One night the prince returned after a longer chase than usual,
and he was so tired that he went up straight to bed. Suddenly he
was awakened by a strange noise in the room, and suspecting that
a robber might have stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized
his sword, which lay ready to his hand. Then he perceived that
the noise proceeded from the next room, which belonged to the
princess, and was lighted by a burning torch. Creeping softly to
the door, he peeped through it, and beheld her lying quietly,
with a crown of gold and pearls upon her head, her wrinkles all
gone, and her face, which was whiter than the snow, as fresh as
that of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife--that
beautiful, beautiful creature?

The prince was still gazing in surprise when the lady opened her
eyes and smiled at him.

'Yes, I really am your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his
thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended. Now I must tell you who
I am, and what befell to cause me to take the shape of an old
woman.

'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born in the palace
which overlooks the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months
old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast
a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I
looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an
object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my
nurse to take my away from the palace. She was the only person
who cared about me, and we lived together in this city on a small
pension allowed me by the king.