e prince in the world, and I bestow my gift on you as
much as I am able."

The Princess had no sooner pronounced these words than Riquet with the
Tuft appeared to her the finest prince upon earth, the handsomest and
most amiable man she ever saw. Some affirm that it was not the fairy's
charms, but love alone, which worked the change.

They say that the Princess, having made due reflection on the
perseverance of her lover, his discretion, and all the good qualities of
his mind, his wit and judgment, saw no longer the deformity of his body,
nor the ugliness of his face; that his hump seemed to her no more than
the grand air of one having a broad back, and that whereas till then
she saw him limp horribly, she now found it nothing more than a certain
sidling air, which charmed her.

They say further that his eyes, which were squinted very much, seemed to
her most bright and sparkling, that their irregularity passed in her
judgment for a mark of the warmth of his affection, and, in short, that
his great red nose was, in her opinion, somewhat martial and heroic in
character.

However it was, the Princess promised immediately to marry him, on
condition that he obtained the King's consent. The King, knowing that
his daughter highly esteemed Riquet with the Tuft, whom he knew also for
a most sage and judicious prince, received him for his son-in-law with
pleasure, and the next morning their nuptials were celebrated, as Riquet
with the Tuft had foreseen, and according to the orders he had given a
long time before.

BLUE BEARD.

Once upon a time there was a man who had fine houses, both in town and
country, a deal of silver and gold plate, carved furniture, and coaches
gilded all over. But unhappily this man had a blue beard, which made him
so ugly and so terrible that all the women and girls ran away from him.

One of his neighbors, a lady of quality, had two daughters who were
perfect beauties. He asked for one of them in marriage, leaving to her
the choice of which she would bestow on him. They would neither of them
have him, and they sent him backward and forward from one to the other,
neither being able to make up her mind to marry a man who had a blue
beard. Another thing which made them averse to him was that he had
already married several wives, and nobody knew what had become of them.

Blue Beard, to become better acquainted, took them, with their mother
and three or four of their best friends, with some