decided that whichever of the two could show to the world the
greatest wonder should be Queen; but it was to be a special kind
of wonder, no moving of mountains or any such common fairy tricks
would do. Surcantine, therefore, resolved that she would bring up
a Prince whom nothing could make constant. While Paridamie decided
to display to admiring mortals a Princess so charming that no one
could see her without falling in love with her. They were allowed
to take their own time, and meanwhile the four oldest fairies were
to attend to the affairs of the kingdom.

Now Paridamie had for a long time been very friendly with King
Bardondon, who was a most accomplished Prince, and whose court was
the model of what a court should be. His Queen, Balanice, was also
charming; indeed it is rare to find a husband and wife so
perfectly of one mind about everything. They had one little
daughter, whom they had named 'Rosanella,' because she had a
little pink rose printed upon her white throat. From her earliest
infancy she had shown the most astonishing intelligence, and the
courtiers knew her smart sayings by heart, and repeated them on
all occasions. In the middle of the night following the assembly
of fairies, Queen Balanice woke up with a shriek, and when her
maids of honour ran to see what was the matter, they found she had
had a frightful dream.

'I thought,' said she, 'that my little daughter had changed into a
bouquet of roses, and that as I held it in my hand a bird swooped
down suddenly and snatched it from me and carried it away.'

'Let some one run and see that all is well with the Princess,' she
added.