Although beauty is a great advantage to a young girl, in society the younger sister was almost always preferred to the elder. People would go first to the more beautiful [[117]]to see and admire her; but they very soon left her for the more clever sister, to enjoy listening to her pleasant conversation; and it was amazing to see how in less than a quarter of an hour the elder was without a person near her, while the whole company was crowding about the younger. The elder, dull as she was, noticed this very plainly, and would have given, without a moment of regret, all her beauty to have half the wit of her sister. The Queen, for all her good sense, could not help reproaching her often for her stupidity; this made the poor Princess ready to die of grief.
One day, when she had withdrawn to a wood near by to lament her misfortune, she saw coming towards her an ugly little man, very unpleasant to look at, but most magnificently dressed. It was the young Prince Riquet with the Tuft, who had fallen in love with her from her portraits, which were scattered everywhere, and had now left his father’s kingdom to have the pleasure of seeing her and talking with her. He was charmed at [[119]]finding her thus alone, and addressed her with all imaginable respect and politeness. Having observed, after he had paid her all the usual compliments, that she seemed very melancholy, he said to her, “I cannot understand, madam, how a person as beautiful as you are can be also as sorrowful as you appear to be; for although I can boast of having seen a great number of beautiful ladies, I declare to you that I never saw any one whose beauty approaches yours.”
“You are very kind to say so, sir,” answered the Princess; and here she stopped.
“Beauty,” replied Riquet with the Tuft, “is so great an advantage that it ought to make up for all else; and when any one possesses it, I do not see that there is anything that can afflict her very much.”
“I would much rather,” said the Princess, “be as ugly as you are and have sense, than have the beauty which I possess, and be as stupid as I am.”
“There is nothing, madam, which shows more plainly that we have sense than to [[120]]believe we have none; and it is the nature of that gift that the more people have it, the more they believe they lack it.”
“I do not know how that may be,” said the Princess, “but I know very well that I am extremely stupid, and that is the cause of my grief.”
“If that is all which troubles you, madam, I can very easily put an end to your sorrow.”
“And how will you do that?” said the Princess.