The Princess Mayblossom, part 2 · page 21 2101Mayblossom, more downcast than ever, went sadly away and sat down under an oak tree, and her tears and sighs were so piteous that the oak fanned her with his rustling leaves, and said:102‘Take courage, pretty Princess, all is not lost yet.103Take this pitcher of milk and drink it up, and whatever you do, don’t leave a drop for Fanfaronade.’104The Princess, quite astonished, looked round, and saw a big pitcher full of milk, but before she could raise it to her lips the thought of how thirsty Fanfaronade must be, after eating at least fifteen pounds of honey, made her run back to him and say:105‘Here is a pitcher of milk; drink some, for you must be thirsty I am sure; but pray save a little for me, as I am dying of hunger and thirst.’106But he seized the pitcher and drank all it contained at a single draught, and then broke it to atoms on the nearest stone, saying with a malicious smile: ‘As you have not eaten anything you cannot be thirsty.’107‘Ah!’ cried the Princess, ‘I am well punished for disappointing the King and Queen, and running away with this Ambassador about whom I knew nothing.’108And so saying she wandered away into the thickest part of the wood, and sat down under a thorn tree, where a nightingale was singing.109Presently she heard him say: ‘Search under the bush Princess; you will find some sugar, almonds, and some tarts there But don’t be silly enough to offer Fanfaronade any.’110And this time the Princess, who was fainting with hunger, took the nightingale’s advice, and ate what she found all by herself.111But Fanfaronade, seeing that she had found something good, and was not going to share it with him, ran after her in such a fury that she hastily drew out the Queen’s carbuncle, which had the property of rendering people invisible if they were in danger, and when she was safely hidden from him she reproached him gently for his unkindness.1 2← previousThe Princess Mayblossom, part 1next →The Princess Mayblossom, part 3↑ back to The Red Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg540/4/page/2/