The Princess Nobody

All up and down Mushroom Land the Prince searched, and at last he saw his own Princess, and he rushed up, and knelt at her feet, and held out his hands to ask pardon for having disobeyed the Fairy law.

But she was still rather cross, and down she jumped, and ran round the Mushroom, and he ran after her.

So he chased her for a minute or two, and at last she laughed, and popped up her head over the Mushroom, and pursed up her lips into a cherry. And he kissed her across the Mushroom, and knew he had won back his own dear Princess, and they felt even happier than if they had never been parted.

“Journeys end in lovers meeting,” and so do Stories. The Prince has his Princess once again, and I can tell you they did not wait long, this time, in the Valley Magical. Off they went, straight home, and the Black Beetle guided them, flying in a bee-line. Just on the further border of Mushroom Land, they came to all the Princes fast asleep. But when the Princess drew near, they all wakened, and jumped up, and they slapped the fortunate Prince on the back, and wished him luck, and cried, “Hullo, Comical, old chap; we hardly knew you! Why, you’ve grown quite handsome!” And so he had; he was changed into Prince Charming again, but he was so happy he never noticed it, for he was not conceited. But the Princess noticed it, and she loved him all the better. Then they all made a procession, with the Black Beetle marching at the head; indeed, they called him “Black Rod” now, and he was quite a Courtier.

So with flags flying, and music playing, they returned to the home of the Princess. And the King and Queen met them at the park gates, and fell on the neck of the Prince and Princess, and kissed them, and laughed, and cried for joy, and kissed them again. You may be sure the old Nurse was out among the foremost, her face quite shining with pleasure, and using longer words than the noblest there. And she admired the Prince very much, and was delighted that “her girl,” as she called the Princess, had got such a good husband. So here we leave them, and that country remained always happy, and so it has neither history nor geography. Therefore you won’t find it on any map, nor can you read about it in any book but this book. Lastly, here is a picture of the Prince and Princess at home, sitting on a beautiful Rose, as a Fairy’s God-child can do if she pleases.

As to the Black Beetle, he was appointed to a place about the Court, but he never married, he had no children, and there are no other Black Beetles, consequently, in the country where the Prince and Princess became King and Queen.

ERANT OLIM REX QUIDAM ET REGINAApuleiusAu Temps jadis! as Perrault says,In half-forgotten Fairy days, —“There lived a King once, and a Queen,As few there are, as more have been,” —Ah, still we love the well-worn phrase,Still love to tread the ancient ways,To break the fence, to thread the maze,To see the beauty we have seen,Au Temps jadis!Here’s luck to every child that straysIn Fairy Land among the Fays;That follows through the forest greenPrince Comical and Gwendoline;That reads the tales we used to praise,Au Temps jadis!