It was completely dark, and the water continued transporting her into the very bowels of the earth. At last, after what seemed to poor Moonflower several hours, a faint light began to show itself far below her, and to grow larger every moment, until the stream all at once emerged from the darkness, and she found herself in a wide and solitary marsh. She clung to some rushes that grew at the water’s edge and dragged herself out.
“Where am I?” she cried, “and what horrible place is this in which I find myself? My last hope is the enchanted leaf,”—and she put her hand into her dress, but oh, horror! she had dropped it. Where?
She wept until she was weary, and then, as she began to feel the pangs of hunger, she arose, and, looking over the vast expanse of marsh, tried to see whether there were any house or cottage where she might beg a piece of bread and a lodging.
In the far distance she soon beheld a building, toward which she directed her steps, and, after walking for hours, she came to an enormous palace, built entirely of mud. At the gate there lay a great crocodile, at sight of which the Princess almost fainted with fear; but, perceiving that the creature was asleep, she timidly approached and rang the doorbell, the handle of which was made of a crocodile’s tooth.
Now, the country in which Moonflower found herself belonged to a terrible and wicked Enchanter, who lived there entirely by himself but for thousands of crocodiles, which were his only companions, and for which he had a singular fancy. When he heard the bell ring he looked out, and saw the Princess standing before the door, so he immediately went down to meet her. When she beheld him her terror increased a thousandfold, for he was indeed more frightful than sin itself. He was clothed from head to foot in the skins of crocodiles, and carried in his hand a rod made of black wood, upon which was represented a crocodile’s face. He had but one glaring eye, and his mouth was furnished with huge pointed teeth, which caused him to look fiercer than an ogre. When he set eyes upon her he cried: “Ho! here comes another mortal to add to my collection of crocodiles!” And he raised his magic wand to change her into one of these loathsome beasts, when, as he was about to put his wicked design in practice, an idea struck him. “No,” he said, “I am getting up in years, and require some one to look after me; my crocodiles are stupid brutes and perform the services of my house but indifferently. Now here is a servant ready to my hand.” So he dragged the terrified Moonflower into his horrible palace, where he set her to scrub the floors, wash the dishes, cook the food, and perform the most menial offices. At night she had only the bare boards to sleep on, and nothing to eat but dried frogs.
In this way many days passed. All night she wept and all day she worked hard. “Oh, if death would but come to relieve me!” she sobbed, “what a blessing it would be. But alas! he alone comes to those who do not want him, and forgets wretches like myself.”
Now the Enchanter had a great glass tower on the top of his house, on which was reflected everything that took place on the marsh in which it stood, and every day the Princess would go up and look out to see if, by any chance, help might be approaching; and, as day by day she came down disappointed, she began to fear that she would have to spend the rest of her life with the Enchanter and his hateful crocodiles. “If I had but my dear Grimaçon,” thought she, “but alas! how can he know where I am, and, even if he did, how could he get here?”
We must now return to the palace of the King of the Crystal Mountains.
When the flood caused by the fountain had subsided and the Queen had been put to bed in hysterics, the excitement somewhat calmed itself, and only the dwarf went running about calling for the Princess. When one of the servants informed him that she had been carried away by the water his grief knew no bounds. He sighed, he wept, he tore his hair, his cries were heard all over the palace, where he wandered about from room to room, giving way to his sorrow, and at last he came to the room where the Queen and his mistress had been talking at the time of the flood. As he walked along, with his head bent, looking the very picture of desolation, he caught sight of a little dark thing lying on the floor. He picked it up.
It was the Enchanted Leaf, which had been dropped by Princess Moonflower.