iest smile in the prince's face. And
she gave him one little kiss in return for all his; and he thought them
overpaid, for he was beside himself with delight. I fear she complained
of her gravity more than once after this, notwithstanding.

It was a long time before she got reconciled to walking. But the pain of
learning it was quite counterbalanced by two things, either of which
would have been sufficient consolation. The first was, that the prince
himself was her teacher; and the second, that she could tumble into the
lake as often as she pleased. Still, she preferred to have the prince
jump in with her; and the splash they made before was nothing to the
splash they made now.

The lake never sank again. In process of time it wore the roof of the
cavern quite through, and was twice as deep as before.

The only revenge the princess took upon her aunt was to tread pretty
hard on her gouty toe the next time she saw her. But she was sorry for
it the very next day, when she heard that the water had undermined her
house, and that it had fallen in the night, burying her in its ruins;
whence no one ever ventured to dig up her body. There she lies to this
day.

So the prince and princess lived and were happy; and had crowns of gold,
and clothes of cloth, and shoes of leather, and children of boys and
girls, not one of whom was ever known, on the most critical occasion, to
lose the smallest atom of his or her due proportion of gravity.

CHAPTER XXIV

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

There was once a very rich merchant, who had six children, three boys
and three girls. As he was himself a man of great sense, he spared no
expense for their education, but provided them with all sorts of masters
for their improvement. The three daughters were all handsome, but
particularly the youngest: indeed she was so very beautiful that in her
childhood every one called her the Little Beauty, and being still the
same when she was grown up, nobody called her by any other name, which
made her sisters very jealous of her. This youngest daughter was not
only more handsome than her sisters, but was also better tempered. The
two eldest were vain of being rich, and spoke with pride to those they
thought below them. They gave themselves a thousand airs, and would not
visit other merchants' daughters; nor would they indeed be seen with any
but persons of quality. They went every day to balls, plays, and public
walks, and always made game of their yo