فصل 06

CHAPTER SIX

The Sisters’ Plan

The next morning Beauty wakes up in her bedroom in her father’s house. She gets up and goes downstairs.

When her father sees her he cries, ‘Beauty, is that you? How wonderful! My daughter is well and she’s here!’

Beauty is very happy and hugs her father.

‘Get dressed quickly and then tell me about the Beast’ says her father happily.

She goes to her room and finds a chest full of beautiful clothes. ‘This is a present from the Beast’ says Beauty to her father. He’s very nice and gives me presents every day.’ She chooses some lovely clothes.

‘I want to give these lovely clothes to Rosalind and Hortensia,’ she says.

When she says this the chest disappears!

‘The Beast is watching you,’ says Beauty’s father. ‘These beautiful clothes are for you and not for your sisters.’

Suddenly the chest comes back again.

That morning Rosalind and Hortensia come to visit their sister. They are both very unhappy.

‘Oh, Beauty,’ says Rosalind, ‘I’m unhappy.’

‘Why are you unhappy, Rosalind’ asks Beauty.

‘Oh, it’s a long story,’ says Rosalind.

‘Please tell me,’ says Beauty.

‘My husband is handsome and he spends all day in front of a mirror. He never looks at me or talks to me.’

‘Oh, dear, that’s a big problem,’ says Beauty.

Hortensia says, ‘My husband is very clever, but he doesn’t like anyone, and no one likes him.’

‘I can never invite my friends to lunch or dinner because he doesn’t like them.’

‘We’ve got a lot of problems with our husbands,’ they say.

‘My poor sisters’ says Beauty. ‘I’m very sorry.’

‘Tell us about the Beast,’ says Hortensia.

Oh, the Beast is not a bad man,’ says Beauty. ‘He’s very kind. I live in his beautiful castle and I’m the queen. I don’t work. I read, play the piano and walk in the garden. Every evening the Beast comes to see me at dinner and we talk about a lot of things. It’s wonderful.’

The two sisters are very angry and they go to the garden.

‘Beauty wears lovely clothes and shoes,’ says Rosalind. ‘She’s like a queen. She’s very happy. Why is she lucky? And why are we unlucky?’

‘You’re right, Rosalind,’ says Hortensia. ‘We’re not very lucky. But maybe we can be lucky! Beauty has to return to the Beast in a week, or he’s going to get angry and eat her!’

‘Then we must keep her here,’ says Rosalind. ‘Then the Beast is going to get angry.’

During the week the two sisters are kind to Beauty. They talk and laugh with her. They walk together in the country. Beauty is happy with her sisters.

‘Rosalind and Hortensia love me,’ she thinks. ‘They’re good sisters and I love them a lot.’

At the end of the week Beauty says, ‘I must go back to the Beast’s castle.’ But her sisters start to cry.

‘Oh, Beauty,’ says Rosalind, ‘please stay with us another week. We need you.’

‘Yes, Beauty,’ says Hortensia, ‘please don’t leave us. We have fun with you and we love you.’

‘Yes,’ says Rosalind, ‘stay with us! We can do a lot of things together.’

Beauty does not know what to do. She decides to stay another week.