erate and kind to me! Is it his fault that
he is ugly and that he is not clever? He is good, and that is worth
everything else. Why did I refuse to marry him? I should be happier with
him than my sisters are with their husbands. It is neither beauty nor
wit in a husband which makes a wife happy; it is amiability of
character, uprightness and generosity: and the Beast has all these good
qualities. I do not love him, but I respect him, and I feel both
affection for him, and gratitude. I will not make him unhappy; should I
do so, I should reproach myself for it as long as I live."

With these words, Beauty rose, placed her ring on a table, and lay down
again. The moment she was in bed, she fell asleep, and when she awoke
next morning, she saw with delight that she was back in the Beast's
castle. She dressed herself magnificently, in order to please him, and
the hours seemed to drag as she waited for nine o'clock to strike; but
the hour came, and the Beast did not appear.

Then Beauty began to fear that she had caused his death. She ran through
the castle, uttering loud cries, for she was in despair. After having
looked everywhere, she remembered her dream, and ran into the garden
towards the water, where she had seen him in her sleep. She found the
poor Beast stretched on the ground, and unconscious, and she thought he
was dead. Forgetting her horror at his appearance, she threw herself
upon him, and feeling that his heart was still beating, she fetched some
water and threw it over his head. The Beast opened his eyes, and said to
Beauty, "You forgot your promise; in my grief at losing you, I
determined to let myself die of hunger; but I die happy, since I have
had the joy of seeing you once again." "No, my dear Beast, you shall not
die," exclaimed Beauty. "You shall live to be my husband; I am yours
from this moment, and only yours. Alas! I thought the feeling I had for
you was only one of friendship; but now I know, by the grief I feel,
that I cannot live without you." Beauty had scarcely uttered these words
before she saw the castle suddenly become brilliantly illuminated,
while fire-works, music, everything indicated the celebration of some
joyful event. She did not gaze long, however, at these splendours, but
quickly turned her eyes again towards her dear Beast, the thought of
whose danger made her tremble with anxiety. But what was her surprise
when she saw that the Beast had disappeared, and that a young and
handsom