Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast:

Once upon a time, in a very far-off country, there

lived a merchant who had been so fortunate in all his

undertakings that he was enormously rich. As he had,

however, six sons and six daughters, he found that his

money was not too much to let them all have everything

they fancied, as they were accustomed to do.

But one day a most unexpected misfortune befell them.

Their house caught fire and was speedily burnt to the

ground, with all the splendid furniture, the books,

pictures, gold, silver, and precious goods it contained;

and this was only the beginning of their troubles. Their

father, who had until this moment prospered in all ways,

suddenly lost every ship he had upon the sea, either by

dint of pirates, shipwreck, or fire. Then he heard that his

clerks in distant countries, whom he trusted entirely, had

proved unfaithful; and at last from great wealth he fell

into the direst poverty.

All that he had left was a little house in a desolate place

at least a hundred leagues from the town in which he had

lived, and to this he was forced to retreat with his

children, who were in despair at the idea of leading such a

different life. Indeed, the daughters at first hoped that

their friends, who had been so numerous while they were

rich, would insist on their staying in their houses now they

no longer possessed one. But they soon found that they

were left alone, and that their former friends even attributed

their misfortunes to their own extravagance, and

showed no intention of offering them any help. So nothing

was left for them but to take their departure to the

cottage, which stood in the midst of a dark forest, and

seemed to be the most dismal place upon the face of the

earth. As they were too poor to have any servants, the

girls had to work hard, like peasants, and the sons, for

their part, cultivated the fields to earn their living.

Roughly clothed, and living in the simplest way, the girls

regretted unceasingly the luxuries and amusements of

their former life; only the youngest tried to be brave and

cheerful. She had been as sad as anyone when misfortune

overtook her father, but, soon recovering her natural

gaiety, she set to work to make the best of things, to

amuse her father and brothers as well as she could, and

to try to persuade her sisters to join her in dancing and

singing. But they would do nothing of the sort, and,

because she was not as doleful as themselves, they declared

that this miserable life was all she was fit for. But she

was really far prettier and cleverer than they were; indeed,

she was so lovely that she was always called Beauty.

After two years, when they were all beginning to get used

to their new life, something happened to disturb their

tranquillity. Their father received the news that one of

his ships, which he had believed to be lost, had come

safely into port with a rich cargo. All the sons and daughters

at once thought that their poverty was at an end, and

wanted to set out directly for the town; but their father,

who was more prudent, begged them to wait a little, and,

though it was harvest time, and he could ill be spared,

determined to go himself first, to make inquiries. Only the

youngest daughter had any doubt but that they would

soon again be as rich as they were before, or at least rich

enough to live comfortably in some town where they

would find amusement and gay companions once more.

So they all loaded their father with commissions for

jewels and dresses which it would have taken a fortune

to buy; only Beauty, feeling sure that it was of no use, did

not ask for anything. Her father, noticing her silence,

said: "And what shall I bring for you, Beauty?"

"The only thing I wish for is to see you come home

safely," she answered.

But this only vexed her sisters, who fancied she was

blaming them for having asked for such costly things.

Her father, however, was pleased, but as he thought that

at her age she certainly ought to like pretty presents, he

told her to choose something.

"Well, dear father," she said, "as you insist upon it, I

beg that you will bring me a rose. I have not seen one

since we came here, and I love them so much."

So the merchant set out and reached the town as

quickly as possible, but only to find that his former

companions, believing him to be dead, had divided between

them the goods which the ship had brought; and after six

months of trouble and expense he found himself as poor

as when he started, having been able to recover only just

enough to pay the cost of his journey. To make matters

worse, he was obliged to leave the town in the most

terrible weather, so that by the time he was within a few

leagues of his home he was almost exhausted with cold

and fatigue. Though he knew it would take some hours

to get through the forest, he was so anxious to be at his

journey's end that he resolved to go on; but night overtook

him, and the deep snow and bitter frost made it

impossible for his horse to carry him any further. Not a

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