{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_52545/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_52545","id":"gutenberg_52545","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52545","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Courts and courtiers -- Juvenile fiction","Courtship -- Juvenile fiction","Dwarfs -- Juvenile fiction","Fairies -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Fantasy fiction","Princesses -- Juvenile fiction","Promises -- Juvenile fiction","Quests (Expeditions) -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"THE PRINCESS NOBODY.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n                            PRINCESS NOBODY\n\n                                   A\n\n                          TALE OF FAIRY LAND\n\n                                  BY\n\n                              ANDREW LANG\n\n                  AFTER THE DRAWINGS BY RICHARD DOYLE\n\n                  PRINTED IN COLOURS BY EDMUND EVANS\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                                LONDON\n\n                        LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.\n\n                   [Illustration: An Evening Ride.]\n\n\n\n\n                        BALLADE OF DEDICATION.\n\n\n    To all you babes at Branxholm Park,\n        This book I dedicate;\n    A book for winter evenings dark,\n        Too dark to ride or skate.\n    I made it up out of my pate,\n        And wasted midnight oil,\n    Interpreting each cut and plate--\n        The works of DICKY DOYLE!\n\n    When weary winter comes, and hark!\n        The Teviot roars in \u201cspate\u201d;\n    When half you think you\u2019ll need the Ark,\n        The flood\u2019s so fierce and great;\n    Think of the Prince and of his mate,\n        Their triumph and their toil,\n    And mark them drawn in all their state--\n        The works of DICKY DOYLE!\n\n    Now, if my nonsense hits the mark--\n        If Wynnie, Pop, and Kate,\n    Think tales of Fays and Giants stark,\n        Not wholly out of date--\n    Another time, perchance, I\u2019ll prate,\n        And keep a merry coil,\n    Though ne\u2019er I\u2019ll match the drawings great--\n        The works of DICKY DOYLE!\n\n\n           _ENVOY._\n\n    Girls, may you ne\u2019er know fear nor hate;\n        Boys, field like Mr. Royle!\n    And, please, don\u2019t say I desecrate\n        The works of DICKY DOYLE!\n\n[Illustration: Teasing a Butterfly.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCESS NOBODY\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE PRINCESS NOBODY.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, when Fairies were much more common than they are now,\nthere lived a King and a Queen. Their country was close to Fairy Land,\nand very often the little Elves would cross over the border, and come\ninto the King\u2019s fields and gardens. The girl-fairies would swing out of\nthe bells of the fuschias, and loll on the leaves, and drink the little\ndrops of dew that fell down the stems. Here you may see all the Fairies\nmaking themselves merry at a picnic on a fuschia, and an ugly little\nDwarf is climbing up the stalk.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Here\u2019s the King, in mournful mood,\n    They\u2019d amuse him, if they could!]\n\nNow the King and Queen of the country next to Fairy Land were very rich,\nand very fond of each other; but one thing made them unhappy. They had\nno child, neither boy nor girl, to sit on the Throne when they were dead\nand gone. Often the Queen said she wished she had a child, even if it\nwere no bigger than her thumb; and she hoped the Fairies might hear her\nand help her. But they never took any notice. One day, when the King had\nbeen counting out his money all day (the day when the tributes were paid\nin), he grew very tired. He took off his crown, and went into his\ngarden. Then he looked all round his kingdom, and said, \u201cAh! I would\ngive it all for a BABY!\u201d\n\nNo sooner had the King said this, than he heard a little squeaking voice\nnear his foot: \u201cYou shall have a lovely Baby, if you will give me what I\nask.\u201d\n\nThe King looked down, and there was the funniest little Dwarf that ever\nwas seen. He had a high red cap like a flower. He had a big moustache,\nand a short beard that curled outwards. His cloak was red, like his cap,\nand his coat was green, and he rode on a green Frog. Many people would\nhave been frightened, but the King was used to Fairies.\n\n\u201cYou shall have a beautiful Baby, if you will give me what I ask,\u201d said\nthe Dwarf again.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you anything you like,\u201d said the King.\n\n\u201cThen promise to give me NIENTE,\u201d said the Dwarf.\n\n\u201cCertainly,\u201d said the King (who had not an idea what NIENTE meant). \u201cHow\nwill you take it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will take _it_,\u201d said the Dwarf, \u201cin my own way, on my own day.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: But the children were as jolly as ever, except one\nnaughty baby, and even _he_ was petted, as you see!]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Here you see a Fairy host,\n    Fit to fight with Dwarf or Ghost.]\n\nWith that he set spurs to his Frog, which cleared the garden path at one\nbound, and he was soon lost among the flowers.\n\nWell, next day, a dreadful war broke out between the Ghosts and the\nGiants, and the King had to set forth and fight on the side of his\nfriends the Giants.\n\nA long, long time he was away; nearly a year. At last he came back to\nhis own country, and he heard all the church bells ringing merrily.\n\u201cWhat _can_ be the matter?\u201d said the King, and hurried to his Palace,\nwhere all the Courtiers rushed out and told him the Queen had got a\nBABY.\n\n\u201cGirl or a boy?\u201d says the King.\n\n\u201cA Princess, your Majesty,\u201d says the Nurse, with a low curtsey,\ncorrecting him.\n\nWell, you may fancy how glad the King was, though he would have\n_preferred_ a boy.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Here are little Birds in plenty,\n    Singing to their Queen, NIENTE!]\n\n\u201cWhat have you called her?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cTill your Majesty\u2019s return, we thought it better not to christen the\nPrincess,\u201d said the Nurse, \u201cso we have called her by the Italian name\nfor _Nothing_: NIENTE; the Princess Niente, your Majesty.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWhen the King heard _that_, and remembered that he had promised to give\nNIENTE to the Dwarf, he hid his face in his hands and groaned. Nobody\nknew what he meant, or why he was sad, so he thought it best to keep it\nto himself. He went in and kissed the Queen, and comforted her, and\nlooked at the BABY. Never was there a BABY so beautiful; she was like a\nFairy\u2019s child, and so light, she could sit on a flower and not crush it.\nShe had little wings on her back; and all the birds were fond of her.\nThe peasants and common\n\n[Illustration]\n\npeople (who said they \u201ccould not see why the _first_ Royal baby should\nbe called \u2018Ninety\u2019\u201d) always spoke of her as the Princess Nobody. Only\nthe Courtiers called her Niente. The Water Fairy was her Godmother, but\n(for a Fairy reason) they concealed her _real_ name, and of course, she\nwas not _christened_ Niente. Here you may see her sitting teaching the\nlittle Birds to sing. They are all round her in a circle, each of them\nsinging his very best. Great fun she and all her little companions had\nwith the Birds; here they are, riding on them, and tumbling off when\nthe Bird kicks. And here, again, you may observe the baby Princess\nriding a Parrot, while one of her Maids of Honour teases an Owl. Never\nwas there such a happy country; all Birds and Babies, playing together,\nsinging, and as merry as the day was long.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWell, this joyful life went on till the Princess Niente was growing\nquite a big girl; she was nearly fourteen. Then, one day, came a\ntremendous knock at the Palace gates. Out rushed the Porter, and saw a\nlittle Dwarf, in a red cap, and a red cloak, riding a green Frog.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    What a Baby: how absurd\n    To be bullied by a Bird!]\n\n\u201cTell the King he is wanted,\u201d said the Dwarf.\n\nThe Porter carried this rude message, and the King went trembling to the\ndoor.\n\n\u201cI have come to claim your promise; you give me NIENTE,\u201d said the Dwarf,\nin his froggy voice.\n\nNow the King had spoken long ago about his foolish promise, to the Queen\nof the Water Fairies, a very powerful person, and Godmother of his\nchild.\n\n\u201cThe Dwarf must be one of _my_ people, if he rides a Frog,\u201d the Queen of\nthe Water Fairies had said. \u201cJust send him to _me_, if he is\ntroublesome.\u201d\n\nThe King remembered this when he saw the Dwarf, so he put a bold face on\nit.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s you, is it?\u201d said the King to the Dwarf. \u201cJust you go to the\nQueen of the Water Fairies; she will have a word to say to you.\u201d\n\nWhen the Dwarf heard that, it was _his_ turn to tremble. He shook his\nlittle fist at the King; he half-drew his sword.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll have NIENTE yet,\u201d he said, and he set spurs to his Frog, and\nbounded off to see the Queen of the Water Fairies.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIt was night by the time the Dwarf reached the stream where the Queen\nlived, among the long flags and rushes and reeds of the river.\n\nHere you see him by the river; how tired his Frog looks! He is talking\nto the Water Fairy. Well, he and the Water Fairy had a long talk, and\nthe end of it was that the Fairy found only one way of saving the\nPrincess. She flew to the King, and said, \u201cI can only help you by making\nthe Princess vanish clean away. I have a bird here on whose back she can\nfly away in safety. The Dwarf will not get her, but you will never see\nher again, unless a brave Prince can find her where she is hidden, and\nguarded by my Water Fairies.\u201d\n\nThen the poor mother and father cried dreadfully, but they saw there was\nno hope. It was better that the Princess should vanish away, than that\nshe should be married to a horrid rude Dwarf, who rode on a Frog. So\nthey sent for the Princess, and kissed her, and embraced her, and wept\nover her, and (gradually she faded out of their very arms, and vanished\nclean away) then she flew away on the bird\u2019s back.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Here\u2019s a Dwarf upon a Snail,\n    Take him off at once to jail!]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nIN MUSHROOM LAND.\n\n\nNow all the Kingdom next Fairy Land was miserable, and All the people\nwere murmuring, and the King and Queen were nearly melted in tears. They\nthought of all ways to recover their dear daughter, and at last the\nQueen hit on a plan.\n\n\u201cMy dear,\u201d she said to the King, \u201clet us offer to give our daughter for\na wife, to any Prince who will only find her and bring her home.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho will want to marry a girl he can\u2019t see?\u201d said the King. \u201cIf they\nhave not married pretty girls they _can_ see, they won\u2019t care for poor\nNiente.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cNever mind; we can only try,\u201d said the Queen. So she sent out\nmessengers into all the world, and sent the picture of the Princess\neverywhere, and proclaimed that the beautiful Princess Niente, and no\nless than three-quarters of the Kingdom would be given to the Prince\nthat could find the Princess and bring her home. And there was to be a\ngreat tournament, or sham fight, at the Palace, to amuse all the Princes\nbefore they went on the search. So many Princes gathered together, all\nfull of hope; and they rode against each other with spears and swords,\nand knocked each other about, and afterwards dined, and danced, and made\nmerry. Some Fairy Knights, too, came over the border, and they fought\nwith spears, riding Beetles and Grasshoppers, instead of horses. Here is\na picture of a \u201cjoust,\u201d or tournament, between two sets of Fairy\nKnights. By all these warlike exercises, they increased their courage\ntill they felt brave enough to fight all the Ghosts, and all the Giants,\nif only they could save the beautiful Princess.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWell, the tournaments were over, and off all the Princes went into Fairy\nLand. What funny sights they saw in Fairy Land! They saw a great Snail\nrace, the Snails running so fast, that some of the Fairy jockeys fell\noff on the grass. They saw a Fairy boy dancing with a Squirrel, and they\nfound all the birds, and all the beasts, quite friendly and kind, and\nable to talk like other people. This was the way in old times, but now\nno beasts talk, and no birds, except Parrots only.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNow among all this gallant army of Princes, one was ugly, and he looked\nold, and odd, and the rest laughed at him, and called him the Prince\nComical. But he had a kind heart. One day, when he was out walking\nalone, and thinking what he could do to find the Princess, he saw three\nbad little boys teasing a big Daddy Long Legs. They had got hold of one\nof his legs, and were pulling at it with all their might. When the\nPrince Comical saw this, he ran up and drove the bad boys away, and\nrubbed the limb of the Daddy Long Legs, till he gave up groaning and\ncrying. Then the Daddy Long Legs sat up, and said in a weak voice, \u201cYou\nhave been very kind to me; what can I do for _you_?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, help me,\u201d said the Prince, \u201cto find the Princess Niente! _You_ fly\neverywhere; don\u2019t you know where she is?\u201d\n\n\u201c_I_ don\u2019t know,\u201d said the Daddy Long Legs, mournfully. \u201cI have never\nflown so far. But I know that you are all in a very dangerous part of\nFairy Land. And I will take you to an aged Black Beetle, who can give\nyou the best advice.\u201d\n\nSo saying, the Daddy Long Legs walked off with the Prince till they came\nto the Black Beetle.\n\n\u201cCan _you_ tell this Prince,\u201d said the Daddy Long Legs, \u201cwhere the\nPrincess Niente is hidden?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it is in Mushroom Land,\u201d said the Beetle; \u201cbut he will want a\nguide.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill _you_ be my guide?\u201d asked the Prince.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Beetle; \u201cbut what about your friends, the other\nPrinces?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, they must come too; it would not be fair to leave them behind,\u201d\nsaid the Prince Comical.\n\nHe was the _soul of honour_; and though the others laughed at him, he\nwould not take advantage of his luck, and run away from them.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cWell, you _are_ a true Knight,\u201d said the Black Beetle; \u201cbut before we\ngo into the depths of Mushroom Land, just you come here with me.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThen the Black Beetle pointed out to the Prince a great smooth round red\nthing, a long way off.\n\n\u201cThat is the first Mushroom in Mushroom Land,\u201d said the Beetle. \u201cNow\ncome with me, and you shall see, what you shall see.\u201d\n\nSo the Prince followed the Beetle, till they came to the Mushroom.\n\n\u201cClimb up and look over,\u201d said the Beetle.\n\nSo the Prince climbed up, and looked over. There he saw a crowned King,\nsound asleep.\n\nHere is the Prince Comical (you see he is not very handsome!); and here\nis the King so sound asleep.\n\n\u201cTry to waken him,\u201d said the Beetle; \u201cjust try.\u201d\n\nSo the Prince tried to waken the King, but it was of no use.\n\n\u201cNow, take warning by _that_,\u201d said the Black Beetle, \u201cand never go to\nsleep under a Mushroom in Mushroom country. You will never wake, if you\ndo, till the Princess Niente is found again.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWell, the Prince Comical said he would remember that, and he and the\nBeetle went off and found the other Princes. They were disposed to laugh\nat being led by a Black Beetle; but one of them, who was very learned,\nreminded them that armies had been led before by Woodpeckers, and\nWolves, and Humming Birds.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo they all moved on, and at night they were very tired.\n\nNow there were no houses, and not many trees, in Mushroom Land, and when\nnight came all the Princes wanted to lie down under a very big Mushroom.\n\nIt was in vain that the Black Beetle and Prince Comical warned them to\nbeware.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAs they marched through Mushroom Land the twilight came upon them, and\nthe Elves began to come out for their dance, for Elves only dance at\ndusk, and they could not help joining them, which was very imprudent,\nas they had plenty to do the next day, and it would have been wiser if\nthey had gone to sleep.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Elves went on with their play till midnight, and exactly at midnight\nthe Elves stopped their play, and undressed, and got up into the boughs\nof a big tree and went to sleep. You may wonder how the Elves know when\nit is midnight, as there are no clocks in Mushroom Land, of course. But\nthey cannot really help knowing, as it is exactly at twelve that the\nMushrooms begin to grow, and the little Mushrooms come up.\n\nNow the Elves covered every branch of the tree, as you see in the\npicture, and the Fairies did not know where to lie down. At last they\ndecided to lie down under a very big Mushroom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cNonsense,\u201d they said. \u201c_You_ may sleep out in the open air, if you\nlike; we mean to make ourselves comfortable here.\u201d\n\nSo they all lay down under the shelter of the Mushroom, and Prince\nComical slept in the open air. In the morning he wakened, feeling very\nwell and hungry, and off he set to call his friends. But he might as\nwell have called the Mushroom itself. There they all lay under its\nshade; and though some of them had their eyes open, not one of them\ncould move. The Prince shook them, dragged them, shouted at them, and\npulled their hair. But the more he shouted and dragged, the louder they\nsnored; and the worst of it was, that he could not pull them out of the\nshadow of the Magic Mushroom. So there he had to leave them, sound\nasleep.\n\nThe Prince thought the Elves could help him perhaps, so he went and\nasked them how to waken his friends. They were all awake, and the\nFairies were dressing the baby-Elves. But they only said, \u201cOh! its their\nfault for sleeping under a Mushroom. Anybody would know that is a stupid\nthing to do. Besides, we have no time to attend to them, as the sun will\nbe up soon, and we must get these Babies dressed and be off before\nthen.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, where are you going to?\u201d said the Prince.\n\n\u201cAh! nobody knows where we go to in the day time,\u201d said the Elves.\n\nAnd nobody does.\n\n\u201cWell, what am I to do now?\u201d said the Prince to the Black Beetle.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201c_I_ don\u2019t know where the Princess is,\u201d said the Beetle; \u201cbut the Blue\nBird is very wise, and _he_ may know. Now your best plan will be to\nsteal two of the Blue Bird\u2019s eggs, and not give them back till he tells\nyou all he can.\u201d\n\nSo off they set for the Blue Bird\u2019s nest; and, to make a long story\nshort, the Prince stole two of the eggs, and would not give them back,\ntill the Bird promised to tell him all it knew. And the end of it was,\nthat the Bird carried him to the Court of the Queen of Mushroom Land.\nShe was sitting, in her Crown, on a Mushroom, and she looked very funny\nand mischievous.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHere you see the Prince, with his hat off, kissing the Queen\u2019s hair, and\nasking for the Princess.\n\n\u201cOh, _she\u2019s_ quite safe,\u201d said the Queen of Mushroom Land; \u201cbut what a\nfunny boy you are. You are not _half_ handsome enough for the Princess\nNiente.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe poor Prince blushed. \u201cThey call me Prince Comical,\u201d said he; \u201cI know\nI\u2019m not half good enough!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are _good_ enough for anything,\u201d said the Queen of Mushroom Land;\n\u201cbut you might be prettier.\u201d\n\nThen she touched him with her wand, and he became as handsome a Prince\nas ever was seen, in a beautiful red silk doublet, slashed with white,\nand a long gold-coloured robe.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201c_Now_ you will do for my Princess Niente,\u201d said the Queen of Mushroom\nLand. \u201cBlue Bird\u201d (and she whispered in the Bird\u2019s ear), \u201ctake him away\nto the Princess Niente.\u201d\n\nSo they flew, and they flew, all day and all night, and next day they\ncame to a green bower, all full of Fairies, and Butterflies, and funny\nlittle people. And there, with all her long yellow hair round her, there\nsat the Princess Niente. And the Prince Charming laid his Crown at her\nfeet, and knelt on one knee, and asked the Princess to be his love and\nhis lady. And she did not refuse him, so they were married in the Church\nof the Elves, and the Glowworm sent his torches, and all the bells of\nall the flowers made a merry peal. And soon they were to travel home, to\nthe King and the Queen.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    Here\u2019s the Water Fairy\u2019s Court,\n    Nymphs and Nixies making sport!]\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nLOST AND FOUND.\n\n\nNow the Prince had found the Princess, and you might think that they had\nnothing to do but go home again. The father and mother of the Princess\nwere wearying very much to hear about her. Every day they climbed to the\nbartizan of the Castle, and looked across the plain, hoping to see dust\non the road, and some brave Prince riding back with their daughter. But\nshe never came, and their hair grew grey with sorrow and time. The\nparents of the other Princes, too, who were all asleep under the\nMushroom, were alarmed about their sons, and feared that they had all\nbeen taken prisoners, or perhaps eaten up by some Giant. But Princess\nNiente and Prince Charming were lingering in the enchanted land, too\nhappy to leave the flowers, the brooks, and the Fairies.\n\nThe faithful Black Beetle often whispered to the Prince that it was time\nto turn homewards, but the Prince paid no more attention to his ally\nthan if he had been an Ear-wig. So there, in the Valley Magical, the\nPrince and Princess might be wandering to this day but for a very sad\naccident. The night they were married, the Princess had said to the\nPrince, \u201cNow you may call me Niente, or any pet name you like; but never\ncall me by my own name.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t know it,\u201d said the Prince. \u201cDo tell me what it is?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever,\u201d said the Princess; \u201cyou must never seek to know it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d said the Prince.\n\n\u201cSomething dreadful will happen,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cif ever you find\nout my name, and call me by it.\u201d\n\nAnd she looked quite as if she could be very angry.\n\nNow ever after this, the Prince kept wondering what his wife\u2019s real name\ncould be, till he made himself quite unhappy.\n\n\u201cIs it Margaret?\u201d he would say, when he thought the Princess was off her\nguard; or, \u201cis it Joan?\u201d \u201cIs it Dorothy?\u201d \u201cIt can\u2019t be Sybil, can it?\u201d\n\nBut she would never tell him.\n\nNow, one morning, the Princess awoke very early, but she felt so happy\nthat she could not sleep. She lay awake and listened to the Birds\nsinging, and then she watched a Fairy-boy teasing a Bird, which sang (so\nthe boy said) out of tune, and another Fairy-baby riding on a Fly.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAt last the Princess, who thought the Prince was sound asleep, began to\ncroon softly a little song she had made about him and her. She had never\ntold him about the song, partly because she was shy, and partly for\nanother reason. So she crooned and hummed to herself,\n\n    _Oh, hand in hand with Gwendoline,\n        While yet our locks are gold,\n    He\u2019ll fare among the forests green,\n        And through the gardens old;\n    And when, like leaves that lose their green,\n        Our gold has turned to grey,\n    Then, hand in hand with Gwendoline,\n        He\u2019ll fade and pass away!_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cOh, _Gwendoline_ is your name, is it?\u201d said the Prince, who had been\nwide awake, and listening to her song. And he began to laugh at having\nfound out her secret, and tried to kiss her.\n\nBut the Princess turned very, very cold, and white like marble, so that\nthe Prince began to shiver, and he sat down on a fallen Mushroom, and\nhid his face in his hands, and, in a moment, all his beautiful hair\nvanished, and his splendid clothes, and his gold train, and his Crown.\nHe wore a red cap, and common clothes, and was Prince Comical once more.\nBut the Princess arose, and she vanished swiftly away.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOpposite you see the poor Prince crying, and the Princess vanishing\naway. Thus he was punished for being curious and prying. It is natural,\nyou will say, that a man should like to call his wife by her name. But\nthe Fairies would not allow it, and, what is more, there are still some\nnations who will not allow a woman to mention the name of her husband.\n\nWell, here was a sad state of things! The Princess was lost as much as\never, and Prince Charming was changed back into Prince Comical. The\nBlack Beetle sighed day and night, and mingled his tears with those of\nthe Prince. But neither of them knew what to do. They wandered about the\nValley Magical, and though it was just as pretty as ever, it seemed\nquite ugly and stupid to them. The worst of it was, that the Prince felt\nso foolish. After winning the greatest good fortune, and the dearest\nbride in the world, he had thrown everything away. He walked about\ncrying, \u201cOh, Gwen--I mean oh, Niente! dear Niente! return to your own\nPrince Comical, and all will be forgiven!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIt is impossible to say what would have happened; and probably the\nPrince would have died of sorrow and hunger (for he ate nothing), if the\nBlack Beetle had not one day met a Bat, which was the favourite charger\nof Puck. Now Puck, as all the world knows, is the Jester at the Court of\nFairy Land. He can make Oberon and Titania--the King and Queen--laugh\nat the tricks he plays, and therefore they love him so much that there\nis nothing they would not do for him. So the Black Beetle began to talk\nabout his master, the Prince, to the Bat Puck commonly rode; and the\nBat, a good-natured creature, told the whole story to Puck. Now Puck was\nalso in a good humour, so he jumped at once on his Bat\u2019s back, and rode\noff to consult the King and Queen of Fairy Land. Well, they were sorry\nfor the Prince--he had only broken one little Fairy law after all--and\nthey sent Puck back to tell him what he was to do. This was to find the\nBlue Bird again, and get the Blue Bird to guide him to the home of the\nWater Fairy, the Godmother of the Princess.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLong and far the Prince wandered, but at last he found the Blue Bird\nonce more. And the Bird (very good-naturedly) promised to fly in front\nof him till he led him to the beautiful stream, where the Water Fairy\nheld her court. So they reached it at last, and then the Blue Bird\nharnessed himself to the chariot of the Water Fairy, and the chariot was\nthe white cup of a Water Lily. Then he pulled, and pulled at the chariot\n(here he is dragging along the Water Fairy), till he brought her where\nthe Prince was waiting. At first, when she saw him, she was rather\nangry. \u201cWhy did you find out my God-daughter\u2019s name?\u201d she said; and the\nPrince had no excuse to make. He only turned red, and sighed. This\nrather pleased the Water Fairy.\n\n\u201cDo you love the Princess very much?\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cOh, more than all the world,\u201d said the Prince.\n\n\u201cThen back you go, to Mushroom Land, and you will find her in the old\nplace. But perhaps she will not be pleased to forgive you at first.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Prince thought he would chance _that_, but he did not say so. He\nonly bowed very low, and thanked the Water Fairy. Then off he set, with\nthe Blue Bird to guide him, in search of Mushroom Land. At long and at\nlast he reached it, and glad he was to see the little sentinel on the\nborder of the country.\n\nAll up and down Mushroom Land the Prince searched, and at last he saw\nhis own Princess, and he rushed up, and knelt at her feet, and held out\nhis hands to ask pardon for having disobeyed the Fairy law.\n\nBut she was still rather cross, and down she jumped, and ran round the\nMushroom, and he ran after her.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo he chased her for a minute or two, and at last she laughed, and\npopped up her head over the Mushroom, and pursed up her lips into a\ncherry. And he kissed her across the Mushroom, and knew he had won back\nhis own dear Princess, and they felt even happier than if they had never\nbeen parted.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u201cJourneys end in lovers meeting,\u201d and so do Stories. The Prince has his\nPrincess once again, and I can tell you they did not wait long, this\ntime, in the Valley Magical. Off they went, straight home, and the Black\nBeetle guided them, flying in a bee-line. Just on the further border of\nMushroom Land, they came to all the Princes fast asleep. But when the\nPrincess drew near, they all wakened, and jumped up, and they slapped\nthe fortunate Prince on the back, and wished him luck, and cried,\n\u201cHullo, Comical, old chap; we hardly knew you! Why, you\u2019ve grown quite\nhandsome!\u201d And so he had; he was changed into Prince Charming again, but\nhe was so happy he never noticed it, for he was not conceited. But the\nPrincess noticed it, and she loved him all the better. Then they all\nmade a procession, with the Black Beetle marching at the head; indeed,\nthey called him \u201cBlack Rod\u201d now, and he was quite a Courtier.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSo with flags flying, and music playing, they returned to the home of\nthe Princess. And the King and Queen met them at the park gates, and\nfell on the neck of the Prince and Princess, and kissed\n\n[Illustration]\n\nthem, and laughed, and cried for joy, and kissed them again. You may be\nsure the old Nurse was out among the foremost, her face quite shining\nwith pleasure, and using longer words than the noblest there. And she\nadmired the Prince very much, and was delighted that \u201cher girl,\u201d as she\ncalled the Princess, had got such a good husband. So here we leave them,\nand that country remained always happy, and so it has neither history\nnor geography. Therefore you won\u2019t find it on any map, nor can you read\nabout it in any book but this book. Lastly, here is a picture of the\nPrince and Princess at home, sitting on a beautiful Rose, as a Fairy\u2019s\nGod-child can do if she pleases.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAs to the Black Beetle, he was appointed to a place about the Court, but\nhe never married, he had no children, and there are no _other_ Black\nBeetles, consequently, in the country where the Prince and Princess\nbecame King and Queen.\n\n\n\n\n      ERANT OLIM REX QUIDAM ET REGINA.\n\n                             _Apuleius._\n\n    _Au Temps jadis!_ as Perrault says,\n    In half-forgotten Fairy days,--\n    \u201cThere lived a King once, and a Queen,\n    As few there are, as more have been,\u201d--\n    Ah, still we love the well-worn phrase,\n    Still love to tread the ancient ways,\n    To break the fence, to thread the maze,\n    To see the beauty we have seen,\n                          _Au Temps jadis_!\n\n    Here\u2019s luck to every child that strays\n    In Fairy Land among the Fays;\n    That follows through the forest green\n    Prince Comical and Gwendoline;\n    That reads the tales we used to praise,\n                          _Au Temps jadis_!","title":"The Princess Nobody: A Tale of Fairyland","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":5312}