The Light Princess
()
About this ebook
And the king said to himself, "All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But the queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one too.
"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say sons; that might be too much to expect."
"I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen.
"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make a virtue of that, surely."
But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart. This, however, was an affair of state.
The queen smiled.
"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said she.
She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she could not oblige the king immediately.
George MacDonald
George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a popular Scottish lecturer and writer of novels, poetry, and fairy tales. Born in Aberdeenshire, he was briefly a clergyman, then a professor of English literature at Bedford and King's College in London. W. H. Auden called him "one of the most remarkable writers of the nineteenth century."
Read more from George Mac Donald
The Light Princess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Classic Children's Stories (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lilith: A Romance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Phantastes (With All Original Illustrations): A Faerie Romance for Men and Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Book of Christmas Tales: 250+ Short Stories, Fairytales and Holiday Myths & Legends Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiscovering the Character of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Knowing the Heart of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Life in Christ: Selected Sermons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhantastes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5George MacDonald's Spiritual Vision: An Introductory Overview Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gospel in George MacDonald: Selections from His Novels, Fairy Tales, and Spiritual Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gothic Classics: 60+ Books in One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLilith Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Unspoken Sermons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Time to Grow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Truth in Jesus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Light Princess
Related ebooks
The Light Princess: and Other Fairy Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light Princess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light Princess and Other Fairy Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fairy Book - The Best Popular Stories Selected and Rendered Anew Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grey Fairy Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Fairy Garland - Being Fairy Tales from the Old French - Illustrated by Edmund Dulac Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unenchanted Princess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Princess Pourquoi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gray Fairy Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grey Fairy Book: “Nothing tastes better than what one eats by oneself” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Adventure of Princess Sylvia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sleeping Beauty and Other Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Princess and the Goblin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHappy Hour Stories - Stories From Grimm's Fairy Tales - Illustrated by J Monsell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grey Fairy Book: [Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Frog Prince and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grey Fairy Book: 35 tales, many countries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Queen Who Flew: A Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Queen Who Flew Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gray Fairy Book: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistorical Vignettes: 2nd Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cup and the Crown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess and the Goblin: Including "The Princess and Curdie" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMother's Nursery Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Princess and the Goblin. Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of Passed Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Feather Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMacDonalds' Fairy-Tale Treasure Chest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mythos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recital of the Dark Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad of Homer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Light Princess
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Light Princess - George MacDonald
Rain!
1. What! No Children?
Once upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, there lived a king and queen who had no children.
And the king said to himself, All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used.
So he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed. But the queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one too.
Why don't you have any daughters, at least?
said he. I don't say sons; that might be too much to expect.
I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry,
said the queen.
So you ought to be,
retorted the king; you are not going to make a virtue of that, surely.
But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart. This, however, was an affair of state.
The queen smiled.
You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king,
said she.
She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she could not oblige the king immediately.
2. Won't I, Just?
The king tried to have patience, but he succeeded very badly. It was more than he deserved, therefore, when, at last, the queen gave him a daughter—as lovely a little princess as ever cried.
The day drew near when the infant must be christened. The king wrote all the invitations with his own hand. Of course somebody was forgotten. Now it does not generally matter if somebody is forgotten, only you must mind who. Unfortunately, the king forgot without intending to forget; and so the chance fell upon the Princess Makemnoit, which was awkward. For the princess was the king's own sister; and he ought not to have forgotten her. But she had made herself so disagreeable to the old king, their father, that he had forgotten her in making his will; and so it was no wonder that her brother forgot her in writing his invitations. But poor relations don't do anything to keep you in mind of them. Why don't they? The king could not see into the garret she lived in, could he?
She was a sour, spiteful creature. The wrinkles of contempt crossed the wrinkles of peevishness, and made her face as full of wrinkles as a pat of butter. If ever a king could be justified in forgetting anybody, this king was justified in forgetting his sister, even at a christening. She looked very odd, too. Her forehead was as large as all the rest of her face, and projected over it like a precipice. When she was angry, her little eyes flashed blue. When she hated anybody, they shone yellow and green. What they looked like when she loved anybody, I do not know; for I never heard of her loving anybody but herself, and I do not think she could have managed that if she had not somehow got used to herself. But what made it highly imprudent in the king to forget her was that she was awfully clever. In fact, she was a witch; and when she bewitched anybody, he very soon had enough of it; for she beat all the wicked fairies in wickedness, and all the clever ones in cleverness. She despised all the modes we read of in history, in which offended fairies and witches have taken their revenges; and therefore, after waiting and waiting in vain for an invitation, she made up her mind at last to go without one, and make the whole family miserable, like a princess as she was.
So she put on her best gown, went to the palace, was kindly received by the happy monarch, who forgot that he had forgotten her, and took her place in the procession to the royal chapel. When they were all gathered about the font, she contrived to get next to it, and throw something into the water; after which she maintained a very respectful demeanour till the water was applied to the child's face. But at that moment she turned round in her place three times, and muttered the following words, loud enough for those beside her to hear:—
"Light of