ourself into a rat or a mouse;
but I must own to you, I take this to be impossible."

"Impossible!" cried the ogre, "you shall see that presently," and at the
same time changed himself into a mouse, and began to run about the
floor. Puss no sooner perceived this but he fell upon him and ate him
up.

Meanwhile, the king, who saw, as he passed, this fine castle of the
ogre's, had a mind to go into it. Puss, who heard the noise of his
majesty's coach running over the drawbridge, ran out and said to the
king, "Your Majesty is welcome to this castle of my lord Marquis of
Carabas."

"What! my lord Marquis!" cried the king, "and does this castle also
belong to you? There can be nothing finer than this court and all the
stately buildings which surround it; let us go into it, if you please."
They passed into a spacious hall, where they found a magnificent
collation which the ogre had prepared for his friends, who were that
very day to visit him, but dared not to enter, knowing the king was
there. His majesty was perfectly charmed with the good qualities of my
lord Marquis of Carabas, as was his daughter, who had fallen in love
with him; and seeing the vast estate he possessed, said to him while
they sat at the feast, "It will be owing to yourself only, my lord
Marquis, if you are not my son-in-law." The marquis, making several low
bows, accepted the honor which his majesty conferred upon him, and
forthwith, that very same day, married the princess.

Puss became a great lord, and never ran after mice any more, but only
for his diversion.

164

Perrault attached to the next story this moral:
"Diamonds and dollars influence minds, and yet
gentle words have more effect and are more to
be esteemed. . . . It is a lot of trouble to be
upright and it requires some effort, but sooner
or later it finds its reward, and generally
when one is least expecting it." English
versions are usually given the title "Toads and
Diamonds," though Perrault's title was simply
"The Fairies" ("Les Fees"). Lang calls
attention to the fact that the origin of the
story is "manifestly moral." He thinks "it is
an obvious criticism that the elder girl should
have met the fairy first; she was not likely to
behave so rudely when she knew that politeness
would be rewarded." It would be interesting for
a story-teller