Magic Castle - (Illustrated Edition of World Children's Literature Classics)

Author: (English) E. Nesbit
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The princess walked slowly and solemnly into the hall. As soon as she entered, she tore the skirt hem from Catherine’s hands and turned toward the three of them. “Wait here,” she said, “Don’t speak while I’m gone. This castle is under a spell, and if you speak, I don’t know what might happen.” With that, she picked up her gold-pink long skirt, tucked it under her arm, and ran off, just as Jimmy later said, “Not like a princess at all,” she ran with her black stockings and black shoelaces showing. Jimmy wanted to say that he didn’t believe anything would happen, but he was only worried that if he did speak, something would actually occur, so he just made a face and stuck out his tongue. The other two children pretended not to notice, but it was even more unbearable than what they might have said. They sat silently, and Gerald twisted his heel on the marble floor.
Then the princess returned, walking very slowly, stepping on the skirt hem with every step. She couldn’t hold the skirt now because she was carrying a tray. It wasn’t the silver tray she had expected, but a rectangular tin tray. She placed it noisily on top of the long table and sighed. “Oh, it’s so heavy,” she said. I don’t know what the children had been imagining the fairy feast to be like. In any case, it was nothing like this. The heavy tray held only a loaf of bread, a piece of cheese, and a jar of water. The rest of the heavy things were just plates, cups, and knives.
“Come,” the princess said hospitably, “I only found bread and cheese—but it doesn’t matter, because everything here is enchanted. The bread and cheese will turn into anything you like, unless you’ve done something awful in secret. What would you like to eat?” she asked Catherine. “Roast chicken,” Catherine said without hesitation. The princess in the pink long skirt cut a slice of bread and placed it on a plate. “Here’s your roast chicken,” she said. “Should I cut it for you, or would you like to do it yourself?” “Please cut it for me,” Catherine said, taking a dry slice of bread from the plate.
“Would you like green peas?” the princess asked, cutting a slice of cheese and placing it beside the bread. Catherine began to eat the bread, cutting it with her knife and fork as if she were eating chicken. She didn’t see the chicken or the peas—only the cheese and the dry bread—but admitting this was useless, as it would only show she had done something awful in secret.
“I’ve probably done something awful, but it was very secret. Even I don’t know what it was,” she thought. The others ordered roast beef and cabbage—and they received it, but she thought she only saw dry bread and Dutch cheese.
“I really don’t know what awful thing I’ve done in secret,” she thought. Then the princess said she was eating a slice of roast peacock, and picking up a second dry slice of bread with her fork, she added, “It tastes wonderful.”
“This is a game, isn’t it?” Jimmy suddenly asked.
“What game?” the princess asked, frowning.
“A game where we pretend it’s beef, but it’s really bread and cheese.”
“Game? But it is beef. Look.” the princess said, her eyes wide open.
“Yes, of course,” Jimmy said weakly, “I was just joking.”