I am to lose Rosalba, let me at least keep my honour. Get up,

Countess, and let us be married; I can keep my word, but I can
die afterwards.'

'Oh, dear Giglio,' cries Gruffanuff, skipping up, 'I knew, I
knew I could trust thee--I knew that my Prince was the soul of

honour. Jump into your carriages, ladies and gentlemen, and
let us go to church at once; and as for dying, dear Giglio, no,

no:--thou wilt forget that insignificant little chambermaid of
a Queen--thou wilt live to be consoled by thy Barbara! She

wishes to be a Queen, and not a Queen Dowager, my gracious
Lord!' And hanging upon poor Giglio's arm, and leering and

grinning in his face in the most disgusting manner, this old
wretch tripped off in her white satin shoes, and jumped into

the very carriage which had been got ready to convey Giglio and
Rosalba to church. The cannons roared again, the bells pealed

triple-bobmajors, the people came out flinging flowers upon the
path of the royal bride and bridegroom, and Gruff looked out of

the gilt coach window and bowed and grinned to them. Phoo! the
horrid old wretch!

XIX. AND NOW WE COME TO THE LAST SCENE IN THE PANTOMIME
The many ups and downs of her life had given the Princess

Rosalba prodigious strength of mind, and that highly principled
young woman presently recovered from her fainting-fit, out of

which Fairy Blackstick, by a precious essence which the Fairy
always carried in her pocket, awakened her. Instead of tearing

her hair, crying, and bemoaning herself, and fainting again, as
many young women would have done, Rosalba remembered that she

owed an example of firmness to her subjects; and though she
loved Giglio more than her life, was determined, as she told

the Fairy, not to interfere between him and justice, or to
cause him to break his royal word.

'I cannot marry him, but I shall love him always,' says she to
Blackstick; 'I will go and be present at his marriage with the

Countess, and sign the book, and wish them happy with all my
heart. I will see, when I get home, whether I cannot make the

new Queen some handsome presents. The Crim Tartary crown
diamonds are uncommonly fine, and I shall never have any use

for them. I will live and die unmarried like Queen Elizabeth,
and, of course, I shall leave my crown to Giglio when I quit

this world. Let us go and see them married, my dear Fairy, let
me say one last farewell to him; and then, if you please, I

will return to my own dominions.'
So the Fairy kissed Rosalba with peculiartenderness, and at

once changed her wand into a very comfortable coach-and-four,
with a steady coachman, and two respectable footmen behind, and

the Fairy and Rosalba got into the coach, which Angelica and
Bulbo entered after them. As for honest Bulbo, he was

blubbering in the most pathetic manner, quite overcome by
Rosalba's misfortune. She was touched by the honest fellow's

sympathy, promised to restore to him the confiscated estates of
Duke Padella his father, and created him, as he sat there in

the coach, Prince, Highness, and First Grandee of the Crim
Tartar Empire. The coach moved on, and, being a fairy coach,

soon came up with the bridal procession.
Before the ceremony at church it was the custom in Paflagonia,

as it is in other countries, for the bride and bridegroom to
sign the Contract of Marriage, which was to be witnessed by

the Chancellor, Minister, Lord Mayor, and principal officers of
state. Now, as the royal palace was being painted and

furnished anew, it was not ready for the reception of the King
and his bride, who proposed at first to take up their residence

at the Prince's palace, that one which Valoroso occupied when
Angelica was born, and before he usurped the throne.

So the marriage party drove up to the palace: the dignitaries
got out of their carriages and stood aside: poor Rosalba

stepped out of her coach, supported by Bulbo, and stood almost
fainting up against the railings so as to have a last look of

her dear Giglio. As for Blackstick, she, according to her
custom, had flown out of the coach window in some inscrutable

manner, and was now standing at the palace door.
Giglio came up the steps with his horrible bride on his arm,

looking as pale as if he was going to execution. He only
frowned at the Fairy Blackstick--he was angry with her, and

thought she came to insult his misery.
'Get out of the way, pray,' says Gruffanuff haughtily. 'I

wonder why you are always poking your nose into other people's
affairs?'

'Are you determined to make this poor young man unhappy?' says
Blackstick.

'To marry him, yes! What business is it of yours? Pray,
madam, don't say "you" to a Queen,' cries Gruffanuff.

'You won't take the money he offered you?'
'No.'

'You won't let him off his bargain, though you know you cheated
him when you made him sign the paper?'

'Impudence! Policemen, remove this woman!' cries Gruffanuff.
And the policemen were rushing forward, but with a wave of her

wand the Fairy struck them all like so many statues in their
places.

'You won't take anything in exchange for your bond, Mrs.
Gruffanuff,' cries the Fairy, with awful severity. 'I speak

for the last time.'
'No!' shrieks Gruffanuff, stamping with her foot. 'I'll have

my husband, my husband, my husband!'
'YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR HUSBAND!' the Fairy Blackstick cried; and

advancing a step, laid her hand upon the nose of the KNOCKER.
As she touched it, the brass nose seemed to elongate, the open

mouth opened still wider, and uttered a roar which made
everybody start. The eyes rolled wildly; the arms and legs

uncurled themselves, writhed about, and seemed to lengthen
with each twist; the knocker expanded into a figure in yellow

livery, six feet high; the screws by which it was fixed to the
door unloosed themselves, and JENKINS GRUFFANUFF once more trod

the threshold off which he had been lifted more than twenty
years ago!

'Master's not at home,' says Jenkins, just in his old voice;
and Mrs. Jenkins, giving a dreadful YOUP, fell down in a fit,

in which nobody minded her.
For everybody was shouting, 'Huzzay! huzzay!' 'Hip, hip,

hurray!' 'Long live the King and Queen!' 'Were such things ever
seen?' 'No, never, never, never!' 'The Fairy Blackstick for

ever!'
The bells were ringing double peals, the guns roaring and

banging most prodigiously. Bulbo was embracing everybody; the
Lord Chancellor was flinging up his wig and shouting like a

madman; Hedzoff had got the Archbishop round the waist, and
they were dancing a jig for joy; and as for Giglio, I leave you

to imagine what HE was doing, and if he kissed Rosalba once,
twice--twenty thousand times, I'm sure I don't think he was

wrong.
So Gruffanuff opened the hall door with a low bow, just as he

had been accustomed to do, and they all went in and signed the
book, and then they went to church and were married, and the

Fairy Blackstick sailed away on her cane, and was never more
heard of in Paflagonia.

and here ends the Fireside Pantomime.
End

• prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
• carriage [´kæridʒ] n.马车；客车；货运 (初中英语单词)
• convey [kən´vei] vt.运送；传达；转让 (初中英语单词)
• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
• interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)
• farewell [feə´wel] int.再见 n.&a.告别 (初中英语单词)
• peculiar [pi´kju:liə] a.特有的；奇异的 (初中英语单词)
• overcome [,əuvə´kʌm] vt.战胜，克服 (初中英语单词)
• restore [ri´stɔ:] vt.(使)恢复；修复 (初中英语单词)
• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)
• minister [´ministə] n.部长；大臣 v.伺候 (初中英语单词)
• principal [´prinsəpəl] a.主要的 n.负责人 (初中英语单词)
• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
• horrible [´hɔrəbəl] a.可怕的；恐怖的 (初中英语单词)
• insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)
• bargain [´bɑ:gin] n.买卖合同 v.议(价) (初中英语单词)
• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
• hanging [´hæŋiŋ] n.绞刑 a.悬挂着的 (高中英语单词)
• tenderness [´tendənis] n.娇嫩；柔软；温柔 (高中英语单词)
• respectable [ri´spektəbəl] a.可敬的；有身价的 (高中英语单词)
• misfortune [mis´fɔ:tʃən] n.不幸；灾祸 (高中英语单词)
• highness [´hainis] n.高，高贵，高尚 (高中英语单词)
• chancellor [´tʃɑ:nsələ] n.首相；大臣 (高中英语单词)
• reception [ri´sepʃən] n.接待；欢迎；招待会 (高中英语单词)
• execution [,eksi´kju:ʃən] n.执行；演奏；表演 (高中英语单词)
• threshold [´θreʃhəuld] n.门槛；入门；开端 (高中英语单词)
• archbishop [,ɑ:tʃ´biʃəp] n.大主教 (高中英语单词)
• insignificant [,insig´nifikənt] a.无意义的；无价值的 (英语四级单词)
• bridegroom [´braidgru:m] n.新郎 (英语四级单词)
• prodigious [prə´didʒəs] a.惊人的；巨大的 (英语四级单词)
• essence [´esəns] n.本质；要素；精华 (英语四级单词)
• firmness [´fə:mnis] n.坚定；坚硬；稳定 (英语四级单词)
• unmarried [,ʌn´mærid] a.未婚的，独身的 (英语四级单词)
• coachman [´kəutʃmən] n.赶马车人 (英语四级单词)
• pathetic [pə´θetik] a.可怜的；悲哀的 (英语四级单词)
• bridal [´braidl] a.&n.婚礼(的) (英语四级单词)
• severity [si´veriti] n.严厉；严重；苛刻 (英语四级单词)
• haughtily [´hɔ:tili] ad.傲慢地，高傲地 (英语六级单词)
• minded [´maindid] a.有...心的 (英语六级单词)
• fireside [´faiəsaid] n.炉边；家；家庭生活 (英语六级单词)