Four and Twenty Fairy Tales: Selected from Those of Perrault, and Other Popular Writers
General
Four and Twenty Fairy Tales: Selected from Those of Perrault, and Other Popular Writers
Fairy tales
"But I should at least wish," said she to him, "to be able to send
you word of what happens in this island, and I know not how that is
possible, as everything I do is suspected and watched." "I will leave
with you here," said the Prince, "the subjects of a friend of mine,
who is also a prince. They will constantly attend on you, and by them
you can often send me intelligence; but remember, beautiful Princess,
with what impatience I shall wait for it!" After these words, he
approached the tree which had conveyed him, and having touched some of
the leaves, two butterflies appeared, the one white and flame-colour,
the other yellow and light-grey--the most beautiful in the world. As
Ravissante gazed on them, the Prince of Leaves said, smiling, "I see
you are surprised at the appearance of the confidants I give you;
but these butterflies are not merely what they appear to be; it is a
mystery which they will explain if you will permit them to talk to
you." As he spoke, Ravissante perceived in the distance some of her
nymphs, who came to seek her in her solitude, and she begged the Prince
of Leaves to re-embark; he obeyed, notwithstanding the infinite regret
he felt at quitting her, but he did not depart quickly enough to avoid
observation; they informed Ariston and the Fairy of his return to the
island, and from that moment, in order to take away from the beautiful
Ravissante the means, and even the hope of seeing him again, they
erected a tower on the summit of the rock formed of the same stone;
and in order to render it more entirely secure, as the guard of living
monsters had proved insufficient, they caused the tower and rock to be
invisible to all those who should come to seek her, not daring again
to trust to ordinary enchantments. Ravissante was in despair at being
immured in so cruel and impregnable a prison. Prince Ariston had not
concealed from her that he had rendered it invisible; he had even
attempted to make her accept this care for her safety as a proof of
his tender devotion; but Ravissante felt her hatred and contempt for
him increase daily, and he dared no longer enter her presence. The
butterflies, however, had not quitted her, and she often regarded them
with pleasure as having come from the Prince of Leaves. One day that
she was still more sad than usual, and musing, on a terrace at the top
of the tower, the flame-coloured butterfly flew on to one of the vases
filled with flowers, which ornamented the balustrade. "Why," said he,
all of a sudden to the Princess, "do you not send me to the Prince of
Leaves, he will undoubtedly come to your relief?" Ravissante was at
first so astonished at hearing the butterfly speak, although her lover
had prepared her for the novelty, that she was for some minutes unable
to answer; however, the name of the Prince of Leaves assisting to
dissipate her surprise, "I was so astonished," said she at length, "to
hear a butterfly speak like ourselves, that I could not sooner reply
to you.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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