Then he came to the Fairy Lion and told him how he had seen his Luck, and what messages he had brought to the maiden and to the gardener.
“And what present did the maiden give you?” asked the Lion.
“She said,” answered the man, “that she had fallen in love with me and proposed to marry me, but I refused.”
“And what reward did the gardener give you?” asked the Lion.
“He took the gold ore out of the spring,” answered the man, “and refining it, prepared a horse-load of pure gold. He gave all to me, but I refused, saying that I did not care to trouble myself and carry such a heavy thing so far.”
“And what remedy did your Luck devise for my ailment?” asked the Lion.
“He said,” answered the man, “the moment you devour an Idiot’s head you shall be healed.”
The Lion looked the man in the face, and said:
“By Heaven! I cannot find a greater idiot than you on the face of the earth.” And striking at his head with his paw, he made one mouthful of it and the Idiot was dead.
Remember the moral of this tale,—Time never befriends a fool.