and I entreat you to relate to us how you acquired them." "Sire," replied she, "I shall obey you with pleasure; they told me the dancing water would make me beautiful, that the singing apple would give me wit. I wished to possess them, for these two reasons. With respect to the little green bird that tells everything, I had a different one; we know nothing of our fatal birth—we are children who have been abandoned by our relatives—we know of none that exist. I hoped that this wonderful bird would enlighten us upon a matter which we think of night and day." "Judging of your birth by yourself," said the King, "it ought to be most illustrious; but in truth, who are you?" "Sire," she said, "my brothers and myself deferred asking the bird that question till our return; when we arrived we received your commands to come to your wedding; all that I could do was to bring you these three curiosities to amuse you."
"I am very glad of that," said the King; "do not let us defer anything that will be so entertaining." "You amuse yourself with every foolish thing that is proposed to you," said the Queen-Mother angrily. "Here are pleasant marmosets indeed with their rarities! truly the very name is enough to prove that nothing could be more ridiculous. Fye, fye. I do not choose that these petty strangers, apparently the dregs of the people, should have the power of abusing your credulity. The whole of this is but an affair of juggling with sacks and cups, and but for you they would never have had the honour of sitting at my table."
Belle-Etoile and her brothers, hearing this offensive language, knew not what to imagine; their faces flushed with confusion and despair at being thus insulted before all this grand Court. But the King, telling his mother that this proceeding was an outrage to him, begged the beautiful children not to feel hurt at it, and held out his hand in token of friendship. Belle-Etoile took a glass basin, and poured all the dancing water into it; immediately they perceived the water was agitated, it skipped about to and fro, heaving like an angry little sea; it varied its colour, and made the basin move the length of the King's table; then suddenly it spurted out and sprinkled the chief equerry's face, to whom the children were under obligations. He was a man of great merit, but he was very ugly, and he had likewise lost an eye.
