I do n't know , '' she said ; `` but I will try . '' And no sooner had she taken the shirt and dipped it in the water than it was white as driven snow , and even whiter than that . `` I will marry you , '' said the Prince . Then the old troll-hag flew into such a rage that she burst , and the Princess with the long nose and all the little trolls must have burst too , for they have never been heard of since . The Prince and his bride set free all the Christian folk who were imprisoned there , and took away with them all the gold and silver that they could carry , and moved far away from the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon . -LRB- 1 -RRB- -LRB- 1 -RRB- Asbjornsen and Moe . THE YELLOW DWARF Once upon a time there lived a queen who had been the mother of a great many children , and of them all only one daughter was left . But then she was worth at least a thousand . Her mother , who , since the death of the King , her father , had nothing in the world she cared for so much as this little Princess , was so terribly afraid of losing her that she quite spoiled her , and never tried to correct any of her faults . The consequence was that this little person , who was as pretty as possible , and was one day to wear a crown , grew up so proud and so much in love with her own beauty that she despised everyone else in the world . The Queen , her mother , by her caresses and flatteries , helped to make her believe that there was nothing too good for her . She was dressed almost always in the prettiest frocks , as a fairy , or as a queen going out to hunt , and the ladies of the Court followed her dressed as forest fairies . And to make her more vain than ever the Queen caused her portrait to be taken by the cleverest painters and sent it to several neighboring kings with whom she was very friendly . When they saw this portrait they fell in love with the Princess -- every one of them , but upon each it had a different effect . One fell ill , one went quite crazy , and a few of the luckiest set off to see her as soon as possible , but these poor princes became her slaves the moment they set eyes on her . Never has there been a gayer Court . Twenty delightful kings did everything they could think of to make themselves agreeable , and after having spent ever so much money in giving a single entertainment thought themselves very lucky if the Princess said `` That 's pretty . '' All this admiration vastly pleased the Queen . Not a day passed but she received seven or eight thousand sonnets , and as many elegies , madrigals , and songs , which were sent her by all the poets in the world . All the prose and the poetry that was written just then was about Bellissima -- for that was the Princess 's name -- and all the bonfires that they had were made of these verses , which crackled and sparkled better than any other sort of wood .
Bellissima was already fifteen years old , and every one XXXXX the Princes wished to marry her , but not one dared to say so .
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