“ In the centre of the latter appeared a table covered with appetising eatables, but as soon as Rupert went near they once more took to flight as if on invisible wings. A magnificent stuffed turkey hit him on the nose; the breast of a chicken nearly knocked him over; all this while the boy was running, like a mad thing, after those exquisite dainties, hungrier than a bear after a fortnight's fast.
"This is only an invitation to see!" exclaimed the lad. "It is enough to make one's teeth grow longer!" ”

“ Some were twirling their moustaches with a martial air; others scratched their chins as if they were irritated; and others with one hand on the hilt of their swords but wearing a magnanimous air, as if they would spare everybody's life. So the King of Persia gathered a varied collection. But amongst them one excelled for his awful simplicity, that of the Prince of Tokay, who appeared in full profile, showing such a deformed nose as had never been seen, not only in that town, but if you searched for ten leagues around you would not find another to approach it. ”

“ The effect was magical; instantly all the plants took on the most unexpected forms. The clover leaf was changed into a grand stand covered with a splendid canopy of velvet and gold, and on three gilded arm-chairs sat three children of dazzling beauty wearing rich clothing, in which elegance and sumptuousness struggled for supremacy.
The acacias were transformed into towers of shining silver full of soldiers, who presented arms to the children in token of homage. The group of magnolias was a stone castle, with a steel drawbridge hanging by chains of red silk interwoven with gold. ”

“ Presently he noticed the pedestal of the statue, on which might be read:
"In a stone lies the disenchantment."
Then the cabin boy looked at all the projections of the room, and pressing one of them heard a creak, and instantaneously, as the scenes in a fairy comedy are changed, the grotto disappeared; each precious stone was changed into a human being, and the beautiful princess, again turned to flesh and blood, came slowly down from her pedestal, and, giving her hand to the valiant lad, offered to reward his bravery by giving him all the riches of her kingdom, and with them her heart. ”

“ Perhaps the desire for wealth has moved you? If so, you were much mistaken, because the riches which exist here are for us. So that now you know what your fate must be—either to die or to be our slaves."
And at this a crowd of dwarfs approached the surprised sailors, and without giving them time to defend themselves, tied them up and led them back again to their prisons.
All this while the bark Esperanza was going along abandoned to the mercy of the elements, and our Aragonese, fearing nothing, sat tranquilly in the bows, saying to the ship:
"I must go to Manila; so now you know what to do." ”

“ I am called Atala, and am the daughter of Agrajes, the magician. I put my father's ring beside you with the object that you might be able to save your sister."
"I should like to know you in your real form and not in that of a kid."
"Well, here I am," exclaimed Atala.
And thereupon she transformed herself into a lovely girl of more or less Enrique's age.
She transformed Herself into a Lovely Girl. "How pretty you are!" exclaimed the boy. "Come home and play with my little sister, who is now quite well, thanks to you." ”

“ The prince told him. "On seeing those unhappy invalids run out so quickly, I asked the quack the cause of their flight, and the latter told me with a wealth of detail."
It had amused him so much that the black melancholy which was undermining his existence was dissipated.
"You will remain with my son," said the emperor to the quack, "not as a doctor but as a friend. You are a witty man and wit deserves to be rewarded." ”

“ The king laughed very much to see this phenomenon, and on seeing him laugh the courtiers also dared to laugh at the prince; but the princess, called to see the portrait of that aspirant to marriage, far from laughing, commenced to cry disconsolately and nearly fainted.
"I do not wish to see the man with the nose!" she cried. "What great folly! With this face he dares to ask for my hand! Papa, declare war against him, take him prisoner, and do him the favour of trimming his nose, if only to oblige me!" ”

“ And the devil and Don Teobaldo shook hands. The latter drew his back, saying:
"How you burn."
The devil said to him:
"To-morrow, at the hour of the fight, a squire in black armour will come and see you. I will give you a cuirass made in such a way that it cannot be pierced through; a shield which will dazzle and stupefy your adversaries if only looked at; a charmed sword, a touch with which will produce death; and a horse as black as ebony which has the advantage of requiring neither curb nor spurs: you will only wear them as ornaments.... In a word, the horse—will be me." ”

“ It is a mouse which, hidden behind my bookcase, makes an infernal noise about twelve o'clock at night, the hour at which I dedicate myself to my work. It is he who destroys everything within the reach of his nails or teeth, who must have in his body more letters than a printing press and more paper than a paper-mill. ”

“ Which is the most valuable thing in the world? How many baskets full of earth could be taken from the mountain which is to be seen from the palace? And who is the most treacherous companion that we all have? ”

“ There heart was contraband, and therefore they took out what remained of it and put a pretty one inside of him, made of steel, but hard as a diamond. Only one little fibre escaped their search, which passed unnoticed behind the metal heart.
"At last I am inside," said Rupert to himself; but, strangely enough, the city of gold produced neither surprise nor joy.
"What do I want riches for?" he exclaimed, "if I have lost my heart and with it my illusions?" ”

“ An old sailor brought to my town the news of having seen, in a very distant island, a terrible dragon which guarded an immense treasure. Half of the body of this guardian was a fish, the other half a lion; it moreover had such powerful wings that it could rise to an extraordinary height. Air, water, or land were his elements, and when any ships came near to the coast they were soon attacked by that ever vigilant monster. ”

“ The seers tugged at their moustaches in desperation, leaving the floor covered with hairs.
"Hail!" said the eldest, "Daughter of the Sun, who hast all the brilliance of the diamond, the beauty of the iris, the wisdom of Confucius, and the sweetness of the honey! This silver thread foretells a terrible calamity in the empire. Know that Brahma has decreed—it horrifies me to say so!—that one of your imperial teeth will commence to ache."
Terror was depicted on every countenance, and all who witnessed this scene pulled their pigtails, a sign of terrible desperation among the Chinese. ”

“ Pero Gil at one Bound approached the Statue. The statue fell down flat as if struck by lightning, and at once the dwarfs surrounded the captain and forced him down a flight of steps.
Hardly had he entered than the gap closed up and the captain found himself alone in a cave which was lighted by a lamp hanging from the ceiling. On the floor there were great heaps of gold and precious stones, but this was not the thing that claimed the captain's attention. He was looking for the bell which he had heard the dwarfs speak about. ”

“ A crowd of pages in bright uniforms, soldiers on horseback provided with lances and with glittering helmets adorned with airy plumes, walked about the garden in all directions. Life animated all those beings passing before the astonished eyes of little Arthur, who, hidden behind a tower, could see what happened without being seen himself. ”

“ The monster, putting on some very high stilts, started to run in search of the boys, blowing a whistle. They, terror-stricken, were hiding in the grotto without daring to breathe for fear of being discovered. After eight or ten hours of giddy running, the man with the two faces fell down exhausted and went to sleep on the ground near the grotto. Then the squirrel asked Claudio for the whistle that the eagle had given him, and without making any noise hung it round the monster's neck. ”

“ And, throwing aside his spear, he drew his sword, whose brilliance eclipsed that of the sun itself, and threw himself upon Don Teobaldo. The black horse snorted, roared, bounded, evading the blows with superhuman skill. Don Teobaldo's sword fell upon Miguel's white shield two hundred times, but in vain, until dazed and vanquished horse and rider fell at the feet of the handsome knight. ”

“ Well, he is a very strange being, who laughs with one face and cries with the other. If a child looks at his smiling face he gives it a toy; if it looks at his sad face he bites it and tears off the tip of his ear. ”

“ All Teheran was burning with desire to know the princes, and especially the big-nosed one: and so on the day of his arrival all the town crowded to the gate by which he was to enter the capital. The Prince of Tokay, accompanied by his inseparable nose and a modest escort, entered the city and proceeded directly to the palace.
"What beauty!" cried the people. "With such a nose, well distributed, there would be an end to all the pug-nosed people in the world." ”

“ Well, the king in my story had few teeth, but a very long pigtail, and had a stomach which could have held half his kingdom. What a wolfish appetite! Every five minutes he yawned, and in every room of the palace there were attendants whose only mission was to place a boiled egg in the monarch's mouth as soon as he commenced to open it. And what a mouth! Once some one absent-mindedly placed his memorial in it thinking he was putting it in the letter box. One night, while he was sleeping, Tsi-Ching-Hoang-Ti (Dear me! what work to call a person thus!) ”

“ It is always the same song: that we do take away, that we do not take away the nectar from the flowers. Good, what about it? We do not do so for ourselves, but for our master. All the sweet syrup of your corollas we enclose in the hive, and from there every year it comes out so that Man, our master, rejoices his palate with it and embalms his breath with your aroma. After dying in summer and losing your green leaves in autumn, you still live in us, that we may make your remembrance lasting. ”

“ At the moment when I compose myself for writing, at that very moment he makes an unbearable noise that gets on my nerves and prevents me from writing calmly a single line, and from even putting together my ideas. ”

“ The boy and the squirrel went together and on the top-most part of the mountain came upon the eagle's nest. The eagle turned towards the squirrel and asked what he wanted. On being told of what Claudio wanted he said to him: "I have sometimes heard this man spoken of, but I have never seen him. I only know that he is very unhappy, because he can only look at himself in the glass with his sad face, and on seeing himself so afflicted the poor fellow bursts into tears." ”

“ The effect that the insulting letter produced was so great that the king rose in his anger and commanded Don Suero to be brought dead or alive, and that if he resisted he was to be tied to the tail of a horse.
The knight was imprisoned, but as he was so proud he would not give the king any explanations, and the latter commanded him to be tortured.
Not even the severest tortures could succeed in taming that will of iron. He was innocent, and would not ask grace of the king, who condemned him without any further motive. ”