This forest was so gloomy , and so full of lions , tigers , bears and wolves , that nobody dared pass through it even by daylight , and here they set down the unhappy Princess in the middle of the black night , and left her in spite of all her tears and entreaties . The Princess stood quite still at first from sheer bewilderment , but when the last sound of the retreating carriages died away in the distance she began to run aimlessly hither and thither , sometimes knocking herself against a tree , sometimes tripping over a stone , fearing every minute that she would be eaten up by the lions . Presently she was too tired to advance another step , so she threw herself down upon the ground and cried miserably : ` Oh , Percinet ! where are you ? Have you forgotten me altogether ? ' She had hardly spoken when all the forest was lighted up with a sudden glow . Every tree seemed to be sending out a soft radiance , which was clearer than moonlight and softer than daylight , and at the end of a long avenue of trees opposite to her the Princess saw a palace of clear crystal which blazed like the sun . At that moment a slight sound behind her made her start round , and there stood Percinet himself . ` Did I frighten you , my Princess ? ' said he . ' I come to bid you welcome to our fairy palace , in the name of the Queen , my mother , who is prepared to love you as much as I do . ' The Princess joyfully mounted with him into a little sledge , drawn by two stags , which bounded off and drew them swiftly to the wonderful palace , where the Queen received her with the greatest kindness , and a splendid banquet was served at once . Graciosa was so happy to have found Percinet , and to have escaped from the gloomy forest and all its terrors , that she was very hungry and very merry , and they were a gay party . After supper they went into another lovely room , where the crystal walls were covered with pictures , and the Princess saw with great surprise that her own history was represented , even down to the moment when Percinet found her in the forest . ` Your painters must indeed be diligent , ' she said , pointing out the last picture to the Prince . ` They are obliged to be , for I will not have anything forgotten that happens to you , ' he answered . When the Princess grew sleepy , twenty-four charming maidens put her to bed in the prettiest room she had ever seen , and then sang to her so sweetly that Graciosa 's dreams were all of mermaids , and cool sea waves , and caverns , in which she wandered with Percinet ; but when she woke up again her first thought was that , delightful as this fairy palace seemed to her , yet she could not stay in it , but must go back to her father . When she had been dressed by the four-and-twenty maidens in a charming robe which the Queen had sent for her , and in which she looked prettier than ever , Prince Percinet came to see her , and was bitterly disappointed when she told him what she had been thinking . He begged her to consider again how unhappy the wicked Queen would make her , and how , if she would but marry him , all the fairy palace would be hers , and his one thought would be to please her . But , in spite of everything he could say , the Princess was quite determined to go back , though he at last persuaded her to stay eight days , which were so full of pleasure and amusement that they passed like a few hours .
On the last day , Graciosa , who had often felt anxious XXXXX know what was going on in her father 's palace , said to Percinet that she was sure that he could find out for her , if he would , what reason the Queen had given her father for her sudden disappearance .
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