Beauty and the Beast
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Once upon a time, in a very far-off country, there lived a merchant who had been so fortunate in all his undertakings that he was enormously rich. As he had, however, six sons and six daughters, he found that his money was not too much to let them all have everything they fancied, as they were accustomed to do. But one day a most unexpected misfortune befell them. Their house caught fire and was speedily burnt to the ground, with all the splendid furniture, the books, pictures, gold, silver, and precious goods it contained; and this was only the beginning of their troubles. Their father, who had until this moment prospered in all ways, suddenly lost every ship he had upon the sea, either by dint of pirates, shipwreck, or fire. Then he heard that his clerks in distant countries, whom he trusted
be the means of my escape from this place," he thought. He took frequent
journeys across the island to where his little boat lay in the cove.
He would start out in the morning and walk over to the west side of
the island, take his boat and have a pleasant little sail. He always
returned home before dark, for to tell the truth, Robinson was a
coward. He was as timid as a hare. He was afraid of everything and
spent many nights without sleep because of fear.
It was while on one of his visits to his boat that Robinson made a
discovery that changed his whole life. It happened one day, about
noon, when he was going toward his boat that he, with great surprise,
saw the print of a man's naked foot on the shore in the sand. He stood
like one rooted to the ground. He could not move, so great was his
surprise and fear. He listened, looked around, but could hear and see
nothing. He went up to a little hill to look further, but nothing was
in sight. There was but the one footprint. There was no doubt about
it, there it was, foot, toes, heel and every part of a foot. Robinson
tried to think how it might have gotten there, but he could not. It
was a mystery. He was greatly afraid and started at once for his
shelter. He ran like one pursued. At every little way he would look
behind to see if anyone was following him.
Never a frightened rabbit ran to his hiding place with more terror
than Robinson ran to his cave. He did not sleep that night for fear
and remained in his shelter for three days, never venturing out. But
his food was growing short and his goats needed to be milked. He
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Once upon a time, in a very far-off country, there lived a merchant who had been so fortunate in all his undertakings that he was enormously rich. As he had, however, six sons and six daughters, he found that his money was not too much to let them all have everything they fancied, as they were accustomed to do. But one day a most unexpected misfortune befell them. Their house caught fire and was speedily burnt to the ground, with all the splendid furniture, the books, pictures, gold, silver, and precious goods it contained; and this was only the beginning of their troubles. Their father, who had until this moment prospered in all ways, suddenly lost every ship he had upon the sea, either by dint of pirates, shipwreck, or fire. Then he heard that his clerks in distant countries, whom he trusted