第57章 THE LITTLE GOOD MOUSE(2)

She had hardly spoken when she saw upon the table a delicious little roast partridge, and two dishes of preserved fruit.`Truly,' said she, `a kind action never goes unrewarded; `and she and the little Princess ate their supper with great satisfaction, and then the Queen gave what was left to the little mouse, who danced better than ever afterwards.The next morning came the gaoler with the Queen's allowance of three peas, which he brought in upon a large dish to make them look smaller; but as soon as he set it down the little mouse came and ate up all three, so that when the Queen wanted her dinner there was nothing left for her.Then she was quite provoked, and said:

`What a bad little beast that mouse must be! If it goes on like this I shall be starved.' But when she glanced at the dish again it was covered with all sorts of nice things to eat, and the Queen made a very good dinner, and was gayer than usual over it.But afterwards as she sat at her spinning-wheel she began to consider what would happen if the little Princess did not grow up pretty enough to please the King, and she said to herself:

`Oh! if I could only think of some way of escaping.'

As she spoke she saw the little mouse playing in a corner with some long straws.The Queen took them and began to plait them, saying:

`If only I had straws enough I would make a basket with them, and let my baby down in it from the window to any kind passer-by who would take care of her.'

By the time the straws were all plaited the little mouse had dragged in more and more, until the Queen had plenty to make her basket, and she worked at it day and night, while the little mouse danced for her amusement; and at dinner and supper time the Queen gave it the three peas and the bit of black bread, and always found something good in the dish in their place.She really could not imagine where all the nice things came from.

At last one day when the basket was finished, the Queen was looking out of the window to see how long a cord she must make to lower it to the bottom of the tower, when she noticed a little old woman who was leaning upon her stick and looking up at her.

Presently she said:

`I know your trouble, madam.If you like I will help you.'

`Oh! my dear friend,' said the Queen.`If you really wish to be of use to me you will come at the time that I will appoint, and I will let down my poor little baby in a basket.If you will take her, and bring her up for me, when I am rich I will reward you splendidly.'

`I don't care about the reward,' said the old woman, `but there is one thing I should like.You must know that I am very particular about what I eat, and if there is one thing that I fancy above all others, it is a plump, tender little mouse.If there is such a thing in your garret just throw it down to me, and in return I will promise that your little daughter shall be well taken care of.'

The Queen when she heard this began to cry, but made no answer, and the old woman after waiting a few minutes asked her what was the matter.

`Why,' said the Queen, `there is only one mouse in this garret, and that is such a dear, pretty little thing that I cannot bear to think of its being killed.'

`What!' cried the old woman, in a rage.`Do you care more for a miserable mouse than for your own baby? Good-bye, madam!

I leave you to enjoy its company, and for my own part I thank my stars that I can get plenty of mice without troubling you to give them to me.'

And she hobbled off grumbling and growling.As to the Queen, she was so disappointed that, in spite of finding a better dinner than usual, and seeing the little mouse dancing in its merriest mood, she could do nothing but cry.That night when her baby was fast asleep she packed it into the basket, and wrote on a slip of paper, `This unhappy little girl is called Delicia!' This she pinned to its robe, and then very sadly she was shutting the basket, when in sprang the little mouse and sat on the baby's pillow.

`Ah! little one,' said the Queen, `it cost me dear to save your life.How shall I know now whether my Delicia is being taken care of or no? Anyone else would have let the greedy old woman have you, and eat you up, but I could not bear to do it.' Whereupon the Mouse answered:

`Believe me, madam, you will never repent of your kindness.'

The Queen was immensely astonished when the Mouse began to speak, and still more so when she saw its little sharp nose turn to a beautiful face, and its paws to hands and feet; then it suddenly grew tall, and the Queen recognised the Fairy who had come with the wicked King to visit her.

The Fairy smiled at her astonished look, and said:

`I wanted to see if you were faithful and capable of feeling a real friendship for me, for you see we fairies are rich in everything but friends, and those are hard to find.'

`It is not possible that YOU should want for friends, you charming creature,' said the Queen, kissing her.

`Indeed it is so,' the Fairy said.`For those who are only friendly with me for their own advantage, I do not count at all.

But when you cared for the poor little mouse you could not have known there was anything to be gained by it, and to try you further I took the form of the old woman whom you talked to from the window, and then I was convinced that you really loved me.' Then, turning to the little Princess, she kissed her rosy lips three times, saying:

`Dear little one, I promise that you shall be richer than your father, and shall live a hundred years, always pretty and happy, without fear of old age and wrinkles.'

The Queen, quite delighted, thanked the Fairy gratefully, and begged her to take charge of the little Delicia and bring her up as her own daughter.This she agreed to do, and then they shut the basket and lowered it carefully, baby and all, to the ground at the foot of the tower.The Fairy then changed herself back into the form of a mouse, and this delayed her a few seconds, after which she ran nimbly down the straw rope, but only to find when she got to the bottom that the baby had disappeared.

In the greatest terror she ran up again to the Queen, crying:

`All is lost! my enemy Cancaline has stolen the Princess away.