The palace is gone . ' ` Yes , ' he answered , ` my palace is a thing of the past ; you will see it again , but not until after you have been buried . ' ` Now you are angry with me , ' said Graciosa in her most coaxing voice , ` though after all I am more to be pitied than you are . ' When they got near the palace the Prince made the sledge and themselves invisible , so the Princess got in unobserved , and ran up to the great hall where the King was sitting all by himself . At first he was very much startled by Graciosa 's sudden appearance , but she told him how the Queen had left her out in the forest , and how she had caused a log of wood to be buried . The King , who did not know what to think , sent quickly and had it dug up , and sure enough it was as the Princess had said . Then he caressed Graciosa , and made her sit down to supper with him , and they were as happy as possible . But someone had by this time told the wicked Queen that Graciosa had come back , and was at supper with the King , and in she flew in a terrible fury . The poor old King quite trembled before her , and when she declared that Graciosa was not the Princess at all , but a wicked impostor , and that if the King did not give her up at once she would go back to her own castle and never see him again , he had not a word to say , and really seemed to believe that it was not Graciosa after all . So the Queen in great triumph sent for her waiting women , who dragged the unhappy Princess away and shut her up in a garret ; they took away all her jewels and her pretty dress , and gave her a rough cotton frock , wooden shoes , and a little cloth cap . There was some straw in a corner , which was all she had for a bed , and they gave her a very little bit of black bread to eat . In this miserable plight Graciosa did indeed regret the fairy palace , and she would have called Percinet to her aid , only she felt sure he was still vexed with her for leaving him , and thought that she could not expect him to come . Meanwhile the Queen had sent for an old Fairy , as malicious as herself , and said to her : ` You must find me some task for this fine Princess which she can not possibly do , for I mean to punish her , and if she does not do what I order , she will not be able to say that I am unjust . ' So the old Fairy said she would think it over , and come again the next day . When she returned she brought with her a skein of thread , three times as big as herself ; it was so fine that a breath of air would break it , and so tangled that it was impossible to see the beginning or the end of it . The Queen sent for Graciosa , and said to her : ` Do you see this skein ? Set your clumsy fingers to work upon it , for I must have it disentangled by sunset , and if you break a single thread it will be the worse for you . ' So saying she left her , locking the door behind her with three keys . The Princess stood dismayed at the sight of the terrible skein . If she did but turn it over to see where to begin , she broke a thousand threads , and not one could she disentangle .
XXXXX last she threw it into the middle of the floor , crying : ` Oh , Percinet !
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