Beauty and the Beast | Page 7

complaisance: and
Beast has all these valuable qualifications. It is true, I do not feel the
tenderness of affection for him, but I find I have the highest gratitude,
esteem, and friendship; and I will not make him miserable; were I to be
so ungrateful, I should never forgive myself." Beauty having said this,
rose, put her ring on the table, and then laid down again; scarce was she
in bed before she fell asleep; and when she waked the next morning,
she was overjoyed to find herself in the Beast's palace. She put on one
of her richest suits to please him, and waited for evening with the
utmost impatience; at last the wished-for hour came, the clock struck
nine, yet no Beast appeared. Beauty then feared she had been the cause
of his death; she ran crying and wringing her hands all about the palace,
like one in despair; after having sought for him every where, she
recollected her dream, and flew to the canal in the garden, where she
dreamed she saw him. There she found poor Beast stretched out, quite
senseless, and, as she imagined, dead. She threw herself upon him
without any dread, and finding his heart beat still, she fetched some
water from the canal, and poured it on his head. Beast opened his eyes,
and said to Beauty, "You forgot your promise, and I was so afflicted for
having lost you, that I resolved to starve myself; but since I have the
happiness of seeing you once more, I die satisfied." "No, dear Beast,

(said Beauty,) you must not die; live to be my husband; from this
moment I give you my hand, and swear to be none but yours. Alas! I
thought I had only a friendship for you, but, the grief I now feel
convinces me, that I cannot live without you." Beauty scarcely had
pronounced these words, when she saw the palace sparkle with light;
and fireworks, instruments of music, every thing, seemed to give notice
of some great event: but nothing could fix her attention; she turned to
her dear Beast, for whom she trembled with fear; but how great was her
surprise! Beast had disappeared, and she saw, at her feet, one of the
loveliest Princes that eye ever beheld, who returned her thanks for
having put an end to the charm, under which he had so long resembled
a Beast. Though this Prince was worthy of all her attention, she could
not forbear asking where Beast was. "You see him at your feet, (said
the Prince): a wicked fairy had condemned me to remain under that
shape till a beautiful virgin should consent to marry me: the fairy
likewise enjoined me to conceal my understanding; there was only you
in the world generous enough to be won by the goodness of my temper;
and in offering you my crown, I can't discharge the obligations I have
to you." Beauty, agreeably surprised, gave the charming Prince her
hand to rise; they went together into the castle, and Beauty was
overjoyed to find, in the great hall, her father and his whole family,
whom the beautiful lady, that appeared to her in her dream, had
conveyed thither.
"Beauty, (said this lady,) come and receive the reward of your judicious
choice; you have preferred virtue before either wit or beauty, and
deserve to find a person in whom all these qualifications are united:
you are going to be a great Queen; I hope the throne will not lessen
your virtue, or make you forget yourself. As to you, ladies, (said the
Fairy to Beauty's two sisters,) I know your hearts, and all the malice
they contain: become two statues; but, under this transformation, still
retain your reason. You shall stand before your sister's palace gate, and
be it your punishment to behold her happiness; and it will not be in
your power to return to your former state till you own your faults; but I
am very much afraid that you will always remain statues. Pride, anger,
gluttony, and idleness, are sometimes conquered, but the conversion of
a malicious and envious mind is a kind of miracle." Immediately the
fairy gave a stroke with her wand, and in a moment all that were in the

hall were transported into the Prince's palace. His subjects received him
with joy; he married Beauty, and lived with her many years; and their
happiness, as it was founded on virtue, was complete.
FINIS

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