Then it was found that it was the Fairy Tulip in disguise of the old
woman who had provided that sheltering cottage in the forest.
The joy of the King upon once more seeing his son can well be
imagined, and the marriage of the Prince and Desiree, and Becafigue
and Giroflee took place on the same day, the Fairies giving their
diamond palace as their wedding present to Princess Desiree, and Fairy
Tulip presenting four gold mines in the Indies to Giroflee.
[Illustration]
And, in accordance with the wish of Princess Desiree, Longue Epine and
her mother, the false Lady in Waiting, were set at liberty.
[Illustration]
HANSEL AND GRETHEL
Once upon a time there dwelt near a large wood a poor wood cutter,
with his wife, and two children by his former marriage, a little boy
called Hansel, and a girl named Grethel. He had little enough to break
or bite; and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he could
hardly procure even his daily bread; and as he lay thinking in his bed
one night, he sighed, and said to his wife, "What will become of us?
How can we feed our children, when we have no more than we can eat
ourselves?"
"Know then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away, quite
early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and there
make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread, then we
will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not find the
way home again, and we shall be freed from them.
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