La Belle aux cheveux d'or

The Beauty with the Golden Hair

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A princess so beautiful that her golden hair falls to her feet is called la Belle aux cheveux d'or. A young neighbouring king falls in love with her by hearsay and sends an ambassador with a coach, a hundred horses and presents; she refuses, and the king grieves. At his court lives Avenant, handsome and clever, loved by all but the envious. He says that if the king had sent him, she would have come; the envious tell the king he thinks himself handsomer than his master, and the king has him thrown into his great tower to starve. A little fountain at the tower's foot keeps him alive. The king, passing, hears him lament his loyalty, has the door opened, hears that Avenant would only have praised his king, and takes him back. He sends Avenant to the princess; Avenant wants only a good horse and letters. On the way he puts a dying carp back in the river, shoots an eagle chasing a raven, and cuts an owl free from fowlers' nets; each promises to repay him. At the princess's palace, dressed finely, with a little dog, Cabriole, in a basket, he makes his speech; she says she has sworn to hear no proposal until her ring, lost a month ago in the river, is brought back. At dawn Cabriole takes him to the river, and the carp gives him the ring. She then asks for the head of the giant Galifron, who threatens her kingdom; Avenant goes, sings back at the giant's song, and the raven pecks out the giant's eyes so Avenant can kill him. She then asks for water from the fountain of Beauty in the dark grotto, guarded by two fire-breathing dragons; the owl flies in and fills the flask. The princess leaves with Avenant, who stays loyal to his master, and marries the king, but praises Avenant always. The envious make the king jealous; Avenant is chained in the tower, with only Cabriole to comfort him. The queen pleads for him in vain. A maid breaks the flask of Beauty and puts in its place a flask from the king's study, which holds the water used to put criminal lords to death; the king rubs his face with it to look handsomer and dies. Cabriole reminds the queen of Avenant; she frees him, crowns him and marries him.

Retold from Contes des fées (Corbet aîné, Paris 1825): La Belle aux cheveux d'or by Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy (public domain).