132 Fairy ‘Tales

had not learned his lessons, and was supposed
to be learning them on the wall.

“Can you spell?” asked Joan. “I can’t
see the good of it.”

“ Dear, dear!” said the dwarf woman, hold-
ing up her hands. “Of course it is useful
for some people, but you are so big and so
beautiful that, instead of learning lessons, I
should say you were quite fit to be a king
and a queen, and to eat honey-cakes all the
day long.”

Now it is pleasant to be told that you are
fit to be a king or a queen when such a thing
has never been hinted at before, especially if
you happen to be rather in disgrace; and
both Barthel and Joan liked the dwarf
woman better and better, and, though they
did not quite know what to say in answer,
were wonderfully struck with her clever-
ness. So when she went on to suggest that,
perhaps, if they were tired of the wall, and
might not go down to the harvesters, they
would walk a little way along the road with
her, and that she had a great many amusing