He saw the quantities of goldHe saw the quantities of gold
He saw the quantities of goldHe saw the quantities of gold
"If I can only find my way home to tell my father about it, he will be a rich man!" he cried.
It was a long distance home and several times he thought that he had lost his way. Finally, however, he saw his own mother's light in the window. He ran toward it as fast as he could run.
"Manoel Littlebean, what have you been doing?" cried his mother when she saw him. "Where did you get so dirty? Come, let me give you a bath the first thing!"
"Never mind about the bath, mother," said Manoel. "I have more important things to attend to. Where is father?"
His mother called her husband and they both forgot how dirty the child was when they heard his story.
"Let us hurry to the robbers' cave, father," he said. "We must get there before they return."
"What about the wolf?" asked his mother anxiously.
Manoel Littlebean laughed.
"The wolf doesn't have any stomachache now," he said. "He went home long ago."
They went to the robbers' cave and brought home the huge sacks full of gold. It was enough to make them live like princes for a lifetime.
"I have the best and cleverest son in the world," said the father.
"Never in the world was there a son who was such a joy and comfort to his parents," said his mother.
Manoel Littlebean was treated by every one as politely as if he had been big.
In a tiny cottage on the steep rocky hillside of one of the islands of the Azores there lived a poor woman and her only son whose name was Francisco. Every day the boy went fishing in his little boat, and every night he brought home fish for his mother to cook for their evening meal and to carry into the market to sell. In this way they lived very comfortably, and they loved each other so dearly that they were as happy as happy can be.
Francisco, with his fair skin, blue eyes and thatch of curly golden hair, was the handsomest boy in the whole parish, and by the time he was sixteen years old there was many a rich man's daughter who had smiled upon him. However, the lad thought only of his fishing boat and his mother and did not notice the smiles.
One night the moon was so bright that Francisco could not sleep. He awakened his mother who was dozing comfortably in her bed.
"I'm going fishing, mother dear," he said as he kissed her. "The moonlight is calling me."
His mother started up from her bed in terror and amazement.
"Why, my boy, do you do such a thing as this?" she asked. "You have never been fishing in the night before. Some evil will surely befall you."
"Don't worry about me, dear mother," replied Francisco, laughing at her fears. "I know how to take care of myself. It is as light as day. Think how many fish I'll bring back for you to sell in the market to-morrow."
His mother shook her head anxiously, but, with another loving kiss, the lad ran out into the bright moonlight. He quickly launched his little fishing boat and soon was floating smoothly along on the peaceful waters of the bay which gleamed like a silver pathway in the moonlight. The soft air, the gentle rocking of the little boat, and the face of the moon upon which his blue eyes were fixed combined to send sleep to his eyelids. Soon he was nodding in the little boat. A few moments later and he was fast asleep. The moon's rays upon his curls made them shine as if they were indeed made of gold.
Now the village maidens were not the only ones who had noticed Francisco's blue eyes and handsome face. A water-nymph who dwelt in the depths of the sea had often observed him. In the daytime she was invisible to the eye of humans and so the lad had never seen her though she often spent long hours near him, never taking her eyes from his face.
"Here comes the beautiful youth in his little fishing boat!" cried the nymph as she saw the moonlight gleaming upon his bright curls. "At last my wish has come true. Now at night he'll be able to see me."
She hastily arranged her own beautiful hair before a little mirror she carried. Some of the strands of priceless pearls which decked her lovely head were a trifle awry. These and the necklaces of rare pearls which hung about her fair throat surrounded her with a gleam of soft light almost like the light of the moon. As she approached nearer to the little boat she saw that Francisco was fast asleep. She swam in the direction of the lad with all possible speed, a wild terror in her eyes.
"What madness is this?" she asked as she looked down upon his bowed head. "This frail boat will drift upon the dangerous rocks and be dashed to pieces. I'll take him home to my own palace without awakening him. Perhaps when he sees how lovely it is he'll even like me a little bit."
Just for a moment she hesitated, thinking how far from home Francisco would be in the palace of mother-of-pearl in the depths of the sea.
"The rocks are really very dangerous," she said to herself as she gently drew his sleeping form into her arms.
The next morning Francisco's empty fishing boat was found by the fishermen. For hours his mother had watched in vain for his return. When at last she heard that the empty boat had been found she was nearly wild with grief.
"He was the best son a mother ever had," she moaned over and over again. "How can I live without him!"
Indeed, as the days and weeks went by it was increasingly difficult for the poor woman to live. She not only missed her boy's loving smile, but she also missed the fish he caught so skillfully. There was little for the poor woman to eat if she had any appetite for food.
"Why don't you go to the Wiseman of the Sea and tell him your troubles?" asked one of the neighbors.
Francisco's mother knew that it was a long and difficult journey to reach the Wiseman of the Sea. She decided, however, it would be worth the effort just to gaze into his wise eyes. He knew so much, perhaps he would know how to say something to comfort her in her great sorrow and loneliness. She had shrugged her shoulders when her neighbor had spoken of it but she could not get the idea out of her mind. She knew that she would never rest in peace until she had made this journey. Accordingly, she launched Francisco's fishing boat, and, thanks to smooth seas, reached the little rocky island in the midst of the sea where the Wiseman of the Sea lived.
His tall form was outlined above the cliff even as she tied her little boat. He was very tall, far taller than anybody she had ever seen, and his snow-white beard fell to his feet. He was clothed in fish scales which gleamed in the sunlight.
"Well, little mother, what can I do for you to-day?" he asked, as she came up the path to the summit of the rock.
The eyes of the Wiseman of the Sea were very kind as well as full of great wisdom. Francisco's mother forgot to be afraid of him as she had expected to be. She told him the story of her lost son. The Wiseman listened carefully to her words and then he said:
"Good mother, I am glad to tell you that I know where your Francisco is. He is in the power of a water-nymph who has carried him away to her castle of mother-of-pearl in the depths of the sea."
Francisco's mother felt the tears of joy well up into her eyes. "Is my boy happy there and is he well?" she asked eagerly.
"He is entirely well and happy. The water-nymph gave him a philtre which has made him forget his past life entirely."
"I'm glad you told me that," said the boy's mother. "I was just wondering how my dear lad could be happy while he was causing me so much sorrow. He has always been the best and kindest son with which a mother ever was blessed."
The Wiseman of the Sea started to say something, but the woman interrupted as a new thought flew into her mind. "Tell me," she cried, "is there no way of getting him back? With all your wisdom can't you think of some way to make him once more remember the mother who loves him and the little home in which we have passed so many happy days together? Do you not know some means of breaking the power which this water-nymph has over him?"
The Wiseman looked out across the sea in silence for at least a minute and a half. He thought hard. Francisco's mother watched him with eager eyes. She could hardly wait for his answer. At last these were the words which fell from his lips:
"You have shed many tears, good woman, but tears are still to flow if you are to bring back your son."
"Oh, must I suffer more?" cried the heart-broken mother. "It seems that I have already lived a lifetime since my dear lad kissed me in the moonlight. I have endured all that I can bear."
The Wiseman smiled gently as he raised his hand. "Listen, my child," he said. "Your tears must be shed upon the bosom of the waters. If, perchance, one of them should fall upon your son's heart there in the palace of the water-nymph in the depths of the sea, the power of her philtre will be broken."
"I'll shed whole oceans of tears if I can break the power of that water-nymph and bring back my Francisco," said his mother.
The fact is that she began to shed tears then and there, even before she had thanked the Wiseman of the Sea for what he had told her.
Now it happened that Francisco had grown to love the beautiful palace of mother-of-pearl in the depths of the sea. He never tired of all its beauty. About the palace there were lovely gardens filled with flowers made of precious gems. Each tiny bud of that garden was worth a king's ransom, so rich were the jewels which composed it. The water-nymph often gathered her arms full of these rare blossoms and wove them into a garland to crown Francisco's golden curls. He never had a thought of the old life at home with his mother, so completely had the nymph's philtre done its work.
There was always a big fish swimming about the palace. On its back there was a cushion of seagreen satin embroidered with lovely pearls.
"This is your riding horse," said the water-nymph to Francisco the first day he had seen it. "If you should ever get tired of the palace and find the life here a bit monotonous, just mount this horse and ride about for a little."
The water-nymph had shaken out her long fair tresses so that they covered as much as possible of the fishtail she had instead of feet. She was very sensitive about the fact that she had no feet upon which to wear pretty little slippers like those of the maidens she had seen so often as they called out gay greetings to the handsome fisher-lad.
Francisco had smiled into her eyes. "How absurd," he cried, "to think of such a thing as getting tired of this wonderful place!"
In fact the days had slipped by all too fast for the happy youth. Then it suddenly happened one day while the water-nymph was asleep that he thought of his mother, the little house which had been his home for sixteen years and more, the fishing boat which was his pride and joy, the moonlight night when he had gaily kissed his mother's cheek and gone away never to return. He did not stop to waken the sleeping nymph. He said no word to the servants of the palace. He thought only of the fish with the cushion of sea-green satin embroidered with rare pearls.
"Quick!" he cried to it. "Take me home as fast as you can! My mother's heart is breaking! She has shed so many tears for me, I know, that by this time she may be entirely blind."
"Take me home as fast as you can!""Take me home as fast as you can!"
"Take me home as fast as you can!""Take me home as fast as you can!"
In another hour Francisco was safe at home with his mother's arms about him. She had shed so many tears that her eyes were swollen almost shut, but they were not closed so completely that they could not shine with the great joy which once more filled her heart.
"Promise me one thing," she said to him. "Give me your word that you'll never go fishing again. I don't trust that water-nymph even in the daytime."
Accordingly, Francisco gave up being a fisherman and became a hunter. To make his spears, he gathered the young sapling which grew on the hillside even down to the edge of the water. He had grown still handsomer while he had lived in the palace of mother-of-pearl in the depths of the sea, and there were twice as many pretty maidens who cast smiling glances in his direction.
It was the daughter of the rich man of the village who at last won the heart of Francisco. When he went a-wooing, however, he had no gift to take except the birds he had killed with his own hand. The rich man laughed at him. These were his words:
"When my daughter marries it shall be only to a youth who can bring her rich gifts."
Francisco went away with a sad heart and sat upon the rocks at the edge of the sea, gazing out over the water with eyes so full of tears that they saw nothing.
The water-nymph was not far away from the shore those days. She was always seeking for a glimpse of the golden head which she had so often crowned with flowers. Her joy now at the sight of him was buried by her sorrow when she saw that his heart was full of woe. She knew at once the cause of his grief.
The next morning when Francisco went to get wood to make a new spear, he found a necklace of priceless pearls lying on the shore. It was the gift of the water-nymph, but since his heart had been touched by his mother's tears he had entirely forgotten her. He took the gift to the maid he loved with never a thought of the giver.
There was once a king who had an only son. The years passed by and he did not marry, so one day his father called him before him and said:
"The time has come when you should marry, my son. You are now at the age when you should no longer wait to choose your bride. Why is it that you have not already done this?"
The prince replied:
"I will wed no one except the daughter of the king of Naples."
"Do you know that the king of Naples has a daughter?" asked the father.
"No," answered the son. "I do not know."
"I should advise you to find out whether or not the king of Naples happens to have a daughter before you decide to marry her," remarked the king dryly.
"That is good advice," replied the prince. "I thank you."
Accordingly, he asked everybody he met whether the king of Naples had a daughter. There was no person to be found who knew anything about it.
"You'll have to go to Naples to obtain this information," advised the king. "It is a long journey, but if you are determined to marry nobody except the daughter of the king of Naples there seems to be no way except to go there and learn whether or not he has a daughter."
Accordingly, a ship was prepared and the prince sailed for Naples. It was a difficult, stormy voyage, but finally they arrived safely. The moment they landed the beggars came crowding about them. The prince distributed alms among them most generously.
Then he asked: "Does any one know whether or not the king of Naples has a daughter?"
There was nobody who knew. Finally, however, an old woman said that once she passed by the royal palace and there was a beautiful face at the window.
"I think that perhaps this was the daughter of the king of Naples, but I do not know," she added.
"Go at once and find out," ordered the prince. "You shall be richly rewarded."
The old woman hastened to the royal palace. She saw the same lovely face at the window which she had seen before.
"Lovely lady, I want to talk to you!" she called out.
Now it happened that day that the princess was feeling decidedly bored and out of tune with life. It looked like an interesting diversion to talk with the old woman. Thus it came to pass that she opened the window graciously.
"What do you wish, good mother?" she asked.
"Are you the daughter of the king of Naples?" questioned the old woman.
"I am," replied the princess.
"May I come some day to sell you pretty things?" asked the old woman.
The princess appointed an hour the next day when she might come with her wares. Then the old woman hurried back to the waiting prince.
"The king of Naples has a daughter!" she cried. "A very beautiful daughter, too!"
The prince showered the old woman with gold. He was so delighted that at last he had found this out that he could well afford to be generous.
The old woman thanked him. "I did something else for you, kind sir," she said. "I made an appointment to see the princess to-morrow. I am going to the palace at four o'clock to sell pretty things to her."
"Well done, good mother!" cried the prince, again thrusting his hand into his purse. "Let me go in your place!"
The old woman gladly consented, and the prince dressed himself as a peddler. The next afternoon at four o'clock he went to the palace of the king of Naples.
"It is a peddler with many interesting wares for sale," said the servant who answered his knock. "He speaks of an appointment with your Royal Highness."
"Yes," said the princess. "A peddler was to come to-day at four o'clock with pretty things for me to buy."
Accordingly, the prince was admitted to the presence of the daughter of the king of Naples. If she were surprised to find the peddler a handsome young man instead of the old woman with whom she had talked the day before she did not show it.
"What lovely things you have!" she cried as she examined the tray full of ribbons and beads and trinkets.
She selected a number of the wares and then she asked, "What is the price of these?"
The prince would not set a price.
"If your Royal Highness is pleased with these," said he, "I have many more things at home which you will like even better. I'll bring them to you to-morrow."
"That will be splendid!" cried the princess. "Come again to-morrow at this hour."
The next day the prince again dressed himself as a peddler, but underneath the outer garments he wore his own rich clothing. When he was admitted to the royal palace he laid aside his peddler's disguise and stood before the princess looking like the true prince he was. He was very handsome in his rich suit of crimson velvet, with his hat with the long plume in his hand. The princess was so surprised that she turned pale.
"Who are you?" she cried. "You surely are not the peddler who came here yesterday!"
The prince smiled into her eyes, and, even without the peddler's garments which were rolled up on the tray, she would have recognized him.
He told her of the quest which had led him there, and she admired all the patience and diligence he had shown in finding out her existence. When he asked her to marry him at once, she readily consented. They planned that she should steal down the staircase at night and go away with him on his ship.
All this sounded very romantic to the daughter of the king of Naples. She had never dreamed that a thing like this would ever happen. All her life she had been so closely guarded that stealing out of the palace and sailing away in the prince's ship seemed the most wonderful thing in the world.
The next night had been agreed on, and long ahead of the appointed hour the prince sat on horseback at the foot of the stairway down which the princess would steal. He was very weary with all the excitement of the past three days, and as he waited he fell asleep. A robber passed by and saw his sleeping form hanging limply on the saddle.
"I'll gently deposit him on the ground and get away with his horse and saddle," thought the thief, as he stopped and regarded the horse with a critical eye.
Just then, however, he saw something which made him change his mind about hurrying away after he had deposited the prince's sleeping form beneath a tree. There was the loveliest maiden he had ever seen creeping silently down the stairway. She came straight up to him.
"I'm ready, beloved," were her words.
The robber silently lifted her behind him on the horse's back and together they rode away.
"Where is your boat?" asked the princess after they had ridden together for some time without speaking.
"So it is a boat which the fair lady is looking for," thought the thief. "I was expecting this good horse to carry us the whole distance. A boat is a bit difficult to arrange, but it can be done if necessary. There ought to be a boat around somewhere for me to steal."
He left the daughter of the king of Naples on the shore while he went to steal a boat. When he returned the light shone upon his face and the girl thought that he did not look the same as the day before.
"Of course, I've seen him only twice," she told herself in an effort to gain assurance. "It must be the prince, my own true love."
"Here is our boat," said the robber, and together they embarked.
As the morning light shone upon the robber the princess saw that he was not in the least like the prince who had come a-peddling. The robber laughed.
"Does my lady know with whom she is going away?" he asked.
"I thought I was going with the prince who is my lover," she replied, bursting into bitter tears.
Running away was not half so romantic and delightful as she had pictured it. She heartily wished that she were back in the royal palace.
As for the prince, he soon awoke and looked about the palace garden where he was lying under the tree.
"How did I get here?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.
There was none to tell him, so he decided that his horse must have thrown him off and run away.
"It is queer that my fall did not awaken me," he said to himself. "It is a bit awkward to lose my horse. However, if the princess only keeps her promise and comes to me we shall manage to get to our ship somehow."
He waited very patiently for a time and then he began to fear that the princess had repented of her promise to run away. He did not give her up, however, until it was almost daylight. Then he sorrowfully returned to his waiting ship.
Then he sorrowfully returned to his waiting shipThen he sorrowfully returned to his waiting ship
Then he sorrowfully returned to his waiting shipThen he sorrowfully returned to his waiting ship
"I have at least found out that the king of Naples has a daughter and that she is the most beautiful princess in the whole world," he said. "If she prefers not to have a run-away marriage it will doubtless be better for me to sail home and tell my father to make arrangements with the king of Naples for our wedding. There are some advantages in this more dignified method."
Thus it happened that the prince sailed away for his own country, never dreaming that the princess had kept her promise to steal down the stairway in the night and that she was then in the hands of the wicked robber.
The daughter of the king of Naples sobbed and cried so loud when she found that it was not her own prince with whom she was sailing that the robber became quite disgusted with her.
"I thought you were a pretty little maid," he said, "when I first saw you, but now I've changed my mind about you."
Indeed no person with good eyesight would have called the princess pretty at that moment, with her face all red and swollen with much weeping.
The robber decided that he did not want to bother with her any longer, so he landed in the country of the Junqueiras and left her there. The princess wandered about the place until night came without seeing a single soul,—nothing but the sea, sky and rocks.
She was really, however, not far from the hut in which there lived the wife and daughter of a poor fisherman. In the stillness of the night they heard a cry.
"Some one is in trouble outside, mother," said the daughter.
"Perhaps the pirates have come and by this cry are trying to lure us out," answered her mother cautiously. There were often pirate ships which stopped there. The daughter listened carefully.
"No, mother," she insisted. "I'm sure this is a girl's cry."
The two women opened their door and crept out in the darkness. The sobs of the princess soon led them to the place upon the rocks where she lay crying as if her heart would break. They lifted her tenderly and carried her home.
The fisherman's daughter gave the princess some of her own clothes to wear and they lived together as if they were sisters. Together they did all the work of the little house and the princess was too busy to weep. Sometimes, however, she cried in the night when the fisherman's wife and daughter were asleep. She wept for her lost love and for the royal palace of the king of Naples which had always been her home.
Now it happened that the prince's ship encountered a great storm and was driven about by the sea. At last it was blown by the gales to the land of the Junqueiras.
The prince saw the fisherman's daughter and the princess standing on the rocks by the sea. He stared hard at the princess. Then he spoke in a voice which shook.
"You remind me of some one I used to know," he said. "Tell me your name, I pray you, fair maid."
The princess looked down at the garments of the fisher maid which she wore. She blushed. The prince she had recognized the very moment she had seen him.
"I am the daughter of the king of Naples," she said.
The fisherman's daughter stared at her in amazement.
"She is no king's daughter!" she cried. "She is a poor abandoned maid who came to us out of the sea. We found her upon these very rocks. It is my own dress that she is wearing. A king's daughter, indeed! She is no more the daughter of the king of Naples than I am!"
But the prince had taken the daughter of the king of Naples in his arms. As soon as they returned to the palace their wedding was celebrated with great joy and they lived together as God lives with the angels.
Headpiece
Headpiece
Once upon a time there was a young king who went into the deep forest on a hunting expedition. He and his favorite page became separated from the rest of the party and soon they realized that they were lost. As night approached they found the rude hut of a charcoal burner and begged for permission to pass the night there. They were received most hospitably.
Just at the hour of midnight the king was awakened from his sleep by a voice. This is what it said:
"Here in this hut is born to-nightThe maiden of your fate:You can't escape your lot, young king;Your fate for you will wait.
'Tis fate—'tis fate—'tis fate."
The king turned over on his pillow and tried to sleep, but the strange voice kept ringing in his ears. He rose early.
As soon as he saw the charcoal burner the man said: "A baby daughter was born to me last night."
"At what time?" asked the king.
"It was just midnight," replied the charcoal burner.
The king awakened his page and told him what had happened.
"I refuse to wed any maid born in this poor hut," he said. "You must help me to escape this fate."
"What can I do about it?" asked the page, yawning.
"You must steal this babe this very day and put it to death," said the king sternly.
The page did not dare refuse, and easily obtained possession of the baby when no one was looking. He carried her away into the deep forest, but he did not have the heart to put an innocent babe to death. He left her in a hollow tree, wrapped up in the bright red sash he wore.
When he had returned to the king he confessed that he had been too tender-hearted to slay the baby. The king was angry.
"Take me to the baby," he said. "I'll do the deed myself."
Though they searched long and faithfully they were unable to find the hollow tree where the baby had been left. They, of course, did not wish to return to the hut of the charcoal burner, and at length they found their way out of the deep forest.
"No one will ever discover that baby if I could not find it myself! She will soon die without food," said the page.
The king agreed that it was quite impossible for the babe to escape death, but he could not forget the strange voice which had said:
"Here in this hut is born to-nightThe maiden of your fate:You can't escape your lot, young king;Your fate for you will wait.
'Tis fate—'tis fate—'tis fate."
Now it happened that very day that a woodcutter was working in the forest. Suddenly he heard what sounded like the cry of a baby.
"There can't be a child here in the deep forest," he said to himself and went on with his work.
The cry continued, however, and it sounded very near, almost under the woodcutter's feet. He looked into the hollow log and there he found a dimpled baby girl wrapped in a bright red sash.
"Poor little thing! Her own mother has abandoned her. My good wife will be a mother to her," he said.
The woodcutter's wife had no children of her own and received the baby gladly. She named her Maria-of-the-forest. As the days flew by and the babe thrived under her care, she could not have loved her more had she been her own child.
The weeks and months passed and soon the little Maria-of-the-forest had grown into a lovely little girl five years old. Her kind foster mother made a bonnet for her out of the bright red sash which she had found wrapped about her the first time she saw her. It made Maria's dark eyes look even brighter than before.
Now it happened that the king and his page were again hunting in the forest and passed by the house of the wood cutter. The page noticed the pretty little girl and the red bonnet she wore. He called her to him and examined it carefully.
"There can be no doubt that material is from my own red sash," he confessed to the king. "This woodcutter's daughter could have such a bonnet as this in no other way."
The king bade him make inquiries about the child and soon the page found out that the little maid was in truth the baby he had left in the hollow tree. The king ordered him again to steal her. This time the king plotted her death by drowning. He had a box made for her, put her in it, and threw her into the sea with his own hand.
"I refuse to wed any girl brought up in a woodcutter's hut," he raged. "I'll escape that fate."
Nevertheless he could not escape the memory of the strange voice which had said:
"Here in this hut is born to-nightThe maiden of your fate:You can't escape your lot, young king;Your fate for you will wait.
'Tis fate—'tis fate—'tis fate."
It was most annoying to remember it.
It happened soon after that a ship encountered the box floating upon the sea. The sailors rescued it and opened it with interest. Inside they were surprised to find a pretty little dark-eyed girl with a bright red bonnet on her head. She could not tell them where she had come from but she said her name was Maria-of-the-forest.
When the sailors arrived in their own country they told the story of finding the child and the king asked to see her. He and the queen were so pleased with her lovely face and gentle manners that they received her into the royal palace. She was brought up as a lady-of-waiting to their own little daughter of about the same age.
When, after a dozen years, the princess was wedded, all the kings of near-by countries were invited to the marriage feast. The king who had been lost in the forest came with the others. At the feast there was no one more beautiful than Maria-of-the-forest. The king danced with her.
"Who is the girl?" was his eager question.
"She has been reared in the royal palace as if she were in truth the sister of the bride," was the reply.
The king fell in love with the beautiful maid and gave her a ring. The page, however, was suspicious when he heard her name. He lost no time in making inquiries about her. What he found out made him very sure that she was in truth the daughter of the charcoal burner. He reported his suspicions to the king.
"Never mind," said the king. "I'll wed the maid anyway. One can't escape from one's fate."
Long ago there was a little maid who lived all alone with her grandmother. They were very poor. The girl's name was Honoria.
One day the grandmother sent the girl out to sell some of the oranges from their orange tree.
"You must bring home at least three vintens to me," she said. "Don't dare return without at least that small amount of money."
Honoria went from door to door trying to sell the oranges. Every one seemed to have plenty of them that day. There was nobody who would purchase a single one.
She walked on and on through the town, everywhere obtaining the same answer, "We do not wish to purchase any oranges to-day."
Finally she found herself outside the town and in the forest. There was a house with the door wide open and on the table in front of the door lay three vintens. There was no one in sight and nobody answered Honoria's knock at the door.
"I'll take the money and leave some oranges in place of it," said Honoria. "That will not be stealing."
Accordingly, she selected some of the largest and finest of her oranges and placed them on the table. She put the money away carefully to take to her grandmother. Then she turned to leave, but found that the door was closed.
She tried her best to open it but could not. Neither could she open any of the windows to climb out by that means. The windows were all fastened just as securely as the door.
"What shall I do?" cried the girl, who was now thoroughly frightened.
She did not like the idea of remaining a prisoner in the house in the forest. All day she tried to find some way of escape, but there seemed nothing to do except to wait until somebody came to her aid.
"This house is not far from the city. Surely some one will be passing this way and will come and help me get out," said Honoria. "I hope they'll come before night."
There was nothing to eat in the house and she was thankful enough for the big basket full of juicy oranges.
At last it grew dark. Then Honoria heard footsteps outside the house. She could not see who was coming, but a key was turned in the lock and some one entered. She was so frightened that she hid under the table.
A lighted candle showed that seven dwarfs had entered the house. They had brought food with them, and they at once went to work to prepare their evening meal.
"Who left us all these fine oranges?" asked one of the dwarfs.
"I do not know," replied another. "Some one has surely been here and it must have been a kind friend."
Honoria was almost tempted to crawl from under the table and show herself, but she decided that it would be better to stay where she was and go home the next day when it was light.
When morning came, however, she found that she had been sleeping so soundly that she had not heard the seven dwarfs when they left the house. The door was fastened just as securely as before.
Honoria looked about the house and saw that there was enough work to keep her busy all day. There were dishes to wash and floors to sweep and beds to make. Fortunately the dwarfs had left plenty of food.
When night came she heard the footsteps approaching and again hid under the table. As soon as the seven dwarfs came into the house they saw that it had been changed wonderfully during their absence.
"Our dishes are all washed!" cried one of the dwarfs. "Last night we forgot to wash them after supper!"
"Our beds are all made!" cried another. "We left home so early this morning we did not have time to make them!"
"Our floors are all swept and everything is in order!" cried another. "We never have looked so neat and clean!"
"We never have looked so neat and clean""We never have looked so neat and clean"
"We never have looked so neat and clean""We never have looked so neat and clean"
"Somebody must have been here," said one of the dwarfs.
"It is surely a kind friend," said another.
"Perhaps they are here yet!" cried another.
"If they are men we'll treat them like brothers and if they are women we'll treat them like sisters," said the seventh dwarf who had not spoken before. He had been looking around the house carefully, but he had seen no one.
Honoria crawled out from under the table. The dwarfs joined hands and danced around her in a circle.
"We have a big sister now!" they cried. "A big sister to take care of us!"
Honoria knew that if she said anything about leaving the dwarfs they would be heartbroken. She knew, too, that her grandmother would give her a terrible beating for staying away from home so long. The easiest thing seemed to be to remain in the forest and keep house for the seven dwarfs.
Weeks and months went by and Honoria led a happy life in the forest. The dwarfs brought home plenty of delicious food and they also brought her the prettiest dresses she had ever seen. They were green like the moss and the leaves of the forest and brown like the rich earth about the house. There was a little hat with red berries upon it which Honoria thought the most charming hat in the world. She tried it on and ran to the brook to look at her reflection, for there was not a single mirror in the house.
One day the king passed by with his gay hunting party. That day Honoria had on her prettiest moss-green dress and the king thought her the loveliest maiden he had ever seen. He stopped to chat with her.
"Do you live here in the forest all alone?" he asked.
"No, I keep house for my seven brothers," was Honoria's answer.
"What a lovely little housekeeper!" cried the king. "Marry me and come to live in the royal palace!"
"I must ask my brothers first," responded Honoria. "I will tell you to-morrow what they say."
That night when the seven dwarfs came home Honoria told them about her visit from the king.
"How can we spare our big sister?" cried one of the dwarfs.
"Who will keep house for us when she goes away?" cried another.
"Who will make the beds so nicely?" asked another.
"Who will sweep our floors?"
"Who will wash our dishes?"
"Who will sew on our buttons?"
"I have known that our big sister would marry sometime," said the seventh dwarf who had not spoken, but who had been thinking quietly. "Why shouldn't she marry the king?"
"We must let her marry the king! We must not be selfish!" cried all the dwarfs together.
They decided that Honoria should marry the king, but they asked her not to let him kiss her until he had first said these words: "By permission of the seven enchanted princes." He would have to remember it without being reminded by Honoria.
Honoria told the king what her brothers had said and the wedding was celebrated with great joy.
When the king tried to kiss Honoria she burst into tears. He had forgotten all about saying: "By permission of the seven enchanted princes."
Honoria would not let the king kiss her, and she cried so much and struggled so hard that the king thought she had gone crazy. He ordered her shut up in the dark cell underneath the palace. Then he married a new queen.
Now it happened that there was a faithful servant who was quite sure that Honoria was not crazy. When Honoria told her of the words which the king must say before he kissed her this servant tried to think of some way to help her. She was very angry at the fact that there was a new queen.
One day she went to the queen and said: "Queen Honoria who is shut up in the dark cell underneath the palace is much more clever than you are."
"What does Queen Honoria do that is so clever?" asked the new queen.
"Queen Honoria will take a sword and cut off her head. Then she will put it back on again so that it is as good as new. I don't believe you are clever enough to do that."
"I never tried it," answered the new queen, "but just to show you that I'm as clever as Queen Honoria I'll do it."
With these words she seized a sword and cut off her head. Of course she fell dead immediately. The king married a new queen.
Then the servant went to the new queen and said: "Queen Honoria who is shut up in the dark cell underneath the palace is more clever than you are."
The new queen was indignant at this remark. "Why is she more clever than I am?" she asked. "What can she do that I can't do?"
"She can take a sword and cut off her hand. Then she'll stick the hand on again and it will be as good as new."
"I've never tried it, but I'll do it just to convince you that I am clever too," said this new queen.
She took up a sword and cut off her right hand. Then she fainted away. The arm grew full of poison and the queen soon died, but not until she had told the king what the servant had said to her.
The king was very angry at the servant and called her to him.
"What do you mean," he thundered, "by telling such a story about Queen Honoria's magic powers?"
"I wanted you to remember where you had found Queen Honoria," replied the servant.
Then the king suddenly remembered how he had first seen Queen Honoria when she was in the house in the forest. He thought of how pretty she had been in the dress which looked like soft green moss. Then he thought of how she had said that she must ask permission of her seven brothers before she consented to become his queen.
"By permission of the seven enchanted princes!" he cried. "I forgot to say these words before I kissed my dear Queen Honoria!"
He quickly ran to the dark cell underneath the palace where she was confined. He said the magic words and kissed his fair queen who was just as beautiful as before she had been shut up in the cell, though a trifle paler.
In the house in the forest the seven dwarfs who were in truth seven enchanted princes suddenly were disenchanted.
"Our dear sister Honoria did not forget us after all," they cried in joy.