informed me that they were unfortunate mortals who had in various ways given offence to the vindictive Fairy, and had been formed by her into a flock; that the penance of some was of less duration than that of others. In fact," he added, "every now and then they become what they were before, and leave the flock. As for the shadows you have seen, they are those of the rivals and enemies of Ragotte whom she has deprived of life for a century or so, and who will afterwards return to the world. The young slave I spoke of is amongst them. I have seen her several times with great pleasure, although she did not speak to me, and on approaching her I had the vexation to find it was but her shade; finding however that one of my sheep was very attentive to this little phantom, I discovered that he was her lover, and that Ragotte, out of jealousy, had taken him from her. For this reason, I have since avoided the shade of the slave, and during three years have sighed for nothing but my liberty.
"In the hope of regaining it, I frequently wander into the forest. There I saw you, beautiful Princess," continued he, "sometimes in a chariot which you drove yourself with more skill than the sun does his own, sometimes following the chase on a steed that seemed as if he would obey no other rider, or contending in the race with the ladies of your court, flying lightly over the plain, you won the prize, like another Atalanta. Ah, Princess, if, during all this time in which my heart paid you its secret homage, I had dared to address you, what should I not have said? But how would you have received the declaration of an unhappy sheep like me?"
Merveilleuse was so agitated by all she had heard, that she scarcely knew how to answer him. She said some civil things to him, however, which gave him a little hope, and told him that she was less alarmed at the ghosts now that she knew their owners would revive again. "Alas!" continued she, "if my poor Patypata, my dear Grabugeon, and the pretty Tintin, who died to save me, could meet with a similar fate, I should not be so melancholy here."
Notwithstanding the degradation of the royal Ram, he possessed some very great privileges. "Go," said he to his grand equerry, (a very good-looking sheep,) "go fetch the moor, the ape, and the little dog; their shades will amuse our Princess." The next moment they appeared, and although
