ooking even more radiant than the night
before, for this time her dress was woven out of the rays of the sun.
All evening the prince danced with her, but she never spoke a word.

When the ball was over he tried once more to follow her carriage, that
he might know whence she came, but suddenly a great waterspout fell from
the sky, and the blinding sheets of rain hid her from his sight.

When he reached his home he told his mother that he had again seen the
lovely girl, and that this time she had been even more beautiful than
the night before. And again the bear smiled beneath the table, and
muttered: 'I have taken him in a second time, and he has no idea that I
am the beautiful girl with whom he is so much in love.'

On the next evening, the prince returned to the palace for the third
ball. And the princess went too, and this time she had changed her
bear's skin into a dress woven out of the star-light, studded all over
with gems, and she looked so dazzling and so beautiful, that everyone
wondered at her, and said that no one so beautiful had ever been seen
before. And the prince danced with her, and, though he could not induce
her to speak, he succeeded in slipping a ring on her finger.

When the ball was over, he followed her carriage, and rode at such a
pace that for long he kept it in sight. Then suddenly a terrible wind
arose between him and the carriage, and he could not overtake it.

When he reached his home he said to his mother, 'I do not know what is
to become of me; I think I shall go mad, I am so much in love with that
girl, and I have no means of finding out who she is. I danced with her
and I gave her a ring, and yet I do not know her name, nor where I am to
find her.'

Then the bear laughed beneath the table and muttered to itself.

And the prince continued: 'I am tired to death. Order some soup to be
made for me, but I don't want that bear to meddle with it. Every time I
speak of my love the brute mutters and laughs, and seems to mock at me.
I hate the sight of the creature!'

When the soup was ready, the bear brought it to the prince; but before
handing it to him, she dropped into the plate the ring the prince had
given her the night before at the ball. The prince began to eat his soup
very slowly and languidly, for he was sad at heart, and all his thoughts
were busy, wondering how and where he could see the lovely stranger
again. Suddenly he noticed the ring at the bottom of the plate. In a
mome