Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (27 page)

So the King's guards went to fetch Charming, who had
thought no more of his rash speech, and carried him off to
prison with great cruelty. The poor prisoner had only a
little straw for his bed, and but for a little stream of water
which flowed through the tower he would have died of
thirst.

One day when he was in despair he said to himself:

"How can I have offended the King? I am his most
faithful subject, and have done nothing against him."

The King chanced to be passing the tower and recognized
the voice of his former favorite. He stopped to listen
in spite of Charming's enemies, who tried to persuade
him to have nothing more to do with the traitor. But the
King said:

"Be quiet, I wish to hear what he says."

And then he opened the tower door and called to
Charming, who came very sadly and kissed the King's
hand, saying:

"What have I done, sire, to deserve this cruel treatment?"

"You mocked me and my ambassador," said the King,
"and you said that if I had sent you for the Princess
Goldilocks you would certainly have brought her back."

"It is quite true, sire," replied Charming; "I should have
drawn such a picture of you, and represented your good
qualities in such a way, that I am certain the Princess
would have found you irresistible. But I cannot see what
there is in that to make you angry."

The King could not see any cause for anger either when
the matter was presented to him in this light, and he
began to frown very fiercely at the courtiers who had so
misrepresented his favorite.

So he took Charming back to the palace with him, and
after seeing that he had a very good supper he said to
him:

"You know that I love Pretty Goldilocks as much as
ever, her refusal has not made any difference to me; but
I don't know how to make her change her mind; I really
should like to send you, to see if you can persuade her to
marry me."

Charming replied that he was perfectly willing to go,
and would set out the very next day.

"But you must wait till I can get a grand escort for
you," said the King. But Charming said that he only
wanted a good horse to ride, and the King, who was
delighted at his being ready to start so promptly, gave him
letters to the Princess, and bade him good speed. It was
on a Monday morning that he set out all alone upon his
errand, thinking of nothing but how he could persuade
the Princess Goldilocks to marry the King. He had a
writing-book in his pocket, and whenever any happy
thought struck him he dismounted from his horse and sat
down under the trees to put it into the harangue which
he was preparing for the Princess, before he forgot it.

One day when he had started at the very earliest dawn,
and was riding over a great meadow, he suddenly had a
capital idea, and, springing from his horse, he sat down
under a willow tree which grew by a little river. When
he had written it down he was looking round him, pleased
to find himself in such a pretty place, when all at once he
saw a great golden carp lying gasping and exhausted upon
the grass. In leaping after little flies she had thrown
herself high upon the bank, where she had lain till she was
nearly dead. Charming had pity upon her, and, though
he couldn't help thinking that she would have been very
nice for dinner, he picked her up gently and put her back
into the water. As soon as Dame Carp felt the refreshing
coolness of the water she sank down joyfully to the
bottom of the river, then, swimming up to the bank quite
boldly, she said:

"I thank you, Charming, for the kindness you have
done me. You have saved my life; one day I will repay
you." So saying, she sank down into the water again,
leaving Charming greatly astonished at her politeness.

Another day, as he journeyed on, he saw a raven in
great distress. The poor bird was closely pursued by an
eagle, which would soon have eaten it up, had not Charming
quickly fitted an arrow to his bow and shot the eagle
dead. The raven perched upon a tree very joyfully.

"Charming," said he, "it was very generous of you to
rescue a poor raven; I am not ungrateful, some day I will
repay you."

Charming thought it was very nice of the raven to say
so, and went on his way.

Before the sun rose he found himself in a thick wood
where it was too dark for him to see his path, and here
he heard an owl crying as if it were in despair.

"Hark!" said he, "that must be an owl in great trouble,
I am sure it has gone into a snare"; and he began to hunt
about, and presently found a great net which some
bird-catchers had spread the night before.

"What a pity it is that men do nothing but torment and
persecute poor creatures which never do them any harm!"
said he, and he took out his knife and cut the cords of the
net, and the owl flitted away into the darkness, but then
turning, with one flicker of her wings, she came back to
Charming and said:

"It does not need many words to tell you how great a
service you have done me. I was caught; in a few minutes
the fowlers would have been here—without your help I
should have been killed. I am grateful, and one day I
will repay you."

These three adventures were the only ones of any
consequence that befell Charming upon his journey, and he
made all the haste he could to reach the palace of the
Princess Goldilocks.

When he arrived he thought everything he saw delightful
and magnificent. Diamonds were as plentiful as pebbles,
and the gold and silver, the beautiful dresses, the
sweetmeats and pretty things that were everywhere quite
amazed him; he thought to himself: "If the Princess
consents to leave all this, and come with me to marry the
King, he may think himself lucky!"

Then he dressed himself carefully in rich brocade, with
scarlet and white plumes, and threw a splendid embroidered
scarf over his shoulder, and, looking as gay and as
graceful as possible, he presented himself at the door of
the palace, carrying in his arm a tiny pretty dog which he
had bought on the way. The guards saluted him respectfully,
and a messenger was sent to the Princess to announce
the arrival of Charming as ambassador of her
neighbor the King.

"Charming," said the Princess, "the name promises
well; I have no doubt that he is good looking and
fascinates everybody."

"Indeed he does, madam," said all her maids of honor
in one breath. "We saw him from the window of the
garret where we were spinning flax, and we could do
nothing but look at him as long as he was in sight."

"Well to be sure," said the Princess, "that's how you
amuse yourselves, is it? Looking at strangers out of the
window! Be quick and give me my blue satin embroidered
dress, and comb out my golden hair. Let somebody
make me fresh garlands of flowers, and give me my high-heeled
shoes and my fan, and tell them to sweep my great
hall and my throne, for I want everyone to say I am really
'Pretty Goldilocks.'"

You can imagine how all her maids scurried this way
and that to make the Princess ready, and how in their
haste they knocked their heads together and hindered
each other, till she thought they would never have done.
However, at last they led her into the gallery of mirrors
that she might assure herself that nothing was lacking in
her appearance, and then she mounted her throne of gold,
ebony, and ivory, while her ladies took their guitars and
began to sing softly. Then Charming was led in, and was
so struck with astonishment and admiration that at first
not a word could he say. But presently he took courage
and delivered his harangue, bravely ending by begging
the Princess to spare him the disappointment of going
back without her.

"Sir Charming," answered she, "all the reasons you
have given me are very good ones, and I assure you that
I should have more pleasure in obliging you than anyone
else, but you must know that a month ago as I was walking
by the river with my ladies I took off my glove, and
as I did so a ring that I was wearing slipped off my finger
and rolled into the water. As I valued it more than my
kingdom, you may imagine how vexed I was at losing it,
and I vowed to never listen to any proposal of marriage
unless the ambassador first brought me back my ring. So
now you know what is expected of you, for if you talked
for fifteen days and fifteen nights you could not make me
change my mind."

Charming was very much surprised by this answer, but
he bowed low to the Princess, and begged her to accept
the embroidered scarf and the tiny dog he had brought
with him. But she answered that she did not want any
presents, and that he was to remember what she had just
told him. When he got back to his lodging he went to bed
without eating any supper, and his little dog, who was
called Frisk, couldn't eat any either, but came and lay
down close to him. All night Charming sighed and lamented.

"How am I to find a ring that fell into the river a month
ago?" said he. "It is useless to try; the Princess must have
told me to do it on purpose, knowing it was impossible."
And then he sighed again.

Frisk heard him and said:

"My dear master, don't despair; the luck may change,
you are too good not to be happy. Let us go down to the
river as soon as it is light."

But Charming only gave him two little pats and said
nothing, and very soon he fell asleep.

At the first glimmer of dawn Frisk began to jump about,
and when he had waked Charming they went out together,
first into the garden, and then down to the river's
brink, where they wandered up and down. Charming was
thinking sadly of having to go back unsuccessful when he
heard someone calling: "Charming, Charming!" He looked
all about him and thought he must be dreaming, as he
could not see anybody. Then he walked on and the voice
called again: "Charming, Charming!"

"Who calls me?" said he. Frisk, who was very small
and could look closely into the water, cried out: "I see a
golden carp coming." And sure enough there was the
great carp, who said to Charming:

"You saved my life in the meadow by the willow tree,
and I promised that I would repay you. Take this, it is
Princess Goldilock's ring." Charming took the ring out
of Dame Carp's mouth, thanking her a thousand times,
and he and tiny Frisk went straight to the palace, where
someone told the Princess that he was asking to see her.

"Ah! poor fellow," said she, "he must have come to say
good-by, finding it impossible to do as I asked."

So in came Charming, who presented her with the ring
and said:

"Madam, I have done your bidding. Will it please you
to marry my master?" When the Princess saw her ring
brought back to her unhurt she was so astonished that she
thought she must be dreaming.

"Truly, Charming," said she, "you must be the favorite
of some fairy, or you could never have found it."

"Madam," answered he, "I was helped by nothing but
my desire to obey your wishes."

"Since you are so kind," said she, "perhaps you will do
me another service, for till it is done I will never be
married. There is a prince not far from here whose name
is Galifron, who once wanted to marry me, but when I
refused he uttered the most terrible threats against me,
and vowed that he would lay waste my country. But
what could I do? I could not marry a frightful giant as
tall as a tower, who eats up people as a monkey eats
chestnuts, and who talks so loud that anybody who has
to listen to him becomes quite deaf. Nevertheless, he
does not cease to persecute me and to kill my subjects.
So before I can listen to your proposal you must kill him
and bring me his head."

Charming was rather dismayed at this command, but
he answered:

"Very well, Princess, I will fight this Galifron; I believe
that he will kill me, but at any rate I shall die in your
defense."

Then the Princess was frightened and said everything
she could think of to prevent Charming from fighting the
giant, but it was of no use, and he went out to arm himself
suitably, and then, taking little Frisk with him, he mounted
his horse and set out for Galifron's country. Everyone
he met told him what a terrible giant Galifron was, and
that nobody dared go near him; and the more he heard,
the more frightened he grew. Frisk tried to encourage
him by saying: "While you are fighting the giant, dear
master, I will go and bite his heels, and when he stoops
down to look at me you can kill him."

Charming praised his little dog's plan, but knew that
this help would not do much good.

At last he drew near the giant's castle, and saw to his
horror that every path that led to it was strewn with
bones. Before long he saw Galifron coming. His head
was higher than the tallest trees, and he sang in a terrible
voice:

"Bring out your little boys and girls,
Pray do not stay to do their curls,
For I shall eat so very many,
I shall not know if they have any."

Thereupon Charming sang out as loud as he could to
the same tune:

"Come out and meet the valiant Charming
Who finds you not at all alarming;
Although he is not very tall,
He's big enough to make you fall."

The rhymes were not very correct, but you see he had
made them up so quickly that it is a miracle that they
were not worse; especially as he was horribly frightened
all the time. When Galifron heard these words he looked
all about him, and saw Charming standing, sword in hand
this put the giant into a terrible rage, and he aimed a blow
at Charming with his huge iron club, which would
certainly have killed him if it had reached him, but at that
instant a raven perched upon the giant's head, and, pecking
with its strong beak and beating with its great wings
so confused and blinded him that all his blows fell harmlessly
upon the air, and Charming, rushing in, gave him
several strokes with his sharp sword so that he fell to the
ground. Whereupon Charming cut off his head before he
knew anything about it, and the raven from a tree close
by croaked out: