A new and awful trouble of
which they had never dreamt was about to befall them.
When the princes came to meet their betrothed next morning the
maidens noticed that, although very affectionate, they were
downcast and somewhat silent. At last, after a great deal of
questioning, the reason came out. The king and queen had both had
exactly the same curious dream, and this strange occurrence had
upset their majesties very much. They both dreamt that one of the
princesses, as they believed them to be, had six toes on each foot;
and as no monstrosity could ever share the throne of Silverland
they demanded to see the princesses' little feet with their own
eyes, so as to be quite sure they all had only the right number of
toes.
When the princes with many blushes broke this news to their lady-
loves, they each gave a short loud scream and fainted.
Their lovers, of course, put this down to extreme modesty, and were
much affected by such proper conduct; but when they succeeded in
restoring them to consciousness they were not a little disturbed to
find that the maidens positively refused to show their feet.
Imagine the grief of the poor princes! The king had said quite
positively that not one of the princes should marry till he, the
queen, and the councillors of the kingdom, had seen the bride's
feet; and the maidens now declared that they would never never show
them.
Matters were in this awkward state when the cuckoo appeared on the
scene.
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