{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20437/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20437","id":"gutenberg_20437","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20437","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Children's Picture Books","Fairy tales"],"text":"Produced by K Nordquist Jacqueline Jeremy and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Frog Prince\nand other stories\n\nBy\n\nWalter Crane\n\n\nThe Frog Prince\nPrincess Belle-Etoile\nAladdin and the Wonderful Lamp\n\n\nFirst published by George Routledge 1874\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROG PRINCE.\n\n\nIn the olden time, when wishing was having, there lived a King, whose\ndaughters were all beautiful; but the youngest was so exceedingly\nbeautiful that the Sun himself, although he saw her very often, was\nenchanted every time she came out into the sunshine.\n\nNear the castle of this King was a large and gloomy forest, and in the\nmidst stood an old lime-tree, beneath whose branches splashed a little\nfountain; so, whenever it was very hot, the King's youngest daughter ran\noff into this wood, and sat down by the side of this fountain; and, when\nshe felt dull, would often divert herself by throwing a golden ball up\nin the air and catching it. And this was her favourite amusement.\n\nNow, one day it happened, that this golden ball, when the King's\ndaughter threw it into the air, did not fall down into her hand, but\non the grass; and then it rolled past her into the fountain. The King's\ndaughter followed the ball with her eyes, but it disappeared beneath\nthe water, which was so deep that no one could see to the bottom. Then\nshe began to lament, and to cry louder and louder; and, as she cried, a\nvoice called out, \"Why weepest thou, O King's daughter? thy tears would\nmelt even a stone to pity.\" And she looked around to the spot whence\nthe voice came, and saw a Frog stretching his thick ugly head out of\nthe water. \"Ah! you old water-paddler,\" said she, \"was it you that\nspoke? I am weeping for my golden ball, which has slipped away from\nme into the water.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Be quiet, and do not cry,\" answered the Frog; \"I can give thee good\nadvice. But what wilt thou give me if I fetch thy plaything up again?\"\n\n\"What will you have, dear Frog?\" said she. \"My dresses, my pearls and\njewels, or the golden crown which I wear?\"\n\nThe Frog answered, \"Dresses, or jewels, or golden crowns, are not\nfor me; but if thou wilt love me, and let me be thy companion and\nplayfellow, and sit at thy table, and eat from thy little golden\nplate, and drink out of thy cup, and sleep in thy little bed,--if\nthou wilt promise me all these, then will I dive down and fetch up\nthy golden ball.\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Oh, I will promise you all,\" said she, \"if you will only get me my\nball.\" But she thought to herself, \"What is the silly Frog chattering\nabout? Let him remain in the water with his equals; he cannot mix in\nsociety.\" But the Frog, as soon as he had received her promise, drew his\nhead under the water and dived down. Presently he swam up again with the\nball in his mouth, and threw it on the grass. The King's daughter was\nfull of joy when she again saw her beautiful plaything; and, taking it\nup, she ran off immediately. \"Stop! stop!\" cried the Frog; \"take me with\nthee. I cannot run as thou canst.\" But all his croaking was useless;\nalthough it was loud enough, the King's daughter did not hear it, but,\nhastening home, soon forgot the poor Frog, who was obliged to leap back\ninto the fountain.\n\nThe next day, when the King's daughter was sitting at table with her\nfather and all his courtiers, and was eating from her own little golden\nplate, something was heard coming up the marble stairs, splish-splash,\nsplish-splash; and when it arrived at the top, it knocked at the door,\nand a voice said, \"Open the door, thou youngest daughter of the King!\"\nSo she rose and went to see who it was that called her; but when she\nopened the door and caught sight of the Frog, she shut it again with\ngreat vehemence, and sat down at the table, looking very pale. But\nthe King perceived that her heart was beating violently, and asked\nher whether it were a giant who had come to fetch her away who stood\nat the door. \"Oh, no!\" answered she; \"it is no giant, but an ugly Frog.\"\n\n\"What does the Frog want with you?\" said the King.\n\n\"Oh, dear father, when I was sitting yesterday playing by the fountain,\nmy golden ball fell into the water, and this Frog fetched it up again\nbecause I cried so much: but first, I must tell you, he pressed me so\nmuch, that I promised him he should be my companion. I never thought\nthat he could come out of the water, but somehow he has jumped out, and\nnow he wants to come in here.\"\n\nAt that moment there was another knock, and a voice said,--\n\n    \"King's daughter, youngest,\n        Open the door.\n    Hast thou forgotten\n    Thy promises made\n    At the fountain so clear\n    'Neath the lime-tree's shade?\n    King's daughter, youngest,\n        Open the door.\"\n\nThen the King said, \"What you have promised, that you must perform; go\nand let him in.\" So the King's daughter went and opened the door, and\nthe Frog hopped in after her right up to her chair: and as soon as she\nwas seated, the Frog said, \"Take me up;\" but she hesitated so long that\nat last the King ordered her to obey. And as soon as the Frog sat on the\nchair, he jumped on to the table, and said, \"Now push thy plate near me,\nthat we may eat together.\" And she did so, but as everyone saw, very\nunwillingly. The Frog seemed to relish his dinner much, but every bit\nthat the King's daughter ate nearly choked her, till at last the Frog\nsaid, \"I have satisfied my hunger and feel very tired; wilt thou carry\nme upstairs now into thy chamber, and make thy bed ready that we may\nsleep together?\" At this speech the King's daughter began to cry, for\nshe was afraid of the cold Frog, and dared not touch him; and besides,\nhe actually wanted to sleep in her own beautiful, clean bed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut her tears only made the King very angry, and he said, \"He who\nhelped you in the time of your trouble, must not now be despised!\" So\nshe took the Frog up with two fingers, and put him in a corner of her\nchamber. But as she lay in her bed, he crept up to it, and said, \"I am\nso very tired that I shall sleep well; do take me up or I will tell thy\nfather.\" This speech put the King's daughter in a terrible passion, and\ncatching the Frog up, she threw him with all her strength against the\nwall, saying, \"Now, will you be quiet, you ugly Frog?\"\n\nBut as he fell he was changed from a frog into a handsome Prince with\nbeautiful eyes, who, after a little while became, with her father's\nconsent, her dear companion and betrothed. Then he told her how he had\nbeen transformed by an evil witch, and that no one but herself could\nhave had the power to take him out of the fountain; and that on the\nmorrow they would go together into his own kingdom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe next morning, as soon as the sun rose, a carriage drawn by eight\nwhite horses, with ostrich feathers on their heads, and golden bridles,\ndrove up to the door of the palace, and behind the carriage stood the\ntrusty Henry, the servant of the young Prince. When his master was\nchanged into a frog, trusty Henry had grieved so much that he had bound\nthree iron bands round his heart, for fear it should break with grief\nand sorrow. But now that the carriage was ready to carry the young\nPrince to his own country, the faithful Henry helped in the bride and\nbridegroom, and placed himself in the seat behind, full of joy at his\nmaster's release. They had not proceeded far when the Prince heard a\ncrack as if something had broken behind the carriage; so he put his head\nout of the window and asked Henry what was broken, and Henry answered,\n\"It was not the carriage, my master, but a band which I bound round my\nheart when it was in such grief because you were changed into a frog.\"\n\nTwice afterwards on the journey there was the same noise, and each time\nthe Prince thought that it was some part of the carriage that had given\nway; but it was only the breaking of the bands which bound the heart of\nthe trusty Henry, who was thenceforward free and happy.\n\n\n\n\nPRINCESS BELLE-ETOILE.\n\n\nOnce upon a time there were three Princesses, named Roussette, Brunette,\nand Blondine, who lived in retirement with their mother, a Princess who\nhad lost all her former grandeur. One day an old woman called and asked\nfor a dinner, as this Princess was an excellent cook. After the meal was\nover, the old woman, who was a fairy, promised that their kindness\nshould be rewarded, and immediately disappeared.\n\nShortly after, the King came that way, with his brother and the Lord\nAdmiral. They were all so struck with the beauty of the three\nPrincesses, that the King married the youngest, Blondine, his brother\nmarried Brunette, and the Lord Admiral married Roussette.\n\nThe good Fairy, who had brought all this about, also caused the young\nQueen Blondine to have three lovely children, two boys and a girl, out\nof whose hair fell fine jewels. Each had a brilliant star on the\nforehead, and a rich chain of gold around the neck. At the same time\nBrunette, her sister, gave birth to a handsome boy. Now the young Queen\nand Brunette were much attached to each other, but Roussette was jealous\nof both, and the old Queen, the King's mother, hated them. Brunette died\nsoon after the birth of her son, and the King was absent on a warlike\nexpedition, so Roussette joined the wicked old Queen in forming plans to\ninjure Blondine. They ordered Feintise, the old Queen's waiting-woman,\nto strangle the Queen's three children and the son of Princess Brunette,\nand bury them secretly. But as she was about to execute this wicked\norder, she was so struck by their beauty, and the appearance of the\nsparkling stars on their foreheads, that she shrank from the deed.\n\nSo she had a boat brought round to the beach, and put the four babes,\nwith some strings of jewels, into a cradle, which she placed in the\nboat, and then set it adrift. The boat was soon far out at sea. The\nwaves rose, the rain poured in torrents, and the thunder roared.\nFeintise could not doubt that the boat would be swamped, and felt\nrelieved by the thought that the poor little innocents would perish,\nfor she would otherwise always be haunted by the fear that something\nwould occur to betray the share she had had in their preservation.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut the good Fairy protected them, and after floating at sea for seven\ndays they were picked up by a Corsair. He was so struck by their beauty\nthat he altered his course, and took them home to his wife, who had no\nchildren. She was transported with joy when he placed them in her hands.\nThey admired together the wonderful stars, the chains of gold that could\nnot be taken off their necks, and their long ringlets. Much greater was\nthe woman's astonishment when she combed them, for at every instant\nthere rolled out of their hair pearls, rubies, diamonds, and emeralds.\nShe told her husband of it, who was not less surprised than herself.\n\n\"I am very tired,\" said he, \"of a Corsair's life, and if the locks of\nthose little children continue to supply us with such treasures, I will\ngive up roaming the seas.\" The Corsair's wife, whose name was Corsine,\nwas enchanted at this, and loved the four infants so much the more for\nit. She named the Princess, Belle-Etoile, her eldest brother,\nPetit-Soleil, the second, Heureux, and the son of Brunette, Cheri.\n\nAs they grew older, the Corsair applied himself seriously to their\neducation, as he felt convinced there was some great mystery attached\nto their birth.\n\nThe Corsair and his wife had never told the story of the four children,\nwho passed for their own. They were exceedingly united, but Prince Cheri\nentertained for Princess Belle-Etoile a greater affection than the other\ntwo. The moment she expressed a wish for anything, he would attempt even\nimpossibilities to gratify her.\n\nOne day Belle-Etoile overheard the Corsair and his wife talking. \"When I\nfell in with them,\" said the Corsair, \"I saw nothing that could give me\nany idea of their birth.\" \"I suspect,\" said Corsine, \"that Cheri is not\ntheir brother, he has neither star nor neck-chain.\" Belle-Etoile\nimmediately ran and told this to the three Princes, who resolved to\nspeak to the Corsair and his wife, and ask them to let them set out to\ndiscover the secret of their birth. After some remonstrance they gained\ntheir consent. A beautiful vessel was prepared, and the young Princess\nand the three Princes set out. They determined to sail to the very spot\nwhere the Corsair had found them, and made preparations for a grand\nsacrifice to the fairies, for their protection and guidance. They were\nabout to immolate a turtle-dove, but the Princess saved its life, and\nlet it fly. At this moment a syren issued from the water, and said,\n\"Cease your anxiety, let your vessel go where it will; land where it\nstops.\" The vessel now sailed more quickly. Suddenly they came in sight\nof a city so beautiful that they were anxious their vessel should enter\nthe port. Their wishes were accomplished; they landed, and the shore in\na moment was crowded with people, who had observed the magnificence of\ntheir ship. They ran and told the King the news, and as the grand\nterrace of the Palace looked out upon the sea-shore, he speedily\nrepaired thither. The Princes, hearing the people say, \"There is the\nKing,\" looked up, and made a profound obeisance. He looked earnestly at\nthem, and was as much charmed by the Princess's beauty, as by the\nhandsome mien of the young Princes. He ordered his equerry to offer them\nhis protection, and everything that they might require.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe King was so interested about these four children, that he went into\nthe chamber of the Queen, his mother, to tell her of the wonderful stars\nwhich shone upon their foreheads, and everything that he admired in\nthem. She was thunderstruck at it, and was terribly afraid that Feintise\nhad betrayed her, and sent her secretary to enquire about them. What he\ntold her of their ages confirmed her suspicions. She sent for Feintise,\nand threatened to kill her. Feintise, half dead with terror, confessed\nall; but promised, if she spared her, that she would still find means to\ndo away with them. The Queen was appeased; and, indeed, old Feintise did\nall she could for her own sake. Taking a guitar, she went and sat down\nopposite the Princess's window, and sang a song which Belle-Etoile\nthought so pretty that she invited her into her chamber. \"My fair\nchild,\" said Feintise, \"Heaven has made you very lovely, but you yet\nwant one thing--the dancing-water. If I had possessed it, you would not\nhave seen a white hair upon my head, nor a wrinkle on my face. Alas! I\nknew this secret too late; my charms had already faded.\" \"But where\nshall I find this dancing-water?\" asked Belle-Etoile. \"It is in the\nluminous forest,\" said Feintise. \"You have three brothers; does not any\none of them love you sufficiently to go and fetch some?\" \"My brothers\nall love me,\" said the Princess, \"but there is one of them who would not\nrefuse me anything.\" The perfidious old woman retired, delighted at\nhaving been so successful. The Princes, returning from the chase, found\nBelle-Etoile engrossed by the advice of Feintise. Her anxiety about it\nwas so apparent, that Cheri, who thought of nothing but pleasing her,\nsoon found out the cause of it, and, in spite of her entreaties, he\nmounted his white horse, and set out in search of the dancing-water.\nWhen supper-time arrived, and the Princess did not see her brother\nCheri, she could neither eat nor drink; and desired he might be sought\nfor everywhere, and sent messengers to find him and bring him back.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe wicked Feintise was very anxious to know the result of her advice;\nand when she heard that Cheri had already set out, she was delighted,\nand reported to the Queen-Mother all that had passed. \"I admit, Madam,\"\nsaid she, \"that I can no longer doubt that they are the same four\nchildren: but one of the Princes is already gone to seek the\ndancing-water, and will no doubt perish in the attempt, and I\nshall find similar means to do away with all of them.\"\n\nThe plan she had adopted with regard to Prince Cheri was one of the most\ncertain, for the dancing-water was not easily to be obtained; it was so\nnotorious from the misfortunes which occurred to all who sought it, that\nevery one knew the road to it. He was eight days without taking any\nrepose but in the woods. At the end of this period he began to suffer\nvery much from the heat; but it was not the heat of the sun, and he did\nnot know the cause of it, until from the top of a mountain he perceived\nthe luminous forest; all the trees were burning without being consumed,\nand casting out flames to such a distance that the country around was a\ndry desert.\n\nAt this terrible scene he descended, and more than once gave himself up\nfor lost. As he approached this great fire he was ready to die with\nthirst; and perceiving a spring falling into a marble basin, he alighted\nfrom his horse, approached it, and stooped to take up some water in the\nlittle golden vase which he had brought with him, when he saw a\nturtle-dove drowning in the fountain. Cheri took pity on it, and saved\nit. \"My Lord Cheri,\" she said, \"I am not ungrateful; I can guide you to\nthe dancing-water, which, without me, you could never obtain, as it\nrises in the middle of the forest, and can only be reached by going\nunderground.\" The Dove then flew away, and summoned a number of foxes,\nbadgers, moles, snails, ants, and all sorts of creatures that burrow in\nthe earth. Cheri got off his horse at the entrance of the subterranean\npassage they made for him, and groped his way after the kind Dove, which\nsafely conducted him to the fountain. The Prince filled his golden vase;\nand returned the same way he came.\n\nHe found Belle-Etoile sorrowfully seated under some trees, but when she\nsaw him she was so pleased that she scarcely knew how to welcome him.\n\nOld Feintise learned from her spies that Cheri had returned, and that\nthe Princess, having washed her face with the dancing-water, had become\nmore lovely than ever. Finding this, she lost no time in artfully making\nthe Princess sigh for the wonderful singing-apple. Prince Cheri again\nfound her unhappy, and again found out the cause, and once more set out\non his white horse, leaving a letter for Belle-Etoile.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the meanwhile, the King did not forget the lovely children, and\nreproached them for never going to the Palace. They excused themselves\nby saying that their brother's absence prevented them.\n\nPrince Cheri at break of day perceived a handsome young man, from whom\nhe learned where the singing-apple was to be found: but after travelling\nsome time without seeing any sign of it, he saw a poor turtle-dove fall\nat his feet almost dead. He took pity on it, and restored it, when it\nsaid, \"Good-day, handsome Cheri, you are destined to save my life, and I\nto do you signal service. You are come to seek for the singing-apple: it\nis guarded by a terrible dragon.\" The Dove then led him to a place where\nhe found a suit of armour, all of glass: and by her advice he put it on,\nand boldly went to meet the dragon. The two-headed monster came bounding\nalong, fire issuing from his throat; but when he saw his alarming figure\nmultiplied in the Prince's mirrors he was frightened in his turn. He\nstopped, and looking fiercely at the Prince, apparently laden with\ndragons, he took flight and threw himself into a deep chasm. The Prince\nthen found the tree, which was surrounded with human bones, and breaking\noff an apple, prepared to return to the Princess. She had never slept\nduring his absence, and ran to meet him eagerly.\n\nWhen the wicked Feintise heard the sweet singing of the apple, her grief\nwas excessive, for instead of doing harm to these lovely children, she\nonly did them good by her perfidious counsels. She allowed some days to\npass by without showing herself; and then once more made the Princess\nunhappy by saying that the dancing-water and the singing-apple were\nuseless without the little green bird that tells everything.\n\nCheri again set out, and after some trouble learnt that this bird was\nto be found on the top of a frightful rock, in a frozen climate. At\nlength, at dawn of day, he perceived the rock, which was very high and\nvery steep, and upon the summit of it was the bird, speaking like an\noracle, telling wonderful things. He thought that with a little\ndexterity it would be easy to catch it, for it seemed very tame. He\ngot off his horse, and climbed up very quietly. He was so close to the\ngreen bird that he thought he could lay hands on it, when suddenly the\nrock opened and he fell into a spacious hall, and became as motionless\nas a statue; he could neither stir, nor utter a complaint at his\ndeplorable situation. Three hundred knights, who had made the same\nattempt, were in the same state. To look at each other was the only\nthing permitted them.\n\nThe time seemed so long to Belle-Etoile, and still no signs of her\nbeloved Cheri, that she fell dangerously ill; and in the hopes of\ncuring her, Petit-Soleil resolved to seek him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut he too was swallowed up by the rock and fell into the great hall.\nThe first person he saw was Cheri, but he could not speak to him; and\nPrince Heureux, following soon after, met with the same fate as the\nother two.\n\nWhen Feintise was aware that the third Prince was gone, she was\nexceedingly delighted at the success of her plan; and when Belle-Etoile,\ninconsolable at finding not one of her brothers return, reproached\nherself for their loss, and resolved to follow them, she was quite\noverjoyed.\n\nThe Princess was disguised as a cavalier, but had no other armour than\nher helmet. She was dreadfully cold as she drew near the rock, but\nseeing a turtle-dove lying on the snow, she took it up, warmed it, and\nrestored it to life: and the dove reviving, gaily said, \"I know you, in\nspite of your disguise; follow my advice: when you arrive at the rock,\nremain at the bottom and begin to sing the sweetest song you know; the\ngreen bird will listen to you; you must then pretend to go to sleep;\nwhen it sees me, it will come down to peck me, and at that moment you\nwill be able to seize it.\"\n\nAll this fell out as the Dove foretold. The green bird begged for\nliberty. \"First,\" said Belle-Etoile, \"I wish that thou wouldst restore\nmy three brothers to me.\"\n\n\"Under my left wing there is a red feather,\" said the bird: \"pull it\nout, and touch the rock with it.\"\n\nThe Princess hastened to do as she was instructed; the rock split from\nthe top to the bottom: she entered with a victorious air the hall in\nwhich stood the three Princes with many others; she ran towards Cheri,\nwho did not know her in her helmet and male attire, and could neither\nspeak nor move. The green bird then told the Princess she must rub the\neyes and mouth of all those she wished to disenchant with the red\nfeather, which good office she did to all.\n\nThe three Princes and Belle-Etoile hastened to present themselves to\nthe King; and when Belle-Etoile showed her treasures, the little green\nbird told him that the Princes Petit-Soleil and Heureux and the\nPrincess Belle-Etoile were his children, and that Prince Cheri was his\nnephew. Queen Blondine, who had mourned for them all these years,\nembraced them, and the wicked Queen-Mother and old Feintise were\njustly punished. And the King, who thought his nephew Cheri the\nhandsomest man at Court, consented to his marriage with Belle-Etoile.\nAnd lastly, to make everyone happy, the King sent for the Corsair and\nhis wife, who gladly came.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nALADDIN,\n\nAND THE WONDERFUL LAMP.\n\n\nAladdin was the son of a poor tailor in an Eastern city. He was a\nspoiled boy, and loved play better than work; so that when Mustapha,\nhis father, died, he was not able to earn his living; and his poor\nmother had to spin cotton all day long to procure food for their\nsupport. But she dearly loved her son, knowing that he had a good\nheart, and she believed that as he grew older he would do better, and\nbecome at last a worthy and prosperous man. One day, when Aladdin was\nwalking outside the town, an old man came up to him, and looking very\nhard in his face, said he was his father's brother, and had long been\naway in a distant country, but that now he wished to help his nephew\nto get on. He then put a ring on the boy's finger, telling him that no\nharm could happen to him so long as he wore it. Now, this strange man\nwas no uncle of Aladdin, nor was he related at all to him; but he\nwas a wicked magician, who wanted to make use of the lad's services,\nas we shall see presently.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe old man led Aladdin a good way into the country, until they came to\na very lonely spot between two lofty black mountains. Here he lighted a\nfire, and threw into it some gum, all the time repeating many strange\nwords. The ground then opened just before them, and a stone trap-door\nappeared. After lifting this up, the Magician told Aladdin to go below,\ndown some broken steps, and at the foot of these he would find three\nhalls, in the last of which was a door leading to a garden full of\nbeautiful trees; this he was to cross, and after mounting some more\nsteps, he would come to a terrace, when he would see a niche, in which\nthere was a lighted Lamp. He was then to take the Lamp, put out the\nlight, empty the oil, and bring it away with him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAladdin found all the Magician had told him to be true; he passed\nquickly but cautiously through the three halls, so as not even to\ntouch the walls with his clothes, as the Magician had directed. He\ntook the Lamp from the niche, threw out the oil, and put it in his\nbosom. As he came back through the garden, his eyes were dazzled with\nthe bright-coloured fruits on the trees, shining like glass. Many of\nthese he plucked and put in his pockets, and then returned with the\nLamp, and called upon his uncle to help him up the broken steps. \"Give\nme the Lamp,\" said the old man, angrily. \"Not till I get out safe,\"\ncried the boy. The Magician, in a passion, then slammed down the\ntrap-door, and Aladdin was shut up fast enough. While crying bitterly,\nhe by chance rubbed the ring, and a figure appeared before him,\nsaying, \"I am your slave, the Genius of the Ring; what do you desire?\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAladdin told the Genius of the Ring that he only wanted to be set\nfree, and to be taken back to his mother. In an instant he found\nhimself at home, very hungry, and his poor mother was much pleased\nto see him again. He told her all that had happened; she then felt\ncurious to look at the Lamp he had brought, and began rubbing it, to\nmake it shine brighter. Both were quite amazed at seeing rise before\nthem a strange figure; this proved to be the Genius of the Lamp, who\nasked for their commands. On hearing that food was what they most\nwanted, a black slave instantly entered with the choicest fare upon a\ndainty dish of silver, and with silver plates for them to eat from.\n\nAladdin and his mother feasted upon the rich fare brought to them, and\nsold the silver dish and plates, on the produce of which they lived\nhappily for some weeks. Aladdin was now able to dress well, and in\ntaking his usual walk, he one day chanced to see the Sultan's daughter\ncoming with her attendants from the baths. He was so much struck with\nher beauty, that he fell in love with her at once, and told his mother\nthat she must go to the Sultan, and ask him to give the Princess to be\nhis wife. The poor woman said he must be crazy; but her son not only\nknew what a treasure he had got in the Magic Lamp, but he had also found\nhow valuable were the shining fruits he had gathered, which he thought\nat the time to be only coloured glass. At first he sent a bowlful of\nthese jewels--for so they were--to the Sultan, who was amazed at their\nrichness, and said to Aladdin's mother: \"Your son shall have his wish,\nif he can send me, in a week, forty bowls like this, carried by twenty\nwhite and twenty black slaves, handsomely dressed.\" He thought by this\nto keep what he had got, and to hear no more of Aladdin. But the Genius\nof the Lamp soon brought the bowls of jewels and the slaves, and\nAladdin's mother went with them to the Sultan.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Sultan was overjoyed at receiving these rich gifts, and at once\nagreed that the Princess Bulbul should be the wife of Aladdin. The\nhappy youth then summoned the Genius of the Lamp to assist him; and\nshortly set out for the Palace. He was dressed in a handsome suit of\nclothes, and rode a beautiful horse; by his side marched a number of\nattendants, scattering handfuls of gold among the people. As soon as\nthey were married, Aladdin ordered the Genius of the Lamp to build, in\nthe course of a night, a most superb Palace, and there the young couple\nlived quite happily for some time. One day, when Aladdin was out hunting\nwith the Sultan, the wicked Magician, who had heard of his good luck,\nand wished to get hold of the Magic Lamp, cried out in the streets, \"New\nlamps for old ones!\" A silly maid in the Palace, hearing this, got leave\nof the Princess to change Aladdin's old Lamp, which she had seen on a\ncornice where he always left it, for a new one, and so the Magician got\npossession of it.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAs soon as the Magician had safely got the Lamp, he caused the Genius\nto remove the Palace, and Bulbul within it, to Africa. Aladdin's grief\nwas very great, and so was the rage of the Sultan at the loss of the\nPrincess, and poor Aladdin's life was in some danger, for the Sultan\nthreatened to kill him if he did not restore his daughter in three\ndays. Aladdin first called upon the Genius of the Ring to help him,\nbut all he could do was to take him to Africa. The Princess was\nrejoiced to see him again, but was very sorry to find that she had\nbeen the cause of all their trouble by parting with the wonderful\nLamp. Aladdin, however, consoled her, and told her that he had thought\nof a plan for getting it back. He then left her, but soon returned\nwith a powerful sleeping-draught, and advised her to receive the\nMagician with pretended kindness, and pour it into his wine at dinner\nthat day, so as to make him fall sound asleep, when they could take\nthe Lamp from him. Everything happened as they expected; the Magician\ndrank the wine, and when Aladdin came in, he found that he had fallen\nback lifeless on the couch. Aladdin took the Lamp from his bosom, and\ncalled upon the Genius to transport the Palace, the Princess, and\nhimself, back to their native city. The Sultan was as much astonished\nand pleased at their return, as he had been provoked at the loss of\nhis daughter; and Aladdin, with his Bulbul, lived long afterwards to\nenjoy his good fortune.\n\n[Illustration]","title":"The Frog Prince and Other Stories","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":5600}