THE king had just awakened from his midday sleep,
for it was summer, and everyone rose early and rested
from twelve to three, as they do in hot countries. He
had dressed himself in cool white clothes, and was passing
through the hall on his way to the council chamber, when
a number of young nobles suddenly appeared before
him, and one amongst them stepped forward and
spoke.
'Sire, this morning we were all playing tennis in the
court, the prince and this gentleman with the rest, when
there broke out some dispute about the game. The
prince lost his temper, and said many insulting things
to the other, who was playing against him, till at length
the gentleman whom you see there struck him violently
in the face, so that the blood ran from his mouth and
nose. We were all so horrified at the sight, that we
should most likely have killed the man then and there,
for daring to lay hands on the prince, had not his grandfather
the duke stepped between and commanded us
to lay the affair before you.'
The king had listened attentively to the story, and
when it was ended he said :
'I suppose the prince had no arms with him, or else
he would have used them?'
'Yes, sire, he had arms; he always carries a dagger
in his belt. But when he saw the blood pouring from
his face, he went to a corner of the court and began to
cry, which was the strangest thing of all.'
On hearing this the king walked to the window and
stood for a few minutes with his back to the room, where
the company of young men remained silent. Then he
came back, his face white and stern.
'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that
I would rather you had told me that the prince
was dead, though he is my only son, than know that he
would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge
it. As for the gentleman who struck him, he will
be brought before my judges, and will plead his own
cause, but I hardly think he can escape death, after
having assaulted the heir to the crown.'
The young man raised his head as if to reply, but
the king would not listen, and commanded his guards
to put him under arrest, adding, however, that if the
prisoner wished to visit any part of the city, he was at
liberty to do so properly guarded, and in fifteen days
he would be brought to trial before the highest judges
in the land.
The young man left the king's presence, surrounded
by soldiers, and accompanied by many of his friends,
for he was a great favourite. By their advice he spent
the fourteen days that remained to him going about to
seek counsel from wise men of all sorts, as to how he
might escape death, but no one could help him, for
none could find any excuse for the blow he had given
to the prince.
The fourteenth night had come, and in despair the
prisoner went out to take his last walk through the city.
He wandered on hardly knowing where he went, "and
his face was so white and desperate that none of his
companions dared speak to him. The sad little procession
had passed some hours in this manner, when,
near the gate of a monastery, an old woman appeared
round a corner, and suddenly stood before the young
man. She was bent almost double, and was so wizened
and wrinkled that she looked at least ninety; only her
eyes were bright and quick as those of a girl.
'Sir,' she said, 'I know all that has happened to you,
and how you are seeking if in any wise you can save your
life. But there is none that can answer that question
save only I myself, if you will promise to do
all I ask.'
At her words the prisoner felt as if a load had all at
once been rolled off him.
'Oh, save me, and I will do anything!
' he cried. 'It is
so hard to leave the world and go out into the darkness.'
'You will not need to do that,' answered the old
woman, 'you have only got to marry me, and you will
soon be free.'
'Marry you?' exclaimed he, 'but --but-- 1 am not
yet twenty, and you - - why, you must be a hundred at
least! Oh, no, it is quite impossible.'
He spoke without thinking, but the flash of anger
which darted from her eyes made him feel uncomfortable.
However, all she said was:
'As you like; since you reject me, let the crows have
you,' and hurried away down the street.
Left to himself, the full horror of his coming death
rushed upon the young man, and he understood that
he had thrown away his sole chance of life. Well, if
he must, he must, he said to himself, and began to run
as fast as he could after the old crone, who by this time
could scarcely be seen, even in the moonlight. Who
would have believed a woman past ninety could walk
with such speed? It seemed more like flying! But
at length, breathless and exhausted, he reached her
side, and gasped out:
'Madam, pardon me for my hasty words just now;
I was wrong, and will thankfully accept the offer you
made me.'
'Ah, I thought you would come to your senses,'
answered she, in rather an odd voice. 'We have no
time to lose follow me at once,' and they went on
silently and swiftly till they stopped at the door of a
small house in which the priest lived. Before him the
old woman bade the prisoner swear that she should
be his wife, and this he did in the presence of witnesses.
Then, begging the priest and the guards to leave them alone for a little, she told the young man what he was
to do, when the next morning he was brought before
the king and the judges.
The hall was full to overflowing when the prisoner
entered it, and all marvelled at the brightness of his face.
The king inquired if he had any excuse to plead for the
high treason he had committed by striking the heir to
the throne, and, if so, to be quick in setting it forth.
With a low bow the youth made answer in a clear voice:
'0 my lord and gracious king, and you, nobles and
wise men of the land, I leave my cause without fear
in your hands, knowing that you will listen and judge
rightly, and that you will suffer me to speak to the end,
before you give judgment.
'For four years, you, O king, had been married to
the queen and yet had no children, which grieved you
greatly. The queen saw this, and likewise that your
love was going from her, and thought night and day of
some plan that might put an end to this evil. At length,
when you were away fighting in distant countries,
she decided what she would do, and adopted in secret
the baby of a poor quarryman, sending a messenger
to tell you that you had a son. No one suspected the
truth except a priest to whom the queen confessed the
truth, and in a few weeks she fell ill and died, leaving
the baby to be brought up as became a prince. And
now, if your highness will permit me, I will speak
of myself.'
'What you have already told me,' answered the king,
'is so strange that I cannot imagine what more there is
to tell, but go on with your story.'
'One day, shortly after the death of the queen,' continued
the young man, 'your highness was hunting,
and outstripped all your attendants while chasing the
deer. You were in a part of the country which you did
not know, so seeing an orchard all pink and white with
apple-blossoms, and a girl tossing a ball in one corner,
you went up to her to ask your way. But when she
turned to answer you, you were so struck with her beauty
that all else fled from your mind. Again and again
you rode back to see her, and at length persuaded her
to marry you. She only thought you a poor knight,
and agreed that, as you wished it, the marriage should
be kept secret.
'After the ceremony you gave her three rings and a
charm with a cross on it, and then put her in a cottage in
the forest, thinking to hide the matter securely.
'For some months you visited the cottage every week;
but a rebellion broke out in a distant part of the kingdom,
and called for your presence. When next you rode
up to the cottage, it was empty, and none could inform
you whither your bride had gone. That, sire, I can
now tell you,' and the young man paused and looked
at the king, who coloured deeply. 'She went back
to her father the old duke, once your chamberlain, and
the cross on her breast revealed at once who you were.
Fierce was his anger when he heard his daughter's tale,
and he vowed that he would hide her safely from you,
till the day came when you would claim her publicly as
your queen.
'By and bye I was born, and was brought up by
my grandfather in one of his great houses. Here are
the rings you gave to my mother, and here is the cross,
and these will prove if I am your son or not.'
As he spoke the young man laid the jewels at the
feet of the king, and the nobles and the judges pressed
round to examine them. The king alone did not move
from his seat, for he had forgotten the hall of justice and
all about him, and saw only the apple-orchard as it
was twenty years ago, and the beautiful girl playing
at ball. A sudden silence round him made him look
up, and he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.
'It is true; it is he who is my son, and not the other,'he said with an effort, 'and let every man present swear
to acknowledge him as king, after my death.'
Therefore one by one they all knelt before him and
took the oath, and a message was sent to the false prince,
forbidding him ever again to appear at court, though
a handsome pension was granted him.
At last the ceremony was over, and the king, signing
to his newly found son to follow him, rose and went
into another room.
'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing
himself into a carved chair filled with crimson cushions,
and the prince told of his meeting with the old woman
who had brought him the jewels from his mother, and
how he had sworn before a priest to marry her, though
he did not want to do it, on account of the difference
in their ages, and besides, he would rather receive a
bride chosen by the king himself. But the king frowned,
and answered sharply:
'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and,
come what may, you must fulfil your promise.' Then,
striking a silver shield that hung close by, he said to
the equerry who appeared immediately:
' Go and seek the priest who lives near the door of
the prison, and ask him where you can find the old
woman who visited him last night; and when you have
found her, bring her to the palace.'
It took some time to discover the whereabouts of
the old woman, but at length it was accomplished, and
when she arrived at the palace with the equerry, she
was received with royal honours, as became the bride
of the prince. The guards looked at each other with
astonished eyes, as the wizened creature, bowed with
age, passed between their lines; but they were more
amazed still at the lightness of her step as she skipped
up the steps to the great door before which the king
was standing, with the prince at his side. If they both
felt a shock at the appearance of the aged lady they
did not show it, and the king, with a grave bow, took
her hand, and led her to the chapel, where a bishop
was waiting to perform the marriage ceremony.
For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince,
who spent all his days in hunting, and trying to forget
the old wife at home. As for the princess, no one troubled
himself about her, and she passed the days alone in her
apartments, for she had absolutely declined the services
of the ladies-in-waiting whom the king had appointed
for her.
One night the prince returned after a longer chase
than usual, and he was so tired that he went up straight
to bed. Suddenly he was awakened by a strange noise
in the room, and suspecting that a robber might have
stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized his sword,
which lay ready to his hand. Then he perceived that
the noise proceeded from the next room, which belonged
to the princess, and was lighted by a burning torch.
Creeping softly to the door, he peeped through it, and
beheld her lying quietly, with a crown of gold and
pearls upon her head, her wrinkles all gone, and her
face, which was whiter than the snow, as fresh as that
of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife -
that beautiful, beautiful creature?
The prince was still gazing in surprise when the
lady opened her eyes and smiled at him.
'Yes, I really am your wife,' she said, as if she had
guessed his thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended.
Now I must tell you who I am, and what befell to cause
me to take the shape of an old woman.
'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born
in the palace which overlooks the plain of the Vega.
I was only a few months old when a wicked fairy, who
had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over me,
bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked
as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an
object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king
ordered my nurse to take me away from the palace.
She was the only person who cared about me, and we
lived together in this city on a small pension allowed
me by the king.
'When I was about three an old man arrived at our
house, and begged my nurse to let him come in and
rest, as he could walk no longer. She saw that he was
very ill, so put him to bed and took such care of him
that by and bye he was as strong as ever. In gratitude
for her goodness to him, he told her that he was
a wizard and could give her anything she chose to ask
for, except life or death, so she answered that what
she longed for most in the world was that my wrinkled
skin should disappear, and that I should regain the
beauty with which I was born. To this he replied that
as my misfortune resulted from a spell, this was rather
difficult, but he would do his best, and at any rate he
could promise that before my fifteenth birthday I should
be freed from the enchantment if I could get a man
who would swear to marry me as I was.
'As you may suppose, this was not easy, as my
ugliness was such that no one would look at me a second
time. My nurse and I were almost in despair, as my
fifteenth birthday was drawing near, and I had never
so much as spoken to a man. At last we received a
visit from the wizard, who told us what had happened
at court, and your story, bidding me to put myself in
your way when you had lost all hope, and offer to save
you if you would consent to marry me.
'That is my history, and now you must beg the king
to send messengers at once to Granada, to inform my
father of our marriage, and I think,'
1 she added with a
smile, 'that he will not refuse us his blessing.'
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