THE
WHITE
CAT

palace and enchanted wood. I was solemnly and
repeatedly warned that if I attempted to escape,
the most dreadful calamity would befall me.
‘One day as I was pulling out the drawers, and
turning over the contents of the cabinets in the
palace, I found a bracelet, to which hung a minia-
ture portrait of a very handsome young man. ;
‘I could not keep my eyes off this picture. You
must understand, Prince, that hitherto I had seen
no men, and no women even, except the old fairies.
Next time one of these latter visited me, I asked
what that was which was represented in the
miniature. She was much vexed at my asking,
and said it was a picture of a sort of monkey that
lived in foreign parts. Then I said, innocently,
I should much like to see such monkeys. The
fairy said I must never think of such a thing, or
dreadful misfortunes would happen.
“However, I found I could take no pleasure in
anything ; I could not sleep by night, I was always
anxious and longing to see these extraordinary
monkeys. I told this to one of the fairies, and she
said with a sigh: “I see there is some of the inquisi-
tiveness of your mother in you. You will come to
a dreadful misfortune unless you overcome it.” I
said no more to the fairies, but I thought now of
nothing but how I might escape from the palace
and enchanted wood into Monkeyland.
“One day I put my purpose into execution, I got
away alone from the castle, and ran through the
wood, and was just about to pass the last tree
when the three fairy sisters appeared before me.
They were very angry, and said that I had rushed
on the doom which they had cautioned me against.
Now there was no help for it, I must be trans-
formed into a white cat; but they said they would
give me a retinue of the lords and ladies of my
father’s court in the same form; and they would
render invisible, all but their hands, the ladies and
224