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upon a time there was a King and a Queen, who loved each other so dearly, that they served as an example to all their wedded subjects; and it would have surprised any one to find a disunited family in their kingdom, which was called the Kingdom of Deserts.

The Queen had had several children, but they had all died except a daughter, whose beauty was so great, that if anything could have consoled her for the loss of the others, it would have been the charms that distinguished the survivor. The King and Queen educated her as their only hope; but the happiness of the royal family was of short duration. The King being out hunting one day on a skittish horse, the animal took fright at some shots that were fired, and started off with him like lightning. The King endeavoured to pull him up as he was approaching the brink of a precipice; he reared and fell with the King under him, who received such severe injury, that he died before any of his suite could come up to his assistance.

The fatal intelligence reduced the Queen to the greatest extremity. She could not control her grief; she felt it was too violent for her to attempt resisting its effects; and thought only of settling the affairs of the kingdom in such a manner, that she might die in peace as far as regarded the future welfare of her daughter. She had a friend who was called the Sovereign Fairy, because she had great authority over all empires, and was exceedingly skilful. She wrote to her, with her dying hand, to express her desire to breathe her last in the Fairy's arms; to tell her that she must come quickly if she wished to see her once more alive, and that she had something of consequence to say to her.