Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Various

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The king took it into his head that she did not think him handsome
enough; so he resolved to wash his face with the water of beauty, in
hopes that the queen would then conceive a greater affection for him
than she had. This water stood in a phial upon a table in the queen's
chamber, where she had put it, that it might not be out of her sight.
But one of the chambermaids going to kill a spider with her besom, by
accident threw down the phial, and broke it, so that the water was lost.
She dried it up with all the speed she could, and not knowing what to
do, she bethought herself that she had seen a phial of clear water in
the king's cabinet very like that she had broken. Without any more ado,
therefore, she went and fetched that phial, and set it upon the table in
place of the other. This water which was in the king's cabinet, was a
certain water which he made use of to poison the great lords and princes
of his court when they were convicted of any great crime; to which
purpose, instead of cutting off their heads, or hanging them, he caused
their faces to be rubbed with this water, which cast them into so
profound a sleep that they never waked again. Now the king one evening
took this phial, and rubbed his face well with the water, after which he
fell asleep and died. Cabriole was one of the first that came to a
knowledge of this accident, and immediately ran to inform Avenant of it
who bid him go to the Fair One with Locks of Gold, and remind her of the
poor prisoner. Cabriole slipped unperceived through the crowd, for there
was a great noise and hurry at court upon the king's death; and getting
to the queen, "Madam," said he, "remember poor Avenant." She presently
called to mind the afflictions he had suffered for her sake, and his
fidelity. Without speaking a word, she went directly to the great tower,
and took off the fetters from Avenant's feet and hands herself; after
which, putting the crown upon his head, and the royal mantle about his
shoulders, "Amiable Avenant," said she, "I will make you a sovereign
prince, and take you for my consort." Avenant threw himself at her feet,
and in terms the most passionate and respectful returned her thanks.
Every body was overjoyed to have him for their king: the nuptials were
the most splendid in the world; and the Fair One. with Locks of Gold
lived a long time with her beloved Avenant, both happy and contented in
the enjoyment of each other.

CHAPTER XII

TOM THUMB

In the days of King Arthur, Merlin, the most learned enchanter of his
time, was on a journey; and, being very weary, stopped one day at the
cottage of an honest ploughman to ask for refreshment. The ploughman's
wife, with great civility, immediately brought him some milk in a wooden
bowl, and some brown bread on a wooden platter. Merlin could not help
observing, that, although every thing within the cottage was
particularly neat and clean, and in good order, the ploughman and his
wife had the most sorrowful air imaginable. So he questioned them on the
cause of their melancholy, and learned that they were very miserable
because they had no children. The poor woman declared, with tears in her
eyes, that she should be the happiest creature in the world if she had a
son, although he were no bigger than his father's thumb. Merlin was much
amused with the thoughts of a boy no bigger than a man's thumb, and, as
soon as he returned home, he sent for the queen of the fairies (with
whom he was very intimate), and related to her the desire of the
ploughman and his wife to have a son the size of his father's thumb. The
queen of the fairies liked the plan exceedingly, and declared their wish
should speedily be granted. Accordingly the ploughman's wife had a son,
who in a few minutes grew as tall as his father's thumb. The queen of
the fairies came in at the window as the mother was sitting up in bed
admiring the child. The queen kissed the infant, and giving it the name
of Tom Thumb, immediately summoned several fairies from Fairy Land to
clothe her little new favourite:

"An oak leaf hat he had for his crown,
His shirt it was by spiders spun;
With doublet wove of thistle's down,
His trousers up with points were done.
His stockings, of apple rind, they tie
With eye-lash plucked from his mother's eye,
His shoes were made of a mouse's skin,
Nicely tanned, with the hair within."

Tom never was any bigger than his father's thumb, which was not a large
thumb either; but, as he grew older, he became very cunning and sly, for
which his mother did not sufficiently correct him, so that when he was
able to play with the boys for cherry stones, and had lost all his own,
he used to creep into the boys' bags, fill his pockets, and come out
again to play. But one day as he was getting out of a bag of cherry
stones, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to see him. "Ah ha, my
little Tom Thumb!" said the boy, "have I caught you at your bad tricks
at last? Now I will reward you for thieving." Then drawing the string
tight round his neck, and shaking the bag heartily, the cherry stones
bruised Tom's legs, thighs, and body sadly; which made him beg to be let
out, and promise never to be guilty of such things any more. Shortly
afterwards, Tom's mother was making a batter pudding, and, that he might
see how she mixed it, he climbed on the edge of the bowl; but his foot
happening to slip, he fell over head and ears into the batter, and his
mother not observing him, stirred him into the pudding, and popped him
into the pot to boil. The hot water made Tom kick and struggle; and his
mother, seeing the pudding jump up and down in such a furious manner,
thought it was bewitched; and a tinker coming by just at the time, she
quickly gave him the pudding, who put it into his budget and walked on.

As soon as Tom could get the batter out of his mouth, he began to cry
aloud; which so frightened the poor tinker, that he flung the pudding
over the hedge, and ran away from it as fast as he could run. The
pudding being broken to pieces by the fall, Tom was released, and walked
home to his mother, who gave him a kiss and put him to bed. Tom Thumb's
mother once took him with her when she went to milk the cow; and it
being a very windy day, she tied him with a needleful of thread to a
thistle, that he might not be blown away. The cow liking his oak leaf
hat took him and the thistle up at one mouthful. While the cow chewed
the thistle, Tom, terrified at her great teeth, which seemed ready to
crush him to pieces, roared, "Mother, Mother!" as loud as he could bawl.
"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?" said the mother. "Here, mother,
here in the red cow's mouth." The mother began to cry and wring her
hands; but the cow surprised at such odd noises in her throat, opened
her mouth and let him drop out. His mother clapped him into her apron,
and ran home with him. Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to
drive the cattle with, and being one day in the field, he slipped into a
deep furrow. A raven flying over, picked him up with a grain of corn,
and flew with him to the top of a giant's castle, by the seaside, where
he left him; and old Grumbo the giant, coming soon after to walk upon
his terrace, swallowed Tom like a pill, clothes and all. Tom presently
made the giant very uncomfortable, and he threw him up into the sea. A
great fish then swallowed him. The fish was soon after caught, and sent
as a present to King Arthur. When it was cut open, every body was
delighted with little Tom Thumb. The king made him his dwarf; he was the
favourite of the whole court; and, by his merry pranks, often amused the
queen and the knights of the Round Table. The king, when he rode on
horseback, frequently took Tom in his hand; and, if a shower of rain
came on, he used to creep into the king's waist-coat pocket, and sleep
till the rain was over. The king also, sometimes questioned Tom
concerning his parents; and when Tom informed his majesty they were very
poor people, the king led him into his treasury, and told him he should
pay his friends a visit, and take with him as much money as he could
carry. Tom procured a little purse, and putting a threepenny piece into
it, with much labour and difficulty got it upon his back; and, after
travelling two days and nights, arrived at his father's house.

His mother met him at the door, almost tired to death, having in
forty-eight hours travelled almost half a mile with a huge silver
threepence upon his back. His parents were glad to see him, especially
when he had brought such an amazing sum of money with him. They placed
him in a walnut shell by the fire side, and feasted him for three days
upon a hazel nut, which made him sick, for a whole nut usually served
him a month. Tom got well, but could not travel because it had rained;
therefore his mother took him in her hand, and with one puff blew him
into King Arthur's court; where Tom entertained the king, queen, and
nobility at tilts and tournaments, at which he exerted himself so much
that he brought on a fit of sickness, and his life was despaired of. At
this juncture the queen of the fairies came in a chariot drawn by flying
mice, placed Tom by her side, and drove through the air, without
stopping till they arrived at her palace; when, after restoring him to
health, and permitting him to enjoy all the gay diversions of Fairy
Land, the queen commanded a fair wind, and, placing Tom before it, blew
him straight to the court of King Arthur. But just as Tom should have
alighted in the court-yard of the palace, the cook happened to pass along
with the king's great bowl of firmity (King Arthur loved firmity), and
poor Tom Thumb fell plump into the middle of it and splashed the hot
firmity into the cook's eyes. Down went the bowl. "Oh dear; oh dear!"
cried Tom; "Murder! murder!" bellowed the cook! and away ran the king's
nice firmity into the kennel. The cook was a red-faced, cross fellow,
and swore to the king, that Tom had done it out of mere mischief; so he
was taken up, tried, and sentenced to be beheaded. Tom hearing this
dreadful sentence, and seeing a miller stand by with his mouth wide
open, he took a good spring, and jumped down the miller's throat,
unperceived by all, even by the miller himself.

Tom being lost, the court broke up, and away went the miller to his
mill. But Tom did not leave him long at rest, he began to roll and
tumble about, so that the miller thought himself bewitched, and sent for
a doctor. When the doctor came, Tom began to dance and sing; the doctor
was as much frightened as the miller, and sent in great haste for five
more doctors, and twenty learned men. While all these were debating upon
the affair, the miller (for they were very tedious) happened to yawn,
and Tom, taking the opportunity, made another jump, and alighted on his
feet in the middle of the table. The miller, provoked to be thus
tormented by such a little creature, fell into a great passion, caught
hold of Tom, and threw him out of the window, into the river. A large
salmon swimming by, snapped him up in a minute. The salmon was soon
caught and sold in the market to the steward of a lord. The lord,
thinking it an uncommon fine fish, made a present of it to the king, who
ordered it to be dressed immediately. When the cook cut open the salmon,
he found poor Tom, and ran with him directly to the king; but the king
being busy with state affairs, desired that he might be brought another
day. The cook resolving to keep him safely this time, as he had so
lately given him the slip, clapped him into a mouse-trap, and left him
to amuse himself by peeping through the wires for a whole week; when the
king sent for him, he forgave him for throwing down the firmity, ordered
him new clothes and knighted him.

"His shirt was made of butterflies' wings;
His boots were made of chicken skins;
His coat and breeches were made with pride;
A tailor's needle hung by his side;
A mouse for a horse he used to ride."

Thus dressed and mounted, he rode a hunting with the king and nobility,
who all laughed heartily at Tom and his fine prancing steed. As they
rode by a farm house one day, a cat jumped from behind the door, seized
the mouse and little Tom, and began to devour the mouse. However, Tom
boldly drew his sword and attacked the cat, who then let him fall. The
king and his nobles seeing Tom falling, went to his assistance, and one
of the lords caught him in his hat; but poor Tom was sadly scratched,
and his clothes were torn by the claws of the cat. In this condition he
was carried home, when a bed of down was made for him in a little ivory
cabinet. The queen of the fairies came, and took him again to Fairy
Land, where she kept him for some years; and then, dressing him in
bright green, sent him flying once more through the air to the earth, in
the days of King Thunstone. The people flocked far and near to look at
him; and the king, before whom he was carried, asked him who he was,
whence he came, and where he lived? Tom answered:

"My name is Tom Thumb,
From the Fairies I come;
When King Arthur shone,
This court was my home.
In me he delighted,
By him I was knighted,
Did you never hear of
Sir Thomas Thumb?"

The king was so charmed with this address, that he ordered a little
chair to be made, in order that Tom might sit on his table, and also a
palace of gold a span high, with a door an inch wide, for little Tom to
live in. He also gave him a coach drawn by six small mice. This made the
queen angry, because she had not a new coach too. Therefore, resolving
to ruin Tom, she complained to the king that he had behaved very
insolently to her. The king sent for him in a rage. Tom, to escape his
fury, crept into an empty snail-shell, and there lay till he was almost
starved; when peeping out of the shell, he saw a fine butterfly settled
on the ground. He now ventured out, and getting astride, the butterfly
took wing, and mounted into the air with little Tom on his back. Away he
flew from field to field, from tree to tree, till at last he flew to the
king's court. The king, queen, and nobles, all strove to catch the
butterfly, but could not. At length poor Tom, having neither bridle nor
saddle, slipped from his seat, and fell into a white pot, where he was
found almost drowned. The queen vowed he should be guillotined: but
while the guillotine was getting ready, he was secured once more in a
mouse-trap; when the cat seeing something stir, and supposing it to be
the mouse, patted the trap about till she broke it, and set Tom at
liberty. Soon afterwards a spider, taking him for a fly, made at him.
Tom drew his sword and fought valiantly, but the spider's poisonous
breath overcame him:

"He fell dead on the ground where late he had stood,
And the spider sucked up the last drop of his blood."

King Thunstone and his whole court went into mourning for little Tom
Thumb. They buried him under a rosebush, and raised a nice white marble
monument over his grave, with the following epitaph:

"Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,
Who died by spider's cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur's court,
Where he afforded gallant sport;
He rode at tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a hunting went;
Alive he filled the court with mirth,
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head
And cry, 'Alas! Tom Thumb is dead.'"

CHAPTER XIII

BLUE BEARD

There was, some time ago, a gentleman who was very rich. He had fine
town and country houses, his dishes and plates were all of gold or
silver, his rooms were hung with damask, his chairs and sofas were
covered with the richest silks, and his carriages were all gilt with
gold in a grand style. But it happened that this gentleman had a blue
beard, which made him so very frightful and ugly, that none of the
ladies, in the parts where he lived, would venture to go into his
company. Now there was a certain lady of rank, who lived very near him,
and had two daughters, both of them of very great beauty. Blue Beard
asked her to bestow one of them upon him for a wife, and left it to
herself to choose which of the two it should be. But both the young
ladies again and again said they would never marry Blue Beard; yet, to
be as civil as they could, each of them said, the only reason why she
would not have him was, because she was loath to hinder her sister from
the match, which would be such a good one for her. Still the truth of
the matter was, they could neither of them bear the thoughts of having a
husband with a blue beard; and besides, they had heard of his having
been married to several wives before, and nobody could tell what had
ever become of any of them. As Blue Beard wished very much to gain their
favour, he asked the lady and her daughters, and some ladies who were on
a visit at their house, to go with him to one of his country seats,
where they spent a whole week, during which they passed all their time
in nothing but parties for hunting and fishing, music, dancing, and
feasts. No one even thought of going to bed, and the nights were passed
in merry-makings of all kinds. In short, the time rolled on in so much
pleasure, that the youngest of the two sisters began to think that the
beard which she had been so much afraid of, was not so very blue, and
that the gentleman who owned it was vastly civil and pleasing. Soon
after their return home, she told her mother that she had no longer any
dislike to accept of Blue Beard for her husband; and in a very short
time they were married.

About a month after the marriage had taken place, Blue Beard told his
wife that he should be forced to leave her for a few weeks, as he had
some affairs to attend to in the country. He desired her to be sure to
indulge herself in every kind of pleasure, to invite as many of her
friends as she liked, and to treat them with all sorts of dainties, that
her time might pass pleasantly till he came back again. "Here," said he,
"are the keys of the two large wardrobes. This is the key of the great
box that contains the best plate, which we use for company, this belongs
to my strong box, where I keep my money, and this belongs to the casket,
in which are all my jewels. Here also is a master-key to all the rooms
in the house; but this small key belongs to the closet at the end of the
long gallery on the ground floor. I give you leave," said he, "to open,
or to do what you like with all the rest except this closet. This, my
dear, you must not enter, nor even put the key into the lock, for all
the world. If you do not obey me in this one thing, you must expect the
most dreadful punishments." She promised to obey his orders in the most
faithful manner; and Blue Beard, after kissing her tenderly, stepped
into his coach, and drove away.

When Blue Beard was gone, the friends of his wife did not wait to be
asked, so eager were they to see all the riches and fine things she had
gained by marriage; for they had none of them gone to the wedding, on
account of their dislike to the blue beard of the bridegroom. As soon as
ever they came to the house, they ran about from room to room, from
closet to closet, and then from wardrobe to wardrobe, looking into each
with wonder and delight, and said, that every fresh one they came to,
was richer and finer than what they had seen the moment before. At last
they came to the drawing-rooms, where their surprise was made still
greater by the costly grandeur of the hangings, the sofas, the chairs,
carpets, tables, sideboards, and looking-glasses; the frames of these
last were silver-gilt, most richly adorned, and in the glasses they saw
themselves from head to foot. In short, nothing could exceed the
richness of what they saw; and they all did not fail to admire and envy
the good fortune of their friend. But all this time the bride herself
was far from thinking about the fine speeches they made to her, for she
was eager to see what was in the closet her husband had told her not to
open. So great, indeed, was her desire to do this, that, without once
thinking how rude it would be to leave her guests, she slipped away down
a private staircase that led to this forbidden closet, and in such a
hurry, that she was two or three times in danger of falling down stairs
and breaking her neck.

When she reached the door of the closet, she stopped for a few moments
to think of the order her husband had given her, and how he had told her
that he would not fail to keep his word and punish her very severely, if
she did not obey him. But she was so very curious to know what was
inside, that she made up her mind to venture in spite of every thing.
She then, with a trembling hand, put the key into the lock, and the door
straight flew open. As the window shutters were closed, she at first
could see nothing; but in a short time she saw that the floor was
covered with clotted blood, on which the bodies of several dead women
were lying.

These were all the wives whom Blue Beard had married, and killed one
after another. At this sight she was ready to sink with fear, and the
key of the closet door, which she held in her hand, fell on the floor.
When she had a little got the better of her fright, she took it up,
locked the door, and made haste back to her own room, that she might
have a little time to get into a humour to amuse her company; but this
she could not do, so great was her fright at what she had seen. As she
found that the key of the closet had got stained with blood in falling
on the floor, she wiped it two or three times over to clean it; yet
still the blood kept on it the same as before. She next washed it, but
the blood did not move at all. She then scoured it with brickdust, and
after with sand, but in spite of all she could do, the blood was still
there; for the key was a fairy who was Blue Beard's friend; so that as
fast as she got off the blood on one side, it came again on the other.
Early in the same evening Blue Beard came home, saying, that before he
had gone far on his journey he was met by a horseman, who was coming to
tell him that his affair in the country was settled without his being
present; upon which his wife said every thing she could think of, to
make him believe she was in a transport of joy at his sudden return.

The next morning he asked her for the keys: she gave them to him; but as
she could not help showing her fright, Blue Beard easily guessed what
had been the matter. "How is it," said he, "that the key of the closet
upon the ground floor is not here?" "Is it not?" said the wife, "then I
must have left it on my dressing-table." "Be sure you give it me by and
by," replied Blue Beard. After going a good many times backwards and
forwards, as if she was looking for the key, she was at last forced to
give it to Blue Beard. He looked hard at it, and then said: "How came
this blood upon the key?" "I am sure I do not know," replied the poor
lady, at the same time turning as white as a sheet. "You do not know?"
said Blue Beard sternly, "but I know well enough. You have been in the
closet on the ground floor! Very well, madam: since you are so mighty
fond of this closet, you shall be sure to take your place among the
ladies you saw there." His wife, who was almost dead with fear, now fell
upon her knees, asked his pardon a thousand times for her fault, and
begged him to forgive her, looking all the time so very mournful and
lovely, that she would have melted any heart that was not harder than a
rock. But Blue Beard only said, "No, no, madam; you shall die this very
minute!" "Alas!" said the poor trembling creature, "if I must die, give
me, as least, a little time to say my prayers." "I give you," replied
the cruel Blue Beard, "half a quarter of an hour: not a moment longer."
When Blue Beard had left her to herself, she called her sister; and
after telling her, as well as she could for sobbing, that she had but
half a quarter of an hour to live; "Prithee," said she, "sister Anne,"
(this was her sister's name), "run up to the top of the tower, and see
if my brothers are not in sight, for they said they would visit me
to-day, and if you see them, make a sign for them to gallop on as fast
as ever they can." Her sister straight did as she was desired; and the
poor trembling lady every minute cried out to her: "Anne! sister Anne!
do you see any one coming?" Her sister said, "I see nothing but the sun,
which makes a dust, and the grass, which looks green."

In the meanwhile, Blue Beard, with a great cimeter in his hand, bawled
as loud as he could to his wife, "Come down at once, or I will fetch
you." "One moment longer, I beseech you," replied she, and again called
softly to her sister, "Sister Anne, do you see any one coming?" To which
she answered, "I see nothing but the sun, which makes a dust, and the
grass, which looks green." Blue Beard now again bawled out, "Come down,
I say, this very moment, or I shall come to fetch you." "I am coming;
indeed I will come in one minute," sobbed his wretched wife. Then she
once more cried out, "Anne! sister Anne! do you see any one coming?" "I
see," said her sister, "a cloud of dust a little to the left." "Do you
think it is my brothers?" said the wife. "Alas! no, dear sister,"
replied she, "it is only a flock of sheep." "Will you come down, madam?"
said Blue Beard, in the greatest rage. "Only one single moment more,"
said she. And then she called out for the last time, "Sister Anne!
sister Anne! do you see no one coming?" "I see," replied her sister,
"two men on horseback coming; but they are still a great way off."
"Thank God," cried she, "they are my brothers; beckon them to make
haste." Blue Beard now cried out so loud for her to come down, that his
voice shook the whole house. The poor lady, with her hair loose, and all
in tears, now came down, and fell on her knees, begging him to spare her
life; but he stopped her, saying, "All this is of no use, for you shall
die," and then, seizing her by the hair, raised his cimeter to strike
off her head. The poor woman now begged a single moment to say one
prayer. "No, no," said Blue Beard, "I will give you no more time. You
have had too much already." And again he raised his arm. Just at this
instant a loud knocking was heard at the gates, which made Blue Beard
wait for a moment to see who it was. The gates now flew open, and two
officers, dressed in their uniform, came in, and, with their swords in
their hands, ran straight to Blue Beard, who, seeing they were his
wife's brothers, tried to escape from their presence; but they pursued
and seized him before he had gone twenty steps, and plunging their
swords into his body he fell down dead at their feet.

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