Fairy Tales for Young Readers by E. Nesbit Page A

silver cloth curtains, covered with cloth of gold, and with the veil of white gauze laid over her from head to feet. He turned down the veil, and set his red rose beside the others that lay at her breast, fresh and dewy as when they had been plucked a hundred years ago.
    â€œWaken,” he said softly, “oh, waken! Light of my eyes! Desire of my heart!”
    But the Princess did not awake. Then he put his hand on the silver cloth pillow, and leaned over and kissed her softly, and she put up her arm sleepily round his neck, and kissed him back.
    Then she woke, and jumped up, throwing back the golden coverlet.

    â€œOh, is it you?” she cried. “What a long time you’ve been! I’ve been dreaming about you for a hundred years!”
    Then they went out into the hall, hand in hand, to tell the King and Queen that they were engaged to be married. And of course the King and Queen were awake, and the courtiers. The page finished filling the cup, the butler set the fruit on the table; down at the kennels the huntsman went on feeding the hounds; the cat scratched herself and yawned; and the pigeons circled round the little turrets that were like pepper-pots.
    â€œMother dear,” said Princess Benevola, running up to the Queen and whispering in her ear, “this is my dear Prince who came and woke me up—and I’m going to marry him, and we’ve never been introduced, and I don’t even know his name!”
    So they were married, and all the people in the country forgot their Republican dream, and woke up as loyal as ever, and all the bells were set a-ringing, and all the children scattered roses of all the colours there are for the bride to walk on as she came out of church.
    And when Malevola heard of it she lay down and died of sheer spite to think that anyone in the world was so happy as the Prince, and his bride who had been for a hundred years the Sleeping Beauty in the wood!

THE WHITE CAT

    T HERE WAS ONCE a king who attended very thoroughly to all his duties, and took a great pleasure and interest in the business of kingship. He brought up his sons very carefully, and had them trained by the best masters, so that when he should be tired of the cares of state his sons should be able to take up the burden, and rule the land as wisely as their father had done. And everything turned out as he wished. When their education was completed they were three as promising princes as any Prime Minister could wish to do business with. The only drawback was that the King still wished to do business with his Prime Ministers himself. Children do grow up so quickly, and when the princes were of an age to become kings the King himself was not nearly so tired as he expected to be, and did not at all want to retire from trade. And his trade—kingship—was the only trade his sons had learned. And it is not good for anyone, even princes, not to work at some trade or other. The King knew this as well as you or I do; but he could not make up his mind to retire. So he called his sons into his counting-house one day, and said:
    â€œMy dear boys, you have worked very hard, and passed all your exams with the utmost brilliancy and distinction. I am very pleased with you.”
    â€œThank you, sir,” said all the princes, and waited to hear that their brilliancy and distinction were to be rewarded with a share in the government of the kingdom.

    No such thing.
    â€œYou must all be very tired,” said the King, “after working so hard all these years. You need a holiday. So I propose to make each of you a little present of a nice convenient castle, a thousand men-at-arms, and a duenna to receive your girl friends, so that you can have dances and banquets and festivities of all sorts. And here are ten sacks of gold for each of you. So now run away and play. Be good boys, and enjoy yourselves. Youth’s the season for enjoyment, and the old man’s good for a few more years