Chapter III: Part 3

“What a clever Alice she is!” said he; “she is so industrious that she does not even come home to eat.”

But as she still did not come, Hans went out to see how much she had reaped; but nothing was cut, and there lay Alice fast asleep in the corn. Hans hurried home and brought back a fowler’s net with little bells on it; this he hung about her, and still she did not wake. Then he ran home, shut the house door, and sat down to work.

At last, when it was quite dark, Clever Alice woke. When she stood up the net fell rattling about her, and the bells jingled at every step she took. This frightened her, and made her wonder whether she was really Clever Alice or not, and she said to herself, “Is it I, or is it not I?”

But she did not know how to answer, and stood for a long time in doubt. At last she thought, “I will go home and ask if it is I, or if it is not I; they will be sure to know.”

She ran to the door of her house, but it was locked. Then she knocked on the window, and cried, “Hans, is Alice at home?”

“Yes,” answered Hans, “she is at home.”

Then she was frightened and cried, “Alas! then it is not I,” and she ran to the next door; but when the people heard the jingling of the bells they would not open for her, and she could get in nowhere. So she ran away out of the village, and no one has ever seen her since.

RIQUET WITH THE TUFT

There was once a queen who had a son so ugly and misshapen that it was questioned for a long time whether he was a human creature or not. A fairy who was present at his birth declared that he would be none the less amiable for all his ugliness, because he would have uncommon intelligence and wit. She added that he would have the power, by virtue of a gift which she had just bestowed upon him, to give the same talents which he possessed to the person whom he should love best. All this was some comfort to the poor Queen, who was in great distress at having such an unsightly child.

As soon as the child began to talk he said a thousand pretty things, and in everything he did he was so unusually clever that every one was delighted with him. I forgot to tell you that he was born with a little tuft of hair on his head, and on this account they called him Riquet with the Tuft; for Riquet was the family name.

Seven or eight years after this the Queen of a neighboring kingdom had twin daughters. The firstborn was more beautiful than the day. The Queen was so very happy over this that it was feared that such excess of joy would do her harm. The same fairy who had been present at the birth of little Riquet with the Tuft was here too; and to moderate the Queen’s joy she told her that this little Princess should have no sense at all, but should be as stupid as she was pretty. This mortified the Queen very much, but soon she had a still greater sorrow, for the second daughter was extremely ugly.

“Do not afflict yourself so much, madam,” said the fairy. “Your daughter shall have it made up to her in other ways; she shall have so much intelligence and wit that her want of beauty will hardly be noticed.”

“God grant it may be so,” replied the Queen; “but is there no way to make the elder, who is so pretty, have a little sense?”

“I can do nothing for her in the matter of sense,” said the fairy, “but everything in the matter of beauty; and therefore, as there is nothing I would not do for your satisfaction, I will bestow on her as a gift the power to make handsome the person whom she likes best.”

As the two Princesses grew older, their perfections grew with them. Everywhere people talked of the beauty of the elder and of the wit of the younger. It is true that their defects increased considerably with their years. The younger grew visibly uglier, and the elder became more stupid every day; either she made no reply to what was asked her, or she said something very silly. She was, besides, so clumsy that she could not place four pieces of china on the mantelpiece without breaking one, nor drink a glass of water without spilling half of it on her clothes.

Although beauty is a great advantage to a young girl, in society the younger sister was almost always preferred to the elder. People would go first to the more beautiful to see and admire her; but they very soon left her for the more clever sister, to enjoy listening to her pleasant conversation; and it was amazing to see how in less than a quarter of an hour the elder was without a person near her, while the whole company was crowding about the younger. The elder, dull as she was, noticed this very plainly, and would have given, without a moment of regret, all her beauty to have half the wit of her sister. The Queen, for all her good sense, could not help reproaching her often for her stupidity; this made the poor Princess ready to die of grief.

One day, when she had withdrawn to a wood near by to lament her misfortune, she saw coming towards her an ugly little man, very unpleasant to look at, but most magnificently dressed. It was the young Prince Riquet with the Tuft, who had fallen in love with her from her portraits, which were scattered everywhere, and had now left his father’s kingdom to have the pleasure of seeing her and talking with her. He was charmed at finding her thus alone, and addressed her with all imaginable respect and politeness. Having observed, after he had paid her all the usual compliments, that she seemed very melancholy, he said to her, “I cannot understand, madam, how a person as beautiful as you are can be also as sorrowful as you appear to be; for although I can boast of having seen a great number of beautiful ladies, I declare to you that I never saw any one whose beauty approaches yours.”

“You are very kind to say so, sir,” answered the Princess; and here she stopped.

“Beauty,” replied Riquet with the Tuft, “is so great an advantage that it ought to make up for all else; and when any one possesses it, I do not see that there is anything that can afflict her very much.”

“I would much rather,” said the Princess, “be as ugly as you are and have sense, than have the beauty which I possess, and be as stupid as I am.”

“There is nothing, madam, which shows more plainly that we have sense than to believe we have none; and it is the nature of that gift that the more people have it, the more they believe they lack it.”

“I do not know how that may be,” said the Princess, “but I know very well that I am extremely stupid, and that is the cause of my grief.”

“If that is all which troubles you, madam, I can very easily put an end to your sorrow.”

“And how will you do that?” said the Princess.

“I have the power, madam,” said Riquet with the Tuft, “of giving to that person whom it is my fortune to love best as much wit as it is possible to have; and as you, madam, are that person, it will only depend on yourself if you have not as much wit as any one can have, provided only you are pleased to marry me.”

The Princess was much confused and did not speak a word.

“I see,” continued Riquet with the Tuft, “that this proposal disturbs you, and I do not wonder at it; but I will give you a whole year in which to make up your mind about it.”

The Princess had so little sense, and at the same time so great a desire to have some, that she imagined that the end of this year would never come; so she accepted the proposal which was made to her. She had no sooner promised Riquet with the Tuft that she would marry him in a year from that day than she realized a great change in herself; she found herself saying with incredible ease whatever she wished, and saying it, too, in a clever, fluent, and natural manner.

She began at that moment a brilliant conversation with Riquet with the Tuft, which she sustained with such ease that Riquet began to think that he had given her more wit than he had reserved for himself.

When she returned to the palace the court did not know what to think of so sudden and extraordinary a change; for now she said as many sensible and extremely clever things as before she had said stupid and silly ones. The whole court was delighted beyond measure over it; the younger sister was the only one who did not share the general happiness; for, having no longer any advantage over her sister in the line of wit and sense, she appeared beside her a homely, disagreeable girl.

The King himself was now guided by the advice of the elder sister, and sometimes would even hold a meeting of the council in her apartments. As the report of this change spread everywhere, all the young Princes of neighboring kingdoms made efforts to gain her favor, and almost all of them asked for her hand in marriage; but she did not find any one who had enough wit to satisfy her. So she heard them all without binding herself to any one of them.

However, there came one so powerful, so rich, so witty, and so handsome that she could not help feeling a great liking for him. When her father saw this he told her that he was leaving her to be her own mistress in the matter of choosing a husband, and that she had only to express her wishes. She was so sensible that she knew so serious a matter deserved her careful consideration; so she thanked her father and asked him to give her time to think it over.

She went, by chance, to walk in the same wood where she had met Riquet with the Tuft, to deliberate on what she should do. While she was walking in deep reflection she heard a dull noise under her feet, as of a great many people running busily to and fro. Listening more attentively she heard one say, “Bring me that saucepan”; another, “Give me that kettle”; and a third, “Put some wood on the fire.”

At that moment the ground opened, and she saw under her feet a great kitchen full of cooks, scullions, and all sorts of servants and people necessary to prepare a magnificent feast. There came forward a company of twenty or thirty cooks, with larding needles in their hands and foxtails in their caps, who took their places in one avenue of the wood about a very long table, and went to work busily, keeping time with a tuneful song.

The Princess, in astonishment at the sight, asked them for whom they were working.

“For Prince Riquet with the Tuft, madam, whose wedding takes place to-morrow,” replied their chief.

The Princess, more surprised than ever, remembered all at once that it was that day twelvemonth on which she had promised to marry Prince Riquet. At the thought she was ready to sink into the ground. What made her forget was that when she made the promise she was very silly; and when she took the new sense that the Prince bestowed on her, she forgot all that she had done in the days of her stupidity. She walked on, but had not taken thirty steps before Riquet with the Tuft presented himself before her, magnificently attired like a man who was going to be married.

“You see, madam,” said he, “that I am exact in keeping my word; and I do not doubt that you are come to fulfill yours, and to make me, by giving me your hand, the happiest man in the world.”

“I will confess frankly to you,” replied the Princess, “that I have not yet made up my mind in this matter, and that I do not believe that I shall ever be able to consent to what you desire.”

“You astonish me, madam,” said Riquet with the Tuft.

“That I can well believe,” said the Princess; “and assuredly if I had to do with a clown or a man of no sense, I should find myself very much at a loss. ‘A Princess always keeps her word,’ he would say to me, ‘and you must marry me, since you have promised to do so.’ But as he to whom I speak is the man of all others in the world who has the most sense, I am sure he will hear reason. You know that when I was only a fool I could hardly make up my mind to marry you. Now that I have the sense which you gave me, which makes me much harder to please, how can you expect me to come to a decision to-day which I could not agree to before? If you thought seriously of marrying me, you made a great mistake in removing my stupidity and making me see things more plainly than I did before.”

“If a man without wit or sense,” replied Riquet, “would be justified in reproaching you for breaking your word, why do you wish, madam, that I should not make use of the same right in a matter where the happiness of my whole life is at stake? Is it reasonable that persons of wit and sense should be worse off than those who have none? Can you pretend this,—you who are so wise and who wished so much to be? But come to the point, if you please. Except for my ugliness is there anything in me which displeases you? Do you object to my birth, my sense, my temper, or my manners?”

“Not at all,” said the Princess; “I like in you all that you have mentioned.”

“If that is the case,” replied Riquet with the Tuft, “I shall soon be happy, for you have the power to make me the most handsome of men.”

“How can that be?” asked the Princess.

“It can be done,” replied Riquet with the Tuft, “if you love me enough to desire that it should be; and in order that you may have no doubt about it, know that the same fairy who at my birth bestowed on me the power of making clever the person I love best, has given you the power of making as handsome as you please him whom you love best and for whom you desire this favor.”

“If that be the case,” said the Princess, “I wish with all my heart that you may be the comeliest and handsomest Prince in the world, and I bestow on you this gift in so far as I am able.”

The Princess had no sooner pronounced these words than Riquet with the Tuft seemed to her eyes the comeliest, handsomest, and most pleasing man she had ever seen.

Some people say that it was not the fairy’s charm, but love alone which made this great change. They declare that the Princess, when she had reflected upon the perseverance of her lover, upon his discretion, and all the good qualities of his heart and mind, saw no longer the deformity of his body nor the ugliness of his face; that his hump seemed to her no more than the grand air of a man who put on a look of importance; that where before she had noticed that he limped badly, she now found it nothing more than a careless grace of carriage which charmed her. They tell, too, how his eyes, which were squinting, appeared to her on that account the more brilliant, while their irregularity passed in her judgment as a mark of the warmth of his love; and finally that his great red nose gave, in her opinion, a martial and heroic air to his appearance.

However that may be, the Princess promised immediately to marry him, provided he obtained the consent of the King her father. The King knew that his daughter had a high esteem for Riquet with the Tuft, and was well informed, too, as to the cleverness and prudence of the Prince. So he received him gladly as his son-in-law. The next day their wedding was celebrated as Riquet with the Tuft had foreseen, and according to the orders which he had given long before.

SNOWDROP

Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat sewing at a window framed in black ebony. And as she sat sewing and looking out upon the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell on the snow outside. Because the red looked so beautiful on the white snow, she thought to herself, “How I should like to have a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of this ebony frame!”

Very soon after this she had a little daughter whose hair was black as ebony, and whose cheeks were red as blood, while her skin was white as snow; so they called her Snowdrop. But not long after her birth the Queen died.

When Snowdrop was a year old the King took another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but so proud and haughty that she could not bear to have any one surpass her in beauty. She had a magic mirror, and when she stood before it gazing at herself, she would say,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

Then the mirror would reply,

“Queen, so beautiful and tall,
Thou art fairest of them all.”

Then she was content, for she knew the mirror always spoke the truth.

But Snowdrop was growing prettier and prettier every day, and when she was seven years old she was so beautiful that she was even fairer than the Queen herself. One day when the Queen asked her mirror the usual question,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

it answered,

“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop is fairer far, ’tis clear.”

Then the Queen was terrified and turned every shade of green in her jealousy. From that hour she hated Snowdrop so bitterly that she was thrown into a secret passion every time she saw her. And every day envy and pride grew up swiftly like evil weeds in her heart, till she had no rest day or night.

At last she sent for a huntsman and said to him: “Take the child out into the wood, and never let me see her again. You are to kill her and bring me her heart as a token that you have done it.”

The huntsman obeyed, and took Snowdrop into the wood; but when he drew out his hunting knife to kill her, she began to weep and said, “O dear huntsman, spare my life; I will run away into the wild forest and never come home again.”

And because she was so beautiful the huntsman took pity on her and said, “Well, run away then, poor child.” For he thought to himself, “The wild beasts will soon devour her.” But yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his heart because he did not have to kill her.

As a young boar came running by just then, he stabbed it, and took the heart to the Queen as proof that Snowdrop was dead. The wicked woman had it cooked in salt and ate it, thinking she had made an end of Snowdrop.

But when the poor child found herself all alone in the great forest, even the trees and their leaves began to seem terrible to her, and she was so frightened that she did not know what to do. She began to run, and ran over the sharp stones and through the brambles, and the wild beasts ran past her, but they did her no harm. She ran as far as her feet would carry her, till it was nearly evening. Then she saw a little house and went into it to rest herself. Everything in the little house was very small, but cleaner and neater than anything you can think of. A small table covered with a white cloth stood ready with seven small plates, and by each plate were a spoon, knife, fork, and cup. Against the wall stood seven little beds, side by side, covered with snow-white counterpanes.

Snowdrop was so hungry and so thirsty that she ate a bit of bread and a little stew from each plate, and drank a drop of wine out of each cup, for she did not wish to take all from one portion. Then feeling very tired she lay down on one of the little beds, but it was not comfortable. She tried them all in turn, but one was too long, another too short, till she came to the seventh, which was just right; so she lay down upon it, said her prayers, and fell asleep.

When it was quite dark the masters of the little house came home. They were seven little dwarfs, who dug and delved in the mountains for ore. They lighted their seven little lamps, and as soon as the room was full of light they saw that some one had been there, for all was not in the same order in which they had left it.

The first said, “Who has been sitting on my chair?”

The second said, “Who has been eating off my plate?”

The third said, “Who has been eating some of my bread?”

The fourth said, “Who has been tasting my stew?”

The fifth said, “Who has been using my fork?”

The sixth said, “Who has been cutting with my knife?”

The seventh said, “Who has been drinking out of my cup?”

Then the first dwarf looked around and saw a little hollow in his bed, and asked, “Who has been lying on my bed?” The others came running up and exclaimed, “And mine! and mine!” But the seventh, when he came to his bed, saw Snowdrop lying there fast asleep. He called the others, who cried out in astonishment and held up their little lamps to see better when they found Snowdrop sleeping there.

“Heavens!” they cried; “what a beautiful child!” and were so pleased that they did not wake her, but let her sleep on in the little bed. The seventh dwarf slept with his companions, one hour in each bed, and so got through the night.

When Snowdrop awoke in the morning and saw the seven little dwarfs, she was frightened. But they were so friendly and asked her name so kindly that she took courage and answered, “I am called Snowdrop.”

“How came you to our house?” they asked.

Then she told them how her stepmother had wanted to have her killed, how the huntsman had spared her life, and how she had run all day until she had found their little house.

The dwarfs talked a little together and then said: “Will you stay and keep house for us,—cook, make the beds, wash, sew, and knit? If you will, then you shall stay with us and want for nothing.”

“Oh, I should love to,” said Snowdrop. So she stayed with them and kept the house in order. Every morning the dwarfs went out into the mountains to dig for gold, and in the evening when they came back Snowdrop had their supper ready. But during the day she was left all alone and the good dwarfs warned her, saying, “Beware of your stepmother. She will soon find out that you are here. Whatever you do, don’t let any one into the house.”

Now the Queen, believing that she had eaten Snowdrop’s heart, had no doubt that she was again the most beautiful woman in the world; so stepping before her mirror one day she said,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

Then the mirror replied,

“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”

Then she was startled and angry, for she knew that the mirror always spoke the truth, and she saw that the huntsman must have deceived her, and that Snowdrop was still alive. Once more she pondered day and night how she might destroy Snowdrop, for as long as she herself was not the fairest in all the land her jealous heart gave her no peace. At last she thought of a plan. She stained her face and dressed herself like an old peddler woman, and was so changed that no one could have known her. In this disguise she went over the hills to the home of the seven dwarfs. There she knocked at the door, calling out, “Fine wares to sell! fine wares to sell!”

Snowdrop peeped out of the window and said, “Good day, my good woman, what have you to sell?”

“Good wares, fine wares,” she answered; “bodice laces of all colors,” and she pulled out one that was woven of gay-colored silk.

“Surely I may let this honest woman in,” thought Snowdrop; so she unbarred the door and bought the pretty lace.

“Child, child,” said the old woman, “what a figure you have! Come, let me lace you properly for once.”

Snowdrop had no suspicion, but stood before the woman and let her lace her with the new lace. But the old woman laced her so quickly and so tightly that it took Snowdrop’s breath away, and she fell down as though dead.

“Now you are no longer the fairest,” said the Queen, and she hurried away.

Not long after, toward evening, the seven dwarfs came home and were terribly frightened to see their dear little Snowdrop lying on the floor, still and motionless as if she were dead. They lifted her up, and when they saw how tightly she was laced, they cut the laces in two; then she began to breathe a little and gradually came back to life. When the dwarfs heard what had happened they said: “The old peddler woman was none other than the wicked Queen. Snowdrop, you must take care and let no one in when we are not at home.”

The wicked Queen went straight to her mirror the minute she got home and said,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

Then the mirror answered as before,

“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”

When she heard this she turned pale with fright and anger, for she knew that Snowdrop must have come back to life again.

“I will think of some way to make an end of her once for all,” she said to herself.

By means of witchcraft, in which she was skilled, she prepared a poisoned comb. Then she took the form of another old woman. She went over the hills till she came to the house of the seven dwarfs, and knocking at the door she called out, “Wares, fine wares, to sell!”

Snowdrop looked out of the window and said, “Go away; I am not to let any one in.”

“But surely you are allowed to look out,” said the old woman; and she held up the poisoned comb for her to see.

The child was so pleased with it that she let herself be beguiled, and opened the door. When they had settled their bargain the old woman said, “Now I will comb your hair properly for once.”

Poor little Snowdrop had no thought of evil and let the woman do as she pleased, but hardly had she put the comb in the child’s hair when the poison took effect, and she fell down unconscious.

“Well, my beauty, you are really done for now,” said the wicked woman, and she went away.

Fortunately it was near evening, when the seven dwarfs always came home. When they saw Snowdrop lying on the floor as if she were dead, they at once suspected the stepmother had been there again; so they searched till they found the poisoned comb, and as soon as they had drawn it out, Snowdrop came to herself and told them what had happened. Again they warned her to be on her guard and to open the door to no one.

As soon as the Queen got home she went to her mirror and said,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

But the mirror replied as before,

“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But Snowdrop up in the mountains near,
Who lives with the seven dwarfs, odd and queer,
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”

When she heard these words she actually trembled and shook with rage.

Then she went into a secret room, which no one but herself ever entered, and there she prepared a poisoned apple. Outwardly it looked very pretty, with such rosy cheeks that every one who saw it would long to eat it, but any one who ate a piece of it would be sure to die. When the apple was ready she stained her face and dressed herself as a peasant woman, and so she went over the hills to the home of the seven dwarfs. She knocked at the door as usual, but Snowdrop put her head out of the window and said, “I am not to let any one in; the seven dwarfs have forbidden me.”

“It is all the same to me,” answered the woman. “I shall soon get rid of my apples. There, I will give you one.”

“No,” said Snowdrop, “I am not to take anything.”

“Are you afraid of poison?” said the woman. “See, I will cut the apple in two. You eat the red cheek and I will eat the white.”

The apple was so cunningly made that only the red side was poisoned. Snowdrop longed to eat the fine apple, and when she saw that the peasant woman was eating it herself, she could resist no longer, but stretched out her hand and took the poisoned half. But hardly had she touched the first bite to her lips before she fell down dead. Then the cruel Queen looked down on her with fiendish delight, and laughing aloud she cried, “As white as snow, as red as blood, as black as ebony; this time the dwarfs cannot wake you.”

When she got home and asked the mirror,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

it answered at last,

“Queen, so beautiful and tall,
Thou art fairest of them all.”

Then her jealous heart was at rest—at least, as far as a jealous heart can ever be at rest.

When the dwarfs came home in the evening they found Snowdrop lying on the floor, and she neither breathed nor moved. They lifted her up and looked to see if they could find anything poisonous. They unlaced her bodice, washed her with water and wine, but all in vain; the child was dead, and remained dead. Then they laid her on a bier, and the seven dwarfs seated themselves round her, and wept for her, and mourned for three days. They were going to bury her, but she looked so fresh and lifelike and had such pretty color in her cheeks that they said, “We cannot lay her away in the dark ground.”

So they had a transparent coffin made of glass, and they laid her in it, and wrote on the lid in letters of gold her name, and that she was a King’s daughter. Then they put the coffin on the top of the mountain, and one of the dwarfs always stayed by it and kept watch over it. And the birds came, too, and mourned for Snowdrop,—first an owl, then a raven, and last of all a little white dove.

Snowdrop lay a long, long time in the coffin unchanged, looking as if she were asleep; for she was still as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony.

Now it happened that one day a King’s son came into the wood and went to the dwarfs’ house to spend the night. He saw the coffin on the mountain with beautiful Snowdrop lying in it, and when he had read what was written on the lid in letters of gold, he said to the dwarfs: “Let me have the coffin. I will give you whatever you like for it.”

But the dwarfs said, “No; we would not part with it for all the gold in the world.”

But he replied: “Then give it to me as a gift, for I cannot live without Snowdrop to gaze upon. I will honor and prize it as my dearest possession.”

When he spoke in this way the good dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin, and the Prince had his servants bear it away upon their shoulders. Now it happened that one of them stumbled over a tree stump. This jolted the coffin so sharply that the poisoned piece of apple which Snowdrop had bitten fell out of her throat. Before long she slowly opened her eyes, lifted up the lid of the coffin, and sat up alive once more.

“Oh, dear!” she cried, “where am I?”

The Prince answered joyfully, “You are with me,” and told her all that happened, saying as he finished the story: “I love you better than any one in the world. Will you come with me to my father’s palace and be my wife?”

Snowdrop consented and went with him, and their wedding was celebrated with great state and splendor.

Now Snowdrop’s wicked stepmother was one of those invited to the feast. When she had arrayed herself in beautiful clothes, for the occasion she went to the mirror and said,

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is fairest of us all?”

The mirror answered,

“Lady Queen, thou art fairest here,
But the young Queen now at the palace near
A thousand times fairer doth appear.”

Then the wicked woman uttered a curse and was so beside herself with anger and mortification that she did not know what to do. At first she resolved not to go to the wedding at all, but she felt she could have no peace till she had seen the young Queen. When she went in she recognized Snowdrop and stood stock-still with rage and fear. She knew she could not be again the most beautiful woman in the world, and her anger was so great that she fell dead at the feast.

THE WHITE CAT

Once upon a time there was a King who had three brave and handsome sons. As they grew to be fine, tall young men, he began to be afraid that they might want to rule over the kingdom before he was dead. The King was old, but was as vigorous in mind as ever he had been, and did not wish to give up his crown. He thought that the best way to live in peace was to divert their minds by promises he could always avoid fulfilling.

He called his sons to him and said: “You will agree with me, my dear children, that I shall soon be getting too old to reign any longer. I want, therefore, to give my crown to one of you. But it is only fair that in return for such a gift you should do something to make life pleasant for me after I have retired into the country. I should like to have a pretty, clever, faithful little dog who would be good company for me. So without any regard to your ages, I declare to you that the one who brings me the most beautiful little dog shall be my heir.”

The Princes were surprised at their father’s sudden fancy for a little dog, but were well pleased with the plan. They took leave of the King, who gave them plenty of money and told them that in a year without fail they must all return, and on the same day at the same hour bring him their little dogs.

Before they started they went to a castle outside the town and held a great feast, at which they promised always to be friends, and not be jealous of one another in this matter. They agreed that the successful one should share his good fortune with the others. Then they set out, deciding that they would meet at the same castle on their return and go together to the King. Each took a different road. All three met with many adventures, but I am only going to tell you about those of the youngest.

He was young, and gay, and handsome, and had all the accomplishments a Prince should have; as for his courage, he was simply fearless.

No day passed without his buying some dogs. He bought big dogs and little dogs, house dogs, hunting dogs, mastiffs, greyhounds, spaniels, and lapdogs,—dogs of every kind. As soon as he bought a pretty one he was sure to see another that was prettier, and then he had to sell the others and get that one, for he found it impossible to take thirty or forty thousand dogs about with him.

One evening he entered a great forest. Night came on suddenly and with it a violent storm of thunder and lightning; the rain began to pour down. He took the first path he came to, and after he had walked a long time he saw a faint light and hoped he was coming to some house where he might find shelter for the night. Guided by the light he reached the gates of the most magnificent castle that could be imagined. The gate was of gold, covered with rubies, and it was the bright, red light which shone from them that the Prince had seen. The walls were of transparent porcelain, painted in many colors with pictures out of fairy tales, the adventures of the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, and of Cinderella, and a hundred others.

Upon the door was a deer’s foot fastened by a chain of diamonds. The Prince pulled it and heard a silver bell ring. Instantly the door flew open, but he could see nothing but a dozen hands in the air, each holding a torch. He was so astonished that he hesitated to enter, but he felt himself pushed forward from behind by other hands. He was somewhat uneasy, but put his hand on his sword and walked on. He entered a hall paved with lapis lazuli, where he heard two enchanting voices singing these words,

“Fear not these hands that float in space,
Nor anything else that here you see,
Unless from the charms of a beautiful face
You would keep your heart still fancy free.”

This welcome reassured the Prince. The hands guided him toward a large door of coral, which opened of itself and admitted him to a hall of mother-of-pearl. Out of this opened other rooms so richly adorned with paintings and precious stones and so brilliantly lighted with thousands of hanging lamps that he was dazzled by their magnificence. When he had passed through sixty rooms the hands that were guiding him stopped, and a most comfortable armchair moved of itself toward the fireplace. At the same moment the fire was lighted, and hands which he noticed were very beautiful—small, white, plump, and well proportioned—took off his wet clothes. Then they presented him with new garments made of the finest materials and richly embroidered with gold and emeralds. They combed his hair and waited on him with the greatest skill, though sometimes they appeared so suddenly that they made him start.

When his toilet was complete—and I assure you the fine costume became him well—the hands conducted him to a splendid room, upon the walls of which were painted the histories of Puss in Boots and other famous cats. The table was laid for two, with gold knife, fork, and spoon for each; the sideboard was covered with vessels and glasses of crystal set with precious stones. The Prince was wondering who the second cover was for, when in came a company of cats, carrying guitars. They took their places on a little platform, and, under the leadership of a cat who had a book of music before her and beat time with a roll of paper, they began to mew each in a different key, and to draw their claws across the strings of their guitars, making the strangest music that was ever heard. The Prince stopped his ears, but even then he could not keep from laughing heartily at the positions and grimaces of these novel musicians.

He was wondering what queer thing would happen to him next when he saw a tiny figure enter the room. It was covered by a long black veil. Two cats bearing black cloaks and carrying swords conducted it, and a retinue of cats followed.

The Prince was more astonished than ever; he did not know what to think. The little black figure approached him and threw back the veil. Then he saw the most beautiful white cat that ever was or ever will be. She looked very young and sad, and in a sweet voice that went straight to the Prince’s heart she said to him, “King’s Son, you are welcome; the Queen of cats is glad to see you.”

“Madam Cat,” said the Prince, “it is very kind of you to receive me with such courtesy, but surely you are no ordinary cat. Your gift of speech and your magnificent castle are strong proof to the contrary.”

“King’s Son,” replied the White Cat, “I beg of you to spare me these compliments, for I am very simple in my speech. But now,” she added, “let supper be served and let the musicians be silent, for the Prince does not understand what they are saying.”

“Are they really saying anything, madam?” asked the Prince.

“Certainly,” she answered. “We have excellent music here. If you stay with us a little while, you will soon learn to appreciate it.”

“Indeed, I shall be a ready scholar,” said the Prince, politely.

Supper was now served by the mysterious hands. Soup made of white mice was brought to the White Cat. When a plate was put before the Prince he did not like to taste it. But the White Cat assured him that his soup was made of pigeons, and that none of the dishes intended for him contained either rats or mice. They talked together on different subjects, and the Prince found that she knew all about what was going on in the world, and was well informed along many lines.

After supper the White Cat invited her guest into another room fitted up with a stage, where the cats danced and acted for their amusement. Then the White Cat said good night to him, and the hands conducted him to an apartment just opposite the one he had been in before. It was hung with butterflies’ wings of every color; there were mirrors that reached from the floor to the ceiling; and his bed was draped in gauze, fastened with a thousand knots of ribbon. The Prince went to bed in silence, for he did not know how to begin a conversation with the hands that waited on him.

In the morning he was awakened by noise and confusion outside, and the hands came quickly and dressed him in hunting costume. He looked out into the courtyard and saw more than five hundred cats making preparation for this holiday, for the White Cat was going hunting. He was led to a wooden horse, which he seemed to be expected to mount. He did so, and to his surprise it galloped off gayly.

The White Cat was riding a monkey, which went very fast and carried her even to the tops of trees when she wanted to reach eagles’ nests. The cats ran after rabbits and hares and caught them, and the kittens climbed everywhere for birds. The Prince had never enjoyed a hunt more. When the hunt was over they returned to the castle, and the Prince and the White Cat supped together as before.

So the days passed in all kinds of amusements, and the Prince thought only of the little White Cat with whom he was so happy. But she knew when he ought to return, and as he had quite forgotten, she reminded him.

“Do you know,” she said, “that you have only three days in which to look for the little dog your father wants, and that your brothers have found beauties?”

The Prince came to himself and was astonished at his forgetfulness.

“Why, how came I to forget such an important errand?” he said. “What shall I do? I can never get home in time, much less find a dog.” And he began to be very much vexed and distressed.

But the White Cat comforted him, saying, “King’s Son, do not vex yourself; I am your friend. You can stay here another day, for the good wooden horse will take you to your country in less than twelve hours.”

“I thank you, beautiful White Cat,” said the Prince; “but it is not enough that I return to my father; I must take him a little dog.”

“Look,” said the White Cat; “here is an acorn in which is a little dog prettier even than the one in the dog star.”

“O Madam Cat,” said the Prince, “you are making fun of me.”

“Put the acorn to your ear,” said she.

He obeyed and heard a little sound inside, “Bow-wow!” The Prince was delighted, for a dog that could be shut up in an acorn must be very tiny. He was so eager to see it that he wanted to open the acorn, but the White Cat told him it might be cold on the journey, and it would therefore be better to wait until he was in his father’s presence. He thanked her a thousand times, and said good-by very sadly when he started out.

“The days with you have passed so quickly,” he said, “I only wish I could take you along with me.”

But at this proposal the White Cat only sighed deeply.

The Prince was the first to arrive at the place where the three brothers agreed to meet. They embraced each other affectionately and began to tell their adventures. But the Prince did not tell his real adventures, and showed only a common cur, letting his brothers think that this was the one he was going to show the King. They laughed at him and showed him two beautiful little dogs in baskets.

When they reached the palace every one crowded about to welcome them. They went into the King’s hall. He did not know in whose favor to decide, for the dogs of the two elder sons seemed equally beautiful. They were already making their plans about sharing the crown when the youngest drew out of his pocket the acorn which the White Cat had given him. He opened it, and there was a wonderful little dog with silky white hair and long ears lying on cotton wool. The Prince put it through a ring without its touching the sides. Then he placed it on the ground, and it got up at once and began to dance. The King did not know what to say, for it was impossible to imagine anything more beautiful than this little dog.

But he had not the least desire to part with his crown. The tiniest gem of it was dearer to him than all the dogs in the world. He told his children that as they had all succeeded so well the first time, he would ask them to go once more. This time he would give them a year to seek by land and sea a piece of linen so fine that it could be drawn through the eye of the finest needle.

Each departed his own way. Our Prince mounted the wooden horse again and rode back with all speed to the White Cat. He found all the doors open and the windows, roofs, towers, and walls lighted brilliantly. The hands came to meet him and led the wooden horse off to the stable, while the Prince hastened to the room of the White Cat. She was asleep in a little basket on a white satin cushion, but she started up when the Prince came in and received him with the greatest joy.

“How could I hope that you would come back to me, King’s Son?”

The Prince caressed and petted her and told her of his journey. Then he told her what the King wanted this time and asked her for help, for the request seemed impossible to him. The White Cat looked serious and said she must think the matter over; fortunately there were cats in the castle who spun very well; if it could be done they could do it. She would set them to it, and he need take no care.

The second year passed as quickly and happily as the first. Presently the White Cat told him that the year was gone, and that he need not be at all anxious about the linen, as she had a piece ready for him.

“This time I can give you an equipage suited to your rank,” she added; and bade him look out into the courtyard. There stood a splendid open carriage enameled in flame-colored gold. Twelve snow-white horses harnessed in fours drew it; their trappings were of flame-colored velvet embroidered with diamonds. A hundred coaches, each drawn by eight horses and filled with richly dressed nobles, were ready to accompany him. A thousand guards were in waiting behind to end the procession.

“Go!” she said to the Prince; “and when you appear at your father’s court in such state, he will surely not refuse you the crown you deserve. Here is a walnut; do not crack it until you are before him. Then you will find in it the piece of linen you asked of me.”

“Dear White Cat,” said the Prince, “how can I ever thank you? If you will only consent to it, I will gladly give up all thought of ever being King and stay here with you.”

“King’s Son,” she replied, “it is very good of you to care so much for a little white cat who is good for nothing but to catch mice; but you must go.”

So the Prince kissed her paw and set out. They did not stop at all until they came to the King’s palace where the two elder brothers had already arrived. They displayed their pieces of linen, which were indeed so fine that they would go through the eye of a big needle; but the King, who was very glad of some excuse, sent for a very small needle that he had selected and had kept locked with the State treasure. Through this the linen would not go. The Princes were angry, and said that this was a trick that the King was playing on them.

But all at once there was a sound of trumpets and the youngest son appeared. The King and his two elder sons were astonished at his magnificence. After the young Prince had greeted them he took out the walnut and cracked it, thinking to find in it the piece of linen, but instead there was only a hazelnut. He cracked that and was surprised to see a cherry stone. The people who were looking on began to smile, and the King laughed to himself at the idea that a walnut should contain a piece of linen. The Prince cracked the cherry stone, which contained a kernel. He opened that and found a grain of wheat, and in that was a millet seed. Then he began to wonder too, and murmured, “Why, White Cat, you have made game of me.”