There was once a very rich merchant, who had six
children, three boys and three girls. As he was himself a man of
great sense, he spared no expense for their education. The three
daughters were all handsome, but particularly the youngest;
indeed, she was so very beautiful, that in her childhood every
one called her the Little Beauty; and being equally lovely when
she was grown up, nobody called her by any other name, which made
her sisters very jealous of her. This youngest daughter was not
only more handsome than her sisters, but also was better
tempered. The two eldest were vain of their wealth and position.
They gave themselves a thousand airs, and refused to visit other
merchants’ daughters; nor would they
condescend to be seen except with persons of quality. They went
every day to balls, plays, and public walks, and always made game
of their youngest sister for spending her time in reading or
other useful employments. As it was well known that these young
ladies would have large fortunes, many great merchants wished to
get them for wives; but the two eldest always answered, that, for
their parts, they had no thoughts of marrying any one below a
duke or an earl at least. Beauty had quite as many offers as her
sisters, but she always answered, with the greatest civility,
that though she was much obliged to her lovers, she would rather
live some years longer with her father, as she thought herself
too young to marry.
It happened that, by some unlucky accident, the merchant suddenly
lost all his fortune, and had nothing left but a small cottage in
the country. Upon this he said to his daughters, while the tears
ran down his cheeks, “My children, we must now
go and dwell in the cottage, and try to get a living by labour,
for we have no other means of support.” The two
eldest replied that they did not know how to work, and would not
leave town; for they had lovers enough who would be glad to marry
them, though they had no longer any fortune. But in this they
were mistaken; for when the lovers heard what had happened, they
said, “The girls were so proud and
ill-tempered, that all we wanted was their fortune: we are not
sorry at all to see their pride brought down: let them show off
their airs to their cows and sheep.” But everybody
pitied poor Beauty, because she was so sweet-tempered and kind to
all, and several gentlemen offered to marry her, though she had
not a penny; but Beauty still refused, and said she could not
think of leaving her poor father in this trouble. At first Beauty
could not help sometimes crying in secret for the hardships she
was now obliged to suffer; but in a very short time she said to
herself, “All the crying in the world will do
me no good, so I will try to be happy without a
fortune.”
When they had removed to their cottage, the merchant and his
three sons employed themselves in ploughing and sowing the
fields, and working in the garden. Beauty also did her part, for
she rose by four o′clock every morning,
lighted the fires, cleaned the house, and got ready the breakfast
for the whole family. At first she found all this very hard; but
she soon grew quite used to it, and thought it no hardship;
indeed, the work greatly benefited her health. When she had done,
she used to amuse herself with reading, playing her music, or
singing while she spun. But her two sisters were at a loss what
to do to pass the time away: they had their breakfast in bed, and
did not rise till ten o′clock. Then they
commonly walked out, but always found themselves very soon tired;
when they would often sit down under a shady tree, and grieve for
the loss of their carriage and fine clothes, and say to each
other, “What a mean-spirited poor stupid
creature our young sister is, to be so content with this low way
of life!” But their father thought differently: and
loved and admired his youngest child more than ever.
After they had lived in this manner about a year, the merchant
received a letter, which informed him that one of his richest
ships, which he thought was lost, had just come into port. This
news made the two eldest sisters almost mad with joy; for they
thought they should now leave the cottage, and have all their
finery again. When they found that their father must take a
journey to the ship, the two eldest begged he would not fail to
bring them back some new gowns, caps, rings, and all sorts of
trinkets. But Beauty asked for nothing; for she thought in
herself that all the ship was worth would hardly buy everything
her sisters wished for.“Beauty,”
said the merchant, “how comes it that you ask
for nothing: what can I bring you, my child?”
“Since you are so kind as to think of me, dear
father,” she answered, “I should
be glad if you would bring me a rose, for we have none in our
garden.” Now Beauty did not indeed wish for a rose,
nor anything else, but she only said this that she might not
affront her sisters; otherwise they would have said she wanted
her father to praise her for desiring nothing. The merchant took
his leave of them, and set out on his journey; but when he got to
the ship, some persons went to law with him about the cargo, and
after a deal of trouble he came back to his cottage as poor as he
had left it. When he was within thirty miles of his home, and
thinking of the joy of again meeting his children, he lost his
way in the midst of a dense forest. It rained and snowed very
hard, and, besides, the wind was so high as to throw him twice
from his horse. Night came on, and he feared he should die of
cold and hunger, or be torn to pieces by the wolves that he heard
howling round him. All at once, he cast his eyes towards a long
avenue, and saw at the end a light, but it seemed a great way
off. He made the best of his way towards it, and found that it
came from a splendid palace, the windows of which were all
blazing with light. It had great bronze gates, standing wide
open, and fine court-yards, through which the merchant passed;
but not a living soul was to be seen. There were stables too,
which his poor, starved horse, less scrupulous than himself,
entered at once, and took a good meal of oats and hay. His master
then tied him up, and walked towards the entrance hall, but still
without seeing a single creature. He went on to a large
dining-parlour, where he found a good fire, and a table covered
with some very nice dishes, but only one plate with a knife and
fork. As the snow and rain had wetted him to the skin, he went up
to the fire to dry himself. “I
hope,” said he, “the master of the
house or his servants will excuse me, for it surely will not be
long now before I see them.”He waited some time, but
still nobody came: at last the clock struck eleven, and the
merchant, being quite faint for the want of food, helped himself
to a chicken, and to a few glasses of wine, yet all the time
trembling with fear. He sat till the clock struck twelve, and
then, taking courage, began to think he might as well look about
him: so he opened a door at the end of the hall, and went through
it into a very grand room, in which there was a fine bed; and as
he was feeling very weary, he shut the door, took off his
clothes, and got into it.
It was ten o′clock in the morning before he
awoke, when he was amazed to see a handsome new suit of clothes
laid ready for him, instead of his own, which were all torn and
spoiled. “To be sure,” said he to
himself, “this place belongs to some good
fairy, who has taken pity on my ill luck.” He looked
out of the window, and instead of the snow-covered wood, where he
had lost himself the previous night, he saw the most charming
arbours covered with all kinds of flowers. Returning to the hall
where he had supped, he found a breakfast table, ready prepared.
“Indeed, my good fairy,” said the
merchant aloud, “I am vastly obliged to you
for your kind care of me.” He then made a hearty
breakfast, took his hat, and was going to the stable to pay his
horse a visit; but as he passed under one of the arbours, which
was loaded with roses, he thought of what Beauty had asked him to
bring back to her, and so he took a bunch of roses to carry home.
At the same moment he heard a loud noise, and saw coming towards
him a beast, so frightful to look at that he was ready to faint
with fear. “Ungrateful man!” said
the beast in a terrible voice, “I have saved
your life by admitting you into my palace, and in return you
steal my roses, which I value more than anything I possess. But
you shall atone for your fault: you shall die in a quarter of an
hour.”
The merchant fell on his knees, and clasping his hands, said,
“Sir, I humbly beg your pardon: I did not
think it would offend you to gather a rose for one of my
daughters, who had entreated me to bring her one home. Do not
kill me, my lord!”
“I am not a lord, but a beast,”
replied the monster; “I hate false
compliments: so do not fancy that you can coax me by any such
ways. You tell me that you have daughters; now I suffer you to
escape, if one of them will come and die in your stead. If not,
promise that you will yourself return in three months, to be
dealt with as I may choose.”
The tender-hearted merchant had no thoughts of letting any one of
his daughters die for his sake; but he knew that if he seemed to
accept the beast“s terms, he should at least
have the pleasure of seeing them once again. So he gave his
promise, and was told he might then set off as soon as he liked.
“But,”said the beast,
“I do not wish you to go back empty-handed. Go
to the room you slept in, and you will find a chest there; fill
it with whatsoever you like best, and I will have it taken to
your own house for you.”
When the beast had said this, he went away. The good merchant,
left to himself, began to consider that as he must
die…for he had no thought of breaking a
promise, made even to a beast…he might as well
have the comfort of leaving his children provided for. He
returned to the room he had slept in, and found there heaps of
gold pieces lying about. He filled the chest with them to the
very brim, locked it, and, mounting his horse, left the palace as
sorrowful as he had been glad when he first beheld it. The horse
took a path across the forest of his own accord, and in a few
hours they reached the merchant’house. His
children came running round him, but, instead of kissing them
with joy, he could not help weeping as he looked at them. He held
in his hand the bunch of roses, which he gave to Beauty saying,
“Take these roses, Beauty; but little do you
think how dear they have cost your poor father;” and
then he gave them an account of all that he had seen or heard in
the palace of the beast.
The two eldest sisters now began to shed tears, and to lay the
blame upon Beauty, who, they said, would be the cause of her
father’ death.
“See,” said they,
“what happens from the pride of the little
wretch; why did not she ask for such things as we did? But, to be
sure, Miss must not be like other people; and though she will be
the cause of her father’s death, yet she does
not shed a tear.”
“It would be useless,”replied
Beauty, “for my father shall not die. As the
beast will accept of one of his daughters, I will give myself up,
and be only too happy to prove my love for the best of
fathers.”
“No, sister,”said the three
brothers with one voice, “that cannot be; we
will go in search of this monster, and either he or we will
perish.”
“Do not hope to kill him,” said
the merchant, “his power is far too great. But
Beautyâ’s young life shall not be sacrificed: I
am old, and cannot expect to live much longer; so I shall but
give up a few years of my life, and shall only grieve for the
sake of my children.”
“Never, father!” cried Beauty:
“If you go back to the palace, you cannot
hinder my going after you; though young, I am not over-fond of
life; and I would much rather be eaten up by the monster, than
die of grief for your loss.”
The merchant in vain tried to reason with Beauty, who still
obstinately kept to her purpose; which, in truth, made her two
sisters glad, for they were jealous of her, because everybody
loved her.
The merchant was so grieved at the thoughts of losing his child,
that he never once thought of the chest filled with gold, but at
night, to his great surprise, he found it standing by his
bedside. He said nothing about his riches to his eldest
daughters, for he knew very well it would at once make them want
to return to town; but he told Beauty his secret, and she then
said, that while he was away, two gentlemen had been on a visit
at their cottage, who had fallen in love with her two sisters.
She entreated her father to marry them without delay, for she was
so sweet-natured, she only wished them to be happy.
Three months went by, only too fast, and then the merchant and
Beauty got ready to set out for the palace of the beast. Upon
this, the two sisters rubbed their eyes with an onion, to make
believe they were crying; both the merchant and his sons cried in
earnest. Only Beauty shed no tears. They reached the palace in a
very few hours, and the horse, without bidding, went into the
same stable as before. The merchant and Beauty walked towards the
large hall, where they found a table covered with every dainty,
and two plates laid ready. The merchant had very little appetite;
but Beauty, that she might the better hide her grief, placed
herself at the table, and helped her father; she then began to
eat herself, and thought all the time that, to be sure, the beast
had a mind to fatten her before he ate her up, since he had
provided such good cheer for her. When they had done their
supper, they heard a great noise, and the good old man began to
bid his poor child farewell, for he knew it was the beast coming
to them. When Beauty first saw that frightful form, she was very
much terrified, but tried to hide her fear. The creature walked
up to her, and eyed her all over…then asked
her in a dreadful voice if she had come quite of her own
accord.
“Yes,” said Beauty.
“Then you are a good girl, and I am very much
obliged to you.”
This was such an astonishingly civil answer that
Beauty’s courage rose: but it sank again when
the beast, addressing the merchant, desired him to leave the
palace next morning, and never return to it again.
“And so good night, merchant. And good night,
Beauty.”
“Good night, beast,” she answered,
as the monster shuffled out of the room.
“Ah! my dear child,” said the
merchant, kissing his daughter, ’I am half
dead already, at the thought of leaving you with this dreadful
beast; you shall go back and let me stay in your
place.”
“No,” said Beauty, boldly,
“I will never agree to that; you must go home
to-morrow morning.”;
They then wished each other good night, and went to bed, both of
them thinking they should not be able to close their eyes; but as
soon as ever they had lain down, they fell into a deep sleep, and
did not awake till morning. Beauty dreamed that a lady came up to
her, who said, “I am very much pleased,
Beauty, with the goodness you have shown, in being willing to
give your life to save that of your father. Do not be afraid of
anything; you shall not go without a reward.”
As soon as Beauty awoke, she told her father this dream; but
though it gave him some comfort, he was a long time before he
could be persuaded to leave the palace. At last Beauty succeeded
in getting him safely away.
When her father was out of sight, poor Beauty began to weep
sorely; still, having naturally a courageous spirit, she soon
resolved not to make her sad case still worse by sorrow, which
she knew was vain, but to wait and be patient. She walked about
to take a view of all the palace, and the elegance of every part
of it much charmed her.
But what was her surprise, when she came to a door on which was
written, BEAUTY’S ROOM! She opened it in
haste, and her eyes were dazzled by the splendour and taste of
the apartment. What made her wonder more than all the rest, was a
large library filled with books, a harpsichord, and many pieces
of music.“The beast surely does not mean to
eat me up immediately,” said she,
“since he takes care I shall not be at a loss
how to amuse myself.” She opened the library and saw
these verses written in letters of gold on the back of one of the
books:
“Beauteous lady, dry your tears,
Here’s no cause for sighs or fears.
Command as freely as you may, For you command and I
obey.”
“Alas!” said she, sighing;
“I wish I could only command a sight of my
poor father, and to know what he is doing at this
moment.” Just then, by chance, she cast her eyes on a
looking-glass that stood near her, and in it she saw a picture of
her old home, and her father riding mournfully up to the door.
Her sisters came out to meet him, and although they tried to look
sorry, it was easy to see that in their hearts they were very
glad. In a short time all this picture disappeared, but it caused
Beauty to think that the beast, besides being very powerful, was
also very kind. About the middle of the day she found a table
laid ready for her, and a sweet concert of music played all the
time she was dining, without her seeing anybody. But at supper,
when she was going to seat herself at table, she heard the noise
of the beast, and could not help trembling with fear.
“Beauty,” said he,
“will you give me leave to see you
sup?”
“That is as you please,”answered
she, very much afraid.
“Not in the least,”said the
beast; “you alone command in this place. If
you should not like my company, you need only say so, and I will
leave you that moment. But tell me, Beauty, do you not think me
very ugly?”
“Why, yes,” said she,
“for I cannot tell a falsehood; but then I
think you are very good.”
“Am I?” sadly replied the beast;
“yet, besides being ugly, I am also very
stupid: I know well enough that I am but a
beast.”
“Very stupid people,” said Beauty,
“are never aware of it
themselves.”
At which kindly speech the beast looked pleased, and replied, not
without an awkward sort of politeness, “Pray
do not let me detain you from supper, and be sure that you are
well served. All you see is your own, and I should be deeply
grieved if you wanted for any thing.”
“You are very kind…so kind
that I almost forgot you are so ugly,” said Beauty,
earnestly.
“Ah! yes,” answered the beast,
with a great sigh; “I hope I am good-tempered,
but still I am only a monster.”
“There is many a monster who wears the form of
a man; it is better of the two to have the heart of a man and the
form of a monster.”
“I would thank you, Beauty, for this speech,
but I am too senseless to say anything that would please
you,” returned the beast in a melancholy voice; and
altogether he seemed so gentle and so unhappy, that Beauty, who
had the tenderest heart in the world, felt her fear of him
gradually vanish.
She ate her supper with a good appetite, and conversed in her own
sensible and charming way, till at last, when the beast rose to
depart, he terrified her more than ever by saying abruptly, in
his gruff voice,“Beauty, will you marry
me!”
Now Beauty, frightened as she was, would speak only the exact
truth; besides, her father had told her that the beast liked only
to have the truth spoken to him. So she answered, in a very firm
tone,“No, beast.”
He did not go into a passion, or do anything but sigh deeply, and
depart.
When Beauty found herself alone, she began to feel pity for the
poor beast. “Oh!” said she,
“what a sad thing it is that he should be so
very frightful, since he is so good-tempered!”
Beauty lived three months in this palace very well pleased. The
beast came to see her every night, and talked with her while she
supped; and though what he said was not very clever, yet, as she
saw in him every day some new goodness, instead of dreading the
time of his coming, she soon began continually looking at her
watch, to see if it were nine o′clock; for
that was the hour when he never failed to visit her. One thing
only vexed her, which was that every night before he went away,
he always made it a rule to ask her if she would be his wife, and
seemed very much grieved at her steadfastly replying
“No.” At last, one night, she said
to him, “You wound me greatly, beast, by
forcing me to refuse you so often; I wish I could take such a
liking to you as to agree to marry you: but I must tell you
plainly, that I do not think it will ever happen. I shall always
be your friend; so try to let that content you.”
“I must,” sighed the beast,
“for I know well enough how frightful I am;
but I love you better than myself. Yet I think I am very lucky in
your being pleased to stay with me: now promise me, Beauty, that
you will never leave me.”
Beauty would almost have agreed to this, so sorry was she for
him, but she had that day seen in her magic glass, which she
looked at constantly, that her father was dying of grief for her
sake.
“Alas!” she said,
“I long so much to see my father, that if you
do not give me leave to visit him, I shall break my
heart.”
“I would rather break mine,
Beauty,” answered the beast; “I
will send you to your father’cottage: you
shall stay there, and your poor beast shall die of
sorrow.”
“No,” said Beauty, crying,
“I love you too well to be the cause of your
death; I promise to return in a week. You have shown me that my
sisters are married, and my brothers are gone for soldiers, so
that my father is left all alone. Let me stay a week with
him.”
“You shall find yourself with him to-morrow
morning,” replied the beast; “but
mind, do not forget your promise. When you wish to return, you
have nothing to do but to put your ring on a table when you go to
bed. Good-bye, Beauty!” The beast sighed as he said
these words, and Beauty went to bed very sorry to see him so much
grieved. When she awoke in the morning, she found herself in her
father’s cottage. She rang a bell that was at
her bedside, and a servant entered; but as soon as she saw
Beauty, the woman gave a loud shriek; upon which the merchant ran
upstairs, and when he beheld his daughter he ran to her, and
kissed her a hundred times. At last Beauty began to remember that
she had brought no clothes with her to put on; but the servant
told her she had just found in the next room a large chest full
of dresses, trimmed all over with gold, and adorned with pearls
and diamonds.
Beauty, in her own mind, thanked the beast for his kindness, and
put on the plainest gown she could find among them all. She then
desired the servant to lay the rest aside, for she intended to
give them to her sisters; but, as soon as she had spoken these
words, the chest was gone out of sight in a moment. Her father
then suggested, perhaps the beast chose for her to keep them all
for herself: and as soon as he had said this, they saw the chest
standing again in the same place. While Beauty was dressing
herself, a servant brought word to her that her sisters were come
with their husbands to pay her a visit. They both lived unhappily
with the gentlemen they had married. The husband of the eldest
was very handsome, but was so proud of this, that he thought of
nothing else from morning till night, and did not care a pin for
the beauty of his wife. The second had married a man of great
learning; but he made no use of it, except to torment and affront
all his friends, and his wife more than any of them. The two
sisters were ready to burst with spite when they saw Beauty
dressed like a princess, and looking so very charming. All the
kindness that she showed them was of no use; for they were vexed
more than ever when she told them how happy she lived at the
palace of the beast. The spiteful creatures went by themselves
into the garden, where they cried to think of her good
fortune.
“Why should the little wretch be better off
than we?” said they. “We are much
handsomer than she is.”
“Sister!” said the eldest,
“a thought has just come into my head: let us
try to keep her here longer than the week for which the beast
gave her leave; and then he will be so angry, that perhaps when
she goes back to him he will eat her up in a
moment.”
“That is well thought of,”
answered the other, “but to do this, we must
pretend to be very kind.”
They then went to join her in the cottage, where they showed her
so much false love, that Beauty could not help crying for
joy.
When the week was ended, the two sisters began to pretend such
grief at the thought of her leaving them, that she agreed to stay
a week more: but all that time Beauty could not help fretting for
the sorrow that she knew her absence would give her poor beast;
for she tenderly loved him, and much wished for his company
again. Among all the grand and clever people she saw, she found
nobody who was half so sensible, so affectionate, so thoughtful,
or so kind. The tenth night of her being at the cottage, she
dreamed she was in the garden of the palace, that the beast lay
dying on a grass-plot, and with his last breath put her in mind
of her promise, and laid his death to her forsaking him. Beauty
awoke in a great fright, and burst into tears.
“;Am not I wicked,” said she,
“to behave so ill to a beast who has shown me
so much kindness? Why will not I marry him? I am sure I should be
more happy with him than my sisters are with their husbands. He
shall not be wretched any longer on my account; for I should do
nothing but blame myself all the rest of my
life.”
She then rose, put her ring on the table, got into bed again, and
soon fell asleep. In the morning she with joy found herself in
the palace of the beast. She dressed herself very carefully, that
she might please him the better, and thought she had never known
a day pass away so slowly. At last the clock struck nine, but the
beast did not come. Beauty, dreading lest she might truly have
caused his death, ran from room to room, calling out,
“Beast, dear beast;” but there was
no answer. At last she remembered her dream, rushed to the
grass-plot, and there saw him lying apparently dead beside the
fountain. Forgetting all his ugliness, she threw herself upon his
body, and, finding his heart still beat, she fetched some water
and sprinkled it over him, weeping and sobbing the while.
The beast opened his eyes: “You forgot your
promise, Beauty, and so I determined to die; for I could not live
without you. I have starved myself to death, but I shall die
content since I have seen your face once more.”
“No, dear beast,” cried Beauty,
passionately, “you shall not die; you shall
live to be my husband. I thought it was only friendship I felt
for you, but now I know it was love.”
The moment Beauty had spoken these words, the palace was suddenly
lighted up, and all kinds of rejoicings were heard around them,
none which she noticed, but hung over her dear beast with the
utmost tenderness. At last, unable to restrain herself, she
dropped her head over her hands, covered her eyes, and cried for
joy; and, when she looked up again, the beast was gone. In his
stead she saw at her feet a handsome, graceful young prince, who
thanked her with the tenderest expressions for having freed him
from enchantment.
“But where is my poor beast? I only want him
and nobody else,” sobbed Beauty.
“I am he,” replied the Prince.
“A wicked fairy condemned me to this form, and
forbade me to show that I had any wit or sense, till a beautiful
lady should consent to marry me. You alone, dearest Beauty,
judged me neither by my looks nor by my talents, but by my heart
alone. Take it then, and all that I have besides, for all is
yours.”
Beauty, full of surprise, but very happy, suffered the prince to
lead her to his palace, where she found her father and sisters,
who had been brought there by the fairy-lady whom she had seen in
a dream the first night she came.
“Beauty,” said the fairy,
“you have chosen well, and you have your
reward, for a true heart is better than either good looks or
clever brains. As for you, ladies,” and she turned to
the two elder sisters, “I know all your ill
deeds, but I have no worse punishment for you than to see your
sister happy. You shall stand as statues at the door of her
palace, and when you repent of and have amended your faults, you
shall become women again. But, to tell you the truth, I very much
fear you will remain statues for ever.”
Traditional French fairy tale. Compiled by Walter Crane, The
Fairy Book.
BELLE
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