BLANCA THE HAUGHTY.
The Count of Tolosa had a beautiful daughter called Blanca, and he hadpromised her in marriage to the son of the Count of Barcelona. Bothwere young, and rich, and noble; and all the people from both provincesgathered together to celebrate the wedding with every testimony ofinterest in their happiness. But Blanca was very self-willed; she hadalways had every thing her own way--a noble palace in the midst of anenchanting country, plenty of servitors to do her bidding, many knightsto contend for her favour; and she seemed to fancy that the whole earthand all who lived in it were made for her, and that all must conformthemselves to her desires. Nothing was ever good enough to please her.
Her father had thought she would grow out of these foolish ways as shebecame older and wiser, and had never duly corrected her; and she,meanwhile, became more practised in them, and chose the occasion ofher marriage-fete for the wildest of all her pranks.
While all were seated in the great hall of the castle at the highbanquet, and all lips were overflowing with praises, perhaps alsowith envy at her happiness, the young count, offering her a basket ofrich fruits, proposed to divide with her a fine pomegranate. Blancacondescended to give him permission to do so, but the count with allhis dexterity could not avoid letting one of the luscious ruby pipsfall upon the table; then, as if afraid of leaving a spot before hereyes as a testimony of his awkwardness, he hastily took up the pip,and put it to his mouth.
Blanca, who had all the morning been on the look out in vain forsome captious pretext on which to found a quarrel, and show off herhaughty, petulant airs, immediately caught at this one, and exclaimed,she would never be bound to such a parsimonious husband; it was anact unworthy of a noble; a man who was afraid of losing the value ofa pomegranate pip must be a sorry mate indeed; he would not do for her!
It was vain, the young count tried to pacify her by explaining howutterly false was the view she had taken. Equally vain, that her fatherreasoned with her on the childishness of her conduct, or that hercompanions pleaded in favour of the disconcerted bridegroom. Blancawould not listen to reason, and the poor young count found himselfat last left alone, an object of derision, or at least of pity,to the whole assembly.
He really loved Blanca, and had before this day put up with manycaprices out of his affection for her; but this was not only a tax onhis patience and good temper, it was an affront on his name and lineagewhich must not be borne. And yet he loved Blanca too much to resortto any act of hostility which might put a further barrier betweenthem. Uncertain how to act, he went out and rode away, spurring hishorse, not caring whither he went, so that he could go far away fromthe face of his fellow-men and muse over his grief. But all the timethere ran ringing in his head,--
"No more a noble count, I trow, A humble shepherd seem I now!"
though he could not think what the lines meant, yet he went on till hehad got far away into a distant forest, where all was savage and wild,and where there was nothing to remind him of the scenes he had passedthrough. There he alighted from his good steed, and threw himself onthe hard ground. The sword which he had been wont to raise so bravelyagainst the enemies of his country clanked listlessly by his side,the sharp rocks cut his cheeks, and his noble blood flowed from therents, while he felt them not, for his heart bled with other anddeeper wounds; but all the time there ran in his head the lines,--
"No more a noble count, I trow, A humble shepherd seem I now!"
After he had lain there some time, and the passion of his sorrowhad so far cooled down that he began to take notice of the objectsaround him, he observed two milk-white doves perched lovingly side byside on the branches over his head, yet fluttering full of fear andtrouble. Full of his own recent suffering, he felt singular compassionfor the two frightened birds; and searching for the cause of theirdistress, he perceived a great hawk hovering in the air above, inever-nearing circles, and with glaring eyes preparing to pounce onhis luckless prey. The count at once understood their danger, andpicking up a stone, threw it with such force and dexterous aim, thatit brought down the greedy hawk dead upon the ground. The doves nosooner found themselves delivered from their pursuer, than they gaveevery token of gladness and delight, hopping from branch to branch,fluttering away and pursuing each other, and then again loving eachother in the gentlest way.
The count could not bear to see their happiness, it reminded himof his loss; so he got up and wandered on into a dark cave where hecould see nothing, and there laid him down; and the lines running inhis head lulled him to sleep,--
"No more a noble count, I trow, A humble shepherd seem I now!"
Then in his dream he saw one of the fair doves appear to him in theform of a beautiful woman; her face was of the softest pink and white,like the face of the sky at sunrise, and her eyes were so bright andlustrous that they illumined the whole cave.
"Caballero, caballero!" said the bright vision; "you do not recognizeme, I fear; nevertheless, I am indeed one of those poor doves whoselives you saved from the wicked hawk but now; and if I and my matelive in love of each other, it is to you we owe the boon. I am cometo pay the debt I owe you, and I know there is only one way in whichI can do it, and that is by telling you how to get for your mateBlanca, for whose sake you are now so sad. I promise you that in avery little time you shall have it all your own way with her, andshe shall become as humble as she now is haughty. Meanwhile, takethis ring, which I have enchanted on purpose for you, and whateveryou ask of it, you will find that it will do it for you."
Then the beautiful vision disappeared, and the cave immediately becamedark and gloomy as before.
The moment the count woke, the memory of his vision rose up before him,and he lost no time in feeling whether he had the ring safe. There itwas all right on his finger; and when he felt it, he put his confidencein the promise of the vision, and hastened to go back out of the caveand set to work. He had no sooner found his way again into daylight,than he took off his ring, and thus addressed it:--
"Aniellico, aniellico [99]! now is the time come to show your devotionto me. You know how Blanca has scorned me, and how I fear to go nearher again, lest she should put some fresh affront in her wilfulnessupon me, and yet I cannot bear to stay away from her. Tell me, ring,what I shall do."
"Attend, attend," answered the ring; "watch now what you see passingbefore your eyes."
As the ring spoke, the count saw a moor-hen scudding away across theplain, and a cock as fast as he could following after her. The henseemed determined to have nothing to say to the cock; but the cockwas so persevering that he came up to her, and made her stand stilland listen to him, and then he first knocked her about a good deal,and then soothed her down, and at last they both went off togetherquite amicably; and the ring sang,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
"I see," said the count, "what you mean; but I do not at all see howyou mean me to carry out your plan."
"Leave that to me," said the ring; "only do as I advise you, andaccording to the instructions of my lady the dove, I will give youall you wish. And now, in the first instance, you must take off allthis fine armour, and all your noble dress, and put on this disguiseof a shepherd; and then take this loom, as if you were going, like thepoor shepherd, to weave the wool of your flock; and now come along."
Then, as they went along together, the ring told him all that he wasto do, and what to say, and it had hardly completed its instructionswhen they arrived at the gate of the gardens of the Count of Tolosa,every now and then interrupting its discourse to sing,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
A gruff old gardener came out to see who called; and when he saw itwas only a country bumpkin of a shepherd, he was gruffer than ever,and bid him begone.
"Gardener, gardener!" said the disguised count in his most insinuatingaccents, "don't you think, now, if you were to let me come in
and helpyou, you would get through your work much more easily? You have a hardtime of it, and get little rest. I am young and strong, and shouldsoon accomplish what you have to do, and then you need not turn out soearly in the morning, nor sit up so late at night watching this gate."
"Pastorcillo, pastorcillo [100]!" rejoined the old gardener, quitetamed by this appeal, "I cannot say Nay to such an offer; so come in."
The count lost no time in obeying; and at once began fulfilling hispromise, by taking the sheep out of the fold and leading them out topasture. In doing this, he took care to direct them straight towardsthe windows of the palace. Arrived there, he sat down and placedhis loom, and began weaving away diligently after the manner of poorshepherds, and singing the while,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
He had not been sitting there long, before he observed a postern inthe wall which separated the castle-keep from the private gardens,open. How his heart beat! Might it not be Blanca coming out for awalk? No, it was only one of her attendants, who had come to see whatthe shepherd was weaving.
"Tell me, Don Villano [101]," she cried, as she came near him, "whatwondrous kind of stuff, is that you are weaving? Is it a heavenly oran earthly texture?"
"It is a stuff much too fine for such as you. It is such a stuffas has not its like in all the world, and cannot be bartered forcloth of gold; for whoever wears this stuff, however old they maybe, immediately appears young, and if already young, it makes thembeautiful too."
And then he went on weaving, without paying any attention to her,any more than if he had not seen her, nor seeming to hear any of herquestions or entreaties, and singing the while,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
When the duena found she could make no impression on him she ran off atlast to call Blanca, who was not yet out of bed, crying long before shegot within hearing, "Infantina, Infantina [102]! get up and come downquickly, for here in your gardens is a shepherd who is weaving a stuffwhich cannot be matched in all the world, and cannot be bartered forcloth of gold; for whoever puts on a garment made of it will instantlyappear young, how old soever they may have been before; and if theyare already young and beautiful, it will make them much more so."
Now the waiting-maid, it must be observed, was neither young norpretty, and she was most desirous to get possession of the stuff;and as the shepherd would not give it to her, she was dying to makeher young mistress get it from him.
Blanca's curiosity was sufficiently whetted by the description, to getup in all haste and come down, and see the strange shepherd herself.
The count's heart beat indeed, as she came near; and she looked sohandsome, and so haughty, that the sight brought back the memory ofall her cruelty, so that he was divided between the inclination tothrow himself at her feet and beg her to come and be reasonable, andthe resolve to follow the advice of the ring, and give her a lessonthat should make her a good wife. But the ring adjured him to keepquite quiet, and not even look up at her.
"God be with you, this morning, villano!" she exclaimed, rather loud,with a little sharp cough, to attract his attention.
"May He have you in His good keeping, nina [103]!" rejoined thedisguised shepherd, without looking up from his loom.
Blanca was not accustomed to be treated in this way; and she felt verymuch inclined to call some of the servants to chastise the supposedshepherd for his rudeness. Nevertheless, there was something about hismanner that both awed as well as interested her to an unaccountabledegree, and far too much to let her give up diving farther into themystery that surrounded him without another attempt.
"Villano, villano!" she said, at last, "tell me, I pray, the tissueyou are weaving, who taught you to weave it?"
"Seven fairies, lady," replied the feigned shepherd, "who live inseven towers, and who never sleep or dine; but are constantly weavingand singing this refrain, which I sing continually too, lest I shouldforget it:--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
And with that he went on working away as before.
"I suppose you want to sell it, don't you, villano," continued Blanca,trying not to look vexed. "Now if you like, I'll buy it of you, andyou may ask what you like; money, or jewels, or whatever you will,and I will pay the price." And when she had said that, she thoughtsuch a bait would be sufficient to make him obsequious.
But far from this, he drew himself up proudly, and told her that allher money and jewels were useless to him; that whoever makes up hismind to contemn riches is richer than all the world; and he who iscontent with the food and raiment earned by his daily toil cannotbe bribed by gold. "But," he continued, speaking a little lower andmore softly, "there is one condition on which I part with my fineweft, and only one. The woman I give it to must be my wife!" andthen he resumed his indifferent manner again, and went on weaving,and singing the while,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
Blanca seemed riveted to the spot. She had long mourned--quite insecret and in silence, the loss of her fond admirer, the Count ofBarcelona, and often her heart was--quite in secret and in silence--cutto the quick with the thought, "Suppose he should never come back tome!" Though she appeared outwardly gay and haughty as before, thiscare was continually preying on her mind; she treasured up, quite insecret and in silence, every little thing that could remind her ofhim; and whenever a stranger came to her father's castle, though shepretended scarcely to look at him, she scrutinized him through andthrough, to see if he could be bearer of any tidings from the absentcount. Now there was something about the shepherd that re-awakenedall her sorrows, and all her hopes. She did not know what it was. Shewas too agitated to suspect that it was he himself, and yet she feltso drawn towards him, she could not tear herself away. The audacityof such words was great, however, coming from one in his humble garb;and she felt she must administer some strong reproof; so, assuming ashow of all the indignation she could call to her aid, she half turnedaway, exclaiming, "Begone, villano! nor dare to approach me. If youcome but one step nearer, I will call my father's men to kill you!"
"Soperbica, soperbica [104]!" replied the shepherd, with most provokingcoolness. "You are very proud now; but I swear to you that you willnot always take that tone. You will talk to me very differentlysome day. For so the seven fairies promised me when they taught methe song,--
"The cock o'ercomes, though somewhat rough, So man, no less, the coy rebuff Of woman!"
The duena, who had been standing by, watching this scene with thegreatest anxiety, intent only on getting a chance of possessingsome of the weft which was to make her young and beautiful, wasdriven beyond endurance by the turn matters were now taking. Soshe called her young mistress aside and descanted so earnestly onthe incomparable powers of the cloth and the little probability ofever meeting with such a chance again if she neglected this one,and threw in, too, such clever hints about easy ways of getting overthe difficulty,--that the simple shepherd could easily be deceived,that she could pretend she was going to listen to his attentions,though it need only be pretence, and in the meantime she would gethis priceless treasure out of him,--that poor little Blanca was quitebewildered. She was, indeed, so anxious to see more of the mysteriousshepherd, and so possessed with the vague fancy that there was someconnexion between him and the Count of Barcelona, that it was no verydifficult matter to overcome her scruples, particularly as the duenapromised to smooth the way a little for her.
The count, who had also been a little frightened, lest he had spokentoo abruptly, was also willing to receive the duena's mediation, andin a very little time Blanca had obtained possession of the texture;but the count had also played his game so successfully, that Blancawas quite under his influence, and could think and dream of nothingelse, nor rest
till she had an opportunity of meeting him again. Ofcourse this was not difficult, and the duena was ready enough to assisther, as she thought the shepherd might have some other precious giftto impart.
Nor was she mistaken. The count consulted his ring as to what heshould do next, and the ring gave him a fowl which laid pearls foreggs, and the chickens that came out of them had feathers like gold.
When Blanca saw this, she could not forbear coming down into thegarden to ask for the beautiful fowl. The shepherd was feeding herwith gold corn, and he went on throwing down the grains without takingany notice of her approach, but singing,--
"My fair begins to yield; I'm safe to win the field!"
"Pastorcillo, pastorcillo! give me the beautiful fowl!" said Blancaimploringly. "I should so like to have her. I shall cry if you won'tgive her pastorcillo;" she continued, as the count turned on his heels,and continued singing,--
"My fair begins to yield; I'm safe to win the field!"
"Pastorcillo! listen," repeated the poor child sadly, for thoughshe did not recognize the count, he had so enthralled her, that shefelt towards the supposed shepherd as she had never felt towards anybut him.
"Oh, cease that horrid song, and speak to me," she said at last,and so humbly, that the count thought it was time to put in a word.
"Will you come away with me? because otherwise it is no use talking,"he said, somewhat abruptly.
"Never!" retorted Blanca, indignantly; "and you had better take care,and not talk so loud, for if my father overheard you, he would sendand have you strung up."
But the shepherd did not care a bit, he had in the meantime spoken toher father, and told him what his plan was; and received from him thehearty approval of his scheme for bringing his incorrigible daughterto reason; so he sang out louder than before,--
"My fair begins to yield; I'm safe to win the field!"
Blanca had never been treated in this way, and did not know what tomake of it. She turned to go away, but then the dread stole over her,suppose the shepherd should go away as mysteriously as he had come,and then there would be no one left to remind her of the count. Shecould not bear to think of it: she turned, and said faintly,--
"Pastorcillo! give me the beautiful fowl; you must give it me."
"I am going away, Blanca," he replied, but less sternly than before. Itwas the first time he had called her by her name, and it seemed asif she heard the count speaking.
"Going away!" she exclaimed, in blank despair; "oh, you must take mewith you!"
"Take you with me!" repeated the shepherd. "No, you said you wouldn'tcome."
"Oh, but I did not know what I was saying!"
"It's too late now," replied the count.
"Oh, but I shall come, whether you will or no," she said pertly;for every time he spoke his words seemed to rivet more firmly thechain which bound her to her affianced husband, it seemed as if hewas his spectre come to avenge him.
"I cannot help it, if you choose to do that," was all his answer,and he turned to go.
"Take me, Pastorcillo!" she said once more.
"You would not like to come where I have to go," answered the supposedshepherd. "My dwelling is a dark cave, where no light ever enters. Mybed is the sharp rock, which cuts through to the bones. My drink iswater, muddy and cold; and my meat is grief and mourning. No companionsare there where I live, for all men and women hold my way of livingin dread."
When Blanca heard this, she turned pale; nevertheless, she could notsee him go without her, and still asked to go.
The shepherd walked on without saying a word. Blanca followed him asif drawn by magic.
Away they went, sad and silent: far, far away; over rocks anddeclivities, through streams and torrents, past briars and brakes. Formonths they went on thus; the count going on before,--Blanca, sad andsilent, after him. They never entered any town; and their only foodwas the berries they found in the wood, and the water of the brooksthey crossed. Blanca's fair soft skin was burnt brown by the sun andparched up by the wind; her hands were torn by the thorns, and herfeet bleeding from the unevennesses of the way. At last a day came whenshe could go no farther. She sank down fainting on the earth, but shewas so humble now, she did not so much as proffer a word of complaint.
"What is the matter, Blanca?" inquired the count. "Do you give upfollowing me any farther?"
"Pastorcillo! mock me not. You see I would follow you gladly, but yousee too my strength is at an end; I can go no farther;" and with thather senses failed.
When the count saw her in this condition, he took pity on her, and,lifting her up in his arms, carried her to a shepherd's hut at nogreat distance along the moor, and there the good wife attended toher, putting her in her poor bed, and gently trying to bring her toagain. But it was all of no use, she continued in the swoon, and thepoor peasant's restoratives were of no avail.
When the count saw this, he was in despair, and sitting down undershadow of a rock, he took out his ring to ask it what was to bedone, now being almost ready to reproach it for having led him to beso cruel.
But the ring told him to be of good heart, and all the promises ofthe milk-white dove would be fulfilled. "Blanca has now learnt alesson, and acquired a habit of submission which she will not forgetall through her life. And besides, after she has given such strongproofs of love and devotion towards you, she will have no inclinationto resume the provoking ways with which she tormented you before,so you may safely discover yourself to her now."
Then the good ring suddenly pronounced some words near the peasant'shut, and it became a fine palace, and the bed on which Blanca waslying became covered with beautiful embroidered coverlets, and allaround were clothes fit for a countess to wear. The Count, too,was provided with a shining suit of armour and a prancing charger,and by its side a palfrey for his bride, and a train of noble knightsand dames to attend them. Over Blanca, too, the ring said some words,and her consciousness came back to her, and when she saw the Countstanding by her side, looking just as he did the day he dropped thepomegranate pip, it seemed as if she had never seen him in any othergarb, only that he kept singing a verse the ring had taught him--
"She spurned me, bridegroom, in her pride! Then with a shepherd would abide; Yet loved me still, for I have tried Her love, as gold is purified!"
till she begged him not to sing it, but so gently and submissively,that he could not resist. So he lifted her on to her palfrey, andthe whole noble train moved on towards his father's palace, whereshe lived by his side all her life, a model of a devoted wife.