Admitting a Fault: ‘Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess’

Andrew Lang’s fairy tale involves a prince learning a truth about himself.

The sorcerer seizes the princess, as Prince Hyacinth watches. An illustration by Henry Justice Ford for Andrew Lang's 1889 book “The Blue Fairy Book.”

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish scholar who collected and wrote fairy tales, as well as translated texts, such as Homer’s works. In 1889, Lang published “The Blue Fairy Book,” which became the first book of his 12-volume fairy tale collection.

“Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess“ is the second fairy tale in Lang’s ”The Blue Fairy Book.“ And, at the end of the tale, Lang references ”Le Prince Desir et la Princesse Mignonne“ by Madame Leprince de Beaumont as the source for ”Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess.”

Prince Hyacinth

The widowed queen gives birth to Prince Hyacinth who, though he has beautiful eyes and a wonderful mouth, is cursed with an extremely large nose. However, wishing to please the queen, the courtiers flatter Prince Hyacinth, saying that he has a wonderful nose, a “Roman nose.”