So he came home again, and was quite sad, for he wished so much to have a real princess. One evening a terrible storm came on. It lightened and thundered, the rain streamed down; it was quite fearful! Then there was a knocking at thes town gate, and the old king went out to open it.

It was a princess who stood outside the gate. But, mercy! how she looked, from the rain and the rough weather! The water ran down from her hair and her clothes; it ran out at the points 10 of her shoes, and out at the heels; and yet she declared that she was a real princess.

"Yes, we will soon find that out," thought the old queen. But she said nothing, only went into the bedchamber, took all the bedding 15 off, and put a pea on the bottom of the bedstead; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them upon the pea, and then twenty eider down beds upon the mattresses. On this the princess had to lie all night. In the morning she was 20 asked how she had slept.

"Oh, miserably!" said the princess. "I scarcely closed my eyes all night long. Good

F

ness knows what was in my bed. I lay upon something hard, so that I am black and blue all over. It was quite dreadful!"

Now they saw that she was a real princess, 5 for, through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eiderdown beds, she had felt the pea. No one but a real princess could be so delicate. So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a true princess; and the 10 pea was put in the museum. It is there now,

unless somebody has carried it off.

1. How did the princess show that she was "the real thing," as we call it? 2. What do we think of the people who always want the best of everything, and who think the finest things are hardly good enough for them? 3. How do you think such people ought to be treated?

SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED

I

Once upon a time there lived in a cottage near

a wood a poor widow.

In the garden in front of her house grew two rosebushes, one of which bore white roses and the other red.

Now the widow had two little girls, who were so 5 like the rosebushes that to one she gave the name of Snow-White and to the other that of Rose-Red. These two little girls were the best children in

the world. Snow-White was quiet and gentle. She used to stay at home with her mother, help 10 her about the housework, and read to her after it was done; while Rose-Red liked to run about the fields and look for birds and flowers.

The two children were very fond of each other, and when out walking always went hand in hand. 15 Snow-White would say, "We will never leave each other," while her sister would answer, " No, never so long as we live."

The children often went to the wood to pick

berries. Not a living thing ever did them any harm, for all the animals were quite friendly with them. The little rabbits ate leaves out of their hands; even the deer would not run from them; 5 while the birds sang for them in the trees. Sometimes they would stay in the forest all night, and still their mother knew there was no cause for fear.

One morning, after the sisters had been sleeping 10 all night in a soft bed of moss, they opened their eyes and saw near them a beautiful little child. whose clothes were white and shining. When he saw that they were awake, he smiled at them kindly, and then seemed to go away in a mist. 15 They looked around and found that they had been sleeping on the edge of a dark, deep hole, into which they would surely have fallen had they moved during the night. Their mother said that the child they saw must have been one of the 20 angels who watch over all good children.

The little girls kept their mother's house so neat and clean that there was never a speck of dust to be found. Each morning in summer, Rose-Red

picked fresh flowers to place by her mother's bed. In winter, Snow-White made the fire, filled the teakettle, and placed it over the bright blaze.

In the evening, when the snow was falling and the door closed and locked, Snow-White and Rose-5 Red would take seats around the fire in the bright little room and knit their stockings, while their mother read to them out of some good book.

One evening there came a rap at the door, and the mother said, "Rose-Red, open the door 10 quickly; some one may be lost in the snow."

So Rose-Red unlocked the door, and in came a great, black bear.

At first they were all very much afraid, until the bear began to speak, and said: "Do not fear; I15 will not hurt you. I only wish to warm myself by the fire, for my paws are nearly frozen."

"Poor bear," cried the mother, "come and lie down by the fire, but take care not to burn your coat of fur."

Then she called out: "Snow-White and RoseRed, come here! This is a good bear; he will not hurt you." So they both came up by the fire, and

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