kind and that, and make them into a broom,
and sweep therewith the whole length of the palace walls, and so shall
it be even as the King wishes.

_'Go do this thing and do it well,
And fortune shall upon you dwell.'_

So Matteo went into the forest and gathered herbs of this kind and that,
and swept the palace well round as the serpent had directed, and when
the King and his courtiers and the servants--even down to the scullery
wench--arose, the whole palace was golden from the front step of the
main entrance to the topmost ridge of the chimney. And it was not gold
plate either: it was all solid gold of the purest kind.

This time the King saw that there was no way of escape when Matteo asked
for the fulfilment of the royal promise, so he called his daughter to
him and told her of the matter.

'My dear Grannmia,' he said, for that was her name, 'for your sake I
have twice broken my royal pledge, and now I greatly fear you must keep
it. It is a small matter--just to marry a serpent, the adopted son of a
poor forester.'

The Princess, who was very young and very dutiful, and surpassingly fair
to look upon, agreed cheerfully, as though marrying serpents was quite
an ordinary everyday duty like laying foundation stones and receiving
bouquets.

So the King told Matteo to send the serpent along and marry his
daughter, and for goodness' sake not to bother him any further with
golden palaces, and jewelled orchards, and carbuncles on his favourite
courtier's big toe.

When the serpent heard this from Matteo, it seemed beside itself with
joy, and there and then set off for the palace. But before it left the
humble cottage in which it had received so much care and affection, it
bade farewell to Sapatella and Matteo, and thanked them very heartily
for all their goodness, finishing up with these words:

_'Now my task you have done full well,
Good fortune shall upon you dwell.'_

And it did; for, from that time till the day they died, both Sapatella
and Matteo were happy and contented and prosperous, and never ailed or
suffered pain or disappointment.

When Grannmia saw her strange lover, she alone remained calm and
courageous--the only one in the palace who did. All the servants ran
shrieking when they saw the great golden monster entering the doors,
and, when it got to the presence-chamber, the King and Queen fled in one
direction and the courtiers in another. Only the Princess remained,
trembling