Untitled

ii6
MOONFOLK.
gpindle the very first thing, and " Oh ' !
'what funny thing is this, and what is it good for, 1
wonder? '
'
she cried out-
" Now, my spindle, yon must know, my dear, is an illtempered
fairy,
whom I keep shut up in that form, and
compel her to spin yarns of various sorts for me, whenever
the fancy takes me to call for one.
This makes her
cross, and finding herself rather rudely handled by poor
little Dorma, she dug the end of the spindle into the
child's hand, and hurt her so that she cried out dismally.
" I heard the cry, although I was some hundreds of
miles away at the time, visiting my sister Pari-banou, so
I flew to see what was the matter. A pretty sight met
my eyes as I rushed in through the keyhole.
"There stood my poor little princess holding her
bleeding hand tightly in the other, half crying, half
frightened, and staring with all her eyes at Mistress
Spindle, who was whirling around the room on her one
foot, buzzing like an angry hornet, and making her
flaxen hair fly out in a perfect cloud with the swiftness
of her motion.
I was so vexed that it made me unlady-like, and
L am afraid I kioked the spindle into the corner of
the room and called it names. Then I opened the door
and whisked Dorma off to her own chamber, laid her
upon the bed, and then, being determined to keep her
quiet, if such a thing was possible, I just put her and
the whole household, in fact everything in the palace,