AMARYLLIS
Amaryllis sat by the fire, playing his fiddle.
He was alone in the house.
His brothers had gone to the ball.
Amaryllis was thinking of the story of Cinderella.
“I am like Cinderella, only I am a boy,” he said. “I sit among the ashes and cinders.”
“By and by,” he said, “I will pretend I am at the ball.”
So he took up his fiddle again and played a merry tune.
A little mouse that lived in the house came out and began to dance as he played.
Amaryllis laughed when the little mouse danced.
He forgot that he had wished to go to the ball.
Amaryllis had two brothers. They were proud and cruel. They had said, “Amaryllis is so little that we will give him a girl’s name. We will make him black our boots and tend the fires and wait on us.”
While Amaryllis sat playing the fiddle a fairy came in.
“Heigho! that was a merry tune,” said the fairy. “Come, let us dance.”
So Amaryllis laid down his fiddle, and he and the fairy joined hands and danced right into the ball-room where the brothers were, and all the fine lords and ladies.
Amaryllis was afraid at first. He thought of his shabby clothes. He looked down and saw that he had on a fine velvet suit with gold buttons.
The fairy still danced with him.
Round and round and round they went.
“Mind that you don’t play the fiddle here until the third night,” the fairy said, and then she disappeared.
All the fine ladies bowed to Amaryllis and all the lords stared at him.
The lovely princess danced with Amaryllis and he was very happy indeed.
They had danced all this time without music.
Suddenly the king rose from his throne and said:
“He who takes the fiddle,
And plays a jolly air,
Shall have half my kingdom,
And the princess fair!”
Then every one of the lords wished to play the fiddle, you may be sure, and Amaryllis could hardly keep his hands still.
The proud brothers tried to play, but they could not make a sound.
Many of the lords tried to play, but the fiddle would only squeak for them. Sometimes it would fly right out of their hands.
All this time Amaryllis was longing to play the fiddle, and his arm went to and fro as though he had hold of the bow.
Some one noticed him and cried, “See! we have the fiddler here.”
Amaryllis remembered the words of the fairy just in time, and so he would not play the fiddle. He went out of the room and ran home as fast as his legs could carry him.
When the brothers got home they told great tales about the ball.
They told Amaryllis about the handsome young prince who would not play the fiddle.
The next night the king gave another ball and both the brothers were invited.
“Black my boots,” said one.
“Brush my coat,” said the other.
Amaryllis waited on them as usual.
When, at last, the brothers were gone, Amaryllis sat down by the fire and began to play as before.
In came the fairy.
“Let us dance,” she said.
Amaryllis and the fairy danced round and round as before, and danced again into the ball-room.
“Don’t touch the king’s fiddle until the third night,” whispered the fairy, and she was gone.
Everybody had a fine time at the ball that night, and after a while the king rose as before and said:
“He who takes the fiddle
And plays a jolly air,
Shall have half my kingdom
And the princess fair.”
Amaryllis could stand it no longer. He forgot that he was at a great ball. He forgot the lords and ladies. He forgot the fairy’s words, and reached out his hand for the fiddle.
He began to play, but the tune he played was not a merry one. He looked down and saw that he had on his old, shabby clothes.
All the lords and ladies cried, “Put him out! Put him out! He is a street musician.”
Amaryllis ran out of the ball-room and went sadly home.
The two brothers did not know what had happened. They had eaten so much that they had fallen asleep at the ball.
The third night the king gave another ball.
The two brothers were invited. They had lost so much sleep that they were very cross while they were getting ready.
They made Amaryllis wait on them, and they whipped him soundly because he moved slowly.
Poor Amaryllis was sleepy, too.
At last Amaryllis sat in the chimney corner as before.
He said, “It is too late for the fairy to come to-night.”
He began to play a sad tune.
Then the fairy peeped in at the window and asked, “Will you be good this time and remember what I tell you about playing the fiddle?”
Amaryllis nodded and the fairy came in.
They danced into the ball-room at exactly quarter of twelve.
“Now,” whispered the fairy, “whatever happens, when the clock strikes twelve, you must play the fiddle.”
Then the fairy opened her bag and a little mouse jumped from it and ran behind a chair.
The king rose from his throne and began to talk, and just then the little mouse ran across the floor, and the lovely princess fell in a faint.
All the noblemen wished to help the princess, and all the ladies wished to fan her.
Amaryllis wished to go to the princess, too, but just at that minute the clock struck twelve.
He remembered the fairy’s words and reached out for the king’s fiddle and began to play a very merry tune.
He played such a merry tune that the princess revived. Everybody began to waltz, and the princess danced so hard that she danced right into Amaryllis’s arms!
The little mouse was frightened and ran away.
Then the whole company made merry. The king gave Amaryllis half his kingdom. Amaryllis married the princess, and they lived happily ever after.
“Tell it again,” said Freddie.
“Tell it again,” said Teddie.
Humpty Dumpty rolled over to the edge of the sofa. He nearly rolled off the sofa.
Grandpa Grimes said, “Humpty Dumpty, I believe you roll off something every day!”
Humpty Dumpty said, “That was a fine story.”
Grandpa said, “I will tell it to you again some day.”
Freddie said,“I should like to act out the story.”
Teddie said, “I should like to act it out, too.”
Then Grandpa Grimes laughed.
He pulled out his watch and said, “Bed-time for honest folks.”
Then all the children went merrily to bed.
The Roly-Polys can not spell,
They do not know their lessons well,
They sit on stools and wear dunce-caps, too,
As any child might have to do.