The Enchanted Watch · page 21 2101Surcantine, therefore, resolved that she would bring up a Prince whom nothing could make constant.checked by a teacher102While Paridamie decided to display to admiring mortals a Princess so charming that no one could see her without falling in love with her.103They were allowed to take their own time, and meanwhile the four oldest fairies were to attend to the affairs of the kingdom.104Now Paridamie had for a long time been very friendly with King Bardondon, who was a most accomplished Prince, and whose court was the model of what a court should be.105His Queen, Balanice, was also charming; indeed it is rare to find a husband and wife so perfectly of one mind about everything.106They had one little daughter, whom they had named ‘Rosanella,’ because she had a little pink rose printed upon her white throat.checked by a teacher107From her earliest infancy she had shown the most astonishing intelligence, and the courtiers knew her smart sayings by heart, and repeated them on all occasions.108In the middle of the night following the assembly of fairies, Queen Balanice woke up with a shriek, and when her maids of honour ran to see what was the matter, they found she had had a frightful dream.109‘I thought,’ said she, ‘that my little daughter had changed into a bouquet of roses, and that as I held it in my hand a bird swooped down suddenly and snatched it from me and carried it away.’110‘Let some one run and see that all is well with the Princess,’ she added.111So they ran; but what was their dismay when they found that the cradle was empty; and though they sought high and low, not a trace of Rosanella could they discover.112The Queen was inconsolable, and so, indeed, was the King, only being a man he did not say quite so much about his feelings.113He presently proposed to Balanice that they should spend a few days at one of their palaces in the country; and to this she willingly agreed, since her grief made the gaiety of the capital distasteful to her.114One lovely summer evening, as they sat together on a shady lawn shaped like a star, from which radiated twelve splendid avenues of trees, the Queen looked round and saw a charming peasant-girl approaching by each path, and what was still more singular was that everyone carried something in a basket which appeared to occupy her whole attention.115As each drew near she laid her basket at Balanice’s feet, saying:116‘Charming Queen, may this be some slight consolation to you in your unhappiness!’117The Queen hastily opened the baskets, and found in each a lovely baby-girl, about the same age as the little Princess for whom she sorrowed so deeply.118At first the sight of them renewed her grief; but presently their charms so gained upon her that she forgot her melancholy in providing them with nursery-maids, cradle-rockers, and ladies-in-waiting, and in sending hither and thither for swings and dolls and tops, and bushels of the finest sweetmeats.119Oddly enough, every baby had upon its throat a tiny pink rose.120The Queen found it so difficult to decide on suitable names for all of them, that until she could settle the matter she chose a special colour for everyone, by which it was known, so that when they were all together they looked like nothing so much as a nosegay of gay flowers.121As they grew older it became evident that though they were all remarkably intelligent, and profited equally by the education they received, yet they differed one from another in disposition, so much so that they gradually ceased to be known as ‘Pearl,’ or ‘Primrose,’ or whatever might have been their colour, and the Queen instead would say:122‘Where is my Sweet?’ or ‘my Beautiful,’ or ‘my Gay.’123Of course, with all these charms they had lovers by the dozen.124Not only in their own court, but princes from afar, who were constantly arriving, attracted by the reports which were spread abroad; but these lovely girls, the first Maids of Honour, were as discreet as they were beautiful, and favoured no one.125But let us return to Surcantine.126She had fixed upon the son of a king who was cousin to Bardondon, to bring up as her fickle Prince.127She had before, at his christening, given him all the graces of mind and body that a prince could possibly require; but now she redoubled her efforts, and spared no pains in adding every imaginable charm and fascination.128So that whether he happened to be cross or amiable, splendidly or simply attired, serious or frivolous, he was always perfectly irresistible!129In truth, he was a charming young fellow, since the Fairy had given him the best heart in the world as well as the best head, and had left nothing to be desired but--constancy.130For it cannot be denied that Prince Mirliflor was a desperate flirt, and as fickle as the wind; so much so, that by the time he arrived at his eighteenth birthday there was not a heart left for him to conquer in his father’s kingdom--they were all his own, and he was tired of everyone!131Things were in this state when he was invited to visit the court of his father’s cousin, King Bardondon.132Imagine his feelings when he arrived and was presented at once to twelve of the loveliest creatures in the world, and his embarrassment was heightened by the fact that they all liked him as much as he liked each one of them, so that things came to such a pass that he was never happy a single instant without them.133For could he not whisper soft speeches to Sweet, and laugh with Joy, while he looked at Beauty?134And in his more serious moments what could be pleasanter than to talk to Grave upon some shady lawn, while he held the hand of Loving in his own, and all the others lingered near in sympathetic silence?135For the first time in his life he really loved, though the object of his devotion was not one person, but twelve, to whom he was equally attached, and even Surcantine was deceived into thinking that this was indeed the height of inconstancy.136But Paridamie said not a word.137In vain did Prince Mirliflor’s father write commanding him to return, and proposing for him one good match after another.138Nothing in the world could tear him from his twelve enchantresses.139One day the Queen gave a large garden-party, and just as the guests were all assembled, and Prince Mirliflor was as usual dividing his attentions between the twelve beauties, a humming of bees was heard.140The Rose-maidens, fearing their stings, uttered little shrieks, and fled all together to a distance from the rest of the company.checked by a teacher141Immediately, to the horror of all who were looking on, the bees pursued them, and, growing suddenly to an enormous size, pounced each upon a maiden and carried her off into the air, and in an instant they were all lost to view.142This amazing occurrence plunged the whole court into the deepest affliction, and Prince Mirliflor, after giving way to the most violent grief at first, fell gradually into a state of such deep dejection that it was feared if nothing could rouse him he would certainly die.143Surcantine came in all haste to see what she could do for her darling, but he rejected with scorn all the portraits of lovely princesses which she offered him for his collection.144In short, it was evident that he was in a bad way, and the Fairy was at her wits’ end.145One day, as he wandered about absorbed in melancholy reflections, he heard sudden shouts and exclamations of amazement, and if he had taken the trouble to look up he could not have helped being as astonished as everyone else, for through the air a chariot of crystal was slowly approaching which glittered in the sunshine.146Six lovely maidens with shining wings drew it by rose-coloured ribbons, while a whole flight of others, equally beautiful, were holding long garlands of roses crossed above it, so as to form a complete canopy.147In it sat the Fairy Paridamie, and by her side a Princess whose beauty positively dazzled all who saw her.148At the foot of the great staircase they descended, and proceeded to the Queen’s apartments, though everyone had run together to see this marvel, till it was quite difficult to make a way through the crowd; and exclamations of wonder rose on all sides at the loveliness of the strange Princess.149‘Great Queen,’ said Paridamie, ‘permit me to restore to you your daughter Rosanella, whom I stole out of her cradle.’150After the first transports of joy were over the Queen said to Paridamie:151‘But my twelve lovely ones, are they lost to me for ever?152Shall I never see them again?’153But Paridamie only said:154‘Very soon you will cease to miss them!’ in a tone that evidently meant ‘Don’t ask me any more questions.’155And then mounting again into her chariot she swiftly disappeared.156The news of his beautiful cousin’s arrival was soon carried to the Prince, but he had hardly the heart to go and see her.157However, it became absolutely necessary that he should pay his respects, and he had scarcely been five minutes in her presence before it seemed to him that she combined in her own charming person all the gifts and graces which had so attracted him in the twelve Rose-maidens whose loss he had so truly mourned; and after all it is really more satisfactory to make love to one person at a time.158So it came to pass that before he knew where he was he was entreating his lovely cousin to marry him, and the moment the words had left his lips, Paridamie appeared, smiling and triumphant, in the chariot of the Queen of the Fairies, for by that time they had all heard of her success, and declared her to have earned the kingdom.159She had to give a full account of how she had stolen Rosanella from her cradle, and divided her character into twelve parts, that each might charm Prince Mirliflor, and when once more united might cure him of his inconstancy once and for ever.160And as one more proof of the fascination of the whole Rosanella, I may tell you that even the defeated Surcantine sent her a wedding gift, and was present at the ceremony which took place as soon as the guests could arrive.161Prince Mirliflor was constant for the rest of his life.162And indeed who would not have been in his place?163As for Rosanella, she loved him as much as all the twelve beauties put together, so they reigned in peace and happiness to the end of their long lives.164By the Comte de Caylus.1 2← previousThe Story of Caliph Storknext →Sylvain and Jocosa↑ back to The Green Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg7277/8/page/2/