{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_7074/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_7074","id":"gutenberg_7074","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7074","summary":null,"tags":["Category: French Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales"],"text":"Produced by Kim Pickett and The Hockliffe Project. HTML\nversion by Al Haines.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBEAUTY AND THE BEAST.\n\nA TALE\n\nFOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF\n\nJUVENILE READERS.\n\nOrnamented with Elegant Engravings.\n\n\n\nby Marie Le Prince de Beaumont\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE The Beast Attacking the Merchant]\n\n\nBEAUTY\n\nAND\n\nTHE BEAST.\n\n*       *       *       *       *\n\nThere was once a very rich merchant, who had six children, three sons,\nand three daughters; being a man of sense, he spared no cost for their\neducation, but gave them all kinds of masters.  His daughters were\nextremely handsome, especially the youngest; when she was little, every\nbody admired her, and called her _The little Beauty_; so that, as\nshe grew up, she still went by the name of _Beauty_, which made her\nsisters very jealous.  The youngest, as she was handsome, was also\nbetter than her sisters.  The two eldest had a great deal of pride,\nbecause they were rich.  They gave themselves ridiculous airs, and would\nnot visit other merchants' daughters, nor keep company with any but\npersons of quality.  They went out every day upon parties of pleasure,\nballs, plays, concerts, etc. and laughed at their youngest sister,\nbecause she spent the greatest part of her time in reading good books.\nAs it was known that they were to have great fortunes, several eminent\nmerchants made their addresses to them; but the two eldest said they\nwould never marry, unless they could meet with a Duke, or an Earl at\nleast.  Beauty very civilly thanked them that courted her, and told them\nshe was too young yet to marry, but chose to stay with her father a few\nyears longer.\n\nAll at once the merchant lost his whole fortune, excepting a small\ncountry-house at a great distance from town, and told his children, with\ntears in his eyes, they most go there and work for their living.  The\ntwo eldest answered, that they would not leave the town, for they had\nseveral lovers, who they were sure would be glad to have them, though\nthey had no fortune; but in this they were mistaken, for their lovers\nslighted and forsook them in their poverty.  As they were not beloved on\naccount of their pride, every body said, \"they do not deserve to be\npitied, we are glad to see their pride humbled, let them go and give\nthemselves quality airs in milking the cows and minding their dairy.\nBut, (added they,) we are extremely concerned for Beauty, she was such a\ncharming, sweet-tempered creature, spoke so kindly to poor people, and\nwas of such an affable, obliging disposition.\" Nay, several gentlemen\nwould have married her, though they knew she had not a penny; but she\ntold them she could not think of leaving her poor father in his\nmisfortunes, but was determined to go along with him into the country to\ncomfort and attend him.  Poor Beauty at first was sadly grieved at the\nloss of her fortune; \"but, (she said to herself,) were I to cry ever so\nmuch, that would not make things better, I must try to make myself happy\nwithout a fortune.\" When they came to their country-house, the merchant\nand his three sons applied themselves to husbandry and tillage; and\nBeauty rose at four in the morning, and made haste to have the house\nclean, and breakfast ready for the family.  In the beginning she found\nit very difficult, for she had not been used to work as a servant; but\nin less than two months she grew stronger and healthier than ever.\nAfter she had done her work, she read, played on the harpsichord, or\nelse sung whilst she spun.  On the contrary, her two sisters did not\nknow how to spend their time; they got up at ten, and did nothing but\nsaunter about the whole day, lamenting the loss of their fine clothes\nand acquaintance.  \"Do but see our youngest sister, (said they one to\nthe other,) what a poor, stupid mean-spirited creature she is, to be\ncontented with such an unhappy situation.\" The good merchant was of a\nquite different opinion; he knew very well that Beauty out-shone her\nsisters, in her person as well as her mind, and admired her humility,\nindustry, and patience; for her sisters not only left her all the work\nof the house to do, but insulted her every moment.\n\n[Illustration: Beauty Making the Family's Breakfast]\n\nThe family had lived about a year in this retirement, when the merchant\nreceived a letter, with an account that a vessel, on board of which he\nhad effects, was safely arrived.  This news had liked to have turned the\nheads of the two eldest daughters, who immediately flattered themselves\nwith the hopes of returning to town; for they were quite weary of a\ncountry life; and when they saw their father ready to set out, they\nbegged of him to buy them new gowns, caps, rings, and all manner of\ntrifles; but Beauty asked for nothing, for she thought to herself, that\nall the money her father was going to receive would scarce be sufficient\nto purchase every thing her sisters wanted.  \"What will you have,\nBeauty?\" said her father.  \"Since you are so kind as to think of me,\n(answered she,) be so kind as to bring me a rose, for as none grow\nhereabouts, they are a kind of rarity.\"  Not that Beauty cared for a\nrose, but she asked for something, lest she should seem by her example\nto condemn her sisters' conduct, who would have said she did it only to\nlook particular.  The good man went on his journey; but when he came\nthere, they went to law with him about the merchandize, and after a\ngreat deal of trouble and pains to no purpose, he came back as poor as\nbefore.\n\nHe was within thirty miles of his own house, thinking on the pleasure he\nshould have in seeing his children again, when going through a large\nforest he lost himself.  It rained and snowed terribly, besides, the\nwind was so high, that it threw him twice off his horse; and night\ncoming on, he began to apprehend being either starved to death with cold\nand hunger, or else devoured by the wolves, whom he heard howling all\naround him, when, on a sudden, looking through a long walk of trees, he\nsaw a light at some distance, and going on a little farther, perceived\nit came from a palace illuminated from top to bottom.  The merchant\nreturned God thanks for this happy discovery, and hasted to the palace;\nbut was greatly surprised at not meeting with anyone in the out-courts.\nHis horse followed him, and seeing a large stable open, went in, and\nfinding both hay and oats, the poor beast, who was almost famished, fell\nto eating very heartily.  The merchant tied him up to the manger, and\nwalked towards the house, where he saw no one, but entering into a large\nhall, he found a good fire, and a table plentifully set out, with but\none cover laid.  As he was wet quite through with the rain and snow, he\ndrew near the fire to dry himself.  \"I hope, (said he,) the master of\nthe house, or his servants, will excuse the liberty I take; I suppose it\nwill not be long before some of them appear.\"\n\nHe waited a considerable time, till it struck eleven, and still nobody\ncame: at last he was so hungry that he could stay no longer, but took a\nchicken and ate it in two mouthfuls, trembling all the while.  After\nthis, he drank a few glasses of wine, and growing more courageous, he\nwent out of the hall, and crossed through several grand apartments with\nmagnificent furniture, till he came into a chamber, which had an\nexceeding good bed in it, and as he was very much fatigued, and it was\npast midnight, he concluded it was best to shut the door, and go to bed.\n\nIt was ten the next morning before the merchant waked, and as he was\ngoing to rise, he was astonished to see a good suit of clothes in the\nroom of his own, which were quite spoiled. \"Certainly, (said he,) this\npalace belongs to some kind fairy, who has seen and pitied my distress.\"\nHe looked through a window, but instead of snow saw the most delightful\narbours, interwoven with the most beautiful flowers that ever were\nbeheld.  He then returned to the great hall, where he had supped the\nnight before, and found some chocolate ready made on a little table.\n\"Thank you, good Madam Fairy, (said he aloud,) for being so careful as\nto provide me a breakfast; I am extremely obliged to you for all your\nfavours.\"\n\nThe good man drank his chocolate, and then went to look for his horse;\nbut passing through an arbour of roses, he remembered Beauty's request\nto him, and gathered a branch on which were several; immediately he\nheard a great noise, and saw such a frightful beast coming towards him,\nthat he was ready to faint away.  \"You are very ungrateful, (said the\nbeast to him, in a terrible voice) I have saved your life by receiving\nyou into my castle, and, in return, you steal my roses, which I value\nbeyond any thing in the universe; but you shall die for it; I give you\nbut a quarter of an hour to prepare yourself, to say your prayers.\" The\nmerchant fell on his knees, and lifted up both his hands: \"My Lord (said\nhe,) I beseech you to forgive me, indeed I had no intention to offend in\ngathering a rose for one of my daughters, who desired me to bring her\none.\"  \"My name is not My Lord, (replied the monster,) but Beast; I\ndon't love compliments, not I; I like people should speak as they think;\nand so do not imagine I am to be moved by any of your flattering\nspeeches; but you say you have got daughters; I will forgive you, on\ncondition that one of them come willingly, and suffer for you.  Let me\nhave no words, but go about your business, and swear that if your\ndaughter refuse to die in your stead, you will return within three\nmonths.\"  The merchant had no mind to sacrifice his daughters to the\nugly monster, but he thought, in obtaining this respite, he should have\nthe satisfaction of seeing them once more; so he promised upon oath, he\nwould return, and the Beast told him he might set out when he pleased;\n\"but, (added he,) you shall not depart empty handed; go back to the room\nwhere you lay, and you will see a great empty chest; fill it with\nwhatever you like best, and I will send it to your home,\" and at the\nsame time Beast withdrew.  \"Well (said the good man to himself) if I\nmust die, I shall have the comfort, at least, of leaving something to my\npoor children.\"\n\nHe returned to the bed-chamber, and finding a great quantity of broad\npieces of gold, he filled the great chest the Beast had mentioned,\nlocked it, and afterwards took his horse out of the stable, leaving the\npalace with as much grief as he had entered it with joy.  The horse, of\nhis own accord, took one of the roads of the forest; and in a few hours\nthe good man was at home.  His children came around him, but, instead of\nreceiving their embraces with pleasure, he looked on them, and, holding\nup the branch he had in his hands, he burst into tears. \"Here, Beauty,\n(said he,) take these roses; but little do you think how dear they are\nlike to cost your unhappy father;\" and then related his fatal adventure:\nimmediately the two eldest set up lamentable outcries, and said all\nmanner of ill-natured things to Beauty, who did not cry at all. \"Do but\nsee the pride of that little wretch, (said they); she would not ask for\nfine clothes, as we did; but no, truly, Miss wanted to distinguish\nherself; so now she will be the death of our poor father, and yet she\ndoes not so much as shed a tear.\"  \"Why should I, (answered Beauty,) it\nwould be very needless, for my father shall not suffer upon my account,\nsince the monster will accept of one of his daughters, I will deliver\nmyself up to all his fury, and I am very happy in thinking that my death\nwill save my father's life, and be a proof of my tender love for him.\"\n\"No, sister, (said her three brothers,) that shall not be, we will go\nfind the monster, and either kill him, or perish in the attempt.\" \"Do\nnot imagine any such thing, my sons, (said the merchant,) Beast's power\nis so great, that I have no hopes of your overcoming him; I am charmed\nwith Beauty's kind and generous offer, but I cannot yield to it; I am\nold, and have not long to live, so can only lose a few years, which I\nregret for your sakes alone, my dear children.\"  \"Indeed, father (said\nBeauty), you shall not go to the palace without me, you cannot hinder me\nfrom following you.\"  It was to no purpose all they could say, Beauty\nstill insisted on setting out for the fine palace; and her sisters were\ndelighted at it, for her virtue and amiable qualities made them envious\nand jealous.\n\n[Illustration: Beauty Delivered up to the Beast]\n\nThe merchant was so afflicted at the thoughts of losing his daughter,\nthat he had quite forgot the chest full of gold; but at night, when he\nretired to rest, no sooner had he shut his chamber-door, than, to his\ngreat astonishment, he found it by his bedside; he was determined,\nhowever, not to tell his children that he was grown rich, because they\nwould have wanted to return to town, and he was resolved not to leave\nthe country; but he trusted Beauty with the secret: who informed him,\nthat two gentlemen came in his absence, and courted her sisters; she\nbegged her father to consent to their marriage, and give them fortunes;\nfor she was so good, that she loved them, and forgave them heartily all\ntheir ill-usage.  These wicked creatures rubbed their eyes with an\nonion, to force some tears when they parted with their sister; but her\nbrothers were really concerned. Beauty was the only one who did not shed\ntears at parting, because she would not increase their uneasiness.\n\nThe horse took the direct road to the palace; and towards evening they\nperceived it illuminated as at first: the horse went of himself into the\nstable, and the good man and his daughter came into the great hall,\nwhere they found a table splendidly served up, and two covers.  The\nmerchant had no heart to eat; but Beauty endeavoured to appear cheerful,\nsat down to table, and helped him.  Afterwards, thought she to herself,\n\"Beast surely has a mind to fatten me before he eats me, since he\nprovides such a plentiful entertainment.\"  When they had supped, they\nheard a great noise, and the merchant, all in tears, bid his poor child\nfarewell, for he thought Beast was coming.  Beauty was sadly terrified\nat his horrid form, but she took courage as well as she could, and the\nmonster having asked her if she came willingly; \"y--e--s,\" said she,\ntrembling. \"You are very good, and I am greatly obliged to you; honest\nman, go your ways tomorrow morning, but never think of returning here\nagain.  Farewell, Beauty.\"  \"Farewell, Beast,\" answered she; and\nimmediately the monster withdrew.  \"Oh, daughter, (said the merchant,\nembracing Beauty,) I am almost frightened to death; believe me, you had\nbetter go back, and let me stay here.\"  \"No, father, (said Beauty, in a\nresolute tone,) you shall set out tomorrow morning, and leave me to the\ncare and protection of Providence.\"  They went to bed, and thought they\nshould not close their eyes all night; but scarce were they laid down,\nthan they fell fast asleep; and Beauty dreamed, a fine lady came, and\nsaid to her, \"I am content, Beauty, with your good will; this good\naction of yours, in giving up your own life to save your father's, shall\nnot go unrewarded.\"  Beauty waked, and told her father her dream, and\nthough it helped to comfort him a little, yet he could not help crying\nbitterly, when he took leave of his dear child.\n\nAs soon as he was gone, Beauty sat down in the great hall, and fell a\ncrying likewise; but as she was mistress of a great deal of resolution,\nshe recommended herself to God, and resolved not to be uneasy the little\ntime she had to live; for she firmly believed Beast would eat her up\nthat night.\n\nHowever, she thought she might as well walk about till then, and view\nthis fine castle, which she could not help admiring; it was a delightful\npleasant place, and she was extremely surprised at seeing a door, over\nwhich was wrote, \"BEAUTY'S APARTMENT.\" She opened it hastily, and was\nquite dazzled with the magnificence that reigned throughout; but what\nchiefly took up her attention, was a large library, a harpsichord, and\nseveral music books.  \"Well, (said she to herself,) I see they will not\nlet my time hang heavy on my hands for want of amusement.\"  Then she\nreflected, \"Were I but to stay here a day, there would not have been all\nthese preparations.\" This consideration inspired her with fresh courage;\nand opening the library, she took a book, and read these words in\nletters of gold:--\n\n  \"Welcome, Beauty, banish fear,\n  You are queen and mistress here;\n  Speak your wishes, speak your will,\n  Swift obedience meets them still.\"\n\n\"Alas, (said she, with a sigh,) there is nothing I desire so much as to\nsee my poor father, and to know what he is doing.\"  She had no sooner\nsaid this, when casting her eyes on a great looking-glass, to her great\namazement she saw her own home, where her father arrived with a very\ndejected countenance; her sisters went to meet him, and, notwithstanding\ntheir endeavours to appear sorrowful, their joy, felt for having got rid\nof their sister, was visible in every feature: a moment after, every\nthing disappeared, and Beauty's apprehensions at this proof of Beast's\ncomplaisance.\n\n[Illustration: Beauty Looking in the Glass]\n\nAt noon she found dinner ready, and while at table, was entertained with\nan excellent concert of music, though without seeing any body: but at\nnight, as she was going to sit down to supper, she heard the noise Beast\nmade; and could not help being sadly terrified.  \"Beauty, (said the\nmonster,) will you give me leave to see you sup?\"  \"That is as you\nplease,\" answered Beauty, trembling.  \"No, (replied the Beast,) you\nalone are mistress here; you need only bid me be gone, if my presence is\ntroublesome, and I will immediately withdraw: but tell me, do not you\nthink me very ugly?\"  \"That is true, (said Beauty,) for I cannot tell a\nlie; but I believe you are very good-natured.\"  \"So I am, (said the\nmonster,) but then, besides my ugliness, I have no sense; I know very\nwell that I am a poor, silly, stupid creature.\"  \"'Tis no sign of folly\nto think so, (replied Beauty,) for never did fool know this, or had so\nhumble a conceit of his own understanding.\" \"Eat then, Beauty, (said the\nmonster,) and endeavour to amuse yourself in your palace; for every\nthing here is yours, and I should be very uneasy if you were not happy.\"\n\"You are very obliging, (answered Beauty;) I own I am pleased with your\nkindness, and when I consider that, your deformity scarce appears.\"\n\"Yes, yes, (said the Beast,) my heart is good, but still I am a\nmonster.\" \"Among mankind, (says Beauty,) there are many that deserve\nthat name more than you, and I prefer you, just as your are, to those,\nwho, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful\nheart.\"  \"If I had sense enough, (replied the Beast,) I would make a\nfine compliment to thank you, but I am so dull, that I can only say, I\nam greatly obliged to you.\"  Beauty ate a hearty supper, and had almost\nconquered her dread of the monster; but she had liked to have fainted\naway, when he said to her, \"Beauty, will you be my wife?\"  She was some\ntime before she durst answer; for she was afraid of making him angry, if\nshe refused.  At last, however, she said, trembling, \"No, Beast.\"\nImmediately the poor monster began to sigh, and hissed so frightfully,\nthat the whole palace echoed.  But Beauty soon recovered her fright, for\nBeast having said, in a mournful voice, \"then farewell, Beauty,\" left\nthe room; and only turned back, now and then, to look at her as he went\nout.\n\nWhen Beauty was alone, she felt a great deal of compassion for poor\nBeast.  \"Alas, (said she,) 'tis a thousand pities any thing so\ngood-natured should be so ugly.\"\n\nBeauty spent three months very contentedly in the palace: every evening\nBeast paid her a visit, and talked to her during supper, very\nrationally, with plain good common sense, but never with what the world\ncalls wit; and Beauty daily discovered some valuable qualifications in\nthe monster; and seeing him often, had so accustomed her to his\ndeformity, that, far from dreading the time of his visit, she would\noften look on her watch to see when it would be nine; for the Beast\nnever missed coming at that hour. There was but one thing that gave\nBeauty any concern, which was, that every night, before she went to bed,\nthe monster always asked her, if she would be his wife.  One day she\nsaid to him, \"Beast, you make me very uneasy, I wish I could consent to\nmarry you, but I am too sincere to make you believe that will ever\nhappen: I shall always esteem you as a friend; endeavour to be satisfied\nwith this.\" \"I must, said the Beast, for, alas! I know too well my own\nmisfortune; but then I love you with the tenderest affection: however, I\nought to think myself happy that you will stay here; promise me never to\nleave me.\"  Beauty blushed at these words; she had seen in her glass,\nthat her father had pined himself sick for the loss of her, and she\nlonged to see him again.  \"I could, (answered she), indeed promise never\nto leave you entirely, but I have so great a desire to see my father,\nthat I shall fret to death, if you refuse me that satisfaction.\"  \"I had\nrather die myself, (said the monster,) than give you the least\nuneasiness: I will send you to your father, you shall remain with him,\nand poor Beast will die with grief.\"  \"No, (said Beauty, weeping,) I\nlove you too well to be the cause of your death: I give you my promise\nto return in a week: you have shewn me that my sisters are married, and\nmy brothers gone to the army; only let me stay a week with my father, as\nhe is alone.\"  \"You shall be there tomorrow morning, (said the Beast,)\nbut remember your promise: you need only lay your ring on the table\nbefore you go to bed, when you have a mind to come back: farewell,\nBeauty.\"  Beast sighed as usual, bidding her good night; and Beauty went\nto bed very sad at seeing him so afflicted.  When she waked the next\nmorning, she found herself at her father's, and having rang a little\nbell, that was by her bed-side, she saw the maid come; who, the moment\nshe saw her, gave a loud shriek; at which the good man ran up stairs,\nand thought he should have died with joy to see his dear daughter again.\nHe held her fast locked in his arms above a quarter of an hour.  As soon\nas the first transports were over, Beauty began to think of rising, and\nwas afraid she had no clothes to put on; but the maid told her, that she\nhad just found, in the next room, a large trunk full of gowns, covered\nwith gold and diamonds.  Beauty thanked good Beast for his kind care,\nand taking one of the plainest of them, she intended to make a present\nof the others to her sisters.  She scarce had said so, when the trunk\ndisappeared. Her father told her, that Beast insisted on her keeping\nthem herself; and immediately both gowns and trunk came back again.\n\n[Illustration: Beauty at Supper with the Beast]\n\nBeauty dressed herself; and in the mean time they sent to her sisters,\nwho hasted thither with their husbands. They were both of them very\nunhappy. The eldest had married a gentleman, extremely handsome indeed,\nbut so fond of his own person, that he was full of nothing but his own\ndear self, and neglected his wife.  The second had married a man of wit,\nbut he only made use of it to plague and torment every body, and his\nwife most of all. Beauty's sisters sickened with envy, when they saw her\ndressed like a Princess, and more beautiful than ever; nor could all her\nobliging affectionate behaviour stifle their jealousy, which was ready\nto burst when she told them how happy she was.  They went down into the\ngarden to vent it in tears; and said one to the other, \"In what is this\nlittle creature better than us, that she should be so much happier?\"\n\"Sister, said the eldest, a thought just strikes my mind; let us\nendeavour to detain her above a week, and perhaps the silly monster will\nbe so enraged at her for breaking her word, that he will devour her.\"\n\"Right, sister, answered the other, therefore we must shew her as much\nkindness as possible.\" After they had taken this resolution, they went\nup, and behaved so affectionately to their sister, that poor Beauty wept\nfor joy.  When the week was expired, they cried and tore their hair, and\nseemed so sorry to part with her, that she promised to stay a week\nlonger.\n\nIn the mean time, Beauty could not help reflecting on herself for the\nuneasiness she was likely to cause poor Beast, whom she sincerely loved,\nand really longed to see again.  The tenth night she spent at her\nfather's, she dreamed she was in the palace garden, and that she saw\nBeast extended on the grass-plot, who seemed just expiring, and, in a\ndying voice, reproached her with her ingratitude.  Beauty started out of\nher sleep and bursting into tears, \"Am not I very wicked, (said she) to\nact so unkindly to Beast, that has studied so much to please me in every\nthing?  Is it his fault that he is so ugly, and has so little sense?  He\nis kind and good, and that is sufficient. Why did I refuse to marry him?\nI should be happier with the monster than my sisters are with their\nhusbands; it is neither wit nor a fine person in a husband, that makes a\nwoman happy; but virtue, sweetness of temper, and complaisance: and\nBeast has all these valuable qualifications.  It is true, I do not feel\nthe tenderness of affection for him, but I find I have the highest\ngratitude, esteem, and friendship; and I will not make him miserable;\nwere I to be so ungrateful, I should never forgive myself.\"  Beauty\nhaving said this, rose, put her ring on the table, and then laid down\nagain; scarce was she in bed before she fell asleep; and when she waked\nthe next morning, she was overjoyed to find herself in the Beast's\npalace.  She put on one of her richest suits to please him, and waited\nfor evening with the utmost impatience; at last the wished-for hour\ncame, the clock struck nine, yet no Beast appeared.  Beauty then feared\nshe had been the cause of his death; she ran crying and wringing her\nhands all about the palace, like one in despair; after having sought for\nhim every where, she recollected her dream, and flew to the canal in the\ngarden, where she dreamed she saw him.  There she found poor Beast\nstretched out, quite senseless, and, as she imagined, dead.  She threw\nherself upon him without any dread, and finding his heart beat still,\nshe fetched some water from the canal, and poured it on his head.  Beast\nopened his eyes, and said to Beauty, \"You forgot your promise, and I was\nso afflicted for having lost you, that I resolved to starve myself; but\nsince I have the happiness of seeing you once more, I die satisfied.\"\n\"No, dear Beast, (said Beauty,) you must not die; live to be my husband;\nfrom this moment I give you my hand, and swear to be none but yours.\nAlas!  I thought I had only a friendship for you, but, the grief I now\nfeel convinces me, that I cannot live without you.\"  Beauty scarcely had\npronounced these words, when she saw the palace sparkle with light; and\nfireworks, instruments of music, every thing, seemed to give notice of\nsome great event: but nothing could fix her attention; she turned to her\ndear Beast, for whom she trembled with fear; but how great was her\nsurprise! Beast had disappeared, and she saw, at her feet, one of the\nloveliest Princes that eye ever beheld, who returned her thanks for\nhaving put an end to the charm, under which he had so long resembled a\nBeast.  Though this Prince was worthy of all her attention, she could\nnot forbear asking where Beast was.  \"You see him at your feet, (said\nthe Prince): a wicked fairy had condemned me to remain under that shape\ntill a beautiful virgin should consent to marry me: the fairy likewise\nenjoined me to conceal my understanding; there was only you in the world\ngenerous enough to be won by the goodness of my temper; and in offering\nyou my crown, I can't discharge the obligations I have to you.\" Beauty,\nagreeably surprised, gave the charming Prince her hand to rise; they\nwent together into the castle, and Beauty was overjoyed to find, in the\ngreat hall, her father and his whole family, whom the beautiful lady,\nthat appeared to her in her dream, had conveyed thither.\n\n\"Beauty, (said this lady,) come and receive the reward of your judicious\nchoice; you have preferred virtue before either wit or beauty, and\ndeserve to find a person in whom all these qualifications are united:\nyou are going to be a great Queen; I hope the throne will not lessen\nyour virtue, or make you forget yourself.  As to you, ladies, (said the\nFairy to Beauty's two sisters,) I know your hearts, and all the malice\nthey contain: become two statues; but, under this transformation, still\nretain your reason.  You shall stand before your sister's palace gate,\nand be it your punishment to behold her happiness; and it will not be in\nyour power to return to your former state till you own your faults; but\nI am very much afraid that you will always remain statues.  Pride,\nanger, gluttony, and idleness, are sometimes conquered, but the\nconversion of a malicious and envious mind is a kind of miracle.\"\nImmediately the fairy gave a stroke with her wand, and in a moment all\nthat were in the hall were transported into the Prince's palace.  His\nsubjects received him with joy; he married Beauty, and lived with her\nmany years; and their happiness, as it was founded on virtue, was\ncomplete.\n\n\nFINIS","title":"Beauty and the Beast","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":5340}