The King , quite provoked , followed him hastily , but they had hardly taken their places facing one another , and the whole Court had only just had time to rush out upon the balconies to watch what was going on , when suddenly the sun became as red as blood , and it was so dark that they could scarcely see at all . The thunder crashed , and the lightning seemed as if it must burn up everything ; the two basilisks appeared , one on each side of the bad Dwarf , like giants , mountains high , and fire flew from their mouths and ears , until they looked like flaming furnaces . None of these things could terrify the noble young King , and the boldness of his looks and actions reassured those who were looking on , and perhaps even embarrassed the Yellow Dwarf himself ; but even his courage gave way when he saw what was happening to his beloved Princess . For the Fairy of the Desert , looking more terrible than before , mounted upon a winged griffin , and with long snakes coiled round her neck , had given her such a blow with the lance she carried that Bellissima fell into the Queen 's arms bleeding and senseless . Her fond mother , feeling as much hurt by the blow as the Princess herself , uttered such piercing cries and lamentations that the King , hearing them , entirely lost his courage and presence of mind . Giving up the combat , he flew toward the Princess , to rescue or to die with her ; but the Yellow Dwarf was too quick for him . Leaping with his Spanish cat upon the balcony , he snatched Bellissima from the Queen 's arms , and before any of the ladies of the Court could stop him he had sprung upon the roof of the palace and disappeared with his prize . The King , motionless with horror , looked on despairingly at this dreadful occurrence , which he was quite powerless to prevent , and to make matters worse his sight failed him , everything became dark , and he felt himself carried along through the air by a strong hand . This new misfortune was the work of the wicked Fairy of the Desert , who had come with the Yellow Dwarf to help him carry off the Princess , and had fallen in love with the handsome young King of the Gold Mines directly she saw him . She thought that if she carried him off to some frightful cavern and chained him to a rock , then the fear of death would make him forget Bellissima and become her slave . So , as soon as they reached the place , she gave him back his sight , but without releasing him from his chains , and by her magic power she appeared before him as a young and beautiful fairy , and pretended to have come there quite by chance . `` What do I see ? '' she cried . `` Is it you , dear Prince ? What misfortune has brought you to this dismal place ? '' The King , who was quite deceived by her altered appearance , replied : `` Alas ! beautiful Fairy , the fairy who brought me here first took away my sight , but by her voice I recognized her as the Fairy of the Desert , though what she should have carried me off for I can not tell you . '' `` Ah ! '' cried the pretended Fairy , `` if you have fallen into her hands , you wo n't get away until you have married her . She has carried off more than one Prince like this , and she will certainly have anything she takes a fancy to . ''
While she was thus pretending to be sorry for the King , he suddenly noticed her feet , which were XXXXX those of a griffin , and knew in a moment that this must be the Fairy of the Desert , for her feet were the one thing she could not change , however pretty she might make her face .
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