Never was there such a catching of flies before, nor a better
pasty than the one the queen made for the fairy. The surprise of the
Witch was great when the queen handed it to her, for she was baffled to
think how the flies could have been so cleverly caught.

The queen suffered so much from want of protection against the poisonous
air that she cut down some cypress branches and began to build herself a
hut. The Frog kindly offered her services. She summoned round her all
those who had helped in the fly hunt, and they assisted the queen to
build as pretty a little place to live in as you could find anywhere in
the world.

But no sooner had she lain down to rest than the monsters of the lake,
envious of her repose, gathered round the hut. They set up the most
hideous noise that had ever been heard, and drove her so nearly mad that
she got up and fled in fear and trembling from the house. This was just
what the monsters were after, and a dragon, who had once upon a time
ruled tyrannously over one of the greatest countries of the world,
immediately took possession of it.

The poor queen tried to protest against this ill-treatment. But no one
would listen to her: the monsters laughed and jeered at her, and the
Lion-Witch said that if she came and dinned lamentations into her ears
again she would give her a sound thrashing.

The queen was therefore obliged to hold her tongue. She sought out the
Frog, who was the most sympathetic creature in the world, and they wept
together; for the moment she put on her cap of roses the Frog became
able to laugh or weep like anybody else.

'I am so fond of you,' said the Frog to the queen, 'that I will build
your house again, though every monster in the lake should be filled with
envy.'

Forthwith she cut some wood, and a little country mansion for the queen
sprang up so quickly that she was able to sleep in it that very night.
Nothing that could make for the queen's comfort was forgotten by the
Frog, and there was even a bed of wild thyme.

When the wicked fairy learnt that the queen was not sleeping on the
ground, she sent for her and asked:

'What power is it, human or divine, that protects you? This land drinks
only a rain of burning sulphur, and has never produced so much as a
sage-leaf: yet they tell me fragrant herbs spring up beneath your feet.'

'I cannot explain it, madam,' said the queen, 'unless it is due to the
child I am expecting. Perhaps for her a less unhappy fate