Fairy Tales

Front matter

S,

BY

THE COUNTESS D'AULNOY.

Preface

PREFACE

The Fairy Tales of the Countess d'Aulnoy, after having delighted old and young for nearly two hundred years, are now, strange to say, for the first time presented to the English reader in their integrity.

This assertion may appear startling to those who are familiar with many English versions of the most popular of them; but it is, nevertheless, a fact, as the examination of this little volume will prove.

Early in the last century, three volumes of Fairy Tales were published, under the title of "A Collection of Novels and Tales of the Fairies, written by that celebrated wit of France, the Countess d'Anois, translated from the best edition of the original French, by several hands." And in 1817 the same collection reappeared in two small volumes, with a new preface, and entitled, "Fairy Tales, translated from the French of the Countess d'Anois." Now, it will scarcely be believed that, although the collectors introduced the novels which link the second series of her Fairy Tales together, after the fashion of the old Italian novelists, they not only omitted the whole of the first series, but also several of the best of the second; substituting, in the place of the latter, tales by the Countess de Murat, and the Countess d'Auneuil, without distinction or explanation, changing the titles where they occurred in the intermediate narrative, and altering or wholly omitting the remarks made upon them by the personages for whose entertainment they are supposed to be related, so that the reader could not suspect the imposition that was practised upon him, for what reason it is difficult to imagine.

Nor was the injustice to the author limited to this singular caprice. The tales, instead of being faithfully translated, were recklessly abridged and loosely paraphrased; while the incidental couplets occasionally, and the versified morals invariably, were dispensed with altogether.

Other abridgments and paraphrases of a few of these stories have appeared in sundry juvenile publications; and, in a very recent one, the rising generation was presented with "Babiole," "Princess Rosette," "Princess Printaniere" (called "Princess Maia"), "The Beneficent Frog," and "The Good Little Mouse;" but still abridged, and adapted to the atmosphere of the nursery. I beg to disclaim any intention of depreciating these latter productions, which are avowedly addressed to the youngest class of readers; but the first was a literary fraud, which cannot be too severely denounced, whether it be regarded as an imposition on the public or an injustice to the original author. And yet the writer of the Preface to the fifth edition (London, 1766) says, "I shall not pretend to say anything in commendation of the translators, only that they have kept up to the sense and spirit of the author, whose thoughts are so elegant and refined, their beauties would have been lost in a paraphrase." Is it possible that this person could have been acquainted with "the best edition of the original French," from which he professes this translation was made? I must, in charity, hope not, and imagine that he was himself deceived by the "several hands" who perpetrated the extraordinary concoction in which "The Palace of Revenge," "Anguilletta," "Young and Handsome," and "Perfect Love," by the Countess de Murat, take the places of "Fortunée," "Babiole," "Serpentin Vert," "Prince Marcassin," and "Le Dauphin;" while "The Knights-Errant," and "The Tyranny of the Fairies Destroyed," by the Countess d'Auneuil, are thrown in, I presume, to compound for the omission of "La Biche au Bois," "La Grenouille Bienfaisante," and the nine stories contained in the "Contes des Fées "of Madame d'Aulnoy.

The volume now presented to the Public, whatever may be its demerits, contains at any rate nothing that is not the composition of the Countess d'Aulnoy. The omissions consist of, first, the Novels with which the second series of her Fairy Tales, entitled, "Les Fées á la Mode," were interlarded, possessing little interest in themselves, and unnecessary as vehicles for the sprightly and ingenious stories they introduce; and, secondly, of the two concluding tales, "Prince Marcassin," and "Le Dauphin," which, though not wanting in merit, as far as fancy and humour are concerned, could not, without considerable alterations in their details, have been rendered unobjectionable to the English, reader. In order, however, to render the work as complete as possible, a brief analysis of the plot of each of these stories will be found in the Appendix, page 609.

Had not the many liberties I have taken with the Fairy Tales of Madame d'Aulnoy, in adapting them to the stage, made it a point of conscience with me to adhere as rigidly as possible to the original text on this occasion, I should have been stimulated to it by another circumstance, which evidently had a precisely contrary effect on my predecessors. The numberless allusions to the persons, events, works, manners, and customs of the age in which they were written, were doubtlessly considered incumbrances by those whose only object was to provide amusement for the Nursery; and I do not dispute the discretion with which they might have been altered or omitted in abridgments made for that special purpose; but such a plea cannot be put in for the translators of "the best edition of the original French," who professed to give the general English Public the works of a "celebrated wit of France," whose "thoughts are so elegant and refined, their beauties would be lost in a paraphrase."

I indulge in the hope that a new interest will be imparted to these old favourites, when they shall be found to be not only amusing fictions, but curious reflexions of the Courts of Versailles and Madrid, at the close of the seventeenth century; the dress and manners accurately described, and the pomps and pastimes in many instances scarcely exaggerated. This will be evident, I think, not only from the foot-notes I have appended, when immediate explanation appeared necessary, but in the Appendix, containing such additional information and remarks as would have incumbered the margin or interrupted the story.

I have only to add here, that while I have endeavoured to render the text as literally as the idioms of the two languages would admit, and spared no pains, where the passage was obscure or the expression obsolete, in attaining the nearest approach in my power to the sense of the author, (which has been frequently most ludicrously perverted by the "several hands" aforesaid,) I have left the proper names of the various personages untranslated, having come to that determination after much consideration, and in consequence of the great inconsistency and confusion of identity I found had resulted from the attempts to translate them by others.

The incidental verse, and the "moralités," as they are called, though unavoidably not so literally rendered as the prose, will, I trust, be found as true to the spirit of the original, and retaining the colour of the period in which it was composed,—the period of Lulli, in music; and in painting, of Watteau and Parterre.

Introduction

INTRODUCTION.

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, says the author of "A Discourse on the Origin of Fairy Tales," had frozen every pen. No one dared to write anything for fear of displeasing the king, who had appointed royal censors of the press as substitutes for the Doctors of the Sorbonne, who had themselves superseded the Inquisitors of the Holy Office. But this congelation was merely temporary. Since Madame de Maintenon had arisen from the rank of governess to the children of Madame de Montespan to that of the wife, though not the queen, of Louis XIV., the Court had adopted a tone which had been properly assumed by a pious woman surrounded by legitimate princes still young, and to whom good examples were indispensable. Age, public misfortunes, and the character of his connexion with Madame de Maintenon, had brought Louis himself back to the steps of the altar and the calm of private society. Amongst the tutors selected for the princes of the blood were Bossuet and Fenelon. The talent of these justly celebrated men popularized the purest morals, by covering them with flowers, and dressing them in the most pleasing forms. Books for the instruction of princes were eagerly multiplied, a select library was printed of them; it seemed as if the whole nation had determined to purify its gallantry in the crucible of a wise yet infantile morality. At this period there lived a number of women who cultivated letters successfully; others, who esteemed them, wrote and made for themselves a greater or lesser reputation. Amongst this latter class were many of high rank and considerable fortune, great personal beauty, and general amiability. The doors of their magnificent hotels were thrown open to the Muses.

The Romances of Mademoiselle de Scuderi were found to be too long, the character of them too sententious. The Allegorical Romances, the "Argenis" of Barclay, the Cleopatras and Cassandras which the "Polexandre" of Gomberville had introduced, were no longer to be endured. There was a demand for what the Spaniards called an Entreteniamento, a narrative occupying not more than ten or a dozen pages instead of as many volumes. Fashion is always running into extremes. The extent of a Fairy Tale satisfied this new caprice. Though principally designed for the amusement of children, the style was so improved, so much more plot was introduced, so much wit and grace imparted to them by successive writers, that they speedily assumed an interest for maturer readers, for the man of the world and the man of imagination. Their freedom from all licentiousness had placed them from their first appearance in the hands of children and of young females, and they were shortly to be found everywhere—on the table of the village pastor and of the sovereign. They were read of an evening by the cottage fireside and in the Chateau de Versailles. Hostile criticism was not, however, wanting. The Abbé de Villiers undertook to satirize the Fairy Tale; but criticism failed, and the Fairy Tale increased its circulation. The simpler Stories of Perrault were succeeded by the more elaborate compositions of the Countesses de Murat, d'Aulnoy, d'Auneuil, and Mademoiselle de la Force. Enjoyed by Madame de Maintenon, they were not disdained by the young courtiers, the Chevaliers de la Terrasse, who followed Louis XV.: but the Regent was not the man to protect the Fairies, and the Duchesse du Maine, and the roués of the Temple, had no feeling for these "elegant trifles." Had they been only elegant trifles they might not have survived the neglect of fashion, or even the satire of the Abbé de Villiers: but the sterling gold that was in them was indestructible, and imparted to them "a charmed life." To quote the words of one of the most popular writers of the present day, "It would be hard to estimate the amount of gentleness and mercy that has made its way among us through these slight channels. Forbearance, courtesy, consideration for the poor and aged, kind treatment of animals, the love of nature, abhorrence of tyranny and brute force,—many such good things have been nourished in the child's heart by this powerful aid. It has greatly helped to keep us ever young, by preserving through our worldly ways one slender track not overgrown with weeds, where we may walk with children, sharing their delights."

Of the four above-mentioned ladies who most successfully followed the lead of Perrault, the Countess d'Aulnoy was the most prolific, and has achieved the greatest popularity. Marie Catherine, daughter of Monsieur le Jumel de Barneville, was born in 1649, and died at Paris in January, 1705. Her father was connected with some of the first families in Normandy. She married François de la Mothe, Comte d'Aulnoy, who was accused of treason by three Normans, imprisoned, and would have lost his head, had not one of his accusers, struck with remorse of conscience, declared the whole charge to be groundless. The Countess herself was at another period compromised through her intimacy with the beautiful Madame Tiquet, who was beheaded on the Place de Grêve, for the murder of her husband. To considerable personal attractions, Madame d'Aulnoy joined much wit and great facility of expression. She was universally popular in society, and possessed to a remarkable extent the talent of combining instruction with amusement in her most ordinary conversation. She had read much, travelled a little, and was gifted with an excellent memory. Whatever might be the subject under discussion, she is said to have always had some information to impart upon it. Nobody could relate an anecdote better or more seasonably, and her facility in composition equalled that evinced in her conversation. She left four daughters, the eldest of whom became Madame de Héere, to whom Monsieur le Président de Vertron addressed the following lines:—

Dans la prose et les vers de l'aimable de Héere, Je le dis comme je le croi, La fille est semblable à la mère, On y voit tout l'esprit de l'aimable d'Aulnoy."

The second married Monsieur de Preaux Dantigny, a gentleman of Berry.

The list of her works varies in every account I have seen of them; but in her preface to her "Mémoires de la Cour de France," or, as it is more generally called, "Memoires Historiques de ce qui s'est passé en Europe depuis 1672 jusqu'en 1679," Madame d'Aulnoy has given us one of her own, with this observation: "I profit by this opportunity to declare to the public, that they have printed in Holland some books in my name which are not mine, I having never written any others than these following:—

Hipolite Comte de Duglas. Les Memoires de la Cour d'Espagne. La Relation du Voyage en Espagne. Jean de Bourbon, Prince de Carency. Les Nouvelles Espagnoles. Une Paraphrase sur le 'Miserere.' Une Paraphrase sur le Pseaume, 'Benedic, anima mea, Domino.'

To which, of course, we must add the work in which this preface appears, "Mémoires Historiques," or "de la Cour de France," and her "Contes des Fées," and "Fées à la Mode." Other lists contain, in addition to the above, "Mémoires de la Cour d'Angleterre," and "Mémoires du Comte de Warwick," said to have been the last of her compositions, printed in 1703. But of these I cannot find any trace, beyond the mention of them with commendation in the Mercure Gallant for January 1705, which contains an obituary notice of Madame d'Aulnoy. There is also a work in two volumes attributed to her, entitled, "Histoire Chronologique d'Espagne tirée de Mariana, &c." 12mo. Rotterdam, 1694; but this may be one of the publications she complains of. All her works, with the exception of the Fairy Tales, are now excessively rare, both in France and England, though a translation of "Hipolite" was published in 1741, and of the "Voyage en Espagne," under the title of "Ingenious and diverting Letters of a Lady's Travels into Spain," which had reached its eighth edition in 1717, and was reprinted in two volumes, with corrections (much needed), in 1803.

The publishers of "The Travels" also published a book entitled, "The Diverting Works of the Countess d'Anois, author of the Lady's Travels into Spain," containing "The Memoirs of her own Life," an absurd fabrication; her Spanish Novels, and the Tales of the Fairies, in three parts, which consist only of "Les Contes des Fées," and a series entitled, "Les Illustres Fées," a collection of very short and inferior tales, which I have not found any authority for attributing to her pen.

Her Fairy Tales consist of two distinct portions, the first, entitled, "Les Contes des Fees," contains—

Gracieuse et Percinet. La Belle aux Cheveux d'Or. L'Oiseau Bleu. Le Prince Lutin. La Princesse Printaniere. La Princesse Rosette. Le Rameau d'Or. L'Oranger et l'Abeille. La Bonne Petite Souris. This first series, in two small parts, was dedicated to "Madame," as she was called, the Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria, second wife of Philip, Duke of Orleans.

The second series, entitled, "Les Fées a la Mode," contains—

Le Mouton. Finette Cendron. Fortunée. Babiole. Le Nain Jaine. Serpentin Vert. La Princesse Carpillon. La Grenouille Bienfaisante. La Biche au Bois. La Chatte Blanche. Belle-Belle, ou le Chevalier Fortuné. Le Pigeon et la Colombe. La Princesse Belle-Etoile et le Prince Cheri. Le Prince Marcassin. Le Dauphin.

These stories were intermixed with three novels,—"Don Gabriel Ponce de Leon," "Don Ferdinand de Toledo," and "Le Nouveau Gentilhomme Bourgeois,"—the personages in which were supposed to relate the Fairy Tales for the amusement of each other, as I have previously mentioned. We have no data by which to arrive at any knowledge of the exact chronological order in which these Fairy Tales were written; but I venture to think that, by preserving that in which they are printed in the "Cabinet des Fées," I have not greatly departed from it.

Gracieuse and Percinet

GRACIEUSE AND PERCINET.

Once upon a time there was a king and a queen who had an only daughter. Her beauty, her sweet temper, and her wit, which were incomparable, caused them to name her Gracieuse. She was the sole joy of her mother, who sent her every day a beautiful new dress, either of gold brocade, or of velvet, or of satin. She was always magnificently attired, without being in the least proud, or vain of her fine clothes. She passed the morning in the company of learned persons, who taught her all sorts of sciences, and in the afternoon she worked beside the queen. At luncheon time they served up to her basins full of sugar-plums, and more than twenty pots of preserves; so that she was universally considered the happiest princess in the world!

There was in this same court an exceedingly rich old maid, called the Duchess Grognon, and who was horrible in every respect. Her hair was as red as fire, her face of an alarming size, covered with pimples; she had but one blear eye left, and her mouth was so large you would have said she could eat everybody up, only, as she had no teeth, people were not afraid of it; she had a hump before and behind, and limped with both legs. Such monsters envy all handsome persons, and consequently she hated Gracieuse mortally, and retired from Court to avoid hearing her praises. She took up her abode in a neighbouring chateau that belonged to her, and when any one who paid her a visit spoke of the perfections of the princess, she would scream out in a rage, "It is false! it is false! She is not charming! I have more beauty in my little finger than she has in her whole body!"

Now it happened that the queen fell ill and died. The Princess Gracieuse felt as if she should die also of grief for the loss of so good a mother, and the king deeply regretted his excellent wife. For nearly a twelvemonth he remained shut up in his palace, till at length the physicians, alarmed at the consequence to his health, insisted on his going out and amusing himself.

One day he went hunting, and the heat being very great, he entered a large chateau that he saw near him, for shelter and refreshment. As soon as the Duchess Grognon (for it was her chateau) heard of the king's arrival, she hastened to receive him, and informed him that the coolest place in the mansion was a large vaulted cellar, exceedingly clean, into which she requested he would descend. The king followed her, and entering the cellar he saw two hundred barrels placed in rows one above the other. He asked her whether it was only for herself she kept such a stock. "Yes, Sire," she replied, "for myself alone: but I shall be delighted if your majesty will do me the honour to taste my wines. Here is Canary, Saint Laurent, Champagne, Hermitage, Pivesalte, Rossolis, Persicot, Fenouillet; which do you prefer, Sire?" "Frankly," said the king, "I hold that champagne is worth all the other wines put together." Grognon immediately took a small hammer, struck a cask two or three times, "tap," "tap," and out came a million of pistoles. "What does this mean?" she exclaimed with a smile, and passing to the next cask she hit that, "tap" "tap," and out rolled a bushel of double Louis-d'ors. "I don't understand this at all," she said, smiling still more significantly. On she went to another barrel and rapped "tap" "tap," and out ran so many pearls and diamonds that the floor of the cellar was covered with them. "Ah!" she cried, "I can't comprehend this, Sire. Somebody must have stolen my good wine and put in its place these trifles." "Trifles!" echoed the king, perfectly astonished; "do you call these trifles, Madam? There is treasure enough here to buy ten kingdoms, each as big as Paris!" "Well," said the duchess, "know that these barrels are all filled with gold and jewels, and I will make you master of all, provided you will marry me." "Oh," said the king, who loved money beyond anything, "I desire nothing better!—I'll marry you to-morrow if you please." "But," continued she, "I must make one more condition. I must have the same power over your daughter as her mother had. She must obey my will and pleasure, and you shall leave her entirely to my management." "Agreed," said the king, "there is my hand upon it." Grognon placed her hand in his, and leaving the treasure-vault together, she presented him with the key of it.

The king immediately returned to his palace. Gracieuse, hearing her royal father's voice, ran to meet him, embraced him, and inquired if he had had good sport. "I have taken," said he, "a dove, alive." "Ah, Sir," said the princess, "give it to me, I will feed and make a pet of it." "That may not be," replied the king, "for to speak plainly, I must tell you that I have seen the Duchess Grognon, and that I am going to marry her." "Oh, Heavens!" exclaimed Gracieuse, "can you call her a dove? She is more like a screech-owl!" "Hold your tongue," said the king, becoming angry; "I command you to love and respect her as much as if she were your mother. Go and dress yourself immediately, for I intend to return this very day to meet her." The princess, who was very obedient, went immediately to her dressing-room. Her nurse saw tears in her eyes—"What is the matter, my little darling?" she asked, "you are crying?" "Alas! my dear nurse," answered Gracieuse, "who would not weep? The king is going to give me a step-mother, and to complete my misfortune, she is my most cruel enemy,—in one word, the hideous Grognon! How shall I ever bear to see her in the beautiful beds which the queen, my dear mother, so delicately embroidered with her own hands! How can I ever caress a malicious old ape who would have put me to death!" "My dear child," replied the nurse, "you must have a spirit as high and noble as your birth. Princesses like you should set the greatest examples to the world; and what finer example can there be, than that of obedience to a father and sacrificing one's-self to please him? Promise me, therefore, that you will not manifest your antipathy to Grognon." The poor princess had much difficulty in summoning up resolution to promise: but the prudent nurse gave her so many excellent reasons, that at length she pledged her word to put a good face on the matter, and behave courteously to her step-mother. She then proceeded to dress herself in a gown of green and gold brocade, her long fair hair falling in wavy folds upon her shoulders, and fanned by the passing breezes, as was the fashion in those days, and crowned with a light wreath of roses and jasmine, the leaves of which were made of emeralds. In this attire, Venus, the mother of the loves, would have looked less beautiful, notwithstanding the air of melancholy which she could not altogether banish from her countenance.

But to return to Grognon. The ugly creature was excessively occupied with her toilette. She had one shoe made half a cubit higher in the heel than the other, in order to appear less lame, a boddice stuffed upon one shoulder to conceal the hump on its fellow. A glass eye, the best she could procure, to replace the one she had lost. She painted her brown skin white, dyed her red hair black, and then put on an open robe of amaranth coloured satin faced with blue, and a yellow petticoat, trimmed with violet ribbon. She determined to make her entrée on horseback, because she had heard it was a custom of the queens of Spain.

Whilst the king was giving his orders, and Gracieuse awaiting the moment of departure to meet Grognon, she descended, alone into the palace gardens and strolled into a little gloomy grove, where she sat down upon the grass. "At length," she said, "I am at liberty, and may cry as much as I please without any one to check me!" and accordingly she sighed and wept so excessively, that her eyes appeared like two fountains in full play. In this sad state she no longer thought of returning to the Palace, when she saw a page approaching, dressed in green satin, with a plume of white feathers in his cap and the handsomest countenance in the world. Bending one knee to the ground, he said, "Princess, the king awaits

Gracieuse and Percinet. — p. 5.

you." She was struck with surprise at the beauty and grace of the young page, and, as he was a stranger to her, she supposed he was in the service of Grognon. "How long is it," said she, "since the king admitted you into the number of his pages?" "I am not the king's page, madam," he replied; "I am yours, and will be yours only." "Mine!" exclaimed Gracieuse, much astonished, "and I not know you!" "Ah, princess!" said he, "hitherto I have not dared to make myself known to you, but the misfortunes with which you are threatened by this marriage of the king oblige me to speak to you sooner than I should have done. I had resolved to leave time and attention to declare to you my passion." "How! a page!" said the princess: "a page has the assurance to tell me he loves me!—This, indeed, completes my degradation!" "Be not alarmed, beautiful Gracieuse," said he, with the most tender and respectful air; "I am Percinet, a prince sufficiently well known for his wealth and his science, to relieve you from all idea of inequality in birth and station. In merit and person I eagerly admit your superiority. I have loved you long; I have been often near you in these gardens without your perceiving me. The Fairy power bestowed upon me at my birth has been of great service in procuring me the pleasure of beholding you. I will accompany you everywhere to-day in this habit, and, I trust, not altogether without being of service to you." The princess gazed at him while he spoke, in a state of astonishment from which she could not recover. "It is you, then, handsome Percinet!" said she to him. "It is you whom I have so much wished to see, and of whom such surprising things are related! How delighted I am that you desire to be my friend! I no longer fear the wicked Grognon, since you take an interest in my fortunes." A few more words passed between them, and then Gracieuse repaired to the palace, where she found a horse ready saddled and caparisoned, which Percinet had placed in the stables, and which it was supposed must be intended for her. She mounted it, and, as it was a very spirited animal, the page took the bridle and led it, turning every minute towards the princess that he might have the pleasure of beholding her.

When the horse which had been selected for Grognon appeared beside that of Gracieuse, it looked like a drought jade, and the housings of the beautiful steed so blazed with jewels that those of the other could not be compared to them. The king, who was occupied with a thousand things, took no notice of it: but the nobles had no eyes but for the princess, whose beauty was their admiration, and for her green page, who was prettier than all the other Court pages put together.

They met Grognon on the road in an open caleche, looking more ugly and ill-shapen than an old gipsy. The king and the princess embraced her. They led forward her horse, that she might mount, but seeing the one Gracieuse was upon she exclaimed, "How! Is this creature to have a finer horse than I? I had rather never be a queen and return to my precious castle, than be treated in this manner!" The king immediately commanded the princess to dismount, and to beg Grognon would do her honour to ride her horse. The princess obeyed without a murmur. Grognon neither looked at her, nor thanked her. She was hoisted up on the beautiful horse, and looked like a bundle of dirty clothes. Eight gentlemen held her for fear she should fall off. Still she was not satisfied, but muttered threats between her teeth. They inquired what was the matter with her. "The matter is," said she, "that, being the mistress, I choose that the green page shall hold the rein of my horse as he did when Gracieuse rode it." The king ordered the green page to lead the queen's horse. Percinet looked at the princess, and she at him, without speaking a word. He obeyed, and all the Court set forward, the drums and trumpets making a desperate noise. Grognon was in raptures. Notwithstanding her flat nose and her wry mouth she would not have changed persons with Gracieuse.