land where the wicked princesses had fled into exile, and this was
to be the seat of war.

One day, as the queen was seated in the boudoir of the palace in a
pensive attitude, while her husband was putting on his armour, previous
to departing for the war, she was startled by a sound of chattering,
screeching, and the fluttering of wings. As she was about to ring the
bell for the servant to inquire the meaning of this strange noise the
door opened, and an ape and crow entered, followed by a large spider,
which, making towards the queen and bowing low, cried out, "A boon, a
boon! O gracious queen, according to thy promise."

And immediately the little queen recognised the ape that had escaped
with her from the hands of the showman and carried her to the top of a
tree, the crow that had carried her down again and left her on the banks
of a stream, and the spider that had saved her life by catching her in
its web and carrying her safely to the bottom of the precipice, when her
cruel sister Clothilde thought to rid herself for ever of her rival by
precipitating her into the lake below. She remembered that she had
promised a boon to all three when she came to be queen.

"A boon, a boon!" chattered the monkey.

"A boon, a boon!" screeched the crow.

"A boon, a boon!" whispered the spider, whose voice was less strong than
the other two, being an insect.

"What boon do ye ask?" demanded her majesty.

"Change us to our proper forms again!" cried all at once. "We have heard
that thou possessest a fairy wand. Disenchant us, O queen, and give us
back our natural forms."

Queen Bertha then waving her wand over the head of each, they suddenly
resumed their respective shapes. The ape and the spider became two
handsome youths, while the crow took the form of a comely and dignified
matron in the habiliments of a queen. Each of the two youths recognised
the other, though after a lapse of many years, as his lost brother, and
rushed into each other's arms.

The venerable lady who had hitherto figured as a crow, but who was
neither more nor less than a queen herself, recognised in these two
youths her long lost sons, and they, in their turn, recognised the late
crow as their mother, and fell upon her neck and kissed her. The old
queen wept for joy, and knew not how to thank Bertha for what she had
done.

"O favoured of the fairies!" pleaded the mother of the two princes,
"think me not bold if I further trespass on thy benevolenc