The colt , who was accustomed to it , plunged into the water without hesitation ; but as soon as the dragons caught sight of Peronnik they approached from all parts of the lake in order to devour him . This time Peronnik did not trouble to take off his cap , but he threw the beads he carried with him into the water , as you throw black corn to a duck , and with each bead that he swallowed a dragon turned on his back and died , so that the idiot reached the other side without further trouble . The valley guarded by the black man now lay before him , and from afar Peronnik beheld him , chained by one foot to a rock at the entrance , and holding the iron ball which never missed its mark and always returned to its master 's hand . In his head the black man had six eyes that were never all shut at once , but kept watch one after the other . At this moment they were all open , and Peronnik knew well that if the black man caught a glimpse of him he would cast his ball . So , hiding the colt behind a thicket of bushes , he crawled along a ditch and crouched close to the very rock to which the black man was chained . The day was hot , and after a while the man began to grow sleepy . Two of his eyes closed , and Peronnik sang gently . In a moment a third eye shut , and Peronnik sang on . The lid of a fourth eye dropped heavily , and then those of the fifth and the sixth . The black man was asleep altogether . Then , on tiptoe , the idiot crept back to the colt which he led over soft moss past the black man into the vale of pleasure , a delicious garden full of fruits that dangled before your mouth , fountains running with wine , and flowers chanting in soft little voices . Further on , tables were spread with food , and girls dancing on the grass called to him to join them . Peronnik heard , and , scarcely knowing what he did drew the colt into a slower pace . He sniffed greedily the smell of the dishes , and raised his head the better to see the dancers . Another instant and he would have stopped altogether and been lost , like others before him , when suddenly there came to him like a vision the golden bowl and the diamond lance . Drawing his whistle from his pocket , he blew it loudly , so as to drown the sweet sounds about him , and ate what was left of his bread and bacon to still the craving of the magic fruits . His eyes he fixed steadily on the ears of the colt , that he might not see the dancers . In this way he was able to reach the end of the garden , and at length perceived the castle of Kerglas , with the river between them which had only one ford . Would the lady be there , as the old man had told him ?
Yes , surely that was she , sitting XXXXX a rock , in a black satin dress , and her face the colour of a Moorish woman 's .
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