D MOUSE

ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen who loved each other so
much that they were never happy unless they were together. Day after day
they went out hunting or fishing; night after night they went to balls
or to the opera; they sang, and danced, and ate sugar-plums, and were
the gayest of the gay, and all their subjects followed their example
so that the kingdom was called the Joyous Land. Now in the next kingdom
everything was as different as it could possibly be. The King was sulky
and savage, and never enjoyed himself at all. He looked so ugly and
cross that all his subjects feared him, and he hated the very sight of
a cheerful face; so if he ever caught anyone smiling he had his head
cut off that very minute. This kingdom was very appropriately called the
Land of Tears. Now when this wicked King heard of the happiness of the
Jolly King, he was so jealous that he collected a great army and set out
to fight him, and the news of his approach was soon brought to the King
and Queen. The Queen, when she heard of it, was frightened out of her
wits, and began to cry bitterly. 'Sire,' she said, 'let us collect all
our riches and run away as far as ever we can, to the other side of the
world.'

But the King answered:

'Fie, madam! I am far too brave for that. It is better to die than to be
a coward.'

Then he assembled all his armed men, and after bidding the Queen a
tender farewell, he mounted his splendid horse and rode away. When he
was lost to sight the Queen could do nothing but weep, and wring her
hands, and cry.

'Alas! If the King is killed, what will become of me and of my little
daughter?' and she was so sorrowful that she could neither eat nor
sleep.

The King sent her a letter every day, but at last, one morning, as she
looked out of the palace window, she saw a messenger approaching in hot
haste.

'What news, courier? What news?' cried the Queen, and he answered:

'The battle is lost and the King is dead, and in another moment the
enemy will be here.'

The poor Queen fell back insensible, and all her ladies carried her to
bed, and stood round her weeping and wailing. Then began a tremendous
noise and confusion, and they knew that the enemy had arrived, and very
soon they heard the King himself stamping about the palace seeking
the Queen. Then her ladies put the little Princess into her arms, and
covered her up, head and all, in the bedclothes, and ran for their
lives, and the poor Qu