ng gift?"

"No, indeed, my child," replied the old king. "Ask what you will;
should it be my crown, I will gladly give it to you."

"Sire," continued the fairy, "grant me this wretched creature's
pardon. An ignorant and miserable slave, life has taught her nothing
but hatred and malice; let me render her happy and teach her that the
only happiness on earth consists in loving others."

"My daughter," said the king, "it is very evident that you are a
fairy; you know nothing of human justice. Among us, we do not reform
the wicked, we kill them; it is sooner done. But I have given my word.
Tame this serpent at your own risk and peril; I am willing."

The fairy raised the negress, who kissed her hands, weeping; then they
all sat down to the table. The king was so happy that he ate enough
for four. As for Carlino, who kept his eyes fixed on his bride, he cut
his thumb five or six times in a fit of absent-mindedness, which each
time put him in the best humor imaginable. Everything gives us
pleasure when the heart is happy.

When the old king died, full of years and honor, Carlino and his
lovely wife ascended the throne in turn. For half a century, if
history is to be believed, they neither raised the taxes, shed a drop
of blood, nor caused a tear to fall; and although more than a thousand
years have passed since then, the good people of the Vermilion Towers
still sigh at the mention of this distant age, and little children are
not the only ones to ask when the fairies will reign again.

Story of

Coquerico

_A Spanish Tale_

[Illustration:]

Once upon a time there was a handsome hen who lived like a great lady
in the poultry-yard of a rich farmer, surrounded by a numerous family
which clucked about her, and none of which clamored more loudly or
picked up the corn faster with his beak than a poor little deformed
and crippled chicken. This was precisely the one that the mother loved
best. It is the way with all mothers; the weakest and most unsightly
are always their favorites. This misshapen creature had but one eye,
one wing, and one leg in good condition; it might have been thought
that Solomon had executed his memorable sentence on Coquerico, for
that was the name of the wretched chicken, and cut him in two with his
famous sword. When a person is one-eyed, lame, and one-armed, he may
reasonably be expected to be modest; but our Castilian ragamuffin was
prouder than his father, the best spurred, most eleg