"The Fairies' Jewels"

English

fairy jewel

gold bar

Long, long ago in a faraway city, close to the crystal mountains, there lived a beautiful princess whose name was Crystalbelle. Her face was as pale and lovely as a lily. Her eyes were as dark as the sea. Her raven-black hair was long and hung round her shoulders in dark shiny curls. The princess was not only very beautiful but was also good and kind. She cared for the people of her land. If she heard of a family troubled by sickness or poverty, she would call one of her courtiers.

"Please help this family," she would command, and the courtier would visit the family to offer food and medicines.

All the people, as well as the courtiers in the palace, loved the princess for her beauty and her goodness. The princess had many, many friends among her own people but she had also mad friends with the fairies.

The fairies of the crystal mountains had grown to love Princess Crystalbelle more than any other human person. They would search in the secret valleys and they would search in the secret forests, looking for something special to show the princess. Princess Crystalbelle loved surprises, and the fairies would bring her little gifts. But they had to search for something unusual because the princess already had almost everything in the world.

"Do you think Princess Crystalbelle would like to see this rare butterfly?" the fairies asked each other. And the princess clapped her hands in delight at the beautiful colors on the butterfly's wings. When the fairies set the butterfly free, the princess gazed after it as it fluttered away over the palace gardens.

"Do you think Princess Crystalbelle would like to taste these luscious, ripe fruits?" the fairies wondered. And when the princess bit into the sweet, juicy fruits, she laughed with pleasure, and then offered some to her ladies-in-waiting.

"Do you think Princess Crystalbelle would like to listen to this rare bird's song?" the fairies said to one another. And the princess sat in silence, entranced by the pure notes sung by the bird."its singing is more beautiful than the music played by the palace musicians," the princess declared. The fairies taught her how to tame the bird, and each morning it flew to her window and woke her with its song.

One day the princess called all the fairies together. She had some exciting news to tell them and she wanted them to know before anyone else in the land.

"I am soon to be married," she told the fairies. "I am going to marry the Prince of the Far Isles Over the Sea. My wedding dress will be made from the soft white light of moonbeams. It will be trimmed with the pink clouds of the dawn. On my feet will be little slippers fashioned from the twinkling stars."

The fairies were thrilled and knew that Crystalbelle's wedding would be the grandest ever seen. One fairy spoke up. "But what shall you wear in your hair. Crystalbelle? You have nothing. "The fairies looked at the princess and they looked at each other. What would be beautiful enough for Princess Crystalbelle to wear in her hair on her wedding day?

"I know." cried one fairy."you must wear flowers!"
"Yes,yes!" exclaimed Princess Crystalbelle. "Of course. Flowers will be perfect for my hair on my wedding day!"

So all the fairies flew off in different directions to gather flowers. Some collected roses, pink and red, white and yellow. Others picked wild lilies, as pale and as beautiful as the princess herself. Others found sprays and trailing stems of jasmine with its rich, heavy scent. Back they flew to the palace with their arms filled with the most beautiful and fragrant blossoms, and they laid the flowers in great heaps at the feet of the princess.

"Wear my roses," said one fairy. "See how the glow in your hair!"
"Wear my lilies," cried anohter fairy. "See how they reflect your lovely face!"
"Wear my jasmine,"called a third. "See how they wrap you in a cloud of Fragrance!"

"Oh dear! Oh dear!" sighed the Princess Crystalbelle, holding up the roses, and the lilies and the jasmine, trying to make up her mind. All the blossoms looked wonderful in her thick black treses, and she found it is very difficult to decide. It was true the roses glowed in her hair. It was true that her own face was as beautiful as the lilies. It was true that the jasmine wrapped her in a cloud of fragrance. In the end the fairies argued so long about which were the most beautiful that the flowers wilted and died.

The faires looked at the princess and they looked at each other.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! What shall I do?" cried the princess.

"This won't do." said the fairies. "We must find something which will not die as the flowers have died. "They all sat round the princess, trying to think of something for her to wear in her hair on her wedding day, but no one had any ideas. Then, just as everyone began to despair, three fairies all looked up at the same moment and smiled at each other.

"Yes, we know," the three fairies said together and away they flew, over the palace gardens and toward the top of the crystal mountains. They flew through the sparkling air and finally landed where the crystal gleamed purest of all. Then each one looked around carefull. When they had all agreed whick was the best, the most brilliant, the most sparkling piece of crystal, each fairy chipped off a little piece of rock. Holding the pieces safely in their hands, they nodded at each other.

"I know a mermaid who will help!" cried the first fairy.
"My friend the pixies will know what to do!" said the second fairy.
"I shall ask my friend the fire-gnomes!" declared the third fairy, and they all flew of in different directions.

The first fairy took her piece of rock down to the sea shore. On the edge of the sea, in a deep underwater cave which was washed by the tides, lived the mermaid who was a good friend of the fairy.

"Mermaid,mermaid!" the fairy called as she flew onto the sand. And the mermaid swam up through the blue waters and rested on a rock near where the fairy stood.

"Here is a piece of rock from the top of the crystal mountains," said the fairy. "Please take it for me and dip it in the depths of the deepest part of the sea."

So the mermaid took the rock and dove into the depths of the deepest part of the sea. Down she swam, down past hte rocks and caves, down past hte shoals of fish and the sea monsters, down and down through the blue waters. Now the mermaid knew and the fairy knew that anything dipped into the depths of the deepest part of the sea would be changed. It would take on part of the sea itself and be changed forever. When the mermaid returned to the fairy waiting on the sands, she held up the crystal.

"Look!" cried the mermaid, and they both saw at once that the crystal had changed. Now it was a deep blue color like the sea, shining and glowing in the sunlight.

It was the first sapphire.

Meanwhile the second fairy had flown with her piece of rock to the edge of the great forest. In the forest, among the roots and hollows of the trees, lived the pixies who were friends of the fairy.

"Pixies,pixies!" called out the fairy. And the pixies peeped out from the deep green of the undergrowth and ran to the fairy.

"Here is a piece of rock from the top of the crystal mountains," said the fairy. "Please take it for me and hid it in the depths of the deepest part of the forest."

So the pixies took the rock into the depths of the deepest part of the forest. Along the hidden paths, through the dense thickets and the tangled branches, through to the green heart of the forest. Now the pixies and fairy knew that anything hidden in the depths of the deepest part of the forest would be changed. It would take on a part of the forest itself and be changed forever. when the pixies returned to the waiting fairy, they held up the crystal.

"Look!" cried the pixies, and everyone saw at once that the crystal had changed. Now it was a deep green color like the trees of the forest, shining and glowing in the sunlight.

It was the first emerald.

When the third fairy left the top of the crystal mountains, she flew with her piece of rock to another mountain. In the side of this mountain, hidden among hundreds of tunnels and caves, lived the fire-gnomes who were friends of the fairy.

"Gnomes, gnomes!" called out the fairy. And the fire-gnomes scuttled along their deep tunnels and peered out at her.

"Here is a piece of rock from the top of the crystal mountains," said the fairy. "Please take it for me down to the depths of the deepest part of your mountain."

So the fire-gnomes took the rock into the depths of hte deepest part of their mountain. Along the darkest tunnels, down the steepest shafts, through to the fires burning in the center of the mountain. Now the gnomes knew and the fairy knew that anything hidden in the depths of the deepest part of the mountain would be changed by the fires burning there. It would take on part of the fire itself and be changed forever. When hte gnomes returned to the waiting fairy, they held up the crystal.

"Look!" cried the gnomes, and everyone saw at once that the crystal had changed. Now it was a deep red color like the heart of the fire, shining and glowing in the sunlight.

It was the first ruby.

The three fairies flew back to Princess Crystalbelle. They laid all their beautiful gems at her feet, and everybody saw the wonderful colors as the jewels shimmered in the sunlight.

The princess clapped her hands. "How lovely they are!" she exclaimed. "That one looks like the blue of the sea, and that one is as green as the forest and the red one gleams like the heart of a fire."

The fairies held up each jewel in turn and each one flashed and shone against Crystalbelle's lovely hair. "I cannot decide," said the Princess after she had looked in her mirror a hundred times. So in the end, the princess said she would wear all three jewels together and the fairies held them up against her beautiful hair for her to see.

The princess turned from side to side and gazed at her reflection in the mirror."Oh dear!Oh dear!" cried the fairies. They didn't like the three jewels together. "What shall we do? What can Princess Crystalbelle wear in her hair on her wedding day?"

All the fairies looked at each other in dismay. No one could think of anything more beautiful than the sapphire, the emerald and the ruby. All the time, a very small elf had been sitting quietly in a corner, saying nothing but thinking hard. Now he came forward and stood before the princess.

"Sun-fairies, sun-fairies!" he called out. "Princess Crystalbelle need your help. Take these stones and melt them in your sun furnace. Melt them so that their colors of blue and green and red run and mingle together. Next lay a veil of mist and cloud over the colors so that the blue and green and red gleam through. Then this jewel will be beautiful enough for the princess to wear in her hair on her wedding day."

This is exactly what the sun-fairies did. The three brilliant jewels, the sapphire, the emerald and the ruby, were melted into one great gem which was more beautiful than any of the three, and over the surface of the gem lay a veil of cloud through which the colors flashed.

This was the first opal.

The small fairy lifted the great stone in his arms. Down the mountainside he flew, across the top of the palace he skimmed and he laid the opal at the feet of Princess Crystalbelle.

The princess gazed at the magnificent jewel and she thought she had never seen anything as beautiful in the whole of her life.

"Look, there is the blue of the sea," she cried, "and I can see the deep green of the forests as well as the glowing red at the heart of a fire. And best of all, the colors are soft and misty as though gleaming through a veil of cloud."

On her wedding day, when the princess married her Prince of the Far Isles Over the Sea, she wore the great opal in her shining black hair. No princess had ever looked more beautiful that the Princess Crystalbelle on that day. The people of her land celebrated her wedding, but the fairies most of all because, together, they had found something for the princess to wear in her hair. Princess Crystalbelle treasured the opal, and all her life it remained her favorite jewel. She told her children how the opal came to be made and, in time, she gave it to her eldest daughter to wear on her own wedding day. This girl did the same with her eldest daughter to wear on her own wedding day. This girl did the same with her eldest daughter, and so the opal, whose soft beauty grew with the years, passed from generation to generation. And to this day the misty beauty of the opal is often admired more that the vivid colors of the sapphire, emerald or ruby.

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