Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/94

 72 find out why she was so long away and remained in her chamber so quiet, and also to see what she was at. He saw a lovely maiden, the same one who had appeared at the feast dressed in the robe the colour of the stars in the heavens, sitting down busy with some embroidery. When the princess left her chamber to repair to the dinner-table again disguised the king said te her: "Oh! Maria do Pau, you must embroider a pair of shoes for me." She replied: "Do I know how to embroider shoes?" and she left the parlour to go back to her chamber. Every day she put on one of the dresses she had worn at the feast, and on the last day she robed herself with the one of many colours. The king begged her every day to embroider him a pair of shoes, and she always returned the same answer. He had a key made to open the princess's room, and one day when he saw through the key-hole that she was robed in her best, he suddenly opened the door without her perceiving it and entered the chamber. The princess startled, and very much frightened, tried to run away, but the king said to her: "Do not be troubled for you shall marry me! But I wish you first to tell me your history, and why it is that you wear a wooden dress." The princess recounted all the events of her life and the king married her. The king next sent for the little old woman who had given her the wand, to come and live in the palace, but she refused to live there because she was a fairy.

XVII.—.

There was a woman baker who had a very indolent son. When the other boys went to gather firewood and he was told to go also he never would go. The mother was very unhappy to have such a lazy son, and really did not know what she should do with him. As she one day insisted upon his joining the other