Once upon a time there lived a king who was deeply in love with a princess, but she could not marry anyone, because she was under an enchantment¹. So the King set out to seek a fairy, and asked what he could do to win the Princess’s love. The Fairy said to him:

“You know that the Princess has a great cat which she is very fond of. Whoever is clever enough to tread on that cat’s tail is the man she is destined² to marry.”

The King said to himself that this would not be very difficult, and he left the Fairy, determined³ to grind the cat’s tail to powder rather than not tread on it at all.

You may imagine that it was not long before he went to see the Princess, and puss, as usual, marched in before him, arching his back. The King took a long step, and quite thought he had the tail under his foot, but the cat turned round so sharply that he only trod on air. And so it went on for eight days, till the King began to think that this fatal tail must be full of quicksilver — it was never still for a moment.

At last, however, he was lucky enough to come upon puss fast asleep and with his tail conveniently spread out. So the King, without losing a moment, set his foot upon it heavily.

With one terrific yell the cat sprang up and instantly changed into a tall man, who, fixing his angry eyes upon the King, said:

“You shall marry the Princess because you have been able to break the enchantment, but I will have my revenge. You shall have a son, who will never be happy until he finds out that his nose is too long, and if you ever tell anyone what I have just said to you, you shall vanish away instantly, and no one shall ever see you or hear of you again.”

Though the King was horribly afraid of the enchanter, he could not help laughing at this threat.

“If my son has such a long nose as that,” he said to himself, “he must always see it or feel it; at least, if he is not blind or without hands.”

But, as the enchanter had vanished, he did not waste any more time in thinking, but went to seek the Princess, who very soon consented to marry him. But after all, they had not been married very long when the King died, and the Queen had nothing left to care for but her little son, who was called Hyacinth. The little Prince had large blue eyes, the prettiest eyes in the world, and a sweet little mouth, but, alas

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1 enchantment
n.迷惑，妖术，魅力
参考例句：
The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。 The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

2 destined
adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的
参考例句：
It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。 The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

3 determined
adj.坚定的；有决心的
参考例句：
I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。 He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 alas
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句：
Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！ Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

5 devoted
adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的
参考例句：
He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。 We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

6 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 saucy
adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的
参考例句：
He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。 It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲，真是无礼。

8 embarrassment
n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫
参考例句：
She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。 Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

9 banished
v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。 He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 cavern
n.洞穴，大山洞
参考例句：
The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。 It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

11 worthy
adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的
参考例句：
I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。 There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

12 contrived
adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的
参考例句：
There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。 The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。

13 virtues
美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处
参考例句：
Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。 She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

14 appeased
安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）
参考例句：
His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。 They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。

15 desolate
adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂
参考例句：
The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。 We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

16 promenades
n.人行道( promenade的名词复数 )；散步场所；闲逛v.兜风( promenade的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
He often promenades his wife along the Thames Embankment. 他常常带太太沿着泰晤士河堤防散步。 来自辞典例句 Stoas lined marketplaces and sanctuaries and formed places of Business and public promenades. 柱廊围绕在市场和神庙的四周，是交易和公众散步的场所。 来自互联网

17 vex
vt.使烦恼，使苦恼
参考例句：
Everything about her vexed him.有关她的一切都令他困惑。 It vexed me to think of others gossiping behind my back.一想到别人在背后说我闲话，我就很恼火。

18 utterly
adv.完全地，绝对地
参考例句：
Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。 I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。