Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
A Little Princess
The story of Sara, who was always a princess at heart
Also in: Mala princesa (Slovenian) · Malá princezná (Slovak)
Sara lived with her papa in faraway India, where the sun shines all year long. One day he took her across the sea to great grey London, to a school for well-bred little girls. "Goodbye, my little princess," he said, and hugged her for a long, long while. "When things are hard, tell yourself stories — I shall always be in them." Sara nodded and did not cry. Princesses don't cry just like that.
1
At school Sara soon became the finest storyteller for miles around. In the evenings the girls gathered about her like sparrows round a crumb. Sara told of mermaids, of enchanted castles, of lands where the flowers smell of honey. "Another! Just one more!" they begged. When Sara was telling a story, every heart in the room grew warm — that was her magic.
2
Before he left, Papa bought her a wonderful doll with golden curls and a lace dress. Sara named her Emily. Every evening she told her what had been lovely that day and what had been hard. "You always listen to me," she whispered. "Dolls don't talk, but they understand everything." Emily looked back with kind eyes, as if she truly understood every word.
3
The school was run by Miss Minchin — tall, grey and cold as a winter windowpane. In front of guests she smiled sweetly at Sara, for Sara was her richest pupil. But her eyes never smiled at all. Sara saw it perfectly well, and every time she nodded politely all the same. "A princess is kind even to those who are not kind to her," she told herself.
4
On Sara's birthday there was a grand party at the school: cake, presents and laughter. In the middle of it Miss Minchin came in with a letter in her hand. Her face was grey as ashes. Sara's papa had died far away at sea, and all his fortune had sunk with him. The party was over. Sara stood quite still, holding Emily tight.
5
"You have nothing now," said Miss Minchin. "From today you shall work for your bread." They took away Sara's pretty dresses and gave her a thin black one that was too small. Her new room was a cold little attic where the wind whistled through the cracks. But that evening, hugging Emily, she whispered: "Outside I am poor. But in my heart I am still a princess."
6
From morning till night Sara carried buckets, scrubbed pots and ran errands. Becky worked in the kitchen too — a round-cheeked girl who slept in the attic next door. In the evening they huddled under one blanket and Sara told stories. "When you tell them," sighed Becky, "I forget that I'm cold and that I'm hungry."
7
One bitter day Sara found a coin on the pavement. At the baker's it bought six warm buns. But by the door sat a girl in a torn dress, hungrier and colder than she was. Sara gave her five buns and kept only one. "Why?" asked the girl. "Because I am a princess," said Sara quietly. "And princesses share."
8
A gentleman from India moved into the house right beside the school. With him came his servant Ram Dass and a small brown monkey in a red jacket. The monkey loved climbing over the roofs, and one evening he peeped in at Sara's skylight. For the first time in ages Sara laughed out loud. After that he visited often — and the cold attic was not so lonely any more.
9
One night Sara fell asleep hungry and frozen. When she opened her eyes she could not believe it: a warm fire burned in the grate, a hot supper waited on the little table, and the bed was spread with silk quilts of gold and ruby. "Am I dreaming?" she whispered. She was not. Somebody had thought of her. Sara and Becky ate and laughed till midnight — just like a fairy tale.
10
One morning Sara found the monkey sitting on her bed! He had escaped over the roof in the night and hidden from the cold in her little room. "You little runaway," laughed Sara. She wrapped him in her shawl and carried him back to the house next door, so nobody would miss him. But she did not know that behind those tall doors waited the greatest surprise of her life.
11
In a warm room by the fire sat an ill gentleman with kind eyes. When Sara spoke of India and of her papa, he gave a start. "What is your name?" — "Sara." The gentleman was Papa's dearest friend! For two years he had searched every city for her — and all that time she had been living right beside him. Papa's fortune was safe, and every penny of it was Sara's. And the warm attic? That had been him all along, with Ram Dass and the little monkey.
12
Sara left Miss Minchin's school for good — with her head high, as befits a princess. Now she lived with her papa's friend, who loved her as his own daughter, and Becky went with her. And the hungry girl from outside the bakery got a warm corner at the baker's and fresh bread every day. For Sara had not forgotten: a true princess shares — even when she has everything.
13The End
