The Clever Prince
Yay! I'm back! Thank you to all my faithful reviewers!
Disclaimer: I don't own SSBB or this fairy tale. This is based off of "The Clever Prince" by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith. PitxSamus, IkexLyn
The cast
Prince: Pit
Maiden: Samus
Swordsman: Ike
His Wife: Lyn
King: Marth
Royal Courier: Link
Once upon a time, there was a youthful prince named Pit. He was so wonderfully handsome that no one had seen his like. He knew this and was very glad of it. Everybody said that he was as clever as he was handsome, and that no one could be compared to him. Of this he was quite convinced, and he made a solemn vow that he would never take any woman to wife unless she was as handsome and nearly as clever as he was himself. If he could find such a paragon he would marry her.
There were many beautiful maidens in the land, but they were not the cleverest. There were also many maidens who were clever enough, but they were not the fairest. This much is certain, Prince Pit found no girl who combined in her person half enough good looks and wit to suit him. He was now of an age where he and his father, King Marth, and their faithful subjects were all of opinion that he ought to get married; but, as we have seen, because of the vow he made, there was not a maiden in the land to whom he could pay his addresses.
So he determined to journey to other countries, and to travel incognito and unattended. He wanted to see things for himself and to have no one with him who could reveal anything about him. He travelled far and wide, from one land to another, but it fared him aborad as it fared him at home. He could find no girl beautiful enough for him or clever enough for him; much less could he find one who laid claim to the possession of both beauty and brains. Once more, he felt his quest to be in vain and turned homeward.
One day, he was riding through a wood. He rode and rode, still he could not get to the end of the forest. Noon came, and still he could not see the way out of it. He had completely lost his way. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, or where he should find shelter for the night, and food and rest for himself and his horse. They were both tired out.
At last he saw a small cloud of blue smoke rising amid the green trees, and riding toward it he soon came to a little cottage, very poor and mean- looking. But he was glad enough, for here at least he should find somebody. He got off his horse and knocked at the door. A poor swordsman, who went by the name of Ike, opened it. His wife, Lyn also stepped forward.
"Alas, what brings such a fine young knight to our poor home?" asked Ike.
"I have lost my way," Pit replied, "Please; I am in need of food and shelter and have been wandering in these woods all day long. Pray allow me to stay here for the night."
At first they said they were not the sort of people to receive such grand gentlefolk. It was easy to see they wanted to get rid of him.
"Please," the young prince begged, "Neither I nor my horse can hold out much longer. We absolutely need rest and a night's lodging."
"Very well," Lyn said, "But I am afraid you must put up with our poor belongings and food."
Prince Pit's horse was placed in an old shed where the poor beast was given water and hay. The cottage itself consisted of one little room which was both dark and low. He sat down on a wooden bench and began to talk to his hosts.
"Tell me, do you live here all alone?"
"Yes," Ike answered, "There is no one else in this house, nor are there any other houses for miles around. We manage to make a living out of our goat and cow. I also occasionally sell the skins of animals for a small sum of money."
Then the prince was given his supper, the best the house could afford- a crust of dry bread and a bowl of milk. The couple then fetched a wisp of straw and spread it out on the floor, intending to sleep upon it- they had one bed, but they wished to give it up to their grand guest. But Prince Pit would not hear of such a thing.
"You should lie upon your own bed, whilst I lie upon the straw," he said. And so the sleeping arrangements became as he wished.
It was quite a different sort of couch from the one he was accustomed to, but he was thoroughly tired out so he soon fell asleep. He dreamed of all the beautiful maidens who were not clever enough and all of the clever maidens who were not beautiful enough. And so he slept sweetly until the break of dawn.
When he woke, his limbs were quite stiff from lying on so hard a bed. Twist and turn as he might, he could not get to sleep again. Presently, he heard something stirring in the little loft overhead. He thought it might be rats, or mice, or perhaps a cat. Yes, it was certainly a cat. But a little while after, he heard a whirling sound, exactly like that of a spinning wheel. Then he heard singing.
"That cannot be a cat," he said, "Nor can it be the songs of the birds in the woods."
The sound was a woman's sweet voice keeping in time with the whirling of the wheel. So sweet a song he had never heard before. He sprang to his feet, rubbed hi eyes, pricked up his ears, and at the same moment, the couple got up as well.
"Who is it up there in the loft above? Who is the woman who sings and spins at the break of day?" he demanded.
"N-no," Lyn stuttered, "There is no one else in the house!"
"Nay!" said Prince Pit, "It is no use trying to make me believe that. I prefer believing in what I have heard with my own ears. And you may as well tell me the plain truth, for I am determined to learn it one way or another."
"Very well," Ike told him, "You are quite right, there is someone else in this house. She is our daughter, Samus, who resides in her little room in the loft. We are so afraid that someone would see her and want to take her away from us, for we shall indeed miss her sadly."
"She earns a few pence through her spinning and weaving," Lyn added, "Who else would be there to take care of us as we enter our old age? Without her, we would soon be no longer able to look after ourselves very well."
"I have heard her and now I wish to see her," Prince Pit announced, "I am no man or woman eater, so far as he knew."
Therefore, they allowed him to see their daughter. Ike went to call her and she came running down, tripping along clad in mean attire so blithe and fair. When she saw the handsome young man, she blushed a rosy red and the prince was thunderstruck as he looked upon her. Never had he seen anything half as lovely as she was. He was utterly at a lost for words. In all his travels, he had seen no one to be compared with her. This poor peasant's girl was far more beautiful than all the princesses and grand ladies he had ever met. He could not picture to himself anything more lovely. But a poor beggar made such as she was he would not even dream of making her his wife.
So he turned resolutely away and at once bestirred himself with getting his horse ready to start. He did not allow himself so much as to look at her again. But when he was in the saddle just setting off, as he nodded goodbye to Ike and Lyn to whom he had given a broad gold piece for his night's lodging and who now were bowing before him, he could not help but give a side glance to where Samus stood gazing at him with striking blue eyes. And of course, he was obliged to lift his hat in a fond farewell. As she returned his greeting with downcast eyes and a blushing face, the prince felt as if his heart was in his mouth. The lovely eyes looked up once more as he galloped off and they followed him until he was out of sight. And not only did they follow him thus far, but long after he had left both house and wood far behind, those beautiful eyes still haunted him.
As he rode along, he said to himself, "yes, she's beautiful and more than beautiful enough for me, but I also vowed that she whom I marry must be as clever or nearly as clever as I am. That of course, she cannot be."
He marked well where the little cottage stood and soon he reached the road he knew well, for the wild wood lay on the very border of his own land. He rode straight home to King Marth's castle and told him that he had not yet found anyone that can be considered his equal.
King Marth was much vexed upon hearing this, but he was so certain of his son's exceeding cleverness that he had no doubt matters were exactly as the prince represented. He had but one wish to see his son married before closing his eyes forever and he had such faith in his son that he knew Prince Pit's choice of a wife would be a wise one.
So now the prince was at home once more, surrounded by all the good things imaginable and yet he knew not one moment's content. Lord Link, his favourite royal courtier noticed this behaviour and asked him what was wrong.
"Alas," he answered, "I cannot help but think non stop about a fair maiden in a poor cottage in the woods. Though I wish to make her my wife, I am bound by my vow of only marrying a woman nearly as clever as me."
"Perhaps you must devise a test for her cleverness," suggested Link, "Should she pass this test would prove if she is half as clever as yourself."
"A brilliant idea!" Prince Pit exclaimed, "I shall write her a letter!"
And so he sat down and began writing a letter to the young maiden in the woods. He enclosed two skeins of silk and bid her to make bed curtains for set off at once with the letter in hand. The royal courtier returned the same evening with a letter from Samus, and in it lay two tiny splinters of wood. The maiden had written that if out of these bits of wood, he would make her a loom, she would weave him the curtains he had ordered.
After this, Prince Pit could no longer doubt that she was quite as clever as he was and now he felt bound to perform the vow he had made, which was just what he most wished to do. So he rode forth with all his royal train to the cottage in the wild wood. He told the couple that he came to woo their daughter to be his bride if she was willing, which she indeed was. The swordsman and his wife were very downhearted at the parting of their only child, but they did not wish to stand in the way of her happiness. They gave their consent.
The wedding was celebrated and Samus became a wise and loving queen. They all lived happily ever after.
