"What have I done to thee, that thou shouldst forget me
and marry Troutina?" sobbed she; and the king, who this time was wide
awake, heard her. He could not make out whose voice it was, or whence
it came, but it somehow reminded him of his dearest Florina, whom he
had never ceased to love. He called his valet, inquired who was
sleeping in the Chamber of Echoes, and heard that it was the little
peasant-girl who had sold to Troutina the emerald bracelet. Then he
rose up, dressed himself hastily, and went in search of her. She was
sitting mournfully on the floor, with her hair hiding her face, and
her eyes swollen with tears; but he knew at once his faithful Florina.
He fell on his knees before her covered her hands with kisses, and
they embraced and wept together. For what was the good of all their
love when they were still in the power of the fairy Soussio?
But at this moment appeared the friendly enchanter, with a fairy still
greater than Soussio, the one who had given Florina the four eggs.
They declared that their united power was stronger than Soussio's, and
that the lovers should be married without further delay.
When this news reached Troutina, she ran to the Chamber of Echoes, and
there beheld her beautiful rival, whom she had so cruelly afflicted.
But the moment she opened her mouth to speak, her wicked tongue was
silenced for ever; for the magician turned her into a trout, which he
flung out of the window into the stream that flowed through the castle
garden.
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