The king and queen wished for nothing better than that their daughter marry into such a great and powerful family, and received the ambassador with every sign Of welcome. They even wished him to see the princess Desiree, but this was prevented by the fairy Tulip, who feared some ill might come Of it,'And be sure you tell him,' added she, 'that the marriage cannot be celebrated till she is fifteen years Old, or else some terrible misfortune will happen to the child.'So when Becasigue, surround by his train, made a formal request that the princess Desiree might be given in marriage to his master's son, the king replied that he was much honoured, and would gladly give his consent; but that no one could even see the princess till her fifteenth birthday, as the spell laid upon her in her cradle by a spiteful fairy, would not cease to work till that was past, The ambassador was greatly surprised and disappointed, but he knew too much about fairies to venture to disobey them, therefore he

"Hoy ka rin pangit! Pareho lang naman yon bleeee!""Oh, tama na yan wag na kayong mag away dyan." Awat ko sakanila."Sige kayo hindi ko na itutuloy yong pag kwento." Tumigil naman sila."Anong pamagat po ng susunod na story??""The golden branch."_Once upon a time there was a King who was so morose and disagreeable that he was feared by all his subjects, and with good reason, as for the most trifling offences he would have them punished, This King Grumpy, as he was called, had one son, who was as different from his father as he could possibly be. No prince equalled him in cleverness and kindness of heart, but unfortunately he was most terribly ugly. He had crooked legs and squinting eyes, a large mouth all on one side, and a hunchback, Never was there a beautiful soul in such a frightful little body, but in spite of his appearance everybody loved him. The Queen, his mother, called him Curlicue, because it was a name she rather liked, and it seemed to suit him,King Grumpy, who care

Now though the Princess Sunbeam appeared to be only a poor shepherdess, she never forgot that she was a real Princess, and she was not at all sure that she ought to marry a humble shepherd, though she knew she would like to do so very much.So she resolved to consult an Enchanter of whom she had heard a great deal since she had been a shepherdess, and without saying a word to anybody she set out to find the castle in which he lived with his sister, who was a powerful Fairy. The way was long, and lay through a thick wood, where the Princess heard strange voices calling to her from every side, but she was in such a hurry that she stopped for nothing, and at last she came to the courtyard of the Enchanter's castle.The grass and briers were growing as high as if it were a hundred years since anyone had set foot there, but the Princess got through at last, though she gave herself a good many scratches by the way, and then she went into a dark, gloomy hall, where there was but one tiny hol

The Princess knocked at the door, and begged to be let in that she might rest a little. The mother of the Moon, when she saw her sad plight, felt a great pity for her, and took her in and nursed and tended her. And while she was here the Princess had a little baby.One day the mother of the Moon asked her:'How was it possible for you, a mortal, to get hither to the house of the Moon?'Then the poor Princess told her all that happened to her, and added 'l shall always be thankful to Heaven for leading me hither, and grateful to you that you took pity on me and on my baby, and did not leave us to die. Now I beg one last favour of you; can your daughter, the Moon, tell me where my husband is?''She cannot tell you that, my child,' replied the goddess, 'but, if you will travel towards the East until you reach the dwelling of the Sun, he may be able to tell you something.'Then she gave the Princess a roast chicken to eat, and warned her to be very careful not to lose any of the bones, b

At the bottom Of this pit there is a small cavity, through which flows the fountain of Health and Beauty. Some Of that water I must absolutely obtain, Whatever is washed with it becomes something marvellous, If persons are handsome, they remain so for ever; if ugly, they become beautiful: if young, they remain always young; if Old, they become young again. You may well imagine, Avenant, that I would not quit my kingdom without some Of this mnderful water.""Madam," he replied, "You are so beautiful already, that this water will be quite useless to you: but I am an unfortunate ambassador, whose death you desire. go in search Of that which you covet, with the certainty that I shall never return."The Fair with Golden Hair was immovable, and Avenant Set out with the little dog Cabriole to seek in the Gloomy Grotto the water of beauty. Everybody who met him on the road exclaimed, "Tis a pity to see so amiable a youth wantonly court destruction. He goes alone to the grotto, when even if he