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464 her the cause she would burn me alive: her threats were always terrible. I replied, trembling, that I was tired of spinning, and that I wanted to make some little nets to catch the young birds in that came and pecked the fruit in my garden. 'Thou shalt cry no longer for that, daughter,' said she, 'I will bring thee as much twine as thou needest;' and in truth I received it that very evening; but she advised me to think less of working than of attending to my personal appearance, as King Migonnet was shortly expected. I shuddered at those fatal tidings, and made no reply.

"As soon as she was gone, I began to make two or three pieces of net; but my object was to construct a rope ladder, which I succeeded in doing very well, though I had never seen one. The Fairy, in fact, did not furnish me with as much twine as I wanted, and continually said to me, 'Why daughter, thy work is like that of Penelope; it never progresses, and yet thou art still asking for more material.' 'Oh, my good Mamma,' I replied, 'it is easy for you to talk. Don't you see that I am very awkward at my work, and burn a great deal of it. Are you afraid I shall ruin you in packthread?' My air of simplicity amused her, though she was a very ill-tempered and cruel creature.

"I sent Perroquet to tell the King to come on a certain evening under the window of the tower, where he would find the ladder, and that he would learn the rest when he arrived. In fact, I fastened it as securely as possible, being determined to make my escape with him; but the moment he saw it, without waiting for me to descend, he mounted it eagerly, and jumped into my apartment just as I was preparing everything for my flight.

"The sight of him delighted me so much that I forgot the peril in which we were placed. He renewed all his vows, and implored me not to delay becoming his wife. We took Perroquet and Toutou as witnesses of our marriage. Never was a wedding between two persons of such exalted rank celebrated with less publicity or noise, and never were two hearts so perfectly happy as ours.

"Day had not dawned when the King left me. I had related to him the dreadful intention of the Fairies to marry me to little Migonnet. I described to him his person, which horrified him as much as it had me. The hours seemed long years