she must possess the beautiful art of smiling. The King had seen her in
the frames of old paintings, still and sweet and jeweled, but never
alive and lovely.

On the evening when this tale begins the King was watching the three
princes play at ball. The ball was of scented Spanish leather covered
with crimson silk on which was stamped the sporting dolphin of the royal
house. Sometimes it would drop to the green turf where the parrots would
peck at it, thinking it a gorgeous apple. The hooded falcon on the
jester's arm knew better, for the jester fed him real apples.

Prince Hugh, Prince Merlin, and Prince Richard were as supple as willows,
as straight as pines, as graceful as silver birches. Their blond hair
hung thick and straight against their necks and was cut square above
their level brows. Their manners were so good that their father didn't
quite know their characters; and that made the problem of their marriages
more difficult.

All at once, as on a stage, they stopped playing ball and began to look
at something or someone. The King followed their eyes, and saw a strange
sight. A young girl with a great dog at her side was coming slowly over
the grass, her hands clasped above her breast, her long golden hair
hanging nearly to the hem of her gown which was of coarse brown wool. She
had no stockings, and on her feet she wore wooden shoes.

That a peasant girl should walk across the royal gardens was enough to
make the princes stare. Then the King saw that they were looking at
the girl's hands, of which one was bare. On the other was a glove of
blue cut-velvet, heavily embroidered with a design of flowers which
circled themselves about a tiny mirror set exactly on the wrist; no