Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-11-21

THE SPIDER HAD WOVEN WORDS INTO THE
WEB.
worst thing about this fairy was not
her uS,.ncss. but her Jealousy. She
10 sconcr caught sight of the princess
beautiful face than she was seized
"-ith ic:.Iuu$ rage. Determined to rob
uer Of this gift. she asked permission
% give tE1 princess birthday pres
mt. The king and queen were quite
pleased :; the offer Going into the
princess room, where she was being
ARA. I'd for the day, the fairy said
slowly and distinctly:
~ will make you the greatest spin
ner in Tie world"
At the tournament the fairy was an
honored guest No one knew the jeal-
ousy that filed her heart when the
handsomest prince present won the
princess for his promised bride. II
was not for several days that the
princess had time to spare from all
the festivities to try her skill at the
spinning wheel But when she did
sit down before It the king and queen,
the prince and all the court were pres
ent to see what she could do.
Whir, whir, went the spinning
wheel. Then q terrible thing happen
ed The beautiful princess grew small
er and smaller. Her hair fell OF, her
arms shrank up, and before any one
could draw a long breath she had
changed into a spider. She was in
deed the greatest spinner in the world
Now, a wonderful thing about the
webs she spun was that they were OF
pure gold. Another wonderful and
annoying thing was that during the
night all the golden webs that had
been spun during the day disappeared.
A year passed. 1t was the princess
sixteenth birthday. An invitation had
come from the queen Of fairies to a
ball but the king and queen had no
heart, for such amusements any more.
The young prince who had won the
princess for his bride arrived to spend
the day with them. While he was
watching the little spider spinning one
web after another he said aloud:
II wonder who steals these webs ev-
cry night"
Now. this was the first time that such
remark had been made in the spi-
ders presence. Instantly she stopped
spinning. 1t was some time before
she began again. The prince was sit
ting close, watching every movement
Suddenly his eyes caught sight OF
something quite unusual He leaned
closer and started back in surprise.
The spider had woven into the web
these words:
"The ugly fairy steals the webs"
A messenger was sent with all haste
to the palace Of the fairy queen.
where the ball was in progress When
the queen Of fairies heard the news
she was very angry. Looking round
the ballroom, she saw the ugly fairy
in a wonderful robe Of spun gold. She
summoned her before her and in the
presence of everybody accused her Of
the crime. Finding that the queen
knew all. the ugly fairy confessed.
ut is my right" said the queen
sternly, ito cast you into outer dark
ness, but If you will restore the prin-
cess to her natural shape I, too, will
be merciful and Will only exile You
from Fairyland for hundred years"
The ugly fairy weepingly consented.
So she and the fairy queen returned
with the messenger to the palace Of
the king. ! need not tell you Of the
rejoicing TINT followed the breaking
Of the enchantment. Nor could any
one mistake the fact that the princess
was more beautiful than before.