When he had quite finished eating he thought that it was time to resume his journey; therefore, laying a costly diamond ring on the table, he said:
“Kind fairy, whoever you may be to whom I owe this hospitality, accept my thanks and this small token of my gratitude.”
The hands took the gift up, and the merchant therefore considered that it was accepted. Then he left the castle and proceeded to the stables to find and saddle his horse.
The path led through a most enchanting garden full of the fairest flowers, and as the merchant proceeded, he paused occasionally to glance at the wonderful plants and choice flowers around him. Suddenly his eyes rested on a white rose-tree, which was quite weighed down by its wealth of blossoms.
He remembered his promise to his youngest daughter.
“Ah!” he thought, “at last I have found a white rose. The fairy who has been so generous to me already will not grudge me a single flower from amongst so many.”
And bending down, he gathered a white rose.
At that moment he was startled by a loud and terrific roar, and a fierce lion sprang on him and exclaimed in tones of thunder:
“Whoever dares to steal my roses shall be eaten up alive.”
Then the merchant said: “I knew not that the garden belonged to you; I plucked only a rose as a present for my daughter; can nothing save my life?”