afely through it. She gave word that there was to be a great hunt, and
that she wished everybody to be there; she herself would go in her
chariot, and each was to follow a different route, that there might be
no possibility of escape for the wild beasts. Everything was done
according to her orders. The young Queen, feeling sure that she should
soon see her husband again, dressed herself as becomingly as possible;
her hat was covered with feathers of different colours, the front of her
dress lavishly trimmed with precious stones, and her beauty, which was
of no ordinary kind, made her seem, when so adorned, a second Diana.

While everybody was occupied with the pleasures of the hunt, she gave
rein to her horses, encouraged them with voice and whip, and soon their
quickened pace became a gallop; then, taking the bit between their
teeth, they flew along at such a speed, that the chariot seemed borne by
the winds, and the eye could scarcely follow it. Too late the poor Queen
repented of her rashness: "What could I have been thinking of?" she
said. "How could I have imagined that I should be able to control such
wild and fiery horses? Alas! what will become of me? What would the King
do if he knew the great danger I am in, he who loves me so dearly, and
who only sent me away that I might be in greater safety! This is my
gratitude for his tender care!" The air resounded with her piteous
lamentations; she invoked Heaven, she called the fairies to her
assistance, but it seemed that all the powers had abandoned her. The
chariot was overthrown; she had not sufficient strength to jump quickly
enough to the ground, and her foot was caught between the wheel and the
axle-tree; it was only by a miracle she was saved.

She remained stretched on the ground at the foot of a tree; her heart
scarcely beat, she could not speak, and her face was covered with blood.
She lay thus for a long time; when at last she opened her eyes, she saw,
standing near her, a woman of gigantic stature, clothed only in a lion's
skin, with bare arms and legs, her hair tied up with the dried skin of a
snake, the head of which dangled over her shoulders; in her hand was a
club made of stone, which served her as a walking-stick, and a quiver
full of arrows was fastened to her side. When the Queen caught sight of
this extraordinary figure, she felt sure that she was dead, for she did
not think it was possible that she could be alive after such a terrible
accident, a