!"

"The what?" cried the pie, cocking down her left ear.

"The amoronthologosphorus."

"La!" said the magpie; "and what is that very long word, my dear
Reynard?"

"The amoronthologosphorus is a beast that lives on the other side of
the river Cylinx; it has five legs, and on the fifth leg there are three
hairs, and whoever has those three hairs can be young and beautiful
forever."

"Bless me! I wish you would let me see them," said the pie, holding out
her claw.

"Would that I could oblige you, ma'am; but it's as much as my life's
worth to show them to any but the lady I marry. In fact, they only have
an effect on the fair sex, as you may see by myself, whose poor person
they utterly fail to improve: they are, therefore, intended for a
marriage present, and his Majesty the lion thus generously atoned to
me for relinquishing the tenderness of his queen. One must confess that
there was a great deal of delicacy in the gift. But you'll be sure not
to mention it."

"A magpie gossip indeed!" quoth the old blab.

The fox then wished the magpie good night, and retired to a hole to
sleep off the fatigues of the day, before he presented himself to the
beautiful young cat.

The next morning, Heaven knows how! it was all over the place that
Reynard the fox had been banished from court for the favour shown him by
her Majesty, and that the lion had bribed his departure with three
hairs that would make any lady whom the fox married young and beautiful
forever.

The cat was the first to learn the news, and she became all curiosity to
see so interesting a stranger, possessed of "qualifications" which, in
the language of the day, "would render any animal happy!" She was not
long without obtaining her wish. As she was taking a walk in the wood
the fox contrived to encounter her. You may be sure that he made her his
best bow; and he flattered the poor cat with so courtly an air that she
saw nothing surprising in the love of the lioness.

Meanwhile let us see what became of his rival, the dog.

"Ah, the poor creature!" said Nymphalin; "it is easy to guess that he
need not be buried alive to lose all chance of marrying the heiress."

"Wait till the end," answered Fayzenheim.

When the dog found that he was thus entrapped, he gave himself up for
lost. In vain he kicked with his hind-legs against the stone,--he only
succeeded in bruising his paws; and at length he was forced to lie down,
with his tongue out of his mouth, and