He disliked

this, as was natural; and soon began to consider whether it would not

be easier to throw the ring away altogether than to be constantly

annoyed by it. It was such a queer thing for a king to have always a

spot of blood on his finger! At last, unable to put up with it any

more, he took his ring off, and hid it where he would never see it;

and believed himself the happiest of men, for he could now do exactly

what he liked. He did it, and became every day more and more

miserable.



One day he saw a young girl, so beautiful that, being always

accustomed to have his own way, he immediately determined to espouse

her. He never doubted that she would be only too glad to be made a

queen, for she was very poor. But Zelia--that was her name--answered,

to his great astonishment, that she would rather not marry him.



Do I displease you? asked the prince, into whose mind it had never

entered that he could displease anybody.



Not at all, my prince, said the honest peasant-maiden. You are very

handsome, very charming; but you are not like your father the Good

King. I will not be your queen, for you would make me miserable.



At these words the prince's love seemed all to turn to hatred: he gave

orders to his guards to convey Zelia to a prison near the palace; and

then took counsel with his foster brother, the one of all his ill

companions who most incited him to do wrong.



Sir, said this man, if I were in your majesty's place, I would

never vex myself about a poor silly girl. Feed her on bread and water

till she comes to her senses; and if she still refuses you, let her

die in torment, as a warning to your other subjects should they

venture to dispute your will. You will be disgraced should you suffer

yourself to be conquered by a simple girl.



But, said Prince Cherry, shall I not be disgraced if I harm a

creature so perfectly innocent?



No one is innocent who disputes your majesty's authority, said the

courtier, bowing; and it is better to commit an injustice than allow

it to be supposed you can ever be contradicted with impunity.



This touched Cherry on his weak point--his good impulses faded; he

resolved once more to ask Zelia if she would marry him, and, if she

again refused, to sell her as a slave. Arrived at the cell in which

she was confined, what was his astonishment to find her gone! He knew

not who to accuse, for he had kept the key in his pocket the whole

time. At last, the foster-brother suggested that the escape of Zelia

might have been contrived by an old man, Suliman by name, the prince's

former tutor, who was the only one who now ventured to blame him for

anything that he did. Cherry sent immediately, and ordered his old

friend to be brought to him, loaded heavily with irons. Then, full of

fury, he went and shut himself up in his own chamber, where he went

raging to and fro, till startled by a noise like a clap of thunder.

The Fairy Candide stood before him.



Prince, said she, in a severe voice, I promised your father to give

you good counsels, and to punish you if you refused to follow them. My

counsels were forgotten, my punishments despised. Under the figure of

a man, you have been no better than the beasts you chase: like a lion

in fury a wolf in gluttony, a serpent in revenge, and a bull in

brutality. Take, therefore, in your new form the likeness of all these

animals.



Scarcely had Prince Cherry heard these words, than to his horror he

found himself transformed into what the fairy had named. He was a

creature with the head of a lion, the horns of a bull the feet of a

wolf, and the tail of a serpent. At the same time he felt himself

transported to a distant forest, where, standing on the bank of a

stream, he saw reflected in the water his own frightful shape, and

heard a voice saying:



Look at thyself, and know thy soul has become a thousand times uglier

even than thy body.



Cherry recognised the voice of Candide, and in his rage would have

sprung upon her and devoured her; but he saw nothing, and the same

voice said behind him:



Cease thy feeble fury, and learn to conquer thy pride by being in

submission to thine own subjects.



Hearing no more, he soon quitted the stream, hoping at least to get

rid of the sight of himself; but he had scarcely gone twenty paces

when he tumbled into a pitfall that was laid to catch bears; the

bear-hunters, descending from some trees hard by, caught him, chained

him, and, only too delighted to get hold of such a curious-looking

animal, led him along with them to the capital of his own kingdom.



There great rejoicings were taking place, and the bear-hunters, asking

what it was all about, were told that it was because Prince Cherry,

the torment of his subjects, had just been struck dead by a

thunderbolt--just punishment of all his crimes. Four courtiers, his

wicked companions, had wished to divide his throne between them; but

the people had risen up against them, and offered the crown to

Suliman, the old tutor whom Cherry had ordered to be arrested.



All this the poor monster heard. He even saw Suliman sitting upon his

own throne, and trying to calm the populace by representing to them

that it was not certain Prince Cherry was dead, that he might return

one day to re-assume with honour the crown which Suliman only

consented to wear as a sort of viceroy.



I know his heart, said the honest and faithful old man; it is

tainted, but not corrupt. If alive, he may reform yet, and be all his

father over again to you, his people, whom he has caused to suffer so

much.



These words touched the poor beast so deeply, that he ceased to beat

himself against the iron bars of the cage in which the hunters carried

him about, became gentle as a lamb, and suffered himself to be taken

quietly to a menagerie, where were kept all sorts of strange and

ferocious animals--a place which he had himself often visited as a

boy, but never thought he should be shut up there himself.



However, he owned he had deserved it all, and began to make amends by

showing himself very obedient to his keeper. This man was almost as

great a brute as the animals he had charge of, and when he was in ill

humour he used to beat them without rhyme or reason. One day, while he

was sleeping, a tiger broke loose, and leaped upon him, eager to

devour him. Cherry at first felt a thrill of pleasure at the thought

of being revenged; then, seeing how helpless the man was, he wished

himself free, that he might defend him. Immediately the doors of his

cage opened. The keeper, waking up, saw the strange beast leap out,

and imagined, of course, that he was going to be slain at once.

Instead, he saw the tiger lying dead, and the strange beast creeping

up, and laying itself at his feet to be caressed. But as he lifted up

his hand to stroke it, a voice was heard saying, Good actions never

go unrewarded; and, instead of the frightful monster, there crouched

on the ground nothing but a pretty little dog.



Cherry, delighted to find himself thus metamorphosed, caressed the

keeper in every possible way, till at last the man took him up into

his arms and carried him to the king, to whom he related this

wonderful story, from beginning to end. The queen wished to have the

charming little dog; and Cherry would have been exceedingly happy,

could he have forgotten that he was originally a man and a king. He

was lodged most elegantly, had the richest of collars to adorn his

neck, and heard himself praised continually. But his beauty rather

brought him into trouble, for the queen, afraid lest he might grow too

large for a pet, took advice of dog-doctors, who ordered that he

should be fed entirely upon bread, and that very sparingly; so poor

Cherry was sometimes nearly starved.



One day, when they gave him his crust for breakfast, a fancy seized

him to go and eat it in the palace-garden; so he took the bread in his

mouth, and trotted away towards a stream which he knew, and where he

sometimes stopped to drink. But instead of the stream he saw a

splendid palace, glittering with gold and precious stones. Entering

the doors was a crowd of men and women, magnificently dressed; and

within there was singing and dancing, and good cheer of all sorts.

Yet, however grandly and gaily the people went in, Cherry noticed that

those who came out were pale, thin, ragged, half-naked, covered with

wounds and sores. Some of them dropped dead at once; others dragged

themselves on a little way and then lay down, dying of hunger, and

vainly begged a morsel of bread from others who were entering in--who

never took the least notice of them.



Cherry perceived one woman, who was trying feebly to gather and eat

some green herbs. Poor thing! said he to himself; I know what it is

to be hungry, and I want my breakfast badly enough; but still it will

not kill me to wait till dinner-time, and my crust may save the life

of this poor woman.



So the little dog ran up to her, and dropped his bread at her feet;

she picked it up, and ate it with avidity. Soon she looked quite

recovered, and Cherry, delighted, was trotting back again to his

kennel, when he heard loud cries, and saw a young girl dragged by

four men to the door of the palace, which they were trying to compel

her to enter. Oh, how he wished himself a monster again, as when he

slew the tiger!--for the young girl was no other than his beloved

Zelia. Alas! what could a poor little dog do to defend her? But he ran

forward and barked at the men, and bit their heels, until at last they

chased him away with heavy blows. And then he lay down outside the

palace-door, determined to watch and see what had become of Zelia.



Conscience pricked him now. What! thought he, I am furious against

these wicked men, who are carrying her away; and did I not do the same

myself? Did I not cast her into prison, and intend to sell her as a

slave? Who knows how much more wickedness I might not have done to her

and others, if heaven's justice had not stopped me in time?



While he lay thinking and repenting, he heard a window open, and saw

Zelia throw out of it a bit of dainty meat. Cherry, who felt hungry

enough by this time, was just about to eat it, when the woman to whom

he had given his crust snatched him up in her arms.



Poor little beast! cried she, patting him, every bit of food in

that palace is poisoned: you shall not touch a morsel.



And at the same time the voice in the air repeated again, Good

actions never go unrewarded; and Cherry found himself changed into a

beautiful little white pigeon. He remembered with joy that white was

the colour of the Fairy Candide, and began to hope that she was

taking him into favour again.



So he stretched his wings, delighted that he might now have a chance

of approaching his fair Zelia. He flew up to the palace-windows, and,

finding one of them open, entered and sought everywhere, but he could

not find Zelia. Then, in despair, he flew out again, resolved to go

over the world until he beheld her once more.



He took flight at once, and traversed many countries, swiftly as a

bird can, but found no trace of his beloved. At length in a desert,

sitting beside an old hermit in his cave, and partaking with him his

frugal repast, Cherry saw a poor peasant-girl, and recognised Zelia.

Transported with joy, he flew in, perched on her shoulder, and

expressed his delight and affection by a thousand caresses.



She, charmed with the pretty little pigeon, caressed it in her turn,

and promised it that, if it would stay with her, she would love it

always.



What have you done, Zelia? said the hermit, smiling; and while he

spoke the white pigeon vanished, and there stood Prince Cherry in his

own natural form. Your enchantment ended, prince, when Zelia promised

to love you. Indeed, she has loved you always, but your many faults

constrained her to hide her love. These are now amended, and you may

both live happy if you will, because your union is founded upon mutual

esteem.



Cherry and Zelia threw themselves at the feet of the hermit, whose

form also began to change His soiled garments became of dazzling

whiteness, and his long beard and withered face grew into the flowing

hair and lovely countenance of the Fairy Candide.



Rise up, my children, said she; I must now transport you to your

palace, and restore to Prince Cherry his father's crown, of which he

is now worthy.



She had scarcely ceased speaking when they found themselves in the

chamber of Suliman, who, delighted to find again his beloved pupil and

master, willingly resigned the throne, and became the most faithful of

his subjects.



King Cherry and Queen Zelia reigned together for many years, and it is

said that the former was so blameless and strict in all his duties,

that though he constantly wore the ring which Candide had restored to

him, it never once pricked his finger enough to make it bleed.