Hello,
And welcome to the Story Nexus.
The story I'm going to read to you today is entitled,
The choice of the princess.
It was written by Mary Nixon Roulette.
First published in 1908.
Let's begin.
Once upon a time,
A beautiful princess lived in Erindor,
A shining ancient city which was very near a huge crystal lake.
She was called the Princess Sarahleen.
And she was the heiress to the crystalline throne of Earendor.
Cerulean was the loveliest princess in all the land.
Her skin was like velvet.
Her hair was as dark as night.
And her eyes were as bright and soft as the stars.
She was sweet as well as fair,
But willful.
And when they said.
Fair Princess,
You must marry.
She replied.
The time has not yet come.
I see nowhere in Earendor the man who may be my lord and husband.
At this,
The royal court was in despair.
But the princess would not marry until she was quite ready.
That,
The wise men knew.
They had been counseling the pretty little princess for many years.
Her willfulness was well known throughout the court.
Had the king,
Her father,
Lived to see this day,
It might have been different.
Alas,
He was long since gone.
And the Queen Mother could do no more for Princess Céraline than could the wise men of the kingdom.
Early in her life.
Princess Cerulean had learned that there was just one thing she could say,
Which no one could dispute.
She had only to look very sweetly at whoever was trying to persuade her to do something.
And then,
With a dainty little smile,
Say simply.
.
.
But I don't want to.
And that was all.
No one could get her to do anything she didn't want to do.
Not even the Queen Mother.
Sometimes,
Princess Cerulean's mother would tell her about her father,
The king.
She remembered when the princess was very small.
Perhaps just a few years past learning to walk.
And how much the little girl wanted to please her father,
The King of Erindor.
If it was time for bed and little Sarahleen did not want to go.
The Queen Mother could not persuade her.
She would ask for the king to come and tuck in the little princess.
Then,
Sarah leaned with scurry to her bed and jumped under the covers,
Waiting for her father to sit beside her,
Tell her a story,
Kiss her on the forehead,
And send her off into dreamland.
No one but her father could ever convince her to yield her own will.
Even if it was for a short time.
Even if it was for her own good.
Little Cerulean did as the king said,
Though.
And as often as she was able,
She stuck by his side.
The king and the queen had the wisest of wise men,
Who acted as counselors to the kingdom.
None of them had ever found an answer to Princess Saralene's willfulness.
It was a strange state of affairs.
For all the little princesses from generations past,
Long before little Sarah Lean arrived,
Had been gentle and sweet and had done just what they were told.
The counsellors proclaimed at length that all young men of proper age and rank should present themselves for the Princess Céraline to look at and to see if she liked any of them well enough to marry.
Then one day,
The news of this quickly spread everywhere,
And in no time at all,
The road to Erindor was crowded with young men.
There were so many of them,
Tall and short,
Fat and thin,
Handsome and not so handsome.
And each hoped he would be the favorite suitor.
Among all of these young men,
There came 81 brothers.
Each of whom had seen a picture of the Princess Céline.
And wished to win her over for themselves.
These brothers were of noble family birth.
But the youngest was the only one who was truly noble.
He was as brave as a gladiator.
80 of the brothers were kind of unattractive and jealous of one another.
It seemed as if they could agree upon nothing at all in the world,
Except treating the youngest brother very harshly.
They despised their littlest brother because he was so good and gentle and was never rude or quarrelsome.
Everyone who met the 81st Brother loved him.
The other 80 brothers did not.
The 81st brother never complained.
He tried hard to please his brothers,
And when he found that he could not,
He stayed away from them as far as possible.
So when they went to wait on the princess,
He lingered at the back of the train.
For his brothers scoffed at him,
And made him carry their bags and luggage,
As if he had been their servant.
The Eighty Brothers walked proudly ahead.
As they hiked up a mountainside,
They came upon a poor little rabbit stretched out upon the grass.
A huge patch of fur had fallen out and he seemed to be sick and looked just wretched.
Let me tell you what will cure you,
Little rabbit.
Said one of the brothers with a wicked laugh.
Go down to the sea,
Bathe yourself in the salt water,
And then run up to the top of the hill.
The wind god of the hilltop will cure you and your fur will grow again.
Thank you,
Noble prince.
Said the rabbit,
And as the eighty brothers turned away laughing,
He hurried to the seashore.
Alas,
The salt water hurt his tender skin,
And the sun and wind burned him so that he cried out with pain.
The 81st brother,
Trudging along with his brother's bags,
Heard the cry and hurried to see if someone was hurt.
Oh,
Poor little fellow.
He said with pity.
What is the matter?
Oh,
Your voice is kind.
Your face is kind.
And I feel that you have a kind heart.
Said the rabbit.
Perhaps you can help me if I tell you my story.
I will gladly do so if I can.
Said the 81st brother.
I was born on the island of quartz.
Said the rabbit.
When I grew up,
I longed to see the world.
But I knew not how to reach the mainland.
After a long time,
However,
I thought of a way.
Great numbers of crocodiles were in the habit of coming to the beach to sun themselves.
So one day I said to them boastfully,
There are more rabbits on the Isle of Quartz than crocodiles in the sea.
Not so.
Said one of the crocodiles.
There are a great many more crocodiles.
Let us count,
" I answered,
And then both will be satisfied.
I can count all of your crocodiles very easily.
You only have to form a line from here to Cape Jade and let the nose of one be at the tail of another,
And I will run lightly across your backs and count as I go.
Then we shall know how many crocodiles there are.
But how shall we know about the rabbits?
As to Crocodile.
Oh,
That we can decide later,
I answered.
So they did as I had said.
They formed in a line and I ran across.
Their broad backs made a good bridge,
But alas.
Why did I not know enough to hold my tongue?
As I jumped from the last crocodile to the bank,
I cried out,
I have fooled you well.
I don't care how many crocodiles there are.
I only used you as a bridge to reach the mainland.
But just as I said this,
The last monster grabbed me with his teeth.
And pulled off a huge chunk of my fur.
You deserve to be banished.
The crocodile said.
But I will let you go.
In the future,
Do not try to deceive creatures bigger than yourself.
Indeed,
The crocodile was quite right.
Said the 81st brother.
Although you were harshly treated for being deceitful,
I am very sorry for you.
Let me finish my story.
Said the rabbit,
Hanging his head a little at this rebuke.
As I lay there stinging with pain.
A train of princely young men passed by.
One of them told me to bathe in the sea and run in the wind.
And I did so.
And that is what put me in this painful state.
Now what can I do?
For I can hardly bear my own suffering.
It must have been one of my 80 brothers whom you met.
Set the prints.
I must try to help you,
Since they have been so mean.
Go and bathe in the freshwater of the river.
Then take pollen from the reeds and rub yourself in it.
Your skin will heal and your fur will grow again.
Oh,
Thank you,
Most noble prince.
Cried the rabbit.
You are as good as your 80 brothers are mean.
You will find that I am not ungrateful.
And he ran to the river.
Soon the little rabbit felt quite well,
And he hurried away,
Scarcely waiting to bid the prince goodbye.
The 81st brother smiled to himself and thought,
That little rabbit is not so grateful as he pretended.
Then he went on to the court to see Princess Saralene.
The rabbit,
However,
Was already there.
He was sitting quietly out of sight under a bush in the corner of the courtyard.
The rabbit was in a good place to see someone who he might be waiting for.
The rabbit had heard the Eighty Brothers talk about the wedding of the Princess Saralene.
And he saw how he could serve the one brother who had been kind to him.
Now,
It just so happened that one of the rabbit's brothers,
Who was a handsome little fellow,
Had been given to the Princess Sarahleen.
This rabbit,
His brother,
Was a great favorite at the court.
Everyone loved him.
So the rabbit of the Isle of Quartz hurried to find his brother,
The rabbit of the princess,
To tell him his story.
The Rabbit of the Isle of Quartz said,
Now we must help my prince to wed your princess.
Two such kind souls should live together and make the world happier.
Trust me.
Said his brother,
Who had grown wise since he had come to the palace.
I have dwelt here for some years now.
I have learned the ways of the court.
Follow me!
So the little rabbit hopped off with his brother to visit the Princess Céline's handmaidens.
He introduced his semi-furless brother to them.
The handmaidens all took pity on him.
When they asked what sad affair had befallen him.
The little rabbit and his brother had only to tell them the truth.
Especially the part about the Eighty Brothers who suggested he bathe in salt water and then run like the wind to dry off.
The handmaidens were so dismayed at what they heard,
They went to tell the princess right away.
When the Princess Céraline heard what the 80 princes had done to the poor little rabbit,
For no reason whatsoever,
She thought them very cruel.
When the 80 brothers presented themselves before the princess,
Dressed all in their finest clothing.
She received them with a scowl and scornful words and then sent them away.
She said.
Your faces smile,
But your hearts are cruel.
And I will have none of you.
However,
When the 81st brother approached the Princess Céraline as she sat in her throne,
That beautiful crystal throne.
She stretched forth her hand and said,
Good heart and true love.
I will share my throne with you.
And you alone.
The 81st brother was so very happy,
And all the people rejoiced,
And the little semi-furless rabbit of the Isle of Quartz danced merrily on his two hind legs and said,
You see,
Dear Prince,
I am not ungrateful.
For it is due to me that you are the choice of the Princess Saralene,
Heiress to the crystalline throne of Erendor.
And with that,
And his rabbit brother,
Hopped around together celebrating this very happy union.
End.
