Prince Prigio

"Prince Prigio" by Andrew Lang is a literary fairy tale written in 1889. When a skeptical queen refuses to invite fairies to her son's christening, the magical guests arrive anyway, bestowing gifts including seven-league boots, an invisibility cap, and a fateful curse: the prince shall be "too clever." Growing up unbearably intelligent and argumentative, Prince Prigio believes in nothing—not fairies, not magic, and certainly not the firedrake terrorizing his kingdom. But when his brothers vanish and he's left alone, he must rediscover the forgotten fairy gifts to prove himself.

Prince Prigio, by Andrew Lang. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #20850.