there was once a young prince who wished to take a wife. so he went to consult his aunt, who was by way of being a wise woman.
“next week,” he said, “the king of the land-on-the-other-side-of-the-mountains is holding a great festival in honour of the coming of age of his son, and he has invited me to stay at the court. there will be many beautiful ladies there, and i am hoping that i may be able to find a wife among them. but how shall i know which to choose?”
“you shall have my advice and welcome,” said his aunt. “choose a maiden who laughs when others cry, and cries when others laugh, and you will not go far wrong.”
the prince thanked his aunt for her counsel and went back home. he thought the advice she had given him rather strange, but he had great confidence in her wisdom. “and in any case,” he said, “i can but go to the festival and see what comes of it.”
there were indeed many lovely ladies at the court of the king of the land-on-the-other-side-of-the-mountains.[50] the prince was quite dazzled by their beauty and their wit. each of them seemed more charming than the last.
on the second day of the fête a picnic had been arranged which was to take place in a woodland glade some little way from the palace.
the road thither was rough and very muddy, for there had been much rain the week before.
the princes and knights rode on horseback; the ladies were conveyed in carriages gaily decked with flowers and drawn by beautiful prancing horses.
but it so happened that the horses of one of the carriages became unmanageable. it turned over, and the six ladies who rode in it were all tumbled into the ditch at the side of the road.
it was a rather deep ditch, and there was water at the bottom of it, so that it was quite a business getting them all out, though fortunately none of them was seriously hurt. the prince, who happened to be riding beside the carriage, helped to rescue them, and escorted them one by one, weeping, to a seat on the bank, where they presented a sorry spectacle with their pretty frocks all muddy and bedraggled and their pretty hats all on one side.
but when the prince came to the sixth lady he found her, to his great astonishment, sitting at the bottom of the ditch, laughing.
[51]her hat had come off, her hair had come down, she was bedaubed with mud from head to foot, and her poor little hands were covered with nettle stings.
but she laughed all the same.
“we must have looked so funny all tumbling into the ditch,” she said. “i wish i could have seen it. we’re still rather a funny sight, aren’t we?”—and she looked down at herself and up at the weeping ladies on the bank, and laughed again.
there was so much mud on her face that the prince could not see what she really looked like, but he remembered the words of his aunt.
“what is the name of the sixth lady?” he asked, when they had all been bundled off home. “the one who laughed?”
“her name is mellidora,” he was told.
[52]so in the evening he sought out mellidora and found that she was a most beautiful and charming person, so much so that he lost his heart to her forthwith.
“but i must do nothing in a hurry,” he said to himself. “after all, there is the other half of my aunt’s counsel to be considered. in any case, it would perhaps seem a little strange if i asked her to marry me quite so soon. we will see what happens to-morrow.”
on the next day all the ladies and gentlemen who were staying in the castle were to go out riding in the early morning.
the prince had slept late, and he stood for a moment at his window looking down on the courtyard, where there was a great bustling and prancing and making ready.
through the midst of all this an old peasant woman was making her way.
she had a basket of eggs on her arm, and carefully laid on the top of it was a round flat cake, brown and spicy-looking, with a sugar heart in the middle of it, surrounded by pink and white sugar roses.
she had made it for a birthday gift for the king’s son. but she was a little confused by all the bustle in the courtyard, and scurried hither and thither among the horses and people like a frightened hen.
[53]presently one of the king’s servants pushed her out of the way. her foot caught on the edge of a stone; she tripped and fell.
the eggs rolled out of the basket. plop! plop! they went on the stones.
there was a fine mess, and the beautiful cake lay in the midst of it, in fragments.
the old woman was so vexed and upset that she forgot everything but the misfortune that had befallen her, and she stood in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by her broken eggs, scolding away at the top of her voice and shaking her old umbrella at the whole gay crowd.
everybody laughed; and indeed she was a rather comical sight as she stood there shouting and storming. somebody threw her a gold piece, which was kindly meant. but a gold piece wouldn’t make her beautiful cake whole again.
presently the whole party rode away through the courtyard gates—all excepting one, and that one no other than mellidora.
she slipped down from her horse and went swiftly across to where the old woman sat upon the stone steps leading up to the big castle doors. all her anger was gone, but she looked the picture of misery.
the prince could see how mellidora stooped to pick up the broken cake and tried to put it together again, and how kindly she put her arm[54] round the old woman’s shoulder, coaxing her with friendly words.
and when presently he came down into the courtyard to see what more might be done, the sun shone upon mellidora’s gentle face, and he saw that her eyes were full of tears.
then the prince knew that he had indeed found the one whom he sought, for here was a maiden who not only laughed when others cried, but who also cried when others laughed.
the old woman was taken to the king’s son, where she was so kindly received that she forgot all her troubles.
but the prince waited no longer.
that very same day he asked mellidora to marry him, and as she loved him as much as he did her they got married very soon and lived happily ever after.
