ONCE upon a time there lived a King who had three daughters.
Now it happened that he had to go out to battle, so he called
his daughters and said to them:

`My dear children, I am obliged to go to the wars. The enemy
is approaching us with a large army. It is a great grief to me to
leave you all. During my absence take care of yourselves and be
good girls; behave well and look after everything in the house.
You may walk in the garden, and you may go into all the rooms
in the palace, except the room at the back in the right-hand
corner; into that you must not enter, for harm would befall you.'

`You may keep your mind easy, father,' they replied. `We
have never been disobedient to you. Go in peace, and may heaven
give you a glorious victory!'

When everything was ready for his departure, the King gave
them the keys of all the rooms and reminded them once more of
what he had said. His daughters kissed his hands with tears in
their eyes, and wished him prosperity, and he gave the eldest the
keys.

Now when the girls found themselves alone they felt so sad and
dull that they did not know what to do. So, to pass the time, they
decided to work for part of the day, to read for part of the day, and
to enjoy themselves in the garden for part of the day. As long as
they did this all went well with them. But this happy state of
things did not last long. Every day they grew more and more
curious, and you will see what the end of that was.

`Sisters,' said the eldest Princess, `all day long we sew, spin, and
read. We have been several days quite alone, and there is no
corner of the garden that we have not explored. We have been
in all the rooms of our father's palace, and have admired the rich
and beautiful furniture: why should not we go into the room that
our father forbad us to enter?'

Sister,' said the youngest, `I cannot think how you can tempt

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