When the old woman saw that the powers of her magic were of so little avail , she had recourse to cunning . She threw a lot of gold nuts into the pond , hoping in this way to catch the duck , but all her efforts were fruitless , for the little creature refused to let itself be caught . Then a new idea struck the wicked old woman , and hiding herself behind the rock which had sheltered the fugitives , she waited behind it , watching carefully for the moment when the Prince and her daughter should resume their natural forms and continue their journey . She had not to wait long , for as soon as the girl thought her mother was safely out of the way , she changed herself and the Prince once more into their human shape , and set out cheerfully for the river . But they had not gone many steps when the wicked Fairy hurried after them , a drawn dagger in her hand , and was close upon them , when suddenly , instead of the Prince and her daughter , she found herself in front of a great stone church , whose entrance was carefully guarded by a huge monk . Breathless with rage and passion , she tried to plunge her dagger into the monk 's heart , but it fell shattered in pieces at her feet . In her desperation she determined to pull down the church , and thus to destroy her two victims for ever . She stamped three times on the ground , and the earth trembled , and both the church and the monk began to shake . As soon as the Fairy saw this she retreated to some distance from the building , so as not to be hurt herself by its fall . But once more her scheme was doomed to failure , for hardly had she gone a yard from the church than both it and the monk disappeared , and she found herself in a wood black as night , and full of wolves and bears and wild animals of all sorts and descriptions . Then her wrath gave place to terror , for she feared every moment to be torn in pieces by the beasts who one and all seemed to defy her power . She thought it wisest to make her way as best she could out of the forest , and then to pursue the fugitives once more and accomplish their destruction either by force or cunning . In the meantime the Prince and the black girl had again assumed their natural forms , and were hurrying on as fast as they could to reach the river . But when they got there they found that there was no way in which they could cross it , and the girl 's magic art seemed no longer to have any power . Then turning to the Prince she said , ` The hour for my deliverance has not yet come , but as you promised to do all you could to free me , you must do exactly as I bid you now . Take this bow and arrow and kill every beast you see with them , and be sure you spare no living creature . ' With these words she disappeared , and hardly had she done so than a huge wild boar started out of the thicket near and made straight for the Prince . But the youth did not lose his presence of mind , and drawing his bow he pierced the beast with his arrow right through the skull . The creature fell heavily on the ground , and out of its side sprang a little hare , which ran like the wind along the river bank . The Prince drew his bow once more , and the hare lay dead at his feet ; but at the same moment a dove rose up in the air , and circled round the Prince 's head in the most confiding manner .
But mindful of the black XXXXX 's commands , he dared not spare the little creature 's life , and taking another arrow from his quiver he laid it as dead as the boar and the hare .
avail deliverance distance girl hand hour meantime thicket wolves youth