her hands;
and she begged him to let her go out on the fifteenth of the month and
look about her. The king agreed to this; but, the sly old rascal!
nothing was further from his intention than to gratify his daughter's
longing for masculine converse. Wherefore he issued a decree that all
objects for sale were to be exposed openly to the view, all cattle to be
left indoors, the men and women were to withdraw into their houses and
close their doors and windows, and if any one came forth he should be
severely punished. On the appointed day, Sunshine, surrounded by her
ladies, and seated in a brand-new chariot, drove through the town, and
viewed the merchandise and goods exposed for sale. The king had a
minister, named Moon, who could not restrain his curiosity; and he
peeped at her from a balcony. The princess, as he did so, caught sight
of him and made signs to him, which were interpreted by the penetration
of his wife to be an invitation to meet her clandestinely. The wife
hardly displayed what most ladies would deem "a proper spirit" in
advising compliance; and the consequence of taking that advice would
have been serious trouble both to himself and to the princess, had it
not been for the ready wit of the two women, who got over the difficulty
by contriving an ingenious equivocation not unknown in other stories, by
which the princess cleared herself and her lover on oath.[52]

It is true that in these tales the lady who rides forth is not naked;
but to ride openly and unveiled would be thought almost as immodest in
countries where strict seclusion is imposed upon women. All these tales
include the Peeping Tom incident; and it appears, indeed, so obvious a
corollary to the central thought of Lady Godiva's adventure that it is
hardly likely to have required centuries for its evolution. From some
traditions, however, it is absent. A story belonging to the Cinderella
cycle, found at Smyrna, relates that when a certain king desired to
marry his own daughter, the maiden, by the advice of her Fate, demanded
as the price of compliance three magnificent dresses. Having obtained
these, she asked permission to go unseen (like Badroulbadour) to the
bath. The king, to gratify her, forbade his subjects on pain of death to
open their shops or to show themselves in the streets while she passed
by. She thus got an opportunity of escaping from the city, of which she
did not fail to make use,--greatly, no doubt, to her unnatural father's