r peeped
at him from behind a bush. But as evening drew on he became tired, and
looked about as he walked for some place where he could sleep. At
length he reached a soft mossy bank under a tree, and was just about
to stretch himself out on it, when a fearful roar made him start and
tremble all over. In another moment something passed swiftly through
the air and a lion stood before him.

'What are you doing here?' asked the lion, his eyes glaring fiercely
at the boy.

'I am flying from the mermaid,' the prince answered, in a quaking
voice.

'Give me some food then,' said the lion, 'it is past my supper time,
and I am very hungry.'

The boy was so thankful that the lion did not want to eat _him_, that
he gladly picked up his knapsack which lay on the ground, and held out
some bread and a flask of wine.

'I feel better now,' said the lion when he had done, 'so now I shall
go to sleep on this nice soft moss, and if you like you can lie down
beside me.' So the boy and the lion slept soundly side by side, till
the sun rose.

'I must be off now,' remarked the lion, shaking the boy as he spoke;
'but cut off the tip of my ear, and keep it carefully, and if you are
in any danger just wish yourself a lion and you will become one on the
spot. One good turn deserves another, you know.'

The prince thanked him for his kindness, and did as he was bid, and
the two then bade each other farewell.

'I wonder how it feels to be a lion,' thought the boy, after he had
gone a little way; and he took out the tip of the ear from the breast
of his jacket and wished with all his might. In an instant his head
had swollen to several times its usual size, and his neck seemed very
hot and heavy; and, somehow, his hands became paws, and his skin grew
hairy and yellow. But what pleased him most was his long tail with a
tuft at the end, which he lashed and switched proudly. 'I like being a
lion very much,' he said to himself, and trotted gaily along the road.

After a while, however, he got tired of walking in this unaccustomed
way--it made his back ache and his front paws felt sore. So he wished
himself a boy again, and in the twinkling of an eye his tail
disappeared and his head shrank, and the long thick mane became short
and curly. Then he looked out for a sleeping place, and found some dry
ferns, which he gathered and heaped up.

But before he had time to close his eyes there was a great noise in
the trees near by, as if a big heavy