“The Wizard King.” The Yellow Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang, London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906, pp. 100-107.

Tale Summary

In ancient times, there was a King who was also a magician. He married a beautiful woman and together they had a son, whom the Queen took to visit her fairy godmother, hiding her journey from her husband as the fairies and wizards had a feud. The godmother bestowed upon the Prince the power to please everybody, and an ability to learn anything with ease. He lost his mother early on, and her last words were to always consult the fairy about things of importance. The King was inconsolable and decided to travel magically to different lands, and one day, having taken the form of an eagle, he found a wonderful place and saw a beautiful princess on a barge. When she stepped off, the eagle carried her away and landed with her at a safe distance. She cried and begged him to take her home, but he would not listen and carried her to a neighborhood of his capitol, where a lovely palace suddenly sprung from the ground. The princess was pleased to be surrounded by pretty girls ready to wait on her, and a colorful parrot who said nice things. The King resumed his human form, and although he was very handsome, the princess still hated him, and he surrounded the palace with a dense cloud before returning to his court. Even after some time she still would not love him, and he feared that she may have heard about how handsome and charming his son was, so he sent the prince away to travel. He found himself at the Court where the princess had been stolen, and was received graciously by the royal family. They told him what had happened to their daughter and he immediately fell in love with a portrait of her he saw. He promised that he would find her and bring her back to her mother, who offered him the girl’s hand in marriage as well as the estates of the Queen. She gave him a miniature of her daughter which she often wore, and the prince went to seek council with the fairy. She told him what had happened, and she herself caught the princess’s parrot and turned the prince into a bird which looked exactly the same and sent him to the palace. He was stunned at the girl’s beauty and said many agreeable things to her, and learned that she hated his father, the King, who had pressed her to consent to marriage. The prince revealed that he had been sent by her mother to save her, and showed her the miniature which had been given to him. He then revealed his true form and she marveled at his good looks. Meanwhile, the fairy had prepared a chariot, pulled by eagles, and flew to the princess’s window with her parrot. She and the prince climbed aboard and flew to her home, but were chased by the King, who took the form of a harpy. The fairy said that there was nothing that would protect the two youths unless they were married before the eagle arrived, and so the wedding took place on the spot. The King arrived and was bewildered by the sudden marriage, and tried to sprinkle some black liquid on the couple to kill them. The fairy stretched out her wand and the liquid landed on the King himself, who was promptly taken to prison, where he was powerless. The prince obtained a pardon for his father, who flew away. The fairy settled in the kingdom, and enjoyed the happiness which she had helped to bestow upon the royal family.