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
Nabote did not require much time to insinuate herself into her good
graces; she taught her to do beautiful kinds of work, and rendered her
lessons agreeable by recounting pleasant stories. She neglected nothing
which could divert her, and naturally pleased her so much, that at
length one was never seen without the other.
Amidst all her attentions, however, Nabote was not less occupied with
her schemes of revenge; she sought for an opportunity of inducing
Fairer than a Fairy, by some cunning pretence, only to put her foot
over the threshold of one of the castle gates. She was always prepared
to pounce on and fly away with her. One day that she had led her into
the garden, and the young maidens of her Court, having gathered some
flowers, had crowned with them the beautiful head of Fairer than a
Fairy, Nabote opened a little door which led into the fields, and
passing out at it, played an hundred antics, which caused the Princess
and the young folks who surrounded her to laugh heartily. All at once
the wicked Nabote pretended to be taken ill, and the next minute she
fell down, as if swooning away. Some of the young maidens ran to assist
her, and Fairer flew also to her side. But hardly had the unhappy child
passed the fatal gate than Nabote sprang up, seized her with a powerful
arm, and making a circle with her wand, a thick black fog arose, which
dispersing again almost immediately, the ground was seen to open
and two moles emerged, with wings formed of rose-leaves, drawing an
ebony car, and Nabote placing herself in it with Fairer than a Fairy,
it ascended into the air, and cleaving it with incredible velocity,
disappeared entirely from the sight of the young maidens, who by their
cries and tears soon announced to all the castle the loss they had
sustained.
Fairer than a Fairy only recovered from her first astonishment to
fall into another still more fearful; the rapidity with which the car
passed through the air had so bewildered her that she almost lost
consciousness; at length, reviving a little, she cast down her eyes.
What was her alarm to find nothing beneath her but the vast extent of
the shoreless ocean. She uttered a piercing cry, turned round, and
seeing near her her dear Nabote, she embraced her tenderly and held her
close in her arms as one naturally would to re-assure oneself. But the
Fairy repulsed her rudely:--"Off! audacious child," said she. "Behold
in me your mortal foe. I am the Queen of the Fairies, and you are about
to pay to me the penalty of your insolence in assuming the proud name
which you bear."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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