Page 138 [138]
LABOULAYE’S FAIRY BOOK
The proud girl ran to her room to dress for the ceremony,
while the mother, still anxious, said to the bridegroom,
" My good sir, what bread do you offer my daughter?”
“Among us," said he, “the bread 15 of copper, silver,
and gold. She can take her choice.”
“What does this mean?” thought the mother. But
Marienka had no anxiety; she returned as beautiful as the
sun, took her lover’s arm, and set out for the church with¬
out asking her mother’s blessing. The poor woman was
left to pray alone on the threshold; and when Marienka
returned and entered the carriage she did not even turn
round to look at her mother or to bid her a last farewell.
The eight horses set off at a gallop, and did not stop till
they reached a huge rock in which there was a hole as large
as the gate of a city. The horses plunged into the darkness,
the earth trembled, and the rock cracked and crumbled.
Marienka seized her husband’s hand.
" Dont be alarmed, my fair one; in a moment it will be
light."
All at once a thousand lights waved in the air. The
dwarfs of the mountain, each with a torch in his hand, came
to salute their lord, the King of the Mines. Marienka
learned for the first time her husband’s name. Whether
he was a spirit of good or of evil, at least he was so rich
that she did not regret her choice.
They emerged from the darkness, and advanced through
106