The Sleeping Beauty Part 2

CHAPTER V

SO the worst was averted, but the fate of the poor little Princess was still terrible enough, and it was only to be expected that the King should do his best to prevent the prophecy from coming to fulfilment.

The first thing he did was to summon all the magicians of his own and neighbouring countries, promising a rich reward to the one who could show him a way to defeat the old fairy's malice. The magicians came in scores, some with long beards reaching to their feet, some without any beards at all, some with bald heads, and some with matted hair that looked as though it had not been combed for centuries. For days there were so many magicians about the palace that they were commoner than cats, and it was impossible to enter any room without surprising one or the other of them, sitting in deep reflection and looking as wise as only a magician can look. But nothing came of their thinking, and one after the other they gave up the task and departed, having first asked for their travelling expenses.

At last there came a wizard who was wiser and more venerable than all the rest, and when he heard what was required of him he said he would go home and consult his secret books which contained the magic lore of all the ages, and which had been written by the greatest of all the magicians, Merlin himself.

Home, then, he went, to his cell, which was in a rocky cliff on the side of a mountain, and having uttered the word of power which unlocked the ma.s.sive door, he entered and prepared to begin his researches.

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Now the books of magic lore which Merlin had written were in many volumes, and everything in them was set down in alphabetical order, so that it could be found easily. The old wizard, therefore, turned first of all to the word _Princess_. Five hundred pages were devoted to this subject, and, truly, there was a great deal of very interesting information. As thus:--

PRINCESS: How to transform Goosegirl into.

Spell for causing Princess to be surrounded with high walls of bronze, which may by no means be broken down except by the notes of a certain trumpet (_q.v._).

(Now _q.v._ are the first letters of two magic words which are to be found in all dictionaries and encyclopaedias to this day).

PRINCESS: Enchanted ring for.

A new and improved method by which she may be changed into a fawn together with any members of her family according to desire, and all of them transformed back again into their proper shape.

PRINCESS: An excellent device for causing a Princess to grow tall or short by eating of a mushroom, with directions how to find the place where the mushroom grows, and precautions to be taken lest by over-much nibbling she disappear altogether.

And so on. But there was never a word about how to prevent a Princess from falling into a charmed sleep through p.r.i.c.king her finger with the spindle of a spinning-wheel.

So when he had read all through the five hundred pages, the venerable wizard turned to the word _Sleep_, in the hope that he would meet with better fortune.

And there was much reliable information under this heading also. There were recipes for potent drugs which would cause sleep, and for still more potent drugs which would prevent people from going to sleep, and when the wizard came to this last he cried out eagerly, for he thought that he had succeeded in his quest, until he read on and discovered that the spell described was only for use on wicked Queens who had shamefully ill-used their step-children. It is very easy to make a mistake in magic, for it is a most complicated science.

By the time he had read through the two hundred pages devoted to the word _Sleep_, the venerable wizard was very uneasy, but he was a persevering person and he did not abandon his endeavours. Merlin's wise books having failed him, he cast about for other means to learn what he desired, and consulted his oracle.

Now his oracle was a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling, and a voice came from it which told him to repeat the magic formula.

The magic formula is a sentence made up of all the sounds that are left out of ordinary speech, and it is a fearsome thing to listen to. It is also very exhausting to say, and after the venerable wizard had repeated it, he was obliged to rest for several hours. Then he rose again and drew pentagons on the rocky floor of his cave, and crossed triangles and circles bordered with all the signs of the Zodiac. And he stood in the middle of the pentagons and the crossed triangles and the circles and went through all sorts of strange and secret rites, but all to no purpose.

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But still he would not give up trying; and he went to mysterious places in the woods and gathered strange herbs in the dark of the moon. And, returning home, he cast the herbs into a brazier and they burnt with flames of many colours, giving out clouds of dense smoke and a most horrible smell. Then, as these exercises did not bring him the result he desired, he gazed into crystals and poured ink into the palm of his hand, and did all the other things that he had learnt to do in all the years since he was apprenticed to magic as a very small boy.

And just as he was going to give up the quest in despair, a thought came into his head, and he cried aloud for joy, for he knew he had discovered what he sought. This shows how even the most difficult things may be attained by perseverance and patience.

At the top of his speed he hastened back to the palace and asked an audience of the King. This was immediately granted, for, to tell the truth, the King was awaiting his return with considerable anxiety.

"Well," said he, "have you succeeded in finding a way?"

"I have," answered the venerable wizard. "My arts have not failed me!"

And he handed the King a piece of parchment on which were written the following words. They were written in Latin to make them look more important, but very likely it was not good Latin, for the venerable wizard had been apprenticed to his trade at an early age, and in consequence his cla.s.sical education had been somewhat neglected. But this was the meaning of them:

Shall spindle p.r.i.c.k?--then spindle burn, No thread weave and no wheel turn; If there's no spindle and there's no wheel, Then no finger the spindle can feel.

The King slapped his thigh for joy. "Why, of course!" said he. "How is it that I did not myself think of such a simple solution? It seems to me, Wizard, that you have easily earned your thousand crowns!"

"Ah, Majesty," the wizard made answer, "all things are simple when once you know them."

And in this he was quite right.

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CHAPTER VI

THE King lost no time in putting the wizard's counsel into effect. The very next day he caused a proclamation to be written, and ordered copies of it to be fixed on all the church doors, and in all the public places of every town in his kingdom. This is the way the proclamation read:

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WHEREAS a certain malicious fairy, forgetful of the duties she owes to the most high and puissant King and Queen, rightful sovereigns of these realms, and to the Princess Briar-Rose, their dearly loved daughter, has, of malice aforethought, and with intent to work grievous bodily harm to the person of the said Princess, in the presence of the said most puissant Sovereigns and of divers of their loyal subjects made and uttered a prophecy, to wit: that the said Princess shall in her fifteenth year p.r.i.c.k her finger with the spindle of a spinning-wheel, and that a certain dire misfortune shall fall upon her because of that injury, to the sorrow of her loving parents: NOW BE IT DECREED That all spinning-wheels or instruments of spinning whatsoever, in the possession of any subjects of the King's most excellent Majesty, whether they be worked by hand or by treadle or by any other device, together with all spindles, shuttles, bobbins, and all other accessories or appurtenances thereunto belonging, shall forthwith be rendered up to the officers of the King's most excellent Majesty appointed to receive them. AND BE IT FURTHER DECREED That if any person or persons fail to observe or obey this edict or ordinance by unlawfully retaining any instrument of spinning or accessory thereunto, such persons shall be dealt with according to the full rigour of the law, and shall suffer the penalty of death.

Given under our royal hand and seal.]

The issue of this proclamation caused a great deal of interest and excitement throughout the kingdom. All the people came out of their houses to gaze at it, for they had never seen its like before, and though very few of them knew how to read they realised that it must mean something very important. So they sent for clerks and scholars to read it to them, paying a penny apiece for the service, which pennies, the clerks and scholars, being usually extraordinarily needy persons, were very glad to earn. It usually took about three hours to read the proclamation and to explain it; and one must admit that it might have been expressed in fewer words. To do so, however, would not have been dignified, for this proclamation was what is called a legal instrument.

The very next day into each town and village of the kingdom the King's officers came riding. Before them went a trumpeter who stopped at the head of each street and blew a loud call. Having thus commanded attention he marched past the houses calling in a loud voice:

"Bring out your spinning-wheels. Bring out your spinning-wheels!"

So the people brought them out, not without grumbling, for a spinning-wheel is a very useful thing to have in a house, and in those days people spun and wove their own cloth to make their clothes. But they were afraid to disobey the King's order.

And the spinning-wheels were of all shapes and sizes, some of them new and some of them hundreds of years old, and there was hardly a house that did not possess one of some kind or another. They were all collected together and loaded into waggons and taken to the capital, where they were piled up into an immense heap in the public square.

Then the King and Queen and all the court came out and watched while the big heap was set on fire. The people came out to watch too in their thousands, and a very fine sight it was to see the enormous flames shooting up into the air and to hear the crackle and hiss of the burning wood that sounded like the discharge of a hundred muskets.

The King laughed aloud in his relief, and even the Queen smiled, while the little Princess Briar-Rose, who was held up to a window of the palace to see the bonfire, stretched out her arms to the pretty flames and crowed. But the people were not very much amused by the sight because they were their spinning-wheels which were being burnt.

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