When she heard what the Fairy demanded this time , she answered smilingly , ` Never fear , ' and handed him another draught , which very soon caused the Prince to sink into a deep sleep . When he awoke everything , was done . All the trees of the wood were cut up into firewood and arranged in bundles ready for use . He returned to the castle as quickly as he could , and told the Fairy that her commands were obeyed . She was even more amazed than she had been before , and asked him again if he had either seen or spoken to the black girl ; but the Prince knew better than to betray his word , and once more lied freely . On the following day the Fairy set him a third task to do , even harder than the other two . She told him he must build a castle on the other side of the lake , made of nothing but gold , silver , and precious stones , and unless he could accomplish this within an hour , the most frightful doom awaited him . The Prince heard her words without anxiety , so entirely did he rely on the help of his black friend . Full of hope he hurried across the bridge , and recognised at once the spot where the castle was to stand , for spades , hammers , axes , and every other building implement lay scattered on the ground ready for the workman 's hand , but of gold , silver , and precious stones there was not a sign . But before the Prince had time to feel despondent the black girl beckoned to him in the distance from behind a rock , where she had hidden herself for fear her mother should catch sight of her . Full of joy the youth hurried towards her , and begged her aid and counsel in the new piece of work he had been given to do . But this time the Fairy had watched the Prince 's movements from her window , and she saw him hiding himself behind the rock with her daughter . She uttered a piercing shriek so that the mountains re-echoed with the sound of it , and the terrified pair had hardly dared to look out from their hiding-place when the enraged woman , with her dress and hair flying in the wind , hurried over the bridge of clouds . The Prince at once gave himself up for lost , but the girl told him to be of good courage and to follow her as quickly as he could . But before they left their shelter she broke off a little bit of the rock , spoke some magic words over it , and threw it in the direction her mother was coming from . In a moment a glittering palace arose before the eyes of the Fairy which blinded her with its dazzling splendour , and with its many doors and passages prevented her for some time from finding her way out of it . In the meantime the black girl hurried on with the Prince , hastening to reach the river , where once on the other side they would for ever be out of the wicked Fairy 's power . But before they had accomplished half the way they heard again the rustle of her garments and her muttered curses pursuing them closely . The Prince was terrified ; he dared not look back , and he felt his strength giving way . But before he had time to despair the girl uttered some more magic words , and immediately she herself was changed into a pond , and the Prince into a duck swimming on its surface .
When the Fairy saw this her rage knew no bounds , and she used all her magic wits XXXXX make the pond disappear ; she caused a hill of sand to arise at her feet , meaning it to dry up the water at once .
across at behind for from into than to within without