Stories from the Faerie Queen, Told to the Children

ame into the castle of an English king. She saw a beautiful baby-boy, the king's little son, lying asl

ot be troubled to take care of him. So she la

lifted the baby up off the cold brown earth and carried him home to his co

not as strong as he was. So he went to the court of the Faerie Queen, and she took him for one of her knights. She

t it was George of the Red Cross who left the fa

r the wicked magician had made him think that Una was false and bad. With a heavy heart he

ul lady in red robes that sparkled with jewels. The lady's horse w

a wicked witch, who was never so happy as when

the knight with whom she rode, 'Here c

her. Then, with their swords they cut and thrust and hacked. The knight cut through a piece of George's helmet by the fury of one blow,

e witch pretended to cry bitterly. She told him she did not cry for sorrow that the knight was dead, but only because she was frig

nd splendid jewels, and pretended so well to be sim

id, 'I will take care of

, but rode away happily with the wi

sun had grown very hot, they rest

trembled as if the wind was blowing on them. George thought he would make a garland of these fresh leaves to put on Fidessa's

t the trees were not really trees, but a knight and a la

would find her out. But George was too simple and too true to think that beautiful Fidessa could be so wi

ried away from the plac

h her into the palace, and while they stayed there she got some of the wicked knights of the palace to fight with George and t

she was away, Una's dwarf, who had never le

und many knights, and kings, and lad

a prisoner and cast into the dungeon if he stayed longer in the enchanted palace, rode awa

nd him gone, she rode after h

side of a sparkling fountain. He was peacefully listening to the sweet song of b

persuaded him to think that she loved him v

t all his strength would leave him. So she made George lie down on the sandy gravel and d

lled out of the earth by the roots. When he saw George he rushed at him like an earthquake, and smote him such a mighty blow that George fell fainting to the grou

shes and seen all that happened, ran

h, made friends with the gia

her head. And to make people more afraid of her than they were already, he gave

heavy iron bands, and was given scarcely anything to eat or to drink. His face grew white and thin, and his eyes grew hollow. His

the dungeon, feebly moaning and l

im, and before George could speak to him, there ran into the d

her knight again, and for sorrow

saved him, had cut off the giant's head, and slain

golden crown and all her sparkling jewels. And all her beauty faded awa

ow she could ever have made him forget Una, or have m

und out, ran away and hid herself i

e child who has been ill, to an old house not far away fro

good and beautiful daughters, and they helped

and the dainty food they gave him, those ladies of the

, and to love nothing that was not wholly good. He learned, too, not to hate any one, no

use of Holiness to a place where an old hermit stayed,

fairy had stolen him from his father's castle when he was a baby. And although George loved his Faer

iful and good, one day he should be called a saint. And he would be the saint who be

ge shalt th

erry England, the

sharp sword and glittering spear buckled on again, ride away once

r the dragon had laid it all waste, but from far a

he had looked for Una to come back with a knight to slay the dragon. When he saw Una and George crossing the plain, he ran an

. It filled all the air and shook the ground like an earthquake. It came

owards it, it roused itself joyfully up to come an

nce she could see the fight, and where she would be ou

. It had scales all over it that shone like brass, and that were as strong as steel. Its wings were like big sails, and when it flapped them and clashed its scales, the sound was like the sound of a great army fighting. Its long tail was spotted red and blac

. The spear glanced off from its ugly, speckled breast, but the dragon, furious at the hard thrust that George had given him, lashed out with its

the plain it flew, then, finding them heavy, it dropped them on the ground. As it did this, George thrust with his spear under the dragon's stretched-out wing,

ic horse, in its struggles to get free, threw George on the ground amongst the horrible blood. But George sprang to his feet, and with his sharp sword struck again and again at the dragon's hea

le land shook, and it sent out from its inside such blazing flames that Georg

his faintness, and smiting him a tremendous blow with its great tail, it threw him down, and George fell backwards into a

out of the water even fresher and stronger t

s, and thought that George must be a

ts head so fiercely with his sword, which still drip

right through George's shield, and through his armour, and firmly stuck in his shoulder. Though George was faint wit

and tried to drag it from him. Again and again, and yet again, George struck at it with his sword. At last he hit the joint a

es and smoke that pour out of a burning mountain. All the sky was darkened, and as George shrank bac

he tree there flowed a little stream of sweet balm that could cure even deadly wounds and make wea

ad, and Una, on the hillside, waited

dragon dared not come near him, but it th

er the land, George arose from his sleep. His wounds were a

oat and wounded it so terribly that it rolled over like a huge mountain in an earthquake. The ground shook

ut when the last of the black smoke had cleared away, and the monster lay

dragon fall, and so the king had the gates of brass

their people came out to greet George and Una, and to thank Geo

d little boy took hold of its claws, his mother screamed with fright, and dragged him back. So long had they bee

n was dea

ng of Una and George, the Red Cross Knight, nor

silk, yet like silver and silk it shone and glistened. Her golden hair hu

s nothing but happiness in the land on the day