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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 without 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
