English 8

The Faithful Friends

A young page so cared for his horse and fed it so well that even the fox would have liked to have had the young page as her master, in order to be so well treated. So she asked to be taken Into the page's service and was accepted. She was also treated so well that she was followed by the bear, and the wolf, and one by one, by all the other animals in the forest.

One day the friends of the young page decided it was time they found him a wife. They chose the daughter of the king himself for their master, and cleverly arranged that they should meet and fall in love. The king, however, did not approve of the choice his daughter had made and locked her in a tower.

Then all the animals in the page's employ planned to free her. The cat persuaded the princess to follow him out onto the terrace around the tower, and then the eagle picked her up and carried her away. The king, in a fury, declared war on all the animals, but there were so many of them and they made up such a massive army that the king had to make peace.

So the page was pardoned and the king reluctantly gave him his daugh­ter's hand in marriage. The two of them lived happily ever after, surrounded by all their faithful animal friends.