sight, but by her voice I recognized her as the Fairy of the Desert,
though what she should have carried me off for I cannot tell you."

"Ah!" cried the pretended Fairy, "if you have fallen into _her_ hands,
you won't get away until you have married her. She has carried off more
than one Prince like this, and she will certainly have anything she
takes a fancy to." While she was thus pretending to be sorry for the
King, he suddenly noticed her feet, which were like those of a griffin,
and knew in a moment that this must be the Fairy of the Desert, for her
feet were the one thing she could not change, however pretty she might
make her face.

Without seeming to have noticed anything, he said, in a confidential
way:

"Not that I have any dislike to the Fairy of the Desert, but I really
cannot endure the way in which she protects the Yellow Dwarf and keeps
me chained here like a criminal. It is true that I love a charming
princess, but if the Fairy should set me free my gratitude would oblige
me to love her only."

"Do you really mean what you say, Prince?" said the Fairy, quite
deceived.

"Surely," replied the Prince; "how could I deceive you? You see it is
so much more flattering to my vanity to be loved by a fairy than by
a simple princess. But, even if I am dying of love for her, I shall
pretend to hate her until I am set free."

The Fairy of the Desert, quite taken in by these words, resolved at once
to transport the Prince to a pleasanter place. So, making him mount
her chariot, to which she had harnessed swans instead of the bats which
generally drew it, away she flew with him. But imagine the distress
of the Prince when, from the giddy height at which they were rushing
through the air, he saw his beloved Princess in a castle built of
polished steel, the walls of which reflected the sun's rays so
hotly that no one could approach it without being burnt to a cinder!
Bellissima was sitting in a little thicket by a brook, leaning her head
upon her hand and weeping bitterly, but just as they passed she looked
up and saw the King and the Fairy of the Desert. Now, the Fairy was so
clever that she could not only seem beautiful to the King, but even the
poor Princess thought her the most lovely being she had ever seen.

"What!" she cried; "was I not unhappy enough in this lonely castle to
which that frightful Yellow Dwarf brought me? Must I also be made to
know that the King of the Gold Mines ceased to love me as soon