a
great straw hat that concealed her face, and carrying an old sack over
her shoulder, had set out upon her weary journey, and had travelled far,
sometimes by sea and sometimes by land; sometimes on foot, and sometimes
on horseback, but not knowing which way to go. She feared all the time
that every step she took was leading her farther from her lover. One day
as she sat, quite tired and sad, on the bank of a little brook, cooling
her white feet in the clear running water, and combing her long hair
that glittered like gold in the sunshine, a little bent old woman passed
by, leaning on a stick. She stopped, and said to Fiordelisa:

'What, my pretty child, are you all alone?'

'Indeed, good mother, I am too sad to care for company,' she answered;
and the tears ran down her cheeks.

'Don't cry,' said the old woman, 'but tell me truly what is the matter.
Perhaps I can help you.'

The Queen told her willingly all that had happened, and how she was
seeking the Blue Bird. Thereupon the little old woman suddenly stood up
straight, and grew tall, and young, and beautiful, and said with a smile
to the astonished Fiordelisa:

'Lovely Queen, the King whom you seek is no longer a bird. My sister
Mazilla has given his own form back to him, and he is in his own
kingdom. Do not be afraid, you will reach him, and will prosper. Take
these four eggs; if you break one when you are in any great difficulty,
you will find aid.'

[Illustration]

So saying, she disappeared, and Fiordelisa, feeling much encouraged, put
the eggs into her bag and turned her steps towards Charming's kingdom.
After walking on and on for eight days and eight nights, she came at
last to a tremendously high hill of polished ivory, so steep that it was
impossible to get a foothold upon it. Fiordelisa tried a thousand times,
and scrambled and slipped, but always in the end found herself exactly
where she started from. At last she sat down at the foot of it in
despair, and then suddenly bethought herself of the eggs. Breaking one
quickly, she found in it some little gold hooks, and with these fastened
to her feet and hands, she mounted the ivory hill without farther
trouble, for the little hooks saved her from slipping. As soon as she
reached the top a new difficulty presented itself, for all the other
side, and indeed the whole valley, was one polished mirror, in which
thousands and thousands of people were admiring their reflections. For
this was a magic mirror