The king and the prince advanced to meet him, and bowed low. 'We have
come from far away, Sire,' they said, 'in order to show you a portrait.' With these words they drew from the pack which they carried the
magnificent portrait of Rosette. 'I do not believe,' said the King of the Peacocks, when he had looked
long and well at it, 'that the world holds so beautiful a maiden.' 'She is a hundred times more beautiful than that,' said the king. 'You are joking,' said the King of the Peacocks. 'Sire,' said the prince, 'this is my brother, who is a monarch like
yourself: men call him King. For myself, I am known as Prince. This
portrait shows our sister, the Princess Rosette. We are here to ask if
you are willing to marry her. She has good sense as well as good looks,
and we will give her for dowry a bushel of golden crowns.' 'Why, certainly,' said the King of the Peacocks, 'I will marry her with
all my heart. I promise she shall want for nothing, and I will love her
truly. But I would have you know that she must be as beautiful as her
picture, and that if she falls short of it by the least little bit, I
will put you to death.' 'We accept the conditions,' said Rosette's two brothers. 'You accept?' said the King of the Peacocks. 'Then you must bide in
prison until the princess has arrived.' The royal brothers raised no objection to this, for they knew well that
Rosette was more beautiful than her portrait. The King of the Peacocks
saw to it that his captives were well looked after, and went often to
visit them. The portrait of Rosette was placed in his palace, and he was
so taken up with it that, night or day, he could scarcely sleep. From prison the king and the prince sent a letter to the princess
telling her to pack at once all she might require and come as quickly as
possible, for the King of the Peacocks awaited her. They did not dare to
mention that they were in prison, lest she should be too uneasy. When the princess received this letter her transports of delight were
enough to kill her. She announced to every one that the King of the
Peacocks had been found, and desired to wed her. Bonfires were lit, guns
fired, and sugar and sweetmeats eaten in abundance; while for three days
every one who came to see the princess was treated to bread and butter
with jam, and cakes and ale. Having dispensed hospitality in this liberal fashion, the princess gave
all her beautiful dolls to her dearest friends, and entrusted her
brother's realm to the wisest elders of the city. She bade them take
care of everything, spend as little as possible, and save money until
the king should return. At the same time she begged them to look after
her peacock. Taking with her only her nurse and foster-sister, and her little green
dog Frillikin, she embarked on a vessel and put out to sea. They had
with them the bushel of golden crowns, and clothes enough to last for
ten years, with a change of dress twice a day; and they did nothing but
laugh and sing on the voyage. Presently the nurse said to the boatman:

'Tell me, tell me, are we near the Land of Peacocks?' 'Not yet, not yet,' replied the boatman. A little later she asked again:

'Tell me, tell me, are we near it now?' 'Presently, presently,' replied the boatman. Once more she asked:

'Tell me, tell me, are we near it now?' [Illustration: _The wicked nurse_]

'Very near, very near,' said the boatman. When he answered thus the nurse sat down beside him in the stern of the
boat. 'If you like, you can be rich for ever,' she said to him. 'I should like that well,' replied the boatman. 'If you like,' she went on, 'you can gain good money.' 'I ask nothing better,' said he. 'Very well, then,' said the nurse; 'to-night, when the princess is
asleep, you must help me to throw her into the sea. When she is drowned
I will dress up my daughter in her fine clothes, and we will take her to
the King of the Peacocks, who will be delighted to marry her. You shall
have your fill of diamonds as reward.' The boatman was taken aback by this suggestion from the nurse. He
declared it was a pity to drown so beautiful a princess, and that he had
compassion for her. But the nurse fetched a bottle of wine, and plied
him with drink until he no longer had wits enough left to refuse. When night fell the princess went to sleep, according to her usual
practice, with little Frillikin comfortably curled up at the foot of the
bed, stirring not a paw. When Rosette was fast asleep the wicked nurse,
who had remained awake, went to find the boatman. She took him to the
cabin where the princess lay, and with the help of the foster-sister
they lifted her up--feather-bed, mattress, sheets, blankets, and
all--without disturbing her, and threw her into the sea just as she was. So soundly did the princess slumber that she never woke up. Now luckily her bed was made of feathers from the phoenix, which are
very rare and have this peculiar virtue that they never sink in water. Consequently the princess went floating along in her bed, just as though
she were in a boat. Presently, however, the water began little by little to lap first
against the sides of the feather-bed, then against the mattress, until
Rosette began to feel uncomfortable. She turned over restlessly, and
Frillikin woke up. He had a very keen nose, and when he scented the
soles and the cod-fish so near at hand he began yapping. He barked so
loudly that he woke up all the other fish, and they began to swim round
and about. Some of the big fish bumped their heads against the bed, and
there being nothing to steady the latter it spun round and round like a
top. You may imagine how astonished the princess was! 'Is our vessel doing a
dance upon the water?' she exclaimed; 'I do not remember ever to have
been so uncomfortable as I am to-night.' And all the time Frillikin was
barking as though he had taken leave of his senses. The wicked nurse and the boatman heard him from afar. 'Do you hear
that?' they exclaimed; 'it is that funny little dog drinking our very
good health with his mistress! Let us make haste and get ashore.' By
this time, you must understand, they were lying off the capital of the
King of the Peacocks. A hundred carriages had been sent to the water's edge by the king. These
were drawn by animals of every kind--lions, bears, stags, wolves,
horses, oxen, asses, eagles, and peacocks. The carriage in which
Princess Rosette was to be borne was drawn by six blue monkeys which
could leap and dance upon the tight-rope and perform endless amusing
antics; these had trappings of crimson velvet, studded with gold plates. Sixty young girls awaited the coming of the princess. They had been
selected by the king to be her maids of honour, and their attire, of
every colour of the rainbow, shone with ornaments of which gold and
silver were the least precious. The nurse had taken great pains over the toilette of her daughter. She
had decked her out in Rosette's most beautiful gown, and placed her
diamonds on her head.