"It pleases you to say so, sir," replied the Princess, and relapsed into silence.
"Beauty," went on Riquet, "is so delightful that one would give everything for it, and if anyone is beautiful I can't understand anything troubling greatly."
"I would rather be as ugly as you," answered the Princess, "and be clever, than as beautiful as I am, and be stupid."
"To think you are stupid is a sure sign that you have a certain amount of cleverness, madam," replied Riquet.
"I don't think about that," said the Princess, "but I am quite sure that I am very silly, and the grief of that is killing me."
"If that is all that troubles you, I can soon put an end to your grief," said Riquet, "for I have the power of giving cleverness to the person whom I love the best, and if only you will marry me, you shall become as clever as you can wish."
The Princess was greatly astonished, but remained silent.
"I can see," continued Riquet, "that this proposal is not to your taste, and I am not astonished. I will give you a year to think about it."
So great was the longing of the Princess to be clever, that she at once promised Riquet to marry him in a year's time, and no sooner had she made the promise than a great change took place in her, and she found she could say all sorts of pleasant things, on all sorts of subjects, in quite an easy manner.