This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE BENEFICENT FROG.
397

of the happy lovers, and striking with her wand three times, they saw all the Dragon's bones rise to make a triumphal arch, in commemoration of the great event that had just taken place. At length this beautiful and numerous company advanced towards the city, singing nuptial hymns, as joyfully as they had chanted mournful dirges when proceeding to the sacrifice of the Princess. Their marriage was only deferred till the next day—it is easy to imagine the happiness that accompanied it.

The Queen, whose portrait I have painted here,
Amid the horrors of that gloomy lake,
Had for her life but little cause to fear;
Friendship with Love united for her sake.

The grateful Frog felt, like the monarch, bound
To make the greatest efforts in her cause,
Despite the cruel Lioness, they found
The means to snatch her from her fatal claws.

Husbands so constant, friends so brave and true,
Ages ago were of our sires the glory;
And by that little fact, kind reader, you
May guess, perhaps, the period of my story.