11
Whereupon a skin grew soon over the rashes, and they became an inanimate likeness of the King of the Golden Mines. After this, the Mermaid made the King sit upon her tail, and they sailed away in a rolling sea, with all imaginable satisfaction.
When they had sailed some time, "Now," said tho Mermaid to tho King, "we draw near the place whero your Princess is kept by the Yellow Dwarf. You will have many enemies to fight before you como to her; tako, therefore, this sword, with which you may ovorcomo every thing, provided you never let it go out of your hand." The King returned her all the thanks that the most grateful heart could suggest; and tho Mermaid landed and took leave of him, promising him farther assistance when necessary.
But to return to tho Desert Fairy: When she saw that her lover did not return, she hastened after to find him, running along all the shore, attended with a hundred young damsels, loaded with presents for him: some brought great baskets full of diamonds, some golden vessels of admirable work, some ambergris, coral, and pearls, and some carried great pieces of stuffs upon their heads of prodigious riches; in short, every thing that might be acceptable. But in what a sad condition was the Fairy, when, following this noblo troop, she saw the rushes in the shape of the King of the Golden Mines: she was so amazed and grieved, that she gavo a terrible shriek, that made the hills echo again: sho
