as if she had gone to sleep but an hour before; and I could not describe, if I tried ever so hard, how beautiful she looked. The Prince could not restrain his admiration of her: he bent forward, and did what ninety-nine young men out of a hundred would have considered the most effectual way of waking the Princess, and dissolving the enchantment of sleep, to which she, together with all the inmates of the castle, had been subjected. He bent over her, and looked at her long and earnestly; and the longer he looked at her, the more did he admire her beauty; and then he did what most men

would have done; that is to say-he gave her a very hearty kiss!

In a moment there was a stir and a hum all through the castle; and outside the Princess's room a loud clash was heard, as of armed men dressing their ranks and clattering their weapons. The enchantment was broken, and, with a great sigh of relief, the whole castle woke up-men, women, children, and animals. The fat cook in the kitchen finished the sop, from which he had taken but one bite; the butler had the glass of wine, or rather the goblet, which he was about to pour out a hundred years before; whether he gave any to the young person who attended on him, is not known. It is said one of the three grooms in the cellar, the one of the three who had taken most wine, gave the second a box on the ear he had prepared a century before, and then drank

his choice glass of wine, and smacked his lips; the scullerymaid finished wiping the plate; the gentleman sitting between the two ladies lifted up his head and finished his story; the servant finished pulling on his boot; and the young man. proceeded with his toilet. The animals in the palace seemed glad to wake up once more.

The Prince quickly appeared, leading the beautiful Princess by the hand; and this time the guards were not asleep, I promise you. Every man among them was standing at his post, with his pike firmly grasped in his right hand, and his head well up. The young maidens of the castle strewed flowers in the path of the Prince and Princess, and there was a general rejoicing.

They had a grand wedding, you may be sure, and lived a hundred years afterwards without one quarrel, which is so very satisfactory to think upon, that we had better end the story with it. I think it is a very pretty fairy tale, and I hope my readers think so too.