Once upon a time...
There lived a queen who had been the mother of a great many children, and of them all only one daughter was left. But then she was worth at least a thousand.
Her mother, who, since the death of the King, her father, had nothing in the world she cared for so much as this little Princess, was so terribly afraid of losing her that she quite spoiled her, and never tried to correct any of her faults. The consequence was that this little person, who was as pretty as possible, and was one day to wear a crown, grew up so proud and so much in love with her own beauty that she despised everyone else in the world.
The Queen, her mother, by her caresses and flatteries, helped to make her believe that there was nothing too good for her. She was dressed almost always in the prettiest frocks, as a fairy, or as a queen going out to hunt, and the ladies of the Court followed her dressed as forest fairies.
And to make her more vain than ever the Queen caused her portrait to be taken by the cleverest painters and sent it to several neighbouring kings with whom she was very friendly.
When they saw this portrait they fell in love with the Princess--every one of them, but upon each it had a different effect. One fell ill, one went quite crazy, and a few of the luckiest set off to see her as soon as possible, but these poor princes became her slaves the moment they set eyes on her.
Never has there been a gayer Court. Twenty delightful kings did everything they could think of to make themselves agreeable, and after having spent ever so much money in giving a single entertainment thought themselves very lucky if the Princess said "That's pretty."
All this admiration vastly pleased the Queen. Not a day passed but she received seven or eight thousand sonnets, and as many elegies, madrigals, and songs, which were sent her by all the poets in the world. All the prose and the poetry that was written just then was about Bellissima--for that was the Princess's name--and all the bonfires that they had were made of these verses, which crackled and sparkled better than any other sort of wood.
Bellissima was already fifteen years old, and every one of the Princes wished to marry her, but not one dared to say so. How could they when they knew that any of them might have cut off his head five or six times a day just to please her, and she would have thought it a mere trifle, so little did she care? You may imagine how hard- hearted her lovers thought her; and the Queen, who wished to see her married, did not know how to persuade her to think of it seriously.
"Bellissima," she said, "I do wish you would not be so proud. What makes you despise all these nice kings? I wish you to marry one of them, and you do not try to please me."
"I am so happy," Bellissima answered: "do leave me in peace, mada m. I don't want to care for anyone."
"But you would be very happy with any of these Princes," said the Queen, "and I shall be very angry if you fall in love with anyone who is not worthy of you."
But the Princess thought so much of herself that she did not consider any one of her lovers clever or handsome enough for her; and her mother, who was getting really angry at her determination not to be married, began to wish that she had not allowed her to have her own way so much.
At last, not knowing what else to do, she resolved to consult a certain witch who was called "The Fairy of the Desert." Now this was very difficult to do, as she was guarded by some terrible lions; but happily the Queen had heard a long time before that whoever wanted to pass these lions safely must throw to them a cake made of millet flour, sugar-candy, and crocodile's eggs. This cake she prepared with her own hands, and putting it in a little basket, she set out to seek the Fairy. But as she was not used to walking far, she soon felt very tired and sat down at the foot of a tree to rest, and presently fell fast asleep. When she awoke she was dismayed to find her basket empty. The cake was all gone! and, to make matters worse, at that moment she heard the roaring of the great lions, who had found out that she was near and were coming to look for her
"What shall I do?" she cried; "I shall be eaten up," and being too frightened to run a single step, she began to cry, and leaned against the tree under which she had been asleep.
Just then she heard some one say: "H'm, h'm!"
She looked all round her, and then up the tree, and there she saw a little tiny man, who was eating oranges.
"Oh! Queen," said he, "I know you very well, and I know how much afraid you are of the lions; and you are quite right too, for they have eaten many other people: and what can you expect, as you have not any cake to give them?"
"I must make up my mind to die," said the poor Queen. "Alas! I should not care so much if only my dear daughter were married."
"Oh! you have a daughter," cried the yellow Dwarf (who was so called because he WAS a dwarf and had such a yellow face, and lived in the orange tree). "I'm really glad to hear that, for I've been looking for a wife all over the world. Now, if you will promise that she shall marry me, not one of the lions, tigers, or bears shall touch you."
The Queen looked at him and was almost as much afraid of his ugly little face as she had been of the lions before, so that she could not speak a word.
"What! you hesitate, madam," cried the Dwarf. "You must be very fond of being eaten up alive."
And, as he spoke, the Queen saw the lions, which were running down a hill toward them.
Each o ne had two heads, eight feet, and four rows of teeth, and their skins were as hard as turtle shells, and were bright red.
At this dreadful sight, the poor Queen, who was trembling like a dove when it sees a hawk, cried out as loud as she could, "Oh! dear Mr. Dwarf, Bellissima shall marry you."
"Oh, indeed!" said he disdainfully. "Bellissima is pretty enough, but I don't particularly want to marry her--you can keep her."
"Oh! noble sir," said the Queen in great distress, ado not refuse her. She is the most charming Princess in the world."
"Oh! well," he replied, "out of charity I will take her; but be sure and don't forget that she is mine."
As he spoke a little door opened in the trunk of the orange tree, in rushed the Queen, only just in time, and the door shut with a bang in the faces of the lions.
The Queen was so confused that at first she did not notice another little door in the orange tree, but presently it opened and she found herself in a field of thistles and nettles. It was encircled by a muddy ditch, and a little further on was a tiny thatched cottage, out of which came the Yellow Dwarf with a very jaunty air. He wore wooden shoes and a little yellow coat, and as he had no hair and very long ears he looked altogether a shocking little object.
"I am delighted," said he to the Queen, "that, as you are to be my mother-in-law, you should see the little house in which your Bellissima will live with me. With these thistles and nettles she can feed a donkey which she can ride whenever she likes; under this humble roof no weather can hurt her; she will drink the water of this brook and eat frogs--which grow very fat about here; and then she will have me always with her, handsome, agreeable, and gay as you see me now. For if her shadow stays by her more closely than I do I shall be surprised."
The unhappy Queen. seeing all at once what a miserable life her daughter would have with this Dwarf could not bear the idea, and fell down insensible without saying a word.
When she revived she found to her great surprise that she was lying in her own bed at home, and, what was more, that she had on the loveliest lace night cap that she had ever seen in her life. At first she thought that all her adventures, the terrible lions, and her promise to the Yellow Dwarf that he should marry Bellissima, must have been a dream, but there was the new cap with its beautiful ribbon and lace to remind her that it was all true, which made her so unhappy that she could neither eat, drink, nor sleep for thinking of it.
The Princess, who, in spite of her wilfulness, really loved her mother with all her heart, was much grieved when she saw her looking so sad, and often asked her what was the matter; but the Queen, who didn't want her to find out the truth, only said that she was i ll, or that one of her neighbours was threatening to make war against her. Bellissima knew quite well that something was being hidden from her--and that neither of these was the real reason of the Queen's uneasiness. So she made up her mind that she would go and consult the Fairy of the Desert about it, especially as she had often heard how wise she was, and she thought that at the same time she might ask her advice as to whether it would be as well to be married, or not.
So, with great care, she made some of the proper cake to pacify the lions, and one night went up to her room very early, pretending that she was going to bed; but instead of that, she wrapped herself in a long white veil, and went down a secret staircase, and set off all by herself to find the Witch.
But when she got as far as the same fatal orange tree, and saw it covered with flowers and fruit, she stopped and began to gather some of the oranges--and then, putting down her basket, she sat down to eat them. But when it was time to go on again the basket had disappeared and, though she looked everywhere, not a trace of it could she find. The m
THE YELLOW DWARF
英语社
人气:2.47K
相关文章:
- 第43课:Which TV show do you want your life to be like?
- 第97课:If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?
- 第184课:What would you do if you were late for...?
- 每日一句口语 第2509期:The world may be full of cheating, however we never lack friends w
- 新兴世界停下了追赶的脚步 EM ex China growth slips below that of developed world
- 理智地利用基因编辑技术 We can now edit life so let's use the power wisely
- 第92课:What would you want your last meal to be if you were on death row?
- 《白日焰火》夺柏林金熊奖The Day Fireworks Won the Golden Bear Award
- 你会帮助跌倒老人吗?Will You Help the Elderly Who Fell?
- 优美散文Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
热门推荐
- 1孩子们,如何使用压岁钱呢?Kids, How Would You Deal With Your “Lucky Money”?
- 2如何才能健康地退休 A slow exit from the workforce is the healthier way to retire
- 3第198课:Will you be taking care of your parents when they grow old?
- 4第75课:If you could make your new holiday, what would it celebrate?
- 5第271课:What would you do if today was the last day of your life?
- 6Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington 1828 30 Tory
- 7第233课:If you could be a superhero, what super power would you want to have?
- 8(Chinese people will) be comparatively well off (both materially and culturally)是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 9第156课:If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?
- 10希拉里将如何监管华尔街 How Hillary Clinton Would Regulate Wall Street
猜你喜欢
- 1第327课:What kind of people do you like to work with?
- 2all weather highways accounted for是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 3美国习惯用语 第146期:wheeler dealer/fifth wheel
- 4第196课:If you won the lottery would you tell anyone?
- 5美语情景对话 第1317期:Would you rather work for a large or small company?
- 6大学生意志力的缺失The Lack of Willpower for College Students
- 7第125课:As the only human left on Earth, what would you do?
- 8第66课:What are the 3 golden words of your life except "I love you"?
- 9第9课:What was the last time you worked incredibly hard?
- 10第89课:What food do you know you shouldn’t eat but can’t help yourself?
- 11英语童话故事 How Six Men travelled through the Wide World
- 12第94课:If you could call up anyone in the world, who would you call?
- 13An Awful Day When Everything Goes Wrong祸不单行的一天
- 14第238课:Would you like to live in a country where there is a lot of snow?
- 15年广州半数学校覆盖无线网 Half of Guangzhou Digital School Will be Covered With Wi Fi in
今日热门
- 1第307课:Are there any food that you wouldn't eat as a child that you eat now?
- 2The Arrow And The Song
- 3我们应该从大学里面学习什么 What Should We Learn From College
- 4William Petty, Earl of Shelburne 1782 3 Whig
- 5中考英语满分作文 the Yellow Mountain
- 6Yellow散文
- 7yellow submarine歌词
- 8第126课:What did you think you would grow out of but never did?
- 9The Ass and the Grasshopper
- 10bolt fastener with sliding bar for door leaves (wings of doors) ,window sashes (wings是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
更多推荐
- 1丙烯腈氯乙烯共聚物是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 2上网聊天英语缩略语
- 3Banque de I'Union Parisienne是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释大纲
- 4推自己一把!push的用法解析
- 5acid pugged是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 6高级口译笔记饮食文化
- 7上海高级口译考试大纲要求介绍
- 8英语口语入门学习方法介绍
- 9幼儿睡前英语小故事
- 10丝来素是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 11如何从零学好英语
- 12传动液是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 13alkaline bleach liquor是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释
- 14my school day八年级英语作文带翻译
- 15平视式取景器是什么意思、英文翻译及中文解释