t and drink. Not that they are greedy; but they
are used to such delicate food that even the very best of ours seems
strange to them. So the Queen was very anxious that they should
be pleased; for they had been asked to be godmothers to the baby
Princess, and she wanted them to be in a good humor so that they
should be kind to her little one.

It was a beautiful summer afternoon, and the roses on the palace
terrace were nodding their heads sleepily in the warm breeze, when the
fairies' chariots came into sight, sailing through the blue sky like a
flight of bright-winged butterflies.

They were all good fairies, and had known the King and Queen all their
lives long, and as they had not seen them for some time there was
a great deal to talk about and much news to tell. And, dear me! how
pleased they were with the baby! They all agreed that she was the
prettiest little darling they had ever seen--almost as pretty as a
real fairy baby--and _that_ was a compliment indeed, I can tell you.

And when they went in to the great banqueting-hall and sat down to
table, they were even more delighted than at first. For each one of
them there was a set of six golden dinner things--knife, spoon, fork,
cup, dish, and plate--made on purpose as a present for each, and all
different. One was set with pearls, another with diamonds, the third
with rubies, the fourth with opals, the fifth with amethysts, the
sixth with emeralds, the seventh with sapphires; and nobody could tell
which was the most beautiful.

They were just going to begin, and everybody was as happy as happy
could be, when, all of a sudden, there was a clashing of brazen claws
and a rushing of wings, and something like a black cloud seemed to
pass before the tall windows and darken all the room, so that the
guests could hardly see their plates. Then the great doors burst open
with a terrible bang, and an old fairy in a long trailing black gown,
with her face almost hidden in a black hood, jumped out of a black
chariot drawn by fierce griffins, and stalked up to the table.

The King turned pale, and the Queen nearly fainted away, for this
was the spiteful fairy Tormentilla, who lived all alone, an immense
distance away from everywhere and everyone, in a dismal black stone
castle in the middle of a desert. The poor Queen had been so happy and
so busy that she had forgotten all about her, and never sent her an
invitation.

However, they all tried to make the best of it, and