“Oh,” said the Little Princess, “that is the old woman whom I met in the forest, spinning!”
At that the fairy laughed so hard that her hair tumbled down about her feet, and it turned from gray to silver, and silver to gold. The years fell from her like a cloak, until she was more beautiful than the thought of man could conceive!
“Ah! I know you now!” cried the Little Princess. “You are my first fairy godmother!”
And that was the way of it, so she kissed them both for pure joy. But when they asked her as to which of the stone figures should have the third magic kiss, she shook her head,
“None of them at all!” she said. “But give me back that bit of gold thread, for you will have no further use for it.”
Then she stretched the thread between her two hands until it was so fine that you could not see it at all, and laid it on the ground around the Wizard and his Dragons, and tied a magic knot, just behind the crystal globe.
“Now give the third kiss to the crystal globe,” she said, “and see what will happen!”
So the Little Princess kissed the globe, and from the place where her lips touched it, a stream of water trickled down. As it touched the feet of each statue, the marble softened to flesh and blood, and the breath came back to it until all of the Prince’s train were alive again; but as for the Wizard, the water could not pass the gold thread, so there he sits until this day—unless some busybody has untied the magic knot. Then the fairy flew away, singing a low, happy song.
When the Prince and the Princess came to the Garden, there was a wedding which lasted a month, and then they rode off toward the west.
After they had gone, the Queen whispered to the Lady-in-waiting,