instruments, with which they made an agreeable concert. At length
both began so to be heated with wine, that King Beder forgot he had
to do with a magic queen, and looked upon her only as the most
beautiful queen he ever saw.

Next morning the women who had served the king presented him with
fine linen and a magnificent robe. The queen likewise, who was more
splendidly dressed than the day before, came to receive him, and
they went together to her apartments, where they had a good repast
brought them, and spent the remainder of the day in walking in the
garden, and in various other amusements.

Queen Labe treated King Beder after this manner for forty days, as
she had been accustomed to do to all the others. The fortieth night
she arose without making any noise and came into his room; but he
was awake, and perceiving she had some design upon him, watched all
her motions. She opened a chest, from whence she took a little box
full of a certain yellow powder; taking some of the powder, she
laid a train of it across the chamber, and it immediately flowed in
a rivulet of water, to the great astonishment of King Beder. He
trembled with fear, but still pretended to sleep, that the
sorceress might not discover he was awake.

Queen Labe next took up some of the water in a vessel, and poured
it into a basin, where there was flour, with which she made a
paste, and kneaded it for a long time: then she mixed with it
certain drugs, which she took from different boxes, and made a
cake, which she put into a covered baking-pan. As she had taken
care first of all to make a good fire, she took some of the coals,
and set the pan upon them; and while the cake was baking, she put