Prince Fickle and Fair Helena

PRINCE FICKLE AND FAIR HELENA

(FROM THE GERMAN)

There was once upon a time a beautiful girl called Helena. Her own

mother had died when she was quite a child, and her stepmother was as

cruel and unkind to her as she could be. Helena did all she could to

gain her love, and performed the heavy work given her to do cheerfully

and well; but her stepmother's heart wasn't in the least touched, and

the more the poor girl did the more she asked her to do.

One day she gave Helena twelve pounds of mixed feathers and bade her

separate them all before evening, threatening her with a heavy

punishment if she failed to do so.

The poor child sat down to her task with her eyes so full of tears that

she could hardly see to begin. And when she had made one little heap of

feathers, she sighed so deeply that they all blew apart again. And so it

went on, and the poor girl grew more and more miserable. She bowed her

head in her hands and cried, 'Is there no one under heaven who will take

pity on me?'

Suddenly a soft voice replied, 'Be comforted, my child: I have come to

help you.'

Terrified to death, Helena looked up and saw a Fairy standing in front

of her, who asked in the kindest way possible, 'Why are you crying, my

dear?'

Helena, who for long had heard no friendly voice, confided her sad tale

of woe to the Fairy, and told her what the new task she had been given

to do was, and how she despaired of ever accomplishing it.

'Don't worry yourself about it any more,' said the kind Fairy; 'lie down

and go to sleep, and I'll see that your work is done all right.' So

Helena lay down, and when she awoke all the feathers were sorted into

little bundles; but when she turned to thank the good Fairy she had

vanished.

In the evening her stepmother returned and was much amazed to find

Helena sitting quietly with her work all finished before her.

[Illustration]

She praised her diligence, but at the same time racked her brain as to

what harder task she could set her to do.

The next day she told Helena to empty a pond near the house with a spoon

which was full of holes. Helena set to work at once, but she very soon

found that what her stepmother had told her to do was an impossibility.

Full of despair and misery, she was in the act of throwing the spoon

away, when suddenly the kind Fairy stood before her again, and asked her

why she was so unhappy?

When Helena told her of her stepmother's new demand she said, 'Trust to

me and I will do your task for you. Lie down and have a sleep in the

meantime.'

Helena was comforted and lay down, and before you would have believed it

possible the Fairy roused her gently and told her the pond was empty.

Full of joy and gratitude, Helena hurried to her stepmother, hoping that

now at last her heart would be softened towards her. But the wicked

woman was furious at the frustration of her own evil designs, and only

thought of what harder thing she could set the girl to do.

Next morning she ordered her to build before evening a beautiful castle,

and to furnish it all from garret to basement. Helena sat down on the

rocks which had been pointed out to her as the site of the castle,

feeling very depressed, but at the same time with the lurking hope that

the kind Fairy would come once more to her aid.

And so it turned out. The Fairy appeared, promised to build the castle,

and told Helena to lie down and go to sleep in the meantime. At the word

of the Fairy the rocks and stones rose and built themselves into a

beautiful castle, and before sunset it was all furnished inside, and

left nothing to be desired. You may think how grateful Helena was when

she awoke and found her task all finished.

But her stepmother was anything but pleased, and went through the whole

castle from top to bottom, to see if she couldn't find some fault for

which she could punish Helena. At last she went down into one of the

cellars, but it was so dark that she fell down the steep stairs and was

killed on the spot.

So Helena was now mistress of the beautiful castle, and lived there in

peace and happiness. And soon the noise of her beauty spread abroad, and

many wooers came to try and gain her hand.

Among them came one Prince Fickle by name, who very quickly won the love

of fair Helena. One day, as they were sitting happily together under a

lime-tree in front of the castle, Prince Fickle broke the sad news to

Helena that he must return to his parents to get their consent to his

marriage. He promised faithfully to come back to her as soon as he

could, and begged her to await his return under the lime-tree where they

had spent so many happy hours.

Helena kissed him tenderly at parting on his left cheek, and begged him

not to let anyone else kiss him there while they were parted, and she

promised to sit and wait for him under the lime-tree, for she never

doubted that the Prince would be faithful to her and would return as

quickly as he could.

And so she sat for three days and three nights under the tree without

moving. But when her lover never returned, she grew very unhappy, and

determined to set out to look for him. She took as many of her jewels as

she could carry, and three of her most beautiful dresses, one

embroidered with stars, one with moons, and the third with suns, all of

pure gold. Far and wide she wandered through the world, but nowhere did

she find any trace of her bridegroom. At last she gave up the search in

despair. She could not bear to return to her own castle where she had

been so happy with her lover, but determined rather to endure her

loneliness and desolation in a strange land. She took a place as

herd-girl with a peasant, and buried her jewels and beautiful dresses in

a safe and hidden spot.

Every day she drove the cattle to pasture, and all the time she thought

of nothing but her faithless bridegroom. She was very devoted to a

certain little calf in the herd, and made a great pet of it, feeding it

out of her own hands. She taught it to kneel before her, and then she

whispered in its ear:

'Kneel, little calf, kneel;

Be faithful and leal,

Not like Prince Fickle,

Who once on a time

Left his fair Helena

Under the lime.'

After some years passed in this way, she heard that the daughter of the

king of the country she was living in was going to marry a Prince called

'Fickle.' Everybody rejoiced at the news except poor Helena, to whom it

was a fearful blow, for at the bottom of her heart she had always

believed her lover to be true.

Now it chanced that the way to the capital led right past the village

where Helena was, and often when she was leading her cattle forth to the

meadows Prince Fickle rode past her, without ever noticing the poor

herd-girl, so engrossed was he in thoughts of his new bride. Then it

occurred to Helena to put his heart to the test and to see if it weren't

possible to recall herself to him. So one day as Prince Fickle rode by

she said to her little calf:

'Kneel, little calf, kneel;

Be faithful and leal,

Not like Prince Fickle,

Who once on a time

Left his poor Helena

Under the lime.'

When Prince Fickle heard her voice it seemed to him to remind him of

something, but of what he couldn't remember, for he hadn't heard the

words distinctly, as Helena had only spoken them very low and with a

shaky voice. Helena herself had been far too moved to let her see what

impression her words had made on the Prince, and when she looked round

he was already far away. But she noticed how slowly he was riding, and

how deeply sunk he was in thought, so she didn't quite give herself up

as lost.

[Illustration]

In honour of the approaching wedding a feast lasting many nights was to

be given in the capital. Helena placed all her hopes on this, and

determined to go to the feast and there to seek out her bridegroom.

When evening drew near she stole out of the peasant's cottage secretly,

and, going to her hiding-place, she put on her dress embroidered with

the gold suns, and all her jewels, and loosed her beautiful golden hair,

which up to now she had always worn under a kerchief, and, adorned thus,

she set out for the town.

When she entered the ball-room all eyes were turned on her, and everyone

marvelled at her beauty, but no one knew who she was. Prince Fickle,

too, was quite dazzled by the charms of the beautiful maiden, and never

guessed that she had once been his own lady-love. He never left her side

all night, and it was with great difficulty that Helena escaped from him

in the crowd when it was time to return home. Prince Fickle searched for

her everywhere, and longed eagerly for the next night, when the

beautiful lady had promised to come again.

The following evening the fair Helena started early for the feast.

This time she wore her dress embroidered with silver moons, and in her

hair she placed a silver crescent. Prince Fickle was enchanted to see

her again, and she seemed to him even more beautiful than she had been

the night before. He never left her side, and refused to dance with

anyone else. He begged her to tell him who she was, but this she refused

to do. Then he implored her to return again next evening, and this she

promised him she would.

On the third evening Prince Fickle was so impatient to see his fair

enchantress again, that he arrived at the feast hours before it began,

and never took his eyes from the door. At last Helena arrived in a dress

all covered with gold and silver stars, and with a girdle of stars round

her waist, and a band of stars in her hair. Prince Fickle was more in

love with her than ever, and begged her once again to tell him her name.

Then Helena kissed him silently on the left cheek, and in one moment

Prince Fickle recognised his old love. Full of remorse and sorrow, he

begged for her forgiveness, and Helena, only too pleased to have got him

back again, did not, you may be sure, keep him waiting very long for her

pardon, and so they were married and returned to Helena's castle, where

they are no doubt still sitting happily together under the lime-tree.

Kletke.