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474 a very plain suit of clothes, for those of her sisters cost so much, and the poor old Count's finances could not allow of much more expense; she was compelled also to take a very bad horse, because her two sisters had nearly crippled the two others; but all this did not discourage her. She, embraced her father; respectfully received his blessing; and mingling her tears with his, and those of her sisters, she departed.

In passing through the meadow I have already mentioned, she found the old shepherdess, who had not yet recovered her sheep, or was trying to pull another out of the middle of a deep ditch. "What are you doing there, shepherdess?" said Belle-belle, stopping. "I cannot do anything more, my Lord," replied the shepherdess. "Ever since daylight I have been trying to save this sheep; my labour has been in vain: I am so weary, I can scarcely breathe; there is hardly a day that some new misfortune does not happen to me, and I find no one to assist me."

"I am truly sorry for you," said Belle-belle; "and to prove that I pity you, I will help you." She dismounted instantly from her horse, which was so quiet, that she did not take the trouble to fasten it to anything to prevent its running away; and jumping over the hedge, after receiving a few scratches, she plunged into the ditch, and worked so well, that she succeeded in recovering the favourite sheep. "Do not cry any more, my good mother," said she to the shepherdess: "there is your sheep; and considering the long time it has been in the water, I think it is very lively."

"You have not obliged an ungrateful person," said the shepherdess. "I know you, charming Belle-belle. I know where you are going, and all your intentions. Your sisters have passed through this meadow. I knew them also, and I was not ignorant of what was passing in their minds; but they appeared so heartless, and their conduct to me was so ungracious, that I took means to interrupt their journey. The case is very different with you. I will prove it to you, Belle-belle; for I am a fairy, and take pleasure in heaping benefits upon those who deserve them. You have a miserably poor horse; I will give you one." She struck the ground as she spoke with her crook, and immediately Belle-belle heard a neighing behind a bush; she turned quickly,