The Green Forest Fairy Book Part 15

Then straightway Sweep and Empress Yelva were married. Young Master Jasper and the n.o.ble maiden were married too; it was a double wedding.

Another feast was held, so bounteous and so magnificent that all previous feasts seemed poor and mean by comparison. Sports and games were set, and prizes of great value were awarded. Each n.o.bleman received a bag of diamonds as a gift, each n.o.ble lady a rope of pearls. The common people, one and all, were given each a bag of golden coins that they too might make merry. The lords and dukes danced on the highways with the dairymaids; the Empress Yelva and her ladies trod minuets with shepherd lads and farmer boys, and all was merry as a marriage feast should be.

Sweep now was Emperor. He wore a robe of purple bordered deep with ermine, and held a sceptre cl.u.s.tered thick with diamonds when he sat at court. With Empress Yelva by his side, he now rode forth in a splendid chariot of gold and royal enamels. But though he was thus raised to high rank and great wealth, Sweep was as amiable and as kind of heart as he had been when he swept down tall chimneys for his living and drove his donkey cart all filled with brooms and brushes. To tell the truth, however, Sweep had little opportunity to do kind deeds. There were no poor folk to be found in Yelvaland. The Empress Yelva governed her realm too well and wisely for that. Now it happened on one winter's day, when all the ground was white, Sweep noticed that the frost hung thick and glistened on the branches of the firs and cedars.

"It seems to me, my dear," said Sweep to Empress Yelva, "that it would be most suitable if we should build some houses for our little friends, the Red Caps, who are dwelling in our forest. I fear me that they suffer greatly from the cold."

The Empress Yelva thought this plan most excellent, and soon the royal carpenters and joiners were set to making tiny little houses. When these were made, the royal painters colored them bright green with bright red roofs, which was quite like the costume of the Red Caps, if you will remark. The Empress Yelva and her n.o.ble lords and ladies then hung these tiny houses in the branches of the firs and cedars, and they looked like so many brightly colored bird-houses. When the Red Caps flew home that night, they were delighted; they guessed at once for whom these tiny houses were meant. They praised Sweep and complimented him on his kind heart and his thoughtful ways.

"We Red Caps do many kind things for mortals," they remarked most sagely to each other, "but it is seldom mortals ever think to do kind things for us. It is quite fitting that Sweep should be Emperor; he hath a n.o.ble heart, as sovereigns all should have."

It happened then upon another day, while still the snow lay thick upon the ground, that Princess Cendre and her servants went a-riding through this forest. The haughty princess marked the tiny brightly colored houses, and asked what they might be. A forester near by made answer thus:

"Now if your royal highness please," said he, "Sweep, our good Emperor, hath caused these to be made for our little friends, the Red Caps. They suffered greatly with the cold, he thought."

"Indeed!" exclaimed the Princess Cendre. "Then your little friends, the Red Caps, must suffer from the cold again, I fear. I have taken a great fancy to these pretty toys and mean to hang them in my own forests, that my goldfinches and nightingales may dwell therein in winter, instead of flying to the southland." She then desired her servants to cut down the tiny, brightly colored houses and rode off, little thinking of the mischief she had done.

That night, when the Red Caps flew home, they were agitated and buzzed about like so many angry little bees. They missed their tiny comfortable houses and shivered with the cold. They knew, of course, who had done this. They knew all things--these Red Caps of the olden days.

"Now this haughty Princess Cendre is impossible!" they declared most wrathfully. "She cares not though we freeze to death; although we have done n.o.ble things for her, she has quite forgot them. She has been princess long enough!" they cried. "Let her be Little Sweep again," and they clapped their hands in anger.

Then in that instant vanished the splendid castle by the sea, and Princess Cendre's robes of satin fell from her. She found herself dressed out in sweeper's rags, and once more, broom in hand, standing on her corner. The old master, back within his comfortable kitchen again, was disposed to treat her no better than he had before; and so, for all her days, Little Sweep was forced to dwell within her cold, bare attic.

But there was no kind Sweep to toss her bread and buns each day nor buy her bright red apples or plum cake.

Sweep, on the other hand, lived long and happily as Emperor. He and the lovely Empress Yelva, it is said, were blessed with twenty children, all of whom inherited Sweep's n.o.ble nature and his kindly heart.

CHAPTER VIII

KINGS AND QUEENS AND PEASANT FOLK

Once upon a time, in a splendid palace on the top of a high hill, there dwelled a very old king and his wife, who was likewise a very old queen.

Now this royal old couple lived in great state and luxury. Their diamond crowns glittered and sparkled like the sunbeams on a summer sea; and their trailing velvet robes were so thickly embroidered with gold that they stood alone. This very old king and his wife, the very old queen, had a coach of gold and gla.s.s drawn by eight white horses in silver harness. But with all this splendor and magnificence, this royal old couple were not happy or contented. Indeed they were called Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch, which names were most suitable, for they were discontented and disagreeable as the day was long.

Queen Grumpy fretted because she had a hundred ladies-in-waiting. She said they bothered her. King Crosspatch scolded and sulked because Lord High Chancellor would not permit him to smoke a briarwood pipe. They both declared their diamond crowns gave them a headache, and they were tired of their trailing velvet robes. Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch refused to ride in their royal coach of gold and gla.s.s. The eight white horses trotted too swiftly and shook their old bones about. So this very old king and this very old queen went afoot; but even so, they complained and scolded because all the roads about the palace led either up a hill or down, and they puffed and panted for breath before their walk was done.

Now often and often at sunset, as they rested on their way up the high hill, Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch looked with longing on a certain snug little cottage down in the valley. Within this snug little cottage lived a very old man and his very old wife. They were peasants. There were rows and rows of sunflowers and hollyhocks before this snug little cottage and behind, while to the left and right stretched green pastures thick with blackberry vines.

"Ah, my dear!" King Crosspatch would sigh, as he watched the old man at work. "How pleasant it must be to live in such a snug little cottage.

That old man goes every evening to fetch the cows. How I wish I were that old man!"

"Indeed, yes!" Queen Grumpy would reply with an answering sigh. "How I wish I were that old woman. She goes about from morning until night, so brisk and blithe. She can bake bread and churn b.u.t.ter herself; she is not bothered with a hundred ladies-in-waiting as I am."

Now most remarkable to tell, often as Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch gazed thus longingly at the little cottage so snug, and wished themselves the old man and the old woman, the old man and the old woman gazed just as longingly on the splendid palace and wished themselves King Crosspatch and Queen Grumpy. For if you will believe me, this old man and his old wife were a most discontented couple too!

So it happened one evening, when Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch were walking down the hill, they met the old man and his old wife climbing up. So while they sat to rest on a stone stile, these four discontented old folk fell to talking.

"Ah!" exclaimed King Crosspatch to the old man, "I have often watched you fetch the cows home from pasture in the evening, and what fun it seems, to be sure! Then you often go a-berrying too. You should be very happy."

"Indeed, Your Royal Highness, I am not!" replied the old man with bitter feeling. "I am tired of fetching cows, and I would like to sit still all day with folded hands. I often wish I were you. As for going a-berrying; I go only because I am so fond of blackberry pie. There's one for my supper to-night," he added, and smacked his lips with relish. And then, oh, how King Crosspatch envied the old man! King Crosspatch had longed to eat blackberry pie all his life, but the court physician would not permit such ordinary food on the royal table. So the poor old king had never had even a taste of a blackberry pie.

"And you too," said Queen Grumpy to the old woman, "you should be very happy. You loop your dress above your red flannel petticoat and trot round all day, baking bread and churning b.u.t.ter. You have nothing ever to vex or worry you."

"Nothing to vex or worry me!" repeated the old woman in astonishment.

"Why, I am vexed that I must churn my b.u.t.ter, and at this very minute I am worried lest the loaves I left baking in the oven may burn before I am home again. And indeed, Your Royal Highness, I loop my dress above my red flannel petticoat only because I must. A hundred times a day I wish I were you and could wear trailing velvet robes sewn thick with gold!"

Now as these four discontented old folk talked on, a curious plan popped into their heads. They decided to change places. Accordingly, Queen Grumpy took the old woman's dress and looped it above the red flannel petticoat; the old woman b.u.t.toned herself into Queen Grumpy's trailing velvet robes. King Crosspatch put on the old man's battered hat; the old man set the sparkling diamond crown above his sunburned brow, and all was done. Then singing and laughing, these four old folk went on their separate ways. All four felt a.s.sured that they were really walking on the road to happiness at last, and all were very pleased and jolly in consequence.

"Oh, there's no place like a palace, A palace, a palace!

Oh, there's no place like a palace Upon a hill so high!"

sang the old man and his old wife as they climbed up the steep hill.

"Oh, there's no place like a cottage, A cottage, a cottage!

Oh, there's no place like a cottage Down in a valley green!"

sang King Crosspatch and Queen Grumpy, and they went trudging down. Then when they reached the snug little cottage, how pleased they were to be sure! Everything was so cozy and comfortable to behold. The kettle on the hearth was boiling, and the loaves in the oven were browning; the bird in the cage was singing, and the cat on the cushion was purring.

The table was laid with all manner of good things for tea.

"The blackberry pie! The blackberry pie! My dear, let's have it at once!" cried King Crosspatch, and went searching through cupboard and larder to find it.

"Wait just a moment until I have made the tea," answered Queen Grumpy, busily bustling about the kitchen. She made the tea, and he found the blackberry pie, and then they both sat down to supper. There were ever and ever so many good things on the table. There were cold roast fowls and quince preserves; there were strawberry tarts and plum as well; there was fresh new b.u.t.ter, and there was thick sweet cream. Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch ate them all and then began to think about dessert!

"Now would you mind, my dear, if I should eat all the blackberry pie myself?" asked King Crosspatch of Queen Grumpy. "You see, I have only read about blackberry pie in books and have never tasted one in all my life before."

"Not at all, my dear!" replied Queen Grumpy most amiably. "I intend to eat all this ginger cake which I have never seen or tasted before." And so this royal old couple continued to eat until both larder and cupboard were bare.

"How fine this little cottage is and how very snug!" said Queen Grumpy, seating herself in a rocker before the blazing logs. She began to knit on a gray wool sock she found. "I think we shall be very happy here."

"And I think so too," agreed King Crosspatch. "We have eaten a fine supper in a very few minutes and without any fuss of footmen or ladies-in-waiting either." He found a briarwood pipe and began to doze peacefully in deep contentment. Queen Grumpy knitted busily until the logs burned low, when she began to nod and doze also. Then they both went to bed.

But the beds in the snug little cottage were not of the excellent quality of its cold roasted fowls and new b.u.t.ter and jam. The mattresses were rough affairs. They were stuffed here with corn husks and there with straw and yet again with goose feathers, which p.r.i.c.ked Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch like so many pins. On these rough husky beds the royal old couple tossed restlessly until morning. They vowed they did not sleep a wink. (Perhaps they had eaten too much blackberry pie and ginger cake; what do you think about it?) When it was daylight at last, King Crosspatch clapped his hands to call his servants to attend.

"Ah, my dear!" said Queen Grumpy, "have you forgotten that we are no longer royal folk but simple cottagers instead?"

"Indeed, I had quite forgotten all about it," replied King Crosspatch.

"Well, I am glad we are," and he began to dress.

Together they set about making breakfast; but again the breakfast proved a different matter from supper. You will remember that they had eaten everything in the cupboard and larder the night before. There was no milk, for they had forgotten to milk the cow, and neither were there eggs. They had neglected to search the nests. Moreover, the wood box was empty, and the fire was out.

"Now do you go out and chop some wood for the fire, my dear," said Queen Grumpy. "I shall milk the cow. I have always liked to look at pictures of milkmaids." She took the pail on her arm and went in search of the three-legged stool. Then she seated herself beside Bossy-Cow and began to milk. But sad to tell, Bossy-Cow, who herself was rather disagreeable, waited until the pail was nearly filled, and then she gave a sudden kick. Such a vicious kick it was, too! It upset the milk-pail, three-legged stool, Queen Grumpy and all, and frightened the poor old queen half out of her wits. She began to scream so loudly that she quite frightened King Crosspatch, and the hatchet slipped and chopped a bit of his little finger.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" wailed King Crosspatch at the very top of his voice. "I think this hatchet is bewitched! Oh! Oh! Oh!" he wept, holding up his little finger. (It was not much of a cut; just a little scratch; but he was a great crosspatch, you know.) "Oh, what shall I do? What shall I do?" he wailed. "With this terrible cut on my little finger, I can't do anything at all!"

"There now, there now," petted Queen Grumpy soothingly. "Don't chop any more wood. There are still a few drops of milk left in my pail, and we shall drink that and eat bread for our breakfast." She led her weeping husband within the snug little cottage, but when she looked in the oven she found another disappointment. Queen Grumpy had forgotten to take the loaves out of the oven the night before, and they were burned to a crisp.

"Oh, this plagued cottage!" exclaimed Queen Grumpy, thoroughly vexed.