"What have I ever done to be imprisoned like this?" sighed the voice. "What a cruel queen, to come and taunt me with the news that my sweet Prince Charming has married my stepsister!"

The Blue Bird was very surprised and waited impatiently for dawn so he could see who the voice belonged to. But he found the window shut and could see no one. The next night, however, was a full moon, and he was on the watch. And there in the window he saw his Princess Fiordelisa, crying and moaning.

"Sweetheart! I've found you at last!" cried the Blue Bird Prince, perching on the windowsill.

"Who's there?" said the Princess, drawing back in surprise.

"It's no wonder you don't recognize me," said the prince sadly. "I am nothing but a Blue Bird and must remain one for seven years."

"Is it really you, Charming?" said Fiordelisa, running her fingers over his soft feathers.

"Yes, it's me," he replied. "This is what's become of me for being true to you. But believe me, if I had to be a Blue Bird for a hundred years I'd do it before I gave you up."

"I don't understand," said Fiordelisa. "Tarella and the queen were just here, and Tarella was all dressed up in royal robes and a crown, wearing your ring."

The Blue Bird Prince was furious! He told Fiordelisa all that had happened, how the queen and Tarella had deceived him and how Mazilla the Fairy had changed him into a Blue Bird for seven years for refusing to marry Tarella.

Fiordelisa and Charming talked through the night, each telling the other over and over how much they loved each other. But soon the sun rose and the Blue Bird Prince thought he'd better get out of sight again before they were discovered. He promised to come back as soon as it was dark and hid himself in a nearby hollow tree.

He didn't stay hidden long. As soon as he felt it was safe he flew far away to his own palace. There he found an open window, flew inside and found the cabinet where he kept his jewels. He chose a splendid diamond ring as a present for the princess. Fiordelisa was waiting for him at the window when he returned, and when he gave her the ring she scolded him for taking such a risk.

"Promise me that you will wear it always," begged the Blue Bird, and Fiordelisa smiled and said that she would as long as he promised to come see her during the day as well as at night. They talked all night long, and the next morning the Blue Bird Prince flew back to his own palace again. He chose from his vast treasures two bracelets, each cut out of a single emerald. Then he flew back to the hollow tree.

That night the Blue Bird gave Fiordelisa the bracelets, but she shook her head at him. "Do you really think I love you so little that I need gifts to remind me of you?"

"No, my love," said the bird, "but I love you so much that words fail me. I only bring you these worthless trifles to show I am always thinking of you, even when I must be away from you."

The next night he gave her a pretty little watch set in a single pearl. The princess laughed a bit and said, "Well, this is a fitting present! Since we met I've lost all track of time. The hours we spend together pass like minutes, and the ones we spend apart seem like years."

Every day the Blue Bird Prince brought more beautiful things to Fiordelisa--diamonds, rubies and opals. At night she wore them to please him, but by day she hid them in her straw mattress. When the sun shone, the prince would hide in the hollow tree and sing sweetly to the princess. Everyone who passed by wondered at the singing and word began to spread that the wood by Fiordelisa's tower was haunted by a spirit of some kind. And so two years slipped away, and still Charming was a bird, Fiordelisa was kept prisoner in her tower, and Tarella was unmarried.

Onward -->