“And how do you like the water-rat?” asked the duck,who came paddling up some minutes afterwards.“He has a great many good points,but for my own part I have a mother’s feelings and I can never look at a confirmed bachelor without the tears coming into my eyes.”
“I am rather afraid that I have annoyed him,” answered the linnet,“The fact is that I told him a story with a moral.”
“Ah!that is always a very dangerous thing to do.” said the duck.
And I quite agree with her.
The Remarkable Rocket
The king’s son was going to be married,so there were general rejoicings.He had waited a whole year for his bride,and at last she had arrived.She was a Russian princess,and had driven all the way from Finland in a sledge drawn by six reindeer.The sledge was shaped like a great golden swan,and between the swan’s wings lay the little princess herself.Her long ermine cloak reached right down to her feet,on her head was a tiny cap of silver tissue,and she was as pale as the Snow Palace in which she had always lived.So pale was she that as she drove through the streets all the people wondered.“She is like a white rose!” they cried,and they threw down flowers on her from the balconies.