o keep well with all the Fairies and
Enchanters, and on no account to stint them of the cakes, the ells of
ribbon, and similar trifles which were their due, and, above all things,
when there was a christening, to remember to invite every single one,
good, bad, or indifferent, to the ceremony. Now, the foolish Queen had
one little son who was just going to be christened, and for several
months she had been hard at work preparing an enormous list of the names
of those who were to be invited, but she quite forgot that it would take
nearly as long to read it over as it had taken to write it out. So, when
the moment of the christening arrived the King--to whom the task had
been entrusted--had barely reached the end of the second page and his
tongue was tripping with fatigue and haste as he repeated the usual
formula: 'I conjure and pray you, Fairy so-and-so'--or 'Enchanter
such-a-one'--'to honour me with a visit, and graciously bestow your
gifts upon my son.'

To make matters worse, word was brought to him that the Fairies asked on
the first page had already arrived and were waiting impatiently in
the Great Hall, and grumbling that nobody was there to receive them.
Thereupon he gave up the list in despair and hurried to greet those whom
he had succeeded in asking, imploring their goodwill so humbly that most
of them were touched, and promised that they would do his son no harm.
But there happened to be among them a Fairy from a far country about
whom they knew nothing, though her name had been written on the first
page of the list. This Fairy was annoyed that after having taken the
trouble to come so quickly, there had been no one to receive her, or
help her to alight from the great ostrich on which she had travelled
from her distant home, and now she began to mutter to herself in the
most alarming way.

'Oh! prate away,' said she, 'your son will never be anything to boast
of. Say what you will, he will be nothing but a Mannikin--'

No doubt she would have gone on longer in this strain, and given the
unhappy little Prince half-a-dozen undesirable gifts, if it had not
been for the good Fairy Genesta, who held the kingdom under her special
protection, and who luckily hurried in just in time to prevent further
mischief. When she had by compliments and entreaties pacified the
unknown Fairy, and persuaded her to say no more, she gave the King
a hint that now was the time to distribute the presents, after which
ceremony they al