that one would not be sufficient, and remembering the Fairy, exclaimed to herself, "Do not abandon me, charming Amazon." The humpback cast his eyes upon her. "What hast thou to fear, decrepit old wretch," said he to her; "if the thunder should kill thee, what wrong would it do thee? art thou not on the brink of thy grave?" The young Princess was not less delighted than astonished to hear herself called old; "No doubt," thought she, "that my little bouquet has worked this wonder," and to avoid being drawn into conversation, she pretended to be deaf. The humpback finding she could not hear, said to his confidant, who never quitted him, "If I were in better spirits, I would take this old woman to the top of the rock, and precipitate her from it, that I might have the pleasure to see her break her neck; for nothing would be more amusing to me." "But, my Lord," replied the villain, "if that would at all rejoice you, I will take her there, willingly or by force, and you shall see her body bound like a ball from all the points of the rock, and her blood run close to you." "No," said the Prince, "I have not the time; I must continue to seek for this ungrateful woman, who has made my life miserable."
So saying, he put spurs to his horse, and was soon out of sight. It is easy to imagine the Princess's joy at his departure; for, most assuredly, the conversation he had just had with his confidant was enough to alarm her: she did not forget to thank the Fairy Amazon, of whose power she had just had a proof; and continuing her journey she arrived in the plain where the shepherds had built their small cottages; they were very pretty, each of them, with its garden and its fountain: the Valley of Tempé, and the borders of the Lignon,[1] have boasted nothing more elegant. The shepherdesses were mostly beautiful, and the shepherds omitted nothing to please them; all the trees were engraved with a thousand different cyphers, and love verses. When Carpillon appeared, they left their flocks and followed her respectfully; for they were prepossessed by her beauty and her majestic air; but they were astonished at the poverty of her dress: for, though they lived in a simple and rustic
- ↑ A little river, which obtained celebrity from D'Urfey's Romance of Astrée. Mademoiselle de Sévigné, in her letter from Vichy of the 8th June, 1676, says, "In these meadows and lovely groves, it is delightful to see the dancing of the remaining shepherds and shepherdesses of the Lignon."
