6o THE SWALLOW 



who asked them what they were seeking. 

 They told her they were going to call the 

 swallows. The fairy then said to them : — 



" The land of the swallows is a long way 

 from here, and to get there one must travel 

 over many countries, where there are bad 

 men and wolves. Come with me and I will 

 put you to sleep. When you shall awake 

 the swallows will be here." 



The princesses hugged the Fairy, and she 

 led them into her underground palace, where 

 she warmed them and put them to sleep by 

 rocking them gently, and she kept them in 

 bed for a hundred nights and a hundred 

 days. At the end of that time the ice walls 

 of the Fairy's palace were melted away, and 

 the eternal snows which had covered every- 

 thing around had disappeared, and the earth 

 began to grow grasses and flowers. , 



The gay song of a bird awakened the little 

 ladies from their slumber, and they ran away 

 to their mother to tell her that the swallows 

 had come. But the queen had died of sor- 



