cess,
feather bed, mattress, pillows, blankets and all, and threw her into
the sea, without even waking her. Now, luckily, the Princess's bed was
entirely stuffed with phoenix feathers, which are very rare, and have
the property of always floating upon water, so Rosette went on swimming
about as if she had been in a boat. After a little while she began
to feel very cold, and turned round so often that she woke Frisk, who
started up, and, having a very good nose, smelt the soles and herrings
so close to him that he began to bark. He barked so long and so
loud that he woke all the other fish, who came swimming up round the
Princess's bed, and poking at it with their great heads. As for her, she
said to herself:

'How our boat does rock upon the water! I am really glad that I am not
often as uncomfortable as I have been to-night.'

The wicked nurse and the boatman, who were by this time quite a long way
off, heard Frisk barking, and said to each other:

'That horrid little animal and his mistress are drinking our health in
sea-water now. Let us make haste to land, for we must be quite near the
city of the King of the Peacocks.'

The King had sent a hundred carriages to meet them, drawn by every
kind of strange animal. There were lions, bears, wolves, stags, horses,
buffaloes, eagles, and peacocks. The carriage intended for the Princess
Rosette had six blue monkeys, which could turn summer-saults, and dance
on a tight-rope, and do many other charming tricks. Their harness was
all of crimson velvet with gold buckles, and behind the carriage walked
sixty beautiful ladies chosen by the King to wait upon Rosette and amuse
her.

The nurse had taken all the pains imaginable to deck out her daughter.
She put on her Rosette's prettiest frock, and covered her with diamonds
from head to foot. But she was so ugly that nothing could make her
look nice, and what was worse, she was sulky and ill-tempered, and did
nothing but grumble all the time.

When she stepped from the boat and the escort sent by the King of the
Peacocks caught sight of her, they were so surprised that they could not
say a single word.

'Now then, look alive,' cried the false Princess. 'If you don't bring me
something to eat I will have all your heads cut off!'

Then they whispered one to another:

'Here's a pretty state of things! she is as wicked as she is ugly. What
a bride for our poor King! She certainly was not worth bringing from the
other end of t