Olive Beaupré Miller

Gigi and the Magic Ring

"I'll make you rich and happy yet," said Gigi (Jeejee) to his mother. "But first I must out to the world. Maria, my sister, will take care of you while I am gone; and remember if you hear nothing of me for a time, no news is good news."

So off he went; and soon he had to pass through a town. Do you think he lost sight of poor folks there? Not a bit of it! The very first person he set eyes on was an old woman bending under the weight of a heavy oil jar she was carrying. "I wouldn't let my old grandmother carry that," said Gigi. "Here!" he cried, "give it to me." And he took the jar from her, swung it upon his shoulder, and bore it up the steep street at the top of which she lived, and set it down in her kitchen.

"Thank you, my fine young man," said the old woman, "and may good luck go with you! Will you sit down and rest a while? My place is poor, but you are right welcome."

"I have a long way before me," replied Gigi, "but a seat in your chimney corner for a minute or two I will not refuse." And he sat down and played with the dog and cat that lay before the fire.

"And where are you going, my fine young man?"

"Into the world," he answered.

"A place full of wonders, to be sure, but the road will be a bit lonesome for you. Have you no friend to go along with you?"

"No," replied Gigi.

"Then what do you say to taking my dog and cat? They are wiser than their kind, and their company might hearten you on the road."

"That would it now," said the young man. "Fine company they would be! Thank you, good mistress."

"Three mouths to feed instead of one, 'tis true," she went on; "and sometimes the tables of the world are poorly spread. But should that happen, I have something here will help you." She went to a cupboard and brought out a ring.

"Take this," she said, "and when you want anything very much, wear it on your finger and turn it about. Then you'll see what you'll see! Never lose it or give it away, or let it be stolen or changed. For then you will be worse off than ever, and the ring might get into bad hands."

"It is too much," said Gigi politely. He knew nothing at all about jewelry and thought it was probably a poor kind of thing; but to accept it seemed like robbing a poor old woman. However, she insisted, and when he bade her good-bye the ring was in his pocket. Soon he had forgotten all about it. The dog and the cat were running along or capering about him in wild glee. When they had left the town miles behind them, the night clouds began to gather, and Gigi looked out for a place to sleep. There were no houses in sight, but there was a thick wood.

"We can enter here without rapping at any man's door," said Gigi. So they made the wood their inn and all three snuggled down together and tried to go to sleep. But sleep was impossible to Gigi. He was too hungry.

"This would be the best place in all the world," he said, "if only there was something to eat. I wish—oh, I wish a table could be set before me now, with a fine supper on it." His fingers had been playing with the ring in his pocket. Now he put it on, and he was twisting and turning it about, when all at once his wish came true! It was not too dark but that he could see close by him a table spread with a fine cloth, with dishes, forks, knives and spoons, and hot, smoking roast duck on it, and delicious fruit, and more things than he had ever had for supper before.

"Oh-h-h!" he said. The dog and the cat sat up, their noses in the air. It wasn't real, of course. It couldn't be. He touched it. It was real. He smelt it. The dog and cat sniffed too and grew excited. He tasted. Oh, now there was no doubt about it! Everything was real—and so good! He ate and he drank, and the dog and cat ate along with him; and they were all three as merry as possible over their banquet in the woods.

"The old woman must have been a fairy," he said to himself. That was a ring indeed she had given him. What should he wish for next? He thought of hundreds of things—gold and silver, fine clothes for himself and his mother and Maria, horses and carriages, guns and swords; but the wishes came tumbling on top of each other, head over heels and all fell in a jumbled heap.

"How stupid I am," said Gigi, "I can't imagine what I wish for most. Well, I've often heard that people lose their heads when good luck comes their way; but I'd like to keep mine on my shoulders." Then he lay down again on the bed of leaves, without wishing for anything, and the dog was at his head and the cat at his feet; and they all fell fast asleep.

He woke next morning early, and was up and astir, with the dog and the cat at his heels; and everything about him shone and sang. There was nothing so fine in all the world as stepping out into the fresh morning world. Was he wishing for horses and carriages? He laughed at the idea. Two good legs and a sapling from the wood where he had slept, were better than the King's state coach. Up hill and down dale, through wood and field, by stream and meadow he went, easily, cheerily, and his two good friends were the best of company.

At last he came to a fine palace built on the roadside; and out of an upper window looked a beautiful maiden, and she smiled as Gigi passed below.

"Oh, I could look at her all day long!" he said. "But she would never speak to a poor boy like me," he sighed. "Oh, I wish—;" and as he said the word, he remembered he could have whatever he wanted in the world. The ring was on his finger on the instant; and he turned it about as he said, "I want a fine mansion, but much finer it must be than the one that lovely girl is looking out of. And I want it just opposite hers."

In a twinkling he stood, no longer in the open road, but in a great palace, more splendid than any he had ever seen; and when he looked out at the window, there was a maiden at the window opposite, and smiling, quite plainly smiling at him. Yet he was still Gigi, in his old clothes with the dust of the road on them; and his dog and his cat were there at his heels. Well, decidedly it was a ring worth having! He wished for fine clothes. They were on his back. For servants. They came at his call. For meat and drink. He did not know the names of all the fine things that were set before him.

"Perhaps she would speak to me now," he said. There was no doubt about that. The very next morning her father and mother came and called on him, and said they wished to make the acquaintance of their new neighbor, who was evidently an eminent gentleman. They could hardly take their eyes off his fine furniture, his fine clothes, and the gold chain he wore about his neck. They flattered him a great deal; and Gigi thought they were very amiable people indeed.

Next day he returned their call, and received a cordial welcome. He was presented to their only daughter, Maliarda, and the two young people quickly made friends. Before the day was over Gigi had asked her hand in marriage, and her parents, who thought he must be at least a great prince, or favored by an enchanter, were only too glad to consent. They thought Gigi would be very useful to them.

Now, on the eve of the wedding-day they all paid a visit to Gigi, and while they talked together, Maliarda asked him to tell her how it came about that his splendid house had sprung up so suddenly. He was the simplest, truthfullest lad in the world; and so he told her all about his journeying into the world, his meeting with the old woman, her present of the ring, and everything that followed.

"And do you keep that precious ring always on your finger?" she asked.

"Always!" he replied. "Night and day, waking and sleeping."

She whispered the secret to her mother. When they were having supper, the mother poured something from a phial into Gigi's wine while his back was turned, and into the plates of his dog and cat under the table. It was a sleep-drink she had given them; and soon after Gigi's eyes began to close, and the cat and dog slept and snored.

"Your lord is weary after hunting," said the father to the servant who was waiting. "Carry him to that couch; and we will take our leave." Then he called all the servants together and said, "Come to my house. I have your master's orders to instruct you in your duties tomorrow." And they followed him out of the palace. But Maliarda stayed behind a moment; going up to Gigi, as he lay in a deep sleep, she took the ring from his finger and fled. His dog and cat were too drowsy to warn him.

Once out of the house, she put the ring on her finger, and as she turned it, she said, "I wish that lord Gigi's palace be moved to the highest, steepest, snowiest peak of yonder mountain range!" And on the instant the palace was removed to where she had decreed. Maliarda ran back to her parents' house and told what had happened. They feigned surprise, and turning to the servants, informed them of the vanishing of their master's house, and said, "Your master must have been an evil magician. He has played a cruel trick on you. What an escape our daughter has had!" Then they gave the servants money and dismissed them. When Gigi awoke next morning he was shivering and shaking. Where was he? In his own palace, though evidently he had not gone to bed. And there were his two friends the dog and the cat. But why was he so cold? He got up, walked to the window, and looked out, expecting to see the palace of his neighbors, and perhaps thinking to catch a glimpse of Maliarda. This was his wedding day! But all familiar things had vanished, and he only saw mountain peaks and snow and sky. What did it mean? He rang the bell violently. No one answered. He called for his valet, for his butler, for his cook, for his coachman. Nobody came. The house was quite still. He searched upstairs and downstairs, and found he was alone in his palace save for the dog and cat, and on the top of the highest mountain peak. Beneath him could be seen only ice, snow, and terrible precipices!

"Who has done this to me?" he cried. "Have I an enemy? Well, what does it matter? I have only to wish myself down and turn my ring." But his ring was gone! Who was the thief? He tried to recall what had happened. He had been very sleepy at supper time. He did not remember getting up from the table or bidding his guests good-night. And only one person knew the value of the ring—! Oh, could his beautiful Maliarda be a traitor?

Impossible to get down the mountain. There was no path; and if he tried to make one, he would perish in the snow, or roll over into some terrible precipice. And there was not two days' food in all the palace!

Now the dog and the cat were sorely troubled at their master's sadness, and soon they found out the reason of it. "Have patience, dear master," they said. "Where a man dare not walk, we can. Give us a day, and see if we do not get back your ring."

"You are my only hope," answered Gigi. He fed them well, and then opened the door for them. So the dog and cat set off, and they slipped, and slid, and crawled, and hung on, and climbed and sprang, and helped each other, and never stopped till they were down on the green plain. There they came to a river. The cat sat on the dog's back, and the dog swam across.

At last they came to the palace of the faithless Maliarda. By this time it was night, and the household were all in bed and asleep. Of course all doors and windows were barred; but in the back door was a little cat-hole; and they squeezed through one after the other. Then said the cat to the dog, "Stay you here and keep guard. I will go upstairs and see what can be done." She slipped up and went to the door of Maliarda's room. But the door was shut, and there was no little hole to creep through. The cat sat down and thought and thought; and as she sat there thinking, a little mouse ran across the floor. The cat smelt her in the dark, put out a paw and caught her. What a delicious mouthful she would be! But the mouse squeaked out piteously, and begged that her life might be saved. "Very well," said the cat; "but in return you must promise to gnaw a hole in that door opposite, for I have business inside."

The mouse began to gnaw; and she gnawed as hard as she could. She gnawed and she gnawed till all her teeth were broken; and still the hole was so little she couldn't get in herself, let alone the cat.

"Have you any young ones?" said the cat to the mouse. "Oh yes, I have seven or eight, the finest little family ever you saw."

"Bring me the littlest, then." And the mouse ran away, and came back with a tiny mite of a mousikin. Then said the cat to the little mousikin, "Now be quick and clever and you'll save your mother's life. Get in through that hole; creep into the lady's bed, and take off the ring from her finger. If you can't get it, bite her finger softly, and she'll take off the ring herself without waking. Then bring it to me."

Mousikin ran in, but in a minute she was back again.

"The lady has no ring on her finger," she cheeped.

"Then it is in her mouth. Go again; creep into her bed; hit her nose with your tail. She will open her mouth and the ring will drop out. Bring it here to me, and you'll have saved your mother's life."

Off ran mousikin, and in another minute she was back with the ring. The mice scurried back to their holes. The cat slipped down the stairs, made a sign to the dog, and they both crept out through the hole in the back door.

"Oh, how pleased our master will be," said the cat. But the dog was not in a good humor. He was the bigger, and he would have liked to have found the ring and carried it back to Gigi himself. So when they came once more to the river, he said, "If you give me the ring, I'll carry you across." But the cat refused. They quarrelled, and the ring fell into the river. On the instant a fish snapped at it as if it had been a pretty fly. But the dog jumped in, and dived for the fish, caught it and got the ring from its mouth. Then he said to the cat in a grand manner, "Jump on my back, pussy, and I will carry you across." The cat obeyed, but very sulkily; and soon they were on the other side. Not a word did they say to each other that was not angry and quarrelsome all the way up the mountain. The sun had risen by the time they reached the top; and there was their master waiting for them at the palace door.

"Have you the ring?" he cried. And the dog dropped it at his feet.

"But 'twas I got it back. By my cleverness, all alone, I got it back," cried the cat.

"How could you ever have reached the place at all had I not carried you over the river?" roared the dog.

"But 'twas I caught the mouse that gnawed the hole—!"

And the dog broke in growling, "It was the least you could do after the trouble I took."

"Dear friends! dear friends!" said Gigi, "do not quarrel! You have both been brave and clever and faithful. You have saved my life between you. I love one as much as the other." And with one hand he caressed the dog, and with the other the cat, and took them into the palace and fed them both. Then they were both the best of friends again, and told their master all their adventures by the way. "Now," said Gigi, "we'll say good-bye to this mountain." He put the ring on his finger, turned it and said, "I wish my palace to descend to the plain and the palace of the faithless Maliarda and her parents to be up here among the ice and snow!"

Next moment both wishes were fulfilled. He was down in the green and flowering plain; and the wicked three in their palace were up on the freezing mountain-top.

Did they never get down any more? Well, I have heard that Gigi had a little mercy on them after some days of anger. He turned his ring, and wished the faithless three half-way down, whence they could scramble to the level, where trees grew and where there were some scattered huts. But their palace was left up on the top; and much good did it do them there! He never saw them again.

As for Gigi, he soon tired of his fine palace; and when a year and a day had passed from the time he left home, he said to his trusty companions, "Come, my friends, we'll take to the road again. I have a longing to see my mother and my sister Maria." So he turned back to his own village. On his way he passed through the town where he had met the old woman who had given him the ring, but he could not find her nor hear any news of her. So he hurried on home.

His mother and sister hardly knew him again. That fine young man with the grand clothes their Gigi! Not possible!

"Have you found fortune already, my son?"

"I carry it on my finger." He laughed, and held out the ring.

"Very pretty," said his mother. "But instead of chattering here I should be getting ready your dinner. And nothing you like in the house! Make haste, Maria!"

"Don't trouble," said Gigi. "See what a fine cook I have become!" And there in the middle of the kitchen stood a table loaded with good things to eat—macaroni and roast goose, and grapes and oranges and wine.

"Oh-h-h-h!" cried the two women.

"Sit down and eat," said the young man, "and I'll tell you all my adventures."

They sat down; he loaded their plates; but they could hardly swallow a mouthful for their wonder at all Gigi told them. When he came to the tale of Maliarda's deceit, they wept and said he was much better at home with them.

"So I think," replied Gigi; "and I am not sure if the old woman's best gift to me be not my good friends here under the table."

"To be sure!" said his mother. "What should a strong, hearty young fellow like you do with an enchanted ring? Fine mischief it has got you into already! Give it to me, and I'll hide it away in my wedding-chest among the best sheets and the winter coverlets. With the money you have on you, you can set up for yourself."

"That is so," he replied. "And if the old wife were to pass by one day, who knows but I might give her the ring back again."

Is the ring still in the wedding-chest? Does Gigi ever take it out, put it on his finger and wish? I do not know. When I have passed his way I have seen him ploughing with a fine team of fat oxen, and singing the while, or in the woods with his good friends the cat and dog, for they are still alive and hearty. He has not yet gone back to live in a palace; but all the neighbors envy his mother her good son Gigi.