‘Agreed, my child,’ replied the king; ‘you have only to speak.’
‘Then, before I marry,’ said the girl, ‘I want a lot of things, but I will begin with one at a time. First, I want a dress of the colour of a beautiful noontide sky, but all covered with stars, like the sky at midnight, and furnished with a parure to suit it.’[3]
Such a dress the king had made and brought to her.
‘Next,’ said the princess, ‘I want a dress of the colour of the sea, all covered with golden fishes, with a fitting parure.’
Such a dress the king had made, and brought to her.
‘Next,’ said the princess, ‘I want a dress of a dark blue, all covered with gold embroidery and spangled with silver bells, and with a parure to match.’
Such a dress the king had made and brought to her.
‘These are all very good,’ said the princess; ‘but now you must send for the most cunning artificer in your whole kingdom, and let him make me a figure of an old woman[4] just like life, fitted with all sorts of springs to make it move and walk when one gets inside it, just like a real woman.’
Such a figure the king had made, and brought it to the princess.
‘That is just the sort of figure I wanted,’ said she; ‘and now I don’t want anything more.’