Her father expressed the opinion that the Beast
wished her to keep them all for herself, and in a trice dresses and
chest were back again where they were before. When Beauty had dressed she learned that her sisters, with their
husbands, had arrived. Both were very unhappy. The eldest had wedded an
exceedingly handsome man, but the latter was so taken up with his own
looks that he studied them from morning to night, and despised his
wife's beauty. The second had married a man with plenty of brains, but
he only used them to pay insults to everybody--his wife first and
foremost. The sisters were greatly mortified when they saw Beauty dressed like a
princess, and more beautiful than the dawn. Her caresses were ignored,
and the jealousy which they could not stifle only grew worse when she
told them how happy she was. Out into the garden went the envious pair,
there to vent their spleen to the full. 'Why should this chit be happier than we are?' each demanded of the
other; 'are we not much nicer than she is?' 'Sister,' said the elder, 'I have an idea. Let us try to persuade her to
stay here longer than the eight days. Her stupid Beast will fly into a
rage when he finds she has broken her word, and will very likely devour
her.' 'You are right, sister,' said the other; 'but we must make a great fuss
of her if we are to make the plan successful.' With this plot decided upon they went upstairs again, and paid such
attention to their little sister that Beauty wept for joy. When the
eight days had passed the two sisters tore their hair, and showed such
grief over her departure that she promised to remain another eight days. Beauty reproached herself, nevertheless, with the grief she was causing
to the poor Beast; moreover, she greatly missed not seeing him. On the
tenth night of her stay in her father's house she dreamed that she was
in the palace garden, where she saw the Beast lying on the grass nearly
dead, and that he upbraided her for her ingratitude. Beauty woke up with
a start, and burst into tears. 'I am indeed very wicked,' she said, 'to cause so much grief to a Beast
who has shown me nothing but kindness. Is it his fault that he is so
ugly, and has so few wits? He is good, and that makes up for all the
rest. Why did I not wish to marry him? I should have been a good deal
happier with him than my sisters are with their husbands. It is neither
good looks nor brains in a husband that make a woman happy; it is beauty
of character, virtue, kindness. All these qualities the Beast has. I
admit I have no love for him, but he has my esteem, friendship, and
gratitude. At all events I must not make him miserable, or I shall
reproach myself all my life.' With these words Beauty rose and placed her ring on the table. Hardly had she returned to her bed than she was asleep, and when she
woke the next morning she saw with joy that she was in the Beast's
palace. She dressed in her very best on purpose to please him, and
nearly died of impatience all day, waiting for nine o'clock in the
evening. But the clock struck in vain: no Beast appeared. Beauty now
thought she must have caused his death, and rushed about the palace with
loud despairing cries. She looked everywhere, and at last, recalling her
dream, dashed into the garden by the canal, where she had seen him in
her sleep. There she found the poor Beast lying unconscious, and thought
he must be dead. She threw herself on his body, all her horror of his
looks forgotten, and, feeling his heart still beat, fetched water from
the canal and threw it on his face. The Beast opened his eyes and said to Beauty:

'You forgot your promise. The grief I felt at having lost you made me
resolve to die of hunger; but I die content since I have the pleasure of
seeing you once more.' 'Dear Beast, you shall not die,' said Beauty; 'you shall live and become
my husband. Here and now I offer you my hand, and swear that I will
marry none but you. Alas, I fancied I felt only friendship for you, but
the sorrow I have experienced clearly proves to me that I cannot live
without you.' Beauty had scarce uttered these words when the castle became ablaze with
lights before her eyes: fireworks, music--all proclaimed a feast. But
these splendours were lost on her: she turned to her dear Beast, still
trembling for his danger. Judge of her surprise now! At her feet she saw no longer the Beast, who
had disappeared, but a prince, more beautiful than Love himself, who
thanked her for having put an end to his enchantment. With good reason
were her eyes riveted upon the prince, but she asked him nevertheless
where the Beast had gone. 'You see him at your feet,' answered the prince. 'A wicked fairy
condemned me to retain that form until some beautiful girl should
consent to marry me, and she forbade me to betray any sign of
intelligence. You alone in all the world could show yourself susceptible
to the kindness of my character, and in offering you my crown I do but
discharge the obligation that I owe you.' In agreeable surprise Beauty offered her hand to the handsome prince,
and assisted him to rise. Together they repaired to the castle, and
Beauty was overcome with joy to find, assembled in the hall, her father
and her entire family. The lady who had appeared to her in her dream had
had them transported to the castle. [Illustration: '"_Your doom is to become statues_"']

'Beauty,' said this lady (who was a celebrated fairy), 'come and receive
the reward of your noble choice. You preferred merit to either beauty or
wit, and you certainly deserve to find these qualities combined in one
person. It is your destiny to become a great queen, but I hope that the
pomp of royalty will not destroy your virtues. As for you, ladies,' she
continued, turning to Beauty's two sisters, 'I know your hearts and the
malice they harbour. Your doom is to become statues, and under the stone
that wraps you round to retain all your feelings. You will stand at the
door of your sister's palace, and I can visit no greater punishment upon
you than that you shall be witnesses of her happiness. Only when you
recognise your faults can you return to your present shape, and I am
very much afraid that you will be statues for ever. Pride, ill-temper,
greed, and laziness can all be corrected, but nothing short of a
miracle will turn a wicked and envious heart.' In a trice, with a tap of her hand, the fairy transported them all to
the prince's realm, where his subjects were delighted to see him again. He married Beauty, and they lived together for a long time in happiness
the more perfect because it was founded on virtue. THE FRIENDLY FROG


Once upon a time there was a king who had been at war for a long time
with his neighbours. After many battles had been fought his capital was
besieged by the enemy. Fearing for the safety of the queen, the king
implored her to take refuge in a stronghold to which he himself had
never been but once.