Chapter 7

RECAPITULATION

Princess Sara, the proud and beautiful only child of King Wilhelm and Queen Amalia had been presented with a stark choice by the Good (?) Fairy. The handsome Prince Adelbert had been prevented by this malicious fairy from seeing the Princess's true loveliness so ensuring that her desperate love for him was not returned. Her heart had been broken by his indifference and she had taken to her bed and was wasting away.

The fairy had promised to take away the Prince's blindness to her beauty, on condition she wander the world naked and alone, never entering human habitation and sleeping under the stars, drenched by the rain, battered by the fiercest winds and burnt by the sun. She was to agree to subject herself to a life of torment and the direst poverty for one year and one day.

Since death was the only future she saw for herself without her passionate love being reciprocated, she had divested herself of clothes and, wearing nothing save a fairy ring possessing magical properties, had immediately left her life of comfort and pampered security, eagerly embracing an existence of harsh deprivation, discomfort and terrible pain, in order that she might ultimately find the love she craved.

Much kindness had been shown to her, not only by the animal kingdom, but also by many friendly peasant folk who had been happy to share their simple food with the ethereally lovely naked girl, with her wild, disordered hair, deeply tanned skin and clear blue eyes. Few ventured to ask her why she was leading such a life, and she rarely volunteered to tell them. The birds and animals knew, though, and she had learned to understand their speech, feeling herself surrounded by their sympathy and encouragement as she slowly made her way to winter in the far south, safe from the harsh winters of her own kingdom and where she might be able to survive without shelter for her nakedness.

Once she had become inured to the changed conditions she now lived in, and in particular when her previously tender little feet had become toughened by walking over all manner of rugged surfaces, she had learned live by her own efforts. The discovery of her own self-sufficiency had given her great happiness - such as she had never felt before. The realisation that she did not need an army of servants to provide for her, but could look after herself was a source of great pride, if no great surprise, to a young lady who had never, in any case, had a low estimation of her abilities.

One cause of sorrow was the absence of her childhood friend Martha, with whom she had briefly quarrelled shortly before the start of her misfortunes. One morning, when in a bad temper after waking from a disturbing and prophetic dream, the angry Princess had taken advantage of her superior rank to strip her friend naked and force her to parade herself before the entire court in this state.

Often she would ask herself if her year-long ordeal might perhaps, be a punishment for her wicked treatment of the poor girl, but then she recalled that she had soon repented of her cruelty and persuaded her father to raise the peasant girl to noble rank. And she had dreamt of this exile long before the quarrel, which was in any case the result of mental distress caused by her prophetically vivid dream.

No! It must be something else that had caused her to be singled out for these atrocious hardships, but, in any case, she had no choice but to endure them. She did miss Martha, though.

One day she was given work at a small travelling circus and her heart had been pierced with agony at the plight of a black panther, which she had released and with which she had then run away. She had named the animal after her best friend and, shortly after so doing, she had fainted. When she came to her senses, a naked Martha was standing over her.

"Where is the lovely panther? And how on Earth do you come to be here?"

Martha knelt down beside her friend and kissed her.

"I was the caged beast, Sara, my darling friend and rescuer! Soon after you left us all, I decided to follow you, keep you company and protect you from harm as I always have. I was so angry when that creature said that you did not deserve my friendship! How dared she say such a wicked thing about you? You, above all, deserve nothing but the best of everything!