The Tinderbox

The Tinderbox was the first story published (in 1835) by the Danish storyteller, Hans Christian Andersen. Its exciting plot seems to owe quite a lot to Aladdin. from the 1001 Nights. The Tinderbox – a box to kindle a flame – is the equivalent of the wonderful lamp, the witch is the evil magician, and the dogs with swirling eyes take the place of the two genies of the lamps. There is even a princess who is brought to the hero while asleep. But instead of the exotic eastern setting, we are in Europe, with a comparison of the dog’s eyes to the Great Tower of Copenhagen in Andersen’s native Denmark.

Perhaps the moral of this tale is that there is no moral. It seem that everyone in it is mostly interested in money and prestige, and the soldier’s friends quickly abandon him when he loses his wealth. This may represent the young author’s cynical view of Copenhagen society – he moved there from his village when he was young. Anyway, it ends happily for the hero and the princess (but not for the witch of the King and Queen).

Read by Natasha. Duration 22.47

A soldier came marching along the high road–left, right! A left, right! He had his knapsack on his back and a sword by his side, for he had been to the wars and was now returning home.

An old Witch met him on the road. She was very ugly to look at: her bottom-lip hung down to her breast.

‘Good evening, Soldier!’ she said. ‘What a fine sword and knapsack you have! You are the very picture of a fine soldier! You ought to have as much money as you can carry!’

‘Thank you, old Witch,’ said the Soldier.

‘Do you see that great tree there?’ said the Witch, pointing to a tree beside them. ‘It is hollow within. You must climb up to the top, and then you will see a hole through which you can let yourself down into the tree. I will tie a rope round your waist, so that I may be able to pull you up again when you call.’

‘What shall I do down there?’ asked the Soldier.

‘Get money!’ answered the Witch. ‘Listen! When you reach the bottom of the tree you will find yourself in a large hall; it is light there, for there are more than three hundred lamps burning. Then you will see three doors, which you can open–the keys are in the locks. If you go into the first room, you will see a great chest in the middle of the floor with a dog sitting upon it; he has eyes as large as saucers, but you needn’t trouble about him. I will give you my blue-check apron, which you must spread out on the floor, and then go back quickly and fetch the dog and set him upon it; open the chest and take as much money as you like. It is copper there. If you would rather have silver, you must go into the next room, where there is a dog with eyes as large as mill-wheels. But don’t take any notice of him; just set him upon my apron, and help yourself to the money. If you prefer gold, you can get that too, if you go into the third room, and as much as you like to carry. But the dog that guards the chest there has eyes as large as the Round Tower at Copenhagen! He is a savage dog, I can tell you; but you needn’t be afraid of him either. Only, put him on my apron and he won’t touch you, and you can take out of the chest as much gold as you like!’

‘Come, this is not bad!’ said the Soldier. ‘But what am I to give you, old Witch; for surely you are not going to do this for nothing?’

‘Yes, I am!’ replied the Witch. ‘Not a single farthing will I take! For me you shall bring nothing but an old tinder-box which my grandmother forgot last time she was down there.’

‘Well, tie the rope round my waist! ‘said the Soldier.

‘Here it is,’ said the Witch, ‘and here is my blue-check apron.’

Then the Soldier climbed up the tree, let himself down through the hole, and found himself standing, as the Witch had said, underground in the large hall, where the three hundred lamps were burning.

Well, he opened the first door. Ugh! there sat the dog with eyes as big as saucers glaring at him.

‘You are a fine fellow!’ said the Soldier, and put him on the Witch’s apron, took as much copper as his pockets could hold; then he shut the chest, put the dog on it again, and went into the second room. Sure enough there sat the dog with eyes as large as mill-wheels.

‘You had better not look at me so hard!’ said the Soldier. ‘Your eyes will come out of their sockets!’

And then he set the dog on the apron. When he saw all the silver in the chest, he threw away the copper he had taken, and filled his pockets and knapsack with nothing but silver.

Then he went into the third room. Horrors! the dog there had two eyes, each as large as the Round Tower at Copenhagen, spinning round in his head like wheels.

‘Good evening!’ said the Soldier and saluted, for he had never seen a dog like this before. But when he had examined him more closely, he thought to himself: ‘Now then, I’ve had enough of this!’ and put him down on the floor, and opened the chest. Heavens! what a heap of gold there was! With all that he could buy up the whole town, and all the sugar pigs, all the tin soldiers, whips and rocking-horses in the whole world. Now he threw away all the silver with which he had filled his pockets and knapsack, and filled them with gold instead–yes, all his pockets, his knapsack, cap and boots even, so that he could hardly walk. Now he was rich indeed. He put the dog back upon the chest, shut the door, and then called up through the tree:

‘Now pull me up again, old Witch!’

‘Have you got the tinder-box also?’ asked the Witch.

‘Botheration!’ said the Soldier, ‘I had clean forgotten it!’ And then he went back and fetched it.

The Witch pulled him up, and there he stood again on the high road, with pockets, knapsack, cap and boots filled with gold.

‘What do you want to do with the tinder-box?’ asked the Soldier.

‘That doesn’t matter to you,’ replied the Witch. ‘You have got your money, give me my tinder-box.’

‘We’ll see!’ said the Soldier. ‘Tell me at once what you want to do with it, or I will draw my sword, and cut off your head!’

‘No!’ screamed the Witch.

The Soldier immediately cut off her head. That was the end of her! But he tied up all his gold in her apron, slung it like a bundle over his shoulder, put the tinder-box in his pocket, and set out towards the town.

It was a splendid town! He turned into the finest inn, ordered the best chamber and his favourite dinner; for now that he had so much money he was really rich.

It certainly occurred to the servant who had to clean his boots that they were astonishingly old boots for such a rich lord. But that was because he had not yet bought new ones; next day he appeared in respectable boots and fine clothes. Now, instead of a common soldier he had become a noble lord, and the people told him about all the grand doings of the town and the King, and what a beautiful Princess his daughter was.

‘How can one get to see her?’ asked the Soldier.

‘She is never to be seen at all!’ they told him; ‘she lives in a great copper castle, surrounded by many walls and towers! No one except the King may go in or out, for it is prophesied that she will marry a common soldier, and the King cannot submit to that.’

‘I should very much like to see her,’ thought the Soldier; but he could not get permission.

Now he lived very gaily, went to the theatre, drove in the King’s garden, and gave the poor a great deal of money, which was very nice of him; he had experienced in former times how hard it is not to have a farthing in the world. Now he was rich, wore fine clothes, and made many friends, who all said that he was an excellent man, a real nobleman. And the Soldier liked that. But as he was always spending money, and never made any more, at last the day came when he had nothing left but two shillings, and he had to leave the beautiful rooms in which he had been living, and go into a little attic under the roof, and clean his own boots, and mend them with a darning-needle. None of his friends came to visit him there, for there were too many stairs to climb.

It was a dark evening, and he could not even buy a light. But all at once it flashed across him that there was a little end of tinder in the tinder-box, which he had taken from the hollow tree into which the Witch had helped him down. He found the box with the tinder in it; but just as he was kindling a light, and had struck a spark out of the tinder-box, the door burst open, and the dog with eyes as large as saucers, which he had seen down in the tree, stood before him and said:

‘What does my lord command?’

‘What’s the meaning of this?’ exclaimed the Soldier. ‘This is a pretty kind of tinder-box, if I can get whatever I want like this. Get me money!’ he cried to the dog, and hey, presto! he was off and back again, holding a great purse full of money in his mouth.

Now the Soldier knew what a wonderful tinder-box this was. If he rubbed once, the dog that sat on the chest of copper appeared; if he rubbed twice, there came the dog that watched over the silver chest; and if he rubbed three times, the one that guarded the gold appeared. Now, the Soldier went down again to his beautiful rooms, and appeared once more in splendid clothes. All his friends immediately recognised him again, and paid him great court.

One day he thought to himself: ‘It is very strange that no one can get to see the Princess. They all say she is very pretty, but what’s the use of that if she has to sit for ever in the great copper castle with all the towers? Can I not manage to see her somehow? Where is my tinder-box?’ and so he struck a spark, and, presto! there came the dog with eyes as large as saucers.

‘It is the middle of the night, I know,’ said the Soldier; ‘but I should very much like to see the Princess for a moment.’

The dog was already outside the door, and before the Soldier could look round, in he came with the Princess. She was lying asleep on the dog’s back, and was so beautiful that anyone could see she was a real Princess. The Soldier really could not refrain from kissing her–he was such a thorough Soldier. Then the dog ran back with the Princess. But when it was morning, and the King and Queen were drinking tea, the Princess said that the night before she had had such a strange dream about a dog and a Soldier: she had ridden on the dog’s back, and the Soldier had kissed her.

‘That is certainly a fine story,’ said the Queen. But the next night one of the ladies-in-waiting was to watch at the Princess’s bed, to see if it was only a dream, or if it had actually happened.

The Soldier had an overpowering longing to see the Princess again, and so the dog came in the middle of the night and fetched her, running as fast as he could. But the lady-in-waiting slipped on soft rubber shoes and followed them. When she saw them disappear into a large house, she thought to herself: ‘Now I know where it is; ‘and made a great cross on the door with a piece of chalk. Then she went home and lay down, and the dog came back also, with the Princess. But when he saw that a cross had been made on the door of the house where the Soldier lived, he took a piece of chalk also, and made crosses on all the doors in the town; and that was very clever, for now the lady-in-waiting could not find the right house, as there were crosses on all the doors.

Early next morning the King, Queen, ladies-in-waiting, and officers came out to see where the Princess had been.

‘There it is!’ said the King, when he saw the first door with a cross on it.

‘No, there it is, my dear!’ said the Queen, when she likewise saw a door with a cross.

‘But here is one, and there is another!’ they all exclaimed; wherever they looked there was a cross on the door. Then they realised that the sign would not help them at all.

But the Queen was an extremely clever woman, who could do a great deal more than just drive in a coach. She took her great golden scissors, cut up a piece of silk, and made a pretty little bag of it. This she filled with the grains of porridge oats, and tied it round the Princess’ neck; this done, she cut a little hole in the bag, so that the grains would strew the whole road wherever the Princess went.

In the night the dog came again, took the Princess on his back and ran away with her to the Soldier, who was very much in love with her, and would have liked to have been a Prince, so that he might have had her for his wife.

The dog did not notice how the grains were strewn right from the castle to the Soldier’s window, where he ran up the wall with the Princess.

In the morning the King and the Queen saw plainly where their daughter had been, and they took the Soldier and put him into prison.

There he sat. Oh, how dark and dull it was there! And they told him: ‘To-morrow you are to be hanged.’ Hearing that did not exactly cheer him, and he had left his tinder-box in the inn.

Next morning he could see through the iron grating in front of his little window how the people were hurrying out of the town to see him hanged. He heard the drums and saw the soldiers marching; all the people were running to and fro. Just below his window was a shoemaker’s apprentice, with leather apron and shoes; he was skipping along so merrily that one of his shoes flew off and fell against the wall, just where the Soldier was sitting peeping through the iron grating.

‘Oh, shoemaker’s boy, you needn’t be in such a hurry!’ said the Soldier to him. ‘There’s nothing going on till I arrive. But if you will run back to the house where I lived, and fetch me my tinder-box, I will give you four shillings. But you must put your best foot foremost.’

The shoemaker’s boy was very willing to earn four shillings, and fetched the tinder-box, gave it to the Soldier, and–yes–now you shall hear.

Outside the town a great scaffold had been erected, and all round were standing the soldiers, and hundreds of thousands of people. The King and Queen were sitting on a magnificent throne opposite the judges and the whole council.

The Soldier was already standing on the top of the ladder; but when they wanted to put the rope round his neck, he said that the fulfilment of one innocent request was always granted to a poor criminal before he underwent his punishment. He would so much like to smoke a small pipe of tobacco; it would be his last pipe in this world.

The King could not refuse him this, and so he took out his tinder-box, and rubbed it once, twice, three times. And lo, and behold I there stood all three dogs–the one with eyes as large as saucers, the second with eyes as large as mill-wheels, and the third with eyes each as large as the Round Tower of Copenhagen.

‘Help me now, so that I may not be hanged!’ cried the Soldier. And thereupon the dogs fell upon the judges and the whole council, seized some by the legs, others by the nose, and threw them so high into the air that they fell and were smashed into pieces.

‘I won’t stand this!’ said the King; but the largest dog seized him too, and the Queen as well, and threw them up after the others. This frightened the soldiers, and all the people cried: ‘Good Soldier, you shall be our King, and marry the beautiful Princess!’

Then they put the Soldier into the King’s coach, and the three dogs danced in front, crying ‘Hurrah!’ And the boys whistled and the soldiers presented arms.

The Princess came out of the copper castle, and became Queen; and that pleased her very much.

The wedding festivities lasted for eight days, and the dogs sat at table and made eyes at everyone.

Bertie and the Frog Princess

What would it be like to be a frog? Have you ever wanted to be one just for a day? You haven’t? Well Princess Beatrice loves animals so much that she once wished for just that… and she soon regretted it.

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Written by Bertie
Read by Natasha
Illustration by Chiara Civati
Proofread by Claire Deakin.

Bertie and the Frog Princess

Hello, this is Natasha, and I’m here with the last story from both the palace and the pond. As you have no doubt heard, Bertie is a prince again and reunited with princess Beatrice. The wicked queen and Prince Boris are living on the pond as frogs. Let’s catch up with the last news from those enchanted waters.

After the wicked queen was turned into a frog, and went to live in the pond, she set up her court in a little cave among the rocks, just under the fountain. She made it her palace. All it took was a couple of simple spells to create the right atmosphere for a frog queen. The first spell pushed out the family of frogs who were living there at the time. They were moved by magic to the smelly side of the pond, where all the slime and duck weed collects. The next spell added some turrets and fluted pillars and a drawbridge. Inside there was a little marble bathroom with gold taps, and a kitchen where Prince Boris the Frog prepared their dinner made out of squashed flies and cockroaches. On a sunny day, she would often sit out on the terrace, and keep an eye on her new subjects, all the pondlife who lived in surrounding water.

Sometimes she would call everyone together and proclaim laws like, “Everyone must make their own beds and tidy up after breakfast. The penalty for failing to do so is life imprisonment inside a snail shell.”

You would be hard pushed to find a single frog, tadpole, fish or duck who was happy about the new regime on the pond. If somebody had asked Colin the carp his opinion, he would have been glad to give it. In fact, nobody did ask him, but he gave it anyway.

“They’re all the same; these princes, queens, and politicians. They’re just in it for what they can get out of it. We’d be better off without them. Give ‘em all a big kick up the behind, that’s what I say.”

At first some friendly fish nodded and guffawed in agreement, but soon nobody was listening to Colin very much. To tell you the truth, most of the pond’s creatures were too afraid to even think an opinion, let alone speak one out loud. Everyone knew that the wicked queen had some fearful magic.

There was one bird who refused to believe that anyone, even the wicked queen, could be all evil. Sadie the Swan was certain that that there must be a teeny weeny bit of good in the queen because, after all, she was royal. Sadie was sure of that because was was an ardent Royalist – in other words she believed that royals know best, and should always be in charge of everything.

One day, she was enjoying a quiet natter with Tim the Tadpole’s mum. “You know what, Henrietta,” she said, “I’m going to put in a personal petition to our new queen.”

“Do you really think that is a good idea?” Replied Tim’s mum, who was not at all sure what a personal petition meant, but thought that it sounded rather reckless.

“Surely she won’t mind,” said Sadie. “I think it is rather flattering when people request you to help them. All I am asking her to do, is to turn me into a human princess.

I have always known that deep down inside, I was meant to be royal. I am sure it would only take the teeniest weeniest bit of magic to make my dream come true.”

“I would swim carefully if I were you,” warned Tim’s mum, “She doesn’t look to me like the sort who does favours.” But Sadie was undaunted. She swam over to the fountain and the queen’s palace, curtsied a little in the water, and said, “Your majesty. I have come to you with a humble petition. May it be your pleasure, your greatness, to turn me into a human princess?”

The queen looked across from the balcony straight at the swan’s red beak and said simply, “Why?”

“Because, Your Majesty, I have always felt that I was born to be royal.”

“My dear, dream on,” replied the queen with great contempt.

Prince Boris was just inside the palace, but he had heard this exchange and he hopped out to give the queen his opinion.

“I know her,” he said. “She’s just a silly stuck up swan. I’ve seen her many a time, swanning around the pond like she’s a princess, but in fact anyone can tell that she’s as common as muck.”

Sadie was indignant. She pointed her beak at Boris and hissed quite viciously.

The queen raised her voice and said, “Now now, none of that my dear. Prince Boris is quite correct in this matter. You see that worm over there who is sticking his bald ugly head out of the earth. No doubt he thinks he’s the Emperor Napoleon. In truth, you are no more royal than he is.”

While this right royal scandal was disturbing the calm waters of the the pond, up in the rose garden of the palace, Bertie and Beatrice were taking a romantic walk, arm in arm. The prince and princess could hardly believe that they were in each other’s company. Bertie had been away for so long as a frog, that they could never take their togetherness for granted. Every moment together had a magic of its own.

She looked at her prince. He was in many ways just like his old self, but she could feel that inside he was different. I mean anyone who had been a frog for eight years would be bound to change a bit, wouldn’t they?

“Bertie,” she said. “Can you describe what it feels like to be a frog?”

“Well,” said Bertie, “Croak. Whoops… excuse me, those croaks still slip out sometimes.”

Beatrice giggled. She wasn’t sure if he did that as a joke or not. “All my life I’ve loved animals,” she said, “And you really know what it feels like to be one. You can see why I’m so fascinated.”

Bertie walked on a few steps while he gathered his thoughts.

“It was a big comedown of course,” he said. “I grew up a prince with nannies and servants and toys and the most delicious chocolate cake for tea. Then all of a sudden I was a funny green creature who ate flies. I had to live shoulder to shoulder with all that pondlife. Little tadpoles were swimming around bothering me all the time. There was this fish, a carp called Colin, who was so rude. I mean he called me names like, “pompous,” “fat,” and “stupid.” Nobody had ever spoken to me like that before, apart from my little brother, and Prince Boris, and the wicked queen – well nobody who wasn’t royal would have dared to be so discourteous. There was a swan who had all these ridiculous airs and graces. I didn’t know what to make of her. But then, bit by bit, I began to realise that they might be common or garden species, but they had hearts. Even an amphibian has feelings, you know.”

“Oh I do know,” said Beatrice, stroking the back of his head. They were sitting down now on a grassy knoll among the apple trees.

“I think it changed me for the better,” concluded Bertie, “I learned humility.”

“That’s a good word,” said Beatrice approvingly.

“Yes, it means realising that you aren’t actually any better than anyone else, just because you were lucky enough to be born in a palace with a silver spoon for your fruity yoghurt.”

“Oh, Bertie,” said Beatrice, “I do think it did you good. How I wish I could be a frog just for a day, so I could truly share that experience with you.”

Bertie suddenly became very serious. He sat up straight and said sternly, “Beatrice, you must be very careful what you wish for, because the wicked queen might hear you – and if you wish for something bad, she has the power to make it happen.”

Beatrice kissed him on the cheek and said, “Don’t fuss darling, I’ll be careful.”

They would have spent all day walking hand in hand talking sweet nothings, but Bertie had something important to do. The World Cup was on and he wanted to get back to the TV room in time for the kickoff of the big match.

Beatrice watched him run across the lawn back to the palace and she carried on wandering. Soon she found herself down by the the pond. She thought of all the times she had been here, sharing her thoughts out loud with the ducks and fishes, and not realising that her Bertie was just a few feet away, croaking on a lily leaf. She felt guilty that she had not sensed his presence.

Perhaps that was why she exclaimed, “Oh how I wish I could be a frog just for one day, so I could truly know what he went through.”

The wicked queen was crouching on the terrace of her palace under the fountain. She heard her stepdaughter utter those fateful words. Quick as a flash, she caught Beatrice’s wish on the end of her tongue as if it were a passing insect.

With Beatrice’s wish inside her frog’s tummy she thought, “What a dunderhead! She always was soft in the brain. Oh well, if that’s her wish, who am I to deny it?” Before the power of the silly wish could fade, she used her magic to make it come true.

Beatrice thought, “What’s this? I’ve come all over all funny.” Then she said, “Oh dear me. Croak!”

She tried to run back to the palace but she found that she was hopping. Then she heard a familiar voice call out, “Not that way, Beatrice. Over here to the pond where you belong now. So lovely of you to wish that you could join us.”

Beatrice jumped into the water. She had always been good at swimming, but now she found she could do an elegant scissor step that sent her shooting forward.

“This does feel good,” she thought. “It will be fun just for one day.”

When she reached the fountain she hopped onto a rock and looked up at the balcony.

“Hello stepmother,” she said. “I trust you are well.”

“Oh, I’ve never been better,” she lied. She sent Prince Boris to help Beatrice find her way up to the palace.

He hopped over the stones and said in his smarmy voice, “Good old girl Beatrice. I knew you wouldn’t be able to stand that idiot Bertie for long. Now we can marry and live happily ever after.”

“Oh no, you don’t understand,” said Beatrice. “I’m just here for one day, to see what it’s really like to be semi aquatic.”

Boris thought to himself, “Just one day, hey? I’ll ask the wicked queen to make it forever and a day,” but he said, “Well since you have such a short time among us, I’d better show you around. What would you like to see?”

“Oh I’d love to meet all the characters on the pond,” said Beatrice. “Bertie has told me so much about his friends; the carp, the swan, and the tadpole.”

“In that case I’ll introduce you to Colin the Carp. He’s a charming old gentleman who always has an interesting view on almost any topic.”

Boris dived into the water and Beatrice followed. They swam over to the gloomiest part of the pond where Colin liked to hang around, watching for unwary flies, hovering above the water. If he saw a particularly juicy one, he would leap out and snatch it in his jaws.

“Ahoy there, Colin. There’s a special visitor who wants to meet you,” called out Boris.

Colin poked his head up and said, “Tell whoever it is to make an appointment. I’m busy.”

“But she’s just with us for a short time,” lied Boris. “Her name is Princess Beatrice.”

“Do you mean the so called Lovely Princess Beatrice, that Bertie was always droning on about?” Said Colin. “I don’t suppose it’s her fault that he bored us all to death with his non stop pining for her.”

These words were music to Beatrice’s ears. She swam over to Colin and planted a froggy kiss on his old head. “It’s so lovely to meet you Colin,” she said, “Bertie’s told me all about you.”

Colin actually blushed and said, “Well Princess, the pleasure is all mine.” She had been on the pond no more than quarter of an hour, and she already had won one devoted fan.

The cockney sparrows tweeted out the word that the lovely Princess Beatrice was visiting the pond in the form of a gracious frog. Soon everyone wanted to meet her. Sadie the swan told her that this was the most exciting day of her life, and Tim the Tadpole asked what tasted better, pistachio ice cream or green slime? Everyone who spoke to her felt enchanted by her her charm and grace. Everyone, that is, except for Prince Boris and the wicked queen.

“Don’t worry, Boris,” said the queen, “Her popularity will run a bit thin when she’s done six months of hard pond life, and everyone can see what an airhead she is.”

That evening, when the sun was setting, Beatrice joined the queen on the terrace of the palace and said, “Thank you, stepmother, from the bottom of my heart, for granting my wish to be a frog for a day. It has always been my dream to be able to talk to the animals, and you made it come true. Now will you change me back into a princess please? Because I simply can’t wait to tell Bertie all about it.”

But the wicked queen smiled to herself and said, “Beatrice my dear. What’s the rush? Why do you want to go back to that nincompoop Bertie? Prince Boris is a far more suitable suitor now that you are a frog.”

“But stepmother, I only wished to be a frog for a one day.”

“Did you my dear? I must have misheard. I thought you said forever and a day. Never mind. Don’t cry. You’ll find that life can be quite comfortable here on the pond. We’ll have dinner soon. Prince Boris is preparing squashed flies in a salad of green slime, and he’s roasted a cockroach. You’ll feel better after you’ve eaten”

“Oh no!” Cried out Beatrice. “You can’t do this. Bertie will be frantic with worry.”

It was true, he was worried. His team was losing 2-1 in the World Cup and there were only ten minutes to go before the final whistle. When it was over, and he knew that his team were packing their bags and going home, he went to look for Beatrice because she always cheered him up. But she wasn’t in her room, and she wasn’t anywhere inside the palace.

He had a funny feeling that something was wrong. Badly wrong. He went outside into the garden, and ran through the rose garden and the orchard.

All the time he was calling out, “Beatrice, oh Beatrice. Lovely princess, where are you?”

But all he heard back was the sound of a nightingale singing, and the occasional cricket creaking.

With a feeling of dread in his heart he went down to the pond. He stood by the water and called out, “Now listen here, wicked queen. Beatrice had gone missing and I’ve got a strong idea that you’ve got something to do with this. If you have, give her back this instant or you will be jolly sorry.”

He got his reply back right away. It was a raucous chorus of croaks coming from the direction of the fountain. The wicked queen and Prince Boris were laughing at him.

Bertie waved his fist at them. “Don’t think you can get away with this, you bounders!”

But what could he do? He had no magic powers. He ran back to the palace, determined to fetch help, but what sort of help? By the time he arrived in his room, he knew he had to fight magic with magic, and there was only one person who could help him.

Bertie had a distant relative who was a witch. Her name was Aunt Katerina and she belonged to the Russian side of his family. These days she lived in Edinburgh, in Scotland, because she liked the bitter and biting wind that reminded her of St. Petersburg. It was late. In fact it was midnight – but surely that was the best time to call a witch? Fortunately he was connected to her on Skype. He pressed her icon and it rang, and rang… “Oh do please answer, Aunty Katerina,” he muttered to himself.

Eventually she did. Her face, which was extremely beautiful even though she was getting on in years, filled the screen.

“My nephew,” she said, in her still Russian accent, “It has been so long. If I had known you were a frog all that time I would have told Beatrice what to do to rescue you.”

“Yes, she did seem a bit clueless,” said Bertie, “But now she’s been turned into a frog, and I have to admit that I’m as clueless as she was. To tell you the truth, I’m in a bit of a funk. Tell me Aunty, you are my only hope, what must I do to get her back?”

“Ha ha, isn’t it obvious?” Laughed his witchy aunty.

“It is?” Asked Bertie, forlornly.

“Perfectly. Have you lost your marbles? Don’t you understand? You must kiss her,” said his aunt.

“Oh. Of course,” said Bertie. He was about to sign off and run down to the pond when another question popped into his head. “By the way,” he said, “What chance is there that the wicked queen might turn me back into a frog again? I shouldn’t like that to happen. Now I’m a prince again, I am starting to relearn all the advantages of being human, and I am rather enjoying it.”

“Don’t worry too much,” replied his aunt, “after eight years as a frog, I should think you have plenty of immunity against that type of spell. It’s rare to catch it twice.”

Bertie ran down to the pond. He stood by the water and called out softly, “Beatrice, darling Beatrice. Come here, I can help you. ”

But Beatrice was hiding behind a stone on the gloomy side of the pond, and she was softly crying. She felt ashamed to show herself because she felt she had been such a fool to let herself be tricked by the wicked queen and that smarmy Prince Boris who wanted to marry her.

Bertie called again, “Beatrice, I know you are there darling, please let me see you.”

Colin the Carp heard Bertie’s voice. He nudged Beatrice and said, “Princess, are you deaf or something? Can’t you hear that Bertie’s calling you?”

“Leave me alone,” cried Beatrice. “I don’t want to see him. I can’t. I’ve been such a ninny to get myself into this fix. He warned me not to wish for anything bad, and I went ahead and did it. Oh, what a fool I’ve been!”

Colin nudged her again and said, “Now listen here Beatrice. Bertie spent eight years on this pond and everyday he wished that you would come down to the water and call out his name. Now he’s come to you. So you’d better hop over to him right away or I’ll be cross. You don’t want to see me cross because I’m ugly when I’m angry.”

Beatrice thought, “Yes, he did miss me and long for me, and I didn’t realise he was here.”
Slowly she swam across the pond to where he was standing. She hopped out of the water and sat at his feet. She looked up at him and croaked.

For a moment, Bertie hesitated. A thought passed through his head that the wicked queen might have tricked him and come in Beatrice’s place. The last person he wanted to plant a kiss on was her. What a wrong he would do to the world if he turned her back into a person.

Beatrice croaked again. This time Bertie knew it was her. He felt a connection in his heart. He knelt down and she hopped into the palm of his hand. He moved his face towards her green head and placed his lips gently on them. A few moments later he was reunited with his princess.

And that was the story of Bertie and the Frog Princess. We hope the you enjoyed the story and the lovely new picture by Chiara Civati. She’s also doing some new illustrations for our story, Bertie in Siberia, which you can find on Storynory.com.

For now, from me,

Natasha

The Sleeping Beauty Part Two

The Queen Mother was of the race of the ogres, and the king would never have married her had it not been for her vast riches; it was even whispered about the court that she had ogreish inclinations, and that, whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all the difficulty in the world to avoid falling upon them and eating them up.

Soon after the king went to make war with the Emperor Contalabutte, his neighbour, she went into the kitchen and said to her clerk:

“I have a mind to eat little Morning for my dinner tomorrow.”

“Ah! madam!” 

“I will have it so!” – This she spoke in the tone of an ogress who had a strong desire to eat fresh meat: “And I will eat her with cranberry sauce!”

——-
This little known sequel to The Sleeping Beauty is clearly a Rather Scary Story, but it’s a fairy story, so the good survive and the bad meet their fate.

The Sleeping Beauty has married her handsome prince and now he has become king. She should be living happily ever after with her two children …

In our Pond Life introduction, Sadie the Swan wants to hear a romantic tale of love, but Colin the Carp overrules her.

Read by Natasha. Duration: 15 minutes.

Proofread by Jana Elizabeth.

The Sleeping Beauty Part Two -

If you listened to the first part of this Storynory, you will know that a handsome prince discovered a Sleeping Beauty in a palace in the woods. She had been fast asleep for one hundred years, but when he kissed her hand she woke up and fell in love with him. They were married that very day. Did they live happily ever after? Do you want to know? You do? Well listen quietly, and I will tell you the second and final part of The Sleeping Beauty in the woods.

The morning after the handsome prince had married the Sleeping Beauty, he left her and returned home to the city where his father, the king, was anxiously waiting for him.
When he reached home, the prince said that he had lost his way in the forest as he was hunting, and that he had slept in the cottage of a farmer, who gave him cheese and brown bread. He did not say a word about the Sleeping Beauty, let alone how he had married her.

The king, his father, who was a good man, believed him, but his mother could not be persuaded it was true; and seeing that he went almost every day a-hunting, and that he always had some excuse ready for so doing, though he had slept out three or four nights together, she began to suspect that he was married, for he lived with the princess for over two whole years, and they had two children – the eldest of which, who was a daughter, was named Morning, and the youngest, who was a son, they called Day.

The queen spoke several times to her son, to ask him how he passed his time. He never dared to trust her with his secret. He feared her, though he loved her, for she was of the race of the ogres, and the king would never have married her had it not been for her money; it was even whispered about the court that she had ogreish inclinations, and that, whenever she saw little children passing by, she had all the difficulty in the world to stop herself pouncing on them and gobbling them up for a snack. And so the prince would never tell her one word about his beautiful wife and two little children.

The king died about two years later, and although the prince was very sad, he became Lord and master, both of the people and of himself. A month later, he announced his marriage to the cheering crowds; and he led his beloved wife, the former Sleeping Beauty, in a great procession to the palace. They made a magnificent entry into the capital city, she riding between her two children. Now she became his queen.

Soon after, the king went to make war with the Emperor Contalabutte, his neighbour. He left his wife, the Sleeping Beauty, and his two children, Prince Day and Princess Morning, in the care of his mother. His war went on all summer, and after a while his mother said to the Sleeping Beauty: “Why don’t you go to visit your old palace in the forest, my dear, and see that everything is in order there? I will look after little Princess Morning and little Prince Day.”

Sleeping Beauty went to visit her old palace in the forest to see that everything was in order there, and she left the great city, and little Princess Morning and little Prince Day in the care of the king’s mother, for she did not know that she was an ogress who craved to eat little children for dinner.

As soon as Sleeping Beauty was gone, the queen went into the palace kitchen. She said: “I have an idea to eat little Morning for my dinner tomorrow.”

“Ah! madam!” cried the chief cook of the kitchen.

“I will have it so,” replied the queen (and this she spoke in the tone of an ogress who had a strong desire to eat fresh meat) “and I will eat her with cranberry sauce.”

The poor man, knowing very well that he must not play tricks with ogresses, took his great knife and went up into little Morning’s chamber. She was then four years old, and came up to him jumping and laughing, to take him about the neck, and ask him for some sugar-candy. Upon which he began to weep, the great knife fell out of his hand, and he went into the back yard, and killed a little lamb, and dressed it with such good sauce that his mistress assured him that she had never eaten anything so good in her life. He had at the same time taken up little Morning, and carried her to his wife, to conceal her in a hut he had at the bottom of the courtyard.

About eight days afterward the wicked queen said to the chief cook of the kitchen: “I will eat little Day for my supper.
He answered not a word, being resolved to cheat her as he had done before. He went to find out little Day, and saw him with a little sword in his hand, with which he was fencing with a great monkey, the child being then only three years of age. He took him up in his arms and carried him to his wife, that she might conceal him in her chamber along with his sister, and in the room of little Day cooked up a young goat, very tender, which the ogress again found to be wonderfully good.

So far all was well, but one evening this wicked queen said to her chief cook of the kitchen: “I will eat Sleeping Beauty with the same sauce I had with her children.”

It was now that the poor clerk of the kitchen despaired of being able to deceive her. The young queen was turned of twenty, not reckoning the hundred years she had been asleep; and how to find in a beast of the size, shape and firmness puzzled him. He decided that to save his own life, he must cut Sleeping Beauty’s throat; and so he went to her palace in the forest with the meaning to do just that. He put himself into as foul a mood as he possibly could, and came into Sleeping Beauty’s room in the palace with his dagger in his hand.

When he saw her beautiful face, he could not bring himself to kill her, but told her, with a great deal of respect, the orders he had received from the queen mother.
“Do it, do it,” said she, stretching out her neck. “Execute your orders, and then I shall go and see my children, my poor children, whom I so much and so tenderly loved.”

For after hearing of the queen’s orders, she thought that they must be dead.

“No, no, madam,” cried the poor chief cook of the kitchen, all in tears, “you shall not die, and yet you shall see your children again, but you must go home with me to my lodgings, where I have concealed them, and I shall deceive the queen once more by giving her in your place a young deer for her dinner.”

And so he led her to his house, where leaving her to embrace her children, and cry along with them, he went and dressed a young deer, which the queen had for her supper, and devoured it with the same appetite as if it had been Sleeping Beauty. She was so delighted with her cruelty, and she had invented a story to tell the king, on his return, how the mad wolves had eaten up his wife and her two children.

One evening, as she was, according to her custom, rambling round about the courts and yards of the palace to see if she could smell any fresh meat, she heard in a ground room, little Prince Day crying, for his mamma was sending him to bed without supper because he had been naughty; and she heard at the same time, little Morning begging pardon for her brother.

The ogress presently knew the voice of Sleeping Beauty and her children, and being quite mad that she had been tricked, commanded the next morning, by break of day (with a most horrible voice, which made everybody tremble), that they should bring into the middle of the great court a large tub; which she ordered to be filled with toads, vipers, snakes, and all sorts of serpents, in order to have thrown into it Sleeping Beauty and her children, the chief cook of the kitchen, his wife and maid – all whom she had given orders should be brought there with their hands tied behind them.

They were brought out, and the executioners were just going to throw them into the tub, when the king (who was not so soon expected) entered the court on horseback (for he came post) and asked, with the utmost astonishment, what was the meaning of that horrible spectacle.

No one dared to tell him. When the ogress, all enraged to see what had happened, threw herself head first into the tub, and was instantly gobbled up by the ugly creatures she had ordered to be thrown into it for the others. The king was very sorry, for the ogress had been his own mother; but he soon comforted himself with his beautiful wife and his pretty children, and they lived happily ever after.

The Sleeping Beauty Part One

This is one of the most romantic fairy tales. It’s themes are love and chivalry. The ending is, of course, happy, but not quite ever after. There is a little known second part, which you can find here.

Read by Natasha. Version by Andrew Lang (from Charles Perrault). Duration 20 Minutes.
Proofread by Jana Elizabeth.

The Sleeping Beauty –

Once upon a time, there lived a king and a queen, who had no children. They were so sorry about having no children, that I cannot tell you how sorry they were. At last, however, after many years, the queen had a daughter.

There was a very fine christening for the baby princess. The king and queen looked throughout the kingdom for fairies to be her godmothers, and they found seven fairies. Each fairy godmother was to give the princess a gift, as was the custom of fairies in those days. In this way, the princess had all the perfections imaginable.

After the christening ceremony was over, the whole party returned to the king’s palace, where there was prepared a great feast for the seven fairy godmothers. There was placed before each one of them a magnificent case of gold, in which were a spoon, knife, and fork; all of pure gold set with diamonds and rubies. But as everyone was sitting down at the table, they saw come into the hall a very old fairy, whom they had not invited, because she had not left the tower where she lived for over fifty years, and she was believed to be either dead or under an evil spell.

The king could not give her a case of gold as the others had been given, because they had only seven made for the seven fairies. The old fairy felt insulted and muttered some threats between her teeth. One of the young fairies who sat by her overheard how she grumbled; and guessing that she might give the little princess an unlucky gift, went, as soon as they rose from table, and hid behind the curtains, so that she might make the last wish for the little princess, and use it to put right any evil that the old fairy might do with her magic spell.

Meanwhile, all the fairies began to give their gifts to the princess. The youngest wished that she should be the most beautiful person in the world. The next, that she should have the intelligence of an angel. The third, that she should have a wonderful grace in everything she did. The fourth, that she should dance perfectly well. The fifth, that she should sing like a nightingale, and the sixth, that she should play all kinds of music to the utmost perfection.

The old fairy’s turn came next, and shaking her head more with spite than anger, said that one day the princess would have her hand pricked by a needle on a spinning wheel and that she would die of the wound. This terrible gift made the whole company tremble, and everybody began to cry.

At this very instant the young fairy came out from behind the curtains, and spoke these words aloud:
“Assure yourselves, O King and Queen, that your daughter shall not die of this disaster. It is true, I have no power to undo entirely what the elder fairy has done. The princess shall indeed pierce her hand with a needle on a spinning wheel, but instead of dying, she shall only fall into a deep sleep, which shall last a hundred years, at the end of which a king’s son shall come and awake her.”

The king, to avoid the misfortune foretold by the old fairy, immediately made a law by which everybody was forbidden, on pain of death, to use a spinning wheel, or to have any spinning wheel in their houses.

About fifteen or sixteen years later, on a day when the king and queen were busy in a far corner of the vast palace, the young and beautiful princess amused herself by running up and down the corridors and going up from one apartment to another. Eventually, she came into a little room at the top of the tower, where a good old woman, alone, was spinning with her wheel, for this good old woman had never heard of the king’s law against spinning wheels.

The princess said: “What are you doing there, good old woman?”

[old lady’s voice] “I am spinning sheep’s wool into thread so that I can knit it into a cardigan.”

“Ha!” Said the princess, “that’s very clever. I’ve never seen that done before. How do you do it? Give it to me, so that I may see if I can do the same.”

Now whether it was because she was in too much of a hurry, or whether it was because she was clumsy, or whether it was because the old fairy had wished it so, I cannot say – but no sooner than the princess took the spinning wheel, than she pricked her hand on the needle, and she fell down in a faint.

The good old woman, not knowing what to do, cried out for help. People came rushing from all over the palace and they came in great numbers. When they saw the princess lying in a deep, deep sleep on the floor, they threw cold water on her face, they loosened her clothes, they struck her on the palms of her hands, and they rubbed her temples with smelling salts, but nothing they could do would awaken the princess.

The king, who heard the great commotion from the far end of the palace, remembered the terrible warning of the fairies, and guessing what had happened, came rushing to the tower. There he saw the princess lying in a deep, deep sleep, and he ordered her to be carried into the finest apartment in his palace, and to be laid upon a bed all embroidered with gold and silver.

If you had seen her, you might have taken her for a little angel, she was so very beautiful, for her swooning away had not paled her complexion; her cheeks were like roses, and her lips were like sea coral. Indeed, her eyes were shut, but she was heard to breathe softly, which persuaded everyone that she was not dead. The king commanded that they should not disturb her, but let her sleep quietly until her hour of awaking was come.

When this accident happened to the princess, the good fairy who had saved her life by condemning her to sleep for a hundred years, was in the kingdom of Matakin, twelve thousand miles away, but she quickly heard the terrible news from a little dwarf, who had one hundred mile boots, that is boots with which he could tread over one hundred miles of ground in a single step. The fairy came immediately, and she arrived at the palace about an hour later, in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons.

The king took her hand as she stepped out of the chariot, and they both went to look at the sleeping princess. As the fairy was very good at thinking and planning ahead, she realised that in one hundred years time when the princess would wake up, she might not know what to do with herself, being all alone in this old palace. So this was what she did: she touched with her wand everything in the palace (except the king and queen), nannies, maids of honour, ladies of the bedchamber, gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, undercooks, cleaners, guards, with their beefeaters, pages and footmen. She also touched all the horses in the stables and fields, the fierce guard dogs in the outer court, and pretty little Mopsey too, the princess’s little puppy, which lay by her on the bed.

Immediately, as soon as she touched them they all fell asleep, so that they might not awaken before their princess, and that they might be ready to serve her when she wanted them. Even the great fires in the ovens of the kitchen, that were just then roasting partridges and pheasants, fell asleep too. All this was done in a moment. Fairies do not take long to finish their business.

Now the king and the queen, having kissed their dear child without waking her, went out of the palace and made an order that nobody should dare to come near it. This, however, was not necessary, for in a quarter of an hour’s time there grew up all round about the palace grounds such a vast number of trees, great and small, bushes and brambles, entwining one within another, that neither man nor beast could pass through; so that nothing could be seen but the very top of the towers of the palace. Nobody doubted but the fairy had demonstrated a very extraordinary sample of her power, that the princess, while she continued sleeping, might have nothing to fear from any curious people.

When a hundred years had passed by, the son of a king from another family had gone a-hunting in that part of the country where the palace used to be. He asked: “What are those towers in the middle of that great thick wood?”

Everyone answered with the rumours that they had heard. Some said that it was a ruinous old castle, haunted by spirits. Others, that all the sorcerers and witches of the country used to meet there at midnight when there was a full moon. Most people believed that an ogre lived there, and that he used take there all the little children he could catch, so that he could eat them up whenever he pleased, without anybody being able to follow him, as only he had the power to pass through the wood.

The prince was all in a quandary, not knowing what to believe, when a very good countryman said to him: “May it please Your Royal Highness, it is now about fifty years since I heard from my father, who heard my grandfather say that there was then in this castle a princess, the most beautiful that was ever seen; that she must sleep there a hundred years, and should only be waked by a king’s son.”

The young prince was all on fire at these words, believing, without thinking things through, that he could save the princess, and pushed on by love and honor, he swore that moment that he would do just that.

As he rode on his horse toward the wood, all the great trees, the bushes, and brambles gave way to let him pass through. He walked up to the castle which he saw at the end of a large avenue and he went into it. What rather surprised him was that none of his people could follow him, because the trees closed again as soon as he had passed through them. However, he did not stop; a young and amorous prince is always brave. He came into a wide, wide outer court, where everything he saw might have frozen the most fearless person with horror. There was a most frightful silence; the image of death everywhere showed itself, and there was nothing to be seen but stretched-out bodies of men and animals, all seeming to be dead.

The prince realised when he saw the red faces and pimpled noses of the guards, that they were only asleep; and that their glasses, in which there still remained some drops of wine, showed plainly that they had fallen asleep, while drunk.

He then crossed a court paved with marble, went up the stairs and came into the corridor where guards were standing, with their rifles upon their shoulders, snoring as loud as they could. After that he went through several rooms full of gentlemen and ladies, all asleep; some standing, others sitting. At last he came into a chamber all gilded with gold, where he saw upon a bed the most wonderful sight that had even met his eyes – a princess, who appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen years of age, and whose bright and rosy beauty was quite angelic. He approached with trembling admiration, and fell down before her upon his knees and kissed her hand.

Now, as the evil fairy’s spell was at an end, the princess opened her blue eyes for the first time in one hundred years and looking at him said: “Is it you, my prince? You have waited a long time.”

The prince, charmed with these words, and much more with the manner in which they were spoken, knew not how to show his joy and gratitude. He assured her that he loved her more than anyone or anything in the whole wide world. Their conversation did not make much sense – they spoke with little reason but a great deal of love. He was more lost for words than she, and we need not wonder at it; she had time to think what to say to him; for it is very probable (though history mentions nothing of it) that the good fairy, during so long a sleep, had given her very agreeable dreams about handsome princes coming to her rescue. In short, they talked four hours together, and yet they said not half of what they had to say.

In the meanwhile, all the palace awakened, and as all of them were not in love, they felt most desperately hungry after 100 years without a bite to eat. The chief lady of honor grew very impatient, and told the princess aloud that supper was served up. The prince helped the princess to rise. She was entirely dressed, and very magnificently too, but His Royal Highness took care not to tell her that she was dressed in the fashion of one hundred years ago, like his great-grandmother. She looked not a bit less charming and beautiful for all that.

They went into the great hall of mirrors, where they ate supper, and were served by the princess’ officers. The orchestra played old tunes, but very nice ones, and after supper, without losing any time, the priest married them in the chapel of the castle, and the chief lady of honour drew the curtains. They had but very little sleep – the princess had had too much of it recently, and the prince left her the next morning to return to the city, where the king was anxiously waiting for him.

And that’s the end of the first part of The Sleeping Beauty. If you want to know what happened to the prince and the Sleeping Beauty after that, you’ll have to listen to the next Storynory.

Prince Bertie the Frog would like you to meet all his new friends at his lovely green and purple website. You can see what he looks like there. So drop by at Storynory.Com.

For now, from me, Natasha, Bye Bye.