THE
YELLOW
DWARF

heard a voice say: ‘Strike, or the princess is for
ever lost.’ He now saw this was a cunning trick
of the dwarf to ensnare him, and without hesita-
tion he attacked and scattered them. The king
then advanced to the place where he had seen the
princess, and throwing himself at her feet he de-
clared his unalterable love for her.

The princess drew herself from him and said: ‘ Did
I not see you riding with the Fairy of the Desert?
Is that your fidelity and love?’

The king related to her all the circumstances};
and while talking he thoughtlessly dropped the
magic sword, which the Yellow Dwarf seeing from
behind a bush, sprung forward and seized.

‘Now,’ said he, ‘you are in my power; and unless
you consent to give up the princess to me, I will
at once destroy you.’

The king replied: ‘No, never will I do that! I
scorn the terms you propose.’

The malicious dwarf immediately struck off his
head. This dreadful spectacle broke the heart of
the poor princess, and she fell upon the body of
her beloved and died.

The kind mermaid grieved over the fate of these
faithful lovers; and resolving to unite in death
those who were so cruelly separated in life, she
transformed them into two trees, which grew side
by side, and intertwined their branches.

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