Four and Twenty Fairy Tales: Selected from Those of Perrault, and Other Popular Writers
General
Four and Twenty Fairy Tales: Selected from Those of Perrault, and Other Popular Writers
Fairy tales
suffered from them. Cinderella raised and embracing them, said that she
forgave them with all her heart, and begged them to love her dearly for
the future. They conducted her to the young Prince, dressed just as she
was. He found her handsomer than ever, and a few days afterwards he
married her. Cinderella, who was as kind as she was beautiful, gave her
sisters apartments in the palace, and married them the very same day to
two great lords of the court.
Beauty in woman is a treasure rare
Which we are never weary of admiring;
But a sweet temper is a gift more fair
And better worth the youthful maid's desiring.
That was the boon bestowed on Cinderella
By her wise Godmother--her truest glory.
The rest was "nought but leather and prunella."
Such is the moral of this little story--
Beauties, that charm becomes you more than dress,
And wins a heart with far greater facility.
In short, in all things to ensure success,
The real Fairy gift is Amiability!
ALSO
Talent, courage, wit, and worth
Are rare gifts to own on earth.
But if you want to thrive at court--
So, at least, the wise report--
You will find you need some others,
Such as god-fathers or mothers.
RIQUET WITH THE TUFT.
Once upon a time there was a Queen, who was brought to bed of a son
so ugly and so ill-shaped that it was for a long time doubtful if he
possessed a human form. A Fairy, who was present at his birth, affirmed
that he would not fail to be amiable, as he would have much good-sense.
She added, even, that he would be able, in consequence of the gift she
had endowed him with, to impart equal intelligence to the person he
should love best. All this consoled the poor Queen a little, who was
much distressed at having brought into the world so hideous a little
monkey. It is true that the child was no sooner able to speak than he
said a thousand pretty things, and that there was in all his actions an
indescribable air of intelligence which charmed one. I had forgotten
to say that he was born with a little tuft of hair on his head, which
occasioned him to be named Riquet with the Tuft; for Riquet was the
family name.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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