THE DWARF WITH THE LONG BEARD 107

that a thousand stars swam before his eyes, and a thousand
bells rang in his ears; upon which he gave such a shout, that
the palace walls trembled. Yet his love for her was so great
that he did his best not to show his anger, and turned away
as if to leave her. But his feet became entangled in his long
beard, and he fell down, dropping a cap he was carrying in his
hand. Now this cap had the power of making its wearer
invisible. The negroes hastened up to their master, and
placing him on his throne bore him out.

Directly the princess found herself alone she jumped off
the sofa, locked the door, and picking up the cap ran to a
mirror to try it on and see how it suited her. Imagine her
amazement when looking in the glass she saw—nothing at all!
She took off the cap, and behold, she was there again as large
as life. She soon found out what sort of cap it was, and re-
joicing in the possession of such a marvel, put it on her head
again and began to walk about the room. Soon the door was
burst violently open, and the dwarf entered with his beard tied
up. But he found neither the princess nor the cap, and so
came to the conclusion that she had taken it. In a great
rage he began to search high and low; he looked under all the
furniture, behind the curtains, and even beneath the carpets,
but it was all in vain. Meanwhile the princess, still invisible,
had left the palace and run into the garden, which was very
large and beautiful. There she lived at her ease, eating the
delicious fruit, drinking water from the fountain, and enjoying
the helpless fury of the dwarf, who sought her untiringly.
Sometimes she would throw the fruit-stones in his face, or
take off the cap and show herself for an instant: then she
would put it on again, and laugh merrily at his rage.