And then she tenderly embraced Beauty and the prince, who had meanwhile been greeting the fairy and receiving her congratulations.
"Now," said the fairy to Beauty, "I suppose you would like me to send for all your brothers and sisters to dance at your wedding?"
And so she did, and the marriage was celebrated the very next day with the utmost splendor, and Beauty and the prince lived happily ever after.
Peter Asbjörnsen (1812-1885) and Jorgen Moe (1813-1882) were the first scientific collectors of the folk tales of Norway. Their joint interest in folk tales began when they were schoolboys wandering on foot through the country and listening to peasant stories. This interest continued after Moe had become a theologian and Asbjörnsen a noted scientist. The latter served the government as an expert connected with the survey and development of his country's natural resources. This resulted in taking him to all parts of the land, and he never lost an opportunity to hear and copy down any folk tale that he found surviving in the more isolated districts. In 1842-1844 appeared _Norwegian Folk Tales_ by Moe and Asbjörnsen; in 1845, _Norwegian Fairy Tales and Folk Legends_; and there were subsequent additions. The five tales following are from these Norse collections. They were first made accessible in English in Dasent's _Popular Tales from the Norse_ (1858). This book with its long introductory essay on the origin and diffusion of popular tales constitutes a landmark in the study of folklore. It and Dasent's later volume, _Tales from the Fjeld_, are still, perhaps, the best sources for versions of the Norse popular tales. "Why the Bear Is Stumpy-tailed" belongs to the class of stories which explain how things happened to be as they are. It is of great antiquity and is found over most of the world. The greatest of all modern nature fairy tales, Kipling's _Just So Stories_, are of a similar type, though told at greater length and, of course, with infinitely greater art.
One day the Bear met the Fox, who came slinking along with a string of fish he had stolen.
"Whence did you get those?" asked the Bear.
"Oh! my Lord Bruin, I've been out fishing and caught them," said the Fox.
So the Bear had a mind to learn to fish too, and bade the Fox tell him how he was to set about it.