“Oh! don't I?” said the prince. “More than you would believe, mother.”
“A fairy can believe anything that ever was or ever could be,” said the old woman.
“Then are you a fairy?” asked the prince.
“Yes,” said she.
“Then what do you do for things not to believe?” asked the prince.
“There's plenty of them—everything that never was nor ever could be.”
“Plenty, I grant you,” said the prince. “But do you believe there could be a princess who never saw the daylight? Do you believe that now?”
This the prince said, not that he doubted the princess, but that he wanted the fairy to tell him more. She was too old a fairy, however, to be caught so easily.
“Of all people, fairies must not tell secrets. Besides, she's a princess.”
“Well, I'll tell you a secret. I'm a prince.”