the terrace outside her
windows, so that she might always see him, and then the ladies of
the court came to see the Princess, and they brought her beautiful
presents--dresses and ribbons and sweetmeats, diamonds and pearls and
dolls and embroidered slippers, and she was so well brought up, and
said, 'Thank you!' so prettily, and was so gracious, that everyone went
away delighted with her.

Meanwhile the King and the Prince were considering how they should find
the King of the Peacocks, if there was such a person in the world. And
first of all they had a portrait made of the Princess, which was so like
her that you really would not have been surprised if it had spoken to
you. Then they said to her:

'Since you will not marry anyone but the King of the Peacocks, we are
going out together into the wide world to search for him. If we find him
for you we shall be very glad. In the meantime, mind you take good care
of our kingdom.'

Rosette thanked them for all the trouble they were taking on her
account, and promised to take great care of the kingdom, and only to
amuse herself by looking at the peacock, and making Frisk dance while
they were away.

So they set out, and asked everyone they met--

'Do you know the King of the Peacocks?'

But the answer was always, 'No, no.'

Then they went on and on, so far that no one has ever been farther, and
at last they came to the Kingdom of the Cockchafers.

They had never before seen such a number of cockchafers, and the buzzing
was so loud that the King was afraid he should be deafened by it. He
asked the most distinguished-looking cockchafer they met if he knew
where they could find the King of the Peacocks.

'Sire,' replied the cockchafer, 'his kingdom is thirty thousand leagues
from this; you have come the longest way.'

'And how do you know that?' said the King.

'Oh!' said the cockchafer, 'we all know you very well, since we spend
two or three months in your garden every year.'

Thereupon the King and the Prince made great friends with him, and they
all walked arm-in-arm and dined together, and afterwards the cockchafer
showed them all the curiosities of his strange country, where the
tiniest green leaf costs a gold piece and more. Then they set out again
to finish their journey, and this time, as they knew the way, they were
not long upon the road. It was easy to guess that they had come to the
right place, for they saw peacocks in every tree, and their cries cou