Initial Thoughts: The Flower Princess by Abbie Farwell Brown
The Flower Princess by Abbie Farwell Brown is a fairy tale that has a delightful message that I'd like to share with you about making sure that your clients' needs are met. I've been practicing my speed reading using an app of the same name on my Android powered smartphone. The app provides reading materials, but the annoying thing is that you only get a chapter or two of the books even though they're in the public domain. One of the books I have been practicing with to increase my reading speed is the first two chapters of The Flower Princess. I wanted to know how the story ended so I downloaded it at the Gutenberg website.
What is The Flower Princess by Abbie Farwell Brown About?
There is a beautiful Princess named Fleurette, who loves flowers. She lives in a marble palace on a hill. Many princes come from near and far who are enamored with her beauty and to seek her hand in marriage.
But Fleurette tells each of the princes that if he wants to marry her he has to tell her what her favourite flower is.
“I have no mind to exchange hearts, save with him who can find mine, where it is hidden among my flowers. Guess me my favorite flower, dear Prince, and I am yours.”
None of these princes have ever been successful in naming her favourite flower.
Princess Fleurette so loves the flowers in her palace garden that every morning before anyone in the palace arises, she sneaks into her garden to be with her flowers. She basks in the beauty and perfume of her flowers, and greets them affectionately.
And she takes very good care of them – she removes the weeds, prunes the withered flowers, and does what needs to be done even though she has capable gardeners. And she is always careful to return to the palace undiscovered.
One morning while she is in the garden, a handsome youth, Joyeuse, clad in green clothing appears in the garden and is enjoying the beautiful garden. Of course Princess Fleurette is quite taken aback because of this intrusion. Joyeuse has no idea that he is speaking to the Princess and thinks it is one of the maidens who serves her. He is in the garden because he too wants to enjoy the flowers first thing in the morning. The lad is a minstrel, a swordsman and herbalist.
The Princess has fun with him and gives him tasks to determine if he is authentic, and capable of performing the tasks that he claims proficiency in. For instance, when she pricks her finger on the rose thorn, she asks him how he will cure her, and he knows exactly what to put on her finger, and the next day there is no trace that her finger was ever injured. She asks him to play music since he is a minstrel, and Joyeuse plays such beautiful music that it delights her to no end. Next time she wants him to teach her how to play to prove his worth as a teacher, and once again he delivers. They are so engrossed in what they are doing that time passes and the gardener appears.
When Princess Fleurette realizes her mistake, she flees to the palace, Joyeuse is arrested for trespassing, and has to appear before the Princess. He also refuses to reveal to the gardener which maiden he was in the garden with. Every morning before the princess goes to the garden she is in disguise so it’s more difficult to recognize her instantly.
When Joyeuse appears before the court, when he hears the voice of the Princess, he realizes his faux pas. The person he has been talking to in the garden isn't a maiden, but the Princess herself. Another suitor has just asked the Princess for her hand in marriage and she gives her standard answer. Joyeuse decides that he is also going to ask for her hand in marriage because although he isn't a prince, on three separate occasions the Princess called him a prince when he goes through the tasks to prove his authenticity and capacity.
The real Prince is shocked that this commoner should ask the Princess for her hand in marriage. The Princess consults her advisers and they tell her that Joyeuse has to prove that is courageous. Being an expert swordsman, he easily does that without harming the prince.
Both men are allowed to stay in the palace because the next morning they have to appear in court and tell the Princess what her favourite flower is. Joyeuse knows that the best time to walk in the garden is first thing in the morning, so he immediately goes to bed so that he'll have a good night's rest.
On the other hand, the prince is lazy and doesn't want to arise early, so he decides to visit the garden then, in the evening, and of course at that hour, the garden is not at its liveliest so he does not make the correct choice. He also doesn't have a good night's rest because he is up later trying to save himself some time.
The following morning when Joyeuse arises, he first deconstructs what the princess says when telling suitors how they can win her hand in marriage, and in doing so he discovers something that other suitors have never discovered and he realizes that the morning glory has to be her favourite flower. In choosing, the suitors are never interested in which flower is Princess Fleurette's favourite, but which flower is their favourite.
Final Thoughts: The Flower Princess by Abbie Farwell Brown
We often make the exact mistake in life. We buy a present for someone, but instead of thinking about the person, we buy something that we like. We often do not give our customers what they want, but what we think they should want. Fairytales are often loaded with important lessons for us to learn, and The Flower Princess delivers. I recommend The Flower Princess (The Flower Princess – The Flower Princess; The Little Friend; The Mermaid's Child; The Ten Blowers
) (Amazon affiliate link if you do not care for ebooks) by Abbie Farwell Brown.
The Flower Princess (Illustrated by Babette van den Berg)
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