"Ayos lang ba yong kwento?""Yon lang po ba? May iba ka pa ho bang kwento hehe?" Sabi nong batang nasa gitna."Gusto pa po naming makinig." Saad naman nong isa.My god, mauubos yata laway ko nito sa kakakwento eh."Okay sige. Narinig niyo na ba ang kwento na ang pamagat ay the blue bird?" Umiling naman silang tatlo."There was once upon a time a king who was very rich in lands and money. When his wife died he was inconsolable, and for eight whole days he shut himself up in a little room, and knocked his head against the wall, so desperate was he.They feared lest he should kill himself, and they therefore put mattresses between the tapestry and the wall, so that however hard he might strike his head, he could do himself no harm. All his subjects planned amongst themselves to go and see him, and to say everything they could think of as likely to comfort him in his sorrow. Some of them made up grave and serious speeches; others again went with cheerful, even gay words on their tongues,
Now the day of their escape being fixed, the king came to take the princess away in a flying chaise, drawn by winged frogs, which one of his friends, a wizard, had made him a present of. The night was very dark. Truitonne crept out of a little door with great mystery, and the king, who was waiting for her, received her in his arms and swore eternal faithfulness to her. But as he had no desire to go flying through the air in this chaise for ever so long without marrying the princess whom he loved, he asked her when she would like their wedding to take place.She told him that she had for god-mother a very celebrated fairy called Soussio, and that she wished to go and visit her at her castle, Although the king did not know the way, he had nothing to do but tell his big frogs to take them there, for they knew the chart of the whole world, and in no time they landed the king and Truitonne at Soussio's dwelling.The castle was so brilliantly lighted that there the king would have found out
"Do I in truth see you again, my princess?" he cried. "Can I taste such perfect happiness and not die for joy? But, alas! how my joy is troubled by your captivity, and at the shape into which Soussio has changed me for seven years.""And who are you, you charming bird?" said the princess, caressing him."You call me by my name," said the king, "and you pretend not to know me!""What!" said the princess. "The little bird in my hand is King- Charming!""Alas! fair Florine, it is but too true," he replied. "And if anything could console me it is that I have preferred to suffer this rather than give up my love for you.""For me!" said Florine. "Ah! do not seek to deceive me. I know, I know that you have married Truitonne. I recognised the ring on her finger as yours. I saw her sparkling with the diamonds you had given her. She came to insult me in my sad captivity, wearing a grand crown and royal mantle that she got from you; and all the while I was laden with chains and irons.""You saw
This voice, so unexpected, frightened the queen to such a degree that she did not dare to do what she had intended."You see, madam," said the princess, "that the spirits of the air are my friends.""I believe," answered the queen, beside herself with anger, "that you have the demons on your side, but in spite of them your father will know how to right himself.""Heaven grant," cried Florine, "that I may never have worse to fear than my father's wrath! Yours, madam, is more terrible."The queen left her in great trouble at all she had seen and heard, and took counsel as to what she should do to defeat the princess. They told her that if some fairy or some enchanter had taken her under their protection, it would only irritate them to torment her further, and it would he best to try to discover her secret.The queen approved of this suggestion, and sent a young girl to sleep in her room, who played the part of an innocent, and by her orders told Florine she had come for the purpose of w
The infinite care that was taken of her health, and her strong desire to go in search of Blue Bird, helped to cure her, and before long she felt well enough to nominate a council to take charge of the kingdom in her absence. Then choosing out jewels to the value of an immense sum, she set out one night quite alone, without letting anyone know where she was goingThe enchanter who was looking after King Charming's affairs, not being powerful enough to undo all that Soussio had done, determined to go and find her, and to propose to her some arrangement by means of which the king would have his natural shape restored to him. Taking the frogs, he flew to the fairy, who at that moment was speaking with Truitonne.There is not very much difference between an enchanter and a fairy. These two had known each other for five or six hundred years, and in that space of time they had had a hundred quarrels and made them up again. She received him very kindly."Well, and what does my comrade want?"
"My name is Mie Souillon," she answered; "I come from a long way off to sell you rarities." Then she rummaged in her sack and drew out the emerald bracelets that King Charming had given her."Ho, ho!" said Truitonne; "these are pretty bits of glass. Will you have a five sou piece for them?""Show them to those who know their value, madam," said the queen, "and then we can make our bargain."Truitonne, who loved the king more tenderly than such a monster seemed capable of, was delighted to find opportunities of speaking to him, and approaching his throne, showed him the bracelets, and asked him what he thought of them. At sight of them he called to mind those he had given to Florine, and grew pale, sighed, and remained long without answering a word. At length, fearing lest they should notice evidences of the conflicting thoughts within him, he made an effort, and answered: "These bracelets are worth, I should think, as much as my kingdom. I thought there was but one such pair in the wo
"Ate wala ka bang alam na kwento yong may enchanted po?""Enchanted? Meron may alam ako enchanted canary, gusto niyo ba marinig?""Opo!""Once upon a time, in the reign of King Cambrinus, there lived at Avesnes one of his lords, who was the finest man—by which I mean the fattest—in the whole country of Flanders. He ate four meals a day, slept twelve hours out of the twenty-four, and the only thing he ever did was to shoot at small birds with his bow and arrow.Still, with all his practice he shot very badly, he was so fat and heavy, and as he grew daily fatter, he was at last obliged to give up walking, and be dragged about by others, and the people made fun of him, and gave him the name of my Lord Tubby.Now, the only trouble that Lord Tubby had was about his son, whom he loved very much, although they were not in the least alike, for the young Prince was as thin as a cuckoo. And what vexed him more than all was, that though the young ladies throughout all his lands did their best to
He asked her name. She answered that she was called the Princess Zizi; for ten years the witch had kept her shut up in an orange, in the shape of a canary.'Well, then, my charming Zizi,' said the young Prince, who was longing to marry her, 'let us ride away quickly so as to escape from the wicked witch.'But Zizi wished to know where he meant to take her.'To my father's castle,' he said.He mounted his horse and took her in front of him, and, holding her carefully in his arms, they began their journey.Everything the Princess saw was new to her, and in passing through mountains, valleys, and towns, she asked a thousand questions. Desire was charmed to answer them. It is so delightful to teach those one loves!Once she inquired what the girls in his country were like.'They are pink and white,' he replied, 'and their eyes are blue.''Do you like blue eyes?' said the Princess; but Desire thought it was a good opportunity to find out what was in her heart, so he did not answer.'And no