`` I would return good for evil , '' he said to himself , `` and save the unhappy man 's life . '' He had hardly wished this when his iron cage flew open , and he rushed to the side of the keeper , who was awake and was defending himself against the tiger . When he saw the monster had got out he gave himself up for lost , but his fear was soon changed into joy , for the kind monster threw itself upon the tiger and very soon killed it , and then came and crouched at the feet of the man it had saved . Overcome with gratitude , the keeper stooped to caress the strange creature which had done him such a great service ; but suddenly a voice said in his ear : `` A good action should never go unrewarded , '' and at the same instant the monster disappeared , and he saw at his feet only a pretty little dog ! Prince Darling , delighted by the change , frisked about the keeper , showing his joy in every way he could , and the man , taking him up in his arms , carried him to the King , to whom he told the whole story . The Queen said she would like to have this wonderful little dog , and the Prince would have been very happy in his new home if he could have forgotten that he was a man and a king . The Queen petted and took care of him , but she was so afraid that he would get too fat that she consulted the court physician , who said that he was to be fed only upon bread , and was not to have much even of that . So poor Prince Darling was terribly hungry all day long , but he was very patient about it . One day , when they gave him his little loaf for breakfast , he thought he would like to eat it out in the garden ; so he took it up in his mouth and trotted away toward a brook that he knew of a long way from the palace . But he was surprised to find that the brook was gone , and where it had been stood a great house that seemed to be built of gold and precious stones . Numbers of people splendidly dressed were going into it , and sounds of music and dancing and feasting could be heard from the windows . But what seemed very strange was that those people who came out of the house were pale and thin , and their clothes were torn , and hanging in rags about them . Some fell down dead as they came out before they had time to get away ; others crawled farther with great difficulty ; while others again lay on the ground , fainting with hunger , and begged a morsel of bread from those who were going into the house , but they would not so much as look at the poor creatures . Prince Darling went up to a young girl who was trying to eat a few blades of grass , she was so hungry . Touched with compassion , he said to himself : `` I am very hungry , but I shall not die of starvation before I get my dinner ; if I give my breakfast to this poor creature perhaps I may save her life . '' So he laid his piece of bread in the girl 's hand , and saw her eat it up eagerly . She soon seemed to be quite well again , and the Prince , delighted to have been able to help her , was thinking of going home to the palace , when he heard a great outcry , and , turning round , saw Celia , who was being carried against her will into the great house . For the first time the Prince regretted that he was no longer the monster , then he would have been able to rescue Celia ; now he could only bark feebly at the people who were carrying her off , and try to follow them , but they chased and kicked him away . He determined not to quit the place till he knew what had become of Celia , and blamed himself for what had befallen her . `` Alas ! ''
he said to himself , `` I am furious XXXXX the people who are carrying Celia off , but is n't that exactly what I did myself , and if I had not been prevented did I not intend to be still more cruel to her ? ''
So about against at for if in out to with