ost agony, as she felt
sure she should be devoured; when, hearing somebody approach, she
raised her eyes, and saw in a tree a little yellow man half a yard
high, picking and eating oranges.

"Ah! queen," said the Yellow Dwarf, for so he was called on account of
his complexion, and the orange-tree in which he lived, "how will you
escape the lions? There is but one way; I know what business brought
you here; promise me your daughter in marriage and I will save you."

The queen, though she could not look without horror upon so frightful
a figure, was forced to consent; and having agreed to the terms
proposed, she instantly found herself in her own palace, and all that
had passed seemed much like a dream: nevertheless, she was so
thoroughly persuaded of the reality of it, that she became melancholy.

The young princess being unable to learn the cause of her mother's
dejection, resolved in her turn to go and inquire of the Desert Fairy;
and, accordingly, having prepared a cake for the lions, she also set
off on the same journey. It happened that All-Fair took exactly the
route her mother had done before her; and coming to the fatal tree
which was loaded with oranges, she felt inclined to pick some;
therefore, laying down her basket, in which she carried the cake, she
plentifully indulged herself with the delicious fruit.

The lions now began to roar; All-Fair, looking for her cake, was
thrown into the utmost despair to find it gone; and as she was
lamenting her deplorable situation, the Yellow Dwarf presented himself
to her with these words:--"Lovely princess, dry your tears, and hear
what I am going to say. You need not proceed to the Desert Fairy, to
know the reason of your mother's indisposition--it is this: she is
ungenerous enough to repent having promised you, her only daughter, to
me in marriage--"

"How!" interrupted the princess; "my mother promised me to you in
marriage;--you such a fright as you!"

"None of your scoffs," returned the Yellow Dwarf; "I warn you not to
rouse my anger. If you will promise to marry me, I will be the
tenderest and most loving husband in the world; if not, save yourself
from the lions, if you can."

The princess, overcome with terror, gave the promise; but such was the
agony of her mind, that she fell into a swoon, and, when she
recovered, she found herself in her own bed, finely adorned with
ribands, with a ring of a single red hair so fastened round her finger
that it could no