Tattercoats
By Valerie Frankel
"Anything, my beloved."
"I know that after I am gone you will marry again, and give this country a new queen. But please, promise me that she will be as beautiful as I am, with long, golden hair."
"Beloved, I could never dream of marrying again. In spite of what my subjects will wish, you are the only one that I could ever love."
The queen again begged for this promise, which the king gave. Then the queen closed her eyes for the last time.
Years passed, and the king stopped grieving and wished to remarry. His servants searched through his kingdom, and through all of the neighboring ones. But nowhere could they find a woman who was as lovely as the queen had been, who also had long golden hair. Finally the king decided that, since his people needed a queen, he would retire, and marry his daughter to a neighboring prince. The two of them could rule the kingdom together. The princess was not too thrilled with the idea.
"You want me to marry who?! That ugly oaf of a prince who doesn’t have the brains to rule a pigpen, let alone a kingdom. Never!" The king’s face hardened.
"I’m afraid my decision is final. You have no choice."
"Well, if I must marry, may I at least choose what I wish for my marriage gowns?"
"Of course, daughter, you need only ask."
"You shall provide whatever I wish, before my wedding day?"
"I have already promised." The princess considered for a moment.
"Then I wish for a three dresses. One must be as gold and glittering as the sun, one as pure and silver as the moon, and one as radiant and sparkling as the stars themselves. And these three dresses must all be packed into a walnut shell. And, along with these, I must have a cloak fashioned from a piece of skin from every beast in the kingdom." If the king couldn’t fulfill her requests, she would have a concrete excuse to escape the marriage.
"Done," said the king. He summoned his most skillful seamstresses to spin the three gowns, which had to be the most dazzling ever made, and yet fine enough to fold into a nutshell. His best hunters were sent to take a piece of skin from each animal in the kingdom. Then he went of to plan the wedding.
At the end of a month, the princess entered her chamber to find a large walnut shell on her bed. Below it lay a fantastic cloak, of many many different skins. Fearfully, she opened the shell and found the three magnificent gowns. It seemed the king was determined that the wedding would go forwards.
That night, the princess dressed herself in the cloak, and smeared her hands and face with soot. She concealed her rich golden hair beneath the hood of the cloak, and took from her room a tiny golden thimble, a gold spool, and a gold ring. Then she took the nutshell with the three dresses and stole away from the palace. She wandered through the forests for days, eating roots and berries. One day, she heard a great sound of hoofbeats. She scrambled up a tree just before a large party of soldiers galloped into the glade. One of them pointed up at her. "Look, it’s a bear."
"Not like any bear I’ve heard of," another soldier said. "It’s some strange magical beast. We’d best stay away."
"I say we shoot it down," said a third.
"No, no!" cried the princess. "I am but a poor child, abandoned by father and mother. Please have mercy and take me back to your town." The soldiers agreed, so the princess climbed down from her tree. They brought her to the palace of the king they served, where she asked for any kind of a job. They finally agreed to let her help the cook.
One night, there was a ball, and the princess begged the cook to let her go watch the dancing.
"Very well, but mind you stay behind a curtain, Tattercoats (for so she was called because of her cloak). I’ll not have the guests seeing your ragged form. And mind you’re back bright and early tomorrow." Tattercoats rushed to her small, barren room, and opened up her walnut shell. She washed away the soot and put on the dress as golden as the sun. Then, looking like the beautiful princess that she was, she went to the ball.
When she entered the room, everyone gasped at her beauty. The king himself came forwards and asked her to dance. As they danced, everyone could see that the king was entranced by her clever and modest conversation. As dawn was just about to break, Tattercoats quickly pulled her hand from the king’s, and raced away. When she was safely in her room, she pulled off the golden dress and folded it into her nutshell. Then she put on her fur cloak, smeared her hands and face with soot, and raced to the kitchen.
When she got there, the cook had crossed arms and a scowl on her face. "It’s about time you got here," she grumbled. That evening, Tattercoats asked for permission to make the king’s soup. The cook agreed, since Tattercoats was a skilled cook. After cooking the soup, Tattercoats dropped the thimble into the king’s bowl, then had the king’s servant carry it to the table.
When the king finished his soup, he found the golden thimble at the bottom of his bowl. He sent for the cook. "Who made this soup?" he asked.
"I did, sire," the cook responded, knees knocking against one another.
"That is not true. This soup tastes different than yours usually does. I must see the person who made this."
So Tattercoats came before the king and curtsied meekly. "Who are you?" he asked.
"A poor creature abandoned by father and mother," was all she said. So the king let her go back to the kitchen, where Tattercoats was scolded by the cook. "Likely you dropped one of your hairs in the bowl," she said. "See if I’ll ever let you make the soup again."
A few days later, there was another ball, and again Tattercoats was allowed to watch if she stayed out of sight. She scampered upstairs and washed her hands and face, then put on her dress as silver as the moon. She gracefully made her way into the ballroom. When the king saw her, he immediately claimed her as his partner, and they danced the night away. This time, Tattercoats couldn’t help noticing how handsome and well mannered the king seemed.
When dawn came, she ran from the ballroom and hurried back to her room, where she again disguised herself as Tattercoats. After being scolded by the cook, she finally got permission to make the king’s soup once more. This time she dropped her golden spool into the broth. Again the king sent for her after sending for the cook, and again Tattercoats assured him that she was a poor orphan.
The third night, Tattercoats wore her gown that was as beautiful and glittering as the stars themselves. Her eyes met the king’s across the ballroom, and they immediately moved towards each other and danced the night away. This time, Tattercoats was so overwhelmed with love for the king that she lost all sense of time. As dawn slowly appeared, rosy outside the ballroom windows, Tattercoats dashed from the king’s arms, to the safety of her room. She didn’t notice that this time the king had slipped a golden ring onto her finger. She had no time to change before she was expected in the kitchen, so she threw her fur cloak directly over her sparkling dress and pulled her hood up close, rather than covering herself with soot. She endured a well deserved scolding from the cook, and dropped her own golden ring into the king’s soup, still not noticing the one he had placed on her finger.
When the king summoned her, the first thing he noticed was the ring on her finger. He took her by the hand and refused to let go. Blushing hotly, she struggled to leave, and the hood fell back from her magnificent gleaming hair. The king pulled back the cloak to reveal her gown, which sparkled like the stars and he knew that she was the princess that he sought. They soon were married, and lived very happily after.
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