“ I brought you here to inform me whether the queen will have a daughter or son?" "She is pregnant of a daughter," replied the fairy, "who will be the most beautiful and most accomplished princess that has ever been seen, and the queen will wish to see her placed in the highest possible situation of rank and honour." "If she is not very beautiful and accomplished," said the king, "I will hang her mother to a tree, with the child at her neck, and nothing shall prevent it." ”

“ When the wicked king knew this, a thought struck him, if she was delivered of a daughter he could marry her to his son, and to ascertain whether it was a daughter that she should have, he sent for a fairy who lived on the frontiers of his dominions. When she arrived, he entertained her with much more hospitality than he showed to his most intimate friends, and then led her to a tower, in the highest room of which the poor queen was confined. Nothing could equal the misery of the poor queen, and the unpleasantness of her appartment. ”

“ At these words she embraced the queen, then she kissed the little vermilion mouth of the infant princess, and said, "My pretty little girl, you shall henceforth be your mother's consolation; you shall be richer than your father; you shall live an hundred years without illness, wrinkles, or old age." The enraptured queen returned thanks, and begged that the fairy would take Juliet away, and be careful of her, adding at the same time, "I give her to be your daughter." ”

“ Fairies like me, who possess treasures and riches more than I can relate, do not seek so much for the luxuries of life as for friendship, and we seldom find it." "Is it possible, great fairy," exclaimed the queen, "that you, who are so powerful and wealthy, find it such a great trouble to gain a friend?" "Yes," replied she, "because persons seldom love us but for interest; but when you loved me as a little mouse, it seemed from a disinterested motive, and I wished to put you to a still greater trial: I took the figure of an old woman, and it was I who spoke to you at the bottom of the tower ”

“ Thus habited, and thus careless of the splendour that awaited her, the keeper of the poultry sat on a large stone in the middle of the yard, when the king's son arrived: he was crooked and humph-backed, and marked with every kind of deformity. "If you persist in refusing me," said he, "I will order you to be put to death instantly." She answered him with disdain, "I will never marry you; you are too ugly and too wicked. I prefer poverty, with my turkeys and pullets, to all the honours you have power to bestow."
The little white mouse observed her with wonder and admiration ”

“ The fairy accepted the offer, and thanked her: she then put the little one into the basket, which she let down to the bottom of the tower, and having again taken the form of a mouse, she descended by the cord; but when she got down, she could not find the child any where, and remounting in a fright, "All is lost," cried she to the queen, "my enemy Cancaline has just carried away the princess. ”

“ The king of an adjoining state, whose manners and dispositions were directly contrary, conceived a deadly hatred against the king of the Land of Pleasure; for so the country was called, on account of the tranquillity and joy that constantly prevailed there. He was a declared enemy to pleasure; he sought for nothing but wounds and bruises; his air was stern and forbiding, with a long beard and hollow eyes. He was lean and withered; always dressed in black ”

“ On this same night the little princess came into the world, and her beauty surpassed all the queen had ever beheld: instead of crying at her birth, as other children do, she smiled on her affectionate parent, and extended her little hands, as if she had already a good understanding. The queen carressed and kissed her fondly, at the same time sorrowfully reflecting, "Alas! my dear child, if you fall into the hands of the wicked king, it will cost you your life;" she shut it up in the basket, with a paper attached to the clothes, on which was written
O! ”

“ I have got no more; but I give it thee willingly." The instant she had done this, to her great surprise there appeared upon the table two partridges, cooked most wonderfully well, and two pots of preserves. "Really," exclaimed she, "a good turn is never lost." She ate a little; but, with fasting so long, her appetite was almost gone. She threw down some to the mouse, which, having nibbled them away, began to leap about with more glee than before.
The next morning very early the gaoler brought the queen three peas, which he had put as usual in a large dish, to mock her sufferings ”

“ This wicked wretch, unworthy to possess a throne, raised an immense army, and determined with it to spread through the territory of this happy neighbour that desolation which was his greatest delight. ”