At the head of it rode Fanfaronade himself upon a white horse , which pranced and caracoled to the sound of the trumpets . Nothing could have been more splendid than the ambassador 's attire . His coat was nearly hidden under an embroidery of pearls and diamonds , his boots were solid gold , and from his helmet floated scarlet plumes . At the sight of him the Princess lost her wits entirely , and determined that Fanfaronade and nobody else would she marry . ` It is quite impossible , ' she said , ` that his master should be half as handsome and delightful . I am not ambitious , and having spent all my life in this tedious tower , anything -- even a house in the country -- will seem a delightful change . I am sure that bread and water shared with Fanfaronade will please me far better than roast chicken and sweetmeats with anybody else . ' And so she went on talk , talk , talking , until her waiting-women wondered where she got it all from . But when they tried to stop her , and represented that her high rank made it perfectly impossible that she should do any such thing , she would not listen , and ordered them to be silent . As soon as the ambassador arrived at the palace , the Queen started to fetch her daughter . All the streets were spread with carpets , and the windows were full of ladies who were waiting to see the Princess , and carried baskets of flowers and sweetmeats to shower upon her as she passed . They had hardly begun to get the Princess ready when a dwarf arrived , mounted upon an elephant . He came from the five fairies , and brought for the Princess a crown , a sceptre , and a robe of golden brocade , with a petticoat marvellously embroidered with butterflies ' wings . They also sent a casket of jewels , so splendid that no one had ever seen anything like it before , and the Queen was perfectly dazzled when she opened it . But the Princess scarcely gave a glance to any of these treasures , for she thought of nothing but Fanfaronade . The Dwarf was rewarded with a gold piece , and decorated with so many ribbons that it was hardly possible to see him at all . The Princess sent to each of the fairies a new spinning-wheel with a distaff of cedar wood , and the Queen said she must look through her treasures and find something very charming to send them also . When the Princess was arrayed in all the gorgeous things the Dwarf had brought , she was more beautiful than ever , and as she walked along the streets the people cried : ` How pretty she is ! How pretty she is ! ' The procession consisted of the Queen , the Princess , five dozen other princesses her cousins , and ten dozen who came from the neighbouring kingdoms ; and as they proceeded at a stately pace the sky began to grow dark , then suddenly the thunder growled , and rain and hail fell in torrents .
The Queen put her royal mantle over her head , and all the XXXXX did the same with their trains .
Dwarf Princess Queen casket distaff plumes princesses sceptre spinning-wheel sweetmeats