nd friends. "Look at our young
sister," they said to one another; "she is so low-minded and stupid,
that she is quite content with her miserable condition."

The good merchant thought differently: he knew that Beauty was better
fitted to shine in society than they were; he admired the good qualities
of his youngest child, especially her patience, for her sisters, not
content with allowing her to do all the work of the house, took every
opportunity of insulting her.

The family had lived in this solitude for a year, when a letter arrived
for the merchant, telling him that a vessel, on which there was
merchandise belonging to him, had arrived safely in port. The two elder
girls were nearly out of their minds with joy when they heard this good
news, for now they hoped that they should be able to leave the country.
They begged their father, ere he departed, to bring them back dresses
and capes, head-dresses, and all sorts of odds and ends of fancy attire.
Beauty asked for nothing; for, as she thought to herself, all the money
that the merchandise would bring in, would not be sufficient to pay for
everything that her sisters wished for. "Is there nothing you wish me to
buy for you?" her father said to her. "As you are so kind as to think of
me," she replied, "I pray you to bring me a rose, for we have not one
here." Now Beauty did not really care about the rose, but she had no
wish to seem, by her example, to reprove her sisters, who would have
said that she did not ask for anything, in order to make herself appear
more considerate than they were.

The father left them, but on arriving at his destination, he had to go
to law about his merchandise, and after a great deal of trouble, he
turned back home as poor as he came. He had not many more miles to go,
and was already enjoying, in anticipation, the pleasure of seeing his
children again, when, passing on his journey through a large wood, he
lost his way. It was snowing hard; the wind was so violent that he was
twice blown off his horse, and, as the night was closing in, he was
afraid that he would die of cold and hunger, or that he would be eaten
by the wolves, that he could hear howling around him. All at once,
however, he caught sight of a bright light, which appeared to be some
way off, at the further end of a long avenue of trees. He walked towards
it, and soon saw that it came from a splendid castle, which was
brilliantly illuminated. The merchant thanked God for the