TILLA

Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen who, though it is a very
long while since they died, were much the same in their tastes and
pursuits as people nowadays. The King, who was called Cloverleaf, liked
hunting better than anything else; but he nevertheless bestowed as much
care upon his kingdom as he felt equal to--that is to say, he never made
an end of folding and unfolding the State documents. As to the Queen,
she had once been very pretty, and she liked to believe that she was so
still, which is, of course, always made quite easy for queens. Her
name was Frivola, and her one occupation in life was the pursuit of
amusement. Balls, masquerades, and picnics followed one another in rapid
succession, as fast as she could arrange them, and you may imagine
that under these circumstances the kingdom was somewhat neglected. As
a matter of fact, if anyone had a fancy for a town, or a province, he
helped himself to it; but as long as the King had his horses and
dogs, and the Queen her musicians and her actors, they did not trouble
themselves 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 w