The rogue of a boatman, who noticed all this, said softly to the nurse:
‘This is a bad business for us, gossip; your daughter ought to have been prettier.’
But she answered:
‘Be quiet, stupid, or you will spoil everything.’
Now they told the King that the Princess was approaching.
‘Well,’ said he, ‘did her brothers tell me truly? Is she prettier than her portrait?’
‘Sire,’ they answered, ‘if she were as pretty that would do very well.’
‘That’s true,’ said the King; ‘I for one shall be quite satisfied if she is. Let us go and meet her.’ For they knew by the uproar that she had arrived, but they could not tell what all the shouting was about. The King thought he could hear the words:
‘How ugly she is! How ugly she is!’ and he fancied they must refer to some dwarf the Princess was bringing with her. It never occurred to him that they could apply to the bride herself.
The Princess Rosette’s portrait was carried at the head of the procession, and after it walked the King surrounded by his courtiers. He was all impatience to see the lovely Princess, but when he caught sight of the nurse’s daughter he was furiously angry, and would not advance another step. For she was really ugly enough to have frightened anybody.