Page:Fairytales00auln.djvu/576

518 to heaven for succour, and prayed the earth to open and swallow her. Neither earth nor heaven listened to her prayer; she deserved to be punished for not having obeyed the Sovereign Fairy.

The Giant spread out his arms to prevent her passing, but terrible and furious as he was, he felt the effect of her beauty. "What rank holdest thou amongst the goddesses?" said he, in a voice louder than thunder. "For think not I can be mistaken;—thou art no mortal. Tell me but thy name, and if thou art the daughter or the wife of Jupiter? Who are thy brothers? What are thy sisters? I have long sought for a goddess to make her my wife, and happily I have now met with thee!" The Princess felt tongue-tied with terror; the accents died away upon her lips.

As he found she made no answer to his gallant questions, "For a divinity," said he, "thou hast but little wit;" and without more words he opened a great sack and flung her into it.

The first thing she saw at the bottom of it was the wicked wolf and the poor ram; the giant had amused himself by catching them. "Thou wilt die with me, my dear Ruson," said she, kissing him. Tis a poor consolation; it would be much better if we could escape together."

This sad reflection made her weep bitterly; she sobbed and sighed aloud. Ruson bleated; the wolf howled; this noise awoke a dog, a cat, a cock, and a parrot, who had been all asleep, and they began in their turn to make a frantic noise. Here was a strange uproar in the Giant's game-bag. At last, being tired with hearing them, he determined to kill them all; but on second thoughts, contented himself with tying the mouth of the sack and throwing it on the top of a tree, after having marked it, that he might know where to look for his spoil again. He was on his road to fight a duel with another giant, and all this outcry displeased him.

The Princess felt sure that, let him but have taken a step or two, he was already a long way off; for a horse at full speed could not overtake him when he was but sauntering. She drew out her scissors and cut the cloth of the sack, then let out her dear Ruson, the dog, the cat, the cock, and the parrot; and lastly got out herself, leaving the wolf behind, to punish him for eating poor little sheep. The night was very