for it embellishes the wit so much, that it enables you to do anything. If you wish to persuade any one you have only to smell the singing apple: would you speak in public, make verses, write prose, be amusing, draw tears, or cause laughter, the apple has all these virtues; and it sings so well and so loud, that one can hear it eight leagues off, without being stunned by it."
"I will have none of it," cried the Princess; "you thought to kill my brother by your dancing water: your advice is too dangerous." "What, Madam!" replied Feintise, "would you be sorry to become the wisest and wittiest person in the world? Truly, you cannot mean that." "Ah! what should I have done," continued Belle-Etoile, "if they had brought me my dear brother, dead or dying?" "He should not go any more," said the old woman; "the others ought to oblige you in their turn, and the enterprise is not so dangerous." "Never mind," said the Princess, "I do not feel inclined to expose them." "Indeed, I pity you," said Feintise, "to lose so advantageous an opportunity; but you will reflect upon it. Adieu, Madam!" She then retired, very anxious about the success of her argument; and Belle-Etoile remained at the feet of the statue of Diana, irresolute what to do. She loved her brothers; she loved herself also: she felt that nothing would give her so much pleasure as to possess the singing apple.
She sighed for some time, and then she began to weep. Petit-Soleil, returning from the chase, heard a noise in the temple; he entered it, and saw the Princess, who covered her face with her veil, for she was ashamed to be seen with tears in her eyes; and, approaching her, he entreated her to tell him instantly why she was crying. She refused to do so, saying she was ashamed of herself; but the more she refused, the more desirous he was to know.
At last she told him, that the same old woman who had advised her to send for the dancing water, had just told her that the singing apple was still more wonderful, as it would give her so much wit, she would become a sort of prodigy, and that she really would almost give her life for such an apple; but she feared there would be too much danger in getting it. "You will have no fear for me, I assure you," said her brother, smiling; "for I am not at all anxious to
