Many years ago it became time to elect a new Head of Fairyland. After much
discussion, it appeared that the choice lay between two fairies, whose claims to the
throne were so equal that it was impossible to prefer one to the other. One of those
fairies was called Fairy Flight and the other one, Fairy Constance.
Under the circumstances it was unanimously decided that whichever of the
two fairies could show to the world the greatest wonder, that fairy should become
Head of Fairyland. But it was to be a special kind of wonder, no moving of
mountains or any such common fairy tricks would do.
Fairy Flight decided that she would bring up a Prince who would charm
one woman after another but would stay true to no woman. Fairy Constance
decided to bring up a princess who was so enchanting that no man could meet her
without falling in love. If Fairy Flight's changeable prince could withstand the charms
of Fairy Constance's princess, then Fairy Flight would win and become Head of
Fairyland. On the other hand, if Fairy Constance's princess could win the heart of
the prince and so gain his proposal of marriage, then Fairy Constance would
become Head of Fairyland.
Each of the two contenders was allowed to take as much time as she
wished. Contests like this could take a very long time. Meanwhile the four oldest
fairies were to attend to the affairs of Fairyland.
Now Fairy Constance, who was the one
who had decided to raise the princess, had for a
long time been very friendly with a certain King and
Queen, whose royal court was a model of what a
court ought to be. They had one little daughter, whom
they had named "Rosanella" because she had a little
pink rose printed upon her white throat. From her
earliest infancy she had shown the most astonishing
intelligence, and the courtiers knew her smart
sayings by heart, and repeated them on all
occasions.
One dark night, soon after the assembly of
the fairies, the Queen woke up with a shriek. Her
maids of honor ran to see what was the matter, and
found the Queen had had a frightful dream.
"I dreamt," said she, "that my little daughter had changed into a bouquet of
roses, and that as I held the bouquet in my hand a bird swooped down suddenly and
snatched it from me and carried it away."
"Oh, my!" cried a nurse. "Let someone run at once and see that all is well
with the Princess."
So they ran. But what was their dismay when they found the cradle empty!
They sought high and low throughout the kingdom for the princess Ronsanella, but
not a trace of the baby could be found. The Queen could not be comforted, and nor
for that matter could the King.
One summer evening, as the Queen sat in sorrow in her palace garden,
she noticed a number of peasant girls approaching, each one of which followed the
twelve tree-lined paths that led to the center of the garden. As each peasant girl
drew near, she laid a basket at the Queen's feet, saying, "Charming Queen, may
this be some slight comfort to you in your unhappiness."
The Queen hastily opened the baskets, and found inside each one a lovely
baby girl, about the same age as the little Princess whom she missed so deeply. At
first the sight of the babies only reminded her of her grief, but soon their charms so
gained on her that, though she could never forget her own dear Rosanella, her
attentions became quite occupied with providing the babies with nursery-maids,
cradle-rockers, and ladies-in-waiting, and in sending hither and thither for swings
and dolls and tops, and bushels of the finest sweetmeats.
Oddly enough, every baby had upon its throat a tiny pink rose also. The
Queen found it difficult to decide on names for all twelve of them, so until she could
settle the matter she chose a special color for each one, and dressed them
accordingly, so that when they were all together they looked like a bouquet of bright
flowers. As they grew older it became evident that though they were all remarkably
intelligent, and learned a great deal from the education they received, yet they
differed one from another in personality, so much so that gradually they were no
longer known as "Pearl," or "Primrose," or "Jade" or whatever might have been
their color-name. Instead the Queen would say, "Where is my Sweet?" or "my
Beautiful," or "my Wise."
Of course, with all these charms, by the time the girls grew to young
maidenhood they attracted admirers by the dozen. Not only in their own court, but
princes from miles away were constantly arriving, attracted by the reports of their
beauty which were spread abroad. But the lovely girls were as careful as they were
beautiful, and favored no one.
Let us return for a moment to Fairy Flight, who as you may recall was the
fairy who had determined to bring up the faithless prince. She had her sights fixed
on a certain Prince Miliflor. As it turns out, Prince Miliflor's father was a friend of the
king whose wife had discovered the twelve baby princesses. When Prince Miliflor
was born, Flight had bestowed on him all the graces of mind and body that a prince
could possibly wish. But now she doubled her efforts and spared no pains in adding
every imaginable charm and fascination. So that whether he happened to be cross
or cheerful, dressed in the most luxurious royal fineries or simplest robes, whether
he was serious or light-hearted, he was always perfectly irresistible! In truth, he was
an utterly charming young fellow, since Fairy Flight had given him the best heart in
the world as well as the best head, and had left nothing to be desired except the
ability to stay faithful to one love. For it cannot be denied that Prince Miliflor was a
desperate flirt, and as fickle as the wind. So much so, that by the time he arrived at
his eighteenth birthday he had conquered and left behind every heart in the
kingdom. Things were in this state when he was invited to visit the court of his
father's friend, the king and queen who had raised the twelve baby princesses.
Imagine the surprise of Prince Miliflor when he arrived and was presented
to twelve of the loveliest creatures he had ever seen. It soon became clear that they
all liked him as much as he liked each one of them, and before long he was never
happy a single instant without them. For could he not whisper soft speeches to
Sweet, while laughing with Joy, and at the same time gazing at Beauty? And in his
more serious moments what could be more pleasant than to talk to Wise upon
some shady lawn, while he held the hand of Loving in his own, with all the others
lingering nearby? For the first time in his life he really loved, though the object of his
devotion was not one person, but twelve, to whom he was equally attached. Fairy
Flight could not be more pleased. Imagine, rather than breaking the heart of just one
girl at a time, he was going to break the hearts of twelve princesses at once!
Prince Miliflor's father wrote to him again and again, commanding him to
return home, and proposing for him one better match than the next, yet all in vain.
Nothing in the world could tear the prince from the twelve objects of his affections.
One day the court of the twelve princesses gave a large royal
garden-party. Just as the guests were all assembled, and Prince Miliflor, as usual,
was dividing his attentions between the twelve beauties, a distant humming of bees
was heard. As the humming became louder, the ladies of the court, fearing their
stings, uttered little shrieks and fled. Immediately, to the horror of all who were
looking on, the bees suddenly grew to
enormous size, then each one chased a
princess, finally pounding on her and carrying
her off into the air! In an instant all twelve
princesses had disappeared into the sky.
This amazing occurrence plunged
the whole court into the most terrible grief. It
was bad enough that the baby Rosenella had
vanished so mysteriously years before from
her royal cradle, but now this! that all twelve
princess would be carried off by giant bees!
Prince Miliflor cast about in a violent rage,
then gradually fell into such a deep state of depression it was feared that if nothing
could rouse him that he would surely die. His protector, Fairy Flight, rushed to his
side, but he rejected with scorn all the portraits of lovely princesses which she
offered him to replace his lost beauties. In short, it was evident that he was in a bad
way, and Fairy Flight was at her wits' end.
One day, as the prince wandered about absorbed in his sorrow, he heard
sudden shouts. Through the air a chariot of crystal, glittering in the sunshine, was
slowly approaching. Six lovely maidens with shining wings drew it by rose-colored
ribbons, while a whole flight of others, equally beautiful, were holding long garlands
of roses crossed above it, so as to form a complete canopy. Inside the chariot sat
the Fairy Constance, and by her side a Princess whose beauty positively dazzled all
who saw her. As the chariot landed, they proceeded to the Queen's apartments.
Exclamations of wonder rose on all sides at the loveliness of the strange Princess
and the marvel of its arrival, and the crowd so thickened that it was quite difficult to
make a way through.
"Great Queen," said Fairy Constance, "permit me to restore to you your
daughter Rosanella, whom I stole years ago from her cradle."
Words cannot express how surprised and delighted the Queen was to be
reunited with her long lost baby. But after a while the Queen said to Fairy
Constance, "But my twelve lovely ones, do you know if they are lost to me forever?
Shall I never see them again?"
Fairy Constance only said, "Very soon you will no longer miss them!" in a
tone that evidently meant, "Don't ask me any more questions." Mounting again into
her chariot she swiftly disappeared into the sky.
The news of the return of the long-lost Princess Rosanella was soon
carried to the Prince, but he had hardly the heart to go and see her, he so missed
his twelve lost loves. However, it became absolutely necessary that he should at
least pay his respects. He had scarcely been five minutes in the presence of
Rosanella before it seemed to the prince that she combined in her own charming
person all the gifts and graces which had so attracted him in the twelve
Rose-Maidens whose loss he had so truly mourned. And after all, it is really easier
to be with one person at a time. Almost before he knew it himself, he was begging
the lovely Rosanella to marry him.
The moment the words left his lips, Fairy Constance re-appeared, this
time smiling and triumphant, in the chariot of the Head of Fairyland. The heart of the
faithless Prince Miliflor had been conquered, and he wanted nothing less than to
stay by Rosanella's side for the rest of his life. So fairy Constance had earned the
title of Head of Fairyland.
Now Fairy Constance gave a full account of how she had stolen Rosanella
from her cradle, and had divided her character into twelve equal parts, that each
part of her might charm Prince Milifor, and when once united, she might cure him of
his faithlessness once and for ever.
Even the defeated Fairy Flight sent the enchanting Rosanella a wedding
gift, and was present at the ceremony. Prince Miliflor stayed true to his wife for the
rest of his life. And indeed, who would not have done so in his place? As for
Rosanella, she loved him as much as all the twelve beauties put together. And so
the two of them reigned in peace and happiness to the end of their long lives.