Even now she felt a little afraid to put the primrose to her lips, but
the sun shone so brightly and the cloudless sky looked so blue, and she
thought how delightful it must be to soar in the air on such a glorious
day, and she told herself she would just change for a few minutes to see
how the charm acted.

So the Princess Fantosina held the primrose to her lips and breathed
upon its petals, and then there was no one standing on the cowslip bank
but only a small bird with a blue body and scarlet wings hopping about
the grass.

Fantosina could hardly believe at first that the bird was herself,
although she was able to think of things just the same as before. But
the first thing she thought of was, that it would be very pleasant to
fly from the ground to the top of the tall acacia tree which stood a few
yards from the bank. Only she might fly up there and be unable to come
down again, or she might become giddy and tumble before she reached a
bough. Still she began to move her wings, and then she felt the most
delightful sensation you can imagine. She did not seem to be doing
anything at all, and yet she was rising quickly through the air. It
seemed so enjoyable that, when she got to the tree, she did not like to
leave off flying, and instead of settling at once, she circled round and
round several times before she came to rest on the highest branch.

She was not in the least frightened or giddy now; she could see farther
than she had ever seen before, and everything looked very clear and
distinct. She looked in the direction from which her prince was to come,
but she could not see any sign of his arrival yet. Presently Fantosina
began to sing, and that seemed even pleasanter than flying. She sang so
loudly and so fast and enjoyed it so much, that it was later than she
had intended before she thought of descending from the acacia tree. But
at last she spread her scarlet wings, and dropped slowly to the grass;
then she hopped to the nearest cowslip, and no sooner touched it with
her beak than she became a princess again, just as she had been before.

From that day she never spent a morning without becoming a bird; she
would leave the palace when nobody saw her, pluck a primrose, and walk
or run to the cowslip bank. And gradually she grew bolder, and instead
of waiting until she reached the cowslips, she would hold the primrose
to her mouth at once, because she could fly to the other field much more
quickly than she