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NARCISSUS AND POTENTILLA. |
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PRINCE NARCISSUS AND THE PRINCESS POTENTILLA. |
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Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who, though it is a very long while since they died, were much the same in their tastes and pursuits as people nowadays. The king, who was called Cloverleaf, liked hunting better than anything else; but he nevertheless bestowed as much care upon his kingdom as he felt equal to—that is to say, he never made an end of folding and unfolding the state documents. As to the queen, she had once been very pretty and she liked to believe that she was so still, which is, of course, always made quite easy for queen3. Her name was Frivola and her one occupation in life was the pursuit of amusement. Balls, masquerades, and picnics followed one another in rapid succession, as fast as she could arrange them, and you may imagine that under these circumstances the kingdom was somewhat neglected. As a matter of fact, if any one had a fancy for a town or a province he helped himself to it; but as long as the king had his horses and dogs and the queen her musicians and her actors they did not trouble themselves about the matter. King Cloverleaf and Queen Frivola had but one child, and this princess had from her very babyhood been so beautiful that by the time she was four years old the queen was desperately jealous of her, and so fearful that when she was grown up she would be more admired than herself that she resolved to keep her hidden away out of sight. To this end she caused a little house to be built not far beyond the palace gardens on the bank of a river. This was surrounded by a high wall, and in it the charming Potentilla was imprisoned. Her nurse, who was dumb, took care of her, and the necessaries of life were conveyed to her through a little window in the wall, whik |
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