"How happy I am to have found her again, and
found her so engaging and so sweet." And as he wished to pay her all
the attentions that a lover delights in, he flew to his own kingdom,
entered his palace by an open window, and sought for some diamond
ear-rings, which he brought back in his beak, and, when night came,
offered them to Florina. So night after night he brought her something
beautiful, and they talked together till day, when he flew back to the
hollow tree, where he sang her praises in a voice so sweet that the
passers-by thought it was not a bird but a spirit. Rumours went about
that the place was haunted, and no one would go near the spot. Thus,
for two years, Florina spent her time, and never once regretted her
captivity. Her Blue Bird visited her every night, and they loved one
another dearly. And though she saw nobody and he lived in the hollow
of a tree, they always found plenty to say to one another.
The malicious queen tried with all her might to get Troutina married,
but in vain. Nobody would have her. "If it were Florina, now," said
the kings, or the kings' ambassadors, "we should be most happy to sign
the contract."
"That girl thwarts us still," said the queen. "She must have some
secret correspondence with foreign suitors. But we will find her out
and punish her."
The mother and daughter finished talking so late that it was midnight
before they reached Florina's apartment.
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