And in the same moment he
changed himself into a mouse, which began to run about the floor. No
sooner did Puss see it than he pounced on it and ate it. Presently the king came along, and noticing the ogre's beautiful mansion
desired to visit it. The cat heard the rumble of the coach as it crossed
the castle drawbridge, and running out to the courtyard cried to the
king:

'Welcome, your Majesty, to the castle of the marquis of Carabas!' [Illustration: '_Puss became a personage of great importance_']

'What's that?' cried the king. 'Is this castle also yours, marquis? Nothing could be finer than this courtyard and the buildings which I see
all about. With your permission we will go inside and look round.' The marquis gave his hand to the young princess, and followed the king
as he led the way up the staircase. Entering a great hall they found
there a magnificent collation. This had been prepared by the ogre for
some friends who were to pay him a visit that very day. The latter had
not dared to enter when they learned that the king was there. The king was now quite as charmed with the excellent qualities of the
marquis of Carabas as his daughter. The latter was completely captivated
by him. Noting the great wealth of which the marquis was evidently
possessed, and having quaffed several cups of wine, he turned to his
host, saying:

'It rests with you, marquis, whether you will be my son-in-law.' The marquis, bowing very low, accepted the honour which the king
bestowed upon him. The very same day he married the princess. Puss became a personage of great importance, and gave up hunting mice,
except for amusement. [Illustration: Decoration]




LITTLE TOM THUMB


Once upon a time there lived a wood-cutter and his wife, who had seven
children, all boys. The eldest was only ten years old, and the youngest
was seven. People were astonished that the wood-cutter had had so many
children in so short a time, but the reason was that his wife delighted
in children, and never had less than two at a time. They were very poor, and their seven children were a great tax on them,
for none of them was yet able to earn his own living. And they were
troubled also because the youngest was very delicate and could not speak
a word. They mistook for stupidity what was in reality a mark of good
sense. This youngest boy was very little. At his birth he was scarcely bigger
than a man's thumb, and he was called in consequence 'Little Tom Thumb.' The poor child was the scapegoat of the family, and got the blame for
everything. All the same, he was the sharpest and shrewdest of the
brothers, and if he spoke but little he listened much. There came a very bad year, when the famine was so great that these poor
people resolved to get rid of their family. One evening, after the
children had gone to bed, the wood-cutter was sitting in the
chimney-corner with his wife. His heart was heavy with sorrow as he said
to her:

'It must be plain enough to you that we can no longer feed our
children. I cannot see them die of hunger before my eyes, and I have
made up my mind to take them to-morrow to the forest and lose them
there. It will be easy enough to manage, for while they are amusing
themselves by collecting faggots we have only to disappear without their
seeing us.' 'Ah!' cried the wood-cutter's wife, 'do you mean to say you are capable
of letting your own children be lost?' In vain did her husband remind her of their terrible poverty; she could
not agree. She was poor, but she was their mother. In the end, however,
reflecting what a grief it would be to see them die of hunger, she
consented to the plan, and went weeping to bed. Little Tom Thumb had heard all that was said. Having discovered, when in
bed, that serious talk was going on, he had got up softly, and had
slipped under his father's stool in order to listen without being seen. He went back to bed, but did not sleep a wink for the rest of the night,
thinking over what he had better do. In the morning he rose very early
and went to the edge of a brook. There he filled his pockets with little
white pebbles and came quickly home again. They all set out, and little Tom Thumb said not a word to his brothers
of what he knew. They went into a forest which was so dense that when only ten paces
apart they could not see each other. The wood-cutter set about his work,
and the children began to collect twigs to make faggots. Presently the
father and mother, seeing them busy at their task, edged gradually away,
and then hurried off in haste along a little narrow footpath. When the children found they were alone they began to cry and call out
with all their might. Little Tom Thumb let them cry, being confident
that they would get back home again. For on the way he had dropped the
little white stones which he carried in his pocket all along the path. 'Don't be afraid, brothers,' he said presently; 'our parents have left
us here, but I will take you home again. Just follow me.' They fell in behind him, and he led them straight to their house by the
same path which they had taken to the forest. At first they dared not go
in, but placed themselves against the door, where they could hear
everything their father and mother were saying. Now the wood-cutter and his wife had no sooner reached home than the
lord of the manor sent them a sum of ten crowns which had been owing
from him for a long time, and of which they had given up hope. This put
new life into them, for the poor creatures were dying of hunger. The wood-cutter sent his wife off to the butcher at once, and as it was
such a long time since they had had anything to eat, she bought three
times as much meat as a supper for two required. When they found themselves once more at table, the wood-cutter's wife
began to lament. 'Alas! where are our poor children now?' she said; 'they could make a
good meal off what we have over. Mind you, William, it was you who
wished to lose them: I declared over and over again that we should
repent it. What are they doing now in that forest? Merciful heavens,
perhaps the wolves have already eaten them! A monster you must be to
lose your children in this way!' [Illustration: '_A good dame opened the door_']

At last the wood-cutter lost patience, for she repeated more than twenty
times that he would repent it, and that she had told him so. He
threatened to beat her if she did not hold her tongue. It was not that the wood-cutter was less grieved than his wife, but she
browbeat him, and he was of the same opinion as many other people, who
like a woman to have the knack of saying the right thing, but not the
trick of being always in the right. 'Alas!' cried the wood-cutter's wife, bursting into tears, 'where are
now my children, my poor children?' She said it once so loud that the children at the door heard it plainly. Together they all called out:

'Here we are! Here we are!'