Page:History of Blue Beard.pdf/22

22 "'I, and my sister fairies,' said this woman, 'think it very indiscreet in your majesty so obstinately to persist in wishing for our fruit; but, since your valuable life is endangered, we consent to allow you as much as you can carry away, provided you, in return, shall give us what we ask.'

"'Ah! kind fairy,' said the queen, 'I will grant you any thing I can bestow, even my kingdoms, on condition that I may cat of your fruit.'

"The old fairy then informed my mother, that they would require the first child she should have, as soon as it was born. She added, however, that the utmost care should be taken of it, and that it should be eminently accomplished. The queen replied, that severe as the condition was, she must submit, as nothing but the fruit would save her life.

"In short, my prince," continued the young lady; "my mother arose, was dressed, instantly set off to the palace of the fairies, and satisfied her longing. She then returned to the king my father, but said not a word of the promise she had made to give her first child to the fairies. This reflection, however, afterwards made her very melancholy, till, at length, being urged by the king to disclose the cause of her depression, she confessed the truth.

"As soon as I was born, ho had me conveyed to a tower in the palace, to which there were twenty flights of stairs, each having a door; but my father kept the key of them all, so that no one came near me without his knowledge. When the fairies understood what had been done, they first sent to demand me, and on my father's refusal, they let loose in his dominions a large and dreadful dragon. This enormous reptile destroyed men, women and children; and even the vegetation of every kind began to die throughout the kingdom. The king's distress was increased by all this devastation; and finding that in a short time his whole empire would be annihilated, he consented to resign me. The fairies placed me in a turret of the palace elegantly furnished, but it had no door; so that access to me could only be obtained through the windows. I had, however the liberty to go out into a delightful garden. One day, however, as I was talking to my birds, I perceived a young gentleman who was listening to me. As I had never before seen any person but the fairies, I thought him very pleasing. He looked at me, and bowed with respect, but seemed afraid to speak, as he knew I was in the palace of fairies. He ventured to speak to me, and informed me that he thought me extremely beautiful; and said a great deal about the happiness my society would give him for life. I resolved to find some means