ve torn him in pieces had not the
princess held him back, and bidden him to change himself into a man
again. And in a second a man took the place of the lion.

'Now become a bear,' said she; and a bear advanced panting and
stretching out his arms to the Red Knight, who shrank behind the
princess.

By this time some of the guests had regained their courage, and
returned as far as the door, thinking that if it was safe for the
princess perhaps it was safe for them. The king, who was braver than
they, and felt it needful to set them a good example besides, had
never left his seat, and when at a new command of the princess the
bear once more turned into a man, he was silent from astonishment, and
a suspicion of the truth began to dawn on him. 'Was it _he_ who
fetched the sword?' asked the king.

'Yes, it was,' answered the princess; and she told him the whole
story, and how she had broken her gold ring and given him half of it.
And the prince took out his half of the ring, and the princess took
out hers, and they fitted exactly. Next day the Red Knight was hanged,
as he richly deserved, and there was a new marriage feast for the
prince and princess.

[_Lapplaendische Maehrchen._]

[Illustration: THE BEE, THE PRINCESS, THE RED KNIGHT, & THE LION]

_PIVI AND KABO_

When birds were men, and men were birds, Pivi and Kabo lived in an
island far away, called New Caledonia. Pivi was a cheery little bird
that chirps at sunset; Kabo was an ugly black fowl that croaks in the
darkness. One day Pivi and Kabo thought that they would make slings,
and practise slinging, as the people of the island still do. So they
went to a banyan tree, and stripped the bark to make strings for their
slings, and next they repaired to the river bank to find stones. Kabo
stood on the bank of the river, and Pivi went into the water. The game
was for Kabo to sling at Pivi, and for Pivi to dodge the stones, if he
could. For some time he dodged them cleverly, but at last a stone from
Kabo's sling hit poor Pivi on the leg and broke it. Down went Pivi
into the stream, and floated along it, till he floated into a big
hollow bamboo, which a woman used for washing her sweet potatoes.

'What is that in my bamboo?' said the woman. And she blew in at one
end, and blew little Pivi out at the other, like a pea from a
pea-shooter.

'Oh!' cried the woman, 'what a state you are in! What have you been
doing?'

'It was Kabo who broke my leg at the sli