Chapter III: Part 3

Hans and Lisbeth became so interested in cooking they quite forgot their own home or the unkind uncle who almost starved them, and when the breakfast was ready they put it on the table beside the old man.

“I thought you would like your breakfast,” explained Lisbeth, “and now we will make the gingerbread and repair your house.”

“After breakfast you may, if you like,” said the old man, “but first both of you must eat with me.”

My, how Hans and Lisbeth did eat, for while Lisbeth had cooked only ham and eggs enough for the old man’s breakfast, there seemed to be quite enough for them all.

And while they are eating we will see what the miser uncle was doing, for he had called the children at break of day and they were not to be found.

It happened that the ground was damp and the uncle saw the prints of their feet from the door to the road and along the road to the path in the woods, and then the soft leaves and moss did not show where they went.

Thinking they had run away and gone into the woods, their uncle hurried along, calling their names at the top of his voice.

As he came near the Gingerbread Rock the children heard him and began to tremble. “It is uncle,” said Hans. “He will be very angry because we have not done our work.”

“Sit still,” said the old man as the children started to leave the table, and, taking his pipe, the old man sat down under a little opening like a tiny window and began to smoke.

Soon the children could hear their uncle climbing up outside, and they knew he had seen the smoke just as they had the night before, and was trying to look in.

Then they heard him tumble just as Lisbeth had when the Gingerbread Rock broke off in her hands, and they knew he had discovered it was good to eat, for all was still for a few minutes.

Nothing was heard again for a long time, and then the sound of some one breaking off big pieces was heard, and when Hans and Lisbeth climbed up, as the old man told them to do, and looked out of the opening they saw their uncle with a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

He was breaking off big pieces of gingerbread and filling the barrow as fast as he could.

But when he had filled it he could not move it, for it was no longer gingerbread, but stone he had to carry.

The old man motioned to the children to keep quiet, and he opened a door they had not noticed and went out.

Just what he said the children never knew. But they soon found out that instead of being poor, as they had thought, their miser uncle had taken all the silver and gold their parents had left and hidden it in his cellar under the stones.

The miser uncle disappeared and was never seen again, and the old man, who was really a wizard, told them where to go and what to do with their wealth. So they were happy ever after.

Of course, they never forgot the Gingerbread Rock or the kind old man. But because he was a wizard they knew they would never see him again, for fairies and witches and wizards are all enchanted and disappear in a very strange manner.

“Our good fortune came to us because we tried to be kind to the old man, I am sure,” said Hans one day, when they were talking about the Gingerbread Rock.

“Yes, and because we wanted to repair the damage we had done he knew we did not mean to do any harm,” said Lisbeth; “but I shall never eat gingerbread again without thinking of him.”

“Nor I,” said Hans.

PRINCE ROUL’S BRIDE

Once upon a time in a far-off land there lived by an ocean an ogre and his wife.

Their home was a cave in a big white rock which was so white it shone like a light even in the darkest night, and many a ship had thought it a harbor in a storm and been wrecked by the shore where the ogre lived.

And this was the way he lived, because the ships carried rich cargoes and the ogre lost no time in helping himself to all that he could find, while the sailors were glad to escape in lifeboats when they saw the dreadful-looking ogre, who was so big and strong he could lift a ship.

In the same country, miles and miles away from the ogre’s cave, lived a rich king, who had a son named Roul, and one day while the Prince was out hunting he passed in the woods a cabin where lived a poor girl named Leta.

But while Leta was very poor she was also very pretty, and as the Prince rode past he saw her at the window and raised his plumed hat and smiled.

The next day Prince Roul again rode to the woods and this time he did not pass Leta’s cabin. He stopped his horse in front of her door and asked for a drink of water.

He had thought Leta pretty through the window, but when he beheld her this time he completely lost his heart, and day after day he went to the cottage and talked to pretty Leta.

After a while the King told his son it was time he was looking for a wife, as he wanted to see him married before he died and know that his wife was worthy to be a queen.

So the King gave a feast which lasted for weeks, and princesses from far and near were asked that Prince Roul might choose for himself a wife, for, as I said before, the King was very rich and all the kings in the other countries were anxious, of course, to have Prince Roul for a son-in-law.

But Prince Roul did not choose a wife from among the beautiful princesses, for he was already in love with pretty Leta, and while he knew full well his father would never give his consent to their marriage, he was determined he would wed no one else.

On the last day of the feast the King told him he would have to choose. “You have before you the beautiful women of the land,” said the King. “Make your choice at once, and the wedding shall take place this night.”

“Father, you have not brought to me the most beautiful woman in the world,” replied Prince Roul. “If you had I should have asked her to be my wife before this.”

“What do you mean?” asked the King. “All the princesses in the land are here.”

“Ah yes, that is true,” replied the Prince, “but the most beautiful woman in the world is not a princess, as you think of them, but she is a Princess for all that. Father, she is the Princess of my heart and I cannot marry any other woman.”

Then the King made the Prince tell him who she was that he loved so dearly, and when he learned Leta was a poor girl who lived in the woods close by, he was very angry and told the Prince he should never wed her.

All the beautiful princesses were sent home, and the angry King called his servants to him and commanded that they should go to the woods and find this girl who had upset his plans for his son.

“Find her and chase her out of the woods; drive her into another land where the Prince will never find her,” he told them.

But the King had forgotten one very important thing, and that was his son, for he should have made him a prisoner before he gave such an order. This he did not do, and Prince Roul, who overheard what his father had said, lost no time in jumping on his horse and making his way to the woods ahead of the servants of the King.

“Jump up behind me,” he said to Leta when she came out of the cabin, and away they rode, the feet of Prince Roul’s horse scarcely touching the ground as they fled.

The King’s servants were not long in discovering that the Prince had outwitted them, but they gave chase and away they went through the woods, while poor frightened little Leta clung to the Prince, wondering what it was all about.

On and on they rode, but to Leta clinging to her lover, it seemed they flew over the ground and through the woods. She could see the bright trimmings of the servants’ coats glistening in the sun, and she knew they were gaining on them.

By this time Prince Roul had told her that his father, the King, had tried to make him marry a princess, but that he would marry no one but the girl he loved and that was herself.

When Leta heard this she was more frightened than ever, for she knew now that she was the cause of all this trouble and that the servants must be chasing them to take Roul from her.

Leta put her hand to her breast. Yes; it was there--the little paper with the powder a fairy had given her a long time ago, because Leta had left a beautiful rose on its stem she was about to pick when she discovered a little fairy sleeping inside the rose.

“If you ever are in trouble, open this paper and throw the powder around you,” the fairy had told her. “It will protect you from all harm.”

Leta had never before needed protection, and she was not thinking so much of herself now as of her lover, wondering what the King would do if he did not obey him.

Just then the horse on which they were riding came to a full stop with such force that Leta was thrown to the ground and the next thing she knew over the side of a cliff leaped the horse with the Prince on his back.

The ocean was below, but before the horse and his rider had reached it Leta drew from her dress the magic powder and threw it over the cliff.

“Make the ocean dry,” she screamed as she threw the powder, and, to her surprise, as she threw it over she went, too, and the next instant she stood beside Prince Roul on dry land before a beautiful white castle and the ocean was miles away.

The cliff over which they had gone was the white rock where the ogre and the ogress lived, but when Leta threw the powder she had also summoned the little fairy who had given it to her and she had changed the big white cave into a castle.

When the King’s servants came dashing up to the cliff they saw nothing of the Prince or his horse, and the bottom of the cliff was so far below that they felt sure they had been destroyed, and they rode home to the King with the sad news.

The King’s grief was deep and bitter, for he really loved his son very much, and now when it was too late he cried out that he wished he had let the Prince marry the girl he loved; if only he had him alive that would be all he would ask.

The little fairy did not make herself visible to either Leta or the Prince, but if they could have seen with fairy eyes they would have seen the fairy flying ahead of them into the castle, touching everything with her magic wand as she went.

When Leta entered the door, which was open, for they had called and no one answered, she stood spellbound by what she saw.

The long white marble hall had a floor of silver and marble and the doors were silver also.

The Prince, who was used to beautiful things, was quite surprised at all the splendor, too.

Opening a big silver door, they entered a room hung with silver and deep-blue curtains, and on a silver table Leta saw a big white envelop. When she looked at it she read her own name.

Wondering who could have left it, she opened it and read: “Princess Leta, this is your castle; it is the gift of the fairies who love roses.”

“Your father will not object now to having me for the wife of his son,” she said, with a blush, as she gave the note to the Prince, and then they ran like two happy children through the beautiful castle that had come to them so strangely.

In the deep dungeons under the castle they found all the wealth that the ogre had taken from the ships, and after they had become used to their new home they gave it all to the poor, and so the ogre’s stolen wealth did not help him, and while it could not be given back to those who had lost it, it did much good.

And what became of the old ogre and his wife, you are wondering. I will tell you. When the fairy changed the cave into a castle she changed the ogre and ogress into two big silver statues in the big hall, one at each end, like huge mummies, holding a big light in their hands, which lighted the long hall of the castle.

Then one day Prince Roul and Princess Leta rode away to the palace of the old King, and when he saw his son he wept for joy and hugged him to his heart, and Leta’s pretty face won the old King’s heart at once, so they all lived happily ever after.

But while the old King wanted them to make the palace their home, Prince Roul and Leta could not give up their white castle by the sea, so part of the year they lived in the white castle, and when Prince Roul grew old and his grandchildren begged for a story, the King told them of Prince Roul’s bride and the wonderful leap they took over the cliff which forms the back of the castle.

SUNEV

There was once a poor peasant and his wife who had a very beautiful daughter named Sunev. So beautiful was she that her hair rivaled the sun in its golden brightness. Her eyes were like the blue sky and her lips were so red that the roses beheld her with envy. Her skin was so white and fair that the winter snow was not whiter. Her teeth were like the pearls. And when an old witch named Zitna, who lived in the forest near by, saw Sunev one day she became enraged because she was more beautiful than her own daughter.

Witch Zitna had thought till then that her own daughter was the most beautiful creature in the world, for the witch child was as dark as Sunev was fair, and Witch Zitna wished the Prince of Esor, who was looking for a wife, to wed her.

She knew that the Prince had sent out his servants far and near to look for the most beautiful lady in the country for his wife, and if Sunev were brought before the Prince of Esor her daughter would never be chosen.

There was only one thing to do, and that was to entice the lovely Sunev into the forest and there change her into the shape of an animal and leave her to her fate.

The wicked Witch Zitna watched her chance, and one day, when Sunev was sent into the forest to gather wood, Witch Zitna slipped out from behind a tree and touched her with her magic stick, changing her into a tiger.

Poor little Sunev was so frightened when she beheld her paws she fell on the ground and began to moan and cry and all the birds and animals of the forest came running to see what had happened.

The witch, in her haste, forgot to deprive Sunev of her power to talk, so when the birds and animals wanted to know what was the matter she told them she did not know, but something dreadful had happened and she was no longer a girl, but a tiger, and was afraid to go home.

The birds and animals can understand any language, and, being now part animal herself, Sunev had no trouble in understanding them.

“Do not cry,” they told her. “It must be the work of Witch Zitna, but we will protect you, and when the hunters come we will warn you so you may hide until they go. Eat the berries and nuts and we will find you a nice place to sleep, so dry your eyes and some way may be found to restore you to your own shape.”

Sunev did as the birds and animals told her, for there was no other way, and soon she became fond of her forest home and all her new friends.

Witch Zitna now proceeded to have her beautiful daughter seen by the messengers of the Prince of Esor, and they carried her off to his palace, sure they had found at last a wife that would suit their royal master.

Of course the parents of little Sunev looked everywhere for her, but she could not be found, and when they saw the tiger coming toward them they fled, for they did not know that the beautiful and graceful tiger-skin held their own child.

The Prince of Esor, when he saw the witch child, thought that she was beautiful, but he had wished for a wife that was as fair, so he decided to wait, and sent out his servants again to look for a lady with golden hair.

Witch Zitna was enraged when she heard this, for she knew that until her daughter was safely married to the Prince she was not safe.

The reason for this was that every night Venus, the goddess of beauty, came to the forest to look for the graceful tiger the fairies had told her about, for, while Sunev looked like a tiger, she had more grace and beauty than a real tiger, though they are graceful, too.

Venus did not wish even a tiger to rival her in being graceful, so she wanted to see this wonderful animal that she might learn from it more charm.

One night Sunev was walking through the forest in the moonlight when Venus, in the form of a tree, beheld her.

Knowing at once that the graceful tiger was a mortal changed, she called her attendants, who were not far away, and, changing herself back to her own beautiful form, she spoke to Sunev.

“What is your name, beautiful creature, and why are you in this form?” she asked.

It was the first time any one but the birds and animals had spoken to her since Witch Zitna had changed her, and poor little Sunev began to cry for joy.

Venus soothed her and soon Sunev told her all she knew of her sad plight. But when she told the goddess her name a flash of anger came to the eyes of Venus.

“Old Witch Zitna has done this,” said the goddess. “She shall pay for it, for, my dear, your name is mine spelled backward and you are my godchild. Zitna knew she had much to fear in the beauty you possess. Come with me!”

It did not take long to reach the cave of Zitna, for Venus had the power of witches and fairies when she wished to use it.

“Come forth!” called Venus, when they reached the cave of Zitna. “Undo your cruel work,” she commanded, when the trembling witch appeared in the doorway of her cave.

In another minute Sunev stood in her own lovely shape before Venus, who, instead of being jealous of the wonderful beauty she beheld, drew Sunev to her and kissed her on her brow.

“You will always be the most beautiful woman in the land,” she said. “Be you old or young, none shall compare with you.

“As for your daughter, Witch Zitna, you will never see her again, for a mother who would treat the daughter of another as you have done this beautiful girl is not the sort to have a daughter. I will claim your daughter as well as Sunev for my godchild.”

Sunev did not know how they reached the door of her parents’ home, but she stood there a short time after, and with trembling hands opened the door.

Oh, how happy her father and mother were to have her again! The joy of seeing her safe made them forget the time, and it was the trumpeting of the Prince of Esor’s messengers that told them the day was far gone.

The messengers knocked at the door, and when Sunev opened it they knew they had found the wife of their Prince.

Sunev’s father and mother were overcome with sorrow when the messengers told their errand. They thought they had found their child, only to lose her again, but the messengers told them they might go along to the palace. So they all set out.

When the Prince of Esor saw the beauty of Sunev he knew she was the one woman in the world for him, and without delay he ordered the wedding feast to be prepared.

A wonderful gown of white and gold was brought from the royal clothes-room, and a crown of pearls and diamonds was placed upon her beautiful golden hair, and upon her dainty feet golden slippers and silk stockings.

Her father and mother were not forgotten by the Prince, either. They were dressed in clothes they had never even dreamed of and given a palace near where Sunev and Prince Esor were to live.

But what had become of the beautiful witch child all this time, for, of course, she was not to blame for the bad deed of Witch Zitna and should not be made to suffer?

She was safe and happy, you may be sure, for she was surrounded by every comfort and luxury in another part of the palace, and she did not wish to become the wife of the Prince.

Instead, she loved one of the friends of the Prince, a noble lord who had fallen in love with her, but did not dare speak his love because he knew the Prince might choose her for his bride.

But when this noble lord heard a wife had been found for his Prince and it was not the beautiful girl he loved, he told the witch child of his love and they were married the very night that the Prince and Sunev were married.

And it turned out that the witch child was not a witch child at all, but had been stolen when a baby from a stork who was carrying her through the forest to the home of a nobleman, for the goddess Venus, true to her promise, took both of the beautiful girls for her godchildren and had the fairies see that they were both made happy.

The witch child was given a pretty name, but her husband best loved to call her the Queen of Night, because of her wonderful dark beauty.

Sunev was the Princess of Esor, of course, but the Prince called her Princess Rose, and if you will spell Esor backward you will learn why.

CILLA AND THE DWARF

Once upon a time there lived a king who had a very beautiful daughter, and her suitors came from far and near.

Among them was a dwarf with a huge head and a very long nose. Of course, no one expected the Princess to marry the ugly creature, but the dwarf did, and when the Princess refused he flew into a rage and said he would have her in spite of all she said.

At last the Princess gave her hand to a prince, but the night the wedding was to take place the Princess was nowhere to be found. They hunted high and low all over the palace, but no trace could they find of her; even her wedding-dress disappeared, too. The Prince was in despair and wrung his hands and cried out he would give to any one who would find the Princess half of his fortune.

The King also said he would give half of his kingdom to the one who would bring back the lost Princess.

Now, there was among the servants a little kitchen-maid named Cilla, who loved the Princess because she always spoke kindly to her, and when she knew her mistress was lost she resolved to find her at any cost.

So one night when all the people in the palace were sound asleep Cilla stole out and went to a witch who lived in the woods and asked her to help her to find the Princess.

“I can only help you a little,” said the witch, “as she is in the power of one who is more powerful than I am, but this much I can do: Here is a bean that will do magic work if used in the right way; whether it will help you to find your Princess I cannot tell. The dwarf has carried her off, and where he is I do not know.”

Cilla said she would take the bean. She thanked the witch and started off through the woods to look for the dwarf, for she was sure he must live in a cave.

For days she wandered until she was in the deep forest, and at last she came to a high rock over which she could not climb.

Cilla sat down and leaned against the rock to rest, when, to her surprise, she heard the sound of weeping. She looked all around, but could see no opening except a big crack in one side, and this was too small for her to get through.

She was just about to call out and ask who was inside weeping when she heard some one coming through the bushes.

Cilla ran behind the rock and watched, and in a minute the dwarf came bounding out of the bush and briers.

He carried in his hand an iron bar, and with this he opened the crack in the rock, which was a door, and entered the rock, leaving the door open behind him.

Cilla was a very brave girl or she would have stayed where she was, but no sooner had the dwarf disappeared than she ran in after him.

He was standing beside a poor, half-starved-looking little white rabbit, and Cilla heard him say, “Do you consent or will you starve?”

The little white rabbit only blinked and turned away, and then Cilla saw something that made her start, for hanging on a ragged bit of rock was the wedding-dress the Princess was to have worn the night she disappeared.

Cilla did not wait to see more. She dashed toward the dwarf and grabbed him by his long nose, and, giving it a hard twist, she cried out: “Where is my mistress, you wretch? Where is she, I say?”

A very strange thing happened when Cilla gave the long nose a twist; the dwarf howled like the sound of thunder, and instead of the dwarf there stood before Cilla a huge toad that hopped away so fast she could not see where it disappeared.

“You poor half-starved little rabbit,” said Cilla. “I wish I had something to give you to eat, but I must hunt for my mistress first, for I know she must be here.”

Then Cilla thought of the bean. “I’ll give you this,” she said to the rabbit. “I am sure I shall have no use for it.”

When the rabbit swallowed the bean Cilla’s eyes popped wide open, for there stood her mistress, safe and sound.

“Oh, Cilla, you have saved me! How ever did you think of twisting his nose?” asked the Princess.

“Because it looked as if it were made to be twisted,” said Cilla, “but how did you know the bean would change you back to your own form?”

“I didn’t, but I was hungry; that dreadful dwarf was trying to make me say I would marry him by starving me. Some powerful witch had given him the form of a dwarf, and if he could get a princess to marry him she would change him into a man,” said the Princess.

“Was he a toad at first?” asked Cilla.

“Yes, it seems he was a toad in the cave of a powerful witch, and for something he did for her she made him a dwarf; then he wanted to become a man, and the witch told him if he would marry a princess and take her into the palace to live she would grant his wish.

“He told me this before he had me changed into a rabbit, for he first carried me off to the cave of this witch, who lives somewhere in this forest, and I think we better hurry away before the toad gets to her and tells her I have escaped.”

It took a long time to get out of the forest, but Cilla and the Princess found the way and the Prince and the King told Cilla she should have the promised reward.

“Now, what would I do with all that gold and half of a kingdom?” asked Cilla. “All I ask is to have a nice little cottage and a cow near by the palace where I can see my mistress every day.”

Of course Cilla’s wish was granted, and there she lived and was happy, for she married the King’s gardener and became the mother of many boys and girls who never tired of hearing how their mother rescued the Princess from the bad dwarf.

GRETA AND THE BLACK CAT

One day a woodsman named Peter was chopping down a tree when he saw swinging from one of the branches a bundle. Dropping his ax, he climbed up, and to his surprise, when he opened the bundle, he found in it a baby girl asleep. Peter hurried home with the baby to his wife. “Look, Martha,” he said. “I have found a baby girl to be a sister to our son Robert. We will name her Greta and they shall grow up as brother and sister.”

But Martha did not want the baby. “We have three mouths to feed now,” she grumbled. “Why should we care for a child we know nothing of?”

But Peter would not hear of putting the child out-of-doors and so Greta lived with Peter and Martha and grew up with Robert.

Poor little Greta had anything but a happy life, for Martha treated her kindly only when Peter was in sight, and that was seldom.

Robert, seeing that his mother did not treat Greta well, began to order her to wait upon him as soon as he was old enough and treated her as a servant.

Greta had to weed the garden and bring in the water and the wood. She had to wash the dishes and make the beds and do all the work excepting when Peter was at home.

One day when Peter was going to the woods he told Robert to chop a pile of wood in the yard and have it finished by the time he came home.

When Peter was out of sight Robert told Greta to chop the wood. “That is what you are here for--to do the work,” said Robert. “You would have been eaten up by the bears if we had not taken you in. Now go to work and chop that wood.”

Greta began to cry and said she could not handle the ax; she was too small. But Martha boxed her ears and told her she should not have any dinner if she did not do as Robert told her.

Greta went to the woodpile and picked up the ax, but it was no use. She could not chop the wood. And fearing a beating if she did not do it, Greta ran away. On and on she ran until she came to a turn in the road which led into a forest. Here she decided to stop for the night, and she was just lying down by a rock when she heard a pitiful “me-ow.”

Looking in the bushes close by, Greta saw a big black cat holding up one paw as though it was hurt. “Poor pussy!” said Greta, taking the cat in her arms. “You look as unhappy as I feel. Let me bind up your paw.”

Greta tore off a piece of her dress and bound up the cat’s paw, and then, to her surprise, the black cat spoke to her.

“Come with me and I will show you where to sleep. You will have to carry me, for my paw is very painful,” said the cat.

Greta picked up the cat, too surprised to be frightened, and went through the woods as the cat directed her.

When they reached a big rock with an opening in it the cat said: “Here is my home. Take me in and you will find a place to sleep and food as well.”

Creeping in on her hands and knees with the cat under her arm, Greta found herself in a big room with a table in the center and on it plenty of food.

In one corner of the room was a bed and on this Greta saw a queer-looking old woman with a hooked nose.

She was asleep and did not notice them until the cat said, “Eat your supper.”

Up jumped the queer-looking old woman when she heard this, for she was the witch.

“You, and a mortal with you,” she screamed, as she reached for her crooked stick.

Greta ran to the door, for she thought the old witch was about to strike her; but the black cat, who was sitting on the floor near by where Greta had put it, said: “Don’t you dare touch this girl; she has saved my life, and from this hour you are in my power, for a mortal has held me in her arms.

“If you would live call the good fairy that has been looking for me all these years. I shall find her, anyway, but it will save time if you use your magic power, and you will regret it if you do not obey me.”

When the old witch heard this she began to tremble and hobbled to the door of the cave and tapped it three times with her crooked stick.

The rock opened so she could walk out, and Greta followed to see what she did, for she was no longer afraid; she knew the black cat would protect her.

The old witch gave a peculiar cry when she was outside, and Greta saw the next instant a tiny creature dressed in pink gauze, holding a wand of gold in one little hand, standing on a bush beside the old witch.

“Here I am, Witch Terrible,” said the fairy. “What can I do for you? You must be in great danger or you would not have called for one of us.”

The cat when it heard the fairy speak ran out of the cave, limping, and lay down in front of the fairy. “Help me, my good fairy,” said the black cat. “I am the Prince for whom you have looked so long. The old witch changed me into a black cat and took away my power to speak until I was held in the arms of a mortal.

“I know her secret, and, though she dared not kill me, she wanted me to die, so she turned me into the forest to starve, and if it had not been for this girl, good fairy, the old witch would have had her wish granted.

“When she changed me into a black cat she said I should never speak until a mortal held me, and that I could not regain my own shape until a fairy changed me, but something has happened since then, and to save herself she obeyed me and called you, for I know her secret, and that is why I did not have to hunt for you, my good fairy.”

The fairy touched the black cat with her wand and Greta saw in place of the big black cat a handsome man dressed in black velvet, with gold trimmings. “Now tell me the secret you know about the witch,” said the fairy.

The old witch threw up her arms and cried for mercy. “Remember, I called the fairy,” she said; “you would have hunted a long time if I had not. Be merciful!”

“I shall not forget,” said the Prince. “This woman is only half a witch,” he said. “She is part mortal, and every night at twelve o’clock she has to become a mortal for an hour because she tried to change a water nymph into a frog. The river god, the water nymph’s father, called on a very powerful ogre, who was his friend, and the ogre was about to change her into a rock, but she begged so hard he made her half mortal and left her to her fate.”

“Which means she can never leave this forest,” said the fairy, “and as she does many of her magic deeds at night when she rides abroad on her broomstick she is not a very powerful witch.”

“Yes, that is it,” said the Prince, “and she does not want it known among the fairies or the goblins or any of the magic-power folks. That is the mercy for which she begs.

“I hope you will keep her secret, good fairy, for she saved me so much time and trouble in calling you.”

“I will keep her secret from all but the fairies, but one of the fairy family will come here every night to make sure no mortal has been harmed by her, for some one might stray in here just as this girl did and be changed into some other form.”

“I have one more favor to ask of you, good fairy,” said the Prince. “I wish to make this girl my wife if she will marry me, and I would like to have the proper clothes for a princess, so that I may take her to my palace at once.”

“What do you say, my dear?” asked the fairy. “Will you marry the Prince?”

Greta felt she must be dreaming, but she was sure she would love the handsome Prince if she were awake, so she told the fairy she would, and the next instant her ragged clothes dropped from her and she stood before the Prince in a beautiful green velvet riding-habit, with a long feather in her hat, looking every inch a princess.

That night a great feast was held at the palace of the Prince in honor of his return and to celebrate their wedding, and the very next day Greta and the Prince rode to the home where she had once lived to give Peter a bag of gold.

“He was the only person who ever treated me kindly until I met you,” Greta told the Prince, “and I shall never forget him.”

Greta was not recognized by Martha or her son Robert, for they little thought the beautiful Princess was the poor girl that had once been their slave. But Peter, who had loved her, looked after the coach as it rolled away. “It looked a little like her,” he said, “but, of course, it could not be.” Many gifts did Greta and the Prince send to Peter, and in his old age he was given a comfortable house and plenty to eat, and, though Martha and Robert shared his good fortune, they never knew who sent it.

The Prince told Peter who the Princess really was one day, because the poor old man had never ceased to sorrow because Greta could not be found, but not a word did he tell of this to Robert or Martha, but kept his secret all to himself as long as he lived.

THE KNIGHT OF THE BRIGHT STAR

Once upon a time there lived a prince named Lorenzo. Although he was a prince, he was quite poor and lived with his mother and one servant in a mountain far from the land of his birth.

His father, the King, had been killed in a battle with another king, who took away the wealth and the castles of the defeated King, leaving Prince Lorenzo and his mother nothing of their former grandeur.

Prince Lorenzo grew up with a longing for vengeance in his heart, and often at night his mother would find him gazing in the direction of his old home as he stood alone under the stars.

“Son,” said the Queen-mother one night, “why do you gaze so intently into the distance? Why are you so sad?”

“There is bitterness in my heart for my father’s enemy who has robbed me of all the happiness and pleasure in the great world outside,” replied the Prince.

“Let me go, mother, and seek my fortune, and I may be able to avenge the wrongs done to you and me.”

“Vengeance does not belong to us, my son,” said the Queen-mother. “You must not take upon yourself that which is not your right.

“Go out in the world and taste its pleasures, but keep your Star of Hope as bright as those shining in the heavens over your head if you wish for happiness.”

The next morning Prince Lorenzo started on his journey. He was dressed in a shining suit of mail and sat upon a white horse with trappings of silver. In the center of his helmet was a little silver star which his mother gave him with these words:

“My son, may your armor protect you from all evil and may this star be your guide. It is enchanted, for it was given to me by a fairy when I was Queen and your father King.

“If ever it grows dim look into your own heart to find the cause, and, finding it, cast it from you if you wish for happiness.”

Prince Lorenzo promised to look to the brightness of the little star and rode away to seek his happiness.

After several days he came to a big city, the City of Pleasure it was called, and those who lived there told him his armor was much too heavy for one so young to wear.

“Cast it aside,” they told the Prince, “and we will show you the joys of living.”

So the Prince listened and followed the people in the City of Pleasure to a beautiful palace where merriment reigned, and laid aside his armor for a lighter garb. One day Prince Lorenzo looked from the Palace of Merriment and saw all around the castle men, women, and children working, and on their faces the look of misery.

“Who are these creatures?” he asked his gay companions.

“Those are the toilers who make the money for us to spend,” was the reply. “Look at us and forget these creatures and be merry.”

But the Prince could no more be merry; he remembered his Star of Hope his mother had given him and hurried to find it.

Instead of the shining star he had left he found it dim and dull, and then he remembered his mother’s words, “Look into your own heart to find the cause.” His love of wealth and pleasure had driven out all thoughts of others, and he had cared not how he gained these things, so long as he had them.

“My selfishness has dimmed my Star of Hope,” said the Prince; “I must leave the City of Pleasure and the Palace of Merriment, for this is not happiness.”

He buckled on the cast-off armor and rode away. As he rode past the toilers he threw among them all the gold he had gained while in the City of Pleasure.

Far away from the city he rode, and found himself in the midst of sickness and suffering.

Dismounting, the Prince ministered to the sufferers’ needs and forgot all else until he fell asleep from exhaustion.

When he awoke his horse stood beside him, and in the moonlight the little star shone brightly from its place in his helmet on the ground at his side. Prince Lorenzo jumped to his feet and placed the helmet on his head. He had tasted the joy of good deeds. He no longer looked for pleasure in selfishness, and the bitterness of vengeance had gone from his heart.

Back to his mother he rode with the little star shining. “You have won, my son!” she cried as she met him. “All my love for you could not teach you how to gain real happiness; selfish pleasure and love of vengeance dull our Star of Hope, but only those who have learned the lesson for themselves can know this.”

Prince Lorenzo was surprised one morning to see coming up the mountain, where he and his mother lived, an army of brightly dressed soldiers. When they came nearer he saw they were the soldiers that once had served his father, the King.

“The King who wronged you is dead,” they told Prince Lorenzo, “and before he died he made us promise to find you and the Queen and bring you back to your kingdom, which he wrongfully took from you.”

Of course Prince Lorenzo and his mother rejoiced to know that once more they would live in their former home, and lost no time in starting out on the journey.

“Your Star of Hope has brought you through tribulations into peace and happiness,” said his mother, “and all wrongs are righted, but if it had become dulled by selfishness and vengeance, my son, we still might be in the darkness of despair.”

THE DOLPHIN’S BRIDE

One day there came through the woods that bordered on a big ocean a poor little beggar girl named Nitta.

Nitta was crying; she was hungry and she did not know where to go, for her aunt, who had a daughter of her own, did not want to support Nitta and had turned her out-of-doors that very day.

“I am too poor to support you,” said the hard-hearted aunt. “You must take care of yourself.”

Nitta’s father and mother were dead and there seemed to be no place for her but the woods, so she wandered along until she came to the ocean, and there she sat down to cry out her grief.

While she was crying a big dolphin poked his head out of the water. “What are you crying for, little girl?” he asked.

Nitta was so surprised to hear the dolphin speak that she stopped crying at once. “I am crying because I have no home,” she replied.

“I will give you a home if you will come with me,” said the dolphin. “I need some one to take care of my house.”

“But I cannot live in the water; I should drown,” said Nitta.

“I would not ask you to come if you would drown,” answered the dolphin. “But you must decide for yourself whether you could keep house for a fish. There are no children to play with at the bottom of the ocean.”

“I shall starve if I stay on land, and I may find a good home,” thought Nitta as the dolphin waited for his answer.

“I’ll go with you,” she said.

“Then jump on my back,” said the dolphin, “and close your eyes; there is nothing to fear. I promise you that.”

Nitta jumped on his back and closed her eyes. Over the waves they went, and then suddenly Nitta felt the dolphin plunge under the water, and down, down they went, and then next thing she knew the dolphin stopped and said, “Here we are.”

Nitta opened her eyes, and instead of being in the water, as she thought, she was in a beautiful garden in front of a beautiful house. Up the steps the dolphin flopped, for, of course, he could not walk, having no feet, and Nitta followed him.

He led her into a big hall hung with beautiful pictures and soft carpets upon the floor upon which Nitta was almost afraid to step.

Nitta almost forgot her queer companion, she was so overcome with all the grandeur she beheld.

On both sides of the long hall were many rooms, one of gold, one of silver, one of marble, and the dolphin told Nitta she was to choose which room she would care to have for her own.

“But you said I was to keep your house,” said Nitta; “a servant cannot live in one of these beautiful rooms.”

“I did not say I wanted you to be a servant,” said the dolphin. “I want some one to live here and care for the house, but not to do the work.”

Nitta chose a beautiful room hung in blue silk, with chairs of blue damask and beautiful rosewood frames.

The ceiling was a darker blue, and all over it were dotted diamonds that twinkled like stars.

The floor was covered with a blue velvet carpet, soft and thick, and over it were scattered big pink roses which looked as if they would crush when stepped upon, they seemed so natural.

There was a piano of rosewood at one end of the room, and upon this Nitta was surprised to see the dolphin jump and with its fins begin to play. Music such as Nitta never heard came from the keys, and so enchanted was she that when the dolphin stopped playing Nitta ran to him and put her hand upon his head.

“You poor fish,” she said, “it is too bad you are not a man. I wish I were a fairy and could change you into a prince. This place is far too beautiful for a fish to live in, and besides, you play such wonderful music. How is it possible?”

“There is only one way you can help me, and since you wished to be a fairy and change me into a prince,” said the dolphin, “I will see if you will keep your word.

“Look behind the door and bring the sword you will find there, and I will tell you the only way I can be freed from the spell of a witch who hates me.”

From behind the door Nitta brought the sword. She found it had a beautiful handle of gold and set with diamonds and pearls, but the blade looked sharp and pointed and Nitta trembled as she held it.

“Now if you really are sorry for me,” said the dolphin, “and wish to make me a prince, strike off my head.”

Nitta dropped the sword at the very thought of anything so terrible. “I cannot do that,” she said. “You have been too kind to me.”

“That is the only way you can repay me,” said the dolphin, with a sigh. “I see you did not mean what you said about wishing to be a fairy.”

“Oh yes, I do, indeed I do!” said Nitta. “I do not want to kill you, but I will put you out of misery if that is what you want.”

She picked up the sword and swung it over her head; then she looked at the dolphin, closed her eyes, and brought down the sword.

As it fell Nitta felt herself slipping away, it seemed to her into the bottom of the ocean.

When she opened her eyes she saw a very handsome man bending over her. “You are a brave girl,” he said. “You have saved me from a terrible fate.”

“Where is the good dolphin?” asked Nitta. “Oh, I will never forgive myself for killing him!”

“He is gone forever. I was the poor dolphin,” said the handsome man at her side. “You broke the spell that held me, for the old witch who changed me into the dolphin said I must remain one until a pretty woman should strike off my head.”

“But why should a witch change you into a fish?” asked Nitta.

“Because I would not marry her daughter and make her a princess,” replied the handsome man. “You see, I am a prince and I was waiting for the girl I could love to appear before I would take my princess.

“And now I have found her. Will you become my princess?”

Nitta was already in love with the handsome man who had fallen in love with her, and so they were married that very day in the wonderful castle of beautiful rooms and lived happily ever after.

PRINCESS DIDO AND THE PRINCE OF THE ROSES

Little Princess Dido ran away from her attendants every time she could, and one day when she was walking in the forest with her servants she hid behind a tree while they were talking, and before they had missed her she ran down another path and was out of their sight.

When Princess Dido found herself alone she began to look about to see if she could find any flowers, for she was very fond of flowers and was never allowed to pick them herself; her servants did that for her.