The Princess Mayblossom facts for kids

The Princess Mayblossom (Princesse Printaniére) is an old French literary fairy tale. It was written by Madame d'Aulnoy in 1697. This story was also included in The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. It's a tale about a princess who faces a difficult curse and learns important lessons about trust and bravery.

The Princess's Birth and a Fairy's Curse

An illustration from The Red Fairy Book, 1890.

Once, a king and queen were very sad because they had lost all their children. They were very worried about their new baby daughter. The queen tried to hire a nurse, but a strange, ugly woman offered to be the nurse. The queen said no, but then every nurse she hired after that could not stay safe with the baby.

The king soon realized that the ugly woman was a powerful Fairy named Carabosse. She had disliked him since he played a trick on her when he was a child. The king and queen tried to christen their daughter in secret. But Carabosse found out and put a terrible curse on the princess. She said the princess would be miserable for her first twenty years of life.

Another fairy godmother could only promise that the princess's life would be long and happy after those twenty years. The wisest fairy suggested that the princess be kept safe in a tall tower. This would help to keep her away from harm.

A Secret Escape

As the princess's twentieth birthday got closer, the king and queen sent her portrait to many princes. One king sent his ambassador to ask for the princess's hand in marriage for his son. The princess felt a very strong wish to see this ambassador. Her servants, afraid of what she might do, made a small hole in the tower wall so she could peek out.

Through the hole, she instantly fell in love with the ambassador, whose name was Fanfarinet. When she finally met him, she convinced him to run away with her. She took her father's special dagger and her mother's beautiful headdress with them. They quickly fled to a lonely desert island.

The next morning, a royal official realized how the princess had been looking at the ambassador. The nurses then confessed about the hole in the tower. The admiral of the navy quickly set out to chase them. They found the man who had rowed the princess and ambassador to the island because of the gold the princess had given him.

Life on the Island

On the island, the ambassador immediately began to complain about being hungry and thirsty. When the princess could not find any food or water, he quickly lost interest in her.

One day, a magical rose offered the princess some honeycomb. The rose warned her not to show it to the ambassador. But the princess did, and he quickly snatched it and ate it all. Later, a talking oak tree offered her a pitcher of milk. It also warned her not to show the ambassador. Again, she did, and he grabbed it and drank it all. The princess then realized how foolish she had been.

Finally, a nightingale offered her some sugarplums and tarts. This time, the princess ate them herself. When the ambassador tried to threaten her, she used a magical stone from her mother's headdress to make herself invisible.

The Curse Ends

The admiral sent his men to the island to find them. The princess used her magical stone to make the ambassador invisible too. He fought off many of the men, making them retreat. But the hungry ambassador then turned against the princess. He tried to harm her, but she defended herself and he was defeated.

Suddenly, two fairies appeared and fought. One fairy won and told the princess that the evil fairy Carabosse had tried to claim her. This was because the princess had left the tower four days before her twenty years of misery were officially over. But Carabosse was defeated!

The princess was brought back to the royal court. The prince she was meant to marry turned out to be much kinder and better than his ambassador. The princess lived happily ever after with him.

Translations

James Planché, a famous writer, mentioned that this tale had other names. These included Princess Verenata and Princess Maia.

The story was also translated as The Princess Maia by Laura Valentine. This version appeared in her book, The Old, Old Fairy Tales.