The Twelve Dancing Princesses

THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES

I

Once upon a time there lived in the village of Montignies-sur-Roc a

little cow-boy, without either father or mother. His real name was

Michael, but he was always called the Star Gazer, because when he drove

his cows over the commons to seek for pasture, he went along with his

head in the air, gaping at nothing.

As he had a white skin, blue eyes, and hair that curled all over his

head, the village girls used to cry after him, ‘Well, Star Gazer, what

are you doing?’ and Michael would answer, ‘Oh, nothing,’ and go on his

way without even turning to look at them.

The fact was he thought them very ugly, with their sun-burnt necks,

their great red hands, their coarse petticoats and their wooden shoes.

He had heard that somewhere in the world there were girls whose necks

were white and whose hands were small, who were always dressed in the

finest silks and laces, and were called princesses, and while his

companions round the fire saw nothing in the flames but common everyday

fancies, he dreamed that he had the happiness to marry a princess.

II

One morning about the middle of August, just at mid-day when the sun

was hottest, Michael ate his dinner of a piece of dry bread, and went

to sleep under an oak. And while he slept he dreamt that there appeared

before him a beautiful lady, dressed in a robe of cloth of gold, who

said to him: ‘Go to the castle of Beloeil, and there you shall marry a

princess.’

That evening the little cow-boy, who had been thinking a great deal

about the advice of the lady in the golden dress, told his dream to the

farm people. But, as was natural, they only laughed at the Star Gazer.

The next day at the same hour he went to sleep again under the same

tree. The lady appeared to him a second time, and said: ‘Go to the

castle of Beloeil, and you shall marry a princess.’

In the evening Michael told his friends that he had dreamed the same

dream again, but they only laughed at him more than before. ‘Never

mind,’ he thought to himself; ‘if the lady appears to me a third time,

I will do as she tells me.’

The following day, to the great astonishment of all the village, about

two o’clock in the afternoon a voice was heard singing:

‘Raleô, raleô,

How the cattle go!’

It was the little cow-boy driving his herd back to the byre.

The farmer began to scold him furiously, but he answered quietly, ‘I am

going away,’ made his clothes into a bundle, said good-bye to all his

friends, and boldly set out to seek his fortunes.

There was great excitement through all the village, and on the top of

the hill the people stood holding their sides with laughing, as they

watched the Star Gazer trudging bravely along the valley with his

bundle at the end of his stick.

It was enough to make anyone laugh, certainly.

III

It was well known for full twenty miles round that there lived in the

castle of Beloeil twelve princesses of wonderful beauty, and as proud

as they were beautiful, and who were besides so very sensitive and of

such truly royal blood, that they would have felt at once the presence

of a pea in their beds, even if the mattresses had been laid over it.

It was whispered about that they led exactly the lives that princesses

ought to lead, sleeping far into the morning, and never getting up till

mid-day. They had twelve beds all in the same room, but what was very

extraordinary was the fact that though they were locked in by triple

bolts, every morning their satin shoes were found worn into holes.

When they were asked what they had been doing all night, they always

answered that they had been asleep; and, indeed, no noise was ever

heard in the room, yet the shoes could not wear themselves out alone!

At last the Duke of Beloeil ordered the trumpet to be sounded, and a

proclamation to be made that whoever could discover how his daughters

wore out their shoes should choose one of them for his wife.

On hearing the proclamation a number of princes arrived at the castle

to try their luck. They watched all night behind the open door of the

princesses, but when the morning came they had all disappeared, and no

one could tell what had become of them.

IV

When he reached the castle, Michael went straight to the gardener and

offered his services. Now it happened that the garden boy had just been

sent away, and though the Star Gazer did not look very sturdy, the

gardener agreed to take him, as he thought that his pretty face and

golden curls would please the princesses.

The first thing he was told was that when the princesses got up he was

to present each one with a bouquet, and Michael thought that if he had

nothing more unpleasant to do than that he should get on very well.

Accordingly he placed himself behind the door of the princesses’ room,

with the twelve bouquets in a basket. He gave one to each of the

sisters, and they took them without even deigning to look at the lad,

except Lina the youngest, who fixed her large black eyes as soft as

velvet on him, and exclaimed, ‘Oh, how pretty he is—our new flower

boy!’ The rest all burst out laughing, and the eldest pointed out that

a princess ought never to lower herself by looking at a garden boy.

Now Michael knew quite well what had happened to all the princes, but

notwithstanding, the beautiful eyes of the Princess Lina inspired him

with a violent longing to try his fate. Unhappily he did not dare to

come forward, being afraid that he should only be jeered at, or even

turned away from the castle on account of his impudence.

V

Nevertheless, the Star Gazer had another dream. The lady in the golden

dress appeared to him once more, holding in one hand two young laurel

trees, a cherry laurel and a rose laurel, and in the other hand a

little golden rake, a little golden bucket, and a silken towel. She

thus addressed him:

‘Plant these two laurels in two large pots, rake them over with the

rake, water them with the bucket, and wipe them with the towel. When

they have grown as tall as a girl of fifteen, say to each of them, ‘’My

beautiful laurel, with the golden rake I have raked you, with the

golden bucket I have watered you, with the silken towel I have wiped

you.‘’ Then after that ask anything you choose, and the laurels will

give it to you.’

Michael thanked the lady in the golden dress, and when he woke he found

the two laurel bushes beside him. So he carefully obeyed the orders he

had been given by the lady.

The trees grew very fast, and when they were as tall as a girl of

fifteen he said to the cherry laurel, ‘My lovely cherry laurel, with

the golden rake I have raked thee, with the golden bucket I have

watered thee, with the silken towel I have wiped thee. Teach me how to

become invisible.’ Then there instantly appeared on the laurel a pretty

white flower, which Michael gathered and stuck into his button-hole.

VI

That evening, when the princesses went upstairs to bed, he followed

them barefoot, so that he might make no noise, and hid himself under

one of the twelve beds, so as not to take up much room.

The princesses began at once to open their wardrobes and boxes. They

took out of them the most magnificent dresses, which they put on before

their mirrors, and when they had finished, turned themselves all round

to admire their appearances.

Michael could see nothing from his hiding-place, but he could hear

everything, and he listened to the princesses laughing and jumping with

pleasure. At last the eldest said, ‘Be quick, my sisters, our partners

will be impatient.’ At the end of an hour, when the Star Gazer heard no

more noise, he peeped out and saw the twelve sisters in splendid

garments, with their satin shoes on their feet, and in their hands the

bouquets he had brought them.

‘Are you ready?’ asked the eldest.

‘Yes,’ replied the other eleven in chorus, and they took their places

one by one behind her.

Then the eldest Princess clapped her hands three times and a trap door

opened. All the princesses disappeared down a secret staircase, and

Michael hastily followed them.

As he was following on the steps of the Princess Lina, he carelessly

trod on her dress.

‘There is somebody behind me,’ cried the Princess; ‘they are holding my

dress.’

‘You foolish thing,’ said her eldest sister, ‘you are always afraid of

something. It is only a nail which caught you.’

VII

They went down, down, down, till at last they came to a passage with a

door at one end, which was only fastened with a latch. The eldest

Princess opened it, and they found themselves immediately in a lovely

little wood, where the leaves were spangled with drops of silver which

shone in the brilliant light of the moon.

They next crossed another wood where the leaves were sprinkled with

gold, and after that another still, where the leaves glittered with

diamonds.

At last the Star Gazer perceived a large lake, and on the shores of the

lake twelve little boats with awnings, in which were seated twelve

princes, who, grasping their oars, awaited the princesses.

Each princess entered one of the boats, and Michael slipped into that

which held the youngest. The boats glided along rapidly, but Lina’s,

from being heavier, was always behind the rest. ‘We never went so

slowly before,’ said the Princess; ‘what can be the reason?’

‘I don’t know,’ answered the Prince. ‘I assure you I am rowing as hard

as I can.’

On the other side of the lake the garden boy saw a beautiful castle

splendidly illuminated, whence came the lively music of fiddles,

kettle-drums, and trumpets.

In a moment they touched land, and the company jumped out of the boats;

and the princes, after having securely fastened their barques, gave

their arms to the princesses and conducted them to the castle.

VIII

Michael followed, and entered the ball-room in their train. Everywhere

were mirrors, lights, flowers, and damask hangings.

The Star Gazer was quite bewildered at the magnificence of the sight.

He placed himself out of the way in a corner, admiring the grace and

beauty of the princesses. Their loveliness was of every kind. Some were

fair and some were dark; some had chestnut hair, or curls darker still,

and some had golden locks. Never were so many beautiful princesses seen

together at one time, but the one whom the cow-boy thought the most

beautiful and the most fascinating was the little Princess with the

velvet eyes.

With what eagerness she danced! leaning on her partner’s shoulder she

swept by like a whirlwind. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkled, and

it was plain that she loved dancing better than anything else.

The poor boy envied those handsome young men with whom she danced so

gracefully, but he did not know how little reason he had to be jealous

of them.

The young men were really the princes who, to the number of fifty at

least, had tried to steal the princesses’ secret. The princesses had

made them drink something of a philtre, which froze the heart and left

nothing but the love of dancing.

IX

They danced on till the shoes of the princesses were worn into holes.

When the cock crowed the third time the fiddles stopped, and a

delicious supper was served by negro boys, consisting of sugared orange

flowers, crystallised rose leaves, powdered violets, cracknels, wafers,

and other dishes, which are, as everyone knows, the favourite food of

princesses.

After supper, the dancers all went back to their boats, and this time

the Star Gazer entered that of the eldest Princess. They crossed again

the wood with the diamond-spangled leaves, the wood with gold-sprinkled

leaves, and the wood whose leaves glittered with drops of silver, and

as a proof of what he had seen, the boy broke a small branch from a

tree in the last wood. Lina turned as she heard the noise made by the

breaking of the branch.

‘What was that noise?’ she said.

‘It was nothing,’ replied her eldest sister; ‘it was only the screech

of the barn-owl that roosts in one of the turrets of the castle.’

While she was speaking Michael managed to slip in front, and running up

the staircase, he reached the princesses’ room first. He flung open the

window, and sliding down the vine which climbed up the wall, found

himself in the garden just as the sun was beginning to rise, and it was

time for him to set to his work.

X

That day, when he made up the bouquets, Michael hid the branch with the

silver drops in the nosegay intended for the youngest Princess.

When Lina discovered it she was much surprised. However, she said

nothing to her sisters, but as she met the boy by accident while she

was walking under the shade of the elms, she suddenly stopped as if to

speak to him; then, altering her mind, went on her way.

The same evening the twelve sisters went again to the ball, and the

Star Gazer again followed them and crossed the lake in Lina’s boat.

This time it was the Prince who complained that the boat seemed very

heavy.

‘It is the heat,’ replied the Princess. ‘I, too, have been feeling very

warm.’

During the ball she looked everywhere for the gardener’s boy, but she

never saw him.

As they came back, Michael gathered a branch from the wood with the

gold-spangled leaves, and now it was the eldest Princess who heard the

noise that it made in breaking.

‘It is nothing,’ said Lina; ‘only the cry of the owl which roosts in

the turrets of the castle.’

XI

As soon as she got up she found the branch in her bouquet. When the

sisters went down she stayed a little behind and said to the cow-boy:

‘Where does this branch come from?’

‘Your Royal Highness knows well enough,’ answered Michael.

‘So you have followed us?’

‘Yes, Princess.’

‘How did you manage it? we never saw you.’

‘I hid myself,’ replied the Star Gazer quietly.

The Princess was silent a moment, and then said:

‘You know our secret!—keep it. Here is the reward of your discretion.’

And she flung the boy a purse of gold.

‘I do not sell my silence,’ answered Michael, and he went away without

picking up the purse.

For three nights Lina neither saw nor heard anything extraordinary; on

the fourth she heard a rustling among the diamond-spangled leaves of

the wood. That day there was a branch of the trees in her bouquet.

She took the Star Gazer aside, and said to him in a harsh voice:

‘You know what price my father has promised to pay for our secret?’

‘I know, Princess,’ answered Michael.

‘Don’t you mean to tell him?’

‘That is not my intention.’

‘Are you afraid?’

‘No, Princess.’

‘What makes you so discreet, then?’

But Michael was silent.

XII

Lina’s sisters had seen her talking to the little garden boy, and

jeered at her for it.

‘What prevents your marrying him?’ asked the eldest, ‘you would become

a gardener too; it is a charming profession. You could live in a

cottage at the end of the park, and help your husband to draw up water

from the well, and when we get up you could bring us our bouquets.’

The Princess Lina was very angry, and when the Star Gazer presented her

bouquet, she received it in a disdainful manner.

Michael behaved most respectfully. He never raised his eyes to her, but

nearly all day she felt him at her side without ever seeing him.

One day she made up her mind to tell everything to her eldest sister.

‘What!’ said she, ‘this rogue knows our secret, and you never told me!

I must lose no time in getting rid of him.’

‘But how?’

‘Why, by having him taken to the tower with the dungeons, of course.’

For this was the way that in old times beautiful princesses got rid of

people who knew too much.

But the astonishing part of it was that the youngest sister did not

seem at all to relish this method of stopping the mouth of the

gardener’s boy, who, after all, had said nothing to their father.

XIII

It was agreed that the question should be submitted to the other ten

sisters. All were on the side of the eldest. Then the youngest sister

declared that if they laid a finger on the little garden boy, she would

herself go and tell their father the secret of the holes in their

shoes.

At last it was decided that Michael should be put to the test; that

they would take him to the ball, and at the end of supper would give

him the philtre which was to enchant him like the rest.

They sent for the Star Gazer, and asked him how he had contrived to

learn their secret; but still he remained silent.

Then, in commanding tones, the eldest sister gave him the order they

had agreed upon.

He only answered:

‘I will obey.’

He had really been present, invisible, at the council of princesses,

and had heard all; but he had made up his mind to drink of the philtre,

and sacrifice himself to the happiness of her he loved.

Not wishing, however, to cut a poor figure at the ball by the side of

the other dancers, he went at once to the laurels, and said:

‘My lovely rose laurel, with the golden rake I have raked thee, with

the golden bucket I have watered thee, with a silken towel I have dried

thee. Dress me like a prince.’

A beautiful pink flower appeared. Michael gathered it, and found

himself in a moment clothed in velvet, which was as black as the eyes

of the little Princess, with a cap to match, a diamond aigrette, and a

blossom of the rose laurel in his button-hole.

Thus dressed, he presented himself that evening before the Duke of

Beloeil, and obtained leave to try and discover his daughters’ secret.

He looked so distinguished that hardly anyone would have known who he

was.

XIV

The twelve princesses went upstairs to bed. Michael followed them, and

waited behind the open door till they gave the signal for departure.

This time he did not cross in Lina’s boat. He gave his arm to the

eldest sister, danced with each in turn, and was so graceful that

everyone was delighted with him. At last the time came for him to dance

with the little Princess. She found him the best partner in the world,

but he did not dare to speak a single word to her.

When he was taking her back to her place she said to him in a mocking

voice:

‘Here you are at the summit of your wishes: you are being treated like

a prince.’

‘Don’t be afraid,’ replied the Star Gazer gently. ‘You shall never be a

gardener’s wife.’

The little Princess stared at him with a frightened face, and he left

her without waiting for an answer.

When the satin slippers were worn through the fiddles stopped, and the

negro boys set the table. Michael was placed next to the eldest sister,

and opposite to the youngest.

They gave him the most exquisite dishes to eat, and the most delicate

wines to drink; and in order to turn his head more completely,

compliments and flattery were heaped on him from every side.

But he took care not to be intoxicated, either by the wine or the

compliments.

XV

At last the eldest sister made a sign, and one of the black pages

brought in a large golden cup.

‘The enchanted castle has no more secrets for you,’ she said to the

Star Gazer. ‘Let us drink to your triumph.’

He cast a lingering glance at the little Princess, and without

hesitation lifted the cup.

‘Don’t drink!’ suddenly cried out the little Princess; ‘I would rather

marry a gardener.’

And she burst into tears.

Michael flung the contents of the cup behind him, sprang over the

table, and fell at Lina’s feet. The rest of the princes fell likewise

at the knees of the princesses, each of whom chose a husband and raised

him to her side. The charm was broken.

The twelve couples embarked in the boats, which crossed back many times

in order to carry over the other princes. Then they all went through

the three woods, and when they had passed the door of the underground

passage a great noise was heard, as if the enchanted castle was

crumbling to the earth.

They went straight to the room of the Duke of Beloeil, who had just

awoke. Michael held in his hand the golden cup, and he revealed the

secret of the holes in the shoes.

‘Choose, then,’ said the Duke, ‘whichever you prefer.’

‘My choice is already made,’ replied the garden boy, and he offered his

hand to the youngest Princess, who blushed and lowered her eyes.

XVI

The Princess Lina did not become a gardener’s wife; on the contrary, it

was the Star Gazer who became a Prince: but before the marriage

ceremony the Princess insisted that her lover should tell her how he

came to discover the secret.

So he showed her the two laurels which had helped him, and she, like a

prudent girl, thinking they gave him too much advantage over his wife,

cut them off at the root and threw them in the fire. And this is why

the country girls go about singing:

Nous n’irons plus au bois,

Les lauriers sont coupés,

and dancing in summer by the light of the moon.