The princess and curdie

“Curdie,” she said, “you have stood more than one trial already and have stood them well: now I am going to put you to a harder. Do you think you are prepared for it?”

“I dare not say anything, ma’am. If you think me fit, command me.’
“Go and thrust your hands into that fire,” she said quickly.

So Curdie thrust his hands into the fire of flaming roses, burning brightly in the moonlit room. And as he did so, the mysterious and stately Princess rose from her spinning wheel and became a beautiful young girl.

Once before Curdie had climbed the old winding stair to the top of the tower, to find a shadowy ancient creature spinning her silver thread at that same wheel. Now he understood that the three were all one and the same and that they had given him a precious gift …

A great classic fairy-tale, the story of Curdie’s quest is the sequel to George McDonald’s The Princess And The Goblin.