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220 'Well then, love me!' added she, pursing up her mouth to make it look more agreeable, and rolling her eyes about; 'I will be thy little Ragotte, I will add twenty kingdoms to that thou hast already, an hundred towers full of gold, five hundred full of silver,—in a word, all thou canst wish for.' 'Madame Ragotte,' said I to her, 'it is not at the bottom of a pit in which I expected to be roasted that I should think of making a declaration to a person of your merit; I implore you by all the charms that adorn you to set me at liberty, and then we will consider together what can be done for your satisfaction.' 'Hah, traitor!' she exclaimed, 'if thou didst love me, thou wouldst not seek the road back to thy kingdom; in a grotto, in a fox-hole, in the woods, in the deserts, thou wouldst be happy. Think not that I am such a novice. Thou hopest to escape, but I give thee notice that thou shalt remain here, and thy first task shall be to keep my sheep. They are intelligent animals, and speak at least as well as thou canst,'

"So saying she advanced with me into the plain where we now are, and showed me her flock. I paid little attention to them; the beauty of the slave beside her appeared to me marvellous; my eyes betrayed me. The cruel Ragotte, noticing my admiration, flew upon her and plunged a bodkin into one of her eyes with such violence that the adorable girl fell dead upon the spot. At this horrible sight I threw myself upon Ragotte, and, sword in hand, would have immolated her to those dear manes, if by her power she had not rendered me motionless. All my efforts were in vain; I fell to the earth, and sought for means to slay myself, to end the agony I was in, when the Fairy said to me with an ironical smile, 'I will make thee know my power; thou art a lion at present, thou shalt become a sheep.'

"At the same moment she touched me with her wand, and I found myself transformed as you behold me. I have not lost the faculty of speech, nor the sense of affliction which my position occasioned me. 'Thou shalt be a sheep for five years,' said she, 'and absolute master of these beautiful realms, while, far from thee and no longer beholding thy handsome face, I will brood only over the hate I owe thee.'

"She disappeared, and if anything could have lightened my misfortune, it would have been her absence. The talking sheep you see here acknowledged me as their king; they