When the Queen sent her dear child away, she recommended her above all things to the care of this wicked woman. "With what have I not trusted you!" said she, "with more than my life! Take care of my daughter's health; but, above everything, be careful she does not see daylight, or all will be lost; you know with what evils she is threatened, and I have stipulated with Prince Guerrier's ambassador, that until she is fifteen, they will place her in a castle where she will see no light but that from wax candles." The Queen loaded the lady with presents, to ensure her most scrupulous attention. She promised to watch over the Princess's safety, and to send the Queen a good account of her the moment they had arrived at their destination.
Thus the King and Queen, confiding in her care, felt no uneasiness for their dear daughter, which in some degree moderated their grief at her separation from them: but Longue-épine, who learnt each night from the Princess's officers, who opened the coach to give her her supper, the progress they were making towards the city where they were expected, urged her mother to execute her intentions, fearing the King or the Prince would come to meet the Princess, and that the opportunity would be lost. So about the middle of the day, when the sun's rays were at their height, she suddenly cut the roof of the coach in which they were shut with a large knife, made expressly for the purpose, which she had brought with her. Then, for the first time, Princess Désirée saw the light of day. She had scarcely looked at it, and heaved a deep sigh, when she sprang from the coach in the form of White Hind, and bounded off to the nearest forest, where she hid herself in a dark covert, there to lament unseen the loss of the beautiful form she had so suddenly been deprived of.
The Fairy of the Fountain, who had brought about this extraordinary event, seeing all those who accompanied the Princess in commotion, some following her, others hastening to the city to announce to Prince Guerrier the misfortune that had just occurred, seemed bent on the sudden destruction of creation. The thunder and lightning terrified the boldest, and by her wonderful skill she transported all these persons to an immense distance from the spot, where their presence was objectionable to her.
No one remained but the lady-in-waiting, Longue-épine,
