Fairy Tale: Part Two
The first prince went out onto that same hill where the princess had been before, and laid his head down on a pillow of sweetgrass. Closing his eyes and pretending to snore, he caught a glimpse of a fairy breezing in on a gust of rose-colored wind. He felt a tickle on his face, and quick as a wink, caught the fairy’s wings between his thumb and forefinger. (Very gently, mind you; it would never do to harm a fairy.) The fairy heaved a great sigh, from the top of his head to the tip of his toes, and said, “All right, you have caught me. What do you wish? And don’t give me any of this ‘three wishes’ nonsense. I am only a fairy, and not even a wishing fairy, so you only get one.”The prince drew himself up proudly and said, “I wish for the princess’s sleep.”
A twinkle entered the fairy’s eye. “Nothing for yourself? You caught me for a lady’s sleep only?” (For some odd reason, known only to fairies, and perhaps a few privileged humans, fairies seem to derive a perverse pleasure out of getting the best of humans. Perhaps it is their great pride, or maybe simple mischief. Whatever the reason, they try to trick us and succeed as often as not.)
The prince answered, “Yes.” But not so confidently as he could have. Then he hesitated. “What else could I have?”
Immediately the fairy sent a vision of stacks of gold swirling before the prince’s eyes. The prince hesitated once more, looked longingly at the gold and then somewhat regretfully shook his head again. “Sleep for the princess,” he said.
The fairy tinkled out a laugh and said, “Return to princess, look at her, and tell her how much you love her. If your love is of the truest and grandest kind, she will receive back her sleep and perhaps the riches may be………..” the fairy’s voice trailed off as he disappeared on a silver breeze.
The prince wasted no time returning to where the princess lay in her garden, weary beyond description, yet still with her eyes wide open and sleepless. The prince ran up to her and took her hand. Remembering what the fairy had said, he looked at her (thinking for the first time that her gaze was quite uncomfortably piercing) and said, “My princess, I love you more than……….” Here the prince faltered, for all he could think of or see at that moment were those sacks of gold, shining like the sun. The sun! The prince finished confidently, “I love you more than the sun.”
The princess looked into his eyes, and saw the gold ringing around his heart. She looked away and one tear dropped to the ground. And for the tear, the prince was forced to serve as a slave for a year.
posted by whimsicalfaery @ 2:32 PM
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