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FAIRY TELL TRUE. 17 |
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Here she was very happy; she had sugared bread to eat, and sweet fresh milk to drink; her clothes were of silk and gold, and she played with the fairy's good children all day.
Here she remained till she reached the age of fourteen, and one day the good fairy called her to her side and said, " Dear child, I have a long journey to take, and while I am absent I intend to leave the thirteen keys of the doors in my fairy palace in your care. You are free to open twelve of these doors and examine the wonderful things which the rooms contain, but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, you are forbidden to enter. If you do, great sorrow and misfortune will happen to you."
The young girl promised faithfully to remember this injunction, and when the good fairy was gone, she began at once to examine the rooms of the palace. Each day she unlocked one, until she had opened all the twelve. In each room she saw a beautiful fairy surrounded with a clear and brilliant light, and so much brightness and glory, that she, as well as the good children who accompanied her, were full of joy.
Now the forbidden door still remained unopened; but such a longing desire arose in her heart to see what the room contained, that she said to her companions, " I will just open this door a very little way, and peep in."
"Oh, no, don't!" said one of the good children; "that would be wrong; the good fairy has forbidden you to do so, and something dreadful will happen if you do."
The young girl was silent, but the longing desire in her heart would not be still, and day after day her curiosity increased so much that she could not rest.
At last, one day when all her young companions were absent, she thought to herself, now I shall be able to go in and have a peep, and no one will ever know.
So she fetched the keys, and taking the right one in her hand, placed it in the lock, and turned it round. The moment she did so, the door sprang open, and she saw three beautiful fairies seated on a throne of fire in a blaze of light. She stood for a while bewildered with astonishment. Then she moved forwards a little, and placed her finger in the glittering light; and when she drew it back, her finger was covered with gold. On seeing this, she was seized with a terrible fear, and shutting the door quickly, she |
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