e Prince was lying at her feet, who thanked her for having
released him from enchantment. Although this Prince was fully worthy of
her attention, Beauty, nevertheless, could not help asking what had
become of the Beast. "You see him at your feet," said the Prince to her.
"A wicked fairy condemned me to remain in the form of a monster, until
some fair damsel would consent to marry me, and she forbade me also to
betray that I had intelligence. You are the only one who has been kind
enough to allow the goodness of my heart to touch yours, and I cannot,
even by offering you my crown, acquit myself of obligation to you."

Beauty, agreeably surprised, gave the young Prince her hand, to help him
to rise. They passed, side by side, into the castle, and Beauty nearly
died of joy, when she found her father and all her family assembled in
the dining-hall, the beautiful lady whom she had seen in her dream
having transported them thither. "Beauty," said the lady, who was a
well-known fairy, "receive the recompense of your noble choice; you
preferred virtue to beauty or intelligence, and you therefore deserve to
find all these qualities united in one person. You are soon to become a
great queen; I trust your exalted position will not destroy your good
disposition. As for you," said the fairy, turning to Beauty's sisters,
"I know your hearts and all the malice concealed in them. Be turned,
therefore, into statues, but preserve your consciousness beneath the
stone which will envelop you. You will remain at the entrance of your
sister's palace, and I impose no further punishment upon you, than to be
the constant witnesses of her happiness. You will not be able to resume
your present forms, until you have recognised and confessed your faults,
but I greatly fear that you will always remain statues. Pride, anger,
greediness, and laziness may be corrected; but nothing short of a
miracle can convert the envious and malicious heart." The fairy then
gave a tap with her wand, and all those assembled in the dining-hall
were immediately transported into the Prince's kingdom. His subjects
greeted him with joy; he married Beauty, who lived a long life with him
of perfect happiness, for it was founded upon virtue.

THE BENEVOLENT FROG

There was once a King who for many years had been engaged in a war with
his neighbours; a great number of battles had been fought, and at last
the enemy laid siege to his capital. The King, fearing for the sa