HE FAIR FIORITA.

There was once a king who had four children: three daughters and a son,
who was the heir to the throne. One day the king said to the prince: "My
son, I have decided to marry your three sisters to the first persons who
pass our palace at noon." At that time there first passed a swine-herd,
then a huntsman, and finally a grave-digger. The king had them all three
summoned to his presence, and told the swine-herd that he wished to give
him his oldest daughter for a wife, the second to the huntsman, and the
third to the grave-digger. Those poor creatures thought they were
dreaming. But they saw that the king spoke seriously, or rather
commanded. Then, all confused, but well pleased, they said: "Let your
Majesty's will be done." The prince, who loved his youngest sister
dearly, was deeply grieved that she should become a grave-digger's wife.
He begged the king not to make this match, but the king would not listen
to him.

The prince, grieved at his father's caprice, would not be present at his
sisters' wedding, but took a walk in the garden at the foot of the
palace. Now, while the priest in the marriage hall was blessing the
three brides, the garden suddenly bloomed with the fairest flowers, and
there came forth from a white cloud a voice which said: "Happy he who
shall have a kiss from the lips of the fair Fiorita!" The prince
trembled so that he could hardly stand; and afterward, leaning against
an olive-tree, he began to weep for the sisters he had lost, and
remained buried in thought many hours. Then he started, as if awakening
from a dream, and said to himself: "I must flee from my father's house.
I will wander about the world, and will not rest until I have a kiss
from the lips of the fair Fiorita."

He travelled over land and sea, over mountains and plains, and found no
living soul that could give him word of the fair Fiorita. Three years
had elapsed, when one day, leaving a wood and journeying through a
beautiful plain, he arrived at a palace before which was a fountain, and
drew near to drink. A child two years old, who was playing by the
fountain, seeing him approach, began to cry and call its mother. The
mother, when she saw the prince, ran to meet him, embraced him, and
kissed him, crying: "Welcome, welcome, my brother!" The prince at first
did not recognize her; but looking at her closely in the face, he saw
that it was his oldest sister, and embracing her in turn, exclaimed:
"How glad I am