Page:History of the sleeping beauty in the wood.pdf/3

 THE HISTORY

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD.

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children, which made them very unhappy indeed. Hoping, by some means or other, to have an heir, they went to consult all the fairies they could hear of; vows, pilgrimages, every thing was tried, but without success.

At length, heweverhowever [sic], news was proclaimed that the queen was going to have a child, and soon after she was brought to bed of a princess. The christening was the most sumptuous imaginable; and seven fairies, being all that could be found in the country, were appointed to be her godmothers, so that each of them might bestow upon her a gift, as was the custom in those days. By those means the princossprincess [sic] had every possible perfection.

When the ceremonies of the baptism were over, all the company returned to the king's palace, where thothe [sic] most costly entertainment was prepared for the fairies; before each of them was set a magnificent cover, with a casocase [sic] of massy gold, which contained a knife, a fork, and a spoenspoon [sic], set with diamonds and rubies, and all of the most curious workmanship.

As the company were going to place themselves at the table, an old fairy, who for more than fifty years had not loftleft [sic] the tower she inhabited, and was believed to be either dead or enchanted, and on that account had not been invited to the christening, enterodentered [sic] the room. The king immediately ordered a seat to be brought for her, and also a cover; but it could not be of massy gold, because only seven had been made, being eneone [sic] each for the seven fairies.

The old fairy, seeing that her cover was not moromore [sic]