THE WHITE CAT. 399

The fairies placed me in a tower of their palace, elegantly
furnished, but to which there was no door, so that whoever
approached was obliged to come by the windows, which were a
great height from the ground : from these I had the liberty of
getting out into a delightful garden, in which were baths, and
every sort of cooling fruit. In this place was I educated by
the fairies, who behaved to me with the greatest kindness ; my
clothes were splendid, and I was instructed in every kind of
accomplishment : in short, prince, if I] had never seen any one
but themselves, I should have remained very happy. One of
the windows of my tower overlooked a long avenue shaded with
trees, so that I had never seen in it a human creature. One
day, however, as I was talking at this window with my parrot,
I perceived a young gentleman who was listening to our conver-
sation. As I had never seen a man but in pictures, I was not
sorry for the opportunity of gratifying my curiosity. I thought
him a very pleasing object, and he at length bowed in the most
respectful manner, without daring to speak, for he knew that
Twas in the palace of the fairies. When it began to grow dark,
he went away, and I vainly endeavoured to see which road he
took. The next morning, as soon as it was light, I again
placed myself at the window, and had the pleasure of seeing
that the gentleman had returned to the same place. He now
spoke to me through a speaking-trumpet, and informed me he
thought me a most charming lady, and that he should be very
unhappy if he did not pass his life in my company.

I resolved to find some means of escaping from my tower
with the engaging prince I had seen. 1 was not long in devis-
ing the means for the execution of my project: I begged the
fairies to bring me a netting-ncedle, a mesh, and some cord,
saying I wished to make some nets to amuse myself with catch-
ing birds at my window. This they readily complied with,