The Floating Prince and Other Fairy Tales/The Magician's Daughter and the High-Born Boy
THE MAGICIAN'S DAUGHTER
AND THE
HIGH-BORN BOY.
THERE was once a great castle which belonged to a magician. It stood upon a high hill, with a wide court-yard in front of it, and the fame of its owner spread over the whole land. He was a very wise and skillful magician, as well as a kind and honest man, and people of all degrees came to him, to help him out of their troubles.
But he gradually grew very old, and at last he died. His only descendant was a daughter, thirteen years of age, named Filamina, and everybody wondered what would happen, now that the great magician was dead.
But one day, Filamina came out on the broad front steps of the castle, and made a little speech to all the giants, and afrits, and fairies, and genii, and dwarfs, and gnomes, and elves, and pigmies, and other creatures of that kind, who had always been in the service of the old magician, to do his bidding when some wonderful thing was to be accomplished.
"Now that my poor father is dead," said she, "I think it is my duty to carry on the business. So you will all do what I tell you to do, just as you used to obey my father. If any persons come who want anything done, I will attend to them."
The giants and fairies, and all the others, were very glad to hear Filamina say this, for they all liked her, and they were tired of being idle.
Then an afrit arose from the sunny stone on which he had been lying, and said that there were six people outside of the gate,
THE SIX APPLICANTS WHO WISHED TO BE HELPED OUT OF TROUBLE.
who had come to see if there was a successor to the magician, who could help them out of their trouble.
"You can bring them into the Dim-lit Vault," said Filamina, "but, first, I will go in and get ready for them."
The Dim-lit Vault was a vast apartment, with a vaulted ceiling, where the old magician used to see the people who came to him. All around the walls or shelves, and on stands and tables, in various parts of the room, were the strange and wonderful instruments of magic that he used.
There was a great table in the room, covered with parchments and old volumes of magic lore. At one end of the table was the magician's chair, and in this Filamina seated herself, first piling several cushions on the seat, to make herself high enough.
"Now, then," said she, to the afrit in attendance, "everything seems ready, but you must light something to make a mystic smell. That iron lamp at the other end of the room will do. Do you know what to pour into it?"
The afrit did not know, but he thought he could find something, so he examined the bottles on the shelves, and taking down one of them, he poured some of its contents into the lamp and lighted it. In an instant there was an explosion, and a piece of the heavy lamp just grazed the afrit's head.
"Don't try that again," said Filamina. "You will be hurt. Let a ghost come in. He can't be injured."
So a ghost came in, and he got another iron lamp, and tried the stuff from another bottle. This blew up, the same as the other, and several pierces of the lamp went right through the ghost's body, but of course it made no difference to him. He tried again, and this time he found something which smelt extremely mystical.
"Now call them in," said Filamina, and the six persons who were in trouble entered the room. Filamina took a piece of paper and a pencil, and asked them, in turn, what they wished her to do for them. The first was a merchant, in great grief because he had lost a lot of rubies, and he wanted to know where to find them.
"How many of them were there?" asked Filamina of the unlucky merchant
"Two quarts," said the merchant. "I measured them a few days ago. Each one of them was as large as a cherry."
"A big cherry?" asked Filamlna.
"Yes," said the merchant. "The biggest kind of a cherry."
"Well," said Filamina, putting all this down on her paper, "you can come again in a week, and I will see what I can do for you."
The next was a beautiful damsel who had lost her lover.
"What kind of a person is he?" asked Filamina.
"Oh," said the beautiful damsel, "he is handsomer than tongue can tell. Tall, magnificent, and splendid in every way. He is more graceful than a deer, and stronger than a lion. His hair is like flowing silk, and his eyes like the noon-day sky."
"Well, don't cry any more," said Filamina. "I think we shall soon find him. There can't be many of that kind. Come again in a week, if you please."
The next person was a covetous king, who was very anxious to possess the kingdom next to his own.
"The only difficulty is this," he said, his greedy eyes twinkling as he spoke, "there is an old king on the throne, and there is a very young heir—a mere baby. If they were both dead, I would be the next of kin, and would have the kingdom. I don't want to have them killed instantly. I want something that will make them sicker, and sicker, and sicker, till they die."
"Then you would like something suitable for a very old man, and something for a very young child?" said Filamina.
"That is exactly it," replied the covetous king.
"Very well," said Filamina; "come again in a week, and I will see what I can do for you."
The covetous king did not want to wait so long, but there was no help for it, and he went away.
Next came forward a young man, who wanted to find out how to make gold out of old iron bars and horseshoes. He had tried many different plans, but could not succeed. After him came a general, who could never defeat the great armies which belonged to the neighboring nations. He wished to get something which would insure victory to his army. Each of these was told to come again in a week, when his case would be attended to.
The last person was an old woman, who wanted to know a good way to make root-beer. She had sold root-beer for a long time, but it was not very good, and it made people feel badly, so that her custom was falling off. It was really necessary, she said, for her to have a good business, in order that she might support her sons and daughters, and send her grandchildren to school.
"Poor woman!" said Filamina. "I will do my best for you. Do you live far away?"
"Oh, yes," said the old woman, "a weary way."
"Well, then, I will have you taken home, and I will send for you in a week."
Thereupon, calling two tall giants, she told them to carry the old woman home in a sedan-chair, which they bore between them.
When the visitors had all gone, Filamina called in her servants and read to them the list she had made.
"As for this merchant," she said, "some of you gnomes ought to find his rubies. You are used to precious stones. Take a big cherry with you, and try to find two quarts of rubies of that size. A dozen fairies can go and look for the handsome lover of the beautiful damsel. You 'll be sure to know him if you see him. A genie can examine the general's army and see what's the matter with it. Four or five dwarfs, used to working with metals, can take some horseshoes and try to make gold ones of them. Do any of you know of a good disease for an old person, and a good disease for a baby?"
An elf suggested rheumatism for the old person, and Filamina herself thought of colic for the baby.
"Go and mix me," she said to an afrit, "some rheumatism and some colic in a bottle. I am going to make that greedy king take it himself. As for the root-beer," she continued, "those of you who think you can do it, can take any of the stuff you find on the shelves here, and try to make good root-beer out of it. To-morrow, we will see if any of you have made beer that is really good. I will give a handsome reward to the one who first finds out how it ought to be made."
Thereupon, Filamina went up to her own room to take a nap, while quite a number of fairies, giants, dwarfs and others set to work to try and make good root-beer. They made experiments with nearly all the decoctions and chemicals they found on the shelves, or stored away in corners, and they boiled, and soaked, and mixed, and stirred, until far into the night.
It was a moonlight night, and one of the gnomes went from the Dim-lit Vault, where his companions were working away, into the court-yard, and there he met the ghost, who was gliding around by himself.
"I'll tell you what it is," said the gnome, "I don't want to be here to-morrow morning, when that stuff is to be tasted. They're making a lot of dreadful messes in there. I'm going to run away, till it's all over."
"It doesn't make any difference to me," said the ghost, "for I wouldn't be asked to drink anything; but, if you're going to run away, I don't mind going with you. I haven't got anything to do." So off the two started together, out of the great gate.
"Hold up!" soon cried the gnome, who was running as fast as his little legs would carry him. "Can't you glide slower? I can't keep up with you?"
"You ought to learn to glide," said the ghost, languidly. "It's ever so much easier than walking."
"When I'm all turned into faded smoke," said the gnome, a little crossly, "I'll try it; but I can't possibly do it now."
So the ghost glided more slowly, and the two soon came to the cottage of a wizard and a witch, who lived near the foot of the hill, where they sometimes got odd jobs from the people, who were going up to the magician's castle. As the wizard and his wife were still up, the gnome and his companion went in to see them and have a chat.
"How are you getting on?" said the ghost, as they all sat around the fire. "Have you done much incanting lately?"
"Not much," said the wizard. "We thought we would get a good deal of business when the old man died; but the folks seem to go up to the castle the same as ever."
"Yes," said the gnome, "and there's rare work going on up there now. They're trying to make root-beer for an old woman, and you never saw such a lot of poisonous trash as they have stewed up."
"They can't make root-beer!" sharply cried the witch. "They don't know anything about it. There is only one person who has that secret, and that one is myself."
"Oh, tell it to me!" exclaimed the gnome, jumping from his chair. "There's to be a reward for the person who can do it right, and——"
"Reward!" cried the witch. "Then I'm likely to tell it to you, indeed! When you're all done trying, I'm going to get that reward myself."
"Then I suppose we might as well bid you good-night," said the gnome, and he and the ghost took their departure.
"I'll tell you what it is," said the latter, wisely shaking his head, "those people will never prosper; they're too stingy."
"True," said the gnome, and just at that moment they met a pigwidgeon, who had been sent from the castle a day or two before on a long errand. He, of course, wanted to know where the gnome and the ghost were going; but when he heard their story, he said nothing, but kept on his way.
"OH, TELL IT TO ME!" EXCLAIMED THE GNOME.
When he reached the castle, he found that all the beer had been made, and that the busy workers had just brought out the various pots and jars into the court-yard to cool. The pigwidgeon took a sniff or two at the strange stuff in some of the jars, and then he told about the gnome and the ghost running away. When he mentioned the reason of their sudden departure, the whole assemblage stood and looked at each other in dismay.
"I never thought of that," said a tall giant; "but it's just what will happen. We shall have to taste those mixtures, and I should n't wonder a bit if half of them turned out to be poison. I'm going!"
And so saying, he clapped on his hat, and made one step right over the court-yard wall. In an instant, every giant, genie, dwarf, fairy, gnome, afrit, elf, and the rest of them, followed him out of the gate or over the wall, and swarming down the hill, they disappeared toward all quarters of the compass.
All but one young hobgoblin. He had a faithful heart, and he would not desert his mistress. He stayed behind, and in the morning, when she came down, he told her what had happened.
"And they have all deserted me," she said, sadly, "but you."
The hobgoblin bowed his head. His head was a great deal too large, and his legs and arms were dangly, but he had an honest face.
"Perhaps they were wise," she said, looking into the pots and jars. "It might have killed them. But they were cowards to run away, instead of telling me about it; and I shall make you Ruler of the Household, because you are the only faithful one."
The hobgoblin was overwhelmed with gratitude, and could scarcely say a word.
"But I can never get along without any of them," said Filamina. "We must go and look for them; some may not be far away. We will lock the gate and take the key. May I call you Hob?"
The hobgoblin said she certainly might, if she'd like it.
"Well, then, Hob," said she, "you must go and get a chair, for we can't reach the big lock from the ground."
So Hob ran and got a chair, and brought it outside. They pulled the gate shut, and, standing on the chair, and both using all their force, they turned the big key, which the hobgoblin then took out, and carried, as they both walked away.
"You ought to be careful of the key," said Filamina, "for, if you lose it, we shall not be able to get back. Haven't you a pocket?"
"Not one big enough," said the hobgoblin: "but you might slip it down my back. It would be safe there."
So Filamina took the key and slipped it down his back. It was so big that it reached along the whole of his spine, and it was very cold; but he said never a word.
They soon came to the cottage of the wizard, and there they stopped, to ask if anything had been seen of the runaways. The witch and the wizard received them very politely, and said that they had seen a gnome and a ghost, but no others. Then Filamina told how her whole household, with the exception of the faithful hobgoblin, had gone off and deserted her; and, when she had finished her story, the witch had become very much excited. Drawing her husband to one side, she said to him:
"Engage our visitors in conversation for a time. I will be back directly."
So saying, she went into a little back-room, jumped out of the window, and ran as fast as she could to the castle.
"Just to think of it!" she said to herself, as she hurried along. "That whole castle empty! Not a creature in it! Such a chance will never happen again! I can rummage among all the wonderful treasures of the old magician. I shall learn more than I ever knew in my life!"
In the meantime, the wizard, who was a very kindly person, talked to Filamina and the hobgoblin about the wonders of Nature, and told them of his travels in various parts of the earth, all of which interested Filamina very much; and, as the hobgoblin was ever faithful to his mistress, he became just as much interested as he could be.
When the witch reached the castle, she was surprised to find the great gate locked. She had never thought of that. "I didn't see either of them have the key," she said to herself, "and it is too big to put in anybody's pocket. Perhaps they 've hidden it under the step.
So she got down on her knees, and groped about under the great stone before the gate. But she found no key. Then she saw the chair which had been left by the gate.
THE WITCH SEARCHES FOR THE KEY.
"Oho!" she cried. "That's it! They put the key on the ledge over the gate, and had the chair to stand on!"
She then quickly set the chair before the gate and stood up on it. But she could not yet reach the ledge, so she got up on the back. She could now barely put her hands over the ledge, and while she was feeling for the key, the chair toppled and fell over, leaving her hanging by her hands. She was afraid to drop, for she thought she would hurt herself, and so she hung, kicking and calling for help.
Just then, there came up a hippogriff, who had become penitent, and determined to return to his duty. He was amazed to see the witch hanging in front of the gate, and ran up to her.
"Aha!" he cried. "Trying to climb into our castle, are you? You 're a pretty one!"
THE HIPPOGRIFF GAINS THE SECRET.
"Oh, Mr. Hippogriff," said the witch, "I can explain it all to you, if I can only get down. Please put that chair under me. I'll do anything for you, if you will."
The hippogriff reflected. What could she do for him? Then he thought that perhaps she knew how to make good root-beer. So he said he would help her down if she would tell him how to make root-beer.
"Never!" she cried. "I am going to get the reward for that myself. Anything but that!"
"Nothing but that will suit me," said the hippogriff, "and if you don't choose to tell me, I'll leave you hanging there until the giants and the afrits come back, and then you will see what you will get."
This frightened the witch very much, and in a few moments she told the hippogriff that, if he would stretch up his long neck, she would whisper the secret in his ear. So he stretched up his neck, and she told him the secret.
As soon as he had heard it, he put the chair under her, and she got down, and ran home as fast as she could go.
She reached the cottage none too soon, for the wizard was finding it very hard to keep on engaging his visitors in conversation.
Filamina now rose to go, but the witch asked her to stay a little longer.
"I suppose you know all about your good father's business," said she, "now that you are carrying it on alone?"
"No," said Filamina, "I don't understand it very well; but I try to do the best that I can."
"What you ought to do," said the witch, "is to try to find one or two persons who understand the profession of magic, and have been, perhaps, carrying it on, in a small way, themselves. Then they could do all the necessary magical work, and you would be relieved of the trouble and worry."
"That would be very nice," said Filamina, "if I could find such persons."
Just then a splendid idea came into the head of the hobgoblin. Leaning toward his mistress, he whispered, "How would these two do?"
"Good!" said Filamina, and turning to the worthy couple, she said, "Would you be willing to take the situation, and come to the castle to live?"
The witch and the wizard both said that they would be perfectly willing to do so. They would shut up their cottage, and come with her immediately, if that would please her. Filamina thought that would suit exactly, and so the cottage was shut up, and the four walked up to the castle, the witch assuring Filamina that she and her husband would find out where the runaways were, as soon as they could get to work with the magical instruments.
When they reached the gate, and Filamina pulled the key from the hobgoblin's back, the witch opened her eyes very wide.
"If I had known that," she said to herself, "I need not have lost the reward."
All now entered the castle, and the penitent hippogriff, who had been lying in a shadow of the wall, quietly followed them.
The wizard and the witch went immediately into the Dim-lit Vault, and began with great delight to examine the magical instruments. In a short time the wizard came hurrying to call Filamina.
"Here," he said, when he had brought her into the room, "is a myth-summoner. With this, you can bring back all your servants. You see these rows of keys, of so many colors. Some are for fairies, some for giants, some for genii, and there are some for each kind of creature. Strike them, and you will see what will happen."
Filamina immediately sat down before the key-board of this strange machine, and ran her fingers along the rows of keys. In a moment, from all directions, through the air, and over the earth, came giants, fairies, afrits, genii, dwarfs, gnomes, and all the rest of them. They did not wish to come, but there was nothing for them but instant obedience when the magic keys were struck which summoned them.
They collected in the court-yard, and Filamina stood in the door-way and surveyed them.
"Don't you all feel ashamed of yourselves?" she said.
No one answered, but all hung their heads. Some of the giants, great awkward fellows, blushed a little, and even the ghost seemed ill at ease.
"You needn't be afraid of the beer now," she said, "I am going to have it all thrown away; and you needn't have been afraid of it before. If any of you had been taken sick, we would have stopped the tasting. As you all deserted me, except this good hobgoblin, I make him Ruler of the Household, and you are to obey him. Do you understand that?"
All bowed their heads, and she left them to their own reflections.
"The next time they run away," said the faithful Hob, "you can bring them back before they go."
In a day or two, the messengers which Filamina had sent out to look for the lost rubies, and the lost lover, to inquire into the reason why the general lost his battles, and to try and find out how horseshoes could be changed into gold, returned and made their reports. They had not been recalled by the myth-summoner, because their special business, in some magical manner, disconnected them from the machine.
The gnomes who had been sent to look for the rubies, reported that they had searched everywhere, but could not find two quarts of rubies, the size of cherries. They thought the merchant must have made a mistake, and that he should have said currants. The dwarfs, who had endeavored to make gold out of horseshoes, simply stated that they could not do it; they had tried every possible method. The genie who had gone to find out why the general always lost his battles reported that his army was so much smaller and weaker than those of the neighboring countries that it was impossible for him to make a good fight; and the fairies who had searched for the lost lover said that there were very few persons, indeed, who answered to the description given by the beautiful damsel, and these were all married and settled.
Filamina, with the witch and the wizard, carefully considered these reports, and determined upon the answers to be given to the applicants when they returned.
The next day, there rode into the court-yard of the castle a high-born boy. He was somewhat startled by the strange creatures he saw around him, but he was a brave fellow, and kept steadily on until he reached the castle door, where he dismounted and entered. He was very much disappointed when he heard that the great magician was dead, for he came to consult him on an important matter.
When he saw Filamina, he told her his story. He was the son of a prince, but his father and mother had been dead for some time. Many of the people of the principality to which he was heir urged him to take his seat upon the throne, because they had been so long without a regular ruler; while another large party thought it would be much wiser for him to continue his education until he was grown up, when he would be well prepared to enter upon the duties of his high position. He had been talked to a great deal by the leaders of each of these parties, and, not being able to make up his mind as to what he should do, he had come here for advice.
THE TWO GIANTS BRING IN THE SEDAN-CHAIR. (See page 133.)
"Is the country pretty well ruled now?" asked Filamina, after considering the matter a moment.
"Oh, yes," answered the high-born boy; "there are persons, appointed by my father, who govern everything all right It's only the name of the thing that makes some of the people discontented. All the principalities in our neighborhood have regular princes, and they want one, too."
"I'll tell you what I would do," said Filamina. "I would just keep on going to school, and being taught things, until I was grown up, and knew everything that a prince ought to know. Then you could just manage your principality in your own way. Look at me! Here am I with a great castle, and a whole lot of strange creatures for servants, and people coming to know things, and I can do hardly anything myself, and have to get a wizard and a witch to come and manage my business for me. I'm sure I wouldn't get into the same kind of a fix if I were you."
"I don't believe," said the high-born boy, "that I could have had any better advice than that from the very oldest magician in the world. I will do just what you have said."
Filamina now took her young visitor around the castle to show him the curious things, and when he heard of the people who were coming the next day, to know what had been done for them, he agreed to stay and see how matters would turn out. Filamina's accounts had made him very much interested in the various cases.
At the appointed time, all the persons who had applied for magical assistance and information assembled in the Dim-lit Vault. Filamina sat at the end of the table, the high-born boy had a seat at her right, while the witch and the wizard were at her left. The applicants stood at the other end of the table, while the giants, afrits, and the rest of the strange household grouped themselves around the room.
"Some of these cases," said Filamina, "I have settled myself, and the others I have handed over to these wise persons, who are a wizard and a witch. They can attend to their patients first."
The high-born boy thought that she ought to have said "clients," or "patrons," but he was too polite to speak of it.
The wizard now addressed the merchant who had lost the rubies.
"How do you know that you lost two quarts of rubies?" said he.
"I know it," replied the merchant, "because I measured them in two quart pots."
"Did you ever use those pots for anything else?" asked the wizard.
"Yes," said the merchant; "I afterward measured six quarts of sapphires with them."
"Where did you put your sapphires when you had measured them?"
"I poured them into a peck jar," said the merchant.
"Did they fill it?" asked the wizard.
"Yes; I remember thinking that I might as well tie a cloth over the top of the jar, for it would hold no more."
"Well, then," said the wizard, "as six quarts of sapphires will not fill a peck jar, I think you will find your rubies at the bottom of the jar, where you probably poured them when you wished to use the quart pots for the sapphires."
"I shouldn't wonder," said the merchant "I'll go right home and see."
He went home, and sure enough, under the six quarts of sapphires, he found his rubies.
"As for you," said the wizard to the general who always lost his battles, "your case is very simple: your army is too weak. What you want is about twelve giants, and this good young lady says she is willing to furnish them. Twelve giants, well armed with iron clubs, tremendous swords and long spears, with which they could reach over moats and walls, and poke the enemy, would make your army almost irresistible,"
"Oh, yes," said the general, looking very much troubled, "that is all true; but think how much it would cost to keep a dozen enormous giants! They would eat more than all the rest of the army. My king is poor; he is not able to support twelve giants."
"In that case," said the wizard, "war is a luxury which he cannot afford. If he cannot provide the means to do his fighting in the proper way, he ought to give it up, and you and he should employ your army in some other way. Set the soldiers at some profitable work, and then the kingdom will not be so poor."
The general could not help thinking that this was very good advice, and when he went home and told his story, his king agreed with him. The kingdom lay between two seas, and the soldiers were set to work to cut a canal right through the middle of the country, from one sea to the other.
Then the ships belonging to the neighboring kingdoms were allowed to sail through this canal, and charged a heavy toll. In this way the kingdom became very prosperous, and everybody agreed that it was a great deal better than carrying on wars and always being beaten.
The wizard next spoke to the young man who wanted to know how to make gold out of horseshoes.
"I think you will have to give up your idea," he declared. "The best metal-workers here have failed in the undertaking, and I myself have tried, for many years, to turn old iron into gold, but never could do it Indeed, it is one of the things which magicians cannot do. Are you so poor that you are much in need of gold?"
"Oh, no," said the young man. "I am not poor at all. But I would like very much to be able to make gold whenever I please."
"The best thing you can do," said the wizard, "if you really wish to work in metals, is to make horseshoes out of gold. This will be easier than the other plan, and will not worry your mind so much."
The young man stood aside. He did not say anything, but he looked very much disappointed.
This ended the wizard's cases, and Filamina now began to do her part. She first called up the greedy king who wanted the adjoining kingdom.
"Here is a bottle," she said, "which contains a very bad disease for an old person and a very bad one for a child. Whenever you feel that you would like the old king and the young heir, who stand between you and the kingdom you want, to be sick, take a good drink from the bottle."
The greedy king snatched the bottle, and, as soon as he reached home, he took a good drink, and he had the rheumatism and the colic so bad that he never again wished to make anybody sick.
"As for you," said Filamina to the beautiful damsel who had lost her lover, "my fairy messengers have not been able to find any person, such as you describe, who is not married and settled. So your lover must have married some one else. And, as you cannot get him, I think the best thing you can do is to marry this young man, who wanted to make horseshoes into gold. Of course, neither of you will get exactly what you came for, but it will be better than going away without anything."
The beautiful damsel and the young man stepped aside and talked the matter over, and they soon agreed to Filamina's plan, and went away quite happy.
"I am dreadfully sorry," said Filamina to the old woman who wanted to know how to make good root-beer, and who sat in the sedan-chair which had been sent for her, "but we have tried our best to find out how to make good root-beer, and the stuff we brewed was awful. I have asked this learned witch about it, and she says she does not now possess the secret. I have also offered a reward to any one who can tell me how to do it, but no one seems to want to try for it."
At this moment, the penitent hippogriff came forward from a dark corner where he had been sitting, and said: "I know what you must use to make good root-beer."
"What is it?" asked Filamina.
"Roots," said the hippogriff.
"That's perfectly correct," said the witch. "If a person will use roots, instead of all sorts of drugs and strange decoctions, they will make root-beer that is really good."
A great joy crept over the face of the old woman, and again and again she thanked Filamina for this precious secret.
The two giants raised her in her sedan-chair, and bore her away to her home, where she immediately set to work to brew root-beer from roots. Her beer soon became so popular that she was enabled to support her sons and daughters in luxury, and to give each of her grandchildren an excellent education.
When all the business was finished, and the penitent hippogriff had been given his reward, Filamina said to the high-born boy:
"Now it is all over, and everybody has had something done for him or for her."
"No," said the other, "I do not think so. Nothing has been done for you. You ought not to be left here alone with all these creatures. You may be used to them, but I think they're horrible. You gave me some advice which was very good, and now I am going to give you some, which perhaps you may like. I think you ought to allow this wizard and this witch, who seem like very honest people, to stay here and carry on the business. Then you could leave this place, and go to school, and learn all the things
FILAMINA AND THE HIGH-BORN BOY RIDE AWAY.
that girls know who don't live in old magical castles. After a while, when you are grown up, and I am grown up, we could be married, and we could both rule over my principality. What do you think of that plan?"
"I think it would be very nice," said Filamina, "and I really believe I will do it."
It was exactly what she did do. The next morning, her white horse was brought from the castle stables, and side by side, and amid the cheers and farewells of the giants, the dwarfs, the gnomes, the fairies, the afrits, the genii, the pigwidgeons, the witch, the wizard, the ghosts, the penitent hippogriff, and the faithful hobgoblin, Filamina and the high-born boy rode away to school.