Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 2, February 1886Various
History
Donahoe's Magazine, Volume 15, No. 2, February 1886
Various
Periodicals
Just at the same moment a fresh excitement broke out among the joyful
people when it was known that thirty-five of the queen's royal names,
lost on the day of her christening, had been found at last. And where do
you think they were found? One had dropped into a far corner of the
waistcoat pocket of the old clerk, who had been so busy saying "Amen,"
that he had not noticed the accident. Only yesterday, while making a
strict search for a small morsel of tobacco to replenish his pipe, had
he discovered the precious name. Twenty-five more of the names had
rolled into a mouse-hole, where they had lain snugly hidden among
generations of young mice ever since; six had been carried off by a most
audacious sparrow who had built his nest in the rafters of the
church-roof; and none of these thirty-one names would ever have seen the
light again only that repairs and decorations were getting made in the
old building for the coronation of the queen. Last of all, four names
were brought to the palace by young girls of the village, whose mothers
had stolen them through vanity on the day of the christening, thinking
they would be pretty for their own little babes. The girls being now
grown up had sense enough to know that such finery was not becoming to
their station; and, besides, they did not see the fun of having names
which they were obliged to keep secret. So Nancy, Polly, Betsy, and Jane
(the names they had now chosen instead) brought back their stolen goods
and restored them to the queen's own hand. The fate of the remaining
names still remains a mystery.
Now, I daresay, you are wondering what these curious names could have
been; all I can tell you about them is, that they were very long and
grand, and hard to pronounce; for, if I were to write them down here for
you, they would cover a great many pages, and interrupt the story quite
too much. At all events, they did very well for a queen to be crowned
by; but I can assure you that nobody who loved the little royal lady
ever called her anything but Pet.
Well, after this, Pet and the Prince of Silver-country put their heads
together, and made such beautiful laws that poverty and sorrow vanished
immediately out of Goldenlands. All the people in whom Pet had lived
were brought to dwell near the palace, and were made joyous and
comfortable for the rest of their lives. A special honor was conferred
on the families of the spiders and the butterfly, who had so
good-naturedly come to the assistance of the little queen. The old gowns
were taken out of the wardrobe and given to those who needed them; and
very much delighted they were to see the light again, though some of the
poor things had suffered sadly from the moths since the day when they
had made their complaint to Pet. Full occupation was given to the money
and the bread-basket; and, in fact, there was not a speck of discontent
to be found in the whole kingdom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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