The Story of Pretty Goldilocks

THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS

Once upon a time there was a princess who was the prettiest creature in

the world. And because she was so beautiful, and because her hair was

like the finest gold, and waved and rippled nearly to the ground, she

was called Pretty Goldilocks. She always wore a crown of flowers, and

her dresses were embroidered with diamonds and pearls, and everybody who

saw her fell in love with her.

Now one of her neighbors was a young king who was not married. He was

very rich and handsome, and when he heard all that was said about Pretty

Goldilocks, though he had never seen her, he fell so deeply in love

with her that he could neither eat nor drink. So he resolved to send an

ambassador to ask her in marriage. He had a splendid carriage made for

his ambassador, and gave him more than a hundred horses and a hundred

servants, and told him to be sure and bring the Princess back with him.

After he had started nothing else was talked of at Court, and the King

felt so sure that the Princess would consent that he set his people to

work at pretty dresses and splendid furniture, that they might be

ready by the time she came. Meanwhile, the ambassador arrived at the

Princess’s palace and delivered his little message, but whether she

happened to be cross that day, or whether the compliment did not please

her, is not known. She only answered that she was very much obliged

to the King, but she had no wish to be married. The ambassador set off

sadly on his homeward way, bringing all the King’s presents back with

him, for the Princess was too well brought up to accept the pearls

and diamonds when she would not accept the King, so she had only kept

twenty-five English pins that he might not be vexed.

When the ambassador reached the city, where the King was waiting

impatiently, everybody was very much annoyed with him for not bringing

the Princess, and the King cried like a baby, and nobody could console

him. Now there was at the Court a young man, who was more clever and

handsome than anyone else. He was called Charming, and everyone loved

him, excepting a few envious people who were angry at his being the

King’s favorite and knowing all the State secrets. He happened to one

day be with some people who were speaking of the ambassador’s return

and saying that his going to the Princess had not done much good, when

Charming said rashly:

“If the King had sent me to the Princess Goldilocks I am sure she would

have come back with me.”

His enemies at once went to the King and said:

“You will hardly believe, sire, what Charming has the audacity to

say--that if he had been sent to the Princess Goldilocks she would

certainly have come back with him. He seems to think that he is so much

handsomer than you that the Princess would have fallen in love with him

and followed him willingly.” The King was very angry when he heard this.

“Ha, ha!” said he; “does he laugh at my unhappiness, and think himself

more fascinating than I am? Go, and let him be shut up in my great tower

to die of hunger.”

So the King’s guards went to fetch Charming, who had thought no more of

his rash speech, and carried him off to prison with great cruelty. The

poor prisoner had only a little straw for his bed, and but for a little

stream of water which flowed through the tower he would have died of

thirst.

One day when he was in despair he said to himself:

“How can I have offended the King? I am his most faithful subject, and

have done nothing against him.”

The King chanced to be passing the tower and recognized the voice of his

former favorite. He stopped to listen in spite of Charming’s enemies,

who tried to persuade him to have nothing more to do with the traitor.

But the King said:

“Be quiet, I wish to hear what he says.”

And then he opened the tower door and called to Charming, who came very

sadly and kissed the King’s hand, saying:

“What have I done, sire, to deserve this cruel treatment?”

“You mocked me and my ambassador,” said the King, “and you said that

if I had sent you for the Princess Goldilocks you would certainly have

brought her back.”

“It is quite true, sire,” replied Charming; “I should have drawn such a

picture of you, and represented your good qualities in such a way,

that I am certain the Princess would have found you irresistible. But I

cannot see what there is in that to make you angry.”

The King could not see any cause for anger either when the matter was

presented to him in this light, and he began to frown very fiercely at

the courtiers who had so misrepresented his favorite.

So he took Charming back to the palace with him, and after seeing that

he had a very good supper he said to him:

“You know that I love Pretty Goldilocks as much as ever, her refusal has

not made any difference to me; but I don’t know how to make her change

her mind; I really should like to send you, to see if you can persuade

her to marry me.”

Charming replied that he was perfectly willing to go, and would set out

the very next day.

“But you must wait till I can get a grand escort for you,” said the

King. But Charming said that he only wanted a good horse to ride, and

the King, who was delighted at his being ready to start so promptly,

gave him letters to the Princess, and bade him good speed. It was on a

Monday morning that he set out all alone upon his errand, thinking of

nothing but how he could persuade the Princess Goldilocks to marry

the King. He had a writing-book in his pocket, and whenever any happy

thought struck him he dismounted from his horse and sat down under

the trees to put it into the harangue which he was preparing for the

Princess, before he forgot it.

One day when he had started at the very earliest dawn, and was riding

over a great meadow, he suddenly had a capital idea, and, springing from

his horse, he sat down under a willow tree which grew by a little river.

When he had written it down he was looking round him, pleased to find

himself in such a pretty place, when all at once he saw a great golden

carp lying gasping and exhausted upon the grass. In leaping after little

flies she had thrown herself high upon the bank, where she had lain till

she was nearly dead. Charming had pity upon her, and, though he couldn’t

help thinking that she would have been very nice for dinner, he picked

her up gently and put her back into the water. As soon as Dame Carp

felt the refreshing coolness of the water she sank down joyfully to the

bottom of the river, then, swimming up to the bank quite boldly, she

said:

“I thank you, Charming, for the kindness you have done me. You have

saved my life; one day I will repay you.” So saying, she sank down into

the water again, leaving Charming greatly astonished at her politeness.

Another day, as he journeyed on, he saw a raven in great distress. The

poor bird was closely pursued by an eagle, which would soon have eaten

it up, had not Charming quickly fitted an arrow to his bow and shot the

eagle dead. The raven perched upon a tree very joyfully.

“Charming,” said he, “it was very generous of you to rescue a poor

raven; I am not ungrateful, some day I will repay you.”

Charming thought it was very nice of the raven to say so, and went on

his way.

Before the sun rose he found himself in a thick wood where it was too

dark for him to see his path, and here he heard an owl crying as if it

were in despair.

“Hark!” said he, “that must be an owl in great trouble, I am sure it has

gone into a snare”; and he began to hunt about, and presently found a

great net which some bird-catchers had spread the night before.

“What a pity it is that men do nothing but torment and persecute poor

creatures which never do them any harm!” said he, and he took out his

knife and cut the cords of the net, and the owl flitted away into the

darkness, but then turning, with one flicker of her wings, she came back

to Charming and said:

“It does not need many words to tell you how great a service you have

done me. I was caught; in a few minutes the fowlers would have been

here--without your help I should have been killed. I am grateful, and

one day I will repay you.”

These three adventures were the only ones of any consequence that befell

Charming upon his journey, and he made all the haste he could to reach

the palace of the Princess Goldilocks.

When he arrived he thought everything he saw delightful and magnificent.

Diamonds were as plentiful as pebbles, and the gold and silver, the

beautiful dresses, the sweetmeats and pretty things that were everywhere

quite amazed him; he thought to himself: “If the Princess consents to

leave all this, and come with me to marry the King, he may think himself

lucky!”

Then he dressed himself carefully in rich brocade, with scarlet and

white plumes, and threw a splendid embroidered scarf over his shoulder,

and, looking as gay and as graceful as possible, he presented himself at

the door of the palace, carrying in his arm a tiny pretty dog which

he had bought on the way. The guards saluted him respectfully, and a

messenger was sent to the Princess to announce the arrival of Charming

as ambassador of her neighbor the King.

“Charming,” said the Princess, “the name promises well; I have no doubt

that he is good looking and fascinates everybody.”

“Indeed he does, madam,” said all her maids of honor in one breath. “We

saw him from the window of the garret where we were spinning flax, and

we could do nothing but look at him as long as he was in sight.”

“Well to be sure,” said the Princess, “that’s how you amuse yourselves,

is it? Looking at strangers out of the window! Be quick and give me my

blue satin embroidered dress, and comb out my golden hair. Let somebody

make me fresh garlands of flowers, and give me my high-heeled shoes and

my fan, and tell them to sweep my great hall and my throne, for I want

everyone to say I am really ‘Pretty Goldilocks.’”

You can imagine how all her maids scurried this way and that to make the

Princess ready, and how in their haste they knocked their heads together

and hindered each other, till she thought they would never have done.

However, at last they led her into the gallery of mirrors that she might

assure herself that nothing was lacking in her appearance, and then

she mounted her throne of gold, ebony, and ivory, while her ladies took

their guitars and began to sing softly. Then Charming was led in, and

was so struck with astonishment and admiration that at first not a word

could he say. But presently he took courage and delivered his harangue,

bravely ending by begging the Princess to spare him the disappointment

of going back without her.

“Sir Charming,” answered she, “all the reasons you have given me are

very good ones, and I assure you that I should have more pleasure in

obliging you than anyone else, but you must know that a month ago as I

was walking by the river with my ladies I took off my glove, and as I

did so a ring that I was wearing slipped off my finger and rolled into

the water. As I valued it more than my kingdom, you may imagine how

vexed I was at losing it, and I vowed to never listen to any proposal of

marriage unless the ambassador first brought me back my ring. So now

you know what is expected of you, for if you talked for fifteen days and

fifteen nights you could not make me change my mind.”

Charming was very much surprised by this answer, but he bowed low to the

Princess, and begged her to accept the embroidered scarf and the tiny

dog he had brought with him. But she answered that she did not want any

presents, and that he was to remember what she had just told him. When

he got back to his lodging he went to bed without eating any supper, and

his little dog, who was called Frisk, couldn’t eat any either, but came

and lay down close to him. All night Charming sighed and lamented.

“How am I to find a ring that fell into the river a month ago?” said

he. “It is useless to try; the Princess must have told me to do it on

purpose, knowing it was impossible.” And then he sighed again.

Frisk heard him and said:

“My dear master, don’t despair; the luck may change, you are too good

not to be happy. Let us go down to the river as soon as it is light.”

But Charming only gave him two little pats and said nothing, and very

soon he fell asleep.

At the first glimmer of dawn Frisk began to jump about, and when he had

waked Charming they went out together, first into the garden, and then

down to the river’s brink, where they wandered up and down. Charming was

thinking sadly of having to go back unsuccessful when he heard someone

calling: “Charming, Charming!” He looked all about him and thought he

must be dreaming, as he could not see anybody. Then he walked on and the

voice called again: “Charming, Charming!”

“Who calls me?” said he. Frisk, who was very small and could look

closely into the water, cried out: “I see a golden carp coming.” And

sure enough there was the great carp, who said to Charming:

“You saved my life in the meadow by the willow tree, and I promised that

I would repay you. Take this, it is Princess Goldilock’s ring.” Charming

took the ring out of Dame Carp’s mouth, thanking her a thousand times,

and he and tiny Frisk went straight to the palace, where someone told

the Princess that he was asking to see her.

“Ah! poor fellow,” said she, “he must have come to say good-by, finding

it impossible to do as I asked.”

So in came Charming, who presented her with the ring and said:

“Madam, I have done your bidding. Will it please you to marry my

master?” When the Princess saw her ring brought back to her unhurt she

was so astonished that she thought she must be dreaming.

“Truly, Charming,” said she, “you must be the favorite of some fairy, or

you could never have found it.”

“Madam,” answered he, “I was helped by nothing but my desire to obey

your wishes.”

“Since you are so kind,” said she, “perhaps you will do me another

service, for till it is done I will never be married. There is a prince

not far from here whose name is Galifron, who once wanted to marry me,

but when I refused he uttered the most terrible threats against me, and

vowed that he would lay waste my country. But what could I do? I could

not marry a frightful giant as tall as a tower, who eats up people as

a monkey eats chestnuts, and who talks so loud that anybody who has to

listen to him becomes quite deaf. Nevertheless, he does not cease to

persecute me and to kill my subjects. So before I can listen to your

proposal you must kill him and bring me his head.”

Charming was rather dismayed at this command, but he answered:

“Very well, Princess, I will fight this Galifron; I believe that he will

kill me, but at any rate I shall die in your defense.”

Then the Princess was frightened and said everything she could think of

to prevent Charming from fighting the giant, but it was of no use, and

he went out to arm himself suitably, and then, taking little Frisk with

him, he mounted his horse and set out for Galifron’s country. Everyone

he met told him what a terrible giant Galifron was, and that nobody

dared go near him; and the more he heard, the more frightened he grew.

Frisk tried to encourage him by saying: “While you are fighting the

giant, dear master, I will go and bite his heels, and when he stoops

down to look at me you can kill him.”

Charming praised his little dog’s plan, but knew that this help would

not do much good.

At last he drew near the giant’s castle, and saw to his horror that

every path that led to it was strewn with bones. Before long he saw

Galifron coming. His head was higher than the tallest trees, and he sang

in a terrible voice:

“Bring out your little boys and girls,

Pray do not stay to do their curls,

For I shall eat so very many,

I shall not know if they have any.”

Thereupon Charming sang out as loud as he could to the same tune:

“Come out and meet the valiant Charming

Who finds you not at all alarming;

Although he is not very tall,

He’s big enough to make you fall.”

The rhymes were not very correct, but you see he had made them up so

quickly that it is a miracle that they were not worse; especially as he

was horribly frightened all the time. When Galifron heard these words he

looked all about him, and saw Charming standing, sword in hand this put

the giant into a terrible rage, and he aimed a blow at Charming with his

huge iron club, which would certainly have killed him if it had reached

him, but at that instant a raven perched upon the giant’s head, and,

pecking with its strong beak and beating with its great wings so

confused and blinded him that all his blows fell harmlessly upon the

air, and Charming, rushing in, gave him several strokes with his sharp

sword so that he fell to the ground. Whereupon Charming cut off his head

before he knew anything about it, and the raven from a tree close by

croaked out:

“You see I have not forgotten the good turn you did me in killing the

eagle. To-day I think I have fulfilled my promise of repaying you.”

“Indeed, I owe you more gratitude than you ever owed me,” replied

Charming.

And then he mounted his horse and rode off with Galifron’s head.

When he reached the city the people ran after him in crowds, crying:

“Behold the brave Charming, who has killed the giant!” And their shouts

reached the Princess’s ear, but she dared not ask what was happening,

for fear she should hear that Charming had been killed. But very soon

he arrived at the palace with the giant’s head, of which she was still

terrified, though it could no longer do her any harm.

“Princess,” said Charming, “I have killed your enemy; I hope you will

now consent to marry the King my master.”

“Oh dear! no,” said the Princess, “not until you have brought me some

water from the Gloomy Cavern.

“Not far from here there is a deep cave, the entrance to which is

guarded by two dragons with fiery eyes, who will not allow anyone to

pass them. When you get into the cavern you will find an immense hole,

which you must go down, and it is full of toads and snakes; at the

bottom of this hole there is another little cave, in which rises the

Fountain of Health and Beauty. It is some of this water that I really

must have: everything it touches becomes wonderful. The beautiful things

will always remain beautiful, and the ugly things become lovely. If one

is young one never grows old, and if one is old one becomes young. You

see, Charming, I could not leave my kingdom without taking some of it

with me.”

“Princess,” said he, “you at least can never need this water, but I am

an unhappy ambassador, whose death you desire. Where you send me I will

go, though I know I shall never return.”

And, as the Princess Goldilocks showed no sign of relenting, he started

with his little dog for the Gloomy Cavern. Everyone he met on the way

said:

“What a pity that a handsome young man should throw away his life so

carelessly! He is going to the cavern alone, though if he had a

hundred men with him he could not succeed. Why does the Princess ask

impossibilities?” Charming said nothing, but he was very sad. When he

was near the top of a hill he dismounted to let his horse graze, while

Frisk amused himself by chasing flies. Charming knew he could not be far

from the Gloomy Cavern, and on looking about him he saw a black hideous

rock from which came a thick smoke, followed in a moment by one of the

dragons with fire blazing from his mouth and eyes. His body was yellow

and green, and his claws scarlet, and his tail was so long that it lay

in a hundred coils. Frisk was so terrified at the sight of it that he

did not know where to hide. Charming, quite determined to get the water

or die, now drew his sword, and, taking the crystal flask which Pretty

Goldilocks had given him to fill, said to Frisk:

“I feel sure that I shall never come back from this expedition; when I

am dead, go to the Princess and tell her that her errand has cost me

my life. Then find the King my master, and relate all my adventures to

him.”

As he spoke he heard a voice calling: “Charming, Charming!”

“Who calls me?” said he; then he saw an owl sitting in a hollow tree,

who said to him:

“You saved my life when I was caught in the net, now I can repay you.

Trust me with the flask, for I know all the ways of the Gloomy Cavern,

and can fill it from the Fountain of Beauty.” Charming was only too glad

to give her the flask, and she flitted into the cavern quite unnoticed

by the dragon, and after some time returned with the flask, filled to

the very brim with sparkling water. Charming thanked her with all his

heart, and joyfully hastened back to the town.

He went straight to the palace and gave the flask to the Princess, who

had no further objection to make. So she thanked Charming, and ordered

that preparations should be made for her departure, and they soon set

out together. The Princess found Charming such an agreeable companion

that she sometimes said to him: “Why didn’t we stay where we were? I

could have made you king, and we should have been so happy!”

But Charming only answered:

“I could not have done anything that would have vexed my master so

much, even for a kingdom, or to please you, though I think you are as

beautiful as the sun.”

At last they reached the King’s great city, and he came out to meet the

Princess, bringing magnificent presents, and the marriage was celebrated

with great rejoicings. But Goldilocks was so fond of Charming that she

could not be happy unless he was near her, and she was always singing

his praises.

“If it hadn’t been for Charming,” she said to the King, “I should never

have come here; you ought to be very much obliged to him, for he did the

most impossible things and got me water from the Fountain of Beauty, so

I can never grow old, and shall get prettier every year.”

Then Charming’s enemies said to the King:

“It is a wonder that you are not jealous, the Queen thinks there is

nobody in the world like Charming. As if anybody you had sent could not

have done just as much!”

“It is quite true, now I come to think of it,” said the King. “Let him

be chained hand and foot, and thrown into the tower.”

So they took Charming, and as a reward for having served the King so

faithfully he was shut up in the tower, where he only saw the jailer,

who brought him a piece of black bread and a pitcher of water every day.

However, little Frisk came to console him, and told him all the news.

When Pretty Goldilocks heard what had happened she threw herself at the

King’s feet and begged him to set Charming free, but the more she cried,

the more angry he was, and at last she saw that it was useless to say

any more; but it made her very sad. Then the King took it into his

head that perhaps he was not handsome enough to please the Princess

Goldilocks, and he thought he would bathe his face with the water

from the Fountain of Beauty, which was in the flask on a shelf in the

Princess’s room, where she had placed it that she might see it often.

Now it happened that one of the Princess’s ladies in chasing a spider

had knocked the flask off the shelf and broken it, and every drop of the

water had been spilt. Not knowing what to do, she had hastily swept away

the pieces of crystal, and then remembered that in the King’s room she

had seen a flask of exactly the same shape, also filled with sparkling

water. So, without saying a word, she fetched it and stood it upon the

Queen’s shelf.

Now the water in this flask was what was used in the kingdom for getting

rid of troublesome people. Instead of having their heads cut off in the

usual way, their faces were bathed with the water, and they instantly

fell asleep and never woke up any more. So, when the King, thinking

to improve his beauty, took the flask and sprinkled the water upon his

face, he fell asleep, and nobody could wake him.

Little Frisk was the first to hear the news, and he ran to tell

Charming, who sent him to beg the Princess not to forget the poor

prisoner. All the palace was in confusion on account of the King’s

death, but tiny Frisk made his way through the crowd to the Princess’s

side, and said:

“Madam, do not forget poor Charming.”

Then she remembered all he had done for her, and without saying a word

to anyone went straight to the tower, and with her own hands took off

Charming’s chains. Then, putting a golden crown upon his head, and the

royal mantle upon his shoulders, she said:

“Come, faithful Charming, I make you king, and will take you for my

husband.”

Charming, once more free and happy, fell at her feet and thanked her for

her gracious words.

Everybody was delighted that he should be king, and the wedding, which

took place at once, was the prettiest that can be imagined, and Prince

Charming and Princess Goldilocks lived happily ever after.(1)

(1) Madame d’Aulnoy.