Prince Cherry

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Long ago there lived a monarch who is such a
very honest man, that his subjects entitled him the Good King.
One day, when he was out hunting, a little white rabbit,
which had been half killed by his hounds, leaped right
into his Majesty's arms, said he, caressing it. This poor

(00:21):
creature has put itself under my protection, and I will
allow no one to injure it. So he carried it
to his palace, had prepared for it a neat little
rabbit hutch, with abundance of the daintiest food, such as
rabbit's love, and there he left it. The same night,
when he was alone in his chamber, there appeared to

(00:44):
him a beautiful lady. She was dressed neither in gold,
nor silver, nor brocade, but her flowing robes were white
as snow, and she wore a garland of white roses
on her head. The Good King was greatly astonished at
the sight, for his door was locked, and he wondered
how so dazzling a lady could pulsibly enter. But she

(01:06):
soon removed his doubts. I am the fairy, candide, said she,
with a smiling and gracious air. Passing through the wood
where you were hunting. I took a desire to know
if you were as good as men say you are.
I therefore changed myself into a white rabbit and took
refuge in your arms. You saved me, and now I

(01:30):
know that those who are merciful to dumb beasts will
be ten times more so to human beings. You merit
the name your subjects give you. You are the good King.
I thank you for your protection, and shall be always
one of your best friends. You have but to say
what you most desire, and I promise you your wish

(01:51):
shall be granted, Madame, replied the King. If you are
a fairy, you must know without my telling you the
wish of my heart. I have one well beloved son,
Prince Cherrie. Whatever kindly feeling you have towards me, extend
it to him willingly, said Candide. I will make him

(02:15):
the handsomest, richest, or most powerful prince in the world.
Choose whichever you desire for him. None of the three
returned the father. I only wish for him to be good,
the best prince in the world. Of what use would riches,
power or beauty be to him if he were a
bad man. You are right, said the fairy. But I

(02:38):
can not make him good. He must do that himself.
I can only change his external fortunes for his personal character.
The utmost I can promise is to give him good counsel,
reprove him for his faults, and even punish him if
he will not punish himself. You mortals can do the
same with your children. Ah, Yes, said the king, sighing still.

(03:02):
He felt that the kindness of a fairy was something
gained for his son, and died not long after, content
and at peace. Prince Cherry mourned deeply, for he dearly
loved his father, and would have gladly given all his
kingdoms and treasures to keep him in life a little longer.
Two days after the good King was no more, Prince

(03:24):
Cherry was sleeping in his chamber when he saw the
same dazzling vision of the fairy. Candide, I promised your father,
said she to be your best friend, and in pledge
of this, take what I now give you, and she
placed a small gold ring upon his finger. Poor as
it looks, it is more precious than diamonds, for whenever

(03:47):
you do ill, it will prick your finger. If after
that warning you still continue in evil you will lose
my friendship, and I shall become your direst enemy, so saying,
she disappeared, leaving Cherry in such amazement that he would
have believed it all a dream. Save for the ring

(04:09):
on his finger. He was, for a long time so
good that the ring never pricked him at all, and
this made him so cheerful and pleasant in his humor
that every one called him Happy Prince Cherry. But one
unlucky day he was out hunting and found no sport,
which vexed him so much that he showed his ill

(04:30):
temper by his looks and his ways. He fancied his
ring felt very tight and uncomfortable, but as it did
not prick him, he took no heed of this until
re entering his palace, his little pet dog, Bibi, jumped
up upon him and was sharply told to get away.
The creature, accustomed to nothing but caresses, tried to attract

(04:53):
his attention by pulling at his garments, when Prince Cherry
turned and gave it a severe kick. At this moment,
he felt in his finger a prick like a pin.
What nonsense, said he to himself. The fairy must be
making game of me. Why what great evil have I done? I,

(05:14):
the master of a great empire, Cannot I kick my
own dog? A voice replied, or else, Prince Cherry imagined it, No, sire,
the master of a great empire has a right to
do good but not evil. I a fairy, am as
much above you as you are above your dog. I

(05:34):
might punish you, kill you if I chose, but I
prefer leaving you to amend your ways. You have been
guilty of three faults to day, bad temper, passion, cruelty.
Do better tomorrow, the prince promised, and kept his word awhile.
But he had been brought up by a foolish nurse
who indulged him in every way, and was always telling

(05:56):
him that he would be a king one day, when
he might do as he liked in all things. He
found out now that even a king cannot always do that.
It vexed him and made him angry. His ring began
to prick him so often that his little finger was
continually bleeding. He disliked this, as was natural, and soon

(06:17):
began to consider whether it would not be easier to
throw the ring away altogether than to be constantly annoyed
by it. It was such a queer thing for a
king to have always a spot of blood on his finger.
At last, unable to put up with it any more,
he took his ring off and hid it where he
would never see it, and believed himself the happiest of men,

(06:40):
for he could now do exactly what he liked. He
did it, and became every day more and more miserable.
One day he saw a young girl so beautiful that,
being always accustomed to have his own way, he immediately
determined to espouse her. He never doubted that she would

(07:00):
be only too glad to be made a queen, for
she was very poor. But Zelia, that was her name, answered,
to his great astonishment that she would rather not marry him.
Do I displease you, asked the prince, into whose mind
it had never entered that he could displease anybody. Not all,

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my prince, said the honest peasant maiden. You are very handsome,
very charming, but you are not like your father, the
good King. I will not be your queen, for you
will make me miserable. At these words, the prince's love
seemed all to turn to hatred. He gave orders to
his guards to convey Zelia to a prison near the palace,

(07:42):
and then took counsel with his foster brother, the one
of all his ill companions who most incited him to
do wrong. Sir, said the man, if I were in
your Majesty's place, I would never vex myself about a
poor silly girl. Feed her on bread and water till
she comes to her senses, and if she still refuses, you,

(08:03):
let her die in torment. As a warning to your
other subjects, should they venture to dispute your will, you
will be disgraced should you suffer yourself to be conquered
by a simple girl. But said Prince Cherry, shall I
not be disgraced if I harm a creature so perfectly innocent?
No one is innocent who disputes your Majesty's authority, said

(08:26):
the courtier, bowing. And it is better to commit an
injustice than allow it to be supposed. You can ever
be contradicted with impunity. This touched Cherry on his weak point.
His good impulses faded. He resolved once more to ask
Zelia if she would marry him, and if she again refused,
to sell her as a slave. Arrived at the cell

(08:50):
in which she was confined. What was his astonishment to
find her gone, he knew not who to accuse, for
he had kept the key in his pocket the whole time.
At last, the foster brother suggested that the escape of
Zelia might have been contrived by an old man, Suliman
by name, the prince's former tutor, who was the only

(09:12):
one who now ventured to blame him for anything that
he did. Cherry sent immediately and ordered his old friend
to be brought to him, loaded heavily with irons. Then,
full of fury, he went and shut himself up in
his own chamber, where he went raging to and fro
till startled by a noise like a clap of thunder,

(09:35):
the fairy Candide stood before him. Prince said she in
a severe voice. I promised your father to give you
good counsels, and to punish you if you refused to
follow them. My counsels were forgotten, my punishments despised under
the figure of a man, you have been no better

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than the beasts you chase, like a lion in fury,
a wolf in gluttony, a serpent in revenge, and a
bull in brutality. Take therefore, in your new form the
likeness of all these animals. Scarcely had Prince Cherry heard
these words, than, to his horror, he found himself transformed

(10:18):
into what the fairy had named. He was a creature
with the head of a lion, the horns of a bull,
the feet of a wolf, and the tail of a serpent.
At the same time, he felt himself transported to a
distant forest, where, standing on the bank of a stream,
he saw reflected in the water his own frightful shape,

(10:40):
and heard a voice saying, look at thyself, and know
thy soul has become a thousand times uglier even than
thy body. Cherry recognized the voice of Candide, and in
his rage, would have sprung upon her and devoured her.
But he saw nothing, and the same voice said behind him,

(11:01):
ceazed thy feeble fury, and learn to conquer thy pride
by being in submission to thine own subjects. Hearing no more,
he soon quitted the stream, hoping at least to get
rid of the sight of himself. But he had scarcely
gone twenty paces when he tumbled into a pitfall that
was laid to catch bears. The bear hunters, descending from

(11:24):
some trees hard by, caught him, chained him, and only two,
delighted to get hold of such a curious looking animal,
led him along with them to the capital of his
own kingdom. There great rejoicings were taking place, and the
bear hunters, asking what it was all about, were told
that it was because Prince Cherry, the torment of his subjects,

(11:49):
had just been struck dead by a thunderbolt, just punishment
of all his crimes. Four courtiers, his wicked companions, had
wished to divide his thrown between them, but the people
had risen up against them and offered the crown to Solomon,
the old tutor, whom Cherry had ordered to be arrested.

(12:10):
All this the poor monster heard. He even saw Solomon
sitting upon his own throne and trying to calm the
populace by representing to them that it was not certain
Prince Cherry was dead, that he might return one day
to reassume with honor the crown, which Solomon only consented
to wear as a sort of viceroy. I know his heart,

(12:32):
said the honest and faithful old man. It is tainted,
but not corrupt. If alive, he may reform yet and
be all his father over again to you his people,
whom he has caused to suffer so much. These words
touched the poor beast so deeply that he ceased to
beat himself against the iron bars of the cage in

(12:53):
which the hunters carried him about, became gentle as a lamb,
and suffered himself to be taking quietly to woman agerie,
whereward kept all sorts of strange and ferocious animals, a
place which he had himself often visited as a boy,
but never thought he should be shut up there himself. However,

(13:13):
he owned he had deserved it all, and began to
make amends by showing himself very obedient to his keeper.
This man was almost as great a brute as the
animals he had charge of, and when he was in
ill humor, he used to beat them without rhyme or reason.
One day, while he was sleeping, a tiger broke loose
and leaped upon him, eager to devour him. Cherriot first

(13:37):
felt a thrill of pleasure at the thought of being revenged. Then,
seeing how helpless the man was, he wished himself free
that he might defend him. Immediately the doors of his
cage opened, the keeper, waking up, saw the strange beast
leap out, and imagined, of course, that he was going

(13:58):
to be slain at once. Instead he saw the tiger
lying dead, and the strange beast creeping up and laying
itself at his feet to be caressed. But as he
lifted up his hand to stroke it, a voice was
heard saying, good actions never go unrewarded, And instead of

(14:18):
the frightful monster, there crouched on the ground nothing but
a pretty little dog. Cherry, delighted to find himself thus metamorphosed,
caressed the keeper in every possible way, till at last
the man took him up into his arms and carried
him to the king, to whom he related this wonderful
story from beginning to end. The queen wished to have

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the charming little dog, and Cherry would have been exceedingly happy.
Could he have forgotten that he was originally a man
and a king. He was lodged most elegantly, had the
richest of collars to adorn his neck, and heard himself
praised continually, But his beauty rather brought him into trouble.
For the Queen, afraid lest he might grow too large

(15:02):
for a pet, took advice of dog doctors, who ordered
that he should be fed entirely upon bread, and that
very sparingly. So poor Cherry was sometimes nearly starved. One day,
when they gave him his crust for breakfast, a fancy
seized him to go and eat it in the palace garden.

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So he took the bread in his mouth and trotted
away toward a stream which he knew and where he
sometimes stopped to drink. But instead of the stream he
saw a splendid palace, glittering with gold and precious stones.
Entering the doors was a crowd of men and women
magnificently dressed, and within there was singing and dancing, and

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good cheer of all sorts. Yet, however grandly and gayly
the people went in. Cherry noticed that those who came
out were pale, thin, ragged, half naked, covered with wounds
and sores. Some of them drop dead at once. Others
dragged themselves on a little way and then lay down,

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dying of hunger, and vainly begged a morsel of bread
from others who were entering in, who never took the
least notice of them. Cherry perceived one woman who was
trying feebly to gather and eat some green herbs. Poor thing,
he said to himself, I know what it is to
be hungry, and I want my breakfast badly enough. But

(16:27):
still it will not kill me to wait till dinner time,
and my crust may save the life of this poor woman.
So the little dog ran up to her and dropped
his bread at her feet. She picked it up and
ate it with avidity. Soon she looked quite recovered, and Cherry, delighted,
was trotting back again to his kennel when he heard

(16:49):
loud cries and saw a young girl dragged by four
men to the door of the palace, which they were
trying to compel her to enter. Oh how he wished
himself a monster again, as when he slew the tiger,
for the young girl was no other than his beloved Zelia. Alas,
what could a poor little dog do to defend her?

(17:09):
But he ran forward and barked at the men and
bit their heels, until at last they chased him away
with heavy blows. And then he lay down outside the
palace door, determined to watch and see what had become
of Zelia. Conscience pricked him. Now, what thought he, I
am furious against these wicked men who are carrying her away,

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And did I not do the same myself? Did I
not cast her into prison and intend to sell her
as a slave? Who knows how much more wickedness I
might not have done to her and others, if Heaven's
justice had not stopped me in time. While he lay
thinking and repenting, he heard a window open and saw
Zelia throw out of it a bit of dainty meat. Cherry,

(17:54):
who felt hungry enough by this time, was just about
to eat it, when the woman to whom he had
given his rush snatched him up in her arms. Poor
little beast, cried, she patting him. Every bit of food
in that palace is poisoned. You shall not touch a morsel.
And at the same time the voice in the air
repeated again, good actions never go unrewarded, and Cherry found

(18:18):
himself changed into a beautiful little white pigeon. He remembered
with joy that white was the color of the fairy Candide,
and began to hope that she was taking him into
favor again. So he stretched his wings, delighted that he
might now have a chance of approaching his fair Zelia.
He flew up to the palace windows, and, finding one

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of them open, entered and sought everywhere, but he could
not find Zelia. Then, in despair, he flew out again,
resolved to go over the world until he beheld her
once more. He took flight at once and traversed many
countries swiftly as a bird can, but found no trace
of his blok. Loved at length in a desert, sitting

(19:02):
beside an old hermit in his cave, and partaking with him.
His frugal repast, Cherry saw a poor peasant girl and
recognized Zelia. Transported with joy, he flew in, perched on
her shoulder, and expressed his delight and affection by a
thousand caresses. She charmed with the pretty little pigeon, caressed

(19:23):
it in her turn, and promised it that if it
would stay with her, she would love it always. What
have you done, Zelia, said the hermit, smiling, And while
he spoke, the white pigeon vanished, and there stood Prince
Cherry in his own natural form. Your enchantment ended, Prince,
when Zelia promised to love you. Indeed she has loved

(19:45):
you always, but your many faults constrained her to hide
her love. These are now amended, and you may both
live happy if you will, because your union is founded
upon mutual esteem. Cherry and Zelia threw themselves at the
feet of the hermit, whose form also began to change.
His soiled garments became of dazzling whiteness, and his long

(20:08):
beard and withered face grew into the flowing hair and
lovely countenance of the fairy. Candide. Rise up, my children,
said she, I must now transport you to your palace
and restore to Prince Cherry his father's crown, of which
he is now worthy. She had scarcely ceased speaking when

(20:28):
they found themselves in the chamber of Suliman, who, delighted
to find again his beloved pupil and master, willingly resigned
the throne and became the most faithful of his subjects.
King Cherry and Queen Zelia reigned together for many years,
and it is said that the former was so blameless
and strict in all his duties, that though he constantly

(20:52):
wore the ring which Candide had restored to him, it
never once pricked his finger enough to make it bleed.
And of Prince Cherry from the Fairy Book by Miss
Meuloch