They had commenced attiring her, when a dwarf arrived at the tower, mounted on an elephant. He came from the five good Fairies, who had endowed her on the day she was born. They sent her a crown, a sceptre, a robe of gold brocade, a petticoat of butterflies' wings of the most wonderful workmanship, with a casket still more marvellous; so stuck full was it with jewels, it was accounted priceless; and such a mass of riches had never been seen before. The queen was ready to faint with admiration; as to the Princess, she looked upon it all with indifference, for she could think only of Fanfarinet. The dwarf was thanked, and had a pistole given him to drink, and upwards of a thousand ells of nonpareil of all sorts of colours, with which he made himself very handsome garters, a bow to his cravat, and another for his hat. This dwarf was so very diminutive, that when he had all this riband on, you could not see him at all. The queen told him she would find something very beautiful to present in return to the Fairies; and the Princess, who was very generous, sent them several German spinning-wheels, with spindles made of cedar.
They dressed the Princess in all the greatest rarities that had been brought by the dwarf, and she appeared so extremely beautiful that the sun hid himself for shame, and the moon, who is not over-bashful, did not dare peep out while the Princess was abroad. She proceeded through the streets on foot, over rich carpets, the people crowding round her, and exclaiming, "Oh, how handsome she is! Oh, how handsome she is!"
As she passed along in this pompous array, with the queen and four or five dozen princesses of the blood-royal, not to mention upwards of ten dozen who had arrived from various neighbouring states to assist at this fête, the sky began to cloud over, the thunder growled, and rain and hail fell in torrents. The queen drew her royal mantle over her head, all the ladies did the same with their upper petticoats, and Printaniere was about to follow their example, when a noise was heard in the air of more than a thousand ravens, screech-owls, crows, and other ill-omened birds, who by their croaking and hooting boded nothing good. At the same moment a horrible owl of prodigious size came flying at full speed, holding in his beak a scarf of spiders-web, embroidered
