Princess Minon-minette
:
The Pink Fairy Book
Bibliotheque des Fees et aes Genies
Once upon a time there lived a young king whose name was Souci, and he
had been brought up, ever since he was a baby, by the fairy Inconstancy.
Now the fairy Girouette had a kind heart, but she was a very trying
person to live with, for she never knew her own mind for two minutes
together, and as she was the sole ruler at Court till the prince grew
up ever
thing was always at sixes and sevens. At first she determined to
follow the old custom of keeping the young king ignorant of the duties
he would have to perform some day; then, quite suddenly, she resigned
the reins of government into his hands; but, unluckily, it was too late
to train him properly for the post. However, the fairy did not think of
that, but, carried away by her new ideas, she hastily formed a Council,
and named as Prime Minister the excellent 'Ditto,' so called because he
had never been known to contradict anybody.
Young Prince Souci had a handsome face, and at the bottom a good deal of
common sense; but he had never been taught good manners, and was shy and
awkward; and had, besides, never learned how to use his brains.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the Council did not
get through much work. Indeed, the affairs of the country fell into such
disorder that at last the people broke out into open rebellion, and it
was only the courage of the king, who continued to play the flute while
swords and spears were flashing before the palace gate, that prevented
civil war from being declared.
No sooner was the revolt put down than the Council turned their
attention to the question of the young king's marriage. Various
princesses were proposed to him, and the fairy, who was anxious to
get the affair over before she left the Court for ever, gave it as her
opinion that the Princess Diaphana would make the most suitable wife.
Accordingly envoys were sent to bring back an exact report of the
princess's looks and ways, and they returned saying that she was tall
and well made, but so very light that the equerries who accompanied her
in her walks had to be always watching her, lest she should suddenly be
blown away. This had happened so often that her subjects lived in terror
of losing her altogether, and tried everything they could think of
to keep her to the ground. They even suggested that she should carry
weights in her pockets, or have them tied to her ankles; but this idea
was given up, as the princess found it so uncomfortable. At length it
was decided that she was never to go out in a wind, and in order to make
matters surer still the equerries each held the end of a string which
was fastened to her waist.
The Council talked over this report for some days, and then the king
made up his mind that he would judge for himself, and pretend to be
his own ambassador. This plan was by no means new, but it had often
succeeded, and, anyhow, they could think of nothing better.
Such a splendid embassy had never before been seen in any country.
The kingdom was left in the charge of the Prime Minister, who answered
'Ditto' to everything; but the choice was better than it seemed, for the
worthy man was much beloved by the people, as he agreed with all they
said, and they left him feeling very pleased with themselves and their
own wisdom.
When the king arrived at Diaphana's Court he found a magnificent
reception awaiting him, for, though they pretended not to know who he
was, secrets like this are never hidden. Now the young king had a great
dislike to long ceremonies, so he proposed that his second interview
with the princess should take place in the garden. The princess made
some difficulties, but, as the weather was lovely and very still, she
at last consented to the king's wishes. But no sooner had they finished
their first bows and curtseys than a slight breeze sprung up, and began
to sway the princess, whose equerries had retired out of respect. The
king went forward to steady her, but the wind that he caused only drove
her further away from him. He rushed after her exclaiming, 'O princess!
are you really running away from me?'
'Good gracious, no!' she replied. 'Run a little quicker and you will be
able to stop me, and I shall be for ever grateful. That is what comes
of talking in a garden,' she added in disgust; 'as if one wasn't much
better in a room that was tightly closed all round.'
The king ran as fast as he could, but the wind ran faster still, and in
a moment the princess was whirled to the bottom of the garden, which was
bounded by a ditch. She cleared it like a bird, and the king, who was
obliged to stop short at the edge, saw the lovely Diaphana flying over
the plain, sometimes driven to the right, sometimes to the left, till at
last she vanished out of sight.
By this time the whole court were running over the plain, some on foot
and some on horseback, all hurrying to the help of their princess, who
really was in some danger, for the wind was rising to the force of
a gale. The king looked on for a little, and then returned with his
attendants to the palace, reflecting all the while on the extreme
lightness of his proposed bride and the absurdity of having a wife that
rose in the air better than any kite. He thought on the whole that it
would be wiser not to wait longer, but to depart at once, and he started
on horseback at the very moment when the princess had been found by
her followers, wet to the skin, and blown against a rick. Souci met the
carriage which was bringing her home, and stopped to congratulate her on
her escape, and to advise her to put on dry clothes. Then he continued
his journey.
It took a good while for the king to get home again, and he was rather
cross at having had so much trouble for nothing. Besides which, his
courtiers made fun at his adventure, and he did not like being laughed
at, though of course they did not dare to do it before his face. And
the end of it was that very soon he started on his travels again,
only allowing one equerry to accompany him, and even this attendant he
managed to lose the moment he had left his own kingdom behind him.
Now it was the custom in those days for princes and princesses to be
brought up by fairies, who loved them as their own children, and did not
mind what inconvenience they put other people to for their sakes, for
all the world as if they had been real mothers. The fairy Aveline, who
lived in a country that touched at one point the kingdom of King Souci,
had under her care the lovely Princess Minon-Minette, and had made up
her mind to marry her to the young king, who, in spite of his awkward
manners, which could be improved, was really very much nicer than most
of the young men she was likely to meet.
So Aveline made her preparations accordingly, and began by arranging
that the equerry should lose himself in the forest, after which she took
away the king's sword and his horse while he lay asleep under a tree.
Her reason for this was that she felt persuaded that, finding himself
suddenly alone and robbed of everything, the king would hide his real
birth, and would have to fall back on his powers of pleasing, like other
men, which would be much better for him.
When the king awoke and found that the tree to which he had tied his
horse had its lowest branch broken, and that nothing living was in
sight, he was much dismayed, and sought high and low for his lost
treasure, but all in vain. After a time he began to get hungry, so he
decided that he had better try to find his way out of the forest, and
perhaps he might have a chance of getting something to eat. He had only
gone a few steps when he met Aveline, who had taken the shape of an old
woman with a heavy bundle of faggots on her back. She staggered along
the path and almost fell at his feet, and Souci, afraid that she might
have hurt herself, picked her up and set her on her feet again before
passing on his way. But he was not to be let off so easy.
'What about my bundle?' cried the old woman. 'Where is your politeness?
Really, you seem to have been very nicely brought up! What have they
taught you?'
'Taught me? Nothing,' replied he.
'I can well believe it!' she said. 'You don't know even how to pick up
a bundle. Oh, you can come near; I am cleverer than you, and know how to
pick up a bundle very well.'
The king blushed at her words, which he felt had a great deal of truth
in them, and took up the bundle meekly.
Aveline, delighted at the success of her first experiment, hobbled along
after him, chattering all the while, as old women do.
'I wish,' she said, 'that all kings had done as much once in their
lives. Then they would know what a lot of trouble it takes to get wood
for their fires.'
Souci felt this to be true, and was sorry for the old woman.
'Where are we going to?' asked he.
'To the castle of the White Demon; and if you are in want of work I will
find you something to do.'
'But I can't do anything,' he said, 'except carry a bundle, and I shan't
earn much by that.'
'Oh, you are learning,' replied the old woman, 'and it isn't bad for a
first lesson.' But the king was paying very little attention to her, for
he was rather cross and very tired. Indeed, he felt that he really could
not carry the bundle any further, and was about to lay it down when
up came a young maiden more beautiful than the day, and covered with
precious stones. She ran to them, exclaiming to the old woman,
'Oh, you poor thing! I was just coming after you to see if I could help
you.'
'Here is a young man,' replied the old woman, 'who will be quite ready
to give you up the bundle. You see he does not look as if he enjoyed
carrying it.'
'Will you let me take it, sir?' she asked.
But the king felt ashamed of himself, and held on to it tightly, while
the presence of the princess put him in a better temper.
So they all travelled together till they arrived at a very
ordinary-looking house, which Aveline pointed out as the castle of the
White Demon, and told the king that he might put down his bundle in
the courtyard. The young man was terribly afraid of being recognised by
someone in this strange position, and would have turned on his heel and
gone away had it not been for the thought of Minon-Minette. Still, he
felt very awkward and lonely, for both the princess and the old woman
had entered the castle without taking the slightest notice of the young
man, who remained where he was for some time, not quite knowing what
he had better do. At length a servant arrived and led him up into a
beautiful room filled with people, who were either playing on musical
instruments or talking in a lively manner, which astonished the king,
who stood silently listening, and not at all pleased at the want of
attention paid him.
Matters went on this way for some time. Every day the king fell more and
more in love with Minon-Minette, and every day the princess seemed more
and more taken up with other people. At last, in despair, the prince
sought out the old woman, to try to get some advice from her as to
his conduct, or, anyway, to have the pleasure of talking about
Minon-Minette.
He found her spinning in an underground chamber, but quite ready to tell
him all he wanted to know. In answer to his questions he learned that
in order to win the hand of the princess it was not enough to be born a
prince, for she would marry nobody who had not proved himself faithful,
and had, besides, all those talents and accomplishments which help to
make people happy.
For a moment Souci was very much cast down on hearing this, but then
he plucked up. 'Tell me what I must do in order to win the heart of the
princess, and no matter how hard it is I will do it. And show me how I
can repay you for your kindness, and you shall have anything I can give
you. Shall I bring in your bundle of faggots every day?'
'It is enough that you should have made the offer,' replied the old
woman; and she added, holding out a skein of thread, 'Take this; one
day you will be thankful for it, and when it becomes useless your
difficulties will be past.'
'Is it the skein of my life?' he asked.
'It is the skein of your love's ill-luck,' she said.
And he took it and went away.
Now the fairy Girouette, who had brought up Souci, had an old friend
called Grimace, the protectress of Prince Fluet. Grimace often talked
over the young prince's affairs with Girouette, and, when she decided
that he was old enough to govern his own kingdom, consulted Girouette
as to a suitable wife. Girouette, who never stopped to think or to make
inquiries, drew such a delightful picture of Minon-Minette that
Grimace determined to spare no pains to bring about the marriage, and
accordingly Fluet was presented at court. But though the young man was
pleasant and handsome, the princess thought him rather womanish in some
ways, and displayed her opinion so openly as to draw upon herself and
Aveline the anger of the fairy, who declared that Minon-Minette should
never know happiness till she had found a bridge without an arch and a
bird without feathers. So saying, she also went away.
Before the king set out afresh on his travels Aveline had restored to
him his horse and his sword, and though these were but small consolation
for the absence of the princess, they were better than nothing, for he
felt that somehow they might be the means of leading him back to her.
After crossing several deserts the king arrived at length in a country
that seemed inhabited, but the instant he stepped over the border he
was seized and flung into chains, and dragged at once to the capital.
He asked his guards why he was treated like this, but the only answer he
got was that he was in the territory of the Iron King, for in those days
countries had no names of their own, but were called after their rulers.
The young man was led into the presence of the Iron King, who was seated
on a black throne in a hall also hung with black, as a token of mourning
for all the relations whom he had put to death.
'What are you doing in my country?' he cried fiercely.
'I came here by accident,' replied Souci, 'and if I ever escape
from your clutches I will take warning by you and treat my subjects
differently.'
'Do you dare to insult me in my own court?' cried the king. 'Away with
him to Little Ease!'
Now Little Ease was an iron cage hung by four thick chains in the middle
of a great vaulted hall, and the prisoner inside could neither sit,
nor stand, nor lie; and, besides that, he was made to suffer by turns
unbearable heat and cold, while a hundred heavy bolts kept everything
safe. Girouette, whose business it was to see after Souci, had forgotten
his existence in the excitement of some new idea, and he would not have
been alive long to trouble anybody if Aveline had not come to the rescue
and whispered in his ear, 'And the skein of thread?' He took it up
obediently, though he did not see how it would help him but he tied it
round one of the iron bars of his cage, which seemed the only thing he
could do, and gave a pull. To his surprise the bar gave way at once, and
he found he could break it into a thousand pieces. After this it did
not take him long to get out of his cage, or to treat the closely barred
windows of the hall in the same manner. But even after he had done all
this freedom appeared as far from him as ever, for between him and the
open country was a high wall, and so smooth that not even a monkey could
climb it. Then Souci's heart died within him. He saw nothing for it but
to submit to some horrible death, but he determined that the Iron King
should not profit more than he could help, and flung his precious thread
into the air, saying, as he did so, 'O fairy, my misfortunes are greater
than your power. I am grateful for your goodwill, but take back your
gift!' The fairy had pity on his youth and want of faith, and took care
that one end of the thread remained in his hand. He suddenly felt a
jerk, and saw that the thread must have caught on something, and this
thought filled him with the daring that is born of despair. 'Better,' he
said to himself, 'trust to a thread than to the mercies of a king;' and,
gliding down, he found himself safe on the other side of the wall. Then
he rolled up the thread and put it carefully into his pocket, breathing
silent thanks to the fairy.
Now Minon-Minette had been kept informed by Aveline of the prince's
adventures, and when she heard of the way in which he had been treated
by the Iron King she became furious, and began to prepare for war. She
made her plans with all the secrecy she could, but when great armies are
collected people are apt to suspect a storm is brewing, and of course it
is very difficult to keep anything hidden from fairy godmothers. Anyway,
Grimace soon heard of it, and as she had never forgiven Minon-Minette
for refusing Prince Fluet, she felt that here was her chance of revenge.
Up to this time Aveline had been able to put a stop to many of Grimace's
spiteful tricks, and to keep guard over Minon-Minette, but she had no
power over anything that happened at a distance; and when the princess
declared her intention of putting herself at the head of her army,
and began to train herself to bear fatigue by hunting daily, the fairy
entreated her to be careful never to cross the borders of her dominions
without Aveline to protect her. The princess at once gave her promise,
and all went well for some days. Unluckily one morning, as Minon-Minette
was cantering slowly on her beautiful white horse, thinking a great deal
about Souci and not at all of the boundaries of her kingdom (of which,
indeed, she was very ignorant), she suddenly found herself in front of
a house made entirely of dead leaves, which somehow brought all sorts of
unpleasant things into her head. She remembered Aveline's warning, and
tried to turn her horse, but it stood as still as if it had been marble.
Then the princess felt that she was slowly, and against her will, being
dragged to the ground. She shrieked, and clung tightly to the saddle,
but it was all in vain; she longed to fly, but something outside herself
proved too strong for her, and she was forced to take the path that led
to the House of Dead Leaves.
Scarcely had her feet touched the threshold than Grimace appeared. 'So
here you are at last, Minon-Minette! I have been watching for you a long
time, and my trap was ready for you from the beginning. Come here, my
darling! I will teach you to make war on my friends! Things won't turn
out exactly as you fancied. What you have got to do now is to go on
your knees to the king and crave his pardon, and before he consents to
a peace you will have to implore him to grant you the favour of becoming
his wife. Meanwhile you will have to be my servant.'
From that day the poor princess was put to the hardest and dirtiest
work, and each morning something more disagreeable seemed to await her.
Besides which, she had no food but a little black bread, and no bed but
a little straw. Out of pure spite she was sent in the heat of the day to
look after the geese, and would most likely have got a sunstroke if she
had not happened to pick up in the fields a large fan, with which she
sheltered her face. To be sure, a fan seems rather an odd possession for
a goose girl, but the princess did not think of that, and she forgot
all her troubles when, on opening the fan to use it as a parasol, out
tumbled a letter from her lover. Then she felt sure that the fairy had
not forgotten her, and took heart.
When Grimace saw that Minon-Minette still managed to look as white as
snow, instead of being burnt as brown as a berry, she wondered what
could have happened, and began to watch her closely. The following day,
when the sun was at its highest and hottest, she noticed her draw a fan
from the folds of her dress and hold it before her eyes. The fairy, in a
rage, tried to snatch it from her, but the princess would not let it go.
'Give me that fan at once!' cried Grimace.
'Never while I live!' answered the princess, and, not knowing where
it would be safest, placed it under her feet. In an instant she felt
herself rising from the ground, with the fan always beneath her, and
while Grimace was too much blinded by her fury to notice what was going
on the princess was quickly soaring out of her reach.
All this time Souci had been wandering through the world with his
precious thread carefully fastened round him, seeking every possible
and impossible place where his beloved princess might chance to be. But
though he sometimes found traces of her, or even messages scratched on a
rock, or cut in the bark of a tree, she herself was nowhere to be found.
'If she is not on the earth,' said Souci to himself, 'perhaps she is
hiding somewhere in the air. It is there that I shall find her.' So, by
the help of his thread, he tried to mount upwards, but he could go such
a little way, and hurt himself dreadfully when he tumbled back to earth
again. Still he did not give up, and after many days of efforts and
tumbles he found to his great joy that he could go a little higher and
stay up a little longer than he had done at first, and by-and-bye he
was able to live in the air altogether. But alas! the world of the air
seemed as empty of her as the world below, and Souci was beginning to
despair, and to think that he must go and search the world that lay in
the sea. He was floating sadly along, not paying any heed to where he
was going, when he saw in the distance a beautiful, bright sort of bird
coming towards him. His heart beat fast--he did not know why--and as
they both drew near the voice of the princess exclaimed, 'Behold the
bird without feathers and the bridge without an arch!'
So their first meeting took place in the air, but it was none the less
happy for that; and the fan grew big enough to hold the king as well as
Aveline, who had hastened to give them some good advice. She guided the
fan above the spot where the two armies lay encamped before each other
ready to give battle. The fight was long and bloody, but in the end the
Iron King was obliged to give way and surrender to the princess, who
set him to keep King Souci's sheep, first making him swear a solemn oath
that he would treat them kindly.
Then the marriage took place, in the presence of Girouette, whom
they had the greatest trouble to find, and who was much astonished to
discover how much business had been got through in her absence.