ared that he had no claim
to be the husband of so beautiful a girl.

'It is quite true,' he said, 'that I can stop the wind who can part the
clouds who can cover the sun; but there is someone who can do more than
all these, and that is the rat. It is the rat who passes through me, and
can reduce me to powder, simply with his teeth. If, therefore, you want
a son-in-law who is greater than the whole world, seek him among the
rats.'

'Ah, what did I tell you?' cried the father. And his wife, though for
the moment angry at being beaten, soon thought that a rat son-in-law was
what she had always desired.

So all three returned happily home, and the wedding was celebrated three
days after.

[Contes Populaires.]

The Mermaid and the Boy

Long, long ago, there lived a king who ruled over a country by the sea.
When he had been married about a year, some of his subjects, inhabiting
a distant group of islands, revolted against his laws, and it became
needful for him to leave his wife and go in person to settle their
disputes. The queen feared that some ill would come of it, and implored
him to stay at home, but he told her that nobody could do his work for
him, and the next morning the sails were spread, and the king started on
his voyage.

The vessel had not gone very far when she ran upon a rock, and stuck so
fast in a cleft that the strength of the whole crew could not get her
off again. To make matters worse, the wind was rising too, and it was
quite plain that in a few hours the ship would be dashed to pieces and
everybody would be drowned, when suddenly the form of a mermaid was seen
dancing on the waves which threatened every moment to overwhelm them.

'There is only one way to free yourselves,' she said to the king,
bobbing up and down in the water as she spoke, 'and that is to give me
your solemn word that you will deliver to me the first child that is
born to you.'

The king hesitated at this proposal. He hoped that some day he might
have children in his home, and the thought that he must yield up the
heir to his crown was very bitter to him; but just then a huge wave
broke with great force on the ship's side, and his men fell on their
knees and entreated him to save them.

So he promised, and this time a wave lifted the vessel clean off the
rocks, and she was in the open sea once more.

The affairs of the islands took longer to settle than the king had
expected, and some months passed away before