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Islands of Magic

<center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="0"> </center> <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="Nothing but the Sea, Sky and Rock" BORDER="0"> <H4 CLASS="h4center"> Nothing but the Sea, Sky and Rock </h4> </center> THE ISLANDS OF MAGIC LEGENDS, FOLK AND FAIRY TALES FROM THE AZORES RETOLD BY ELSIE SPICER EELLS Illustrated by E. L. BROCK <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-title.jpg" ALT="title page logo" BORDER="0"> </center> NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY RAHWAY, N. J. PREFACE Some three-fourths of the distance between America and Europe there is a group of nine beautiful islands called the Azores which belong to Portugal. Their names are Flores, Corvo, Fayal, Pico, S. Jorge, Graciosa, Terceira, S. Miguel, and Santa Maria. Many people think them to be the mountain peaks of the submerged continent, Atlantis, which long ago was covered by the ocean. There are ancient records which tell of Arabian caravels driven back by dangerous seas surrounding islands full of volcanoes. There are old pictures which portray seas of spouting geysers and flaming volcanic isles. In these regions islands had a habit of suddenly lifting themselves out of the ocean and then disappearing again from view. When the largest of the islands, S. Miguel or St. Michael as it is called in English, was mapped, two mountain peaks were marked where later only one could be discovered. Thus it was that the Azores gained their reputation. Islands full of volcanoes amid seas of spouting geysers could be nothing else but enchanted. And islands and mountain peaks which suddenly vanished away from one's sight! Surely the Azores must be the true land of magic. "The day of folktales is departing from the Azores," said the wise woman. "Public schools came with the republic, and where books of printed stories enter folktales become confused and soon are lost." "There is no originality among our islanders," complained the wise man of the islands. "They have told over and over again the stories of our mother country, Portugal, and they have made few variations." However, when I spent December 1920 and January 1921 in the Azores in connection with research work for the Hispanic Society, I found that there were not only pleasant folktales there but even real fairies. They inhabit the wooded slopes of Monte Brasil on the island of Terceira. The fisher folk who visit the barren Ilheos de Cabras on the Bay of Angra know that there are fairies living in those rocky isles even yet when the boys and girls of the Azores are sailing away from them to seek their fortunes in America. Have they not often seen the fairy garments spread out upon the rocks in the bright sunshine? "You are like the Holy Virgin herself," said the little maid of St. Michael. "Did you ever see the Virgin?" asked my friend. "Once the white clouds parted for a moment and I caught a glimpse of her beautiful blue mantle," replied the child reverently. Yes, there are still fairies and simple faith and magic in the islands. One who visits the boiling springs at Furnas does not doubt for a moment that he is upon enchanted ground. Folk tales are composite. No one person or group of persons can claim credit for them. They are our inheritance from many storytellers. To all these storytellers both of yesterday and of to-day I offer my grateful appreciation and hearty thanks. I have endeavored to tell the stories in a way which will be pleasing to American children. To do this I have taken the liberty of making occasional elaborations or omissions which I believe add to the value of the story. Everywhere first of all I have tried to keep the spirit of the Azores. Thanks are due the publishers of the "Delineator" and the "Outlook" for permission to reprint stories which have appeared in these magazines. E. S. E. <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-contents.jpg" ALT="Contents headpiece" BORDER="0"> </center> CONTENTS Princess Bluegreen of the Seven Cities The Islands of Flowers Why Dogs Sniff Longstaff, Pinepuller and Rockheaver The Table, the Sifter and the Pinchers Linda Branca and her Mask Fresh Figs Peter-of-the-Pigs The Princess Who Lost Her Rings The Master of Magic St. Anthony's Godchild Trouble When One's Young The Little Maid Who Was Wise Manoel Littlebean The Necklace of Pearls The Daughter of the King of Naples Maria-of-the-Forest The Seven Enchanted Princes The Listening King José the Beast Slayer The Princess of the Lost Island Why The Alvéloa Bird Received a Blessing Why the Codorniz Bird Received a Curse Outside the Door Like the Mother of St. Peter Why the Owl Flies at Night The Laborer and His Master 'Tis Faith Which Saves St. Brendan's Island The Silent Cavalier The Enchanted Palace The Friend of the Devil The Miller's Cloak The Magic Mouthful The Messengers <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-illus.jpg" ALT="Illustrations headpiece" BORDER="0"> </center> Illustrations Nothing but the Sea, Sky and Rock . . . . . . . Frontispiece King Graywhite Struck His Royal Sword Against the Great Wall She Could Not Hold Them All "Will Somebody Please Pass the Pepper" The Three Friends Journeyed on Together "Table, Set Yourself," Said the Man She Quietly Stole Out of the House The Two Rabbits Came Running Up to Him He Buried It Halfway in the Sand The Two Old Women, The Princess, The King and Queen, and All the Courtiers Followed The Horse Had Changed Into a Kernel of Corn He Climbed Up the High Wall of the Palace "Oh, Stone From My Garden Wall," She Was Saying They Were Big and Heavy, but Her Great Fear Gave Her Strength He Saw the Quantities of Gold "Take Me Home as Fast as You Can!" Then He Sorrowfully Returned to His Waiting Ship "We Never Have Looked So Neat and Clean" The Miller and His Wife Were the Most Surprised People in the Whole Country He Frowned Down at José "Alms! Alms!" Pedro Lifted the Two Great Jars and Slowly Climbed Up the Hill It Appeared That the Fair Maid Would Die One Evening Just at Sunset The Peaceful Snow-Capped Summit of Mt. Pico The Beautiful Enchanted Palace in the Lake of Ginjal He Bowed His Head Upon His Hands He Wrapped Himself In the Brown Cloak And Went Out Through the Fierce Blinding Storm She Ran to the Water Jar A Fierce Storm Arose <h3> THE ISLANDS OF MAGIC </h3> <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-003.jpg" ALT="Headpiece" BORDER="0"> </center> <h3> PRINCESS BLUEGREEN OF THE SEVEN CITIES </h3> <h4> The Story of the Origin of the Azores </h4> Once upon a time in the lost kingdom of Atlantis there ruled a king whose name was Graywhite. He had married the beautiful Queen Rosewhite. They lived in a magnificent palace, but it was a sad place because there were no little children in it. "There are plenty of babies in the homes of the poor peasants who can scarcely find food for them," mourned King Graywhite. "Why is it that I, the ruler of this vast rich kingdom, can have no child to inherit my wealth and my domains?" "Women in tiny hovels have their arms full of rosy dimpled darlings," sighed Queen Rosewhite. "Why is it that I, the queen of this magnificent palace, can have no baby of my own?" Queen Rosewhite passed her days and nights in weeping, while King Graywhite grew ugly and cruel to his subjects. Once he had been the kindest ruler in the world. Things went on like this for several years. Queen Rosewhite's lovely face grew pale and wan, and her beautiful eyes became so sad that it hurt the hearts of her faithful subjects. The king's face lost its expression of jolly kindness and became sour and cruel. They offered prayers and solemn vows before all the holy shrines in the whole kingdom of Atlantis, but no child was born into the royal palace. King Graywhite grew so harsh and ugly to his subjects that the entire kingdom offered prayers and vows, too. As things were, life was not worth living in the kingdom of Atlantis. In front of the royal palace there was a beautiful terrace where King Graywhite and Queen Rosewhite had loved to walk in the days before they had grown cross and sad. One night when they were sitting upon the terrace enjoying the fresh soft evening air and the bright starlight there suddenly appeared a dazzling light which almost blinded them. Queen Rosewhite covered her face with her hands and the king bowed his proud head upon his breast. "Do not fear to look at me," said a gentle voice. King Graywhite and Queen Rosewhite glanced up. They saw a tiny fairy standing before them with a circle of bright light dancing about her. "King and Queen of Atlantis," said the gentle voice. "You shall have a child, a little daughter, prettier than the sunlight. I have heard your prayers and vows, but I have also heard the prayers and vows of your poor subjects, too." The glad news had brought a happy light into Queen Rosewhite's beautiful eyes, but now it faded out and a look of fear crept in. It had hurt the queen's loving heart to have her husband so cruel to his subjects. She often had told him that punishment would surely come upon him because of his harsh deeds. "When the little princess is born," went on the fairy's voice, "I shall take her away from you for twenty years. No harm will come to her. I shall hide her away from you and all the world within seven beautiful cities which I shall construct in the loveliest part of your whole kingdom. Around these seven cities I shall place strong walls. At the end of twenty years, if your heart, King Graywhite, is free from sin and you have made proper restitution for all your wrongdoing, you shall receive the princess into your arms." "Twenty years is a long time," said King Graywhite sadly. Tears were running down Queen Rosewhite's cheeks and she could not speak. "You must wait until the twenty years are over," continued the fairy. "If you attempt to enter the strong walls before that time you shall fall dead and your kingdom shall be consumed by fire. Swear to me now in the presence of your faithful queen that you will not try to enter these strong walls which I shall construct about the seven cities." "I swear it," said the king in a voice which trembled as he solemnly lifted his right hand. The vision disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and King Graywhite and Queen Rosewhite sat alone in the bright starlight on the terrace before the royal palace. "Have I been dreaming?" asked the king. "It was not a dream," replied the queen. Time passed and a beautiful baby daughter was born to the king and queen of Atlantis. They gave her the name of Princess Bluegreen. There was great rejoicing throughout the entire kingdom. Her birth was celebrated by lavish feasts and gay songs and dances. When the little Princess Bluegreen was only three days old she disappeared from the royal palace. She had been carried away by the fairy to the seven cities which had been constructed to receive her. Years passed. Every day the king and queen received reports from the fairy. They heard that the little Princess Bluegreen was well, and that each hour she grew lovelier. Sometimes there was almost joy in the palace when King Graywhite chuckled over the quaint sayings of the little princess which were repeated to him, and the queen heard with a tender smile of the tiny blue slippers and the green parasol which the fairy had given her. That day Queen Rosewhite bought new slippers for many little maids in the city. As time went on, however, the royal palace of Atlantis grew almost as sad as it had been before the Princess Bluegreen had been born. Only to receive reports of their daughter was not enough to make the king and queen happy. They longed to see her with their own eyes and to clasp her in their arms. As the weeks and months and years rolled by without seeing the little princess, King Graywhite resumed his cruel treatment of his subjects. He was growing old and his nature grew sour with the years. Queen Rosewhite tried to reason with him. "We must bear this thing with patience," she told him. "We brought it upon ourselves." The king kept raging against the fairy and did not notice Queen Rosewhite's politeness in saying "we" instead of "you." It was the king who was responsible for all the cruelty. Good Queen Rosewhite had never had a cruel thought in her whole blameless life. At last the day of the eighteenth birthday of the Princess Bluegreen grew near. "Are you sure that it is not eighteen years which the fairy said, instead of twenty years?" asked King Graywhite querulously. Queen Rosewhite assured him that it was twenty years as he well knew. The king's anger broke out fiercely. "I will no longer be kept from my daughter!" he cried. "Would you break the vow which you solemnly made to the fairy in my presence?" asked Queen Rosewhite trembling. She had never dreamed that he would dare to break it. Now, however, she was thoroughly frightened at the thought which came to her. "I'll break that foolish vow!" shouted the king savagely. Tears rolled down the cheeks of good Queen Rosewhite. "No good will come of this," she mourned. "Be prudent, dear king. It is only two years more which we have to wait." "The last two years will be the hardest ones of all!" raged King Graywhite. "I cannot endure it!" That very day he started to prepare the army for the expedition to the Seven Cities, amid the queen's lamentations and in spite of her fears and warnings. "Be wise and patient, dear king. Give up this wild expedition," were her last words to him; when, at length, all the preparations completed, he set out with his great army upon the dangerous quest of the seven cities surrounded by their strong walls in the loveliest part of the whole kingdom of Atlantis. King Graywhite marched on and on. It was a long and perilous journey and the army suffered many hardships on the way. It seemed as if they would never arrive, but at last they drew near to what everybody knew to be the most beautiful part of the whole kingdom, where the fairy had taken the Princess Bluegreen to conceal her. Storms raged; lightning flashed; ominous roarings and rumblings sounded from the depths of the earth. "Let us hasten back to the royal palace before it is too late," besought the generals of King Graywhite's army. "On! On!" cried the king. "Do you think I would abandon this expedition now?" The words were hardly out of his mouth when a huge rock fell from its place near where he stood and rushed away down the mountainside. The earth trembled violently beneath their feet. Fearful rumblings and roarings sounded all about them. "On! ON!" shouted the maddened king. Before them rose the great walls which the fairy had built around the seven cities. Within these walls was the Princess Bluegreen radiant with the beauty of her eighteen winters and summers passed in peace and happiness under the watchful care of the kind fairy. The thought of her thrilled the heart of King Graywhite. "On! On!" he shouted to the generals about him. "On! On!" they, in turn, passed the word along to the trembling soldiers which composed the royal army. With the fearful sounds and shakings about them, the poor men heartily wished they were safe at home. They rallied, however, for a final charge and swept up to the walls which surrounded the seven cities. King Graywhite struck his royal sword against the great wall. At that moment the walls fell. The earth beneath their feet rose. Great flames swept up towards the sky and rushed over the land, sweeping everything before them. Then the sea raged over the earth in violence until it had covered the whole kingdom of Atlantis. <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-013.jpg" ALT="King Graywhite struck his royal sword against the great wall" BORDER="0"> <H4 CLASS="h4center"> King Graywhite struck his royal sword against the great wall </h4> </center> The fairy's curse had been fulfilled. The king was dead. His kingdom was consumed by fire. When at last the waters grew calm again all that remained of the great rich kingdom of Atlantis was the group of nine rocky islands which to-day is called the Azores. In the largest of these islands, St. Michael, there is still an enchanted spot called Seven Cities. Great wall-like mountains tower toward the sky. In the crater valley amid the wall-like mountains there is a lake of green and one of blue. The blue lake is where the beautiful Princess Bluegreen left her little blue slippers, they say, and the green lake is where she left her lovely green parasol. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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