Even the fairies who had been bathing a little lower down heard the music and fell asleep among the flowers on the bank . Petru saw them as he passed , and thought , ` If they are so beautiful , why should the Fairy of the Dawn be so ugly ? ' But he dared not linger , and pushed on . And now he was in the wonderful gardens , which seemed more wonderful still than they had done from afar . But Petru could see no faded flowers , nor any birds , as he hastened through them to the castle . No one was there to bar his way , for all were asleep . Even the leaves had ceased to move . He passed through the courtyard , and entered the castle itself . What he beheld there need not be told , for all the world knows that the palace of the Fairy of the Dawn is no ordinary place . Gold and precious stones were as common as wood with us , and the stables where the horses of the sun were kept were more splendid than the palace of the greatest emperor in the world . Petru went up the stairs and walked quickly through eight-and-forty rooms , hung with silken stuffs , and all empty . In the forty-ninth he found the Fairy of the Dawn herself . In the middle of this room , which was as large as a church , Petru saw the celebrated well that he had come so far to seek . It was a well just like other wells , and it seemed strange that the Fairy of the Dawn should have it in her own chamber ; yet anyone could tell it had been there for hundreds of years . And by the well slept the Fairy of the Dawn -- the Fairy of the Dawn -- herself ! And as Petru looked at her the magic flute dropped by his side , and he held his breath . Near the well was a table , on which stood bread made with does ' milk , and a flagon of wine . It was the bread of strength and the wine of youth , and Petru longed for them . He looked once at the bread and once at the wine , and then at the Fairy of the Dawn , still sleeping on her silken cushions . As he looked a mist came over his senses .
The fairy opened her eyes slowly and looked at Petru , who lost his head still further ; but he just managed XXXXX remember his flute , and a few notes of it sent the Fairy to sleep again , and he kissed her thrice .
As Near at by down for from on over to