nd
impatiently, and was about clapping spurs to his sides, when the fairy
suddenly stopped him.

"Hold, prince! I had almost forgotten. Take this bouquet of violets,
place it in your bosom, and guard it well. But be careful not to draw
it forth except in the last extremity, depending always on your valor
and your sword. When your life shall hang suspended by a single hair;
when the last breath is quivering on thy lips, and all other means
fail, then, and not till then, use it as your instinct may direct.
Adieu, my prince--be faithful, bold and fortunate."

The fairy mounted her chariot, the butterflies spread their gorgeous
wings, and ascending rapidly through the transparent skies the whole
pageant disappeared. The prince lost not a moment in pursuing the
course pointed out by the fairy, and as he proceeded, gradually fell
into a reverie, the subject of which was the hint that it would depend
on himself whether he ever saw the little gold-fish again. The thought
roused him to the utmost height of daring, and he resolved, come what
might, nothing should be wanting on his part to the accomplishment of
a glorious and happy destiny. He fell himself suddenly animated by
this determination to gain a noble prize by noble exertions, for
nothing is more certain than that none but groveling, abject beings,
to whom nature has denied the ordinary faculties of mind, can remain
insensible to the excitement of glory, or the rewards of love.

He had not, however, proceeded far, when on a sudden there alighted on
the head of his steed, right between the ears, one of the most
extraordinary creatures he had ever seen. It was a little imp, about
three feet high, exactly resembling one of those scarecrows we
sometimes see in corn-fields, except that it was a great deal more
_outre_ in its form and dimensions. It wore an immense hat, of the
shape of a cullender, and with almost as many holes, through which
protruded little wisps of straw instead of feathers. The face was
perfectly undefinable, having neither dimensions nor shape, resembling
nothing of the live human species, and consisting apparently entirely
of a nose which projected several inches beyond the brim of his hat;
his shirt-collar was tied with a piece of rope; his jacket was as much
too short as his breeches were too long, one being out at the elbows,
the other at the knees, the latter of which were tied with a wisp of
straw tortured into a true lover's knot; his legs seeme