Barbour County index., 1884-01-25
ORIGIN or THE PHILOPENA.

"
the following plan When u Prncc pre-
scntcd himself ~ ~ui or for her hanI
Cant lcgiOns Of Princes camc) She
would otter him an almond with twin
Kernels. The Prince had To cat one Of
the kernels and she would eat the other.
'Now.' she would say. "lf your hioh-
h's' can indu'c me to accept any thing
our OF your hands without my saving i
remember, lshsh marry YOU: but II
can induce NG1r highncss t. accept any
thing from my hands without YOUR say
iinI thc saving words. then YOUR Prince
~ head shall hc clean ,haycn. aud you
shall hc dismissed forthwith from nv
dOTiniou."
There WIS n trick IN this proposal.
Tor court etiquette furhad" any one -
under penalty Of death 20 present any
object directly Ia tho beautiful Princess
The object had ~ bp handed first Ia the
maid 0l honor. who would then hand II
herself tu he. ruyal mi-trr q. But. ON
the other hand. u the Princess chose 1,
TAKE brrsClf any object. or hand II In
any one, who could forbid n2 Tins
thc poor su tors had "A miserable time
pt it Try ~ hard ~ thcv would to
tempt The Princess tp accent any tbipv
from their hands. the mad nf honor
was SURE to step in und spoil their very
1cst laid plans. Should tho Princes
pn her side. wish tO ret rid 0f a suitor
-he had only to h. gracious to him and
IcWitch him with her beauty and kind
ness. She would olcr him seat bv
her side, and picking up something
lylng near her. pOmcgrauatc or am
'gg. sho would present 10, with q sweet
smile AMI whisper softly: "Keep thi,
IN memory at mr. A. soon.
however. ~ the Prince. intoxicated
with delight. would take the object i'm
MS hands, and whilst ready. perhaps.
10 say The saving words. all at once
would the object burst open. and out of
a would jump irug. or hornet or bat.
AMI ty I'm his face. causing him 80 much
surprise aud CONSERVATION that he
would forget 10 .ay She words. Ills
hCad would be- shaved M once. and on
ne would lc dismissed iUuominiously.
p his had gone ON for several years.
and all the palaces of the land were
hllrd with Young Princes wearing wigs
Vhr fashion Ot wearing wiGs at court
uatcs t1crcirum) when a foreign Prince.
trgVrlng inrognito. happened to see
lhlS beautiful almond Princess. lie
tound her beauty equal 10 her fame, and
hring determined tO win her ior him
sell. he So Il scuvcrei the ruse which
she had employed hitherto. Now. this
irinrc, more Fortunate than the former
Stitors. had q tal.,mau of hi- own. i'm
the shape ut an apple given him bv an
old Witaid. "a friend of 10 family ii
in ease ut great ditlicuity hc would
smell the apple. rilht thcught would
rush to his mind. and WAY - found
out ot the diilicu ~. The tali,man
operated once year only. Toe occur
renee. however. of ono i1ca IN every
twelve month, had prn. crly en- .urcd
To- the Prince fame for u superi.r
mind umungs' all the kiug- og his A.
puainiancc. The time iur using tie
tai smau having come round again. ne
smelt ihc apple and this the iicl which
occurred tu him; Iii Won arr to win
ia this game ot nivinv aai fakinv. Won
must never dudvr ANY circumstances.
either present any thing to the Princess
Or accept any thing from her. lie.
therefore. bad hi. hand. firmly tied in
his belt and accompanied hv a..
marshal hc prucyC lcd 90 tn Inlacr of
the Princess where he hravclv an
nouncrl himself ready tu lose HI hair
AMI his life r. th' Cuauc' of winuinv
such u priceless treasure. The Princess
was very much pleased with the
Irincc's appearance AMI with his
speech, and She ordered ~ once that
double almotd Dee brought in She ate
one of 'hc Kernels and presented the
other Co the Prince. At once The
marshal stepped up. took the almond
from her hand, and patcd 10 in the
FrucCs mouth.
The Prnccss wondered aud asked
what this M ant; as. why be- alway.
carried his hand, la hi, belt. E.rc
Prince answered that. alas, M his
court the etiquette wa. even more ~c-
we're than 40 her own. lie was not pcr-
mittcd to take or give any thing with
his hands. bat only with Dis feet and
head. and that merely in a.rs of cN-
IRENE urgency. 80 This the rructss
laughed uud suid. In tbs ease We can
not even engage uur furvr~ in the cn.i-
ing contest TIE lrincc shrugged
hi, shoulders and replied. "Not unlcss
You conde,ccud to Accept something
from my boots. That must never
De. exclaimed the whole court with
high Indignation. "But why lid Won
come hcre?' added the Princess. an
grily. Il came because yut arr very
beautiful. replied the lrincr. gently.
"and u | may not win Nuu. shall still
have the Happiness 1T feeding my eyes
upon your beauty" I'll can have mo-
objection to that, rc oinc,L the Prin-
cess. mollilicd
so the Prince roma ned 40 the Prin-
cess court and pleased her more and
moro every day. But her desire to win
was 80 great that ,hc would trv every
means Gin her power To enticc him to
withdraw his han is from his belt and
take something from her. She re-
manned constantly with him. engaged
in sweetest talks. and made him pres
ents Of flowers. bOnbons. scent.bottles.
and. finally, she even gave him her
favorite bracelet Time and again the
Prince would feel n twitching i'm his
hands, but the resistance offered by the
belt would bring him back 10 his senses.
Then he would nod To his marshal. who
would come and gather up all the pretty
presents, saying. We remember
AZ last the Princess grew tired of this
indecision, and one day she exclaimed
suddenly; My handkerchief. will not
your highness pick Il up for me?' The
Prince smilingly caught the handker-
chief on the tipsof his boot and waved IL
carelessly towards her. The Princess
stopped down. caught the handkerchief
with her hands, and cried out angrily:
IL remember"
A whole year passed away in this
manner, and the Princess thought: this
can not always 90 ON so. and must put
on end TO il. one way or the other.n So
she 81 q 10 the Prince; Il have the most
beautiful garden In the world, and !
VIII show y 70 yoa tomorrow" The