The Ugly Princess
Once upon a time in a kingdom called Fair Meadows lived a king and queen who longed for a child but had none. They consulted all the physicians in their kingdom and when they saw no result they turned to herbal healers and after taking myriads of potions, still, they had no child.
Now this king, had banished all witches, wizards, and goblins from his kingdom, for he desired no evil powers to be present in the land. He also forbade fairies because of the tales of fairies who had turned from their good ways and had become goblins. “How can we know if a fairy is of the good kind or not?” he said, justifying his action. “Many a goblin can look fair but be not so in heart.” This was not because he feared being deceived, for he thought himself to be more wise and more clever than any goblin, but rather he wanted no one to acknowledge any power or authority greater than his own.
As time went on, he had no heir. His queen constantly bemoaned the fact she had no child. As a result of her incessant whining, the king relented to seek help from the magical realm he had shunned. But he would not do so openly. He donned the clothes of a poor laborer and crossed into a neighboring kingdom. There he made inquiry of the first person he met, a shepherd. “Good man,” he said. “You shepherds wander the fields and forests. Can you tell me where I can find a fairy in these parts? I am but a poor man with no more wealth than you and have spent all I have on physicians and herbal healers, but none can help me and my wife have a child. As to my wife she wastes away becoming more sickly each day from longing for what we have been unable to obtain.”
“Surely, you know,” said the shepherd. “Fairies are not easy to find, and they don’t always give what one desires. But if you must know, there have been tales of one residing somewhere to the north alongside the River Horstam, but mind you, it is also rumored that a goblin dwells there also.”
So King Withledom, for that was the king’s name, scoured the banks of the River Horstam until he came upon a tiny shack. Its rough exterior convinced him that this must be the home of the goblin and when he knocked on the door, he became certain. A wrinkled old woman came out. Despite his misgivings, He told her his plight. She in turn said, “Go your way. Your wife will have a child when it is right for her to do so.”
This answer did not satisfy this king. He thought, Why am I listening to goblins? Ho could I expect good news from one. There’s no sure promise here. He searched on until he found a much fairer looking tiny cottage surrounded by roses and daisies. Here, forsaking his own advice concerning appearances, he knocked on the door. A beautiful fairy (or so he supposed) appeared. Why have you come to me?” she asked.
“I am but a poor man,” King Withledom lied. “My wife and I have no child and she pines away every day.”
“What would you give me,” asked the fairy, “if I made it so you had your wish?” Now, the goblin, for it was indeed the goblin Stalzaalk disguising his appearance. “I see that you are not the man you claim to be. You have not the rough hands of a laborer and show the bearing of one in high society. Perhaps you are a king, huh? Nevertheless, I can grant you your wish.”
King Withledom took a step back and rubbed his unshaven chin. “You see through me and though I have tried to deceive you, you will help me?”
Stalzaalk, whose heart was full of mischief, never blinked. “Yes, if you bring me two large sacks of gold.”
The king chose not to question this demand, for had he thought about it he would have realized who or what he was dealing with. Fairies have no need for gold, but goblins do. This goblin desired it for how he could use it to control men. But King Withledom returned to his kingdom, depleted his treasury and returned the next day with the requested booty.
Stalzaalk responded handing the king an amulet containing a black stone. “Have the queen wear this around her neck each night and by this time next year you will have a child.” He had no more the ability to grants the king’s wish than the good fairy, but he knew that if the queen became with child while wearing this amulet the child’s appearance would bear his mark.
King Withledom did as he was told. While the king and queen kept the existence of the amulet secret her majesty’s attendants caught a glimpse of it. Their suspicions were supported when the next spring their queen was with child. She bore a baby girl. But as some babies are born ugly except in the eyes of their mothers, this one was so even in the eyes of the queen. But still, she and the king loved the child and hoped she would outgrow her ugly stage, but her features only sharpened with age. The rumor mill had it that the king and queen had violated the ban on magic and this ugly child was the result. Some wags in the kingdom said she resembled a goblin, not that any had ever seen one.
As Princess Ashlyn approached her sixteenth birthday, preparations were made for her coming out party where she would be formally presented as the royal heir. This should have been a joyous time. The princess was a sweet child, gracious in every way but it was her appearance that vexed the king. He saw it as an embarrassment being very aware of the rumors that swirled behind his back. He admitted to himself his mistake and wished he had listened to the old woman in the wood.
After much time lamenting his misstep, he made up his mind. “I will seek the help of the real fairy by the River Horstam, but I dare not openly violate my own commandment.” So, he hired a young man of humble origin to plead his case. He swore the lad to secrecy threatening the pain of death should his mission be found out. Upon his return the young man would be rewarded and doubly so if it resulted in the princess gaining beauty worthy of her noble estate.
The young man, Bandl, did as instructed and went to the tiny shack. Out came an old woman no taller than the height of the lad’s knee.
Bandl blinked. “Are you the fairy of these woods?”
The old woman smiled. “I assure you that I am. I am the good fairy, Sprinklebright, and I know why you are here. Don’t be confused by my appearance. Your king was, and became fooled by the goblin who lives nearby.”
The young man searched for words. “But is there anything that can be done? The princess by all accounts is everything one would want a princess to be. She is kind, caring, and respectful to all she meets. It just is that her appearance is so hard to look on.”
Sprinklebright smiled. “I cannot reverse what has been done by another fairy, goblin or no. The Princess Ashlyn is what she is, and I cannot change that.”
“Then there is no hope?” Bandl lowered his eyes seeing his chance for reward slipping away.
Sprinklebright grew to the proper size of the old woman she portrayed. She put her hand on the young man’s chin and lifted it up. “I did not say there is no hope. I cannot change what the princess is, but I can give you an elixir that will match one’s outer appearance to what is in their heart. If Princess Ashlyn is as you say she is, her inner beauty will come to the surface.”
Bandl gladly received from the fairy an ampule with a red liquid inside. As he hurried home, he came upon the goblin who appeared as he had to King Withledom years before.
“Oh,” said the young man, thinking he addressed Sprinklebright. “Now you come in a new form?”
“Oh, this?” replied Staltzaalk, not willing to let the mischief he had done in time past to be reversed. “No, I am not she whom you talked to before. I am the true fairy of these woods. And I know your task. The vial you carry is not what you think.”
“But,” stammered Bandl, “the old woman said it would bring the princess’s beauty to the surface where it can be seen.”
“That is not true. The old woman knows it would do the opposite by completing the curse she brought on the royal family. The princess’s ugliness would sink into her heart.”
The young man hesitated, “So, what am I to do?”
Stalzaalk seized his chance. “I leave you with this thought. I see you are handsome and fair on the outside. If you take this elixir yourself, you will be transformed into the nobleman you are meant to be. In fact you will be fit to be king in your own right needing to take no orders from anyone else.” Having said this he faded from view.
Bandl shook his head and proceeded on his way. When he reached the capitol of Fair Meadows, he did not immediately return to the palace but rather to his own rooms in the town below. There he placed the elixir on a shelf as he pondered what to do. If I give this to the princess and it works as promised I will receive great reward. But, if the second fairy is right, I get nothing or worse. He shuddered picturing a cold dungeon or perhaps a gallows. But, if I take this myself, either way it is for my good. If the old woman is right it will bring out my inner goodness. It the fair fairy is right it will make me strong and powerful.
Such is the power of lies on one whose motives are not entirely pure. Bandl broke open the ampule and poured its contents into a cup of water. This he downed in one gulp. Immediately he felt a change in his body. He stared at his hands. Large, red, pointed scales covered his fair skin. He grimaced at the pressure his clothes put on his expanding body until they burst, leaving him with no covering. Sprinklebright was right. But the elixir brought out not inner beauty but what was in one’s heart. Bandl had the heart of a dragon and so, he had become a dragon.
The former young man considered his predicament. Then he bellowed out loud, although all anyone heard was a dragon’s roar, “The second fairy was right. Now I am what I was meant to be. I have power beyond what I could imagine. I will now answer to nobody.”
Miles away, Stalzaalk exalted in the knowledge that his mischief would remain intact and even more calamity would occur.
Meanwhile Bandl, the dragon, tore through the roof of the row home where he lived and proceeded to make havoc of the town. The king’s men rushed to the street not knowing what to do since they had not faced a dragon in their midst before. Arrows flew but only bounced off dragon scales more impenetrable than any armor forged by man. Fire raged, and many a stalwart defender became severely burned. The dragon’s attack continued until Rolf, the keeper of the fireworks intended for the celebration of the princess’s birthday, came forward.
Undaunted by the dragon’s attack, Rolf put all his rockets together into one massive bundle and aimed them at the oncoming beast. Bandl saw this defender no different than any other and swooped toward him preparing to unleash a ball of fire. Rolf saw his chance and lit the rockets. They entered the dragon’s open mouth and exploded in his belly. The wounded dragon pulled up in midflight. The explosion within him caused his sharp, pointed, red scales to rain to the ground and pierce whatever surface they met. Bandl flew away knowing that without his protective armor he was vulnerable to arrows and spears of the town’s defenders. Little is known as to what became of him except for legends that described a strange beast resembling a scaleless dragon in those parts that lived on mice and other small rodents.
The palace guard held up their shields with dragon scales stuck in them, and rejoiced as did the whole town until a squire came out of the palace with the news, “The princess has been struck down. A dragon scale is lodged in her heart.”
Ashlyn hovered between life and death. No one dared to remove the projectile from her for fear of what that action might do. King Withledom was beside himself and neither ate nor drank for three days. On the fourth, he clothed himself and ate a full meal. He returned to the River Horstam and found Sprinklebright’s shack. He begged for his daughter’s life. “I’ve been such a fool. I depended on my own wisdom rather than what I knew to be true. I was a fool to trust the false fairy and a fool not to come to you myself. My pride kept me away. Now I beg you for my daughter’s life. She’s been struck by a dragon’s scale and hovers between life and death.”
Sprinklebright answered. “I can only do what the Creator of all things allows me to do. I have no power over life or death. But I can do this, I will give you some salve to dissolve the dragon’s scale. What will happen then, I cannot say. But if the child lives, her appearance will be as it was before because I have no more of the elixir to give.”
The king bowed. “That is enough. I will be happy to have my Ashlyn back.”
King Withledom returned to his palace with Sprinklebright. His court murmured at this breach in the king’s policy, but no one dared to say a word. The good fairy rubbed the salve on the princess’s wound. True to her promise, the red dragon scale dissolved. Everyone in court waited with bated breath, but there was no immediate change in the princess. Then as those present turned to walk away, Ashlyn opened her eyes and smiled and as she smiled a change swept over her face. She became as beautiful on the outside as she had always been within.
Puzzled, the king looked to the fairy. “But you said…”
Sprinklebright replied, “I said I had no more elixir to draw the beauty out where it could be seen. My guess there was enough of it in the dragon’s scale that when it dissolved it entered the lass, and now everyone can see the beauty Ashlyn has always possessed.”
Princess lived out her years as lovely a princess one could ever see. But beyond her physical beauty she was known for her inner kindness.