]Lesson Thirteen A Modern Fairy Tale
By the time spring came around again, there was a baby sister for him.
\“Next to the orange tree. And in the springtime we’ll call our daughter Anne. A for apple, A for Anne.”
The tree was duly planted at the correct distance from the orange tree which by now was very sturdy. Anne was a sweet contented baby, and Oscar was already on his chubby but rather uncertain legs.
Exactly a year later a third baby arrived. And if you're thinking that by now our princess will have lost some of her grace and beauty you'd be wrong. With each birth she grew more radiant. Her hair was just as-gold, her complexion like a nose petal, and her figure (though admittedly for only a brief time each year〉was as slim and supple as the day she married.
The baby was another boy. Blond like his mother and the other two children.
\” the princess. “For his hair is the same pale gold as a lemon. And we'11 call him---”She paused, thinking of names beginning with L. \ call him Leo.\
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The lemon tree was immediately planted. The prince judged that by now the trees reached half way down the avenue from the front door to the main gates ,leaving space for three more.
There was surely not a happier place in the country anywhere ! Filled with the sounds of happy children playing ,the latest baby crying, and always in the backyard a vista of snow-white napkins strung around the rotary hoist.(The princess didn't approve of clothes dryers.)
As for the prince , he t00,one way and another, was kept pretty busy. He engaged a young man to tend the lawns and the flower beds and the vegetab1e garden ,but he himself looked after the fruit trees. He afertilized and pruned at the appropriate times, and kept them free of pests. He didn't believe in noxious chemicals,and personally removed chewing ,gnawing and crawling insects by hand ,keeping a ladder expressly for the purpose. By the time evening came he was aLways tired----though not too tired , mind you.
Just as the orange and the apple and the len1on tree blossomed in the springtime ,so did our princess. Next spring if was twin boys ! The prince was particularly delighted because they lobked exactly like hin1,with olive skin ,glossy black curls and big dark eyes.
\and Paul ,\(temporarily) exhausted princess said dreamily. \an orchard ,aren't we?\
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\it's very nearly reached the main gates,\to be prince reminded her. \running out of fruits too.\
\,we don't have an apricot tree yet ,nor a cherry ,nor a----\then promptly fell asleep ,a babe ozi each arm.
As a matter of fact they were running out of bedrooms too ,because by now the prince had moved into one of his own. He had to, because he needed his rest. The princess believed in feeding on demand ,and none of the babies had the remotest idea of time. The prince ,as you may remember ,was quite a lot older than the princess.(This always seems to be regarded as a good thing ,both in fairy tales and real life ,though why it should be so is a mystery. Because men tend to lose not only their hair and their figures first ,but their energy as well.) Anyway ,he managed to persuade the princess that there was a certain romantic charm about visiting, instead of always being on tap, so to speak. And to his credit ,he proved his point quite frequently.
Spring was early next year. Which meant that the cherries were too. And so was the princess. The unseasonably warm days ripened the small luscious fruit at the same time as she was delivered of a girl , slightly ahead of schedule. There was no question as to what tree would be planted ,or what to call this baby. With her vivid dark
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