Stranica 256 [256]
“THE* SLEEPING BEAUTY:
N times past there lived a king and
queen, who said to each other every
day of their lives, " Would that we had
a child!” and yet they had none. But
it happened, once that when the queen
was bathing, there came a frog out of
the water, and he squatted on the
ground, and said to her,
“Thy wish shall be fulfilled; before
a year has gone by, thou shalt bring a daughter into the
"world."
And as the frog foretold, so it happened; and the queen
bore a daughter so beautiful that the king could not contain
himself for joy, and he ordained a great feast. Not only did
he bid to it his relations, friends, and acquaintances, but also
the wise women, that they might be kind and favourable to
the child. ‘There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but
as he had only ‘provided twelve golden plates for them to
eat from, one of them had to be left out. However, the feast
was celebrated with all splendour; and as it drew to an end,
the wise women stood forward to present to the child their
wonderful gifts: one bestowed virtue, one beauty, a third
riches, and so on, whatever there is in the world to wish for.
And when eleven of them had said their say, in came the
uninvited thirteenth, burning to revenge herself, and without
greeting or respect, she cried with a loud voice,
“In the fifteenth year of her age the princess shall prick
herself with a spindle and shall fall down dead.”
And without speaking one more word she turned away and
wily
LN INS hy
i’ tá