<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"></SPAN></p>
<br/>
<h2> III. TELLS WHO THE FAIRY BLACKSTICK WAS, AND WHO WERE EVER SO MANY GRAND PERSONAGES BESIDES </h2>
<p>Between the kingdoms of Paflagonia and Crim Tartary, there lived a
mysterious personage, who was known in those countries as the Fairy
Blackstick, from the ebony wand or crutch which she carried; on which she
rode to the moon sometimes, or upon other excursions of business or
pleasure, and with which she performed her wonders.</p>
<p>When she was young, and had been first taught the art of conjuring by the
necromancer, her father, she was always practicing her skill, whizzing
about from one kingdom to another upon her black stick, and conferring her
fairy favours upon this Prince or that. She had scores of royal
godchildren; turned numberless wicked people into beasts, birds,
millstones, clocks, pumps, boot jacks, umbrellas, or other absurd shapes;
and, in a word, was one of the most active and officious of the whole
College of fairies.</p>
<p>But after two or three thousand years of this sport, I suppose Blackstick
grew tired of it. Or perhaps she thought, ‘What good am I doing by sending
this Princess to sleep for a hundred years? by fixing a black pudding on
to that booby’s nose? by causing diamonds and pearls to drop from one
little girl’s mouth, and vipers and toads from another’s? I begin to think
I do as much harm as good by my performances. I might as well shut my
incantations up, and allow things to take their natural course.</p>
<p>‘There were my two young goddaughters, King Savio’s wife, and Duke
Padella’s wife, I gave them each a present, which was to render them
charming in the eyes of their husbands, and secure the affection of those
gentlemen as long as they lived. What good did my Rose and my Ring do
these two women? None on earth. From having all their whims indulged by
their husbands, they became capricious, lazy, ill-humoured, absurdly vain,
and leered and languished, and fancied themselves irresistibly beautiful,
when they were really quite old and hideous, the ridiculous creatures!
They used actually to patronise me when I went to pay them a visit—ME,
the Fairy Blackstick, who knows all the wisdom of the necromancers, and
could have turned them into baboons, and all their diamonds into strings
of onions, by a single wave of my rod!’ So she locked up her books in her
cupboard, declined further magical performances, and scarcely used her
wand at all except as a cane to walk about with.</p>
<p>So when Duke Padella’s lady had a little son (the Duke was at that time
only one of the principal noblemen in Crim Tartary), Blackstick, although
invited to the christening, would not so much as attend; but merely sent
her compliments and a silver papboat for the baby, which was really not
worth a couple of guineas. About the same time the Queen of Paflagonia
presented His Majesty with a son and heir; and guns were fired, the
capital illuminated, and no end of feasts ordained to celebrate the young
Prince’s birth. It was thought the fairy, who was asked to be his
godmother, would at least have presented him with an invisible jacket, a
flying horse, a Fortunatus’s purse, or some other valuable token of her
favour; but instead, Blackstick went up to the cradle of the child Giglio,
when everybody was admiring him and complimenting his royal papa and
mamma, and said, ‘My poor child, the best thing I can send you is a little
MISFORTUNE’; and this was all she would utter, to the disgust of Giglio’s
parents, who died very soon after, when Giglio’s uncle took the throne, as
we read in Chapter I.</p>
<p>In like manner, when CAVOLFIORE, King of Crim Tartary, had a christening
of his only child, ROSALBA, the Fairy Blackstick, who had been invited,
was not more gracious than in Prince Giglio’s case. Whilst everybody was
expatiating over the beauty of the darling child, and congratulating its
parents, the Fairy Blackstick looked very sadly at the baby and its
mother, and said, ‘My good woman (for the Fairy was very familiar, and no
more minded a Queen than a washerwoman)—my good woman, these people
who are following you will be the first to turn against you; and as for
this little lady, the best thing I can wish her is a LITTLE MISFORTUNE.’
So she touched Rosalba with her black wand, looked severely at the
courtiers, motioned the Queen an adieu with her hand, and sailed slowly up
into the air out of the window.</p>
<p>When she was gone, the Court people, who had been awed and silent in her
presence, began to speak. ‘What an odious Fairy she is (they said)—a
pretty Fairy, indeed! Why, she went to the King of Paflagonia’s
christening, and pretended to do all sorts of things for that family; and
what has happened—the Prince, her godson, has been turned off his
throne by his uncle. Would we allow our sweet Princess to be deprived of
her rights by any enemy? Never, never, never, never!’</p>
<p>And they all shouted in a chorus, ‘Never, never, never, never!’</p>
<p>Now, I should like to know, and how did these fine courtiers show their
fidelity? One of King Cavolfiore’s vassals, the Duke Padella just
mentioned, rebelled against the King, who went out to chastise his
rebellious subject. ‘Any one rebel against our beloved and august
Monarch!’ cried the courtiers; ‘any one resist HIM? Pooh! He is
invincible, irresistible. He will bring home Padella a prisoner, and tie
him to a donkey’s tail, and drive him round the town, saying, “This is the
way the Great Cavolfiore treats rebels.”’</p>
<p>The King went forth to vanquish Padella; and the poor Queen, who was a
very timid, anxious creature, grew so frightened and ill that I am sorry
to say she died; leaving injunctions with her ladies to take care of the
dear little Rosalba.—Of course they said they would. Of course they
vowed they would die rather than any harm should happen to the Princess.
At first the Crim Tartar Court Journal stated that the King was obtaining
great victories over the audacious rebel: then it was announced that the
troops of the infamous Padella were in flight: then it was said that the
royal army would soon come up with the enemy, and then—then the news
came that King Cavolfiore was vanquished and slain by His Majesty, King
Padella the First!</p>
<p>At this news, half the courtiers ran off to pay their duty to the
conquering chief, and the other half ran away, laying hands on all the
best articles in the palace; and poor little Rosalba was left there quite
alone—quite alone; and she toddled from one room to another, crying,
‘Countess! Duchess!’ (Only she said ‘Tountess, Duttess,’ not being able to
speak plain) ‘bring me my mutton sop; my Royal Highness hungy! Tountess!
Duttess!’ And she went from the private apartments into the throne-room
and nobody was there;—and thence into the ballroom and nobody was
there;—and thence into the pages’ room and nobody was there;—and
she toddled down the great staircase into the hall and nobody was there;—and
the door was open, and she went into the court, and into the garden, and
thence into the wilderness, and thence into the forest where the wild
beasts live, and was never heard of any more!</p>
<p>A piece of her torn mantle and one of her shoes were found in the wood in
the mouths of two lionesses’ cubs whom KING PADELLA and a royal hunting
party shot—for he was King now, and reigned over Crim Tartary. ‘So
the poor little Princess is done for,’ said he; ‘well, what’s done can’t
be helped. Gentlemen, let us go to luncheon!’ And one of the courtiers
took up the shoe and put it in his pocket. And there was an end of
Rosalba!</p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />