and on whom you should wish to confer this favour.'

'If that is so,' said the princess, 'I wish with all my heart that you
may become the handsomest and most attractive prince in the world, and I
give you without reserve the boon which it is mine to bestow.'

No sooner had the princess uttered these words than Ricky of the Tuft
appeared before her eyes as the handsomest, most graceful and attractive
man that she had ever set eyes on.

Some people assert that this was not the work of fairy enchantment, but
that love alone brought about the transformation. They say that the
princess, as she mused upon her lover's constancy, upon his good sense,
and his many admirable qualities of heart and head, grew blind to the
deformity of his body and the ugliness of his face; that his hump back
seemed no more than was natural in a man who could make the courtliest
of bows, and that the dreadful limp which had formerly distressed her
now betokened nothing more than a certain diffidence and charming
deference of manner. They say further that she found his eyes shine all
the brighter for their squint, and that this defect in them was to her
but a sign of passionate love; while his great red nose she found nought
but martial and heroic.

However that may be, the princess promised to marry him on the spot,
provided only that he could obtain the consent of her royal father.

The king knew Ricky of the Tuft to be a prince both wise and witty, and
on learning of his daughter's regard for him, he accepted him with
pleasure as a son-in-law.

The wedding took place upon the morrow, just as Ricky of the Tuft had
foreseen, and in accordance with the arrangements he had long ago put in
train.

CINDERELLA

Once upon a time there was a worthy man who married for his second wife
the haughtiest, proudest woman that had ever been seen. She had two
daughters, who possessed their mother's temper and resembled her in
everything. Her husband, on the other hand, had a young daughter, who
was of an exceptionally sweet and gentle nature. She got this from her
mother, who had been the nicest person in the world.

The wedding was no sooner over than the stepmother began to display her
bad temper. She could not endure the excellent qualities of this young
girl, for they made her own daughters appear more hateful than ever. She
thrust upon her all the meanest tasks about the house. It was she who
had to clean the plates and the stairs, and swee