battle, so he called his daughters and
said to them:

'My dear children, I am obliged to go to the wars. The enemy is
approaching us with a large army. It is a great grief to me to leave you
all. During my absence take care of yourselves and be good girls; behave
well and look after everything in the house. You may walk in the garden,
and you may go into all the rooms in the palace, except the room at the
back in the right-hand corner; into that you must not enter, for harm
would befall you.'

'You may keep your mind easy, father,' they replied. 'We have never
been disobedient to you. Go in peace, and may heaven give you a glorious
victory!'

When everything was ready for his departure, the King gave them the keys
of all the rooms and reminded them once more of what he had said. His
daughters kissed his hands with tears in their eyes, and wished him
prosperity, and he gave the eldest the keys.

Now when the girls found themselves alone they felt so sad and dull that
they did not know what to do. So, to pass the time, they decided to
work for part of the day, to read for part of the day, and to enjoy
themselves in the garden for part of the day. As long as they did this
all went well with them. But this happy state of things did not last
long. Every day they grew more and more curious, and you will see what
the end of that was.

'Sisters,' said the eldest Princess, 'all day long we sew, spin, and
read. We have been several days quite alone, and there is no corner of
the garden that we have not explored. We have been in all the rooms of
our father's palace, and have admired the rich and beautiful furniture:
why should not we go into the room that our father forbad us to enter?'

Sister,' said the youngest, 'I cannot think how you can tempt us to
break our father's command. When he told us not to go into that room
he must have known what he was saying, and have had a good reason for
saying it.'

'Surely the sky won't fall about our heads if we DO go in,' said the
second Princess. 'Dragons and such like monsters that would devour us
will not be hidden in the room. And how will our father ever find out
that we have gone in?'

While they were speaking thus, encouraging each other, they had reached
the room; the eldest fitted the key into the lock, and snap! the door
stood open.

The three girls entered, and what do you think they saw?

The room was quite empty, and without any ornament, but in the middle
stood