forgotten to question the stars about the tree.

"I never forget a promise once made," replied Jean, "but I doubt
whether it will be agreeable to your majesty to know the cause of the
evil."

He then related all the Moon had said, and when his directions had
been carried out they were rewarded by seeing the tree blossom
immediately. Jean was loaded with rich gifts, and the king presented
him with a most valuable horse, by means of which he reached home very
quickly.

Little Annette was wild with joy on hearing of her lover's safe
return, for she had wept and suffered much during his absence. But her
father's feelings were very different; he wished never to see Jean
again, and had, indeed, sent him in search of the Sun with the hope
that he might be burnt up by the heat. True it is that "Man proposes
and God disposes." Our young shepherd returned, not only safe and
sound, but with more knowledge than any of his evil-wishers. For he
had learnt why the Sun neither lights nor warms the earth by night as
in the day; also why the Moon does not give warmth, and only lights up
during the night. Besides all this he had brought with him riches
which far exceeded those of his father-in-law, and a steed full of
fire and vigour.

So Annette's father could find no fault, and the wedding was
celebrated with joy and feasting. Large quantities of roasted crane
were eaten, and glasses overflowing with mead were emptied. So
beautiful, too, was the music, that for long, long after it was heard
to echo among the mountains, and even now its sweet sounds are heard
at times by travellers among those regions.

THE DWARF WITH THE LONG BEARD

[Illustration: THE DWARF.]

THE DWARF WITH THE LONG BEARD

In a far distant land there reigned a king, and he had an only
daughter who was so very beautiful that no one in the whole kingdom
could be compared to her. She was known as Princess Pietnotka, and the
fame of her beauty spread far and wide. There were many princes among
her suitors, but her choice fell upon Prince Dobrotek. She obtained
her father's consent to their marriage, and then, attended by a
numerous suite, set off with her lover for the church, having first,
as was the custom, received her royal parent's blessing. Most of the
princes who had been unsuccessful in their wooing of Pietnotka
returned disappointed to their own kingdoms: but one of them, a dwarf
only seven inches high, with an enormous hump on his back an