The False Prince And The True

: The Lilac Fairy Book

The king had just awakened from his midday sleep, for it was

summer, and everyone rose early and rested from twelve to three,

as they do in hot countries. He had dressed himself in cool white

clothes, and was passing through the hall on his way to the

council chamber, when a number of young nobles suddenly appeared

before him, and one amongst them stepped forward and spoke.



'Sire, this morning we were all
playing tennis in the court, the

prince and this gentleman with the rest, when there broke out

some dispute about the game. The prince lost his temper, and said

many insulting things to the other, who was playing against him,

till at length the gentleman whom you see there struck him

violently in the face, so that the blood ran from his mouth and

nose. We were all so horrified at the sight, that we should most

likely have killed the man then and there, for daring to lay

hands on the prince, had not his grandfather the duke stepped

between and commanded us to lay the affair before you.'



The king had listened attentively to the story, and when it was

ended he said:



'I suppose the prince had no arms with him, or else he would have

used them?'



'Yes, sire, he had arms; he always carries a dagger in his belt.

But when he saw the blood pouring from his face, he went to a

corner of the court and began to cry, which was the strangest

thing of all.'



On hearing this the king walked to the window and stood for a few

minutes with his back to the room, where the company of young men

remained silent. Then he came back, his face white and stern.



'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that I would

rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my

only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without

attempting to avenge it. As for the gentleman who struck him, he

will be brought before my judges, and will plead his own cause,

but I hardly think he can escape death, after having assaulted

the heir to the crown.'



The young man raised his head as if to reply, but the king would

not listen, and commanded his guards to put him under arrest,

adding, however, that if the prisoner wished to visit any part of

the city, he was at liberty to do so properly guarded, and in

fifteen days he would be brought to trial before the highest

judges in the land.



The young man left the king's presence, surrounded by soldiers,

and accompanied by many of his friends, for he was a great

favourite. By their advice he spent the fourteen days that

remained to him going about to seek counsel from wise men of all

sorts, as to how he might escape death, but no one could help

him, for none could find any excuse for the blow he had given to

the prince.



The fourteenth night had come, and in despair the prisoner went

out to take his last walk through the city. He wandered on hardly

knowing where he went, and his face was so white and desperate

that none of his companions dared speak to him. The sad little

procession had passed some hours in this manner, when, near the

gate of a monastery, an old woman appeared round a corner, and

suddenly stood before the young man. She was bent almost double,

and was so wizened and wrinkled that she looked at least ninety;

only her eyes were bright and quick as those of a girl.



'Sir,' she said, 'I know all that has happened to you, and how

you are seeking if in any wise you can save your life. But there

is none that can answer that question save only I myself, if you

will promise to do all I ask.'



At her words the prisoner felt as if a load had all at once been

rolled off him.



'Oh, save me, and I will do anything!' he cried. 'It is so hard

to leave the world and go out into the darkness.'



'You will not need to do that,' answered the old woman, 'you have

only got to marry me, and you will soon be free.'



'Marry you?' exclaimed he, 'but--but--I am not yet twenty, and

you --why, you must be a hundred at least! Oh, no, it is quite

impossible.'



He spoke without thinking, but the flash of anger which darted

from her eyes made him feel uncomfortable. However, all she said

was:



'As you like; since you reject me, let the crows have you,' and

hurried away down the street.



Left to himself, the full horror of his coming death rushed upon

the young man, and he understood that he had thrown away his sole

chance of life. Well, if he must, he must, he said to himself,

and began to run as fast as he could after the old crone, who by

this time could scarcely be seen, even in the moonlight. Who

would have believed a woman past ninety could walk with such

speed? It seemed more like flying! But at length, breathless and

exhausted, he reached her side, and gasped out:



'Madam, pardon me for my hasty words just now; I was wrong, and

will thankfully accept the offer you made me.'



'Ah, I thought you would come to your senses,' answered she, in

rather an odd voice. 'We have no time to lose--follow me at

once,' and they went on silently and swiftly till they stopped at

the door of a small house in which the priest lived. Before him

the old woman bade the prisoner swear that she should be his

wife, and this he did in the presence of witnesses. Then, begging

the priest and the guards to leave them alone for a little, she

told the young man what he was to do, when the next morning he

was brought before the king and the judges.



The hall was full to overflowing when the prisoner entered it,

and all marvelled at the brightness of his face. The king

inquired if he had any excuse to plead for the high treason he

had committed by striking the heir to the throne, and, if so, to

be quick in setting it forth. With a low bow the youth made

answer in a clear voice:



'O my lord and gracious king, and you, nobles and wise men of the

land, I leave my cause without fear in your hands, knowing that

you will listen and judge rightly, and that you will suffer me to

speak to the end, before you give judgment.



'For four years, you, O king, had been married to the queen and

yet had no children, which grieved you greatly. The queen saw

this, and likewise that your love was going from her, and thought

night and day of some plan that might put an end to this evil. At

length, when you were away fighting in distant countries, she

decided what she would do, and adopted in secret the baby of a

poor quarryman, sending a messenger to tell you that you had a

son. No one suspected the truth except a priest to whom the queen

confessed the truth, and in a few weeks she fell ill and died,

leaving the baby to be brought up as became a prince. And now, if

your highness will permit me, I will speak of myself.'



'What you have already told me,' answered the king, 'is so

strange that I cannot imagine what more there is to tell, but go

on with your story.'



'One day, shortly after the death of the queen,' continued the

young man, 'your highness was hunting, and outstripped all your

attendants while chasing the deer. You were in a part of the

country which you did not know, so seeing an orchard all pink and

white with apple-blossoms, and a girl tossing a ball in one

corner, you went up to her to ask your way. But when she turned

to answer you, you were so struck with her beauty that all else

fled from your mind. Again and again you rode back to see her,

and at length persuaded her to marry you. She only thought you a

poor knight, and agreed that as you wished it, the marriage

should be kept secret.



'After the ceremony you gave her three rings and a charm with a

cross on it, and then put her in a cottage in the forest,

thinking to hide the matter securely.



'For some months you visited the cottage every week; but a

rebellion broke out in a distant part of the kingdom, and called

for your presence. When next you rode up to the cottage, it was

empty, and none could inform you whither your bride had gone.

That, sire, I can now tell you,' and the young man paused and

looked at the king, who coloured deeply. 'She went back to her

father the old duke, once your chamberlain, and the cross on her

breast revealed at once who you were. Fierce was his anger when

he heard his daughter's tale, and he vowed that he would hide her

safely from you, till the day when you would claim her publicly

as your queen.



'By and bye I was born, and was brought up by my grandfather in

one of his great houses. Here are the rings you gave to my

mother, and here is the cross, and these will prove if I am your

son or not.'



As he spoke the young man laid the jewels at the feet of the

king, and the nobles and the judges pressed round to examine

them. The king alone did not move from his seat, for he had

forgotten the hall of justice and all about him, and saw only the

apple-orchard, as it was twenty years ago, and the beautiful girl

playing at ball. A sudden silence round him made him look up, and

he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.



'It is true; it is he who is my son, and not the other,' he said

with an effort, 'and let every man present swear to acknowledge

him as king, after my death.'



Therefore one by one they all knelt before him and took the oath,

and a message was sent to the false prince, forbidding him ever

again to appear at court, though a handsome pension was granted

him.



At last the ceremony was over, and the king, signing to his newly

found son to follow him, rose and went into another room.



'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing himself into a

carved chair filled with crimson cushions, and the prince told of

his meeting with the old woman who had brought him the jewels

from his mother, and how he had sworn before a priest to marry

her, though he did not want to do it, on account of the

difference in their ages, and besides, he would rather receive a

bride chosen by the king himself. But the king frowned, and

answered sharply:



'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and, come what

may, you must fulfil your promise.' Then, striking a silver

shield that hung close by, he said to the equerry who appeared

immediately:



'Go and seek the priest who lives near the door of the prison,

and ask him where you can find the old woman who visited him last

night; and when you have found her, bring her to the palace.'



It took some time to discover the whereabouts of the old woman,

but at length it was accomplished, and when she arrived at the

palace with the equerry, she was received with royal honours, as

became the bride of the prince. The guards looked at each other

with astonished eyes, as the wizened creature, bowed with age,

passed between their lines; but they were more amazed still at

the lightness of her step as she skipped up the steps to the

great door before which the king was standing, with the prince at

his side. If they both felt a shock at the appearance of the aged

lady they did not show it, and the king, with a grave bow, took

her band, and led her to the chapel, where a bishop was waiting

to perform the marriage ceremony.



For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince, who spent

all his days in hunting, and trying to forget the old wife at

home. As for the princess, no one troubled himself about her, and

she passed the days alone in her apartments, for she had

absolutely declined the services of the ladies-in-waiting whom

the king had appointed for her.



One night the prince returned after a longer chase than usual,

and he was so tired that he went up straight to bed. Suddenly he

was awakened by a strange noise in the room, and suspecting that

a robber might have stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized

his sword, which lay ready to his hand. Then he perceived that

the noise proceeded from the next room, which belonged to the

princess, and was lighted by a burning torch. Creeping softly to

the door, he peeped through it, and beheld her lying quietly,

with a crown of gold and pearls upon her head, her wrinkles all

gone, and her face, which was whiter than the snow, as fresh as

that of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife--that

beautiful, beautiful creature?



The prince was still gazing in surprise when the lady opened her

eyes and smiled at him.



'Yes, I really am your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his

thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended. Now I must tell you who

I am, and what befell to cause me to take the shape of an old

woman.



'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born in the palace

which overlooks the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months

old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast

a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I

looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an

object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my

nurse to take my away from the palace. She was the only person

who cared about me, and we lived together in this city on a small

pension allowed me by the king.



'When I was about three an old man arrived at our house, and

begged my nurse to let him come in and rest, as he could walk no

longer. She saw that he was very ill, so put him to bed and took

such care of him that by and bye he was as strong as ever. In

gratitude for her goodness to him, he told her that he was a

wizard and could give her anything she chose to ask for, except

life or death, so she answered that what she longed for most in

the world was that my wrinkled skin should disappear, and that I

should regain the beauty with which I was born. To this he

replied that as my misfortune resulted from a spell, this was

rather difficult, but he would do his best, and at any rate he

could promise that before my fifteenth birthday I should be freed

from the enchantment if I could get a man who would swear to

marry me as I was.



'As you may suppose, this was not easy, as my ugliness was such

that no one would look at me a second time. My nurse and I were

almost in despair, as my fifteenth birthday was drawing near, and

I had never so much as spoken to a man. At last we received a

visit from the wizard, who told us what had happened at court,

and your story, bidding me to put myself in your way when you had

lost all hope, and offer to save you if you would consent to

marry me.



'That is my history, and now you must beg the king to send

messengers at once to Granada, to inform my father of our

marriage, and I think,' she added with a smile, 'that he will not

refuse us his blessing.'



Adapted from the Portuguese.



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