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Then turning to Beauty, he said.
Take your father into the next room, and help himto choose everything you think your brothers andsisters would like to have.
You will find two traveling trunks there, fillthem as full as you can.
It is only just that you should send themsomething very precious as a remembrance ofyourself.
Then he went away, after saying, goodbye, Beauty,goodbye, old man.
And though Beauty was beginning to think withgreat dismay of her father's departure, she wasafraid to disobey the beast's orders,
and they went into the next room, which hadshelves and cupboards all round it.
They were greatly surprised at the riches itcontained.
There were splendid dresses fit for a queen, withall the ornaments that were to be worn with them,
and when Beauty opened the cupboard she was quitedazzled by the gorgeous jewels that lay in heapsupon every shelf.
After choosing a vast quantity, which she dividedbetween her sisters, for she had made a heap ofthe wonderful dresses for each of them,
she opened the last chest, which was full of gold.
I think, father, she said, that, as the gold willbe more useful to you, we had better take out theother things again, and fill the trunks with it.
So they did this, but the more they put in themore room there seemed to be,
and at last they put back all the jewels anddresses they had taken out,
and Beauty even added as many more of the jewelsas she could carry at once,
and then the trunks were not too full, but theywere so heavy that an elephant could not havecarried them.
The beast was mocking us, cried the merchant,
he must have pretended to give us all thesethings, knowing that I could not carry them away.
Let us wait and see, answered Beauty. I cannotbelieve that he meant to deceive us.
All we can do is to fasten them up and leave themready.
So they did this and returned to the little room,where, to their astonishment, they found breakfastready.
The merchant ate his with a good appetite, as thebeast's generosity made him believe that he mightperhaps venture to come back soon and see Beauty.
But she felt sure that her father was leaving herforever,
so she was very sad when the bell rang sharply forthe second time,
and warned them that the time had come for them topart.
They went down into the courtyard, where twohorses were waiting,
one loaded with the two trunks, the other for himto ride.
They were pawing the ground in their impatience tostart,
and the merchant was forced to bid Beauty a hastyfarewell,
and as soon as he was mounted he went off at sucha pace that she lost sight of him in an instant.
Then Beauty began to cry, and wandered sadly backto her own room.
But she soon found that she was very sleepy,
and as she had nothing better to do she lay downand instantly fell asleep.
And then she dreamed that she was walking by a brook bordered with trees,
and lamenting her sad fate, when a young prince,
handsomer than anyone she had ever seen,
and with a voice that went straight to her heart,
came and said to her,'
Ah, Beauty! You are not so unfortunate as yousuppose.Here
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you will be rewarded for all you have sufferedelsewhere.Your
every wish shall be gratified.Only
try to find me out,
no matter how I may be disguised,
as I love you dearly,
and in making me happy you will find your ownhappiness.
Be as true-hearted as you are beautiful,
and we shall have nothing left to wish for.''
What can I do, Prince, to make you happy?' saidBeauty.'
Only be grateful,' he answered,'
and do not trust too much to your eyes.And,
above all, do not desert me until you have savedme from my cruel misery.'After this
she thought she found herself in a room with a stately and beautiful lady,who said
to her,
'Dear Beauty, try not to regret all you have leftbehind you,
for you are destined to a better fate.
Only do not let yourself be deceived byappearances.'
Beauty found her dreams so interesting that shewas in no hurry to awake,
but presently the clock roused her by calling hername softly twelve times,
and then she got up and found her dressing-tableset out with everything she could possibly want,
and when her toilet was finished she found dinnerwas waiting in the room next to hers.
But dinner does not take very long when you areall by yourself,
and very soon she sat down cozily in the corner ofa sofa,
and began to think about the charming prince shehad seen in her dream.
He said I could make him happy,' said Beauty toherself.'
It seems, then, that this horrible beast keeps hima prisoner.How
could I set him free?I
wonder why they both told me not to trust toappearances?I
don't understand it.But,
after all, it was only a dream,so why
should I trouble myself about it?I had
better go and find something to do to amuse myself.'
So she got up and began to explore some of themany rooms of the palace.
The first she entered was lined with mirrors,
and Beauty saw herself reflected on every side,
and thought she had never seen such a charmingroom.
Then a bracelet which was hanging from a chandelier caught her eye,
and on taking it down she was greatly surprised tofind that it held a portrait of her unknown admirer,
just as she had seen him in her dream.
With great delight she slipped the bracelet on herarm,
and went on into a gallery of pictures,
where she soon found a portrait of the samehandsome prince,
as large as life,
and so well painted that as she studied it heseemed to smile kindly at her.
Tearing herself away from the portrait at last,
she passed through into a room which containedevery musical instrument under the sun,
and here she amused herself for a long while intrying some of them,
and singing until she was tired.
The next room was a library,
and she saw everything she had ever wanted toread,
as well as everything she had read,
and it seemed to her that a whole lifetime wouldnot be enough to even read the names of the books,
there were so many.
By this time it was growing dusk,
and wax candles in diamond and ruby candlestickswere beginning to light themselves in every room.
Beauty found her supper served just at the timeshe preferred to have it,
but she did not see anyone or hear a sound,
and,though her father had warned her that shewould be alone,
she began to find it rather dull.
But presently she heard the beast coming,
and wondered tremblingly if he meant to eat her upnow.
However,as he did not seem at all ferocious,
and only said gruffly.
Good evening, Beauty, she answered cheerfully andmanaged to conceal her terror.
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Then the beast asked her how she had been amusingherself,
and she told him all the rooms she had seen.
Then he asked if she thought she could be happy inhis palace,
and Beauty answered that everything was sobeautiful
that she would be very hard to please if she couldnot be happy.
And after about an hour's talk Beauty began tothink
that the beast was not nearly so terrible as shehad supposed at first.
Then he got up to leave her and said in his gruffvoice.
Do you love me, Beauty?
Will you marry me?
Oh! What shall I say? cried Beauty,
for she was afraid to make the beast angry byrefusing.
Say yes or no without fear, he replied.
Oh! No, Beast, said Beauty hastily.
Since you will not, good night, Beauty, he said.
And she answered, good night, Beast,
very glad to find that her refusal had not provoked him.
And after he was gone she was very soon in bed andasleep,
and dreaming of her unknown prince.
She thought he came and said to her.
Ah, Beauty! Why are you so untimed to me?
I fear I am fated to be unhappy for many a longday still.
And then her dreams changed,
but the charming prince figured in them all,
and when morning came her first thought was tolook at the portrait,
and see if it was really like him,
and she found that it certainly was.
This morning she decided to amuse herself in thegarden,
for the sun shone, and all the fountains wereplaying,
but she was astonished to find that every placewas familiar to her,
and presently she came to the brook where the myrtle trees were growing
where she had first met the prince in her dream,
and that made her think more than ever
that he must be kept a prisoner by the Beast.
When she was tired she went back to the palace,
and found a new room full of materials for everykind of work,
ribbons to make into bows, and silks to work intoflowers.
Then there was an aviary full of rare birds,
which were so tame that they flew to Beauty assoon as they saw her,
and perched upon her shoulders and her head.
Pretty little creatures, she said,
how I wish that your cage was nearer to my room,
that I might often hear you sing.
So saying she opened a door, and found, to herdelight,
that it led into her own room,
though she had thought it was quite the other sideof the palace.
There were more birds in her room farther on,
parrots and cockatoos that could talk,
and they greeted Beauty by name,
indeed,she found them so entertaining
that she took one or two back to her room,
and they talked to her while she was at supper,
after which the Beast paid her his usual visit,
and asked her the same questions as before,
and then with a gruff goodnight he took hisdeparture,
and Beauty went to bed to dream of her mysteriousprince.
The days passed swiftly in different amusements,
and after a while Beauty found out another strangething in the palace,
which often pleased her when she was tired ofbeing alone.
There was one room which she had not noticedparticularly,
it was empty,except that under each of the windows
stood a very comfortable chair,
and the first time she had looked out of thewindow
it had seemed to her that a black curtain
prevented her from seeing anything outside.
But the second time she went into the room,
happening to be tired,
she sat down in one of the chairs,
when instantly the curtain was rolled aside,
and a most amusing pantomime was acted before her,
there were dances,and coloured lights,and music,and pretty dresses,
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and it was also gay that Beauty was in ecstasies.
After that she tried the other seven windows inturn,
and there was some new and surprisingentertainment
to be seen from each of them,
so that Beauty never could feel lonely anymore.
Every evening after supper the Beast came to seeher,
and always before saying goodnight
asked her in his terrible voice.
Beauty,will you marry me?
