Page 204 [204]
LABOULAYE’S FAIRY BOOK
was worthy of admiration, but the most admirable thing in
it was the attitude of the young girls of the court. Every
one looked at Charming, who was handsomer than ever
in his mourning dress; every one wept with one eye in
honor of the princess, and smiled with the other to attract
the king. Ah! had photography only been invented, what
portraits would antiquity have transmitted to us—what
models for our painters! The passions still existed among
these good people; their mobile faces were animated by
love, hatred, and anger; to-day we are all so virtuous and
prudent that we all wear the same dress, the same hat,
and the same expression. Civilization 1s the triumph of
morality and the ruin of art.
After the description of the funeral ceremonies, which,
according to etiquette, filled six columns, the court gazette
laid down rules for the full and the second mourning, blue
and pink, which are the mourning colors in the kingdom
of Wild Oats. The court was required to be in deep
affliction for three weeks, and to be comforted by degrees
during the three weeks following; but carnival occurring
during the period of the second mourning, and _ respect
being had for trade, it was determined to give a masked ball
at the palace. Tailors and dressmakers immediately set
to work, invitations were solicited by great and small,
and men began to intrigue as if the fate of the monarchy
had been in question.
164