THE GOLDEN BRANCH

Edition and rights: Original English text from Project Gutenberg ebook #540, marked public domain in the USA. The literary text below is reproduced without AI rewriting.

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Once upon a time there was a King who was so morose and disagreeable that he
was feared by all his subjects, and with good reason, as for the most trifling
offences he would have their heads cut off. This King Grumpy, as he was called,
had one son, who was as different from his father as he could possibly be. No
prince equalled him in cleverness and kindness of heart, but unfortunately he
was most terribly ugly. He had crooked legs and squinting eyes, a large mouth
all on one side, and a hunchback. Never was there a beautiful soul in such a
frightful little body, but in spite of his appearance everybody loved him. The
Queen, his mother, called him Curlicue, because it was a name she rather liked,
and it seemed to suit him.

King Grumpy, who cared a great deal more for his own grandeur than for his
son’s happiness, wished to betroth the Prince to the daughter of a
neighbouring King, whose great estates joined his own, for he thought that this
alliance would make him more powerful than ever, and as for the Princess she
would do very well for Prince Curlicue, for she was as ugly as himself. Indeed,
though she was the most amiable creature in the world, there was no concealing
the fact that she was frightful, and so lame that she always went about with a
crutch, and people called her Princess Cabbage-Stalk.

The King, having asked for and received a portrait of this Princess, had it
placed in his great hall under a canopy, and sent for Prince Curlicue, to whom
he said that as this was the portrait of his future bride, he hoped the Prince
found it charming.

The Prince after one glance at it turned away with a disdainful air, which
greatly offended his father.

‘Am I to understand that you are not pleased?’ he said very
sharply.

‘No, sire,’ replied the Prince. ‘How could I be pleased to
marry an ugly, lame Princess?’

‘Certainly it is becoming in you to object to that,’ said
King Grumpy, ‘since you are ugly enough to frighten anyone
yourself.’

‘That is the very reason,’ said the Prince, ‘that I wish to
marry someone who is not ugly. I am quite tired enough of seeing myself.’

‘I tell you that you shall marry her,’ cried King Grumpy angrily.

And the Prince, seeing that it was of no use to remonstrate, bowed and retired.

As King Grumpy was not used to being contradicted in anything, he was very much
displeased with his son, and ordered that he should be imprisoned in the tower
that was kept on purpose for rebellious Princes, but had not been used for
about two hundred years, because there had not been any. The Prince thought all
the rooms looked strangely old-fashioned, with their antique furniture, but as
there was a good library he was pleased, for he was very fond of reading, and
he soon got permission to have as many books as he liked. But when he looked at
them he found that they were written in a forgotten language, and he could not
understand a single word, though he amused himself with trying.

King Grumpy was so convinced that Prince Curlicue would soon get tired of being
in prison, and so consent to marry the Princess Cabbage-Stalk, that he sent
ambassadors to her father proposing that she should come and be married to his
son, who would make her perfectly happy.

The King was delighted to receive so good an offer for his unlucky daughter,
though, to tell the truth, he found it impossible to admire the Prince’s
portrait which had been sent to him. However, he had it placed in as favourable
a light as possible, and sent for the Princess, but the moment she caught sight
of it she looked the other way and began to cry. The King, who was very much
annoyed to see how greatly she disliked it, took a mirror, and holding it up
before the unhappy Princess, said:

‘I see you do not think the Prince handsome, but look at yourself, and
see if you have any right to complain about that.’

‘Sire,’ she answered, ‘I do not wish to complain, only I beg
of you do not make me marry at all. I had rather be the unhappy Princess
Cabbage-Stalk all my life than inflict the sight of my ugliness on anyone
else.’

But the King would not listen to her, and sent her away with the ambassadors.

In the meantime the Prince was kept safely locked up in his tower, and, that he
might be as dull as possible, King Grumpy ordered that no one should speak to
him, and that they should give him next to nothing to eat. But all the
Prince’s guards were so fond of him that they did everything they dared,
in spite of the King, to make the time pass pleasantly.

One day, as the Prince was walking up and down the great gallery, thinking how
miserable it was to be so ugly, and to be forced to marry an equally frightful
Princess, he looked up suddenly and noticed that the painted windows were
particularly bright and beautiful, and for the sake of doing something that
would change his sad thoughts he began to examine them attentively. He found
that the pictures seemed to be scenes from the life of a man who appeared in
every window, and the Prince, fancying that he saw in this man some resemblance
to himself, began to be deeply interested. In the first window there was a
picture of him in one of the turrets of the tower, farther on he was seeking
something in a chink in the wall, in the next picture he was opening an old
cabinet with a golden key, and so it went on through numbers of scenes, and
presently the Prince noticed that another figure occupied the most important
place in each scene, and this time it was a tall handsome young man: poor
Prince Curlicue found it a pleasure to look at him, he was so straight and
strong. By this time it had grown dark, and the Prince had to go back to his
own room, and to amuse himself he took up a quaint old book and began to look
at the pictures. But his surprise was great to find that they represented the
same scenes as the windows of the gallery, and what was more, that they seemed
to be alive. In looking at pictures of musicians he saw their hands move and
heard sweet sounds; there was a picture of a ball, and the Prince could watch
the little dancing people come and go. He turned a page, and there was an
excellent smell of a savoury dinner, and one of the figures who sat at the
feast looked at him and said:

‘We drink your health, Curlicue. Try to give us our Queen again, for if
you do you will be rewarded; if not, it will be the worse for you.’

At these words the Prince, who had been growing more and more astonished, was
fairly terrified, and dropping the book with a crash he sank back insensible.
The noise he made brought his guards to his aid, and as soon as he revived they
asked him what was the matter. He answered that he was so faint and giddy with
hunger that he had imagined he saw and heard all sorts of strange things.
Thereupon, in spite of the King’s orders, the guards gave him an
excellent supper, and when he had eaten it he again opened his book, but could
see none of the wonderful pictures, which convinced him that he must have been
dreaming before.

However, when he went into he gallery next day and looked at the painted
windows again, he found that they moved, and the figures came and went as if
they had been alive, and after watching the one who was like himself find the
key in the crack of the turret wall and open the old cabinet, he determined to
go and examine the place himself, and try to find out what the mystery was. So
he went up into the turret and began to search about and tap upon the walls,
and all at once he came upon a place that sounded hollow. Taking a hammer he
broke away a bit of the stone, and found behind it a little golden key. The
next thing to do was to find the cabinet, and the Prince soon came to it,
hidden away in a dark corner, though indeed it was so old and battered-looking
that he would never have noticed it of his own accord. At first he could not
see any keyhole, but after a careful search he found one hidden in the carving,
and the golden key just fitted it; so the Prince gave it a vigorous turn and
the doors flew open.

Ugly and old as the cabinet was outside, nothing could have been more rich and
beautiful than what met the Prince’s astonished eyes. Every drawer was
made of crystal, of amber, or of some precious stone, and was quite full of
every kind of treasure. Prince Curlicue was delighted; he opened one after
another, until at last he came to one tiny drawer which contained only an
emerald key.

‘I believe that this must open that little golden door in the
middle,’ said the Prince to himself. And he fitted in the little key and
turned it. The tiny door swung back, and a soft crimson light gleamed over the
whole cabinet. The Prince found that it proceeded from an immense glowing
carbuncle, made into a box, which lay before him. He lost no time in opening
it, but what was his horror when he found that it contained a man’s hand,
which was holding a portrait. His first thought was to put back the terrible
box and fly from the turret; but a voice in his ear said, ‘This hand
belonged to one whom you can help and restore. Look at this beautiful portrait,
the original of which was the cause of all my misfortunes, and if you wish to
help me, go without a moment’s delay to the great gallery, notice where
the sun’s rays fall most brightly, and if you seek there you will find my
treasure.’

The voice ceased, and though the Prince in his bewilderment asked various
questions, he received no answer. So he put back the box and locked the cabinet
up again, and, having replaced the key in the crack in the wall, hastened down
to the gallery.

When he entered it all the windows shook and clattered in the strangest way,
but the Prince did not heed them; he was looking so carefully for the place
where the sun shone most brightly, and it seemed to him that it was upon the
portrait of a most splendidly handsome young man.

He went up and examined it, and found that it rested against the ebony and gold
panelling, just like any of the other pictures in the gallery. He was puzzled,
not knowing what to do next, until it occurred to him to see if the windows
would help him, and, looking at the nearest, he saw a picture of himself
lifting the picture from the wall.

The Prince took the hint, and lifting aside the picture without difficulty,
found himself in a marble hall adorned with statues; from this he passed on
through numbers of splendid rooms, until at last he reached one all hung with
blue gauze. The walls were of turquoises, and upon a low couch lay a lovely
lady, who seemed to be asleep. Her hair, black as ebony, was spread across the
pillows, making her face look ivory white, and the Prince noticed that she was
unquiet; and when he softly advanced, fearing to wake her, he could hear her
sigh, and murmur to herself:

‘Ah! how dared you think to win my love by separating me from my beloved
Florimond, and in my presence cutting off that dear hand that even you should
have feared and honoured?’

And then the tears rolled slowly down the lovely lady’s cheeks, and
Prince Curlicue began to comprehend that she was under an enchantment, and that
it was the hand of her lover that he had found.

At this moment a huge Eagle flew into the room, holding in its talons a Golden
Branch, upon which were growing what looked like clusters of cherries, only
every cherry was a single glowing ruby.

This he presented to the Prince, who guessed by this time that he was in some
way to break the enchantment that surrounded the sleeping lady. Taking the
branch he touched her lightly with it, saying:

‘Fair one, I know not by what enchantment thou art bound, but in the name
of thy beloved Florimond I conjure thee to come back to the life which thou
hast lost, but not forgotten.’

Instantly the lady opened her lustrous eyes, and saw the Eagle hovering near.

‘Ah! stay, dear love, stay,’ she cried. But the Eagle, uttering a
dolorous cry, fluttered his broad wings and disappeared. Then the lady turned
to Prince Curlicue, and said:

‘I know that it is to you I owe my deliverance from an enchantment which
has held me for two hundred years. If there is anything that I can do for you
in return, you have only to tell me, and all my fairy power shall be used to
make you happy.’

‘Madam,’ said Prince Curlicue, ‘I wish to be allowed to
restore your beloved Florimond to his natural form, since I cannot forget the
tears you shed for him.’

‘That is very amiable of you, dear Prince,’ said the Fairy,
‘but it is reserved for another person to do that. I cannot explain more
at present. But is there nothing you wish for yourself?’

‘Madam,’ cried the Prince, flinging himself down at her feet,
‘only look at my ugliness. I am called Curlicue, and am an object of
derision; I entreat you to make me less ridiculous.’

‘Rise, Prince,’ said the Fairy, touching him with the Golden
Branch. ‘Be as accomplished as you are handsome, and take the name of
Prince Peerless, since that is the only title which will suit you now.’

Silent from joy, the Prince kissed her hand to express his thanks, and when he
rose and saw his new reflection in the mirrors which surrounded him, he
understood that Curlicue was indeed gone for ever.

‘How I wish,’ said the Fairy, ‘that I dared to tell you what
is in store for you, and warn you of the traps which lie in your path, but I
must not. Fly from the tower, Prince, and remember that the Fairy Douceline
will be your friend always.’

When she had finished speaking, the Prince, to his great astonishment, found
himself no longer in the tower, but set down in a thick forest at least a
hundred leagues away from it. And there we must leave him for the present, and
see what was happening elsewhere.

When the guards found that the Prince did not ask for his supper as usual, they
went into his room, and not finding him there, were very much alarmed, and
searched the tower from turret to dungeon, but without success. Knowing that
the King would certainly have their heads cut off for allowing the Prince to
escape, they then agreed to say that he was ill, and after making the smallest
among them look as much like Prince Curlicue as possible, they put him into his
bed and sent to inform the King.

King Grumpy was quite delighted to hear that his son was ill, for he thought
that he would all the sooner be brought to do as he wished, and marry the
Princess. So he sent back to the guards to say that the Prince was to be
treated as severely as before, which was just what they had hoped he would say.
In the meantime the Princess Cabbage-Stalk had reached the palace, travelling
in a litter.

King Grumpy went out to meet her, but when he saw her, with a skin like a
tortoise’s, her thick eyebrows meeting above her large nose, and her
mouth from ear to ear, he could not help crying out:

‘Well, I must say Curlicue is ugly enough, but I don’t think
you need have thought twice before consenting to marry him.’

‘Sire,’ she replied, ‘I know too well what I am like to be
hurt by what you say, but I assure you that I have no wish to marry your son I
had rather be called Princess Cabbage-Stalk than Queen Curlicue.’

This made King Grumpy very angry.

‘Your father has sent you here to marry my son,’ he said,
‘and you may be sure that I am not going to offend him by altering his
arrangements.’ So the poor Princess was sent away in disgrace to her own
apartments, and the ladies who attended upon her were charged to bring her to a
better mind.

At this juncture the guards, who were in great fear that they would be found
out, sent to tell the King that his son was dead, which annoyed him very much.
He at once made up his mind that it was entirely the Princess’s fault,
and gave orders that she should be imprisoned in the tower in Prince
Curlicue’s place. The Princess Cabbage-Stalk was immensely astonished at
this unjust proceeding, and sent many messages of remonstrance to King Grumpy,
but he was in such a temper that no one dared to deliver them, or to send the
letters which the Princess wrote to her father. However, as she did not know
this, she lived in hope of soon going back to her own country, and tried to
amuse herself as well as she could until the time should come. Every day she
walked up and down the long gallery, until she too was attracted and fascinated
by the ever-changing pictures in the windows, and recognised herself in one of
the figures. ‘They seem to have taken a great delight in painting me
since I came to this country,’ she said to herself. ‘One would
think that I and my crutch were put in on purpose to make that slim, charming
young shepherdess in the next picture look prettier by contrast. Ah! how nice
it would be to be as pretty as that.’ And then she looked at herself in a
mirror, and turned away quickly with tears in her eyes from the doleful sight.
All at once she became aware that she was not alone, for behind her stood a
tiny old woman in a cap, who was as ugly again as herself and quite as lame.

‘Princess,’ she said, ‘your regrets are so piteous that I
have come to offer you the choice of goodness or beauty. If you wish to be
pretty you shall have your way, but you will also be vain, capricious, and
frivolous. If you remain as you are now, you shall be wise and amiable and
modest.’

‘Alas! madam,’ cried the Princess, ‘is it impossible to be
at once wise and beautiful?’

‘No, child,’ answered the old woman, ‘only to you it is
decreed that you must choose between the two. See, I have brought with me my
white and yellow muff. Breathe upon the yellow side and you will become like
the pretty shepherdess you so much admire, and you will have won the love of
the handsome shepherd whose picture I have already seen you studying with
interest. Breathe upon the white side and your looks will not alter, but you
will grow better and happier day by day. Now you may choose.’

‘Ah well,’ said the Princess, ‘I suppose one can’t have
everything, and it’s certainly better to be good than pretty.’

And so she breathed upon the white side of the muff and thanked the old fairy,
who immediately disappeared. The Princess Cabbage-Stalk felt very forlorn when
she was gone, and began to think that it was quite time her father sent an army
to rescue her.

‘If I could but get up into the turret,’ she thought, ‘to see
if any one is coming.’ But to climb up there seemed impossible.
Nevertheless she presently hit upon a plan. The great clock was in the turret,
as she knew, though the weights hung down into the gallery. Taking one of them
off the rope, she tied herself on in its place, and when the clock was wound,
up she went triumphantly into the turret. She looked out over the country the
first thing, but seeing nothing she sat down to rest a little, and accidentally
leant back against the wall which Curlicue, or rather Prince Peerless, had so
hastily mended. Out fell the broken stone, and with it the golden key. The
clatter it made upon the floor attracted the Princess Cabbage-Stalk’s
attention.

She picked it up, and after a moment’s consideration decided that it must
belong to the curious old cabinet in the corner, which had no visible keyhole.
And then it was not long before she had it open, and was admiring the treasures
it contained as much as Prince Peerless had done before her, and at last she
came to the carbuncle box. No sooner had she opened it than with a shudder of
horror she tried to throw it down, but found that some mysterious power
compelled her to hold it against her will. And at this moment a voice in her
ear said softly:

‘Take courage, Princess; upon this adventure your future happiness
depends.’

‘What am I to do?’ said the Princess trembling.

‘Take the box,’ replied the voice, ‘and hide it under your
pillow, and when you see an Eagle, give it to him without losing a
moment.’

Terrified as the Princess was, she did not hesitate to obey, and hastened to
put back all the other precious things precisely as she had found them. By this
time her guards were seeking her everywhere, and they were amazed to find her
up in the turret, for they said she could only have got there by magic. For
three days nothing happened, but at last in the night the Princess heard
something flutter against her window, and drawing back her curtains she saw in
the moonlight that it was an Eagle.

Limping across at her utmost speed she threw the window open, and the great
Eagle sailed in beating with his wings for joy. The Princess lost no time in
offering it the carbuncle box, which it grasped in its talons, and instantly
disappeared, leaving in its place the most beautiful Prince she had ever seen,
who was splendidly dressed, and wore a diamond crown.

‘Princess,’ said he, ‘for two hundred years has a wicked
enchanter kept me here. We both loved the same Fairy, but she preferred me.
However, he was more powerful than I, and succeeded, when for a moment I was
off my guard, in changing me into an Eagle, while my Queen was left in an
enchanted sleep. I knew that after two hundred years a Prince would recall her
to the light of day, and a Princess, in restoring to me the hand which my enemy
had cut off, would give me back my natural form. The Fairy who watches over
your destiny told me this, and it was she who guided you to the cabinet in the
turret, where she had placed my hand. It is she also who permits me to show my
gratitude to you by granting whatever favour you may ask of me. Tell me,
Princess, what is it that you wish for most? Shall I make you as beautiful as
you deserve to be?’

‘Ah, if you only would!’ cried the Princess, and at the same moment
she heard a crick-cracking in all her bones. She grew tall and straight and
pretty, with eyes like shining stars, and a skin as white as milk.

‘Oh, wonderful! can this really be my poor little self?’ she
exclaimed, looking down in amazement at her tiny worn-out crutch as it lay upon
the floor.

‘Indeed, Princess,’ replied Florimond, ‘it is yourself, but
you must have a new name, since the old one does not suit you now. Be called
Princess Sunbeam, for you are bright and charming enough to deserve the
name.’

And so saying he disappeared, and the Princess, without knowing how she got
there, found herself walking under shady trees by a clear river. Of course, the
first thing she did was to look at her own reflection in the water, and she was
extremely surprised to find that she was exactly like the shepherdess she had
so much admired, and wore the same white dress and flowery wreath that she had
seen in the painted windows. To complete the resemblance, her flock of sheep
appeared, grazing round her, and she found a gay crook adorned with flowers
upon the bank of the river. Quite tired out by so many new and wonderful
experiences, the Princess sat down to rest at the foot of a tree, and there she
fell fast asleep. Now it happened that it was in this very country that Prince
Peerless had been set down, and while the Princess Sunbeam was still sleeping
peacefully, he came strolling along in search of a shady pasture for his sheep.

The moment he caught sight of the Princess he recognised her as the charming
shepherdess whose picture he had seen so often in the tower, and as she was far
prettier than he had remembered her, he was delighted that chance had led him
that way.

He was still watching her admiringly when the Princess opened her eyes, and as
she also recognised him they were soon great friends. The Princess asked Prince
Peerless, as he knew the country better than she did, to tell her of some
peasant who would give her a lodging, and he said he knew of an old woman whose
cottage would be the very place for her, it was so nice and so pretty. So they
went there together, and the Princess was charmed with the old woman and
everything belonging to her. Supper was soon spread for her under a shady tree,
and she invited the Prince to share the cream and brown bread which the old
woman provided. This he was delighted to do, and having first fetched from his
own garden all the strawberries, cherries, nuts and flowers he could find, they
sat down together and were very merry. After this they met every day as they
guarded their flocks, and were so happy that Prince Peerless begged the
Princess to marry him, so that they might never be parted again. Now though the
Princess Sunbeam appeared to be only a poor shepherdess, she never forgot that
she was a real Princess, and she was not at all sure that she ought to marry a
humble shepherd, though she knew she would like to do so very much.

So she resolved to consult an Enchanter of whom she had heard a great deal
since she had been a shepherdess, and without saying a word to anybody she set
out to find the castle in which he lived with his sister, who was a powerful
Fairy. The way was long, and lay through a thick wood, where the Princess heard
strange voices calling to her from every side, but she was in such a hurry that
she stopped for nothing, and at last she came to the courtyard of the
Enchanter’s castle.

The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred years since
anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got through at last, though she
gave herself a good many scratches by the way, and then she went into a dark,
gloomy hall, where there was but one tiny hole in the wall through which the
daylight could enter. The hangings were all of bats’ wings, and from the
ceiling hung twelve cats, who filled the hall with their ear piercing yells.
Upon the long table twelve mice were fastened by the tail, and just in front of
each one’s nose, but quite beyond its reach, lay a tempting morsel of fat
bacon. So the cats could always see the mice, but could not touch them, and the
hungry mice were tormented by the sight and smell of the delicious morsels
which they could never seize.

The Princess was looking at the poor creatures in dismay, when the Enchanter
suddenly entered, wearing a long black robe and with a crocodile upon his head.
In his hand he carried a whip made of twenty long snakes, all alive and
writhing, and the Princess was so terrified at the sight that she heartily
wished she had never come. Without saying a word she ran to the door, but it
was covered with a thick spider’s web, and when she broke it she found
another, and another, and another. In fact, there was no end to them; the
Princess’s arms ached with tearing them down, and yet she was no nearer
to getting out, and the wicked Enchanter behind her laughed maliciously. At
last he said:

‘You might spend the rest of your life over that without doing any good,
but as you are young, and quite the prettiest creature I have seen for a long
time, I will marry you if you like, and I will give you those cats and mice
that you see there for your own. They are princes and princesses who have
happened to offend me. They used to love one another as much as they now hate
one another. Aha! It’s a pretty little revenge to keep them like
that.’

‘Oh! If you would only change me into a mouse too,’ cried the
Princess.

‘Oh! so you won’t marry me?’ said he. ‘Little
simpleton, you should have everything heart can desire.’

‘No, indeed; nothing should make me marry you; in fact, I don’t
think I shall ever love anyone,’ cried the Princess.

‘In that case,’ said the Enchanter, touching her, ‘you had
better become a particular kind of creature that is neither fish nor fowl; you
shall be light and airy, and as green as the grass you live in. Off with you,
Madam Grasshopper.’ And the Princess, rejoicing to find herself free once
more, skipped out into the garden, the prettiest little green Grasshopper in
the world. But as soon as she was safely out she began to be rather sorry for
herself.

‘Ah! Florimond,’ she sighed, ‘is this the end of your gift?
Certainly beauty is short-lived, and this funny little face and a green crape
dress are a comical end to it. I had better have married my amiable shepherd.
It must be for my pride that I am condemned to be a Grasshopper, and sing day
and night in the grass by this brook, when I feel far more inclined to
cry.’

In the meantime Prince Peerless had discovered the Princess’s absence,
and was lamenting over it by the river’s brim, when he suddenly became
aware of the presence of a little old woman. She was quaintly dressed in a ruff
and farthingale, and a velvet hood covered her snow-white hair.

‘You seem sorrowful, my son,’ she said. ‘What is the
matter?’

‘Alas! mother,’ answered the Prince, ‘I have lost my sweet
shepherdess, but I am determined to find her again, though I should have to
traverse the whole world in search of her.’

‘Go that way, my son,’ said the old woman, pointing towards the
path that led to the castle. ‘I have an idea that you will soon overtake
her.’

The Prince thanked her heartily and set out. As he met with no hindrance, he
soon reached the enchanted wood which surrounded the castle, and there he
thought he saw the Princess Sunbeam gliding before him among the trees. Prince
Peerless hastened after her at the top of his speed, but could not get any
nearer; then he called to her:

‘Sunbeam, my darling—only wait for me a moment.’

But the phantom did but fly the faster, and the Prince spent the whole day in
this vain pursuit. When night came he saw the castle before him all lighted up,
and as he imagined that the Princess must be in it, he made haste to get there
too. He entered without difficulty, and in the hall the terrible old Fairy met
him. She was so thin that the light shone through her, and her eyes glowed like
lamps; her skin was like a shark’s, her arms were thin as laths, and her
fingers like spindles. Nevertheless she wore rouge and patches, a mantle of
silver brocade and a crown of diamonds, and her dress was covered with jewels,
and green and pink ribbons.

‘At last you have come to see me, Prince,’ said she.
‘Don’t waste another thought upon that little shepherdess, who is
unworthy of your notice. I am the Queen of the Comets, and can bring you to
great honour if you will marry me.’

‘Marry you, Madam,’ cried the Prince, in horror. ‘No, I will
never consent to that.’

Thereupon the Fairy, in a rage, gave two strokes of her wand and filled the
gallery with horrible goblins, against whom the Prince had to fight for his
life. Though he had only his dagger, he defended himself so well that he
escaped without any harm, and presently the old Fairy stopped the fray and
asked the Prince if he was still of the same mind. When he answered firmly that
he was, she called up the appearance of the Princess Sunbeam to the other end
of the gallery, and said:

‘You see your beloved there? Take care what you are about, for if you
again refuse to marry me she shall be torn in pieces by two tigers.’

The Prince was distracted, for he fancied he heard his dear shepherdess weeping
and begging him to save her. In despair he cried:

‘Oh, Fairy Douceline, have you abandoned me after so many promises of
friendship? Help, help us now!’

Immediately a soft voice said in his ear:

‘Be firm, happen what may, and seek the Golden Branch.’

Thus encouraged, the Prince persevered in his refusal, and at length the old
Fairy in a fury cried:

‘Get out of my sight, obstinate Prince. Become a Cricket!’

And instantly the handsome Prince Peerless became a poor little black Cricket,
whose only idea would have been to find himself a cosy cranny behind some
blazing hearth, if he had not luckily remembered the Fairy Douceline’s
injunction to seek the Golden Branch.

So he hastened to depart from the fatal castle, and sought shelter in a hollow
tree, where he found a forlorn looking little Grasshopper crouching in a
corner, too miserable to sing.

Without in the least expecting an answer, the Prince asked it:

‘And where may you be going, Gammer Grasshopper?’

‘Where are you going yourself, Gaffer Cricket?’ replied the
Grasshopper.

‘What! can you speak?’ said he.

‘Why should I not speak as well as you? Isn’t a Grasshopper as good
as a Cricket?’ said she.

‘I can talk because I was a Prince,’ said the Cricket.

‘And for that very same reason I ought to be able to talk more than you,
for I was a Princess,’ replied the Grasshopper.

‘Then you have met with the same fate as I have,’ said he.
‘But where are you going now? Cannot we journey together?’

‘I seemed to hear a voice in the air which said: “Be firm, happen
what may, and seek the Golden Branch,”’ answered the Grasshopper,
‘and I thought the command must be for me, so I started at once, though I
don’t know the way.’

At this moment their conversation was interrupted by two mice, who, breathless
from running, flung themselves headlong through the hole into the tree, nearly
crushing the Grasshopper and the Cricket, though they got out of the way as
fast as they could and stood up in a dark corner.

‘Ah, Madam,’ said the fatter of the two, ‘I have such a pain
in my side from running so fast. How does your Highness find yourself?’

‘I have pulled my tail off,’ replied the younger Mouse, ‘but
as I should still be on the sorcerer’s table unless I had, I do not
regret it. Are we pursued, think you? How lucky we were to escape!’

‘I only trust that we may escape cats and traps, and reach the Golden
Branch soon,’ said the fat Mouse.

‘You know the way then?’ said the other.

‘Oh dear, yes! as well as the way to my own house, Madam. This Golden
Branch is indeed a marvel, a single leaf from it makes one rich for ever. It
breaks enchantments, and makes all who approach it young and beautiful. We must
set out for it at the break of day.’

‘May we have the honour of travelling with you—this respectable
Cricket and myself?’ said the Grasshopper, stepping forward. ‘We
also are on a pilgrimage to the Golden Branch.’

The Mice courteously assented, and after many polite speeches the whole party
fell asleep. With the earliest dawn they were on their way, and though the Mice
were in constant fear of being overtaken or trapped, they reached the Golden
Branch in safety.

It grew in the midst of a wonderful garden, all the paths of which were strewn
with pearls as big as peas. The roses were crimson diamonds, with emerald
leaves. The pomegranates were garnets, the marigolds topazes, the daffodils
yellow diamonds, the violets sapphires, the corn-flowers turquoises, the tulips
amethysts, opals and diamonds, so that the garden borders blazed like the sun.
The Golden Branch itself had become as tall as a forest tree, and sparkled with
ruby cherries to its topmost twig. No sooner had the Grasshopper and the
Cricket touched it than they were restored to their natural forms, and their
surprise and joy were great when they recognised each other. At this moment
Florimond and the Fairy Douceline appeared in great splendour, and the Fairy,
as she descended from her chariot, said with a smile:

‘So you two have found one another again, I see, but I have still a
surprise left for you. Don’t hesitate, Princess, to tell your devoted
shepherd how dearly you love him, as he is the very Prince your father sent you
to marry. So come here both of you and let me crown you, and we will have the
wedding at once.’

The Prince and Princess thanked her with all their hearts, and declared that to
her they owed all their happiness, and then the two Princesses, who had so
lately been Mice, came and begged that the Fairy would use her power to release
their unhappy friends who were still under the Enchanter’s spell.

‘Really,’ said the Fairy Douceline, ‘on this happy occasion I
cannot find it in my heart to refuse you anything.’ And she gave three
strokes of her wand upon the Golden Branch, and immediately all the prisoners
in the Enchanter’s castle found themselves free, and came with all speed
to the wonderful garden, where one touch of the Golden Branch restored each one
to his natural form, and they greeted one another with many rejoicings. To
complete her generous work the Fairy presented them with the wonderful cabinet
and all the treasures it contained, which were worth at least ten kingdoms. But
to Prince Peerless and the Princess Sunbeam she gave the palace and garden of
the Golden Branch, where, immensely rich and greatly beloved by all their
subjects, they lived happily ever after.[18]

[18]
Le Rameau d’Or. Par Madame d’Aulnoy.