attend to the beauty of his wife.  The second had married a man of great learning; but he made no use of it, only to torment and affront all his friends, and his wife more than any of them.  The two sisters were ready to burst with spite when they saw Beauty dressed like a princess, and look so very charming.  All the kindness that she showed them was of no use; for they were vexed more than ever, when she told them how happy she lived at the palace of the beast.  The spiteful creatures went by themselves into the garden, where they cried to think of her good fortune.  “Why should the little wretch be better off than we?” said they.  “We are much handsomer than she is.”  “Sister,” said the eldest, “a thought has just come into my head:  let us try to keep her here longer than the week that the beast gave her leave for:  and then he will be so angry, that perhaps he will eat her up in a moment.”  “That is well thought of,” answered the other, “but to do this we must seem very kind to her.”  They then made up their minds to be so, and went to join her in the cottage where they showed her so much false love, that Beauty could not help crying for joy.

When the week was ended, the two sisters began to pretend so much grief at the thoughts of her leaving them, that she agreed to stay a week more; but all that time Beauty could not help fretting for the sorrow that she knew her staying would give her poor beast; for she tenderly loved him, and much wished for his company again.  The tenth night of her being at the cottage she dreamed she was in the garden of the palace, and that the beast lay dying on a grass plot, and, with his last breath, put her in mind of her promise, and laid his death to her keeping away from him; Beauty awoke in a great fright, and burst into tears.  “Am not I wicked,” said she, “to behave so ill to a beast who has shown me so much kindness; why will I not marry him?  I am sure I should be more happy with him than my sisters are with their husbands.  He shall not be wretched any longer on my account; for I should do nothing but blame myself all the rest of my life,”

She then rose, put her ring on the table, got into bed again, and soon fell asleep.  In the morning she with joy found herself in the palace of the beast.  She dressed herself very finely, that she might please him the better, and thought she had never known a day pass away so slow.  At last the clock struck nine, but the beast did not come.  Beauty then thought to be sure she had been the cause of his death in earnest.  She ran from room to room all over the palace, calling out his name, but still she saw nothing of him.  After looking for him a long time, she thought of her dream, and ran directly towards the grass plot; and there she found the poor beast lying senseless and seeming dead.  She threw herself upon his body, thinking nothing at all of his ugliness; and finding his heart still beat, she ran and fetched some water from a pond in the garden, and threw it