ambition, took command of him and of his followers, conducted them up the Danube, seized a principality whose lord had gone crusading, set her husband on the throne, and became in course of time the mother of a little prince, who, again, was great, great, great, great-grandfather of our Prince Prigio.
From this adventurous Lady Dragonissa, Prince Prigio derived his character for gallantry. But her husband, it is said, was often heard to remark, by a slight change of his family motto:
"
Anything for a Quiet Wife!
"
You now know as much as the Author does of the early history of Pantouflia.
As to the story called
The Gold of Fairnilee
, such adventures were extremely common in Scotland long ago, as may be read in many of the works of Sir Walter Scott and of the learned in general. Indeed, Fairnilee is the very place where the fairy queen appointed to meet her lover, Thomas the Rhymer.
With these explanations, the Author leaves to the judgment of young readers his
Own Fairy Book
.
----
PRINCE PRIGIO
By Andrew Lang
Adorned by Gordon Browne, T. Scott, and E. A. Lemann.
IS
Dedicated
TO
ALMA, THYRA, EDITH, ROSALIND, NORNA, CECILY, AND VIOLET
----
PREFACE.
In compiling the following History from the Archives of Pantouflia, the Editor has incurred several obligations to the Learned. The Return of Benson (chapter xii.) is the fruit of the research of the late Mr. Allen Quatermain, while the final
wish
of Prince Prigio was suggested by the invention or erudition of a Lady.
A study of the
Firedrake
in South Africa, where he is called the
Nanaboulélé
, a difficult word-has been published in French (translated from the Basuto language) by M. Paul Sébillot, in the
Revue des Traditione Populaires
. For the
Rémora
, the Editor is indebted to the
Voyage à la Lune
of M. Cyrano de Bergérac.
[Illustration: Chapter One]
CHAPTER I.
--
How the Fairies were not Invited to Court
ONCE upon a time there reigned in Pantouflia a king and a queen. With almost everything else to make them happy, they wanted one thing: they had no children. This vexed the king even more than the queen, who was very clever and learned, and who had hated dolls when she was a child. However, she too, in spite of all the books she read and all the pictures she painted, would have been glad enough to be the mother of a little prince. The king was anxious to consult the fairies, but the queen would not hear of such a thing. She did not believe in fairies: she said that they had never existed; and that she maintained, though
The History of the Royal Family
was full of chapters about nothing else.
Well, at long and at last they had a little boy, who was generally regarded as the finest baby that had ever been seen. Even her majesty herself remarked that, though she could never believe all the courtiers told her, yet he certainly was a fine child--a very fine child.
Now, the time drew near for the christening party, and the king and queen were sitting at breakfast in their summer parlour talking over it. It was a splendid room, hung with portraits of the royal ancestors. There was Cinderella, the grandmother of the reigning monarch, with her little foot in her glass slipper thrust out before her. There was the Marquis de Carabas, who, as everyone knows, was raised to the throne as prince consort after his marriage with the daughter of the king of the period. On the arm of the throne was seated his celebrated cat, wearing boots. There, too, was a portrait of a beautiful lady, sound asleep: this was Madame La Belle au Bois-dormant, also an ancestress of the royal family. Many other pictures of celebrated persons were hanging on the walls.
"You have asked all the right people, my dear?" said the king.
"Everyone who should be asked," answered the queen.
"People are so touchy on these occasions," said his majesty. "You have not forgotten any of our aunts?"
"No; the old cats!" replied the queen; for the king's aunts were old-fashioned, and did not approve of
From this adventurous Lady Dragonissa, Prince Prigio derived his character for gallantry. But her husband, it is said, was often heard to remark, by a slight change of his family motto:
"
Anything for a Quiet Wife!
"
You now know as much as the Author does of the early history of Pantouflia.
As to the story called
The Gold of Fairnilee
, such adventures were extremely common in Scotland long ago, as may be read in many of the works of Sir Walter Scott and of the learned in general. Indeed, Fairnilee is the very place where the fairy queen appointed to meet her lover, Thomas the Rhymer.
With these explanations, the Author leaves to the judgment of young readers his
Own Fairy Book
.
----
PRINCE PRIGIO
By Andrew Lang
Adorned by Gordon Browne, T. Scott, and E. A. Lemann.
IS
Dedicated
TO
ALMA, THYRA, EDITH, ROSALIND, NORNA, CECILY, AND VIOLET
----
PREFACE.
In compiling the following History from the Archives of Pantouflia, the Editor has incurred several obligations to the Learned. The Return of Benson (chapter xii.) is the fruit of the research of the late Mr. Allen Quatermain, while the final
wish
of Prince Prigio was suggested by the invention or erudition of a Lady.
A study of the
Firedrake
in South Africa, where he is called the
Nanaboulélé
, a difficult word-has been published in French (translated from the Basuto language) by M. Paul Sébillot, in the
Revue des Traditione Populaires
. For the
Rémora
, the Editor is indebted to the
Voyage à la Lune
of M. Cyrano de Bergérac.
[Illustration: Chapter One]
CHAPTER I.
--
How the Fairies were not Invited to Court
ONCE upon a time there reigned in Pantouflia a king and a queen. With almost everything else to make them happy, they wanted one thing: they had no children. This vexed the king even more than the queen, who was very clever and learned, and who had hated dolls when she was a child. However, she too, in spite of all the books she read and all the pictures she painted, would have been glad enough to be the mother of a little prince. The king was anxious to consult the fairies, but the queen would not hear of such a thing. She did not believe in fairies: she said that they had never existed; and that she maintained, though
The History of the Royal Family
was full of chapters about nothing else.
Well, at long and at last they had a little boy, who was generally regarded as the finest baby that had ever been seen. Even her majesty herself remarked that, though she could never believe all the courtiers told her, yet he certainly was a fine child--a very fine child.
Now, the time drew near for the christening party, and the king and queen were sitting at breakfast in their summer parlour talking over it. It was a splendid room, hung with portraits of the royal ancestors. There was Cinderella, the grandmother of the reigning monarch, with her little foot in her glass slipper thrust out before her. There was the Marquis de Carabas, who, as everyone knows, was raised to the throne as prince consort after his marriage with the daughter of the king of the period. On the arm of the throne was seated his celebrated cat, wearing boots. There, too, was a portrait of a beautiful lady, sound asleep: this was Madame La Belle au Bois-dormant, also an ancestress of the royal family. Many other pictures of celebrated persons were hanging on the walls.
"You have asked all the right people, my dear?" said the king.
"Everyone who should be asked," answered the queen.
"People are so touchy on these occasions," said his majesty. "You have not forgotten any of our aunts?"
"No; the old cats!" replied the queen; for the king's aunts were old-fashioned, and did not approve of
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