Page:The sleeping beauty and other fairy tales from the old French (1910).djvu/160

Beauty and the Beast and see my Beast again." That is all. Good night, Beauty! Sleep soundly, and in good time you shall see your father once more.'

As soon as he was gone Beauty set to work to fill the four boxes with all the riches and finery that heart could desire. She filled them to the brim; and then, tired out, she went to bed. But for a long while she could not close her eyes for excitement. It was not until close upon sunrise that sleep visited her and, with it, another dream. In this dream she saw her beloved Unknown stretched at full length on a bank of turf. His face was hidden, and she could hear that he was sobbing. But when, touched by the sight of his grief, she drew near to console him, he lifted his face to her and said:—

'Cruel Beauty, how can you ask what ails me? when you are leaving me, and your going is my death warrant!'

'But, dearest Prince,' said Beauty, 'I am only going to tell my father and brothers and sisters that I am well and happy. In a short while I shall be back, never to leave you again.… But, for that matter,' she went on as a new thought 118