Page 145 - Princess Belle-Etoile and Prince Cherie

her; at the same instant she saw such lightning,
and heard such a roar of thunder and wind
together, that she was dreadfully frightened.
Notwithstanding her alarm she still kept tight
hold of the green bird, thinking it might
escape her; she touched the rock again with
the red feather, and the third time it split from
the top to the bottom: she entered with a

victorious air the hall in which stood the three
Princes with many others; she ran towards
Cheri,—he did not know her in her helmet
and male attire, and as the enchantment was
not yet ended, he could neither speak nor
move. The Princess, seeing this, put fresh
questions to the green bird, to which it replied

that she must rub the eyes and mouth of all
those she wished to disenchant with the red
feather, which good office she did to several
kings and sovereign personages, and especially
to our three Princes.
Grateful for so important a benefit, they all
threw themselves at her feet, calling her the
Liberator of Kings. She then discovered that
her brothers, deceived by her dress, did not at

all recognise her; she instantly took off her
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