The Fairy Book | Page 4

while he had never even heard of her till an
hour before. For a long time did they sit conversing, and yet had not
said half enough. Their only interruption was the little dog Puffy, who
had awakened with his mistress, and now began to be exceedingly
jealous that the princess did not notice him as much as she was wont to
do.
Meantime all the attendants, whose enchantment was also broken, not
being in love, were ready to die of hunger after their fast of a hundred
years. A lady of honour ventured to intimate that dinner was served;
whereupon the prince handed his beloved princess at once to the great
hall. She did not wait to dress for dinner, being already perfectly and
magnificently attired, though in a fashion somewhat out of date.
However, her lover had the politeness not to notice this, nor to remind
her that she was dressed exactly like her royal grandmother, whose
portrait still hung on the palace walls.
During the banquet a concert took place by the attendant musicians,
and considering they had not touched their instruments for a century
they played extremely well. They ended with a wedding march: for that
very evening the marriage of the prince and princess was celebrated,
and though the bride was nearly one hundred years older than the
bridegroom, it is remarkable that the fact would never have been
discovered by any one unacquainted therewith.
After a few days they went together out of the castle and enchanted
wood, both of which immediately vanished, and were never more
beheld by mortal eyes. The princess was restored to her ancestral
kingdom, but it was not generally declared who she was, as during a
hundred years people had grown so very much cleverer that nobody
then living would ever have believed the story. So nothing was
explained, and nobody presumed to ask any questions about her, for
ought not a prince be able to marry whomsoever he pleases?

Nor--whether or not the day of fairies was over--did the princess ever
see anything further of her seven godmothers. She lived a long and
happy life, like any other ordinary woman, and died at length, beloved,
regretted, but, the prince being already no more, perfectly contented.

HOP-O'-MY-THUMB.
There once lived in a village a faggot-maker and his wife, who had
seven children, all boys; the eldest was no more than ten years old, and
the youngest was only seven.
It was odd enough, to be sure, that they should have so many children
in such a short time; but the truth is, the wife always brought him two
and once three at a time. This made him very poor, for not one of these
boys was old enough to get a living, and what was still worse, the
youngest was a puny little fellow who hardly ever spoke a word. Now
this, indeed, was a mark of his good sense, but it made his father and
mother suppose him to be silly, and they thought that at last he would
turn out quite a fool. This boy was the least size ever seen; for when he
was born he was no bigger than a man's thumb, which made him be
christened by the name of Hop-o'-my-thumb. The poor child was the
drudge of the whole house and always bore the blame of everything
that was done wrong. For all this, Hop-o'-my-thumb was far more
clever than any of his brothers; and though he spoke but little, he heard
and knew more than people thought. It happened just at this time, that
for want of rain the fields had grown but half as much corn and
potatoes as they used to grow; so that the faggot-maker and his wife
could not give the boys the food they had before, which was always
either bread or potatoes.
After the father and mother had grieved some time, they thought that as
they could contrive no other way to live, they must somehow get rid of
their children. One night when the boys were gone to bed, and the
faggot-maker and his wife were sitting over a few lighted sticks, to
warm themselves, the husband sighed deeply, and said, "You see, my
dear, we cannot maintain our children any longer, and to see them die

of hunger before my eyes is what I could never bear. I will, therefore,
to-morrow morning take them to the forest, and leave them in the
thickest part of it, so that they will not be able to find their way back:
this will be very easy; for while they amuse themselves with tying up
the faggots, we need only slip away when they are looking some other
way."
"Ah! husband," cried the poor wife, "you cannot, no, you