room, whom he had not seen enter it,
he stood amazed, and at the sight of such beauty, which folks would
have paid a halfpenny a head to gaze at, he consented that the marriage
should take place. So a great feast was made, at which, among the other
ladies present, there appeared a great unknown Queen, who, seeing the
beauty of Pintosmalto (for that was the name Betta gave him), fell
desperately in love with him. Now Pintosmalto, who had only opened his
eyes on the wickedness of the world three hours before, and was as
innocent as a babe, accompanied the strangers who had come to celebrate
his nuptials to the stairs, as his bride had told him; and when he did
the same with this Queen, she took him by the hand and led him quietly
to her coach, drawn by six horses, which stood in the courtyard; then
taking him into it, she ordered the coachman to drive off and away to
her country.

After Betta had waited a while in vain expecting Pintosmalto to return,
she sent down into the courtyard to see whether he were speaking with
any one there; then she sent up to the roof to see if he had gone to
take fresh air; but finding him nowhere, she directly imagined that, on
account of his great beauty, he had been stolen from her. So she
ordered the usual proclamations to be made; but at last, as no tidings
of him were brought, she formed the resolution to go all the world over
in search of him, and dressing herself as a poor girl, she set out on
her way. After some months she came to the house of a good old woman,
who received her with great kindness; and when she had heard Betta's
misfortune, she took compassion on her, and taught her three sayings.
The first was, "Tricche varlacche, the house rains!" the second, "Anola
tranola, the fountain plays!"; the third, "Scatola matola, the sun
shines!"--telling her to repeat these words whenever she was in
trouble, and they would be of good service to her.

Betta wondered greatly at this present of chaff, nevertheless she said
to herself, "He who blows into your mouth does not wish to see you
dead, and the plant that strikes root does not wither; everything has
its use; who knows what good fortune may be contained in these words?"
So saying, she thanked the old woman, and set out upon her way. And
after a long journey she came to a beautiful city called Round Mount,
where she went straight to the royal palace, and begged for the love of
Heaven a little shelter in the stable. So the ladies of