The Story of the White Mouse

In Short

Published in 1816, The Story of the White Mouse is an anonymous collection of three moral fairy tales designed to instruct young readers on the virtues of self-control, forgiveness, and true wisdom. The book follows an absurdly vain prince led astray by absurd desires, a charitable dervish targeted by a jealous neighbour, and an adventurous sailor named Tom Two-Shoes who uncovers buried gold through cleverness. Blending satirical folklore with clear moral lessons, it has endured as a classic example of early nineteenth-century juvenile conduct literature.

The Story

The volume opens in the ancient kingdom of Bonbobbin with Prince Bonbenin-bonbobbin-bonbobbinet, a man endowed with every imaginable virtue, beauty, and intellectual gift—or at least surrounded by subjects eager to flatter him. Despite his vast royal duties and seven hundred eager suitors, the prince spends four hours each day breeding exotic mice in diamond-encrusted cages. He eventually selects Princess Nanhoa of the Scarlet Dragons as his bride, but on their wedding night, his attention is derailed by a green-eyed white mouse playing on the floor. Infatuated with its rarity, he leaps from bed to catch it, but the creature vanishes, as it is actually a fairy dispatched by a jealous, disappointed princess.

In an agony of frustration, the prince vows never to sleep in a royal palace or enjoy married life until he finds the creature. He publishes an edict offering half his kingdom and his bride to anyone who catches it. When his subjects fail, he sets off alone across deserts and mountains. Exhausted, he encounters Barbacela, the hideous five-hundred-year-old queen of the Emmets. She promises him the mouse on one condition: he must marry her instantly. Fearing he will lose his chance, he abandons his vows to Nanhoa and marries the old fairy. Immediately after the ceremony, Barbacela reveals that she herself is the green-eyed mouse and forces him to choose whether she should be a mouse by day and a woman by night, or vice versa.

Unsure how to decide, the prince seeks counsel from a faithful blue cat that has accompanied him. Unbeknownst to him, the cat is Princess Nanhoa in disguise. Following her advice, he requests that Barbacela remain a woman by day and a mouse by night. On the wedding night, when Barbacela transforms into a mouse to dance for him, the blue cat leaps upon her, devours her in an instant, and breaks the enchantment. The prince realizes his passion for the mouse was an absurd delusion and begs Nanhoa's forgiveness. Reunited, they return to Bonbobbin to rule wisely, having learned never to place their affections on foolish trifles.

The collection then transitions to two supporting moral tales. "The Story of the Envious Man" tells of an honest man who becomes a dervish to escape a bitter neighbour. The neighbour attempts to murder him by shoving him down a well, but fairies rescue the dervish and reveal a secret cure for the local sultan's possessed daughter. The dervish cures the princess, marries her, inherits the sultanate, and ultimately rewards his former attacker with gold and mercy. Finally, "The Story of the Golden Head" follows Tom Two-Shoes and his tame lion in Utopia as they decipher a cryptic riddle left by an Arabian philosopher. By calculating a statue's shadow on May Day, Tom unearths a chest of gold and learns that wealth is a tool for doing good rather than something to be hoarded.

How It Unfolds

A prince and his absurd passion Prince Bonbenin-bonbobbin-bonbobbinet rules Bonbobbin with absolute perfection, flattered by his subjects and courted by seven hundred foreign princesses. Despite his immense power, his true passion lies in breeding exotic mice inside jewel-encrusted cages. He marries Princess Nanhoa, but his wedding night is interrupted by the appearance of a rare green-eyed white mouse.

The fruitless quest begins Unable to catch the enchanted creature, the prince abandons his bride and vows never to rest until the mouse is found. He offers half his kingdom as a reward, leading his subjects to bait every trap in the land with cheese. When all efforts fail, he leaves his palace to wander through deserts and over mountains alone.

A bargaining fairy in the wilderness The prince encounters Barbacela, the hideous queen of the Emmets, under a banana tree. She promises to deliver the green-eyed mouse if he marries her instantly, driving up her chariot drawn by snails when he hesitates. Desperate, the prince consents, abandoning his lawful wife and marrying the old fairy in a nearby church.

The trap is sprung Barbacela reveals that she is the mouse itself and forces the prince to choose her daily and nightly forms. Guided by his loyal blue cat—who is actually Princess Nanhoa in disguise—he demands she become a mouse at night. When she transforms and dances, the cat pounces, devours the fairy mouse, and breaks the spell forever.

Lessons in envy and wealth The book concludes with two complementary stories of moral conduct. A charitable dervish survives a treacherous push into a well by an envious neighbor, uses fairy wisdom to cure a princess, and later repays his attacker with generosity. Meanwhile, Tom Two-Shoes travels Utopia with a tame lion, solves a philosopher's shadow riddle, and uncovers a chest of gold meant for charitable use.

The People

Prince Bonbenin-bonbobbin-bonbobbinet The vanity-driven ruler of Bonbobbin possesses every skill and virtue imaginable, yet remains deeply susceptible to trivial obsessions. He desires the rare green-eyed mouse so intensely that he willingly forsakes his throne, his moral duties, and his lawful wife. Through his humiliating ordeal with a fairy hag and the intervention of his disguised bride, he realizes the foolishness of his childish pursuits and matures into a wise governor.

Princess Nanhoa The queen of the Scarlet Dragons begins as a noble bride forced to endure her husband's bizarre rejection on their wedding night. Demonstrating patience, pragmatic moral wisdom, and fierce loyalty, she disguises herself as a blue cat to follow the prince on his foolish pilgrimage. She quietly guides his decisions and saves him by devouring his enchanted tormentor at the crucial moment.

Barbacela The five-hundred-year-old queen of the Emmets is a vengeful, hideous fairy who uses shape-shifting magic to punish the prince's vanity. By transforming into the elusive green-eyed mouse and later forcing the prince into marriage, she exposes his superficiality before meeting a swift end.

The Honest Dervish A deeply charitable man who abandons his home to escape a bitter neighbour's hatred. Even after surviving the neighbour's attempt to drown him in a well, he responds not with vengeance, but with extraordinary magnanimity once he becomes sultan.

Tom Two-Shoes An adventurous, resourceful sailor who travels through African forests with a tame lion. By combining intellect, curiosity, and moral integrity, he solves a dead philosopher's riddle and uses the discovered gold to help others.

In Its Own Voice

"In short, the fairy who presided at his birth had endowed him with almost every perfection; or, what was just the same, his subjects were ready to acknowledge he possessed them all; and, for his own part, he knew nothing to the contrary."

This opening line establishes the narrative's sharp, satirical tone regarding the unchecked vanity and unearned flattery surrounding royal power.

"The prince, in an agony of rapture, was desirous of seeing his pretty play-fellow move a slow dance about the floor to his own singing; he began to sing, and the mouse immediately to perform with the most perfect knowledge of time, and the finest grace, and greatest gravity imaginable..."

Here the narrative highlights the prince's absurd obsession with childish amusements right before his illusion is shattered.

"Take it and use it: but use it with wisdom; for know, that Gold, properly employed, may dispense blessings, and promote the happiness of mortals; but when hoarded up, or misapplied, is but trash, that makes mankind miserable."

Engraved upon the hidden copper chest, this inscription summarizes the moral purpose driving the final tale of the collection.

What It's Really About

At its core, The Story of the White Mouse is a critique of foolish obsession and misplaced priorities. The narrative warns against allowing frivolous desires—symbolized by the elusive green-eyed mouse—to eclipse real responsibilities and genuine human relationships. Prince Bonbenin's journey illustrates how unchecked vanity makes a person vulnerable to deception and absurd compromises.

The accompanying stories extend these moral inquiries into human nature. "The Story of the Envious Man" explores the corrosive quality of unprovoked malice and contrasts it with the restorative power of forgiveness and spiritual calm. "The Story of the Golden Head" examines the proper purpose of material wealth, arguing that intellect and resources are meaningless unless guided by virtue and charity. Together, the tales argue that self-command and moral clarity are the true foundations of a good life.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers looking for a window into nineteenth-century juvenile literature will find The Story of the White Mouse surprisingly witty and briskly paced. Unlike many overly preachy moral texts of the Regency period, this collection relies on absurd fairy-tale logic, satirical humor, and memorable imagery—such as a five-hundred-year-old fairy riding a chariot pulled by snails or a young man hunting in the forest alongside a tame lion.

The book's difficulties stem largely from its age and structural style. As an 1816 compilation, it uses archaic spellings like "dervise" and "acrostick," along with period geography that casually mixes real locations with imaginary realms like Utopia. Readers expecting a single unified novel may also be caught off guard by its anthology format, as the primary mouse narrative wraps up quickly to make room for two distinct orientalist fables. Nevertheless, the prose remains accessible, clear, and delightfully sharp. It offers a charming reading experience that demonstrates how early children's stories balanced entertaining fantasy with direct moral instruction.