Rosanella

: The Green Fairy Book

Everybody knows that though the fairies live hundreds of years

they do sometimes die, and especially as they are obliged to pass

one day in every week under the form of some animal, when of

course they are liable to accident. It was in this way that death

once overtook the Queen of the Fairies, and it became necessary to

call a general assembly to elect a new sovereign. After much

discussion, it appeared that the choic lay between two fairies,

one called Surcantine and the other Paridamie; and their claims

were so equal that it was impossible without injustice to prefer

one to the other. Under these circumstances it was unanimously

decided that whichever of the two could show to the world the

greatest wonder should be Queen; but it was to be a special kind

of wonder, no moving of mountains or any such common fairy tricks

would do. Surcantine, therefore, resolved that she would bring up

a Prince whom nothing could make constant. While Paridamie decided

to display to admiring mortals a Princess so charming that no one

could see her without falling in love with her. They were allowed

to take their own time, and meanwhile the four oldest fairies were

to attend to the affairs of the kingdom.



Now Paridamie had for a long time been very friendly with King

Bardondon, who was a most accomplished Prince, and whose court was

the model of what a court should be. His Queen, Balanice, was also

charming; indeed it is rare to find a husband and wife so

perfectly of one mind about everything. They had one little

daughter, whom they had named 'Rosanella,' because she had a

little pink rose printed upon her white throat. From her earliest

infancy she had shown the most astonishing intelligence, and the

courtiers knew her smart sayings by heart, and repeated them on

all occasions. In the middle of the night following the assembly

of fairies, Queen Balanice woke up with a shriek, and when her

maids of honour ran to see what was the matter, they found she had

had a frightful dream.



'I thought,' said she, 'that my little daughter had changed into a

bouquet of roses, and that as I held it in my hand a bird swooped

down suddenly and snatched it from me and carried it away.'



'Let some one run and see that all is well with the Princess,' she

added.



So they ran; but what was their dismay when they found that the

cradle was empty; and though they sought high and low, not a trace

of Rosanella could they discover. The Queen was inconsolable, and

so, indeed, was the King, only being a man he did not say quite so

much about his feelings. He presently proposed to Balanice that

they should spend a few days at one of their palaces in the

country; and to this she willingly agreed, since her grief made

the gaiety of the capital distasteful to her. One lovely summer

evening, as they sat together on a shady lawn shaped like a star,

from which radiated twelve splendid avenues of trees, the Queen

looked round and saw a charming peasant-girl approaching by each

path, and what was still more singular was that everyone carried

something in a basket which appeared to occupy her whole

attention. As each drew near she laid her basket at Balanice's

feet, saying:



'Charming Queen, may this be some slight consolation to you in

your unhappiness!'



The Queen hastily opened the baskets, and found in each a lovely

baby-girl, about the same age as the little Princess for whom she

sorrowed so deeply. At first the sight of them renewed her grief;

but presently their charms so gained upon her that she forgot her

melancholy in providing them with nursery-maids, cradle-rockers,

and ladies-in-waiting, and in sending hither and thither for

swings and dolls and tops, and bushels of the finest sweetmeats.



Oddly enough, every baby had upon its throat a tiny pink rose. The

Queen found it so difficult to decide on suitable names for all of

them, that until she could settle the matter she chose a special

colour for everyone, by which it was known, so that when they were

all together they looked like nothing so much as a nosegay of gay

flowers. As they grew older it became evident that though they

were all remarkably intelligent, and profited equally by the

education they received, yet they differed one from another in

disposition, so much so that they gradually ceased to be known as

'Pearl,' or 'Primrose,' or whatever might have been their colour,

and the Queen instead would say:



'Where is my Sweet?' or 'my Beautiful,' or 'my Gay.'



Of course, with all these charms they had lovers by the dozen. Not

only in their own court, but princes from afar, who were

constantly arriving, attracted by the reports which were spread

abroad; but these lovely girls, the first Maids of Honour, were as

discreet as they were beautiful, and favoured no one.



But let us return to Surcantine. She had fixed upon the son of a

king who was cousin to Bardondon, to bring up as her fickle

Prince. She had before, at his christening, given him all the

graces of mind and body that a prince could possibly require; but

now she redoubled her efforts, and spared no pains in adding every

imaginable charm and fascination. So that whether he happened to

be cross or amiable, splendidly or simply attired, serious or

frivolous, he was always perfectly irresistible! In truth, he was

a charming young fellow, since the Fairy had given him the best

heart in the world as well as the best head, and had left nothing

to be desired but--constancy. For it cannot be denied that Prince

Mirliflor was a desperate flirt, and as fickle as the wind; so

much so, that by the time he arrived at his eighteenth birthday

there was not a heart left for him to conquer in his father's

kingdom--they were all his own, and he was tired of everyone!

Things were in this state when he was invited to visit the court

of his father's cousin, King Bardondon.



Imagine his feelings when he arrived and was presented at once to

twelve of the loveliest creatures in the world, and his

embarrassment was heightened by the fact that they all liked him

as much as he liked each one of them, so that things came to such

a pass that he was never happy a single instant without them. For

could he not whisper soft speeches to Sweet, and laugh with Joy,

while he looked at Beauty? And in his more serious moments what

could be pleasanter than to talk to Grave upon some shady lawn,

while he held the hand of Loving in his own, and all the others

lingered near in sympathetic silence? For the first time in his

life he really loved, though the object of his devotion was not

one person, but twelve, to whom he was equally attached, and even

Surcantine was deceived into thinking that this was indeed the

height of inconstancy. But Paridamie said not a word.



In vain did Prince Mirliflor's father write commanding him to

return, and proposing for him one good match after another.

Nothing in the world could tear him from his twelve enchantresses.



One day the Queen gave a large garden-party, and just as the

guests were all assembled, and Prince Mirliflor was as usual

dividing his attentions between the twelve beauties, a humming of

bees was heard. The Rose-maidens, fearing their stings, uttered

little shrieks, and fled all together to a distance from the rest

of the company. Immediately, to the horror of all who were looking

on, the bees pursued them, and, growing suddenly to an enormous

size, pounced each upon a maiden and carried her off into the air,

and in an instant they were all lost to view. This amazing

occurrence plunged the whole court into the deepest affliction,

and Prince Mirliflor, after giving way to the most violent grief

at first, fell gradually into a state of such deep dejection that

it was feared if nothing could rouse him he would certainly die.

Surcantine came in all haste to see what she could do for her

darling, but he rejected with scorn all the portraits of lovely

princesses which she offered him for his collection. In short, it

was evident that he was in a bad way, and the Fairy was at her

wits' end. One day, as he wandered about absorbed in melancholy

reflections, he heard sudden shouts and exclamations of amazement,

and if he had taken the trouble to look up he could not have

helped being as astonished as everyone else, for through the air a

chariot of crystal was slowly approaching which glittered in the

sunshine. Six lovely maidens with shining wings drew it by rose-

coloured ribbons, while a whole flight of others, equally

beautiful, were holding long garlands of roses crossed above it,

so as to form a complete canopy. In it sat the Fairy Paridamie,

and by her side a Princess whose beauty positively dazzled all who

saw her. At the foot of the great staircase they descended, and

proceeded to the Queen's apartments, though everyone had run

together to see this marvel, till it was quite difficult to make a

way through the crowd; and exclamations of wonder rose on all

sides at the loveliness of the strange Princess. 'Great Queen,'

said Paridamie, 'permit me to restore to you your daughter

Rosanella, whom I stole out of her cradle.'



After the first transports of joy were over the Queen said to

Paridamie:



'But my twelve lovely ones, are they lost to me for ever? Shall I

never see them again?'



But Paridamie only said:



'Very soon you will cease to miss them!' in a tone that evidently

meant 'Don't ask me any more questions.' And then mounting again

into her chariot she swiftly disappeared.



The news of his beautiful cousin's arrival was soon carried to the

Prince, but he had hardly the heart to go and see her. However, it

became absolutely necessary that he should pay his respects, and

he had scarcely been five minutes in her presence before it seemed

to him that she combined in her own charming person all the gifts

and graces which had so attracted him in the twelve Rose-maidens

whose loss he had so truly mourned; and after all it is really

more satisfactory to make love to one person at a time. So it came

to pass that before he knew where he was he was entreating his

lovely cousin to marry him, and the moment the words had left his

lips, Paridamie appeared, smiling and triumphant, in the chariot

of the Queen of the Fairies, for by that time they had all heard

of her success, and declared her to have earned the kingdom. She

had to give a full account of how she had stolen Rosanella from

her cradle, and divided her character into twelve parts, that each

might charm Prince Mirliflor, and when once more united might cure

him of his inconstancy once and for ever.



And as one more proof of the fascination of the whole Rosanella, I

may tell you that even the defeated Surcantine sent her a wedding

gift, and was present at the ceremony which took place as soon as

the guests could arrive. Prince Mirliflor was constant for the

rest of his life. And indeed who would not have been in his place?

As for Rosanella, she loved him as much as all the twelve beauties

put together, so they reigned in peace and happiness to the end of

their long lives.