The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story Of The Duchess Of Cicogne And Of
Monsieur De Boulingrin, by Anatole France

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Title: The Story Of The Duchess Of Cicogne And Of Monsieur De Boulingrin
1920

Author: Anatole France

Editor: James Lewis May And Bernard Miall

Translator: D. B. Stewart

Release Date: May 9, 2008 [EBook #25409]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DUCHESS OF CICOGNE ***

Produced by David Widger

THE STORY OF THE DUCHESS OF CICOGNE AND OF MONSIEUR DE BOULINGRIN

From "The Seven Wives Of Bluebeard & Other Marvellous Tales"

By Anatole France

Translated by D. B. Stewart

Edited By James Lewis May And Bernard Miall

John Lane Company MCMXX

CHAPTER I

THE story of the Sleeping Beauty is well known; we have excellent
accounts of it, both in prose and in verse. I shall not undertake to
relate-it again; but, having become acquainted with several memoirs of
the time which have remained unpublished, I discovered some anecdotes
relating to King Cloche and Queen Satine, whose daughter it was that
slept a hundred years, and also to several members of the Court who
shared the Princess's sleep. I propose to communicate to the public such
portions of these revelations as have seemed to me most interesting.

After several years of marriage, Queen Satine gave the King, her
husband, a daughter who received the names of Paule-Marie-Aurore. The
baptismal festivities were planned by the Duc des Hoisons, grand master
of the ceremonies, in accordance with a formulary dating from the
Emperor Honorius, which was so mildewed and so nibbled by rats that it
was impossible to decipher any of it.

There were still fairies in those days, and those who had titles used
to go to Court. Seven of them were invited to be god-mothers, Queen
Titania, Queen Mab, the wise Vivien, trained by Merlin in the arts of
enchantment, Melusina, whose history was written by Jean d'Arras, and
who became a serpent every Saturday (but the baptism was on a Sunday),
Urgele, White Anna of Brittany, and Mourgue who led Ogier the Dane into
the country of Avalon.

They appeared at the castle in robes of