s about the matter. King Cloverleaf and Queen Frivola had but
one child, and this Princess had from her very babyhood been so
beautiful, that by the time she was four years old the Queen was
desperately jealous of her, and so fearful that when she was grown up
she would be more admired than herself, that she resolved to keep her
hidden away out of sight. To this end she caused a little house to be
built not far beyond the Palace gardens, on the bank of a river. This
was surrounded by a high wall, and in it the charming Potentilla was
imprisoned. Her nurse, who was dumb, took care of her, and the
necessaries of life were conveyed to her through a little window in the
wall, while guards were always pacing to and fro outside, with orders to
cut off the head of anyone who tried to approach, which they would
certainly have done without thinking twice about it. The Queen told
everyone, with much pretended sorrow, that the Princess was so ugly, and
so troublesome, and altogether so impossible to love, that to keep her
out of sight was the only thing that could be done for her. And this
tale she repeated so often, that at last the whole court believed it.
Things were in this state, and the Princess was about fifteen years old
when Prince Narcissus, attracted by the report of Queen Frivola's gay
doings, presented himself at the court. He was not much older than the
Princess, and was as handsome a Prince as you would see in a day's
journey, and really, for his age, not so very scatter-brained. His
parents were a King and Queen, whose story you will perhaps read some
day. They died almost at the same time, leaving their kingdom to the
eldest of their children, and commending their youngest son, Prince
Narcissus, to the care of the Fairy Melinette. In this they did very
well for him, for the Fairy was as kind as she was powerful, and she
spared no pains in teaching the little Prince everything it was good for
him to know, and even imparted to him some of her own Fairy lore. But as
soon as he was grown up she sent him out to see the world for himself,
though all the time she was secretly keeping watch over him, ready to
help in any time of need. Before he started she gave him a ring which
would render him invisible when he put it on his finger. These rings
seem to be quite common; you must often have heard of them, even if you
have never seen one. It was in the course of the Prince's wanderings, in
search of experience of men and thin