The same thing happened in the case of two other babes, the green girl rescuing them from the envious sisters just in time; and with the rescue of the third babe half the spell that the wizard had put upon Fiona was broken, because now she had nursed three babes of a King's son.

She gave back the children to the young couple, who were frantic with joy at their recovery, and when they heard the story the youngest sister said: "Our father must be told what my sisters have done," and she asked the green girl to carry a message to the King, asking him to return with her.

So Fiona once more put on the shoes that run by themselves and went off to fetch the King.

When they were nearing the Castle the King said to Fiona: "A heaviness has come over me. I must lie down and sleep for a while." And he lay down at the foot of Beinn Ghloine and went off to sleep.

Scarcely had his eyes closed when a gentle voice from the top of the mountain said:

"Fiona, I have long watched for a chance to help you, and now it has come! I am the fairy of the mist that hovers round Beinn Ghloine, and if you will climb the mountain I will give you a cup of wine distilled from mist, which is one of the things that the wizard has no csntrol over. Then, if you can get back to the King and make him drink the wine on his awaking, the wizard's spell may be broken. You must also get the King to give you a kiss before you can regain your old form, but that you can manage for yourself!"

Fiona, of course, began to climb Beinn Ghloine at once, and though she often slid back she reached the top at last; and there, in the mist that hovers around the mountain-top, stood a cup of golden wine.

She looked about for the fairy, but a voice said: "You need not look for me, Fiona. I am an invisible fairy, the spirit of the mist. So take the cup and return as fast as possible, for I think the King is about to waken."

And the green girl, holding the cup with its precious contents very carefully, slid down the mountain-side and reached the King just as his eyelids began to flicker.

"Oh dear! I am so thirsty!" he murmured.

"Then drink, sire!" said the green girl tremulously as she held out the cup of wine. He drank it, and lying back with closed eyes, he said:

"If only you were not green, I should give you a kiss for that delicious wine. It has made me feel quite young again!

"You could kiss me without looking at me," said poor Fiona, terrified that the fairy's plans would not succeed.

"So I could and so I will," said the King, "for something in the wine told me to."

Closing his eyes he drew Fiona to him and kissed her lips; and when he opened his eyes, expecting to see the green girl, what was his amazement to see instead a lovely blushing creature with a skin of milk and roses!

"Where is the green girl ? " he asked, looking about him.

"I am she," said the happy Fiona. " I am free now from the spell that the wizard cast over me, for I have nursed the three babes of a King's son, and I have received a kiss from a King's lips!"

"Fiona," said the King wistfully, "if I were not too old for you, I should like to make you my Queen, for I love you!"

"But, sire," said Fiona shyly, "you look every bit as young as my brother, Fergus."

And a voice said from the mist that hovered round Beinn Ghloine:

"Take your bride, O King, for I have lifted half your years from you that you may make Fiona happy. The wizard can never again harm her, for both of his spells have been broken. And from now onwards the fairy of the mist that hovers round Beinn Ghloine will make life golden for the girl with the skin of milk and roses that was known as The Green Girl."
关键字:灰狗和小女孩
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