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1!W |
THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK. |
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to go, as they had just heard that Prince Fadasse and all who accompanied him had perished in the snow; but he persisted in his resolve. As for Sabella, she gave him her hand to kiss with precisely the same gracious indifference as she had given it to him the first time they met. It happened that this farewell took place before the whole court, and so great a favorite had Prince Manikin become that they were all indignant at the coldness with which the princess treated him. Finally the king said to him:
"Prince, you have constantly refused all the gifts which, in my gratitude for your invaluable services, I have offered to you, but I wish the princess to present you with her cloak of marten's fur, and that I hope you will not reject!"
Now, this was a splendid fur mantle which the princess was very fond of wearing, not so much because she felt old as that its richness set off to perfection the delicate tints of her complexion and the brilliant gold of her hair. However, she took it off and with graceful politeness begged Prince Manikin to accept it, which you may be sure he was charmed to do, and taking only this and a little bundle of all kinds of wood, and accompanied only by two spaniels out of the fifty who had stayed with him when the war was ended, he set forth, receiving many tokens of love and favor from the people in every town he passed through. At the last little village he left his horse behind him, to begin his toilful march through the snow, which extended, blank and terrible, in every direction as far as the eye could see. Here he had appointed to meet the other forty-eight spaniels, who received him joyfully and assured him that, happen what might, they would follow and serve him faithfully. And so they started, full of heart and hope. At first there was a slight track, difficult, but not impossible to follow; but this was soon lost and the pole star was their only guide.
When the time came to call a halt the prince, who had after much consideration decided on his plan of action, caused a few twigs from the fagot he had brought with him to be planted in the snow, and then he sprinkled over them a pinch of the magic powder he had collected from the enchanted boat. To his great joy they instantly began to sprout and grow, and in a marvelously short time t1 |
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