Messengers were sent to bring the Princes out of prison, and they came
very sadly, believing that they were to be executed at once: the nurse
and her daughter and the boatman were brought also. As soon as they
came in Rosette ran to embrace her brothers, while the traitors threw
themselves down before her and begged for mercy. The King and the
Princess were so happy that they freely forgave them, and as for the
good old man he was splendidly rewarded, and spent the rest of his days
in the palace. The King of the Peacocks made ample amends to the King
and Prince for the way in which they had been treated, and did
everything in his power to show how sorry he was.
The nurse restored to Rosette all her dresses and jewels, and the
bushel of gold pieces; the wedding was held at once, and they all lived
happily ever after—even to Frisk, who enjoyed the greatest luxury, and
never had anything worse than the wing of a partridge for dinner all
the rest of his life.[7]
[7] Madame d’Aulnoy.
THE ENCHANTED PIG
Once upon a time there lived a King who had three daughters. Now it
happened that he had to go out to battle, so he called his daughters
and said to them:
‘My dear children, I am obliged to go to the wars. The enemy is
approaching us with a large army. It is a great grief to me to leave
you all. During my absence take care of yourselves and be good girls;
behave well and look after everything in the house. You may walk in the
garden, and you may go into all the rooms in the palace, except the
room at the back in the right-hand corner; into that you must not
enter, for harm would befall you.’
‘You may keep your mind easy, father,’ they replied. ‘We have never
been disobedient to you. Go in peace, and may heaven give you a
glorious victory!’
When everything was ready for his departure, the King gave them the
keys of all the rooms and reminded them once more of what he had said.
His daughters kissed his hands with tears in their eyes, and wished him
prosperity, and he gave the eldest the keys.
Now when the girls found themselves alone they felt so sad and dull
that they did not know what to do. So, to pass the time, they decided
to work for part of the day, to read for part of the day, and to enjoy
themselves in the garden for part of the day. As long as they did this
all went well with them. But this happy state of things did not last
long. Every day they grew more and more curious, and you will see what
the end of that was.
‘Sisters,’ said the eldest Princess, ‘all day long we sew, spin, and
read. We have been several days quite alone, and there is no corner of
the garden that we have not explored. We have been in all the rooms of
our father’s palace, and have admired the rich and beautiful furniture:
why should not we go into the room that our father forbad us to enter?’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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