announce to you, that you will have a beautiful princess, whom you will call Désirée; for it must be admitted it is a long time that you have desired her. Do not fail to send for us the moment she is born, for we wish to endow her with all kinds of good qualities; you have only to hold the bouquet that we have given you, and name each flower, thinking of us, and be sure that we shall be instantly in your chamber.
The Queen, transported with joy, threw her arms round their necks, and embraced them for more than half-an-hour. After which they begged the Queen to enter their palace, the beauty of which it is not possible sufficiently to describe. They had chosen for the builder of it the architect of the sun; he had executed in miniature all that which is on a grand scale in that luminary. The Queen, who could not support the brilliancy without pain, shut her eyes at every instant. They conducted her to their garden; there had never been such fine fruit: the apricots were bigger than your head, and they could not, without cutting it in quarters, eat a cherry of such exquisite flavour, that after the Queen had tasted it, she never wished to eat anything else. There was also an orchard of artificial trees, which notwithstanding had life, and grew like the others.
To relate all the Queen's delight,—how she talked of the little Princess Désirée, how she thanked the kind persons who announced such agreeable news to her,—is more than I can undertake to do; but, in short, there were no terms of affection and gratitude forgotten. The Fairy of the Fountain received the full share she deserved of them. The Queen remained in the palace till night; she loved music, they entertained her with voices that seemed celestial, they loaded her with presents, and, after thanking these excellent ladies very much, she returned with the Fairy of the Fountain.
All her household were in great distress about her; they sought for her, with much anxiety; they could not imagine where she could be; they even feared some audacious stranger had carried her off, for she was young and beautiful; so that every one was extremely rejoiced at her return: and as she felt on her part an infinite satisfaction at the good news that had just been announced to her, her agreeable and sparkling conversation charmed everybody.
The Fairy of the Fountain parted with her close by her
