Children's stories, French -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- France
The poor Queen tried to complain of the ill-treatment, but no one would
listen to her; the monsters laughed and hooted at her, and the Fairy
Lioness told her that if she came again to deafen her with lamentations,
she would give her a sound thrashing. She was forced, therefore, to
hold her tongue, and to have recourse to the Frog, who was the kindest
body in the world. They wept together; for as soon as she put on her cap
of roses, the Frog was able to laugh or weep like anyone else. "I feel
such an affection for you," she said to the Queen, "that I will re-build
your house, even though I drive all the monsters of the lake to
despair." She immediately cut some wood, and the little rustic palace of
the Queen was so quickly reared, that she was able to sleep in it that
night. The Frog, who thought of everything that was necessary for the
Queen's comfort, made her a bed of wild thyme. When the wicked fairy
found out that the Queen did not sleep on the ground, she sent for her:
"What gods or men are they who protect you?" she asked. "This land,
watered only by showers of burning sulphur, has never produced even a
leaf of sage; I am told, nevertheless, that sweet-smelling herbs spring
up beneath your feet!"
"I cannot explain it, madam," said the Queen, "unless the cause is due
to the child I hope one day to have, who will perhaps be less unhappy
than I am."
"What I now wish for," said the fairy, "is a bunch of the rarest
flowers; see if this coming happiness you speak of will obtain these for
you. If you fail to get them, blows will not fail to follow, for these I
often give, and know well how to administer." The Queen began to cry;
such threats as these were anything but pleasant to her and she was in
despair at the thought of the impossibility of finding flowers.
She went back to her little house; her friend the Frog came to her:
"How unhappy you are!" she said to the Queen. "Alas! who would not be
so, dear friend? The fairy has ordered a bunch of the most beautiful
flowers, and where am I to find them? You see what sort of flowers grow
here; my life, nevertheless, is at stake, if I do not procure them for
her." "Dear Queen," said the Frog in tender tones, "we must try our best
to get you out of this difficulty. There lives a bat in this
neighbourhood, the only one with whom I have made acquaintance; she is a
good creature, and moves more quickly than I can; I will give her my cap
of roses, and aided by this, she will be able to find you the flowers."
The Queen made a low curtsey; for there was no possible way of embracing
the Frog. The latter went off without delay to speak to the bat; a few
hours later she returned, bearing under her wings the most exquisite
flowers. The Queen hurried off with them to the fairy, who was more
overcome by surprise than before, unable to understand in what
miraculous way the Queen received help.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account