turns, sometimes on her wings, sometimes in her talons, and thus accustomed them to look at the sun, without shutting their eyelids. The eagles sometimes left their mother, and flew a little around her, but the little Prince could do nothing of this sort, and when she carried him in the air, he ran great risks of falling and killing himself. Fortune befriended him. It was she who had provided so extraordinary a nurse for him; it was she who prevented his falling. Four years passed in this manner. The eagle lost all her young ones, they flew away when they were big enough; they never returned to see their mother or their nest. The Prince, who had not strength to go far, remained upon the rock, for the prudent and anxious eagle, apprehensive of his falling down the precipice, carried him to the other side, and lodged him in so narrow a cleft that the wild beasts could not get to him. Love, whom they paint as perfect, was far less so than this young Prince. The heat of the sun could not tarnish the lilies and roses of his complexion; there was so much regularity in all his features, that the finest painters could not imagine anything to equal them; his hair was already long enough to fall over his shoulders, and he had so lofty a mien that there had never been seen in a child anything so noble and grand. The eagle loved him with an overwhelming affection; she fed him with nothing but fruit, making this difference between him and her eaglets, to whom she gave only raw flesh. She ruined all the shepherds around in carrying away all their lambs, without mercy; nothing was talked of but the ravages of the eagle. At last, tired of feeding her at the expense of their flocks, they resolved amongst themselves to discover her retreat. They separated in several parties, following her flight; roaming the mountains and the valleys for a long time without success; but one day they saw her alight upon a great rock; the most courageous of the party ventured to ascend it, although surrounded by a thousand dangers. The bird had at that time two little eaglets that she carefully tended, but dear as they were to her, her affection was still stronger for the young Prince, with whom she had been longer acquainted. As she was not in her nest when the shepherds discovered it, they had not much difficulty in pulling it to pieces, and carrying off its contents; but what was their surprise at beholding the Prince! There was something
