Blue Beard
Once upon a time there was a man who had fine houses, both in town and
country, a deal of silver and gold plate, carved furniture, and coaches
gilded all over. But unhappily this man had a blue beard, which made him
so ugly and so terrible that all the women and girls ran away from him. One of his neighbors, a lady of quality, had two daughters who were
perfect beauties. He asked for one of them in marriage, leaving to her
the choice of which she would bestow on him. They would neither of them
have him, and they sent him backward and forward from one to the other,
neither being able to make up her mind to marry a man who had a blue
beard. Another thing which made them averse to him was that he had
already married several wives, and nobody knew what had become of them. Blue Beard, to become better acquainted, took them, with their mother
and three or four of their best friends, with some young people of the
neighborhood to one of his country seats, where they stayed a whole
week.
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