Page:Fairytales00auln.djvu/220

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
180
THE BEE AND THE ORANGE TREE.

time to her before he remembered she could not understand him; when he recollected it, he sighed heavily, and was silent. She then took up the conversation, and told him she was dreadfully alarmed that Ravagio and Tourmentine would discover him; that she dared not hope he could be in safety in the rock for any length of time; that if he went away she should die, but that she would sooner consent to that than expose him to be devoured; that she entreated him to fly. At this point tears filled her eyes; she clasped her hands before him in the most supplicating manner; he could not understand at all what she meant, he was in despair, and threw himself at her feet. At last she so frequently pointed out the way to him that he understood some of her signs, and he in his turn explained to her that he would rather die than leave her. She was so touched with this proof of the Prince's affection for her, that she took from her arm the chain of gold, with the turquoise heart, that the Queen, her mother, had hung round her neck, and tied it round his arm in the most gracious manner. Transported as he was by this favour, he failed not to perceive the characters engraved on the turquoise. He examined them attentively, and read, "Aimée, daughter of the King of the Happy Island." No astonishment could equal his; he knew that the little Princess who had perished was called Aimée; he had no doubt this heart belonged to her, but he was ignorant if this beautiful savage was the Princess, or whether the sea had thrown this trinket on the sands. He looked at Aimée with the most extraordinary attention, and the more he looked at her the more he discovered a certain family expression and features; and from the particular feelings at his heart, he felt convinced that the savage maiden must be his cousin. She was perfectly astonished at his actions, lifting his eyes to heaven in token of thanks, looking at her and weeping, taking her hands and kissing them vehemently; he thanked her for her generosity, and fastening the trinket again on her arm, signified to her he would rather have a lock of her hair, which he begged of her, and which he had much trouble in obtaining. Four days passed thus; the Princess carried him every morning the food he required. She remained with him as long as she possibly could, and the hours passed quickly away, although they could not converse together. One evening that she returned