s they went hunting through the forests.

The King happened to be resting in a forest one day, whither his ring
had guided him, and saw them pass like an arrow shot from the bow; he
was unseen of them, and when he tried to follow them, they vanished
completely from his sight. Notwithstanding the constant trouble she had
been in, the Queen still preserved her former beauty; she appeared to
her husband more charming than ever. He longed for her to return to him,
and feeling sure that the young Princess who was with her was his dear
little Moufette, he determined to face a thousand deaths, rather than
abandon his design of rescuing her.

By the help of his ring, he found his way into the obscure region where
the Queen had been so many years; he was not a little surprised when he
found himself descending to the centre of the earth, but every fresh
thing he saw astonished him more and more. The Fairy Lioness, who knew
everything, was aware of the day and the hour when he would arrive; she
would have given a great deal if the powers in league with her had
ordained otherwise; but she determined at least to oppose his strength
with the full might of her own.

She built a palace of crystal, which floated in the centre of the lake
of quicksilver, and rose and fell with its waves. In it she imprisoned
the Queen and her daughter, and then harangued all the monsters who were
in love with Moufette. "You will lose this beautiful Princess," she said
to them, "if you do not help me to protect her from a knight who has
come to carry her away." The monsters promised to leave nothing in their
power undone; they surrounded the palace of crystal; the lightest in
weight took their stations on the roof and walls; the others kept guard
at the doors, and the remainder in the lake.

The King, advised by his faithful ring, went first to the Fairy's Cave;
she was awaiting him in her form of lioness. As soon as he appeared she
threw herself upon him; but he handled his sword with a valour for which
she was not prepared, and as she was putting out one of her paws to fell
him to the earth, he cut it off at the joint just where the elbow comes.
She uttered a loud cry and fell over; he went up to her, put his foot on
her throat and swore that he would kill her, and in spite of her
ungovernable fury and invulnerability, she felt a little afraid. "What
do you wish to do with me?" she asked. "What do you want of me?" "I wish
to punish you," he replied p