Immediately the doors of his
cage opened. The keeper, waking up, saw the strange beast leap out,
and imagined, of course, that he was going to be slain at once.
Instead, he saw the tiger lying dead, and the strange beast creeping
up, and laying itself at his feet to be caressed. But as he lifted up
his hand to stroke it, a voice was heard saying, "Good actions never
go unrewarded;" and, instead of the frightful monster, there crouched
on the ground nothing but a pretty little dog.
Cherry, delighted to find himself thus metamorphosed, caressed the
keeper in every possible way, till at last the man took him up into
his arms and carried him to the king, to whom he related this
wonderful story, from beginning to end. The queen wished to have the
charming little dog; and Cherry would have been exceedingly happy,
could he have forgotten that he was originally a man and a king. He
was lodged most elegantly, had the richest of collars to adorn his
neck, and heard himself praised continually. But his beauty rather
brought him into trouble, for the queen, afraid lest he might grow too
large for a pet, took advice of dog-doctors, who ordered that he
should be fed entirely upon bread, and that very sparingly; so poor
Cherry was sometimes nearly starved.
One day, when they gave him his crust for breakfast, a fancy seized
him to go and eat it in the palace-garden; so he took the bread in his
mouth, and trotted away towards a stream which he knew, and where he
sometimes stopped to drink.
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