Page:Genlis - The Palace of Truth (1819).djvu/24

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Princess, said she, I am not vindictive, but I am capricious; and if you will indulge me in a whim, which has just seized me, I shall readily forget what has passed; I am ridiculously fond of swinging; look, here is a swing, sit down in it, that is all I ask.

Though this idea appeared to me strange, yet I thought myself very happy to be so easily pardoned, and obeyed without hesitation; but scarcely had I seated myself in this fatal swing, when the fairy with a terrible voice, thus spoke:

I condemn thee to swing for thirty years, unless one of my lovers should cease to admire me, and should deceive me without my discovering the deceit.

Instantly the swing of itself took so violent a motion, that the shock made me faint. Zumio, the amiable sylph whom you see with me, came to my assistance. When I recovered the use of my senses, I yielded to the most violent despair, yet recollecting the last words of the fairy, I felt hope revive a little; for, said I, since she has more than one lover, she must necessarily be often deceived.

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