He took the first path he could find, and after walking for a long time he fancied he saw a faint light, and began to hope that he was coming to some cottage where he might find shelter for the night. At length, guided by the light, he reached the door of the most splendid castle he could have imagined. This door was of gold covered with carbuncles, and it was the pure red light which shone from them that had shown him the way through the forest. The walls were of the finest porcelain in all the most delicate colors, and the Prince saw that all the stories he had ever read were pictured upon them; but as he was terribly wet, and the rain still fell in torrents, he could not stay to look about any more, but came back to the golden door.
There he saw a deer’s foot hanging by a chain of diamonds, and he began to wonder who could live in this magnificent castle. He pulled the deer’s foot, and immediately a silver bell sounded and the door flew open. He entered a hall paved with lapis-lazuli. He went toward a door of coral, which opened of its own accord, and he found himself in a vast hall of mother-of-pearl, out of which opened a number of other rooms, glittering with thousands of lights, and full of such beautiful pictures and precious things that the Prince felt quite bewildered.
Excerpt From: The White Cat – by Madame d’Aulnoy published in Andrew Lang’s “The Blue Fairy Book.”
This is my dream house! 😍
It does sound beautiful. I love Andrew Lang. If I were younger, I’d research and write a dissertation-length piece comparing Lang’s thoughts on fairy tales to Tolkien’s. In the Intro to Blue Fairy Books he explicitly states that fairy tales were for children. Tolkien doesn’t think this was always the case.
I just recently read Tolkien’s essay and I agree with him. Fairy tales are for everyone!