o me a kindness, tell me this."

And the king answered her: "Beautiful maiden, I am King Glory-banner of
the Anga country, and I heard from a reliable person that you were to
be seen on the sea. To see you I assumed this garb, left my kingdom,
and followed you hither. Oh, tell me who you are."

Then she said to him with bashful love: "Sir, there is a king of the
fairies named Moonshine. I am his daughter, and my name is Moonlight.
Now my father has left me alone in this city. I do not know where he
went with the rest of the people, or why. Therefore, as my home is
lonely, I rise through the ocean, sit on a magic tree, and song about
fate."

Then the king remembered the words of the monk, and urged her with such
gentle, tender words that she confessed her love and agreed to marry
him. But she made a condition: "My dear, on four set days in each month
you must let me go somewhere unhindered and unseen. There is a reason."
And the king agreed, married her, and lived in heavenly happiness with
her.

While he was living in heavenly bliss, Moonlight said to him one day:
"My dear, you must wait here. I am going somewhere on an errand. For
this is one of the set days. While you stay here, sweetheart, you must
not go into that crystal room, nor plunge into this pool. If you do,
you will find yourself at that very moment in the world again." So she
said good-bye and left the city.

But the king took his sword and followed, to learn her secret. And he
saw a giant approaching with a great black cave of a mouth that yawned
like the pit. The giant fell down and howled horribly, then took
Moonlight into his mouth and swallowed her.

And the king's anger blazed forth. He took his great sword, black as a
snake that has sloughed its skin, ran up wrathfully, and cut off the
giant's head. He was blinded by his madness, he did not know what to
do, he was afflicted by the loss of his darling. But Moonlight split
open the stomach of the giant, and came out alive and unhurt, like the
brilliant, spotless moon coming out from a black cloud.

When he saw that she was saved, the king cried: "Come, come to me!" and
ran forward and embraced her. And he asked her: "What does it mean,
dearest? Is this a dream, or an illusion?" And the fairy answered: "My
dear, listen to me. It is not a dream, nor an illusion. My father, the
king of the fairies, laid this curse upon me. My father had many sons,
but he loved me so that he could not eat without m