orry was she for him, but
she had that day seen in her magic glass, which she looked at
constantly, that her father was dying of grief for her sake.

"Alas!" she said, "I long so much to see my father that if you do not
give me leave to visit him I shall break my heart."

"I would rather break mine, Beauty," answered the beast; "I will send
you to your father's cottage, you shall stay there, and your poor
beast shall die of sorrow."

"No," said Beauty, crying, "I love you too well to be the cause of
your death; I promise to return in a week. You have shown me that my
sisters are married, and my brothers are gone for soldiers, so that my
father is left all alone. Let me stay a week with him."

"You shall find yourself with him to-morrow morning," replied the
beast; "but mind, do not forget your promise. When you wish to return
you have nothing to do but to put your ring on a table when you go to
bed. Good-bye, Beauty!" The beast sighed as he said these words, and
Beauty went to bed very sorry to see him so much grieved. When she
awoke in the morning she found herself in her father's cottage. She
rang a bell that was at her bedside, and a servant entered; but as
soon as she saw Beauty the woman gave a loud shriek; upon which the
merchant ran up-stairs, and when he beheld his daughter he ran to her
and kissed her a hundred times. At last Beauty began to remember that
she had brought no clothes with her to put on; but the servant told
her she had just found in the next room a large chest full of dresses,
trimmed all over with gold, and adorned with pearls and diamonds.

Beauty, in her own mind, thanked the beast for his kindness, and put
on the plainest gown she could find among them all. She then desired
the servant to lay the rest aside, for she intended to give them to
her sisters; but, as soon as she had spoken these words, the chest was
gone out of sight in a moment. Her father then suggested perhaps the
beast chose for her to keep them all for herself; and as soon as he
had said this, they saw the chest standing again in the same place.
While Beauty was dressing herself a servant brought word to her that
her sisters were come with their husbands to pay her a visit. They
both lived unhappily with the gentlemen they had married. The husband
of the eldest was very handsome, but was so proud of this that he
thought of nothing else from morning till night, and did not care a
pin for the beauty of his wife. The second