HOW THE PRINCESS'S PRIDE WAS BROKEN.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 234, 24 December 1887, Page 5

HOW THE PRINCESS'S PRIDE WAS BROKEN.

; ', By Howard Pye. 1 Author of V Pepper and Salt," Etc.

There was a Princess who was as pretfcy as a picture, and she was so proud of that that she would not so much as look at the lads who came a- wooing. This one was too young, and that one was too old ; this one one was too lean, and that one was too fat ; this one was too little, and that one was too big ; this one was too dark, and that one was too fair ; so there was never a white sheep in the whole flock, as ono mis-ht say. Now there was a good, tight bit of a lad whose name was Morimel, who was a King in his own country, and a fine one at that. The only thing wiong about him was that he had a mole on his chin ; apart from that he was as fresh as milk tmd rose leaves. Well, he came courting with the rest; but when the Princess saw him .she burst out laughing. " Who would choose a specked apple from the basket ':" said she ; and that was all the cake the Prince bought at that shop, for oil' he was packed. But ho was not for giving up — not he. No, he went and dressed himself up in rags and tatterb ; then back he came again, and not a soul knew him. Rap, tap, rap ; he knocked at the door. And did they want a stout lad about the place ? Well, yes; there were wanting a gooseherd, and if the lad liked the place he might have it. Oh, that fitted his wants like a silk stocking, andfthe next day he drove the geese up on the hill back of the King's house, so that they might eat grass where it is fresh and green. By-and-by ho took a golden ball out of his pocket and began tossing it up and catching it, and as fie played with it the sun shone on it so that it dazzled one's eyes to look at it. The Princess sat afc her window, and it was not long before she saw it, I can tell j you. Dear ! dear ! but it was a pretty one — the goldon ball. The Princess would like to have such a plaything ; so she scut one of the maids out to ask whether the gooseherd had a mind to sell it. Oh yes, it was for sale ; the Princess should have it for the kerchief which she wore about her neck. Prut ! but the lad was a saucy one ; that was what the Princess said. But after all a kerchief was only a kerchief ; fetch the gooseherd over and she would give it to him, for she wanted the pretty golden ball for her own, and she would have it if it was to be had. But no ; he would not come at the Princess's bidding. If she wanted to buy the golden ball she must come up on the hill and pay him, for he was not going to leave his Hock of geese, and have them waddling into the garden perhaps ; that is what the. gooseherd said. So the upshot of the matter was thafe the Princess went out'with her women, and gave the lad the kerchief up on the hill behind the hedge, and brought back the golden ball with her. As for the gooneherd, he just tied the kerchief around his arm so that everybody might see it, and all the folks said, " Hi ! thafe is the Princess's kerchief." The nexb day whem he drove his flock of goeseup on the hill he took a silver lookingglass and a golden comb out of his pocket, and began to comb his hair, and you should have seen how they glistened in the sun. Ab for the Princess, it took her no longer to see the comb and the looking-glass than ifc had the golden ball, and then she must and would nave them, for she thought she had never seen anything so pretty in all of her life. And was the lad ot a mind to sell them ? now that was what she wanted to know. Oh, well, since the Princess asked so prettily, the lad supposed he would have to let her have them ; all the same, she must give him something in return, and it should be the golden necklace she wore about her throat, and she must come and give it to him up on the hill back of the hedge, for he could not think of leaving his flock of geese. The Princess made a face, but the gooseherd would take nothing more nor less than what he had said ; so she and her maids tucked up their dresses and went up on the hill ; there she paid him his price, and brought home the silver looking-glass and the golden comb. The lad clasped the necklace about his throat, and, dear ! dear ! how all the folks did giggle and stare ! " See," said they, " the Princess has been giving the gooseherd the necklace from about her own throat ! ' The third day it was a new thing the g-ooseherd had, for he brought out a musical box, with figures on it dressed up and looking for all the world like real little men and women. He turned the handle, and when the music played it was sweeter than drops of honey. As for the little men and women, why, they bowed to one another and then went through with a dance, for all the world as if they knew what they^ were j j about, and were doing it with their own wits. Good gracious ! how the Princess did open her eyes, and how she stared- when ske ; saw the pretty musical box 1 She musb have ifc afc any price ; but' this time it was five-and-twenby kisses that the lad was wanting for his musical box, and he would take nothing 1 more nor less than just that for ifc. Moreover, she would have to come up on the hill-side and give them to him, for he could not leave his geese even for five-and-fcwenfcy kisses. . But you should have seen what a stew the Princess was in afc this. Five-and-twenty kisses indeed ! And did the fellow think that ifc was for the likes of her to be kissing a poor gooseherd? He might keep his musical box if that was what he was! wanting for it. A!s for the lad, why, he just played the music and played the music, and the more the Princess heard and saw,- the more she wanted it. "After all," said she at last, ,'f a kiss is only a kiss, and I will bo none ■the !poorer> for giving one or two of them ; ■I'll j just let him haye _ them since he will 'take nothing qlse.'f Sp off she marched Avithall her maidens to ipayithe gooseherd,. his price, .though. it was> a, sour face she made, of it, and^hat is the trutfb. • i - .. ' ''•-.< ,N;o«r, .somebody had been buzzing in the King's ear, and had ,told -bi,m that the ■goofeeherd over yonder was wearing the Prinoess's kerchief . and , her golden necklacej, and ,f oJks said she had , given them to , hixri of her own freewill. J V J.. , j „ " -"[What! was < that. so?— her. kerchief — , golden ine.qkla.pe.? • Then the , King would haye 1 to,' lookxinfco i the business.' bo.off h& inaijched,, with Mb little dog at his heels, ■to lincl out what he, could aboujb it. yp> cfche! hiU'he went ,to . where the gooseherd iiwarahedihiaflook., and when he f came near j •thejhedge where, the kissing, ,was going op. ,hb (heard: them cpunttag-tr'J Twenty-one, ,. ;Wep by- two, twenty-three "—and- he^wonr,: derod what in the wprld they we*'© all,aboub. +Sd he just peeped over t.he >, bushes, v ' and ebhe'e-Jte^wfth.S'whoJe business* a\ .- (Y . » oYMewcy omuls l^hafc, a^rage,,her,wap ,in |- ?So : upihflNW*^ folks as good as herself, would she ? And

here she was kissing the gooscber'd back of the hedge. If he was the kind she liked, she should have him for good and all. So the minister was called in, and fche Princess and the gooseherd were married then and there, and that was the end of tho business- Then off they were packed to phift for themselves in the wide world, for they were not to dawdle about the .house. So away they went, and the poor Princess trudged after the gooseheid, and carried his bundle to the town, until they came to a poor mean little hut. There she had to take off her fine clothes and put on rags and tatters, and that was the way she came home. " \Vell," said she gooseheid, " it's not the good end of the bargain thai I have had in marrying ; all the same, one must make the best one can of a ciooked stick when there ib none other to be cut in the hedge. It is little or nothing you ai c fit for, bnfe here is a basket of eggs, an .1 you shall take them, to the market and sell them." So off the poor Princess went, and stood in the corner of the market with her eggs. By -and- by there came along a tipsy soldier — tiamp ! tramp ! tiamp ! As for the basket of eggs, why, he minded them no more than so many green apples. Smash ! j and there they lay on the giound, and were fit for nothing but to patch biokcn promibes, or to card pig'fe wool, ab wo say in our town. Ab ior the poor Princess, bhe did nothing but wring her handb and ciy and cry, for she was atraid to go home to her husband, because of the hard woid& he would be sure to fling at her. All the same, there was no other place for her to go, no back she went. There ! he always knew that ehe was good for nothing but to look at, and now he waa more sure of it than ever ; the china pitcher was never lit to send to the well, and it was a rainy day for him when he mairied such a left-handed wife as the Princess; that was what the gooseherd said. All the same, she should try again. This time she should take a basket ot apples to the market to sell. So off she went again. Well, by-and-by came a fellow driving swine, and there sat the Princess in the way. That was bad luck for her, for over tumbled the basket, and the apples went rolling all about the street. When the drove had passed, theie was not a single apple to be seen, for the pigs had eaten every one of them. So there wae nothing for the Princess but to go home crying with her apron to her eyes. "Yes, yes," said the gooseherd; ''it is as plain as reading and writing and the nose on your face that you aie just tit for nothing at all. All the same, we'll make one more try to mend the crack in your luck. The King up in the castle yonder is mairied and is going to give a grand feast. They are wanting a body in the kitchen to draw the water and chop the wood, and you shall go and try your hand at that, and see what you can make of it. And see, here is a basket ; you shall take it along, and bring home the kitchen eciapings for cupper." So off went the Princess to the ca&tle kitchen, and there she drew the water and chopped the wood for the cook. After her work was done, the cook filled her basket full of the leavings from the pot* and the By-and-by it was time for her to be going home, so she picked up her basket and ott eh« went. Just outside stood two tall soldiers. " Halt," said they. And was she the lass who had been chopping the wood and drawing tho water for the cook that day. Yea ? Tli«n she must go along with them, tor *he had been sent for, and was wanted upstairs. No, it did no good for her to beg and to pray and to cry and to wring her hands, and ib mattered nothing if her good man was waiting for her afe home ; she had been sent up yonder, and she must go. She had only time to fling her apron over her basket and off they marched her. There sat the King on his golden throne, dressed in golden robes, and with a golden crown wpon his head. "What have you under your apron? feaid the King. But to this the Princess could not answer a single word. Then somebody who stood near snatched away her apron, and there was the basket lull of kitchen scrapings. # Then the King stepped clown from his golden throne, dressed all in his golden robes, and took the Princess by the hand. "Do you not know me ?" said he. ' ' Look ! lam King Florimel ; but I am the gooseherd beside." And listen ; the King had moi c to tell her yet. He was the tipsy soldier, and had knocked over her basket of eggs himself, and more than that, he was the swineherd, who had driven his pigs over her basket of apples, so that they were spilled on the ground. But the Princess only bowed her head lower and lower j for her pride was broken. "Come," said King Florimel, "you are my own sweetheart j" and he kissed her, and seated her beside him.