leave her poor father in his misfortune, and that
she intended to go with him to the country, to comfort him and help him
to work. Poor Beauty had been very grieved at first over the loss of her
fortune, but she said to herself:

'However much I cry, I shall not recover my wealth, so I must try to be
happy without it.'

When they were established in the country the merchant and his family
started working on the land. Beauty used to rise at four o'clock in the
morning, and was busy all day looking after the house, and preparing
dinner for the family. At first she found it very hard, for she was not
accustomed to work like a servant, but at the end of a couple of months
she grew stronger, and her health was improved by the work. When she had
leisure she read, or played the harpsichord, or sang at her
spinning-wheel.

[Illustration: '_At first she found it very hard_']

Her two sisters, on the other hand, were bored to death; they did not
get up till ten o'clock in the morning, and they idled about all day.
Their only diversion was to bemoan the beautiful clothes they used to
wear and the company they used to keep. 'Look at our little sister,'
they would say to each other; 'her tastes are so low and her mind so
stupid that she is quite content with this miserable state of affairs.'

The good merchant did not share the opinion of his two daughters, for he
knew that Beauty was more fitted to shine in company than her sisters.
He was greatly impressed by the girl's good qualities, and especially by
her patience--for her sisters, not content with leaving her all the work
of the house, never missed an opportunity of insulting her.

They had been living for a year in this seclusion when the merchant
received a letter informing him that a ship on which he had some
merchandise had just come safely home. The news nearly turned the heads
of the two elder girls, for they thought that at last they would be able
to quit their dull life in the country. When they saw their father ready
to set out they begged him to bring them back dresses, furs, caps, and
finery of every kind. Beauty asked for nothing, thinking to herself that
all the money which the merchandise might yield would not be enough to
satisfy her sisters' demands.

'You have not asked me for anything,' said her father.

'As you are so kind as to think of me,' she replied, 'please bring me a
rose, for there are none here.'

Beauty had no real craving for a rose, but