hearts of his captors, so that they once more allowed him to leave
quietly. However, what troubled him most was the idea of having to
meet the Frog who had been his benefactress. How was he ever to appear
before her with this tale? Still, after a long struggle with himself,
he made up his mind that there was nothing else to be done, and that
he deserved whatever she might say to him. And she said a great deal,
for she had worked herself into a terrible passion; but the Prince
humbly implored her pardon, and ventured to point out that it would
have been very hard to refuse the young lady's reasonable request.
'You must learn to do as you are told,' was all the Frog would reply.

But poor Saphir was so unhappy, and begged so hard for forgiveness,
that at last the Frog's anger gave way, and she held up to him a tiny
diamond stone. 'Go back,' she said, 'to the castle, and bury this
little diamond close to the door. But be careful not to return to the
stable or to the bedroom; they have proved too fatal to you. Walk
straight to the garden and enter through a portico, into a small green
wood, in the midst of which is a tree with a trunk of gold and leaves
of emeralds. Perched on this tree you will see the beautiful bird you
have been seeking so long. You must cut the branch on which it is
sitting, and bring it back to me without delay. But I warn you
solemnly that if you disobey my directions, as you have done twice
before, you have nothing more to expect either of me or anyone else.'

With these words she jumped into the water, and the Prince, who had
taken her threats much to heart, took his departure, firmly resolved
not to deserve them. He found it all just as he had been told: the
portico, the wood, the magnificent tree, and the beautiful bird, which
was sleeping soundly on one of the branches. He speedily lopped off
the branch, and though he noticed a splendid golden cage hanging close
by, which would have been very useful for the bird to travel in, he
left it alone, and came back to the fountain, holding his breath and
walking on tip-toe all the way, for fear lest he should awake his
prize. But what was his surprise, when instead of finding the fountain
in the spot where he had left it, he saw in its place a little rustic
palace built in the best taste, and standing in the doorway a charming
maiden, at whose sight his mind seemed to give way.

'What! Madam!' he cried, hardly knowing what he said. 'What! Is it
you?'