The Hazlehurst signal., 1884-01-24
ORIGIN OF THE PnIlOPENA.

ORi6lN VI IHE FHii.OfENA.
This is the story of beautiful Ger
man Princess who was very fond of al
monds, and would not marry. In order
tocarry out these intentions she hit upon
the following plan: When n Prince pre-
scntcd himself as n suiior for her hand
(and lcgions of Princes camc) she
would offer him an almond with twin
kernels. The Prince had to eat one of
the kernels and size would eat the other.
"Now." she would say. "lf your high
ness can indu'c mo TO accept any thing
out Of your hands without my saying i
remember hall marry YOU; but If |
can induce Your highncSS to accept any
thing from NV hands without Your say
ing the saving words, then your Prince
ly head shall be- clean Shavcn. and you
shall be- dismissed forthwith from my
dominion"
There was trick in this proposal,
for court etiquette forbade any one
under penalty of dca,h-to present any
object dircctly to the beautiful Princess.
The object had To bc handed first Ia the
maid of honor. who would then hand IL
herself ,o her royal mistress. But. ON
the other hand. il the Princess chose 10
take herself any object, or hand IL To
any one. who could forbid IL? Thus
the poor su,tors had miserable time
of u Try - hard rs they would To
tempt the Princess to accept any thing
from their hands. the maid Of honor
was sure to step in and spoil their very
best laid plans. Should tho Princess,
ON her side. wish To get rid of suitor.
she had only to be gracious To him and
bcwitch him with her beauty and kind
nesS. She would offer him seat by
her side, and picking up something
lyin. near her, n poncgranatc or an
cgg, she would present il, with n sweet
smile. and whisper softly: "kccp this
in memory of me- KS soon.
however, rs the Prince, intoxicated
with delight. would take the object in
his hands, and whilst ready. perhaps.
to say the saving words, all ut once
would the object burst open, and ont of
il would jump frog, or hornet or bat.
AMI lly in his face. causing him 50 much
surprise and CONSERVATION that he
would FORGET 10 Say the words. Ills
head would bc shaved at once. and oil
hc would he dismissed ignominiouSly.
THIS had zone on for several years,
and all the palaces Of the land were
flied with young Princes wearing wigs
(thc fashion oi wearing wigs at court
dates thcrcfrom) when foreign Prince,
travelling incognito. happened 10 see
this beautiful almond Princess. He
found her beauty equal 10 her fame, and
being determined To win her for him
self. he soon discovered the rusc which
she had employed hitherto. Now. this
Prince, mOrp fortunate than the former
suitors. had taliSman of his own, in
the shape Of an apple given him by an
old wizard, n friend o; his family, II
in case Of great difficulty he would
smell the apple. n bright thought would
rush TO his mind, and u way 10 found
out If the Difficulty. The ialisman
operated once year only. The occur
renee. however. of one hlea in every
twelve months had properly ensured
To the Prince fame for n superior
mind amongst all the Kings OF his ac-
quainlancc. Tho time for using the
talisman having come round again, he
smclt the apple and this Is the idea which
occurred To him: "lf YOU are TO win
in this game OF giving aad taking, you
must never, under any circumstances,
either present any thing to the Princess
or accept any thing from her." He.
therefore, had his hands firmly tied in
his belt and accompanied by his
marshal he proceeded To the palace Of
the Princess where he bravcly an
nounccd himself ready TO lose his hair
and his life for the chance of winning
such Il priceless treasure. The Princess
was very much pleased with the
Princes appearance and with his
speech. and she ordered Mt once that n
double almond be- brought in. She ate
one of the kernels and presented the
other TO the Prince. At once the
marshal stopped up, took the almond
from her hands and placed it in the
Princes mouth.
The Princess wondered and asked
what this meant; also, why he always
carried his hands in his belt. The
Prince answered. that, alas! at his
court tho etiquette was even more Sc
we're than ut her own. He was not per-
mittcd to take or give any thing with
his hands. but only with his feet and
head. and that merely in cases of ex-
treme urgency. At this the Princess
laughed and said: 'In this case we can
not even engage our forces in the con.
inc contest" The Prince shrugged
his shoulders and replied: "Not unless
YOU condescend 10 accept something
from my boots" THAT must never
be-" exclaimed the whole court with
high indignation. "But why did you
come hereP" added the Princess, an
grily. II came because you are very
beautiful" replied the Prince. gently;
sand II i may not win you, shall shll
have the happiness Of feeding my eyes
upon your beauty" III can have no
objection to that, rejoined the Prin-
cess. Modified. 81.
So the Prince remained NJ the Prin-
cess court and pleased her more and
more every day. But her desire TO win
was so great that she would try every
means in her power to entice him TO
withdraw his hands from his belt and