My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales by Edric Vredenburg
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Edric Vredenburg >> My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales
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8 MY BOOK
OF
FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES
ILLUSTRATED BY JENNIE HARBOUR.
[Illustration: From "THE GOOSE GIRL"]
[Illustration: _Painted by Jennie Harbour_
THE GOOSE GIRL]
MY BOOK OF
FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES
RETOLD BY THE EDITOR
& OTHERS
[Illustration]
ILLUSTRATED BY JENNIE HARBOUR
EDITED BY CAPT. EDRIC VREDENBURG
RAPHAEL TUCK &. SONS. LTP
_Publishers in Their Majesties the King & Queen_
LONDON & PARIS
DESIGNED & PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
PHILADELPHIA
DAVID MCKAY COMPANY
WASHINGTON SQUARE
[Illustration: From "THE SLEEPING BEAUTY"]
CONTENTS
THE OLD, OLD STORIES
THE GOOSE GIRL
LITTLE SNOW-WHITE
CINDERELLA
PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
THE WHITE FAWN
HANSEL AND GRETHEL
SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
PRINCE CHERI
THE WHITE CAT
BLUEBEARD
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
TUFTY RIQUET
THUMBLING
[Illustration: From "THE WHITE FAWN"]
LIST OF COLOUR PLATES
THE GOOSE GIRL _Frontispiece_
THE MAGIC MIRROR
CINDERELLA
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
THE WHITE FAWN
HANSEL AND GRETHEL
SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
ZELIE AND THE FAIRY CANDIDE
BLUEBEARD
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS
[Illustration: From "PRINCESS GOLDENHAIR"]
[Illustration: From "CINDERELLA"]
THE OLD, OLD STORIES
Here they are again, the old, old stories, the very best; dear
Cinderella, wicked old Bluebeard, tiny Thumbling, beautiful Beauty and
the ugly Beast, and a host of others. But the old stories, I may tell
you, are always new, and always must be so, because there are new
children to read them every day, and to these, of course, these old
tales might have been written yesterday.
But the stories in this book are new in another way. Look how they are
clothed, look at their beautiful setting, the wonderful pictures! Have
you ever seen such charming princes and lovely princesses, such dainty
grace and delicate feeling?
What would our grandfathers and grandmothers have said of such a book!
They would have thought there was magic in the brush and pencil.
Surely we are favoured in this generation when we see before us, the
old, old fairy tales, which are ever new, dressed in such a beautiful
and splendid fashion!
_EDRIC VREDENBURG._
[Illustration: From "HANSEL AND GRETHEL"]
[Illustration]
THE GOOSE GIRL
An old queen, whose husband had been dead some years, had a beautiful
daughter. When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived
a great way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she
got ready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen,
her mother, packed up a great many costly things--jewels, and gold,
and silver; trinkets, fine dresses, and, in short, everything that
became a royal bride; for she loved her child very dearly: and she
gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her, and give her into the
bridegroom's hands; and each had a horse for the journey. Now the
princess's horse was called Falada, and could speak.
When the time came for them to set out, the old queen went into her
bed-chamber, and took a little knife, and cut off a lock of her hair,
and gave it to her daughter, and said, "Take care of it, dear child;
for it is a charm that may be of use to you on the road." Then they
took a sorrowful leave of each other, and the princess put the lock of
her mother's hair into her bosom, got upon her horse, and set off on
her journey to her bridegroom's kingdom. One day, as they were riding
along by the side of a brook, the princess began to feel very thirsty,
and said to her maid, "Pray get down and fetch me some water, in my
golden cup, out of yonder brook, for I want to drink." "Nay," said
the maid, "if you are thirsty, get down yourself, and lie down by the
water and drink; I shall not be your waiting-maid any longer." Then
the princess was so thirsty that she got down, and knelt over the
brook and drank, for she was frightened, and dared not bring out her
golden cup; and then she wept, and said "Alas! what will become of
me?" And the lock of hair answered her, and said--
"Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."
But the princess was very humble and meek, so she said nothing to her
maid's ill behaviour, but got upon her horse again.
Then all rode further on their journey, till the day grew so warm, and
the sun so scorching, that the bride began to feel very thirsty again;
and at last, when they came to a river, she forgot her maid's rude
speech, and said, "Pray get down and fetch me some water to drink
in my golden cup." But the maid answered her, and even spoke more
haughtily than before, "Drink, if you will, but I shall not be your
waiting-maid." Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her
horse and lay down, and held her head over the running stream, and
cried, and said, "What will become of me?" And the lock of hair
answered her again--
"Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."
And as she leaned down to drink, the lock of hair fell from her bosom
and floated away with the water, without her seeing it, she was so
frightened. But her maid saw it, and was very glad, for she knew the
charm, and saw that the poor bride would be in her power now that she
had lost the hair. So when the bride had drunk, and would have got
upon Falada again, the maid said, "I shall ride upon Falada and you
may have my horse instead;" so she was forced to give up her horse,
and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes, and put on her
maid's shabby ones.
At last, as they drew near the end of the journey, this treacherous
servant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told anyone what
had happened. But Falada saw it all, and marked it well. Then the
waiting-maid got upon Falada, and the real bride was set upon the
other horse, and they went on in this way till at last they came
to the royal court. There was great joy at their coming, the prince
hurried to meet them, and lifted the maid from her horse, thinking she
was the one who was to be his wife; and she was led upstairs to the
royal chamber, but the true princess was told to stay in the court
below.
[Illustration]
But the old king happened to be looking out of the window, and saw her
in the yard below; and as she looked very pretty, and too delicate for
a waiting-maid, he went into the royal chamber to ask the bride who it
was she had brought with her, that was thus left standing in the
court below. "I brought her with me for the sake of her company on the
road," said she. "Pray give the girl some work to do, that she may not
be idle." The old king could not for some time think of any work for
her to do, but at last he said, "I have a lad who takes care of my
geese; she may go and help him." Now the name of this lad, that the
real bride was to help in watching the king's geese, was Curdken.
Soon after, the false bride said to the prince, "Dear husband pray do
me one piece of kindness." "That I will," said the prince. "Then tell
one of your slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon,
for it was very unruly, and plagued me sadly on the road." But the
truth was, she was very much afraid lest Falada should speak, and
tell all she had done to the princess. She carried her point, and the
faithful Falada was killed; but when the true princess heard of it she
wept, and begged the man to nail up Falada's head against a large
dark gate in the city through which she had to pass every morning
and evening, that there she might still see him sometimes. Then the
slaughterer said he would do as she wished; cut off the head, and
nailed it fast under the dark gate.
Early the next morning, as she and Curdken went out through the gate,
she said sorrowfully--
"Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!"
and the head answered--
"Bride, bride, there thou art ganging!
Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."
Then they went out of the city, and drove the geese in. And when she
came to the meadow, she sat down upon a bank here, and let down her
waving locks of hair, which were all of pure gold; and when Curdken
saw it glitter in the sun, he ran up, and would have pulled some of
the locks out; but she cried--
"Blow, breezes, blow!
Let Curdken's hat go!
Blow, breezes, blow!
Let him after it go!
O'er hills, dales, and rocks.
Away be it whirl'd,
Till the golden locks
Are all comb'd and curl'd!"
[Illustration]
Then there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken's hat, and
away it flew over the hills, and he after it; till, by the time he
came back, she had done combing and curling her hair, and put it up
again safe. Then he was very angry and sulky, and would not speak
to her at all; but they watched the geese until it grew dark in the
evening, and then drove them homewards.
The next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poor
girl looked up at Falada's head, and cried--
"Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!"
and it answered--
"Bride, bride, there thou art ganging!
Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."
Then she drove on the geese and sat down again in the meadow, and
began to comb out her hair as before, and Curdken ran up to her, and
wanted to take hold of it; but she cried out quickly--
"Blow, breezes, blow!
Let Curdken's hat go,
Blow, breezes, blow!
Let him after it go!
O'er hills, dales, and rocks,
Away be it whirl'd,
Till the golden locks
Are all comb'd and curl'd!"
Then the wind came and blew his hat, and off it flew a great way, over
the hills and far away, so that he had to run after it; and when he
came back, she had done up her hair again, and all was safe. So they
watched the geese till it grew dark.
In the evening, after they came home, Curdken went to the old king,
and said, "I cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the
geese any longer."
"Why?" said the king.
"Because she does nothing but tease me all day long."
Then the king made him tell all that had passed.
And Curdken said, "When we go in the morning through the dark gate
with our flock of geese, she weeps, and talks with the head of a horse
that hangs upon the wall, and says--
"'Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!'"
and the head answers--
"'Bride, bride, there thou art ganging!
Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it.'"
And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow
where the geese fed; and how his hat was blown away, and he was forced
to run after it, and leave his flock. But the old king told him to
go out again as usual the next day, and when morning came, the king
placed himself behind the gate, and heard how she spoke to Falada, and
how Falada answered; and then he went into the field and hid himself
in a bush by the meadow's side, and soon saw with his own eyes how
they drove the flock of geese, and how, after a little time, she let
down her hair that glittered in the sun; and then he heard her say--
"Blow, breezes, blow!
Let Curdken's hat go!
Blow, breezes, blow!
Let him after it go!
O'er hills, dales, and rocks,
Away be it whirl'd,
Till the golden locks,
Are all comb'd and curl'd!"
[Illustration: "THEN THERE CAME A WIND SO STRONG THAT IT BLEW OFF
CURDKEN'S HAT."]
And soon came a gale of wind, and carried away Curdken's hat, while
the girl went on combing and curling her hair.
All this the old king saw: so he went home without being seen; and
when the little goose girl came back in the evening, he called her
aside, and asked her why she did so: but she burst into tears, and
said, "That I must not tell you or any man, or I shall lose my life."
But the old king begged so hard that she had no peace till she had
told him all, word for word: and it was very lucky for her that she
did so, for the king ordered royal clothes to be put upon her, and
gazed on her with wonder, she was so beautiful.
Then he called his son, and told him that he had only the false bride,
for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while the true one stood by.
And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty, and heard how meek
and patient she had been; and without saying anything, ordered a great
feast to be got ready for all his court.
The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false princess on one side,
and the true one on the other; but nobody knew her, for she was quite
dazzling to their eyes, and was not at all like the little goose-girl,
now that she had her brilliant dress.
When they had eaten and drunk, and were very merry, the old king told
all the story, as one that he had once heard of, and asked the true
waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who would
behave thus.
"Nothing better," said this false bride, "than that she should be
thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that two white
horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street to street
till she is dead."
"Thou art she!" said the old king; "and since thou hast judged
thyself, it shall be so done to thee."
And the young king was married to his true wife, and they reigned over
the kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives.
[Illustration]
LITTLE SNOW-WHITE
It was in the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were
falling around, that a certain queen sat working at the window, the
frame of which was made of fine black ebony; and as she was looking
out upon the snow, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood
fell upon it. Then she gazed thoughtfully upon the red drops which
sprinkled the white snow, and said, "Would that my little daughter
may be as white as that snow, as red as the blood, and as black as the
ebony window-frame!" And so the little girl grew up: her skin was as
white as snow, her cheeks as rosy as blood, and her hair as black as
ebony; and she was called Snow-White.
But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who was
very beautiful, but so proud that she could not bear to think that any
one could surpass her. She had a magical looking-glass, to which she
used to go and gaze upon herself in it, and say,
"Tell me, glass, tell me true!
Of all the ladies in the land.
Who is fairest? Tell me who?"
And the glass answered, "Thou, Queen, art fairest in the land."
But Snow-White grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven
years old, she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen
herself. Then the glass one day answered the queen, when she went to
consult it as usual:
"Thou, Queen, may'st fair and beauteous be,
But Snow-White is lovelier far than thee!"
When she heard this she turned pale with rage and envy; and calling
to one of her servants said, "Take Snow-White away into the wide wood,
that I may never see her more." Then the servant led her away; but his
heart melted when she begged him to spare her life, and he said, "I
will not hurt thee, thou pretty child." So he left her by herself, and
though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts would tear her
to pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off his heart when
he had made up his mind not to kill her, but leave her to her fate.
[Illustration]
Then poor Snow-White wandered along through the wood in great fear;
and the wild beasts roared about her, but none did her any harm. In
the evening she came to a little cottage, and went in there to rest
herself, for her weary feet would carry her no further. Everything was
spruce and neat in the cottage: on the table was spread a white cloth,
and there were seven little plates with seven little loaves and seven
little glasses with wine in them; and knives and forks laid in order,
and by the wall stood seven little beds. Then, as she was very hungry,
she picked a little piece off each loaf, and drank a very little wine
out of each glass; and after that she thought she would lie down and
rest. So she tried all the little beds; and one was too long, and
another was too short, till at last the seventh suited her; and there
she laid herself down and went to sleep. Presently in came the masters
of the cottage, who were seven little dwarfs that lived among the
mountains, and dug and searched about for gold. They lighted up their
seven lamps, and saw directly that all was not right. The first said,
"Who has been sitting on my stool?" The second, "Who has been eating
off my plate?" The third, "Who has been picking at my bread?" the
fourth, "Who has been meddling with my spoon?" The fifth, "Who has
been handling my fork?" The sixth, "Who has been cutting with my
knife?" The seventh, "Who has been drinking my wine?" Then the first
looked round and said. "Who has been lying on my bed?" And the rest
came running to him, and every one cried out that somebody had been
upon his bed. But the seventh saw Snow-White, and called upon his
brethren to come and see her; and they cried out with wonder and
astonishment, and brought their lamps to look at her, and said, "Good
heavens! What a lovely child she is!" and they were delighted to see
her, and took care not to waken her; and the seventh dwarf slept an
hour with each of the other dwarfs in turn, till the night was gone.
[Illustration: THE MAGIC MIRROR--"LITTLE SNOW-WHITE"]
In the morning Snow-White told them all her story; and they pitied
her, and said if she would keep all things in order, and cook and
wash, and knit and spin for them, she might stay where she was, and
they would take good care of her. Then they went out all day long
to their work, seeking for gold and silver in the mountains; and
Snow-White remained at home: and they warned her, and said, "The queen
will soon find out where you are, so take care and let no one in." But
the queen, now that she thought Snow-White was dead, believed that
she was certainly the handsomest lady in the land; and she went to her
glass, and the glass answered,
"Thou, Queen, thou art fairest in all this land;
But over the hills, in the greenwood shade.
Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made.
There Snow-White is hiding her head; and she
Is lovelier far, O Queen, than thee."
Then the queen was very much alarmed; for she knew that the glass
always spoke the truth, and was sure that the servant had betrayed
her. And she could not bear to think that anyone lived who was more
beautiful than she was; so she disguised herself as a pedlar and went
her way over the hills to the place where the dwarfs dwelt. Then
she knocked at the door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" Snow-White
looked out of the window, and cried, "Good-day, good woman; what have
you to sell?" "Good wares, fine wares," said she; "laces and bobbins
of all colours." "I will let the old lady in; she seems to be a
very good sort of a body," thought Snow-White; so she ran down, and
unbolted the door. "Bless me!" said the woman, "how badly your
stays are laced. Let me lace them up with one of my nice new laces."
Snow-White did not dream of any mischief; so she stood up before
the old woman; but she set to work so nimbly, and pulled the lace so
tight, that Snow-White lost her breath, and fell down as if she were
dead. "There's an end of all thy beauty," said the spiteful queen, and
went away home.
[Illustration: "'THERE'S AN END TO ALL THY BEAUTY' SAID THE SPITEFUL
QUEEN, AND SHE WENT AWAY HOME."]
In the evening the seven dwarfs returned; and I need not say how
grieved they were to see their faithful Snow-White stretched upon the
ground motionless, as if she were quite dead. However, they lifted her
up, and when they found what was the matter, they cut the lace; and in
a little time she began to breathe, and soon came to life again. Then
they said, "The old woman was the queen herself; take care another
time, and let no one in when we are away."
When the queen got home, she went to her glass, and spoke to it, but
to her surprise it said the same words as before.
Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to see
that Snow-White still lived; and she dressed herself up again in a
disguise, but very different from the one she wore before, and took
with her a poisoned comb, When she reached the dwarf's cottage, she
knocked at the door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" but Snow-White
said, "I dare not let anyone in." Then the queen begged, "Only look at
my beautiful combs;" and gave her the poisoned one. And it looked so
pretty that she took it up and put it into her hair to try it; but the
moment it touched her head the poison was so powerful that she fell
down senseless.
"There you may lie," said the queen, and went her way. But by good
luck the dwarfs returned very early that evening; and when they saw
Snow-White lying on the ground, they thought what had happened,
and soon found the poisoned comb. And when they took it away, she
recovered, and told them all that had passed; and they warned her once
more not to open the door to anyone.
[Illustration]
Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled with rage
when she received exactly the same answer as before; and she said
"Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life." So she went secretly
into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple; the outside looked very
rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure to die. Then she
dressed herself up as a peasant's wife, and travelled over the hills
to the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked at the door; but Snow-White put
her head out of the window, and said, "I dare not let anyone in, for
the dwarfs have told me not to." "Do as you please," said the old
woman, "but at any rate take this pretty apple; I will make you a
present of it." "No," said Snow-White, "I dare not take it." "You
silly girl!" answered the other, "what are you afraid of? Do you think
it is poisoned? Come! do you eat one part, and I will eat the other."
Now the apple was so prepared that one side was good, though the other
side was poisoned. Then Snow-White was very much tempted to taste, for
the apple looked exceedingly nice; and when she saw the old woman eat,
she could refrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece into
her mouth, when she fell down dead upon the ground. "This time nothing
will save thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass, and
at last it said,
"Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair."
And then her envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart
could be.
When evening came, and the dwarfs returned home, they found Snow-White
lying on the ground; no breath passed her lips, and they were afraid
that she was quite dead. They lifted her up, and combed her hair,
and washed her face with wine and water; but all was in vain, for the
little girl seemed quite dead. So they laid her down upon a bier, and
all seven watched and bewailed her three whole days; and then they
proposed to bury her; but her cheeks were still rosy, and her face
looked just as it did while she was alive; so they said, "We will
never bury her in the cold ground." And they made a coffin of glass
so that they might still look at her, and wrote her name upon it in
golden letters, and that she was a king's daughter. And the coffin
was placed upon the hill, and one of the dwarfs always sat by it and
watched. And the birds of the air came too, and bemoaned Snow-White.
First of all came an owl, and then a raven, but at last came a dove.
And thus Snow-White lay for a long, long time, and still only looked
as though she were asleep; for she was even now as white as snow,
and as red as blood, and as black as ebony. At last a prince came and
called at the dwarfs' house; and he saw Snow-White, and read what
was written in gold letters. Then he offered the dwarfs money, and
earnestly prayed them to let him take her away; but they said, "We
will not part with her for all the gold in the world." At last,
however, they had pity on him, and gave him the coffin; but the moment
he lifted it up to carry it home with him, the piece of apple fell
from between her lips, and Snow-White awoke, and said, "Where am I?"
And the prince answered, "Thou art safe with me." Then he told her all
that had happened, and said, "I love you better than all the world;
come with me to my father's palace, and you shall be my wife." And
Snow-White consented, and went home with the prince; and everything
was prepared with great pomp and splendour for their wedding.
To the feast was invited, among the rest, Snow-White's old enemy,
the queen; and as she was dressing herself in fine, rich clothes, she
looked, in the glass, and the glass answered,
"Thou, lady, art the loveliest _here_, I ween;
But lovelier far is the new-made queen."
When she heard this, she started with rage; but her envy and curiosity
were so great, that she could not help setting out to see the bride.
And when she arrived, and saw that it was none other than Snow-White,
who she thought had been dead a long while, she choked with passion,
and fell ill and died; but Snow-White and the prince lived and reigned
happily over that land many, many years.
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