From behind the door Nitta brought the sword. She found it had a beautiful handle of gold and set with diamonds and pearls, but the blade looked sharp and pointed and Nitta trembled as she held it.
“Now if you really are sorry for me,” said the dolphin, “and wish to make me a prince, strike off my head.”
Nitta dropped the sword at the very thought of anything so terrible. “I cannot do that,” she said. “You have been too kind to me.”
“That is the only way you can repay me,” said the dolphin, with a sigh. “I see you did not mean what you said about wishing to be a fairy.”
“Oh yes, I do, indeed I do!” said Nitta. “I do not want to kill you, but I will put you out of misery if that is what you want.”
She picked up the sword and swung it over her head; then she looked at the dolphin, closed her eyes, and brought down the sword.
As it fell Nitta felt herself slipping away, it seemed to her into the bottom of the ocean.
When she opened her eyes she saw a very handsome man bending over her. “You are a brave girl,” he said. “You have saved me from a terrible fate.”
“Where is the good dolphin?” asked Nitta. “Oh, I will never forgive myself for killing him!”
“He is gone forever. I was the poor dolphin,” said the handsome man at her side. “You broke the spell that held me, for the old witch who changed me into the dolphin said I must remain one until a pretty woman should strike off my head.”