ing out of it
anyhow!" said the princess, turning her back for mere rudeness, for she
was one who, even if she liked a thing before, would dislike it the
moment any person in authority over her desired her to do it.

When she looked again, the wise woman had vanished.

Thereupon the princess ran at once to the door, and tried to open it;
but open it would not. She searched on all sides, but could discover no
way of getting out. The windows would not open--at least she could not
open them; and the only outlet seemed the chimney, which she was afraid
to try because of the fire, which looked angry, she thought, and shot
out green flames when she went near it. So she sat down to consider.
One may well wonder what room for consideration there was--with all her
work lying undone behind her. She sat thus, however, considering, as
she called it, until hunger began to sting her, when she jumped up and
put her hand as usual in the hole of the wall: there was nothing there.
She fell straight into one of her stupid rages; but neither her hunger
nor the hole in the wall heeded her rage. Then, in a burst of
self-pity, she fell a-weeping, but neither the hunger nor the hole
cared for her tears. The darkness began to come on, and her hunger grew
and grew, and the terror of the wild noises of the last night invaded
her. Then she began to feel cold, and saw that the fire was dying. She
darted to the heap of cones, and fed it. It blazed up cheerily, and she
was comforted a little. Then she thought with herself it would surely
be better to give in so far, and do a little work, than die of hunger.
So catching up a duster, she began upon the table. The dust flew about
and nearly choked her. She ran to the well to drink, and was refreshed
and encouraged. Perceiving now that it was a tedious plan to wipe the
dust from the table on to the floor, whence it would have all to be
swept up again, she got a wooden platter, wiped the dust into that,
carried it to the fire, and threw it in. But all the time she was
getting more and more hungry and, although she tried the hole again and
again, it was only to become more and more certain that work she must
if she would eat.

At length all the furniture was dusted, and she began to sweep the
floor, which happily, she thought of sprinkling with water, as from the
window she had seen them do to the marble court of the palace. That
swept, she rushed again to the hole--but still no food! She was on the
ver