y a certain spot where he
was a prisoner in a tree, and she saw a trail of blood and heard a very
weak voice calling her, but nowhere could she find the Blue Bird. But
she knew it was his blood. Then, after a long time, she found him in his
tiny nest, dying.

This was the Good Fairy who had given him the flying-frog carriage, so
again she resolved to help him if she could. Away she went to the fairy
Soussio and asked her to release the spell on Prince Charming. Soussio
agreed to do so if he would marry Truitonne. Then the Good Fairy
conducted Prince Charming back to his castle, where, on his arrival, the
ugly Truitonne was awaiting his return, dressed in lovely clothes, and
more ugly than ever.

Now the old King died, and the people, who hated the Queen and her ugly
daughter, said that they would have no other Queen but Florine, and they
went to her in her little room and begged her for their sake to be their
Queen. But she said she had not the heart for anything because she had
lost her lover, Prince Charming. They asked her again to become their
Queen and then to go out and look for him, and they were sure she would
find him.

So she became their Queen, and then dressed herself as a poor peasant,
and went out into strange lands and travelled in many strange places,
thinking to find her beloved Prince. But it was all of no avail. One day
she stopped, out of sheer fatigue, to rest by a fountain, and, while she
was there, the Good Fairy, disguised, came by and asked her what she was
crying for. Florine told her all about the Prince whom she loved and was
seeking. Then the Good Fairy told her that Prince Charming was at his
own castle and that the spell had been removed, and she gave Florine
four little eggs, and said that whenever she was in trouble she was to
throw one of them down, and at the same time ask what she wanted, and it
would be granted. With these words she disappeared.

Florine turned her face towards the castle of the Prince, and, after
many trials and sufferings, she found herself at the feet of her ugly
sister Truitonne. Florine, disguised as a poor peasant, was not
recognised, so she offered her lovely jewels for sale, and Truitonne,
who loved jewellery, resolved to buy them. But Florine would not sell
for money: all she asked was to spend a night in the castle. Truitonne
was only too glad to get them at such a price, and agreed.

Feeling that the poor peasant girl was giving her something for noth