toe of his stockinged foot under him, and gave him a tremendous send
right out of the door, and he went flying over the trees at the bottom
of the lawn, and over the barley-field on the other side of the ditch,
and over the pasture, where the cows were kept, and over the pomegranate
orchard, and over the palm-grove by the little lake, and over Hassan ab
Kolyar's cottage, right smack down into the soft marsh, back of the
sunflower garden; and he didn't get back to the castle until his master
had been gone an hour. As the Giant sat on the edge of the table,
pulling on his boots, he told Ting-a-ling that he must make himself as
comfortable as possible until he came back, and that he would not be
gone longer than he could possibly help. But although the fairy asked
him again and again to tell him what the Kyrofatalapynx was, he never
seemed to hear him, so busy was he, talking to everybody at once. Now
Tur-il-i-ra was nearly ready to go, and Ting-a-ling was standing close
to the fringe on his scarf, which lay over one end of the table.
[Illustration]
"How I should like to go with him," said the little fairy, and he took
hold of the fringe. "But he doesn't want me, or he would take me along.
I would ask him, if he would only be quiet a minute"--
Just then up jumped the Giant; and as Ting-a-ling had not let go of the
fringe, he was jerked up too. He held on bravely; and as he did not wish
to swing about on the scarf, he climbed up to the Giant's shoulder, and
took tight hold of his long hair. With the man and his slaves in a large
round basket in one hand, and his great club in the other, away went
Tur-il-i-ra, with strides longer than across the street, and he walked
so fast, that Ting-a-ling had to hold on tight, to keep from being blown
away.
About noon they came to a large palace, surrounded by smaller dwellings;
and on the porch of the palace there stood a King and a Queen and three
princesses, and they were all crying. On the steps, in the grounds and
gardens, and everywhere, were the lords and ladies, and common people,
and they were all crying too. When these disconsolate people saw the
Giant approaching, they set up a great shout of joy, and rushed to meet
him, calling out, "O, the Kyrofatalapynx has broken loose!"
Tur-il-i-ra went up to the palace, and sat down on the great portico,
with his feet on the ground, and the people told him (all speaking at
once, and not having even manners enough to let the Kin
|