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A little princess is protected by her friend Curdie from the goblin miners who live beneath the castle.
CHAPTER 1
Why the Princess Has a Story about Her
There was once a little princess whose father was king over a great country full of mountains and valleys. His palace was built upon one of the mountains and was very grand and beautiful. The princess, whose name was Irene, was born there, but she was sent soon after her birth, because her mother was not very strong, to be brought up by country people in a large house, half castle, half farmhouse, on the side of another mountain, about halfway between its base and its peak.
The princess was a sweet little creature and at the time my story begins was about eight years old, I think, but she got older very fast. Her face was fair and pretty, with eyes like two bits of night sky, each with a star dissolved in the blue. Those eyes, you would have thought, must have known they came from there, so often were they turned up in that direction. The ceiling of her nursery was blue with stars in it, as like the sky as they could make it. But I doubt if ever she saw the real sky with the stars in it, for a reason, which I had better mention at once.
These mountains were full of hollow places underneath, huge caverns and winding ways, some with water running through them and some shining with all colors of the rainbow when a light was taken in. There would not have been much known about them had there not been mines there, great deep pits, with long galleries and passages running off from them, which had been dug to get at the ore of which the mountains were full. In the course of digging the miners came upon many of these natural caverns. A few of them had far-off openings out on the side of a mountain or into aravine.
Now in these subterranean caverns lived a strange race of beings, called by some gnomes, by some kobolds, by some goblins. There was a legend current in the country that at one time they lived above ground and were very like other people. But for some reason or other, concerning which there were different legendary theories, the king had laid what they thought too severe taxes upon them, or required observances of them they did not like, or had begun to treat them with more severity in some way or other, and to impose stricter laws; and the consequence was that they had all disappeared from the face of the country. According to the legend, however, instead of going to some other country they had all taken refuge in the subterranean caverns, whence they never came out but at night, and then seldom showed themselves in any numbers and never to many people at once. It was only in the least frequented and most difficult parts of the mountains that they were said to gather, even at night in the open air. Those who had caught sight of any of them said that they had greatly altered in the course of generations; and no wonder, seeing they lived away from the sun, in cold and wet and dark places. They were now, not ordinarily ugly, but either absolutely hideous or ludicrously grotesque both in face and form. There was no invention, they said, of the most lawless imagination expressed by pen or pencil, that could surpass the extravagance of their appearance. And as they grew misshapen in body, they had grown in knowledge and cleverness and now were able to do things no mortal could see the possibility of. But as they grew in cunning, they grew in mischief, and their great delight was in every way they could think of to annoy the people who lived in the open-air story above them. They had enough of affection left for each other to preserve them from being absolutely cruel for cruelty's sake to those that came in their way; but still they so heartily cherished the ancestral grudge against those who occupied their former possession, and especially against the descendants of the king who had caused their expulsion, that they sought every opportunity of tormenting them in ways that were as odd as their inventors; and although dwarfed and misshapen, they had strength equal to their cunning. In the process of time they had got a king and a government of their own, whose chief business, beyond their own simple affairs, was to devise trouble for their neighbors. It will now be pretty evident why the little princess had never seen the sky at night. They were much too afraid of the goblins to let her out of the house then, even in company with ever so many attendants; and they had good reason, as we shall see by and by.
kaseysimba
Posted January 5, 2012
Please read this book! It was absolutely charming. I used to love the cartoon when I was really young, so I wanted to read the book. I remember loving how Irene found a mysterious area of her house where she met her great-great-grandmother, and this book definitely captured that same feeling, only it was about a million times better.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 9, 2010
When I was a baby my parents bought this Colliers collection of books that had a ton of different stories and poems. A lot of those books were lost by the time I was five or six. The Fairy Tales and Legends book wasn't lost and I read it from cover to cover when I was in third grade. One of my favorite stories was the first chapter of The Princess and the Goblin. It was enchanting. I didn't realize back then that it was only the first chapter of a wonderful book.
A couple years later I discovered MacDonald's The Light Princess and I loved it just as much, not realizing that both tales were written by the same author.
It wasn't until I started working at a university library many years later and had a hankering for reading The Light Princess again that I connected the two stories. I thumbed through The Princess and the Goblin and realized it was the story of Princess Irene.
George MacDonald was a brilliant writer. He has a soothing omnipotent grandfatherly voice that shines through his stories. You know that Princess Irene and Curdy will be okay in their adventures. The stories are well written and fun to read. I think they're timeless and if I had chosen to have children, they would be well acquainted with George MacDonald's fairy tales. If you're looking for a fairy tale that hasn't been Disneyfied and told too often, check out The Princess and the Goblin or The Light Princess. Curdy also has his own adventures and they're every bit as delightful as the other books.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 14, 2012
I Also Recommend:
This book is typical of the fantasy writer George MacDonald.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 23, 2012
Eight-year-old Princess Irene resides in a remote castle with her nurse
Lootie and several other servants while her papa-king travels all over
his kingdom. The reason that the Princess lives in seclusion is that
the goblins who dwell under the mountain have sworn revenge on the
king’s family. In addition, she has a mysterious and magical
great-great-grandmother who is watching over her but who is seen by
nobody else besides her. Also, she becomes friends with a
twelve-year-old boy named Curdie who is the son of a local miner. When
Irene and Lootie get lost after dark while on a walk in the mountains
and are chased by goblins, they first meet Curdie who protects them from
the goblins and helps to get them home safely. He pledges himself to
guard the Princess. The goblins have hatched a double plot in which
they plan to steal Irene to become the wife of their Prince Harelip and
to use the mines to flood the castle. While working in the mines,
Curdie overhears part of their plans but is captured and imprisoned by
the goblins. However, Irene’s grandmother gives her a special thread by
which she is led to rescue Curdie and get both of them back home again.
Curdie sneaks onto the castle grounds one night to see if he can learn
more about the goblins’ plans but is mistaken for a prowler by the
king’s guards and shot with an arrow. He not only is imprisoned but
also becomes quite sick with a fever. It is during this very time that
the goblins mount their attack. Will they be successful? Will the
Princess be saved or will she become the bride of Harelip? And what
will happen to Curdie? Scottish-born author George MacDonald
(1824-1905), though theologically considered a heretic, was a masterful
storyteller who is often credited with inventing the genre of children’s
fantasy literature and influenced such later youth fantasy writers as J.
R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Madeline L’Engle. MacDonald began his
literary career by telling fairy stories to his eleven children and then
putting onplays for the poor in his neighborhood with his large family
as the cast. His first such novel was At the Back of the North Wind
published in 1871. The Princess and the Goblin was serialized in a
journal called Good Words for the Young between 1870 and 1871 and then
published in book form the following year. To be honest, this is one of
the most fascinating and enjoyable books that I have ever read. The
story of the Princess Irene and her friend Curdie continues in a sequel,
The Princess and Curdie. I guess that I’ll just have to read it too.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 1, 2012
I don't believe this is the complete text. I purchased another digital version (very inexpensively) and -- right from the top -- there is additional text that doesn't appear here. Also, there are several formatting errors in this e-book which are very annoying.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 7, 2012
I adoreeeee.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 8, 2011
I thought it would be neat to read a fairy tale written in 1872 and found both the tale and manner of speech delightful. The author writes as if he is addressing a live audience and the tale, while slow in parts, is interesting enough to want to hear more. I look forward to reading more about the main characters in "The Princess and Curdie." It's a chance to see how fairy tales were written 150 years ago, how different they were, and how little some things have changed. (I also like the Nook feature that lets me look up a word on the spot - this story has more than a few unfamiliar words.)
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 9, 2009
I Also Recommend:
The Princess and the Goblin is an enchanting tale about the most delightful little girl to spark our imaginations! The only pitty is that the character isn't real! Of all the C.S. Lewis books that I enjoyed, including his Chronicles of Narnia series, I have to say that The Princess and the Goblin captured my heart the most, and that George Macdonald is the great father and originator of litterary fantasy.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 10, 2008
This is one of my favorite books. I couldn't put it down after I started it. Anybody who enjoys fantasy or fairy tales will love this book. It is an amazing adventure that you can't wait to read more of. Anybody who reads this should then read The Princess and Curdie.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 17, 2013
QYhyHzhqzvHyDahuYhhuHhajHjbUhUOkmkJk?qkkkaQmldhaks.shhshjdlL..ksksjsjA..amzms.?.a.alsmdksiLa.nak?.??snsjsjszl..adda.Ajdjla?szmzsms.Dmmz.z.s.Msksl.?skL.adjzk.as..smskswkMsmslmsksdMMsddjdffm.zjfjfjfkfnz.msshjmm.zmzmsksdddjsjsmsjsjsjdjdnxdjsjsmddhshdshhdhdhdhddhhsjsnswhsyhhdhhwywhshshwshdedddhdddjskkdjdhjjddjdjdhhdhdhdddhdhzjK
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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 5, 2013
Love it great book definetly recomend it
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 3, 2012
Very good. I would definantly reccomend this
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 1, 2012
A great story. This Barnes and Noble version contains the complete text and the formatting of the e-book is excellent.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 3, 2012
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0 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 15, 2012
Favorite!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 3, 2012
This book is my favorite book by far!!! I can't believe how much you can see the picture when you read it!!! I love how adventureous the story is. When you read the first couple chapters of this book you imediently want to read more and before you know it, your at the end of the book because you were so in to it. I think if anyone read this book they would want to read it again and again! I loved this book and I'm sure you would love it to if you read it.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 24, 2011
Read when 7 it is addicting.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 19, 2011
Great bok
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 12, 2011
Is+this+like+The+Phantom+Tollbooth%3F+I+am+going+on+a+3+week+trip+in+a+few+days+and+need+quite+a+lot+of+books.+I+am+trying+to+find+a+good+book+like+The+Phantom+Tollbooth.%0AThanks%21
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 28, 2007
i grew up with this book. i read it countless times as a child, and it still tends to captivate me with rather unbelievable avidness. if you haven't read this book, you must, must, must! it is very dark and very mysterious, but very, very satisfying.
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Overview
A little princess is protected by her friend Curdie from the goblin miners who live beneath the castle.