plied the accoucheur, "I have not exactly seen any such,
nor do I ever expect to do so; but I have seen some curious cases of
lethargy, which, if you desire, I will bring to Your Majesty's notice.

"Ten years ago a demoiselle Jeanne Caillou, being admitted to the
Hotel-Dieu, there slept for six consecutive years. I myself observed the
girl Leonide Montauciel, who fell asleep on Easter Day in the year '61,
and did not awake until Easter Day of the following year."

"Monsieur Gastinel," demanded the King, "can the point of a spindle
cause a wound which will send one to sleep for a hundred years?"

"Sire, it is not probable," answered Monsieur Gastinel, "but in the
domain of pathology, we can never say with certainty, 'This will or will
not happen.'"

"One might mention Brunhild," said Monsieur Gerberoy, "who was pricked
by a thorn, fell asleep, and was awakened by Sigurd."

"There was also Guenillon," said the Duchess of Cicogne, first
lady-in-waiting to the Queen. And she hummed:

She was sent to the wood
To gather some nuts,
The bush was too high,
The maid was too small.

The bush was too high,
The maid was too small,
She pricked her poor hand
With a very sharp thorn.

She pricked her poor hand
With a very sharp thorn,
From the pain in her finger
The maid fell asleep.

"What are you thinking of, Cicogne?" said the Queen. "You are singing."

"Your Majesty will forgive me," replied the Duchess. "It was to ward off
the bad luck."

The King issued an edict, whereby all persons were forbidden under
pain of death to spin with spindles, or even to have spindles in their
possession. All obeyed. They still used to say in the country districts:
"The spindles must follow the mattock," but it was only by force of
habit. The spindles had disappeared.

CHAPTER III

MONSIEUR DE LA ROCHECOUPEE, the Prime Minister who, under the feeble
King Cloche, governed the kingdom, respected popular beliefs, as all
great statesmen respect them. Caesar was Pontifex Maximus, and Napoleon
had himself crowned by the Pope. Monsieur de La Rochecoupee admitted
the power of the fairies. He was by no means sceptical, by no means
incredulous. He did not suggest that the prediction of the seven
godmothers was false. But, being helpless, he did not allow it to
disturb him. His temperament was such that he did not worry about evils
which he was impotent to remedy. In any case,