while drinking their wine.

He then crossed a court paved with marble, went up the stairs, and came
into the guard chamber, where guards were standing in their ranks, with
their muskets upon their shoulders, and snoring with all their might. He
went through several rooms full of gentlemen and ladies, some standing
and others sitting, but all were asleep. He came into a gilded chamber,
where he saw upon a bed, the curtains of which were all open, the most
beautiful sight ever beheld--a princess who appeared to be about fifteen
or sixteen years of age, and whose bright and resplendent beauty had
something divine in it. He approached with trembling and admiration, and
fell down upon his knees before her.

Then, as the end of the enchantment was come, the Princess awoke, and
looking on him with eyes more tender than could have been expected at
first sight, said:--

"Is it you, my Prince? You have waited a long while."

The Prince, charmed with these words, and much more with the manner in
which they were spoken, knew not how to show his joy and gratitude; he
assured her that he loved her better than he did himself. Their
discourse was not very connected, but they were the better pleased, for
where there is much love there is little eloquence. He was more at a
loss than she, and we need not wonder at it; she had had time to think
of what to say to him; for it is evident (though history says nothing of
it) that the good fairy, during so long a sleep, had given her very
pleasant dreams. In short, they talked together for four hours, and then
they said not half they had to say.