g, and trying to forget the old wife at home. As for the
princess, no one troubled himself about her, and she passed the days
alone in her apartments, for she had absolutely declined the services of
the ladies-in-waiting whom the king had appointed for her.

One night the prince returned after a longer chase than usual, and he
was so tired that he went up straight to bed. Suddenly he was awakened
by a strange noise in the room, and suspecting that a robber might have
stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized his sword, which lay ready
to his hand. Then he perceived that the noise proceeded from the next
room, which belonged to the princess, and was lighted by a burning
torch. Creeping softly to the door, he peeped through it, and beheld her
lying quietly, with a crown of gold and pearls upon her head, her
wrinkles all gone, and her face, which was whiter than the snow, as
fresh as that of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife--that
beautiful, beautiful creature?

* * * * *

The prince was still gazing in surprise when the lady opened her eyes
and smiled at him.

'Yes, I really _am_ your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his
thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended. Now I must tell you who I am,
and what befell to cause me to take the shape of an old woman.

'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born in the palace which
overlooks the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months old when a
wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast a spell over me,
bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I looked as if I was a
hundred years old, and making me such an object of disgust to everyone,
that at length the king ordered my nurse to take me away from the
palace. She was the only person who cared about me, and we lived
together in this city on a small pension allowed me by the king.

'When I was about three an old man arrived at our house, and begged my
nurse to let him come in and rest, as he could walk no longer. She saw
that he was very ill, so put him to bed and took such care of him that
by and bye he was as strong as ever. In gratitude for her goodness to
him, he told her that he was a wizard and could give her anything she
chose to ask for, except life or death, so she answered that what she
longed for most in the world was that my wrinkled skin should disappear,
and that I should regain the beauty with which I was born. To this he
replied that as my