Strange, was it not, that she should have been so long with
the wise woman, and yet know NOTHING about that cottage? As for the
moon, she did not by any means know the worst of her, or even, that,
if she were to fall asleep where she could find her, the old witch
would certainly do her best to twist her face.
But she had scarcely sat a moment longer before she was assailed by
all sorts of fresh fears. First of all, the soft wind blowing gently
through the dry stalks of the heather and its thousands of little
bells raised a sweet rustling, which the princess took for the
hissing of serpents, for you know she had been naughty for so long
that she could not in a great many things tell the good from the
bad. Then nobody could deny that there, all round about the heath,
like a ring of darkness, lay the gloomy fir-wood, and the princess
knew what it was full of, and every now and then she thought she
heard the howling of its wolves and hyenas. And who could tell but
some of them might break from their covert and sweep like a shadow
across the heath? Indeed, it was not once nor twice that for a
moment she was fully persuaded she saw a great beast coming leaping
and bounding through the moonlight to have her all to himself.
Pages:
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38