Korandon, is dead,' she replied, 'and if you wish it, I
will marry you.'

The young man gazed at her in surprise. Could any one so rich and so
beautiful really wish to be his wife? He looked at her again, and Bellah
was forgotten as he answered:

'A man would be mad indeed to refuse such an offer. I can only accept it
with joy.'

'Then the sooner it is done the better,' said the Groac'h, and gave
orders to her servants. After that was finished, she begged Houarn to
accompany her to a fish-pond at the bottom of the garden.

'Come lawyer, come miller, come tailor, come singer!' cried she, holding
out a net of steel; and at each summons a fish appeared and jumped into
the net. When it was full she went into a large kitchen and threw them
all into a golden pot; but above the bubbling of the water Houarn seemed
to hear the whispering of little voices.

'Who is it whispering in the golden pot, Groac'h?' he inquired at last.

'It is nothing but the noise of the wood sparkling,' she answered; but
it did not sound the least like that to Houarn.

'There it is again,' he said, after a short pause.

'The water is getting hot, and it makes the fish jump,' she replied; but
soon the noise grew louder and like cries.

'What _is_ it?' asked Houarn, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

'Just the crickets on the hearth,' said she, and broke into a song which
drowned the cries from the pot.

* * * * *

But though Houarn held his peace, he was not as happy as before.
Something seemed to have gone wrong, and then he suddenly remembered
Bellah.

'Is it possible I can have forgotten her so soon? What a wretch I am!'
he thought to himself; and he remained apart and watched the Groac'h
while she emptied the fish into a plate, and bade him eat his dinner
while she fetched wine from her cellar in a cave.

Houarn sat down and took out the knife which Bellah had given him, but
as soon as the blade touched the fish the enchantment ceased, and four
men stood before him.

'Houarn, save us, we entreat you, and save yourself too!' murmured they,
not daring to raise their voices.

'Why, it must have been _you_ who were crying out in the pot just now!'
exclaimed Houarn.

'Yes, it was us,' they answered. 'Like you, we came to the isle of Lok
to seek our fortunes, and like you we consented to marry the Groac'h,
and no sooner was the ceremony over than she turned us into fishes, as
she had done to all our fore