at the
fairies had foretold. He knew very well that this must come to pass,
since the fairies had foretold it, and he caused the Princess to be
carried into the finest room in his palace, and to be laid upon a bed
all embroidered with gold and silver. One would have taken her for a
little angel, she was so beautiful; for her swooning had not dimmed the
brightness of her complexion: her cheeks were carnation, and her lips
coral. It is true her eyes were shut, but she was heard to breathe
softly, which satisfied those about her that she was not dead.

[Illustration: "LET ME SEE IF I CAN DO IT." p. 15.]

The King gave orders that they should let her sleep quietly till the
time came for her to awake. The good fairy who had saved her life by
condemning her to sleep a hundred years was in the kingdom of Matakin,
twelve thousand leagues off, when this accident befell the Princess;
but she was instantly informed of it by a little dwarf, who had
seven-leagued boots, that is, boots with which he could stride over
seven leagues of ground at once. The fairy started off at once, and
arrived, about an hour later, in a fiery chariot drawn by dragons.

The King handed her out of the chariot, and she approved everything he
had done; but as she had very great foresight, she thought that when the
Princess should awake she might not know what to do with herself, if she
was all alone in this old palace. This was what she did: she touched
with her wand everything in the palace (except the King and
Queen),--governesses, maids of honor, ladies of the bedchamber,
gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, undercooks, kitchen maids, guards
with their porters, pages, and footmen; she likewise touched all the
horses which were in the stables, the cart horses, the hunters and the
saddle horses, the grooms, the great dogs in the outward court, and
little Mopsey, too, the Princess's spaniel, which was lying on the bed.

As soon as she touched them they all fell asleep, not to awake again
until their mistress did, that they might be ready to wait upon her when
she wanted them. The very spits at the fire, as full as they could hold
of partridges and pheasants, fell asleep, and the fire itself as well.
All this was done in a moment. Fairies are not long in doing their
work.

And now the King and Queen, having kissed their dear child without
waking her, went out of the palace and sent forth orders that nobody
should come near it.

These orders were not