my spindle. 'When you have breakfasted do not forget to spin,' said she, 'for you did nothing yesterday, and my sisters will be angry with you.' In fact, I had been so occupied with the stranger that I had found it quite impossible to spin.
"As soon as the Fairy was gone, I flung away my spindle with a little rebellious air, and ascended the terrace to look out as far as I could. I had an excellent telescope; there was nothing to interrupt the view. I looked in every direction, and discovered my cavalier on the summit of a mountain. He was reposing beneath a rich pavilion of cloth of gold, and surrounded by a very numerous Court. I felt satisfied he was the son of some king who reigned in the vicinity of the Fairies' Palace. As I feared that if he returned to the tower he would be discovered by the terrible Dragon, I went and fetched my parrot, and told him to fly to that mountain, where he would find the person who had spoken to me, and beg him in my name never to come again, as I was alarmed at the vigilance of my guardians, and the probability of their doing him some mischief. Perroquet executed his commission like a parrot of sense. The courtiers were all surprised to see him come flying at full speed, perch upon their master's shoulder and whisper in his ear. The King (for such he proved to be) was both delighted and troubled by this message. My anxiety on his account was flattering to his heart; but the many difficulties there were in the way of his speaking with me, distressed without being able to dissuade him from the attempt to make himself agreeable to me. He asked Perroquet a hundred questions, and Perroquet asked him as many in return, for he was naturally inquisitive. The King gave him a ring to bring me in return for my turquoise. It was a turquoise also; but much finer than mine, and cut in the shape of a heart, and surrounded with diamonds. 'It is fit,' said he to the parrot, 'that I should treat you as an ambassador. I therefore present you with my portrait. Show it to no one but your charming mistress.' He tied the miniature under the bird's wing, who brought the ring to me in his beak.
"I awaited the return of my little green courier with an impatience I had never known before. He told me that the personage to whom I had sent him was a great king; that he
