At last she looked upward, and there, in the branches of the big orange tree overhead, sat a little yellow man. He was just half a yard high, and he was eating oranges as quickly as ever he could; in fact, he didn"t even stop eating while he spoke to the Queen, which, of course, was very rude.
"Ah, Queen!" he went on, "there is only one way by which you can escape the lions, and that is by letting me marry your daughter."
The Queen was so surprised that she even stopped crying. The idea of that hideous little creature marrying her beautiful daughter was quite absurd, and she was just about to tell him so when again she heard the dreadful roaring of the lions. "Be quick and make up your mind!" cried the Yellow Dwarf. (He was called the Yellow Dwarf, you know, because he lived in the orange tree, and he had eaten so much of the fruit that his skin had become the same color.) "Just remember you have no cake to throw to the lions."
So, to save her life, the Queen was forced to give her consent to a marriage between the Yellow Dwarf and her beautiful daughter.
No sooner did she agree to the match than she began to feel very drowsy, and the next minute the Queen found herself safely back in her own palace.
She was so filled with sadness at the thought of her promise to the dwarf that a fit of deep gloom settled upon her, and for weeks she never smiled.
The Princess was quite at a loss to know what had come over her mother; so in the end she, too, made up her mind to visit the Desert Fairy in the hope that she would be able to tell her what ailed the Queen.
Then All-fair set to work and made a cake from the crocodiles" eggs, millet, and sugar candy, and when it was ready she started off for the Desert Fairy"s grotto.
She soon reached the fatal orange tree, and the fruit looked so very tempting that All-fair laid her cake upon the ground and began to pick and eat the ripe oranges.
Just then one of the lions gave a terrible roar, and All-fair looked for her cake to throw to them. Alas, it was gone! and the maiden began to weep bitterly.
"Dry your eyes, lovely Princess!" cried a voice, and, looking up, All-fair spied the Yellow Dwarf.
"You need not trouble to go to the Desert Fairy," went on the dwarf, "for I can tell you what ails your mother."
"I shall be obliged if you will tell me at once, then," replied All-fair.
"Oh, it is all your fault," said the Yellow Dwarf.
"How dare you say such things!" cried the Princess. "It is nothing of the sort."
"Oh, yes, it is," answered the dwarf, with a grin. "Your mother is sorry now that she promised you to me in marriage."
"I am sure my mother did not promise me to a fright like you," cried the angry Princess, "and I will not marry you!"
"Oh, please yourself," answered the Yellow Dwarf; "but if you don"t marry me you will make a fine meal for the lions, that is all."
Just at that moment the lions began to roar louder than ever.
"Well, to save my life," cried poor All-fair, "I will agree to marry you."
"I wouldn"t have you now," said the dwarf, with an air of disdain.
"Oh, please do," begged All-fair, "or I shall be torn to pieces by the lions!"
"I"ll marry you out of charity then," said the Yellow Dwarf. "But don"t suppose that I really want a vain creature like you."
At that instant the Princess found herself growing very drowsy, and the next minute she was back again at the palace, and on her finger was a ring made of a single red hair, which she could not take off.
After that All-fair grew sad, for she feared that the Yellow Dwarf might claim her.
Of course n.o.body knew the cause of her sadness, and they all wondered what it could be.
So the Queen"s ministers held a cabinet meeting, and they agreed to ask the Princess once more if she would marry, for they thought the excitement of choosing her wedding gown would rouse her from her gloom.
To the great surprise of them all, All-fair said she was quite willing to do as they wished. So the King of the Golden Mines had his reward for waiting so long, for the Princess chose him as her husband. He was very rich and powerful, and so gallant, that All-fair thought when once she was his wife she need fear the Yellow Dwarf no more.
The wedding day arrived at last, and as the guests were on their way to the church they saw a big box moving toward them, and on the top sat a very ugly old woman.
"Stop!" she cried, with a dreadful frown. "Do you remember the promise you made to my friend, the Yellow Dwarf? I am the Desert Fairy, and if All-fair does not marry the dwarf she will taste my wrath, you will find."
This speech made the brave King of the Golden Mines so angry that he drew his sword, and shouted loudly:
"Begone, or I will take your evil life!"
As soon as he uttered these words, off flew the top of the box, and out came the Yellow Dwarf seated upon a big, black Spanish cat.
"Not so fast!" cried the Yellow Dwarf. "I am your rival, so do not vent your wrath upon the Desert Fairy. I claim the Princess for my bride, and in token of her promise to me, on her finger you will find a ring made of a single red hair."
"It is false!" cried the King of the Golden Mines, and he made a dash, sword in hand, for the Yellow Dwarf.
But quick as thought the dwarf drew his sword also, and he rode forward on his Spanish cat.
Well, they fought long and fiercely, but the King was not able to overcome the dwarf because he was protected by two enormous giants, who stood one on each side of him.
Suddenly the Desert Fairy stepped forward, and on her head was a wreath of big, curling snakes. Raising her lance, she struck the Princess such a blow that All-fair sank fainting into her mother"s arms.
"Revenge!" shouted the King of the Golden Mines, and he rushed to the aid of his love, as a brave man would, of course.
But, alas! he was too late, for the dwarf had torn her from her mother"s arms, lifted her on to his Spanish cat, and the next minute they were flying through the air beyond his reach.
The poor King was so surprised that all he could do was to gaze up toward the clouds and wonder what would happen next. Suddenly a mist gathered before his eyes, and he felt himself being carried up into the air also.
Now you must know that the ugly old Desert Fairy had fallen madly in love with the King of the Golden Mines, and she had made up her mind that he should never marry All-fair; so she carried him off to secure him for herself.
Up into the air they went until they reached a gloomy cave. Then the fairy set him down, and restored his sight by means of her magic arts.
"He is sure to fall in love with me," she cried to herself, "now that All-fair is safely out of the way!"
But it was not a bit of use, for she was so ugly that the King only looked the other way the whole time, and this made her very angry indeed.
So the fairy tried another plan. She took the form of a beautiful maiden, and placed the King in a splendid chariot, drawn by two snow-white swans.
Then she, too, stepped in, and together they sailed away through the air.
"He"ll never resist my charms this time," she said to herself. But she found out her mistake very soon, I can tell you. You see, although the fairy could change her form at will, her feet always remained the same, and the King caught sight of two ugly webbed feet, that looked as if they belonged to a griffin; so he was not deceived at all, and knew her to be the Desert Fairy, in spite of the disguise.
On and on they went, and once the King chanced to look downward. There he saw a castle built of bright polished steel, and on the balcony stood All-fair weeping very bitterly.
All-fair chanced to look upward, and she spied the chariot drawn by the snow-white swans. Although it pa.s.sed along very quickly, she could see the King seated inside with a lovely maiden, and as she did not know it was the Desert Fairy, she felt very jealous indeed.