The Fir-Tree Fairy Book: Favorite Fairy Tales by Johnson and Popini - HTML preview

THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT

THERE once lived a king and queen who ought to have been as happy as the day is long, for they had a large and prosperous kingdom in which the people were contented and industrious, and they had a splendid palace and plenty of horses and carriages; and their treasure-room was filled with gold, silver, and precious stones. Yet notwithstanding all this they were sad and sorrowful, because they had no children to inherit the good things they possessed.

One bright winter morning the queen went out into the palace garden. The snow covered the ground and clung to the trees and bushes, and it sparkled in the sunshine just as if all the jewels in the king’s treasury had been scattered about on it. The queen seated herself on a stone bench beneath a huge oaktree. She had not been there long when an old man came down a garden path and stood before her. He was a wicked magician named Surtur, who lived in a cave not far away.

“O queen!” he said, “you have long wished for a child. Your wish shall be granted, and a daughter will be born to you; but I warn you that she will cause you great unhappiness. She is destined to marry a terrible giant, and she will burn your palace; and the king, her father, will perish in the flames.”

So saying, he laughed spitefully and went away. The queen was greatly troubled, for she knew that Surtur was her enemy and that he was powerful; but as time went on she got over her anxiety and seldom thought of the old magician’s threat. At length the little daughter was born, and all the court agreed that she was the most beautiful child ever seen. More important still, she grew up as good as she was beautiful.

Things went as well with her as could be desired year after year until there came a time when the queen told her daughter about the prophecy of the magician. From that day a change came over the princess. She no longer laughed and danced, but walked about the rooms alone, often weeping. Finally, at her request, the king built her a house in which she lived with her own attendants, and there she stayed continually, fearful that if she went to the palace she would bring disaster on her father, and that if she walked around outdoors the giant might kidnap her.

Once, when she was sitting in her room, with her work that used to give her such pleasure lying idly on her lap, she heard some one knocking at the door. She opened it, and there stood a funny little old woman with a high, peaked hat on her head. The little old woman asked if she might come in and rest.

“Yes,” replied the princess listlessly.

So the little old woman came in, and they sat down, and the visitor began telling some wonderful stories. At last the princess got so interested that she looked quite bright and happy, like her old self.

Presently the old woman said: “Now I want you to come into the woods with me. It is a lovely day, and you will enjoy walking there in the shade of the trees.”

At first the princess declared she did not care to go, but after a while she allowed herself to be persuaded, and they went forth to wander on the mossy paths among the tall, straight-stemmed firs and graceful beeches and feathery birches. The princess forgot her sorrow, and she laughed and ran about in great enjoyment. When they were tired they sat down on a green bank, and the old woman said, “Tell me, my dear princess, why of late you have been so sad.”

Her companion looked so kind and gentle that the princess could not refuse to answer, and she told of the prophecy that she would marry a terrible giant, and cause her father’s death by burning his palace. “And oh,” she cried, “I love my father dearly! He has always been very good to me. Now I must hasten back to my house. I ought not to have left it, and I never will again. If I stay in it all the time I cannot possibly harm my father or marry that horrible giant.”

“Wait a bit,” said the little old woman. “I am your godmother, and I think we can find some way to avert the evils you fear. You are persecuted by the wicked magician, Surtur. He wanted to marry your mother, and when she would not have him, and married your father, he vowed he would never rest till the king was dead and she was punished. But his power has its limits. The king’s palace I cannot save, but neither your father nor mother shall be hurt. Nor need you fear the giant, if you will do exactly as I bid you. We will act at once. First see your father and persuade him to go out riding in the forest with all his attendants.”

Greatly relieved by her godmother’s cheery words, the princess hastened to do as she had been bidden. “Dear father,” said she, as she came into his presence, “the day is so fine, will you not go for a ride in the woods and take the courtiers with you?”

The king, pleased to see her so bright and interested, at once said he would go; and with all his courtiers in attendance started off for a great excursion in the forest.

As soon as they were well out of sight, the little old woman joined the princess and had her send the servants away on various errands, and the queen was induced to go and stay for a time in the house built for the princess. When every one was gone, the little old dame helped the princess carry out and secrete all the treasure and other valuables, and afterward she told the princess to take down a can of oil from the kitchen mantel-shelf. In doing this the girl’s foot slipped, and the oil spilled on the hearth and into the fire, and at once flashed into flames. The princess and her godmother had to run for their lives, and the fire spread rapidly through the palace.

They paused at a safe distance and looked back, and the old woman said: “Thus one part of the magician’s prophecy has been fulfilled without harm to any one. I could not prevent what has happened, but it might have been worse. Surtur has other evil designs. We will see what we can do to thwart them. Here is a little silver ball. Throw it on the ground and follow it as it rolls along. It will guide you to a hut in the forest, the owner of which will be away. Go in and await his return, and whatever you do, remember that you must see him before he sees you. Remain at the hut till I summon you. When you hear me calling you, do not lose an instant, but hasten to where your father’s palace stood. Your mother will need you.”

The princess took the ball, threw it down, and followed it as it rolled along into the forest. At last it stopped before what seemed to be a woodman’s hut, and she picked up the ball and put it in her pocket. Then she went into the hut and hid behind the half-closed door. She peeped out through a crack and presently saw a huge giant coming carrying on his shoulders a bear he had killed in his hunting. He pushed open the door, and as he threw down the burden he beheld the princess.

The giant looked very fierce, but his voice was soft and kind, and he told her he wanted her to live in the hut with him and cook the food and sweep the floor and make the beds. All this the princess promised to do. He then showed her a little inner chamber, and said, “Here you can sleep, and no matter what noises you hear in my part of the hut during the night, don’t come out of your room.”

Three days passed. Early each morning the giant went forth from the hut and did not return until sunset. The princess cooked the food, made the beds, and kept the hut tidy and clean. At night she heard frightful noises in the outer room, the walls of the hut shook, and the earth trembled, and she lay in her bed hardly daring to stir, with the clothes pulled over her ears to deaden the terrible sounds. Whenever she fell asleep she dreamed that a handsome young prince, instead of the giant, was her fellow-dweller in the hut.

On the third evening she retired early, and was scarcely in bed when she heard, faint and far away, the voice of the little old woman calling her. Then she knew her mother needed her, and immediately she jumped out of bed, dressed, and cautiously opened her door. No one was in the next room, and she ran as quickly as she could to where her father’s palace had stood. There, before the ruins, she saw her mother tied to a wooden stake that had been driven into the ground, and the servants were piling up fagots of wood around her. She had been condemned to death for having set the palace on fire during the king’s absence, and for stealing his treasure. In vain she had pleaded her innocence.

The princess pushed her way through the crowd and threw herself on her knees before her father. “Oh, stop, stop!” she cried eagerly. “Dear father, my mother is not to blame. It was I who burned your palace. I was forced to do so in order to save your life, which was threatened by the wicked magician, Surtur. Neither did my mother steal your treasure. That and much else was taken out of the palace to a place of safety.”

On hearing this, the king ordered the queen to be released, and she embraced her daughter with many words of affection.

As soon as possible the princess hurried back to the hut of the giant in the forest. When she approached it she heard the sounds of a terrific combat. She looked in and saw the giant engaged in a struggle for mastery with the magician. From her pocket she hastily took the silver ball the little old woman had given to her and hurled it at the wicked Surtur. Her aim was true, and the moment the ball hit him he changed to a hawk, and with a rapid flutter of wings darted out of the door and disappeared.

The giant picked up the ball, and to the surprise of the princess he was transformed into the handsome young prince she had seen in her dreams. They went back together to the king and queen, and before long there was a great marriage-feast, and the princess became the wife of the prince she had delivered from his enchantment. After the death of the king the prince became the ruler of the kingdom, and he and his queen lived happily all the days of their life.

The End