merely slept. It was plain, too, from their glasses,
in which were still some dregs of wine, that they had fallen asleep
while drinking.

The prince made his way into a great courtyard, paved with marble, and
mounting the staircase entered the guardroom. Here the guards were lined
up on either side in two ranks, their muskets on their shoulders,
snoring their hardest. Through several apartments crowded with ladies
and gentlemen in waiting, some seated, some standing, but all asleep, he
pushed on, and so came at last to a chamber which was decked all over
with gold. There he encountered the most beautiful sight he had ever
seen. Reclining upon a bed, the curtains of which on every side were
drawn back, was a princess of seemingly some fifteen or sixteen summers,
whose radiant beauty had an almost unearthly lustre.

[Illustration: '_All asleep_']

Trembling in his admiration he drew near and went on his knees beside
her. At the same moment, the hour of disenchantment having come, the
princess awoke, and bestowed upon him a look more tender than a first
glance might seem to warrant.

'Is it you, dear prince?' she said; 'you have been long in coming!'

Charmed by these words, and especially by the manner in which they were
said, the prince scarcely knew how to express his delight and
gratification. He declared that he loved her better than he loved
himself. His words were faltering, but they pleased the more for that.
The less there is of eloquence, the more there is of love.

Her embarrassment was less than his, and that is not to be wondered at,
since she had had time to think of what she would say to him. It seems
(although the story says nothing about it) that the good fairy had
beguiled her long slumber with pleasant dreams. To be brief, after four
hours of talking they had not succeeded in uttering one half of the
things they had to say to each other.

[Illustration: '_They all fell asleep_']

Now the whole palace had awakened with the princess. Every one went
about his business, and since they were not all in love they presently
began to feel mortally hungry. The lady-in-waiting, who was suffering
like the rest, at length lost patience, and in a loud voice called out
to the princess that supper was served.

The princess was already fully dressed, and in most magnificent style.
As he helped her to rise, the prince refrained from telling her that her
clothes, with the straight collar which she wore, were like