"
"Be it so," said the fairy; "you shall have the prettiest daughter
imaginable, and she shall speak from her birth, in order that no time
may be lost. Call your husband and sons; I hope to find all parties
content."
The little family assembled, but harmony was not the result of their
communications. The young men thought their father's wish quite
pitiful, and the woodcutter by no means relished the idea of another
child. The fairy, however, provided an excellent breakfast, and the
wine reanimated his spirits.
"Now I promise," said Coquette, "that you shall have a daughter, who
at the moment of her birth will be endowed with the figure and the
intelligence of twelve years old. Call her Rose, for her complexion
shall shame the flower which bears that name."
"And _I_ pronounce that she shall also be as black as ebony, and
become, before the age of fifteen, the wife of a great king," said a
very strong voice in clear and distinct accents, accompanied by shouts
of laughter, which evidently proceeded from a great pitcher placed at
the corner of the chimney.
The Fairy Coquette turned pale, and consternation was general; but the
woodcutter, now merry with wine, joined in the laugh. "Ah! how droll,"
said he, "red and black roses! A likely story, indeed, that a great
king would come a-wooing to a woodcutter's daughter! Only a pitcher
could invent such nonsense, and I shall teach it to utter no more.
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