two months passed in this happy way, and then the dragon queen fell ill and was obliged to stay in bed. the king was sorely troubled when he saw his precious bride so ill, and at once sent for the fish doctor to come and give her some medicine. he gave special orders to the servants to nurse her carefully and to wait upon her with diligence, but in spite of all the nurses' assiduous care and the medicine that the doctor prescribed, the young queen showed no signs of recovery, but grew daily worse.