“Alas!” cried Queen Blanche, “the Fairy made me but a sad gift when she gave me a crown! People do not find happiness in magnificent palaces, but in the simple joys and labour of the country!”
As she finished speaking, the Fairy herself appeared before her.
“I did not intend to reward you by making you a Queen,” she said, “but to punish you because you gave your plums with such bad grace. In order to be truly happy it is necessary to possess, like your sister, only those things that are simple and joyful, and not to wish for more.”
“Ah, madame!” cried Blanche, “you are sufficiently avenged! Pray put an end to my misery!”
“It is ended,” replied the Fairy. “Even now the King, who has ceased to love you, is sending his officers to forbid your returning to the palace.”
All happened as the Fairy had said. And Blanche passed the rest of her life with Rose. She was happy and contented, never even thinking of the royal Court, except when she thanked the Fairy for taking her from it, and bringing her back to the pretty farm and to her dear sister.
Madame Le Prince de Beaumont