ast my supper time, and
I am very hungry.'

The boy was so thankful that the lion did not want to eat him, that he
gladly picked up his knapsack which lay on the ground, and held out some
bread and a flask of wine.

'I feel better now,' said the lion when he had done, 'so now I shall go
to sleep on this nice soft moss, and if you like you can lie down beside
me.' So the boy and the lion slept soundly side by side, till the sun
rose.

'I must be off now,' remarked the lion, shaking the boy as he spoke;
'but cut off the tip of my ear, and keep it carefully, and if you are
in any danger just wish yourself a lion and you will become one on the
spot. One good turn deserves another, you know.'

The prince thanked him for his kindness, and did as he was bid, and the
two then bade each other farewell.

'I wonder how it feels to be a lion,' thought the boy, after he had gone
a little way; and he took out the tip of the ear from the breast of his
jacket and wished with all his might. In an instant his head had swollen
to several times its usual size, and his neck seemed very hot and heavy;
and, somehow, his hands became paws, and his skin grew hairy and yellow.
But what pleased him most was his long tail with a tuft at the end,
which he lashed and switched proudly. 'I like being a lion very much,'
he said to himself, and trotted gaily along the road.

After a while, however, he got tired of walking in this unaccustomed
way--it made his back ache and his front paws felt sore. So he wished
himself a boy again, and in the twinkling of an eye his tail disappeared
and his head shrank, and the long thick mane became short and curly.
Then he looked out for a sleeping place, and found some dry ferns, which
he gathered and heaped up.

But before he had time to close his eyes there was a great noise in the
trees near by, as if a big heavy body was crashing through them. The boy
rose and turned his head, and saw a huge black bear coming towards him.

'What are you doing here?' cried the bear.

'I am running away from the mermaid,' answered the boy; but the bear
took no interest in the mermaid, and only said: 'I am hungry; give me
something to eat.'

The knapsack was lying on the ground among the fern, but the prince
picked it up, and, unfastening the strap, took out his second flask
of wine and another loaf of bread. 'We will have supper together,' he
remarked politely; but the bear, who had never been taught manners, made
no r