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hope of reaching safety when he suddenly noticed a bright light shining in the middle of a wood. As he drew near he saw that it was a castle, bathed in light.
    “I hope I’ll find shelter there for the night,” he said to himself. When he reached the door, he saw it was open, but, though he shouted, nobody came to greet him. Plucking up courage, he went inside, still calling out to attract attention. On a table in the main hall, a splendid dinner lay already served. The merchant lingered, still shouting for the owner of the castle. But no one came, and so the starving merchant sat down to a hearty meal. There were all kinds of exotic meats served rare in deep red sauces and, although the merchant did not recognise the flavour, it was indeed delicious.
    Overcome by curiosity, he ventured upstairs, where the corridor led into magnificent rooms and halls. A fire crackled in the first room and a soft bed looked very inviting. It was now late, and the merchant could not resist. He lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep. When he woke next morning, an unknown hand had placed a mug of hot red liquid and slices of thin pink meat.
    The merchant had breakfast and, after tidying himself up, went downstairs to thank his generous host. But, as on the evening before, there was nobody in sight. Shaking his head in wonder at the strangeness of it all, he went towards the garden where he had a horse, tethered to a tree. Suddenly, a large rose bush caught his eye. The rose bush was placed in front of a large crypt, where a stone angel looked down from above.
    Remembering his promise to Beauty, he bent down to pick a rose. Instantly, out of the crypt entrance sprang a horrible pale hand. The man was lifted by the throat. Two bloodshot eyes, gleaming angrily, glared at him and a deep, terrifying voice growled: “Ungrateful man! I gave you shelter, you ate at my table and slept in my home, but now all the thanks I get is the theft of my favourite flowers! I shall put you to death for this slight!” Trembling with fear, the merchant fell on his knees before the beast.
    “Forgive me! Forgive me! Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything you say! The rose wasn’t for me, it was for my daughter Beauty. I promised to bring her back a rose from my journey!” The beast dropped the claw it had clamped on the unhappy merchant.
    “I shall spare your life, but on one condition: that you bring me your daughter!” The terror-stricken merchant, faced with certain death if he did not obey, promised that he would do so. When he reached home in tears, his three daughters ran to greet him. After he had told them of his dreadful adventure, Beauty put his mind at rest immediately.
    “Dear Father, I’d do anything for you! Don’t worry, you’ll be able to keep your promise and save your life! Take me to the castle. I’ll stay there in your place!” The merchant hugged his daughter.
    “I never did doubt your love for me. For the moment I can only thank you for saving my life.”
    So Beauty was led to the castle. The beast, however, had quite an unexpected greeting for the girl. Instead of menacing doom as it had done with her father, it was surprisingly pleasant, as was his cold, pale skin and blood-red lips. In the beginning, Beauty was frightened of the beast, and shuddered at the sight of it. Then his red eyes looked deep into hers and she felt compelled to obey. She found that, in spite of the monster’s awful fangs, her horror of it was gradually fading as time went by. She had one of the finest rooms in the castle, and sat for hours, embroidering in front of the fire. And the beast would sit, for hours on end, only a short distance away, silently gazing at her, watching her throat. Then it started to say a few kind words, till in the end Beauty was amazed to discover that she was actually enjoying its conversation; his words sounded like tombstones from the ages.
    The nights passed, and Beauty and the beast became good friends. Then one day, the