w out the third ball, and before long he saw the little boat
coming towards him swifter than the wind. He threw himself into it the
moment it touched the shore. Swifter than the wind it bore him out to
sea, and before he had time to look behind him the island of the
giantess was like a faint red speck in the distance. The day passed
and the night fell, and the stars looked down, and the boat sailed on,
and just as the sun rose above the sea it pushed its silver prow on
the golden strand of an island greener than the leaves in summer. The
prince jumped out, and went on and on until he entered a pleasant
valley, at the head of which he saw a palace white as snow.

As he approached the central door it opened for him. On entering the
hall he passed into several rooms without meeting with anyone; but,
when he reached the principal apartment, he found himself in a
circular room, in which were a thousand pillars, and every pillar was
of marble, and on every pillar save one, which stood in the centre of
the room, was a little white cat with black eyes. Ranged round the
wall, from one door-jamb to the other, were three rows of precious
jewels. The first was a row of brooches of gold and silver, with their
pins fixed in the wall and their heads outwards; the second a row of
torques of gold and silver; and the third a row of great swords, with
hilts of gold and silver. And on many tables was food of all kinds,
and drinking horns filled with foaming ale.[4]

While the prince was looking about him the cats kept on jumping from
pillar to pillar; but seeing that none of them jumped on to the pillar
in the centre of the room, he began to wonder why this was so, when,
all of a sudden, and before he could guess how it came about, there
right before him on the centre pillar was the little white cat.

"Don't you know me?" said he.

"I do," said the prince.

"Ah, but you don't know who I am. This is the palace of the Little
White Cat, and I am the King of the Cats. But you must be hungry, and
the feast is spread."

Well, when the feast was ended, the king of the cats called for the
sword that would kill the giant Trencoss, and the hundred cakes for
the hundred watch-dogs.

The cats brought the sword and the cakes and laid them before the
king.

"Now," said the king, "take these; you have no time to lose. To-morrow
the dwarfs will wind the last ball, and to-morrow the giant will claim
the princess for his bride. So you should go at