The little princess was as fair as the cherry blooms, and the petals had drifted lovingly upon her. They had powdered the ground about her like snowflakes, and rested upon her soft black hair like a coronet of pearl.
As she sat and dreamed in the sunshine, the little princess was very happy, and she said to herself, “What a beautiful world this is! I wish every one was as happy as I am!” This she said because her heart was as kind as her face was fair.
Then she heard a sudden rush and the patter of tiny feet, and a little baby fox sprang over the garden wall and ran right under the princess’s robe. She stooped and took it in her arms.
“Poor little frightened foxling,” she said. “What is the matter?”
But the little fox only tucked his sharp nose under her arm and trembled all over.
Then the princess heard a shout and looking up, she saw some boys on the wall.
“That is our fox,” they cried roughly, for they did not know she was a princess. “Give it to us!”
“What are you going to do with it?” she asked.
“Kill it and eat the flesh for supper,” cried the biggest boy. “Then we will sell the skin, and the liver can be sold to the magician doctor who cures fever with it. We shall get many bu[38] for the fox, and we can buy rice cakes and other things.”
The little fox seemed to understand, for he cowered closer to the princess. He poked his nose into the palm of her hand and kissed it gently.