Fawn in the wood

THE

FAWN IN THE WOOD.

ONCE upon a time, there lived a King and Queen, who
were very unhappy, because they had m children.
But one day, when the Queen was walking out, she saw
an immense crab, which said to her, " follow me, great
Queen, and you shall have your wish." The Queen
was very much astonished at being thus addressed by
the wonderful crab, and for a time hesitated as to what
she should do. Her desire to have a child of her own,
however, was so great, that it overcame her fears at last,
and she determined to risk everything to gain her end.
She therefore followed the crab through a secret path,
until they reached a palace built of diamonds and pearls;
in front of which stood six lovely fairies, who each pre-
sented her with a flower made of gems. There was a
rose, a tulip, a lily, a pink, a canielia, and a dahlia.

" Madam," said they, " you will soon have a daughter,
whom you must call l Desired ' As soon as she is born,
summon us by repeating the name of each flower, and
we will make her a miracle of grace and goodness." The
happy Queen returned home, and in due time, a little
Princess was born. The fairies were sent for, and after
kissing the infant, they endowed her with wit, beauty,
virtue, and every good quality they could think of. The
grateful Queen was just thanking them for their kindness,
when there entered a crab, so large that it could scarcely
get through the door. "Ah, wicked Queen," it said,
u you have forgotten the service I rendered you, in guiding

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Threat of the Fairy Crab.

you to my sisters ; you have called them, and neglected
me." The Queen asked her pardon for the oversight, and
her sister fairies joined their prayers to hers, but in vain.

The Princess in her Secret Palace.

" I will not do all the harm I intended/7 said the crab,
"but I warn you, if the Princess sees the light of day
before she is fifteen, it will, perhaps, cost her her life!"

4 THE FAWN IN THE WOOD.

Her parents were much alarmed at this threat, and at
length determined to build a palace, without windows, and
there to keep her until she was past the fatal age. This
was done, and the Princess grew in knowledge and
beauty until she was within a few months of being fifteen,
having never seen any light, except that from wax candles
which burned night and, day. As the time grew near
for her release, her portrait was painted, and a copy
sent to eveiy court in the world. All who saw this
picture admired it, and many high and mighty Princes
asked the hand of the young Princess in marriage ; but
one of them fell so deeply in love with her as almost to
lose his reason. His name was Warrior, and he was the
son of a great King, whose court was not far from the
country of the Princess Desired. Prince Warrior begged
his father to send an ambassador to the Princess, and an
eloquent nobleman, called Silvertongue, was selected.

As soon as he arrived at the court of the Princess, he
requested to see her, but to his great surprise, that favor
was denied him. "Do not be offended, Lord Silvertongue,"
said the Kin^ " at our refusal of a request which you are
perfectly justified in making," and he then related to the
nobleman the whole of the wonderful story. Silvertongue
then took leave of the King, and returned to his own
court. Great was the anguish of Prince Warrior when
he found that he could not see the Princess for three long
months— for she still lacked that much of being fifteen
years old.

The King, his father, was in despair, and Lord Silver-
tongue was sent back at his utmost speed, to assure the
parents of Desired that Prince Warrior would surely die

THE FA WN IN THE WO OD. 5

if they refused him their daughter any longer. Now, the
Princess had seen Prince Warrior's portrait, and AVUS
as much in love as he was ; so when her mother went to
see her, and told her of the illness of the young Prince,
she was very much affected, and said: "Dearest mother,
could not I go in a coach so tightly closed that I couldn't
see daylight, and so reach my dear Prince Warrior in
safety?" The King and Queen were well pleased at this
idea, and Lord Silvertongue immediately returned with
the news to Prince Warrior.

A coach was built, lined with pink and gold brocade,
but without glass windows, and a great nobleman was
given charge of it. Then the Princess was locked up in
the coach, in company with her two ladies-in-waiting—
Clove-Flower, and Long-Nails — and at once set out, with
a strong escort, for the court of Prince Warrior.

Now, you must know that Clove-Flower was very fond
of her mistress ; but Long-Nails, who was very much in
love with Prince Warrior herself, from having seen his
picture, was determined to destroy her mistress if she
could, and try to gain the Prince for herself. So on the
last day of the journey, when they were near the court
of the young Prince ; Long-Nails suddenly cut open the
roof of the coach, with a large knife, and for the first
time in her life, Princess Desired saw the light of day !
The moment the light touched her, she sprang from the
coach with a sad cry, and in the form of a beautiful white
Fawn, bounded into the forest, and hid herself in a dark,
and gloomy thicket!

The wicked old Crab-Fairy, who had caused all this,
seemed bent upon the destruction of the world. The

8 THE FA WN IN THE WOOD.

thunder and lightning was so terrible ; that all the attend-
ants ran away in their fright, except Long-Nails and her
mother; and Clove-Flower, who ran after the Princess.
Long-Nails then dressed herself in the Princess' richest
clothes and jewels, and followed by her mother, set out
for the city, and were soon met by the King and his son.
But the moment Prince Warrior saw her, he fell back
with a loud cry: ''What do I see?" said he. "Sire,"
said Long-Nails' mother,, boldly; "this is the Princess
Desired," (pointing to her wicked daughter,) with letters
and presents from the King and Queen.

The Prince, with his eyes still fixed upon Long-Nails,
who was as ugly as Desired was beautiful, cried in a loud
voice : "I am betrayed ; this is not the Princess Desired."
Then waving his hand, two of the soldiers seized upon
the false Princess and her mother, and locked them up
in one of the strong castles of the city. Prince Warrior
was so overcome by the shock, that he determined to
leave the court secretly ; and with no companion but his
faithful Silvertongue, spent the remainder of his life in-
exile. They left the court at once, and the next day
found themselves in a vast forest, where the Prince dis-
mounted, while Silvertongue went to look for food.

We must now return to the unhappy Fawn. Clove-
Flower, as you know, pursued her; and as soon as the
Fawn saw her, she ran up eagerly and caressed her, while
the tears flowed from her lovely eyes. Clove-Flower saw
at once that the Fawn was her dear mistress. Just then
the fairy Tulip, who had been at the birth of the Princess,
and pitied her sad condition, appeared on the scene.
Clove-Flower entreated the fairy to restore the Princess to

THE FA WN IN THE \VOOD. 9

her natural form. " I cannot do that" said she, but I can
soften her punishment. When night comes, she will
regain her form, until the morning ; when she must again
roam the fields and forests. Proceed by this path till you
come to a cottage where you can get food and shelter/'

They followed her directions, and soon found the
cottage, where a nice old woman gave them an inner
room, in which were two pretty beds. As soon as night
came, Desired ceased to be a Fawn ; and they lay down
in each others"arm$, and slept with many tears. But as
soon as it was daylight, the Princess became a Fawn
once more ; and at once left the cottage, and fled into the
woods. Meanwhile, Silvertongue had arrived at the
cottage, in search of food ; when the old woman not
only filled a basket for him, but offered them a shelter
for the night, which he accepted.

The Prince slept badly, and as soon as it was morning,
he also went out into the wood ; and after wandering about
sadly for a long time, began to feel weary, and lay down
under a tree to rest. He soon fell asleep, and began to
dream of the lost Princess. Just then the White Fawn
came to the same spot, and as she looked at the sleeping
Prince, (whom, of course, she knew at once from his
picture;) she could not help heaving a deep sigh of love
and despair! The Prince was awakened by the sound, and
springing up with surprise, fitted an arrow to his bow ;
and as the frightened Fawn flew swiftly away in the
wood, he let fly the arrow from the string ; which wounded
her slightly in the leg, and brought her panting and
bleeding to the ground.

The Prince soon came up, and when he saw the look

Prince Warrior Wounding the Fawn.

of fear and pain in her soft eyes, his heart was moved
to pity; and he was sorry for what he had done. He
caressed her tenderly, and gathering some herbs, bound

The Prince Captures the Fawn.

them around her leg; and then making her a soft bed
of leaves, he went to look for Silvertongue, to assist
him in getting the Fawn to the cottage. As soon as

12 THE FAWN IN THE WOOD.

the Prince was out of sight, Clove-Flower, who had
been looking for her mistress, came up in great distress,
and was trying to get the Fawn upon her feet, when the
Prince and Silvertongue returned, and claimed her as
their own. "My lord," said Clove-Flower, "this Fawn
belonged to me, before she did to you; and I would
sooner lose my life than her ;" and upon this, the Prince
at once gave her up to Clove-Flower, and assisted her in
carrying the Fawn to the cottage.

Silvertongue then told the Prince, that he had seen
Clove-Flower at the court of, and in attendance upon
Desired. The Prince was amazed, and to satisfy himself,
made a small hole in the wall, and looked through. It
was now after dark, and the Princess had regained her
form. She lay on the bed weeping sadly, and saying
with many sighs : " Alas ! must I become a Fawn again,
and see him whom I love, without being able to speak
to him." This was enough. They knocked gently at the
door, and in a moment the Prince was at the Princess'
feet, declaring his love and devotion. Just then the noise
of trumpets was heard without, and the King, who was
searching for his son, entered the cottage.

All this was brought about by the fairy Tulip. She was
the old woman, and the cottage was hers. The Princess was
carried to the court of Prince Warrior in a close carriage,
and kept in darkness until she reached the age of fifteen,
which was now close at hand. The marriage was then
celebrated with great splendor, and was rendered more
brilliant by the presence of the six fairies who had pre-
sided at her birth; and by the wedding of Silvertongue
and Clove-Flower, who were married at the same time.

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