sides, and quivers on their shoulders, supported with their arrows a little canopy of gold and blue brocade, under which were seen two splendid crowns. "Hither, charming lovers!" said the Queen, extending her arms towards them; "come, and receive from our hands the crowns which your virtue, your birth, and your constancy deserve. Your toils are about to change for pleasures. Princess Brilliante," continued she, "the shepherd, so alarming to your heart, is the very Prince who was destined for you by your father and his own. He did not die in the tower. Receive him as your husband, and leave to me the care of your happiness and tranquillity." The Princess, delighted, flung herself into the arms of Benigne, and by the tears which flowed down her cheeks, proved to her that excess of joy had rendered her speechless. Sans-pair knelt before the generous Fairy, respectfully kissed her hands, and uttered a thousand unconnected sentences. Trasimene embraced him heartily; and Benigne, in a few words, informed them that she had hardly ever quitted them,—that it was she who had proposed to Brilliante to blow into the white and yellow muff,—that she had assumed the form of an old shepherdess in order to take the Princess as a lodger,—and that it was she also who had directed the Prince which way he should go in search of his shepherdess. "It is true," continued she, "that you have undergone sufferings which I would have spared you had it been in my power; but the pleasures of love must be bought at some cost."
At this moment they heard some sweet music which floated around them. The cupids hastened to crown the young lovers; the marriage rites were performed; and during the ceremony, the two princesses, who had recovered their forms, implored the Fairy to exert her power to deliver the other unfortunate mice and cats who languished in despair in the Enchanter's castle. "I can refuse you nothing on such a day as this," answered the Fairy; so saying, she struck the Golden Branch three times, and all who had been confined in the castle appeared in their natural forms—each lover finding his mistress. The liberal Fairy, desirous that nothing should be wanting to the fête, gave the whole contents of the press in the keep to be divided amongst the company. The value of this present was more than that of ten kingdoms in those days. It is easy to imagine their
